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chapter ten – up, down and strange

Swirling stars and clouds of gas and dust mingling with galaxies of light raced past Willow as she spun down into the depths of the portal. Her body felt weightless, almost like it was floating. Yet something was pushing her downward through space so densely filled with light and sound that she gasped. She wasn't afraid. Sheer fascination prompted her swallowed breath. Willow had forsaken fear when, in the hallways of Wolfram and Hart, Buffy's terror-filled face had disappeared. She was on her own, and had to deal with it.

She was still alive, or at least she was still Willow. Whether her body remained attached to her mind or not was another big scary to be determined upon landing. Clearly, she could think. Definitely, a good sign. If she could keep that up, maybe she'd figure out a way to survive the fall.

There was no point in stressing over when, or if, she'd hit bottom, though. Might as well concentrate on what was going on around her. Her eyes couldn't really see more than the streaming lights since she was being driven deeper and deeper very quickly. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her other senses. Almost immediately, the Noise began to change, transforming from a painful assault on her eardrums, into something else.

Are those words? She listened more closely. Yes, definitely words.

Within the whirling noise, Willow could make out voices, speaking about witches – no, Wiccans and Zeks. Hadn't Fred said something about Zeks when they were in Angel's office? No, don't try to figure out what's being said, Willow warned herself. Concentrate on listening.

“In the darkness, we are a hero, journeying through time. Brilliance and magic are our guides. We avoid the unbelievable and understand our purpose as we wait for her. She is our spirit. She will help us find beauty, which leads to truth, our only love. We are prepared to cast aside what we are for what we must become.”

That was a heap more than a few words, thought Willow, as she continued to fall.


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Fred awoke to the cries and piercing wails of the Noise.

Too many voices, she sighed as she lay in her bed in the Wolfram and Hart clinic. Maybe if she pressed her hands over her ears, she could make the Noise stop. She tried to lift her arms. They were leaden weights, trapped at her sides by the fear clutching her body. In the hallway outside the open door of her room surged an all too-familiar abyss of whirling power. Fred closed her eyes overcome by the sudden realization that another variation of her old nemesis was hovering nearby. The portal was waiting for her.

“I gotta get up,” she muttered. “Can't just lie here and take this.”

Opening her eyes, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and studied the hallway, judging how much time she might have before it sucked her in. But next to the whirling mass, she was surpirsed to recognize a tall, lean figure standing intimately close to its center. It was Lillie, Buffy's and Willow's roommate. What was she doing? And why could Fred hear her voice above the blaring sounds of the Noise and the pulsing portal?

“Hello, Fred. Or, should I say ‘Charm'? It's just me, Lillie, your sister Wicca from the Zek dimension.”

Fred supposed that this was supposed to be good news. Good, because she was still being called Fred. Not good, she was also being called Charm. Then she remembered telling Spike she was one of these Wiccas, and perhaps, she had even called herself ‘Charm'. Her brain was rather muddled.

“Did the Noise make it clear to you?” Lillie continued, as she stepped inside the room. Immediately, Fred noticed the Noise was not as loud or painful as it had been only a few seconds before.

“Yes, very cl…clear. Very clear, indeed,” said Fred, hesitating slightly as the words and the phrases underneath the Noise became a language she now understood. “Are we all here yet?”

“We've always been here, Fred. And only we sisters know what we seek. The others – we must devote more time to the others.”

“Time. Do we have enough?” Fred tried to mask the anguish in her voice. In the hallway behind Lillie, she saw the swirling black pool.

“Not much, true. But we will make it work,” Lillie paused and turned toward the hallway before saying, almost as an afterthought, “Come on, let's go. We need to find Willow, and then Lilith will be able to join us.”

Fred had no choice, as her mind and body followed Lillie out of the room, down the hallway and into the portal.


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Willow couldn't tell how much time had passed since she found herself sprawled on top of a pile of dirt. The falling and pushing, and the words, had kept coming and coming. After awhile she must have blacked out. Now there was grit against her skin as she lay on the ground. Her eyes barely open could see nothing but darkness. It was a cave of some sort, she thought. She felt encased, as if there was no opening near. She reached out to “see” what else she might discover about her tomb. Okay, she wasn't going to give in to despair just yet. This was temporary confinement – not a tomb. No point in going into full-blown panic. She was still a powerful witch. At least, she hoped she was a powerful witch in whatever world she was in now.

“Hello, Willow.”

She recognized Lillie's voice, and it was coming from everywhere.

“Hello.” Willow responded knowing there was no advantage in pretending she was unconscious. She sensed that Lillie knew her state of mind, exactly.

“Yes, I do. I definitely know your mind,” said Lillie, answering Willow 's thoughts. “This is the predestined place where all of us are to meet. Actually, there are only four of us right now. Eventually, all of the Seven Wiccas will reunite here, at the bottom of hell, underneath the Zek dimension.”

Willow sat up, peering into the darkness.

“Charm will arrive soon, and then we will mix, and take the next steps required to bring us completely together again.”

Lillie's voice moved from left to the right in the dark and finally rested next to Willow's ear, startling her as it asked, “You didn't find the ring, did you?”

“No, I didn't find it. Not after all hell broke loose,” said Willow.

“No, not hell, just the L'Quaratong magics, that's all,” responded the bodiless voice of Lillie.


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A fine sheet of white dust lined the black dirt floor at the bottom of hell. Fred had arrived straightaway from the Wolfram and Hart clinic expecting to be submerged in a maze of heat and fire, red flames blazing. The cool, moist air, and pure black and white of it all was more than a little surprising. Still it didn't diminish the duality of her feelings. One side of her brain was overwhelmed with burgeoning curiosity while the other side was paralyzed by crippling fear. She was Charm, the fourth of the Seven Wiccas, and all things seemed to be happening in twos. The rational side of her brain had come up with this hypothesis. Something had to explain what she was feeling outside of fear. She was a witch, but she was also Fred. It was as if she were dressed up in new clothes. Whether they fit or not wasn't the point. She just had to wear them.

Fred looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was standing on a point of a five-pointed star, etched in black dust on the white floor. Willow and Lillie were standing nearby on separate points. An unfamiliar woman, who looked a lot like Lillie, except pale, extremely pale, stood, no floated, above another point. The other spot was empty.

“Who are you?” Fred asked, nodding toward the woman she didn't know.

“Lilith, queen of the L'Quaratong,” she responded. “I am the wife of Truth and the savior of our tribe.”

“Why are we here?” asked Fred.

“To unite the stars between our dimensions,” she responded.

“Okay, making no sense, whatsoever here. Try again – why are we here?” Willow interrupted, with a wild black look in her eyes.

Lilith spun from her spot, arriving instantaneously in front of Willow, her body leaning forward, menacingly. Fred could see black eyes glaring into Willow 's darkened eyes, except Lilith had no pupils, just darkness against translucent skin. Lilith's skin was so thin Fred imagined it could absorb light and colors, altering its tone as her location required.

“Who. Are. We?” Willow persisted.

“In the darkness, we are a hero, journeying through time,” Lilith recited, as she drifted back away from Willow, toward the star's center.

“I don't like riddles,” stated Willow, her shoulders braced defiantly. “Plus, I've heard this one before.”

“Yes, you have. But a repeat performance is as you might say, of the good. So whether you like it, or not, Earth Witch, I will continue.” Lilith careened toward Willow, and stopped abruptly, so close to her that Fred thought she was going to kiss her. “So shut your filthy mouth."


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Spike lay on the floor, clutching the Slayer close to him. If the Noise returned any time soon, he was in big trouble. His body was drained. The Noise had been deafening, and the portal that grabbed Willow was like nothing he'd ever seen. Not only could he hear it – that was for bloody certain – but he also felt its strength. It was more than strong; it was purposeful.

Raising his head, Spike looked into the hallway, expecting to see destruction; instead, he saw Angel standing in the doorway. He had the oddest look about him. Daylight was streaming into Wes' office, and the light streaked across his face. Spike marveled at the way the bright strips affected Angel. He appeared more dangerous than he'd seen him in over a century. Spike wondered what else besides the damned Noise was bothering Angel. Then he followed Angel's glare to Buffy who lay next to him. Spike pulled her closer to him, and was thankful that she was there for him to hold. Then it hit him. The sweet smell of blood. Buffy was hurt.

“Buffy!” Spike tried to scream, pulling Buffy onto her side; he saw the pool of blood.

He jumped up from the floor, and moved around Wes' office quickly, tossing books aside and opening desk drawers and closets as he searched for a cloth, a discarded shirt or anything to help him stop the bleeding. There was just too much blood.

He looked up to see Angel kneeling next to Buffy. He had gathered her into his arms, her head rested against his chest. She wasn't moving. Spike abandoned his hunt.

Straining to hear, he searched the room for the sound of a heartbeat. Moving closer to Angel and Buffy, Spike collapsed to his knees. He couldn't hear a thing. Nothing at all.


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