The Third Power
by Kirayoshi
Questions But No Answers
[reviews]
Chapter 2
Questions But No Answers
Darkened rolling figures move
Thru' prisms of no color.
Hand in hand, they walk the night,
But never know each other.
Passioned pastel neon lights
Light up the jeweled trav'ler
Who, lost in scenes of smoke filled dreams,
Find questions, but no answers.
--Michael Nesmith(The Monkees)
"Daily Nightly"
Three lone figures met together at midnight in Shepherd's Meadow. The undeveloped lot, a strong nexus for benevolent magical forces, had often been used for wiccan celebrations, and other sacred rites. The three women who came to the meadow were in search for answers. Something had happened to them two weeks ago, something that bound them mentally and emotionally.
Ever since their battle with Asmodeus, when Willow and Tara used something called an enjoining spell to lend their strength to Buffy, the three women were bonded. When Willow had used the spell before, its effects were temporary. But backed by two witches instead of one, the spell seemed more permanent. Two weeks later, and the spell's effects were still being felt.
Three days after the spell was cast, Buffy found herself thinking constantly of Willow and Tara. It was as though she physically needed to see them, or hear from them. When they met later for lunch, the two young witches admitted that they felt the same for Buffy. When they were within sight of each other, the need was alleviated for a while. Over time, this need faded, but there was still the sense of pleasure when they were together. Buffy didn't entirely understand this; Willow and Tara were romantically involved, and Buffy had been secretly attracted to Willow, but this new sense of being more at peace when they were together was unsettling.
Furthermore, Buffy started to notice changes in her abilities. As the Slayer, she possessed greater strength, stamina and reflexes. Now, she seemed to have a greater affinity to magic, something she had never demonstrated before. Three nights ago, she fought against a small horde of newbie vampires, and found that by concentrating, she could immobilize them with a thought. This made slaying them easier, but it still disturbed her.
But the empathic bond, that was the final straw. Faith had once asked Buffy, "You ever notice how slaying makes you hungry and horny?" Buffy never liked to admit this to others, but she felt that as well. Under normal circumstances, she could control her passions, but this night was different.
After the rush of dispatching the vampires last night, she felt that familiar arousal. She thought that she could walk it off on her way back to the dorm. But once she was back on her bed, getting ready for sleep, the arousal grew more insistent. The sensitivity in her breasts became unbearable, the heat between her thighs demanded her attention. She started to caress herself, slowly at first, then with increasing pressure and passion until she finally climaxed. Fortunately Willow was at Tara's that evening, so she wasn't disturbing anyone. She chuckled ruefully at the realization that she derived more satisfaction from her own hands than from any of her experiences with her ex-boyfriend Riley.
The next day, she ran into Willow and Tara, both smiling conspiratorial smiles. "Okay girls," Buffy raised an eyebrow in their direction. "What's the what?"
"Well," Tara breathed happily, "we finally did it."
"It?"
"It," Willow added. "The big 'It'."
"Oh," Buffy said, comprehending. "That 'it'. So, how was 'it'?"
"I think we're still in afterglow," Willow said dreamily. "I don't know what happened last night. We were watching 'The Princess Bride', when suddenly, I felt very warm."
"Then I felt it too," Tara laughed, "then one thing led to another, then--"
"I get it," Buffy answered, "spare me the details. But wait a minute," she said suddenly, thinking back to last night. "When did this start."
Willow tried to remember; "Lessee, it was about when Buttercup was about to be attacked by the Shrieking Eels, so, about ten-ish?"
"That's when I finished my patrol," Buffy said, half to herself. She slumped in her chair, a worried look on her face. "Hooboy."
Tara looked at Buffy's concerned expression, and asked, "What is it?"
"Guys, this bond is getting stronger. Sometimes, after patrol, especially after I get a heavy workout, I get, well--"
"Hungry and horny?" Willow grinned.
"Yeah," Buffy said, blushing slightly. "Well, that happened to me last night. Usually it goes away once I get back to the dorm, but last night it just got stronger, until I had to do something."
"You mean you--" Tara couldn't finish the sentence. Buffy said nothing, she only nodded. "And you think your arousal spread to us?"
"And once you two got into it, it hit me back even stronger," Buffy finished. "The other day, Willow, you noticed that you could feel my frustration? I think that we're now picking up each other's emotions."
"Empathy," Tara stated. "Wow."
"Yeah, and I want to know why," Buffy decided. "Too bad Giles is visiting some friends in London. He'd have some ideas."
"Maybe we can find a higher source," Willow suggested. "The full moon is in two days, I think we should perform a petitioning ritual."
"A petitioning ritual?" Buffy asked.
"We have the ritual in one of your books, right, Tara?" Willow turned to her lover, who nodded. "Yeah, I know which one. The Plea to the Fates."
"You saying that these Fates will have the answer?"
"Not in and of themselves," Willow consoled Buffy, "but they can help us to find it ourselves. Buffy, we're walking uncharted ground with this enjoining. We need to know what is happening to us."
"Yeah," Buffy admitted. "I don't think that you two want me to know when you're making love every time. About which, by the way, I am extremely sorry. I feel like a voyeur."
"I feel like a voyeur too," Willow chirped. "Know where we can get one?" Tara, who was sipping a mocha at the time, suddenly found herself laughing so hard that her mocha was coming out of her nose. Willow leaned her head toward Buffy's ear and stage-whispered, "I just love to do that to her."
"You are one wicked witch, Wills," Buffy announced. "Okay, I have class in fifteen minutes. How about we meet in my dorm at three, and you can brief me on this spell then."
"Okay," Willow and Tara chorused in unison. The three women left for their separate classes, hoping that once they met later, they could start finding answers.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The night of the full moon, they were ready.
They met at Shepherd's Meadow, to begin the Plea to the Fates. "Welcome, and merry meet," Tara greeted Willow and Buffy. She kissed Willow on both cheeks, then kissed Buffy the same. Buffy, knowing it was expected of her, turned to Willow and kissed her cheeks as well. The three women then linked their hands, standing in a close ring.
"Whenever you are in need of anything," Tara chanted, and Willow joined in, "once in each month, and better to do it when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place. To these shall I teach things that are yet unknown, and you shall be free from all slavery. So mote it be."
Buffy nodded when they were finished with their chant. "Okay, Tara. It's your show."
"First, let's make sure we have our supplies. Did you each bring some salt?"
"Right here," Willow said as she and Buffy held up salt shakers. Tara smiled, producing a small pill bottle full of rock salt. She nodded as she looked at the others' contributions; they would be satisfactory for their purpose.
"Water?"
Willow held up an old wineskin, while Buffy and Tara brought out bottles of Evian.
"Candles?"
The three women brought out small votive candles, and Willow added, "I also brought some matches to light them." She showed a matchbox to the others.
"Thanks, Willow," Tara smiled at the red-head. She then produced a compass from her duffel bag, and placed it gently on the ground before them. She looked at the needle as it settled in one spot. She pointed in the direction of the needle, saying, "That's north." She paced ten steps from the compass, and took her salt in her hand. She emptied the salt onto the ground, and Willow and Buffy followed suit, pouring salt onto the ground in front of them. "Guardians of the Watchtower of the North," Tara chanted, "We bring salt, from the Earth. We ask that you bless us in this endeavor."
They returned to the compass and took ten steps due east. As per the incantation's instructions, the three women took a deep breath, and exhaled at the ground in front of them. "Guardians of the Watchtower of the East, we bring our breath, our Air. We ask that you bless us in this endeavor."
At the south point of the circle, they each placed their candle on the ground, and lit each wick. "Guardians of the Watchtower of the South, we bring candles, carriers of Fire. We ask that you bless us in this endeavor."
Finally, at the eastern point, they each poured water on the ground. "Guardians of the Watchtower of the West, we bring Water. We ask that you bless us in this endeavor."
Buffy performed the ritual as directed earlier by Willow and Tara. It was a simple ritual; each of the compass points were governed by a specific Guardian, and each responded to one of the four ancient elements. North to Earth, South to Fire, East to Air, West to Water. By presenting each guardian with its representative offering, they believed that the Guardians would grant their petition.
They then returned to the center of this enchanted circle they had created. Tara, fighting the tremors that accompanied such an arduous spell, spoke in a clear voice;
"Guardians, accept our offerings, and grant us our boon.
We seek to know why our fates are entwined.
We seek an audience with the Fates,
With Clothos, the spinner of lives,
With Lachesis, who weaves our lives into the tapestry of existence,
With Atropos, who cuts the thread at the end of life.
We ask their counsel and guidance.
So mote it be!"
The three women stood, hands linked, as Tara finished the incantation. Suddenly, all light fled from their sight, and they were plunged into utter darkness. Their eyes strained to grow accustomed to the dark, when a bright, concentrated beam like a searchlight, stabbed through the darkness at them. They squinted involuntarily, but soon their eyes adapted.
"Who asks to see their fates?" A spectral voice intoned.
"W-we do," Tara answered. Tara, Willow and Buffy looked around to see the speaker, but no other figure was visible to them. "We need to know how we are bound together?"
"Do you wish to see the threads of your lives?" A pair of enormous hands appeared before them. Long, spindly fingers moved spiderlike, describing intricate patterns. As they moved, Buffy noticed that something was draped across their fingers. A string looped gracefully between the hands, like an impossible complex Cat's Cradle. The hands worked the loop across back and forth, creating ever more esoteric designs. At one point, Buffy thought that the loops formed an image like three stick figures holding hands. A sign of the three of them, Buffy thought. Or else the Fates were really big on 'The Blair Witch Project'.
"Behold, champions of the Light," the voice boomed. Buffy noticed by now that it was not one voice, but three speaking in unison. As the voices spoke, the hands moved directly over them, and the string draped around them. "Look upon the threads of your lives. Know why you are bound." Buffy touched the string, and looked closely at it.
It was not a single string, but three, braided tightly together. One red string(she guessed that this meant Willow), plaited with two yellow strings(Tara and herself). Buffy held the string with both hands---
And was suddenly sitting in a rec room on the campus of U.C. Sunnydale. Willow was sitting next to her, a look of stark fear in her features. Buffy opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Suddenly, a hideous presence stalked them from outside. Buffy realized without seeing them who they were; the Gentlemen, those bizarre silent monsters who stole the voices of Sunnydale. She instinctively touched Willow's hand, and somehow, sensed what she had to do. Together, they concentrated, and a vending machine was thrown in front of the door, blocking the Gentlemen from getting in.
Buffy realized that she was living Tara's memories. She witnessed moments from Tara's childhood, how her mother first told her of her heritage as a Wiccan, how she feared her parents' ire when she realized that she was attracted to women, when she first met and lost her heart to Willow. When she saw the look in Willow's eyes whenever she spoke about Buffy.
How that look would fill Tara with sadness, even though she was confidant of Willow's love.
And how Tara found herself looking longingly at Buffy.
She opened her eyes, and found herself back in the circle, watching the other two looking back at her. She gulped hard, as their expressions betrayed shock and dismay. "Guys?" Buffy asked, "did any of you just see the Gentlemen?"
"No," Tara said, "but I can guess what you saw. You saw the Gentlemen from our point of view?"
"Yeah," Buffy said. "Well, yours anyway, Tara."
Tara nodded. "I saw through Willow's eyes," she admitted. "From Halloween, last year. When you faced the Fear God, and the two of you fought? I could feel your anger, Willow. Your sorrow, your fear of losing Buffy's friendship and love."
"Yes," Willow added. "I saw from her eyes as well. When I first told you, Buffy, about Tara." She shivered as she spoke, realization slowly dawning on her face. "When you and Xander confronted me, when I accused you guys of not being able to accept Tara as my girlfriend. I thought that it was just because I was with a girl, but now..." She glanced at Tara, who nodded.
Willow then took Buffy's hands in her own, and asked, "How long have you been in love with me?"
Buffy gulped. She wanted to lie, to hide, but she couldn't hide, not with these two. "Can't you tell," she snapped at them. "I mean, we're swapping memories, I thought you could read my mind as well!"
"No, Buffy," Willow answered calmly. "Just your emotions. But I still need to know, Buffy. How long have you loved me?"
"From the first day I met you, Willow," Buffy answered. "And that doesn't mean loving you as in being a friend. That means being hopelessly in love with you, wanting to touch you, to make love to you, to simply be around you, the whole chimichunga. But you have Tara now, I'm not going to get involved with that, I can't take you away from her, I love her too much--"
Tara looked at Buffy, silently, knowingly. "I know." Willow nodded as Tara spoke.
Buffy just looked at the two of them incredulously. She prayed that Tara misunderstood her, but feared that she didn't. She jerked her hands away from Willow's and said, "Look, Willow, Tara, this isn't going to work. I'm sorry, but I don't know what the hell I'm thinking or feeling, I'm in love with two women who are in love with each other, I have no idea how that happened, I'm sorry, but I screwed this up big-time!" Turning to walk away, she said, "I need to get away for a few hours. To figure stuff out. I don't know when I'll be back, Willow, don't bother waiting up." She ran off, away from the witches.
Willow considered reaching out to stop Buffy from running, but Tara stopped her. "Let her burn off her anguish, Willow," Tara consoled her beloved. "You can feel her pain from here, her torment. She thinks somehow that she betrayed us, when we know better."
"Yeah, but how can we help her see that?" Willow lamented. "I love her so much, Tara. I love you both. Is that wrong?"
"No, Willow," Tara smiled. "If we are bound together for the long haul, as the vision indicated, it isn't wrong at all. Besides, she can feel our emotions as well. Let her feel our calm, our concern, our love for her. She'll calm down, then we can speak to her."
"Our love," Willow pondered. She should have been shocked to hear this from Tara, but somehow, once she thought about it, it just seemed right. "C'mon, Tara," Willow took her hand and moved forward, in the direction Buffy went, "we'll be there when she cools down."
The two wiccans knew that their lives from this moment were never going to be the same. And that didn't scare them.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Damn, damn, DAMN!" Buffy cursed herself as she stormed toward Whetherly Park. She hoped that there'd be some vampires in the vicinity, she needed to work off her anger, and some undead punching bags would be ideal for the purpose.
She knew that she had done possibly irreparable damage to her friendship with Willow. How could she love her, especially after that performance she just gave? She had Tara, they were good together, how did Buffy have the right to interfere?
And how could she feel as attracted to Tara at the same time?
"Great, Buffy," she swore to herself. "Fall in love with two women you can't have, because they're involved with each other." She allowed her self-recrimination to fester inside of her soul, until she wanted to lash out at anything that moved. Realizing that she was a potential walking time-bomb, she tried to calm herself. She tried to ignore her self-hatred. She tried to center herself, to calm herself down.
"Hey, Buffy," an all-too familiar voice greeted her. She spun around, to see Riley Finn step out from behind a tree.
"I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again," Buffy growled, adopting a defensive stance. Something felt wrong about Riley. Something nasty--
"Hey, Buffy," the ex-soldier smiled at her. "I think that we have something worth salvaging. I want us to work."
"We don't work, asswipe," Buffy glowered at her former boyfriend. "There is nothing about you that I would salvage. I want you out of my life, Riley. Go!"
Riley suddenly grabbed Buffy by the arm, forcing Buffy to fight him. "Do I gotta get a restraining order? 'Cause I'll do it! It's over between us!"
"Y'see, that's where you're wrong," Riley snarled at Buffy, his face contorting into features Buffy saw all too often. The enlarged brow, the feral glow of the eyes, the fangs. Riley had been Turned.
"It's not over between us, Buffy," Riley continued, as Buffy managed to free her arm from his grip. "I've changed. And once I show you how much I've changed, I'm sure you'll agree that it's for the better." Riley stalked toward Buffy, grinning a feral grin. "You're going to make an incredible vampire, lover."
As Vamp-Riley stalked closer to Buffy, she let out an exasperated sigh, and muttered to herself, "The end of a perfect day!"