<see Part 1 for disclaimers>

Afterlife

Red Moon Series, Book 9

Frau Hunter Ash

www.hunterash.com

Part 2

Summary: Having agreed to work magic to bring back their missing members, the gang must gather the necessary items and get the timing right. Then there's the matter of holding off the demons wanting that energy.

Rating: PG13

Credits: Original script Written by Marti Noxon and David Fury

Transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com ).
Transcriber's Notes:

· I do not own the characters or situations of BTVS, and I claim no credit for the content of this episode. I have merely transcribed what appeared on my screen, with help from the closed captions.

· I prefer that you link to this transcript on the Psyche site rather than post it on your site, but you can post it on your site if you want, as long as you keep my name and email address on it. Please also keep my disclaimers intact.

· You can use my transcripts in your fanfiction stories; you don't have to ask my permission. (However, if you use large portions of episode dialogue in your fanfic, I recommend you give credit to the person who wrote the episode.)

I apologize in advance for my lame transcription of the fight scenes. I don't know the names of different punches and kicks. Use your imagination.

# # #

The next day the gang was sitting in the common area of the Magic Box. A sign on the front door said "Closed Early, Please Come Back Tomorrow and Spend Money - Anya."

Willow sat holding a small urn, Buffy and Tara on either side of her and Ethan in a chair across from Xander and Anya. The redhaired witch looked up, her face one of disbelief.

"An urn of Osiris, I can't believe you found one," she said softly.

Anya beamed under the praise.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy. I went through every supplier the Magic Box has," she grinned.

Willow looked back up in alarm. "You used a Magic Box supplier? What if Joyce finds out when she looks over the books?"

"Not like she would know what an urn of Osiris is to be used for," Ethan countered.

"Besides, I ended up getting it on E-Bay," Anya added.

"You found the last known urn of Osiris on E-Bay?" Tara asked the former demon, her voice reflecting her surprise.

"Yeah," Anya nodded. "From this desert gnome in Cairo. He drove a really hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox for…"

Xander coughed nervously, squeezing her hand.

"A friend," Anya finished her sentence.

Buffy, Willow and Tara pretended not to notice his discomfort. Ethan, however, couldn't help but smirk once.

"So, Will, you got your somber on, is the urn not up to spec?" Xander asked anxiously.

Willow studied the urn with a frown and looked up.

"It's the one. Which means it's time, tonight."

Xander blinked. "Tonight? It's time? Like *time* time? With the timeliness? We mess with the magic mojo tonight?"

"Are you sure?" Anya asked softly.

Ethan nodded and sat up, paying closer attention to the group around him.

"Mercury's in retrograde, and we have…" Tara turned to Willow. "Do we have everything?"

"Just about, I'll get the rest in an hour or so and meet you guys at the graveyard?" Willow nodded, getting up and carefully placing the urn in her bag.

Buffy frowned and stood up, going to Willow and hugging her from behind.

"You okay, lover?" Buffy asked softly.

"Yeah, just… nervous," Willow smiled, relaxing in Buffy's arms and smiling at Tara.

"How dangerous is it for you guys?" Buffy asked while Xander and Ethan began debating about whether the magic they would be calling on was positive or negative.

"Kinda serious stuff," Willow sighed and leaned back into the Slayer's arms, letting Buffy nuzzle her neck.

"As serious as calling the lycanthropy stuff onto you?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Willow admitted. "The gods might find me unworthy to lead the ritual and they can get… unpleasant."

"You worried because of the werewolf stuff?" Buffy sighed and moved them a little away from the others. "You know your pack at Lupercallia says you probably would have found your wolf-side even without the ritual."

"Yeah, but I intentionally called on bad guys to let me have your curse," Willow countered. "Could be bad stuff might make me unworthy to do the ritual."

"Can Tara lead it?" Buffy asked, her voice gentle.

"Even with the Goddess giving her blessing that time and channeling through her, Tara still has a lot of doubts," Willow explained, glancing over at their other wife. "Any kind of doubt about channeling that kind of power and you'll get zapped."

"You're more than worthy to get Giles back," Buffy said firmly, hugging Willow again. "What's the last ingredient you need?"

"Don't worry about it, it's just kinda hard to get and it'll help me decide for certain if I'm the one to lead the ritual," Willow smiled. "I'll be back before nightfall."

Buffy hugged her once more and returned to Tara and the others. She mentally noticed Willow shutting off the connection between them. The Slayer frowned.

# # #

Willow sat quietly next to a pond at the bottom of the woods. The bright sun shining down made living in Sunnydale almost surreal in what they were facing later in the evening.

"Adonai, Helomi, Pine," she intoned softly as she poured some liquid from a pot onto the ground as offering.

"Adonai, Helomi, Pine," she repeated. "The gods do command thee from thy majesty." She put the lid back on the jar and put it aside. "O Mappa Laman, Adonai, Helomi. Come forward, blessed one, know your calling." she intoned.

Willow looked around, almost anxiously. She smiled and motioned to the fawn to approach her.

"Come forward, blessed one," she entreated.

The fawn walked over to her and Willow petted it gently, placing an arm around the deer's back. She knew such a skittish and wild creature would never let a human touch it like this.

Knowing this is what she was looking for, Willow quickly grabbed a knife from the blanket beside her and thrust into the chest and then slashed across the deer's throat. The wolf inside delighted in the smell of the blood but the gentle young woman bit back a sense of revulsion and felt the tears falling down her cheeks.

"Accept our humble gratitude for your offering. In death… you give life. May you find wings to the kingdom."

Willow sealed the pot and gently wept.

# # #

Xander looked up, sighing with relief when Willow entered the shop. "You get it?"

"Yeah," Willow had changed clothes and managed to smile.

"What is vino de madre anyway?" Xander asked, glancing once again at the clock.

"Wine of the mother," she responded. "Kind of… some black market stuff."

"Black market?" Tara asked, looking up quickly. "You didn't tell me that. You shouldn't have gone alone, it could have been dangerous."

"I'm sorry," Willow smiled and walked over to hug her wife. "I was careful. Where's Buffy and Ethan?"

"Getting something of Giles and Dawn for the focus of the ritual," Tara explained.

"Black market. Must have been pretty intense. The black market's all baby teeth and spooky fluids," Any commented.

"Well, if the ritual works, then I don't care where I got the ingredients," Willow said firmly. "It doesn't feel right without Giles here. Why are we hanging around anyway?"

"It just felt weird hanging out on our own," Xander explained.

"It's better if we stay together," Tara added.

Willow reached out and took Tara's hand, leading her to the comfortable sofa. "Aw, you got butterflies, baby?"

"More like bats," Tara tried to joke.

"You want to look at the money?" Anya suggested. "I find it always calms me."

"No, thanks, it's okay," Tara smiled at the former demon.

"You tell those bats everything is going to be all right, I promise. We couldn't be more prepared."

"Or scared," Xander muttered.

# # #

Buffy looked down at the pair of glasses she was holding and tried to fight back another round of tears. Ethan was holding Dawn's diary. None of them had read or even opened it since the young girl's death or kinda death.

Ethan saw her expression and nodded. "They are rather… Rupert, aren't they? He hated them when he was Ripper. Now they suit him."

"This is going to work, right?" Buffy asked once more.

"It has to," Ethan said firmly. "He's not meant to be in that godforsaken world. I'll even put up with him wanting to stay with your lot."

"Careful, you'll never taste my Mom's pot roast if you keep that up," Buffy said softly.

"Oh the horror!" Ethan exclaimed.

# # #

Buffy glanced at the scene in the graveyard with a frown of worry. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Ethan were sitting in a semi circle around Giles and Dawn's graves. Ethan sitting between the graves with Giles' glasses and Dawn's diary.

Buffy couldn't think of anything more personal than Giles' glasses or a young teenage girl's diary. It had to work.

The Slayer mentally shut down her connection to Tara and Willow. She hated doing it but they had insisted. Willow was going to need absolute concentration and from the sound of rumbling in the distance, Buffy was going to have a fight on her hands.

The Slayer lifted her sword and trotted towards the graveyard gates.

# # #

"Does everybody have their candles?" Willow asked, her voice anxious.

"I'm trying! My lighter won't stay lit," Anya complained and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"Well, hurt, it has to…" Willow started to scold.

"What time is it?" Tara asked, cutting in.

"A minute until midnight," Xander responded, checking his watch.

"Come on, Anya, do you have it?" Willow urged.

"I got it! I got it!" Anya exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Okay, we start the circle now," Willow announced and they all kneel, all holding candles except Ethan and Willow. The witch holding the urn of Osiris and Ethan the personal items.

Running through a quick ritual circle formation, Willow took a jar and poured some of the deer blood into the urn of Osiris. Followed by more items from baggies, she mixed the ingredients together and dipped her finger inside. Xander blinked as his friend marked her forehead and both cheeks with blood.

"Before time, and after. Before knowing and nothing," Willow intoned.

She poured the contents of the urn onto the earth.

"Accept our offering, know our prayer," Ethan added.

Anya squeaked when Willow's head snapped back and the witch began panting. Xander's eyes widened when her arms thrust out to her sides and deep ugly gashes began bleeding on her arms.

"Willow!" Xander yelled, beginning to reach for his friend.

"No!" Tara said, sitting up and holding him back. "S-she told me s-she'd be tested. This is supposed to happen."

"Osiris!" Willow shouted. "Here lies a warrior and ward of the people! Let them cross over."

Ethan winced in pain along with Willow, his own arms showing the same reactions. The others could see blood running from the cuts on sorcerer and witch's arms. Round shapes, like cockroaches, moved to the surface of the skin and began moving and running up and down the arms.

"They need help!" Xander yelled as the sounds of motorcycles got closer.

"They're strong! Willow said not to stop, no matter what. If we break the cycle now, it's over," Tara urged.

"Oh God, what is that noise?" Anya asked anxiously.

# # #

Buffy sat on the wall of the graveyard next to the gates with a frown. She could see people screaming in fear as demons on motorcycles began roaring through the downtown area. The rumbling noise continues, becoming louder and louder. The demons drive over cars, through curbside restaurant tables, and over people.

The Slayer jumped down to the sidewalk when one demon grabbed a woman and threw her over his gas tank, disappearing into the night.

Other demons were throwing garbage can through shop windows and assaulting cars with baseball bats and bike chains. One demon followed through with a Molotov cocktail through a store window.

# # #

"Osiris! Let them cross over!" Willow shouted before screaming from the pain.

Ethan gritted his teeth, Giles' glasses snapping unnoticed in his hands as the things moving under his and Willow's skin, began moving towards the sorcerer and witch's neck.

Together they fell over, obviously choking as the things reached their necks.

"Oh my God, oh God," Tara whimpered, clutching Xander's hand while Anya clung to him on the other side.

"It's a test, it's a test," Tara repeated. "Willow?"

Willow and Ethan clutched at the ground, both dropping what they had been holding. Willow screamed before choking again.

Xander's mind refused to accept the image of a snake emerging from the mouth of his best friend and sometime enemy, Willow and Ethan.

"Willow?" Tara whispered. "It's part of the test."

# # #

Buffy swung the sword, taking a demon's head off and spun, impaling another one through the chest as he swung a baseball bat as he rode by. Losing her sword, Buffy grabbed up the bat and continued swinging, blocking the way to the graveyard.

A biker demon, obviously a leader of sorts, stopped near the graveyard gates, eying the Slayer. A huge, ugly creature with Horned Lizard-like skin and protrusions, he laughed unpleasantly as he raised a heavy pipe and gunned his motorcycle towards the Slayer.

Buffy ducked his first pass and whacked him across the back as he went past her. She spun and hit another demon but felt something hit her across the lower back. The Slayer winced and spun again, taking out the demon that hit her with something shiny.

"Razor! She's strong!" one of the demons shouted.

Razor, the leader, laughed again and spun his motorcycle around, heading right for the young woman blocking their path from the energy source.

# # #

Willow was panting and Ethan looked unconscious when the demons burst into the graveyard. Xander, Anya and Tara jumped to their feet, grabbing baseball bats into their hands.

"Protect Will and Ethan!" Xander shouted as the bikes began riding around the small group.

Razor stopped near them and laughed. "You think you can stop us? You've already lost one!" He pulled an apparently unconscious Buffy up from over his gas tank and dropped her to the ground.

"No!" Xander shouted and started towards the demon and Slayer.

One of the other demons ran his motorcycle between the graves, almost running over Ethan and shattering the urn of Osiris.

"No!" Willow screamed and fell to the ground.

"Tara, grab Ethan! Anya, help me with Willow!" Xander shouted, swinging at a demon and knocking it off a motorcycle. Xander scrambled closer and pounded the demon's head until it stopped moving. He ran over and helped Anya get a semi-conscious Willow to her feet as Tara helped a shaken Ethan.

"We can't stop now!" Ethan shouted.

"We're done!" Xander shouted back, swinging one handed with the bat at a demon. "Buffy's down!"

Tara screamed when a demon grabbed her, dragging her behind his motorcycle while laughing.

"Bloody bastard!" Ethan shouted angrily and pointing his hands at the demon. "Incendium!"

The demon burst into flames and he let go of Tara's hair. The sorcerer ran up to her, checking her over.

"I'm alright, just lost a handful of hair," Tara said, shooing him away. "Get Buffy and Willow safe."

Xander fell backwards away from Willow and Anya squeaked when a bright ball of light hit between the graves and spread out, knocking everyone off their feet or off motorcycles.

When Xander's eyes cleared he saw two figures standing in the bright light, both holding swords.

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