Title: Repercussions: Duty 3/7
Author: Jadedragon
Email: blm55@bellsouth.net
Disclaimer: Not mine, Buffy and company belong to Josh, Mutant Enemy and the WB and UPN
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Sequel to Repercussions: Why? Dealing with the Curse
Thanks: I want to again thank, Aleta. A wonderful beta, who always makes my stories just that much better with her suggestions and ideas.

"Buffy, calm down. Ethan is here to help," Giles tried to settle down his Slayer.

"His `help' last time almost led to me killing you! Why is he here?" she demanded.

"Ethan is… ah, Brianna is his sister…"

"And a partner in the shop in London?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Buffy. Sit down and shut up. Ethan is helping and we must discuss what we have learned," Giles told his Slayer in no uncertain terms. "Brianna, would you be so kind as to explain what we have discovered about the curse on Willow?" Giles asked his friend as he sat down heavily.

"Giles, what's wrong? Why are you so tired? You're not sick are you?" Dawn asked in panic. <He can't be sick! >

"Dawn, I'm okay, I just haven't had enough rest from all of the magick use. I'll be fine once I can get some more sleep," he assured the young girl.

"Buffy, when we talked with Willow earlier, I discovered what had happened to Willow that took her so far into the darker magicks. Do you remember when she cast the spell to give Angel his soul back?" Brianna asked her. When Buffy nodded, she continued. "Once Angelus removed the sword and the vortex was opened, Acathla's spirit escaped into the hell dimension and sought out another host. Once he found another body to inhabit, he placed a curse on Willow because the spell she cast stopped him from accomplishing his goal. The curse caused Willow to pull magick into her, the pull increasing with each casting. Any dark casting further multiplied the pull of magicks into her body. This pull kept increasing until when Tara was killed, Willow was able to pull the magick from Osiris' messenger. No human can do that without demonic help. It was the curse that allowed her to pull the dark magick, which then took over and kept finding more magick to siphon off until she was driven, by the dark magicks and the curse, to try and destroy the world. It was only the magick that we imbued your Watcher with and Xander's love that were able to reach the real Willow buried deep under the dark magicks."

"Then Willow's innocent!" Dawn started.

"No. Every magick user is responsible for their actions, whether their own or under someone else's direction. When Willow realized she was in trouble, she could have reached out and gotten help, but she didn't, so a human died because of it. Willow will still have to face the consequences of her actions. But that is not why we needed you here. The body that Acathla inhabited and still inhabits is one of the two Hell Gods that Glorificus ruled with." Brianna stopped and let what she said sink.

"Will he come after me?" Dawn asked, remembering her fears while she was standing on the scaffolding, thinking that she was going to die.

"I don't think so, Dawn. But we need to use some of your power to strengthen the protection spells on this house and on Willow."

"I don't know how to do magick, and I don't want to!" < I don't want to become like Willow! >

"Dawn is not going to be casting any spells!" Buffy stated, supporting her sister's wishes.

"Dawn won't be casting any spells." Giles told Buffy as he turned to her. "What Brianna proposes is to use some of the energy that makes Dawn `the Key' to strengthen the spells. Dawn will not be using any magick, I would not allow her to."

"Will it hurt?" Dawn asked in a scared voice.

"Dawn, it will feel like you're a little tired and after a good night's sleep you'll be fine." Brianna told the young girl who was starting to yawn.

"That sounds okay. Is that okay Buffy?" she asked her sister.

"Giles, is it safe for Dawn?" Buffy wanted to be sure that her sister would not be harmed.

"Buffy, it's like Brianna said, Dawn will be a little tired, that's all. And I think that she needs to get back to bed," the Watcher observed.

"Dawn, I'll take you to your room. Rupert wants to speak with Buffy for a moment." Brianna told her as she guided the young girl to the other side of the room toward the staircase leading to the west wing, on the opposite side of the house from Willow.

Once Dawn and Brianna had left the room Buffy turned to her Watcher. "Are you really alright? You look so tired!"

"Buffy, I'll be fine, really." Giles assured the woman he had come to love.

"What are we going to do about Acathla?"

"We don't know yet, we just discovered the connection a short while ago, just before I called you. We don't know the significance of it yet. We still have some more research to do and there are several covens that Ethan will be contacting for help. It may be several days before we know more. Why don't you join Dawn and go to bed?" < I wish I could go to bed with you. >

"Giles, can I talk to you, alone?" Buffy asked him, pointedly looking toward Ethan.

"Buffy, you can trust him."

"But I don't and this concerns Dawn!" she emphatically informed her Watcher.

"It's okay, Rupert. I need to make those phone calls anyway. I'll let you know what I find out." Ethan told them as he left the room.

As Giles turned to Buffy, he could see that she was really concerned about Dawn. "Buffy, don't worry, Dawn will be fine she'll just be a little tired."

"No, it's not about the spells or using her power. Giles, I think that Dawn is becoming a Slayer," Buffy rushed out the sentence, not knowing how else to tell him.

"What? Why do you think that?" he asked as she sat beside him.

"When the fireball Willow sent after Jonathan and Andrew exploded, it created a pit in the graveyard about thirty feet deep. Dawn fell in and I jumped in after her. When I fell, two swords fell in with me. Willow spoke to me by telepathy and sent some kind of earth demons to attack us. Dawn had been asking to go on patrol with me, so I asked her to guard my back and gave her the second sword. Giles, she fought like a Slayer. She said that she had been watching my moves, but it was more than that. Then today while we were cleaning up at the Magic Box, she was moving things that Xander couldn't lift. What's happening? I don't want her to be a Slayer, Giles. I want my sister to have a normal life." Buffy cried, tears seeping from her eyes.

Giles took his Slayer into his arms. "Buffy, I'll find out why this happened. Please stop crying." He pleaded. < I can't stand to see her cry. >

"Giles, I'm sorry. I guess that everything has gotten to me."

"Buffy, you don't have to explain to me. You've been through more these past two years than most people go through in ten." He told her, as he continued holding her. "Buffy, I just remembered something, the monk said that they made Dawn out of you, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, wondering where he was going with that.

"How soon after your fifteenth birthday did you become the Slayer?"

"About two months…Dawn's birthday was three months ago. A month ago is when she started asking to go on patrol with me." Buffy told him, astonishment on her face as it dawned on her what he was telling her. "So you think…"

"That she's been a Slayer since last month," Giles finished her sentence for her.

"Giles, what are we going to do? Will the Council come for her?" she asked fear in her eyes.

"I don't think so. Remember, she was made from you, so she came into her Slayer abilities at the same time that you did. She wasn't called because a Slayer died, but because the person she was replicated from, was a Slayer," he clarified his thoughts on the situation to her.

"So what do we do?"

"First, we both get some rest, then we test her. I want to know the extent of her abilities. If she was copied as completely as I believe, they should be about the same as yours were when we first met." Giles told the woman in his arms.

"Giles, you always make me feel better," she told him as she got up from the couch.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" Brianna asked as she reentered the room.

"Yes, I better get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Buffy said as she followed Brianna to the suite she would be sharing with Dawn.

**********

Willow was working on the list when Ellen entered her room from the hallway. Ellen explained to her that she would only be allowed to wear natural fabrics while she stayed with the coven. Willow was told that most of the coven lived either here in the house with Brianna and Ethan or near by. At the moment several were living in London working at the shop while Bri, Ethan and Rupert were here.

"Ellen, what will happen to me?" she asked the woman.

"Willow, it's up to the Court. What you did was unconscionable, but I don't believe that you were in your right mind when it happened. If you continue to answer all our questions, as fully and truthfully as you did earlier, I feel that everything will work out. I'm not saying that you won't face some serious penalties, you will, but everything will be okay in the end."

"I wasn't thinking. I just wanted someone to pay for Tara's death. It was like a dark part of me took over, the rage took over," Willow admitted.

"I understand anger at losing someone you care about. Did Bri tell mention her partner, Renee?" the woman asked in a sad voice.

"Yes. She told me that she died in an automobile accident."

"Renee was my daughter, my only child. I was so angry with the driver of the other car that I was tempted to use magick to avenge her death. If I had, I would have destroyed myself and Renee would never have wanted that. Willow when you are blessed with magickal abilities you have a duty to use those powers with forethought, not to react as you did after Tara's death."

"I realize that now. But it was like I couldn't think. It was like something had taken control. I needed more and more energy and kept drawing that energy from wherever I could find it. I couldn't stop."

"That's why dark magicks should only be used as a last resort and then only with through research before hand. It is very easy to get trapped in the dark magicks," Ellen told the young girl.

"I know that, now that it's too late," Willow said with self-hatred in her voice, tears starting to fall down her face.

"Willow, it's never too late to feel remorse for our actions and try to make amends for those same actions," Ellen assured Willow as she took the distraught young woman into her arms.

"I don't know where to start!" Willow cried.

"Willow, you've already started. By coming here of your own free will you made the first step and by answering our questions you made the second. Keeping doing what you've been doing and everything will go easier for you. I know that it will be hard, but we are here to help you face whatever the Court decides," Ellen assured the woman crying in her arms. She let Willow cry for a few minutes before she let go of her. "Willow, I have to leave, there are several things that have to be done. I'll have to leave you here, locked in your room. There is a television and a computer for your use. The computer is not hooked up to the Internet; I believe that you know why. Bri would like for you to write down everything you remember since Tara's death. Your feelings, what you did, what ever you remember. Can you do that?"

"I'll try. It's still so hard to believe that I'll never see her again."

"I know, but writing it down may help you get through your grief. It helped me after Renee's death." Ellen said as she left Willow alone and went to prepare the suite for Dawn and Buffy who would be arriving in about 25 minutes.

**********

After Buffy's startling revelation about Dawn, Giles had a hard time trying to get back to sleep. This was a situation that had never occurred to his knowledge and he wanted to research. When Ethan found him in the library, he was promptly marched to his room with orders not to come out for at least another 24 hours. Ethan then placed a sleeping spell on the Watcher to insure that he got the rest that he needed.

Ethan continued helping Brianna reach various covens throughout the British Isles. They had found a little more information on the Hell Gods that had ruled with Glorificus and about Acathla. The Hell God that Acathla had possessed was fairly easy going as Hell Gods go, he never made decisions on his own; he let the others do it for him. He was more interested in carrying out punishments and enforcing whatever the other two decreed, a perfect choice for Acathla to possess.

During the next 24 hours Ethan, Bri and Ellen continued researching, contacting other covens and taking care of their guests. Giles and Willow both slept most of the time, healing and resting, exhaustion finally catching up with them. Buffy and Dawn rested and adjusted to the time change. They spent some time in the gardens surrounding the mansion; the place was to die for. Once they found the maze, they played hide and seek, each trying to find the other before their opponent reached the center. Buffy couldn't remember a time when she had been so carefree, it was wonderful.

Buffy paid close attention to Dawn as they chased each other through the maze. She could sense her sister using Slayer powers. Once Giles was awake, she would discuss it with him and they would test Dawn and tell her what was happening. <How was Dawn going to take this? Asking to go with her on patrol was one thing, being a Slayer was a whole different matter with duties I don't know if Dawn will understand. >

**********

Xander and Anya had finished clearing away the debris in the shop. In the morning, Xander had a crew coming to start rebuilding the store as he supervised. He and Anya had worked well together over the last couple of days; it had seemed like old times, before he had left her at the altar. He was gathering his stuff, getting ready to leave when Anya asked to talk to him.

"Xander, if I ask you something will you tell me the truth?" Anya asked, a little fear in her voice.

Xander looked at the woman he still loved, "Anya, I'll always tell you the truth."

"Why did you leave me? Was it something I did?"

"No, Anya, it was me."

"You? Are you saying you don't love me?"

"No, I'm saying that I love you too much," Xander finally admitted.

"Too much? Then why did you leave me at the altar?" she asked, anger creeping into her voice.

"Anya, let's sit down and I'll try to explain what I mean." Xander took her hand and led her into the training room. They made their way to the couch, walking through the piles of merchandise that they had managed to salvage from the destruction of the shop. He motioned for her to sit down and sat beside her taking her hand in his.

"Anya, I love you, I truly do. The demon that interrupted the wedding had come to me earlier and shown me a horrible future where I drank too much and abused you. I treated you like my father treats my mother. I love you so much. I didn't want a future like that for you. Then, after Buffy defeated the demon, I saw my parents fighting, they always fight, but in my mind I saw them as us. In the last scene the demon showed me, I hit you with a frying pan. An, I think I killed you! I became my father and I killed the one person that I love most in the world." Xander looked up into Anya's eyes, tears flowing down his face. When he saw her eyes, he saw her tears, also flowing, along with the love he had never thought to see again.

"Xander, that's stupid. You are so not your father." Anya stopped seeing the hurt look on Xander's face. "I'm not saying this right. Xander, I still love you. It hurt so much when I thought you didn't love me anymore."

"I'll never stop loving you, An, remember that."

"So, you still love me?"

"Yes, with all my heart."

"Can I move back in?" she asked in a hesitant voice.

"Yes, An," he told her as he took her into his arms, holding her, so thankful to have her back in his life.

**********

Giles had finally woken up and Buffy was sitting at the dining room table with him while he ate breakfast. As he ate, she told him about the garden and how she and Dawn had played hide and seek in the maze.

"I've always loved that maze. It's one of the better ones that I've seen," he told his Slayer.

"While we were playing, I sensed that Dawn was using Slayer powers to find me. I don't think she realized what she was doing, but I could tell. I did what I could to make it harder for her, but she still found me."

"You've started her training, then?"

"I guess. I didn't realize that was what I was doing."

"Buffy, there are many ways to train a Slayer. Tracking and finding your `prey', as it were, is a very important lesson and you've made a very fine start. Together we can train Dawn to use her new powers to the best of her abilities."

"Powers? What Powers?" Dawn asked as she entered the room and sat on the other side of the Watcher.

Buffy looked at Giles, not sure how to explain to Dawn what they had discovered.

"What? No, don't tell me I'm a witch! I so don't want to be like Willow!" the young girl cried.

"No, Dawn, you're not a witch. That's not the type of power we're talking about," Giles assured her as he looked to Buffy for permission to tell Dawn what they had surmised. When she nodded at him, he continued. "Buffy told me that you helped her defeat the earth demons that Willow sent after you."

"Yeah, that was so cool. I dropped my sword while I was fighting this one demon, but I was able to roll, like I'd seen Buffy do, get my sword back and cut the sucker's head off," she excitedly told him. "Then we climbed up the roots to get out of the hole."

"Yes, Dawn, I get the picture." < Buffy was never this excited about being the Slayer. > "Dawn how were you able to defeat the demon?"

"Like I said, Giles, I cut his head off."

"That's not what I mean. How did you know how to move, how to fight?"

"I've watched Buffy hundreds of times. I just moved like she does."

"Ok, so you've watched Buffy, but how did you have the strength to decapitate a demon with a sword when you had never picked up a sword before?"

Dawn looked at Giles and thought for a moment. "I don't know. I just did what felt right. I guess you could say that I went with my instincts," she said in a puzzled voice. Then something clicked, Dawn looked at Giles and Buffy, "Are you saying that I have powers like a Slayer?"

"No, not like a Slayer. Dawn, I think you are a Slayer," Giles looked at the young girl as what he said sank in.

"I'm a Slayer. Neat! How?"

"I haven't begun researching yet, but I believe that since you were made from Buffy, so to speak, that you became a Slayer like she is."

"What about the Council? I so don't want them telling me who my Watcher will be. I want you to be my Watcher."

"Since you were never called, and no Slayer has died, I don't think we have to worry about the Council, their only concern is that there's an active Slayer and she is doing what she was destined to do, namely slay vampires. Also, since you were created from Buffy, I don't think the Seers at the Council will notice you as a Slayer."

"That's good to know. So when do I get to beat Buffy up?" Dawn asked almost jumping up and down in her seat.

Giles and Buffy looked at each other thinking the same thing, < I think we've created a monster! >

**********

Ethan looked over the information that had been faxed to him by a sorcerer in India, then immediately went to find Bri and Giles. After they were informed about the sorcerer's discoveries they had Ellen bring Willow down to the drawing room. Giles had asked Buffy and Dawn to go their room and stay there until they were sent for. Dawn tried to argue, but Buffy took her sister in hand and removed her from the meeting before Willow joined the group.

"Willow, we have discovered why you were able to draw power from various sources to maintain and increase your power," Brianna started as they sat down.

"How?"

"Acathla placed a curse on you when you prevented him from destroying the world by giving Angel back his soul."

"But Buffy closed the vortex by stabbing Angel."

"That's true, but you were the witch and it was your power he sensed and by cursing you he could achieve his goals at a later date. The curse was such that every time you used your magickal abilities, you began to draw additional magick, which stayed in your body. If the spell was one using dark magick, it further increased the pull of power into your body."

"But I thought Acathla was trapped in stone?"

"When the vortex was opened by Angelus, Acathla's spirit escaped and found another body to inhabit. Once he was in his new body, he cursed you. It was this curse that enabled you to pull power from Osiris' messenger at Tara's death. That was the catalyst that started the final stage of the curse, setting in motion the events that led up to your trying to end the world."

"Then I wasn't in my right mind when this happened?" < Maybe I can get out of this with my magick after all. >

"If you want to put it that way. Willow if you had acted responsibly and spoken with Giles when you realized that you had become addicted to magick, we would have discovered the curse and could have stopped this from happening."

"What are you saying?"

"You haven't even asked what body Acathla chose to inhabit." Bri confronted her.

"Does it matter, I wasn't in my right mind!" her eyes trying to darken with anger.

"Acathla took the body of one of the other Hells Gods that ruled with Glorificus," Bri began.

"I don't care! It wasn't me who tried to kill everyone, it was him, Acathla, the dark magick," she cried, her eyes almost black with the rage building inside of her.

Giles, Ethan, Ellen and Bri all looked at each other, Dark Willow was trying to make an appearance. They had feared that she would try and resist when confronted with the curse.

"Willow, look at me," Giles commanded as he took her by the arms and turned her toward him.. "Remember who you are, you're Willow, not that dark witch who tried to kill her friends." He continued to reach out with his mind to find Willow under the darkness, which was trying to take her over again. It took several minutes, but slowly he reached the young woman he thought of as his daughter.

Willow warily looked at Giles, shaking her head. "What happened? Something in me became so enraged."

"Willow that was part of the curse, It's the dark magick and it will continue to try to take over your body as long as you have magick. It's Acathla trying to manifest and to again try to annihilate this world, which he abhors so greatly. As long as you have magic you will continue to draw magic and power and Acathla will be able to find you and sooner to later, he will succeed!" Giles advised her.

"So you still have to take my magick?" she asked, acceptance on her face."

"Yes, it's the only way to stop the curse and end Acathla's attempts to accomplish his goal," Bri confirmed.

"When?"

"As soon as the rest of the coven arrives."

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