Jan 28th 2018 - 11:18 AM

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Willow glanced up at the glowing golden globe in Mera�s beautifully sculptured hands.  To Will, she looked just like a Goddess of Old, like Aphrodite or Hera, making an offering to the heavens.  But those spinning circles magic in the ruins of Stonehenge were too much like a d�j� vu, when they lost Leigh and then got sucked into the past themselves.  Willow understood they were standing on the cusp of events, once again.  Everything had to proceed like clockwork or they�d all go spinning off into another world of chaos and muddled destinies. 

For once, Will decided to sit this one out.  She wouldn�t lift one magical finger to try to push the needle one way or another.  Truth be told, she didn�t trust herself, or more precisely, she didn�t trust her own magic.  It had always been sort of a battle between Willow and her magic, to see who had the upper hand.  She couldn�t afford to take the chance she might lose this time.  So she just watched from the wings.

And it all went beautifully!  Kat stepped into a swirling vortex of bright, shimmering magic, and when she stepped out, the world was right again!  Well, as right as it was when they left it.  Or maybe it was more accurate to say that the balance had been restored.  This world was rife with evil, but it also had good things like love and hope in abundance. 

�Look!  The Littlest Dragon made the trip!�  Will clapped her hands together in delight, because the miniature dragon was still riding on Mera�s shoulder.  As Will, Mera, Kat, and Giles walked away from Stonehenge towards the tourist parking lot, Will spoke to Mera.  �You know, I mean if you�re not doing anything special, we could always use a Hydrokinetic Queen in Los Angeles.  We have this anti-monster squad and we fight evil wherever it lurks or scuttles away to.  You would fit in marvelously.  Oh!  And we even have beaches!�  Willow continued to cajole and do her best to persuade the lovely Mera to join the team as the foursome faded into the mists of Stonehenge.

 

But in a good and natural way.  Like with real fog!

The End   

Jan 24th 2018 - 2:12 PM

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The relic glowed. It made knots in her stomach. She shivered. �Me?� she had known she had a special destiny. Was this it? Now? It wasn�t what she had pictured. Not that she could have imagined it. She had no idea what she was doing? She had thought she would have had grand wisdom and skill. Even the knowledge from the spring had not prepared her. She took a deep breath thinking I can do this. �Alright�let�s do it,� she shook her head in agreement.

She followed the instructions helping to open the portal. Swirling light lie before her. The deed was done. Mera hands held high was controlling the portal. �Here goes,� she started to take a step, but hesitated. Faced with the knowledge this goes wrong this would be her end. She didn�t want to be over dramatic or voice her fears. Instead she merely turned to her sister with a soft smile, �love you.�

Immediately she turned stepping into the light. The others were gone. She couldn�t see them in this veil. Energy encompassed her. Suddenly she knew everything. All the answers to her questions. Potential she could alter the universe. She could give her life for what some would consider a perfect world. It would end sickness, strife, darkness and evil. The scale would be tipped to one side. She realized it came at a price with varying results. In the end it was a high price that would not provide perpetual happiness.

Her power was not meant to cure the world only to create and protect a balance. It was an eternal fight. Light poured out of her. It reached through space and time. The power altered moments in time that destroyed the natural order of events.

Erwen lost interest in magic before he could cultivate his potential skills. He found happiness in other pursuits. Their presence in the past was forgotten. Her companions were all brought back to their place at Stonehenge. It was 2018. The grass was green, skies blue, and birds tweeting overhead. She reemerge to greet her companions. 

Jan 18th 2018 - 7:56 PM

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Mera lit up like a candle when she saw the Littlest Dragon as Willow liked to think of it.  That made Willow light up too!  �Well then, I bestow upon you, Mera of Atlantis, this small token of my appreciation.  The Littlest Dragon!�  She placed the cute, little animal into Mera�s perfectly-formed, strong but feminine hands.  The dragon purred even more loudly and rubbed its head up against Mera�s thumb.  �It really likes you, too!  Who would have thought a grumpy old dragon who wanted to eat us could turn into something so delightfully adorable!�

But they needed to get down to business.  They needed to untangle the mess the world had been twisted into.  Will took a step outside the cave.  It was actually quite pleasant.  Warm but not too hot.  The blue sky was dotted with big puffy cumulus clouds.  And the woods all around them were green and lush.  The forest looked healthier than at anytime before � in Erwen�s time and in the previous 2017.  Will looked back at her friends and smiled, �The coast is clear.�  The four of them walked down the green, grassy slope to the ruins of Stonehenge.  This version of Stonehenge looked a little worse for wear compared to the ruins Will had approached when all this started, when she�d encountered the Scottish girl, Leigh.

�This is where it all started for us.  We came here to investigate the origins of magic.  We had an EMF meter, which was picking up four to six magical signatures.  I wanted to visualize the signatures better, so I performed a little spell with some silver filings.  Sort of marked each signature with a different color.  There were five signatures swirling around Stonehenge, colored gold, silver, black, red, and green. The two inside layers, black and red, were swirling clockwise, indicating really old, seminal magic, the kind we were here to investigate.  Anyways, there was a girl here.  A Scottish girl named Leigh, who had this amazing magical aura.  She walked onto Stonehenge and got sucked into a magical vortex.  I tried to help her, but in the process, somehow all of us got sucked in and then we were thousands of years in the past, right before Stonehenge was constructed.  Leigh apparently preceded us, because Erwen the Druid told us about her.  But we never found her.�  Something she hadn�t thought about, but Leigh might have been responsible for changing the past.  Will rejected the idea, though.  The girl was an innocent.

 

As they stood there in front of Stonehenge, a low fog streamed over the hill behind the ruins and engulfed them in a knee-high mist.  The temperature must have dropped 15 degrees too.  Then those five swirling colors of magic became visible on the ruins, the inner two swirling clockwise.  �Umm, yeah, it was just like that.�  Will�s anxiety level just ticked up a few notches.

Jan 10th 2018 - 6:28 PM

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Will really liked the way Mera smirked.  It wasn�t a condescending smirk, or a I gotcha kind of smirk.  It was playful, unpretentious, and relaxed.  Just as Will imagined this woman to be.  That is, if one could be relaxed and playful in a world full of dragons and monsters and other bad things.  And to think that Will, Giles, and Kat had apparently made the world all backwards and chaosy!  Fertile ground for monsters!  Well, they certainly didn�t do it intentionally!  Will decided she needed to make that point to Mera.

 

�We�re like really, really sorry we messed things up!  Back in our world, our version of 2017, we�re the good guys!�  Most of the time, anyway, when Angel wasn�t Angelus, and when Will wasn�t all black eyes and hair, flaying people.  Of course, it had been a long time since she�d flayed anyone.  Still, she had to admit, every once in a while the gang kind of went off the tracks. �I think what actually happened is that, umm, we� or actually me, kind of helped a Druid by the name of Erwen with a few simple spells.  Maybe helped him a little too much.�  Giles had warned her about that.  �Nothing complicated, of course, just some transmogrification.  And, well, he watched us assemble a flux capacitor for time travel.�  That flux capacitor should have made the trip with them, but hadn�t.  Did it stay behind in Erwen�s world, and if so, what did the Druid do with it?

 

The dragon tramped by the entrance to the cave, apparently still intent on eating all of them.  They needed to get to the ruins of Stonehenge so they could fix what went wrong.  Hmmm.  An idea came to Will.  Transmogrification!  She had of course, just been thinking about transmogrification and how to implement those spells!  She picked up a fist full of sand from the floor of the cave and mumbled the following words: �Fie ca aceasta sa devina nisipurile schimbarii, sa fie mai mici.�  The sand in her palm turned a kaleidoscope of colors and began sparkling.  The dragon walked by again and Will threw the sand at the dragon�s big feet. �Mai Mic!�

The dragon shrunk to the size of an ordinary lizard, like maybe 8 inches long, tail and all.  Will scooped it up in her hand and stroked its scaly head.  The little lizard started to purr.  �Look at how cute he is!�

Dec 27th 2017 - 1:49 PM

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Kat stared at Willow. Her sister was rambling to the stranger. She was a world of information that probably should have remained reserved. Especially the part about her being rooted in darkness. Although there was a chance this woman already knew that. Did she blush? She could have sworn she seen her blush. Plus her heart was racing. Then there was a change in the energy around her. Willow appeared to be infatuated.

�Stonehenge?� It figured. They seemed to be continuously going in circles this adventure. �You�re in luck,� she led the woman to the cavern entrance. Across the field Stonehenge was visible. The only problem was the environment. Dragons and other unusual creatures of fantasy roamed the grounds.

The fire breathing dragon that had pushed them back into the caves walked past. His scaly feet slapping across the cold hard earth before them. �I could try to do a protection spell over the rocks. It would be like a protective bubble. Use some fire balls to push the dragons back until we can get across,� she tossed out the ideas for a plan.

�I may not be able to maintain the protections and use the relic to undo this mess. We may be exposed,� she needed help, but was uncertain how much the others could delve out. 

Dec 20th 2017 - 12:43 PM

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Mera was like movie star beautiful, and Will could tell there�d been no magical help, no glamouring to improve her beauty.  It�s just what it was.  Will imagined her in one of those action flicks, totting a bad attitude and a sawed-off shotgun.

And maybe she was capable of kicking ass.  Living in this strange new world with dragons and probably all sorts of other baddies, she no doubt had learned to get by.  Except Will figured that instead of a shotgun, she probably used her mojo, which was almost certainly more effective. 

Will moved in a little closer to examine the Atlantian relic.  Kat was looking at it too, and tapped it with her finger.  Metallic, but clearly imbued with power - it radiated off the thing like heat waves off the Saharan sands.  Willow glanced up at the woman who called herself Mera.  She had the clearest, sea blue eyes Will had ever seen, eyes with the depth of the sea, through which untold mysteries plied those crystalline waters, barely glimpsed and yet real and tangible.  What Willow saw caused her thoughts to muddle. �My name is��  she shook her head, �Willow!  I�m Kat�s sister.  We�re like two peas in a pod.  Facsimiles, analogues.  Well, except she�s brunette and I�m redhead, and she�s a half angel and a good witch whereas my power is rooted in darkness.  And well� I guess we�re really not all that similar after all.�  She was babbling.  Mera had her babbling like a fool. 

�Oh, and this is Rupert Giles!�  She waved her old friend over.  �Watcher extraordinaire and keeper of The Books.  Like all the Books.  Giles is book guy.�  Babbling again.  �But that�s neither here nor there.  We want to help in any way we can.  Is this really 2017?  Did we manage to muck things up this badly?�  Something howled outside.  It sounded like a werewolf except bigger.  Much bigger than the comparably cute wolfie that Oz would turn into.  �And are you from under the deep dark ocean?  From Atlantis? An Atlantian?�  Will believed Mera�s remarkable eyes said yes, yes she was. 

Dec 18th 2017 - 4:12 PM

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Bright ambient hues exuded Mera�s aura. It was devoid of dark or muddled colors. The few thoughts the angel was able to sift through were sincere. A few others were well umm amusing. Not a cat? Or a ball of fur?  

�Atlantis?� the only one she knew of existed in fictional tales. Furthermore this woman was a queen that knew about their meddling. �We didn�t mean to,� they were sucked into the past at Stone Hinge. They had not sought out to alter the space time continuum.  

Kat reached out attempting to touch the shiny golden relic. It was sought of calling to her.  �You have to open it?� She tapped the metal with her finger nail.

�Alright? I�ll follow you,� she wasn�t sure about trusting in her inherit nature as Mera put it, but she had to fix this and make things right. Giles and Willow were looking at her. �You guys coming?�

�What? She has a plan,� she turned to them. Deciding to have the rest of her conversation telepathically. �I know stranger danger, but at this point everyone is a stranger. Plus, she doesn�t appear to be lying. And I don�t sense anything wiggy about her.�  

Dec 12th 2017 - 2:44 PM

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�Oh fudge balls!�  Willow awoke with a start.  Someone had been shaking her shoulder - Giles.  Last thing she knew she was watching Erwen applaud her failures.  Will sat up and rubbed her eyes.  �Sorry Giles.  I was, I was dreaming.�  She frowned, �And not a good dream, either.�  She was disoriented for a moment.  Will had thought she was in her bedroom at her San Francisco apartment, but no, she was on a nice bed, but it was in a cave.  Then it all came back to her, like a tsunami wave crashing over the top of her, drowning her in complications and misdeeds.  Erwen had been right.  She�d failed.  Willow had failed everyone!  They didn�t even know what time they were in.  And if this was 2017 it was all a mess!  They never should have gone back in time.  Despite all they�d learned, because the world was completely changed!  All a disastrous wreck!

A strange woman entered the cave.  Someone Will didn�t know or recognize.  Willow was immediately wary, even though the woman was really pretty, and cute, and elegant.  And she had this aura about her, as in a real aura, all sparkly with white and gold shimmerings like a decorated Christmas tree.  Willow had never seen an aura like that, but her instincts told her this woman was good, and she was powerful.  The woman said her name was Mera.  And she�d already zoomed in on Kat with laser beam accuracy.  Was that a good thing or just plain dangerous?  Will wasn�t going to let her guard down, just in case.  She had the ember of a magical fire ball in her enclosed fist, ready to power it up and hurl it at Mera if she needed to.  But Will was pretty sure she wouldn�t have to.  That Mera was here to help. That Mera would fix what went wrong.

Dec 9th 2017 - 10:52 AM

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Giles and Willow had begun some scientific ramblings with equations and stars. Katarina paced the floor of the cavern. Their plans wouldn�t work till night fall. �Maybe you should get some sleep too,� she suggested to her friend causing a bed to appear for him. She couldn�t join them in slumber. She was wired. Everything was wrong. Magic was out of balance. She could feel the depletion and alteration of energy. They were lost in this alternate reality. She missed her husband and home.

A woman appeared. She stopped dead in her tracks. �I-uh I am Katarina. And who are-ah you?� She ran her eyes over her. She attempted to rummage through the depths of her mind. �What are you?� The woman was different. She wasn�t from here. Her mind worked differently. It was harder for her to pry and assess.

She glanced over at Giles. �Wake Will?� she asked him telepathically.

�How do you know who I am?� she took a step back. Was this woman friend or foe? What had they gotten into? She was clueless.

Nov 18th 2017 - 1:48 PM

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Will squinted at Giles� formulae scratched onto the wall with a rock.  It was like being in the freaking stone age!  What Giles had written was all Greek to her.  Or at least some foreign language.  But she trusted Giles all the way.  When had he led them wrong?  Well, there was that time when he tested Buffy on her 18th birthday. The Tento di Cruciamentum they�d called it.  But we�ll not speak of that again, shall we?

�It looks awesome, Giles!�  Although she didn�t know how to apply it.  �So all we have to do is wait for the sun to go down and for the stars to come out, then we�ll need to track the moon and stars across the sky.  Eazy peazy.�  Except it would mean they�d probably be up all night, and Will was already dead tired from all that they�d been doing back in Erwen�s time.  She went to the cave�s entrance and peered up at the sky.  The sun was just a little canted from its high point in the sky, but she didn�t know if that meant it was late morning or early afternoon.  Only time would tell. 

�So we�ve got a few hours before we can begin to make the calculations.  I�m whipped.  You guys don�t mind if a take 40 winks do you?�  She conjured a queen-sized bed with half a dozen cushy pillows, then kicked off her shoes and laid down upon it.  She was out like a light.

Except her mind was still going a million miles an hour. Willow found herself in a dream. She was Doctor Emmett Brown � Christopher Lloyd�s character from Back to the Future.  Except she was a genterbent Doc Brown.  Her red hair was sticking out at all angles from her head and she was wearing a well-used white lab coat.  It was night and she was balanced precariously on a ledge of Hill Valley�s courthouse tower.  It was beginning to rain and she was trying plug in a cable that would transmit electricity from a lightning strike to a DeLorean traveling at 88 miles per hour, driven not by Marty McFly, but by Mr. Giles with Kat riding shotgun.  They were going to fix what needed fixing in the past.  The car was speeding towards the courthouse, and Will got the plug plugged in just in the nick of time.  Except� she realized she�d done the calculations wrong!!  She went to unplug the plug, but it was too late!!  As lightning struck, the DeLorean vanished, but so did the entire town of Hill Valley.  She was back at the ruins of Stonehenge and Erwen was clapping his hands yelling, �Bravo! Bravo!�