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The occupants of the room looked around. "Didn't that thing used to be a lot smaller?" Buffy asked, pointing at the hellmouth portal that was twelve feet across and glowing with a sickening brown malignant power.
"Yes, the power being used on the other side to open it is causing it to grow. We must stop it now." Giles said, holding the spell that Drucilla had written for him.
"Spikey, you need to go over there, that horn of the pentagram is yours." Drucilla said, indicating a point of the star.
"The bright one goes over there." She said pointing but keeping her eyes turned away.
"Daddy goes here and kitten goes there." And then she took her own point of the star.
Each of the gods automatically fell into place behind their key, likewise each witch fell into their place.
"Doesn't Mrak need to go to your point Drucilla?" Giles asked, confused.
"No, silly. Mrak isn't evil. He's just cranky. Flying does that to him." Drucilla said with a laugh.
Giles was carefully tearing the paper that Drucilla gave him into sections. When he finished, he walked to each witch and gave each her section of the spell.
Doyle heard a noise from the hall. He went stealthily to investigate. After investigating a few hallways away from the hellmouth chamber he could see the things that figured most prominently in his nightmares. The Scourge. They were walking in a military style line in pairs down the hall.
Doyle discretely made his way back into the room and quietly walked up to Giles, since he seemed to have taken on the role of leader, and since Angel was a little busy with being a Key and all.
"There are demons in the building. I think they're protecting the hellmouth from anyone trying to do what we're trying to do." He said then tilted his head trying to decide if that made any sense at all.
"They're probably defending the portal, thinking we would be coming in from outside." Giles said.
"So, what do you want me to do?" Doyle asked nervously.
"I need for you to gather everyone who is capable of fighting and not involved in the ritual. This ritual will not be quiet and will probably cause some tremors, at least, during the spell." Giles said, thinking over strategy.
"We'll be fine, I've been wanting to see the slayer in action." Doyle said with enthusiasm.
* * * * *
Doyle went to Buffy and Mrak and drew them away from the others. It was a toss up as to which seemed more delighted to have something to fight. Doyle led them out of the hellmouth chamber and into the hallway.
"What's up with these guys anyway?" Buffy asked while they made their way quietly through the basement of the old high school.
"They hate humans... and half-humans like me... and vampires... they pretty much hate anyone who isn't a pure-blooded one of them." he said definitely.
"So they're like demon nazis?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Exactly." He responded.
"Good, that just makes 'em better to kill." she said in her too perky way.
Mrak just nodded in agreement.
When they turned the next corner, the battle was on.
* * * * *
There was a blur of darkness and a man appeared. "Cole!" Phoebe said with shock.
"Phoebe, you need to get out of here. Come with me and you'll be safe." Cole said, pleading.
"Why are you not dead?" Phoebe asked, becoming angry.
"I'm the source of all evil, I can't die." he said, thinking it was obvious.
"No, I found a way to kill you. The vanquishing spell was specifically made for you, I even used your own blood to bind it to you. It HAD to work. How did you come back?" She asked, now fully angry.
"Okay, okay. When I saw what you were doing, I tweaked reality so that your vanquishing spell wouldn't kill me." he said guiltily.
"Tweaked reality?" Giles asked.
"Come on Phoeb, we need to get out of here, this things going to open and nothing is going to stop it." he said, beginning to panic.
"If you tweaked reality to prevent her vanquishing evil, then you are responsible for the hellmouth opening. Your 'Tweak' thinned the world walls enough to allow this to happen." Giles said with anger.
Phoebe looked at Cole and could tell that Giles had figured it out. She began to cry bitter tears. The world was going to end because of her.
"Phoebe, I just wanted to be with you. Is that so terrible?" Cole asked, honestly not understanding.
"Cole, because of us, because of our fight, the world is going to end. I don't want to survive if all this happened because of me." she said seriously.
Cole nodded his head in understanding. Then he asked, "If I could make it better, would you try to talk to me? I'm not asking you to come back to me, just talk to me and see if we can't at least be friends."
Phoebe realized what he was offering and couldn't refuse. He would give up his power to seal the hellmouth.
"Yes. You stop this and I will listen to you... really listen and try to understand and maybe work it out." she said seriously.
He nodded and took his place at the fifth point of the pentagram in front of Drucilla.
Giles began to speak the words of the ritual.
Fates and Elders and Powers that Be
Give aid to witch and god and key,
Childe of dark,
Child of light,
Childe who walks
in eternal night,
Child with darkness
sirens call,
Child most evil
save us all.
Each of the keys stood exactly on their points of the pentagram. Each of the gods walked up to their key and embraced them from behind. In a multicolored flash of light four of the keys had become children and the gods were nowhere to be seen. Giles stopped his part of the ritual and Paige began to speak, casting the spell on the hellmouth through the child Spike/Strife,
Child of Laughter,
Childe of night,
Child is lowly,
Childe of flight,
Childe reborn and soul restore,
Childe will bind the evil door.
And a blue glow passed from Paige, through the child Spike/Strife and covered the hellmouth portal. Piper began to speak next.
Child of passion,
Childe of love,
Child of heaven,
Childe above,
Childe undying unable to heal,
Childe will bind the evil seal.
A red glow passed from Piper through the child Leo/Cupid and covered the hellmouth portal. Phoebe began to speak next.
Child of violence,
Childe of pain,
Child so lonely,
Childe restrain,
Childe who cannot walk in day,
Childe will bind the evil way.
A yellow glow passed from Phoebe through the child Angel/Ares and covered the hellmouth portal. Willow began to speak next.
Child of nightmares,
Childe of dreams,
Child was never
what he seems,
Child who can't release his wrath,
Childe will bind the evil path.
A green glow passed from Willow through the child Xander/Joxer and covered the hellmouth portal. Drucilla began to speak next.
Child of evil,
Child of dark,
Child will never
feel life's spark,
Child with love that flares irate,
Child will bind the evil gate
And darkness flowed out of Drucilla and through Cole. The spell continued to run, powers flowing from all five directions. In a flash of dark power, Cole was made into a child, completing the five, then an instant later he was adult again. The power flowed until Cole collapsed. When he fell out of his position, all the magics stopped simultaneously. There were sixteen bodies scattered around the room in a circle. But the hellmouth was back to it's normal size, not glowing at all.