A/N: I'm back from vacation! Did you miss me? :) Willow's song is This is the Moment from "Jekyll and Hyde," and the princes' song is Agony from "Into the Woods." This clip is pretty much exactly how I picture them, since it's the cast I'm familiar with, so you should get a good idea of what they're doing in the scene.

*****

Chapter 18: All Manner of Hells

Taking a deep breath, Willow surveyed the magical ingredients laid out on the bed in front of her. Sitting cross-legged with a dusty old tome open on her lap, she gathered her focus and concentration, preparing to open the dimensional portal that would lead her to Tara – theoretically, without collapsing the fabric of the universe.

“Okay, this is it,” she said to herself, trying to shake off her nerves and psych herself up. “You can do this.” She took another breath, and began to sing as she mixed the different components of the spell.

“This is the moment
This is the day
When I send all my doubts and demons
On their way”

Opening a Ziploc sandwich baggie of blue powder, she pinched a small amount between her fingers and sprinkled it over the leafy herbs in a small bowl by her knee.

“Every endeavor
I have made ever
Is coming into play
Is here and now – today”

Picking up a small wooden-handled knife carved with mythical runes, she sliced it across her palm and let the blood drip into the bowl. After a moment, she grabbed a cloth, cleaned the knife, and wrapped it around her hand, pressing her fingers into her palm to stop the bleeding.

“This is the moment
This is the time
When the momentum and the moment
Are in rhyme”

With her good hand, she opened a second plastic baggie, this one containing red powder, and sprinkled a pinch over the bowl.

“Give me this moment
This precious chance
I'll gather up my past
And make some sense at last”

As the music swelled, she uttered a phrase in an unknown demon language, and the mixture in the bowl suddenly burst into a mystical red flame. The flame grew larger, swirling into a vortex in front of the wide-eyed witch. Just as she had time to think that she shouldn’t have done this alone, she felt herself being sucked into the portal by a force too strong to resist. Then, Willow was gone, along with her spell book and the knife, and the fiery red portal shrank and then winked out of existence.

*****

“Okay,” Xander said cautiously, looking around at the sunlight-dappled forest on all sides of the clearing they’d suddenly found themselves in. “What the hell just happened?”

Before anyone could respond, Spike suddenly yelled, “I’m on fire!” and set off at a sprint for the shade. After only a few steps, though, he came to an abrupt halt, peering down at himself, and then up at the sun. “Oh. Never mind.” A grin slowly crept across his face as he casually walked back to the others.

“That’s great,” Buffy replied distractedly. “Where are we? And how’d we get here?”

“Uh, hi, guys,” Willow said with a sheepish wave as she emerged from the edge of the clearing.

Six pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. “Willow, what is going on?” Buffy asked. “What the hell did you do?”

“This is Sweet’s dimension!” she told them excitedly. “I transported us here, so we can rescue Tara.” She paused, clutching her spell book to her chest. “Well, actually, I only meant to transport myself, and I was kind of hoping I’d pop up a little closer to where Tara actually was, but somehow I must have dragged you guys along…”

“You foolish, foolish girl,” Giles said, his voice cold and calm, his gaze hard.

“You did this?” Buffy exclaimed. “Willow, how could you? You dragged my sister here! You put her in danger!”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “I’m not in danger, Buffy. What’s gonna happen, the trees grow arms and kidnap me or something?”

The Slayer whirled to face her sister. “We have no idea what’s out there! There could be demons or – or wild animals, or – what if someone finds out she’s the Key?” she finished, directing the last accusation back toward Willow.

“Buffy, I’m sorry! It was an accident – I told you that. I didn’t mean to bring you all here… but Tara’s here somewhere, and she needs me! We have to save her.”

“Haven’t you done enough?” Anya asked bluntly. “It’s your fault she’s here in the first place.”

“I know. That’s why I have to do this,” Willow replied, her voice wavering but her eyes full of determination. “I know I screwed up – big time. But I can’t let this go until I make it right. I can’t… I’m sorry…”

The redheaded witch was getting visibly upset, and Xander headed over to comfort his best friend. “It’s okay, Will,” he said, giving her a hug. “We’ll help.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Right, guys? We’ll help.”

Anya and Dawn nodded silently, as did Giles, after a moment.

“Yeah, Red,” Spike said gruffly. “We’ll help.”

“Don’t think for a moment that this excuses your careless behavior,” Giles told her, his voice stern and authoritative. “We will be having a very serious discussion about your use of magic when we return.”

When Buffy, as the last hold out, didn’t say anything to Willow, Spike gave her a nudge.

“You couldn’t have at least dragged my weapons chest along for the ride?” she pouted, a passive acceptance of the group’s decision.

“Just have to steal ’em from the locals,” Spike reasoned. “Where we headed, Red?”

“Hold on.” Willow closed her eyes and concentrated on getting Tara’s attention. ‘Tara? Tara, baby, we’re here. We’re coming for you. Where are you?’

After a few moments, she opened her eyes, an image of what Tara had seen from her window clear in her mind. “We’re looking for a castle,” she told the others.

“So… which way is it?” Dawn asked, glancing around the clearing. They could see nothing in any direction except trees.

Spike tilted his head back and gazed at a tall tree on the edge of the clearing, then turned to Buffy, who was following his eyes. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

*****

“This was so not a good plan,” Buffy grumbled as she clung to a tree branch, a hundred feet above her friends’ heads.

Spike, who had apparently turned into a monkey as soon as his feet left the ground, was too busy leaping from branch to branch to notice the Slayer’s discontent. He let out a whoop as he finally broke through the leaves and had a clear view of the treetops.

“You should see this, Slayer!”

“Fine where I am, thanks,” she muttered, willing herself not to look down. Heights didn’t really appeal to her so much after doing a swan dive off Glory’s tower.

Spike scrambled back down to Buffy’s level, a broad grin on his face. “Spotted the castle, pet. Not too far that-a-way,” he said, gesturing in a way that made her fearful of him toppling off the branch, despite knowing that he couldn’t actually die from the fall.

“Good. Can we get down now?”

Spike smiled at her. “Worried, pet?” Forcing her to release her death grip on the tree, he pulled her toward him, trying to loosen her up by kissing her. Tentatively, she let go of the branch to wrap her arms around his neck. Just as she eased up and started getting into the kiss, she felt Spike wobble slightly. Shifting her weight quickly, she overcompensated, causing the two of them to lose their balance and slip off the branch.

They plunged toward the earth, catching twigs and leaves in their hair and clothes as they crashed through the branches, Buffy screaming and clinging desperately to Spike, who let out another gleeful roar.

He wrapped his arms and legs around her, twisting his body so that he was underneath her, cradling her and cushioning her fall as he hit the ground first.

“Ow,” he said, his bones rattling from the impact. “You all right, pet?”

“I give that dismount… a two,” Xander said.

Anya snorted. “One point five. They barely avoided landing on their heads.”

Buffy scrambled to her feet, giving Spike a fierce slap as soon as he was upright. “Oh, my God, are you crazy? We could’ve been killed!”

Spike held his arms up, shielding himself from any more blows as he tried to hold in his laughter once he knew neither of them was seriously hurt. “Maybe you,” he teased. “Not so much me.”

Buffy’s angry retort was cut off by Giles, who asked, “Did you see anything?”

“Yeah, castle’s that way,” Spike replied, pointing off in a direction. “Come on, kiddies.”

*****

They’d only been tramping through the forest for about a half hour when they heard singing in the distance. As they got close enough to peer through the brush, they could see that the voices belonged to two men dressed in old-fashioned European clothing. The uniforms and the swords suggested military, but the fancy embroidery and glittering jewels adorning their tunics indicated royalty.

“Did I abuse her, or show her disdain? Why does she run from me?” the dark-haired prince sang, brooding over his predicament. He looked to be the older one, as he had more decorations, and an air of entitlement the other lacked. “If I should lose her, how shall I regain the heart she has won from me?

“Agony!
Beyond power of speech
When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach”

“High in her tower,” the blond one butted in, ignoring his companion’s woe, “she sits by the hour, maintaining her hair. Blithe and becoming, and frequently humming a lighthearted air: Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…” Unlike his brooding brother, he had an air of whimsy, emphasized by his silly grin as he swayed back and forth in imitation of his love.

“Agony!
Far more painful than yours!”

At this, the elder prince’s head whipped around in shock, as though amazed his younger brother would dare to take away his spotlight.

“When you know she would go with you
If there only were doors”

An expression of tragic hopefulness crossed the prince’s face, framed by his messy curls.

“Agony!” they sang in unison. “Oh, the torture they teach!”

“What's as intriguing –” the younger began.

“Or half so fatiguing –” added the other.

“Um, excuse me?” Buffy interrupted, stepping out of the shadows and approaching the angst-ridden princes. They both halted mid-song and took her in.

“Can we help you, young maiden?” asked the dark-haired prince in a booming, self-important voice.

“Perhaps a damsel in need of our aid?” the other chimed in helpfully.

“What? No!” Buffy replied with disdain, offended at being considered a damsel. “I’m a Slayer in need of your swords.”

The older prince gave her a seductive grin, the maiden conquest he’d sung of so desperately all but forgotten. “We would be pleased to be of service, my lady.” He approached her and ran a white-gloved hand through her hair. “A maiden such as yourself shouldn’t roam about the woods unescorted.”

Disentangling herself from him, Buffy snapped, “I don’t need to be escorted. I can take care of myself.”

Undeterred, the prince advanced again, reaching out to caress her throat. “I admire your bravery. Anything can happen in the woods – may I kiss you?”

Without hesitation, Buffy cocked back and punched him hard enough to knock him out. “No.”

She gave his prone form one last look of disgust, and then turned to the other, thus far more reasonable, tow-headed prince. “I need your weapons.”

The prince’s hand went to the hilt of his sword. “Our weapons? Surely, my lady, you don’t intend to go into battle yourself? Why, that is the job of a prince.”

Buffy tilted her head back in frustration. “Chivalry is so annoying,” she muttered. She started to raise her fist again, but stopped herself. “Hey – that girl in the tower you were talking about? Where – uh – where is it?”

“Two leagues from here, due east, just beyond the mossy knoll,” the prince rattled off. “She was imprisoned there by a terrible witch, in a tower with no door or stairs. In order to manage a visit, I must stand before her window and call out, ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair to me!’”

Buffy blinked. “Okay. Wrong tower, then.” Without warning, she leapt into a spinning kick that left both princes unconscious on the ground. She pulled the swords from their scabbards and tossed one of them to Spike as she marched past. “Not a word,” she warned him as he tried to keep the grin off his face.

As the group disappeared after Buffy, the two men slowly came to, realizing their situation. The dark-haired one turned to the blond in confusion and sang,

“Am I not sensitive,
Clever,
Well-mannered,
Considerate,
Passionate,
Charming,
As kind as I’m handsome,
And heir to a throne?”

“You are everything maidens could wish for,” the other assured him.

“Then why no…?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

The younger prince stared at him. “Do I know?”

“The girl must be mad,” he concluded, touching his hand to his temple, a perplexed expression on his face.

“You know nothing of madness,” his brother retorted. “’Til you’re climbing her hair, and you see her up there, as you’re nearing her, all the while hearing her: Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…”

*****

“Is it just me,” Dawn asked as they emerged from the forest, “or does this seem kinda…”

“Un-hellish?” Xander supplied, eyeing a troupe of ballerinas, dressed in wood nymph costumes, prancing through the trees in the distance. “Yeah, I noticed that.”

“All manner of hell dimensions out there,” Spike pointed out.

“Quite right,” Giles said, hefting an axe onto his shoulder, which they’d acquired from the tin woodsman they’d passed about an hour back in the forest. He’d given it to them in exchange for a spell Willow performed to keep him from rusting when it rained. “We have no idea what to expect from this dimension. I suggest we remain on our guard.”

No sooner had he said that than one of the ballerina nymphs suddenly burst into flames. She began to shriek as the others tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire. After a few moments of frantic pirouettes, the dancer finally collapsed on the ground, her body charred and crispy.

With that sobering reminder that this dimension was not all fun and games, the group came to a halt at the edge of the forest, facing the imposing castle that loomed in the distance, and the small town that lay before it.

“Well,” Buffy said, with a sidelong glance and a nod at Willow. “Let’s go see the Wizard.”