Title: 5 Spells Tara Never Cast
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer A : Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and associated companies. None of which are me. No profit is being made from the submission of this story.
Disclaimer B : I've written about the Wiccan tradition with as much accuracy as internet research has allowed. As someone who isn't part of the Wiccan faith, I have no experience in casting spells. No offense is intended by potentially inaccurate portrayals of sacred rites.
Rating: PG
Length: 1,234
Content notes: None.
Author notes: Challenge #5, "Five Things".
Summary : Throughout the course of her life, there were five spells that Tara was unable to finish.
Spell One - Friendship
The circle was cast. The altar arranged. The Goddess and the God invoked. Tara took a deep breath as began to anoint the candle, massaging the Friendship Oil deep into the pink wax. As she did so, she thought carefully of all of the friends she wanted in her life. She avoided thinking of specific people, her mother had taught her better than to bind people against their will, but saw herself laughing and eating and reading with faceless forms…friends. Once properly anointed, the candle was placed back onto the alter in preparation for the verbal part of the spell.
“F…f…fidelity,” Tara spoke, intoning the characteristics she was looking for in those faceless forms. “Loyalty. Intelligence. Softness. Fun.”
She heard a crash from downstairs and so hurried to the alter, taking the red and pink ribbon she had already set out. Again careful not to picture faces, she called the faceless forms back to mind and began to entwine the ribbon, binding them to her. She fought the pictures, but their faces began to take form. A blonde woman. An older man. A young couple. A thin, confident red-head…
Footsteps began to crash up the stairs. Quickly she tied the ribbon around the base of the candle and lit it.
“May the energy of the candle be the energy of friendship,” she whispered as her bedroom door was flung open.
“What is going on in here?”
“N…n…nothing, daddy.” Mr MacClay’s intoxicated gaze fell over Tara’s room, taking in the books and journals that passed for friends in his daughter’s world.
“What’s that?” Sneering, he jerked his head towards the candle. “You’re not working any of that filth in my house, are you?”
“No s..s…sir. I would n…n…never. It’s just a candle.” Mr MacClay stalked over to the candle, snuffing its flame before the Goddess and the God could be thanked, undoing the spell before it had started.
“No candles in my house. Fire hazard.”
He turned and staggered back out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Leaving his daughter to her silent tears.
Spell Two – To Pass a Test
Tara took a deep breath as she opened the SAT booklet. Without even looking at the first question, she closed her eyes and, under her breath, began the rite.
“I invoke the names of ancient lore
To give myself a perfect score…”
She stopped, mid spell, and opened her eyes. She didn’t need magick to help her pass the SAT. She could do it just fine on her own.
That day, Tara scored enough to get into Harvard.
Spell Three – To ward of Psychic Vampires
“A Psychic Vampire?” For just a moment, Xander’s voice was scornful, but as he remembered the range of other things that he’d encountered over the last four years, he decided that a Psychic Vampire was as plausible as anything else. “So…how do we…you know…get it out of my brain?”
“It’s not actually in your brain.” For a moment, Anya stopped stroking his hair and looked down at him. “It’ll be in its lair somewhere, using some of the skin it stole from you in an elixir to maintain psychic contact.” She smiled. “It’s quaint.”
“Quaint?” Xander asked, his head shooting up from his girlfriend’s lap, where it had been laying, and focussing his gaze on her. “You think a Vampire drinking my skin is quaint?”
“Ugh, why are you not understanding? The Vampire is not actually drinking your skin, it’s…”
“Don’t worry,” Willow interrupted, much to Anya’s visible disgust. “Buffy and Tara are on it.”
“Are you sure this is the lair?” Tara asked, setting her pestle and mortar down in the grass in front of the mausoleum.
“So Spike says,” Buffy replied, checking her pack for stakes and crosses. “How long will the spell take?”
“I’m not sure. Psychic Vampires are tricky.” Carefully, she set up the chinese tea-tray that Buffy had handed her (a makeshift altar that she was secretly quite proud of) with candles on either side and placed a small cauldron (a hallowe’en toy that she was less proud of) of salt water between them. “I need to anoint the candles, then I have to invoke Thelxione, the Charmer of Minds, to come and protect Xander. After that I need to…”
“So, too long.” Before Tara could register what was happening, Buffy had stormed the mausoleum and staked the vampire thankfully, according to Giles’ later tests, without any harm to Xander.
“Well. I won’t be doing that then.” And gently, Tara began to pack her paraphernalia away.
Spell Four – A Spell to Bind Magicks
“Goddess Hecate, hear our call…” Willow and Tara stood opposite each other, holding hands and alone in the Magic Box, as they tried one last, desperate attempt to gain an advantage.
“We beg you, silence the magicks of the demon Glorificus…” At once, each girl found her tongue rooted to the roof of her mouth, unable to make a sound, as a hunched old woman shrouded in black faded into existence in front of them.
“You dare call on me?” she asked, staring each girl in the eyes as she leaned on her walking cane. “You dare call on the goddess of Magicks to bind the powers of another god? What right do you have?” Tara tried to apologise, to ask for forgiveness, but her tongue refused to do move. “You have angered Hecate and I will not do your bidding,” the old woman continued. “And I warn you here and now. Be careful with how you use my Craft. You have made a powerful enemy here today.”
As the woman faded away, and Tara found her ability to speak, she had no words.
Spell Five – A Spell to Kick the Habit
The irony of casting a spell to break Willow’s addiction to magic was not lost on Tara. To be honest, she felt it wouldn’t even be lost on Xander, which is why she decided not to mention it to any of her friends. Her circle cast and Sekhmet, goddess of willpower, invoked, Tara clutched a picture of Willow as she lit a red candle.
“Red is the colour of strength,” she spoke, looking down at the photograph. “It gives Willow the strength of will to break magic’s hold.”
She turned and used the red candle to light the black. “Black is the colour of banishment. It expels the addiction from her body and replaces it with…”
“Tara, what did I always tell you?”
“M…M…Mom?” Tara looked around the dimly lit room, desperately seeing images of her mother in the candle light’s dancing shadows. “Is that really you?”
“Yes. And no. And yes.” Tara’s brow furrowed, puzzled. “Tara, what are you doing?”
“A spell,” she answered, so taken in by her mother’s voice that she didn’t realise the absurdity of what was happening. “I’m helping Willow to break the hold the magicks have over her.”
“Don’t bind people against their will, Tara. It will only come back to hurt you.”
“I’m not binding her, mom. I’m working for her. I’m helping.”
“In the same way she helped you?” Tara’s attention was turned to the Lethe’s Bramble tucked in her jacket pocket, a painful reminder never to use magic to harm others, and she sighed, extinguishing her candles.
And from behind the wooden door, Giles extinguished his. But he knew his work was far from done.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer A : Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and associated companies. None of which are me. No profit is being made from the submission of this story.
Disclaimer B : I've written about the Wiccan tradition with as much accuracy as internet research has allowed. As someone who isn't part of the Wiccan faith, I have no experience in casting spells. No offense is intended by potentially inaccurate portrayals of sacred rites.
Rating: PG
Length: 1,234
Content notes: None.
Author notes: Challenge #5, "Five Things".
Summary : Throughout the course of her life, there were five spells that Tara was unable to finish.
Spell One - Friendship
The circle was cast. The altar arranged. The Goddess and the God invoked. Tara took a deep breath as began to anoint the candle, massaging the Friendship Oil deep into the pink wax. As she did so, she thought carefully of all of the friends she wanted in her life. She avoided thinking of specific people, her mother had taught her better than to bind people against their will, but saw herself laughing and eating and reading with faceless forms…friends. Once properly anointed, the candle was placed back onto the alter in preparation for the verbal part of the spell.
“F…f…fidelity,” Tara spoke, intoning the characteristics she was looking for in those faceless forms. “Loyalty. Intelligence. Softness. Fun.”
She heard a crash from downstairs and so hurried to the alter, taking the red and pink ribbon she had already set out. Again careful not to picture faces, she called the faceless forms back to mind and began to entwine the ribbon, binding them to her. She fought the pictures, but their faces began to take form. A blonde woman. An older man. A young couple. A thin, confident red-head…
Footsteps began to crash up the stairs. Quickly she tied the ribbon around the base of the candle and lit it.
“May the energy of the candle be the energy of friendship,” she whispered as her bedroom door was flung open.
“What is going on in here?”
“N…n…nothing, daddy.” Mr MacClay’s intoxicated gaze fell over Tara’s room, taking in the books and journals that passed for friends in his daughter’s world.
“What’s that?” Sneering, he jerked his head towards the candle. “You’re not working any of that filth in my house, are you?”
“No s..s…sir. I would n…n…never. It’s just a candle.” Mr MacClay stalked over to the candle, snuffing its flame before the Goddess and the God could be thanked, undoing the spell before it had started.
“No candles in my house. Fire hazard.”
He turned and staggered back out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Leaving his daughter to her silent tears.
Spell Two – To Pass a Test
Tara took a deep breath as she opened the SAT booklet. Without even looking at the first question, she closed her eyes and, under her breath, began the rite.
“I invoke the names of ancient lore
To give myself a perfect score…”
She stopped, mid spell, and opened her eyes. She didn’t need magick to help her pass the SAT. She could do it just fine on her own.
That day, Tara scored enough to get into Harvard.
Spell Three – To ward of Psychic Vampires
“A Psychic Vampire?” For just a moment, Xander’s voice was scornful, but as he remembered the range of other things that he’d encountered over the last four years, he decided that a Psychic Vampire was as plausible as anything else. “So…how do we…you know…get it out of my brain?”
“It’s not actually in your brain.” For a moment, Anya stopped stroking his hair and looked down at him. “It’ll be in its lair somewhere, using some of the skin it stole from you in an elixir to maintain psychic contact.” She smiled. “It’s quaint.”
“Quaint?” Xander asked, his head shooting up from his girlfriend’s lap, where it had been laying, and focussing his gaze on her. “You think a Vampire drinking my skin is quaint?”
“Ugh, why are you not understanding? The Vampire is not actually drinking your skin, it’s…”
“Don’t worry,” Willow interrupted, much to Anya’s visible disgust. “Buffy and Tara are on it.”
“Are you sure this is the lair?” Tara asked, setting her pestle and mortar down in the grass in front of the mausoleum.
“So Spike says,” Buffy replied, checking her pack for stakes and crosses. “How long will the spell take?”
“I’m not sure. Psychic Vampires are tricky.” Carefully, she set up the chinese tea-tray that Buffy had handed her (a makeshift altar that she was secretly quite proud of) with candles on either side and placed a small cauldron (a hallowe’en toy that she was less proud of) of salt water between them. “I need to anoint the candles, then I have to invoke Thelxione, the Charmer of Minds, to come and protect Xander. After that I need to…”
“So, too long.” Before Tara could register what was happening, Buffy had stormed the mausoleum and staked the vampire thankfully, according to Giles’ later tests, without any harm to Xander.
“Well. I won’t be doing that then.” And gently, Tara began to pack her paraphernalia away.
Spell Four – A Spell to Bind Magicks
“Goddess Hecate, hear our call…” Willow and Tara stood opposite each other, holding hands and alone in the Magic Box, as they tried one last, desperate attempt to gain an advantage.
“We beg you, silence the magicks of the demon Glorificus…” At once, each girl found her tongue rooted to the roof of her mouth, unable to make a sound, as a hunched old woman shrouded in black faded into existence in front of them.
“You dare call on me?” she asked, staring each girl in the eyes as she leaned on her walking cane. “You dare call on the goddess of Magicks to bind the powers of another god? What right do you have?” Tara tried to apologise, to ask for forgiveness, but her tongue refused to do move. “You have angered Hecate and I will not do your bidding,” the old woman continued. “And I warn you here and now. Be careful with how you use my Craft. You have made a powerful enemy here today.”
As the woman faded away, and Tara found her ability to speak, she had no words.
Spell Five – A Spell to Kick the Habit
The irony of casting a spell to break Willow’s addiction to magic was not lost on Tara. To be honest, she felt it wouldn’t even be lost on Xander, which is why she decided not to mention it to any of her friends. Her circle cast and Sekhmet, goddess of willpower, invoked, Tara clutched a picture of Willow as she lit a red candle.
“Red is the colour of strength,” she spoke, looking down at the photograph. “It gives Willow the strength of will to break magic’s hold.”
She turned and used the red candle to light the black. “Black is the colour of banishment. It expels the addiction from her body and replaces it with…”
“Tara, what did I always tell you?”
“M…M…Mom?” Tara looked around the dimly lit room, desperately seeing images of her mother in the candle light’s dancing shadows. “Is that really you?”
“Yes. And no. And yes.” Tara’s brow furrowed, puzzled. “Tara, what are you doing?”
“A spell,” she answered, so taken in by her mother’s voice that she didn’t realise the absurdity of what was happening. “I’m helping Willow to break the hold the magicks have over her.”
“Don’t bind people against their will, Tara. It will only come back to hurt you.”
“I’m not binding her, mom. I’m working for her. I’m helping.”
“In the same way she helped you?” Tara’s attention was turned to the Lethe’s Bramble tucked in her jacket pocket, a painful reminder never to use magic to harm others, and she sighed, extinguishing her candles.
And from behind the wooden door, Giles extinguished his. But he knew his work was far from done.
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Comments
Thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated :)
That line is fantastic. :)
I love how you've gotten the tone of Tara down, with all of her thoughtfulness and grief, and I love the presence of her mom woven through spells 1 and 5. There's a really good emotional arc to these!
I'm delighted you feel I've captured Tara's tone. One of the things I find hardest about fanfic writing is capturing the canon characterisation (especially in fandoms such as Buffy, where the canon writing is so strong). Thank you.
I found the first one to be quite sad, especially the mention of her mother. But I was happy to read the last one in which the mother appears again, as if she's watching over Tara.
Lovely job.
I'm glad the stories were able to invoke both happiness and sadness, and that you enjoyed them. Thank you for commenting.
The idea was that it wasn't Tara's mother she was seeing in the last story, but rather a spell invoked by Giles. Truthfully, it was a last minute addition - I realised that part of Tara's "point" was that she was a woman who stayed on the moral side of magic with absolutely no guidance after her mother passed, as a counterpoint to Willow who had a strong influence in Giles but went off the rails (to put it mildly). I felt that having Tara's mum drop in undid that, and I liked the continuation of the manipulation storyline. Reading it back, though, it's not really necessary and the story might even be stronger without it.
(I'd forgotten how much fun writing story commentary is! We did it for everything on my Creative Writing course, and it's nice to be doing it again. So thank you for getting me back into the swing of that!)