Fandom: Highlander

Rating: PG.

Category: AU, H/C

Notes: Again there are several, and even more at the end of the story.

1º This is the sequel to "Death on a Horse." I hadn't intention to turn it into a saga but it was necessary.

2º If you are a fan of Cassandra, I have to apologize because I treat her really bad here. I don't know why I never like her but hasn't nothing to do with The Horsemen. I liked Amanda and Fitz from the first time I saw them; in the same way I disliked other characters from the beginning.

3º The premise of this story is highly questionable but remember that the whole Highlander universe is just fiction.

4º Aquelarre comes from the Basque language (Akelarre); it means nocturnal clandestine meeting of witches. In English the meaning would be: Witches' Sabbath.

5º In this story appear some (almost) original female characters: Kasey, Adalisa, Tsila, Rayen Quitral, Wesa and Kanetsidohi. They are immortal witches and have an important task here. This is almost a Mary Sue because I have a large part in it. Sorry, I can't help it. <g>

6º There are little sentences in Spanish. The translations are at the end of the story.

7º Cory Raines appeared in 'Money no Object,' Michelle appeared in 'Rite of Passage' and John Kirin appeared in 'Blind Faith.' I mentioned the character Nick Wolf, from Highlander: The Raven. Does that means this story is a crossover?

8º There are more notes at the end of the story. There is also a sort of disclaimer. It's not so terrible if you read it before you read the story because it's not the main plot, just something that I decided along the way, but it could spoil the end for you, and part 3 of this saga.

By Claudia Aranda.

Unable to sleep, Kanetsidohi had been pacing through her room almost all night. At first she had been mourning Methos' death, but suddenly she had realized that if good fate took its grace away, and some of them die, surely there was something they would be able to do. They were Immortals. They were witches. Powerful creatures of the night. They couldn't just sit down and cry!

She spent a while in the computer library searching in The Book of the Damned, The White Witchcraft, The Necromicon. All the magic, old and new, of all continents was searched. Then she found a small spell, recollected only because in the ancient world, witches had sought the protection of Immortals by offering to bring them back from hell, believing they were demons, and who could argue? Maybe they were demons, they weren't mortals after all.

Kanetsidohi was glad that they had been uploading all the information of the old texts in the database. Of course they kept the source, but searching in the books had taken weeks. Using the computer, in four hours she had found the spell, had searched where to find the materials needed, had made copies for everyone of her sisters, and was able to return to her bed before dawn. She loved technology!

*---*

The next morning Kanetsidohi, during breakfast, explained what she wanted to do. Once she finished her speech, Kanetsidohi went to the window. The wind blew ferociously over the sea and the rain poured heavily. The dark sky was lighted up only for lightning here and there. She felt calm and secure again.

After Kanetsidohi told them her idea, all the witches were thoughtful for a while. They wanted to do it but they were a little uncertain about the subject. They had never done it before.

Finally Rayen Quitral decided to talk. "I want to do it hermanas, but you know that Kanetsidohi and I were rather fond of Methos."

"We have done things together ever since we decided to create this association, I don't think this is the time to break it up," answered Adalisa. "I'm in."

"We survived together, it could be our destiny to die together," said Tsila.

"I'm in, Kanetsidohi. You know that. But maybe our little sister Kasey should stay away." Wesa turned towards Kasey. "You are too young Kasey. You have only begun to understand what life offers."

"Thanks, Wesa, but if I'm a part of this, I have to go. I want to go."

Kanetsidohi stood and looked her sisters carefully. "It's settled then. We have to talk with McLeod, Joe, and Amanda. If they also agree, we have to prepare a lot of things for the ceremony. Let's go, we haven't time to waste."

*---*

In record time the news was known. Adam Pierson had been the Immortal killed by Cassandra the day before. The watchers couldn't believe it, Adam Pierson had been an Immortal! Surely that had been the reason he had left the organization. When he became Immortal his conscience didn't let him lie to his companions. Everybody in the Watchers had been surprised. Even Dawson had faked a surprised "Oh!" when he was informed. Adam had been his friend so everybody understood when he excused himself and left the office. Joe went directly to his bar and cried again, mourning the death of another of his dearest friends. Life wasn't fair. Suddenly the phone rang. Joe answered reluctantly, but it could be McLeod. "Dawson."

"Hi, Joe. There is... something delicate that I need to discuss with you. Could we see you this afternoon?"

"This afternoon? Mac, look, this is not the best moment."

"I know, Joe. But it is important. Pleeease... ?"

"Ok, but it has to be a hell of a reason!"

"It is, Joe. It is."

*---*

That afternoon, all the witches were in Joe's bar, along with Duncan and Amanda. Kanetsidohi had explained what they wanted to do and she was waiting for the other Immortals and Joe to digest what they had been told.

Joe was the first to ask, "Can you really bring him back?"

"We, Mr. Dawson. Yes, we can."

"Why do you need us? You are witches, we aren't," asked McLeod. If he hadn't fought with Ahriman he never would have believed all this crap.

"We are going to take the quickening out of an Immortal. If we weren't powerful enough, the quickening simply could return to its host and the ceremony wouldn't work. Actually, we need 13 persons to perform the ceremony."

"It's a lot of people, even if we agree to do it," stated Amanda. "Where would you find the others?"

"We are six, you are three; we need another four, and one of those has to be Cassandra. So we need just three more," smiled Kanetsidohi.

Duncan sneered. "Just three and Cassandra? She never would agree to do it. Her only goal was to kill Methos."

"Yes, and she did it. That will be your task, McLeod, maybe you could convince her to cooperate."

"What if she refuses?"

"The ceremony can be performed on any Immortal. She would be beheaded and the Immortal that received her quickening would take her place."

"It's a little cold, isn't it?"

"You have a problem with that?" asked Wesa.

"I don't know. She suffered so much, and it was for Methos's fault. I need to talk with her first."

"She wouldn't be damaged, McLeod, I can assured you of that," replied Kanetsidohi.

"Mnnn."

"What?"

"Can you bring back other people?"

"Like who?"

"Well... I was thinking of Richie, Fitz... Tessa...?"

Kanetsidohi smiled softly. "McLeod, we can bring back an Immortal because Immortals aren't dead. Their spirits and essences have gone into other Immortals. But Tessa was mortal, she died. Her soul is gone. She is not beyond our reach but when a mortal dies, it's best not to try to go against nature's rules. The consequences are always bad."

Duncan nodded sadly.

Amanda had been very quiet. When Duncan fell silent, she asked, "Can you bring back Rebecca?"

"Yes, Amanda. We can bring back seven Immortals, no more. We need just one Immortal on the ceremonial table, but all the others Immortals can participate, so we can retrieve the quickenings from any Immortal involved in the ceremony," Kanetsidohi explained.

"We would bring back Methos, Richie, Fitz and Rebecca. Anybody else? There can be seven," intervened Rayen Quitral. Then she turned towards Kanetsidohi and warned her, "Kronos is out of question."

"Darius, Sean Burns and Coltec!" Replied McLeod, hurrily.

"Ok, so we need the heads of Methos, Richie, Sean Burns, Darius, Fitz, Coltec, and Rebecca," counted Kanetsidohi.

"The heads?" asked Joe, upset. "That's morbid!"

"Any piece of the Immortal could work, but we know that the head is the part that is mainly conserved. I don't know why. The important thing is that we have them."

Joe still wasn't convinced. "But... why do you need them?"

"The ceremony will regenerate the bodies until they are as they were before they were beheaded. Then the quickening will inhabitate it again, because the only perfect container for a quickening is its own body. So there isn't any risk that a dangerous Immortal might escape or take a body that isn't its own."

"So you had everything you need, but who else will be part of the ceremony?" asked Joe.

"We talked with other Immortals. Everyone had a price that we could pay, so it's all settled," answered Kanetsidohi.

"A price? Are you going to pay them?" asked Amanda.

Kanetsidohi laughed. "Not money, Amanda. Cory Raines, wanted a donation for a charity. We agreed to give him one of our swords. Michelle is so bored in the convent that she would do anything to leave for a couple of days, and the last is your friend, Nick Wolf."

Amanda jumped. "Nick? But he didn't ever know Methos."

"He wanted to see you again to mend things. This could be a great opportunity."

Dawson realized that the only thing needed was Duncan's verbal agreement. "Mac, are we going to do this? I want to do it but I need to know what you think about it." Joe turned to Amanda. "What about you?"

"I don't know. I'm scared, but if Duncan decides to do it, I will do it too."

All the stares were fixed on McLeod. He nodded tiredly. "I want to do it too, but... Araminta... I need a favor."

"If it is something I can do, it's done."

"Cassandra could refuses to participate in the ceremony and I..."

"Don't worry, McLeod. I can kill her."

McLeod nodded silently. "So, let's go to find Cassandra."

*---*

Cassandra felt an Immortal buzz and she quickly let go her suitcase and grabbed her sword. Suddenly she was surrounded by several Immortals' buzz. She had never felt so many Immortals together in a long time. Were they after her head?

Duncan approached her. "Duncan? What's happening?" He wasn't grabbing his sword but she knew he could be a menace, so she decided to use the voice. "Duncan, stop!"

She heard a chorus of laughter from behind. "Your powers don't affect him, Cassandra. We are protecting him."

Cassandra turned and saw the witches, the ones who had taught her so many milennia ago. "Tsila! What are you doing here?"

"You remember me, Cassandra. What a compliment! My sisters and I are accompanying McLeod. He wants to talk with you."

Duncan stood a little apart from Cassandra. "Cassandra. I want to talk you about Methos."

Cassandra turned to McLeod. "About Methos? He is dead. What more do you want to know about him? How he destroyed my tribe? How he used me? How..."

"Yeah, I know, I know... He destroyed your life, your tribe, your future. I've heard it a dozen of times before." Duncan advanced a step towards Cassandra. "I want to talk you about a way to bring Methos back."

Cassandra stared, mouth open. "Bring back Methos? Are you insane, McLeod? He was evil. The world is better without him."

"Not my world, Cassandra. He had changed. I have had to kill several Immortals who were once my friends, but who had chosen the path of evil down through the years. Nevertheless, I met others that were evil before but they mended their lives, like Darius and Kirin. Like Methos. I know what evil is, Cassandra. I had a dark time in my life too. I was evil, like Methos was once. He helped me to recover. If it hadn't been for Methos, our meeting three months ago would have been really unpleasant for you."

"You're saying that to make me feel guilty. You are lying!"

"No Cassandra. Helping me, he saved your life too, like he did when he killed Silas. Do you remember that?"

"It doesn't matter anyway. He's dead! You can't bring him back, Duncan. Accept it!"

"I can't bring him back, Cassandra, but they can." Duncan indicated the witches.

Cassandra stared at them. "You want to bring him back? Why?"

Wesa explained, "They were our students once, Cassandra. Kronos and Methos. We taught them as we did with you and then we let them go. Unfortunately they choose the evil way."

"Unfortunately?" mocked Cassandra. "Why did you never tell me about it?"

Kanetsidohi smiled. "You weren't very reliable, Cassandra, and you proved it quickly. We never did any harm to you, but you tried to kill Sheila to take her quickening." Tsila waved at Cassandra and smiled.

Cassandra yelled, "I just needed to be stronger! To survive! The world was full of..."

"... of evil. Yeah... we know, Cassandra," interrumped Duncan. "Now get back to the matter. Are you going to help us to bring Methos back?"

"Never!"

Duncan grabbed his sword. This was incredible. In the submarine base he had believed that his only reason to want her dead was because he was dealing with Kronos' quickening, but now his mind was clear and he was sure that he wouldn't have any remorse about killing her and taking her quickening. "It's really simple Cassandra. You came with us willingly and let us do the ceremony, or I behead you and take your quickening. Then they could perform the ceremony with me."

Cassandra stared at the Immortals surrounded her.

"Your choice, Cassandra." McLeod's voice was icy cold.

If he had been angry, Cassandra would have feel more secure, but this cold and controlled Duncan terrified her. "I'll go with you."

*---*

Joe never thought that someday he would fly to South America, but here he was, in Chile, at 5:00 am, travelling along the highway between Santiago and Cabildo. It was amazing.

Their cars formed a little line, trying to look as anonymous possible. They were carring several humans heads! How in the world would they explain that? Not a chance. They would be convicted and he would spend the rest of his life in jail. Fortunately, it was really early in the morning so only their documents were reviewed while the policemen looked at them suspiciously.

The trip from Santiago to Artificio took three hours. At 8:30 am they were installed in the house on the top of the hill called La Puntilla de la Mostaza. The hill wasn't so high but it had a nice view of the valley below. Joe breathed deeply; he felt like new. The little valley was in a semi-desert landscape and everybody was feeling incredibly good. Joe looked around trying to identify the source of a delicious scent. Almost at the edge of hill top he saw several large fig trees that seemed very old and spreaded their incredible scent on the air.

Kanetsidohi approached Joe. "Do you like the scent?"

"Yes, I didn't expect trees in a place like this."

"We planted them more than 70 years ago, to keep the farmers away from this place."

Joe stared at the witch suspiciously.

Kanetsidohi saw Joe's expression and explained, "In this country, in the countryside the ancient inhabitants believed that fig trees were damned by God. These trees were supposed to be planted by witches who use them in their ceremonies."

"Really?" Joe smiled to himself; these women were witches.

Kanetsidohi nodded. "Add that La Escalera del Diablo is in Hierro Viejo, and people don't even consider coming here."

"What?"

"Sorry, I forgot. La Escalera del Diablo means The Devil's Stairs. People believe that on full moon nights, The Devil dances on the stairs and its cloven hooves snatch sparks off the stones. In these places people are very superstitious and we have learned to use those kind of things to our advantage."

"But why did we have to come here? There are lots of sacred places in Europe."

"Our power comes from this valley. This place has a mystic force that belongs to us. This place is special and you can feel it, I can see."

"Well... I haven't felt so good in years. I'm not sure if I felt this good even when I was young. But... Can you really own a mystic force?"

"There are power places all around the world as you said, but all of them have owners that pass their traditions to the new generations. We..." Kanetsidohi smiled. "... we don't do it so desperately because we are Immortals, but we are constantly training new students. It's risky, because we have failures like Kronos and Cassandra, but we have to keep trying." Kanetsidohi turned to the trees and Joe followed her gaze. "The ceremony has to be performed in holy ground. Inside the circle formed by the fig trees there was supposed to be a cemetery but no one was buried there. That's the place where our friends will be brought back." Kanetsidohi chuckled, seeing Joe's worried expression. "That's enough information for now, Joe. Breakfast is ready."

Joe turned towards the trees a last time. It was early morning but, inexplicably, the fig trees looked dark and dangerous now.

*---*

It was evening and everybody was working in preparation for the ceremony. The place had been abandoned for almost ten years and needed a little cleaning. Joe sat on the terrace with a gun on his lap, watching Cassandra. The witches were carrying things from the house when a bird flew over the house and cried out. The witches looked up into the dark sky and said, "Ven mañana por pan y sal."

Joe looked at them, puzzled. "What did you say?"

Kanetsidohi looked at him. "It was a Tué-Tué. We offered it bread and salt." She looked at the sky again. "I hope it accepts our offering."

"The bird will come to dinner?"

"It's not a bird, it's a witch in spirit form," explained Wesa. "If it accepts, tomorrow someone will came to the house to claim the offering."

"What if it doesn't accept?"

"One of us will die."

Another bird sang over the house. "Aren't you going to offer something?" Joe asked.

Wesa laughed. "That was a queltehue, a bird. People think they bring rain with them, or marriage."

Joe looked at Wesa; it seemed that the witches enjoyed teasing him. "So, we are damned either way. One of us could die, or get married."

*---*

McLeod was talking with Joe, while they watched Cassandra, when Amanda entered the room and announced that the witches were ready. The ceremony should start exactly at 01:00 am, on Saturday morning. Joe left with Amanda and Duncan gesture to Cassandra to leave the room. She was upset and scared. What if something went wrong? She didn't want to die, not yet, not ever.

*---*

La Puntilla de la Mostaza pointed to the sea, where the sun rests at night. As always the night sky was impressive, it was so full of stars that it seemed as if they had been put there just for the occasion. Behind the fig trees there was a little wall surrounding the sacred place, to protect it against the farmer's animals that roamed on the hills. The witches were indicating where each one of the Immortal should be.

Amanda walked towards the sacred place and shuddered. She wasn't used to thinking about death; several of her friends had died, but for her that wasn't a big deal. Until now. Because right now, she was ready to participate in a ceremony to bring back to life some dear friends. Amanda was nervous. They were there to pray for life, but in that moment death was more real than ever in her long life. Taking a deep breath, Amanda entered the circle and took her place.

*---*

There were thirteen Immortals. Cassandra was standing in the middle of the place over a single huge stone that emerged from the ground and had been carefully carved to make it flat and smooth. The stone was at ground level and it was the altar. Cassandra looked scared. If she were able to chose she would be far away from there. Around the ground of the altar were little stones: blue, red and green. Beautifully placed, making complicated patterns. Earlier, Kanetsidohi had explained that each pattern was the name of a witch; Cassandra's name had been removed when she left, as Methos' and Kronos' names had been.

The rest of the Immortals were in groups of three at each cardinal point. Kanetsidohi, Rayen Quitral and Wesa were at the point that represented west, because they would perform the ceremony. At the west side of the altar, in front of Cassandra, there was a fireplace, with burning coal. Rayen Quitral and Wesa had in their hands fig leaves in which the elements of the spell had been placed. Kanetsidohi was holding her sword. The ceremony was very easy. Maybe because it was incredibly old, maybe because it took energy from the performers but didn't give any reward to them, or perhaps simply because only Immortals could be returned. But the fact was that the spell had been forgotten, by common witches, more than 4500 years before.

All the Immortals were tense; Joe was worried. Only the three old witches performing the rite knew what to expect. The three of them looked at each other and started the ceremony. Rayen Quitral and Wesa threw the leaves in the fireplace and left the altar. With a deep voice, Kanetsidohi warned, "Don't move, Cassandra." The spell's components were burning and Cassandra started to feel sleepy. Kanetsidohi raised her sword and walked toward Cassandra, who saw her but couldn't move. Easily, Kanetsidohi impaled her right through the heart. Cassandra's eyes opened wide in shock for a moment, then she fell to the ground, dead. Kanetsidohi retrieved her sword and rejoined her sisters. After just seconds, Cassandra's body was surrounded by mist, shining with soft blue sparks of light and started to levitate.

Kanetsidohi reminded Joe and the Immortals, "Remember, don't try to understand. You just say the names that I told you earlier. I'll signal you when your time comes." All of them nodded and the ceremony continued. Kanetsidohi, standing in front of the fireplace, raised her arms and prayed, "¿Por qué estamos aquí?"

"¡Para recuperar lo que es nuestro!" answered Rayen Quitral and Wesa.

"¿Cómo lo haremos?" asked Kanetsidohi.

"¡Sacrificando parte de nosotros!" answered Rayen Quitral and Wesa.

Kanetsidohi said, "¿A quiénes comandamos a volver?"

Rayen Quitral and Wesa answered, "¡A aquellos que son amados!"

"¿Quiénes son?" asked Kanetsidohi, and made a sign to the Immortals on the spot of south.

They answered, "Richie! Fitz!" and lit their candles.

Next, the Immortals on the east spot, recited, "Sean! Darius!" and lit their candles as well.

Kanetsidohi signaled the last spot. McLeod, Joe and Amanda prayed, "Adam! Rebecca!" they lit their candles, too.

Rayen Quitral, Wesa and Kanetsidohi said, "Coltec!" and threw more fig leaves with the spell mix into the fireplace and added, "El círculo se ha cerrado; que la puerta se abra!"

Then all the Immortals looked mesmerized at Cassandra's body because a bolt of lightning left it, and the energy hung over the altar, and the body, like a little cloud of storm.

Rayen Quitral, Wesa and Kanetsidohi started to pray, "¡Regresen con nosotros. Aquellos que los aman, los comandan a volver y nosotras les abrimos la puerta!" over and over.

More lightings left the dead body and the cloud started to grow. The night was full of light and shining, while all the dead Immortals that inhabitated Cassandra's body tried to escape. More and more energy had been leaving Cassandra's body, but suddenly it stopped and the energy of the cloud was directed to the group of Immortals at the point that represented south. Michelle, Nick and John Kirin were hit by bolts of lightnings. Their bodies were rocked and wounded severily, until finally they fell to the ground, dead.

Duncan and Amanda realized that Joe's life was in danger. They tried to move, but the whole place was filled with energy, and they couldn't even walk. The air was charged with electricitry and the cloud roared like a big monster, sending lightnings bolts all over the place. The next group of Immortals who were hit were those who represented east. Adalisa, Tsila and Kasey went the same way that as the first three. Joe understood that he would die in that place. It was ironic, to die surrounded by Immortals. But he had no time to think about it much. A blast of energy hit them and Duncan could see how the lightning wrenched one of Joe's arms and hit his chest. Joe's eyes didn't show pain, just surprise. For a moment he looked at Duncan and then he fell to the floor, dead like the others, but unlike the others, he wouldn't return. Duncan hadn't time enough to feel sad, as he was hit and died too.

The last three Immortals could feel the whole place vibrating with the energy of the quickenings. The last they could see, before being hit by the lightning, was all the dead Immortals' bodies levitating over the place, while their quickenings joined the cloud over Cassandra's body. The witches were hit and died, letting their quickenings join the cloud of power covering the whole place.

There weren't any witnesses for what happened next. The bodies were rocked and twisted in the air by the force of the quickening. The heads that had been placed behind Cassandra were the last to levitate, along with Joe's shattered body, because they hadn't a quickening to share.

Parts of the mist separated from the main cloud and then sorrounded the pieces of every body in the place, which were then brought into the energy cyclone formed by the quickenings.

*---*

La Puntilla de la Mostaza was lit up as if by a powerful light storm. At the base of the hill, the people were afraid, wondering what was happening, while in the sacred place, the noise was defeaning, and the amont of power going through the cloud was incredible.

In the little village the people had gathered on the opposite hill and from there watched fascinated the phantasmagoric spectacle. They had heard their grandparents talking about the sacred place on the hill, but they never had believed in those old tales. They wouldn't doubt anymore.

*---*

The amazing spectacle lasted only a few minutes and as suddenly as it had started, the storm stopped. A body fell heavily to the ground, then another and another, until all the bodies in the cloud had been unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

A heavy silence followed the last body hitting the ground, but it was interrupted by the complaints of the Immortals reviving. Kanetsidohi and Wesa, who were the oldest, were the first to awaken. They sat up and looked at each other, a little afraid to look at their step-sisters and the other Immortals dead. But life started to touch every Immortal in the place and in few minutes all of them were alive, the whole place was noisy again, this time with the complaints of the battered Immortals.

*---*

Methos awoke with a start and sit on the ground looking around him without any idea of where he was. Then he realized that he was naked, bruised and his body ached all over. Next to him were Richie, Darius and Sean Burns. There were other three naked Immortals that Methos didn't know: a guy with long curly hair, a man who looked like and Indian and a pretty woman with red hair. Methos looked at the woman carefully; she was naked but she wasn't embarrased, just worried because she didn't have her sword. Methos realized that he didn't have his sword either, and they were surrounded by quickenings. Then he heard Duncan's worried voice.

"Joe...? Joe! Wake up!"

Methos could see that Duncan was holding Joe. Methos looked around; it seemed that none of these Immortals were a threat, well... almost. Right next to him was Cassandra, but at least she didn't have a sword. She just looked at him with surprise and hate. "You!"

Methos closed his eyes. Had he lived this moment before? He was so tired that he didn't care if Cassandra killed him again. That made him react. Cassandra had killed him! He remembered perfectly her expression when the blade cut his head. Methos checked his neck; there wasn't any indication of a wound there. Just then Methos understood that Richie shouldn't be there, or Sean Burns; both of them had been killed by Duncan. This was weird!

*---*

Kanetsidohi had been checking every Immortal on the place when finally she approached Duncan who was rocking Joe's body and sobbing quietly. She could see clearly that Joe was dead. She had been so stupid! She never should have brought Joe with them! Kanetsidohi felt like hell; she had killed one of the better mortals in the whole world. She fought to hold back the tears and went to look at the Immortals retrieved. Kanetsidohi could see that Richie was breathing. Suddenly, he yelled and sat up hurriedly, his eyes wide open: scared, confused, surprised. He stared at his surroundings. He fixed his stare on Rayen Quitral. "Who are you?"

"Adam's friends."

Finally, the rest of Immortals that had participated in the ceremony approached the stone where the rescued Immortals were. Everybody looked surprised, as if they hadn't really thought that it would work. Nobody paid attention to Duncan or Amanda, who were kneeling near the altar. No one but Kanetsidohi, who was feeling guilty for the death of Joe, someone that she really liked. The other Immortals were talking about the strange situation, they could feel the individual quickenings, and recognize each other. It was amazing!

Richie asked, "What happened? I thought I was dead."

"You were dead.. Well, sort of," answered Wesa.

"Sort of?" sneered Richie. "You can't be sort of dead."

Wesa just glared at the young Immortal. "You can be sort of dead, Richie. You aren't a mortal."

"But... How?!"

Kanetsidohi interrumped. "We'll explain later. We have to go now. This is an isolated place but the police could arrive at any moment just the same." Suddenly she remembered what she had done. "All of you leave this place. I have to take care of..."

But her words were interrupted because all the Immortals were hit by an unknown buzz. Startled, the Immortals searched the place until their stares were fixed on Duncan.

Amanda had been conforting Duncan who was sobbing with Joe in his arms. It wasn't fair. Duncan had lost Methos and now that he had recovered him, he had lost Joe. Suddenly Duncan tensed, Amanda was about to ask what happened, when she was hit by a quickening. All the Immortals at the altar were looking at them, inquiringly. Kanetsidohi was open-mouthed, speechless, looking at Joe.

Duncan and Amanda looked at Joe. Then the dead body shuddered and gasped!

For a moment, Duncan and Amanda didn't react but when Joe opened his eyes, they sent Joe's body rolling across the ground and squirmed away from him.

"What the hell, Mac! Be carefull!" protested Joe angrily. He sat up and looked around. There was a deep silence, while all the Immortals looked at him. The Watcher was really annoyed. "What happened with you!" Joe struggled with his legs until he stood upright over his legs, while he looked around for his cane. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done. Why did I accept? And all for that annoying guy! I can't believe it! I'm going to leave this place and I..." Then Joe saw something familiar next to Amanda. He advanced a couple of steps and looked with shock at his prostetic legs, which lay burned and broken in the ground. Joe looked at his feet and saw... feet! Real feet! He turned toward Duncan who was staring at him with wide open eyes, then he looked at the witches who performed the ceremony but the expression on the faces of Rayen Quitral, Wesa and Kanetsidohi was of total shock and disbelief.

Joe looked at the other Immortals and then fainted. No one moved. Joe was unconscious but all the Immortals knew he wasn't dead because his quickening was really strong.

Joe's quickening? Surely they were insane. All of them!

The Immortals looked at each other. Duncan, who was still sat on the ground, looked at Amanda and fainted in her arms.

End.

Final Notes:

1º I had been thinking about the witches dancing on the top of the hill for a long time, but I hadn't any idea what they were doing. I also wanted a story where Methos would die. The original idea was something like Connie had insinuated with her post "The Devil at Joe's." It was supposed to be a crossover between Highlander and Brimstone. My first idea was a story where Methos dies, and would remain dead. But I couldn't let myself do it. While I was working on little pieces for other stories, suddenly, I was hit by the realization: I could kill Methos! The witches were performing a ceremony to bring him back!

2º After so many years of Highlander fanfiction, I don't think there is a theme that hadn't been explored in some way, but I think there is a story line that needs a larger explanation: Joe's immortality.

I always wanted to find a way for Joe to be Immortal and to be a credible Immortal, he needed to recover his legs. I had started writing the part about the quickening exploding in the top of the hill that killed all the Immortals in the place, when I decided that was the perfect opportunity to bring back other Immortals who I like and could be useful in other stories, so I added: Richie, Darius, Sean Burns, Fitz and Rebecca (btw, I added Coltec just because being who write the story, I could returned any attractive Immortal that I wanted. <g>). I kept writing about it when I had realized that like I needed to reconstruct the Immortals' bodies, why not reconstruct Joe's body as well? When he would have his legs, there wasn't any reason to not make him Immortal. It seemed perfect! Even before I finished the first draft of this story, I realized that I read a story where Duncan and Joe were hit by a storm lightning and for a couple of days, McLeod was mortal and Joe was Immortal. I don't remember how they recovered their old selves again because I don't even remember the name of the story. So if you know what story I'm talking about, please tell me. The plot in this story about Joe being Immortal is different and absolutely mine, but it could be the right thing to let everybody know that there is another story where Joe is Immortal.

3° These things are real:

- The hill named La Puntilla de la Mostaza.

- The place called La Escalera del Diablo, and the tale about it.

- The tale about the fig trees.

- The tale about the Tué-Tué.

- The tale about the queltehues.

- The incredible microclimate of the Petorca River valley; there are people who say the valley has some mystic energy like the valley of Elqui's river.

4° These are fictional:

- The ceremony performed by the witches.

- The place where the ceremony was performed. I'm not aware of a place like that at the top of that hill.

- The fact that the ceremony should be performed at 1:00 am, I take the idea from an ep of "Friday 13^th: The Series." In that ep, Jack said that hour is known as "The 13^th hour" by witches, and I like it.

- All the 'facts' about witchcraft. I took ideas from fictional books, movies, series, etc., and other things there are just from my overactive imagination.

5° Translations

I wanted to do the ceremony in Latin or something exotic like that, but since I only know Spanish, I decided to do it in a simple way. This ritual doesn't exit, is just that I had seen too much tv.

"¿Por qué estamos aquí?" - "Why are we here?"

"¡Para recuperar lo que es nuestro!" - "To retrieve what is ours!"

"¿Cómo lo haremos?" - "How would we do it?"

"¡Sacrificando parte de nosotros!" - "Sacrificing part of ourselves!"

"¿A quiénes comandamos a volver?" - "Whom do we command to return?"

"¡A aquellos que son amados!" - "Those who are loved!"

"¿Quiénes son?" - "Who are they?"

"El círculo se ha cerrado; que la puerta se abra!" - "The circle is closed; that the gate would open!"

"¡Regresen con nosotros. Aquellos que los aman los comandan a volver y nosotras les abrimos la puerta!" - "Come back with us. Those who love you, command you to return and we opened the gate!"