back for answers in Rome

Clark's not sure if they'll get much help, but some help is better than none. And he wants to get this over with, so they can deal with any bad news and take in any good news instead of hoping and dreading what might happen.

He holds her hand as they walk, still turning over her words in his mind. They still don't make any more sense than they did when she said them in the Phantom Zone.

They walk normally to the door of the Villa, and everything seems normal up until April opens the door. She goes to enter the Villa... and bounces back as if she walked into an invisible door.

"What the?"

He wasn't expecting that, and doesn't feel any sort of wall himself. "What's wrong?"

((Assuming it's the threshold thing right?))

"I feel sick to my stomach if I attempt to enter." April describes the feeling she got. "I needed to back away."

((yes indeed))

He doesn't want to ask, but she needs to get inside. "Should I go find someone to invite you in?"

"Please. It has to be a human who lives here." Which negates either Angel or Spike. But luckily for Clark both Willow and Giles are researching together in the Library today.

He hates to have to just leave her standing here. But they don't have much choice. "I'll be right back," he promises, and heads inside, using his superhearing to lead him to someone who can help. "Hello?"

Looking up to the voice, Willow moved so that Clark could see her behind the mountain of books. "Clark. What a nice surprise."

"Hi, Willow. Can I borrow you for a second?"

"Um sure Clark. What seems to be the problem?" It is weird for the witch talking to him, without April here. She wonders why he came to see her.

He heads back towards the entrance, glad that they don't have a huge audience so they can keep this casual. "April's having a problem with the threshold."

"Giles told me about her recent problems. So another vampire disadvantage has shown up?" Willow walks with him to the door.

Upon sighting April, Willow said, "I invite you in April."

It was such a relief for April to enter the Villa. "How long have you been unable to cross a threshold?" Was the first question Willow asked.

"I don't know. We haven't really been to much private dwellings in Clark's dimension," explained April.

"Maybe it's only recently, and we just didn't know it until now." He's hopeful of that, because otherwise her condition is deteriorating more quickly than they'd like.

"We could test to see what other vampire traits she is exhibiting." Willow suggested, leading them back to the Library where Giles was waiting.

"I had a few visions that might relate to the situation, but they weren't clear." April mentioned.

"We don't have any idea what it might mean," Clark agrees, backing her up.

"What were they?" Willow asked in good timing. The answer would be heard by both the witch and the watcher.

"It was that Clark should cage the beast. And only his heart can tame the beast." April detailed.

"The beast must refer to your vampire side," Giles leaned back and closed his eyes to think for a moment.

"We figured as much. But I don't know what I'm supposed to do to help. If all that's needed is for me to love her, I don't think we'd even be having this situation in the first place."

"She might literally be talking about caging the vampire." Willow noted after a moment.

"I hope you don't think the whole 'giving me his heart' is literal too." April exclaimed.

"I don't think it would be." Although he knows that he would, if the situation called for it.

April feels a chill in the air. She knows Clark would risk everything for her. She would rather he didn't have to.

"No. Of course not. The heart tames the beast refers to Clark being the reason you have been able to be so stable for this long, missing a part of your soul," Giles explained. "I looked into it, and the piece that you gave up for the three witches are now part of their own guiding focus. Their goodness."

"I can't take their goodness from them," pointed out April.

"You won't have to. There are other ways a vampire can claim a soul. Just like Angel was cursed with his, and your father battled to claim his."

"A soul isn't a curse... maybe I have to do what Father did."

"What was that?" He agrees that a soul isn't a curse, and he's heard a little bit about it, but not the details.

"He took the Demon Trials, a series of grueling physical challenges." April explained.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Very. The physical challenges are designed to challenge a Demon. And if they fail..." April leaves the resst unspoken.

"There has to be another way." He doesn't want her to have to go through with that unless she absolutely has to, and then he still won't like it.

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