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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BtVS characters, they belong to Joss Whendon. I also got some of my ideas/inspiration from the fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey. The idea for the story, Mystical, Michael, Harmony and their schools are mine. Please ask me before using any of my characters. I'm not making any money, so please don't sue.
Author's Note: This story takes place two days after the episode "Killed by Death", about a week after Ms. Calendar died.
Part 1
Giles paced back and forth in the library, waiting for Buffy, Willow, Xander and Cordy to arrive. Buffy arrived first. She took one look at her Watcher before making an exasperated sigh and sitting down. Willow and Oz arrived soon after. They followed Buffy's example and sat down at the table. Buffy looked at the happy couple and gave a small, sad smile. Giles paced a little longer before finally giving up on Xander and Cordy.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said.
"So what else is new?" Xander said, leading Cordy in on his arm.
"Do we get to save the world again?" asked Willow.
"Not quite. Tomorrow night is the anniversary of the night Angelus was turned into a vampire, and killed his whole town. He fondly refers to it as his Rebirthday. I've been reading the Watcher diaries. They say that on his Rebirthday, he always killed a family member to celebrate. It was referred to as the only time Angelus didn't cause much trouble because he's too busy tracking down a relative," Giles said.
"Great so we just have to find the nearest relative of Angelus, and stand guard tomorrow," Xander said.
"But Angelus hasn't been too quiet lately," Oz added.
"Maybe he forgot," Cordy said.
"In all the records I have, Angelus has never forgotten," Giles said.
"He's coming after me," Buffy said quietly, from her chair.
"That is what I'm afraid of," Giles replied, "I can't know for sure off course."
"But Buffy's not family!" Willow cried.
"'I'm pretty much family'" Xander said, everyone turned to look at him, "'I'm pretty much family' that's what Angel said when he tried to get in to see Buffy, while she was at the hospital."
"Oh dear," Giles said sitting down. A silence descended upon the room.
"O.K., so he's going to be coming after me. That's nothing new. What can we do about it?" Buffy asked. They were soon knee deep, in a conversation full of ideas. As they talked, a girl about 19 years old entered unnoticed. She wore white sandals, blue jeans, and a clinging silver shirt. She also had a dark blue gym bag slung over her shoulder. She had shoulder length, straight, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She listened to them talk for a while, before clearing her throat. Silence descended on the room, as all eyes turned toward her.
"What do you want?" Cordy asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm looking for Ms. Calendar. She said she would be here, if she wasn't in her room and she wasn't," the girl said. The girl spoke with a slight Irish accent. Buffy was hit with a strange feeling of familiarity. She couldn't explain it, so she shook it off.
"I'm sorry," Giles said, "but Ms. Calendar died a week ago."
"OH NO!!!!" she cried. "I'm so sorry. You must be the friends she mentioned: Rupert Giles, Buffy Summer, Willow Rosenburg, Xander Haris, Cordelia Chase, and Oz Wolfe," she said reading the names and pointing to each in turn, from a list in her hands.
"How'd you know that?" Xander blurted.
"I was given a list from Ms. Calendar with your names and descriptions, including the part about Buffy being the Slayer, and Giles her Watcher," the girl replied.
"Great. Since you know all of us, why don't you tell us who you are and why you're here," Buffy said.
"Oh excuse me. My name's Harmony. I was sent here from SU in response to Ms. Calendar's request. Her situation was deemed worthy by the board, so they gave me the assignment as my final exam. I have th---" Harmony replied.
"What request?" Giles interrupted.
"Exam?? We're a test?" Cordy asked.
"In a way, didn't you know about the request? She said we should seek you if we couldn't find her," Harmony asked puzzled.
"No, we don't know. So start from the beginning, like what is SU?" Buffy said.