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Disclaimer: All characters and objects (such as the Codex) BTVS-related belong to Joss Whedon. I, however, own Stefanie, Ivory, Venus, and Lorenzo and Tessa (who don't appear until late in the story). Hope you enjoy!
Author's Notes: This story will be the first in a two-parter I am working on. Don't be disappointed if it concludes with a lot of loose ends, because I plan to wrap it up in a separate story. Thank you. Enjoy!
Prologue
He sat in his office in the school library, poring over the text he had become so familiar with. On a normal day, he would have done so eagerly, in an effort to help out the two young vampire slayers he had spent so long training. Yet, with this one, he was afraid at what he might find.
Rupert Giles leaned back in his chair, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes, knowing he was in danger of straining them from reading so long. He eventually stood with a sigh, deciding to take a rest for a few moments.
The night had started off pleasant enough, Giles thought as he fixed a cup of tea for himself. He had been at home with his wife prepared to go out to dinner when the phone call had come. It had been his friend, Angel, one of two unique vampires who were both cursed and blessed with a conscience.
With his heightened senses, Angel had an awareness of the most ominous things. To sum it up, the vampire was sure he could feel something terrible brewing around town, something that would surely affect the two girls Giles had sworn to protect. So, out of worry, Giles had come to the library instead to do some research (his wife had understood).
Giles took a few moments to drink the tea, then returned to his task of translating. This particular volume, the Codex (the most comprehensive book of slayer prophecy), was written entirely in Latin. With that in the way, it was taking him forever to find the right passage.
Finally, Giles found part of what he was looking for, pulling a stationery over to write down the interpretation. This particular verse was long, and he didn't really pay attention to the meaning as he wrote.
When he finished, Giles leaned back and sighed, then looked over what he had recorded. After a moment, he froze, immediately knowing that the next few days were going to get very, very bad indeed...