|
|
Part 4
“So, did you find anything?” Buffy asked, entering the library the next morning.
“Oh, good morning Buffy,” Giles said, looking up from his book.
“Good morning,” Buffy said, bemused. Giles usually got right down business, without preliminaries such as good mornings. “Did you? Find anything, I mean?”
“N-no, I mean yes . . . that is, I didn’t find anything but Mr. Westing did,” Giles corrected.
“Brian? He’s here already?” Buffy asked, looking around for him. It was about eight thirty and school had just started. Buffy’s only class that day wasn’t until that afternoon, but she’d had trouble sleeping that morning and she wanted to get some work done before turning into crowd control when Oz showed up. It was a long lasting joke that the only time of year any students actually entered the library was when Oz was visiting—and then there were WAY too many of them.
Oz was sort of a teen idol, and all Willow heard for days before and after he came were demands of what he was “really like” and what it had been like to date him. Buffy was drenched with questions too . . . but Willow was held in awe for a couple of weeks every year as the woman who had gone out with Oz. Not that they had ever actually broken up . . . but after she was paralyzed Willow had strongly discouraged any signs of a relationship. Oz obviously still adored her, and Buffy thought she felt the same way, but she’d gotten better at hiding emotions and if she did still love him, no one could tell for sure.
“Since seven,” Brian said, behind her. Buffy spun around, and sighed in relief when she saw him.
“You know, sneaking up on the Slayer is really not a good idea. I’ve been known to seriously hurt people you surprised me! And you’ve been here since seven? Don’t you need any sleep at all?” she asked. They had stayed out pretty late the night before, and Buffy for one hadn’t got to sleep until about two in the morning. As the Slayer, she had more endurance and didn’t need as much sleep, but he must have gotten less than her and he was just a normal human . . . right? He shrugged.
“A few hours, but not really. I’ve never needed much. I suppose you could say the same, but only ‘cause you’re the Slayer. You’re not going to start believing I’m a vampire too, are you? Because one is really enough. I’ll give you my medical records, if you want. You know, blood samples and stuff like that,” he said. Buffy shook her head hurriedly.
“No, no. I don’t really believe you’re a vampire. I’m sorry. It’s just . . . never mind,” Buffy said.
“That old story?” he asked gently. She nodded shortly and changed the subject.
“What did you find then?” she asked. He became serious all at once.
“It’s pretty bad, I’m afraid. An old prophecy about the end of the world. Everyone thought it was total nonsense and could never happen, but . . .” he trailed off.
“But what?” Buffy asked, glancing at Giles and then back at Brian. “Let me guess. The prophecy was supposed to happen when vampires walked the earth under the light of the sun. Which everyone thought was impossible. Until now. And I bet that other Watcher recorded this happening and barely being prevented. So now it’s happening again. What do we have to do to stop it?” She looked from her Watcher to the man she hardly knew back to the familiar one of the two. Both had worried faces that betrayed nothing.
“Well? Come on, there must be something,” Buffy said. Silence. And then, an answer.
“You have to kill them all. And make sure there aren’t anymore,” Brian said quietly; calmly.
“How?” Buffy asked, just as calmly.
“There’s a spell,” Brian said. The quiet was interrupted by the opening of the library door. Xander and Cordelia entered.
“Spell? What spell? I can do spells,” Xander announced. “Well, not really. But I’ll be there for you if you have to do one!”
“Hello Xander. Good morning Cordy,” Buffy said. Brian greeted them with smiles and Giles with absentminded nods.
“Sorry about him. He’s been like this all morning,” Cordelia confided to Buffy. “Actually, now that I think about it, he’s like this EVERY morning.”
“Now now, dearest, be nice,” Xander admonished, putting an arm around Cordelia’s waist and drawing her towards him.
“Make that every day. All day,” Cordelia amended, though she was smiling at him foolishly.
“We were discussing the end of the world,” Buffy told them cheerfully.
“Oh darn, and I was hoping we’d at least get through half the year this time!” Xander cried.
“And I was planning on getting a manicure today!” Cordelia cried sarcastically. The scary thing was, there was a time when she would have meant it. Buffy just thanked God THAT was over.
“You guys really take this stuff lightly, don’t you?” Brian asked. The three friends exchanged grins. Buffy turned to him and began, saying,
“It’s not lightly so much as . . .”
“With experience,” Xander finished when Buffy trailed off.
“It doesn’t do any good to make like a huge deal about stuff like that,” Cordelia explained.
“Why waste all that energy when you could spend it bemoaning a bad hair day?” Xander said. Cordelia shot him a look of pure venom and he grinned at her. “No, seriously though, it’s much easier to handle a big crisis by joking than by getting all weirded out over it.”
“Okay, I can understand that. But, don’t you even want to know what the crisis is?” Brian asked. Xander shrugged.
“Eh, they’re all the same. Buffy’ll save us. She always does. She’s very good at that,” Xander said. Buffy gave him a sour smile.
“Thanks for your faith in me, Xand,” she said.
“No problem!” he told her. Buffy and Cordelia exchanged glances and gave identical sighs of fond exasperation. “What?” Xander asked.
“Nothing dear,” Cordelia said, patting his arm, then turned to Brian. “Whatever my fiancée says, I would like to know what the crisis is.” Brian grinned, laughing silently and told her about the prophecy.
“Okay, so what’s this spell about? You never told me,” Buffy pointed out.
“Right. I may not be the best person to explain this—magic isn’t my largest area of expertise—but it’s basically a spell to make sure vampires can’t have children. It renders all the males sterile and all the females incapable of keeping a child to term.”
“All in one fell swoop? Now THAT’S the kind of spell I like!” Xander exclaimed.
“How? And why hasn’t it been cast before?” Buffy asked, ignoring Xander.
“It has,” Brian said. “The other Watcher who encountered vampires like this cast it. Or rather . . . he hired a witch to do it. He didn’t know precisely what it did, but he included the original spell (untranslated) in his journal. At least, so your Watcher tells me. I couldn’t translate it entirely, but I did partly—I speak a little Gaelic, but not much, and that’s what language it’s in. It’s definitely the right spell.”
“But if it was cast before, why are there still little vampire babes chasing Buffy around?” Cordelia asked.
“It wore off,” Brian said, hesitating.
“It wore OFF?” Buffy exclaimed. Brian nodded unhappily.
“The witch wasn’t the best one in the world . . . and it’s rather hard to cast a spell on all the vampires in the world, not to mention all the ones in the future. So it wore off, I think, and we’re back where we started.”
“So even if we DO cast it, it will wear off again?” Buffy asked.
“Probably. I mean, that’s a very large amount of people—or monsters, or whatever—to cast a spell on. We might be able to change it, to make it stronger, but it would have to be done in Gaelic, and I don’t know it well enough for that. The computer could translate it for us, but we’d need a person for whom Gaelic was the original language—and who knew about vampires and the Slayer. There aren’t many people who speak Gaelic anymore, and especially not as their first language. Go back a few hundred years and it was true for almost everyone in Ireland and Scotland, but now . . . I certainly don’t know anyone,” Brian said, shrugging his shoulders and sighing. Buffy didn’t know anyone either. . . anyone alive. Angel could have done it, but she had killed him
“If only . . .” she murmured.
“If only what?” he asked. She shook her head quickly.
“Nothing. I mean . . . if only we knew someone like that.” Cordelia shot her a strange glance, because they DID know someone like that. Or at least, they HAD known someone.
“So we just cast the spell and warn future Slayer’s about the possibility of it wearing off,” Xander suggested quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from mention of Angel and banish the pain in Buffy’s eyes.
“I’m afraid it’s not so simple,” Giles said, speaking for the first time. They all turned to look at him.
“Why not?” Buffy asked.
“W-we’re not entirely sure the spell will work at all unless it’s changed. Things have . . . changed quite a bit since it was first cast. The way . . . the way intimate relationships are viewed is entirely different. That is one of the reasons the spell no longer works. It’s not only a physical thing, but a . . . well, a mental spell. I don’t really know how to explain, but suffice it to say that the spell is not foolproof,” Giles said.
“Well that’s a bummer,” Cordelia said.
“So what do we do?” Buffy asked. “And what exactly is going to happen if we don’t rid ourselves of these pesky offspring?”
“One of these vampire-children will be a Master, and he will kill the Slayer that is undefeated, as well as his own sire—his vampire father, who is supposed to be more human than his son, even though he is a full vampire. And then he will lead the other half-vampires into talking over the world. They will make all of humanity into vampires, who can walk in the light, and no one will oppose them,” Brian answered quietly. There was a long silence.
“I was supposed to die before. I beat a Master then. I can do it again,” Buffy said finally, in a quiet, determined voice. “When is this Master supposed to come?”
“I’m not sure, but I think we have time. Not, perhaps, a long time, but time. Since they’re half-vampire, they age a lot slower than humans. A LOT slower. They’ll eventually die just as humans will, if they’re not killed first, but it takes a couple hundred years. I wouldn’t expect this Master for a few years at least. I don’t know what the deal is with his father though . . . though this prophecy is unusually clear, that part of it isn’t. It got really cryptic all of a sudden,” Brian said. But he was wrong, though one couldn’t fault him for it. Because the prophecy was incredibly clear to Buffy. It was talking about Angel. Angel was the father of the Master that would supposedly kill Buffy. There was only one problem with the prophecy. It was wrong. Because Buffy had already killed him.
“Is that your phone?” Cordelia asked, looking up from her book and glancing towards Giles’ phone.
“Now this is a new occurrence! I can’t remember you ever getting a call before. In fact—I thought you didn’t have a phone,” Buffy said.
“Well I do, and it is ringing. Is anyone going to get it?” Giles asked pointedly. Buffy sighed, but leaped up from her seat.
“I guess that means me. I do everything around here . . . Slay vampires, answer phones, you know,” she complained walking into Giles’ office. She’d been resting from a rather intensive work out against Brian. He was good . . . better than she had thought. Not a Slayer of course, and the things that came to her naturally he had to learn, but still . . . for a regular person he was extremely good.
“Your friendly school library, what can I do for you?” Buffy asked, picking up the phone.
“Buffy?” Oz’s voice asked.
“Hey, Oz! Why aren’t you here yet—didn’t your plane land like an hour ago?” Buffy asked.
“Yes it did. Unfortunately, there’s been a little hold-up. You see, these guys who looked a lot like vampires attacked me as I was getting into my car, and I think they killed my bodyguard and my chauffeur. Plus . . . they’re sort of trying to get in. And I can’t climb into the front seat to drive the car. They’re breaking the windows. I was sorta wondering if I could have a little help down here,” Oz said hesitantly.
“Oh my god! Of course, I’ll be right down! How many are there?”
“Maybe . . . five?” Oz suggested.
“And I’ll bring friends. Just hold on, and if you have any stakes—get them ready. You can kill them like vampires. I’ll be there in a minute, ‘bye,” Buffy called. She hung up and raced into the next room.
“We made a boo-boo,” she announced. “We forgot about our new friends. Who are now attacking Oz at the airport. He’s stuck in the back seat of his limo and I think they killed his driver or something. Anyway, there’s five of them there and I’m off to go save him. Who’s coming?” Xander and Brian leaped to their feet and Cordelia opened her mouth, then closed it again at a look from her fiancée. Buffy would have to see what THAT was about later, she didn’t have time now.
“Good. My car’s outside,” she said, then turned and began walking towards the exit. Suddenly she stopped and turned back. “Don’t tell Willow okay? Not until we’re back. I don’t want her to worry.” Before Giles or Cordelia could reply she had turned again and was marching purposefully out of the room and down the hall.
Buffy dusted her second one and turned for another. There wasn’t one. She’d seen Brian take one already and the other two were occupied with her companions. As she watched, ready to jump in if needed, Xander staked his opponent and turned to her with a grin. She gave him a small smile, then turned to watch Brian, who was doing quite well on his own.
He launched into a kick-spin-kick combo as she watched, catching the half-vampire twice in the chin and knocking him to the ground. Before Buffy could applaud, he plunged his second stake in and watched the half-vampire vanish into dust. This time, she did applaud. Oz joined her as he climbed from the car.
“Thank you! It was getting a little uncomfortable in there, if you know what I mean. Who’s this? We haven’t met,” Oz said, turning to Brian.
“Oz, this is Brian Westing. Vampire slaying is sort of his hobby. He’s been helping us out,” Buffy introduced them. “Brian, this is—”
“Oz,” Brian said, interrupting her, and holding out his hand. Oz took it and shook warily. “I love your band. I’ve always wanted to meet you.”
“Hey, thanks. That’s great,” Oz said, smiling and shaking Brian’s hand. Then he turned to Buffy with another question. “So, why were there vampires attacking in the middle of the day?” Buffy sighed and told him they’d explain on the way. They took the limo.
“Oz! You’re here!” Willow exclaimed, speeding up her electronic chair as she came in to the library. He grinned and ran to meet her, bending down to kiss her cheek.
“And in one piece,” he said. Willow looked confused, and turned to Buffy for an explanation.
“Oz had a little mishap at the airport,” she explained.
“How could we have . . . have utterly disregarded the fact that we are no longer safe during the day?” Giles murmured.
“Gee, could it be because two days ago we thought we WERE?” Buffy asked.
“She’s right. We can’t beat ourselves up over it,” Brian said. Buffy cast a sidelong look and a smile at him as she realized he had included himself as part of their group. That was kinda cute . . . Buffy realized what she’d been thinking and squashed the thought. It wasn’t kinda cute . . . it was, well, never mind . . .
“You’re all right though, aren’t you?” Willow asked, looking extremely worried.
“I’m fine,” Oz assured her. “I cowered in my car until Buffy, Xander and Brian arrived to save me.”
“Good for you!” Willow exclaimed. He smiled and she smiled back and Buffy grinned just looking at them. She was sensing a reunion . . . if Willow could get past her disability. Oz certainly didn’t care about it. No one did . . . no one but her.
“He’s in here!” a voice called from the hall and everyone inside the library leaped to action, running to the doors to prevent the mob from entering. It was, Xander thought, faintly reminiscent of a certain Valentine’s Day, though he didn’t mention it to Cordelia. That could wait for later . . . when they were alone.
Buffy grabbed a prepared bar and slid it across the door, so it couldn’t open in or out. The pounding continued, but at least no one could get in . . . that way.
“Maybe I should talk to them?” Oz asked, eyeing the doors.
“Not a good idea,” Buffy told him. “You don’t know what these girls are capable of. After all, this IS the Hellmouth. I wouldn’t be surprised if some young witch out there is just waiting to catch a glimpse of you before completing her spell . . .”
“That bad?” Oz asked.
“That bad,” Willow assured him glumly. “I can’t even give finals anymore! Or hardly, anyway. I have to give them the last day, so everyone will have a chance to recover from your visit first.”
“Sorry,” Oz said, shrugging.
“So you guys do this every year?” Brian asked. “Get together at this time of year, I mean?”
“Yeah. It’s sort of a . . . reunion,” Buffy said, avoiding the subject of the Anniversary. Which was why they actually came this time of year.
“Why not after school ends?” he asked.
“It’s sort of an anniversary,” Willow said, though she didn’t say what of. He opened his mouth to ask, then closed it again and looked away. There was a long silence and then, nervous, everyone began to talk at once.