There was once a constellation the Celtic called "An Treoir".
If you were lost and looked up at the sky, you could see the guiding fox lighting your way home.
There was once a constellation the Celtic called "An Treoir".
But no longer is she there, no longer useful with the changing of times.
Slowly and reluctantly, Maia uncovered her face. She blinked, and blinked again. Everything was blurry. For a second, she didn't know where she was, how she got into that bed, or how she got into these clothes. Then, everything was processed. She was in her room. The thing above her was the ceiling. The thing on top of her was the duvet, underneath was the pillow and mattress. The thing she was wearing was a makeshift pyjama.
The girl sat up, but backed down immediately.
"Ugh, go away!" Maia groaned, pulling her thick blankets over her head.
The sun had finally woken up and it hissed at the girl's face as it shone through the small crack between her dark curtains. Why did school have to be during the day? Why couldn't it have been at night? Nighttime was so much nicer to an astral deity. Stars shone at night, and so did Maia. At least she used to.
Maia uncovered her face and glared at the curtains. Suddenly the small beam of sunlight shining between them was gone, the curtains shut. Slowly but surely, she sat up, dragged her feet off the bed, and rubbed her fingers onto her eyelids. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Maia watched her legs dangle above the off-white polyester carpet. Her pale skin was odd to her. Its softness was foreign. Every morning she'd wake up and contemplate how odd it was to be in a human body. She'd never get used to it. She'd never get used to the way her pale blue eyes stared back at her, or the way her ebony hair fell onto her shoulders. The sound of her voice was unnerving as well. She'd never had a voice until now.
"Maia, honey, you up?"
"Huh? What?" Maia said, snapping out of her daze.
Through the door came a tall, red-haired woman with smiling blue eyes. Maia made a note in her head about how she looked way too happy for her own good.
"Still staring at your feet?"
"Um, yeah - yeah, why not? Fascinating things, feet," Maia said, a faint Irish accent on her tongue, looking from her mother to her feet.
"Well, don't stare at them for too long, you still have to eat breakfast before school. Don't wanna miss that."
Maia's mother left, as did the smell of her softly scented perfume, and the girl sighed.
"No... wouldn't want that..."
Maia heaved herself off the bed and kicked her door closed with her bare feet. She lumped over to the adjacent bathroom and washed her face in the sink, then applied a layer of kohl around her eyes. She stared at the heap of black hair on her head and decided to do nothing with it. It was messy, but her red roots were starting to show again so she didn't think it mattered much. Not until she dyed her hair again.
Feeling a little more refreshed, Maia went back to her room to change out of her pyjamas and into daytime clothing. Hopping on one foot as she tried to put her socks on, she exited her bedroom and went downstairs for breakfast where pancakes were waiting for her. She didn't eat any, instead heading towards the fruit bowl for a simple apple which she bit down on immediately.
"You've gotta eat more than that, Maia," her mother, Alice, said.
Maia took the apple out of her mouth and said, "Not hungry. See you, tonight."
She then grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder, munching on her apple. As she opened the door, Maia winced. The sunlight came all at once - not a steady dawn or a trickle of rays. It came like the switching on of search lights from a chopper, violent and harsh.
"Damn, I hate the sun."
Maia walked in Sunnydale like her mother drove her car - on autopilot. Had she been a country girl, or even a proper human, maybe the well worn graffiti and the plants that shot through every sidewalk crack would have an impact on her. But they didn't. She just walked. She walked as her hair fluttered in the air, her clothes clung to her body and moved with her, blue eyes looking straight ahead, a little squinted.
Maia stopped and stared at the school when she had reached it. Students poured in before the first bell, talking, laughing. They could be from anywhere in America, but for the extremity of their dress and the esoteric mania of their slang. This was way too California. Maia rolled her eyes at all of it.
"Here we go again."
Maia made her way on campus, weaving through the crowd with her head down, trying to avoid any unnecessary conversations. Everyone's voices were so loud in her head, talking about their summer and new outfits to buy for certain guys. She was so focused on getting out of there and into a quiet classroom that she didn't even notice she was about to walk into someone until she did. Maia didn't focus on it too much, just another typical blonde valley girl at first glance. However, seeing her face somehow triggered something inside her. But she didn't dwell on it. Besides, Maia also had to avoid a skateboard. On it was none other than Xander Harris, dressed with the shaggy indifference common to most skateboarders. Bright in his own way and definitely funny, Xander was one of the few people Maia could stand being around.
"Coming through... coming through... not sure how to stop."
He was doing okay okay until he passed the valley girl just as Maia had - intrigued by her, he craned his neck to look at her, and nearly took a header. Maia saved him from falling however, by grabbing his arm with surprising strength, and he came to a stop just in front of their other friend Willow. She was shy, bookish, and quite possibly dressed by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and the sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm that was lost on the unsubtle high school mind, though not Maia's. It's certainly lost on Xander, but he did brighten considerably when he spotted her.
"Thanks for the save, kid," Xander says.
"Whatever," Maia said airily.
"And good to see you two - the two I wanted to see the most!"
"Really?" Willow said, her excitement at the sentiment sweetly pathetic and, typically, unnoticed.
"Yeah. You know, I kind of had a problem with the math."
"Which part?" Maia said as Willow was trying to hide her disappointment.
"The math," Xander said after a few seconds of hesitation. "Can you guys help me tonight? Please? Be my study buddies?"
"Well, what's in it for us?" Willow asked.
"A shiny nickel..."
"Money is a social concept that I do no believe in... only because it's painfully small," Maia said.
"Okay, Spock - forget the nickel."
"Well, do you have "Theories in Trig"? You should check it out," Willow said.
"Check it out?"
"From the Library, Xander. Where the books live?" Maia tried.
"Right, I'm there. See? I want to change."
Willow and Maia shared an unsure look and they all went inside to their lockers which were all nearby to one another. As Maia was opening her locker, she and the others were approached by Jesse. He was a little more awkward than Xander, if that was possible, and was unlikely to become a lady killer in his later years though he tried. Especially with Maia.
"Hey," he tried to say in a seductive tone.
"You sound constipated, Jesse. Stop trying so hard," Maia said truthfully.
"Hey, Jesse!" Xander called. "What's what?"
"New girl."
"New girl? There's a new girl?" Maia said.
"Yes, May. You just don't care enough about these things to remember that Willow told you about it," Xander said.
"Oh... Makes sense actually. So, new girl?"
"Yeah, do tell."
"Tell what?" Jesse said.
"So, what's the sitch? What do you know about her?" Xander asked.
"New girl?"
"Well, you're certainly a font of nothing," Maia commented with a sigh. "I only bumped into her and I could probably tell you more."
Everyone's eyes turned towards her.
"What?"
"Well, I mean, your observational skills are beyond reproach, May," Willow said. "I think we're all expecting a little information."
"Oh, well, I wasn't really paying much attention. I was more focused on Xander about to fall flat on his face, but -"
"Hey, I had everything under control."
"- but I can tell you she's blonde, got green eyes, was wearing something I'd never be caught dead in. She doesn't seem shy, just lost and a little overwhelmed, possibly confused as to why everyone is staring at her. And if you're a guy, you think she's cute. There's also something else that I can't quite put my finer on... Anyway, if you want anymore information I suggest you go ask her, yourself." There was half a second's pause. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to the library to get Xander's book because Lord knows he never will. I'll see you later in Chemistry."
Maia turned on her heel and walked away, hair swaying mid-back. And not knowing Maia had heard and rolled her eyes, Jesse had spoken:
"Did anyone else think that was hot?"
Maia enters the library, nearly slamming the door open like she owned the place. She'd always liked the library's elegance, it's dark wooden shelves and musty smell. She also enjoyed conversing with the librarian, Mr. Connors, but today he was nowhere to be found. Maia wandered around the entrance and looked around. On the check-out counter a newspaper was folded in half as if it was being read, the headline circled in red: LOCAL BOYS STILL MISSING. Underneath was a blurry picture of the three brothers that had gone missing quite recently. Maia's eyebrows furrow and she wandered further in.
"Mr. Connors?"
Just then Maia sensed something behind her and turned around abruptly. She was met with a middle aged man who was rather tall and was wearing way too much tweed, rimless glasses and oxfords. His bright blue eyes gave off a certain intensity, but the way he spoke made him come off as quite reserved.
"You're not Mr. Connors... Too British, not enough American."
"And you're trying to hide an Irish accent," the man said clearly, in a London accent.
"Fair enough," Maia said. "So where's Connors?"
"Gone, I'm afraid. I have been chosen by Mr. Flutie to be his replacement."
"Don't be insulted if I don't trust you, Mr. Flutie can't chose staff for shit. Have you met our gym teacher?"
"I have and it's not my place -"
"Yeah, you hate him too."
Maia went over to the bookshelves and stared at them, either horror-struck or pleasantly shocked.
"You moved things around."
"I did. I mean no disrespect to the previous librarian but -"
"This is organised like the books at Oxford. Did you go to Oxford?"
"Um, well, yes - yes, I did," the man said almost proudly.
"I like it," Maia said simply. "If there was one thing that bothered me about Connors was his filing system. I swear to you that he sorted biographies next to the poetry."
"That's an abomination!"
"I know. And he didn't even sort them alphabetically, he sorted them by serial number," Maia scoffed. "Who even does that?"
"A monster, really."
Both of them laughed and they stared at each other for a few seconds before Maia held out her hand for the new librarian to shake.
"Maia Hunter. Pleased to meet you."
"Rupert Giles. Likewise."
"Well, you'll be seeing quite a bit of me, Mr. Giles - I happen to be an avid reader. Speaking of which, where have you put the textbooks? I need to check out "Theories in Trigonometry" for a friend who avoids this place like the plague."
"First row to your left, third shelf down," Giles said, nodding his head to the appropriate location. "It's past the new Historical section."
"Thanks." The girl stopped in her tracks and spun around. "New? Historical? Do tell."
"Well, I used to be the curator of the British Museum and -"
"The British Museum?"
"Yes, the one and only. So, I decided to take with me a few historical volumes and biographies."
"You are something else, Mr. Giles."
"I will take that as a compliment," Giles said with a small chuckle.
Maia then calmly went over to the first row, running her fingers along the spines of the books, looking at the titles and seeing them all alphabetized, until she found the right one and checked it out.
"You've got this for two weeks, don't be late," Giles said.
"I doubt I will. You'll probably see me tomorrow, or even later today." Maia smiled and backed away. "Go dtí an chéad uair eile."
"What?" Giles said, obviously confused. "Is that Irish?"
"Yes it is," Maia said, her back now against the library doors.
"And what does it mean?"
"Until next time."
Maia smiled and exited the library, smile fading once she began meeting people.
"What a peculiar girl."
Maia glared at the sun as she and Willow ate their lunches on school grounds, sitting beside the fountain - Maia eating some mystery food, Willow eating a nice, healthy packed lunch. The former took a forkful of a green puree, looked at it then Willow's lunch, sighed and then plopped it back onto her plate. Just then, a lunch similar to Willow's popped up in front of her face.
"I figured you get cafeteria food and be disappointed again," Willow admitted. "I packed an extra lunch for you."
"What would I do without you, Willow?"
"Probably die of malnutrition."
"Fair enough."
"Um, hi. Willow, right?" a voice suddenly said.
Both Willow and Maia looked up to see the new girl standing in front of them. She did in fact have green eyes and blonde hair, but she also had a very natural makeup scheme going on which surprised Maia. From what she was wearing, she had assumed her to be a valley girl. There was still something off about her, something tingling like a spidey-sense in the back of Maia's mind.
"And Maia, by the way."
"Why? I mean, hi. Did you want me to move?" Willow asked.
"I hope not."
"Why don't we start with 'hi, I'm Buffy.'" the girl said, and sat by Willow.
"Buffy?" Maia muttered to herself. "I've heard that name somewhere..."
"And let's segue directly into me asking you two for a favour. It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve you hanging out me for a while."
"But aren't you... hanging with Cordelia?"
"Ew, Cordelia? You've stooped that low?" Maia said.
"I can't do both?"
"Not legally," Willow said.
"Look, I really want to get by here. New school... Cordelia's been really nice -"
"To you anyway," Maia noted.
"- but I have this burning desire to not flunk all m classes, and I heard a rumour that you two were the people to talk to if I wanted to get caught up."
"Oh, we could totally help you out! If you have sixth period free we could meet in the library -"
"- or not. Or, you know, we could meet someplace quieter. Louder! That place kinda gives me the wiggins."
"It has that effect on most people. I love it, though. It's a great collection which has been properly organized by the new librarian. He's cool. First time Flutie hired someone decent."
"He's new?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, he just started," Maia said, getting a little excited. "He was the curator of the British Museum, and he brought all these historical volumes and biographies and oh, did I mention he went to Oxf-"
"May?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Spock geeking out over something genius-y again?" Xander said, arriving with Jesse. Maia's face immediately went impassive.
"Shut up, Harris."
"You too, Hunter," Xander said. "Anyway, you guys busy? Can we interrupt? We're interrupting."
"Hey," Buffy greeted with a smile.
"Hey there," Jesse said.
"Buffy, this is Jesse, and that's Xander," Willow said.
"Oh, me and Buffy go way back. Old friends, very close. Then there was that period of estrangement, I think we were both changing as people, but here we are and it's like old times, I'm quite moved."
"Is it me, or did you just turn into a babbling idiot?" Maia said, a questioning look on his face.
"It's not you."
"It's nice meeting you guys... I think," Buffy said.
"Yeah, you say that now."