We have been unable to thwart the Mayor's plans to Ascend on Graduation day once more.

We had the means in our grasp. Through quite a bit of skilled thievery, we infiltrated City Hall and stole a chest that we devised the Mayor needed for his Ascension. The chest we discovered to be The Box of Gavrok. Within the chest housed a great demonic energy. The Mayor was required to consume this energy in his preparation for the Ascension. How he even discovered this Box is extraordinary to me. His connections are vast and deeply rooted in the most ancient of evils. He obviously knows more than even the Council, as they have been quite incompetent in giving us aid on this matter of Ascension.

As I mentioned before, we failed in keeping him from consuming the contents in the chest. During the operation, Willow was captured, and we found ourselves at an impasse. Wesley, in pure Council thinking, thought the best course of action was to sacrifice Willow and destroy the chest, so that the Mayor would never Ascend. It was a sure a way to keep it from happening, and would likely result in saving hundreds if not thousands of lives. Yet, the price was Willow's life. If we destroyed the chest, there isn't a doubt in my mind that they wouldn't kill her . . . or worse. Wilkins is pure evil. There isn't an ounce of compassion in that shell of flesh. He'd make us pay through Willow for as long as he could.

Though a part of me understands Wesley's argument, I could never agree to it. I was attempting to figure out some other way we could rescue Willow whilst keeping hold of the chest, but Oz rather decided the argument by destroying the instrument we needed to destroy the chest. I made the call. A trade. Willow for the Box. It was accepted, and we took the necessary measures to ensure we were not ambushed. After all, Wilkins essentially has an army of vampires at his disposal. They follow power and strength, and he is proving to have both in copious amounts.

The trade was to occur in the cafeteria. As one can imagine, it did not go smoothly. Snyder, the meddlesome, ignoble berk interrupted the trade, and one of his uniformed lackeys opened the chest. Some violent insect-looking demon crawled out of it and killed him. Buffy and Faith killed the other few that escaped. The chest was handed over, and Willow was returned to us unharmed. During the trade, the Mayor said a few honest things about Buffy and Angel's relationship.

Buffy is young in her experience with relationships. While I'm not saying she doesn't truly love Angel, I think she is still in that stage of emotional youth where she believes that if she loves enough, their relationship can conquer anything. It's a romantic, idealistic view. But as Wilkins said . . . it isn't lasting. Angel has been through numerous—perhaps countless—relationships in his lifetime. He understands the troubles ahead. He understands all he'd be denying to Buffy if they lived a life together. It's their relationship, of course, and I am only a keen observer. I believe Buffy can do much, much better than Angel, so if the relationship dissolves, I won't be entirely upset about it.

Despite the fact that Wilkins is likely having a five course meal of demonic energy at the moment, we did gain something out of the entire affair—besides Willow, of course. Whilst she was captured, Willow managed to steal a few pages out of the Books of Ascension. I'm about to start studying the content of their pages after I finish this entry. Willow is extraordinary. Despite being under extreme duress, she thought through it and used her capture to our advantage.

Besides this business with Wilkins, another development has occurred in the life of the Slayer. Buffy received an acceptance letter from Northwestern University. From what I understand of American universities, this is one to be quite proud of being accepted into. Though it is in Illinois, I find it difficult to deny her the chance for an exceptional education. It would have been easier had Faith remained with us, but . . . as that is no longer a possibility, we'll have to plan carefully instead. If, of course, she is adamant in her attending Northwestern. Willow was also accepted into Oxford, among many other universities, of course. Had she been my child, I'd have likely felt quite delighted that she was following in her father's footsteps. Unless she chooses somewhere else to go to school. Though I can't imagine why you'd ever pass up Oxford. It's simply the best university out there.

Dominus Illuminatio Mea.

-Rupert Giles

1999