Author's Note: I've had some issues messing up the uploading here. I hope you'll bear with me as I'm going to be extra careful from here on.

Chapter 8

Giles finished reading over the spell. "As much as it pains me to say, it appears Anya was right. The spell doesn't actually change things in the least. The caster picks a subject, sends them back in time, and any changes they make simply create a new universe where things progress from that change. The original universe is unchanged, with only the caster and the subject knowing that there was even an attempt to make a change. I can't see what possible effects such a spell would have. It basically is a mystical snipe-hunt."

Anya gloated. "See? I told you it was worthless. Look, they even spelled the name wrong."

Giles glanced at the title and his eyes widened. "Good lord, could it be that simple?" He pointed at the title. "Rite of Revision And Re-Nascence. Not 'Renaissance.'"

Anya sniffed. "Like I said, they spelled it wrong."

"No, I don't think so. The word 'renaissance' is derived from French, and is itself from the Latin words for 'born again.' This is a direct transliteration from that original Latin, and that has to be significant."

Tara nodded. "So... this ritual is allow someone to make changes that don't really make a difference, and it literally means 'rebirth?' As in, 'born again?'"

Giles nodded. "It sounds like you're on to something, Tara. Go on."

Tara blushed, self-conscious with everyone staring at her, but continued to speculate out loud. "What if... what if these 'revisions' aren't intended to change the past at all, but to change the person who's making the changes? What if it's about putting them in situations where they can make a difference in other people's lives, and learn how to think of others and protect others? To learn how to look past their own self and safety, and become something more?"

Xander smirked. "Sounds like a crash course in becoming a superhero." Everyone stared at him. "What? Oh, crap, did I do it again?"

Giles chuckled. "It appears Wesley was right. That is, once again, something that could only come from the mouth of an adolescent idiot – and fits the conditions of the prophecy perfectly."

After a long pause, Buffy spoke up. "OK, that takes care of the 're-writing the wrongs as written,' but what about the second part? The cleaving thing? Does that mean Faith's gotta chop up something?"

There was another pause. This time it was Willow. "Anya, didn't you describe the whole changing time thing as basically creating a whole new universe?"

"Of course I did. None of you ever listen to me. Or Xander, but at least in his case it's understandable. I'm bringing over a thousand years of experience to the table."

Willow, as usual, ignored Anya being Anya. "And that universe comes into being the instant the change takes place, right? It's not like it existed all along?"

Anya paused. "Well, you're getting pretty metaphysical there, and I've heard some arguments among certain beings that went on for over a century on whether or not that alternate universe existed all along, but the consensus is that it is created by that action or choice that differentiates it from the actor's original universe."

"So, basically, it's like Time is a branch of a tree, and when that change happens, the branch splits and both continue growing?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Or, if you think of Time like a river, and someone were to split the river, you'd create two streams?"

The entire group sat there, stunned. Finally, Faith spoke up. "So, any of you geniuses wanna translate that into English for the rest of us?"

Instinctively, they all turned to Giles. "Faith, it looks like Willow is supposed to cast this spell on you, sending you back in time to various points, where you change things for the better, creating whole new universes, until you feel you're ready to take on the destiny of being a hero."

Faith let out a long breath. "OK, that's simple enough for even me to get. But that only covers the 'what' – I'm still drawing blanks on the 'how.' I mean, I get that Red works her mojo on me, but where will I be going? And how will I know what to do? How will I know if I do it right?"

They all sat there for a moment. Then Tara spoke up. "So far, every time we've been stumped by this prophecy, someone's thought of something or something's happened to get over the next obstacle. I guess we just go with what we've figured out, cast the Rite, and trust the Prophecy to make sure we do what needs to be done."

Xander immediately spoke up. "So, Tara, you're saying that we just gotta have Faith?"

After a brief pause, Xander found himself cowering beneath a barrage of whatever objects everyone had at hand.