Chapter 21:
"It's started" Giles' murmur caught Buffy by surprise, and she looked up at him, as the four marched intently down a small side street.
"What's started?"
Now it was Giles' turned to look startled.
"Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't realize I was speaking aloud" He continued walking in silence, much to Buffy's concern. Still gripping Xander's hand like a vice, she caught up with the pensive watcher, standing in front of him, forcing him to halt.
"What's started?" She repeated. "Is it something to do with the Orb? With the apocalypse?" Giles sighed, and then paused, turning slightly to nudge something in the gutter with his foot.
"The reversal"
"Ah yeah, that" Xander commented. As much as he loved being in physical contact with his other favourite slayer, he had lost feeling in all the fingers of his left hand. Perhaps if he wiggled it a little…Argh! No. That wasn't going to work. Reflex action.
He glanced sideways at Buffy, who was looking at Giles worriedly.
All he wanted was his hand back, and them all to save the world. That wasn't much to ask. Was it?
Anya peered over to see what Giles was prodding. A small bird lay against the edge of the sidewalk, it's eyes wide open and un-seeing
"Oh no!" Buffy knelt down to look at it. "It was only little"
"And now it's little and dead" Anya observed.
It twitched.
"Or not?"
"Or not" Buffy agreed grimly.
The little once-dead now half-alive bird wiggled its little feet, and its head twitched. Its eyes changed from un-seeing to just having a kinda glazed look about them, and, flexing its wings, it limbered up to its feet.
"Is this the reversal?" Xander asked. The bird wobbled around in the gutter, before leaning casually against the sidewalk for a rest.
"It would appear so"
"And it happens to…to everything that's dead?"
"Eventually, yes"
Xander watched the bird that had just a minute ago been dead and rotting. Now it was alive and, well…still rotting.
"Ew" He said emphatically.
"Giles…We have to stop this" That was Buffy. "We're running out of time, and I am not going to let that happen to…to anyone we used to know"
"It happens alphabetically"
Buffy stopped, paused, turned. Stared.
"What?"
"The reversal. The resurrections. They happen alphabetically" Anya gave a little smile. "There's a little song about it, written in Ancient Sumerian. I thought about suggesting it actually, for our sing-a-long finale, but it doesn't translate very well"
"Alphabetically??"
"They don't call it the Orb to Rule All Orbs for nothing, y'know? It has to have a system"
Xander looked down at the half dead, rotting feathery…thing that was wobbling its way towards his foot. His mouth twitched.
"So I'm guessing B for Bird. And H for human. That gives us…erm" He started to recite under his breath.
"7 letters in which to destroy the Orb"
The others looked at Giles.
"I was a librarian, you know? It's a requirement of the Advanced Librarianship Certificate to know your alphabet…I was always very good at it" He grinned proudly.
"Seven letters…That's not very long" Buffy mused aloud. "Anya, is there any other information you've neglected to tell us?"
Anya looked innocent.
Rolling her eyes, Buffy hitched her crossbow back up her shoulder. "We have to move. Fast. If the dead have started to rise then I'm betting there's not that much time left before the hellmouth gets all openy"
"About 22 letters" Xander offered helpfully. She gave him a half-amused look. "Sorry"
"Let's keep moving"
They moved.
The once dead now half-alive rotting feathery bird fell over, and started talking to a couple of ants who had recently been squished by a rampaging caterpillar. Such was the wild wacky life of the animal kingdom.
They found they all got on quite well.