**********
"Hey, G-man, what's up?" I call out as Angel and I enter the library. Giles is sitting in his usual position (walled in by a mountain of books with his nose deep in the one in front of him. A curious addition to tonight's group is Ms. Calendar. She recently joined our little club when we had the little problem with a demon possessed computer.
The demon, Moloch, had gotten released from a book when we started trying to make a back up of the library books by scanning them into the computer. He tried to escape by recruiting a bit of help from some classmates of ours. Eventually, with Ms. Calendar's help we were able to trap him in a robot body that he had made and Faith electrocuted his ass right after.
Since then she has helped with the computer work and a little bit of creative coverage when we had to go out for some reason or another. With the new principal, Mr. Snyder, hanging around us like a vulture, we'll need all the help we can get in keeping him off our backs.
"Xander, good we'll need your help in deciphering some texts and you still have a few of the books from Merrick's personal collection. We'll need them if we are to determine what prophecy is supposed to occur the night after tomorrow," Giles said after looking up from his tome.
"Why not bring the others in on this?"
"I'll explain better when you get back. Now go and hurry back."
"Okay," I groaned and turned away, "Come on Deadboy, I can't carry all of those books on my own and still be able to protect myself."
This earned me a glaring look from Angel as we left.
***
We got to my house and back without any problems, though Angel was still a bit annoyed that I didn't trust him enough to invite him in. I figure he still has a long way to go before I trust him that much. He has to earn it. And in the meantime, I fully intend to annoy him when I can, eventually I might make a good verbal sparring partner out of him. I miss that from LA. No one around here seems to know how to do it right, except Faith and that is a totally different kind of sparrage.
Once we got back, Giles filled me in on the possiblility that the Master might arise but in the process kill Faith. Tonight we were looking for any way out of this. His reasoning for not bringing the others into this just yet is they would just be in the way since there were only so many places to look for this prophecy and they were covered. He needed me to go over my books and see if there was anything that they hadn't found in them.
After only an hour of hard researching, an earthquake shook the town. I was under the nearest doorjam in an instant. Californians, I think, are born with this instinct. The quake was over quickly, but it wasn't the quake that bothered me. It was the look that passed between Giles and Angel that truly unnerved me. Something big was coming, and we might not be able to stop it.
***
It was official.
After looking through every tome, manuscript, and web page, we found everything that we might possibly find on the prophecy.
The Master would rise tomorrow.
The Slayer would die.
And we could do nothing to stop it.
***
"Look, there has to be something that we haven't looked through. Some way we can avoid this," I said frantically.
"Don't you think I wish there was!" Giles shouted. "We've searched my books, yours, Angel's, and even that cursed web and found nothing. Not one single way of preventing this."
"Maybe that Codex thing is wrong, and something else happens. Or you translated it wrong."
Giles sighed and opened the Pergamum Codex to the page showing the prophecy. "Listen. Some prophecies are.. are a bit dodgy. They're.. they're mutable. Faith herself has.. has thwarted them time and time again, but this is the Codex. There is nothing in it that does not come to pass."
"But there has to be some way..." I tried.
"I wish to God there was! But it's very plain! Tomorrow night Faith will face the Master, and she will die."
"WHAT!?!"
All of us turned to the door of the library to face Willow, Oz, and in front of them, a very pale Faith.
***