The Shar'ayj Prophecy
Leira would have stumbled into the Magic Box intoxicated if it weren't for her super strength, which, thank god, worked on hangovers as well. Never again, the told herself, Never again will I ever let a vampire sweet talk me into drinking ever again. She grinned to herself, knowing she'd break the promise sooner or later.
She found the shop without too much trouble. Hanging around New York had made her pretty good at remembering locations. She pushed open the door, smiling at the cheerful bells that announced her arrival. A few of the gang were gathered around the table, piled with books. Anya popped her head up over an extremely large dusty looking one.
"Hey Leira! How'd you sleep?"
"Good, thanks," Leira smiled back. Anya was cheerful, beautiful and undeniably friendly, but Leira could see the affects Xander was having on her. Anya herself had, among a myriad of descriptions of gutting him, told the entire story of Xander, how he was a worthless male but she loved him nonetheless. Then the rather messy business with Spike that had blown over, thank god, but left Buffy scarred. Anya was adamant in her belief the two were meant to be together, but wasn't brave enough to tell anyone.
Leira strode over the table, finding a seat and sitting down. It had been about six hours since she met the gang but she recognized them easily.
Anya wrinkled her nose. "You smell like Spike."
"Yeah I guess," Leira said, "but then again so does anything containing nicotine or alcohol."
Anya giggled and Xander snorted into his book. They both looked up at each other, startled, then embarrassed. Anya looked away. How could he do this to me? I loved him so much -
Buffy felt her stomach erupt into a strange feeling. Jealousy? She didn't think so. Who would be jealous of sleeping in Spikes crypt? He was a mangy gross evil vampire. She hated his name. It sent chills up her spine. But she didn't know whether they were excitement or loathing.
"Here's something," Giles broke the uncomfortable silence. "About the Shar'ayj Prophecy. Rather long. It's in some sort of language I'm not familiar with." he tuned the book around so they could all see. "Anyone recognize it?"
"Sure," Leira picked it up. "It's Jic-tas'yi"
"What is with these names? Can't these people drop the whole consonant grouping stuff?" Buffy complained, looking at the page. It was a series of curved lines, dots, and slashes. Total mess.
Leira looked at it. "Pen," she commanded, and began scribing.
The Shar'ayj Prophecy
In times to come one shall rise
She is the Miki'ashi, the warrior
She must face the great doom
The plague of evil, the bringer of death And the Goodseeker shall follow her Those loyal shall weave through passages In the Labyrinth of Shar'ayj Till they seek out the great doom Should those who brave the walls succeed Then all will be saved Should they fail The world will churn The waters boil The earth spew fire up to the sky The people will fall Forever fall Into the depths of hell And more beseech them a future of pain Miki'ashi and the Goodseeker are the hope They are the iron sword to cut the beast Let them travel the tunnels Slay the monsters, fight the spells And make their way to the great doom Or all will be lost
She read it out. "Cheery."
"Yeah. I appreciate the whole descriptiveness of the end of the world, but could we possibly get some insight into when the Labyrinth will appear?"
"Patience, Buffy," Giles warned, reading the scripture once more, "This is very important. It offers some clues to the actual event. Obviously Leira must go, but I'm guessing you're the Goodseeker. That means you two will have to spend some time together. If this prophecy really is as big as it says then you will have to be very attuned to each other."
"It also says stuff about 'those loyal'. I suppose that's us. We're loyal, right?" Xander furrowed his brow.
"We'll I'm loyal, I don't know about some other people," Anya almost hissed at him. The wound was still fresh.
"Hey, guys, chill," said Leira, "end of world, remember?"
Xander glared. It was like she was taking over.
"Leira's right," Buffy said, startling him. She'd been unusually quiet lately; Spike's reappearance in town had shocked her for a while. "We really need to do some more research. Find out dates and stuff. And more about this bringer of doom guy. He doesn't seem the type to bring good tidings."
"Exactly." Giles came in again. He regretted ever leaving, and was trying desperately to make up for it. Oh, and the fact that he might be tortured forever was playing a little part in his eagerness to solve the prophecy. "Xander, you keep working. Buffy, I need to talk to you. And Leira, I believe Anya needs to discuss some business with you as well."
"Bye guys," Buffy followed Giles out. Xander excused himself and headed for a corner far away from them. Anya dropped her book.
"Thank god," Leira noticed a magazine similar to Vogue hidden behind the leather book. "Anyway," she chirruped, "I figured while you're here we can do round about. You know, rosters for where you'll stay each night. It'll move you around a bit, going somewhere every night, but if you leave and someone's had you more than others they'll get all huffy." Her voice had been rising and it was clear who she was talking about "And upset and go all quiet and sulk because they're impatient self-centered people incapable of commitment!" Leira said nothing, somewhat amused. Anya slapped a piece of paper on the table.
"Here. You're with me tonight, Then Xander," she cringed at his name, "then Buffy then Spike and so on. Good organizing huh?"
"Very well done," Leira agreed. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"Sit around while the non-committal man finds out what to do."
"You mean the non-committal man with the beady eyes?"
"None other."
"This is gonna take awhile."
Anya gave her an appreciative smile.
* Giles paced uncomfortably. Buffy stood rooted the spot, her head following him as he moved. He stopped, and fixed her with a tired gaze.
"Buffy, I'm worried about these Shar'ayj Prophecies."
"What do you mean?" the blonde Slayer cocked her head to the side, "it's only another end-of-the-world disaster thingy."
"No Buffy, I think it may be more than that." His voice was weary, heavy.
"Giles?" she was starting to worry, "what is it?"
"It's - I don't know if we can make it through this time." he faltered, tiptoeing around the words, "I mean, we've done it before, but now - everything's so stressed and.look at it rationally. Dawn's only just getting back on track. Xander and Anya, I swear the room will erupt in fire one day. Willows still recovering.Spike's got his soul back and god knows how much it must drag him down and you, Buffy - I'm not sure if you can cope."
Buffy just stared at him. No words. She had nothing to say.
NEXT: "Sex dream?"
This whole Leira problem is rather confusing. And it gets worse when Spike starts having Dreams
Leira would have stumbled into the Magic Box intoxicated if it weren't for her super strength, which, thank god, worked on hangovers as well. Never again, the told herself, Never again will I ever let a vampire sweet talk me into drinking ever again. She grinned to herself, knowing she'd break the promise sooner or later.
She found the shop without too much trouble. Hanging around New York had made her pretty good at remembering locations. She pushed open the door, smiling at the cheerful bells that announced her arrival. A few of the gang were gathered around the table, piled with books. Anya popped her head up over an extremely large dusty looking one.
"Hey Leira! How'd you sleep?"
"Good, thanks," Leira smiled back. Anya was cheerful, beautiful and undeniably friendly, but Leira could see the affects Xander was having on her. Anya herself had, among a myriad of descriptions of gutting him, told the entire story of Xander, how he was a worthless male but she loved him nonetheless. Then the rather messy business with Spike that had blown over, thank god, but left Buffy scarred. Anya was adamant in her belief the two were meant to be together, but wasn't brave enough to tell anyone.
Leira strode over the table, finding a seat and sitting down. It had been about six hours since she met the gang but she recognized them easily.
Anya wrinkled her nose. "You smell like Spike."
"Yeah I guess," Leira said, "but then again so does anything containing nicotine or alcohol."
Anya giggled and Xander snorted into his book. They both looked up at each other, startled, then embarrassed. Anya looked away. How could he do this to me? I loved him so much -
Buffy felt her stomach erupt into a strange feeling. Jealousy? She didn't think so. Who would be jealous of sleeping in Spikes crypt? He was a mangy gross evil vampire. She hated his name. It sent chills up her spine. But she didn't know whether they were excitement or loathing.
"Here's something," Giles broke the uncomfortable silence. "About the Shar'ayj Prophecy. Rather long. It's in some sort of language I'm not familiar with." he tuned the book around so they could all see. "Anyone recognize it?"
"Sure," Leira picked it up. "It's Jic-tas'yi"
"What is with these names? Can't these people drop the whole consonant grouping stuff?" Buffy complained, looking at the page. It was a series of curved lines, dots, and slashes. Total mess.
Leira looked at it. "Pen," she commanded, and began scribing.
The Shar'ayj Prophecy
In times to come one shall rise
She is the Miki'ashi, the warrior
She must face the great doom
The plague of evil, the bringer of death And the Goodseeker shall follow her Those loyal shall weave through passages In the Labyrinth of Shar'ayj Till they seek out the great doom Should those who brave the walls succeed Then all will be saved Should they fail The world will churn The waters boil The earth spew fire up to the sky The people will fall Forever fall Into the depths of hell And more beseech them a future of pain Miki'ashi and the Goodseeker are the hope They are the iron sword to cut the beast Let them travel the tunnels Slay the monsters, fight the spells And make their way to the great doom Or all will be lost
She read it out. "Cheery."
"Yeah. I appreciate the whole descriptiveness of the end of the world, but could we possibly get some insight into when the Labyrinth will appear?"
"Patience, Buffy," Giles warned, reading the scripture once more, "This is very important. It offers some clues to the actual event. Obviously Leira must go, but I'm guessing you're the Goodseeker. That means you two will have to spend some time together. If this prophecy really is as big as it says then you will have to be very attuned to each other."
"It also says stuff about 'those loyal'. I suppose that's us. We're loyal, right?" Xander furrowed his brow.
"We'll I'm loyal, I don't know about some other people," Anya almost hissed at him. The wound was still fresh.
"Hey, guys, chill," said Leira, "end of world, remember?"
Xander glared. It was like she was taking over.
"Leira's right," Buffy said, startling him. She'd been unusually quiet lately; Spike's reappearance in town had shocked her for a while. "We really need to do some more research. Find out dates and stuff. And more about this bringer of doom guy. He doesn't seem the type to bring good tidings."
"Exactly." Giles came in again. He regretted ever leaving, and was trying desperately to make up for it. Oh, and the fact that he might be tortured forever was playing a little part in his eagerness to solve the prophecy. "Xander, you keep working. Buffy, I need to talk to you. And Leira, I believe Anya needs to discuss some business with you as well."
"Bye guys," Buffy followed Giles out. Xander excused himself and headed for a corner far away from them. Anya dropped her book.
"Thank god," Leira noticed a magazine similar to Vogue hidden behind the leather book. "Anyway," she chirruped, "I figured while you're here we can do round about. You know, rosters for where you'll stay each night. It'll move you around a bit, going somewhere every night, but if you leave and someone's had you more than others they'll get all huffy." Her voice had been rising and it was clear who she was talking about "And upset and go all quiet and sulk because they're impatient self-centered people incapable of commitment!" Leira said nothing, somewhat amused. Anya slapped a piece of paper on the table.
"Here. You're with me tonight, Then Xander," she cringed at his name, "then Buffy then Spike and so on. Good organizing huh?"
"Very well done," Leira agreed. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"Sit around while the non-committal man finds out what to do."
"You mean the non-committal man with the beady eyes?"
"None other."
"This is gonna take awhile."
Anya gave her an appreciative smile.
* Giles paced uncomfortably. Buffy stood rooted the spot, her head following him as he moved. He stopped, and fixed her with a tired gaze.
"Buffy, I'm worried about these Shar'ayj Prophecies."
"What do you mean?" the blonde Slayer cocked her head to the side, "it's only another end-of-the-world disaster thingy."
"No Buffy, I think it may be more than that." His voice was weary, heavy.
"Giles?" she was starting to worry, "what is it?"
"It's - I don't know if we can make it through this time." he faltered, tiptoeing around the words, "I mean, we've done it before, but now - everything's so stressed and.look at it rationally. Dawn's only just getting back on track. Xander and Anya, I swear the room will erupt in fire one day. Willows still recovering.Spike's got his soul back and god knows how much it must drag him down and you, Buffy - I'm not sure if you can cope."
Buffy just stared at him. No words. She had nothing to say.
NEXT: "Sex dream?"
This whole Leira problem is rather confusing. And it gets worse when Spike starts having Dreams