Buffy and Giles were on their way to Los Angeles to find the Jewel of
Vectura. Giles told Buffy that that was what she needed to be sent home.
They just needed to go to L.A. to get it. What he didn't tell her is that
the jewel is held by Gravlor, the rock demon. He has been the keeper of the
jewel for many years. They would just go to him and get it.
The whole car ride was quiet except for the light classical music playing in the background. Buffy watched the scenery as they drove by. There was so much greenery. The trees, the grass, the bushes, the flowers. Buffy never noticed all the trees. How all this nature could never be so nice. Now she has time to notice things like nature. She could appreciate different things that she couldn't appreciate before. It was nice.
Buffy leaned up against the window, holding herself for warmth. Her eyes were getting droopy. The car ride was wearing her out. Even though it wasn't very far from Sunnydale, L.A. seemed like miles and miles away. She was almost tempted to ask Giles, 'Are we there yet?' It was like a road trip. The kind of trip that everyone would take when they were little. Traveling somewhere new. Roadside stops. Backseat games. But in a way, it was all so different.
Buffy had just closed her eyes for a minute when she felt Giles shaking her. "Buffy," he called. She lifted her head and looked around the car, remembering that she was with Giles. "We're almost there."
She sat up and said, "Okay." It was almost over. She was almost home. Just off to get the jewel and then she was on her way.
Giles had driven to an old field. Actually, it was an old cemetary. "Great," Buffy muttered, "a cemetary. It's always a cemetary."
Giles must have heard her because he answered her comment. "Yes, Buffy. A cemetary."
"Right," she said. Buffy opened her side of the car and stepped out. She got up and looked around. Giles had gotten the book out of the back of the car and joined her. "Okay, Giles. You're the expert on this stuff. Where do we go next?" Buffy didn't mean to rush him, she just wanted to get home. As fast as she could. 'I don't think this dimension is good for me.'
Giles started walking to a certain tree. Buffy had decided to follow him. He went up to touch the tree, looking around for any clues.
He walked closer the the tree. To Buffy, it looked as if Giles was hugging the tree. "Feeling a little attatched to the tree Giles?" Buffy chuckled.
He looked up at her, disgusted with her comment. "Buffy, I'm looking for clues to help us. If you would prefer me not looking I could stop."
Buffy realized that he didn't like what she had said. "No, no, I want to get home. Please look, hug, do whatever you need to with the tree." He looked back down, searching. Buffy still thought it was funny. Giles was alone and maybe him and the tree would make a perfect match. But he was her ticket home. Without him, she would most likely be stuck here forever.
Buffy asked for his book. She looked at it and noticed something. "Giles-"
"Not now Buffy, I'm coming on to something." He continued looking.
"Giles!" He snapped his head up. "It says that the jewel is held in the crypt."
Giles stood up. "What crypt?"
"That crypt." Buffy drew her arm up and pointed to a big crypt.
Giles turned around. "Oh, good work, Buffy," he managed to get out, "lets go."
"Yeah, lets," Buffy answered back.
Giles started walking to the crypt. Buffy followed.
They had gotten to the door of the crypt and pushed it open. Buffy noticed the dust and grime. "Well," she said, "we can clearly say that this guy doesn't clean."
Giles agreed. "Yes, well demons don't really have the housekeeping skills as humans do." Buffy nodded.
She noticed a stairway leading down to another room. "Giles," she said, he looked up at her, "this way." She gestured the way. She slowly crept to where the stairs met the doorway. Giles followed. She looked down. She was unsure of going down there. It didn't smell the best. Giles noticed the scared look on her face, so he led the way. She followed. She didn't want to be here. But she had to. It was dark. It had that musty old smell. The stones leading down were covered in what looked like green and brown moss. Buffy didn't want to see what it was. It looked gross and old. There were unlight candles on both sides of her. The staircase spiraled down-ward and Buffy saw a light at the end. 'There has to be something at the end,' she thought, 'and I don't really want to find out what.' Buffy had moved faster. But Giles had been moving slowly. She bumped into him but he just kept leading the way.
They had reached the bottom. She felt relieved. But Buffy noticed that there was a hall leading into a chamber. The candles in the candlebra had lit the way. Buffy felt like she was walking through one of the sewers in Sunnydale. It had that same musk to it and it was just as dirty. She stayed away from the walls, walking in the middle, as did Giles. Giles seemed to know what he was doing. He always did. His knowledge of the monsters and vampires always comforted her. She knew he could come up with an answer.
Finally, they had reached the end of the hall. What seemed like an endless hall came to an end. She looked in out from behind Giles. She saw rocks and stones. She saw big chairs made out of some kind of steel and rusted over rock. There were torches lit. In every corner. The torches were wedged in between the rocks just so they wouldn't fall over. She saw crystal growing on a couple of the tall rocks. Buffy saw no one. Deserted.
She walked out from behind Giles. "Giles," she said, "isn't there supposed to be something here?" Giles was just as surprised as her.
Just as she asked that, a big moving pile of rock emerged from the walls. It blended in just so. Probably the explanation for the stone and rocks.
It stood up and asked them in a big voice, "What are you doing here?" Buffy could speak. She looked at Giles. He spoke up.
"Uh, we are looking for the Jewel of Vectura. I believe that you are the holder of it."
They stood there. The rock demon, Gravlor, debated on answering their question. He wondered if they were worthy enough to have it.
"Hmmm." The rock demons voice echoed in the big cave like chamber. Buffy almost felt vibrations against her feet. "Are you worthy enough to own a jewel as fine as this?"
"We need it," Giles answered, "It's needed to send a friend back to her own dimension." He wondered if that was the right thing to say in order to get ahold of the jewel.
Gravlor thought there for second before he answered. "Who needs it?"
Giles opened his mouth to speak when Buffy stepped out. "I am," she answered him.
"You are?" Gravlor asked, "You're the one who needs to be sent home." Buffy nodded.
Gravlor thought. "I want to see if you are worthy enough. A test."
"What kind of test?" Giles asked.
"A test of strength," Gravlor answered. He looked at Buffy. "If you can prove yourself, then the jewel is yours."
She stood there. "Okay," she said, "what do I have to do?" Buffy would do whatever she could do.
"You will fight a something that I have chosen," the demon answered, "If you win, it's yours."
Giles felt skeptical about this. She didn't have the strength for it. "Deal," Buffy called out.
Giles looked at her strangely. "Buffy, are you sure you can do this?"
She smiled. "Yeah. I can do it."
"Okay." Giles felt confident in her decision but worried at the same time.
Gravlor stood up. "Alright," he said, "follow me." He walked into another room. Buffy and Giles followed him. It looked like a battle room. A big stone room surrounded by walls. The room was also lit with torches. The torches were on the walls. Buffy noticed a hole in one of the walls with an iron gate covering it.
Like Giles, Buffy now had a wrong feeling about her decision. But she knew what she had to do. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"
Gravlor looked at her. "I know what you will fight." He grabbed a couple of weapons out of a steel trunk. "You will take these and try to kill this monster in anyway neccessary."
He walked over the gate. Buffy looked at Giles. "Monster?" she repeated.
Gravlor knocked on the wall next to the gate and opened it. He walked back over to Buffy. "You stay here." He pointed to Giles. "You, come with me." Giles hesitated but knew that he needed to get out of the way. For his safety.
Buffy walked over to where the weapons were layed. She bent down to pick up an axe with a long handle. As she got up, she heard a gate that connected the main room to the battle room, close. She looked over. She saw Giles looking through with Gravlor.
Buffy heard a low growl coming from the cave in the wall. She held the axe close, getting ready to strike.
Giles almost started to panic. He turned to Gravlor. "Isn't there something else she could do? She could get seriously hurt."
Gravlor never took his dark, rocky eyes off of Buffy. "If she beats this monster, it'll prove to me that she is worthy enough." Giles' face showed the worry and scared feeling that he felt. "Have faith in her," the demon told Giles, "she has the strength for it." Giles looked at Buffy. She looked confident enough to finish this monster off.
The first thing Buffy noticed was teeth. White teeth glowing from the darkness of the cave. Then she saw something surrounding the teeth. A mouth. Then a huge head. The head growled at her. 'I can take on a head,' she thought. But it didn't stay a head. A tail came out from behind it. It was a giant snake thing. It slithered out from the cave, showing Buffy its bare white teeth. It stood up, towering over her. She picked up a large knife and hurled it at the snake. It roared from the sharp, cold metal that was lodged into its scaly skin. It came towards Buffy. She jumped into the air to dodge it. It ran into the opposite wall as the cave it came out of. Buffy got up and ran at it, holding the large axe. She used her strength to lower the axe to come intact with the putrid snake. But her blow missed. The snake ran at her again. It knocked her onto the ground. While doing so, the axe was let loose of her grips. She tried to reach for it but the snake was too close. She rolled out of its way. Buffy stood up. The snake came at her again and knocked her into a wall. It opened its big, wide mouth and attempted to bite her. With all her strength, Buffy sprang up. The snake ripped her shirt, instead of her skin. Buffy rolled over to where the weapons were. She grabbed another, yet smaller, axe. She moved over to where Giles and Gravlor were standing behind the steel gate. It slithered towards her but she jumped up, onto the snakes back. It rammed into the gate, causing it to bend outwards. The snake slithered around, trying to get her. It lifted its head in order to see her or bite her. It saw her. It stopped. Its tail moved up to knock her off. She bent down. The tail missed her. She sat on the snake. It still tried to rip her open. No such luck. She held onto the axe, twirled it around, lifted it over her head, and struck it onto the scaly back. The snake screamed. The back was sliced open. Buffy jumped off, grabbed a large sword, and stabbed it multiple times. The snakes screams died down. She stabbed it one last time. It was done with. It was dead. The axe and the sword were jammed into its back.
Buffy walked over to where Gravlor and Giles were. She let out a long breath. "Does that prove I'm worthy enough?" she asked him. He looked at her. Her clothes were torn and tattered and covered in dirt.
His loud voice boomed in the cave, "Yes," Buffy smiled, "you have proven yourself worthy to hold the jewel." Buffy looked at Giles and smiled. "Follow me."
They followed Gravlor into the main cave. He went to his chair. He lifted one of the rocks and uncovered the jewel. He pulled out the jewel along with what looked like an ancient piece of paper.
He handed the jewel and the piece of paper to Buffy. "Here, use it carefully."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you," she said to him.
Giles turned to her. "Buffy," she looked at him, "let's go home."
She followed Giles out of the dark cave. The walk out of the crypt was faster than the walk in. They'd gotten to Giles' car and drove back to Sunnydale.
The whole car ride was quiet except for the light classical music playing in the background. Buffy watched the scenery as they drove by. There was so much greenery. The trees, the grass, the bushes, the flowers. Buffy never noticed all the trees. How all this nature could never be so nice. Now she has time to notice things like nature. She could appreciate different things that she couldn't appreciate before. It was nice.
Buffy leaned up against the window, holding herself for warmth. Her eyes were getting droopy. The car ride was wearing her out. Even though it wasn't very far from Sunnydale, L.A. seemed like miles and miles away. She was almost tempted to ask Giles, 'Are we there yet?' It was like a road trip. The kind of trip that everyone would take when they were little. Traveling somewhere new. Roadside stops. Backseat games. But in a way, it was all so different.
Buffy had just closed her eyes for a minute when she felt Giles shaking her. "Buffy," he called. She lifted her head and looked around the car, remembering that she was with Giles. "We're almost there."
She sat up and said, "Okay." It was almost over. She was almost home. Just off to get the jewel and then she was on her way.
Giles had driven to an old field. Actually, it was an old cemetary. "Great," Buffy muttered, "a cemetary. It's always a cemetary."
Giles must have heard her because he answered her comment. "Yes, Buffy. A cemetary."
"Right," she said. Buffy opened her side of the car and stepped out. She got up and looked around. Giles had gotten the book out of the back of the car and joined her. "Okay, Giles. You're the expert on this stuff. Where do we go next?" Buffy didn't mean to rush him, she just wanted to get home. As fast as she could. 'I don't think this dimension is good for me.'
Giles started walking to a certain tree. Buffy had decided to follow him. He went up to touch the tree, looking around for any clues.
He walked closer the the tree. To Buffy, it looked as if Giles was hugging the tree. "Feeling a little attatched to the tree Giles?" Buffy chuckled.
He looked up at her, disgusted with her comment. "Buffy, I'm looking for clues to help us. If you would prefer me not looking I could stop."
Buffy realized that he didn't like what she had said. "No, no, I want to get home. Please look, hug, do whatever you need to with the tree." He looked back down, searching. Buffy still thought it was funny. Giles was alone and maybe him and the tree would make a perfect match. But he was her ticket home. Without him, she would most likely be stuck here forever.
Buffy asked for his book. She looked at it and noticed something. "Giles-"
"Not now Buffy, I'm coming on to something." He continued looking.
"Giles!" He snapped his head up. "It says that the jewel is held in the crypt."
Giles stood up. "What crypt?"
"That crypt." Buffy drew her arm up and pointed to a big crypt.
Giles turned around. "Oh, good work, Buffy," he managed to get out, "lets go."
"Yeah, lets," Buffy answered back.
Giles started walking to the crypt. Buffy followed.
They had gotten to the door of the crypt and pushed it open. Buffy noticed the dust and grime. "Well," she said, "we can clearly say that this guy doesn't clean."
Giles agreed. "Yes, well demons don't really have the housekeeping skills as humans do." Buffy nodded.
She noticed a stairway leading down to another room. "Giles," she said, he looked up at her, "this way." She gestured the way. She slowly crept to where the stairs met the doorway. Giles followed. She looked down. She was unsure of going down there. It didn't smell the best. Giles noticed the scared look on her face, so he led the way. She followed. She didn't want to be here. But she had to. It was dark. It had that musty old smell. The stones leading down were covered in what looked like green and brown moss. Buffy didn't want to see what it was. It looked gross and old. There were unlight candles on both sides of her. The staircase spiraled down-ward and Buffy saw a light at the end. 'There has to be something at the end,' she thought, 'and I don't really want to find out what.' Buffy had moved faster. But Giles had been moving slowly. She bumped into him but he just kept leading the way.
They had reached the bottom. She felt relieved. But Buffy noticed that there was a hall leading into a chamber. The candles in the candlebra had lit the way. Buffy felt like she was walking through one of the sewers in Sunnydale. It had that same musk to it and it was just as dirty. She stayed away from the walls, walking in the middle, as did Giles. Giles seemed to know what he was doing. He always did. His knowledge of the monsters and vampires always comforted her. She knew he could come up with an answer.
Finally, they had reached the end of the hall. What seemed like an endless hall came to an end. She looked in out from behind Giles. She saw rocks and stones. She saw big chairs made out of some kind of steel and rusted over rock. There were torches lit. In every corner. The torches were wedged in between the rocks just so they wouldn't fall over. She saw crystal growing on a couple of the tall rocks. Buffy saw no one. Deserted.
She walked out from behind Giles. "Giles," she said, "isn't there supposed to be something here?" Giles was just as surprised as her.
Just as she asked that, a big moving pile of rock emerged from the walls. It blended in just so. Probably the explanation for the stone and rocks.
It stood up and asked them in a big voice, "What are you doing here?" Buffy could speak. She looked at Giles. He spoke up.
"Uh, we are looking for the Jewel of Vectura. I believe that you are the holder of it."
They stood there. The rock demon, Gravlor, debated on answering their question. He wondered if they were worthy enough to have it.
"Hmmm." The rock demons voice echoed in the big cave like chamber. Buffy almost felt vibrations against her feet. "Are you worthy enough to own a jewel as fine as this?"
"We need it," Giles answered, "It's needed to send a friend back to her own dimension." He wondered if that was the right thing to say in order to get ahold of the jewel.
Gravlor thought there for second before he answered. "Who needs it?"
Giles opened his mouth to speak when Buffy stepped out. "I am," she answered him.
"You are?" Gravlor asked, "You're the one who needs to be sent home." Buffy nodded.
Gravlor thought. "I want to see if you are worthy enough. A test."
"What kind of test?" Giles asked.
"A test of strength," Gravlor answered. He looked at Buffy. "If you can prove yourself, then the jewel is yours."
She stood there. "Okay," she said, "what do I have to do?" Buffy would do whatever she could do.
"You will fight a something that I have chosen," the demon answered, "If you win, it's yours."
Giles felt skeptical about this. She didn't have the strength for it. "Deal," Buffy called out.
Giles looked at her strangely. "Buffy, are you sure you can do this?"
She smiled. "Yeah. I can do it."
"Okay." Giles felt confident in her decision but worried at the same time.
Gravlor stood up. "Alright," he said, "follow me." He walked into another room. Buffy and Giles followed him. It looked like a battle room. A big stone room surrounded by walls. The room was also lit with torches. The torches were on the walls. Buffy noticed a hole in one of the walls with an iron gate covering it.
Like Giles, Buffy now had a wrong feeling about her decision. But she knew what she had to do. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"
Gravlor looked at her. "I know what you will fight." He grabbed a couple of weapons out of a steel trunk. "You will take these and try to kill this monster in anyway neccessary."
He walked over the gate. Buffy looked at Giles. "Monster?" she repeated.
Gravlor knocked on the wall next to the gate and opened it. He walked back over to Buffy. "You stay here." He pointed to Giles. "You, come with me." Giles hesitated but knew that he needed to get out of the way. For his safety.
Buffy walked over to where the weapons were layed. She bent down to pick up an axe with a long handle. As she got up, she heard a gate that connected the main room to the battle room, close. She looked over. She saw Giles looking through with Gravlor.
Buffy heard a low growl coming from the cave in the wall. She held the axe close, getting ready to strike.
Giles almost started to panic. He turned to Gravlor. "Isn't there something else she could do? She could get seriously hurt."
Gravlor never took his dark, rocky eyes off of Buffy. "If she beats this monster, it'll prove to me that she is worthy enough." Giles' face showed the worry and scared feeling that he felt. "Have faith in her," the demon told Giles, "she has the strength for it." Giles looked at Buffy. She looked confident enough to finish this monster off.
The first thing Buffy noticed was teeth. White teeth glowing from the darkness of the cave. Then she saw something surrounding the teeth. A mouth. Then a huge head. The head growled at her. 'I can take on a head,' she thought. But it didn't stay a head. A tail came out from behind it. It was a giant snake thing. It slithered out from the cave, showing Buffy its bare white teeth. It stood up, towering over her. She picked up a large knife and hurled it at the snake. It roared from the sharp, cold metal that was lodged into its scaly skin. It came towards Buffy. She jumped into the air to dodge it. It ran into the opposite wall as the cave it came out of. Buffy got up and ran at it, holding the large axe. She used her strength to lower the axe to come intact with the putrid snake. But her blow missed. The snake ran at her again. It knocked her onto the ground. While doing so, the axe was let loose of her grips. She tried to reach for it but the snake was too close. She rolled out of its way. Buffy stood up. The snake came at her again and knocked her into a wall. It opened its big, wide mouth and attempted to bite her. With all her strength, Buffy sprang up. The snake ripped her shirt, instead of her skin. Buffy rolled over to where the weapons were. She grabbed another, yet smaller, axe. She moved over to where Giles and Gravlor were standing behind the steel gate. It slithered towards her but she jumped up, onto the snakes back. It rammed into the gate, causing it to bend outwards. The snake slithered around, trying to get her. It lifted its head in order to see her or bite her. It saw her. It stopped. Its tail moved up to knock her off. She bent down. The tail missed her. She sat on the snake. It still tried to rip her open. No such luck. She held onto the axe, twirled it around, lifted it over her head, and struck it onto the scaly back. The snake screamed. The back was sliced open. Buffy jumped off, grabbed a large sword, and stabbed it multiple times. The snakes screams died down. She stabbed it one last time. It was done with. It was dead. The axe and the sword were jammed into its back.
Buffy walked over to where Gravlor and Giles were. She let out a long breath. "Does that prove I'm worthy enough?" she asked him. He looked at her. Her clothes were torn and tattered and covered in dirt.
His loud voice boomed in the cave, "Yes," Buffy smiled, "you have proven yourself worthy to hold the jewel." Buffy looked at Giles and smiled. "Follow me."
They followed Gravlor into the main cave. He went to his chair. He lifted one of the rocks and uncovered the jewel. He pulled out the jewel along with what looked like an ancient piece of paper.
He handed the jewel and the piece of paper to Buffy. "Here, use it carefully."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you," she said to him.
Giles turned to her. "Buffy," she looked at him, "let's go home."
She followed Giles out of the dark cave. The walk out of the crypt was faster than the walk in. They'd gotten to Giles' car and drove back to Sunnydale.