Author's Notes Addition: I forgot to mention that there is no Fred in this fic. And also, since there's no Conner, Darla is still alive, well rather un-dead.
Chapter Two-Deciphering Destiny
Everyone parked and entered the Hyperion Hotel. Cordelia was standing there, and started, while turning around, "Welcome to Angel Investigations. We help the…What are you doing here?"
"Great to see you too," Xander said.
"Yes, well, we have a situation and it requires Angel's attention."
Just then, Angel came running down the stairs with Wesley trailing behind him. "Buffy! What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Ahem. Hello," Lily said, trying to get everyone's attention, "this prophecy isn't going to decipher itself."
"I thought you said…" Spike began.
"I have it fully translated and started deciphering it. I just need a bit of help."
"Who's that?" Angel asked Buffy.
"I'll let her explain," Buffy answered.
Lily had Angel gather up his entire crew and then explained who, and what, she is. "There's more though. Just like I knew Wil…I mean Spike in one of my past lives," Lily started, but was interrupted by Xander.
"You were Deadboy's lover too?!?"
"No," she answered as she changed her appearance once again.
"K…Kathy?" Angel asked while falling to his knees as sobs wracked his body.
Lily walked over to Angel, changing back to her normal look and figure. "Liam, it was a long time ago. I knew what you were and I allowed it to continue. Angel, you have your soul, you're atoning for all of his sins. You did nothing wrong."
"But I killed…"
"No, no you didn't. Without your soul, you had no way to hold the demon in check."
"So, this prophecy?" Anya asked.
"Right," Lily said, helping Angel to stand up. She then walked over to her purse and pulled out a notebook. "Now, if I have this translated correctly…
Trinity of Light, Trinity of Shadow
Destiny shall bring forth Lovers in these
Two hearts that beat and destined to know
Two that are still, bring darkness its' knees
Destined to be, yet torn apart by Fate
In the heart is a lonely place of dark
Separated they must, but never to hate
Once again they will find their mark
Only together can they achieve the peace
In the souls and the Earth they all need
The greatest of her kind and soul on lease
The first of her kind and no darkness deed
For the Dawn of the Glory there is a key
Protected by those who choose their path
For the Light to win, darkness must be
Only allowed in if it's Destiny's math
Three by Three 'til six by six
Trinity of each minus one
Each switching sides
Add in the key
Destiny's Army Survives
…that's what I've got."
"But what does it mean?" Dawn asked.
"Well, what I've deciphered so far is that the 'Trinity of Light' would be the three Slayers. The fourth stanza, I believe, refers to Dawn and all of you who chose to be here."
"Two hearts that beat could be Lily and Buffy, with the two that are still being Spike and Angel," Willow said.
"That's what I figured," Lily said. "Do you have a copy machine or something so everyone can have a copy?"
"There's a computer," Cordy answered.
"That would be great."
While Lily typed, everyone was discussing the prophecy and Lily. When everyone had their own copies, they all started looking at the prophecy closely.
"Trinity of each minus one-each switching sides," Buffy said, drawing everyone's attention, "one of them could be Faith."
"Third stanza, line three referring to the 'greatest of her kind and soul on lease', I'm going to assume Buffy and Angel. Line four's 'first of her kind and no darkness deed' would then be Lily and Spike," Giles said.
"Okay, so 'Trinity of Light' is a check. 'Trinity of Shadow' is still up in the air. 'Lovers in these' is up until we get 'Trinity of Shadow'. 'Two hearts that beat' is a check as is 'two that are still.' Right?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. What if the 'Trinity of Shadow' was Spike, Darla, and Dru?" Buffy asked.
"The 'lovers' part would fit even more then," Anya supplied.
"So would the 'minus one' and 'switching side'," Willow added.
"Yes, it would also bring more relevance to the assembled group. You've all had run-ins with them all. Darla sired Angel who sired Drusilla who sired Spike," Wesley said.
"So we'll go with them as the 'Trinity of Shadow' unless we come up with something better then," Lily said.
"'Destined to be, yet torn apart by Fate' is weird," Gunn said, "why would they be destined if they were apart?"
"Buffy and Angel," Spike answered. "Obviously meant to be, yet they go horizontal and the soul's gone again."
"Big words of wisdom for someone who's in lust for Buffy," Xander said.
"Yeah, well maybe because I saw Emily in Buffy," Spike softly replied.
"Each Slayer has residual, I guess you could call it energy, from previous Slayers. So some of Emily's energy would reside in Buffy," Giles stated.
"Okay, now's not the time for this," Lily said. "Second stanza, second line, any clues?"
"Spike doesn't have his soul," Dawn said. "What if it's not just Angel losing his soul when he's with Buffy, but Spike not having his soul and destined to be with Lily?"
"Interesting hypothesis?" Giles replied.
"And," Willow said, "the second two lines could be Buffy and Angel with the 'separated they must, but never to hate' and 'find their mark' because Buffy does carry his mark from when she saved his life."
"Really?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah," Buffy answered.
"So then," Wesley spoke up, "that's the first tow stanzas. Shall we move on to the third?"
"We already have the last two. If they go together like all of the other ones," Cordy said, "then maybe they'll only win if they're all together on Earth with their souls."
"Bloody hell, my soul? I'll be like, well, him," Spike said, gesturing to Angel.
"Anyways, 'Dawn of the Glory' and 'key' would be me," Dawn said. "And 'protected by those who choose their path' would be Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya."
"I agree," Lily said. "What about the last two lines though?"
"We don't let Darla and Dru in?" Tara suggested.
"Last stanza, 'three by three 'til six by six', anyone?" Buffy asked.
"Well," Angel said, "I don't know about the threes but, 'six by six' and the key could be the twelve of us and Dawn."
"We already have the Trinities minus one, so I just hope we're 'Destiny's Army'," Dawn said.