Author's Note: Sorry for the lateness of the chapter; been working the late shift. Will post another, longer chapter in the next day or so -- things'll pick up soon. Expect real!plot any day now!
- - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Five
It was rounding eight o' clock in the morning when the bell over the Magic Box door tinkled for the second time.
For the second time, too, Willow ignored it. Why bother?
Instead, she lay her head on her hands and stared at the clock that was ticking away above the cash register. It was three minutes until the store opened for business, which meant she still had a few moments of peace and quiet before everyone showed up for the daily Scooby meeting. This, at least recently, equated to another hour or so of stilted conversation that nobody enjoyed, herself especially.
Since Buffy had been . . . found, everyone close to Willow seemed to have a cloud of depression enshrouding them. While she certainly didn't expect life to be completely Candy Land, constant doom and gloom, in her experience, would do nothing to help their already helpless situation. Besides, gloom never did much to rally the troops. And now, in the most dire times they had ever faced, doom was near enough to taste.
Buffy had been the Chosen, the One. The only one that hadn't gone homicidal or dead, at least, and now that she was gone, what hope was there for the rest of the world?
Four years, six months, eleven days; this was how long she had known Buffy Summers. It had taken only a two second phone call from Xander to learn that she was dead.
She had seen far too many disturbing things in the past three days, but this was what disturbed Willow the most.
She sighed, resting her chin on her palms, and wished that she could find a spell to reverse time. Well, one that wouldn't cause the universe to implode in the process, anyway. And though she had scoured every book of magicks she could find - both the light and the dark variety - Willow had come up with bupcus; universe imploding, rain of toads bringing bupcus.
Which was for the time being, unfortunately, the best option she had in the spell department.
She lifted her head slightly at the sound of the bell ringing for the third time. A lead stone settled in her gut at the shuffling of approaching feet, the hushed murmurs of Xander and Anya's conversation as they made their way to her.
Willow sighed and weighed her options; apocalypse-bringing time spell or the conversational variety hour from hell.
A dull weight rested in the crook of her back as Xander rubbed a small, awkward circle there. The solemn voice greeted her with a tentative concern, as it had the last three days; "You okay?"
Oh, yeah. Bring on the toads.