Another chapter! I think I'm running out of ideas, but don't fear! I'll finish this story, even though it may take a while. But I promise, I WILL update as often as possible. Maybe once every week. Or two weeks. Well, enough depressing news, here's Chapter 7!
Disclaimer—Yadda Yadda Ya, Buffy's not mine. You get the jist of it.
"Buffy...."
The man standing in front of the three bewildered adults made their jaws drop with surprise. His tall figure and graying hair was a dead give-away to the man who had returned without mention. It was Giles.
"I'm sorry I didn't call, but I had to come. I thought you might need an old watcher at a time such as this." Giles smiled dimly as he entered the welcoming home of the Summers'.
"Giles....I can't believe you're here. There are just too many surprises going around." Buffy said with a sigh.
"Please do not tell me that you are staying. I do not intend to give you the Magic Box back. No suree," Anya said in distress. She walked away and Xander took her place.
"G-Man. It's good to see you. But uh, a phone call only costs fifty cents. Maybe it's different in England?" Xander walked the group into the living room.
"Like I said before, I'm sorry." Giles looked incredibly tired and distressed, probably after a long, hard flight.
"How was the trip?" Buffy too looked exhausted after a night such as the previous one.
"Smashing," Giles said. He looked Buffy over and noticed the fatigue on the girl's face. "Are you alright, Buffy?"
"Oh, you know. These apocalypses, you get tired of 'em. Just too many. You think we can blow 'em off and catch a movie?" catching the unmoving look on Giles' face, she sighed. "No, I guess not...."
At the Coffee House
"So tell me, how many apocalypses have you had since I left?" Oz asked Willow over a sip over espresso.
Willow took a minute to count on her fingers. "Sorry, not enough fingers to count. I even used my toes."
Oz laughed, but Willow only pouted. "Oz, I don't think this was a good idea. Tara left the other night and I really should go find her and fix this."
"Will, I can't stop thinking about you. I mean, us. When we were together, there was something there. And there's just too much hope for me to go and give up."
Willow looked overly troubled. She tried to search for the right words, but they just wouldn't come.
Just then, Tara came into the coffee house and over to Willow and Oz's table, looking at the both of them.
"Tara, I can explain-." Willow started.
Tara hushed her with her hand. She looked at Oz and started to stutter, "D-Do you think we could get a minute alone?"
Oz looked a little helpless for a moment and then relented. "Sure."
As he went away, Tara took his seat. "Willow, I don't want to fool around. E-even if it's a spell."
"Tara, I love you so much. But, I'm just so confused about my feelings about Oz." Willow said with difficulty.
Tara gulped. "Then I think you sh-should try it. I-if you love him, the way you l-love m-me, then I guess you-you'll have to make a decision. But Willow," She said with a one last look of pity upon Willow's part, "This is the last time. I don't know how much more my heart can take." With that, the blonde Wicca left the place.
The Summers House
Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, and now Dawn were sitting in the living room, drinking warm, steamy coffee. All looked tired and hopeless, all besides Dawn, who had a long nights' sleep.
"What exactly did the Rysterca say again, Buffy?" Giles asked patiently.
"Giles, we've been through this. All he said was, 'There's no point in fighting. I'm here to help. We can both flourish from it.' And who uses the word flourish?" Buffy concluded, irritated.
"And he didn't say how he could help," He said, as though he needed to hear it from himself.
Buffy, pacing, continued walking back and forth, neither looking at Giles nor the other Scoobies. "No."
All thinking their own thoughts, a hushed silence was followed by a low whispering coming from Anya. She was now standing, her feet dangling in midair as she hovered six inches from the floor. When all turned her way, they noticed the eerie color of her face, the strange stillness in her eyes, and the red hair from her head blowing in an unknown and mystic wind. They all came to conclusions that Anya was now possessed, but by what they hadn't a clue.
"Anya....what are you saying?" Buffy inquired gently, now sitting on the arm of the sofa.
"The Rysterca comes from the ancient tribe known as 'Racateriem', which have been following the ancient prophesies of slayers throughout history. During every 10 centuries, when the full moon appears, and the most powerful slayer in the world has died, the appointed Rysterca will come to the mouth of evil, from which it had been borne, and shall fulfill a prophecy set to the world, and after that prophecy has been set forth, the Rysterca will then raise the first slayer from the grave, and bind it to the earth's hell mouth. When the first slayer appears, the whole of the hell mouth shall become a protected temple for the first slayer, to live out her immortal life, killing all evils in the world." Anya's monotonous voice was abruptly stopped when she dropped to the ground in a forlorn mass.
Xander rushed to the floor, followed by Buffy, Giles, Xander and Dawn. They all lay still as the sarcastic brunette struggled into consciousness. Her pale eyes opened slowly, and her sight was blocked by first a blinding light, and then the visions of the people above her.
"Aun, Anya. Aun honey, are you alright? Aun, please say something!" Xander asked, his visions blurred by salty tears of distress.
"Get off my hair, Xander," Anya managed, trying her best to lift herself from the floor. "And please, someone, tell me why I am not on the sofa where I was before."
"Well you were possessed." Strict and annoying looks turned towards Dawn. "Hey, just telling it like it is."
"Possessed? I was possessed? I hate being possessed." She fell back into Xander's lap, her head feeling severely faint.
"Xander, get her on the couch," Giles said awkwardly.
Doing so, all the Scoobies, rested around her, watching her exhale and inhale deeply. "Was I really possessed?"
They all chorused together a "Yeah." Buffy looked at Giles, both of them having an unspeaking understanding of what Anya's possessed self had told them.
"So, this Red Dude obviously wants Buffy to help him accomplish this ancient evil prophesy to have the first slayer rule the slaying world. She's not that great...." Xander worriedly got up from his spot, nervous, and closed the window treatments.
"If the prophesy comes true, then the first slayer will be in Sunnydale, and all human and demon kind will leave. That doesn't seem so bad," Dawn said selfishly.
"Don't you see, Dawn," Buffy said, the deep greenness of her eyes filled in with worry. "The first slayer can't live again. She's been dead for a very long time. But if she lives again-"
"- Then the world is fated to be catastrophic." Giles ended.
"The first slayer didn't live in a world like ours. She was all alone, the only person in the world who defeated demons. Now there's Buffy, and Buffy's alive, so the prophesy isn't all true." Giles looked at each of them in turn.
"That's not true, Giles," Said a small voice from the couch. All turned to look at the exhausted Anya. "I said, 'has died'. I didn't say she was dead. So technically, it works out still."
Buffy looked surprisingly at Anya. "She's right." Giles turned to his grown up slayer, his eyes filled with a father-like love for the girl. "The first slayer can come back, and it's a big possibility if I can't figure out the Rysterca's plans." Buffy stood up, along with the rest of them. "But I know one thing..."
The group looked at Buffy. Their slayer, Their leader, Their only hope. She stood tall and proud, the deep and dark strength inside her that none could compare. One girl whose life of normality was taken from her, and replaced by a world that many girls her age never knew of, and would never know. She protected these girls with her life, along with her friends and family. She's was the only one, and she would stay that way.
"He's going down."
Well, I got through it...I'm so glad. You guys better be too! Lol. It's a lot of hard work, and between starting high school and writing this story, it's a lot to keep up with.
By the ways, thanks Ariel for your review. You were the ONLY person to review to last chappie. C'mon folks, I know you wanna review;-) And if you must send flames, then do it as nicely as possible, i'm a sensitive arteest.
Well, I'm outta here. Bye!!