Chapter 9: Defying Prophecy
Harry's stomach plummeted as though he had ran and dropped off the highest tower of Hogwart's. A sudden fear clenched his heart and he grabbed Buffy's arm trying to pull her away from the horrid words that had just snapped angrily out of his uncle's voice. But as hard as he tried he couldn't budge her.
"Well, have you verified the text?" the tall, dark-haired man, that Harry guessed was Angel, asked.
That's when Buffy began to laugh. It was an eerie sort of sound in the wake of such morbid news and the empty look in her eyes caused Harry to briefly consider enveloping her in a hug. But Buffy was now allowing him to move her away if only slowly. The young wizard all to well understood the gaunt expression and the utter disbelief that had now crossed over what were usually happy features.
Uncle Rupert and Angel must have heard Buffy's laughter because they stepped out of the office, Angel coming out towards Buffy. Uncle Rupert gazed at her with the same sort of concern that Harry remembered from last night. He looked as though he were unable to leave the safety of his office, standing just inside the door.
Buffy stopped then and turned to face both men. "So that's it, huh? I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, the next one's called. Wonder who she is." She looked over to Uncle Rupert with brimming tears. "Will you train her? Or will they send someone else?
"Buffy I..." Uncle Rupert tired but couldn't find the words.
"They say how he's gonna kill me?" she asked tears in her accusation. "Do you think it will hurt?" Those drops of salt water came freely now.
Both Harry and Angel reached to console her but she leapt out of their range. "Don't touch me!" she snapped, but it was towards Angel. Harry doubted if she remembered he was in the room with her. She snapped back to Uncle Rupert and this time there was anger in her voice. "Were you even gonna tell me?"
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to. That there was some way around it. I..." Uncle Rupert wasn't going to be allowed to continue.
"I've got a way around it. I quit," Buffy snapped, trying desperately to regain control of her emotions.
Angel took a tentative step forward. "It's not that simple."
"I'm making it that simple. I quit! I resign, I'm fired, you can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over," Buffy was nearly yelling now. Her attempt to get control failing horribly.
Uncle Rupert removed his glasses, something Harry realized he did when he was broaching a difficult subject. His voice was level but kind as he explained. "I'm not sure that anyone else can. All the signs indicate...."
Buffy picked up a book from the wood table and chucked it at him. "The signs? READ ME THE SIGNS!" She took another one and tossed it with all her might, but it did little due to her emotion induced aim. "TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL HERE WITH ALL YOUR BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOT OF HELP!"
"No, I don't suppose I am," Uncle Rupert said, his cowed expression pulling at Harry.
As much as he sympathized with Buffy, he also felt a sudden empathy for Uncle Rupert and Professor Dumbledore. He'd reacted very much in the same way Buffy was now when Sirius died and he'd learned of his own prophecy. Professor Dumbledore had taken his tantrum very much as Uncle Rupert was doing now.
"I know this is hard," Angel said, taking another step forward.
"What do you know about this?" Buffy snapped. "You're never gonna die."
Angel acted as though she had slapped him and Harry once again found that he couldn't understand her words. Why wouldn't Angel ever die? "You think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it? We just gotta figure a way...."
"I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!"
"Buffy, if the Master rises..." Uncle Rupert stuttered out.
"I don't care," Buffy proclaimed, grasping the silver cross at her neck. "I don't care." She ripped it off. "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."
Without another word Buffy spun on her heal and ran out of the library leaving Harry, Uncle Rupert, and Angel alone in silence. It was Harry's uncle who eventually broke the silence. How he could remain so bloody calm was beyond Harry.
"Angel, would you mind taking Harry back to my flat," the Watcher asked.
"What?" Harry asked sharply. "We have to do something for Buffy."
Uncle Rupert shook his head and leveled a stern glare at Harry. "We, as in you, aren't going to do anything. Remus is taking you back to England, he's getting your stuff together even as we speak."
Harry was feeling his own anger coming forward. The same anger he'd kept bottled all summer. "Uncle Rupert I can help. Buffy shouldn't go through this alone. I understand that better then most."
"This is not under discussion. You will go back to England with Remus tonight," the older man snapped. Angel watched the confrontation between uncle and nephew afraid to step in but ready to act if something should be decided.
Harry ground his teeth. "You can't force me to do anything."
It was then that Rupert Giles' deflated. "Harry, if Buffy should fail tomorrow and the Master rises..." he drew off unable to complete this thought.
"Armageddon will come forth," Angel finished. "Believe me, kid, I know what the Master's capable of. It's better if you are as far away from here as you can possibly get."
"And if she doesn't fail?" Harry demanded.
"It's still safer for you to be with the Order," Uncle Rupert answered. "You have your destiny to fulfill, Harry. You have to survive."
Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. "That's all we are is it? Just pawns to be thrown in the front of whatever everyone else can't handle. I have to kill someone or die. Buffy doesn't even get that option. And all you can say is go home to England and pretend none of this happened. Well, you don't know me very well, Uncle Rupert."
Harry made to bound out of the library but was stopped by Angel's hand. "It's not safe alone," the dark-haired man cautioned. "Where you headed?"
The hand on Harry's arm wasn't warm, in fact if there had been no pressure on it, Harry wouldn't have thought it was there at all. The man's dark eyes reminded him vaguely of Sirius but only more haunted. Was this man a former prisoner of Azkaban just as Sirius had been? That would explain the pale complexion and the evasive stature. But he didn't have the thin figure that Harry remembered from Sirius' escape. "Who are you?"
Instead of answering Angel glanced over at Uncle Rupert. The Watcher nodded mutely. "I'm a vampire," Angel answered.
"But?" Harry questioned slowly backing away from Angel. "I thought."
"He has a soul, Harry," Uncle Rupert answered. "He doesn't hunt human's. He won't hurt you."
Harry wasn't sure how this made a difference but if Buffy trusted him, when her whole purpose was to rid the earth of vampires, then he supposed he could give Angel the benefit of the doubt. Buffy's previous statement to Angel's mortality abruptly made so much more sense and that thought reminded Harry of the obvious care that the vampire showed the slayer.
'You think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it?' He suddenly wondered what would happen if he were to die in his struggle against Voldemort. Who would mourn him? Hermione, Ron and his family, Remus and Professor Dumbledore, but not one who truly loved him as a son. Not like Sirius had. For all his speeches about making things work out, Uncle Rupert was sending him away.
"I'll try to make it home tonight before you and Remus leave," Uncle Rupert said in a lame tone.
Harry didn't turn to face him. "Don't bother," he said harshly.
"Giles, call me if you hear anything from her," Angel said.
"I will," Uncle Rupert assured. "Harry. Please, you must understand, if I could take this away from you and from Buffy I would, but I can't."
Harry glanced back. "Can't or won't?"
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"Preparations must be made," the Master had ordered.
The Anointed one, along with the cadre of vampires had gone out into the night and had captured several prey. The young virgins squealed as they were dragged to the Sunnydale High School. It was just below the school where the Master resided inside his holy cage and the proper rituals had to be made before the Master could rise and bring forth his might. This consisted of five blooded victims to be arranged into a pentagram near the Hellmouth, preferably over it.
Breaking in to the high school was child's play and the Anointed One lead them into the silent building.
"Let them go," he ordered as he felt they were near enough to gateway to hell.
With screams that would have shattered a human's eardrums, the victims ran and the vampires had their game.
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Willow needed to talk to Giles. Something was wrong with Buffy. No matter how many times she'd called last night and this morning, Mrs. Summers had told her that Buffy couldn't come to the phone. She had tried to get a hold of Xander but he was out, possibly already on his way to the library.
She hoped that was the case and that Xand and Giles were already cracking down on Buffy's mysterious actions. She was usually the social butterfly, flitting so quickly that Willow and Xander had a hard time keeping up with her. And Willow had never known her to be sick. Something wasn't right or her name wasn't Willow Rosenberg.
As she entered the school and headed towards the library she wished it wasn't.
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"Hi, honey, you all right?" her mother asked stepping into her room.
Buffy had pulled out the family album and was leafing through pictures of her youth, pictures that were barely two years old but felt as though they should have been decades. One was of her as Homecoming queen, the youngest Hemery had ever seen. Her long blonde hair had been done in an upsweep with curls framing her face, her dress was a stunning silver that set of her sun-kissed skin. That had been one of her happiest days, a time before she'd learn of her dark destiny. How would it be like to go back to that time, ignorant of vampires and demons as most of the citizens of Sunnydale were.
Forcefully, she glanced up from the photo. "Sure."
"Probably just full from that bite of breakfast you nearly had," Mom said in a leading tone. She sat next to Buffy and moved a strand of hair from her face. "Feel like telling me what's on your mind?"
Buffy scrutinized the photo again. "Mom, let's go away," she said with a forced smile, flipping through the photo pages to those that marked vacation memories. "Like we used to."
"What?" Mom asked laughingly, startled by the abrupt change of subject.
"Anywhere, just for awhile, all weekend!" Buffy had to convince her otherwise there would be no more family vacations for her.
Mom started to shake her head. "Buffy I...."
"No, it'll be great! You and me, a mother-daughter thing... We can talk about all the embarrassing things you love to bring up."
Taking the photo album, Mom started her own perusal. "You know the gallery's open on weekends. Besides school's coming up and we should go shopping for new clothes. That'll be fun."
"Mom please," Buffy pleaded.
"Actually, I already did a little shopping myself," Mom announced and rose from the bed, crossing over to Buffy's closet. "I thought maybe you could wear it to homecoming." She opened the closet and Buffy found herself gazing at the most beautiful dress. She had seen it at the mall only the other week and had secretly tried it on. In that moment she had felt like an angel far away from the night. "I saw you eyeing it at the store. I figured," her mom said with a shrug.
Buffy was suddenly next to the dress and her mother, reaching out a hand to caress the delicate fabric. "Mom, we can't afford this." Oh, but how it made her love her mother. A simple gift just out of love. No strings attached.
"The way you've been eating, we can afford it," her mother joked.
"It's beautiful," Buffy murmured.
"So any guy out there whose caught your eye," came the excited question.
Usually, Buffy would have rolled her eyes at her mother's enthusiasm. "Th...there was someone but.."
"But he isn't interested," Mom finished.
"It's, uh, complicated," Buffy said. "Besides I can't go to Homecoming."
"Why not? Is it written somewhere," Mom said with a long-suffering tone. "Every girl deserves to get all dolled up and go out for a night, just like Cinderella. Freshman year in college, it was homecoming, I didn't have a date. So I got dressed up and went myself."
Buffy cracked a smile. "Was it awful?"
"It was, for about an hour," Mom affirmed.
"Then what happened?"
"I met you're father," her mom said with a smile.
This was a story that Buffy had never heard before and it made her smile deepen. "He didn't have a date either."
"No, he did. And that's a much funnier story that you will not get to hear." Her mom hugged the album, a far away look in her eyes. "Oh, but it was a beautiful night."
"And you had your whole life ahead of you," Buffy said, lost in the fairy tale.
"Yeah," Mom breathed and broke the spell.
Buffy turned away from the dress. "Must be nice."
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"You should have left already," Giles argued as he handed Harry Hedwig's cage. "Remus, I'll get in touch with you as soon as it becomes safe for you and Harry to return."
Giles grasped his brother's old friend's hand. "I'm very sorry to hear of this, Rupert. Against better judgement, I'd like to side on hope."
The lump that had become a permanent fixture inside his throat since he'd learned of Buffy's fate was once again pushed down with a swallow. "Yes, hm, hope." Giles stepped over to face Harry. His nephew avoided making eye contact. Without seeing the green color to his eyes, it was all too easy for Giles to have James pop into his mind. More then ever he was satisfied with his decision to send Harry away. He only wished he could send Buffy with him.
"I know you're upset with me and that you feel that I'm betraying you, but this is what I feel is best," he attempted to smooth things over. "I need you safe."
"And if you die too?" Harry asked coldly. "I've been orphaned three times already. What's one more death, right?"
"Harry," Remus remonstrated.
Giles shook his head and forestalled any further comment with a hand. "It's alright, Remus. Harry's entitled to his opinion. Remus, might I have a word."
Leading him away a distance, Giles turned to Remus. "I want you to promise me that you'll look after him, if I don't make it."
"Of course, Rupert," Remus said. "That goes without saying." The werewolf's keen pale gaze settled on him. "So why are you saying it? What are you planning Rupert?"
The Watcher affected innocence. "I..I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play me for a fool. If I didn't recognize the signs of a plan in your eyes I wouldn't be able to call myself James' friend. He had the same look. So does Harry for that matter. Now you tell me the truth or I'm not going anywhere," Remus announced stubbornly.
With a sigh, Giles ran a hand through his hair. "I was wrong, Remus. No child should face the dark. I will do what I should have done long ago."
"What's that?" Remus asked with a frown.
"Defy prophecy."
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She had been trying on her new dress when her mother had run into the room with news about Willow on TV. Clad in the prom dress, Buffy had rushed off to see her best friend. She had expected to see Willow ready to crack down on whatever had caused this disturbance, but she wasn't prepared to see the redhead frightened out of her wits.
Sitting inside Willow's room, Buffy offered her friend a listening ear.
"I've seen so much," Willow muttered, tears pooling and spilling over her eyes to traced paths down her smooth cheeks. "I thought I could take anything. But, Buffy, this...this was different."
Smoothing a lock of hair back against Willow's head, Buffy gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright."
Willow shook her head sadly. "I'm trying to think how to say it so that you can understand."
"It doesn't matter as long as you're okay," Buffy spoke as though she were talking to a tiny child. Willow was as scared as Buffy had ever seen her. More scared then that first night they had met, when she had been meant for the Master.
The redhead's lower lip began to tremble. "I'm not okay. I knew some of those people. I go there everyday. And when I walked in there, it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs and they had fun." She dashed the tears away with the heel of he hand. "What are we going to do?"
Buffy's heart began to pound until it was the only sound she could hear, drowning out Willow's soft sobs and the cars passing merrily on their way just beyond the room's windows. Soon that beat would stop and if she didn't keep the Master from rising the world of heartbeats would join with it.
She stood up from Willow's bed, shaking but full with determined strength. "What we have to." A stuttered breath hissed through her teeth. "Promise me you'll stay in tonight, okay?" She waited for Willow's nod before heading out to face her destiny.
"Oh, Buffy," Willow stopped her. "I like your dress."
"Take care." If she were going to die tonight she didn't want Xander or Willow to suffer the same fate. This was her tribute to her friends, to lay down her life.
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"Rupert what are you doing?" Ms. Calendar asked, observing as Giles began to load weapons from the cabinet to the black satchel.
Giles shook his head, grabbing several knives off their hooks. "Nothing."
"So, this Master guy tried to open the Hellmouth. But got stuck in it, and now all the signs are reading that he's gonna get out, which opens the Hellmouth, which brings the demons, which ends the world," Ms. Calendar did a recap of his recent explanation.
He shoved the selected knives into the bag. "Yes, that about sums it up."
"The part that gets me, though, is where Buffy's the Slayer," Jenny said wonderingly. "She's so little," this part was said in a voice that might have been used on a child.
Strangely, her prattle was comforting. "Did you get in touch with that brother Luca chap?"
The dark-haired teacher tossed her head back and forth. "Hmm. As far as I can tell, no one can. He's disappeared. Did send one last global though. A short one."
There was a pause and Giles realized his colleague would not a little push. "What did it say?"
Jenny pulled out a bible. "Isaiah 11:16, which I dutifully looked up."
"'The wolf shall lie with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, the lion and the fatling together, and the little child to lead them,'" Giles recited easily. His education had extended to all ancient text.
Ms. Calendar didn't look surprised. "That's kinda warm and fuzzy for a message of doom."
He barely heard her words, he was checking the contents of his bag, making sure there wasn't anything he didn't yet need. "Well, that depends where he's leading them to. Aurelius wrote of the Anointed One. 'The Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell.'"
"So Luca thinks the Anointed is the kid," Jenny was quick to deduce.
"If the vampire that Buffy killed was in fact not the Anointed, the it may well be," Rupert agreed.
Ms. Calendar hopped off the desk. "Well, then we need to warn her."
Rupert supposed he couldn't keep his true intent from her any longer, especially if he hoped to use her as a distraction for Buffy. If he could change Buffy's prophecy then just maybe that meant that Harry's could be. It probably meant his death, but he'd do it for both his children.
"I don't intend on involving her at all," Giles informed.
A frown creased Ms. Calendar's classic features. "What do you mean?"
"Buffy is not going to face the Master. I am."
"No, you're not." The abrupt arrival of a new voice made both adults jump. "So, I'm looking for a kid, huh? And he will lead me to the Master?"
Giles approached her. He saw the fear in her eyes, not daunted by the determination. It was those eyes that Angel had meant, the windows to her soul. She did wear her heart out for all to see and he wanted to protect it every inch as Angel did.
"Buffy, I'm not gonna send you out there to die. Now you and Harry were right. I've waded around in these old books for so long, I've forgotten what the real world is like. It's time I found out." He only hoped he sound as determined as she looked. Frankly, he was frightened out of his wits. A normal vampire he might have had a chance with, but the Master....it was like dealing with a shadow.
A fond smile graced the youthful face. "You're still not going up against the Master."
"I'm made up my mind," he said proudly.
"So have I," she said simply.
"I made up my mind first. I'm older and wiser than you, and just do what you're told for once. Alright!" It made his heart flutter sickeningly that he actually was tempted to accept her words. To not go into the night.
"That's not how it goes. I'm the Slayer," she said with a hint of amusement. After all, she shouldn't have to be reminding him of this.
Still he would not bulk now, not after her sudden bravery. "I don't care what the books say. I defy prophecy, and I am going. There's nothing you can say will change my mind."
"I know," and there was an extra meaning in those two words, a hint of gratitude towards him that he could no understand. Nor did he get a chance to consider them because in the next moment he felt something slam into his cheek and everything went black.