"So, what there's a prophecy about our Kit Cat?" CJ asked, "That's deep."
"Not helping here CJ," Catherine said. She took a deep breath trying to steady herself, "There's a prophecy about me? Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I guess Talbot found the prophecy right after you encountered Angelus. I bet he's the one who convinced you to play dead for so long. What happened after Angelus bit you? Edmund mentioned it." Dawn said.
"Well, I ran to his cottage out in the woods. I knew Angelus wouldn't find me there since no one in the village knew about him. Edmund took m to my father and told me wait there till I learned what I needed about the Tuatha. He didn't come back till almost a year later. Edmund said that the Council believed I was dead and that I should let them believe it. I just assumed he wanted to make sure I didn't end up beheaded or burnt to a stake," Catherine replied quietly.
"Okay, that makes sense. Giles only has excerpts since most of the books were destroyed. They're in French, so the translation is a little iffy. I guess Talbot only documented this to a friend of his in France. Shortly after Angelus destroyed the village, Talbot went to England to document what happened to you. On the way, he found some texts in a demon house. He found one that really struck him," Dawn explained.
"It's a prophecy called the Bataille pour le sang de la lumiere, or Battle for the Blood of Light," Angel read translating, "It's basically about a battle to be fought in the millennia. There's no real time frame. Um, an immortal of light will face the demons of dark. She must battle the evil disguised as love. Well, this is definitely about Caty."
"You think so? Wait, did you just call her Caty?" Connor asked. Angel brushed off the last question and proceeded to answer the first.
"Sure. Caty's immortal, belongs to a clan of good people, or beings, whatever. This Quinn guy is after her blood for a sacrifice. Quinn's trying to activate the prophecy. Caty explained what was going on last night, but I don't think she realizes it's to fulfill a prophecy. Everything's here, her blood needed to raise the Fomhoire princess, the evil in the form of love. That'd be her evil ex-boyfriend."
"So all this time, Quinn was hoping to use me to fulfill some prophecy," Catherine stated. CJ sat, completely enthralled in the story. He'd heard the story before, but now it seemed more real. Dawn felt bad for Catherine. She didn't want to add to the woman's burden. Dawn noticed that Catherine was sad thinking about Quinn.
"Talbot mustn't have wanted anyone to know you were still alive. He was hoping that maybe the prophecy wouldn't happen. Or make sure the council or someone didn't try to destroy you first."
Catherine lowered her head for a moment then stood up. She began to pace the room, rubbing her hands over and over nervously.
"When is this supposed to happen? When is the princess supposed to rise?" Catherine gulped.
"Uh, it doesn't say. It doesn't have an exact time for the battle or even an exact outcome. It's more of a warning of what could happen if you lost," Dawn said.
"There's still a chance Catherine could win then," Connor offered hopefully. Angel looked up from the papers and began to think.
"Well it says here that she must face the evil with an Epee de jour, a Sword of Daylight. It's the only way to destroy the General of Dark. I assume that's Quinn. He's going to need the Epee d'obscurite, Sword of Darkness. Quinn can only use that sword to perform the sacrifice."
"What do we do now?"
"Dawn's already with Caty, so she must know now what's really going. We need to find out where this sword is and get it to her. She's going to need all the help she can get. I'll give Gunn a call and let him know that we're staying a while. Go get Illyria, we need to get over to Caty's soon. I'm sure she's really upset."
"It's still pretty bright out, maybe you should call her and make sure she's okay?" Connor suggested.
"Right, I knew that."
"Okay, then I need to find this sword thingy," Catherine said still pacing around the room, "Quinn must have his or he wouldn't be pushing this hard to suddenly kill me."
"Um, Cat, do you want me to get you a drink? A nice big, strong drink? And could you please sit down, you're wearing her heels down to pumps," CJ quipped as he headed towards the kitchen. Catherine sat herself down with a thud on a chair. She put her heads in her hands and sighed heavily. Dawn got up and moved towards her. Dawn put her arms around the woman and tried to comfort her. Catherine accepted the hug as she choked back the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.
"I'll be okay. I still have a few more things to look up that refer to the sword. And I'm sure Angel will help," Dawn whispered. Catherine nodded into Dawn's shoulder and slowly pulled back. Catherine wiped her tear brimmed eyes and smiled at Dawn's comforting words. Catherine jumped when the phone rang. CJ leaned over and answered it.
"Speaking of Angel, he's on the line asking for you," CJ said handing the phone over to Catherine. Dawn took this opportunity to ask CJ where she could connect her laptop, hoping she could find something today. As Dawn searched, Catherine spoke with Angel trying her best to stay calm.
"No Angel I'm fine. Yes, Dawn and I went over everything already, she's looking up the sword right now. Yeah, she's a pretty cool kid," Catherine said smiling at the young Watcher, "No, just meet us at my office around nine. I promise to keep an eye on her. Yes, I'll call you back if we find anything. Yes, thanks for worrying. Okay, bye." Catherine hung up and sat back down next to Dawn. She gulped the shot of Tequila CJ handed.
"Ugh, thanks. I so needed that," Catherine said making a face.
"Wait, I think I found something. Yeah, okay it was originally in Africa, then moved to Spain, then Mexico, and finally near here in California. Um the sword is located in a cave where 'the sun burns bright and scorches the earth, so that even in the dark the warmth of light is still felt'," Dawn read off the screen, "Doesn't sound fun."
"Sounds dry and boring," offered CJ.
"Sounds like a desert. Hottest desert in California is Death Valley. Well, I needed a tan anyways. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like a place Angel should follow me to. And when dealing with mystical weapons, you can expect a few booby traps," Catherine said thoughtfully.
"Maybe not Angel, but I'm sure Illyria wouldn't mind a field trip. We should start getting ready for this. The sooner we get the sword…" Dawn began.
"The sooner this battle is over," Catherine finished. She picked up the phone and dialed the number for Angel's hotel.
"Malcolm, please tell me you have good news," Quinn spoke to the demon kneeling before him.
"The champion's name is Angel. He is believed to be a-"
"Vampire with a soul," Quinn interrupted, "Once known as Angelus. Damn that was one vicious bastard back in the day. Made demons proud. So, he's finally returned to his beloved Catherine." Quinn picked up a black sword and gripped the hilt tightly. He wrung his hands over the hilt in anger and jealousy. Quinn didn't love Catherine, he belonged to the Princess. But she was his property first, not Angel's, and he didn't like her being taken by anyone. Quinn Angrily brought the sword down and slicing the table he had been sitting at in two.
"Catherine, Catherine. Such a shame that you decided to run back to that vampire's arms. Guess I'll just have to punish you before I kill you." Quinn smiled at the thought, remembering the last time he had her in his grasp. "This is one hell of a sword we got here."