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Chapter 3

The next night, Dawn, Willow and Xander found themselves on the way to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale. A contact of Giles' had said that there was a copy of the book they needed in a secret vault in the National Library, where certain volumes on the supernatural were kept.

It was a cold, foggy night and Dawn shivered. 'Why couldn't we just have gone in during the day as if we were going to borrow a book and then tried to get into the vault?'

'Because the librarian who's going to help us told us to meet him at this time. I know you like to be all Action Girly but we don't need to break into anything. The guy is going to lend us the book,' Willow answered patiently. They had gone over all this before. 'Giles' friend is calling in a lot of favours for this. The Council in London are on the trail of a complete copy of the book but that might take time. This guy says there's part of the manuscript here, in the library. Anything's better than nothing.'

They went down a narrow alleyway where they had been directed to meet the man by a side door. The alley was gloomy and dirty, with piles of rubbish which the wind was blowing from side to side. The one street light did not appear to be working.

Dawn gave a snort, 'This looks like something out of a horror movie. I feel like something's going to leap out on us.'

'Wouldn't be the first time, Dawnie,' Xander put his arm through hers affectionately. 'In fact, when did we ever walk down a deserted street at night and not have something big, ugly and antisocial try to rip us to pieces?'

'Xander, looks like that's not going to change,' Willow spoke unnaturally calmly. The other two stopped and looked at her. She was looking behind them, her face frozen. They turned, very slowly.

Thirty feet behind them was a smelly, green, scaly thing with a lot of teeth and limbs. How the hell had it crept up on them unheard and unseen? Buffy, if she had not been lying in a magically induced sleep a few miles away, would have recognised it as the twin of the one she had faced in the park the night this had all started.

It growled, its teeth making a disgusting sucking noise, saliva dripping from its fangs, and suddenly it started walking towards them, heavy footed, but determined. Dawn, and Xander, too, much to his later shame, screamed at the top of their lungs and started to run away, down into the dark depths of the alleyway. Xander subsequently claimed that it was the shock of seeing it there, and that he was out of practice with patrolling. To his credit, after a few seconds he screeched to a halt and turned back, remembering the axe he had in his hand. Giles had insisted that they should not go out at night unarmed. But there was no need for his heroics. Willow had it under control.

Willow, after the first jolt of surprise at the sight of the demon, narrowed her eyes. 'Enough's enough! We have not got time for this!' She raised her hands, pointed a finger at the monster and said, in a guttural voice that scared the others almost as much as the creature did, 'DEYJA! DEYJA! I COMMAND YOU! DEYJA!'

The creature faltered and stopped in its tracks. A high pitched scream came from its mouth and then it exploded, raining green blood and slime and little bits of demon all over the street and over the three of them. Xander looked at Willow in awe. 'Holy cow, Will. When did you learn how to do that?'

Willow turned to them and they took a step back when they saw her completely black eyes. She shook her head and everything returned to normal. She smiled in a way that was slightly unnerving. 'Don't worry. I've got it under control. What do you think I've been doing since Sunnydale? You know me, never happy unless I'm studying and learning something new.'

She waved her hands and suddenly all traces of the creature had disappeared. 'Come on. Let's find this guy and ask him why we had that welcoming party waiting for us.' Dawn and Xander looked at each other, unsure what to say. Then Dawn shrugged and said, 'Let's go.'

The scarred, heavy, wooden door opened easily and they went in, Dawn shining a torch in front of them. At the end of a corridor, they found a tiny, wizened man dressed in an ancient suit, cowering behind a large statue in a long, marble floored corridor with dozens of doors opening off it.

At first, he was too scared to talk to them, but Willow's gentle voice soon calmed him down and he took them to a small, untidy office. 'Please, we must be quick. The security alarm is off, but not for long. I have what you want.' And he pulled a plastic bag wrapped round something book-shaped out of a drawer.

Willow took the parcel from him, but stepped in front of him before he could scurry out of the door. 'Something was waiting for us in the alleyway. How did it know we would be there? Are you working for both sides here?' Her voice was still soft, but there was an underlying power to it that no one could miss.

The man seemed terrified. He could hardly get his words out, such was his fear. 'I..I... swear, on the Holy Virgin, I know nothing about this. But the forces of darkness are everywhere, even here. The evil ones are not happy about the spell you cast, at the so many slayers there now are. Please, you have to believe me.'

Willow looked at him for a long moment. 'When Buffy is awake, she and I will be back to ask you some questions. Someone's going to pay for what they did to her. But right now, we don't have time for this.'

With that, she handed the book to Xander and walked purposefully out of the room. With Dawn saying 'Grazie. Grazie' to the petrified librarian and Xander trying to look macho and like he, not Willow, was the leader of the group, they followed her hastily out of the office and back onto the street. It was as quiet as the grave.

It was a few days later in Buffy's and Dawn's apartment. The relevant section of the book had been translated, though the results had been less than satisfactory. Andrew was at the hospital on Buffy watch but the rest of them were in her living room, standing facing each other, pretty much having a shouting match, with everyone talking at once.

'That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard! 'That can't be the cure!'

'My sources have gone over the translation very carefully and are quite certain...'

'But it's so corny! What demon would go to the trouble of cursing someone if that's all you need to do to...'

'Yes, but the idea of one's soul mate is quite problematic. Not everyone finds their true love or even recognises them when they find them. Buffy has had a somewhat convoluted love life so how can we be certain who fits the bill?'

'Well, we'll have to ask her who the love of her life is. Oh wait, she's in a COMA!'

'What's the big deal? Let's just get all of Buffy's exes here and they can all try.'

'Yes, well, that's not possible for all of them, is it?'

'Oh, for God's sake, don't start on about Captain Peroxide. For the last time, Buffy was never in love with him. She wasn't in her right mind when they were doing the nasty, I mean, we'd just brought her back from the dead, so she didn't know what she was doing!'

'Xander, don't you start having a go at Spike. She DID love him; you have no idea how she's been feeling since we left Sunnydale'.

'Well, she is not exactly grieving for him, is she, if she's going out with the big I?'

'It's been months! She's entitled to a life! Not everyone has to pine forever and mope around like a pathetic puppy.'

'DAWN! Enough. That's not fair. Xander can mourn for Anya as long as he needs to.'

Dawn looked a little ashamed at Willow's words, and mumbled, 'Sorry, Xan.'

Giles took off his glasses and started polishing them. 'I'm not sure why everyone is getting so upset. We just have part of the section about the Myrsina curse but it seems fairly clear that Buffy can only be awakened by the kiss of her true love and the correct ritual. So, as a start, I've sent for Angel, because he seems to be the one who most fits that description who's actually available.' There was a shocked silence and everyone looked at him. 'Well, I hardly think the Immortal is the love of her life. Anyway, Angel should be here soon.'

'Actually, that's a pretty good idea, Giles,' said Willow. 'It's worth a try.'

'But what happens if the wrong person kisses her?' Dawn asked, a note of doubt in her mind.

'Ah, well, that's the problem. We aren't sure. But I have people looking for a more complete version of the Manuskript.'

'So why can't we just wait?'

'Because Buffy's vital signs are getting worse and worse and we don't know how much time she has left. We have to try something.'

Xander spoke again, only half joking, 'Anyway, I can feel myself getting shorter and, what with the hi hos and feeling an inclination to buy a pickaxe, maybe the curse is affecting us, too and we will end up as dwarves.'

'Um, I think they prefer being called little people these days,' said Willow uncertainly.

'And there's only five of us, not seven,' said Dawn. 'So that doesn't fit'.

'We could call Kennedy and Faith and tell them to come. And we could definitely come up with dwarf names for us all.' Xander spoke with a desperate kind of hilarity. 'How about Giles as Dull, me as Dorky, Andrew as Whiney, Will as Nicey and Dawn as Stroppy. When Angel comes he could definitely be Broody the Dwarf. Oh, right, he's supposed to be the handsome prince, come to save the day. That'll be a stretch for him.' He started to laugh nervously. Willow walked closer to him and put her arm through his, understanding his usual need to cover his fears with jokes, silly and inappropriate as they were at this time.

There was a silence which Xander felt compelled to break. 'Right, then we let Angel plant one on her and, if that doesn't work, why don't I give it a go? I always thought she had a secret thing for me!'

Dawn glared at Xander and Willow gave him a reproachful look. 'I hardly think this is the time for levity, do you, Xander?' said Giles wearily.

'No, I suppose not. Sorry. Feeling a tad frustrated. It just seems such a vague plan with so many what ifs about it. Isn't there any other way? There must be some kind of decursing spell, Will, surely to God?'

'Don't you think I've tried everything? This demoness must be very powerful. None of the antidote spells have made the least difference, you know that. We'll just have to hope that Angel can help.'

Right then the doorbell rang and they all turned towards the front door.

Dawn ran to answer it and flung it open. There he was, all tall, dark and handsome, looking suitably brooding and tortured in his leather jacket. It was on the minds of more than one in the group that he would make a pretty damn fine Prince Charming.

'So the gang's all here. Nice. Now will someone please explain to me what's going on with Buffy and why you've dragged me here all the way from LA?'

It was the next morning. Angel and Willow had gone to the hospital after a late night going through the whole story again. Angel, who was looking tired and rather deflated, Willow thought, had been surprisingly negative about the idea of him being the one who could free Buffy from the curse.

'Look, Willow, this all seems ridiculous. I've seen the movie. How can the whole Snow White thing have any basis in truth? It's a story for kids.'

'You know so many so-called fictional stories are based on truth. I mean, look at Sesame Street - the Count, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, the Cookie Monster. They all have supernatural origins. I was horrified when I heard the true story of Bert and Ernie. And it's supposed to be a show for children! I know we don't have much to go on. But there was the apple and the rumours the Immortal heard. Myrsina seems to be very powerful demoness. I mean, we don't know if she is the one responsible or how she might have got to Buffy, but it's the only thing we've got to go on.'

'But why me? She's had other men in her life.'

'C'mon, Angel, you and she had a strong connection. Who else is there now? We're running out of time and we have to do something.'

A strange expression flitted over the vampire's face. But he shook himself, seemingly chasing away unwelcome thoughts. Then he went over to Buffy,who was still lying there as if dead, and looked down at her lovely face. She looked like a marble statue on an Italian tomb. He touched her cheek gently, and withdrew it quickly, shocked at the fact that her skin was no warmer than his.

He sighed deeply. 'OK. So what do I have to do?'

They waited until twelve o'clock that night. Willow wasn't sure why, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. It was such a short ritual that she wanted to make sure that she invested it with as much ceremony and mystical atmosphere as possible. Despite her outward optimism in front of the others, she was not at all convinced that this was going to work. She had asked the others, except for Giles, to stay at the apartment with Dawn. If anything bad happened, she did not want Dawn to see it. Giles was sitting outside the room, just in case anything happened to her or Angel.

So, there they were. She had put a blocking spell on the door of Buffy's room so that they were not interrupted by a nosy nurse or doctor. Otherwise, they would have a lot of explaining to do.

She had surrounded Buffy's bed with candles and plants with magical properties: basil for love, marigolds to ward off evil, chamomile and chilli peppers to break curses, and cinnamon to aid healing. Again, she had no idea if any of it would work, but she had to do something. She was not sure she could take much more of seeing Buffy like this. In the candlelight, it seemed impossible that Buffy would ever wake up again; she looked like a spirit, her translucent white skin gleaming in the dim light. Willow held her breath.

Outside, they could hear the clock in the tower of a nearby church chime the first stroke of midnight. Angel began saying the words, repeating them as the clock sounded the twelve beats signalling the end of the old day and the start of the new one.

The vampire took Buffy's hands between his and began. 'Besorgu cwén; áwace! Besorgu heortlufe; onwæcne! Besorgu ærsum; lufe! Besorgu hordwynn; ádríeg!' Angel's voice rang out strongly, not faltering over the difficult words.

On the last stroke of midnight, he bent down and gently kissed her on her bright red lips.

The next day, the whole group, except for Angel, were sitting in the hospital cafeteria, while the doctor ran the normal checks on Buffy. They all sat around, unable to say much, trying to take in the news that Willow had just told them. Andrew had a guilty look on his face and sat trying not to draw attention to himself.

Angel, once he realised that Buffy was not going to wake up, had vanished into the city. They had left the hospital in the early hours of the morning, because Willow wanted to tell the others of the failure of the ritual in person. Giles had stayed behind, just in case there was any change in Buffy.

Willow tried her best to make Angel feel better about what had happened. 'Angel, look, you did do some good. Her vital signs have improved. So you made a difference.'

'But she didn't wake up! So much for our eternal love!'

She took one of his hands in hers. She was much shorter than him so she pulled him down onto to one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs to be found in hospitals everywhere. Then she looked into his face, forcing him to have eye contact with her. She had always been a little in awe of the handsome vampire but she had never seen him look so beaten.

She spoke kindly, though she knew he might not like what she had to say, 'Really? Did you truly think you two were destined to end up together? You and Buffy had something amazing, but a lot's happened since then. For both of you. You're not each other's soul mates any more. So now, we have to think of something else. If your love's not enough to wake up Buffy, I don't know where else to turn. I really doubt either the Immortal or Riley is Buffy's true love, so we're out of options.' Her voice trembled on the last few words.

Angel stood up suddenly and walked a few paces down the corridor. With his back to her, he squared his shoulders and abruptly said, in a strained voice, 'That's not strictly true. We do have someone else who...'

He stopped, as if unable to go on. 'There is someone who might be able to help, thought I doubt it. But, as you said, we're out of other options.'

Once he had told her, he left, silently, swiftly, unable to take the look of shock and reproach on Willow's face.

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