We believe our lives are supposed to be good, clean, and decent. Fate is cruel though, and time is ever changing. We are rushed to meet it, and in the end, we can only hope for the better. Sometimes we are so lucky, but other times we find ourselves face to face with the worst. All we can do is meet our crossroads with a strong face. Well, that and hope we may actually make it out alive.
Summer was well coming on fast in Sunnydale, and the gang was anxiously awaiting it. "One more year after this," Ciel sighed, a strange spark of hope in his eyes that was rare to be seen. He and the others were all preparing for finals.
"I could help you with chemistry, Buffy, if you want," Willow offered. Ciel raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you the teacher there, Willow?" Ciel laughed.
"It's fun," Willow remarked, beginning to ramble on about taking over Miss Calendar's classes. Ciel tuned out. He didn't really care. It was another class, another subject Ciel couldn't care about. He just wanted Sebastian and Rige to return so he could leave this all behind.
August sat staring at the wall. Angel was sulking beside him. "The Slayer thinks she can win against me," Angel laughed, hinting at the night before.
"Maybe she can," August sighed. Angel raised an eyebrow. Spike rolled up in his wheelchair, Drusilla standing beside him, beside herself with joy.
"Angelus, look here!" Drusilla sang, holding out a newspaper. Spike handed August a cigarette, and they shared a look of knowing. They'd escape. They just had to wait for their moment.
"You know, this Slayer has thwarted all out plots so far. Maybe she would beat you," Spike growled.
"You're just pessimistic," Angelus teased. August rolled his eyes.
"And you're overly optimistic," August muttered. He stood. "So, what is it this time?"
"A block," Spike replied.
"What sort of block? That's not really helping me enough," August inquired. Angel handed him the paper. Reading it over, August felt his heart skip a beat. Damn, that just wouldn't do for August's agenda.
Buffy was bored, if that could even scratch at the surface. She huffed out a sigh sitting next to Willow, half paying attention to chemistry. She, whilst playing with it, knocked her pencil off the desk. Reaching down, a floppy disc caught her eye. "Hey, Will, did you drop this?" Buffy asked, picking it up. Willow looked it over, slowly shaking her head.
"No, Miss Calendar must have dropped it," Willow mused. She put it into the computer on the desk, and her mouth dropped. "Oh my god, Buffy, this is a spell," she exclaimed.
"What kind of spell?" Buffy asked, leaning over to catch a look.
"It's a spell to get Angel his soul back," Willow replied. The two looked at each other with wide eyes. Willow printed off the data and the two ran to find Giles. Wasting no time, and out of breath, they shoved the paper into Giles' hands.
"What's this?" Giles asked.
"A spell, to get Angel his soul back," Buffy panted.
"Miss Calendar must have found a way to translate it," Willow added. Giles read it over.
"This spell will take a lot of knowledge of magic to pull off. With Rige gone, none of us have enough knowledge to complete this," Giles shook his head.
"I can try. Rige and Miss Calendar taught me a bit about magic. I've been reading through what Miss Calendar left behind about it too," Willow urged. Giles just glared at her.
"Actually, Rige left this letter. I've been carrying it. I don't know why. It's addressed to Willow saying it should only be opened if we need to cast a powerful spell," Ciel cut in. Willow took the envelope and read its contents over. She handed it to Giles.
"She was training you for this very moment," Giles muttered. He looked up. "We'll see what we can do," he finally caved.
Rige sat in the car as the girl woke up. "Where…Where am I?" she muttered. Rige sighed and adjusted her rearview mirror.
"You're safe. We're going to a diner to get some lunch. I'll explain there," Rige assured quietly. The girl nodded and drifted off back to sleep. Rige sighed. She felt a new power pulsing in her veins, but knew things were far from over. She'd have to adjust, not to mention her passenger. Getting her passenger caught up… Well, that was a challenge in and of itself. Rige bit her lip. Where was Sebastian now? Was he thinking of her? Did he even miss her? How was Ciel? He'd be angry at her soon enough. It was only a matter of time.
Ciel stood in the living room. He had gone back home to see if he could find anything to help. Suddenly he felt strange, like his heart was racing. He fell to his knees. He could feel his demon powers leaving, flowing from him in a dark purple mist. His eyes opened wide. No. He couldn't be. He was human again.
Rayla and Ria stood in the library. Cordelia escaped. Kendra was dead. Willow and Xander were knocked out. "I should go make sure the new Slayer was activated," Ria sighed. Rayla looked up at her elder sister.
"How is our sister?" Rayla asked. Ria shrugged.
"She survived. The boy is mortal again," Ria remarked. Rayla nodded.
"This is only the beginning," Rayla pointed out. "I can see it now. One day, all of this will be gone. It'll all be swallowed." Ria nodded stiffly, stepping forward.
"Time to see Faith," Ria muttered. The two demons looked once more at each other and disappeared just as Buffy ran into the room, unaware of the crossroads she was about to face.
A/N: Alright, we're getting there. Sorry for such a delay. I hit a wall of writer's block, and only found out what I wanted to do today. So, let's explain. Things are getting heavy. Yes, the first paragraph is more a reflective thing sort of like the episode. It was always one of my favorite parts of this episode and the next, so I had to add it in. Also, August is now Angel, Spike, and Drusilla. Ciel is human again! To top it all off, we still don't know who Rige has. All in good time. Looking ahead, I'll finish the next chapter, and then I'm changing up the chapter set up just a tiny bit. I had this idea and I wanted to use it in some fan fiction, and decided this would work well. I'm not saying what it is, but be prepared! It'll be good. Alright, I should try and work on some other things right now, so I'll leave off here. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and as always, leave a review!