Thinking the tests were done and they had what they'd come for, Buffy reached out and tried to grab the crystal, only to yank her hand back as it was burned on some sort of shield.
"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asked, alarmed.
"Yeah, just a little singed. Guess it's not going to be that easy." She replied.
"Well, let's think this through." Willow suggested. "It's possible Xander gave us clues as to what to expect from the tests when he was talking to us. So what are the clues? What did he say to each of us?"
"He told me that you and I think our intelligence makes us better than others. That Faith's spiral was as much my fault for being a poor Watcher, as to her fear that she was evil and it wasn't all about Buffy. That sometimes, I needed to put the world ahead of her." Giles said.
"He told me I made selfish choices and needed to stop and think things through. And that he loved me, I'm the sister of his heart." Willow told them.
"He told Dawn that she was stronger than she knew and extraordinary. And that he loved her, she's his little sister, as far as he's concerned." Buffy said. "He told me, my pride tainted everything I've done. My dying was unnecessary. And I have more blood on my hands than anyone, not because of people I've killed, but because of those I let die while not doing anything about Angelus or letting someone else deal with him."
"He told me, he believes in me, that I'm a Champion. And that I own a piece of his heart. He loves Buffy as a friend. That I felt like I was in her shadow and she felt like she was in mine. I asked him what being a Champion meant and he said, being willing to risk for others so they don't have to." Faith told them.
"Okay, so love seems to be a theme here, Slayers Heart, that makes sense." Buffy said.
"Well, the test on the door was a challenge towards me and Giles relying on our intelligence. The stone was in regards to not relying on strength and having to crawl across that chasm on our knees would definitely fit into the being humble part." Willow said. "Maybe the way to get past the shield, is that someone has to provide a shadow, so someone else can grab it. He told Faith to be willing to risk and Giles to put the world in front of Buffy. Maybe Buffy has to provide the shadow and Faith risk trusting her, so she can grab the crystal."
"An excellent analyse Willow. Are you two willing to try?" Giles asked Buffy and Faith.
Buffy looked at the burn mark on the back of her hand and than at Faith. People were dying because of her, again, she needed to stop this. Buffy reached out and placed her hand over the crystal, winching as it was burned. Faith reached under her hand, in the shadow and grabbed the crystal, pulling it out of the stand. Buffy yanked her hand back and cradled it. A door slid open behind the altar and they could see daylight. They quickly went through the door and outside, Faith holding the crystal tight in her hand.
Wesley could see another inscription above the altar. The translation, however, didn't seem to make any sense. "To claim the Essence, one must surrender what one should not value the most. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. What do we value the most? Or should not value?"
"Life? Love? Freedom? Honor? Courage? Strength? Any or all or none?" Angel asked.
"Exactly, we each value those things, but in differing degrees. So what do we have to sacrifice in order to claim the Essence Prism?"
Angel was thinking about Xander's accusations and was uncomfortably aware of how accurate they were. Angelus had read the Watchers reports, intelligence on an enemy made mind games so easy. And Angel had wanted to help Buffy, who was struggling with having another Slayer around. He had told himself he was also helping Faith, but the methods he used hadn't even been remotely helpful. Xander said, he needed to stop being an asshole, if he wanted to be a good guy. Whistler had said the whole point of pulling him out of the gutter was so he could choose to be someone. Maybe he needed to actually choose to be a better person. "New Year's Resolutions. Maybe if we sincerely choose to change something about ourselves, in order to be a better person, we can get the Prism."
"That's an interesting conclusion, Angel. We can value negative things as well. Very well, I resolve to not care so much about my father's opinion of me." Wesley said.
"I resolve to be less of an asshole."
"I resolve to not feel like giving up when things get rough."
Angel reached out and picked up the Essence Prism. A door behind the altar opened up and the men walked out of the Temple, prize in hand.
As Buffy's group drove back toward Cairo and the waiting airplane, she wondered 'what next?' "Giles is having the crystal enough? How are we going to use it to deactivate the Slayers?"
"By combining it with the Scythe. The Scythe connects to all of the activated Slayers, with it and the Slayers Heart, Willow can reverse the activation."
"Oh. Guess I should have asked that earlier, huh?"
"We've all had a lot on our minds, Buffy. Within a day, this nightmare should be over. We just need to get back to Los Angeles and prepare the reversal spell. Get some rest."
Wesley was driving his group back to civilization and their own waiting airplane, with the carefully secured Essence Prism in a literal pocket dimension in his pocket when things took a turn for the worst. Bringers. He slammed on the brakes of the car as Bringers appeared on the road in front of them. They swarmed around the car and the three men were fighting for their lives. Gunn saw one of the Bringers approaching Wesley with a big ass knife and threw himself towards him, getting between Wesley and the Bringer. "Get back in the damn car and get that thing to the others. Go!" He yelled. Wesley took one desperate look at his friends and got in the car. Angel kept fighting long after Gunn died, until he had killed all of the attacking Bringers.
