Chapter 26: Prophecy Girl Part 1

Buffy flew through the air and landed on her back hard as a vampire looked down at her smiling. She glared up at him as she did a backwards roll and comes up on her feet. She reached behind her back and pulled out a stake. The vampire snarled and hesitated just long enough for Buffy to slam the stake home.

As the vampire crumbled to dust she wiped her brow and smiled. "Three in one night. Paige I hope will be proud."

In the Sunnydale High Library Giles is looking through a book he had specially shipped from the Watcher's Council in England. It was a book of Slayer prophecies. As he poured himself a cup of tea he read a passage from the book, "Ho korias phanaytie toutay tay nuktee. The Master shall rise ... Yes, this is it. The Master shall rise, and the Slayer ..." He stopped as realization dawned on him that Paige had been right, that Buffy was destined to die. "My God."

He grabbed another volume from his desk, rifled through it to a particular passage and compared them. He set the book down and reached for the phone and dialed.

"Halliwell Residence, Phoebe speaking."

"This is Rupert Giles, I need to speak to Paige Matthews, it's urgent," Giles said. "Tell her it's about Buffy. Tell her the Elders were right."

At the Halliwell Manor in San Francisco Phoebe frowned as she sat the phone down. "Piper! Leo! Paige!" she yelled. A second later the three of them came down the stairs. "It's Rupert on the phone. He told me to tell you Paige it was urgent, it's about Buffy and that the Elders were right."

Paige picked up the phone. "I'll be there first thing in the morning, we'll figure out how to prevent it," she said before hanging up the phone and turned to her family. "I hadn't told anyone this till the day Billy's powers started bringing everyone's nightmares to life. Then I told Giles, Dawn, Willow and Xander when we found a grave with Buffy's name. My nightmare has been that Buffy would be taken away from me."

"Taken away from you?" Piper asked wondering what her baby sister meant.

Paige looked sheepish at Piper. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before, Piper. I didn't know how. Buffy is …"

"Buffy is Paige's reward for everything Paige has gone through and everything Buffy will go through. They were destined to fall in love," Leo explained.

"But Buffy is …" Piper said shaking her head.

"I know, Piper," Paige said. "She's ten years younger than me. But you don't help who you fall in love with, you should know that."

Piper looked to Leo and nodded, she knew Paige was right about that. She looked back at Paige. "Still, Paige …"

"We don't do anything, Piper," Paige said. "We've gone on a couple dates and even kissed. But nothing beyond that. Nothing that would land me in jail, not till she's eighteen. Leo and Joyce both approve and they were the ones I needed before I could even consider dating Buffy."

"You knew?" Piper asked her husband.

"I knew," Leo said. "For a couple weeks. I didn't tell you because Paige wanted to figure out how to do that herself. She knew you would be the one that would have a problem with it. Joyce and I both understand the age differences. I maybe about your age Piper physically, but you have to remember I am older than you by several decades."

Piper nodded in understanding. She looked to Paige. "If you are truly in love with her and she you then I am happy for you. Now what about this business about the Elders being right?"

"You remember I went to talk to the Elders while Buffy was putting the sorrows back?" Paige asked as Piper nodded. "I was told that Kyle hadn't told me everything about what the seer had seen. That the seer had seen one other thing and that was why the Elders approached the Angels of Destiny. Buffy is destined to die. They hoped that by steering us together, hoping that we would fall in love. That we could prevent it. Giles must have found the prophecy in his books."

In Sunnydale a massive earthquake is shaking the ground as Buffy looked around more wary than afraid, trying to keep her footing.

In the library Giles watched from the safety of his doorway as a crack ran across the library all the way to the stacks.

The next morning Paige orbed in and looked at the devastation that the earthquake had wrought the night before. "Giles?" she said.

"In here, Paige," Giles called from his office.

"What happened?" Paige asked as she stepped into the office and motioned behind her.

"Earthquake," he said. "I've been up all night referencing and cross referencing what I've found. What the Elders told you was correct."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy entered the library and looked around. "Giles? Paige?" she called out. She then heard voices coming from Giles office and moved toward the office door. She saw that Giles and Paige were standing over a book.

"It's fairly straight forward," Giles said to Paige oblivious to the fact that Buffy was behind him. "It says that Buffy will face the Master. And she will die."

Buffy stared at Paige and Giles for a moment as she absorbed the information she had just head and then she began to laugh.

Paige and Giles turn and saw Buffy standing in the doorway.

Buffy turned and walked into the middle of the library as Paige and Giles follow her out of the office. She turned back to them. "So that's it, huh? My time is up. I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, the next is called. I wonder who the next one is," she said as she looked to Giles. "Are you gonna train her? Or will they send someone else." She looked to Paige. "Will she be a witch, like me? Will you train her in her powers? Will you fall for her like you did me?"

"Buffy, I ..." Paige started unsure of what to say.

"Does it say how he's gonna kill me?" Buffy asked looking back at Giles. "Do you think it'll hurt?" She sunk into a chair.

Paige walked over to Buffy and knelt down as she raised a hand to caress Buffy's face.

Buffy pushed the hand away violently. "Don't touch me!" she said near tears. She looked at Paige and Giles with anger. "Were you guys even gonna tell me?"

Paige sighed . "Yes. Once we figured out how to prevent it," she said. "I didn't want to lay this burden on you, Buffy."

Buffy rose out of the chair. "Oh, I've got a way of preventing it. I quit."

"It's not that simple," Paige said shaking her head.

"I'm making it that simple! I quit! I resign! I'm fired! Someone else can stop the Master from taking over," Buffy said.

Giles shook his head. "I don't know that anyone else can. The signs all indicate –"

"The signs?" Buffy yelled as she took one of Giles' books and hurled it across the room—almost at Giles himself. "Read me the signs!" She threw another. "Tell me my fortune! You're so useful, sitting around with your books. You're really a lot of help."

Giles sighed. "I don't suppose I am."

"I know this is hard ..." Paige said.

"What do you know about it? You're never gonna die,' Buffy said.

"You think I want anything to happen to you?" Paige yelled. "Do you think I could stand it? Do you remember my nightmare? My losing you is my nightmare. I can't lose you Buffy, I won't. We just have to figure out a way –"

"I already have. I quit, remember?" Buffy said. "Pay attention."

"Buffy, if the Master rises –" Giles tried to explain.

"I don't care!" Buffy said finally quieting down. "I don't care. I'm sixteen years old. And I don't want to die." She closed her hand around the cross Paige gave her. Yanked the chain off her neck and let it drop to the table. She then turned and walked out of the library.

"Buffy!" Paige shouted as she moved to follow Buffy. She felt Giles arm on hers and she glared at him till he removed it.

"Paige," Giles said, "as much as I want to go after her. She needs time. She loves you, and you her. She just needs to remember that."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

As Buffy walked outside lost in thought she heard on the periphery of her awareness someone yell, "Check it out! It's raining stones!"

Buffy sighed as she waited under an eave for the stones to stop coming down. "Figures," she said to herself.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Paige orbed into the manor holding the necklace she had given Buffy. "Phoebe!" she yelled.

Phoebe, Piper and Leo came down the stairs a few seconds later. "What?" Phoebe asked.

"I need you to get a premonition," Paige said.

"Premonition?" Piper said. "You know …"

"Actually, Piper," Phoebe said with a sigh. "I did get my premonition power back. I had wanted to make sure I didn't fall back on them like I was when the tribunal took them away."

"While you should have said something when you got them back," Piper said. "I can understand why you didn't."

"What am I trying to get a premonition of?" Phoebe asked.

"Remember I told you about Buffy and the Elders saying she was destined to die," Paige said as she held up the necklace. "I need you to try and get a premonition. I need to know."

Phoebe nodded as she took the necklace and let out a gasp as she received a premonition. In it she saw …

A small boy leading Buffy away from the High School.

"I see a small boy leading Buffy away from the high school," Phoebe said. "It's night. It wouldn't surprise me if the boy was a vampire."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

That evening after dinner Dawn walked into Buffy's bedroom and found her sister going through old pictures and letters. "Buffy?" she asked noticing the tears in her sister's eyes. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Buffy replied.

"Did Paige do something?"

Buffy laughed bitterly. "Oh she did something alright."

"What?" Dawn asked but got no reply. She turned and found Joyce standing in the doorway.

"Hey, honey. You all right?" Joyce asked.

"I guess," Buffy replied.

"You're probably just full from that bite of dinner you nearly had. Feel like telling me what's on your mind?"

Buffy contemplated telling Joyce and Dawn but then … "Mom, let's go away just the three of us."

"What?" Dawn and Joyce asked.

"Anywhere. Just for a while. A weekend."

"Honey ..." Joyce said.

Buffy rose off the bed. "It'll be great. Just the three of us. A mother/daughter thing. We'll talk about all that embarrassing stuff you like to bring up."

"You know the gallery's open on weekends," Joyce told her.

"Mom ... Dawn … please?" Buffy said.

"Isn't the prom tomorrow night? Or Spring Fling, or whatever they're calling it?" Joyce asked.

"It is," Dawn said.

"Is Paige taking you, Buffy?" Joyce wondered.

Buffy sighed and then shook her head.

"Well, I suppose then this isn't the best time for this, but ..." Joyce said as she moved to the closet and swung open the closet door. Hanging up inside is a genuinely stunning gown. Buffy stared at it. "I saw you eying it at the store. I figured ..."

Buff moved to the closet. "Mom, we can't afford this."

"The way you've been eating?" Joyce asked. "We can afford it. In fact we can afford two, there is one in your room also, Dawn."

"It's beautiful," Dawn and Buffy said.

"I think you should wear them," Joyce said. "To the dance."

"I can't go to the dance," Buffy said with a sigh.

"Says who? Is it written somewhere?" Joyce asked. "You should do what you want. Homecoming, my freshman year at college, I didn't have a date. So I got dressed up and I went anyway."

"Was it awful?" Dawn asked.

Joyce nodded. "It was awful. For about an hour."

"Then what happened?" Buffy wondered.

"I met your father, Dawn," Joyce said with a glance at her youngest.

"You can call him ours," Dawn said. "Buffy told him. He already knew. Seems Leo paid him a visit while Buffy was in the clinic. And he told Buffy he still considered her, his daughter."

"Oh," Joyce said with a smile.

"And dad didn't have a date either?" Buffy wondered.

"He did, and that's a much funnier story that you both will not get to hear. But it was a beautiful night."

Buffy turned back to the dress, running her hand along it. "You had your whole life ahead of you."

Joyce nodded as she remembered the night. "Yeah."

"That must be nice," Buffy said quietly.

The next day Dawn smiled as she and Buffy stood in front of the mirror, both of them wearing the gowns their mother had bought.

"Buffy! Dawn," Joyce called out as she entered Buffy's room. "There's something on the news. Willow."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Willow sat on her bed, her knees drawn up, freaked out about what happened. Buffy and Dawn didn't bother changing before rushing over, they just threw on a jacket over the gowns.

"I've seen so much, I thought I could take anything. But ... This was ... this was different, it ..." Willow said.

"It's okay ..." Buffy told her.

"I'm trying to think how to say it,' Willow said. "To explain it so you both understand."

"Willow, as long as you're okay –" Dawn said.

"I'm not okay. I can't imagine what it's like to be okay. I knew those guys. I go to that room every day. And when I walked in there, it was ... It wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun. What are we gonna do?"

"What we have to," Buffy said as she stood up, deciding what she had to do. "You'll stay in tonight, all right?"

Willow nodded. "I tried to reach Xander, but he's not picking up. I'll go by his house tomorrow. We'll get together and figure out what to do."

"Tomorrow," Buffy said as she and Dawn head for the door.

"Buffy … Dawn," Willow said as the sisters turned to look at her. "I like your dresses."

Buffy looked down at the dress then looked up at Willow. "Take care," she said as she and Dawn left the house. She looked to her sister. "I need you to do something for me. Pack, your stuff, pack mom's. Get out of town, whatever happens to me. I need you to do this. Bind your powers, stay out of this life. I don't want it to be the death of you to. Promise me."

Dawn looked at Buffy concerned. "I promise. But why …"

"Dawn, home!" Buffy said as she waved her hand and Dawn orbed out. And then she too orbed out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Giles had decided to explain everything to Joyce after she had called to tell him she was worried about Buffy.

"So this vampire, the master, tried to open the Hellmouth, and he got stuck in it," Joyce said. "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. No wonder Buffy wanted to get away for the weekend."

"Precisely," Giles said as loaded arrows into a crossbow. "Have you heard from Paige?"

"She called from San Francisco," Joyce said. "Said that she and her sisters were trying to find a way to save Buffy. Told me to tell you that Buffy is led from the school by a little boy."

Giles nodded. "Aurelius wrote of the Anointed one, the Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell. If the vampire Buffy killed was not in fact the Anointed, it may well be a child."

"Well then we should warn her," Joyce said.

"I don't plan to involve her at all," Giles said.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked a frown creasing her face.

"Buffy isn't going to face the Master," Giles said. "I am."

"No you're not," came Buffy's voice from the door

Joyce and Giles turned and looked at her as she walked toward them a newfound determination in her face.

"So I'm looking for a kid, huh?" Buffy asked. "He'll take me to the Master."

"Buffy, I'm not sending you out there to die. You were right," Giles said. "I've waded about in these old books for so long I've forgotten what the real world is like. It's time I found out."

"You're still not going up against the Master," Buffy sad.

"I've made up my mind."

"So have I."

"Well, I made up mine first," Giles told her. "And I'm older and wiser and just do as I say for once. All right?"

"It's not how it goes. I'm the Slayer," Buffy said.

"I don't care what the books or the Elders say," Giles said. "I defy prophecy. I'm going. Nothing you can say will change my mind."

"I know,' Buffy said as she hit Giles knocking him out.

"Buffy!" Joyce said shocked.

Buffy moved to her mother and hugged her before stepping away. "Now you know. Mom, please promise me. You will take Dawn and leave, bind yours and her powers again. You already lost your friend to that demon, and now you are losing me to a vampire. I don't want you to lose anyone else. Please, promise me."

"I … I promise," Joyce said hesitantly.

"When he wakes up, tell him ... I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it," Buffy said as picked up the crossbow and left.

As Buffy exited the school she found a kid standing waiting for her.

"Help me ..." he said.

"It's all right. I know who you are," Buffy said as she walked over to him. "Let's go." He reaches up and took her hand before leading her away from the school.

Author's Note: I had originally intended for Prophecy Girl to follow the final two episode of Charmed season 7. As I looked at it, I found it wouldn't really work that way. Mainly cause of Paige, Piper and Phoebe faking their own deaths. So the last two episode of Charmed season 7, and the first few episodes of Charmed season 8 will take place after "When She was Bad" the BTVS season 2 premiere. And instead of Buffy being with Hank for the entire summer. I will have her only with him for a month. Then the last episodes of Charmed season 7 and the Season 8 episodes 1,2 ,3 and 5 before returning to BTVS.

Also you all will notice (especially in part two) that not everyone gets a whole lot of screen time. It was unavoidable, to tell the truth I am not too happy with the way Prophecy Girl turned out, though it did end as I wanted. In Canon charmed Paige got her healing power when she healed Henry. I wanted that to happen here. What I don't really like is the pacing.