The Prophecy (1)

Quietly sitting at the research table next to Willow, Tara was letting her eyes drift over the improbable collection of people that were assembled in the Magic Box. Her family. Here in this strange little shop, she had learned that she wasn’t a demon as she had believed, she had severed all links with her blood kin, and she had found a new family. It consisted of a Witch, a girl made of mystic energy, a former vengeance demon, a Watcher, two vampires, including one who was also a vampire Slayer, and…well, Xander. Not your typical American family, but she wouldn’t have wanted another one for anything.

For a little while, her gaze rested on the two new women who were leaning against the shelves and talking quietly in French. They weren’t Scoobies. Not yet. But if they stayed in Sunnydale, they would be, sooner or later. It was impossible not to become part of the group when you faced death, demons and all sorts of supernatural things on a regular basis.

Next to her, Willow yawned. Tara couldn’t help yawning too, and they shared an amused glance and a quiet chuckle. They were both still on Greenwich time and badly jet-lagged, and could have used some sleep. Tara couldn’t wait for the meeting to start. Though she wasn’t really in a hurry to hear about what they would be fighting this time and how. She knew, in her heart and soul, that whatever it was, they could take it. They always could. That was what they did. The Scoobies saved people, without anyone ever hearing about it. It didn’t matter. They knew, and it was enough.

“What are we waiting for?” she asked Willow, sotto voce, as she squeezed her hand a little.

“For Angel to arrive,” Willow replied quietly.

The vampire had always had a sense for drama, but right now Willow thought it was pretty annoying. It was almost a struggle for her to remain awake, and the later the meeting started, the longer it would take for her to get to her bed. Jet lag was only part of the problem. Ever since their stay with a coven a couple of weeks before and their meeting with a seer, Willow had found new powers within herself. She had had flashes, and also dreams, that she believed showed the future. That was why she and Tara had come home early. Even before she heard it from Giles, she had known something nasty was brewing on the Hellmouth.

Big surprise, that. Why couldn’t all the bad stuff happen somewhere else? It wasn’t like Sunnydale had anything really interesting to offer to the armies of hell…

Willow tried to stifle another yawn, unsuccessfully, and giggled as Tara imitated her again. She leaned against her girlfriend’s shoulder, not daring to close her eyes for fear of falling asleep. Buffy, across the table, didn’t have the same scruples, and had seemingly dozed off. Her head was tucked under Spike’s chin as he straddled the bench, one arm curled almost protectively around her. At seeing them so comfortable with each other, Spike’s thumb drawing small circles where his hand rested on Buffy’s waist, Willow couldn’t believe she had ever doubted they were genuinely in love. Well, she had doubted Buffy’s feelings, but never Spike’s, not since she had seen him weeping over the dead Slayer at the base of Glory’s tower, right after their last averted apocalypse. Hopefully, this time, no tears would need to be shed, except maybe ones of relief.

Anya was annoyed. Very, very annoyed. Almost enough to cry from frustration. They had made her close the shop early, and now they weren’t even starting the damn meeting. Of course, since Giles wasn’t the co-owner of the shop anymore, he didn’t care about missed sales. But she cared. Cared enough to be frustrated to the point of tears. Which was weird, really. Being that upset about missing sales? She hadn’t been in years. She just felt all funny. Funny in a non-funny way. She had even cried over burnt pancakes this morning. Maybe this apocalypse stuff was finally getting to her. But then, why would it? She had seen some pretty nasty things in her millennium as a demon, why should the prospect of a new fight bother her so? She had grown soft, that was the only reason she could think of. The demon shell was completely broken now, and all that was left was a human Anya, who was afraid about this new prophecy, who didn’t want her husband or any of her friends to be hurt, who quite honestly just didn’t want to die.

Having finished tallying the day’s sales, she closed the cash register irritably, letting out a small sigh. That caught the attention of Xander, who was looking at construction blueprints a little farther down the counter.

“Something wrong, sweetie?” he asked.

She shook her head. Nothing was wrong. But everything was. She didn’t know how to explain what she didn’t even understand.

“Getting impatient, that’s all,” she grumbled.

“Yeah, me too,” Xander replied with a smile.

The thought was quite disturbing, but he couldn’t wait for Broodboy to get to the shop. Him. Waiting expectantly for Angel. Of course, that wasn’t any worse than being friends with the evil undead. The one that didn’t have a soul. But who soon would.

Xander was happy about Buffy becoming human again, very happy. Angel getting a pulse was OK too, it would just be the final proof that Angelus wouldn’t show up in Sunnydale, ever again. But Spike…the bleached blonde, un-chipped, not so evil anymore, utterly in love vampire he had learned to see as a friend, turning into a regular guy? That was weird. That was more than weird. That was plain scary. Not that Xander minded him losing his fangs, really, he still had no particular affection for anything fangy. But what made Spike Spike was that he was a vamp. A very uncommon one, true, but a vamp just the same. It would be majorly weird to see him in the sun. Probably just as much as it had been to see a vampire Buffy.

The doorbell chimed, and Xander glanced up, muttering “Finally” under his breath. He folded away his work plans and followed Anya to the research table, the central point of Scoobie Central, sitting between her and Willow.

“Sorry for being late,” Angel mumbled to no one in particular.

The brunette vampire eyed the table and the three couples around it before settling by the counter, leaning back against it. Xander, like everybody else, looked at Giles, who cleared his throat as he glanced at the other Watcher.

“Well, since everybody’s finally here, let’s start,” Giles said calmly, trying very hard not to glare at the tardy vampire.

Andrea nodded at him, inviting him to go on. Since he was familiar with the Scoobies, she had agreed that it was best for him to do the talking, but he fully expected her to be prompt at correcting him or giving summaries, if needed. Not that he planned to leave anything for her to correct.

He cleared his throat again, and looked at the fighters gathered in front of him. Xander and Anya, both showing a mix of expectation and wariness. Willow, Tara and Buffy all looked tired, and from the Slayer that was surprising. But they were all watching him, waiting. So were Dawn and Steven, from their perch on the edge of the mezzanine. The boy had an excited gleam in his eyes, while Dawn seemed more cautious. Angel and Spike, for once, shared the same blank expression, totally devoid of emotions, and Giles wondered for an instant what they were thinking. Andrea knew all about the prophecy, and she just seemed impatient to see the meeting on its way. The youngest member of the group was returning his gaze as he looked at her, and she gave him an encouraging smile. In many ways, Manon reminded him of Buffy, and yet she was so different. One common thing between them at least was that they knew they had great responsibilities, and did not run from them.

“In eleven days, the Hellmouth will open,” he started. “But this time, we will be confronted not only by our usual hellish demons, but also by some from another dimension. I believe its name is Quortoth.”

Giles eyes settled on Steven as he said the name, and the teen shivered unconsciously. It had to be a mistake. He couldn’t mean… Steven glanced at his father, who had the same puzzled look on his face that Steven was sure he had on his. Before he could voice his questions though, Buffy was talking.

“When we came back from LA, you said we had a good five weeks in front of us. Why the change of timeline?”

Giles threw a quick glance toward the woman Watcher, and replied, a bit flustered:

“Well, it appears I had wrongly translated a word, and Miss Travers was kind enough to point out my mistake to me.”

From the smug smile on the woman’s lips, it looked like it had been more than one word.

“Quortoth?” Angel said quietly, the question clear in his voice.

“Yes, there is no possible mistake on that.”

Giles took off his glasses, rubbing them clean as he continued.

“That’s why I questioned you about this portal you opened to get Steven back. It appears that it was never sealed completely. The entry point was only partly closed, and it has been opening randomly for short periods of time for the last three years.”

“The portal was in the middle of my lobby,” Angel objected. “I would have noticed…”

“It travels,” Giles interrupted him. “The portal has been moving around, letting out a few creatures that mostly ended up being drawn to Sunnydale, to the Hellmouth, where Buffy and Spike have been taking care of them.”

So… That explained why, a few times, as he patrolled with the two vampires, Steven had thought he recognized the demons they slaughtered. He had never mentioned it, thinking they were just coincidences, but now it made sense. He had thought he was free of Quortoth, but Quortoth had found him again. Slowly, a twisted grin came to his lips. He still had a few scores to settle with some demons of the hell dimension, and soon he would have his chance.

“The next time the portal opens, it will be right over the Hellmouth,” Giles said grimly. “Not only will it open a door to another dimension, but it will also open the Hellmouth itself. And both doors will be permanent. Unless we manage to close them within twelve hours.”

Dawn’s blood was chilling in her veins as she listened to Giles. She didn’t like at all that smile creeping up on Steven’s face. She liked even less this talk of portals and doors to other dimensions. Not one bit. Bad memories. Instinctively, she placed a hand over her stomach. The scar there was very faint, almost nonexistent. But it was the testimony of another portal opening. Or more precisely, of her blood having opened another portal.

“The prophecy tells us how to close both doors,” Giles carried on, then hesitated.

Dawn had started chanting in her head, repeating over and over again “Not me please, not me please”. The Watcher’s eyes rose to the mezzanine again, not on Steven this time, but on her.

“Oh crap!”

Her exclamation brought everybody’s attention to Dawn, and she could see that they all had the same thought as her.

“I’m afraid you guessed at least partly right, Dawn,” Giles said gently. “Yes, we will need you to close these portals. But this time your blood didn’t open them, so it won’t be your blood we will use to close them.”

Dawn let out a deep sigh, then frowned and asked: “What then?”

“Your energy. You were made out of energy, we will use it to close the portals.”

That didn’t sound too dire, Dawn mused. But still she wasn’t too happy that again she was nothing but a key. Steven’s hand sneaked onto her lap, grabbing her fingers and bringing them to his mouth for a kiss. She leaned against him, seeking the comfort of his warmth.

“Who is ‘we’?” Buffy asked suddenly. “And what exactly do you plan to do to my sister? Because I’m not sure I like the sound of it.”

As she said so, she glanced up at Dawn and gave her an affectionate smile. Instantly, Dawn was reassured, knowing that Buffy wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

“When I say ‘we’, I mean Willow, Tara and myself,” Giles said as he looked at the Witches then back to Buffy. “We will use magic to reach through Dawn’s energy and patch up the holes between dimensions. A bit tricky, but harmless to Dawn.”

“I will be part of that circle too,” Andrea added firmly.

“We talked about that,” Giles replied with a sigh. “You have no magic training and…”

“I will learn,” the woman insisted. “I can learn. There is enough time…”

“You Watchers can argue about that all you want later,” Spike interrupted suddenly. “The portal and the bloody Hellmouth open, the Witches close it with Nibblet’s help, then why in hell do we have to become humans?”

“Well, if I wasn’t interrupted every two words, maybe I could get to that part,” Giles replied, annoyed.