The Mysidian Legend: Part One
by Winter
All Buffy related things are owned by Joss Whedon, etc, etc. All things related to Final Fantasy are owned by SquareSoft, etc, etc. In short, I own nothing except the idea for this story.



***

One to be born
From a Dragon
Hoisting the Light
And the Dark
Arises high up
In the sky
To the still land
Veiling the Moon
With the Light of Eternity
It brings
Another promise
To Mother Earth
With a Bounty
And Mercy.

Willow looked on as Buffy did a spinning back kick that landed solidly across the vampire's head and sent him crashing to the ground. Within seconds, the Slayer was on top of the vampire, plunging a stake into his heart.

Buffy sighed and stood up, brushing the dust from her clothes. She turned to her best friend and, noticing her standing there casually, remarked, "What, you're finished with your vamps already?"

"Yep," Willow grinned at the Slayer, "you'd be surprised how much faster you can dust a vamp when you can shoot a beam of light at 'em and have 'em just disintegrate."

"Lucky," Buffy quipped, "If I could do that, my job would be *so* much easier."

Willow laughed at the mock envy in her friend's voice and said, "C'mon, we'd better get back to the library."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, gazing with pride at her best friend. It was hard to believe that it had been three years since she and her mom had moved to Sunnydale. And in that time, Buffy had made only a few friends, but they were of the truest kind, especially Willow.

Buffy marveled at how much Willow had changed, and how strong she had become. When she first moved here, Willow was a shy, quiet, girl that people hardly noticed, unless, of course, they needed tutoring. But now she was more confident.

Of course, the students at school never really noticed the changes. They were more subtle changes. She began walking with more confidence, wasn't afraid to speak out, and even began standing up to all the people who tried to insult her.

But these things weren't new. Buffy had seen them lying inside Willow for a long time; they just had to come to the surface. It was probably all of the evil the Scooby gang had to face every night that instigated the changes. That and the different Magicks Willow had been delving into. God knows they had saved her life about a million and one times.

But in spite of all the evil the gang'd had to face, Willow always retained an aura of innocence around her. It was that innocence that kept the gang alive, and that innocence that reminded Buffy of exactly what she was fighting for.

As the girls entered the library, they found Giles, Ms. Calendar, Xander, and Angel already waiting. "Hey guys," Buffy said, as they walked into the library, "what's everyone up to?"

"Giles says that some new evil is supposed to arise soon," Xander began, "so, of course, we all went into research mode. I did try to go out on a donut run instead, but unfortunately for me, all the shops are closed."

"Gee, Xander, you mean you actually had to skim a whole book?" Willow joked.

"Can you believe it? What is this world coming to?" Xander retorted.

Willow smiled to herself as she thought about everything she and her childhood friend had been through the past three years. And through it all, they had still remained very close. In fact, she had come to love everyone in the gang, each in a different way.

She loved Giles and Ms. Calendar like parents. Her own parents loved her, she knew that, but they were always away on trips, tours, conferences, meetings, and the like. It was Giles and Ms. Calendar that had watched her grow these past three years, encouraged her, advised her, and saved her. Her parents hadn't even noticed when she cut her hair.

Then there were Buffy and Xander. Her two best friends. They were like the brother and sister she never had. She and Xander would always hurl comments back and forth, but it was always playful. And she could confide to Buffy anything and everything that she was feeling and thinking.

And last but not least, Angel. The vampire with a soul. It was sort of ironic. When he first showed up in town, everyone took an immediate liking to him. Then they found out he was a vampire, with a soul, no less. It was hard for them to trust him completely in the beginning, but time and again he proved just how much he was needed.

Slowly, he began becoming more and more involved in everyone's life. At first, he just sort of showed up whenever something big was gonna happen, then he'd leave. But then he started to stick around, ask questions about how everyone was doing, even make a joke every now and then. As the months turned to years, he became an integral part of the group, finally free of the guilt that had plagued him for over 80 years.

That was party due to a modification in the curse that was placed on him. Ms. Calendar could see how much he was suffering, and how good he had become, so she called upon her tribe family to bind the soul permanently. They weren't too happy about it at first, but they came around. The permanent soul freed him of some of the guilt, but he still remained an immortal vampire.

Willow and Angel had started out being friends. She was one of the first ones to give him a chance, trust him. As she gazed at him, she realized once again just how strong her feelings were. They went beyond the strong friendship they had formed over the years. Willow tried to deny it in the beginning, saying that she felt nothing more than friendship, but after a while, she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She was falling in love with him. Problem was, she couldn't tell if Angel felt the same way. And she was too scared to tell him.

For all the confidence she had gained the past three years, part of her was still fragile, afraid of rejection, especially from the first man she had ever loved. And so she resigned herself to the acceptable, if not satisfying, bonds of friendship.

"I've found something," Angel said, looking up from the book he had been reading, "it's about a prophecy that's supposed to take place about 1500 years after the death of the Immortal King."

"Who's the Immortal King?" Xander asked.

"Arthur," Giles supplied.

"You mean King Arthur?" Buffy asked in very much the same tone as Xander had just moments before.

"Yes," Giles said, "what else does it say?" Giles asked.

"Well," Angel began, "it's a prediction by Merlin. It says that approximately 1500 years after the death of the Immortal King, an ancient evil, one that had been sealed previously, and once again by the King, will arise a third and final time."

"Man, this guy sure doesn't know when to quit, does he?" Xander joked.

"It goes on to say," Angel continued, "that at that time, a powerful Slayer, with an army of her own, will battle atop the Hellmouth, and to them, the ancient legend of Mysidia will apply. It ends there, and it's obviously about us."

"What's Mysidia?" Willow asked, curiously.

"An ancient city of mystics and wizards," Jenny replied, "my parents would tell me stories about it sometimes. It was supposed to have existed over 2500 years ago, in a land when Magick was nearly extinct."

"Did they tell you anything else?" Giles asked while frantically searching for a particular book.

"They used to tell me this poem of sorts, probably the legend, but I can't remember all the words."

"Please try," Giles said, pulling out a book and flipping through the pages.

"It was something like…'One to be born, from a Dragon, hoisting the Light--'"

"--And the Dark," Giles interrupted, reading from the book, "arises high up in the sky, to the still land, veiling the moon with the light of Eternity. It brings another promise to Mother Earth, with a Bounty and Mercy."

"Wait a minute," Xander said, "if this is in our time, and concerning us, there's only one person here that 'hoists the Light and the Dark'…"

He didn't have to finish the rest, because everyone knew exactly what he was going to say. At that moment, all eyes flew to Angel.


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