Sealed With a Kiss: Part 5
by Anya
The catacombs beneath the city of Sunnydale predated the access tunnels the city council had implemented in the 1940's. Roughly hewn, natural structures, they bore the markings of the neolithic cultures that had dwelled in the region so long ago. Formerly surface caves, the walls were rich in paintings, carvings and natural minerals. Carefully carved arches linked the series of caves forming tunnels, and the tunnels led down into the earth, straight to the mouth of hell.

Angel had descended into the surface tunnel as morning had first approached. Advising Giles that he would meet them at the entrance to the catacombs, the vampire scouted ahead for hidden traps. Now, leaning casually against a wall, Angel smiled to see the Slayer and her friends approaching.

"You made good time!" He greeted them.

Buffy restrained the urge to throw herself at him for a hug. No matter how much she wanted it, it was wrong. He was a vampire, she was the Slayer. A match truly made in Hell. "You left a good trail!" she forced herself to say cheerfully.

Xander rolled his eyes melodramatically. Shaking his head dismally, he wandered over to study one of the wall frescoes. Depicting a blue pillar, with a group of people forming a circle around it, monsters seemed to be climb out of the thick blue line.

Hearing a soft shuffle beside him, he tilted his head to the side and saw Willow. Flashing him a quick smile, she too looked at the wall paintings. Her entire outlook and health seemed to have been restored with two good nights of sleep. The puffiness beneath her eyes was gone, and she seemed to be back to the quiet, but alert girl he'd always known.

Xander wasn't ashamed of how relieved he felt. At the height of her apathy, Xander's worst imaginings seemed to be coming true. Losing Willow's friendship would have destroyed him. Sure, he loved Buffy, but Willow truly was his best friend. There wasn't anything he couldn't tell her.

"These are kinda creepy," she murmured looking around the wall more.

Xander followed her gaze. Monsters and demons everywhere eating people were the images surrounding the central images of the pillar. "What do think this is? A message or just really bad impressionist art work?"

Willow reached up with a slender finger to stroke the blue line. "I think this is supposed to represent the Seal. And those," She made a sweeping gesture to the monsters and like, "Are the creatures of the Hellmouth."

Xander was silent for a moment, studying the pictures again. "I hope the Hellmouth never has the chance to open, then." He said finally, his eyes resting on a particularly gruesome monster.

"Amen, to that." Willow whispered softly, again, her eyes drawn to the blue pillar. Moving a step closer, she peered at it as if a clue would jump out at her. Xander stood behind her, still shining the flashlight on the wall with one hand. The other hand came up to rest on her shoulder.

"We should get going." He gave her shoulder a light shake, jarring her from her fascination. She nodded, turning to rejoin the others, but Xander stopped her. "I...Willow....the next time you're having problems, I don't care if it's a hangnail, please don't hide it? You scared me so much, and..." He paused, searching for whatever he wanted to say. Meeting her eyes again, he smile wryly, "Hell, just don't leave me? Okay? Your friendship is the most important thing in my life. I mean that."

Willow smiled, unaccountably feeling tears in her eyes. It wasn't a declaration of love, but it was a display of affection. Reaching up she gave him a quick hug. "I won't leave. And your friendship is special to me too."

Xander suddenly smiled his normal bright carefree grin. "Good. Now forget all that sentimental stuff. I'd hate to have my reputation ruined."

Willow laughed, punching him lightly in the stomach. "What reputation? The one you WISHED you had?"

"Hey! I have a cool reputation!" Xander protested, leading her away from the wall, and back to where the others were clustered.

Willow shook her head sadly, "Cool? Xander, be serious. Since when was being classified as a 'looser' cool? --Cordelia's words, not mine, you understand."

Xander lips curved into a evil little grin, "Look who's talking, Science nerd."

"Yeah. So. Your point?" Willow sniffed. Buffy stared at them like they had just snapped, so Willow winked at her. The Slayer relaxed visibly.

Giles loudly cleared his throat. "If you two are finished playing?" The Watcher cast a "Why me" upwards, before tossing Buffy an irritated look. It was her fault he was here. What need would the Slayer have for her Watcher right now? Instant research? Repressing the urge to sigh, he gave Angle the nod to go ahead.

The vampire straightened. "Earlier today I discovered a direct route to the Seal. I originally thought it was on the same level as the Master's prison, but apparently not. It's below that. The passageway to the Seal is guarded with traps..so, it'll be dangerous."

Ms. Calendar frowned, "What kind of traps? And how do you know there ARE traps?" She tossed Giles a concerned look. They were the only two adults present, excluding Angel. The teenagers safety was ultimately their responsibility, and Samantha Calendar didn't like the thought that they were blatantly marching into a dangerous situation.

Angel shrugged, and swept his arm back, indicating the walls around them. "Someone wrote on these walls, in Gaelic, Latin, and a few languages that remind me of Linear A. They're warnings for the average traveler." Walking towards one ornate archway, he let his hand sweep down a carved column. "These structures were once very accessible, and the Guardian who protected the Seal didn't want to endanger the average individual. I think he or she instituted protections and traps to keep people away from the Seal."

Buffy walked in a slow small circle, studying the walls around her. "Can you identify the traps before we hit them?"

Angel nodded once, curtly. Buffy stared at him unblinkingly for a long moment before she nodded slowly. "Alright. Let's do this."

One by one, they entered the passageway leading into the oldest parts of the Catacombs. The width of the tunnels was meant for only a single individual. Xander went behind Willow, not for any reasons of cowardice or reluctance, but to provide his friend with reassurance, should she need it.

As Giles disappeared into the tunnel, Willow inhaled deeply, and took that final step. The darkness broken only by random flashes of light, threatened self composure. Feeling her calm dissipating, Willow threw her thoughts back to the library, and Giles' nearly comedic rush to get out of there.

Originally, they were first going home, having dinner, and then going out to save the world. And as Willow had walked into the library after classes finished for the day, that plan had still stood.

The doors to the library were slightly ajar when she wandered in. Much to her bemusement, Giles was practically racing through the library, gathering up as many books as he could, and stashing them in various hiding spots. It took him quite a few minutes to even see Willow there.

"Willow!" The Watcher stopped for a fraction of a moment. "Good! Help me hide anything the superintendent might find..." He floundered for a word.

"Suspicious?" Willow offered with a wide-eyed innocent smile.

Giles grimaced. "Yes."

"Why is the superintendent going to find anything suspicious?" Willow asked as she wheeled the book-truck to the central table. Methodically picking up the books not normally on every highschool bookshelves, she neatly stacked them onto the cart.

The librarian shoved a memo onto the table, a sign of his aggravation that he would show a student such a document. Reading it, she barely managed to prevent a gasp, but still unwittingly murmured "Oh, my..."

"Quite." Giles said tersely. He grabbed the book-truck, preparing to wheel it into his office.

Willow bit her lower lip, "Uh. Mr. Giles? Won't they be going into the office? For the paperwork on your orders, and stuff?"

Giles froze. He had cases, upon cases of books that the Superintendent would frown upon. And it wasn't like he could relocate them all within the next forty-five minutes.

Buffy, of course, bounced into the library, Xander following like a faithful puppy. Sliding up beside the diminutive hacker, Buffy looked around enquiringly before turning to Willow, an elegant eyebrow raised. Willow slid the memo along the table to her.

"Oh, my.." Buffy gasped. She passed the same letter to Xander.

"Oh boy!"

"Umm. Giles? How many, uh..special edition volumes do you own?" Willow asked, her mind working as fast as was reasonably possible.

The librarian reappeared from the recesses of his office. "I really have no idea, perhaps four hundred or so.." He disappeared again, another bundle of books in his arms.

"Ooookay. So, isn't it conceivable that those are books from your own private collection?" Willow nearly shouted.

Buffy looked at her, a small smile on her face. "You've got an idea!"

Willow smiled widely for a flash of a moment, removing the smile as soon as Giles returned.

"Conceivable, yes..but there's a lot of single-edition books in that collection, I don't see.."

Willow walked right up to the librarian, "No, no. Think about it from the American perspective. You're British. You've got some strange different ways, you used to be assistant Curator at a very prestigious museum...of course you'd have some weird things!"

Giles favoured her with a dry, "Thank you."

"No problem." Willow said eagerly, "So, if we tuck all the incriminating books into those nice lockable bookcases in your office, and leave a note on each case with something like...'don't touch, private property of Mr. R. Giles, Assisstant Curator, British Museum'..wouldn't that lead the superintendant to believe that they're all yours..privately?"

Giles blinked twice. "That... I...." He floundered for a moment, blinking owlishly again.

"What he means to say, Willow, is that is the most simplistically devious idea he's heard all day!" Buffy filled in for him.

Xander tossed his bag onto the table "But Giles is still stuck here for the meeting tonight." Lazily Xander hooked a chair with an ankle, swinging it around so that he could straddle it. His chin rested on the high chair back.

Buffy frowned at Xander, and then Giles. "He's right. How are we going to get you out of that?" Buffy paced back and forward, Xander's head bobbing as he followed her movements.

"How about a doctor's certificate?" Willow offered helpfully.

"That would have worked, yes.." Buffy mused, "But we don't have time to get one. Besides, what reason would Giles give for needing one?"

Willow coughed discretely, "I didn't mean a 'real' one."

Giles looked at the Slayer, and then at Willow. "I'm going to go shelve those books, lock those cabinets, and put up some notes. If a doctor's certificate appears before I get back, I do NOT want to know how it got there."

The two girls smiled sweetly.

Twenty minutes later, they were out of the school. Ms. Calendar almost had whiplash they swept her up so fast. The girls had gone with Ms. Calendar, making pit-stops at their homes for changes of clothes, and to dole out excuses to parents. The two men did whatever men do before saving the world.

"At least they remembered to get flashlights, " Willow mused, as the beam from Xander's flashlight hit the wall ahead of them.

"I'm out!" Buffy's shout drifted back. The relief was indescrible. Willow had never thought she was claustraphobic, but after a walk in that tunnel...she could understand how people could become so paralyzed by confined spaces.

Walking into a wider, but equally dark antichamber, Willow studied the walls revealled by the flashlights. The carvings were so complex, and detailed. It was amazing.

A massive archway lined the southern exposed wall. A huge sweeping cornice moulding at the top, flowing down with detailed lintels. Wandering over to it, Willow slid a hand along the side grooves, marvelling at the handiwork.

Unlike the previous room they had been in, these walls were not painted with scenes of horror. Rather, they reminded Willow of the reconstructed images of Grecian temples.

Around her, the other's spread out to walk the room in a circuit, admiring the grace and splendor of such intricate work. "Astonishing," Giles murmured. Ms. Calendar made a small soft sound of agreement.

Willow smiled, catching the wonder on all their faces. Turning around her eyes were caught by a small alter worked into a wall. It reminded her of the niche in a church, where an imaged of the Madonna would reside, a small bench beneath for petitioners to pray at.

Walking slowly over to it, she studied the empty space above the alter. Her hands lightly touched the altar, instinctively running along the edges of the stone structure. Slipping her index finger along the underside, she felt the hidden button and froze. Memory flashed, and she knew instinctively that by triggering that button, a panel would open behind the empty niche.

Backing away, she bumped into Xander. "What'ya find?" He asked, boldy stepping up to the altar. He imitated Willow's actions and quickly found the button.

"Xander...don't!" Willow hissed, mind full of Angel's dire warnings of traps. But Xander tripped the switch anyway.

They both jumped back, Xander instinctively hiding behind Willow, cringing as the panel slid open with a grating sound of ancient mechanisms turning. He peaked over her shoulder.

"You do realize, that you're hiding behind a little teeny girl, don't you?" Willow asked acerbically, annoyed that Xander would be so uncautious.

"I'm not hiding!" Xander argued.

"Oh, forgive me...you're protecting me from behind."

Willow stepped back up to the altar to peer inside. A little pedestal base lay inside the niche, and on it two things, a scroll, and a clear crystal. Frowning, she reached her hand in, but memory again struck.

*Xander's eyes, the warm brown overlayed by a blind white. Herself, holding the crystal high. A flash of lightening...*

Her hand jerked back, instead she turned, elbowing Xander away, and called for Giles.

The Watcher hurried over, Buffy, Angel and Ms. Calendar in tow. Reaching into the niche, he gently pulled out the scroll, unrolling it with the most care, all the while muttering.

Buffy scooped the stone out of the crevice, eyeing it for a moment before giving it to Xander. "See, Xander..you've found a pretty rock."

"I don't want it. 'Sides, Willow's really the one who found it."

"I didn't open that panel..you did." Willow protested, more interested in what Giles was finding. The Watcher had given Ms. Calendar his flashlight, and she was shining it down onto the document.

"Iloeur y'ieuaric...." He muttered, frowning deeply, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Young moon." Angel offered helpfully.

Giles shot him a blank look. "You know gaelic?"

Angel shrugged, "Actually, I think that was Welsh." He walked behind Giles, peering down at the document in the Watcher's hands. "That's a prophecy!"

"Yes. But, I'm not sure if I'm translating it right." Giles grumbled.

"Try, Giles. Just try." Buffy suggested. The others all nodded their agreement. "Even if you get a wrong word or two, the gist of the idea wills till be there!"

Giles didn't look pleased, but read slowly aloud,


"Lo and Behold, the Seal shall Shudder and Power Leaks,
A dark One Rises whilst the Guardian doth sleep,
The Mare wakes the young Moon's strength
Two to right all that lies wrong at any length
Guardian Sun does the Moon soon replace
The blue stone guards, the Tri make haste
Demon assassin, the blinding light,
Be the Maiden devoured, lost is the fight

The Crone shall pass her burden to the Maiden,
A Power once claimed, a World not forsaken.
Amulet imprisons, the Power will heal
Let not the Guardian forget Her Seal

Fair ones awaken, a revenent revives
The young one is taken, to test Her ire
A Soul-taker destroyed, the sight is empowered
Now three in strength, nigh comes true Power"

Giles finished, and the room remained quiet for a moment. Buffy sighed heartily, "Well, that was delightfully cryptic. How come it rhymes in English if it's written in another language?"

Giles frowned again at the document, "I really don't know. I also don't know how such a document could survive so long down here. It should have crumbled into dust centuries ago."

Angel grunted. "Unless it was specifically created for us to find. They would have chosen words for us." He stalked back to the niche, examining it closely.

Buffy watched him quietly, before turning to Giles. "So, any ideas on what it means?"

Giles frowned, "Not at this point. I can make some guesses, but..." He looked at the paper again, "The Guardian's are changing, and the Seal is in danger, that's clear. I can even speculate that the young Moon means a female guardian, and the Sun a male."

Willow seemed agitated again, "But what about the Tri, and the Demon Assassin...why would a prophecy been left for us to find if it didn't apply to us?"

Giles seemed so weary, "I truly do not know, Willow. It pains me to admit that, but I don't."

Buffy gave him a reassuring smile, "We'll just take this a step at a time." She pulled herself together, and moved off to the southern archway. "I suggest we get moving, the day isn't getting any younger."

Xander dropped the stone into Willow's pocket, despite her protest, and moved up to join Buffy. Rolling her shoulders to dispel the tension, Willow jogged across the room to join her friends. "After you, Buffy." Willow smiled.

"Gee, thanks..throw me to the wolves..and you, my best friend!" Buffy sniffed melodramatically. She grinned tightly, before turning and walking through. "What's the worst that could happen, after all?" Her voice echoed back at them.

Xander looked at Willow with a "she had to ask that?" expression, before they walked after Buffy. Behind them were Ms. Calendar and Giles, and Angel brought up the rear.

This passageway was considerably wider. Easily the distance of a residental street, the walls were bare, water trickling down on some surfaces, other's just dry stone. There was a natural fluroescent light source from some of the lichen and stones, making their visibility easier. Looking up, Willow could see stalactite's hanging down, the long elegant crystals of calcite reflecting the luminescent lite of the growths below. All in all, it was quite beautiful. *Be nice for a romantic walk* Willow thought irrationally, *If I had someone to go for a romantic walk with, that is.*

Smiling softly, Willow found herself relaxing. She eyed Xander out of the corner of her eye, taking pleasure in the small smile of delight on his face.

Behind them, Willow could hear the soft murmers of Ms. Calander and Giles, discussing the Seal, and Ms. Calander's role in it. "....willpower,"Ms. Calendar was saying quietly, "A concentration of the fields and energies around, and the willpower to just maintain it, absorb any attacks or inconsistencies..."

"Willpower, " Willow thought quietly, feeling better to know something so simple could be so fundamental. Letting her mind debate the subject Willow's mind drifted out of conscious awareness.

A sudden screeching roar brought her back sharply, as did Buffy's suddenly shouted, "Holy SHIT!"

Angel pushed through them to Buffy, moving as fast as his vampiric speed would let him, openly vamped out. Xander grabbed Willow's arm, pushing her behind him, to Giles. In turn, Giles pulled Willow behind him, despite her struggles to the contrary.

And suddenly, she stopped struggling as they saw what Buffy was fighting with all the strength the Slayer possessed. It was huge, perhaps forty feet in length, and so ugly....it was also straight out of Willow's nightmares.

A snake-like reptile, it had dozens of legs allowing it move with incredible speed and grace. Fluidly dodging Buffy's strikes, it attempted it's own, it's head easily the size of two full grown human males, and closely resembling a crocodile. It snapped it's head down, jaws fully extended, trying to devour Buffy or Angel whole.

"Buffy!" Giles shouted, "That is a Beithir, a demon snake! It might be able to discharge lightening bolts!"

The ozone smell hadn't fully disappaited as Giles finished speaking. "No, I was wrong, it CAN discharge lightening bolts." Giles muttered, as he pulled the two remaining teenagers out of the way.

Willow just stared in horror. This was a nightmare coming to pass. Buffy dodged aside a ferocious attack, spinning round with a round- house kick into the side of it's head. A flick of her wrist dropped a stake from the sleeve of her jacket into the confident grip of her hand. A quick feint under, and a quicker signal to Angel, and Buffy rammed the stake into where she instinctively knew it's heart would be.

The stake snapped like a twig against the glistening scales on the monster's belly, and the rippling undulation it made as Buffy struck tossed Buffy into a wall. Sliding down, the Slayer remained motionless for a moment, and yet the serpent never went after her. Instead it scanned the others in the far corner and began to move towards them, ignoring Angel's assault.

Shakily, Buffy stood up. Nursing her arm, and feeling the sticky sensation of blood, she rolled her head, feeling the *click-snap* of her joints getting realigned properly. She frowned at the creature, pulling out another stake. "I should have brought a spear, or the crossbow."

Seeing the Beithir launch itself at the others, Buffy levelled the stake like a javelin, throwing it with all her might. It hit the creatures head and eye. It roared back, bellowing an enraged screech, and discharged a flash of lightening, right at Giles, and the others.

Xander had been facing the creature at the time, and saw the initial discharge, grabbing Willow, he practically threw her across the floor, before running after her. But the flash of lightening blinded him..and instead he stood lost, unseeing and helpless for a disorienting moment.

Willow screamed, seeing the glazed look in Xander's face. Wrenching herself out of Gile's grip, she ran towards her friend, seizing his arm. If she had stopped to consider her actions, she would have been petrified. Instead, she just reacted.

Turning, pulling Xander behind, she came face to face with the Beithir. It opened it's huge maw showing all those rows of sharp, wickedly curved teeth and moved forward quickly.

Buffy's call alerted Willow, and amazingly, she caught the stake Buffy threw to her, and daringly jammed it into the creatures fleshy jaw. Again, it's head snapped up in pain, and it prepared to level another bolt of electrical lightening. Grabbing Xander again, Willow pushed him with all her might away, and then pulled out the crystal he had put in her pocket. Praying that the image her mind had seen was a sign, she thrust the stone up as the creature loosed it's blast. Willow cried out, feeling the heat on her hand, and around her, she could hear Buffy's shrill horrified scream.

The crystal pulsed to life as the lightening hit, casting the power of the strike away and at the ceiling. A loud crack-boom echoed through the chamber, and the Beithir's head suddenly slumped lifelessly to the floor. Its unholy existence ended by a long sharp deadly stalactite which had pierced great body, right though where the heart should have been.

Shaking, Willow tottered backwards, away from the grisly head, falling over it's long tail end. Giles and Ms. Calendar quickly pulled her away, Ms. Calendar's arm wrapped comfortingly around the terrified girl's shoulder, and Giles examining her hand holding it gently at the wrist.

Xander sat quietly against a wall, only now beginning to discern rough shapes. The initial blindness had been a confining cut-off from a sense he had come to depend on. If Willow hadn't dared so much for him....

Buffy carefully walked around the demon, frowning as she examined the crystal stake that had killed it. Joining the two adults, she carefully hugged Willow, careful not to jar the wounded hand. "You're okay, you did good.." Buffy crooned softly to the frightened girl.

Willow was by nature shy, quiet and demure, but her loyality and love for her friends were unquestioning. Buffy wasn't surprised by Willow's near sacrifice for Xander, she was, though, by Willow's survival. The nearness that her friend had come to dying...Buffy shied away from the mental image.

Pulling back, Buffy watched as Giles pulled out a flask of water. Pouring some of it on Willows reddened and tender flesh, he maintained his firm grip, as she flinched and cried out softly.

"Here," Angel spoke from behind Buffy. Turning to face him, he held out the shirt he had been wearing over his black t-shirt. Buffy understood immediately, and swiftly ripped the shirt into long strips.

Giles soaked one strip in water, and wrapped it around Willow's hand, before covering that with a dry strip. "The skin isn't broken, but it is burned. This really isn't the best way to treat it, but it'll sooth the irritation for awhile." He fixed Willow with a stern look, "If it feels any worse, or you loose feeling in the hand, I want to know right away, understood?"

Sniffing and wiping her eyes with her free hand, Willow gave an unsteady nod. "Okay." Behind her, Xander shuffled up, sliding on his back end since he didn't trust his sense of direction entirely on his feet yet. His hands came up to comfortably curl around her shoulders.

Twisting slightly, she looked straight at his eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked, forcing the tremor out of her voice. No matter what, Xander was alive, and that in and of itself was a good thing. He wasn't being eaten alive like her nightmare said he would.

Xander leaned forward, carefully and lightly kissing her on the forehead. "Thank you, Willow." He grinned openly at her blush. "Everythings a little hazy, like I'm looking through a fog, but it's getting better every second."

Buffy waited until after Giles finished with Willow before showing him the jagged cut on her arm. Her Watcher grumbled something about not being a medic, but wiped down the cut and wrapping a third strip of Angel's shirt along the serpentine cut. Slowly, Buffy worked the muscle in the arm, hissing once or twice when it stung too much.

They rested there for a little while, before Willow pulled herself carefully to her feet, cautiously avoiding putting any weight or contact onto her burned hand. The crystal was lying where Willow had previously stood, and she made no move to fetch it. Seeing this, Angel darted over the Beithir's corpse, and pocketed the clear stone in his jeans, careful to keep Willow froom seeing him.

Buffy and Willow flanked Xander, and the three walked together, supporting one another as they carried on. Now, guarding against any possible trap, each and every member of the party scrutinized their surrounding.

They made steady if slow progress through the catacombs, stopping twice to rince and change the bandages on Willow's hand. Angel had assumed the advance position, a few paces ahead of Buffy and her friends. Giles walked a few paces behind them all, listening carefully for sounds coming up behind them.

A final pass brought a huge pair of bronzed doors into view. Ornate, and embossed with detailed images they stood easily fifteen feet high. Two round disks were engraved into the centre of each door, fancy symbols etched around the outside of the disks.

Ms. Calendar stepped towards the doors, squinting upwards. "Can you all shine your flashlights at the centre of this door?" She asked. Three beams of light coalesced into a radiant source illuminating the markings clearly. "Those must represent the Seal, they're protective symbols."

Buffy walked up beside the teacher, "So the Seal is behind those doors?"

Giles joined them, reading what symbols and signs he could. "Yes. I believe so. We have backtracked to roughly the same distance to the library, so..."

"So, all we have to do is get in," Xander finished. "Anybody bring the key?"

Buffy smiled widely, forming a fist, she raised her arm partially, "Got it right here with me!" Giles and Ms. Calendar stepped back a few paces, allowing the Slayer plenty of room. Buffy drew her arm back, and swung forward placing a great deal of force into the swing.

The sound was akin to that of gongs, as her first strike hit the centre of one door. Something cracked and gave, and the door partially shifted back. Buffy looked at Angel, jerking her chin. Together they rammed their shoulders into the door, and it swung open.

Dust and small sprays of stone rained down on them as they walked in. Ms. Calendar and Giles entering last.

"There!" Ms. Calendar exclaimed, spotting the flat disk. It glowed with small flames of power, resembling the fires inside a gas furnace. Bright blue flames darted around the surface, warm, inviting. A clear aura casted upwards from those flames, slightly blue in color.

"That's it," Angel agreed tersely. He seemed incredibly uncomfortable.

"Angel?" He turned away quickly from the Seal, moving to their furthest point away from it.

"Sorry, it's painful to me, kind of like the presence of a cross." He muttered, keeping his vision firmly away from the Seal itself. It was like his skin was itching with a million small insect bites.

Buffy cast a worried glance at the Seal, then at him. "It can't hurt you...can it?"

"No, but it can make me very uncomfortable." He reassured her. The others of their group approached the two. "Do we know what we are doing, yet?"

"From the look of the Seal, I would hazzard a guess, that someone will have to 'hold' the Seal, while the rest of us find what's preventing it from doing it's work."

Leaning against the wall, to Angel's right, Ms. Calendar nodded in agreement. "And I'm the someone to hold our Seal. I'm ready to do it."

"Okay, so you protect the Seal, and we'll go find our interloper?" Buffy suggested to the group at large. Glances were exchanged around, and a general concent sounded.

Ms. Calendar straightened, "If you don't mind, could someone stay here with me? I may need help, after I finish with the Seal."

Buffy gave Giles a long look, before turning to Willow. "Would you mind staying, Willow? I think you've had enough of a scare, and your hand is still sore... I don't want to endanger you any further."

Xander's hand came up again to her shoulder, squeezing lightly in support.

Willow stared a her shoes for a bit, noticing the demons blood on the white leather for the first time. Feeling panicked, she met Buffy's concerned gaze, "I'll stay."

Buffy nodded briskly, moving quickly back to the doorway, and her bag tucked just outside, Ms. Calendar a step behind. The two women scooped up the bags, and walked back inside, Buffy absently testing the doors hinges to see if it could safely be shut when the rest of them left.

As she tugged softly at the door, more loose stones fell down, but this time, the top corner of the door pulled away from it's wall anchor, rupturing the sill and stone above the sill.

Willow watched, almost as if in slow motion as the rock slid away from the wall. It was huge, and falling fast. She opened her mouth to call out to Ms. Calendar...but too late.

Running, Willow narrowly caught Ms. Calendar before her head slammed against the stone floor. The gash on her forehead was long and messy...and the woman herself completely unconscious.

*********End part 5************

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