Buffy stared at the Pergamum Codex. It was impossible. She could've sworn that the page she was staring at was totally illegible but here it was, staring right in front of her-in English too.
Actually, it was the only real reason why she caught the strange discrepancy. The entire Codex before was a royal pain to translate. Although she was no scholar like Giles or a genius like Willow, she was forced to teach herself the various ancient dialects if she was ever able to wring coherency from any dusty tome. It became even harder after Willow died. Without her best friend, Buffy began to experience even more difficulty translating Giles's collection of Slayer lore.
At the thought of Willow, Buffy naturally began thinking of the others. Xander, Cordelia, Oz, her mom, Angel… she missed them all. She began to sink herself into her own misery and played each scene, one by one, in the order of deaths. It was a ritual Buffy could not help but go through.
Xander was the first to die ever since Ms. Calendar's death. Buffy and the 'Slayerettes', as Willow was so fond of calling themselves, were in one of the many caves by the beach looking for a rumored demon that lulled her victims close to her so that she could eat them. Sirens, Giles had called them, based on the Greek and Roman myths. Buffy had managed to salvage Xander's body from the creature but it was too late. She was only able to hear her friend whisper, "I saw her coming for you. She would've gotten to you if I hadn't thrown a rock at her. Guess I was too much of a stud for her to resist." Xander gave a weak sardonic grin and then died. As Willow broke into heavy tears, guilt flooded through Buffy's entire being as she cursed her own carelessness.
And almost every year after that, like some sick domino effect, one by one, her friends began to die off. She willed herself to remember every single detail when she cradled Giles's bloodied head on her lap, begging him to stay with her, dimly aware that the others had surrounded her in her sorrow. Giles was unable to say anything. The head trauma was too much for him and he slipped into unconsciousness. He never woke up again.
Buffy collapsed onto the floor and started to hug her knees and rock back forth crying. He was the closest thing she ever had to a father, Watcher or no Watcher.
Six months later, while Buffy was patrolling alone, she had heard a scream and instinctively ran towards the sound. As she turned the corner, she heard someone yelling, "Eeewww! Look at you! Even Buffy dresses better than that!" And to Buffy's profound horror, the vampire promptly dug into Cordy's neck with her fangs. Too busy with feeding, the vamp had no clue the Slayer was no more than two feet behind her. The thing had no clue as to what was happening to it as it promptly dissolved into dust. Unfortunately, Cordy had lost too much blood despite Buffy's efforts to get her to the hospital. She died shortly after entering the ER.
After that, Buffy flatly refused Willow and Oz to join her in her patrolling or anything remotely related to being near any danger. She encouraged Willow to practice her Wicca arts at home and warned the two to stay away from public places after dark-with the exception, of course, when Oz turned into a werewolf. Shortly before his death, Giles had discovered a way for werewolves to retain logic. By doing so, Oz was able to retain most of his awareness after his transformation. He became valuable help to Buffy during her patrol and it made both of them extra careful to take care of each other so that Willow could see the both of them the next day.
Willow never saw another demon personally after that. Ironically enough, she was walking with Buffy in broad daylight on their way to get sugared up on mochas when, while crossing the street, Willow noticed, a fraction of a second before Buffy, a car heading right towards them at high speeds. Willow had shoved Buffy back on the sidewalk seconds before she herself was thrown several feet at the impact. Willow was killed instantly. Oz was never the same after that.
He took over Willow's pseudo-Watcher duties and spent days in Giles's apartment. Whenever the moon was full, Buffy noticed that Oz became more and more aggressive in their skirmishes. At times, he reminded Buffy of Faith's "not-think-just-do" attitude. It worried her a bit and her fretting turned into despair one night when she saw the werewolf get torn to pieces. Buffy clearly remembered how she was outnumbered at least ten to one. However, Oz's death seemed to have provided an outlet for over four years of grief and anger that had pent up inside her. Screaming, she had jumped into the melee and attacked. When it was over, about an inch of dust blanketed at least a quarter of an acre.
That night, Buffy had the most earnest conversation with her mother. Joyce had been devastated when Buffy came home that night. She was pretty much an adult by then and Joyce was much definitely an older woman. She wished that she could give her daughter some measure of comfort instead of just watching her languish away from all the pain she was being put through. The conversation, however, made Joyce feel as if Buffy was in high school all over again. The two had spent most of the night just talking; as if to make up for all the previous lost years.
Tears ran down Buffy's cheeks with a new intensity. By now she could barely breathe she was sobbing so hard and she couldn't have cared less. Her depressive reverie wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. The twisted dominoes kept tipping and a year later, Buffy came home to see her mother's body badly mauled on the front porch of her own house. The attack was obviously very recent since blood still flowed from Joyce's abrasions. Buffy was too shocked as she numbly approached her mother and gently lifted her into a somewhat sitting position.
"Buffy," her mother had whispered, breathing shallowly as to not to choke on the blood that was slowly filling up her lungs. "I'm sorry… for everything…" Buffy tried to shush her but Joyce would have none of it. "Only God knows how much I tried to make it up to you but… that never worked out too well… you being a Slayer and all… this was the only way." Unable to explain herself further, Buffy's mother dropped her head back and breathed her last.
While grieving on the front porch, Buffy had felt Angel approach behind her. There was pain in his voice when he spoke. "I caught the monster who did this to her." Angel paused and then said, "if you want, I can give a very detailed description of what I did to it." Gently laying her mother back, Buffy ran into Angel's arms and let him hold her for what she felt was an eternity.
Buffy would do anything for Angel's presence right now. But she was alone. Incredibly alone. Buffy had killed Angel two years ago and neither of them had any choice in the matter. Angel's blood was special. Special enough to stop Acathla and special enough for the First Evil to have an interest in him. Some crazy had decided to give another go at destroying the world. Unfortunately for that schemer, the demon had underestimated Buffy and Angel's resolve and priorities. The demon had managed to get some of Angel's blood and used it in a spell to create a portal that would connect Hell and Earth with no restraints. Through exhaustive research and to their horror, the only way to close such an opening was to spill the same blood and then kill the host.
Buffy went wild with grief over that part. She remembered how she drove a knife into Angel's stomach, just like how she drove a sword into the same place years before. Then she kissed him deeply. Lifting her tear-stained face, she stared intensely into those ancient and youthful brown eyes. "I love you," Angel had whispered. "I love you," Buffy whispered back and then mechanically drove the stake into the heart of the only man she had ever truly loved.
Buffy began to wail and hiccup uncontrollably. After what seemed like forever, Buffy dried her eyes and weakly pushed herself off the floor and glanced at the clock. Two hours until sunset. She forced herself to start puzzling over the strange section in the Pergamum Codex again.
And the amazing thing was, it was in English too….
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