Title: Scroll of the Ultimate

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG.

Summary: B:tVS, Bulletproof Monk. "So, any new prophecies I ought to know about before Dawn and I do Europe?" Buffy asked Giles. 500 words.

Spoilers: B:tVS post-"Chosen"; "Bulletproof Monk" (2003)

Notes: This is another entry for the twistedshorts August Fic-A-Day challenge. How's this for a random crossover?

"So, any new prophecies I ought to know about before Dawn and I do Europe?" Buffy asked Giles, a wan smile on her tired face.

She had chosen a seat near the front of the bus once the group had resumed their departure from Sunnydale, one row in front of her sister and across the aisle from her former Watcher. She seemed abnormally calm to Giles, almost serene with the lifting of her long burden, but with the marks of grief and pain still plain on her worn spirit; he was reminded of Tolkien's Frodo as he studied her, "a glass filled with a clear light for all to see."

She would recover, he knew, from this latest near-mortal wounding, the loss of Spike (whatever he was to her), the betrayal of her friends and the destruction of her home. Her face would fill out again, her eyes would flash with joy on occasion, and her sister would stop watching her as though she were about to disappear. But it would take time for that to happen, time that had best not be spent in his presence. She had not yet forgiven him for many of the things he had done since her resurrection, and he could not find it in himself to blame her.

"None of any great importance," he said lightly, reminding himself to discuss the Beast of Amalfi with Faith and Robin later. "Although, if you encounter anyone seeking the Scroll of the Ultimate, it might be worth looking into. If I recall correctly, the sixty-year cycle of its Guardian is due to end within the year."

"Scroll of the Ultimate?" Dawn said, straightening in her seat and giving him an interested glance. "I've heard of that. It has the secrets of immortality in it or something, right?"

Giles nodded. "There is a prophecy associated with the transfer from one guardian to another, or rather a series of them; let's see if I can remember them properly." He frowned a little, cudgeling his memory; he knew he'd studied them at one time. The Scroll had been an item of extreme interest to the Nazis in World War II, and therefore also to the Watchers who had sought to keep as many mystical artifacts out of the Germans' hands as they could. It had not been found by either side, but the Scroll's legend had remained a part of the standard Watcher mythology training, indoctrinating young Watchers-to-Be against the possibility that they might one day encounter its Bearer themselves.

"I believe it was-- He must first beat an army under a flock of cranes, then fight for love in the palace of jade, then save his brothers from a family he never knew he had."

"Cryptic as usual," Buffy snorted. "Watch, it'll turn out to be some street-punk kid from New York this time."

"Or a girl, even," Dawn nodded.

"It would be fitting," Giles agreed. "I have met my share of American youth gifted at defying destiny."

Go to: Top | Short B:tVS Xovers | Fan Fiction Index

© 2005 Jedi Buttercup.