Fic: Orb Of Mentez (4/?)

[annelise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Orb Of Mentez, Part Four.
Comments/Flames/Etc. to: annelise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

--

Now, the average intelligence of a dead person having been locked 
in the earth for a few thousand years isn't that great, especially as 
these were dead priests. (A simple job with no heavy lifting.) So 
waking up from a rather long sleep to find a small man hiding behind 
a girl holding so much weaponry that she *bristled* (Buffy had spent 
the last ten years learning various forms of martial arts and 
weaponry but unfortunately forgotten to specialise), and a red-headed 
goddess with liquid-black pools for eyes hovering a few inches off 
the ground, they gave the expected reaction.
<flee!>
<run away!>

*

Buffy looked at Willow, who slumped to the floor exhausted.
"What was all that about?" she asked.
"No idea." Willow considered shrugging, but wrote it off as too much 
work. "Lemme slee..."
Buffy gave Xander a radiant smile as Willow started to 
snore. "She's so cute when she sleeps," she said. "I think that's how 
I first fell in love with her."
Xander straightened up. "Have they gone?"
"I don't know. I hope so. Its possible they've gone to get 
reinforcements." Buffy stared thoughtfully up at the dimming hole 
above their heads. "Any ideas on how we get out of here?"
Xander frowned. "How high can you jump?"
"Not *that* high!" Buffy threw him a sardonic stare.
Xander grinned. "What about if you were standing on my shoulders, 
and I was standing on, say, that statue over there?"
Buffy followed his gaze, then looked back up at the hole. "Maybe," 
she said. Another thought struck her. "How much do you weigh?"

*

The girl stared at the obnoxious kid.
"My mommy says that obnoxious little creeps like you always get 
their come-uppance!" she said.
"Your mommy's a freak!" the boy retorted. He stamped his foot 
petulantly, and this seemed to cause a strange reaction from the rod 
in his pocket. (The girl, predictably, back-pedalled and fled.) The 
Rod of Velious heated up, burning its way through the young boy's 
clothing and scorching his leg before they both disappeared into a 
swirling portal.
>From the shadows, a gleeful young voice said, "See, I *told* you 
so!"

*

A faint breeze swirled the dust idly around the dark square hole in 
the floor. The dust was disturbed further by a Slayer-strength-
propelled Xander as he popped up like a scary jack-in-the-box. he 
landed with a thump and groaned.
"Are you okay up there?" Buffy called.
"Yeah, I'm good. I landed on my head." Xander rubbed at the sore 
spot for a moment.
"Throw down a rope!" Buffy, mistress of mercy, called out.
"Okay, okay. I'm on it."

*

Dawn offered Giles a cuppa. "So what happened next?"
Giles took a sip. "Well, she said the young boy fell into a vortex 
and vanished."
"Oh." Dawn shrugged and offered Rupert a biscuit.
Giles accepted it and gave it a dunk. "It would have been useful if 
weird shit like that didn't happen around your daughter *all* the 
time... We might have found out something was amiss earlier."
Dawn nodded. "She's headstrong, like her father."
Giles coughed. "How is Jonathon?"
"He's fine. He's still in training in England. Watch out, he may 
want your job soon!" Dawn threw Giles an evil grin.
"If he wants the teaching role, he can have it. Little bastards!" 
Giles muttered.
"The other job, silly." Dawn rolled her eyes, looking for a moment 
*so* much like her big sis.
"I know," Giles said with a sigh. "I know."

*

End Part 4.