Pointy Sticks

"Giles! Giles!" Buffy skipped into the school library, removing the Tootsie Pop from her mouth long enough to yell for her favorite, and usually only, Watcher. Not seeing him in the normal places one expected to find a librarian hiding, Buffy wandered into his office to find him sitting on the floor with a large number of ancient looking index card sized documents scattered in front of him like so many puzzle pieces. "What'cha doing?"

"Trying to decipher the Krou-ley prophecy. The monk who transcribed it seems to have taken a unique approach to making it indecipherable. It's scattered on these small pieces of parchment, four words each."

"Wouldn't that work better on a table?"

"No. What can I help you with this morning? Shouldn't you be in your Chemistry class?"

"Nah. It was cancelled. One of the freshmen in First Period was making explosives so they cancelled Chemistry for the rest of the day while the janitor cleans him off of the ceiling."

"And your presence here? Shouldn't you be somewhere studying for a class? Or should I get out that demonology text you keep avoiding?"

"I'm fine with the studying and why study demons that have been extinct for thousands of years?"

"I can think of a few of those so-called extinct demons that have actually visited Sunnydale since I arrived."

"Cool. You can update that book and then I'll read it."

"And, again, what do you need?"

"Oh." Buffy pulled a thin stick out of her hair "What do you think this is?" She waved it around. "It gives off some interesting sparks in the dark. But I don't think it would work too well on vampires. It's too flexible. It would probably break the first time I used it."

"Could I see that?" Taking the stick from her, he held it in front of the lamp on his desk. "Hmmm... seems to be hollow, with something in it. Where did you get it?"

"Some strange person in a mask and a black robe waved it at me over in Restfield Cemetary last night and muttered some strange words. 'Udavah cadabra' I think it was. Some strange green light came out of it and I ducked. Something bounced off of one of those shiny flower urns that are all over there and hit him. He looked so surprised."

"Did he run away?" Giles asked with interest.

"No, he died."

"And what did you do with the body?" Giles took off his glasses and rubbed them nervously.

"Someone dressed just like him jumped out of a crypt and disappeared with it. They left his stick behind. I like it when the bad guys clean up after themselves." Buffy grinned.

"Quite."

"So, can I keep it?"

One of those 20 minute challenges at Twisting the Hellmouth

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