The Nyazian Prophecies

Faye looked to the remaining followers. "Tear it down," she spoke in her own voice now. She gestured a hand towards the arch. "I don't want any of Connor's little gang attempting a rescue."

The followers who weren't restraining Salome began to disassemble the arch. Faye turned her attention to Salome now. She smiled sinisterly. "And then there's you. The lover." She cocked her head. "Shame you weren't able to save him." She moved in closer. "But you should know, it doesn't really matter... You were never going to be able to save him, Salome. Never. He always belonged to Jasmine. And always will. When he destroyed her, his life became forfeit." She laughed darkly. "And yours is too." She looked to the followers who held Salome. "Kill her."

There was an incredible ferocity etched in Salome's features as her skin turned violet. Her normally black eyes hardened, turned a crystallized blue. She knocked back her captors easily, almost as if she were swatting flies. Her clothes morphed to her leathery purple battle armor. She shook her head, slowly circling the younger girl. "Sorry, Faye. Doesn't go down that way."

Faye turned, tracking Salome's predatory movements. "I have the power of Jasmine flowing through me."

Salome looked down at her hands, as if she were surprised by her own body. She then tilted her head sharply. "And I have Illyria flowing through me." She took a step towards Faye, smirking. "Wanna see which one is stronger?"

Swinging her arm, her fist connected with Faye's jaw, sending her flying backwards. Faye hit the door of the mausoleum and slid down, slumping to the ground.

"Well..." Salome strode to the fallen woman. "That's something we never factored in, is it?"

"Hell," Salome hissed, her voice darker than usual. "Chaos. Pain. Darkness. It's bleeding in. She sniffed the air. "It's poisoning this world. Making the demons stronger."

Salome knelt down beside Faye. "Jasmine's a Higher Power. Do you think the power of Quortoth would do her any favours?" She reached a gloved hand out, grabbing Faye by the throat and lifting her easily. "Me, on the other hand..." She hissed, baring sharp fangs. "Now what was that you were saying about a demon bitch?"

"We went back in time?" Jamie hissed under his breath. He looked down at assemblage of people in the lobby. "Just how far back in time?"

"May of 2003," Connor replied. He seemed somewhat distracted. "Jasmine really wasn't around that long. A couple of weeks. We can narrow things down pretty easily."

He looked back to the room they had exited from. Jamie nodded, understanding. "You thought Salome was going to come after you."

"Hoping, really." He sighed deeply. "I don't want to think what Jasmine is doing to her."

"We'll get back," Jamie assured him, patting him on the shoulder. "It's easy, man. We've just got to figure out what the Acolytes are planning. We stop them. We figure out a way to get back to the present. Shut down Jasmine. Go and party with kickass Canadians." He grinned. "You feel me?"

"We'll make it that easy." Jamie pointed down to the front desk. "Look, down there. It's Lorne. We can fill him in the sitch. Get someone from the past to help up." Jamie headed towards the stairs.

Eyes widening, Connor grabbed Jamie by the back of the shirt, hauling him away from the stairs. "What the hell are you doing?" Connor demanded, still keeping a hold on Jamie. "He's from the past. Going down there interferes with the timeline." He gave Jamie a light rap on the forehead. "Think, McFly!"

"The Great Destroyer of Quortoth is taking his cues from movies?" Jamie replied irritably, tugging his shirt back into place.

"Well, I don't have a lot of experience with time travel," Connor snapped. "It's all I have."

"Fine." Connor rolled his eyes. "Then look at it this way: Lorne is under Jasmine's spell. We go up to him and we're going to be handed right to her." He looked over his shoulder. "Right to her...." His eyes widened. "Oh crap!"

Connor grabbed Jamie by the shirt again, dragging him down the hallway and around the corner. He slapped his hand over Jamie's mouth to silence him before glancing around to the landing again. He swallowed hard as he watched Angel walking down the stairs, followed by Jasmine and finally... Himself.

Jamie looked over to see what Connor was watching. His expression brightened considerably. "Jasmine...."

Horrified, Connor released Jamie. Smiling broadly, Jamie fell to his knees in worship.


Vincent Kartheiser	Anna Paquin	Bret Harrison	Kou Shibasaki	Allison Mack	and Tom Lenk

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Based on the Characters by Joss Whedon	Created by Emcee

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Special Guest Star

J. August Richards
Gina Torres

Alexis Denisof
as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

David Boreanaz
as Angel

Guest Starring

James Franco
Mackenzie Rosman
Madeline Zima

Written by

Emcee

Connor knelt down beside Jamie, furiously shaking his head. "No... No... Come on, Jay. You don't want to do this."

"How can I not?" Jamie asked, sighing deeply as his smile widened. "All she wants is our love."

"And to eat you," Connor hissed, shaking Jamie. "Come on, snap out of it!" He slapped Jamie hard across the face.

Jamie seemed numb to the stinging slap, keeping his gaze riveted to the beautiful woman walking amongst the crowd below. "It takes a lot of power to heal the world. It's not surprising she should need to consume a few souls..." He pushed Connor away and got to his feet. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"Jamie!" Connor hissed, vainly attempting to grab Jamie's pant leg, missing and hitting the ground instead. "You can't do that!"

"It'll be okay, Connor," Jamie assured him as he walked to the stairs. "Don't worry. Jasmine will make it all better."

Connor got up to chase after Jamie, but spotted himself below in the crowd along with Angel. He shook his head and sank down, so not to be spotted. "That is not a fight I want to get into." He gripped the railings as Jamie went down into lobby, weaving through the other worshippers so he could get closer to Jasmine.

Swallowing hard, Connor watched as his past self and Angel left for the office along with Gunn and Wesley. His grip tightened, bending one of the metal railings. "Dammit." Jasmine approached Jamie, who looked up at her with adoration in his eyes. Connor gritted his teeth, attempting to hear what they were saying.

"You've traveled far," Jasmine's voice was sweet and soft. "And you've finally found your place, here... With me."

"And I'm never leaving again," Jamie finished, his grin growing. "Thank you so much."

Jasmine moved away from Jamie. Connor nodded, jumping up and vaulting over the railing. He hit the ground in a crouch.

"Uh...." Connor looked around nervously, searching for an answer. "Jasmine," he explained. "She's got a lot of power to share with her most faithful." He leaned in towards the boy. "And you know, I think she's got her eye on you."

"Wicked. Yeah." Connor eyed the boy's hoodie sweatshirt. "I'll put in a good word for you."

Connor forced himself to smile just as broadly. "Hey... Do you think I can borrow your sweatshirt?"

"Oh!" The boy unzipped it, tugging it off and held it out to Connor. "Keep it, Dude. Anything for the Father of Jasmine."

Connor made his way through the throng of people. He carefully kept his head down so no one could glance inside his hood to see his face. He got to Jamie and grabbed him by the wrist. "Jamie," he hissed. "We've got to go."

"Did you see that?" Jamie asked, pointing over to Jasmine. "She talked to me. And she touched my face. That was totally... Awesome." He shook his head. "I don't understand why you put your fist through her skull. She's just... Incredible."

"Are you listening?" Connor demanded, the ire in his voice rising. "We have to get out of here. You don't belong here, Jay." He met Jamie's eyes, looking frantic. "I belong here. The only problem with that... I'm already here."

"I promised Jasmine I'd stay," Jamie replied innocently. He smiled at Connor. "Come on, man, you've got to understand... I've never felt like this before."

"We'll come back," the words were out of Connor's mouth before he could stop himself.

"We have to go for now." Connor tugged on his wrist. "Because I'm here. But when I leave, we can come back. And I'm going to be going out soon to hunt Fred." He swallowed hard. "Please Jay?" His blue eyes were filled with pleading. "For the space-time continuum?" He added feebly.

"All right. But only for the space-time continuum." Jamie relented and allowed Connor to pull him out of the lobby, out the door to the courtyard.

Connor pushed Jamie against one of the pillars. "Jamie, you have to listen to me very carefully: You're under Jasmine's spell."

Jamie nodded, sighing. "And what a spell it is. Why didn't you tell me how great it was?"

Connor closed his eyes for a moment, trying to stop the emotion from showing in his expression. "Because I never felt it..." He took a deep breath. "Jamie, this isn't you. You know why we're here. We have to stop Jasmine's followers. Remember? The ones who came from the present with us?"

"Of course I remember." Jamie rolled his eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid or something? I told you, they ran out before I was about to get myself together. I dunno where they went."

"I don't know either." Connor kept a firm grip on Jamie. "We've got to figure that out and figure out a way to get back to our own time."

"Hey!" Jamie pointed inside. "You just left with Angel! Can we go back in to see Jasmine now?"

Connor groaned, shaking his head. "You're not going to be any help to me like this..." As he looked down he saw the wound on his chest Faye/Jasmine had created to open the portal. He reached up, touching the wound.

Connor reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small dagger. He slashed Jamie across the palm.

Connor grabbed Jamie's bleeding hand and pressed it to the wound on his chest, mixing their blood. He held Jamie's hand to his chest, staring at him, tears in his eyes. "It's going to be all right, Jay."

Jamie struggled against Connor, but after a moment he went still, shoulders slumping. Keeping a tight hold on his hand, Connor slung his free arm around Jamie's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. "It's all right, man."

Jamie took in choked breaths, burying his face in Connor's shoulder. "Oh God..." He pulled away, looking as if he might cry. "That pretty much sucks."

Connor nodded. "I know." He gripped Jamie's shoulder. "We have to get out of here."

Jamie rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath, looking into the lobby longingly.

"I think you were right before," Connor said. "We need help. And I think I know where we can get it."

Salome staggered backwards as Faye kicked her in the stomach. She laughed coldly, eyeing her opponent.

"So the good and pure lover of the Destroyer is willing to use the power of Quortoth to defeat me?" Jasmine spoke again from in Faye. "Do you know how it would hurt him if he were to know the truth?"

Salome smirked, arching a brow. "How about I kill you before you get the chance to tell him?" She did a butterfly kick, hitting Jasmine twice in rapid succession. "And for your information, never claimed to be good and pure. That's why he likes me."

Jasmine wiped the blood from her nose. "I can't believe I didn't sense it in you before..."

Salome hesitated, her stance faltering. She narrowed her gaze, which had returned to its normal black color. "Sense what?"

"What you are..." Jasmine pulled herself to full height. "What you really are." She punched Salome hard.

Salome licked her bleeding lip. She took a step back, swallowing hard. "And what am I, Jasmine?"

Jasmine laughed coldly. "You don't know." She shook her head. "You really don't know?" She shrugged. "Honestly, I don't care."

Her palm connected with Salome's chest, sending her flying across the cemetery, into a large angel statue. The force of the blow caused pieces to crumble from the edge.

Arms shaking, Salome struggled to pull herself up off the ground, but found her strength waning. She fell back to the ground with a grunt.

Jasmine stalked to Salome. "You had potential, true." She grabbed Salome by the throat, hauling her to her feet. "But it's a bit too late for that now. But you should be proud..." She shook her head. "It's too bad no one else recognized your potential. You might have been able to beat me." She sighed. "But it does explain why Connor likes you so much." She tightened her grip. "You're just like Cordelia."

This statement caused the fire to return to Salome's eyes. She stopped struggling, going very still for a moment. She held open her hand and a shard of glittering metal appeared in it. It was a piece of the broken Nyazian Fang. With a snarl, she shoved in into Jasmine's stomach.

With a cry, Jasmine released Salome. Salome fell to her knees on the ground, rubbing her throat gingerly. She looked up at Jasmine, smirking. "It's not like last time, is it, Jasmine?" She got up, hitting Jasmine savagely. "You're in a human body."

"Still human," Salome snapped. "Immortal, but not invulnerable." Salome cracked her knuckles and hit Jasmine again. And again. And again.

"You should have known pissing me off wasn't the way to beat me." Salome grabbed Jasmine by the throat now. "An angry Nyazian is a strong Nyazian."

"Killing me now does nothing," Jasmine spat. "I'll be returned to myself soon. You're only killing Faye."

Salome shrugged. "Honestly, I don't care." She twisted her wrist and with a snap, she broke Faye's neck.

She dropped the corpse to the ground, staring at it for a long moment. She gulped in deep breaths, her skin returning to its pale tone. Her body armor morphed back into her normal clothes.

Satisfied Faye was dead, Salome turned her attention to her own hand, staring at her palm. "What I really am..." She shook her head and sneered, kicking the corpse. "So full of crap."

Mandy bit her lower lip, watching the clock closely. She paced a few times in front of the clock before stopping, staring at it once again.

"There is an old human adage that a watched pot never boils," Oni observed, looking up from her book. "I do not believe that clock will boil if you keep looking at it."

"I shouldn't have let Jamie go," Mandy sighed. "They've been gone for hours now." She sat down on the carpet with a sigh. "Connor and Demon Girl can take care of themselves... But Jamie..."

"He's a lot tougher than he looks." Andrew reached over and patted Mandy on the knee. "Try not to worry so much. And do you really think Connor would let anything happen to him?"

Mandy sighed. "I guess not." She shifted, hugging her legs. "It's just... Well, things are just getting serious between us..."

Mandy blushed, averting her gaze. "Well..." She shrugged. "You know... Serious."

Oni closed her book, now paying full attention to Mandy. "Mandelina, are you trying to convey that you and James have copulated?"

Mandy hugged her legs tighter, burying her face in her knees. "Geez, Oni... Kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Andrew smacked his forehead with his palm. "You have to be kidding me!" He jumped to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at Mandy. "You and Jamie slept together?"

"What's the big deal?" Mandy exclaimed, throwing her hands out and shrugging her shoulders. "You had to know it was going to happen eventually."

"Last night." Mandy stood up. She nearly got nose to nose with Andrew. "Tell me-- What is the big deal?"

"The big deal is you've killed Jamie and probably anyone near him!" Andrew cried. He poked Mandy in the chest. "Don't you know? Sex equals death!"

"You sound like my mother." Mandy swatted away Andrew's finger and rubbed her chest where he had prodded her. "Connor and Demon Girl go at it like bunnies... Why don't you yell at them?"

"Because they've been doing it for a year!" Andrew waved his hands frantically. "And the first time they did it, Connor nearly killed Salome! When Jamie lost his virginity, a demon prostitute nearly killed him! Angel nearly killed Buffy when they did it! Faith nearly killed Xander!"

Oni nodded in agreement. "It is a very well documented occurrence within the Slayer circles, Mandelina. A first-time consummation of a relationship usually results in a disaster for one or both of the participants."

Mandy shrank down slightly, worry lining her face. "You guys... Aren't serious, are you?" She looked back and forth between Oni and Andrew. Neither of their expressions lightened at all. Her shoulders sank deeper. "Oh no..."

"Relax, Slayer." Salome had appeared beside Mandy. She gave her a slap on the back. "It's a rite of passage around here. Just got to get it out of the way. After that, you can make it like animals, no prob."

Mandy whirled around to face Salome. "Salome!" She looked behind Salome, but saw no one there. "Where's Jamie and Connor?"

Salome shoved her hands in the pockets of her cut-offs. "Well, this is probably going to make you feel like total crap... But he's kind of in trouble."

"What are you doing here then?" Mandy shrieked shrilly. "Why aren't you there helping them?"

"I don't think it's a there," Salome replied. She threw herself down onto the couch, groaning in pain and grabbing her stomach. "I think it's a then."

Andrew sat down beside Salome. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you were put through a meat grinder."

Salome smiled tightly, cradling her stomach. "Just tenderized by a pint-sized Higher Power..." Seeing the confused looked of her friends, she sighed. "Faye was Jasmine. At least, Jasmine was inhabiting Faye's body."

"I mean I killed her," Salome replied casually. She threw the bloodied shard of the Nyazian Fang onto the carpet. "Stabbed her and snapped her neck." She rubbed her stomach gently. "But I don't think it's going to help us much. Jasmine seemed pretty sure it wasn't the end of her. She did some ritual, sent her followers through a portal. Jamie and Connor went along for the ride."

"A portal created with the Cronos Crystal?" Oni queried. "So you believe it was a temporal vortex?"

"If that means time tunnel, then yes." Salome nodded. "I think they went back in time."

"Before you start with me," Salome cut in, pointing at Mandy. "My powers are dimensionally-based, not temporal. I can't just go back in time with a snap of my fingers."

Andrew nodded. "All right. Oni and I will start researching temporal vortex and see if we can figure out a way to open one." He gave Salome a small smile. "You relax for a bit."

"Hail the King of Watchers," Salome sighed, leaning back. She then hissed, grabbing her forehead.

Connor walked alongside Jamie down the street. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Jamie rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Geez, Riley, you don't need to keep asking me that. I was under Jasmine's spell for, like, five minutes. I don't think it did that much to screw me up."

Connor stopped at the corner of the street and turned to face Jamie, his brow furrowed deeply. For a long moment, he just stared at Jamie.

Finally relenting, Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "All right. It hurts. It feels like there's this... Big hole in me. A hole that she used to be. And even thought I know what she is, I want it back. Because it was like... Nothing could be wrong as long as she was in my life." He sighed. "And I liked feeling that."

"I never felt any of that," Connor replied. "Any of the love and comfort... All I ever felt was emptiness."

"My blood freed you from Jasmine's spell." Connor absently touched his chest, which had now been bandaged. "The thing is, it always protected me. I wanted to believe so badly, but I never could. Because all I could see was what she really was." His expression was a mixture of pain and longing.

"You don't need her, Connor..." Jamie put a hand on his shoulder. "You never did."

"In a couple of days, I'm going to try and kill myself," Connor muttered, wiping his eyes, which were glistening with unshed tears.

"And you're going to end up in Palo Alto," Jamie reminded him. "And you and I are going to become best friends."

"You mixed our blood." Jamie continued thoughtfully. "We're kinda like blood brothers now."

"Didn't think of it like that." Connor's smile widened. He nodded and crossed the street. "Come on. We've got stop those Jasmaniacs so I can end up meeting you and not stay as Jasmine's lapdog."

"So where exactly are we going?" Jamie asked. "You said we were going to get help, but... Who? All of the superpowered people we know are back at the Hyperion and they're all under Jasmine's spell."

"Until later today," Connor added. "In a few hours, Fred's going to shoot Angel. Soon after that, the rest of them follow."

"Yeah, but we still can't go to them," Jamie pointed out. "Remember? You might Marty McFly yourself out of existence or something. So who are we going to go to?"

"Someone who doesn't have that much influence over my destiny," Connor stopped in front of a small, non-descript store. "And who won't be under Jasmine's spell." He pointed to the tiny sign which read MEERNA'S MAGICKS. "Nyazians don't get affected by this kind of control."

"If there's anyone who knows stuff about portals, it's Meerna. If we're lucky, she can send us back to our time. And send back the Acolytes before they have time to interfere with history." Connor grabbed Jamie's collar. "Honestly, I always got the feeling Meerna knew me from somewhere. It's our safest bet."

Connor pushed open the door of the shop, the bell ringing as he did so. It was a tiny, cramped shop, with boxes and books piled everywhere. "We at least have the advantage of Meerna not knowing us yet. She might be a little more willing to help us if..."

"Hold on a minute," a gruff voice came from behind the counter, which was covered in boxes. "I've got my hands full."

Black nailed fingers gripped a box, moving it out of the way. "We're closed right now."