She didn’t know what she’d expected, but this certainly wasn’t it. MorningBuffy knew what made a good breakfast; it was caffeine-y mocha goodness, with a side of deep-fried carbohydrates in doughnut shape. This most emphatically was not what was in front of her. For one, it needed a bowl to hold it, and for another it was kinda, lumpy? And tan-coloured. Even the pancakes? Oddly lumpy, but sort of a cross between pancakes and doughnuts, if doughnuts or pancakes had flecks of dried fruit in them. At least there was butter, and plenty of it. A small pot of honey too, and what appeared to be tea. This was all well and good if you were Giles, but the people of the world on perpetual night-shift needed something a bit stronger in the morning, just to help them face the day.

 

After trying the contents of the bowl she grimaced and set it aside. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what she’d have chosen for breakfast. It was thick and buttery and studded with dried apple, but it stuck to the roof of her mouth a little. Reaching for one of the pancake-looking things, she tore it in half and smeared some butter on it with her spoon. Taking a bite she closed her eyes for a moment. *Definitely fried yummy goodness. I could get used to these* Turning to the mug in front of her she added a little honey and took a sip, figuring caffeine in any form was better than nothing. Her eyes widened and she gagged a little, choking at the unexpected flavour. It tasted of flowers and faintly of dirt, mixed with a strong honey aroma. Definitely not any tea she was used to. She eyed it in consternation. *How am I gonna make it through a day without decent tea even? I’m so gonna kill that bleached freak!*

 

Giving up on the ‘tea’ she returned to the fried bread things. Slathering butter over another one, this time she drizzled honey on it as well, and cramming a huge bite down she chewed with gusto. Since her guide appeared to have vanished, and there was nobody else in the large hall, Buffy figured that there was little use complaining out loud. It just wasn’t as satisfying when no-one could hear you. Having depleted the slightly chewy doughnut wannabes, she turned with a sigh to the bowl of lukewarm cereal. She was still fairly hungry *I guess dying really takes it out of you, who knew?* so she ended up scraping the bowl clean in fairly short order. *Never gonna be my favourite, but at least it’s filling*

 

As if sensing that she’d finished, her guide bustled back into the hall, presumably to guide her to her afternoon tutor. ‘Leave thy dishes here Sunshine, tha needs be getting a move on, thy instructor awaits.’ Buffy grimaced, but stood. As they strode down the passageway, still heading away from the room she’d woken in, the Slayer questioned her companion. What she learned didn’t really help her much, but she did find out that the lady she was following went by Ceri here, which was a place called Ynys Sci, and apparently, a warrior school of great renown. To hear Ceri talking about it, it was where heroes came to learn their craft, and Champions left when deemed worthy. ‘Tha did come a mite too early Dearheart, hence thy time is limited more closely than most. ‘Tis much more common that tha hast five turns of the seasons at the very least, and it was planned thus for tha, til tha had that unfortunate altercation with thy mortal foe.’

 

‘I’m gonna just pretend I understood all that, ok? I mean, your accent is pretty tough to figure out ya know? So, I kinda got that normally I’d, what, be here for five years? Kinda like Slayer College? Only I’m early on account of biting the big one and so I only get a crash course? Is that it?’

 

‘Sommat like that dearie. Tha’ll be brought back in due time, shouldst tha need it, an fer the proper length of time. Happen it goes faster here, tha’ll find only a month or two has passed in thy homeland.’

 

Digesting that little tidbit would take some time, so she simply followed Ceri as she was led further into the sprawling pile that was apparently to be her home for the next subjective year. It was wiggy enough that she was seemingly solid enough to require food and drink after having died. The passageway they followed took an abrupt turn, and through the wide doorway at the far end she could make out an immense library of some sort. She could also hear the rich, sonorous tones of a man reciting an odd poem.

 

"I was the foreman

At the construction of Nimrod's Tower.

I was three times

In the prison of Arianrhod.

 

On the surface it made a strange sort of sense in places.

 

"I was at the Cross

With Mary Magdalene.

I received the muse

From Ceridwen's cauldron.

 

But the way he spoke the words, as if telling a tale of his own life, made the meaning seem ridiculous. No man could have lived to see the Crucifixion, not if they were alive today.

 

"I was at the White Mount

in the court of Cynfelyn.

In stocks and in fetters

For a year and a day.

 

"I was in the larder

In the land of the Trinity.

And no-one knows whether my body

Is flesh or fish.

 

"I was instructor

To the whole universe.

I shall be until the judgement

On the face of the Earth.

 

Ceri grinned indulgently as she came to a halt outside the doors. ‘Thy teacher is in a rare good mood Sunshine. ‘Tis his favourite poesy he speaks. One of his first,’ so saying, she ushered her charge forward, and when Buffy turned to thank her for the direction, she had vanished. *Odd, there aren’t any doors nearby, and not even a starved cat could get through these windows *

 

Shrugging, she headed into the large, book filled room. She couldn’t see anyone from her quick glance around the place, but there were so many floor-to-ceiling shelves in the area it was like a maze, with the only clear space a large central circle, marked out with desks and benches. There was the odd chair or two as well, but the centre of the room was what caught her attention.

 

The clear space in the middle was cordoned off by chalked symbols and oddly glowing daubs of some kind of ink, worked into an intricate pattern. Buffy found her eyes refusing to focus on it, sliding off to view it from her periphery. The lines seemed to pulsate, drawing her in and making her head spin. Dizzy, she felt herself stumbling forward, almost against her will. In fact, when she tried to stop and catch her breath for a moment, nothing happened. Beginning to panic a little she opened her mouth-

 

‘Don’t speak a word you foolish child! Do you have any idea what you almost did? Has nobody taught you not to interrupt a body in the middle of a working?! By the Teeth of Blessed Epona, you are the most ignorant wench!’

 

Green eyes ignited in fury at the sight of an irate twenty-something suddenly appearing in front of her with his hand over her mouth. His shoulder-length hair was dark red and coarse, with a white streak at his brow. Deep-set hazel eyes snapped with irritation at her supposed intrusion, and she huffed indignantly before opening her mouth again in protest. ‘Quiet I said! Not one word until I am finished with this. If anyone else speaks within 20 feet of this ring the whole thing will end in disaster. I have absolutely no wish at all to spend the next decade as a tree, do you hear me?’ She sullenly nodded, eyes still sparkling with anger. ‘Good. Now sit down, keep your pretty pink lips shut and touch nothing until I tell you it’s safe.’ Fuming, Buffy sat down- hard- on one of the few chairs, tucking her hands between her knees and turning her head from the nauseating lines of power.

 

*This is his GOOD mood? Holy crapola. What a jerk!*

‘I heard that, girl. Hush. No distractions. Go meditate or something.’ Her best slayerly glare goes completely un-noticed as the lanky man raises his arms and chants yet another verse that doesn’t make much sense. Mostly because it’s in a guttural demony-sounding language. When he finishes, he claps his hands and with a flash the screwy pattern vanishes. He turns to her with a grin. ‘The beginning of eternity, the end of time and space; the beginning of every end, and the end of every place.’

 

‘Huh?’ An incredulous face.

 

A condescending smirk. ‘Freya’s Tits girl, are you truly dense? It’s the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet.’

 

‘I’m supposed to know that off the top of my head? I’m the Slayer! I kill things without a heartbeat, I don’t get extra credit for knowing weird stuff about how I talk.’

 

‘Well that is unacceptable. Just because you might die at any time is no excuse to slack off on your education.’ He turns away and strides off into the stacks. Sulkily she stays where she was seated, still angered almost beyond reason by this supremely annoying man. *Just who the heck does he think he IS anyway?*

 

Wafting from the direction he’d disappeared in, as if in direct response to her thoughts;

 

“Primary chief poet

Am I to Elphin.

And my native country

Is the place of the Summer Stars.

 

"John the Divine

Called me Merlin,

But all future kings

Shall call me Taliesin.

 

"I was nine full months

In the womb of Ceridwen.

Before that I was Gwion,

But now I am Taliesin.

 

When he wandered back some 20 minutes later, he had an small stack of books piled in his arms. She peered warily at them, it all looked suspiciously like- ‘Homework. I want you to read at least one of these by tomorrow afternoon and be ready to discuss it with me. I’m going to be your primary guide for the cerebral stuff, and gods willing you’ll actually get somewhere by the time you toddle off back to the Mundane.’

 

‘Um… We kind of haven’t been introduced yet? I’m-’

 

‘I know who you are, girl. If you had been listening at all since you got here you’d know who I am. I practically spelled it out for you after all.’ A long-suffering grimace accompanies this remark, and he shoves the pile of books at her. ‘Now scoot, I have important things to attend to.’

 

Startled at the rude dismissal, she grabbed the books before they fell and stumbled around towards the door. *So gonna end up screaming at this guy. ‘More important stuff-’ What. An. Ass*

 

‘Hey! I resemble that.’

 

 

---

 

 ‘Hello Whistler, what’s going on?’

 

*Wonder how far around his head would spin if I told him the half of what I gotta deal with right now?* ‘Well we’ve hit a bit of a snag here kid, seems our Slayer has gone dark, off the radar so to speak. I need you to cover for us until we can bring her back.’

 

‘What do you mean, ‘gone dark’? What the hell is going on? She hasn’t patrolled at all in the last three days, where is she?’

 

‘Well see, that’s the thing, kid. She’s been sorta recalled by the PTB for some extra training stuff. We need you to watch the Hellmouth for her for about a month or so, two tops.’

 

‘Wait, what? Why me? Isn’t there anyone else? What about my destiny? I should be wherever Buffy is.’

 

‘Yeah sure kid, there’s another girl, but she won’t get here for a week or two, there’s some stuff tyin’ her down in Jamaica and that leaves us with a vulnerable Hellmouth. You gonna do it or do I tell the PTB you ain’t interested in redemption?’

 

‘I’ll stay. I gotta make sure it's safe for when she gets back, don't I?’

 

‘Sure kid’ *Whatever it takes to keep you here anyway*

 

---

Chapter End Notes:
The poetry used in this chapter is the boasting of Taliesin to the great king Maelgwn and may be seen in its' entirety here: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/taliesin.html