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Willow was sitting at a desk in the library, half buried in an avalanche of ancient tomes. Giles was mooching around, picking volumes off the shelves and leafing through them. There was no urgent evil afoot, but they were trying to garner a little more information about the Master.
After a long period of silent reading, Willow looked up from her book. "Why do crosses burn vampires?" she asked.
Giles took a moment to surface from his thoughts (which concerned the age-old question: who sired the Master?). "Sorry?"
Willow tapped one of the pages she'd been reading. "This book's about things that hurt or kill vampires? but it doesn't give any reason why crucifixes work. I was just wondering why they do."
"Ah, well?" Giles blinked. He'd thought about this before, of course, and read extensively on the subject ? as on every subject relating to his calling. Some argued that it was psychosomatic on the vampire's part. Christian scholars, naturally, inclined towards the notion that it was the work of the Lord. "There's never really been any satisfactory explanation."
"Wow. So?this is something you don't know the answer for?" Willow's eyes widened. "Gosh. My world is turning upside down and inside out."
"Afraid so."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened further. "Could it mean I should be accepting Jesus as my personal saviour? Cause, I got to tell you, my dad will be none too pleased with this news."
Giles opened his mouth to reply, but Willow was on a roll.
"And?if it is a Jesus thing? what about the whole BC period? If you'd pointed two crossed bits of wood at a vampire then, would it work? Or did crosses only start working AD?"
Giles leaped in as she paused for breath. "Well, there is a theory that in pre-Christian times, the sign of the cross was not effective against vampires, and that after the birth of Christ, the cross became a weapon that embodied the power of his sacrifice? but the bother is, the books on the subject were largely written by monks, so one might suspect bias."
"Yeah, huh, a little!" Willow shook her head. "Well, what do you think is true?"
"I honestly can't decide," said Giles. "It's one of life's little mysteries."
"Pretty darned big mystery!" exclaimed Willow.
"Well, yes, quite," Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them. "But if there is a God, and then I wish there was a convenient way of contacting him. I would dearly love to pick his brains about chronology of demon evolution and how that maps onto the Christian calendar of events."
Willow wrinkled her nose in puzzlement. "If there's a God, you want to talk to him about ancient history and demon biology? Not why there's evil, or?why he allows suffering?"
Giles replaced his glasses and smiled. "I have a feeling I'm more likely to get a straight answer on my particular line of enquiry. However, in the meantime, since I doubt we're going to resolve this question today? perhaps we should turn our focus from the Lord to the Master?"
"This is gonna be bugging me all day if I can't find out the answer," Willow complained. "All week! All my life!"
"We all have our crosses to bear," said Giles.
After a long period of silent reading, Willow looked up from her book. "Why do crosses burn vampires?" she asked.
Giles took a moment to surface from his thoughts (which concerned the age-old question: who sired the Master?). "Sorry?"
Willow tapped one of the pages she'd been reading. "This book's about things that hurt or kill vampires? but it doesn't give any reason why crucifixes work. I was just wondering why they do."
"Ah, well?" Giles blinked. He'd thought about this before, of course, and read extensively on the subject ? as on every subject relating to his calling. Some argued that it was psychosomatic on the vampire's part. Christian scholars, naturally, inclined towards the notion that it was the work of the Lord. "There's never really been any satisfactory explanation."
"Wow. So?this is something you don't know the answer for?" Willow's eyes widened. "Gosh. My world is turning upside down and inside out."
"Afraid so."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened further. "Could it mean I should be accepting Jesus as my personal saviour? Cause, I got to tell you, my dad will be none too pleased with this news."
Giles opened his mouth to reply, but Willow was on a roll.
"And?if it is a Jesus thing? what about the whole BC period? If you'd pointed two crossed bits of wood at a vampire then, would it work? Or did crosses only start working AD?"
Giles leaped in as she paused for breath. "Well, there is a theory that in pre-Christian times, the sign of the cross was not effective against vampires, and that after the birth of Christ, the cross became a weapon that embodied the power of his sacrifice? but the bother is, the books on the subject were largely written by monks, so one might suspect bias."
"Yeah, huh, a little!" Willow shook her head. "Well, what do you think is true?"
"I honestly can't decide," said Giles. "It's one of life's little mysteries."
"Pretty darned big mystery!" exclaimed Willow.
"Well, yes, quite," Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them. "But if there is a God, and then I wish there was a convenient way of contacting him. I would dearly love to pick his brains about chronology of demon evolution and how that maps onto the Christian calendar of events."
Willow wrinkled her nose in puzzlement. "If there's a God, you want to talk to him about ancient history and demon biology? Not why there's evil, or?why he allows suffering?"
Giles replaced his glasses and smiled. "I have a feeling I'm more likely to get a straight answer on my particular line of enquiry. However, in the meantime, since I doubt we're going to resolve this question today? perhaps we should turn our focus from the Lord to the Master?"
"This is gonna be bugging me all day if I can't find out the answer," Willow complained. "All week! All my life!"
"We all have our crosses to bear," said Giles.
