Travelers of both time and space

"Say, Willow," whispered Kennedy, pointing to Amy, "isn't that the skank who caused so much trouble for us a few years back?"

"No," whispered Willow, "I'm pretty sure that's a different skank. I mean, it's obviously not the Amy Madison we know or else she wouldn't be so chummy with Buffy. Though come to think of it, the Buffy Summers we know would never dress like that."

"We can hear you, you know," said Amy. "And what do you mean by 'the Amy Madison we know'? As far as I know, there's only one Amy Madison in the world and I'm it. The same goes for Buffy here."

"Well, in all fairness, Amy, there are other worlds than this one and in most of those worlds, things turn out differently than they do in this one," said Willow. "For example, in the world Kennedy and I come from, Buffy Summers still wears clothes."

"Hey, I used to wear clothes too," said Buffy. "Then I got hit by a nudity curse. Amy here has been trying to help me find a cure but so far she's been unsuccessful so she came here. However, if what you say is true, then some time in the future, she does find a cure."

"Of course, what I say is true," said Willow. "I have no reason to lie to you. You're my friend. At least back in my home world, you were."

"And in some of the worlds we visited -- especially the ones where Willow never met me -- you two become more than friends," said Kennedy. "Way more than friends. In fact --"

"I love you, Kennedy, but now would be a good time to shut up," said Willow. "Please. Anyway, Buffy, the Buffy we knew never got hit by a nudity curse. So it's obviously not certain whether or not Amy will ever find a cure."

"Well, you two are full of cheerful information," said Amy.

Then she turned back to the Count. "So do we have a deal?"

The Count just smiled. "Well, frankly, I was hoping to find out what Mademoiselle Rosenberg wanted before I answered that question."

"Nothing much, really," said Willow. "Just an autograph. And a little bit of the philosopher's stone. If you can spare it."

"Geez, Willow," said Amy. "You don't ask for much."

"Oh, just let her have it, Amy," said Buffy. "I really want to get out of here before something weird happens."

"What makes you think something weird is going to happen?" asked Amy.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Roger went to answer it. He soon returned and whispered something in the Count's ear. The Count in turn whispered something into Roger's ear.

Five minutes later, Roger was escorting two women -- one a young blonde girl about Buffy's age, and the other a considerably older brunette -- into the Count's presence.

"Hi," said the oldest of the new arrivals. "I'm Jenny Calendar. And this is my friend Tara Maclay. We're both big fans of your work in the alchemical arts. We didn't mean to drop by unannounced but we just happened to be in the neighborhood -- Hey, Amy! Hey, Buffy! Hey, Willow! What are you all doing here? And why do all three of you look like you've seen a ghost?"