He was dreaming again. Ever since the Scoobies had found out about the Hell Goddess Glorificus, he dreamed every night.
The dreams were mostly a chaotic jumble of flashes of pictures. Most of the time centered on him in the middle of a fight. The fights were always changing. Sometimes he fought against man, against beasts, and against demons. Sometimes he fought with sword and shield, sword and spear, sword and dagger. Sometimes he fought with guns. Sometimes he fought with his hands. His emotions were detached in those particular flashes.
Sometimes the flashes were of a tallish man with crimson eyes and white hair, who wielded a huge sword that flamed a black flame with blood red runes carved into the blade. In these flashes, he felt pure ecstasy and pure terror. He felt like he should know the man and the sword.
Tonight was different however. In his dream, he was watching himself talking to a Lady. He held a dark sword casually in his right hand, and without warning he thrust into the chest of the lady. He could hear a chanting in the background but could not understand the language.
After a few moments the sword pulled itself out of the Lady, and lifted from his hand. There was a flash of light as a huge silver chalice appeared and the sword hovered over the chalice, gallons of blood pouring from the blade into the chalice.
After some time there appeared a huge hand, which picked up the chalice and pour the contents of the chalice into the sun. In the back of his mind he heard an echo of a whisper. 'Balance has been restored.'
His dreamscape flashed and he saw the white haired man once again. He was fighting, though this time he was wielding not one by two of those flaming black huge swords both with blood red runes. Somehow he knew that this man was fighting, and perhaps winning?, against Hell Gods.
Again his dreamscape flashed. He was in a room, perhaps 10 feet by 10 feet. There was an equal amount of light and shadows. He stood in the exact center of the room. On one side of him was a huge key, and on the other side was the Hell Goddess Glorificus. In front of him there was a shining beam of light, and he somehow knew that behind him was a shining beam of dark. He also knew that there was a sense of symbology in the room.
Never before had he been able to speak in these dreams but now he sensed he could. "Where am I?" he said aloud.
All four of the symbols in the room spoke at the same time. "Balance has been broken and balance must be restored.
"What do you mean?" asked Xander. "I don't understand. Why am I dreaming this? Why have I been having these dreams of fights? Who are you?"
Again all four of the symbols in the room spoke at the same time. "The last of the line of the balance. All other lines have been forcibly removed by those who seek to sway the balance to one side or another."
In a flash of light and shadow all four of the symbols vanished but a new something appeared in the room. It was the man with the white hair and crimson eyes.
"Once he was in your realm," he said. "he slept with a lady and sired a child. His line stayed alive and hidden." The man circled around him, studying him. "You are the sole living heir of his line, the last of the greatest of those who served the balance. The arrival of the Hell Goddess Glorificus into this realm has threatened the balance of this realm and thousands of others."
Across town Dawn awoke. She had the strangest dream. She observed a person in White Armor. She saw him in the middle of a room. On either side of him was a solid form of herself and the Hell Goddess Glorificus. In front and behind him she saw an Angel of Heaven and an Angel of Hell. She heard the entire conversation but did not know the meaning behind him. But she knew it was something very, very, very bad.
Dawn ran out of her room into Buffys' room and jumped on the bed, clutching her sister tightly in panic.
Buffy woke as soon as she heard her door open and saw Dawn jump onto her bed, then grabbing her tightly.
"Dawn, what's wrong?" she asked, as she wrapped her arms around Dawn, feeling her shivering in her arms as Dawn burrowed deeper into her grasp, burrowing her head into the crock of Buffys' neck and shoulder.
"I had a dream and it scared me for some reason." She then proceeded to tell Buffy the entirety of the dream.
Across on the other side of town, Glory opened her eyes from her trance. She too saw the same vision, but did not see who the Key is. However she did see Xander. And she knew exactly what the vision meant. The last of the line of Champion of Balance lives on this world, and if she speculated on what his birthright would entail. She also speculated on the role that he would be playing. She gave serious consideration to killing him before anything else could happen.
Meanwhile in the dream Xander turned and looked at the person. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am a memory, a shadow. He who I was died and his soul rests in the same place with his beloved. But the purpose behind him and behind the others has awoken me."
"But what does that have to do with me?" Xander asked.
"You are the last of his line. You are the last of those capable of restoring the balance in any of the realms."
"Whoa. What a minute. Time out. No way this is happening. This is just a dream. I am normal. I have no special thing about me other than my normality." Xander stated with a bit of panic in his voice.
"You have never been normal" the man, or was that memory, replied. "You have always had the choice, and you have always exercised your right to choose. You face now an important choice but unfortunately you do not have the knowledge needed to make that choice. I shall give it too you."
And with that, the shadow or memory of the man stepped INTO Xander.
Anya woke, hearing Xander groaning and muttering. She looked over to him and saw that the sheets around him were thrown off and that his body was tense and covered in sweat.
She heard clearly however "I was Urlik Skarsol. I was John Daker. I was Ilian of Garathorm." Before he lapsed back into his groans.
She reached over to try to waken him, but as soon as she touched him, she felt a power coursing through him. She had never felt power like that before in her long life and her hand flinched away.
She scrambled out of bed, grabbing the phone off the bed stand and backed herself into a corner, calling Giles.
After ringing for 4 times she heard Giles pick up. "Who the sod is this and why are you calling at … good bloody lord its 3am!"
"G-G-Giles … " she answered, panic showing in her voice as Xander started talking in a language she didn't know, but knew was one of the languages used by the Dukes of Hell.
"Anya? What's wrong?" Giles asked.
"I… Its… Its Xander. Something terrible is happening to him. Something really really bad is happening to my boyfriend right now." The panic in her voice raising.
On the bed Xander shouted in English. "We stood together at the fall of the Tower of Voilodion Ghagnasdiak. We fought Agak and Gagak on the Isle of the Reality Sea." Before lapsing into incomprehensible muttering once more.
"Good lord" Giles said. "Was that Xander?"
"Yes. Something bad is happening. Can you come over? Please?" Anya replied.
"I'll be right over."
The dreams of the Hellsword were slowly easing, allowing awareness to filter into the blade for the first time since the hellblade drank the essence of his wielder. The Hellblade could feel the skeletal hand holding onto the hilt, along with the ring of power on the hand.
Awareness slowly trickled into the Hellblade. It knew it was awake. And it knew that there was one who was worthy of wielding it. It began shifting its perceptions through the planes, looking for the one who would wield it, giving it life to drink from.
In the dream Xander was curled into a ball, the pain and shock of the memories crashing into him. He did not notice another person form into the room. He did however notice when the other stepped into him as well.
Again his mind was expanded. Millions upon millions years of lifetimes flowed into his mind. He could feel his body changing in response to the massive overload he was going through. He could feel his mind fighting to handle the massive influx of knowledge, skills, memories.
He did the only thing he could do … he passed out.
Anya heard the pounding of the front door as someone was knocking hard on it. She ran out of the bedroom into the living room and wrenched open the door. Giles ran into the room. "Xander, where is he?" he asked.
They both stiffened in shock as they heard a scream of pain … agony … torment, then what could only be described as the sound of air rushing in from the bedroom. Then there was silence.
Both Giles and Anya ran into the bedroom and saw that the bed was empty. There was a smell of ozone in the air.
The hellsword continued the search for it's new wielder. It's sense of awareness went into those realms where Evil held sway, deeper and deeper into the darkest of hells until it found a realm with a portal leading to the realm where it's wielder was.
Using a majority of it's remaining energy, it transposed it's physical self along with the ring of power into and through the portal and easily penetrated the barrier keeping the portal closed.
And for a brief moment, the Hellmouth was open with no one to defend it, and then it closed again.
In the ruins of the library, upon the floor lay a huge two-handed black sword and a golden band with a gem that looked to be a ruby.
The hellsword absorbed the excess energy runoff from the Hellmouth, slowly recharging itself. It could sense the life-force of many different types of Demons around, none close enough to drink from however. The hellsword smiled within itself. Defiantly prime feeding in this plane.
Giles got off the phone with Willow. He had told her that he needed her and Tara there immediately as this concerned Xander. He already had called Buffy, who was awake with Dawn. Buffy would swing by the dorm to pick up Willow and Tara and arrive here shortly.
Anya had finished writing down everything that she heard from what Xander was saying, and was already going through books looking for any match of the names.
Giles picked up the piece of paper with the writings and reviewed it. "Hmmm." He muttered. "I've never heard of these names or this place before." One piece of information then caught his eye. "Anya. Are you sure he was talking in one of the languages of the Hell Dukes?"
Anya nodded. "I never learned that language myself, since I was only a Vengeance Demon, but I have heard D'Hofryn speak with one of the upper demons in that language. I had asked him what it was, and he told me that I was better off not knowing the language of the Hell Dukes." Anya thought a moment. "The power I felt coursing though him. I never felt anything like it before anywhere." She paused. "Though I'm not saying that it couldn't be something Hellish, there are many powers there I never was allowed to go near."
Xander appeared in the darkened crypt with a whoosh of outgoing air, curled into a ball, lying on the floor.
Both the soldier and hyena spirits within him were wide-awake, and both dealing with the influx of energy caused by the massive surge of information from the memories and the new power coursing through the host body.
Both of the spirits knew that this could possibly cripple or outright kill their host, so they were working together to save the host.
The soldier spirit was handling the cataloging of information, filing all the useful information and tossing the rest into the back of the mind.
The hyena was working with the energy flowing through the body to enhance the body as the soldier analyzed the knowledge of himself and all of the fighting styles learned. In addition, the soldier was analyzing the memories of all the sorceries that the host now knows, and helping with the enhancing of the body so that it could properly make use of the additional knowledge.
When the spirit of the soldier and the spirit of the hyena were finished, the body of Xander Harris had changed massively. No longer was there any trace of fat on the body. The entire muscle system had been enhanced, as had the cardiovascular system. The hands were slightly larger and defiantly more nimble. While there were no physical changes to the eyes or nose, Xander would be able to see deeper into both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum, in addition too having the full senses of the Hyena.
During this, both the spirits of the soldier and the hyena were fully integrated into Xander. No longer was he a split being, but he was defiantly more, but would the changes be for the better?
Giles sighed as he leaned back into his chair, shutting yet another book that proved to be useless.
He reflected back on what happened after he informed everyone (Willow, Tara, Buffy, Dawn) of what happened in Xanders and Anyas bedroom.
Willow and Tara had tried to do a location spell on Xander, but the results were not good. Willow had broken down in tears while Tara had relayed the information that Xanders aura was nowhere within 1000 miles of the Magic Box.
Willow spoke up suddenly. "Giles. I have information on John Daker. He vanished from London during the 20s. He was seeing a Psychologist about dreams he had when he vanished. All of the names Xander mentioned were in the transcripts, along with a new one. Erekose."
Anya looked up suddenly at that point. "Erekose? I've heard of him. He is a legend. He was supposed to be a Champion of some type."
Giles stood and walked over to one of the bookshelves that had very old books. "I think I've read something about him."
Cordelia woke up with a scream. "Nightmare. It had to be a nightmare," she told herself. She could still feel the pure evil flowing from the sword that appeared through the Hellmouth. "Just in case, I think I'll call Angel."
Moments later, Cordelia was on the phone dialing.
"Angel? No. I'm ok. Listen. I'm not sure if this is important or not, but knowing how things go when everything starts looking good. No, I did not have a vision. Will you just shut up and listen. I had a dream that the Hellmouth opened and something exceptionally evil came through in the form of a sword. It felt so real. I just wanted to give you a heads up just in case this turned into something more than a dream."
The souled vampire known as Angel put the phone down and frowned. Looking at the clock, he noticed it was close to 5 in the morning. He picked up his phone book and then the phone up and called the apartment of Giles. After letting it ring for a minute he hung up.
Looking again, he called the number of the Magic Box. After a few moments he heard the phone picked up.
"Giles? It's Angel. Listen. I just got of the phone with Cordy, and she had a dream, not a vision but a dream. She dreamed that the Hellmouth opened and that something came through, possibly a sword."
He heard Giles ask for a moment. "Buffy, he heard Giles. Mrs. Chase had a dream that the Hellmouth opened tonight and that something came through. Could you go and check the library?"
Angel listened a moment as Giles asked him another question. "No, I've never heard of anyone called Erekose." He listened more as Giles filled him in tonight's events and what they had learned so far.
Angel then asked if Giles needed himself and his crew to come over for extra manpower, as LA was quiet at the moment.
After a moment of consideration, Giles responded that the extra help would defiantly be needed.
Buffy and Giles walks out of the Magic Box. It is obvious that underneath the jackets they have swords. "If the Hellmouth opened Giles, shouldn't the world have ended?" Buffy asked.
"Yes Quite. But tonight's events and the issue of a Hell Goddess hanging out in Sunnydell, a quick inspection couldn't hurt."
Xander stirred and woke. He looked around, wondering where he was and how he got there. The first thing he does is feel his neck. "Whew. No hickies and a pulse. This is good. Now where am I?"
He then pauses as the memories of the night begin to resurface.
He looks up to the ceiling and moans. "Why me? What did I do?"
He takes a deep breath and decides to head over to the Magic Box. Opening the door to the Crypt, he suddenly heard a murmur in the back of his head, with a slight pull towards the ruins of the High School.
He pauses a moment and utters one word. "Stormbringer."
He never thought he would end up like this. Sure, everyone thought he was a demon for a while, but he never truly thought he would end up as a demon. All in all, he thought as he continued walking through the sewers heading towards the ruins of the high school, Vampirism totally sucked, and not in the 'I'm thirsty' kind of way.
At first, unlife as a vampire had been hard. For some reason that no one had been able to explain he had kept his soul. Sure the Demon was there, always ready to whisper encouraging advise on how to handle stress (mostly along the lines of beat whatever was stressing me then sucking it dry). After the first year, he had gotten a handle on things. Keeping the nightlife in Miami in check was enjoyable, especially since he was doing most of the beating instead of being beat upon.
Then Whistler had showed up, and told him that he was needed in a very urgent way in good old Sunnydell. After I told him to fuck off and get a new fashion sense, Whistler told me that unless I went to Sunnydell, everything was going to have an express one-way ticket to Hell with no stops between.
So here I am, walking through the damn sewers, going to the ruins of the high school. I have absolutely no idea why; all I can feel is that something is pulling me. I keep hearing that damn song in the back of my head, and it's really starting to piss us both off.
As Xander walked towards the ruins of the high school, he began to realize a few things. The first was that it was still dark, though he could somehow sense that sunrise was not to far away. The second was that how amazingly wonderful the slight breeze was, until he realized that other than his cross, the only thing he had on was his boxers.
The third thing he realized was that glass in the unprotected foot really hurt as he stepped on it and jumped off.
Sitting down with a muttered curse, he pulled the shard of glass out. He then looked with annoyance at his foot. "Of course. I couldn't have been kidnapped with a full set of cloths on. No, I had to go and get kidnapped wearing nothing other than my boxers. With a sigh, he ripped a portion of his boxers for a makeshift bandage for his bleeding foot.
"One day, I swear something is going to go right for me. It has to happen. I mean, everything bad that has happened, you would think that somewhere something good has to happen. But no, the universe is still regarding me as it's personal butt monkey. I'm so sick of this shit."
Standing up, he began making his way towards the high school once again, more careful of where he stepped. All the while muttering curses at himself and the universe at large.
"Minions!" Glory screamed out from her bedroom. "Lay out my blue dress with the matching shoes. I'm going into town."
She heard her minions starting to scurry about as they hastened to obey her orders.
Buffy stopped about 100 feet away from the library as her slayer sense kicked in. She knew she didn't have the best of the slayer sense, and she knew that whatever she was picking up from this far had to be very bad.
She had never felt such an overwhelming sense of pure evil before in her life. Not even the Master was as bad as what she was currently feeling coming from the library.
"Giles." She said. "Whatever is in the library, I'm feeling it from here."
Giles, who had stopped when Buffy did, reached up to pull his glasses off and began to polish them. After a moment he put them back on. "Right. Can you tell anything about what your feeling?"
"Only that it is yuckier than the Master. I'm picking up on whatever this is way longer than I did the Master."
Looking around, Giles could see no one, so he reached under and behind his coat and pulled out his crossbow and deftly loaded it. "Quite. Do you want to go have a look-see then?"
Buffy smiled. "I'm the Slayer. I feel the need to do some quality Slayage."
Giles sighed as the grin on Buffys face widened.
"Quite so."
Xander was hobbling faster now. He could feel Stormbringer, and he somehow knew that the hellblade was sitting literally on top of the Hellmouth. He knew he had to get to it before something else did.
In the back of his mind, he also knew he was the only person who could safely get near the hellblade, let alone pick it up. With a quick snort, he realized that the word safely was relative as the end moments of Elrics life flashed before his eyes.
"At least I'm the only one stupid enough to be going to the hellmouth right now." He muttered to himself.
He then blinked his eyes. "Aww shit. I just had to go and jinx myself." With a moan he uttered "WHEN AM I GOING TO LEARN TO SHUT UP!?"
The Vampire could sense both the arrival of the Slayer and the Champion. He knew he had to hurry to get into the library for whatever was there before either of them got there first. Using his full vampiric speed, he started running.
Running into the library moments before either the Slayer or the Champion, he looked about.
The demon within the hellblade smiled as he sensed his wielder was now within the room. Using a portion of the energy leeched from the portal, the demon lifted the hellblade and flew it towards his wielder.
"Dear god I'm too late." He said as he saw Stormbringer moving of its own will to someone in the middle of the library.
He was even more shocked as he saw the person lift his hand to catch the blade by the hilt. Once the hand meet the hilt, Stormbringer pulsed to life, a sweet terrible moaning coming from the blade as the runes on the blade glowed in an holy bright blood red. The light was enough for him to make out the face of the person who caught the blade, and he came to a complete halt in horror.
Buffy rushed into the ruins of the library intending to enter with noise so that Giles could slip in during the distraction.
What she saw chilled her to her very soul. She saw the backside of someone she knew holding a sword in both hands. There was a moaning that shivered deep into her bones, chilling her worse than a moment before. She could see a horrible red light coming from in front of him. "Noooo! Dear God noooo" she screamed out.
As Glory stepped out of the elevator into the lobby she paused as she saw someone who could NOT be here.
"Hello Xiomburg." The man said. "We have much to … discuss." As his right hand fingered his eye patch, his left hand already was glowing.
"Corum!" she snarled. "You're dead. I saw your lifeless body!"
Corum smiled. There was no mirth or humor in that smile, but death. "I have yet to die, Xiomburg, but that doesn't help your immediate future any, now does it?" he asked as his hand lifted the eye patch.
"Come to me" he intoned "come and kill."
With a ripple, reality itself buckled in the lobby of the Marriott, as 4 skeletal demons armed with scythes phased into being. All four looked at Corum. He pointed to Glory. "I Give you the Queen of Swords, Xiomburg of Chaos."
The four looked at Glory, and advanced.
With a shimmer, Corum vanished. "I have done what I can here." He whispered to himself. "Time for me to resume my own destiny."
The power rolling into him from the sword was indescribably sweet, downright seductive. His left hand came up to clasp the sword as he lifted it above his head, the darklight flowing down the blade onto his hands, down his arms, onto him. His eyes stared adoringly onto the blood red runes. "Stormbringer." He whispered.
He turned towards Buffy, the sword lowering into a ready position, both his demonic self and the hellblade whispering dark seductive thoughts of the power he would gain from killing her.
She heard him whisper a word "Stormbringer" as he clasped the sword in both hands, and his body covered in the dark flame of the blade. He turned to her, and her world shattered once and for all as she saw Xander, with his gameface on, the sword he held lowering into a ready position.
In that moment, the spirit of the Slayer took control. Buffy turned and ran, grabbing Giles and literally carring him over his shoulder as she ran.
Xander snarled to himself. "ALEX!" he almost shouted.
Vampire-Xander turned. "Xander. You're the champion?"
Xander looked upon his created twin self, noting his Gameface. "Alex, why?"
Alex paused a moment, both his demonic side and the sword whispering in his mind. His body quivered a moment, but then he lowered the point of the sword, until it was resting upon the floor. The hellblade moaned in disappointment.
"I was told to come here. A fashion reject by the name of Whistler told me I was needed here." Alex lowered his face a moment, and when he looked up, his gameface was gone.
Xander looked at his created twin. "I had hoped that you would have had a better life than me." He paused for a moment. "You know by picking up that blade, you have doomed yourself?"
Alex smiled, a warm smile. "Maybe. Being a Vampire hasn't been all roses and twinkies. Damn I miss eating those."
They both stared at each other.
"Alex, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know Xander. Though I do know that he" motions his head towards Stormbringer "needs to feed. And I'd rather not have him munch on you."
And with that, Alex slipped back into the sewers and disappeared.
Xander looked around, noting the ring of kings lying on the floor.
He bent over and picked it up, slipping it onto his ring finger of his left hand. "Well, I don't think I'm going to get a warm reception at the magic box now." He sighed. "I just had to go and jinx myself."
He pauses a moment in thought. "I'll slip back … damn no key. Ok, I'll break into my parents house and steal some of my dads clothes, wait till sun in the sky and see if I survive the magic box." And with that, he slipped out of the library.
In the back of his mind, he was worried. He knew things had gone from iffy to bad. Too much had happened too soon for everything to sink in however. Later, he knew, when he had the time, he would probably suffer a breakdown, but right now, he didn't have the time. So he shelved his emotional state into the back and worked with the problems at hand.
He looked up to the sky as he walked. "Why do you all enjoy fucking with me? Do I have some massive bad karma going for me? Or did you draw straws to the 'which mortal can we fuck over today?' lot?"
Giles sat in his chair, sipping his tea, deep in thought.
After they had returned from the Library, Buffy told everything she saw. Now she was sitting in a chair, catatonic. Willow and Dawn were clutching each other still crying softly.
Anya had passed out, and was currently lying on the couch, and Tara was holding both Willow and Dawn, trying to offer what comfort she could.
This could not have happened at a worse possible time, Rupert mused to himself. For all intents and purposes the defenders of the Hellmouth and humanity were shattered with the news of Xanders turning. And that sword that Buffy had described, he never heard anything like that in any of the lore he read.
Spike was running for his unlife. He knew it, and he hated it. He had no clue what had happened to Droopy. Even though the scent wasn't quite right, he knew that was Droopy, armed with that huge nasty hellsword.
Minutes earlier, Spike had been trying to avoid a group of 5 Valoura demons, when Droopy came running into the group. He was wielding this huge black sword that was moaning, and runes glowing blood red. The first of the Valoura went down hard, the blade buried deep in its chest.
Droopy moved through the group like a whirlwind, his gameface on and sword swinging. Then he spotted Spike and smiled a cold evil smile. Spike took off running while Droopy was dealing with the remaining Valoura. He knew that he had to get to the magic box to let the others know that droopy had been turned and was defiantly worse than before.
He could hear Droopy running behind him, catching up. That damned blade moaning and screaming. Deciding not to waste time with the blanket, he went straight up the ladder and shoved against the manhole cover. He figured he would survive a brief time of sunlight better than whatever Droopy wanted to do to him.
Running as hard and fast as he could, he quickly moved through the brief patch of sunlight before hitting the backdoor of the Magic Box and moving inside. Throwing himself forward was the only thing that saved his life as that damned blade easily penetrated the 7-inch thick oak door all the way threw to the hilt.
"I'll get you next time, Spike." He heard as the sword was withdrawn.
Glory was exhausted and she knew it. She had killed all 4 of the Ka'ratha, but she had defiantly taken damage. She would have to forgo her trip into town this time; instead she needed to head back into her room to recover.
Thankfully, she knew, the apes in this city would ignore the fight that had occurred.
While riding up the elevator she reflected on the new element. Corum was dead, she knew. The only way she could figure he was here was if the Grey Lords had asked him to interfere with her. But was this a one shot, or could she expect to encounter the only mortal that had ever come close to truly killing her?
In a seemingly emptiness, three beings confer with each other. One is the form of a white Unicorn, one is the form of a red Serpent, and the last is the form of a gray Tree.
"The joining has not gone according to its purpose." The Tree stated. "The old one broke the pact."
The Serpent spoke up. "We never had control over that one or his sister. I fear it has a purpose of its own now."
"What purpose could it be following?" the Tree inquired.
"Unknown. Through the actions so far I speculate the old one might wish to prevent the awakening of the Champion permanently, or perhaps become the Champion, but that is pure speculation. Perhaps the old one has decided to aid the Champion differently than we had wished. I said it was a mistake to involve the old one in this affair." The Serpent stated.
"If the old one turns against the Champion is there anything more that can be done to aid the Champion?" the Unicorn inquired.
A moment of silence followed.
"We could open the realm and allow one of our Champions to aid the Champion." Stated the Serpent.
Another moment of silence followed.
"Who could we send?" inquired the Serpent. "None of mine would be capable of garnering the trust of the Champion. Yours" indicating the Tree "are all busy conflicting against mine, and hers" indicating the Unicorn "are conflicting against themselves and mine."
"There is one of mine who is resting." The Unicorn stated. "If the three of us explained the need to him, and he agreed, we could awaken him with a portion of our energies. Bond to the three of us to aid the Champion."
"Who do you have in mind?" the Serpent inquired.
"The father of the Champion, Eric."
"For now we shall observe. However, it is prudent that we confer with the father of the Champion and make plans for his involvement if it becomes needed." The Tree stated.
"Agreed." Both the Serpent and the Unicorn said.
Rifling quickly through his fathers clothes, Xander found a pair of shorts and a shirt that he could fit into, thanking whichever God that was listening that today was a comfortable day. He decided he would return to the apartment he shared with Anya so that he could get into more comfortable clothing before heading over to the Magic Box. While rifling through his fathers' dresser, he found a folder with his (Alexander) name on it. He decided to look through it. The first page in there was the adoption paper on him (Alexander).
Stunned, he pushed the paper back into the folder and replaced the folder back into the drawer and left the house.
Spike rested on the floor as Giles rushed into the backroom. "What the bloody hell happened here?" Giles asked, his voice decidedly angry.
"Droopy got turned." Spike replied as he stood up and brushed dust off of his duster.
With a look of pain Giles responded, "How do you know?"
"He tried to kill me in the sewers. He has a huge sword that downright bothered me, the stupid wanker." Spike responded as he pulled out a cigerette and lit it up.
Spike paused a moment. "Though, it didn't quiet smell like Droopy did. There was defiantly something off about his scent."
Anya called out for Giles from the training room. "Giles, can you give me a ride to the apartment?"
Giles walked back into the training room. "Are you sure, Anya? We're all here for you."
Anya nodded. "I need to feel him."
Giles thought a moment.
"That's a good idea. We'll all go with you." Giles looked over at Tara. "Can you help Buffy?"
Tara nodded shyly, got up and walked over to Buffy.
"B-B-Buffy, we a-are going to Xanders apartment."
Buffy just nodded as she sat there, staring into nothingness.
Tara looked over at Giles, then back to Buffy. Tara then gently placed her hands on Buffys and pulled her up. Buffy followed automatically.
"Oh dear." Giles said, as he pulled off his glasses and began polishing them.
"Tara, you'll have to drive yourself and Willow in Buffys car. I'll take Buffy and Dawn in mine."
"What about me, you stupid Git?" asked Spiked.
Giles looked bleakly at Spike. "You'll ride in the trunk of my car."
Xander was thankful that he thought up the excuse of 'Morning walk and locked out.' Which in some ways when he thought about it could be considered true. He didn't quite go for a walk, but in some ways he could have been excused for not remembering to grab his keys.
Xander walked into his apartment, opening up the drapes leading out onto the balcony and sat down in his lazy boy recliner chair, feeling the sunlight warming him as he started shivering.
"What the hell is happening to me?" he asked himself. His mind focused on the easier issue, his adoption, rather than focus on what exactly happened to him earlier this morning. "Who am I?" he whispered as he started crying softly.
So wrapped up in his finding out he was adopted, he didn't hear the front door open, nor did he notice Anya walk in.
He did however hear her scream as she saw him and ran back out.
"BUFFY! IT'S HERE IN THE LIVING ROOM. XANDER IS IN MY LIVING ROOM!" Anya screamed out loudly.
Buffy blinked as the words sank into her mind. Then she blinked again, actually hearing the words. She thought of the demon hiding in the form of her Xander Shaped Friend, and knew she had to kill it here and now before it could get away.
A feral light gleamed in her eyes as she straightened up and ran into the apartment, stake in hand.
She saw Xander standing in front of his loafing chair, the fact that he was standing in a batch of sunlight not registering in her mind.
With a mindless snarl of rage, she charged, stake raised.
Xander sat in his chair, not relaxed in any sense of the word. Everything that had happened to him since he woke up kept tumbling through his mind.
He never heard the door to their apartment unlock nor open. He never sensed Anya coming into the living room.
"BUFFY! IT'S HERE IN THE LIVING ROOM. XANDER IS IN MY LIVING ROOM!" He heard Anya screamed out loudly.
He stood up as she ran out of the room, not even giving him time to say anything.
Then he saw Buffy charge into the room, and look at him, a look of hate in her eyes.
With a mindless snarl of rage, she charged, stake raised.
Xander panicked, and before he could say anything, Buffy was upon him, thrusting the stake into him. He reacted instinctively, though with far more grace and skill than he should have had.
Everything seemed to slow down; he could plainly see Buffys movements. He half turned and caught her wrist with his left hand, his right hand catching her right shoulder and with a thrust of both hands, using her own energy against her, shoved her into the wall.
Buffy rebounded, using her arms to shove off the wall, turning to on the hell of her left foot, her right leg sweeping up into a kick.
With a seemless ease, Xander caught her foot with his right hand at the ankle, and with a sharp pull and twist, pulled Buffy off balance and down onto her left knee. Letting go of her ankle, he backed up into the middle of the living room, out of the sunlight.
Buffy jumped to her feet, and charged again, slower this time, more carefully, but still a charge none the less. Her entire body language screamed 'Kill' and a utter contempt for the opponent she faced, as well as a rage.
Xander again went to catch her wrist, but this time she was prepared for that stunt, and he got rocked back with a hard left hook across his jaw. He went with the punch and used the energy to swing himself fully around, catching Buffy on the side of her head with a very hard and jarring punch that staggered her while his left leg came up in a short but very powerful kick that caught her in her midsection and literally propelled her across the room, into the wall separating the apartment from the next, and then through the wall.
Screams of panic came from the next apartment as Buffy crashed into his neighbor, thankfully not staking her.
Giles, who had watched most of the fight, was shocked at the speed and strength of this fledgling vampire. The ease in which it deflected the attacks of his Slayer and then the strength needed to halt her with a punch, then the additional strength needed to propel her through a wall was defiantly outside the normal for a fledgling against a very well experienced and skilled Slayer.
The fledgling paused, apparently admiring the ease in which he disposed of the Slayer, giving Giles that one moment needed to shoot the crossbow. He knew he had no chance of getting a shot into the heart due to the position, but anything to slow it down would help.
Shocked at his move, he paused just for a moment, but that moment was the time Giles needed to shoot the crossbow. He heard the twang of the crossbow, and instinctively jumped backwards as the bolt passed him and shot out through his window. Again, he was standing in sunlight as he turned towards Giles.
Giles was shocked at the speed and reaction of the fledgling as it jumped out of the way of the bolt … and into the sunlight.
The fledgling turned to look at him, no expression other than a detached calm on its face.
By this time, Xander had fully retreated into his own mind, letting his instincts carry this fight. He had no idea why his friends were attacking him, but he didn't want to kill them unless he had no choice. He saw the opportunity he needed to escape while Giles was in shock. Turning, he ran towards the glass door leading to his balcony, and with a crash, went through it, not paying attention to the little cuts he got on his arms from the glass. With a leap he was over the railings and landed gracefully on the grounds below.
Running at full speed, he vanished into the buildings of the complex.
Giles stood in shock as his mind repeated the events again. Xander stepping into the sunlight, looking at him, then turning face fully into the sunlight, through the glass doorway, over the railing and vanished.
No fire from his skin.
He then noticed that there was bright red blood on some of the glass and realized that was not a vampire they had faced.
"Oh dear lord." He said.
Dropping his crossbow, he quickly ran through the hole in the wall and found Buffy groggily picking herself up from the floor. Of the lady she crashed into, there was no sign of.
He helped her up and pulled her. "Buffy, we have to get out of here now." He said. "There has been a dreadful mistake on our part."
Pulling her quickly, he ducked back into Xanders apartment.
"Wha?" Buffy asked confusedly.
"That wasn't a vampire." Giles said, as he walked over to the remains of the glass door. He bent and picked up a shard of glass that was stained with Xanders blood. He then showed it to the Slayer. "Xander jumped into the sunlight after I attempted to shoot him. He then turned and crashed through the glass door and out over the railing." He then showed her the shard of glass. "Plus his blood is defiantly the wrong shading to be a vampire." He began walking out of the apartment, bending to pick up the crossbow on the way out.
"Huh?" Buffy asked again. "If that wasn't a Vampire, then what was it?"
Giles bent down and picked up the crossbow as he walked past it, and out into the hallway.
"Xander, I am presuming at this point."
Xander ran. He didn't have a place in mind, but he knew he had to get out of the area before a chase could be formed.
Panic had passed, and in its place was both confusion and anger. <Why did they try to kill me? It's not like I'm evil or anything. >
He remembered the events from earlier this morning. <Ok, they thought I might have been a vampire, but to straight out kill me, not even trying to re-soul me? >
That's when anger turned into rage. < If I were Angel Buffy would have demanded that I be re-souled. Now I see how she, Giles, and Anya truly feel about me. >
His mind worked in over-drive as he remembered the entire shoving aside they had done to him. The painful comments that were made about him. The fetch runs he was told to do.
All of the pain, hurt, and rage from his home life and his treatment from his supposed friends boiled and seethed. "SCREW THIS" he shouted as he ran. "I'm DONE with them."
The Serpent turned to look towards the Tree. "Well played." Said the Serpent. "I would not have guessed that the isolation of the Champion could have been so easily done."
"Thank you." Said the Tree.
Angel was annoyed. All of the things that he could have been doing, visiting the PtB was not on his list of things to do.
And this time, the visit was not of his choosing. Instead, Cordelia had received a vision, showing him visiting the PtB.
Stepping through the doorway, he entered the realm of the PtB.
"He has arrived." Said one of them to the other.
"Our champion will fix the abnormality," said the other.
Angel stepped forward. "I bring" he started to say before he was cut off.
Both of the Oracles turned and looked at him. One of them said, "We summoned you. There is no gift required. You are needed at the Mouth of Hell."
The other picked up from there, "You will find the human named Alexander Harris and kill him. His death shall be your redemption and resurrection into human form."
The other then picked up from there, "He has turned against the forces of light. Observe." And Angel saw the fight between Xander and Buffy. He saw Xander attacking Buffy by grabbing her wrist and shoving her into a wall, then saw Xander easily throwing Buffy through the wall. The demon within him raged at this sight. How dare someone hurt HIS chosen mate!
"He must be stopped before he can harness the power of the Mouth of Hell." Said one. "Those who were his companions must not know of your task, they would interfere and give him the time needed to open the Mouth of Hell, as they think they can reason with him."
Angel thought for a moment. His redemption being offered at the price of someone who turned away from the side of Light. Someone that he had no like for.
"Agreed," Angel stated calmly "but after the sunsets."
"There is no time." Both of the Oracles said in unison. The one on the right tossed a box to Angel. Opening it, he saw the Ring of Amara.
"There is one more thing." One of the Oracles said. "Inform the Hell Goddess Glorificus that we shall send her to her home realm if she aids you in your task."
The Oracles sat with their eyes closed, observing events throughout the Universe. Some of those events they subtly manipulated, others they simply observed.
Un-observed by them a shimmering started in the air behind them. At first, it was in the vague form of a person. Then ghostlike details started flowing into place. The height of the person was roughly 6 feet possibly 1 or 2 inches. Broad shoulders. As the shimmering intensified more detail came into view.
Dark hair and beard, both so dark almost blue. Wearing a leather jacket and leather leggings, a plain cloak, and high black boots. There is a red sword belt around his waist where a long silvery saber that is clasped with a ruby is seen. There are black gloves tucked into the belt near his right hip. His cloak, collar around his head, is lined with red and the trimmings of his sleeves matched the color of the cloak. The expression on his face promises pain and suffering.
Both of the Oracles opened their eyes and turn towards the unknown. A power of an unknown and exceptionally powerful type can be felt radiating off the man.
"Who are you " started one of the Oracles "that disturbs us." Finished the other.
"I am your reward for interfering." Said the unknown man.
Speaking under his breath quickly, he mutters 2 words. A beam of bright blue light springs from a ring on his right hand, separates into 2 beams, and impacts upon the Oracles. There appears to be no result from the spell.
The man smiles grimly. "This is your reward. You will never be able to move again, nor will you be able to do anything other than simply observe what is in front of you. Unless some kind soul comes in here and turns you around, you will be forever locked. However this does not prevent someone from killing either of you, if that is their desire, as your protections have been stripped from you."
The man turns and begins walking towards the wall, his brow furrowed slightly. With a shimmer, he starts to fade out until he can no longer be seen.