"So where do you wanna go?" Willow asked as she, Buffy, and Xander made their way down the sidewalk in sunny San Francisco. After closing the Hellmouth two weeks earlier the gang was staying in Frisco to figure out what to do next. "How about the mall?" Buffy asked. "Sounds great." Willow agreed. "Then lets go." Buffy said as she and the redhead made their way down the sidewalk.
"Hey don't I get a say in this?" Xander asked as he followed. "Nope." Both girls called back in unison. "Great this means I end up carrying the bags." Xander said as he followed his friends with a slight frown on his face as people continuously stared at his eye patch.
"Wow this is much bigger than the one back home." Buffy said as she looked around the large shopping center in awe. "I'll say." Willow said as she too was in awe. "A malls a mall in my book." Xander said as he made his way towards the food court. "Hey where you going, we wanna shop for cloths." Buffy said to her friend. "Yeah and I don't I'll meet you in an hour." Xander said as he made his way towards a different part of the mall while the two girls headed towards on of the many clothing shops.
"In all the years they've known me I can't believe they still think I find shopping for cloths enjoyable." Xander muttered as he kept walking around the large mall. "Now where to go?" Xander said as he saw several stores that interested him. After thinking for a few minutes he decided on Wizards of the Coast and made his way there but before he made it far he was knocked to the ground.
Looking around for what knocked him over Xander spotted a woman on the ground near him and moved to help her up. "Are you ok?" Xander asked as he helped the red headed woman to her feat. "Yeah I'm fine." The woman said brushing herself off. She then bent down to pick up her bags and Xander quickly crouched down to lend a hand. As they were picking up her stuff Xander had a good look at her and saw she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She was about 5'3 or 5'4 with red hair just past her shoulders and brown eyes
"Thanks." She said as she stood back up and finally got a good look at the man she ran into. "No prob." Xander responded and noticed the shocked look on her face. "It's the eye patch right?" Xander asked the woman. "Yeah sorry for staring its just you don't see those to often." The woman responded. "Don't worry about happens all the time." Xander said back. "Well I got to get going sorry again." The woman said then hurried off.
Xander stared back at her for a second before once again heading for the gaming store. After about an hour looking around the store Buffy and Willow came both laden with shopping bags. "Hey Xan how did we know we'd find you here." Buffy said with a smirk. "I'm just predictable I guess." Xander said back with his trademark grin. "So you gonna get anything here?" Willow asked as she looked at the various dungeons and dragons books on the shelf. "Nah I was just looking around." Xander said as they headed for the exit of the store.
Soon the trio made it to the food court where they sat down and got some food. "This was a good idea you know, just the three of us spending the day together." Buffy said as she bit into her sandwich. "Yeah when was the last time it was just the three of us?" Willow asked as she dug into her salad. "Not since high school I think." Xander said as he ate his burger. "So what should we do after lunch?" Willow asked the other two at the table. "How about a movie?" Buffy asked. "Sounds good I here the new X-men movie is good." Xander said as he finished up his burger. "Xander I'm not seeing some comic geeks movie." Buffy said after swallowing the last bit of her sandwich.
"Yeah well I'm not gonna see some chick flick." Xander shot back. "Oh why not." Willow asked as they stood up from the table. "Because I'm sick off those." He said back. "Oh fine no chick flick." Buffy said and Xander's face lit up. "But no X-men either." Willow said and Xander's face quickly fell again. "Then what are we gonna see?" Xander asked. "Oh oh how about the new Tomb Raider movie?" Willow asked. "Sounds good to me." Said Xander. "Me too." Said the slayer.
A few hours later the trio was arriving back at the hotel they and the rest of the people from Sunnydale were staying at. "Well that was fun." Buffy said as she entered the lobby where a lot of the newly called slayers where sitting around and talking.
"Yeah but it would have been funner if we saw X-men." Xander said to the girls. "Xander funner isn't a word it's more fun." Willow said to the one eyed carpenter. "Will please don't correct my grammar." Xander said to the witch. "Sorry." She said back. "No prob, now I'm gonna take a nap see ya later." Xander said as he made his way to the elevator. "Hey Xan wait a minute." Buffy called catching up to him. "What?" Xander asked. "We're thinking of going to a local club tonight you in?" The blond slayer asked. "Yeah sounds like fun." Xander said and continued to make his way to his room while Buffy went to talk to some of the newly called slayers.
A few hours later Buffy, Willow, Xander, Faith, Wood, and Kennedy were making their way through the dark streets of San Francisco heading for a club. "So what club are we going to anyway?" Xander asked Buffy. "Its called P3." Buffy responded. "P3. Weird name." Faith commented. "Yeah but I heard it's a cool place." Buffy said and the group then continued on in silence.
The group of friends soon made it to the club and went in. "Wow sure beats the Bronze." Willow said looking around the club. "Yeah, lets dance." Kennedy said then dragged her girlfriend out on to the dance floor. Soon Faith and Wood were also on the dance floor and Buffy went to talk to a guy she saw in the corner leaving Xander alone as he made his way to the bar.
Xander was soon sitting at the bar when the bartender came up, an attractive brunette. "What can I get you?" She asked in a sweet voice. "A beer." Xander said and she retrieved one and gave it to him and Xander in turned handed her money. "So I'm gonna guess that your a tourist." The bartender said. "Yup, how'd you know." He said back with a grin. "Because no self respecting person living in this city would wear a shirt like that." She said gesturing towards his gaudy Hawaiian shirt. "Your the first person that's said that." Xander said taking a sip of his beer. "Maybe you should take the advice." She said back. "Maybe I should." Xander said and made his way over to a table Buffy and Willow were at.
A few hours later the group was at a table just talking when Xander yawned. "I think I'm gonna head back to the hotel." Xander said standing up. "You gonna be ok going back on your own?" Buffy asked her friend. "Buff we're not on the hellmouth anymore I'll be fine." Xander said and waved goodbye then made his way to the exit.
Xander was almost to the exit when for the second time that day someone ran into him knocking him to the floor. "I'm sorry." The person said turning around and Xander saw it was the same woman from before. "It's alright." Xander said standing up. "It's you again." The woman said. "Yup, you remembered me." Xander said to her. "Well sure how often do you run over a guy with an eye patch twice in day." She said to him. "Well if we're going to keep running into each other maybe I should get your name." Xander said to her.
"Paige." She said. "Well Paige I'm Xander, nice to meet you." Xander said to her. "Same here." She said walking off. Xander stared after her for a second then turned and exited the club heading back to the hotel.
It was cool out as Xander made his way back to the hotel walking the dark streets alone and thinking of Anya. The way she was afraid of rabbits, how she loved to count the money in the magic box, the way she was tactless. All these thoughts brought a tear to the carpenter's only eye. 'God I miss her' Xander thought as he made his way to the hotel.
The next day was bright and warm as Xander made his way down the stairs in the hotel to the lobby when Willow came rushing up the stairs nearly running into Xander. "Whoa Willow slow down this isn't the Indy 500." Xander said to his friend as she started to walk down the stairs next to him.
"I was just coming up to get you." The redhead said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Really, why?" Xander asked. "Well Buffy and I were thinking of heading to the beach today, you in?" The witch asked. "I don't know Wil the beach and I never exactly got alone." Xander said too his best friend.
"C'mon Xan it'll be fun." Willow pleaded. "It's not that I don't like spending time with you will it's just that I don't really want too go to the beach." The one eyed man said. "Well you don't have a choice see resolve face." Willow said putting on her resolve face.
"Oh all right I'll go." Xander said caving in under the resolve face of his best friend. "Alright I'll go tell Buffy." Willow said skipping off happily. "I really need to find a way to build an immunity to that." Xander said as he left the hotel and went across the street to a restaurant to get breakfast all the while mumbling about how all women were evil.
'Well isn't this just peachy' thought Xander as he sat in a chair at the beach while he watched his friends having fun and everyone else on the beach look at him like he was a mutant.
'You think they've never seen a guy with an eye patch before' Xander grumbled in his mind as Willow and Kennedy came up the beach and sat down next too him. "Hey Xan how come your sitting here all moody and not having fun?" Willow asked her best friend. "Yeah c'mon were at a beach on a beautiful day with no more hellmouth cheer up." Kennedy said while playfully hitting his arm.
"I guess I'm just having trouble getting into the 'fun at the beach' mode." He said to the two girls nest too him. "This is because of Anya isn't it?" Willow asked. "Yeah. It's not fair that I'm sitting here on a beach and she's dead." The one-eyed carpenter said sadly. "Xander I know you miss her but it wouldn't make her happy to see you all moody and bummed." The redhead said to him. "Besides we saw you talking to that red head at the club last night." Kennedy said.
"I ran into her and asked her name that's it." Xander said in his defense. "So?" Willow asked her depressed friend. "So what?" Xander asked. "So, what's her name." Willow said. "Paige." Xander responded. "Well there you go, you got a name now all you have to do is ask her out." Kennedy said to him.
"What makes you think I'll even see her again?" Xander asked the young slayer. "I don't know it's a gut feeling." She said back. "Well I think that gut feeling may just be something you ate." Xander said back. "Your such a spoilsport." Willow said teasingly. "Listen you two go have fun I'll be there in a minute." Xander said. "Okay but one minute no more." Willow said getting up and walking back over to the others with Kennedy right behind.
Xander probably would have made good on his word on gotten up to go have fun with his friends, in fact he was going to. That is until, he fell asleep.
There was darkness everywhere around Xander as he looked around this new place he was in. "Hello is anyone there?" Xander called out into the darkness but there was no response. Before Xander could do anything else the darkness around him shattered and he found himself in a large, a well lit room that looked like the inside of a temple. In the center of the room was a pedestal that had a glowing object on it. Xander slowly made his way to the pedestal and saw that the item was a sword.
The blade of the sword was about three feet long and the hilt about 10 inches. The sword was clearly designed to be used two handed. The pommel was what appeared to be a small crystal with twin angel wings wrapped around it. The hilt and was silver in color with leather wrapped around it for a better grip, the hand guard had a small glowing jewel imbedded in it with three pieces of metal coming out of both sides making it look like a sunburst.
The blade was glowing a golden color and had strange ruins engraved onto both sides of the blade. Xander was in awe of the sword and slowly reached his hand out for it. Before Xander could touch the sword there was a loud roar behind him. Xander quickly turned around and saw a large demon behind him.
The demon was large and reptilian, at the end of each finger where inch long claws as well as at the end of each toe. It was tall, about eight feet in height. It's eye's were a sickly yellow and seemed to glow. It was covered in green and black scales from head to foot and had to horns on the back of it's head that pointed forward. The demon bared its fangs and lunged at Xander who tried to move to the side but fell to ground. As the demon was about to sink its claws into Xander's neck the world went black again.
"AHH" Xander yelled waking up and looking around. Some people looked at Xander like he was crazy but soon went back to minding there own business. Xander's sudden yell attracted the attention of his friends and soon Buffy, Willow, and Dawn were making there way up the beach to him.
"You ok?" Buffy asked sitting down next to Xander. "Yeah I'm fine just a bad dream." Xander replied. "Well I think I've had enough fun you guys wanna head back." Willow asked and everyone nodded.
Soon the whole group was back at the hotel they were staying at when Giles came up to them. "We need to discuss what we're going to do now that the hellmouth is destroyed." Giles told the group as they sat down in the lounge. "I thought we where going to track down all the new slayers." Willow said to the British man. "Yes we are but we need to figure out how we will do that." The former librarian said to them.
A few very boring hours later, at least in Xander's opinion, the young man was walking down the street thinking about the dream he had earlier when suddenly someone ran into him and he fell to the ground. "Oh I'm sorry." A voice said an Xander looked up and saw a familiar face. "Paige we got to stop meeting like this, my butt can't take much more of it." Xander said as he got up.
"I agree." She said with a smile. "Are you ok?" She asked. "Yeah I fine." He said. "I'm starting to think your stalking me." Paige said to the one eyed man. "Nope no stalking just walking." Xander said as they began to walk down the street together. "Well I guess I can trust you." She said back with a smile. "Funny most people wouldn't." Xander said back. "Let me guess, the eye patch." Paige said to him. "Yeah for some reason it puts people off." Xander said in a joking way.
"If you don't mind my asking how did it happen?" The red head asked. "You wouldn't believe me." He said back. "Try me." She shot back. "Okay, an insane preacher poked it out with his thumb." Xander said gauging her reaction. "Ow that must of hurt." She said back. "Oh yeah." Xander said surprised that she believed him. "I got to get home but since we seem keep running into each other on accident maybe we should through fate for a loop and run into each other intentionally." Paige said turning to look at him. "You mean a date?" Xander asked. "Yeah." She said back with a hopeful look on her face.
Xander took a minute too think about it, He had really loved Anya and going out with someone else so soon after her death seemed like betraying her but Willow was right about the fact that Anya wouldn't want him to mope about her death.
"Okay." Xander said to the red head. "Great you know the club from last night." Paige asked him. "Yeah, P3 right?" Xander asked. "Yeah we could meet there around seven." She said. "Alright, see you at seven." Xander said then Paige got into her car and waved bye before driving away.
Later in his room at the hotel Xander was getting ready for his date when there was a knock on his door. "Who is it?" He called while buttoning up a dark green shirt. "It's Dawn can I come in?" Dawn called through the door. "Yeah c'mon in." Xander called back. Dawn then entered the room and saw Xander's outfit.
"Wow why are you all dressed up?" Dawn asked sitting down on the bed. "I'm not dressed up." Xander said as he finished with the shirt. "Xander you're wearing a normal solid color shirt instead of one of your god awful Hawaiian shirts." Dawn said with a grin. "I'll have you know that Hawaiian shirts are very stylish." Xander shot back with a grin. "Right, but seriously what's up?" Dawn asked. "I have a date tonight." Xander said as he sat on the bed next to her and tied his shoes.
"You have a date?" Dawn asked. "Yes and don't sound so surprised I'm not that unappealing to the eye am I?" Xander asked in a joking tone. "Well you said yourself the eye patch is a turn off for a lot of people." Dawn said teasingly. "Well not for this person." Xander shot back. "Okay so who is it?" Dawn asked. "A woman named Paige." Xander said as he headed for the door with Dawn right behind him.
"The woman from last night?" Dawn asked. "Yeah, how'd you know about that?" Xander asked the young woman. "Kennedy told me." Dawn said as they made there way down the stairs while Buffy made her way up to them. "Hey Xan what's up with the clothes?" Buffy asked. "He's got a date." Dawn said before Xander could respond.
"You have a date?" Buffy asked in disbelief. "Yeah don't sound so shocked." Xander grumbled. "Sorry Xan it's kinda shocking that your going out so soon after Anya's death." Buffy said to her one eyed friend. "Well Anya wouldn't want me too sit around and brood about her." Xander said to his blond friend. "I guess your right." Buffy said as they made it to the bottom of the stairs.
"So, be careful she might be a demon." Buffy said trying to lighten the mood. "Will you guys stop that already I'm not a demon magnet." Xander said, a little angry. "Right sure your not." Buffy said sarcastically. "I'm leaving before you say something mean to me again." Xander said in a joking manner as he exited the hotel and made his way to the club.
The club was even more crowded than the day before and Xander was worried about not being able to find Paige when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Xander turned and saw Paige standing behind. "Oh good I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find you." Xander said as he and Paige moved to a table. Paige was wearing a khaki mini skirt with small slit in the side, a baby blue tank top with a darker blue feather on it, a choker with blue beads with two leafs on the side and a feather in the middle.
"You look great." Xander said to her. "Thanks you look nice too." Paige said. "So you wanna dance?" Xander asked her. "I'd love too." The red head said and the couple then made their way out onto the dance floor. Just as they made it out onto the floor a slow song came on. Xander feeling a little nervous put his hands on her hips as Paige put her hands around his neck.
After about three songs the couple was thirsty so they made their way over to the bar. Xander noticed the bartender was the same woman from the night before. "Hey Piper can we get some drinks." Paige asked the bartender. "Sure hold on." Piper said back. "Uh you two know each other?" Xander asked. "Yeah Xander this is my sister Piper." Paige said gesturing to the bartender. "Nice to meet you." Piper said as she handed them their drinks. "Same here." Xander said back as he handed her some money.
"Lost the Hawaiian shirt I see." Piper said while accepting the money. "Yeah a solid color seemed better for a date." Xander said with a grin as he and Paige made there way back over to their table. "So your sister is a bartender here." Xander said as they sipped their drinks. "Actually she's the owner." Paige said. "Your sister is the owner?" Xander asked. "Yeah is that a problem?" Paige asked. "No just kinda unexpected." Xander said and soon both of them were sipping their drinks while talking.
On the other side of the club Buffy, Willow, and Kennedy where spying on the couple. "I still don't see why we have to spy on Xander's date." Kennedy complained to the other two women at the table. "Because most of the time the women Xander date turn out to be demons." Buffy said while keeping a close eye on the red hared woman with her best male friend.
"Apart from Anya how many demons could he have dated?" Kennedy asked. "Well there was the praying mantis demon sophomore year." Buffy said. "The soul sucking mummy junior year." Willow said. "And Cordelia." Buffy said. "Wow he has a pretty crappy love life huh." Kennedy said to her girlfriend. "Yup that's why when this girl turns out to be the demon she really is we'll be there to save him." Buffy said with an unusual look in her eyes.
"We don't know she is a demon." Kennedy told the blond slayer. "Of course she is why else would she go out with Xander." Buffy said in an annoyed tone. "Maybe she likes Xander." Kennedy said in 'stating the obvious' tone of voice. "I don't think so Kennedy, Xander is one of my best friends and I'd hate to say something bad about him but with the eye patch normal woman would want to date him." Willow said to her girlfriend. "Exactly so that's why we're here." Buffy said.
"You know Buffy it sounds like your jealous." Kennedy said to the other slayer. "What do you mean jealous?" Buffy asked in an angry tone. "What I mean is Xander is a grown man and can take care of himself, I think your only here because your jealous of that woman." Kennedy said. "That's ridiculous I'm only here to bail Xander out of the trouble he's gonna get himself into." Buffy said going back to her spying. "Right and I'm the queen of England." Kennedy mumbled under her breath.
Xander had to admit he was having the best time of his life as he sat and talked to Paige. He found out that her real parents gave her up as a baby, that her foster parents died when she was in high school, and about her meeting her sisters two years ago.
"So tell me about you." Paige said to the one eyed man sitting across from her. "Well I'm twenty three and was born and raised in Sunnydale." Xander started but before he could continue Paige cut him off. "The town that got destroyed in an earthquake a few weeks ago?" Paige asked in interest.
"That's the one." Xander said to the redhead. "So anyway born and raised in Sunnydale, graduated highschool in '99, had several odd jobs the next year until I got a good job in construction, did that for a few years until I lost my eye and a few weeks after that the town was destroyed.
"Wow." Paige said to the man in front of her. "Now before that awkward silence that falls I'm gonna ask you to dance." Xander said as he got up and offered her his hand. "Well then I'll have to accept." Paige said taking his hand as the couple went out onto the dance floor.
Meanwhile on the other side of the club the trio of women where still spying on the date. "Well there dancing again." Willow said as she sipped her drink. "Yeah I know." Buffy grumbled. "Can we just go back to the hotel?" Kennedy asked the other two at the table.
"No not until we save Xander from the trouble he's gonna get into." Buffy said to the younger slayer. "Well you can stay and spy all you want I'm leaving." Kennedy said grabbing her coat and before Buffy or Willow could say anything she was gone. "Buffy maybe she's right." Willow said to the blond slayer. "And maybe she's not." Buffy said back and went back to spying on the date.
As Buffy and Willow kept on spying Xander and Paige left the dance floor and went back to the table. "I better get going." Xander said glancing at his watch. "Do you really have too?" Paige asked. "Yeah I don't want my friends to worry." He said back. "Ok but here's my number I want you to call me tomorrow." Paige said as she handed Xander a piece of paper with a phone number on it.
"I will." Xander said as he put on his coat, but before he could get to far a brunette woman walked up to the two of them. "Hey Paige who's your friend?" The woman asked. "Phoebe this is Xander, Xander this is my other sister Phoebe." Paige said. "Nice too meet you." Phoebe said. "Same here." Xander said while shaking her hand.
As Xander touched the other woman's hand she took a sudden breath and looked like her head hurt. "Are you ok?" Xander asked the woman as their hands pulled apart. "I'm fine just a head rush, Paige can I talk to you in private." Phoebe said to her sister. "Yeah sure bye Xander." Paige said to the man. "Bye." He said back and walked towards the exit.
"What's wrong." Paige asked her sister. "I had a premonition." Phoebe said back. "Please don't tell me he's a demon." Paige said sadly. "No but he'll be killed by some unless we move fast." Phoebe said grabbing her sister's wrist and heading over to the bar to get Piper.
On the other side of the club Buffy and Willow saw Xander heading for the exit. "Well looks like his date is over." Willow said. "Good we'll finish our drinks and then head for the hotel." Buffy said as she took another sip of her drink.
While the slayer and the witch where talking Paige and Phoebe made it over to the bar. "Piper we have a problem." Phoebe said to her older sister. "Like what?" Piper asked. "Paige's date is about to get attacked by demons." Phoebe said in a low voice. "Lets go then." Piper said as the three sisters headed towards the exit.
Meanwhile outside the club Xander was heading for the hotel when a hand shot out of an alley and pulled him in. "Well what have we got here." The vampire said as it eyed Xander. "Looks like dinner." Another said to its companion. "You guys really need to work on some new materials." Xander said to the demon in front of him.
"Shut up." The vampire said as it backhanded Xander into a pile of crates breaking them to pieces. Xander quickly grabbed one of the pieces of wood and stood up. "C'mon fang face." Xander said as he held up the make shift stake. The vampire charged Xander who moved to the side and held up the stake which the vampire then impaled it self on.
Before Xander could react he was thrown into a wall by the other vampire. "Time to die human." The vampire said and started to descend on Xander's neck. Before the vampire could bite the one eyed man it exploded into dust. Xander and the last two vampires turned and looked to the entrance of the alley.
There they saw three women, Xander instantly recognized them as Paige and her two sisters. "Leave him alone." Paige said to the two vamps. "Whose gonna make us, you?" One of the vampires laughed. "As a matter of fact yes." Piper said and raised her hands towards one of the vampires, which then exploded into dust.
The last vampire, after seeing what happened to his friends turned and ran down the alley. Paige then disappeared in a pillar of white lights and then reappeared in front of the last vampire. The vampire being in shock after seeing this didn't see the piece of wood in the witch's hand, that is until it was planted in his heart and he crumbled to dust.
"Xander are you alright?" Paige asked as she ran over to the fallen man. "Please don't tell me you're a demon, why can't I ever meet a human woman?" Xander asked on one in particular. "What are you talking about?" Piper asked as she and Phoebe walked over. Xander didn't respond, instead he reached his hand behind hid head. When he pulled his hand back everyone present saw the red liquid on his fingers. "Oh shit." Xander said just before blacking out.
There was darkness everywhere around Xander as he looked around this new place he was in. "Hello is anyone there?" Xander called out into the darkness but there was no response. Before Xander could do anything else the darkness around him shattered and he found himself in a large, a well lit room that looked like the inside of a temple. In the center of the room was a pedestal that had a glowing object on it. Xander slowly made his way to the pedestal and saw that the item was a sword.
The blade of the sword was about three feet long and the hilt about 10 inches. The sword was clearly designed to be used two handed. The pommel was what appeared to be a small crystal with twin angel wings wrapped around it. The hilt and was silver in color with leather wrapped around it for a better grip, the hand guard had a small glowing jewel imbedded in it with three pieces of metal coming out of both sides making it look like a sunburst.
The blade was glowing a golden color and had strange ruins engraved onto both sides of the blade. Xander was in awe of the sword and slowly reached his hand out for it. Before Xander could touch the sword there was a loud roar behind him. Xander quickly turned around and saw a large demon behind him.
The demon was large and reptilian, at the end of each finger where inch long claws as well as at the end of each toe. It was tall, about eight feet in height. Its eye's were a sickly yellow and seemed to glow. It was covered in green and black scales from head to foot and had to horns on the back of its head that pointed forward. The demon bared its fangs and lunged at Xander who tried to move to the side but fell to ground. As the demon was about to sink its claws into Xander's neck, but before it could Xander rolled to the side and came up next to the pedestal.
Xander quickly grabbed the sword and turned to face the demon that was charging him again. Xander moved to the side and brought the sword up which cut deep into the demons neck. The large demon roared in pain and backed away. "We'll meet again." The demon hissed and then disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
Xander looked at the sword in his hands and then looked around the room he was in. In a far corner of the room Xander noticed a stairway and quickly headed for it. When he reached the top of the stairs he looked around and saw he was in a mausoleum. The one eyed man quickly made his way over to the door and exited through it. Looking around outside the mausoleum he saw the name Wesson on it.
Xander quickly shot up and looked around the room he was in. He was lying on a couch in a rather tastefully decorated room. "Your awake." A voice behind him said. Xander turned around and saw Paige standing in a doorway. "Where am I?" Xander asked as he stood up and moved away from her.
"In my living room." Paige said as she walked towards him. Xander quickly moved around the couch in order to put it between him and the red hared woman. "Why are you acting like your afraid of me?" Paige asked. "I'm not afraid I'm just being careful." Xander said as he kept a careful eye on the woman. "Why are you being so careful?" Paige asked as she moved around the couch to Xander who in turn jumped over it once again putting it between them.
"Well I saw your sister blow up a vampire with her hands and you disappeared and reappeared in a shower of light so I'm guessing your a demon." Xander said to the redhead in front of him. "You know I'm insulted by that." Paige said back.
"You are?" Xander asked slightly confused. "Yes I am." Paige said back. "Why?" Xander asked while narrowing his eyes. "Because I'm not a demon I'm a witch." Paige said to the man in front of her. "A witch?" Xander asked. "Yup, now will you calm down and let me check your head." The red hared witch said walking over to him.
"Alright." Xander said while sitting down on the couch he had been using as a shield. "Good." Paige said as she sat down next to him and checked his head. "Looks like everything is alright." Paige said.
"So how's the patient doing?" Piper asked as she walked into the room with Phoebe. "He's doing fine." Paige said too her sisters. "Good maybe then you can answer some questions." Piper said as she sat down in a chair across from the couch.
"Like what?" Xander asked the woman across from him. "Like why you said you can never meet human women for one." Phoebe said sitting down next to her elder sister. "That is a very long story." Xander said to the trio of women. "We've got time." Paige said to him.
"It started back in sophomore year of high school when we had a substitute biology teacher, she was a praying mantis demon that nearly bit my head off." Xander said. "That must have sucked." Phoebe said to the one eyed man.
"Yup. Then in junior year there was the soul eating mummy girl and Cordelia but she wasn't a demon then she became one later." He continued. "You went out with a mummy?" Paige asked in disgust. "I didn't know she was a mummy until she tried to eat my soul." Xander said in defense.
"Ok please continue." Paige said. "Well then there was Anya, I dated her for awhile and came close to marring her." Xander continued. "What happened?" Piper asked the man. "I wasn't ready to get married." Xander said simply. "She didn't take to well I'm guessing." Phoebe said to the man.
"That's an understatement." Xander said to the witch. "So what happened after this Anya?" Paige asked. "Well last year on Valentines Day I went on a date with a demon, but I didn't know she was a demon until she had me strung up over an ancient magical seal and was cutting open my gut so she could release an ancient form of vampire. Now that I think about Valentines Day has never been good for me." Xander sighed.
"Why what else happened on V-day?" Paige asked. "Well a love spell went wrong and made every women in town, the live ones and the dead ones, want me badly enough to kill if they didn't get me." Xander sighed. "That sucks." Phoebe said to the one eyed man in front of her.
"Yeah it does." The former carpenter said as he slumped back in the couch.
"What are you thinking about?" Paige asked Xander as they sat in the kitchen. It had been about an hour since Xander had waked up and explained his rather hellish dating history to them.
"Just thinking that I'm lucky to still be alive." Xander said to the red head sitting a few feet away from him. "So what's up with you and your sisters?" Xander asked. "What do you mean?" Paige asked confused.
"Well how did you know I was being attacked by the fang gang." Xander said to her. "Oh that, Phoebe has premonitions of people in trouble that we need to help." Paige explained to the one eyed man in front of her.
"So that's what you three do, help people." Xander said to the witch. "Yeah its kinda our destiny." Paige explained. "Never been a big fan of destiny." Xander said to Paige. "Why?" Paige asked. "Awhile back a friend of mine was more or less destined to die at the hands of a super strong vamp." Xander explained.
"That sucks." Paige said. "Yeah but I was able to save her." The one eyed man said. "Well that's good." The red haired woman said. Before Xander could say anything else Piper and Phoebe came into the room with two other men.
"So this is the guy?" The blond haired man asked. "Yup this is Xander." Piper said. "Uh nice to meet you." Xander said to the man, a little confused "Same here, the names Leo." The man said while shaking Xander's hand. "Leo healed your head." Phoebe explained. "Oh, well thanks for that." Xander said to Leo. "Anytime." Leo responded.
"The dark haired guy is Chris." Paige said while gesturing at the other man. "Nice to meet you." Xander said to the man. "Nice to see you again." He said back while shaking his hand. "What?" Xander asked confused. "Chris is from the future." Piper said. "Oh that explains it." Xander said as if everything was normal.
"That doesn't surprise you?" Leo asked. "No it doesn't, good lord I have been living on the hellmouth way too long." Xander said while putting his face in his hands and mumbling. "What's a hellmouth?" Phoebe asked the one eyed carpenter. "It is a mystical convergence point that attracts demons to it." Leo explained to his former charge.
"And you lived on one of these things?" Paige asked in shock. "Lived on, hell my high school library was built on it." Xander said to the group. "Wow, gives a whole new meaning to the term high school is hell." Phoebe said with a grin. "You're telling me." Xander said back.
"Well it's getting late, Xander your more than welcome to crash on the couch if you want." Piper said to the brown haired man. "Thanks." Xander said to the witch as she left the room, Phoebe, Chris, and Leo soon followed.
"I'll get you some blankets." Paige said as she stood up and left the room with Xander right behind her. A few minutes later Xander was asleep on the couch while the three witches where sleeping in their rooms.
There was darkness everywhere around Xander as he looked around this new place he was in. "Hello is anyone there?" Xander called out into the darkness but there was no response. Before Xander could do anything else the darkness around him shattered and he found himself in a large, a well lit room that looked like the inside of a temple. In the center of the room was a pedestal that had a glowing object on it. Xander slowly made his way to the pedestal and saw that the item was a sword.
The blade of the sword was about three feet long and the hilt about 10 inches. The sword was clearly designed to be used two handed. The pommel was what appeared to be a small crystal with twin angel wings wrapped around it. The hilt and was silver in color with leather wrapped around it for a better grip, the hand guard had a small glowing jewel imbedded in it with three pieces of metal coming out of both sides making it look like a sunburst.
The blade was glowing a golden color and had strange ruins engraved onto both sides of the blade. Xander was in awe of the sword and slowly reached his hand out for it. Before Xander could touch the sword there was a loud roar behind him. Xander quickly turned around and saw a large demon behind him.
The demon was large and reptilian, at the end of each finger where inch long claws as well as at the end of each toe. It was tall, about eight feet in height. Its eye's were a sickly yellow and seemed to glow. It was covered in green and black scales from head to foot and had to horns on the back of its head that pointed forward. The demon bared its fangs and lunged at Xander who tried to move to the side but fell to ground. As the demon was about to sink its claws into Xander's neck, but before it could Xander rolled to the side and came up next to the pedestal.
Xander quickly grabbed the sword and turned to face the demon that was charging him again. Xander moved to the side and brought the sword up which cut deep into the demons neck. The large demon roared in pain and backed away. "We'll meet again." The demon hissed and then disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
Xander looked at the sword in his hands and then looked around the room he was in. In a far corner of the room Xander noticed a stairway and quickly headed for it. When he reached the top of the stairs he looked around and saw he was in a mausoleum. The one eyed man quickly made his way over to the door and exited through it. Looking around outside the mausoleum he saw the name Wesson on it.
Xander sprung awake on the couch and looked around forgetting where he was. "Man that's the third time I've had that dream." Xander said to himself as he put his head in his hands. Xander would have gone back to sleep except that he heard noises coming from the kitchen.
Xander went to investigate the noises and saw that Piper was bent over pulling something out of the stuff while Paige was reading the newspaper at the table. "Good morning." Paige said to the man as he walked into the kitchen.
"Morning." Xander said back as he sat down. "Hungry?" Piper asked as she stood up. "Yeah I am." Xander responded. "Good because I made cinnamon rolls." Piper said as she sat a plate of rolls on the table.
"Yay." Paige said as she grabbed one and took a bite. Xander likewise grabbed one of the pastries and took a bite. "These are really good." Xander said to Piper as she put another batch in the oven. "Thank you." Piper said as she stood up.
"Xander are there gonna be any people worried about the fact that you where gone all night?" Paige asked as she finished the cinnamon roll and wiped her hand off. Xander in turn just smacked his head and groaned. "Buffy is gonna kill me." Xander said in despair.
"Who is Buffy?" Paige asked the man in front of her. "A friend with a short temper and a lot of strength." Xander said as he rubbed the sides of his head. "Well we should get you back then." Piper said to the man at the table.
"C'mon I'll drive you." Paige said as she grabbed her keys. "Thanks." Xander said as he finished his cinnamon roll and stood up. "Xander." Piper called out to him as he and Paige where exiting the room. "Yeah?" Xander asked as he turned around. "I wanna know more about this hellmouth thing so you think you could stop by tonight and explain it in more detail?" Piper asked the young man. "No prob." Xander responded as he and Paige exited the room.
Fifteen minutes later Paige was pulling up to a stop in front of the hotel Xander and his friends were staying at. "This is where you're staying?" Paige asked the man as he got out of her car. "Yup." Xander said as he closed the door and bent down to talk to her through the open window. "So I'll pick you up here around seven." Paige said to him. "Yup see you then." Xander said as he stood up and Paige drove off.
"Now to face a pissed off slayer." Xander said as he made his way up to the front doors of the hotel. As soon as Xander stepped inside he heard some one scream his name. "XANDER!" Buffy said as she rushed down the stairs with Willow, Dawn, and Giles right behind her.
"Morning Buff." Xander said with a small grin. "Don't you morning Buff me mister where the hell where you all night?" Buffy asked the man in front of her. "Long story." Xander replied as he started to make his way up the stairs. "Where do you think your going?" Buffy asked as she grabbed his arm.
"I am going to take a shower." Xander said as he pulled his arm away and went up the stairs to his room. Ten minutes later Xander was showered and in a fresh pair of cloths when he encountered his friends again. "Alright now spill were where you?" Buffy said to Xander as she dragged him into her room where Willow, Dawn, and Giles where already gathered.
"I was with my date." Xander said in a sheepish tone. "That's a lie and you know it buster." Willow said to her friend. "And how would you know." Xander said turning to the red haired witch. "Because we saw you leave the club last night." Buffy said to the man. "What do you mean you saw me leave the club, where you spying on me?" Xander asked in an angry tone.
"Only because we wanted to make sure you would be okay." Willow said to the one eyed man. "Willow I'm a grown man I don't need you to baby sit me!" Xander yelled at his friend. "Don't yell at her, we where only doing it for your own good." Buffy said to him. "What do you mean for my own good!" Xander then yelled at the blond.
"Xander when was the last time you dated a woman that wasn't a demon." Buffy said in a superior tone. "Last night." Xander shot back. "Well if she isn't a demon then were where you all night?" Buffy asked him. "None of your business." Xander said as he stood up and walked towards the door.
"Were are you going we're not done yet." Buffy said to the departing man. Xander in turn just flipped her the bird over his shoulder as he shut the door and made his way back to his own room.
A few hours later, after Xander had cooled down he left his room in search of Giles who could hopefully shed some light on this dream he had been having. Xander found Giles in the lounge of the hotel talking to Buffy and Willow. "Giles can I talk to you?" Xander asked as he walked over there.
"Of course Xander, what about?" The former librarian asked the young man he had come to see as his son. "Lately I've been having this really weird dream and I think it might mean something." Xander said as he sat down on a chair across from Giles. "I highly doubt that Xander, I mean your not a slayer you don't have any powers." Buffy said to the one eyed man before Giles had a chance to respond.
"So your saying that just because I'm not a slayer I can't have a dream that means something?" Xander asked getting angry. "Well yeah." Buffy said while shrugging her shoulders. "Forget this I never should have said anything." Xander said getting up and walking out the doors of the hotel.
'Where does she get off talking too me like that.' Xander thought as he walked down one of San Francisco's many streets. 'Jeez, just because I'm not a slayer doesn't mean that something special could happen to me.' He thought as he kicked a can down the street.
Xander kept on walking in a pissed off mood when he heard a familiar voice farther down the street. "Slow down dogs." The voice said as Xander looked up and saw Paige with a bunch of dog leashes in her hand.
"Paige." Xander called as he ran to catch up to her. "Xander, what are you doing here?" Paige asked as Xander caught up to her. "Walking, what are you doing?" Xander asked as he looked down at the dogs. "Walking dogs, what's it look like I'm doing." Paige said to the man.
"You ok? You look a little pissed." Paige said to Xander. "I've just been having a bad day." Xander said as the two of them walked down the street. "Why?" Paige asked. "Well turns out my friends don't think I can take care of myself so they had to spy on our date." Xander grumbled. "They where spying on us?" Paige asked in disbelief. "Yup." Xander said back. "Some friends." Paige mumbled under her breath.
"I have an idea." Paige said to the one eyed man. "What?" Xander asked. "How about after I drop these dogs off at home I help cheer you up." The red haired witch said with a smile. "How?" Xander asked. "Well I could show you around town and we could grab a bite to eat." Paige responded. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say your asking me out again." Xander said with a grin.
"Guilty as charged, what do you." Paige asked. "Well let's see, I could either spend the day with a beautiful woman or with my friends who believe I need to be protected all the time, hmm tough choice." Xander said with a laugh. "So is that a yes?" Paige asked with a smile. "Yes it is." Xander said as he offered her his arm.
The rest of the day when great for Xander, he was able got to know Paige better and saw the sites that the city by the bay had to offer. By the time the sun was going down Xander had forgotten about how he was mad at Buffy and Willow and was just enjoying his day.
"So feel better now?" Paige asked as they walked down a street. "Yes I do, thanks." Xander said to his date. "Anytime." Paige said back as she held onto his hand. "Hey Paige there's something I've been meaning to ask." Xander said to the witch. "Shoot." Paige said back "Last night your sister said that guy Leo healed my head." Xander said. "Yeah so." The red head said back. "What did she mean by that?" Xander asked
"Leo is an elder so he has the power to heal people." Paige explained to the man. "What's an elder?" Xander asked. "An elder is one of the boys upstairs and they're in charge of the whitelighters." Paige said. "A what?" Xander asked getting more confused. "A whitelighter is like an angel that protects and guides good witches." The red head explained. "Oh ok." Xander said no longer confused.
"Well it's getting late you wanna head over to my place now?" Paige asked. "Yeah, better then going back to that hotel." Xander said. "Alright lets go." Paige said as she and Xander made their way to her car and got in.
Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of the Halliwell manor and went in. "Piper, Phoebe I'm home." Paige called into the house. "You're late." Piper said as she walked into the front hall. "Got sidetracked." Paige said while gesturing to Xander. "Hi." Xander said to the dark haired witch.
"Xander." Piper said back in greeting and the group moved into the living room. "Where's Phoebe?" Paige asked as they sat down. "Right here." Phoebe said as she walked into the room. "Alright now all we need is Chris and Leo." Piper said and as if on cue both of them appeared in the room in pillars of light. "Cool." Xander said as he looked at the lights.
"What was that?" Xander asked as Chris and Leo sat down. "It's called orbing, it's how we get around." Leo explained to the one eyed man. "Ok, so then what else do you want to know about me?" Xander asked the group in front of him. "How about you start at when you found out about demons and work your way up from there." Phoebe suggested.
"This is gonna take awhile." Xander said as he then launched into his story.
Night was falling outside the Halliwell Manor as Xander's story was coming to a close. "So we invaded the vineyard, got our butts handed to us and I lost my eye," Xander said as he unconsciously touched his eye-patch. "And I thought you were just joking when you said an insane priest poked it out," Paige said as she looked over at the young man.
"Nope, anyway after that Buffy found a magical scythe that Willow used to turn all the potentials into slayers and then we beat back the first evil," Xander finished up as he looked around the room at the shocked faces around him.
"So you actually saved the world twice?" Phoebe asked the one eyed man. "Yup," Xander simply responded. "Wow, that's a really interesting life you've had there," Piper said as she stood up and stretched her legs. "I guess," Xander simply responded. "Well it's pretty late so you had better get back to that hotel before your friends get worried." Paige said as she grabbed her keys.
"Well first I want to ask Leo something, if that's alright," Xander said, turning to the elder. "Shoot," Leo responded. "Well lately I've been having this really strange dream and since you're an elder I thought you might be able to tell me if it means anything," Xander said to the man. "Well tell me about the dream," Leo said as he leaned against a nearby wall.
Xander spent the next ten minutes telling Leo about his dream and when he finished the elder had a thoughtful look on his face. "It sounds familiar but I don't know anything off hand, I'll talk too the other elders and get back to you," Leo said as he orbed away. "Well lets get you back to the hotel," Paige said as she tossed him his coat, they then headed for the door and walked out.
Soon Paige's car was pulling to a stop in front of the hotel Xander was staying at. "So you wanna go out to lunch tomorrow?" Paige asked as Xander opened the door. "I'd love too," Xander responded with a smile and waved goodbye as he closed the door and Paige drove off.
Xander walked into the hotel with a large grin on his face. "Hey Xander, where have you been all day?" Dawn asked as she walked up to him and followed him up the stairs. "On my second date with Paige," Xander responded as they walked into his room. "Really? You have to tell me everything," Dawn said as she plopped down onto his bed.
"Well she showed me around town and we grabbed some lunch," Xander said, leaving out the part about her sisters. "So are you gonna see her again?" Dawn asked as Xander sat down next to her and flipped on the TV in the room. "Yup, we're going out for lunch tomorrow," Xander responded while flipping through channels.
"Well I'm gonna hit the hay," Dawn said after about an hour of watching TV with Xander. "Sleep tight," Xander responded as he shut off the TV and got ready for bed. The night was dreamless for Xander and he woke up the next morning fully refreshed and ready for the day.
"Xander we need to talk," Buffy said to him as he was walking through the lounge. "About what?" Xander asked as they sat down on one of the couches in the area. "Dawn told me you have another date with this Paige woman," Buffy said to her friend who was looking a little confused.
"Yeah, so?" Xander asked a little confused. "I think you should stop seeing her," Buffy said to him. "What, why?" Xander asked getting angry. "We talked to Giles and we found out he was able to gain access to the council's funds so we are going to go to Cleveland and set up a new council so you should just breakup with her before you get too involved," Buffy said to her now very angry friend.
"What if I don't want to go to Cleveland?" Xander asked in an angry tone. "Why wouldn't you go, I mean me and Willow are going and the three of us need to stick together," Buffy said in a no nonsense tone. "Buffy I don't want too go to Cleveland," Xander said to his friend. "What do you mean you don't want to go?" Buffy asked.
"I mean that I like it here and I don't want to move," Xander said to the blond haired slayer. "Why don't you want to go, its not like you have a life here," Buffy responded, trying to get her friend to come with them. "But I could have a life here," Xander responded.
"With who, this Paige person, I mean get real Xan I'm not trying to be mean but you and I both know your track record with women," Buffy said to her now very pissed off friend. "Where do you get off talking to me like that?" Xander asked in a very angry tone that was attracting some of the other slayers that were sitting around the lounge area.
"Xander I'm only saying this because I know that you will be happier with us in Cleveland," Buffy responded in a tone matching Xander's. "I don't believe you, how do you know where I'll be happy?" Xander asked now shouting at the woman in front of him.
"Because I know you Xander and I know that you will be happier in Cleveland with us where I can keep an eye one you," Buffy shot back just as loud. Xander in turn just did something he never thought he would do in his life, he slapped Buffy hard in the face and then walked off leaving the blond slayer in near tears on the couch.
Half an hour later Xander was sitting in the small diner across the street from the hotel nursing a cup of coffee and thinking about what had happened when someone joined him at the table. Looking up Xander saw that it was Faith that had joined him. "Hey Xan," Faith said calmly while glancing through a menu.
"Never thought they would send you to talk to me," Xander said after finishing off he coffee. "No one sent me, I heard about what happened and thought you might want too talk about it," Faith responded. "Not much too talk about, Buffy pissed me off and I slapped her," Xander responded.
"Yeah but I think that there's something else that's going on in that mind of yours and I'm not leaving till I find out," The dark haired slayer said as she ordered a cup of coffee. It didn't take long for Xander too open up to the dark slayer and soon he told her the whole story.
"So more or less your saying that you just got fed up with all the shit she's been giving you for years and you decided to deal with it by slapping her," Faith summarized as she took a sip from her coffee. "Yup," Xander responded.
"Well Xan as far as I can tell you didn't do anything bad," Faith said to the depressed man. "What do you mean?" Xander asked looking up. "Buffy probably deserves more than just a slap for all the hell she's put you through over the years," Faith simply said as she finished her coffee and put down the empty cup.
"You think so?" Xander asked as they stood up and headed for the door of the diner. "Yeah, I'm not saying you should go in there and hit her again, but when you slapped her you were able to let off all that steam you built up over the years." Faith responded as the entered the hotel.
"When did you get so smart?" Xander asked in a joking manner. "Well I had a lot of time to read when I was in the big house," Faith shot back with a laugh. "Thanks Faith," Xander said with a smile. "No prob." Faith responded as she went off to find Robin.
Xander still with a smile on his face went up to his room too get ready for his date. Ten minutes later Xander was sitting in the lounge area waiting for Paige too arrive when an angry Willow walked up to him.
"How could you do that?" Willow asked in an angry tone as she sat on a chair across from him. "Nice to see you too Will," Xander responded as he put down the magazine he was reading. "Don't get smart with me mister, you go upstairs right now and apologize to Buffy," Willow said to her best male friend.
"Buffy deserved that Willow," Xander responded in an angry tone. "What did she do too deserve that?" Willow asked in an angry tone. "It's a long story, you just need to know that I am not going to apologize, nor am I going to Cleveland," Xander responded as he stood up and left the hotel before Willow could respond.
As soon as Xander left the hotel Paige pulled up in front of him. "Hey, ready for lunch?" Paige asked as Xander climbed in. "Yeah lets get out of here," Xander responded as Paige drove off and Willow ran out of the hotel too stop Xander and make him say sorry to her best friend.
Xander and Paige where at a small Italian restaurant about a mile away from Xander's hotel and they both were enjoying their lunch together as Xander explained what had happened.
"You slapped her?" Paige asked in a neutral tone.
"Yup," Xander simply responded while eating his pasta.
"Well it sounds like she deserved it," Paige said, taking a sip from her water.
"I thought so," Xander said back as he looked at her.
"So they're pretty pissed at you huh?" Paige asked the man in front of her.
"Oh yeah," Xander said back as he looked down at his food with worry clearly evident on his face.
"Don't worry I'm sure they'll get over," Paige responded, trying to brighten his mood.
"You don't know Buffy and Willow, they'll be pissed with me for a long while," Xander said back as he finished off his food and put down his fork.
Paige was about to respond to his statement but was interrupted when her cell phone went off.
"Hello," Paige said as she answered her phone. "Ok we'll be right there," Paige said as she turned off the phone and put it away.
"What's up?" Xander asked as Paige called for the check.
"Leo says he may have found out something big about that dream of yours," Paige said as they paid the check and headed for the door.
Soon Paige and Xander were walking through the front door of the Halliwell manor and into the living room where Leo was waiting along with Chris, Piper, and Phoebe.
"So what's the word on my dream?" Xander asked as he and Paige sat down.
"Well for starters your dream may mean something really big," Leo began as he sat down across from the couple.
"What?" Xander asked as the looked at the elder.
"Is this the sword in your dream?" Leo asked as he held a picture out for Xander too see.
"Yup, that's it," Xander replied as he took the picture and looked at it.
"Oh boy, this is bad," Leo said as he put his head in his hands and began to mumble.
"Why, does my dream actually mean something?" Xander asked as he put down the picture.
"Yes it does," Leo said with a sigh.
"So, out with it already," Paige said angrily.
"The sword in your dream is an ancient holy weapon called Daystar, it is the only weapon capable of harming Selabdule," Leo explained to the group.
"Whose Selabdule?" Phoebe asked the elder, confusion evident on her face.
"Selabdule is an ancient, powerful demon. Ten thousand years ago he tried to take control of the multiverse." Leo explained.
"What is the multiverse?" Piper asked.
"Every dimension and the universes in them," Leo responded with a dark look in his eyes.
"Ok, seeing as how we're not kissing his ass I'm guessing someone stopped him," Xander said.
"Yes, a powerful warrior rose up and challenged him, they're battle took place in a universe where time has no effect, the battle took ten years and in the end the warrior beat Selabdule but he was too weak to kill him, so he sealed him away, shortly after he died his body turned into Daystar." Leo explained to the group.
"How did his body turn into a sword?" Chris asked.
"He knew that Selabdule may break free one day so he used a spell that transformed his body into the sword so that his powers would be contained within it and could be used to defeat Selabdule if he should ever return." Leo responded.
"Okay, but why am I having dreams about it?" Xander asked in confusion.
"Because Selabdule is returning and you have been chosen to wield Daystar and stop him," Leo said back.
"Why me, I'm just a normal guy?" Xander asked as he leaned back in the couch.
"Xander you are anything but 'a normal guy'," Leo said to the young man.
"What do you mean, I can't use magic, I have no super powers, hell I couldn't even program my VCR," Xander responded as he rubbed the sides of his head.
"Xander did you or did you not revive Buffy after the Master killed her, back down Angelus, stop a gang of zombies from blowing up the high school the night the hellmouth opened, and stop your friend from destroying the world?" Leo asked the young man in front of him.
"Yeah," Xander said back meekly.
"And besides, practically nobody can successfully program a VCR," Piper said with a grin.
"Ok ok, I get the idea, so what do I have to do?" Xander asked as he stood up.
"Well for starters you have to go get your sword," Leo said with a grin as he too stood up.
"Where is the sword?" Paige asked.
"Hidden underneath a mausoleum in a nearby cemetery," Xander said to the witch.
"How do you know?" Piper asked.
"That's where it was in my dream," Xander replied with a grin.
"Well what are we waiting for, lets get that sword," Phoebe said as she jumped up and was met with a chorus of agreement.
A few minutes later the group of six appeared outside of an old mausoleum with the name Wesson on it.
"Ugh, head rush," Xander said as he wobbled on his feat and Paige quickly moved to hold him up.
"Yeah, orbing will do that to you, don't worry you'll get used to it after awhile," Leo said as he patted the one-eyed man on the back.
"So, this is the place?" Phoebe asked as she looked at the old, decaying mausoleum.
"Yup, let's go in," Xander said and the group then walked into the old building.
After a quick inspection of the crypt Chris was able too find a small, hidden switch, and when he pressed it a staircase appeared in the corner of the crypt.
"Cool," Chris said as he walked over.
"If this was Scooby Doo the ghost would show up now," Xander said with a laugh as the group began to move down the staircase.
The stairs led to a large well-lit chamber with many pillars, the same as in Xander's dream, and in the center of the room was a pedestal with a glowing sword on it.
"So that's the sword?" Paige asked as they walked over to the pedestal.
"Yup that's it," Xander said as he inspected the blade for the first time in the real world.
"So grab it and lets get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps," Piper said as she looked around the large room.
Xander then took a step closer to the pedestal and reached out to grab the sword, never dropping his guard, knowing well that this was the part of his dream where the demon attacked.
True to the dream, as soon as Xander's hand got near the hilt of the sword there was a loud roar behind him and the group turned to see the demon from Xander's dream standing behind them.
Not giving the demon the chance to make the first attack Xander quickly grabbed the sword and jumped to the side as the demon leaped over the group and landed where Xander had been only a second before.
"You didn't mention a demon Leo!" Piper screamed as she tried blowing it up but her powers where having little affect.
"I didn't know," Leo shot back as he jumped back to avoid the demon's claws.
"Sorry, I forgot to mention this part!" Xander yelled as he moved forward and slashed at the demon's arm but missed as the creature jumped back.
"We'll forgive you if we make it out alive!" Phoebe screamed back as she rolled behind a nearby pillar.
Xander quickly ran forward again and lunged at the demon and was able to land a blow on its back. The magic blade cut deeply into the monster's flesh causing it to yell out in pain and quickly spin around and backhand Xander into a wall.
Xander recovered quickly and rolled to the left as the demon's claws racked the area he had just been occupying. Xander then stood up and attacked the demon again and was able to give it a shallow cut on its arm before he had to jump back again to avoid its claws.
Piper was watching Xander and the large demon fighting and as her eyes followed them around the large chamber she was able to come up with a plan
"Xander jump to your left!" Piper yelled to him and saw that the young man took her advice, and before the demon had a chance to move Piper brought her hands up and blasted a pillar behind the demon twice, once at the top and once at the bottom causing the large stone to fall onto the demon and crush it.
"Thanks for the warning," Xander said as he walked over to her.
"Anytime," Piper responded.
Xander then walked back over to the demon and cut off its head with his sword. After the demon's head was severed the body, as well as its head, melted into a dark green slime.
"Are you okay?" Paige asked as she ran up to Xander and threw her arms around him.
"A little sore but I'll be ok," Xander said as he hugged her back.
"What the hell was that thing Leo?" Chris asked as he and Phoebe got up and walked over to the group.
"That was one of Selabdule's minions," Leo responded as he eyed the large puddle of slime.
"We should get out of here," Xander said as he and Paige disengaged from each other.
"You're right, let's go," Leo said as he took hold of Piper and Phoebe and orbed away with them followed by Chris.
"So, you want a lift?" Paige asked with a grin as she again wrapped her arms around Xander and orbed back to the manor with him.
An hour later after everyone had calmed down from the demon attack, they were talking about what they should do next.
"So what now?" Xander asked as he took a sip from the cup of tea in front of him.
"I vote we sleep," Phoebe said.
"How can you be tired, all you did was hide behind a pillar, Piper and I did all the work," Xander said to the witch while grinning.
"Oh hush you," Phoebe shot back with a sour look on her face.
"Well, Xander you're gonna have to start training with Daystar so you can learn to unlock it's powers," Leo said as he looked at the young man.
"Yeah but first I think I should head back to the hotel," Xander said, putting down his cup and standing up.
"Why, won't Willow or Buffy just yell at you for what you did?" Paige asked with a frown on her face.
"Yeah but I have to face them sooner or later," Xander replied with a sigh as reached for his new sword.
"Ok, let me get my keys and I'll give you a lift," Paige said, getting up from the table to retrieve her car keys.
"Xander why don't you come by the club later tonight, that way we can all spend at least one more night relaxing just in case we do become slaves to this demon" Piper said as she began to clean of the table.
"I'll be there," Xander replied with a grin as Paige walked back into the room and they then made their way to the front door.
Soon Paige's car was pulling to a stop in front of Xander's hotel. Xander was about to get out when Paige stopped him.
"Wait a minute," Paige said and Xander turned back to her.
What happened next caught Xander totally off guard as Paige leaned in a planted a short but passionate kiss on his lips.
"What was that for," Xander asked in shock as Paige pulled back.
"That was our third date which means afterwards you get the first kiss," Paige said back with a grin.
"Wow," was all Xander was able too say as he climbed out of the car and waved by to Paige after promising to meet her later at the club.
With a grin on his face and a light heart Xander walked back into the hotel carrying the bag he had hidden Daystar in.
Xander sat alone in his room at the hotel, thankful he had been able to get in without Buffy or Willow noticing him, when there was a knock on his door.
"Who is it?" Xander called out.
"It's me," Faith called through the door.
"Come in," Xander called back as Faith walked in and closed the door behind her.
"So what's with the bag?" Faith asked the man in front of her.
"What do you mean 'what's with the bag', there's nothing in the bag," Xander asked slightly panicked.
"X, just open the bag," Faith replied, Xander, not wanting an argument he knew he would lose, opened the bag and pulled out Daystar.
"Woah, where did you get that?" Faith asked in awe as she looked at the sword.
"It's a long story," Xander said as he put the sword down on his desk.
"I've got time," Faith said as she sat down on a chair and propped her feet up on his bed.
Xander, seeing that the woman would not leave, sighed as he began to tell her the story, leaving out information about Paige and her sisters. Twenty minutes later Faith sat in silence as she thought about what Xander had just told her.
"So you now have a super powerful magic sword that you have too learn to use so that we don't become slaves to an ancient evil demon," Faith summarized.
"That's about the size of it," Xander replied.
"So how are you gonna learn to use it, ask G?" Faith asked the man on front of her.
"Probably not," Xander replied as he fell back onto his bed.
"Then what are you gonna do?" Faith asked.
"I know someone that can help me," Xander replied.
"Who?" Faith asked.
"A friend," Xander said back, being careful not to mention Leo's name.
"Your not gonna tell me his name are you," Faith said to the one-eyed man.
"Nope," Xander replied.
"Ok, but if there is anything I can do to help just let me know," Faith said, standing up. "By the way, Robin and I are going back to that club, P3, you wanna come?" Faith asked.
"Actually I'm meeting Paige there later," Xander said back.
"Cool, c'ya later," Faith said as she left the room.
Xander looked at his clock and saw that it was later then he thought and got up to get ready to go. After ten minutes Xander was ready to go when he stopped to look at the sword laying on his bed.
"What am I gonna do with you?" Xander asked the empty room as he looked around for a place to hide the sword until he got back, Xander decided on putting the sword back in the bag and shoving it under his bed.
As Xander was leaving his room he was again confronted by an angry Willow.
"Xander you are gonna go say sorry to Buffy right now!" Willow yelled at him in a commanding voice.
"No I'm not," Xander shot back as he walked past Willow towards the stairs leading to the lobby.
"Yes you are," Willow said as she grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her.
"Let go of me," Xander said to the witch.
"No, now you are going to go to Buffy's room, say that your sorry for hitting her, and then beg her for forgiveness," Willow said as she started pulling him in the direction of Buffy's room.
"No I am not," Xander said in an angry tone as he pulled his arm free.
"Why not?" Willow asked.
"Because I am not sorry for what I did, now if you will excuse I have to go meet some friends," Xander said as he turned and walked away from a stunned red haired witch.
After Xander had disappeared from view, Willow turned and walked to Buffy's room and went in.
"Well is he coming to apologize?" Buffy asked the red headed witch.
"No," Willow responded as she sat down next to her blond friend.
"Why not?" Buffy asked, getting angry.
"He says that he's not sorry for hitting you," Willow replied in a meek voice.
"What! He should be sorry!" Buffy screamed.
"Well he says he's not," Willow said back.
"That bastard!" Buffy screamed as she got up and began to destroy various things in her hotel room pretending they were Xander.
Meanwhile in a different part of town Xander was just entering P3. As the young man descended the stairs he was able too see Faith and Robin talking at a table, who quickly noticed him and got up and moved over to him.
"Hey Xander, what are you doing here?" Robin asked the man.
"Meeting some friends," Xander replied as he began to look around the room for the sisters.
"Well why don't you introduce us," Faith said.
Before Xander could responded a voice calling his name caught the attention of the trio of demon hunters. Faith and Robin saw a red haired women make her way over to Xander, wrap her arms around him, and plant a kiss on his lips.
"Hey Xander," Paige said as she held onto him.
"Hello yourself," Xander said back.
"Ahem!" Faith said, drawing attention to her and Robin.
"You gonna introduce us?" Robin asked.
"Oh, right, Paige this is Faith and Robin, Faith and Robin this is Paige," Xander said as he and Paige let go of each other.
"Nice to meet you," Paige said as she shook their hands.
"Same here," "Likewise," The two said back.
"Why don't you two join us?" Paige asked the slayer and former principal.
"Why not," Robin said, and the group of four moved over to a secluded area of the club, where Piper and Phoebe were sitting along with Leo and Chris.
"Hey Xander," Piper greeted the man as the group sat down.
"Who are they?" Phoebe asked.
"This is Faith and Robin," Xander said, pointing too the two, greetings were then exchanged and soon the group was sitting around the table.
"So your one of the slayers," Leo said to Faith.
Faith and Robin were caught off guard by this and turned to Xander.
"You told them about slayers," Faith said to the man in an angry tone.
"Xander didn't tell me anything I didn't already know," Leo said to the two.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked with no trust in his voice.
"Long story," Xander said as he put his head in his hands.
"You seem to have a lot those," Faith said as she sat back down and motioned for Robin to do the same.
Over the next hour explanations were exchanged and Faith and Robin soon trusted the group. Faith was surprised that Xander was dating a non-normal woman that wasn't trying to kill him.
"So you five helped Xander get his magic sword?" Faith asked the group.
"Yup," Paige said back.
"So what's the deal with this magic sword, I'm still a little confused?" Robin asked Xander.
"It used to be the body of the warrior that first defeated Selabdule, so it still contains his powers and I need to learn to unlock these powers or we are all doomed," Xander explained to the demon hunter.
"So no pressure," Robin joked and was able to earn chuckles from the whole table.
"I can see why you don't want to tell Buffy or Willow, knowing them they would probably try and take it away, saying it should be used by someone with powers," Faith said to the man.
"Yup, which is why I need to find a better place then under my bed to hide it," Xander said back.
"Actually I already have that covered," Leo said to the young man.
"How?" Xander asked.
"With this," Leo responded as he reached under the tabled, pulled out a box and gave it to Xander.
Xander took the box from Leo and opened it. Inside it was a long black duster that looked to be very expensive.
"What is this?" Xander asked as he held up the coat.
"The elders made it, inside it has a sheath for Daystar and is also enchanted to provide protection from a number of different spells as well as physical attacks," Leo explained.
"So, it's like armor?" Xander asked as he put the coat back in the box.
"More or less," Leo responded.
"Cool thanks," Xander said.
"C'mon lets dance," Paige said as she grabbed Xander's hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor where a slow song had just started.
Faith and Robin as well as Piper and Leo soon joined the couple on the dance floor. After the song was over the group went back to the table and enjoyed the rest of the night knowing that tomorrow they would once again have to save the world.
Xander, Faith, and Robin were walking back to the hotel after spending an enjoyable evening with the three witches and talking about what tomorrow would bring.
"So, do we have any idea when Selabdule is coming?" Robin asked Xander.
"All that we know is that he's coming soon, that's why the sword called out to me," Xander replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"This is still alot to take in you know," Faith said.
"What do you mean?" Xander asked the dark haired slayer.
"Well out of all the people in the world this sword chose you too save the world," Faith replied.
"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," Xander said narrowing his eyes.
"I didn't mean it like that Xan, I just meant that isn't it a little unusual that it chose a normal human when a whole army of slayers was just awakened," Faith hastily said, trying not to offend the one eyed man in front of her.
"Actually I more or less asked Leo the same thing," Xander said back.
"What did he say?" Robin asked.
"He said that the sword probably chose me because even though I have no powers I still fight simply because I know it's the right thing to do," Xander replied as the trio walked into the hotel.
"So the reason it chose you is because of the whole white knight thing you got going on," Faith said back.
"I guess," Xander replied as he noticed a pissed off Buffy coming down the stairs with an equally pissed off Willow right behind her.
"You got a lot of nerve," Buffy said as she walked up to the former carpenter.
"Nice to see you too Buff," Xander replied with a grin.
"Shut up," Buffy said, tempted to hit him. "You had better say you're sorry to me right now or else," Buffy said in a menacing tone.
"Buffy, saying that your sorry means that you regret your actions, which I don't, so it wouldn't make much sense for me to apologize, would it," Xander said as he began to walk past her.
"I'm not done with you yet," Buffy said as she grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"But I'm done with you," Xander said back in a serious tone.
"You're not done until I say so," Buffy said, squeezing his arm tighter.
Xander's arm was starting to hurt as Buffy kept applying pressure, so before Buffy snapped his arm like a twig he took action. Xander's fist flew forward and hit the surprised slayer in the jaw causing her to fall to the floor.
"Don't ever touch me again," Xander said in a menacing tone then turned and walked away with Faith and Robin close behind.
Buffy took a moment to get over her shock before she got up and ran after Xander. Since Xander had a head start he was already up the stairs and outside the door of his room when Buffy caught up.
"You bastard!" Buffy screamed as she ran at him.
Xander simply opened the door to his room and ducked inside while sticking his leg out causing Buffy to trip on it and run into a nearby wall. Buffy quickly got up and ran into Xander's room intent on teaching him a lesson about respecting his superiors but instead she found the tip of a long sword touching her neck.
"Get out of my room," Xander said with no emotion in his voice.
"Make me," Buffy shot back.
"Buffy, I would hate to have to clean blood off of my new sword, so get out," Xander said as he increased the pressure on the sword causing it to draw a small trickle of blood from the slayers neck.
Before Buffy could reply Willow, Giles, and Dawn appeared in the doorway to Xander's room.
"Xander, what the hell are you doing!" Willow screamed at the one eyed man.
"Shut up Will," Xander replied.
"Xander what's happening?" Dawn asked starting to fear for her sister.
"Nothing that concerns any of you, now please leave I would like to get some sleep before I go meet Paige and her sisters tomorrow." Xander said as he lowered the sword from Buffy's throat.
"What do you mean meet Paige? I told you to break up with her because you're coming to Cleveland with us," Buffy said as she rubbed her neck.
"I already told you I am not going to Cleveland, nor am I breaking up with Paige, now get out!" Xander said with venom in his tone.
"I'm not leaving until you apologize for what you did to me and agree to come with us to Cleveland," Buffy said as she crossed her arms.
"Well then you'll be standing there awhile," Xander said as he pulled out the duster Leo had given him and slipped Daystar into the sheath inside.
"Xander where did you get that sword?" Giles asked the young man while walking into the room.
"I found it," Xander replied as he turned to face the watcher.
"Xander if I am not mistaken that sword is Daystar," Giles said.
"Your not mistaken," Xander replied.
"Xander, Daystar is one of the most powerful arcane items, how could you just find it?" Giles asked.
"I had help from some friends," He replied.
"What is Daystar?" Buffy asked.
"It is an ancient, powerful arcane item that is said to be the only weapon capable of harming a demon known as Selabdule," Giles explained.
"Then why does Xander have it?" Willow asked in confusion.
"Because the sword chose me to wield it, now all of you get out of my room!" Xander said, getting very pissed at the group.
"Why would something so powerful choose a normal person like you instead of a slayer, it is our job to protect people, not yours," Buffy said as she sat down in a chair.
"Maybe because I actually have some humanity left in me, unlike you," Xander said.
"How dare you say that!" Buffy screamed at him. "I've been risking my life to protect people for years, I should be the one to use that sword not you, now hand it over," Buffy said holding out her hand.
"Go to hell," Xander said as he put on the duster, walked past Buffy, and left the room.
"Xander, get back here!" Buffy screamed as she took off after him with Giles, Willow, and Dawn close behind.
Xander simply ignored her as he descended the stairs and passed Faith and Robin, who had stayed in the lobby through everything.
"Thanks for the help," Xander said sarcastically.
"Anytime," Faith said back as Xander walked past with Buffy and the others close behind.
As Xander left the hotel he saw Leo standing on the sidewalk outside.
"Leo what are you doing here?" Xander asked as he walked up to the elder.
"Well I say what happened and thought you might want a ride out of here," Leo said with a grin.
"Not even gonna ask how you know just get me out of here," Xander said as the elder put a hand on his shoulder and both of them disappeared in a pillar of lights shocking Buffy and the others as they ran out of the hotel after him.
"What the hell just happened, where did he go?" Buffy asked with anger in her voice.
Giles instead of responding simply turned and walked back into the hotel deep in thought while Buffy began to vent her rage on various things in the street
As the lights died down Xander noticed that he was standing in the Halliwell's living room with a surprised Paige staring at them.
"Xander, what are you doing here?" Paige asked as she walked over to the one-eyed man and gave him a quick kiss.
"I thought that he could use an escape from his friends," Leo explained before Xander could open his mouth.
"So you brought him here," Paige said.
"Yeah, you don't mind do you?" Leo asked.
"I don't, but you will have to check with Piper and Phoebe too," Paige said as she and Xander sat down on the couch.
"Check with us about what?" Piper asked as she and Phoebe walked into the room.
"About Xander staying here tonight," Paige said.
"Why would he need to stay here tonight?" Phoebe asked as she sat down in a chair.
"I got into a big fight with my friends that resulted in me sucker punching Buffy as well as showing her, Willow, Giles, and Dawn Daystar," Xander explained.
"So, that's bad?" Phoebe asked.
"Have you ever seen a pissed off slayer, there not fun to be around," Xander responded.
"Well it's okay with me if you stay the night," Piper said as she and Leo walked into the kitchen.
"Me too, just don't go and make a bunch of noise tonight you two," Phoebe said with a coy smile as she stood up and left the room.
"What did she mean?" Xander asked, turning to face Paige, who was wearing a small grin on her face.
"I'll tell you when we go to bed," Paige said as she pulled him into a kiss that soon turned into a full-blown make out session.
Xander, Paige, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo were all seated at the Halliwell's kitchen eating breakfast and trying figure out what to in order to prepare for the return of Selabdule.
"Xander you need to start training with Daystar so you can actually use some of the powers in it," Leo said to the one eyed man, who was staring off into space.
'I had sex with Paige, I don't believe this,' Xander thought silently.
"Xander!" Leo said snapping the young man out of his thoughts.
"Abraham Lincoln!" Xander called out suddenly.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Sorry, flashing back to high school history class, what did I miss?" Xander asked as Paige and Phoebe laughed.
"I said that you need to start training with Daystar so you can use its powers," Leo explained.
"Cool, when do we start?" Xander asked.
"Today, and while we are doing that you three should check the Book of Shadows to see if there is a potion or spell that will help," Leo said addressing the three sisters.
"We'll get right on it," Piper said, standing up and leaving the room with Phoebe and Paige right behind.
"I think I may need some different clothes." Xander said as he gestured to the clothes he had arrived in the night before.
"Right, I'll orb you back to the hotel so you can change," Leo said.
"Ten bucks says Buffy is waiting to kill me," Xander said as the two men stood up.
"I don't take a sucker's bet," Leo said with a grin as he grabbed Xander's shoulder and the two disappeared in a pillar of lights.
Paige was busy looking through the large book in front of her while trying to block out Phoebe's questions.
"C'mon tell us, what happened with you and Xander last night," Phoebe said to her younger sister.
"No," Paige responded as she continued to flip pages.
"Did you have sex?" Phoebe asked.
"Not telling," Paige said back.
"Please," Phoebe pleaded.
"Nope," Paige responded.
"Phoebe, just drop it already, she's not talking," Piper said in an annoyed voice.
"I'll get the truth out of you later," Phoebe said to her younger sister.
"You can try," Paige said back in a sing song voice.
Phoebe was about to responded with a cutting remark when a yell of joy came from Paige.
"Found him!" Paige yelled as Piper and Phoebe crowded around the book.
The page showed a picture of a large obsidian black skinned man wearing black clothes that looked to be from the middle ages, all underneath a dark cloak. Across the top of the page the word 'Selabdule' was written.
"So that's Selabdule," Phoebe said, looking at the picture.
"Yup, now lets see if there is anything we can use to stop him," Piper said as she read over the text.
"There's nothing here that we don't already know," Paige said as she closed the book in frustration.
"So what do we do now?" Phoebe asked.
"We wait for Xander and Leo to come back," Piper said as she sat down on a couch in the room.
As the swirling lights disappeared Xander noticed two things, one, they had orbed into his room, and two, Buffy and Willow were there as well.
"What are you two doing in my room?" Xander asked.
"Waiting for you," Buffy said back in a neutral tone.
"Why?" Xander asked, his hand moving into his coat and closing over the hilt of Daystar.
"Because we figured out what's wrong with you," Buffy said as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in.
"And what's that?" Xander asked.
"Well since we saw that guy orb, we figured out that he is a whitelighter, which means that there is a witch involved, and that witch has to be this woman you're dating." Willow said.
"So?" Xander asked, getting annoyed.
"So we figured out that she is evil and put a spell on you so she can control you and drive you away from us," Willow explained.
"That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard," Xander responded, getting pissed off.
"It's okay Xander, we know that it's just the spell talking, don't worry we will reverse it and then you'll be back to normal," Buffy said as she walked over to Xander.
"Right, while you do that I'll concentrate on saving the world, now get out of my room I need to change," Xander said as he pushed the two women into the hallway.
"Are they always like that?" Leo asked as Xander pulled out some workout clothes and walked into the bathroom.
"Usually," Xander called from the bathroom.
"Sucks to be you," Leo called by back.
"Yeah it does," Xander said as he walked back into the room wearing a black muscle shirt and black sweat pants.
"You ready?" Leo asked.
"Yup, let's go," Xander said, grabbing Daystar as Leo grabbed his shoulder and they orbed away.
As the lights cleared Xander saw that they were standing in a large warehouse.
"What are we doing here?" Xander asked as he looked around the room.
"Your training here," Leo responded.
"Okay, so where do we start?" Xander asked while pulling out his sword.
"Meditation," Leo responded.
"Why meditation?" Xander asked.
"It's complicated to explain, but I suppose the simple form of it is that since Daystar chose you, you will have a mental bond with the weapon and by meditating you will be able to become aware of the bond and then tap into the sword's powers," Leo explained.
"Well then, let's get started," Xander said.
Over the course of several hours Xander learned many meditation techniques as well as some sword kata's. By the time the sun had started setting Xander had become aware of his bond with the sword and was able to tap a small amount of it's power.
"That's enough for today, lets get some food," Leo said as Xander stood up from his meditations.
"Best thing I've heard all day," Xander responded as Leo put his hand on Xander's shoulder and the pair orbed away.
As Xander and Leo orbed into the Halliwells kitchen he saw that Piper was standing at a stove cooking and Paige and Phoebe were sitting at the table.
"Hey girls," Xander said as he sat down next to Paige, who turned and gave him a quick kiss.
"Find anything on Selabdule?" Leo asked as he too sat down.
"Only a picture and things we already know," Phoebe responded.
"Chris is checking in with some contacts of his to see if he can find anything," Piper said as she flipped off the stove and turned around.
"How did the training go?" Paige asked Xander.
"Not bad," Xander responded.
"You need to work harder though, we have no idea when Selabdule will rise so you need to be ready," Leo said.
"You got it," Xander responded.
"Alright dinner is ready," Piper said as she put a pot of pasta down on the table.
Soon the group had finished eating and discussion of what to do about Selabdule was brought up again.
"I think I should go talk to Buffy," Xander said to the group at the table.
"Why, thought she was acting like a total bitch to you?" Paige asked.
"She is but I have a feeling that we may need the help of a slayer or two," Xander replied.
"That is actually a pretty good idea," Leo said to the one-eyed man.
"Well then, think I could get a ride?" Xander asked.
"I'll take you," Paige said as she stood up and grabbed her keys.
"See you guys later," Xander said as he stood up and followed Paige out of the room.
Soon Xander and Paige were pulling too a stop in front of the hotel.
"Well lets go," Xander said as he Paige got out of the car and walked in the front doors.
Before the couple had taken more than five steps, a voice calling Xander's name caught their attention and they turned and saw Dawn running up to them.
"Hey Dawn what's new?" Xander asked the younger of the two Summers women.
"Don't give me that 'what's new' stuff I want answers now," Dawn said with her own version of the 'resolve face'.
"Alright ask away," Xander said.
"First, who's she?" Dawn asked, gesturing to Paige.
"Dawn meet Paige, Paige meet Dawn," Xander said.
"Nice too meet you," Paige said.
"Same here," Dawn responded before turning back to Xander.
"Second, what the hell is going on, first you slap Buffy, then you punch her, then you suddenly have some ancient sword thing, then you disappear with some man in a shower of lights and now Buffy and Willow think that Paige is an evil witch and has put a spell on you," Dawn said to the one eyed man in front of her.
"Their still on that spell kick?" Xander asked.
"Yes, now I want some answers," Dawn responded.
Xander then look at Paige who gave him a small nod showing she was okay with him telling Dawn about her.
"Well Dawn, for starters Paige is a witch, just not an evil one," Xander said.
"How can you be sure?" Dawn asked.
"Well I am half angel," Paige said.
Dawn looked at Xander and gave her nod, confirming what Paige said.
"Works for me, now what's with the sword?" Dawn asked.
"The sword is called Daystar and is the only weapon capable of harming a demon called Selabdule," Xander explained.
"Okay then, now we should probably go talk to Willow and Buffy because I believe that they are trying to cast a spell to remove the spell that was never placed on you," Dawn said and the trio then made their way to the stairs.
Soon the group made it to Willow's room where they could hear her and Buffy inside.
"Well, here goes nothing," Xander said as he opened the door and stepped inside with Paige and Dawn right behind him.
"Xander your here, good, Willow cast the spell," Buffy said as she saw Xander enter the room.
"Buffy, for the last time, I am not under a spell," Xander said.
"It's true Buffy, he's not," Dawn said.
"Then why wouldn't he want to come with us?" Willow asked.
"Because I am happy here," Xander said.
"But we're your friends and we know that you will be happier with us in Cleveland," Buffy said with a stern look on her face.
"Wow she is dense isn't she," Paige whispered to Dawn.
"Oh yeah," Dawn said back.
"Who the hell is she?" Buffy asked as she finally noticed Paige.
"Buffy, Willow, This is Paige my girlfriend, Paige, this is Buffy and Willow," Xander said.
"Hi," Paige said.
"So this is the witch that's messing with your head," Willow said as she stood next to Buffy.
"For the last time, I am not under a spell!" Xander screamed at the two.
"Of course you are why else would you hit me?" Buffy asked.
"Because you pissed me off, now shut up and listen to me," Xander said. "You said that you figured out Paige was a witch because you saw a whitelighter orb me away right?" Xander asked.
"Yeah," Buffy responded, not sure where this was going.
"Didn't it occur to you that only good witches get whitelighters," Xander said to the two.
After hearing this Buffy and Willow suddenly realized they had made a mistake.
"Now we have a very powerful demon we have to stop so lets put all this shit on hold for now and get back to it after we save the world, okay?" Xander asked.
"Fine by me," Willow said.
"Okay, but we are having a major talk about all of this later, got it," Buffy said to Xander.
"Fine by me, now listen up," Xander said as he and Paige then explained about all that had been happening.
"So this Selabdule guy wants to conquer the universe?" Buffy asked.
"Multiverse," Xander corrected her.
"Whatever, and this sword of your is the only thing that can stop it," Buffy finished.
"Exactly," Xander said.
"Okay so then when he shows up we kill him, simple as that," Buffy said.
"I hope it's that simple," Xander responded.
"Alright then, how about we go back to our rooms and get some sleep, then start fresh in the morning," Buffy said.
"Actually, I'm heading back to Paige and her sisters place, I'll be back in the morning," Xander said as he and Paige stood up and headed for the door.
"Why can't you stay here?" Willow asked.
"Let me think about that for a minute, stay here and sleep alone," Xander began.
"Or come with me and not," Paige finished for him with a sultry look on her face.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Xander said as he and Paige left the room.
"So, now what Buffy?" Willow asked.
"We do what Xander said, Help save the world again and deal with everything else later," Buffy said as she sat down on the bed.
Xander and the Charmed ones were pulling up to a stop in front of the Hotel after a very peaceful night.
"So we finally meet this mondo bitch," Phoebe said as the group got out of the car they arrived in.
"Yup, please don't turn into a toad or anything we may need her down the line," Xander said as the group started heading towards the doors.
"We won't," Phoebe responded.
"Speak for yourself," Paige mumbled under her breath.
"I heard that," Xander said as they walked into the lobby.
Paige simply responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Xander was about to come up with a cutting comeback line when he saw Dawn running up to him with Faith close behind.
"Hey Dawn, Faith," Xander said in greeting to the two women.
"Hey yourself Xan," Faith responded.
"Buffy and Willow are upstairs going on about some odd thing with Giles," Dawn said.
"What odd thing?" Xander asked suddenly nervous.
"Not sure exactly, something about helping you with the demon then finding a way to drag you to Cleveland," Dawn replied.
"They are not gonna give up are they?" Xander asked.
"Nope, but I see you brought all three witches this time, If they get out of hand they could turn them into toads, and Giles is also trying to talk sense into them," Faith said with a grin.
"Why does everyone think that we're gonna turn them into toads?" Phoebe asked in exasperation.
"Because you haven't met them yet," Paige replied as the group headed for the stairs.
Soon the group was standing outside Buffy's room, Xander reached up and knocked on the door, a couple seconds later the blond slayer opened it.
"Come in," Buffy said as she moved out of the way and allowed the group to enter.
"Buff, Will, Giles meet Phoebe and Piper," Xander said as he introduced the other two witches.
"Nice to meet you," Piper said polity.
"Same here," Buffy said.
"Ok, now down to business, we need to come up with a plan for what to do when Selabdule rises," Xander said as the group all sat down in various places around the room.
"So what do we know about Selabdule so far?" Giles asked.
"Not much, he's super powerful, very old, and wants to conquer the multiverse," Xander explained.
"And that Xander's sword is the only thing that can hurt him," Phoebe added.
"Xander could I see the sword?" Giles asked the one eyed man.
"Sure," Xander said, pulling the sword out of his coat and handing it to Giles.
"Marvelous," Giles said as he began to look the sword over.
"So do we even have some thing close to a plan?" Buffy asked the group.
"Well so far it is that I train with Daystar in order to tap into its powers," Xander explained.
"What happens when you tap into its powers?" Willow asked.
"Well so far all that happens is my senses get stronger, but since I can only tap a small amount of its power I don't know what will happen once I can draw more," Xander responded.
"Well lets hope that something good happens because if it doesn't we're all screwed," Paige said from her place next to Xander.
"This is a very interesting sword Xander," Giles said as he handed the sword back.
"Thanks," Xander responded as he put the sword back in his coat.
"Could you show me where you found it?" Giles asked.
"Sure, when?" Xander asked.
"Now if possible," Giles responded.
"Works for me," Xander responded.
"We want to come too," Buffy said, gesturing to herself and Willow.
"Fine," Xander responded in an exasperated voice.
"Hey I can't carry all these people myself," Paige said turning to Xander.
"Paige I was thinking that we could drive," Xander said, turning to his girlfriend.
"Oh, that works," Paige responded, a little embarrassed.
"Well lets go already," Buffy said.
Twenty minutes later the group was walking through a cemetery towards the mausoleum where Daystar was found.
"This is the place," Xander said as he opened the door of the crypt.
"You found your sword in a mausoleum?" Willow asked.
"Actually under it but yeah more or less," Xander said as he walked inside with the Charmed ones right behind.
After the entire group had entered Xander showed them the stairway and the entire group walked down into the large underground temple.
"Wow," Buffy said in awe.
Giles didn't say anything, instead he walked over to a wall and began to examine the various symbols painted there. Before Giles could begin to translate any of the symbols, a loud scream broke the silence of the temple.
Turning toward the source of the sound the group saw two large reptile like demons exactly like the ones that had attacked Xander when he first got the sword.
"Great, more of them," Xander said as he pulled Daystar out of his coat and took up a defensive pose.
"What the hell are those things?" Buffy asked as she stood by Xander.
"Selabdule's minions," Xander responded as the pair of demons ran at them.
Xander and Buffy stood their ground as the demons charged. At the last second they both jumped to the sides making the demons run past them and hit a nearby wall.
"Not to smart are they?" Buffy asked with a grin as she and Xander turned to face the demons.
"Nope but they are fast so watch out," Xander warned as the demons once again charged them.
Before the demons could reach them they were sent flying into a wall from a bolt of lighting, turning, the two warriors saw that Willow was charging up another blast as the demons got back up.
Willow then launched the blast towards the large monsters but this time they saw it coming and effortlessly jumped over the blast and charged towards the red haired witch.
Before the demons could reach Willow Buffy ran forward and kicked one, causing it to fly back a few feet onto the floor while Xander quickly took aim and threw Daystar at the other demon, imbedding the sword deep in it's leg causing it too fall to the ground.
Not giving the demon a chance to recover Xander ran forward and pulled the sword out of the demons leg and was about to bring it down on the demons neck when he was sent flying across the room by the monsters arm.
The demon then quickly regained it's footing and ran forward towards Xander to finish the job when a blast hit it's injured leg causing it fall again, and giving Xander time to get away.
Turning Xander saw that the blast had come from Piper. Xander sent a nod her way to show his thanks as the witch simply smiled in return. Xander then ran forward and quickly cut off the demon's head causing it to turn into a pool of green ooze before disappearing.
"One down," Xander said to himself while turning towards the other demon.
Xander was not surprised too see that Buffy was holding her own against the demon. She was moving around quickly causing the demon to tire fast but due too the demon's height none of her attacks were having any effect.
"Buffy!" Xander yelled to get her attention. When the blond slayer turned to look at him he drew his arm back and lobbed Daystar over to her.
Buffy jumped into the air and grabbed Daystar. When she landed she turned to face the demon again and quickly put a deep slash in one of its legs causing it too fall. She then raised the sword over her head and brought it down on the demon's neck, killing it.
"Well that was fun," Xander said as he walked over and took his sword back from Buffy.
"Yeah, lets not do it again," Buffy responded with a grin.
"Well now that all the excitement is over maybe I can get on with figuring out what these blasted symbols mean," Giles said, slightly pissed, as he turned back to the wall.
Xander walked over and sat down on the fallen pillar they had used to kill the first demon and soon Paige joined him.
"You okay?" She asked with concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Xander responded.
"Good," Paige said as she put her head on his shoulder while Xander wrapped his arm around her.
"This certainly has been an eventful day," Xander said.
"And just think, it's only half over," Paige responded with a grin.
"Don't reminded me," Xander grumbled.
Paige in turn just laughed and kissed him.
After the demon attack in the temple Giles spent the rest of the afternoon looking over the runes on the walls trying to translate them while the rest of the group found other ways to entertain themselves.
Willow began to drill Piper and Phoebe on various magic related subjects. Buffy was trying not to glare at Paige for having stolen her Xander shaped friend from her and Willow. Xander had moved to a more open part of the room and began going through different sword katas while Paige watched.
After a while a shout from Giles had caught everyone's attention and the group then moved over to where the former watcher was standing.
"What's up G man?" Xander asked as he walked over.
"I believe that I have found out when Selabdule will return, and don't call me that," Giles responded.
"When?" Buffy asked, staring at the wall.
"Well according to these symbols Selabdule will return during the next solar eclipse," Giles said while gesturing to the different symbols on the wall.
"That's only a week away," Piper said to the former watcher.
"Then I suggest we double our efforts," Giles responded.
With that said Piper quickly called Leo and Chris who orbed in quickly. After they had explained to them what happened the group went different ways in order to prepare. Buffy, Willow, and Giles returned to the hotel with Chris's help to research. The Charmed ones returned to the manor to double-check on any information they may have missed. Leo took Xander back to the old warehouse so he could continue his training with Daystar.
By the time Leo and Xander returned to the manor Xander was able to tap into a larger part of the mystical swords power and had also learned several new sword forms and meditation techniques. He was also sore as hell.
"That was not fun," Xander muttered as he fell into one of the couches in the Halliwell's living room.
"What wasn't fun?" Paige asked as she walked into the room and sat down on Xander's lap.
"Nothing, learn anything new?" Xander asked the red headed witch on his lap.
"No, but Piper was able to cook up some powerful potions that we think should come in handy," Paige answered.
"Well that's better than nothing," Xander said, wrapping his arms around the witch.
"How did the training go?" Paige asked the man whose lap she was sitting on.
"Not too bad, I can tap into more of Daystar's power," Xander responded.
"Cool, what happens," Paige asked with interest.
"Well, I can move faster and I can channel the energy through the blade to give it a magical supercharge," The one-eyed man answered with a smile.
"That should really help out down the line," Paige responded.
"Yeah it should, but I still can't wait till I can channel all of Daystar's power," Xander said back with a look of longing in his eye.
"You won't be able too," Leo said, finally joining the conversation.
"What! Why not?" Xander asked, slightly pissed.
"Because no ones body could handle that much energy, if you tried you would turn yourself into a pile of ashes, you will probably only be able to channel no more than ten percent of the sword's power," Leo explained.
"You could have mentioned that sooner," Xander said to the elder.
"Sorry," Leo responded sheepishly.
Xander was about to continue to rip into the elder for forgetting to tell him that little bit of information sooner but a much more important sound caught his attention.
"Dinner's ready," Piper called.
"Food!" Xander yelled and quickly took Paige off of his lap and ran into the kitchen leaving a laughing witch and elder behind.
Later, after everyone had finished dinner, Xander decided to head back to the hotel to check in with Giles to see if he or anyone else had found anything new that they could use.
"Never gonna get used to that," Xander muttered after Paige orbed them into a room at the hotel containing a surprised Buffy, Willow, and Giles. "Hey guys, find anything?" Xander asked as he and Paige sat down.
"Only things that we already know," Giles responded as he closed the book in front of him.
"Faith went out to see if she could find any demon bars she could get info from," Willow said to the pair.
"Faith's back," The raven-haired slayer said as she walked into the room with a sour look on her face.
"Didn't find anything I take it," Paige said to the slayer.
"Not a damn thing," Faith replied as she fell into a chair.
"I have a strong feeling that we are screwed," Xander said glumly to the group as they all grabbed books to try and find anything new.
The week passed quickly by for the group of warriors that defend the world from darkness. There was now only one day until the eclipse and the return of Selabdule, and things were not going well for the warriors.
After many hours training Xander was only able to tap into seven percent of Daystars power, no new information was found on Selabdule, and worst of all, the Halliwell manner was out of coffee.
"I can't believe you're out of coffee," Xander said to Piper.
"Well maybe if you didn't drink three to five cups a day we wouldn't be out," Piper shot back.
"I need the caffeine," Xander responded in anger.
"What for?" Piper asked.
"Hello! I need the energy for my training!" Xander yelled.
"Don't yell at me," Piper said as she walked over to Xander and smacked the back off his head. "Now what's wrong with you, apart from the lack of caffeine?" Piper asked the young man.
"I just don't know if I can do this," The one eyed man mumbled as he sat down in a chair.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked as she sat down next too him.
"Seeing as how I've only had a week to train, not to mention that I can't tap into more then seven percent of Daystars powers," Xander answered.
"What difference does that make?" Piper asked with confusion written on her face.
"Think about for minute, the guy who originally beat Selabdule had to use all of his powers to beat him, and even after that his body turned into a freaking sword," Xander explained to the witch, who still had a confused look. "I can only tap into seven percent of the power that was originally used to beat Selabdule," Xander continued.
"So your worried that since you only have access to a small amount of that power, you won't be able to beat Selabdule," Piper finished for him.
"Exactly," Xander responded.
"Well Xander if also have to take into account that you have at least two slayers, the Charmed Ones, another powerful witch, and that's only the people that will be in the main fight, you also have an elder and a whitelighter watching your back," Piper explained to the young man.
"Good point," Xander replied with a grin.
"I know, now chill out, you have plenty of support for the fight and Phoebe and Paige should come back from the supermarket with coffee right about now," Piper said.
A few seconds later the sound of the front door being opened and the voices of the other two Halliwell sisters were clearly heard.
"How did you do that?" Xander asked the witch.
Piper's only reply was a grin as she got up from the table and walked out of the kitchen just as Phoebe and Paige walked in with the groceries.
"Hey, what did we miss?" Phoebe asked as she started putting the food into the cupboards.
"Nothing much, I yelled about the lack of coffee and Piper gave me a pep talk, after hitting me on the head about aforementioned yelling," Xander replied while Paige sat down in his lap.
"A pep talk about what?" Paige asked.
"I was a little nervous about the upcoming return of a centuries old demon," Xander replied.
"So, only one day left," Paige said as she snuggled in closer to Xander.
"Yup, one day," Xander replied as he wrapped his arms around Paige.
Meanwhile on the other side of town in the hotel that the Slayers were staying at Buffy was far from calm as well.
"I don't get it I know I put in here somewhere," Buffy said as she tore around her room.
"It's not in my room," Willow said walking through the door with Giles behind her.
"Buffy what are you looking for?" Giles asked the blond slayer.
"The scythe, I know I put in here somewhere," Buffy said as she continued to tear around the room.
"Buffy, the scythe is right there," Giles said pointing to a shelf in the closet where the ancient weapon sat.
"Oh, right," Buffy said as she walked over and picked up the weapon.
"Why were you looking for that anyway?" Willow asked while gesturing to the weapon.
"Well I figure it may come in handy against Selabdule," Buffy replied, taking a few practice swings.
"Buffy, Daystar is the only weapon that can harm Selabdule," Giles said to the blond slayer.
"Yeah I know, but this weapon was forged to kill the last of the pure demons so it may come in handy," Buffy responded while putting the scythe into a bag on her bed.
A few seconds later Faith walked into the room with Robin following right behind.
"Giles I think we might have a problem," Faith said to the British man.
"What?" Giles asked, concern showing on his face.
"We know that this demon dude returns tomorrow right," Faith began to explain. "But we have no idea where," She finished while staring at Giles.
"Good lord, your right," Giles responded, suddenly very worried.
"This is bad isn't it?" Willow asked.
"Not if we can find out where we is gonna show," Robin replied.
"I'll call Xander," Faith said, pulling out a cell phone.
Ten minutes later Xander and Leo orbed into the room both wearing grim looks.
"This is bad," Xander said, after his stomach had settled from the orbing.
"Ya think," Faith replied sarcastically.
"Shut up," Xander shot back before turning to Giles, "Is there any way to find out where Selabdule will return?" The former carpenter asked.
"None that I can think of right now, but I was hoping that Leo and the other elders would be able to help," Giles responded.
"I'll get right on it," Leo replied before orbing out of the room.
Xander then sat down in a chair that is in the room and faced the gathered group of people. "Any other bad news?" he asked with a grin.
"We want you to come with us to Cleveland once this is all over," Buffy replied.
"Still on that kick I see," Xander said with a smirk before continuing. "Sorry, but not a chance in hell," he finished.
"Why not, we're your friends and you'll be happier with us," Willow said in a pleading voice.
"How do you know that I will be happier with you?" Xander asked in a neutral tone.
"We just do, right Giles," Buffy responded while turning to her mentor.
Giles looked around the room at the collected people finally stopping on Buffy. "Buffy, Xander is a grown man and can make his own decisions, if he feels that he would be happier here than in Cleveland we need to respect that," Giles explained to the blond slayer.
"Thanks G-man," Xander said.
"Don't call me that," Giles responded in an irritated voice.