The soul, finally defeated and freed from its body, floated before the Council, its body shown in the mists of time that the Council commanded. The mist clearly showed the soul's body surrounded by twenty dead warriors of the light. The image was a snapshot in time, something that both did and did not exist in this place. Relatively speaking, it had taken a long time for the corruption that had plagued the soul to be removed, and sometimes it wished for the ignorance of its mindless prison rather than the memory of the atrocities that it had committed under the corruption. The memory of its greatest betrayal was the hardest to bear, because it was the betrayal of the one that the soul had loved above all others and, before the corruption, would have died for. For that one act alone, the soul knew it deserved an eternity in torment, and objectively compared to all the other depraved acts it had committed throughout the years, that was the least of them.
WE HAVE MADE OUR JUDGEMENT!
The voice seemed to echo inside the mind of the soul, which smiled sadly. Damnation awaits.
IT IS OUR DECISION THAT YOU SHAL BE GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE!
"Ah, hell no!" The soul screamed. "Send me to Hell, you bastards. It's what I deserve."
AN INDICATION OF WHY WE SO DECIDED. IT IS OUR DECISION THAT YOU WILL BE SENT TO ANOTHER TIME, WHERE YOU WILL REBORN AS YOU ONCE WERE, A NORMAL HUMAN. ONCE YOU TURN EIGHTEEN YOUR MEMORIES AND ABILITIES WILL BE RESTORED. SHOULD YOU REPEAT YOUR ACTIONS YOUR SOUL SHALL BE CAST INTO THE PIT BEYOND ALL SALVATION. SHOULD YOU PROVE THAT YOUR ACTIONS WERE A RESULT OF THE CORRUPTION RATHER THAN YOUR OWN INTENT, THEN YOU WILL HAVE THE OPERTUNITY TO EARN REDEMPTION.
It was a trial, but the soul wondered if it deserved this chance. Thinking back on all the horrible things it had done, suddenly it remembered the good it had done as well, the lives it had saved.
'Do I really deserve this chance?' It thought. 'No. Which is why I'll probably use it better than some.'
"I agree." The soul said, "On the condition that I go strait to Hell should I fail."
AGREED!
The Naginata disappeared from beside the soul's body in the mists and appeared before it in the chamber. The spear, with its foot long, swordlike blade, had been the soul's weapon for many years, since long before the corruption.
YOU MEMORIES AND ABILITIES WILL BE STORED IN YOUR WEAPON! WHEN YOU RETRAVE IT, YOU WILL BE RESTORED.
The soul's memories and abilities slowly faded from it, but unlike the unknowing prison, this brought a sense of piece and renewal, rather than pain and confusion. The Naginata disappeared from the chamber, followed by the soul, which was transported to another dimension and into the body of a child about to be born. After the pain of the birth and the struggle to draw that first breath, the baby heard something that it did not recognise.
"Congratulations Mrs. Harris. It's a boy." The doctor said.
"Alexander. His name is Alexander." The near exhausted mother said.
Back in the Council chamber, the mists swirled, hiding the new mother and her infant.
THAT WE HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING, WE HOPE OR THAT WORLD IS DOOMED!
Xander dived in and tackled the large female demon that was attacking Buffy. In retaliation he was thrown against a wall, disturbing a wooden panel that had gone unnoticed for almost two decades. Standing up, he looked into the recess behind the panel, which contained an odd looking spear. The shaft, when placed butt down on the floor, reached to just above his shoulder, which was topped by a foot long, slightly curved blade that represented a miniature Katana. Feeling drawn to the weapon, he reached out and grabbed the shaft, pulling it free of the recess.
Suddenly hearing the battle clearer, Xander turned and saw the demons. Some part of him, this time, recognised them as the Sisterhood of Jeh. Seeing that Buffy and Faith were having trouble Xander dived into the battle. He drove the blade of the Naginata into the side of one of the demons that was battling Faith, killing it almost instantly. Spinning, he blocked the attack from another demon with the haft of his weapon and, using it like a quarterstaff, rapped the demon hard in the side of the head with the butt, causing it to drop to the floor. Stepping up to a third demon, he blocked the rake of her claws, allowing Buffy to run her through with her sword. Looking around in the sudden stillness, he saw that the other four sisters were all dead, and Faith was standing over the unconscious one about to kill it.
"Faith, wait." He called. "Maybe we can get some information out of her."
"Her?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah Buff. You have to be a female Grlaskfnix demon to get into the Sisterhood of Jeh." He said as if it were common knowledge.
The demon slowly came round and Xander knelled in front of it.
"Are you part of the advance team or the main force?" Xander asked.
The demon said something in a language that none of the Scooby Gang seemed to understand, except Xander, who punched the demon hard in the gut.
"Answer the question." He said, with a hard edge to his voice.
The demon said something and Xander seemed to relax.
"Ok, so the main force arrives tomorrow. When they going to try and open the Hellmouth?"
The Scooby Gang shifted nervously at this and the demon obviously said something that Xander didn't like as he punched it again. The demon said something else in the strange language and Xander nodded.
"Tell them to call it off it they value their lives. This town is under the protection of the Hermazats. I see any of the Sisterhood here after tomorrow and the entire sisterhood dies."
The demon was obviously promising to be gone, its fear evident to all the members of the Scooby Gang.
"Get out of here." Xander said, stepping away from the demon, which ran out of the cave with fear in its eyes.
Xander stood and started slowly towards the exit, twirling the Naginata around his left hand with an easy grace.
"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked in shock.
"Fun." Xander replied, starting to whistle a haunting but totally unfamiliar tune.
All of the Scooby Gang, except for Xander were sitting in the Library the day after the fight with the Sisterhood of Jeh.
"I've found several references to the Sisterhood. Apparently their sole aim is to bring about the destruction of the world. We would have no doubt figured that out with standard research." Giles said.
"Yeah, but what about that Hermazats that Xander mentioned?" Willow asked.
"I have had little success with that. I have found a few references, fairly vague accounts. It was apparently a person several thousand years ago. Some demon species, like the Sisterhood, treat it like a bogyman, even after all this time. There is mention of a prophecy but I have found no reference to it. I'll send the inquiry to the Watchers Council to see what they come up with."
"I'm worried about Xander. How did he understand that demon?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, B's right. And did you see him whaling on those demons with that spear thingy? He was good." Faith added.
"It's called a Naginata. An ancient Japanese weapon." Giles added.
"Cool. Think you could hook me up with one?" Faith asked.
"It is not an easy weapon to fully master, Faith." Giles warned.
"Well, X-man was rocking with it." Faith replied. "Anyway, I'm out of here."
"Yes, I believe that is all for the time being." Giles said as Faith sauntered away.
Xander was sitting on his bed, legs crossed and eyes closed. He didn't know why but it felt right. After a few minutes of slow, deep breathing, the darkness fell away and he saw himself facing a figure holding the Naginata that he had found in the cave. The figure was of the same height and similar gross proportions to him; however the figure had long, pale golden hair and pale blue eyes.
"How did I know that stuff?" Xander asked, feeling as if he had come in halfway through the conversation.
"You knew because I knew, because it was part of you." The figure said.
"Who are you?"
"I am you, kind of. I am all the memories and experiences of the previous life of our soul." The figure replied.
"We have the same soul?"
"Yes. You are our soul's redemption for what I did. You are me."
"No! I am me."
"Yes, you are that too." The figure said, giving Xander a slight headache.
"We can't be the same person." Xander declared.
"No, we are the same soul."
"But. But you… you're…" Xander stammered.
"A girl? Yes, in my life I was female." The figure said.
"I was a girl?"
"I thought we covered this." The woman, looking about thirty, complained. "And can you not call me a girl, I was a woman when I died. I was known as the Hermazats, but my name was Katherine."
"So, Katherine, what's the deal?" Xander said, still a bit shaken and confused.