Xander looked over at Giles, whom had just questioned if there was anything else that seemed odd from the previous night's event, "Yeah, G-man, just this." He looked at the bagel that the older man had been munching on and then concentrated his will on it, feeling it build and then release at his word, "Burn."
Willow, Giles, Buffy and Jenny all watched in abject horror as the plain bagel, which had been anointed with just the slightest bit of cream cheese on the top, suddenly burst into flames and became a hunk of blackened carbon that smelled only vaguely of the bagel-y goodness it had been a moment before. En mass, they looked at Xander and then back at the bagel, shocked speechless until Xander snarked, "Now, is that odd enough for you, G-man?"
Giles looked one last time at the bagel before looking at Xander, "You burned my bagel. Why did you burn my bagel?" {AN: don't worry, the bagel died a glorious death compared to some of the other things that will happen later in the fic}
"Would you have rather me used your library as an experiment, Giles?" Xander sank his face into his hands for a second and then lifted it up again, his eyes tired, "This guy was a sorcerer, Giles, an answer to the problem of an over three thousand year old prophesy. Me burning your bagel just then is and should be the least of your worries. He killed a GOD, Giles. Granted, it was prophecy and Torak was a complete nutter, but he still killed a divine being before he was eighteen."
The table was stunned silent again at that revelation, Giles forgetting his bagel for a moment to consider the problem, "Has anything else happened, Xander?"
"I woke up with four feet, a fine coat of fur, some wicked teeth inside of a muzzle, a bushy tail and a hankering to go out and hunt a deer for breakfast because nothing says yummy to a wolf like venison on the fresh in the morning." To prove it he looked around, formed the image of a wolf in his mind and forced himself into the same image; he felt the odd sensation of melting, like a cube of ice on a hot ground, but then reforming, sprouting fur, becoming a wolf. On instinct, he stood on all fours and shook himself off, looking himself over to make sure that all of his parts and pieces were in place – tail, toenails, everything; that done he looked at the others and refrained from lolling out his toung in a wolf's laughter at the look of shock on their collective faces.
"Good God."
"Oh … oh my."
"Xander? Is that you?"
"Goddess above…"
Taking a play directly out of Belgarion's book, he walked over to Jenny, jumped to where his paws were sitting on her shoulders, taking note that even as a wolf he was still taller than Buffy, and licking her face from chin to hairline, making her squeal/shriek before she dissolved in laughter. Walking back, he pictured a falcon in his mind and forced himself into the shape as well, this time sprouting a beak and feathers before settling down as a blue-banded falcon, chirping slightly and clicking his beak at Willow, who looked ready to pass out before Giles steadied her. Taking pity on her, Xander saw his own body in his mind again and was soon a Xander of the human variety, but that is when the discomfort started – being a wolf or a falcon was nice, but the compression on the internal organs was massive and the sudden re-expansion wasn't nice for them either, "Now do you guys believe me?"
"I-it was never a question of belief, Xander, but rather of conformation on our part," Giles tried to explain, his mind obviously on other things.
Willow looked at Jenny, "So Xander is a wizard now?"
"No, he's not a wizard." She said absently.
Willow's brow scrunched up, "But he can do magic, right?"
"Yes, but he's not a wizard, Willow; there are several types of magic users, and while Witches and Wizards are the most common, the most uncommon are what Xander is now – a sorcerer. They don't require incantations or potions, rites or rituals to do their magic, but rather an internal force."
Xander took it over from there, "It's called The Will And The Word, Willow; if one wants to do something badly enough and their will can accomplish it, they speak the word or words and it happens. Downside, though, is that it's even more draining than normal magic and you pull in power from all around you when you need more – so what that means is that with the Hellmouth pouring out energy like a sieve, there's power to spare around here and it's masking my noise, but not enough to be undetectable."
Jenny looked at him, "So that is what I was hearing?"
Xander nodded, "Grand- um, Belgarath, Belgarion's ultimate grandfather, was seven thousand years old and that's what he explained to Garion as far as what happens."
"Garion? I thought his name was Belgarion."
Xander sighed and looked at Buffy, "It is, but 'Bel' is from the old language, meaning 'beloved', and it's also a sign that he's a magic user who is affiliated with the god Aldur – Belgarath, Beldin, Beltira, Belkira, Belmakor, Belsambar, Bel… Zedar, even Polgara as 'Bel' is for a man and 'Pol' is for a woman. Garion was the name he grew up with and when he first unlocked his magical abilities for real, his Aunt Polgara tacked 'Bel' on to the front."
"Oh," Was all he got in return for his slight dissertation, though he expected nothing more from her.
Jenny's brow knitted together, "So you have his memories and your sudden proficiency is from those memories?"
"For the most part, but also what I have read and can think of; he learned most of what he knows about sorcery in the field, on the spot and under fire, as it were, while I've read more than a few of Giles' books and some fantasy novels that concern it." He massaged his brow and muttered, "I'm going to get Dawn for this. Belar, what a headache this is going to be."
Aside from a few snarled oaths during the day, Xander was able to make it through all of his classes; Garion had grown up on a farm, so many of the things he knew wouldn't help Xander at all, but the odd bit of information here and there did come through and help with his English and Wood Shop classes. Throughout the entire day he thought of very little other than just how in the hell he was going to pull of not only learning to control his new abilities, but also to hopefully learn to expand on them; Garion's book of skills, as far as they went, were limited to mostly combat and some support. What else could be done with sorcery that didn't cross the line of good and evil, or was there a line of good or evil?
"Harris!" Snyder came stalking up to him, his face beet red with anger, "I'm not sure what you and your … friends pulled last night, but I will not have it. I am going to expel them, fire that librarian and the computer teacher, I promise you that."
Xander didn't take threats well, everyone knew that, and threats against his friends … his PACK, were taken even less lightly, "Careful, Snyder, or you and Principal Flutie could have more in common than you might think." Xander did his best to mimic Hyena Boy's grin and apparently hit it dead on with how Snyder paled, "From what I understand, he needed a little salt and a hint or two of barbeque sauce; maybe I'll marinate you first before I indulge."
"Y-you wouldn't!"
Xander got nose-to-nose with Snyder by picking the twerp up by the lapels of his jacket, "Try me, ass-munch. I can only think of two people who have EVER gone up against me in a bad mood and were left with their parts, pieces and pulse still intact. Somehow, I don't think you'll make it to be number three." He let that sink in, a small crowd growing around them and whispers filling the hall, "Now, be advised that if Willow, Buffy, Giles or Jenny get so much as a stern or dirty look in their general direction, I'll personally arrange a meeting between you and several … gang members on PCP." He grinned a truly feral grin and then dropped the shaking principal to the ground, lightly cackling as he backed up, the crowd melting around him as he did, and then lost his smile, "It's your call, Snyder."
(AN: I know that this is VERY OOC for X, but both Hyenas and Wolves are very much Pack-oriented creatures; he would feed anybody to a vamp if they harmed his pack.)
Alright, so maybe he had gone too far with the troll, but DAMN Xander felt much better as he walked into the library and saw four faces that ranged from elation to concern – apparently they had heard what he had said and were all in different frames of mind, "Hi guys."
"Having fun, Alexander?" Jenny's voice was laden with amusement, as if she wished she could have seen what Snyder's face had looked like and was slightly, but internally, petulant about the whole affair.
His feral grin returned and he chuckled, this time without the hard edge he'd used with Snyder, "Absolutely."
"Yes, quite," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses while Willow gaped and Buffy frowned. "Um, have there been any other developments since this morning, Xander?"
"Not much, just the odd thought and things from what Garion learned on the farm and the road, but those were mostly in English and Shop, so … no."
//Well, son, that's about to change. //
Xander whipped his head around in several directions while the other looked at him oddly, "Who in the hell was that?"
//That was me, kid,// the voice, which sounded oddly like Tommy Lee Jones, said somewhat dryly in the recesses of his mind. //Hey, did you know that you have a Hyena in here, kid? //
"It's official, I have lost what little I had of my mind," he mumbled as everyone looked at him oddly. "I have someone who sounds like Tommy Lee Jones in my head, guys."
"Didn't Garion, like, have someone talking in his head on occasion?" Everyone looked at Buffy, who backed up, "What? I can read, you know!"
//Well, if that don't beat all, she DOES have a brain. // Xander figured that, for his continued good health, the voice's words were not going to be repeated to Buffy. //Anyway, son, I've got some good news for you and some bad news for you – which do you want first? //
"Give me the good news."
//First off, don't talk out loud – people think you're nuts and you'll never be able to finish your new destiny. //
"New… destiny?" Everyone perked up at this, but some more than others.
//Yes, son, you've got a brand spankin' new destiny. 'Scuse me, // the voice said as he pushed forwards and moved Xander's consciousness out of the way, just as it had been moved when Belgarion and Hyena Boy were in charge, so he could speak to the others in his own voice. "Alright, folks, here's the game plan; my boy Xander here is going to be leaving school for a little while, and it will be taken care of, MISTER Giles," the voice headed the Briton off before resuming, "and he will not be going alone."
"Who ARE you, you … voice." Buffy's attempt at threatening fell flat as she petered out on just what to call him.
The entity temporarily in charge of Xander's body chuckled, "Well, I don't have a name, darlin', but that's not important right now; Alexander and Jenny are goin' on a trip effective immediately and they're gonna be gone for a while as he learns the extents and reasons he was given his new powers … or do you think that it is coincidence that your sister came up with that idea for his costume?
"Anyway, I need you two to get ready for a long trip, honey, 'cause both you and the kid here are gonna be busy little beavers for the next year or so. He's going to be learning all about his new abilities from several teachers, both you and he will be working on several sticky areas in several relatively unknown prophecies and then you'll both come back for a nice little vacation before it all starts over again. Adios, kids, and be ready for what's comin'." Xander's body shook slightly as he was thrust back into control and shivered, "Now, that was REALLY freaky!" He walked around and rubbed his arms, as if trying to ward off a chill, even as the others looked like a school of gaping goldfish, "What?"
Jenny shook herself out of it first and looked at him oddly, "You heard all of that?"
"Yeah, it's kinda hard not to listen in when you're pushed off to the side in your own body," he said sardonically, but then frowned. "So, we're leaving?"
"Apparently we are, Xander." She looked over at Giles, who was still slightly stunned, "Is there anything about this in any of your books, Rupert?"
"No," he mumbled, going over to a large book and flipping it open, "not to the best of my knowledge. But until we confirm it, we should…" Giles' words tapered off as Jenny's cell phone went off and she answered it.
"Yes? Yes, that is… but how did you… of course, grandfather. I understand." She shut her phone up and looked up at everyone, "It is official, Xander and I are off on a trip effective immediately, to Oregon to meet up with someone who will be able to help us."
Willow looked worried, "What about your job here, Miss Calendar?"
She pursed her lips, "I was told to forget my job, that helping Alexander in his new destiny is more important." She looked over at him, "I hope you are rather important for all of this, Xander."
"You and me both, Jenny."