Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series mentioned in this story.
Author's note: Hello to my readers. Welcome to the third installment of my series, Hand of Fate. In the previous story, the Scoobies had defeated Glory, unfortuntaely, Luna was wounded in the fight and her blood had torn down the barriers between Earth and Hell. In a bid to save the world and his friends, Xander had requested Ariel's help to close the portal.. However, in the process, Ariel had opened a way to transport Xander and herself into an alternate universe. Meanwhile, in Lords of Shadow: Sunnydale, the Scoobies of that world were celebrating Buffy's birthday, when they were beset by the Xander from Hand of Fate. With the discovery of the timeline he found himself in, as well as the changes to that reality, the energy wielding young man had stumbled into another form of the Angelus crisis, swiftly bringing it to an end, sparing the others of certain consequences. Now Xander finds himself in yet another world after going through the portal, opened via the Tree of Life. But what about the Scoobies in his world. Read on and find out. Heh, I always wanted to do that. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter of the second sequel.
Magic Box
Sunnydale, California
Mid June, 2001
Faith stood behind the counter of the shop trying her best not to run off and kill whatever was looking to hurt the innocent. However, she had to reign in that feeling as it had been at least three weeks since Xander had gone through the portal and left this dimension. The others had tried to peer into other dimensions, starting with Hell, hoping to get him back. However, the plan proved to be a bust as not only had they not found Xander, they had been spotted by a particularly powerful devil named Zankou. This devil was powerful enough to not only threaten the Scoobies but also the Charmed sisters, simply with his feats of power. He had managed to gain allies with some of the local vampires and demon. The process of actually handling this demon had been difficult , as not only had he been able to hold his own against, everyone, including Jesse, the only one with enough power to truly take him on was Gabriel. It had been a long fight but Gabriel had proven to be enough of a match with the old demon. Faith thought back to when Gabriel came back to town after they dealt with Glory.
Late May 2001
Crawford Street Mansion
"I see. So that is what happened. Seems like History is repeating itself one way or another," Gabriel said, after Faith recounted the final fight with Glory to him.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked as she looked at the vampire.
"You remember that I am a human who drank the blood of a vampire while I was still alive. I had done so in order to go to one of the darkest realms in the Underworld. While it is true that Xander had not gone to Hell as the group originally thought, the place he may go may till prove to be detrimental. In fact, he may have gone into an alternate reality," Gabriel began explaining.
"If this is going into some comic book shit, I feel like this is going to be a long one," Faith retorted.
"It's actually fairly simple to understand. Most people would think of time as being linear and that changing outcomes can erase certain things along the same line. However, much of this proves to be untrue. Many alternate realities take on new shapes depending on decisions made by others. For instance, what if you hadn't saved your watcher before you came here? Or what if Xander had never gained power? And what if he had not begun to bring together the group you now have? There are number of different scenarios that would play out in another universe. But we can only worry about our universe," Gabriel explained.
"Speaking of which, is there anything you wish you would've changed if you could help it?" Faith asked. Gabriel looked contemplatively at her. He had been around for so many years, practically ten lifetimes, that he wasn't sure whether or not he could answer correctly. He decided to press on anyway.
"If there was something I could change, it would've been demanding the truth from the brotherhood I once served," Gabriel began.
"Why? What did they do?" Faith asked. She had only gotten the gist of the story herself but no one knew the full extent of the details.
"It seemed that the brotherhood had known about the possibility of me becoming what I am now. They had gone to my beloved Marie and told her about what would happen. Yet they did NOTHING to help her. They simply stood by and let everything happen. If I had accepted my fate, it was because I had to do something to keep this world safe. But to know that the ones who had taken me in, cared for me, and trained me had turned on me filled me with rage. IT was when I met him that I knew everything was all wrong," Gabriel added on.
"Who is 'he' exactly? It sounds like someone I'd rather not meet," Faith surmised by Gabriel's tone. Gabriel took on a more serious expression, if it were possible, and looked Faith in the eye.
"His appearance is rather...strange. He is a figure in a black, ragged cloak with no sign of his legs. He wears a helmet that seems to be made of a mirror with an odd face. He calls himself Fate," Gabriel explained.
"Fate? As in like those three sisters? I thought that was just bullshit?" Faith said feeling a bit frightened at the revelation.
"You can believe that it is. Mankind has been gifted with free will. So you can imagine that when a being like that does what he does, it only makes you angry. Anyone who peeks into his mirror sees the future. But there are two things that no one knows. The first is that he only shows one possible future. The second is that he influences those who see into his mirror into following that supposed destiny. It was thanks to Sachiel that I was pulled away. The only destiny that is meant to come to pass is the apocalypse. Whatever happens to mankind should be completely by their own decision. But some will manipulate you. Remember that you can make your own decisions," Gabriel finished explaining.
"Maybe you can tell me one other thing. Who was it?" Faith asked.
"What do you mean?" Gabriel replied.
"You avenged the death of your wife. But it sounds like there was someone else who mattered in all this. I know people. And I know when they're hiding something. So who was it?" Faith inquired. She noticed Gabriel's face fall, as he seemed to remember something that made his heart ache.
"It was my son. The brotherhood elders had taken him from my beloved when they found out what I would become. They had her keep his existence hidden from me. And when he grew to be a warrior as I did, they sent him to clean up their mess. I had no idea of his identity. And in turn, when he first fought me, I had killed him. When Fate had shown who he was, I grieved. For my son, what I had done, and for what he had given up in hoping to defeat me. I wanted him by my side so that we would take down the brotherhood. But in the process, I had his wife killed, whom I was also unaware of. And my grandson followed his father's footsteps. Simon would live a long life and died peacefully as an honorable warrior, as had his father. But Trevor still walks," Gabriel explained.
"He's still alive?" Faith was surprised to hear this.
"Yes. I had made him like me when he was on Death's doorstep. It had worked. But he still retained his sense of self, which I'm glad he did. He and Simon fought me together, but failed. I would fight Trevor again years later, and I spared him. And after centuries, we had reconciled. Though it had been awkward at times," Gabriel explained.
"So where is he now? If he's every bit like you, I doubt he'd be laid up somewhere just waiting," Faith had guessed. Gabriel chuckled at her brashness.
"You're right. He's actually not very far from us at all. He's over in Los Angeles. That was where I went. I needed his help. I asked him to acquire a powerful item and others like it. The quest itself would take some time as finding these items are as difficult as...as you modern day humans put it 'finding a needle in a haystack'. But I have confidence in my son," Gabriel said proudly.
Present day
It was that conversation that brought her to the conclusion that there was more than just the good and bad that they had faced. Since finding out about Fate, she wondered whther or not someone would've influenced her and the group some kind of way. Her train of thought was broken when Tara entered the shop with a smile on her face, that gave her a glow.
"Hey Faith. How are you?" Tara asked with her smile firmly in place. The dark haired slayer couldn't help but smile at the girl who was once so shy until she began dating Graham.
"I'm okay. It's just not the same without Xan around. We've never even been apart until now. I'm not sure how much longer I can go," Faith answered. Tara's smile dropped as she moved over to embrace the girl.
"It's okay that you miss him. All of us can feel it. He has a way of keeping us together. But I'm sure he'll be back. After all, he's got a powerful angel with him," Tara said with her smile returning.
"Speaking of which, doesn't it seem odd that angels are able to work with us despite some of the group using magic?" Faith asked as she had been confused on that entire matter. Tara's answer was cut short as a mass of light suddenly shone within the shop, revealing Sachiel wearing a shirt sleeved whirt shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots. All-in-all, he was dressed as an average male human.
"I can actually answer that question for you. The thing is magic depends on where the source of the energy used comes from. It's one thing when the user actually harnesses eldritch energy, as energy itself is conformative to however the user sees fit. However, when magic was initially discovered, some uses had allied with demons in order to gain power. And it still goes on today. In fact, there are those who are natural born psychics with abilities that they extend with magic. But as I said, some use demonic forces to enhance it. I would recommend, Tara, that you begin the use of eldritch energy, as the forces used by other...beings can be dangerous, especially as Father gives us final say on what goes on," Sachiel said.
"I-I'll remember that," Tara said with some nervousness.
"Which, believe it or not, brings me to my next reason for being here after my absence," Sachiel said to the two ladies.
"What's that?" Faith asked as she knew something big was likely to be up coming from an archangel.
"I've gotten word from Father about some bad news. It seems there's been a big shake up in the hierarchy in the of the underworld," Sachiel began explaining.
"What?!" Tara shouted.
"I'll explain later. Call the others and have them meet," Sachiel said before disappearing. Faith and Tara looked to each other before they decided to close up the shop early and get the group together.
Tree of Life
Origin Dimension
Xander and Ariel had exited the portal after what felt to Xander like minutes. He looked to his angelic guardian as she took on an expression that he knew to be bad news.
"So where exactly are we?" Xander asked her.
"It's not just the where. But also when we are," Ariel answered him. She noted the raised eyebrow, meaning he was confused.
"It'll be better to show you then to explain it," Ariel said, placing one hand on Xander's shoulder. The vanished in a flash and appeared in what looked like a large city. Xander looked around and saw the large hotel, which looked oddly familiar.
"Wait. This is the Hyperion Hotel. What are we doing here?" Xander asked. Ariel folded her wings back till they were gone.
"Let's go in and you'll find your answer," she replied as she led the way.
The two entered the hotel and Xander was surprised to see that it was fully refurbished and fully functional. What he saw next would surprise him as he would never know what he had gone on here. Gunn had walked out with a girl that Xander didn't recognize. She was fairly shorter than the black male, and was slim and wore glasses. Followed by them was Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who was without his glasses, had what appeared to be a five o'clock shadow, and was apparently not as lanky as he was since he last saw him. Finally, there was Angel with a teenager who bore a strange resemblance to him. Angel looked to the young man and his visitor, realizing something was off.
"Xander?! What are you doing here? Why aren't you in Sunnydale?" Angel asked.
"It's a bit of a long story. The better question is why are you in L.A.?" Xander responded. Angel looked at him as if he had just fallen from the sky.
"Xander, you know I left Sunnydale for good, four years ago. It was Buffy's own good that I did," the ensouled vampire responded. Xander's eyes grew wide at the information he had received. He remembered that he came from a universe that was two years behind him in time. He could only guess at what he was about to find out.
"Angel. What year is this?" Xander asked afraid of the answer. Angel looked even more bewildered.
"It's the year 2003," Angel responded. Angel took a good look at the young man and finally realized his appearance was wrong. The most striking was the fact that his left eye looked like it had been horribly cut.
"What the hell happened to you? Did something happen to Buffy?" Angel asked. Xander shook his head as his mind was still reeling. It wasn't until he remembered Sachiel's words before he revealed his identity that Xander now understood what universe he was in.
"Oh god. This is what he meant," Xander surmised, as he reached his left hand to his mouth, covering it.
"Maybe you should sit down. You don't look so good, man," Gunn said, feeling like they just walked into the oddest situation yet.
"He'll be fine. He just needs a moment," Ariel said.
"Wait, who are you," the woman said as she felt just as lost.
"Since I need to save time, I'll just show you," Ariel said, before her wings burst from her back, in an impressive show of light. The Angel team covered their eyes, and re-opened them, each in awe at the higher being before them.
"Good lord," Wesley said, not believing his eyes.
"Is that a catch-phrase for everyone who was a watcher?" Xander said, slightly joking.
"You're an..." the glasses-wearing woman trailed off.
"Yes Fred. I'm an angel," Ariel replied.
"Are we being punished for something?" Gunn asked, slightly scared.
"Not yet," Ariel said, smirking.
"You guys sit down. This story is a pretty long one," Xander said to the investigation team. He begin from the moment that Sachiel, disguised as Whistler, had come to him, awakened power within him and set him on a path to change the supposed fates of everyone involved. Angel had explained to him that Whistler was in fact very real, as Xander had not met the demon in question. Xander continued explaining about the Acathla incident, sending Angel to Hell, and what happened during senior year, when he met and eventually fell in love with Faith. Angel stared at Xander, as that was the last thing he expected to hear form his former rival for Buffy's heart. Xander continued on about the Charmed ones, and his meeting Gunn and his sister, which the black male snapped his head at. Xander finally finished his tail about his fight with Glory.
"And then we traveled to an alternate universe, where I had to kill Angelus...again. Only I had to push my other self to do it. I'm glad it's not getting to be a habit," Xander said, lamenting on the two incidents.
"Uh...right. Well, let me get you up to speed with us," Angel said. Soon, he went on to explain what happened after he arrived in L.A. He explained his adventures with Doyle and Cordelia. Doyle's death was still something that ate away at Angel even to this day. Wesley had come to them after his own misadventures and they became a team, with Gunn coming into the picture later. However, the tale took a downturn as he explained Darla's resurrection, her being turned back by Drusilla thanks to Wolfram & Hart, and how he had nearly gone darkside before he came back. Unfortunately it led to Connor's conception, which made them all targets. And how Angel's old nemesis, Daniel Holtz, hunted him and eventually kidnapped Connor, taking him to Quortoth, where h grew up. The story began to wrap up as Angel explained the issues that he and Connor had been through, and the events that led up to the apocalypse they had just experienced.
"Whoa. That's heavy. So Willow and Faith went back to Sunnydale to take out the first. I'd have to catch up with them and help if I can," Xander surmised. But anything else could be said someone approached.
"Who is he? And why is he here?" said the voice of a woman. Everyone looked up to see a beautiful black woman, with curled hair, walking down in a blue dress, with an angry look.
"Oh. Jasmine! This is Xander. But he's not quite our Xander. He's more like-" Fred was cut off.
"Kill him," Jasmine ordered. Everyone was shocked at such an order. Before anyone could do anything else, a blade stuck out of her throat, with caused her skin to decay horribly, with maggots filling the eye sockets, and tentacles coming out from under her dress. The corpse fell to the floor with a thud. The team shook their heads as if they were disoriented.
"What the hell just happened?" Gunn shouted.
"She was a former higher being who abused her power. She was going to take over Earth by taking away your free will. This is part of the reason we're here Alex. Whatever you decide from here on, you must be decisive. We have to hurry. And Angel, I'd be careful about the decision you make when a representative from the Wolf, Ram, and Hart show up. If you're going to give up the fight against evil so easily just because you think more power will work, then you are not fit as a champion of good," Ariel said.
"Wait, before we go, I need to see her," Xander said. Ariel looked to him and nodded. They entered the room Cordelia rested in and stood by her bed quietly. Xander looked at her sleeping form sadly.
"If it's worth anything, I'm sure my other self is sorry, about everything he did to you. If either he or I could change things, we would. Farewell, Queen C," Xander said as he left the room. As he and Ariel came back to the lobby, they heard Angel on the phone with someone.
"Hold on, here he is. Maybe that'll help. Here. It's Buffy," Angel said, handing the receiver to the young man. Xander looked confused for a moment before he answered.
"Hello?" Xander said not sure what to make of this.
"XANDER?! But how are you in L.A. When you're here in my living room?" Buffy asked from the other end. Xander could hear the distinct sound of another version of him going 'What?!' on the other end.
"It's kind of hard to explain. Even though I did it once, I promise I'll give you the full rundown when I get there," Xander replied.
"You better," Buffy replied before the line went dead.
"Okay. Guess the next stop is Sunnydale. You guys take care, alright?" Xander said, as the team nodded to him. Ariel grabbed his shoulder and they vanished in a flash of light. Before anyone else could say anything something they didn't expect so soon happened.
"Well. That seemed like fun," came the voice of a dead Lilah Morgan.
"Go back to Hell Lilah," Angel declared.
"We're not taking the offer. We've had enough surprises as it is," Wesley said sternly to his former lover. Lilah seemed cool but was surprised by the reaction.
"Alright, I'll go. Last thing anyone needs is to tangle with an archangel," Lilah said departing.
"So what do you think?" Connor asked his father.
"I think we're going to be better off. Let's get Cordy some help," Angel said. The group dispersed to take care of any other business.
1630 Revello Drive
Xander and Ariel appeared at the front door he had become accustomed to. He noticed the repairs done to the living room window, which he assumed was his handiwork. The two approached the door and Xander knocked three times, and waited. The door opened revealing a brunette, teenaged girl, who bore a strange resemblance to Buffy. Xander had no idea who she was, but his senses picked up on an underlying power. Xander realized that this girl was the Key.
"Xander?" the girl asked, which caught the attention of the others in the house.
"That's my name. Don't wear it out," the young man replied.
"But how? Oh my god, what happened to your eye?" the girl asked. Xander simply rolled both before he stuck his hand through and showed he wasn't a vampire. Buffy approached the door and was as shocked as her younger sister.
"Come in, quick," Buffy motioned the two inside. The new arrivals caught the attention of all the young girls, which there appeared to be many in the house. Xander would ordinarily make a joke but figured there was something he was about to find out. He walked into the living room and found another version of himself who stood stock-still at seeing himself, but much differently.
"Oh god. Did one of Toth's relatives come here for revenge? Or did the vamp version of me come here just like vamp Rosenburg?" the other Xander asked. The dimensional traveler raised one eyebrow at this question.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Xander. You can call me Alex," the super-powered young man said to his other, older self. Alex took a good look and noticed how much smaller his was in frame, and sensed no power coming from him as he did in the other universe. Alex put two and two together and realized this truly was the world that Sachiel had told him and his group about. This version of himself had no powers.
"So you really are another Xander?" Faith said coming into the room. Alex took a look at the other version of his love, but was immediately saddened by what he saw. Her eyes didn't have the glow that his girlfriend did. Instead, there seemed to be a lot of pain, guilt, regret, and oddly enough jealousy. Xander decided that he would have to check on that later.
"Yeah. My history up until the end of the love spell is the same," Alex replied, embarrassed as he, as well as Willow, Buffy and Xander had recalled the craziness behind the incident.
"Er, yes, well, we exactly are you here now? You seem to be a bit younger than our Xander?" Giles had inquired as he was both fascinated yet in awe at the power Alex and his friend were giving off.
"I brought him here. He needed to see what this world was like," Ariel replied.
"Who the hell are you?" came the voice of one of the younger girls. She had dark brunette hair and had a hard look set on her face. She had reminded Alex of the popular crowd of the high school, except she seemed to have a brain, but every bit of Cordelia's boldness.
"This is Ariel. She's my...guide," Alex answered.
"I've done this once already. Everyone shield your eyes," Ariel requested as she performed the same feat as she did back at the Hyperion. When everyone opened their eyes, they were met with the same reaction.
"Oh d-" Giles was cut off.
"Seriously, I've enough of the 'dear lords' from my watcher friends on my world. I really can't take anymore from another Giles," Alex said, tiredly.
"Er sorry. But being in the presence of an actual angel. I-it's remarkable. To say the least," the older man responded.
"Okay, stop. This is just...crazy. First, we have some crazy preacher working for the First roll into town, then an actual angel shows up with another me, and we're not freaking out any more than usual. Is that about right?" Xander cut in, not believing everything he was seeing. Alex couldn't believe how much of a spaz he used to be on his world. It was strangely relieving.
"Strange things have happened. But maybe not as strange as this," Dawn answered for him.
"Just checking," Xander said sitting back down. Alex shook his head and smirked at his other self. It had been a while since he actually had a good laugh between situations. It seemed that he had forgotten about who he was before everything went wild in his universe.
"Okay. Maybe you could tell us what exactly we walked in on?" Alex asked the group. They looked to each other before Buffy shrugged.
"It started with these visions..."