The Black Adept

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Disclaimer: All recognizable elements of this story are the property of their respective owners and they own all rights ad responsibilities thereof. Velgarth series belongs to Mercedes R. Lackey and her husband Larry Dixon while Joss Whedon (I think not sure don't really care) owns BVTS the plot on some characters belong to me and were adapted by me for no monetary gain. So suing my broke ass will get you exactly the amount of money in my vaults… Not a damn thing… Have fun with that.

Alex watched quietly as a young brown-haired man walked into the double doors down the hall from the corner he was hiding behind his thoughts turning wistful as he remembered days when he had been as innocent as that young man.

"Wishing you had never left?" His partner asked from just behind him as a chalk pale hand reached up to stroke his equally pale neck.

"No, just missing my lost innocence, it is hard to believe that young man used to be me. The way he acts…" he shook his head slightly glowing silver-white hair falling in front of his ice-blue eyes.

"You never did explain how all this started." His lover prompted gently.

"Hmmm, no, I suppose it was the one subject I never allowed questions on; Even after all this time it was hard to remember what I lost that day." A sad frown briefly crossed his face disappearing as fast as it had come his calm mask falling back into place.

"Could you not have stopped it from happening? You are back after all surely there was something you could have changed to alter events." Daven said quietly his mood not as well hidden as his partners.

"Either of us could have, really, I just didn't want to. There is nothing that I gave up here that I would miss more then I would regret never meeting you; Even if you were a brooding little shit when I found you." Alex replied his mischievous expression hidden from the man behind him as he pretended to study the Sunnydale High School Library doors intently.

Deciding to start the story before the man had a chance to respond the man stepped forward and turned ignoring his former students gaping mouth. "It started for me almost 10 millennia ago, so long that the historians of this time who believe they have made an accurate history of this world have found no evidence of anything interesting that happened, the last legends of it being the ancient stories of long lost Druids. Though it has been nearly 10,000 years for me it all really started yesterday, on Halloween a day our Principal forced my friends and I into 'volunteering' to babysitting some kids as they went door to door trick or treating. I had been planning to go as a soldier using some old military fatigues I found in my basement; when I went back down to the basement before going to meet my friends the day before Halloween I found that the basement had been cleaned out and everything my parents didn't need was thrown out, including the fatigues. I ended up going down to a new costume shop into town, Ethan's Costume Emporium. It took me hours in that store trying to find something I could afford and wouldn't be embarrassed to wear out of the house."

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The young brown haired boy had almost fallen into despair, the store would be closing for the last time in an hour and he still hadn't managed to find a costume to wear everything he could see was just some generic junk that he wouldn't wear or couldn't afford in a million years.

Finally his warm brown eyes landed on something that had promise: a long black robe and silver white wig. He quickly grabbed both his mind flashing back to one of his favorite book series: The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey. It had been the first sci-fi/Fantasy books he had ever read and remained one of his favorites to this day and he was determined to dress up as one of the characters he felt hadn't had enough time in the books, Urtho the Mage of Silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (The Next Night) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Knocking on the door in front of him Xander Harris grinned as it opened showing the mother of his blonde friend. "Hey, Mrs. Summers!" He exclaimed happily grinning at her, his mother figure though he would never tell her that to her face.

"Hello, Xander." Joyce said with a smile as she took in his costume, "Who did you dress up as?"

Xander smiled at the curious tone, most people who thought they knew him would have assumed he had just dressed up as a generic wizard or something geeky, but Joyce had always seemed to be able to see him no matter how many masks or walls he threw up in front of her.

"Urtho, He's from a series of books I love though he's not from my favorite book he is one of my favorite characters they call him the Mage of Silence and he's one of the most powerful Mage's in the story. He was so cool he even made living intelligent creatures like the Gryphon's but he died really early in the book."

She responded with a grin as she heard her daughter come stomping down the stairs like a herd of elephants. "That's wonderful Xander, I'm glad you found a costume you really like." Joyce said just before Buffy reached them.

Pulling his mask up as he noticed the blonde he put on a fake smile and said. "Buffy, Duchess of Buffonia, I totally reject spandex!" he exclaimed loudly a silly grin hiding his pain. He noticed Joyce giving him a sad smile from behind her daughter and his grin turned slightly more real as he met her eyes.

"Xander!" the blonde said happily. "Wait till you see Willow!" she excitedly looked back up stairs ignoring his costume assuming he had just grabbed whatever he could afford. Which as she knew from Willow wasn't much. She smiled seeing the red head's shoes at the top of the stairs. "I got her to dress as a," Her face fell in disappointment staring at her best female friend as she came fully into view the costume Buffy had spent hours trying to convince her to wear now covered with a white sheet with the word 'Boo!' across it in those letters costume people believe is somehow creepy like dripping blood. "… Ghost!"

Just barely managing not to laugh in the blonde's face, he knew what had happened of course he had tried it for years before giving up. "Nice 'Boo!' you got there, Wills." He exclaimed happily his voice slightly more strained then it had been with Buffy.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed happily. "Nice Wizard costume! Were you going for Dumbledore?" She asked excitedly before turning to Buffy and falling into a conversation with her about Angel again not even waiting for an answer.

Xander saw Joyce wince slightly as the girls ignored him and started on their way to the school knowing he would follow them. She mouthed sorry to him as he turned to run and catch up with them as he just shrugged at her. His friends had been growing farther and farther away from him as time had gone by. It hadn't taken him long to notice and he was wondering when he would just give up on being their friend it was like he was the only one trying anymore.

It had begun slowly when Buffy had first come into their lives and just got faster when Willow had started to practice little magic's with the help of Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher. The two of them started seeing him as the normal one that needed to be protected and he knew that it wouldn't be long now before they decided to kick him out of the group… for his own safety, of course.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Later) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Urtho looked around himself wondering where he was his last memory of the flash of his Ward's as he died after being betrayed by Conn Levas. Feeling something behind him he didn't even turn as with a twitch of his will a shield sprang up between himself and the creature before a dome like physical shield sprang up around the being. He finally turned around his mage-sight blazing as he studied the spell that was wrapped around the creature his powerful mind-magic quickly finding two minds in one body.

A twitch of his finger at the creature sent a burst of magic that snapped the spell on the creature and it fell to the ground sobbing in fright now back in the shape of a small boy. Urtho quickly bent down dispelling the prison dome as he called it and wrapping his arms around the boy in comfort as a slight flexing of his will had another dome-like shield surrounding the two of them to keep others away.

He heard a voice that was somehow familiar and filled his hosts mind with sadness shout, "Xander!" and looked up as the girl ran up to him his mage-sight still on from earlier took in the spirit and he shook his head. Trying to break the spell on her would kill the girl something he was reluctant to do, he would have to go find her body or try another way and he figured the fastest way would be to find the mage responsible and kill him or her.

He ignored the girls babbling as he turned his attention inward noting distantly that the girl walked through the physical shield as if it wasn't even there, indeed she didn't seem to be aware of it. Maybe it had something to do with the dead, he shrugged, while he was one of the best at magic he would be the first to admit he was in over his head. :??: he poked at the sleeping presence in his mind that he had identified as the owner of his current body.

:Ngh.: was the sleepy reply as the mind stirred before turning its attention to him. :Where am I? What's going on?: the boy asked trying to look around in what he interpreted as a black void.

:You are trapped in your mind, Little One.: Urtho mind-spoke softly trying to calm the boy down. :My name is Urtho and I seem to be possessing your body can you think of how that would have happened?:

:Urtho?!: Xander exclaimed half-scared, half- jumping-in-joy excited. :THE Urtho?! The Mage of Silence?!"

Urtho gave a bemused mental nod. :That is what my people called me yes, Now do you know what's going on?:

:How should I know? One minute I was walking home thinking about my friends after dropping the kids off at the school when they were done trick-or-treating the next minute I see a glowing wall flowing at me from the other end of the street turn to run and then… blackness as the wall rushed over me. It had been moving too fast for me to get out of the way.:

:Trick-or-treating?: Urtho asked confusion flavoring his mind-voice his blank eyes not catching the spirit waving her arms about in front of his face.

:It's a custom, every year on Halloween all the kids dress up in costumes and go door-to-door asking for candy.: Xander said shrugging so used to the idea it almost didn't occur to him that the mage wouldn't know about it. :Err, sweets I guess you would call them.:

:And you dressed up as me?: Urtho asked patiently.

:Yup, I got the costume at a new shop in town called Ethan's yesterday.: The boy said with a mental nod trying to give the mage any relevant information.

Breaking his concentration the mage turned his Sight on the robe he was wearing and grimaced at the complex lines that seemed to twist the eye and roll the stomach. Slipping back into the link with the boy the Mage gave a mental sigh. :It was the costume it's spelled.: He told him simply.

Xander merely shrugged his experiences with the supernatural having already numbed him to surprises. :Figures.: he mind-sent softly before thinking for a moment and sending the directions to the shop to the man's mind.

Startled Urtho sat back on his heels blinking bemusedly at the light of one of the streetlamps wondering how the boy had figured out how to transfer memories through mind-speech… either the boy was powerful and intuitive, lucky, or he was somehow tapping into his own memories of how to use his power. Shaking his head in wonder the ancient mage climbed easily to his feet silently marveling at being able to stand so quickly and painlessly. Never forget he had been old when he died and powerful Great Adept or not achy knees was a normal part of aging even then.

Still ignoring the red headed banshee that was now screaming something about a 'Buffy' interspersed sometimes with the word 'Slayer' not that either of the two meant anything thing to the mage, he turned his attention to the boy and smiled gently into the slightly red eyes. "I need to go find the bad man that caused all this. Would you like to come with me or would you prefer I get you home first?" The man asked the kid calmly drawing on his limited experience with the kids of the Kaled'a'in.

Watching his lip quirking as the now calm kid tried to decide between going home and being safe with his mommy or going on an adventure with the nice old man that could obviously protect him with his cool glowy walls. He was young and saw nothing wrong with magic not knowing that to an adult magic doesn't exist.

"I wanna go home, Mister, Mommy is probably worried." The kid nodded to himself proud of his conclusion before grabbing the man's hand and pulling him in the direction he knew his house was in, watching in awe as the cool glowy wall moved ahead of them knocking more scary creatures away before they had the chance to attack them.

Urtho shrugged slightly watching the red ghost as she darted out of the shield once again somehow without noticing it… maybe the chaos spell on her was dulling her senses? Or preventing her from seeing it on the chance that it caught someone like him who could see magic naturally… but wouldn't that prevent him from seeing the spell too? Maybe it only worked on the host part of the personality or the spells on other and you couldn't see the one on yourself. He shrugged as the red head called out for help and the little boy turned guiding him towards the ghost-girl.

Seeing her hovering around the unconscious form of a young girl in a horrendous maroon dress he rolled his eyes as the little boy obviously pretending to be a hero or knight ran up to the lady and shook her.

She woke up, saw his shield, and fainted all within the space of a second leaving the two males nearby blinking in confusion. "Well that was productive," Urtho helpfully chirped and paused to wonder how much his host's personality was effecting his own emotions though he could feel the boy in the back of his mind mind-voice tinged in a crisp apple feeling of laughter.

"Is she afraid of the glowy wall, mister?" the little kid asked hesitantly, looking up into his eyes.

"Possibly," he said with a proud smile for the smart boy and a shrug for the subject not really caring. The protection of the boy was more important then the fainting Court Lady dress alike. He remembered girls like this from his own Court and wasn't really bothered with what the girl wanted.

"What 'glowy wall'?" Willow asked suddenly staring at the boy wondering if he was seeing things.

"The wall that has been keeping the bad people away from us, duh." The kid said like only a kid talking to what he thinks is a stupid grown up can do.

"Now Jonathon, they aren't bad people they have the same spell on them that you did, and it's not her fault she isn't able to see the shield. Not everybody believes in magic." Urtho said patronizingly, ignoring the spluttering of the girl.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Later, Outside the Costume Shop) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After dropping off the boy who he had finally learned was named Jonathon, he had made his way as quickly as he could to where the information his host had given him told him the costume shop was flicking a finger out every few seconds to break the spell on yet another costumed kid though he never stopped walking to comfort the ones he broke out, being more concerned with getting to the shop as quickly as possible and ending this spell.

Arriving outside the front of the shop Urtho looked up and down the street to see if anyone was guarding it. Not seeing anything at first he moved quickly to go into the shop before freezing and looking down the street towards an alley where his mage-sight had crossed over a strange reading like a small red demon surround in pulsing violet light in the shape of a human body.

It wasn't the spell that was on everyone else, he had seen it and broke it now often enough that he could find that one with his eyes closed. Watching the alley curiously waiting for whatever was in there to come out he sent a scathing glance at the two girls that were still following him who he had been told by his host were his friends. He really couldn't see what the boy saw in them/.

Granted the brunette was still under the spell having refused to let him use his magic's on her but as far as he could tell the bossy red head's attitude hadn't been changed by the spell and he was getting more then tired of her trying to order him around. Him who was a powerful Adept class mage and lead and army against an equally powerful mage and this little slip of a girl wanted him to do everything she said assuming that she was smarter then him.

Shaking himself out of his fit of temper her smiled as the aura he was watching seemed to get bored with the boy staring at it and came out into the open, revealing it to be a platinum blonde haired individual with a grin that promised pain to anyone he happened to get under his power for any length of time.

"Spike!" The red head yelled shrilly at the man before looking around for an escape forgetting for the moment that she could move through walls and the vampire wouldn't be able to touch her. "What are you doing out tonight! Giles said the supernatural took the night off."

"Well Red, I was out on a stroll admiring all the wonderful chaos going on around town when I heard this annoying voice yelling about how the Slayer was powerless for the night and I just had to come see and grab me a triple hitter all in one. Gotta admire the work of someone who can cause this amount of chaos and weaken the Slayer all in one go." The blonde said with a vicious grin.

"Hmm, you are right the spell is complex and one that would take a great deal of skill to weave normally but that Mage who did this isn't very good at what he does all things considered." Urtho said calmly his head cocked to the side as he listened to his host relating the information on this creature to him. "So you are one of those Vampires my host has been kind enough to tell me about… don't seem that strong to me. I have made creature that would take you out with a single bite."

Flushing in anger the vampire took a couple of steps closer before stopping his nose going up like a dog sniffing the air. He sneezed suddenly and looked at the boy a little closer recognizing the look of the boy he had always assumed to be the Slayers pet human. "Looks like Droopy got an upgrade." He said absentmindedly before turning and leaving with a look of barely concealed fear over his shoulder at the boy who was obviously too powerful for him to kill. He really should have listened when Dru told him to avoid her Black Kitten.

Turning back to the shop glad he had managed to catch a glimpse of one of the vampires his host had told him about, he staggered for a second as his powers seemed to swell and then settle he groaned lightly leaning against the front wall wondering what was going on before straightening himself and walking in through the front door ignoring the jingle of the shop bell as he looked around at the few left over costumes before turning on his mage-sight and looking around for the focus of the spell.

His Sight passed over the costumes ignoring the glow of the spell still shining on them though they were unworn and moved further into the shop where he could see the focus behind a curtain to what he assumed was the back of the shop.

Slowly pulling the curtain aside he peeked into the room watching a small oddly dressed man as he paced in front of a statue with glowing green eyes seeming to be waiting for someone. Maybe he did this to catch someone's attention… or ire.

Urtho walked confidently into the room the man was barely a Journeyman and Urtho was more then happy to give the man ire if that was what he was looking for he had been looking forward to the Havens, he was old enough that he wasn't afraid of death any longer and he had been hoping to meet the Shadow Lover who was said to be the most beautiful person you could imagine, male or female depending on preferences.

The slightly graying man looked up in confusion not really recognizing the costume though the silvery hair seemed familiar somehow he figured it was a minor concern as he shrugged to himself. Must be some kind of chaos wizard coming to see what was going on. "Welcome, welcome! Another one of my creations comes to see me have you come to admire the skill of this spell like that last one?"

"Not quite," Urtho said quietly his power flashing out to bind the man in place as he circled slowly around the statue the man had been pacing in front of. "The spell was actually well weaved and quite complex, which would have been admirable except for two things, Mr. Rayne."

"W-w-What two things?" the man asked sweating as the feeling of power in the room started to escalate and Urtho shook his head he hadn't even bothered to tap into the strange node he could feel not far from here and the man already couldn't stand the weight of his power it was truly pathetic what the worlds mages had fallen to.

"One you did not weave the spell you called upon one of your so called Gods to do that for you only contributing the costumes and a bit of power, and two you called upon me on my way to eternal rest and I am really not happy with that." Urtho smiled menacingly. He may have been a genuine nice guy in the war with Ma'ar which of course wasn't hard to be when the man enjoyed Blood Magic so much but even he could admit to being a slight bit more bloodthirsty than was truly healthy for those around him when he was wronged.

Tossing a levinbolt at the cowering man he turned his attention back to the statue the girl in the background screaming something about not killing humans and souls. Truly It mattered not to him if the man had a soul it didn't excuse the man of the deaths he had seen on the way here people he had been too late to save by the time he got to them they were already gone.

Cocking his head at the statue and studying the magic inside of it he could tell the only way to break it without side effects to the innocents was to break the statue. That left him with two options, he could break it by hand and the side effects to his host would be nothing more then had already happened (the awakening of his dormant gifts), or he could break it with magic and the side effects would be slightly more beneficial (the boy would keep his memories and have a way to train those awakened gifts.

With a nod the ancient Adept raised a hand tossing the most powerful Levin bolt he could muster shattering the statue to a million pieces before the world went black and he knew no more.

A/N: Alright done with the first chapter. Tell me what you think of it. I'm not really good at updating but I will do my best to get it out in a reasonable amount of time and telling me if it's good or bad would bring that faster since my main problem is I always find something wrong with everything I write lol. The first part of the chapter will be explained in time so asking about that will make me laugh in your face! :P