Chapter Four

Sunnydale

"...moon," Xena said. And as she suddenly found herself in a brightly-lit room with six oddly dressed strangers, she promptly reached for her sword. But as she pulled it from the scabbard, the unexpected lightness of it cause it to fly out of her hand, over everyone's heads, to land across the room.

"What in Tartarus is going on here?" she asked, her question aimed mostly to the man wearing the toga -- the one who looked most familiar to her.

At first, no one answered as she looked at each of them. They seemed to be equally confused as she was -- a man wearing a strangely fitted suit, a young girl wearing a brown leather vest and skirt with fringes on them, a red-headed woman in an elegant blue gown, another woman standing next to her, and one wearing short blue pants with white stars and a red top with a gold design, showing a lot of cleavage.

"Where am I?" she demanded to know, speaking louder this time. "And where's Gabrielle?"

"Oh my god!" Willow exclaimed. "It happened again. Buffy changed -- into Xena!"

Suddenly the young girl cried out. "Willow, you have to do something. Do a spell! Change her back!"

"Dawny, I don't know if I can. I don't know what spell changed her."

"But we can't just do NOTHING! Anya, you know people, demons. What about that guy who made you a Vengeance Demon? I bet he could do it."

"Well, as you probably know, D'Hoffryn and I aren't exactly on the best of terms right now."

Xena began to relax a little. It was becoming obvious that not only were these strangely dressed people not responsible for what happened to her, but they were even more distressed about it than she was. Especially the young girl, possibly the sister, or daughter, of this Buffy they were referring to.

"So, no one knows how I got here?" she asked.

"It's the Hellmouth. What else could it be?" Xander surmised.

"The blue moon, maybe?" Tara asked.

"So, why weren't WE changed too?" Anya asked. "We're wearing costumes."

"Maybe she wasn't changed into Xena," Tara suggested. "Maybe they were, you know -- switched."

"That's impossible," Xander argued. "She's not real. She's only a TV character."

"Unless, somehow the Hellmouth created her. Or she really was real," Dawn guessed. "Maybe the TV show was based on a real person."

"That's a possibility, certainly worth looking into," Giles said.

"Will SOMEONE tell me where in Tartarus am I?" Xena demanded.

"You're in Sunnydale. California. U.S.A.? North America? Western hemisphere? Earth?" Xander listed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Am I anywhere near Thrace? That's where Gabrielle and I were camping when this --- happened."

"I'm afraid not," Giles told her. "You are very far from there, not only in distance, but in time, as well."

"Would you like something to drink?" Anya interjected. "Maybe something alcoholic? You know, to ease the sting of uncertainty and confusion?"

"Maybe some water."

"Comin' right up!" Xander went to the refrigerator and brought out a bottle of Genuine Mountain Spring water and handed it to her. "You twist off the cap," he instructed. "The other way."

Xena removed the cap, looking closely at the bottle, the cap, and sniffing the water before taking several swallows.

"Thank you. Now, where am I? And DON'T tell me places I've never heard of."

"I assume you're familiar with the ocean west of Britain -- Britannia," Giles said.

"Yes."

"Well, the ocean is particularly sizable, and beyond it is a continent we call North America. And on its west coast is Sunnydale, where we are."

"That still doesn't tell me anything. How FAR am I from Thrace?"

"Didn't you go to China one time?" Willow asked.

"If you're talking about Chin, then yes I've been there."

"Well, we are that distance, and half again as far."

"And," Giles added, "according to what everyone has told me about you, you are also 2000 years into the future."

Xena looked at each of them, trying to decide if they were telling the truth. Or possibly, judging from their very odd clothing, they were just insane.

"I assure you," Giles said, reading her mind. "We're all quite rational. If our dress seems abnormal, it's because this is -- was, a costume party."

"So, you're not a Roman senator?"

"No. I am the proprietor of a magic shop.

Xena took a deep breath, and decided to take them at their word, for now. "You all seem to know who I am. So, who are?"

"Oh, of course. How thoughtless of us. I'm Rupert Giles."

"But you can just call him Giles," Xander interrupted.

"This is Dawn, Buffy's sister. She's the one you were changed from, or switched with."

"I'm Anya. I know I look like Wonder Woman. And in many ways I am -- a wonder woman, but not in a superhero capacity. Not any more, anyway."

"Hi, I'm Willow, and this is Tara. She's my -- well, we're..."

"We're lovers," Tara finished the sentence.

"Yes, we're lovers, and witches."

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