Chapter 10. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.

The castle is immense, fit for giants or even over ground dragons. They follow Cordy down a corridor and find themselves in a throne room. What's a castle without a throne room?

"Cordelia," calls a man surrounded by many people by the throne. "Thank goodness you're alright." Cordy gives the handsome dark haired man a smile and kisses him passionately on the lips.

"I guess they know each other," says Dawn to the others.

"Are these the ones?" asks the man as he looks at the girls behind Cordy. Cordy nods and walks over to Dawn.

"This is Dawn," says Cordy putting her hand over her shoulder. The dark haired man stares at the young witch and walks up to her. "Everyone, this is King Angelus. He's my husband and he's Dawn's father."

"Whoa," says Dawn. "Two parents in one day. That's just strange." Buffy walks up behind Dawn and so does Willow.

"I guess Aunt Darla was right," says Buffy. "You are a princess." Dawn smiles.

"Try to refrain from using magic here," says Cordy. "Once we are at William's castle, then we will be protected from the warlock's radar."

"William?" says Angel. "Where is he? He actually is helping?"

"Well, he is sort of in a predicament at the moment."

"A predicament? What, a witch turned him into a toad?" Tara holds her bag close to her and she could feel William wiggling inside. Angel looks at all of them. "Oh my gosh. He's a toad. I've gotta see that."

"Angel, he's your brother. Don't be like that."

"You're William's brother?" asks Tara.

"Yeah, to my misfortune," replies Angel.

"The way you talk about him is like if he were a pain in the ass," says Buffy.

"That's an understatement."

"I'm not," says William from Tara's bag. "You ponce." William jumps out of Tara's purse and begins to insult Angel, with his British slang. Angel gets a smile on his face and starts to crack up.

"So, I have a toad for an uncle?" says Dawn as she looks at William. "What next?"

"Come on, Dawn," says Buffy. "At least you're not betrothed. She is not, is she?" Angel and Cordy avoid Buffy's and Dawn's eyes.

"Oh my gosh, to whom? A dragon."

"No, he's a dragon slayer," says Angel.

"That's good, right?" says Buffy looking at Dawn. "Not good."

"Sweetheart, it was for your own good. I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"Can't you guys live in the now?" says Dawn. "It's the 21st century. Women get to vote, kick ass, and choose their own boyfriend."

"Look, not to judge you guys and all about your parenthood or anything, since you just started now, but I think that Dawn has a right to choose who she will be spending the rest of her life with," says Buffy. "I think that you should trust her with that."

"Are you her adopted mother?" asks Cordy.

"No, I'm her adopted cousin. A lot of people seem to make that mistake. Not that I don't mind."

"I guess we can hold off everything, until you're safe and the warlock is not after you anymore," says Angel.

"Okay," says Dawn. "Dad." Angel smiles at that.

"I'll be back and then we can leave to William's," says Cordy as she exits the throne room.

"So, Angel, do you know anything about us?" asks Willow. "About our parents?"

"We haven't been in contact with each other for many years," replies Angel. "Your mothers were Cordelia's friends. They were inseparable. Cordelia was the last one to have a child and when they found out that you three would become very powerful witches in the future, we sent you away for no evil to find you and use your powers." Cordelia enters the throne room with her head down. Angel turns around and holds her close.

"Tara and Willow, your mothers were so great," says Cordy as tears form in her eyes and her voice cracked a little. "We made those necklaces that you wear to symbolize your powers and protect you from evil, but when we were enchanting them the warlock came for us. Tara, your mother was the strongest of us, Joyce, and she fought the dark man. We couldn't see his face because it was covered by a mask and he never said his name."

"My mother's name is Joyce," says Tara as her voice cracks and some tears come running down her cheek.

"I took the necklaces and Joyce told us to run and follow the plan we had, which was to send you three away. So we did. Me and Fred quickly took the girls, put the necklaces on and left you in a different realm. We had no idea that you three would ever meet."

"My mom's name is Fred?" asks Willow.

"We call her Fred, but her full name is Winifred. As for Joyce, that was the last time we saw of her. Fred and I parted that night as well."

"What about their father?" asks Buffy.

"Joyce had married a wizard named Giles and I haven't seen him in ages. As for Fred, she never told us who the father of her child was."

"Well, enough chatting," says William. "Time to do a spell to get me back to normal, okay? Tara, would you please pick me up?" Tara goes down and puts William back in her purse.

"Wow," says Angel. "William's being nice."

"Angel," says Cordy. "See you later." Cordy kisses Angel and they were off to William's castle in the blink of an eye.

His castle is as big as Cordy's and they are welcomed by a man in a grey robe, who rushes them inside. The drawbridge closes and then the man raises his hands up and a force field surrounds the castle.

"Alright, enough with the stalling," says William as he jumps out of Tara's bag. "Let's get to the turning me back to my beautiful self."

"Gee, isn't he conceded?" says Dawn and still in her hands, Connor, the cat.

"What did he say?" asks Buffy to Dawn. "Sounds like he's impatient."
"Yep," replies Dawn. "That is so true."

The man in the grey robe with hand gestures tells them to follow him. They all oblige and follow the man through the long corridors.

"Hey, can I get my own castle for Christmas?" says Dawn to Cordy. She smiles.

"We'll think about," says Cordy. "That's my girl. That's the first thing I asked my parents when I was your age." Dawn laughs at that. Willow and Wesley put the books that they had in their hands down on a table.

The man in the grey hood looks at Tara and then at her necklace, with the three stars. Xander notices this immediately and walks over to the man.

"So, do you have name?" says Xander. "I'm Alexander."

"Don't waste your time," says William. "He doesn't talk much."