Title: And the Saints Boweth Before the King

Author: DOKChairman

Time/Spoilers: Takes place after the events in 'Grave'.

Summary: I could write a summary, but then it would give away everything.  So no summary, but I'll give you a hint.  The opening I put down for the story is indicative of some of what the story might be about.  Not much of a hint, I know, but it's all you're getting.

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all of its characters.  I own nothing except the story, and the Anna Kournikova poster on my bedroom wall.

Distribution: If anyone knows of any good archives or websites that I could post this story on, please tell me.  I am always looking for ways to get my work out there, and any help would be appreciated.  Please e-mail me with your suggestions.  Also, I know that this is slightly off topic, but does anyone know of any sites I could post my Farscape story on?  Any fanfiction site that accepts sci-fi stories would be acceptable.

Author's Note: I'm finally back.  My exams went about as well as could be expected (Thank you to all those who wished me luck) and I am now eager to get back in the saddle.  My muse has been bugging me for some time to get back to writing, and so here I am.  This chapter is full of foreshadowing so make sure you pay careful attention.  Well, you should pay as much attention as you normally do, since I've realized that somehow all my chapters seem to contain foreshadowing.  It's funny how that happens sometimes.

Author's Note 2: I know that some of you might be wondering if I've forgotten about the Powers That Be, and all I can say to you is that I haven't.  It's just that I like to think of my story as original, and coming up with all these plot twists to make sure it stays original is a creatively taxing experience.  Don't worry, I'll eventually combine my two plot lines into one cohesive story arc, but it won't be until a long ways down the line.  For right now just think of the plot lines as two equal but parallel story arcs that will occasionally intersect.

Author's Note 3: Since being lazy is my natural state, I didn't bother to find out the real names of Xander's parents.  If someone who is in the know would be so kind to inform me of their actual names I promise to give you credit, praise you, and give you the satisfaction of knowing that even you, the reader, can have an impact on the development of this story.  Now doesn't that sound like reward enough?

Author's Note 4: This is a preemptive announcement.  In many following chapters I will be naming places in the country of Germany.  While it is not important that you know about these places, it might be enriching to your reading experience if you knew what these places were.  For anyone who has ever been to Germany, they know that not only is it a very beautiful country but it is also steeped in history.  There are very few things more awe inspiring than to walk through a church that was built during the time of the actual Roman Empire, or to stand on the battlements of a thousand year old castle overlooking the Rhine River.

Author's Note 5: I initially had this long winded rant planned for the return of the new season, but then I saw how long my other announcements were and decided to break it down into four points.  I know most of you probably don't want to read this, but I need to get this off my chest, and since I, like a dictator, control everything on this fic I can do anything I want.  Before I start I just want to say that I genuinely liked Lessons, and I haven't liked a Buffy episode since Once More With Feeling.  Don't worry; I usually won't take up this much time with useless prattle.

            Point #1: First off, thank god we finally got to see some actually vampire slaying for once.  I was starting to wonder if we were ever going to see Buffy do what her namesake entitles.  I can't believe how much I actually missed seeing Buffy just fighting regular vampires for once.

            Point #2: Four words: responsible and mature Xander.  Enough said.

            Point #3: I can't believe I'm actually saying this since before this episode I really hated Spike's character, but I actually liked insane Spike.  Its certainly an improvement over impotent, whipped, lovelorn, I'm going to rape you Spike of last season.  At least it seems that way.  And thank god that Buffy didn't seem to care that much that Spike was back or that he had gone all loony.  I don't think that I can take any more Spuffy.

            Point #4: Is it just me or does all the good stuff of every Buffy episode come at the end?  I mean that was just plain cool having all the big bads from every season coming back.  I found it particularly amusing when it was Angelus's turn to come up, and they substituted him with Druisilla.  I guess the fact that Angel and BTVS are on different networks really is a hindrance to the Buffy story lines.  And major props to the writer who called Spike a pathetic schmuck.

Chapter 9: I'm In the Money!

            "Anya!  Anya, can you hear me?  Are you all right?"

            Anya slowly opened her eyes to see Xander's concerned face staring back at her.  She groggily sat up and noticed that Xander was squatting next to her and Dawn and Buffy were standing around her.  Anya was temporarily confused.  She had forgotten why she was lying on the ground.  But then she saw the well-dressed man standing near the entrance of the Magic Box and everything came rushing back.

            Moving quickly, surprising Xander, Anya wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips.  After a few seconds Anya broke the kiss and moved back with a satisfied smile on her lips.  Noticing Xander's bewildered expression, she spoke excitedly.  "Xander I've come to a decision.  I was wrong earlier in not wanting to get back together and have decided to give us another chance."

            Xander laughed a little harshly at Anya, "Really An?  I wonder what brought this sudden change in attitude along?"

            Anya looked at Xander innocently, "What?  I've just realized that now that you're rich, I can forgive and forget about you leaving me at the altar."

            Xander moved back and stood up.  He extended his hand to Anya and pulled her to her feet.  "Anya, I love you, and while I might still consider retrying our relationship again, I don't want us getting back together only because I have money."

            Anya started pouting as she moved to sit in one of the chairs around the table.  "Fine, if that's how you want it to be, then so be it.  But just think of all the stuff I could buy with all that money!"

            Xander only smiled at Anya's complaining.  He was about to move over to the table himself when he felt a tugging on his arm.  Turning around, he saw a smiling Dawn looking up at him.  "You know Xander, in some states its legal to marry a minor," Dawn said jokingly.

            Xander just groaned in exasperation.  He was about to reply when Buffy beat him to it.  "Yeah, Dawn, its legal, but only with parental consent.  And since I'm the parent who'll be doing the consenting, it'll be a cold day in hell before I agree to that."

            Now it was Dawn who started pouting, "You're just saying that because you want him all to yourself.  You're just trying to eliminate your competition."

             Buffy scoffed at Dawn, "Competition?  Please!  If I wanted Xander, there's not a thing you could do to stop me."

            "Uh, girls, I'm standing right here you know.  Besides, what makes you think I want either one of you?  Since I'm rich I can get myself a hot trophy wife."

            Buffy said sarcastically, "Like someone would stoop that low."

            Xander got indignant, "Hey!  They say that money is the most powerful aphrodisiac in the world; not even alcohol can turn a regular joe into Brad Pitt like the all mighty dollar.  Just look at Bill Gates.  Here's a guy that epitomizes the word geek, and yet you mention the word billions, and low and behold, the guy's got himself a young, hot, blonde wife."

            Xander stopped and then got a mischievous grin on his face.  "Say Buff, you wanna be my young, hot, blonde wife?"

            Buffy seemed deep in thought before responding, "I don't know.  The money is very tempting, but I don't think that it's enough.  What else do you got?"

            Xander smiled, "Well lets see.  I've got my charming wit, dark good looks, amazing sexual prowess, and about 300 million dollars.  Is that enough?"

            Buffy contemplated carefully before answering, "Maybe.  What do you expect to get out of this deal?"

            Xander grinned, "That's easy.  I get your quirky personality, stunning good looks, incredible stamina, and one hell of a nice ass."

            Buffy got a shocked look on her face and slapped Xander on his arm.  His last comment had gone a little too far.  "Xander!  What are you doing staring at my ass?"

            Xander looked horrified, "Whoa!  Whoa there Buff.  Who said I was staring?  I may glance at it from time to time, but I do not stare.  Frankly, I'm a little insulted that you would even say something like that."

            Buffy studied Xander's face.  She couldn't be sure if he was being serious or not.  She doubted he was and was about to call him on it, when a loud cough could be heard reverberating around the store.

            Both Buffy and Xander turned to see the source of the cough.  It was Peter Black.

            Peter spoke when he saw that he had everyone's attention.  "While I enjoy this charming display of adolescent humor and thinly veiled sexual innuendo, I have very important business that I must discuss with Mr. Harris."

            "Yeah, about that, are you sure that you got the right guy?  I mean I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the kind of guy who will look a gift horse in the mouth, but even I have to wonder about this."  Xander said.

            Peter nodded his head as he picked up his case and moved farther into the room.  Placing his case on the partially constructed counters, he turned around to face the group.  "I am quite sure Mr. Harris.  A man in my line of work cannot afford to make mistakes of that magnitude.  My client, your great uncle, kept very close tabs on you.  I know that your name is Alexander Lavelle Harris.  I know that you were born on August 23, 1980.  Well at least that's what your birth certificate says, even though we both know that's not true.  I know that your legal parents are named Jack and Irene Harris.  I know when you lost your first tooth, I know what your report card was for the first quarter of your sixth grade year, I know what classes you took your freshman year in high school, and I even know when you lost your virginity.  So as you can see, Mr. Harris, I am quite sure that you are the man that I am looking for."

            Peter ended his speech and waited for Xander's reaction.  He didn't have to wait long.  "Okay.  I believe you, all right.  No need to start spouting off any more personal details."  Xander then stopped and looked around the room before refocusing back on Peter.  "Even though I believe that you know who I am, the fact remains that I'm fairly sure I don't have a great uncle.  Or I should say didn't have."

            Peter smiled and turned around to open his attaché case.  He pulled out a stack of papers, walked over to Xander, and handed him the papers.  As Xander looked down at the papers, Peter began speaking.  "You are correct in your assumption Mr. Harris.  You did not know of my client because you were not meant to know.  Allistair Holcomb is a genetic relative.  Meaning he is related to you through your true family line.  As I'm sure Mr. White has been telling you, you are not from this time Mr. Harris.  You are descended from the ruling family of Loria, as was Allistair Holcomb.  The only difference is that Allistair was born hundreds of years after your birth."

            Peter stopped talking while he watched Xander skim through the papers that he had just handed him.  "Those papers that I just gave to you are a copy of your great uncle's will.  In his will, Allistair stipulated that in the event of his death, the knowledge of his existence would finally be revealed, and all of his assets would be transferred and deeded over to you.  You, Alexander Harris, are now the majority shareholder and chairman of Holcomb Technologies and Securities, the seventh largest private securities firm in all of Europe."

            Xander finished looking through the papers in his hand and determined that the man who claimed to know everything about him seemed to be on the up and up.  Xander was certainly no lawyer, but the papers in his hand certainly looked official enough.  Lifting his head up to face Peter, he spoke for the first time since Peter began explaining everything.  "You're serious about this aren't you?"

            Peter thinly smiled at Xander, "I assure you that I am quite serious.  Do I strike you as the kind of man who would go to all this trouble to pull some kind of prank on you?"

            Xander shook his head.  "No I guess you wouldn't.  It's just that this is a really big shock for me.  I mean I remember growing up as a kid and seeing my parents struggling to get by.  I lived in my parent's basement for over a year for Christ's sake.  So you have to understand that finding out I could have been rolling in the dough for most of my life is a little hard for me to swallow."

            Peter seemed sympathetic as he responded, "I understand your frustration Mr. Harris.  You must believe me when I say that Allistair Holcomb desperately wanted to inform you of your true history, but he was not allowed to."

            Xander got confused, "What do you mean he wasn't allowed to?"

            This time Peter got confused, "You mean you don't know?  I would have thought for sure that Mr. White had informed you of your status by now.  He hasn't told you why he is here and why you are here as well?"

            Xander shrugged his shoulders and Thomas spoke up for the first time since Peter entered the store.  "You know I haven't Peter.  I only left Frankfurt hours before you did.  And I only arrived here in Sunnydale three hours ago.  I was just starting to explain things to Xander when you interrupted."

            Xander cut through, "Wait a minute.  You two know each other?"

            Thomas turned to Xander and said sarcastically, "Oh yes.  Peter and I are old friends, we go way back."

            Buffy interrupted with her own input, "Is anyone else here as confused as I am?  First Xander's a prince, then he's a millionaire, and now you're telling us he's both?  I think we all need to sit down and have a long talk."

            Xander nodded his head emphatically, "Buffy's right.  Both of you need to explain to me what exactly is going on.  I'm being pulled in two totally different directions here, and I need to be set on the right path."

            Thomas spoke, "For all intents and purposes, you are both Xander.  You are both a prince and a millionaire.  A prince because of the royal blood that flows through your veins, and a millionaire because of the DNA you share with a man born hundreds of years after you.  As I was beginning to explain to you earlier, you are the heir to the throne of Loria, and your great uncle is a descendant from your mother's side of the family line."

            Thomas finished speaking and looked at Xander.  Xander waved his hand distractedly, "I get that, at least I think that I do, but what I don't understand is what the hell this all has to do with me.  Why did I travel through time?  Why if I was born hundreds of years ago did I grow up in the 20th century?  Why was my great uncle not allowed to tell me of his existence?  These are the questions that I need answers to."

            Thomas got a pained expression on his face and he spoke with thick frustration, "I want to explain all this to you, but I can't.  At least not right now.  You have to pass a test first."

            Xander responded immediately, "What test?  Why do I need to pass a test for you tell me about my life?"

            Thomas sighed, "It's not me that needs you to pass a test Xander.  It's the Powers That Be.  They're the ones that have been sending you through time.  And they won't send you through time unless you pass their test first."

            Xander groaned, "But why am I traveling through time in the first place?"

            "Like I said Xander, I can't tell you yet.  To do so and have you not pass the test would severely damage the time stream.  It's a risk that I can't take.  That I won't take."

            Dawn, who was sitting down at the table, spoke up.  "Wait a second.  I don't get it.  How can Xander not pass the test?  Wouldn't the fact that you're here and that you say that you met Xander in the past mean that Xander passes the test?  It doesn't make any sense."

            Peter added, "Actually Miss Summers, it makes perfect sense.  At least it does if you don't look at time travel in linear terms."  At Dawn's blank look, not to mention the blank look on all the other Scoobies, Peter elaborated further.  "Think of time as one big, giant river.  Now think of Mr. Harris as riding on a boat traveling on that river.  Like any major river, it eventually branches off into little streams and tributaries, every one of them traveling in different directions.  If Mr. Harris were to only travel on the main river, then he would only be traveling in a straight line, and any changes in time would have one effect.  If Mr. Harris fails to pass his test, then Thomas will never meet him and he wouldn't be here now.

            "However, if Mr. Harris were to take a stream, to leave the normal flow of time if you will, then the stream he chose could cause any number of changes.  Each decision that we make in life has many different outcomes.  If in one future Mr. Harris does pass the test then he goes back in time and meets Thomas.  But if in another future Xander passes the test, goes back in time, meets Thomas, but dies, then time as we know it could still continue as it is because Xander would have still passed the test and met Thomas, therefore influencing him enough to still continue his future path.  It's not really time travel per say, but more like traveling between alternate realities.  It's really quite fascinating."

            Peter finished speaking and noticed the dumbfounded looks on everyone's faces.  Peter just sighed and said, "And that did nothing to further your understanding did it?  It doesn't really matter, as Mr. Harris is the only one that really needs to understand.  He is the only one who will be affected after all."

            Thomas spoke up, "Speaking of which, we need to really be moving ahead.  Xander, you need to come with us to Frankfurt so that we can administer the test and so that you can finally embrace your destiny."

            Xander held up his hand, "Whoa!  I don't think so.  Why do I have to go anywhere?  Besides what makes you so sure that I want to embrace my true destiny?  I like my life as it is, and I don't want to leave Sunnydale and my friends."

            Thomas shook his head.  "You have no choice Xander."

            At that, Buffy immediately sprung to Xander's side and said in a menacing voice.  "You're not taking Xander anywhere he doesn't want to go.  You'll have to get through me first."

            Thomas involuntarily took a step back, away from Buffy and Xander.  When Thomas spoke he did so in desperation, "But you have to Xander!  You must take the test and you must pass so that you can travel through time and stop Jonas from opening the Hellmouth."

            "Why me?  Why do I have to do it?  Why not someone like Buffy, or Angel, or someone else who is supposed to do this kind of thing.  I'm just a normal guy.  I don't have any super powers, or great fighting skills.  The only thing that I'm good at is putting up drywall!"  Xander said the last part a little louder than he intended.

            Thomas spoke hurriedly, "Because Xander, only the Sword of Life can stop Jonas.  And only the Sword of Life can be used by someone of the royal family of Loria."

            Xander smiled slightly, "We'll that's great.  Just have someone go back in time with the sword and give it to the king.  That way someone from the royal family can use the sword, and I don't have to do any Star Trek mojo."

            Thomas shook his head emphatically, "No Xander you don't understand.  If you, and when I say you I mean you, don't travel back in time then…" Thomas would have continued but Peter cut him off.

             Peter spoke warningly, "Thomas what are you doing?  You know that we can't tell him anything unless he passes the test.  The damage you could do to time could be incalculable."

            Thomas turned to face Peter with anger in his voice.  "Damnit Peter!  We don't have any choice.  Not telling him will cause even greater damage than telling him.  If this is the only way to convince him, then we have no choice but to tell him."

            Turning back to face Xander, he calmed his emotions.  He needed to be as clear and concise as possible if he was going to get Xander to agree.  "As I was saying, if you don't travel back in time, then there will be no one to use the Sword of Life against Jonas."

            Xander's face partially drained of its color as he thought about what Thomas just said.  In a slightly shaking voice he said, "What do you mean there will be no one to use the sword?"

            Thomas's face was grim as he spoke, "Two days after you were born Xander, Jonas led an attack against your father's castle.  Eventually, Jonas and his forces were defeated, but during the chaos of the battle, your father and mother, the king and queen of Loria, were killed.  You as a child would have been killed too if hadn't been for a mysterious stranger using the Sword of Life, who defended your infant form during the fight.  It was only because of the Sword of Life that we were able to turn the tide against the undead forces of Jonas.  You were that mysterious man Xander.  If you don't go back in time, then no one will save you, and then no one will be able to use the Sword of Life and stop Jonas from opening the Hellmouth.  So you see Xander, if you don't go, then you will cease to exist."

To be continued……………………

P.S. I know that I said that I would take a few weeks break, but my exams went by faster than I expected and I just felt compelled to write.  I should really pay attention more in class so that I know what days the tests are actually on.  And some friendly advice to all you future college goers out there, do not become a history major.  The tests are a bitch.  I thought my hand was going to fall off after answering so many essay questions.  I'm just thankful that I aced the damn thing.  Anyways, I know that you're disappointed that I wasn't gone longer, but I couldn't stay away from you guys any longer.  I guess you guys are stuck with me.

            Oh, and I know this time travel stuff is really confusing and I'm sorry.  I'm confused myself and I'm the one who came up with all this crap.