Chapter 21 – Saturday: Xander

Dawn was quietly meditating in her room, mind and mystic powers flowing around her in a tight and controlled way. No one outside three feet would feel a thing. Such control was important, especially so close to the Hellmouth and its denizens.

Too bad she couldn't do that while her sister was at home. Would she understand a younger sister meditating in lotus position, floating a couple of feet off the ground?

She felt a slight change in her surroundings and a small, albeit sad smile creased her young face. One of the Heirs was approaching, and according to the mystic signature, it was Xander. And from the vibes she was picking up, he wasn't happy.

She stood up, and walked to the front door. Before Xander could press the bell, she opened the door. The young brunette looked surprised for a second, but his face turned back to something that resembled controlled fury.

"Can we talk?" he asked, voice flat.

"Sure," she said, and got out of the way for him. He entered, followed by Ares. "Come to my room."

They climbed the stairs in silence, walking into Dawn's room. It was interesting, seeing the discrepancies between the image Dawn wanted to show to the general public and her real persona. Her room was much alike any other room from a teenager. That got Xander thinking, and after a few more moments of tense silence, he spoke.

"Who are you?"

Dawn looked at him, and sighed. He was perceptive, she had to acknowledge it. "I believe you are questioning if I am Dawn Summers or the Sorceress or something altogether different, right?"

"Yes. I mean, I know Dawn... or at least I knew Dawn Summers," he said, angrily, "and you are not her. Dawn was a kid, annoying sometimes, with a big crush on me, but a kid. And unless she was a great actress, who I think she wasn't, she isn't you. So, who are you?" he asked, again.

"I am Dawn Summers, I'm eleven years old. And I'm also the Sorceress, some billion years old, as well. How I came to be, I guess, is the most important question. I believe Willow told you about the prophecy, right?" Xander nodded. "Well, I didn't tell her this because I thought it wouldn't be important, but I didn't hide the information. When the prophecy was cast, we set a lot of things in motion for this moment to arrive."

Xander lifted his hand, halting her. "First questions. We? Who is 'we'? You and those 'Elders'? And they are the Powers That Be, right?"

Dawn huffed. "To answer your questions, yes, we. And do you know how stupid this denomination is? Powers That Be. That is stupid, to say the least. They are not Powers of anything, they are more along the lines of watchers of the realm. They can't interfere, none of us can, we are bound by Higher Rules about respecting the Free Will. We can only suggest, following our suggestion is your prerogative."

"So, when Buffy was Called..." he asked.

"That is another thing, called Destiny. And this, none of us has access to, unless the One Who Empowers Us All."

"But it was her destiny to die at the hands of the Master..." Xander asked, full of doubts, now.

"Says who? An old prophecy, written in an old book, which I saw being written?"

"You saw the Codex being written?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Billion of years old immortal mystical energy, remember? Yes, I saw it being written, but that's not the case right now. Point is, very few prophecies spoke about the truth. They are pathways, possibilities that can or cannot happen in a determined time. If they were absolute truths, you couldn't face them, because they would happen, anyway. The Codex is a book of pathways, as several others are."

"So, what was her destiny?" he asked.

"Truthfully? I don't know. She could have died, if it wasn't for you, or she could have lived, if something differently had happened. Only the One knows it all."

Xander mused the information for a few minutes. "Anyway, back to the point. Who are you?"

"As I was saying, we set a lot of things in motion. We scattered the Champions around the world, so that way they could control the still remaining demonic entities. Some millennia passed, and they are all slowly coming together once again."

"Why?"

"When I cast the spell to re-establish Grayskull, I'll need their powers to form a strong ground, so that way I won't make the same mistake once again."

"Ok, go on."

"One of the things we needed was for me to be back in human form. So, with the help from a few mystic monks, we cast a spell, and my powers were locked into the body of a still unborn child, who would become Dawn Summers. If you want to know if this was pre-arranged, the answer is no. To them, I could be born in a hut in Africa, for all that they knew. I guess that the One does have a higher plan for us all. So, until a few days back, I was Dawn Summers, fully human and with the mind of a normal human child. When you first activated your and Willow's powers, the fusion began, that's the reason why I fainted and Buffy was worried."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm still Dawn Summers, eleven, up to a point. Annoying, but just out of necessity, and I must say that the crush factor is gone. On the other side, I'm the Sorceress, Guardian of Grayskull and Key to Dimensions. I have all of Dawn's memories, and mine, as well."

"So, let me see if I get this straight. You are Dawn Summers, only not, and you are also the Sorceress, only not. You and a bunch of old farts devised a plan so that everything that you did would be undone in a timely fashion, right?" he asked, in a tone that made Dawn shiver from head to toe.

"That's the general concept, yes," she answered, still not liking his face.

Xander began pacing the room, while Dawn sat on her bed, Ares still curled up near the door.

"DAMMIT! I ASKED FOR IT, DIDN'T I?" Xander screamed, looking to the ceiling and beyond. The scream was so loud and so distracting that nobody realized they weren't alone in the house anymore.

Xander stopped his pacing and stood in front of Dawn. He pointed a finger in her direction.

"Look, I got these powers for some reason, and I intend to use them to help, and so does Willow. Problem is, I don't trust you. To me, you could be the next bad guy we have to face in order to keep this blue ball spinning, and all of this talk could be a load of bull so we could help you blow us up."

Dawn was going to interrupt him when a sharp erected finger cut out any attempts of speech.

"BUT," he continued, "if you are telling the truth, we risk too much in not doing anything. So, we will protect you, but it's just that. Doesn't mean that I'll trust you. And if you ever try anything against any one of us, I'll kill you myself, Buffy or no Buffy. Do you understand me?"

Dawn nodded silently.

"I'm leaving. Let's go, Ares," Xander called, and the dog promptly stood up.

As soon as Faith heard the declaration from the guy, she backtracked as silently as possible, going back to the living room. She didn't have time to think anything else, because the door to Squirt's room opened up and the guy came down the stairs. She only pretended to be arriving at that moment, and as soon as the man was in sight, she smiled.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh, hey. You must be Faith. I'm Xander. Welcome to the Hellmouth," he said, extending his hand.

'Thanks. . . I guess. I've heard some things about you," she said, trying to sound innocent and looking at the dog, while shaking hands.

"Those are probably lies, told to incriminate me. And he is Ares," Xander said, with a lopsided grin.

Faith smiled and crouched, and the dog approached, tail swinging happily.

"Hey, Furball. You a nice doggie, ain'tcha?" she said, scratching the dog under his chin. Ares answered by swinging harder.

"What did you call him?" Xander asked.

"Furball. He looks like one, doesn't he?" she said, poker faced.

"Yeah, he does. Anyway, I gotta go. See you later."

"See ya."

And with that, the young man left the house, the husky following. Faith waited a few moments, and went after them.

- To be Continued -