He still needed and explanation to keep her from leaving. The truth maybe... but would it go down? If she didn't know about anything after moving to Sunnydale would it be easier to not tell her about Buffy and Willow?

He made the drinks and took them out. Tara was looking through his books wearing blue jeans and a white sweater.

"I guess we'll need to get you some clothes." He handed her her drink "here, sit. I'll explain everything."

"Where exactly am I."

"Los Angeles. But I think the more appropriate question is when."

"What do you mean?"

"What's the last you remember?"

"Moving to Sunnydale for college."

"In 2001, yes?"

She nodded.

"The year now is 2006."

Tara spluttered and coughed as she choked on her chocolate.

"B-b-but how?"

"I brought you here. I brought you across time and dimensions. You were trapped in the spirit realm and I pulled you out."

"But that-that's dangerous... you could have damaged or even destroyed the fabric of reality... why would you risk that?" there was a note of panic in her voice. At least she understood the consequences of what he had done, which meant she remembered all her mothers teachings about magic and balance... that would make things easier.

"There is an ancient council called the council of Arametheus. They have existed for about ten thousand years. It is their job to guard the balance between good and evil. They decipher ancient prophecies and make sure the variables involved are in the right place at the right time..."

"But what does this have to do with me?" She interrupted.

"Please don't interrupt or we shall get nowhere, and I would very much like to get some sleep tonight." She nodded her understanding "So this council have spent the past sixty years attempting to decipher a set of ancient prophecies called the prophecies of Kain. They came across one of the pages which mentioned you directly. The consequences of pulling you from the spirit realm and across time could be grave but the consequences of not, could have been much graver. You see the prophecy said that there would come a power greater than any ever known and would bring about the apocalypse and nothing would stop it. Nothing except you."

"But I don't have any where near that kind of power!"

"The prophecy was not specific on how. It only said that it could only be you. It may not even be a matter of power, I have learned in my long life that power and strength sometimes make no difference at all."

"You say you pulled me from the spirit realm. How on earth did I get trapped there in the first place?"

Merrick sighed and turned away form her. He did not like to lie, but the truth outright could seriously complicate things.

"An accident. Needless to say you did not get there on purpose. Time was tampered with by someone and things went wrong. If this person had not messed around with time then I would not have needed to do it myself to get you back. And trust me when I say I would never under normal circumstances done anything so rash."

Tara put down her cup and buried her face in her hands and groaned loudly. She had been feeling confused ever since she had found herself on the floor in the cave, and her tiredness only added to her confusion and increasingly painful headache. And the more Merrick explained to her the less she understood, she was feeling more and more like Alice tumbling down a never ending rabbit hole taking her deeper and closer to a place she didn't really want to be in. She then realized that although she had been explained her situation, where and when she was; and she knew who she was, she still had absolutely no idea who this person who was explaining all this to her was.

"Who are you?" she asked

Merrick looked around surprised. She had expected that to be the first question she asked him and had not realized that he had not explained anything about himself to her.

"My name is Merrick, I work for the powers that be. It is my job to maintain the balance between good and evil, I am what you might call a warrior for good. You see you know about your powers, you use them for good. Not all beings use their power this way, some do not even learn control. There are even some beings who's sole purpose is to cause chaos and destruction." Merrick indicated to his book shelf and began picking off books and handing them to her "Demons, vampires, the forces of darkness; everything you ever though was under your bed or in your wardrobe or lurked in the darkest places but had convinced yourself weren't real. They all exist. They are all real. I fight them, I make sure they do not get out of hand. Most of the time their sole purpose is to work alone and cause damage. Or maybe they just want to feed. But every now and again you get a real visionary come along who wants to destroy the world, or bring hell on earth, or wipe out all life or something like that. It's at these times that people like me are needed, people like you. People with powers who understand balance and the value of life. I am not alone in this fight either, there are others like me. Other warriors who fight for good."

"Like the vampire slayer." Tara had no idea where that piece of information came from. It must have been something her mother had told her a long time ago, she didn't know anything about the vampire slayer except that there was only one and she fought the forces of darkness.

Merrick looked at her questioningly. How did she know about the slayer.

"Slayers." He corrected "something happened. Now there are many slayer, not just one."

Tara sank back in her chair. She began to wish she had not asked her last question, she was now more confused that ever. And her tiredness was quickly creeping back, with a vengeance. She glanced at Merrick's old fashioned grandfather clock and saw it was almost 4 am and she felt like she hadn't slept for days.

Merrick noticed her weary glance at the clock and smiled. He was tired himself and was running out of ways to get around her questions without telling her everything.

"You can take the bed. I'll stay on the sofa."

Tara nodded gratefully, she was now just too tired to speak. She got up and headed for the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night in an empty room in the same apartment building three old men sit around a table facing another, younger man who is standing.

"So you have done it then?" asked Methuselah.

Merrick nodded.

"How?" asked Matthias.

"I used Andrews blood to re-activate the eye of Rah-mesh to go back in spirit form to the time she died."

"Well that explains how you got back, but not how you brought her spirit back with you." said Mattimeo.

"I trapped her spirit in an orb of Thesela and then transferred her spirit into Andrews essence which i separated using the Methos medallion you gave me. His essence fused with her spirit to make her corporeal. She is alive."

"Well I must say Merrick you have surprised us all. But didn't she want to get back to Willow and her friends?" asked Methuselah.

"She doesn't remember, and I hate to say this but it's easier for us that way."

"Does she remember anything?"

"Everything up to her move to Sunnydale."

"I think you have proved yourself to us. I think we can trust you to look after her and train her in preparation for what is coming. You will not only need to teach her to fully utilize her power but you should probably also teach her to fight... just in case."

Merrick nodded and bowed as he left the Council of Arametheus to discuss whatever it is they had to discuss. He went back into his own room and collapsed onto his sofa exhausted. He had not slept in almost a week, and the preparations for the ritual as well as the ritual itself had been a great strain. Merrick had not felt this tired in almost a millennia. He fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.