6. Chapter 6
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Upper Realms
Sandra orbed behind a pillar when she went to make her report. She did not want to be mobbed like she was last time. Not with a possible White Knight on her hands. She pulled up her hood while she peaked around the pillar looking for Elder Zola. Perhaps Lady Luck hated her that day because when she found him he was talking with Elder Odin, and Elder Odin was a windbag.
"Elders may I speak with you in private," Sandra said as she approached them.
Elder Odin had an affronted look on his face at being interrupted, but Elder Zola placed a calming hand on his shoulder and with a pensive expression led the way to a secluded corner.
"What's Wrong Sandra? You would never request a private meeting unless there was a problem," Elder Zola asked.
Sandra removed her hood and looked at her favorite Elder then her least favorite Elder. She took a deep breath before beginning her explanation.
"Today was the day that I was having my friend read Alex's aura, and the results were distressing to say the least," she began. "My friend is not the strongest aura reader, he is better with destinies or paths, but he would take a secret to the grave, and almost did. I chose him because I was getting weird feeling from what little I could sense from Alex's aura, and I knew I could count on him to keep it too himself."
"Sandra, why are you trying so hard to justify your choice of aura reader?" Elder Zola questioned.
Sandra had been doing her best to avoid their eyes, but she forced herself to look up. "Because the reader I used is the Pylean demon who runs the demon bar Caritas in LA."
Elder Odin started spluttering, "Are you crazy? You used a demon how can you think demons be trusted."
"Enough Odin," Elder Zola said. "I know of this demon. He frequently works for the powers that be to place their champions on the right path. Your choice of readers was most excellent, Sandra."
Sandra and Odin just looked at Elder Zola in shock. For once they agreed on something. It took a few minutes but Sandra finally said, "Thank you Elder Zola for your approval."
Now normally Sandra never seeks approval from anyone. Even though she's now a White Lighter she was still a Slayer and it seems most Slayers have an I don't care what you think of me attitude; however, Zola had always been a type of father figure for her. Her parents had died early in her life and her watcher was a woman, so she never had a father figure in her life until Elder Zola.
Elder Zola just smiled at her and said, "So what did this reader find in young Alexander's aura that was so distressing?"
"When Lorne had read Alex's aura he was shocked that he grew up on the Hellmouth. When I questioned him further he told me that he was 100% certain but there was a good chance that my boy was a White Knight." She paused and waited for the explosion she knew would happen.
"Are you sure?" Elder Odin asked. Surprisingly he was being calm and not flying off the handle like Sandra thought he would.
"No, he was not certain but it is very likely," she answered.
Elder Odin turned to Zola and asked, "Will you check it out or should I?"
Elder Zola looked at him for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I will do it. My skills might be rusty but I am still the strongest, among the Elders, at reading auras."
Sandra was shocked. Not only was Elder Odin being civil, but they were talking about going to Earth and reading Alex's aura for themselves. The Elders never get involved with a White Lighters Charge.
Sandra stepped forward and asked, "Why? I know that White Knights are great forces of good but why involve yourselves like this?"
Both of the Elders looked at each other before Odin bowed his head to Zola.
"Sandra, one thing you need to know about White Knights is that the mundane and magical Knights are very different," Elder Zola began. "Mundane White Knights are powerful forces of good and strive to change the world. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights and equality; while Mother Teresa fought for the sick and the poor. Both of them were tremendous forces of good; however, magical White Knights tend to be different."
At this point Elder Odin took up the story.
"Magical White Knights are even rarer than their mundane counterparts," he began. "Magical White Knights also tend to be extremely powerful. The most well known in recent times are Merlin and Melinda Warren. White Knights have always been targeted in one form or the other. The most common, and favorite tactic is conversion."
Seeing Sandra's blank look prompted Elder Zola to explain. "White Knights are the strongest warriors for the forces of the light, but even though there powerful they are still human. Evil has always tried to steal our warriors from us, and sometimes they succeed. Evil's crowning glory is when they can turn a White Knight. That great force of good can easily turn into a terrible force of evil."
Sandra's face had slowly paled during the explanation and the implications this meant for her charge.
"If what this demon believes is true then your charge just had a target painted on his back," Elder Odin said. "So it is imperative that we keep this quiet," he continued.
"I understand," Sandra said. "So let us go and meet your charge. When I've read his aura if he is a White Knight you must begin his training immediately; however, do not tell him about his status. What he doesn't know can't be revealed after all," Elder Zola Said before taking Sandra's hand and orbing out.
AUTHORS NOTE: Ok so I hope this chapter explained things about the White Knight a little better. I'm planning on hitting a few more points later in the story but if there's something you don't understand just give me a review and I'll try to answer any questions I can.
The story is going to start moving towards more Xander-Centered now.
7. Chapter 7
Xander was having a bad day. First he came up with nothing on the mysterious being that rescued him. Then on his way to work the feeling that he was being watched came back for a while. That set him on edge, but the icing on the cake was when he got into work.
He had no sooner than walked in the door before he was stopped by Mike. Apparently he wasn't allowed to work in a bar no matter if he was drinking or not. Mike had kindly been reminded of this fact when his competition informed the police that a new bartender was in town. Mike had told him he was the best bartender he ever had and when he was 21 to come back anytime and he had a job, but he couldn't afford to lose his business. Mike had been kind enough to give him a month's salary, but that still meant he was out of a job.
So here he was trudging back to his hotel room moping for himself when it started to rain. "Come on! Really, does someone up there hate me," Xander shouted at the sky.
"Actually quite the opposite in fact," a voice said from behind him.
Xander whirled around sending a dagger spinning towards a robbed man standing in the shadows. The man never even flinched when suddenly a girl stepped in front of him and caught the dagger before it could hit the man in the golden robe.
"Now that wasn't very nice now was it Alex," the girl that caught the dagger said.
Xander was stunned. Not only did these strangers sneak up behind him without him noticing, but the girl caught his dagger in the air. Only Buffy could do that! Add that to the fact that she obviously knew his name, and he was understandably off balance.
"Ha Ha you should see your face," she said.
"Sandra enough he is understandably upset we did just appear out of nowhere. Give the poor boy a break," the robbed man said.
The girl Xander now knew was named Sandra gave the man a sheepish look, but then nodded. She looked back at Xander and held up her hands in an obvious show of peace.
"Where not here to hurt you, but can we get out of the rain. What we have to tell you is quite a long story and I'd rather not catch a cold telling it to you," Sandra said.
Xander gave her a long look before finally nodding his head. To Sandra it seemed like he was looking into her soul peeling back the layers until he saw her very core. It was a nerve racking experience which she never wanted to repeat again. When he finally nodded his head she let out a sigh of relief. The other man just gave a slight little smile and started heading for Xander's hotel room. Oddly enough Xander wasn't surprised that they knew where he was staying.
Xander was in a haze. It felt like his head was wrapped in wool. There were too many shocks to his system in one day for his mind to handle. Sandra noticed this and just shook her head it's a shame the shocks weren't over yet. When they finally got to his door he walked in and then stepped to the side not actually inviting them in. The man stepped right on in, but Sandra gave him a smirk as she stepped through the door.
Xander never even realized what he was doing as he sat down. He was just working on autopilot. Both of the guests took the only two chairs in the room leaving him to sit on t bed.
"My name is Zola and the lady next to me is Sandra," Zola began.
Xander nodded his head and motioned for them to continue.
"Before we get too far into this story I need to tell you that we know about the Hellmouth and your part in keeping it shut," Sandra said. Xander looked up at that but other than that he showed no other sign of being shocked.
Sandra smiled at him and began her story, "Now you know about the Hellmouth, but there are other supernatural forces than the one you are most familiar with. In the world they're witch practitioners, people who study Wicca and become witches, and then they're natural born witches, people who are born into magical families. Natural witches are always from a family line and will have an inborn power that needs no incantation to use."
For once Xander wasn't cracking a joke he just nodded and asked, "So Willow is a witch practitioner?"
Zola smiled and said, "Yes, while she is a powerful practitioner she will never have an active power, however, she will probably produce her own line of witches if she ever has children. All natural witch lines start with an exceptionally strong practitioner at their head."
Xander continued nodding and stood up and started pacing in the small space. "What does all this have to do with me," he asked?
"I'll get to that," Sandra answered. "Now all natural witches have Guardian Angels or White Lighters that watch over them and guide and train them in their powers. White lighters are led by a group of stronger White Lighters called Elders. I am a White Lighter while Zola is an Elder."
At this point Zola took up the explanation. "Now no natural witch can work on an active Hellmouth. The corruptive energies that it constantly puts off will either seal the lines powers or corrupt them to the point that they become the very thing that they fight demons."
Xander stopped his pacing and looked up "Willow," he managed to gasp out. Seeing his panic Sandra stood up and led him back to the bed. "Relax she's a practitioner not a natural. While the energy does affect her it doesn't have as much of an effect as it would on a natural," she said.
Once Xander had calmed down enough to listen Zola continued his explanation. "Now as I was saying the Hellmouth's energies have a very negative effect on natural born witches as such we, the Elders, generally leave the Hellmouth's to the powers that be; even our White Lighters risk turning into a Dark Lighter if they stay on one too long the exception being the White Lighters who worked on the Hellmouth before they joined our ranks."
Xander had calmed down and he could finally start processing what was being explained to him, however he still didn't understand why this applied to him. "You don't want me to talk to Willow for you because you said practitioners don't get White Lighters, so why are you here?" he asked.
The two angels shared a look before Sandra stood up and started pacing. "This is going to be the hard part of the explanation, but just bear with me," she said. Looking over at him Sandra saw him nod. She took a deep breath before she began.
"This part is more of a history lesson so no sleeping," she joked. Xander just looked at her he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Fine everyone's a critic I swear. Anyway natural witch lines have become increasingly rare, and for the one that are still around their magic has waned in some cases disappeared completely. While for the most part this isn't that big a deal some lines are more important than others. The Halliwell line is one such line. They are the strongest line of witches and have just produced The Power of Three."
You could tell that was a big deal, but Xander had no clue what it meant. When he looked at Zola he Explained, "The Power of Three is a prophesied group of witches with almost unstoppable power and one of the strongest forces of good magic there is." Xander smiled for the first time that night and looked back at Sandra.
Giving Zola an annoyed look she continued her "history lesson". "Well, like I was saying their line is an ancient and powerful one, however there are others. For time's sake we'll only focus on the important one the Aiken line. When they were active they were just as powerful as the Halliwell line, however, one was a great seer and after one of her visions moved her family to the Hellmouth. No one knows what she saw all we knew was that the entire family moved. We had reports that the master had been sealed in the Hellmouth but we heard nothing on the whereabouts of the Aiken line until a couple weeks ago when one of their descendants rode to San Francisco on a bus." When she finished her story she looked over at Xander.
Xander sat on the bed processing everything for a minute before he started laughing. Zola and Sandra were shocked they weren't expecting laughter. Denial yes, joy maybe, but defiantly not laughter. They let it go on for a while before they realized it was hysterical laughter at which point Sandra walked up and slapped him in the face.
Still chuckling a little he said "thanks I needed that."
Xander knew they weren't joking he had always been able to tell when someone was lying and they had been telling the truth the entire time. Then he looked up and asked a very important question, "So what happens now."
"Now young Alexander I'm going to let your White Lighter explain everything else I have an appointment to keep," Elder Zola said before orbing out.
"Wait he never told me who my White Lighter is," Xander said. Sandra just gave him a look that said 'are you that big of an idiot'. He saw this and gulped. Defiantly reminds me of Buffy he thought. "So I take it from the glare that you're my White Lighter.
Sandra gave him a smirk that sent shivers down his spine and nodded her head. "I'm going to tell you this now, Alex, I will train you to hunt and kill demons with weapons, powers, or barehanded, but by the end of the week you'll hate me," Sandra said still wearing that smirk.
'Yep I'm doomed' he thought before asking when they would start.
"Well first we'll get you out of this crap hole you call a hotel then we'll start on meditation and finding out what your powers are. After we know that I'll know how to set up your training schedule, so not for a while yet."
Xander almost let out a sigh relief, but a couple years of watching Giles and Buffy train taught him that that would just make the training come faster and harder.
"Stay here for a couple of days at least until I can find an apartment and you can move in with me," she said.
Xander just shook his head and let out a massive yawn. Seeing this Sandra's eyes softened and she started heading for the door.
"Get some rest Alex you've had a long day. Everything will look better in the morning and I'll be by to check on you and start meditation tomorrow." With that she walked out shutting the lights off and closing the door. Xander was out before he hit the pillow.
Upper Realms
Sandra orbed into the cloudy corner where she had talked to Elders Odin and Zola earlier. The marble pillars and thick fog like clouds made this spot perfect for a private conversation. The other two Elders were already their when she orbed in.
"Well?" she asked.
"Young Alexander is in fact a White Knight," Elder Zola said.
"Damn," Elder Odin exclaimed.
AUTHORS NOTE: Okay I wasn't really happy with this chapter and it was by far the hardest for me to write so I would appreciate all the feedback you can give me. Thanks.