Date written: Sat 17 Oct 2009
Author: Starway Man
E-mail: theop at hotkey dot net dot au
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, Fox, WB and UPN; I don't own 'em, and I never will. I also do not own any other characters from any television shows, movies, comics, videogames or literature that I might use. This work is meant merely for enjoyment, and no profit is being made off of it. Some of the text is from various TV episodes or movies or comics or videogames or literature, and so does not belong to me of course.
Rating: Overall R, with mostly PG-13 parts.
Symbols: " " denotes speech, ( italics ) specifies thoughts, and # # indicates phone voice.
Main characters: Xander, ensemble
Warnings: There is some violence, bad language, character death and mention of sexual situations in these stories.
Author Notes: A couple of years ago Night Hunter MGS (a.k.a. Matt) wrote an awesome series of stories called "31 Days of Xanderween" (http://www .fanfiction .net/s/3813208/1/31_Days_of_Xanderween), where he published one Halloween fic for each day of October. I was inspired enough to want to do my own version of the concept, and he has graciously allowed me to use his idea for this series of fanfic stories.
Author Notes 2: Hey, everybody, here's the latest one. I'm going slightly crazy at the moment with RL problems, so I'll just say thanks for all the latest reviews and feedback and try to sort out the mess at home.
Acknowledgments: My thanks of course to Matt for allowing me to dabble with his original idea this way. Also, my deepest gratitude to all my beta readers – Francis Eugene, Greywizard, American Soldier and Nodakskip – for all their help in getting these stories finished on time!
Classification: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Romance, YAHF
Summary: Thirty-one versions of Halloween, Xander-style. Fic-a-day series.
Title:31 Days of Xanderween Part Deux
***
Story 17: The Wizard Behind The Curtain
City Hall, Sunnydale, California
October 22nd, 1997
The Deputy Mayor of Sunnydale, Allan Finch, was having a conversation with his superior, Richard Wilkins the Third. "Um, sir? The, uh, the vampire situation has been getting rather problematic lately. After the Anointed One was killed, he was replaced by someone called William the Bloody...apparently, he's also known as Spike. But unfortunately, he's been upsetting the status quo quite a lot...and I'm afraid that people might actually begin to talk about what really goes on in this town, as a result of that."
"Well, gosh! We certainly don't need that, now, do we?" Richard replied in his typically chipper tone, as he practiced his golf putting in the office. "Nosiree, that would set a very bad precedent. It sounds to me like we've currently got ourselves a bit of a bad element here in Sunnydale, Allan. Hmmm, where did I put those sacrificial skinning knives again...?"
"I was thinking of, uh, something a bit less directly confrontational on our part, sir," Finch said, trying to contain his nervousness. The Mayor's flunky knew that whenever his boss started talking about killing or maiming someone, he could never be sure if the knives would end up in his own back or not. "Something that would involve more, ah, traditional family values."
"Oh, gee whiz! That sounds excellent to me, Allan!" Wilkins said heartily, as he managed to sink his golf ball directly into the catcher receptacle before the machinery spat it out again. "I think I'll leave it all in your very capable hands. That being said, of course, if your plan doesn't work – your hands will most likely end up as a trophy on my wall over there. I do need to practice with those knives, y'know."
The Mayor just smiled and chortled a little as Finch backed away in fear. After all, it never hurt to be reminded that he was the king of the mountain around here, and would be until the time for his ascension arrived.
"Heck, I was just kidding, Allan! Care to have a putt?" Wilkins offered with another big smile.
***
Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale, California
October 30th, 1997
The students known as Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris tried to sneak by Principal Snyder, but their efforts to slip past underneath his radar were all doomed to failure. Fate, unfortunately, had decided otherwise.
"Miss Summers! Miss Rosenberg! You too, Harris. Hold it right there!" the balding little man barked out in no uncertain terms.
"Principal Snyder! Hi!" Buffy said nervously.
"Hi!" Willow echoed.
"Hey there, Principal Snyder sir. Wonderful weather we've been having lately, huh?" Xander nodded enthusiastically.
"You mean apart from the meaningless hot air that constantly comes out of your mouth, Harris? No, wait, don't bother to answer," the principal said, scowling. "Now, odds are Halloween was probably going to be a big night for you three. Tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples, one pathetic activity after another.
"Well, not this year," Snyder said with a sense of perverse satisfaction. "I have plans for all of you."
"Actually, I was planning to just stay in and veg-" Buffy started to say.
"Be quiet. I'M talking right now," Snyder seemed to take great pleasure in watching the Slayer and her friends squirm. "Harris, Rosenberg, obviously you'd be familiar with our annual Halloween safety program, even if your juvenile delinquent friend here might not. But this year, we're doing something different. And you're all volunteering to take part."
"We are?" Willow asked timidly, not sure what that meant exactly.
"Uh, we're volunteering to take part in what, exactly?" Xander asked the question for her.
"It's a festival being sponsored tomorrow as an initiative by City Hall," Snyder informed him. "Everyone's going to be gathering at the grounds near that abandoned old castle-"
"Castle?" Buffy interrupted, not knowing that Snyder was referring to the place that the vampire known as Dracula would one day use as his headquarters.
"I'm still talking, Summers!!" the principal glowered at the blonde girl. "Now as I was saying, everyone will be gathering in what'll look like a medieval town close to the castle. There'll be some traditional Middle Ages activities, like a joust – but that's not important as far as you're concerned. What's important is that everyone dresses up for the part – including you three."
"Uh, Principal Snyder, I've got maybe two dollars in my pocket, I-I can't afford a big fancy Halloween costume," Xander spoke up.
Snyder just brushed that aside, "Whatever, that's not my problem. What's my concern is that plenty of people have already volunteered to play the part of the royalty and nobility at this little gathering...but we don't have any serving wenches, or ladies-in-waiting."
He stared with blissful delight at the horror-filled faces of Buffy and Willow. "Which is where you two come in..."
***
Spike's lair, Sunnydale, California
Later that night
William the Bloody was in a fairly contemplative mood, as he watched the videotape of Buffy fighting one of his minions during the previous evening. Spike already knew how this Slayer was tricky and resourceful, but he hadn't figured just how he was going to kill her yet.
"Rewind it again," William ordered his chief lieutenant, his eyes never leaving the TV monitors..
Just then Drusilla, Spike's sire and girlfriend, came in from the other room. "Miss Edith needs her tea," the mad Englishwoman said with her typical nonsense-speak.
Spike just smiled, Dru was the only one who could bring out the vestiges of the sensitive poet he had been in human life. "C'mere, poodle."
Drusilla took his outstretched hand and said, "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"
"Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet," Spike told her at once. "That's why I've got to study this Slayer. Once I know her, I can kill her. And once I kill her, you can have your run of Sunnyhell. Get strong again."
Drusilla cocked her head. "Everything's switching, outside to inside. It makes her weak..."
( Her? Hang on, is Dru talkin' about the bloody Slayer being weak? ) Spike asked himself. "Did my pet have a vision, then?"
"Do you know what I miss? Leeches," Drusilla suddenly segued off into Nuttyville without any warning.
Spike said to her somewhat impatiently, "Come on, luv, talk to Daddy. This thing that makes the Slayer weak? When is it?"
"Tomorrow," the insane female psychic replied, still listening to the siren song of the moon and the stars.
"But tomorrow's Halloween. Nothing happens on Halloween," William replied in confusion.
"Uh, Spike? There's something new happening this year, the whole town's been buzzing about it lately," the vamp minion named Lucas spoke up. "Some sort of Renaissance faire thing near the old castle, just about every blood bag in Sunnydale is gonna be there."
"And you didn't tell me about this before, why?" Spike narrowed his eyes dangerously as he stared at the hired help. "Can't help thinking, mate, what ELSE haven't you told me about lately?"
"Shhh," Drusilla distracted her childe, something for which Lucas was most grateful since it allowed him to keep on existing. "Someone's come to change it all. Someone new. Ohh!"
Drusilla clapped her hands in delight. "The stars say such delicious things about the naughty tricks he'll play..."
***
The site of the Halloween festival, Sunnydale, California
October 31st, 1997
Up until now, Buffy Summers had always thought that high school was hell. But today, she had discovered that she'd been wrong: THIS was a far better representation of what hell really was – being forced to act as a serving wench, just like one of her Slayer predecessors during the time of the Black Death.
The grounds had been made to resemble as realistically as possible a medieval town, with jesters and knights and everything else against the backdrop of the castle. Giles had volunteered to be the court magician, dressing up in a blue Merlin outfit; and somehow – Buffy had no idea how he'd pulled it off – Xander had dressed up as Merlin's apprentice, somebody named Melchior. Oddly enough only Willow, who was currently dressed as a lady-in-waiting, knew who that was; primarily because she was the one who had actually lent the book "The Return Of Merlin" to Xander in the first place.
But that wasn't what was bugging Buffy. What was annoying her was being treated like a slave by the so-called royalty and the nobility, namely...
"Hey! We need some more wine over here!" 'Lady' Harmony Kendall called out, an twisted grin on her face as the blonde cheerleader sat on the bleachers, watching the joust.
"Yeah! More wine!!" 'Princess' Cordelia Chase called out a few seconds later. Her family was playing the part of the Royals as her father was the richest man in town, and thus, he had been selected for the role by the Deputy Mayor.
( Is murder always a crime? ) Buffy thought grouchily, as she came over and Willow gave her an apologetic smile. "Coming right up."
"Well, get on with it! Honestly, the hired help these days!!" Harmony said snootily.
Miss Summers knew it was wrong. She knew it was childish, and she knew Giles would say it was unworthy of her sacred calling and all that. Nonetheless, Buffy didn't hesitate even for a second in pretending to trip and splashing the fake red wine all over Harmony's noblewoman dress. "Ooops! Oh, I'm so sorry..."
"You IDIOT! Look what you've done to my costume!" Harmony bleated angrily, pointlessly trying to brush the worst of it off.
"Hey, I said I was sorry," Buffy shrugged as she got up, not sounding very sorry at all. "It's these stupid shoes – I don't get why we couldn't just simply wear a pair of cross-trainers or something!"
Harmony glared at her viciously, but there was nothing she could do; the medieval shoes excuse was a perfectly valid one, and every teenage girl here knew it. So all she said was, "Stay away from me from now on, you loser!"
"Not a problem," Buffy muttered, before Cordelia caught her eye. A silent conversation quickly took place between them: Cordy knew, and Buffy knew that she knew, but the Slayer also managed to convey with her eyes, "Don't bury yourself in the part or you'll be next."
Miss Chase got the message and so just turned away, continuing to watch the joust. ( None of my business, anyway. )
"Buffy," Willow said chidingly, as she stepped away from the bleachers for a moment.
"What? Don't tell me that you're not sick of being treated like a slave this way as well?" the Slayer whispered to her best friend angrily, making sure they were out of earshot.
"Well, sure, but..." Willow stammered.
"But nothing," the Chosen One interrupted her best friend. "I didn't ask for any of this, Will, and neither did you! The whole stupid thing is just something Snyder thought up to humiliate us in public, and I suddenly just had enough of it. Heck, I'm tempted to get undressed, kick his ass and go home right now!"
"You can't leave yet, Buffy! Snyder's got his eye on you," Willow pointed out the principal, who was dressed as some sort of medieval nobleman. "And as for the rest of it, that's just giving him the excuse he needs to expel you!"
Grumbling, Buffy conceded the point. Snyder WAS keeping her under close surveillance, that little troll. "Where's Xander, anyway? I haven't seen him ever since this joust thing got started."
"He's over there with Amy," Miss Rosenberg pointed out the third member of their little trio. "He, he looks kinda cute in that wizard's outfit, don't you think?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, honestly not in the mood to deal with Willow's hopeless crush right now. "I just wish Angel could be here. I know he said he'd stop by after sunset before they dismantled everything, but seriously, I could do with a bit of boyfriend comfort right now!"
Just then, Snyder started walking over to them and so the two girls quickly separated, Willow going back to stand behind Cordelia and Harmony and Buffy running to the refreshments tent to restock her jug of 'wine'.
Xander watched her do it, trying not to drool. The sight of Buffy's outfit – heck, the sight of just about every female outfit, including Willow's – were making him think very lustful thoughts, thoughts that he knew would make his girls smack him upside the head just for thinking them. If nothing else, he wouldn't be considered 'one of the girls' under such circumstances.
( Hey, but I'm allowed to look and admire, aren't I? ) the young man asked himself hopefully.
"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Xander," Amy Madison's amused voice murmured in his ear. "Buffy's the Slayer, remember? I bet she'd kick your ass if she knew what you were thinking right now."
Looking guilty, Xander glanced back at Amy. "So what am I thinking right now?"
"Typical guy thoughts," Amy answered with a smirk. "Come on, you're practically undressing her with your eyes!"
"I am not!" Xander protested a bit too vigorously. "Buffy's my friend, you know-"
"Even though you want more?" Amy asked cuttingly. In response to his look she added, "Please, it's so obvious even a blind man could see it!"
"Yeah, but the Buffster's made it abundantly clear that she's not available where I'm concerned. So it doesn't really matter what I want, does it?" Xander asked with just a trace of bitterness.
"I guess not. Some things just aren't meant to be," Amy shrugged, planting the seeds in Xander's mind of starting to look at all the other fish in the sea. "And believe me, with my mom trying to relive her youth again in my body, I for one know that's true."
Xander glanced at the young woman alongside him. "Amy, you know what's what, have done ever since before Buffy came to town. So I gotta ask – how come you've never hung out with us ever since sophomore year? How come you never wanted to become a member of the Scooby Gang?"
Amy instantly grew uncomfortable. "Well, there was that thing where you wanted to cut my head off that day. Remember?"
"Yeah, but that's something for which I apologized after I realized my big screw-up concerning you and your mom," Xander replied, smelling a rat. "C'mon, 'fess up – what's the real reason?"
"I don't want to die," Amy finally told him the cold harsh truth. "If you keep going up against demons and vampires the way you, Buffy, Willow and Mr. Giles do, then eventually your number's gonna come up. And it's gonna happen sooner, rather than later."
It was Xander's turn to grow uncomfortable, as he turned away to watch the final stages of the joust. He knew that Amy had a point, however much he may not have liked her point of view. Not everyone was cut out for Slayage duty, and there was a reason why practically everyone in Sunnydale repressed about the real world all around them.
( But if that's the case, ) Xander thought to himself as Giles came around, ( then why didn't Amy repress after that thing with her mom was over? For that matter, why didn't Willow and I repress after the Harvest was over? Hmm... )
***
Ethan's Costume Shop, Sunnydale, California
Not long before sunset
The chaos mage named Ethan Rayne began to weave his spell in Latin. "Janus, evoco vestram animam. Exaudi meam causam. Carpe noctem pro consilio vestro. Veni, appare et nobis monstra quod est infinita potestas." A few moments later he added, "Persona se corpum et sanguium commutandum est. Vestra sancta praesentia concrescet viscera. Janus! Sume noctem!"
The supernatural power began to build up from both within and without.
And with a cold smile, Ethan said, "Showtime!"
***
The site of the Halloween festival, Sunnydale, California
The same time
The chaos spell flooded the area, and everyone who had bought a Halloween costume at a certain establishment turned into whoever or whatever they'd dressed up as. The knights became real knights, the jesters became real jesters and in the case of Xander Harris, he actually became the wizard apprentice of Merlin known as Melchior.
A new magical core was installed in the depths of Xander's soul. His skin became very brown, and his eyes a darker brown. Confused, looking around at all the townsfolk who had started to scream at the sight of a few trolls, goblins and elves, Melchior thought to himself, ( Where am I? This isn't Camelot... )
The young wizard fought to calm himself, and not be bound by the illusions of time and space. His kind existed differently to mortal men; Melchior knew that there were infinite versions of every event possible, and that the deceptively simple straight lines of past, present and future didn't apply to those who could open their minds to the true web of life.
As the confusion started to fade, Melchior felt a blonde female – a witch, although her power was so terribly weak – grab hold of him and say, "Xander? Xander! Are you okay?"
"I am not this Xander you speak of," Melchior noted, as he read all her possible destinies. Most of them involved this girl becoming a rat for many years, and then turning just as evil as her mother; but not all of them. "My name is Melchior the wizard, at your service."
The young girl drew back, obviously afraid. "Mr. Giles!!"
Melchior turned to see an older man staring at him, there was an aura of magic about him too. He was dressed as Merlin, but the wizard knew at once that this was not his master. "Mr. Giles, I presume?"
"Yes, I-" Rupert ducked, as a rocky missile came flying his way, the riot starting to grow. "Good Lord, what the devil is happening here?"
The wizard didn't answer, as he was too busy focusing on the approaching group of vampires being led by a grinning Spike. He saw the vampiress called Drusilla staring at him, and instantly he knew that she was potential trouble.
( You're a seer of some sort. You can hear me, can you not? ) Melchior thought, as Giles grabbed Amy and hauled her away after the wizard gave him a light shove in the right direction.
( Hullo, kitten – except you're not my kitten, are you? You're the big bad wizard, you are! One of the three kings cast out from the east, oh...Miss Edith doesn't like you. Naughty, naughty, mustn't try to keep secrets from me!! ) Drusilla thought back at him, her insanity tainting her thoughts.
( You are cursed beyond all others of your kind, vampire; even more so than your sire, ) Melchior thought at her, not letting the screaming crowd distract him. ( Like a wizard, you can see something of the truth behind the illusion of time, but not all of it. So, then, little blood-drinker, your wish is granted – no more secrets. It's time for you to learn exactly what you want to know. )
"NOOOOO!!!!" Drusilla screamed, going into her demon face as Melchior magically showed her all the possible fates she would ever have within the blink of an eye. And in every single one of them, she ended up alone for the rest of eternity; whether Angel lost his soul or not, or whether Spike got a behaviour-modification chip stuck in his head or not.
"Dru, love..." Spike said impatiently, as the human mob started off in their direction. As soon as he understood the situation though, William started to panic. The first human to reach him, he killed easily enough, as he did the second and even the third; but the numbers were against him and his minions, and Spike was smart enough to know it.
"MELCHIOR!!!" Drusilla screamed, still staring at Xander's possessed body. She then turned and ran, despite how physically weak she was. Spike threw one of the fledglings into the crowd in order to buy himself a few more seconds, before he took off after her.
A bolt of lightning slamming down into the earth from high in the sky distracted the mob for a few moments, long enough for Spike and Drusilla to get a decent head start on their pursuers and lose them in the woods. As he watched the crowd go after them, Melchior knew that, thanks to that particular twist of fate, this was the last that Sunnydale would be seeing of the undead version of Sid and Nancy; the wizard understood how free will had granted Dru something destiny would have otherwise denied her.
Withdrawing from the humans, Melchior shape-shifted into a crow and quickly found a private place in which to meditate. After he resumed human form, the wizard assumed the lotus position. In his temporary sanctum, the threads of fate formed and reformed into dancing, ephemeral, exquisite patterns which only Melchior could see, entire worlds appearing and dissolving like dust motes in a beam of sunlight.
As Melchior followed all the various threads of destiny, though, he was rather surprised to see nothing of his own fate visible. No matter how hard he looked, there was simply no trace of it anywhere.
It was at that point the wizard began to suspect that something was wrong.
It was as if he simply didn't exist...
***
Ethan's Costume Shop, Sunnydale, California
A short while later
Ethan Rayne muttered a few words in Latin, and just like that, the chaos spell he'd cast was smoothly terminated. Unlike in almost every other track of fate that Melchior had foreseen, there was no need to break a bust of Janus or Ethan's old friend 'Ripper' almost beating him to death for the magic to be ended; here and now, Ethan merely looked up and said to his companion, "It's done."
"Very well," Allan Finch replied in a no-nonsense tone, which was very different from the barely-concealed panic he'd exhibited in the Mayor's presence last week. "Here's your money. Now pack your things and leave town before sunrise, or else you'll regret it."
Ethan did so, as the Deputy Mayor waited for him to depart. Finch then took a deep breath, since one of his minions had informed him that Spike and Drusilla had been spotted roaring out of Sunnydale in an old black Dodge Desoto a few moments before the spell had ended.
( Mission accomplished, I guess, even though those two didn't end up dust. I just hope his Honour the Mayor will be pleased by the way I've handled all this... )
***
Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale, California
November 1st, 1997
"Giles, I thought you said Halloween was supposed to be the one day of the year where the supernatural, y'know, took the night off?" Buffy asked pointedly, as she stared at her Watcher before glancing around at her circle of friends. "I mean, are you sure you got your calendar right? Because yesterday sure didn't seem like a normal everyday holiday to me!"
"Yes, well, I-I don't understand it either," the tweed-clad Englishman confessed. "Halloween is, is, well – typically, it's not like that..."
"In my opinion? Buffy, you make one lousy real-life serving wench! And Willow, did you have to cling so hard onto my arm when you were that lady-in-waiting?" Cordelia complained, which earned her a couple of glares. "What? It's not my fault you two got possessed by your costumes, and ended up a pair of simpering morons! Even Harmony handled yesterday better than you guys, well – until she decided that she was going to convince her dad to send her to a boarding school in another part of the state, anyway!"
"There's something I don't understand. Why did some of the townspeople change last night, and not others?" Angel asked, ignoring that last bit and making sure to stay well away from any areas of direct sunlight.
"Who knows?" Willow shrugged. "It didn't seem to follow any sort of pattern that I can figure out – nothing to do with age, height, weight, location, or even gender. Has anybody else come up with any other ideas?"
It turned out that no one had. Suddenly Buffy looked around and said, "Hey, where's Xander?"
Giles started, almost unable to believe that he'd never even noticed the boy's absence. "Yes, uh, that's a good question. I, for one, have a lot of questions to ask him, especially about the costume persona that possessed him yesterday – that Melchior chap..."
"Melchior? You mean, the wizard in that book he got from me?" Willow yelped in sudden alarm. "Xander actually turned into HIM?"
Everyone just stared at her, wondering why she was suddenly looking so flustered.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't take long for them to find out.
***
Somewhere near a wooded area close by Weatherly Park, Sunnydale, California
January 12th, 1999
"What the heck are we doing here?" Amy asked Xander, as they watched Buffy patrol her town on the lookout for vampires.
These days Miss Madison wasn't afraid of dying quite so much, since her powers had increased to the point where she felt she wouldn't automatically get killed if she ventured outside her house at night. "And why are we avoiding Buffy? For that matter, why have you been avoiding all your friends ever since last year?"
"I have my reasons," Xander replied, in a far-too-mature tone of voice. Being Melchior for one night had affected him deeply, so much so that the old Xander had been almost completely replaced by a new one.
A new Xander that Buffy and Willow simply weren't very comfortable around.
He said to Amy, "Walk with me, and let me tell you a story."
"Okay, I'm listening..."
"Once upon a time, there was this village near the Black Forest in Germany. One night during 1649, a cleric found the bodies of two children – their names were Gretchen and Hans Straus, six and eight years old. The demon that murdered them put a strange mark on their hands, something that led to a lot of anti-witch hysteria," Harris supplied in a cool, almost academic manner.
"So?" Amy looked like she didn't understand why she was hearing all this right now. She had no idea that Xander was drawing on Melchior's memories of all of her different possible destinies, and a lot of research done ever since 1997.
"Well, that demon, it was kind of weird as demons go. It thrived not by killing people, but by getting them to kill each other. So it came up with an idea after the all the witch-hunt murders in that village were finished, which was to do it all over again at some point in the future. It happened in Salem after the damn thing decided to head for the colonies, during 1692 as a matter of fact," Xander said as Amy stared at him curiously. "Every fifty years or so, some isolated community finds a couple of dead kids whose names are a total mystery...and tonight, it's our turn."
Amy stopped, shocked as she saw where Xander was pointing. As they arrived on the scene, she saw the dead boy and girl, with the girl child having a symbol drawn on the palm of her hand: a pyramid in profile with a wavy line through it. The witch then spluttered, "That's, that's a..."
"An ingredient for a protection spell? A harmless witchcraft icon? I know that, and you know that," Xander nodded. "But that's not the way the good citizens of Sunnyhell would see it. Human beings haven't changed all that much in the last 350 years, sorry to say. Sure, we're a bit cleaner, a bit better educated. But deep down where it counts...well, basically, we're no different from what we were back when Mordred came roaring in with his army, and burned Camelot down to the ground."
Amy watched, wide-eyed, as Xander gave her a sheet of paper. The young witch read the words aloud, and then when Xander threw a potion at the dead children's feet, she got the shock of her life – as the corpses blurred, before disappearing and one huge-ass demon stood growling before them. "Oh my GOD!!"
Luckily for all concerned, Buffy showed up at that moment chasing after a vampire, her mother Joyce hot on her heels; deciding to deal with the more immediate threat first, Miss Summers quickly engaged in battle with the Hansel and Gretel demon, as destiny took another abrupt left turn from what otherwise might have been.
***
Rack's mobile lair, Sunnydale, California
February 28th, 1999
The magic dealer named Rack easily ignored the look of disgust on the younger man's face, as he faced both Xander and Amy. "Well, now, what can I do for you two?"
"Mayor Richard Wilkins," Xander said, trying to curb the loathing he felt towards this wizard for his abuse of magic. It had been a long time since he'd had such an extreme emotional reaction like this to anybody, but this guy was someone that Harris felt sure even Melchior would have detested. "You've heard of him?"
"You brought this guy here?" Rack directed his slimy smile towards Amy. "Sugar, I thought I told you that if you want anything from me, you have to give a little to get a little..."
"Rack-" Amy started to say.
But Xander interrupted at her once, "You should know that we're on friendly terms with the new Slayer around here; her name's Faith. And I'm sure that once she knows what it is you get up to, Rack, she'd like nothing better than to hunt you down – and then torch this place with you in it. Slayers do tend to have the boredom threshold of a five-year-old," he said in a cold tone of voice.
"Yeah, I heard that. I also heard that the other Slayer doesn't like you too much. Can't help wondering why," Rack riposted, an interested gleam in his eye.
"What can I say? Humans don't like it when you shatter their illusions," Xander said, briefly looking troubled. It had been a hard lesson for him to learn, but also an invaluable one.
"Yeah, see, Buffy had this thing regarding her undead boyfriend, Angel, and Willow had the same notions about Xander. It's amazing how deluded some people can get," Amy said to Rack, who just raised an eyebrow.
"It's true enough. Seriously, you think that cloaking your lair and keeping it mobile like this will help you evade the Slayers in the long run? I don't need wizard powers to figure out the answer to that one," Xander told the proprietor of this establishment.
( Wizard powers? ) Rack wondered idly, for he could sense no magical vibes coming off of this guy. ( No, never mind that for now. )
"So, Mayor Richard Wilkins," he repeated the name. "The man who runs Sunnydale, and has done for a hundred years according to my information. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Rack asked.
"Hardly," Xander said curtly, as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sheaf of papers. He tossed them to Rack and said, "Can you understand this?"
Rack quickly scrolled through what Xander had given him, an expression of surprise appearing on his face. "This is an old spell, kid. Complicated, tricky."
"It also requires a lot of magical power for it to be cast, power that I don't have," Amy pointed out the obvious.
"You want me to cast it on Wilkins?" Rack appeared to be assessing various scenarios passing through his mind.
"You'll be well paid for it. And as a bonus, you get to keep your operation intact – for now," Xander applied the old carrot and stick routine.
Of course, there were appearances to consider, and Rack haggled mercilessly until he'd judged enough time had passed. The outcome of negotiations was never really in doubt, though; the spell was something of a challenge, unique enough to grab the wizard's interest and besides, Rack certainly didn't want Buffy and Faith poking their noses into his business.
Thus, the ensouling spell created by the late Jenny Calendar was carried out before the night was done. Xander had his reasons why he didn't want to ask Willow to do it, chief amongst them being the cost involved from invoking black magicks to cast such a curse.
Not far away in City Hall Richard Wilkins screamed in agony as his soul was restored to him, even though he'd put it up for sale a long time ago.
And the demons to whom he'd sold it started thinking Wilkins had called off their deal, now that the home stretch before the Mayor's ascension was finally here.
This did not put them in a happy mood, and so they found Wilkins and made their displeasure known in person...in a way that the Mayor could not survive intact.
***
Sunnydale High School Gymnasium, Sunnydale, California
May 11th, 1999
The high school Prom was in full swing, as Xander turned up with Faith of all people as his date. Ignoring the looks from some of his classmates, the young man escorted the brunette Slayer in the general direction of the drinks area.
"Don't know why you invited me to this thing instead of that Amy girl, Harris," Miss Lehane purred in that deliciously throaty Boston accent. "It's obvious that she's a lot more into you than I am. I'm more the 'get some and get gone' type, you know what I mean?"
"I honestly don't know why you keep putting yourself down like that, Faith. And as for Amy, I don't think it's a good idea to mix with business with pleasure, if you know what I mean," Xander sighed as they arrived at the refreshments table.
"Nope, 'fraid not," Faith grinned, after seeing the faces of some of the boys she'd shot down mercilessly this year. ( Oh, man, the whole dress and makeup thing was SO worth it – just for this one particular moment! ) she thought to herself gleefully. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Amy and I are leaving town after graduation," Xander said, as he handed his date a drink. "There are some things we need to do-"
"What things?"
"That's just it, I'm not sure yet. All I know for sure is we need to be elsewhere for the next couple of years," Harris told her, looking troubled. "Ever since the papers reported that the bodies of Richard Wilkins and Allan Finch were found mutilated in their own homes, I've known that Sunnydale isn't where Amy and I need to be anymore. This isn't where YOU need to be, either."
"Huh?" Faith asked, as Xander led her away from the drinks table.
"How can I put this...Faith, I saw it when I was Melchior. All the different possibilities, the different ways different things can go down. The good, the bad and the ugly." He sighed, "I'm not making myself clear, I know; I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do. So, Faith, will you come or will you stay?"
( Good question, ) the Chosen One asked, as she let her date guide her out onto the dance floor. ( Damn good question. Hmmm, I kinda like the idea of doing my own thing for a while, and it's not like Wussley the Watcher would really miss me; not with the way he's been drooling all over that Cordelia chick lately, and all the hassles B and Fang have been giving him as well... )
***
Elmhurst Cemetery, Sunnydale, California
October 1st, 2001
It had been a long time ever since Xander, Amy and Faith had left town. They had accomplished much in Los Angeles and San Francisco and many other places, battling vampires and demons and even saving the world on occasion. The trio had tried to keep up with what had happened here in Sunnydale, calling Giles every so often. That was why they knew that a hellgod named Glory had come to town last year, even if Xander, Amy and Faith didn't know it was in search of the Key or what would happen if Glory got her hands on it.
Less than eight months later, though, Buffy had made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause, dying in order to save the world from destruction.
The only problem was that Willow had refused to accept that. For the last 247 days she had been searching for something to 'fix' what had happened to Miss Summers. And now, at last, it seemed that she was on the verge of success.
"Does everybody have their candles?" Willow asked her three helpers. Tara Maclay, Anya Jenkins and Jonathan Levinson.
"I have a problem with my lighter," the former vengeance demon said, wondering what on earth she was doing helping these people tonight instead staying at home and watching the Discovery Channel. "What time is it?"
"Uh, less than five minutes 'til midnight," Jonathan said nervously, checking his watch. Xander's replacement then said, "Willow, are you sure we shouldn't tell Mr. Giles what we're doing-?"
"It's too late for that now," Tara said loyally, even if she'd had exactly the same thoughts. "By the time he got here-"
"It would be all over, one way or another?"
The four Scooby Gang members turned to look at Xander, who along with Faith and Amy had somehow turned up here at the last moment. The trio was framed against the treeline, looking all dark and mysterious.
"Hello, all. Fancy meeting you guys here," Harris said with a tight smile.
"What do you want, Xander?" Willow scowled at him. Their friendship had collapsed a long time ago, at the end of high school in fact, after some VERY unpleasant fights concerning the nature of magic – and witchcraft and wizardry in general.
"Hey, Red. Long time no see," Faith drawled. "Ain't you gonna introduce us to your friends?"
"We're kinda busy right now. Maybe tomorrow," Willow darted a quick glance to Tara, who knew that time was running out. "So could you all leave now, please?"
"Let me guess. You're here to resurrect Buffy," Amy cut to the chase as she pointed at the Slayer's gravestone, having no patience for games any longer. "All of you came here to do some insane black magic ritual to bring her back to life, right? Willow, this is just...oh, what the HELL were you thinking?!"
Miss Rosenberg looked trapped for a moment, before she quickly got back into character. "Buffy died a mystical death, okay? She dove off a tower and got killed by all that wild supernatural energy she was engulfed in. We buried her body here, but her essence – her soul – it could be anywhere!! She could be trapped, in-in some sort of hell dimension like Angel was. Suffering eternal torment just because she saved us, and I'm not gonna let...I'm not gonna just leave her there!"
"So lemme get this straight, Willow. Buffy died, and you have no idea where her soul is right now. That's it – and yet somehow, you've convinced yourself that she's in Hell, and THIS is the solution?" Xander demanded, his brown eyes so dark in the moonlight they were almost black.
"So why didn't ya try to figure out where exactly her soul ended up, just to make sure?" Faith asked, looking around. She, Xander and Amy had learned everything by now, which was why the Chosen One added, "I mean, with that whole 'saving the world' deal B had going for her, isn't there a chance she ended up in Heaven afterwards, for a job well done?"
"Good point," Amy nodded, as Tara, Anya and Jonathan started looking at each other in alarm. "There's an artefact in LA called the Axis of Pythia, and it can be used to find anything anywhere; we used it ourselves once, to locate the soul of a friend named David Nabbitt. If Buffy's soul is in Heaven or Hell, we'd be able to confirm it soon enough."
"Uh, Willow?" Jonathan spoke up, looking at his watch. "There's less than a minute to go..."
"Everybody, hurry up and get into position!" Willow commanded her friends fiercely.
"But, but what if they're right, what if Buffy really IS in Heaven?" Tara asked, looking at her girlfriend. "Willow, I don't think we should do this-"
"No! We're doing this!! End of discussion!" Willow shouted angrily, her annoyance at having her will thwarted making her lose all sense of judgment.
"I don't think so," Faith said, as she grabbed the Urn of Osiris off Anya. "Least not without this, I'd say-"
Her eyes going black, Willow spoke a word and gestured as the Urn flew out of Faith's hands into her own. "All of you, get lost!" she shouted at the Slayer, the witch and the wizard who would have been considered the Zeppo in almost every other parallel universe.
"Oh, the hell with it – I'm going home!" Anya suddenly decided, as all eyes turned towards her. "This whole thing has just gotten way out of hand! Willow, they're right; Buffy's soul could be in any one of the countless heavenly dimensions in existence. And now that Faith is back, she can take over being the Slayer again like she did in high school-"
Suddenly they all heard a loud rumbling, and the group looked around in concern. "What is that noise?" Tara asked, wondering what was going on – as the deadline to resurrect Buffy passed, with no one even noticing.
"'Cycles," Faith said at once, knowing that sound well from her wilder youth on the East Coast. "Lots of 'em, too."
"I think we may have a problem," Amy said, looking around at Xander who just nodded.
"Guys, it's already after midnight," Jonathan reported, as he saw Willow's features slacken into disappointment and grief. "It's too late to do the ritual now. I'm sorry, Willow-"
Just then, the Buffybot ran up behind Tara. The look-alike machine had been used to convince the world that Buffy was still alive whilst Faith had been away, Sunnydale needed a Slayer after all. But the Buffybot had been damaged by a recent run-in with the Hellions, a group of demon road-pirates who had decided to raid Sunnydale upon learning that the real Buffy was dead.
The Buffybot's head sparking a little, the machine said, "Willow! I require service!"
Xander, Faith and Amy just stared at the machine, eyes wide with surprise at its existence; only to be distracted when a couple of motorcycles roared into the secluded woody section of the cemetery, intent on hunting the Buffybot down.
"Well, well, lookie what we found here!" a demon biker named Mag sneered.
"You mean apart from a pissed-off Slayer?" Faith sneered right back at him, launching into a flying reverse crescent kick that knocked the demon straight off his bike at the same time Amy hit the other biker with her magic powers, disintegrating both him and his motorcycle at the same time.
"Faith, wait! Don't kill him yet," the brains of the trio commanded, as Xander came up to Miss Lehane and her prisoner. "Start talking. Troop strength, overall plan, everything," he ordered the demon.
"You ain't getting nothing outta me!" Mag snarled. But two minutes later, after Faith broke both of his arms and started on his fingers as well, he started changing his tune.
"This is bad," Tara said fearfully, after hearing what the Hellions were planning to do tonight. "What are we gonna do?"
"Go tell your friends that there's a Slayer in this town, and any of you dirt bags that I find in Sunnydale tonight, I'm gonna kill 'em real painful-like," Faith kicked her former prisoner away, who began running off without his bike.
"Aims, X? You guys with me?" the Chosen One glanced around.
"All the way, Faith," Xander nodded. "We've got a lot of people that need saving, let's go!"
As everyone else – even the Buffybot – started heading back towards the cars, Willow glanced sorrowfully at Buffy's grave, swearing to herself that when the lunar conditions were right again she would bring her best friend back to life. She was crushed that her plans for tonight had gone down the gurgler, but Miss Rosenberg knew that her priorities had to be elsewhere now, given the Hellions' presence.
"I won't give up trying to save you, Buffy, I won't!" the redhead promised her dead friend, before leaving the grave like the rest of the group.
But once the Hellions were beaten off and everyone learned that Buffy's soul really was in Heaven, that was one vow Willow was very glad to break.
And somewhere in a dark, stinking hell dimension, the First Evil's plans were completely short-circuited before they were ever born.
***
Next: Story 18 - I Dream Of Genie