Halloween Aftermath: All in one Knight

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"Good Morning, Alexander," a voice said out of the blue.

Xander leapt out of bed and took cover on the far side below the frame, his hand diving between the mattress and the box spring to grab a knife.

"Relax, it's just me, Corwin," the voice said, amused.

"I was almost sure I dreamt you," Xander said slowly standing up, finding himself much less surprised than he expected to be.

"I'm an Amberite," Corwin said, "it's definitely the other way around."

"Your ego still leaves me in awe," Xander said honestly.

"As well it should," Corwin agreed with a little amusement.

"So… what brings you by?" Xander asked, dropping the knife on his bed and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Well, either you were a dream caused by the rather spicy chicken dish I had last night or Dworkin caused it for his own reasons, in either case it aroused my curiosity enough to walk here and see what changes had been wrought," Corwin explained.

"Do you remember everything?" Xander asked.

"Of course," Corwin replied.

"Then why did you call me Alexander?" the teen asked.

"Because it's your name, not the ridiculous moniker you go by," Corwin said.

Xander frowned and looked at Corwin for a moment as he marshaled his thoughts before saying, "The name you are given is random and meaningless symbols, it's the life you live that gives meaning to them. The concept of a true name depends upon the self's identification with the meaning it gives to those symbols."

"That's correct," Corwin agreed readily.

"Thus Xander is more my name than Alexander is, since it's my `true name´," he finished.

"And do you toss your true name out for everyone to know and make use of?" Corwin asked like he was talking to a small child.

"Fuck no!" Xander exploded before getting a horrified expression on his face. "Except that I do."

"Which has left you open to quite a few malign influences, all of them in fact," Corwin said dryly.

"So, Alexander to the general public and Xander to my friends," Xander decided.

"At the very least," Corwin agreed.

"Yeah," Xander said slowly as he thought things through. "I'm going to have to do more than that. Maybe a tattoo..."

"You seem to have retained enough to handle that on your own," Corwin decided. "Get cleaned up, I'll meet you in the backyard to see how much you have physically retained."

"Joy," Xander said, knowing it was going to hurt.

After Xander had left to shower Corwin picked up the picture frame off the nightstand next to Xander's bed. A thumb gently brushed across Willow's face as he recalled his fallen sister while staring at the face of her analogue.

Fifteen minutes later...

"Ok, I'm up and dressed," Xander said, wearing a dirty white T-shirt and jeans with the knees worn through.

"Interesting manner of dress," Corwin noted.

"I noticed the two swords you're carrying," Xander said, "that means sword fighting, which means I'm going to be bleeding and you're going to cut up any clothes I'm wearing."

"I didn't expect you to be this perceptive," Corwin admitted.

"Well you made one hell of an impression on me, while I probably didn't affect you a whole lot, so naturally I know you better than you know me, regardless of your skill in reading people, which will let you catch up in the space of a day or two," Xander said.

"What else have you noticed?" Corwin asked.

"You aren't impressed with me and normally wouldn't bother with any of this except you feel slightly responsible, so you are treating me like a distant relative who you have just run across; you'll ensure I'll have the bare minimum I need to survive and then dismiss me as being of no importance unless I either find my way to Amber or you find a use for me in one of your plots," Xander said bluntly.

Corwin took a sword off his back and tossed it to Xander, who buckled it on and drew it from its scabbard only to stare in disbelief. "Grayswandir!"

"Not quite," Corwin replied with a grin, before holding up a tarot card for Xander to look at.

"The fool," Xander said, seeing the hand drawn card and noting a skilled artist had drawn him in the fool's place and instead of stepping off a cliff he was about to leap into the Hellmouth.

"You dressed as I was when I was younger, it restored quite a few memories that I'd thought lost. Now, with this additional explanation, what would you say?" the formal self-crowned king of Amber asked, clearly amused.

"You're keeping a light contact with me through a trump, probably gambling on being able to treat me like an analogue after last nights' events, so by keeping the connection open you'll enhance what I gained from you last night," Xander said noting his uncharacteristic exposition. "You aren't doing me a favor in hopes of future repayment, you are paying back a favor that you consider owed."

"You'll note that the sword you hold isn't Grayswandir," Corwin said. "But it should be close enough for our purposes. You have may assistance until first blood has been drawn on me, shall we begin?"

Xander nodded and brought up his sword.

Corwin grinned like a wolf spotting a rabbit.

Four hours later...

Corwin looked at the blood running down his hand from a cut along his forearm. "Very well done. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever pull it together for a minute there."

Xander collapsed to the grass, his clothes in tatters, countless cuts marring his frame. "Thanks," he groaned.

Corwin let the blood pool in his hand for a moment before speaking a word of power. The cut on his arm vanished as if it had never been, taking the blood with it. Drawing out the trump he'd made of Xander he cut the connection.

Xander whimpered as he felt all his aches and pains which had lightened for a moment, multiply once more.

Corwin smiled and dropped the cord on Xander's blood coated chest. "I doubt we'll meet again young prince, but I think you have skills and strength enough to make your own way in the world now."

"Don't think I don't appreciate what you've done for me, but I believe I'm going to spend the next little while cursing your name and ancestry while I lay here bleeding," Xander gasped out.

Corwin laughed. "It was nice meeting you, Xander. Have a good life and treat your princess well. I believe I'll take a walk and see if I can find my own."

Xander watched Corwin stroll off and grinned even as he did curse Corwin and his whole family for being megalomaniacal, sociopaths, with superiority complexes.

Lacking the strength to move and running out of adjectives for the moment, Xander examined the sword Corwin had given him. The pattern that shimmered on the silver blade was different from what he remembered. As his eyes followed its loops and curves, he felt his pain fade away and his vision sharpen. No, it wasn't the pattern of Amber or even Corwin's pattern, it was a pattern he'd never seen before, but it looked familiar somehow. Letting go of the pattern he climbed to his feet and headed for the shower. He needed to get to school even if he had missed half the day, his friends were probably worried about him.

Sunnydale High Library

Buffy was shifting uncomfortably in her seat while a red faced Willow was looking through a stack of books, as Xander entered the library.

"I'm afraid I haven't a clue how to reverse it," Giles admitted, setting the book he was reading down.

"Guys," Buffy said anxiously, drawing their attention to Xander.

"Is something going on?" Xander asked curiously as he took in the scene.

"No!" Buffy exclaimed, shifting in her seat. "Everything's fine!"

"Everything's normal!" Willow exclaimed, hiding her face behind a thick leather tome.

"Yes, quite right," Giles agreed, polishing his glasses with some force.

Xander almost fell into the chair exhausted, knocking a couple of books off the table. With a groan he leaned down and picked them up.

"We're researching for the sake of researching," Buffy said with a plastic smile on her face that wouldn't have fooled a three year old.

Xander sighed and shook his head. "I never thought I'd be saying this to you, but Buffy..."

"Yeah?" she asked guiltily.

"You have to sit with your legs further apart or you'll crush your balls," he said bluntly.

Typing by: Fasor