The Thanksgiving weekend passed all too fast for Cordelia and Xander. The Halliwell sisters did an Aura cleanse and a Chakra cleanse on both of them before they left. Cordelia's came out clean but Xander's Aura cleanse was a little odd.
"You have three auras. How can you have three auras. I've never even heard of such a thing. Leo, how does he have three auras?!" Prue asked.
"Because he's been possessed twice and they both left remnants. One's his own."
"Twice? Besides the Hyena spirit?"
"Last Halloween, a guy our mentor, Giles used to know, played his idea of a prank on people." Xander told them. "If you bought a costume from his place, then you became that costume for a couple of hours. I bought a toy gun from him and went as a solder for kiddie escort duty. I turned into a real soldier and knew and remembered everything a modern soldier knows. It's come in very handy."
"It's more then that." Leo said. "You shouldn't have been affected, you didn't buy a costume, just a toy gun. Let alone remembered it. So the Elders checked into it. Apparently, Janus, the god that Ethan Rayne invoked that night, did it on purpose. He likes you. You're entertaining and you keep screwing things up for the big bads you have to deal with. Not only that, gods can't come in where they're not invited. Janus had never been invited anywhere near the Hellmouth before, and he's a protector deity, specifically of transitions, which includes gates, doorways, things like the Hellmouth. Because of you, he's able to offer protection to Sunnydale. Nothing his level will ever be able to harm anyone or use the Hellmouth for their own ends. It's why you kept the knowledge. It's like a reward. It's also what first alerted the Elders to your existence and they started investigating you and considering you as a whitelighter candidate and they discovered your heritage."
"A god thinks I'm entertaining?!"
"That's the part you focus on?" Cordelia asked. "Not the part where a god is helping protect Sunnydale or some god could get it into their head to use the Hellmouth for their own purposes, but the fact a god gets a belly laugh from you?!"
"It's the part my mind can grasp. The rest is too big."
"Oh. Yeah. I get that."
"So, just for the record, what do oh say, Artemis, Hecate and Aphrodite think of me?"
"Why them in particular?" Phoebe asked, curious.
"Revenge spell I blackmailed a witch friend into doing when Cordy broke up with me on Valentine's Day."
"I had a panic attack about losing my popularity. After the spell was reversed, I dumped my popularity and chose Xander."
"Why?" Piper asked. "I'd have been pissed if Leo did something like that."
"Because it proved it mattered, that I matter to him. I hurt him. I didn't intend to hurt him, any of the other guys I'd dated wouldn't really have cared. But they dated me for shallow reasons, my family's money or connections or bragging rights. Xander actually liked me, wanted to be with me. If I lose all my money, he won't leave me. That went a long way towards showing me what's more important, love or popularity."
"I guess it does," Phoebe agreed. "So do you know if those other gods have any issues with him, Leo?"
"Not as far as I know. The spell misfired because it was miscast. Miss Madison called on the goddesses of love, the hunt and her patron goddess, Hecate, goddess of the moon and witchcraft. Consequently, you got hunted by half the women in town wanting love."
"Really?" The girls were all laughing now. "No wonder Janus thinks you're entertaining."
"Yeah, laugh it up. Cordy was the only one not affected. Even a vampire was affected. And then every one of them decided if they couldn't have me, no one would and they were all trying to kill me!"
"Yeah, personal gain." Prue said. "You used Magic for a selfish reason and it spanked you for it. It's a lesson we've all had to learn at one time or another."
"Well, I learned my lesson, I'll never do anything like that again. If Cordy ever breaks up with me again, I'll just die of a broken heart."
"I already told you, I don't plan to let you go, so it's not something you have to worry about."
"So does having three auras cause a problem?" Xander asked.
"It could." Leo said. "In a way, it's like having multiple personalities. And the goal is the same . Merge them into one. Which needs to be done magically, since Magic caused it.
"Okay, give us a minute to come up with something." Prue said and three sisters conferred for a few minutes and then came back.
"We think we have something that will work." Prue told them.
I call to thee pure witches fire
Through vortex flow the heavenly mire
From three make one
And balance be done
Xander's three auras glowed and then merged into one. A very pretty one with lots of colors.
"Wow, that's gorgeous, like a rainbow." Phoebe said admiringly.
"Thanks ladies, we have enough trouble as it is. Eliminating one before it becomes an issue saves a lot of wear and tear on everyone nerves."
"We'll have to add that spell to the Book of Shadows, in case we ever run into it again." Piper said.
"Oh, Xander there was something else we wanted to talk about. Leo says your birthday is December 21st."
"Yeah, I'm dating an older woman. Cordy's three weeks older then me." Which got him dope slapped.
Lips twitching, Prue said. "The winter solstice is an important day in a lot of traditions, including Wicca. We'd like to invite you both here for your birthday so we can do a Blessing for you."
"Sure, I don't think that'll be a problem. I appreciate it."
"School gets out the day before, so we should be able to come." Cordelia added.
"Then we'll see you then and remember, if you need anything just give us a call."