"Up until now, Giles, I wasn't certain if your loyalty was to us or to the Watchers Council." Xander looked Buffy's Watcher in the eye after they'd destroyed the demon the Council had brought for a weakened Buffy to face off against and gotten the Council members arrested.
"You doubted my loyalty?"
"We had no idea what kind of hold they had on you or how far you'd go for them and we knew very little about them, you almost never talk about them. And as long as we had that uncertainty, there were things we couldn't share with you. Things I couldn't share with you and because they were my secrets to tell, the others agreed not to tell you either."
Rupert Giles looked around the roomful of Scoobies, including his girlfriend and wondered how he'd missed the fact that they'd been keeping something from him. "For how long?" He asked.
"Since Halloween, last year." Xander answered. "And unfortunately that also meant you were vulnerable, but now that you've quit the Council and helped get their asses arrested, you've proven your loyalty isn't to them, you didn't hesitate to tell us what they were planning and helped us stop them. And I've decide to share this secret with you, now. I hope once you know my secret, you'll understand why we couldn't risk the Council or anyone else knowing about it."
"And what is this secret?"
"The gifts I've given the others are not the results of magical crafting knowledge leftover from Halloween, some of them were created that night, some created since then. You know I am or was, an emancipated minor until I turned eighteen, that happened because of a spell, because of the Magic that made it all possible. I told you I have my own place, but there's never been any reason for you to visit it. Now there is."
"What does your own place have to do with anything, Xander?"
"It's part of the secret, Giles. Watch." Xander placed two fingers against his sling ring and murmured "Sanctum Sanctorum." And opened a portal to the Sanctum.
"Holy of Holies?" Giles frowned, trying to understand what was happening and what this secret was.
"A sacred place that guards a great wonder." Xander answered. "Or in this case, multiple wonders." The group followed him through the portal and found themselves outside the abandoned looking house Xander lived in.
"You live here?" Giles asked. "And no one protests?"
"This is an illusion, Giles." Xander told him. "Once you step passed the illusion you'll see the truth." He moved to the front door and opened it, motioning the others in. They'd all been here before and were passed the initial awe the place inspired. Giles entered last and found his eyes drawn up to the skylight.
"The skylight represents the Vishanti, a group of celestial gods." Xander told him.
"I've never heard of them."
"And yet I can cast spells in their name. This is the Sanctum Sanctorum, Giles and Ethan's Chaos spell created it. The character I dressed as for Halloween, Dr. Stephan Strange, his official title was Sorcerer Supreme. Essentially the highest level sorcerer on Earth, also known as Earth's Mystical Defender and this was his home. It's also a place that is capable of growing and learning and the Magic that made it real, made that real as well." Giles was startled as a wall moved and a door appeared and the scent of...chocolate filled the air. "The Sanctum likes it when Mrs. Summers visits, she usually brings treats." Xander grinned at the older woman, who just grinned back and ruefully shook her head, not this time.
"So Ethan's spell created a formerly fictitious place and you've chosen to live here?"
"Have to live here, Giles." Xander answered solemnly. "Because the Magic also tied me to it, made me its Guardian and protector of its secrets, some of which include the sword I gave Cordy and the staff I gave Buffy and Harmony's shoes and Dawn's necklace and a couple things I gave Mrs. Summers for her protection. And our communicators. Those are...benign compared to some of what I'm responsible for. Things no government or the Watchers Council can be trusted with. When Faith and her Watcher get here I'll give them things to protect themselves as well and when I know they can be trusted, I'll show them this place."
"What kind of things are you responsible for protecting, Xander?"
"Come on in, I'll show you." Xander led the silent group to the vault and accessed it.
"What are all these things, Xander?"
"Imagined wonders and terrors made real." He answered. "More power than any one person should have and yet, I was chosen to protect it all. This is the Sanctum Sanctorum, Giles, it's not just the name of my home, it's the name of this vault. There are things here that can drive people insane or destroy whole worlds, they should never have existed in the first place, but Ethan's spell made them real and we can't let the world know, not ever."
"And you trust me to help keep the secret? To not be tempted to take these for myself?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
Xander smiled sadly. "I can't do it alone, Giles, it really would drive me insane. But the Scoobies formed to protect the world and that includes from ourselves if necessary. I have a gift for you and like all my gifts, only you can use it, it'll help keep you safe."
Rupert Giles understood the change, the maturity in Xander now. The weight of this responsibility as Xander showed him some of the items in his collection and explained exactly why they were both wonder and terror and knew he wasn't exaggerating, he'd seen enough in his life to know that.
After all, last Halloween Xander had cast a spell that destroyed all the vampires and drained the world's largest and most active Hellmouth, ever.
Wonder and terror, indeed.