Cordelia sparred against both Faith and Kendra simultaneously and beat them both, much to Faith's shock. She'd only been a Slayer for a few weeks and granted she hadn't even faced a demon in that time, but she'd felt her own strength and seen it in the workout room Diana had for her. To team up with another Slayer and still be beaten...she'd always thought the Slayer was the biggest, baddest thing out there. Apparently not.

"What did you do to make her so strong?" She glared at Xander, who'd been enjoying watching the spar with a hypnotized expression on his face.

"Huh?" The sight of three gorgeous fems in skimpy Lycra workout gear had left him tongue tied. The vague thought crossed his mind that he hoped he wasn't drooling. He also hoped no one noticed when he checked to be sure.

Faith smirked and Cordelia rolled her eyes, they'd both noticed. "What did you do to make her so strong? Some kind of a spell?"

"Oh, uh no." Xander shook his head. "The sword bonded to her, the way Kendra's has. The sword gave her the strength and skills, the way the Calling does you. Dragonfang is mystical in its own right because it came from a dragon and was originally a gift to the leader of the Valkyries. That's why Cordelia's title is Valkyrie, the sword made her the equivalent of a Valkyrie and they're demigoddesses, possibly full gods in some instances."

"She's a goddess?!"

"Sort of, but I prefer to think of her as a Queen." Xander's grin flashed. "Callback to her self chosen title, Bitch Queen, there's a reason I like bickering with her."

An outraged squawk had them glancing toward the other end of the basement where Johnathan had once again gone invisible and stolen Amy's ball while she practiced concentration drills. The two had developed a brother/sister bond similar to Xander and Willow's and Johnathan did like teasing her.

So far she hadn't followed through on her threat to curse him.

On the other end of the basement Oz, Willow and Dawn were meditating and the former Watchers were discussing the Council upstairs while Joyce puttered around Giles' kitchen with Jenny discussing the kids, who were on their own in the basement workout area, doing their best to make Kendra and Faith feel welcome.

Xander supposed drooling over the girls while they wore tight clothes and sweated wasn't making the best impression of himself, but it was a fact that he was a barely eighteen year old hormone bomb and even linoleum could make him think about sex. Please let him get passed this age soon, it could be so embarrassing.

"The sword and the skills aren't even the best part." Harmony chirped from where she was setting out the snacks Joyce had sent down. "The flying horse that came with it is. It's so pretty."

"Flying horse?" Kendra managed to ask.

"A Pegasus." Harmony answered. "Like dragons they're not native to Earth, but they show up sometimes, which is why we have stories about them. I can't wait until we find out if unicorns are real too."

"Wow, you go all out when you give gifts." Faith shook her head and moved toward the shelves next to where Buffy was sitting and pulled a towel off it. "What did he give you?" She asked the longest currently living Slayer.

"A staff/whip/flail with Magic in it. It discharges like a taser, sort of. Kendra's form is perfect and yours is sloppy." Buffy offered her opinion. "Mine was too for a long time and Giles said it's because I relied more on my instincts and then I started training Xander in martial arts and I understood what he meant because Xander's got some instinctive ability too."

"How?" Faith asked, moving toward Harmony's setup and grabbing a bottle of water.

"The Chaos Magic that made me a sorcerer last Halloween." Xander answered. "Once the spell ended there were some leftovers."

"Like the magical crafting and Ken's sword? Stuff like that?" Faith clarified.

"Yeah, most of the power and knowledge faded, but over time I'm learning it for myself, building on what was left."

"And you cast that spell, the one that got rid of the vampires?" Faith still found it hard to believe they were just...gone.

"The guy I turned into did." Xander shook his head. "It's hard to explain, I became him. He had no idea I existed and unless he looked in a mirror, he wouldn't have known he wasn't himself. He was too busy trying to figure out the Magic that turned kids into monsters and fix it, preferably before someone got hurt. And then a vampire showed up in the Library were Willow took him and the Princess Buffy had turned into so they'd be safe while she and Giles tried to find the source of the Magic. Neither of them knew he was a vampire cursed with a soul who had a thing for Buffy or that she liked him back. All they knew was a vampire was there and he reacted. He cast the spell and it drew energy from the Hellmouth. It wiped out the vampires and the Magic of his curse modified the spell and made him human."

"Unfortunately, he seemed to have had a problem with being human and packed his bags and left." Buffy sighed. "He hasn't been seen since, it was our chance to be together...and he apparently didn't want it."

"A vampire?" Kendra grimaced. "It is too strange to think of a Slayer liking a vampire. Even if he did have a soul."

"I was never able to sense him and liked him before I knew he was a vampire." Buffy shrugged. "It doesn't matter, he's gone and -." A ripple near Oz and Willow had everyone glancing in that direction and Buffy sighed again. "Xander, Dawn dozed off while she was meditating. I blame you, you're the one who told her you have refreshing naps when you meditate."

"Don't worry, I'll get her back. Guess we're going to have to set up the blanketing field when she meditates too."