"It's possible the baby is part of this Seer's plan." Tara speculated. "Or it could be an accident, Nexus of Chaos over there and all and the Seer may not have been aware if it." She waved her hand in Xander's direction. "But I'm thinking you need a protector because it's not over yet, the fallen Power is still out there and she may have other agents working for her. She may figure out a way to force you back into the plan or may punish you for refusing to go along with the plan. Or she may have someone in reserve to get herself born from, Willow was in that room and she was the one casting the spell, making the deal, unknowingly, but still and she could decide to use Willow instead."
"The demon said Willow's Destiny is tied to the Slayer by the Powers and the fallen Power doesn't want their attention." Elder Xander told her. "So I doubt she'll even consider Willow backup, which is lucky for her. But I can see this fallen Power being a sore loser and going after Cordy and I see the possibility of it trying to force her back into compliance. And we have to remember, the gods allowed this to happen, they see a benefit in it. The Oracles welcomed her to their ranks, acknowledging her as...one of them." He looked thoughtful as a thought occured.
"What are you thinking?" Giles asked.
"That it may have been literal, they said she's not a full goddess, she's a demigod and so is Xander and they recently upgraded their security because Vocah breached it and killed two of them. Her new power is to see the paths and his existing ability is to creat paths and now he's been upgraded to supersoldier. Twofer, maybe. I was a Oracle before I died and eventually could have developed it. The gods may have allowed this because they may have decided to offer you both a position with the Oracles, once your powers are developed enough."
"When would that be?" Xander asked.
"Possibly decades." Elder Xander answered. "Depends on just how developed they could get."
"The Slayer? My Destiny is tied to Buffy's by the Powers?" Willow asked. "Why would they do that? I'd have helped Buffy without them doing that."
"Buffy's not the Slayer." Elder Xander stated absently, thinking about the possibility of Xander and Cordelia eventually joining the Oracles, was that what the Oracle had meant?
"What do you mean I'm not the Slayer?!" Buffy demanded. "Hello! Just yesterday I was divided into normal Buffy and Slayer concentrate, what else would I be but the Slayer?"
"A Slayer." Elder Xander answered. "The Slayer carries the Spirit of the Slayer, that which Chooses the next Slayer. You died, the spirit Chose Kendra, Kendra died, the spirit Chose Faith. According to the demon, the Powers tied Willow's Destiny to the Slayer, which could, in your lifetime, be a lot of Slayers. Why or what they want you to do, I don't know. I was questioning the demon regarding it and its patron's plans for Cordy, I wasn't thinking about the Powers plans for Willow. But it's a moot point, hopefully the cleansing and the ceremony were enough to keep the Powers from playing more games with you guys. They try anything and the gods themselves will curse them and trust me, they'll feel that. In fact they may not survive it, depends iyn how pissed off any such attempt makes the gods."
"But if all that severed this Destiny the Powers had for me, does that mean the fallen Power might decide I'd make a good substitute after all?"
"She might, but the original plan she was using with Cordy likely isn't even possible with you. You're not a potential Seer and you're not the human descendant of gods, she'd have to come up with a totally different plan to maneuver you where she needs you. And let's not forget you know her plan and her goal, she'd hopefully be hard pressed to fool you into going along with anything that could damage you enough to be willing to accept a deal and the protections on you should also keep you from getting possessed in the first place. I think Tara's idea about retaliation is probably the best explanation, for now anyway."
"We've all had a trying few days." Giles interjected. "I think we should call this day done and go home. A new work week starts tomorrow for Xander and I and Willow, Buffy and Tara have classes."
"That's a good idea." Cordelia stood up. "Because I'm exhausted. And craving Twinkies, for some reason."
"Come on, Queenie." Faith put her hand on Cordelia's back. "Let's have X drop us at Casa Summers, I don't think Joyce will mind if you stay the night and tomorrow, we can see about you reconnecting with your parents."
Cordelia eyed her. "We weren't friends before, why are you being nice to me?"
"You basically told Willow you want to bury the hatchet and not in her back, because you don't want to make Xander choose between you. He has to protect you because of this spell and that's not your fault. I'm not going to make this harder than it has to be, so I'm trying to be nice and maybe that leads to us being friends."
"Good enough. Okay, Dweeb, you may chauffeur us to the Casa Summers."
"As my Queen commands. Reminds me of old times. And hey, I'll spring for Twinkies on the way."
"Of course you will."