Story Title: Order of the Silver Hand
Crossover: BtVS/ Warcraft III/ Stargate/ Stargate Universe/ Multiple
Disclaimer: I do not own, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Warcraft games verse, Stargate TV verse, or any other fandoms I will be dabbling in. This is a work of fan fiction, written without profit, for the enjoyment of fans of these great fandoms.
Summary: He is the One who can Build Anything. He is the heir to Magic. Bestowed with great powers, yet at the same time crippled by it, he will change the universe.
Prologue: Tying loose ends
Three weeks after the death of Magic…
A flicker in the air, three men suddenly appeared beside a beautiful red haired woman who was observing a roadside motel from an alleyway. She waved a hand at their arrival, tying tendrils of her power around the three men as they vanished from physical sight.
“My lord.” The sorceress Teayre said as she gave a half bow to the younger dark haired man. She turned to look at the other two older men. “Angel, Yalen.”
“Teayre stop that, I told you to just call me Xander.” The younger man said in an exasperated tone of voice before turning to look at the motel across the street. “He’s in one of the motel rooms?”
“Yes my lor… Xander.” Teayre said after a moment of hesitation. “He has taken the motel room, second last from the left of the building.”
“Xander. Are you sure you want to do this?” The dark haired older man beside him asked with a frown. “Giles will be unhappy about this if he ever finds out.”
“This must be done Angel.” The younger man, Xander said in a grim tone. “That man is part of the reason why I’ve become the vampire that destroyed Magic. Though he is unable to use magic now since all the Allied clans and covens are told to bar him away from their Moon Wells, his knowledge of magic is still immerse. The Halloween spell he crafted was what gave me my powers. And even though the circumstances that brought about my change can no longer be duplicated, he remains a loose end that may cause more trouble in future if I don’t deal with him.”
“You’re changing Xander… You didn’t use to be like this. So hard and cold, making decisions based on what may happen.” Angel said with a grimace, beside him the Archmage Yalen just remained silent as his eyes scanned the streets for any signs of danger.
“Actually, I am still the same. I am willing to do anything to protect my friends… and my family. And after all that had happened, I consider everyone in the Alliance to be my charges. I was the one that destroyed the Source of Magic. I was the one that bring together all the peaceful and neutral demon clans and magic users to form the Alliance. I am responsible for the safety of everyone in the Alliance, and I am going to make sure that everyone stays safe.” Xander said with a bit of vehemence. “By planning ahead and making sure all known and possible threats are dealt with.”
Angel winced. “Xander, I know you’re still upset about what happened to the Venova Trinity coven, but…”
“The magic users in the coven were all wiped out, just because the Larnet demons wanted their Moon Wells.” Xander said in an anguished voice. “Drusilla had her vision of the future too late. But I… I am the one responsible for their deaths, I should have known that the Moon Wells would be targeted. I should have sent adequate protections to guard each of the Moon Wells.”
“Look Xander, you can’t hold yourself responsible for every bad thing that happened to the Alliance.” Angel said placing a hand on the shoulder of the agitated younger man. “These past few weeks had been hard on everyone, but you most of all. You’re burning out. I can help you with some of the load, even Giles and Jenny are willing to help with the Alliance if you let them in. Just talk to them, they can help share your burden.”
“I’ll do that, once things settle down…” Xander said at last with a sigh. “But what happens here, this stays between you and me. Giles does not need to know about what I am going to do.”
“He wouldn’t know from me.” Angel said with a promise. “There are some things that the leader of the Alliance must do to safeguard everyone in it. That I can agree with.”
“I know you’ll understand.” Xander said as the group of four began walking across the street towards their target. “That’s why I entrust you to oversee the Alliance should I be unable to. I am not going to lie, I dislike you when I first met you, and I loathe Angelus. But I am wise enough now to discern the difference between the soul and the demon. The things you’ve done for the group… in the end, you’re not that different from me, especially after my change on Halloween. You are also outside my mental command, which means you don’t have an obligation to obey my every order like Drusilla or Spike.”
“Let’s hope that I’ll have no need to take up that role too often.” Angel said with a hint of distaste. “I must admit that working with Holland is an unpleasant experience. Even after the geas you’ve laid on him, he is still a slimy bastard underneath.”
“With the amount of commands I’ve laid on him and those in his law firm, they wouldn’t even be able to think about hurting a fly unless it is in self-defence.” Xander said grimly. “If I didn’t need their network and manpower to speed up the creation of the Alliance, I would have done without them, the things that many of them had done… I felt filthy just scanning over their minds. Once the Alliance is stabilized, I am going to make sure that their victims have true justice.”
“That will be something to watch.” Angel said as the group reached their target. The sorceress Teayre kept a silent watch behind their backs as she maintained the invisibility spell on the group. The Archmage Yalen also tensed, magic shimmering in his hands in case of any attack.
Xander pursed his lips grimly as he hammered the walls of the motel room. He could feel his magic reaching out to deconstruct the place, he could feel…
Bright whiteness streaked across his vision. He could not see anything, but he could hear sounds, sensed intense feelings.
There were pain, sadness, and dark humour at his fate.
“So you’re going to kill me then.” A weary male voice said. “Imagine that, a military General from the army of U.S.A trying to end the world.”
“You can’t stop the Twilight.” A rough male voice said. “And since you refused to help us, I have no more use of you.”
“Go to hell Voll.” The weary voice said.
A sharp crack of a gun being shot blasted in Xander’s ears…
“Xander! Xander! Are you alright?” Yalen’s voice said urgently beside his ears.
Xander struggled to awareness, startled to find himself seated on the pavement, with Yalen and Angel propping his back up.
“What happened?” Angel asked as he saw that Xander had regained his senses. “You just blanked out and went into some kind of trance.”
“I… I am not sure.” Xander said shaking his head in confusion as he struggled to comprehend what just happened. His eyes landed on the motel room in front of him. “But let’s deal with this first…”
Standing wobbly on his feet with Angel, Yalen and Teayre looking on worriedly, he slammed his fist against the wall of the motel room. At first nothing happened, then the motel room vanished in a swirl of glowing energies. Xander kneed on the pavement and hammered on the ground. A few seconds later, the motel room reappeared. It was shortly followed by a haggard dark haired middle aged man who appeared outside the room. The man swirled around, looking blearily around him.
Teayre dropped the invisibility spell as Xander walked forward, causing the man to widen his eyes at the group’s sudden appearance.
“Ethan Rayne, you will Obey these commands…” Xander intoned firmly.
OoooO
Three weeks after the death of Magic, Los Angeles…
His eyes landed on the two vampires in front of him, and he quickly looked them over.
“Manageable.” He said to himself as he rushed forward with inhuman speed. His passive power of Fiery Soul boosted his physical conditioning as he streak forward in a blur. His stake was already out in his hands, and he staked the two vampires before they could make any comments.
The young woman who had been in the grasp of the vampires gave a shrill scream as her captors disappeared into dust clouds. Her eyes wide and frightened, she stared incomprehensively at him before giving a half sob and ran passed him, out of the alley.
“Hey… wait…” He trailed off as the woman disappeared down the street. “Well that’s some thanks.”
“If you’re looking for thanks, you’re in the wrong job Matthew.” A woman said as she appeared from the shadows. “Come on, we still have quite an area to patrol.”
“Yes Selma.” Matthew said with a grin as he followed after the stern woman who was supposed to be his backup for the night.
Three weeks. It had only been three weeks and his life had changed forever. Matt never had an easy life growing up. His birth parent died in a car accident when he was only four. He was adopted by a priest, a Father George whom he considered his real father. Father George had loved him, taught him and treated him like a son. But two years ago, soon after Matt turned sixteen years of age, the good Father had died of liver failure. Matt had been sent to live in a runaway shelter for the past two years. After graduating from High School and turning eighteen, Matthew had been allowed to work and live on his own.
His first job had been at the Swiss Royal Hotel in Sunnydale, a small town close to Los Angeles. The pay had been good and he had lodging there. It was a comfortable job and he had been planning on staying there while he planned out his future. At eighteen years of age, with not much in terms of savings, he had been entertaining thoughts of signing on with the army in order to continue his education. He had never expected to be roped in to a destiny greater than he would ever have imagined.
Alexander ‘Xander’ Lavelle Harris, a teenager two years younger than him, was someone who had been turned into a magical vampire gifted with fictional magic, magic that had its origins based on the Warcraft games. In order to deal with a Hell God who had been in the hotel, Xander had commanded those under his charge to set a fire in the building to flush out everyone, with several others fighting the Hell God to keep her in her room. But the Hell God had been too powerful for his charges to handle at that point in time and Alexander, or Xander as he preferred to be called, had been forced to deconstruct the hotel before everyone in the building could escape.
Aside from the Hell God, her minions and Xander’s own charges, Matt and six other hotel staff and guests were caught in the deconstruction. Xander had shortly thereafter reconstructed the hotel and “bought” everyone caught in the deconstruction back to life. Well almost everyone… the Hell God and her minions were left to their deconstructed fates.
Xander had passed everyone affected his own memories of magic and demons. The magical vampire had then given the promise to Matt, the hotel staff and guests caught up in the deconstruction that he would continue to let them live their own lives without interfering, and that he would do everything in his resources to support them. To Xander’s way of thinking, it was his fault that they were now all soul bonded with him.
Almost everyone had taken Xander’s offer of support, moving on to live rich and comfortable lives outside of Sunnydale. Matt had taken Xander’s gold as well, but he had wanted in on the new organisation that Xander was forming to deal with the supernatural threat in the world. For unlike the other hotel guests and staff who had been deconstructed, Matt had the potential to be a Hero Unit, and the powers granted to him after his rebirth were powerful and incredible. Matt had wanted to learn more about his new powers and do something worthwhile in the world with them.
Based on arrangements with Xander, Matt had been assigned to the Los Angeles demon hunting squad since the city had been Matt’s home ground for all his life. The eighteen year old now had an expensive apartment in the city, living a life he would never have imagined only weeks ago.
Turning his mental senses inwards, he dived into the wellspring of his four powerful abilities.
Fiery Soul, a passive ability that activates during combat. +13 strength, agility and intelligence.
Alert, an active ability that increase sensitivity of all senses by +7. 7 MP per use.
Gospel, an active ability that sends a string of holy words to a target, increasing their vitality and health. Undead and creatures of the dark will be weakened and cursed. 12 MP per use.
Charisma, an active ability that cause those around target, in a ten meter radius to feel goodwill towards him/her. 8 MP per use.
Matt reviewed his abilities in his mind as he and Selma strolled down the street, alert for any signs of trouble. It had taken him only two weeks of patrol in Los Angeles for him to max out his abilities and reach level 10 of growth. The magical growth had increased his strength, agility and intelligence to super human levels. But even though his magical growth had stopped, he continued to enhance and enrich himself by normal human means. He was already enrolled in college which would start in a month, and he had picked the toughest subjects to challenge himself with.
“It’s too bad that those two didn’t drop anything.” Selma grumbled. “Vampires have a chance to drop vampiric dust. I was hoping to get some for my magical experiments.”
Matt hardly blinked at Selma’s words. Weeks after his rebirth, he had already gotten used to the fact that whenever he kill something, the bodies would dissolve after sometime and have a chance to leave behind unique items pertaining to the target’s race and history. The first time he had discovered this unique ability, he had taken to buying insects and crushing them just to see what items would come from the act of killing them. A few days later, the vampire Drusilla, one of the four souled vampires in the world, had walked in on him while he was “looting” his victims’ bodies, and had given him a strong warning to respect all life. How she had known where his apartment was and how she had entered it was a mystery to Matt, but Matt had been significantly cowed by the woman and decided to follow her instructions after that.
“Wasn’t there a proposal for Xander to gather all known magical ingredients in one building, deconstruct it and build similar buildings at each of the outposts? So as to allow all Alliance magic users to buy rare ingredients easily?” Matt asked with a frown.
“The Archmage Ian did propose the idea, and I heard that Lord Xander approved it.” Selma said. “But the Lord is too busy setting up the Alliance right now. The plan is shelved for the moment, though the magic users in all the outposts are collecting all the rare magical ingredients and sending a sample of each of them back to Sunnydale to be stored.”
“Xander don’t really like it when you call him Lord.” Matt pointed out. “And what magical experiments are you planning to do anyway?”
“Lord Xander is the one that created all of us. That title of Lord rightfully belongs to him.” Selma said, a distant look in her eyes, not answering Matt’s last question directly. “Unlike you and the rest of the Earth based created followers under the Lord, the rest of us did not previously exist before he brought us to life. I remember my backstory, of being a powerful sorceress with many abilities, yet at the same time I also know I am not real, that I was created through the magic of Lord Xander. That is why all of us created purely from his magic, are so loyal to him.”
Not knowing what to say, Matt nodded in silence as he walked beside Selma. The sorceress snapped out of her thoughts before turning to look at Matt.
“As for my magical experiment… you are aware that all created sorceress class only have three spells available to them? Even though each of our backstory showed that we can cast more spells then that?” Selma asked. “The spells of Slow, Invisibility and Polymorph can be cast by any sorceress without a thought, but the other spells available in our memories, we will only be able to cast them once we relearn how to manipulate our own magical energies to cast the spells. Sorceress Raina, one of the first sorceresses to be created, has already make headways into exploring our particular type of magic. She has successfully recreated the fireball spell and had shared her knowledge with all of us via Lord Xander.
“I on the other hand am trying to recreate a corruption spell, a shadow spell I know of in my memories. Since the manipulation of sorceress type magic which I now possessed works differently from my memories, it is going to take me quite a while yet before my experiment and research are complete.” Selma revealed.
“And you need vampiric dust for that.” Matt said with a thoughtful frown. “There’s a cemetery down Birdwell avenue, how about we make a trip there? See if we can scare up some fledging. It is a slow night anyway, and we have lots of time.”
OoooO
Three weeks after the death of Magic, Britain…
“This is preposterous!” Quentin Travers roared as he slammed his fist down on the round table where the senior council members were all gathered. “We can’t just give in to the demands of… of a magical terrorist group!”
“Quentin, none of the magic users in the council are now capable of magic. Several of our more powerful magic users are in fact suffering from great pains every day because they do not have access to moon water, the only source of magic left in the world.” Robert Demore, the Head of Research barked out sternly. “Magic is truly gone in the world and the only sources left are heavily controlled by the newly formed Alliance. The Watchers Council is at this moment depowered. We can’t scry for demons or Slayer potentials anymore. If we don’t agree to the demands of the Alliance, this council might as well be disbanded!”
“But the Alliance is in league with Wolfram & Hart!” Quentin tried to point out. “You know who they represent!”
“The senior partners are no longer in this world or even this reality.” Mark Simpson, the council’s liaison to the Crown said blandly. “Our magic users at least confirmed that fact before their magic reserves were used up. Wolfram & Hart is now under new management, their members are most probably under an organisation wide magical coercion if what I’ve seen of their current actions are true. Whoever is controlling them is at the very least not evil or dark aligned, you can tell by the fact that the first demon clans and covens invited into the Alliance are all the peaceful and light aligned.”
“And none of the dark aligned or vicious clans are even considered to be part of the Alliance.” Timothy Greens, the Council treasurer pointed out. “In fact, many clans of dark aligned demons have been vanquished by the Allied forces over the past weeks. Earth as it stands, is safer than it ever have been for the past thousands of years! That’s not even considering the news that the members of the Alliance are planning constructions of magical enclaves, safe places of sorts where the supernatural community can live in peace.”
“But they want us to open our libraries to the Alliance! They want access to our artifacts!” Quentin argued. “They want us to demolish the Cruciamentum and… and pay the Slayers!”
“Which are all very reasonable demands, especially since they will provide us with a source of magic in return.” Mark replied with a frown. “Honestly, I don’t see why we’re still arguing about this even after we’ve determined that the Alliance is not a dark aligned collaboration. We can’t stall this decision any longer just for pride and principle’s sake.”
“Enough with this nonsense Quentin. I am calling for a council vote now. I put forth the motion that we should stop this silly dilly dallying and just join the Alliance.” Robert said in a firm voice. “Dragging out this decision isn’t going to mysteriously restore magic back to everyone in the world.”
“But…” Quentin said, but his words were drowned out by the rest of the council members.
“I agree to the motion!”
“So do I!”
“I give my vote as well!”
Silenced by the raised voices of all the other senior council members. Quentin could only watch dumbly as the council made the most important decision in their organisation’s history since the creation of the Slayer.
The Watchers Council would join the Alliance, with a vote of ten for the motion and one against it.
OoooO
Three weeks after the death of Magic, Sunnydale…
Seated in front of her state of the art computer, Willow was hard at work creating a magic compendium, with Buffy sitting beside her, watching her work with interest. They were in Giles and Jenny’s mansion, in a room that the couple insist that Willow used as her own room. Jenny had been coaching Willow in using magic for weeks, and when she had discovered that Willow’s parents frequently left her at her own house all alone while they went on business trips, the furious woman had insisted that Willow moved into the mansion.
With everything that the group had went through over the past one month plus, Jenny had also insisted that everyone called her by her name instead of the more formal Ms. Calendar. Thus Willow had moved into the large mansion, which had become quite empty after Xander’s magically created followers had moved out into their own homes. Since all of Xander’s followers had open access to Xander’s enormous funds built on his gold supply, they had been quite eager to seek out new homes for themselves once they had grown used to Earth culture.
“So those are the building structures that Xander can now build?” Buffy asked as she watched Willow creating the compendium program. “Hey wait… what’s that Fountain of Mana thingie? The description says…”
“That it can regenerate the mana of all non-mechanical units nearby at a rate of 1% of the unit’s total Mana per second.” Willow finished Buffy sentence for her. “I got it from data of the Warcraft III game. It is one of two structures that Xander can construct to restore the magic of magic users.”
“You mean aside from the Moon Well, he can create this as well?” Buffy asked looking at Willow. “According to the description, the person using the Fountain of Mana doesn’t even have to drink its water to restore the person’s magical energies. Why didn’t Xander ever create that? It sounds much more useful and convenient than the Moon Well. Not to mention the Moon Well only contains a limited amount of moon water at a time, and moon water in the well only replenishes over minutes.”
“That’s one of the first thing I asked Xander a few weeks ago, when I found out about this structure during my research into his full abilities.” Willow said as she turned back to the computer to continue her work. “He told me that he wanted a controllable source of magic. With the Fountain of Mana, anyone standing next to it will have their magic replenished regardless of the fact whether they are part of the Alliance or not. With the Moon Well however, only the people with access to moon water can replenish their magical energies. It is much easier to control the supply of moon water and restrict them then it is with the Fountain of Mana.”
“But he could have built one for Dawn.” Buffy said with a frown at this new information. “It would have helped her a lot. She could have just sat by the fountain instead of having to drink a galleon of moon water every day!”
“And if any of the demons discovered the existence of a second type of magical source in the world in use by Dawn, either through scrying or magic, it will unbalance the magical economy that Xander is trying to set up with the Alliance.” Willow pointed out, for a moment the shoulders of the red haired girl sagged. “He did say that once he locates the starship he was shown in the vision, and we’re far away from Earth in space, he will create a fountain for Dawn… Buffy, I am not sure if you’ve notice, but Xander’s changed… after everything that happened for the past few weeks. He… he has to look at the bigger picture now.”
“Well, I guess so.” Buffy said moodily as well. “I hadn’t seen him since he left with Angel to set up the Alliance. He only contacts Giles every few days and Giles never tell us anything! At least not anything important.”
“I… I overheard a bit when Giles was talking over the phone to Xander.” Willow said hesitantly. “Things aren’t going as smooth as we thought. There’s a lot of fighting and killing, I think Giles and Xander are protecting us from all of that. Some of the demon clans and even witch covens are resisting the Alliance… I’ve been doing research over the web, there has been enormous amounts of unexplained violence all over the world for the past few weeks. They are most probably demonic attacks… the signs are all there. Buffy… people… not just demons are dying. Some of Xander’s followers can revive the recently dead, but they can’t bring back everyone…”
“What? Willow! Why didn’t tell me about this earlier!” Buffy said as she tensed, leaping up onto her feet. “Xander needs our help…”
“Xander can create dragons, armies of powerful magic users and warriors.” Willow said dully. “We’ll only be in the way. He’s trying to protect us Buffy, the only way we can help him is to continue to become stronger and look after Sunnydale while he’s not around. Sometimes… sometimes I wish things were back to the good old days… when you’re just the Slayer… Xander’s still Xander, and I am still useful as the computer geek.”
As tears shimmered in her eyes, Willow stifled a sob as Buffy put her arms around her. “We’re all friends Willow.” Buffy said as she hugged Willow. “Xander didn’t become your friend because you are useful to him. He is your friend because he cares for you, and you for him. Come on, stop being mopey. Let’s plan out what we should do when Xander gets back from setting up the Alliance. I think he seriously owns us some quality friendship time. And he has better cough up some free hours from his busy schedule.”
OoooO
One month and two weeks after the death of Magic, Sunnydale…
Tain Ironhand looked at the symbol on his cloak with pride. A silver gauntlet fist gleamed against the dark blue fabric. It was the symbol of their order, and also a symbol of Tain’s own paladin order. Xander had at last decided on a name and symbol for his own organisation and followers. As of this moment, they were the Order of the Silver Hand, all of them protectors of innocent and of Earth.
Wolfram & Hart had been acting as intermediaries for Xander during the first few weeks of setting up the Alliance, but now with everything beginning to stabilize and things beginning to calm down on the demonic front, Xander planned to gradually remove Wolfram & Hart from the picture, and asset the authority of the Order on the Alliance.
The process would take a few more weeks or months, and would be headed by Jestina Silver and Angel, the souled vampire that had been by Xander’s side for the past weeks. Xander had been traveling the world to ensure that the members of the Alliance remain safe from the darker elements of the world. Tain in the meanwhile was assigned to stand guard over Sunnydale which houses six Moon Wells, of which five were accessible to members of the Alliance, and one was only accessible to the core group that watches over the town.
Tain would mentally report back to Xander on Sunnydale’s situation every three days. As of the past weeks, his team with the help of Buffy, Willow and Cordelia, had stopped a killer robot/ android named Ted, a Bazor demon whose eggs had tried to control the student population of Sunnydale High, and had stopped several unruly demons from causing a scene out on the streets.
But even then, Tain felt a sense of unease at letting Xander go on his quest to unite all the peaceful demon clans and magic users without Tain himself by his side. After all, Tain was the first Paladin Xander had created, but that fact was also probably why Xander trusted Tain to keep his hometown and friends safe while he was away.
News from the grapevines had revealed that very few vicious demon clans and dark magic users were left in the world after being systematically hunted down or have their attacks countered during the past few weeks. The supernatural world had been in a state of shock at the extreme changes taking place on Earth.
Magic was gone from the world, now available only in controlled sources. The Alliance held much power due to their continued access to magic, not to mention Xander controlled scores of dragons and other magical creatures at his command. Xander’s identity remained a secret, but with the passage of time, that secret might probably become much harder to hide.
He had also briefly talked to Yalen a few times over the phone. Yalen was the Archmage that Xander had taken with him on his journey the past weeks, and Yalen had hinted that something was not well with Xander, that it had something to do with his unique magic. Xander however had apparently told Yalen to keep a lid on that matter, and Yalen had been obliged to honour that agreement. What Yalen had revealed however worried Tain.
Tain was deep in thoughts wondering what kind of magical problems Xander might be encountering when he felt the equivalent of a mental tug in his head.
Xander? Tain asked as he opened his mental connection. Though Xander could simply have projected his thoughts into Tain’s mind, his creator was too restrained to do that.
Tain, I want you to gather Giles and the others of the core group at my mansion by nightfall tonight. You and Ian are to come along as well. Meet at the backyard. Xander’s mental voice came through clearly. Things have begun to settle down with the Alliance at last. The team I sent out three weeks ago has located the starship and its base in my vision. I am going to acquire them. I shall be back sometime in the evening.
Understood Xander. Tain answered before the mental link went silent. Getting up from his sofa, Tain went to his telephone. He would have to contact the others before leaving his house to meet them. In the meantime, he would also have to make plans for his team to patrol the town without him tonight.
OoooO
One month and two weeks after the death of Magic, Amazon Basin…
The familiar sensation of Yalen’s teleportation spell rippled through him as he and Yalen appeared in a dimly lit forest, overgrown with wild vines and permeated with a moist and humid atmosphere. Part of the undergrowth however had been torn up by a large red dragon that lain on the green wreckage as if it was sitting in a nest. A distance away from the dragon, next to a high cliff with a tunnel opening into it, stood the Archmage Leon and the sorceress Raina who was looking very hot and bothered.
“Xander.” Raina said in relief as she sighted him. “You’re here at last. I am dying of the humidity here. Leon apparently did not know of any ways to modify his Blizzard spell to at least cool the air here. You’ll think he’ll try to learn how to do that after weeks of tracking in this forest.”
“Modifying spells from scratch aren’t that easy.” Leon snapped as he rolled his eyes. “You should know that most of our magic works differently from the way they are in our backstory memories.”
“Chill Leon.” Raina said with a shrug, wiping sweat off her forehead. “I was just saying. Anyway Xander, the base you want us to find is through that tunnel, we’ve cleared out the entrance so that you can enter. But let me warn you first, much of the place is already damaged by the humidity in this place. The starship is seated within but it’s in a bad state. Part of its cargo door was opened. The humidity and a den of wild animals seriously damaged the vehicle.”
“I see.” Xander said as he strolled forward, peering at the entrance of the tunnel. “The damage will be a relatively easy thing to fix.”
His eyes landed on the interior of the tunnel walls. Xander could feel his passive ability The Power of Seeing activating, he could feel…
A lurch in his stomach, he could feel dread as he knew with a familiar certainty what would happen next.
A flash blinded him. White light zapped passed his vision. It faded gradually and Xander could make out a familiar cliff, except that the forest surrounded it was far less dense.
There was a strange rectangular golden brown vehicle of some sort outside the tunnel in the cliff, hovering above the grass. A blond haired woman was at the cave mouth, arguing with an older brown haired man. The words were strange, foreign, yet Xander could feel strong emotions coming from both of them. Somehow, Xander knew instinctively that the woman was the man’s daughter. She was arguing with him to leave with her for some reason.
The older man however seemed to steadfastly refuse her words. After quite some time, the woman dejectedly left, but not before giving her father one last hug that lasted for a long time, with tears rolling down her face. Somehow Xander knew from the feelings emitting from both of them, those two knew with a certainty that they would never see each other again. The woman was leaving for somewhere far away…
Years past and the older man went about his task. At times an opening would open up at the side of the mountain as a large pyramid shaped vessel flew into the sky…
“Xander!” Raina’s voice said worriedly in his ears. A hand shook his shoulders. Xander blinked and stared into the concerned eyes of Yalen and all gathered around him.
“It is the visions again aren’t it?” Yalen asked in a resigned tone of voice. “Xander, you can’t hide it anymore, those visions are crippling you!”
“How long was I out this time?” Xander asked looking at the sky, it did look a little darker.
“Out this time?” Raina asked with a frown. “What is going on Xander? Yalen? You mean this happened before?”
“Two hours.” Yalen said looking pale. “Xander, this is one of the longest times you were out of it. If you were in a combat situation…”
“What is going on?”Raina gritted out. She was one of the few in Xander’s army followers that actually took Xander’s words to heart and did not treat him as her liege, and instead treat him as her friend.
“I have been having visions since several weeks back, starting three weeks after I… destroyed Terin and took his essence into me.” Xander said with a sigh as he pushed himself off the ground, stumbling from cramped legs. “The visions triggered half the time any of my passive powers activated, on any structures that are not constructed by me. Through several experiments, Yalen and I discovered that the visions wouldn’t trigger if I try to use my powers on structures that I constructed with my abilities. I get visions focusing on anyone that lives or used to live in the buildings/ structures my powers were targeting. As far as I can determine with Yalen’s help, it could be visions of the past, present, or one of the many possible futures. It’s one reason why I am avoiding city areas at the moment, and any areas with structures which I did not build.”
“When we first tried to go to Newtown in Australia to hunt down some demons one week back, Xander was knocked out after his Power of Seeing activated from the numerous building structures around him and he was assaulted by numerous visions.” Yalen continued grimly. “It dragged him into a deep trance for close to one hour. That was one of the longest period of time he was in a trance. The visions are getting longer and longer. Xander, you can’t hide this anymore. Something’s wrong or changing with your magic, you need help.”
“I know Yalen, and I’ll get all the magic users in the Order to look into it after we’re done here.” Xander said resignedly. “I have a suspicion that having Ascended essence within me might have unlocked this… gift of visions which I previously did not have. I have been trying to control it, I did not want to distract everyone from their tasks especially since the past few weeks have been crucial to setting up the Alliance. But the visions are only getting stronger and uncontrollable, and the Alliance is beginning to finally settle down. It is probably time I get help.”
“You think?” Raina asked looking at him incredulously. “What were you thinking Xander? You’re one of the most important men in this world right now, and that’s not just to the Alliance, but to us, all of us that you created. What do you think will happen to the Order if you were to die from the visions or… or something?”
“I honestly doubt visions can kill me.” Xander said with a grin as he looked at Raina’s worried eyes. “But thanks for the concern. The length of the visions is starting to worry me though. I know for a fact that Drusilla’s visions are uncontrollable, I’ve been meaning to find out if there are any links between my new gifts of visions to hers.”
“I’ll look into it.” Raina said decisively. “In the meantime let’s clear this ancient Alteran outpost and return to civilization.”
“Vey well, but you must promise not to tell Giles and the others about this for the moment. I don’t want them to start worrying yet.” Xander said before he turned around, peering cautiously at the interior of the tunnel. This time he could feel the instant connection…
“Lauger Amben’s Workshop. Building cost 350 Gold and 200 Lumber. Deconstruction regains 970 Gold and 587 Lumber. Hero Unit for hire: Lantean Al’kesh costs 270 Gold, 100 Lumber, 5 food units. Artifacts for sale: Damaged Lantean sensors cost 50 Gold, Damaged Lantean computer system cost 70 Gold. Damaged Lantean database cost 70 Gold. Life Support…”
“You’re right, the place is damaged.” Xander said with a blink as he absorbed the blueprint of the place. “I have seldom used that aspect of my powers… but I think it is time for some repair work to be done.”
Stepping into the tunnel, Xander began hammering on the walls, sending his powerful magic coursing through the old workshop, as he worked to repair the place back to its pristine condition.
OoooO
One month and two weeks after the death of Magic, Xander’s Mansion…
The sky was darkening to the rosy red of dusk when Joyce pulled into the large walled mansion out in the desert, that was owned by Xander. Parking her car at an empty space, she noted that the cars of Giles and Buffy were already parked closed by. There were also other vehicles most probably belonging to the rest of Xander’s magically created followers.
Even now, Joyce had to shake her head at the incredulous and bewildering world she had found herself thrown into. Magic, demons, Xander as a magically souled vampire, her daughters each with their own ties to the supernatural world…
“Mom! Hurry! I want to see what Xander called us here for!” Dawn said impatiently as she got out of the car. “Oh I hope he’s going to show us the starship, Tain said that Xander found the alien outpost at last.”
“I am coming.” Joyce said smiling at the excitement on Dawn’s face. Turning off the ignition, she got out of the vehicle, closing the door behind her. “Where did Tain said to meet at?”
“The backyard!” Dawn said, hopping on her feet. Seeing that Joyce was ready, Dawn began running ahead as they walked around the large mansion belonging to Xander. The backyard came into view and Joyce stopped in surprise at the sight before her.
A large brown metallic igloo shaped structure was now seated on the large backyard, with Buffy and the others gathered by the tunnel like entrance of the structure. If that was a starship, Joyce had no idea how it was supposed to fly.
“Mom! You’re here!” Buffy perked up as she sighted Joyce and Dawn. “Xander just built the workshop, where the starship was housed in, you’re just in time!”
“Mrs. Summers.” Xander greeted with a smile, reaching out to catch Dawn as she launched herself at him. “And Dawnie, it’s good to see you guys again.”
“Oh Xander, I hadn’t seen you in months!” Dawn said with a grin as she pulled back from Xander. “Where is the starship? What does it looks like?”
“It is still within the workshop.” Xander smirked. “Give me twenty seconds, I’ll open the workshop’s dome and launch the ship.”
“Oh… I thought you guys are going to fly the original ship back to Sunnydale.” Dawn said even as she looked expectantly around the workshop, waiting for the starship to appear.
“Unfortunately, I discovered that I have no way of understanding how to operate the original ship, much less trying to enter it when I first found it.” Xander told the group. “After I returned here and build the workshop, I was able to link to the database within the structure. The information available is impressive, I’ll give you guys a summary later. As for the starship, I am able to link to it through my magic since it was considered part of the workshop. With that link, I am able to access to all its systems at will and fly it instinctively.”
Joyce’s breath caught as a dome area to the side of the workshop began to open and a large silver chromed pyramid ship hovered out of the workshop, looking splendid against the backdrop of dusk.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the starship that will bring us into the stars!” Xander’s eyes twinkled merrily as he looked at everyone. “Anyone interested in tagging along for its maiden flight?”
OoooO
One month and two weeks after the death of Magic, orbit over Earth
Everyone had scrambled onto the opened ramp of the starship when Xander revealed his intention of going on a test flight and landed the starship right in front of them. Dawn had been one of the first onboard, and she had begun looking around with a childish awe at the large room they stepped into.
“This is the cargo bay of the Al’kesh, a name for the type of ship this vessel is physically based on.” Xander said as everyone was onboard. Behind them the ramp began pulling up, sliding seamlessly into the walls, sealing the ship. The soft orange light in the cargo bay however provided enough illumination for all of them. “The Al’kesh ship type was constructed by the Goa’ulds, a parasitic race of worm like aliens living in the Milky Way. When Terin first showed it to me through a series of visions, I have always wondered why the Alteran who modified this ship used a Goa’uld vessel as its core structure… now with access to the workshop’s database, I was able to fill in the blanks.”
Dawn followed after Xander as he led them across the large cargo bay which was triple the size of her own living room. Reaching the door at the end, the door opened at their arrival, most probably controlled by Xander mentally, even as Xander continued to provide everyone with some background information.
“The one who built the workshop was not an Alteran, instead, he belongs to a race called the Lanteans. The Lanteans are actually the direct descendants of the Alterans who fled to what we know as the Pegasus Galaxy. This event occurred tens of thousands of years ago, when the Alterans launched a mass exodus after a powerful plague devastated them in the Milky Way.” Xander narrated as he led them down a corridor, passing two smaller rooms. “Those who fled to the Pegasus Galaxy became the Lanteans. The database also includes historical records of six other factions of the Alterans fleeing further into space though the Lanteans lost contact with all of them hundreds of years after their separation.
“The Lanteans who lived in the Pegasus Galaxy, stayed there for thousands of years, before being forced to flee back to Earth after facing devastation from a new and powerful enemy.” Xander said, causing everyone to pause in their observations of the ship interior and look at him in surprise.
“They returned?” Jenny asked in wonderment. “But how could that be? Surely the archaeologists would have come across powerful technologies over the years if that was so.”
“The Lanteans did return, but they isolated themselves from the humans on Earth. The majority of the survivors looked towards Ascension as their next level of existence. And thus what’s left of the Lantean High Council at that time heavily regulated their starships, tools, and even higher technological knowledge.” Xander explained as he led them up a series of stairs to the second level. “To avoid destroying the culture of the natives of the Milky Way, the Lanteans locked themselves away in a hidden enclave which they stayed in till their eventual Ascension into higher energy beings.”
“Some of the Lanteans however disagreed with this notion, leaving the enclave. However by doing so, they were actually cutting themselves off from the full database of the Lanteans with their race’s powerful technological knowledge.” Xander continued. “The Lantean who constructed the workship our starship came from was one Lauger Amben, a Historian of old Alteran culture. Focusing mainly on history, Lauger lacks the knowledge to create Lantean nanite and beam construction technologies. He knew most of the theories of higher sciences, but he lacks a lot of mechanical know how that a specialised engineer or scientist would have. If he were to build a Lantean cruiser or freighter from scratch through conventional means, it would have taken him too much time spent in research.”
“If Lauger Amben wished to build his own ship, it would be much easier to modify the superstructure of an existing spacefaring vessel. He discovered this ship sometime after he left the enclave and began modifying it with whatever Lantean technologies which he had knowledge of. He had completed this side project, and began using the ship to explore the neighbouring star systems. As a historian of old Alteran history, he had an interest in any Alteran structures that had been left in the Milky Way during his ancestors’ mass exodus to the Pegasus galaxy. He made it his mission to hunt down and explore those surviving structures before his eventual Ascension.” Xander said, providing further insights to the previous owner of the vessel. “Lauger’s daughter who remained at the enclave, secretly aided his quest by extracting vital information about the Alterans from council controlled databases which she had limited access to. After she had Ascended with most of the Lanteans, Lauger became more driven in his quest of compiling ancient Alteran history.”
“So that’s the history behind the workshop and the starship.” Giles said in a musing voice. “But this Lantean enclave… does Lauger knows of its location or indicated it in his database? If we were to have the advanced technological knowledge of an ancient civilization at our…”
“Unfortunately the Lantean enclave was totally erased, there was virtually no signs of it when Lauger went to check out the place after he received news of the Lanteans’ mass Ascension.” Xander interrupted, his voice tingling with regret as he began leading them down the corridor of the second level, passing numerous larger rooms in the process. “In the database, he noted his suspicions that after the Lanteans Ascended, they must have used their enormous power to wipe the enclave off existence, so that no one else would be able to use their knowledge for ill.”
“Well, that’s a pity.” Giles said as a door at the end of the corridor slid open, revealing a room that had a crystal clear view of the exterior of the ship. The room was lined with consoles in front of two seats.
“We’re flying!” Dawn spoke out excitedly as the outside view revealed that they were speeding through clouds. “I didn’t even feel this thing move!”
“The inertial system for the starship is rather advanced Dawnie.” Xander said with a grin as everyone began squeezing into the room which must have served as the cockpit of the ship. It was a tight fit and unfortunately some have to stand outside the room. “I’ve activated the cloaking system of the ship and began flying it into the atmosphere since the moment we all entered the vessel. We’ll be reaching orbit over Earth in a minute.”
Everyone gathered in silent anticipation as the vessel burst through the atmosphere, out into the darkness of space. Dawn felt her mouth dropping opened at the sight of starry darkness in front of her. The vessel silently turned around, so that its view port was facing Earth.
In front of her, silent tears trickled down her mother’s face at the sight of the glowing blue orb that they called home. Standing behind her mom, Dawn knew with certainty that she would never forget the sight before her.
“Xander, what do you want to do next?” Buffy asked with a thick voice, entranced by the sight before them. “I mean… with the starship?”
“I’ll be taking her on a maiden voyage, to get use to her systems, and maybe check out some locations highlighted in Lauger’s database.” Xander said with a smile as he turned to face all of them. “After that I will leave Earth for a long time, to fulfil my promise to Terin.”
“What!” Willow gasped, paling in shock. “But Xander you can’t leave, not yet! It is too soon!”
Xander looked at Willow’s eyes which were already pooling with tears and explained. “I made a promise Willow, and I have the means to fulfil it now. Earth will be fine and I am sure it will get better with each day. Most of those that I brought into this world are good people, and those that are not, well with the geas I placed upon them, they could hardly do any actions with ill intent. What’s more, my status as the only Source of Magic in this world, mayhap even this reality, means that I need to get off the planet, I am going to be one big target board to the supernatural community of Earth if they ever found out my identity. Things are already stabilizing at the supernatural front, leaving Earth will ensure that supernatural trouble is kept to a minimal should my identity be exposed.”
“But…” Willow trailed off. Dawn could virtually see her thinking fiercely as she paused before straightening up, giving Xander a sharp look. “Then I am going with you! On your journey.”
“Willow, you have a life on Earth.” Xander began but was cut off by Willow.
“I can have a life by your side.” Willow said firmly, her chin was out as she glared at Xander. “I… I already lost Jesse, I can’t lose you too… And I am sure I can learn much more advanced science beside you then at a public school.”
“In that case girls, how about we take a trip as well.” Joyce spoke up, surprising Dawn and Buffy who just stared at their mother.
“What?” Buffy asked in shock.
“Yes! Yes! I want to go with Xander on his trip!” Dawn spoke up excitedly.
“There is school and…” Xander tried to argue but Joyce spoke up with amusement in her eyes.
“Willow is right when she said that the knowledge you have access to, is probably much more advanced than whatever the schools on Earth are teaching.” Joyce cut in as Dawn beamed at her mother. “If you agree to spend time tutoring Buffy and Dawn, I don’t see any problems with going on a journey with you. Someone has to keep watch over you young man, I don’t care what you’ve become, you’re still a teenager, and it will be better to have someone older around to take care of you.”
“Well, I suppose space traveling will be interesting.” Buffy admitted. “I needed a break anyway with all the crazy things that had happened in the past few months.”
“Well…” Xander hesitated before giving a sigh at the puppy eyed look that Dawn was giving him. “In that case…” Xander turned to face the rest of the group. “Anyone else interested in going off with me on my maiden voyage? To the stars… up, up and away…”
OoooO
Two months after the death of Magic, Xander’s Mansion…
Willow pulled her luggage across the backyard of Xander’s mansion, and headed towards the Enterprise which was parked right next to the large Lantean workshop. The ship was a duplicate of the original vessel that now sat within the workshop. The original vessel being the ship which took the group on their first space flight around Earth’s orbit.
Going on a long space voyage meant that customizations would have to be done to the original template of the ship itself. Xander had thus bought a new ship from the workshop and began working on customizing and modifying it. That Xander had actually named his starship Enterprise came as no surprise to Willow who had known her childhood friend for years. Neither was the fact that preparing, customising and outfitting Enterprise for her maiden journey would take quite a bit of time. The events of two weeks ago still rang vividly in her memories, after all, it was not everyday that one gets to see an actual starship or test flight it.
Xander had given everyone a summary of the information he discovered. After which, Willow had enlisted Ian’s help in accessing the database of the workshop for more information. With their instant mind link to Xander, Ian and a number of those created by Xander were given a copy of the workshop and the ship’s database which Xander was linked to. In essence, it gave them knowledge of how to use Lantean technologies, construct them, and even modify them.
Ian had written a translation and search program which was embedded into the workshop and the ship’s database, allowing Willow and any others of the Slayer group to access any information within the databases easily.
While Xander and his followers were busy outfitting Enterprise for her eventual maiden voyage, Willow, and the others had tapped into the database of the workshop to find out more about what actually happened.
It seemed that during the time when the Lanteans fled back to Earth, Earth was under the control of a race of parasitic aliens calling themselves the Goa’uld. Most Lantean maintained their philosophy of remaining hidden until their Ascension. Some of the Lanteans like Lauger had left the cloaked enclave of the Lanteans and worked in the background of Earth’s humanity, banding the people together and gently guiding them to force the Goa’ulds off Earth.
Hidden in the shadows of civilizations, the Goa’ulds and the humans never discovered the existence of the Lanteans. After the Goa’ulds were forced off Earth, Lauger had come upon an abandoned Goa’uld Al’kesh. By then, he had built a cloaked workshop for himself.
As what Xander had told them, Lauger’s focus was mainly on Alteran history. As such, Lauger’s direction in life had been a bit different from his peers. He had made it his personal mission to hunt down and explore surviving Alteran structures before his Ascension. By the time he Ascended seven years later, he had mapped out many Alteran structures in the Milky Way which had laid untouched for thousands of years, compiling a compendium of Alteran history, all of which were now at the group’s fingertips.
Willow had been accessing the database in the workshop for the past two weeks, utilizing the language interface Ian had created to learn more about alien culture and technologies, and she had not even scratch the surface. There had been many times she had to suppress jealously at the high intelligence of most of Xander’s followers and the instant links they had with Xander, which allowed them to easily comprehend and understand the alien technologies.
Xander’s maxed out Hero units tend to have extremely high intelligence, making them super geniuses. By passing his Hero units information pertaining to those gained from the databases of the workshop and ship, which included cultural and technological information, they were able to comprehend those information in minutes after Xander passed them the information through the mental links. Xander’s Hero unit followers were the main reason why they had been able to conduct really deep customisations to the Enterprise.
And now… today was the day that the group would set off into space, on Enterprise’s maiden journey.
Xander had carefully chosen the group which included Mrs. Summers, Buffy, Dawn, herself, Cordelia, Jenny, Giles, Tain, Yalen and Ian. Angel had opted out, citing that he had some tasks to complete. As for the rest, Xander said that they would have the chance to venture to space soon, once he had confirmed some stuff during Enterprise’s maiden journey. Not to mention managing the Alliance and keeping Earth safe would be occupying most of his followers’ time for the next foreseeable months.
“Willow!” A harried looking Buffy called up behind Willow, interrupting her thoughts. “You saw Dawn anywhere?”
“I think she already went into the ship.” Willow answered as she pointed towards the opened section of the Enterprise. “I saw her went up the ramp only a minute ago.”
“Argh that brat! I was looking all over for her!” Buffy huffed as she stomped quickly into the ship, leaving Willow shaking her head with a grin.
Walking up the ramp into the cargo bay of Enterprise, Willow smiled as she saw the crates of supplies neatly stacked. They probably have enough supplies to last them for a month, and if they ran out of anything, Xander had told her that he could always build small structures that could provide supplies to the group, in the large cargo bay. If worse comes to worse, they could always land on a planet with breathable atmosphere and have Xander construct a Way Gate back to Earth. Though Xander did admit he was saving that option for the last as he had no way of knowing if the Way Gate would work so far away from the ones back on Earth.
Moving deeper into the ship, Willow climbed up two sets of stairs to reach her room at the third level. All the rooms had been labelled with their occupant’s names, a homely touch by Mrs. Summers when she had volunteered to help decorate the rooms in Enterprise during the past two weeks of preparation.
Opening the door to her room, she moved in, rolling her luggage to a cupboard in a corner of the room, close to her bed. All the furniture in the room had been nailed down in case the Enterprise had the misfortune to encounter any turbulence, or god forbid, space attacks. Nailed furniture meant less chance for them to fly around and injuring anyone if the ship had to utilize any complex and extreme manoeuvres.
There was a window in her room and Willow made her way there, looking outside, taking a long look at Xander’s mansion which was within her view. That view of normality might be her last sight of Earth for a very long while.
Turning, Willow made her way to her luggage, preparing to arrange her things in the cupboard. The voyage would begin soon, and she had preparations of her own to make.
OoooO
Hundreds of light years away, present time…
The naked sandy haired man got up from the crater he was laying on, his mind a blank, a clean slate as he looked around the dry and blazing hot landscape he had found himself in. He could not recall what happened, it was as though he possessed no memories of his own, though the words “… you’ve redeemed yourself Terin…” resonated powerfully in his head. Words that were spoken with great power and force.
Terin… the word sounded familiar. There was a certain sensation to recalling the word, and the man was certain that it must be his name.
“Terin.” The man spoke through dried lips as he looked at his harsh surroundings, his mind blank, with no memories to guide him on the appropriate actions. What was he to do now?
Wraithrune's Den of Words 