FF: RoL II: Revelations and Realizations 16a by: Alex P.

[keeper444@xxxxxxxxx]

So here we go another chapter of my humble attempt at writing. I figured
y'all might want to know what's happening with Xander, and how he's
fairing while his supposed girlfriend gets acquainted with her destined
soulmate.

And without further babbling from me here ya' go, I hope y'all like it.

Alex
------------------------
Full disclaimers can be found with part 1 at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/message/8661 
------------------------
Or, Find the entire "Higher Power" and "Return of Legends" series, from
the beginning, at the "Hand of Chaos" archives at:
http://dreamwater.net/handchaos/new.html
------------------------
As always all the characters from BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enemy, et al, and are used without permission. Not copyright
infringement is intended and no profit of an kind is being made with
this story.
All other characters are all mine and should not be used without my
permission. K?
-----------------------
Also a big thanks to Cheryl Hill for beta reading the warped and
demented ramblings of my sick and twisted mind, and turning into
something worth reading. She's doing the best she can with what I've
given her to work with. Thanks you did a fabulous job as always.
++++++++++++++++
Revelations and Realizations 16a
by: Alex P.
++++++++++++++++
Xander Harris was a happy camper. After so many years of always 
feeling guilty over the death of his and Willow's childhood friend 
Jesse, he finally had confirmation that he had been spared a similar 
death so many times for a reason, that he too had a destiny. 

Thanks to the Goddess, he had learned of his special weapons, and had 
been trained how to use them, until he had reached an expert level, by 
some of the greatest weapons masters in history. 

Being a Goddess, she 
had used her powers to provide Xander with the very best of 
everything during his stay with her. 

While he had not been too happy to learn that he and Cordelia weren't
meant to be together, he was pleased that she would be with her true
soulmate (even if it was Faith). He trusted the Goddess when she
promised that Faith would be on their side, now that she had the 
balancing factor of being with her true and destined soulmate, 
Cordelia.

Besides, she promised that Xander too, had a soulmate out there, and
that she would personally see to it that, unlike his ancestors Uther 
and Arthur, Xander would have his true soulmate. 
She had also told him the truth about Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, 
Merlin, and the much miligned Morgan le Fey. There wasn't a dry eye 
in the room as she had finished her story and a lot of Xander's 
preconceptions of what had happened at Camalot were changed. Many of 
the people that he had always been told were at fault, were actually 
innocent victims of circumstance, and they only acted in the way that 
their times demanded of them. 

He had felt a little strange when he learned that Willow had been 
right, back in high school when she said, 'Guinevere wasn't the 
proper mate for "King Arthur'; that Arthur's advisor, Merlin,  
had misread the signs, and had bungled the search. So he missed 
giving the once and future king, the mate that had would take the 
mortal king, to a higher state of being, as he was meant to be. 

Now the Goddess was going to see to the destiny of his family line,
personally, and she was sure this latest incarnation of her champion 
would receive every possible advantage, before, during, and after, 
this battle to save the world from some of the most evil beings ever 
to join forces since the war of Light and Darkness began.
=============
Xander had been a guest and student in the Goddess' temple for quite
some time now. He had understood that time here was somewhat different
than it was in his normal realm, and while he had been here so long 
that he'd lost count, on earth he'd only been gone from his body 
for a month or so. 

As he sat there reflecting on his introduction to the Goddess, and
his subsequent stay in her magnificent temple, his mind couldn't help
but go back to the early pre-dawn hours of that fateful morning, and 
the desparate prayer that had crossed his lips, as he was close to the 
very limits of his endurence. 

A slightly smug smile came to his lips when he thought of that simple
prayer, and how it had changed not only his life, but the lives of 
almost everyone he knew back in Sunnydale.
*********************
"Goddess of my ancestors," he had prayed that dark, frightening 
night, as he carried the unconscious body of Cordelia away from the 
vicious beasts that had attacked them in the cemetery. "Please give 
me the strength to save this woman, and reveal to me my true destiny."
********************
Never once had Xander considered the consequences of that request, or
that the deity he had called on would answer his request in quite the
manner she did, but beggars can't be choosers. He smiled as his mind
wandered back to their very first meeting.
*******************
The last thing he remembered of that night, was Joyce answering the
door, and how the look of irritation on her face changed to
concerned fright, in the matter of a heart beat. 

He also remembered trying to tell her what had happened to him and
Cordelia, but before he could finish everything went black. He
remembered the overwhelming pain and dizziness, then, nothing, he felt
like he was floating on a sea of darkness, feeling nothing.

Then the sweetest most lyrical voice he'd ever heard came into his 
mind, urging him toward consciousness. 

"Come on handsome," the 
heavenly voice called to him softly, "it's time to wake up darling 
boy. Come on stud, you called for me, remember?"

When she didn't get an answer, she called again, her tone a little more
impatient, she had always been an impatient deity. 

"You called and I came, so get up, and we shall see what we need to 
do, to get everything back the way it's supposed to be."

Xander slowly opened his eyes, and when the expected pain failed to
come, he looked around anxiously, wondering what happened, and even 
more importantly where he was.

<>Yep<> he thought critically <>This has to be a hospital room, nobody
else would have the bad taste to paint a room that colour, and those
curtains. Yuck! Where do they find those hideous curtains? That has to
be the grossest green paint job, I have ever seen.<>

"Alright big boy, that's enough with the interior decorating tips," 
the voice said impatiently. "You and I have things to discuss, and I 
don't like it here, so haul your cute little astral buns up, and come 
with me to a much more comfortable place. It's prettier too, I 
decorated it myself."

Xander found himself rising, and taking the hand that was offered, he
came face to face with the most incredibly beautiful woman he had ever
seen. The young man was totally speechless, at least he was until he
looked back and saw himself still laying in the hospital bed, with all
kinds of tubes and wires, connecting him to a confusing array of
monitors, machines, and several bags hanging from the tall pole, next to
the 
bed. He turned and looked at the tall beautiful woman completely in 
awe.

"A-am I d-d-dead?" he asked, terrified of the answer.

The woman laughed at his question, and it was several minutes before 
she could speak, tears of mirth fell from her eyes that turned to 
flawless white diamonds as they hit the ground.

"A-are you an Angel?" Xander's voice was barely a whisper, he knew 
this woman was far too beautiful to be mortal.

"Oh honey I have got to keep you around a while," the woman answered
brightly, "You've already made me laugh more than that old sweety 
Merlin ever did. The poor dear, never did forgive himself afterwards. 
Ah well maybe you and I can correct his mistake, and his sweet old 
soul can finally rest."

Xander couldn't help but detect the sorrow she felt as she spoke of
the legendary wizard. Then before he could think of that any more, she
turned a dazzling smile on him, that sent thrills through him, taking
his mind off her statement.

"To answer your questions, stud," she began, a hint of laughter in her
voice, "No, you are not dead. You are having what most mortals call an
'out of body' experience, the you that is talking to and hearing me, 
is your essence, your spirit if you will. All that is your 
consciousness is here with me. I put your body into stasis, as far as 
those mortal doctors know, is that you're in an unexplainable coma. 
All your vital signs are normal, you are breathing on your own, and 
your body is healing, as it should, well actually, a little faster 
than it should. By the time we are finished and you return to your 
body, you will not only be well, you will find that you are much 
better than you were before."

"B-B-But w-who are you?" Xander asked, confused and more than a little
frightened. "I mean thank you for stopping the pain and all, but I've
been living on the Hellmouth long enough to know that everything 
costs. No one helps anyone for free. My next question is - what will 
my reprieve, and your presence cost me?"

Her laughter filled the room, and Xander noticed they were no longer 
in the hospital room, but in a place with no walls, or at least where 
the walls were hidden by thick grey fog. 

It was the infectious nature of her laughter that snared 
Xander's heart, and soon he was chuckling along with the mysterious 
woman. Just as his ancestors before him, Xander found that he was 
really beginning to like her. 

Something was telling him to trust this exotic beauty. He couldn't 
help but look her over, she was simply too alluring to ignore.

Her heart shaped face was framed by long wavy black hair that fell in
ebony cascades to her waist, and shone like a raven's wing. Her 
flawless alabaster skin helped enhance her full naturally ruby red 
lips, set below an aquiline nose that reminded him of the statues of 
Greek gods and goddesses he'd seen at the museum. She had the most 
beautiful and enchanting eyes, that were almond shaped, but he found 
it was almost disturbing, when he noticed the way they were 
constantly changing colours, from the lightest Summer sky blue, to a 
deep intoxicating violet, surrounded by the longest, most feathery 
eyelashes, that made her every blink the sexiest eye batting that the 
suddenly aroused young man had ever been exposed to. 

The outfit she was wearing was of the sheerest gossamer silk that did
little to conceal her, considerable, assets. 

Everything about her 
exuded sex. 
Xander was completely ensnared, as his eyes boldly roamed 
uncontrollably over the amazingly enticing woman in front of him. 

Only a very skimpy thong bikini kept him from viewing all she had to 
offer. To say that she excited him would have been a gross 
understatement, the large bulge in his crotch, was evidence of her 
affect on him.

The woman looked him over just as boldly, not even trying to disguise
her pleasure at his appearance, 

"Oh my, you *are* glad to see me!" 
She quipped, as she openly appraised his crotch. "Verrrry impressive 
stud."

Her lighthearted giggle only served to arouse him further. Xander was
embarrassed by his apparent lack of control, but he was also secretly
very flattered by both her interest, and her light hearted comments.

"Ah...well...I...ah...er...um...ah..." Xander stammered, his normally
shy nature made more pronounced by this woman's uninhibited open
appraisal of his body. "Ah so why...well why me?"

"Why? Hey stud you called me," she laughed at his obvious confusion.
"Honey, it's been a long time since someone of your line has needed me
like you did, and cutie I am most certainly glad you called. 
You and your friends were about to foul up a plan that the fates and I
have been working on since the beginnings of humankind's war with the 
minions of the Darkness. 
It was almost as disastrous as when that sweet old idiot Merlin caused
the Guinevere debacle, with your ancestor. Now come with me young 
Alexander, we need to talk, and I prefer to be comfortable, and you 
look like you could use a little pampering yourself my darling boy." 

She held out her hand to the young man, in an open invitation to 
accompany her. Figuring that he had come this far, why not go all the 
way, he gently took her soft hand. She looked deep into his 
chocolate brown eyes and smiled at what she saw there.

"Oh stud, I can see I am in big trouble with you, aren't I," the
enigmatic woman said with a low sexy purr that sent chills down 
Xander's spine. "Hang on tight stud, we're going to my place."

Xander held on to the hand, and closed his eyes; he felt a shift in 
the atmosphere as his stomach did a slow forward roll. 
Once he regained his equilibrium, he opened his eyes, and gasped in 
surprise, he was in an opulently decorated room straight out of 1001 
Arabian Nights. 

Everything about the room screamed out decadence, and hedonism, he was
totally speechless (a common condition whenever the Goddess was
involved)
the settings of a majority of his adolescent fantasies lay before him.

He gulped loudly, as two incredibly gorgeous women approached him, 
both dressed in the same style outfit as his hostess, only of 
different colours. 

Poor Xander wasn't sure where to, or not to, look. All around him were
beautiful women, and men, all perfect specimens, and all scantily
dressed. The flustered young man had never seen so many beautiful 
people in one room, in his life. 
Finally he forced his eyes to the one place he was sure was safe to
look, the ceiling, but he was wrong, even the ceiling was covered with
exquisitely painted panels, depicting erotic scenes from many popular
love stories, and ancient myths, from many various cultures.

"What do you think of it?" his hostess asked, her amusement at his
embarrassment clear in her lighthearted voice. "It's a humble shelter
I know, but I hope it meets with your approval."

"Sure...ah...er...::achem::" Xander stammered unsure how to answer
without insulting this obviously powerful deity. "It's...ah...unique,
yeah and beautiful, very nice. Ah who are they?"

Xander indicated the several other occupants in the room with them, 
with a wide sweeping gesture. Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed how 
close the other two women were, and his gesture ended with his hand 
on a perfectly formed soft full breast, making his situation, even 
more awkward and embarrassing.

"Oh my god! I-I'm sorry!" Xander exclaimed, becoming aware of the
comfortably warm flesh, that was resting quite nicely, filling his 
hand. "I'm...oh...awe geez, I can't believe this I am so sorry."

His apology became less convincing, as he realized he was still 
holding on to the woman's comfortably firm breast. He tried to jerk 
his hand away as if it had been burned, but the beautiful young owner 
of the breast held it in place, smiling invitingly at him with a very 
sultry smile, her violet eyes hooded and darkened with lust.

"Please young master," she purred in a deep-throated voice that 
struck a chord in his spine sending hot erotic jolts of raw sexual 
energy into his mind and groin. "Let me care for your needs. It is 
the joyful goal of my existence, to serve such as yourself."

The young woman moved closer, so that her very warm, barely clothed
body was pressed tightly against him. Xander felt himself totally lost
to the chestnut haired vixen, and her fantastic body. The young man 
was actually terrified, and he couldn't seem to find enough saliva to 
keep his mouth and throat from drying out, like a dessert under the 
summer sun.

"Easy on the mortal, babe," his hostess ordered laughing "Let the boy
get used to the place before you overload him, and make his poor 
mortal brain melt and run out of his ears, ok?"

With a slight nod of agreement, the young woman brought Xander's hand
from her breast, to her mouth, and placed a hot wet kiss followed by a
slow lick across his palm. She raised her eyes to meet Xander's wide-
open surprised brown eyes, looking deeply into his eyes, she gave him a
sexy grin.

"Later young master," she said her voice almost a moan of ecstasy,
"Please do not forget Salomé."

"Not a problem." he answered in a gasp.
********************
It had been quite some time since that first meeting, and Xander had
learned much about the Goddess, her temple, and it's other occupants.
Most importantly, that time didn't pass there as it did in the 
physical realms, to him it had seemed years, but to his physical 
body, it had only been a few weeks. 

This realm had been given so many names by humans throughout history,
that the Goddess told him to decide what he was to call her home, to 
him and his illustrious ancestors it was Avalon, but it had also been 
called Asguard, Olympus, and even Nirvana. 

Over the countless millennia of her existence, the Goddess too had 
been called by many names, to Xander's forefathers she had been 
simply called the Lady, or the Lady of the Lake, but he was asked to 
call her by one of her two favorite incarnations, either Hathor or 
Aphrodite. It had been in those incarnations that she had last been 
allowed to really interact with her human worshippers.

Of all the great creations, she had always loved and enjoyed these
fragile, volatile, and emotionally-driven little beings the most. They
had usually followed their hearts and were normally willing, even
grateful, for her blessings and guidance. 

Not all of her fellow immortals had felt the same, and most had not
survived the shifting trends of mankind. Some like the father of the
gods, had simply become what the humans had wished him to be, from
thundering avenger, to forgiving-all father, but despite what his most
zealous followers claimed, he too, had definite limitations on his
powers. 

Even the powerful "All Father" wasn't allowed to interfere with her
realm without her consent, and she jealously guarded her territory. 

Even the great "All Father" was known to suddenly have somewhere else to
be, 
when the Goddess of Love was on a rampage.

It was now common knowledge among the immortals that someone, either
mortal or immortal, had interfered with the chosen children of the
Goddess, and they all waited anxiously, they all knew the fallout from
that transgression would be felt throughout the realms, for 
generations to come. The last time she had lost her renowned temper, 
several galaxies, and the immortals involved, simply ceased to exist 
in the blink of an eye. 

Since his arrival, Xander Harris had known that he and his friends were
all the chosen children of the Goddess, and that someone had twisted
his, and Cordelia's paths, as well as Faith's, turning them away from
their destinies. With his help and cooperation, the Goddess
had set Cordelia and Faith back on the path they were meant to be on,
and
Xander was assured that once he was ready, and returned to his body, 
he too would, shortly after his return, meet his true and destined 
soulmate.

Keeping his pact with the Goddess, Xander had faced some of the most
rigorous training known to mortal man, but he was constantly aware of
the final rewards he would reap.
He did everything he was capable of to keep his side of 
the bargin and for some reason, Xander knew deep in his heart and soul, 
that the Goddess would keep her promises as well.

All he needed was time, he only hoped he had the time she needed him 
to give.

+++++++++
END 16a
TBC in 16b
+++++++++