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

[keeper444@xxxxxxxxx]

Not much to say here except I thought y'all would like to see the "b"
part of chapter 16. Once again it is about Xander's experiences with the
Goddess or the Lady as her eventually calls her.

As always I hope y'all find this entertaining and that you'll let me
know what you think of the story so far. I do want to let you know that
this book is winding down and will soon end. Have fun.
TTFN

Alex
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Full disclaimers can be found with part 1 at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/message/8661 
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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
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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?
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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.
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Revelations and Realizations 16b
by: Alex P.
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The still body of a young man lay in the bed, surrounded by life
sustaining machinery. With the exception of when the nurses rolled 
him to avoid bedsores, he hadn't moved, voluntarily, in over a month.

Most of the serious wounds he had suffered upon his admittance to
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital were healed; there were a few broken bones
and deep contusions that were well on their way to being 
healed. The name on the chart was Alexander Lavelle Harris, and 
showed his occupation as Police Officer, his wounds however were 
recorded as non-work related. 

According to all the charts and records, the young policeman should 
have been awake, and ready to be released weeks ago, and all 
the learned physicians were at a loss to explain why he remained in a 
coma.

At the request of his trauma surgeon, the newest, and most prestigious 
addition to the hospital staff, Dr Jeffrey Fallon, had been asked to 
consult on the case. With the full permission of the other physicians 
of record, the highly skilled doctor was gladly given the baffling 
case. 

What the other doctors could not possibly have known, was that the 
young police officer's true condition was only discernible with some 
of the most archaic and unusual of diagnosic methods, methods known only
to Dr. Fallon. From his tests and readings, Dr. Fallon had discovered
that 
Officer Harris was not in a coma, as the others thought, instead the 
young man was in a state of suspended animation. 

Dr Fallon was at a loss as to how or why his patient was in such a
bizarre condition, but he knew it was caused by a very powerful 
entity, far beyond the limits of even the unusually trained doctor's
skills to discern. 

He was of course politically astute enough not to inform the other 
attending physicians of his diagnosis. That he confided to only one 
other doctor.

There were tubes and wires leading to the young man, but they were
completely unnecessary, because whatever being had place him in this
condition, was healing him as well, but without those dummied up leads
and IVs, other hospital staff would have asked too many embarrassing 
and unanswerable questions.

Dr. Cheryl O'Bryan, who was Xander's trauma surgeon, and the one that
had called in her very good friend Dr. Jeffery Fallon, had smirked
smugly, watching quietly, as all the high priced staff doctors had
ordered test after test, and each test had been returned with the same
answer, the test results were inconclusive. 

Meaning they had no idea what was going on with the young man. She had
played on their bruised egos to get Jeffery Fallon assigned to this 
case with her, and since she had become one of the few people to know 
the sinister secrets behind the typical small-town facade of 
Sunnydale, and to join the small group of people that were battling 
the evil that was constantly threatening to overwhelm the small town 
and possibly the entire world, she was privy to the real diagnosis of 
Xander's condition.

She and Jeffery of course made daily checks on Xander, noting no 
change for the worse in his condition, but on the night that he began 
to return to the realm of conscious, both doctors were in another 
part of the hospital, by coincidence, taking care of another patient,
one 
that was also suddenly returning from a prolonged enforced sleep.
============== 
Xander's time was up. All he could do now was hope that all the time 
and trouble the Goddess had invested in him, as well as his own sweat, 
blood, and effort, would be enough for him to carry out his purpose in 
the scheme of the universe, and finally find his own true destiny. 

Not only that, he was finally of use to Buffy and the others for
something besides comedy relief or donut runs. At last he was going to
be on an almost equal footing with the Chosen One, and the Sorceress,
and would be right on the front lines of the battle, with Buffy and
Willow.

He was amazed at himself, and by all the things he had accomplished in
his time with the Goddess. For one he was now considered a master of 
the broadsword, and he had the muscles and reflexes to prove it after
countless hours of training alone and with his teachers.

He had also finally got over his obsession with Cordelia Chase, and
also his childish crush on Buffy. 

The Goddess had brought to her temple some of the finest warriors from
the history of the human race to see to her champion's training. He 
had taken lessons from Kings, Knights, and some of the most famous 
warriors of all time. 

She had brought Lancelot, Ulysses, Ramses, Achilles, Paris of Troy, 
Joan of Arc, even the black knight himself, Richard the Lion Heart 
was sent to tutor the young man in the arts of war. 

Ancient Greek and Roman warriors, of both sexes, were brought to the
training grounds the Goddess had created just for this purpose.

Xander was a bright, able, and determined student, soaking up the
knowledge of some of the greatest generals of all time, as he learned
battle tactics, and fighting skills. He learned to master many types of
weapons in his
time there, but by far the largest part of his training was in the use
of the broadsword. Hours upon end he spent practicing and sparing as 
he learned techniques and subtleties of fighting with the deadly 
instrument, he was tutored far beyond the basic brute skills of 
wielding the sword.

With all this training, practicing and sparing Xander's body too was
changing. The Goddess hadn't told him but everything he was learning
and doing to improve his astral body, was being transferred to his
physical body 
laying in the hospital room. 
He was totally unaware of the quiet buzz that flew through the 
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital's rumor-mills. Stories were passed 
through the staff lounges and corridors of the unconscious young man,
whose 
body was becoming heavily muscled, and building in bulk as he lay in a 
coma. 

There were many suspicions of what was happening to him, but no one
dared even guess, mostly for fear of upsetting the delicate balance 
that existed between the residents of the town on the Hellmouth, and 
the supernatural beings that surrounded it. 
All Xander knew was that the body he was in, during his stay at the
Goddess temple, was certainly becoming buff, and he wasn't complaining 
at all. The Goddess also seemed to notice his amazing development and 
was very pleased to say the least. This was definitely not the clumsy 
boy that had entered her temple not long ago, he was in the Goddess' 
own words, a very beautiful specimen, a prime hunk.

Her interest in Xander's developing body, became very apparent one day 
on the training grounds, when there was a minor accident.

Xander looked over wistfully at the exotic woman responsible for his 
newfound maturity, and saw a sad look cross the incredibly beautiful 
face. Since he'd arrived in this strange place, he had never seen her 
looking anything less than perky, well except for the few times she 
lost her temper, like when one of his sparing partners nearly killed 
him. 

She had almost blasted that poor Achilles to oblivion, but Xander
convinced her that if she did, he'd never learn what he was supposed 
to, because the instructors would be too afraid of her. Besides, he 
joked reminding with the friendly deity, that only his spirit self was
there, and 
she could repair that with just a snap of her fingers.

He thought of all the amazing, and wonderful things the Goddess had 
done for him, including giving him the thing he'd asked her for in 
the prayer that had finally opened the door allowing her to 
officially enter his realm, the answer to his true destiny. 

Now he sat and sipped the juice that one of the women had brought him,
and smiled. The Goddess and his tutors were pleased with his progress,
and all agreed that it would soon be time to return to his body, and 
the physical realm that was his natural home, where he was expected to
resume the battle of the Light against the Dark, that he and his 
friends had already been fighting. 

This time though, there was a difference, the Goddess had chosen him 
to be her champion, and had given him special powers to go with that 
role. Now Alexander Harris was to be the Goddess' weapon among the 
humans, her instrument of revenge, on those that had dared to 
interfere in areas that belonged to her, and he was looking forward 
to the role.

With her promise of a very special weapon, and the true mate of his 
soul, that would come to him, bringing with her the key to his 
ultimate powers, he felt he was ready to go back. 

The Goddess had just recently informed him that it was nearly time 
for his return, he smiled sadly as he remembered the tears in her 
eyes, as she delivered the news. He knew that a part of her was sorry 
to see him leave, just as a part of Xander wished he could stay in 
the temple of the Goddess
forever.

They'd had some very good times together here and had become close, as
close as a Goddess and her mortal champion could be. However even the
Goddess could not change the march of time in the realm of earth and
Xander had to get ready to go home so that he could join his fellow 
warriors, in time for a major battle, one that would decide the 
future of the earth, and all its adjacent realms for generations to 
come.

Xander was more than ready to return, and to resume his life, especially
now that he had a purpose, as well as a destiny of his own to 
fulfill. A smile crossed his handsome face, as he thought of his new 
role in the scheme of things, and his happiness with the knowledge 
that very soon he would be known as the Goddess' champion on Earth, 
and that he would possess a weapon that would prove his acceptance, 
beyond even the slightest doubt to all his friends and comrades. 

He, Xander Lavelle Harris, was now a major player and the chosen of 
the Goddess, and the near equal of his friends Buffy and Willow. This 
time there would be no holding back. 

More than one destiny was at stake.

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END 16b
TBC in 17
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