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Ancestry 34 - Visions To The Future

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Ancestry 34 - Visions To The Future







Xander walked into the bank, to the back area. Only one warrior tried to stop him but that one just looked away when Xander stared at him. He walked into the head office and found someone unexpected. "Chieftain Ragnok. Not the one I expected to complain at about their idiot moment."

"The king that took over called on my help," he said dryly, smirking at the arrogant human. Who had rightly earned it. "Then he died of the plotting going on."

"I think I found more of it." He tossed the scroll down in front of him. "I have no idea why it's my fault they have no honor."

"The honor scroll says that you exposed it to the outside world and shamed the horde." He looked at him.

Xander leaned down to smirk at him. "I still haven't gotten back everything the bank stole from the family," he said then smirked again. "But I'm damn sure going to have to go down and find it myself." He straightened up again.

"You're arrogant, Human."

"I earned my right to be arrogant on this topic. You guys burned down my family home. Killed three unicorn mares, one pregnant one, doing it." The king winced at that, shifting some. "Frankly, I'll meet his honor debt in a few weeks when I'm not sore from Sunnydale battles too." He tossed down the other four scrolls he had. Then one final one with a grin.

The king looked at them and shuddered. "Yeah. I'm *extremely* tired of all this shit. I didn't start it. If I have to end it, I'll do that. And the bank and the Ministry to do that." He grinned. "Now, how I react right now will probably horrify Harry. A lot. Grandma Des is still floating around nagging me because I went off on Katya for being a Valkyrie during the battle instead of helping. Frankly, right now, I can do this as my new self so the Dumass name isn't linked to how everything will fall in."

"Not everything."

"You guys still have a siphon into me to protect the tunnels from falling into the Underground. Oh yes it will." He smirked again. "Oh yes it very well will." The king winced at that. "Now.... How are your people going to handle their stupid? This time I won't be calling help to hold me back. I won't need it."

"He could choose a champion. We know your strengths. Even the new ones."

Xander laughed, a bitter sound. "No one sees a thing about who I really am in Sunnydale. Buffy still thinks I'm *normal*. Even after seeing me casting magic. Even after seeing me with my axe dealing with huge problems she still thinks I'm just a guy who jumped in." He smirked at the woman walking in, bowing to her. "Queen."

"Dumass." She stared at him. "Visions are still going on with you in them."

"Oh, what now?" he asked dryly.

"From beneath you it devours will still happen. Though it will not take that many slayers."

He stared at her, shifting to face her better. "The cat raising is that important?"

"No, but the ones they'll take out are the reason behind her calling. It will destroy your city."

"Great!" He grinned and nodded. "So we won't need seven slayers?"

"No, you would if you battled her instead of using your link to turn the hellmouth into her."

"Sure, I can figure that out. Like putting the kraken in her altar sort? Or just linking them better?" He grinned. "Or should I totally do what I did in Lebanon that time? Which I know we never speak of."

"That would work," she admitted. "But the girls will suffer."

"Or I'll go warn them. Maybe blow the Council up myself."

She smiled. "You have more wisdom than that."

"Maybe but I am nineteen again. Remember what I did last time?"

"Yes," Ragnok admitted. "Though I hate the dreams it brings."

Xander grinned. "I was dating Anyanka until Mom talked to her."

The head of all goblins swallowed then looked at his wife, who smiled and patted him on the arm. "You will be the death of yourself soon, Dumass."

"Probably. But I have an heir at least. I have the son, the daughter, the grandson, and if he has kids some of them too. Plus the one you guys missed who's hidden." He grinned. The queen shuddered. "The daughter's okay. Has a large family. She's interesting. One of hers wants to be a cursebreaker but we've already warned her away from the bank. The same as we have Harry and Ron."

The queen pouted. "You guys kill Dumass cursebreakers for no reason and then whine about what happens because of it. If Katya hadn't been killed by someone's plots, Kiev wouldn't have happened." Loki appeared, staring at him. "It wouldn't have."

"Not for years. She would've sealed it."

"Exactly. It would've still been sealed to this day as it's got a time release problem." He looked at Ragnok. "Don't think I'm going to forgive the horde for taking out my family and trying to destroy us. Especially since we've been helping the bank since before the magical community was fully set up."

"True." He looked at him. "I cannot make up for that loss."

"No, you can't," Xander agreed. That earned another wince. He looked at Loki. "Any hints you want to give me? If not, I need to go be angry, beat a few demons in the Council building, then at home, then go help Harry finish calming down."

"He'll be fine, Alex," Loki assured him.

"He's a kid, Lord Loki. One who didn't deserve any of this shit piled on him." Loki scowled. He stared back. "Did he?"

"No. The prophecy was self fulfilling. His home life before was not good but he is healing."

"Yes, he's going to be healing for decades."

"True." He tipped his head. "You could help him."

"Dragging him into my screwed up life will suck the rest of his from him. He doesn't need more danger and more death."

"No, he doesn't. You two will manage it and soon there won't be a Sunnydale."

Xander grimaced. "Sure. That means I've got to do bigger stuff since I got linked to it by Dumbles." Loki winced, shrinking on himself a tiny bit. "Though I've broken some of it. Frankly, I'm tired of the fucking people are trying because they have no skill at it. I'm about to show them how to really fuck someone." He grinned at the queen since she giggled. "I really am." He looked at the god over cursebreakers again. "If you want me to be nicer, tell me now."

"No," Loki said. "I doubt it'd stop you if I did."

"Probably not a lot, no. Because I'm not just Alex anymore. I had fourteen years of being Xander Harris." He shrugged. He looked at the King. "I'll let him know when I'm healed enough to kick his ass in a field of combat." He bowed slightly to the queen. "Thank you for the warning. I may take care of that today. Then spank a slayer for threatening to take me shopping." He looked at Loki. "Will Joyce be okay?"

"No," he admitted, shaking his head. "She may live but brain cancer is a problem and it may come back somewhere else. We're not sure on her line yet."

"Okay. I'll be ready to shield her daughter then. If you see my sister, kick her for me?"

Loki smirked. "Never. She'd try to get me back, Alex."

Xander held up a hand. "I'm Xander now. Alex kinda died when he was cursed. All that nice stuff I learned? I've forgotten. All the manners, all that home training? It evaporated in survival." He shrugged. "And quit pushing the kid to flirt with me. That's up to him." He disappeared without pulling his wand.

Loki sighed, sitting down in front of the ruling couple. "He's right, he has changed. All that has made him harder, yet a bit fragile. I agree that Malfoy would do him good. Any lover would do him good if they were good." He stared at the scrolls, picking them up to look at them. "I'm shocked it accepted him."

"He probably took it for his grandson," the queen said.

"Perhaps," Loki agreed. "Or perhaps he knows that he is still an instrument of chaos and honor debt scrolls don't work on him." He handed it back. "They never have." He grinned at the king, who winced. "So he accepted it enough to let it activate but he'll just destroy them. They probably deserve it."

"If they live long enough because I've still got plots to end."

Loki smirked. "Just change them out. You can't afford to lose six-tenths of this clan." He stood up. "Or more." He disappeared, going to talk to Katya. She had to make up with her brother before he got to the Warrior's Hall.

The king looked at his wife. "We will clean up this mess. Then we will watch Xander Harris prove his worth. Though he's done that plenty so far."

She nodded. "He will destroy them. All. By hand probably. He could have as Alex but he was too polite and just fought back. Now, he's going to ruin instead of just equal pressure." She stood up. "Are you coming for dinner?"

"Soon." She nodded, leaving him to finish his audit and fix this problem horde.

***

Xander appeared in Traver's office, freezing everyone but him. "It's sweet how you guys have orchestrated your own downfall and deaths by summoning back a spirit." He stared at Travers, who sneered. "The First Evil prophecies are starting.

"Because someone in this shitty building, or probably several someones, called back a person." He waved a hand around lazily. "Which means the First is going to come after you because it takes seven slayers to lock her back in." Travers looked horrified, standing up. "I just got done with the dvergers at the bank who had the vision."

"The what?"

"You probably know them as goblins, though that's a slur." He stared at him. "I have a possible way to fight it, using some ancient skills I've found lying around here and there." He smirked a bit. "But it won't save you guys or the slayers." He shrugged then grinned. "But you guys started that yourselves.

"Which means eventually all this will come into the open. All the slayers, all the battles, everything. Because it'll destroy Sunnydale and that'll mean it hits the news. Which means people will go looking and find things. So what are you going to do about your morons?"

"We're going to protect the slayers." Travers glared at him. "You look happy about our downfall."

"Well, you do have a price on my head," he said dryly. "Have since I was sixteen this time." Travers glared harder. Xander grinned. "I'm not an American teenager. Never was." He disappeared.

"I hate that boy," he sneered, unfreezing the others. "We need to move to emergency protocols today."

"We can't trust that boy's words," one complained.

"We've had three slayers killed in the last week," Travers told him. "We had no idea what was going after them. Also, all of you make out wills. It's a possibility that Wyndham-Pryce may be the last watcher alive." They shuddered but went to do that and start the emergency protocols.

***

Xander appeared in the Magic Box, staring at Giles. "The queen of the dvergers said 'from beneath you it devours'." Giles flinched, staring at him. "There's a way around needing seven slayers. But your former employers called back someone."

"Fuck!" he said, stomping off.

"Have them go to Wes in LA," he called after him. "They'll have room to house anyone that's running this way."

"You have a big house," Buffy complained.

"I have four bedrooms," he shot back. "Angel's using a hotel."

"Oh, yeah, he'd have more rooms. I'll talk to him. What's that one about?" Giles handed her the book, already open to the prophecy. She read it, grimacing. "Wow, another one."

"No, in the vision the town fell in," Xander told her. She slumped, staring at him. He nodded. "Yup. We have a maybe plan and a surefire but messy and deadly one. I'll work on the maybe later tonight."

She handed him the book so he skimmed it. "Anything not in there?"

"News people getting nosy?" he guessed.

She considered that. "Yeah, a whole town falling in will bring attention. Eww." She walked off. "I need to get Mom to somewhere safer."

"Maybe she should have some inpatient treatment time?" he offered.

She looked at him. "Is there a way to help her cancer go away faster?"

"Not my skill set," he admitted. "I break things, Buffy, I can't heal worth a damn."

"Fuck." She walked off nodding, going to warn her mother.

Xander leaned over to look at Giles. "The maybe is something that happened in Lebanon a few decades back. When I was about forty."

Giles looked at him. "That thing that saved that school?" he demanded.

"Yeah, that incident probably. We can link the hellmouth to her seal, which is sitting on top of the hellmouth." Giles slumped, considering it. "If not, she'll go after the slayers and the Council. Because it takes seven slayers to handle it."

"Oh, dear Lord Janus," he prayed, looking up. "Save my nerves."

Xander grinned. "We need to clean out the town completely before it falls in. So I'm going to be hauling, hefting, toting, and curse breaking." He shrugged but grinned. "It'll keep me from shopping with her blondeness."

"I suppose that's a good idea."

"Thanks. I'm going to warn Dru first. Then have Library move the house back. That way I'm not missing my bed." He walked off. Library scowled at him when he summoned her. "What?" he asked.

"Miss Katya is upset."

"She decided to stand there and watch a battle instead of helping." He stared at her. "Had Ginny shoot me with an arrow during the battle, Library." She winced. "Yeah, I don't care. She brought it on herself." He cleared his throat. "We've got to clean out the whole hellmouth in the next few months. Because it's going to fall in.

"We have a prophecy of a huge problem that'll go after the slayers. So can you work on a pull back of everything in the house but the necessities and I'll start shipping back the artifacts that're hiding around here. Before they cause us more problems."

"Library will send Helpful to do that."

"Helpful can't lift, Library. Just leave me the bed and a couch and a few pots and pans in the kitchen. My clothes. The rest needs to go back to storage somewhere not the bank please. Sometime in the next month or so." She nodded at that and sighed. "If Katya wanted to come back, she could have. She knew that. She chose not to. I know you adored her because you used to sleep on her head, but not my fault. That was her fault."

"Library understand. Maybe Miss Katya spelled?"

"No clue. Maybe." He shrugged. "At least she's not as evil as Mel is." Library nodded at that, going to take stock of the house. "I've got to start the clean out tonight. A lot of it can go into storage and be broken later. Some of it is really evil though.

"Oh, and I need my journal from Lebanon. Back when I was forty. I'll have to redo that." She groaned but went to find that first. "Thank you," he called after her. He popped his neck, heading out to look at the bigger artifact storage areas he knew about. He ran into a vampire and punched them then staked them. He really should probably go check on Spike and Dru.

Spike was semi-helpless. Dru was still batty but one of Harry's relatives. He found their current lair and knocked, stepping back away from the door. The minion glared at him. He grinned. "The town's going to be destroyed within six months probably. Can you ask Dru if she's seen anything about the From Beneath You It Devours prophecy?"

The minion stomped off to ask that.

Dru wobbled that way quickly. "It cannot happen!" she ordered.

"We may have a way around it being a full blown battle, Dru. But I need to know if you have a vision please. Also, leave Buffy alone? Her mom's got brain cancer and she's really stressed. She's extra mad and taking it out on slaying."

"I've noticed. So many minions are now twinkling little lights." She stared at him. "Can we stop her?"

"I hope so. If not, it takes seven slayers."

"That would not be good for the darkness to coo at us." She nodded. "I'll let you know."

"Thanks. By the way, Harry's fine, he came through the battle fine. Just really upset because it was kinda nasty. We're hoping he doesn't have to battle again."

She smiled. "That's good. The dark would adore having him someday but he needs the light."

"We're trying."

"You could too."

"I know but it's gonna be a while," he admitted dryly. "It's gotta get past the anger." He turned and staked the vampire behind him. Then looked at her again. "I've got a ton of anger and it's just growing right now." She smiled and wandered off so he went back to studying and making a plan of what to move first. Maybe he'd bring Harry and Ron here to have them help while they learned from him.

***

Xander flooed Bill. "Wanna take a break out this way?" he asked with a grin. "I've got two miles to clear out before the town falls in in about four months time. I've gotten a good third of it but I also just broke my arm again." He held it up with a sigh. "Fucking vampires."

Bill blinked a few times. "So why call me?"

He held up something. "Spike found it, said it was a Weasley family artifact." He grinned at Bill's whine. "So not sure, it feels like it's an obligation though. And I've got sixteen *major* artifact and jewel dumps to clean up. Before the vampires steal them all and they're just hanging out somewhere we'll have to clean up later. I could use a few day's vacation anyway, Bill."

"Well, I'm not on assignment. The Ministry has been on my arse about the battles."

"You ask them where they were?"

"Yeah, twice now when I lost my temper." He grinned. "I get half."

"Of course." He shrugged. "I don't need the money." Bill smirked but cut the floo off and appeared a half-hour later after Xander had wrapped his arm. "Before you ask, healing spells are blocked by the thing that bit me." He pointed at it. "I'm about to hand it to a unicorn to kick around." The artifact let out a loud whine about that.

He grinned at Bill. Who came to put it into a box carefully so he wasn't bitten. He checked the wrapping and they went to clean out some more things together. "I almost invited Ron and Harry but it's too damn dangerous."

"I'd say," he complained, staring at the first cache. "Bloody hell," he complained. "Boxes?"

Xander pointed at his pile of them. "Two've been taken so the damn vampires got into it. They're probably still looking for the Gem of Amara, which is in another stash," he called loudly. The vampires coming back fled from that. "And I need those boxes back, boys. Tonight!"

They got thrown in and the vampires fled again. Bill sighed, going to grab them to check them over then start heaving things into them. Xander came over to help. They'd get this one cleared tonight. Hopefully. "At least it's not buried with someone."

"I hate tombs," Bill complained.

"At least we won't have mummies. That's something Sunnydale only has in the museum. I nearly dated an Incan one who was revived."

Bill blinked at him. "What?" Xander grinned and told him about her, and what had happened. And how they had cured it in case Bill needed it someday. Bill shook his head with a sigh, then got back to work. He could use the cash boost.

***

Bill stumbled into the bank with a heavy duffle bag, grunting in pain. "Hey," he told the warrior staring at him. "I'm Cursebreaker Weasley and we have a ton of things to go over. Can you get me a bit of help for the other three bags I have to get from Dumass?" The warrior called that in as he came over to help. "Not the blue thing on the outside," he warned. "It'll suck magic."

"Good to know. Where were you?"

"Helping Dumass since the hellmouth he's stuck on will fall in soon." He got the other three bags sent and caught them before they hit the floor and broke open. The warriors that came out to help hauled up the others, letting him have the original. "Anything attached to the outside is dangerous to put near other artifacts. I had a box but we ran into Druscila Black and she wanted a box so took just the box." The warriors just nodded.

Blackrock came out, staring at him oddly. "How bad was it?"

"The blue thing sucks magic."

"I won't be touching that." He followed them down there, opening doors for them. "Is this all you found, Cursebreaker Weasley?"

Bill grinned. "Oh hell no. This is my half of six artifact and gem caches that he needed help with because something blocked healing spells and he broke his arm. I'm not looking to cash out yet, not until they release the family from the debt."

"I can understand that," Blackrock agreed, getting the head human cursebreaker. Who came out looking amused. "I told him."

"This is all my half," Bill told him. "The stuff on the outside had been in a sealing protection box but Druscila Black wanted a box. Just the box. The blue one will suck magic. The bronze statue is a biter and it blocks healing spells."

"I'll be careful while we log stuff in. What's the split?"

"This is my half from the six artifact and gem caches I helped Dumass with. He said the hellmouth out there will be falling in in about four months. We did six bigger caches."

"Oh, Lord," the human muttered. "Anything worse?"

"Alex wouldn't tell me anything about that. It'd just be buried somewhere on the family's grounds," Bill said dryly. "Though yes, one was the Gem of Amara. The vampires really wanted it and we weren't going to do more than easily use a crossbow on the lot of 'em." He grinned again. "William Weasley came for it and we let him have it before I had to freak out the 'rents about him still being around and a vampire with Druscila Black."

The head cursebreaker looked at him. "He's using magic?"

"Yeah. Nothing keeps vampires from using magic. Just the wands themselves get snapped so they gotta find a new one."

"I did not think about that." He considered it. "Your uncle?"

"Dad's great-uncle or someat."

"Ah." He nodded. "Okay, let's see what you brought us, Bill." He got some gloves to put the stuff on the outside out of the way in a sealing case. The one that bit did try to bite him but Bill swatted it and it stopped. Bill held up one, making it glow. "Entailed?"

"Obligation."

"Oh." He nodded, taking it to put into another box by itself. They sorted out the cursed from the magic containing from the mundane. The mundane went into Bill's work vault. The other things got looked over, noted, looked up in a few cases, and got sworn about by the other cursebreakers.

Xander appeared with a heavy box, heaving it onto the table with a grunt. "The stuff I'm handing over. I don't want to deal with it." He grinned at the warriors, who groaned. "Later I get to let the slayer take me shopping. She's pouty." He patted Bill on the back. "You left that silver thing."

"Yes I did," he agreed happily. "I took a small diamond instead of it."

"Fine. I'll hand it to Angel or someone. I'm sure he'll appreciate it." He grinned at the head cursebreaker, who was whimpering and shaking his head. "Those are the really annoying and chatty ones. I don't want to play with those. Only one's evil and it's a trap anyway. It should be in the bottom unless it's moving." He grinned again then disappeared.

"Fucking hell," the head cursebreaker complained as he looked in the box. Bill took some things to contain. The evil one he thought he found and looked at. "Not that bad."

Bill came over to hand him one with a grin. "It's the hellmouth."

The guy carefully took that one and studied it then whined. "Oh, fuck us all!" The warriors all took a step back.

"Yup," Bill quipped with a grin. "He found that the day his arm got broken." He grinned at Blackrock. "He found the Title Stone."

"The Title Stone?" he asked bluntly. "Like our stone with the original families?"

"Yep," the head cursebreaker said, putting it on the table and putting it at normal size. "And it's cursed. Heavily cursed." He cast containment around it again. "This needs to be away from the dvergers."

Bill shrugged. "Is there a safer place?"

"No." He and Bill took it to go outside with it in the courtyard that was hidden. Ragnok strolled out to look over their shoulders. "It's cursed," the head cursebreaker told the king. "Very cursed. On each family noted."

"We knew that." He walked over to look at it, nodding. "There's three of the families left. And one new name was added sometime by someone without good inscription skills." He leaned down to look at it then nodded. "That figures. They consider themselves the new wave of Ancients. They're not but they do try." He stepped back. "Can the curses be ended?"

"If possible, Sire."

"Thank you, boys. What else did you find, Bill?"

He took him to show him. "The jewels are going in my work vault to last until after the debt's finally discharged. Though I'm having one made into Fleur's ring."

"That'll be pretty I'm sure." He looked at one thing, nearly getting bitten. "Well." Bill handed over his work journal for him to read. "Oh, dear. No wonder he's cleaning up that mess out there. Why did she want a box?"

"She needed one for her stars to come talk to her and sit on because they were short," Bill said dryly. "Her mate Spike just nodded and carried the box for her."

"Charming," Ragnok said, handing the journal back. "All the dangerous things?"

"My cut."

"I'll see if Dumass wants to store more of his before he has to dig a new cavern at the castle." He walked off sighing in displeasure. "How many more are there?"

"Nineteen caches, whatever's buried with people, and one mystical group that's related to the slayer somehow," Bill called after him. "Beyond this. And whatever he did before I got asked to come help because his arm was broken."

Ragnok sighed loudly. "Are the other hellmouths as bad?"

"I've never been to most of 'em," Bill admitted. "Ask them?"

"I can do that. Send someone to do a sensing." He went to make notes then let his wife soothe his headache. Dumass did give such headaches.

***

Xander showed up at the bank in leather pants, a t-shirt, boots, and his axe on his back with his sword beside it. He put down a parchment in front of a teller. "He wanted me that badly, he'll meet me then." He walked off. "I'll put out announcements if I'm injured on the hellmouth again." He sent himself off again.

The teller looked at her supervisor, who came over to get it. "Well, that one's dumb." The supervisor took it to the head of the bank's warriors. "This one wanted Dumass. He said then and there and if he's injured again he'll let him know."

The warrior clan leader looked at it. "That one was very stupid." He nodded, sending it with a junior member who was in training as a messenger. "Did he look healthier?"

"Amused but mad. Had his sword and axe." The warrior clan leader winced. "But leather pants like a normal cursebreaker."

"That's good at least. Well, we'll have some entertainment one night. Let's hope he doesn't call more backup."

"If that one calls up a champion for him that could happen."

"Hmm. Dumass isn't the wizard to be trifled with. He'll embarrass you first and then make you want to destroy yourself."

"I've seen. He handed it to a teller." He walked off. "Have fun."

"You as well." He leaned back to make note of the date of the fight. They really had to stop all the stupid in the lower ranks of this horde.

***

Xander concentrated on the spell he needed. They had created a 'gas leak' and had cleaned out the town last night. The seal was about to open. It was glowing. So it was time. Xander linked his magic back into the hellmouth, taking off the shield he had put between them. It greeted him warmly because it was slightly sentient.

He patted it and pointed at the seal. It got mad at that thing resting on its back and causing more problems but not even the kraken could get into it to stop the problems. So Xander let him know what he was going to do right before he did it. The hellmouth surged open and then the seal screamed as it was covered and pulled into the energy field.

He changed the energy to a different type of magic by throwing in two artifacts that could do that. The kraken broke them for him. That ate the seal and it dissolved. Inside the screaming was getting worse until it finally went silent. Then Xander released the hellmouth and stepped back, panting hard.

He slumped, looking around the school they were rebuilding. The ground hadn't started to pull yet but he could feel it starting. The hellmouth was reclaiming the energy that had been used by sucking in her energies that had been pulled out to form part of the town. Xander felt the sucking start for real and apparated away to where everyone was waiting. "It's sucking now."

"The seal?" Giles demanded.

"Dissolved." Giles smiled and patted him on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Sorry, bit exhausted."

"I can see why, lad." They watched as the hellmouth recovered her energy by pulling in the created ground. "I can't believe he used magic to create that much land."

"He infused it, like we'd do with parchment and artifacts." Xander looked at him. "That's why the ground's got a slight slope. So any power or energy goes directly to the hole."

"I hadn't considered that." He put on a different pair of glasses to watch what was going on. It was fascinating and a good quarter of the town fell in. Then the underground started to cave in since the support on one end was gone. Half the town fell in and you could hear the watching townspeople groaning behind the National Guard lines. They had let them handle the evacuation thanks to that 'gas leak'.

Xander looked at Giles, who grimaced but shrugged. Xander looked at the guards. "Guys, there's a huge problem left under City Hall and under the east end cemetery," he said with a point as he walked over. "Both of them have closed off rooms that have self destructs. There's been methane problems in both and the city decided to blow a hole instead of letting it explode like it did in '84." He stared at the guy in charge.

"Can you figure out how to disarm them?"

"Should I figure out how to disarm them?" he countered. "With that rubble falling in, all that lovely methane and other gasses will just build up."

"Oh, I hadn't considered that." He looked at one of his guys. Who shrugged. Then at the kid. "We can handle that."

"Okay. Let us know." He looked at their maps and circled some spots. "These are the openings to the surface. The hidden rooms are here and here," he said, drawing around them with squares instead of circles. "And this point," he said with a drawing out at the cliffs. "Is a huge ancient temple thing that was hidden because it was to grief and people used to suicide near it in hope that others would feel and heal their grief." He handed over the pen. "You might want to keep that hidden."

"Yeah, probably," he decided with a nod. "Thanks, kid. Which one are you?"

"Harris." He grinned. "That was my construction site."

"Ah." He nodded. They had been briefed about what was going on in the town by some aurors they didn't know but their general had said so. They were told to listen to his and Mr. Giles' advice. "Any other big spots?"

Xander looked then pointed at one. "That's our pot dealer. He's got a survivalist bunker but it's his grow house."

"We can handle that too," he decided, walking off to talk to the people. "Let us make sure the town's safe enough to walk into and then we'll let you go see if your house is still standing," he announced. "We have to check things first." That got a few nods and a sigh.

Xander walked back down to his people. "I warned them about the temple and the two big caverns with self destructs to blow surface holes."

Giles looked at him. "They're going to handle it?"

"Apparently." He grinned. "If they need to blow it they can do that. When we put them in for the city we used a regular remote control because they wanted cheap."

"True, the city was rather cheap." He sighed as another block started to crumble. "I'm so glad I had moved my things into storage for my move." He went to talk to the storage manager. He was talking to his insurance person. "It looks like the other end of town was hit. I'll try to move my things this month."

"That's fine, Mr. Giles. Yours are in good boxes. Can you tell Harris to move his before I have to look?"

Xander looked over and shrugged. "Sure, I can do that later this month. Once I can rent a u-haul." He grinned.

"Thank you, kid." The others who had stuff stored came to talk to him and a few more about using a storage area to see how much the price would've went up. "Those pod systems are great," he told one. "They deliver it, you pack it, they move it for you to the new location and you unpack it from there." That got a few to look that up through the librarian and Willow.

Buffy walked up behind Xander, patting him on the arm. "You okay?"

"Tired," he admitted. "Your mom?"

"She's fine. Still in the hospital down there." She looked that way. "I see tentacles."

Xander looked then nodded. "Yeah, it's happy. It got all the energy back and got new energy from that seal dissolving."

"Huh. Can the tentacles go away?"

He shrugged. "Probably eventually?"

"Fine." She went to talk to Giles about the tentacles. He was making notes for a report. He looked down there and found his copy of the closing spell to do from the car so no one saw him doing it.

***

Giles had let Xander move him back to England this time as his hands were full. He stood in front of the Council. "I have a report on the happenings in the Sunnydale hellmouth." Travers glared at him. He smirked a bit. "A magical, like I am, did something to link the seal that held the First with the hellmouth itself.

"The same as was done in Lebanon years ago." He slid down that book and his notes. "I'm glad most of you survived the explosion. The girls are still in LA helping Buffy deal with the panic from the fleeing in terror."

Travers looked at the book and groaned. "We have a report on that but it was theoretical."

"Oh, I know exactly what he did." He slid down the notes he had copied from Xander's journal.

Travers looked and moaned in a lighter key. "How would he have done that?"

"When he was sent there, he was glued to the hellmouth by the one who sent him." He smirked a bit. "It was happy, we had tentacles for days in happiness of getting all the energy back."

"Oh, dear. Did anyone normal see, Rupert?"

"Of course but the haze around Sunnydale prevented them from caring too much about waving tentacles. The town is now shut down to the college, which may be shut down. The National Guard unit found the former Initiative base's tunnels thanks to Willow, who walked past them and bluntly opened a door before walking off.

"They're rather horrified about what they learned about it and that the college is sitting on top of an underground, poorly constructed base. The state can save thousands by closing that campus so it probably will. Then they found out what had happened down there and the governor is all but frothing at the mouth. Thankfully the american aurors closed it out."

Travers looked at him. "Why would they have?"

"They were warned we were having the demonic ascension for graduation so showed up to make sure we didn't lose," Giles said bluntly, staring at him. "Which meant they caught one taking film and a few trying to grab some beings from the crowd. So they looked." He smirked as he took off his glasses to put into his pocket.

"Otherwise, the whole town is down. The next most open is Cleveland, and the girls will be going there in a few days to get hands-on hellmouth experience since that one's not nearly as bad as Sunnydale. Sunnydale had been prompted more open by Wilkins so was more exposed and more vocal but he had laid a protection around the town to ignore such things. Which still works."

Travers looked at him. "Why didn't you report that to us?"

"Well, at that time I was unemployed," he said smugly. "Didn't Wesley tell you?" Travers glared. Giles just smirked. "It has let me catch up with many people recently however. I've even talked to some of my former classmates." He looked at the other wizard in the room. "Severus had to help Willow detox."

"I'm sure he was thrilled," he said blandly. "How did you know him?"

"Where do you think I met Ethan?"

"Fuck," that one said in Latin.

"Indeed, but we had much fun." He looked at Travers again. "Buffy is going with the others to Cleveland but will be back in LA shortly as her mother's in oncology care at the moment. Her whole group is mostly there. Xander's traveling back and forth for a bit."

"To Sunnydale?"

"To his family home I believe." He smirked a bit as he looked at a picture on the wall then at him. They all looked and the woman borrowing the portrait waved back. "Lady Destina."

"Ripper," she said smugly. "My grandson is stubborn."

"Indeed and we've counted on that."

"He goes to battle a goblin later."

"The poor being called him out." He shrugged. "It's an honor duel, Lady Destina."

She grimaced. "It was dumb of them to be so wrong anyway. He's still tired."

"Yes, but that tends to make him more mean." She shuddered but nodded and walked off nodding. He grinned at them. "Xander's related to her."

"Oh, dear," one of them muttered. "I recognized her from the portrait in the library." He looked at Travers. "Harris is a Dumass?"

"He's actually the head of the family as he's one of the last," Rupert said dryly. "Him and his cousin Harry."

The man winced. "I loathe those books."

"As do most people in them I'm told." He looked at the other wizard, who was praying. "But that war is also stopped."

"We noticed." He looked at him then at Travers. "So Sunnydale is officially and permanently down?"

"Unless someone decides to rebuild and the peaceful beings who live there will try to drive them off or warn us if not. They'll try to warn one of the group. Whoever's left."

Travers grimaced. "Is your boy going to Cleveland?"

"I have no idea. He may stay in LA. He's got business there and friends there at the moment."

"Ah." Travers sighed again but nodded. "All right. So it sounds fantastic."

"He had fused an Orb of Thessulah and the Divroan Statue together to throw into the hellmouth so it could eat the seal."

Travers slumped, but nodded. "How did he do that?"

"The same way I would have probably but I know not that much about magical artifacts. For all I know he asked them politely to work together."

"Is there anything left out there?"

"The temple of grief out on the cliffs." That got a wince. "He did warn the National Guard base to leave it hidden. The doorway to the Deeper Well is still there and whole. That whole street fell in but the doorway fell whole and able to be opened.

"I checked and it's unlocked but closed. I put a padlock on the outside. The soldiers gave me an odd look but didn't touch it as far as I know. The Magic Box was thoroughly shielded so the store's still whole. My storage area is still whole and coming back to my estate." He smirked a bit.

"What of other artifacts?" the other wizard asked, sitting up properly.

"There were people who came to clean them out at my request. They're safely stored with people who deal with such things. Though a few are in the hands of vampires. Spike cleaned out a few caches before they could get there. Druscila took her half of it and went to Brazil to flirt with some slime demons apparently. Spike was complaining at Buffy."

"Why would they talk?" Travers demanded.

"Because they were playing poker to get information and settle problems down when he came in to complain to his cohorts. Angel was also in the bar so he was warning him that Druscila was out and about. Another told him why. Buffy got him calmed down and bought him a beer."

"She didn't stake him?" Travers demanded.

"While we know Spike is a terror and a problem, he's kept control of the vampires that fled Sunnydale so they didn't become a torment on LA for a bit. It helped Angel immensely so she's letting him live until that's done with. Though Willow did get a bit drunk and do a will spell again that nearly made them declare their everlasting love," he finished dryly. "I've banned the girl from alcohol again."

"Jesus," Travers moaned, holding his head. "She should stake him."

"I'd rather have one strong master overseeing the problems to make sure LA doesn't become a huge buffet than have to deal with a fractured, massive vampire population, Quentin. He's kept them from tearing through the community there to feed. He's kept them mostly from feeding completely. Though I'm told a few have turned an heiress who was a bit goth so they could take over her family home. I was told she went willingly by Angel."

"The girls could stake the others," Travers ordered.

"They're children and not imbued," Ripper said bluntly, staring at him. "I will not be sending an eight-year-old out to stake any vampire, even if she were imbued. I do not wish to go to jail for child abuse. We in the States have a bunch of nosy social workers. Over double what you have here.

"So many young women in one location, all of them fleeing a problem, had brought attention to us. The local officers agreed with the ideas that we worked out for everyone's safety and the girls staying safe. They've warned the ones in Cleveland as well so when the girls move there they're going to be monitored."

"We can get that removed."

"I doubt that," Giles said bluntly, staring at him then smirking. "I heard you're under investigation for child trafficking again, Quentin." Travers glared. "Well, you lot do." He shrugged and walked off. "Buffy and her mother are watching over the girls. Wesley's helping with Cordelia and Angel. It'll be fine."

Travers looked at the other wizard, who shook his head. "I can't make a whole city forget."

"No, we can't. Or handle it by having so many people admitted for delusions." He considered it, then looked at the report again. "That really is a cluster fuck."

"Well, some of them did raise a being," that wizard said. "We knew, as we all learned it in our third year, that it would allow the First Evil back into humanity. Thankfully we managed to mostly survive and most of the age ranges of slayers will be covered in the future."

Travers glared at him then at the others. "Are any of them still around?"

"No, we dealt with the survivors who had done that," that wizard assured him. "They went before a tribunal and met their ends that night." He looked around. "We can call Wesley."

"He's not a watcher either."

"He had been. He was young when his father sent him out there to end his lineage by his only heir dying." The others groaned. "He wasn't prepared to be in the field. He was barely out of college." He looked at Travers. "What do you want to do?"

"Drink myself to death at the moment," he complained. "We have to get the slayers back under our control and training." They nodded. "We must get Cleveland covered by a team."

"We can't get a new slayer until Lehane dies," the wizard reminded him. He was the only one brave enough to face Travers today apparently. "We have no idea where she is."

"She's in a coma according to the coven," Travers complained. "They won't end it on her." He huffed. "We can perhaps call another slayer somehow. There's a few things linked to the slayer lineage."

"Yes but they were in Sunnydale so are somewhere," another one said quietly. "Who knows who'll get the scythe and if it goes to auction we're not sure of getting it back. It could also be years. If Summers died, then we're without a slayer."

Travers scowled but nodded. "I know that. That's why Summers has lived this long. Otherwise we would've fixed that whole two slayer problem that Harris created by doing CPR and defeating a prophecy."

"That was just one he's beaten," the wizard snorted, leaning on the table. "He's beaten something like four others. Usually to our benefit as we've won easier." Travers scowled at him again. "The truth and you know it."

"I do, I just hate it and him!"

"Well, it seems he's important."

"For now." He looked around. "Other ideas?" They shook their heads. "Everyone start monitoring the auction houses. When the scythe comes up we'll figure out who's going on the bidding team." That got a mass nod. "We'll have to get it back sooner. If you find out where it is, let us know so we can possibly raid to get it back sooner.

"It's too important to let stay in a vault somewhere." He looked around. "For now, let's gather up what we need and those who need to go to LA to reclaim their girls head that way." A few nodded at that order. "Then we'll rebuild. We did it once we can do it again." He got up with the reports to go file them. It was horrifying but at least they weren't all dead.

The assistants, who were all undercover police officers, took the recordings from the meeting to their higher ups. They could keep those ones from traveling to the US and warn their people over there. The one who was both an officer and an auror told both his bosses to warn them. He had been in place for years though so had no idea who that Harris kid was.

***
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