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Corrected the little error there, that I hadn\'t spotted earlier, thanks to Lord Anubis for spotting that Corrected the little error there, that I hadn\'t spotted earlier, thanks to Lord Anubis for spotting that!\n \n .........................\n Twcie Lucky: Bocca del Inferno\n .........................\n Proluge\n \n Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.\n \n Helen Keller\n US blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)/\n \n .........................\n /\n Souls are what maketh the man; they are energy that lives within us, all kinds of energy leaves traces behind. Souls make a mark on the universe, if you want to look at it that way. If you could see time, the energy of every soul living would leave a trail.\n /\n Images flickered in his mind, visions of dark things that fluttered in out of different realities, demons and monsters, horrible gargling creatures that if kept unchecked would unleash hell upon the world.\n \n \"/What happened to your eye/?\" He didn\'t realise he\'d asked it until it had come out of his mouth, yet the man who looked back at him shrugged as though he didn\'t mind.\n \n \"/Got it pulled out/,\" an image of a man pushed its way up front /\'Them there are dirty girls, gonna clean \'em up\', \"Yup\" the older man nodded in disgust/ \"/he stuck his finger in and pulled it right out, hurt like hell to.\"/\n /\n \"Caleb?\" /Xander asked fearfully, he didn\'t know why he was scared of this other man, this man of God, but he was frightened non the less.\n \n \"Yes, among people you\'re going to fight, that\'s if you want to, but like the movie will say, the Matrix it will be called, with cool special effects.\"\n \n Xander blinked, he still couldn\'t see the other man clearly, it was almost as if the shadows of his mind were deliberately blocking out his face. \"/I imagine that right now, you\'re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole/?\"\n \n \"/You could say that/.\"\n \n \"/I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that\'s not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Xander?/\"\n \n \"/No/,\" Xander said with the shake of his head, \"/not really/.\"\n \n \"/Why not/?\"\n \n \"/Because I don\'t like the idea that I\'m not in control of my life/,\" Xander replied with a scowl.\n \n \"/I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you\'re here. You\'re here because you know something. What you know you can\'t explain, but you feel it. You\'ve felt it your entire life, that there\'s something wrong with the world. You don\'t know what it is, but it\'s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I\'m talking about?\"/\n /\n \"/I guess/.\"\n \n \"/Xander, if you agree to this you will not be the same person that you were when you went to bed, you will in essence wake up, you be will different/.\"\n \n \"/Different how/?\"\n \n \"/Different in the sense that you will be able to stand up and fight, for your friends, for your family, for the innocent that cannot fight for themselves/.\"\n \n \"/Have you ever backed down from a fight/?\"\n \n \"/No, well, sometimes/.\"\n \n \"/Sometimes is good, the smart live longer than the stupid.\" Xander nodded, he could agree with that/.\"\n \n \"/Okay, so what do you want me to do/?\"\n \n \"/I don\'t want you to do anything, but make a choice, do you sit back into your slumber and forget everything that\'s happened, or do you wake up and fight/?\"\n \n \"/Fight/!\" Xander exclaimed the man he could see became clearer than ever, the hard look, the war torn face. The \'stare\' that was in the soldiers eyes, it was him, but it was not. Shaking his head in confusion, the other man took the hint and began explaining.\n \n \"/I am you, from the future, from what Andrew would now call and alternate reality, what I have, the knowledge I possess, I want to share with you./\"\n \n \"/Why/?\"\n \n \"/Because it was decided that the losses were to high, that history could be changed for the better, so that you and your friends could live a little better/.\"\n \n Xander sighed and asked again, \"/What are you trying to do? What should I do/?\"\n \n A doorway appeared behind his older version, white and glowing. \"/I\'m trying to free your mind, Xander. But I can only show you the door. You\'re the one that has to walk through it./\"\n \n Xander stood in front of the doorway for the longest time, for all he knew it could\'ve been all eternity, and yet it could\'ve been only a second, but with his mind made up, Alexander \"/Xander/\" Lavelle Harris stepped through into the real world.\n \n .........................\n \n And woke up in a screaming fit, not of rage, but rather fear. Xander got up and stumbled to the ground, his sheets were entangled in his legs making it difficult to manoeuvre. He couldn\'t control himself as he thrashed about on the ground, as images flickered throughout his mind, visions of monsters that meant he\'d be checking the cupboards for the next lifetime.\n \n Vampires.\n \n Demons.\n \n Werewolves.\n \n And other assorted horrors, he screamed and screamed loudly. When he was finally settled, Xander stared around the room dully, \'Crap, what now?\' Images flickered in his mind, dates and information, a way; he smiled ruefully, to make money and lots of it. This was going to be /fun/.\n \n .........................\n \n \"So you\'ve got business that you think would be profitable to both yourself and me?\"\n \n \"Yup, I do.\"\n \n \"Okay,\" Willy was intrigued, here sitting across from him was a fifteen year old boy, who had strolled into a bar full of vampires and demons and asked the barkeep, himself, if he could talk business. That, in Willy\'s opinion, took guts.\n \n \"Sunnydale isn\'t your average town,\" Willy nodded, that much was right. \"In fact Sunnydale is a Hellmouth, and a lot of nasty\'s are attracted here.\"\n \n Willy shrugged, \"With you so far.\"\n \n \"But having a lot of Vampires in one spot is going to attract attention, either the Powers that be, or well something nastier.\"\n \n \"What can be nastier then some of the trolls that walk in here?\"\n \n Xander Harris who was lounged on the surprisingly comfy coach smiled evilly, \"What gives vampires the heeby jeebies?\"\n \n \"I uhm, I don\'t,\" but then something inside Willy\'s brain almost seemed to click, \" Slayers, the Slayer is what frightens vampires.\"\n \n \"Yup and one of them will be coming here pretty soon.\"\n \n \"Oh god, when?\"\n \n \"As soon as school break is over.\"\n \n Curiosity overtook fear as the expressions changed on Willy\'s face at roughly the same speed. \"What do you mean we\'ve got a little time?\"\n \n \"Well I want to help the Slayer and become her friend, but I also want allies, and I think you would make a good ally.\"\n \n \"Me,\" Willy pointed at his chest, \"What the hell can I do?\"\n \n \"A lot, don\'t get me wrong, I know your no killer.\"\n \n \"I, wait, how\'d you know that?\"\n \n \"Been watching you for some time Willy,\" Xander said nodding slowly, \"As for what you can do, well you obviously know people, and have connections, how about we start with making a little bet.\"\n \n \"A bet, betting I can do, what do you wanna bet on?\"\n \n Xander pulled out a wad of notes that he\'d gotten from a Vampire a few days a ago, \"Well there\'s the stock car racing that\'s happening in a few days.\" In answer, Willy pulled out a small notepad and began scribbling on it.\n \n \"Okay, who do you wanna bet on?\"\n \n \"NASCAR 500, Jeff Gordon.\"\n \n \"Okay, I\'ll look into it and give you the odds tomorrow, good thing you came t\'see me now, cause its almost time for the race,\" that much was true considering it was January 10th and a Saturday to boot, the younger Harris had managed to get a lot done today and one of those duties had been to scare the crap out of Willy, well Xander mused mission accomplished.\n \n He left feeling a little bit better about himself, he had a first potential ally in the war against the dark forces, it almost didn\'t seem right not having Andrew standing next to him quoting Star Wars.\n \n .........................\n \n Jesse and Willow were seated in front of him, in this timeline Xander had made a vow to himself, Jesse was not going to die; everything else was negotiable.\n \n \"Right, pay attention, Vampire one o one.\"\n \n \"Vampires?\" Both Willow and Jesse had said at the same time, neither of them knew about the real life vampire that had been hiding in the dark corner of the house, he was a weakling that Xander had picked up from a dark alley way. Harris had thrown him a bottle of blood that he\'d picked up from the butchers and had promised him fresh virgin blood if he cooperated. \n \n Of course he had no intention of offering Willow or anyone he knew to this low life, he was going to using him purely as a teaching tool. \"This is a vampire.\" The man stumbled forward and gave a hungry look at Willow, who when she noticed he was staring, shivered and cowered back a little, the being who had once been a man sneered with a greedy look in his eye.\n \n \"Vampires, as you may notice look and smell,\" Xander waved the air away from his nose, and Willow tittered nervously at his action, \"like humans.\"\n \n Xander looked at the vamp, \"Please morph your face,\" the man nodded and looked serious for a second and then his face changed, \"There are things you can do to protect yourself against them, the basics are holy water,\" he held up a small bottle with a cross on it, \"Garlic and stakes.\"\n \n \"Don\'t ever try to take one on your own unless you think you have advantage or you\'re with a Slayer.\"\n \n \"Slayer?\" the vamp asked nervously.\n \n \"These are objects are called...\"\n \n \"Apotropaics,\" Willow said interrupting Xander, he nodded and smiled at her pleased that she was at least aware of these things, Willow blushed, \"we did some course work on modern myths and urban legends.\"\n \n \"Good, I\'m impressed,\" he said with a smile, \"Silver and sunlight also do the trick, but until I can figure out or buy a UV torch we\'ll have to make do.\"\n \n Xander walked over and picked up a bottle of water opened it and took a gulp; he then walked over and threw the water in the Vampires face. \"Vampires, being already dead, do not need most normal things required for human life, such as oxygen. They often have a pale appearance (rather than the ruddy skin of folkloric vampires), and are cool to the touch from the perspective of humans.\"\n \n \"Being a vampire, they can not go near crosses or religious symboles,\" Xander held up a cross and the screaming vampire backed away from it, it was a particulary gruesome sight as the vamps face was melting somewhat. \n \n He had to cut it short and staked the screaming Vampire, but not before he\'d checked the vamps pockets, jackpot. He then whirled around and slammed the stake in hard, the vampire stopped screaming and turned into dust.\n \n Jess ran up the stares and shot to the bathroom, Willow however just sat there on the seat in a daze, \"Well,\" she exclaimed quietly, \"That certainly explains a lot.\"\n \n \"Will\'s here,\" he gave her some of the notes, the Vampire had amazing over a thousand bucks on him, he gave her five hundred. \n \n \"What am I going to do with this, I can\'t possibly take it, its, its stealing!\" Xander snatched the money back off her and turned around to where \'Jack\' the Vampire had been.\n \n \"Oh Jack here\'s your money...\" He stopped dramatically and stared at the pile of dust on the floor, shook his head and looked back up, \"I\'m gonna need a Hoover, look at it this way, he was going to drain you.\"\n \n \"Drain?\" She asked blanching slightly.\n \n \"Yeah bleed, suck on your blood,\" he said in his best Romanian accent, he held his hand out with the wad in it, \"Look at it this way, stealing from the dead and giving to the poor.\"\n \n \n