Chapter 5: Xander Questions the King

Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be
Title: Scoobies on Trial
Author: Kate R.
Rating: Teen to adult
Pairings: G/E, W/A, Methos/Jenny
Summary: The bosses of the Watchers and Slayers come to Sunnydale. They are not pleased.


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The next morning, early, Xander groaned as he was dumped out of bed. Ardeth was standing over him, looking down on him not in a nasty way, just in a way that said he was expecting something.

"What?" Xander asked.

"I called you a half hour ago, Alexander," Ardeth told him, "Get up. Your new life begins now."

"When do we eat?" Xander asked, stumbling around and reaching for his clothes.

"After we run," Ardeth told him, "Otherwise you'll get bloated and get sick."

"And cramps, right?" Xander asked, testing a theory and something he'd read while he grappled for his shoes.

"Correct," Ardeth told him, "After our run and breakfast, we will discuss what we will do next."

"Like?" Xander asked.

"Your attire," Ardeth remarked, "For training you need different clothes and for being taken seriously you do as well."

"You aren't so mean," Xander told him.

"You haven't seen me as a trainer or really angry yet," Ardeth told him, "But no, in the grand scheme of things, and compared to my uncle, I am a kitten."

"Your uncle?"

"The king Giles met, he wasn't really king but I hadn't been coronated yet and my father had recently been killed. Uncle acted our leader, which is why his entire face was covered, he, because he was the liaison to the outside world, did not have any of the tattoos. And only I have the ones on my forehead."

"Right," Xander told him, still half asleep but doing the stretches he'd done in gym class and before he swam.

"Water," Ardeth told him, "Get a bottle of water from the refrigerator."

"What about you?"

"I am of the desert," Ardeth reminded him, "I have learned to do much on little. You have not the training yet. Perhaps we will work up to that. It depends on how much you wish to learn."

"I don't know yet," Xander said as they began a light jog. He had a feeling Ardeth was going slow for his sake.

"How long do I have until you up the ante on the running?" Xander asked. He hoped it was at least a month because they hadn't even gone a quarter of a mile and his chest was already tight.

"Until I think you are ready," Ardeth told him, slowing down even more, for him, "Have you had no training whatsoever?"

"Never thought I'd need it," Xander told him.

"In a war zone, you did not think you needed training?" Ardeth asked as they jogged.

"No one ever claimed I was a brain trust," Xander told him, a wall starting to come up.

"I think you are far smarter than you let on," Ardeth told him, slapping that wall down, "And I think you need to stop making excuses about why you don't show it. I saw those stretches you did, those were true athletic ones, why does no one know you know how to do it?"

"No one ever cared to know," Xander told him.

"Did you ever try to show them?" Ardeth asked, "I mean, seriously try?"

"Well . . . no, I guess not. Wow . . . how can you not be winded?"

"This was training from three for me,"Ardeth told him, "By the time I was your age I was King of the Medjai and had been for two or three years depending if we've seen your birthday yet. I know you were eighteen when you graduated from high school."

"This month," Xander told him, "I'm a January baby."

"I see," Ardeth said, calling a halt to the run for him, "Take a drink, then we will turn and go back. You are not ready for the three mile jog yet."

"What will turning and going back make it for today?"

"Half a mile,"Ardeth answered him, "Which is good for your first run that is for something not a gym class or running for your life."

"Seriously?"

"You aren't Buffy, Alexander," Ardeth told him, "You will have to work up to doing what she can do. But at least what you have will be your own. And she may want to kill Marvel by the end of it."

"Why?" Xander asked.

"Because he will be her friend, true," Ardeth said, "But he will also push her to be better than she is now, he will not take her excuses or her wanting to go be normal at a time when people are in danger. Marvel may learn how to relax from her but she will learn to be disciplined from him and to put the world first nine times out of ten."

"She does though," Xander reminded him.

"Not without first complaining about it," Ardeth told him, "And although Billy often vents after the fact, he does not complain before. No matter what he has to give up to do his duty, he does what he must to be true to who he is. And, like Buffy, I know there are times he wishes he could be someone else."

"How does he do it?" Xander asked.

"He lost a great deal at a very young age," Ardeth spoke, "I do not know his whole story. I know he is one of the greatest champions we have but I do not pry into his personal pain."

"Why is Ethan here and why isn't Giles upset about it?"

"Ethan is the mess Giles has to deal with," Ardeth told him, "You see, Ethan didn't lead that gang or form it. I do not know if Giles formed it but he did lead it and everything the gang did when he was in charge was on his order. That means Eyghon being summoned? Was on Him, not Ethan. He gave the order; he commanded the spell be done. Because of that, and because of what Ethan's own parents did to him, which I do not know all of, my father was king at that time, I am younger than your Giles, Ethan's magic and soul were . . . injured for lack of a better word . . . and became as twisted as his sense of humor and his psyche. In the gang, because Ethan had the most power, and was the smallest and youngest, he was often bullied into using it for the gang. Ripper did not often do the bullying but nor did he stop it. He is as responsible for Ethan as his parents are and since his parents and the rest of the gang are dead, Ripper is the only one who can possibly fix anything that's broken in him. Small that the amount may be as most of the damage was done long before Ripper met him."

"Okay," Xander said, as they started the jog back, "So why was Willow flat bound and not given another chance?"

"She's already broken the rede three times," Ardeth told him, sighing, "Dr. Fate told me that the first breaking of the rede wasn't the soul restoration, it was the spell she was going to do to make you love her and then undo it so you stopped noticing her because all of the sudden she had Oz and so no longer needed you. The second time she broke the rede was stealing Giles' books which she actually did 'before' her lust spell but playing with people's minds and souls and hearts is a far worse crime than stealing a book. And the third thing? Was the My Will be Done spell she did when Oz left her after Halloween to make things as she wished them to be. She was careless, arrogant, slip-shod and sloppy. For all of the dangers of Ethan's spells, he knew how to cast properly, what it would do, and how to end it. He did not just carelessly read from a book because his heart was broken although Giles did break his heart when he left after promising he would never leave him behind."

"Oh," Xander remarked, thinking about it, "So, in a way, you guys aren't here to hurt us, are you?"

"No," Ardeth told him, "The Balance demanded your friend be bound, and Fate did so because he Is the Balance. He is chosen, destined, if you will, to act as it in the world when it directly has to act. He does not choose when or where or why or who, he is told by the Gods. They commanded your friend be bound. But he is actually here to help your Giles and Ethan find balance in themselves and heal from the past, both the magic wounds to both their souls, and the ones they inflicted on each other over the years. I am here to help you, and Captain Marvel is here to help Buffy. They are the same. They share that being chosen and having destiny thing as you all would phrase it.

"Wow," Xander breathed, "So, what kind of clothes can I have?"

"Whatever clothes you'd like," Ardeth told him, "But try to be practical, all right?"

"I can do that," Xander huffed breathlessly as they got to the house again. Ardeth told him to do a cool down stretch while he went and prepared breakfast for them. After that meal, he's said before going in, they would head to the mall as it would be open by that time. The mall he was taking him to, anyhow.