The Manor

The sisters looked at Xander in shock as he paced the kitchen after his decision. Xander walked over to the book and re-read the entry on Typhoon. “ 'She imprisoned him in chains forever',” Xander turned toward the sisters, “ You ladies have been in this war longer than I have. Where would you Imprison a powerful force for good if you never wanted it to be found?”

Piper, Paige, and Phoebe looked at each other. “I ... don't know. If it would have been in any place that either good or evil would go then I guess we might know but she would hardly put him in a spot where the elders could find him. Maybe Cole would know something that we don't.” Paige told him.

Nodding Xander walked into the family room. Walking over to Cole and Willow he asked “Hey, bro! Is there any place in the underworld where demons would not be allowed to go? Someplace where even the Source would not go?”

Cole thought about it for a minute. “There is only one place that the source would never venture and that was the underworld's entrance into the demonic wasteland. It was said that he kept it to gather the powers of the demons that were found unworthy and destroyed. But, come to think of it, in all the hundred years I served the source I never once saw anyone enter. Not even the source ever entered. I would like to gather more information before I send Willow's best friend into danger though. I could shimmer into the underworld and find out for you.”

Nodding Xander told Cole “Sounds like a good idea. After what me and Buffy pulled though you had better be careful. The underworld will be on high alert for any strangers or robed people. They might just shoot first and ask questions later. Just look for...”

At that moment Willow burst in “Now you just wait a moment Xander Harris! You are NOT sending Cole into what maybe a trap all alone! I am going to go with him. If we come under attack my powers, now that I know how to safely draw on my dark side, will be even larger there. I might be able to use my glamors to make me and Cole completely unseen. Then we can scout out the area even more completely then if he went alone.”

Xander looked thoughtfully at Willow. After a few moments he finally said “Alright, but only because what you plan makes sense.” Walking over to Cole he gave him a look that would have had wolverine running for the hills. “If anything happens to Willow, brother or no brother, you will wish that you stayed in the demonic wasteland. Understand?”

Cole had faced some of the most scary demons in the underworld but, looking at Xander, he remembered all the power he had showed thus far, Cole gulped. Nodding he agreed. Xander moved away, making room for Willow, and give his trade marked grin and waved at the pair. Looking at Willow with affection Cole shimmered the two of them out.

Buffy walked over to Xander and said “Now that was just cruel. You know that if anything happened to Willow on his watch there is a whole school full of witches, and slayers, that would fight over who had the pleasure to slice him to pieces each and every day after healing him for the next eight years.”

The underworld

Cole and Willow stood in the sources throne room. They were checking the back wall where Cole remembered the door being. At this moment there was solid stone where the door was. They had been checking the wall for about fifteen minutes when Tony Harris walked into the throne room and sat down next to them. Echidna walked into the room shortly after.

“How are we to attack the slayer trainees again when they are bound to be on guard since last time? What we need to do is attack the manor. Xander would have shimmered over to the trainees. He would not left them unguarded.”

“No, he would have had to go back to his body at the manor. He will be there trying to figure out how we would go about rebuilding the crystal. If we launch another attack at the trainees right now then he will think that the deaths that occur are his fault because he was not there to stop them.” Turning she told one of the guards “Launch the attack. I want the slayers dead. Make sure you bring one of the older ones back to me for transformation into a new stone.”

The demon slapped his fist on his shoulder and bowed to the royal couple. Turning he marched out of the room. Tony stood up and pulled Echidna towards their bedroom. Once they had left Cole turned toward Willow who had continued the search through the entire conversation. He went over to her intent on shimmering back to the manor to report what hey had heard when Willow fell threw the wall. Following Willow Cole pushed threw the wall and saw a giant stone statue chained to a wall.

Willow touched the statue gently and the carven started to shake and boulders fell from the celling. Clutching Willow close to him he jumped form spot to spot dodging fall stones. The stone covering fell off the giant and they both noticed that it was a person not stone.

Looking down the giant said “Well, after all these long years someone has found me at last. You , little red one, bear the aura of one of my children that has been tainted by the darkness brought about by my beloved. And you, if I am not mistaken, are one of my wife's demons. Why have the two of you disrupted my slumber?”

Shocked Cole let go of Willow and stepped forward. “Well, you see, we were looking for you. We need a way to destroy Echidna. You have been told of from one witch to another and were reduced to little more than a rumor. You have power to rival hers. You must grant us the power to stop your wife's plans for the world.”

Shaking his head Typhoon replied “ I am unable to destroy my wife. Nor would I if I had the power to. I still love her. But, there is one who can grant you the power that you wish. You must seek out the one child that we had together. We both granted him great power through our combined genes. His power is that of creation. Only he might make a weapon that would be able to contain or destroy Echidna. Now leave me. I will not be part of destroying or diminishing her powers.”

Standing back up the stone flew back onto him and after a moment he stood still as the statue they had thought he was at first. Shaking their heads Cole and Willow held each other and shimmered out.

The Manor

Willow and Cole shimmered into the family room and turned red at the scene they saw. Xander and Paige were kissing. When they caught sight of Cole and Willow they broke apart. Both of them turned red and looked anywhere but at Cole and Willow. Buffy and the other two sisters came in.

Cole quickly told the others what had happened in the underworld and they had wanted to shimmer over to the training camp and help with the defense. Surprisingly Xander stopped them.

“We need to let them prove to themselves and each other that they can defend themselves. I had Willow and Cole train each one of them on how to handle demons who wield powers rather than the strength that they are used to. We need to trust them to be able defend themselves. If they cant defend each other and themselves then how can they kill vampires every night. That is why I had Buffy stay here. We will be alerted to the attack on the trainees by the spell Willow placed around the school.” Xander said.

Shaking her head Willow started to argue about it when both Piper and Buffy said “No, hes right.” Looking at each other Buffy made a gesture to Piper showing her that the floor was hers.

“If your trainees don't have faith in their own abilities then they will forever be looking around for one of you to defend them or direct the attack when there is trouble. They need to discover that their powers and training is just as good, if not better, than yours is. Trust me, when we found out that we were witches we made a lot of mistakes until we were able to trust in our instincts.” Piper told Willow.

“We will return after the attack to help with any injures or deaths they suffer. I hope that the deaths will be low. We have trained them they will respond better when we are not there to push them.” Buffy told her.

The School

Demons shimmered, flamed, and smoked into the training area of the school throwing fireballs and lighting. The Trainees responded quickly and without panic. Quickly they formed ranks and started to fight back. The demons, unused to such quick response, quickly were routed form the training area and ran into the medic hall. Dawn looked up and saw a red demon with large horns bearing down on her. Reacting quickly she took an empty IV rod and rammed it into the demons gut and twirled around slammed it into the back of the demon's head. Turning the rod around she then ran the pole through the demon's chest. Looking up she saw that Andrew had fainted. Running over to him and defended him until several trainees entered and made quick work of the demon attackers. The attack continued.

The Underworld

A demon walked up to the throne and told the queen about the unexpected force the attacking demons had met with and that Xander, Cole, Willow, Buffy nor any of the sisters were involved in the defense. “No, no, no, no! We are demons! There is no force that can stand up to us except witches! Get back up there and take another ten demons with you!”

Bowing the demon headed out of the throne room and Grabbed ten demons. Shimmering out they went to join the attack.

The Manor

Willow sat staring at the red stone sitting on the coffee table. When the stone turned blue again Xander, Willow, Cole. Buffy, the sisters and a newly revived Leo joined hands and transported over to the school.

The School

They appeared in the gym to a scene that brought to mind a war zone. Looking around they saw dead demons every where. On the side of the trainees there were only two deaths. Dawn walked up to Buffy and gave her a hug. Stepping back she told her “We got off very lightly. Only two were killed and several were injured. Luckily they only got hit by lighting balls that seared the wounds closed. One trainee, however, is missing. Its Joan.”

Buffy looked at Dawn darkly. She had been training Joan to be her second in command and, if she proved to have talent, her replacement one day. “How did she get taken?”

“She took charge as soon as they appeared in the gym. She was leading the defense when a black skinned demon appeared behind her and grabbed her. He smoked out taking her with him. We have been unable to locate her with the spells we have used so far.”

Piper looked around her and, in a shocked voice said “If he took her to the underworld then location spells will be unable to find her. I wonder why they went though the trouble of taking a captive. It's not really a demons M.O.”

The sisters were shocked to hear that the trainees were subject to this kind of action every night against creatures that can snap them in two. It was one thing to read about in the book of shadows, it was another to see it in person. They wondered what it was like where these captains and teachers grew up. They hoped they never found out.