*****
PART SIX
The Ghost Roads

Methos cursed silently as he traveled through the ranks of the dead. He'd traveled these roads before, and it was always unsettling.

In all the directions he could see, everything was gray. The only solid thing in this dimension was the hard road beneath his feet. Millions upon millions of ghosts took up the spaces on both sides of the road farther than he could see. Most of their features were indistinguishable, but the Ghosts lining the road were different. These particular ghosts were from his past. Methos ignored them as best as he could. He'd long since learned it did no good to look at them, especially when he was in a hurry and couldn't spare any moments to feel the pain. He knew that if he did look, he would see lovers or friends that had been dead for decades or even centuries. He'd also see the thousands of people he'd killed while he was a Horseman, or the men and women he'd killed on thousands of battlefields.

He didn't want to see them all there, so he kept his eyes straight ahead and kept walking.

After an hour or so, he saw color. It was at the end of this particular Ghost Road. As he got closer, he saw ocean, and he'd known he'd come to the right place.

On the slip of paper, Whistler said that Methos would find the Promised One on an island in the South Pacific Ocean. Methos didn't know why the kid would be on an island, but he was about to find out.

The portal was very close now. He could see the island clearly. He could also see the end of a metal structure protruding from the middle of the island, and it didn't look human.

He couldn't see the Promised One on the beach, so he concentrated on the building. The portal shifted and reformed inside the structure.

It was definitely alien. Symbols of a language he'd never seen before, and he'd seen lots of them, decorated the walls. In the middle of the room was a large column, and as it spun, he swore it was singing, and that the notes were full of concern and worry.

After a minute, he saw why. On the other end of the room were five young men and women, all lying unconscious on the floor.

Which one is the Promised One? Methos wondered, and wished Whistler had given him a description of the guy.

What am I doing here anyway? He thought, but he already knew the answer. As much as he detested the Powers That Be, he didn't want Pretar to come into power. If the dark god was allowed to do so, it wouldn't matter if they had a hundred champions on their side, because they would all be trapped within Pretar's palace. Which was probably where the five people lying on the floor were at that moment.

The only way they would ever get out of Pretar's palace and back to the waking world was if Methos helped them.

He was only a few feet away now. Before he could step into the alien structure, however, he heard a shout coming from behind him, on the Ghost Roads.

"Queen Pahrane! It's Methos!"

"We must stop him!" a woman commanded.

Methos whirled around. About fifty feet away were a group of the same demons that had been in his apartment the night before. Each one held swords and were charging him.

"S***," was all Methos could think of to say.

Everywhere, ghosts screamed and fled or tried to stop the demons. They succeeded with some of them for a short time, but the demons dispatched the ghosts very quickly and kept coming.

Methos took out his sword as he looked around. He knew that if he wandered off the road during the fight, he might never find his way back onto it, and then he would be lost among the ranks of the dead until he beheaded himself and became a ghost as well. That left him with only one option.

He turned and fled through the portal.

He fell about two feet to the floor of the alien structure. He rolled and then got up quickly, and stood facing the portal with his back to the five unconscious people.

The Pahra Demons followed very quickly. There were about five of them, three women and two men. One of the women was taller than the rest, and she barked an order, "Keep Methos away from the Promised One!"

The others obeyed. One pair, a woman and a man, charged him, while the other two disappeared. Methos knew that they would reappear at any minute, and he wouldn't know where.

He quickly mumbled a spell in Latin, and a shield appeared around the five unconscious people. Then the male demon swung his sword at Methos' stomach. Methos blocked it and then ducked as the female swung her sword at his head.

One of the other demons reappeared behind him and cut his ankle. Methos switched his weight to his other leg as the demon disappeared again and kept blocking the fully visible demons' attacks.

His ankle wound began to heel, so Methos concentrated and made the blue bolts that made up his Quickening wind around that leg. Then he stomped hard onto the floor.

Five different bolts escaped onto the floor, each striking a different demon, including the ones that weren't visible. The bolts forced them to reappear.

The four warrior demons collapsed to the ground, dead.

The female leader was too far away for her bolt to deliver a fatal wound. The bolt struck her right ankle, and she fell. However, as was common with her type of demon, she healed rapidly and was back on her feet in only a few seconds.

She uttered something in her demon language and flicked her tongue. Spittle flew from her tongue, aimed at his neck.

Methos jumped out of its path. The spit landed where he'd been standing, and soon ate through the floor, proving it was made of acid.

"Oh, s***," Methos said. "Why didn't the others do that?" he asked.

"This power is reserved only for the Queen," Queen Pahrane answered. "You will not get the Promised One out of Pretar's palace, Methos. You would already be there yourself, having been sent there personally by him like the five over there, but the Powers forbid it. If you were in that palace and somehow escaped, you would be begging me to behead you, but there would be no fun in that. I prefer to kill you this way."

She spit at him again. Methos rolled out of the way, and then she spit again.

This went on for a long time, and more wholes appeared in the floor. The structure's center column's song changed to alarm, but Methos ignored it, and was glad that the Queen did so as well.

Blue lightening bolts appeared around Methos' left arm. He shot a blue sphere at her, but she jumped out of the way, and ducked behind the body of one of her dead warriors. Methos redirected the sphere at the body, and it lit on fire instantly.

The Queen screamed and jumped back to her feet. Both of her arms were burned, and she no longer held her sword.

Before she could heal, Methos shot another sphere at her.

It hit her dead in the chest, and she fell to the ground. On her way down, she spit again, but it only got as far as hitting the burning body.

The Queen slumped over, dead.

Methos stood up, panting, and looked around. The Promised One and his friends were still unconscious and protected by the shield, the burning body was almost completely ash, and several wholes in the floor marked where the Queen had sent her spittle. Methos needed to clean up the mess.

He spread his legs apart and pointed his arms to the floor. Quickening bolts appeared on all four of his limbs. Then he closed his eyes and said, "May the damage that has been done by those at war be undone. May my enemies be ashes, and may this place be restored to its former beauty."

Bolts shot from his limbs, and each went to different places. Five bolts went to the wholes on the floor, and circled around the areas for several seconds before the wholes disappeared. Four other bolts went to the demon warriors and twirled around them before the bodies became ash and floated on a gust of wind through the portal.

Another one went to the Queen, and she too turned to ash before the ash floated through the portal.

When the spell was complete, the bolts seemed to disappear up his legs and arms. Then Methos bound the portal. If everything went according to plan, he would teleport out of this place.

As he took a moment to rest, he took another look around. He'd noticed during the fight that the floor was titled slightly. There was a window on one side, and looking out, he could see that the structure was burried deep within not only the island but the ocean as well.

He wondered where the structure came from, but he couldn't get his answers just yet. He had a Promised One to assist.

When he was sure he had enough strength to continue, he dropped the shield surrounding the unconscious people and walked over to them. He knew the Promised One was male, but that excluded only two of them.

Two of the young men sat on opposite sides of a chessboard, but the other one lay a few feet away. Methos walked over to the latter and kneeled at his head. Then he leaned over and placed his hands about an inch away from the young man's temples.

In order to help them get out, he had to get into Pretar's palace. Because Pretar did not force him to go there, Methos could leave whenever he wanted. He just had to get the others out before he left.

He closed his eyes and said, "Let me enter the dwelling of the dark God known as Pretar. Grant me passage into the house of my enemy."

Then, with a mental flash of light, Methos was transported to a dimension that belonged in no physical plane of existence.

******

When Buffy, Giles, and Oz entered the Gatehouse through a wooden door that separated the house from the Roads, they found Jacques Regnier waiting for them. The boy seemed to be much older than Buffy remembered him. Unlike before, now he seemed to stand up straighter, and his expression was sterner. He looked like a leader, or more appropriately, a true Gatekeeper.

Buffy smiled. "Hi, Jacq-"

"Where's Xander?" he asked.

Buffy frowned and glanced at the others. "We couldn't reach him. Willow and Anya stayed behind to tell him to come here as soon as he returns to Sunnydale."

Jacques looked very worried. "Where did he go?"

"To an island in the South Pacific," Buffy answered. "His friends were in danger, and he told me to stay in Sunnydale in case he needed backup."

To all of their surprise, Jacques cursed. "We have to go to him. He's in danger. He doesn't know what he is."

"What he is?" Oz asked.

Jacques explained, "Xander isn't a Tomorrow Person."

"How did you know he was a Tomorrow Person? And why do you think he isn't?" Buffy said.

"I told him about the discovery of Xander's psi powers over the phone," Giles answered. "Jacques bound a demon that was looking for someone called the Promised One a few days ago. He has been doing some research and performing a few spells to figure out who this Promised One is, and he has come to the conclusion that it is Xander."

"The Promised One?" Buffy asked. "What's that?"

"The Promised One is mentioned in a prophecy," Giles replied. "This particular prophecy is the oldest one ever written. All of the parts have come true up to this day, except for the passage that prophesies the coming of the Promised One. The prophecy is this:"

"After the house that no fool sees has stood for almost forty-eight hundred moons,

after the mortal girl who lives with the night creatures is no longer alone,

after the magician's magic has been interrupted by a foreigner,

after the vampire with a soul has left the hottest place on this earth,

the one that has been promised since the dawn of time shall come to power.

He is the foreigner that received the magician's magic,

He is powerful beyond anything the people who are in the great ocean at one time

and in the sky the next have ever seen.

He will defeat the dark lords of the darkest place below his home."

Jacques said, "Xander is the foreigner that interrupts the magician's magic, like the prophecy says. He is the only person who is not a member of the Regnier line to every become Gatekeeper. You live on a Hellmouth, which in the prophecy is the darkest place and the hottest place. Also, the vampire with a soul, Angel, no longer lives on the Hellmouth. Also, 'the mortal girl who lives with the night creatures' but is no longer alone would be you, Buffy. Unlike any Slayer before you, you have a circle of friends that help you in your duty. And the people who are in one place one moment and in another place the next would be the Tomorrow People."

It all made since, but Buffy couldn't hold back her disbelief. "Are you sure that's what the prophecy means? I mean, you could be misinterpreting it."

Jacques shrugged. "That could be so, but the passages are too close to what is happening now to discount it."

"Say Xander is the Promised One," Oz said. "What can he do exactly? What kind of power does he have?"

Jacques told them. Afterwards, no one knew what to say. Finally Buffy breathed, "Woah."

"I second that," Oz said.

Giles took off his glasses and stared at Jacques. "I did not recall the entire prophecy. This is a shock to me as well."

"We need to find him," Jacques said, indicating the door. They walked over to it, opened it, and stepped through, once again entering the Ghost Roads.

*****
PART SEVEN

Pretar searched the physical world for Queen Pahrane, but he could not find her. Most of her warriors were still alive, however, and they vowed to keep serving Pretar. Pretar smiled. That we do nicely for him.

He heard the Tomorrow People's screams in a different area of his palace, and that made his smile grow wider. No one would ever see it, because his face was always kept from the view of ignorant fools. Only the Promised One could see his true face, if the prophecy was to be believed.

He felt a new mind enter his palace, and when he searched with his own mind to find out who it was, the smile turned into a scowl. It was Methos.

Methos was one of his worst enemies. The Immortal was one of the few who'd come across him before and still lived to tell the tale. He always ruined Pretar's plans, too, back in the physical world.

Pretar leaned back and smiled. This wasn't the physical world. This was a mental world, and Pretar was in complete control. Whatever natural rules there were in this world were only there because Pretar wished them to be. He could bend them at will and very easily change this world's reality. Whenever Methos came into contact with the Promised One, Pretar would make sure they couldn't escape.

*****

When Methos opened his eyes again, he was inside Pretar's mind world. He knew it because he'd been there before. The last time had been 3000 years ago when he left the Horseman for a few decades before returning. Pretar knew all about him and wanted to employ him, but Death had proved to much for him to handle and Methos eventually found a way to escape. That was the first time he used or heard about magic, and once he left the Horsemen he took up the craft.

He didn't know how much Pretar had learned about him in the 3000 years after that, but he knew that it wouldn't be easy to get out.

He looked around the room. It was cold in here, a contrast to the rest of the place, if he recalled correctly. The hard stone walls, floor, and ceiling left no room for comfort. The only light came through a barred window on the metal door, and he knew the light came from the fires outside.

He heard a noise behind him and whirled around. He pulled out his sword and got into a defensive position before the figure came into focus.

It was the boy whose mind he'd used to get there.

The boy broke the silence. "Well, mysterious-guy-with-sword-who-appeared-out-of-nowhere, mind if I ask what you are doing here?"

Methos put his sword down. "I'm here to save you," he answered, silently remarking on how much he sounded like MacLeod in that statement.

"Who's MacLeod?" the boy asked.

Methos frowned at him. "I didn't say that out loud."

"You didn't? Hmm. I couldn't hear the others after we separated, but I guess this means my powers will still work otherwise. Except teleporting. Although that doesn't explain why I could hear your thoughts but not the guards?"

"Maybe because the guards aren't real and I am."

"You are? Hello, you just appeared out of thin air!"

'This kid is annoying. He does have a right to know, but still, he's very annoying.'

"Hey!"

Methos sighed. "Look, my name's Adam Peirson. What's yours?"

"Xander."

Methos' eyes widened. 'He's the Promised One. He's the one you came here for!' He quickly masked his thoughts before Xander could hear them because it wasn't his time to learn.

"Hey, don't do that! Promised One? What is that? What do you mean?" He was starting to get creeped out. 'First a telepathic voice mentions that name before I'm not unconscious, now a guy who owns a sword. Who would say it next, the plumber on The P. J.'s?'

"I'll explain when we're back on the space ship. Let's go." He put his hands on the sides of Xander's head and began chanting.

"Wait!" Xander said, pulling away. "My friends are here. We have to get them out."

"Look, Xander, Pretar already knows I'm here."

"Pretar?"

"The name of your captor. He's going to make finding your friends almost impossible, especially since you're not in full power yet."

"Not in full power? Will you please make sense for one minute?" Xander asked, exasperated. He sighed. "Never mind. I'll ask later. But I'm not leaving without my friends."

Methos respected his loyalty to his friends, but now was not the time. He knew that Pretar would try something soon if they didn't use their time wisely, and the sooner they got out of there, the sooner he'd feel a whole lot safer. If sooner meant getting his friends instead of standing here arguing, so be it.

He turned to regard the door. "How strong is this door?"

"Too strong. I tried it. The hinges and everything are in prefect shape."

"I guess I'll have to use magic, then."

Methos waved his hand in front of the lock and mumbled a few words in a language that was dying out when he was 200 years old. A few minutes later, the door slid open.

Xander looked at the door. This recent development really didn't surprise him, considering everything that had already happened. All he said was, "What language was that? I learned a lot of words in a bunch of languages when I was Gatekeeper, but I've never heard that one."

"Gatekeeper? But you're not a Regn-" Methos stopped when he heard boots in the tunnel outside.

He quickly pressed against the wall on the side of the door. He motioned for Xander to the same, but the young Promised One already had that covered. Methos pulled out his broadsword and held it with the pommel facing outward.

What are you going to do with that? Methos heard inside his mind. It startled him before he realized it was Xander. The kid at least knew some of his potential already.

Don't do that, he told Xander. He couldn't say anything else, however, because a shadow fell over the light coming from the doorway. Methos could see two arms sticking out holding a gun. He waited.

He didn't have to wait that long. The guard turned in his direction, sweeping the area at gunpoint. "Boo," Methos said. The guard looked at him, but before he could react, the pommel of Methos' sword connected with the soldier's face and he went down for the count.

"Let's move," Methos said. Xander closed his gaping mouth, nodded, and followed him out into the tunnel.

*****

Pretar could feel Methos and Xander move out of the cell. He chuckled. Humans were all the same. They all thought in such primitive three-dimensional terms.

While they went through his maze, however, he had other issues to deal with.

He contacted the new leader of the Pahra Demons. King Joah, your services are required.

Pretar smiled, satisfied, before he gave his instructions.

*****

They were walking through the tunnel as quietly as possible. They couldn't hear anyone nearby, but Methos decided they should be as discreet as possible.

So, Methos, Xander persisted. Let me get this straight. You're a 5000 year old Immortal who's running from the Watcher's Society. Only you hid right under their noses until a few months ago when they found out that you weren't Adam Peirson.3000 years ago, you became a wizard and since then you've tried to keep your abilities as much of a secret as possible, 'cause if people found out about that not only do you have the oldest Quickening but you've learned to use it magically, everyone would be after you, not just other Immortals.

Methos sighed. It was bad enough that the kid knew his real name, but now yet another person knew his recent history. He wished he thought of himself as 'Adam' or 'Peirson' even, or the kid wouldn't have heard him think 'Methos' before he put up his shields. All Xander got from Methos' thoughts was his name. The rest came from the Watcher Database. It turned out that a friend of Xander's had hacked into the database not long ago for friends in LA and had shared what she found.

Yes, Xander, that's it, he answered. They communicated mentally because they'd discovered quickly that their voices echoed.

Cool, Xander answered. He was glad he got that straight. The guy was trying to be as discreet as possible. His mental shields proved to be too weak, however, and Xander got into the Immortal's memories easily. He didn't bother with current thoughts, because that would get too confusing at the moment with everything else going on. It was kind of hard to believe that this guy was five thousand years old, too.

Are you sure this way leads to your friends? The Immortal asked him. He sounded a little anxious to get out of there, but Xander had made it clear that they had to get the other Tomorrow People out.

Yeah, this is the way. His foot splashed into a puddle, breaking the silence. He and Methos flattened themselves against the wall behind a pillar and waiting several seconds. All they heard was a rat screech. Ya know, if this is supposed to be Pretar's mind, why does it feel like we're in a Ninja Turtles episode?

No sooner were the words out of his head that they heard a different noise. It was a deep, vibrating sound coming from far away. With every second that passed, however, it got louder, until Xander realized it was actually several low growls done simultaneously.

They exchanged looks before looking behind the pillar. All they saw were shadows that reached deeply into the tunnel. The growls got louder, however, and suddenly, they saw them.

"Oh, shit," Xander whispered.

Small bodies of creatures crept out of shadows, emitting low growling noises as they got closer. There were hundreds of them. They clung to the ceiling, walls, and floor with long claws. When they dug their claw into a patch of stone, debris and chunks of wall fell to the ground, hitting their colleagues. The demons being hit paid no notice if they weren't killed, and even if they were the others simply stepped over their bodies and kept walking.

They looked like the gargoyles Xander remembered seeing on the church he attended several years ago. Their dog-like bodies seemed to be made of stone in the poor lighting, and wings could be seen attached to their backs.

Suddenly, the gargoyles stopped and the growling ceased. It was replaced by sniffs as the creatures caught a scent in the air. Then they looked straight at Methos' and Xander's hideout. One of the gargoyles let out a long howl, and the others followed a suit with barks and snarls. Then they started running, closing the distance between them and their prey much faster than before.

Methos' right arm swiped out in a half-circle above his head. Suddenly, a blue wall appeared between them and the hounds, causing the beasts to slam into it.

Methos turned, grabbed Xander's arm, and started running in the opposite direction. "It'll only last for a few minutes. We should put some distance between us and them before I get us out of here."

The alleged Promised One shrugged off the warlock's arm. "We're not leaving without my friends."

"We'll have to come back for them." Seeing him about to protest, Methos continued. "Look. Your friends are back that way." He pointed at the hellhounds. "We can't rescue them if we've been mauled. This is a mind world, so I’m not sure if we can die here, but I'm not willing to find out. We can come back for them."

Knowing he was right, Xander reluctantly nodded. "Okay, but we come back for my friends immediately, all right?"

Methos didn't answer him. Instead, he put his hands near Xander's temples and said, "I grant safe passage out of the house of my enemy. Allow me and mine to leave this unholy place."

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