A/N: This next chapter will explain more! Thanks for reading!

TweakyTree: Thanks for your review! It did make me continue! lol Enjoy this next one!

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CHAPTER 2

2006 - A week before

Arturo Ville-Amour heaved a heavy, dust-covered book from his library shelf. Dropping it on the table upon a heap of other books in front of his granddaughter, Lourdes, he quickly sifted through the stiff, golden-brown pages, looking over the brim of his glasses as he did so. Meanwhile, Lourdes squinted her eyes and coughed, waving her hand in the air as the dust began to surround her.

The two were in Arturo's grand library, the room having shelves on every wall, towering many metres above them. Lourdes could not relinquish the idea that her grandfather had thousands of books stored and catalogued in this one room, the space also adorned with numerous historical and ancient objects. As a retired archaeologist, Arturo was among one of the best and brightest when it came to artifacts, relics and many objects of the past. Studying a bit of history and archaeology herself in university, Lourdes adored and admired her grandfather, for his reservoir of knowledge about these subjects was indeed large.

"Ah ha, here we are!" The old man exclaimed excitedly, snapping his fingers. With a cursory glance at the page, his index finger stopped at a little illustration, pointing upon it repeatedly as his eyes landed back on Lourdes. "The Amulet of Lyoness."

Lourdes leaned forward on her seat in order to take a closer look. Tilting her head, she examined the illustration for a moment as she pursed her lips into a thin line. "So this is the amulet that has been causing all this ruckus at the British Museum?" Raising a laconic brow, she twisted her head to face her grandfather. "What does your ex-friend Cyriac want with it?"

"What I am about to tell you is hard to believe, granddaughter, but it is true." Arturo heaved a sigh, chest visibly rising and falling as he stated, "With the right spell, my dear, this amulet can be used to travel across the time/space continuum." He continued rather grimly, sighing as he placed his wrinkled arms upon the glass table. "If this gets into the wrong hands, Lourdes -- such as Cyriac's -- the course of the future -- of history itself -- will hang in the balance."

Lourdes squinted her eyes as she tried to comprehend what her grandfather had just told her. Suspending her disbelief for the moment, she only glanced back at the illustration, then back up at her grandfather. Trying to grasp the entire concept, Lourdes piped up unsurely, "You mean the future can be changed...in the past?"

Arturo pinched her nose lightly in pride. "Precisely."

Swallowing, Lourdes continued, with more confidence lining her voice this time, "And I am guessing that the past can be changed...in the future?"

Arturo snapped his fingers quickly. "Right-o."

Lourdes breathed out incredulously, shaking her head, "I've heard crazy tales in my lifetime, grandfather, but this certainly takes the cake."

Taking a seat beside her, Arturo's face had gone serious, the purpose of their meeting now weighing heavily upon his heart. This is the best thing to do, he said inwardly as he gazed upon his young granddaughter. He could barely believe that he could even think of roping her into this mess in the first place, having fought this battle against his rival and, rightly, ex-best friend, Cyriac, for many years. Arturo felt a pang of guilt then, for his lifelong work and scholarly interest in historical artifacts and relics had gotten him into this mess -- and now, his own family. Taking Lourdes' hand in his as if in advanced comfort, he said, "Cyriac's cronies have stolen the amulet from the National Museum of England. After that, all I know is that they have stored it in a nearby warehouse in the Docks."

"Grandfather, why are you telling me this?" Recognizing the look that she received from Arturo, Lourdes' heard jumped. Biting her lip nervously, she promptly inquired, "W-what do you want me to do?"

"Retrieve the amulet."

Without warning, Lourdes instantly stood at this in disbelief, almost knocking her chair backwards. "Grandfather, you must be joking me! Cyriac probably has dozens of guys to guard this amulet, and you want me to go and retrieve it?" Whimpering, Lourdes sat back down. "You might as well have hammered the last nail into my coffin."

Closing his eyes, Arturo rubbed his temple with his fingers, knowing precisely how she felt and the risks of this mission. Breathing out heavily, he pleaded, "Lourdes, you must do this, for unspeakable things will happen if Cyriac gets a hold of this amulet. He is greedy, heartless and lusts for ultimate power. With the power of the amulet, he will do the unthinkable, wreak ultimate havoc until he gets his way. You know this."

"Grandfather, why me?" She squeaked silently, hanging her head low as she felt dread course throughout her veins. She wasn't stupid. She knew the risks of actually trying to steal back the amulet from Cyriac and his men. A part of her felt dejected then, at the fact that her own grandfather was asking her to risk her life for this, to play heroine when she was not even close to being one.

"I am too old." Arturo admitted sullenly, body even wavering as he stood. "And we must not tell anyone else of this, nor attract any attention to his peril, for if this knowledge spreads, then we will have more to deal with. And believe me, if anymore men like Cyriac discover the powers of this amulet, well, let's just kiss the world as we know it goodbye."

"And after I retrieve the amulet from Cyriac?" Lourdes continued impatiently, not feeling the least bit reassured.

"You must use it."

"What!" Lourdes stood up abruptly once more, this time completely knocking her chair to the ground. Her eyes widened in disbelief once more, pointing a steady finger at her grandfather. "Gramps, you are bloody mad. That, or senile. Maybe both!"

"Hey, I am not senile or mad!" Arturo quickly defended, running his fingers through his wispy grey hair, "I am quite intelligent, if I do say so myself." Clasping his hands in front of him, his dark eyes met Lourdes' own brown orbs once more, face gone serious. "You must use this amulet that is here, in 2006, in order to travel back in time to retrieve the same amulet in the past and bring it back to me. I will do the rest from there."

"Oh, I get it." Lourdes said with a tint of sarcasm as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "So I do all the hard labour and you do your hocus pocus thing and poof! Problem solved, world saved?"

"That's pretty much the jist of it, yeah."

"Wow." Lourdes gave out a low whistle, shaking her head. "This amulet is high tech shit, eh gramps?"

"Actually," Arturo held out a finger in front of him, "it was conceived by the Sarmatians more than 1500 years ago." Reaching out his arm, he grabbed another book from the shelves, then placed it atop the growing pile of books. "Originally it had belonged to the grandmother of the wife of Meliodas, King of Lyoness. After the Queen's death, the amulet had disappeared, its whereabouts a mystery to archaeologists and historians for centuries." He repeatedly pointed a finger in his temple, smirking victoriously. "But, when they were all searching for it in her grave, I knew better." He stood, closing the book abruptly in front of him. "A valuable family heirloom, buried with the Queen of Lyoness? Not a chance." He held out a hand in question. "Tell me, what do people do with family heirlooms?"

Lourdes shifted her brows at this unexpected question, giving her inquiring grandfather a shrug. "Wear...them?"

Arturo rolled his eyes and groaned. "Other than that?"

Furrowing her brows, Lourdes thought carefully, placing her hand upon her chin. Then, it suddenly hit her. Snapping her fingers, she exclaimed, "Pass them down!"

"Congratulations." Looking at her from above the brim of his glasses, he continued lightly, "So, I have been doing research about the Queen of Lyoness and her family and found that she had a son, whose name was Tristan. Tristan, the legendary knight of King Arthur, one of the knights of the Round Table. It makes it quite simple for us, really, because he was her one and only child -- and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the amulet was given to him and remained with him until his death." He plopped down beside her. "Which explains why those archaeologists found the amulet in a mysterious, unmarked grave -- not the tomb of the Queen of Lyoness."

"So this Tristan dude," Lourdes circled her hand, prodding her grandfather to continue, "what does he have to do with all of this?"

Arturo pursed his lips into a thin line and continued to explain his reasonings. "I am certain that he will have this amulet in his being." He placed a hand on Lourdes' shoulder. "You must know from your research that Tristan did not become King of Lyoness, but, at first, was sent to do service to King Mark of Cornwall; and, that when he was only 10 years old, he was forced, by Roman decree, to serve as a knight of Rome for 15 years." Arturo gave out a sigh, shrugging. "Although he is a knight, I believe that it will be much easier for you to come in contact with him than with his queen mother, or any other member of the royal family that had once owned the amulet." Finishing succinctly, Arturo stated, "You must go back to the time of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, find him, retrieve the amulet from him, and return here."

Lourdes squinted her eyes as she tried to comprehend everything that her grandfather was saying. When logic smacked her in the face, she gasped. She began slowly, then grew progressively excited as she said, "If I bring the amulet back from the past into the future, then I am changing the future in the past!"

"I think you're getting smarter."

She continued in disbelief, "...Which then means that the course of history will be changed, therefore the archaeologists will not find it in Tristan's grave, and, consequently..."

"...Cyriac will not have his hands on it."

Lourdes sat back in her chair, breathing out in incredulousness. "Bloody brilliant."

"I thought you'd like it." Arturo beamed, eyes gazing out the window. "But, even with this amulet, time-travel can still be a tricky thing. It has laws and rules just like any other phenomenon on this earth." She eyed him expectantly, adrenaline pumping into her blood. He continued, "This particular amulet and its power coincides with the spell of the Lady of the Lake and a full moon. With amulet at hand, what you must do is walk into a large body of water, say the spell, all during a full moon." Bustling about the room, he checked his nearby computer, clicking the mouse as he said, "If my calculations are right, there will be a full moon in a week's time. So, you have approximately that much time in order to retrieve the amulet from Cyriac and, consequently, begin your mission."

"That soon?" Lourdes began to feel nervous at this newly given 'mission', her stomach tying into knots. "Grandfather, I'm no action heroine. I don't know those fancy kick ass moves, and I can barely wield a weapon." She frowned, looking upwards at him. "How do you even know that I can pull this off?"

"It's simple," Arturo smiled, kissing her forehead, "I have faith in you."

T T T

465 A.D.

"Holy shit."

Wading out of the knee-high water shakily, Lourdes sucked in a breath, eyes surveying her surroundings. To her disbelief, she could not recognize where she was, her surroundings devoid of park benches, large oaks, and of course, a parking lot. They were all replaced by rolling fields, so large that they disappeared in the distance; tiny, thatched houses, clustered only two hundred yards from where she stood; and a large, imposing castle, surrounded by a masterfully built curtain wall, looming protectively behind them. Looking behind her, she felt a sense of familiarity with the lake that she stood in.

It was then that it hit her.

This must be the same lake in the park -- just 1500 years ago!, she mused to herself, trying desperately to dry off her legs. Shifting the bag upon her back into a more comfortable position, she took a few steps forward, as if gingerly feeling the ground to see if it was real. Bloody hell, grandfather was right! It worked! Thinking back to what he had told her the previous night, he had said, "While saying the spell, think hard upon when and where you want to go. Think hard upon Tristan, Arthur, and his legendary knights of the Round Table. The amulet will do the rest." She had laughed inwardly then, poking that this amulet had to have some type of homing device built within it.

Squealing audibly, she hopped in place gleefully, the heavy weight of her 'mission' momentarily erased from her mind. All disbelief had faded, only to be replaced by faith. Though at first frightened to the bone about this mission, now she felt as though she was some practitioner of a 'dark magic', feeling quite proud of herself. Lourdes could barely believe that the spell had actually worked -- that she, all by her lonesome, had succeeded in making it work! A smug smile pulling upon her lips, she patted her hands in mock conceit, "Saving the world, one amulet at a time." Though, her moment of celebration did not last long, for as she took a few more steps forward, the sound of thundering hooves sounded in the distance, galloping steeds heading straight towards her.

"Shit!" she cursed out loud, scrambling, with all her belongings, to hide behind a nearby tree. Catching her breath, she pressed her back upon a large oak, then holding her breath as the riders came closer to her. Her ears perked up to the sound of their voices.

"Arthur desires to meet with all of us. Think you Tristan is somewhere nearby?"

"Probably. You know 'im. 'e likes to frolic around all by 'is lonesome."

"Hmm. I see his hawk right there. He has to be somewhere close by."

Tristan!, Lourdes screamed inwardly, the nervousness and fear in her heart somewhat dissipating. So she had succeeded in going back to the right time! At first, she was afraid that she wouldn't even make it to the right century!

As she turned around, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and roughly slammed back onto the trunk of the tree. "Son of a..." she gritted her teeth at the stabbing pain, wincing as she felt herself being pinned upon the tree trunk by two strong hands. As she tried to jolt from the grasp, she was held firm, her assailant's grip unyielding. "Jesus fucking Christ, let me go!"

As she looked up, her eyes met dark, cold, brown orbs, which were peering down intently upon her, squinted. She beheld a man with strong, striking and sharp features, his high cheekbones adorned with four similar markings, his dark, shaggy hair partially in braids. His rough, seemingly unkempt beard and moustache covered, what she thought, was quite a handsome face. She was taken by surprise -- not only by his sudden appearance and overt aggression -- but by the fact that, for some reason, she felt no fear in this man's presence, even though his intentions with her were not clear. She did not speak with him, and he not to her, and they only stood there for many moments, intense eyes locked.

"Ah, Tristan, there you are."

The two looked up at the call to see three riders coming upon them languidly. Lourdes recognized their attire and concluded that they were knights. Though, her lips curled into a snarl as she also recognized the smirks and amused expressions upon their countenances, their eyes never leaving her and...

"Tristan?" she breathed out, eyes wide as her head snapped up to the man before her. At her quiet call, the handsome man peered down upon her once more, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he glanced at her in question. She blurted out quickly, "Sir, if you will, I must speak with you, for there is..."

"Tristan, leave your liaisons be for now!" A curly-haired knight interrupted. He called out from a few yards away from them, beckoning his arms for the knight to come. "Look, if I could leave a naked woman in my bed, I am pretty sure that you can wait." This remark received a chorus of chuckles from the other two knights by his side. "Come with haste! Arthur desires to meet with all of us."

As if in indecision, Tristan's body became tense, looking alternately down at Lourdes, then to his three comrades. When he decided to leave her be and began to walk away, Lourdes grabbed his arm quickly, pulling him back. "Wait!" She said with haste, gulping quickly as Tristan looked down to where her hand had grabbed his arm, then up to her brown orbs. "Please, Sir Tristan, I've important business with you."

As Lourdes stepped out from behind the tree, all the knights were taken aback by her rather...peculiar...attire. Her 'breeches' were dark and tight, sitting low upon her hips and adorned with what they made out to be a spiked belt. Her arms were bare, revealing only a black, spaghetti-strapped tank-top that hugged her curves. Her long, raven hair bounced freely around her, somewhat covering her dainty face.

Not knowing exactly what to do, the three knights unsheathed their swords in defense, for the image in front of them was nothing like they had ever seen before. This woman is not from here, they all said inwardly, eyeing one another with stiff jaws. Seeing their rather large blades held menacingly in front of them, Lourdes immediately unhanded Tristan, who continued to eye her silently.

"Ahhh, shit." She paced a few steps back. Not desiring to be stabbed that day, Lourdes slowly put her hands up in the air in surrender. "Good sirs, I mean no harm. I...I come in peace! Please, I need your help..."

"Do ye, now?" Another one of the mounted knights replied gruffly with a skeptical eyebrow, his bald head shining in the afternoon sun. "Tell us, then, lass, what do ye want us to do?"

Choosing her words wisely, Lourdes slowly croaked out, "Take me...to...your leader?"

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A/N: If you are confused about something, don't hesitate to let me know! .smiles. More will be explained in the next few chapters!