Chapter 2:
"I don't get it." Watching her partner's explosion Kirika couldn't help but feel the same frustration, although she made sure not to actually let it show. "What could possibly be so important about these people?"
And that indeed was the thing that bothered both of them. In Billings' office they had taken the three folders that contained information relevant to their present situation. Folders on three people whose names she had already heard hours before but had never believed to actually have any relevance in her world.
"You are sure there was nothing really strange about the girl?" Although she once again indicated that she hadn't noticed anything really out of the ordinary about the girl, Kirika couldn't help but wonder if she might have missed something. When the girl had first seated herself she had appeared to be a typical American girl and in the time after that the only thing that had really caught her attention was where the girl was from.
Sunnydale, California. She had never heard of the town before it's disappearance but that had been something that couldn't be easily missed. She didn't know exactly what had happened but it was clear that none of the various explanations given could be the real one.
However, the girl's hometown was not important now. The file about Dawn had explained some of the strange behavior she had exhibited. With her mother dead and her father out of reach she had then been robbed of her sister as well. And that was one of the strangest things in the files. All three files made it clear that Buffy Anne Summers had died in the year 2001. All three files also made it quite clear that she was still alive, which of course should be impossible.
It didn't make any sense at all but the two of them had decided it was unlikely to be a miraculous resurrection, which indicated a cover-up. All three files also indicated codenames, Dawn was known as the Key, Rupert Giles as the Watcher and Buffy was called the Slayer. While that last name was not something any self-respecting assassin would use, it might imply she was an amateur. But then why would Soldats have so extensive a file on her? A file that while it lacked a lot of information did imply she was a very dangerous person.
"I have to admit she doesn't appear to be anything special to me either. But from what we've read it's clear that she was the main target, which once again doesn't make any sense."
Nothing her partner said was in any way new to Kirika as the two of them had discussed all of this already. From what they had managed to piece together it was clear that the Watcher had been the one contacted by Billings. Apparently he was told to bring the other two for a discussion concerning something called the Council. The Council of what had not been stated and combined with the fact that the message that had been send specifically asked for the Slayer, who was of course invited to bring her sister along, made her believe that it was unlikely he was a member of Soldats.
On the other hand you could never be sure when it came to them, they always had plans within plans and if those plans failed there would be a back-up plan. So until they'd receive information indicating otherwise they would assume he was at least under the control of Soldats.
Unfortunately, that was no help either in discovering what was so important about Dawn that it was worth calling the wrath of Noir upon oneself.
"I think I'll try the internet again, maybe I'll find something there. She told you about her so-called vacation in Europe, I take it you know approximately when they were somewhere?" Kirika nodded that indeed she knew that, and she knew what her partner was talking about as well. There had been gaps in the story, nothing worrying and if it hadn't been for the files she would have put it down to encounters with boys. Now however those times the American girl hadn't wanted to mention might prove to have a darker meaning.
. . . .
Looking up the dates had proven to be useless, there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary to make the papers within two weeks of the time she figured them to have spent somewhere. And looking for other information had proven useless as well.
"Well, at least we know the name isn't as stupid as we thought it is." Mireille told her while smiling a little at the ridiculousness of what she had found. "Although I have no idea why anyone would name herself after some kind of mythological vampire hunter."
Vampires, demons and magic. They had all been things she had never heard of although there was something about them that tickled her memory. Something she had read during her years at the Manor but she couldn't clearly remember what it was. Furrowing her brow she thought hard about it, there was something about the formation of Soldats that had to do with it. It had to do with a promise but what kind of promise? No, that was something about an Army but why did she have a feeling it had something to do with their current situation?
Shaking her head she decided it wasn't that important right now. Once she had the time to think it over she would but doing so at this time would only impede the search for information they really needed. "What about the Key or Watcher?"
Mireille sighed at that. "Nothing useful, I'd almost think there was more about Keys on the net than porn. And the Watcher was nearly as useless, the only thing I could find there was in combination with the Slayer, apparently a Watcher is supposed to guide that vampire killer."
So, another dead end but surely there must be something they could do to find something out. Mireille however hadn't been finished yet.
"I also tried to find out about those Knights he mentioned." He, which meant Billings, the fact that they were pretty certain they weren't under surveillance didn't mean they would speak of last night openly. "But that was like the Key or Watcher, too much useless garbage to find something that might actually prove useful. I even tried combining it with mentions of the Faithful, or the Beast to see if they might have something to do with those swordbearing fools. And guess what?" Mireille asked bitterly. "I didn't find anything."
Kirika walked to the window of their hotel room and pushed it open. The fresh smell of recent rain wafted inside and combined with the sun that at least tried to send down some warmth it showed her there was one more possibility for them to find out some answers. "We could ask her."
"What? You mean ask that Dawn girl? I don't really feel like going to that Watcher's house and ask them all about it, after all, it might be a trap."
"I don't think it is, but it doesn't matter. She'll be at the park again. We can ask her there."
"Why would she be there?"
"Because she likes it there, it's the one place in London she likes to go in order to relax."
Why did she have to be so difficult? Once again Dawn was angry at her sister while standing at the shore of the tiny lake. Was it her fault that someone had murdered the man they had been supposed to meet? She didn't think so.
And it wasn't as if that was the only thing that Buffy had been nagging about today either. First there had been the fact that she had been late last night which of course she wasn't allowed to be, no matter how often General Buffy did the same thing. That had been handled last night however and while her sister had alluded to it again this morning the blonde had also found new things to bug her about.
Skipping a stone over the surface before her she ignored the protests of the ducks who apparently believed only bread and other foodstuffs were allowed to enter their domain. When she then did actually throw a piece of bread amongst them the fight that ensued over which one might actually eat it reminded her of the way she had fought with Buffy.
Both of them had appeared ready to tear the other one apart when finally Giles had enough and ordered them to stop. Her cheeks heated slightly as she remembered exactly what words he had used to reach that effect. And the worst part about it was that he had actually been right. The two of them were acting like a couple of spoiled children.
But then had come the discovery of Billings' death, well assassination actually. And that had been strange enough, the only time she could remember that she had to do something with the killing of one human being by another was when Tara had been killed. But even that had not been anything like the slaughter of their contact had apparently been. Someone had actually entered his house with the sole intention of killing him and she couldn't imagine what would drive anyone to do that.
Although it might be some kind of internal struggle in the organization Giles had said the man belonged to. "Soldats." She said, trying the strange name again. It sounded French and unless she was really mistaken it meant something like Soldiers. But Soldiers of what? The Brit hadn't been very clear on that and since he had left to see if there was anyone else they could talk to she hadn't been able to ask him.
From what he had told her, and Buffy, she understood the organization had been encountered by the Wather Council some time during the fifteenth century and that they had compatible goals. So they had decided not to interfere with each other and when needed would offer support. That was the part she distrusted the most, if they were supposed to help why hadn't they done so when the First Evil had destroyed the Council? Especially since they were supposed to be so incredibly powerful. As if it was really possible for any one organization to have so much power without anyone noticing.
With all that information Dawn hadn't been able to form a positive opinion of Soldats but, she admitted to herself, that might also be because she distrusted the Watcher Council. Life really was full of difficult questions, wasn't it? They needed the help and support Soldats could offer them but was that worth the risk of being connected to an organization she didn't trust and whose members apparently had the habit of being assassinated?
A drop of water hitting her neck and sliding down her back shook her out of her reverie. Looking up at the sky she noticed that while the sun was still uncovered, rain clouds had started gathering again. She then looked around the park and couldn't help but notice that most people had already left or were starting to do so. And of course, unlike her those people actually had umbrellas as well. Curse those British people and the fact that they were actually able to understand their unpredictable weather.
Having no intention to get wet either, she decided to head back to Giles' place. Turning towards the exit she started walking until she encountered a familiar face. Standing in front of her was the silent girl from the day before and her friend.
"Hi, Kirika." She greeted, while looking enviously at the umbrellas the two of them were carrying. They too knew how this crazy weather seemed to work, maybe she ought to ask for an explanation.
She was surprised however when instead of a returned greeting from the Japanese girl it was the blonde who spoke. "We need to talk."
. . . .
So now she was sitting here in a coffee shop only a couple of hundred yards away from the park, waiting to find out what it was all about. Stirring her hot cup of coffee she looked around the shop for a moment but didn't see anything she hadn't seen in coffee shops all around Europe for the past months. Well, she amended herself, except for that one in Amsterdam. But then, how could she have known that the Dutch were the only people in the world who used coffeeshops for something other than selling coffee?
"We need information." The blonde, who had introduced herself as Mireille, said to open the conversation.
Looking back at the two people facing her across the table she considered the statement for a moment. Why would they come to her for information? Well, only one way to find out. "And you come to me, why?"
"Yesterday we finally managed to finish a problem we've been having for a while now. When we did so however we found out there was more to it then we had believed."
"I still don't understand what that has to do with me."
"You are the more part." Huh? What was with the cryptic statements?
"You know, if you want to get me to tell you something I really need to know what you're talking about."
The blonde looked around for a moment to ensure there wasn't anyone around before she bent closer to Dawn. "There was a trade between two parties. One of them we already know, the other is the one we want information about. The trade involved the three of us. Both Kirika and I would be killed and in return you would be turned over to the other group."
Killed? Oh shit, Dawn suddenly had an idea exactly how they had finished the problem they were talking about. There was a newspaper lying on the table and she couldn't prevent her eyes from moving towards the main item on the front page.
"Yes." Kirika confirmed her suspicion before she had even spoken it out loud.
"But what would they want with me?"
"Now that is an interesting question isn't it?" Mireille asked her before she bent forward again. "Tell me Miss Key, who are the Knights?"
Not again… Dawn buried her head in her hands to gain some time thinking this revelation over. While still shocked that she was facing two people who during the last night had killed an incredible number of people, that was not the most important thing anymore. The Knights of Byzantium were after her again and, if what Mireille had said was true, they didn't care who got hurt in the process. And then there that other aspect of her that was furious with Kirika. The day before she had carefully edited out everything connected to the supernatural and now it seemed like she already knew about it, and her.
"You're sure it was the Knights?" She timidly asked the blonde, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't true.
"Yes. Now tell me, who are they?"
"But they are destroyed! Glory killed them all."
"There aren't as many of them as there were a year ago but they still exist. Talk." Mireille commanded her.
"The Knights of Byzantium were, no are, an organization dedicated to destroying me." She told the two killers.
"An entire organization dedicated to killing you? Well, I have to admit that of all the strange things I've ever heard that one ranks among the most absurd."
"Hey! I'm telling the truth here."
"I don't doubt that but you have to admit it sounds ridiculous." Mireille sighed in frustration. "However I have a feeling that whatever else you're going to tell us might best be done somewhere less public."
"We can go to Giles' place." Dawn offered, after all, Buffy was probably there as well and maybe Giles had returned by now as well.
Despite the fact that it was obviously a ploy on the girl's part they had decided to go along with her to the apartment she had been staying in. Kirika could understand why the girl wanted some backup, although she had no idea why she would think that her sister and the Watcher might be able to really help her.
"Oh, it's only you." A young woman she recognized as Buffy Summers told Dawn as she opened the door.
"Thanks for the heartfelt welcome." Dawn bit back. Strange, why would they act like that when they were sisters?
"I was hoping it was Giles with some more information, after all I thought you agreed that the sooner we get out of this country the better."
"Yeah, but somehow I don't think Giles will have as much information as I bring." The girl told her sister who now finally seemed to notice her and Mireille.
"Who are they?"
"People with questions, Miss Slayer." Mireille said as she too walked through the door.
"Hey, who do you think you are that you just walk in?"
Kirika didn't really pay a lot of attention to the ensuing conversation. She had heard her partner talk like that far too many times before and knew that it was the result of hate at first sight. Looking at Dawn's exasperated face she realized that in this case the feeling might actually be mutual, although she didn't understand how anyone could hate Mireille.
"Shall we take this into the living room or do you two really need to act like a couple of small children?" The Key said, instantly earning Kirika's respect. There weren't many people who would dare to talk like that to someone she knew was an assassin. From Mireille's expression she figured that her partner had the same thought and as the Corsican then indeed walked to the living room she was certain of it.
"So, who are you?" Buffy demanded.
After repeating the story they had told Dawn, Buffy seemed to come to the same conclusion. "You're the ones who killed Billings."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We told you, he hired those knights, the Knights of Byzantium you called them?" As Dawn nodded Mireille continued. "To kill us. That happens to be the kind of thing we take exception to."
"Well, you must be wrong since they're all dead. I saw the aftermath and nothing could have survived what happened there."
"Obviously those that you saw killed weren't the only ones, don't you think so?" The sugary sweet, but obviously fake, smile her partner sent in Buffy's direction would have almost been enough to push Kirika over the limit. The Slayer didn't even stand a chance.
"I don't care what a bunch of killers thinks, I know they are all dead and therefore we don't have anything to do with you." Came out through gritted teeth.
It was strange to see that the Slayer obviously didn't want to believe the possibility they might actually be right. But it was important for her to do so. So they needed to convince the woman of that. Unfortunately however, Mireille continued baiting the young woman, despite the fact that that wouldn't get them anywhere. "Look, Miss High and Mighty. I don't care what you think you know. We saw proof of their survival, well temporary survival at least, and now you are too stubborn to even acknowledge a possible danger to your own sister?"
"I think you should leave before I call the cops." The riled up Buffy told them, clearly having reached the end of the line.
"Very well, we'll go for now. If you think of something please call me." Her smiling partner said while handing a piece of paper, containing her phone number, to Buffy.
"They are killers Giles! Ruthless assassins!" Buffy shouted at the Brit.
"Quite so, however they apparently also managed to save Dawn's life."
"If what they said was actually true." Dawn couldn't really understand why her sister was so adamant to believe that Kirika and Mireille had lied about everything but had stopped trying to protect them long ago.
Giles however hadn't had to deal with her ranting for hours and so didn't know. "I do not believe they actually lied to you. They might not have all the information but from what other sources have told me, I believe they might be telling the truth."
Wow, what other sources? "Other sources?"
"Yes Dawn, this morning I told you I'd go looking for another contact from Soldats. That was the truth but when I was underway I decided to do some more research about them first. After all, if it is usual for them to be assassinated it might not be a good idea to be affiliated with them."
"Now you're talking." Buffy told him, obviously feeling she had been vindicated. "You can't trust people who go around killing other people."
"That is not what I said Buffy, but anyway the information I discovered was indeed quite disconcerting. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of it so there are gaps in what I can tell you." He stopped for a moment to clean his glasses before once again continuing. "Now, Soldats most likely is very influential in the, ah, normal world. There are only a few of their members who know about the supernatural and even they got most of what they know from the Council."
"Okay, but what does all that have to do with anything?"
"I was getting to that. Now it seems that several years ago there was a power struggle, someone who was called the Merciful Mother wanted Soldats to go back to its roots. And no, I don't know what that means. However, in doing so she reinstated an old custom, the formation of Noir."
"Noir? What's that?" Dawn asked although she started to have the feeling she knew exactly what it was.
"It is a very old name, there has almost always been an assassin with that name and it was usually the best in the business. However, the real, or True Noir is a pair of assassins, controlled by Soldats."
"You think Kirika and Mireille are this Noir, don't you?"
"Yes, from what I was told the Merciful mother's coup attempt failed and Noir broke away from Soldats. Now if that was indeed the two people you've met it is very unlikely they would lie to you about the dangers."
"Why is that unlikely? They might want us to help them fight Soldats."
"I do not believe that likely considering that they'd probably consider you more a hindrance than a help."
"A hindrance?" Buffy seemed insulted and Dawn had to agree with her. After all, her sister was the Slayer which meant she could probably kick anyone's ass.
"Quite, first I do not believe they have a very good idea what you as a Slayer are capable of but, ah, I'm also afraid that compared to them your training isn't very impressive."
"What do you mean her training isn't very impressive? You trained her didn't you, are you saying you didn't do a good job?" Dawn wanted to know.
"No, no, that's not it at all. But the man I talked to was very insistent about that, apparently the ,ehm saplings as they are called, are trained almost from birth and are sent on missions before they are even ten years old. Probably even sooner then that." Wow, that was indeed one impressive training.
"So you think they're better then Buffy?"
"Not in so many words, although they certainly do. But, to be honest, were you to fight them I am not certain that you would survive the experience." The last part had been directed to Buffy.
Even Buffy seemed shocked into silence by that statement before she came back to her original point. "But that still doesn't tell me why you believe them."
"Ah yes, well, before the Council was destroyed, rumors about something called the Faithful had started to appear."
"The Faithful? And what are they?"
"Apparently they are former members of the Order of Byzantium."
"They are all dead remember? We saw it happen." Buffy cut him off.
Giles sighed before explaining that. "We saw the knights in Sunnydale being killed, but if you think about it they couldn't have been the entire order."
"Why not?" Dawn asked, not really understanding what Giles was trying to say.
"Because they didn't have any support with them, support that would have been needed for an order like that to exist for more than a couple of years."
"Oh, okay." Glancing at Buffy who still didn't seem to agree with everything she decided that the conversation needed to be brought back to where it needed to go. "So, what are these Faithful then?"
"While most of the Order believed there was no more need to destroy the Key after Glory had been, ah, killed." The man seemed a little hesitant there and for a moment Dawn wondered what exactly had happened to the Goddess who had intended to use her to return to her home dimension. She had been more concerned with Buffy's death at the time and even after her sister's resurrection she hadn't thought about it. Giles continued however and she refocused on his words. "There were a number however who didn't believe the world was safe as long as the Key existed."
Oh no, Dawn had a very bad feeling about where this was going. "Let me guess, they called themselves the Faithful?"
"Yes, indeed."
"And why weren't we told about this?" Buffy demanded.
"At the time I didn't believe they were enough of a threat, they didn't know that Dawn was the Key and neither were they powerful enough. And there was also the more immediate threat we faced at the time, once that had been dealt with, I'm afraid it slipped my mind."
"Slipped your mind? Some fools that like to play with swords want to kill my sister and it slipped your mind? How dare you call yourself a Watcher?"
Giles cut her ranting off before it got to far out of hand, something Dawn was rather happy about. "That's quite enough Buffy."
Dawn didn't listen to what else he was telling her sister as there was only one thing that mattered to her. Someone was after her again, once again someone was trying to kill her because she used to be a big green mystical ball of energy. If she hadn't already learned that asking it was useless she would have been moaning 'Why me?'
Time to think, yes that's what she needed. Looking out of the window she noticed it was no longer raining and while she had no idea how long that would last it meant that for the moment she could go to the park and order her thoughts there. "I'm going out for a while. I'll be back in time for dinner."
Not bothering to wait for a reply she grabbed her jacket and stepped out of the door.
It had been hours since they had returned from that failed meeting with the Key and Slayer. And while they had gotten some information out of it, there wasn't enough for it to be useful. They had tried the few contacts they had in England to discover more information about the Knights of Byzantium but it had proven to be useless. Nobody seemed to know anything and in the end they had given up for the day.
Now back in their hotel room she could hear Mireille's cell phone ring and listened as her partner answered it. "Yes?"
The ensuing silence was long and Kirika sat up from the bed she was lying on when she noticed the surprised expressions cross the other's face. "We'll be there shortly." Was all her partner said before she disconnected and turned to Kirika.
"That was Miss High and Mighty, apparently Dawn was kidnapped by those Knights and now she suddenly does have information about them. All we have to do is help her get her sister back."
"And you agreed?" That was strange, while she agreed with it she couldn't understand why Mireille had chosen to do so. Normally her partner hated being told what to do by someone she didn't like, well, to be honest she realized that the Corsican hated being ordered in general.
"Yes, we need that information. If we can get rid of the Knights we only have to think about Soldats, which simplifies our lives at least a little." She then grinned at Kirika. "Besides, while I can't stand Miss High and Mighty I too like Dawn."
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Post-fic comments: Yes, I know the story about Noir isn't entirely correct but I figured Kirika and Mireille were the only two people who actually know the whole truth and they wouldn't be talking. And yes, the Faithful mentioned here are the same ones from Rebirth: Noir which therefore could possibly be seen as a crossover as well, although I don't see it as such. Now then, the last part of this particular story will be posted in two days and to be honest I almost feel bad for what I've done to Dawnie there.