Rowan was pacing back and forth inside the Council's huge treasure vault deep in thought. The vault was located far below the Council's headquarters in Bloomsbury, London, and only selected members of the Council and their staff even knew of its existence. Fewer still had access. The walls were steel-reinforced concrete, six feet thick, and the door required two independent combinations to be entered simultaneously to open. Quentin Travers had given him the combination to one of the locks. For the other, either Travers himself or the Keeper of the Vault would have to be present. The massive circular door to the vault was currently slightly ajar allowing him to exit and enter freely until he left for the day.
The vault held, among other things, the only complete and unedited set of Watcher Diaries in the world. He had already spent a month there meticulously reading through the history of the Slayers, and all collected prophecies surrounding the Slayer line, comparing the info against the... memories in his head. Mostly it felt like reading a familiar book for the umpteenth time.
But here and there were subtle variations between the stuff in his head and the written testimony. That was deeply unsettling and the main source for his current unease. Which set of data was accurate? Maybe neither. If someone had subsequently altered the Council's version of the history, what would have been their motive? And if the Diaries were correct, why would The Hegemon have bestowed him with an altered version? To confuse him, perhaps?
He had become familiar with the vault's more prominently exhibited items during his time there. Even though only a handful of people had access to this vault, it was set up like a real museum down to the little plaques describing the exhibited items. Legendary artifacts, ancient relics, items that were good, evil, both or neither. Many a collector of arcane paraphernalia would have given an arm and a leg (someone else's, most likely) to get access there.
Near the entrance, the first glass showcase contained a sword. The plaque next to it read, "White-Hilt, the Sword of Rhydderch Hael (Dyrnwyn, gleddyf Rhydderch Hael)". In the next, larger showcase a dummy was wearing a long coat which was labelled, "The Coat of Padarn Beisrudd (Pais Badarn Beisrydd)". Further in, the next showcase contained a large, golden chess board with silver and crystal pieces. It was labelled, "The Chessboard of Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio (Gwyddbwyll Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio)." Even though the showcase was sealed, the pieces were never twice in the same position whenever Rowan happened to lay his eyes on it. On and on it went with showcases, cabinets, drawers and so on until the vast chamber came to an end.
On the far wall, next to the door to the separate library vault, a strange-looking weapon was fixed to it. It was unlike anything Rowan had ever seen. If anything, it resembled a short-shafted Lochaber axe with the end of the shaft sharpened to resemble a stake. It was the only item on display that really piqued his interest. The accompanying brass plaque read, "Mʔ (sp.?). Approximate replica. Rome, 468 A.D.". The top half of the shaft was metal and contained carvings which looked like badly copied Old Tongue text. Some of the symbols were legible but the overall text made no sense.
He had found a few speculative references to the item in some of the very oldest Watcher Diaries but none for example from around the time the supposed replica was forged. Whenever he tried to recall anything concerning the item, he always drew a total blank.
The Council's secret library was vast, both in physical size and accumulated lore. From stone and clay tablets to DVD-ROMs, no other library in the world contained such a treasure trove of magical texts, myths and legends from the earliest days of written human history and even before. During his meeting with Quentin Travers in Sunnydale, Rowan had mentioned that the Council most likely had some "more forbidden tomes" in their possession where the Head of the Council might have seen the Sealing of the Soft Places mentioned.
In their secret library he had found them. A huge but fragmentary tome called "The Remnants of Lost Empires" contained a small section on Selenia and the Apocalypse which had brought an end to that era. To his delight and surprise the Latin text had also included a hand-copied excerpt of a much older text written in the Old Tongue. Seeing his name there on the page, whether mistyped or not, had been a sobering experience. All of it had been real, a fact of which he had not always been so certain about, what with the Void and the way The Hegemon had forced an external set of memories on him. It was also one possible evidence that maybe... just maybe the Paygan had followed his final orders and born witness on their all but desperate actions to get the Seals in place and activated.
He came out of his ruminations when he heard soft footsteps approach him from behind. He hadn't been able to sense the one approaching, which was odd. Maybe some item in the vault extended its hiding or cloaking power well outside the showcase.
Turning around he saw a young teen-age girl standing some ten feet away from him. Her mouth fell open as their eyes met.
"Hello, miss," he greeted the girl.
The girl closed an opened her mouth a few times but no sound came out.
"How did you get in here?" Rowan continued.
"Through the door, silly," the girl huffed her initial awe quickly subsiding. "Father mentioned a special guest. I guess you must be it."
"I suppose," Rowan nodded. "Quentin Travers gave me access here."
"Father did? You must be someone very special."
"The Consul is your father?" Rowan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, my name is Lilith Travers but everyone calls me Lily."
"Nice to meet you, Lily," Rowan smiled and held out his hand. "You can call me Rowan."
The girl stared at outstretched hand with a surprised look on her face. She clearly wasn't used to being treated as an adult. She slowly extended her own hand and shyly shook Rowan's. She drew her hand back quickly and blushed.
"I haven't seen you around before, Lily, and I've been here a little over a month. Do you live here?"
"Yes, but I have been staying with my aunt and uncle since the school term ended. I just came back and wanted to immediately see this place."
"You like it down here, then?"
"Oh, yes. This has always been my favourite place. How do you like it?"
"It's... fascinating. I've been mostly buried in books, though, over there," he nodded his head, indicating the separate library room. "I have only really checked the main showcases. To tell the truth, I haven't even peeked into any of the cabinets or drawers yet."
"What have you been reading?" Lily asked with a child's curiosity. "Father has prohibited me from entering the secret library. He said that the books in there are dangerous."
"They can be, if you try to read them without sufficient preparation," he nodded, thinking about the copy of Liber Ivonis and the fragmentary Tarsioid Psalms he had seen on the shelves. "What I'm currently reading is basically just boring everyday diary stuff – nothing too arcane or mystic."
"Oh, the original Watcher Diaries. So, you're interested in Slayers, huh?"
"You could say that," he smiled thinking about Faith.
"I'm gonna be one someday. I'm a Potential, you know," Lily announced proudly.