I don't really know what you guys will make of this chapter, but...yeah! - Chai

After some time of the both of us just staring at each other and then into the streets, I began to head for the opened door of the room which just had a curtain over it, and as I walked I saw the man with me react with a rather annoyed expression to just see me walking away, placing a hand on his hip.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked me in a low toned and arrogant voice and as I pulled the curtain out of the way to show a stairway I looked over my shoulder to him with a smirk.

"I'm going out." I said quite simply as I kept walking as my sword clanged against my leg gently, making my way down the stairs which were also marble as sun came in through more opened windows whilst I passed more rooms covered by curtains in the doorways.

"You've never been to this before; you need an escort!" He shouted at me in what seemed to be dismay as I just kept walking down to the streets, humming to myself gently. I heard him give an annoyed growl before I heard him walking after me as the music in the streets began to get louder.

As I got to the end of the stairs, a small foyer was shown and it was all open and sand was on the few front steps of what seemed to be a…hotel? There was a red and green weaved carpet, a few seats of wood and there was a marble, well, 'front desk'? There was no-one behind it but there was a note which read as such: - 'Please come to the east end of the festival if you wish a room or to pay, enjoy the festival!'. It was written in another language I couldn't read also, and I smirked a little as I heard Reaver come to the bottom of the stairs too.

"They seem nice." I said as I glanced to him, leaning back from the front desk and the note as he crossed his arms across his chest with a slight smirk also. He was smiling but he was also acting as if he didn't want to be, clearly this was a fond memory.

"The people of this country were always welcoming and kind. They're very respectful also I must say. When I first arrived, which I guess in this timeline was just yesterday as the festival is just beginning. I almost wanted to plunder the whole place but the people were so welcoming I just couldn't do it." He said with a smirk as I raised an eyebrow at him.

Perhaps he does have some form of sense of morality?

I turned myself around and looked to the outside and there was lots of people and stalls everywhere full of food and such things as jewelry and I couldn't help but be drawn to the stalls. As I stepped outside into the world the sand and sunshine, the music loud and people dancing and happily walking around. I sauntered towards the stalls and I came to one that had rows of fruit, some I'd never even seen before. I put my hand out towards one, a pink fruit with green spines and I smiled at the unique fruit.

"That's a Dragon Fruit," The man behind the stall said with a thick foreign accent. "Very health beneficial, anti-aging too! Only costs two gold pieces!" The man said cheerfully, and I smiled at him as I looked down at myself to see if I had a money bag, and just from my sword on my hip, a sword I'd never seen before to be fair, there was one. It was small, red and gold and I opened it up to see a lot of money. I pulled out a singular coin and gave it to the man who smiled at me, bidding me goodbye as I walked along my way again.

I brought the fruit down and sliced it open using the sword on my hip, slicing it in half and raising an eyebrow as I saw the inside. It was white with black specs in it, not the most appetizing look, but the uniqueness of it made me grin. As I cut a chunk off to eat, it didn't really taste like much. It was pretty bland to be fair, but I would take health benefits all I could as I didn't really think they'd have potions in this country, plus even if they did, who knows how my body would react to old potion concoctions?

As I kept walking along, I saw a stall with golden things and this caught my eye as I threw the now empty shell of the Dragon fruit away. Turning to the stall, I smiled at the lady behind it and immediately my eye caught a necklace that was gold with green jewels, just the same colour as my bottle green jacket. I put a hand towards it, and the lady behind the stall piped up.

"That's from the 'Old Kingdom', that is," She said in a cheery tone. "It was brought to this land by a traveler a long time ago, but it's of no help to any of us now! It's a vintage piece!" She said with a smile, and I smiled too as I had an everlasting love for jewels since my aristocratic days, well…that's still to happen in this timeline but still. The green colour was beautiful, green had always been a favorite colour of mine, so I looked at the tag, it was only 10 gold pieces. I reached back into my money pouch and took out the gold and was about to give it to her as I was bumped out of the way by the hip and I stumbled back as I saw Reaver dropping gold into the women's hand instead.

"I was going to-…"

"Oh my dear girl," He cut me off as he took the necklace into his hands as his hair blew in the wind. "I always had an eye for beauty, so indeed, let me gift this to you. Use your money for food or something, dear." He said as he leaned towards me with the necklace and I blinked for a second at the 'gift'. It was odd to see him want to do something somewhat kind for me, so I reached forwards and took it

"I, uh…thanks, I-…Wait," He raised an eyebrow at me. "What's this for? Do you expect something in return?" I asked as I brought the necklace around me and clipped it behind my neck as he chuckled at me.

"Nothing, dear! It's merely a gift for getting you stabbed 50 years from now." He said as he winked at me, making me sigh and groan before moving away from him, continuing down the street without him.

As I walked along slowly, taking all of the heat and beautiful colours in, I noticed there was a lot of dancing going on in the one square and I couldn't help but tap my foot along with the tune as I'd always quite enjoyed gypsy music. Men and women danced around a very particular routine dance it seemed and as I was in thought, of course the thief had to pass me by going into the center of dancers. I thought he wasn't going to be able to dance very well as I'd only ever seen him waltz at the one party of his I attended, but suddenly, he really began to dance. He grasped a tambourine from another dancer that had red ribbons and fabric flying from it as the man in red danced around perfectly in time with the others, it actually made me open my mouth in utter shock. It was clear this truly was a fond time to him, I'd never seen him act so enthusiastically when he wasn't angry and just because he wanted to. Everyone cheered him on, it was quite the spectacle.

I was quite happy watching, but suddenly my arm was pulled and I was being dragged into this dance by someone. I tried to plead with a 'Please, no, I don't dance', but of course it was to no avail, and quite suddenly I was right in the center with the pirate. He grinned at me widely before he took my hand and began to spin me around, it wasn't any old spin, I could tell it was a genuine dance that he for a fact new, and within a few minutes, I was quite happily weaving around the man as he did me.

We danced for a good 20 minutes until we could no more, the people of Samarkland cheering for us as we stood with our hands on our knees, heaving and yet laughing at the same time at our display. I realized I was drenched in sweat and my clothes were sticking to me, making me make an 'eergh' noise. I began to walk from the circle more as Reaver caught my arm and pulled it lightly to make me face him, it didn't take much as I was tired.

"Come, there is a lake around here where we may clean off." He said with a breathless smile as he began to lead me away from everyone and he walked for a bit until we came to a little hill and as we went down there was trees and indeed a small lake, making me grin.

"I never thought water would be in a hot country like this one. Let me guess, this is magic too?" I asked the man next to me, and he just nodded to me as a reply as he went to the water and he kneeled down in front of it, just taking his hands and splashing an amount of water all over him as I did the same, sitting by the water front, and surprisingly, it was cold. It must've been magic.

I realized at that point I really had to clean off my body and this made me anxious, so I slowly unbuttoned my jacket, but thank Avo I had bandages on across my chest, a bootleg version of undergarments, so I stood and dropped my green adventurers coat as I stretched a little. I thought I heard a stutter next to me for a moment, but as I looked to the thief, he wasn't even looking at me, perhaps I was imagining it?

I used my hands to rub water over myself, rubbing off dirt and such as I smiled at the man next to me, who was just sitting basking in the sun. I had no idea how he was surviving in those thick clothes.

"You know, Anastasia," He began as I continued to wash my things, including my jacket. "Have you ever thought of coming back to being an aristocrat? I feel like if you were, me and you could somewhat get along." He said as he kept his eyes shut, his face to the sky, and I sighed to myself.

"Of course not, I left that lifestyle fully aware of what it would mean to me. My parents never accepted me when I was young, so the fact that those group of men took me in like their own meant everything to me. Aristocrats are always out for themselves, it's all about the riches, not the people. I just couldn't be happy like that, and… Now I still have to try to kill you, and so does everyone else." I said as he smirked at me.

"Kill me? You've hesitated every single time as I haven't at all, I've shot you and beat you and had you stabbed – I could tear you the shreds, Anastasia." He said as I finished up washing my jacket, making me feel rather hurt.

"You should stick to your pacifism although," I almost gasped in shock at what he said. "The rush I get every time you come to me is something I can't describe. I don't know why, but when you ripped my insignia from my chest during the fire, it was much more powerful than anything I've seen in some time. I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I think you understand me, dear." He said as kept his eyes to the sky, but I couldn't think of anything else to say to that as I didn't really know what he meant.

It seemed that he really meant Parlay.

I just turned and walked away then, as the man kept sitting and I pulled my damp jacket back over my body, the chill from the water giving me a new found feeling of life as I re-entered the city. The festival was still going on in full swing as I smirked as I went over to another stall, bought another piece of fruit as I began to walk around the colourful city and I bumped into someone whilst concentrating on cutting my fruit. I was knocked over to the floor as they kept standing in place and as I looked up, I sort of smirked at their unique look. He had dark skin, white hair, one bright blue eye and another covered by a golden eye patch, blue lines all over his body, a blue jacket with gold accents and a book in his hands – and he was smiling at me.

"Apologies, Miss," He said to me as he extended a hand towards me, the blue lines all over him glowing out brightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Here, let me help you up." He said as I put my hand forth as he helped me to my feet. I could tell from the way he looked that he was a Hero and indeed a very powerful one.

I thought that it was very stereotypical to bump into someone unique in the streets, but it was still amusing.

"Sorry for that. What's someone like you, a Hero I take it, doing in this country?" I asked him being a little too curious and he tilted his head.

"Well I came to study the library here," Oh, the place I was stabbed. "I came here with another, but I cannot find him." He said with a shrug, and then…it somewhat hit me.

'You've already murdered the other Hero of Will, Reaver'.

Could this man really be the other Hero of Will? I mean…he definitely was a hero, but, that one? This could be interesting. Who knows how meeting this man could mess up history?

"Let me guess," I uttered as I brought my hand up to bite in an angsty way. "It was Reaver, wasn't it?" I asked him as he raised an eyebrow.

"I was aware you were a traveler from your clothes, but I never thought you'd know him. How is that so? He asked me as I sighed.

"Theresa brought us together is all." I said as he smiled.

"Ah, so you are a Hero? Of course, I thought so. I knew I felt something different about you. Look how about come to the library with me and we can talk more over some reading, does that sound good?" He asked as I nodded my head, and with that, we began to walk towards the library on the other side of the city, and the closer we got, the more my heart sank. I knew I was safe as of right now, but that feeling of being stabbed is something I'll likely never forget, it was quite…horrific, to put it simply. It hurt so much and just looking at the very same building it happened in, well, will happen in frightens me to say the least.

"Is something wrong? You seem scared?" The man asked me as he stood at the doors, and I shook my head for 'No' as I took a moment just to breathe and to relax, and who's to say, it somewhat worked. My body calmed down and I walked in through the doors to the library which nearly looked the same. Vast, beautiful and to the brim with Victorian fashion and books – it was just…wonderful. It was clearly up kept for a long time, or perhaps it was magic?

The man walked forwards a bit until he came to a bookcase which had no ladder, and I could tell he was watching the books at the very top, and as I was about to question what he was doing, he brought his hand out as it glowed blue as the book came down into his hands – floating.

He was the Hero of Will they spoke about.

"That's very impressive, I would have no idea how to do that," I said as I attempted to keep myself calm. "The only thing I've been able to do is to stop a bullet." I said with a shrug as he held the two books, looking at me with a frown.

"Stop a bullet? My, that's a very powerful move for a Hero. I guess you're like me, of will. Let me take a big guess, Reaver shot you?" He asked me and I replied with a nod as he sighed a bit as he went to a table and sat down as he opened the book.

"He is a dangerous man. If I was not a man of my word to Hero peace, then I would've killed him by now for being, well, a bad person really." He said as I sighed and came to sit with him at the table.

"Tell me, what do you know of that man?" I asked him as he kept reading the book.

"Well, he's the Hero of Skill and he's an immortal, amoral man. I read in a book that he was born in the 1600's, that I can believe," He said with a shrug. "I'm just not sure how he's immortal, but if I had to guess, it's through sacrificing people." He said as my heart beat harshly.

It was at that moment that it occurred to me what Reaver was doing – He was going to use me. He was getting close to me to murder me for sacrifice, wasn't he? There was just something about the way he was treating me that led me towards that. Yes, it made sense. How…hurtful. I guess I'd expect it from him but still that struck me. I'd have to stay away from him, I just had to.

"Immortal? I see… Isn't that rather frightening?" I asked as the man tilted his head.

"I guess it depends on the person I guess. But if you'll excuse me, Miss, I have work to do. It was nice to meet you, and for further reference, my name is 'Garth'." He said as he smiled at me and I slowly stood as I smiled also.

"And I am Anastasia. Goodbye for now, Garth. I hope we meet again." I said as I bowed to him and he bowed his head to me as I left he establishment with a sigh as I looked to the darkened sky which made me feel at a little more ease. I always enjoyed the dark, it made me feel much better and safer – perhaps it was with my time with the Rooks being able to hide in the forest but still.

I walked along slowly as the festival for that day had really calmed down and a little breeze had come to be and I shivered as my jacket was still damp from washing it in the lake from before, but slowly I began to make my way back to the lake. I wasn't sure why but I thought maybe I could confront Reaver there, but getting to the palm covered area, he was no-where to be seen, so…I kept walking. I wasn't sure where I was going, what I was trying to achieve or why but I just kept going through the sand as the sky continued to blacken, and low and behold, there was water and on the water – a ship. I thought it could be a hallucination at first but no, it really was there. I thought for a moment that it could've been the ship and my gang members took here to catch the thief, but alas, that event wasn't going to happen at least another 50 years from now. I walked towards the structure and the board to even walk up to it was still down, so being the curious person I was, I went up.

The ship was clearly made with extreme precision and was detailed and yet worn out. It had clearly seen many a seas and many a battles in its time, it was like the ships that used to be in my books that I read as a child. I used to read of this one man who'd sail the nine seas of Albion looking for gold and such, his name was 'Captain Dread'. I always thought it was just stories, but I came to find out it wasn't fake, it was real. I was never frightened of the stories, but in a way I longed to be him. To be free, not so much the plunder parts, but still – the idea of freedom was intoxicating. When I was trapped in my mansions and corsets I wanted nothing more to be free. It sounds horrifically cliché…but…

"I see you've found her. She's lovely, hm? She's quite unique in design and such and I'm proud to still have her."

I suddenly turned around to see Reaver right behind me, standing against the other end of the ship with his arms crossed his chest, and I stuttered a little as the conversation with Garth came back to me. About his immortality, the sacrificing…it was making me feel tense, and I didn't like it.

"You look a bit scared, dear. Are you alright?" He asked me as I backed away from him without even knowing I was doing so, making him raise an eyebrow at me. I didn't know why I wasn't standing my ground, but I wasn't for once.

"Just," I took a breath, stopped backing away and held myself up right. "Just please go, you've…lied enough." I said as the man tilted his head in what seemed to be confusion.

"Go away? Anastasia, dear, this is my ship you'll find and…lied, dear? What about, who to?" He asked me as he looked around without a thought in the world, making me want to simply ring his neck for the truth.

"You're going to sacrifice me, aren't you?" I said in a blunt tone as he squinted at me.

"Anastasia, who…who told you that?" He asked me in a bewildered tone as we both gasped at the sound of a shout from below the ship and we both went over to look.

"Pirate, girl," A man in armor shouted up to us, making me gulp. "You're both been summoned by his royal highness to the castle for a meeting. Good-day." The soldier looking man walked off back into the city as me and Reaver looked at each other for a moment in shock.

"A monarch?"

"Well, this country always did have its customs, of course it has royalty!" He said attempted to keep calm, but there was obvious worry to his tone of voice as I frowned a little.

You'd never know there would be a legitimate monarchy here, I thought perhaps Albion would act as an overseer for the whole country, but it seems that's wrong. This place really is on its own, who knows what this could mean? Who informed the king of our arrival? Who knew of me?

"It'll be fine, won't it? You've done this memory before!" I said to the man in red who began to chew his hand.

"No…no it wasn't like this before, Anastasia. I've never seen this part before." He said as my heart beat.

"So…what does this mean?" I questioned him as he looked off into the far off city.

"That, my dearest Anastasia, is the question."