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Note: Sorry for the long wait. RL(Real Life) plus games that I wanted to focus on playing got in the way.

Note 2: As usual positive reviews will be greatly appreciated, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted on and negative/bashing/trolling/venomous/hateful reviews will be ignored or burned as fuel to keep the story going.

Reality-030450

Rural France

Early Evening

Xander's POV

"Uuhhh…" he groaned pushing himself slowly off the grass covered ground he'd woken up on, "Note to self: do NOT accept gifts from people you don't know even if they're kinda hot."

It'd seemed like such a harmless thing though.

A simple brass sphere dangling from an ordinary looking chain that you could find in countless jewelry places around the world. It had some engravings on it but nothing matched what he'd seen over the course of the many research sessions he'd been in through the years so he'd brushed them off as merely decorative.

Should've known better.

Standing up he looked about the area he was now occupying and found it to be rather old timey in appearance. Crude stone walls that were essentially rocks stacked on top of each other to conform to the basic shape of a wall. A dirt road that looked like it'd been well travelled by both carts as well as horses and people. If he looked down the road and squinted he thought he could make out what appeared to be a place that was halfway between a village and a town with various light sources scattered about. However the light didn't look like it was being generated from any lightbulb he was familiar with the way he was pretty sure they were flickering. Considering how long electricity has been a thing and what he remembered before blacking out and waking up here he was pretty sure that he wasn't in the same reality he'd been born in.

Deciding to get a better look at the village-town he reached for where a set of binoculars had been attached to his belt…

…only to find something metallic and cylindrical instead.

Looking down he immediately became aware of various things that had him wondering precisely what kind of mess he'd wound up in now.

For one thing he was wearing different clothes consisting of a navy blue coat with what felt like a hood hanging down his back, a red shirt peeking out from a beige vest and a matching bandana. Grey trousers covered his lower half with black boots on his feet and brown leather gloves on each hand rounded out the new look meeting with his approval for the most part. Looking a bit harder he began to notice that much of the gear he'd chosen to take with him had been replaced with something that looked like it belonged in an American civil war reenactment. Nothing specific to the USA of course but definitely something from the same general time period plus or minus fifty years or so.

Military grade binoculars had been replaced by a telescope of the sort you'd see in pirate movies.

His H&K handguns were replaced with flintlock pistols with two pouches close to either tied to his belt likely containing the powder as well as the ammo.

Instead of his preferred axe a sword rested in its sheath hanging from his belt and when he pulled it out to look at it he was only just able to identify it as a Messer sword.

One after another he found replacements instead of what he'd chosen and only the fact that he judged that they would be enough to help him survive kept his mood from dropping too low.

~Looks like whoever hijacked my trip at least made sure I'd be able to manage on my own for awhile.~ He thought putting his sword back in its sheath, ~Question is: what now?~

If his Soldier Boy memories were anything to go by priority had to be given to obtaining the three essentials: food, water and shelter. Once he had those safely secure he could move on to other more complicated things like the specifics of where he was, WHEN he was and finding out if there was a way for him to contact home.

If there wasn't then he would simply have to stick as close to this spot as possible and hope that Buffy and the others would show up soon to help.

His mind made up he began the trek to the town-village while checking the various pockets on his outfit to see what else he'd been given. He looked like he'd been given a decent amount of the local currency but not enough to last him forever, some pieces of paper that looked like they might pass for identification documents and what looked like an antique watch. Based on the documents it confirmed that he was somewhere where French was the common language but he kept his mind from automatically coming up with places he knew. This was after all another reality that was different from his own so just because there were similarities that didn't mean that it would be close enough to get careless.

Better to treat this like visiting an alien planet and be cautious every step of the way.

The watch was like one of those you saw in old black and white photographs from the beginning of the nineteen hundreds that well to do men had in their vest pockets with a chain. He could tell that the one he had was of excellent quality both on the inside as well as the outside but at the same time had been made to look like something easily purchased. A smart move since thieves of any sort were attracted to expensive looking items since they'd fetch a higher price from the person who'd pay to get it.

As for the documents they stated that he was Alexandre Corbin of Saint-Saturnin-des-Ligneries in Normandy with the written age matching his own. It identified him as the son of a barely respectable landowner and came with various permits for both his weapons and for travelling from one place to another. All in all it looked like unless he deliberately did something to draw unwanted attention to himself he'd have no trouble going about his business.

~Assuming whatever crazy stuff happened didn't send me somewhere else there should be a newly Called Slayer pretty close by.~ He thought putting his new possessions away, ~The only other possibility is that I'm lost in the multiverse and by sheer dumb luck landed in a reality like this one.~

He preferred the possibility of things still being on track more or less thus making it feasible to continue with the mission as planned.

Less scary that way.

It took him a little under an hour for him to arrive at the town-village but when he got there he confirmed that everything was pre-electricity in nature with transportation restricted to horses or other animals capable of pulling carts. Judging from the clothes other people were wearing he wouldn't stand out, THANK GOD, but it only further reinforced the fact that he'd have to do some serious adjusting in order to survive as well as thrive.

Looking at the various signs hanging over the doors to certain buildings he found one that his grasp of the French language indicated it was an Inn and made his way to it. It was still night out after all and while he wasn't feeling tired enough to sleep obtaining shelter was still a priority if for no other reason than to give him a base of operations to work out of. Thankfully the castle that'd been appropriated by the Scoobies as the HQ of the New Council still had a few antique doors and associated ways of opening them so getting into the Inn wasn't a problem. Looking about he saw eyes slide onto him but he didn't let that get to him since reacting would likely make them more suspicious than ignoring them.

Walking up to what he presumed was the counter for customers he found himself looking at a woman that quite frankly reminded him of a kindly aunt.

"Welcome to the White Horse Inn sir." The woman said like she no doubt had countless times before, "Can I help you?"

"Yes madam. Would you have a room available?" He asked keeping his words simple as well as polite, "Possibly for several days?"

"We do indeed have a room available." The woman replied with a positive smile, "Will you be alone or with company?"

"I cannot say for certain. Is there much of a difference in cost between a room meant for one or more than one?" He asked ready to mentally calculate how long his available funds would last depending on the price of each room.

When she gave him the different in prices he went through the mental math he found that the larger room meant for more than one person only cut two or so days off of how long his money would last. Given how long he would have if he went in that direction if he didn't find the newly Called Slayer by then he'd have no need for the larger room.

As such he told the woman that he would need the room for two less days than his math said his money could go so he could shift to a smaller room to last longer on his own. Handing over the money needed he was soon after guided to his room by one of the Inn staff and after being shown where everything was he was left to settle in.

The bed felt wicked soft and plushy making him think of a big marshmallow feeling distinctly different since he couldn't feel any springs in the mattress. Was it basically just stuffed with cotton or something? As for the sheets he could see the difference between something mass produced from his time and something that'd probably been made locally by a single person. There were some…smells…involved but given what he'd lived through before moving out of Tony's house he could cope well enough. As for the rest he saw the pitcher and bowl for cleaning making him realize how lucky he was to live with indoor plumbing.

He ESPECIALLY felt this way when he spotted the two chamber pots.

EW. Just EW.

Taking out his told time watch he popped it open and found that the time was just a few minutes before ten in the evening. A reasonable time to get some shut eye and considering all the stories about how early the day started for the Amish and the people who wanted to live in the past it was probably going to be necessary. He wasn't a light sleeper by any means and that could be attested to by several teachers as well as his friends but he'd never been out in the country much less in a pre-nineteen hundreds community. Better to go to be early and soak up as much rest as possible before getting out at the crack of dawn than being woken up before he can get enough sleep.

Piece by piece he took off his new clothes and his new gear until he was in what was probably considered underclothes with only the watch in his hand. He'd put it close to the bed so he could easily turn his head to find out what time it was when he woke up. He'd also make sure that both his flintlock pistols and his Messer were within arm's reach just in case he wound up being visited by unwelcome guests of any sort. Without any means of getting replacement gear from home he couldn't afford to lose a single thing and it was a staple of thieves throughout history to do away with witnesses.

He'd try to just warn off the 'guests' but if they refused to heed wisdom he'd make sure that they'd heed his ammo or the edge of his blade.

Whether or not they'd survive would depend on how aggressive they were and how generous he was feeling at the time.

Alexander LaVelle Harris was among the most perceptive of the New Council's and while he might not appreciate the nickname 'The One That Sees' it did fit.

However even the most perceptive of mortals could be forgiven for missing things on occasion especially when the one in charge of concealment was a deity.

As such when the watch he'd placed on a table close to his bed began to glow as though releasing light from the metal it was made of he remained slumbering. However it did not release the energy in every direction or even in a random direction but rather its emissions were focused on two locations specifically.

One was Xander's head oddly enough not proving to be enough to wake him up.

The other was directed at the young man's right forearm covering everything from the wrist to the elbow giving just enough room on either end not to hinder movement. With metal and leather it looked on the surface to be a simple bracer meant to support and protect the forearm. However when considering all the extra components that were attached to the bracer it was clear that its purposes extended beyond defence and support. Attached to the underside of the forearm was a pair of mechanisms that you could only guess at but if one looked closely enough one could see what looked to be miniature bow arms as well as a concealed blade tip.

In the end the light only remained for just under twenty minutes before fading away once more leaving the room in darkness.

The Following Morning

~AND the other shoe has dropped.~ He thought trying with every dunk in the bowl of water to keep his head from imploding or his mind from developing spider-web cracks.

When he'd originally woken up to find himself in this new reality he'd thought that the extent of the changes were to his clothes and weapons. He'd considered this to be a problem he was capable of overcoming and thanks to him somehow managing to keep up with Willow in her advanced courses he'd managed to gain a decent grasp of the French language. He'd doubted that anyone would mistake him for someone born and raised in in France as far as speaking the language was concerned but communication would be possible. Thus he'd gone to bed with few if any worries certain that if he applied himself like he did with everything that mattered he would be successful.

Or he'd keep things from getting too bad before backup arrived to help salvage any messes he made.

Now though he realized that whoever or whatever had been behind his revised travel arrangements and new wardrobe had two more things to give him. The first was a wealth of knowledge and mental aspects that were consistent with what his identification papers stated plus something extra he hadn't seen coming at all.

What was that extra something?

Why the skills, knowledge and history of someone who'd lived their entire lives as a member of the Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins. When you thought of assassins you thought of people who didn't care about anything other than the number of zeroes on the pay check for services rendered. They didn't care who the target was or what the consequences of their deaths would be to others of any number.

That wasn't the case with the Brotherhood of Assassins.

They were a secret global peacekeeping organization dedicated to protecting humanity from abuses of power, coercive rule, and injustice. They believed that if the death of one person, an evil person, could save the lives of hundreds if not thousands then that person would die by their hand. They were like black ops operatives except they didn't answer to any nation or publicly known organization. Each head of a specific branch of the Order determined what their subordinates did and who needed to die. They even had a code they lived by that kept them from becoming psycho killers.

Rule number One: Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. While killing warmongers and dictators could bring peace to a region killing innocents could actually have the opposite effect. As a side effect it could also tarnish the name of the Brotherhood making more enemies than anyone could want.

Rule number Two: Hide in plain sight and be unseen. The assassins didn't aim for a big body count. All they desired was the death of their assigned target and then to vanish into the crowd. By blending in with their surroundings, hiding in crowds and approaching their target unseen they would not need to harm those who were just doing their jobs and thus may be innocent of any wrongdoing.

Rule number Three: Never compromise the Brotherhood. The actions of a single Assassin could not wind up bringing harm to everyone in the Brotherhood. This sort of tied into rule one in the sense that a reckless act could wind up bringing enemies down onto the Brotherhood that could've been avoided. Though in the case of the Templars conflict was inevitable but an Assassin still had to do all they could to keep from doing or saying anything that'd compromise the Brotherhood.

The members of the Brotherhood even engaged in philosophical discussions that over time had resulted in a Maxim of sorts. 'Nothing is true, Everything is permitted' was one of the stronger guidelines. Some in the Brotherhood believed that this phrase was an observation of the world around them. That to say nothing was true was to realize that the foundations that society is built on are fragile calling on Assassins to be shepards of their own civilization. To say that everything is permitted is to understand that humans are the designers of their actions requiring that they be responsible with regards to the consequences whatever they might be.

Others thought that the phrase was merely meant to be both guide and warning for those who knew of it rather than a principle to be followed. These people believed that ideals could easily be turned into dogma and in turn lead to fanaticism that often lead to catastrophe. They stressed that it was the individual's responsibility to decide whether the road being walked carried too high a price. The action and its subsequent consequences began and ended with the individual.

Taking all this in he could not call the Brotherhood evil because in a way they were like the New Council: a hidden organization determined to protect the innocent from evil in various forms. The only real difference was that the Brotherhood kept their existence a secret from everyone save their members and a few select allies. They did this both because the Templars liked to infiltrate places of power unnoticed and because of this the possibility existed that the Brotherhood might one day need to strike at those in power because of what they did. The New Council however did not have the power or the connections to perform their duties without coming to an understanding with as many nations as possible. They would not become subservient to other nations but rather would act to keep them in the loop and when permissible allow them to take part in specific operations.

Bottom line? The Brotherhood assassinated evil people and the New Council assassinated evil monsters.

As such he didn't treat the memories the same way he did the remnants of the Primal Hyena but rather would use them with caution. The skills contained in those memories were meant to be performed by someone with the same physical prowess as the original owner and with the same experience in using them. If he had the time he would try to gain what he needed but his primary focus had to be finding the newly Called Slayer.

~At least these new gifts come with a cool new toy.~ He thought bringing up his right arm before triggering the mechanism that caused a blade to pop out well past his knuckles.

Another hidden trigger caused the bow arms to snap out revealing that he could fire small bolts that could be fired in a manner similar to a crossbow. A nice feature when it turned out to be strategically unsound to get in close to a target.

Grabbing a nearby towel he dried himself off figuring his head wouldn't get any better using water but hopefully distracting himself from the mental side of the his travel package would make it hurt less.

On the matter of finding the newly Called Slayer he had a few ideas that could bear fruit. From what he and the gang had learned so far newly Called Slayers tended to lack control over their newly gained superhuman bodies. They broke things by accident or failed to keep their prowess a secret from those who would react poorly to the display. If he asked around carefully enough perhaps the locals might be able to tell him a few stories that'd get him going in the right direction. From there he would simply need to look for other signs of the Calling that would be more instinctive and harder to suppress in the short term.

For one thing there'd be a sharp spike in the girl's appetite causing her to not only eat her usual meals but also seek more should an opportunity present itself. There would likely be the opposite side of that instinct if Faith was to be believed but given the the morality of the times and the definition what was 'proper' might be motive enough to keep it under wraps. Finally there was the fact that Slayers were hunters, predators, and as such grew restless unless they had prey to stalk and kill. Whether there were demons here or not it would lead to heightened aggression in the girl leading her to lash out or perhaps show alpha female tendencies. Given that this appeared to be a pre-women's liberation society the local men would not react well to a woman behaving so.

In short unless the young lady was exceptionally disciplined there was no way she'd be able to hide all of her new impulses and desires.

~So…spin by the local drinking holes and perhaps see if there're any official declarations nailed to a wall or post.~ He thought before beginning reassemble his outfit before sliding the extra stuff under the bed.

Not the most original hiding spot but with the bed made so that the sheets obscured the underside it'd have to do for the time being.

He seriously hoped that he didn't come back later to find everything gone.

On a whim he made sure that his local money, identification papers and magical essentials from home remained with him in one pocket or another. He'd still take a hit if someone stole the rest but he wouldn't be entirely hopeless and he'd be able to hook up with whoever Giles sent after him.

Maybe this wasn't going to be the fun adventure he'd originally thought it was going to turn into.

Sunset, Hours Later

~Whoever set up the brain download…THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!~ He thought as he left the local Catholic Church.

It'd been one hell of an education for him after he'd left the inn and begun looking for information on any teenage girls who'd started acting weird a few months back. He hadn't been a complete idiot with how he'd gone about it! He'd done his best to generalize his questions or focus on points that didn't directly relate to women but would net him info close to what he needed. Most of the time the people were fairly polite and did answer some of his questions but that didn't mean that he hadn't needed to pry some facts with some persistence from their lips. Obviously word had already gotten around about his arrival and based on some of the questions he'd been asked in turn they'd determined even without his papers that he was one class above them if only barely. He'd answered the questions as honestly as he could using the info from his papers and the brain download he'd received to add a bit more meat in order to satisfy those he was talking to.

Fortunately while thought of as part of the nobility it looked like the locals didn't consider him to be wealthy enough to try marrying their daughters off to him or persuade him to lend them money.

In the end though he hadn't learned anything significant about a girl acting differently than usual or somehow managing superhuman feats. Oh there'd been some gossip from one lady about how the second wife of a deceased baron was hiding the fact that the funds she controlled after her husband's death were nearing their end. The woman had seemed to like the experience of revealing the news of the area so he'd inquired more about the deceased husband and his second wife. Most of what he'd heard told him that this second wife obviously had no concept of how to properly manage money and focused entirely on drowning herself and her two daughters in luxury. The woman definitely hadn't ever heard the phrase 'money doesn't grow on trees' or perhaps she was overestimating her deceased husband's sources of income.

When he'd asked about how the rest of the deceased husband's family and how they were taking the dwindling financial state of his second wife the woman almost let something spill but then pulled back almost immediately. He immediately read this either as almost stepping into some sort of social taboo or whatever she'd almost revealed potentially having repercussions if told to the wrong people. Not wanting to cause the woman trouble he'd politely waved off his question and apologized for asking such a question in the first place.

From there he'd continued to visit all the local spots that he figured people would both gather and be inclined to have conversations in with as few inhibitions as possible. When those didn't net him much he'd gone for the old time 'pillars of the community' people who had the most influence in town and who people tended to confide in. The church had been his last stop but all the priest had been able to tell him was that there had been people who'd started coming to him for guidance a few months ago. Naturally no names were named since that'd be a betrayal of the people who'd come to the priest for help and nothing about what'd been discussed.

~Best option would probably be to stake out the Church for the next few days.~ He thought as he casually began to make his way back to the inn.

If he did that he might have a chance of spotting the girl who'd been going to the priest for guidance and see if she fit the bill for Slayerdom. Still he'd have to come up with a feasible cover for being there for so long and every day otherwise he'd draw both attention as well as suspicion. Perhaps he could buy some painting supplies and make it look like he was doing that near the church? Painting after all could take awhile to finish and if you wanted to do more than one painting it could take even longer.

Plus while Alexander Harris might not know anything about painting aside from what all children did growing up the download he'd received last night did contain SOME information on the practice. It didn't feel complete and he was wary of putting this info to practice but he was sure enough of the idea to at least give it a shot before moving on to something different.

He was about halfway to the inn when his Sunnydale honed senses notified him that he'd picked up a pair of stalkers in the last half minute or so. He supposed that it was only natural since he was new to the area they probably figured he had no friends or allies that'd raise a stink if something happened to him. As for him not having a lot of valuables on him he got the feeling that the duo weren't picky about the loot they'd get from him. As long as it put food in their bellies and maybe some new clothes to wear that'd probably be enough for them.

As far as thieves went he pretty much figured that they fell into one of two categories: those that stole out of greed and those that stole because it was the only way they could survive. If he was being tailed by the former he'd have no trouble kicking their butts or even killing them if they proved to be especially rotten to the core. If it was a pair of the latter he'd try to convince them that he wasn't in their weight class then let them run off to whatever place they called home. He wasn't out to rack up a body count if he could avoid it and if the pair following him was just trying to survive he'd feel like scum if he hurt them or worse killed them.

~Time to see which type they are.~ He thought as he turned down an alley of sorts between two of the larger buildings along the way.

A little while later he arrived at a small courtyard with a single water pump in the middle. Likely it was used by one of the building residents to get fresh water but his interest was that the area was secluded enough that if things did get rough things would be contained somewhat. Putting his back to the water pump he waited for the duo to arrive so he could get a good look at them and determine their threat level.

Paying extra attention to his sense of hearing he was able to detect their footsteps and it didn't take long before they came to a stop just shy of his line of sight. Likely they'd been listening for his footsteps as well and when they stopped hearing them they figured out he might be waiting for something or someone up ahead. Deciding that he didn't want to be waiting her for who knew how long he decided to be the one to make first contact.

"I know you two are there. Come out into the open and we can discuss things politely." He said loud enough for them to almost certainly hear him.

A few moments later the duo emerged revealing themselves to be men in their mid-to-late twenties but rather than look desperate like survival was endangered they were decently clothed. This led credibility to the idea that they were the greedy type of thieves who only wished to take from others so that they could have more for themselves and possibly move up in the world. Thus in his mind he tossed aside the gentler ways he could handle things and focused more on solutions that wouldn't lead to problems being dropped in his lap that he would very much like to do without.

"Thank you for stepping into view gentlemen." He said figuring to start things off on the right foot, "Now perhaps one of you would like to tell me why you both were following me. While I can understand how the new and unknown can spark a person's curiosity I also know it can spark a less…benign response."

"No need for such talk monsieur." The slim one on the right said with a determined yet polite tone, "Give up all the francs you have an' no harm will come to you."

Looking from the slim one in the crimson shirt to his somewhat more portly friend he got the impression that they were somewhat new to the occupation of thievery. While the slim one seemed as determined as anyone to accomplish what he set out to do the chubby one looked nervous. This in his mind lent credibility to the idea that the two were only attempting to rob him because they had no other choice if they wished to survive. If so then he would go easy on them but sadly he didn't have enough francs to his name to spare even a handful to brighten their day. He had a newly Called Slayer to find after all and so far he had nothing to work with.

It wad just as he was about to gently usher them along that an epiphany occurred to him.

Perhaps there was a way his goal could be furthered AND these two could experience a period of improvement even if it was doomed to vanish eventually.

"Well that's quite generous of you good sir but I'm afraid I can't just give you all my money. I have need of it after all." He said keeping things kind and polite, "How would you like to EARN some francs instead of steal them?"

This seemed to throw the duo since this was not the sort of reaction they'd probably been expecting as a result of their efforts. The slim one eyed him with suspicion but the chubby one looked more hopeful for an outcome he could accept.

"What'd'ya have in mind monsieur?" The slim one asked with suspicion.

"I have come to this area in search of someone. I don't know their name or what they look like but I do know clues that will let me know when I've found the right person." He replied giving a selective version of the truth, "I've done what I can by asking around but I am no closer to the one I seek. You two however have likely lived here all your lives so you likely know more than I do. Help me find the one I seek and you will be given half of the francs I have in my possession. Interested?"

To further tempt them he took out the wad of francs that'd been in his pocket so that they could see it.

Their eyes locked on the wad and he knew he had their interest.

"How will we know we've found the one you seek monsieur?" The slim one asked agreeing without saying so to the bargain.

"The one I seek is a young lady between thirteen and eighteen years of age." He replied remembering the criteria Giles had given for those Called as Slayers, "She will have changed in recent months. Become faster, more agile and possess a strength she did not before. She will also need less sleep and perhaps be less inclined to submit before others. Then of course there will be the dreams that will wake her at night."

"You are crazy monsieur. You speak the stuff of folk tales." The slim one said sounding dismissive and contemptuous, "No girl around here is like what you describe. It is pointless to even look."

"No it is not. In my search I have followed a trail and it led me here." He said certain that even if his travel arrangements had been thrown into chaos, "There is no doubt in my mind that she is here. Will you help me in exchange for the promised payment?"

The slim and the chubby spoke the language of looks no doubt debating whether or not it was still worth continuing with this deal. In the end the slim one gazed back at him a decision clearly having been made.

"We'll help though I doubt anythin' will come of it." The slim one said roughly, "Where will we find you?"

"At the inn. Leave word with the lady at the desk." He replied with a polite grin, "Once I have found the one I seek you will receive your payment in full. Do not wait too long or be too slow in your search though. A place to sleep and food to eat costs money after all."

Translation? The more money he had to spend on his room at the inn and three meals a day the less the duo's half would wind up becoming.

With a nod from each of them they walked off leaving him to hope that he'd made the right decision. The logic behind it was sound: locals would know the people and the places better than he would thus making them more than suited to finding the Slayer. The money they stood to gain from helping him would be incentive enough to put speed to their footsteps and sharpen their eyes.

All he could do was wait and see if his idea proved to be a good one or turned out to be a screw up Buffy and Willow could never be allowed to find out about.

A Short Distance Away

"Are you sure this is wise Jaques? We know nothing about the stranger. How do we even know he will honour his word?"

"You worry too much Gustav. He is simply some small noble's son chasing phantoms. We will make an effort at finding the one he seeks, enough to convince him that we are giving our all and then we simply present to him one of Perla's stronger girls. He'll not know the difference and then we'll have our francs."

"But…what he talks about…it sounds like-"

"It's not her! She's…she's just growing up. That's all."

"I hope you're right."

A Distance Away From The Town-City

That Night

"Are you sure this is wise given what we carry?"

"It is the safest route my friend. Our enemies no longer have a strong presence in this country with only a few remaining to be wary about. Our only other option would be to travel by sea."

"The sea may offer the illusion of safety but I do not trust it."

"Nor do I. The enemy's presence in Germany grows and number of nations they control who travel those seas are many. On land we can at least run and stand a chance of escaping but by sea we could only swim or die."

"Let us hope that Charles' boy was thorough in dealing with all the rats of France. If not then we may well have brought the means by which they could retake the country if not all of Europe."

"They won't get it. I won't let them. WE won't let them."

With those words the two men riding a horse drawn cart advanced towards the lights ahead of them intent on staying there the night before leaving soon after. Their cargo was precious and could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands no matter what.

Whether those hands belonged to someone ignorant of the value of what they held or those who knew all too well and sought to use it for dark ends.

The sooner they stood within the halls of their Spanish stronghold the better.

Early Morning

The Inn

Xander's POV

WHAM!

That was the noise that woke him up from his slumber and given that he'd worked hard the previous day sleep had been quite welcome. Therefore someone interrupting his sleep when it was still dark out was not getting on his good side in the least and if they didn't quiet down immediately they'd land on his bad side.

CRASH!

The sound of shattering glass, likely from a window, made it clear that whoever was behind the noise clearly had a desire to find out what a grouchy Xander Harris looked like. Getting out of bed he peripherally patting himself on the back for going to sleep at least partially dressed in his non-daytime clothing rather than how he suspected the locals did it. This meant he wouldn't waste precious moments getting dressed and with the claiming of his Messer sword he threw open the door to his room.

Looking up and down the hallway it didn't take long to find out where the problem was since one of the doors to one of the other rentable rooms had been knocked clean off its hinges. Inside he could hear sounds of a struggle but it looked like the fight was taking place away from the doorframe so he couldn't see anything. Feeling a little caution mix with his irritation at having been woken up he approached carefully keeping his dominant hand close to the hilt of his sword.

He might not know the particulars of what was going on but he knew fights could be chaotic things that could easily spill over getting innocent bystanders into trouble. If something like that happened he'd do what he could to keep noncombatants from getting hurt or possibly used as meat shields. Should one of the people fighting prove to be scum he might just get involved should his aid be required but would keep his actions restricted to disarming moves. He had no desire to become wanted for murder especially since it'd interfere with his efforts to find the Slayer if not ruin them outright.

It was just as he was about to reach the doorframe that someone chose to rush out of the room and since it was a decided shock to the both of them there was only one outcome.

They crashed into each other falling to the ground in a pile.

Fortunately for him after fighting alongside Buffy for so long he had plenty of experience with getting knocked to the ground. As a result his body was used to it and he picked up a few ways to clear a person's head quicker since losing seconds in a fight against demons often led to losing your life. Not that he had any experience with the whole losing your life bit since he was still very much alive but he'd seen others come close to dying often enough.

The first thing he noticed was that it was a man who'd crashed into him and he seemed to be holding onto something. Once the basics were out of the way he could tell that the man while not well to do or upper crust neither could it be said that the hard facts of poverty had visited the man the last few years. With blue eyes and black hair the man recovered a few seconds later and naturally moved to get his feet under him once more not even offering a 'sorry' much less showing concern for the one that'd hit the ground with him. However it was when the item the guy was clinging to shifted a bit and pushed the cloth wrapped around it aside to reveal what lay beneath that things kicked up a notch.

A diamond.

A diamond a little bit bigger than a baseball.

That alone was something to see since he'd only ever seen the small pebble sized ones passing by a jewelry store at the local mall. For something this size it had to be worth millions if not hundreds of millions and unless he was mistaken this guy was stealing it from the occupants of the room. While not particularly caring if some rich fop lost a pretty bauble he worried that it might be more than that. If it belonged to someone in a position of power then its theft would result in an increased law enforcement and perhaps military presence in the area.

THAT would complicate his search for the local Slayer.

True there was the possibility that this was someone looking to reclaim the diamond for its rightful owner but those sort of people didn't break into someone's room at night.

With that in mind he grabbed the man on top of him by the shirt and using a trick G-Man had taught him executed a perfect headbutt to the man. Done properly it didn't harm the one who executed the technique and it'd daze the one on the receiving end if not worse. In this case it was enough to merely daze the thief because once that was done he had the perfect opportunity to deliver a right cross to the man's jaw. THIS not only knocked the man off of him but also loosened the diamond from his grasp making it easy for him to snatch it up quickly. What he didn't expect was how swiftly this seemed to snap the thief back to his senses because at a speed impressive for a human he lashed out with a dagger.

Too bad he had more than seven years of experience fighting vampires and demons all of which were faster than any human by a measurable degree. Compared to the bloodsuckers and the monsters of the Hellmouth the thief might as well have been telling him where he intended to strike in advance. Three slashes were made but he evaded each one and then those in the broken in room emerged no doubt looking for what was taken from them. This proved to be the tipping point for the thief causing him to dash for the stairs and escape from sight before his initial targets could strike him down.

"You have my thanks young man." The man on the left with a British accent said with mild wariness, "Had it not been for you that man would've made off with something very precious. Speaking of which would you mind giving it back to me?"

Looking back at the diamond he wondered for a moment if it might be wiser to hold onto it until he had a better grasp of the situation but dismissed the idea. He was here to find the local Slayer and nothing else. Getting entangled in whatever mess these guys were involved him would not benefit him at all. So with a polite smile on his face he extended the hand that held the diamond out towards the one who asked for it.

Then, by mere chance, his thumb made contact with the diamond rather than the cloth it'd been wrapped in…

…and in the time it took him to blink once he found everything upended.

All at once he felt an overwhelming sensation in the socket of his empty eye socket akin to burning but not painful but rather stimulating. More than that a form manifested before him that reminded him of the holograms from Star Wars and it looked like a four armed woman who looked to be from India like one of the new Slayers that'd been found back home. Dressed in a combo of sea green cloth and golden armour she hovered before him and seemed to speak to him but he only heard noise. It was only the manner of the noise that made him think she was trying to speak rather than just making nonsense noises. He tried to sharpen his hearing, to use the mental tricks he'd been taught by both Willow as well as Giles to improve the 'connection', but it did not do enough.

And then the world returned to normal putting him back in the hallway with the two men.

~What the hell?!~ He thought dropping the diamond to the floor in his shock.

Judging from the looks on the faces of the two men he'd wished to return the diamond to they'd seen something as well though there was no way of knowing if it was the same thing as him. Backing away from the diamond he made no move to recover it and hoped that they would take this as an invitation to pick it up before the curious showed up to ask questions.

"It would seem fate and chance have conspired to bring us together…brother." The man on the left said with an odd tone.

"Brother? Pretty sure we've never met." He said puzzled by the claim of relation.

"Perhaps not but we are brothers nonetheless." The man said raising his right hand as if to show him something.

Then with a flick of the wrist a blade popped out from the cuff of the man's shirt looking quite similar to the one he had. It also explained where the man got the idea that they were brother's because unless the guy somehow stole it the hidden blade meant he was a member of the Brotherhood of Assassins. Was the man beside him one as well or just an ally of the Brotherhood? Either way it was not what he'd anticipated and he knew not whether it was a good development or a bad one.

"I'm surprised to meet more of our Brotherhood." He said deciding to support their mistaken conclusion of him, "I was told that no one would be around to provide aid."

"We are merely passing through on our way to safer territory." The man explained glancing back at his room, "Though it looks like some Templar rats have risen no doubt to retake what our Brotherhood has pried from their grasp and then expand."

"What do you mean?" He asked hoping they would at least give him the broad strokes of what they knew.

"Two of the men are known to me and the third I can guess a name for." The man replied with mild bitterness, "William Sleeman and Alexander Burnes. Templars of their British Rite and I would wager that the man you took the Koh-i-Noor from is a man named Duchesneau who once served the French Rite. We had hoped that our travels would be unhindered by them by moving through territory they did not have a strong presence in. It appears they chose to use our hopes against us."

"Then it's good that they failed." He said glancing at the diamond on the floor, "They didn't get the diamond and with the element of surprise lost I doubt they'll fair any better in the future."

"Maybe…maybe not." The man on the right said speaking for the first time since coming into view, "We did not expect Templars to be here and yet they were. Who knows how many others of their kind are in the area?"

"I have been here several days and seen none." He said though he omitted the fact that he hadn't been on the lookout for Templars either.

"Then if there are any they are not close by." The man on the left said sounding mildly reassured, "There's a chance we can slip out of the area if we leave immediately."

"No. It's too dangerous." The man on the right said shaking his head in disagreement, "Until we know the numbers of those set against us running might deliver the Koh-i-Noor right into their hands."

Wasn't that part of the British Crown Jewels? Weird.

"I wish I could help but I have my own mission." He said turning to return to his room, "Farewell."

"Wait! I might not know your mission but ours is of the utmost importance." The man on the left exclaimed sounding like he didn't want to miss out on increasing the number of his allies, "As you've seen that is no mere diamond but rather a Precursor artifact of great power. Both Sleeman and Burnes once had it in their possession but we took it from their grasp. It cannot be allowed to fall back into their hands!"

Sounded to him like this artifact was on the same level as the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark and what he could recall of the Templars definitely put them in the same camp as the Nazis. If it wasn't for his own mission he'd help them as best he could but he couldn't fail the young lady whose life they altered forever because of their own shortcomings as well as their desperation.

"My mission is of equal importance." He said keeping the details contained within his own mind.

"Perhaps then we might help one another." The man on the left said attempting diplomacy, "Tell us of your mission and we will aid you with it. Once it is done I hope you will return the favour and aid us in escaping the Templars in the area."

A good idea…or possibly a bad depending on how much he told them.

While he hadn't given up on the two locals he'd already put on the job more eyes could cover more ground and Assassins were trained to see things others might miss. The problem was letting them go with the idea that he too was an Assassin with the same training as well as the same knowledge base. However he wasn't quite sure how to explain that he was looking for a newly awakened Slayer and was concerned about how they'd react. A young woman physically superior to anything they knew, possessing animal keen senses and instinctive skill with almost any non-firearm weapon. There was no way that the Brotherhood wouldn't want someone like that sworn to the Creed and working for them against the Templars. By that same token the Templars would love to brainwash a Slayer to their point of view to increase their control over humanity and the world.

That being said refusing their help would make his job harder and might make them suspicious.

You didn't even take into account the danger of letting the Templars get their hands on an obvious piece of magic or tech so advanced it might as well be magic. Whatever brain download he got the night of his arrival there had been a bit of knowledge of how the Templars were perpetually seeking out technology made by an extinct ancient race. The particulars were fuzzy, as though whoever had gathered the info didn't think it was necessary to go into detail, but the artifacts were without a doubt dangerous.

Did he really want to risk these two getting ambushed again and losing the diamond artifact?

With a mental sigh he knew that there was only one choice to make.

One Hour and One Discussion With an Inn Owner Later

"Do you believe him?" Arbazz asked from his bed.

It was a question he'd been asking himself since the two of them returned to their room from and logically he could only answer one way.

"He has been entrusted with a Piece of Eden Arbazz." He replied looking at his brother in Creed right in the eye, "No Mentor would do so unless they trusted him completely."

"I did not ask if you trusted him Ethan." Arbazz said pushing the discussion in the desired reaction, "I asked if you believed him."

"I admit that I am puzzled as to why these gifted girls have not been discovered before now." He said summarizing his thoughts, "Still it's not as though even the wisest of our Brotherhood know the limits of the Pieces of Eden or their creators. If there exist those that possess the Sight is it really so far fetched that there might be those who have other gifts?"

"Only in that there has been no record of such things happening before." Arbazz replied seemingly accepting the words of his ally, "Human have always been human. Power only comes when one wields a Piece of Eden."

"Then you believe he was lying to us?" He asked broaching a possibility.

"It is the more realistic truth Ethan." Arbazz replied showing that this was where he was positioning himself, "The question we must ask ourselves is was he ordered to do so for secrecy's sake or was it a more malicious choice."

Both possibilities had their dangers but only the former was something he was comfortable with. If Alexander had been ordered to cloak his true mission with a fantastic story by his Mentor then it made sense from a strategic point of view. By implying that a source of power from the creators was the reason for Alexander's presence any Templar who learned of it would pursue that 'truth' never suspecting that there might be something beneath. It would not work for long and could well increase the danger to his fellow Assassin if the Templars chose to imprison him while they investigated the possibility. If the story was indeed a distraction it would not last forever and would either result in retaliation or in enough time to manage an escape.

Could that be it?

A tall tale to trick the Templars into bringing Alexander into a stronghold where the real objective was located?

A gamble and it depended on the Templars being careless enough to not put him in chains or take away his equipment.

"Whatever the reason we have agreed to help him so long as he agrees to help us." He said deciding to table the debate for the time being, "So tomorrow we will look for his gifted girl and hopefully find her in time for Alexander to help us escape France."

Indeed it had been made clear that the remnants of the French rite of the Templar Order knew that the Koh-i-noor was within reach. With the power it'd displayed in Amritsar he had no doubt that it could be used to devastating effect if it fell into Templar hands. Would it allow them to retake France? Possibly. However they would need to find someone capable of wielding it effectively and with how little they knew about the Piece of Eden it'd be chance more than design that'd decide that.

All he could say for certain was that he would do all he could to keep it from Templar hands even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice.

Cecily would understand.

Any member of the Brotherhood would.

"I'll take first watch." He said mentally anticipating how Duchesneau and the other Templars might make a second attempt, "I'll wake you in three hours."

Arbazz nodded before laying back on his bed with his weapons within easy reach should they be needed.

As for him he placed himself where he'd be able to counter a strike from the door or the window keeping one hand near his Kukri while the other was close to his revolver. The revolver was a decided improvement over the old flintlock pistols and outnumbered as he likely was he'd need every set of six shots he could manage.

~Maybe I should've just hidden the damn thing somewhere in India instead of trying to return to England.~ He thought recalling his choice soon after the battle with Sleeman, ~At the time I thought it'd be too risky with the Templar presence in the country. They'd found it once and could find it again especially since I wouldn't have time to arrange something clever.~

Just burying it out in the middle of nowhere or hiding it in some nook or cranny was too simple to work for very long. The Templars had the resources and could acquire the manpower to cover a great deal of ground. Thus he'd decided to take the Koh-i-noor with him back to a place where the Assassins had strength enough to protect it from those who would seek to claim it for their agenda of control.

Who knew there were still a few remnants loitering around France?

How could they have predicted that he and Arbazz would come through this town?

He'd have to ask that of Mentor Randall once he was back in Great Britain because it would've been nice to get the answers to those questions before they entered France.

A Day's Hard Ride From Town-City

Denis Molinier's POV

"Empty handed?" He asked before sniffing in disappointment, "I weep for the restoration of the French Rite if this is what I can expect."

"Yeah? Well maybe you should step up and show us how it's done professor!" Duchesneau growled before taking a swig from his bottle of wine, "Be more helpful than sticking to your books."

"Unlike you Duchesneau I have role that requires more brains than brawn." He said not allowing himself to react to the thug, "The Koh-i-noor is an artifact of awesome power and not to be wielded haphazardly. Amongst the five of us I am the only one with the education needed to unlock its secrets. Not an easy task to say the least."

Indeed as was the case with virtually all Pieces of Eden a measure of study and experimentation was needed before it could be wielded reliably for the Order. True a gifted few could instinctively wield a Piece of Eden with basic competency but they were the exception not the rule. As such while Sleeman, Burnes and Duchesneau had left to acquire the item he had spent his time reading everything that the Order had on the Piece of Eden. Most of it was useless mythology and legends but if one had a keen enough mind you could pluck out a few kernels of truth out of the dross.

"We are quite aware of your expertise Monsieur Molinier." Ex-Administrator Sleeman said in a slightly chilly tone, "However you should appreciate the fact that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. We were expecting two Assassins and the element of surprise not THREE Assassins with the element of surprise turned against us."

"And now they know we're here." Duchesneau said calming down somewhat, "So what now?"

"That is simple Monsieur Duchesneau." A young woman's advice replied gaining the attention of the others, "If the Assassins believe they know our numbers then we change them."

"And how pray tell do you propose we do that girl?" Alexander Burnes asked with mock respect.

"By changing the numbers." The young woman said with a deadly edge to her words.

Burnes looked like he had another scathing remark to their youngest member but he was in no mood to endure petty bickering.

"What do you have in mind Mademoiselle le Peletier?" He asked while shooting a 'be silent' look at Burnes.

"Thank you Monsieur Molinier." Louise-Suzanne replied before addressing the assembled group, "While the Order's numbers and influence in France are not what they once were due to the power struggle during the Revolution not everything was lost. As it so happens the former Marquis du Moreau is still alive and resourcefully managed to retain the resources he possessed before the purge of the nobility. Officially as far was the people know he simply followed the path of Gilbert du Motier but unofficially nothing has changed. I propose we seek to add Moreau to our alliance. He has men, weapons and horses that could easily be used to overwhelm the Assassins and help us seize the Koh-i-Noor."

Recognizing the name of Moreau he was inclined to believe that Louise-Suzanne's idea might have some merit. It was true that as was typical of the Order they often inserted members into positions of power or recruited those already in power to their point of view. Sadly this meant that when they chose to start a Revolution they'd been forced to remove their more valuable members from power, shift their still worthy members to new positions and serve up the worthless as sacrifices. Given his own work within France he had heard names mentioned during meetings with Order members and Moreau had been one of them.

"And why did you not mention the Marquis du Moreau before?" Burnes asked sounding more angry than annoyed.

"You would not have listened to me." Louise-Suzanne replied before a hint of discomfort manifested, "There is also the fact that based on what I have learned the Maquis has been leaving more and more of the day to day duties of handling his affairs to his son Henri. While it is common to instruct the children in the ways of our Order there have been times when a child has been unfit to join our cause. I am uncertain as to whether the Marquis still holds the reins of his holdings or if his son has claimed them."

"I can see why you were hesitant to mention this earlier but it's still a promising possibility." Sleeman said stroking his chin in thought, "Either the former Maquis still holds power and can be prevailed upon to do his duty to the Order or the son can be 'persuaded' to lend his support in exchange for being allowed to keep what he has."

"And if the former Marquis' delegating of his duties proves to be a sign that his son has joined with the Assassins?" Burnes asked pointing out a possibility more than likely to spite Louise-Suzanne, "We'd be slitting our own throats."

"Unlikely. The Marquis du Moreau's lands are not to far from here." Louise-Suzanne said countering her opponent's words, "If they were truly lost to the Assassins the Koh-i-noor would've been brought there before moving on to Britain rather than a simple inn."

This silenced Burnes proving he had nothing more to say in objection to the young lady's proposal.

"It would seem the matter is decided." Sleeman said settling the matter, "At mid-morning we make for the Marquis du Moreau's lands to enlist his aid or the aid of his resources. Once they are ours we encircle the Assassins and close the noose around them. The Koh-i-noor will belong the Templar Order once more. May the Father of Understanding guide us."

"May the Father of Understanding guide us." He said along with the others as was custom.