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Chapter 3

Asher continued on with his story, oblivious to how his words affected Buffy. "Our Slayer…she's extremely attached to this particular weapon. You might say it's…precious to her. It was my duty to protect it, all of our duties, really, because of how important it is to the Slayer, to the Council…to the world. But he took it, in the middle of the night, and then he was gone before any of our traps could catch him. It was devastating. It all happened so fast." He looked stricken at his own words, shook his head and blinked his eyes furiously.

"Wow, you must really like this weapon," Buffy said. Asher looked at her, his mouth open to reply, but Giles interrupted him.

"Excuse me. This is an interesting story, but how do we know you're telling us the truth about any of this? Assuming that your time travel tale is to be believed in the first place, what's to prove to us that you are indeed one of the, um…good guys?"

"Are you really calling the Council 'good guys'?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

"My Council isn't the Council you know today," Asher said quickly. "In fact, very little of the Watchers' Council you know still remains. None of the 'Council Creeps,' as the Slayer from my time likes to refer to them. We are good guys, I assure you."

"Yes, but how do we know that?" Giles pressed.

Asher kept moving around the shop, as though he couldn't bear to stand still. "Hmm, how to prove it. Well, the Watchers' Council, for its lack of a working time travel system in your time, has had the capability to track time-travelling demons for decades. Their system senses the presence of portals, you see. From there it can place a high probability on the intended destination of the portal, whether it be to another time, or to another dimension entirely. It's only a matter of time, pun intended, before the current Council head is made aware of the demon who traveled here. He won't know what the demon took with him, but he'll be able to wager a good guess. Color me surprised if…Mr. Travers, I believe his name is, isn't quite interested in acquiring this unusual weapon for himself…to study. Luckily, he won't be able to track the man-made portal we created afterwards, to send me here—their system only works for demons. But, given what we know, I would expect Travers to contact you, perhaps even come to Sunnydale himself to take a chance at picking up the weapon himself—though I must say that it would be of the extreme bad for him to take possession of the weapon. In fact, it's best that he know as little about the situation as possible, aside from that which he gleans on his own. It really isn't wise to contact him at all…but, for purposes of gaining your trust…perhaps you could call him to verify the existence of this demon in Sunnydale? If he confirms that the demon is indeed in the vicinity…would you believe me, then?"

All eyes turned to Giles. "Well…yes, I suppose that would go a long ways toward supporting your…unusual story. Although I certainly don't fancy a phone call with Quentin Travers, today or ever. Also, it's the middle of the night in London…surely it would be best to wait a bit on the phone call?"

Asher shook his head. "There really is no time to waste. If calling him is what it takes to gain your trust, then please, make the call."

Hesitantly, Giles picked up the phone and dialed. And waited. "Yes, I need to speak with Quentin Travers, please." A response from the other end prompted an, "I see. This is Rupert Giles in Sunnydale, California. It is quite imperative that I speak with him." Another pause, and then, "I see. Thank you." He hung up the phone.
"It seems that Travers is on his way to Sunnydale as we speak…his answering service says that his plane should be landing any moment."

Asher looked surprised. "But the portal was opened…" he checked his watch, "two hours ago, and the very most. He would have had to have been in the air already when it happened. I don't understand. Does he come here often? Is there another reason he would be coming to Sunnydale?"

Giles looked to Buffy, each of them thinking of their resident mystery bad girl and the secret identity of the key. "Perhaps."

"Listen," Asher said. "This makes it even more imperative that you take my word as truth. The current Council must not get their hands on this. If Travers learns that the future Watchers' Council has a vested interest here, it will make him even more eager to get the weapon for himself. He must not be alerted of my presence here. From what my Council head tells me, Travers' methods and morals were always…questionable, at best. It's quite critical for us to start working on this right away."

Giles still looked skeptical.

"I know!" Willow said suddenly, her eyes glittering with excitement. "What about a truth spell?"

Asher groaned, rolling his eyes but looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Should have known that was coming."

"Actually, that sounds like a rather wonderful idea," Giles said, nodding his head. "If we find you're telling the truth about all of this, you can count on us to help you on your mission."

"It's a dangerous suggestion, Rupert. The things I know…well, you lot aren't supposed to know all that yet."
Buffy looked at Asher, determined. "Truth spell it is. Agree to it, or get out and find your weapon on your own."
He sighed, shoulders slumping a fraction in resignation. "Very well. Let's do it."
________________________________________

"Before we begin, please understand that giving away too much information on this subject could very seriously jeopardize the future as we know it. Please understand if there are questions I can't answer completely." Despite his straight back and the tight lock of his jaw, his hands betrayed his nervousness in the way they clasped and unclasped, fingers darting out to rub against the metal of his pocket watch. The motion seemed to soothe him somewhat, and he looked up to Willow and Tara. "I'm ready," he said.

Buffy watched as the two witches clasped hands and murmured something about truth, and then chanted something in a language she didn't understand. She studied the man seated on the chair. Despite her instinctive skepticism, something about Asher made her feel…peaceful. Maybe it was the naturally soothing timbre of his deep voice, or the muscular bulk of his frame and his casual confidence, even in this crisis, that made her feel safe around him in a way that she normally didn't around anyone but the Scoobies and her family. She couldn't help it—she wanted to trust him. She hoped he was telling the truth.

"Okay," Buffy began, once the spell was done. She walked back and forth in a half-circle in front of his chair. "Is Asher your real name?"

He laughed. "That's your first question? Really?" She glared at him. "Yes, of course," he answered.

"Tell us about the weapon. What kind of weapon is it? What does it look like?"

Asher shook his head. "Please, don't make me tell you more about the weapon itself. I've been instructed to give you as few details as possible so as not to jeopardize its existence. You see, we believe that once it exists it can't un-exist, but as I'm sure you know-" he looked at Xander pointedly, "changing the past can certainly change the future. If I botch this up, I could return to a world I don't even recognize."

"Like in Back to the Future!" Xander exclaimed. Asher nodded.

"Giles," Buffy whined. "If he's under a truth spell, why isn't he answering my questions like he's supposed to?"

"Buffy, the truth spell doesn't force him to answer specific questions. It only ensures that what he does say will be truthful."

She huffed, crossing her arms. "So, how do you expect us to reclaim a weapon you can't even describe to us?"

"I don't expect you to reclaim it at all, actually," Asher said. "I will get the weapon back on my own. I only expect you all to help me locate it."

"And you're going to get it back from this demon…without my help?" she asked, with raised eyebrows.

"Well, yes. In my time, Watchers are trained to do more than…watch. We've been taught to fight alongside our Slayers."

"Really?" Giles asked, clearly fascinated. "I've always thought that was how it should be done."

Asher nodded. "So, I should be able to get the weapon on my own, if we can just locate it. in fact, had I been familiar with Sunnydale already and had any clue as to the weapon's whereabouts, I would have attempted to resolve the matter without coming into contact with you at all. But, you know, you can't actually travel to Sunnydale these days, so…it's the location I need help with." He looked to Tara and Willow. "I had thought that…maybe a spell might help us find out where it is?"

Willow looked thoughtful. "Well, yes, a locator spell would work to find a person, but for an object, I'm not so sure. And even if we could, we would need another object that is somehow connected to the object in question and…well, it could be all kinds of confusing. What about a demon locator spell to track the demon who took it?"

"No good. We believe that the demon who took the weapon is more of a middle-man in this instance. Even if he still has it in his possession, he'll have passed it along before we could track him down. Maybe you'd be willing to try it? A regular locator spell, I mean. For the…object. Since this particular weapon belongs to the Slayer in my time, I feel rather…confident that something of Buffy's might lead us to it."

"Well, yes, we could try…" Willow said, uncertainly. "If you think it would work."

"Let's talk about this demon guy," Xander said. "Why'd he take the weapon in the first place if he was just gonna pass it on down the line? What's his demony plan?"

"We don't think it was his plan at all, actually," Asher said. "We think he was…coerced into retrieving it for another being. This particular demon would have been chosen for the job because of his time travel abilities and because of his belief that a weapon just like this one will eventually result in his own demise. You see, there is a prophecy regarding this demon and this type of…weapon. He's aware of the prophecy, so it's likely that he would want to destroy the weapon before it destroys him. Hopefully, he won't have the opportunity to do that. Something more intimidating seems to have convinced this demon to return here, to this time period, with the object, instead of simply destroying it himself, in our time."

"So this baddie was hired by an even bigger, um, baddie?" Tara asked.

"You got it."

So who's the bigger bad?" Buffy said. "You've got it figured out, right?" Something seemed to click in her brain, and she felt panic set in. "It's her, isn't it? The mystery diva bitch that has it in for me? Does it help her find the key somehow?"

Asher looked momentary confused. "Are you referring to Glory?" All eyes turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Oh, um, my bad. That's her name. You'll figure all of that out on your own, though. But an emphatic no on that one, for sure. It's possible that the weapon could help her, but at this point, she'd have no idea how to…use it for her purposes. I do have a theory on who, or rather, what, it is that could be helped by acquiring the weapon. Someone, or something, rather, with a certain degree of omniscience, with the ability to see how something that doesn't exist for many years could be of great use in the here and now." He looked at them expectantly.

"So, what is it?" Buffy asked.

"Really? You've no guesses? My understanding is that you've already come into contact with this particular entity on a previous occasion."

"Well, now that you've vagued that up for me, sure, I know exactly what you're talking about." She rolled her eyes. "I've come into contact with plenty of bad things over the years. Care to narrow it down?"

"I think you might remember this one. Dressed up like your former…" Asher's eyes slid to Giles and back to Buffy, "computer teacher, tried to convince your boyfriend to kill himself? Hangs around with a group of guys that have crazy runic signs where eyeballs should be?"

"The First," Buffy said.

"First what?" Xander asked.

"Evil," Buffy, Giles, and Asher said in unison.

"You think that's what has your weapon?" Giles asked. "Why?"

The future Watcher fidgeted. "I fear giving too much information here, but I will share what I can. A few years from now, the First Evil will stage an uprising, a rather frightening one at that, here in Sunnydale."

"How?" said Buffy. "Isn't it all non-corporeal? Ghostish?"

"The First finds a sort of agent to do its bidding. Rather unsavory agent, at that. And, of course, there are the Bringers. The First Evil can never be eliminated—it always was, it always is, it always shall be; however, this battle will leave its "army," if you will, quite crippled. Decimated, really. And there will be one extra-large unintended consequence of this battle that the First Evil will not have foreseen, and that consequence will effectively prevent the First Evil itself from becoming…powerful again. Ever."

"Ever?" Buffy asked.

"Ever."

She smiled. "Did I do that?"

Asher smiled back at her, his dark eyes warm and friendly. "You did that. It's quite…legendary, actually."

"Sweet. If I've got to be all non-living in your time, then at least I'm a legend, right?"

He looked away from her. "There are still bad things in the world, believe me. But the source of the evil, the truest darkness there is, no longer has the opportunity to seize power. The point is that, while the First won't stage this uprising for a few years yet, its agents are already plotting, planning, waiting for the right…shift in the balance of things. The First would benefit immensely from having this weapon at its agent's side. Aside from the weapon's inherent power, it would, um…devastate the Slayer to see it used for evil. And because of the…nature of the weapon…you, the First's most formidable corporeal enemy, will never be able to destroy it, no matter how powerful it makes the First's army."

"What?" she said. "Of course I would destroy it, if it's evil. Why wouldn't I?"

"Trust me on this," Asher said. "Once you see it, you'll never harm it."

She seemed stumped by his assessment, and by his choice of words.

"I'm still confused," Xander said. "What does the weapon do? What makes it all with the powerful? You know, we had a bazooka once…" he looked wistful.

"Well…" Asher faltered. "It's…multi-faceted. It has…many skills, most of which are still developing. Which, I'd wager, is why the First chose to take it now, and not at some point when it is more…mature. At this point, it's still quite…moldable, despite our best efforts. It is meant for good, but the First, no doubt, hopes that it is still early enough that it can trick the weapon into…switching loyalties." He sighed with the effort of choosing his words so carefully.

"A weapon with loyalties…" Giles said. "I suppose that it wouldn't be the first time…"

The metallic chime of the shop door opening startled the group. All heads turned to look at the doorway, where several suited men stood, the one in front clearly recognizable to Buffy and Giles.

"Quentin Travers," Giles said, fighting to keep the disdain out of his voice.

"Rupert." Quentin Travers looked around at the group, quite disappointed that no one seemed the least bit surprised by his sudden appearance in the shop.

"Well, this should be interesting," Buffy muttered, turning to Asher. "Didn't you say something about not alerting them to your presence?"

But when she turned to the chair, she found it empty.
Asher was gone.





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