A/N: This is basically a redoing of a crossover story that never got off the ground. When I wrote it originally it was titled 'The Piece of Eden' and was to take place after the conclusion of Uncharted 2 and Assassin's Creed 2. I shelved it so I could complete more of Assassin's Creed 2, but due to College I didn't have a lot of time to finish it and the story sort of fell to the bottom of my file of stories. By the time I completed AC: 2, AC: Brotherhood came out (which I finished a few days ago) so I'm retooling the story to follow the conclusion of that game as opposed to AC: 2.
One last thing; if you haven't finished Assassin's Creed Brotherhood then STOP READING THIS STORY as part of this chapter deals with the ending.
Year: 1476
Location: Italy
It was a warm and sunny afternoon for Ezio Auditore. To a lot of people he was just your typical 17 year old living in the Italian Renaissance, but none of them including Ezio himself knew of the legacy that he was a part of; let alone continue for centuries to come. But today wasn't the day Ezio would have to accept that legacy. Today he was just enjoying life and was just fresh from visiting a doctor after getting involved in a fight.
"Ezio, Ezio, Ezio," his brother Federico sighed shaking his head. "You have to be the most reckless man I've ever known," he said when the doctor finished up with him.
"Grazie," Ezio said and smiled.
"That wasn't a compliment brother," he sighed then laughed. "If I ever see anyone more reckless than you it will be too soon." When he said this someone raced past Ezio and nearly knocked him down to the streets.
"What the…?" He said then realized his money pouch was gone. "Stop! Thief!" He yelled and gave chase to the mysterious man. The thief blazed into the crowd and shoved several unsuspecting individuals into Ezio's path.
Ezio stopped and ran around the people in front of him and had to make a sudden jump over one guy, who had fallen down. Ezio rounded the corner and saw no trace of the thief. He muttered a few curse words and randomly looked up to the sky when he saw the thief leaping over the gap between two of the buildings. Ezio took a running start and jumped at one of the building's windows. He pulled himself up to the roof and continued the chase.
"Why don't you just give up! ? You can't catch me! ?" The thief shouted.
"No one tells Ezio Auditore to give up!" Ezio shouted insulted and moved his legs even faster. He made the leap to the next building; jumping before he even reached the edge. The thief saw this and was surprised and impressed when Ezio maintained his balance upon landing. He ran towards one of the towers and started to climb up it.
Ezio slowed down to a halt. "Is my money really worth the risk of breaking my neck?" He asked himself.
"What's the matter! ? Scared! ?" The thief shouted continuing his climb. Ezio's anger rose right back up and he jumped at the building immediately finding good places for his hands to grip. Pushing himself as hard as he could Ezio was soon right on the guy's tail. The thief's eyes widened as Ezio kept gaining on him. He finally reached the top of the tower, but as he made his way to the edge of the top to start climbing down Ezio tackled him to the floor. He wrenched back his money and kicked the thief. He muttered a few choice curse words as he realized he couldn't go down the tower from the inside and would essentially have to climb all the way down. He heard the thief starting to stand up and turned around.
"What's your name?" Ezio asked the man. The man faced Ezio revealing the face of a man who looked a few years older than him. Not only that, but he also appeared to be English, which surprised Ezio that he knew how to speak Italian so well.
The man started backing up towards the edge and gave Ezio a smile. "People call me, Drake," he answered and then promptly jumped over the edge of the tower. Ezio rushed to the edge unable to believe Drake would just up and commit suicide when he saw him land in the waters below. He emerged 20 seconds later and began to swim to shore. Ezio had a shocked look on his face and then gave out a light chuckle.
"Interesting person," he said to keep his mind off of the climb as he descended the building. "I just hope that I never run into him again."
2012
Location: Assassin Safe House
Desmond woke up from his dream covered from head to toe in sweat. His sheets were also a complete mess meaning that he must've been tossing and turning a lot.
"Bad dream?" he heard the caring voice of Lucy Stillman ask.
"Not bad. Just weird," he answered. Lucy walked over to Desmond and sat on his bed beside him. Desmond looked at her and saw she had her hair down. He always liked it when she had it down.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I was dreaming about Ezio about a day or so before he became an assassin. Some guy stole his money pouch and he gave chase. The thief was quite the parkour; gave Ezio a run for his money," Desmond said. "Pun intended," he added and earned a laugh from Lucy.
"Ezio got his money back, but he lost the guy. He referred to himself as Drake before jumping off a high tower and into the water," Desmond said then sighed. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm seeing memories without being in the Animus. What if I become like Subject 16?"
"You won't become like 16, Desmond. I promise you that. You just need to have a little faith." Desmond slowly smiled at her words remembering how she said that to him back in Abstergo when he thought he had no way of escaping.
"Now try to get some sleep Desmond. We need you at your best tomorrow for hopefully your last session." Lucy then leaned forward and kissed Desmond's cheek. "Pleasant dreams," she whispered and then left the assassin to his thoughts. Desmond lay back in his bed.
"Yeah; like I'm really going to sleep after that," he thought.
"Oh crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"
"Quick Nate! Get in the van!" Elena shouted stretching out her hand. Nathan Drake grabbed it and she hauled him inside.
"Step on it Sully!" She yelled to him and he floored it. They tore through the streets and barreled into the closet alley they could find; just narrowly avoiding tank fire.
"Where the Hell do these people keep getting tanks from! ? Is there a Bad Guys R US located in the world or something! ?" Drake yelled. "There better not be a chopper around the next corner," he thought.
"Who knows, but I hope you got what you came for kid because we are not attempting another break in. All your exploits are proving very hazardous to my health."
"So is smoking yet you continue to do that on a regular basis," Nate remarked. "And you can relax about the break in. I got what we came for," he said holding up a data disk.
"That's a relief," Elena said slumping against the side of the van. "Who exactly told you about this place anyway? You sort of avoided that topic like the plague when we asked and you did say you'd tell us once we got away."
"I did. Didn't I," Nate said remembering his promise and mentally prepping himself for whatever onslaught he was going to get from his friends. "I found out from," Nate coughed a few times, "Chloe."
"You want to run that by me again Nate?" Elena asked him. "It sounded like you said…"
"Yes. Ok. I found out all about this from Chloe alright," he quickly said in one breath. "A few weeks ago I got a call from her. She said she landed a pretty big job and mentioned the company Abstergo. She didn't say what only that it involved some really ancient treasure, which she heard in passing to be called the Apple of Eden."
"Eden? Like the Garden of Eden?" Elena asked.
"I guess so. I asked her if she wanted me to help her out for old time's sake," Nate said. "She said 'not a chance in Hell," Drake said doing a poor imitation of Chloe. "So…"
"So you decided to screw her over and get to this treasure before she does?" Elena guessed.
"That's right," Nate answered and Elena punched him in the shoulder.
"What was that for?" He asked rubbing his shoulder like it hurt.
"This entire operation was based off of Intel you got from Chloe, Drake. She could've been setting you up for all we know."
"Hey. Chloe's done a lot of things; things I would love to get back at her for, but she'd never try to get me killed."
"Oh so you trust her after everything that took place in Shambala?"
"No, but I seriously don't think she'd deliberately set us up to get killed. Definitely arrested, but not killed."
Elena groaned. "Just what's on that disk anyway?"
"I have no idea. Let's find out," he said grabbing a laptop and inserting the disk. About ten files appeared on the monitor and Nate clicked on the one labeled the 'Apple of Eden.'
Subject 17: Desmond Miles
After going through numerous memory blocks Subject 17 reached the most important one. Through it we managed to ascertain the location of several of the pieces of Eden. The memory ended before we had a chance to record all of the locations, but all we need is one to find the others. The location we recorded in time was Rome, Italy. We've guessed that it must be hidden somewhere in the Coliseum.
"That tells us where we can find it, but what exactly is this Apple of Eden?" Sully asked finally bringing the van to a stop when he was sure they weren't being followed anymore.
"Hold on," Nate said scrolling through the rest of the file.
The Apple/Piece of Eden
An item of immense power
"How informative," Drake said disappointed.
"Well; what are we waiting for?" Elena said.
"Wait. You actually want to go after this thing?"
"Well I need another topic for my show and this seems like something my boss might like."
"Did you check the warranty on your latest camera?" Sully asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena asked.
"Well you did lose both cameras on our last two adventures; not to mention the cameraman as well," Nate threw out. Elena punched him again.
"What! ?"
"His name is Jeff," Elena said. Nate rolled his eyes.
"So Sully. How quick can that plane of yours get us to the Coliseum?"
"In no time provided there aren't any anti-aircraft guns involved," he said.
"How many times do I have to apologize for your old plane getting shot down Sully?" Nate asked him.
The Coliseum
"Looks like we aren't the only ones here," Nathan said spotting a van near the entrance to the Coliseum.
"You think it's Chloe?" Elena asked.
"Nah. That van isn't her style," Nate said then turned to Sully. "Stay with the van," Nate said to him.
"Ain't gonna argue with that," he said walking back to the van.
"Are you sure you want to bring that thing with you inside. It might get damaged if we have to do any climbing," Nate said looking at her camera.
"I know," Elena said already putting her camera back in the van. She then pulled out a smaller camera out of the van. "Don't give me that look. I'm not missing a second of footage."
"Fine," Nate said deciding to not even attempt to reason with Elena. They entered the Coliseum and were instantly overwhelmed by how big the inside of it looked.
"This place is a maze," Elena said amazed. "How are we going to find the Apple?"
"Shhh," Drake shushed her. "I think I heard someone. Come on," and Nate jumped into the Coliseum. After a few minutes of jumping, climbing, and following the mysterious voice they found the guy it belonged to.
"Wonder what he's doing here," Elena said.
"You know why he's here. Is it too much to ask for one easy treasure hunt?" Nate thought out loud.
Desmond stopped his climb and dropped back down to the ground. Nate and Elena immediately ran as silently as they could before he could spot them.
"Hey guys. Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?" Desmond asked the others through his communicator.
"I thought it was just me," Shaun said.
"I have the same feeling," Lucy said. "Be prepared to fight if you meet any opposition."
"Alright," Desmond said and resumed his trek through the Coliseum.
"Is it just me or does that guy sound exactly like you?" Elena whispered.
"It's just you," Nate said and continued following Desmond. Matching Desmond's parkour like skills proved no problem for Nate. Elena on the other hand had to go through things the hard way given how she had to worry about the safety of the camera.
"Put it this way. At least this camera isn't completely inhibiting my ability to keep up with you," Elena said as Nate struggled to pull her up. "You're a lot heavier than you look." He said getting her up.
"How do I put up with you?" Elena asked.
"My Indiana Jones-ish good looks," he laughed.
"Don't flatter yourself," she joked.
7 minutes later
Tailing Desmond became increasingly more difficult the further the group went through the Coliseum due to his eagle vision and parkour abilities. Nate had to deliberately put distance between himself and Desmond so he wouldn't realize he's being followed. This of course resulted in Nate having to guess at what Desmond did to get through this underground tunnel. After a lengthy climb Nate found himself in what appeared to be a Church.
"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Elena said recording as much footage of the place as she could.
"Hold up. Look," he said pointing to a large hole near the front. Nate pulled out his gun and slowly crept forward. He gazed down the hole and heard more voices this time than just that one guy.
"Get your gun ready. We've got company," he said getting ready to go down.
"I'm starting to wish I stayed in the van," Elena thought wiping off some of the sweat she accumulated. After successfully finding a way down, which took a bit of time, they found themselves in another fascinating chamber.
"Oh my God," Elena said taking in (and recording) the sight.
"What's wrong with this picture Elena?" Nate asked.
"What do you mean?"
"There isn't anyone here and there doesn't look like there's any other way out."
"During our daring climb down I heard one of them mention a password," Elena said walking down the stairs. "I think one of them said '72'."
"72?" Why that?" Nate asked.
"I don't know," she said stopping in front of a dead end. "Try saying it."
"What's taking you guys so long?" Sully's voice asked over the communicator.
"Sully you should really be down here. This is incredible," Nate said.
"Well I'm sure I can see the whole thing on Elena's camera. Now can you please hurry up? I'm sweating like a stripper at a Church."
"You brought a stripper to Church?" Elena asked sounding disgusted.
"Why not?" Sully asked.
"Is there anyone you haven't brought to a Church before Sully?" Nathan asked.
"You don't want to know. See you hopefully soon," he said and the line went dead.
"Now for the password; go ahead Nate."
"Ummm… 72," Nate said uneasily and then braced himself for some kind of booby trap. Instead the walls came down and revealed another hallway leading to a room bathed in light.
"Careful," He cautioned as they advanced down the hallway towards Desmond, Shaun, Rebecca, and Lucy.
"What's wrong with them?" Elena asked noticing how three of them looked frozen in place.
"I don't know, but…wait a minute."
"What?"
"That guy. He looks like he's going to stab her." Nate pulled out his gun and aimed it at Desmond.
"What are you doing! ?" Elena shouted at him in a panic.
"Haven't the faintest idea," he answered and fired. The bullet sailed through the air and smashed against the Apple knocking it out of Desmond's hands. Free from Juno's grasp Desmond fell forward to Lucy's knees. The apple fell over the edge and landed on the floor; completely unharmed.
"Desmond!" Lucy yelled kneeling to his level. "Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I am now," he said since she was alive.
"Uh… guys. We have a couple of visitors," Rebecca revealed pointing out Nate and Elena.
"Fall back Elena! I'll get the Apple!" He shouted and jumped over the edge of the walk way. Noticing the Apple was no longer in his sights Desmond also jumped over the edge. Nate reached it first, however.
"No! The Apple isn't meant for you!" Lucy shouted at him.
"Who's gonna stop me! ?" Nate yelled at her.
"I am!" Desmond yelled and revealed his hidden blade. Nate threw out his arms and halted Desmond's attack only a few inches from his heart.
"And just who are you supposed to be?" Desmond asked inching closer to Desmond's heart.
"The name's Drake. Nathan Drake."
"Drake…" Desmond said and remembered the memory from 1476.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Sorry if the Coliseum bit dragged. Like a lot of my stories things pick up next chapter. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but don't hold me to that. See ya next update!
P.S. I know that in the ending for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (again stop reading if you haven't finished that game) Lucy was supposed to be stabbed by Desmond, but I like Lucy so I had Nathan save her life.