(Desmond)
As I sat there in the van, I was trying to sort out all of what had just taken place. I, after being in a coma for who knows how long, spent what little time I had with Clay. I barely even knew him, yet he sacrificed his life for me. The strangest part of all is, right before I left, he held onto me, showing me all of his knowledge. It was like he was downloading his memories into me. Everything he had ever seen, felt, heard, known, was now in my head, even his struggles and successes. I hardly knew how to process it all. It was so overwhelming that I could scarcely put it to words even now that I have had a while to think about it. It's crazy to know how much this man actually knew. Well, I guess if I had been trapped in the animus after my body died I would have plenty of time to learn about the animus as well.
My thoughts were interrupted as Shaun came to a stop and parked the van. My dad stood up and pushed the doors open, calling back to me, "We're here." My legs seemed stiff as I climbed out of the van. It felt good to stretch my legs a bit. I decided to take in my surroundings. I walked forward a little bit toward the cave. Every once in a while I would get these little flash backs usually from my ancestors. This time, I recognized this as one of Clay's memories. It was only for a few seconds and it was only a flash of the same location I was at now.
I then realized that I should probably be helping everyone unload, but when I turned around, it seemed that they had everything under control. "Let's go." My dad said as he passed me, holding one of the boxes from the van. We entered the cave, taking out our lights. I led the way, walking until I came across a wall. I could tell this wall has been here for a while because there were cave drawings from Indians as well as graffiti from modern day. It's apparent that many have tried to lift this wall and have been unsuccessful as evident from one graffiti phrase that said "No Hope." I took one glance at it and knew that the apple would be the key to this wall. I pulled out the apple from my pocket and as soon as I did so, it began to glow gold as it always did. I walked forward and placed the apple into the hole in the wall. It rotated and the lines in the wall began to glow gold as well. Soon the whole cave was lit up in this golden glow as Shaun began to quote a line from Alice and Wonderland. I didn't really pay attention. I was too busy with the apple. Really, I just tended to tune out whenever Shaun quoted things, but don't tell him that. I ducked down to get underneath the wall as everyone else soon followed. We walked down a slanted hill until we came to a door. I once again pulled out the apple and the door way opened up. I took a look at the place as a memory flashed before my eyes letting me know that I was on the right track. I called to the guys, "I think we're here..." as this place did seem familiar. I slid down the incline until I saw this strange almost square object sitting on the ground. It seemed to give off its own light which made me think that it would do something. I looked at the panel in front of me and it seemed to have a hole. I reached down and grabbed the square puzzle shaped object and placed it in the hole.
All of the sudden things began to light up and shift before my eyes. I walked across the bridge to this wall, almost force field like. In the center of this force field, there was the triangle that was drawn on the wall in the sanctuary in Monteriggioni. As I got closer to the force field, I started having a bleeding effect. I then heard Juno speak to me, saying "The key. You must find the key." My dad touched my shoulder, "Son," I turned to face him, but I didn't see my dad any more. I saw another man and I knew I was starting to see things from the past. I tried to focus on the future, but it was Juno who was initiating the bleeding effect. I sighed after being unsuccessful and resolved to let it happen saying, "Here we go again" as I passed out in the floor.
A few minutes later I heard Rebecca's voice, "Desmond?" My dad chimed in, "Do you hear us?" I nodded, "Yeah. What happened?" even though I was pretty sure what had actually happened. "The temple triggered a bleeding effect," my dad stated, "You collapsed and entered into a fugue state." I felt kind of annoyed as I answered, "So naturally you dropped me into the animus instead of, I don't know, making sure I was ok?" my dad answered back "You weren't in any danger. Besides, the temple appeared to be communicating with you and I didn't want to risk severing the connection. At least not until we knew what it wanted." I rolled my eyes, "Right. Of course." He never seemed to care about how I felt. You could see why I would feel like I was being just used for my abilities instead of being thought of as a person. I spent countless hours inside the animus only to be thrown back after only being in the real world for 45 minutes. Of course I'd be upset. But I knew I had a job to do…if not for my dad, for the world's sake. My dad spoke once more, "Son, I…" I cut him off, "No it's fine. I get it. And I know what I'm looking for by the way; it's a key. Just no idea where it is though… guess that's why she triggered the bleeding effect."
"She?" my dad asked confused. "Juno, Dad. She's…talking to me."
Wow. Saying it out loud made me sound even more crazy…