Author Note: 3/17/14 Hello everyone! I know it's been quite a while since I've touched this story and I humbly apologize for it. I won't spew the boring details of my issues so in a nutshell, I lose my muse for a story because of real life stress and I'll diverge into another story to pass time. But I'm back now and determined to finish this story as it should have been by now. Looking over the previous chapters to get back into the mentality of where the story was going made me notice a lot of grammar mistakes and all around improvement I could do with the story and with some patience from you great readers (aside from the copious amount you've given me already) I'm hoping to go back and fix the chapters before preceding on. Thank you for your time and welcome to any new readers that might come across this! xoxo
Copyright: Ubisoft owns the AC universe and every thing therein. I own the characters that were never mentioned in the franchise and make no profit off this.
Summary: Birds of a feather - almost always - flock together. In this case, Aemilia B'nargin has no choice but to follow the fallen Eagle in order to return back to her time and continue the fight against Abstergo.
Birds of a Feather
Chapter I: Ain't That a Kick In The Head
Reaching the end of the labyrinth of catacombs beneath the temple brought Aemilia great relief – yet an equal amount of despair. The end of the tunnel where she'll reach in a matter of minutes, will also be the end of her as well. A sob threatened to erupt from her burning, aching lungs but she fought it down and pushed her limbs to carry her further feeling that her destination was near and her goal close. So close it was palpable. Templars followed her inside, chasing her down through the series of paths, dead ends and anything else you can imagine finding beneath a temple that contained a Piece of Eden; skeletons, lots of skeletons as well. Some of which she had to regretfully trample through as she dodged gun shots ringing through the cramped halls. The brittle, aged bones snapping like a dry leaf with a 'crunch' under her black, combat boots. Although every muscle was pushed to exhaustion, she would make sure the Templar bastards were going to struggle and pry the Eden from her dead body. She was planning on going down with a good fight – like a true Assassin would when backed into a wall. She only found it to be a shame to end like this: another Piece of Eden gone into the hands of the Templar's and another Assassin dead. She had previously notified Lucy and her team before she had entered the Temple that if they heard no word from her once she acquired the objective, she was dead as her suspicions of being followed had been correct and this Piece was lost to them.
'Guess it really is going to turn out like that,' Aemilia thought grimly as she was nearing her final destination. She could already see the Piece of Eden golden glimmer, shinning in its own light, despite there virtually being no light besides the one emitting from her flash light and that from the Templars trailing behind her, not too far back. A burst of adrenaline filled her as she leaped on to the pedestal and grasped the Eden into her hands and off the staff that held it high. It was cold and fit perfectly into her hand as she held it tightly. Practically til her knuckles turned whiter than they already were from the blood flow shutting off. For the briefest of moments known to man, she felt a strong sense of pride within her. It was her, Aemilia B'nargin, from the Assassin Order that held a Piece of Eden that was hidden for centuries – first. However, her moment of glory was short-lived as the Templars entered the room and circled her around the pedestal, all their flashlights on top their pistols beaming on her. Numerous laser dots appearing across her abdomen and back. Yet she was unafraid. An Assassin would never display fear to an enemy.
"Aemilia, just hand it over," she heard a very familiar male voice command, out of breath, she noted smugly too. She hoped they all lost half a lung from that chase; as she probably had but was certain it would no longer matter after this scene would play out.
She scoffed, an attempt to conceal the fact that she was out of breath as well, "Adalson, do you honestly believe I will?" she continued, cutting him off although her lungs protested and begged for just air, "my ancestors, as well as hundreds of other Assassins you murdered, have died to protect this," Aemilia raised the Eden into the air, "from going into the hands of your kind!" Few of the Templar agents flinched as if expected the Apple would violently react as they heard many tales of its wild powers and capabilities.
"Lives lost in vain!" he roared back, "we have you out-numbered and out-gunned. The Eden is ours! Now this is your last chance, B'nargin. Hand it over and come with us or die alone here in these crypts." Ever the Templar agenda: acquire the Pieces of Eden, recruit even the most high-classed trained Assassins to join their ranks. It was no surprise some had betrayed their own order when they saw the possibilities of winning this war and making it out alive had begun to dwindle. On top of a losing war the Order, it also had to deal with spies and sell-outs within. Things were not looking good for the heroes.
Aemilia glanced at the Piece of Eden one last time, clenching it tighter in her hand. She thought of everyone she failed in this moment. The entire Order, Lucy and her team, even going far back as her predecessors and the Grand Master that re-created the Order she favored in Assassin history.
"Altair Ibn-La'Ahad," she murmured to herself in grief. In that moment, a gold light beamed in all directions from the Piece of Eden, blinding everyone in the room including Aemilia yet she hung on it, fearing the instant she let it go a Templar would claim it. She didn't understand what was happening but her body was feeling lighter and lighter, the sensation of her being lifted while her body still remained on the ground. She could no longer hold conscious and finally fainted from the severe experience that took a toll on her body and mind.
Aemilia's fingers were the first to twitch and move, next her muscles hesitantly. She couldn't discern if she was awake or not at first, floating in a strange white expanse that had no ending yet no beginning at the same time, while hushed, eager whispers plagued her mind. It spoke too fast all at the same time only giving her the opportunity to hear just a few words before she finally reawakened; 'destiny', 'second chance', 'DOOM'; the last word boomed in her conscious startling her into an upright position. She panted as her heart pounded in her chest, sweat coating her skin as if she had just stepped out a shower. She blinked wildly, shielding her eyes from the blazing sunlight that was nearly white. Her first immediate thoughts was to push the headache to the back of her mind and gain her bearings to the best of her current abilities. The most obvious was that it was sweltering hot. Her jeans and white, long-sleeved under armor compression shirt and black leather vest clung to her because of the sweat she was emitting. Sitting on top of solid concrete in this heat as she was also did not help. She couldn't help but to wonder where she was, and how in the world she got here. Where ever 'here' was, that is.
Cracking open her eyes slowly to adjust to the light, from what she could discern, she was a few levels off the ground. Foremost she was not where she was last, nor the time or weather. Before she had entered the temple, the sun was setting and there was a storm on the horizon. Being that it was the rainy season in southern Tuscany, Italy, just a few days travel from where Lucy and her team are currently hiding out in Monteriggioni. Had the Templars knocked her out and left her here? Aemilia was more than certain they would have dispatched her this time for all the hassle she had caused them.. Although, since she was not dead there was the possibility that Adalson purposely had them leave her. This was his way of trying to get her to join Abstergo, she concluded. Instead of killing her, leave her alive in a strange place so she'd have no choice but to depend on them when they finally made contact again when she was on the brink of death. She scoffed to herself, as if. Aemilia would brave any condition head on before joining the evil bastards. Not after what they had done to her.
She sighed, thinking to herself, 'Time to get back on the road and report to Lucy what happened.' Aemilia counted her lucky stars for being alive but that didn't change the fact that Abstergo had another Piece of Eden. She had to let them and her superiors know what happened so they can plan a counter-attack. Slowly standing up, stumbling for a moment before she regained her balance, she carefully cracked joints and appendages as she further assessed her surroundings. Everything looked so... rural.. old fashioned. As if she had stepped back in time, almost. What a strange city. Just where in the name of the Precursors did they dump her off? She gazed at the shabby buildings trying to recognize the architect but nothing came to mind that she knew of Italy's cities and towns. She was going to have to get on ground level and ask for directions from the citizens. Due to her extensive time she spent in the country, she spoke Italian fairly well, enough to ask for assistance for anything she might have needed. She almost had not realized her bookbag still strapped tightly to her, her heart leaped in joy remembering its contents. Hurriedly shrugging it off, she kneel down and opened up her pack. Digging past the map of Italy, her fake pass ports and license she pulled out the bottle of water first and her assigned cell phone to contact Lucy and her superiors. Uncapping the bottle, she took in copious amount of the refreshing spring water and enjoyed the relief it brought before recapping it and placing it back into her bookbag. Tapping the sensitive screen, she tried several times but it remained black. Dead. She huffed, throwing the useless contraption back into her bag and zipped it shut. She'd have to get to the nearest pay phone or a local cafe to send an encrypted email to Rebecca Crane so she could pass on the word safely. Cautiously stepping near the edge of the building, she peered down to see streams of people walking among the stone roads. What made her wonder even more was how they were dressed.
If she didn't know any better, she'd say she was in – a loud yell caught her attention. Aemilia spun around to see a man across the building from her. He too, was dressed oddly. She would have been relieved for someone to be acknowleging her but he was pointing a bow with an arrow strung and aiming at her. She quickly placed her hands in the air, surrendering for peace, "Please don't shoot! I need help - "
He screamed at her again, in a language she could not understand and it somewhat.. worried her. This was Italy. Italian would be the common language aside from English, would it not?
"Messere, per favore, non so dove - (Mister, please, I don't know where -)" she tried again in Italian this time, somehow only angering the man further. He pulled back the string of the bow tighter, aiming it directly at Aemilia. Her eyes widened in panic as her began beating out of her chest.
"Wait! Please don't! -" Aemilia had no time to finish her sentence as she was cut off by the arrow whizzing through the air and making a direct hit into her left shoulder. She screamed in pain, clutching her shoulder as she backed up, unknown to how close to the edge she was. The man was beginning to draw another arrow, her body seized in fear as she took another step back but only met air. Aemilia released a shrill scream as she lost balance and fell off the building, plummeting to the ground below. She knew THIS time it was the end. She pressed her eyes shut tightly as she waited for the fatal impact that would conclude her life and all the work she put forth for the Order. This was how it would end? An arrow that sent her off a building? Her family must be rolling in their graves in shame. Apparently, the Percursors had a sick sense of humor making her land in a wooden cart of hay. Hay? A cart of hay had just saved her life? That fall would have, should have, killed her in any other circumstance. And as she laid in the itchy hay in agonizing pain, she found herself wondering how her life was turned upside down in the matter of a few hours. That man shot her with an ARROW! Besides extreme pain, Aemilia was seething in rage, tempted on finding him and killing him with her bare hands. Should she move? Is he waiting for her to surface to shoot again? Where was a hospital? These questions ran threw her mind. For once, in a very long time, she was actually terrified. Most of the time she would be able to asses the situation, find where she was, get in contact with her superiors and get to a safe house. She was thrown through a loop this time. That damnable Templar order was responsible for this, she was sure. Adalson and all of them will pay far more for this transgression. Before she could exact her vengeance she had to treat her damn arrow wound. Not gun-shot. Arrow. She still was not over it. Channeling her anger into energy, she pushed herself through the hay and carefully rolled out of the wagon. Bits of straw fell everywhere around her with even more stuck in the ponytail of her strawberry-blonde hair she tried her best to pull out of to cease the itchy sensation it caused. The passing citizens halted and crowded around the foreign woman, regarding her clothing with odd expressions and noticing the arrow lodged in her shoulder, as they whispered among themselves. Aemilia's eyes darted around in wariness, searching for weapons that could do her damage as the man on the roof did. It was then she realized their own style of clothing. Traditional outfits like she had never seen before in person.
'The language they're speaking, it can't be what I'm thinking...' Aemilia thought with alarm. She tried to speak with them, slowly asking where a hospital was, but the group looked at her strangely. A woman, whose dark brown eyes was the only visible feature she could see, said something as she stepped towards Aemilia. Instinctively, Aemilia took a step back, bumping into the wagon clumsily. The slow, steady loss of blood taking its toll on her body.
'This isn't working,' she thought to herself. After a few moments, realization dawned on her. How the people were dressed and the language they spoke sent red flags off in her mind. She was somewhere in the middle East. How Abstergo managed that, she could not fathom. Just how long had they knocked her out?
Looking up and down the alley, she searched for a promising direction to go. She couldn't exactly go on the main road with an arrow in her shoulder and the left side of white under amour and leather vest drenched in crimson blood. She had no choice but to go deeper into the alleys and find a safe place to treat her wound. As she left, the crowd of people quickly dispersing to get out of her way, she heard shouts from the woman that was trying to talk to her. Fearing she was calling for that man, she increased her pace and darted into the next alley. She took a left, a right, another left – she had no damn idea where she was going. Her breathing was becoming ragged as she felt a fever rising. Her wound was becoming more and more fatal. Another way she had not imagined to be an acceptable way to kick the bucket. Unable to go no further, she picked a nearby barrel and sat on top of it to begin treating her wound. Gingerly touching the arrow, she winced and hissed from the sharp pain as a result. Taking numerous deep breaths and clenching her teeth tightly to prepare herself, she grabbed the arrow and swiftly with all her dwindling might, yanked the cursed object out of her. She couldn't hold back the scream, nor tried to, as searing hot pain engulfed her body that even momentarily blinded her. Slumping back against the wall, she damned that man and his life all to hell for doing this to her. Throwing aside the arrow, she attempted to put pressure on the wound to stop the blood flow. This situation was going bad to worse quickly. She needed to seek medical attention immediately.
Foot steps made her attention snap back up. Her vision slightly blurred and swayed but she could see a man dressed in all white that was slowly making his way towards her. The wound had caused her senses to dull or else she would have heard him coming from much further away. She was unsure of what to do, she was weakened and vulnerable and didn't know the man's intentions. She carefully rubbed the vambrace of her hidden blade against her, double checking it was still there. Thankfully, Abstergo didn't take it from her, she could defend herself if the man tried anything. He said something very quietly, almost to the point she had to strain herself to hear even though she couldn't understand anyways. He was closing the gap and Aemilia couldn't help but to feel her heart pound in her chest, she was paranoid he was going to hurt her like the man before. Judging from the arsenal of weapons strapped to him she finally realized he was wearing, he could do much more damage than the bow and arrow fiend. The man began raising his hand to her shoulder to see the damage. Little to Aemilia's knowledge though, she assumed he was going to hurt her as well. In a pure act of panic, Aemilia arched her right hand back, releasing her hidden blade and made a fast, clumsy swipe at the man but he successfully dodged it with an almost inhuman speed, then grabbed her arm and threw her into the wall across the small alley. Her head collided into the wall making her see rainbow sparkle dots for a second. The man pinned her body against the wall with his own as he held her good arm above her head. He growled something into her ear and grabbed her right arm forcefully, looking over where the hidden blade came from. The close proximity gave Aemilia the chance to get a good look at her attacker. A very fine, chiseled jaw with a light scar running over his plump – strangely kissable – lips. That alone made her remember someone specific. She only knew one person with a scar over their lips on that precise spot.
"Desmond?" Aemilia said inscrutability. This couldn't possibly be him though, he was with Lucy and the others, inside Rebecca's precious baby. He certainly wouldn't have dared threw her into the wall like that, as he knew she had no issue knocking him on to his back like a novice whelp.. Then, he looked straight into her emerald eyes with his honey-dipped brown ones, making her audibly gasp in horror. She knew who this man was now. She's read and studied him in the archives of the Order. Memorizing drawn images of him artists depicted he had looked to be. Hell, he was the one who re-created the Order.
"Altair Ibn-La'Ahad."
Author Note: The name Aemilia B'nargin does indeed come from the game Final Fantasy XII, aside from that there is no other resemblance. I just really love the name. As for the chapter titles, yes, they are from Fallout: New Vegas. I'm also a fan of that franchise and found that some of them fit the theme of a chapter perfectly.