A/N: Been some time since I updated this but part of this story just wouldn't write itself so it took me a bit to get it out there. That said, Part 2 (the part I wanted to write for FOREVER) is finally done! Just one more part to go (who knows how long that'll take), though originally I only planned on Parts 1 and 2 so if I never get to #3 these two stand well enough on their own lmao
WDRSBN: Clockwork Augerer
A D Gray-Man and Assassins Creed Crossover
It had been a few days since Bennett's and Junior's last argument about the pills. For the most part, Bennett resolved to avoid the other as much as was possible, only speaking to him when it couldn't be avoided.
In those few days, Bennett learned that Doug was the overly caring type. He rarely ever saw Doug and Junior apart, the black-haired Frenchman fretting around him attentively every day, and throughout the majority of most of those days.
At one point he saw Doug and Junior sitting on the redhead's bed, Doug's hands on either side of Junior's face and their foreheads touching. Doug was slowly rocking their faces, talking in soft tones. Bennett caught a little bit of what he was saying, asking questions like Where are you right now? and other sweet nothings, while whatever Junior returned was largely unintelligible. It was sad, really. Bennett had dealt with a few addicts in his time, usually drunks like his godfather, but not always. Nothing as bad as this.
It must've been tough for Doug, but he didn't seem to lack any patience for it. If Junior had taken anything else since the argument, Bennett hadn't seen it, but that didn't mean he hadn't. Eyes that had been so sharp on their first meet seemed almost vacant, and he couldn't help wrinkling his nose a bit. Who would do such a thing to themselves?
So long as it didn't interfere with their task at hand or endanger them, he didn't really care. Junior didn't want his help anyway and Doug seemed to have it covered. He just worried for their future if this was how Junior handled himself, when it was so important for them to remain alert, and drugs could make people unpredictable.
Still, he tried to keep his focus in a more productive direction: that being, Takuya.
They were making progress with the Animus and getting one step closer to their goal, at least. Their goal being Pieces of Eden, artifacts left over from long before known human history that wielded great power. There was something big happening, far bigger than Abstergo, but exactly what it was, he couldn't say for sure. Not yet at least.
He did know Takuya had something to do with it, albeit he wasn't the only person. It's just that he was one of the few Abstergo had yet to destroy in their pursuits. For the moment, Takuya was sleeping after last night's most recent Animus session, while Johnny was doing some work or other on the computer and nursing his fifth cup of coffee. Neither Doug nor Junior were anywhere to be found and Bennett hadn't seen the man when he'd woken up earlier either. He considered asking where they went, but then he decided he didn't care at the moment.
It wasn't much longer before Takuya was awake, and immediately back into a default grumpy state. It was funny, really. He was tempted to ask how much of that was Kanda's memories rubbing off on him or if he just happened to act the same all on his own.
"Good morning, Tabakaya," he greeted cheerily, pouring them both a cup of coffee and starting a new pot.
Takuya rubbed the back of his neck and looked at him with one half-opened eye, grunting softly in greeting. There was a moment where he eyed the cup of coffee with disinterest, but ended up taking it anyway without complaint.
"Ready for another hop through the Animus?"
"Ask me in ten minutes," Takuya grumbled, setting his jaw in an unhappy tilt and looking elsewhere.
Bennett gave a soft sigh, staring down into his mug. "I know this isn't exactly all that fun for you being here, but unfortunately just going back to your old life isn't an option anymore. Not with how things are right now, but we're doing the best we can."
Takuya's silent for a moment, sipping at his brew before grunting again softly. "Can't be helped. They know where I live, right? Better here than there. At least I get some time outdoors."
Humming under his breath, Bennett set his cup aside, hopping up to sit on the edge of one of the crates for their gear. "You like the outside, huh?" Its an attempt at casual conversation, at least. It only stands to reason anyone would prefer a little freedom to even step outside into fresh air, but on a personal level, Bennett really didn't know a ton about Takuya.
"I spent a lot of time practicing martial arts outside. The woods are quiet and no one bothers you."
Bennett nodded. It seemed to make sense. Takuya didn't seem terribly fond of people, though no one who was kidnapped and made a prisoner would be quick to warm up to anybody. He didn't exactly blame Takuya for the resistant attitude, he wasn't exactly free yet, but it was a step in the right direction. Bennett didn't like these circumstances any better than he did, but it was what they would have to accept and live with for the time being.
"Well... once this is all over maybe we'll find some place a little more to your liking." He took the glance Takuya gave him as a sign that he was on the right track towards his good side. "After another few sessions with the Animus too, maybe we'll test out what you've learned as Kanda. I'll warn you though, I'm no kind of push-over in a fight, even in sparring." He gives Takuya a large, promising smile.
Takuya rolls his eye, but he's sure he saw the ghost of a smirk on his face briefly.
"Teach you how to actually fight."
"Che." Takuya crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes, but there's an almost playful undertone to it. "You? Teach me how to fight? In your dreams, moyashi."
Bennett can't help quirking a brow, confusedly repeating moyashi? under his breath. He wonders if he'll get a straight answer about what that means if he asks. Somehow he doesn't think it connotes anything good.
"I should teach Doug how to fight, too..." Bennett muses under his breath after a moment, thoughtful. Doug probably needed it even more, especially if Junior couldn't even be trusted to stay sober. After a moment, he shook his head and hopped off the crates, dusting his hands off against each other. "So! Ready to take another trip back to Kanda?"
Takuya huffed softly, finishing off his coffee. "Ready as I ever am..."
Bennett smiled and patted his shoulder, guiding him over to the machine. "It won't be forever. We just need to find out where to go next to get the Pieces of Eden, and then we can go dark, give it a rest for a while."
"Now won't that be nice," Takuya muttered wistfully. Bennett gave him another firm pat on the back before leaving Takuya and Johnny to settle in for another session.
Watching them, Bennett couldn't help loosely wrapping his arms around himself and glanced over his shoulder, pursing his lips. He waited until Takuya was fully settled into the Animus and out before speaking to Johnny about his concerns.
"Have you seen Junior and Doug around lately?"
Johnny hummed and adjusted his glasses. "Not especially, no. Doug left on his own first and then Junior said he was going into town to get some things. That was a number of hours ago, though. I don't know where they are."
Bennett hummed. "That has me concerned..."
"Templars, you think?" Johnny guessed, though he sounded somewhat doubtful.
"Maybe." It was a possibility, but he didn't think it likely, unless Abstergo had more on Junior than even Junior himself knew about, or unless he became recognized somehow in their escape. If his face was known to them and he suddenly disappeared along with the Assassins and dropped contact, then it would be obvious where he went. That would make him a target. He thinks Junior would have taken that into consideration, but he'd of thought him smart enough he wouldn't be a damn drug-addict when all this started either.
Making a reluctant decision, he threw his coat on and hood up, resolving to go and see if there was any indication of where Junior and Doug had gone off to. Hopefully nowhere far.
"I'll be back soon."
Although going into town was clear enough, exactly where in town Junior would be was another matter. Really, city was more like it, and the city wasn't exactly small. He could end up going around, searching all day, and never find him. Bennett didn't like being out here at all. His appearance wasn't terribly hard to miss. All the same, Junior's disappearance troubled him, nagging at the back of his mind. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling deep in his gut that he needed to find Junior before something else did.
Besides, it was well after dark now. It made it harder to identify anyone else, but it also meant no one else was likely to identify him in return.
He spent a good while driving all around town, trying to get a good view of all those walking. A few times he slowed, squinting at one person or another until someone behind him finally grew fed up and honked their horn. He kept going, drumming his fingers on the top of his thigh all the while and licking his lips with pent up anxiety.
Just where could you be?
At least, he thinks he spots something. Maybe, just maybe...
He swings his car into an empty spot just a few blocks around the corner, and takes off for where he thought he'd seen them by foot as soon as he's parked. At first when he arrives back at the spot, he sees nothing promising, but then turns and bolts the direction he'd seen them wandering.
Eyes scour each person as he passes them, getting a few odd looks in return. He apologized to anyone who made a fuss, explaining he was looking for someone, and continued on his way.
Spying someone a little bit taller walking ahead, his hopes rise. He's certain that this time he has the right person, but as he's jogging after them, relief turns into panic as they keep walking out into the street without bothering to even glance around to see that its clear, and it absolutely is not clear.
He breaks into a sprint, dodging around other people on the sidewalk and grabs them by the back of the shirt just as headlights from a car illuminate them and a horn blares, yanking hard. It sends them sprawling back, but its just in time as the car screeches to a halt too slow to have avoided hitting them had he not done what he had.
He had to take a moment to calm his racing heart and catch his breath, tilting his head back. Too close!
Turning his eyes on Junior, who's only staring ahead dumbly, he feels his anger spike not for the first time, scrambling to his feet and grabbing Junior by the collar to wrench him up.
"Just what in the bloody fucking Hell is wrong with you?! Didn't you see the god damn car? You could've ended up dead!"
There's that out-of-touch look again, uncomprehending. Bennett can't help gritting his teeth. If he finds out Junior is high again, so help him he really will beat the drugs out of his system.
"Car?" The word sounds strange coming off his tongue, like he has no idea what Bennett is talking about.
"Yes, the car, idiot!" He thrusts a finger back to point to the street and the person yelling out their window at them, willfully ignoring it. He has his own choice words for Junior. "The car that almost fucking hit you!"
Junior blinked owlishly, once, twice, before uttering a simple, "Oh."
"Oh?!" Bennett fumed. He let go of Junior's collar, twisting his face into a sneer. "Oh? I'm supposed to be watching over Takuya, making sure everything runs smoothly and that nothing happens to him, and instead I'm out here hunting you down keeping your dumb ass from stepping out in front of cars! And all you can say is Oh?! So help me, I'm gonna-"
He doesn't finish as Junior looks away, around, and steps off in some other direction without even acknowledging him. He thinks he should be more than outraged, but his anger quickly deflates as he steps to follow, furrowing his brows. Just what the Hell was wrong with this guy?
He jogged to get ahead of Junior, calling out a quick hey and snapping his fingers in front of his face. Junior didn't seem to notice he was even there and just kept going, but his eyes, glassy as they were, seemed to be following something intently. After a few moments of chasing nothing, Junior stopped and whirled around, his eyes darting and seeming to listen for something.
If he's being honest, it was starting to scare Bennett a little bit, and he grabbed a hold of Junior's arm tightly to keep him from wandering any further. For the first time, Junior jolted a bit and stopped to look at him properly, but there was searching confusion blooming in his eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
Bennett stalled for a moment, before shaking his head. Christ, he must have been so high. He needed to get them somewhere else.
"I came out here for you, remember? The car? You've been missing for hours! Nobody knows where you are!"
His words seem lost, Junior's eye wandering to something else unseen before he whirls and grabs Bennett's wrist, pulling him along. "It isn't safe here. We have to go."
Bennett made a small, confused noise in his throat and looked over his shoulder, trying desperately to pinpoint whatever Junior was seeing that he wasn't, but the suggestion of danger had him following along more willingly. He wasn't taking chances, but he was still doubtful that whatever Junior was seeing was even real.
In a quick motion, Junior pulls them down a narrow, dark alleyway. It sends the hairs on Bennett's neck bristling uneasily, but he doesn't immediately protest, following along despite his better judgment. Its not until Junior has let go of his wrist and slowed down, ambling just ahead listlessly, that he chooses to speak again and reach out to grab Junior from going further.
"Junior, where are we-"
He jumps back when Junior whirls, and he can make out the glint of a knife in Junior's hand he didn't even know the other had. His first instinct is to draw his hidden blade, and its difficult to resist the impulse, but Junior makes no immediate lunges for him. His eyes though... his eyes are wild and not quite right, seeing him but not seeing him.
"Stop following me, whoever you are!"
Bennett takes a step back, tilting his head just a bit to eye the other. Whoever you are. So he really doesn't recognize him. He has to be hallucinating.
"I'm not following you, you pulled me along! You made me follow you!" He held up his hands in placation, showing himself as unarmed, and hoped that Junior saw it for what it was. "Junior, its me, Bennett, your ally. Remember? We're working together. You helped us get out of Abstergo. You have to know who I am."
For a moment, Junior only stands there regarding him with confusion, mentally struggling to register and accept what he's saying. Bennett sees the knife shaking in his hand, hearing Junior's breathing a little bit too loud. Junior's head ticks to the side, stepping back and making a small noise of distress in his throat.
"Just calm down, Junior. Its only me. We're friends."
"Junior..." he repeats, his tone an odd cocktail of foreign and familiar as he stumbles over the name, continuing to shake, but he relaxes a little bit and the knife lowers. Junior's free hand goes up to his face, pressing a palm over one eye. "Junior, Junior, Junior..."
Bennett tries not to jump to grab him again when he sees Junior back away, muttering incoherence under his breath that he can't even begin to make sense of. Other than Junior's own name and a few stray words - not... can't be... not me... where? ... - Junior's words are foreign to him.
Distressingly, Junior turns away from him, leaning heavily against one of the alley walls and smacks the side of his head against it several times, each time repeating just loud enough for Bennett to discern, "It's 2012... 2012, 2012, 2012, 2012, 150- FUCK."
Realization hits him like a speeding train and makes his stomach drop, partly with guilt. Junior wasn't high on drugs. It was something far worse than that.
The Bleeding Affect.
Junior had been inside an Animus before, he was sure of it. He'd been in long enough to start losing touch with reality and mix up his own memories with those of his ancestors. Bennett had thought his seeming distraction with nothing at all had merely been a way to flaunt how little he cared about what was being said, but what if it wasn't that? He should've known better. Damn it, he should have known better.
Bennett swallows hard and softens his expression when Junior sinks to the ground, breathing too hard and whimpering with his head between his arms. He doesn't know that its his place to step over and lower himself down with Junior, but he's the only one here, otherwise he's sure it'd be Doug reaching out to hold him. He coos and shushes the redhead as he borders on hyperventilation, hesitantly reaching up to run fingers through his hair. At first Junior doesn't seem to even notice him, then he latches his hands around Bennett's arm so tightly it hurts.
He remembers overhearing some of how Doug spoke to Junior before. It was probably his best bet on how to handle this situation since the other seemed to have so much experience with him. Other than that little hint, he really has no idea what he's doing.
"Junior, do you know where you are?"
Its a while and a few repeats of the question before he gets an answer, the redhead shaking his head against Bennett's chest.
"We're in the city. You left the villa to shop and get supplies for us, remember?"
He shakes his head again, still breathing too hard, but Bennett has seen Doug sit with him for a long time doing this. He thinks its probably asking too much to expect immediate results, and it raises the question: just how much has Junior been inside an Animus if he's like this?
He sighs, glancing over his shoulder towards where he left his car, thinking they need to get to somewhere safer soon, but first he has to get Junior into a state of mind where he can follow him at least that far.
As he thought, it took some time, but patience won out in the end when Junior finally seemed to come back to himself, if only in a vaguest sense of being like the cocky arsehole that he'd first met and corresponded with. He was still out of it, but it was enough progress to at least get him to the car so he can take him back to their base.
The entire drive back, Bennett kept an eye in his rear-view, both to make sure they weren't being followed anywhere, but also to keep an eye on Junior. The redhead was splayed on his back over the rear seat, which wasn't the most graceful position ever given the redhead's height and long legs. Junior was completely silent and still the entire way back, an arm draped over his eyes, but Bennett didn't believe he was asleep.
He sighed under his breath as they passed from the city to the darker roads leading back to their base. He was going to have to apologize later for all the yelling he's done. When he thinks back on it, Junior seems distracted or in some kind of stupor far too often, at least as often as he is sharp and alert. He can't even pretend not to be affected.
He considers asking about it the entire time they're on the road, but never quite works up the nerve. He's not really sure Junior would even be in a state to hold a conversation, and assuming he's resting in the back, probably needs all the rest he can get anyway. Lord knows he doesn't sleep well from what Bennett has seen so far.
Reaching the villa, Bennett helped him up the steps with one of Junior's arms slung over his shoulder, around the back of the building and underground into the assassin tomb. Johnny and Takuya were both up and about when he appeared, and Doug seemed to have returned. Doug was the first to jump up with a noise of worry, crossing the room towards him and Junior immediately. Johnny and Takuya weren't far behind in perking up with concern.
"Mon dieux! Qu'est-il arrivé? ESt ce que ça va?!" Doug took Junior's face between both hands to inspect him closely.
Junior tugged his head away with a small show of defiance and familiar attitude. Doug seemed briefly taken aback, before resigning himself to the reaction with worry in-tact.
"I'm fine," Junior muttered, shoving Bennett off of him and stumbling towards his bed. Doug, predictably, was right on his heels, hovering with nervous gestures.
Bennett sighed, watching them both with arms crossed over his stomach, shifting his weight to one leg. A wandering eye caught Johnny and Takuya watching him and them both as well, wondering what was going on. Bennett remained silent for a while and stayed standing where he was as Junior choked down more pills and crawled into bed with his back to the room. Doug sat next to him, petting his hair back and whispering.
Bennett gave it long enough that Junior may have been asleep before stepping closer. Doug probably knew he was there, but paid him no mind. At least not until he finally poses his question.
"Junior's been inside an Animus before, hasn't he?"
Doug's motions petting Junior's hair briefly stall, glancing at the platinum-haired male, before he resumes what he was doing. "Oui. Why do you ask?"
Bennett huffed softly, rocking his weight back. "How long?"
Doug gave him a look of question. "How long what, monsieur Ange?"
"How long has he been inside of an Animus?" Bennett clarified, continuing on, "How long has he been like this? Getting lost in the Bleeding Affect like he does?"
Doug pursed his lips, down-turning pale blue eyes sorrowfully. "I do not know, exactly... that was all before me, but he has been this way for as long as I have known him. Mon pauvre, pauvre lapin." His hair-petting slowed a bit thoughtfully, humming with concern as he kept his sights on the redhead. "It has... gotten worse over the years."
"He doesn't talk about it?" Bennett questioned hopefully.
Doug shook his head. "We... do not speak of many things. Times before I knew him is one of those things. That is just the way it is."
Bennett hummed. "Sixteen, huh?" That was the age Doug had said they first met. Almost ten years, and at least to Doug's knowledge, Junior hadn't been inside an Animus in all that time. He glanced over Junior, pursing his lips. What a terrible existence. "Is that why he takes all those pills?"
"Oui," Doug answered reluctantly. He didn't seem happy about it either, but resigned. "They are mostly for hallucinations and sleep. It is how he tries to... manage it, when it becomes severe, though I don't know how well any of it really works." He sighed, laying himself against Junior's back and continued to pet his hair. "Mon pauvre lapin souffre tellement."
"So that's what awaits people who use the Animus?"
Bennett was surprised to hear Takuya's voice, turning to face the Japanese male and the unpleasant expression he bore. After a moment of hesitation to register what he'd said, Bennett shook his head, sighing sorrowfully.
"Only if you're exposed to it too much, but we're being careful with you. I promise."
Takuya grunted as though he didn't fully believe it, but said nothing to contradict him. He and Bennett had had a few discussions about the Bleeding Affect before, and that short flashes right after a session weren't unheard of, so long as they lasted only a few seconds. Besides, Takuya never lost himself to the memories the way Junior appeared to, unable to recall who or where he was.
"The Bleeding Affect only does damage like this from prolonged exposure... days or weeks inside the Animus without stopping even to take breaks to stretch and sleep. Maybe longer. I won't allow us to take that kind of risk with you."
If Junior was in such a state, Bennett could only think of one group responsible. At one point, Junior had probably been used by Abstergo, the same as Takuya was. Somehow, he got out. That, or... he was let out, which seemed unlikely. However, in the event he was, what would that mean for the rest of them, exactly? Could Junior possibly be a plant? Would he even know or consciously realize if he was, with how distorted his reality was from the aftereffects of the Animus?
Such a possibility made him nervous, but it wasn't a paranoia worth acting on, especially not after all the misunderstandings he had had about Junior already. They had to be cautious, but casting Junior out without knowing for sure wasn't an option, and neither was killing him without good reason.
For now, they would simply have to bide their time, wait, and see.
A couple of weeks out from the incident with retrieving Junior, and they were making steady progress, with the Animus and with Takuya. They were closer than ever to retrieving a Piece of Eden, and Bennett had been taking some time to teach both Takuya and Doug some tricks on fighting - in real life rather than only in the Animus's simulations. Takuya picked it up much better and faster, but he had the advantage of both previous formal training and the Animus to guide him through the motions.
Junior was hit-and-miss on the scale of Better-Than-He-Was. Some days he was sharp-witted, sarcastic, and confidently stable enough to appear entirely normal. Other days, he simply... wasn't there. He talked and moved and saw, but whatever he was seeing and experiencing was nothing that existed. Usually Doug stayed close by when those episodes happened, pulling Junior aside to rest and watching over him all the while.
Bennett could tell that Takuya was more than a little concerned about it, but he assured the other he wouldn't end up in the same kind of state. Whoever had dealt with Junior and the Animus before had been largely negligent in trying to prevent long-term damage. Bennett was not so uncaring as to do the same.
The more that they helped Takuya through using the Animus and figuring out where to get the Piece of Eden, and the more they went through the records of the memories, the more Bennett saw what Junior had mentioned at the start. Physically, anyway, there were a lot of similarities between Takuya and Kanda, and between Bennett and his own ancestor Allen. It lent more credibility towards his guess that Junior must have entered an Animus at some point, and he supposed one of his ancestors must have crossed paths with theirs.
Still, if such was the case, there was still no record of any such meeting that he could tell, though he didn't know anything of Junior's ancestors, including how they'd have looked or what they were called.
All in all, it was... certainly a strange coincidence, but he wasn't sure it meant anything. Junior, however, seemed to think it did.
Think of the devil. As Bennett was giving some instruction on how to move while doing a specific attack, he briefly paused as he caught sight of the redhead watching them from the top of the stairs with hands shoved into the pockets of his long coat. He gave a few more pointers to both Takuya and Doug and set them against each other to practice before climbing out of the stone ring that comprised a sparring pit, making his way up the steps.
"Feeling alright today?" he greeted neutrally. The way Junior's eyes slid over him was unnerving, but for what reason he couldn't exactly place. Maybe it was the coldness in those green eyes. Maybe it was something else.
Junior regarded him briefly before gaze flickered to Takuya and Doug squaring off, blinking slowly. It wasn't quite dazed, like when the Bleeding Affect flared up, but there was still a level of distraction there. After a moment, Bennett guessed he was thinking about something.
"As good as I ever am."
Bennett hummed, moving to lean on the old stone railing at the same time as Junior crossed his arms over it, leaning forward a bit.
"I'm sorry about before... the yelling, the getting angry, the threats... I didn't know." He lowered his gaze shamefully.
"Didn't know what?" Junior mused in return. There was nothing discernible in his voice to indicate accusation or bitterness. "I didn't expect you to know anything, and I don't expect you not to be cautious. Our position isn't one that can afford carelessness. I've understood all of that from the start."
Bennett huffed softly through his nose, furrowing his brows. "But you could have at least told me. You could have explained a little bit, to stave off my paranoia. I would have understood so much more if you had only mentioned it."
Junior gave a soft chuckle, straightening up and resting his palms on the edge of the railing. "So that you could waste your energy on misplaced pity and worry about someone other thank Takuya?"
Bennett didn't have anything to say to that. Just what was Junior after with such a statement? Who could say, really. Junior's eyes were back to watching Takuya and Doug more properly, though still a touch distracted with his own thoughts.
"There was no point in you knowing, and there still isn't. It doesn't matter and it changes nothing."
"It could've changed how we spoke to each other..." Bennett disagreed under his breath, trying not to sulk and give Junior something else to pick apart. He sighed softly. "So you were held by Abstergo too at some point?"
A grin briefly twitched over Junior's lips. "No. Not once." Glancing over, Bennett caught a momentary sharpness in Junior's eyes that was equal parts spine-tingling and perplexing. Something not quite right about it, like the taunt of a secret withheld that the other would never give up. "There are other forces at work here and they have a plan."
"Other forces, huh?" Bennett hummed, pushing off and turning around to lean his back against the railing instead. "I've never really been the religious type..."
Junior snorted a bit, a smirk spreading across his lips while his eyes narrowed, cynically amused. "Nor have I." Bennett waited for him to continue as Junior's gaze slid towards him. The gleam in those mossy hues made his spine shiver all the more. "But the Ones Who Came Before... that's different. Although I guess historically speaking, to most people its basically the same thing."
Bennett furrowed his brows in question, tilting his head down as his eyes searched Junior's face for answers. "The ones who came before?"
Junior's smirk grew wider. "The First Civilization. The creators of the Pieces of Eden. The precursor race."
Bennett blinked, straightening up. "Precursor race?"
Junior chuckled low in his throat, closing his eyes. "Those who made mankind... Adam and Eve, the forbidden Apple of Eden... and who knew that something big is coming. Soon..." He downturned his gaze, looking distant. Something about his eyes was very sad in that moment. "Very soon."
Taking in a breath, Bennett exhaled and straightened his back, putting on a show of more confidence than he felt, but they couldn't lose hope now.
"Whatever comes, we'll be ready for it. That's what all this is for, right? We'll face it head on."
Junior lifted his head and blinked at Bennett, expression still resigned to sorrow as he faced the platinum-haired male. To Bennett's surprise, he leaned forward to catch his lips in a kiss that he thinks should have been a quick peck, but Junior lingered a moment before pulling away again and pushing off of the railing. While Junior stepped past him, Bennett stood stock still in shock.
"I suppose we will. To that end, let us hope your fate is luckier than those of your predecessors."
Even after Junior had moved on, Bennett still couldn't shake a feeling of icy dread twisting in his gut at the words Junior left him in parting. It was not unlike the feeling he had been left with after first meeting the man. Something about Junior made his mind scream and all the hairs on his body stand up in warning. And to leave him with such ominous words...
Bennett drew in a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, finally forcing himself to turn and watch Junior's back disappear from sight down one of the castle town streets, like a skittish stray cat slinking off for somewhere to hide. His fingers trembled against the stone railing, thoughtlessly lifting up to brush against his lips, still slightly warm from the brief contact.
It took several more beats before he blinked out of his own stupor, attention turning back to the sparring ring where he'd left Doug and Takuya. Both had stopped and were looking up at him, and he couldn't help flushing self-consciously.
Suddenly feeling very skittish himself, he turned stiffly and made his way back towards the underground tomb, leaving them to finish their sparring or disperse however they felt.
Even for a peck as small as it was, a kiss was the last thing he expected, and he really wasn't sure what he was feeling other than flighty. He jogged down the steps inside the villa building, into the tomb below, and ignored a quirked brow from Johnny as he arrived and went about trying to distract himself with checking through their gear unnecessarily until his thoughts would quiet down.
After he finishes looking through a crate and shutting it, he turns around only to jump, resting a hand on his chest. Takuya - the git - only raises a brow from where he's standing right behind the other. He purses his lips unhappily, waving his finger in the other's face in a vain show that he doesn't appreciate the smirk slowly twitching at Takuya's lips.
"Do not- ...sneak up on me like that."
"I'll sneak up on anyone I want to, Moyashi."
He still doesn't know what that means. "One day someone is going to stab you."
Takuya hums, not seeming terribly concerned. "Don't know why but I never took Junior for being gay."
Bennett froze momentarily before groaning and rubbing his face with his hands. Guess they saw that after all. "Who knows anymore? World's gone bloody mad and falling deeper down the rabbit hole every day."
"So how much longer?" Bennett guesses Takuya is talking about the Animus. He gives a bit of a sigh and leans against the crates.
"I don't have an exact estimate... but soon. We're getting close to uncovering where the Piece we need to find is."
"And then?"
"Hopefully? We get the Piece before they do and go dark for a while, get Abstergo off our tails. It probably won't be that simple, but... we can hope for the best."
Takuya hums, not seeming to agree with the optimism but not arguing either.
"As soon as you're ready, we can dive back into the Animus, get this whole thing done and over with."
Takuya makes a bit of a face at him. "I'm still not comfortable with this," he voices, crossing his arms with a small sneer. "The hallucinations happen more often now. How long before I start drawing things on the wall or popping a bunch of god damn pills?"
"Its not going to come to that," Bennett assured uneasily. "I'm not going to let you end up like Subject Sixteen or like Junior, I promise. We're almost through and once we get the Apple, no more Animus for a while."
Takuya drew in a breath, huffing. "...fine."
Giving a soft, resigned huff of his own, Bennett rested a hand on his shoulder. "Get some rest and something to eat first if you want, just so long as we're able to finish this soon."
Takuya gives him a small nod, not terribly happy but obeying anyways. Shifting his weight uncomfortably, he leaves Johnny and Takuya alone to get ready for another dive into the Animus, taking the steps. He supposes he should go find out where Junior and Doug went off to, since neither had returned and Junior had an apparent propensity for getting lost in his own head.
He didn't find either of them around the main villa building or courtyard, nor at the sparring pit or the shop buildings immediately around the steps. When he went to look for their vehicles, he still found them parked, so they hadn't left the villa grounds (or if they had, it was on foot). He stubbornly withheld any thoughts that something could've happened - that the Templars may have found them - as he continued around the villa grounds.
After rounding a few alleyway corners, he finally found them, but how he found them made him stop abruptly in his tracks. Junior half-laid on a stone bench with his back over its edge and into the landscaping, head craned back and Doug straddling his lap, lips moving against Junior's exposed throat. For a moment, he thinks Junior is looking right at him, but then he sees his eyes are glassed over again and not quite there, before they roll back and shut with a soft noise. He can barely hear Doug speaking to him.
"C'est mon bon lapin... there is no Allen or Lavi here, amour... there is just us. Seulement Doug et Junior. Focus on me. I won't let you lose yourself, mon amour."
Shifting his weight back, Bennett doesn't make a sound, retreating. He gets the feeling he shouldn't be here and going to look for them was a mistake. For a moment, he almost thinks he catches a glimpse of a pale blue eye watching him, but he doesn't linger long enough to confirm it.
"If we leave now, we can reach there before dawn." Takuya could easily see how much Bennett was filled with urgent energy, moving about to pack up their equipment in record time. They had finally found it: the location of the Apple, in Rome. Understandably, the white-haired Brit was eager to get it, before anyone else could.
Johnny, however, seemed a little less ready to jump the gun, humming aloud. "There was something about that door. I don't think I saw a handle. Let me run an analysis."
"So we need some kind of key?" Bennett questioned to no one in particular, exasperated.
"It seems to be triggered by some sort of verbal mechanism. I've never seen anything like it." Johnny explained.
"You mean it needs a password?"
"Its exactly like a password," Junior chimed in smugly, Takuya's gaze shifting to the redhead on the sidelines. He couldn't help scowling a bit.
"And just how would you know?"
Junior hummed at him in a humoring way. "I just do."
Takuya squinted at him critically. Bennett seemed to be catching a hint as well.
"Just what do you know about it?"
Junior tsked, shaking his head and giving a small, condescending shrug. "Does no one else pay attention?" Takuya wasn't amused. Shaking his head, Junior gave a silent motion to follow and ascended the stairs back towards ground level, stopping at the very top. On the wall was a pyramid shape drawn on the wall, the inside webbed with a checkerboard of other triangles, the exact shape as the glowing lights that had been on the door of the vault Takuya's ancestor had entered.
"Alright? So what do we do with this?" Takuya scoffed.
Junior couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I dunno. Tell me what your elf eyes see, Legolas," he quipped.
Takuya's scowl deepened, but he caught the hint, focusing all his senses. "...dates."
Johnny and Bennett exchanged a glance.
"1419, 1420, and 1421..."
"Not dates," Junior corrected, blinking slowly for a moment. Takuya could only voice a sound of question. "Codes."
"Care to fill us in?" Bennett urged impatiently.
"The 72 names of god," Junior said, as though it was the most obvious conclusion in the world. "All contained within the verses of Exodus 19, 20, and 21, and if you arrange the four Hebrew letters in God's name into an equilateral triangle, their numerical values add up to the same number: 72."
"And this means what, exactly?" Takuya pressed, not sure he was following.
"Oh, here's where things get fun," Junior almost sang. "Construction of the Coliseum began in the year 72. So..."
"So that's our password," Bennett concluded.
Junior's face split into a lopsided grin. "Exactly."
"Something is bothering me," Bennett voiced over Takuya's earpiece. He didn't immediately answer, focused on leaping across a wooden beam in the Roman Coliseum's underground. "Today's date is October 10th."
"So?"
"Guess how many days there are before the Templar satellite launch?"
Takuya was silent for a moment, reluctant to put it to words. "Let me guess. 72?"
"Why is today so important, I wonder? We're just picking up the Apple and leaving."
"Its the door code," Junior piped in, a little too merrily for Takuya's liking. It felt almost as though he already knew all of this ahead of time somehow, but Takuya wasn't sure how he possibly could. "Someone wants to make sure we get it right~"
There was a long stretch of silence before Bennett answered. "Yeah, I guess..."
Leaping off of a ledge and into a hay pile, Takuya was glad to have that done and over with. Those... Leaps of Faith as they were called were exhilarating but nerve-wracking at the same time. Doing it in the Animus as Kanda was one thing. Doing it in real life was an entirely different ball park.
Looking around, he was able to see glowing marks on the wall if he focused his senses and used Eagle Vision, another thing from the Animus and his ancestry he was trying to get used to, as if the Bleeding Affect wasn't weird enough. There were circles - buttons - that glowed gold on the wall, with the markings of the Assassin order in red above them.
He pressed one on either side of the wall to open a doorway ahead of him, a rotating wall that led into a small room.
He tensed as a bright light appeared out of nowhere, several rotating beams slowly forming into the figure of a glowing woman dressed in all white, but it wasn't a physical person, more like a hologram, and the voice that came from it was similarly something unnatural, like a distorted voice inside a recording.
We commit this space to the epilogue of our ending. Let it be found by he who is deemed worthy. Let it guide him. Let it shape his path forward. Let it save the world we leave behind.
Takuya couldn't help sticking his hand through it, just to assure himself it wasn't a physical being, before it disappeared in a flash of light the same way it came.
"The fuck?"
"What's going on, Takuya?" It's Bennett.
"I'm seeing shit," he grumbled.
"I know its hard, but you have to compartmentalize. Remember, its not real."
Seems pretty damn real to me, Takuya couldn't help thinking. This wasn't like the usual white, whispy hallucinations from the Bleeding Affect, this was something else, but he couldn't explain it, so he stayed silent and continued on his way.
As he continued through the underground corridors, leaping and climbing across scaffolding and old stone structures, the same womanly apparition appeared ahead of him, waiting.
In the beginning, we set our truths to parchment. To stone. To the memory of men. These proved impermanent things. Cleansed by fire. Cleansed by famine. Cleansed by flood. All te world is innocent once more. Innocent and ignorant.
He listens in silence to the words, trying to process why he's hearing it, what it all means. When she vanishes again, he finds more triggers to open another doorway, and continues on. Above him, the ceiling opens up, light flooding down into the chamber he's found himself in.
"I've traced your position. I think I've found an entrance."
Silently climbing up the stonework and scaffolding, its not long before Takuya is climbing out of the hole and into the interior of what appears to be an old, large church. Hearing knocking on the door, he moves to open it and let his colleagues inside.
"Where are we?"
"Santa Maria Arocoeli," Junior pipes in, not unpredictably, "a church said to have been built on top of the ancient Temple of Juno."
Takuya only hums, wondering if that's supposed to mean anything to him.
"So then," the redhead cuts in again, smacking his hands together, the sound echoing all around them. "Shall we find our door?"
"We're here."
'Here' was somewhere beneath the church by way of an ancient elevator-like floor panel that took them deep underground, after having activated a series of levers and gears hidden all around the church's architecture. The entire time, Junior had made little unappreciated quips and comments as he did most of the hard work reaching those levers, as if the voice of that strange ghost wasn't bad enough.
We did not build them to be wise. And now they are our final, faulted hope. You are they.
You possess the potential for understanding. But you broke our tools. Or turned them against one another. We have destroyed what we could. Sealed away what we could not.
Most. Not all. And it does not take many to unwind the world.
Here is a safe place. Eternal. To store objects. Words. Wisdom. But not life. Almost did we have the means. But time... time erodes us.
We can distract him. We can see past him. Feint left when he strikes right. But his reach is so very long. His stamina, unending. We cannot evade his grasp. Not forever.
Ominous words, but he didn't have a damn clue what they meant other than that the Pieces of Eden were dangerous in the wrong hands (no shit), and as far as he could tell, no one else could see or hear the same thing as he did. So chalk him up to going crazy.
'Here' was a strange place, an underground room with two statues of what he only assumed to be women, holding pikes or spears or some other long weaponry, facing each other. The entire floor where the statues stood lit up in a neon green-blue hue, while parts of the floor rose to create a double-sided stairway leading to an elevated door ahead.
Giving the door the password, the same triangular shape appeared in lights across the door before it slid open into a long, dimly-lit hall that took them deeper underground. Junior was the only one to step ahead with no hesitation, the rest lingering for a moment in uncertainty before following.
Takuya couldn't help pursing his lips, walking side-by-side with Bennett.
"Oi."
"Hm?" Bennett acknowledged, equally as quiet as Takuya.
"Something about this feel off to you?"
"What do you mean?"
Takuya fixed him with a look before silently motioning ahead at Junior with a jerk of his head. Bennett glanced at him, pursing his lips, before looking ahead. He said nothing, but Takuya could see a sense of wariness on his face. He felt it too.
"So?" Takuya prompted under his breath.
Bennett merely shook his head. "...our priority right now is the Apple. There's no choice but to take some risks."
Takuya softly huffed under his breath, deciding to play along for now just as Bennett was doing.
The final room they came to was a large, cylindrical room with a pedestal in the same shape in the center, too large to simply climb, and at the center of that was a brightly glowing orb: The Apple of Eden.
"There it is," Bennett breathed, visibly relaxing. "Safe and untouched."
Takuya nodded, giving a last distrustful glance at Junior. Junior, likewise, was looking back at him, far too intensely for his liking. "You have something to say?"
The redhead simply held his hands up in placation, otherwise undisturbed. "Nothing at all."
"Che." Hopping down, Takuya stepped towards a smaller glowing pedestal and put his hand over it, hearing and watching as several glowing slabs grew out of the ground, one pillar in particular extending a long bar.
"Those beams poking out of the walls look like switches," Johnny piped up helpfully. "If you hit all of them, you might get some power to the central platform."
Takuya nodded understanding, starting his path leaping along the top of the slabs, which steadily rose higher like a stairway each new one he traveled to. As soon as he began, that ghostly figure appeared again, several copies creating a wide circle around the far outside of the room, voice ringing out clear to his ears. With each lever he leapt to hold onto and pull down, more slabs rose to create a longer, higher pathway to scale.
A hundred years I might speak and still you would not know us. You with five senses. Us with six. The one we kept from you. To be safe.
Now you can never know. Only try. Grasp. You can SEE. SMELL. TASTE. TOUCH. HER. Knowledge has been locked away.
After, when the world became undone, we tried to pass it through the blood. Tried to join you to us. You see the blue shimmer. You hear the words. But you do not know.
Her voice rose in a note of anger now, making him wince and almost lose his balance with a small start.
WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU AS YOU WERE!
He's grateful when the voice evens back down again.
It is hard to stay contained. Knowing as we do. We wait for you, Takuya. You will come here. You will activate it. You will know only when it is too late...
The path of platforms leads full circle back, Takuya leaping back down to rejoin the rest of the group. "Did you guys hear that too?"
Bennett furrowed his brow. "Hear what?"
Doug and Johnny shook their heads.
Junior only stared back at him, his face giving nothing away. Takuya couldn't help but glare at him a moment, though why was beyond even him. Maybe to get an answer he wasn't already giving up.
When that didn't work, he turned back towards the platform in the middle of the room, watching its base light up in the same bright, neon tones and a hatch open up, stairs rising out of the ground up to the platform.
Bennett let out an easy breath. "I can't believe we're finally here..."
For a long moment, no one, including Junior, moved. Takuya looked between them before he took the first step, followed by Bennett next, up to where the Apple sat. Everyone gathered in a semi-circle behind Takuya as he eyed the glowing metal orb, which started to shine brighter as they approached.
Curiously and finding himself unexplainably drawn to it, Takuya reached out to grab hold of the Apple, wincing as the Apple gave off another burst of light that made his muscles go rigid and freeze. A trickle of panic swept up his spine, and when he tried to pull away, he couldn't. At most, he could blink his eyes and grit his teeth, but that was all.
"What-? I- I can't move-"
Your DNA communes with the Apple. You have activated it.
"L-let-... Let me go!"
On the 72nd day before the moment of awakening. You, birthed from our loins and the loins of our enemies. The end and the beginning, who we abhor and honor. The final journey commences.
There is one who would accompany you through the gate. One who lies not within our plan. A destroyer of the timeline we have so carefully crafted throughout the ages.
Against any will of his own, his body moved to turn around, to face his companions, who seemed completely frozen in time like poised mannequins. In particular, to face Bennett, his hand moving on its own to draw his hidden blade.
"What are you doing?!"
The path must be opened. You cannot escape your part in this. The scales shall be balanced.
Takuya grits his teeth with a hiss as he feels the Apple pulse in his hand and his body take a step forward against his will, and then another, towards Bennett. Blade in his hand forcibly drawn, it doesn't take a genius to know where this is headed, trying to fight back against the Apple's power over him.
Its while he's fighting desperately to stop from moving that he notices - he's not the only one not frozen. No one else is moving, or seems to even see what's going on around them. No one, except for Junior, who lightly steps unimpeded away from the rest, hands casually shoved into his pocket.
Takuya's eyes widen, watching him. Why is he the only one-?
"Stop fighting it. This is the way things must be and no stubbornness or willpower will change it."
"Wha-?" Takuya gapes for a moment, his body moving forward a few quick steps before he recoils, pulling back and shock turning to anger. "WHAT THE FUCK?! You knew?! You led us straight into this... this-!"
"I have an obligation to fulfill," Junior cut him off, his tone calm and icy.
A hand traced to his face, a single finger lightly touching his own eye and removing what looked to be a contact lens. When Junior looked straight at him properly, his right eye had changed from its usual mossy green to a bright, tawny gold that seemed to shine and glitter the same as the light from the Apple. For a moment, Takuya could only stare in wonder, doubting what he was seeing.
No one's eyes were gold.
"Who the fuck-"
Junior smiles at him, quirking his head just a bit to the side. "I have many names and many titles, but those aren't important. The only thing that is, is that I make certain the future that the First Civilization... that Juno has predicted and crafted comes true."
Juno. He remembers Junior mentioning that earlier. So that's how he knows, and yet it still explains almost nothing.
Junior's smile vanishes, expression becoming more somber as it turns instead to Bennett, the expression on his face well-veiled and impossible to interpret. "The Destroyer of Time. A stumbling stone in the path of your destiny. No matter how the dice rolls, always, he blocks the way. This is the only course we have."
Takuya hisses again as his body moves forward, and he's getting too damn close, his body losing out against the power of the Apple playing him like a god damn puppet on a string.
You know very little. We must guide you.
"You- motherfucker! You can't make me do this! STOP!"
Cease your struggle!
His body jolts forward again to stand right before Bennett, who might as well not even see him, and somehow he almost thinks its worse that way. His arm poises to strike, and it takes all his physical strength to stop from immediately plunging his hidden blade into the other's body.
"Please! No!"
His strength only lasts for a few seconds, before the Apple's power courses through him again, and his blade buries deep in Bennett's stomach. He watches in distress as blood already begins to soak out from the wound, as a thin trail of it starts to trickle from the corner of Bennett's lips and down his jaw, silvery eyes wide and fixated on him. Its almost like he's silently asking, Why? How could you? He can't even bring himself to breathe in those moments, his own expression fixed in horror.
What has he done?!
It is done. The way lies all before you. Only she remains to be found. Awaken the sixth. Go.
The Apple's power seems to vanish instantly, and both he and Bennett fall to the ground. He watches, all strength to even move gone from his body, as his blade dislodges and blood pools from Bennett's wound, too much to survive. So much blood.
He barely has enough consciousness left to see Junior's boot stop near his face, to see his mismatched eyes looking down at him with too much of a mirthless, crooked smile. The last thing he hears as it all fades to black is that damnable redhead's voice.
"When you finally meet him in Constantinople, say hi to Lavi for me."
A/N(2): So, in case anyone is confused, Part 2 essentially leaves off where the first / original White Demon, Red Scribe, Black Nightmare begins B) So have fun with that.
