Chapter Four
A/N: Sorry for the hold up :) I plan on updating more frequently now.
The chamber was increadibly dark. The only light was the soft, golden glow of the Apple. Ezio holds himself still, struggling only slightly while trying not to touch the mysterious artifact. All around him, there were towering figures. Black and silver shards jutting out from the ground, standing nearly as tall as houses. Empty, dark veins ran through them as if something should be inside. He turns and looks down the curved stairs he'd climbed to come up here. The temple truly was amazing.
It is a shame I cannot bring Leonardo here...surely, he especially, would appreciate this place. He muses, gazing almost dreamily around the large temple. Then, with a frown, he decides, But now is not the time for such things. As long as the Apple is here, it is safe and out of the reach of our enemies. With that, he marches down the stairs and leaves the Piece of Eden behind, silently resolving to never let it fall into the wrong hands.
Just as he slides back through the cave's slim enterance, a brilliant light bursts forth from nowhere. The air dissolves into shards and the Italian countryside buckles in front of him. And then...
"Desmond, wake up." It was Rebecca's voice that brought him back to reality. The dark haired woman was bent over him, her hand roughly shaking his shoulder. "C'mon we don't have time for this!"
"Huh...?" He sits up, rubbing his eyes as if having just woken from a nap. "What's going on?" He asks, glancing around the cave only to find it almost completely empty.
She backs off, giving him room. "Have you figured out the location of the Apple yet?!" She demands just as Shaun and Lucy come sprinting inside.
"What's the hold up?!" Lucy barks.
"I don't understand. What's-" Desmond is interrupted by a chorus of gunfire outside. "What was that?!"
"It's Abstergo." Shaun says. "They've found us!"
A half dozen vans swing onto the concrete circle at the base of the stairs, leading up to the Villa Auditore. Their tires squealing, loudly against the wet pavement. The sliding doors on the sides of the van pop open and armed men, donning security armor and helmets, jump out. Some of them hurry to create a perimeter, stopping citizens from entering the area.
"Please don't come any closer." The guards announce, fending off curious residents. "It isn't safe."
"What's happening?" Someone from the, ever growing, crowd asks.
"We believe a terrorist group may be hiding out below the Villa Auditore." One of the guards tells them, firmly. "So, please, stay back."
At that, many eyes go wide and some people rush home. Concerned mothers grab ahold of their children's wrists and pull them back into their front doors, pulling the curtains and turning off lights. Others stay in the streets, watching the scene unfold rapidly before them. None of them notice the peculiar Abstergo insignia on the uniforms.
Just then, a man with thinning, white hair and a full beard steps out of one of the vans. The pin on his white lab coat reveals him to be Warren Vidic. Vidic folds his arms behind his back and strolls over to one of the gaurds.
"How are we making out?" He asks, curiously.
"Not well, sir. We haven't found where they are." The security guard responds.
"You've checked all throughout the Villa?"
"Yes sir."
"Hmm," Vidic frowns at the towering mansion. "It isn't like the Assassins to hide in a place like this...not since the last few centuries, anyway."
"Sir?"
"There must be a secret location somewhere nearby. Keep looking and don't let anybody in or out until they've spoken to me." The Templar scientist smirks, arrogantly before saying, "I've got to make a phone call."
"What are they shooting at?" Rebecca asks in a hushed voice.
"The walls, probably. Looking for a secret enterance." Shaun theorizes, sullenly.
Just then the sound of light, electronic beeps fills the cave.
"What's that?" Desmond asks, glancing around.
"My phone..." Lucy mutters, fumbling to free it from her pocket.
"No offense, Lucy," Desmond grumbles. "But now's not the time to be chatting."
"You think I don't know that?!" The blonde woman snaps as she turns off her phone, quietly grimacing over the name on the caller ID. "We need to find another way out of here before they get to us!"
"On it." Desmond jumps to his feet from his place at the Animus. Turning in quick circle, he scans the entirety of the cave in one swoop, channeling his inner Assassin. "There." He jabs a finger upward. "There's some kind of vent or something up there." A metal grating was nestled in the rock, fourty feet above their heads.
"Oh that's great, Desmond." Shaun sighs. "But how are we going to get up there, not to mention the Animus?!"
"He's right." Lucy agrees. "And beside that, there's got to be dozens of Abstergo's men up there right now. We'd be shot on sight...or captured. Whichever's worse."
Desmond nods, biting his lip to cover a swear. How on earth were they going to get out of there?! Suddenly-
-xXx-
"Ezio."
He turns, quickly. Shocked by the presence of the voice. "Uncle Mario."
The older Assassin smiles at his nephew before saying, "Nipote, there are many things you don't know about your new home here in Monteriggioni. Remember when I showed you the chamber where the statues of the Great Assassins were held?"
"Yes, Uncle." Ezio replies, smiling curiously. What did his uncle have in store for him now?
"I cannot possibly hope to reveal to you all of the Villa's secrets. It has many. But just remember this, Nipote-"
-xXx-
"Open your eyes...and you you find what you are looking for..." Desmond mutters under his breath, just loud enough to turn everyone's eyes on him.
"What did you say?" Lucy asks him.
Desmond doesn't respond. Closing his eyes, he remembers what it had felt like to discover his prey as Altair, to stalk his target as Ezio...he takes a breath, feeling a subtle shift within his mind. When his eyes open again, he's only half surprised to see that the world is now illuminated in shades of glowing white. The rock was darker than usual, fading into the background while Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun blazed hot blue. Noise dissapeared as well, leaving only a muffled hum in his ears. When he looks up, the the manhole cover is also black.
Not where I need to go. He decides. Then, turning around, he sees there's a dangerous red glow seeping through the wall where the enterance is. "They found the way in." He says, evenly. It almost didn't sound like him. He sees that his comrades are speaking to him but he doesn't hear what they say. Desmond turns again, trying to find another way out.
His dark eyes flit all around the cavern, squinting through the dizzying array of brilliant colors. And then-
"There." A large boulder, probably the result of a past cave-in, was gushing with golden light. "If we move that boulder, we could take the Animus out through there. It leads into the tunnels beneath Monteriggioni."
Lucy stares at him with wide, blue eyes. "Desmond, how did you-"
"No time." He tells her. "Shaun, let's move this thing. They'll find us soon." His voice was eerily smooth. Not a trace of worry marred his even tone.
Shaun nods and hurries over to help him with the boulder.
"Lucy and Rebecca." He says, glancing at them out of the corner of his eyes. "Start unplugging the Animus and turning off lights. We want them to think we're long gone."
The two women obey, working in a flurry of quick hands and nimble fingers. Undoing extension cords and flicking the lamps off. They work together to lift the Animus 2.0 off the ground and carry it closer to the wall before moving to help Shaun and Desmond, who were still struggling to make the rock budge.
Just then, someone directly above them shouts, "Look at this! Some kind of secret tunnel!" Immediately, there's the sound of pursuit. Footsteps rumble overhead. Someone shouts orders about finding a way in.
Lucy grimaces. "You guys need help moving that thing?!"
"Almost...got it..." Desmond croaks, pressing his entire body weight against the boulder. His voice was no longer dead. Now he just sounded determined. Determined to get them all to safety. Whether that meant escaping through the tunnel...
Or killing every last Templar out there.