Chapter Three:

Glow

A Week Later…

It took a week for him to apologise for his harsh behaviour towards her, Alexis noticed. He spent it avoiding her when he wasn't in training with Achilles and she was fine with it. She's known him since he was four; it was a habit of his.

The brunette was wiping the windows, trying to get the dust off of them when he timidly approached her. While he had been busy training, Alexis had been busy trying to clean up the manor and make it liveable. She had cleaned out the bedrooms, the basement, the kitchen, the living room and the stables.

"Shouldn't you be with Achilles, Ratonhnhaké:ton?" Alexis asked, sparing a quick glance at him before resuming her cleaning.

"I wanted to apologise…for my behaviour towards you, Althe—Alexis," he corrected himself, rubbing his fingers absently.

"It's alright. You're not exactly the first person who had spoken words such as those to me in my line of work," Alexis sighed, satisfied with the clean window and taking a step back. She placed the cloth on the bench and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. Her amber eyes noticed his stance, his body leaning against his left leg more than his right.

He's curious; she ran a hand through her long hair, observing him. "You want to know more about my…order." It wasn't a question.

Ratonhnhaké:ton nodded and she stood up straight, gesturing for him to follow as they headed towards her bedroom on the second floor. She was directly across from him and had already set up security measures should Azealf attack him in his sleep.

The moment the fallen angel stepped one foot into that bedroom, Ratonhnhaké:ton would be teleported to wherever she was. A precaution, but a necessary one.

Alexis pressed a few buttons and brought up holographic history of their order on her Verbatim. Ratonhnhaké:ton's eyes widened at the sight and she grabbed the images and words before flicking them outwards.

They enlarged and surrounded the room, bathing it in their futuristic blue colours. She watched as he slowly turned in a full circle, taking in every image presented.

"We are an order that ensures history runs it's intended course, eliminating any interruptions, send in agents when the stream has been corrupted by the Dark Ones," Alexis began explaining as she brought up an image of Azealf's last known form: An Irishman with reddish hair, a five o'clock shave in dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket. His eyes always remained the same; black.

"Dark Ones?" Ratonhnhaké:ton questioned and she gestured to Azealf's picture that stared down at them.

"They're similar to the Templars, only more dangerous," she explained, bringing up images of chaos, the Black Death, the creation of the Anglican Church, the Trojan War as a few examples. "They're fallen angels of Heaven and seek revenge against God and the archangels. They wish to cause chaos, disruption, unravel time and weave it for their own interests. They are the angels that believe mankind are beneath them."

Ratonhnhaké:ton stared at Azealf for a few moments. "He's the one that's after me, isn't he?"

Alexis stood beside him, staring into his black eyes. Ones that had haunted her ever since the day…swallowing the lump in her throat, she nodded.

"In the year 2012, your descendant Desmond Miles will free the spirit you saw. Azealf believes the world should start anew and will stop at nothing to ensure that Juno remains imprisoned," she glanced at him, finding his brown eyes staring at her.

"So he seeks to eliminate me then."

Alexis placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes softening. "I won't let that happen. You have my word."

Ratonhnhaké:ton placed his hand on top of hers before pulling away, staring at the picture of the hundreds of dead bodies piled up in the streets. Their faces ill and pale, no life coming from them…

"The Black Death. A deadly disease that killed two-thirds of the population across Europe centuries back," she informed him, staring at a particular young woman in her mid-thirties, her dirty blonde hair was mixed with blood. "I couldn't save any of them…"

She replaced the image with the four laws each agent must abide by. "The four laws that govern us and the agents must uphold."

Equivalent Exchange. Something of equal value or greater must be exchanged for the desired outcome.

Time is an irreversible process. Once a reaction has been commenced it cannot be stopped until the process is complete.

It was forbidden, and thus generally impossible, for agents to meet each other out of temporal sequence, and specifically prohibited an agent from meeting their former selves.

An object from a non-existent timeline cannot be present in the current timeline.

Ratonhnhaké:ton read each of them carefully, studying them before pointing to the third rule. "Is that why you cannot go back and save my mother? Because you had already been in that timeline?"

"Look at number one," she pointed her head to it and watched him read it before giving her a puzzled expression. "Your mother's path had already been set into stone the day she was born. She was fated to die in fire on that day."

"What does this have to do with the first law?" he demanded and she exhaled slowly before pointing to Azealf.

"Unless he saves someone who is supposed to die or kills someone who is supposed to live, I cannot alter the timeline. Had he killed someone whose soul is of equal value to your mother who was not meant to die, I could have saved her," she explained, glancing at him with her shoulders slumped a little. "But he didn't."

"Which is what he wanted."

Both of them looked over to find Achilles limping towards them, barely sparing a glance at the holograms. Unlike his apprentice, the dark skinned man had already seen and encountered technology like this and was more fearful than impressed with it.

He stopped right in front of her and kept his eyes firmly on her. "Your break is over and we will resume training."

Ratonhnhaké:ton's shoulders slumped tiredly and he began walking out of the room but noticed a lack of movement from Achilles. "Are you not coming?"

"I will be there in a moment," Achilles assured him, tensely as he maintained eye contact with her. Ratonhnhaké:ton glanced at Alexis before doing as the old man instructed and left the room.

"Coming to thank me for cleaning up your manor?" Alexis asked, removing the holograms and the mid-day sun shined back into the windows.

"You should not have told the boy," Achilles spat and she raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you rather I left him in the dark? Pretend that a bitter angel isn't after him?"

Achilles clucked his tongue, limping towards the window and gazed out.

"Can you guarantee his safety?"

Had she been in her early years on the job, Alexis would have scoffed at the very words spoken by the old man. She would have arrogantly stated she could protect him with one hand behind her back.

But she was no longer arrogant.

She swallowed, staring at his back. "I am doing everything I can to make sure everything goes as planned," she answered and he snorted, sparing her displeased look.

"That is what's wrong with your people. You only care about making history. None of you care about the consequences of your interference," he spoke bitterly, making her wonder what bad encounter he had with an agent, and who it was. She glanced away from his figure, staring out the window. A bird in a nearby tree caught her interest.

"I don't like my job any more than you do," she admitted, running a hand through her hair, shaking it a little before letting her hand fall back to her side.

"That's something we can agree on then."

She hummed in response, catching movement below and finding Ratonhnhaké:ton leaning against the tree, obviously waiting for Achilles to resume their training.

"I'll take care of literature and the history of the Assassins and Templars for you," Alexis offered, earning a doubtful look from the Master Assassin.

"And what do you know of our order's history?"

She smirked at him for once. "I've worked with Aveline de Grandpré, Ezio and Mario Auditore, Mary Read, Edward Kenway and watched over Altair and Abbas when they were mere children. Trust me; I know your order quite well."

He glared at her, putting the dots together. "Don't tell me—"

"Yep, I'm exactly who you're thinking of," she patted his shoulder before sauntering out of the room, gleeful at the knowledge that Achilles knew just how deep she was in the Assassin Order.

Heck, she helped inspire their motto: Not everything you see or hear is true. Nothing is true.

oOo

Date: Three Months Later…

Location: Davenport Homestead, The Frontier…

Commander Harven, Head Keeper Mila and Healer Katorrí holographic figures flickered against the late afternoon sun that streamed through her window.

"—That is why we have sent you. The girl was unable to be saved and Agent Jones is now MIA," Commander Harven informed her and Alexis's jaw clenched, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Do you have any lead on Ted—Agent Jones's whereabouts? Whether or not he's even alive at this point?" Alexis questioned, her stomach clenching at the idea of Teddy being severely injured while she couldn't do anything.

"Unfortunately his communicator and chip were disrupted and destroyed. The last location recorded into the database was Boston," Healer Katorrí sighed, placing a hand on her cheek and shaking her head slightly.

"Where Hannah Redford lived," Alexis stated what they were all thinking. The brunette sighed tiredly, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'll check it out, seeing if I can pick up his trail. Can you send someone to watch over Ratonhnhaké:ton while I head into Boston?"

"Right away," Commander Harven paused. "Agent Halliwell?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

Alexis pressed a button on her Verbatim and ended the transmission. The late, afternoon sun streamed through her bedroom window as she turned to leave in search of Ratonhnhaké:ton and Achilles.

Eventually she found Achilles standing at the base of a tree, gazing out at the distance. Her eyes noticed Ratonhnhaké:ton running from tree to tree in some form of sprinting.

"I have to head to Boston for a bit," Alexis informed the mentor who gave her a passing glance. "Another agent will keep an eye on the place, but I want Ratonhnhaké:ton confined to his room until I return."

Achilles said nothing as she turned on her heel and walked away.

oOo

Location: Redford Household, Boston…

The latch to the window opened and she slid inside, remaining quiet in the empty household. It had been removed of the bodies by the Redcoats but the blood was still evident.

May your journey to heaven be swift and safe, Alexis prayed in her mind, quickly doing the cross on her chest before bringing up her Verbatim and scanned for Teddy's chip. A white dot blinked, indicating the bedroom of Hannah Redford being the last place Teddy was in.

She quickly headed over, turning on a flashlight from her Verbatim and searched the room. Ducking down onto the floor, Alexis pointed the light under the bed and found a bloodied, small microchip.

Her jaw clenched as she reached out, grasping it carefully within her fingertips and bringing it up to eye view. It was cold, as expected when she turned it over in her finger.

"I'm at the Redford Household," Alexis pressed her locket, informing Rhythmi who was listening. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Alexis squeezed her eyes shut and spoke, "Agent Jones is officially MIA. There's no sign of him."

"…Oh mon Dieu…" Rhythmi whispered. "And what of Azealf?"

"Flown the coup. No sign of him either and I don't sense him nearby," Alexis muttered, standing up and glaring out at the window. The night sky laid out above, stars sparkling as if nothing was amiss.


Song: Glow by Ella Henderson