Lynn was still with doubt. Doubt in trusting or not Ismael. After all, he was a murderer under the eyes of the law, and should be put behind the bars. But Lynn just wanted to give him a chance to earn his trust, besides of the curiosity of knowing of what truth Ismael was talking about.
"You don't have my trust, but you may earn it if you answer mw what all this truth you are talking about is."
"Trust me. Just handover the bag."
Taking out a sphere with strange symbols, Ismael know with a free hand, raised that object in the air, and a beam of light filled the basement, while Lynn closed his eyes, scared by the idea that the golden light could leave him blind. When he opened his eyes, the air was filled with floating symbols, scattered throughout the basement. For a moment he thought that it was some kind of magic trick, but it couldn't be magic. Everything was so real.
"This artifact my friend, is called the fruit of Eden"
"The fruit of Eden? Isn't that what Adam and Eve ate before being expelled from Eden?"
"The bible says a lot of things, but truth is not one of them."
Ismael squeezed the fruit, and the symbols changed to images, and those images changed to something similar to short videos. The images of Adam and Eve, escaping with something similar to the fruit that Ismael had in his hands. After that, hundreds of images were embedded in Lynn's in matter of seconds. He saw humans with golden veins, giant buildings, gods controlling this fruits. Everything seemed like a civilization taken out from a science fiction movie. Ismael realized that Lynn would not understand anything, besides the fact that surely Lynn needed a break.
"What you saw is what happened before we came, thousands of millions of years ago, beings that we call precursors created us so we could serve them. But, a solar storm hit the Earth, destroying everything. Those humans that you saw, those who survived the disaster, made peace with the precursor race and began to repopulate the earth. The humans that live know, all of us come from that mix."
He squeezed the fruit again, and images of different historical periods began to enter Lynn's mind once more. All the way from the time of Cleopatra in Egypt to the Crusades, passing through the Renaissance, the Inquisition and the fall of the Ming dynasty, traveling through the golden age of pirates, the black slaves and the Maroons, the 7 years' war, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the war of the Sikh empire, the industrial revolution and the Red October in Russia. So many centuries of history introduced in matter of seconds in his head, all with one constant. Man and women worrying hoods fighting historical figures like the Borgia or Charles Lee. Ismael gave Lynn some time to recover as the light of the fruit turned off and all that surrealist stuff disappeared. Lynn's eyes could not believe all this situation
"Assassins and Templars." Started Ismael. "We have been at war since, well, always. Both sides had the same goal. The one of peace. Unfortunately, the war began when the Templars believed that the best way to reach peace was by order, while the assassins believe in freedom. The Templars seek the artifacts of Eden throughout the world in order to control mankind and through that, bring alleged peace to the world."
Lynn, despite not being completely recovered, opened his eyes to see Ismael still bent on that stretcher.
"I am sure that you have ever heard of Abstergo. Well, the Templars control Abstergo. They have a lot power throughout the world. We Assassins maintain Abstergo from taking control of the world. Those men you saw in the images, they were all Assassins. The guys who killed Jesus, Robert de Sable, the Borgias, the Pazzis, Hitler, Stalin, Churchill. All of them Templars. Fuck, even Edison and Ford were Templars. They created Abstergo and Killed Tesla because of the scientifically advance he was making. And all of those men were stopped by Assassins. Sadly, its being more than one time were the brotherhood has torn apart. Corruption taking the hearts of the weaker. Altair was expelled from the order he re-created after killing his corrupt mentor. Achilles trained the best Assassin hunter, Shay Patrick Cormac, same that became Templar after seeing that the brotherhood he served was killing innocents. Something very similar was going to pass in France during the French Revolution. And now, the same thing happened to me and my brotherhood. "
"Wait a minute." Said an exhausted Lynn.
"Are you telling me that everything is a lie? There's no god, but there was a creepy race of Aliens that created us? And know it turns out that all our history as mankind has being filled with horrible man that fight hooded guys? "
"That could be a good summary" Said a sarcastic Ismael.
-Under normal circumstances, I would laugh and send you to some rehab clinic, but…-
He stopped for a moment to massage his head, taking a deep breath to be able to listen the rest of the story.
"There are brotherhoods scattered throughout the world. Almost every single country has a faction of Assassins leaving there. Now, geographically large countries such as USA or Russia, cannot be handled by a single person, so it was decided to divide these countries 4 Brotherhoods, the Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. This means that in these countries there are at least 4 mentors and their counselors. The brotherhood I come from is the northeast one, but we were not located here in Michigan. Our HQ are in Ohio. Now, this fruit of Eden and the box inside the bag were in the possession of my brotherhood because we are the ones who had found. -
Ismael had to pause for a moment, feeling the tears in his eyes. The fact of remembering the reason why he was in such a precarious situation, the reason why he had to kill those who once called brothers, was very painful.
"My mentor, he was a good man. His name was William Miles. The father of a great assassin with a great linage. Unfortunately, the boy felt under the control of Abstergo, and therefore, did not live to tell the tale. Then, there's Frederick Philips, my closest brother. He was always the most violent of us, and always dreamt of having more and more power. Always wanted to be the one who had more influence in the order. He was climbing up the ranks to achieve the same range than I had. Then…-
Despite being such a strong man, he was still human. His tears fell through the eyes, filling the scar like a river. It was a very sad and uncomfortable scene to see. Ismael wiped the tears to continue.
"The Brotherhood found the location of this fruit in an installation of Abstergo in Ohio. It wasn't supposed to be very difficult. William decided to go in person and recover the fruit for the brotherhood. Due to my recent achievements, he decided to take me along accompanied of 2 other brothers. He did not wish Fred to go because he knew that despite the range that Fred reached, he could compromise the mission due to its violent attitude. Fred was furious, but that was the desire of our mentor. We went out with one goal in mind. Die if necessary, but taking the fruit at home. We knew the place and the room where the fruit was. We entered without any problem. The Abstergo security was no trouble for us and reaching that room was easy. But once inside, electric energy went off, something that was not a problem for us, but…William didn't see the sniper. It was clean headshot. It comforts me to know that he didn't suffer. Both his body and the fruit fell to my feet. It was the first time in all those years being an Assassin that my entire body froze to the point of not being able to react. The lights came back. My brothers and I tried to flee with the fruit, being me the one who carried it. Both brothers died due to the sniper. I was capable of blocking the bullet with this piece of Eden. They are made of some precursor material that is bulletproof. I managed to escape the building, but as soon as I exited the place, I felt something falling over me. I managed to avoid his blade cutting my throat. I thought was a Templar. But no. It was Fred. My brother. I saw him directly in the eyes. Until this day I haven't managed to know if he is a Templar, a traitor, a mad-man. He knocked me out with a single hit. When I woke up I was at the HQ, but in a cell. He was there waiting for him to wake up. On the other side of the room, William counselors were standing still, staring at me with gaze and hatred. Fred made them believe that I was the bad guy in the film"
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, with the tears gone know.
"Long story short, some brothers knew I was innocent. They created a distraction so I could escape. I was capable of taking the fruit from Fred's hands, but I didn't have the guts to kill him in that moment. Those brothers that made the distraction were killed in the act, killed by their own teachers and brothers who are now prisoners of the lies of Fred. I managed to escape, hiding for many days. I kept running away for many days entering wagons of the trains that passed by. I arrived to Michigan several weeks ago. A few days later, I find myself in Royal Woods in a lovely basement."
A sarcastic laugh came out of Ishmael after finishing the story that as wild as it could sound, it was all true.
-Away the sheet of the flesh of the innocent. Hide in plain sight. Don't compromise the brotherhood. These are the principles of the Assassin brotherhood. Technically I'm no longer an Assassin because I broke a tenant. But right now, I don't longer care. A corrupted Brotherhood is all that remains. And I'm sure that what happened here, will happen again in Asia or Europe in some years. The other 3 American brotherhoods are aware of the situation and my head surely has a good reward. Once again, I am alone."
For third time, the tears began to travel through Ismael's face.
"Now you know the truth of all. Please take this thing off of me and I'll go. I don't want to cause anymore travel in your family."
Lynn took the handcuffs off Ismael's wrist. He tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in his leg forced him to sit back, but when he tried to sit on the stretcher, he felled to the ground.
"Jeez, your leg. Lisa, come here quickly. "Yelled a preoccupied Lynn.
Lisa made a sudden appearance that had nothing to envy one of Lucy's entrances.
"The bullet I extracted drilled your muscle, leaving a gap that will hardly cure anytime shoon. I could even say that there'sh a high chance that you will never be able to walk normally again, or at least in a very long time."
Ismael looked incredulous toward the ground. Something like this was a complete disaster. The Assassins were always in constant motion, climbing buildings or running across the rooftops. Now there was a high chance that he could never walk again with that leg, probably having to rely on a cane.
"Father, I believe that we have a cane in the attic. Pleashe go to bring it while I attend our guest. With this the pain should decreashe in no time."
Lynn obeyed Lisa's petition without hesitating, knowing that Ismael needed that cane immediately. As soon as he entered the kitchen, Rita grabbed him from the shoulders, giving him a slap. She had been listening all the conversation between his husband and that murderer all the time. Lynn did nothing but watch Rita directly to the eyes.
"Lynn, what the hell was that all about? Why is there a lunatic and drug addict in the house that comes to tell stories of gods that are not gods, serial killers and conspiracies? "
"You saw what he did with that object. Rita, thousands of images were embedded in my head. It is something that I will never be able to forget. This is not the work of some kind of drug or something. This guy is someone important. And I'm going to help him."
Lynn escaped Rita's grip with the only objective in mind of bringing that cane. Rita stood still in her place thinking that I her husband was letting one of their daughters be in contact with a drug addict or even worse, a murderer. This guy could be a danger to her family and Lynn brought this guy to their home. She entered her room, closing the door behind her with such a strength that could easily be overshadow any of the noise that the Loud House normally had.
"Here's the cane. Hope it's in good condition."
Ismael was now sitting on the stretcher with his leg being analyzed by Lisa. It was a black cane made of metal. It was made out of two parts, having the characteristic of changing its length to adjust to the size of the person that wield it.
"Many thanks Lynn. I hope it can resist the use I'm going to give it." Said Ismael as Lynn handled him the cane.
"Just as I feared. It's going to be very difficult for your muscle to recover. A few years ago your body could have recovered quickly, but with 30 years deshpite not being that old, I see it very difficult. Something that i have to admit is that your body is peculiarly strong. The usual doshe of sherum did no effect on your body, sho I found myself in the need to administrate a higher doshis, high enough to kill a man like my father. Sho, there may be a chance that your leg can cure within some years, but I'm afraid that only time can tell that."
"Amazing. So you are the genius that cured me. Lisa Loud, correct? "
"It's my duty ash a future doctor. Now if you gentlemen excuse me, I'm going to take advantage that the house is in silence to concentrate on other activities of greater importance."
"What an amazing daughter you got Loud. With the proper tools, she might be someone very important for this world. She could be very useful for the brotherhood."
A small laugh came out of the wounded man, but this one was sincerely ironic. He remembered that his brotherhood was dead know.
"Well Lynn, you and your family have my eternal gratitude, but i have to go. I don't want to bring any other problem to your marriage. "
"Hey, you can't go anywhere, not in that condition. Do yourself a favor and stay. The kids will come home soon and we will have lunch. In the meanwhile, you should take a shower my friend. No offense but your smell is not the best one right now. "
Ismael's face was shocked in a good way. He never saw someone as caring as Lynn. His debt was already payed, Lynn had nothing to do with Ismael, but he still cared for him.
"I really appreciate your kindness, but I can't stay. How do you think your daughters will react if they see someone like me in their house? "
"Look, just do as I say. Take a shower, shave if you want, take your time. "
Ismael was more confused now. He felt something that he disliked. Something that an Assassin should not feel. Fear. The last person who showed some care was the man who introduced him to the brotherhood, his teacher that died trying to defend him during the riot that his brothers caused so Ismael could escape. There was no opportunity to say goodbye. To thank him for what he did for him. The sound of the door opening brought him back from his thoughts. He didn't realize that he was already inside the bathroom half-naked. By instinct, he covered and turned around to see who it was. The door was not locked, leaving Lynn the chance to leave something on the floor, clean clothes to be precise along with the hidden blades. He took his clothes completely and entered the shower, relaxing in the process both mind and body. He felt as the water fell on him, taking away all the pain and suffering of the last days. He saw that the water accumulating around his feet had a reddish tint, something that was surprising because his wounds were still fresh, opened a couple hours ago. After finishing the shower that he truly needed, his hair caught his attention. Cutting it was not his biggest concern from a few months ago but his grown beard took more of his attention. He found no razor blade, having to use his hidden blade to shave. Although his blade couldn't swivel like Connor's blade, Ismael managed to managed to shave his face with his old tool that accompanied him since the beginning. He decided to leave a circle beard on him, a style that he had always liked. He decided to leave his hair issue for a moment because he did not want to take more time. He dressed in the clothes that Lynn left him on the floor. It was a baggy jean and t-shirt, a belt that prevented the pants to drop. He left the bathroom with the intention of grabbing the cane that he left leaning against the wall near the stairs, head toward the basement to pick up his backpack, look for Lynn and say goodbye after thanking him. Great was his surprise when he found face to face with 8 girls and one boy.