This is where we part...
A/N: 1 more chapter left and then we're done my dear readers! This story is coming to an end in the next chapter so dont forget to review!
Time seemed meaningless; it went by without anyone to acknowledge it. How long had it been since their decadence? A day, a week, a month?
It didn't matter anymore, nothing did. The walls around them were cold and unforgiving, the ground was damp and every now and then a droplet of water dripped down from the ceiling. The cells themselves were rather primitive, nothing more than an empty room with iron bars to keep them in.
The chains that had been used to bind them rattled with the slightest movement, the metal cold and foreign against their skin. The shackles had left bruises and cuts on their wrists and ankles after a while of pulling knowing that they wouldn't be breaking any time soon.
But how could they give up so easily?
Neither of them moved for the fresh wounds on their backs were far too painful to irritate. The crimson droplets slid down their backs as they remained paralyzed on the ground in the exact spot the guards had thrown them in.
The sounds of the whip coming down on them never left them, they would hear the harsh cracking of the leather right before the assassin in charge brought it down with a monstrous blow. They had endured several sessions of that, one right after the other. The tears they had cried were long gone after what seemed to be the third day of their punishment.
They had arrived at Masyaf over a week ago, and they had been accused of being the traitors. Adrine had been left in another part of the creed so she wouldn't be able to speak against Jamil and Christina. Malik was away attending an important meeting so their last hope had vanished as soon as they had been informed of that.
Soon after that they had been thrown in the cells beneath the creed where they tortured and interrogated their prisoners. It had been no different for them, countless times they had tried to get them to admit of their treason, but every time the guard would either stop because they merely passed out due to the pain or refused to talk.
It was their routine to wake up and immediately be beat or whipped into submission. Food was thrown at them from time to time but they ate very little. Few words were exchanged between both women for they knew what awaited them and the guard that was watching them would no doubt whip them for speaking.
It wasn't until one afternoon when Jamil came down the stairway that they bothered in picking their heads up to see what had brought the new 'Grand Master' down to the holding cells.
Monica ignored the pain she felt from her lacerated back and managed to turn her neck to see the bastard wearing one of Altair's outfits, she wished that she wasn't so weak. She wished she could slip free of her shackles and choke the man in front of her for tearing away the only thing she cared about.
Annalise merely glared at him and followed him with her eyes as he strode towards them with an air of arrogance and pride that was going to get him killed if he continued any longer with his façade. He stopped in front of their cells and crouched to examine both women.
They both lay unmoving staring at him with looks that could kill as a smile spread through his features. He would enjoy breaking them even further this afternoon. He had been informed of everything the assassins had tried on them, and despite all of their methods the pair of women remained unresponsive to everything they did.
"I come to inform you that your execution shall be tomorrow afternoon courtesy of the grand master," he told them standing while staring them down. Annalise wanted to spit at him in disgust but found her mouth dry due to days without drinking water. The only thing that she could taste however was blood; the metallic flavor repulsed her causing her to look away from Jamil to grimace.
"Y-you are the grand master, why refer to yourself in third person?" Monica asked frowning when she moved too much and the cuts on her back burned earning a hiss from her.
Jamil stared down at her and crouched once more while reaching inside of her cell. He brushed away a matted piece of black hair away from her face and smiled.
"That's because I am not the grandmaster for the time being, Altair and Ezio are alive," he told them as both women looked at him in confusion. If the pair of assassins were alive then why hadn't they come to get them out of this mess like all of the other times?
"They agreed to order your executions in exchange for their lives and then hand over the creed to me," he told them as both women froze. Each with their own thoughts running wild.
"They would never do that," Annalise spat back afraid of what Jamil might reply as threw back his head and laughed.
"You would be surprised, a man shows you who he truly is when he is about to die…they chose to live…and let you die instead," he told her as she drew back from him in denial.
"That can't be true," Monica whispered. She thought she knew Altair and Ezio, she thought she could trust them.
"I can assure you that it is true, they are assassins, what else did you expect? They prefer to live than to perish for someone else, that is what they have been trained for, Altair and Ezio know that better than anyone else," he told them as they sunk further and further away from him. Betrayal eminent in their expressions.
"It is in their nature, what made you two so special? Ezio has had millions of women seduced, each believing they were the only ones in the world for him, the same can be said for Altair," he added slyly as Annalise shrunk back with the blow he had just given.
She knew Ezio was a womanizer, but she had thought that he had something special with him. She had thought that he would change his ways for her, but she could see that it had merely been an illusion. Monica on the other hand took blow after blow of evidence that was hard to deny.
Jamil on the other hand knew for a fact that Altair and Ezio were dead; he had been informed that his assassins had thrown them over the cliffs overlooking Masyaf. Such a drop was difficult to survive, and if that didn't finish them off then the strong current awaiting them would. Jamil could almost guarantee that they were dead by now.
He wanted the women in front of him to hate them however, to feel resentment towards them. He just wanted to see them miserable before they were hanged. With that he stood once more and turned to leave pleased with his work.
Had Annalise and Monica thought his words true they would have realized that they weren't true. Ezio and Altair would never betray them in such a manner, but it was too late to change anything. They would be hanged tomorrow and nothing was going to change that.
Jamil left but not without stealing a last glance at the pair of women who suddenly gave up hope. Monica closed her eyes and dropped her head not caring if her wounds were reopened while Annalise turned away from Jamil and tried to hold herself together before she broke down.
"They betrayed us," Monica growled feeling immense hate towards the man she once loved dearly. All of her memories with him were erased from her mind in that brief period of time, how could he do this to her?
"We shouldn't have met them," Annalise added bitterly, "this is how we are repaid," she finalized turning away from the cell door and settling back down preparing herself for her death.
Neither of them had ever really though they would be dying so quickly, but with everything that had happened death didn't sound too bad.
They spent the whole night preparing themselves, neither of them sleeping dreading to see the light of day. When the first rays of light did shine down from the staircase they both exchanged glances and nodded knowing there was no going back.
The pair of guards that were sent to retrieve them descended the stairs with haunting steps; the keys in their hands jingled eerily as they opened the doors to their individual cells and released them of the tight shackles that had been placed on them.
They grabbed them roughly by the arms and dragged them up the stairs into the blinding light of day. Monica looked back at Annalise when they saw the single noose hanging from the center of the courtyard. The executioner awaited them with two black sacks to put over their heads as the assassins who were present sneered at the women.
They were the 'traitors' after all, they murmured comments amongst themselves and stared at the pair as they were shoved towards the steps leading up to the noose that lay hanging before them.
The pair exchanged glances knowing that one of them was going to have to go first as Jamil watched amongst the crowd with Christina by his side.
"This is where the story ends kid; I'll see you in another life, eh?" Monica told Annalise not wanting to get any deeper into their goodbyes for fear of never wanting to part from her lifelong partner in crime. She walked up the steps first as Annalise watched horrified wishing for a miracle to happen and get them out of the predicament in which they found themselves in.
Monica walked up next to the executioner as he hands trembled upon seeing the square where she would be hanging from in mere moments. The dividing line that could be seen where the doors parted to drop a body haunted her as the executioner slipped the black sack over her head shrouding her view of everything.
She had never been the religious type so as the man led her to where she needed to stand she merely tried to recall everything she had done that had both harmed and benefited others. She could feel the rope being placed around her neck as the man next to her tightened it slowly.
The harsh material felt foreign against her skin, she wished that it hadn't ended like this. Perhaps in another life she could fix her mistakes to avoid ending up where she was now. It was too late to change them now; she could feel the man moving away to pull the lever.
"This will be quick," he whispered to her and for that she was thankful. If the noose wasn't tightened enough it would end in a slow and painful death, but if it was tightened too much it would result in her head rolling off of her shoulders. She thanked the man for knowing what he was doing as she heard him stop walking and reach for the lever. The crowd around her went quiet, Annalise staring at her partner in crime in pure horror as the executioner pulled the lever and she dropped down in the blink of an eye.
A sickening crack reached her ears making her skin crawl as she looked at Monica's unmoving body. Pure horror invaded her, she wasn't afraid to die, but she had never thought she would watch her partner be hung in front of her.
The executioner let her hang for a moment or two more before two assassins moved forward and cut her down. She watched as they carried her body out of sight, the whole time praying for her to simply move and say everything was ok that they would get out of this one as well.
That never happened.
She was shoved forward by one of the guard as she shakily ascended the stairs and stood where her partner had stood moments ago. The fine line dividing the square beneath her feet making her regret ever meeting Ezio and Altair. Before she had any more time to think a black sack was slipped over her head as well.
She felt the harsh noose slipped over her neck and tightened appropriately. She drowned out the voices around her as the boots of the executioner echoed around her. She heard him stop and grip the lever before she looked up at the sky.
The executioner pulled the lever as the doors beneath her flew open and her body started to drop down. The last thing she registered before she died was Ezio's voice yelling at the executioner to stop, but by now it was far too late.
Her neck cracked as well as her body hung lifelessly from the rope.
Everyone in the creed turned towards the entrance only to see Ezio, Altair, Karim, and Hadar standing at the entrance with horrified looks upon witnessing what the creed had just done.
Jamil's face paled upon seeing them alive as Altair scanned the crowd briefly with bloodshot eyes before his eyes landed on Jamil. Ezio right behind the grandmaster as chaos broke out.
Blood will have blood.
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