CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

No Exceptions

"Heather!" I screamed, shoving the front door open so hard that I thought I saw a crack in the wall. "HEATHER!" My eyes darted frantically around the house. My vision was still normal, but I didn't know how long it would last.

"Emma, what's wrong?!" Heather jogged into the house, a small sweat on her forehead. "I was just training Casey."

I gulped, taking a deep breath. "M-My vision," I began quietly. "My vision turned blue!" I looked at Heather, waiting for an answer—hoping she had an answer for my vision acting so weird. "I-I mean, I've had these headaches for a few months now and each time I had a headache, my vision would turn blue—but it would fade after the headaches passed!"

Frowning, Heather brought her face close to mine, narrowing her eyes. I felt slightly uncomfortable with how close she was (I valued my personal space).

"It's about time it's happened!" Heather exclaimed, a smile adorning her lips. "Nothing's wrong with your vision, Emma." She stroked my hair gently. "Let me clean up, then I'll explain it to you, all right?"

"Okay," I replied.

While Heather walked upstairs to clean up, I wandered to the backyard. "Wow," I replied, shrugging my jacket off, hanging it casually over the back of the lounge chair, my hidden blades remained on my arms. Casey was lying in the grass, covered in sweat; while Derek was whistling a happy tune, staring up at the sky. Arms behind his head, a triumphant smile on his face.

"I hate you," Casey grumbled, not moving a muscle.

Derek snickered. "Who? Me or Em?"

"Both of you! Heather included!" I laughed, making Casey yelp in surprise. "For the love of God! Stop doing that!" She shrieked at me.

Placing my hands on my hips, I grinned. "Do what? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

Casey sat up. "You're always disappearing!"

I opened my mouth to reply when I heard Heather approaching from behind me. "It's an old technique. I forget what it's called though," Heather stated, pulling her hair back. "Emma, can we talk?"

Nodding, I grabbed my jacket. "Go easy on her, Der!" I called to Derek as he and Casey stood up, preparing for another round. When we were inside the house, Heather gestured to one of the dining room chairs.

Tentatively, I sat down, working on removing my hidden blades. "There's no reason for me to beat around the bush, Em," Heather began. I narrowed my eyes, looking at Heather closely. Were her eyes…brighter? "You've inherited your mother's Eagle Vision."

I recoiled slightly at her words. "What?" I said in disbelief.

"You inherited your mother's—and my—Eagle Vision." I opened my mouth to reply, but no sound came out. Instead, I closed it as Heather placed a book in front of me. It looked old, but taken care of. "This tells you the lore of Eagle Vision/Sense." Heather tapped her chin. "And for some reason, only the women in the family inherit the active gene. The men are carriers."

"Eagle Sense?" I said. "I thought there was only Eagle Vision!" I grinned. "Is that why Grandpa Roland always pokes fun at you for having 'vision of a sixteen year old'?"

Heather tapped the book again. "This'll explain some of the things. Your mother would've been able to tell you about Eagle Sense, since she mastered the Eagle Vision when she was around twenty-two." Heather smirked at my last statement. "Yes, he always makes fun of me. But your mom had it a lot worse." That glint in Heather's eyes made me tense. "I wonder what he'll say when he learns that 'Little Emmy' has the talent."

"And you?" I replied. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." Heather smirked, then she became serious again. "I came to the decision to keep my talent at Eagle Vision. I didn't want my eyes turning amber. Lord knows that Cheryl had amber eyes for at least two years before she figured out how to revert them back to brown." Heather grinned. "I think that's how your father fell for her."

I rolled my eyes. "So my dad fell for my mom because of her eyes?" Heather snickered.

"I suppose so." I opened the book and began reading. "I'll make sure Casey gets home on time—oh!" Heather exclaimed, facepalming. "I almost forgot! Her jacket came in, along with her hidden blade and dagger." I raised my eyes from the book.

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll get her acquainted with the weapons that'll save her life later." Find ways to silence Heather from telling Grandpa Roland about my Eagle Vision. "I'll just pray to my mom to make your life a living Hell until you promise to keep quiet about my Eagle Vision," I replied cheekily.

Heather crossed her arms. "You have a mission tonight with her as it is." She uncrossed them, her playful demeanor returning. "Please, Emma. I made your mother's life a living Hell."

I closed the book. "Oh? Did you ever consider that she could haunt you from the grave if her daughter asked for help? I mean, I would've loved to see you and her fighting, Assassin style back in the day. Who normally won those fights, by the way?"

"Yes. There's a large congregation of Templars meeting in New York City this evening, William made it very clear that 'Master Hale' and 'Apprentice Thrones' are to be the ones to see this mission through." I frowned. "He's not happy with you, Em." Heather glared at me. "Your mom won most of the time."

I scoffed, "When is the asshole ever happy?" Heather stroked my hair for a moment before disappearing up the steps. "I'll be sure to put in a good word for you so she doesn't hang your bras and panties from the barn!" I called up the stairs.

"I may not be your mother, but I can still ground you!" Heather replied.

I laughed, shaking my head. I'm really glad I made amends with her. I brought my attention back to the book.

"Eagle Vision was a sixth sense that certain lineages of humans possessed, as a result of being created by the First Civilization." First Civilization? I'd heard about those guys before, didn't my father mention that they had something to do with the Pieces of Eden? Maybe not, perhaps I read something similar to it somewhere. "Though every human held the potential for it, bloodlines of humans who had interbred with their creators held a greater concentration of the necessary genes, and were most likely to exhibit the ability."

So my bloodline goes all the way back to perhaps the first humans to ever walk the earth? Cool.

"Those who possessed the gift were able to instinctively sense how people and objects related to them, which manifested as a colored glow, much like an aura or other form of glow."

I recalled the red, blues and whites, and the gold auras that I had seen when my vision acted weird. So those were auras. I wonder what they mean. Scanning the page I saw a small section (it looked new) added to the page.

"Red = Enemies—Templars; Blue = Assassin's/Allies; White = Sources of information/hiding spots; Gold = Targets or persons of interest."

I felt a grin twitching at my lips. It'd be easier to discern Templars from innocents posing as Templars now. As I continued to read the book, there was an envelope bookmarking the next page. Frowning, I removed the envelope.

After staring at it for a moment, I opened it with my hidden blade. The writing was neat, organized. But it was something different entirely. Like a secret that only was meant for someone with Eagle Vision/Sense.

"There is something special about our Eagle Vision/Sense. I have learned over the years that if you focus the Eagle Vision enough to make it evolve into Eagle Sense, you begin to see seven points in the human body. Each have a different color—perhaps a different meaning? I've researched our family line, ending in 1200 Syria."

That brought me up short. There were numerous memorable Assassins during that time. Altair and his family—even the Shadow-Step!

"With help from my sister, Heather, I have gone into an Animus and relived the memories of my ancestor, Darim Ibn-La'Ahad—."

Darim. Ibn-La'Ahad. I was a descendant of Altair?! I returned my eyes to the letter.

"Heather was nothing short of joyful, realizing we had descended from one of the most influential Assassin's in the Order! While she researched more into our lineage, we had learned we were descended from Hayya, a renowned Assassin that lived during the Renaissance. She was known for her poisons, similar to Amunet.

Hayya? Wasn't that Arabic? Shaking my head, I continued reading. "After utilizing my Eagle Sense in the field, stabbing a Templar or enemy in certain points will cause instant death or a slow painful death. I had even learned how to block only two of the seven points."

I flipped the paper over, my vision warping again, and I saw a family tree! Most of the names were missing, but there was Altair's, Maria's Darim's, and Sef's names! Scanning the paper, there was a name scribbled, 'Hayya'. "Note to self, research my family history a little more," I muttered to myself, the blue warping back into the right colors.

Folding the letter up, I placed it back in the envelope, closing the envelope a moment later. Without a word I walked upstairs, to the bathroom, and looked at myself in the mirror closely. Sure as hell, there was a dominant amber color laced with the brown in my irises. "If only I knew how to activate my Eagle Vision…" I absently murmured.

"Knock, knock," Heather chimed, gently knocking on the door. "I couldn't help but overhear your question."

I sighed. "It was a statement."

"Regardless." Her eyes lit up instantly. "It's easy. Take a deep breath and relax." I did as told. "Now, close your eyes and picture the world warped slightly."

With my eyes closed I frowned. "What do you mean? Warped into that blue color?"

"Yeah."

Taking another deep breath, I opened my eyes and Heather was a bright blue color. "Holy crap! You're a bright blue!"

Heather laughed. "That means I'm an Assassin. No doubt you saw Cheryl's side note about the colors and their meaning?"

I nodded. "How do I turn it off?"

Heather crossed her arms, a smile in place. "Same process as to activate it." Calming myself down (again), I blinked. The world warped back into the right colors. "It'll be easier as time goes on." I removed my left hidden blade. "That mission you have with Casey? It'll be starting at around eight tonight—you have any homework?"

"No, I finished it during my free hour."

Without another word, Heather left me alone.

_/-\_

"I. Hate. You," Casey growled (repeating what she said earlier), grunting as she pulled her new dark grey hooded jacket on. "Derek is a jackass when it comes to fighting!" She crossed her arms. "So is Heather!"

I smirked. "I'm not any better. We don't take it easy on anyone. You gotta make rash decisions in the field and the Templars won't give you a breather."

Casey growled. "So, what're we doing tonight?"

I placed my hands on my hips. "Templar meeting, and a big one at that. Don't know why we have to, but it has to be done. This is what happens when you piss off the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood."

Casey crossed her arms. "You take great pride in ticking off the older Assassin's, don't you?"

"Immensely."

Sighing, Casey followed me out to my bike. "So, are you gonna use your Eagle Vision tonight?"

I nodded, placing the helmet on my head. "I gotta learn how to use it, I mean; it'll make my life easier."

Casey placed the spare helmet on her head. "Well, good luck to you." She flicked her wrist, admiring the hidden blade. She'd practiced with it a few times with Derek (I think Derek had 'killed' her at least six different times), she got the hang of it fairly quickly.

Smirking under the helmet, I mounted the bike, waiting for Casey to mount behind me. When her arms were wrapped around my torso, did I lower my visor and kick the bike to life. "Hang on!" I said into the Bluetooth.

_/-\_

Casey and I were near Queens (I had rolled my eyes at the location), near the warehouse where my Eagle Vision became a permanent fixture in my life. When the bike was parked and hidden the two of us climbed up the side of a building (Casey had to use the fire escape).

I sat on the edge of the building, waiting impatiently as Casey climbed up the fire escape. "Christ, Em!" Casey hissed. "Isabella made it seem so easy!"

I smirked, standing up. "You need to build up the muscle for it."

"So I'll be sore tomorrow?" she moaned.

"Definitely sore."

Casey groaned. "Perfect."

Without another word, we raced along the roofs for a while. Just for shits and giggles I activated my Eagle Vision. It was almost like built-in night vision goggles! "Oh, I'm definitely gonna be using my Eagle Vision a lot."

Casey growled under her breath. "So, what're we actually going to do?"

I came to a stop. "Listen, learn, and on the off chance, follow the Templar—or Templars."

We didn't speak to each other for the rest of the run to the meeting. I was elated to find that the Templars didn't bother with posting Agents on the roofs surrounding the area, but hey, you only live once.

About fifteen minutes later, the meeting began. Mostly it was about how they were going to obtain a Piece of Eden for their own twisted schemes (at the top of that list: Enslaving the human race) and to welcome another member to Master level. I have to admit, the Templars weren't only the bad guys, they were also thieves apparently. Most of the ceremony was very similar to the Assassin ceremony when you reached Master level.

"No points for originality," I remarked dryly.

Casey's shoulders were shaking in silent laughter, she must've researched some things on the Assassin's while I was gone. Eventually the large meeting began to disband, instantly my 'Assassin mode' kicked in and I prepared to follow the Templars. However, the one that the Templars inducted to Master level started going an opposite way.

"Follow the lone Templar and I'll follow the larger group," I murmured to Casey. Nodding, she took off after the lone Templar while I made to follow the large group. I dropped down into the street and began to follow the group.

Most of their conversation was menial and uninteresting, until the one Agent mentioned a name.

"The Shadow-Step is still missing?" One Templar said. "Daniel Cross is normally very good about tracking and finding Assassin's."

"I believe so," another replied. "I recall seeing a young man with red hair run into the building. I think I saw him carry someone out—looked like a young girl, perhaps a teenager."

Young girl? Teenager? Number Four would be a grown woman by this point. Perhaps just another innocent that decided to play hero and save an Assassin recruit. With nothing of interest to me, I darted back towards my bike, only to be surprised when I saw Casey pacing in front of it.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I asked, lowering my hood.

Casey glanced at me. "I think I know who the traitor is," she began.

I felt an eyebrow rise. "Who? William needs to know."

Casey bit her lip. "I think Lilly's the traitor. I heard her talking with someone on a phone—sounded like Tanner. She said, 'Emma Hale will be your kill, just give me time to get her guard down, then you can strike'."

I frowned. "Lilly's not a traitor, Case." This wasn't funny. I knew Casey was new to this whole game of Assassin and Templar but, you never accuse a fellow Assassin of being a traitor without reasonable proof.

Casey put her hands up defensively. "Look, I know I don't have proof to back up my statement, I'm just stating what I heard and thought." She swallowed. "I mean, I don't even think it could be Tanner. For all we know, it could be someone else and the Templars lied to Tanner about being the one to kill you."

I glared at my friend. "Don't make assumptions that aren't backed up one-hundred percent," I grumbled. Casey crossed her arms, looking downcast.

"Won't happen again, just be watchful." Something about the way she said it, it seemed like she wasn't entirely convinced that it was just 'another Templar'.

I sighed. "Look, Case, it's really bad to call a fellow Assassin a traitor—I'm not saying that it hasn't happened, because it has—just, until you have actual evidence to back up your accusation, keep it to yourself, all right?"

"So, this Assassin Order is like a dictatorship?"

I shrugged. "More or less, but it keeps the Order running—what's left of the Order after the Great Purge at least."

"I heard about that. Something about Daniel Cross killing the Mentor, right?" Casey asked.

I mounted my bike. "Yeah, it happened a year before I went to Camp. My dad was really unsure if he should've sent Derek, Erik, and myself for the summer."

"He obviously did." Casey mounted behind me, her arms on my shoulders (her left hand gently rested on my left shoulder).

I grinned. "As far as I'm concerned, best decision he ever made." I kicked the bike to life again. "I'll take you home, all right?"

"'Kay."

I decided, as I took Casey home, that I'd call up Lilly and see where she was (more than likely she was back home in Chicago) and see how she was doing. That way, Casey would see that Lilly's back home in Chicago, realize that Lilly's not the traitor, and perhaps move on from her mistake. It was funny really. Every new recruit that was given a Master was always so eager to prove themselves that they forget the basic principles of being an Assassin.

Oh well, I thought, I guess no one, not even Casey, is an exception to that rule.