25: Lambeth Pearl

As the more days spent in Lambeth passed, Will was beginning to believe coming here was pointless. It felt as if Will and Mary's alleged brother John, had searched this entire borough. The two of them went to every store and every bar with a wanted poster with her face on it. Along with a drawn image of her face, it read;

Mary Turner – wanted for murder.

Report to the nearest policeman if seen.

Hefty reward will be given.

Nobody had seen any sign of her around here apparently.

Will and John had went door to door to almost every house in the area. They were hoping one of the residents knew where Mary was or even better, if one of houses they knocked on also was where Mary was hiding. However, this had no such luck in finding her.

The letter she sent was simple and Will was looking for any sort of hidden clue that gave away her location. He didn't know if he was being too silly or if she really didn't wish to be found. Nevertheless, it felt like Will and John had searched all of Lambeth for any trace of her. And it was like she disappeared off the face of the earth.

Will prayed she wasn't dead. It had been long and hard few days, but he wasn't going to give up.

Still, he couldn't ignore something that was on his mind. A dire question; was Mary even here in Lambeth?

Will had been questioning the letters authenticity after an odd incident occurred with John. Will asked to see Mary's letter again and when John searched for it, he said he apparently lost it. That meant they couldn't read it again and had to go by what was read at first. It was all up to memory at that point.

But in reality, Will was checking again to see if Mary truly wrote this letter. He was so distressed and annoyed at the time John came into the picture, he didn't have time or the energy to question his identity.

Will wanted to believe whatever was easiest.

There was also another odd incident. When Will asked John questions about Mary and at first, his answers lined up perfectly but now, looking at hindsight, his answers were vague. Not enough detail or examples. It was like he was trying to trick Will into thinking he knew Mary when he didn't.

It would seem too ironic to say that Will was doubting John's intentions immensely now.

John and Will were sitting an empty tavern, downing drinks after another full day of searching for Mary but finding nothing. The only people in the bar was the burly looking bartender and a few hooded figures in the back.

However, other than those two figures, the bar was completely empty.

Suddenly, John spoke, "You know Mary and I never got along when we were younger. She was always loved more by Mother and Father while I was nothing to them. I was too prissy they said. Too pretty to be boy. Not a good fighter."

Will kept silent as he spoke, questioning why he was telling him this. John said, "So when we turned eighteen, I asked for a task, to redeem myself in their eyes and they gave one to both of us. My parents are…well, can I say are foolish people at times" he looked Will straight in the eye, "they gave me the easy one, gave Elizabeth the hard one."

"What?" Will cautiously said, not feeling right about this anymore. Elizabeth? His sister?

John stood up abruptly and said, "You are really fucking foolish, you know that, right?"

Will said, "I beg your pardon-" but before he could finish his sentence, his mouth was gaped open when the bartender aimed a pistol straight at him.

Will knew this was a trap. John payed this bartender to kill him. He was going kill him

"What are you doing," Will slowly said, trying to stay as still as possible, "what is the point of this madness?"

John cleaned the dagger with a napkin and suddenly his accent was much posher as he replied, "You must really love my sister, yes? To follow a complete stranger who had a fakeletter signed by her. And completely believing it too. I was made aware she even tried to kill your sister, yet you still would die for her. Loyal lover, it seems but not such a loyal brother."

"I-I don't."

Will was at a loss for words. Loyal lover. Un-loyal brother. Will had taken a side, his girlfriend's side, a possible Templar's side rather than his younger sister who had taken care of him all of his life. He loved them both yet looking back, Will realized he was wrong to choose to believe Mary over Elizabeth. Elizabeth had never given him a reason to be untrustworthy and though it was still shocking to hear Mary tried to kill her, there was a part of him that still didn't believe it.

"Where is she!" Will exclaimed.

John said, "Safe, at home, locked away as she should be."

"What do you want from me?" Will asked, beginning to survey his surroundings and any possible escape he might have. He noticed those two hooded figures were no longer sitting in their spot. "Are you even her real brother?"

"I am here to do what she couldn't do," John responded, "and yes, you idiot, even though I often doubt my relation to her because of how foolish she can be, she is still my older sister. Which is why Mother gave me my task after hers because she was born first."

Will was utterly confused. He asked, "Task? What task are you talking about?"

John ignored his question. "I finished my task the first month she gave it to me. My sister on the other hand, well, she was given two bloody years to kill the Whittock children and still couldn't do it. Hell, she really is the absolute worst at everything. Cannot do a single thing right."

Will felt like he was punched in the stomach even though John was standing a few feet away. He couldn't breath and he felt as if he was going to throw up any second.

Task. Kill Whittock Children. Two years.

She…did try to kill Elizabeth. Was she trying to harm him and Oliver as well?

"N-no, you're lying, she hasn't tried to kill me," Will shakenly said, "Mary l-loves me."

John smirked. "You still call her Mary. Well, allow me to inform you she goes by another name at home. I'm shocked you haven't already figured Mary Turner was a fake name. Mary is her middle. Her real name is Elizabeth," his cruel smile even deepened as he saw Will's face which had gone stark white, "and my name is William. We are the children of Templars Octavia and Timothy Forge."

Elizabeth and William – Mary and John. Forge. Forge. Templars.

Templars who had the same names as Elizabeth and Will, children of Assassins.

This was...

What kind of sick joke was this?

The bartender neared Will and the gun was closer to him. John said, "Wait, I want to know something else before he dies," he got a tiny bit closer but not enough for Will to slash at him, "My task to become a Templar was to kill your father."

"You bastard!" Will tried to get at him, but remembered the gun was pointing at his skull. But before anything could happen, the two hooded figures disembarked, one was behind the bartender and one was behind John.

The taller of the figure threw a knife at the bartenders head and he fell back, crumpling to the ground while the shorter of the figure threw a glass at John's head.

But this wasn't enough to kill him so Will took the knife he had and almost instinct, he shoved into John's stomach. John's eyes widened and Will began to struggle fighting him as he began to choke on his own blood.

"Y-you will pay for this!" John said before his eyes turned white.

Will looked at the two hooded figures who helped him. Soon they took them off and Will almost fainted.

It was Oliver, his brother and Clara.

"What are you two doing here?" Will exclaimed, pulling them aside.

Clara said, "Saving your bloody butt, that is. And I was hoping for more of a thank you."

"This was too dangerous," Will said frantically, "how did you even find me here?"

Oliver responded, "That letter you sent. I knew what you were doing was stupid and knew you were going to get into some type of trouble. I had to save your ass."

Will said, still quickly, "Yes you did little brother. Is Elizabeth with you? Did you hear everything?"

Oliver nodded. "Elizabeth and William Forge. It's rather creepy. They have the same names as you and you know what that means right?"

Will knew. "Elizabeth was right. Mary/Elizabeth, whatever her name is, she is a Templar and she is the daughter of Forge. And she was tasked to kill us."

"But she didn't," Clara said, "if she really wanted to, she would have done it now. There is more to this than meets the eye."

Oliver bristled, "It seems you are forgetting she tried to kill my sister."

Will responded, "I know but I don't understand anything at all anymore. I-I just need to find Mary - Elizabeth. I believe she is at the estate Forge resides in. I have to see her."

"We are coming with you!" Oliver stated, "you need all the help you can get. Plus, you seem hysterical at the moment."

Will said, "No. No. I need you two to go to Whitechapel and find Elizabeth and tell her everything. Tell her to meet me as soon as possible. Please do this for me, brother."

"Of course," Oliver responded, "we are on our way. Let's go Clara. See you soon, older brother."

"See you soon, little brother," Will responded.

So then Oliver when to Whitechapel to find Elizabeth Whittock while Will went to Westminster to find Elizabeth Forge.

When did things all become so confusing?

/

An hour later, Will was in Westminster, behind the Forge's estate.

Will found sneaking into Forge's mansion easier than he expected. The owners of the house were at the ball and without them, the guards were too busy fooling around. As they were making stupid jokes, they paid no attention to Will as he blended into the greenery, scaled a back wall and climbed into an open window.

Sneaking into Forge's mansion was easier than he expected. The house owners were at a ball and the guards were fooling around, barely paying attention to Will as he made his way inside.

He was looking for Mary – he wasn't going to call her Elizabeth anymore.

He made his way to the upstairs and lo and behold, a metal door barricaded Will as he opened the door with they key he stole from John's dead body.

"Will!" Mary exclaimed as she jumped off her bed and into his arms. Will held her and cherished her touch that he missed for so long. He wanted to smash his lips onto hers but he couldn't. Because if Octavia truly was his mother, then that would make them related.

Half-siblings. It was wrong.

"You lied to me," Will said as he pulled apart, "about everything. You were sent to kill me to become a full-fledged Templar and you never told me. Was everything we had fake then? Was this all some sort of pretend game to you?"

"No! At first it was but after a few months, I fell in love with you! I knew I shouldn't have but I did, I did and nothing after that was false. I love you, William. I love you."

Will bitterly said, "I know you do. But you tried to kill my sister."

"It was orders by my mother. I couldn't not. Look at this room, Will, look at how she has kept us occupied. Me and John. Speaking of which, he didn't bother you, did he?"

Will didn't know what to say so he stayed silent.

Mary realized while looking at they. "You have his key. How did yo-"

"I killed him." Mary closed her eyes for a moment before she said, "I-I understand. He was a prick anyways."

Will said, "You're a Forge. You're a Templar."

"And you're a Whittock, an Assassin," said Mary. "But that shouldn't change anything, should it?"

Will said, "Elizabeth. William. Why do you two have the same names as us?"

"I know I found that odd too, but I-"

"We could be half-siblings," Will said, "we could have the same mother."

"What? What are you talking about? That's, that's absurd! I would know if my mother was pregnant with Oliver, wouldn't I? That makes no sense. Where did you get this idea from?"

Was there a possibility, after all, Elizabeth was wrong and Octavia in fact, was not their mother?

"I don't know, love, I'm confused and tired but I want answers."

"There was only one way to find out," she responded, "Let's go attend a ball, shall we. I need to have a word with Mother and Father."