As the smoke was still emitting out of the shell, Xavier managed to get away from the Assassins as he tightly clutched onto his wound and escaped in the process, whilst Arno and Celestine were coughing and their eyes getting all teary as the smoke closes in on them. Arno managed to pull Celestine away from the fog and he brought the two of them out of that dead-end pocket heading to the same doorway from where they first came in.
It took a while for the smoke to finally clear out, Arno and Celestine have finally breathed in and out some cleaner air than inhaling smoke from a bomb. As Arno turned to Celestine to check on her, he noticed that she was clutching at her chest and is still coughing but not as hard as earlier, her eyes were becoming a bit bloodshot and emitting tears.
"Celestine!?" Arno exclaimed in panic.
"I'm alright…!" she huffed harshly, "I'm fine." She finally gasped.
"Settle down for a second, alright? You don't look so good—I'm serious."
"I know… I know. Xavier's smoke bomb is very different from our types—it's the elite kind of smoke bombs, ones that could really be a good distraction element." She gasped.
When the smoke was gradually thinning out, the two Assassins were observing where the fog is escaping as it slowly disperses; Celestine steps in again but stays away from the fog and looked around the dead-end pocket of the catacombs—searching for an opening where the smoke and also Xavier could have possibly got out from—she looked around frantically, almost losing her focus; she looks around until she followed the traces of the smoke escaping to the ceiling where an opened secret hatch is irresponsibly left open by a certain Templar Grandmaster.
Celestine waited for the smoke to finally disperse and once it has, she leaped to the altar—toppling off the candles—and then scaled her way out of the dead end and out into the open with Arno tagging along behind her.
When the both of them have finally crawled out of the underground, they found out that the hatch was a crypt in disguise. She regained her composure and found Xavier frantically mounting on a black thoroughbred, the horse jerked and stepped back as reaction to what the rider was doing and without heeding Arno's call, Celestine immediately ran towards the stallion to chase off Xavier—she didn't want to harm the animal but there was no other option to dismantle her enemy from his steed, she wanted him alive anyway and she couldn't calculate where the Phantom Blade would land once she fires it.
But before Celestine could be in reach of Xavier on horseback, he had already snapped the reins and urged the horse to go forward therefore speeding away from the she-Assassin; Celestine was indeed a fast and agile runner, but she knew to herself that she can't compete speed against an eight-hundred pound thoroughbred although she pushed herself as she was driven with her vengeance and rage against Xavier Maximus.
She attempted to fire the last loaded Phantom Blade in her bracer but Xavier dodged it—the projectile was aimed at his spine, she planned to paralyze him and she needed him alive to surrender him to the Brotherhood—but tough luck, the man dodged it as he spurred his horse ahead, taking distance from his mortal enemy bit by bit.
Celestine growled to herself and looked at her now-empty bracer, she clenches her fist as Arno caught up with her. She felt herself kneel tiredly to the ground, ignoring the citizens around them and going about.
"Celestine?"
"I almost had him…" she hissed.
Arno couldn't say anything, he just watched her pant and gasp for air.
"Come on…" he coos as he scoops her up to get her back to her feet.
"I need to find a merchant."
"Why?"
"I'm all out of Phantom Blades."
"Va bene. There is one somewhere on the right turn of this annex."
"Good."
Arno noticed Celestine's gradual loss of her stamina, there were times that she would fall behind him and catch up by clutching onto his shoulder for support.
"Come on now, Celestine." Arno picks her up and carries her like a backpack.
"What are you doing?"
"You're tired—don't deny it."
She had no say anyway, indeed she was really tired and she rested her head on his broad shoulder, then Arno continued on with their way to the annex where the merchant is stationed—the annex was another marketplace but smaller than the other ones in the districts but as long as there is a merchant, there is no problem for them.
During the hike, Celestine slowly fell asleep as Arno carried her, not minding the citizens looking at them and grumbling something under their breaths. Miserable people, they were. That's a fact that can never be hidden with any kind of denial at all—not from anybody.
"Are we there yet?" Celestine groaned.
"Almost."
"Put me down now."
"I know you're still tired, Celestine."
"It's fine—I can manage with walking, Arno. I insist." She pleads.
He sighed as a reply and then gently bent down so that her feet was just at least three inches away from the ground, she was still a little wobbly but Arno was there to support her as he lend her his shoulder as she swerves.
"Too much running, I suppose." Celestine said so herself.
"You don't say?"
Both shared a lighthearted chuckle and continued walking, they were close to the curb where they expect a merchant to be standing by next to a vendor's canopy selling whatever goods they have.
"There it is." Arno gestures a nod to a middle-aged man standing next to his table of goods, displayed to the people passing by.
They approached the merchant and he opens his arms as a welcoming gesture to the Assassins. Celestine looked around and assessed what were the supplies she was getting short on—she refilled her supplies of Phantom Blades, of course, and a pocketful of bullets, also a fresh batch of poison gas bombs. She even bought extra stun grenades and a few cherry bombs whilst Arno replenished his pack of Berserk Blades, all types of bombs and his bullets as well.
"Pleasure doing business with you, madame, monsieur." The merchant says customarily.
Celestine gave a slow gratifying bow as she softly responds, "Di rien."
Then they navigated the fastest route to get back to the Café Theatre by foot and so they scaled the very first building that they saw, as soon as they got to the rooftop they scanned the horizon to calculate and estimate the distance of their waypoint from their vantage point.
"Celestine, I know what you're thinking." Arno forewarns before Celestine could even make her pre-running stance.
"What?"
"Don't even think of having a race with me."
"Why not?"
"Surely, it's impossible for you to regain full composure and vigor after all that fatigue you went through. Don't even pretend—I can tell. Not even the Mentors could push themselves to a limit like that unless they really want to kill themselves."
Celestine rolled her eyes coyly and then sat down on an old stack of crates, her façade changed from that light-spirit to heavy-hearted.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing…" she muttered.
Arno knelt down right in front of her, cupped her cheeks and lifted her face so that they could see each other eye-to-eye.
"Dis-moi."
She sighs before she tells her answer, "I've been thinking,"
"Yes?"
"When you saw that Templar pin coming out of my pocket earlier, were you thinking of surrendering me before the Council and then brand me a traitor—because I never told you about it? I never told you about my personal vendetta and the object that signifies my lead to the murderer of my parents who happens to be the new Templar Grandmaster—are you going to frame me, brand me a traitor, have me incarcerated and probably expelled from my place in the Brotherhood?"
That deep thought of Celestine made Arno's heart skip a beat nervously and then feel heavy. She looked at him with those eyes of hoping that she would hear the negative answer that she's anticipating from him but then Arno stood his ground, as well as his morals and ethics.
"No, I would never brand you a traitor. Celestine, it's your personal vendetta—so I respect that privacy of yours."
"But the Council had no idea of this at all. They never knew I have the possession of an item that symbolizes the Templar Order—should they spot me and accuse me instantly without my say of reason, I would instantly be branded as a traitor or a spy."
Arno was silent.
"I knew that if I tell them about this, they would set this aside—presuming that this is just some kind of unimportant personal vendetta—so I thought that I should just push this through with just by myself. I didn't want my parents' deaths to be in vain, I know that they expect me to avenge them in their death and so I had only one option—one and only one option."
"Celestine…"
"So if you're biased and narrow-minded, it's best that you bring them my head."
Arno's lips parted with her last statement and he slumped to a slouched seating, he took her hands and squeezed them tightly—reassuring her that he would never turn her in when in truth she had no fault. Her father only gave her the pin as a lead, nothing else more.
She really thought it was best to keep it secret. And so she did. She was only guilty that she hadn't told Arno this sooner because they just met that time and she didn't know how to put it down to him gently.
Celestine was silent and so was Arno. He scooted closer to her and kissed her forehead.
"I will never turn you in." Arno cooed.
She didn't reply.
"In fact, you did nothing wrong at all. You have no violation or charge." He added.
She embraced him, her arms wrapping around his square shoulders and him circling his arms around her waist, pulling her away from the crate she's sitting on and pressing her close to him. As she buries her face on his shoulder, he could feel her sobbing and her fingers clutching tightly on his coat.
"Oh, Celestine… There, there." He consoles.
"We have to get him!" she sobs.
"Celestine, your body is almost collapsing. You need to rest."
"But I have to get him!" she insisted, she almost sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Listen to me, you need to rest. It's almost sunset too."
She sobbed as her grip loosened on Arno's coat, he smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead long and hard. When the sun was already setting slowly, Celestine had calmed down and watched the sun sink into the farthest horizon while Arno looked at her lovingly and played with her long brownish-black locks pouring out of her hood and hanging in front of her shoulders.
Celestine had been thinking while she watched the sunset, she knew she needed to report this to the Council. It was almost as shocking why the Mentors had no idea of the new Templar Grandmaster—perhaps they must have thought that the Order died with Germain but they were very wrong and Celestine was there to testify to that.
She only hoped that they wouldn't have their irrelevant biases tonight once she does comes before them. She was even thinking if there were other Assassins spying—or maybe watching over them—who saw the entire hot pursuit of Xavier Maximus on a black thoroughbred.
The lampposts were beginning to be lit one by one in the streets, the peasants carried their own torches and lanterns while the aristocrats basked in the warm candlelight of their mansions as the open windows spilled out the orange light. The two Assassins have started to get a move on upon returning to their Sanctuary, the bridge was illuminated by heavy black lanterns and they jumped down to the shore of the river from the railings of the bridge; the balls of their feet thudded hard on the soil of the river's shore, they went through the gate that leads them to the hollow corridor before getting to the main hall and with every step they take their footsteps echo across the splendor of the Sanctuary and with every echo that rings across the walls, Celestine's heart nervously beats its way out of her chest.
Arno held her hand for comfort and they walked together. The two of them met with the Mentors in the court and it seemed like the three high-ranking officers were expecting the couple.
"We understand that you have something to tell us, Celestine." Trenet directly addressed the young Assassin.
"Yes but first, let me ask you this question: How long have you known that there was a new Templar Grandmaster?"
The three Mentors were shocked at the question, as if they had no idea at all.
"Where did you get this information?" Quemar demanded even in his cool voice.
Celestine had that sense of pride in her that made her think that they really had no idea, she slightly cocked her head to side and answered, "I didn't get it—I found it."
This made the three of them lean to the edge of the banister of their prideful podium, never before did Arno witness the three highest Assassins in position to be so intrigued.
"Who is the Templar Grandmaster?" Beylier.
She thought of her words carefully, she took a moment before the Masters could even demand her to speak up at once.
"It's Germain's young apprentice… and the murderer of my parents: Xavier Maximus."
"The identity of the new Templar Grandmaster remained unknown from us ever since Germain died!" Trenet exclaimed, "How dare you give us this information on such short notice?!"
There she goes. Celestine scoffed in her mind.
This is not the first time she saw Trenet to explode into a rage but just at the jump of the female Mentor got Celestine stepping back but keeping her face as emotionless as possible, projecting that Trenet's exclamation is nothing close to intimidation, just surprise.
"We only fished this information from a log sheet from one of the clubhouses in the city." Arno, "Celestine led the way and we both faced combat against the Templar Grandmaster Xavier Maximus." He added.
The three felt silent, Trenet relaxed herself from the tension of her fingers clutching on the marble banister and she took a deep breath.
"Very well, I suppose you did the right thing in investigating about the Templar Order's new leader. If you so wish, you two may take hold of this as your mission. But remember, this is just not personal vendetta, think of the tenets that you carry with you as you do your task." Beylier.
Celestine and Arno bowed in response and left the court.
"I'm surprised they're quite generous nowadays." Celestine blurted as they were safe in her bedroom.
"Times have changed, Celestine—they're part of the change." Arno.
She smiled but then she went back to her deep thinking.
"What is it?"
"Juliette," she muttered, "Should I bring her into hiding where she's safe? Call for the next boat for her?"
"Where will you bring her?"
She thought again and recalled their relatives from her father's side.
"Versailles."
"Do you think she'll agree with you?"
"I don't know. With her already at seventeen, I saw how in love she is with Adrien—perhaps her idea of eloping with him isn't a silly joke."
"Are you certain that Xavier knows about your family?"
"I don't know."
Arno stood up from his seat by the desk, walked up to Celestine still leaning against the pole of her bed and played with her wavy locks.
"You need to relax, tesora."
She sighed in reply, he cupped her jawline gently and lovingly kissed her, the same kiss that they always do and yet love.
Celestine's hands crawled up to Arno's arms, she clutched at his sleeves until he felt her pulling him closer. Their kiss got longer, his hands began to slither into her coat as he wringed his arms around her waist and pulled her closer; she tilts her head to the side and she gave him permission to nibble at her neck, he pulled her collar aside to reveal more of her neck as he begins to kiss it, his moans stimulated her as she pulls closer even though there was no space between them already. He begins to unbutton her vest and blouse as she takes off his coat.
"Wait…" she muttered as she stopped his hands from going further to the middle button of her blouse.
"What's wrong?"
"Don't you think this is a bad time to do this?" she says, in a tone that almost sounds like she's so sorry.
Arno calmed down from his stimulation, he took her hands in his own and kissed her knuckles. He embraced her tightly and kissed her forehead.
"Oh my sweet little Celestine."
FRENCH:
Dis-moi – Tell me
Hey guys!
Sorry if I haven't been talking or posting lately because you know. I'm tired of explaining the same shite all over again in the footnotes because you probably have noticed that my only reason why I couldn't update regularly is because of school. I'm a sophomore now, they just went easy on us in our freshman year.
Anyways, you're probably wondering why Celestine talked like that because I myself have noticed in the earlier sequences of the game's storyline, the Brotherhood could be a little biased and their judgments are slightly off the straight line and—shite!—I have to admit that I'm pissed off at Trenet because she tends to be biased especially towards Arno (my baby Arno!) in the game when he's being a little rebellious against the Creed.
Have you guys ever noticed that none of the Assassins in the game (ACU) has never questioned the judgment and bias of the Mentors? Well, I suppose it's time to shed some little light into it—and Celestine is the only one bold enough to do so! Hell yeah, girl power + Assassin badassery!
But!
I am not conspiring against the Brotherhood, it just so happened that this is my observation in the Brotherhood of Paris but hey, YOLO, I guess. I'll always be an Assassin even if the Mentors could get into my nerves sometimes. Sometimes *yandere grin*
Xielle.
