A/N: When I introduced Shay into this story after playing Rogue, I knew that I would be continuing his story after the end of the game. So it just was a natural fit when I decided that this chapter would be the epilogue for Sequence 2. Now those who haven't played Rogue, this is your Spoiler Alert. This chapter IS the ending to Assassin's Creed: Rogue, and from here on out you are responsible for spoiling the ending yourself. Although, let's face it, after the game being out for over a year, you either should have played it already, watched a walkthough online, or really don't care. I am so glad to have reached this part, as now I will be hitting the ground running once my fic with the Frye Twins finishes up this Christmas. Hope you like this little epilogue I adapted from the game, and have yourself a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, and Happy New Year! "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukah." XD
Chapter 29: Sequence 2 Epilogue- A Different Kind of Revolution
Paris: December 1776
Years of searching for that blasted box brought me across the Atlantic. I had never seen Europe this far east before. I had only previously gone to this side of the world to meet with my brothers in Dublin. Glad to have seen where my heritage had came from.
Master Kenway had said that our spies had reported this being the area where Franklin had been staying for his time in Paris. Now all I had to do was find him.
Running across the roof I jumped over the alleyway to the next building, then slid down into the streets below. I turned right onto a smaller side street, listening with my Sight for the whispers to guide me to Franklin. But I got something far better when I saw several criminals conversing. My French was quite rusty, but I could make out what they were saying.
"So? Did you find him?"
"Yes. Benjamin Franklin is at Notre Dame. If we hurry up, we can catch him."
"So stop playing with yourselves! Let's go!"
"Not while I'm still breathin'" I huffed. As the three of them charged down the alleyway onto the main road towards Notre Dame, I started off after one of them.
The first one I got while he was trying to climb a building not long after he realized I was following him. The second I got jumping off that same building into the streets below, landing right on top of him. And the third I caught right in the middle of the public square, slashing his throat clean in half and letting him bleed out. As I finished with him, I heard more shouting. I looked up and saw two more criminals chasing after him. He was significantly older with grayer hair, but there was no doubt it was him. Benjamin Franklin.
"OVER THERE! GET HIM!" Their leader shouted.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Franklin cried.
My last victim wouldn't be needing his flintlocks anymore, so I grabbed them off his corpse before getting up and making chase.
They brought him into a darker alley than the one before and held him down while they beat him. It boiled my blood to see how the Assassins had the nerve to call us ruthless, and then do things like this to good men like Franklin.
I looked down on the chaos from above as Franklin pleaded with them.
"Arretez! What are you doing?! I have no quarrel with you!"
Two of them were keeping watch. I dropped down from above while his torturer laughed.
"You uncultured swine!" He trilled with his local accent. "You should not 'ave left your backwater colony!"
"Oui! Allez tous nos Boston!"
I started slowly towards them while their backs were turned. I didn't want to alert them just yet.
"Uh, Philadelphia, actually!" Franklin corrected them, still frightened.
"Oh! So 'ee eez a comedien, too!" He laughed as he began again, causing Franklin to call for help again. Glad to have been in reach, because he got just that. I came up behind them and extended my blades, putting them both through the backs of their heads. Franklin stared back at me in amazement, his spectacles hanging just off his nose as his attackers fell to the ground.
"Shay?! Is that you! How long has it been?" He got up and grinned. "Oh, where are my manners?" He took my hand and shook it so hard I thought he might tear it off. "Thank you my friend, thank you! But- what are you doing in Paris?"
I looked him dead in the eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. "With all due respect, sir, this is no time to talk. Yer still in danger."
Franklin agreed. "Yes. I-I must return to my family."
Franklin led me through the winding streets towards his home. Remembering how Master Kenway had taught me to hone my Sight to "listen" for danger, I checked every moment onwards in case of danger. None came until we got to his house.
"Ah, thank you, Shay." He said when we reached the door. "Please, wait for me. I just want to make sure my family is safe." He headed in and shut the door in a hurry.
I knew that there was still danger present, and they were watching us right now. They wouldn't strike until Franklin left the safety of his home again, but they had no idea that the man with his was the same that had driven the Colonial Assassins into ruin. Ruin that was lasting fine until that native boy of Master Kenway's took the hood and picked up what the old bastard had started.
Every one of them that was watching Franklin's door should have kept a closer eye on their backs. I was just finishing up with the last one, who had gotten a bit too hasty and started towards Franklin's door just as he was leaving.
Franklin was stunned. "How…how did you do that?!" He stuttered. "It was quite…fortunate."
"Oh, I make my own luck, Master Franklin." I said. "As I suspect you do."
Franklin beamed. "Yes, indeed my good fellow." He chuckled. "Yet without your assistance today…" He looked around at what was left of his would-be killers, even slightly kicking the one I just finished with. "Well, you have my thanks, Shay. Is there anything I can do to repay you for this…er…kindness?"
Just what I was hoping for. "Actually there is." I said. "I need to meet a… business acquaintance. I heard he would be at the Cháteau de Versailles, two days from now."
Franklin nodded in understanding. "And they don't just let anyone inside the royal palace." He sighed, wishing I had asked for something easier to do. "Very well. I'll see what can be arranged."
True to his word, I found myself walking towards the front steps of the palace itself the next day. Such a marvel of a palace indeed, and yet I was not here for His Majesty. Franklin met me at the gate and had the guard let me in.
"Ah, Shay!" He glanced at my coat as we walked up towards the entrance. "You certainly look prepared to meet royalty. Perhaps King Louis himself will grant you an audience."
I shook my head. "I doubt even these breeches will get me into the King's chambers." I said, solemnly. "Besides, I'm only here to see a business acquaintance."
"Yes." Franklin agreed. He changed the subject. "I heard a group of merchants would be here, today. They might come to see my scientific demonstration later!"
I smiled. That man and his experiments. People would remember him for years to come, I hoped. "They really should." I replied. "They might learn somethin', though I wouldn't count on their bein' present." I glanced back at him. "I take my leave. Thank yah again, Master Franklin."
I then turned and started for the front steps. "Now to find Charles, and that damned box."
That box that had caused me so much trouble to begin with. How it led to practically leveling both Haiti and Lisbon. Although it also led to me seeing the world for what it truly was, and how things had to be if this world was going to live. Certainly not in the hands of Achilles and the Assassins. That boy, Connor was doing his scheming with Washington, but we were doing our part, and we would succeed one way or another.
He and a small boy were just going inside as I reached the front entrance. "There he is." I whispered. "Charles Dorian."
The guards closed the door behind him as he went inside. One of them caught my eye and held his hand up. "Sorree, sir. Zee palace ees closed to visitors at zee moment. Please return tomorrow."
I frowned. "But I'm supposed to be in a meetin', right now" I explained.
"Then you should already be inside." The guard sniffed. Then quite rudely, he added. "Come back and sell your wool tomorrow.
I glared hard at him. The unfortunate part was that this was no place for me to give this prick what for. I was running out of time, and needed to find another way in. Lucky for him.
Doubling back, I noticed an open balcony door. I climbed over the fence just below and then up onto the balcony, slipping in. There were many people about, speaking about their own upper class problems and how the tea was too hot or whatever they liked to complain about. There were guards around as I walked through each corridor to the next, trying to find my way to the hall I knew Dorian would be in, but nothing I couldn't easily slip past through the crowds.
Presently I went to the end of one of the chambers and climbed down a balcony into a large corridor with a checkered floor. A boy and a girl giggled as I walked past them.
"Did you see their faces when we stole those apples?"
The boy laughed. "I'm Arno" He said as I walked into the next room.
"Elise." The girl replied.
Both of those children would eventually become members on opposite sides of our war, but sadly, neither of them would make a real mark on the world like I had.
The main hall was crowded with even more people than before. People hoping to catch a glimpse of his majesty, King Louis. I reached the end of the hallway beside the doorway on the far side, and waited.
Soon enough, Dorian came out shoving the precious treasure into his coat. "Gentlemen, I will protect this artifact with my very life." He vowed.
Oh, but it would certainly cost him his life. An eye for an eye, I suppose. As Liam had killed Colonel Monroe only because he carried the manuscript that went with this box. When his associates departed, Charles walked over to a chair at the edge of the hallway. When he realized no one was there, he looked around.
"Arno? Where have you gone?" He called. He caught the eye of a few other nobles. "My son, Arno? Perhaps you have seen him?"
"Non, mousier." One said as they walked past. None noticed me slip through the crowd towards my target.
Charles feebly looked around for his missing son, but looked behind him too late as I grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved my blade into his belly.
"You!" He gasped as I pulled my blade out. "You're the traitor! The Rogue!"
I grinned as I sat him down on the chair. "I'm just finishin' old business." I said as I reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the box.
Charles strained for air, and tried to stand up as I held tightly onto his shoulder, pushing him back down. "Old- Connor and his Assassins- The American Revolution is undoing your Templar business." He snarled.
I only chuckled, then whispered into his ears. "Then perhaps we shall start a Revolution of our own."
I got up and started away as Charles stood up. Already I heard women screaming at the realization of the dying man that was gasping for his last breaths, hoping that his son was safe. Fortunate for him, I saw no point in killing the boy. I had already gotten what I came for, and I couldn't help but smile even more as I walked out into the chilly December air, my mission accomplished.
Uphold the principles of our Order, and all for which we stand. Never share our secrets, nor divulge the true nature of our work. Do so until death, whatever the cost. This is my new Creed. I am Shay Patrick Cormac, Templar of the Colonial…of the American rite. I am an older man now, and perhaps wiser. A War has ended, a Revolution now raging, and another is about to begin. May the Father of Understanding Guide us all…
End Sequence 2: The Shattered Eagle
