Chapter Sixteen: The Truth: Stranger than Fiction?
Desmond could not believe what he'd learned in just one small and sadly, brief conversation. One of the people who came before might still be alive and somehow manipulating the events within time. The idea boggled the mind. A man, or a remnant of a species that came before man, surviving from the birth of the very first humans until modern day. That itself was an achievement in its own right, but then to add to the ridiculousness of it all, this creature or man had the power to influence human evolution and growth and manipulate men into doing its bidding.
It was preposterous.
But…
It was also true. After all Desmond had seen first hand the effects of the Pieces of Eden. Had felt their pull for obedience and seen how they enthralled all other human beings. It was madness that made him consider a darker alternative to the source of the Pieces of Eden. What if they weren't a gift from the precursors at all? What if these POEs were designed to enslave and control humanity?
Wasn't it ironic that in moments of important events in human history, a POE could always be found? How was it these powerful, dangerous devices always found themselves in the hands of tyrants and powerful organisations?
What if these artefacts that were thought to be tools, weren't tools at all? What if it was the other way around, that humans were the tools? What did that make the artefacts, the leash to their collars or something more? Desmond had held a POE in his hand many times before, despite Altair's overprotectiveness and he'd always felt a certain sensation, as if the POE was judging him and deciding whether he was worthy of wielding its power. Was it possible that the POEs were sentient? Or was there a sentience able to reach out and communicate, manipulate and control the POE and its handler?
And if the POEs controlled humanity, why were he and his bloodline so easily able to shake the compulsions of these devices?
Desmond sighed with frustration, turning onto his front and grumbling into his pillow. Beside him Ezio grunted, opening an eye to send a tired, exasperated glare at the back of Desmond's head, before turning and grunting. "For the love of God, beloved, go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us."
Desmond's head rose and he stared at the back of Ezio's head, his brain working a mile a minute.
For the love of God.
The apple of Eden.
The mind-controlling artefacts had been with man from the beginning and almost always they were tools of the Gods.
And what if those mad theories, beliefs that Gods walked among men was not a whole lot of drivel as Desmond had first believed. What if the Gods were really the remnants of the races that had come before? That could be why the POEs were always with the people in power and why history went the way the first civilisation wanted. Because they were always there from the start!
And if there were survivors from the first civilisation, then there was a good chance that they interbred with humanity. After all Zeus supposedly loved mortal women, as did a number of male deities. And if that was true then Desmond's bloodline could be a hybrid bloodline. His ancestors and he could possess enough precursor genes to make them almost entirely immune to the effects of the POEs.
But this was madness.
There was no such thing.
Surely…
But the more Desmond thought the more he believed what he had thought. And if the precursors were alive and still using the POEs to control humanity, then the Assassin's had been fighting the wrong enemy from the start. The Templars were indeed a threat the Assassin's had to take seriously but if the legends of Gods and history had taught Desmond anything, it was that there was always a Big Bad manipulating things from behind the scenes.
What had Resting Eagle implied? That there was another ancient who did not agree with his peers? That meant that just as there was a Big Bad, there was a Good, but this Good God was weaker. But if they were from the same time and lived as long as each other, why would one be weaker than another.
Unless…
The POEs did more than turn men into mindless drones. Could the POE actually leech energy to feed the entity using them?
These thoughts were madness and he surely needed sleep.
A snore brought him from his thoughts and he returned to looking at Ezio's back. With a sigh he gave Ezio a shove and almost immediately the man was sat up and searching the room. When the older assassin realised there was no threat, he gave Desmond a questioning glance.
"I need your help." Desmond stated. "My thoughts aren't letting me rest."
Ezio quirked a brow and his expression turned lecherous. "Maybe I can…" He was stopped by a hand on his chest and a glare from Desmond. "Innamorato?" He asked concerned.
"I am not in the mood." Desmond answered. "I want to talk."
Ezio may be perverted at times but he realised instantly that this was to be a serious conversation. He gathered Desmond into his arms, settling against the pillows and sighed. "Speak, my heart and I will listen."
"My thoughts are stupid."
"Let me be the judge of that." Ezio answered.
"What if, this whole time we've been looking at things wrong." Desmond asked softly. "What if we've been so focused on the immediate threat that the greater, more subtle threat has avoided our gaze." Desmond dared not look at his lover, for although he'd woken Ezio to have the older man listen to his thoughts, he was also embarrassed and ashamed at what he'd been thinking. "This whole time we've been fighting the Templar's, afraid of them finding and possessing the POEs. But what if the biggest danger is not the Templar's but the POEs themselves."
"What makes you say that?" Ezio asked, his voice lacking the sleepy quality it had had just moments before and instead taking on a deeper more thoughtful tone.
"The POEs always seem to be conveniently in important places at the right time. You could argue that the Templar's and similar agents had found and used them to cause these important places and times, but that does not easily explain the fact that in histories greatest events, a POE is almost certainly nearby."
"So, if they are not placed there by Templars to affect history. How do you think they got there?" Ezio asked.
"It's stupid." Desmond muttered. "But what if they were already there, before the events happen."
"But that would suggest individuals who knew the events that followed and perhaps set the events into motion." Ezio countered.
"True. But I have a ridiculous thought." Desmond whispered. "What if the POEs wanted to be there?"
The silence that followed his statement caused Desmond to look up and blink uncomprehendingly at Ezio's thoughtful expression. "You think the POEs are sentient?" Ezio asked. "That they are aware of events in time and can somehow place themselves in just the right place to effect history."
"You're right. It's stupid."
"No." Ezio's tone of voice gave Desmond pause. "There is a certain…aura when I handle a POE. As if something can see through my eyes, as if I am nothing more than a mere puppet. But unlike other humans I am not made into a mindless drone." Those dark brown eyes turned to Desmond, their gaze pleading. "What else does your tired brain tell you, Innamorato?"
"Well…" Desmond swallowed awkwardly. "What if, what if it is not man controlling the POEs at all, but someone or something else."
"Like the Gods?" Ezio asked. "Like Minerva?"
"I forgot you had that encounter with her."
"She spoke of those that came before. That she was one of those who came before and she spoke directly to you as if I was not there. She spoke through time, didn't she? As you were observing me from the future, she was contacting you from the past."
"What if the image of her is not the only one remaining? What if she and others like her can still affect the future, whether it be from the past or whether they are still surviving today?"
"You are suggesting these people, these Gods, still live and affect our histories and our future. It is madness but it is so mad it almost makes sense. And having seen Minerva with my own eyes I am inclined to believe it as true." Ezio muttered. "But even if it is not true, we have no way of confronting a God."
Desmond frowned. "They want something from us, that much must be true if they are still manipulating events. Either they want to enslave us or they seek something else. But why encourage the war between Assassin's and Templar's."
"Distraction." Ezio answered. "By keeping our minds fixated on war, we fail to notice what is going on behind the scenes. If we want to comprehend what they are after we need to look at their work on a larger scale."
"Each time the POEs have been found they have been regarded as holy artefacts."
"Meaning they are disguised as gifts from the Gods. By dispersing the POEs far and wide they will have a tighter hold on humanity. American's, Italian's, Arabian's, German's, Russian's and so on would all be bound to the will of the POE, few, if any would escape the artefacts compulsions leaving humanity and Earth open for invasion and control."
"But why do that? If there are so few precursor's left like the legend suggests, why even bother to enslave a whole race?"
"Who says there are few left? If the precursors have affected history from the beginning then we cannot take those tales at face value."
Desmond hummed in agreement but an idea was beginning to take hold. What if there were few precursors left, surviving off the energy the POE syphoned from their hosts and in ruins still powered by precursor technology. If there were enough hybrid humans who could break the POEs hold on them then the precursor's lost their influence. Perhaps they did not want to kill Ezio because he had stopped Desmond doing what they wanted, perhaps they wanted to kill Ezio because Ezio was one of the few humans capable of resisting the POEs call. Perhaps this whole elaborate scheme was to terminate all hybrids so that they could keep their power and influence over humanity?
If that was so, then letting them kill Ezio was the worst thing Desmond could do.
And what was more important was that Desmond could save Ezio. But to do so he needed the help of one whose will could not be shaped or controlled.
He needed Altair.
Desmond sat up startling Ezio who eyed Desmond with concern. "Desmond, what is wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong!" Desmond stated with a smile. "This whole time, I have been completely confused and lost. And this whole time the answer was right in front of me! I have been such a fool Ezio!"
"I don't understand." Ezio commented.
Desmond kissed Ezio, a smile on his face. "I know where Altair is."
Ezio gasped. "Where?"
"Altair has known, all along!" Desmond stated climbing out of bed and dressing as fast as he could.
Ezio was growing more and more worried, a frown marring his expression as he slid to the edge of the bed to sit and watch his younger lover rush to dress. "Desmond…"
"This whole time, we thought Altair was lost, but this whole time it was us who were lost. We could not see the wood through the trees."
"Where are you going?"
"To find some answers." Desmond answered. "To learn the truth."
Ezio stood. "You are making no sense!"
Desmond shook his head. "No, for the first time I think I am starting to make sense of this madness. I know there is something I'm missing but I think I know where I can find the answer." He stated rushing forward to kiss Ezio on the cheek before all but running through the house and to the front door.
"Desmond!" Ezio shouted desperately, having followed Desmond and now stood on the landing above the front door and looking down at Desmond imploringly.
Desmond smiled reassuringly. "I will be gone for at least a day, maybe two but when I return, I will answer all your questions. Please just trust me."
Something in Desmond's expression made Ezio waver. "Alright, Innamorato. You are your own man. I trust you. Just… come back to me. Altair will never forgive me if you never come back to us."
"I will return and I will bring with me some answers." Desmond answered. "I love you. See you soon."
"Anch ' io ti amo." Ezio answered. Desmond smiled and rushed out the door and to the stables, missing the whispered. "Torni a casa in sicurezza, il mio cuore."
So after a huge hiatus I am returning to this story with fresh ideas and trying to remember all I wanted to achieve with this fiction. I re-read the whole story and went away and came up with this incredible idea, an idea I turned into Desmond's own thoughts. I hope your excited for the spectacular end to this mystery: at least I hope it will be a spectacular end and one you will all love.
As you can probably guess, I love mystery novels and was really inspired by Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, who seem to solve grand mysteries from the smallest of clues. But hopefully I am leaving enough of a mystery that you are eager to know more.
Are the POE sentient?
Are there God/s or Precursor/s who are manipulating events? If so are they doing it from the past or are they alive in the present?
What does Altair know?
Where is Altair?
How did Altair learn the truth?
Has Desmond gone mad or has he truly solved the mystery?
If you are enjoying the story and this chapter whetted your appetite, please stay tuned for a future chapter!
On a personal note, I want to apologise once more for the time that has passed, I know I say it every time but I have genuinely been busy but hopefully despite the wait you've enjoyed this chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it and adding a more spontaneous, mad but surprisingly intellectual side to Desmond's character. I also enjoyed the end where Ezio let's Desmond walk away. Over the previous story and the last fifteen chapter's I had a lot of comments that suggested Ezio and Altair coddled Desmond (and they do) but hopefully with the last part of the chapter you can see Ezio acknowledging Desmond's skill and realising Desmond was ready to face the Big Bad world on his own, but also reminding Desmond he did not have to face it alone if he did not want to (hence the 'come back to me' part).
I really hope you enjoyed this update and are excited for more.
Kelral
Google Translation:
Anch ' io ti amo. – I love you too.
Torni a casa in sicurezza, il mio cuore. – Come home safely, my heart.