I stop at a point where I can still have a few minutes to prepare before the Abstergo agents get to me. I examine the tunnel's wall to find that they have not aged well… I look at the supports holding everything up and consider just bringing the whole thing down… But that could cause serious problems for the people above… And if I weren't fast enough, then I would likely have to fight as well, and after manipulating earth like that I'm usually left a little drained.
I opt to simply knock them all out, get to the end of the tunnel, then depending on what the end looks like I'll just bring it down there. It will likely also take less energy for me to collapse just the end of the tunnel rather than only one part in the middle. Also it will be less likely for my to straight up pass out from over doing it with my power.
I lean against the wall, the sounds of stomping getting closer and closer. I glance back down the tunnel. I hope they make out the other side. A shout announces their proximity.
Luckily for me, this tunnel isn't very wide. It should be fairly easy to keep them from getting past me, and it will also keep it so that I'm not fighting all of them at once. At once I can handle around seven fully trained people, but as soon as there are more it's harder. Because usually with fully trained people, like Abstergo's agents, they learn to switch in and out to keep each other from getting too exhausted, all while continually exhausting their opponent.
While this tactic takes longer with me… It would work eventually. And I would fall. Maybe not die, but in the case of Abstergo dying is often the more merciful choice.
I hear them come around the bend and they slow down once the leader has seen me leaning against the wall.
"Oh look. One of the Assassin rats is playing the noble hero act. Sacrificing themselves so their dirty rat friends can escape. You must be some kind of sacrificial lamb; they didn't even leave you those goggles they have to help you see in a dark place like this." A couple of the other agents chuckle in response.
"You know what's one thing I dislike about Abstergo?" I ask examining my nails, maybe revelling in my theatrics—just a little.
"As if I want to hear your dirty rat opini—"
"It was a rhetorical question—That means I wasn't really expecting or wanting you to answer—See, I was going to say, I dislike that Abstergo seems to always instill this sense of superiority in its… Sheep? Herd? Hmm… Oh, pups. Yeah, pups. When really, there are things that they don't even bother to explain to you that they know themselves." I step to the middle of the tunnel, "So you all go out into the world to bring the fight to the Assassins… When you don't even understand the tiniest portion of the big picture." I shrug, "But I suppose that puppies wouldn't understand the big picture anyway, they're just too obedient to care." I roll up the sleeves of my hoodie to reveal the hidden blade, "One more thing before I get started." I look at who appears to be leading the rest right in the eyes, "Does it look to you like I'm having trouble seeing in this dark tunnel?"
"Like I said, do I look like I care about your dirty rat—" I launch myself at him faster than he can react, "Opin—" I give him a Sparta kick right to the center of his chest.
I hear the protective equipment inside his protective get-up crack a bit as he careens fifteen feet into the guys behind him, knocking down at least five more of them on the way by and landing squarely on top of two of them.
"Feel free to run. I won't chase you…" I grin at the rest of them as they stare at the unconscious man they had been following.
Two of them, who are now on either side of me launch into a quick succession of attacks with short combat knives. I dip between the swipes and thrusts of the blades as they fail to coordinate with each other in a way that would injure me. Although, when a third guy from the group launches in with his knife he does succeed in making a small amount of contact with me just around my hip. The pain is negligible, but this minor success does cause them all to slow in a premature victory. The window opens for me to attack and I take all three of them down in quick succession with easy and efficient jabs.
The rest of them seem to be frozen in spot so I make quick work of knocking them all out with most of them completely unable to react let alone put up any kind of fight. They're teamwork is abysmal with only two others even trying to go at me together. The rest of them mostly try throwing a couple of flimsy punches.
Apparently, my expectations had been too high… I suspect that the only ones with decent training were the first four guys. And the first guy made it too easy to take advantage of his arrogance, he didn't for a second believe that I could beat all of them. All he was thinking of was beating down the Assassin rats that had given him the slip.
I look over to see one guy sitting against the wall with wide eyes revealed by broken night vision goggles. I get a little closer to him to get some information.
"What was the objective for you lot? Were you just clearing out the Assassins or was there something else you were told to watch out for?"
"L-like you?" He stammers out.
"No. Any specific person, or maybe someone who didn't look like an Assassin."
"No, we were just told to find and kill or capture as many Assassins as possible. Only Captain Hayden had known anything else…" Lies. Not all of it, but definitely that last bit.
"And that's really it?" I take a stomp towards him and he scrambles on all fours against the wall away from me.
"No, I'm sorry! They told us to look for a possible secondary location… Or any clues that could lead to it. But we never found anything…" It seems like that's the full truth.
"Hmm… Okay." I walk away from him.
Once I'm far enough away from him down the dark tunnel, I sprint at my full speed to the end of the tunnel. It doesn't take me long, but by the time I get there the others are not immediately within sight.
I look around to see that I am at a farm just outside of the city, I can see the city's lights on the lower clouds between two smaller mountains. And the tunnel exits into some thick brush by a creek.
Standing in front of the opening that leads to the tunnel, I clear my mind. I focus on moving my power through the earth beneath me to the tunnel's opening and then I clench both of my fists and the earth crumbles around the tunnel, blocking the end should any Abstergo agents make it that far.
"Raea? Is that you?" I whip around to see my mom emerging from some of the brush on the other side of the creek. I slide the mask back down into the fold of the cowl neck and roll the sleeves back down to cover the blade. And I turn myself so that my hip with the small knife wound is facing away from her. She hops across the creek using the larger stones, "What was that light a minute ago? And how did you stop them back there?"
"I… Can I talk to you about it later? It's going to take a lot of time… Where are Lio and Zeph?"
"They went to track down something for us to drive to the site. Venus was stationed there, and I need to see if she's okay." She takes the final steps up to me and brushes my cheek with her thumb, when she pulls away, I see the blood on it.
"It's not mine." I look her in the eye, right now she only shows the love a mother has for her daughter… But she doesn't really know yet… What kind of monster I really am.
Then I go to the small creek's edge and rinse any blood off my knuckles and face. The only part I didn't wash is the cut at my hip. I just tug the bottom of the hoodie over it in effort to not worry my mom.
The guys come with a four-by-four Land Rover, that apparently had been put there by Zeph earlier in the week. He said, 'I had a feeling that things would change once Raea got here.' And I guess he wasn't wrong.
"I just hope they didn't get the location of the site… It would be best if they just didn't even know about it but…" Mom says, I can hear the concern in her voice, I imagine it's less for keeping that site for the Assassins and more for Vee's safety.
"They know about it. They were supposed to be looking for clues on its location but the wuss I talked to said they hadn't found anything."
"Wuss?" Zeph asks from the back seat. I had traded Zeph for the driver's seat because I don't need the headlights to drive in the dark, and the less we're seen from afar the better. They are all wearing their goggles but my vision having been proven better than theirs I took command of the vehicle.
"Yeah, those Abstergo goons in the tunnel… They were hardly out of training wheels yet… I took down their captain and three put up a decent fight, but when I knocked them down the rest practically gave up… No fight at all. So, wuss."
"Fair enough."
"Did we pass a road sign just then?" Mom asks.
"Yeah."
"Alright, there should be a small opening in the trees on the right. Pretty out of sight…"
"Got it."
"Go in, slowly, it dips down pretty severely right away and then levels out."
"I see it… Ready?" Then we leave the gravel road to go onto an off-roading type path with uneven lumps and bumps.
"Okay, now follow this until we get over the creek, then pull onto the stone rising to the left. It's partially hidden by trees."
"How many times have you taken this path mom?" I ask, usually I wouldn't expect such concise instructions from someone with a less sharp memory than my own.
"Only a few—We usually take a more straightforward route—but I remember this kind of thing easily."
"Huh, neat." I respond honestly, and I spot a small grin form on my mom's face.
Once we stop on the stone landing, we all step out and mom leads us up the creek a ways. The water is a refreshing chill on my feet that were still on the warm side from having channeled my power through them into the earth. At one point the water reaches about halfway up my thighs so I reach down a cup some of the water and splash it on my hip, hoping to get rid of some of the blood there.
"This water is freezing…" Aquilo hisses out between his teeth.
"Better than being followed anywhere." Zeph answers impatiently.
We walk that way for around ten minutes before we reach a stone rise with a little waterfall. The rise only reaches about nine feet up but it's taller than all of us. They make a sort of pyramid and offer for me to go first.
"Save your energy…" I bend down a little and hop up the rise easily, just a slight stinging from my hip as a result. And leaving the rest of them just gaping at me—mom most of all— I then bend down and reach to help them all up. Lio was the last one and I had been worried that he would refuse my help, but he just takes my hand and lets me pull him up. Once he's standing, I expect him almost throw my hand away from him in disgust, but he holds onto it.
"Listen… Raea… I'm sorry… I—" He starts awkwardly, his hand scratching the back of his neck.
"Thank you… But we should wait till we're at this site you all keep talking about." I smile at him, just hearing the 'I'm sorry,' was enough to make me a little happier. Knowing that he doesn't completely abhor me improves me whole mood.
We walk another fifteen minutes over stone cliffs and crags, that would be deemed impassable to hikers at this hour normally. But as I look to the sky, I can see it lightening to that predawn grey to the east already.
"Okay, the site is just over this ridge from here…" Mom says as we approach the ridge, and we all lower ourselves down to the ground to survey the area first. She swaps the goggles for a pair of binoculars presumably outfitted with night vision as well.
I lay down next to them and focus my awareness again.
"There's only one person over there." I announce, and Lio and mom both just look over at me.
"And you already know this, how?" Mom asks.
"Once we're inside I'll explain… To both of you… And Vee of course… I think this will be my biggest audience yet though…" I swallow hard, nerves beginning to fray at the thought of having to answer the plethora of questions sure to come my way.
We all head down the slope to a cave entrance hidden by vegetation. Aquilo goes in first, then mom, who leads me, followed by Zephyr. The first whole area of the cave looks empty, a normal cave. Complete with the echoing sounds of dripping water. Then as we come to a dead end I get a little confused until Zeph grins at me and runs towards the wall. I get ready to laugh at him for dead running into a stone wall, but at the last second he drops down and expertly slides through a gap between the cave wall and floor hidden by the way the stones sit. Aquilo follows him, then I go, with mom following to bring up the tail. We follow the cave a few more bends— with some side tunnels branching off from the path we take— before some lights begin to show around the next corner.
Once we get to the lit area, I look around to see what is set up to be something of a camp space. With industrial looking lamps set up around the area and a sort of generator in the corner humming away. There is a spot with some camp chairs in a circle around a small heater, with a wooden platform hosting some cots and one more heater.
Zeph and Lio both stand at the edge of it looking around for Venus I suppose… Little do they realize where she is. I keep my eyes looking around the space to avoid alerting them to her location.
They take a few more steps, they'll be in range soon… Then as Lio turns around to look back at us, she strikes. Landing right on him and knocking him to the ground.
"My point this time." She says victoriously as she stands up and offers a hand to help him up. Once he's standing they both hug and Zeph gets in on it as well. Then mom strides into the space, "Mom… I was so worried about you all… When I didn't hear from you at all when I was supposed to— Then total radio silence… There were some people poking around in the beginning area of the cave, but they didn't see the gap."
"Abstergo found our hideout, so we've moved to here for the time being." Mom says professionally, "I'm really glad they didn't find you." She says as her whole body relaxes while pulling Venus into a hug, which is when Venus notices me.
"You really are here! I never thought this would be something you'd be a part of…" Vee walks over to me and gives me the biggest hug of them all, and I hug her back, "I bet this has been really rough the last little while, huh?"
"Yeah… But probably not for the reasons you're imagining…" I release her from the hug, and she makes a confused face.
"But that can wait until we've all had a little rest… I don't know about you lot, but I'm completely exhausted." Mom announces to us all. I mouth 'thank you' to her.
"Since I'm probably the only one that got any real rest, I'll keep watch near the gap for now." Vee volunteers already walking in the direction of the exit of the cave system.
"Thanks…" I say to mom as Lio and Zeph argue over which cot is theirs.
"I know you'll come through with an explanation, but I want to be all ears. And with how tonight has been… I just can't give you the attention you deserve to have for what is surely a fascinating explanation." She confesses as she walks over to the cots arranged on a wooden platform. I follow her over and place my bag down next to the cot dubbed as my own, then I pull off the hoodie and the mask comes with it clattering across the platform.
Mom picks it up and just stares at it for a while before gently brushing her fingers over the smoothed metal areas around the eyes. Then she looks at me with a sort of disbelief in her eyes, then it deepens to shock as she takes in the blade on my wrist. I pull it off and pass it to her silently. And she just marvels at the objects in her hands.
"Later. Sleep first." She says passing them both back to me, Aquilo just watching from his cot and Zeph already snoring on his. Then she spots my hip and comes over to examine it.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She berates me for hiding the small cut on my hip that has mostly healed already.
"I'm fine." I simply answer, placing a hand on her shoulder. Before she goes back to her cot.
"Explanations later." She repeats before laying down.
"Good night… I love you…" I say almost with a broken voice, she smiles warmly.
"I love you, too, my Raea." She closes her eyes, then I see Aquilo roll over to have his back to the rest of us.
I lay down on my cot and close my eyes. It takes a while to calm my thoughts and my nerves but eventually I fall asleep.
But it isn't a restful sleep. The sleep I have is full of memories and whispers calling out to me from the shadows. Whispers full of ancient words in long dead voices.
Astr…
Ast… raea…
Astraea…
ASTRAEA!
I fly up in my cot but impact with something stops me and sends me right back down to laying position. A bit of pain in my forehead makes me realize I hit my head… But on what? There's nothing above me.
"Errghhhh…" I hear from the ground next to me, I sit up slowly and look over to see Aquilo, squatting on the ground cradling his head between his arms…
"Dude… I heard that one on the other side of the cave… I think it may have echoed. Are you okay?" Zeph comes over and kneels next to his twin,
"Yeah…" Aquilo squeezes out in a very strained voice as he rocks on the balls of his feet holding his head. Then it hits me as to what happened.
"Were you trying to wake me up?" I ask him as I turn myself to be sitting on the side of the cot and reach my hand out to put it on his shoulder. Then I stop part way there, remembering him dodging what I intended to be a comforting hand, and I bring my hand back to my lap.
"Yeah… You seemed like you were having a nightmare…" He slowly stands up.
"I'm sorry…"
"No, I know how I am when I get woken up suddenly and I should have taken that into account… But seriously. What is your head made of?" He rubs his head where a sizable goose-egg is now forming.
"Bone…"
"Not like any bone I've ever felt…" He comments.
"I'm a little more durable than most people are…"
"No kidding…" He begins to walk away.
"Thank you…" I say causing him to pause and look back.
"Don't mention it." Then he lays back down on his cot with his back facing out. Zeph sits down on the bed next to me.
"He's trying. He really is." Zeph says as he places his hand on top of where my hands are clenched together.
"I know." Ast… I look over to where the cave forms into another curving tunnel, did I hear something over there? I didn't notice that tunnel last night…
"Earth to Astraea… Do you read me?" Zeph waves a hand in front of me.
"Uh… Yeah… Sorry, I thought I heard something… Must've imagined it." I shake my head a little bit, this place makes me feel strange, "Anyway… What were you saying?"
"I was saying that I was about to trade watch with Vee, but if you're awake, do you want to?" Zephyr offers, I can see the extensive bags under his eyes.
"Yeah, I've rested enough already." I say as I stand up.
"Are you sure?" He asks barely keeping his eyes open.
"I'll be fine. You on the other hand look like the walking dead. Go back to sleep." I point at his cot and he just nods before walking back over to his cot flopping down and seconds later the snores resume.
I stand up and walk over to the shadowed area where the gape in the wall is to relieve Venus.
"Hey," I say as I approach making sure to keep my eyes angled slightly away from her, "You ready to get some sleep?" She whips her head around and I can already see similar bags under her eyes as Zeph's.
"But you've barely gotten four hours of sleep since you all got here." She weakly argues.
"I'm fine. I slept most of the evening before Zeph and I went on watch earlier." I shrug and she nods, standing up before walking past me and handing over the night vision goggles before shuffling around the corner to the where the cots are.
And so I just sit in the dark space, literally watching the wall.
I lose track of time thinking of all the ways telling my family can go wrong… I'd had so long to plan out how I was going to do this—But I hadn't accounted for such a drastic change of circumstances—With this my plan has had to shift so completely that I don't know where to begin anymore.
Then I hear the steps of Zephyr coming towards me.
"You know… We still need to think of a superhero name for you…" He puts a hand to his chin as he arrives with one of the little lanterns in hand barely casting enough light for him to see, then he sits down beside me.
"Nah, I don't need one of those… Plus, all the good ones are taken anyway." I shrug.
"I'm sure we could come up with something good…" He jokes.
"Not on your life." I quip seriously at him as I hold up the goggles to him and grin.
"Vee didn't even make you put them on, eh? Goes to show how tired she was." He pauses for a minute, "Me too… Because apparently it has now been ten hours since you took over watch." He scratches the back of his head.
"Wow, I hadn't even realized that much time had gone by…" I comment.
"Vee was tired enough that she couldn't remember who had, so now Mom thinks that I did take over for Vee, I managed to get Lio in on it to say he took over for me, and you took over for him." He says barely over a whisper, "If mom knew that you just spent ten hours over here on four hours of sleep she would tear all our heads off." He motions a noose being pulled around his neck.
"Well, soon she'll be of as privileged in information as you and will know that I am completely fine on four hours of sleep." I pat his shoulder.
"On that note… They are all awake now… And mom sent me over to get you for your explanation… I hope you used those ten hours wisely…" Zephyr informs me.
My nerves are suddenly back in full force, which is only being made worse by how wired this place is making me feel.
"Well, apparently I didn't use the last ten thousand years wisely in that regard so…" I shrug to fake being calm, which I can already see he doesn't buy.
Zeph stands and then holds his hand out towards me.
"Come on… It'll be okay. Just take it a slowly as you need to. I'll help when I can."
"Alright…" I take his hand and he pulls me up and then drags me along to sit with the rest of them, the only ones of our family missing are dad and Nyx.
"Aquilo…" He looks at me, "I'm sorry. I… I should've been able to think of a better way to handle it with you… I hope that you can forgive me in time…"
"No… I didn't let you explain anything. I just goaded you into fighting harder, then I ran away." He says before looking down at his feet and clenching his fists at his sides.
"I did let the goading get to me… So you aren't entirely to blame…" I counter and he looks up and give a small smile, it may not be total forgiveness for being a monster, but I'll take what I can get.
"Am I the only one totally lost here?" Vee pipes up.
"Don't worry, I'm feeling pretty lost." Mom answers beside her sounding supremely unimpressed.
"Get used to it. I'm still feeling lost and I'm supposed to be one of the people in the know." Zeph shrugs.
"Yeah… I got a bit of an explanation in the Animus but…" Lio begins.
"A bit? You call that four-hour discussion I had with that man 'a bit?'" I ask incredulously, and Lio just shrugs. Then it occurs to me what a violation of privacy the Animus is… It makes me glad I have no descendants to view my memories.
"I never got the answer for 'how,' only 'what' and a very vague sense of 'when.'" He counters.
"Okay… Fine. But it wasn't only a bit. You've probably got more information on it than Zeph does." I resign that I didn't give Ezio those answers anyway.
"Yeah… All I got was a little flight to cover whatever could get squeezed in." Zeph sulks a little in his chair.
"Still really lost." Vee says defeated sinking into the camping chair.
"I guess… First. I want you to know… That you've always been my family. Everything I did… Everything. I did it to get to the point where I could be with you again. And… I love you… All." I start.
"Jeez… Corny start Raea." Zeph teases and receives a stiff punch to the arm from me in response.
"Of course, Raea… But why say that now? We all know how much you love us. You've never hidden it from us." Mom says, and she's right. I never hid how precious they were to me.
"Because… I've been hiding something. Ever… Ever since… The ferry incident."
"What? Did you get brain damage or something? A permanent injury?" Venus sits forward rapidly almost tipping her seat.
"Nothing so… Ordinary… That would have been a lot easier to break news-wise." I answer.
"No kidding…" Zeph says, I play punch his shoulder and he just grins.
"The day of the incident…" I take a deep breath, "I never came back out of the water." I look down, doubting whether I'm handling this right? What if they all, even Zeph, see me as a monster after this?
Astr… I look over to the tunnel and its gaping darkness.
"Astraea? Are you okay?" Zeph asks me.
"Sorry… I just… I keep hearing whispers. This place is strange."
"Don't say that now! I've been here alone trying to convince myself that that isn't the case every night!" Vee says as she hugs herself, "But, hey! No escaping the question! How is that possible? You definitely were found on that tiny island by those sailors…"
"Well, I was found on that island yes… But I am not the same Astraea that fell into the sea that day." Out of nervousness my gestures begin to get more elaborate as I speak and Zeph elbows me.
"You are plenty our Astraea." He says, "Your—"
"Expressions, emotions, humour, attitude, and the way you love us… You are Astraea." Aquilo interrupts, his expression saying 'I'm sorry' when our eyes meet. For a moment, my nervousness ebbs away.
"Okay, I'm glad you two seem to be past whatever was hanging over you both yesterday… But what did happen then? Obviously, you didn't drown." Mom says to get us back on track while gesturing to all of me.
"You remember what the doctor said about how I didn't have amnesia despite the reports from the ferry's crew saying I had hit my head against the side of the ship?" I ask her.
"Yes, you said that you never actually hit your head."
"That was a lie… I did hit my head… Extremely hard on the ship's hull. And I did have amnesia. For a very long time. But by the time I got back here it was long healed."
"What do you mean by 'by the time I got back here?'" Vee asks, I can hear the concern colouring her words.
"First, I had been pulled away from the ferry further into the stormy area. Then a wave pushed me under the water, and I sank." I see my mom's hand clench. This is why I don't want to tell her, but there's no going back now, "I fell unconscious. And when I came to, I was on a beach… Then the most beautiful people I'd ever seen asked me who I was… And I couldn't answer them. I didn't know."
"So, what? You ended up with pretty people and they cured your amnesia? This is sounding completely unbelievable. You weren't gone that long." Vee stand and bursts out, before settling back down.
"It might not have been long for you… But for me, it was… Quite a bit longer."
"Understatement of the year." Zeph says under his breath, which earns a glare from Vee. God, I missed them all so much.
"How could it have been longer for you than us? Because believe me… It was no walk in the park while you were missing." She says, I can see the tears in her eyes.
"Because it wasn't a matter of where I woke up. Because the beautiful people weren't human. They…" My voice cracks, "They were Astraeus and Eos. They were Isu."
Astraea… My head whips around to see the dark tunnel, only I see a flash of light for a fraction of a second. I stand up and watch the tunnel.
Then I feel warmth at my hand, I look to see my mom holding my hand. I sit back down.
"How is that possible, Astraea? The Isu have been gone for millennia. They never recovered after the Catastrophe." Mom says, very logically. Unfortunately, I have no such logical answer to give her.
"I wish I knew… It was something that even they weren't able to really figure out. They manage to suss out a 'what happened' but never a 'how.' Minerva, Jupiter, Astraeus, Eos, Hermes, Poseidon, and even Hephaestus. None of them could ever find an answer to how, all they could do was tell me that I wasn't an Isu. But… That I wasn't quite a human either. And because I had no memories, I had never known that I had once been a human."
"And so, what? You've lived all this time? Between then and now? As if." Venus says, anger beginning to form in her words. I feel an elbow from Zeph, and he rolls up his sleeves. My jaw drops, that was not something I ever wanted Mom nor Venus to ever see and I shake my head at him.
"It might be the only way." He says, "But maybe the whole overshirt…" I take a breath in… Then I stand up, put my hands at the bottom of my shirt, and then begin to tug up.