I'm just going to say this…Why on Earth did they not make the other three assassins in the trailers actual characters in the game? I mean I know why, but hell, it would have been fun to see the crap that Arno and those three got up too. Thus, this story was born.
There was a man tied to a chair in front of Francois. Not just any man, but a man by the name of Bernard Chevalier, who by all accounts was a templar spy. Upon his person, he carried a letter with the detailed account of an upcoming shipment of gunpowder from Spain and that was where Jean came in. Francois sat on the table in front of Bernard reloading his pistol while Jean stood off to the side waiting for the opportune moment to scare the living daylights out of the spy. Anyone would be scared of the burly man with the axe; Francois was counting on it. All they had to do now, was wait for Raphael and Arno to walk in the door.
"You know, I fancy a bit of target practice." The most deviant smile came across the cavalier's face when he looked held up the pistol in his hand and looked down the sight. "What about you Jean?"
"Please don't shoot me." Bernard said shaking at the sight of the assassin in front of him aiming the pistol above his head. "I'm just a messenger."
"We could start with his feet." Jean spoke up removing his broad axe from its place on his back. "Maybe at the ankles?" He pointed the head of the axe at the man's feet. "Or the knees?"
"Please no." The spy was nearly crying at the intimidation.
"I was thinking maybe you should start without the removal of limbs." Arno's voice pipped up from the window behind them as he had a habit of just appearing at the right time. He sat on the seal for a moment before jumping off and joining in with the two assassins.
"We could just throw him out of the window." Francois said looking at Jean as Arno moved to stand in front of the spy.
"The fall won't kill 'em but it will break his legs." Jean put his axe back into its holster, then crossed his arms with a thoughtful look on his face. Arno shook his head as he realized he was the only levelheaded man in the room at that moment. "It will be like old times."
"And this is why Raphael does all the planning." The blue clad man said to himself. "How did you catch him anyway?" Francois and Jean looked at one another before answering.
"Oh, you know, a little bit of ingenuity and some coin had Bernard practically walking into our grasp." That did not describe what really happened but given that it was the two of them, Arno was sure that it could have been much worse. They were the troublemakers of the entire Parisian Assassin Council and it was no wonder Arno became friends with them. "Isn't that right, Bernard?" The captive spy nodded his head silently as Jean glared at him. "See? Easy."
"Intimidation goes a long way, brother." Jean said as Raphael appeared through the same window Arno had come in from moments before. "Isn't that right Raphael?" The greed clad assassin smirked upon seeing the cowering spy in the chair.
"I don't know, I'm Spanish, we usually start with the torture and worry about intimidation later." Arno watched as Raphael pulled out his dagger and went up to the spy. "Now, the letter, s'il vou plait?" The Spaniard held the dagger over the man's fingers ready to chop them off at any moment. The look of fear in Bernard's eyes was almost comical to Arno, but at the same time he also thought it was useless to interrogate the man in such a manner. Of course, this was the way his brothers had their fun, so he was not going to interrupt that.
"In my coat pocket." Bernard's shaky voice gave out and Raphael smiled before putting the dagger back in its place on his belt. The captive man slumped in the chair with a sigh as he realized he may make it out of there alive.
"Merci, Monsieur." The green assassin said as Arno looked through the coat pockets and finally pulled out the small letter with a smirk on his face.
"Got it." Arno held it up for the others to see. "Now what?"
"Give me that." Francois said taking the letter from Arno and reading the contents. "I wonder what it would take to make a load of gunpowder disappear?"
"Two horses, a wagon, and the four of us." Jean said looking at the other three assassins with him in the room. "What about the rest of the gunpowder?" That was the real question but the way that Francois' eyes lit up with the possibility of explosives already told Arno what was going through the man's mind.
"I've always liked the thought of making big explosions." There was almost delight in the grey clad assassin's voice as he handed the letter over to Raphael who read it before handing it over to Jean.
"Don't get too carried away, Francois." The youngest assassin said as he crossed his arms. "We don't need to be attracting a lot of attention." Arno did his best to put reason into the situation as he was not sure blowing up black powder was not what they had in mind. Of course, he chose his words carefully.
"Well, in any case, we have a mission to complete." Raphael said looking to Jean. "The shipment isn't scheduled to arrive until Friday night. That is three days from now." Then he looked to Arno as Jean handed the letter back to Raphael so he could plant it back on the spy.
"I'll handle the logistics, but in the meantime, what do you want to do with him?" The axe man looked to the man still tied to the chair and so did everyone else. Raphael raised an eyebrow while Arno crossed his arms. "Can't just leave him here."
"Could get it over with and spill his blood." The grey clad assassin said taking out his pistol and cocking it. "Can't have him going around telling his templar friends that we are on the hunt."
"Or that we are going after the shipment." Arno spoke up as he put a hand on the hilt of his sword. It must have looked very menacing to Bernard who was clearly pissing himself at that moment with the puddle on the floor.
"I'll make a deal with you Bernard." Raphael said as he flicked his wrist for the hidden blade. "You don't speak of this to anyone and you get to live." The Spaniard put a serious look on his face before pressing the blade up to the man's neck. "If you tell anyone, we will find you and finish the job." The threat was real with how low Raphael's voice was.
"I won't say a thing!" Bernard squeaked out. "I promise!"
"Good, cause if you do, Madame Rosalie will find your neck real quick." Jean pulled his axe out and kissed the blade in a show of how much he truly loved his axe. It was enough to make Bernard slump back in the chair as the intimidation did its job.
"You are all mad." The spy said as the four men walked out the door leaving the poor man tied up in the chair for someone to find later and free him. Once they were out of the old house in the slums, Arno took out his watch and looked at the time.
"How long do you think it will take him to get free?" Arno asked before setting his watch as a timer while Raphael looked around the crowded street for any sign of Jacobins.
"An hour if he yells loud enough." Francois answered the question as the blue assassin hit the button on the watch. "Two if someone randomly walks in the room."
"Just enough time to start some trouble." Arno looked over to Jean who had put away his axe. "You think this will work?" Raphael was the genius of the group for sure and his plan was almost flawless.
"There is one thing I love about Templar spies and that is how predictable they are." The green assassin said with a smile as he began to walk down the street to the little cafe at the corner. Arno and Francois followed him casually as they found a place to split up and watch for the spy. Thankfully the streets allowed for easy observance in the crossroad where the cafe was. Raphael took to the rooftops to wait for any signs that the other three assassins gave as was their plan while Jean patrolled the street keeping an eye on the regulars.
Arno found himself leaning up against a wall across the street from where Francois sat at the cafe. This part of Paris lead to the slums which caused a lot of traffic in the streets and this was a good place to meet up with an informant. No one could run away without running into a table or another person and the amount of people in the crowds could cover any escape. The noise of the place could cover any conversation being had which gave all four assassins the idea that this was the place to go. The fact that Francois was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand looking as suave as ever while waiting on the spy to show his face made Arno chuckle at the sight.
Taking out his watch he looked at the time after he had waited in place for a good while. It was nearing sunset already and that usually meant the streets were going to be clearing out soon. Night in Paris was not the best time for anyone to be out unless you were in more wealthy areas of the city. However, at that moment the streets were still very much busy. Arno saw Raphael pointing towards the west end of the street when he looked up from the watch in his hand. Looking over where the other assassin was pointing, he saw the spy they had interrogated earlier looking around like a lost puppy.
Francois set his coffee cup down on the table after noticing Arno's movement away from the spot he occupied and stood up before leaving payment for the beverage. If Arno was on the move that meant the spy was too. The gray clad assassin moved effortlessly through the crowd as he followed Arno from a distance and just before the younger assassin was able to intercept the spy, another young man came out of the alley way to the right. The young man accidently bumped into the spy's shoulder before moving into the crowd and almost disappearing. Francois knew that was the handoff and motioned for Arno to go after the young man while he took care of Bernard Chevalier.
Bernard, however, took off running towards the east trying to get past the assassin and Francois sighed before running after the slower man. They always had to run, but Bernard did not get very far before running into a woman and knocking both of them to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The assassin watched as the spy tried getting up but found that there was another person in his way and an axe at his neck.
"We meet again." Jean's deep voice seemed to rumble through the crowd as Francois helped the woman up off the ground. "How long has it been, Bernard? An hour?"
"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" The two assassins looked at one another before Jean grabbed Bernard by the shirt collar and dragged him into an alley. "Wait! No! Don't kill me!" The gray assassin could feel a good story coming on.
"Why should we spare you? There better be a good reason." He looked to Jean and nodded before the burly man dropped the spy.
"It was either this or go to prison for stealing food." Bernard held his hands up in surrender as he waited for the two assassins to pass judgment on him, however, judgement would not come. The assassins looked at one another before Jean put away his axe. "I have a family. My wife and three little daughters are on their own because of the things I've done. All I want to do is be able to feed them." Francois pinched the bridge of his nose. The man before them gave the assassins conflicting feelings as he had never really harmed anyone, but he also was working for the Templars. Of course, he was likely forced into it, but the reasoning behind it was justified.
"Well, there goes that." Francois crossed his arms. "We can't kill him if he has never done any harm." As it went against the tenants of the Creed.
"Merde." Jean said.
"Get out of here Bernard." The shorter assassin said motioning for the spy to run away. "Find honest work and make sure I don't see you again." The trembling man did not think twice about running away as Francois put his hands on his hips in disappointment. He had been looking forward to at least scaring the man yet again. "Now that has been taken care of, let's find Arno and Raphael."
The cafe had quieted down since the daylight had gone and that left the wonderful mess that had been left behind by their clientele. Not that it was an issue for Eva as she had been able to help hire Celestine, but she had the feeling she would have to fight Arno on hiring another maid. She was grateful to her mother for allowing her the opportunity to help with the running of the cafe, however her position was more akin to an assistant than it was a managing job. She was not complaining about it in the least as it gave her a little more independence to make her own decisions at twenty-one years old.
She helped Celestine clear the tables and stack the teacups to be washed by the morning before making her way into the dining room. She was exhausted after having to make sure the workers were doing their jobs in applying new paint to the walls and fixtures around the building. Eva was sure her dress was stained from the accidental spill of coffee earlier in the day, but she put it behind her as there was much more work to be done before she could go to sleep. She removed the scarf she had around her shoulders and tucked into her bust which allowed her to at least relax a little. Now if only she could loosen the laces on her corset to allow her to breathe, but that was not going to happen until she was in her bedroom at home.
When she entered the dining room, it was still in a state of travesty as there were boxes full of tools and useless things sitting on the long table. Eva was fit to be tied there as she remembered telling the workers to remove them before leaving for the day, yet they seemed to have ignored her. Now she had to move them herself, but she was too tired to do so. Sitting down in the nearest chair, she held her white scarf in her hands as she debated on what to do next.
"Oh, you're still here." The voice she had come to despise pulled her out of her thoughts as she looked to the doorway where it came from. "Good, I was wondering if you could bring some wine down to the club." What did she look like to him? A maid?
"Ask Celestine to get it for you." She huffed. Their relationship had not gotten off on the right foot on her end, but ever since the first day, the two of them did not seem to get along.
"Your mother sent her home for the night." Of course, Charlotte sent the only maid home early. She looked at the man in the doorway with annoyance as she quickly stood up and stomped past him to the wine rack across the hall. She could swear he was smiling at her the entire time as she pulled a bottle of the cheapest wine they had from its place and handed it to him. She did not say anything when she let go of the bottle before he could grasp it firmly and it fell to the floor, shattering at his feet. "That was good wine." He had an angry tone in his voice.
"I am not your maid, Monsieur Dorian, so don't treat me as such." She did not bother to stand there and watch as he seemed to be processing what just happened. "By the way, that was cheap wine. I would never misuse expensive flavor. Good night, Monsieur." She said after stopping and turning to him before making her way back into the cafe to where her mother was preparing to leave.
"What was that all about?" Eva did not answer her mother as she went to the closet and reached for her hat. "Evangeline?" The worry in Charlotte's voice was evident as the young woman wrapped her scarf around her shoulders and tucked it back into the bust of her corset.
"It's nothing, Mama. Monsieur Dorian was asking for wine." She put her hat on and waited for her mother to walk out of the building before following. "What on Earth do you see in him, Mama?" She asked crossing her arms as she walked. Luckily their home was only down the street a few homes over.
"He reminds me of your father." Somehow Eva doubted that. Henri Gouze was nothing like Arno Victor Dorian from what she could remember. Her father was charismatic for sure, but that was something she had yet to see in Arno and somehow her mother saw it. "When he was younger, your father was just like Arno."
"And that justifies him being selected to steward the place?" Eva said angrily believing that there was no one who could do as fine of a job as her father had in running the place. Arno Dorian was not like her father at all and her mother refused to see that.
"Evangeline, we have been over this again and again. Arno is going to be here whether you like it or not." Charlotte stopped and grabbed her arm to emphasize her point. She pulled her daughter around to make eye contact, so her point was ensured. "I know you do not trust easily after everything that has happened but try to be more welcoming." Eva looked down at her skirts before nodding.
"I will try, Mama." She most certainly would not try because Arno was the problem. He refused to apologize for his teasing the first day they met and of course he also refused to apologize for everything else. He was absolutely intolerable.
"I want you to be happy again." Charlotte put her hands on her daughter's shoulders with a smile on her face. "You haven't smiled since..." The older woman began but refused to go any further on the subject knowing it would cause Eva discomfort. Those three days of terror for Charlotte were three days of something entirely different for Eva and if it had not been for Francois, the girl would not have survived.
Arno watched from a distance as the two women left the courtyard. He had heard enough of the conversation to question what had happened to the girl before to make her so guarded and if he truly wanted to know. She did not like him and that may not have been entirely his fault, but like Raphael had told him weeks ago, she did not like attachment. Maybe for his wellbeing, and hers, he could attempt to start over with her. Arno certainly did not like the animosity between them as she seemed to be a kind person who took great pride in helping where she could. She was also sad and lonely, which was enough to make any man walk away completely.
The young man did not like having to fix broken people; partly because he was broken himself and if it meant having peace under his roof, then so be it. After weeks of putting up with her attitude, Arno decided that maybe he should sit down with Evangeline and discuss terms of surrender.
Downstairs, the other three assassins were playing cards and discussing the next plan of action for the gunpowder shipment due in three days. Francois was holding a good hand, at least he thought he was until Jean threw his cards down with a better hand. The grey clad assassin folded upon seeing the straight hand of diamonds and how it beat his four spades and the mixture of red cards left in his hand. Raphael remained quiet from where he sat leaning back in his chair and his eyes focused on his hand.
"Fold." He said throwing the hand down leaving Jean as the winner. The burly man scooped up his winnings into the pile that he had already made over the course of the night. "Francois, you better check his sleeve."
"I will have you know, gentlemen, that I am not a cheater." Jean held up his wrists and began to unfasten the buttons on his sleeves before rolling them up. "I am just better at cards than the both of you." He smiled broadly as Arno walked in with a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Says the man who cheated last time by hiding the ace under his foot." Arno approached the table and put the bottle down on it with a sigh after noticing a card sticking up out of Jean's hood. "Like so." The young man reached over and plucked the card out of the folds and showed it to the other two men.
"Not only is he a bad cheater, but he is a horrible liar as well." Raphael said stoically as he sat up in his chair. "Merci, Arno." Jean responded to the criticism by looking up at Arno with a glare.
"You are a terrible friend." The axe man said.
"Only when you cheat at cards." The younger assassin smirked before sitting down across from Francois and opening the bottle of wine. "So, now that we have the information on the gunpowder; what about Arceneaux?" Arno asked as he made a grab for his empty glass, he left on the table earlier, but Raphael grabbed it first. "Get your own glass." He glared at the green clad assassin.
"He will be at the drop off location on Ile Saint-Germain." Francois said as he shuffled cards. "Are you in?" He asked Arno as he began to deal out the cards.
"Only if Jean doesn't cheat again." Arno gave the cheater a side glance accompanied by a smirk in jest as he was dealt his hand. He would be damned if Jean bested him over a cheating hand.
