Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Int his chapter you will move between Altair, Desmond, and Ezio's point of views. These will be distinguished when their names appear in bold. Don't forget to review to let me know what you think so far!

Revelations

Desmond Miles

I walk out of the doorway with Clay trailing behind me. I look back at him, his head is down, and he looks ashamed. I am not sure how much I should press him, but he showed me a completely new side of Azalea that I have never seen. She was cunning as Azalea, intimidating as Willow, and bitter as Deeliah. However, Clay showed me a side, a purely evil side of her that I never thought existed in her, especially after seeing her in her most vulnerable with Altair.

I look behind at Clay and finally say, "How did you not realize she was feeding you to the wolves?"

Clay looks up at me and says, "The bitch is smart, I'll give her that. She knew how to speak to me. She knew that making it sound like I was ready for the Abstergo assignment would play with my emotions. She was toying with my ego, telling me that I was an asset." He closes his eyes and I can tell that fury overcomes him. "She knew Abstergo was going to kill me. She knew I wouldn't make it out alive. She knew that she was safe and none of the Assassins would question my death if it happened in the field. And she knew that I wouldn't question the assignment if she stroked my ego hard enough." Clay clenches his fists.

I look around the island and see all the floating structures. The sound of the water crashing against the shore sounds so soothing. I look over at Clay who is still tense and angry. "You know how to get me out of here—syncing with the nexus—why did you never sync yourself?"

Clay begins to laugh, like crazy-mad-man laughing. Has he lost his shit? I look at him with a concerned look and his hysterical laughter turns to angry sobbing. I back away from him when he finally looks at me with tears pouring down his eyes. He inhales deeply, composing himself and says, "She trapped me in here." He says with so much spite in his voice. He has no more insults for her, and her very existence has become disgusting to him. He shakes his head and looks up to the sky, tears falling down his cheeks. "She used one of those artifacts on me. She implanted memories in my mind that were not from my ancestor, and when the time came for me to sync with the nexus, I was incapable of distinguishing my ancestors apart because the memories I came to believe were true, were all fabrications she created to ensure I'd be trapped here forever." He turns his head and looks over to me. "Whatever opinion you have of her—based on your own experience with her… in there," he points at the doors of the Animus, "in there was the real her. She lived this long killing anyone and everyone that crossed her path. There is nothing human about her anymore."

I think about everything he has shown me, and my mind splits with all the questions I have for him. I shake my head, look at him, and say, "Who was the spy that leaked information to the Templars?"

Clay laughs and says, "Her sweet little pet, Daniel Cross. I found files through Abstergo that he was their guinea pig when he was a kid." He sits down on a rock but I stay standing. "Turns out Abstergo raised him inside the Animus, that he is unable to sync with the Nexus. However, he was never trapped in this magical kingdom, he can't differentiate in his mind, hence the episode you saw with him speaking Russian. It's from his Assassin ancestor. Abstergo manipulated him into siding with the Templars. He was leaking information to them the entire time. They probably made him fuck her too." He shrugs and I swallow hard thinking of Daniel and Clara together as well as my night with Deeliah. "I'm sure she was stewing in self-hatred for trusting him." He says with gratification.

I decide to change the subject and ask, "How did she get a hold of the Apple?"

Clay shrugs, "It didn't show me that, I guess that's for your ancestor to show you." I try to press him for more information but he stops me, "Better get back to it, Desmond." He says motioning to the door with a nod of his head. "Don't want to turn into me, do you?"

I frown at the comment, "I'm…I'm sorry, Clay."

"Your apology does nothing for me, Desmond." He puts his head down and then after a while of thinking, he finally looks up at me with the most malevolent smile I have ever seen. "If you really want to do something for me Desmond, find her, look her in the eyes, and tell her that before I died, I found Amir's descendant, and he knows everything, he has everything he needs to destroy her." He begins to laugh and I step away from him.

"What sort of cynical bullshit is that?" I say angrily. "I'm sick of these half answers of useless information constantly given to me. Who is Amir?" I say sternly.

"Why don't you ask Altair?" He says, and with that, he disappears into a sea of pixels.

"Yeah, well fuck you too, I guess." I say under my breath as I turn around and look up at the pillars that hold the door to the Animus. I take a deep breath and walk into the threshold of my ancestor's memories.

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

"Father, I do not understand… why did you build a library if you did not intend to keep your books?" My son Damir asks as we stand in the presence of the tomb I have built. I stand before my boy, so proud of the man he has become. He looks so much his mother, the concern and love in his eyes, came from her.

"You should go." I tell the boy with sadness in my tone. "When the Mongols return, Masyaf must be empty."

Damir frowns with realization, "I see… this is not a library at all. It is a vault."

"It must be hidden, Damir." I speak of the Apple, "far from eager hands. At least until it has passed on the secret it contains."

"What secret?" Damir presses, but I smile at my son.

"Go, Son. Go be with your family and live well." Damir falls in my shoulder and inhales as he embraces me once more.

"All that is good with me, began with you, Father." I smile at my boy and release him. I step into the vault and look onto him one last time. He smiles at me and the doors close, leaving me in isolation.

I walk to the end of the vault, extinguishing the flames as I pass them. My mind wonders with thoughts of the Apple and all it has given and taken from me. I think of Malik and Maria. Their words flood my mind, their warnings of the Apple's power, warnings I did not heed.

I place the Apple on a podium on the far wall. I think of how Damir will tell those who know, that the Apple is gone, nowhere near Masyaf. The device will not be found until it is time. As I close the wall, to imprison the Apple, I hear it singing its humming tune, asking to be used. I resist its pull, and shut the Apple away. I slowly walk to the chair and sit down. My bones ache as I take my rest. I take the key and hold it firmly in my hands with my final entry, for any who have come this far. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, embracing the peace.

"Altair," I hear my name and I open my eyes. Before my very feet kneels Azalea. I look upon her face and she is the same as I saw her last, the day I killed Al Mualim.

"Have I passed? Are you an angel?" I ask weakly.

"No, Altair, you still live." She says with a soft voice.

"Then you are a vision? A ghost?"

"No," she says shaking her head. "I am alive, and so are you."

"How is this possible?" I touch her face, and her skin is so soft and youthful.

She smiles up at me with sad eyes. "The Piece of Eden," she says simply. "Where you sought the device for knowledge, I sought immortality." She pulls out her dagger, the humming captivating my ears as it once did long ago. "The relic's power was to heal wounds, though used too often; it healed me of the scars of time." She places the dagger back in her waistband and looks up at me with an unhappy smile forming on her lips. "I cannot die, Altair. I will never join those I loved. This is the curse I have chosen." She places her young hand on my frail and aged hand; I lightly grip her hand as best I can, knowing the truth of the dagger better than her, and the eternal life she has been given. Her eyes shift from mine to behind, where the Apple lies. "Are you sure it is safe here, Altair?" she says with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Yes, the time will come when someone will find the Apple." Her eyes flash back my way, "When that time comes, find him, take care of him, and teach him all you know. You must watch for them, surely you know about them, this First Civilization. Don't let them corrupt and mislead."

Wait, is he talking about me? How does he know these things?

"Altair…" her words fall before her; she is unsure what to say. "I have found others, these artifacts. Their use is cursed. The Apple, it has the power of illusion and knowledge, but its curse—"

I lift my hand slowly and she falls quiet. I place my fingers on her cheek where her scar stains her face. "I am so sorry for the pain I caused you." She shakes her head, tears falling from her eyes. "You will find peace my old friend. You will find restoration, and you will be reunited with your son." Her eyebrows come together in confusion and I smile at her. "I pray you, take your gift, and watch over my lineage. Guide them, educate them, and save them. Then, when the time comes—when the chosen one steps forward—answer all his questions, and guide him to the righteous path."

"Altair, I… how?"

"It is a curious thing; these pieces have done to us. You are here with your youth, and I with the knowledge of man's disobedience." I shake my head and laugh weakly. "Treat them as a gift, not curse. Once you have, you will find your home."

I close my eyes and as Azalea wishes to press on, I see my lovely Maria extend her hand to me. "Safety and peace, my old friend." I say to Azalea as I take Maria's hand and feel an uplifting light take over me.

Desmond Miles

I'm thrown back onto the island, where everything around me begins to crumble and fall in a heavy quake. Clay appears laughing hysterically. "Here it comes!" he yells as he runs towards me.

"What is that? What is going on?" I yell out frantically.

He grabs a hold of me in a tight bear hug and I try to struggle. "This is the end, Desmond! Scheduled for deletion!" His eyes are wide and he looks completely mad.

"What are you doing?" I yell as I try to struggle out of his grip.

"What is a Man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live. The tales we tell ourselves."

I feel tears falling down my face in the fear of what is going on. I struggle in Clay's grip. "Don't do this." I plead.

Clay scoffs, "I am saving you, you idiot! Go! Go!" he lets go of me and pushes me as everything begins to crumble in a sea of pixels.

I look back at him as he begins to disappear himself. "Wait, wait!" I yell out frantically as he disappears, "Amir, is that Azalea's son? Did Azalea have a son?" I yell out to him over the chaos that ensures around us.

"Yes, Desmond! Yes! And the wild beast of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest." He yells but I can no longer see him, and I wonder if he is still even here. I back away back into the Animus, thinking that it is the only save place left for me.

Ezio Auditore da Firence

I kneel before the Master Assassin. I lift from prayer and look onto the bones of a once great man. I take the disk from his hands, and lift myself to my feet. I walk behind the Assassin and look around the tomb he created for himself. Behind him is a pedestal engraved in the wall. I walk to the wall and my eyes fix on the shining orb. "Another artifact?" I go to reach for it, the device calling out to me. "No, you will stay here." I say stepping away from the artifact. "I have seen enough for one life."

As I turn from the artifact, it begins to glow and covers the walls with strange symbols and lights. "Desmond?" I ask.

He's talking to me?

"I heard your name once before, Desmond, a long time ago. And now it lingers in my mind like an image from an old dream." I say thinking of the object that spoke his name. "I do not know where you are, or by what means you can hear me. But I know you are listening." I look around the vault for an answer or a materialization of this Desmond. I take off my hidden blade and unsheathe my sword, I am laying down my old life and making anew. "I have lived my life as best as I could, not knowing its purpose; but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon. And here at last I discover a strange truth: that I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding." I look to the hieroglyphs on the walls that display from the Apple. "Who are we, who have been so blessed to share our stories like this; to speak across centuries? Maybe you will answer all the questions I have asked. Maybe you will be the one to make all this suffering worth something in the end." A man appears to me in an image and I believe it to be Desmond. I place my hand on his shoulder and I feel a surge of energy within him. "Now… Listen…"

Desmond Miles

I look around in the dark room as the Apple shines. Coming towards me is a man… a hologram, glowing from the light of the Piece of Eden. "Do you hear me Cipher? Can you see me?" He looks right at me, "Ah there you are, good." Holy shit he is staring right at me.

"A strange place, the nexus of time." He says to me, "I am not used to the… calculations. That has always been Minerva's domain. I see you still have many questions. Who were we? What became of us? What do we desire of you? You will have your answers; only listen and I will tell you how." The glowing continues and I look around in awe with that he is showing me. "Both before the end, and after, we sought to save the world. We built vaults within which to work; each dedicated to a different method of salvation. They were placed underground to avoid the war, which raged above, and as a precaution, should we fail in our efforts. Each vaults' knowledge was transmitted to a single place." The Apple displays a hologram of the globe, where a point signals like a beacon. "Where it was our duty… mine, Minerva's and Juno's to sort and sample all the collected." Minerva and Juno appear and I recognize them from the Coliseum where I killed Lucy. I feel a pang in my chest thinking about it. "We chose those solutions which held the most promise and devoted ourselves to trusting their merits. Six, we tried in succession; each more encouraging than the last. But none worked… And then the world ended…"

He faces me and in an instant, a vision appears in my head as if pushed inside. I see a planet, one that looks like Earth closing in on a sun's orbit. A solar flare bursts through the atmosphere towards the planet. I see people scramble and scream. Men, women, and children all running in fear. I watch as their buildings and infrastructures collapse in quake, taking the lives of so many. A woman holds her baby, helplessly trying to find shelter, but there is nowhere for her to hide and escape the catastrophe. Soon, there is nothing but destruction.

"The Earth shook for days, the fires burned for weeks, and when the ash settled less than 10,000 of your kind still lived… and far fewer of ours. Nevertheless, we carried on together to rebuild, to renew. Listen," he turns to me now and the vision of death is gone, "you must go there. Take my words, pass them from your head to your hands. That is how you will open the way. Though, be warned, much still remains in flux and I do not know how things will end. Either in my time, or yours."

I hear a high-pitched ringing in my ears and I feel a pulling sensation on my body, my arms, my legs, and then finally my mind. I can feel something tugging on me, tearing through me in an intense discomfort. The ringing continues in my ears, when finally, I can make out a muffled sound. I close my eyes and focus on the sound.

"Wait!" I finally make out. "His vitals are stabilizing!" That voice, "Something is happening!" So familiar… Rebecca? "He's… he's moving!"

I feel my body rest on something and everything begins to feel… real again. "Desmond? Can you hear me? Son?"

I open my eyes and there I see him. My father. God, I've missed him so much. I turn my head and there is Rebecca, and Shaun. They all have concerned, yet happy looks on their faces. I look down at my arm, and it is glowing a light blue light. I can feel the light swimming in my veins. The Apple is within my arm's reach and I can hear it singing its hypnotic tune as it sang for Altair and Ezio. I take my eyes from the Apple and look back at my friends, and with a weary voice I say, "I know what we need to do."