I wrote this chapter over a year ago and have been changing it as the games and comic books came out. I try to mirror this story as well as I can to the games and comics. So this chapter was hard to write and was constantly changing. But the time has come to release it for your pleasure. I hope you like the direction this is going. Please let me know what you think in the reviews!

Resurrection

Desmond Miles

"Des—nd!...De—mond!...Desmond!" A muffled pitch rings in my ears. "Desmond…c—n…hear…m—?" I try to open my eyes, and when I do, I can finally see a low grey blur appear in my vision. I begin to feel again and feel a rush of pain enter my head. I feel as though I am waking up from the worst hangover of my life. The ringing in my ear finally subsides to a lower and more bearable pitch and I can hear what is being said to me. "Desmond… get up, we have to leave." I try to find the source of the sound, but all I can make out is a fuzzy outline of a body. I am too disoriented to determine who is speaking to me or react to their demands. I try to move my hands to reach out to the voice, but my entire body is aching.

I begin to gain control of my body and senses, and I am able to look around. I move my eyes frantically trying to find the source of the voice. Everything is still so blurry, but I am able to make sense of what I am seeing now. I very slowly and weakly raise my head to continue to look around. I am still in the Temple where I saw Minerva and Juno. I turn my heavy head to the left and see the pillar where I placed my hand. I remember placing my hand and feeling an intense pain of electricity flow through my arm. The surge flowed through my body and I could feel every static hit of it until the electricity hit my heart. That's when everything went black. Am I dead? I look around frantically wondering if this is what life is like after death. Why aren't I in Heaven with the ones I love? Why aren't I in Hell burning for my sins? Why isn't there nothing but blackness? I don't give a shit where I go after death, but why am I still here?

A body comes towards me and I try to lay my head down and pretend to be dead.

"Oh good, you're coherent." The voice says, still in an echo, however, I am able to quickly recognize the voice as a female. I look up to ensure it is the female I am thinking of, and when my eyes focus on her face, I am stunned to see Azalea's face looking back at me. She kneels next to me and her features become clearer than ever. "Can you walk?" She asks watching me as I struggle to move my heavy body. She becomes impatient and grabs my shoulders.

She forces me to a seated position and all I see is a van that she must have come here in. She asks me to help her as much as I can and I try. I mumble, trying to ask her what is going on, how she found me, and why am I still alive. However, she does not acknowledge me. She gets me standing and I lean on her as she practically drags me to the van. She lays me down in the back and makes her way to the driver's side. I try to look up at her, but my head is too heavy. "Where…" I finally get out and find that it is harder to speak than I thought it would. "Dad?" I finally manage.

She looks back at me with what little concern her eyes can convey. "Get some rest, Desmond. You'll feel better when you wake up." I don't argue with her because I am so tired. I close my eyes… if only to rest them… but I quickly fall into a deep sleep.

I see flashing lights and an alarm is blaring in the background. I am in some sort of building where there are small cubicles everywhere. I run around trying to find my way out. I shout out but my voice is mute. I realize now that I am dreaming and try to calm myself a bit. I look around and try to figure out where I am, and why I am dreaming about it. I look around and see Altair standing in front of me. He is clearly a ghost because he appears to me transparent. He beckons me, and I make the decision that I should follow him. He takes me around the building as papers are scattered on the floor and everything looks like everyone left in a hurry. I hear the eerie sound of a siren echo through the building, while only emergency signs light up the building. There are small fires in wastebaskets, and the sprinkler system has gone off. Altair leads me to the lobby of the building where I see a small pond on each side of a small bridge that we cross. The water is murky and the water and plants have not been attended to. I look into the water and am startled when I see Lucy face up in the water. She has the unmistakable look of death stained on her face. I look away and continue to follow Altair. He takes me to the elevator, and when the doors close, he disappears. I frantically try to escape the elevator. I yell out Altair's name but my voice falls short and he does not respond. I look out the window of the elevator and watch as I make my way up the numerous floors. The elevator is made of glass, so I can still see the lobby as I rise up the floors. I can still see Lucy in the water, and when I try to look away, something catches my eye. I see a body hanging from the higher floors by a noose, dangling like a chandelier. I recognize the body as Rebecca, and I turn away from the window. The doors open and the ghost of Ezio greets me on the other side. Hiding behind his hood, he also beckons me to follow him. I do so, knowing that I don't have any other choice. Ezio leads me to a large office, with windows surrounding me. The office is the direct opposite of everything else going on in the building. It is calm, well lit, with nothing but the sound of silence to greet me. I look out the windows and see the scenery of a busy city. Cars are moving and people are walking the streets as if no one notices that the building that I am in has recently evacuated. Ezio leads me to a painting on the wall of an ancient Templar crusader smiting an infidel with his mighty sword. I examine the man being killed and it is obvious by his robes that he is an Assassin. I am captivated by the picture; something about it draws me in, and I can feel an immense heat coming from it. I reach out to touch the painting when my eagle vision turns on and I can see that there is something behind the painting. I move the large and heavy painting from the wall and see that there is a huge safe. For some reason the safe is unlocked, so I open it and step inside. I almost shit myself when I step inside and see Shaun sitting at the end of the safe with a leather briefcase in his hands. His eyes have been gouged out, and blood falls from his open mouth like a waterfall. Judging by the amount of decay on his skin, I can assume that he has been dead for a while. I know that I have to take the briefcase from him, but the sight of seeing a friend like this is horrifying. Eventually I gather the courage to take the briefcase from him. I have to use force taking the briefcase from Shaun because rigor mortis has stepped in and his dead fingers cling to the thing. I tug at the briefcase violently, and Shaun's arms are ripped out of their sockets. I exhale in disgust and leave the vault hugging the briefcase close to my chest. Connor appears and I follow him back into the elevator. I try to open the leather briefcase while in the elevator, but there is a combination lock to it. Connor takes me to the lobby where two large doors with the welcoming words "EXIT" shine back at me. I begin to run towards the doors, with the briefcase tightly in my grip. I hear laughing and I look around while continuing my stride towards the exit. I find its source and see Daniel Cross standing behind me. I can't help but stare at him, haunted by his image as he spits up blood with every laugh and his eyes are wide open, looking down at me like a madman. I turn away from him when my body hits something and I fall to the ground knocking the briefcase from my grip. I look around frantically for the briefcase, and when I find it, I reach for it but the ground caves before it and I watch as it falls into the pit of a raging volcano. I look back at what I hit and see Clay standing before me. He is holding the briefcase now, laughing in a deep and contorted voice. He takes the briefcase tightly in his hands, leans down to look at me, and says, "You can't trust her." His voice echoes through the building as Daniel, Rebecca, Lucy, and Shaun all repeat what he is saying. "You can't trust her." They say as they begin to approach me. "Ask her about Eden." Clay says as the others repeat, "Ask her!" They repeat this over and over as they approach me. Clay towers over me and yells in a demonic voice, "Where is the device!"

I spring awake to find myself soaked in a pool of my own sweat. I pant heavily as I look around and try to assess my surroundings. I am in a large bed in a massive sized bedroom. I step out of the bed and when I do, the room lights up. I look around to see if there is any clue as to whose home I am in. There are no pictures on the walls, or photos by the nightstand. There is no trace that anyone's personality went into this room. The walls are a light shade of grey and the bedding is white. Heavy grey curtains cover the windows, and when I pull them back, the windows are boarded up with bricks. I begin to feel myself panic.

I see a door that leads into a closet where I hope to find some article of clothing that will tell me who lives here. I walk into the closet and find it completely empty. There is no trace of any man or woman living here.

I extend my hand to open one of the drawers when I realize that my hand and arm is severely burned. I touch the burn and when I do, a flash of memories hit me like a brick wall. I see Juno and Minerva fighting, I see the end of the world that Juno showed me. I see myself placing my hand onto the podium… I fall to my knees at the realization. "I was dead."

"'Was' being the operative phrase there." I jump at her voice, not realizing that I had said that out loud. "Glad to see you awake." She says with her hand on her hip, leaning up against the doorframe of the closet. "Didn't think you would make it for a second there."

"Where…"

"Where are you?" She says knowing what I want to ask but still don't have the strength quite yet. "You're safe at one of my properties." I must look confused because she elaborates, "You're in a safe house where no one will be looking for you. Not even Abstergo."

"Abstergo," saying the name aloud gives me chills. "They will never stop looking for me."

"Of course they will," she says with her hand extended out toward me. I take it and she helps me to my feet. "They believe you're dead."

"They won't accept that until they find my body." I argue.

Her lips twitch in a subtle smile and she motions me to follow her. "I have something I should show you."

She leads me out of the bedroom and into a large living room. There is a white sectional couch and TV in one end of the room, a desk in the corner with a computer chair, all that leads openly to the massive kitchen. The desk holds four computer monitors. She motions me to sit down in the computer chair. The leather of the chair makes a ripping noise as I sit down. She logs onto the computer where she brings up a video on two of the four screens. I look at the other two screens where there are multiple pages up with pictures of hieroglyphs, excel spreadsheets of seemingly random numbers, as well as scribbles on post-it notes stuck to the frame of the monitor. Rather than trying to make sense of all of this, I look at the two monitors that have the video up.

She presses play and I calmly sit and watch the video. The footage shows the tunnel that she pulled me from. A crew has set up lights and a table of medical equipment. The men lift up a lifeless body onto the medical table and begin to prep it for an autopsy. I squint my eyes as they lift the body to the table. I lean forward trying to get a better look at the body—the computer chair making a clicking noise as I try to move closer. I squint my eyes and when the image clears, I feel a rush of nausea hit me. The body is wearing my clothes, has my tattoo on his arm, has my hair… the body is me. There is no mistaking it. The body on the video is me, and they are dissecting me. When I see them begin to cut the arm, I can no longer hold in my nausea and I throw up in the wastebasket next to the table.

Azalea sighs and turns off the video. "That's enough for today."

I spit the remanence and groan, "What the fuck was that?" I pull away from the trash and place it on the ground.

"That was Abstergo dissecting your dead body." She says bluntly, as she takes the wastebasket away.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" I yell, "Stop being cynical and tell me what the fuck is going on!" I demand.

"I thought I was being pretty clear," she shrugs almost talking to herself, handing me a glass of water to wash down the taste of vomit. "When you so foolishly placed your hand on that platform—for whatever reason—you electrocuted your heart and died. I found you in time to revive you with a Piece of Eden. I didn't have much time before Abstergo showed up, so I hauled you out of there. The man on that video you see being cut up is an Abstergo agent I killed and cloaked using a Piece of Eden to look like you. I implanted false memories into him to make Abstergo believe that the body they were harvesting… was yours."

I feel even sicker than I had before. I almost wish I hadn't asked her what was going on. I try to comprehend what Azalea is telling me, and I try to assume it as not total bullshit. Everything she said makes sense, as much sense as anything can anymore. I remember placing my hand on the platform, I remember seeing the world end, and I remember the feeling of pain rush through my body like electricity, and then I remember it all ending; there was nothing but darkness to accompany the moments after I placed my hand on the pedestal. I begin to feel weak and nauseous as I think about the events in the Temple. My surroundings become blurry and I feel myself fading. I frantically jump out of the computer chair and try to make my way to the restroom to wash my face, but I don't have the strength and I fall to my knees where everything goes black.

When I come to and my vision finally clears, I see her face looking over me. The expression painted on her face shows that she is slightly irritated. Her thick brows come together, only slightly showing her annoyance with the situation. Her face looks soft though, and no wrinkles or blemishes touch her olive skin. My eyes flash to her scar. Nothing has changed about the pink lines on her face. They are still deep and cover her entire cheek. I think of how the slits looked when Altair first cut her, how painful it looked. Now it's a thick slightly raised line that pulls her skin from jawline to right below her eye, and again by the curve of her nostril to below her earlobe.

I look away from her scar and onto her eyes. Being so close I can see that they are not black, but brown, the deepest, and darkest of brown I have ever seen. I try to open my mouth and say something to her, but nothing seems to come out. I watch her face, as the look of displeasure doesn't leave. Finally, she turns from me, goes to her computers, and begins typing.

I lay in bed for a little while, thinking about a childhood delusion that I used have about having a normal life with a normal family. I had built up an idea of having a beautiful wife, and two young children. I would watch the children play in the back yard with our family pet—a perfect all-American dog like a golden retriever or something. I am drying the dishes while my wife washes them. I smile at the lovely scene, being captivated by its stillness. There is no urgency, there is no fear, I am no soldier in the secret war.

I wake from the beautiful scene to enter the bleak reality of laying in an empty room. I push myself into a sitting position and look around the room, trying to gain the strength to walk around the house. I walk into the bathroom and run the shower. As I wait for the water to heat up, I examine my arm and the burns that have taken over. I wonder if Azalea still has the dagger to be able to heal the wound, or if it is too late for that. Regardless, I'm not sure if I really want my arm to heal or not.

I step into the shower. At first, there is discomfort with how hot the running water is, but I adjust to it quickly. The scalding water feels good as it hits my skin. My skin turns red as it warms me up and I begin to relax. I place my head up against the tile. The walls are cold, compared to the water falling against my skin. The varying temperatures feel amazing, and I finally feel myself at ease for the first time since Abstergo took me, I am at peace. After a few minutes of dosing off and relaxing, I clean myself off and turn off the water.

I take a towel hanging from the door and dry myself off. I am actually surprised when I see everything in Azalea's bathroom and I am amazed she is living as lavishly as she is. Usually people who don't want to be found are living in the middle of butt-fuck-nowhere, with no electricity or running water. Yet here I am drying myself with Egyptian cotton towels, waterfall showerheads, and heated fucking floors. Why didn't she design the layout of the Farm?

After a moment of looking around and smelling her entire assortment of hand soaps, I walk back to the bedroom where Azalea must have left me some fresh clothes on my bed while I was in the shower. I put on the black pants and short sleeved black shirt. They fit perfectly and as soon as I am dressed, I head to the living room where Azalea sits in front of the various computer screens that display riots in the streets and newscasters speaking of recent disasters. I guess it's time to come back to reality and stop enjoying the finer things in life. "What's going on?" I ask in a weak and wavering voice.

Azalea turns around and for the first time, I can see genuine concern in her eyes. "Desmond," she says lifting herself from the computer desk. "I wanted to apologize." She says approaching me. "I guess I didn't realize how emotionally draining the video was. I can understand that it was somewhat hard to watch."

I nod my head thinking about what I saw on that tape and how I am still confused as all shit on what is going on. Finally, I say in a hoarse tone, "I want some answers. I'm sick of this bullshit cryptic half ass answers I have been getting from literally everyone I've come across since Abstergo took me. I want to know everything, and I want to know the truth."

"Okay." She says simply.

I am taken aback for a second. I didn't expect her to say that. I expected her to say that she couldn't tell me the truth and that I had to learn the truth on my own, or some bullshit like that I have been getting from everyone that I talk to. I don't expect her to tell me what I want to know, and I don't believe that she will. "I mean it. I want to know everything and I don't want you dancing around any answers."

"You have my full and utter disclosure." She stands up and makes her way to a table with a coffee machine. "Take a seat, Desmond," she says motioning me to sit at the island in the kitchen. I look at the white marble and sit down at the cushioned high-top chair. I watch her as she pours some coffee. "I trust that learning the whole truth will be a bit overwhelming, wouldn't want you to hit your head if you faint again." She returns holding two cups of coffee and hands me one. I take it and take a large sip, practically burning my throat as I force it down. She stands across from me, and leans over the island, holding up her coffee, placing her elbows on the table as she sips her coffee. I look at her and watch her soft expression as she watches me and eagerly waits for my questions. "What do you want to know?" She says raising an eyebrow looking at me through the steam of her coffee as she takes a sip.

"Okay," I sigh actually shocked that it is going to be this easy to get the whole truth for once. After all this cryptic nonsense being spewed from Minerva and Juno and Abstergo, I finally can't wait to get a straight forward answer. "So, let's start with the obvious." I start. "Are you Azalea?"

She raises an eyebrow, showing interest in my question. With a sideways smile, she says, "That's the million-dollar question that has been boggling around in your mind this whole time?" I nod, and she lets out a dry laugh, "Yes, I am Azalea."

My heart pounds heavy at her answer, I can't believe she is actually answering me without a fight. After everything she did to keep Clay and so many others quiet, here she is answering me with as much ease, as if I am asking her if it's raining outside. "Willow, Deeliah, Eira, Lyla, Clara? They were all you?"

"Yes." She says as though I have not discovered that she is immortal, "those names, among many others."

"How long have you been alive?"

"I was born in 1170 to HasanʿAla Dhikrihi's Salam and his wife. Masyaf was my home until I was 42 days old, when my family was slaughtered by Al Mualim. I was later taken to Jerusalem where I was taught the art of the Assassins by Abul Al-Sayaf until he passed, where he was succeeded by his eldest son, Malik Al-Sayaf." She continues as though she is telling me the most mundane part of her day. "I guess that makes me eight hundred and…" she thinks for a second, doing the math in her head then says "842 years old. You really stop keeping track when you realize you are not going to die." She takes another sip of her coffee.

"How is it possible that you're immortal and lived this long?" I ask.

She takes a second to answer and I feel as though she won't actually answer my question, but finally she says "If you're asking these questions then I am assuming you have unlocked the memories that I wiped from your DNA. I want to know how you did that first."

I try to think if I should tell her the truth or not, but I know the annoyance of dancing around the truth, so I decide to tell her how I know. "Subject 16 at Abstergo—Clay—you know him because, while trapped in the Animus, he would show me some memories of you that you took from me. He said that he was trying to 'expose you'. I was trapped in the Animus with Clay and he showed me every interaction you've had with Altair and Ezio. He also showed me his memories of you."

I examine her expressions closely, watching to see if she reacts in any way to what I have just told her. A simple twitch of her lip is all I get from her. She looks amused, as if she is almost proud of Clay for going to such lengths for exposing her. "Well that explains how you know about Eira and Clara. I have to hand it to Kaczmarek, I honestly didn't think he had it in him." She shrugs her shoulders, "I honestly didn't know that he would survive in a way inside the Animus, had I known that, I would have gone about his fate a different way." She says taken with ideas of how else she would have dealt with him.

I find myself getting mad at her, and my body gets hotter thinking about how glib she is over the situation. "You ruined him," I say angrily and she just looks at me with a blank expression. "You trapped him in the Animus because he was smart, and he pieced everything together. You punished him for being a good Assassin."

She looks at me with a blank stare and says, "He picked the wrong person to battle, it's as simple as that. There was nothing personal about it. I would have done it to anyone else."

She takes a sip of her coffee when I say, "Even Daniel?" She hesitates in taking another sip, and I watch as she conceals a chuckle behind her mug.

"Clay showed you everything, I see." She says almost bitterly. "My relationship with Daniel is none of your business and will not give you any vital information about yourself."

"Did you know he was a Sleeper Agent?" I press.

She looks at me with a mild hate in her eyes, "remember, Desmond I am the one with the answers. If you want to know anything, it would be best not to anger me." She threatens.

"Is your loyalty towards the Assassins or the Templars?"

"You can't expect that after playing one side for so long, I didn't explore to see what the other side had to offer." My heart races and I swallow hard. Holy shit, is she really a Templar now? She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, "I am loyal to myself. For 800 years I have been fucked over by Assassins and Templars alike. Everything I do is in my best interest and mine alone."

"So how have you lived for so long?" I ask again.

She sighs, "As Clay obviously showed you, I had a dagger that I used to reverse my wounds. Throughout my years, I used the dagger countless times on minor or life-threatening wounds. What I did not know back then was that every Piece of Eden's power has side effects and using the dagger too often had taken an impact on my cells. So, my cells no longer stretch and age, therefore, neither do I." She says, but something about they way she says makes me believe there is more to this than she is giving off.

"Can you die if you get shot or stabbed?"

She shakes her head, "My cells regenerate too quickly."

"What if someone cuts off your limbs," she shrugs, "so you can't die?"

"If I could I would have by now." She says almost bitterly.

"So where is the dagger now?"

"It's locked away in a vault with the rest of the Piece of Eden artifacts that I have collected over the years."

"Am I immortal since you brought me back from the dead?" I ask not sure if I want to be or not.

"No, I used another Piece of Eden for that. You are alive, but you can die again. So please, don't do anything stupid."

"You mean place my hand on another podium that will shock me to death? I'll try not to."

"Precisely, you've been in and out of consciousness for quite some time, and I don't have much time to wait for you to wake up again."

"How long have I been out?"

"Nine months." She says.

"Nine months!" I yell.

Before I can ask questions about my dad or Rebecca or Shaun, she interrupts me. "I've been meaning to ask," she says, "What gave you the idea to place your hand on that podium?"

"Juno was in my head telling me that the world was going to end and if I didn't sacrifice myself, that everyone on the planet would perish in a solar flare."

She brings her eyebrows together in confusion. "Juno?"

"Yeah, Juno and Minerva were yelling about whether or not I should sacrifice myself and I ended up picking Juno's side. Didn't do me much good. I died and there was no solar flare I defended the world from."

"Wait, Desmond, back up here. Who are Juno and Minerva?" she says and I can tell that she is completely confused.

"They are the matriarchs of the First Civilization. I figured you knew that using so many artifacts. They came to me in a vision after my use of the Apple."

Azalea lets out a scoff and I look at her with confusion. She sees that I am serious and begins to laugh, "Desmond, the First Civilization as in the creators of the Pieces of Eden."

"Yes, Azalea, why are you looking at me like I am a lunatic?"

"Because they haven't existed for thousands of years. They are not contacting you."

"They spoke to me through the Apple, I thought you might have experienced what I have what with you have possession of so many of their artifacts."

"Desmond, when did the First Civilization first contact you?"

"In the catacombs of the Coliseum, when I was searching for the Apple, Juno came to me and she led me to the Apple."

"And what did they tell you?"

"They spoke of their end, and their beginning. Then they…" I trail off thinking about the following events. "She made me take the Apple, and through the device, she… she made me stab Lucy." I put my head down at the thought of her death. It still haunts me.

I lift my head at the sound of Azalea chuckling underneath her breath. "Oh my god, Desmond, I can't believe you fell for it."

"Excuse me?" I say completely baffled by her reaction.

"Desmond, the visions that you saw were constructs of Abstergo, placed inside you through the Bleeding Effect."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I say raising my voice becoming increasingly irritated.

Azalea buries her face in her hands and laughs. She lifts her head and looks at me with a pitied look. "When I infiltrated Abstergo under the alias of Lyla Rockwell, I got wind of a project they were calling the First Civilization Project, or the FC Project. During this time, prolonged time in the Animus was causing severe Bleeding Effect on the patients. Many were seeing 'ghosts' of the ancestors, hearing voices. When in reality they were simply hallucinating because their brain was unable to differentiate between what the Animus was showing them, and what was being recorded in their waking life." I think about myself and all the strange things I have seen from being in Altair's and Ezio's memories for too long. "During the investigation of the Bleeding Effect and how it worked, they came up with the idea of the First Civilization contacting their patients to see how the subjects would respond to these beings contacting them. What they found was that many people were willing to kill because they believed they were serving a higher power and the greater good for these beings. Many people believed that the First Civilization were aware of the patients' 'hidden worth', and Abstergo used this to manipulate and control the patients. From what I heard, they scrapped the program because it caused dementia and other psychological side effects."

"This can't be happening." I say running my hands through my hair. "I saw them, I could feel their energy."

She shakes her head, "I'm sorry, Desmond, but they have been implanting these ideas in your head subtly so that you will trust them and do their bidding for them. They used these images to convince the Assassins to turn against each other."

"No, you're lying… what could they gain from me?"

"Think about when they first came to you, Desmond. You were leading them to the Apple, that's all they wanted from you. They made you believe that they were real so that you would trust them enough to do as they said, and when they were done with you, they told you to sacrifice yourself for the 'greater good' so that the world would not be destroyed." She lifts her hands and motions around the room. "Look around, Desmond. The world hasn't ended and you're alive. That was just Abstergo's way of getting rid of you without putting the work in themselves. You killing yourself made it easier for them to not get their hands dirty. They got what they wanted from you, you did what you needed to do, and then they disposed of you before you became a burden. You aren't the first they have done this to, and you will not be the last."

I sit there trying to think about what she is telling me. I try desperately to plead my case to make myself not look like I have lost it and fallen for an Abstergo trick. "What about Lucy?" I remember. "Juno told me that she was a Templar and forced me to kill her. Why would she do that when I already trusted her?"

"Lucy was expendable." She says harshly, "There was only so much that she could say or do to make you believe her. Your father was aware that Lucy was a Templar. Abstergo knew that you would eventually come into contact with him and when that happened, your father would take care of Lucy, thus disposing any contact Abstergo had with you. Lucy knew going into those catacombs that she was going to be killed by you. Lucy's death was a tool used by Abstergo to get you to trust in the hallucinations. She took the mission as a loyal Templar and saw it through."

I think of Lucy during the night of the catacombs. I remember her shaking and looking worried. I always read it as excitement or curiosity of what it was going to be like holding the Apple. I never let it cross my mind that she was aware of her fate that night. I clench my fists at the thought and I can feel my blood boil. "How did you know about this? How did you know Lucy was a Templar and took the job?" I ask.

Azalea sighs, "They sent me the email." I look at her with confused eyes and she laughs, "Abstergo is unaware that I have killed and taken the form of one of their CEOs of the sister firms. They CC me in all important field operations, including the kill order of Lucy Stillman." I swallow hard and she picks up on how difficult this is for me to hear. She sighs and continues, "I wanted to help you, as far away as I could. I sent the email to your father through a proxy and told him to find you. I figured you needed your father near you."

Tears begin to fall down my face at everything that I am learning. I almost wish she danced around the truth like everyone else. Everything is becoming too overwhelming to handle. "Desmond," she says in the most concerned tone I have seen from her. "We have an opportunity here that they don't expect us to have. You are alive, and they think you are dead. We have an advantage here that can prove to be beneficial in the end. With you back, we can take down Abstergo and the Templars, and they won't see it coming."

I look up at her and think about how she is just as insane as everyone at the Farm is. I thought that being alive for so long, she would finally realize that the Secret War that these two parties have been waging is just complete bullshit. How is she still fighting after all these years, nothing has changed and nothing will. I know that if I try to tell her otherwise, she won't listen, so I agree to disagree at this point. I have become numb to the whole thing. "I want my old team back." I tell her, "I want Rebecca and Shaun to be a part of this."

She lifts herself from the island with a sigh. "Desmond, are you sure you want them on your side?"

"Yes, they are the most intelligent people I know and they are driven towards the Assassin's cause."

"Yes," she says almost rolling her eyes, "They have infiltrated Abstergo…" she trails off and moves from the kitchen and sits her computer chair. She types on her computer. She pulls up surveillance footage from Abstergo. I get up and walk over to her desk to see video surveillance of Rebecca and Shawn in the lobby of a large building. "He is working at a coffee stand and she is working as a delivery worker. Together, they have learned absolutely nothing of importance for the Creed." She leans back and shoves the monitor my way.

I can't help but stare at the computer screen. There is no audio but I can see Rebecca and Shaun speaking to one another. Rebecca is wearing a delivery carrier jumpsuit and Shaun has an apron on with a nametag and everything. I shake my head at how far they have fallen. How can they infiltrate and learn anything from just being in the lobby? "I have to go see them." I finally say, "I need them to know that I am still alive."

"Desmond—"

I stop her before she can interject. "I will refuse to help you if you don't." I threaten, "If I am going to help you then I am going to get something out of it. I want my friends, Azalea, and I will not work without them."

"You are nowhere near ready to go back into the field. Your body has been in a coma for nine months. You have training to do, you have things to learn. A lot has changed since your departure from this world."

"Then put me in the Animus and I can train." I interject.

"That's how you've been doing it?" She says in a pissed tone. "Your body will deteriorate from the Bleeding Effect if you do it that way." She says in a scolding tone. "No, you are going to be trained the old-fashioned way."

"What? You are going to train me? That arrangement worked out really well between you and Altair." I say bitterly.

She shoots me a stabbing glare. "I can break you arm in four fucking places before you can regurgitate that sentence again." She threatens lowly. "I have a group that I am going to take you to. If you are so hell bent to return to the field, then you will do so slowly by joining my team."

"You have a team? All this time I thought you were working in the shadows by yourself."

She shakes her head, "No, I have a few sects under my wing." She begins typing on her computer. "I will charter us a ride here in a week. Until then, gather your strength and your sanity. I need you to be on top of it when you meet the team." I swallow hard at her harsh demeanor, but I don't know what I expected from her. She sees my expression and tries to explain her reactions, "If we want to have any hope in infiltrating Abstergo Entertainment, we need to do so in a tactful way than your pathetic friends."

"Abstergo Entertainment?" I ask.

"Yes, Abstergo is branching out in their business ventures. Abstergo Entertainment is offering people the chance to live the memories of pirates in the Caribbean, which the public believes is for the hopes to spawn a motion picture. They are making people believe they are living the lives of pirates through virtual reality, however, Abstergo is really using people as hosts to play your ancestors' memories that they gathered from your DNA at your burial site."

"They are focusing on pirates now?" I ask and Azalea smiles and I sense something strange, "What is it?"

"When Abstergo extracted what they believed to be your body from the burial site, they did so to extract memories from your DNA so they could continue to comb through your lineage for potential Piece of Eden sightings from your ancestors. Abstergo is using what they believe to be your DNA to look into the memories of your ancestors."

"What do you mean 'what they believe' to be my DNA? If they extracted the DNA from the body you cloaked to be me, they would know quickly that the body was not me."

"Right, but after cloaking the body to look like you, I also cloaked his ancestry to look like yours as well. I implanted memories of Altair, Ezio and Connor and then I added fake memories of another ancestor to keep them busy for a while." I look at her confused and she elaborates. "You remember Haytham, Connor's father? I implanted memories into the man Abstergo believed to be you. I gave him fake memories of Haytham's father, Edward Kenway. I made Abstergo believe that he was an aspiring pirate turned Assassin by chance. When in reality, he was just another drunken sailor that never amounted to anything. Abstergo has been eating up this ancestor, believing it to be real and I have them on a wild goose hunt looking for something I called the Observatory, something impossible to find."

"The Observatory?" I ask.

"Don't worry about it. The Observatory does not exist and it will take them a while and many resources to figure that out."

"But you said the First Civilization didn't exist."

She shakes her head, "No, they did exist, they just don't come to us in holographic form. The Observatory is like the Grand Temple. I made them believe that it is a sanctuary filled with First Civilization information. This of course is something they will never find and will keep Abstergo off of my ass and the trail for the artifacts." She stands up and motions me to do the same. "Come, there is something I should probably show you."

She walks up to a large vault door. On a keypad next to the door, she punches in a four-digit code I fail to see. After the code is accepted, she moves onto a thumbprint reader, and once that is excepted, she uses a retinal scan.

"Got enough security measures?" I say jokingly.

She turns to me, "Nothing of too much value in here." She says sarcastically.

When the vault opens, I look inside and I am shocked to see what looks back at me. Inside the vault, the walls are lined with glowing, humming objects. "Holy shit!" I exclaim, "Are these all First Civilization artifacts?" I look back at her and she nods. I look around in awe at each and every one of the Piece of Eden artifacts that line the walls of the vault. Each one of them have a hypnotic draw to them, making me want to take them for myself. "How many do you have?" I ask seeing that there are more than 4 as we once believed there to be.

"14," She says amused by the awe in my eyes. I raise my eyebrows and look back at the objects. I am instantly drawn by the loudest humming noise and when I listen for it, I realize that it is coming from the dagger that Azalea used to become immortal. "You're drawn to it?" she asks and I reach out for it. "The dagger remembers that you have used it once before."

"But I've never…" I trail off utterly mesmerized by the dagger when she answers. "You haven't, though Altair used the dagger. Being a descendant of Altair, the dagger remembers your DNA and calls out to you. If the Apple was in here, it would be screaming at you with how often Altair used it."

I pull myself away, forcing myself to forget the dagger. I will not be driven by one of these and their captivating pull. "So why are you showing me all of this?" I ask finally looking back at her with my full attention.

"I think it's time you finally understand the Pieces of Eden and their powers."

I look away from the artifacts and look at her. "Tell me everything."

I play with the dagger as she leans up against the vault door with her arms crossed. "There are 55 Pieces in total."

"55?" I say in awe. "damn, you've got a lot of work to do if you only have 14."

She tenses and then sighs. "Here's the thing, there's only 27 actual Pieces of Eden." I look at her confused and she tries to explain. "There are 27 original golden Pieces of Eden, created by the First Civilization, each with their own special set of powers, as you have seen with the dagger, or the Apple. Their control became so powerful that the people of the First Civilization were worried that those who controlled the devices would become unstoppable, so, they created replicas." I stop playing with the dagger and bring my full attention to her. "These replicas were created in the image of the originals, the only difference being that they are silver, instead of gold. Their powers are the same, meaning there is a silver dagger that provides the same powers as mine. The purpose of these replicas, however, is that when used on the possessor of the original, the power the Piece gave them becomes void."

"So… if you find the silver dagger and use it on yourself then…"

"Then I become mortal." She finishes my thought. "The idea was that it was a failsafe. That no one person could become too powerful, and if they did, there was a way to stop them." She says and I lift my brows in awe. "As you know, the artifacts communicate with each other, and you can hear their humming. The replicas, however, do not communicate with the originals. It is practically impossible to find a replica if you possess the originals." I look around the safe to see that every artifact she has in the vault is a golden one. "The replicas mask their presence from the originals making it extremely difficult to locate them. The idea behind this is that no one person can find all the originals and replicas."

I sit there and think for a moment. The words of Minerva ring in my ear when she spoke to Juno in the Vault. "Did you think there was only one?" I remember her saying to Juno. Back then I did not know what she was speaking of, but now it makes sense. Minerva used the replicas against Juno.

"That's why you're looking for the Pieces. You're trying to find the dagger's replica. So, you can become mortal." I say but she does not say that is her agenda. "Wait, but you said there were 55 total, but 27 of each piece, so if my basic math is correct, that's only 54. Where is the last Piece of Eden?"

"The last Piece is Eden."

"Eden?" I think back at my dream and the demonic voice of Clay, commanding me to ask her about Eden. I swallow hard and say, "What is Eden's power?"

She looks at me with bored eyes. "Eden houses all the Pieces."

"You're lying." I say thinking about my dream and how Clay wouldn't tell me to ask her about Eden if it was that simple. "There is more to it."

"Well that's just going to have to be something you will have to figure out yourself." She says.

I try to press her for more information, but she tells me to leave the dagger and that she has to go. "Where are you going?" I ask her.

"I have some people I need to see. Unfortunately, you're the only thing the Assassins have against the Templars, so you will have to stay here. Don't worry, you'll be safe here."

Within a few hours she leaves me alone in the safehouse with nothing to do but wait for her return. I walk around the penthouse trying to find an escape that is not through the locked and guarded front door. All of the windows and doorways are boarded up, and there is no way to get out of the small area.

I walk through all the rooms in the home. Past the huge white and grey kitchen with a massive island, then through the two master bedrooms—one for me and one for Azalea, with luxury bathrooms, and then finally back to the living room with a sectional and giant TV mounted to the wall. I decide to turn on the TV and see what events transpired while I was indisposed. Of course, the cable is out and the screen shows a moving box that says "no signal". I toss the remote in defeat and continue to look around the penthouse.

I walk back into Azalea's room where I see her large bed in the middle of the room with no other furniture or decorations. Her bed is neatly made, as if no one has slept on it in years. I wonder if she needs to sleep. I have never seen her sleep. I try to remind myself to ask her.

I walk into her massive closet that has various outfits hanging from the hook. I go through her drawers, hoping that I will find something. I open her underwear drawer and look at all the neatly folded lace underwear. I dig through the drawer, knowing that it is usually the drawer women hide things in. I feel something hard brush against my fingers. I take hold of the object and pull it out. When I pull the item out, I see that it is a small handgun with lace panties wrapped around the barrel. I roll my eyes "Jesus, Azalea." I say under my breath. I shove the gun back into the drawer and close it.

I eventually get bored of looking through her clothes and go back to the living room where her office is set up. I approach her computer to see that it is locked. I sit down at the desk and turn on the screen that prompts me to input a password.

I go through the usual guesses: her old ass birthday, Altair, Malik, Dagger. None of them give me access to her computer. Suddenly, I get a spark and think of the perfect password. My hands shake as I input: Amir. I wait for a moment to press enter, shaking at the attempt. My heart drops as the computer shuts me out for maximum attempts. Of course. I was stupid to think that she would be sentimental enough to have her son's name as her password.

For hours I walk around aimlessly, losing my mind at the boredom of her leaving me here alone. I think about what she must be doing, and I wish she would include me in her mission.

After hours of relentless boredom, I finally hear the outer door click and I jump at the sound. I look over at the door and she walks in, carrying a few bags. Her hair is messy and there is blood and dirt covering her arms.

"Hey, are you okay?" She looks up at me with an unamused look and I laugh, "Right, yeah, of course you're alright." She sets the bags down and heads to her room to wash her hands, I follow her into her bathroom. Strands of hair fall in her face as she vigorously washes the blood off of her hands. "Whose blood is that?" I ask hanging back in the doorway.

"Don't know," she says brushing the hair away from her face with her forearm. "I didn't ask his name before slitting his throat." She says bluntly.

I swallow hard at the comment. "Where did you go?"

"I've been working with my team to gather intelligence on Abstergo's direction with your implanted memories." She dries her hands and pushes past me to go to her computer. She sits down at her desk and looks down at the keyboard. "Did you try logging into my computer?" she says in a slightly annoyed tone.

"No…" I say quietly and she logs in quickly.

She rolls her eyes and goes back to her computer. She opens a black chat box and begins to type in code. She waits for a moment and letters begin to appear in real time. She has a conversation with whomever is on the other side of that chat for a while. She cracks her knuckles in-between sprints of typing as she thinks about what to type next. After a moment of this, she finally ends the chat and returns to me.

"We are going to move you in four months."

"Four months?" I retaliate, "Azalea, you got to move me outta here earlier than that. I am going to blow my brains out if I have to stay here again alone."

"Tough," she says harshly, "We have to be careful with you. After your death, your friends and William went into hiding. They barely surfaced within the Creed just a few months ago. Your father is still in hiding and has given his position as Mentor up to Gavin Banks."

"Well if you reunite us, he will be willing to fight knowing that I am still alive." I argue.

She scoffs, "you're out of your mind." She says harshly. "William has gone completely dark. No one really knows where he is, and we can't be spreading the word that you are alive to draw him out." I try to argue with her, but she stops me. "The time will soon come that you will be reunited with your father and your friends, but you need to be patient."

"Well then you have to give me something to work with while I am here. Return the cable or something. I can't just be sitting here slowly going mad while you're out doing god knows what."

"I will have you analyze some documents to keep you busy." I try to fight her again but she does not budge. I finally agree with her and she drops a box of files on a table for me to sort through. I sigh at the task as she sits back at her desk and continues to type on her little chat.

"Who are you talking to?" I ask her while looking through the files.

"No one," she says furiously typing.

"It doesn't sound like you're talking to no one." I get up and look over her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of what she is typing, only to see that she is typing in code. I scoff as I back away from her, "is there anything you do that isn't in secret code?"

She looks back at me with an unamused look on her face. She looks back at her chat and chuckles at what is being said. I roll my eyes and go back at the useless documents she has provided me. I wonder who she is talking to, and who is making her giggle like a little girl. What could she possibly be talking about that makes her giggle like she does?

Eventually, my eyes begin to cross and I decide to retire for the night. I head to my bedroom and Azalea doesn't look up from her computer. I take off my shirt and pants and crawl into the bed. The blankets are heavy and wrap me tightly into a cocoon. I look up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to understand everything that I have been told since Azalea took me from the temple. It all feels like it is happening so fast, but in reality, my friends and my parents have moved on with their lives. I have been dead for nine months. They are continuing the Creed's work without me. I wonder if my returning will make things confusing. I decide to expel the ideas from my head, and as soon as I empty my head from all worries and thought, it isn't long until I am fast asleep.