Hello Everyone! I know it has been a long time since this story has been updated, and I am sorry for the delay. As this story progresses, I am leaving the source material because to be honest, I lost interest in the modern day story after the death of Desmond, feeling that it was not doing justice to the Lore they set up in the earlier games. Everything from now on is more or less going to be full fanfiction that doesn't follow the games. I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from reading the story moving forward, but I cannot continue the story with the direction that the games went as it is not in my opinion where the games should have gone. I hope you all stick it out with this one and I hope I can put this out at a faster rate then I am.
As always, your comments and DMs are always appreciated!
Reunion
Desmond Miles
I sit in the Library, watching as Mia places bullets standing up carefully in a perfect line. She is intently focused on this task and I find it to be entertaining enough since almost everyone in the compound is out on a mission.
I take in a deep sigh, leaning back in my chair. She glances over to me, but quickly averts her gaze when my eyes meet hers. I clear my throat and move towards her.
"So, why are you the only one left in the compound?" I ask her, but she doesn't respond to me. "You are probably the most well-trained person here. Doesn't make sense to have you cooped up in here with me." I let out a pressed chuckle.
She looks up at me with an uninterested glare. "I don't play well with the others." She lets out simply, moving back to placing her bullets in a straight line.
"Yeah I knew a guy like that," I let out with a chuckle, thinking about Shaun and how impossible he was when we were first introduced. "But those are usually the most important ones." I tell her, hoping that it will make her smile but she doesn't budge.
"When is everyone coming back?" I ask her and she returns with a shrug. I twiddle my thumbs looking aimlessly around the library, wanting to find anything that will take up my time while I wait for the others to return from their field mission.
I decide to leave the stuffy library and walk around the gardens. I walk around aimlessly in the hedge labyrinth, coming to the end where the birdfeeder lies. I take a moment to take in the sweet smell of the air, breathing it in and listening to the birds chirp their morning melodies.
My ears perk when I hear someone talking, approaching the end of the labyrinth. I quickly head to the edge of the hedge to hide as the voices encroach on me. "We cannot do this, Thomas," The voice of a woman calls out desperately. "It is only a matter of time before Henry finds out."
The woman turns a corner and is now standing near the birdfeeder. My brows press together when I see her dawning period clothing. She is in a large dress with white ruffles, white gloves, and a sunhat.
"Mary, I cannot deny my feelings for you." A man says approaching her in period clothing as well. He wears tan horse-riding pants and a black jacket.
"If Henry finds out—" She begins but he stops her from saying anymore.
He grabs her arms and brings her closer to him. "I don't care," I admits, "I love you Mary," He lets out, embracing her in a patinate kiss.
"What the fuck is going on?" I let out and the two stop kissing, looking over at me in horror. "Oh shit," I let out when they see me.
"Thomas!" She shrieks as he lets go of her and heads towards me. He grabs me by the collar and presses his nose to my face.
"Who are you?" He calls out to him. "How did you find this place?"
I put my hands up in surrender. "Hey man, I was just walking around."
"Are you one of Henry's men?"
"Dude I don't know who Henry is." I tell him.
"He saw us Thomas!" The woman exclaims in fear. "He will report this to Henry."
I take this moment while he is distracted and push him away from me, falling into the hedge on the other side of the labyrinth's wall. I get up and look through the hole that I created in the hedge. My heart drops when I see that the man and woman are no longer by the bird feeder. I look around for them, and there was no way they escaped into the labyrinth without me seeing. I swallow hard looking around frantically, wondering if I am going crazy.
I head to Azalea's office, wondering if there is something on her computer that might explain what is happening to me. I am probably going crazy from using the Apple too much. The Dagger stopped Azalea from aging, the Apple is probably deteriorating my mind. I remember Azalea once tried to warn Altair in his tomb about the Apple and its effect on the possessor. I wonder what the curse of the Apple is, and if I am experiencing these side effects.
Azalea's office is unlocked and I rummage around her desk, trying to find any source that can help me, but her computer is locked, her files are useless, and there is nothing on the Apple. I sit at her chair, digging through her drawer when I hear footsteps enter the office.
I look up to see Harlan looming in the doorway of the office. "Can I help you find anything?" He asks me with an amused smile on his face.
"Ugh…" I let out, trying to think of an excuse to give him on why I was here. I am unable to think of anything and just shrug at him.
He lets out a chuckle. "I don't know her password if that's what you're searching for." He tells me.
"Sorry," I let out, "I was just trying to…" I look at him not sure what to say. "I guess I was just looking for something that might help me make sense of everything." I admit.
Harlan smiles at me, unbuttoning his blazer and taking a seat across the desk. "Nothing has made sense to me since Azalea told me that she was immortal." He discloses with a chuckle.
"How did you find out?" I ask him.
He shrugs, "She just told me one day."
"You never suspected her? Caught her in a lie? Found evidence against her?" I ask him in astonishment as he shakes his head with every question.
"No," He lets out. "One day she sat me down and showed me the Dagger. She told me how she used it, she told me that she was immortal, she even cut herself to prove it." He lets out a heavy sigh. "She told me that she was tired of hiding and wanted someone to know. Why she picked me, I never asked." He says with a shrug of his shoulders.
I look at him incredulously, wondering why she would choose to tell him after all the work that she put in to ensure that those who figured her out were disposed of.
"How can you be so loyal to her?" I ask him with pressed brows. "After everything she has done to everyone. How can you remain so loyal to her?"
Harlan takes a moment to answer me, and I wonder what is going on in his mind. "She has been through much heartache in her life. I think she needed someone to see her for who she truly is rather than what she presents herself to be."
"And what is that?" I ask him.
"A lost soul." He tells me simply. "Wanting to find peace like the rest of us."
"What do you think her peace is? She seems to think it is killing us all as she flings the Piece of Eden in a lake."
"No, I don't think that is really what she wants." Harlan says with a warm chuckle. "Just to surround herself with people who are likeminded and understanding of who she is."
As he says that, a commotion is heard down the hall. We both stand up and head to the main lobby where Azalea is walking in. She looks angry, she is shaking while Arend, Theo, and Alexa trailing in behind her.
She is yelling at everyone as she speed-walks towards her office. "Oh good," She says looking at me, "You'll be here to witness this shit show." She says pushing past me to enter her office. "Close the door." She demands as we all pile into her office.
I look over and see Alexa who doesn't match my gaze. She knows what has Azalea like this and it doesn't sound good. Azalea takes a deep breath looking at everyone in the room. "You know I expect a lot from all of you. And I understand that I expect more of you than any other Mentor would." She begins trying to keep her composure as she holds a file in her shaking hands. "But it doesn't seem like a large ask for me expect you all to competently communicate and effectively retrieve information that would cripple this Creed."
"What are you getting at?" Harlan asks Azalea, not entertained by her introduction to tell us what is bothering her.
"What am I getting at?" She says angrily and I clear my throat knowing that any woman with a tone like that is about to blow. "What I am getting at, Harlan, is that William Miles and his fucking incompetent team have been sharing internal information with a fucking Templar!" She yells throwing the file down on the table. "Not just any Templar, but Lilly fucking James. As in daughter to Dalton James 'worst Templar Grand Master in the history of Grand Masters'!"
Everyone tenses including myself. I remember the stories of Dalton James; my father telling me them as a kid. He was the boogie man to me and many of the kids at the Farm. When my father killed him, a lot of people at the Farm could sleep easy knowing that he was no longer alive to slaughter us like livestock.
"What are you talking about?" Harlan demands her to explain.
"Bishop," Azalea begins, "Is Lilly James." She says simply and everyone clears their throat. "Lilly James, is the college girlfriend to Rebecca Crane. Meaning that she very well knew the identity of the Templar girl and kept that from the Creed." I let out a labored sigh knowing exactly what Azalea is going to say next. "There is no fucking way I am going to have Rebecca Crane step foot in this compound with the knowledge that she has been harboring the one of the largest enemies of the Creed."
"If Lilly James is in fact Bishop, she is not a friend to the Templars." Arend begins. "She has given us valuable information that has crippled the Templars."
"Crippled the Templars?" Azalea scoffs. "Crippling the Templars would be sending thousands of them to their deaths under the false pretenses of a treaty as Dalton James once did to the Assassin's Creed. A meeting that I was at and witnessed the deaths of many!" She yells. "Instead she has given us what? Three Initiates on the Altair II that have stopped insignificant information from leaking to the Templars."
"But she is still on our side, we can use her to our advantage." Harlan brings up.
"We cannot confirm that she is on our side." Azalea counters. "Her twin sister Amelia was at the Templar's Gala, meaning that she is very much an active member of the Templar Order and Inner Sanctum Knight."
"How do you know this?" Harlan challenges.
I look over at Alexa and that is when it clicks. One mission a year that no one knows about. Her file reading that she attends the Elder's Gala as a sleeper agent. "Because Alexa is a Sleeper Agent." I let out. Alexa's face drops and so does Azalea's while everyone tenses their shoulders. "Birdy is it?" I say looking at Azalea with a cocked head.
Azalea rolls her jaw and with reluctance says, "Alexa's mission was to gather information within the Gala and report any findings to me. Amelia's presence there solidified her ties to the Order."
"You're here getting angry at us for not knowing that Bishop was a Templar when you have been harboring one here this whole time?" Harlan calls out angrily stepping away from Alexa as if he found out she has a contagious disease.
"She is not a Templar." Azalea says sternly.
"Oh, so she just goes to these Gala's fucking Templars every year and relays the information to you?"
"Her intel has been very useful. More than other's." Azalea says spitefully. "Kiyoshi reported to me as well that Rebecca and Shaun have reunited with William, who is undoubtably aware of Bishop's identity since he was the one who killed her father, and yet he still continues to work with her." She looks over at me with a tense glare.
"William's willingness to work with the girl only further proves that she is aiding the Assassins." Harlan challenges her. "Azalea, you should reconsider whatever you're thinking." He consoles her.
"They will not be invited here and if they attempt contact, we will relocate." She says sternly.
"No!" I yell out. "You promised me that I would see my friends again." I tell her.
"That was before they decided to get in bed with a Templar." She tells me and I so badly want to throw Daniel in her face but I refrain from doing so.
"We can use this to our advantage." I begin. "The Templars still don't know that I am alive. We can use the ties I have with Rebecca and Shaun and the ties that they have with Bishop to leak information within the Templar servers. We can lie and say there is a new Sage or something." I try to come up with a plan on the spot, but I don't know what to come up with.
"I can do that without you or Rebecca." She says reading through my plan.
"You promised me that I would see my friends again. If you don't follow through, you will be showing everyone in this room that your word is shit." I tell her lowly. "And if that means nothing to you then do any of us really want to aid you?" I ask looking back at everyone in the room hoping they take my side. I know that Harlan respects my father—hopefully more than Azalea, and Arend is his partner. But I still don't have Theo or Alexa's buy in.
Azalea lets out a labored sigh. "It's not going to happen, Desmond. Your friends should have been smarter with who they share their information with."
"Well it's too late then." I tell her shaking my head. "I already sent out Charlotte to deliver them a message. They know I am alive."
Azalea looks angry but she doesn't saw anything, keeping her composure to think for a moment. With a heavy sigh she says, "If word gets out that Desmond Miles is alive within the Templar's ranks, I will be killing you myself. You are becoming more of a nuisance than assistance."
"So, you will let them come here? I will be able to see them again?" I say, the excitement building inside me.
"Rebecca and Shaun can come here but Bishop will not enter this threshold." She says sternly.
My heart races at the idea of having them come here and seeing them again. "Desmond, I have been planning this for years. If this takes down everything that I have worked for, I will ensure you are the first to go down." She says looking at me with narrowed eyes.
"Then use me, Azalea." I tell her sternly. "You have been promising this amazing plan that is going to cripple the Templars, but you can't tell any of us what it is. How is no one questioning what you are going to do with me?" I ask looking around, wondering if anyone has the answer.
"That is enough, Desmond." She says sternly. "You may leave. I am sure you want to be well rested when your friends arrive." She says shewing us out of her office.
"You can't avoid it forever, Azalea." I tell her. "You'll have to use your ace sooner rather than later." I tell her.
"Everyone, get out." Azalea says sternly. "Except for you, Desmond." She says to me with cold eyes.
It takes a moment for everyone to shuffle out of the office. She sits down, giving Theo a reassuring nod as he closes the door behind him. She leans back in her chair and looks at me expectantly. I wring my hands nervously, wondering where this conversation is going to go.
She looks out the window for a moment, looking peacefully at the stillness outside. "Sometimes I wonder if it is all worth the effort." She begins, "If I adopted the carefree lifestyle that Jezebel lives, I might have been able to find solace in it all." She ponders to herself for a moment. "I considered it for a moment." She admits to me, unable to look me in the eyes. "I considered leaving the Creed, handing over the Pieces of Eden and fucking off to an island where I would never bat an eye towards this war."
"What changed?" I ask her.
She takes a moment to answer, smiling at a bird that bathes in the bird bath outside. "Daniel's betrayal to the Creed." She lets out. "I have experienced many betrayals within the Creed. All of them being more devastating than the last." She says with a frown. "It was then that I realized the vicious cycle was never going to end. It just goes to show that old habits are hard to break. 900 years later and we are still playing the same game." She says looing over at me.
"Do you regret that I killed him?" I ask her.
Her eyes remain on mine, unwavering, and I have no idea what is going on in her mind. "I ensured his death through you." She tells me and I look at her with confused eyes for an explanation. "Did you ever wonder why it was so easy to defeat Daniel? You bested him three times. He was the most powerful and well-trained Templar of his generation, and you took him out with one swing. You never questioned why he was so easy to best?"
I swallow hard looking at her. I always questioned how he was so easy to take out. He was the strongest Templar people had seen. I had seen him best Azalea multiple times in her memories, with stories from others on his strength, but when facing him, he was manic and unhinged.
"The Bleeding Effect." I tell her. "It messed with his ability fight me properly."
"It was not just the Bleeding Effect that aided you in his demise." She tells me. "It was the Apple." She says, "When you were at the airport with your father heading to the Grand Temple, Daniel was there to take you out." She says leaning back in her chair. "Harlan asked for my help, fearing the Templars would get a hold of the Apple. I was there at the airport when Daniel tried to make contact with you. I used the Apple on him, rendering him unconscious where I unraveled his muscle memory, structing it to that of an untrained fighter, making it easier for you to defeat him. Then Harlan returned the Apple to your father, telling him that Cross was handled."
I look at her with a confused gaze. "But if you knew that structing his DNA to an untailed fighter would lead to his death, why didn't you just kill him there and save us the headache?"
Azalea scoffs, chewing on her nail nervously. "I have never been able to be the one to kill Daniel. No matter how many chances I had. I guess this was the only way I could make up for all the lives lost by his hand."
"Do you regret it?" I ask her.
She takes a moment to respond then looks at me. "I don't really regret anything anymore." She says and I frown at the emptiness that she has become.
"What is your plan Azalea?" I ask her helplessly. "Why go through all the trouble that you have gone through? Why resurrect me. What are you planning for me?" I ask her helplessly.
She ponders telling me, and I can tell that she does have a plan and it is not in my best interest. "Everything that I do, or have ever done has been in my best interest." She says looking away from me again. "I guess you can't blame me for being seeing things this way. Years of my life have been wasted trusting the Creed to aid me. All I ever wanted was the Dagger."
It finally hits me like a bag of brings and I can feel the wind being knocked out of me. She glances over at me and must see the color leave my skin because she smiles to herself.
"I am sorry, Desmond. This is the only way I can have what I want." She tells me genuinely sorry for what she is doing.
"You're going to turn me into the Templars in exchange for a Silver Piece of Eden." I let out, feeling the weight of the realization on my chest.
"I considered so many avenues." She tells me, "I gathered all these people, hoping their ancestors have ties to Pieces of Edens or memories of their existence. But the Replicas seemed to always elude me. Then one day I remembered the Silver Ring on Alan's finger. What would Alan want more than anything in the world? I could give him the Apple, and I made arrangements for that, however, he wanted more than the Apple. He wanted your DNA." She says looking at me. "Your family has a long lineage of Pieces of Edens, he could pick your DNA for years and find a new Piece to play with." She says with dark eyes. "So I thought that maybe he would give me the Ring in exchange for you. Then I could find the Dagger's Replica and rid myself of life, leaving the fallout to the rest." She says coldly.
"Does it mean nothing to you?" I ask her with a scoff. "All this fighting and hiding and death. You're just going to let them win so you can die?" I say coldly, feeling disgusted with how fucked up she truly is.
"This war is never going to end, Desmond." She says to me. "The Assassins can eradicate the Templars and they will still find a way to repopulate like the disease that they are. It's never going to end; no side is ever going to win or lose. So, I might as well find my way out like everyone else has."
"By using me as the pawn in your game?" I say disgustedly.
"My knight in shining armor." She says in a condescending tone.
"I told you that I would look for the Replicas. You promised me that I found them, you would stop this psychotic plan of self-destruction."
"You are my failsafe if I cannot locate all the Pieces of Eden." She tells me. "And I am getting tried of looking."
"Azalea, you can't do this. I will tell Harlan. I will tell them all." He tells me sternly.
"Go ahead, Desmond. I will just kill them all for getting in the way, and your blood will be on their hands." She says without a bat of the eye.
"What about Bishop?" I ask her. "She is a Templar so she must be close to Alan. There has to be a way for her to get the Ring from him." I pled with her.
She shrugs her shoulders, "Try whatever you'd like, Desmond." She says uninterestedly. "But that is the plan you asked for. I will get that Ring and I have no hesitations trading you in for it." She says sternly. "Now you're welcome to enjoy your time here until your friends come since you took it upon yourself to bring them here." She says bitterly, getting out of her seat and walking past me.
I leave her office and head to the kitchen where I find Alexa. I approach her when she stiffens at my presence. "Hey," I say to her. "I am sorry that I outed you in there. It wasn't against you. I was trying to drive home the fact that Azalea is a piece of shit." I let out with a humorless scoff.
She looks at me with cold eyes and I can tell that she is not interested in a conversation with me. I look down at my feet knowing that I fucked up with her. "Azalea saved me from an abusive situation." She says to me. "She found me when I was a useless waste of space strung up on drugs." She says harshly, a tone I haven't heard from her. "Azalea gave me purpose in life and a will to live. You may not see her in the light that I do—and I recognize that she is not a saint—but I will not forget what she has done for me, and I am forever indebted to her because of it." She says walking away from me.
I let out a sigh feeling like shit for hurting her like that. I decide to head to bed, despite it still being daytime. There is nothing for me here, and I figure I should just wait for Azalea to trade me for a fucking Ring.
The following day I wake up to the feeling that I am being watched. I look up to see Harlan standing at the foot of my bed. "Shit," I let out in a groggy tone.
"Sorry to wake you." Harlan says with a smile on you face. "I just figured you'd want to see our guests."
My heart drops and I feel myself sweating. I leap out of bed, pulling up my jeans sloppily. I grab my hoodie and pull it on as I run past Harlan and out to the Lobby. I look around frantically for their faces. Fuck what if I don't remember their faces? How long has it been? Have they changed?
I turn a corner to the Library and I still cannot find them. Maybe I should have asked Harlan where they are. I think about where they are when I think about the first place Rebecca would go in a house like this.
I run towards the Kitchen, shoving the doors open when I see Charlotte standing there. She looks over at me. She smiles at me with a warm smile, moving out of my way to expose two people with their backs turned to me as they eat.
My heart drops and my vision blurs as I approach them. I don't know what to say, and when I try, my voice cracks, making a strange noise. They turn and the sound and there it is. Their faces are the same. Nothing has changed. They are exactly how I left them.
Rebecca's face drops and she shoves her food out of her way, racing to me. She engulfs me in a hug with Shaun to join quickly after. They even smell the same, bringing me to tears.
"I missed you guys so much." I finally let out, feeling at home for the first time in so long.