Ezio stood by Luna, both of them staring at the shimmering apparition in front of them. They made no moves for several moments, then Luna saw moved behind the presence, she shifted her eyes, focusing on the moment and that was when she saw it, Haythem moving towards them. He had a smug look on his face as he sauntered down the hall, his eyes trained on Luna. He moved through Juno and Luna felt Ezio taking a step forward, moving to block Luna from the man approaching them. Then from behind his back Haythem pulled out an apple. Luna felt tears rolling down her cheeks, but she refused to let her mind believe they had lost, not until she took her last breath. Hathem raised the apple while Ezio and Luna watched it pulse in his hand, like a heartbeat. Then without warning Ezio fell to the ground, Luna never saw the strike that kit Ezio, but she knew she'd be next. She knelt next to Ezio, checking his pulse before standing up and stepping over him.
"You are so lucky he isn't dead." Haythem made a passing gesture with his hand.
"Was that supposed to be a threat? I wasn't going to kill him, just get him out of the way for a moment." She thought he really was regal, even in modern clothes he just carried himself so nobly as they started walking in circles while Juno watched patiently.
"You want me, here I am. What is it you're looking for Haythem?" He took a step closer to her and she stopped pacing, standing her ground even thought her heart was fluttering in her chest.
"Who is better in that bed of yours miss? My father or my son?" She took a step closer, now just a few inches separating them as she peered up into his cold gray eyes.
"I've never slept with Edward, I saw you coming and created a distraction to trap you. Connor on the other hand, is more than any other man I've ever met." She ran her eyes down his body as he smirked, closing the gap between them.
"Mayhap you've yet to experience the best." She started back peddling suddenly aware that he was holding the apple close to her. She soon had her back pressed against the wall and she turned to where Ezio was still laying. She wanted to make a run for it, but she wasn't going to leave him there alone. She turned back to Haythem, seeing a hungry look in his eyes. She started moving to Ezio, listening to the sound of Haythem laughing.
"He isn't going anywhere miss. You are beautiful with a fire in you, I can see why both would want to spend time alone with you." She felt that lurching in her stomach again, but there was nothing left in it to come out. She kept her eyes on him, watching him as they started their showdown.
"So, you're going to do her bidding, set her free? Do you really think she'd allow you to rule by her side?" He smiled at Juno before looking to the apple in his hand. He raised the orb to eye level, watching as it glowed from her light, glimmering like the ocean at sunset.
"With this I will free her from the electrical prison she has spent countless millenniums stuck in. For that I will be rewarded by becoming more than just a mere man before you. I will live on, and she has promised me abilities far beyond any mortal comprehension." Luna swallowed hard, she had heard those sort of promises before when Juno last spoke to Desmond. She needed to get the apple away from him somehow, but how on earth could she possibly do that? She tried to come up with some sort of strategy, but she couldn't take her eyes from him, she found it hard to concentrate while he held up his weapon, studying it.
"Do you think she can be trusted?" She started to move again, this time slowly, not looking at him as she spoke like she was talking to no one in particular. "She has made those claims before. No, really she made bigger claims. At least she didn't lie to Desmond, she told him his death was to be quick and painless. She does not side with the Templars nor the Assassins. She stands for herself, wanting to shape this world to her liking. She would set out to enslave this world and you would only be one more to control." Haythem wanted to speak up, but he wasn't sure what to say. The glowing behind him grew brighter and a voice came from nowhere and everywhere.
"You think you can stop me. I can do so much more now that I'm no longer in the grey. I can control so much and I have seen so much more than I imagined. These people have created so much suffering, so much pain and I can end that. I can open their eyes to what life could be, to see what my people were able to accomplish. I can give them all the sixth sense, let them know how much better this world can be, all I need is a body. I need to have a flesh of my own, a way to communicate with the mass of trivial humans you all have become." Haythem was now looking at Juno, backing away towards Luna with a look of terror in his eyes. Luna knew that he now saw the mistake he had made, this Juno could be dangerous and she could end him in a breath, without thought. He didn't know what to do, should he give the apple to Luna, should he try to use it against Juno? He had only held it briefly, but he already managed to subdue Ezio quite easily, perhaps he could wield it against her, although it was her people who had created it. Once that thought entered his mind, his cast out any notions of using it against her, it would do no good.
He looked to Luna who had her attention on Juno, surprised to see her standing steady. There was a defiant look in her eyes, one that made him believe that she had a plan, and one that may actually work. A small smirk appeared on her lips as they stood there in silence, Juno seemingly waiting on one of the two mortals to speak. Neither did, they both stood there. Haythem appeared to be concentrating on Luna, so Juno looked her over, taking a closer look. The woman was only minimally arms, two hidden blades as well as a firearm on her ankle. Juno was unable to read her thoughts, she could not look into her mind. There was only an image, over and over, one single image playing through the woman's head. It was the symbol of the brotherhood of the assassins, but the reason escaped Juno. She could not fathom why this was relevant to the woman, not now, not at this time. Soon Luna smiled widely.
"So, you need a body to inhabit, whose would you take, Haythem's or mine perhaps? Well, it isn't that simple, I will not allow you to take mine, and Haythem, he's seen better days, do you really want that?" Luna knew Haythem was in top physical strength, she'd found that out first hand, she was really buying time, hoping to find a way out of this situation with the least amount of lives lost. "I mean just look at him, sure he looks fine but you know how life was where he came from. He could have some silent disease running rampant through his veins, not to mention his age. Sure people now are living to be 70, 80, hell even 100 years old. In his time, he could die any day now. Are you sure you want to take that risk. Take over that body just to die days later?"
Haythem knew she was stalling, talking circles like Hickey would do when he was drunk. He was impressed though, she seemed to have Juno's full attention all the while she wasn't saying anything important. Out of habit she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair and Haythem became mesmerized by the glow from Juno playing on the strands as they fell back down. The light played up the red undertones in her hair and as moments it seemed to catch fire as she played with it. Haythem stopped staring at Luna once he heard Juno's shrill laugh.
"You think I couldn't take your body if I so wished it? Your feeble mind is nothing I couldn't control." Juno seemed to be grown larger in the hallway causing Haythem again to back away, but Luna stood solid as she smiled. Again Juno tried to invade her mind, but again she saw nothing but the symbol of the assassins. Suddenly Luna cried out, screaming "NO." as she rushed forward. Haythem looked to where she was headed but a bright white light blinded him. The light was so glaring that he and Luna both fell to their knees, shielding their eyes, but the pain was still too much. There was the sound of Luna screaming, but then the light was gone. Haythem laid on the floor, afraid to raise his head to see what monstrosities Juno may have brought about. He could hear Luna crying next to him and he reached for her, his hand sliding across the cold tiled floor. He felt her but this time she didn't recoil from him, instead she reached to him. She held his hand for a fleeting moment then she was gone. He dared raise his eyes, seeing that the hard florescent lights had come back on over him and he squinted as he looked around.
He first saw Ezio laying before him, the man slowly moving as he groaned. He then turned to find Luna, and when he did he realized why she had cried out. There was a small frail looking elderly man laying on the floor holding an apple in his hand. He watched as Luna cradled the mans head, talking softly to him.
"There could have been another way, you did not have to do this." The old man shook his head no slowly as he looked up at the woman whose lap his head was rested.
"No, there was no other way. I was the most logical solution to this problem, and now that I have her held within my mind, she can die with me." She knew he was right, but the thought of Altair using himself as her prison troubled Luna. She hated to think that his mind was slowly being burned up from the inside from the two consciousnesses battling with it for use of the body it was encased in. She cried as his head fell to the side, his hand slowly letting go of the apple, gravity pulling it to the floor so that it could roll away on some unseen track of its own design. Haythem watched as she slowly placed the man's hands over his chest, speaking softly as she did. He did not hear what she said at first, but soon he heard the words he had learned to hate as a Templar, the creed the Assassins lived by.
"Never compromise the brotherhood. You've done well Padre. Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito. Requiescat in Pace." She slowly closed the man's eyes before pulling away, tears falling down her cheeks. Haythem then felt hand pulling him into a seated position, but he remained quiet, he knew he would be caught and he was sure he would die. He looked up to see the dark eyes of his son and he could see the rage boiling beneath them. He watched as Connor walked away, going over to where Luna was seated on the floor. He whispered his own "Nai:Wen" to the man laying on the ground. He then turns his attention to Luna, placing one of his large hands on her shoulder while she wept.