May 6, 1789
Duchesneau was blindfolded and tied in a wooden chair on François de la Serre's office, his clothes full of blood and his face bruised. Élise had left him there while she changed her clothes, not wanting to spent any more time with that dreadful dress and putting on her usual outfit. Arno had removed his suit and was only with his white shirt, once shiny and now bloodstained. She had dispensed Olivier and the other servants.
"Let's see what this cocksucker knows." She told Arno, but he shakes his head.
"No, first you're going to explain all this merde to me!" He starts, taking a step closer to Élise. "You promised me back in the palace."Impatient, Élise gives him a visibly angry look, but he ignores her gaze. "Come on, Élise."
Élise sighed, but then decided that it was better for her to explain the situation right away. "Sit here, Arno." They both sat on the sofa. "I don't even know who to start... I wish my father was here." She tells him, a tear dropping from her eye.
"You can do this, Élise." Arno told her with a reassuring smile, pulling her closer and hugging her tightly. Élise's hands then traveled to Arno's face, and she pulled his face closer for a much needed kiss. Their lips met for longer than she intended, leaving them gasping for air.
"Alright, let me try to explain..." She told him, now determined. "My father was the head of a... a secret organization." Arno gave her a strange look, but then nodded for her to continue. "This organization seeks peace and order, the contrary of chaos and anarchy. But it seems someone from within his very inner circle betrayed him, and..." She tried to continue, but couldn't.
"But someone close to him betrayed him and murdered him?" Arno tried to complement, and she nodded. "And that Red Cross belongs to one of his subordinates like you told me earlier?" He questioned. But Élise reached a concealed necklace from her neck with her hand;
"No, it is the symbol of our Order." She told him, showing her own necklace with the red cross to him. "All this time that we were separated, that I traveled to Paris and other places to study..." She continued. "Most of it was me training to be the new Grand Master of the Order, even though some time was spent on normal studies."
Arno's face was filled with curiosity. "And why didn't I know about this... this Order of yours?" The question shot right through her face, she hadn't expected that question, and she didn't know how to answer it.
"My parents prevented me from telling you about it, at least not until the time comes." She nervously answers. "I hated lying to you, but I needed to."
Arno sighed, he seemed annoyed that he had been fooled for all this years, and by the person that he cared and loved the most. "Why? Why did they prevent you from telling me?" Another question she didn't expected and didn't wanted. She didn't wanted to reveal his Assassin heritage to him, but she also wasn't eager to lie to him again.
"They were deciding if you would be inducted or not..." She started, but was soon interrupted by him.
"I can see through your eyes. There is something else you're not telling me, Élise." He tells her roughly.
"Ah. Alright you got me..." She decided to tell him everything. "Our Order, the Knights Templar or Templar Order, are long time enemies with the Assassin Brotherhood." She started. "Our ideals are different from the Assassins', so we're engaged in a millennia old secret war between ourselves."
"I see, and why are you telling me this?" Arno says with a curious face and a strong interrogative tone.
"Your father... he was an Assassin." She says, and Arno instantly gives her a surprised... and scared face. "And no, before you even ask... my father wasn't responsible for his murder." She quickly completes.
"This is so confusing..." He murmures. "And why was your father killed by one of his own? And if your fa..."
"My father and the leader of the Assassins, the Comte de Mirabeau, were attempting to establish a truce between Assassin and Templar. But members of each order weren't very fond of the decision, some of them were even exiled due to their attempts to destroy the truce." She interrupts him.
"What about my father? Who killed him?" Arno questioned.
"I don't know, my father never told me who killed him, but assured me that he had nothing to do with his death." She answered.
"That better be true..." Arno said with darker eyes.
"It is." She assured him. "I know I haven't told you about this whole mess for all this years, but I swear that we had nothing to do with his death!"
Arno sighed, he looked at the door to Monsieur de la Serre's office and decided to help Élise catch her father's killer.
"I believe in you, but your father's death..." He started but was soon interrupted by her.
"Was not your fault." She told him, successfully already knowing what he was about to say. "The one to blame for his death is whatever coward stabbed him in the back, and I think I got a theory."
"How are you going to be so sure?" He asks calmly. Élise looks at him with dedicated eyes and points at the door to De la Serre's office.
"That scumbag, Duchesneau, I believe I have seen him in one of the Templar meetings." She clarifies.
"Are these meetings the daring partings that I wasn't invited, and that I almost always had to break-in?" He says with a smile. She rewards him with a strong and natural smile.
"Oh those parties... I wished we could go back in time..." She says with a sincere tone.
"Oh Élise, you don't know how much I also wished that." He says, smiling but also almost crying. She stands up from the sofa and steals his hand, making him also stand up. She pulls him closer and hugs him, but none of them show wish for a kiss or else.
"Old times, Arno... Old times..." She tells him, wiping a tear from her eye. Both leave the embrace and head for De la Serre's office, holding their hands together.
As they make their way to the office, Élise and Arno try to talk to each other.
"So, even though you know of your Assassin heritage..." She starts. "You're still going to help me?" She completes, smiling at him but also showing a curious face.
"Anything for you." He simply answers her. She smiles at her, holding his hand even more tightly.
"United." She murmurs softly, smiling.
"United. Always." He repeats, pulling her closer for a kiss. She hugs him, before their hungry lips meet and stay sealed for a long time. He wraps his hand around her head, while his other hand lands on her back. Élise is the first to leave the embrace and the kiss, opening the door to François de la Serre's office and observing the unconscious Duchesneau.
"There he is..." Élise murmurs with an impatient and somewhat angry tone, getting closer to the unconscious bandit leader. "Wake up, shithead!" She angrily orders, kicking the ruffian's wounded stomach and punching him in the head, between his eyes. Duchesneau spits blood, raising his head to try and stop her to further hit him. Élise tries to control herself, and Arno lays his hand on her shoulder, whispering to her that he's already awake.
"What do you want with me..." Duchesneau struggles to start, spitting more blood on the ground. "I'm a simple... a simple thief!" He tries to lie, but is not very successful and Élise punches his face in return.
"I just want you to tell me something, friend." She starts, gazing interrogatively at the ruffian. "Why were you wearing this in your jacket?" She questions, showing the silver initiation Templar pin to him. He gazes her with a desperate look, and then looks at Arno, silently pleading for help. Arno simply ignores him, and nods to Élise for her to continue.
"Huh... I just found this in the mansion!" Duchesneau bluffs again, but Élise again kicks his stomach. "I'm not lying! I swear for my life!" He shouts, spitting blood on the red head's shirt, receiving another punch as a response.
"I know you're lying to me, scumbag!" She starts, placing her knee on his bruised stomach. "You're in the Order, ain't you?" She finally questions, drawing a short knife from her pocket and threatening him.
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you everything!" He starts, almost crying helplessly. "It was that man, Sivert!" He finally completes.
"Sivert..." She murmurs to herself. "And how did you met him? How were you even initiated in the Order?!" She questions, pointing her knife to his throat.
"I used to work for the King of Beggars, and this Sivert fellow introduced him, me and some other underlings to the Order." He starts, trying to formulate his words. "I also helped Sivert in some of his smuggling operations, and he ordered me to find François de la Serre's residence and steal his paperwork!" He completed, looking to the ground to avoid the red head's gaze.
"While Sivert murdered him!" She roared at Duchesneau's face. "Well unfortunately François de la Serre's daughter arrived just in time to stop you, didn't she?" Élise mocked him with a cruel and ruthless smile.
"I had no idea..." Duchesneau started, but decided to change his words. "Will you let me go now?" He questions, forcefully smiling at her.
"I don't know..." She answers. "Arno! Release him on the streets!" She ordered Arno, and he hesitantly untied Duchesneau and walked to the downstairs door.
"So Sivert was responsible for father's death... he is going to pay for this. But Sivert doesn't seems smart enough to make himself the new Grand Master, he was probably hired or bribed by somebody else." She thinks to herself, trying to understand this conspiracy against her father.
Arno opens the door and angrily throws Duchesneau out, closing the door. He hears the guard's shouts, Duchesneau was likely wanted by them. Good riddance, monsieur Duchesneau. He thinks to himself before going to Élise's location.
"We need some sleep." Arno tells her with a visibly tired face.
"Yeah, we do." She answers, quietly entering her room. Arno heads for his room, thinking about what he saw during this dreadful night. He normally didn't stayed awake until 4 in the morning, but this time there was a strong reason. He was impressed by the strong and dedicated Élise he saw during Duchesneau's interrogatory. Finally he laid on the bed, getting the sleep he was needing.