Chapter Ten:

One With Shadows

2012

"No," Bill said firmly.

I frowned. "Bill, we need to find out who Mason is! The Animus is the best way to do that!"

"I said no, Samantha." Bill continued to look for the chest I hid—the one with the Apple inside. "Now either do as I say, or I'm locking you in your room. Your choice."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "What if I gave you the Apple?"

Bill stopped and looked at me. "Then we'd be able to arrange something."

"Well, either Mason goes in the Animus and I give you the Apple, or you keep looking for it and never find it." I crossed my arms, a smirk crossing my lips. "Your choice."

I knew I had Bill exactly where I wanted him. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and finally surrendered.

"Very well, Samantha. But as soon as he gets in, the Apple better be in my hand."

I smiled and showed Mason to the Animus, grabbing Ezio's Apple of Eden from underneath it in the process. When Rebecca patched him in, I gave the box to Bill, who was frowning at me.

"Nice doing business with you," I commented dryly.

I heard Shaun laugh. "Well, at least you didn't kill each other. That's a bonus."

1511

While Ezio was off with Yusuf, I ended up spending time with Sofia in her bookshop, reading every book I could find there. Sofia and I would sometimes pass the time by having reading competitions, to see who could read the fastest. To prove it, we would need to memorize the page. Suffice to say, I had a bit more experience than her, but she was good.

When Ezio would come back, I would leave so he and Sofia could be alone. I had no doubt that Ezio was flirting with her, and I didn't really want to see my old friend continue his womanizing habits.

A few weeks after we'd arrived in Constantinople, I saw Ezio in the library of the main hideout. He was completely transfixed by one of the keys he'd found; the third one, to be exact. As I watched him and the key, my head started to pound. I put my hand on my head, hoping that something as simple as that would dull the pain, but it did not.

"He executed our youngest son, Maria! He deserves to die!"

Altair? I used the wall to stop myself from falling over. How long it had been since I heard his voice…

"Perhaps. But if you cannot win back the Order by honourable means, its foundation will crumble."

And now Maria… I slipped on a pillow and fell in a heap of them.

"You are right. Thirty years ago I let passion take over my reason. And it caused a rift that has never fully healed."

Now it wasn't just their voices; I could see them, standing outside the portcullis of the Assassin's keep. I could feel the fear from the citizens. Fear of the Assassins. Maria… I never saw her before she'd died. Only hours after Darim and Altair escaped Masyaf, I saw the funeral of both Malik and Maria. They were buried beside Sef, by sympathizing Assassins. And then I met with Altair and Darim once more, as they said their final good-byes…

My eyes opened when Ezio shook me awake. "Sofia! Mio dio, Sofia!"

I groggily lifted my head. "Ezio…? What…?" I instantly remembered hearing the voices of my adoptive parents, and then nothing. "What happened?"

"I heard a fall after I finished looking at Altair's key, and I saw you lying on the ground. And then you started to speak… some sort of language."

I rubbed my eyes. "It must have been Arabic. It's my first language." I paused. "Ezio, those keys… They showed you Altair's memories?"

He nodded. "Si. How did you know?"

I shrugged. "I don't know how, but I saw Altair and Maria back in Masyaf. I guess you know what happened."

Ezio held out his hand and helped me up. "Si. Mi dispiace."

"There's nothing to apologize for," I replied. "It was a long time ago."

1205

I peeled open my eyes and stared at the bodies around me. From the smell, they had probably been rotting out in the sun for about a day. I'm… not dead? I saw the blade of A'hd's sword potrouding from my chest. No way… And then the realization came to me. Ever since Altair had used the Apple to save my life, I didn't have any scars since then. I'd been stabbed so many times, and fought an army of four-hundred Templars. Not to mention the arrows I'd taken—and now, there was a sword inside of me, right through my heart.

I knew I should've been dead. I should've joined my deceased fellow Assassins, wherever they were. And then I knew.

The Apple Altair used on me two years ago… it hasn't allowed me to die, just like Altair asked. My hand absently went to my eyes. That's the reason for these eyes. To remind me that I can't die.

Hard to admit to myself? Of course it was. I'd lived around death my entire life. I'd expected to join them one day.

Maybe I can die of old age, I thought hopefully. Time will tell.

For now, I had to get out of the bodies. I pushed my way through, hoping I wasn't just burying myself deeper. When I finally managed to crawl out of the heap of bodies, I realized that all of the war machines the Templars had were now in the village, with a few trying to get past the portcullis of the keep.

I quickly pushed the sword out of my body, taking deep breaths to hide the pain. I grabbed the sword and decided it would be useful, then hobbled over to the main gates of the village. It was already night time, so I could use the cover of darkness to my advantage. As soon as I found my weapons, I was off. My walking speed quickened as more time passed, until I was able to run. I stayed as quiet as possible, so not to alert any guards. I leaped into a haystack just before a guard was passing and assassinated him, pulling his body into the haystack. I jumped out and saw a few barrels of oil, used for torches.

Smiling, I grabbed a barrel and doused one of the Templar's wooden machines in it, then moved onto the next one, letting the oil spill in a perfect trail to it. As I ran out of oil, I went back and grabbed another barrel, continuing my pattern. When I reached the keep, I carefully encircled the guards using the machine to get inside, hoping and praying they wouldn't see me.

I grabbed an unlit torch after I was done and waited until the guards were close to every machine before I lit it and held it near the oil. In an instant, the first machine was a smouldering ruin, quickly followed by the other machines. It was a beautiful sight.

"What the hell is happening down there?" I heard the lead Templar scream.

More and more of the machines exploded, until it reached the one at the top, where the guards were starting to panic. When the circle I made around them lit up with fire, I leapt through and assassinated them all, then managed to push the machine away, into the flames.

I hid quickly as the lead Templar appeared out of a house in the village. He clenched his fists in anger at the sight of his army.

"Who has done this?" the Templar screamed. "What sorcery?"

I heard the portcullis of the keep open. Altair stepped out, his sword in his hand. He marched towards the lead Templar, the anger apparent in his strides. What remained of the Templar army was quickly destroyed by the Assassins, until only the lead Templar and A'hd remained, though A'hd was taken prisoner and watching his master's imminent demise from the battlements.

"Devil take you, Assassins!" the Templar screamed as Altair unknowingly led him towards me. "God is on my side!"

Altair raised his sword. "Then it is God's turn to judge you; for I already have."

Before Altair could bring down his sword, I stepped out from behind the shadows. Altair saw me, I knew, but I couldn't tell what the expression on his face was.

The Templar laughed. "Why do you hesitate, Altair? Are you afraid of the wrath God would bring unto you, if you kill me?"

I activated my hidden blade and stabbed it through the back of the Templar's skull. When I was sure he was dead, I deactivated my hidden blade and let his body fall to Altair's feet.

"God will judge him," I said.