Everything faded with a slow flash of light and I watched as the glass pulled away, over my face. I heard Vidic as he looked up.
"Ms. Stillman, Subject Seventeen has only been inside for a few hours, he can go back in for a while, is there something wrong?" His voice was still perverse to me and I had to use everything I had to keep from tackling him from his chair.
"I don't know sir..." Lucy's voice was quivering a little bit and she leaned down in front of me, pretending to work on the machine. "Desmond, I know the Bleeding Effect will have negative influence on you, so I'm going to try to be slow with this, okay?"
If she was doing something nice, things would really begin to turn around. I could take advantage of the situation. "Now, Desmond," She started again, "You're in King Arthur's memory because we need to know what happened to the Piece of Eden number 25, Excalibur. Sadly, Jeanne d'Arc's only living descendant is nowhere to be found, so we have to start earlier in time to get a clue about it. Please, don't make this harder on me." Her voice was partially pleading me, so I nodded while she continued to fake-work on the Animus, "I promise this won't last forever..." She muttered the words to me, but they had no meaning due to the last few promises being broken in one fell-swoop.
I shook my head but conformed to what she asked, allowing her to pretend to fix the Animus for about five more minutes, giving me a slight break from the machine. She strapped me back down and the glass slid back over my eyes once more and sent me hurtling back into the memories of King Arthur.
I examined my hands for a moment in the new environment. Battle cries sounded all around me and I saw the Saxon army charging at us. Instinctively, I raised the golden blade high in the air and let out a deep, loud cry of my own. The armour-clad soldiers behind me responded with a roar in unison before charging forward around me. After about half of the army had passed, I kicked my horse and it began galloping forward. I was soon ahead of my whole army and, as it was trained, my horse turned around. I jumped off while it was in mid-turn hit the head of an opposing soldier with the hilt of the blade, sending him into a deadly coma.
All around me they attacked, but one by one I easily cut them away with the blade I had named Excalibur. It was a curious artifact that allowed me to lead and fight in a battle with prowess I had no idea existed. I swung left to right and aimed a jab behind me, killing yet another. The battle raged on for hours as I made my way through their ranks and my whole army pushed them back.
"They're falling back, men! Keep moving!" I shouted to the army behind me as we pushed and pushed. In the middle of their chaotic sea, I found a large battalion of Saxons all holding up shields while they advanced.
They easily blocked my first blow, as well as the second. I brought my right foot up and kicked forward, shattering one of the shield with it. Without hesitation I lunged at the open hole and killed one more soldier before destroying another shield with the hilt of my blade. I repeated this to fight the entire force using various dodges and maneuvers to keep alive.
Soon, after hours and hours of fighting nonstop, the Saxons retreated with the few soldiers they had left. I turned around to face an army staring at me in disbelief of our accomplishment. I looked down at my golden blade and then back up at my troops. With a tight grip, my blade was lifted high in the air and I gave out a mighty yell. The troops responded likewise and they began to celebrate amongst each other. Finally, I did a slow-motion three-sixty to look at the dead.
I muttered silently, "Rest in peace, my brothers..." I wasn't only speaking to my fallen, but I could feel that I had been speaking to all the dead.
That night, England raged with loud parties and festivities as the soldiers and patriotic families enjoyed our mighty victory.
"Loading... Loading..." The Animus called once more, "Time Advance for Subject Seventeen, Generation of King Arthur."
I now sat on barren fields that would one day be called France. Arthur, however, did not know this, he had found a way to sneak out of English and find this new land. I was now staring down at the ground, feeling my bones more aged than before. I lifted the blade up, pointed at the ground, and shoved it down to the hand-guard into the soft ground which would one day be hard again. The sword would not be discovered for many centuries, but I knew it was safe out of the hands of those who hunted it. As the blade sunk deep to the ground, I could feel my energy being drained with it. Of its own accord, the blade pulled itself beyond the hand-guard into the ground and used the last of my life-force to bury itself completely. It would only reveal itself to she who presented herself as worthy when the time came.
I could feel myself slipping away into the White Room and soon into reality. I had felt myself die, but it was peaceful with the body of Arthur. I woke up to hear Warren's voice once more.
"Ms. Stillman, you know as well as I do now that the descendant of Jeanne d'Arc is the only hope of finding that damned blade!" Warren yelled at the blond girl running the Animus's computer.
"Yes, Warren, I know! But we can't find her, somehow she escaped!" She yelled back at him with an angrier tone.
"Uhh..." I started, "Lucy, if I can ask, who is Jeanne d'Arc's descendant?" I asked her curiously, wondering who it could possibly be that was so hard to find.
"Re-" Lucy had begun to tell me before she was cut off by Warren in an urgent, yet calm tone.
"Ms. Stillman," He interjected forcibly, "That information is confidential, you know that as well as I do. Now, take Subject Seventeen back to your room, we'll continue the sessions in a few days."