It's very, very quiet in the forest. The normal sounds of animals are gone- they've all been scared away, or into hiding. There's not so much as a breath of wind blowing, so even the trees are still. It feels like the world is holding its breath, and Connor can't blame it. The last thing he wants to do right now is attract his mother's attention.
He and Haytham are sitting on a log, trying not to look at each other, or especially at Ziio, who's standing in front of them, arms crossed, looking more angry than Connor can remember ever seeing her before. She's not yelling. Anymore. But Connor's ears are still ringing with the tirade she's just finished with, and so he stares very hard at the ground and hopes Haytham will do something to attract her attention before he does. Even after years as an assassin, he still feels like a little boy around his mother.
"You don't seem to be taking this well," Haytham says, and Connor breathes a sigh of relief.
"What did you expect me to do?" Ziio demands. "You come to me with a story like yours, and you don't think I'll be angry?"
"I told you we shouldn't have said anything," Haytham mutters.
"Yea," Connor says. "How well do you think this would have gone if we'd started out by lying?"
"It's not like we did any of this on purpose," Haytham snaps. "We'd switch back right now if we could."
"You think that's what I'm angry about." Ziio raises an eyebrow.
"Well- yes," Haytham says, and gives Connor a very confused sideways look. Connor only shrugs.
"You both nearly killed each other, and you think there's anything else I would be angry about?" Ziio continues. "It's incredibly stupid."
"You're not the first one to say that today," Haytham admits.
"Good," says Ziio. "You deserve to hear it a few more times." She shakes her head and glares at Haytham. "I thought I raised you better than that."
Connor turns red. There aren't many situations he can think of right now that sound worse than being stuck in his father's body. "Actually-"
"Right." She glares at him, too, then her gaze softens and she shakes her head. "This is going to take some getting used to."
Haytham flinches, and Connor looks over at him. "Who's in your head?" he asks.
"Desmond," Haytham says. "Does this happen to you a lot?"
"Yes," says Connor.
"Does it?" Ziio asks. "Were you going to mention the people in your head at any point?"
Connor decides his best choice is to say nothing, so he ducks his head and carefully studies the ground by his feet.
"Why are they even in your head?" Ziio demands. She looks between Haytham and Connor, as if not sure who she's supposed to blame for this.
"They're looking for something," Connor says. "A key."
"It's the same one I showed you that summer we met," Haytham adds. "You remember, the day you showed me the cave, and we-"
"I remember," Ziio says quickly, and they both look at Connor, who has no idea why they both suddenly look embarrassed. "So why don't you just give it to them, so they can stop wasting time looking for it and focus on getting you two back to normal?"
"Well, yes," Haytham says. "That would be a wonderful plan, except that I don't have it anymore."
"You don't?" Connor asks. "Then who does?"
"Charles Lee," Haytham says. "I gave it to him this morning."
Connor groans and drops his head into his hands. This day just isn't getting any better.