Assassin in the Void
By psychored1911
Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed or Familiar of Zero
Chapter 13: Templar in the Void
The Next Day, Early Morning, Tristainian Assassin HQ
"Ugh…" Saito mumbled as he woke up, finding himself inside a medium sized bedroom.
"Morning, sleepyhead."
Saito turned to the sound of Julio's voice. The Italian Assassin in question was sitting in a nearby chair, seemingly playing a game on his Profiler. Domani was sitting next to him, nonchalantly eating a loaf of bread. There was a wooden box sitting on a nearby table.
The young Japanese Assassin rubbed his eyes, feeling a pounding headache coming on "Ugh, what happened?"
"You fainted and we had to carry you back to HQ. And by 'we' I mean 'I' had to carry you back." Domani said bluntly, taking a bite out his loaf of bread.
"Ugh, sorry about that." Saito apologized, getting off the bed.
"It'd be better if you just give the Apple to the Council so it won't hurt anyone anymore." Julio told him, putting his Profiler away.
"I'm pretty sure we already had this conversation." Saito rolled his eyes "What will I tell them? I was holding onto a hyper-advanced prehistoric artifact our Order has been hunting down for millennia?"
"No, you lie and tell them you forgot it on the ship and went back to the city to send for it." Julio told him matter-of-factly, pointing at the wooden box at the table.
"Do you honestly think that will work?" Saito argued.
"Do you honestly have a better idea?" Julio countered.
"Well no, but-"
"But nothing!" Julio shoved the box into Saito's hand, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards the door, with Domani following shortly "You're going in there and handing it to our higher ups right now!"
Julio dragged Saito out of the barracks and towards the central building, ignoring the many curious stares of other Assassins, before stopping in front of Master Louette's office.
"Look, as far as I know, you didn't break any tenets, and you did tell the command in Albion about it, so you didn't hide it from them; there's no harm done." Julio said as he opened the door "Just go in there and say-"
"And say what?" someone beyond the doorway asked.
Julio, who recognized the voice, immediately froze in place as he slowly turned around, palpable hesitation in his movements.
"Ah, merda… (shit…)" Domani muttered under his breath. "We are so screwed."
"What? What happened?" Saito peered over Julio's shoulder, wondering who he was talking to.
From within the room, two figures emerged: one was Master Louette of course, the other one was a bit harder to explain. It was definitely a male, one who must have been in his 70's or 80's at least. He wore a faded black hooded overcoat, worn out canvas trousers, and simple leather boots. Simple as his attire sounds, it was clear he was wearing some sort of body armor underneath that baggy clothing; it would be unwise for an Assassin not to. A plated Assassin Order Seal hung loosely upon his belt. There was an old scarf wrapped around his face, obscuring most of his features, but one could still see his dark, wise eyes, eyes that have seen all the good and the evils of the world and so much more. He didn't seem to have any armaments on his person.
"So you're awake now Gandalfr." Master Louette noted "You gave us quite a scare when word got out of the Queen of Tristain herself put a hit out on you." She sighed in disapproval "Although I wouldn't blame her; if someone was offing my Assassins left and right without trying to erase themselves from notability, I would probably make that person a high-priority target." She scoffed a bit as the Elder beside gave her a quick glance.
"I'm sorry for any inconvenience." Saito apologized as he handed the box to Master Louette "Also, before you do anything else, the Albionese Branch, since their status is still unstable at the moment, asked me to deliver this to the Tristainian Branch for safekeeping." He opened the box, revealing the P.O.E. within. "This artifact is called the Apple of Eden, an artifact that our counterparts have been trying to keep out of the hands of our enemies for generations."
The Elder beside Master Louette stared at it in alarm, whereas Master Louette just stared at it curiously "Huh, so our counterparts were after these things?" she carelessly reached for it "I don't see what the big deal is; it looks like a huge lump of gold-" the five of them were hit with a wave of unnatural light as she touched it. Domani and the Elder were immobilized immediately, but Master Louette, Julio and Saito were seemingly unharmed.
"What the?!" Master Louette's gaze darted around in alarm "What's going on?!"
"Turn it off!" Saito and Julio screamed as they both placed their hands on the Apple, ceasing its powers as Domani and the Elder collapsed to the ground.
"Ah shit, Domani!"
"Mentor!"
Julio and Master Louette both let go of the Apple as they went over to the collapsed Assassins, leaving Saito to hold onto the Apple once again.
"There's a reason we wanted to get this away from them." Saito told her "The Apple-"
"The Apple of Eden is a tool used by our precursors to control humans," The Elder finally spoke up, staggering to his feet as Master Louette tried supporting him up. "It can bend one's will to theirs, at the cost of the user's own sanity. In the wrong hands, it can and will cause much destruction."
Saito blinked in surprise "Yes… that's correct um…" he hesitated a bit, realizing he doesn't know the Elder's name "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
Julio, who was getting Domani back to his feet, uneasily said "Saito, I would like you to meet The Mentor of the Halkenginian Assassin Order. Mentor, this is Saito Hiraga, the Brimiric Left Hand of God."
Saito blinked "Wait, you're the Mentor?"
"Yes, that is correct." The Mentor affirmed "though I wish to have met you under better circumstances, and not by getting hit with a P.O.E." his gaze shifted towards Master Louette, who averted her own. "Anyways, it's good that you came forward with the P.O.E. when you did. It's far too dangerous to be in human hands." He whistled as two Master Assassins, both garbed in dark, hooded robes, dropped from the support structures and landed before him. "You two, take this and bring it to the Holy Land Border; the Templars will surely never find it there, not with the trouble we bring them in Halkenginia."
The two Assassins nodded "Yes, Mentor!" they saluted as one of the Assassins took the box from Saito and left the premises.
Watching them go off, The Mentor gazed at Julio and Domani "As for you two, aren't you two supposed to be in Romalia?"
"Mentor, we were asked to come here to identify the Gandalfr when he first arrive." Domani, still slung over Julio's shoulder, answered "When Julio realized who it was, he may have gotten a tad excited." He glanced at Julio, who chuckled nervously in embarrassment.
The Mentor glanced at Master Louette, who nodded in confirmation "I see. That sounds reasonable. I appreciate the honesty, Mr. Altamura. But pray tell, your job is done, yet you two are still in Tristain, why is that?"
Julio's gaze wandered a bit, an answer failing to "Um… tourism?" he weakly replied.
"…For all the hard work you two have put for the Order, I'll just let it slide for now… You may need to return" The Mentor looked at Saito expectantly "And for the Gandalfr- no, Saito Hiraga, The Council has passed judgment upon you. Don't worry. You won't be punished… much."
Saito gulped in fear. The Mentor telling you you're getting punished was never a good sign "Excuse me?"
Though unseen, beneath the Mentor's scarf, he gave a comforting smile "It's not much. Just think of it more as a job for the Order than a punishment."
Meanwhile, Early Morning, outskirts of Sachsen-Gotha, Albion
*knock… knock… knock…*
Matilda opened the door, finding Luce standing there, adjusting the body armor on her arms, before returning to address her. "Ready to go?" she asked.
"Just give us a minute, we're trying to help the younger ones pack up." Matilda told her.
Luce smiled "When you're ready, I'll be out here." She said.
Just as Luce began to turn away, Matilda grabbed her by the arm "Listen," Matilda said slowly "You, this Templar Order, do you have any relation to the Papal Templars belonging to the Brimiric Church?"
Luce's smile quickly twisted into a frown "Miss Matilda, with all due respect, I would advise you not to even think of relating us to those iron-clad zealots. They are nothing more than religious fanatics whom we have the displeasure of coincidentally sharing a name." she viciously spat.
Sensing the bitterness in Luce's tone, Matilda decided not to comment any further "Um… okay? So, where exactly are you taking us?"
"I was instructed to bring you to our Headquarters in Lutece, Gallia in three hours." Luce told her.
Matilda looked at Luce skeptically "Three hours? It takes nearly a day to get from here to the nearest harbor. Do you honestly believe we're going to make it to Gallia in three hours?"
"You clearly haven't been on a helicopter, haven't you?" Luce asked in a humorous tone.
Matilda stared at her, confused "What's a helicopter?"
*Vrrrrrr…*
As if on cue, the sound of spinning propeller blades came into earshot, gradually getting louder and louder, with the wind whipping harder in intensity, until a transport helicopter, a Sikorsky MH-53, flew overhead, before slowly descending onto the ground nearby.
"That is a helicopter." Luce said as the helicopter door opened up, revealing another Abstergo Field Pilot, clad in black body armor, and a Mk. 23 pistol holstered to his leg.
"Are they ready to go?" The Pilot called out to them.
"Just give them a minute, they're almost done." Luce calls back to him. She then turns back to Matilda, who looked at the helicopter, dumbstruck. "First time seeing one of these? I know, I was just as surprised as you were when I first saw one of these things. According to the engineers, it flies without wind magic, instead relying on these giant things called propellers. It's amazing what a world could do without magic."
That last comment made Matilda do a double take "Excuse me?"
"There's a world parallel to ours that doesn't use magic. Instead, they harnessed the power of the earth through other means… though from how I hear it, they heavily degraded their natural resources in the process." Luce said to her with a shrug "Then again, it's not exactly my place to ask questions… It's best just to leave it to the engineers."
As the two talked, Tiffania and the rest of the children came down from the stairs "We're ready." Tiffania said with a smile, carrying a large suitcase with her, supposedly carrying all of the belongings they were going to bring with them.
"Alright then," Luce turned back to the pilot. "Pilot, start it up again."
"Roger that." The Pilot gave her a thumbs up as he turned on the helicopter's ignition, the propeller's blades whipping the wind away once again…
And blowing Tiffania's large hat right off her head.
"Kyaa!" Tiffania cried as she tried in vain to catch her hat, but all it did was catch Luce's attention.
Luce spun on her heels "Huh? What's the matter…" her voice trailed off as she gazed upon Tiffania's pointed, elfish ears.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Matilda stared in horror at the situation before her. An outsider, a knight no less, has spotted Tiffania's ears. She could just kill her now, but it would ultimately only draw even more attention to themselves, not to mention what her sister and the children would think of her if she killed a knight in cold blood. Tiffania could also erase her memory, just like any other intruder who would happen upon their land, but this woman was a knight, not the average undisciplined mercenary or Reconquista soldier whom she could so easily distract, and with those firearms on her person, she could just pull the trigger before her sister could even chant a single line-
"Well, this might be a problem once we get back to Command." Luce sighed before turning to the helicopter and yelling "Hey Pilot, toss me one of those bulky earmuffs!"
"You mean headphones?" he yelled back.
"Whatever, just toss me one!" she shouted at him again.
"Fine, fine." The pilot went back into the cockpit for a few seconds, before coming back and throwing a pair of full-size headphones over to his comrade.
"Thanks." Luce caught the headphones with one hand before walking over to Tiffania, completely passing by Matilda, and placed the headphones on her head, completely covering her ears. "There. That should solve the problem. We wouldn't want you to get purged the second we land in Gallia, now would we?"
Matilda stared at her, dumbstruck "You're... you're not reacting…"
"I'll admit that she had me surprised at first," Luce admitted "But some of my superiors shed some light on the subject for me. According to some research, as much as the Church would deny it tooth and nail, humans and elves are extremely similar in terms of genetics. In fact, I could safely say, or even blaspheme, without a doubt that the two races can have children with each other without any ill effects on the child itself. If we just forced them to cooperate, without those religious & political radicals in the reins, they could probably cooperate just fine."
Matilda just glared at Luce; the knight definitely knew something about them, her choice in words only augmented her suspicions. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't seem like Tiffania even caught on.
"Y…You're not going to kill me?" Tiffania tearfully asked.
Luce smiled "Of course not, you don't seem like that bad a person. That, and my boss would kill me if anything were to happen to you."
"Uhhh…" Tiffania started to tear up before embracing the knight in glee "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she cried as she embraced the knight as hard as she could, with some of the kids alongside her choosing to hug Luce as well.
Luce struggled to breathe under their combined strength "Miss Tiffania, while I appreciate your affection, I still have a schedule I need to keep, so please, could you save it for when we get there!"
"O-Okay…" Tiffania reluctantly let go, with tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks, completely grateful for Luce's mercy.
"Well, then… is that it?" Luce asked, receiving no further response "No? Okay then, let's go."
Hours later, La Couvertoirade Fortress, west of Lutece, Gallia
The helicopter slowly descended towards a large, stone fortress, landing gracefully upon its stone roof.
"Well, here we are." Luce said as she opened the copter door "Welcome to Templar Command."
Matilda looked warily around "This isn't Lutece."
"Of course not," Luce nods "If we came to the most populated city in Gallia in one of these, we'd be hearing priests yell bloody murder and get attacked by Dragon Knights."
Matilda frowned, her suspicions raised once again "That doesn't make sense. You said that you were part of a knight organization, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did say that." Luce admitted, scratching her head "However, I did not say we operated within the orders of kings or popes. We operate upon our own terms, as soldiers for peace. As such, we aren't limited by means or traditions to slow down our paths. It's much simpler for us to enforce our ideals without their getting in the way."
Once again, Matilda's suspicions flared up. Luce always had an answer for everything, like it had all been planned out.
"Oh, the boss has given us the honor of greeting us in person."
Matilda turned from Luce, and instead faced the individual approaching them. The person approaching them was a tall woman, with pitch black hair, dark eyes and, strangely, what looked like familiar runes branded upon her forehead. As for her garb, she was dressed in a sharp, black suit, polished dress shoes, a gray dress shirt, and a silver tie with a red cross emblazoned upon the tie, all covered in a gray mantle; the heavily contrasting styles brought by her attire made her appear all the more magnified her aura of authority, rather than making her look out of place.
"Hello, you must be the two sisters from Albion." The woman said as she presented her hand "I am Kriistina Sheffield, Grandmaster of the Knights Templar in Halkenginia. Thank you for joining us."
"Thank you for having us!" Tiffania smiled as she shook her hand, blissfully unaware of her sister's anxieties.
Grandmaster Sheffield smiled "I know you have many questions, but how about you come in for now; you look absolutely exhausted from your trip." She signaled one an Abstergo Agent standing behind her "You, bring the kids to the nursery while I bring these two to the infirmary."
Matilda and Tiffania found themselves getting some of their blood extracted (rather painfully) by some of the medics and placed into a couple of test tubes.
"So, why exactly are you- ow!" Tiffania cringed as one of the medics drew out her blood again "Taking samples of our blood?"
"We are trying to find the trigger that allows mages to use magic." The medic explained as he carefully extracted some of her blood out through a syringe "You see, we hypothesized that the type and strength of mages is linked to their blood, with mages of pureblooded lineages having more square and triangle mages, while diluted lineages have more line and dot mages. Now this is only the type and strength; if we figure out what causes magic to occur in the first place, we can theoretically unlock it for the rest of the human race."
"Unlocking magic for the commoners?" Matilda asked as the second medic started bandaging her wound "Don't you think that the nobility will call bloody murder over that?"
"Think of it this way," The second medic told her "By the time they find out, they won't have any justifiable reason to be called 'nobility' anymore."
"Okay, but why us? I'm a triangle earth mage, but my sister has no magical affinity." At least, she didn't have an affinity that would attract the right crowds.
The second medic didn't answer, and instead Sheffield came in, holding two apples in her hand "Here you guys go. It's important to keep your blood sugar levels up after something like this."
"Thank you," Matilda said as she took one of the apples and took a bite out of it "So, what exactly did you have planned for us?"
Sheffield sat down on a chair and said "For several reasons, we don't exactly have that many mages under our employ, and most of our workers don't take it so well when the nobility try to force their way into levels of authority, so we usually hire stray mages, such as you and your sister. Which reminds me," she pulled out a small file and handed it to her "Your first job. It's nothing hard, we just need something undesirable taken care of. You up for it?"
Matilda sighed, taking the file from Sheffield's hands "Alright, where do I start?"
Construction Site, Lutece, Gallia
*RUMBLE!*
Within seconds, the foundation of a stone, three story building emerged from the ground, ready for use. Tis one of a mage's many advantages over the common people; a good earth mage can easily make such an edifice in a fraction of the time it takes a team of carpenters to build theirs, and with a much stronger foundation. Of course, this was in the past, when nobility was much closer to their non-magical counterparts. Nowadays, as Matilda sees it, these nobility are far too fat, lazy and arrogant to do something on the behalf of their people.
"Alright, it looks good enough from my end," Luce, who was staring over the architect's shoulder, gave her a thumbs up as a team of artisans went in. "Okay then, that should be enough for today."
Matilda blinked "That's it?"
Luce nodded "Well, yes. As Master Sheffield has explained, we don't have much mages as we would like. The ones we do have are far more combat-oriented, unsuitable for these kinds of things. So for those with utility uses, we try to, as they say, milk them out for all they're worth. No offense."
Matilda rolled her eyes; this was nothing new to her. "It's alright. I'm much more used to getting my hands dirty than most mages. As a knight, you should be too." She then eyed the swords and guns on Luce's hip, with her short wand tucked safely in her left boot "By the way, why do you have those weapons? A combat staff should be more than enough for any knight."
"Well, back from where Master Sheffield is from, they feared the soldier's blade far more than they feared a wand."
Matilda raised a brow "Really? They fear swords more than magic where she comes from?"
"Well, that's what she says." Luce shrugged "But according to her, that was centuries ago." She shook her head "Well, let's head back; no need to waste time over here."
Magical Research & Acquisition Department, La Couvertoirade Fortress
While Matilda was being used for her magic's utility purposes, Tiffania was used to test the effects of magic on the human body: heart rate, blood pressure, etc. Currently, she was assisting in recording data for a specific magical act. Namely, the Familiar Summoning Ritual.
*Alright, just recite the words we've told you.* Sheffield spoke into a microphone. Currently, she and a team of scientists and magic experts stood behind a reinforced steel barrier with a heavily reinforced door on the side, looking at Tiffania through a screen, recording her moves with a closed circuit camera.
Tiffania frowned "Umm… I don't feel very comfortable doing this."
*Do you want to take a little break?*
"N-No! I'm okay!" Tiffania hastily took a deep breath, drew her wand and said with all her resolve "O, Pentagon of the five elemental powers, heed my summoning and bring forth my familiar!"
Suddenly, a green portal opened up in front of her, swirling with an ominous vortex, before something- no, someone was spit out from within, collapsing painfully onto the ground.
"I… I did it!" Tiffania said excitedly "I did it! I…" she confusedly looked at the person who fell out of portal "Umm… Is it supposed to be a human familiar?"
*No, but you just gave us an even greater breakthrough,* There was subdued, but very clear excitement in Sheffield's words as muffled sounds of congratulatory handshakes and greetings were exchanged in the background *Thank you, Miss Westwood. Expect to be rewarded handsomely for giving us such an opportunity. Now finish the job.*
"O-Okay…" Tiffania's face flushed red; according to the procedure, this part involved her k-k-kissing the poor familiar. Uuuueeeeh, this is gonna be so embarrassing!
The young half-elf crouched down and very reluctantly, kissed the unmoving person on the lips as the familiar runes engraved themselves upon its chest.
*Well done. Now let's send a medical team in there. It seems like your familiar there is unconscious.*
Late Night- Employee Housing Area, La Couvertoirade Fortress
"Wait, they made you do what?" Matilda asked incredulously.
"They made me summon a familiar!" Tiffania said excitedly "A familiar! And it was a human! They said that those almost never get summoned and I greatly helped them with their research and-"
"Whoa there, Tiffania." Matilda put a hand down on Tiffania's head "You're not thinking about the familiar himself, are you?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Look, since the familiar is human, don't you think he had a life before you summoned him? Don't you think you robbed him of said life? Don't you think, I don't know… he'll hate you and go on a murderous rampage?" Okay, that last one was based on the Valliere girl's psychotic familiar, so that doesn't necessarily count, but Tiffania's new familiar could still be angry about that either way.
Tiffania pondered over the possibilities for a couple of moments "Oh, I haven't thought of that!" she paled in horror "Oh Founder, what have I done?! I ruined someone's life! I-"
"Calm down." Matilda said to her sister in a calm voice "Look, there's probably nothing you can do about it now, but it would never hurt to apologize to him once you are alone, once he's adjusted to this place."
Tiffania looked very unsure for a second, before putting on a confident face for her sister "You're right! I should take responsibility for him! I'll make sure to right all the wrongs I've bestowed upon him!"
"Atta girl." Matilda patted Tiffania on the back before removing the headphones on her head "Now, you should go on to bed. I'll check up on the kids." She said as she tucked Tiffania in her bed and went out to the neighboring rooms, each housing some of the orphans from their little cabin. After going into each room and tucking them in at night, she pulled up her hood and approached the Magical R&D department.
For why she was doing this, well everything here went a bit too smoothly. Nobody just offers someone in the middle of a forest an extremely high paying job for little to no reason at all. Something was definitely up, and if her fears were true, then these people definitely know something about Tiffania's powers.
Matilda snuck into their Magical R&A Department through one of its side doors, using her magic to avoid detection from the guards and researchers. Eventually, she found herself in a room called HG-Room. Once inside, she found Tiffania's familiar; bandaged and hooked up to some sort of machine. From what it looks like, they discarded his clothing; replacing it with a gray uniform jacket, a white t-shirt, and gray cargo pants, all Abstergo Brand. In a table beside the machine were small items, most likely his personal belongings: an Abstergo branded pill bottle with about a dozen small capsules inside, an old watch with a damaged strap, a small roll of paper (which Matilda assumed was some form of currency), and some rectangular device with a screen.
'What the hell is going on?' Matilda thought as her eyes wandered to another tables where a clipboard and several files were neatly arranged. Walking over to the table, she took the clipboard and read:
Abstergo Magical Research & Acquisition: Patient Information
Preliminary Analysis
Patient Identification: Lifdrasil
Height/Weight: 5'10"/154 lbs.
DOB: N/A
Date: 2012/10/30
Bleeding Effect Symptoms: Supposedly has schizophrenia, judging from the medication found on his person; this might be a sign that Lifdrasil was already suffering symptoms. Otherwise stable.
Other Notes: Similarly to Ms. Sheffield, subject has a relatively high concentrations of First Civilization DNA, albeit a different kind than that of Ms. Sheffield's; this implies that all of the Brimiric familiars have high concentrations of First Civilization DNA, at least higher than the average human being. In contrast, from the DNA found in King Joseph Gaul and Tiffania Westwood's DNA, they have a unique, mutated form of the 'magic keystone' genome found in all mages; this mutated (let's call it 'void keystone' until we agree on an official name) genome, like the magic keystone genome, is also hereditary, but unlike it, randomly occurs throughout history for unspecified reasons. While this would have put a hamper on our studies when we began in 2008, with King Joseph Gaul and more recently Tiffania Westwood within hands' reach, our research is reaching leaps and bounds. IF we could manage to get the DNA of Gandalfr and Windalfr, then we could manage to get high concentrations of First Civilization DNA than ever before, in such a short time.
However, I would personally like to request some precautions to be made. One, according to the Brimiric Legend, the First Lifdrasil was killed by an accident by Brimir's behalf, and was replaced by Gandalfr. In lieu of having the 'fucking psychotic Assassin' (eloquently quoted from the scouts in Kilo Team) summoned, I advise to have the Lifdrasil under protection at all times; do not let him die and risk letting the next Lifdrasil be the Gandalfr. Two, the Brimiric Legend also stated that if the Four Founder's Familiars were summoned, there will be a great calamity that will befall Halkenginia. Considering that two of them are Assassins, Ms. Sheffield a member of the Inner Sanctum and Lifdrasil being a potential Inductee due to his status, this calamity most likely is the Assassin-Templar war taking a new stage in the land. However, precautions should be noted in the event of an actual calamity. That concludes my report.
Examiner: Dr. O. Bowden
Matilda gasped, dropping the clipboard in shock. The poor kid was the Lifdasil?! As in 'The Heart of God'? They used her! Used her and her sister! They were using them for blasphemous research! Using them to harvest their DNA and get Tiffania to summon the Lifdrasil for their own ends! They-
"Restrain her."
Suddenly, Matilda's wand was ripped out of her hand as she was grabbed and restrained by two Templar agents, forcing her to kneel as Sheffield approached her, flanked by another agent on each side.
"You... you bitch!" Matilda glowered as she struggled to break free, only for her captors to put even more pressure on her limbs, making her yell out in pain.
Sheffield looked at Matilda disappointingly "And here I thought we could have let you live, but you just had to snoop around, not unlike some other nuisances I know." She sighed "And you had to be one of the few stray mages not already aligned with those mongrels. What a waste."
Waste. Sheffield thought of her only as if she were a cheap tool to be thrown away. It was infuriating. And yet, Matilda could do nothing about it except glare and curse.
"You'll never get away with this, you and all your fucking knights!" she screamed.
"On the contrary," Sheffield replied in an infuriatingly patient tone "This room is soundproof, and Lifdrasil there is properly sedated and if the need arises, we can just claim that there were technical difficulties if your sister develop the smarts to know what and where the cameras are; we can control what happened here. And…" the Grandmaster of the Halkenginian Templars put on a pair of gloves and pulled out a hidden blade, one clearly taken from a fallen Assassin, from a case in her pocket, attached it to her wrist and gave it a nice flick of the wrist, ejecting the blade below "All it takes to frame our enemies is one simple push."
Sheffield plunged the hidden blade into Matilda's chest, just directly above the heart; a stab there was definitely fatal, if only to let her die much more slowly and painfully than the heart directly. The agents restraining her let her go as she spasmed erratically for a brief moment before it just stopped, cold, dead and lifeless.
Sheffield retracted the hidden blade, put it back in the case, and closed her eyes. Matilda's death had been forged to the signature of an Assassin.
Without even sparing the corpse another glance, she said to her fellow agents "Take two more samples of her blood, then arrange the room to appear like there was a break-in. Also, have Agent de Treville stand guard outside of Miss Westwood's room, tell her there was an incident, she needs plausible deniability after all."
Character Bio
Name: Luce Aurora de Treville
Age: Born June 3, 1993 (19 as of late October 1012) in Lutece, Gallia
Political Affiliations: Templar Order, Abstergo Industries (technically), Gallian Knight Army (cover)
Rank: Security Clearance level 42
Magical Affinity: Square Mage (Fire, Earth, Water, Wind) (she actually uses a unique 'light' based magic passed down from generation to generation, unique to her family alone)
Personality: she is a very kind and polite individual, and is quite an affable person in and out of the job. However, despite this, she is not above getting her hands dirty, and is willing to do anything for the Templar Order
Hobbies: poetry, drawing
Special talents: dueling (any kind), swordsmanship, marksmanship, rhyming
Likes: Templars, Abstergo Industries, her father, bear meat
Dislikes: Assassins, the dark, magistrate training
Biography: The eldest child of General de Treville, a famous Gallian war hero, she was born into a military family with high expectations. However, instead of putting her through military training, her father wanted her to be a magistrate instead, sending her off to Sheffield for her training at the age of eight (2001), effectively turning her into the first Halkenginian-born Templar. Since then, she's been rigorously trained in body, mind, and spirit to be one of the best Templars possible. It's been expected that she will become a member of the Inner Sanctum once she gets older.
Notes: She, for some reason, spoke in rhymes when she was younger, but stopped doing so since it was difficult to understand her at times; due to this, she somehow comes off as smug and all-knowing in her speech when she's genuinely being polite or sincere. Her weapons and gear vary from mission to mission, usually depending upon the circumstances. However, there are always three constants to her arsenal regardless of the situation. While
Weapons: Sword of Mahthildis, H&K Mark 23, Abstergo Hellhound pistols
Sword of Mahthildis: An heirloom hand-and-a-half sword once wielded by an ancestor of hers, supposedly gifted to her family by a spirit of the forest. A sword of this size would be very awkward for a child to wield, but it's perfect for an adult. The fact that Luce can potentially dual-wield this blade with anything ranging from a light combat staff to another greatsword is a testament to her training and strength. While this generally raises a few eyebrows from the nobility, it can usually be waved off as it can channel magical energy when the need arises.
Attack: *****
Speed: ****
Deflect: ****
[Added Effect: can stun/disorient enemies with a flash of light]
Heckler & Koch Mark 23: [See chapter 8] the grips have been whittled down and the slides have been lightened, since the gun would have otherwise been too massive for her small hands. Otherwise, such a large, unwieldy pistol would be perfect for Halkenginian-born agents.
Abstergo Hellhound pistols: a pair of four-shot pepperbox pistols made specifically for Abstergo agents stationed in Halkenginia. The barrel and frame is made of hellhound bones, which as legend states, known for tracking down their targets and dragging them to hell. These pistols are especially enchanted to home in on their intended targets within a specific range. Unfortunately, due to their anti-magic capability, this homing ability is completely ineffective against Assassins. Either way, they are amazing at short-to-mid-range.
A/N: And after many long months, I HAVE RETURNED! Well, for now at least. It took me so long to upload this chapter due to many, many things (rewriting the whole thing from scratch, computer problems, AP tests, etc.), but I managed to finish this chapter before I graduate (Well, I graduate tomorrow, but I'm still technically before my personal deadline, so yeah.). Well, I hope to see you again, and as always, please review!