Black Forest, Germany – 30 July 1944

Jan and Elisabeth made their way through the forest, straight for the Vault. They had spent most of the last six days in silence as they travelled southwest from Berlin. They were pursued from Berlin for a while, but eventually they lost their pursuers. Jan had said little, even when Elisabeth had spoken. But she didn't seem annoyed or irritated. Sometimes, she would stick close to him and lean against him, comforting him.

Jan appreciated these gestures, but there was little she could do. Both his heart and mind were a mess. The last family he had in the world, his mother, had been taken away so violently from him. And it was his fault, wasn't it? If only he had killed the soldier who threw the grenade earlier, he wouldn't have been able to do it. If only he had wrenched away the grenade. Hell, he would gladly die in the explosion along with the soldier if he could turn back time, if it meant his mother would still live.

Those thoughts haunted him, never leaving him even for a moment. He kept remembering his mother. His mother's kind, smiling face. Followed by her lifeless corpse in the smoke-filled living room. Guilt. Regret. Rage. Grief. Sadness. All swirling inside him. It was as if a dark substance emanated from his heart and spread throughout his body. It extended even beyond it, clouding the world around him. Its weight dragged him down, making it hard for him to take even one step forward.

But still, he soldiered on. Because what other option was there? He had no more family. There was only the fight.

But was it truly only the fight? He kept asking that question to himself. Every once in a while, his gaze would go to Elisabeth who was always in front of him. She wasn't family, and yet he felt he was also fighting for her. And he felt she was maybe fighting for him too? Though he wasn't sure if that was overconfidence, assuming things that weren't. Maybe she was just a friend, a comrade-in-arms. Like how losing Kevin hit him hard, so too would losing Elisabeth.

But that's not all. Uncle Rudolf's words haunted him.

The key. It's her.

She is the key to all of this. Only she can end this war, one way or the other.

What did Uncle Rudolf mean? Was this just another of his lies, a way to confuse him as a final shot against the Assassins that the Templar Rudolf could do? Could he trust the words of someone who had caused the deaths of both his father and mother? From Berlin to the Black Forest, all these thoughts occupied his mind.

About fifty paces from the forest, he stopped. Elisabeth took a few more steps before realising the missing sound of footsteps behind her. She turned around.

"Jan? What's wrong?"

"There's… something I need to tell you."

"About?"

"Uncle Rudolf."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"Go on."

"Before he died, he said some… things."

"What did he say? Was it about his betrayal? Or how he murdered your…"

"No… Well, yes. He did talk about that. But that's not it."

She didn't say anything. She simply waited for him to continue.

"He said you're the key."

"The… key?"

Jan nodded.

"To what?"

"That's… what I'm not clear about either."

"What did he say exactly?"

"He said that you were the key to end this war."

"Me? And how would I do that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Hmm…," she said in response. "Well, maybe we'll find out more once we're there."

"Yeah."

They stood there in complete silence, looking at each other for a few moments. Elisabeth then turned around, as if ready to continue, but she didn't move. She turned back and looked at Jan again.

"What did he say?"

"About you?"

"No, at the end."

"He said he was sorry."

"Sorry, huh?"

A few moments after that, she turned around and finally continued walking, though at a slower pace than before.

Jan didn't immediately follow. As Elisabeth got farther away from him, he reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. The letter from his father's study. He had taken it from Uncle Rudolf's corpse. But having spent the entirety of the last few days together, he hadn't had time to read it in private. He stared at the envelope for a few moments, until Elisabeth called after him.

"Jan?"

"Coming," he said as he put it back in his pocket.

He continued walking towards the Vault, his heart still heavy.