Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

|| Prologue ||

There are lights, there is action, and I can hear the music. The base is heavy, the beats are often, and I can hear the poor sod in front of me. It’s a miracle anyone can hear their own thoughts in a night-club, much less complain those thoughts out loud to me. But that is half of what they pay me for, my charismatic smile that is. 

“I, I just, I just, I loved him so much!”

The patron trails off, drawing out the end of his last word. I nod along with as comforting a smile as I can manage, cleaning a glass and setting it down, picking up another. The man lays his head down on the counter, sniffling a little. 

“We were soulmates, y’know?”

He looks up at me, his eyes still shining with partially shed tears. I sigh. 

“Sometimes meant to be doesn’t mean meant to work out.” 

His frown gets bigger, and he turns his face directly into the table, mumbling a long and drawn out- 

“I know.” 

Then he sets his chin on the table, lip trembling, looking up at me with the saddest eyes. Maybe I should have laid him off the whiskey a little sooner. I put down the glasses and lean against the table with both arms. I smile placatingly. 

“It’s alright to be sad about it, hell, it’s alright to be absolutely broken about it. But gotta tell ya, from experience of watching plenty of guys like you come in here, whiskey isn’t gonna help you. What you’re gonna need is time, a lot of it, and right now, probably an equal amount of water.” 

I pour him some water, and set it down next to his head. He dejectedly sits up, leans on his crossed arms. His eyes look up at me, pitifully sad, practically puppy eyes. I sigh yet again, and slide a straw in his water. He leans forward and sips from it. I look at him expectantly as he finishes about half the glass. I raise my eyebrows with a smile. 

“Feeling better?” 

He nods, and pulls away from his straw. 

“A little.” 

I give him a pat on the shoulder, and start ringing up his bill. 

“Now all you need is to get home and rest, you’ve got a lot on your shoulders, bud, and sleep so you can actually sort through your thoughts coherently.” 

As he hands me his card, he leans back in his seat. 

“Did I mention my name at all?” 

He slurs, and I smile indulgently. 

“No, sir, I don’t think you did.” 

He wobbles a little as he stands up, and points at me. 

“I’m Max, what’s your name?” 

I wave him that charismatic smile as I hand him back his card. 

“Desmond.” 

|| Present Day, The Sanctuary ||

Waking up from the Animus is never a pleasant thing. Really, the memory would have to be incredibly horrible for it to rival the feeling of waking up from it. Waking up from the Animus feels like fighting my way out from under stone pillars. I’m aware enough to know I’m trapped, but the pain of my lower half being crushed beneath the weight of other people's lives is enough pain to make me dizzy. To make it simple, it’s disconcerting as all hell. But waking up is important, because I’ve gotten the information at last. 

The clue to where Ezio hid the apple is somewhere in the sanctuary, I just have to find it. Luckily I am nothing if not good at finding things, or perhaps that’s just my eagle vision talking. Sitting up from the Animus I activate said eagle vision and begin to look around. I can see my hands in front of me, lit up in blue, and besides my equally blue allies around me, everything is dark save for a few white outlines for the floors and walls. But there, I can see it in the corner of my eye, a small beacon of gold. 

Before any of my cell can comment, I jump up from the Animus and start to dart up the many, many stairs. I chase that little bit of gold, knowing whatever it is is important. When I reach it, I can see that it’s a series of numbers written on the wall. 

“1419, 1420, 1421.” 

I mutter them under my breath, and deactivate my eagle vision. It allows me to see the wall for the first time, which has a pyramid divided into nine triangles painted on it in white, right over where the numbers are. I yell down to my cell-

“Hey, maybe it has something to do with this!”

Lucy reaches me first, but Shaun, Rebecca, and (Y/n) aren’t far behind. 

“The symbol matches the one on the door to the vault!”

Rebecca notes, and I start to tell them my own theory. 

“1419, 1420, 1421… What if they aren’t dates?”

Shaun looks thoughtful, crossing his arms a bit as he thinks.

“1419, 1420… Oh my God!”

He exclaims, sounding almost in awe. 

“What?” 

(Y/n) asks. 

“God!”

He says, and Rebecca looks exasperated as she says-

“Tell us already!”

Shaun holds his hands out, looking at us like we might be idiots for not understanding it. Can’t say that’s a look I haven’t seen before. 

“I am! I am! The Tetragrammaton. The 72 names of God, you see?”

“No, I don’t. I’m not the historian.” 

(Y/n) interrupts a little, and Shaun gives her an exasperated look. He expounds anyway. 

“That’s not a surprise. As I was trying to say, they’re all contained within three versus. Exodus 19 through 21. And get this, you’ll like this, if you arrange the four Hebrew letters in God's name within an equilateral triangle, they’re numerical values add up to the same number. 72!”

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” 

Rebecca says, stressing that we don’t have a lot of time nor room to be wrong about this. Really making sure we know we’re under pressure, like it’s not a physical weight on all of us right now. 

“That’s kind of why I’m saying it outloud, Rebecca, yeah. But, I haven’t got to the kicker yet.”

“Oh, goody.” 

I chime in, and Shaun gives me about as scathing a glare as he can. It’s too fun not to poke at him, so I cheekily smile back. 

“Hmph. Anyways, construction on the colosseum began in the year 72.”

Rebecca smiles this time. 

“It looks like we have our password.” 

Lucy nods her head, and with a gesture from her thumb she says- 

“Shaun, go get the van.”

Shaun does as he told, and Rebecca and Lucy head back down to pack up all the equipment. It sounds like we have a plan. (Y/n) comes up beside me as we make our way down to help them. She elbows me in the side a little, with a friendly smile. 

“Good job, Desmond.” 

She says, and then jogs off. She’s right, in a way. I might not have put together the puzzle, but I did get the clues. I guess I can feel a little proud, a little ego never hurt anybody.

-  -  -  -  -

|| Present Day, Rome, Colosseum ||

It’s a little nostalgic to be back here, even if not in the same body. I can’t help but comment- 

“Deja vu.” 

“I bet.” 

Rebecca responds, and she’s certainly not wrong. It’s a safe bet to make. Ezio has free-run around here before, and I have through him. The moon is full, the stones are a little more run down than I remember but not by much, and the only thing that reminds me I’m not in the Animus right now is the cranes and scaffolding scattered around. 

“Anyone feeling that it’s a little ironic that the colosseum is under construction now?” 

(Y/n) pipes up. Shaun scoffs a bit. 

“It would be if it hadn’t been under construction for the past decade as well. It’s not a new development.” 

Lucy steps in, bringing us all back to the task at hand. 

“Come on guys, let’s go. We have a Piece of Eden to find.” 

I step up to the ledge, ready to free-run our way to victory. Shaun interrupts. 

“Woah, Woah, Woah. What about us, eh? You might actually need a historian down there.” 

Lucy nods, looking as though she’s thinking. She quickly comes up with a plan and shares it with the class. 

“Shauns right. That tunnel should lead under Capitoline Hill. I’ll help them find another entrance.” 

She turns and points at me. 

“As long as you follow the path down there and we track you, we should find the entrance up here on the surface. Be careful Desmond.” 

With that she turns and walks back towards the van. (Y/n) gives me an encouraging smile and a pat on the shoulder before following after Lucy. Rebecca grins and demands- 

“I’ll drive.” 

Shaun barks a laugh and tuts, holding his hands out to take the keys. 

“Ha! Yeah, nice try. I’ve seen your car.” 

Pouting and with a grumble, Rebecca hands the keys back over to Shaun before stalking towards the van. Shaun hums in smug righteousness before giving me a quick nod and following after the girls. I turn back towards the colosseum, begging my descent and climbing down. 

This place truly is a maze, but holy shit does it feel good to free-run again. As odd as it is in my own body, in a way it’s comforting. It’s familiar, like a jacket you lovingly wear even though it’s not as good as it once was. I’m not Ezio, as I have to constantly remind myself, but in a way acting like and copying Ezio is a soothing balm. Because Ezio, despite losing nearly everything and everyone, time and time again, manages to get back up and work to get it all back. If acting like Ezio gives me even a shred of that courage, then who can blame me for holding onto that. 

Although there is one true difference between me and Ezio that while it grounds me during harsher bleeds, keeps me from true comfort even now as I try to tap into my inner Ezio. Ezio had met his soulmate, whenever he was in tough situations he could pull down his sleeve and look at the name written on his wrist for comfort. Admittedly, the action becomes more somber after her death, but the name Cristina Vespucci brought Ezio solace in hard times. From the moment they had locked eyes, and each other's name was written on their skin, the two struggled to understand what they were to each other. Ezio was head over heels in love, and Cristina had been burned by love before, and despised the idea of a player as her soulmate. In the end, Ezio’s family and goals were of greater importance to him than his soulmate was, and to be quite honest no matter how much they loved each other, they couldn’t walk the same path. It was heartbreaking to watch, but in a bittersweet way. Soulmates is one hell of a powerful suggestion, but it is not a guarantee. 

I do not have the same abilities as Ezio, though. I haven’t met my soulmate, and thus I can’t just pull down my hoody, look at my wrist and see anything but a squiggle. At this point I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to meet my soulmate. From what Minerva said to Ezio the end is nye, and I don’t exactly have the time to go on a soul-searching world tour. I can’t forget that I’m also actively being hunted by Abstergo, who probably aren’t going to listen when I ask if they can pretty please leave me alone to go find my soulmate. 

I shake myself out of these thoughts as the maze gets more complex. Wouldn’t exactly be spectacular if I missed a jump because I was too busy daydreaming. I let my cell know over the comms that I’m making progress. 

“Lucy, I’m making my way towards the entrance now.” 

“Okay, good.”

Lucy responds. It’s not like I know a lot about what I’d do with a soulmate either. The farm wasn’t big on soulmates, and those nine years on the run were, y’know, nine years on the run. Bit too busy surviving, so much so that at the time finding my soulmate was a liability instead of a dream come true. 

“If you see any gladiators, my advice would be to leg it.” 

I snort at Shauns comment. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

I continue to climb and leap around, working through this maze like a lab rat. I’ve too much experience being that to be honest. I move my mind away from soulmates for the moment, trying to get back into the headspace of Ezio and all the practice he gave me of choosing the perfect routes for free-running. It reminds me of how much closer I’m gonna be to him when we actually reach the apple. All of his life paid off into one thing, just to hand it off to me. It’s sobering. 

“I can’t believe I’m actually gonna hold the apple.” 

“It’s been a long time coming, you’ve earned it.” 

Lucy responds. 

“I wonder if it’ll change things. Whether it can tip the scale in our favor.”

I may be pondering out loud, but something tells me we all are. 

“I’m sure it will. It has too.”

Shuan speaks up, and I empathize with the defeated sound of his voice. This war hasn’t been kind to any of us, and while there are those who’ve been fighting it longer, that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting tired too. I bet to Shaun this feels like National Treasure at this point, just chasing one clue to get another clue, over and over again. On second thought, he probably hasn’t seen that movie. And if he has he probably thinks it’s an insult to history. 

“I thought you were the historian.” 

(Y/n) comments. 

“I am!”

Shaun exclaimed defensively. 

“Then learn from history. The apple, even just keeping it away from the templars has worked in the Assassins favor before. It did it then, it will now.”

(Y/n) explains. I’m glad at least one of this crew is hopeful. 

“She’s not wrong.”  

Rebecca adds. 

“Yeah. I hope so.” 

I let the conversation taper off, and wonder a little more about the end of the world. It feels like we don’t know enough about what took out the Isu before, and we’re missing key parts of the puzzle. Why make it this hard, this complicated to save the world? Was it part of the plan, or just the only way it could work out? Why now, and what’s gonna end the world? It begs the question- 

“What do you think we’ll find? With the apple I mean.” 

Lucy hums a little over the comms. 

“Hopefully, a map to the temples.” 

“And the Apples’ just gonna give it to us, ya? Oh! Is that Elvis over there?”

Thank you peanut gallery. On the one hand, I’m glad Shaun has enough in him to still be sarcastic, but on the other hand I wish he’d be a little more encouraging. 

“Pessimistic much?”

And thank you (Y/n) for speaking my thoughts out loud. I cut in quickly. 

“Hey, maybe this time we’ll get lucky.” 

It appears that I’ve escaped part of the maze, the part where you can see the moon at least. I take a glowstick from my backpack and crack it before attaching it to my belt. It’s a good enough light to free-run with, but I have to admit, this place looks threatening with so little light. All the construction equipment gives everything a red glow, speaking of-

“There’s so much construction. It’s making this place one helluva maze.”

As expected Shaun takes the opportunity to fill me in. 

“The Hypogeum housed the cages of the gladiators and the machines that raised them to the surface. The whole area you’re in right now was originally covered by the arena.”

“Good to know.” 

I respond. I’m starting to head further into the tunnels now, jumping from some hanging platforms. Useful. 

“Something’s bothering me. Today’s day is October 10th.”

Lucy begins, and it sounds like she’s talking to the whole group and not just comms. 

“So?”

(Y/n) asks. Definitely a conversation then. 

“Guess how many days there are until the Templar satellite launch?” 

“I have a feeling I know the answer. 72.” 

She’s not wrong to be worried, it is coming up a lot, isn’t it? 

“Why is today so important? We’re just picking up the apple and leaving.” 

Lucy asks. (Y/n) answers. 

“That sounds exactly why it’s so important. Someone knew we’d come today and pick it up, it’s the first time in how many centuries since it’s been touched?”

“Plus, it’s the door code. Someone wants to make sure we get it right.” 

I add. 

“Right, someone.” 

Lucy trails off at the end. Now I’m getting worried. But, luckily for me, I’ve got a leap of faith to distract me. A quick check with my eagle vision shows there is actually a safe place to land down there, and with little hesitation, I jump. I don’t know where the eagle imagery originally came from in the history of Assassins Brotherhood, but I do know that I never feel it more than when I’m doing a leap. Sometimes I feel like I can hear an eagle cry when I do it. I land gracefully in a soft pile of hay. Jumping out of it, I brush off the stray stalks. 

“Thanks, Ezio.” 

I whisper. I can’t imagine there’d be hay down here for any other reason. Looking around I notice that the stone down here is a bit more put together than what’s topside. There’s a bust of someone I don’t know at the end of the hallway in front of me, as well as a row of three pillars on either side of said hallways. 

I activate my eagle vision again, knowing how these puzzles usually go, and see two Assassins symbols glowing in gold on two different pillars. Going towards the one nearest to me, I turn off my eagle vision, and start feeling around the pillar. One of the stones gives way, like a button, and I can hear a few things move within the wall. I go to the next pillar with a marking on it and feel around till I press the button again. The wall with the bust embedded in it moves a little, dust falling from the cracks, but it doesn’t open. I look around with eagle vision for a quick bit, but there doesn’t seem to be any more buttons. 

“Guess I’ll just have to do it myself.” 

I mutter, and go towards the wall and start to push against it with my shoulder. It gives way, spinning around like a mystery mansion fireplace, to reveal more of the tunnel. Before I can tread too far down it, a golden light starts to manifest into a humanoid form before me. I approach it, unafraid, I’ve seen too much to be afraid of this, and try to understand what it is. I can tell it’s Isu, seeing as the form has taken the shape of a woman who dresses like Minerva, and has her height, but I can’t tell much else. I reach forward to touch her, but my hand passes right through. I don’t get to do much else before she begins to speak. 

“We commit to this space the epilogue of our ending. Let it be found by he who is deemed worthy. Let it guide him. Let it shape his path forward. Let it save the world we leave behind.”

Her voice has an odd echo to it, but it also sounds like an echo made by technology and not the tunnel we’re in. Like her voice has been passed through too many machines to remain as clear as it might have once been. She begins to fade before my eyes, disappearing. 

“Who are you?” 

I quickly ask, but receive no answer. 

“What’s going on, Desmond?” 

(Y/n) questions over the comms. Did they not hear it? Was it a bleed, or something else? I don’t have the answers right now, and honestly we have other stuff to focus on. 

“Nothing.” 

I answer. It’s probably nothing. 

I continue on through the maze-like tunnel, taking the rafters when I can. Never know when you might need the high ground. Soon enough I come to what is clearly another puzzle. It’s a dead end with a bust in a wall. Before I can even activate my eagle vision to see which pillars have the buttons, that woman appears again in all her golden glory, speaking more words I don’t get. 

“We set our truths to parchment, to stone, to the memory of men. These proved impermanent things, cleansed by fire, by famine, by flood. All the world is innocent once more. Innocent and ignorant.”

And yet again she disappears before my eyes. I shake my head a little, cleaning my confusion. I don’t have time for my head to be messing with me right now. I quickly complete the puzzle, pushing the door open again, and realize the only way to go from here is up. Looks like the end of the tunnel to me. 

“Desmond, we’ve traced your position. I think Lucy found an entrance.”

(Y/n) tells me over the comms, and I begin to climb upwards as I answer. 

“Okay, meet you there.” 

Reaching the top I see that this has to be some kind of church. There are marble floors, ornate ceilings and frescoes, pews, pillars, and one very fancy cross. I’m a little bit in awe, but the banging on the wood door to my right shakes me out of my stupor. 

“I’m comin’!” 

I call out to them as I open the door to let the rest of my cell in. Little inpatient it seems. Shaun comes in with his head held high and a quip on his lips. 

“Took you long enough.” 

Lucy stops him from going further by asking -

“What is this place?”

Shaun, of course, expounds on that. 

“Santa Maria Aracoeli, also known as, if you want to be wordy with it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Cœli al Campidoglio.”

(Y/n) translates it for us, and it makes some sense. The architecture does scream ‘I’m as divine as they get.’

“The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven. Wordy indeed.”

Shaun continues as though (Y/n) hadn’t interrupted his explanation. 

“Yes. See those columns along the aisles? They’re lifted from Roman ruins. Now, supposedly, this Church was built on top of the ancient temple of Juno.”

Rebecca looks around a bit, nodding along, before putting her hands on her hips and saying -

“I like the ceiling.”

Shaun gives her a scathingly disappointed look, dramatically putting his fists on his hips and snarking back to her. 

“Do you? Oh well, you’re a fascinating travel companion.” 

I shrug a little as I repress a laugh at that. (Y/n) comes up to me and offers a fist, I bump it with mine. She smiles at me and says - 

“Look at that, we made it. Nice work.” 

I shrug and respond. 

“I do try.” 

We all move to explore the church, looking for more clues as to where the apple is hidden. Luckily, or unluckily from a sanity check standpoint, I see a bleed of Ezio climbing up the altar and the cross to reach a switch. Just in time for Lucy to ask - 

“Where to now?”

“There’s something up there.” 

I answer, and quickly get to free-running just like Ezio did up the cross. While I do so I can hear the peanut gallery having a blast. I sometimes wish I had their commentary in the Animus, it would make some of the harder memories more bearable. 

“Oh, well. We’ll just stay down here then, shall we? And just pray or something.”

That’s definitely Shaun. 

“Are you offering to climb instead?” 

That’s (Y/n).

“Now I didn’t say that.”

And Shaun again. I ignore their banter for a quick second to pull the lever, which is immediately noticed by everyone on account of the platforms and rungs and poles descending from the ceiling. Looking at the platform on the other side of the church, I get to free-running. Hey, at least I’m getting my steps in. I need them from how much time I spend laying down in the Animus. 

As I get to a wing of the church, the woman appears again. I nearly lose my grip from the surprise, and I whip my head around to stare at Lucy who is watching me climb. She looks concerned for me, but her eyes don’t seem to see the woman. You’d assume that would be what she’s looking at given she just appeared out of nowhere, and oh yeah, is also gold and glowing. I pull myself up on the bar, and the woman proceeds to talk again. 

“We did not build them to be wise. And now they are our final, faulted hope. You are they. You possess the potential for understanding. But you broke out tools. Or turned them against one another. You have destroyed what we could. Sealed away what we could not.”

No-one reacts to her voice, only I’m hearing it. Shit, the Animus might be doing more damage to me than we think. The woman disappears, and I get back to trying to reach the platform. I land on one of the rungs, and something clicks. The woman doesn’t reappear, but she does start speaking. 

“Most. Not all. And it does not take many to unwind the world. Here is a safe place. Eternal. To store objects, wisdom, and words. But not life. Almost did we have the means… but time, time erodes us. We can distract him. We can see past him. Feint left when he strikes right. But his reach is so very long. His stamina unending. We cannot evade his grasp. Not forever.”

I ignore her voice as I reach the platform, and see another lever. 

“Here goes.” 

I say, and pull the lever. The floor where my companions are standing lights up a little, and a small obelisk covered in Isu markings rises from the floor. We all stare at it in surprise until Shaun pipes up, adjusting his glasses as he moves hesitantly forward. 

“Hello. That wasn’t in the blueprints.” 

My cell starts to investigate it, and Lucy calls up to me. 

“Desmond, get down here!” 

“On my way!” 

I call back, and (Y/n) urges me on a little. 

“Quickly please!” 

I quickly climb down the church's wall, and approach the obelisk. Shaun and Rebecca are kneeling near the obelisk, while Lucy and (Y/n) anxiously look over their shoulders. I can hear them talking as I jog closer. 

“Whatever this is, it doesn’t do anything. It’s a dead end.”

Shaun says, sounding more defeated than he did over the comms. 

“It can’t be, this isn’t the end of the road. Whoever made this puzzle didn’t scream 72 in our ears until they were ringing for a dead end.”

(Y/n) says with certainty, although her voice wobbles a little. I add on when I get close enough. 

“I agree with (Y/n), I’m not so sure this is a dead end.” 

I don’t understand how I knew to do this, but I just had the urge to. I hover my hand over the top of the obelisk, and it glowed gold. The gold traveled down the obelisk until it turned blue and lit up the platform again. 

“What’s going on?” 

Lucy asks as the platform shakes. Nobody has any time to answer as the platform drops down like a high-speed elevator. Shaun nearly falls over, but catches himself on the obelisk. Rebecca falls into a crouch close to the ground to avoid tumbling, and I widen my stance to stay steady. (Y/n) nearly crashes into the wall, but Lucy catches her arm and pulls her back. The two stand steady by leaning on each other. As suddenly as the platform drops, it stops, and we are all washed in a blue glow and the sound of running water. 

Shaun heaves himself up and gives me a short, embarrassed glare. 

“Yeah, if - if you wanted to kill us mate, you’re going to have to try a little harder than that.”

He quickly changes his tune when he turns around to take in the room that the rest of us were already too busy staring at to care about his jab. 

“We’re here.” 

Shaun says in awe, a sentiment the rest of us are more than ready to agree with. This has to be it. The room is a cube, like a perfect cube, with ramps that lead to another platform on the other side of the room. The middle of the room’s floor is glowing blue water, and the ceiling has Isu designs trailing down like vines. There’s also two statues in the room, both of the same woman I’ve been seeing through the tunnel and church, who’s been talking. So she might be real. Fuck. 

My attention is drawn away from my possibly real apparition when Lucy points at the wall that the ramps and other platform leads to. It’s hard to make out from this distance, but the same pyramid that was in the Sanctuary is carved into that wall. I smile. 

“Now for the password, if Shauns’ right that is.” 

Shaun looks at me with a raised eyebrow. 

“I’m always right.” 

(Y/n) comes up on the other side of him and playfully jabs him with her elbow.

“What about that dead end?” 

Shaun petulantly crosses his arms and turns his nose up, refusing to look at either of us. 

“That never happened, I was misquoted.” 

Lucy shakes her head with a small, fond smile, and leads the way to the other platform. When we reach it, she gestures for me to do it. Fair, it was me who activated the obelisk, it would make sense if it needed me to do this too. I whisper to Rebecca - 

“Do you think it speaks english?” 

She looks at me with exasperation and gestures towards the door as well. 

“Just say it!”

I hold my hands in a gesture of surrender. 

“Okay, okay! … 72.” 

All points where lines connect on the pyramid light up, and then glow extends through the lines until the whole thing is blue. Then the stone moves, first backward and then upwards into the ceiling, revealing a hallway that leads to a bigger chamber. 

“After, after you I think.” 

Shaun, unhelpfully adds. Lucy nods to me, and I jog down the corridor as the others follow behind me at a slower pace. The chamber is big, I can tell you that. The platform I’m standing on is inside of a little wing off of the whole thing, but there are ridges on either side of it that lead down to another platform, this one with another obelisk on it. Then, past the obelisk the entire round chamber. There are pillars strewn around it that support the ceiling, and also pillars embedded in the walls as well. Isu markings cover the place, and all of it glows blue. In the center is a massive round platform, raised high off the ground. I can see in the center there’s a small altar with a golden ball on it. I bet I know what that is. 

“You guys have to see this!” 

I call back, and my cell finally catches up to me. 

“Wow.” 

(Y/n) says, coming to a stop on my left. 

“This is amazing!” 

Lucy says, and I can hear the joy in her voice as she comes up beside me on my right. 

“Incredible.” 

Shaun mutters from somewhere behind me. 

“I’m actually impressed.” 

Rebecca comments, and before I can talk with any of them I begin to see the ghostly image of Ezio walking on that center, raised platform. It may be a bleed, but it’s conforming all my suspicions. The bleed of Ezio places his Apple of Eden on the altar, gives it one last look, and strides away confidently. 

“The apple seems to be in the center.” 

Lucy beats me to it, and I give her a smile. 

“Time to find out where those Temples are.” 

I climb down using the ridges, and rush to touch the obelisk. I’m expecting some sort of stairs or bridge to the center platform to rise, but instead flat pillars rise from the ground to my right, and two poles poke out from the support pillars. I give them a confused look, but then Rebecca calls down to me with her idea. 

“Hey, Desmond. Those beams poking out of the wall look like switches. If you hit all of them, you might get some power to the central platform.” 

I look back up at her and give them all a thumbs up before beginning to free-run towards the poles. 

“On it.” 

“Or you might cause this room to turn into an alien spaceship and fly away. Think about it.” 

Shaun comments, and I can’t tell if he’s serious or not.

“Really Shaun?” 

(Y/n) voices my thoughts out loud, but Lucy quiets both of them. 

“Guys, focus.”

While they were chatting, I reached the first pole. I quickly hung on it to pull it down, and heard the click of it doing whatever it’s supposed to do. Which apparently unlocked more levers from the rest of the pillars that I, of course, need to go and pull. As I make my way to the second pole, apparitions of that woman appear above all of the pillars that are embedded in the walls. Six golden, glowing, tall-ass women just hanging around in the room. I look back at my cell, none of them are noticing. Then she begins to talk. At least this time the echo makes some sense, there are six of her talking at once. 

“A hundred years I might speak and still you would not know us. You with five senses, us with six. The one we kept from you. To be safe. Now, you can never know. Only try. Grasp. You can SEE. SMELL. TASTE. TOUCH. HEAR. Knowledge has been locked away.”

I keep on free-running, doing my best to ignore her. 

“After, when the world became undone. We tried to pass it through the blood. Tried to join you to us. You see the blue shimmer. You hear the words. But you do not know.”

Just three more levers to go. 

“WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU AS YOU WERE!”

Two more. 

“It is hard to stay contained. Knowing you as we do. We wait for you, Desmond. You will come here. You will activate it. You will know only when it is too late.”

I pause before I pull the last letter, thankful that I don’t fall from my perch. I call out to my cell - 

“Did you hear any of that?”

“Hear any of what, Desmond?” 

Lucy asks, giving me a concerned look. I just shake my head. Who the hell is she? What is happening? I finished pulling the levers and joined my friends near the obelisk. We all watch as a ramp forms between us and the center platform, maybe I should call it a dias, and (Y/n) cheers, giving me a high-five.

“We did it.” 

I say with a smile. (Y/n) gives me a smile back. 

“You did it.” 

Lucy comes up between us, saying - 

“I can’t believe we’re finally here.”

“I don’t think any of us can.” 

Shaun adds. With that, we’ve said all we can, and we ascend towards the platform. As we reach it, Shaun asks an important question. 

“So, where are the temples?”

I turn to him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Want me to ask it?”

“Maybe you could think it or something.” 

(Y/n) adds. I shrug. It’s as good an idea as any, and I approach the apple. Before I can even touch it, it begins to glow. It suddenly, in a burst of light, projects lasers of golden light in all directions. In front of us it starts to project images and symbols. I swear I’ve seen some of them before -

“Are you sure you asked it the right thing?” 

Lucy queries. Shaun interjects before I can answer. 

“I know this, I know that symbol. That’s a Phrygian Cap. It stands for freedom, and that, that’s a Masonic eye. Now those two come together in only one place.”

I don’t know what compels me, but I pick up the apple. Maybe it’s that aforementioned want to hold it like Ezio did, maybe it’s because I know it’ll do something like the obelisk. In hindsight I don’t know the reasons why, I just do know that I did it. Suddenly, everyone around me physically freezes. Shaun stops talking mid-sentence, and I can hear that none of the girls are moving a muscle. My eyes are locked forward, where a form is shaping out of gold. Will this be another apparition like the woman? 

It’s not, it’s so fucking not. My eyes lock with his, and I feel a pressure on my wrist. It’s like someone is writing a name down, it’s my soulmark forming. His eyes are locked on mine too, his hand shooting to his wrist before he’s frozen as well. I find it in myself to speak and try to move towards him. 

“What’s happening? Is that my- I can’t move!” 

Both of our eyes widen, but then the woman begins to speak, and she moves between us. 

“Your DNA communes with the apple. You have activated it.” 

“Let me go!” 

I yell at her, but she does nothing, it doesn’t feel like she’s heard me, but her eyes lock to mine. 

“On the 72nd day before the moment of awakening. You, birthed from our loins and the loins of our enemies. The end and the beginning, who we abhor and honor. The final journey commences. There is one who would accompany you through the gates. She lies not within our sights. The cross darkens the horizon.” 

I suddenly move, but it’s not because I wanted to. The apple puppets me, extending my blade arm. 

“What are you doing?”

I ask desperately. 

“The path must be opened! You cannot escape your part in this. The scales shall be balanced.”

The apple puppets me to turn around, and begin moving towards Lucy and (Y/n). No! What the fuck is this. I fight the apple for every step it makes me take, but I can’t seem to stop it.

“Stop! Please!”

I beg the woman to just stop whatever this is. 

“You know very little. We must guide you.” 

I can feel her hands on my back as the apple urges me forward. 

“Cease your struggle!”

She yells at me, but I try to deny her. My blade arm moves towards Lucy and I fight it with everything in my being. It’s getting harder and harder to fight it, the power of the apple feels like it’s choking me. I don’t think I can fight it before I pass out- but what happens if I pass out? Does the apple just use my body to stab her anyway? 

“No!” 

I exclaim, but it’s too little too late. We can save her right? (Y/n) and Shaun know first aid, right? My blade stabs into Lucy’s gut, and I see a second of her confused and horrified expression. 

“It is done. The way lies all before you. Only she remains to be found. Awaken the sixth. Go. ALONE!”

The power of the apple surges through me, everyone is unfrozen, and I fall into unconsciousness. Lucy will be alright, right? What about my -

|| Epilogue, Rome, September 8th ||

Some people say only stupid people fear nothing, but at the moment I would wish for nothing more than to be stupid enough to not fear my current situation. I’m not even technically on a mission, I’m the escape route for the Assassins on the mission, and yet I can’t help the ball of anxiety sitting dead center in my chest. I should be calmer right now, seeing as I was trained to do infiltration missions, but being so close to Abstergo headquarters is making my head so dizzy I’m forgetting all of that. I finally break and switch on my comms. 

“(Y/n)? What happened? Why the comms? Are you compromised?”  

I sigh, already relieved just to hear Rebecca's voice. 

“I’m good, Rebecca. Not compromised. No-one has even approached the car. I just, I’m dying on my own here. I can barely grip the wheel with how sweaty my hands are. What if they don’t make it?” 

I hear Rebecca calm down on the other side of the radio. She must be just as anxious as I am. This is an all or nothing mission. Not only does Subject 17 have literally all the information we need to have and need the templars not too, but he’s the boss's son. Not that I imagine William Miles cares that much about that, but I do. I knew Desmond Miles up until he ran away from the farm back in 2003. I can’t blame him, I saw the expectations he was held to. 

“Don’t worry, (Y/n), this is Lucy we’re talking about. She’s been brave enough and good enough to infiltrate Abstergo this entire time, she sure as hell isn’t gonna fail now.” 

I’m reassured by Rebecca’s words, because she’s right, and I know this. Lucy was trained just as I was, and hell she did better than me. It’s why it's her in there and not me. That and Desmond would recognise me and could accidentally give me away, but that’s the unimportant detail. The important one is that Lucy is the real deal, and she’s a great Assassin. She can do this. 

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. It’s that Desmond we need to worry about. It’s been what, about nine years since he last trained? He’s gonna be the one to mess up if any of them do.” 

And an unhelpful comment from Shaun, the salty brit that he is. I immediately speak up in defense of my childhood friend. 

“Hey, Desmond knows what he’s doing. He’ll be able to get out of there, especially with Lucy helping him.” 

“Maybe, but we wouldn’t even need this operation if he hadn’t gotten himself caught in the first place. I mean seriously, what kind of Assassin runs away from the Assassins safe ground as their teenage rebellion?” 

I scowl a bit at Shauns words. Before I can retort, Rebecca beats me to it. 

“Let’s not blame a guy for getting kidnapped. Besides, there's other subjects we might have had to do this operation with. We were gonna have to pull Lucy out sometime, and who knows when and who we would’ve brought with her.” 

I agree with Rebecca, but as someone who was there with Desmond as we grew up, I still feel the need to defend him. 

“Why would he run away? Because he was the kind boy with a father who was more Assassin than dad.” 

“Is that such a bad thing?”  

Shaun asks. 

“For the Brotherhood? Probably not. For Desmond? Almost certainly.” 

The line goes silent. We don’t get to pick up our conversation before I see Lucy and Desmond speed walking towards the car. I quickly turn on the engine and unlock the doors. I turn off the comms after confirming to them I have both in my sight and that we’ll be meeting them soon. The two Assassins slide into my car, and I immediately pull out onto the street and drive off. Desmond looks a little haggard, but still perks up when he recognises me. 

“(Y/n)?” 

I smile at him through the rear-view mirror. 

“You know it.” 

He laughs a little, relieved. I reach between the seats to show him my closed fist. I cheekily say - 

“Brother from another mother?” 

He chuckles, and tiredly fist-bumps with a grin on his face, answering - 

“Sister from another mister.” 

It’s good to have him back. 

-  -  -  -  -

|| Present Day, Rome, Colosseum Vault || 

It’s a terrifying feeling to be paralyzed in your own body, watching your childhood friend stalk towards you with a knife. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but he looks terrified. There’s two more people in the room, this massive woman, and this man who I don’t recognise. I don’t understand what is happening but Desmond is aiming for Lucy- 

“No!” 

My ability to move and my hearing all return to me at once, just in time to hear Desmond shout, see him stab Lucy, and catch both him and the apple as he falls onto me. Before I can even begin to process what just happened, I feel the apple do something. It feels like its energy is coursing through me, making the blood in my veins run faster. For a second I’m terrified I’m about to stab someone, but then a figure forms out of light in front of me, and we lock eyes. 

It feels as though someone is writing on my wrist, and I understand this is my soulmate. I don’t have two second to process this either before Shaun shouts - 

“What the Bloody Fuck just happened?” 

And I look down to see Lucy dead next to me.

Chapter Text

[Start New Game]

[Start New Game]

Content loading… 

[Do not Disconnect Device while loading is in Process.]

Content loading… 

Welcome to [Assassins Creed : Soul-Link]

{ Click }* 

{ *A voice, neither deep nor high, rough nor clear, begins to speak.* }

“ Welcome. My name is Aion, I will be your guide for this game. Assassins Creed : Soul-Link has multiple options when beginning the game, and a very important choice to make. Who will be linked? I will not choose for you, but I will present to you your three options. ”

[Cesare Borgia ← Desmond || Reader → Federico Auditore]

[Liam O’Brian ← Desmond || Reader → Shay Cormac]

[Arno Dorian ← Desmond || Reader → Jacob Frye]

“ Because I understand this is a terribly tough decision, and I’ve never been a fan of setting things in stone, bounding them to certainty, you can restart this game at any time, replay any sequence at any time, even jump forward sequences if you like. You don't have to stick to just one of these options, all three are open to you. ” 

{* Another few clicking sounds ring through the silence, until a definitive ping is heard. *}

|| Ready to Begin? ||

[Yes] [No]

|| Ready to Begin? ||

[Yes] [No]

{* There is a chuckle. *}

“ Good choice. Let’s begin. ”

Content loading … 

Chapter Text

People → 

Allies → 

Assassins Brotherhood

Desmond Miles

Lucy Stillman 

(Y/n) (L/n)

Shaun Hastings 

Rebecca Carne 

Enemies → 

Templar Order

Un-affiliated → 

Aion 

Unknown Woman

Locations → 

Italy → 

Rome

Colosseum 

Santa Maria Aracoeli

Monteriggioni 

The Sanctuary 

Abstergo Facility 

U.S.A → 

The Farm

Brazil → 

No new locations. 

Languages → 

English → 

No new phrases. 

Italian → 

No new phrases. 

Irish Gealic → 

No new phrases. 

Arabic → 

No new phrases. 

French → 

No new phrases. 

Nebulous → 

Soulmates → 

Soulmates are ubiquitous in this universe, and incredibly common. It’s not a 100% chance someone will have a soulmate, but it is the vast majority. That being said, just as not everyone has a soulmate, soulmates are not a guarantee. Some people are soulmates with a platonic relationship, some soulmates have no relationship. Note that while I do believe Leonardo being Gay despite the era’s view is a powerful story and I love it, to streamline some of the parts of bringing men from different era’s in history into the modern day I’m going to say that Soulmates has erased most of the homophobia in history. Not all, there have been groups and places in history where it was ruled same-sex soulmates had to be platonic, and others where same-sex couples were only allowed if they were soulmates and even then shunned. But for the most part, our love interests will not be homophobic since I do intend this to be romantic. Transgender and gender fluidity has still been an issue in history, soulmates cannot fight all of the LGBTQ+’s communities battles. I will say this that some of the boys will have a bit of a lack of an understanding of is a platonic soulmate relationship. For the majority of history, with those aforementioned exceptions, soulmates have been assumed to end romantically no matter what. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that people started to accept platonic soulmates, there were a lot of issues surrounding it during the 1950s to the 1970s, and then when we hit the 21st century. The 21st century has championed itself on being the most open to the interpretation of soulmates. They are not guarantees, they are not preordained to be platonic or romantic or anything in between. Some people feel as though that has soured soulmates, for if they aren’t the end all be all then why do we have them? But for others, those rules of centuries past have ruined soulmates for them. Are they really the perfect partner for you if the universe must force you together? The room to play and change and define themselves has freed them in some way to actually enjoy soulmates, for it’s something they chose. Soulmates are interesting, is what I’m trying to get at. 

Apple of Eden → 

An ancient piece of Isu technology used to control the mind of humans. So far it has been shown to project images and, concerningly, allow an Isu apparition to control a human like a puppet. On a less concerning note, it can also connect soulmates no matter the barrier, be it time or death. 

Schedule → 

Posting Chapters → 

I am in college, and thus I don’t have a set schedule for you all that would be consistent. What I can say is that I will post three chapters at a time, covering one sequence for all four routes. This means it might take longer, but when I do finish a chapter I will post a short preview of it in its future chapter space. This way you’ll get content more regularly even if not full chapters. This is mainly to motivate myself. 

Before Chapter Notes → 

The chapter notes at the top of the chapter will tell you which sequence and route you are in, as well as have any content warnings for the chapter. 

After Chapter Notes → 

The chapter notes at the end will have a small recap of the events of the chapter. 

 -  -  -  -  -

Index : 

Chapter 1 → “Just a bit of Bad Weather.” 

This chapter is the introduction to the universe. It will get players used to my style of writing as well as articulate some of the unique lore for this game. That includes a new character, their relationships, soulmates, and the Isu themselves. It is not necessary to play this sequence, no matter how much Aion insists. All lore related information will be listed in the Codex above. 

Chapter 2 → Menu

This is a filler chapter, for gameplay and immersion purposes only. It might be fun on the first play-through, but you do not need to reread it every time you play a new route. Admittedly, until the very last chapters, this will be your only source of lore and information on Aion. 

Chapter 3 → Codex.

You are in the Codex right now, and to veteran Assassins Creed players, it should be self explanatory. The following Index entries will not share the plot of the chapters but instead which chapters belong to which routes.