Fracture | Assassin's Creed X The Witcher

Prolouge

April 14th, 2020
'Know what? This is pretty nice.'

Marcus had never been fond of living far away from society, growing up in New York City where all manner of adventures awaited, but after years of missions, contracts, and scars, he had to admit living in a secluded lodge in upstate NY felt fantastic. Silence never sounded so great to him.

Wiping the fog from the mirror, the brown haired man got a glimpse of himself. Piercing emerald eyes tracing the lines of his round face, strands of hair falling in front of his eyes. He pushed them away, catching a glimpse of his newest mark, a small scar on the left side of his mouth beginning from the top half, to a few inches past the bottom half. If he'd just seen the Templar merc gunning it towards him with a combat knife in tow...

'Stop thinking about The Brotherhood dude. This is supposed to be a vacation, not a trip down memory lane.' He scolded. After 8 years of non-stop work for the order, he realized that he was due for some much needed downtime for himself. Then again, his previous mission had been very tedious and painful, evident by the fading line on his lip.

'Even William said I needed to chill out, and that guy works around the frickin' clock. I deserve this.' Marcus sighed as he grabed a comb, putting his hair semi-messy side brush, revealing a longer scar that traced from his right eyebrow down to his cheek, a nasty memory from his teenage years, when he was still new to the order. Luckily, his eye wasn't damaged by the blade that almost ended his life, so he kept his 20/20 vision.

Satisfied with his hair do, he tugged on his red t-shirt and ripped black jeans, afterwards turing off the bathroom light and closing the door.

The living room of the lodge was spacious, even with the three mahogany colored loveseats and black coffee table in the middle of it. On the wall, a large flatscreen TV was mounted, playing whatever show Marcus was watching before he showered, the TV stand below it rumbling slightly from the volume of the sound bar. Turing left, he walked straight into the kitchen, grabbing a apple from the fruit bowl in the corner of the kitchen island. He wiped the fruit on his shirt before taking a bite, savoring the sweet juice that flowed from the chunk he bit off.

'Fresh, just perfect.' He grinned as he leaned against the island to check the clock on the oven.

10:03 P.M.

'Still pretty early, maybe I can take a walk around the cabin. It's a beautiful night after all.' He mused, recalling his first night here 3 days ago when he promised himself he'd get a better view of the premises, however, jetlag took over him and confined him to the cozy place for the past few days. A cool breeze was sweeping through the state, and without the pollution of the city, he could make out the stars in the sky, all in all a good time to enjoy the bliss of the cabin.

Before Marcus could continue planning his night however, he was brought out his thoughts by a orange glow in the corner of his eyes. Looking towards the vast treeline next to the lodge, he saw various rays of light peering through, shining brightly through the dark night.

"The fuck?" Marcus muttered, placing the apple on a nearby counter. Was it a fire? Someone stranded? God forbid, an Isu?

"No time to waste." He walked out of the kitchen and towards the sliding door that led to the backyard, grabbing his M1911 and his left hidden blade from the bar counter and rushing towards the light.

Pain was searing through Marcus's body as he sprinted through the forrest, the soreness of his last job screaming at him to slow down and take a breather, but he tried to ignore it as best as he could. He vaulted over a crumbling stone wall that was in his path, groaning as his feet touched the other side of the dirt. Maybe parkour wasn't the best idea at the time.

After a minute of sprinting, he reached the end of the forrest and came upon the bed leading into Lake Ontario. In it, was a cloaked man pulling a thin woman out of the water and lying her on the grass. Marcus partially hid behind a tree, peering out to spy on the couple. He couldn't make out the face of the man, hiding behind a intricate mask, obscuring his features. The man seemed to behind checking the vitals of the poor chick, who seemed to be unconscious, whispering something that Marcus couldn't make out. Said woman had white hair, a slender frame, and most conspicuously, a sword on her back.

'These guys LARPers gone wrong or something?' He wondered. On one hand, they looked like they needed serious help, but on the other hand, they might be thugs trying to rob him, hell even Templar decoys. He dismissed the thought quickly, the two looked like they were from a different time period. Fuck it.

"Hey! You guys okay down there?" Marcus came out, pointing his pistol at the man. The guy in the cloak gasped in suprise as he faced the voice, raising his hands when he saw Marcus aiming his gun at him.

"Sir, I do not wish you no harm."

"I'll be the judge of that. What are you doing? What was the bright light that I saw in the forrest?" He pressed.

"I'm merely trying to protect my companion here." The man gestured towards the unconscious lady.

"And the light?"

"...a portal." He answered hesitantly.

'Portal?'

"You're joking, right?" Marcus deadpanned.

"No, me and my friend were being chased, she needs help." The man pleaded.

Marcus looked at the woman to asses her wounds. She was covered in light bruises and small cuts from her previous fight. To top it all off, she had a deep scar from the bottom of her eye to her cheek. Yeah, the woman looked like hell.

"Fuck..." He whispered to himself, mentally debating as to whether or not he should believe the story. After a few seconds he looked back to the man, "You good enough to carry her?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, pick her up and follow me. I can fix her up at my place."

Something told Marcus he was going to regret this.