Embracing The Light (Arno Dorian x OC), an Assassin's Creed Fanfiction

Chapter 32 : Old Wounds

- Flashback -

14th of January, 1777
18 years ago, in Paris
Shay walked inside a regular Parisian house, looking for some clues that would lead him to an unusual item. For weeks he had been searching for an Apple of Eden supposedly hidden somewhere in Saint-Denis. Recently, he had found out that a couple of Assassins also had some information concerning that artefact and now Shay had to hurry in order to find it before them.
From what he had learned, the house he was now in was where those two Assassins lived. The entire place was plunged into silence, Shay easily gathered that nobody was home. So, he did not wait any longer to climb up the stairs but, as soon as he had reached the upper floor, he was surprised to find a little girl sitting in front of a wall and drawing something on it. She stopped instantly when she noticed the stranger who just had walked inside her bedroom.
Shay opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the girl started as she gazed at him from where she was. "Who are you ?"
The man hesitantly stared back at her for a moment. He then relaxed and lied. "A friend of your parents."
A smile enlightened the girl's face as soon as Shay spoke. "You speak strangely !" she then giggled. The little girl then got on her feet and approached the man. "What's your name ?" she curiously asked.
"Shay." he responded with a little smile as he looked down at her. "And you ?"
"Rosalie, but everyone calls me Rose." The little girl said.
"Rose." he repeated softly. "That is a beautiful name."
Rosalie grinned again. "Merci (Thanks)." she responded. Her gaze then went on the wall on which she was drawing earlier before she hesitantly turned back at Shay and asked. "Uhm... Could you not tell my parents about the drawings please ? I promise I'll clean it up before they come back !"
The man thoughtfully looked back at her for a moment, then knelt before the little girl and answered playfully. "I will not tell them about it... if you don't tell them that I came here. You keep my secret, and I'll keep yours."
Rosalie seemed quite amused by the situation. "Alright !" she then exclaimed.
Shay smiled as well. "Now, go clean it up before they come back."
The little girl obeyed with no hesitation and, as soon as she led downstairs, Shay went to the floor above and found another bedroom. This time, he could tell that it was the Assassins' bedroom as his gaze fell on a desk on which numerous documents were dispersed. The man hurried to analyze them and quickly noticed that almost all of them were mentioning the Apple of Eden. When he grabbed the brown carnet left open among the other papers on the table and started to read it, Shay frowned : that very carnet included numerous and specific information about the Apple and some of the notes were from months, sometimes years ago. A place was also mentioned concerning the location of the artefact.
"The Basilica of Saint-Denis..." Shay whispered as he read.
While he continued analyzing the rest of the writings, the man realized that the Assassins already knew everything about the Apple for years now, even where it was. So he was now confused concerning the purpose of the Assassins. His new french acolyte had made him believe that those agents were after the Apple, but Shay now thought that they were actually trying to keep it hidden.
"Rosalie !" he suddenly heard a female voice yelling outside, which made him come back to reality.
Shay quickly put the carnet inside the pocket of his coat and approached the room's window. He then noticed two hooded people, a man and a woman, inside the house's backyard, approaching the front door. But a flash of light caught them off guard and a third person magically appeared before them, holding a shining sword in his hand.
As Shay instantly recognized the man, he quickly downed the stairs and noticed that Rosalie was also looking through the window of her bedroom. The little girl glanced back at Shay once he neared her.
"My parents are back ! You must go before they see you !" she told him.
"Stay here." he demanded her.
But as he was about to walk down the stairs, he heard Rosalie say : "But Mommy's calling me !"
Shay stopped and sighed in annoyance. But he still tried to keep his cool and turned at the little girl.
"Why don't we play a little game ? You stay hidden in your parents' bedroom until your mother arrives so you can surprise her !"
A playful smile reappeared on the little girl's face. "Okay." she nodded and quickly went to the upper floor with no hesitation.
As soon as she disappeared from his field of vision, Shay hurried to down the stairs in order to reach the backyard. But once he arrived at the front door, he could not hide the shock he felt when he saw the two Assassins' bodies lying lifeless in the grass, in a pool of their own blood. The third mysterious man was standing by them, looking down at the corpses as he held his red-stained shining sword. His face under his hood remained expressionless when his wall eyes met Shay's.
"What have you done ?!" the latter angrily exclaimed.
"Only what seemed necessary." the man calmly responded.
"It was not necessary to kill them !" Shay answered back as he took a step towards his partner.
"They were after the Apple. They represented a threat." he said as he looked down to the bodies.
"No." Shay firmly replied. "They were not. They were trying to protect it !"
The other man then silently looked up to him, his gaze darker and colder than it usually was. He seemed more menacing than surprised, which made Shay question about what was behind his partner's mind.
"They were Assassins." the hooded man firmly added. "Our enemies."
"That does not mean that they can't do good." Shay responded back. "The French Revolution has to be a controlled and a peaceful one. Not an unnecessary bloodbath. That's why we need the Apple."
"We need the Apple in order to build a whole new order within the country. But new order never comes without destruction of the old, literally."
The Templar frowned to these words. "What's that supposed to mean ?"
The other man glanced at him with his wall-eyes and explained. "If you want change, you sometimes have to make radical decisions and not be afraid to make heads roll and spill blood, especially if it is the only way to reach your purpose. If France has to burn down in order to rise from its ashes then so be it. And this brief taste of chaos will remind the people why they crave obedience."
Shay's eyes widened as he hardened to believe what he was hearing. "This is madness..." he shook his head and stepped back.
"This is a necessity." his partner calmly responded.
"Slaughtering innocents is everything but a necessity !" Shay then repeated with rage. "I refuse to be a part of this !... Not this time." he finished in a lower voice as distant and painful memories came to his mind.
The hooded man frowned with a severe look, keeping his gaze on the Templar. He remained silent for quite a moment, thinking deeply, before he finally spoke. "Then farewell, Mr. Cormac."
In the flash of a light, the man then disappeared from Shay's field of vision, the exact same way as he had arrived earlier. The Templar glanced down at the bodies in front of which he was standing and took a deep wistful breath. He then felt a presence behind him and, as soon as he turned around, saw Rosalie standing at the doorstep, her eyes locked on her parents' corpses.
Shay quickly neared her and knelt at her front. "Rose !" he called her, but the little girl seemed completely paralyzed. She was not crying, nor did she flinch when the Templar grabbed her shoulder in order to make her focus on him. Her mouth was slightly open, but no sound was coming out of it. Shay had decided that it would be for the best to take Rosalie out of that place, far from this traumatic scene.
So he picked up the little girl and held her in his arms, preparing to leave. But before he did so, he stopped in front of the fireplace inside the kitchen and took out with his valid hand the Assassins' carnet he had found earlier. Then, after he glanced at it one last time, he threw it into the fire and let it burn to ashes.
He then walked out of the house from the entrance door and Rosalie did not fight back. Instead, she silently let Shay take her away from her parents as she was looking above his shoulder to see them for the last time.