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

Chapter 33 : The Finish Line (Part 1)

Rosalie was backing towards the estate's door from which she and Shay had entered the gardens earlier. The Templar was at her front and she was following him closely with the guard who had joined them earlier at her heels. Shay had told her that Arno was supposed to bring him the Apple of Eden in exchange of her release. At this moment, a feeling she knew too well grew in her : guilt. This whole mess was her fault and now, because of her, they were about to hand the artefact to Shay. « Then what ? », the young woman internally asked herself. There was no way that they would have another chance to steal the Apple again, so the Assassins were just going to leave Austria the same way as they had come.
Or were they?
Was everything really going to remain the same between Arno and her, even after them losing the artefact by her fault ?
This question sent a shiver through Rosalie's body, and the young woman hardened to breathe. Although she knew that Arno was here to save her, at this precise moment, she could not help but feel like a condemned woman marching towards her place of execution. « What an irony », Rosalie thought before she realized : she was scared of the man she loved the most.
Since the day she had met him, Rosalie had felt many emotions towards Arno, and « scared » had never been one of them until now. Even when she had found out for the first time that he was killing people in cold blood, it had been a shock to her, but she always knew deep down that Arno was not a bad person, and therefore she had no reason to fear him. However, this time was different.
Of course Rosalie was aware that Arno would never hurt her. She was actually scared of the way that he would be looking at her once she would walk through the doors and meet his gaze. She was scared of what he was thinking about her at this very moment. She feared mostly that he would not love her anymore, that he would reject her because of her carelessness that was about to cost them the Apple. For she could not tell if she could survive without him from now on.
Rosalie took a deep breath as the estate's door opened from the other side. She then slowly followed Shay inside and imitated him as soon as the man stopped in front of the railing without downing the stairs. When she noticed that he was looking down at someone inside the hall, Rosalie did the same and she held her breath once she recognized Arno, standing with two guards closely and menacingly beside him.
The man's face was partly hidden by his hood, but she instantly noticed that his face relaxed as soon as he noticed her and his mouth slightly opened as he seemed to scrutinize her clothes. Rosalie had almost forgotten the red cross-shaped necklace that she was wearing and understood why Arno seemed a bit confused. At this moment, she wanted so badly to run towards him, or even call his name at least, but she knew she could not. Not now.
"Did you bring what we've asked for ?" Shay finally spoke and Rosalie turned her gaze at him.
Arno also brought his attention back to the Templar as well and clenched his jaw before he replied. "I have."
He then raised the brown little box he was holding with his right hand to show it. Then, Françoise Michel appeared in Rosalie's field of view approaching Arno in order to obtain the Apple and the young woman could not even tell if Françoise had been there this whole time.
But then, the old woman stopped when Arno protested. "I want Rosalie to be released first." The Assassin kept his severe gaze on the old woman standing before him, whereas Rosalie shuddered at the mention of her name.
Shay's gaze darkened. "You're not really in a position to negociate. Hand over the Apple, and I assure you that she will be freed."
Arno's eyes went from Françoise to Shay as he thought for a moment.
"And don't even think about using the Apple against us." Shay threatened him as if he had read his mind. "Try anything, and she will die right away."
To these words, the guard behind Rosalie grabbed her arms so that she could not got anywhere or move. Rosalie let out a cry of surprise bringing Arno's attention to her and, as she tried to escape the guard's grip in vain, she stared at Shay who did not even look at her back. The young woman hardened to believe that the same man she had talked with a moment ago, who had told her about her parents and how much he respected them, would execute her without even flinching.
Arno decided that it would be unnecessary to insist and handed the brown box to Françoise Michel who then upped the stairs in order to join Shay's side and give him the box. The Grand Master accepted it and, as soon as he opened it, the Apple that was inside illuminated the entire hall. Shay contemplated the artefact with a satisfied look on his face and Arno kept staring at him with the same severe look.
"Now, release her." he firmly said.
The Templar brought his attention back to the Assassin, then glanced at Rosalie. But before he even said a word, Françoise neared him and slipped a few words that made him frown. Rosalie tried to listen to their conversation, but she only heard Françoise say with an annoyed tone «... pay for what they've done ! ».
It was not new to Rosalie that Françoise despised her and Arno, and, of course, she would not want them to get away so easily after all the Templars they had killed. The real question was what Shay thought about all of this. Rosalie wanted to believe that Shay was a man of his word and that he would let them walk away now that he had the Apple again.
But then, Rosalie's heart stopped.
Shay had never said that he would not kill them. He only had promised that she would be freed, but that was it.
Once the young woman's eyes met the Templar's, the man slightly raised his head in a commanding way. Rosalie then remembered all the things she had confessed to him, how Arno was the main reason why she would never become a Templar, and shuddered : maybe they were not going to kill her, but Françoise was surely not about to let her go without getting revenge.
And Shay knew exactly how to make Rosalie suffer.
A shadow crossed the Templar's face when he stared back at Arno. The latter noticed that there was something odd in Shay's silence and when he saw the worried look on Rosalie's face, he carefully took a step back and put a hand on his sword's hilt, on his guard.
"Kill him." Shay finally demanded to the guards near Arno.
"Arno !" Rosalie shouted at the top of her lungs, then felt the guard behind her grabbing her a bit tighter as she tried to escape his grip again.
Arno's face tensed when he turned at the two guards near him and suddenly drew his sword which was nothing like the weapons Rosalie knew. This one had lightnings coming out of it and was shining so brightly that the guards had been instantly blinded by it.
Even the man who was holding the young woman from behind started to loosen his grip and Rosalie decided to take advantage of the situation in order to finally free herself and neutralize the guard by squeezing his neck with her arms from behind. She then stole his sword and turned back towards Arno who had already got rid of his enemies. Once they both checked on each other, they turned their gazes towards Shay and Françoise. The Grand Master was frowning at Arno's weapon.
"The Sword of Eden..." he then murmured loud enough for Rosalie to hear him.
The young woman then analyzed the sword Arno was holding and then realized : it was the same sword that Shay had described to her back at the gardens as he was telling her what had happened the day her parents died.
The same one that Germain had used to kill them.
Rosalie slightly opened her mouth with shock. Arno had the Sword of Eden. Which meant that he indeed must have known Germain somehow.
Françoise was observing her with a little grin on her face. She then leaned towards Shay, drew her sword and said without taking her gaze away from the young woman. "I'm taking care of her."
The Grand Master glanced at the latter, then at Françoise and, without saying a word, teleported himself thanks to the Apple of Eden in order to disappear from everyone's field of vision.
Arno frowned and glanced around him, trying to find the missing Templar, but to no avail.
As Rosalie was watching Françoise and holding her sword in front of herself, ready to fight, the young woman demanded to Arno : "He cannot be too far, try to find him back !"
"What about y..." Arno was about to protest but Rosalie stopped him.
"I've got this." she reassured him as she kept her eyes on her opponent. "You musn't let Shay get away with the Apple !"
Arno stared at her for a moment from below, and hesitated : his heart was begging him to stay near her and not let her face an enemy by herself, but his mind knew that he had to trust her and go after Shay, as she had demanded. Besides, Rosalie was too focused on Françoise that she was not even looking back at the man — or maybe did she not want to look at him at that moment.
So, without waiting any longer, Arno walked away and started to search for Shay inside the estate. Once Rosalie and Françoise finally were alone, the latter instantly broke her silence.
"All of those efforts," she started in a mocking tone, "all of those sacrifices, and in the end the Apple is still in our possession. You should have listened to Shay last night and leave the country. Instead, you and your boyfriend are both about to die."
Rosalie clenched her jaw as she was feeling her blood boiling inside her. She then ran towards the old woman and raised her sword in order to swipe at her but not only did Françoise manage to block all of Rosalie's poor attempts to hurt her, she also parried the last attack and tore a part of Rosalie's skirt by doing so. The young woman's anger dissipated and she let out a little cry of surprise before she stepped back to check herself, then realized that she was not injured.
She stared at Françoise with shock and the latter started to menacingly walk back towards Rosalie. This time, the multiple attacks came from the Templar, and Rosalie was blocking every single one of them without realizing that she was progressively losing ground during the fight. Soon enough, she noticed that the stairs were right behind her and, if she took another step back, she would lose her balance and fall down. As she tried to move away, Françoise kept attacking her, showing no mercy.
Rosalie managed to stop Françoise's last attack by making her weapon collide with the old woman's and they were now standing, sword against sword, trying to push each other away. At some point, Rosalie had her back against the railing, trying to keep her face away from Françoise's sword. But the more it was getting closer, the more the young woman was leaning back and if she kept going this way, she would end up falling over the railing. They were not standing in a high place, but a bad fall from there could have caused at best a few broken bones.
Rosalie hardened to move properly due to her dress, but she still managed to give Françoise a kick in the leg in order to finally deliver herself. The Templar bent down and held her leg whereas Rosalie tried to regain her balance by holding onto the rail. Once their gazes met again, Françoise looked like she was now the one enraged and Rosalie understood that she could take advantage of it.
When the Templar furiously ran back towards her, Rosalie dodged her by moving to her left and, as soon as Françoise hit the railing, Rosalie plunged her sword into her opponent's ribs. The Templar let out a weak cry of pain before she slowly fell on the ground.