Assassin's Creed: Winter's Falling

Chapter 25

That night, Andy sat next to Lightning at the dinner table. They were trying to secretly hold hands under the table. Everyone already knew they were smitten. It was obvious from the way they blushed every time their eyes met. The warm and fuzzy feeling coming from them was the complete opposite from the tundra that the other side of the table had become. Sol and Lazerus sat next to each other, eating in frigid silence.

After making sure none of their returned friends had anything on them the Templars could track, the removal of the chips had left Mary disoriented, but had not affected Andy much, the team was lead deeper into the tunnels to the main hideout. The dining room was connected to the kitchen and had a door to the surface. The ladder up was mainly used for receiving food deliveries, but since it was in the middle of an empty field miles away from any city, the Assassins also used it to get some fresh air. There were at least thirty Assassins living in the den, making it, to Andy's knowledge, one of the larger dens.

Faust had insisted they sit and eat something together. He was worried they hadn't been eating properly during their trip. He was right. He sent a team to get their stuff from the apartment and had a proper meal prepared. Once the food was on the table, everyone jumped to dig in. Now, only the last bits of the meal remained and conversation started. Nerida and Ann where telling Faust their version of all that had happened to them in the last couple of months. When they reached the riot, Nerida told her part of the story first.

"Then I cut off this one guy's head as I flipped and landed on a third guy's face," Nerida was saying. "Honestly security was pretty light inside the building since most of the guards where outside dealing with the riot."

"The riot was a lot crazier," Ann grinned. "I had to fight three templar guards and Sol's mom all at the same time. Then Lazerus came to help and we managed to capture her and Mary."

"Yeah, crazy," Sol agreed. "I had to fight the top Assassin on our team on my own because a certain stupid piece of Eden wearing moron abandoned me."

"Lazerus," Faust turned to him with anger in his eyes. "What kind of Assassin leader abandons his teammate during a fight! What kind of man abandons a lady!"

"I had no choice, Faust," Lazerus muttered, not daring to look up. "I had to save Mary."

"Wait, did you say Assassin leader?" Andy asked.

Everyone froze. To them, Lazerus had just been a stroke of good luck during a plan gone wrong, and then a pain of an ally. No one knew anything else about him other than his sister was captured and he had the Ahnk in his chest. They knew he was an Assassin, but what else? Nothing. Nerida decided it was time for answers.

"Okay, Lazerass," Nerida leaned back in her chair, tone taunting. "Spill it all. Be that one guy in the story who expositions for what seems like forever and bores the readers."

"Fine," Lazerus stood, eyes dark. "My name is Lazerus Caride, and I am the leader of the Venezuelan Assassins. My father was the leader before me. My mother was templar, and after she had Mary she left with my older brother, Tiffany, and I haven't seen them since. My father and Faust trained me to be the perfect Assassin leader. I know medicine, multiple fighting styles, and how to fight with almost anything. My dad was my hero. So, when he was killed during a mission, I went crazy and attacked an Abstergo laboratory. Blew up an experiment of theirs. They put up my pic and tried to find me. Only work I could get was as a mercenary. Being an Assassin doesn't pay, but mercenary work does, and I had to take care of Mary, especially with the rising prices here in Venezuela. I joined a group and was soon part of their elite squad. They called me spade. That's when I met Jack, or Ace as he was eventually known. We had lots of adventures. Years later, Mary goes missing and I go after her. It was my fault for not being around to protect her. I found out she had last been seen on a fieldtrip to the Abstergo building. I decided to raid the Main Abstergo building in Montreal for answers. You lot know the rest. Happy?"