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

Chapter 5 : Searching For The Artefact

Arno went upstairs to join Léon, remembering the real reason why he came in Franciade. Madame Margot left his room, still holding her candle, and noticed the young man.
"He's inside." she smiled before she walked past him to go downstairs.
Arno opened the door and looked around. The room was surprisingly not so tiny, and it was tidy. There was a little bed with a handmade lion plush on it and an old commode against the wall. Léon had a fake sword on his hand when he faced Arno with a huge smile.
"Teach me how to fight like you !" the little boy said with enthusiam as he raised up his sword.
Arno approached him and replied. "I am afraid I cannot, petit homme (little man)."
Léon then dropped his arm with disappointment. "Why not ?! We could destroy France's enemies together !"
The man frowned at him for a moment, but then answered back. "Actually, I came here because... I need your help to save France."
The little boy's face enlightened again, fully listening as Arno explained. "You have a manuscript that the Te... our enemies want to destroy and I have to put it in a safe place. That's why I've been searching for you."
"Oh..." Léon responded. "I think I know what you're talking about."
The little boy then knelt down to grab a box under his bed. He then put it on top of the bed to open it up and reveal all the little treasures that were inside of it. Arno could not hide how surprised he was to see all those valuable objects. Léon grabbed an enrolled paper hidden under a little plate, handed it to Arno who put the manuscript into his pocket and prepared to leave, but the little boy called him.
"Hé ! Where are you going ?"
The man stopped and turned back to face him. "Well, I'm going to hide the manuscript."
"We still have to find what the petit commandant is looking for !" Léon exclaimed.
Arno frowned. "Petit commandant ?"
"Didn't you hear him talk with Captain Rose at the catacombs ?" The boy said. "He has found a key that opens a secret door..."
Arno then understood he was talking about Bonaparte. "Where is that secret door ?" he quickly asked as he approached him.
"I don't know, I don't even know what it hides..."
"It hides an artefact." Arno responded. "A powerful one. And I'm looking for it, but we have to find it before Napoléon does."
"How ? Do you have a map or something ?" Léon questioned him.
"No." The man sighed. "I have to go back inside the catacombs and investigate I guess."
The little boy nodded, a little sad. Arno then left the room and when he went downstairs, he was surprised to see that Rosalie was gone. As he frowned, he asked to Madame Margot who was standing at the counter.
"Where is Rose ?"
"In the backyard." she responded. "She's knitting."
"Knitting ?" he repeated as he raised an eyebrow.
Arno's curiosity aroused, so he led to the backyard. The weather was fresh, but the clouds were starting to vanish, showing off a shining sun. When he arrived, Rosalie was sitting on a wooden chair, with a pair of knitting needles in her hands, humming something as she was working. She was so focused on her task that she did not even notice the young man who watched her for a few seconds, before he decided to approach her. Once he was close enough, she raised her gaze at him and smiled.
"What were you doing with Léon ?" she asked.
"Uh... nothing special." he lied.
Rosalie then paused, with a confused look on her face. "I didn't get the time to ask but... how did you find me, in Franciade ?"
"Well, believe it or not, it was a huge coincidence." he hesitantly responded. "I was actually looking for Léon."
"You know Léon ?" she frowned at him. "Since when ?"
"I do not. He had something I needed. That's why I came here in the first place."
Rosalie put her knit inside her basket to concentrate on what Arno was saying.
"Attends (Hold on)." She said. "How did you find him if you didn't know him in the first place ?"
He then grabbed the book of Dom Poirier inside his coat and showed it to the young woman.
"This notebook is a list of all the stolen valuable objects and where we can find them. Léon's name and address were indicated inside."
Rosalie raised her eyebrows in surprise. She thought that Léon was lucky it was not a person with bad intentions who came to look for him instead of Arno. The little boy kept putting himself in trouble to steal stuff he did not even need. Rosalie never understood why he would go and put his life at risk for such useless stuff. However, Léon disagreed. He has always been fascinated by ancient objects. He always dreamed of living adventures, traveling all around the world and bringing back antique items as souvenirs. The young woman worried actually that, someday, it would get the best of him.
Rosalie then asked to Arno if she could look into the book. The man accepted and, at the same moment, the little boy appeared from behind with his sword.
"We're going to save France together !" he exclaimed.
"Are you now ?" she blankly said as she flipped through the book.
"Oui !" he responded with enthusiasm. "We're tracking down Napoléon's artefact !"
Rosalie glanced at Arno. "«Nothing special», hein ?" she echoed as the young man looked away with embarrassment. The woman then put her gaze back on Léon. "You're not tracking down Napoléon's artefact." She said.
"Why not ?!" He yelled with anger.
"Léon." She softly said. "You almost got yourself killed today. And I've been really scared for you. I don't want you to get in trouble like this anymore."
"Rose is right." Arno agreed. "You still can help me from here. But there's no way that you're coming with me, petit homme."
The little boy first groaned, but knew that he had no other choice than accept. "Fine..." he sighed and led towards his tree.
The young woman smiled at Arno to thank him and refocused on the book she held while the two others were talking a little further. Once she turned to the next page, something caught her attention. She frowned as she observed the three circles drawn inside the notebook. She knew exactly where she saw them.
"Arno..." she called the man who instantly turned back as he heard his name. "Look at this."
Arno placed himself behind her and looked over the young woman's shoulder to observe the pages. He was so close to her that she could feel his heat, which made her slightly blush. Rosalie felt so small next to the young man, she never truly realized how imposing his body was until now, and she could not help but feel intimidated by him.
"This plate..." the young man whispered as he pointed one of the three circles. "I have seen it inside Léon's box."
The little boy joined them when he heard his name and analyzed the book. Rosalie woke up and blinked a few times to remember properly what she was talking about. When she looked at the notebook, she finally spoke.
"Those three symbols were engraved on a wall inside the catacombs." she said.
"Oui, I remember !" Léon replied. "There was Napoléon's key on it too !"
"Then those three items might lead us to wherever the artefact is." Arno added as his face enlightened. "Can I ?" he asked to Rosalie who nodded and handed him the notebook. "Merci. I will be right back. You both stay here." he informed them as he went outside the backyard and disappeared.
Rosalie sighed and grabbed back her needles to continue knitting while Léon stood with her and played with his sword. The young woman got lost in her thoughts. She started to think about earlier, the dead body she found near the windmill. Rosalie remembered every single detail on the poor man's face. But most of all, the cut on his throat. It perturbed her because it was the exact same way that her abusers died a few days ago. It could still be a coincidence, but she could not shake the feeling that it was the same person behind those two events. And, if that was the case, Rosalie already had the number one suspect in her mind : Arno.
"What are you knitting this time ?" Léon stopped playing around and spoke to the young woman who instantly came back to reality.
"A pullover." she responded with a smile.
"Can you knit mittens for me ? I have lost mine..." he said with embarrassement
"Bien sûr (Of course). As soon as I am done with this one."
Léon then went back training with his sword.
A moment later, Rosalie stopped knitting and hesitated before she called back the little boy. "Léon, can I ask you something ?"
"Quoi (What) ?" he said without glancing.
"How did you and Arno get out of the catacombs ?"
"It wasn't too difficult actually. Most of Captain Rose's men were gone."
Rosalie slowly nodded, not very satisfied by this answer which did not clarify anything at all.
"We've only met a couple of raiders inside the catacombs, but Arno killed them anyway." the little boy added.
The young woman stopped breathing for a few seconds. "Did he ?" she murmured.
"Oh oui. You should've seen it !" Léon said with excitement as he kept hitting on the poor tree with his sword. "He jumped behind those two guards and... SLASH !" the little boy suddenly turned to face the young woman and moved quickly his sword acting like he cut Rosalie's throat with it, which made her jump.
Even though Léon was very amused by this situation, the young woman did not enjoy the fright he just gave her. She breathed deeply with her hand on her chest and her eyes shut. The little boy ignored her and continued his training as he added.
"I'm sure he's a soldier. I want to be as good as he's at fighting when I'll grow up ! Do you think he'll accept teaching me how to fight ?"
"I hope he'll not. At least not now." she responded trying to conceal her anguish.
Her gaze got lost somewhere in front of her while she pondered. Arno was definitely the one behind those murders. Rosalie actually knew that the young man was hiding a brutal side of his since the day he fought at the tavern for her sake. But she did not believe that he could kill someone in cold blood. Worst of all, she would have never thought that he would do this professionally and this frequently. Maybe Rosalie should not have trusted him so quickly. It appeared that she did not know him at all.
But at the same time, she reminded herself of all those times Arno helped her out. He seemed to have a rather calm temperament when he was around Rosalie. She also truly wanted to believe that he cared about her. Earlier, she noticed the concerned look on the man's face when he thought something bad happened to her. The way he blamed himself when he found out that she got in danger actually moved Rosalie. However, she also wondered the reason why Arno was so overprotective of her, even more than Madame Margot and Louis.
The more she thought, the more the young woman realized that she knew nothing about Arno. The man remained mysterious since the day they met. Rosalie did not even know if he had any family at all. She thought about asking him directly, but she then doubted that he would be open to talk about it. Rosalie knew how delicate it could be to talk about one's past, especially when the memories were too painful. Madame Margot was the only one who knew her well, partly because Rosalie spent six years at the orphanage with her.
Speaking of the devil, the young woman heard the old woman's voice from behind.
"Léon, à table (dinner's ready) !"
The little boy instantly let his sword drop and Rosalie watched him run inside the orphanage, probably starving. She did not realize who late it was. The sun was starting to set as she looked up to the sky which now turned into a beautiful palette of pink shades.
"Rose, aren't you coming ?" Madame Margot then asked.
"I'm not hungry yet." she responded with a smile. "I'll eat later."
"As you wish."
The old woman then walked away, leaving Rosalie completely alone. But her loneliness did not last too long. Her smile faded away and her heart started to pound inside her chest as the young lady noticed Arno who arrived inside the backyard with his enlightened face. She deducted that his searching ended successfully.
"I have found the two other missing..." he stopped when he noticed Rosalie's facial expression. "What's wrong ?" he asked with concern.
The young woman breathed and brought back her smile. "Rien (Nothing)." she cleared her throat and prayed that he did not notice her awkwardness. "So... have you found what you've been looking for ?"
"Not yet, but I'm close." he responded. "I've also managed to find Napoléon's key in the process. Where is Léon ? I need the last plate to find this... temple."
"He's eating right now." she replied. "But we can go to his room to get it if you want to."
The young man nodded and Rosalie put her needles and knit inside her basket which she carried on her arm before she tried to get on her feet, but struggled due to her ankle still hurting her. Arno gently grabbed her by her waist and right arm before she lost her balance, which made her slightly flinch.
"Here." he said. "Let me help you."
At first Rosalie felt uncomfortable but she tried to hide it with a polite smile. "Thanks." she whispered as she glanced at him. But the man noticed how tensed her body was inside his hands, so he let go of her and offered his left arm to hold instead. The young lady appreciated how Arno tried to make her feel at ease and the way he held her reminded her of the first time they met, when Arno was dead drunk inside the tavern, and Rosalie smiled to herself. She focused on those things she liked so much about him and shook off all the bad stuff he could possibly have done for now just to be capable of enjoying his company at this exact moment.