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

Chapter 15 : Revelations

Rosalie was nervously holding Arno's arm with both of her hands as they were walking in the tunnels. The man blindfolded her, and explained that it was necessary so the Brotherhood made sure she will not be able to locate them.
"They are very strict about that." he told her. "Especially nowadays."
"I understand." she murmured.
As she could not see anything, Rosalie focused on the man's arm and the sound of their footsteps, as it was the only thing she heard. It was only now that she noticed how muscular Arno's arm truly was and the young woman could feel her cheeks turn red, so she tried to quickly think about something else as she sighed.
"We're almost there." she heard the man's voice next to her and her heart started to beat faster as her nervousness increased. "There are a few steps in front of you, be careful."
Slowly, the young woman tried to climb down the steps as carefully as she could, but missed one and lost her balance. The man quickly held her before she could fall and Rosalie now felt embarrassed due to her clumsiness.
"I'm fine." she whispered as she straightened up and Arno took off his valid hand from her.
Soon enough, their steps started to echo and Rosalie supposed that they had entered in a huge place. After they silently walked for a moment, she imitated Arno when he slowed down and, once they stopped completely, he gently grabbed the young woman's hands so she would let go of his arm. Rosalie tried to stand still. She could hear Arno stepping back and now, she was face-to-face with darkness and silence. The young woman tried to look unperturbed, but was deep down nervous.
A strong female voice broke the silence, making Rosalie flinch. "Do you know why you are here ?"
She hesitantly shook her head as her heart started to beat faster. The voice did not come from her front directly, but more from a higher place, as if the stranger was standing on a sort of balcony.
"You are accused of conspiring against our Brotherhood and, with that, being implied in the murder of a handful of our agents. Almost another one yesterday." she said and Rosalie knew she was talking about Arno. "What do you have to say for yourself ?"
"I have nothing to do with any of this. I swear !"
"Yet you have killed a Templar. Why ?"
"I-I did not know she was a Templar !" she responded back. "I don't even know what a Templar is !" Rosalie tried to calm herself and added in a softer voice. "I've never killed anyone before. I did it only because she was threatening Arno." And now, the young woman could feel the man's gaze on her. After a short pause, she continued as she lowered her head down and brought her hands together. "I've met this woman two days ago, at the tavern of my... adoptive father. Late adoptive father." It was probably the first time she officially considered out loud Louis as her father. It sounded strange and normal at the same time. "She proposed to take me home. Well... Arno's home, actually. So I've given to her his address..."
"You have given to the enemy the location an estate we possess ?! Especially when you knew the Assassin who lives there is being tracked down ?!" The female stranger's voice exclaimed with anger and Rosalie realized that she had revealed her biggest mistake, making her look guiltier than before. She sighed, internally wanting to punch herself in the face. She could not even imagine the look Arno was supposedly giving to her at that moment.
"It was an accident." she spoke up. "I was upset back then, I did not think of the consequences..."
"I am done listening to this." she then heard the woman sigh in exasperation.
"I'm only telling you the truth !" Rosalie responded back. "I have nothing to hide."
"If so, then tell us, young lady." A second — deep and male — voice came from the same place as the first one. "Who are you ?"
After hesitating for a few seconds, she finally answered as she slightly raised her head. "My name is Rosalie." But her voice sounded surprisingly low to her. So she cleared her throat and spoke up. "Rosalie Joseph."
A long silence then lasted, making the young woman feel uncomfortable. But then, she heard someone else ask her : "Who was your real father ?". It was also a man and he was probably standing next to the two other strangers, but his voice sounded clearer than the other one.
Rosalie frowned, not expecting this question. "Why do you want to kn--"
"Answer !" The woman cut her off, which made Rosalie flinch. Her voice echoed loudly in the room.
Rosalie took a deep breath and replied. "Mathieu Joseph." With that name, all the few memories she had with her father enlightened in her mind for the first time in years. She missed him. She missed both of her parents all the time. She sometimes thought of what her life could have been like if they were still alive, by her side. Maybe she would not have suffered the way she did during those last eighteen years. Maybe she would not have been standing there at that moment. Maybe she would not even have met Arno.
"You are Mathieu and Anne's daughter ?" The woman asked in a softer tone, which surprised Rosalie.
"I'm sorry, did you know them ?" she asked.
After a pause, she replied. "Your parents were one of us."
Rosalie was now even more confused. "I don't think I understand..."
"They were Assassins..." Rosalie was surprised when she recognized Arno's voice coming from her left, making her automatically turn her head towards him.
"What ?" she only said in a whisper, as shocked as he probably was by this sudden revelation.
"Did you know about this ?" he then asked and she could hear his footsteps coming closer.
The young woman was in disbelief. "My parents were not Assassins !" she exclaimed. "I think I would've known."
"Then there is a lot you ignore, I am afraid." The female voice then replied, bringing Rosalie's attention back to her. "But we can tell you everything you need to know, answer all the questions you must have been asking to yourself for all of those years."
"I do not ask myself any questions." Rosalie replied, and added with a hint of sorrow. "My parents are long gone now. Nothing else matters."
"Really ? You do not want to know why your parents were killed, then ?" she teased her.
Rosalie frowned and took a little step forward. "Do you know why ?" she almost murmured.
After a little pause, the stranger concluded. "Maybe we should pursue this conversation in private. Let's get inside the meeting room. Arno, you can take her blindfold off."
The man executed her order. Rosalie could feel his fingers looking for the knot inside her hair, making her crisp her entire body until he finally managed to get her rid of her blindfold. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was amazed by how huge the sanctuary was. At her front, she noticed some particular representations engraved on marble : an eagle with the wings of an angel and the body of a dog. Above, there were columns on which she recognized the same ensign that was on Arno's watch. There were torches lighting up the place and the three strangers she was talking to all along were standing on the balcony above the sculptures, accentuating their superiority and dominating the room's atmosphere. The three of them took their hoods off, revealing their faces to Rosalie. The mature woman she talked to earlier was at the middle. On her right, there was a dark-skinned man, surely on his 50's, and on her left, a pale man who seemed to have the same age. As they started to leave the hall, Rosalie seeked Arno who was staring at her when she found him behind her back. She wished she could read his mind at that moment. He who was trying all this time to hide his true identity from her, just so she did not get involved into all of this mess, surely did not imagine for a second that she could actually be implied from the day she was born, and neither did she. It seemed like he knew her as much as she knew him — so, not at all.
"Follow me." he just said and she nodded.
They then started to walk towards the exit, leading to an entrance hall from which they probably came earlier. On their way, Rosalie noticed a couple of hooded men who all had their faces scarfed, only revealing their eyes and making the young woman feel intimidated by the looks they were giving to her. She remained close to Arno as they were walking.
The entire sanctuary seemed old but its majesty had not age. A huge chandelier was hanging high above their heads and candles were standing inside the walls, weakly enlightening the hall. The stairways leading to an upper room were made of stone, accentuating the medieval style of the sanctuary.
Soon, Arno and Rosalie started to climb up the stairs, and then walked inside what was supposed to be a meeting room, but seemed more like a library with, at the back, the three Assassins sitting around two seperate and semicircle-shaped tables. Once they reached them, Rosalie noticed a huge map of Paris, and its underground roads indicated on it, hanging on the wall behind the woman who was sitting with the two other men. At first, the young woman hesitated.
"Take a seat." The female Assassin told her, showing the empty chair in front of Rosalie.
She decided to obey after quickly glancing at Arno who preferred to back up against a support column next to him to remain a spectator of the conversation that the young woman was about to have with the three Assassins. Rosalie still did not manage to get used to the strange atmosphere this entire place was plunged into. She felt heavily uncomfortable and could barely look into the Assassins' eyes.
"I am Sophie Trenet, the Mentor of the Parisian Brotherhood." she started. "Those are the masters Guillaume Beylier and Hervé Quémar. We knew your parents well, they were like our brother and sister." Those words did not seem to move the young woman at all, so Trenet continued. "What happened to them was more than unfortunate."
"Tell me something I don't know." she responded in a low voice.
"If I remember well, it all happened during January 1777, shortly after Arno's father Charles was murdered."
Rosalie frowned and turned her face to stare at the young man who was looking down with a sad look on his face. He did not mention to her that his father was killed too, but she did not want to insist right now, supposing that this topic was quite delicate, so she brought her attention back to the Mentor.
She explained. "Back then, we had a Precursor Box in our posession. Our late Mentor entrusted Charles with protecting it, but he unfortunately died shortly after and his murderer got away with the box. During that same period, Templars found out about another artefact that we also had, an Apple of Eden. After Charles' death, your parents, Anne and Mathieu, were given the mission to temporarily hide the Apple somewhere safe that even we could not know until things calmed down, and track down the Templars who would eventually be searching for it."
"What are those artefacts ?" The young woman asked. "What is so important about them ?"
"We also call them Pieces of Eden." Quémar spoke for the first time. "They are powerful objects that only powerful minds can manipulate. They mostly are made to control people : their movements, thoughts, behaviors. Some of them, as the Precursor Box that we had, can hide many secrets. Our biggest enemies, the Templars, have been tracking down those Pieces of Eden in order to control humanity."
"They believe that, by doing so, they will bring peace in the entire world." Beylier added. "That humans will cease their quarrels for good if they all have one same leader that control them, but this freedom is only superficial, an illusion. We, on the other hand, defend free-will instead, the fact that each and everyone should think by themselves and be the slaves of no one. Be the masters of their own lives and control their own decisions. That is why we are keeping the Pieces of Eden we find hidden from the Templars and we are killing those who try to use them for their own selfish purposes."
"When it comes to your parents," The Mentor continued, "they were..."
"Killed." Rosalie cut her off as she looked down. "I know."
Trenet's face softened and so did her voice when she explained. "We presumed the Templars were behind their deaths, but since we haven't managed to find whoever did this, it still remains a mystery today. And they hadn't managed to find the artefact either... well, until recently. They somehow found it inside the Basilica of Saint-Denis."
Rosalie first frowned, but then turned her head to look at Arno as she realized. "That was the same artefact Napoléon was searching for, wasn't it ?"
As the man nodded back to her, Trenet announced. "Arno managed to bring us the Apple your parents protected before Napoléon found it first. We sent a few of our agents to Egypt in order to give the artefact to Al Mualim, the Mentor of the Egyptian Brotherhood, as we thought that it was no longer safe here in France. But they have been ambushed before they could reach the port of Marseille, and the Piece of Eden is now gone."
"It has been stolen ?" Rosalie said with shock. "By whom ?"
"We believe that it could be the Templars' work." Beylier responded. "The same ones that are tracking us down now."
The young woman slowly nodded. "And... could those Templars be the same ones who killed my parents ?"
"We do not know that, unfortunately." Trenet answered. "As I've said, we do not even know if the murderers of Anne and Mathieu were Templars, as there were no witnesses."
As she thought for a few seconds, Rosalie's face started to enlighten. "What if I told you that there was one ?"
The four Assassins stared at her with a confused look. "Who ?" Arno asked from behind.
Rosalie faced him and shrugged. "Me."
The man could not hide the surprise he felt as he uncrossed his arms and approached her. "You saw them ?"
"Do you remember the red-crossed necklace that... the woman who tried to kill you was wearing ?" she told him. After he nodded, she continued. "As soon as I've noticed it back at the tavern, I knew that I had seen it before, but I couldn't tell when nor where. Now I can : the man who murdered my parents, he had the same symbol on his chest."
"Are you sure ?" Trenet asked and Rosalie turned her eyes towards her.
"I am. That was the only time I've ever seen that cross until... well, what happened."
"Could this man be the same one who killed my father ?" Arno turned to his masters.
"It is possible." Beylier replied. "It was around the same period, same place and with the same purpose."
Arno then looked back to Rosalie, his head full of thoughts. For all of those years he did not have a single clue of who could possibly be the killer of his father, and the only person he had to blame for that was himself. He even gave up searching for them at some point and tried to move on. But now, a very little chance of finally getting answers was right before him, and he wanted to take it to avenge his father for good.
"What did this man look like ? Do you remember anything about him ?" he quickly asked to the young woman.
She seemed a little embarrassed as she responded. "Arno, it happened eighteen years ago, and I was six years old. Even if I do remember a few things, my memory could just be tricking me at this point."
The man could not hide his disappointment as he looked away. "Of course, you're right."
Rosalie bit her lip as she thought for a moment, then said. "But what I am sure of is that he had a very thick accent. He was definitely not French. I remember it well, because it had made me laugh back then..." She had a sad look on her face as she thought of this memory. She had laughed with the man who, right afterwards, had destroyed her entire world in the blink of an eye. "He came into my house, and I was alone, for some reason." she added, thinking that now she may knew why. "Soon after he left, I went downstairs and..." The young woman felt the tears well up in her eyes as she continued with a weak voice. "My parents were lying lifeless."
As she was closing her eyes to calm herself, she felt Arno's warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." she heard him whisper. The young woman turned her teary gaze towards him and gave him a sad smile to thank him for his compassion.
"Your parents always worked together on every single mission." The Mentor said. "They were really talented Assassins. We also knew about your existence."
"And yet you did not help me out when my parents died." Rosalie spoke with sorrow. "Why ?"
"We tried to find you but it was like you had vanished. We've spent months, even years searching for you, but we failed. And I am sorry for that. But now that you're here, you could follow your parents' path and finish what they've started."
Rosalie looked at the masters in disbelief. "You... you want me to become an Assassin ?" As soon as they confirmed it, the young woman let out a dry little laugh. "What for ? To get myself murdered in cold blood like my mom and dad ?"
"Rosalie, your parents died for this cause." Trenet explained.
"They didn't die for it, they died because of it !" the young woman almost screamed. She took a break not to let her anger take over as Arno took his hand away from her. She then stood on her feet and continued, facing the three masters, keeping her head high. "If my parents did not get involved into this business in the first place, they would still be alive now. I would not have had to spend my entire life surviving instead of living. If my life has been such a misery, it is because of this damned artefact, and this damned Brotherhood !"
Arno was surprised to see the young woman being this angry, but he somehow understood her reaction. The masters, on the other hand, were blankly staring at Rosalie, not saying anything, whether because they had nothing to say or they refused to reply to her insolence towards them.
Now that she was realizing that she was going too far, Rosalie finished. "I'm done with you all. For good." The young woman then started to leave the room quickly, not even taking the time to salute the Assassins, followed by Arno, who was not done with her yet.