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AS S A S S I N' S
[SIZE=+0]C R E E D[/SIZE]
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L E G A C Y
O F
B L O O D L I N E S
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THEY CALL US MONSTERS, YET WE DEVOTE OUR LIVES TO TRUTH. YET LAST NIGHT, ONE OF THEIR OWN WAS CAPTURED. I COME TO CYPRUS FROM THE HOLY LAND AFTER MURDERING THE TEMPLARS THERE.
I FOLLOWED THE REST TO CYPRUS, EAGER TO DIP MY BLADE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAST SURVIVING TEMPLARS. WORD OF MY DEEDS SPREAD BEFORE ME. THEIR FOLLOWERS SET A TRAP. THEY DID NOT SET IT TIGHTLY ENOUGH.
MY NAME IS ALTAIR IBN-LA'AHAD.
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Desmond Miles yawned sleepily, busy reading the Animus entries that Shaun Hastings, the team's local historian and tactician, had recently complied and downloaded into the Animus information database concerning Altaïr's memories in Antioch. He was no history major nor had a real interest in it prior to being kidnapped by Abstergo and thrusted into the world of his ancestors via the Animus. Yet in the past couple of weeks, he had become fascinated as he played the lives of both Altaïr and Ezio Auditore. He was still lost on the apocalyptic references, save for the ones he had seen in movies and television shows.
He just hoped that in the end of this that he wouldn't go insane; like Subject Sixteen did.
With his eventual slumber came very erratic dreams, Desmond could not tell if it was because he was still uncomfortable resting his body on the Animus, despite all the upgrades Rebecca had done it. Or maybe because every moment, be it awake or asleep, was spent on the Animus. The genetic memories of his ancestors had now pervaded every single part of his subconscious. Altaïr fought Templars in the Holy Land even as Desmond remembered serving Lucy Stillman drinks in the bar. Memories that he hadn't even accessed in Abstergo began popping up; his ancestor's training sessions as a student to a young Al Mualim.....the smell of dead rotting Templars.....and an angry woman screaming at him.
Desmond would drift in and out of that memory, afraid of how vivid it had become in his mind, even without the the help of the Animus. The machine had chosen to skip over many memories, fast-forwarding only to what Rebecca, Shaun and Lucy felt was important enough for him to see and relive. In that aspect, they really were not much different than Vidic though they were his friends. Desmond had began reliving the memories of Altaïr beginning at his failed mission at Solomon's Temple back at Abstergo but now there was more. In his dreams, Desmond could almost smell the sweet aroma of the woman that his ancestor confronted
"The Master requested me to take you to Alamut. It's a place in Persia where fellow Assassins like myself will protect you from harm. You'll be safe from the Templars."
Her glare was scrutinizing, even cold. "Why should I trust someone like you?" she demanded, "after everything you've kept hidden from me."
Desmond remembered Altaïr looking away from the woman, reluctant to admit the reasons why he had to act on Al Mualim's orders. Scoffing, the woman turned to the burning buildings in front of her - everything and everyone that she had known and cherished until now had been destroyed by the Templars and the Assassins. To her, there was no difference - they were both the same.
"I see you won't bother to explain why," she said; her tone lacked any compassion or undertstanding. "Not that I need you to tell me, I know why the Templars and the Assassins want the likes of me. I overheard the conversations between you and Malik."
Altaïr tensed, "so it seems but you're still the Chalice of Eden and thus you must be kept away from those who wish to use you. It's what is best."
His woman turned, her eyes bright with fury. She fearlessly stepped up the assassin, glaring fiercely into his eyes as if almost daring him to challenge her. "So you did this for the good of the people? Do you even have any idea of how many people were killed here today? For your little quest to make sure that I won't be used by the Templars as you say? Just look at the devastation! You claim that the Assassins but how am I supposed to believe you? You lied to me!"
Desmond's ancestor gently touched her arm, but she slapped it away. "Adha, please be reasonable. I did what I did because I had a desire to protect you, not just because Al Mualim told me to."
Suddenly she laughed, her voice bitter and full of contempt for her friend. Desmond, to his own slight horror, somehow recalled that Altaϊr found that laugh both terrifying and beautiful all at once. "Lies, lies, all lies! If you had a desire to protect me, you would've left this place as soon as I told you it was time to leave. Instead, you disobeyed me and the
"I wanted to protect you! No one here could've protected you from the likes of Robert de Sable; they were only delaying the inevitable."
"I don't need you or anyone to protect me! I can do that myself!"
Adha gestured to the small mound of bodies outside, easily visible from the window of the room. Leaning against the wall was one of Altaϊr's old swords, covered in recent but dried up blood. Some of the blood still covered the floor around them.
"You managed to fight them off? On your own?" Altaïr asked, sounding astonished.
Adha glared at him, hers hands perched on her slender hips. "Yes, surprised? A woman can defend herself just as much as a man if her life is at stake especially when she has a father who trained her to defend herself."
The woman did not look like someone he saw to be a warrior. She appeared like most women of the time, but her demeanor immediately suggested otherwise. Adha was fierce and temperamental, strong mouthed, and even as cock-sure as he was.
Altaïr took a step towards her, placing his large hands around her waist. "Please forgive me. I did not mean to doubt you. At least you're safe." Adha growled and he leaned towards to silence her but she stepped back, pulling herself from the Assassin's grasp.
"You know that's not true. Now that you and the Templars have destroyed this city, I'm an open target. There's nothing keeping me here save for ruins and dead bodies. I'll can't be near you or any Assassins. The Templars will go after me and vice versa. I'm not safe anywhere.....I'll have to move."
"I won't let you leave my sight," he growled, his hands clenching and unclenching in frustration. "Be as it may, you don't have much of a choice in the matter. You're a Piece of Eden, desired by the Templars. I have my obligations to stop them."
"You don't listen, do you?" she said. "I won't be safe under your protection or the protection of your brothers. I can't count my safety in their hands. It was one of your own brothers, Al Mualim's second in command, who betrayed your order by leaking the information of this city to the Templars. How can I be so sure that the same won't happen again."
"If you are so sure of yourself, then go," Altaïr countered. "I tried to reason with you but if you're so determined to go out on your own, I can't stop you. But know this, our paths will cross again."
"I'll remember those words. Good-bye Altaïr," Adha said as she threw the hood over her head, disguising it from view.
Altaïr nor Desmond for that matter would realize the truth behind those words.
.....advancing to a more recent memory.....
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