Inspired by "The Rogue Couple" by: Broken Crystal Heart, instead of sending Shay alone to the precursor site in Lisbon, Hope was assigned to go with him for assurance of success. They both traveled to Lisbon and witnessed the devastating earthquake...
Within a small clearing amongst the snowy woods around the Homestead around a campfire, was Shay and Hope. Hope sitting and holding still as Shay was applying a cold ointment to her hurt cheek, flinching a bit from both the stinging pain of the slap and the ointment itself. "Do you wish me to stop?" Shay asks with great concern for her, knowing she went through a worse ordeal in Achilles' study. Hope looked him in the eye and silently shakes her head, telling him he's ok to continue. Shay nods, continuing to massage the medicine into her cheek. When done, he puts the ointment back in his pouch, and both Assassins stared into the campfire silently for some time. 'Liam is a fool if he thinks we should leave this be. As far as I'm concerned, Achilles cannot be trusted.' Shay angrily thought to himself. Hope however, was silent in both voice and thought, unsure of what to think or say on what had happened, but knew things were getting out of control. However, Shay would be the first to break the long silence. "We can't let this go on Hope." He said silently, but enough that Hope could still hear him. "I know Shay. But we both know Achilles won't listen or trust us. He's fallen deaf to all reason from all he hasn't witnessed for himself." "What are we supposed to do, we can't let Achilles find another one of those damned sites. If he keeps messing with them, what happened in Lisbon will happen again, and only bring more death and destruction." "Shay, he lost his son recently..." "Why would you defend him still after he struck you like that Hope? There is no excuse for this level of madness." Shay retorted. Looking into his eyes, Hope understood what Shay was intending. 'This is treason above all else, there will be no going back. But what other choice do we have? This is not what the Brotherhood fights for, if Achilles continues on this path, the rest of this Brotherhood here will stray so far from the Creed. I can't even recognize that man anymore.' Hope silently contemplated. She then looked back up at Shay, with her mind made up. "Your right...we have to stop this. We can't let Achilles continue this hunt." "Are you sure you want to aid me Hope? I don't want you to get hurt anymore than you have been." Shay asks, not believing Hope would join him in his plan to stop the Assassins from finding more temples. With a look of unbreaking determination and conviction, Hope responded, "I'm more than sure." Shay nodded, they began to plan.
After a while of planning, they get up, and Shay kicks snow into the fire to put it out. Putting their hoods on, they began stealthily making their way to the Manor. Fortunately for the pair, the watch around the manor was light enough to infiltrate without the need for heavy alert, but nonetheless, they had to avoid anything and everyone at all costs. After making their way through the bushes and snow pass the assassins keeping watch they made their way to the back door. Hope moves in front and opens the door, and beckons Shay to follow with a single hand motion. Shay closes his eyes and activates his Eagle vision, and senses no assassins near the doorways and Achilles is not in his study. Making their way up the stairs as quiet as possible, they made their way to the study. Hope makes quick work of the lock and the pair enters the room together. "I'll get the manuscript and you move and scout ahead." Shay whispered to her. Hope turned to him. "Are you sure that's wise, do you even know where it is?" Shay nods his head and hastily says to her "yes I got it, now go, I'll be right behind." "You better Shay Cormac or I'll come after you and murder you in the afterlife." Hope says with seriousness and actual concern, which slightly surprised Shay. As Shay moved to the locked drawer where the manuscript was kept, Hope unlocked and opened a window and jumped down onto a pile of snow, waiting for Shay to follow.
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Shay pulls the drawer to open it, but it is locked. Bringing out his right hidden blade, pries open the drawer, exposing the precursor manuscript. With a heavy sigh, he stared right at the ancient book. "There's no turning back now." Accepting what consequences may come of this, takes the manuscript and stows it in his coat. As he turned to leave, right at the door of the study, staring back at him, was Achilles. The mentor stared hard at Shay with a glare that held both anger and disappointment. "I had such hopes for you Shay." he said. "Achilles, I have to do this." Shay replied back, not faltering back from the mentor's disappointed sneer. "And what is it you are doing exactly? Stealing from your brothers, betraying me?" "Someone must make amends." Achilles scoffs at Shay's reply. "Make amends? The future of the whole continent, maybe even the whole world is tied up in that manuscript." Shay held strong and with conviction in his beliefs replied back, "Maybe, but we don't have the right to decide that future." "The right? We have the responsibility!" Achilles stated. "We are responsible for killing innocents and destroying cities! This mad grab for power, it ends here." "I WILL NOT LET YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING WE HAVE BUILT!" Achilles snarled, then charged at Shay, shoving him into the window Hope opened and threw him to the floor. Seeing Achilles coming again, Shay kicks him in the shin, stands up and pushes him to the side and jumps out the window into the pile of snow. Hope quickly helped Shay up and asked "what happened, I heard yelling up there..." "No time Hope, we need to get out now!" Shay states frantically. Hope looked up to see Achilles staring at them, and his angry, cold glare worsened at the sight of Hope with Shay, almost petrifying her, but then snaps out of it and hurries to catch up with Shay. "ASSASSINS, STOP THEM! STOP SHAY AND HOPE!" He roared and ordered everyone nearby and close enough to hear. Approaching and hiding in a patch of bushes, they heard the sound of ship mortars going off, and soon saw mortar shots crashing into the area in front of them. "Has Chevalier gone mad?! He'll destroy the manor!" An assassin yelled out, shocked by Chevalier's rash method. Timing the shots right, they managed to pass the mortars and the assassins there perfectly. However, upon reaching the pathway to the cliff facing the ocean, they saw Kesegowaase and a group of other assassins upon a rocky elevation, upon swinging his tomahawk, the assassins shot the other side of the path, causing a rockslide to block their route. "We won't let you stop us!" the indian assassin declared with a glare. Managing to bypass that obstacle without casualty, reached another with Liam on a side of the cliff. "Don't make me do this!" he shouted to them. Unable to hit a shot on them, Liam gives orders to release the experimental poison gas to stop them. But they forgot, Hope was the mind behind the poison. Reaching into her pouch, takes out a small glass vial, holding an antidote to the effects, taking a sip of it, and giving it to Shay, who took a sip as well, they managed to move through the deadly cloud without a problem. They then reached the edge, facing the icy Atlantic waters. But the assassins caught up to them. "That's far enough you two!" Liam declared. The pair looked back to face the brigade of their former brothers facing them angrily ready to attack when giving the order. "What are you both doing?" Liam queried and attempted to plead with them so he would not have to do something he would regret. "Just give back the manuscript you fools! I'm sure Achilles can..." "I will not Liam!" Shay interrupted him. "I will not let this happen again. All those souls lost." Looking down to the ground. Liam turns to Hope. "I can see him doing this, by why you of all people Hope?" With a hard stare back at him, Hope responded, "the same as Shay. I did not join the Brotherhood to bring devastation to the lives of innocent people." Liam draws his pistols and aims at them with a hardened look. "Last warning, give it back or I'll rip it off your corpses."
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"After all those losses, two more hardly matters." Shay looks to the cliff's edge, turns to Hope, who looked back at him with a look determined to follow him. Taking each other's hand, they prepared to jump, when they heard Liam called their names one last time, before two gunshots were heard and felt bullets ripped through each of their back shoulders, pushing them off the cliff. Falling fast, Shay grabs Hope and holds her close and hard as he could as they crashed into the icy waters, ready to accept the embrace of death, knowing they have prevented the catastrophe at Lisbon from repeating again.
AN: Here's chapter 3. Hope you all enjoyed it. Again, all rights reserved to the images used. The next will be coming soon hopefully. Until then, may the force be you readers.
