Truths We Can't Unknow
Aug. 8th, 2024 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Desmond and his new recruits find something unexpected while looking for the Illuminati secret archives.
Word Count: 1383
Rating: Teen
The artifacts are in familiar shapes Desmond recognizes from the chest on the Lady Margaret and some of the things Shaun’s been sharing recently. There's a scribbled drawing of a sextant-thing, which according to Shaun is the Freemason symbol. Apparently the Reverend hadn't managed to find that one. The computer isn’t even protected by a password, though the only vaguely interesting thing he finds on there is the spirited debate illumination576 was having with Guy Fawkes about the Illuminati’s role during the American Revolution. Rukh and Nate poke around everywhere while he’s messing around on the computer, but disappointingly Desmond is pretty sure there’s no treasure here and even if there was it probably wouldn’t be morally right to take it when the owner is still alive and next door and probably not a complete jerk even if he is a wannabe Illuminati. Chelsea is watching carefully like she’s going to learn something valuable from him just being nosy.
Once outside, though, they don’t have to do that much searching, because once they get back out and face the street again, Eagle Vision helps point the way. The sewers. Of course.
It’s when they get down the ladder that Desmond gets the feeling that this isn’t where he meant to go. There are no Illuminati tombs or archives down here, just more pods and hatching Draug. If they’re thick down at the beach, the sewers are absolutely overrun. In his defense, the manhole was gold, and it did have the All-Seeing Eye symbol on it, but maybe the whole ‘point the way’ thing was a clue he’d overlooked?
He doesn’t get the chance to suggest they leave, though, because Nate mutters a tight “incoming” (so he’s...taking this seriously for once, that’s probably bad news) and then they’re too busy trying to avoid being swarmed that there is no retreat and barely any ability to communicate over the growling and grunting and Draug talking to each other or spread out to avoid getting flattened by Chelsea’s hammer.
Still, as he’s going after one of those female Draug with prejudice, because like hell is he getting enchanted again, he notices something gold, a figure maybe, in one of the side passages.
“Left!” he yells. He doesn’t get a direct confirmation that they heard him, but Chelsea does look like she’s trying to inch the fight out into the main room and then down the hallway, even if it’s going to be slow and they’re going to draw even more attention that way.
They run into what feels like an actual physical wall of fog, with the vague outline of the Draug leader inside, one of the blue lobster-humans. He points at them and roars, and another wave of Draug comes crashing down, and at this point Desmond doesn’t even care about how weird the Blood healing is, Nate had better keep it up, because they’re going to get overwhelmed at this rate.
It’s easy to lose track of time. Desmond’s already forgotten how many Draug they’ve had to deal with, though he’s beginning to despair about how many more they might have to go. It is also official: Desmond really, really hates Draug, and once he gets through this he is going to subject Rebecca to a rant about how they should all go and die, already.
They’re caught unprepared when the Draug leader himself roars and comes charging out of the fog, and Desmond doesn’t block the arm club in time and goes skidding back, and—
The fog’s not a solid wall, anymore. It still feels like there’s resistance, but it’s more like wading through water than running into something solid.
“Go ahead!” Nate yells, and yeah, they’re almost finished up, but he doesn’t want to just abandon them like this…
“We’ll cover you!” Chelsea adds, barely ducking under the claws in time. “We can’t be sure the fog won’t just come up and we’ll lose our chance!”
That’s...a decent argument, so, reluctantly, Desmond continues without them, and as he continues down the hallway, he can make out the gold figure in front of him, dressed like a sailor. Even without an introduction, he’s pretty sure this is Joe Slater.
He only looks about half-human now, though it doesn’t look like the black oil infection, more like a Draug transformation, because he’s seen the leaders get less and less human, with barnacles and carapaces and stuff, and this might be why they’re stealing people and using zombies. The Draug might all have actually been human, once. Well, sure, Shaun had described them as ‘Norse undead’ once, but he hadn’t actually made the connection.
He’s also capable of talking, even if his voice gasps and wheezes and doesn’t quite sound human anymore, either, and he’s not sure if he’s just having a nightmare, too. A storm blew the Lady Margaret off course, into a ship graveyard with red seaweed and fog (and things, probably Draug, in that fog). He’d found something there, something shining, and as he continues to describe it Desmond’s mind is racing, because it sounds very much like he’s describing having found a blade made of pure light and holy hell did he actually manage to find a God-killing weapon already? He wasn’t expecting to get this lucky.
Maybe not lucky, exactly. There’s a price, of course there’s a price. If it’s basically this world’s version of a Piece of Eden, why wouldn’t there be a price? Specifically, it sounds like the fog and the Draug followed the sword back to land, although whether that actually has anything to do with the artifact itself or if they wanted it for some reason themselves is an open question Desmond doesn’t know enough to answer.
Joe suddenly makes a grab for him, as if remembering—it’s not an attack. He’s asking, begging really, for Desmond to help him, to make the siren song stop. That sounds like what Moose was saying, too. He’s convinced Desmond can hear it, but there’s...nothing? Maybe he’s imagining something, in the back of his mind, what it would sound like, but Joe’s words have no accompaniment as he continues, nothing to emphasize his words about returning the sword or him mentioning he’s dreaming, maybe, which should mean...something…
oh fuck
He can hear it, too. Not like John. Humming. It sounds...familiar, somehow. The world flickers, like when he’s going into Eagle Vision, only it turns a blue-purple, and he staggers, trying to shake his head, to tear this song right out, maybe he should take the Hidden Blade to his skull. It’s still there, sliding into his skin like it’s going to flay him alive, the notes carving themselves on his brain. He’s dizzy, and god he hates it this is mind control isn’t it? Rukh calls out in alarm, a shrill, warning sound that grates on every fiber of his being—or is it the song, is it the other way around, he doesn’t know anymore. His feet move on their own, dragging him toward a metal ladder, away from Chelsea and Nate, and he—doesn’t want to call to them. Can’t open his mouth, can’t interrupt the song. He couldn’t stop following if he wanted to, and the worst part of it is, he doesn’t. Because he’s never heard something so beautiful. And as good as he feels right now, it’ll feel even better, once he’s found it, once he’s followed it to the source. He’s never wanted something more in his life.
Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Desmond and his new recruits find something unexpected while looking for the Illuminati secret archives.
Word Count: 1383
Rating: Teen
It turns out that the Reverend does, in fact, have a perfect Assassin recruit training mission for them, and if not for the fact Desmond gets the sense that the thing with the wards was a test for trust, he’d be more suspicious about the timing. Pastor Henry had, in fact, been searching for years for a secret Illuminati vault hidden in the secret Illuminati tunnels he’s pretty sure is somewhere in town, and he’s already collected artifacts some texts say are crucial to getting inside (unfortunately, those artifacts are in the basement of his residence, so they’ll have to go outside to retrieve them). From there, they have to look out for the All-Seeing Eye, which will point the way. True, it is everywhere in town, which has made the search take considerably longer.
The artifacts are in familiar shapes Desmond recognizes from the chest on the Lady Margaret and some of the things Shaun’s been sharing recently. There's a scribbled drawing of a sextant-thing, which according to Shaun is the Freemason symbol. Apparently the Reverend hadn't managed to find that one. The computer isn’t even protected by a password, though the only vaguely interesting thing he finds on there is the spirited debate illumination576 was having with Guy Fawkes about the Illuminati’s role during the American Revolution. Rukh and Nate poke around everywhere while he’s messing around on the computer, but disappointingly Desmond is pretty sure there’s no treasure here and even if there was it probably wouldn’t be morally right to take it when the owner is still alive and next door and probably not a complete jerk even if he is a wannabe Illuminati. Chelsea is watching carefully like she’s going to learn something valuable from him just being nosy.
Once outside, though, they don’t have to do that much searching, because once they get back out and face the street again, Eagle Vision helps point the way. The sewers. Of course.
It’s when they get down the ladder that Desmond gets the feeling that this isn’t where he meant to go. There are no Illuminati tombs or archives down here, just more pods and hatching Draug. If they’re thick down at the beach, the sewers are absolutely overrun. In his defense, the manhole was gold, and it did have the All-Seeing Eye symbol on it, but maybe the whole ‘point the way’ thing was a clue he’d overlooked?
He doesn’t get the chance to suggest they leave, though, because Nate mutters a tight “incoming” (so he’s...taking this seriously for once, that’s probably bad news) and then they’re too busy trying to avoid being swarmed that there is no retreat and barely any ability to communicate over the growling and grunting and Draug talking to each other or spread out to avoid getting flattened by Chelsea’s hammer.
Still, as he’s going after one of those female Draug with prejudice, because like hell is he getting enchanted again, he notices something gold, a figure maybe, in one of the side passages.
“Left!” he yells. He doesn’t get a direct confirmation that they heard him, but Chelsea does look like she’s trying to inch the fight out into the main room and then down the hallway, even if it’s going to be slow and they’re going to draw even more attention that way.
They run into what feels like an actual physical wall of fog, with the vague outline of the Draug leader inside, one of the blue lobster-humans. He points at them and roars, and another wave of Draug comes crashing down, and at this point Desmond doesn’t even care about how weird the Blood healing is, Nate had better keep it up, because they’re going to get overwhelmed at this rate.
It’s easy to lose track of time. Desmond’s already forgotten how many Draug they’ve had to deal with, though he’s beginning to despair about how many more they might have to go. It is also official: Desmond really, really hates Draug, and once he gets through this he is going to subject Rebecca to a rant about how they should all go and die, already.
They’re caught unprepared when the Draug leader himself roars and comes charging out of the fog, and Desmond doesn’t block the arm club in time and goes skidding back, and—
The fog’s not a solid wall, anymore. It still feels like there’s resistance, but it’s more like wading through water than running into something solid.
“Go ahead!” Nate yells, and yeah, they’re almost finished up, but he doesn’t want to just abandon them like this…
“We’ll cover you!” Chelsea adds, barely ducking under the claws in time. “We can’t be sure the fog won’t just come up and we’ll lose our chance!”
That’s...a decent argument, so, reluctantly, Desmond continues without them, and as he continues down the hallway, he can make out the gold figure in front of him, dressed like a sailor. Even without an introduction, he’s pretty sure this is Joe Slater.
He only looks about half-human now, though it doesn’t look like the black oil infection, more like a Draug transformation, because he’s seen the leaders get less and less human, with barnacles and carapaces and stuff, and this might be why they’re stealing people and using zombies. The Draug might all have actually been human, once. Well, sure, Shaun had described them as ‘Norse undead’ once, but he hadn’t actually made the connection.
He’s also capable of talking, even if his voice gasps and wheezes and doesn’t quite sound human anymore, either, and he’s not sure if he’s just having a nightmare, too. A storm blew the Lady Margaret off course, into a ship graveyard with red seaweed and fog (and things, probably Draug, in that fog). He’d found something there, something shining, and as he continues to describe it Desmond’s mind is racing, because it sounds very much like he’s describing having found a blade made of pure light and holy hell did he actually manage to find a God-killing weapon already? He wasn’t expecting to get this lucky.
Maybe not lucky, exactly. There’s a price, of course there’s a price. If it’s basically this world’s version of a Piece of Eden, why wouldn’t there be a price? Specifically, it sounds like the fog and the Draug followed the sword back to land, although whether that actually has anything to do with the artifact itself or if they wanted it for some reason themselves is an open question Desmond doesn’t know enough to answer.
Joe suddenly makes a grab for him, as if remembering—it’s not an attack. He’s asking, begging really, for Desmond to help him, to make the siren song stop. That sounds like what Moose was saying, too. He’s convinced Desmond can hear it, but there’s...nothing? Maybe he’s imagining something, in the back of his mind, what it would sound like, but Joe’s words have no accompaniment as he continues, nothing to emphasize his words about returning the sword or him mentioning he’s dreaming, maybe, which should mean...something…
oh fuck
He can hear it, too. Not like John. Humming. It sounds...familiar, somehow. The world flickers, like when he’s going into Eagle Vision, only it turns a blue-purple, and he staggers, trying to shake his head, to tear this song right out, maybe he should take the Hidden Blade to his skull. It’s still there, sliding into his skin like it’s going to flay him alive, the notes carving themselves on his brain. He’s dizzy, and god he hates it this is mind control isn’t it? Rukh calls out in alarm, a shrill, warning sound that grates on every fiber of his being—or is it the song, is it the other way around, he doesn’t know anymore. His feet move on their own, dragging him toward a metal ladder, away from Chelsea and Nate, and he—doesn’t want to call to them. Can’t open his mouth, can’t interrupt the song. He couldn’t stop following if he wanted to, and the worst part of it is, he doesn’t. Because he’s never heard something so beautiful. And as good as he feels right now, it’ll feel even better, once he’s found it, once he’s followed it to the source. He’s never wanted something more in his life.
