HOME | DD

Description
January 23, 1815; Temple of the Angels, Indiana Territory

This was it. After all these years, after everything they had to go through, this was it. Aveza and Arnold had met up with Connor and Shikoba once they made it back to the Indiana Territory. Aveza used her Eagle Vision once again to find the entrance to the Temple, and then she led her friends through it. The four walked down the stairs. They all looked around in awe. Even though Aveza had been here before, she couldn't get over the mystical nature of the place.

The only sounds they heard were their own footsteps and a bizarre, quiet humming noise that seemed to come from within the walls of the Temple. The engravings on the walls still lit up with their eerie blue-green glow. Everything was perfectly smooth in the Temple, as if whoever built it meticulously sanded out all the nooks and crannies of the place.

“This place is incredible!” said Shikoba. “I mean, I've heard all the stories, but I've never seen any of these temples in person before. It's spectacular!”

“It is definitely a sight to behold,” said Connor.

“Have you ever been in one of these temples, Connor?” asked Aveza.

“Truth be told, I myself have not. My father and grandfather have been in many of these types of places, though. I now see why they spoke so wondrously of them in their journals.”

“It is quite a sight.”

“Indeed.”

The four kept cautiously walking. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Aveza was relieved to see that the ancient bridge that she had activated was still there. The four walked across the cavernous room, trying desperately to resist the urge to look down. Once they were across, they went to the next hallway and made their way through the rest of the Temple.

Soon enough, they arrived at the room that held the massive locked door. Aveza looked up at the giant glowing image of the winged man with a horn. She took off her necklace and held the key in her hand. She looked down at the artifact, and took a deep breath. She looked at her friends.

“Well,” she said. “End of the road.”

“And what a road it's been,” said Arnold with a tired smile. Aveza gave the same smile. She stepped forward, and held the key out. The wall and the key both glowed brighter and brighter as they came closer to each other. This was it. The moment Aveza had been waiting for. She brought the key closer to the hole. And then…

“I believe that belongs to us, Ms. Deryn.”

All four Assassins spun on their heels. They all scowled when they saw two men standing in front of them. Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison.

“You!” spat Aveza.

“Yes,” said Harrison. “Us. I must say, Ms. Deryn, we thank you for leading us straight to the Temple.”

“Indeed,” said Jackson. “Saved us months of searching ourselves.”

“Just walk away now, gentlemen,” said Connor. “We have you outnumbered. This doesn't have to end bloody.”

“Hmm, you make a good point, savage,” said Harrison sarcastically. He turned to Jackson, who snapped his fingers. When he did, six American soldiers with muskets came out of their hiding places and took aim at the Assassins.

“I'd say this evens the odds,” said Jackson.

Aveza swore under her breath. Connor pulled out his tomahawk. Shikoba and Arnold drew their swords. Aveza just clutched the key tightly in her fist.

“Hand over the key, Ms. Deryn,” said Jackson.

“Never!”

“Very well then.” He turned to his men. “Kill them all!” he shouted.

And the battle began.

Connor managed to take out two guards right off the bat. The soldiers had expected him to just be a fragile old man, so his speed caught them off guard. Jackson and Harrison drew their swords and joined the fight. Aveza put the key in her pocket, drew her father's sword, and lunged at the Templars.

She locked blades with Harrison as the other Assassins fought off the other soldiers. Harrison gave her an evil glare.

“Long time no see,” he said as they fought.

“Shove it,” Aveza spat.

“You know, I've been waiting so long for a chance to wet my blade with your blood, Ms. Deryn, given all the trouble you've caused me.”

“I won't let that happen.”

She swung her blade again. She managed to nick his cheek, but was unable to land a serious blow. They locked blades again, pushing against each other's attacks. But Harrison proved to be a slight bit stronger, and he threw Aveza off balance. He punched her hard and sent her falling to the floor. He put his sword an inch from her neck before she could get up.

“Lights out, Assassin!” he said. He pulled back his arm, and readied himself to deliver a killing blow. But he was thrown to the side before he could. Arnold had sprinted up and tackled him away, saving Aveza. Aveza got up and watched him wrestle Harrison. Arnold quickly managed to punch Harrison just enough to disorient him. And then he used the brief moment to swing himself around and kick Harrison hard on the temple. Harrison was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. Arnold turned to see Aveza smiling. Arnold returned the smile, but his quickly faded.

“Aveza! Look out!” he cried.

Aveza turned on her heels and raised her sword just in time to block a blow from Andrew Jackson. She swung hard at him, but he countered her attack.

“You've been a thorn in my side for too long, Assassin!” said Jackson as the blades sparked.

“What can I say?” Aveza responded snarkily, “Being a pain to Templars is what I do best.”

They clashed again and again and again.

“Give me my key!” shouted Jackson.

“You'll have to tear it from my cold, dead hands!” said Aveza.

“That can be arranged.”

They clashed again.

“Why do you keep fighting?” shouted Jackson. “Your defeat is inevitable! Sooner or later, you will fall to a Templar blade!”

“Maybe so, you rotten dog. But it won't be today!”

Jackson pulled back his sword with both hands and swung hard at Aveza. Just as the blade was coming down towards her head, Aveza lifted her blade upwards and blocked the blow. Then, with a yell, she thrust her sword to the left and threw Jackson off balance. As he stumbled, Aveza flicked out her hidden blade, and used the moment to jab it into his side. Jackson shouted and fell to his knees. Then Aveza brought up the pommel of her sword and rammed it hard into his head. Jackson fell to the floor with a hard thud. Aveza stood tall over him, breathing heavily.

She looked behind her when she noticed that the sounds of ringing steel had stopped. She saw her friends standing there, victorious. All the soldiers were lying dead or unconscious on the floor. They'd won.

“Right then,” said Aveza, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Where were we?”

The other three gave tired laughs. “I believe we were in the process of opening that door, my dear,” said Arnold.

Aveza smiled and nodded. Without hesitation, she walked up to the door, pulled out the key, and shoved it into the keyhole. She stepped back and let the door do its thing.

The Assassins watched in awe as the engravings lit up like the sun. A loud rumble started reverberating throughout the room. The door glowed brighter and brighter. A single line of light appeared in the middle of the door, and the door suddenly became two pieces that started sliding away from each other. The rumbling stopped, as did the lights. The door was open.

The four exchanged looks. Aveza motioned for Arnold to come to her side.

“We're going in,” she said. “Mum. Connor. You two stay and guard the entrance. Make sure these dogs didn't have anything else up their sleeves.”

The others nodded. Arnold came up to her side. “Ready?” he asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Let's go.”

With one last wave to Connor and Shikoba, the two walked past the door, holding each other's hands, and they entered the unknown.

The lights from the engravings lit up as they walked down the long hallway, following them. They walked and walked until they finally reached another room. The room was massive, and had a domed ceiling. The place was littered with ancient, glowing pillars, some fallen and some standing. All of them glowed, nonetheless. And at the end of the room, was a large chamber. In it sat what looked like a bizarre suit of armor. The metal shined gold and the cloth seemed unnaturally smooth and shiny. But the strangest part of the outfit was the enormous set of what looked like wings on the back. It looked like something straight out of heaven's throne room.

Aveza and Arnold looked at it in awe. They walked up to approach it, but before they could, the chamber was suddenly cut off by a wall of light that shot down in front of it. The two Assassins looked at each other. Aveza picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the wall to test it. The second the rock hit the wall, it disintegrated in a hail of light. Aveza and Arnold looked at each other in shock.

“Great,” said Arnold, “What now?”

“I… I don't…”

But suddenly she was interrupted when a section of the floor opened up in front of them and from it a pedestal shot up. It looked just like the one Aveza used to activate the bridge. The two looked at each other, and then Aveza cautiously stepped forward. She slowly brought her hand up to the square top of the pedestal, and she touched it.

The pedestal made a series of beeping noises for a minute before flashing a blue light. Aveza pulled her hand back and went back to Arnold’s side. She held his hand as the beeping started reverberating throughout the room. Until suddenly, a bright light shined from the floor in front of them. While at first it was hard to see, a vague figure started forming in the light. It looked like a giant bird at first, though it also seemed a bit like a man. The figure moved what appeared to be it's head around, analyzing the room. And then it looked right at Aveza. She gulped.

The figure stared for a moment. “ஏய், நீ என்னை கேட்க முடியும்?,” it suddenly said. The Assassins said nothing. What was it saying?

“האם אתה יכול לשמוע אותי עכשיו?” it said. The Assassins stayed silent.

“Et non audistis me?” it continued. “Come on, is this thing on?”

“I… uh…” Aveza stuttered.

The figure looked at her. “Oh! Can you hear me now?” it said.

“I… y… yes.”

“Oh thank God. It's about time. Hold up. Give me a sec.”

The figure looked down and fiddled with something Aveza couldn't see. Suddenly, the figure started becoming clear. The vague shape became the image of a man. He had on the same outfit that was behind the wall of light, wings and all. Aveza took it in. It looked like a moving statue made of light. Little ones and zeroes darted around the man.

“Darn keyboards never want to work properly,” muttered the man. “Aha! There! Alright, can you see me, kid?”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other.

“Me?” asked Aveza.

“Yes you. Can you see me?”

“I… uh… yes.”

“Okay good. Now we can talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yes. Talk. You know, that thing that happens when you make sounds with your mouth? That thing? We need to do that.”

Aveza didn't much care for his sarcastic tone, but she didn't say anything about it.

“I… Okay…” she said.

“Who are you?” asked Arnold.

“They call me Gabriel,” said the man.

“Gabriel? The archangel?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“You're an angel?” Aveza couldn't believe it. Could this really be the archangel Gabriel?

“By your standards I guess,” said Gabriel. “They call me a lot of things, honestly. Angel, Animikii, Trickster, Sexy. Depends on who I’m talking to, really. Er… but that's besides the point. We need to talk. Now.”

“About what?”

“Hush.”

“Oi!”

“Oi yourself. I need to talk with her! So if you two would please just be quiet! Please, it's important!”

Aveza and Arnold looked at one another. They both figured that not much good would come out of arguing with an angel, so they decided to just close their mouths.

“Thank you,” said Gabriel, relieved. He looked straight at Aveza. Except, he didn't seem to be looking at her specifically. He was looking in her direction, but he seemed to be looking at something else, like a phantom that was standing exactly where she was. He began to speak.

“Alright,” he said. “I don't have much time right now, so I'll make this as quick as possible. Like I said to these two, I'm Gabriel. Hi. How you doing? Right, anyways, we're in the middle of a war. And unfortunately, some of the threats of this war are escaping into your time. Your friends across the world are already having enough trouble with Juno, but they'll handle that threat fine. But there's another threat, one that we thought we took down for good, but he's found a way to cheat death. ...Jerk… But he's stuck now, don't worry. But he won't be for long. He's going to break out, and when he does, you're going to be the one to stop him. You have to be.”

He pointed at the outfit behind him.

“You see that?” he said. “That's my armor. An archangel’s armor. You'll need it to beat him. But you'll have to find the key to this place in order to get to it. Don't worry, I got you covered. I'll make sure this chick here gets it back and puts it somewhere you can find it.”

Aveza inwardly panicked. Back?!

Suddenly, muffled explosions could be heard from behind Gabriel.

“Crap…” he said. “I have to go now. Unfortunately, that's all I have time to say. But I know you'll figure out where to go from here. Good luck to you, Ava. The future is in your hands. No pressure.”

Suddenly, the image faded away just as Gabriel turned to leave. The whole room went silent. Aveza and Arnold were left alone again. They looked at each other.

“What just…” Aveza stuttered.

“I don't know, my dear. I don't know.”

Aveza looked at the wall of light. It was still shining bright.

“Let's go,” she said quietly.

“What about that armor?” said Arnold.

“You heard Gabriel, it's not for us to take..”

“He was talking to you though…”

“But he wasn't. You heard him. He was talking to someone named ‘Ava’, whoever that is.”

Arnold was silent. “Well… alright then,” he said.

“Besides, nothing’s going to get to through that wall. Whatever black magic is protecting can probably only be lifted by the will of the angels themselves.”

“Well… I guess you're right.”

Aveza nodded. She held his hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's go meet back with the others.”

Arnold smiled lightly. “Alright,” he said. “Let's go.”

Aveza nodded, and the two made their way out of the room, leaving the Armor of Gabriel behind them.

As the two walked out of the door, they were shocked to see Connor and Shikoba sitting wounded against the wall. Connor seemed more badly injured. He gripped the wound at his side as Shikoba tried to put pressure on it.

“Mum!” said Aveza, running up to them with Arnold. “Oh my God! What happened?”

“Jackson… and Harrison…” said Connor painfully. “They regained consciousness and took us by surprise. They managed to take the key and run away.”

“Oh God. Are you going to be okay?”

“I'll be fine… I just need to get properly treated.”

“Sorry I can't do more to help right now,” said Shikoba sadly.

“Don't worry, Shikoba. It's alright. You're doing your best, and that's more than enough. Thank you.”

“My lord, do you always have to be so sweet?”

Connor just smiled.

“Wait…” said Aveza. “Jackson took the key?”

“Unfortunately,” said Shikoba.

Aveza mentally cursed.

“Don't worry, Aveza,” Connor said comfortingly. “We'll get it back. At least thanks to you, we now know what it is we're guarding from the Templars.”

“Yes, sweetheart,” said Shikoba. “What did you two find in there anyway?”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other, not quite knowing how to explain it. Aveza looked back at the door. It began to close back up again, concealing the Temple’s secrets once again.

“We'll… tell you later,” said Aveza. “It's going to take a while to explain. But, I can tell you this: we don't have to worry about keeping what's inside out of Jackson's hands. The temple's defenses are literally undestroyable. They'll keep the Piece of Eden safe. Still, we do need to get that key back. It's far safer in Assassin hands than in Templar hands.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“So what now?” asked Arnold.

Aveza looked at him, then at her mother and Connor. For the first time in a long time, she felt relieved. She felt fulfilled. She felt like the weight of the world was finally off her shoulders. The war was over. The temple mystery was solved. All she had to worry about was getting the key back. Easy enough.

She let out a gentle sigh and smiled. “Now we go home,” she said.

The others smiled and nodded. Aveza, Arnold, and Shikoba helped Connor to his feet, and they helped walk him out of the temple. As they stepped out of the temple, they saw that the sun was rising again. It shined down on their faces and warmed their skin. Aveza smiled. They all did. She looked up at the gorgeous skyline. A new day had dawned. It was time to go home. It was time to start anew. Aveza watched the sky turn pure white as the world around her became a white void. The simulation collapsed into a series of ones and zeroes and double helixes. And as soon as Ava's mind was her own again, she frantically grabbed the Animus headset and threw it off before Ruby had as chance to take it off nicely.

“What was that?!” she said as she leapt out of her chair. “Oh my God, what was that?! What was that thing?! How did it know my name?! Why did it-?!”

“Ava! You have to calm down!” said Ben, worried about his friend.

But Ava was hyperventilating. “No! I will not calm down! What was that?”

“Ben, I'm getting a massive surge of data,” Ruby said. “Like… wow! What even is all this code?”

“Ruby! What happened?” Ava freaked. She was shaking. She felt like crying.

“Champ, please, if you don't calm down, you're going to hurt yourself!”

“I… I just… Wha…”

She felt dizzy. She almost fell to her knees, but her friends were quick to catch her. She looked up at them with pleading eyes. “What was that?” she asked, softly this time.

“That was a message,” said Ben. “I guess the Precursors thought you'd have a part to play in whatever that angel guy was going on about.”

“But… why? How? Why me?”

“I don't know, Ava. I'm really sorry. I don't know. But I think we just got pushed into the deep end of… something. And whatever it is, I don't think there's any turning back.”

Ava lowered her head. She tried to slow her breathing. She knew that when she signed up for this whole Assassin gig, it wouldn't be easy, but she never thought she'd get caught up in stuff like this. She wanted to stay strong. She wanted to stay strong for her friends. She wanted to stay strong so that she could help them fight for a noble cause. But it kept getting harder and harder to do so, it seemed. She tried to relax her breathing.

“I… I think I'm okay, guys,” she said.

“Are you sure?” asked Ben.

“...No.”

“Aw, Ava… I'm so sorry I pulled you into all this.”

“No, no. It's okay… I mean, hey, saving the world isn't an easy task, right?”

Ben smiled a bit. “Yeah, that's right,” he said. Ava gave him a weak smile back.

Ruby smiled too. “Right,” she said. “Hey, I'd love to stay here and keep friendship cuddling with you guys, but that code is still plowing through my hard drive and I should probably check to make sure it's not screwing up our tech.”

The other two nodded, and Ruby went over to her computer. She clacked away at her computer for a moment before reeling back a bit.

“Woah,” she said.

“Woah?” asked Ben.

“Yeah. Woah.”

“What is it?” asked Ava.

“Well, this code has formed a bit of information on that temple key that Gabriel seemed to want us to track down. Apparently Andrew Jackson was able to hold onto it for the most part until his death, according to this. Apparently Aveza took it from him after he died and she passed it on to… Oh my God.”

“What?”

Ruby stood from her seat and grabbed her bag. “Guys, we gotta pack up and go,” she said.

“Wait what? Where are we going?”

“Indianapolis. Ben, call up Chelsea again. Tell her we're on our way.”

Description
January 23, 1815; Temple of the Angels, Indiana Territory

This was it. After all these years, after everything they had to go through, this was it. Aveza and Arnold had met up with Connor and Shikoba once they made it back to the Indiana Territory. Aveza used her Eagle Vision once again to find the entrance to the Temple, and then she led her friends through it. The four walked down the stairs. They all looked around in awe. Even though Aveza had been here before, she couldn't get over the mystical nature of the place.

The only sounds they heard were their own footsteps and a bizarre, quiet humming noise that seemed to come from within the walls of the Temple. The engravings on the walls still lit up with their eerie blue-green glow. Everything was perfectly smooth in the Temple, as if whoever built it meticulously sanded out all the nooks and crannies of the place.

“This place is incredible!” said Shikoba. “I mean, I've heard all the stories, but I've never seen any of these temples in person before. It's spectacular!”

“It is definitely a sight to behold,” said Connor.

“Have you ever been in one of these temples, Connor?” asked Aveza.

“Truth be told, I myself have not. My father and grandfather have been in many of these types of places, though. I now see why they spoke so wondrously of them in their journals.”

“It is quite a sight.”

“Indeed.”

The four kept cautiously walking. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Aveza was relieved to see that the ancient bridge that she had activated was still there. The four walked across the cavernous room, trying desperately to resist the urge to look down. Once they were across, they went to the next hallway and made their way through the rest of the Temple.

Soon enough, they arrived at the room that held the massive locked door. Aveza looked up at the giant glowing image of the winged man with a horn. She took off her necklace and held the key in her hand. She looked down at the artifact, and took a deep breath. She looked at her friends.

“Well,” she said. “End of the road.”

“And what a road it's been,” said Arnold with a tired smile. Aveza gave the same smile. She stepped forward, and held the key out. The wall and the key both glowed brighter and brighter as they came closer to each other. This was it. The moment Aveza had been waiting for. She brought the key closer to the hole. And then…

“I believe that belongs to us, Ms. Deryn.”

All four Assassins spun on their heels. They all scowled when they saw two men standing in front of them. Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison.

“You!” spat Aveza.

“Yes,” said Harrison. “Us. I must say, Ms. Deryn, we thank you for leading us straight to the Temple.”

“Indeed,” said Jackson. “Saved us months of searching ourselves.”

“Just walk away now, gentlemen,” said Connor. “We have you outnumbered. This doesn't have to end bloody.”

“Hmm, you make a good point, savage,” said Harrison sarcastically. He turned to Jackson, who snapped his fingers. When he did, six American soldiers with muskets came out of their hiding places and took aim at the Assassins.

“I'd say this evens the odds,” said Jackson.

Aveza swore under her breath. Connor pulled out his tomahawk. Shikoba and Arnold drew their swords. Aveza just clutched the key tightly in her fist.

“Hand over the key, Ms. Deryn,” said Jackson.

“Never!”

“Very well then.” He turned to his men. “Kill them all!” he shouted.

And the battle began.

Connor managed to take out two guards right off the bat. The soldiers had expected him to just be a fragile old man, so his speed caught them off guard. Jackson and Harrison drew their swords and joined the fight. Aveza put the key in her pocket, drew her father's sword, and lunged at the Templars.

She locked blades with Harrison as the other Assassins fought off the other soldiers. Harrison gave her an evil glare.

“Long time no see,” he said as they fought.

“Shove it,” Aveza spat.

“You know, I've been waiting so long for a chance to wet my blade with your blood, Ms. Deryn, given all the trouble you've caused me.”

“I won't let that happen.”

She swung her blade again. She managed to nick his cheek, but was unable to land a serious blow. They locked blades again, pushing against each other's attacks. But Harrison proved to be a slight bit stronger, and he threw Aveza off balance. He punched her hard and sent her falling to the floor. He put his sword an inch from her neck before she could get up.

“Lights out, Assassin!” he said. He pulled back his arm, and readied himself to deliver a killing blow. But he was thrown to the side before he could. Arnold had sprinted up and tackled him away, saving Aveza. Aveza got up and watched him wrestle Harrison. Arnold quickly managed to punch Harrison just enough to disorient him. And then he used the brief moment to swing himself around and kick Harrison hard on the temple. Harrison was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. Arnold turned to see Aveza smiling. Arnold returned the smile, but his quickly faded.

“Aveza! Look out!” he cried.

Aveza turned on her heels and raised her sword just in time to block a blow from Andrew Jackson. She swung hard at him, but he countered her attack.

“You've been a thorn in my side for too long, Assassin!” said Jackson as the blades sparked.

“What can I say?” Aveza responded snarkily, “Being a pain to Templars is what I do best.”

They clashed again and again and again.

“Give me my key!” shouted Jackson.

“You'll have to tear it from my cold, dead hands!” said Aveza.

“That can be arranged.”

They clashed again.

“Why do you keep fighting?” shouted Jackson. “Your defeat is inevitable! Sooner or later, you will fall to a Templar blade!”

“Maybe so, you rotten dog. But it won't be today!”

Jackson pulled back his sword with both hands and swung hard at Aveza. Just as the blade was coming down towards her head, Aveza lifted her blade upwards and blocked the blow. Then, with a yell, she thrust her sword to the left and threw Jackson off balance. As he stumbled, Aveza flicked out her hidden blade, and used the moment to jab it into his side. Jackson shouted and fell to his knees. Then Aveza brought up the pommel of her sword and rammed it hard into his head. Jackson fell to the floor with a hard thud. Aveza stood tall over him, breathing heavily.

She looked behind her when she noticed that the sounds of ringing steel had stopped. She saw her friends standing there, victorious. All the soldiers were lying dead or unconscious on the floor. They'd won.

“Right then,” said Aveza, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Where were we?”

The other three gave tired laughs. “I believe we were in the process of opening that door, my dear,” said Arnold.

Aveza smiled and nodded. Without hesitation, she walked up to the door, pulled out the key, and shoved it into the keyhole. She stepped back and let the door do its thing.

The Assassins watched in awe as the engravings lit up like the sun. A loud rumble started reverberating throughout the room. The door glowed brighter and brighter. A single line of light appeared in the middle of the door, and the door suddenly became two pieces that started sliding away from each other. The rumbling stopped, as did the lights. The door was open.

The four exchanged looks. Aveza motioned for Arnold to come to her side.

“We're going in,” she said. “Mum. Connor. You two stay and guard the entrance. Make sure these dogs didn't have anything else up their sleeves.”

The others nodded. Arnold came up to her side. “Ready?” he asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Let's go.”

With one last wave to Connor and Shikoba, the two walked past the door, holding each other's hands, and they entered the unknown.

The lights from the engravings lit up as they walked down the long hallway, following them. They walked and walked until they finally reached another room. The room was massive, and had a domed ceiling. The place was littered with ancient, glowing pillars, some fallen and some standing. All of them glowed, nonetheless. And at the end of the room, was a large chamber. In it sat what looked like a bizarre suit of armor. The metal shined gold and the cloth seemed unnaturally smooth and shiny. But the strangest part of the outfit was the enormous set of what looked like wings on the back. It looked like something straight out of heaven's throne room.

Aveza and Arnold looked at it in awe. They walked up to approach it, but before they could, the chamber was suddenly cut off by a wall of light that shot down in front of it. The two Assassins looked at each other. Aveza picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the wall to test it. The second the rock hit the wall, it disintegrated in a hail of light. Aveza and Arnold looked at each other in shock.

“Great,” said Arnold, “What now?”

“I… I don't…”

But suddenly she was interrupted when a section of the floor opened up in front of them and from it a pedestal shot up. It looked just like the one Aveza used to activate the bridge. The two looked at each other, and then Aveza cautiously stepped forward. She slowly brought her hand up to the square top of the pedestal, and she touched it.

The pedestal made a series of beeping noises for a minute before flashing a blue light. Aveza pulled her hand back and went back to Arnold’s side. She held his hand as the beeping started reverberating throughout the room. Until suddenly, a bright light shined from the floor in front of them. While at first it was hard to see, a vague figure started forming in the light. It looked like a giant bird at first, though it also seemed a bit like a man. The figure moved what appeared to be it's head around, analyzing the room. And then it looked right at Aveza. She gulped.

The figure stared for a moment. “ஏய், நீ என்னை கேட்க முடியும்?,” it suddenly said. The Assassins said nothing. What was it saying?

“האם אתה יכול לשמוע אותי עכשיו?” it said. The Assassins stayed silent.

“Et non audistis me?” it continued. “Come on, is this thing on?”

“I… uh…” Aveza stuttered.

The figure looked at her. “Oh! Can you hear me now?” it said.

“I… y… yes.”

“Oh thank God. It's about time. Hold up. Give me a sec.”

The figure looked down and fiddled with something Aveza couldn't see. Suddenly, the figure started becoming clear. The vague shape became the image of a man. He had on the same outfit that was behind the wall of light, wings and all. Aveza took it in. It looked like a moving statue made of light. Little ones and zeroes darted around the man.

“Darn keyboards never want to work properly,” muttered the man. “Aha! There! Alright, can you see me, kid?”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other.

“Me?” asked Aveza.

“Yes you. Can you see me?”

“I… uh… yes.”

“Okay good. Now we can talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yes. Talk. You know, that thing that happens when you make sounds with your mouth? That thing? We need to do that.”

Aveza didn't much care for his sarcastic tone, but she didn't say anything about it.

“I… Okay…” she said.

“Who are you?” asked Arnold.

“They call me Gabriel,” said the man.

“Gabriel? The archangel?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“You're an angel?” Aveza couldn't believe it. Could this really be the archangel Gabriel?

“By your standards I guess,” said Gabriel. “They call me a lot of things, honestly. Angel, Animikii, Trickster, Sexy. Depends on who I’m talking to, really. Er… but that's besides the point. We need to talk. Now.”

“About what?”

“Hush.”

“Oi!”

“Oi yourself. I need to talk with her! So if you two would please just be quiet! Please, it's important!”

Aveza and Arnold looked at one another. They both figured that not much good would come out of arguing with an angel, so they decided to just close their mouths.

“Thank you,” said Gabriel, relieved. He looked straight at Aveza. Except, he didn't seem to be looking at her specifically. He was looking in her direction, but he seemed to be looking at something else, like a phantom that was standing exactly where she was. He began to speak.

“Alright,” he said. “I don't have much time right now, so I'll make this as quick as possible. Like I said to these two, I'm Gabriel. Hi. How you doing? Right, anyways, we're in the middle of a war. And unfortunately, some of the threats of this war are escaping into your time. Your friends across the world are already having enough trouble with Juno, but they'll handle that threat fine. But there's another threat, one that we thought we took down for good, but he's found a way to cheat death. ...Jerk… But he's stuck now, don't worry. But he won't be for long. He's going to break out, and when he does, you're going to be the one to stop him. You have to be.”

He pointed at the outfit behind him.

“You see that?” he said. “That's my armor. An archangel’s armor. You'll need it to beat him. But you'll have to find the key to this place in order to get to it. Don't worry, I got you covered. I'll make sure this chick here gets it back and puts it somewhere you can find it.”

Aveza inwardly panicked. Back?!

Suddenly, muffled explosions could be heard from behind Gabriel.

“Crap…” he said. “I have to go now. Unfortunately, that's all I have time to say. But I know you'll figure out where to go from here. Good luck to you, Ava. The future is in your hands. No pressure.”

Suddenly, the image faded away just as Gabriel turned to leave. The whole room went silent. Aveza and Arnold were left alone again. They looked at each other.

“What just…” Aveza stuttered.

“I don't know, my dear. I don't know.”

Aveza looked at the wall of light. It was still shining bright.

“Let's go,” she said quietly.

“What about that armor?” said Arnold.

“You heard Gabriel, it's not for us to take..”

“He was talking to you though…”

“But he wasn't. You heard him. He was talking to someone named ‘Ava’, whoever that is.”

Arnold was silent. “Well… alright then,” he said.

“Besides, nothing’s going to get to through that wall. Whatever black magic is protecting can probably only be lifted by the will of the angels themselves.”

“Well… I guess you're right.”

Aveza nodded. She held his hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's go meet back with the others.”

Arnold smiled lightly. “Alright,” he said. “Let's go.”

Aveza nodded, and the two made their way out of the room, leaving the Armor of Gabriel behind them.

As the two walked out of the door, they were shocked to see Connor and Shikoba sitting wounded against the wall. Connor seemed more badly injured. He gripped the wound at his side as Shikoba tried to put pressure on it.

“Mum!” said Aveza, running up to them with Arnold. “Oh my God! What happened?”

“Jackson… and Harrison…” said Connor painfully. “They regained consciousness and took us by surprise. They managed to take the key and run away.”

“Oh God. Are you going to be okay?”

“I'll be fine… I just need to get properly treated.”

“Sorry I can't do more to help right now,” said Shikoba sadly.

“Don't worry, Shikoba. It's alright. You're doing your best, and that's more than enough. Thank you.”

“My lord, do you always have to be so sweet?”

Connor just smiled.

“Wait…” said Aveza. “Jackson took the key?”

“Unfortunately,” said Shikoba.

Aveza mentally cursed.

“Don't worry, Aveza,” Connor said comfortingly. “We'll get it back. At least thanks to you, we now know what it is we're guarding from the Templars.”

“Yes, sweetheart,” said Shikoba. “What did you two find in there anyway?”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other, not quite knowing how to explain it. Aveza looked back at the door. It began to close back up again, concealing the Temple’s secrets once again.

“We'll… tell you later,” said Aveza. “It's going to take a while to explain. But, I can tell you this: we don't have to worry about keeping what's inside out of Jackson's hands. The temple's defenses are literally undestroyable. They'll keep the Piece of Eden safe. Still, we do need to get that key back. It's far safer in Assassin hands than in Templar hands.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“So what now?” asked Arnold.

Aveza looked at him, then at her mother and Connor. For the first time in a long time, she felt relieved. She felt fulfilled. She felt like the weight of the world was finally off her shoulders. The war was over. The temple mystery was solved. All she had to worry about was getting the key back. Easy enough.

She let out a gentle sigh and smiled. “Now we go home,” she said.

The others smiled and nodded. Aveza, Arnold, and Shikoba helped Connor to his feet, and they helped walk him out of the temple. As they stepped out of the temple, they saw that the sun was rising again. It shined down on their faces and warmed their skin. Aveza smiled. They all did. She looked up at the gorgeous skyline. A new day had dawned. It was time to go home. It was time to start anew. Aveza watched the sky turn pure white as the world around her became a white void. The simulation collapsed into a series of ones and zeroes and double helixes. And as soon as Ava's mind was her own again, she frantically grabbed the Animus headset and threw it off before Ruby had as chance to take it off nicely.

“What was that?!” she said as she leapt out of her chair. “Oh my God, what was that?! What was that thing?! How did it know my name?! Why did it-?!”

“Ava! You have to calm down!” said Ben, worried about his friend.

But Ava was hyperventilating. “No! I will not calm down! What was that?”

“Ben, I'm getting a massive surge of data,” Ruby said. “Like… wow! What even is all this code?”

“Ruby! What happened?” Ava freaked. She was shaking. She felt like crying.

“Champ, please, if you don't calm down, you're going to hurt yourself!”

“I… I just… Wha…”

She felt dizzy. She almost fell to her knees, but her friends were quick to catch her. She looked up at them with pleading eyes. “What was that?” she asked, softly this time.

“That was a message,” said Ben. “I guess the Precursors thought you'd have a part to play in whatever that angel guy was going on about.”

“But… why? How? Why me?”

“I don't know, Ava. I'm really sorry. I don't know. But I think we just got pushed into the deep end of… something. And whatever it is, I don't think there's any turning back.”

Ava lowered her head. She tried to slow her breathing. She knew that when she signed up for this whole Assassin gig, it wouldn't be easy, but she never thought she'd get caught up in stuff like this. She wanted to stay strong. She wanted to stay strong for her friends. She wanted to stay strong so that she could help them fight for a noble cause. But it kept getting harder and harder to do so, it seemed. She tried to relax her breathing.

“I… I think I'm okay, guys,” she said.

“Are you sure?” asked Ben.

“...No.”

“Aw, Ava… I'm so sorry I pulled you into all this.”

“No, no. It's okay… I mean, hey, saving the world isn't an easy task, right?”

Ben smiled a bit. “Yeah, that's right,” he said. Ava gave him a weak smile back.

Ruby smiled too. “Right,” she said. “Hey, I'd love to stay here and keep friendship cuddling with you guys, but that code is still plowing through my hard drive and I should probably check to make sure it's not screwing up our tech.”

The other two nodded, and Ruby went over to her computer. She clacked away at her computer for a moment before reeling back a bit.

“Woah,” she said.

“Woah?” asked Ben.

“Yeah. Woah.”

“What is it?” asked Ava.

“Well, this code has formed a bit of information on that temple key that Gabriel seemed to want us to track down. Apparently Andrew Jackson was able to hold onto it for the most part until his death, according to this. Apparently Aveza took it from him after he died and she passed it on to… Oh my God.”

“What?”

Ruby stood from her seat and grabbed her bag. “Guys, we gotta pack up and go,” she said.

“Wait what? Where are we going?”

“Indianapolis. Ben, call up Chelsea again. Tell her we're on our way.”