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August 18, 1894; Surabaya, Dutch East Indies

It had all started, as so many of her adventures did, with a letter:

Dearest Ms. Arlie,

I hope this letter finds itself safely on your desk in good time. I've heard of your exploits, both of the scientific nature and of your… other talents. And it is because of this that I reach out for your help. I'm sure you've heard of my recent exploits here in Java as well, and you may or may not be aware that I've uncovered a ground-breaking discovery over the past few months. Unfortunately, I believe that a certain other group of people have heard of this news first, one which I am well aware you have had negative dealings with in the past. I fear they wish to sabotage me, Ms. Arlie, just as they did to the likes of Marsh and Cope. I need to leave these colonies before they can get to me, and I believe you possess the necessary skills to accomplish such a feat. I pray you will assist me, my fellow knowledge-seeker. Until then, I shall be stuck here in Surabaya, hoping for my prayers to be answered.

Godspeed, Ms. Arlie.

Your colleague,
Dr. Eugène Dubois

Eugène Dubois. That was a name she had only ever heard in the papers. He was a fellow paleontologist like her, making quite the headlines from his excavations down on the Dutch colony of Java. He was one of the men desperately hunting for the origin of the human species, hoping to uncover the true beginning to humanity’s story for future generations to tell. Many point to the evidence of humans evolving out of Africa, where the great apes make their home, whereas other men like Dubois believed Homo sapiens evolved amongst the gibbons and orangutans of Asia. Evelyn herself was more inclined to believe the Out of Africa theory proposed by the late Charles Darwin, even if it was an unpopular view. But nonetheless, Evelyn considered herself to be a good scientist, and as such she was always happy to be proven wrong if the chance presented itself. If there's anything the Bone Wars taught her, it's that stubbornness is the enemy of knowledge.

And she was hardly one to let knowledge be contained as seemed to be the case with the dear Dr. Dubois here. Especially if the Templars were getting their grubby hands all over the situation. She acted as soon as she got the letter, and she and her beloved Chaytan hopped on the next ship bound for the Dutch East Indies.

The two of them had arrived in the colonies about a week prior. They spent the first few days consulting local guides and working out the best route to take to get to the eastern city of Surabaya, which is where they found themselves now.

As much as she wanted to take in the sights and sounds of this gorgeous city, Evelyn knew her time to play tourist was heavily limited. She inwardly sighed as they passed by the ornate buildings, and continued at Chaytan’s side as they walked towards the location they had been pointed towards. They soon found themselves on the wooden patio of a quaint little house in the midst of town, and Evelyn stepped up to give the front door a gentle knock.

“Does he know we've arrived?” Chaytan asked her when no one answered right away.

“I'm sure he does,” Evelyn rationed. “He invited us afterall.”

“No one is answering.”

“Do you want me to knock again?”

Chaytan simply smiled and shrugged. Evelyn smiled back and rolled her eyes before holding up her knuckles to the door to knock again. But just as she was about to rap on the wood, it suddenly swung inwards, opening slightly ajar at first as a mustachioed man peeked out from inside.

“Goedenmiddag,” he said from behind the door's chain lock. “May I help you?”

“Dr. Dubois?” Evelyn asked.

“Aye that's me.”

“My name is Evelyn Arlie. This is my husband Chaytan.”

Dubois’s eyes suddenly widened in realization and he scrambled to unhook the chain so that the door could open welcomingly wide.

“Ah! Mrs. Arlie!” he cheered. “Thank the Lord! You have no idea how glad I am that you've come. Come in, come!”

He gestured them through the door and they obliged his hospitality. After a polite introduction to his charming wife Anna, the two couples found themselves gathered around in the living room, cups of tea in hand and a friendly atmosphere around them.

“I cannot thank you two enough for coming to our aid,” Dubois told the Assassins. “I can barely concentrate on any of my research with all these Templar thugs breathing down my neck…”

“It's no bother at all, Dr. Dubois,” Evelyn assured him. “I'm surprised you know so much about the Templars though?”

“I encountered the selfish scoundrels when Anna and I first arrived in these colonies during my military service. You learn a lot of secrets when at the bedsides of dying men, many of whom wore the Order’s Cross on their rings.”

“You were a doctor then?” Chaytan asked.

“Aye,” Dubois confirmed.

“We didn't have the money to afford our own voyage to these islands,” Anna explained. “Especially when our daughter had just been born. So dear Eugène signed up for the colonial army as a medical officer so that they would simply ship us out here for free.”

“That's one way to get around,” Evelyn laughed.

“It wasn't the smoothest of paths,” Dubois laughed. “But the trip was well worth it. I believe I've done it, Mrs. Arlie. I believe I've found the cornerstone of human evolutionary research!”

“You don't mean… a missing link do you?”

Evelyn was as excited as she was skeptical. By Darwin's theories, humans and apes must have had some sort of transitional form between the millennia of evolution, and finding such a species would prove an enormous advantage to either the Out of Africa theory or the Out of Asia theory depending on where said fossil would be found. Could Dubois really have found that missing link?

“I mean exactly that, my friend!” Dubois said, barely able to contain his excitement.

“Can I see the fossils?”

“Absolutely! Come, follow me and I'll show you.”

Evelyn nodded and they put their drinks down. Dubois stood and led Evelyn into one of the back rooms of the house, which was lined with drawers, the likes of which Evelyn had seen enough times to know they contained his fossil collection. At the end of the room was a similarly styled box, which Dubois promptly began to unlock and open as Evelyn came to his side.

She watched in eager anticipation. The lid was gently lifted up above the contents inside. She gazed down onto the three ancient objects that sat in the silky fabric that cushioned it inside. Two were relatively obscure, with one simply being a fossilized tooth and another being what seemed to be a thighbone. But the third fossil was the one that caught her attention the most. She whistled in astonishment as she gently picked it up with a nod of permission from Dubois. It was a skullcap, that much was clear. From something that was rather apelike but almost undeniably human as well.

“The press has taken to calling my find the ‘Java Man’,” Dubois explained. “A bit uncreative for my tastes. I refer to the specimen by the scientific name Pithecanthropus erectus.”

“Blimey this is surreal…” Evelyn gasped as she looked it over. “I'm surprised you didn't simply name it Homo erectus. It's stunningly similar to our own anatomy.”

“It is a marvel, isn't it? A true missing link.”

“Where did you find these?”

“The skullcap was found back in September of 1891. My men and I were excavating near the village of Trinil. At first I simply passed it off as belonging to a chimpanzee, but when that femur was found the following year, I realized that this was an animal that walked upright it's whole life.”

“Incredible…”

“Aye. And I hope to study it further and compare it to other specimens as much as possible. But until the threat of the Templars is no longer looming over my head… I'm afraid my examinations will be heavily limited.”

“Well thankfully you won't have to worry about them for long now that I'm here to set things straight.”

Dubois smiled. “I thank you for that, Mrs. Arlie. Anna and I plan to move out to the British Indies before returning to the Netherlands again. Our ship is scheduled to leave this afternoon. Do you think you would be able to escort us?”

“Of course, my friend! Anything for the cause of science!”

“That is splendid to hear, Mrs. Arlie! I shall inform my wife and daughter immediately.”

He turned to do just as he had declared, leaving Evelyn to gauk over the Java Man fossils for just a little bit longer. Discoveries like this are what make history. She knew there was no way she'd let the Templars screw it up.

------------

Evelyn and Chaytan found themselves on the streets of Surabaya once again, this time with the Dubois family and the priceless fossils in tow. Evelyn kept her eyes peeled on the marketplace stalls as they carefully made their way towards the city docks, watching like a hawk for any Templars that would ruin their day.

Another thing also caught her eye, however. There were a few stalls with Chinese traders at the helm who's stock seemed to consist of what she automatically identified as fossilized teeth.

“What's going on with that?” she quietly asked Dubois, who grew a slight frown.

“Oh that…” he grumbled. “That's an example of the local superstitions interfering with our scientific work. The locals believe those to be ‘dragon teeth’ with mystical healing properties. They crush up the fossils to make false medicines.”

“Oh no…”

“Yes, I'm afraid so. I'd purchase them all myself to preserve them if I could, but unfortunately that's not the reality we've been dealt.”

Evelyn’s heart sank a little. As much as she always made it a point to respect the customs of foreign peoples, she always got a sinking feeling in her stomach whenever she witnessed the destruction of fossils. Especially after all the chaos of the Bone Wars that she had experienced.

She tried to shake her mind from it. For now, the most important task was protecting Dubois and his Java Man. She held Chaytan’s hand for comfort as she always did, and then continued down the busy roads.

She could see the masts of ships in the distance, and she took a premature sigh of relief. An easy mission, she concluded. In and out, done and gone. They'd hop on the next ship and be in the British Indies before anyone even noticed they left.

Then she heard a twig snap.

And she automatically mentally smacked her forehead. Goddammit Evelyn, she thought, what did we say about jinxing these things?

She turned to look at the source of the twig snap, and she caught sight of a couple men in Dutch military uniforms pushing their way past the crowds. At their head was a tall and heavy man decorated with shining medals across his chest beneath his snake-like mustachioed expression. More soldiers started pushing their way down the road towards the docks, straight in the direction of the Assassins. Evelyn swore under her breath.

“Out of the way, mongrels!” the man at the front demanded to the merchants and civilians as they marched by, not even giving a passing glance as his men shoved them into the stalls. He marched up towards Evelyn, who simply stood stoically in the street as Chaytan realized the commotion as well and stepped to her side, hand on the pommel of his dagger. The leader of the brutes stepped up to Evelyn, trying to tower over her with his stance. She stood firm.

“I said out of the way,” he demanded.

“That's no way to speak to a lady, good sir, now is it?” Evelyn spat back.

That simply made the man smile. Suddenly his hand lunged forward to grab her arm forcibly, clearly planning to just shove her away like the others. But she pulled right back, yanking her hand out of his and thrusting her arm up towards his throat. Her hidden blade ejected, and she held the tip right up against his neck as Chaytan drew his knife behind her to block the way to the Dubois family.

But even this was not enough to change the man's expression from a smirk.

“Men,” he called out. “Kindly remove these pests so that we may do what needs to be done.”

Before the Assassins had a chance to change tactics, the first line of the army behind the man marched forward into a huge circle around the Assassins and their allies, with every single one of their rifles cocked and aimed.

“Oh sod…” Evelyn whimpered.

“You Assassins are truly pettiful,” the man chortled. “Men! Fir-!”

Just as Evelyn was tensing her muscles to lunge to the ground and attempt to dodge the folly, something suddenly burst into the street to interrupt the man's order. There was a series of clinks and then large bangs before thick clouds of white smoke plumed up and filled the streets and the lungs of anyone nearby. The guards all started coughing, then Evelyn heard them all begin to gag as she heard the distinctive sound of hidden blades flicking out from their cases and entering throats. Evelyn immediately took the chance to rush back towards Chaytan and the Dubois family.

“Dear Lord what is happening?” Dr. Dubois said over the noisy chaos as he held his scared daughter.

“I don't know,” Evelyn said, flicking her own hidden blades out. “But I think the cavalry has arrived.” She rushed back into the smoke, hoping to assist the person who had just smoke bombed their way out of a firing squad. She used her Eagle Vision to navigate, slicing a few necks in the smoke as she went.

“I'm starting to get really tired of running into you, pest!” she heard the voice of the man yell against the clashing of swords.

“I have that effect on people,” she heard another voice quip back.

“You cannot stop me! I told you what will happen is inevitable!”

“And then I stabbed you. Your point?”

Evelyn then heard an angered growl from the man and suddenly a shout of pain. Then, right as Evelyn was about the reach the source of the calamity, she suddenly saw a figure, a hooded girl, bolt out from the smoke and grab her hand.

“Ayuh!” she yelled to Evelyn. “This way!”

Evelyn didn't even get the chance to hesitate. She let herself be dragged out of the smoke and back towards her friends, whom the mystery girl also yelled to follow along. The six of them sprinted into an alleyway, the girl leading them down a twisting path that eventually brought them to the edge of the jungle, far far away from the military men. They continued to run, not dating to stop until the girl herself stopped and looked behind them. Evelyn leaned on her knees as she caught her breath.

“Dear Lord I need to exercise more…” she wheezed. “My bones are almost getting as stiff as those fossils.”

The mystery girl peeked into the streets, looking back and forth for a solid minute before finally turning back and taking a sigh of relief. “Kotoran” she said, her own lack of breath finally catching up to her. “I'm losing my touch too… Are you all okay?”

“I'm fine,” Evelyn assured.

“Us as well,” Dubois said, still hugging his daughter with his wife.

Chaytan stepped forward. “Thank you, friend,” he told the mystery girl. “We would not have made it out of there without your aid.”

“No kidding,” Evelyn said. “Thank you.”

The girl gave a light smile and shrugged. “It's what I do,” she said. “I don't take too kindly to that fat Templar bastard pushing my people around.”

“I take it you're one of us given your attitude and outfit?” Evelyn asked, turning her arm over to show her hidden blade.

The girl smiled. “Aye,” she confirmed. She reached her hand out to be shaken, an offer Evelyn gladly took her up on. “My name is Apsarini. Apsarini Rajawali. I help run the Assassins around here with my brother.”

“I'm Evelyn, charmed. This is my husband Chaytan.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Chaytan nodded.

“And your company here?” Apsarini asked, gesturing towards the Dubois family.

“I'm Dr. Eugène Dubois,” the doctor explained. “My family and I were being escorted by your brothers in arms when those Templar scoundrels attempted to prevent our departure again.”

“Prevent your departure?”

“Aye,” Evelyn said. “We're trying to get them passage to the British Indies but the Templars won't permit it.”

“That's… unfortunate. But that's not what that squadron was up to, though.”

“What do you mean?” Chaytan asked, now as confused as his wife.

“That was an invasion force on it's way to support the rest of the Dutch colonial army taking action in Lombok.”

“Lombok?” Evelyn asked.

“Aye. It's… a long story. We should get someplace safe before we can sit down and talk about it.”

“Fair enough… Do you have a place like that?”

“The local hideout isn't far from here. I can take you all to it. Come, this way!”

The others nodded and stood to follow her. Evelyn pushed through the bushes of the jungle, following as close as she could. God, why must matters of imperialism always complicate things? She hoped she could get whatever this Lombok issue is resolved in time to make it home before the month is out.

As she followed, she kept her eyes on the trees to make sure she didn't smack into anything. Her ears picked up on the sounds of wildlife deep within the canopies all around her. The squawking of birds was the most intense, a constant blaring siren resonating through the branches. It got louder as she walked, the noise starting to pierce her skull.

Caw caw caw caw caw caw beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!

Suddenly her eyes snapped open at the sound of her clock blaring in her ear. Ava lazily glanced over at her nightstand, the sand still trying to seal her eyes shut. She gave a confused look as she shook her head out of the daze. She reached over and shut her alarm off, sitting up and rubbing her eyes as her brain snapped back to the present.

“What… the hell?” she mumbled. Was that…? No it couldn't be. It had to have just been a dream. A coincidence. It was so clear though... She hadn't had dreams like that since she was having her first run in with the Bleeding Effect. But she hadn't touched the Animus in weeks.

It had to be a coincidence, she shrugged off. And hey, it was better than the usual nightmares she guessed. She rubbed her head and groaned.

“You okay Champ?” she suddenly heard next to her. She turned and saw Ruby, bedhead like no other. She had clearly just woken up too.

“Yeah…” Ava said. “Just… weird dreams is all.”

“More nightmares?”

“No. Thankfully. Just… weird.”

“Hmm. Alright. Well hey, that's good at least. I'm still gonna get you that medicine though just in case.”

Ava gave a tired smile. “Alright alright,” she said.

Ruby leaned over and gave her a kiss before dragging herself out of bed and scratching her back. “Imma go make us some breakfast,” she said. “You comin?”

“Yeah, just give me a moment to wake up.”

“You got it Champ! See you in the kitchen.”

Ava smiled and nodded, but the second Ruby was out the door, she let her smile drop and she leaned her head on her hand. God, she hoped she wasn't falling down another rabbit hole…

She shook it off, trying to push the thought out of her mind. She was just having a rough few days, she reasoned. Yeah…

She took a deep breath and pushed herself out of bed. She threw on a jacket and made her way down towards the kitchen where Ruby was waiting, leaving the worrying thoughts that plagued her mind behind in bed.

Description
August 18, 1894; Surabaya, Dutch East Indies

It had all started, as so many of her adventures did, with a letter:

Dearest Ms. Arlie,

I hope this letter finds itself safely on your desk in good time. I've heard of your exploits, both of the scientific nature and of your… other talents. And it is because of this that I reach out for your help. I'm sure you've heard of my recent exploits here in Java as well, and you may or may not be aware that I've uncovered a ground-breaking discovery over the past few months. Unfortunately, I believe that a certain other group of people have heard of this news first, one which I am well aware you have had negative dealings with in the past. I fear they wish to sabotage me, Ms. Arlie, just as they did to the likes of Marsh and Cope. I need to leave these colonies before they can get to me, and I believe you possess the necessary skills to accomplish such a feat. I pray you will assist me, my fellow knowledge-seeker. Until then, I shall be stuck here in Surabaya, hoping for my prayers to be answered.

Godspeed, Ms. Arlie.

Your colleague,
Dr. Eugène Dubois

Eugène Dubois. That was a name she had only ever heard in the papers. He was a fellow paleontologist like her, making quite the headlines from his excavations down on the Dutch colony of Java. He was one of the men desperately hunting for the origin of the human species, hoping to uncover the true beginning to humanity’s story for future generations to tell. Many point to the evidence of humans evolving out of Africa, where the great apes make their home, whereas other men like Dubois believed Homo sapiens evolved amongst the gibbons and orangutans of Asia. Evelyn herself was more inclined to believe the Out of Africa theory proposed by the late Charles Darwin, even if it was an unpopular view. But nonetheless, Evelyn considered herself to be a good scientist, and as such she was always happy to be proven wrong if the chance presented itself. If there's anything the Bone Wars taught her, it's that stubbornness is the enemy of knowledge.

And she was hardly one to let knowledge be contained as seemed to be the case with the dear Dr. Dubois here. Especially if the Templars were getting their grubby hands all over the situation. She acted as soon as she got the letter, and she and her beloved Chaytan hopped on the next ship bound for the Dutch East Indies.

The two of them had arrived in the colonies about a week prior. They spent the first few days consulting local guides and working out the best route to take to get to the eastern city of Surabaya, which is where they found themselves now.

As much as she wanted to take in the sights and sounds of this gorgeous city, Evelyn knew her time to play tourist was heavily limited. She inwardly sighed as they passed by the ornate buildings, and continued at Chaytan’s side as they walked towards the location they had been pointed towards. They soon found themselves on the wooden patio of a quaint little house in the midst of town, and Evelyn stepped up to give the front door a gentle knock.

“Does he know we've arrived?” Chaytan asked her when no one answered right away.

“I'm sure he does,” Evelyn rationed. “He invited us afterall.”

“No one is answering.”

“Do you want me to knock again?”

Chaytan simply smiled and shrugged. Evelyn smiled back and rolled her eyes before holding up her knuckles to the door to knock again. But just as she was about to rap on the wood, it suddenly swung inwards, opening slightly ajar at first as a mustachioed man peeked out from inside.

“Goedenmiddag,” he said from behind the door's chain lock. “May I help you?”

“Dr. Dubois?” Evelyn asked.

“Aye that's me.”

“My name is Evelyn Arlie. This is my husband Chaytan.”

Dubois’s eyes suddenly widened in realization and he scrambled to unhook the chain so that the door could open welcomingly wide.

“Ah! Mrs. Arlie!” he cheered. “Thank the Lord! You have no idea how glad I am that you've come. Come in, come!”

He gestured them through the door and they obliged his hospitality. After a polite introduction to his charming wife Anna, the two couples found themselves gathered around in the living room, cups of tea in hand and a friendly atmosphere around them.

“I cannot thank you two enough for coming to our aid,” Dubois told the Assassins. “I can barely concentrate on any of my research with all these Templar thugs breathing down my neck…”

“It's no bother at all, Dr. Dubois,” Evelyn assured him. “I'm surprised you know so much about the Templars though?”

“I encountered the selfish scoundrels when Anna and I first arrived in these colonies during my military service. You learn a lot of secrets when at the bedsides of dying men, many of whom wore the Order’s Cross on their rings.”

“You were a doctor then?” Chaytan asked.

“Aye,” Dubois confirmed.

“We didn't have the money to afford our own voyage to these islands,” Anna explained. “Especially when our daughter had just been born. So dear Eugène signed up for the colonial army as a medical officer so that they would simply ship us out here for free.”

“That's one way to get around,” Evelyn laughed.

“It wasn't the smoothest of paths,” Dubois laughed. “But the trip was well worth it. I believe I've done it, Mrs. Arlie. I believe I've found the cornerstone of human evolutionary research!”

“You don't mean… a missing link do you?”

Evelyn was as excited as she was skeptical. By Darwin's theories, humans and apes must have had some sort of transitional form between the millennia of evolution, and finding such a species would prove an enormous advantage to either the Out of Africa theory or the Out of Asia theory depending on where said fossil would be found. Could Dubois really have found that missing link?

“I mean exactly that, my friend!” Dubois said, barely able to contain his excitement.

“Can I see the fossils?”

“Absolutely! Come, follow me and I'll show you.”

Evelyn nodded and they put their drinks down. Dubois stood and led Evelyn into one of the back rooms of the house, which was lined with drawers, the likes of which Evelyn had seen enough times to know they contained his fossil collection. At the end of the room was a similarly styled box, which Dubois promptly began to unlock and open as Evelyn came to his side.

She watched in eager anticipation. The lid was gently lifted up above the contents inside. She gazed down onto the three ancient objects that sat in the silky fabric that cushioned it inside. Two were relatively obscure, with one simply being a fossilized tooth and another being what seemed to be a thighbone. But the third fossil was the one that caught her attention the most. She whistled in astonishment as she gently picked it up with a nod of permission from Dubois. It was a skullcap, that much was clear. From something that was rather apelike but almost undeniably human as well.

“The press has taken to calling my find the ‘Java Man’,” Dubois explained. “A bit uncreative for my tastes. I refer to the specimen by the scientific name Pithecanthropus erectus.”

“Blimey this is surreal…” Evelyn gasped as she looked it over. “I'm surprised you didn't simply name it Homo erectus. It's stunningly similar to our own anatomy.”

“It is a marvel, isn't it? A true missing link.”

“Where did you find these?”

“The skullcap was found back in September of 1891. My men and I were excavating near the village of Trinil. At first I simply passed it off as belonging to a chimpanzee, but when that femur was found the following year, I realized that this was an animal that walked upright it's whole life.”

“Incredible…”

“Aye. And I hope to study it further and compare it to other specimens as much as possible. But until the threat of the Templars is no longer looming over my head… I'm afraid my examinations will be heavily limited.”

“Well thankfully you won't have to worry about them for long now that I'm here to set things straight.”

Dubois smiled. “I thank you for that, Mrs. Arlie. Anna and I plan to move out to the British Indies before returning to the Netherlands again. Our ship is scheduled to leave this afternoon. Do you think you would be able to escort us?”

“Of course, my friend! Anything for the cause of science!”

“That is splendid to hear, Mrs. Arlie! I shall inform my wife and daughter immediately.”

He turned to do just as he had declared, leaving Evelyn to gauk over the Java Man fossils for just a little bit longer. Discoveries like this are what make history. She knew there was no way she'd let the Templars screw it up.

------------

Evelyn and Chaytan found themselves on the streets of Surabaya once again, this time with the Dubois family and the priceless fossils in tow. Evelyn kept her eyes peeled on the marketplace stalls as they carefully made their way towards the city docks, watching like a hawk for any Templars that would ruin their day.

Another thing also caught her eye, however. There were a few stalls with Chinese traders at the helm who's stock seemed to consist of what she automatically identified as fossilized teeth.

“What's going on with that?” she quietly asked Dubois, who grew a slight frown.

“Oh that…” he grumbled. “That's an example of the local superstitions interfering with our scientific work. The locals believe those to be ‘dragon teeth’ with mystical healing properties. They crush up the fossils to make false medicines.”

“Oh no…”

“Yes, I'm afraid so. I'd purchase them all myself to preserve them if I could, but unfortunately that's not the reality we've been dealt.”

Evelyn’s heart sank a little. As much as she always made it a point to respect the customs of foreign peoples, she always got a sinking feeling in her stomach whenever she witnessed the destruction of fossils. Especially after all the chaos of the Bone Wars that she had experienced.

She tried to shake her mind from it. For now, the most important task was protecting Dubois and his Java Man. She held Chaytan’s hand for comfort as she always did, and then continued down the busy roads.

She could see the masts of ships in the distance, and she took a premature sigh of relief. An easy mission, she concluded. In and out, done and gone. They'd hop on the next ship and be in the British Indies before anyone even noticed they left.

Then she heard a twig snap.

And she automatically mentally smacked her forehead. Goddammit Evelyn, she thought, what did we say about jinxing these things?

She turned to look at the source of the twig snap, and she caught sight of a couple men in Dutch military uniforms pushing their way past the crowds. At their head was a tall and heavy man decorated with shining medals across his chest beneath his snake-like mustachioed expression. More soldiers started pushing their way down the road towards the docks, straight in the direction of the Assassins. Evelyn swore under her breath.

“Out of the way, mongrels!” the man at the front demanded to the merchants and civilians as they marched by, not even giving a passing glance as his men shoved them into the stalls. He marched up towards Evelyn, who simply stood stoically in the street as Chaytan realized the commotion as well and stepped to her side, hand on the pommel of his dagger. The leader of the brutes stepped up to Evelyn, trying to tower over her with his stance. She stood firm.

“I said out of the way,” he demanded.

“That's no way to speak to a lady, good sir, now is it?” Evelyn spat back.

That simply made the man smile. Suddenly his hand lunged forward to grab her arm forcibly, clearly planning to just shove her away like the others. But she pulled right back, yanking her hand out of his and thrusting her arm up towards his throat. Her hidden blade ejected, and she held the tip right up against his neck as Chaytan drew his knife behind her to block the way to the Dubois family.

But even this was not enough to change the man's expression from a smirk.

“Men,” he called out. “Kindly remove these pests so that we may do what needs to be done.”

Before the Assassins had a chance to change tactics, the first line of the army behind the man marched forward into a huge circle around the Assassins and their allies, with every single one of their rifles cocked and aimed.

“Oh sod…” Evelyn whimpered.

“You Assassins are truly pettiful,” the man chortled. “Men! Fir-!”

Just as Evelyn was tensing her muscles to lunge to the ground and attempt to dodge the folly, something suddenly burst into the street to interrupt the man's order. There was a series of clinks and then large bangs before thick clouds of white smoke plumed up and filled the streets and the lungs of anyone nearby. The guards all started coughing, then Evelyn heard them all begin to gag as she heard the distinctive sound of hidden blades flicking out from their cases and entering throats. Evelyn immediately took the chance to rush back towards Chaytan and the Dubois family.

“Dear Lord what is happening?” Dr. Dubois said over the noisy chaos as he held his scared daughter.

“I don't know,” Evelyn said, flicking her own hidden blades out. “But I think the cavalry has arrived.” She rushed back into the smoke, hoping to assist the person who had just smoke bombed their way out of a firing squad. She used her Eagle Vision to navigate, slicing a few necks in the smoke as she went.

“I'm starting to get really tired of running into you, pest!” she heard the voice of the man yell against the clashing of swords.

“I have that effect on people,” she heard another voice quip back.

“You cannot stop me! I told you what will happen is inevitable!”

“And then I stabbed you. Your point?”

Evelyn then heard an angered growl from the man and suddenly a shout of pain. Then, right as Evelyn was about the reach the source of the calamity, she suddenly saw a figure, a hooded girl, bolt out from the smoke and grab her hand.

“Ayuh!” she yelled to Evelyn. “This way!”

Evelyn didn't even get the chance to hesitate. She let herself be dragged out of the smoke and back towards her friends, whom the mystery girl also yelled to follow along. The six of them sprinted into an alleyway, the girl leading them down a twisting path that eventually brought them to the edge of the jungle, far far away from the military men. They continued to run, not dating to stop until the girl herself stopped and looked behind them. Evelyn leaned on her knees as she caught her breath.

“Dear Lord I need to exercise more…” she wheezed. “My bones are almost getting as stiff as those fossils.”

The mystery girl peeked into the streets, looking back and forth for a solid minute before finally turning back and taking a sigh of relief. “Kotoran” she said, her own lack of breath finally catching up to her. “I'm losing my touch too… Are you all okay?”

“I'm fine,” Evelyn assured.

“Us as well,” Dubois said, still hugging his daughter with his wife.

Chaytan stepped forward. “Thank you, friend,” he told the mystery girl. “We would not have made it out of there without your aid.”

“No kidding,” Evelyn said. “Thank you.”

The girl gave a light smile and shrugged. “It's what I do,” she said. “I don't take too kindly to that fat Templar bastard pushing my people around.”

“I take it you're one of us given your attitude and outfit?” Evelyn asked, turning her arm over to show her hidden blade.

The girl smiled. “Aye,” she confirmed. She reached her hand out to be shaken, an offer Evelyn gladly took her up on. “My name is Apsarini. Apsarini Rajawali. I help run the Assassins around here with my brother.”

“I'm Evelyn, charmed. This is my husband Chaytan.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Chaytan nodded.

“And your company here?” Apsarini asked, gesturing towards the Dubois family.

“I'm Dr. Eugène Dubois,” the doctor explained. “My family and I were being escorted by your brothers in arms when those Templar scoundrels attempted to prevent our departure again.”

“Prevent your departure?”

“Aye,” Evelyn said. “We're trying to get them passage to the British Indies but the Templars won't permit it.”

“That's… unfortunate. But that's not what that squadron was up to, though.”

“What do you mean?” Chaytan asked, now as confused as his wife.

“That was an invasion force on it's way to support the rest of the Dutch colonial army taking action in Lombok.”

“Lombok?” Evelyn asked.

“Aye. It's… a long story. We should get someplace safe before we can sit down and talk about it.”

“Fair enough… Do you have a place like that?”

“The local hideout isn't far from here. I can take you all to it. Come, this way!”

The others nodded and stood to follow her. Evelyn pushed through the bushes of the jungle, following as close as she could. God, why must matters of imperialism always complicate things? She hoped she could get whatever this Lombok issue is resolved in time to make it home before the month is out.

As she followed, she kept her eyes on the trees to make sure she didn't smack into anything. Her ears picked up on the sounds of wildlife deep within the canopies all around her. The squawking of birds was the most intense, a constant blaring siren resonating through the branches. It got louder as she walked, the noise starting to pierce her skull.

Caw caw caw caw caw caw beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!

Suddenly her eyes snapped open at the sound of her clock blaring in her ear. Ava lazily glanced over at her nightstand, the sand still trying to seal her eyes shut. She gave a confused look as she shook her head out of the daze. She reached over and shut her alarm off, sitting up and rubbing her eyes as her brain snapped back to the present.

“What… the hell?” she mumbled. Was that…? No it couldn't be. It had to have just been a dream. A coincidence. It was so clear though... She hadn't had dreams like that since she was having her first run in with the Bleeding Effect. But she hadn't touched the Animus in weeks.

It had to be a coincidence, she shrugged off. And hey, it was better than the usual nightmares she guessed. She rubbed her head and groaned.

“You okay Champ?” she suddenly heard next to her. She turned and saw Ruby, bedhead like no other. She had clearly just woken up too.

“Yeah…” Ava said. “Just… weird dreams is all.”

“More nightmares?”

“No. Thankfully. Just… weird.”

“Hmm. Alright. Well hey, that's good at least. I'm still gonna get you that medicine though just in case.”

Ava gave a tired smile. “Alright alright,” she said.

Ruby leaned over and gave her a kiss before dragging herself out of bed and scratching her back. “Imma go make us some breakfast,” she said. “You comin?”

“Yeah, just give me a moment to wake up.”

“You got it Champ! See you in the kitchen.”

Ava smiled and nodded, but the second Ruby was out the door, she let her smile drop and she leaned her head on her hand. God, she hoped she wasn't falling down another rabbit hole…

She shook it off, trying to push the thought out of her mind. She was just having a rough few days, she reasoned. Yeah…

She took a deep breath and pushed herself out of bed. She threw on a jacket and made her way down towards the kitchen where Ruby was waiting, leaving the worrying thoughts that plagued her mind behind in bed.