HOME | DD

Description
August 16, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava shot up in her bed, sending her blankets flying to the other end of the mattress in a sweaty haze. She made a noise that was halfway between a gasp and a scream as she sprung up. Her cheeks burned with tears and her clothes clung to her sweaty panicked body. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she frantically looked around her room, unable to get a focus on anything even as Ruby started shaking her.

“Champ Champ Champ! Champ please snap out of it please!” her girlfriend begged, tears welling in her own eyes.

Ava tried to focus on her face, tried so hard. But it kept warping in front of her. One minute it was Ruby, the next the sobbing Apsarini clutching her child back at the Surabaya hideout, and the next the face of Ben. Not the zombified Ben that haunted her, but the lively one she knew in life wearing the same concern that was on Ruby's face as it shifted back in.

“Ava please Champ, look at me!”

“I… I… I… Ruby?” Ava stuttered, realizing how badly she was shaking.

Ruby gripped Ava's hands in a desperate attempt to stop them from shaking.

“Ava you gotta snap out of this Champ! Please! You can't let this thing take over your head, Ava!”

Ruby was on the edge of crying, but it was difficult for Evelyn to make out. She reached out and put a hand on Apsarini's shoulder.

“She'll be alright, I promise,” she tried to reassure her.

Apsarini cradled the bandaged up Dhia in her arms, never once taking her eyes off the child even as everyone else was helping the Dubois family pack for the trip they could finally make. Evelyn gave her friend a sympathetic look, and cast her gaze down at the poor child. She was sleeping, blissfully still despite her wounds. It broke her heart to see him in such a state. Lucifer had burnt a hole in his back. Ben was gone, dead. Taken from her. That's all the world ever did was take…

“Ava please!”

There was a sudden cracking sound and Ava suddenly had a brief moment of clear reality, including the red hand mark on her cheek. She looked at Ruby, the sight of her lover crying triggering more tears of her own.

“Ava, you can't keep doing this!” Ruby declared. “Honey look at yourself! You're practically letting yourself drown in guilt that doesn't belong on your shoulders.”

“Ruby… I can't. I can't! Ben's gone! Lucifer took him from us, Ruby, just like he took my dad!”

“And do you think this is how they'd want you to carry on? Ava, Ben and your dad gave their lives to save you and the universe. They sacrificed themselves so that people like you wouldn't have to suffer anymore. This, this is what Lucifer would want honey, not them. You gotta let them go Ava…”

Ava cried harder. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head. “I can't. I can't let go!” she sobbed.

Ruby pulled her to her chest and hugged her tight. Ava's moment of clarity began to shatter and blur as tears filled her eyes. She looked at Ruby and saw the expression on her face. That poor, shattered expression of a mother who feels she's failed to protect her child.

“No…” Apsarini said, looking solemnly at her baby. “She won't be alright… Not with me…”

“Apsarini, don't say that,” Evelyn pleaded. “You're a wonderful mother and-”

“I can be the best mother in the world but what good is it if my very existence is a hazard to her? Our lives are not easy here, Evelyn. They never have been. The constant wars and the discrimination and Templars constantly seeking to cut off our heads… This is no place or life for a child, not for my little Dhia…”

Evelyn was silent for a moment, not entirely knowing what to say.

Apsarini started to tear up. “I knew ever since I found I was pregnant with her,” she said. “I knew as soon as I held her that every day could be the last day I did so.”

“It isn't your fault, Apsarini. You try as hard as you can.”

“I know you do, Champ, I know you do,” Ruby reassured her. “I know you try.”

Ava sobbed as she clung to Ruby, staring into the space that kept warping around her as 1894 struggled to replace 2016 and vice versa. “I couldn’t save him, Ruby,” she cried. “I tried I tried so hard.”

“I know you did, Ava, and I promise Ben knows that too. He believed in you, Ava. You could never ever let him down because he looked at you so highly.”

“But I let him die…”

“No you didn't, Ava. You didn't. You know you didn't. He sacrificed himself for you, Ava. Because you're his family.”

“I let her get hurt…” Apsarini cried.

“You didn't, friend,” Evelyn said. “You know you didn't. You fought like a wild cat for her, I saw it. Even though she got hurt, that effort in itself is proof of how much you love her.”

Ava's visions started feeling more and more bizarre. They felt as if they were somehow separating. She felt her own lips move as she heard Evelyn’s words. She saw Apsarini contemplate with her own eyes, not her ancestor's.

“I don't know what to do…” Apsarini said, her eyes still locked on the sleeping Dhia. “I know she can't stay in these colonies… I know she can't stay around me. It's too dangerous for her. But… but… I don't want to give her up…”

“I know you don't, I know. I know how hard it is to let go of those you care about, trust me… But sometimes the best thing you can do for someone you love is to let them go, and carry on in their memory.”

Ava sobbed, hearing Evelyn’s words painfully clear as they were parroted by Ruby in the real world as she patted Ava's shoulder trying to calm her down. Could she let go…? Could she…?

“I… don't know how to let go…” she sniffled.

“You do, Champ,” Ruby said. “I know you do. I know because Ben knows you can. And if Ben believes in you, you can do anything. That's what makes us strong, Ava. That's what makes the Assassins strong. That love, that sense of family, it lets us do things that no Apple or Staff or Scythe could ever do.”

“It hurts to let go…”

“I know, my friend,” Evelyn said. “I know. But it doesn't have be forever. She'll be with you always in one way or another. That's the strength of love.”

Apsarini was silent for a moment, simply looking at her baby. Evelyn noticed Chaytan escorting the Dubois family out the door. He looked over at her inquisitively and she waved for him to go on ahead and wait for her to catch up. He nodded and walked out while Evelyn continued to console Apsarini.

“You know… if you want, I could take her back to England with me.”

Apsarini looked up at her. Evelyn gave a reassuring smile.

“I have good friends in Liverpool,” she continued. “They're nice blokes, Joe and Florrie McCartney. Florrie is excellent with charity work and making sure everyone has family and a home. I guarantee she'd be more than happy to make sure little Dhia here finds a proper home.”

Apsarini looked at Evelyn, then at Dhia, clearly thinking it over. Evelyn remained silent. After a few solid minutes of silence, Apsarini lowered her head. Then suddenly she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small triangular Piece of Eden she had snatched from Lombok. “Take this with you,” she asked of Evelyn. “If your friends are as helpful as you say they are, make sure this finds a good hiding spot as well. Lucifer… he won't stop until he has it. He never stops until he gets what he wants. And so…”

Apsarini's arms shook a little as she hugged her baby tighter and fought back tears, before finally, slowly passing the child into Evelyn’s arms. Evelyn carefully took the baby and cradled her softly. She gave Apsarini a soft, reassuring smile, and Apsarini did her best to return the expression. “And so we must ensure we never let him get what he wants,” she finished.

Suddenly the mood shifted to a much more positive tone. Ava suddenly felt the shaking stop and her breath calming as she watched the entire scene of history begin to peacefully dissolve. As Apsarini gave her baby one final kiss and hugged Evelyn tight, she looked over Apsarini's shoulder and saw a figure in the distance, a smiling figure. Ben. He fixed her with the proudest look she had ever scene, and when they locked eyes, he simply smiled and nodded, and then vanished with the rest of the scenery. Ava watched him go, watched Evelyn turn to join her husband and the Dubois on their way to the boat after a hearty goodbye to the Indonesian Assassins, before all that was left was the peaceful quiet of her and Ruby's room.

Ava's cries had calmed to gentle sniffles. Ruby continued to rock and calm her.

“Ben is always watching over you, Ava,” she assured her. “He's always cheering you on and always will be on every single adventure we go on.”

“Yeah…” Ava agreed, her head suddenly feeling much clearer. “Yeah… he is… he will…”

“No matter what the universe throws at us, he'll always cheer us on through it. And you know what?”

“What?”

“We're gonna keep bashing Templar skulls wherever evil is afoot. The world is still full of monsters and bad guys trying to bring it to heal, and we're gonna make sure we bring them all down in Ben's name. We will make sure Ben's sacrifice is never in vain. We will make sure that we keep saving the world, because that's what we do.”

Ava's lips started quivering up into a smile. Yeah… she thought… yeah they would.

“I'm… I'm ready to let go, Rubes…”

“Of me or of Ben?” Ruby laughed.

Ava chuckled softly. “Both, Rubes. I'm… I'm ready to get a good night's sleep for once.”

“Alright Champ.”

Ava slowly pulled herself out of Ruby's arms, and the two smiled brightly at one another. Ava rubbed her eyes, and she reached over to switch the lamp back off. The two of them laid back into their pillows and pulled up their sheets, the soft chirp of nightlife outside adding to their new sense of tranquility. Ava curled up against Ruby, who shut her eyes and gave Ava a kiss on the forehead.

“I'm proud of you, Champ,” she whispered.

Ava nodded, and she let her eyes flutter shut as well. She sunk her head into the softness of the pillow, and let the soft rhythm of her own breathing and Ruby's heartbeat begin to cradle her into the realm of sleep. She saw a few flashes, but not of anything horrific. She simply saw the Dubois on their ship bound for the British Indies, standing next to Chaytan and Evelyn, who was lulling little Dhia to sleep in her arms as the ship carried them forward across the sea, shipping them off to whatever grand adventure was to await them on the road ahead. And then, as fast as the image appeared, it evaporated back into the void of sleep, and Ava was left with the silent calm that embraced her into its arms for the night.

She drifted off, and for the first night in a long while, Ava got a good night's sleep.

Description
August 16, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava shot up in her bed, sending her blankets flying to the other end of the mattress in a sweaty haze. She made a noise that was halfway between a gasp and a scream as she sprung up. Her cheeks burned with tears and her clothes clung to her sweaty panicked body. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she frantically looked around her room, unable to get a focus on anything even as Ruby started shaking her.

“Champ Champ Champ! Champ please snap out of it please!” her girlfriend begged, tears welling in her own eyes.

Ava tried to focus on her face, tried so hard. But it kept warping in front of her. One minute it was Ruby, the next the sobbing Apsarini clutching her child back at the Surabaya hideout, and the next the face of Ben. Not the zombified Ben that haunted her, but the lively one she knew in life wearing the same concern that was on Ruby's face as it shifted back in.

“Ava please Champ, look at me!”

“I… I… I… Ruby?” Ava stuttered, realizing how badly she was shaking.

Ruby gripped Ava's hands in a desperate attempt to stop them from shaking.

“Ava you gotta snap out of this Champ! Please! You can't let this thing take over your head, Ava!”

Ruby was on the edge of crying, but it was difficult for Evelyn to make out. She reached out and put a hand on Apsarini's shoulder.

“She'll be alright, I promise,” she tried to reassure her.

Apsarini cradled the bandaged up Dhia in her arms, never once taking her eyes off the child even as everyone else was helping the Dubois family pack for the trip they could finally make. Evelyn gave her friend a sympathetic look, and cast her gaze down at the poor child. She was sleeping, blissfully still despite her wounds. It broke her heart to see him in such a state. Lucifer had burnt a hole in his back. Ben was gone, dead. Taken from her. That's all the world ever did was take…

“Ava please!”

There was a sudden cracking sound and Ava suddenly had a brief moment of clear reality, including the red hand mark on her cheek. She looked at Ruby, the sight of her lover crying triggering more tears of her own.

“Ava, you can't keep doing this!” Ruby declared. “Honey look at yourself! You're practically letting yourself drown in guilt that doesn't belong on your shoulders.”

“Ruby… I can't. I can't! Ben's gone! Lucifer took him from us, Ruby, just like he took my dad!”

“And do you think this is how they'd want you to carry on? Ava, Ben and your dad gave their lives to save you and the universe. They sacrificed themselves so that people like you wouldn't have to suffer anymore. This, this is what Lucifer would want honey, not them. You gotta let them go Ava…”

Ava cried harder. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head. “I can't. I can't let go!” she sobbed.

Ruby pulled her to her chest and hugged her tight. Ava's moment of clarity began to shatter and blur as tears filled her eyes. She looked at Ruby and saw the expression on her face. That poor, shattered expression of a mother who feels she's failed to protect her child.

“No…” Apsarini said, looking solemnly at her baby. “She won't be alright… Not with me…”

“Apsarini, don't say that,” Evelyn pleaded. “You're a wonderful mother and-”

“I can be the best mother in the world but what good is it if my very existence is a hazard to her? Our lives are not easy here, Evelyn. They never have been. The constant wars and the discrimination and Templars constantly seeking to cut off our heads… This is no place or life for a child, not for my little Dhia…”

Evelyn was silent for a moment, not entirely knowing what to say.

Apsarini started to tear up. “I knew ever since I found I was pregnant with her,” she said. “I knew as soon as I held her that every day could be the last day I did so.”

“It isn't your fault, Apsarini. You try as hard as you can.”

“I know you do, Champ, I know you do,” Ruby reassured her. “I know you try.”

Ava sobbed as she clung to Ruby, staring into the space that kept warping around her as 1894 struggled to replace 2016 and vice versa. “I couldn’t save him, Ruby,” she cried. “I tried I tried so hard.”

“I know you did, Ava, and I promise Ben knows that too. He believed in you, Ava. You could never ever let him down because he looked at you so highly.”

“But I let him die…”

“No you didn't, Ava. You didn't. You know you didn't. He sacrificed himself for you, Ava. Because you're his family.”

“I let her get hurt…” Apsarini cried.

“You didn't, friend,” Evelyn said. “You know you didn't. You fought like a wild cat for her, I saw it. Even though she got hurt, that effort in itself is proof of how much you love her.”

Ava's visions started feeling more and more bizarre. They felt as if they were somehow separating. She felt her own lips move as she heard Evelyn’s words. She saw Apsarini contemplate with her own eyes, not her ancestor's.

“I don't know what to do…” Apsarini said, her eyes still locked on the sleeping Dhia. “I know she can't stay in these colonies… I know she can't stay around me. It's too dangerous for her. But… but… I don't want to give her up…”

“I know you don't, I know. I know how hard it is to let go of those you care about, trust me… But sometimes the best thing you can do for someone you love is to let them go, and carry on in their memory.”

Ava sobbed, hearing Evelyn’s words painfully clear as they were parroted by Ruby in the real world as she patted Ava's shoulder trying to calm her down. Could she let go…? Could she…?

“I… don't know how to let go…” she sniffled.

“You do, Champ,” Ruby said. “I know you do. I know because Ben knows you can. And if Ben believes in you, you can do anything. That's what makes us strong, Ava. That's what makes the Assassins strong. That love, that sense of family, it lets us do things that no Apple or Staff or Scythe could ever do.”

“It hurts to let go…”

“I know, my friend,” Evelyn said. “I know. But it doesn't have be forever. She'll be with you always in one way or another. That's the strength of love.”

Apsarini was silent for a moment, simply looking at her baby. Evelyn noticed Chaytan escorting the Dubois family out the door. He looked over at her inquisitively and she waved for him to go on ahead and wait for her to catch up. He nodded and walked out while Evelyn continued to console Apsarini.

“You know… if you want, I could take her back to England with me.”

Apsarini looked up at her. Evelyn gave a reassuring smile.

“I have good friends in Liverpool,” she continued. “They're nice blokes, Joe and Florrie McCartney. Florrie is excellent with charity work and making sure everyone has family and a home. I guarantee she'd be more than happy to make sure little Dhia here finds a proper home.”

Apsarini looked at Evelyn, then at Dhia, clearly thinking it over. Evelyn remained silent. After a few solid minutes of silence, Apsarini lowered her head. Then suddenly she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small triangular Piece of Eden she had snatched from Lombok. “Take this with you,” she asked of Evelyn. “If your friends are as helpful as you say they are, make sure this finds a good hiding spot as well. Lucifer… he won't stop until he has it. He never stops until he gets what he wants. And so…”

Apsarini's arms shook a little as she hugged her baby tighter and fought back tears, before finally, slowly passing the child into Evelyn’s arms. Evelyn carefully took the baby and cradled her softly. She gave Apsarini a soft, reassuring smile, and Apsarini did her best to return the expression. “And so we must ensure we never let him get what he wants,” she finished.

Suddenly the mood shifted to a much more positive tone. Ava suddenly felt the shaking stop and her breath calming as she watched the entire scene of history begin to peacefully dissolve. As Apsarini gave her baby one final kiss and hugged Evelyn tight, she looked over Apsarini's shoulder and saw a figure in the distance, a smiling figure. Ben. He fixed her with the proudest look she had ever scene, and when they locked eyes, he simply smiled and nodded, and then vanished with the rest of the scenery. Ava watched him go, watched Evelyn turn to join her husband and the Dubois on their way to the boat after a hearty goodbye to the Indonesian Assassins, before all that was left was the peaceful quiet of her and Ruby's room.

Ava's cries had calmed to gentle sniffles. Ruby continued to rock and calm her.

“Ben is always watching over you, Ava,” she assured her. “He's always cheering you on and always will be on every single adventure we go on.”

“Yeah…” Ava agreed, her head suddenly feeling much clearer. “Yeah… he is… he will…”

“No matter what the universe throws at us, he'll always cheer us on through it. And you know what?”

“What?”

“We're gonna keep bashing Templar skulls wherever evil is afoot. The world is still full of monsters and bad guys trying to bring it to heal, and we're gonna make sure we bring them all down in Ben's name. We will make sure Ben's sacrifice is never in vain. We will make sure that we keep saving the world, because that's what we do.”

Ava's lips started quivering up into a smile. Yeah… she thought… yeah they would.

“I'm… I'm ready to let go, Rubes…”

“Of me or of Ben?” Ruby laughed.

Ava chuckled softly. “Both, Rubes. I'm… I'm ready to get a good night's sleep for once.”

“Alright Champ.”

Ava slowly pulled herself out of Ruby's arms, and the two smiled brightly at one another. Ava rubbed her eyes, and she reached over to switch the lamp back off. The two of them laid back into their pillows and pulled up their sheets, the soft chirp of nightlife outside adding to their new sense of tranquility. Ava curled up against Ruby, who shut her eyes and gave Ava a kiss on the forehead.

“I'm proud of you, Champ,” she whispered.

Ava nodded, and she let her eyes flutter shut as well. She sunk her head into the softness of the pillow, and let the soft rhythm of her own breathing and Ruby's heartbeat begin to cradle her into the realm of sleep. She saw a few flashes, but not of anything horrific. She simply saw the Dubois on their ship bound for the British Indies, standing next to Chaytan and Evelyn, who was lulling little Dhia to sleep in her arms as the ship carried them forward across the sea, shipping them off to whatever grand adventure was to await them on the road ahead. And then, as fast as the image appeared, it evaporated back into the void of sleep, and Ava was left with the silent calm that embraced her into its arms for the night.

She drifted off, and for the first night in a long while, Ava got a good night's sleep.