Chapter 7: The Truth Comes Out At Last
Year: 1223
Mongolia
Eight months had pasted and I was still in Mongolia with Mentor and his family. They have been kind to me and treat me like part of the family. I had gotten to know every one of them a bit more every single day. Every day I was here, I started to look at myself in the mirror and I started to see Maria in the mirror and not me. I did not see me anymore, I saw Maria. I thought that it was because I saw her everyday so of course I would see myself as Maria. Then, I started to forget to see myself and I just saw a young Maria in the mirror. I tried to shake past that I was not seeing me, but Maria, but it did not really work.
I got on my Assassin robes and headed down stairs. All I have done is working on my sword skills and doing small missions here and there. It was just getting information. We were trying to figure out a time to get into the camp and do our attack. We had to go back when we heard that they changed a few things around or they were adding on. We always found a way to get over the wall.
I saw Maria and Mentor in the kitchen. Darim was nowhere to be seen. I thought perhaps he went to do a shopping run to get more food, but he did one yesterday. Where was he? I smiled at both of them and sat down at the table where a plate of food set out and a cup of tea was on the table as well. Normally, I was the last one ready because everybody else was up before me. I picked up my fork and noticed that both Maria and Mentor were staring at me.
"What? Did I do something?"
"No, no, nothing like that." Maria spoke up
"Then why are you both staring at me?"
"We watched you grow even stronger in such a short time, we are just . . ."
Mentors voice trailed off as Maria said the words he was looking for;
"Proud and happy."
She said smiling. I smiled back her and then at Mentor. I took my fork and started to eat the eggs and bacon in front of me. I took the piece of naan bread in front of me and ate it. Mentor had left to go into his study. Maria was in the kitchen cleaning up plates. I finished eating in a few minutes and brought my plate over to Maria to clean. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.
"Do you know where Darim is?"
"Sorry, chéri, I do not know where he went. He left early this morning to go someplace. I think he will be back in a couple of minutes."
"Thank you, Maria."
Her shoulders tensed up as I said her name. I wanted to put a hand on her shoulder and see what was wrong but something told me not to and just walk away. I left through the back door and went to the stable. I noticed that Darim had just got in from his trip. The snow was up to my knees and I was not in my winter robes. I started to walk through the snow towards the stable. Once I got in Darim, was there feeding his horse.
I walked in and closed the door behind me. As soon as Darim saw me he smiled at me and went back to feeding his horse. I walked over to my horse and started brushing it and refilled its food container. I looked over at Darim and he seemed out of it. I looked back at my horse and then towards Darim.
"How is the camp?" I asked
He shook his head and then looked to me.
"In this weather, I am surprised they are still standing."
He smiled at me and then went back to his horse. I checked the reins on my horse and then walked over to Darim.
"What are you thinking about?"
"What? Oh, ah, nothing."
Strange, everybody seemed out of it today. I shrugged my shoulders and walked back outside. As I was about to leave I turned back to Darim.
"I have a feeling we will not be doing training today."
"Not in this weather."
I walked out and shut the door to the stable behind me and then I walked back to the back door to the house. I was so close to the door when my Assassin senses kicked in and I overheard Maria and Mentor taking.
"We have to!"
"Soon, I promise habibti."
Mentor kissed his wife's forehead and then walked back to his study. Maria just stood there for a second before she went off in the kitchen. I decided that I would walk in now, considering what I just heard. I opened the door and walked in. Maria gave me a faint smile and then went back to cleaning dishes. I brushed off the snow on me and then started to walk towards Mentors study. When I got to the door, I was debating whether to knock on the door or just turn around and leave. I stood there for a good minute before I knocked on the door.
"Ta-aal! [come]"
I opened the door and saw Mentor with papers in front of him as he looked up at me and smiled and then set his feather down in the ink pot. He motioned his hand to the chair right across from him and I walked over to sit down. I sat down and nobody said a word for a few minutes. Then Mentor finally spoke up;
"What is on your mind, tifl?"
I looked up at him and he looked like my Mentor but why did it feel like he was not? He did not feel like my Mentor, he felt like something more.
"Pourquoi [why] is everybody is acting weird? Did I do something wrong?"
"You did not do anything wrong, tifl."
"Then why is everybody acting weird. Maria seems unstable; Darim is out of it and you . . ."
My voice trailed off but I knew I did not have to finish it. Mentor knew where I was getting at. He walked over to me and bent down so that him and I where on the same level. My head was down and I could feel tears coming in my eyes. I knew that I should not let emotions get in the way. It is hard for them not to, but I had to at least try to hold them back. I learned that emotions just got in the way of the mission at hand. He took his hand and lifted up my chin. He looked me in the eyes and I could not help but cry then.
"Mentor, I feel out-of-place here. I feel like I do not belong. I thought I could come here and get answers but all I am getting are dead ends. Mentor, I do not know what to do!"
I put my hands to my face to hide the tears that fell and then I could feel Mentor wrap his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around my Mentor. It felt right. I did not feel like I should back away, it felt welcoming. I embraced the hug. We hugged for a few minutes before I calmed down and Mentor let go of me. He put his hands on my shoulder and just looked at me.
"Answers will come soon, tifl. You just have to wait."
He gave a half-hearted smile and he had a sparkle in his eyes. I gave him a smile in return. I got up from the chair and Mentor got up from crouching. I looked at Mentor.
"Thank you."
"Tifl, I did not do anything."
I left Mentors study and headed up to my room. I opened up the chest and got out the letters again. I looked them over again and again until; I could not find anything else leading me to my parents. I have tried to leave for months now but Mentor says he needs me here but I have no purpose here. None what so ever. I need to head back to Masyaf and go see if I can start to find my parents. They cannot be dead; I know down in my heart that they are not dead.
Where are they?! It is like they fell off the face of the earth in a matter of a second and never returned! I looked at the letter again. I even flipped them over to see if there was anything that could lead me to believe that they could be still here on this earth. For all I know they could be dead and I was just trying to push away that they were.
As soon as I thought that my parents might be dead, I pulled my knees close to my chest and started to cry again. I just could not stop the tears from coming today. I heard someone come up the stairs. I stopped crying just in time for Maria to come by my room and stand in the door. She came over to my bed and moved the letters on my dresser and sat down beside me. She wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close to her. I started to cry again in her arms.
The whole time she just brushed my hair away from my face and rubbed my arm like a mother would. I felt like I did not deserve her love but I accepted it anyways because I was broken. The only thing that I needed was love at this moment. Honestly, I was lost with everything going on around me. Between the letters and the missions and everything in between, my mind was swirling with information that I just could not keep in my head any longer.
"Mentor and I have something to tell you."
I looked up at her and wiped away the tears. I got up from my bed and walked with Maria. We walked down stairs and I saw Mentor pacing around the kitchen. Maria was shaking a bit and I was a total emotional wreck. We were all wrecks. I stood at the end of the stairs and saw Maria go over to Mentor to comfort her husband.
"Harees, can you sit please?"
It was more of a plead than a question. I slowly walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. I was certain I did something bad and that they were going to kick me out. I was sure of it.
Mentor looked like he was for once, out of words to say. Maria had none either and I always counted on her to speak for her husband and herself. I had no words either. I crossed my arms in front of me hoping that would stop myself from shaking but there was no luck there. I uncrossed my arms and then set them on my side.
"What is this about?"
My voice was shaky and broken. I was a broken mess now. Everybody was but I was the one causing everybody else to be broken as well. I was the one giving them stress. Mentor sat down in the chair beside me and Maria sat down in the other chair. They both looked at me with sincerity in their eyes. I looked down. I could not look at them or else I would probably cry again.
"Ma chéri, you are not in trouble."
I let out a sigh. It was more for the fact that I knew I was not going to get kicked out. I let in a deep breath.
"If I am not in trouble then why is everyone acting weird? Why are you guys so nervous?"
I looked at both of them and everything showed in their eyes. I looked back down and did not bother to look up again.
"Tifl-"
"Stop calling me that!" I yelled
They both looked shocked at me yelling. I closed my eyes and let my head hang low. I sucked in a deep breath and opened my eyes.
"Harees, this is about your . . . parents . . ."
"Mes parents?"
"Oui," Maria answered for Mentor
This time I looked both of them in the eyes.
"Are you guys going to give some 'you will know soon' conneries? [bullshit]"
"No, not this time ti-, I mean, Harees."
I looked at them both again and sat up a bit straighter. I closed my eyes and then opened them a second later. I looked at them both.
"Ask whatever questions you may have and we will answer them." Maria said
There was a long pause before I got out my first question.
"Are they alive?"
They both nodded their heads. That was a good sign. They were both alive and still breathing some place. I stopped to think what my next question was going to be.
"Do you guys know them?"
They both nodded their heads. I was starting to get some place now. I was starting to finally get the answers I came for. Not some bullshit answers like 'you will know soon enough' or 'in time'.
"Where are they?"
There was silence before I got an answer.
"Here in Mongolia." Mentor spoke
As soon as he had said that they are here in Mongolia, I forgotten how to breathe. I was sure that I held my breath so long that I was in a dream, I was having a very odd dream and I would wake up from it any second now. I closed my eyes and shook my head to try to get out this dream. I opened my eyes to find that I was still sitting in the kitchen with my Mentor and his wife.
"Where in Mongolia?"
Now it was their turn to stop and think. Maria looked like she was unable to answer anything. Mentor looked back and forth between Maria and I. He took a last look at Maria and then looked me directly in the eyes. I was bracing myself for the answer that was going to come out of his mouth.
"Harees, your parents are right in front of you."
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Who guessed that was going to happen?! That would come as a shock to me if I was Harees!
On another note, I changed their location. (Vega's) I was playing Brotherhood and Lucy mentioned something about (Insert place here) being their last safehouse in Italy. So, I went on the Assassin's Creed Wikia page and did some research and turns out that Vega should be in Rome and not New York. So, I changed that in the summary and Chapter 00. It doesn't really make a lot of a difference but you do need to know this for the next time Vega comes into picture again. I will mention this in the next chapter at the end but after that, it will be up to you to remember.
Anyway, leave a vote and some feedback!
-hey895