The Rogue Wave

[Shay Cormac]

"Never forget what has happened here." Haytham Kenway scowled at Achilles Davenport, whom was on the floor, writhing in pain over the flintlock shot in the shin delivered to him by Haytham himself. Looking in shock, Shay stepped backwards, watching as Achilles' blood spilled onto the white snow. Although a bit harsh, Shay thought Achilles lucky he wasn't dead.

"I won't... But the world will! Achilles' pained voice wheezed out as the two Templars moved towards their vessel. Shay and Haytham stopped to look at each other upon hearing this for a brief moment, seemingly not fazed.

"Shay! We're arriving at the docks of Fort Arsenal!" Shay opened his eyes, pushing back the memories of the incident that only happened a few hours ago as Christopher Gist shouted at the back of the ship's hull. "Very well, Gist! Hand me the wheel!" Shay walked over to Gist's place on the ship, currently steering it. Putting a hand on Gist's shoulder, Shay took the wheel of the Morrigan as Gist stepped aside. Taking out his spyglass, Shay zoomed ahead, faintly observing one of the docks in New York, only a few meters away from Fort Arsenal.

The rest of the trip was silent, the moonlit sea seeming to tire the entire crew. It took barely any time at all with the Morrigan's speed to reach the docks, the crewmates quickly weighing anchor upon Gist's order. Shay rubbed his eyes, letting go of the wheel, stepping off the ship and onto the docks, Shay's harbormaster who took his shop at the end of these docks already greeting him, to which Shay waved back, remaining silent. The cold New York air blew against Shay's face, waking him up a bit. Finally reaching a normal walking speed, Shay took the pathway across his back garden, curving over to the front of the building itself, opening the door and entering.

Locking the door behind him, Shay took in a deep breath, glad he got home in a single piece. Although he lived alone, Shay never took this badly, already getting a lot of time with his crew and Templar comrades anyways. Fort Arsenal was a place for him to calm down, relax, and rest after long journeys out to sea, a run around New York, or even a hike across the woods of River Valley. Shay didn't bother to look at his collection of swords, armors or pistols however, simply going to his room to the right, and laying down straight on his already made bed.

Shay put his still fully suited hands behind his head and under the pillow, looking over to the window at his room, giving him a nice and calming view of the night sky. He couldn't help but to think about what he had accomplished over the past few years working for the Templar cause, and even though he was satisfied with the end result, Shay still felt bitter about the deaths of his former Assassin comrades, to which he had been the murderer of them all, including his best friend, Liam.

Even then, Shay had to do what needed to be done to ensure the safety of the innocents the Assassins claimed and failed to protect. It didn't help much to loom over a problem that has already been solved, right? Still thinking, Shay looked back up at the ceiling for a short while, before deciding to put the situation for rest, planning to have a calm, peaceful, and celebratory day by tomorrow with his fellow Templar soldiers. Shay them faded off into sleep, exhausted from all the things he's put himself through that day. Although he had plans, those were quickly denied from him when he felt the ground beneath his feet.

Shay opened his eyes, figuring he was already dreaming. Taking this information lightly, he then remembered he was not a lucid dreamer at all, so he assumed his brain ticked into this for one night, or... something else was happening. Taking in his surroundings, or lack thereof, all he could see from horizon to horizon was nothing but a blank, empty blackened space. Scratching his head, Shay then realized he could feel the scratch completely. You weren't supposed to feel anything in a dream but emotions, to what he's heard. His brain couldn't have been tricking him into thinking this, it was as real as any physical contact Shay has felt in the real world. This was getting extremely suspicious.

Just like that, Shay felt his eyes being blinded by a huge, bright light in front of him. Definitely real, definitely painful. Shay's eyes began to dilate, adjusting to the strange light. It appeared as nothing but a blur the first few seconds, but when Shay focused, he saw the strange light fading into a figure... a humanoid one, at that. Shay's eyes widened as soon as the ominous silhouette took full shape into the averagely built man, just... Blank white, all over. All except for that eerie, creepy as all hell grin that seemed to gleam brighter than the "man" himself.

My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.

Shay couldn't even speak if he wanted to at this point. This figure presenting itself as "Omni" took all of this like it was a daily occurrence, and to Shay's suspicions, he suspected it was. Either that, or this thing was completely insane. Shay wanted to believe this was all a very terribly real nightmare, but the weight of the ground below him reminded Shay that probably wasn't the case at all. Shay could barely think of what this Omni creature was saying, but Shay focused and listened, considering that was his only option at this point. Before muttering another word, Omni took his blank void of a hand, reaching it outwards. To Shay's confusion and surprise, the deity-like figure materialized a strange spherical orb suspended above his palm. Shay was immediately reminded of the strange inhabitants of the First Civilization, but something crept into Shay's mind that this wasn't their calling out to him. The mysterious, multi-colored ball of energy floated to Shay and above his hands. Observing it carefully, Shay awaited an explanation, to which Omni seemed to immediately catch onto.

This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.

Upon hearing this, Shay almost didn't want it, fearful of what powers could corrupt him with such a force. Even then, this was an offer hard to refuse, but it's not like he could even refuse anyways. Repeating Omni's words of this Omnilium, Shay remembered his words of desire. Shay still had choices, and he was always willing to die for them, no matter what it costed. With this, he could do so much more than even he accomplished in the Americas. Shaking his head slightly, he began to wonder about the Templar Order and what this meant, leaving them behind. Would time be stopped? Would this experience be temporary? Had his body gone somewhere before entering this realm? Shay's internal questions he kept asking over and over, before he wondered if others ventured in this Omniverse as well. Once again, Omni almost seemed to have heard this.

You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.

Living without fear of death was a conflicted idea for Shay. Did everybody have these powers here, according to Omni? Perhaps only some? Shay assumed that if others had interested Omni, then they could not technically die either. Shay blinked, thinking about how advantageous that could be in the wrong hands. Without anything else to say, Shay looked back up at Omni's still smirking face, before the silhouette spoke his final words, fading away into the darkness once more.

That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.

As soon as Omni had left, Shay felt his own vision fade into the complete darkness that lay before him. Shay closed his eyes, already expecting something else to happen, and as predicted, opened his eyes to be standing in the middle of the opposite of which he had stood moments before. Suddenly, Shay could feel a stinging cold in his boots, nothing he couldn't handle, but nothing he liked either. Looking down, he noticed he was ankle deep in ice cold water. Nothing but pure white from left to right, up and down, except for the ground beneath him, which appeared to be a rocky spring, covered in snow, filled with freezing water. Quickly stepping out, Shay shook his feet, drying off the increasingly cold liquid from his boots. As he continued to look at the ground, all he could see was snow and rocks scattered around the spring, although quickly fading away the more it distances itself from the spring itself. While taking in the environment, Shay noticed 8 gate-like entities miles away as a result of the easy to contrast environment. Looking to what he assumed was the west, Shay could barely see two human figures standing at each side of the gate, almost perfectly still. Obviously being most drawn to that, Shay looked at himself, reaching in his pocket for an actual compass, only to find nothing. Grumbling to himself, Shay got increasingly frustrated. "Wait... Where's my... Oh, this is just great..."

Quickly surprised, Shay reached in almost every pocket he had, only to find simple sleep darts and grenades, and nothing else despite being in full stock before arriving in the Omniverse. He noticed he still had his favored Sword and Dagger combination sheathed on his belt, thankfully. Shay reached at his back, relieved to feel he had his Air Rifle slung across his shoulder. Looking down at his wrists, Shay flicked his hands backwards, hearing a satisfying metallic sound of his Hidden Blades popping up below his wrist. Retracting them back down, Shay suddenly got a thought that his Templar Vison might have been reduced to nothing, noticing he hasn't been able to instinctively feel his Sixth Sense as soon as he met Omni. Closing his eyes, Shay focused and opened them, his surroundings nothing but blue, and yet... All points of interest were nothing but blue as well, usually always highlighted at Shay's will, mainly the two humans standing at the edges of the westward gate. It was completely useless now. "This had to have been that Omni fellow's doing, almost everything's gone now."

Closing and opening his eyes again, Shay turned off his now completely nullified Templar Vison. Sighing, he began to walk towards the gate of interest, before quickening his pace to a run. Now that he was finally free to walk on his own two feet, Shay regained his confidence quickly. In the midst of his sprint to the gate, he thought to himself how outlandish all of this seemed to be, and how it should be concerning how fast he accepted this to all be happening, but only smiling to himself instead.

"Jeez, Shay, what have you gotten yourself into?"