Halo of the Huntress

Halo of the Huntress was a virtual representation of one of Bayek's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan through the Portable Animus HR-8.

Description

With the Oracle of Apollo's prophecy on the Eagle and the Halo of the Huntress ringing in his ears, Bayek sets off on his divine quest into the mountains.

Dialogue

Bayek visited the Shrine of Apollo in the Green Mountains.

• Bayek: This place, the shrine. It prickles with divine power. The Oracle is drawing me to her, I can feel it.

He looked at the offerings on the ground.

• Bayek: Offerings and prayers to the Oracle from the great and good of Cyrenaica.

Bayek entered the sanctuary, where he read the inscription on a fountain for Apollo.

And the Oracle of Apollo, the divine Phoebe will cleanse herself at the sacred spring so that Apollo's song may enter. Then so shall the Prophetai give the God of Light an offering. Sacrifice a goat at the shrine's great altar. Apollo will sweep the veil from her eyes, show her what will come to pass. So she may guide us.

He then found the oracle, Phoebe.

• Phoebe: Apollo's lyre, Apollo's song, I speak with the voice of light.

Bayek speaking to the oracle

Bayek spoke to Phoebe.

• Phoebe: I have felt your presence in my visions, Eagle. Apollo spoke of you. The King cried when he killed the white hart. For it was the huntress bewitched, pale and beautiful with a halo of gold. Apollo bade Gaea cradle the King's sorrow, a lake of tears above the plains. The sun god drove his fist into the mountain, took his beloved inside and spake. "None shall seek you. None but the Eagle. He will soar above the five cities with the Halo of the Huntress in his beak."
• Bayek: Why do you call me Eagle?
• Phoebe: Yours is the sacred relic, Eagle. Find it and expand your riches.

Phoebe left Bayek to muse on her words.

• Bayek: A lake of tears high in the mountains? Apollo means me to find this Halo of the Huntress.

Before leaving, Bayek spoke to Phoebe again, and she told him a number of prophecies.

• Phoebe: When the Aten rises, those who bore the double crown will walk.
  He walks in splendor in the footsteps of the Therans. A god made flesh.
  A new peace will come. Seek out the triumvirate. The healer, the architect, the judge.
  The healer's staff is not what it seems. The viper uncoiled lies in whispers.
  The she-wolf comes from the waters. But vultures will feast upon the jackal's marrow.
  Whether by sea or between the sheets, the black land is conquered.
  He who was born of the thunderbolts holds the relic of the elder ones.
  The Macedon Rex will sink in the Crocodile's tears.
  Heed the Ides of March.
  Trust the trickster. His whiskers do not lie.
  What you seek is legion.
  The hog wallows in the mud, stuff an apple in his mouth, Eagle.
  The eaglet waits for you in the fields of your forebearers.
  If the Eagle spies the true ram, the descendant of Ra will fall.
  You walk a path in the shadow of We That Came Before.
  The Hidden One will greet you, but not yet, not yet.
  Sanguine is the key that unlocks the door.
  Your soul is shrouded. Trapped in the shadowlands between being and oblivion.
  Paris will have his Helen, no matter the cost.
  Orpheus and Eurydice will be torn asunder. Do not look back.
  There is no certainty, Eagle. You may as well hold a wolf by the ears.
  Beware the three-headed hydra, for he will devour the asp.
  An empire will arise from his ashes.
  A death among kings will set ablaze the house of Amun.
  More terrible men will arise in his place. Then you will know the true meaning of tyranny.

Bayek left the Oracle and sought out the Lake of Tears, finding that the Romans had set up a hunting camp there.

• Bayek: The lake of tears. What was the next part? The sun god drove his fist into the mountain?

Bayek discovering the chamber

Bayek infiltrated the camp, and after dispatching the Roman soldiers, he found stairs leading down to a the chamber with a cracked wall.

• Bayek: Cracks in the rock, something is behind.

He broke through the wall and saw a chamber with a statue of Cyrene, and the halo lying in front of her.

• Bayek: The divine huntress Cyrene, herself.

Bayek then went around the room reading the inscriptions.

• Bayek: The legend of Cyrene and Apollo.

The Birth of Cyrene

In the exquisite vales of Pindus a Naiad bore honored Hypseus a daughter of Gaia. And Hypseus raised his fair child Cyrene as she grew into a mighty young woman. She did not care for pacing back and forth at her loom; rather she would arm herself with bronze javelins and a sword. So attired she stalked the hills and killed wild beasts giving peace to her father's livestock.

Bayek in the chamber

Bayek moved on to the next one.

• Bayek: Apollo fell in love with her.

Apollo Spies the Huntress

So did the god of the wide quiver, Apollo, find her, grappling alone and without spears a dreadful and vicious lion. In an instant he called his guide the centaur Chiron and spake, "Look at the spirit and prodigious strength of this woman. With a fearless heart, she bests the beast; her mind not shaken with the cold wind of fear. Is it lawful for me to cut the honey-sweet grass of her bed?"

Bayek read the third and final passage.

A Divine Providence

The Centaur laughed tenderly. "Hidden are the rites of holy love, Phoebus. You came to this mountain to be her husband, and you will bear her over the sea to the choicest garden of Zeus. There will you place a circlet of gold upon her head, and make her the ruler of a city in fair Libya. She will bear your child, honored among his people, they will call him Aristaeus." Having spoken, Chiron urged the god to fulfill the delightful consummation of his marriage with the fair huntress Cyrene.

• Bayek: The girl lion-killer. She sounds strong and brave, reminds me of Aya.

Bayek then approached the statue and crouched to retrieve the Halo of the Huntress.

• Bayek: A crown? This must be the halo from the prophecy. I thank Apollo for this sacred gift.

With the halo in hand, Bayek left the shrine.

Outcome

Bayek retrieved the Halo of the Huntress, a crown worn by the huntress Cyrene.

References

• Assassin's Creed: Origins