The Last Leaf of Fall

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The Last Leaf of Fall was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.

Description

Eivor came across an Anglo-Saxon girl staring at a leaf hanging from a tree.

Dialogue

While exploring Leicestershire, Eivor's attention was drawn to a girl talking to a leaf on a tree.

• Mae: Hold tight. Just hold on tight.
  O, please don't fall.
  The wind is strong, but you are stronger. Just hold on.

Eivor approached Mae.

• Mae: Careful, please! This leaf cannot fall.

Eivor greeting the young girl

Eivor knelt down and talked to her.

• Mae: Stay back. Do not touch this tree!
• Eivor: All right. What is your name?
• Mae: Mae...
• Eivor: Eivor. Something about this tree important to you?
• Mae: It's the leaves. My father said he would return home before they'd all fallen to the ground. And now only one remains.
• Eivor: And still no return.
• Mae: It's been six weeks... Six weeks since he's gone to Lincoln in search of work. I wish he stayed. Just one more season. He was so sure the fields wouldn't yield, but we could have tried!

Eivor rose from kneeling down.

I believe your father will return.I don't think he's coming back.You need to move on.

• Eivor: Your father sounds like an honest man. Went looking for work to take care of you. He would make every effort to return home, and that is reason enough to hope. But this... it serves no purpose to fret like you are.
• Mae: Then what should I do?
• Eivor: Carry on as if he were to return tomorrow, no matter what happens to this leaf.
• Mae: Yes... yes, I shall do as you say. My father would want the same. Thank you, Eivor.

Although comforted by Eivor's words, Mae resolved to watch the tree for a few more moments out of habit.

• Mae: Maybe... maybe I'll wait just a little bit longer. 'Til the goats begin to bray, or... yes, a little longer.

• Eivor: Six weeks is much too long for a father to leave a child. If he was going to return, he would have done so by now.
• Mae: O, no...
• Eivor: You can talk to this leaf, pray to your god, shout at the stars, but your father's fate was forged long ago. Like mine. Like yours.
• Mae: Stop talking like that! He'll come back! He said so! Just... just leave me be.

Mae turned her back on Eivor and sat down to continue watching the leaf.

• Mae: He'll be back, you'll see! Before the leaves fall, just like he said!

Despite her bravado, Mae soon began sobbing quietly and speaking in Anglo-Saxon.

Eivor persuading Mae to carry on with her life

• Eivor: All I can say for certain is that this leaf will fall. You should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That way, if your father never returns, your heart will not break. But if he does, you will weep with joy.
• Mae: I haven't thought of it that way, but it is a simple idea to live by. You're right. I must carry on, with or without him. Thank you, Eivor. May the Lord be with you.

Although comforted by Eivor's words, Mae resolved to watch the tree for a few more moments out of habit.

• Mae: Maybe... maybe I'll wait just a little bit longer. 'Til the goats begin to bray, or... yes, a little longer.

After a moment's thought on how to resolve the matter, Eivor decided to act.

Option 1Option 2

Drawing her bow, Eivor quickly nocked an arrow and loosed it at the leaf, striking it from the tree. Startled at Eivor's action, Mae could only watch as the leaf drifted down.

If Eivor comforted MaeIf Eivor disparaged Mae's father's decision

(If Eivor said "I believe your father will return." or "You need to move on.")

• Mae: Ah! What! No! no no no! You... I suppose that's it, then.
• Eivor: Carry on with your life, Mae. Everything will be all right.

(If Eivor said "I don't think he's coming back.")

• Mae: No! You wicked devil! I told you not to do that!
• Eivor: It is for your own good, Mae. Your father would want you to carry on with your life, not waste it away like this.
• Mae: Leave me alone! And never come back! I don't ever want to see you again!

Eivor watched as Mae ran towards her house, before following inside. As Mae went to sleep in her bed on the floor, Eivor saw a page from Mae's journal on the table on the other side of the room.

Mae's Journal

It has now been six weeks, and Father has not returned from Lincoln. Home before our tree sheds its leaves, he told me.

But every day I peer outside there are more leaves on the ground and less in the trees. Sometimes, I do not look at all for fear the tree by our home is bare.

But then I am struck by the hope I may see him riding over the fields back to me.

O, Father, where are you?

Using her pet raven Sýnin, Eivor located the goats on Mae's farm and began killing them, causing the animals to bray in panic before their own deaths.

• Mae:

Eivor left the farm, despite effectively dooming Mae to starve by removing her only food source.

Remembering what Mae had said about where her father went, Eivor travelled to Lincoln herself and eventually found the body of Mae's father under a bridge with an arrow in his back and a note that had fallen beside him.

Letter to Mae

Daughter,

I have found no work in Lincoln as of yet, and I fear there is no one who will take me on. But I also know I cannot return home without a plan to get us through the season.

I have done something against my better judgment, something that requires me to keep out of sight for a little while. If anything should happen to me, know that I am sorry. What I did, I did for you.

Outcome

Eivor knocked the last leaf from the tree, putting an end to Mae's constant vigil.

Behind the scenes

Eivor can pick up the leaf and claim it for herself, or put it on the stool next to Mae's bed inside her house. Finding Mae's father's body before starting the memory will not affect dialogs or the outcome.

Gallery

• 
  The body of Mae's father beneath a Lincoln bridge

References

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla