Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus

Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus is the second volume of the Assassin's Creed comic series published by Les Deux Royaumes, originally released in French on 12 November 2010, alongside the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus is an alternate take on the story of Desmond Miles during the events between Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, as he explores the life of his ancestor Aquilus.

Plot

In the desert, Desmond's father gave him a riddle: "Eagles are not afraid of vultures, but they should learn to distrust them."

While trying to get to Monteriggioni in a truck, Desmond continued to relive the life of Aquilus through the Animus. A Roman Assassin in 259, Aquilus had traveled to a Roman camp site to visit a Roman General named Gracchus, who stabbed Aquilus after a quick conversation. Aquilus lost consciousness and lay on the ground in a tent. A battle started with a small contingent of Romans against an army of Alamans, who would prove the victor. Accipiter, an Alaman General and the cousin of the Assassin Aquilus, rescued Aquilus from the destruction of the tent by taking him to the top of a Roman tower to tend his wound. When Aquilus awoke, both men rode off on horses but split up after a short distance, close to a river. As a favor to his cousin, Accipiter vowed to protect Lugdunum with his army of Alamans in case of attack. Before leaving, Accipiter gave Aquilus an artifact which he obtained from Aquilus’s father, Lucius. It was the Piece of Eden known as the Ankh, notable for its power of reviving the dead. Aquilus departed for his father’s house in Lugdunum. After arriving, Lucius showed him to one of his old friends, Caïus Fulvus Vultur, a Roman senator and a secret member of the Order of the Ancients. After a quick conversation, Aquilus tried to find a bishop named Faustin in Lugdunum. Faustin confessed that his ally was Vultur Caius Fulvus before Aquilus kills him and jumps out of the window.

Desmond awoke to the Assassins' van being attacked by mercenaries. The driver was shot and an ally by the name of Herman Geier took over the wheel. Geier was unable to control the van and lost control. Desmond showed his improved abilities by killing the mercenaries with skills learned from his session in the Animus. Afterwards Geier assumed that the Templars must have found them with some tracking device, but the Assassins could find no proof of any such device. Desmond proposed that he continue his sessions in the Animus much to Lucy Stillman's surprise.

Back in the past, Aquilus raced to his father’s house, as he had found out that Vulture had killed Lucius and fatally wounded his servant Weke. Weke told Aquilius the same riddle that Desmond's father would later give to his son, though Aquilus didn't know what it meant. Weke died before he could reveal the answer to the riddle, and another servant explained to Aquilius what had happened. She revealed how the senator had demanded the Ankh. When Lucius refused, he was killed, as was Weke when he made an attempt to take back the stolen Ankh from the senator.

Desmond emerged from the Animus and asked Lucy what 'vulture' means in Latin, demanding that the van be stopped. Without hesitation, he shot Geier in the leg. He tossed Lucy a mobile phone which he had taken from one of the mercenaries that attacked them earlier. Desmond asked her to dial the last received number and Herman's phone started to ring, revealing him to be the traitor. Desmond killed Geier, as he had remembered his father's riddle. The answer lay in the traitor's last name "Geier", which meant "Vulture" in German. Later Desmond talked to Lucy, having doubts about his actions and the way that he had killed in cold blood. Lucy told him that his changes in his behavior might be related to his sessions in the Animus. As Desmond began to question whether he could control himself from further exposure to the Animus Lucy began to comfort him until Rebecca Crane interrupted them.

At night, the modern Assassins arrived in Monteriggioni, with no idea how to get inside the crypt. Desmond said that another session in the Animus might reveal the answer.

Trivia

• The cover shows Aquilus with a split eagle's beak on his hood, though this does not appear in the comic itself.

Media

Editions

• ISBN 2918771007; 12 November 2010; Les Deux Royaumes; French hardcover
• ISBN 1781163413; 30 October 2012; Titan Books; US hardcover
• ISBN 9603647691; June 2014; Διόπτρα; Greek hardcover

Gallery

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  French cover
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  Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus full cover
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  Aquilus, Altaïr, and Ezio sketches