Bloodline

Amicia wears Protector Aelia's ring

## Trophies

"**Bloodline**" is the tenth chapter of *A Plague Tale: Requiem*.

## Plot

### Synopsis

> The de Runes followed the tracks of their predecessors, hoping for a way to save Hugo. Amicia, Hugo, and Sophia reached the fort. There, slavers were sacrificing slaves in their own version of worship of the Child of Embers. Their leader, Milo, was planning to secure his place by the Child's throne and bring down the Count, but Hugo used his power to punish the fanatics, which led to tensions with Amicia. In the crypt of an antique chapel, she unveiled Aelia's legacy including the location of the former carrier. After Sophia kills Milo to save the de Rune siblings, Hugo disobeys Amicia again, destroying the fort with his rats. The trio head back to the island map after Sophia puts them back in their place.
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### Summary

#### To the Round Tower

At the base of the mountain, Amicia hides the cult disguises the trio wore in Sanctuary. They plan to search for the round tower, and attempt to lift Hugo's spirits, as he is still dismayed about his dream.

They agree to return to the map in the theater ruins. Looking at the map, they do not see a round tower, but they find a chapel, which could lead to the Capella where Aelia was taken. They figure along the way they can see the town's festivities to cheer up Hugo.

Unfortunately, while walking through the festivities, Hugo is still feeling down; he feels that the celebrating people would not be happy if they knew the truth, and wishes he did not know the truth either so he could be happy too.

Past the windmills and flower fields, they find the ruins of a tower. Hugo doubts they would find anything useful, but Sophia and Amicia disagree. Inside the walls of the ruins, Sophia asks Hugo to charge the tower and claim it for her. While he does, Sophia asks Amicia if she is sure about continuing. She is. They reach the ruins and find the door locked, but find a way to go around and break the lock, and once inside they climb to the top. They can see a fort far along the coast.

#### The Coast

The trio climb down to the coastline. Sophia warns Amicia there is a storm coming. Hugo finds a flower and puts it in Sophia's hair. He does not want to move forward, but Amicia protests that they need to find something that will help him.

The land they cross is beautiful and filled with nature. They find a collapsed bridge and Amicia learns to use her crossbow and an anchor point to create rope links to objects. Soon, they can see the fort in the distance, and it appears to have a chapel in it. They agree to continue following the coastline.

Before long they find blood on the shore. There is a dead man chained to the rocks. Hugo wants to go back, but Amicia insists they reach the chapel. Sophia is shaken as well.

#### Slavers

While walking beside a tall cliff, a man cries for help before being thrown over the cliff and onto the trio's path. The man who threw him is right above them - they stay low while the man climbs down and returns to nearby ruins, where there are other men standing guard. He claims he got some, but others got away, and tells the man to stay on guard in case they return to free the rest. He orders the men to kill all trespassers.

Sophia says they look like slavers, and explains what that means to Hugo. Amicia insists it will not stop them. She jumps down and prepares to catch Hugo, but the boards below her collapse and she falls into a room where a slaver is warming his hands by a fire. After a brief fight, she kills him by shoving him into the fire. She returns to Sophia and Hugo, relatively unharmed but aware of the danger.

The trio make their way through the ruins. Sophia says she recognizes the name of the slaver's leader, Milo, and describes him as a butcher. They use an anchor point and Amicia's crossbow to break open the door to a temple.

#### The Old Temple

Inside the temple, they use a chandelier to break open a door. While crossing a short area without any enemies, the trio have a short conversation about Hugo's dream.

Soon they come across an area where Milo and several guards have tied slaves to posts. One of the slavers, a mercenary named Diaz, complains about the rats, the escaped slaves, and Milo “wasting what remains for that mad Countess”. Milo says they are not working for her anymore, and that a fresco has foretold that the rats announce the coming of the Child. He believes feeding the slaves to the rats is necessary to please the Child, and in doing so he is earning his place next to His throne; he wants the Count to bow before them, then the rest of the world. Diaz asks how many must be fed to the rats before the Child is seen, to which Milo bashes his head against the rocks Amicia, Hugo, and Sophia are hiding behind. He throws the body aside and decides it is time to start, and declares the blood will show the Child the way to the chapel. He leaves.

The soldiers begin killing the slaves, one at a time. Hugo wants to help them, but he is too late, and in a fit of rage he decides to stop the slavers himself. He runs out and summons a horde of rats from the earth, quickly swallowing them. Amicia tries to stop him. She yells that he ca not just kill people like that; he argues that she does it all the time. He runs off.

Sophia, who up to this point had no idea that Hugo could control the rats in any capacity, is stunned by the display. She and Amicia follow Hugo towards the fort while a storm brews. Emotionally, Amicia explains that she did not tell Sophia because she did not want her to run away. She knew it was wrong, but she'd hoped La Cuna would give them a chance, and Sophia would not have to see them like this. Sophia tells her to go talk to Hugo, and says she needs some time.

Amicia explains to Hugo that she understands why he did what he did, but that it is wrong to kill people, even when they are bad. She asks him to let her make the decision to act. He cries that none of it is fair, but they hold each other's hands. The de Rune siblings, united again, approach Sophia and apologize. She dismisses it and asks to keep walking while she lets it sink in.

#### Approaching the Fort

The trio reach the final stretch before they can enter the fort. Bodies of slaves are hanging from wooden posts in the ground and kept in cages along the path. They decide to follow the bodies to the chapel; after what Milo said, they are sure there is something inside. They overhear slavers talking about the sacrifices; they mention that the rats have never appeared “in all the years before,” and that this year Milo is finally succeeding.

The trio cross the area by sneaking past or killing the slavers. Just when they approach the fort, the slavers raise the bridge and drop the portcullis. Hugo and Sophia want to call it off, but Amicia insists they move forward and find another way in. They sneak around and enter through a hole in one of the walls.

Inside the fort, a slaver ambushes Amicia. Sophia jumps in and saves her life by killing him - thus repaying her debt to Amicia. The room they are in has the mechanism to raise the portcullis, but they move on.

Below, just inside the gate of the fort, the slavers are moving a cart full of dead slaves. The trio hide behind the cart, but the portcullis is not being raised, and the mercenaries are getting frustrated. Sophia realizes she just killed the man who was supposed to open it. She tells Amicia and Hugo to stay behind the cart, then leaves to raise it herself. One of the mercenaries starts to head up, but the portcullis starts to rise and he returns to the cart. The cart moves forward without Sophia. Amicia and Hugo climb into the back.

Inside the fort walls, the de Runes spot Milo just as Hugo warns Amicia that the rats are coming. The walls start to crumble and Milo yells that it is too early, and orders the cart to move quicker - but it is too late. Rats flood into the fort. Amicia and Hugo climb onto the cage on the cart while Milo barks at his men to light the trenches, then runs off to the chapel to "close the bloodline".

#### In the Courtyard

The de Rune siblings are trapped by the rats. Amicia lights a nearby fire, but they cannot get to it. Sophia arrives in the window of the gate tower. She uses her prism to channel the light from the fire, creating a circle of light around her to keep the rats at bay. She retrieves the siblings and they thank her for coming back.

Amicia lights fires and Sophia uses her prism to guide them through the rats. They extinguish a section of the fire-trench to get through, and the rats get through with them. Milo is ahead of them; he goes through another portcullis to an inner courtyard, and orders his men to hold off the rats as long as possible to ensure he is not disturbed. The trio continue forward, believing that finding out what happened to Aelia will bring them answers. They raise the portcullis and enter the inner courtyard.

#### The Chapel

The trio enter the inner courtyard and find the chapel. There are sacrificed bodies hanging all over the place. They decide to find what they are looking for and go. The Order's symbol is on the door.

Inside the chapel they find a fresco of Basilius on his throne and Aelia beside "him - the only one she has appeared in. The chapel appears to be dedicated to the Protector. There is a shrine all around it; candles and countless carvings of the Child. Sophia says they're recent, and wonders if Milo made it.

The trio head downstairs and find a crypt. They find a caged area and broken chains. Amicia finds the words "unum tueri omnes tuendo" carved into a tile on the ground, which Sophia translates to "protect one, protect all."

Amicia realizes this is where Aelia was imprisoned. She lifts the tile from the ground and finds the Order's symbol drawn in the dirt. She realizes Aelia knew where the Order took the Carrier, and wanted to get him back. Seeing the Order's symbol as a map, she identifies Sanctuary, the chapel, and the fort. Digging in the center reveals an ancient ring buried in the location Basilius was taken. Amicia puts the ring on.

Now knowing there is likely a secret beneath the map in the theatre ruins, the trio decide to return there.

When Sophia opens the door to leave the chapel, Milo hits over the head with a statue of the Child. Amicia charges him, but he strikes her to the ground, all the while shouting at them that the place is sacred. Hugo cries out and Milo freezes.

He believes Hugo is the Child, and falls to his knees before him, offering to help him rule using his men and slaves. Hugo is horrified and shouts at him to stop telling him what he wants. Sophia gets up and hits Milo in the head with the discarded statue, twice. He wrestles her to the ground but she stabs him in the chest twice. He identifies her as the girl from the painting, but Sophia answers, “No... she is.”

Amicia helps Sophia to her feet. While the trio are taking a breath, mercenaries storm the inner courtyard. Amicia quickly tells Sophia to hide and watch over Hugo, then proceeds to fight a small army of mercenaries and slavers on her own. Hugo asks to help, but Sophia and Amicia insist he does not. As the enemies keep coming, he becomes more and more restless, until he finally runs forward and summons the rats. They split open the ground and swallow the remaining mercenaries, crumbling the fort in front of them. Amicia has to pull Hugo from the ground. Sophia has found a way out, so the trio run from the chapel to a small dock, where they escape on a rowboat.

On the boat, they catch their breaths. Hugo cries that the island was supposed to help, but he is still the same. Sophia makes him look at her and tell her why he is crying; he says it is because she is going to leave now. She asserts that she has never seen anything like the two of them, but she likes them even at their worst. However, Hugo needs to calm down and listen to adults. She goes on to tell Amicia she is not an army, and that Hugo looks up to her. She has to rein herself in or this will keep happening.

## Gallery

Fresco of the Child with the ProtectorMilo faces Hugo

Navigation

* I – Under a New Sun
* II – Newcomers
* III – A Burden of Blood
* IV – Protector's Duty
* V – In Our Wake
* VI – Leaving All Behind
* VII – Felons
* VIII – A Sea of Promises
* IX – Tales and Revelations
* X – **Bloodline**
* XI – The Cradle of Centuries
* XII – The Life We Deserve
* XIII – Nothing Left
* XIV – Healing Our Wounds
* XV – Dying Sun
* XVI – King Hugo
* XVII – Legacy of the de Rune Family