| “ | Humanity's fate will be decided by the choices you make.
— Pythagoras to Alexios \
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” |
Alexios is one of the possible protagonists of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Born to Myrrine and Nikolaos of Sparta, he was descended from Leonidas I on his mother's side and as such was expected to be a great warrior from a young age. When Alexios was five his younger sister Kassandra was prophesied by the Chorale of Delphi to bring about the downfall of Sparta and as such was sentenced to be sacrificed at Mount Taygetos. However as the priest was about to perform the drop Alexios attempted to stop the sacrifice and in doing so pushed them both to their deaths. Condemned as a traitor, Nikolaos reluctantly threw Alexios from the mountain as well but he survived the fall, fleeing into the ocean on a boat. He washed up on the island of Kephallonia and was adopted by a merchant named Marcus, growing up doing errands for him and starting a career as a Misthios.
As an adult he encountered a man named Elpenor who tasked him with assassinating the Wolf of Sparta, his own father. After defeating him in combat and learning he was not in fact his father, he returned to Elpenor only to be betrayed by him. Discovering Elpenor was part of the Cult of Kosmos, a group of people trying to control the Greek world he made it his mission to root out the members and destroy the cult's influence as well as trying to find out his true parentage.
Battle vs Bayek of Siwa (by Wassboss)[]
Bayek holds the flaming torch aloft, lighting up the area in front of him. There are cobwebs strewn across the stone walls and when the torch touches them, they sizzle softly out of existence. Bayek does not know who this temple was supposed to be dedicated to but it has been long since abandoned. What he does know is that a man matching Sutekh’s description was seen heading into this temple, before his untimely demise, and that ever since there have been rumours of strange occurrences. While he cannot be sure, Bayek suspects this is where he decided to hide the Apple of Eden and if that is true, then he must retrieve it and store it somewhere more secure. He scans the floor to make sure there are no snakes about, until the narrow corridor opens out into a large room. In the middle of the room sits a stone altar and perched in that is the Appel of Eden.
“I thought I told that boy to hide it somewhere nobody would ever find it,” Bayek says to himself. A large crack in the ceiling of the room is spilling light through and he puts out his torch, approaching the alter and lifting up the artefact to inspect it.
“I wouldn’t be messing around with that thing,” a voice calls out from behind him and Bayek swivels around, drawing his bow and notching an arrow in one fluid movement. He aims it at the person who has appeared, a man with long hair and a beard, who appears to be dressed in Spartan armour. He raises his eyebrow in surprise at Bayek’s reaction.
“Who are you?” Bayek demands.
“I’ve been known by many names during my time,” the man says. “But my original name is Alexios.”
“What are you doing here, Alexios?”
“I’m here for the same reason that you are it would seems, to find the Isu artefact that has been rumoured to be in this temple.”
“Well sorry to disappoint you Alexios but I cannot allow the artefact to fall into the wrong hands.”
Alexios smiles wryly. “So, we are here for the same reason. But what makes you think that you should be the one to possess it?”
“Because I know the destruction and damage these things can cause. I have seen it with my own eyes. There are powerful people who would kill to get their hands on it, to wield its power for their own nefarious purposes. I must make sure that they cannot get it.”
“Your motives seem noble,” Alexios says. “However, I cannot trust anybody else to make sure the Apple of Eden is kept secured. I’m afraid I will have to take it from you.” Bayek releases the arrow he’s been holding throughout the entire conversation but Alexios dodges out of the way and starts running towards him. Bayek quickly notches and fires another arrow and Alexios ducks under it, sliding across the floor and drawing his spear as he does. Coming back to his feet he jabs the spear at Bayek who leaps back to avoid being hit by the tip. He draws his Khopesh as Alexios advances and another jab rattles off the eagle shield he holds on his left arm. He steps forward, past the range of the spear head and chops at the wooden shaft with his sword, forcing Alexios to manoeuvre it out of the way.
He then sweeps the spear across the floor, taking Bayek’s legs out from underneath him and sending him clattering to the floor. Clasping the spear further up the shaft he jabs at his fallen opponent who scrambles away desperately. He manages to block a few of the jabs with his shield but not all and he gets stabbed a couple of times in the torso. Getting to his feet he leans backwards under a slashing swing from Alexios, almost losing his balance again but regaining his footing just in time to avoid another stab. Realising that he’s not going to be able to fight effectively against the spear’s reach advantage he changes tactic and holsters his sword, taking out his mace instead. This time when the jab attack comes in he deflects rather than simply blocking and diverts the spear head to the side. He brings the mace down on the shaft, snapping it like a twig and leaving Alexios clutching half a shaft.
Discarding the now useless weapon he takes out his kopis and the Spear of Leonidas as his Egyptian opponent moves in on him with the mace. Swinging it around in an arc it misses Alexios completely but Bayek turns the failed attack into a second swing, catching the spartan off guard as he moves in to take advantage of the mistake. While he tries to dodge out of the way the mace still manages to glance his shoulder and the force from this is enough to send him stumbling. Raising the mace high above his head, Bayek swings it downwards onto Alexios sending him crashing to the floor. Groaning in pain, Alexios looks up as Bayek goes for another blow, this time hoping to crush his skull with the mace. He manages to shift his head out of the way and the head slams into the ground with a heavy thud.
He then flips acrobatically onto his feet swinging the Spear of Leonidas at Bayek. The Egyptian blocks it with his shield but the attack was merely a distraction for Alexios to swing his sword and this connects, slicing into Bayek’s arm. Grimacing in pain, Bayek releases his grip on the mace, checking his arm to see the severity of the injury. While it is not life threatening it is still bleeding heavily and he wraps the sleeve of his robe around it to help stem the bleeding. Alexios does not let him recover for long though and rushes at him, swinging his sword and spear head in a whirling attack.
Backing up, Bayek considers his options. He blocks a stab from the spear head with his shield and just about manages to react to a sword swing, which clatters against his khopesh. He can feel his injured arm getting more and more sluggish and knows he cannot keep this up for much longer. As Alexios overextends slightly Bayek gets his opportunity and smashes his shield into his face, rocking the Greek’s head back. He then slams the khopesh into his side, the bronze sword clattering off the cuirass but the force still knocks him aside. Another shield bash to the face drops him and Bayek takes the opportunity to make a break for it, leaving Alexios to struggle to his feet. He relights his torch as he runs back the way he came, hopping over debris and back up into the temple above.
As makes his escape Bayek can’t help but feel a tinge of regret. “Keeping the Apple of Eden safe is the most important thing here,” he says to himself, almost sounding convincing. As he rushes out into the cold night air he looks over to where his camel is tethered, cropping at the grass and nearby is a horse, which must belong to his opponent. As Bayek hurries over to his mount he can hear the sound of beating wings behind him. Assuming it to be Senu he doesn’t pay it much attention until he feels sharp talons digging into his robe. He turns to scold the bird but instead of finding Senu it is instead a much larger eagle.
As it tugs at him, the Apple of Eden becomes dislodged and falls to the ground. Bayek swipes at the bird with his shield arm but this only serves to anger the creature and it starts pecking and scratching at him. Suddenly Senu swoops down from up above, clawing at the other eagle who releases its grip on Bayek. The two birds screech and claw at each other, moving higher into the sky until they are merely specks. As Bayek bends down to pick up the Apple, Alexios comes running out of the temple. He looks up at the two birds fighting and smiles. “I see Ikaros was able to stop you in time” he says.
“It seems that we’re more alike than I first thought,” Bayek replies.
“Indeed, we are. However, I still cannot let you have the artefact.”
“Then I guess we’re back to where we started then.” Bayek goes for his bow but Alexios is quicker off the draw and an arrow thumps into Bayek’s shoulder. He grunts in pain before snapping the arrow off, diving into the shrubbery as Alexios fires off more arrows. An unnatural silence descends over the area and he lowers his bow. Moving carefully over to the area Bayek jumped into he peers through the foliage, looking for where the Egyptian has gone to. He catches a flash of metal in the corner of his eye and Bayek leaps from above, hidden blade bared and aiming for his throat. Alexios grabs his arm as it comes down, stopping the blade before it can connect and stabs the Spear of Leonidas upwards, right into Bayek’s unprotected stomach. He gasps, exhaling all the air from his body and Alexios yanks the blade out, blood gushing out and splattering on the desert sands. He then slams a fist into Bayek’s face, knocking him out cold and leaving him sprawled on the ground.
Breathing heavily from the fight, Alexios walks over to the Apple of Eden and examines it briefly before putting it into his tunic. He looks down at Bayek lying on the ground, wondering what to do with him. He makes his decision, striding over to him, tearing the hooded cloak from his head and wrapping it tightly around the wound in his belly, stopping him from bleeding out. “You fought well Medjay” he says quietly. “I could tell you were a noble man. Perhaps this artefact would’ve been safe in your hands. However, I could not take the risk.” Ikaros floats down and perches on a nearby branch, having seen of Senu. “And you my friend did admirably,” Alexios says producing a scrap of meat to feed to the eagle “Almost as well as the first Ikaros.”
As the bird gobbles the food down hungrily, Alexios hoists Bayek over his shoulder and carries him over to where his camel is stood, still grazing and uninterested in the fight that had just happened. He lays down Bayek between its humps, using ropes from the saddle bag to secure him in place to make sure he doesn’t fall. He then calls over his horse, fastening the two beasts together with another rope. He then mounts and leads the camel away, to drop his fallen opponent off at the nearest settlement so he can recover.
Winner: Alexios
Expert's Opinion[]
This battle was fairly close with the both the warriors being roughly even in terms of weaponry and experience, although voters tended to give a slight edge to Alexios in regard to weaponry. The main difference between the two was the superhuman physicality given to Alexios by the Spear of Leonidas which allowed him to both deal and receive more damage than Bayek and when coupled with his more protective armour, made him just too tough for Bayek to handle.