An assassin's tale – The beginning
It was a quiet night in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy. The moon shone brightly as if a million lit torches caused it to burn bright, its crisp white light touched the surrounding buildings. Pigeons cooed in their carrying cages, which were scattered equally among the towers, their pearly breasts reflecting the moons rays. A strange figure crouched eagerly on a plinth on one of the city's viewpoints. It seemed to be watching someone running along the cobbled pavements of the city. Suddenly but surely, the strange figure moved swiftly along the many rooftops to get to its target. It leaped from the building onto a nearby pole and hung off the pole. The figure pulled off the hood to reveal a feminine sight. The strange figure was female,
"Shoot! I lost him!" The young girl said to herself whilst adjusting her special blade which was on her left wrist. She then clambered off the pole and ran silently through the night to catch the man that she was after. After a fair bit of running, she stopped to rest on a nearby bench, when suddenly a figure loomed over the top of the young girl and surprised her,
"Arrrgggghhh!" She screamed. The male that was hanging above her was the master assassin, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. He wore assassin robes similar to what the young female assassin was wearing,
"Yama? You sure you're okay with this?" Ezio questioned the young wannabe hero, who was still a bit shaken up by an unexpected event. Yama looked at Ezio with her violet eyes, which caught some light from the moon,
"Yeah, I'm okay. It's been my first night as an assassin. I'm just getting used to running around after people and utilizing my 6th sense" When Yama said this, Ezio laughed.
"You really don't need to use words that long!" Ezio chuckled but then he fell off the pole he was balancing on. Luckily, Ezio fell on top of Yama to soften his fall,
"Ezio, you're squashing me!" Yama called out whilst struggling to get from under Ezio. When she did manage to get free of being squashed, Yama straightened her assassin's robes and fluffed her blonde hair out so it stuck outwards.
"Why don't we head back to your place for some well earned rest? I mean after a long day of chasing guys and killing them with my blade, I feel a bit tired. My 6th sense needs rest as well" Yama said. Ezio agrees. For a trainee assassin to get tired was normal in his case.
Ezio found a horse which neighed loudly and they both rode towards the Auditore mansion, passing through many acres of countryside. By now, Yama was getting sick of seeing tree after tree. She began to doze off, lying on Ezio's back. He could feel his student resting on him.
He thought he had found the perfect partner for his many assassinations. She was funny, chatty and had a 6th sense similar to the special assassin ability, eagle vision. Yama was capable of detecting enemy and target movements just by feeling vibrations and could also tell the difference between friend and foe by a special aura that only she could detect. Her ability did come through a line of assassins but in Japan, which was where Yama spent most of her childhood.
The ride on horseback took forever as they were galloping on long winding cobbled roads which were unfit for horse riding, but Ezio did it anyway. They were nearly at the mansion but first they had to go through the city that separated the mansion from the surrounding countryside. Yama was still asleep when this was happening and Ezio didn't mind carrying her to the mansion, just as long as people didn't stare at him for carrying something which looked like a dead body.
Suddenly Yama's eyes fluttered open. A light breeze adjusted her hair so her bangs parted slightly. She looked around the small town which is where Ezio's mansion is based. Yama thought to herself as she was carried over the shoulder by Ezio,
'Nice place? Geez I thought this place was going to be fancy like all the other places I've been doing my training! But no matter. There's time to adjust. Ezio may be a nice guy but he's my teacher and...' Her thoughts were cut off when she noticed that her 6th sense had kicked in again. She noticed that Ezio was glowing with a blue aura which meant that he was her ally. Yama preferred to not tell Ezio that he was her partner. The same went for Ezio. His eagle vision had activated automatically and was shocked to see Yama glowing aqua blue, which meant that she was his partner. He had noticed these things for a long time. Ezio's eagle vision was passed down through the Auditore's. It was a strange power which could differentiate between friend and foe. Yama managed to wake herself up properly and noticed that the civilians were staring at her.
'Strange... Do they think I'm a dead body?' Yama thought to herself. She started to shiver as it was getting a bit chilly where the mansion was. Although Yama can detect friend and foe, she can also detect ghostly auras.
"Ezio? I think I can detect something..." Yama whimpered. "Something spectral and spooky" As soon as she said this Ezio could detect the spiritual force as well. Yama leapt off Ezio's back then called upon her 6th sense to guide her. Ezio stood in awe as the evil spirit took its physical form. It had gems for eyes and large claws, large elf like ears and small clawed feet. Yama got into battle stance,
"Staraptor, I call upon thee. Protect the friendly and defeat the foe with your mighty wings. I beg of you, Brave Bird!" Yama called out. Shimmering white smoke drifted around her as a bird emerged from the smoke. Its wings let off glitter as it rose like a phoenix and positioned itself in front of Yama, letting off its beautiful cry. The creature ran with its claws out to attack but staraptor dodged and hit it with a slash of its wings before falling in defeat and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.
"Rest now, Staraptor, your help will be needed another time" Yama commanded. With that, the predator returned and melted into Yama.
Ezio could not believe what he had just seen. His student had more than the 6th sense. She was capable of detecting evil auras and use light aura guardians to defeat them. He wanted to ask her how she did it but she collapsed in exhaustion.
"Yama? Yama? Wake up!" Ezio yelped but it was no use. Yama was tired out. Ezio had to do something and quick. Without catching too much attention, Ezio carried Yama back to the mansion in hopes that she may recover from her magic attack.
Yama slowly but surely opened her eyes and moved them about a bit. She was lying on something really soft and she felt really warm. She was in a room. A bedroom to be precise. Confused, she leaped out of bed and checked the drawers of her cupboards and flung open the wardrobes to find the assassin outfit that she wore in the dream. There was nothing, other than reams of fashionable clothes. She looked out the window at the far left of her. It was a normal night. There was something unusual about where she was sleeping,
"Odd. This place feels familiar. Too familiar in fact..." Yama's speech was broken when a blonde haired female walked into the room with blood on her shirt and a shocked look on her face. Running behind her was a male with black hair and a white hooded top.
"Where have you been Yama?" The male said desperately.
"I was gonna say the same thing" The woman said. Yama was getting confused. These people knew her yet Yama did not know them. The woman grabbed Yama by the wrist and dragged her out of the building and into a waiting car.
"What? What's going on? Somebody tell me what's going on?" Yama screeched as she was shoved in along with the male, who was called Desmond.
"We need to get out of here! The modern day Templar's have locked onto us! We need to get to a safe house and I know where there is one!" The woman said as she drove off, hoping that no one will give chase on them.
Safe inside the car, Yama had no idea what to expect. But something strange came over her. Yama held her head in sheer pain as she nearly fainted in the backseat of the car. Desmond (Whom Yama didn't know who he was at first) managed to notice this.
"Yama, Are you sure your okay?" Desmond asked Yama. Yama responded in a weak manner.
"Man, my head kills! This happens every time I have a vision of 1478 Florence..." Her voice was broken by Lucy slamming the brakes hard.
"Florence 1478? Isn't that..." Lucy said.
"Yup, that's the time when Ezio became an assassin and this other girl with the same name as me is one as well! I can't really figure out why that's the case, but I bet you it has to do with my constant pass outs" Yama explained. Lucy was intrigued by this,
"So your 'pass outs' function similar to the Animus. It enables you to see and control the memories of your ancestor" Lucy said whilst slamming on the accelerator and diving north. Yama nodded her head,
"Yup! Sure is" Yama simply replied. Yama began to fall asleep and into an animus like state.
Distant voices could be heard by sleeping Yama.
"Uncle, Is she going to be okay?" A girl said. A booming voice followed shortly after.
"Advanced summoning can leave the bearer tired and unable to battle, maybe she needs to recover more" The voice said. This was Ezio's uncle, Mario. Brother of Giovanni, Ezio's dad. The young girl noticed that Yama was slowly but surely waking up. Her vision was cloudy for a moment then she saw a crowd of faces around her. Yama got up in shock.
"What's going on? Did I miss something?" Yama said drearily. The young girl walked up to her and sat beside her on the bed.
"You must be Yama, Ezio's pupil I presume? You have a very powerful skill…" Claudia's voice was broken by Mario.
"Come now Claudia; let our sister rest shall we? Your magic summoning was most impressive. Ezio told me about them. He seems amazed" Mario said in a calm voice. Yama was still getting over how she'd gone back in time and then forwards.
'Geez…that guy is uber creepy' Yama thought.
"Ezio wants to know how you used magic. That was so awesome!" Claudia commented. Yama simply said,
'It's a passed on thing'
Suddenly Ezio came into the bedroom in his noble attire. Yama perked up a little,
"Did you know I have an obsession with viewpoints and plinths? I love the sights you get from them. Plus there's always that soft bale of hay or flowers petals to throw yourself in when you've done a bit of sightseeing. Good times" Yama chattered away about hints and tips in a daydream like state. "Also, I love designing assassin outfits and outfits for carnevale too!"
"Really?" Ezio replied "I didn't know that" Ezio now knew that Yama also designed and made outfits for carnevale and for assassinations. He thought that she must know a lot on making outfits that stood out and also blending in. Ezio didn't ask anything after this. He was excited to see Yama's array of outfits.
But then Yama dashed off only to perch herself on the nearby viewpoint located at the top of the mansion. Whilst there, Yama felt a slight breeze waft through her hair. She couldn't believe the magnificent view of the town at night was as stunning as when she saw it while in Ezio's arms during daylight hours. Flags of green and yellow whistled in the wind upon long towering spears. Large majestic birds flew overhead and formed a v formation in the sky.
Yama chanted a series of spells, each one caused beautiful things to happen to the mansion and the surrounding area. Vines disappeared from walls and flowers appeared in their place. The pots of plants located around the mansion burst into bloom with hundreds of shimmering pink roses. The murky stone that lined the ground turned into polished marble tiles and wildlife such as butterflies and fireflies drifted through the air in a trance like state. Yama then pulled out an ocarina, which was cream colored, from her pelts and started to play a tune which caused more magic to happen. The boards which were on the windows disappeared and bright stained glass windows took their place. More flowers bloomed around the city, in everyone's flower baskets, vivid exotic flowers sprang out in all directions.
When Yama had performed her magic, her attire changed. Her assassin gear turned purple and green and became more revealing. She wore a skirt instead of pants and she wore strappy heels instead of boots.
Ezio ran to the front of the mansion only to see the most drastic change ever. Everything had become more angelic. He could see his face in the shiny marble tiles. Then, Ezio looked up towards the view point to see Yama, but she was a lot different. Her hair was a bit longer and drifted in the wind.
"What's with the sudden change, Yama?" Ezio called out. Yama saw Ezio and then jumped down from her perch and landed. Little white butterflies drifted off her as she moved,
"Let's just say I'm letting off more than you know. I sensed not one dark presence within the village, but many. I knew they were coming so I enhanced my magic to protect the village and the villa by making it in my image, light and angelic" Yama explained. She also told Ezio about how her Japanese heritage allowed her access to spirit magic, the same magic that she used to defeat the dark creature earlier, by using the light guardians of air, fire, water and earth. She also explained that her magic can only be used by beings like herself, so Ezio won't be able to access sprit magic. However she can protect Ezio from magic attacks.
"If you don't know what I mean, it's best to show you how I can protect you" Yama said. Her hands glowed white and a barrier formed around Ezio like a bubble protecting him from magic attacks. Ezio was stunned by the magic surrounding him. After about 30 seconds the barrier was dropped and Yama's hands stopped glowing. At this point, Yama detected something evil heading towards the village of Monteriggioni and that the family should be prepared for a magic onslaught, which only Yama can defeat.
Suddenly the sky turned black and the stars, which were there before had completely vanished. Even the moon disappeared and was hidden behind a cloud of black fog. Yama turned to Ezio and started to shiver. Ezio tried to stop her shaking but it caused a vision to appear in Ezio's mind, a vision of a black evil that caused all the dark magic to happen. The vision showed a destiny of one girl and one hooded man fighting off the evil using combined strength. They had a bond which was magical and unbreakable. After a short while, Ezio was brought back to reality along with Yama, who had stopped shaking,
"We were both destined to defeat the great evil…together" Yama muttered. Ezio was quick to notice a flowing black fog, creeping up the stairs towards them. Yama saw it too. Within a matter of minutes a black humanoid fox formed within the fog. It had a long mane of hair at the top of its head and long claws. It was Zoruark, creature of darkness, controller of the piece of Eden, Yama's enemy. It roared so loudly that the walls of the villa nearly cracked,
"Yama, what is that thing?" Ezio said to Yama. Zoruark looked Yama in the eye and its claw lit up red. Yama immediately caused wings to sprout from her back so she and Ezio could avoid Zoruark's night slash attack. The dark fox lunged forward with its claws only for it to miss. Yama and Ezio were both in midair, Ezio had no trouble grabbing onto Yama's legs.
"This is no place for a fox to be around here. He must have detected me before I caused light magic to form around the place…plus I was chasing HIS illusion back in Florence. He was following me all along…well not anymore! Aura Sphere" Yama called out. A blue-white ball of energy formed between Yama's hands before she shot it at Zoruark, who howled in pain as the ball of energy hit and stunned the fox.
"Ezio! Let me handle this! I let you finish him off once Zoruark's weakened enough" Yama called out. This gave the black fox a chance to strike again with night slash. Yama already detected the move and dodged. But she was too late as she was knocked back by Zoruark's deadly claws. Yama managed to flip herself back up as she tried to summon her spirit monsters. White mist surrounded Yama but no monster shot out. Then she realized something. She was too weak to summon a monster. Her only chance was to bio-merge with one.
Her thinking was cut short when Zoruark kept on slashing her using night slash, causing black waves to hit Yama and knock her energy down. She started shaking again and realized that the vision what both of them saw before was true. A girl and a hooded man worked together to banish the darkness.
"So the vision was true…" Yama muttered. Ezio rushed in to help Yama.
"That vision…the same evil…we've got to do it…together" Ezio replied. Yama nodded and got up despite her wounds. Both of them shared their energy by the joining of hands and let off a series of colourful sparkles, which lit up the sky. Zoruark was frozen by the sparks. Yama turned to Ezio and nodded,
"Let's do this!" She cried out. White swirling energy mist surrounded both Yama and Ezio as they both started to levitate and change form. Yama's hair grew longer and gained curls whilst Ezio's turned silver and spiky. He noticed that he was wearing a white and blue assassin outfit with long flowing sleeves and blue protrusions coming from his hood. Yama however gained a new dress which was bright yellow at the bottom and made to resemble tail feathers. She also gained a deep red fluffy chocker around her neck and blue stockings.
Zoruark stood frozen in terror as he saw the legendary beasts Lugia and Ho-Oh bio merge with two normal humans. Both Yama and Ezio stood looking at each as if the other had something beautiful about them. Zoruark screeched in horror as both of the birds attacked together,
"Sacred fire" Yama called out. Swirls of crimson fire burst from her hands and soon, Zoruark was covered in the deadly flames.
"Aeroblast!" Ezio called out. A forceful beam of light covered the radius of the town and fried Zoruark until he was nothing but a pile of dust. Both Yama and Ezio fainted into each other's arms. Suddenly Claudia runs out of the villa only to see Yama and Ezio curled up next to each other and the villa's surroundings sparkling like diamonds.
"Ezio?" Claudia said in his ear. He didn't wake up,
"Mother, Uncle, Annetta! Come quick! Something's happened to both Ezio and Yama. Looks like they fended off something powerful" She called out. Straight after this, Maria, Mario and Annetta ran out of the villa as fast as their legs would carry them. Mario was shocked by what he saw. Maria shed a small tear from her eyes. Annetta gasped at the sight.
"Why does Ezio look entirely different to when we saw him last? That puzzles me" Mario said to Maria. She nodded.
"Look at Yama as well. She wasn't wearing that dress when she was in the villa. What could've happened?" Maria grunted. Claudia reassured Maria that everything was going to be alright for the both of them. Annetta thought of something,
"Didn't Yama mention anything about a great evil?" Annetta asked Mario, who was still puzzled over the costume change. She went over and held Yama's limp hand. Suddenly she sees a vision of a girl and a hooded man fending off a dark fox like creature. Annetta gasps in horror,
"I saw a vision. Hold Yama's hand and you see it" Annetta said in shock. Mario and Maria both held Yama's limp hands and they both saw the vision of the saviors fighting off the dark fox. All of them gasped in terror.
"They must have fought off the dark fox…together…but how?" Mario was still puzzled. Then he saw the markings on Ezio's and Yama's left arms. The mark of Ho-Oh on Yama's arm and the mark of Lugia on Ezio's arm.
"This is impossible! How can our brother have the power of a sea beast? How can our sister have the power of a phoenix?" Claudia demanded some answers. Mario calmed her down,
"We can only find answers if they only wake up…" Mario reassured Claudia.
"Yama? Are you done yet on the animus?" A voice called out. Sure enough it was Lucy and Desmond. Yama opened her eyes only to see two very concerned faces staring right back at her,
"You would not believe what happened back there!" Yama said joyfully. Lucy reassured Yama that it was just an animus glitch.
"It wasn't! Ezio and I were fighting the great evil side by side! Then we transformed into the legendary birds Lugia and Ho-Oh! But shortly after the battle, we both fainted…nothing much after that happened I think" Yama explained
"Something did happen…" A familiar voice whispered inside her mind… It was Ezio…