Author's note: the redo of chapter one is out :D! Now we may rejoice, chapter six is one its way as well but please wait it will come. Reviews are welcomed for old and new readers. Also I'm leaving chapter 2&3 alone cause I want to but still we have many adventures for Rhea and Ezio to look forward too. Oh and something cool, one of my friends got me into Mas Effect 2, so in about a week or so I should be getting the game. I've watched clips and I somewhat get the plot; but I am also thinking of writing a fan fic on Mass Effect when I'm done with the game and Letters of the Laien. Tell me what you think, see you soon XD
The sound of clumsy feet echoed through the marble hall of a grand house. The house itself sat on a hill that looked over the Greek Mediterranean Sea to the west and the wheat filled fields to the southeast. The echoes grew more and more in ferocity as they approached the main stairs to the foyer. The person in the boots was in fact a young girl at the age of six; with short pixie black hair and light tan skin. Her bright ocean blue eyes gleamed with determination as she approached the stairs with each and every clumping step. The boots were her father's greaves that he had owned since his own young adult life, and since they were made for him; the boots bunched up when they met her tiny hips.
Gaining her balance as the first step came in reach, a large Cheshire grin spread onto her face, and she placed her right foot first. It worked and the young girl continued on to the second and third step; three down, thirty-four left. Confidence filled her entire being, thus her ego clouded her next decision. Rushing down the next set, the girl tripped over her own feet and began her downfall. The small child tumbled down each and every step till she came to a stop on the white tile floor; blood pooled in a small puddle under her face. The child sat up on her haunches, seemingly unfazed, and touched her aching nose.
It wasn't the smartest idea, the girl wailed out in pain as the broken nose sent the pain shooting through her small six year old body. She grabbed at her nose again to stop the pain and the blood that was dripping onto her spring green dress; again she let loose another scream, let go of her nose and begin to cry uncontrollably. The small girl couldn't hear the clicking of boots over her own cries, but quieted down when the person sat down next to her and pulled her sniffling body into their lap. The man brushed back her hair with gentle callused hands and observed the nose that was broken to the side.
"My god Rhea, what have you done to yourself?" The man addressed the child in his lap. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and dabbed away the blood that had stuck to Rhea's face. With further examination, he saw that he would need to take care of it or Thiea would have his ass for what happened to her daughter under his supervision.
"I tried walking down the stairs in you boots. Please, it hurts papa." Rhea sobbed, trying to push away her father's much larger hands with her tiny soft ones. The man gave a frustrated huff and looked his daughter with his own storm blue eyes. She stopped pushing and looked at him with her own puffy red eyes, her own blue standing out shockingly. Stephan re-handled the handkerchief and took a hold of her throbbing nose gently.
Mentally counting to three, Stephan swiftly reset he nose with a small but audible crack; and it also earned another set of wails that burst from the girl's small lungs. Shocked by his daughter's set of lungs, he held her tightly to his lean and built body as he wiped the blood that was left from the wound. Five minutes passed of sweet words in Italian to sooth his shivering daughter as she herself whispered many sorrys to her father in Greek and Italian. The man smiled as he held her back and stood up; his greaves falling from her tiny feet to the floor. He couldn't help but smile as Rhea calmed down, every time he saw his little girl he always picked out the two things his daughter had inherited; those blue eyes and the jet black color of her hair. Every other feature that made Rhea look like an innocent Cherub she had gotten from her mother.
"Now promise me this la mia bambina, I won't punish you for stealing my old greaves if you won't tell your mother that I left you alone long enough to fall down the stairs. Can I trust you with that?" He looked her dead in the eyes with his own, a smile of relief grew on her face as those tears stopped dribbling down her rosy cheeks.
"Discretamente papa!" Stephan smirked as he let his now wiggling daughter down and watched her race out the door. Bending down, the retired assassin plucked his old worn greaves from the floor and took them to his study. In this room, shelves were loaded with books of all kinds and scrolls from all ages before. Sitting at the base of a mahogany desk, a large trunk with its lid wide open; inside there were a few dresses, a packet of papers and letters, and now his old assassin clothing , armor and weapons. He sighed as he placed the boots inside and shut the trunk. Footsteps sounded as people walked into the room and looked at the man when he locked the lid and turned to them. Noting was said when the outsiders lifted the trunk and left without a single glance.
Rhea dashed down the dirt path from her house to the wheat fields, the more she ran, Rhea quickly spotted a brown haired woman among the crop with a few horses around her form. Giggling, the small girl tried to sneak her way to the older woman as she fed the horses grain from her hands. The horses sensed the little girl as she got closer with her hair peeking out from the grass; seeing it was someone they knew, the horse trotted away from their human master to go off in another part of the field. The woman, named Thiea, laughed internally. She knew that when the horses trotted off like that a small gremlin was in their presence; she turned and spotted the pixie black hair popping out to the grass and shuffling towards her.
Thiea snatched her daughter up and rested her on her hips; Rhea had a frustrated look on her face when her mother discovered. But it faded away when she and her mother touched noses lovingly and the older woman kissed her forehead. Thiea stroked the black silky curls, now in Greek tradition hair was supposed to be long for woman but Rhea had gotten her hair caught in a loom and the maids had to cut her long locks off before she hurt herself and the loom. The short hair reflected the demonic personality, and Thiea couldn't be happier seeing her daughter grow.
Thiea was an accomplished woman, she had her hands in both horse breeding but also a winery that helped sustain the island's economy. She was a good five foot four brunette with a temper no person could match, but also a loving person for she had her parents close to her even with their own disagreeing points on life. Her father was a famous pirate in these waters while her mother was the island's oracle, in all the family was interesting from the outside as it was from the inside.
As Thiea continued to run her fingers through her daughter's hair, she felt a sticky substance roll onto her finger. She looked down at them and saw that red had stained her tan skin: blood. Her face darkened, she knew something has involved her husband's negligence and ended up hurting their precious daughter; closer examination showed the bruising around Rhea's nose confirmed all of her suspicions. Thiea snorted and then whistled for her horse to come; a large and sturdy black Arabian cantered up to his master and nuzzled her hand lovingly. The older woman walked to the horse's side and sat her daughter on its strong back.
"Mama, papa said I couldn't ride Orion. He's too big for me to ride." Rhea objected. Thiea chuckled and merely replied.
"Rhea, if your father thinks he has the right to leave you alone at your age he is greatly mistaken. Besides he's not the one who decides how big you have to be to ride, I am the one who decides. Now hang onto Orion's mane, but not too tightly." Rhea nodded and Thiea gave Orion and small smack on his withers to send him off trotting into the fields.
Thiea contemplated her husband's punishment; then again nothing could really scare the man; well if you count out the threat of no physical contact for three months. Stephan would throw a bit of a man fit, Thiea snickered at the thought of the big bad assassin succumbed to begging physical intimacy from his wife. Stephan wasn't a big player like his friends back in Italy were like; in fact he was a virgin until he was twenty. So she didn't fear that being taken away from him, what he couldn't live without was the little intimacy he and his wife shared. It took him ages to woo the woman while she was in Venice with her father. No intimacy it was.
"It's a beautiful is it not mio amore?" A strong voice asked as he stood by his wife. Thiea jumped violently at the sound of her husband next to her out of the blue. She hated it when he would pop out of nowhere and speak to her; and over the years she began to loath that certain ability he was a master of. The again it helped when it came to catching Rhea, the girl would run through the house with no clothes on to avoid getting a bath and Stephan would have to catch her.
"It would be if our daughter hadn't gotten hurt. What were you thinking letting her alone for a minute? And please enlighten me, what did she do to earn the bruise that now marks her little nose?" Thiea growled as she glared at her husband with harsh storm gray eyes. Stephan sighed in defeat, she found out sooner than he expected.
"Rhea had found my old greaves and tried to walk down the stairs in them, but she ended up falling down the marble steps and breaking her nose. I swear Thiea, I was in the study for a short time." Stephan defended.
"Doing what?"
"Preparing our will." Thiea shut her mouth after he said that, it dawned her that life was short and that her husband was preparing for the worst. "I sent the documents and some of our important belongings to a chest for Claudia, her men came by today and picked up the trunk and it should reach the caravan in about five days. Look I'm sorry about Rhea but you know how bored she gets, I realigned her nose immediately so it should be fine when it heals properly. ". Stephan pulled his wife close to his chest, she listened to his strong heart beat as the sun caressed her cheek.
"Thank you for helping our little girl, but the stress of being a business owner is really getting to me. Plus your worries about the Templars finding us aren't helping. I don't want it to seem bad for Rhea, but it doesn't seem to faze her either." She sighed as she leaned her body into his, a perfect fit. "Though with her attitude, she might make a good pirate….or an exceptional assassin?"
"No," Stephan answered flatly, "The life of an assassin is not easy, especially for a woman. You know most of them end up being bordello owners."
"I know, but think about it." Thiea interjected, "Our daughter could change how things are run and make a new path for other woman to follow." Stephan sighed, and dug his head into the crook of Thiea's neck. "Just think, she would make both of us proud."
"You're thinking way too ahead for your own good." Stephan jeered and he quickly lifted her onto his shoulder and began walking to the house. Thiea burst out in a fit of laughter at his actions; she stopped suddenly when she looked to the western sea. Her husband stopped in his track when he sensed her fear, he too froze when he saw the red and white sails peak over the horizon.
"Dear gods, help us all." Thiea whispered as her husband put her down. The sails had the symbol of the Templar order in the center. The couple looked at each other with solemn looks, and the two parted in different direction; Stephan to the house for his sword, and Thiea to the fields to retrieve her daughter and to warn everybody. Her father and his fleet were out, so they were sitting ducks.
Rhea was sitting on Orion's back as he grazed on the grass, she was utterly enthralled by the view she had. But her mother's yells broke her out of that trance; she turned her head to see her mother run up to her with a young worker following in her tracks. Orion lifted his head and spotted his mistress run up to his side and helped the young man to his back. Something was wrong; the animal sensed it as fear seeped from the woman's body.
"Rhea, listen to mama. Let Angelo take you to the cove, wait till the danger has passed." She handed the young man a foot long dagger and kissed her daughter on her cheek. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Mama?" Angelo kicked the horse into a run as he held onto to the small girl in front of him. "MAMA!" Cannon fire drowned out Rhea's tearful scream for her mother as they rode to the eastern part of the island. Rhea tried everything to hop of the cantering horse, but Angelo had an iron grip on her waist and kept riding on. Tears rolled down Rhea's slightly sun burnt skin as her mother disappeared from her line of vision and the cannon fire got louder. Emotions ran through her being as they rode on but fear took over when Angelo suddenly fell from the horse, taking her with him.
When she got up, she saw an arrow jutting from his chest. Blood was everywhere and was spreading as the young man died before her eyes. Yells reached her small ears, but the shock of death for the first time had her planted to the ground. Tears formed, threatening to over spill, but were stopped when the clinks of armor and commands got closer. Rhea looked to her left and saw men run up the hill, they had bows in hand and aimed at her thinking she was another teenager. Seeing that she was a little girl, the soldier's lowered their weapons and signaled for one of them to get her. Watching one of the men approaching towards her, Rhea finally managed to get her feet moving and sprinted towards the cove she was originally headed for. The man cursed and began chasing after her; unluckily the man's long legs helped him catch up to her, in their chase the man drew his sword and smack Rhea in the back of the head. Pain seared into her body as she began to black out and fell to the ground.
Rhea's head throbbed when she awoke, her head trauma and the pain of someone holding onto her short hair with their large hands made it worse and worse as her body started to register the screams and the smell of burning flesh all around her. When her eyes finally stopped seeing double, the horror was reveled; the entire island was either dead or tied up on the docks like her. Mostly women, children and any young male were on the dock struggling to free them and escape to the ocean. But the soldiers would smack and even slice at anyone who tried to wriggle free, Rhea was one of the few who got slapped for spitting on the men who got too close to her.
As the sun began to set, a man in fancy clothing emerged from one of the big house by the docks and walked with a large egotistical air about him to the docks the prisoners were sitting at. Six men flanked him on each side who had an air about them as they walked; Rhea could quite tell what it was as the men got closer. Her blue eyes searched around for any hope of her parents, but they were no where to been seen.
People tried to shift their bodies away from the man as he walked down the docks to inspect the different groups of men and women. Some of the bunches were taken to the ship, and some individuals or whole groups were killed on the spot with axes, spears or swords. Terrified people did their best to scoot their way off the dock, but the guards did their job by keeping them contained like scared sheep. When the Templar, as what Rhea had heard her fellow villagers say what they were, were two groups away from her bunch screams erupted from the exact house the Templar had emerged from.
The commotion grabbed everyone's attention as a woman was being dragged from the house. She was covered in blood and bruises, her dark mahogany hair losing its shine from stress, and her blue dress torn from mid thigh down and blood stained. The men who had a good hold of her on each arm dragged her to the dock for a strange reason. One of the men recognized the woman once she got closer.
"MISTRESS THEIA!" One of the men near bellowed. That started a chain reaction of dispute between prisoners and guards; people yelled for their well loved mistress as she was brought in front of the Templar. Rhea eyes widened at the site of her mother beaten to a pulp; bruises and cuts littered her once Godly body, her hair had been cut short by a dagger with unsteady hand. The frightened girl then noticed the blood that was dripping down her mother's legs, did they stab her down there? The intensity of the situation heightened to new degrees as Stephan was brought out next to his wife: he was in even worse shape.
"Care to reconsider your decisions, I could let the two of you go for just some simple information. Come now, what is the location of the Greek Master Assassin's, and the piece of Eden?" The Templar asked, his accent deep with Spanish heritage. Thiea glared at the man with as much intensity as the storms that would rage in the sky; Stephan followed suit with his own glare. The Spaniard chuckled at his enemies and lightly touched Theia's face. "Such a pity though, you have a gorgeous face and an enticing body amore."
Stephan struggled to free himself to kill the man who was touching his wife, but Theia beat him to it as she spat in the Spaniard's face. The man recoiled and went to back hand the woman, the solider watching over Rhea's group lowered his guard enough for Rhea to slip away and run to her parents. Her father saw her and immediately barked at his child.
"You idiota! Get away!" Rhea didn't listen as she continued to run past the wealthy clothed man. Sadly, the man saw her and grabbed her arm, his rings and fingernails digging into her arm. Rhea yelped as inertia worked and had her pulled back. The man glared down at her and then smirked when he put two and two together, talking in quick Spanish two soldiers came up and grabbed the wiggling girl.
"Cute kid. She yours?" The man sneered.
"Don't you dare Alejandro, she's innocent of anything we have done to you! If you even scratch her, I will rip you apart bit by bit." Thiea yelled. Alejandro growled at her.
"Silence you tongue woman, actually let me help you." In one quick motion, Alejandro took a dagger hidden in his robes and slit Thiea's throat. The men holding the woman released her as she tried to cover the wound and spraying blood; her life force sprayed past her fingers and hit her daughter. Her actions eventually weakened her enough to have her body trip and fall off the pier. Rhea and her father screamed Thiea's name as the blue waters became stained with red. The murderer ignored the screams for the island's mistress and walked over to Stephan; who was giving his captors trouble holding him still.
"Kill him." The captors grinned and slit the man's throat in one move before pushing him into the water as well. Alejandro then looked at the now traumatized daughter of his now dead enemies. He only commanded that everyone was now to be boarded on the slave ship for export. Everyone left was herded onto the large galleon ship; yells and jeers at the enslaved people resonated throughout the hull as they were put in chains. Rhea sat in her own state of empty mind.
After three days after their departure, people sat in their own little groups. Men and young boys in one group, young broken women to one side, and the older women and children in another. Many of the young ones sniffled and cried for their lost parents and consoled each other for hope. Rhea wasn't one of these children, what she was for the past few days was an empty husk that would eat and drink every once in a while. Her friend Athena sat with her with an older woman to try to bring their friend back from depression. Stories, old jokes or play to the smallest degree wouldn't break the five year old out of her tight nit shell.
The men tried to give hope to the others, saying that the blood lotus – the pirate ship that the past leader of the island commanded- would have heard by now and would be on their way to give aid to them. But most people sat in silence and wallowed in sadness and fear of what was to come. Not with the rumors of where they were going, Africa; that word escaped the lips of one girl who earned a smack from the older woman by Rhea. She scolded the girl for handing nightmares to the children before turning to rhea with a damp cloth. There was dirt and blood encrusted on her skin and in her hair, causing the once bouncy curls to be matted and weighed down. Athena, a friend of Rhea's, tried to help but the younger girl fussed as they tried to clean the crap off of her. Finally after thirty minutes of attempt, they gave up and left the empty girl be.
Athena eventually came back to see if her younger counter part was doing anything other than staring at the wood in front of her. Still the same, Athena huffed and sat in front of her friend. Staring into dull ice blue eyes with her own emerald green. Those freckles given to her by Helios used to make Rhea giggle when Athena would make funny faces; but even with that Rhea didn't move much. The red head huffed and glowered at the younger girl, she just couldn't cheer up could she? Rhea heard the huff and finally looked at Athena as if she was there, Athena had given up and was looking at her dirty toes.
All emotion filled Rhea again as she finally and truly saw her friend; plump tears began rolling down her face as she sucking in air. In one sloppy but swift motion, Rhea latched on to her friend and began sobbing like the one her age had done earlier. Athena was a bit taken back by the sudden action but embraced her friend and patted her back. Rhea let loose all of her emotions and cried her heart out. Eventually Rhea clamed down a bit and glared at her feet, sadness was replaced with anger; anger against the people who hurt her friends and family, anger against that man. Those once beautiful Mediterranean blue eyes froze over to ice with an anger that a child could not calm.
Athena tried to get Rhea to talk to her, but had to resort to just talking through their hands. They made moving pictures with their fingers, eventually they actually began to reenact old stories silently to keep their minds off of the world outside. Soldiers entered the hull abruptly and began picking people out of the crowd. People yelled in revolt but were stopped when a men was killed on the spot for trying to save his brother from being taken from him. The Templars still had trouble rounding people up for inspection to see who would go to market.
It was a good hour before the children were taken outside with the last group women and men. On the way up, a little less than half that had gone before them were taken back to the hull. The sun was dropping into the west, the sunlight glittering over the water surrounding the ship. Alejandro stood with three men flanking each side of him as the prisoners were lined up before him. Sobbing and whining could be heard by the Greeks shivering in anticipation of what would happen next.
Rhea, Athena and a young boy were next to each other trying to stay together; Rhea didn't know him but Athena did so she was literally clinging on to him. The three watched as people where inspected, if chosen they were taken back below; but if not chosen, they were stabbed and thrown into the ocean to the hungry mouths swimming behind the ship. The screams those poor people let loose before going into the arms of Hades chilled everyone to the bone, and only got worse when it was children that were killed.
The Spaniard quickly inspected the boy Athena had a death grip on and pushed him to the group of prisoners waiting to go back inside. Athena whimpered when the man stood in front of her, he lowered to her level before standing back up and grabbing a fistful of hair. Athena screamed loudly as the man yanked her forward, he was testing on how her voice was. He laughed and commented to his men that with her loud voice, she'd make a good whore. Rhea finally mustered all of her fleeting courage, ran up to the man and kicked him as hard as she could. Alejandro released Athena and went to his side for his dagger.
The boy that Athena had tried to stay with ran under soldier's legs and went to assist the two girls who were trying not to get themselves killed. Some soldiers came to assist by grabbing the kids and ripping them apart from each other's fingers. The children screamed for each other as Alejandro unsheathed the dagger that had killed Rhea's parents; Rhea froze in fear as the gleaming metal came closer to her face. The Spaniard was angered and was ready to take all his pent up frustration out on the small girl. Prisoners yelled for the man to leave the poor child alone and to spare her life; but the Templar ignored their calls as he raised his dominant hand above his hand.
The ship suddenly shook violently, knocking people down and making Alejandro drop his dagger. Screams emitted as the main mast of the galleon began to fall to the right and off the ship. Soldiers and a couple of the prisoners wither fell off the ship or was crushed by the fallen mast. The children were dropped immediately as the men fled to the dinghies for their lives. The Templar looked at the kids as they huddled together and tried to reach their friends.
"Not so fast!" The man reached out and managed to grab a hold of Rhea's leg, the girl let out a loud squeal as she was tripped and was dragged to the man. The boy and Athena took a hold of Rhea's hands and tried to pull her back to them. Cannon fire went off everywhere; people were screaming in either joy or in fear that someone had come to save them. Another cannon hit the Galleon, which caused the kids to pull Rhea from Alejandro's hold and fall backwards. Rhea tumbled as the wood under her shook and groaned under the strain of the damage it was taking. The familiar sails of the blood lotus came into focus as the kids ran to the edge of the ship to wave for help. They were not seen for another cannon fire went loose and caused the ship to groan even more. The boy held onto Athena and tried to grab onto Rhea, but the next shudder of the ship threw Rhea overboard. The girls screamed for each other as one disappeared beneath the waves.
The water flung Rhea around as she tried to reorient herself around in the water so she could head to the surface. Turbulence in the water kept her from doing so until she was nearly out of air and a body hit her; when she finally surfaced Rhea clung to a piece of drift wood that was just big enough to carry her. Sniffling Rhea pulled herself up and tried to keep the droplets of salt water from hitting her eyes. The sound of cannon fire was in the distance and was eerily fading, Rhea looked at where the sound was fading and began to panic to see that the ocean current was carrying her west: away from the battle and her ticket home. The small girl screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but stopped when the air hurt her dry throat. She even resorted to flailing her arms around to get someone's attention; in the end she had to stop when the two boats and the explosions disappeared over the horizon.
The small girl curled up into a small ball as she tried to keep herself warm and brave, but the vast ocean and the cold wind that was signaling the time of night began to get to her. Shivering, Rhea looked around the sea for something, anything for a sign of fleeting hope to quell her fears. Nothing; except the sun that was sinking below the horizon and a spherical item that bobbed on the rolling waves. When the item came close enough, Rhea grabbed for it; she managed to get on the grapefruit sized item before pulling it out of the water and into her lap. The Clay item soaked the remains of her dress as she moved her salt encrusted hands over it. The paint was already rubbed off but the carvings that the artist had made still littered the item. She hugged the item to her body as she succumbed to a light slumber.
As the sun rose the next morning, Rhea kept to lying on her side; water would crawl up the plank and touch her body before reseeding back to its master. Though cool and inviting, the girl refused to drink any drop that came close to her chapped lips. Her throat was dry and her skin was encrusted in salt, she refused to move from her spot only turning to the sun wouldn't burn one side of her body. No food, no water, by the Gods she wanted to have her misery end; the pain from her body and her mind plagued the girl so much and the water was beginning to become more and more inviting.
Unconsciously, Rhea began crawly to the plank's edge as dusk came again. Maybe the water wouldn't kill her if she took one sip, let the cool water run down her parched throat. A small smile drew across the girl's face as she was close to the edge and readied to dunk her head below the waves. A large grey shape passed under the plank. Rhea froze and scrambled back to the center of the plank. Shark: that word ran through the young kid's mind as she tried to keep an eye on it. The thing began circling the only thing keeping rhea off the waves, a large fin poked out of the water. The fin was as tall as rhea if she were to stand on her toes. The pirate which called Rhea's island home had told stories of a child of Poseidon that could engulf an entire ship: Thantos.
The explosions must have caught the shark's attention and now it honed to Rhea's little life support. Tears rolled down the young girls cheek in fear, sure she was ready to nearly kill herself for water but this was terrifying. The shark descended into the waves and dived into the depths of the ocean to prepare a breech. Seconds seemed to be hours as Rhea waited for her impending death from below. The silence was killing, and waiting made it worse. Finally the water began to bulge and the plank was thrown into the air. Rhea screamed as her tiny body narrowly missed landing in the shark's gargantuan mouth and smacked right into the water next to it on her back. Pain jolted through her already worn body as water seeped into her mouth and the cool water pushed her to the surface. Spitting up that she could, Rhea waded in the water as calmly as she could. Shark, shark, shark, shark!
Thantos had slinked back into the waves and was again circling the girl. The said girl shivered violently as the sun was nearly departed from this world. No no no no no no no no PLEASE NO! Rhea wished that someone would save her, she didn't want to die and this was the end for her. Seeing that she could not do anything else but wait again, Rhea grabbed for the clay sphere that floated near her and held onto it tightly for dear life. The shark rounded and began its track to the girl, and as it came into range a light exploded from the item that Rhea held to herself. The light make the animal stop in it tracks as it stared into the girl.
Rhea didn't know why but she had to urge to sink her head under the waves. She regretted it for the thing she saw was terrifying. The shark's doll eyes stared into her own, mouth agape to push water through its gills and showing the millions to large sharp teeth it held. Rhea couldn't look away as the night finally engulfed the earth and the creature turned to swim back home. Her lungs screamed for air as Rhea pushed her head to the surface. The small girl's body was hit by waves of fatigue and pain as the stars began popping into the night sky; slowly but surely the soft lapping sound of the waves lulled the girl to sleep as she floated on her back. Before sleep over took her the faint sound of crash waves sounded.
Esmeralda watched as her pet dog romped in the waves along the Romanian beach. The caravan in which she traveled with had stopped this morning to gather supplies from the nearby fishing town as she was sent to just relax. Also, this was a good time to let the assassins-in-training to stretch their legs and let out some pent up aggression that boys needed to get out of their system. The people who head this moving clan was Esmeralda's mother and father; a healer and a retired assassin. And being their daughter Esmeralda had learned to be a good healer and a master of the sword so she would know how to handle herself and the caravan that she would inherit. Today was like any other day, the trip from Turkey to Spain was taking forever and it was boring to the extreme. And to even make the trip longer, Esmeralda's father had made a side trip a few weeks ago and had just returned with a trunk that they had to deliver to a man in Florence. Not worth the trip; in her opinion that is. All the girl wanted to do was to let the sound of the waves to wash away her stress.
The sound of her dog interrupted those calming sounds that she oh so wished for. The gypsy glared at her dog for barking but froze on the spot. The dog had come to find a small body that had washed ashore; covered in sand and not moving, the girl raced to her dog's side and turned the person onto their back. It was a small girl, clutching onto a clay item for dear life and she was still breathing but softly. Esmeralda ordered her dog to go back to the camp as she scooped up the small girl. She looked to be no older than six but weighed absolutely nothing in the gypsy's arms. Esmeralda took that as a bad sign along with the fact that the girl was barley moving; she hurried back to the caravan with the sopping girl moaning a bit and still clutching onto the clay sphere. A young man had approached Esmeralda and took the idea of carrying the girl himself, the gypsy thanked him and they both rushed to the healer's car for her mother's assistance. The healer took the child from them and shooed the older kids out so she could work. Esmeralda looked up at the young man.
"Thank you Abdul."
"It's not a problem Esmeralda, let's just hope that this girl makes it through." The young man named Abdul whispered. Esmeralda nodded and walked with him as he headed to the training ground to practice his free running.
The extreme stench of incense and medicinal herbs climbed into Rhea's nose as she came to. The smell along with strange warmth had begun to drag the girl out of her dreams; along with the change of touch from water to wool. Her eyes opened more and more, a light blue light filled the room in which the girl was laying in and a figure was sitting near her as well.
"Looks like this small water sprite has woken up. You were out like a log for three days girl; we were ready to accept the fact that you had left this world for the next. But then again the sea has its ways of effecting people." Rhea started at the woman in a defensive way. The older woman chuckled to herself. "Now don't be defensive child, I'm not going to hurt you." Rhea glared at the woman more. "Why would I heal you to only kill you, what's the logic in that child?" Rhea calmed down after processing that information. "Good then, I am Claudia what is your name piccolo?"
"Rhea." The small girl muttered looking at her tanner hands, the sun must have baked her while she was out on the open ocean. The healer smiled greatly and laughed heartily at the small girl, Rhea had jumped violently at the woman's voice.
"We had heard that your Island was attacked by the Templars, and when you grandfather had taken back your people you weren't among them. We thought that you were dead." Claudia explained for her outburst.
"Wait a second? Templars, how did you know about out attack?" Rhea yelled. Claudia face changed from elated to serious at the girls questions. The girl got shivers down her spine, a killer look; she quieted herself and sat nervously from where she had slept. Claudia took no time to explain every explicate details that the woman knew about the Templars. Rhea had made a couple of faces at some of the stories but only asked when the healer had paused. Everything; Altair, the other assassins and the old and new Templars were laid out in front of the girl for her to soak up. And near to the end of the tale Rhea learned of her father's true job. The six year old had froze when she heard this and stared at her hands.
"Now after tomorrow, we will have reach the northern part of Italy. Abdul will take charge of teaching you how to use a dagger and free run. When my husband leaves for Florence you will go to your foster parents are in the city as well. Child, your life has been spread in front of you, accept and move on to be a greater person. And maybe one day you will join us."
"'us'?"
"An Assassin child." The woman whispered before she left the car and out into the sunshine. Rhea sat in her spot for a good while before straining her legs to lift her tiny body and explore the area. Medicinal herbs, ointments, tapestries and a trunk. Opening the trunk, Rhea spotted her parents keepsakes and weapons from her father. She didn't know why, but slowly and harshly tears began to form; melting those ice blue that she held as everything that had happened in the past week hit her and let those droplets of water fall down rosy tan cheeks.
It took a total of three weeks to get to Florence, so in that time Abdul trained Rhea with no remorse, even for her age. The sword play took forever but the free running came to the girl naturally as if a fish to water. She was fast and often challenged other children to tag to test her skills and also escape chores by scampering up the caravan cars.
Eventually the time came and the child had to leave with Abdul and two other men for Florence. The caravan was a good thirty minutes away from the city so it would be easy to drop off the trunk and the child before returning back to the moving city. Their first stop was Rhea's new home; a slightly portly man greeted them and introduced to the girl that he was Renaldo.
Rhea was wary of him at first but warmed up when he suddenly scooped her up and hung her upside down over his shoulder when she tried ignoring him. He had a sense of humor and continued to carry her like that until they left his home to a palazzo. The place was beautifully decorated and the child ogled the house as she hugged a stuffed toy shark she had taken from her trunk. They all walked inside and went into an office where a man sat at scribbling away. He didn't look up but he did acknowledge them.
"Renaldo, Abdul, it's good to see you two again. How hav-"He stopped when he looked up to see a new face, Rhea. He smiled when she looked up at him with her light blue eyes. Giovanni got up from his desk and walked over to the small girl who was hugging Thantos close to her heart. He had a warm smile like her father, Giovanni had kneed down to her level and put both of his hands on her shoulders.
"Now who is this beautiful girl? She looks so familiar to me, is she related to someone I know?" Giovanni asked looked up at the two adults. They both looked warily at each other, knowing that Giovanni was upset about Stephan's death, and also thinking that Thiea and Rhea were dead.
"Auntie Claudia told me you knew my mother and father. My name is Rhea Allocco; my papa's name was Stephan Allocco, and I was told that like he you were an assassin and his friend." Rhea spoke. Smiling slightly, Rhea looked into Giovanni's honey-brown eyes to see his surprise. The only daughter of his best friend stood before him, defying all odds by living and even smiling the slightest.
"No wonder why you look so familiar, you have Stephan's hair color; and his tiny ears that always picked up the slightest noises when we were slinking around town." Giovanni said hugging the girl tightly, hoping to cheer her up. To the banker/assassin, Rhea looked like a Greek girl from paintings with her dress, and her pixy hair that had grown slightly longer over the weeks, she looked so innocent. "Now we have some business to attend to, so why don't go explore this part of Florence. I know if you are like your father you are curious, and you might even meet my sons, Ezio and Federico. Go, play." Giovanni pushed her to the door. Looking back at Renaldo for the okay, Rhea looked warily until it was fine. After that, Rhea rushed outside as fast as her sandaled feet could carry her.
The sun was bright and high in the sky as the girl trotted through crowed street; both the towns folk and Rhea stared at each other as they passed each other. The Italians wondered why the child was wearing something similar to a toga and Rhea wondered how these people could survive in such heat covered up like they were. Seeing she wouldn't get an answer, Rhea continued walking and eventually walked past a slightly older girl who wore very expensive clothing and jewelry. The Greek girl paid very little attention to the Italian but it wasn't the same for the older girl. She walked up to Rhea and tapped her on the shoulder.
"You are not from here are you?" The girl asked eyeing her to see where she originated from, only to sneer slightly when she realized that the hem of the dress now had mud on it.
"No, I come from Greece. But I'm now going to live with a friend of my father. I'm new here." Rhea said, smiling only to show her annoyance as this brown haired girl analyzed her. The girl, Angela de'Pazzi, had her eyes on that doll that Rhea held in her arms. Even though it wasn't all that special, it was made from fine silk like fabrics. And Angela loved things made of fine things.
"That doll, it's very…pretty. Can I see it?" Angela asked holding out her hand as if it was an order. Rhea looked at the hand and then at Angela's eye, she had the look of greed stashed away. Angela's friends gossiped in hushed voices about the Greek girl, calling her things like "Barbarian" and such.
Rhea gave a small whine, "Sorry but this was a gift from my mother, she died recently and I don't want anyone else touching it right now." Rhea answered as she turned to leave. Angela wouldn't have it, acting quickly, the older girl snatched the doll by the tail and ran off with her new prize. Not believing what had happened, Rhea stood there dumbstruck before taking after the girl. Thanks to the free running training, the Grecian caught up to the other girl and tackled her to the ground. The doll was thrown out of reach, forgotten as the two girls tried to rip each other to shreds. They had fallen into a puddle, splashing water everywhere as Rhea had a good stance sitting onto of Angela.
In the midst of fierce emotions thrown around and a crowd forming, Rhea didn't see who had come up to them until she was violently kicked in the stomach and off Angela. The person, who turned out to be Angela's older brother, continued to yell and kick her for hurting his sister. Rhea bit her tongue and tried not to give in, even taking a punch to the face.
For Ezio, today was extremely boring for the thirteen year old boy. Sure he could have races with his older brother or go flirt with some girls, but he had already done that and to do it again would be repetitive. His father was expecting some visitors from out of town so he was shooed out of the house and his mother was caring for his younger sister. Boring, everything today was so boring.
His attention was caught by a small feud going on between two girls, one was which Angela of the de'Pazzi family and of another girl who wore strange clothing and looked like she had popped out of a fairy tale. By the looks of it, they were fighting over the shark fairy girl had, and when she tried to leave Angela snatched it and ran. Ezio watched as the fairy girl looked in shock at Angela before sprinting to the noble girl and tackling her to the ground.
Now things were getting interesting, curses were being exchanged between the two girls; fairy-girl seemed to speak Greek or something. But he didn't stop it because it was rare to see a cat fight occur in broad daylight. Crowd had gathered to gawk at the girls fight and pull at each other's hair, fairy-girl obviously had the upper hand because she was sitting on top of Angela. The fight stopped when Vieri rushed to his sister and kick the fairy-girl off, and by this time Federico had joined him as well to watch the spectacle. At first Ezio was going to leave thinking that after Vieri had kicked the girl off he would leave fairy-girl alone, but he stopped as he heard a yelp from the strange girl. Vieri was kicking the living shit out of her and he even punched her in the face even though she wasn't fighting back.
Looking at Federico, Ezio marched up to Vieri, and tapped him on the shoulder. When Vieri turned around, Ezio punched him in the nose as hard as possible. After that a small fight between the Auditore brothers and Vieri's gang, Vieri and his sister ran off empty handed. Ezio walked up to the fairy girl who was trying to get up, but since the wind was knocked out of her she struggled. The Italian boy offered a hand to the Greek girl, looking up she took in and he heaved her up onto her feet.
"Thank you." She spoke in a small voice as the air returned to her lungs, the fairy-girl patted her dress at where her knees were. She looked up at him with ice eyes, which made him flinch. There was so much hatred behind them, but not for Angela. Federico had scooped up the cloth doll and handed it back to the girl. She replied with another thank you, looking at the disappearing crowd around them. Even though it was wet, Rhea hugged Thantos for comfort then she looked at the older boys, the shorter one was defiantly older than her by seven years tops.
Her ice eyes met the honey brown, the boy that helped her up examined her silently as she examined him. Medium build, yep he could beat her up if he wanted to.
"Why did you save me? Θα μπορούσα να υφίστανται χειρισμούς." Rhea spoke in a less confidant voice, the Greek confusing both boys extremely. Ezio only ruffled her hair in response before saying to the younger girl in his most charming voice.
"Because I do not like seeing a woman in trouble, and my brother would agree as well. My name is Ezio Auditore de Frienze, what is your name piccola?" Ezio asked.
"My name is Rhea Allocco…." She trailed off when she heard Renaldo call to her. The portly man jogged to the children, Ezio recognized him and greeted him. Renaldo and Federico greeted each other as well. After a few words, both Renaldo and Rhea left the two brothers by themselves to go home.
"What did you think of her?"Federico asked.
"What, Rhea? Eh she's a bit young but one thing for sure, she will change in the future, and hopefully good enough for my tastes." Ezio cracked smirking his perverted smirk.
After two years of running around Florence, Renaldo moved his business to Venice. And the business of delivering letters boomed in the floating city, but it also molded the eight year old to run faster, more agile and swim quickly. Renaldo had Rhea dress as a boy for the deliveries that she would make so men wouldn't harass her on her trips.
In short time, ten years, Rhea had become the fastest person in all of the floating city, but at the cost of having no womanly figure what so ever. It was deduced that since Rhea worked out too much and ate very little, the fat she needed to fill out some of her body parts would not stay. Well she did have the curve at her hips, but it was so subtle that no one could notice it unless they were hugging her tightly. Still, she was as tall as any boy her age and had long locks of curly black hair. It didn't make her situation better, especially when she stuffed her hair into her hat. None the less this girl's adventure was about to begin all over again, and for the better.
"RHEA, YOU HAVE DELIVERIES! GET TO THEM!" A woman's voice exclaimed from the bottom of a flight of stairs. The person who was being called to groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and to her window. Opening the curtain, a faint light from the rising sun filled the room with a warm glow. Growling slightly, the girl stripped herself of her night gown, binded her chest and dressed in her regular pants, shirt, vest and her father's greaves. The worn leather gave Rhea a comforting feeling before she raced out of her room and down to the shop front.
Grabbing her messenger bag from the counter, she checked the addresses for her first stop. Seeing that is was Leonardo, Rhea sighed and grabbed a piece of bread before heading outside. The woman who had yelled at her stood outside tending to a flower shop, she was Renaldo's wife of six years and was a sweet lady; but still had a loud voice when she needed to be heard. Waving to her, Rhea took off to the artist's studio. This would be a day of memories…
Translations:
Θα μπορούσα να υφίστανται χειρισμούς,: I could have handled it
Piccola: tiny
Il mio amore: my love
Discretamente: alright
la mia bambina: my little girl