Chapter 2 - Intentions & Revelations


Amity Park, 1 week later, 3:32 pm, POV - Ray Zenji


Walking the streets was Ray Zenji with an outlook of sheer boredom after having been in the town for merely a week he already has had to deal with "Public School" as part of his cover. Keeping to himself amidst a school filled with the kind of people who should be Templars, mainly bullies was hard enough but what was worse was coping with the fact that he's still walking amongst the living after suffering the ultimate pain. Ray had a hard time grasping that this was the concept of death, to be reborn as a spectre of the night, to have no more purpose than before when he was alive. Something wasn't right with the picture because if this was true then every assassin in history would still be fighting among the living, and so the same could be said for the Templars. Ray shuddered at the thought of Cesare Borgia haunting the present and Ezio Auditore forced to fight again when all he wanted in his last days was peace and rest.

Shaking off the strange feeling that either not everyone becomes a ghost when they die or that several assassins violated the third tenant just because they died Ray stared at an advertisement flyer that he had been handed by someone passing out flyers. A job as a bodyguard for none other than one of his targets, Ember McLain who was apparently having some kind of rock concert in a week and the most disturbing fact was that Ray and some other teenagers were the only ones being handed flyers, the guy was ignoring anyone of adult age including some people Ray knew were only adults through Eagle Vision where otherwise they appeared teenagers.


4:35 pm, Amity Park Square


Ray knocked on the door of a building set aside for the concert, all the papers were legal, Ray had checked the entire building with Eagle Vision to confirm that. Dying had actually increased his proficiency with the sight and all his hours in the Animus no longer triggered bouts of the bleeding effect, ghosts were probably immune.

Opening the door was a woman appearing of 16 to 17 years of age, her hair in a ponytail and seemingly dyed cyan though Ray could tell without Eagle Vision she was like him, a ghost simply by sight alone and not because of appearances but because of some new sense he possessed, probably part of being a ghost is recognizing other ghosts and if that was true perhaps she would also similarly know he was dead too. Her face was only different from the posters in that the mascara and other makeup was lacking save for her slightly violet lips which could also be attributed to her position.

Ray himself spoke first saying "I assume you're Ember McLain, I'm Raymond Zenji, here for the job interview." Ember merely made an inviting gesture and as Ray walked in the back of his head irked at the sight of the clothing she was wearing, though not too forward it was a bit revealing and Ray simply ignored thinking about all the tactical inefficiencies of such an outfit, being an assassin means he dresses ready to fight and hide at a moments notice even if he's not on an active mission.

A black overcoat with a black T-shirt, concealed in his overcoat's sleeves are his hidden blades, in their leather gauntlets which appear as bracers when his blades are not out, in addition to black leather gloves, the bracers also black and the blade inside made of black titanium, perfect for night action and the blade itself is single action like Ezio Auditore's was and the blade itself more closely resembles modern assassin blades. So very few use dual action hidden blades recently though Ray benefits from a built-in phantom blade which is not an obvious crossbow but rather acts like a spring-knife, sending a secondary thinned out blade or a full blade depending on which is in the secondary slot for use as a standard projectile or a poison or tranquilizer delivery system at range or melee if the small switch is moved to the left.

Keeping both in mind his equipment without pausing to think is the mark of a master assassin as he is well aware of his armaments and potentially is an unarmed superweapon himself though considering if he did have to fight Ember they could be on equal ground, she is after all, another ghost.

Ember spoke, saying "So any particular reason you're interested in the job? Don't worry I always ask this question." Ray chuckled slightly and replied "No just looking for some extra cash I guess. Do you also always personally interview all the applicants?" Ember merely nodded and said "Any skills that would qualify you for either security work?" Ray nodded immediately, of course he could do a simple security job, he was after all a master assassin with more confirmed kills than Ezio ever had in his life and that was saying a lot, though unlike Ezio Ray was the one they sent in for heavy duty action, he was a combat assassin, focused on open conflict when a cell is exposed or when someone needs killing and has one too many guards. Ray spoke immediately, saying "It's not the first time I've kept people safe though I'm afraid I have no references, all of it was charity so to speak. I know various forms of martial arts, I've studied in detail various styles of swordsplay including traditional kendo and a variant known as the Uradachi style. I have certificates proving I've mastered most of them and graduated the rest. When it comes to firearms I do spend a lot of time on the range and-" Ember interrupted, saying "Ok I get it, you're more than qualified, could you show me one of these certificates?"

Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out sure enough a bona-fide Kendo Graduation Certificate and handed it to Ember who glanced at it for less than a second and handed it back whilst saying "Alright, I am curious though as why someone like you would be interested in a job." Ray's earlier suspicion was confirmed, like him she could tell who was dead and who was still breathing out of survival instead of habit and subconscious repetition. Ray replied with his own retort, saying "And I'm curious why someone like you would be holding Rock Concerts in public eye." The two laughed at the situation for a moment before Ember said "Normally I give people a jacket but I'm not so big on formality. Though if you do want to know, I enjoy playing my music and well, used to do a lot of playing in my old schools cafeteria before..." Ray replied "I get it, I'm kind of touchy on the subject of what happened to make us what we are. What's important is who we are and that we don't let even something like death change that." Ember grabbed her shoulder and replied dryly "I kind of wish I wasn't changed, but there are things I have to do, before I can just rest and relax on the other side." Ray knew the look in her face, it was one that desired revenge, her hatred of authority which both is emulated in her public actions and based on the words Clockwork told him when he passed means something happened to her in the past that she seeks to avenge, most likely the cause of her death."


6:35 pm, Amity Park Mall


Ray walked around, still camouflaged as a human alongside Ember who was buying supplies, surely someone is sponsoring her because she doesn't charge admission for her concerts, she gives away a limited, though more than enough to chart out all of Casper High's students, amount of tickets. Ray noticed in the shopping trip that Ember seemed to only buy supplies from stores affiliated with none other than Vlad Masters and upon leaving one such electronics store he said "Let me guess, Vlad Masters sponsors your concert." Ember nodded and replied "Lately he's been more focused on things like this, he knows what I am and I think that's one of the reasons he's helping me. I won't lie to you, It's more than just a concert, there's this ghost boy who keeps meddling with ghost activities and though personally I agree with his actions, I still have something I have to do and to do that I need power, when people chant my name I get empowered, it shows in my hair, you'll know what I mean at the concert." Ray sighs and says "I'm not a fan of the Mayor, in fact the kind of people he finances are the kind of people I hate, the kind of people who don't care for the free will of others and only use those words as tools to get elected into positions of power or for lies told to the masses to gather support." Ember chuckled and replied "I think we have a few things in common, wou-"

And with that she was interrupted by some large and seemingly built ghost who seemed to be very angry as he fired some type of net to entrap Ember, irking Ray's response as he got between the two and said "Great, complications..."

Ember shouted from the net "It's over skulker! Just get over it already!" Skulker, the large ghost who just attacked her replies "Oh I'm over it, I'm just getting some things done and well, you're one of them. You wouldn't believe how much money is on your head right now." Ray interjects in the conversation, saying "So I guess money does speak in hell. I'll ask two questions. One, Who hired you and two, how far is your stupidity, attacking a public figure in broad daylight in front of hundreds of witnesses?" as Ray finished he nudged his head at the large crowd gathering, among them a student from Casper High he recognizes as Danny Fenton, his second target. Clockwork had imbedded the knowledge needed to recognize and identify his targets. Skulker replied "Uh that's part of my job, get a crowd to see this. Second, some ghost-savvy shareholder in a major business, not supposed to name it. Move aside and I'll let you go kid." Ray sighed and charged energy into his hidden blades and fired two phantom blades, filled with liquid rat poison which likely will do little to a ghost but he was expecting human enemies. Skulker tries to simply phase through the blades but the energy charge makes them hit him anyway, Skulker then says "Strike that, I've never faced an Assassin before. This might be fun." Ray sighed and quickly freed Ember by charging his main hidden blades and slicing through the net while getting into a defensive position at the end of the turn to deflect a sword hit from Skulker who seemed to have an ethereally charged blade and Ray felt that he was enjoying this fight. Ray quickly sent a blast of ghost energy forward, intending not to let him win as the only big business that could be looking for trouble is either Abstergo or some other Templar controlled company. Ray dashed forward as Ember crawled out of the net, unleashing a flurry of strikes from his single action hidden blades, remembering in perfect detail how Ezio Auditore da Firenze fought. Skulker deflected several blows and again tried to phase only for his arm to be cut from Ray's charged blades. Ray quickly ducked and leg swept Skulker off his feet and maneuvered in a fluid and flawless manner, thrusting his left hidden blade, charged with energy into what should be Skulker's heart. The blade indeed caused pain and bleeding, though the blood was green. However the blow was not fatal and Skulker phased into the floor to get away from Ray's grasp as he could not simply phase through the blade. Ray quickly reacted and dashed close to Ember and said "How about we get out of here." Ray quickly sent a glance at the crowd around them, making them go into a trance of forgetfulness though as Ray and Ember ran out with their purchases from the mall which were spared damage from the short but furious fight Ray noticed someone was unaffected by his concealment attempt, Danny Fenton. Though in human form the fact that he is a half-ghost may have partially shielded him as he was indeed sent into a trance, but he did not lose his memory of the incident.


7:35 PM, Amity Park Square


Ray relaxed on the couch at the place where the concert was going to be held as Ember was apparently tuning her guitar. Ray then asked "I'm going to shoot a question out in the dark, you and that Ghost Bounty Hunter seemed to know each other. Ember replied, not taking her hands off the guitar, saying "We used to go out about a month ago but he kept focusing more on his bounties than me." Ray nearly let out a guffaw as he grabbed his mouth to prevent it and after calming down, spoke to a seemingly annoyed Ember, saying "Exactly what do you see in him? He's practically in a full-body armor and has no facial features, not to mention he seems like the kind to have a violence streak." Ember sighed and said "Don't know, Just a whim I guess. Though he did know a few good places around the town. Believe it or not I do still enjoy food." Ray replied "Hey no need to explain whether or not ghosts eat, I'm dead myself and I still enjoy a good plate of spaghetti now and then." Ember finished tuning her guitar and placed it on the side of a speaker she was sitting next to and said "I'm more partial to pizza and sweets myself though I don't mind Italian. In fact my old boyfriend back when I was alive had a kind of obsession with Italian food, it was basically the only thing he ate when we went out." Ray shrugged and said "Huh, sounds like you miss your old life a lot more than you let on." Ember replied "Yeah I do miss it. I'll make you a deal here, If I tell you how I died, will you tell me how you died?" Ray made a forced exhale and said "How I died? Well it wasn't a peaceful death I'll say that and it means you'll need to learn a few secrets." Ember then replied "That's the deal. Besides I already know you weren't normal, those blades of yours aren't of ghostly origin, their physical weapons, you just have a knack for sending your energy through them without melting them."

Ray took a breath in and said "Skulker called me an Assassin, that is what I was and still am. I'm not a hitman or anything like that, we are called Assassins throughout history and have been around since before recorded history. Adam and Eve started our cause, the Masayf Brotherhood rediscovered it. I died fighting Abstergo security officers just three miles out of town, I already avenged my death, I slaughtered them by possessing my own corpse and using it to end their lives. I did not see their ghosts so I'll assume not everyone gets a second chance after death." Ember's eyes were both filled with shock and anger, seemingly directed more at the name Abstergo than how Ray died and she then said "Abstergo, in 1984 my house was burned down and they took the case. I was home at the time and dying by fire isn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy. I was lucky when a wooden support beam broke and killed me instantly, ending the pain and heat. I woke over my smoldering house and stuck around to find out how it happened. When Abstergo took over the case after they managed to get private security contracts with the city police they put the case on ice intentionally. After snooping around when I learned intangibility I learned they burned down the house to try and kill my mother but ended up killing me instead. I don't know why they were after my mom but I do know the word Assassin came up in some files I read."

Ray sighed and said "Then that makes you a victim of this long war. The Assassins and Templars have been fighting eachother since the crusades and possibly before. I'm truly sorry for what happened and now I kind of get why you resent authority. Abstergo is the authority here and thus you resent them. I'm also going to assume you want power so you can extract revenge on them." Ember replied "I originally intended to burn down anything related to Abstergo, which was almost everything but. Tell me more about this war between you, something tells me not all of Abstergo are the kind of people who burned my house."

Ray spends nearly two hours explaining the history of the Assassins and Templars to Ember, from Altair's exploits in Masayf to the files about Desmond Miles and what he did to save mankind.


9:48 PM


Ray finished explaining everything, in less than an hour the concert would start, people were already starting to gather and Ember listened to every word in detail. Ray then said "Our creed is as follows. Nothing is true, Everything is permitted, We work in the dark to serve the light, we are Assassins and we abide by three core tenants. Stay our blades from the flesh of the innocent. Do not pronounce our actions to the world, Never compromise the Assassin Brotherhood. Breaking these tenants are a serious offense and most of the time the punishment is death. Not all Templars in history have been bad, there have been a few who whilst did seek absolute control they did not seek it the way the Templars today do. If all of them were like those few in history then perhaps there would be less strife between our organizations, perhaps even peace. It has happened a few times but always in the end the Templars break the truce or a rogue assassin fans the flames once more."

Ember replied "I have a question, my mother's name was Maria McLain, her maiden name was Granger. Was she an assassin?" Ray's jaw hung down slightly as he heard the maiden name and he closed it and then said "Maria Granger? She was the mentor's daughter, I mean The Mentor, he was the grand mentor of the assassins for over 40 years and Maria took the reins after he died for a short time. Maria is among the most famous of Assassins in the contemporary age. I'm not sure if you know or not but she passed away thanks to the same person who killed her father, now we are led by Desmond Miles', the savior of mankind as some put it, father William."

Ember replied "I knew my mother passed away but I never knew how, this person who killed her, who is he? Tell me." Ray sighed and said "Desmond beat you to it, Daniel Cross, a rogue assassin was killed when Desmond assaulted Abstergo Industries."

Ember relaxed slightly and said "Good, but I still need more power to strike Abstergo, to get revenge. Will you help me?" Ray shook his head and said "You need to control your rage and instead focus it on the ones who are doing evil instead of wiping out the company in general, that would only cause more harm than good I believe. I'll make you a one time offer Ember, join us, become an Assassin. I've made careful work to keep my death a secret, I was killed only a week ago and the world believes I still live. I'll train you, teach you everything you need to know and direct your revenge at those deserving of it. I'll help you with this concert but only if you don't promote outright anarchy with your powers. If you wish to hypnotize them into attending and chanting your name then so be it but don't go further than that. Also do not trust your sponsor, Vlad Masters is a major shareholder in Abstergo Industries and Abstergo Entertainment and is part of the Templar conspiracy. He's always kept himself distanced from the others as I suspect he was focusing on the paranormal. I only know he's working on something regarding a precursor artifact that could be as dangerous as a nuclear weapon if not worse. We must be careful about this or we'll both become open enemies of the world, criminals. Will you agree to my terms Ember?"

Ember was deep in thought for a few minutes, going over all that Ray has told her and lets out an exhale before saying "Alright, I agree." Ray nodded and said "I'll pass word along when I can and make arrangements. Keep in mind I also intend to recruit this ghost boy into the Assassins as well, if I succeed you may end up working alongside him." Ember nods and says "Like I said, I agree with what he's been doing so far, I only want revenge more than anything else right now. I won't have any problems with this." Ray then says "Alright, lets get on with this concert, if this ghost boy has been doing what you said he has then he might try to stop the concert. I'll make sure he doesn't."

With that Ember gathered her guitar and proceeded towards the stage whilst Ray went invisible and took flight to the roof to observe his surroundings, no longer masking his pale appearance and stark white hair instead of his black hair, his eyes green instead of brown, waiting for something to happen with his blades ready.


To be continued...