Siamo Assassini

Disclaimer: I don't own assassin's creed

Chapter 2

The murder of the money hungry, gambling official wasn't a large impact to the city. The brotherhood had already received word that the banker has been freed and the district council has already appointed a new official. No new contracts came in, so to occupy herself for the day, Serena was doing a series of odd-jobs for the citizens. Nothing special, they were mostly deliveries. After her last task, she decided to visit her father, who had been locked up in his workshop for some time now. There were three possible things he could be up to, inventing, painting, or studying. He wasn't famous, yet he is well known in Italy. He had helped the Brotherhood several times before. His affiliation with the Brotherhood sparked an affair between him and a female assassin. Serena was the illegitimate result of this affair. Besides being one of the first few recruits when the Brotherhood was being rebuilt, her mother wasn't a renown assassin, at least not to her knowledge. She wouldn't dare question her father about the type of person her mother was because it might start some kind of emotional conflict.

She had reached her father's workshop, knocked the door a couple of time, which then opened on its own with a creaking noise. Confused, she stepped into the dark room that was only lit by a single candlelight. Nothing in particular had changed, so Serena wasn't sure if her father had gone somewhere, "Father?" she called out. There was silence for a second, and then came a loud explosion. She noticed some smoke emitting from the backroom and went towards it. As the smoke cleared, she saw a man on the ground, coughing and covered in soot, "Father?"

He looked up and his face showed an expression of delight, "Ah! Serena, you're back!" he said. He got up and patted some soot off his clothing. He rushed back into the workshop, signaling Serena to follow. Her father never changes, his odd antics was what made him special to her. He stopped at a fireplace that had two armchairs in front of it, with a small table in between. Taking a match from above the fireplace, he struck it and threw it in the pit. The pit blew up in flames, letting out a warm sensation.

"Please, have a seat, I'll be back with tea." He insisted. Serena sat down as her father ran into a different room. Sitting in that chair brought a nostalgic feeling to Serena. She had sat in that chair many times when she was younger. It was comfortable and warm. She remembered spending most of her days there drawing, reading, and even sleeping as her father did work. Before being inducted into the brotherhood, Antonio or Teodora would come by every once in a while to tell her stories of their adventures as assassins, or stories about the Mentor. That was the first time she had ever dreamed of becoming an assassin.

A few minutes later, her father returned with a tea tray and handed her a cup, "Father, there is no need to treat me as a guest, I'm still the same flesh and blood as you." Serena said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just haven't seen you in a while." He commented.

"It has only been a week and a half. What have you been doing here anyways?"

"Just working on a few inventions, like the bombs back there."

"What for?"

"I plan on making a decoy bomb the assassins can use to distract the enemies. I've heard you just recently completed a contract. Was it successful?"

"Yes, of course. It was a pretty simple rescue mission."

"Did you kill anyone?"

"…yeah."

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

No, no. It's just that I haven't killed anyone in so long, so it felt weird. The same feeling I had the first time I took someone's life."

"Don't worry about it; you've done it for the good of society. If you had let that man go, who knows what he could have done."

"I guess you're right." There was a silence for a second.

"Ah, come, I want to show you something." He got up, Serena followed. They walked into another large room similar to the workshop. Upon the wall and on separate stands were canvases and beautiful paintings. Not only was her father an outstanding scholar and inventor, but he was also an amazing painter. He would donate some of his paintings to local art exhibitions to be put on display.

Serena had seen many paintings during her contracts, but her father's work just tops them all. He stopped at a canvas that was concealed with a white cloth, which he slowly took off. Under the cover revealed an outline of a figure. If Serena had to guess, it was a figure of a woman.

"A woman?" she asked to confirm her guess.

"Yes and to be more specific, a French woman I met in town." He answered.

"I see, and she let you paint her portrait?"

"Surprisingly."

"What's her name?"

"She never told me, but she did suggest naming the painting 'The Mona Lisa'"

"So you're going to be locked in here again?"

"Not exactly, I'm going to have to move to Roma, where she is staying at."

"Move? Why not just stay there for the amount of time you need?"

"Well I have to bring all my equipment with me, which then I would have to pack up again. Don't worry, you are a grown lady, you can take care of yourself."

"But….this is all so sudden."

"The painting isn't the only reason I must leave. Your godfather had requested my assistance, he just happens to live in Roma." Serena did not say anything else, she just continued looking at the unfinished painting and then back at her father. She had never met he godfather, she it was a little weird to be told she had one. There was nothing she knew about him, just that he constantly request materials from her father, another inventor possibly. She didn't care though, she's use to not know anything about her family, and it wasn't like her godfather was of any importance to her.

It was already late; she would soon go on her night patrol. Taking a look one more time at the canvas, she said to her father, "Well, good luck on another masterpiece from the great Leonardo da Vinci." Giving a smile, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and left. Although grateful for him to be making a name for himself, she couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness. Serena started to leave towards the direction of the brothel, until she heard her father call out. She turned around to see him signal her to come back into the shop, so she did. Serena followed him to his crafting bench; there he turned around holding two bracers.

"Please, I want you to try these. New inventions I made. Of course, they are just prototypes. If they show any problems, just send them back to me." He explained while Serena took of her current bracers, leaving on her hidden blades. Leonardo took the liberty to put on the new bracers.

"I've been working on them for some time now. And although just prototypes, they seem to be functioning perfectly."

"What are they exactly?" Serena questioned, studying the bracer's design.

"I created them with a similar mechanism as the hidden blade, try bending your wrist downwards."

She did and then three blades shot out. They were like claws. And although they were thin, they were in fact made with very strong metal. Serena was amazed and confused.

"What are these for?"

"My entire life, I've never seen you use you sword, dagger, hammer, mace, or throwing knives."

"Yeah, I count on my hidden blades to do the job."

"So why carry so many weapons?"

"Uh, just in case I get into an open fight."

"But do you use them?"

"…no."

"And your hidden blades are used for unexpected assassinations right?"

"Well, yeah, but I also use them for open fighting."

"But think about it, with the hidden blades used in open combat against large axes, hammers, and maces, don't you think it's going to break?"

"…."

"Then what do you do when it happens? Simple, just summon these claws which were design for open combat. This mechanism is a toggle type, so you can bend your wrist twice to hide it again. And with these, you don't have to carry those useless weapons."

Serena looked at the claws again, considering the facts. Maybe this would be better for her, getting rid f the heavy, useless weapons; she would be able to run much faster.

"Fine, I'll try them out," she finally agreed, "But if I get killed, it's on your head."

Leonardo Chuckled with excitement. They gave each other a final hug. Serena buried her face in his chest for a moment, breathing in the smell of burnt powder. She didn't want him to leave the city, but she knew that nothing can be done about it.

:D Leonardo is one of my favorite characters in the game. I hope you liked this chapter. Please R&R.