_

~ Middle Ages – 600 A.D. ~

The Cathedral had a surprisingly large amount of rooms in the back and the search for the King took long. On their way, the Trio encountered numerous Mystics, in alot of different shapes and moods. There were even two Soldiers they found who were at the end of their Power. It was a sad thing to see. Leonardo left them something to heal upon. On the way back, they could also fetch them along with the King and bring them to safety to the Castle...

Eventually after some more traps, they made it to the room where King Desmond was captured.
"Prepare yourself, King Desmond...", the Chancellor said in a malicious voice. The Chancellor was an elderly man and usually the right hand of the King. But the King was kept in a cage and he truly looked like Altair. Or the other way around since the King had been there earlier.
The Chancellor turned around as he noticed he was no longer alone. "How did you get in here?"
"Frog!", the King cried out. Apparently he was familiar with this strange creature.
The Chancellor cursed and stepped towards the Trio.
"Fear not, Majesty. We 'ave come to save you."
"Gya hahaha, It's useless to fight. No one will leave here alive!", the Chancellor behaved strangely. Something was ripping the human form he had been in. Out came a demon creature which looked like a giant Mole. "Stupid frog! It's time for you to die! True-form... Change!"

The Monster that the Chancellor had been was alot stronger than the previous Minion Mystics! The Mole dug around the small room, attacking each of our friends at random. Yet, Malik and the Frog were able to join forces and strike together, ending this creature effectively!

King Desmond was released from the cage. "Thank you so much Frog. And you, strangers.."
"It's Malik."
"And Leonardo, your Majesty."
"Let us return to the castle."

Suddenly, a mechanism popped and the real Chancellor dropped out. "W-wait! What about me?"
The three heroes and the King looked back. It was Leonardo who went back to free him. "Phew, thank you. That monster stuffed me in here.", the Chancellor stood up and hurried towards the King. "Oh, your Highness! As you can see, I am undamaged."
The King frowned and mildly ignored that.
As if the Chancellor was more important than the King...

Back at the Castle, the King took back his throne. His Attentants immediately gathered around, asking questions and expressing their relieve of having their (young) King back. Desmond smiled, enjoying to be back home.

The Frog however knelt down. "I failed to protect you, King Desmond. I 'ave disgraced you."
"Frog...", Desmond made a miserable face.
"That no good Monster Yakra! Impersonating me and kidnapping the King. We must create a criminal justice system to do away with such fiends!"

"Thank you Malik and Leonardo.", the King finally said. "But... I heard someone else had been found and took my place in the meantime. Who was that guy?"
"Oh right, I forgot all about Prince Aquilus.", Leonardo gasped.
"Leonardo, if your head was not on top of your body, you would forget that one too.", Malik flicked Leonardos forehead. "It was the very reason we came here. Let's go back to where we lost him."

The two walked up to the West Wing of the Castle. Just in time to see the Prince warp back into place.
"Ah-...! Fuck, what happened?", Altair blinked several times. Then he looked at Malik and Leonardo. "Malik!"
"...", Malik didn't really know what to say. He had thought that 'Altair' had been just some random guy enjoying the fair. Many people had come there after all. But now knowing he was royal... it was something. "How are you?"
"It was awful... I can't recall it all but I was somewhere cold, dark and lonely. ... Is this what it's like to die? Anyway. I don't know how you managed but you saved me! Thank you so much!"

Leonardo finally bowed down. "Welcome back, Prince Aquilus."
"...Eh? Uh...Uhm... I guess you have figured it out.", Altair made a face. He felt highly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Malik. I didn't mean to deceive you. Yes, I am Prince Aquilus and my father is King Umar Ibn La'Ahad. And I really enjoyed being with you at the fair. But if you had known my identity..."
"...I would still have gone with you to the fucking fair.", Malik finished the sentence. "You're really an Idiot."
"Malik!", Leonardo was not okay with how Malik treated the Prince

But Altair laughed.
"Maybe I really am an Idiot. But I prefer the name Altair. Please call me that.", he smiled. "I assume you found and saved the real King. Let's go home then."

On the way out of the Castle, they visited the King once more.
"So, you're the real King Desmond, mh?", Altair said as he finally stood before the King. Everything seemed right down to the very size of their bodies.
"And you're the one the people mistook for me? Take off your hood.", Desmond didn't want to believe it.
And all the time Altair had his hood up, even when they had dressed him to look more like a King.
Altair obeyed and took it off. Desmond's eyes widened.
"You really could be my twin... if your hair was darker."

Altair's hair was short and brunette while Desmonds hair was the same length and more of a dark chocolate colour. And both had the same scar on the lip.
Then, Altair quickly put up his hood.
"What's with the hood anyway?", Malik demanded to know.
"I feel better this way. Not so out in the open.", Altair said and blushed a little. Without the hood he felt rather naked.

"Indeed, your resemblance to zhe King is razher uncanny...", the Frog said. Oh right, he was still there. He sighed and croaked a little. "It was a fault of mine which endangered zhe King. I shall depart for good. Adieu."

A little after Frog's departure, Leonardo, Malik and Altair also made their way back to the ravine.
"How do we actually get home?", Altair wanted to know.
"Good Question.", Malik chimed in.
"Your Highness... er...Prince... we...", Leonardo stammered.
"Call me Altair for god's sake~"
"Uh... well then, Altair. Observe!"

From the very depths of Leonardos woundros pockets, he produced a small rod with a soft glow in the top piece. He pointed it towards the small remain of the portal through which they all had come and the portal enlarged to what they could actually use!

"Wow! ... Leonardo, you're amazing.", Altair looked at the Portal with big eyes.
Malik was just relieved that this travesty was over and he got to get back home to Kadar. He even had been able to pocket some great loot as they had slayed the Mystics in the Cathedral. On the market of the 11th Century it was possibly worth even a little more.
"Ain't it the truth?", Leonardo put on a smug grin as he was quite satisfied with himself and the praise he finally received.

"Anyway, I call this thing a 'Gate'.", Leonardo explained. "It's a kind of portal that takes you to the same location in a different era. A different time. Gates are very unstable, so I used...[bla, bla, bla]... we can use them as we please."
"But why did the Gate appear in the first place?", Altair wanted to know.
"I don't know for sure but I think the Telepod had something to do with it – along with your golden orb thingy."
"Oh right. There, I had carried it with me all the time.", Malik gave the orb back to Altair.
"Thank you. ...It's been a heirloom to my family for as long as ... I don't know."

The Trio went back through the cold Portal. It was not really a nice feeling ever.

_

~ Present – 1000 A.D. ~

"Aaaand~ we're back.", Altair grinned as he looked at the very blue sky. In the medieval ages everything had looked a bit dim. As if rain was going to start soon.
"Sorry for putting you through all that, Altair.", Leonardo said.
"Are you joking? That's the most fun I've had in months... w-well, when I take out the part of feeling like dying. But now I also got new friends. How awesome is that?", Altair seemed really happy. "Malik, Leonardo, Why don't you come home with me to the Castle? I'd like you to come over for dinner."

"I'm sorry to decline your invitation… I got some work to do. This trip with the time travel was really something that started to give me thought.", Leonardo made a half excusing gesture. He did feel bad about having to decline but his researches could not wait. „Can you bring him home, Malik?"
"Of course.", Malik sighed. Kadar was either still on the fair or had gone home. But first thing was more possible. He just hoped that Kadar had not gotten into the drinking contest.
"See you soon, Leonardo."
"Yea, see you."

At the Castle they were immediately greeted by the Chancellor of the current time period.. who had a strong resemblance to the Chancellor of the medieval age. Maybe this just worked that like every 100 years people started to look like said 100 years ago. 400 years in this case.
Alas, the Chancellor was strangely happy to see the Prince…
"Prince Aquilus! Where have you been? I heard you were abducted? We had soldiers searching for you!", the Chancellor then faced Malik. „Scroundel! You're the one who did it, huh?"
"No, Malik's…", Altair was confused. What the hell was wrong?
But the Chancellor would not listen to the Prince.
"Admit it! You confused him and tried to take over the throne! Terrorist!"

At the Chancellor's word, the soldiers moved in on Malik, trying to take him down.
"Stop this madness at once!", Altair cried which made the soldiers stop.
"What are you doing?", the Chancellor was furious.
"B-but Prince Aquilus said to…"
"Idiots! Detain him!"

The soldiers were good dogs, trained to the Chancellors voice. They took Malik down and tied him up as good as possible.
"Malik!", Altair's cry was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

Malik was taken to the court at least. The Chancellor from the medieval time period had at least kept word and added a proper justice system to Masyaf. But was it really so proper?
The court room was packed with people from the city.
"I am the lawyer, Girolamo Savonarola.", a rather frail man was going to help Malik out of this situation. „Don't worry. Don't say anything unless you are asked. I got this."

"I am the Chancellor, the prosecutor.", the Chancellor said. This seemed all like some damn tv show. „Members of the court. We now bring forth the defendant, Malik, who is charged with abducting Prince Aquila. What shall we do with him? Fire, perhaps? Hang him upside down for a few years? Or… shall we employ the guillotine? You, the jury, shall decide his fate. Now, let's begin."

The judge was a skinny man in dark robes who watched from a desk pretty far up above the court room.
"Malik, you are hereby ordered to tell the truth."

"Malik is charged with ‚premeditated abduction of royalty'.", the lawyer read out. „The question is, did he kidnap Prince Aquilus? The answer… no, he did not. In fact, no ‚abduction' took place. The two met completely by accident. In fact, the Prince /asked/ Malik if /he/ could join /him/.

"Is this true? Who actually started this whole mess?", the Chancellor asked in his booming voice.
"Alt…Prince Aquilus did.", Malik said. He felt like it was better he'd stick with Altairs real and official name. He frowned. They were really not nice here with prisoners. Let alone ‚Suspects'. But really he had done nothing wrong. And Altair had been to happy and grateful in the end. And when the soldiers attacked Malik, Altair had tried to stop them…

"Are you sure?", the Chancellor asked, but he had his answers well laid out for himself. „We have witnesses who'll say /you/ were the one who bumped into the Prince."
"So what? You guys should have kept a better eye on your precious Prince!", Malik growled. He's had enough. He was tired and hungry and he wanted to go home. Altair or no Altair.

"Ah, the suspect is clearly violent!", the Chancellor made it look like Malik would have used 4 times the volume in voice he really had used. „However, you went to Leonardo's little sideshow with the Prince following you – whereupon you both disappeared! Now if that wasn't criminal abduction, I don't know /what/ is! After all, Leonardo and you are childhood friends."
Malik rolled his eyes. Did they really believe that it was all planned? What the actual fuck?

"The issue is /motive/ here too.", Savonarola chimed in. „Was there any motive for this fine citizen to kidnap Prince Aquilus? No, there was none!"
"Yes there is.", the Chancellor said. „This ‚fine citizen' lives with his younger brother in the house of their parents. A fine house really, but having a one armed man fighting as a mercenary to make a living just shows how poor this family really is."
"What? I-„, Malik growled lowly, but was cut short by his own Lawyer.
"Shh, pull yourself together.", Savonarola hissed. „I got this. … Then why has there been no ransom? Malik, has his fortune tempted you?"
"No, of course not!"
"Are you sure? You really weren't tempted?"
"Yea, I'm damn sure. I didn't even /know/ he was a Prince."

"That's enough. I have no more questions.", the Chancellor said.

The Judge clacked his hammer a few times, as if it was the ‚gong' for the next round. „Members of the jury… you may now have time to decide whether or not he is guilty."

About half an hour later, the result was set…

"Nineteen of Twenty votes saying ‚not guilty'.", the Judge said with a stern voice. „Now this is rare…
But the fact remains that even if he did not kidnap him, he ran off with him. Three days of solitary confinement as punishment."
"You can't do that!", Malik cried out. Who was going to take care of his baby brother?

But Malik was not the only one being clearly against this ridiculous sentence. From the front doors you could hear turmoil. And out of this turmoil a white cloaked figure with a hood split.
"Now just a darn minute!", Altair cried out. „I also got a word in this! This is because of me after all!"
"Prince!", the Chancellor frowned in annoyance.
"What?", Altair spat.

"That's enough!", Umar, the King, growled as he stomped in after Altair. Umar wore pieces of armor and a white and red cape. A finely carved crown decorated his head, clearly marking him as the King.
"But Father…!"
"All I asked was for you to behave like a Prince. Even Royalty must obey rules. Leave the rest up to the Chancellor and forget about the events in town.", Umar said with a cold voice.
"Nope.", Altair retorted.
"We're leaving.", Umar glared at his (only) son.

"I'm leaving only with him.", Altair walked to Malik and stood before him, protecting him.
"This terrorist has tried to overthrow the Kingdom!", the Chancellor cried. „He has been found guilty, the execution is three days away."
"What?", Altair looked at where the Judge sat…. The Judge was gone! This could not be true!

When Altair looked back at where the Chancellor and his father had been… they were both gone. He just saw how the Soldiers rushed off with Malik to lock him up.
"Malik!"

_

The time in the prison was not a happy one. Malik looked around. Every inhabited cell had two guards. And the whole complex was just made of stone with the constant sound of dripping water in the distance... and the everlasting stench of piss and vomit everywhere.
He looked up at the small window in his cell, wondering if Kadar was going to be fine all on his own.

It was night when Malik heard a small noise on the door of his cell. He looked up and saw Leonardo working on it!
"Leo-"
"Shh... Malik, I'm trying to get you out. You don't want to alarm the whole complex, do you?", Leonardo whispered as he rubbed a file against the bars.
Malik was perplexed... and watched him for a while.

"..Leonardo? I don't want to rush you but this does not seem very effective.", Malik slowly said.
"I know right? This is why go out with a bang!", Leonardo suddenly said loudly and got out a large keychain with many keys on it – one of which unlocked Maliks cell door. It was then that Malik noticed the motionless guards lying on the floor – their armour was not obviously dented but Leonardo sure must have knocked them out.

After they had gotten Maliks weapons, they made for the exit. The prison complex was in a different tower, the tower was connected to the Castle by a small bridge. And on that bridge which Leonardo and Malik had to pass was a slim figure with white hood.

"Altair?"
"Malik... Leonardo.", Altair whispered. He looked like he had cried for hours on end.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes Malik. I am... but what about you? They beat you up so badly. I'm so sorry.", the moonlight helped Altair to see Malik and the bruised he had taken from the Soldiers beating him up. "Damn father... but more importantly damn Chancellor. I'd be just as damned if that Chancellor is not also a mystic in truth. But this is for later. We must hurry."

As it turned out, Altair had also wanted to try and free Malik. It had been quite difficult for him to get around unseen. There had always been servants, attendants and soldiers everywhere. At least he had managed to get his crossbow on his way. He had trained with this ever since he had been a kid.

And as they were about to slip out of the Castle, lights appeared from everywhere. Candles with mirrors to almost blind the escapers in a crossfire of illumination.
"They're escaping!"

"Damn..."
"This doesn't look good.", Leonardo bit his lip. Then he pulled out his self-made gun. "We have no choice but to break through!"
Malik and Altair also braced themselves.

"...Father?", Altair loosened up for a moment, but then went back to attack stance – ready to strike when he had to.
"Silence, Prince Aquilus. And go back to bed. The throne comes before your personal wishes.", Umar looked tired.
"Do as King Umar says!", the Chancellor chimed in.

"What? Just because I have a title doesn't mean I'm not a person.", Altair furrowed his brows.
"You pick up strange ideas venturing outside.", Umar glared at Altair.
"I didn't /pick up/ anything. It's called 'common sense'."
"Prince Aquilus!"
"Fuck this, I'm out of here."
"Prince Aquilus!"
"Malik, Leonardo, come."

And with this, they just slipped out of the large Oak doors that made the front entrance of the Castle.
But not enough, they were followed by the soldiers ordered around by the Chancellor.

Little would they know that Umar stayed behind and felt actually something like sadness.
Early, his wife had left him, having died during childbirth. For a very long time it had been only Altair and him. His only child...

And his only child was now fleeing before the soldiers along with his new friends through the thick forest of Masyaf. That is, until they ended up on a dead end!
"Shit, what now?", Altair huffed.
"There's a Gate!", Leonardo sternly called, being very perplexed how the Gate had gotten there.
"Quick, open it!"
"But we don't know where it will take us!"
"Any place is better than here.", Malik said, and only partly regretted it. His little brother would have to wait a little longer until his return...
"This is completely irrational.", Leonardo said but still quickly pulled out the Gate Key.

The Gate opened and our three friends jumped in. It closed before the Soldiers and the Chancellor were able to follow.