Chapter 4
After what had seemed like an eternity in customs, we had barely made our flight. Leonardo bought us two coach tickets. I sat by the window with Ezio on my left. The flight was only an hour and a half. There was little turbulence but there was a man next to us, his girlfriend rubbed his back as he was quite nauseous.
She glanced up at us and gave a weak smile. Turning her attention back to the air sick boy. "He gets like this every time we travel. It's gonna be alright Desmond." she attempted to soothe him. She brushed back her blonde hair behind her ear, looking up. "I'm Lucy and well," she looked back down. "this is Desmond."
Desmond didn't look up but he knew we noticed him. "Where are you headed to?" Ezio tried to start a conversation. "My brother, Altaïr, and I are going to visit a friend in Jerusalem."
"Oh!" Lucy's lips curled into a smile. "We're there to meet up with some people too. Would you care to join us?" Her cerulean eyes glowed as she ran her fingers through Desmond's short, black hair. There was something unusually motherly about her even though she was about our age. But sadness mixed itself into her otherwise caring eyes.
"Lucy," I had turned my attention away from the window. "Is it alright if we bring our friend along?" I was sure Malik needed new people to be around. It gets very bored drawing maps all day in an undercover assassin bureau.
Lucy nodded and the pilot's voice aired. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into Jerusalem. We hope you had an enjoyable flight and thank you for flying with us."
The plane descended into the airport and Ezio could feel his ears pop. "Cazzo!" he complained under his breath. "I hate flying sometimes. Altaïr do you even know where Malik is?" Bureaus were designed to hide in plain sight so I was sure that he wouldn't know of any other bureaus other than his brotherhood in Italy.
"He runs the only hand made map store in the city." common knowledge for me but Ezio, not so much. "He works with his novice brother Kadar. They'll be easy to find."
"Lucy peered over to me, "A map store? That's amazing that they draw the entire city out by hand." The plane's wheels touched solid ground again. All the idiots on the plane started clapping as if to say 'YAY we didn't die let's all go get ice-cream and beer!' We departed quickly so as to not start a fight with said idiots.
Desmond, now feeling less likely to turn inside out, walked with us and properly introduced us. "Hey, sorry about not talking during the plane ride but I really can't stand traveling long distances confined to one spot. It's like being thrown inside the trunk of a car."
"You've been stuffed in the trunk of a car?" I found this quite amusing and wanted to know more. "How bad is it really?"
"Er-...it was an expression I guess." he nervously rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "Never been, so yeah I can't really say then, sorry." He gave a weak chuckle and smiled.
We left the airport with Desmond and Lucy; finally was comfortable again. Ezio, who was less than accustomed to such heat, bitched until we got to Jerusalem. "How do you live in such weather Altaïr? It's horrible! Why do we have to be here in the middle of summer? Couldn't we have brought Malik and Kadar out to Italy? This weather will dry my skin!"
"Ezio." my voice was cold and annoyed. "Shut up or I swear I will throw you into the ocean with lead tied to your ankles." I hid my face under the white hood, mumbling to myself. "Intolerant, ignorant fool." He took the hint and pouted with arms folded, looking away.
The peaceful landscape passed us by and I leaned my head against the glass. It returned to me. The emptiness tore at me; again. In everyone I met, it was there. Maria spoke to me with a nearly isolated tone. Leonardo showed it when he questioned why Maria visited him. And Lucy's eyes had a detached look to them as she cared for Desmond. Why was everything like this? Was no one truly pleased? I had no time to contemplate this; we had arrived.
We all got out of the van. Lucy, who had changed into a fitted white sleeveless shirt, shielded her eyes with her hand as she gazed at the magnificent city. "Where are we headed again? A map store right? Hey, Altaïr, we can probably pick up our two friends on the way. Of course, if that's alright."
Lucy was considerate to everyone and I admired that. "Yes. Where are they staying? I can maybe find a shortcut there." Before I knew it we were all free-running along the rooftops again. Lucy easily kept up with me as Desmond passed up Ezio and vice-versa. We reached the area where their friends stayed.
Without knocking, Lucy and Desmond opened the door to find a woman, still around our age, arguing with a young British man, who was the same. They stopped and stared for a second, smiling the girl ran over to give Lucy a hug. Her headphones bounced on her collarbone as her shoulder-length black hair became entangled with them. "Lucy! Desmond!" she cried while hugging Lucy. The girl looked up, "Who are these guys?"
"Yes," the Brit cut in. "Who are you people? Are you here for something? Well, come on, spit it out."
"Lucy invited us." Ezio chimed in. "We're on our way to see some old friends. Care to join us?"
"Uh-no. We have a lot of work to do and we can't lose too much time. So if if you'll please run along to your friend without us." His sarcasm was worse than mine.
"Shaun!" the girl had turned from Lucy to face him, scowling.
"What?"
"You're acting for the group again. Stop it." She turned to me and Ezio. "Sorry, we'd love to go; but we can't. I've got to run some diagnostics and Shaun's helping me. Maybe later?"
"Oh yes of course! Maybe when we aren't being chased by the whole bloody world!" Shaun obviously hated being distracted by us and continued to mumble under his breath. "Rebecca go run the tests please." The raven-haired girl frowned and returned to her work.
We had arrived at the map store just as Kadar was rushing out with a box of scrolls in his arms. "Altaïr! You've returned, and with reinforcements." he glanced at the party behind me. "You brought your brother, and who are your new friends?"
"Hi." Lucy smiled . "We hope you don't mind us here." She motioned to Desmond who stepped forward. "This is Desmond and I'm Lucy. Are you Malik?"
"No no I'm his brother Kadar." turning to me. "Let us go see Malik. He has been waiting for you. "He's inside. You'll have to forgive me. I need to deliver these maps to their collector." With that, he hurried off on his journey.
The bureau was clean with tiled floors and exotic pillows which surrounded a short, medium-sized table. Malik stood behind a large wooden desk with a new map laid out. He concentrated diligently on his work; tracing over the lines until he noticed our presence. Without looking up, Malik spoke slightly annoyed, "Altaïr, you brought more novices for me to train?"
I sighed; there was no way for me to impress him. So instead I played the same game in which I always lost. "No. They're just friends."
"Friends? I never knew you for the type to attract others."
"This is beside the point. We must discuss plans to protect the brotherhood. A woman has targeted me and we now believe she is in Acre. I don't know what she wants but she is most likely working for the Templars."
"You have no evidence of this? She confronted you, did she not?"
"Yes." I knew exactly where this was going. "She did directly talk to me."
"And she bore the Templar cross, right?"
I sighed again, "Yes."
"How do you know she targeted only you?" Malik stopped working on his map, set down his compass, and folded his arms.
"It was raining, I was distracted and alone, so yeah. She only targeted me. I should've killed her when I had the chance! I'm sorry that I'm an uncontrollable idiot!" I looked up from the ground, meeting his piercing black eyes.
Malik ran his hand through his raven hair. "You are such a novice." Each word dropped out slowly and sunk deeply into my mind.
Lucy stepped foreword and placed her hand on my back. Looking at Malik, "We're not novices when it comes to combat and gathering information. We can help you guys and take down these Templars."
Desmond and Ezio joined in, "We'll scour the city and we can report back later when we have adequate information on what we need to find." Malik nodded and they left.
I started for the door to join them when Malik stopped me. "No just wait until they return. Rest, prepare, cry in the corner, do whatever it is you do before a mission. Only do it quietly. I want you to stay here and look after the shop. I need to go into the market but when I return this building shouldn't be burned to the ground."
"Safety and peace brother Malik."
"Your presence here denies me both." He left without another word.
I was left alone again and could feel how Malik's annoyance tore at my emptiness even more. I crossed over into the neighboring room, laying down on the scattered pillows and rugs. My eyes grew heavy and sleep enveloped my mind. My body followed soon after.
