A/N I used the layout of the castle from the game, the reality is very different. There is no river around the castle just the city in front and a hospital behind; everything else is as real as I could make it. And Maria's headache is actually my own after writing that horrible conversation they have, I know nothing about philosophy and don't pretend to but the story is about a man who is all about that shit SO I gave it a go nothing more. If it's really bad then fine shoot me but if it's passable for being a small section of an amateurish fanfic then skim over it and let it slide please :)


Maria lifted her head off the pillow and squinted around the room, it took her a few seconds to register that the soft tapping sound she was hearing was someone knocking. She crossed the room and cautiously opened the door a few inches and was greeted by a surprised grin.

"I was about to give up and come back later, I didn't want to knock too loud Altair said you hadn't had much sleep. If you are still tired I can always come back later." His accent was one Maria was instantly familiar with, his Sean Connery style "s" told her he was Dutch.

She found herself naturally returning his infectious smile, "No I had a nice nap I'm fine for now. Is there something I can do for you?"

"More like what I can do for you. Altair had been delayed at the hospital and he is concerned you haven't eaten yet, he called to suggest maybe you would like to join me for food?"

She checked her watch and saw she had slept for almost two hours. "Erm, yeah that would be lovely I am rather peckish." Pointing inside she asked, "Do you want to come in I just need to shove on some shoes? I'm Maria by the way."

His face went an utterly charming shade of red, "Felix Van Aalst, sorry I forgot my manners." He stayed in the doorway with his foot holding the door ajar.

Sitting on the bed she put on her walking boots, the only useful footwear she had brought with her and regarded her young escort. He had a wild crop of blonde hair and the hoariest beard she had seen on any man who didn't give his address as a cardboard box. She guessed this was an attempt to hide his youth, he couldn't be much more than 18, "So how is it you find yourself here Felix, I didn't think Syria was on the go to list for European travellers right now?"

He shrugged, "I've lived in the middle east for 3 years I came to Masyaf about four months ago."

"Masyaf wouldn't have been my destination of choice, it doesn't compare to Damascus."

His response was short and enigmatic, "Never the less it is where I am."

"Altair told you not to speak to me, didn't he?"

His cheeks blushed an even deeper red than before, "I have just to take you to dinner there were no further instructions."

She seriously doubted that but decided to let it go for now, "Okay forget Masyaf what can you tell me about yourself?"


They ate chicken Shawarma in a small street cafe as Felix told Maria almost nothing about himself, except to say he was 19 and had been studying philosophy further east but necessity had made him travel to Syria to continue his education.

The less he said the more her interest grew but she could see he wasn't going to volunteer anything and turned the conversation to the castle, dominating the entire old town where they now sat.

"Is it open to the public?"

He followed her gaze to the imposing structure on the hill, "Yes but it closed for today, you can go for a visit tomorrow."

"I'll be leaving for Damascus first thing so if not tonight then I won't get a chance."

His grin told her he knew a secret, "There is a way in for you but you would not have long to explore there is not much daylight left. I can't accompany you there, I have other things to attend to but it's not hard to navigate the ruins, find your way back to daylight and the exit is easy from there."

"Just point me in the right direction."

She enjoyed the short walk up the dusty hill; there was something about rugged terrain that made her feel more adventurous, probably because she was a Londoner born and bred and anything that wasn't concrete or grass was almost an Indiana Jones movie setting to her. He led her past the car park and down a short flight of steps.

"This is the entrance used by staff, it is actually easier to access than the main gate you will have no problem finding your way back to it."

She smiled as she passed him in the open doorway, "Thank you Felix, I'm a bit of a history buff so I'm going to enjoy this."


Kadar and Altair were beside him and Malik was feeling the effects of the drugs and struggling to process what the man at the foot of the bed had said. He looked to his right hand there was a drip attached to it but his left hand was bare, grey but bare. It was dead, according to the doctor at least and Malik had no reason to disagree; he felt nothing below the excruciating pain in his shoulder but still to call it dead...

He looked to Altair and for once the man's face was an open book; this was killing him and why not? It was his bullet which had torn through the tissue, muscle and bone and rendered Malik's left arm "dead, irreparable." He felt vile tasting bile rise in his throat and swallowed it back down, "Take it."

Those words had taken him an hour to say but Malik would have argued that it was minutes, seconds even. Neither of his brothers had interfered with his thoughts they had sat beside him waiting to see what he would say and when he uttered the words both men looked to the ground.

He felt panic bubble in his stomach then progress to his chest in no time it would be in his throat and he would be in danger of screaming. "Please act now, get it done quickly."

They could all see the fear taking hold of him and the doctor acted quickly, sliding a needle into his left arm and pushing the contents into his veins. Malik turned his head to the men beside him; tears were forming and blurring his vision but he could still see them, his eyes closed two, three times. His lids felt heavy but they were still there, one last time he forced his eyes open and saw them and knew they wanted to share his pain but it was his alone to bear.

The hospital waiting room felt oppressive despite the mid evening temperature having cooled significantly and both men decided to take some air. Altair had explained to Kadar what had happened and the young man still a novice in the order they served could imagine it almost shot by shot.


"Her high pitched scream caused confusion and panic among the men and all hell broke loose." Malik drew first and fired two shots into the chest of the guard closest to him and before he had time to fall the assassin's gun was shooting the next bullets into his partner. Altair almost simultaneously began firing and the men on either side of their target fell. This was going to plan so far. Four of the eight lay dead before they had even drawn a weapon in defence and the screaming woman was still standing in front of the president. Two of the grey suited men as predicted frantically looked to make an escape the first ran back to the building the second ran into the road. Altair would have the rest of his life to regret not shooting him but he was a civilian and not a target so he had let him go.

The guard behind Assad got his gun out of his holster but Altair shot him before he could aim. Malik moved to the side but Assad was being covered by two men he shot one in the head and had the other in his sights when he heard tyres screeching. The man who had run into the road was hit head on by a car and the car behind swerved onto the pavement to avoid hitting him; instead he hit the bottom stair and then Malik finally stopping only when the woman who had been screaming was under its wheels.

Malik was thrown to the ground mostly unhurt but one of the remaining guards had his gun pointing at his head. Malik sprang to his feet with staggering speed, causing the man to question what he had just witnessed but that was a luxury he had no time for. Altair's first bullet struck him the neck, his second caught him in the back of the head and his third all but tore off Malik's left arm.

A bullet whizzed past his right ear and he spun firing two more rounds in the man behind him, more guards were running from the building and Malik was on the ground. He took three steps towards his target but the remaining guard had thrown him back into a crowd of people most of whom fell on or around him.

There was no way he was going to massacre all those people to get to one man; they would live to fight another day. He grabbed Malik and they both ran around the side of the building disappearing into the El Arsouzy Park behind it. They could hear the incessant cracking of gun fire behind them mixed in with screams but they kept moving knowing Abbas would be waiting for them.


"Has anyone seen Abbas?"

Altair rolled his head around his shoulders enjoying the resulting crack, "No, I have people looking for him but as yet he hasn't surfaced."

He watched as Felix approached them across the car park, there was no sign of Maria.

Kadar and Felix embraced as brothers and Altair shifted his gaze to give them a moment.

"Maria has eaten and is now exploring the castle I would have accompanied her but we had to find places for the woman and children Rauf brought in from the burned out village."

Altair nodded and looked first toward the castle then the sky, there was not much daylight left and if she was underground when it got dark it could be dangerous for her. "You stay with Kadar I am going to make certain she finds her way out; the woman has no sense of danger. I'll be back before Malik is out of surgery."


He found her coming up from the lower passages she was standing in the open ruins of would once have been the main hallway looking where to go next.

"The view from the garden is spectacular."

She turned sharply but visibly relaxed when she recognised her unexpected companion. "You must have spent a few summers in ninja camp, I never heard you coming."

She looked like any other tourist with her camera in hand and her over-sized bag slung over her shoulder; he raised his arm towards the remnants of a stair case. "We go up here and through the arch."

She could only gasp as she walked under the arch and entered the terraced garden. Even now in ruins it still signs alluding to its former glory and Maria couldn't help but feel some regret that she would never see it. She looked behind her and saw a balcony, "Strange, I never saw that above the stairs."

"It can be accessed from a hallway above but excavations are incomplete and it is unsafe to go there."

He led her around and explained what various things could have been and led her down to the middle tier. "The bottom tier would offer the best views but underfoot is treacherous so it is blocked off to all."

"I found info on Google it was once home to an order called Assassins. Is that who you model yourself on?"

He didn't want to lie to her but the idea of telling her he was in fact a member of the ancient brotherhood seemed too dangerous. Anonymity was the best weapon they had and he couldn't be sure she would keep their secret; after all exposing what is hidden was her job.

"The Assassin's Creed was a noble one, the ideas they followed were honourable but the order disappeared into the world over 1000 years ago. No one had ever been able to unearth any of their books or documents and so they are lost to history." It wasn't an answer but she seemed content with the information.

"I love how different everything is here especially when you leave the major cities, it's almost like we live on different planets."

"Is London your home?"

"Yes it is have you ever been?"

She wasn't the least surprised when he said yes, he had that worldly look about him; Maria suspected he had seen far more of the world than she had. She sat on the dusty remains of what once had been a wall and looked at the sun beginning to set gifting the world with a beautiful orange hue.

"You know what your friend said at the hospital today is true, I am wealthy or at least my family is and being here has made me feel horrible for the life I take for granted."

He joined her on the wall, "Nothing is true Maria."

She scoffed, knowing it was rude but his statement took her by surprise. "I'm sorry but you sounded like a guy I went to uni with but he smoked far too much weed."

He shrugged, "That was what the assassins believed and it is also what I believe. It allows you to break free from what we are conditioned to believe."

"If nothing is true then that statement can't be true either, it refutes itself. Felix told me he was studying philosophy but he never said it was this philosophical nihilism nonsense."

"Philosophy is only part of it we question all things believing them to be nothing more than an illusion. Religion, politics even morality. It was all created to lead people in a direction that suited their masters."

"I understand your point but I'm equally sure that the things I know are real and true, I learned this from experience and understanding."

"Maria absolute Truth can only exist within your own perceptions; beyond that they are open to the manipulation and scrutiny and would not stand."

She groaned she hated this meaning of existence crap... "Knowledge is unshakable. I understand faith and opinions are relative to whoever perceives them but empirical data is untouchable. The sky is up and the ground is down, that is the absolute simplicity of truth."

"If we never question what we know to be true then we would be living on a flat earth with woman being burned as witches. The creed in its entirety is nothing is true, everything is permitted. It frees your mind and allows you to dismiss what you previously thought was acceptable or accepted based on the permission society has granted a specific deed or thought process."

Her head was beginning to hurt, "So nothing is true and everything is permitted? That's a handy way of doing what you want when you want and feeling no remorse."

"Maria you said yourself you are the daughter of a wealthy man and you accepted the truth of Farim's implication that you were somehow trying to atone for that."

"No I didn't I said I was wealthy I never intended to give credence to his entire statement."

"I don't see her, this rich man's daughter. I see a stranger who stopped and risked her own safety to help us. Whatever your reasons for this doesn't alter the fact that these actions don't support the opinion you have of yourself." He faced her, "The truth is dependent on who perceives it."

The sun had almost entirely sunk into the horizon and Maria walked to the edge of the garden, Altair joined her there. "I have to get back to the hospital Malik's surgery will be over soon. The amputation will take around 2 hours and I want to be there."

When they first entered the garden he told her Malik's arm was being removed but when he spoke of it he seemed so lost that Maria had allowed him to quickly change the subject. Now again with his thoughts back on his friend she could see how much this was affecting him.

"I'm so sorry I wish it could have ended differently." Then Maria Thorpe surprised them both.

She stood next to him and got up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood still for a few seconds not sure how to respond. Then he felt her hand patting his shoulder and her grip on his neck loosen and his body responded for him. His arms snaked around her body and he pulled her closer to his chest. His head found a comfortable niche on her shoulder and he let it rest there.

Minutes later she pulled away a little and planted a kiss on the side of his mouth. She was about to suggest they make their way back to town but he tightened his hold on her before she could fully separate from him.

He brought his hand to her cheek as his honey coloured eyes scanned her face for possible resistance, there was none. "Stay a moment longer."

She could only nod, her reason had fled.

His hand stroked her cheek before sliding into her hair and down to her neck; she closed her eyes allowing his touch to enthral her senses. She felt his lips brush against her own and hers eagerly returned the contact. His lips felt every bit as incredible as she had imagined they would and more. Her tongue caressed his scar and she felt, actually felt his need for her grow, she heard him groan as he pulled her closer still, trying to eliminate even the slightest distance which existed between their bodies.

Their mouths came apart leaving both slightly breathless and Maria knew the moment had passed.

He said "Malik, I must go..."

She nodded and looked down at her dusty shoes, licking her lips and wondering what the hell had just happened. She felt his hand below her chin then he lifted her face back to his and he kissed her again, a succession of soft sweet touches.

This time she moved away more decisively and lead them both back inside the ruins. Once they emerged into the dark night at the top of the hill Maria felt him tugging her arm, bringing her back to the door way, back to him. The kiss that followed was deeper and more passionate than she would have believed possible, his hands left a trail of heat along her sides and her body reacted to even the smallest movement from him.

The urge to lead him inside and let this take its course was powerful but she knew he needed to be with his friend. "Okay, stop. You have to go now and I need to find Felix to feed me." She smiled trying to give the impression of control.

He walked her down the hill and into the old town and despite her protests he took her to the apartment entrance. She had prepared herself for their parting to be perfunctory, as soon as they were back among people his calm demeanour instantly returned and she knew this wasn't a man who was going to stand in a street kissing anyone.

"Felix may well be at the hospital with Kadar."

She grinned looking up and down the street noticing the wealth of food stands, "Doesn't matter I'm not exactly stuck for choice now am I?"

He smiled but it looked sad to her and as he walked away she wondered if he was really as lonely as he looked. She fancied it was her wishful thinking; he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen women would throw themselves at him. She looked to the stalls and decided she wasn't hungry after all then turned climbing the stairs to her apartment.


And I'm stuck for now so next update could be a while but you never know the idea bunny might decide to pay me a visit.