I'm going to make this Author Note short. AC Brotherhood is kick ass and I loved watching E3. Sorry, this chapter is fucking long-I'm going to learn how to cut down on writing these next few chapters...and it's sort of boring...god I hated this chapter.
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-SporkedGamer: (Between the last time you reviewed and the time I'm writing this now, you have become one of my good, good friends. :3 And I'm actually talking to you right now. haha Thanks for the support and everything!)
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Chapter 6: The Hidden Ties
It was only a moment that passed before time started to move normally again. The voices and the sounds all came back slowly, and I found myself at the edge of an oncoming battle. There were guards, too many guards now surrounding Ezio, who, from the looks of it, had advanced towards the platform with his sword drawn.
But there were too many guards for Ezio to handle-at least, as the skill that he was a now! He needed to get out of there, and fast!
However, I couldn't catch his eye, for the guards kept him well out of my sight. While I was desperately trying to search out for the man, I saw the sword that he had held in his hand fly through the air as he obviously had lost hold of it. In a blur, I managed to poke my way between the guards quickly, yelling at Ezio to "get the hell out of here! Run!"
Ezio managed to finally catch my gaze, and when he did, he reached his hand out to grab my arm and pull me towards him. At first I though he was giving me up as the target for the guards, but then he began to run in the opposite direction of the stage.
"What are you doing?"I yelled to him in a panic, struggling to keep up.
We exited the plaza and started running down the streets of Firenze, the loud sound of the guards armor clanking together behind us. Ezio didn't reply to my question and simply continued to run. We made a quick right, breaking the guards line of sight. From there, he continued to lead me to another main street where he stopped and turned to me quickly, putting his hands on my shoulders.
"Narina, you need to go that way," he breathed heavily, using a flick of his head to gesture over his shoulder. "Keep running that way until you find a safe place to hide."
"Wait!" I said in a panic. "W-what about you?"
"I'll go this other way to distract the guards so they won't chase you and you can get away."
"No," I stated firmly. "No,no,no no! I'm not leaving you behind!" Without thinking, I threw my arms around Ezio's neck, having to jump up from the ground to embrace him. "I can't lose you, Ezio," I whispered. "Not now..."
Ezio hesitated for a moment before pushing me back, looking me in the face again. His brown eyes were raging with so many emotions that I couldn't even understand what he was trying to tell me. "I'll be fine, Narina, I promise." He was about to say something else when suddenly the guards chasing us emerged from the alley way we had just ran out of.
Ezio pushed me in the direction he told me to go before taking off in his planned direction. I watched him for a split moment before sucking up my fear momentarily and running down the cobblestone streets.
I don't remember how long I ran for. Running wasn't even necessary because nobody was even following me. Maybe I was running from the truth, because it didn't hit me until I slowed down in a narrow alley way, far from were the execution had taken place.
I leaned against the one of the buildings that I was between, and I vacantly looked down at my feet for what seemed like hours. As I slid down slowly against the wall until I was sitting down on the ground, the scene was flashing through my mind uncontrollably. I could still see the three of them falling, I could still see the way the ropes dented into their necks as they reached the end of the slack in the rope. I could still hear their strangled, last breath, and the way their necks broke immediately. When I brought my knees to my chest, I closed my eyes and try to squeeze the memory away, tried to make it disappear, only when I did, I found something just out of the edge of my blackened memories.
I found the knowledge that I could have stopped it all.
It was my fault Giovanni, Petruccio and Federico were dead.
I couldn't hold it back longer-the tears, that is. Within a fine moment, I was hugging my knees tightly, and my sobs were muffled in the embrace, pressed against my knees. My tears were warm against my cheeks, but I felt so cold on the inside.
I could have stopped it...but...I didn't.
I wasn't going to blame my memory-loss, because I believed that if I had tried hard enough instead of goofing around, I probably could have remember and grasped the knowledge that I had needed to know to stop it...
Not only did I feel bad, but I had lost those who I considered my family now, and I only could imagine how Ezio felt right at that moment, for he had seen just as much as I had. Also, he ignored my only thing that made me feel worse was that Ezio probably wasn't going to cry about it-he was going to bottle it up inside.
And it was all my fault...
...wasn't it?
By the time I had gotten enough sense in my head to stagger out of my stupor, it was just after mid-day, the sun dangling more towards the west horizon now. My eyes felt puffy and my bottom lip was raw from biting on it so much, but I didn't really care. I walked out onto the Firenze streets, which had calmed considerably from that morning. I walked around the streets slowly, feeling numb and sluggish.
Plenty of unknown faces passed me before I found myself in front of the Auditore Villa, which was now empty, but full of all the memories that I could hold. I stared at the house for a moment.
"Narina?" I turned towards the voice and saw Ezio approaching me, his face darkened by his hood. I remembered that my face was effected from my whole day of crying, so I quickly bowed my head, for I didn't want Ezio to see for some reason. I didn't say anything as he approached me quickly. "Are you okay?" he asked in worry. I found that I couldn't truly answer him, so I kept my head down and my lips sealed. Ezio's hands were placed on my shoulders again. "Narina, did the guards hurt you?"
I shook my head slowly.
Ezio sighed with relief, letting go of my shoulders. "Come on, we need to get off the streets." He turned away from me.
Ever so suddenly, I felt a moment of panic, like he was going to leave me all alone. Without thinking, I reached out for Ezio's sleeve, gripping it with my fingers.
He stopped and looked back at me. "What? What is it?"
I didn't have to say a word. Ezio's face dropped when he looked at me, and he, too, didn't say a thing. He simply pulled me to his chest, wrapping his arms around me tightly. However, i couldn't bring myself to hug him back, so I simply buried my head into the crook under his shoulder.
"I've never seen someone die in front of my eyes before," I whispered into the white garb of Ezio's clothes. "Why'd it have to be Federico?" He didn't respond-probably because there was nothing to say.
Ezio was the first to break the embrace, telling me that we needed to go. Even when he offered me his arm to hold onto, I simply stayed with the action of holding onto his sleeve. For some odd reason, I felt more comfortable that way. I didn't want his comfort, really. I only wanted him to lead me because I wasn't sure anymore.
We made our way back through Firenze, heading to the bordello north of the Duomo.
"Annetta told me that her sister will gladly accept us into her home," Ezio explained as we weaved through the crowds, avoiding the guards at all costs. "There I will decide what to do next. We have to get out of Florence."
Although it crossed my mind to ask, I held back my question about whether I was going with them or not. We could talk about it later, anyway.
We arrived at the bordello, Ezio knocking on the door while I let go of him and stood by his side.
He looked down at me. "So, do you feel like this is a bad idea?"
I looked up at him to make sure that he was actually asking the question and not just making fun of me. When I realized that he was seriously asking, I was shocked. Was he really asking for my advice now? I shook my head slowly. "No. We'll be fine, I think." I was even doubtful about my own feelings. I felt as though I could no longer trust myself.
Ezio seemed like he disregarded my answer by the way he didn't respond, but I saw the acknowledgment within his eyes.
The door opened, and Annetta stood in front of us.
"Ser Ezio!" She said with relief. "Thank God you made it safely!" She looked at me, giving another sigh of relief. "And you even found Signora Narina!"
I kept my gaze away from her as Ezio took a hold of my elbow and led me into the Bordello interior.
Ezio hesitated when we walked into the fancy decorated room, dimly lit as if to set a mood for something, and I could feel his fingers tighten lightly around my arm.
"I uh, think we got the wrong place," Ezio murmured to Annetta.
"No," Annetta said for reassurance. "No, this is it."
I looked up through my eyelashes, watching many courtesans walk through the room, every so many stopping to gaze at Ezio with large smiles and hushed whispers. Much to my dismay, there was even a man sitting on one of the couches in the room, a girl sitting upon his lap, and sucking at his skin. Although it was gross, I was too out of it to really register them, and I adverted my gaze to the woman who was now approaching Ezio and I.
She wore a red dress with bright gold designs sewn into the fabric. She was probably around her mid was very pretty, but something niggled in the back of my mind to watch out-that she was dangerous. I recalled that it was the same feeling that I had with Giovanni, and I idly wondered if this woman, too, was part of the Creed.
She stopped in front of us, looking Ezio up and down. I didn't care enough at the moment to let it bother me. "It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance, Messer Ezio," the woman started, smiling lightly. "Annetta speaks quite highly of you." Another rake of her eyes. "I can see why."
From the corner of my eye, I could see that Ezio's answering smile was charming. "I appreciate the kind words, Madonna...?" Ezio trailed off, suggesting to the woman that she'd tell us her name. Or ratherhim. I had the feeling Ezio had totally forgotten that I stood at his side, which gave me the urge to pinch him, but once again, I failed to care even the slightest bit.
"Ti prego," the woman said, "call me Paola."
"Thank you, Paola, for offering your home to my family, Paola." Ezio said with a slight bow, knocking his hip into my side, making me take a step to regain my balance. He looked at me apologeticly, but I ignored his look and kept my eyes lowered.
"It was the least I could do," Paola said generously, and then I felt her eyes upon me. "Who is this young lady, Ezio?" I felt as though I wanted to disappear at her question-I didn't want anyone looking at me right now. I felt as though I should have been punished and ignored.
"This is our family friend, Narina," Ezio explained, putting a hand to my shoulder. "She doesn't remember anything about her past." Ezio knocked on his head with his knuckles. "Hit her head pretty hard. She's been living with our family the past couple of days."
"So I've been told." Both Ezio and I looked up to her. She smiled and said "You're probably tired, perhaps you would like to..."
"No, grazie," Ezio refused, "but I cannot stay."
"Why?" Paola asked, as if she were ready for this. "Where are you going?"
Ezio looked down at me, and I finally acknowledged his gaze and looked back up to him as well. I nodded slightly, and he turned away from both of us. "To kill Uberto Alberti."
Looking at me, I think Paola understood that this is what I wanted as well-to seek for this man and put him to rest. She turned back to Ezio. "I understand your desire for vengeance, but the Gonfaloniere is a powerful man." Paola stopped for a moment, taking a step towards the young man. "You are not a killer Ezio..."
Ezio was already shaking his head, and waved his hand to cut her off. "Spare me the lecture," he said gruffly, thinking she was about to preach about morals. But I saw within Paola's eyes an ally and a person who would willingly help us. She was no more dangerous to us than Giovanni had, and I finally understood her position.
"Hear her out, Ezio," I said in a whisper to the Auditore. He gave me a long look, looking into my eyes which I bet were still red and still puffy. "We can trust her." But could we trust me? I was slowly starting to get the confidence back in my odd and strange feelings twisting around inside of me.
Paola looked at me with a grateful smile when Ezio sighed, and turned back to the woman. She reached out to touch Ezio's shoulder. "But I can teach you, Ezio."
Ezio was skeptical. "An why are you going to teach me how to kill?" He scoffed, taking a step away from her touch.
"I'm not," Paola said. "I'm going to teach you how to survive." She stopped and looked me as well. "Both of you. Come." She led us through the room and through the back door of the Bordella, walking us out into a small garden area with several groups of courtesans standing inside.
Once she stopped, she looked back at us. "Discretion is paramount in my profession," Paola explained with a light smile. "We must walk the streets freely: seen, but unseen. You must also learn how to blend you two. For your own protection. You must learn to become one with the cities crowds." Paola gestured to the courtesans around us, and they all started to crowd around us-well, Ezio actually. I managed to click out of my blankness for a moment to dodge them, and found myself next to Paola, who was smirking at me.
I shook my head at her. "That was a close one," I told her in a whisper.
Paola laughed lightly. "Ezio is seeming to enjoy it." I looked over to the young man, who was smiling like a madman as the young ladies surrounded him, saying many flirtations to him.
I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, he would."
Paola looked at me for a moment. "You do not seem as upset as I thought you would."
I looked at her, twisting my face up into confusion. "What do you mean?" Couldn't she see that I was a wreck? Couldn't she see my puffy, red eyes? Didn't I look upset? Because I was. I was mad at myself, I was mad at the world at the moment.
Paola gestured towards Ezio again, making me look at him. "My sources tell me that you have been with him these past few days-climbing roofs together while he gave you lifts upon his back."
I wanted to groan in frustration when I realized what she was getting at. "It's not like that," I told her with a small huff, becoming more angry and upset.
Paola smiled at me like she had a secret. "Are you sure?"
I threw her a look, having to look up at her. "Yes, I'm sure. Ezio and I were never like that. It was always..." I trailed off, picturing the face of Ezio's eldest brother. My hand found it's way to tighten around the necklace that still laid against my skin.
Paola must have seen my discomfort, because she let the subject drop and instead of pushing me further, she beckoned to Ezio to follow her. "Let's see how well you can blend without getting caught by the guards." She turned towards me. "Come as well, Narina. This is a skill you will most certainly use later on."
I wasn't even sure if Ezio was going to take me with him on his 'adventure', but I decided to humor her, anyways, because I wasn't in the mood to stand around with the scantily dressed women.
"Remember," Paola told us again before we left from under the archways leading into the garden. "Hide among the crowds."
Paola started to walk down the street ahead of us. Ezio glanced down to me, reaching up and bringing his hood back over his face.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," I mumbled, brushing past him to stand next to a group of men, who gave me an odd look. I smiled at them sweetly, brushing past them to continue to follow Paola. I was going to look back for Ezio, but he passed me quietly, making sure to bump into my arm. I decided that he was trying to egg on a race-a race that I wasn't in any mood for. So I ignored him. I was sure the guards weren't even looking for me, but Paola was right. If I were to travel with Ezio these next couple of years, I would have to know how to become hidden.
We managed to walk around the Bordello without getting caught by the guards.
"Bene!" Paola praised. "Now that you've learned to blend, I'll show you how to use it for more than just moving. Let's teach you how to steal."
"I'm out," I said before Paola could continue. "I bet it's nice to have money, but my standards won't allow me to take money from other people." Ezio shrugged at me, telling me in his way that I was missing out. I once again ignored him and stood under the shade of the garden roof above us. Paola nodded to me and began to tell Ezio the basics of stealing from people and how to make it look like an accidental bump.
"Once you steal from someone, Ezio, you mustn't linger! Use your blending techniques to get away without suspicion." Paola gestured out to the streets again. "Go, and use your new ability to your advantage. Don't get caught by the guards now." Ezio eagerly left for the streets like a puppy, bounding across the stone road.
I stared after him silently and Paola walked up next to me.
"May I ask you something-and don't be offended please."
I gave her a cautious look, then I looked back to the ground. "Sure, go ahead."
"My girls tell me they saw you go to the bank the other day to speak with Giovanni."
I felt very defiled suddenly, realizing that people had been spying on me the whole time I've been here in Florence. "So I take it that you're part of the Creed as well, then?" I asked, disregarding her earlier statement.
Paola grinned, but I saw the surprise in her eyes. "You can tell?"
I tried to smile back at her, but failed miserably. "I don't know why, but I can spot you Assassin's out like you were a sore thumb."
" 'You assassin's?'" Paola repeated my phrase. "You look much too innocent to be a Templar, my dear child, but you use that phrase so distastefully," Paola commented, still smiling.
I shrugged. "Giovanni told me that, too, but I'm not so sure anymore. I can't remember anything, so I'm not sure."
Paola touched my cheek suddenly, forcing me to look up at her. Her dark eyes gleamed brightly. "You're not, trust me. I can spot Templars out from a mile away, child, and you are not one of them. And even if you were, although you have lost your memory, you wouldn't have allowed yourself to get so attached to the Auditores."
Which reminded me-half of them were dead now. And it was partially my fault. I felt the sadness kick in again, and Paola dropped her hand from my face to my shoulder. But once again, I didn't want the comfort. I wanted to be strong, so that I might be able to use this odd and unique power that I had. So I dodged out from under her hand, and walked over to the other side of the garden to lean against the Bordella.
Ezio returned not too longer after that, showing Paola all of the money that he had retrieved from the people walking the Firenze streets. Paola praised him yet again, then told her "girls" that they could leave now.
"Do we have to?" One whined, and the urge to punch them finally hit me.
Ezio just grinned at them, and I had the sudden urge to punch him instead of the girls.
"Now that you know how to approach your enemy openly, Ezio, it's time to find you a weapon."
Ezio turned his attention to Paola, tearing his eyes from the fleeing courtesans' backsides. He frowned, getting serious. "And what would you have me use, exactly?"
The woman laughed lightly under her breath. "I think you already have the answer to that, Ezio." She held out the broken arm bracer that Ezio had taken out of the chest back at the Villa. I couldn't imagine how she had gotten it, and I could see that Ezio was puzzled as well.
"My father's blade and bracer! How did you-?"
"By the same techniques that I just taught you," Paola cut him off, grinning widely. Ezio reached out and took the bracer from her hands.
"It's not exactly in working condition," Ezio mumbled, looking at the broken contraption in his hands.
"You've hear of Leonardo Da Vinci, no?" Paola asked.
The name reminded me that I truly looked up to the man, and that sort of put me in a better mood.
"Si." Ezio hesitated, giving Paola a long look. "But where does a painter come into the picture?"
Paola chuckled, turning her head away as if to hide her smile. "He is far more than a painter, Ezio. Bring him the pieces, and you'll see." Paola took hold of Ezio's hands, telling him to blend in with the crowds on his way to Leonardo's. She turned to me. "Are you leaving as well, Narina?"
I pushed myself off the wall, walking up to Ezio. "Si." Paola nodded to both of us, walking into the bordella.
Ezio led me down the street a ways, hiding among the crowds, before I told him "I told you Leonardo wasn't just a painter."
Ezio looked down at me from under his hood for a long moment, and I was surprised to see the thankful twinkle in his eye. It took me the rest of the way to Leonardo's house to figure out that Ezio was glad that I wasn't rubbing in the fact that my anticipation of his family's death, which he had scoffed at, had came true.
As we managed to get to Leonardo's door, Ezio reached up to lower his hood. He knocked on the door twice before inviting himself in, walking into the studio. I followed closely behind, the feeling of anticipation setting in. When we walked to the bottom of the steps that led down into the studio, Leonardo appeared from his workshop.
He stopped in surprise at the sight of us. "Ezio? Narina?" He blinked as if to shake away the shock. "I-I wasn't expecting to see you again, after all that has happened with the..." My eyes lowered, and Leonardo had trailed off at the sight of my discomfort. "Ah, were are my manners! It's good to see you two again!" Leonardo threw a hug onto Ezio at first, and then hugged me into him as well, which was odd, considering that I only had met the guy once before.
"Now, what are you two doing here?"
Ezio held out the bracer. "I was wondering if you could fix this for me?"
Leonardo was excited, and it made me smile lightly. "Of course, of course! Come, this way." He led us over to a table, of which he looked down upon with a certain disgust. "Ah, che pasticcio...Tutto il santo giorno che cerco...Let me clear a space." He murmered, moving away all of the papers that covered the surface. "Alright, set it down here, Ezio."
As Ezio placed the bracer down on the table and Leonardo looked at it, I began to wonder around the studio, gazing at all of the weird items Leonardo had, studying his art supplies that were strewn all about the room.
Leonardo sighed. "I don't know, Ezio. Despite it's age, the construction is rather advanced. I've never seen anything quite like it..." Leonardo sighed again. "I'm afraid that there is nothing that I can do without the original plans. Mi dispiace."
I turned to look at the two, and saw that Ezio was giving me an exasperated look. I shrugged, pursing my lips, saying that we'd have to find another way. Ezio went to grab for the bracer, but Leonardo suddenly pushed away Ezio's reaching hand.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Leonardo moved aside the bracer and the blade, revealing a scroll that was hidden under the bracer. He opened up the scroll and lay it out onto the table, bending over to look at it.
"What are you doing?" Ezio asked in confusion as I walked back towards the table.
"The contents of this page are encrypted!" Leonardo explained. "But if my theory is correct...based on these sketches, it may very well..." He faded off, looking between the book that he had opened up for a reference and the scroll that was with the bracer.
Ezio became impatient. "It may very well what?"
Leonardo only looked up to him for a moment. "Please," he said, gesturing towards the seat in front of the desk. "Sit."
Ezio wasn't about to give up. "Leonardo!" He asked, exasperated.
"Shh," Leonardo said, keeping his eyes on the scroll. I smiled, seeing that once Leonardo was started on one of his passions, nothing was going to stop him. Ezio sighed, and walked around the desk, to sit in the chair. I smirked at him as he plopped into the chair with a sigh, and he looked up to me. He smiled back at me, and, strangely enough, he reached out and took my hand into his. I thought for a moment that he was going to pull me towards him, but he just held it in his hand.
I looked at him for a moment while Leonardo went on about how fascinating the code was. Ezio looked at me solemnly. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you," he murmured slowly, squeezing onto my hand. "I should have listened to you."
His words caught me off guard, and I felt an unexpected wave of tears in my eyes. I pressed my lips together to stop them from quivering, but Ezio saw it. He stared sadly into my eyes, pulling me closer to him so that I was standing next to him. From there, he reached up and cupped my face. Realization that I did want a little comfort hit me, and I leaned into his touch ever so slightly.
Then I pulled away, shaking my head at him, telling him that it didn't matter anymore. "You should get some rest," I told him, keeping my gaze away. "I know that you didn't sleep well last night."
After a few minutes, Ezio had fallen asleep, and after an hour or so, Leonardo finished decoding the scroll, and proceeded to take the bracer and blade back into his workshop, leaving me alone to wonder around the studio, looking at all the books on the shelves. Within a few moments, Leonardo came back out of his workshop and asked me to come help him out for a bit.
Before we walked back into the workshop, Leonardo paused to look at Ezio. "He was tired, huh?"
I looked at Ezio too. "Yeah." I hesitated. "This whole thing probably has more of an effect on him than it did on me, yet he has no way to express it." I looked down, feeling guilty again. "He has to hold it inside. I can't help but feel bad."
Leonardo took a hold of my shoulder, leading me back into his work shop. "Narina," he said quietly. "Have you heard of the saying that all bad things happen for a reason?"
I nodded. "Yes, but no wise word is going to stop the bleeding," I said without thinking, then paused to realize that the words had just spilled unintentionally out of my mouth.
"Touche," Leonardo allowed with a grin, wagging his finger at me. "But think about it Narina-we're all here for a reason. That reason is just what most people are figuring out."
I was shaking my head before he finished. "But I feel so out of place, like I don't belong here."
Leonardo smirked. "But you are here." With that, Leonardo put the bracer and blade on the table, spreading out the paper that he had just deciphered.
It took us a good three more hours to get the brace in working condition-well, it took Leonardo that long. I just sat there in his way the whole time, pondering on the whole reason why I was even there. Leonardo was surely one to get you thinking, which gave me another reason to admire him even more. Before we left the workshop, Leonardo stopped and drew closer to the paper again.
"Amazing!' He exalted. "It says here that the older version of this blade use to require the sacrifice of ones ring finger in order to actually use the blade!"
"Sort of like a commitment, then? Kind of like getting married," I noted, realizing that it was the ring finger even. I looked at the door leading out into the studio, and I smiled lightly. "Hey, Leonardo, let's have some fun and play a joke on Ezio with the whole 'sacrifice ring finger' thing."
Leonardo laughed. "Of course, of course." He gathered the bracer. "Go wake him up for me, will you?"
I exited the workshop and approached the sleeping Ezio in the chair, his dark head bowed against his chest.
I stopped in from of him, and squatted down so that I could look up at his sleeping face. I had never seen him sleep before, and he looked so innocent and content, his face soft and warm instead of mischievous. I didn't want to wake him up, but Leonardo was now exiting out of the workshop, so I reached out and gave Ezio's shoulder a few shakes.
"Ezio, wake up. C'mon!"
Ezio blinked a few times, lifted his head slowly,as if he forgot where he had been. It took him a moment to focus on me, his brown eyes hazed over with sleep, but when he did, he lightly smirked, and the mischievousness returned.
"Hey, Narina," he murmured, reaching out to ruffle my hair. I nearly dodged him, but his fingers ended up getting weaved into my hair.
"Hey, Ezio," I said in return. "It's finished."
Ezio gave me an odd look, lightly tugging at my hair. "What's finished?"
"The blade," Leonardo said behind me, making me stand and turn towards him, breaking free from Ezio's touch. "Once I deciphered the page, it was very easy-it told me exactly what to do." Leonardo made his way around the table and approached Ezio, the contraption in hand. Ezio made a move to grab it, but Leonardo held it away. "Now all we have to do is remove your ring finger." Leonardo held up his other hand, a large butcher knife in his grasp.
"What?" Ezio asked in surprise, clenching his left hand. I tried not to smile, but I couldn't help it, so I turned towards the bookshelves, acting like I couldn't watch.
"The weapon requires a form of 'commitment', a sacrifice to know that you really need it." I saw Ezio turn to me from the corner of my eye, so I turned away more to hide my smile
After a moment of silence, Ezio sighed. "Bene. Take it off." I turned to him, shocked that he was actually willing to do it. He had stretched his ring finger out onto the table, turning his head away.
Leonardo held up the knife. "This will only hurt a bit." In a swift moment, Leonardo brought the knife down, and I thought for a moment that he really did cut off Ezio's finger, but when I actually looked, he only delved the knife into the table next to Ezio's hand.
Ezio looked at his hand, shocked.
"I was only having fun, Ezio. Although the blade once required a sacrifice, it's been modified." Leonardo put the fixed assassin's blade bracer into Ezio's hands. "You can keep your finger." Ezio was still in a disarray, and his expression made me laugh out loud. He shook his head at me, but a small smile played his lips.
"Thank you, Leonardo, I-"
There were loud knocks on the door suddenly, shouts echoing through the room. "By the order of the Florentine guard, open up the door!"
I gave Ezio a concerned look, and immediately went to his side.
"Eh, I'll be right there!" Leonardo turned to us. "Stay here, alright?" We nodded and Leonardo went to answer the door.
"Are you Leonardo Da Vinci?" The guard asked, trying to peer into the room.
"Ah, yes, that is me. What can I do for you?"
"I need you to answer a few questions."
"Of course! Here, let's take a step outside..." Leonardo walked outside, leaving the door open a tiny bit.
Ezio immediately took a hold of my elbow. "Venire, we have to get out of here."
"But Ezio, what about Leonardo? That guard might do something to him!"
Ezio hesitated when we got to the door, pull his hood down over his face again. "We'll check up on him before we leave." It was near nightfall in Florence now, the sky darkening, the stars starting to peep out, the golden and red sunset faded with every moment.
Ezio kept a hold of my elbow as we walked past the courtyard of Leonardo's shop, both of us looking into it to find the Guard and Leonardo talking.
"...the last time you were in contact with Ezio Auditore?" The guard asked, obviously fed up with Leonardo judging by the sound of his voice.
"Who?" Leonardo asked, using the card of not even knowing Ezio at all.
"Non fare il finto tonto! We know you were close with the family!" Leonardo gave no response and the guard had finally had enough. "Perhaps this will help you clear your head!" The guard proceeded to push Leonardo to the ground, and from their started to kick Leonardo in the side. I sight made my stomach roll so uncomfortably.
I gripped onto Ezio's arm, the tears already filling my eyes. "Ezio, stop him! Stop him!"
Ezio didn't need another reason, and broke from my hold and ran into the courtyard. The guard didn't even get to see his death coming, Ezio ran up silently behind him and used the newly fixed blade to press into the guards side, who groaned quietly and fell to the ground after a stagger or two.
I ran over to Leonardo to help him stand up. "Are you okay?" I whispered to him.
Leonardo nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm use to their abuses."
"I'm sorry for all of this," Ezio claimed, realizing that it was sort of his fault. "What should we do with the body?"
Leonardo dusted himself off. "Just bring it in and put it with the others."
"Others?" Both Ezio and I asked with shock at the same time.
"The city gives them to me for research."
Ezio picked up the guards body into his arms, and followed Leonardo and I back into the Studio. There, Ezio placed the body on the floor, and turned to Leonardo.
"There," Leonardo said with a grin. "Like it never happened."
"Thank you Leonardo-for everything," Ezio said with true gratitude.
"Anytime! By the way, Ezio, if you ever find any more pages like the one that was with the blade and bracer, bring them to me. Some of them may hold designs so I can upgrade your blade even more!"
"Of course." Ezio looked at me and nodded. "We really should be getting back to Paola now."
Leonardo nodded knowingly. "Please, send her my regards."
As we left the studio and once again blending among the crowds, I looked up to Ezio. "Is it weird that all of the people who can help us to most all know each other? It's like, there's hidden ties throughout the city, maybe even the whole country."
"Would that be surprising?" Ezio asked. "Maybe this is all a known wide group or something."
It is, I thought. And you're a part of it now, whether you know it or not.
I realized that Ezio still had no idea who his Father really was, and what he was now taking on. I don't think he realized that he was in much farther than he had anticipated, and that he was now one of those hidden ties.