Chapter Six:
The Eye of the Storm
1511
"I can honestly say that this didn't go as I'd planned," Ezio said to me. "Then again, when does anything I plan go as I wish it to?"
"Si, you are notorious for plans going wrong," I agreed readily.
Ezio looked at me in surprise. "Gravemente?"
"No. I mean, you managed to cause the fall of the Borgia. You actually plan very well."
We were both silent for a time before Ezio cleared his throat. "Sofia, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
Ezio sighed. "I have come because there was a letter addressed to my father, a year before my birth. It spoke of a library in Masyaf that held all of Altair's knowledge. You could say I am here on a pilgrimage."
I nodded. "You could say that I am on a pilgrimage as well. Just visiting family."
"You have family still here?"
I shook my head. "No. All of my biological family are gone now."
Ezio tapped his foot against the ground. We heard the guards coming, and I guess that was prompt for Ezio to ask one last question.
"Sofia, I know you have said that you promised Altair that you would guard his family…" He paused to see me nod. "I wonder why it is then, that you would be guarding a family that is not his? I know we are not descended of Altair."
I smiled as the guards opened the door to our cell. "Let's just say that I took an interest in Domenico Auditore, who was the Apprentice of Dante Alighieri when I met him. He was stubborn but wise, like you. And he had this look about him that reminded me of Sef, my brother."
Ezio and I quieted down as the guards approached and dragged us to the top of the tower, where only a few hundred years ago I had taken my first Leap of Faith. I saw two nooses, one in a guard's hand and another in Leandros' hand. I knew that I would survive, but I started to worry for Ezio.
Just as I thought of him, Ezio shook off the guards and started walking towards the place where I had taken my first steps as a Master Assassin. He walked right by Leandros, who pushed him as an incentive to keep him moving.
I got to my feet as well and walked to the plank at Ezio's left. Ezio was staring at the plank to his right, and then looked at the mountains. The guard behind me took my hood off just as Leandros did to Ezio. Leandros fastened to noose around Ezio's neck just as I heard an eagle's cry.
Hm. Altair's watching us, I thought with a smile as the noose went around my neck.
I heard a sudden sound that sounded like it was close to crushing bone. I took that as my cue. I kicked backwards and smashed the guard in the face. He was still desperately holding onto the rope. I ran off of the plank and used my momentum to swing me around. I landed on top of the plank on my back, but now the guard was holding onto the rope, desperately trying to climb back up. I guess I forgot that I had a noose around my neck.
I struggled against the weight of the guard. The men still in the tower were trying to grab onto my legs and use me to pull that guard up. I kicked them all away. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Ezio was doing almost the same thing I was, if not reversed. A guard came at me, his sword raised, so I quickly rolled out of the way and he cut the rope. The guard who had been holding it screamed and fell, smashing into a wooden beam before he died.
I got to my feet and saluted the guards playfully before I jumped off of the plank backwards, catching up with the falling Ezio quickly. I turned the rest of the way around so my feet were facing the ground and finally landed on an old wooden platform. Ezio looked up at the planks and then pulled his hood up.
I laughed and mimicked him. "Ezio, let's get our weapons back. I feel so weird without my shortblade or my hidden blades."
Ezio smiled. "Yes, let's."
1205
"You want to prove your family's strength by attacking Assassin Apprentices?" Altair repeated, and then shook his head. "A'hd, I am sorry to tell you this, but your family has actually already proven their strength to me."
"Then I have shown you the mistake your Order has done!" A'hd practically cheered. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes as I saw him do so. It was obvious now; I was his niece. The very knowledge of it made me want to stab myself. "Then I will tell you now, Altair, that you cannot defeat my family!"
"Why would I want to defeat your family?"
Altair and A'hd argued for a time before Malik put his hand on my shoulder. "I give you full permission to hit him if you really want to. If you don't, I will."
"Believe me; I want to." I looked to Altair once A'hd finally took a breath. "Grandmaster, would you permit me to finish this fight?"
A'hd smiled, his teeth showing blood. "You want the Templar family of Akhir an-Nahr to show you your place, child?"
I frowned. Altair sighed. "Do what you will, Suna."
The Assassins holding my uncle released him and backed away. I handed Malik my hidden blade, my shortblade, my sword and my throwing knives.
"So there is no treachery," I said to A'hd.
I met A'hd in the ring again and raised my fists. He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled.
"What makes you so determined to fight me, girl?" he asked.
"I have to prove that it doesn't matter what name you carry," I told him. "It only matters who you are, and what you believe in. What you fight for."
"Admirable. But you won't beat me!"
He threw a punch that I dodged, but I didn't see his leg come up. He kicked me in the gut hard and then sped towards me, slamming his head against mine. I back-flipped and then ran at him, jumping into the air. I kicked him hard in the face and then dropped to the ground, sliding my legs under his. He fell hard on his back, and scrambled to get back up. I ran at him again and punched him in the gut. He caught my other fist and brought his knee up into my stomach, and then he punched me in the side of the head. My ears rang painfully, but I managed to get out of his hold.
"Maybe if I kill your Grandmaster, you'll fight for real!" A'hd sneered.
It felt like something inside of me snapped. I threw a punch with my left hand, and he caught it, but I was counting on it. My right fist slammed hard enough into A'hd's head that he was sent flying into the gathered crowd, totally knocked-out.
Altair stepped-in quickly. "Take A'hd to the dungeons," he ordered the Assassins. "All of you, there's nothing to see here! Go back to what you were doing!"
The crowd dispersed quickly. A'hd was dragged up the hill towards the keep as Malik came to me with my weapons.
I realized when Malik put my weapons beside me and his hand on my shoulder that I was kneeling on the ground holding my gut.
"I see he got in a few good hits," Malik commented. "But that was still quite the punch. I haven't ever seen you hit that hard."
"He threatened to kill Altair," I said. "I just… I didn't like it at all."
"Probably because you have truly come to see him as your father."
I hesitated, but I knew he was right. "That man… A'hd…"
"I recognized the names he gave," Malik told me, "and so I know who he is."
"That means that I come from a family of Templars…" I clenched my fists. "Maybe it would have been best if I wouldn't have known a thing about my real parents."
"You would have found out eventually. I know you, Suna; you would have wanted to know."
I nodded in agreement. Of course, Malik was right. I would have wanted to know eventually. A'hd was just a lucky convenience.
"Suna Akhir an-Nahr…" I laughed. "I like Suna Ibn La'Ahad better."
Malik laughed and helped me to my feet. "I prefer it too. Altair needs a level-headed woman like you in his family, anyway. Maria is a crazy woman, after all!"
"I HEARD THAT!" Maria screamed from the keep.
Malik looked from the keep to me. "How the hell did she do that? She's practically a mile away!"
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE WOMEN OF THE IBN LA'AHAD FAMILY!" Maria shouted from the keep.
Malik shook his head. "Witch…" he muttered.
"I HEARD THAT TOO, MALIK AL-SAYF!"
I couldn't hide my laughter, painful as it was.
2012
"I spy with my little eye… something that is…" Mason paused. "Stiff."
"I swear to God, if you're talking about anything but a door…"
"You got it!" Mason laughed. "Sam, you have such a dirty mind!"
I rolled my eyes. It'd been one day since Rebecca had made me come and talk to Mason. Yesterday, he'd sounded so much older, but now he sounded around my age (or the age that I appeared to be, at least). It was like his personality couldn't decide how it wanted to act. Then again, Mason seemed to have more of a grip on everything now. Not like yesterday, when he'd said all he could remember were names and being dropped-off not far from the building we were in.
"Only because I can't tell what you're thinking," I explained. "I can usually tell if people are being sarcastic or not by their faces."
"Then you should come join me," Mason said. "It's pretty cozy in here. Not something I'd expect when getting kidnapped."
"Well, don't get too comfortable. You're staying in my room."
"Oh… Oops." My eyes widened. "Maybe you should stay out of your bathroom for a while…"
"You bastard! What the hell'd you do?"
Mason was laughing his ass right off. That's when I realized that he was just joking.
"Ugh. You suck…" I muttered. "And to think I came to visit you because I thought you were lonely!"
"I was, but I'm not now. I like your visits." I heard his laughs tone down until he wasn't laughing anymore. "The, uh… the pain in my head is still there, but it's duller, so that's a plus."
I nodded. "That's good."
"I can remember a few more things," he continued. "I remember the name on the van that dumped me not far from here. Like… Abstergo or something."
Abstergo? Right, that machine must've been an Animus!
"Do you remember what that machine showed you?" I asked.
Mason paused. "I remember… I remember seeing two things at once. I couldn't really get a grip of either. It was like seeing something overlapping the other. I remember this bald guy with a white beard saying that I was looking at memories." He chuckled. "How crazy is that? A machine that shows memories. What memories? Because I didn't recognize either one."
I sighed. "Gimme a sec, Mason. I'll be back."
"No prob. I can wait.'
I went into the main room, where everyone was watching over Desmond. As soon as I saw Rebecca, I dragged her out of the room, despite her protesting.
"Mason—the guy who's in my room right now—says he remembered being in an Animus, and that it was Abstergo who dropped him off in New York!" I told her.
She paused. "Abstergo dropped him so close to here, so it seems kinda weird…"
"I'm positive that they don't know where we are right now," I said. "But the thing is that they're using the Animi with other people. I think they might be using the imprints in their main Animus to… maybe to train the Templars to use Assassin tactics!"
Rebecca's brow furrowed. "That's probably something they'd do. The fact that they dropped Mason off probably means that he almost pulled a Subject 16. I could examine him and see if he's showing any signs. But I want you in that room with me if I do, because we don't know if he's gonna pull a Daniel Cross, either."
I nodded. "Don't worry; I'll be there."
