Chapter 10

"Ok, you remember what I told you?" Eugene asked.

"Hide in plain sight. Move with the crowds not against them and never stay in one spot after pickpocketing."

"Very good." Eugene lifted Rapunzel's hood to cover her face. "I won't be far, so if you get into trouble I be right there waiting for you. I promise I won't intervene until you give me the signal."

Rapunzel smiled haughtily. "Thank you."

Eugene rolled his eyes before he climbed up on top of one of the nearby roofs. He stayed low as he followed her.

Rapunzel was extremely nervous. She knew that getting caught could mean huge trouble, but she knew she could count on Eugene to be right there. Rapunzel made her way through the crowds. She swiped and pickpocketed everyone she passed by and no one was the wiser. She floated through the streets as if she were a ghost. Eugene was impressed and proud. He knew he taught her well. Rapunzel had swiped a large man's wallet. It didn't take long before the man noticed something didn't feel quite right. Eugene tensed up slightly. But before he could get too nervous, Rapunzel handled it like a pro. The man screamed and hollered that his wallet had been stolen. Rapunzel swiftly moved across the street and down an alley way. The large man spotted her, but before he could get close, she disappeared and was nowhere to be found. Eugene, for a moment, lost her, but found her sitting on a bench head down between two old men. He smiled to himself. Rapunzel waited patiently for the man to leave her sight before she got up again.

Rapunzel's next task was to follow, swipe, and disappear without getting caught. Eugene had a fellow assassin set this task up for her. She was to spot him, and follow him. She learned that she could easily find targets by listening in on conversations. She sat in a courtyard where she was told her target could be spotted. She focused her hearing on different conversations around her to find the one she was looking for. She had to move her location several times, but she finally found the one she was looking for. The man she was following was dressed just like a local. Had she not been paying attention eavesdropping as well as she had, she would have missed him.

Rapunzel waited until he was several yards away from her before she followed. She never lost sight of him. She slowly got up and casually started walking towards his direction. Every now and then he would stop and look behind him. Rapunzel would have to duck in a corner, or hide in a crowd of people so she wasn't seen. Once the man was satisfied that no one was following him he continued forward and Rapunzel would continue her hunt. She climbed up on the roof to get closer without being seen. Once he was in a dark alley, Rapunzel pounced on him, grabbed what she needed, and bolt up the side of the building as fast as she could. The man was left unconscious in the alley.

Eugene chuckled and shook his head.

"Rapunzel you're not supposed to nearly kill the guy. You're just supposed to swipe and go."

Rapunzle looked confused. "But I got it didn't I?"

"Well technically yes, but had you not have rendered him unconscious, he could have easily called you out and then you would be on the run from the guards. The guards here are not as friendly or as slow as ours. Next time, don't try to trap him, just get close enough like you did with the others grab what you need and go. That way no one gets hurt. What is rule number one?"

"Always stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent."

"That also includes knocking them out for no reason."

"…Sorry."

Eugene smiled. "It's ok. I think he'll be fine. His pride might be a little hurt, but he'll get over it." They looked down at the unconscious man from their perch. "I think we should fuck with him."

"Eugene!"

"What? I think it would be fun."

Rapunzel leaned in close. "What did you have in mind?" She asked quietly.

Eugene shrugged his shoulders. "We could…steal his clothes. Make him run naked through the street." Rapunzel covered her mouth as she giggle at the thought of some poor bastard running around aimlessly trying to hide his nudity from the public.

"No, that's too mean."

"I think it's hysterical."

"We could draw a mustache on his face."

"What are you twelve at a slumber party? C'mon let's just get him up." They started making their way down.

"You're no fun."

"No, I was fun. You took all the fun out of it by wanting to draw a mustache."

"Yeah, yeah." Rapunzel rolled her eyes at Eugene.

They quickly clambered down off the nearby building to wake their friend. Eugene took his foot and nudged the young man awake.

"Hey! Wake up." Eugene called out. The young man awoke groggily.

"Ugh…what happened?"

"You got your ass kicked by a girl, that's what happened." The young assassin looked confused.

"What?"

"C'mon get up."

Rapunzel and Eugene helped him to his feet and get his balance back. Eugene suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked down to the entrance of the alley and he thought he saw someone he recognized. He slowly crept his way out of the alley. He looked ahead through the crowds of people and saw a woman. She stopped and turned. Eugene couldn't see her eyes, but he knew she was looking right at him. He didn't need to see her whole face to know exactly who it was. He ran back into the alley.

"We gotta go."

"What why?"

"No time, go…gogogo." They all three quickly climbed back up to the roof and stayed low. Rapunzel and the other assassin hid behind a chimney wall. Eugene slowly crept around above out of sight following the young woman that ran back to the alley that they quickly abandoned. She looked up and around for a few moments before accepting defeat and returning back on her way.

"We gotta get outta here."

"Where are we going?" Rapunzel asked.

"Somewhere safe. Besides I have someone you should meet. Follow me and stay close."

Eugene took off on the roof tops careful not to make too much noise and draw attention from the crowds below. They leapt from roof top to roof top running ahead at full speed. Had Rapunzel not trained with Eugene as much as she had, she wouldn't have been able to keep up. Now, she had no problem.

Though she knew she was in danger (even though she didn't know how much at the moment) Rapunzel couldn't help but feel a rush from all of this. She, Rapunzel soon to be Fitzherbert (or Auditore, she wasn't sure), was finally running free, and living dangerously. She got a little excited at the thought and nearly lost her footing. But quick reaction time brought her back and kept her going. She had no idea where they were running to, and she had no idea how long they were running for. But Rapunzel didn't care. She was having fun. She didn't feel helpless anymore. She didn't feel like the dainty princess everyone thought her out to be. She was the tough, rugged, Rapunzel that happened to be a princess. She knew how to fight, she knew how to blend in with her surroundings, and she could move.

Before she knew it, Eugene stopped and they were at their destination. On top of the one of the roofs, was a hidden roof access only accessible and known to assassins. He lifted it up and carefully lowered Rapunzel down. Eugene and the other young assassin followed right behind.

"Where are we? Rapunzel looked around at the small room.

"We are at my Uncle Leonardo Da Vinci's villa. The hatch is only for assassins. However if he hears the bells go off, that means that one of us are being chased, and he locks it. We would have to find a place to hide so the guards don't follow us down here until it is safe for him to open it back up. If they found out that he harbors assassins he would be thrown in jail and possibly hanged."

Rapunzel nodded.

They followed Eugene up stairs and down a narrow hall.

"Uncle Leo, you in here?" Eugene called. He noticed his painting room was open so he let himself in. "Hey Uncle Leo- WHOA!" Eugene was abruptly stopped by the sight of a naked man standing very proudly with his hands on his hips. Eugene quickly looked down and shielded his eyes and backed the other two behind him.

"Gabriel! It's so nice to see you!"

Eugene didn't look up to look at his Uncle. "Yeah, please tell me you're clothed."

"Sì." Leonardo turned to the naked man still standing there. "Salai, vai attendere per me nell'altra stanza (Salai, go wait for me in the other room)."

The man nodded, took his robe off the chair to cover himself, and left.

"You couldn't have put a note on the door, some sort of sign like a tie on the door knob; hell couldn't you have locked it? There's a reason why they put locks on doors."

"Well, that will teach you to come in unannounced, won't it?"

"You're the one that put in the roof access."

Leonardo just huffed knowing better than to get into an argument with his nephew. "It's nice to see you too, Gabriel."

Eugene smiled knowing he had won. "Hi. Uncle Leo, I want you to meet Rapunzel. Rapunzel is also a painter."

"Really?!" Leonardo's eyes grew wide with excitement. "Please take a look around and let me know if you see anything you like. My latest is an anatomy study. That's why my assistant Salai was bare. It is very difficult replicate the human body. I have discovered you can't just draw in the features, they are shaded in."

"Anatomy is something that I have always struggled with. I will have to remember that. Maybe you can give me some pointers later.

"It would be my pleasure, Rapunzel."

The door to Leonardo's bedroom opened and out came Ezio. Eugene raised an eyebrow in question.

"Gabriel what are you doing here?"

"…I could ask you the same thing." His eyes darted back and forth from his father to his uncle and back. "You do know rumors fly right?"

At first Ezio didn't understand. Then he abruptly caught on to what Eugene was saying

"Gabriel Eugene Auditore!" That had even caught the attention of Rapunzel. She turned from a painting she was studying, jaw dropped.

"Hey, I'm not judging; you do what you do. I'm just saying…"

"Sì, lo so cosa state "solo dicendo." (Yes I know what you are "just saying")."

Leonardo couldn't do anything but laugh. "He's not my type anyway."

"If you must know, I was looking at a mural he had just painted and it was in his bedroom."

"Hey no worries your secret is safe with me."

Ezio retorted with a slap to the back of Eugene's head. But it only made Eugene giggle.

"Anyhow, I actually wanted to come here and give you this." He handed Leonardo a rolled up scroll.

Leonardo unrolled it. "A codex page!"

"Yes, I deciphered most of it, but some I was unsure of and wanted to run it by you first. I read that if the third Piece of Eden was consumed by someone or something, it can be extracted. But I couldn't figure out how to do it."

"Yes, I see." Leondardo walked back and forth in his painting room mumbling to himself. Every now and then he would stop and write something on the codex page.

"By the way, I think Ivan and his men are here." Eugene mentioned to Ezio.

"Did you see him?"

"No, not exactly, but I did see someone, and they were definitely following us."

"Who was it?"

"Does the name Carissa Romanov ring a bell?"

Ezio thought for a moment. "Is she the one that married into the French royal family?"

"That would be the one."

"What is she doing here?"

"I don't know, but I swear she has a personal vendetta against me. I don't know why else she would be here, and I have a feeling she threw her lot in with them."

"She didn't follow you back here did she?"

"I wouldn't be here if she did."

"AH!" Leonardo shouted.

"What did you find?"

"Yes, we have to go to the vault."

"At the Vatican?"

"Yes. It says here that it can only be extracted by means of the vault."

"But Eugene cut my hair a long time ago. I don't have any more power." Rapunzel stopped looking at the paintings and joined into the conversation.

"Rapunzel what did you do to heal Gabriel the last time?" Ezio inquired.

"I don't know I," she though back to that day, "I was crying, but I already tried that the second time Eugene was hurt and it didn't work."

Leonardo took a sharp scalpel from his work bench and grabbed Eugene's hand.

"Ah, what are you doing?!" Leonardo cut a thin incision the width his hand. "Ow, what the…?!"

Rapunzel looked horrified.

"Cry."

"What?

"Cry into his hand and do what you did the last time."

Rapunzel felt a little embarrassed being put on the spot like that, but she did as she was told. It was difficult, but she managed to squeeze out a tear as she sung the incantation. The tear landed on Eugene's hand, and glowed gold leaving nothing behind. Eugene's hand was healed.

"That makes sense. Of course, it has to make physical contact. I don't think it made contact with you the last time." Rapunzel sighed.

"That…would have been really useful to know…about a few months ago." Eugene mused.

Rapunzel sighed in frustration. "I feel so stupid now."

"Don't worry yourself, Princess. There was no way for you to know." Ezio assured her.

Eugene turned to Leonardo. "The next time you want to cut into human flesh, use your own. I am not here to be your lab rat." Leo just shrugged and smiled.

"We should go." Ezio urged. "I want to make sure my men are ready. I don't want to wait for Ivan to strike."

As the four of them left, Salai reentered the room grinning as he disrobed once again.

Carissa walked into her spacious bedroom. She cursed herself for losing the assassins from her sight. She was so close to catching them. Had it not been for Eugene and his keen sight…'Oh wait until I get my hands on you' she thought. She should have known Eugene was an assassin. Something never rubbed her right about him. She never liked him from the start. It wasn't that he did anything in particular, but she just knew something was wrong with him. She was right, he was an assassin. It was almost instinct to her to want to kill all assassins; that was just the Templar way. Had she not have married into French royal family, she may have never known about the Templars and their ways. They promised her riches, and a life time of comfort. They just needed her to cooperate and marry into the royal family, and they would take care of the rest. Carissa came a long way from being a poor farmer's daughter in Russia. She hated everything about her life. She had no name, no money, and certainly no influence. Now that she was with the Templars, she had it all. She was important, and she had all the money she could ever want. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut when told, and do a few side jobs.

Carissa heard her door creek open and she spun around.

"It's just me."

"Oh, Gregor you scared me."

"Did you find them?"

She sighed. "I did, they are here, but I couldn't follow them. That Eugene, or Gabriel, or whatever his name is, saw me and disappeared. I'm sorry. But we are close. I will get him next time I know I will."

Gregor wore a grim expression. "That's the thing Carissa; there won't be a next time."

"What are you saying?"

Gregor slowly walked up to her and embraced her. "I'm sorry. I wish it could have been different between us." Before Carissa could ask or protest, Gregor reached for her head and snapped her neck killing her instantly. A tear slid down Gregor's cheek as Carissa crumpled to the floor with a thud.

Back at the brothel Ezio and Eugene were creating a plan to attack before Ivan gets the upper hand.

"My girls tell me Ivan and his men are staying at Palazzo Ducale. It is heavily guarded by armed guards both on ground and on the roof. They have archers posted everywhere." Claudia informed them.

"Gabriel, I am going to need you to take out those archers if we want to make any head way." Ezio said.

"Too easy."

"Now, the problem is getting inside without being detected. It is nearly impossible to get in without sounding off some sort of alarm to the guards."

"One of my girls said she spotted a ventilation access. The bad part is I don't think any of you can fit through it."

"I might be able to." Rapunzel added.

Eugene slowly turned to Rapunzel. "Rapunzel, no I am not letting you do that."

She raised an eye brow at him and crossed her arms. "I don't believe it is up to you. This is my choice and I will decide what I will and will not do. Is that understood?"

"You do understand what have to do right? You do realize that you do this and you are the one who is going to kill Ivan right? After that, there is no going back."

"I…I understand." She looked down ringing her hands out habit.

"Are you sure? Because once you are in there, you cannot…hesitate. You hesitate and you could get yourself killed, you could compromise all of us and we could lose everything." Eugene could stress enough how dangerous this really is and could be for her.

"Rapunzel, Gabriel is right. Do not do this unless you are absolutely, one hundred percent sure that you can do this." Ezio said.

Rapunzel lifted her head and she even straightened up. She held herself confidently. "I am ready. I need to do this…for my father."

Ezio nodded. He understood where she was coming from. "Alright, we need to be ready by nightfall. Stay to the roof tops as much as possible."

"HEY!" Lucas came running up to the group. "What about me?"

"Ugh, what about you, Lucas?" Eugene asked aggravated.

"Well how come she gets to help and I don't?"

"Because I said so that's why."

"No wait." Ezio interrupted. "We could use another set of eyes. I cannot have all my men out on this mission. I need some of my best to stay here to protect our den. Lucas would be much more useful with us than trying to defend our den if it gets attacked."

"So I can come?" Lucas became giddy.

"Lucas this isn't a game. This is real life and death we are dealing with."

Eugene couldn't believe his father was actually agreeing with this. When he was fifteen, he wasn't even allowed to leave the house let alone go on a mission.

"I can do it. I promise I won't let you down."

"You remember our deal right?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Good, because it still stands. Don't fuck it up."

"Alright, everyone let's get some rest. We need to be at our best tonight."

Everyone dissipated to get some rest. Before Eugene and Ezio left, one of the other assassins came up to Eugene.

"I believe this note is for you Master Gabriel."

Eugene took it and unrolled it. "It's from James." As he read the note, Ezio could see Eugene's eyes go dark and his face turn red with rage. He started shaking with fury.

"What's wrong?" Eugene handed the note Ezio

I thought you said Templars keep their fight in the dark. One of Ivan's men killed one of my soldiers, murdered his family burned down their farm.

"Gabriel-"

"I'm gonna kill him, I swear to God I am going to rip his throat out." Eugene clenched his teeth and his fists were balled up.

"Gabriel, I need you to stay calm." Eugene paced back and forth ready to pounce. "Remember you need to keep a clear mind. Your anger will only cloud you judgment."

Eugene was barely listening. The only thing he could focus on at the moment was his anger. Ezio finally grab Eugene by his shoulders and forced him to listen.

"GABRIEL! Guardarmi. non perdere di vista. La vendetta non è sempre la risposta. Egli pagherà, io vi prometto che. Ma ho bisogno di mettere a fuoco. Ho bisogno di guardare il quadro generale. Egli otterrà ciò che sta venendo a lui. Prometto. (Look at me. Do not lose sight. Vengeance is not always the answer. He will pay, I promise you that. But I need you to focus. I need you to look at the bigger picture. He will get what is coming to him. I promise).

Eugene finally took a breath and nodded. He knew is father was right. "Non può farla franca con questo (He can't get away with this.)"

"Non lo farà. faremo in modo di esso. (He won't. We will make sure of it.) Go get some rest. We have a long night ahead of us.

Without another word Eugene headed to his room. Ezio took one last look at the note in his hand and crumpled it hard in his fist. He threw it in the fire. He, too, wanted to make Ivan and his men pay for the atrocities he has committed.