Michael took a deep breath as he felt the swaying of the ship on the ocean, "How did people live like this?" he asked himself as he turned over, and fell off of the bed. He had hoped that sleeping on the ship would help acclimate himself to its disorientating motion, but all it did was make him want to throw up. When there was nothing on his mind, he was very susceptible to the waves, making him stay in his cabin for a majority of their voyages.

There was a knock on the door, and Michael immediately jumped up, "Come in," he said as he turned towards the windows in the back of the ship, "its unlocked."

The door opened, and to his surprise it was Mary, "When did you get on this ship?" He asked, trying to remember if she was even at the last port they had stopped at.

"I've been on this ship for a day now," Mary closed the door and took off the bandanna that kept her hair up, "How do you not know when someone is on your ship?"

Michael chuckled as he fell back to the floor, "I'm not made for sea voyages," he told her as he smiled, "It takes all my strength not to heave out the window when I'm in here, so I tend to stay in here. It's easier when I'm not looking at the sea." Michael stood back up, and looked at Mary just in time to see her hide a look of concern, "If its about the attack on the island, you don't have to worry about it. I've gotten over it..."

"Obviously not," Mary said as she sat on the table Michael used as his bed, "Do you wish to talk about it?" Mary's voice was barely masking the concern she felt for the man, and that was something she was usually really good at hiding.

"Mary, don't concern yourself with me," Michael said as he moved to the door, "My life in this world isn't important enough for anyone to worry about. I just have something to do before I can leave it."

"And what is that?" Mary asked as her face suddenly became a glare. There were few people she would permit to say that their life was worth nothing, and most of them were Templars she was planning on killing, "You think you are on som-"

"Mary, I'll tell you why one day, but first it requires me to get back the Clock," he interrupted, smiling as the door opened and he went outside.

"And what is this Clock, you mention whenever you say that you'll explain something to me?" Mary grabbed Michael and shut the door before anyone saw inside, "If this Clock is so important, why don't you let other Assassins search for it with you?" She pinned him against the wall and held her face just away from his, gritting her teeth in anger.

"Because, the Clock isn't supposed to be held by anyone yet," Michael told her as he looked at her eyes, "When you aren't pretending to be a man, your eyes are beautiful," he told her with a smile.

Mary's eyes widened in shock as she let Michael go, only to send her fist at his face. Michael countered by grabbing her wrist, turning her around, and pinning her arm behind her, "Don't threaten me," he told her with a cold voice, his hand pressed against her back threatening to put his hidden blade through her spine, "I don't like killing people I've prevented from dying." Michael let go of Mary and walked out the door, closing behind him.

Mary rested her head against the wall as she wrapped her arms around herself, "Is he even human?" She asked herself, remembering the feeling of imminent death that only Michael had been able to give her. She took a deep breath before putting her hair back up into the bandanna, and walked out of the cabin, "Cap'n," she shouted as she spotted Michael again, standing on the bow of his ship, "Where are you taking this ship?"

"Japan," Michael said as he turned around, "There are some things I wish to collect from the fleeing refugees trying to escape the isolation of Japan, they should assist us in our fight against the Templar order, and my search for the Clock."

"Japan?" Mary asked as she turned to Michael with an astonished look, "But the Dutch are the only ones capable of even coming close to the Japanese Islands."

"Yes, but the restrictions they put on their ships is going to help us get close," Michael said as he smiled wickedly, "The Japanese ships currently made, limit their sea-worthiness, letting us get close to the Japanese coast. After we get on, what we have to worry about is the samurai, but they should be simple to take out with the improvements I've made to the guns we use." Michael gave one of his pistols to Mary, "feel the inside of the barrel," he told her with a smile.

"It's grooved," she said as she looked at him, wondering why it was modified the way it was. She handed the pistol back to Michael, "Why, you make it impossible to put the ball in."

Michael smiled again as he pressed a button next to the activator, and the barrel of the gun flipped down, revealing a hinge on the underside of the gun, "I've redesigned the entire thing," he told her as he pulled a round from his bullet pouch, "The bullets have also been modified, instead of having external gun-powder that you put into the gun. When the activator hits this white dot on the back of the round, it ignites the gunpowder inside of the cartridge, propelling the bullet through the barrel, now grooved to make the bullet spin. With a spin, the bullet move through the air more efficiently, going farther, and faster."

"I see, so, who produced these weapons?" Mary asked, as Michael loaded his pistol and put it back in its holster.

"I did, it was a simple modification to weapons already created, I just needed them to have completely metal barrels, instead of a combination of wood and metal. The only thing I had to have made with the gun was the hinge mechanism."

"So, you have advanced tactics, and weapon designs. What next? You going to tell us where the pieces of Eden are now?" Mary asked as she crossed her arms, "with you, we could end this entire conflict."

"No, if we attempt to destroy them entirely, they'll just come back at a later date and under more discrete operations. It would make them harder to hunt, and harder to contain. As Assassins, we must not destroy the Templars, only subdue their operations."

"Why?" Mary asked as she glared at Michael.

"Because, It is easier to hunt something that thinks you are weaker than it," Michael told her as he smiled, "Now, let's go find us some Japanese."