CHAPTER 10: Home Again

AN: Woo new chapter! And it's a good length too J! Oh, and I have AC3, be jealous (spoil it and die)! Review please! And of course, Enjoy!

Ezio is off talking and doing tasks for Mario and here I am trapped in my room again. I'm lying on my bed, staring up at the celling. I wonder what to do next and how long this mission of revenge and now the war on the Templars will wage on. Sometimes I wish that Ezio and I could just run away from it all. Neither of us asked for these lives; and yet, what would the world come to if we didn't accept them?

I close my eyes and think back, way back; I picture being small and young, a child. I'm sitting on a cold, rotted wooden floor by a weak fire. It was storming, each clap of thunder rattling the small loose windows. A woman was at the rickety table beside me. She was humming a familiar tune as she sewed a thin cotton dress. Just then, the door creaks open and a tall man steps in, a low hood droops over his face, water drips to the floor.

My child-self jumps up and runs into the man's arms and shouts; "Papa!" this man is my father. My small hands had dropped to his arms and warmth reached my fingers. I look to my hands and see that they're red. My father takes off his robes, his white, blood-stained robes. I remember, my father was an assassin.

This memory fades as a new one brightens. I'm older now, about 15, two years ago. I'm with him again, my father. I hear his footsteps come closer. I clench a wooden, rounded dagger in my fragile yet worked hands. Just as his footsteps are near, I leap out and thrust the practice weapon forward. I'm surprised to see no one there. I lower my defense in my confusion, once more surprised when a dark shadow casts itself over me. I step away only to be crushed to the ground.

"Always be vigilant, Alessandra, and never lower your defense, no matter what clouds your judgment." My father's voice screams into my ear.

"Yes, Papa." I say in a strained voice.

He lets me up with a hand. My father would train me day and night like this. He tells me to practice hiding. He goes in the house and counts to ten. I chose to hide on roof of our home. He steps out of the doorway, heading to the obvious choice, the bushes.

"Have you finally learned the art of deceit, my dear?" He says aloud.

I leap from the roof and shove my father to the ground, dagger to his throat, locking his wrists above his head, immobilizing him. His blue eyes shine back to mine and he smiles and laughs. I get off of him.

"What shall we do now?" I ask.

"Come, I think it is time we truly test what you have learned." My father replied.

We headed out into the streets of Firenze. I was confused as to where we were going. We went to a special place that day, The Headquarters of the order of Assassins in Firenze. My father explained that all of my life training depended on this moment now. There were other men and women wearing the same assassin robes as my father, they all would curiously glance to me. We came to an open room filled with people; there was a training ring in the middle. I figured we would watch a training session of real assassins. But my father explained, handing me his prized sword, "No, mia figlia (my daughter), you will do the fighting." My eyes grew wide at his words, "I have faith in you, Alessandra; have faith in yourself."

I stepped into the ring, sword tightly in hand. A young man stood before me, also with a sword. I felt fear creeping coldly through my veins. I stood in place, staring into his eyes which shook me to my core. He was running towards me. I stepped aside, missing his very real metal blade by inches. I looked closely to the boy's wrist, a cross-like symbol was branded to his wrist; he was a Templar. I focused back, I'd lost where he'd gone and was knocked to the ground, my head slamming into the dirt. I pulled my sword up just as the boy lunged at me on the ground.

"Do not give up, Alessandra!" I heard my father shout.

I pushed with all my might against his sword, allowing me some room to jump back up. I thrust my sword to the boy, he dodged correctly. Screaming, he lunged at me, his blade slicing my right shoulder. I screamed. He smirked confidently. I lunged at him now, his smirk disappearing. He brought his sword up, but at the last second I spun on my heel and turned to his back, kicking him to the ground. I leaped onto his body, trapping him. I dug my sword deep to his throat. His eyes grew wide with fear and his hands gripped my sword in an effort to stop me. But my mind rather was clouded by hate and a desire foreign to me as I screamed and slashed my sword in a horizontal motion.

I opened my eyes to see a blood-soaked body underneath me. All sounds around me were suddenly muffled as I focused on the body; the blood all around and on my face and the wound on his throat. His hands were still clutching to my sword. I jumped off of his body, shaking. My ears were suddenly filled with cheers as I saw my father rush up to me.

"It is done! You may join us now." He said into my ear.

I was lead down a hall, getting congratulated and praised by many who passed by. We turned into a small room. Another assassin was waiting. "Alessandra, this is Giovanni Auditore, he's had a few battle wounds over the years, he's going to have a look at your arm."

This was when I'd first met Giovanni. He gently pulled the torn, sticky fabric of my shirt off my shoulder. He took a warm, wet cloth to my shoulder.

"You performed quite well, for someone your age, Alessandra. Everyone was very much impressed." Giovanni said.

"But I killed him." I said softly.

"That young man was responsible for the murders of many innocent families that he and his group thought were plotting against them. He deserved to die. It may feel wrong to you now, sometimes what others may think is right, will ultimately hurt others. Think of it as our job to stop them." My father stated.

I hadn't even realized that Giovanni had been stitching up my wound this whole time, he cut the string and handed me a clean shirt. I slipped the shirt on carefully. I became dizzy and my head was throbbing. The room spun and flashed. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a strange, desert setting. A man was standing next to me, though he did not notice my presence. He was holding a glowing orb in his hand. I looked where his eyes were, in front of him, I watched a wave of light pass over the men in front of him, and they all started to kill each other! I watched in horror. I saw that this man was an assassin, his robes appeared different. Suddenly, another man approached him and called to him, "Altaïr!"

Another flash crossed my vision and I was back in the room with my father and Giovanni.

"Alessandra, what was that? You collapsed so suddenly I-"My father began.

"Who is Altaïr, Papa?" I asked.

I watched the two men's eyes grow wide and their faces lose color. When neither of the spoke, I continued, "I saw him, he was standing next to me in a desert land with a strange glowing orb and he- he controlled an army of men and-"

"How is it possible, Marco? Have you ever told her any stories of him?" Giovanni asked.

"No, not at all." My father replied.

My memory flashed again. I was 16 now, last year. I was looking at the fresh burn mark on my ring finger. My robes were draped on the chair behind me. My father barged through the door.

"Juliana," he said to my mother, "They're coming. They're coming for Alessandra."

I bolted up. "Who is after me?"

"No time, darling, you need to leave with you father." My mother said, obviously sad.

I pulled on my robes. My father rushed me out of the house, I didn't even get to say goodbye to my mother for the last time. We raced through the dark streets. We headed in the direction of the headquarters. I heard footsteps behind us.

"Father." I said worriedly.

"Keep going, don't stop and don't look back!" My father said as he let go of my hand and turned around. I turned my head to see him fight the men.

There were too many and I knew it.

"Father!" I screamed as a sword stabbed through his chest and he fell to the ground with a thud, only the sound of the rain falling could be heard as tears formed in my eyes and fell down my cheeks.

I looked to the man who pulled his red sword out of my father; he wore a dark, black cloak. I recognized him. I would never forget him. I knew this man now as the Templar, Rodrigo Borgia. He ordered his men after me. I raced on to the headquarters. I never stopped even as the pelting rain and bitter tears clouded my vision. I barged through the hidden entrance, slamming into someone. I looked up to see a startled Giovanni.

"T-they're after me." I sobbed.

Giovanni grabbed my arm and rushed me down the hallway, letting other assassins know as he passed. They all rushed around, carrying weapons. Giovanni locked us in the room where I'd first met him. "Giovanni, why are they after me?" I asked.

"Do you know the visions you have, of Altaïr and the-the orb?"

"Yes but-"

"That is why they want you. Those visions, they are more important than you know."

And I knew what would happen after that. I would come with Giovanni to find Rodrigo Borgia and be taken and tortured for my visions.

I opened my eyes. Instead of seeing the celling, I saw Ezio. I bolted up.

"I thought I'd never get you to wake up. What happened, it's as if you were in some sort of trance." Ezio said.

"I remember." I replied.

"Remember what, Alessandra?" Ezio questioned.

"Everything."