Richard flinched as the throwing knife dug its way into his target's skull, 'killing' the guard instantly and sending the virtual body sprawling to the floor.

"So you decided to man up, eh?" asked a voice behind him, making him jump and spin around. Aurora stood behind him, dragging the body of her own kill on the ground with one arm like a sack of potatoes. She dropped it at her side carelessly.

"I see you had no problem killing someone," Richard said, his voice a bit ragged. He'd had to think through their situation over for an entire hour before he could even consider killing the guard, but finally, Aurora's words about all of this being fake made their argument clear, and he'd finally pulled out a throwing knife. With a sort of grim epiphany, Richard realized that this was probably no different than killing in a videogame; it wasn't real, after all.

Aurora sniffed disdainfully as she examined her victim, not seeming bothered in the least. "It is like a movie, no? Or a videogame perhaps," she said, tapping her chin before shrugging.

"Once someone is killed, the dead body will alert any surviving guards that there is an Assassin nearby," the AI system suddenly spoke up, making Richard turn to see a guard kneeling beside the one he'd just killed. "Warning: if any aggressive actions or socially unacceptable behavior is undertaken at this time, they will likely provoke an armed response."

"Oh dear, look at what you got us into!" Aurora exclaimed, gesturing to the living guard as he got to his feet with his sword drawn and at the ready.

"How is this my fault? ! You're the one who told me to do it!" Richard exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the Italian-turned-Arabian girl in front of him.

"Provoke this guard," the AI instructed, making both young Assassins look up in surprise.

"Um, I thought these were supposed to be covert assassinations, not assassinations where we are supposed to get caught!" Aurora exclaimed, backing up a little from the living guard.

Suddenly the guard noticed the body near them, and he leapt forward, yelling, "Assassins! Don't let them get away!"

"Eep!" Aurora squeaked spinning around and running with Richard not far behind her.

"Nicely done, oh 'assassin expert'!" Richard said sarcastically.

"Shut it! At least I didn't act like a total girl about killing someone!" Aurora shot back.

Before Richard could snap a retort, the AI spoke up again, "Use the ladder up ahead to try and break the line of sight. Once out of sight of the guard, find a hiding place until he gives up looking for you."

A virtual building appeared, with a ladder leading up to the top. Richard and Aurora shared a glance before they both shot up onto the building, Aurora using the ladder and Richard climbing the wall like a spider. Once at the top, the guard's yells became frantic, calling for help in finding the Assassins.

"Over here!" Richard called to Aurora before jumping into a rooftop garden that was framed on all sides by curtains. Aurora slipped in beside him, landing right next to him as if they'd been doing this a lot and they knew just what to do. They both held their breaths as they heard the guard appear and run around them, looking for them.

Finally, after several minutes of searching, he growled, "To hell with this! I've got better things to do!" And so, the guard disappeared back over the side of the building, leaving the pair of Assassins to sit in their hiding place, grinning at each other like a couple of idiots.

"We're alive!" Aurora cheered quietly, high-fiving Richard like he was an old friend.

"Miraculously, yes. We are," Richard sighed before carefully climbing back out of the garden, Aurora following him quickly.

"Congratulations. You are now both fully synched," the AI said, and their vision turned white again before they appeared on the 'ground', with people lined up in front of them. "Now that you are fully synchronized with your ancestors, the Eagle Vision ability is now available to you. This 'sixth sense' was a special, rare ability, and it helped your ancestors understand the intentions of people around them. To activate it, simply focus all of your concentration into your eyes, and it should activate. Once you have done it once, it should happen on command from this moment on," the AI stated.

Richard and Aurora exchanged a skeptical glance. Richard shrugged and turned back to the row of people, staring at them intently and concentrating as hard as he could. The world suddenly went dark, and a strange aura surrounded the people; red, white, blue, and yellow.

"Very good. When Eagle Vision is active, you may see a persons intentions or their status. The people with white auras are good for information. The red auras mean they are an enemy, or they will do you harm if you do anything rash. The blue aura means they are an ally of your. The yellow aura means they are your target for assassination," the AI explained before Richard slowly allowed his Eagle Vision to dissipate, and he blinked to get used to normal vision again.

"That was weird…. But also very cool!" Aurora exclaimed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

Their vision turned white again and the people in front of them disappeared. "Remember, Eagle Vision will only be available once you are fully synched with your ancestor. Please note that following the Assassin's Creed, your ancestor's way of life, will assist you with staying in synch. The Creed consists of three tenants; first, never hurt an innocent person; second, always be discreet; third, do not compromise the clan. Should you lose synch, you can restore synchronization by reliving key moments in your ancestor's lives, or, by respecting the Creed," the AI said.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard!" Richard said with a wide grin.

Aurora wrinkled her nose at him but didn't comment.

"You have both successfully completed the tutorial. The most stable memory block will now be loaded," said AI.

Richard and Aurora exchanged glances once again. "You ready for this?" asked Richard.

Aurora shrugged. "Are you?" she asked right back.

YJ~*~*~*~*~AC

A/N: NO! IT ENDS HERE? ! ? ! ? ! Yes, yes it does. Ugh! I am so cruel with cliffhangers! *snickers* Anyway, tell me what you liked and didn't like! P.S. The story will focus mainly on these two for a while, but I should get back to the Team sometime soon for those who want to know.
~Persephone