Arrows started flying and hitting the ground right behind us and If we hadn't been by the church's backside by then, we would have gotten killed.
"It's just around this church." I breathed.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins and sweat trickled down my back, Ofelia knew that death could await her in a matter of seconds but surviving every second that passed only made her more excited, she felt invincible, a fearless creature who couldn't be stopped by mankind.
It was hard not to catch on to her excitement.
A short laughter slipped through my lips as we got to the entrance.
Pillars holding up a beautiful ceiling and walls framed the small entrance door, it was a big tree door that stood open long into the night for lost souls except on celebration nights like this, but Ofelia figured that it worked for escaping souls just as good during the night if they knew where the key lay hidden.
I quickly grabbed hold of Ezio's arm and with a surprised noise he let me drag him with me and behind one of the pillars.
With my arm against his chest I pushed him backwards towards the wall and placed myself only inches away from him.
The pillar was big enough to hide me and the wall that Ezio's back was pressed against hid him.
I placed my finger over my lips to make him stay quiet although we both had to calm down from the running.
Our breaths came out quickly but quietly and the guards wouldn't hear it because of how loud they were themselves.
Ezio was at least a head and a half taller than me and while looking down on me with a confused grin he seemed still to be confused by what we were doing there.
Ofelia's recognition of the church and feelings of being safe other than her memories of the place made me realize that this was the place she had spent most of her days at when not training or sneaking around in Venice.
It was a place that she liked, although she didn't believe in God and knew that Templars had ordered for this church to be built, she still liked the quiet whispers of visitors during the day and how the church was lit up at night by visitors who had left candles for their beloved and gone ones.
Inside of me I could feel how Ofelia was torn, she enjoyed having Ezio this near, she still thought of him as charming and handsome and she was weak for men with such self-esteem, yet still she was mad because of his refuse of having her as an apprentice and thought that he walked around with his head in the clouds.
I on the other hand felt extremely uncomfortable, I had never been this close to another person before.
Well, ok so I admit that my trips inside of the animus has made me experience kissing and such things, but usually then I ordered the engineer that worked with me to send me to another memory, since I thought that those experiences were unnecessary.
Not to mention extremely awkward, picture yourself walking in on someone's personal life when they are together with someone in that way, and you can feel what they feel, hear what they think at that moment… yeah, it isn't so nice.
But there was something with this trip in the animus that felt strange. Everything seemed more real, perhaps because I now actually took the time to remember all the things that Ofelia was experiencing instead of just letting the engineer write down important aspects and thoughts.
"Search the place, they cannot have gotten far!" A man shouted out on the streets, and footsteps from about ten men disappeared away from us.
Ezio caught my gaze.
"Do you think they have left?"
I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed a hold of his collar and leaned back to look past the pillar.
Ezio's hand grabbed my upper arm to give me support.
I saw the guards continue down the road and archers had either climbed down from the rooftops and followed the others or turned back.
"Yes they have gone." I said and stepped back and let go of his collar.
I spun around and crouched down to search the floor after the key.
My fingers found the little loose stone cobble and lifted it and picked up the keys underneath.
"So this is your hiding place?" Ezio said as I locked up the door and opened it with a creaking sound that felt like home to Ofelia.
"Yes, you're welcome to stay outside if you like." I snapped.
"Oh no, I was just thinking that it's a very…." Ezio looked around as he entered the church and I closed the door behind him, the room was lightened up because of candles that the priest must have lightened before he went home for the night, Ezio's eyes went up to the cross hanging over the altar in the front of the room. "Religious place." He ended.
"Well, even for an atheist this place is safe, the guards do not seem to like attacking you when you're hiding here." I said and directed to him to follow me to the aisle at the far right of the room, in the ending of the room there was a ladder that led up to a loft that was inside of the tower, also known as my room.
"No of course not, because in the end they all are led by Templars in some way. The church is a holy place to them as well."
I looked around in the church, Ofelia thought of the place as beautiful, a safe place where no one could hurt you, but holy? No.
"You wait here, I'll go get something to drink and wash of that blood with." I said and pointed to Ezio to stay by the ladder.
I quickly stepped up on the altar and grabbed the bowl of holy water with both hands, when I turned around to face Ezio he chuckled.
"Holy water?" He said, I nodded.
"Do not complain, at least it is water, and blessed too." I said as I nodded to him to climb up the ladder.
"Ladies first." Ezio said with a smile and made a gesture to make me give him the bowl.
I shook my head.
"I won't give you the pleasure of seeing what's under my skirt, now go." I said impatiently.
Ezio chuckled as he started climbing the ladder and up to my room, not wanting to argue with me.
"Now hand me the water." Ezio said from above, I lifted the bowl with some effort before he managed to reach it and lift it as if it was nothing.
I inhaled for a moment. Ofelia and I both felt that beeing a man sometimes must be way easier, they didn't seem to have anything standing in their way, they could do whatever they wanted and did not need to worry about skirts.
I finally started climbing up to see how Ezio reacted to Ofelia's room only to find the man setting the bowl down by the bedside table and walking over towards the armor that Ofelia had hung up upon a mannequin doll, a gift from La Volpe when he had kicked her out.
The weapons she owned laid spread out on a working table together with paper sheets and pencils and small cans of ink by the window, flickers of light made the metal shine in the dark light.
The only window and light source besides a candle burning on Ofelia's bedside table was closed and outside I could see the archers standing on different rooftops and talking to each other, they seemed to have given up on the search after us.
Which was good, we would get a night of rest and then Ezio could continue his travel while Ofelia started figuring out what she was going to do.
The only bed in the room though was a mattress that Ofelia had gotten from a brothel nearby.
It had been given to her as thanks for assassinating a man visiting the brothel who had very often gone away without paying, not to talk about insulting the girls every time he left.
Ofelia knew how the girls felt, even though her life as a formal courtesan was over she still remembered those horrible nights when she had to work, those disgusting pigs who smelled of wine and sweat, to help the girls was something she felt she had to do.
And now all the girls from the brothels nearby knew about her and only had to ask her for help in exchange for things that Ofelia needed such as pillows, bedding, food and a few blankets.
I was staring at the blankets lying neatly on the bed with a smile while going through the memories of Ofelia from when she helped the courtesans, it seemed to be quite often.
"You wear armor?" Ezio asked and I looked up from the bed, he was standing by the mannequin, feeling the material with the tips of his fingers.
"Only when it's necessary, it depends on whether it is a man or a woman who is the target, if I'm just going to deliver messages, eavesdrop or steal information I take this." I pointed towards what I was wearing and Ezio let his eyes wander over my clothing.
Ofelia made me straighten my back and look at him with confident, I myself on the other hand wanted to run away or cover myself with the blankets lying on the bed.
I wasn't used to having males watching me as if I was something they could eat, it only made me insecure which was the opposite to how Ofelia reacted.
"I understand." Ezio said then.
Without further means I laid the knives on my working table and kicked of the boots.
I then grabbed the bowl of water and brought it with me towards the window, with my elbow I swung the window open and then made the bowl balance on the window frame.
While washing my face off with the water I was amazed by how Ofelia's face felt like my own already.
I didn't even know what she looked like, other than what she herself had seen while watching herself in mirrors.
When the water in the bowl finally was still I was able to see her reflection.
With a sigh of envy I let my fingertips trace the line of her red lips, her hazel brown eyes and her healthy and light pink cheeks.
Her hair tumbled down around her face in black heavy curls that continued down and stopped over her waist.
Her skin was tanned from working underneath the burning sun but not a single scratch or spot destroyed her perfect face, which was different from the way I was used to see my ancestors.
She was beautiful, strong, healthy and confident, the opposite of everything that I was, or maybe what I had become.
Suddenly I did no longer seem to have anything in common with Ofelia, other than perhaps the color of our eyes and hair.