Night fell in Florence, Italy as Vera and Eluveitie made their way back to Ezio's villa. The front door had been boarded up again and so were the two windows that had been knocked in. They chose another window to go in through and began to scale the wall. Eluveitie was able to knock the board in and climbed in before helping Vera inside. They both lit a lighter, then made their way downstairs to the room they were in a few days before. Vera stepped up to the fireplace and removed the necklace. She placed it on the mantle, then stepped back slightly.

"Ezio, I hope you don't mind that I brought a friend along to keep you company." She said as she could feel the room going cold and saw the flames on the lighters going low, "I'm sure you'll remember her."

Eluveitie kept close the doorway, then jumped slightly when he thought he felt something brush past him. He looked around to see what it was, then felt something touch his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and was able to make out the outline of a women who appeared to be close to Vera's age in her mortal form. His eyes widened slightly as he felt his heart drop.

Vera turned slightly, then grinned a little, "I think Kida likes you."

"My apologies for I can't tell if the spirit is talking to me or not." Eluveitie replied.

"You're lucky I can." Vera stepped forward, then looked at Kida, "I hope you don't hate me for bringing you here, but I did encounter Ezio when we were here several days back. I'm sure you'd rather spend the rest of your days in Italy than in Ireland." She spoke in Celtic.

Upon receiving an answer, Vera's eyes shifted to the doorway where she could feel the presents of Ezio's spirit entering the room. With that, the room grew colder and the lighters were close to dying out. She bowed her head slightly when she heard him address her, "May you two have the peace you deserve. If you two will excuse us, we must be on our way."

She walked over to Eluveitie, then felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly when she heard Ezio speak to her. She smiled a little, "You're welcome, my friend." Once she was released, she took Eluveitie's hand and lead him out of the room and up the stairs. They made their way back into the room they came out of and proceeded to climb up to the roof. She looked out at the city as a light wind blew her cape.

"What now?" Eluveitie questioned as he touched his shoulder unable to grasp the notion that a spirit had touched him.

"We head back to the hotel, get in a few hours of sleep, then head to New Zealand." Vera replied as she looked in the direction of the hotel, "Then, we explore Middle Earth until we've taken The Ring to Mordor and have it destroyed."

"Sounds like a plan to me. So, which way to the hotel?"

Vera pointed, "That way. And, I'll race you, starting now!" She quickly darted off as she jumped from building to building.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Eluveitie quickly dashed after her.

In the silence of the night, the two Assassins made their way across the roof tops towards their destination unseen and unheard by the few people who were still out and about enjoying the wonderful night life of the exotic city of Florence.

Eluveitie woke from a deep sleep as the plane landed in New Zealand. He was about to wake Vera from her sleep when he looked down at his arm and sighed when he saw that she had retraced over the Supernatural symbols that had been slowly fading on his arm and that she had gone over the Celtic design on his other arm. He made a mental note to always wear a long sleeve shirt whenever flying with her. Upon waking her up, they grabbed their bags, then exited the plane. Within the hour, they arrived at the hotel to see the Torstein hadn't arrived yet. They checked in, then went to their room and relaxed for awhile. Vera read her book while Eluveitie attempted to get the ink off his arms. About two hours past when there was a knock on the door. Eluveitie answered it, then was knocked down by a man, close to his age, who looked almost like Faramir from The Lord of the Rings films.

"Oh, come on, Torstein!" He said, "Can't you get through the door without attacking me?!"

"Just happy to see you, my friend!" Torstein said in a semi-deep Finnish accent as he slowly released him, then rose to his feet, "Plus, I was even more excited when you invited me to come to New Zealand with you!" He picked up his bag, then walked into the room, "So, where are we going first?!"

Eluveitie slowly got to his feet, then closed the door, "Well, since it's getting late, we should probably think about heading out in the morning. We should check out Hobbiton first, then go from there."

"We've got a busy week ahead of us, but I'm looking forward to every bit of it! And, I apologize for being late. Flight got delayed for about an hour, but I made it here in once piece." Torstein put his bag down, then flopped down on the bed.

"What did you tell Joshua?" Eluveitie stepped farther into the room, then sat down on the bed Vera was sitting on.

"That you needed my help with your mission. But, I'm pretty sure he'll be pissed once he finds out what's really going on."

"It wasn't really my idea to come here."

Vera flushed slightly as she put the book close to her face. She slid down on the bed a little as well.

Torstein looked over at Vera, "Do you plan to get us in trouble?"

"As if I haven't been in trouble with Lucas before." Vera replied as she moved the book away slightly and glanced over at him, "Plus, I don't think they'll miss us for a week. They'll survive. And, I need a break from missions. Two in about two weeks…too much traveling."

"I think we all could use a break from 'work', but, sadly, that's the life of an Assassin. However, I'm looking forward to this trip, so I say we enjoy it while we can. Plus, who knows when we'll get the chance to come back here again."

Vera put the book down, then nodded, "I agree. So, I say we travel during the day and watch the movies during the night."

"Hell yah! This is going to be the best trip ever!"

"While I know we're all going to be in deep trouble when we get back, this trip will be worth it." Eluveitie agreed.

"Middle Earth, here we come!"

The morning came quickly and the three of them were on their way to Hobbiton, the film location for all six movies, and they were dressed as characters from The Lord of the Rings movies; Vera was Arwen, Eluveitie was Aragorn and Torstein was Faramir. Upon their arrival, they visited the town that was located a few short miles from Hobbiton before taking the guided tour that went through Hobbiton. The people on the tour with them, including the guide, were very impressed with their costumes. Upon finishing up the tour, they grabbed something to eat, then took a horse back ride through a nearby forest.

"I really want to live in one of those Hobbit holes." Torstein said.

"I love how they have it set up. It looks just like a real place. I'm starting to believe that Middle Earth really existed here many years ago." Vera replied as she tried to get herself comfortable on the saddle, for she was riding saddle because her dress wouldn't allow her to ride properly.

"For right now, let's just believe that it's real. So, are we heading to Wellington tomorrow? I'm excited to see Rivendell and I hope we can get a glance at the movie studio."

"I'm not sure if there are tours of the studio, but I believe there are movie tours." Eluveitie replied as he kept close to Vera, "I'm sure we'll be able to see Rivendell."

"Do you think they have built a set there? You know, kind of like what they did with Hobbiton?"

"I don't recall them mentioning anything about that in the extras, but there's no harm in seeing." Vera said, "I think it would be very interesting if they left something there. But, I'm not going to lie, I would DIE to see if they left Beorn's house! Oh gosh! Can you imagine how large that place would be to us? I wanna sit in that massive chair of his."

"I admit, I was impressed by the detail and hard work they put into that set. I wouldn't mind having myself a drink in one of those fancy steins."

"You wouldn't even finish it. You'd fall off the bench drunk before you could get halfway through." Eluveitie put in.

"Hey, I can dream, can't I?"

"Do you think they filmed any of the Mirkwood scenes out here? It's been awhile since I watched the extras on the DVD."

"I think it was all done with green screen." Vera said as she looked around the forest, "I believe they said that they couldn't find a forest within New Zealand that would be spooky enough, so they had to build a set."

"Wasn't it colorful?" Torstein asked.

Vera nodded, "It was and everyone kept getting lost in it. I believe it was to give off the illusion of hallucination, just like the real Mirkwood forest in the movie."

"I'd probably go crazy in a psychedelic forest." Eluveitie said, "I can already see myself getting high as hell just looking at all those colors."

"Hey! I lived through the sixties and seventies and I'll have you know that I didn't do drugs. Though, I'm not going to lie, that forest probably would make you high as hell…or maybe a bit sick, depending on how the colors look."

"Can we agree that if we do run into a forest with said colors that we'll stay as far away from it as possible."

Torstein raised his hand, "I'll agree to that notion. But, I wouldn't mind throwing some Templars in it. I think it would be funny to watch them get lost and think that they're high on drugs."

Vera couldn't help but laugh at that thought, "Oh god! We'd be out of our job if that happened. They'd probably kill themselves before they could make it out of the forest…if they can even find their way out."

"I say we find a forest and make it look like the psychedelic Mirkwood set and throw all the Templars within and see what happens!"

"I wouldn't mind seeing that. I'd get a kick out of it, really."

"And, just for kicks, let's throw in some Mirkwood elves. If the forest doesn't kill them, I'm sure the elves will."

"You know...I'm VERY tempted to make that happen."

"Alright, before we get ahead of ourselves." Eluveitie looked up at the sky to see that it was starting to get dark out, "We should head back. Let's get some dinner at 'The Prancing Pony' before we turn in for the night."

"I'll race you!" Torstein turned his horse, then kicked it and raced off.

"Hey! That was not agreed upon!" Eluveitie quickly turned his horse and raced after Torstein.

Vera slowly turned her horse and followed after them, "Don't worry, I'm in no hurry to get back." She patted her horse on the neck gently, "We'll let the boys have their fun."

Eluveitie laid fast asleep on one of the two beds while Vera sat next to him reading her book. She was wearing the jacket Eluveitie used for his costume. Torstein finished up in the bathroom, then walked out and sat on the other bed. He picked up his phone, then laid back and went through pictures that he had taken throughout the day, "Want me to send you some?" He asked.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind." Vera replied as she put the book marker in the book, then closed it up and laid it on the table in the center of the two beds.

Torstein sent her a few of the pictures, then sat up, "Are you cold?"

"Just a little. But, I just really wanted to wear this jacket. I like it a lot. It doesn't feel like it belongs on a costume…well, all our outfits don't look like costumes. Arwen's dress doesn't even feel like a costume."

"What good is a costume if it feels like one? I'd rather go for something that looks and feels real while still looking like the outfit. Something I can wear on a regular bases if I wanted to."

Vera picked up her phone and looked through the pictures. She saved them, then used one of the three of them as her background picture, "Like how you two wear your costumes during lessons?"

Torstein laughed, "I love the look on the students' faces when we do that and when we start acting like the characters! Their look of confusion is priceless! But, a lot of them enjoy seeing us in the outfits."

"As I've seen in the videos the both of you have sent me, which bring me much amusement. Too bad Lucas wouldn't let something like that fly. Oh well, such life." Vera turned her head slightly and looked at Eluveitie, who was still fast asleep, "He sleeps like a rock."

"He's a heavy sleeper, which is never good if you get attacked by Templars. But, he keeps his weapons close by, just in case."

"Yeah, I've taken notice to that." Vera turned her head, then opened up the small drawer on the nightstand and peeked inside to see one of Eluveitie's Codex weapons within. After several minutes, she closed the drawer, "He told me about how you two met several long years ago."

"I'm surprised it's taken him this long to say anything about it."

"Well…let's just say my father opened up a few old wounds. My family can be good at doing that. That's why I tend to stray away from them."

"He normally doesn't like to speak about it, though it helps if he does talk about it."

"Have his parents ever come back to get him?"

"You mean after the first time? I have seen them around time and time again, but they've never seen him. It's been about five years since they last came down."

"Do they know he's still in Finland?"

Torstein shrugged, "I can't tell you as his family are the ones who 'speak' to them. I've caught them hovering around the camp, but his cousin, Jakob, always tells them off. Last I heard, he told them that Eluveitie was off in a different country working with a group of Assassins to find one of the Treasures of Eden. But, that was about five years ago. I'm guessing they have since given up."

"Do you think they've really stopped trying?"

"I would hope so. They're getting to be a pest, but I do understand that they want their son back. However, I do fear what might happen if he should go off with them."

"They're not…Templars, are they?"

"Oh, God, no! They just don't want to be Assassins. Pretty much, they just want to live a 'normal' life without having to deal with the pressures of being an Assassin and having to worry about Templars coming after them time and time again."

"Do you think they do business with the Templars?"

"I'm guessing they do business with anyone as long as they keep their business to themselves."

Vera nodded a little, "What were you doing up there the day that he got hurt?"

"Same as everyone else, hunting. While my family are dedicated Assassins, we do enjoy hunting in the winter and we do make our own clothing, even though my aunt is better at it than my mom, I'm not going to lie on that one. It was a good thing I was in the area along with my brother. The both of us were able to take down the Templars and I went searching to see if there was anymore. That's when I found him and he looked half dead. They did a number on him, that's for sure."

Vera turned her body slightly, then looked down at Eluveitie. She placed her hand on a spot on his back, "Just like when me and my team found him and the others. He took a nasty hit to his back."

"I almost feel like he enjoys getting hurt. While he is a brave leader, he does have a rebellious side to him, which does worry Joshua at times. I think his emotions get the better of him."

"If it came down to it, would he give up his life in order to save his team?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." When he saw Vera face him, he replied, "He has the heart, will and bravery of an Assassin. I don't believe he would have left home if he didn't have those things within him. We Assassins protect our own in any condition. I'm sure there are others who've put their lives on the line for you."

Vera turned her head slightly as she looked down a little, "Every time I'm sent out on a mission, Lucas sends me out with the same guys. We do look out for each other, even though I'm the one who ends up coming back banged up, but I would rather take the wounds than any of them."

"There you go. He's the same way."

Before Vera could have a chance to reply, she felt the bed move, then turned and saw that Eluveite was starting to wake up. She turned towards Torstein, then grinned slightly as she said, "Faramir, how are we going to explain to Aragorn that Mr. Frodo already took The Ring to Mordor to be destroyed and that Mr. Frodo is now on a trip to the Undying Lands with Bilbo, Gandalf, Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel?" She tried to make her voice sound like Pippin's, but it didn't turn out too good."

Torstein tried to keep himself from laughing while trying to keep a straight face, "Well, it'll be a shock to him, seeing as how he slept through the whole battle of Middle Earth at Mordor." He leaned over slightly to look at Eluveitie, "How you were able to sleep through that whole thing, I don't understand. Though, we did keep you in a safe place, so no one would kill the future king of Isildur.."

"But, he doesn't want to be king. He wants to spend the rest of his life as a ranger." Vera bit her lip as she tried to keep the laughter within her.

"Well, I think he needs to man up and take his place as king. It is his birthright after all."

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Eluveitie groaned a little as he slowly pushed himself up, "Wait a second…did you two watch all the movies without me?!"

Torstein laughed so hard that he not only fell back onto the bed, but had a cramp in his side, "I'm sorry, my friend, but that was just too good to pass up! And, no, we didn't even start watching the movies yet. Perhaps that's something we should think about doing tomorrow night."

"I swear if you two watched them while I was asleep…"

"Eluveitie, do you really think you'd be asleep that whole time? I mean, the movies are pushing a good twenty-two hours…or a little less than that. I don't think you'd be able to sleep that long."

"You slept for an hour and a half." Vera replied to him.

"You missed most of the first movie. Good job." Torstein quickly ducked when he saw a pillow come flying his way, "Alright, I get it."

"Ok, before the two of you..." Vera paused when she heard her phone going off, "...I'm not answering that."

Eluveitie and Torstein quickly turned their attention towards the phone, which was playing Sympathy for the Devil by Guns 'N' Roses. Eluveitie leaned over to have a look, "By any chance, does Lucas know thats you're ring tone for him?"

"No, and it stays between the three of us." After several moments, she leaned over and picked up the phone. She listened to the voice mail, then began to send him a text message.

"What does he want?" Eluveitie asked.

"Wants to know how much longer it's going to take." Vera hit the send button, then showed the two of them what she sent to Lucas, "Too bad he's going to have to wait just a bit longer for me to come home."

Upon the screen was a picture of the three of them in their costumes in the forest. Torstein was holding out his hand with The Ring resting on his palm while Vera and Eluveitie stood on either side of him. Underneath was a message that read; Taking The Ring to Mordor. Be back in a week.