When she and a pair of the new Assassins who had been recruited in Roma – she recalled that their names were Saverio Salerno and Laura Boccanera, both of them having been recruited by Ezio during the course of his work – Maria smiled softly. She was glad to see that their training had paid such fine dividends, even though she hadn't had the chance to involve herself too deeply in such matters given everything that she'd had to do. Moving up in the ranks of the Brotherhood was hardly a simple matter, after all.
Taking her place at the head of the double-line of Assassin recruits that had been assembled before them all – herself, Ezio, Uncle Mario, Machiavelli, and even La Volpe himself – Maria was careful to control her reaction as she sensed the familiar, mildly unsettling presence of the Apple very close by. Folding her arms neatly behind her, as she stood by to oversee the second ceremony of this kind that she'd been present for, Maria fell neatly into step with her fellow Assassins as the five of them led Laura and Saverio up to the top of their Headquarters to make what would be only the first Leap of Faith that the pair of them take as full-fledged Assassins.
When they all made their way back down into the Headquarters again, Maria had at least an idea of how things were going to go from that point on, so it came as quite a surprise when all of them were gathered together again deep within their Headquarters once more.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why you've all been called back so soon, mi famiglia," Uncle Mario said, sparing a particularly fond look back at her for a lingering moment, before returning his attention to the crowd of their brother and sister Assassins gathered before him. "There is one other to be initiated today," Uncle Mario gestured to Ezio, who came forward with the Apple; Maria smiled slightly as she realized what the pair of them had been planning. "However, even though this man is one of the strangest that I have ever had the privilege of working with, I must ask that all of you respect his desire for privacy."
As Aeon arose from the Apple once more, Maria reflected that there could hardly have been a speech more guaranteed to arouse the curiosity of all those present. Even she found herself wondering about Aeon, for all that she'd at least known the man long enough to understand – if not appreciate – that he was not a one to speak of himself or his past in any but the most oblique of terms. Still, the ceremony itself proceeded apace – save for the part where Aeon was handed a signet ring with the Brotherhood's crest; one which would be kept in trust even as his Apple would be – in place of the mark, which could hardly be made on such a body as Aeon didn't quite possess.
It was one more thing that Maria found herself wondering about; one more secret that she had resigned herself to never knowing.
Once the ceremony had truly finished, Maria caught up with Ezio.
"So, whose idea was that, fratello?" she asked her brother, once he'd finished putting away the Apple and setting his clothes to rights again.
"Mostly mine," he said, smiling back at her as the pair of them continued on their way. "Though I did manage to get Uncle Mario and Volpe to agree with me."
"Not Niccolò?" she asked, turning back to her brother in surprise; she'd known that their brother Assassin wasn't one for taking people like Aeon at face-value, yes, but she hadn't quite thought things would go so far.
"Uncle Mario's talked him down more than a few times," Ezio said, as the pair of them continued on their way through the Headquarters, nodding to the recruits that they passed, even as those selfsame people dispersed out through the tunnel entrances, headed back up to the streets of Roma. "Still, I doubt that he will ever truly be a friend of Aeon's."
"You'd be correct about that, amico," Niccolò said, making his way determinedly over to where the pair of them were standing. "However, much as the man himself might unsettle me, I can hardly deny his utility to our cause," he continued, glancing at the place where she'd seen Ezio put the Apple away more than a few times. "That's not what I sought the pair of you out for, however."