Alright, I didn't mean for this chapter to take this long, but I went and did a different project rather than working on this. I was also doing a bunch of research for this fic that I didn't even end up using for this chapter anyways. But it's here now so that's something.

Desmond woke to find the room completely dark. Not that surprising, considering he fell asleep in the middle of the day. He could have fallen back asleep, but he no longer felt tired. Instead, he got up.

He dressed enough so that he's covered and put his boots back on, but didn't bother lighting a candle. He has his own and Ezio's memories to guide him through the villa. He quietly made his way back downstairs and to Mario's study. He caught a few ghostly after images of Ezio and his family on his way down.

He opened the secret passageway and went down into the sanctuary. He could remember how it looked in his own time, but just sitting there on his own with no light but the moon's left him open to the bleeding effect. He saw Ezio fading in and out around the room, strong enough at times he swears he can hear him. He wasn't sure why he doesn't think he's Ezio the way he has entered Altaïr's memories a couple times. Maybe which animus he did it in made a difference. There hasn't been an opportunity to tell with Connor's memories, and Juno had put him in Haytham's.

"You shouldn't be alone."

Desmond startled, and the afterimage of an Ezio that no longer existed disappeared. He turned to find Altaïr coming down the stairs to join him in the sanctuary. Altaïr hadn't put on his outer robes either, and he looked way too normal without them.

"You said being alone seemed to trigger the bleeding."

"It does. I've been seeing Ezio and his family," he said, feeling his headache now that he was fully present in his own head. "And I've got a headache."

Altaïr gave him an unimpressed look, and yeah Desmond's mother was definitely descended from him. "Are you intentionally trying to trigger the bleeding?"

Desmond shrugged. "No, mostly just ignoring it."

"Why?" he asked, still with an edge of exasperation. Desmond got the weird feeling that he was seeing some of the first steps in the process that led from Altaïr being a Master Assassin to the Mentor of the Order. He'd been something of a loner even before being ostracized, not much of a mentor to younger members, but here he was checking on Desmond even if he seemed to be annoyed with the whole thing.

"Never thought I would see this place again. I told you we had stayed here for a time. I think if you appeared in my time, you would still like to see Masyaf."

"Not if we had a mission," he said, and Desmond considered that that may end up being the case. They'd only have to jump forward two more times for Altaïr to get to 2012, but he'd be on the other side of the world from Masyaf. He wouldn't even consider going if it meant abandoning the mission.

"I don't think a little midnight visit will take too much away from the mission," Desmond said.

"Perhaps not, but I don't think intentionally tempting the bleeding is a good idea," he said, gesturing for Desmond to head back up the stairs.

He had a point so Desmond went.

"What are you awake for?" he asks.

"We slept the entire day. I wasn't expecting to sleep the whole night as well."

"What did you come down here for?"

"Heard you moving, and I thought it best to follow given your bleeding," he answered. "If you wish to heal, I think you should avoid being alone to the best of your ability. If this…"

Altaïr paused, and Desmond got the feeling he was trying to find a word that wasn't totally insulting of the space just because he hated the statue.

"Place," Altaïr eventually went with, "makes bleeds more likely, I think you should attempt to avoid it as well. It will be easy for now as we will be together while we sort out our plan. It may be more difficult down the line if we must split up to fulfill our mission so you should take advantage of this time now to heal."

Put that way, going down to the sanctuary just because it was familiar to him did seem like a dumb move. Desmond sighed. "Yes, you're right."

Altaïr gave him a considering look when they made it back into the study where there was some more moonlight.

"What?" Desmond asked.

"Perhaps you should sleep more as well, at least try for the rest of this night."

He still had his headache and sleeping probably was the best way to relieve it in a time before Advil. "Yes, I can do that. What do you plan to do?"

"I was going to get the lay of the land."

"At night and alone?" he asked, then pointedly looked him over where he still wasn't wearing clothes. "Without clothes?"

"It is not enemy territory, just unfamiliar territory, and I was going to dress first."

Desmond kind of hated how much more difficult he was to read when he wasn't actually in his head. He could be telling the truth, but it could also be him dealing with the time traveling or everything with Maria, or some other thing Desmond couldn't even guess at.

"You're certain it is wise for you to be alone?" he asked because he can't shake the feeling that something was up with Altaïr.

"It's alright," he assured him. "I do not intend to overextend myself. No one will know I'm there."

"I'm not worried about your abilities nor do I think the town unsafe," he answered. "I meant it as an opportunity to share your thoughts if something is bothering you."

Altaïr smiled wryly, reminding Desmond of his mother again. It had been a very familiar expression on her face. "I'd prefer to keep my own counsel. I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid you still know me better than I know you."

Desmond tried not to wince. Altaïr has said he didn't hold knowing his thoughts and feelings during a terrible time in his life against him as he had been forced to it, but that wouldn't stop him from feeling as if his privacy had been invaded. "Sorry," Desmond said.

"You do not need to apologize," he says, "It was not my intention to offend you either."

Desmond shakes his head. "It's alright. It's true you've only known me a couple months. I'll leave you be and return to bed."

"Good," he said.

They separated on the second floor, each returning to their own rooms. Desmond can't hear much between the rooms, but he does hear through the door when Altaïr makes his way outside. It took Desmond some time to fall asleep with the pounding headache, but he did eventually wake to morning light. Thankfully the headache was gone though it looked more like mid-morning rather than dawn. He dressed fully this time before making his way downstairs again.

He didn't see anyone at first. He knows that Mario kept a few servants on staff even during this low point in the family's finances, but he doesn't see any of them either. Downstairs, he could hear voices, just Mario and Ezio, and he decides not to get involved in that. Instead, he headed to the kitchen because even if breakfast wasn't really a thing in Italy during this period, he was hungry.

He found Connor finishing his breakfast of bread. "Morning," Connor said between bites.

"Good morning," Desmond told him in Italian before switching back to English. "Do you know where everyone else is?"

"I have not seen Altaïr, but Maria went to take a look at the grounds," Connor said.

"Alright, well, they know we have to do research in the workshop," Desmond said. "If they're not there when we finish eating, we can start on your Italian."

"Alright," he said, finishing off his breakfast.

Desmond ate his own portion of bread as a breakfast quickly, and then they headed to the workshop where they'd left everything the night before. They entered the room to find Altaïr already there reading one of the history books Mario had pulled out for them.

"Oh," Desmond said. "You're here already. Did you have anything to eat?"

"Yes, earlier," Altaïr said without looking up.

"If you're started on the books, I should start on the phone," Desmond said moving to the desk.

"Will we do Italian this afternoon then?" Connor asked.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "Sorry to not have anything for you to do."

"It's not your fault I do not speak or read the language," he said. "I will find something to take up the morning."

"Alright, thank you," Desmond said.

Connor headed out, and Desmond got as far as pulling out his phone and setting up the ink and quill when Maria appeared.

"You started without me?" she asked, but she didn't sound too offended about it.

"You knew where to find us," Altaïr replied in her language.

Desmond squinted at him, wondering if this was somehow teasing. Maria gave him a look, grabbed the book on the top of the stack then sat down heavily in another chair. She began to read, not paying attention to them, but Desmond could swear Altaïr was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Not in a wary way, more like an evaluating way. Desmond had a feeling the whole marriage thing was bothering more than he'd say to any of them due to what Desmond remembered of Adha.

None of that was Desmond's business though, and he didn't actually want to deal with it. Instead, he focused on his phone and searching for information to see what happened between 1191 and 1477. He didn't think Shaun had done anything from Altaïr's time really, but he had given a lot of background information leading into the events that occurred in Ezio's early life, so he was betting there had to be some overview information leading into the Italian Renaissance. It was only a couple hundred years from the end of the Crusades to the Renaissance.

He tried a few different search terms to try and find a file that fit, but all the searches either came up empty or with irrelevant results. Then he just scrolled through all the files he'd downloaded. There were files that covered events and people from before the 15th century, but only about as far back as the middle of the 13th. All of it was specific, no overview in sight. Desmond sighed and said in English, "Fuck you, Shaun."

Both Maria and Altaïr looked at him.

Desmond switched to Old French. "Shaun worked with me. He wrote out all this information, but he made it hard to find what we need."

"Was he not good at his job?" Maria asked.

"No, he knew a lot," he said. "He did not like me."

"Maybe you should be nicer."

"Me?" he asked. "I was not the one saying mean things."

Which totally misrepresented how Shaun actually acted, but he didn't know how to say he wasn't the one making snarky remarks in Old French.

"Can you still do it?" Altaïr asked, diffusing the situation.

"Yes," he answered. "It will take longer."

"Then we continue."

Desmond sighed again, but rolled his head to get his neck loose before he suffered neck problems from being hunched over his little phone screen, and started searching again. What he'd be able to pull out likely wouldn't be that organized, but he'd do his best, starting from the the farthest in the past and working his way towards the Renaissance.

He decided to go with using bullet points to keep things concise and wrote it in 15th century Florentine Italian as that would be their common language while they were here. He quickly discovered that the earliest dates were due to the birth years of major figures, not any of the events. He started with a lot of Popes, Kings, Sultans and Caliphs, all framed with regards to how they affected the start of this war between Templars and Assassins. Not all of it was focused on the figures who had an impact in the Middle East. Desmond got the feeling that Shaun thought the Reconquista by the Hispano-Visgoth Christians to push out the Umayyad Muslims that had conquered the Iberian peninsula had something to do with a Piece of Eden in addition to control of the land.

After the political and religious figures, there were major Templar and Assassin figures, including Baqir. Desmond tried not to make the bullet points about any of them or their individual actions, but rather pieced together the major events that came out through reading all of Shaun's summaries of them and their lives. Desmond was a little bit pleased to read that Baqir had been able to retire though he has no idea if that had happened in this new time line they had created.

Then by that point, Desmond had to set down his quill to stretch out his hand. The only other time he'd ever written this much had been the instructions he'd left in Masyaf. He didn't find the quill as difficult as the reed pen, more experience with it from Ezio most likely, but he'd never been one to write very much. Besides, they were headed into the afternoon, and Desmond was starting to get hungry.

"Does anyone else smell food?" Maria asked.

She'd lowered the book she'd been reading to her lap and was looking towards the door.

"They're likely preparing the midday meal," Desmond said. "I'm ready to eat."

"How much progress have you made?" Altaïr asked, sticking to the Old French. He closed his book, setting it on the edge of the desk.

Desmond gestured to the two and a half pages he had laid out to dry in front of him. "I think I am finished with people."

Altaïr looked it over as Desmond stood and stretched. "Italian?"

"Yes, it will be easier for Mario and the others. It will also help you learn."

Altaïr considered the words for a few moments more. Then he looked up at Desmond and switched back to Arabic. "Is it important we include Mario and Ezio in this? I understand that they are part of our Order, but that does not mean they must help us with this task even if Mario has given us support thus far. This new Ezio does not know us and seems very hostile to us, nor does he have the skills of the man we knew. Is it necessary for us to wait for him?"

Desmond felt odd getting the question, but Altair didn't know Ezio, hadn't been in his head, the way Desmond had. It wasn't entirely unreasonable to just ask the question. "We've lost a few hundred years. The Order extends well beyond Masyaf and its neighboring cities as do the Pieces of Eden. I think we need more people collecting them to achieve our goals. I'm not certain we can even collect the ones in Europe on our own. It takes time to locate them, to travel to them, to collect and hide them. Mario leads the Italian Guild within the Assassin Order. If things continue for Ezio as they had before, he will take over from him. We will need their help."

Altaïr nodded slowly. "I see your point. Could we not use the Piece of Eden we do have to locate the others? That was what I saw before, wasn't it? A map to the other Pieces? Would that not speed the process?"

Desmond considered his words before going with a knee-jerk and harsh no. "You are correct that is what you saw. That is why the Templars wanted your memories. I have concerns about using it though given Juno's influence. In the original history, you nearly lost yourself studying the Apple so I have reason to believe that all of us would be easily susceptible to her sway. We also don't know if touching it would send us to another time, and we can't risk that without making progress now."

He nodded again, mulling it over. "There is no way to use the Piece of Eden without touching it? I did not touch it to make the map appear."

"If there is, I don't know of it," Desmond said. "We do not need to solve this now. We still have history to go over and Italian to teach you all."

"It will give Ezio time to train as well," he pointed out.

"And Claudia."

"Yes," he said, though it sounded hesitant. "If she wishes."

Desmond wasn't sure what was causing that, probably more wariness to adding even more new people just like with Mario and this young, new version of Ezio, but decided not to press it at the moment because he knew Claudia could help, she just needed training.

"What were you discussing?" Maria asked.

Desmond and Altaïr both turned to her, and Desmond was relieved that she didn't look too mad about being excluded.

"Whether to use the Piece of Eden to find the others," Desmond answered. "And how much to include Mario and train Ezio and Claudia."

"Isn't it dangerous to use the Piece of Eden?" she asked. "That's why we're trying to collect them, right?"

"Yes, that is the problem," he said. "We need a way around that or else we have to search."

She nodded. "I may not be able to help there, but I can help train Claudia."

"You're not part of our Order," Altaïr said, but not nearly as aggressively as he would have before they'd time traveled.

"It's true that I don't know your Order, but I can certainly help her train her body," she said. "I'll be able to help her adjust more than any of you will."

"Good," Desmond said before Altaïr said anything more in case it might ruin this progress. "You just need to learn Italian."

There was a knock on the door, and they all turn to see a maid in the doorway. Desmond could barely remember her from this early on in Ezio's memories, but he's pretty sure she worked with the cook.

The maid cleared her throat and said, "Dinner is being served."

Maria and Altaïr both looked to Desmond even though he's pretty sure they can figure it out since they both know Old French and Latin. Still, he said, "Time to eat."

They followed the maid out of the workshop to the main hall which had been set up with a table to eat and a bowl of water to wash their hands with. The cook and a second maid were setting out the last of the plates, and the Auditore family was already seated. Desmond had no idea where Connor was though, and there were four seats empty. It was also pretty obvious where Desmond should sit given the Auditore family was gathered at one end of the table, Mario at the head and the women on one side and Ezio on the other. Only one seat was available beside the two women.

They took their turns washing their hands before sitting, Desmond going first and taking the seat beside Ezio despite the dark look he gave him. Maria took the seat beside Claudia while Altaïr took the seat beside Desmond, leaving the seat at the end for Connor.

"Welcome," Mario said, ignoring the hostilities. "Where is Connor?"

"I'm not certain," Desmond said. "He was unable to help us this morning and left to occupy himself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the front door opened and Connor entered the villa.

"I'm late," Connor said in English. "My apologies."

Desmond translated for Mario.

"All is well," he said magnanimously. "You all may eat. We do not wait to say grace here."

"Mother, are you alright-," Claudia asked, but Maria Auditore nodded, cutting her off. Desmond noticed that she'd only been given a bowl of broth which was likely all she could manage to eat with a broken jaw.

Ezio attacked his food like it had offended him. Desmond gave him a wary look, but decided to start eating because he was hungry.

"Were you able to make any progress this morning, Desmond?" Mario asked in Latin rather than Italian. It would be different from what Maria and Altair were used to due to the difference in time and place, but they'd have an easier time than with the Italian.

"Yes, your assistance is greatly appreciated," he said.

"The books were useful then?"

Maria answered, "Yes, the author seems very thorough."

Altaïr only nodded rather than adding more.

"Excellent," he said with a smile, and then backed away from discussing Assassin business, returning to Italian. He kept up most of the chatter through the meal, speaking mostly of the town and telling funny stories to keep the mood up. It did not work well. Ezio still glared down at his plate as he ate while Claudia looked uncomfortable and sad, pushing her food around rather than eating. Maria Auditore only seemed capable of slowly and methodically eating her broth one small spoonful at a time. The family wasn't well.

As for Connor, Altaïr, and Maria, they only got what Desmond could quickly translate to them between Mario's stories. Maria appeared to be the only one even trying to be polite as she at least looked at Mario and Desmond as they spoke. Connor and Altaïr focused on their food. All around, it was a disjointed and uncomfortable meal despite Mario's efforts.

Eventually, though, it did end. Ezio hopped up immediately, rushing his mother up as soon as she finished her broth. Claudia left with them to help him return their mother to her room to continue recovering. Mario sighed at their quick departure then turned to Desmond.

"Ezio has agreed to stay and train for the time being," he explained. "He is unhappy, but he has accepted that he is in need of more skills before he can leave."

"And did you explain the Order to him yet?" he asked cautiously.

"I have begun to tell him, but I intend to explain more during our training tomorrow," he said.

"And Claudia?" he asked.

Mario sighed, gesturing with one hand that it was up in the air. "I will ask her, but I do not know if she will agree to it."

Desmond can't imagine a fifteen year old girl saying no to learning to defend herself after half her family was killed and seeing her mother's jaw broken. Still, all he said is, "Alright. I plan to teach the others Italian this afternoon so we can assist in the training if you need us."

"We shall see," he said. "I will hopefully have clothes procured for you by this evening."

"Thank you," he said. "Again, your help is much appreciated."

"You are part of the Order. We are helping each other."

"Still, thank you," he said because he knows the situation Mario is in at the moment.

Desmond got up from his seat and asked his fellow time travelers in English, "Ready to work on Italian?"

He had only had to say it once as Maria clearly figured it out from context, getting up with the rest of them. They give their farewells to Mario and return to the workshop as Mario headed to the study.

Once again, Desmond would really like to have a chalk board and write the Italian out, but he makes do with verbally teaching them. It was a mess after teaching the basic pronouns, articles, and the conjugations for to be and to have. Desmond had picked up a few things working with Connor in Arabic before, but it's different trying to teach three people with three different native languages. Altaïr didn't know quite enough modern English to understand what Desmond taught Connor, and for Connor it was the opposite. Altaïr also didn't know quite enough Old French for Desmond to teach Maria very effectively even though she should probably have the easiest time of learning Italian given the languages similarities.

Still, some progress was made by the time they gather with the Auditore family to eat the evening meal. Thankfully, evening meals were smaller meal than the midday meal meaning Desmond wouldn't have to spend quite so long translating everything while the others learned Italian.

"Good news," Mario said in Latin again after they'd been seated and started to eat. "I have procured you all clothes. All men's clothes, though, forgive me if I assumed."

Maria answered, "That is far more suitable for our work."

"Excellent," he said then turned to Altaïr. "I did manage to find a uniform that should fit you. It's old fashioned, but I'm sure that hardly matters to you."

"It is fine," Altaïr said. "Thank you."

"I'll have the clothes sent to your rooms. I begin training Ezio tomorrow morning if you wish to assist," he said, ignoring how Ezio glared at them. "You may also wish to familiarize yourselves with the weapons we have available."

That was actually a good point. Desmond would have no problem given his experience with Ezio, and Connor might be alright given he had some experience with straight swords. Maria, however, had only learned to use arming swords, not Renaissance rapiers. Altaïr might be even worse off as he had only ever used curved blades.

"Yes, we certainly will," Desmond assured him, hoping the training might get Ezio to soften towards them. He needed to work off his anger productively, and they may get a chance to speak with him.

"Then we will see you tomorrow morning," he said with a smile.

After dinner, they return to the workshop to try and get more of the history done. Connor joined them this time, looking over what Desmond had already written in an attempt to familiarize himself more with the language.

Desmond finished getting down everything he could from the Crusades off his phone before they called it quits. Altaïr and Maria had also nearly finished reading the first books they had taken.

"I say we do the training with Mario and Ezio tomorrow, and in the afternoon, see if we can go over what we have so far," Desmond told in the others, English for Connor and Old French for Maria, and Altaïr hopefully getting it all between the two of them.

"We should save the evening for Italian," Altaïr said in Old French. "We will not need the light as much then."

"Agreed," he said, Maria nodding in agreement as well. "That can be the new schedule."

Desmond repeated in English for Connor who agreed to it as well.

They retired for the night, and Desmond found the clothes from Mario as promised in his room. He decided to leave them for the night and examine them in the morning when he'd have more light. He slept better than he had the end of day and night before. He woke closer to dawn than mid morning as well.

He finally got a good look at the clothes Mario had left him. They didn't appear to be of the same quality as what the Auditores wore, and all had rather worn colors, but Desmond wasn't surprised by that with how quickly he'd procured them. Unlike with the clothes Maria had brought him in Cyprus, he was much more familiar with these from Ezio's memories. The linen braies were properly underclothing now with the hose coming up to the waist and covering the braies. The hose weren't entirely pants though as they were only joined at the back and the front covered by a flap that had to be tied closed. The linen shirt went on before the doublet with the Florentine high neckline, and the hose tied to the doublet to help keep them up. Desmond had known that Ezio had frequently worn another layer over his doublet, but the only thing left that Mario had given him was a hat as it was inappropriate to go without one.

Desmond also pulled on the boots he'd received in Masyaf despite them not being very typical for Italian boots of the time which typically went up higher to the thigh. Then he went to go see if Altaïr or Connor needed help dressing as Maria would probably not want his help at all.

"Are the clothes alright?" Desmond asked Altaïr when he answered his door. He'd chosen not to wear the Assassin's uniform which surprised him. "You decided not to go with the uniform?"

"We need to blend in for now while we're not completing any missions," he answered then stepped back from the door and gestured to his clothes. "I'm not certain this is right."

"Yes, you need to tie your doublet to your hose," he said then showed Altaïr where he'd tied his doublet to his hose. "See."

"Thank you," he said, and Desmond left him to it with only a reminder about the hat.

Connor had the same problem, but he quickly sorted it like he had with Altaïr. He stopped by the kitchen for some bread to have as breakfast before heading outside to prepare for training. He found Maria, fully and properly dressed in her own hose and doublet, and Mario standing at the edge of the training ground, discussing the plan for the morning in Latin.

"Good morning," he told them, sticking with the Latin. "Altaïr and Connor will join us shortly."

Mario turned back towards the villa. "Hopefully my nephew will as well. Claudia has decided to only observe for now."

"Hopefully, we can change her mind," Maria said.

Altaïr and Connor joined them shortly after, dressed properly now including hats. Mario pointed to a rack with wooden practice swords, "Please, use what you need."

"We'll be using the yard while Mario uses the ring with Ezio," Maria added.

Desmond translated to English for Connor as they all went to pick out wooden swords that mimicked the popular rapiers of the time. Desmond had to force himself not to use the one Ezio had always practiced with, instead picking one that looked sturdy enough. As he was moving to leave, he caught Maria telling Altaïr in Old French, "You look strange."

He did his best to try and look at them subtly while Connor continued on ahead of him. In Maria's defense, Altaïr did look weird out of uniform with so much of his face and even his hair exposed. Altaïr, however, just looked confused.

"It is the same as what everyone else is wearing," Altaïr eventually said.

Maria just frowned. "You should wear white," she said before brushing past him.

Desmond quickly looked forward and walked towards Connor to act like he hadn't caught anything even if it meant missing Altaïr's reaction. He really hoped that wasn't what passed for flirting between them before it escalated to Maria goading Altaïr into chasing her. Not that he wanted to witness that either.

"Alright, are we ready?" Desmond asked in Latin, acting like he hadn't heard any of the Old French then repeating himself in English for Connor who cut him off with a nod before he could even finish.

"Yes, let's begin," Maria said, already raising her sword to go first.

Thankfully, Desmond was in shape now for teaching all the positions he remembered from Ezio. He demonstrated them with ease, and could perform them as many times as they needed. Connor picked them up the quickest, having the most similar experience with swords. Maria followed closely while Altaïr lagged somewhat. Desmond could sense some frustration from Altaïr with his lack of progress, but he suspected he could only tell because he'd been in Altaïr's head before and knew what he'd been like before the last summer he'd lived through. Altaïr was competitive as all get out, that's why he'd become a Master Assassin so young. He only worked harder when he saw someone doing better than him.

Ezio and Claudia came out to join Mario soon after they'd begun practicing their swordplay. Desmond did his best to keep an ear out for their conversation as the others practiced. Mario greeted Ezio jovially, and Ezio seemed to be in a far better mood without any of them near. Claudia, however, seemed nervous. Ezio began his own training by working with one of Mario's men, Mario standing by so he could correct what he saw in Ezio's positioning and movements. Ezio wasn't quite the natural that Altaïr was, but he picked up the movements quickly enough, just as Desmond remembered him doing. Towards the end, Claudia was even asking questions as Ezio performed the various attacks he'd just learned. As far as Desmond could tell between the distance and most of his attention on training the others, it seemed to be progressing better than it had originally.

They all broke for water at the same time, coming together to drink. Ezio watched them even as he drank his water. Eventually, he set his water aside and asked them directly in Latin, "It's all true? Assassins and Templars? You are all Assassins?"

"Yes, we're Assassins," Desmond answered.

"Not me," Maria corrected. "But I'm helping."

"But it sounds like pure fantasy. I've never seen any of this before," Ezio insisted. "And my uncle claims you are from different times, how is that even possible?"

"We are," Desmond assured him. "I'm descended from you. And your father did try to train you. Why do you think he taught you and your brother to climb the way you do? Sent you to the people he did around the city?"

"Do not speak of my father and brother," he snapped. "What do you even know of them?"

"Forgive me," he said, backing down. With how much of Ezio's life he'd lived, the memories of Frederico and Giovanni were old and scarred, not fresh wounds. "I intended no offense."

"It's as I've told you, Ezio," Mario said gently in Italian. "These are our allies, fellow members of our Order. We need to cooperate to succeed."

"Succeed at what?" he snapped, annoyed.

"Preventing the end of the world," Desmond said, switching to Italian as well. "It won't happen for centuries, but we need to lay the groundwork now. We need to take control of the Pieces of Eden and keep them safely hidden away so we can advance technology enough to prevent disaster."

"How am I meant to believe that?" he asked.

"You don't need to," he said. "But if you wish to prevent what happened to your family from ever happening again, you should want to help us defeat the Templars."

Ezio clenched his jaw, looking away as he processed. "And who keeps my family safe if I do that?"

"You do it yourselves," he said, glancing over to Claudia. She looked upset, on the verge of tears, but she didn't look away. "Train and learn. Get better than your enemies. Wherever you go in this world, there will still be Templars or men like them. They don't go away just because you turn you back."

Desmond knew. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. Ezio had never needed Desmond's help when he went through this the first time, but he'd asked him this time.

Ezio didn't answer Desmond, turning back to Mario instead. "Teach me the next," he told him.

Mario smiled, giving Desmond a nod before turning to his nephew and saying, "Alright, back to work."

So we're back to doing what they were doing in Masyaf with all the research and language learning, but I did make sure to put in some character moments because we do have a few new ones we didn't have in Masyaf.

I put in a lot of little things to make it feel more like they're in the Renaissance now, that things are done differently with how they eat and dress and the weapons they use because I like that kind of stuff and I think that's really important in a time travel fic like this where you can't just show visually that things are different like in the game.

As for the Latin, it is definitely spoken by the upper classes from Medieval period through to the Renaissance but it's likely Mario would have been influenced by Renaissance Latin which was pushed by humanists who rejected Medieval Latin for Ancient Latin, and it's just been a few centuries and languages change. I didn't go into it because there are already so many language barriers, but I did have Altaïr avoid speaking any Latin because I think he would be able to read it alright due to intercepting written materials, but I doubt he would have used it for speaking much at all.

The clothes in AC2 are really a mixed bag for historical accuracy. The women's clothing are pretty good they at least get the silhouette and fabrics pretty close, but the men's are just bad. Ezio's outfit before he puts on the uniform is just a nightmare. He has a low neckline and a popped collar and a vest instead of a doublet so his shirtsleeves are exposed, and wearing pants that don't exist, no hat, and hair tied back. What was popular in Florence at the time for young men was bright hose, high necked collarless doublets that were poofy at the upper part of the sleeve, red brimless hats, and then overgowns that were pleated and usually belted, but they were kept short to show off their legs. The Assassin's uniform he gets from Giovanni has a lot of the same problems, but at least the length of the uniform makes more sense as older men wore longer doublets/overgowns, and I can forgive the hood because it's to show you're part of the Order and not typical day wear.

In any case, I did redesign that uniform to be more historically accurate (not perfectly accurate) for an older man in the 1470s which you can find at sirenalpha . tumblr post/653272658045272064/this-is-my-simplified-version-of-a-more . post/653272658045272064/this-is-my-simplified-version-of-a-more without the spaces if you want to see it for reference as it's what I'll be using for Ezio's and Altaïr's uniforms while they're in this time period.