A/N: Hello again, my wonderful readers! This one is published a bit late because I moved back into my dorm today, so I had to cram all my editing into the span of about two hours (yes, I procrastinated the rest of the week because I do not think ahead). I'm beginning to introduce a bit of the main plot here, and I know its introduction will make certain people happy. In any case, please enjoy!

Altairila: Yeah, they're definitely drunk! I tried to show it rather than outright saying it, but I'm not the most skilled in that department. And yes, hopefully, this chapter will help bring some closure to that little event.

AdeielSilverbird: Oof, yeah, I thought it was a LITTLE better, but this has ended up being slightly darker than its prequel was. Regardless, I hope you still enjoy it! I tried adding some realistic PTSD, inner conflicts, and parallelism to show how they might've been affected by the events of the previous story.

Chapter 5: A Bell Tolled, and I Was There

Ryan was in the middle of the biggest walk of shame he'd ever done.

He dragged himself behind Nadir, stumbling and slipping over the slightest of changes on the uneven, cobblestone streets. Every now and then he paused, leaning heavily on a dusty wall and shoving down the looming nausea. Nadir paused with him, but never said a word.

The light of the house came into view all too soon, and Ryan saw with a pang of guilt that the porch light never went out. How late is it, anyway? I have no idea…He realized he'd never done anything like this before.

The light euphoria had completely vanished by the time they reached the door, replaced by a groaning dizziness and curling stomach, the spinning of surfaces becoming unpleasant as his mood did. Nadir closed the door lightly behind him and moved to sit on a bench next to the stairs. He gestured for Ryan to follow, and he did so clumsily.

There was silence for a moment, the older man observing the younger.

Then he asked simply, "Why?"

Ryan shrugged, mouth dry. What should I say? What do I say to appease him? "I don't…I don't know…"

Nadir huffed softly. "That's not an answer."

"What do you want me to say?" Ryan groaned, putting his head in his hands. "Just tell me so I can go to bed. And maybe get some water." Ugh. Shouldn't have said that.

Nadir nodded slowly and stood, walking over to the other end of the bottom room, where the kitchen lay. Ryan felt his body tense, waiting for some unknown rejection, some hidden anger in his adopted father to spring forth. But the man merely grabbed a jug off the drying rack and filled it from the basin, bringing it back to where the apprentice sat, still swaying.

"Here. Drink up."

Ryan grabbed the jug from his hands, tilting it back and drinking down the cool liquid. Some spilled over the sides in his haste to quench his thirst, the chill of it bringing back a vague memory of a dusty road, a kind man stopping to help.

"I want the truth, child," Nadir muttered once he'd drunk his fill, settling down next to the shaking boy. Ryan sniffed, wiping at his eyes. "I want to help. This isn't like you at all." The man turned to stare at him, dark eyes piercing into his soul. "Did you even know them?"

Ryan shook his head and sniffed again, choking out, "No, I just…they just…offered to help, so…"

"So you went with them without knowing who they were? After what happened to your sister?"

"Maybe I wanted that!" He cried, ignoring the tears that had begun. "Maybe I wanted someone to rescue me, too! To look at me and find me useful instead of treating me like a servant! Instead, she gets all this cool shit, this thing in her head that makes her special! She gets coddled over, but me…"

I get left behind.

"I see," Nadir spoke quietly. "Is that what this is?"

"No! Not…not entirely." The boy took a deep breath, wiping at his reddening cheeks. "It's just…Baha was drunk yesterday, so I ended up doing all the work myself, and I know he's going through a lot, I know that! But today, he treated me like he normally does, all dismissive, and acted like it didn't happen! And-"

Nadir held out his hand. "Take a breath, Rye-an."

"Yes," Ryan gasped, "Sorry."

"It is no problem." The assassin moved his arm to wrap around the boy's shoulders and Ryan sighed, trying and failing to not lean in because that would make this more pathetic than it already is. Still, he felt himself relaxing, and the spinning in his head became slightly less intense. Or maybe I'm just nowhere near as drunk as I was before the super long walk.

"Did you know it was my birthday a few weeks ago?" He spoke suddenly. "I turned fifteen and I didn't even realize."

"Ah." Nadir smiled at him. "Is that good in your culture?"

"There's normally a celebration on birthdays. I just miss it."

The man tilted his head thoughtfully, eyes skittering as he processed the thoughts of his ward. "We do not celebrate that here, but perhaps we could make an exception?" Ryan shook his head vigorously. He already felt bad after making Nadir search for him, he didn't want to throw in complaints about the world he was now a part of.

"No. It's not that big of a deal, just…different."

"Ok. If you mean that." I'm not sure that I do.

They sat there in silence for a long time, the shadows around them growing, then shrinking slightly from the moonlight. Ryan closed his eyes at one point, and Nadir tucked him closer, ignoring his mumbled complaints.

"Well then." Nadir grinned, ruffling his hair fondly. "I need to wake Nafisa and tell her I found you. And you ought to go to bed."

He groaned again, digging his palms into his eyes. Now that the dizziness had almost gone, Ryan could feel the inevitable headache rising behind them, threatening to bubble over. "Good idea." I should probably fall asleep before that happens.

Nadir smiled and stood, offering the sleepy apprentice one last hug before slipping into the back room, where he and his wife kept their bed. A small breeze floated from the window, glassless as it was, with only a small curtain to cover it. Ryan shivered. Man, I need to make better choices.

Preferably ones that don't involve alcohol.

He dragged himself upstairs, tripping once or twice on the wooden steps. With every creak and thump, he flinched, waiting for the wrath of his sister to come down upon him. Luckily, she was still fast asleep by the time Ryan reached their room.

Good. At least one of us will have a peaceful night.

A bell tolled in the distance, eerily familiar.

I was standing on the edge of a dock, looking at a ship sailing into the distance. Somehow, I had the feeling that I'd just been on it. I turned, blinking on my proper vision, holding back a gasp as the red figures surrounded me. It's completely infested. These damn Templars…

I strode deeper into the depths of the city, hood protecting me from prying eyes. I only saw a few of those monstrous men peer in my direction. Otherwise, they remained ignorant. Everywhere I turned, on every street I walked, I found corruption embedded in the heart of the city. Templars and merchants bribing the guards, beggars scrabbling for scraps, slaves up for auction…this needs to change fast.

I turned into an alley swiftly, climbing up the walls faster than some people could run. I hopped along rooftops, careful to avoid the unwanted gaze of the archers, searching for-there. I saw it up ahead, a tall tower glittering in the sun, the perfect vantage point.

"We may skip past the rest of this."

I growled. So it's YOU again. I thought I told you-

"I know what you said, but this is important."

The scene skipped like a broken tape, and suddenly a woman sat in front of me, hands bound, glaring. Her hair fell messily about her face, pulled from its usual position of being stuck inside a helmet. I felt my lips turn up in a smirk. "Do the ropes pain you, Maria?"

She sneered at me. "Quite informal of you, Altair. Tell me, why am I not dead?"

I paused, forming my next words carefully. "I was…told it would be better not to."

Maria Thorpe blinked. Somehow, I knew it was not the answer she'd expected. "By whom?"

A bell tolled. I was in Cyprus.

I opened my eyes with a start, sitting up and gasping out, "Cyprus!"

"Wha-" A sleepy voice muttered in the bed next to mine, and I turned and shrieked, "RYAN?"

My poor brother winced and coughed, staring at me blearily. "Wha…why are we…shoutin'..."

"You were missing! What actual fu-"

Ryan hissed, interrupting. "Don' yell! Head hurts…" He flopped facefirst back onto the straw mattress, burying himself under his covers. I thought I heard him mumble, "So…bright…" but I wasn't quite sure.

"Why? What happened to you? You were gone all last night!"

"Leave me alonneeee…." I sighed, turning and ripping the pillow from his face. He let out a cry of indignation, which I righteously ignored.

"You can have this back when you tell me what happened." Ryan muttered something incoherent, the way he normally did when he didn't actually want to tell me something. Oh, now I'm definitely invested. I leaned closer to him, making sure to poke him in the side while I did so. "What was that?"

"I…was upset by something Baha said. I met up with some friends and got drunk."

"You WHAT?!" I shrieked. My brother let out a pathetic whimper and plugged his ears. Oh yeah…

"Oh yeah, sorry. Is that why you have a headache?" He nodded, giving me the most pathetic expression he could muster. I glared, but even I had to admit that his puppy dog look was fairly effective.

"Fine," I grumbled, "I'll wait for the details until after breakfast."

"Thank you." He shook his head, sitting up with a horrible wince. "I'm so glad the blacksmith isn't open today."

Sunlight streamed through the window, so I knew we'd both slept past our normal waking times. Still, the smell of freshly baked bread wafted from downstairs, and I knew Nafisa would never let us starve. I smiled and closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. This is gonna be a nice morning.

"Ughhhhh…" Apparently, my brother disagreed.

The two of us stumbled down the steps, one of us significantly more hindered than the other. Nafisa looked up from her cooking and gestured to plates of food sitting on the table. "I left some breakfast out for you. You both seemed like you needed sleep."

I smiled. "Thank you, Nafisa!" and sat down eagerly.

Ryan mumbled what might've been a thank you, sitting down opposite. I noticed he had his eyes almost closed, and felt a pang of pity. It's not like him to do something that stupid. Baha must've really upset him.

"I heard you had quite the adventure last night." I froze as the woman spoke suddenly from the kitchen, heart racing. How does she know about Cyprus? Then my common sense caught up with me and I glanced at my brother, who grimaced.

"Yeah," He mumbled, plucking at the rolls on his plate.

Nafisa hummed thoughtfully, staring at him. Then she sighed. "Be careful, child. I knew that old goat would be bad for you."

"It's not his fault." Now I was staring. It's not? You just told me it was! The woman shrugged, turning back to her cooking.

"Whatever you say, dear."

A/N: Wow, I guess Maria really IS gonna be involved :D. Cyprus? That particular setting seems familiar... Anyway, yeah, that's what I meant when I knew it would make people happy. Tune in next time for some more plot-moving drama!