Chapter 10

The Fallen Eagle

She was in a state of unrelenting nightmares; the confusion and chaos, plagued and clawed at Alexandra's mind, the shifting pictures and colors capturing her in a familiar spiraling vortex that sent her flying through the nothingness. She could no longer hold reality in her grasp; she could not define it from the fantasy that had taken her unconsciousness, on a seemingly never ending horror roller coaster, the ups and downs so volatile that her head began to hurt physically. Her dream body shaking as the dead came from the reddened ground; dead wearing those clothing of the slain soldiers. The ones she had killed; their rotting faces, terrifying enough on their own; began to slowly morph, skin stretching, teeth rotting, and their eyes budging, changing into strange colors and shapes. One had the eyes of a goat; another of a lizard, Alexandra let a soundless scream rip from her lips as they advanced upon her. She had taken their lives in the name of protecting her loved ones; of protecting the man she loved the most. "Ezio!" She cried painfully as the attacked her, "Save me! Save me!" She squirmed away from the sharp claws, the corpses attempted to pin her, to rape her, the hands tearing away her clothing revealing her bare breasts, and continuing to shed her of her Assassin's cloak taking her identity away from her, the one thing she had scrambled to achieve in the years she had been under his protection. Useless tears escaped her tightly shut eyes, the water she dreaded; the weakness she did not want to express, but the fear was too great and it ate away at her self control. "Help me! Ezio!" Alexandra knew she called hopelessly; the world around her was red, burning hot, a hell. Her punishment for taking lives, her punishment for doing what she believed was right, the heated place those who committed atrocities went, a thought ran through her head; was this her final resting place? Had she died? It seemed in her death, God would not forgive her for killing those men, those men she killed in defense of her Master Ezio, but that brought up another to worn question; would Ezio find her here, here in this place of eternal death? Would he save her from these monsters? Flailing her arms at them she managed to catch one on the rotting chin, she took little notice that no pain laced through her hand her attention was on the jaw of the beast; it unhinged from its perch and went flying off into the horrid brown watered lake that lay only a little ways away from her and her torment, it looked at her with its goat eyes, shocked at first, than a horrid sound came from its mangled face; it laughed. Alexandra, brought to the point of hysteria, screamed and kicked out, she knew she was helpless; her sins had come back to haunt her, and it gave her such fear at the very idea that she would fade into nothing but a rotting beast herself. Be this a nightmare or a death sentence, she did not think Ezio would find her here, and she was on her own. Her lips opened up as her eyes squeezed the remaining sorrowful tears from her eyes; and let a cry come from her sobbing lungs, it echoed clawing for the heavens, a loud plea for mercy, a graphic expression for redemption; something she thought she would never know again, her thoughts of a grim reality was suddenly shattered by a redeeming thought, a redeeming glow. Hands of light came from the ground around her, frightening the monsters away, they ran away screaming. In the uneasy silence Alexandra lay stunned, unable to move as the hands wrapped around her in a cocoon of warm safety, they took her from her personal hellish nightmare to something, and someone else; to watch someone else's life unfold before her.

Her mouth opened slightly in awe as the picture came into view; her blue eyes widening slightly as she beheld the grayed silhouette of the man she would be watching, the ones life she had been spared from her hell to watch: the young assassin Acilino's tormented life.

In an angry rage he stormed away from the library, the large double doors slamming shut behind him, echoing the ferocity of his movement; he did not need, or want, to deal with the stress of his family's physiological problems for the moment, Acilino wanted to escape, needing to in a painful physical way; so moving his long muscular legs as quickly as he could he made his way down the corridor, past all of the vacant and spacious rooms; the art room, still splattered with the tie dye colors, a state Lea had so slovenly left it in, the study room, its great expanses covered with history books and other assorted articles from many years past; it was almost like a second library, only instead of the grand lavish couches, small wooden desks littered the inner most area of the room, then, Acilino passed the meeting room, the grand oaken table set in the center, surrounded by is family of chairs. Not lingering for a measly moment he pushed forward through the hallway, only to come to a certain room where he could not stop his curiosity from eating away at his sensibility. The Assassin man paused in front of the slightly agar door, tilting his head backwards, shaking it slightly to dislodge the hair that had so carelessly fallen into his eyes, he gazed in the small width with his bright blue eyes, scanning everything he could lay them on. The dusty old computer lay unused, next to it where stacks of paper, the piles sat looking like someone had been irritated at the mass that had accumulated. It was more than likely Master Altair, he probably hadn't the time or patience to deal with the poorly written reports that Leanard had sprawled out over a course of many month; most of them likely dealt with Malik's foolhardy adventures trying to outsmart Death. Acilino gave a sigh; the great exhale caused him to bring in a sharp intake of air; an expression of pain. The young man dropped his head and hunched over, his hands hovering over the area the pain had originated from. For a moment he stood absolutely still, then lifted his head to gaze at the mirror across the hallway, it reflected what the eagle feared: a growing stain of crimson blood on his lower abdomen. Glancing backwards towards the library he awaited movement, someone to exit the room, or at least make sounds that gave off the illusion of life. When none but the sound of his almost strangled breathing echoed around him, Acilino turned and began once more for his sanctuary, his left hand now pressed very hard over the sprawling red that was encasing his dirty white cloak. Taking a rounded left, Acilino found the doorway to the stairwell, it was smaller than the library door and less detailed; grasping the handle with his one free hand he opened it slightly, its un-oiled hinges gave a great creaking noise, the man winced, his face screwing up into a expression of utter disgust as he made his legs move swiftly once more and began to make his way through the microscopic opening he had made. On the other side he took the stairs two at a time; climbing as speedily as he could, attempting to ignore the reopened stab wound on his hip.

As he reached the third floor doorway he was gasping for air he could not seem to get; his lungs felt shriveled and the blood stain had spread taking that already brown mud stained cloak to a new level of soiled. Catching his nearly destroyed balanced on the rusting metal railing to his right, Acilino held onto it for dear life; his breath coming in wisps. His eyes squinted shut, the blue disappearing under the veil of pain; once more he was hunched over gripping his side, in a futile attempt to stanch the blood that seemed to be leaking out nonstop. In the silence Acilino was suddenly alerted by the sound of the door in front of him slowly creaking open, then after a moment of uneasy silence. a woman's head poked out, her vivid living green eyes scanning around the stairwell as if she was looking for someone; then they landing on the broken eagle's form, she paused taking him in, watching his moments. Then as the elder woman began to speak, her black hair slipped off its precarious perch on her shoulder, and it sprawled in a untidy way across her back and chest as she brought the door fully open, after a pause she stepped out and spoke slowly, as if the words would scare off the great bird in front of her: "Acilino? What happened? Are you ok?" She reached forward, seemingly oblivious to the crimson that was spreading across his chest, soaking into the upper and lower halves of his shirt, that was, until the river of red reached the edge of the tainted fabric, dangling effortlessly for a dashing moment before it dripped off and splashed on the concrete of the bleak colored stairwell. He grimaced as the woman's expression radically changed from the soft curious kindness into a stunned and increasingly worried, shocked face. "You're bleeding!" Her hands shot up to her lips, a silent gasp escaped the cage of her mouth. "Oh-oh my you're bleeding a lot! I-I should go get Altair, I should go get my husband..." Pausing for a moment she began to look around wildly as if the man would manifest before them. She turned to run down the stairs, in search for assistance, but Acilino's face grew panicked behind her, his arm shot out catching her hand, it was a action that he regretted instantly, the blood from the leather glove he had been pressing to his wound wetted her bare tan skin.

"Arianna, please, don't, Uncle Altair does not know about this, I don't-" Pausing to get the needed air into his lungs, a brief moment to collect his thoughts. When he looked up to asses Arianna's face, his aqua eyes met her swaying grass ones; her face contorted with unspeakable concern. He stopped, sighing; he could not live with himself if he caused this kind woman stress she did not need, so the man forced an unconvincing smile upon his pain stricken face. "It's a flesh wound: from a knife, not a gun." Acilino paused to reassure himself that he was alright, and to give her another smile to try to complete the façade that he was completely healthy and well but Arianna did not looked convinced, not in the least, now Acilino scrambled on what was the best thing to say, he had to convince her that he had to get to his room. So, why not tell her the truth? It would get him the farthest in life, that's what his mother had told him many years ago. At least… the truth would get you far with people who knew who you are and what you did. "I was going to my room to take care of it." Acilino blurted out the truth, praying, that she would not be angry with him, but now he earned, the one thing he did not want to achieve this evening: a very, very angry frown. He winced inwardly and prepared for the worst.

"You can't even walk a straight line!" She hissed, ripping her hand away from him, then leaning forward to wave its bloody wrist in his face. Acilino staggered back a little, holding onto the railing as the woman's voice began to raise, and visibly her muscles began to bunch. It was plainly obvious she was on a rant; Acilino realized he may be here for a long time. "Look at all this blood! Its all coming out of you now if you don't let me go get Altair I suggest you have me look at it!" Her anger was well placed, Arianna was the only one who could get frustrated at Acilino and get away with it, the woman was his aunt and he loved her very much. Although she was the complete opposite of the woman who basically raised him from infancy; Arianna had a special place in his heart. This reason was the one that caused him to reassess the situation, and as he looked on at her sincerely angry face, he could not help but feel like he should do something to ease her emotional distress, after all she was only mad because of his physical condition.

Acilino gave a great heaving sigh; he had long since become numb to the pain that was more than likely encasing his body in some demented cocoon, and sagged a little as the tingling in his legs became a little more pronounced. He waited a moment more as the blinding anger drained from his Aunts face, and a worry creased over her brow before he spoke to her calmly, if not a little eerily. "Aunty, I was going to my room, nothing can change the fact I do not want anyone else to know of this… stupid injury that I managed to get doing my job." He paused another second, letting the seriousness of his words to sink into her. "Would you help me to my room? I'm sure you would feel better if you saw me there right?" He hoped he struck her with a good point; he was not going to argue with her tonight, it was creeping towards five in the morning. His body was inclining to exhaustion more and more by the passing minute. Acilino watched as his Aunt's face became thoughtful, debating the situation, wondering what course of action would serve best for both her young eagle and herself. Then, with a groan, Acilino tilted his head as his Aunt rubbed her face in irritation; she brought her hand over her mouth once more, tapping her chin as she assessed his condition, and if he would accept a argument tonight. After a moment it was obvious she understood and caved into Acilino's childish plea.

"Alright, you lean into me got it? You stupid Assassin's, remind me again why I married your Uncle?" Arianna came forward her hands moving towards him and taking his hip in her right hand she urged her nephew to grab onto her shoulder, which he did unwillingly, but once he felt the relief of another person's warmth on his chilled form he couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh. His body sagged a little as he accepted the fact that Arianna was near and willing to assist his battered body. Opening his eyes again he adjusted himself as he let his mind wander a little towards the topic of another person; one he held so highly, she was so close to him and not angry at him. A rare and priceless moment for him. These moments, where few and far between for Acilino, thus they where priceless to him. As they began to move forward Acilino let his free arm go forward, reaching for the door handle only to have his hand viciously slapped away from grabbing it, he turned his head slightly angry that he was deterred from helping, in his frustration his hair brushed against his aunts bundle of black hair intermingling the chestnut and the black. Acilino found that Arianna face was harsh and that she was growling at him, she shifted his weight in an obvious attempt to keep him from doing anything productive. He grumbled but allowed her to keep him inactive, watching as she opened the door, into another bleak hallway, together after a moment they walked carefully forward, Arianna tried to keep her nephew from limping, and Acilino tried to walk as strongly as he could. Together they looked odd, the woman trying to keep the man from moving fluidly and the man moving fluidly against her wish. Luckily the young man's apartment was not far away, and they reached it speedily. Acilino opened the door and pushed away from his aunt, thankful that the awkward assistance was over, now he leaned on its scratchy wooden frame, facing his Aunts once again worried face. He gave her a soft smile as she began to speak."You will be alright, right?" Her voice was wavy; concerned.

"I promise I will be fine." Acilino said, his smile not fading and even crinkling into his dimples on either side of his face, his blue eyes sparkled as he attempted closing the door slightly, she huffed, and he opened it back up again, worried she would be mad: only to have her stomp off down the hallway, her body rigid, her black hair swaying and her fists clenched up in a useless fist. The eagle gave a shivering laugh as watched her walk moodily away, Acilino watched her until she had disappeared into the stairwell door, he gazed at the solid red door as it slammed shut, then he turned way from the gray hallway and shut his door behind him, closing him from the world. His one and only thought was: that woman always worried too much about them.

Now alone in his scarcely decorated apartment Acilino began the painful process of removing his blood red clothing. The man was surprised as he started the unclothing process that he was not even close to dying; he had lost so much blood already. But he had always been rather odd; in everything. Once his cloak was strung up on one of his simple wooden kitchen chairs he took off his plain black shirt wet to the core because of all of his blood, he sat this on the sink, turning it on and filling it up with warm water before returning to his mission His tan muscles ripped and contracted with the numb pain that came and went over his skin as Acilino bent over to take off his boots, he had always preferred the old fashioned types, he hunched over to unbuckle them, taking off the layers before looking at the leather that was already aged and worn looking, but without a second thought he chucked them on the floor, leaving them at the foot of his bed and then quickly rid himself of his jeans, not even trying to save the American Eagles he tossed them in the emptied garbage can. Now clad only in his blue stripped boxers he gazed at himself in the full length mirror beside his bathroom door. He saw the goose bumps that decorated his skin first; he then realized that he had not turned up his thermostat when he first came in, then the thought fell away and he began to analyze his own body. Acilino started with his chestnut hair that was spiked all over the place, then he saw his blue eyes staring back in a leer, his tan skin was dulled because of all of the blood, dirt and sweat that was on it. Absentmindedly he told himself after his assessment that he had to get into the shower. The Assassin looked back up at his broad shoulders, then he held up rough hands, clenching and unclenching them in a test to see if they still worked, they fell back to his side as he flexed his corded thighs and rotated his big feet. Acilino gave a big sigh, he knew his body was not ideal to be a sneaky Assassin, but Acilino managed; knowing his father had been one, and after growing up around the honorable man he had swore that he would become a good man like he had been. Acilino paused, letting his shoulders sag again as the memory swept over him; his adopted father the Assassin he wanted to be like, although his birth parents had been Assassins too; they had died foolishly by the hands of Templars, then, he had been adopted by their cousins, a wonderful woman became his mother, a big man had become his father.

Acilino had loved them so much.

Their love for him did not even change when they had their own child; Malik, the man who was the closet thing to a brother Acilino had; though no one would even have a inkling that Acilino and Malik where related, technically they where not, but distantly, they were. Sadly the resemblance between the two was their clear blue eyes; Malik looked like his father through and through, was even growing a beard a ugly scraggily beard that their mother had adored so much on their father. It was almost exactly like that one, the eagle wanted to take a razor to it in his brother's sleep. Acilino tore himself from his thoughts and laughed at the ridiculous plan he had formulating that he probably wouldn't ever even begin to execute. He stepped away from the mirror and into his bathroom, slipping the boxers off with tender care he turned on the shower testing the water for a moment then stepped in it, as he felt the water slice across his trained form he began to fall back into those silly thoughts as the warmth lulled him into a sedated state . Malik had always looked like his father and had the mouth of his father, but was not like his father in the way of women. Malik could never pick women up so easily as his father had been able too; though Acilino had always never had any problem, and would select a few for his brother and gracefully weave his words to make the girls think that Malik was the smoothest thing on the block; although, Acilino never lied about his brother, all of the words he said where always true, Malik was smoother than he thought, and could be a ladies man if he honestly tried. But Acilino had assumed the role of the whore of the family, and was rather proud to hold it; why not? Being able to get into women's pants where an accomplishment, at least as he was concerned, he could promise them any kind of sex in order to get what he needed, especially on a mission.

Yeah, he admitted that he was a bit a manipulator. But it was fucking fun using a good fuck as a prize for getting a piece of information; it was easier than using money that was for sure.

Pausing, the eagle gazed downward at the bloody water that was spiraling down the drain. Acilino didn't only look at the water though, he let his hands fall from his neck and slapped them on his thighs. That's right he was a whore, and even though he talked woman into giving Malik a good fuck here and there the boy had never even really wanted anything to do with women; probably because he saw his mother killed before his eyes. Acilino was thankful to God that he had been spared that horror, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to live with himself if he had seen her gotten murdered, Acilino probably would be like Malik; able to function, but not really there sometimes. Together they mourned their parents each year on that dreaded day; that day over five years ago. After the incident they had been found by their uncle Altair, who bandaged them up, held them as they cried then trained them to kill, and here Acilino was, with a gaping knife wound in his stomach.

Stepping out of the shower carefully he reached for his medicine cabinet and grabbed a pure white role of dressing, he wiped off the steamy mirror and wrapped it up around the wound, as neatly as he could, he gazed at himself for a brief moment then staggered out of the warm room and into the cold going straight to his clean bed; not caring he was naked or still a little wet. Though, he was used to that by now seeing that he was the slut of the family. He threw himself on the white sheets, grunting as he hit his wound then rolled over on the side that did not have the newly bandaged wound. He let his eyes slant a little like he was going to close them in sleep, but then opened them wide, his body becoming stiff, Acilino stained off into space for a moment, then he sat up slowly, like if he moved quickly the thing he was gazing at would run away like a scared animal. After a moment of watching the object blue eyes widened, shocked.

"W-who," He stared at a shapely ghost that haunted him from halfway across the room. "How are you here…" His voice was scarcely audible, he moved painstakingly slow as he made his way to the edge of the bed, completely forgetting that he was nude. "M-mother?" His words shuttered into nothing as the vision crumbled away.

Alexandra awoke to with a nagging feeling she was forgetting something; a feeling left lingering, an emotion of worry and fear ate at the back of her mind for a moment. After that nagging feeling faded a large dome like ceiling came into focus above her, it was white with delicate engravings on either side, strange contraptions decorated the far left side, and paper hang from strings on the right, all where sketches of people and some of machines. After a minute more, she sat up slowly, wincing as her upper body became vertical. Alexandra tried to roll her shoulders out of the stiffness that pervaded her body; as she did the covers that where on her fell away and she felt an unwilling gasp come from her lips, her arms shot up and wrapped around her naked breasts and body. Her thoughts raced as she tried to remember what had happened before she had fallen asleep. War, there had been war at the Villa, and she had been separated from Ezio. As the memories came back her face became downcast, her mind resting on an image of Ezio, had he gotten away safely? Biting her lower lip she wondered what had happened after her collapse on the roadway, closing her eyes she forced herself to remember, a voice, there had been a voice, it had called her "Alex" that meant a friend had found her. Her eyes opened as a door was being opened, a familiar man and woman stood in the doorway.

"Alex!" The prostitute ran up to her and gently threw her arms around the shocked and embarrassed girl.

"Rebecca, where you the one who found me?" Alexandra asked carefully trying to hug her back without flashing the man with her big breasts.

"Yes, you had all of us worried! So much blood!" Rebecca pulled back to look into Alexandra's blue eyes. "I tried to get you into the new house we are living in, but, the Madam didn't want you, she said you where bad luck… because you are an Assassin." Alexandra let her face hold a little sorrow in her expression; of course the Madam did not want her because she was an Assassin, they bring bad luck wherever they traveled, it was their eternal curse. "So we wandered around looking for a house to keep you in-me and Marie you see, then we came across this man!" She turned to look at the aged man behind them. "Leonardo da Vinci! Can you believe it? He said he was an acquaintance of your Master and would let you stay here as long as you needed!"

Alexandra stared at Leonardo, and smiled. "It's been a while, you seem older than you did last time I saw you."

He grinned, his wrinkling face stretching out into a well worn smile. "Ah, my little lady, it has been a while, has Ezio treated you well this past year?"

"Wait," Rebecca backed up and put her hands on her hips; her red hair bouncing in its curls and her eyes narrowing into a frown as she looked back and forth between the two. "You two know each other?"

Alexandra nodded. "I did a mission for Sir Leonardo here a while back; he is actually a very close friend of Ezio's."

"Oh, no more "Master" Alexandra?" Leonardo laughed as he came forward with a well tailored dress.

As he held it out Alexandra retorted to his comment. "Only when he is not around Leonardo, I try to be respectful to his face." She took it into her free arm and looked at its red velvet in awe.

"Ah, young love," The painter reminisced, "That is the only thing I could think to bring you to wear, I am sorry Alexandra I could not find something more decent, only your boots and gear could be salvaged from your clothing."

"This is perfect, thank you." She muttered, looking up at him with a smile.

"What the fuck am I missing here?" Rebecca yelled leaning forward. "Young love? No more "Master"? Really! Will someone explain?"

Alexandra grinned. "Nah, if you don't get it already I won't tell you."

Rebecca growled and stomped off infuriated.

"Was that the wisest thing to do little lady?" Leonardo said watching the courtesan leave.

"She'll get over it." Alexandra said with a laugh as she threw the blankets back and took the dress and let it slip over her lengthening hair. Once it was on she spun around and grinned once more. "It's perfect."