All credits to Ubisoft for creating such an amazing game that is Assassin's Creed! and credits to whoever else that I don't know about.

Here is the next chapter everyone. Thank you so much for all the reviews and subscribers and those who have placed this little story in their favorites. You guys are fricken amazing and it makes me so happy that I have such followers of this story. Anyways, enough rambling. Feel free to review and/or criticize! Please enjoy it!

Chapter Nine: Duello

It was mid-morning when the city of Milano fell into Trinity's view. She sort of sighed in relief, having been tired of sitting atop her horse for the last god knows how many hours.

As she continued along the main road at a steady pace, she let her mind wander off, her blue eyes staring unblinkingly before her.

A year had passed since she left Monterriggioni behind her.

She had immediately left for San Gimignano, tracking down Vieri de' Pazzi within a matter of days. Her first encounter with him had revealed that he was aware of her circumstances with her family.

Trinity, in turn, inferred that Vieri, the vile coward, had the answers to the burning question of who killed her family. However, she could already see that Vieri probably would not cooperate willingly with her…so force would need to be used.

Vieri had fled from the fight to San Gimignano, which Trinity found out was a Pazzi controlled territory. She found him three days after entering the city, hiding in his moderately guarded palazzo. Trinity easily infiltrated said building, remaining largely undetected, save for one guard. She killed him before he had a chance to call for help.

Trinity confronted Vieri within his own quarters, sneaking in through his bedroom window. She caught him in the midst of him raping a young girl, who was crying hysterically as Vieri had her pinned to the bed.

Trinity had wrenched him off the girl and threw him to the floor, in all his disgusting nakedness, and for the hell of it, kicked him squarely in the jaw.

"Get dressed," Trinity told the girl, clutching Vieri's throat with him pinned and holding him at blade point with her hidden blade. The girl did so with a little hesitation.

Vieri managed to find his voice and laughed derisively.

"Look who has come to pay me a visit," he said. Vieri clearly was not at all intimidated by her or the fact that he was completely defenseless. "Jealous of her, are we?"

Trinity gave him a look of utter disgust, mixed with an expression of minor astonishment in him thinking, or even suggesting, that that was why she was here.

"Shut up," she snapped, digging her blade into his neck, causing him to freeze at the cold metal touching his skin. "If you value your life, you disgusting fuck, you will answer this one question."

Vieri narrowed his eyes slyly. "And what is that?" he asked, as if this was a game.

Trinity pushed her hidden blade slightly more into his neck, triggering a small noise of pain from him. She drew a drop or two of blood before speaking again.

"I know you know, Vieri," she said in a low tone, eyes gleaming dangerously. "Who is the man that killed my family?"

At this Vieri started to smirk widely. "Do you honestly think," he said mockingly, "that I would reveal that to you? Even with my life on the line, I will not-"

Trinity's fingers dug into his neck in anger, cutting him off. "Dimmi, pezzo di merda! (Tell me, you piece of shit!)" she shouted, retracting her blade and decking him in the face.

There was a sickening crack, the noise that she had broken his nose, and blood started rush forth.

But he only laughed.

"Look at you, in all your rage!" he cried, amused. "You will never be able to avenge your family's death!"

Trinity's eyes darkened further. "And you will die," she whispered.

But before she could slice his throat, Vieri spat into her face, blinding her for a few seconds. He took this opportunity to push her away and scramble to a stand.

Vieri was already running towards the door across the room, screaming for guards to come. Trinity tailed him as he wrenched open the door, running out, still entirely bare skinned.

"Follow me!" shouted Trinity over her shoulder to the girl he had violated. Trinity did not check to see if she was following or not, but chased Vieri down the hall.

Quickly, she threw a thrown dagger.

The dagger dug itself into the small of Vieri's back, causing him to stumble forward. He didn't fall completely and rose to a stand to keep running towards the stairs.

Trinity cursed under her breath.

She threw another dagger, having no time to chase him throughout the palazzo because she knew with all of Vieri's screaming, guards would be on her and the girl in a matter of minutes. The second dagger lodged itself into Vieri's upper back and had enough force behind it to send him to the floor.

Trinity didn't have enough time to check if it was enough to cause his death or wait for him to die because she heard the young girl run up behind her. Trinity immediately grabbed her hand and dragged her into the nearest room, locking the door behind them so they had more time to escape. Trinity then immediately pushed a couple chairs in front of the door to keep it shut.

Thankfully, with a bit of resourceful thinking, Trinity was able to wrap a sturdy curtain rope from the room's large window around the balcony and lowered it to the floor below, which wasn't far down at all.

The girl needed stern encouragement to climb down by herself. Trinity had basically yelled at her that she wouldn't live if she didn't…which got the girl to go somewhat willingly. That aside, the guards were banging on the door and there was little time, so this urged her further.

Trinity, however, did not use the rope and only leapt ten feet down to the courtyard below.

And they escaped.

Trinity, presently, sighed. She had gotten nothing from her encounter with Vieri…although, hopefully she was able to kill him. And she did end up rescuing that girl.

But that was months ago…and Trinity had been chasing the smallest leads ever since. Nothing seemed to turn up information…whoever her family's murderer was, he kept himself hidden well from even his own Templar Order allies. Only those who worked closely with him seemed to know his name.

Hopefully Milano would bring about better results.

The days had seemed to blur together. Every new day was like the one before it. Ezio had a hard time, and a lack of interest, with keeping track of the months that passed. The majority of the time, he was going through his extensive and brutal training with his uncle.

If he was not doing that, he was either running errands for Mario or sleeping because he was so exhausted. Or if Ezio found the time, he would sit and pour endlessly over the history of the Auditore line and its involvement as assassins.

Mario worked Ezio to the bone and did so with little shame. He refused to let his nephew gallivant around without proper knowledge. It was rough though…because he was forcing so much information and training into such a short amount of time. Giovanni should have started Ezio's training years before the execution, when he was still a boy, to capitalize on his energy and growth.

However, Giovanni didn't, and now Mario was forced to make due. Thankfully, Ezio was a quick and eager pupil, picking up skills quite rapidly. It impressed Mario to see someone be able to retain knowledge and combat ability so quickly and with relative ease.

Mario had taken the time, to some degree, to explain the Auditore family history and the importance of the Codex pages. It was a lot of information for Ezio to receive, but he took it well.

A year had gone by…and no word from Trinity.

No letters, no presents…she didn't show up either. It was almost as if she had vanished. Ezio wasn't all that concerned whether she would return or not…but he always did vaguely wonder if she was still alive. To this day, he still found it irritating that she had not told anyone of her departure other than Mario.

Ezio's mother, Maria, still hadn't found her voice, and left her quarters very rarely. She seemed in a slightly better mood as days wore on but she could not speak. It saddened her children immensely but there was nothing they could do. The majority of the time when Ezio would visit her in her room, he would find his mother praying…or staring listlessly out the window at nothing in particular.

He tried to treat her as if there was nothing wrong with her so he would talk to her on a regular basis…just to keep some social interaction with her. Hopefully, she'll be able to nod her head in response, at the very least.

Claudia kept busy by tending to household chores and management since Mario clearly did not. Ezio figured this was sort of a peeve of Claudia's, seeing the villa in such disarray. His sister would be cleaning, cooking, or something similar if she was not tending to their mother. Claudia still held a small grudge against Ezio, having thought they would have only remained for a few months at the most in Monterriggioni, not an entire year thus far. The only thing Ezio could do was apologize for the inconvenience to her.

As time passed, Monterriggioni slipped further still into shambles. Very few shops remained open in the small market…and they were struggling to remain. Even the local tavern was having a hard time staying in business. Hardly any visitors came into the city on their way to or from Florence, not wanting to risk anything in a city filled with thieves, courtesans, and mercenaries. Mario always mentioned how he wished he had the time and money to rebuild the city but he never put much effort other than in talking of it.

It was mid September and the weather was nice that day. It was only a few months away from being the two-year anniversary of the Auditore execution.

Ezio had had only a light day of training today, by the grace of his uncle. He was particularly keen on getting away from the villa for a bit, especially before Claudia found him and forced chores onto into his hands. That aside, he didn't feel like delving into the Auditore history more than he had for over a year and a half.

Many who lived within the city walls knew who Ezio was by now and many, mostly women, greeted him as he passed. He enjoyed the recognition, despite his notoriety with the young girls of Monterriggioni. Ezio had led on a few hearts…though he felt very little guilt for it.

Within minutes, he was outside the brothel. However, he didn't even need to enter it, as a woman was standing near the door, as if waiting for him. The moment she saw him, she smiled with her most seductive air.

Ezio approached her slowly, his lips pulling into a smirk. Out of the many courtesans he had the pleasure of trying, this woman was by far the most skilled…so he had, in a way, become her regular. She did not seem to oppose the idea though, as she always welcomed him with open arms. The woman wasn't the most attractive of the bunch, but he wasn't looking for a pretty face as much as what he was looking for behind closed doors.

"Ezio," she said as he closed the gap between them. He let his hands glide smoothly over her waist to her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're early."

"I wanted more time than you usually give me," he replied before his lips kissed her roughly. "That is if you don't mind…"

She giggled, a noise Ezio admittedly found nauseating, but he had learned to ignore it. Thankfully, she did not laugh during sex, otherwise it would have caused a problem.

"Of course not, Ezio," she whispered as flirtatiously as she could manage. She pulled away from him and moved towards the door, pulling him by the shirt to follow.

Ezio eyed her approvingly, stepping forward.

"I see you haven't changed at all," called a strangely familiar voice from somewhere behind him. Ezio froze, feeling an odd sort of irritation spark within his chest at the sound of this voice. It instantly made him want to strangle someone.

He turned his head and looked down the street. A few yards away, a woman in white robes stood there, hood lowered…and with a dark smirk plastered on her face. There was almost an air of arrogance to her stance, an air that Ezio found immediately aggravating.

But dark chuckle escaped his lips and he smiled slyly. Ezio turned completely, the courtesan releasing her hold on his shirt, to face the woman.

"The invitation is open to join us, if you're interested, Trinity," he shot back. "But only if you beg."

Even from the distance, he heard Trinity scoff in dark amusement at the inside joke. "As if I'd beg," she replied apathetically, turning back to face the other end of the street. As she walked away, she called over her shoulder while waving a hand dismissively, "I'm sure you have much to attend to, Ezio, so please, don't let my return deviate you!."

"It doesn't," he called back, watching her.

Trinity turned her head to smirk once more at him before she turned the corner and out of his sight.

Ezio smiled darkly to himself before he turned back to the courtesan, who looked mildly confused at what just transpired.

"Now…" he whispered, closing the gap between them. "Where were we?"

"Finished already?" asked Trinity in mock surprise as Ezio walked into the dining room about a half hour later. "That was a little quick. For someone who spreads the legs of women so often, you think your stamina would be a little better."

Ezio eyed her with a mixture of irritation and the slightest amount of amusement while, Mario, who had been welcoming Trinity back to Monterriggioni, could not help but chuckle. She always did have biting comments.

"Let me guess," she continued, putting her feet up on the table. "One, two…ughh, I'm done…"

"I see you're more insufferable than last I saw you," Ezio replied indifferently, taking a seat at the head of the table. "I'm surprised you're even alive at all, given with that mouth. I was sure it would have gotten you killed."

Mario, though silent, shook his head, thought it went unnoticed. Within two minutes of being in each other's presence, they were already bickering like siblings, despite the fact that Trinity had been gone for the last year and a half.

Two minutes.

He didn't understand why these two could not conduct any civil conversation around each other but instead, continuously and shamelessly took stabs at the other's ego as well as insult each other until they were blue in the face. If left unchecked by anyone, it usually ended up in an all out war of words between the two, instead of a few jabs here and a couple blows there.

"Are you two finished…?" he said finally. Mario had had enough once he heard Ezio's comment on how Trinity's "apparent" lack of sexual life causes her to be intolerable and mouthy…which warranted a snippy remark from Trinity about Ezio's overactive sexual life will contract a disease and hence become the laughing stock of Italy because no women would bed him.

The pair were now standing, having been arguing like this for the last minute, and looked over at Mario. He had his eyebrow raised at them, with an expression of semi-annoyance.

Both immediately sat down at their elder's irritation. A moment of awkward silence passed before Mario turned his gaze to Trinity.

"As I was saying before," he said, "were your travels successful?"

At this Trinity sighed.

"Unfortunately, no," she admitted. "To an extent, at least."

She didn't want to elaborate on anything, having no desire to explain that she not only failed to track down her family's murderer but she wasn't even able to find his name…especially with Ezio here to harass her about it. Trinity also didn't want to explain that she had run around the whole damn country, from San Gimiganano to Milano and back to Venezia, to name a few, and all of it in vain.

"But I do have this," she said, reaching inside her robes.

The two Auditore men watched as she slid a folded parchment onto the table. Mario was the first to make for it and he opened it up.

"A Codex page," he exclaimed, truly surprised. "Where did you find it?"

Trinity smiled slightly. "Venezia," she replied. "There was a cluster of guards standing watch over a room. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what they were guarding…and found that in there."

Ezio and Mario looked over the arcane writing, unable to decipher anything it was saying.

"Also," continued Trinity, recapturing their attention, "I had been able to acquire quite a bit of money. I had no particular use for it but I thought it would be good for Monterriggioni if we start rebuilding it and I am not opposed to giving my money for it."

"And how exactly were you able to acquire such money?" asked Ezio warily, already having a good idea of the answer.

Trinity was playing with her hidden blade idly, having it spring forth and retract at regular intervals. She glanced up at him, her blue eyes shaded with irritation.

"That is none of your business," she said simply.

Ezio smirked, seeing an opening.

"I didn't know you joined a brothel while you were away," he chided automatically. "I would have paid good money to see that."

Trinity's hidden blade snapped forward as her eyes simultaneously looked at him with the darkest expression.

"Ezio," warned Mario. "Enough already."

His nephew chuckled and dropped the subject.

"If you simply must know," said Trinity with a roll of her blue eyes, "I took on various assassination contracts while away."

Ezio tried to imagine Trinity running around assassinating her targets; he had a feeling she liked to instill quite a bit of fear into them before she actually put them out of their misery.

"Has this stronzo (fucker or asshole) gotten any better at fighting?" she asked, recapturing Ezio's attention. She turned her gaze to Mario.

Ezio's uncle grinned. "He is making fine progress," said Mario enthusiastically. "Ezio is a much better fighter than you last saw him."

At this, Ezio gave her a look of triumph.

"Hmm," she replied thoughtfully and rising to a stand. "Well then, Ezio. I have no other choice than to challenge you to a duel. Prove to me you're as good as your uncle claims you are…"

Ezio and Trinity stared each other down for a long moment, neither blinking or looking away.

"I accept your challenge."

Ten minutes later, they were in the fighting ring out in the courtyard. Ezio and Trinity had been given heavily blunted swords to duel with so they could strike each other but cause far less damage than an actual sharpened sword.

The pair stood at opposite ends of each other, waiting for Mario to give the signal to start the duel. Trinity had not taken off her assassin's robes or any other accessories, so she was weighed down more than Ezio, who only had a loose fitting shirt, pants, and boots.

There had been a few of Mario's men training in the ring beforehand so they had remained to watch the fight.

"Pronti? (Ready?)" said Mario, standing between them. They both nodded in unison, before turning to face each other. "Combatti! (Fight!)"

Immediately, the pair started to circle around the ring, swords aloft and eyes burning to the other. Trinity watched his feet, making mental notes on what he needed to correct.

"Make me proud, nipote!" called Mario once he was out of the ring and watching.

His nephew let a sly grin twitch over his lips momentarily but did not reply.

Ezio, predictably, made the first move. He went for an opening at her thigh, which she easily parried and counterattacked. She was fast, faster than anyone Ezio had been fighting in the last year, and she landed a blow right at his left ribs. The hit caused a good amount of pain, seeing it was all bone that she had hit, and Ezio had to make sure he kept his mouth shut to a noise of pain.

Angered that she had already had her first point against him, he swung at her again. Trinity could see that his resolve turned to steel in his eyes; he wasn't about to lose this fight…but if he did, he wasn't going to let her win so easily.

They continued their dance, the fight resembling more of fencing as their swords continually clashed against each other. She had to admit, Ezio was a lot better than the last time she had fought him. He did manage to get a couple hits to her, one at her hip and the other on her thigh, but she had already multiple blows on him, more than she could count.

"You have good form," noted Trinity honestly as her blade smacked Ezio in the arm, making him jerk back from the sting. She took this opportunity to shrug out of her top, outer portion of her robes because she was sweating. She tossed it behind her onto the ring's barrier. "But how is your footwork?"

She circled him like predator to prey. Trinity jabbed at him, to which he parried but was caught off guard by a well-placed kick to the chest. He stumbled back, breathless.

"Hey!" he cried, going quickly back into a defensive stance. "I thought this was a fair fight!"

Trinity smirked. "What are you, a bambina (little girl)?" she taunted while laughing. "Do you think guards or your enemies will fight fair?"

She had a point…but if she was going to play that way, than there was no way Ezio would not.

The sound of ringing metal brought about a crowd of civilians, one that also included Claudia and Maria. Before long, over half of Monterriggioni was watching the duel between the two teenagers, cheering for their preferred fighter. Neither Ezio nor Trinity could hear who was the crowd favorite, as they were not paying attention to the huzzahs and shouts of praises. Because the ring was so crowded, many people, mostly thieves, had climbed the trees and buildings to watch the fight from above.

Though he was doing better, Trinity would not say that Ezio had a chance of beating her…because he was still rough around the edges, but he definitely was putting up a good enough fight for her. In fact, this was her most intense fight with anyone in the last several months. However, Ezio was fighting out of determination at this point, because he was going tired now, sweating almost profusely with his mouth slightly open from panting.

She noted that he still relied heavily on strength and reach of his arm rather than agility or speed or even instinct. That aside, Trinity realized he had no experience against fighters like her, because he was not able to predict many of her next moves.

His hand-to-hand combat was profoundly reminiscent of a soldier in battle, and she accounted that for being trained by a battle hardened warrior like Mario. Ezio did manage to elbow Trinity squarely in the face, gaining him a loud cheer of approval from the audience.

It caught her off guard, but she was quick to fire back with a blow with her blunted sword to his chest and landing a good, solid punch to his face. The audience also roared with noise at this. She was all about "eye-for-an-eye." If Ezio was going to hit her dead in the face, than she had no problem reciprocating.

Trinity was slightly pleased with him though; she appreciated that he did not treat her any different merely for the fact that she was a woman.

The anger in Ezio's light eyes were growing steadily. He knew he was going to lose…and more than that, he knew that Trinity was holding back somewhat. She was just too fast for him; he had never encountered such speed and skill before. He could only account her ability for the fact that she had more experience than he did.

Trinity parried yet another blow before spinning around him gracefully and bringing her sword around to hit Ezio in the lower back. He stumbled forward, catching himself on the wall and his back aching from the blow. Some of the mercenaries cheered him on, clapping him on the shoulders, and turning him around to face Trinity.

She grinned almost darkly at him, motioning for him to come to her.

In his fury, he rushed her, swinging his sword above his head almost madly. Trinity raised her own sword up to block the blow, Ezio's blade crashing down on hers.

He pressed all his weight down onto his sword, causing her knees to buckle slightly as she pushed back with hers; he was definitely strong. She was smirking up at him, their faces close.

"Did you honestly think you were going to best me, Ezio?" she whispered in a mocking tone.

Ezio made a noise of anger as a reply before she thrust him off her to regain her defensive stance. He was too quick though and caught her sword with his, sending it flying from her hand and to the floor. The crowd's noise level spiked in approval.

Trinity, now disarmed, raised her hands up, not giving in despite her being without a weapon. She didn't look the least bit concerned that she had lost her sword and that indifferent expression only angered Ezio further.

"You have no weapon!" cried Ezio triumphantly. "You will surely lose now."

She laughed. "Try me."

Ezio snorted, now looking arrogant. "Fine," he half-spat. "Have it your way."

They circled each other again for a moment before Ezio took another swing, wanting to get the duel over with because he was looking forward to celebrating his win and rubbing it in her face for years to come.

She easily dodged the blade, as if it were nothing, and quickly grasped his sword arm with both her hands. The moment her hands were upon his arm, she twisted his wrist backwards slightly, causing him to yell out in pain and drop the sword because his grip was compromised.

She swiftly and fluidly swept her foot under his legs, forcing his feet out from under him. Ezio's back immediately hit the ground, taking the breath out of him, and instantly, Trinity had him pinned with one of her knees on his arm. Her left hand was pressed on his chest with her weight behind it to keep him still while her hidden blade's point was directed at his neck.

All who had been watching burst into applause at the obvious win.

Trinity stared down at him, her face surprisingly void of any sort of expression. She was slightly out of breath and sweat forming on her face. Ezio was panting heavily and glared up at her, his pride severely injured that he had been bested by her in front of the majority of the city.

His uncle would surely work him to death for this.

"You were saying…?" she said in dark amusement. Trinity retracted her blade and released her hold him before rising to a stand.

She offered a hand to him but Ezio ignored it and stood up himself. She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior.

"Good effort," said Trinity sincerely, still holding out her hand for him to shake. He eyed it with all the detest he was capable of. But his eyes caught Mario's expression of caution so Ezio grasped her hand bitterly, and shook it.

Needless to say, he was furious. He would never hear the end of this; he was sure of it. Not only would Trinity continually take stabs at his apparent lack of ability but there was now the possibility of the entire city doing the same.

Trinity, however, was thoroughly enjoying the idea that she punctured his exceedingly inflated ego to get it to be a normal size. Ezio had been far too overconfident in his abilities, and because of that, he had been brash and compulsive in his fighting.

It also made his loss that much harder for him to handle.

Granted he had faired much longer and did much better than their first duel. Trinity had him on the ground within six minutes the first time…it took over twenty the second time around.

He still needed a lot of work though. His lack of speed, and more importantly, endurance, was troubling. Ezio had gotten tired relatively quickly within the fight. In the real world, he would not last if he couldn't hold his own and be able to make an escape.

Trinity realized she needed to start training Ezio herself.

Ezio felt the covers being wrenched away from his body very abruptly, leaving him cold, and it was accompanied by a very stern, "Get up."

Bleary eyed, he found Trinity in the semi-darkness, standing over him with hands on her hips and her face within a foot of his.

He immediately cursed to high heaven and rolled back over so his back was facing her; she was the last person he wanted to see this early in the morning.

"Charming," Trinity said sarcastically when his string of profanity was finished.

"Get out," he grumbled into his pillow.

She chuckled, a dark tone prevalent. "Oh, look at this," she said sounding almost playful, poking at his left side where a large, dark bruise had formed. He jerked from the pain and automatically slapped her hand away. "Looks painful…. Oh, look, it's not the only one! There's one here…and here…and here."

Trinity was poking all the visible bruises that he had across his back, arms, and legs, causing Ezio to grow more and more irritated with each passing second. She was messing with him and he was going to strangle her for it.

"Although…I don't remember inflicting this one on your ass…" she said thoughtfully but without prodding the bruise. At the statement, Ezio's eyes shot open. "I didn't know you were into such rough sex, Ezio. Perhaps you should tone it down a bit."

That's right…he always slept naked.

"Get out!" he snapped, sitting up to glare at her. She immediately turned her head away, not wanting to see anything of his lower region now that he was facing her.

"Fine, fine," she replied airily as she walked away. Trinity picked up his clothes on the dresser and tossed them at him. "Get dressed then. You've got five minutes."

And she shut the door.

Five minutes of being awake and Ezio was already seething in anger. Five minutes. He was sure that he was going to kill her one of these days, it was going to happen…and no one would be able to stop him.

He stood up and everywhere in his body ached, more than it had in a long time. Trying to put on his breeches proved to be a difficult task as he nearly fell over from being so stiff.

Ezio pulled back the curtains to his window and groaned. There was hardly any light in the sky, which meant it was early morning.

The hell does she want me up at the crack of dawn for, he thought irritably. Ezio pulled on his shirt and then his boots before opening his bedroom door.

He left the hallways, wondering where Trinity had gone. He had resolved that if he didn't find he within the next two minutes, he was going straight back to bed.

Unfortunately, he found her at the bottom of the stairs of the foyer, standing idly. She wasn't wearing her robes today but only attire similar to his.

"Good," she said when she saw him. "I was mulling over what I was going to do to you if you had gone back to sleep."

He scowled at her.

"The sun hasn't even risen yet," he grumbled as he eased his way down the stairs. "Why did you wake me up so early, monello (brat)?"

Trinity eyed him, a little amused at the usage of "brat" and his tone. "Mario trained you well," she replied, making towards the door to outside. "But he has been relaxed in some areas. Now that I'm back, you'll be under my supervision."

"Joy…" said Ezio sarcastically, following her out.

His ego still was highly bruised from yesterday's duel. He didn't want to admit it but having lost to her after gained so much skill…was hard for him to wrap his head around. Trinity had made it look so easy…and because of her casual attitude throughout the fight, he felt his detestation for her grow a little more.

Trinity led him to the city's battlements, one that required him to climb and stretch out his stiff muscles. It took him longer than normal to climb up onto the roofs of the city before taking the ladder to the top of said battlements, but thankfully, Trinity did not hurry him.

"What are we doing…?" he asked in a monotone. By now, there was a little more light in the sky, enough for some of Mario's guards to douse out the torches that were lighting the top of the ramparts.

"You lack endurance," Trinity replied flatly. "It's pathetic."

Ezio threw a half-hearted death glare at her. "Don't start with me, Trinity, I'm-"

"Zitto (shut up)," she interjected just as annoyed. "Start running."

Ezio looked at her as if she had lost her mind. He glanced around at the battlements. It wasn't even remotely impossible for him to run the entire thing without stopping but he was sore and tired…and irritated.

"This is ridiculous-!"

Trinity shoved him forward. "Corri (run)!" she ordered.

He grudgingly did, though he started slow because he was aching. Ezio couldn't believe his uncle allowed her to take over training. He could already tell that she was hell bent on killing him.

Half way around the ramparts, Trinity suddenly appeared, running ahead of him.

"Andiamo (c'mon)!" she called over her shoulder. "My dead father can run faster than you!"

Ezio glowered at the fall of her black hair trailing behind her.

They went around the battlements in its entirety seven times without stopping before Trinity let him take a breather. The whole way around, she taunted him, yelling out insults in quick succession about how he was getting fat or how can any woman stand to be in the same bed as him if his stamina was at such a pathetic state.

Ezio did his best to remain silent and just keep running but by the six time around, he was shouting after her, having lost all his patience.

"Let's make a bet…" said Trinity as Ezio was doubled over, panting next to her. He glanced up at her with his light eyes, looking pissed.

He stood up straighter. "What kind of bet…?" he asked.

She smirked darkly, standing with her back against the wall of the rampart. "Something that'll keep you focused, like a goal for you to aim for," replied Trinity, eyes glinting mischievously.

Her attitude was a little strange today, Ezio noticed. Yes, she was insulting him at every possible moment, as she always does, but today it wasn't quite as spiteful as it was lighthearted. He couldn't quite understand where it was stemming from but it was really aggravating him nonetheless.

"Alright…" said Ezio so she would continue.

Her eyes narrowed and her smirk went wider. "If you can best me in a duel," began Trinity, "…if you can somehow manage to beat me in a fight, Ezio Auditore…I will spend that night with you in bed…and you can have your way with me."

Ezio's eyebrow rose in interest, surprised that she had even suggested such a thing.

"That is my bet."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Really?" he said in an indifferent tone. "I don't know if I want to agree to that…who says you'll be any good in bed?"

At this, she glared at him for a flash of a second.

"Is it because you know you'll never beat me that you say this?" she mocked, crossing her arms with a victorious expression.

Trinity had all the confidence in the world that Ezio would never beat her in a duel and that is the only reason why she suggested spreading her legs for him "if" he did. But she wanted him to find his focus, to strive for something so he would willingly better his abilities instead of her having to push him for it.

He scoffed, smiling slyly at her.

Ezio stepped towards her and placed his fingers under chin to lift her head up slightly. His left hand was up against the wall behind her while his body brushed up against her lightly. She did not look disturbed by his sudden proximity to her but only held the darkest of eyes at him while her arms were still crossed.

"I will best you in a duel, Trinity Aldinucci," he said, putting on his most seductive voice. "And you will regret ever having suggesting such high stakes as letting me have you for one night…for I will not let you sleep."

She rolled her eyes at him, not impressed with his claim.

Ezio dropped his hand and turned away from her, his resolve hardening to steel. If Trinity was going to risk something she found so repulsive, he was going to make her wish she had never thought of it.

His hatred for her was his fuel for his fire.