Disclaimer: Yo no poseo Assassin's Creed. I don't own Assassin's Creed. (I think that's the correct translation – it looks about right).

Warning: Not really a warning, but Malik still has his two arms.

Stare in wonder, who's here to bring you down?
Find your martyr, I'm sure you've made the crown
So light a fire under my bones, so when
I die for you, at least I'll die alone

Ain't nothing for me to end up like this
There's no comparing me this time

All my heroes have now become ghosts
Sold their sorrow to the ones who paid the most
All my heroes are dead and gone
But down inside of me, they still live on

"Heroes" by: Shinedown

Chapter Ten: Kylal

*3rd person POV*

"What you say makes sense, though I simply cannot see it happening."

"As long as his training is accomplished, I do not care who completes it."

"He has improved over the past three weeks."

"Perhaps she needs some assistance too?"

"Then we've reached an agreement?"

"I believe we have."

*Anima's POV*

Amelia laughed as I splashed her with water. We were currently busy with the laundry – I don't know how Amelia managed to suck me into it, but to me it was as unpleasant as having teeth pulled.

"Ugh, I feel like such a… woman," I groaned.

"Maybe that's because you associate women with slave labor," she joked back with a grin.

"Again with this stuff. What did they teach you in church, really?" I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

She shrugged. "I'm not in the church anymore. Besides, I was surrounded by other teenage girls - what else were we supposed to talk about when we were bored? Bible scriptures?"

We drifted into a companionable silence as I focused on trying to remove a blood stain. Who knew they were so hard to get out? After much scrubbing and little progress, I snorted and chucked the shirt over to Amelia. Perhaps she'd have better luck with it. "Well, one thing's for certain - I definitely respect whoever does my clothes as of now."

Amelia giggled, catching the shirt and resuming my work. "And not your bed sheets?"

I splashed her again, gaping incredulously. "That's disgusting."

She squealed as the water hit her, but continued laughing. We both looked up when one of the new recruits approached. His face was blank when he turned to me. "Your presence is requested immediately in The Mentor's office."

Amelia and I shared a concerned glance before I got up and made my way towards the office. Once I got there, only Kinja, The Mentor, Raan, Al Mualim, and Malik was there – a far cry from the full group usually residing in the office at any point of the day.

The Mentor nodded in acknowledgement of my arrival and turned to Kinja. "Congratulations, Kinja, the Assassins have decided it's time for you to move up a rank. Your ceremony will be tonight. With that said, Anima will no longer be your mentor. That will be Raan's position from now onwards."

I opened my mouth to protest but The Mentor was already speaking again. "Anima, recently I became worried that you weren't progressing enough on your own. Therefore, Malik has offered to be your Mentor until you are a full Assassin."

I glanced at Malik and our eyes met. His were dark and brooding. I gulped.

The Mentor must have seen the expression on my face. He sighed. "What is it, child?"

I cleared my throat and clasped my hands behind my back. "I was doing fine before."

"Yes, but I fear you will not continue to progress to a fully-fledged assassin without some guidance from someone with a higher rank," The Mentor reasoned. He saw the outraged look on my face and backtracked slightly. "What I meant, uh, was that it would be to your benefit to learn from Malik's experience outside of the city."

Narrowing my eyes, I let his slight doubt in my abilities slide. I turned my attention to Malik and gave him a once-over – he certainly wasn't too bad-looking. Maybe working with him wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be.

"I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?" my eyes were still on Malik, but the question was directed at The Mentor.

He chuckled. "No, not really."

I sighed and shook my head. "Whatever you think it best." Deeming that my humiliation for the day was over, I turned to leave. "Congratulations on moving up the social ladder, Kinja," I gave my former pupil a lopsided smile on the way out. And with that, I bid a hasty retreat.

"Wait!" The Mentor raised his voice, and I froze mid-step. "You will accompany Malik and Kinja to the church to gather information from the nun you had contact with before. Now you are dismissed."

I rolled my eyes and continued out the door without looking back.

Kinja slinked out the door after me and Malik walked calmly next to him. With the horses already saddles and waiting, we rode straight to the church. We made it there in record time. Tethering the horses in the thick treeline behind the church, I looked at Malik and waited for him to say something. When he remained silent, my look turned to a glare. He stayed passive, probably waiting for me to make the first move. With a huff, I strode past him and towards the back door of the church.

After scaling the roof of the church and coming down through the bell tower, I swung myself into the rafters and scaled the scaffolding to the floor. Kinja and Malik were right behind me. The old nun was busy cleaning the wooden pews, as she had been when I had first encountered her. She looked up when she heard our footsteps on the flagstones, and she smiled when she seemed to recognize me.

She put down her rag and her smile widened as she made her way out from between the pews towards me. "My granddaughter, is she safe?"

"Yes, she's settled in at the bureau quite nicely," I replied with a smile of my own.

The blind nun came forward and clasped my hands in her gnarled fingers. "Bless you child, you and your organization."

I smiled gently and returned the gesture. I cleared my throat. We had serious business here. "About the information we were sent for…"

The nun smiled and nodded. "The men you are looking for are out of the country. Two to the south and two to the north. Here," she handed over a letter with arthritic hands, "this may tell you where they are in greater depth. Safe travels, Assassins."

"Thank you," I bowed respectively and elbowed Kinja in the gut when he didn't do the same. He let out a slight 'oof' and gave me a dirty glance before following suit. Though the old woman was blind, she certainly knew how to read her surroundings. With that, we bid a hasty retreat.

"If we kill one of them while they're away, they'll be sure to flee back here," I mentioned.

"Kinda like herding them in, right? Turn tail and run back home?" Raan elaborated.

"What if they all scatter in different directions?" The Mentor argued.

I shook my head. "They rely too heavily on each other. We know that Trystan's the leader and is so paranoid he doesn't even trust messengers, which means he has to talk with the others face-to-face. If they had a meeting place outside of Georgia, we'd know about it. They'll all have to meet up together eventually. And it will be here, within our reach, if we are able to get them while they're away! They'll have no place to go! Let news of Kylal's death reach them and then they'll run back here."

Malik cleared his throat, "They'll know it's an assassination. They also know that the church is right next to a bureau of its own. They'll put two and two together."

I paused before speaking again. "Not if we aren't present during the assassination. An accident can be arranged. Or poison. Poison always works." There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room.

"Wait… I'm confused." Kinja rubbed his temple. "Trystan is the one in charge, right?"

"He also has a huge army behind him. Or at least he will within a couple months time," I answered with a shrug.

"And Kylal…?"

"Is one of his three main men," I explained.

He nodded slowly. "So… where is he?"

"South, in Turkey," The Mentor cut off my reply. "Kinja, you will go with Malik and Altaïr there to assassinate him in a discrete form."

I gaped for a minute. "Wh- what? Hey! It was my plan! Why don't I get to run my plan?"

The Mentor raised his eyebrows at my outburst. "You have done quite enough for the time being, Anima. Take a day or two off. You are dismissed." His tone was curt. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned to leave. He switched his focus back to the others. "You three are leaving tonight."

My jaw was clenched so tightly it ached as I tried to restrain my temper. I went straight to my room and forced myself to close the door quietly. I sat on the edge of my bed, my hands curled into white-knuckled fists as I bit the inside of my cheek. I tasted blood. It was only a few minutes before a quiet knock on my door made me look up.

You guys, it was insanely difficult to write this chapter. Sorry if it was short. It felt like I was moving through mud for each word. Yeah, not fun. So I decided to end it here before I would shoot myself from frustration.