"Levi, do you ever have strange dreams?" asked my savior, a man called John Brown, as we sat in his cosy Springfield, Massachusetts home.
We had gotten there quickly on a strange, almost miraculous train that ran through John's Subterranean Pass Way, his own version of the Underground Railroad. During the trip John explained to me that this was his way to fight against slavery, and fighting against slavery was a main cause of the organization he was in. When I asked about the organization he told me I'd find out soon enough. With us sat his two sons, and a dark skinned girl about my age who listened intently to our conversation. I found her kind of cute, but that's beside the point. Truth was I did have strange dreams, all of the time actually. Sometimes they'd even happen when I closed my eyes on the plantation. They were all like memories, I was experiencing memories from another time. Lots of them took place in African places, sometimes one would be in Rome, or here in America, but their were always some strange ones. Many involved a strange group known as the Knights Templar, and sometimes, very rarely, once in a blue moon, I would see a world totally different from ours. They'd always refer to it as Eden in the memories but... It was no garden. Powerful beings walked the earth then, and I experienced the memories of one of them. I told this all to Brown, and once I was finished he had a troubled look on his face. He looked at the dark skinned girl, and she mouthed some words I couldn't make out, and then he looked back at me.
"As of now you are at war, child," Brown said.
He began to tell me about an ancient struggle. A struggle that started even before recorded history. He told me of an ancient order known as the Assassins, and another one known as the Templars, and there war over the concept of freedom vs. the concept of order. He told me of master Assassins such as Altaïr Ibn La' Ahad who fought in the crusades, Ezio Auditore of Florence during the renaissance who killed many Templars and mentored many assassins, and Conner Kenway who helped create this nation. Most importantly he told me that the Templar symbol was the Cross Pattée, and after he described it to me I realized that it was the same kind of cross the men that killed my mother were wearing.
"So does that mean those men were Templars?" I asked.
"Yes," Brown replied, "and they want you."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because your ability, those dreams you have, they are unique. The Templars would take you, and torture you until you tell them about all of your dreams," replied John, "especially your dreams of eden."
"Why me? What can I do? I don't want them to torture me!" I said, upset and confused.
"I don't know why it's you, but it is," said Brown sternly, "and there is only one way to prevent that..."
"What?!" I asked, "I'll do anything!"
"You must join us," he said.
I hesitated, I was not necessarily sure whether I wanted to join a cause I knew nothing about. At the same time I wasn't sure if I had a choice. Where would I go? Where could I hide? This is the only way I could survive.
"I'll join," I said.
"Good," John replied as he turned towards the girl, "Caroline, I want you to take Levi to the top of the First Church, O.K.? I'll give you permission to induct him into the order."
Caroline and I left. Caroline was dressed in what I now know is the typical assassins garb. She wore a hood, and a coat with warm fur on the inside, as well as a white skirt with fur within it, and boots. I was dressed in a normal winter coat, with nothing to special about it. The warm clothing was due to the fact that it was winter in Springfield at the time and it got very cold there.
"Come on I'll lead the way!" she said enthusiastically.
I followed her to the big white church, and she began to climb. She grabbed onto ledges and moved herself up. Once she made it to the top she called to me to follow.
"How?" I asked, yelling so that she could here me atop the churches high steeple.
"Try to remember how your ancestors did it!" she called back.
I closed my eyes and thought back. I realized that a lot of my ancestors could climb like I needed too and as I thought of them I felt like I could do what they did. I grabbed on to a bit of wood jutting out of the church, and I began to climb to the top. Once I reached the top Caroline said something startling.
"Now jump."
"What?" I said as I turned to look at her.
"To be initiated you have to jump," Caroline stated plainly.
"I'm not jumping off of this church," I stated just as plainly.
"Look, I'm gonna a tell you a story," Caroline said, " when I was small, John made me read pages from Altaïr's codex. In it he talks about how the creed of the assassins is a paradox. The first part of the creed especially, nothing is true, is there to prevent someone from having blind faith, which restricts freedom."
"Mmm-hmmm," I said, "hey, wait isn't this illegal?"
"Pay attention," Caroline stated firmly, "everything is permitted, second part of the creed. Anyway the assassins follow their creed without a second thought, and do dangerous things because they have faith they will survive."
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because I believe that a little bit of faith can go a long way Levi," she said warmly, "sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith."
With that Caroline swan dived off the church, landing in a haystack and popping out unscathed. I was so inspired by Caroline's words that I decided to have a little faith as well. I dove off of the church, and landed in the haystack. As I lie next to Caroline she turned to me and said the words that would be my first venture into a new life.
"Congratulations, you are an assassin."