Chapter 23

A winter chill passed right through Ezio's body high above the city as his feet dangled over the edge of the lonely tower. He looked down beyond his hanging boots at the waterways silently flowing several stories beneath, crawling across the earth in winding, black, rivers as stars rippled in the current. He breathed warmth into his hands in hopes of thawing his numbing fingers. The earth was silent, the kind of silent that hushed even the most tormented souls. He exhaled a steamy mist into the night sky as the breeze swept it away into the darkness. The tiniest orange and pink strokes began to paint themselves along the skyline, hallucinating the image of the cold earth catching fire. It wouldn't be long now until a new day graced the horizon.

"Are you nervous?" Alcina whispered. Each word produced a wispy cloud of steam from her lips, swirling and dissipating around them.

"It is too cold for nerves," he huffed. She sat closely beside him in hopes to steal some of his warmth as her legs flaunted freely over the drop-off. The thought of them being so high above ground electrified him, almost as much as her sudden proximity. "Alcina, there is something I have been meaning to ask."

She burrowed her face beneath the coat Ezio's uncle Mario kindly offered her, "And what might that be?"

His perplexed brows creased in curiosity, "How did you know where to find me? How did any of you find me?"

"Machiavelli mentioned that the prophecy would lead them... whatever that means," she jeered.

A small cloud of steam warmed the air from his soft laughter, "I know you don't believe that."

She frowned and nuzzled further into the depths of warm leather surrounding her face. "If only that were true." Her stomach began doing flips at the memory of her father's codex page.

"So how did you find me then? Venezia is a large city, I could have been anywhere." he humored.

Her face came out of hiding as she tucked the material beneath her chin, "I don't know. Something just pulled me to you I suppose. Like I already knew," she mirrored the smile that crept across his lips as he playfully pulled the oversized hood down to her nose. She sighed loudly in fake annoyance as she adjusted the heaping fabric with a smile, tugging her hair out of the mess of fabric and onto her shoulder. "I brought them to you Ezio."

"You did?" his tone suddenly serious.

She nodded, "When I awoke and saw you were gone, I didn't know what else to do. Sister Teodora had been speaking with your Uncle all morning. I knew who he was the minute I saw him. I recognized the eyes." Her face flushed briefly as she cleared her throat.

"So you left?"

"I just started running... and my feet guided me. They brought me to you." She anxiously gnawed on her lip, afraid she was saying too much. "I wasn't going to abandon you... so I went after you. They insisted on coming with me in case something went wrong." He pondered this as his eyes once again focused on the evolving sky. " Oltre, I couldn't let you have all the fun." She nudged him playfully with her shoulder as she wove a messy braid into the length of her hair.

"Thank you Alcina..." Ezio's kind smile illuminated in the night. Their eyes locked for an exceptionally long moment before Alcina nervously broke the gaze, nodding nervously. He fought back a proud grin when he saw her body tense beside him. "It seems you are the nervous one belladonna."

"I'm fine," she cleared her throat. The sound of waking song birds began to boldly serenade the approaching morning. Alcina exhaled a loud sigh releasing a dense fog into the air as her body relaxed, savoring the sweet morning air. A shiver trembled through her muscles as the cold breeze filled her lungs. She closed her eyes in pure bliss, "It's peaceful up here," she breathed.

There was a pause before Ezio spoke tenderly, "I could not dream of a more beautiful sight." She sighed again as the smell of the earth engulfed her until she felt eyes gazing at her. His gentle fingers tucked away a few floating strands of her brown hair behind her ear, brushing softly across her cheek. His gaze overwhelmed her own, controlling her pulse without any sign of release as his gorgeous brown eyes began to suffocate her. "I thought I had lost you..." he muttered as his face softened. A faint smile tilted the corners of her lips as he lovingly drew small circles across her cheekbone with his thumb.

"So did I," she whispered over her pounding heart as a wet twinkle teased at her eye. He felt a heaviness drown him as he recalled their last conversation. He wished so badly that he could have stayed with her that night, to hold her while she slept and greet her in the morning... but he had to make a choice.

"Come here..." he sighed, directing her to his shoulder. He stroked her hair softly as he rested his cheek against her head. His mind buzzed in conflict, spreading a toxic heaviness through his system as if his veins were filled with lead. No matter how much he wished he could grasp it, the image of settling down and living a "normal" life began to fade farther and farther away. He had learned from experience that living a journey of revenge left no room for love; romance was traded for danger, the promise of life replaced by a dark veil of death. He cringed at the thought of Alcina's ghostly blank stare in his arms and the guilty rip in his heart as he left her behind to find the apple. He couldn't live a life with those feelings holding him back... or would they make him stronger? Could he manage to live a life of both wrath and love? He nestled his face into her hair, breathing in her perfuming aura and drawing in as much warmth from her close body as possible.

"Ezio," Uncle Mario's familiar voice summoned from behind. The bundled pair turned in response to view the awaiting ceremony. "Are you ready to begin?" Mario continued. Ezio nodded in conviction as he gave Alcina a reassuring smile, raising her politely to her feet. She stepped to the side, supporting him from afar.

"I'm ready Uncle."

"Come forward nipote." Ezio stepped into the circle of assassins, surrounding a golden, churning, fire as enchanting embers floated and dissipated into the chilled air. Mario Auditore outstretched his arms toward the glowing pit, taking in it's comforting warmth, "Laa shay'a waqui'n moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. These are the words of our ancestors that lay at the heart of our creed."

The new face in the circle, Machiavelli, approached Ezio, "When other men blindly follow the truth, remember..."

"Nothing is true," Ezio responded.

"When other men are limited by morality or law, remember..."

"Everything is permitted."

"We work in the dark to serve the light, we are assassins."

The group of faces shadowed his words, "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

Uncle Mario gestured to his nephew, "In this modern age, we are not as literal as our ancestors, but our seal is no less permanent." Ezio's eyes anxiously wandered to the glowing flames. "Are you ready to join us?"

"I am," he spoke confidently, mentally preparing for the worst.

His scrawny comrade Antonio presented a pare of burning blacksmith tools resembling a giant pair of pliers. "This only hurts for a moment brother... like most things." Alcina bit down even harder on her lip as she looked on in discomfort while Antonio clasped Ezio's ring finger between the hissing orange metal pliers. A clear and chilling hiss snaked into her ears as his skin melted beneath the seal, branding his loyalty into his flesh. She couldn't see his face from where she stood, but she was certain his features were contorting as he fought to control his composure.

"Benvenuto Ezio, you are one of us now," Machiavelli extended his arm in brotherly admiration, gripping his shoulder in his hand. Ezio flexed the fingers of his left hand, watching as the melted skin cooled rapidly in the bitter cold. "One last order of business," he peered over Ezio's armored shoulder as the surrounding faces followed his gaze. "Are you ready?"

Alcina's face flushed as all eyes gathered to her. She gulped at a tug in her throat as she struggled for words. "Me?" was all she could gasp.

Mario Auditore nodded warmly, welcoming her into the circle. She stepped into the warm light of the fire as a tug at her shoulders revealed Sister Teodora removing the massive cloak from her frame. Mario looked into her confused eyes, "Alcina Rossalita Gavino, are you ready to join us and become an Assassin?"

She once again fumbled for words, "This was meant to be Ezio's ceremony... was it not?"

"It was planned for the both of you. Neither of you would be where you are today if not for the other... both ready, willing and able to perform the challenges ahead. Fate has tested you both, and has proven that you are strongest when you are together. You both are ready to join our ranks as assassins." A few members of the circle nodded in agreement as Sister Teodora smiled proudly. Ezio looked to the ground as he processed his uncle's words, wringing his fingers around the fresh scar. "Are you ready to join us?" Mario gestured.

She inhaled a shaky breath to calm herself before responding, "Yes, I am ready."

"Then repeat the final words of our creed..."

"Nothing is true... everything is permitted..." she uttered. Antonio returned with the glowing pliers, stretching their glowing fingers to her left hand. She clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting the sensation. She fought a gasp of pain as the smell of melting skin made her stomach turn. The sharp burning abruptly ceased as the cold air breathed across her flesh, soothing the scorched flesh. Her eyes flew open to examine the new scar on her ring finger, "That wasn't so bad," she exhaled breathlessly.

"Welcome both of you," Mario smiled. An embracing wave of hands congratulated them both as the numerous smiles tugged at her heart. "Back to the villa!" Mario cheered, "There is still much to do." Mario pat his nephew on the shoulder, "You have made us all so very proud. Both of you." he nodded.

"Thank you Uncle," Ezio's smiled appreciatively. "I would not have made it this far without your guidance." One by one the assassins leapt from the tower, gracefully landing into the soft bales of hay below until the two new recruits were left alone. "Ladies first," Ezio grinned offering a gentlemanlike hand to raise her to the edge of the drop. Alcina smirked over her shoulder before springing into the sky, dropping swiftly to the frozen earth and disappearing from his sight. The sun breached the sky, overflowing it's new rays across the heaven's, transforming the silent, dead, world into a glowing masterpiece. His heart pulsed loudly in his chest as he left behind the old chapters of his life with the darkness of the night, succumbing to the birth of his new destiny growing all the more clear with the rising dawn. As his body plummeted through the air he welcomed the rush as he understood that his journey was only beginning.

...

translations:

Oltre- besides

Laa shay'a waqui'n moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine- nothing is true, everything is permitted

Benvenuto- welcome