Lesson 1 ~Blend in~

In the tailor the men attended you very kindly and quickly, it took only a few seconds to be fully dressed with some very simple White robes, actually they kind of materialized on you and after having paid the service you ran back to Isola Tiberina in which Maquiavelli was already waiting for you in the front door.

-I see you are ready now. –He said giving a few steps closer to you without looking away from the clothing. –I sent other novices to do the same, they will join us shortly. –You nodded and Both of you waited no more than 5 seconds before other 3 persons appeared literally from the air, there were two women that looked exactly the same and a man, all of you wearing the exactly same robes, it seemed that in here there was no individuality. –Follow me I will guide you to the training camps in the countryside. – You nodded instantly but then remembered that you were in the central district, you choked and interrupted.

-Countryside? –You asked making Maquiavelli look at you confused. –but… That is at the other side of the city… -You mumbled surprised and looked at your new “mates” waiting for some magical personality to posses them and help you.

-Is there a problem with that Novice? –The old man asked while shaking his head a little from side to side, you sighed in defeat, there was no point, either way you would have to walk.

-No… there isn’t, apologies. –You excused yourself and then waited for him to lead the way, it was a really long way to the camp so you enjoyed the walk seeing the city colors and hearing all the bustle of the “people” in it, you could see how the city got less crowded as you progressed in your way. It took you at least 30 minutes to arrive to an Ex-Borgia tower; in fact it was one of the latest you had unlocked.

-You finally arrive. –A very familiar voice greeted you, it was Ezio, if he was there then it could one mean one thing, he was going to train you, the uncontrollable urge of scream tried to dominate you but again, you wanted to look cool to him so you hold back your fan girl instinct.

-Ezio, I thought you would be with the others. –Maquiavelli approached him making him smirk.

-I was going to but I decided to stay and train with my first novices. –You were staring at him dumbly, sweet lord he was just stunning, you wanted to undress him and basically rape him right there but maybe you would get desynchronized for that, you could catch a fleeting gaze from him and that was the only thing you needed to start screaming internally.

-Well then, I suppose I have nothing to do in here. –Maquiavelli nodded at his friend and then back to all of you dismissing himself.–I will be in Isola Tiberina in case you need me. –He then took one of the horses in the stables and rode away, Ezio kept an eye on him until disappearing in the distance; you could perceive how his chest raised as he took a deep breath and faced you.

-Benvenuti a gli assassini (Welcome to the assassins)… -Ezio extended his arms as he talk. - You are here to dedicate your lives to protect the freedom of humanity, but first, you must know the code that makes us what we are. -He stopped to walk closer, you knew that code forwards and backwards; actually you pretty much knew everything about the assassin history of the game. -Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent.–He made a demonstration of his hidden blade popping out and in. -Hide in plain sight. –His hands moved to his hood and pulled it a little bit forward. - And the most important of all. Never compromise the brotherhood. –You mouthed all the rules under your breath and had to resist the impulse of jumping around screaming them; this was maybe the most important moment of your life so far, how could you not be excited? –Now that you know all of this we can move to your training. There are some skills you need to know to commit a perfect assassination. –he motioned his hand to one of his sides making the NPC’s go next to him, you were a little confused but followed them and then you could see how 3 groups of people materialized on the yard. –An assassin must know how to reach his target, even if this one is in the middle of a crowd. –He pointed to a straw man in the middle of the place. –You have to learn how to move seen but unseen at the same time. –He continued his talk and turned to see you, that was the line Paola had used in Assassins creed II and you knew very well how to end it.

-Just like the courtesans. –You said out loud to call the attention of your mentor successfully making him smile and nod at you.

-Exactly. –His warm brown eyes relied on your (E/C) ones. –You seem to understand this very well… -he kept the last word waiting for you to finish the sentence for him.

-(Y/N) (Y/L/N) –He nodded as he smiled, maybe your name sounded funny considering that you were from a different country, and a different universe.

-A very interesting name for a very interesting person. (Y/N) –He laughed a little making your heartbeat raise, you wanted so bad to jump into him and kiss him just like in all those dreams you have had, you could though, it wasn’t like the others would care but, you also wanted really bad to do the training that, those special matters would have to wait. –Bene, now look at what I do and then repeat it. –Ezio said and walked, first towards the nearest group, he entered them and the coloration of his body and robes turned into a monochromatic grey, he stayed in there for a few seconds and then passed to the next group and when he was in the last one he waited in there a few more seconds and then as if nothing he walked past the straw man and stabbed it with his hidden blades, seeing him doing this in “person” was so many more times exciting than watching him do it on the TV screen, it was just so awesome and then you suddenly remembered that Tobuscus’ video of the trailer.

-Just kill him with your awesome… -You sang under your breath as he walked directly to you.

-It’s your turn bella. – He patted your shoulder and gave you a killer smile, you didn’t need your ovaries anyway, nodding you started to walk very confidently towards the first group, just like he did, it was only blend in, what could go wrong? The pale tonality covered your body and made you gasp in amazement.

-Cool. –You mumbled under your breath as you moved your arms to make sure all your body was grey but without noticing you made an abrupt movement and rushed your hand against someone’s face making the NPC’s look at you and move backwards. –Shit! –You swore and rushed to the next group bumping into someone causing the same reaction. –Oh come on! –You screamed in anger, you must look ridiculous to Ezio right now, the plan of appearing cool went totally down, you looked at him expecting to find a very serious gaze but instead you found a very funny one.

-Come novice! –Ezio shouted at you making you sigh, you fucked up the simplest lesson; it looks like not being around a large group of people in these holidays really affected you. –You will do it again at the end. –He said calmly when you got closer. –See how the others do it. –He smiled thinly and you nodded, thank god he wasn’t mad at least. You stood next to him and watched your “mates” doing the task perfectly, of course they were going to do it that way after all they were programmed to do so but, it still made you feel a little dumb for let yourself get carried away.

-Now try it. –He said but before you could go he leaned and purred into your ear. –Just relax and think that I’m right there with you. –You froze when his thick accent reached your eardrums, if he was trying to make you feel better, he totally succeeded.

You nodded and walked still with his words echoing in your head, his voice was just so hypnotizing and surprisingly this time you completed the task perfectly, you walked to a group, waited, then to the other and waited and finally the last one and then you attacked your target, a little push was everything you needed.

-Molto bene! (Very good) –You walked closer to Ezio and he praised you with these words making your heart flip in happiness. –Now that you have understood the skill, it’s time to practice it in the battlefield. –You gulped and before you could say anything your surroundings went in slow motion and then vanishing tossing you into the Animus waiting room.

-Wait what?! What the hell! –You shouted surprised for the sudden intervention but there was nothing to do but wait until that familiar trembling under your feet alerted you about the incoming materialization of the city.

You and the others were standing on a rooftop near the pantheon, you had a clear view to the square, it was filled with people walking around, groups of them either way standing or walking as well and in the middle of all, there were two guards.

-It’s time for you to practice this skill in a real situation. –Ezio started talking. –Those two guards will be your targets; you have to take a red ribbon attached to one without them noticing. –He pointed the men while saying this, it wasn’t a really hard task and you were very confident that you will do it at the first try this time but still remembering what happened back in the training was really embarrassing and honestly you didn’t want to look so dumb again, you thought that you would be the first again but this time Ezio decided that it was better to let you be the last one. –You will wait until the others do it. –He said patting your shoulder. A sudden feeling of incompetence rushed through your system.

-I’m sorry for being too dumb. –You hissed bitterly, it was kind of frustrating not doing a simple task like this correctly, the excitement you felt in the beginning was slowly transforming into defeat, even though you could be exaggerating a little.

-Don’t apologize bella, you are here to learn, I too have made mistakes. –He said kindly to you and made you think in all the times you got desynchronized for being detected on a track mission causing you a small laugh. –That is much better. –He smiled, Ezio was always the best thing to cheer you up, no matter how bad things were going playing as him always got you a smile.

-Yeah I guess you are right. –You said as the last of your mates climbed up the building you were on. –Well here I go. –You encouraged yourself and did some calf raises before going down.

you could observe 3 groups of people moving around the guards, you waited until see their patterns of movement, where did each one started and where they ended, then located the two guards and searched for the group that passed closer to them, the one with a lady carrying a red umbrella was the chosen one, you put your feet going and waited until they were close enough to blend in, the poor coloration over you was a sign that you have done it successfully, now you only had to keep the pace with them to walk unnoticed until reach your targets, your breathing got heavier and your heart pumped stronger with every step you took closer to them, your head moved towards the roof Ezio was on and, for a moment, you could swear he saw you and smiled but it was a little too far to telling it so you turned back again, there just were a few meters left to reach them, your eyes started to roam their armors until find the ribbon, it was attached to the wrist of one guard, once located you make sure of not losing it from sight and as you passed, with all the skill you have got from unraveling your earphones, your fingers cautiously took one of the ends to then slid it slowly as you walked to make sure to not tighten the loose knot freeing the wrist of the man with a soft pull that made him turn but you got into the group again just in time and therefore you were invisible to him.

Seeing the ribbon in your hand made you feel enormously proud of you, it was done and in the first try. You ran back to the roof and jumped into Ezio embracing him into a hug that he returned gladly.

-I’VE DONE IT! –you half-screamed excited and then let go with a wide smile across your face. –I did it! Mentor I did it! – You repeated over and over again to him, it was still unbelievable to you though, Ezio answered your happiness with a pleased smile.

-Ben fatto! (Well done) –He exclaimed. –But there is still so much things to do. –His hand patted your head as if you were a little puppy while saying this, those were his last words before the world started to get in slow motion again vanishing into a bright white and then you got dragged back into the silver-white room of the animus, this time there was a floating message waiting for you in there…