Chapter 1: The Gathering

ITALY'S P.O.V.

"Ve~ Romano, I'm home~!" I half sung as I entered the house.

I was half expecting my brother to jump out and start yelling at me for hanging out with Germany, but it didn't happen.

I then yelled out, "Fratello? Are you home ve~?"

Then I took notice of the note on the fridge next to my mail.

I picked up the note which read;

Veneziano,

Went to the Tomato Bastards house for the week to help him with the tomato harvest. Won't be back until they're all picked.

Left your mail by the fridge and you have a package up in your room on your desk... Relax I didn't look, in case it was... Never mind...

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT INVITING THE POTATO BASTARD OVER... I WILL KNOW AND KICK BOTH YOUR ASSES INTO NEXT WEEK!

Signed,

Your Frattello

Italy Romano

I smiled a bit at my brothers thoughtful slash threating note and looked through my mail.

"Ve~ Bill... Bill... Junk mail... Junk mail... More bills... More Junk Mail... A blank envelope... Another bil- Wait a second..."

I turned my attention to the blank envelope. No sending address, no return address, no stamps... Just a pure white envelope.

I set the rest of the mail down and headed to my room with the envelope in hand.

As soon as I got in there I locked my door and set the envelope down next to the package on my desk.

I took off my coat and long sleeved shirt along with my wrist guards which hid the burn on my wrist well...

I didn't want anyone to see it...

Especially Frattello... He would recognize it immediately and then there would be a huge retribution.

I opened the envelope and saw the letter on the neat parchment with little apples grazing the sides.

I smiled slightly and began reading the letter.

AMERICA'S P.O.V.

"Hey Tony, where did you put my mail?" I asked the alien in my living room who was currently playing Laura Croft (yeah!) on my PS3.

He looked at me slightly and pointed towards my room and said, "Fucking! Fucking!"

I groaned and said, "Really? You know I like reading my mail in the kitchen... Just warn me when I get home alight?"

The alien gave no response other than returning to the game with the classic character.

I got to my room and saw the mail lying on my bed... Just a package and two letters... One of which was completely blank.

Was it really them? I hadn't gotten a letter from them in a little less than a decade...

Not since the incident in 2008. I was wondering when I was going to here from them again.

I opened up the letter and looked at the thick parchment with the decorative apples doodled on the edges to make it look old with the typed words. It read;

Dear Alfred,

Hey what is going on?

The plane landed alright, but the location was completely the wrong destination! Of all the places we land, the pilot decides that an apple orchard was a good place.

Has anyone came by or have been in my house lately? I discovered that I am paranoid but by your standers, I'm normal.

Our online game is going good, foes tremble at our mad skills! The boss is being a bitch, time will come when it has to fall to my bow.

Come on next week Al, for we need your sword (and need your sneaky cheat codes that you got from the game site) to win. If you login soon meet me at the fire canyon. The thing has been filled noobs, rest are mainly easy programmed enemies of no particular strength. This means the XP hunting for our guild members just got easier. None of them will see it coming...

Your wondering what is in the guild box I sent you?

Well inside our trusty guild box is the brand new game dlc special box set (Luckily it will still contain your old game data and your awards too) I also sent plane tickets for the nationals, tickets for Online Gamer-Con which is a week from now, and a suitcase from our last trip here with some new locks on it. So secure because again, I get paranoid carrying around valuables in new places.

For the loudly nagging question that your going to ask, no the uniform has to be worn during and after gameplay. As for the accessories, well they a bit easier and much less controlling if a necklace is worn or not.

Keycard in the guild box is to change the lock on the house... Meeting strangers in my home... Bad place in my mind and creepy.

Be seeing (hopefully) you soon Al. There is a chance I'll be at the airport heading for Silver Noon...

Weird town names... Crazy Europe...

We have no internet signal... There will be a big battle and be prepared for the pilot's obituary.

Waiting for email sucks so for old time sake I mailed you this letter.

Well bye~!

Signed,

Alyssa

Clever...

The real message is very well encrypted into the meaningless letter from a non-existent person...

Now for the code key...

It has apples on the page... Eliminate all the words that start with 'A','P','L', and, 'E'?

No, too easy...

Apple has five letters in it, perhaps every 5th letter... No, again it's too oblivious...

My contact usually does something cryptic... I guess I'll have to run them all the codes then...

I itched the sweat band I had covering my wrist...

Damn thing always rubs me the wrong way, but unfortunately a watch never covered it all the way and bandages would look weird since I take my coat off a lot, I would get questioned about it.

And if anyone saw it and new what it was... I would be in serious trouble.

I got out my pen and grab some paper and began the decoding process...

Seriously I don't know who the other members are but surly they must take as long as I do on these things.

ENGLAND'S P.O.V.

"There... I think I've got it now." I whispered as I finished decoding 'Alyssa's' message.

It was rather brilliant using her own name as the word perimeter.

Every sixth word... Everyone would be drawn to the apples while drawn away from the name making it the perfect key.

I always had a knack for the codes they sent me ever since I joined them those long centuries ago.

I looked at my wrist with a wry smile looking at the burned flesh that branded the guild's mark into my skin.

People thought that my pirate days, my punk rock days, and my magical influences were the crazy things about me... If they found out about this...

That would be a whole different story...

For now they just need to think of me as old man England.

I picked up the decoded message and read what the real message said;

Dear Arthur,

The location of the apple has been discovered by our foes.

The time has come for you to meet the rest of the members of your guild.

Inside the box contains your plane tickets, a suitcase with secure carrying for your uniform and accessories, and a keycard to the meeting place.

Be there at noon... We will be waiting for you.

Signed,

Alyssa

No... This was bad...

If the apple's location has been discovered...

I immediately opened up the box and saw the tickets, suitcase, and keycard.

I finally get to discover where they hid it all those years ago, and meet the other guild member leaders.

According to the letters there is two other members that share the same level of skill as me...

As for 'Alyssa' she's the virtual guard dog of guild security.

If something goes wrong she contacts us via blank envelopes, packages, and encrypted messages.

I looked at the plane ticket and saw the location with a bit of amusement.

"Rome, Italy... Definably not what I was expecting. In one week... Then I best be ready and have an albi too..."

I picked the package up and headed towards my basement...

Most people looked at the magic stuff and toy with that... They never think there's anything else.

I press the loose brick on the wall in and the secret door opens.

Inside was my greatest secret that I have ever hidden since I helped Edward fight Black Beard on the seas.

I looked at the old set of leather armor covered in belts, pouches, and fastens with it's mix of colors like browns, reds, and blues. But it was mainly white... White billowy sleeves with leather bracers, white cape accented with gold and red, and a white hood that hid almost all my face but my lips and chin...

Then there was the braces themselves... They looked harmless but it was far from that.

I picked up my left brace and put it on letting it's worn leather touch my skin once more... I flexed my wrist and the hidden blade came out like it did all those years ago...

I smiled and said, "Still works like a charm..."

I looked at the brand mark on my opposite arm seeing the strange compass looking symbol with a skull in the center of it...

This was my brand not only as a pirate... But as an assassin as well...

I am Arthur Kirkland a.k.a The United Kingdom of Great Brittan and Northern Ireland and by my creed, I am a assassin of the Black Flag.

AMERICA'S P.O.V.

"The Templars just don't know when to quit..." I muttered out as I headed into my storage room.

True, I need to clean this place out but then again...

I tilted a box up over revealing it was a trap door...

Then again everyone could find this...

I slid down the trap door and closed it behind me going into my secret area.

Ratonhnhaké:ton or Connor as he preferred and I were good friends back in the day. We took up this lifestyle together and he taught me the ways of his people, allowing me to become in tune with my native side...

Not many nations knew about my natural abilities thanks to my native American population...

I walked down further and saw it...

The cloth and fur outfit made up of red, brown, and blue belts, pockets, and strings, while the rest was white with a long hood covering the face. But still it had feathers and beads woven onto it and it had a special holster for a tomahawk and a pistol...

It had been a long time since this uniform had seen the light of day...

The dark of night on the other hand... It had seen it much more often.

If anyone from the G8 saw this they're whole outlook on me would change...

They just saw the hamburger loving guy who wanted to be a hero...

They'd probably flip if they found out the big hero was actually an assassin since the revolutionary war killing Templars to save them from their tyranny.

I took off my wrist band looked at the brand on my arm... The top was the compass bit, like all members of the guild have but each had an original brand in the center... I bear a star in the center of the brand showing my fight for everyone freedom...

If the Templers get their way... 'Free will' will cease to exist...

I won't allow that to happen...

I am Alfred Freedom Jones a.k.a. The United States of America and by my creed, I am a assassin of Revolution.

ITALY'S P.O.V.

"Ve~ Ezio... Even this day our problems follow me..." I muttered as I stepped toward the wall and unsheathed the hidden blade and placed it in the lock pressing my hand on the imprint.

The stone door silently opened revealing the narrow passage it hid and the long stairwell going down it.

I entered the secret stairwell from the backyard vinyard climing down the tunnels beneath our manor...

Romano has come out here on occasion and wondered what this symbol on the wall ment... I've seen him for many hours trying to find what the diamon shaped hole was and why there was a disfigured hand print beneath it. But he came to accept it, like how he came to accept that I wore wrist guards under my jacket because they reminded me of the Renaissance and they felt better on my skin.

I hated lying to Fratello, I really did but if he found out I was an assassin along side Ezio he would have my head...

Well techincally I would get his before he laid a hand on me but it was more metiphorical than literal.

I now found myself standing at the foot of my old uniform with a nostalgic smile on.

I whispered, "Bonjoruno... My old friend... It's time for you to be worn once more..."

I quickly traded my nations uniform for that of mine back in the Renaissance.

My pure white cloth uniform with traces of blood red lining the belt and the inside of the cape and silver finshing details.

The ancient uniform still fit me like a glove... It felt like my second skin had finally been returned to me after almost a millennia.

I pulled up the hood, carefully covering up my face and my curl making me look like a completely different person.

I smiled and said, "Ve~ The new genoration may have their tech going for them..."

I unsheath my hidden blade once more and dug it into the manakin's gullet and said, "But I was one of the originals..."

I looked as the hidden blade went back in on the old style of hidden blade before Leonardo fixed it, thus is why I didn't have my right ring finger anymore.

I had to lose it in a 'kitchen accident' when someone bumped into me while cutting and while Romano witnessed it all, man was he pissed.

I peeled back my hidden blade and stared at the brand that sealed me as what I was...

I was more than a nation... I was a true assassin from the original order for my crest bared no center symbol...

I am Feliciano Vargas a.k.a. Italy Veneziano or North Italy, and by my creed, I am a assassin of the Brotherhood and the Guild Master of the new members of the Creed...

The Creed that has guided us for centuries...

The true Assassin's Creed.

A/N: Ve~ This is a story that has been in my brain for a little bit... And if only the beginning...

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