Okay, so, onto chapter two. Also, can somebody please tell my why in the heck the cover image is disappearing and reappearing all the darn time? It's kinda weirding me out a bit. And I'm not overly fond of being weirded out. Anyway, hope you all enjoy chapter two.

Anyway, enjoy! :)

. . .

Leonardo pursed his lips as his eyes trailed over the ancient Arabic text with intense fascination. The flickering light from the candle's little flame playing across the paper in ever-changing shades of yellow, the faint smell of sewer water from the canals (one of the less appealing aspects of Venezia) coming in through the open window, and the much more appealing scents of ink and paint floating around in the workshop.

النجاح! وجدناا حتياجاتنا غير كافيه

وجدت طريقه في جرعات صغيرهأكبر من ذلك بكثير

مقذوفات صغيره أو نحو ذلك أملتصغير تصاميمها

الباليه علي صيغه المعصم المكرر للطاقة القابلة للاحتراق...

Apparently the words were randomised- and some were purposefully smushed together to form gibberish. Leonardo was uncertain as to where to start. Yes, there were pieces of sentences that were still intact, but this particular Codex was going to take up a lot more time than the others did. And he needed sleep. Not to mention he had the inspiration for a new painting earlier that day. Although, being the procrastinator that he was, he probably would never start said painting. Leonardo closed up the scroll and decided to retire for the evening. The Codex could wait a little while longer.

The artist was soon in bed, the sheets curled around his body in their usual messy manner. In spite of how tired he was, Leonardo couldn't sleep. When he wasn't thinking about Firenze, he was thinking about Ezio. When he wasn't thinking about Ezio, he was thinking about the Codex. It was as though his brain refused to shut down for even a few minutes. Finally Leonardo just gave up, returning to the Codex translation issue.

The man wracked his brain for ideas, and while many of them were very clever, they simply didn't work and he kept ending up back at square one. What was so dangerous that you had hide it so well, Altaïr? Leonardo thought. "Assassino maledetto! What were you hiding...?"

Leonardo decided to start by translating the words, or at least the majority of them, into Italian. While this simple dictation was annoying, and dare I say it boring, it did help Leonardo clear his head and see exactly what he was dealing with. I should have done that in the first place.

The artist studied the words bit by bit, tapping his pen on the table since softly as he considered his next move. "Hmm... maybe... aha!" On a sudden wave of inspiration, he suddenly began scribbling down the words as they came to him, the pieces coming together quickly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place.

Leonardo had just finished and was about to read over his work when there was a loud, firm knock on his door. The artist glanced over at the nearby window and saw the rays of sunshine coming through, lighting up the area in a soft yellow glow. Was it really daytime already? Leonardo went to the door, the person outside knocking again, this time much more forcefully. The artist opened the door a bit and peeked through the gap to see his visitor- a young, dark haired woman in some very ragged clothing, resting on a set of crutches.

"Mi dispiace, Signorina, but I... um... I cannot... that is..." Leonardo had a hard time trying to send beggars away, and more often than not, he would give in to their pleas for money.

"Are you going to let me in or not, Signore da Vinci?" the woman demanded, her expression cross. "Antonio sent me. Said he wanted to come, but had business to attend to first. He will be here soon. I've been sent to fill you in on the details."

Leonardo opened the door wide enough for the woman to enter. "Mi dispiace, I thought you were a beggar. No offense."

The woman merely nodded, silently taking in the scene of the artist's shop. He hadn't even been living there for two days and it was already looking like a disaster. Books were strewn in every place imaginable, collected in piles on the floor and rug, scattered across the tables... There were paint splatters all over the floor, and the paintings themselves shoved carelessly in a corner beside the bookcase. In another corner sat some contraption that was so strange-looking the woman really didn't want to know what it did.

Leonardo shut the door and looked over at the woman, watching her as her eyes flicked over the room, taking in everything there was to see. After a moment, the artist cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him. "And what might your name be, Signorina...?"

"You may call me Rosa." Leonardo nodded in acknowledgement, all of a sudden feeling severely uncomfortable. Despite not having been living there for long, it felt a bit like Rosa was encroaching on his territory with her presence. Which was a ridiculous notion, seeing as he willingly let her enter. Rosa herself apparently felt no such qualms about being in the workshop, as she limped over to a nearby chair, and- after shoving off a random pile of books that happened to be there- sat down.

"I assume you want to know what's going on?" Rosa asked, setting her crutches in front of where she sat. She didn't wait for a response. "Elmiro, the man Ezio was sent to kill, is hiding like a coward within the walls of his stronghold. After Ezio freed some of our brothers, he and Antonio went to scout the stronghold to see if perhaps there is a way in."

"And why are you here?" Leonardo asked, crossing his arms.

"Ezio has told Antonio about some of your work with the hidden blade. Antonio expressed interest, and was hoping you could outfit some of us with similar weapons. I've been sent in his steed to bring you to the Guild so you can build these blades for us."

Leonardo did his best to keep his composure, but the shock of the request was overwhelming. "The hidden blade I reconstructed for Ezio... was for him to defend himself. I upgraded it for that same reason. I may be more than just an artist or a visionary, but part of a war I will not be."

"There's a problem with that statement, Signore da Vinci," Rosa told him. "You're already a part of it."

. . .

Don't worry, Ezio is going to appear in the next chapter. :)

On a side note, I completely forgot whatever encryption(s) Altaïr used for the Codex, so I'm making up my own encryption. And slight spoiler alert, but this particular Codex actually appears later in the actual game. I'm including this one early for reasons I'll let the story explain later. And yes, this story is probably going to be more AU than originally planned.

Also, I suffer from chronic laziness, so I was too lazy to translate the entire Codex into Arabic, due to the fact that I couldn't find anywhere where I could just copy and paste it into the online translator. I was forced to type sections of it into the translator instead. Bleh, too time consuming to type the whole thing. The last thing I needed was to start procrastinating over it and then never finish the chapter (ha ha, get it? No?).

Lastly, being new to the Assassin's Creed fandom, I'm trying to do some research, for stuff that I've forgotten, but not too much because I don't want to have anything spoiled for me. I've just begun Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (and that really crazy scene with Minerva at the end of Assassin's Creed II is still stuck in my brain). Eh... I should really shut up now, shouldn't I?

Anyway, constructive criticism is appreciated, flames are not.