Chapter One

Light, flutey music wafts through the air. The horizon is painted shades of red and yellow while the sun sinks over the rolling hills beyond Venice rooftops. A lone figure, crouched atop a roof garden, watches the enourmous star as it begins to fade into darkness.

If he squinted hard enough, he could almost make out the strange, blue-white fragments dancing through the air. A warning. If he were too get close enough to them...well...he wouldn't be there for long. It was the Animus's way of telling him the area wasn't 'important' so he shouldn't waste his time going there...

The man stands up and glances over his shoulder. A dark heap, stained red, lays on the roof behind him. "Requiescat en pace." The Italian mutters under his breath, just before nudging the dead guard over the edge onto a bustling city street.

Instantly, there is a high pitched scream when the dead man is discovered. Moments later, a chorus of men's voices override a group of terrified peasants'. "Who has done this?!" They demand, furiously. "Where is he?!"

And he was off. Ezio Auditore de Firenze could run like the wind. His feet easily finding places to land on the slippery terra cotta tiles. The Assassin's red and white cloak billows out behind him, his dark eyes scanning the rooftops for interferance.

"Assassino!" Someone barks behind him. And immediately, there is the sound of pursuit. Tiles are pulled free as Templars and guards scramble after him. They try to mimic his grace and ease on the run but to no avail. Constantly stumbling and even tripping, they are no match for his speed.

Ezio shakes his head, almost wearily when he suddenly changes course, leaping across a wide gap to the roof of another building. He lands heavily but that does not damage his lead in front of the guards. If anything, it dumbfounds them and buys him time while they try to jump it as well. Their heavy armor and weapons must be a deterrent to them, making such a ruckus. All that clinking and smashing must give them a headache. Ezio muses as he jumps another alley. This time, he lands on a lamp post and drops to the ground. Deciding now was the time to dissapear...

After a series of sharp twists and turns, Ezio spots a rather crowded area in a small garden behind a fenced off area. A white, marble bench is occupied by two other men, wearing similar clothing. Without wasting any time, the Assassin slows his steps, and strides, casually into the closed off space. Plopping down on the bench, he bows his head, letting his white hood do its job.

Surely enough, "Where has he gone?!"

"He is here somewhere!"

"Check the hay!"

"He is gone!"

The peasants surrounding him look disturbed by the guards acting in such a frenzy. But the young Assassin betrays no emotion on his face while he waits for the Templars to give up their search...they haven't even bothered to look in the enclosed garden. Imbeciles... Ezio comments, cracking a small grin.

But suddenly...

His vision starts to go white. The air fragments into tiny, white and silver shards. Noise fades to nothing but a muffled hum in his ears as the mission shuts down. The Animus menu appears before his eyes and suddenly, he is no longer Ezio...he thinks...

"Welcome back, Desmond." Rebecca says as the last of the motion sickness wears off. "Don't get up too fast." She warns him.

"Mm..." Desmond pushes himself up to a sitting position, leaning his throbbing head in his hands for a moment. Just long enough to clear his blurry vision.

"Are you feeling alright, Desmond?"

The Assassin looks up to find a blonde woman standing over him. Lucy frowns in concern when he doesn't say anything at first. "Yeah...just peachy..." He grumbles before standing up completely. A sudden cramp in his back reminds him he must have been in there for quite a while.

"Take it easy." Lucy urges, reaching out as if to steady him. "You've been under for almost six hours..." She tells him, a look of guilt on her face. "We were hoping to let you complete your mission before you took a break."

"It's alright." Desmond shrugs, rotating his shoulder to stretch out the stiff muscles. "We need to find out as much as we can about the Apple's location."

"You're darn right!" Shaun says from across the room. The British Assassin's eyes were locked on a computer screen, watching a flow of data from some history site as it passes, relentlessly, down the page. "We're getting close, I can feel it!"

"Oh? Like you could 'feel it' when we were going the completely opposite direction on the highway?" Rebecca challenges, a hint of a laugh in her alto voice. "Because of your 'sense', it took us twice as long to get to McDonalds!"

Desmond chuckles as his comrades continue to bicker, childishly on the other side of the room. "What time is it?" He asks Lucy, who had taken her usual seat by a computer of her own.

The blonde glances at her watch. "Almost ten o'clock." She tells him.

Desmond folds his arms, growling in frusteration.

"What?"

"I've been in the Animus for six hours." He reminds her. "I'm a little disoriented. Ten a.m. or p.m.?"

Lucy smiles, apologetically. "P.m."

He nods and starts walking toward the exit of their hideout, below the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni. "I'll be back in ten minutes." He calls to anyone who might be listening, before slipping out of the large gap in the rock wall and jogging up the cracked path that leads outside.

Artificial bluish light filters through the 'energy efficient' bulbs that are screwed into each and every light in the estate. The harmonic sound of crickets echos through the Villa, accompanying the smacking of Desmond's shoes on the pavement as he sprints through the night.

The dark haired man sucks in a lungful of fresh air, something that he sorely missed hiding out in the dank, musty cave below his ancestors' home. Six hours, huh? He rotates his shoulders again, slowing his steps when he becomes slightly winded. If I keep this up, I'm gonna get lazy... He muses. Six hours of sitting versus ten minutes of exersize...the odds didn't look too favorable for Desmond. In more than just one way...He comments, dryly. True, at this point, it looked rather hopeless that the small group of hideaway Assassins would be able to find the Apple of Eden's location before Abstergo. But that didn't mean they were going to stop trying.

If it were up to Desmond, he would still be in the Animus, reliving Ezio's life in order to find where the aritifact was hidden. But he knew, and Lucy kept reminding him, that if he spends too much time within the machine...he'll end up just like Subject 16. And just the thought of that was enough to send a shiver up Desmond's spine.

-xXx-

"Ezio!" Claudia calls from one of the upper balconies. An early evening light glistened off her golden-brown hair, illuminating her youthful face. "Uncle says it's time for supper!" His younger sister motions for him to come as she dissapears back through the sliding, glass doors.

"I am coming." He replies, lazily. Yawning as he begins to jog toward his new home, where the thick aroma of a meal hung in the air.

-xXx-

"Woaah..." Desmond doubles over, holding his head in his hands again. Where did that come from? He hadn't experienced the Bleeding Effect for while now...it was almost easy to forget how much it completely sucked.

To him, it felt like all the strength had been sucked out of him. His knees buckle and he finds himself sliding to the ground, his back presses against the wall of someone's home. The Villa swims through his vision. The light fades and, eventually, darkness consumes him.