It was a cold rainy late September night in Bingham England, 1943. A young boy of 16 leaned against the dirty brick wall to a cloth factory. The only sound in the air was distant planes flying by. Not many people were out this late but there was the occasional group of drunks stumbling home from a long night at the pub. The young man reached into the right pocket of his jacket and grabbed out a cigarette and put it in his lip. He groped the left pocket of his jacket for a lighter or match. He found nothing but fuzz and hay. "Damn!" He muttered and looked around for anyone who might have a lighter. He looked around the corner of the factory, A group of five teenagers standing near a garbage fire, warming their hands and laughing drunkenly. There was a tall boy of eighteen and wore a basic torn up leather jacket and jeans. There were two slightly smaller ones of 16. Both wearing identical coat jackets, twins. The one on the right wore black cloth pants and had a tattoo across his neck. The second twin wore a clean pair of jeans and had tucked one pant leg into his shoes. There was one that looked like a child but was about fifteen who wore a plain tan shirt and a light leather jacket over it. On his neck, he wore a black bandanna. He wore pants that seemed to be too small for him.

But one boy stood out from the others, and this one was eighteen. He was wearing a dark brown shirt with a long jacket over it. His jeans had stains from oil on them. He was a bigger boy, built like a blacksmith and seemed to be the leader of this gang. "Hey, you guys got a light?" He yelled at them. They all turned and smirked. "Looky here boys." the bigger boy said, pointing to the young man. "Jasons come for another beating." He said with a laugh. "I'm just looking for a light guys." Jason tried to explain but was cut off by the smallest boy. "We didn't ask you, maggot!" He stood in front of the leader as if to protect him. "We told you not to come back to our town. And yet here you are." the first twin said while picking his teeth with a knife. He looked back to his twin and nodded for him to stand up, he obeyed and stood alongside his brother. Jason took a step back. "I don't want any trouble jack," he told to the leader. "Well, then you shouldn't have come here." Jack looked back to his gang. "Get him boys!" he demanded. The small gang launched toward Jason. "Shit!" Jason yelled as he ran away from the gang. Jason was a smaller boy but he was an amazing runner and climber. He ran a quarter of a mile until he looked back and saw the gang somehow keeping up. He looked forward again and tried to find a way to lose them. The buildings. He looked at the familiar buildings on his right. None of the building had ledges to hold onto. So he ran until he found a turn in the road, he quickly turned into a dead end. He turned around and saw the twins were the only ones still there. They both flipped their small knifes open and thrust them at Jason threatening. Jason looked back at the dead end and saw fire escape stairway. He looked back at the twins, they had gotten closer and were close to stabbing him. Jaso turned and sprinted toward the stairs.

The twins were surprised he ran and hesitated. That's all Jason needed. He placed his foot onto the bottom edge of the fire escape and launched himself to the next ledge and started to climb the rest of the way. The twins then reached the stairs and started running up them but Jason had already reached the top and was now on the roof. 'That worked!' Jason said to himself. He ran to the edge of the building which was 4 stories high. He looked for a way to escape but he couldn't find a way down. He spotted a bale of hay that stood 8 feet away from the building. He could hear the twins reach the top and turned to face them. "Can't run now can you?" The right twin said with a smile. Jason looked back again. "I beg to differ." Jason said, turned and jumped off the building. As Jason fell he spread his arms out and crossed his legs. He couldn't help but feel as if he had done this before. The thud of Jason's body hitting the wooden hay bale was only drowned out by Jasons screams. The wood bottom of the hay bale had splintered and stabbed Jason in his left torso. "Here he is!" The taller one yelled to his friends. The rest of the gang had caught up and were running toward the hay bale. They all gripped the edge of the bale and tipped it until Jason fell out. The blood from his wound had soaked through his shirt and the surrounding hay stuck into the blood. The gang all took turns kicking and punching the defenseless young man. Jason just sat there taking the beating, sobbing at every hit until the gang got bored and gave him one last kick before walking away back to their town.

Jason lay there for a long time after the gang left, the pain was the only thing keeping him from getting up. After 30 minutes he built up the strength to move his hands from the ground to his wound. He reached around his wound and felt something sticking out of him, that's when he opened his eyes. Through the tears, he could see that he had gotten stabbed by a six-inch long piece of wood from the hay bale. He tried to tug at it but it was too deep and hurt too bad for him to pull it out so he just left it and attempted to get up. His legs were weak and his arms shaking. He tried to pry himself off of the ground but his arms collapsed and he fell to the ground once again. Grunting, he got himself up to his feet and leaned against a building to his left. "Could this day get any worse?" he muttered to himself. At that moment it started to rain on Jason. He looked up to the sky. "Really?!" he asked God, but this time God answered by a flash in the sky. A big boom shook the ground where he stood. "I gotta get home." he said to himself. He looked around at the surrounding buildings. The buildings looked familiar. "I'll never make it in this condition, I've gotta go somewhere else." He looked down the street opposite of where his house would be and set off on an agonizing walk down to his friend Freya's house who lived a few blocks away from where Jason stood.

The journey to Freya's was indeed agonizing but with every step, he could feel the pain letting up and he was able to walk faster. Once Jason reached his friends street he looked around for her house. Freya's house was 4 stories tall and colored a slight pink color, hard not to spot, with bedrooms on all levels. Freya's room was on the second floor and he didn't want to walk up to her front door covered in blood, her father already didn't like Jason but if he saw him then he would think he would actually send him to the loony bin. So Jason had to look around for a ladder to get up there. Freya's father was a judge so he was a rich man and bought a house in a neighborhood with the rich folk so it was hard to find a ladder but after a few minutes of searching, he finally found one in the backyard of one of her neighbors. Jason wounded and all heaved that ladder 100 feet to Freya's house and quietly leaned it against her side of the house the ladder fit perfectly with her window. The climb up the ladder was challenging due to the fact that Jason had something sticking out of him. When he finally reached the top he took a breath of relief and looked into her window. Freya was sitting at a small desk next to her bed drawing a picture of a girl sitting on a hill next to a tree. Jason knocked on her window softly. She didn't seem to hear it through all of the rain tapping on her window. He knocked on her window with his head to get a louder knock. As Jason knocked she jumped and looked back to see a face outside of her window. She got up and backed up to her wall in terror. "Freya! Are you there? It's Jason." he said loudly. She heard this and sighed in relief and walked to her window to unlock it. Once she unlocked it Jason opened it slowly and moved himself in. The rain from outside had gotten on Freya but it blended with her soft freckles. "What are you doing here?" She said and giggled. Jason lifted his shirt to show her his wound. "Oh shit!" she yelled. Jason put his hand over her mouth to quiet her. She pushed his hand away. "What the fuck happened to you?" She said in a whisper with the same amount of surprise. "Jack," Jason said. Freya had lowered him onto her bed so he can rest. "They attacked you with sticks?!" she asked. "I jumped off a building to get away from them and landed inside of a hay bale." He explained. "How are you still alive?" She started to panic. "Freya!" he said a little louder, trying to get her attention. She stopped her panic and looked at Jason. "Go and get some sewing supplies." He asked in a soft voice. "Wait. Wh…?" she cut herself off. "I'm not patching you up! We need to get you to a hospital." She explained. "I'm gonna bleed out by the time I even get into town. You gotta do this Freya." He grabbed her hand. "I believe in you," he said. She looked at her hand in his and looked back at him. "All right but you owe me one." She said jokingly and turned to get the supplies but stopped at the door and ran into her washroom to grab something.

She came back with a glass with water in it and in her hand laid 2 big pills. "Take these." She ordered him. "What are they?" he asked wearily. "They're painkillers, I don't want to hurt you too much." She said in a teasing matter. Jason took the pills and gave her the glass back. Freya turned, placed the glass on her bedside table and left, leaving Jason alone in her bedroom. The pain from the wound was excruciating but the only thing Jason could do was wait for the pain pills to kick in. He looked around Freya's small room, she kept it quite clean with a few pairs of clothes. Jason looked to his right, near the window and on the ground lie a pair of her undergarments. Freya walked in at that moment with sewing materials. Jason jumped "It's not what it looks like!" He said defensively. She blushed and ran to pick them up. She tossed them into her restroom and closed the door. "Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting company." she said, still embarrassed. "I-it's okay." Jason said embarrassed as well.

Jason looked into her hands and saw the thick needles and thread and his heart started to pound. "Do you have any smaller needles?" He said in a quivering voice. "What? Are you scared of a little needle?" She waved it in his face. "N-no." he folded his arms. "I just don't like huge needles like that." He said. She giggled. "Just lay back and relax, I'll try to be careful." she said in a calming voice. "Wait, What about the wood?" He said and lifted his shirt to show her the wound. "Oh yeah, okay how am I going to do this?" She said, looking at the wood. "That's not something you want to hear from someone pulling something out of your bloody side." he said. Freya hushed him so she could think. "Maybe if I just…" She said and grabbed the wood and tugged softly. Jason covered his mouth so he didn't scream. She cringed. "Sorry." she said apologetically. He nodded an acceptance, still covering his mouth. Freya grasped the wood once more and placed her other arm next to it and pulled. The wood came out in whole with only a few splinters. Jason screamed into a pillow. The pain of getting it out was worse than when he had received it. "Holy shit that hurt!" He exclaimed after a few breaths. Still on the verge of crying Jason relaxed his back and rested it on the pillow once more. Freya held a cloth to the wound to ensure that he didn't lose any more blood. It took a few pulls but when she removed it she looked into the hole.

It wasn't as big as it looked when the wood was still in it. "You've gotta stitch it up fast." He said grunting. "Right." She said softly. She looked over to where she put the needles and pick up a big curved needle. Jason's eyes widened. Freya threaded the needle and looked back at the wound. "Deep breath.." She said and stuck the needle next to the wound. The shock and pain from getting the wood out numbed the area so Jason didn't feel the needle enter his flesh. Once Freya had finished stitching Jason up she wiped the blood off of the wound and placed the bloodied needle and cloth on her nightstand next to the wood that was inside Jason. She then walked back to the bed and lied next to him and sighed. Jason lifted his arm and placed it behind her head slowly, resting his hand on her back. She scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his chest. "Thank you, Freya." He said softly. "Don't thank me, I just did what every friend would do." She smiled. Jason looked over to her and turned his body. He reached his other arm to her neck, leaned in and kissed Freya. "What was that for?" She asked, surprised. "It's whatever you want it to be." He told her and laid back. 'Whatever you want it to be? Oh, come on Jason! You could have thought of better.' Jason thought to himself. Freya blushed and rested her head on the pillow once more. Only a few minutes later both of the young adults were fast asleep.

Pain, nothing but pain. Jason woke up from his deep slumber. It was still dark but you could tell it was morning. Jason looked down at the stitches and sighed. He slid Freya's hand off of his chest and slipped out of the bed. The pain from getting up was crippling. He didn't want to wake Freya so he patched himself up with cloth and popped a few more painkillers in and grabbed his shirt off of her dresser. The blood on his shirt was starting to dry and it looked like he had murdered someone. "I've gotta get home before the sun comes up, hopefully, nobody sees me." He muttered to himself. Jason threw his shirt on and walked to the side of the bed that Freya laid on. He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. She didn't seem to have woken up so Jason walked to the window and opened it. He threw one leg to the ladder. "Don't leave. Please." Freya muttered sleepily. Jason walked back in and knelt next to her bed. "I've got to get home before anyone sees me leave. She turned over to look at him. "But you need to rest." She said, concerned. "I feel fine, I'll live. Thanks to you." He grabbed her hand. She held it close to her chest. He leaned in and kissed her once more. "I'll see you at school tomorrow okay?" He said to her. "Okay." She let go of his hand. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to her chin before getting up. Getting up this time was easier but still shot pain throughout his body. Jason walked to the window and climbed down the ladder.

The rain had stopped but the cool breeze wasn't going to make the long walk home any easier. As he reached the corner his wound had stopped hurting so he was able to run home. When he got to his street he had to try and make an excuse for being out that late, it was about 2:30 AM at this point and hopefully, his parents were asleep. Jason walked up to his house, slowly and quietly opened the door making sure that he didn't wake anyone up. He took a step inside and the floor creaked loudly, Jason cringed and took one more step in. 'If the floor is this loud how the hell am I supposed to get to my room?' He asked himself. His house was old so the floors creak when anything is put on it. Jason's family was heavy sleepers so he wasn't worried about the floor creaks waking them. He made his way through his house slowly, it was very dark in the house so Jason had to make sure that he didn't stumble over anything lying around the house. After a few minutes of sneaking around, he finally made it to the stairs, the stairs were a lot more creaky than the floor. 'Bloody hell! I didn't think about the stairs! They will make to much noise.' He thought to himself. He took a step up the stairs, the creaks sounded like gunshots in the silence. "Shit!" He whispered to himself. He tried to take another step but he heard something upstairs. A light flickered in the hallway upstairs. "Jason?" a woman's voice said in a quiet tone.

Jason's heart dropped, his mother was still awake, if she saw the wound she would freak. The light got closer to the stairs, he had to think of something. Jason jumped down the few steps he had climbed up and landed stealthily like a cat and rushed into the closet and quietly closed the door. His heart was racing but he kept his breath steady so his mother didn't hear it. "Jason, is that you?" Elizabeth said. She took a step down the stairs. Jason heard the creaking of the stairs and held his breath. Elizabeth made it down the stairs and walked near the closet but didn't open it. "I swear I heard something down here." She explained to herself. She shrugged and walked back upstairs. Jason could finally breathe again, his heart was pounding faster than before. 'I've got to quieter!' He scolded himself. After a few minutes of waiting for his mother to stop tossing in her bed he got out of the closet and quickly ran up the stairs, he made a lot of noise but luckily his mother didn't wake up. He walked by his parents' room, stopped and slowly closed their door so he could continue to walk toward his room. It was only a few more steps before Jason arrived at his room. Jason's room was small but had enough room to move, it had a simple grey bed and a small wooden table next to it and a full body mirror next to the desk. He was a slob and just left his clothes on his floor instead of cleaning them up. Jason took off his bloodstained shirt and threw it on his floor, He took off his jeans and tossed them next to the shirt. He walked over to his mirror and stared at his dark red bandages on his waist. The bandages needed to be changed so he opened his desk and grabbed a bit of bandage out of it and tossed them on his bed. He untied the wrap on his waist and slowly took it off. The wound didn't hurt bad but it looked really bad. He sighed and then wrapped the wound up. He walked to his bed, laid down and went to sleep.

* * *

A soft bang woke Jason up, it was still dark and only about 30 minutes had gone by since Jason had fallen asleep. He groaned in exhaustion, The bed creaked as Jason sat up. He could hear footsteps downstairs, his heart stopped for a second as he listened. The floor downstairs was creaking a lot. 'What the hell is going on down there?' He thought to himself. He slid off of the bed slowly making sure that he didn't mess up the bandages, his bare feet hit the cold floor and he got up trying not to make too much sound. He walked only a few steps from his bed and grabbed some shoes that lay next to his mirror. Jason sat back on the bed and slipped on the shoes. He got up once again and walked to the middle of the room. Jason was afraid that somebody had broken into his house so he looked around for a weapon of some sort. There was a wooden staff that he made with his father a few years before in the side of his room, he grabbed it and walked up to the door. The door creaked as Jason opened it, he walked out the door and walked silently down the hall, the door to his parents' room was opened unlike when he had closed it earlier that night. He looked into his parents' room and saw they weren't there. He was very nervous at this point. He walked to the stairs and saw a light down there, he tightened his grip on the staff and crouched down so that nobody saw him. The light started to fade so Jason knew it was okay to go down the stairs. The air coming from a door that was left open was cold and chilled Jason to the bone, the house was so quiet that all he could hear was his blood rushing in his ears. He heard some quiet weeping coming from downstairs, he cursed and ran down the stairs not worried about being heard.

Once he reached the bottom he saw his parents bodies on the floor, his father was tied up to a chair that had been kicked to the ground, his throat was slit and blood was covering his shirt and the floor, and his mother was on the floor tied by the hands and feet, she had a stab wound near her heart. His mother was still barely alive. The knife lay a few feet away from his father's body. Blood stained the shining steel blade and black handle, it looked as if the killer had blood on his hand. "Shit!" Jason exclaimed, tear streamed down his face. His knees collapsed and he fell to the ground, his heart felt as if it were punched a hundred times. 'They can't be dead, they just can't!' He thought to himself as he reached for his mother's body, her flesh was cold and her pulse was weak. Her eyes slowly opened when Jason touched her, she looked up at her son, tears in her eyes as well. She tried to mutter something but her body didn't let her, all that she could do was lift her arm and place her hand to his face. Jason nuzzled his face into his mother's hand, she wiped the tears away from his face and finally spoke. "I love you so much." She said with a weak voice. Then her arm started to fall, Jason grabbed her hand and held it close as she took her last breath. She was dead, her lifeless body lie next to his own. The only thing you can hear in the silence was weeping. Jason looked up from his mother's body with anger and rage building in his eyes. He shot up fast and started to run toward where the killers left but he stopped when he got to the door and looked back at the bloody scene, he ran back to the room and grabbed the knife that killed his parents from the ground and he sprinted out the room.

Jason burst out the front door and sprinted down the street toward where the killers went. He saw a lantern fading into the distance and he knew that was them. "YOU BASTARDS!!" Jason yelled at the top of his lungs but the killers didn't hear him. The light was getting closer but he was still very far from him. Jason had so much anger and adrenaline rushing through his veins that he didn't hear the white hooded people up top the roofs following him. The hooded people were faster than him but only by a bit so they got ahead of him and jumped into hay bales just in front of him. Luckily Jason saw them enter the hay bales so he stopped before he reached them. The mysterious hooded men and woman jumped out of the bales with surprising speed and agility. He clutched the knife tighter, thinking that they were the ones responsible for his parents' murder. "Who the FUCK are you?!" He half screamed at them, they said nothing. The hooded people just stood there in silence. Jason screamed and ran at them with the already bloody knife, Jason ran after a hooded person who was in the front of the big group who seemed to be the "leader" because of his apparel. He wore a white hood with a weird point on the front of it, the hood had a bunch of strange markings and designs on it. He wore a sword on his hip and a small dagger of about fourteen inches long on his back. On his waist he had a belt that held five throwing knives on each side, the belt buckle had a symbol on it that looked like an eagle head but without the detail. This symbol looked familiar but Jason didn't know where he saw it before but he was too angry to try and figure out where he had seen it before.

Jason reached the hooded man within only a few steps, he thrust the knife toward the man's abdomen but the man grabbed the hilt of the blade and twisted it out of his grip. This barely affected Jason as he turned and tripped the man with a turning kick to the back of his legs, the hooded man fell to the ground with a hard thump. Another hooded man attacked Jason from behind, he waited till the other man was about to hit him with his sword, Jason turned his body fast and grabbed the man's wrist and the hilt of his blade twisted it and disarmed the man. This was successful and now Jason was holding the man's only weapon. Jason lunged at another man and swung the sword near his head. The man dodged this and swiped a huge spear at Jason's stomach, he rolled under the spear and threw the man to the ground by his arm. When the man hit the ground a younger boy of the age of about 18 attacked him from his left side but he kicked the young man's leg backward which put him off balance. Jason punched the boy in the throat, the boy collapsed to the ground. The man that Jason had tripped got up and kicked Jason in the gut which popped his stitches and sent a shock of pain through his body but he didn't stop fighting. He swung the sword toward the man but the man dodged it mostly but the blade had sunk itself into the man's forearm. The hooded man screamed in pain. A woman who was wearing the same apparel as the rest and looked about his age jumped at him with a blade that was hidden under her left sleeve. 'What the hell?' Jason thought to himself. To avoid the attack by the woman he barrel rolled under her and grabbed her leg and pushed it to the side, with her now on the ground he grabbed her wrist that held the dagger and held the sword to her throat.

"STOP!" He yelled as he lifted the woman up and held her arm with the dagger behind her back and the sword to her neck. "Don't move!" Jason exclaimed in a threatening manner. The hooded men and woman stopped in their tracks. "Who are you and why did you murder my parents?" Jason asked with an angry and sad tone. A tear flowed down his face, he wiped it on his sleeve. All of the hooded people stood straight again, no longer in a fighting stance. The leader took a small step forward when he saw who was being held, hostage. "We meant no harm." This man said in a thick German accent. "Then why the hell did you kill my parents?" Jason asked, starting to get impatient. "We did not kill your parents." the man said, taking another small step forward. Jason tightened his grip on the sword and pulled the sword's blade more toward her neck, he pulled it so far that it bit into her skin, the dark red liquid ran down her neck onto her white coat. The man stopped again. "Why should I believe you?" Jason asked in the same angry yet sad voice. "You have no reason to trust me but I know who killed your parents." the man said. "What?" Jason said. "Just let her go and I'll tell you everything." The man said with an empathetic look in your eyes. Jason lowered the sword and threw the woman at the leader of the group with an annoyed tone. He caught her and checked her neck where the sword was. "Well? Are you going to tell me or what?" Jason said impatiently. "My name is Helmut Behymer, your parents and I were friends," Helmut said. "What?" Jason said as he dropped the sword. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you knew my parents. I thought you were the people who murdered them." He said with a quivering voice, he took a deep breath. "It's okay Jason, but we had to stop you from attacking the Templars, they are trained well and are skilled killers," Helmut said. A scuffle was heard in the alley next to where they were standing. He looked over his shoulder. "We're being followed," Helmut said in a quiet voice. He turned to Jason. "Can you climb?" he asked Jason. Jason nodded. Helmut turned back to the group of hooded people. "Follow me." He said and motioned to a building that stood to their right. Jason looked up at the top, it was a long way up but he trusted that he could climb it. He started to run but his wound hurt too much, he fell to his knees and lifted his shirt to check on it. The wound had opened back up and it was bleeding again. He sighed and put his shirt back down, took a breath, stood and ran to the building the other people were headed to. The pain was immense but he pushed through.

They all reached the building and started to climb at an amazing speed. Jason stopped at the base of the building thinking of how to climb it. One of the hooded women ran up next to him and took a step up the building and grabbed a small ledge and pulled herself up to climb some more. Jason took a few steps back and ran at the wall and stepped up it just like the woman but with less agility and speed. He looked up and saw another ledge that was about a foot away. 'I can make this.' Jason thought to himself. He raised his feet to rest on a small indent on the wall. He took a small breath of confidence and leaped to the next ledge. His fingers grasped the edge and held tightly. Jason looked up and saw that the people he was following were almost at the top. The next area his hand could go was closer so he climbed it with ease. The climbing was made hard because of the wound he had gotten earlier that night, about halfway up the wall he had to stop and rest his arms. He looked over all of the buildings near from where he was at, the sun had just started to come up above the horizon. The others had already made it to the top and they now looked down on him. He started to climb again, this time he tried to climb a little faster.

He was almost at the top but there was a large area that had nothing on it to hold onto. "Helmut, I can't get up, there's nothing to hold on to," Jason said as he started to freak out. Helmut looked over the ledge. "Just leap up the gap and grab onto the ledge by one of the gargoyles." He said. Jason looked down at the ground. If he fell he would die for sure. 'You've got this Jason! For mum.' He thought to himself. He looked up and pulled himself up and pushed his legs. The ledge wasn't as far as he thought, only one of his hands could reach the ledge though. He was hanging by one hand over a huge drop of about twelve stories. He quickly pulled his other hand up and held to the ledge. The ledge was a thick stone so it was easy to pull up onto. Jason had finally reached the top of the building, only about 5 hooded people stood on the roof at this point. "Where are the rest?" Jason asked Helmut. He pointed to the side of the building. Jason looked over the edge and saw the hooded people coming out of a haystack that was at the base of the building. He stared at them thinking back to when the bullies chased him and he jumped into the hay. "That's called the leap of faith. We Assassins do this to prove to our enemies that we are not afraid of death and it makes a great escape." Helmut said. "You guys are Assassins? As in you kill for a living? Like a bounty hunter?" Jason asked, starting to get nervous. "Well yes and no, we kill yes but we only kill people whom we know to be corrupting humanity. Also, we do not kill for fortune or glory, we are here to protect the…" Helmut cut himself off when he heard something come from below the edge of the roof.

He looked over the edge and saw a dark figure climbing slowly up the building, the figure looked as if it were a woman but Helmut and Jason couldn't tell, it looked as if they had a gun underneath the cloak they wore. Jason couldn't tell what kind of gun which was very nerve-racking because if it were an automatic rifle then if they reach the top then they could kill Jason and Helmut and the others. Helmut nodded to the others. "Spring runter und zeige, wie man den Glaubenssprung macht," Helmut muttered to the other assassins. They all nodded and one after another they leaped off of the edge of the building. "What did you tell them?" Jason asked, half expecting an answer. "I told them to show you how to do the leap of faith." Helmut looked back at the assassins and so did Jason. "You ready?" Helmut asked Jason. "Not even slightly," Jason muttered. Helmut laughed and leaped off of the tall building. The shuffling from the side of the building got louder indicating that whoever was there was getting closer to the top. Jason looked over the edge to see where the person was at. The hood of the cloak fell off and now Jason could see who it was. The person who was following them was a woman of the age of twenty-five, she was carrying a German STG 44 assault rifle. 'Oh shit!' Jason thought to himself. He walked to the edge of the building that the other assassins leaped off. He had never been afraid of heights but this was scary for him. He took a deep breath. 'This is suicide!' He thought. The hay looked big enough to stop his fall, he shook his head and took a few steps back and ran to the edge.

As soon as Jasons' feet left the stone of the roof panic started to set in but he tried to stay calm. Jason set his body in the same position that he did when he first did this crazy stunt. The hay bale was getting closer and closer as he fell. He flipped his body so he landed on his back. Jason had finally fallen into the hay, it wasn't as bad as before, it felt as if he fell into a soft bed. A hand reached inside of the hay, Jason grabbed the hand and was pulled out of the hay. His heart was racing because of the fall. "You did well… For a beginner." Helmut laughed. Jason laughed as well, something he didn't think he would do on this tragic night. "The stalker is a woman, she looked like she was about twenty-five years old and she was carrying a German STG 44 rifle," Jason told Helmut. "What color is her hair?" Helmut asked. "Light brown and was made up in two braids on the side of her head that leads to a bun," Jason told him. "That must be Ella Frye, the great-granddaughter of Jacob Frye," Helmut said to Jason with excitement. "Who is Jacob Frye?" Jason asked inquisitively. "He was a Master Assassin along with his twin sister Evie Frye back in the Victorian era. They were members of Queen Victoria's Order of Sacred Garter also. Jacob also formed the gang called the Rooks, who are still around to this day.

"They were the first Assassins to use the grappling blade," Helmut said. "Whats a grappling blade?" Jason asked with a confused look. Helmut looked up at the roof of a neighboring building and raised his left arm which had a metal and leather vambrace around it. It had a weird contraption on the forearm. A quiet puff of air came from his wrist as a small roped hook launched across the sky toward the roof of the building they stood beside. Helmut pressed a small red button on the bottom of the vambrace and he launched up the building. "Holy shit! That was awesome!" Jason yelled. He dropped from the small building. "Would you like to try?" Helmut asked Jason, Jason nodded excitedly. Helmut walked over to Jason while taking off the vambrace. He handed it to Jason, Jason put it on his forearm and fastened it so it didn't fall off when he launched it. Jason examined the piece of technology, the hook on the end of the rope looked like the same symbol as Helmut had on his belt. "What does this symbol mean? I know I've seen it before but I don't know where," he asked as he pointed at it. "That's the insignia for the assassin brotherhood. Remember when I said I knew your parents?" Helmut asked, Jason nodded. "They were in the brotherhood before you were born, they retired that life when you came into this world sixteen years ago," Helmut said. Jason could hear the sadness in his voice. "Why didn't they tell me they were Assassins?" He asked. "Probably to keep you safe, the Templars are very dangerous and very skilled fighters. Your parents were very good fighters despite being retired so this proves that the Templars are skilled." Helmut put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "I know this is a lot to process. How about you have a little fun with the grappling blade." He said to Jason.

Helmut took his hand off of Jason and reached toward the wrist blade and put a ring that had a string around it onto Jason's ring finger. "What's this for?" Jason asked. "Just flick your wrist," Helmut said. Jason obeyed and flicked his wrist. A long silver blade ten inches long came out of the contraption next to the grappling hook. When Jason flicked his wrist he didn't move his fingers out of the way so the blade sliced into the side of his ring finger. "Ow!" Jason was now bleeding from his finger. "That was bloody brilliant!" Jason exclaimed. "Now flick it again." Helmut moves his own wrist to demonstrate. Jason flicked his wrist again, the blade shot back onto the contraption. Jason opened it a few more times, mesmerized by the mechanism. "We like to call that the 'Hidden Blade." It was invented by Aya Of Alexandria in ancient Egypt when the first Assassins brotherhood named The Hidden Ones was made.

But enough history, try out the grappling blade." Helmut said. Jason looked up at the building that Helmut climbed up with the grappling blade. He pointed his wrist up, trying to aim it. Jason pressed the button on the bottom. The Hook flew up the building almost to fast to see, but the Hook hit the building instead of going over it. Jason looked over at Helmut, he was motioning to his wrist. Jason looked at the Hidden Blade and pressed the red button. The rope started to retract into the contraption, the hook finally got to the Blade. Jason took aim once again, this time a little higher and pressed the button. This time when Jason shot it off it went over the building and hooked onto something. Jason pulled on the rope to make sure it was sturdy, then he pressed the red button. His heart dropped as the grappling blade shot him toward the top of the building, he didn't think it would feel this fast. The roof came quickly and Jason lifted his legs to land on the edge of the roof, he was successful but his wound hurt a lot after that so he crouched on the edge for a second with his hand on his abdomen.

"You okay Jason?" Helmut yelled up. Jason looked down. "Yeah, just winded." Jason lied, he didn't want to seem weak and disappoint them. He leaned back and repelled the building slowly while holding his wound. When Jason reached the ground he collapsed, he had lost to much blood that day. A woman Assassin ran over to him before anyone else noticed him fall. She took off her hood and mask and examined him to see what was wrong. This Assassin was the one Jason held hostage when they fought. She lifted his shirt and saw the wound he had received earlier that night. "Helmut, you might want to come over here." She said in a worried voice. It was weird that she cared that he was hurt because of what happened when they fought. Helmut ran over to Jason side. Jason was barely conscious at this point. "Stay with me Jason," Helmut said, he looked back and saw that Ella Frye had finally leaped into the hay bale at the bottom of the building. "The Ger…" Ella started but got cut off by seeing Jason on the ground. She ran over. "What happened?" She asked. Helmut lifted his shirt to show the wound. "We need to get him back to headquarters." She said. That's when Jason's world went black.

* * *

Jason woke up in a dark room only being lit by a few candles. He looked to his right but he couldn't see anything due to his vision still being fuzzy. He sat up from the straw bed he was laying on. Jason's movement made noise and alerted the nurse that he was awake. The nurse ran over to Jason's bed. "Don't get up quite yet." The nurse said in a comforting voice while helping him lie down once again. Her voice sounded familiar. It was the woman Assassin that he held the sword to during the fight. Jason's vision was starting to get better, he looked up at her from the bed. "I never caught your name." He told her, still trying to see clearly. "I'm Margaret." She said. Her voice was soft and kind. "Nice to meet you... Again" He said. She nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry for that by the way." He said as he reached up to her neck where she had the cut he gave her. She quickly covered it up with her scarf. "Don't worry about it, you were scared. I'd do the same thing in your position" She said, she walked over to her work table. The table was covered in a bunch of vials and bottles filled with different medicines. "You would probably have killed them if you were in my position." He said in disappointment.

"What do you mean? You fought amazingly. I don't think I could have done better. Where did you learn to fight like that?" She said. "My father would teach me how to fight after being beaten up by bullies. I always wondered how he learned to fight that way, I just assumed he used to be a street fighter. I would have never guessed that he was an assassin." Jason said. "Your father was a hero you know." She said and turned to him. "Really? What did he do?" He asked inquisitively. "He saved my father many times in battle." She turned back to her table of medicines. "Is your father still an assassin?" He asked. "He's the mentor of the brotherhood." She said. "You're Helmuts daughter?" He asked surprised. "He's not my real father, my real father died when I was eight along with my mother. He brought me into the brotherhood a year later and has raised me as his own." She explained. "He raised you well," Jason said. "What do you mean?" She asked "You aren't mad or angry at me for what happened when we fought. I mean I literally dropped you on your ass and held a sword to your throat." He explained, confused. "I'm not one to hold grudges. I think that people do stupid things when they're scared." She explained and grabbed a vial off of the table and walked over to Jason. "I choose to see the good in people, not judge them for the mistakes they make. Drink this." She handed him the vial of what looked like grey sludge. Jason did as he was told and drank it in one swig, the medicine tasted like charcoal. "Why's that?" Jason asked. She took the vial from Jason and walked back over to the table. "I think that people try to hide the good part of them and never let anyone see that side and I like to find that good part of them." She said as she worked.

Jason sat up once more. "Isn't it hard to see the good in people when they do something terrible?" Jason asked. "Like what?" She asked. "Murder," Jason said in a serious voice. Margaret turned around and looked at Jason with an amused tone. "I'm an Assassin, I literally kill for a profession." She told him, and laughed "True." Jason laughed. "So when did you join the Assassin order?" He asked her, trying to change the subject. "Brotherhood. And I was recruited when I was about nine but I officially joined when I was fourteen." She told Jason. "And how old are you now?" He asked her inquisitively. "I turned sixteen just last month actually." She told him. "You seem a bit to mature and serious to be sixteen." He said it in a joking tone. She smiled. "I've been training the past seven years to become the Assassin I am today, I won't let humor or emotion to get in the way of my progress." She said. Jason stood up and walked over to her. "Oh come on, humor is fundamental to this society." Jason joked. "Good thing the assassins don't follow the society." She said and took a step toward Jason. She was now standing about half a foot away from Jason now. Then the door swung open, Jason and the woman took a step away from each other. Helmut walked through the door. "So I see that you guys have gotten close." Helmut laughed. "Hazel, report down to the meeting room as soon as possible. I'll leave you two alone for now." Helmut said and winked at Jason. Hazel looked back at Jason.

"I should probably report to the meeting." She said. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Jason said, looking disappointed. She started to walk to the door but turned around and looked at Jason. "I'll be back." She said and smiled. Then she turned and left. Jason stood there looking out the empty doorway for a few seconds before walking out the door to explore the establishment he was in. The hallway he walked into was musty and old, the wood on the walls looked like it came from the early 1800's. The rug he stood on looked a bit newer but not by much, maybe the late 1800's. He looked down the hall to his left and saw sunlight stream from the open door at the end of the hall. He looked down the other way and saw nothing but moldy doors and walls for a long while before it comes to a stop with a turn. Jason decided he was going to go down the hall with the door at the end. He walked through the old halls down to the newer looking door at the end. He looked outside and saw some assassins training with weapons on dummies and on other assassins. One of the teachers looked up at the door that Jason was standing at and started walking toward him.

"Hello, my name is Rocco Auditore." The man said in an Italian accent when he reached Jason. "I'm Jason." Jason reached his hand out to shake his hand, the man shook Jason's hand. "Helmut informed me that you are quite the strong fighter." Rocco said. "I'm not that good, I was just doing what I had to do." Jason told Rocco. "Strong and humble. I admire that. Anyways, walk with me." He said. Jason walked beside Rocco. "So did Helmut tell you what we are?" Rocco asked. "You are a brotherhood of assassins that keep the world on order by killing people who corrupt it." Jason explained to Rocco. "Well, yes and no. We are highly trained killers who protect pieces of technology that could destroy the whole world in the wrong hands. We only kill people who would use the apple's to rule the world and in turn destroy it." Rocco said. "What apple's?" Jason asked. "The apple's of Eden, they are pieces of ancient technology that has been passed down for generations and at one point the templars found out about the apple's and have been trying to take it from us ever since. Our sole purpose in life is to protect the apple's from getting into the hands of the Templars even till death." Rocco explained. "What do the apple's do? Why is it so important?" Jason asked. "They are the true free will of man. Anyone who holds it can control the will of men. The one we held at this establishment seven years ago we called the fourth. It was the same apple that helped Nikola Tesla with his discovery of electricity in the late 1800's." Rocco said.

Jason looked toward the Assassin's who were still training and leaned against the small fence next to where they stood and watched the Assassins train. "Would you like to join them?" Rocco asked and motioned to Jason to follow him. Jason nodded and followed. They walked back to the entrance of the training court and walked into the grass of the court. All of the Assassins stopped what they were doing, turned and bowed toward Rocco. "As you were." He said. "Where do I start?" Jason asked. "Well from what I've already heard about you, you won't need very much hand on hand combat training but you seemed to be very interested in the hidden blade." He motioned to his wrist and popped his own blade out and retracted it. "Where do I get my own?" Jason asked in an interested voice. "The blacksmith will fix one up for you, go talk to him and return to me when you finish." He told Jason and pointed toward a small shack with a well-built man standing outside of it. Jason nodded. "Thank you, sir." He thanked Rocco for the directions and ran toward the blacksmith.

The man standing outside of the shack was very large. He was six feet tall, was very muscular and had a dark brown beard. He wasn't wearing a shirt but was wearing a blacksmiths apron and brown cloth pants. "Excuse me, sir," Jason said in a shy voice. The blacksmith looked up from the blade he was hammering. "What d'you want?" The giant asked in a deep booming voice. "I was told that I can acquire a Hidden blade here?" Jason said. The man scratched his beard. "Follow me." The man turned and walked off. Jason followed cautiously. The large man walked into the building and down the halls, only a few inches from the ceiling. They walked by the door Jason came from and down to the hall at the end of the hall Jason was in. The giant and Jason walked passed an open door when Jason looked in he saw Margaret from the corner of his eyes. She looked at Jason and smiled. Jason looked back at the giant and raised his hand to show how tall the man was. Margaret chuckled and covered her mouth to stop from laughing. Jason smiled and continued along the hallway with the giant until they reached a set of stairs that seemed to be made of stone and lead down to a chamber below the establishment. The air grew cooler the farther they went down. Once they reached the bottom Jason stared at the chamber in amazement.

The chamber was so large that he could not see the other side. Books lined the walls in shelves as long as the eye can see and tables with weapons, armor, and clothes laying on them for hundreds of feet. "Go to town kid, pick whatever you'd like." He said and walked away. Jason stood there awed from the weapons and clothes. "Beautiful isn't it?" A voice from behind him asked. Jason jumped and turned. He saw Margaret sitting on the steps a few feet behind him looking at the open room in front of them. "When did you get there?" Jason asked and sat next to her. "Only a few seconds ago. I thought I could help you pick your equipment." She told him. "Then what are we waiting for?" Jason jumped up and reached his hand out to help her up. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. They rushed down the second set of stairs and ran to the clothing table to pick an outfit. "How about this one?" Margaret said and held a dark brown trench coat with a white pointed hood attached to it up to Jason to size it. Jason looked at the coat and cringed. "Are you trying to make me look like my grandfather?" Jason asked jokingly. Margaret laughed and placed the outfit back on the table. Jason looked back at the table and picked up a leather jacket which also had a white pointed hood attached to it but what caught Jason's eyes was the armor underneath. Under the jacket was a light metal chestplate that held four throwing knives on each side. The belt had two large pouches in the back and a sash to hold a small assault rifle to his back. Along with the sash the belt held a loop that was directly on his waist. "What is this loop for?" Jason asked. "That's to hold these." Margaret reached toward her waist and pulled out a small sword, about as long as her full arm.

"Why do I need a sword? I didn't think people nowadays use those." He said, confused. "They don't, the Assassins only use them if we are in close combat." She explained. "That's why I have these babies." Jason lifted his hands and put them in fists. Margaret chucked. "You should still grab a sword though, they are quite handy" She walked over to a table and grabbed a sword perfectly identical to hers. "Here, try this out." She tossed the sword to Jason. The sword barely missed his had and clanged to the ground. "The bloody hell is wrong with you?" Jason asked and backed away. "I thought I would test your reflexes." She said and smiled. "By taking off my bloody hand?" Jason picked up the sword and pointed it at her. "That wasn't quite the goal but it would have nonetheless been quite funny." She pointed her sword back at him. "Now, let's test your swordsmanship." She swung her sword at the hilt of his blade. Jason backed up and hit her sword to block it from hitting his hand. "Don't you think I beat you enough last time?" Jason asked, teasing. "I wouldn't say you beat me. I merely...let you win." She sliced at his neck but missed. "You let me win? I beat you fair and square." Jason said and swung at her sword. She took the blow to the hilt of her sword and sent fragments of leather flying at her face. She backed up and knelt, reaching into her boot. Jason stared at her, trying to figure out what she was planning. Margaret removed her hands from her boots and pulled out two three inch throwing knives and sent one flying at Jason. Jason dodged the first one but only barely, the blade cut into the right sleeve of his shirt. Margaret sprinted to an empty table to her right, she placed her right foot on the wall next to them and flipped onto the table and threw her last throwing knife. This time Jason was ready for it so he swung his sword and hit the blade out of the air. "You aimed for my head!" Jason exclaimed and jumped onto the table. "Oh quit being a baby." She said teasingly. "I knew you'd know what to do." She said and smiled. Jason swung his sword and hit the hilt of her sword and twisted it until it got stuck inside of the hand guard. He the sent her sword flying into the air. Margaret watched as her sword clanged to the ground. "Well done Jason." A voice boomed and echoed through the weaponry. Jason turned and saw ten Assassins standing at the stair that led to the old house. Helmut walked down the stairs and ordered the other Assassins to remain where they were. Jason and Margaret side flipped to the ground and knelt in front of their mentor. He motioned them to rise. "You should stick to fighting in the courtyard, not my armory." Helmut said jokingly. "Margaret, meet me in the planning room. We have something to discuss." He said and motioned her to leave. "Jason, your skills surprise me, you were able to defeat my own daughter in a sword fight twice. Not many people are able to beat her even once." He said and motioned for jason to follow him. Jason obeyed and walked beside him. "Have you picked your equipment yet?" He asked Jason. "I picked an outfit and a sword sir." Jason explained. "Well are you going to put them on or practice in your nude?" Helmut asked. "Oh, sorry sir." He said and started to put on the outfit.

Once Jason put on the outfit and flipped his hood on he felt like he was ready to take on the world. Jason sheathed his sword and put throwing knives in their small sheaths on his waist Jason leaned down and put two throwing knives into each of his boots. "What in heaven's name are you doing?" Helmut asked, confused. "Margaret pulled out throwing knives out of her boots while we were fighting and they seemed to me affective so I thought I would try it out." Jason explained. "No no, I mean why aren't you putting them in a leg sheath?" Helmut laughed. Jason's face go hot as the sun in embarrassment. Helmut leaned over and handed Jason leg sheaths. "Thanks." Jason muttered, still embarrassed. Jason fastened the sheaths to his ankles and stood up. "Better?" Helmut asked. "Much." Jason said and walked to Helmuts side once more. Helmut and Jason walked for a long time without talking, still going deeper into the armory. "Where are we headed?" Jason asked, inquisitively. Helmut turned and stopped in front of a table full of small dagger looking mechanisms. "You remember this?" Helmut handed Jason a gauntlet holding his grapple blade. "Yeah. This thing is bloody cool." Jason said. "I mean this." Helmut flipped the blade out using the string attached to it. "Yeah that thing is pretty cool too." Jason said with less enthusiasm. Helmut motioned to the table. "Choose one you really like." Jason stared at the table in awe. "I-I get to choose my own?" Jason asked, surprised. "Of course, consider it a welcome to our brotherhood." Helmut said and took the gauntlet and placed it back on the table. "Just remember to choose something you will be able to use in the battlefield." He said and started towards the stairs back to the old house.

Jason said nothing, just stared at the blades and recalled a time when his father has used a weapon like this when he was younger and a man had tried to break into their house. He heard a door in the distance and knew he was finally alone. He wept, he let out all his emotions he had closed off since his parents were killed. Jason felt his parents place their hands on his shoulder in comfort. He placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to touch his mothers hand but only to feel the cold leather of his new jacket. After a minute of grieving he sniffled and wiped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his shirt. He closed his eyes and breathed a few times before looking back at the table full of blades. He spotted a blade on the far left of the table. He picked the small blade up and placed it inside of a gauntlet, then slipped the gauntlet onto his forearm. This blade was harder to pull open but the spring from it opening launched his arm back a little bit. The blade itself was the size of his entire hand. Two blades stuck out of the main blade, making it look like a trident. Jason shrugged and placed the blade back on the table. Jason looked around the table for a while and finally chose a blade he liked the most. It had a ten inch blade that had two layers, The base layer of the blade was slightly bigger than the tip so that the top blade can fit comfortably within the base blade without scraping the metal together. The container that the blades mechanism was made of steel and had the emblem of the Assassins on the middle. The ring that held the string was a silver ring in the shape of a snake swallowing its own tail. Jason also noticed that the blade can be detached from his wrist and can be held and used as a dagger. He then heard a scraping noise coming from in front of him. He jumped back and flicked the blade open for the first time defensively. "Anyone there?" He asked in a trembling voice, looking at his surroundings. A beam of light shone through a crack in the wall directly behind the table he stood at, "What the hell?" He murmured and moved the table to the side. He pushed at the wall and the hidden door moved almost silently. The bricks that lined the walls were big and heavy but the hidden passage door was light and as if it were meant to be a quiet exit. Jason took a step inside and horror filled his eyes, "The bloody hell is that?" He said, terror filling his voice.