Vicissitude~ Chapter 2: Reunited

I arrived in Athens today, not in the conventional manner mind you. I paid a farmer with some of my clothing, to smuggle me under his load of lettuce. Comfortable, no. Effective, I would say so. Tasty, an added bonus. At this point, I would have to do anything that might buy even a minutes relief from the ever watchful eyes of the Athens brotherhood. I arrived in the marketing district and was unloaded behind the some barrels of wine. It was crowded so blending with the crowd should cover my escape from the marketing district. Gioella's shop was but a few blocks from the edge of the marketing district. It should have been easy, but my opponents were assassins, we bastards never make anything easy.

I merged with the crowd, wary of every person who so much as glanced my way. I've been to many cities, seen many different assassin guilds but the brotherhood of Athens rivals even that of Rome. They are efficient, deadly, and most importantly, since the Templar presence is strong in Athens, always on guard. I kept an eye on the roofs, assassins seem to be unhealthily fond of dwelling on the roofs. 

I passed many shops, many people, many memories walking down those streets. The alley where I made my first kill, the vendor whom I used to visit to buy metals, the flower shop where I met my wife. I had been happy to leave this city, to leave memories to fester and decompose, like the corpses i'd created, within the streets of Athens. I hoped that I may never come back, that Rome would wash away the nightmares I had been having for all those months after her assassination. But they didn't stop, because memories inhabit the mind, not the physical realm. Things may remind you of the past but it all comes down to your mind, whether or not you choose to forget those moments. Whether those moments are too precious for you to forget or too haunting for you to relive. I chose to forget, but with all these odes to the past, surrounding me it became harder and harder to keep those memories at bay. They were a catalyst in breaking down my barriers. Making sure I could not forget, that the memories of those events would challenge my sanity for as long as I lived. I wanted this city to be razed and forgotten.

I exited into the less congested residential portion of town, keeping a low profile now would become harder. There were less people to use as cover, fewer alleys to duck into, more rooftops to be spotted from. I managed to reach the block on which Gioella lived but I stopped and turned around immediately, ducking behind a column. I had spotted a man on the roof overlooking her shop. 

Gioella lived in a smithing shop, the same one as my late mentor Tyreseus. She was a talented mathmetician and inventor. The front door was flanked by two small columns, A wreath was hung on her door.

I decided to stake out the shop, see who didn't belong near Gioella's and who was simply a civilian. I stayed in the area for an hour, watching for assassins. After an hour I decided it was time to stop waiting and start acting. 

So far I had counted four assassins. One sitting on a nearby bench, another two posted on Gioella's roof and the last casually patrolling the dirt street in front of her house. I decided to pick off the ones on the roof first. It would be much easier to operate freely if they had no eyes in the sky. I walked around to the back alley of Gioella's three story building and began climbing in my normal, slow pace. I'd seen assassins the likes of Solomon Zypher scale walls of this height, and greater, in a mere fifteen seconds. Me however, with my hand in the clutches of necrosis, must take my time, tediously grasping at each stone ledge. Assuring my fingers are clutched firmly on the stone.

 Eventually I reached a ledge just below the roof. The roof was flat, no cover, if I was going to take these assassins out it would need to be done quickly and efficiently. Thinking for a moment I decide on a plan, I pulled a bomb from my rucksack, it's clay shell should break easily causing a distraction. I emptied the gun powder from the device to assure I didn't blow all three of us to kingdom come. I tossed the clay bomb over the edge on to the roof and heard the sharp shatter of pottery.

One assassin, with a deep French accent asked his comrade about the noise. His companion, a woman, from what I could tell, responded stating she would investigate. I hung on the ledge directly below the roof, waiting for her to venture close enough for me to strike. When the footsteps were close enough I struck. Pulling my upper body out of the cover of the ledge supporting myself with one hand and striking the girls throat with my other, paralyzing her vocal cords, I then grabbed her robe, pulling her over the edge. I saw the fear in her eyes, the thought that she was going to die, she couldnt even call for help. She was hopeless. Her deep emerald eyes silently screaming, help me, please god don't kill me. I wouldnt kill her, instead I opted to let go of her robe letting her fall onto the dirt three stories below. Not enough to kill her but enough to silence her for awhile.

This took all of three seconds. I hoped up over the edge and sprinted towards the Frenchman, his back turned away from me. I kicked the back of his knee and pulled him into a head lock. Pushing my hips forward until the man's small stature could no longer keep his feet on the ground. He struggled for a good minute trying to scream but not finding the air to do so. Finally his body went limp and I laid him out on the sunny rooftop. Such pale skin could use a nice tanning. 
 
I peered over the edge to see if the benched assassin and strolling assassin were still in place. Unsurprisingly enough they were. I climbed down the roof, looking at the girls body, twisted on the dirt. The poor girl must've been only 18 still young enough to make something of herself. She'd be okay, I examined her body noting a small bump on her arm, a broken ulna I guessed. Other than that she was left only with bruises. She'd have to take a break from her career as an assassin for a bit but at least she'd be safe in those months. 

Walking out of the alleyway I decided to take out the strolling assassin next, I walked up to him and quickly brought my elbow into his temple, he was out cold. I caught him before he hit the ground and carried him over to a hay bale and tossed him in. He would be clueless as to what happened to him.

Lastly came the benched assassin, I walked over to the bench and sat down next to him, he looked over at me, it dawned on him suddenly who was sitting beside him. He reached for into his robe but I had already extended my hidden blade and had it at his throat.
"Pull your hand out of your robes, stay quite and leave me alone."
He pulled his hand out of his robe slowly. He was another small man and spoke in a scared voice. 
"What do you want?" 
I retracted my hidden blade and put my arm down.
"My son, that's all." I suddenly brought my arm up and my fist found the bottom of his chin. He nearly flew off the bench, the force of the blow propelling him. I pulled the body off the street and plopped  it into the same hay bale I used for the strolling assassin.

Now that I had gotten rid of the assassins in the area I could finally see my son. I walked up to the door and knocked and waited for a few seconds before I heard footsteps behind the door. It was opened by Sha. He looked... happy almost, something I hadn't seen in him in so long. Beyond that joy though was a darker vicissitude, something had morphed inside him, I could see it in his eyes. It didn't matter though, here was my son, he was safe. I embraced him, clutching him to my chest, trying to protect him forever in that cathartic moment. It was only when I felt him return my embrace I broke down, tears streamed from my face. 
"I was so worried about you Sha. My son, I missed you."
I released him and stepped inside. It was as I remembered it. The floor was made of smooth stone, the furnace radiated aggressive flames from the right wall, the workbench was covered in tools and unfinished projects of all sorts. 
"Why are you here dad, you know what the Assassins would do to you if they knew you were here." 
I looked at him with all seriousness.
"They already know I'm here, but that doesn't matter Sha. A man protects his family no matter the costs." 
I pulled down my sleeve to show him my hidden blade. "This, is what I was willing to do to protect you. I was willing to give my life to the people who killed your mother to assure your safety." I saw Sha recoil at the words. They stung him, like scorpions, thier poison meaning seeping into his head, breaking down everything he'd known. 
"W-why would you... I can't even... Just why... I can protect myself, I was going to... learn to protect the family..." he stuttered trying not to tear up, but I could see the genesis of tears forming on his eyes. He'd hated assassins so long the notion that his father was one was simpliy unbearable. 
"protecting the family is my burden to bear Sha, the day I'm no longer able to protect the family is the day you may take over my duties, assassin or not." I let the words sink in for a few seconds then asked a question to ease the mood.
"so, where's Gioella?"
Sha composed himself. "Upstairs in her study, working on some problems."
"Problems related to what?" 
"I honestly have no clue. She tried explaining it to me once but I understood none of it." 
"Alright." I began walking up the oak stairs but and stopped. "it's good to see you again son." 
"and you as well father" 
I smiled and ascended the stairs. The second floor was were the eating and sleeping quarters were, I passed it and made my way to the third floor, this was the study, where all the books were kept and where diagrams of inventions, past and present were hung on the walls. In the middle was a large mahogany desk, a lone figure sat, scribbling jargon and mumbling to herself. I walked up behind her placing my hand on her shoulder. 
"Gioella-" 
She sat up so fast the chair was knocked over. Before I knew it she'd tackled me to the ground.
"Erza! I never thought I'd see you again. After Sha showed up I kept hoping you'd be in tow but to see you now is just...god it's so good to see you alive." she kissed my on the cheeks over an over again.
I was enthralled see her as well, her long brown hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, her brown eyes hadn't lost the spark of youth although she was my age. She'd retained her years quite well since I'd last seen her. 
"if you two are going to have another child please wait until the situation is a bit less dire"
I hadn't seen Sha on the stairs. Recognizing the situation I was in I  lifted Gioella off of me and got up. Admittedly, I might have blushed a bit. 
"by dire you mean, what?" I was serious now.
"There are six assassins nearly on our doorstep. I doubt this will have a peaceful conclusion." Sha said pulling a bow off his back. 
Gioella looked at me with concern. 
"What trouble might you have brought to my doorstep Erza?"
I put my hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"Just stay upstairs, I'll take care of this" 
Sha and I began walking downstairs but I grabbed his shoulder.
"The prior statement applies to you as well. Remember what I told you, protecting the family is my job."
Sha began to protest but I wasn't listening anymore, I was about to shed the blood of my brothers and sisters. This would not be a fight, it would be a one sided massacre... I doubted very much I'd come out on the winning side.