Of all things, it would be the weather.

[Diego Liberatore]

He looked at her for a moment as she snapped into go-mode, watched the gears in her head turning in directions he didn't understand. Her face was bright with some new formulated scheme, some master plan. And what gave her hope, dismayed him. Because he would have to let her down. Diego turned his eyes to the floor, away from her. "No, Rahmil. I do not have another -"

He paused for a moment, his lips frozen on the final syllable of his sentence. Though one hand searched the empty space at his side where the small trinket should have been, the action spurred his memory. "... bomb." He had brought another. He was going to use it to kill the other Templar. But that was before he dropped everything to guard Rahmil. He had had it, there in his hand in that moment. It must have fallen. "Search under the bed." he instructed her.

Whatever she was planning, he hoped she would heed his warning. He trusted Rahmil to be clever and instinctive, but he didn't trust her to be thorough. Slowly he turned his head to the side, watching to see if she had any success in locating her treasure. He dared to ask it. "What's your plan?"

[Nicola Rangé]

Nicola stopped himself immediately at the sight of the guards, stifling the urge to utter a curse. There were dozens of them. Leaning his back against the wall, he played over several scenarios in his head, most of which ended in their demise. There were just too many of them. He had nothing but his crossbow, his hidden blade, and his injured companion to aid him. Letting a quiet sigh of defeat, he finally said "We have to go back. This is not a fight we can win."

His mind automatically went to Rahmil. Perhaps she had the solution to their dilemma. But the traitor... He would need help getting out, he hated to admit. As much as he would love to leave him there to die, he knew Rahmil would disallow it.

Switching to a fast walk, he motioned for Alessia to follow him. They had already wasted too much time getting there, all of which was time he needed to make up for. He headed back down the familiar hallways and eventually found himself back at the doorway they had exited through not too long ago.

"We need assistance," he said with a dull tone to his voice.

[Alessia Jiron[Inactive]]

Alessia kept looking around the corner trying to think of a way to get the guards away from the door. When Nicola spoke about not being able win this fight and going back she had to agree with him. There was no way they’d be able to make it out alive or without being injured more. They needed back up and that was something the female didn’t want to really resort on. In this case she knew it was going to help greatly if she can get through those doors unharmed. “Agreed.” She spoke to him and followed him quickly heading back to where they first began at. She picked up her pace on walking as much as she could of course. As the arrived back to the room Nicola was the first to speak about needing help. Alessia nodded in agreement knowing this was a huge job for them to complete. “There are a lot of Guards where my book is. It is near impossible to actually get into the room.” She spoke with a sense of urgency to her voice. It was important if they could at least get one person to give them a little bit of a man up on the guards.

[Rahmil Binachi]

The fall of his facial expressions nearly sent Rahmil into a downward spiral of despair. She was on the edge, about to fall off,
but he looked up and pointed to the bed, and the edge was far behind her while the bed took its place right in front of her.

The now cold blood covered her as she got down on all fours, peering into the shadows for the orb of hope.
Reaching with her right arm she oh-so-gently grabbed it. Pulling it out into the light right when Nicola and Alessia returned- blocking off Diegos question.

Words of defeat left their lips, adding more to the fire that raged inside of her.

She stood up and looked at them, holding the bomb protectively behind her.
" _{Nicola, take Diego and the girl out of here. They need help, and sitting around here isn't going to work.} " Her voice was low and steady despite the new rounds of adrenaline starting to pump in her system.
" _{I'm going to draw the Guards away and try to get your book. Move as fast as you can and just
get out
I will meet you at the nearest doctor.}"

With that she was pushing past them and jogging down the halls.
She didn't know the layout of this church,
she didn't know if the book was even in that room,
and she wasn't sure how the others would escape.

What she did know was she had a bomb and a spur of the moment plan.
Nothing could go wrong.
She stopped once voices were heard, and pressed herself against the wall.

God Rahmil, what are you going to do now?

Glancing down at the object in her hand she turned it over, taking it all in.
Was it just another smoke bomb?
Would it make the noise she was hoping for?
She pushed the stray-wet hairs that clung to her face aside and peered over the wall. There was so
so so so so so so
many.
Cursing to herself, she started sneaking back, taking a left down another hallway, hoping to circle around on the other side of the door.
However the cold sound of metal on stone caused her to stop and strain her ears.
To her, she figured it was only two or three making their way towards her spot.
She could take two,
but three?

Shaking her head and taking a deep breath, she vaulted out in front of them.
Yells of surprise bounded through the stone building, resulting in return calls- soon followed by the sounds of running to inspect.
Well here goes nothing.
She inhaled. Filling her lungs with as much oxygen as she could cram into them. Then reaching into her core she let it all out.
The noise was the worst thing she had ever made.
It wasn't a scream
it wasn't a yell,
it wasn't even a cry.
It was a pure shriek.

Then she dropped the bomb.
The casing cracked and the chemicals inside erupted into a white fog that filled the small space quickly.
The guards were already closing in, so she bolted. Leaving the sound of coughing men behind her.
Through stinging eyes she made another left returning -thankfully- to the hallway that held this stupid book.
Who was this girl? What sense did she have to get captured?
And why did Rahmil have to clean up the mess?
Oh she was going to get it when this was over.
Kicking open the door she pulled out her sword-
only to find a room filled with at least five armed and expecting guards staring at her.

Her
heart
dropped.

She almost stopped, right then and there and accepted her defeat.
Sure she was a good Assassin,
but she wasn't a master.
And she definitely didn't have the energy or strength in her to take them on.

" _{Well shit.} "

By the time she had prepared to fight, she already had three cross bows on her.
Letting out a growl of defeat she threw her sword down and put her bloody hands up.
Caught red handed, would have been the pun.
Yet the only ones laughing were the enemy.
Their cackles stung like slaps to the face.
She let them down.

She was going to get the book for the girl whose name she didn't even know.
Diego took an arrow for her.
Nicola killed the man who tried to take her own life.
And all for what? For her to get captured.

The two men who were not pointing arrows at her heart were already restraining her and shoving her forward.
"Oh wont he be proud!"
"Two captured in one week! How about that boys!"
"Maybe if the Assassins keep hiring all these bitches to do their work this war will end soon, huh?"
"Maybe her friends will come join her."
"To come rescue the princess you mean?"
They laughed again and again and again.
It was all her ears would pick up- that was until the loud SMACK exploded in the back of her head.
The floor was suddenly rushing up to her while a random black clouds seemed to swirl their way into her vision.

Then there was no more laughing,
only silence.

[Diego Liberatore]

A sudden anger filled him as both his suffering and his patience had reached their limits. It was one thing when they thought the worst was over, that retrieving this book would be easy. It was one thing when he expected Rahmil to go risking everything to help her friends in jeopardy. But here they came, unscathed in some miracle, wanting to go back? With reinforcements?! Now?!

Diego's eyes fell hard upon Nicola. His teeth gritted and a knot of rage twisted so densely in his throat he could hardly speak. "You sure have some gall, novice," he snarled. "Putting these women in danger. You are their leader now." No, normally he wouldn't have said that. Nicola was so quiet, it was hard to see him as the leader of anyone. Especially over a woman like Rahmil. But in this instant he was the strongest, the best armored and still unharmed. That made him the leader. "How dare you come back here and ask to drag her into that pit!" he spat. "What kind of back up did you expect?! I am useless, and Rahmil can't take half those guards! How important is this book? It isn't worth dying over! And yet here you come, wanting to go back and lead them to their deaths. What do you think, that you can run in there with just yourself and two women - one of them injured - to slay God knows how many guards?! Do not lead them there, Nicola. Their blood will be on your hands." he glared at him, his face pale with his temper, and also a bit of blood loss. "I will follow you because I want to help them, not because you asked it of me." he said in a more dignified tone, regaining his composure. "But we should leave and regroup, come better prepared and form a better posse to recover that book, if it is that important. We came here to rescue that girl. Well, we've rescued her. We need to go."

In his rant, he hadn't paid any attention to what Rahmil had said. Until he saw her running off by herself, down the corridor and into the damned center of the remaining guards. His jaw dropped silently and his hand reached out to her, as if to pull back what was already gone. Without even thinking and with a fresh blessed burst of what he was sure would be a short supply of adrenaline, he moved his away along the wall to the door at something a little more than a casual walk - his max speed in that moment.

[Nicola Rangé]

Nicola did nothing more but roll his eyes as the traitor started his long, pointless rant. He honestly couldn't care less for what the rat had to say, but his words made it difficult to understand the intructions Rahmil was giving him. But using what eavesdropping skills he had learned, he was able to completely phase Antonnio out, and center his hearing on Rahmil. What she had told him he didn't want to hear. She was about to go face all those men? By herself? And meanwhile, she expected him to go take the worthless traitor to a doctor? Ha!

Well, Nicola had no plans of letting her go by herself, and it was likely she had no idea where she was going anyway. And it sounded like the worthless speech of the Templar dog was nearing an end... finally. His words were beginning to annoy him more than the sound of a knife scrapping against glass.

Catching him by the back of his shirt, he stopped him from heading out the door. "Now that you're done babbling like an idiot, perhaps you can listen for a change," he said sternly. "I couldn't give less than a damn what the hell happens to you. And Rahmil must be drunk if she believes that I'll take you to a doctor. In fact, the only reason I'm allowing you to live now is because I think you may actually prove to be... Useful to us." Nicola then gave him a light shove that probably wouldn't do more the stumble the traitor as he moved through the door. "You can come with us, go find a way out yourself, or bleed to death for all I care. But there is no way that I'll ever help you."

And with that, the Assassin took down the halls after his companion. He couldn't believe she would even suggest going on her own. Sure, he trusted her. He believed in her. But there was no way he would simply leave her behind.

[Alessia Jiron[Inactive]]

Alessia admitted that she put them into danger just by them being here rescuing her. She needed to be rescued but she didn’t want to leave that book either. The girl didn’t want to admit defeat just yet and she knew there was a way to get them away from that book without getting injured severally. She just needed one more person and she could get to that book. When the other girl spoke about getting her to a doctor she shook her head she wasn’t going to doctor until she could complete this and everyone was ok. She basically ignored what Diego was saying figuring it was going on between him and Nicola. She was thinking of a plan something she could get the injured man out of the tower and still go join up with the girl and hopefully get out of there in one piece. When they spoke about the book and the importance of it, it seemed to be the only thing that she heard. “This book is important because it holds some secrets that we don’t want our enemies to actually see. My father wrote the book to keep track of everything possible. It’s more of a family thing but it still has more importance than we all can think of.” She spoke looking at the both of them. She looked over to seeing that the girl had already left. That was a bad sign, Alessia knew she had to figure out where she went to because not only was the area still covered in guards; she knew they would go after her.

Alessia rolled her eyes at the two men who seemed to like to argue more than what they were worth. She let out a sigh before turning around and taking off down the hall. She wanted to find Rahmil before she was caught in the whole mess with the guards. Voices could be heard down the hall, guards who were talking about a girl. A bit of a sigh of relief escaped her lips because she knew she could find her quicker versus if they hadn’t got to her. It was an advantage thing but she didn’t know how far they were from that very point. The girl ran as fast as her body would allow her down the hallway that showed no sign of anyone around there. Footsteps and some loud clanking could be heard coming just in front of her; which was bad news for her. She ran finding a random hallway waiting for that clanking of the guards to go by. They needed to get rid of and she knew it needed to be done fast. Like before the assassin waited until they had gone by her before she stuck her sword in each of them. She search their bodies for a few things she grabbed a few knives and a smoke bomb which she knew would come in handy later on. She looked around seeing if anyone else was following in her footsteps and find the other girl who left to find her book. Ali knew she wasn’t in a condition to actually fight several guards but she knew she could take on a few if she needed.

[Diego Liberatore]

A howl broke from his lips as his teeth clenched, biting down on his tongue. Beneath him his feet shuffled a short distance, searching for the bit of lost balance. Even the slight mishandling sent waves of pain screaming through his body. He felt as if he'd bite his tongue out. "Cazzo!" he yelped, gasping a moment for air as tears welled up briefly in his eyes. Diego stood hunched over, hands on his knees as he braced himself, and then slowly straightened.

His eyes burned hatefully as he shot his gaze towards Nicola. "I am not the only one here who needs a doctor, Bastardo." he glanced briefly to Alessia and then back. If he had been in proper condition, he may have killed him where he stood. But as things were, that wasn't an option. As much as Diego hated to admit it, he needed Nicola, at least where Rahmil's best interests were in mind. "And I have already been useful to you, in more ways than one. You wouldn't even be in this church if it wasn't for me. And you wouldn't be going after Rahmil, either. If you truly believe I have any usefulness left, you'd better show some respect. You never know how quickly tables can turn." Yes, it was a bit of a threat. But unfortunately for him, threats were all he had left. Diego had no more bite.

The remaining two assassins left him, moving much faster than he could to rescue Rahmil. Frustrated and enraged, Diego made his way back to the lonely, blood-filled room. The stench of it stained the air, but it was as far as he could go alone, and could not escape it. He looked at the bed miserably, pondering for a moment as he gripped the stones in the wall. Never had he ever believed he would want to lay down so badly. Never, especially when he had been so frantic to stay up. When wounded men laid down, they never rose again. Over and over again, he had witnessed it. But how tempting it was to just.... rest a while. Just a little while. Ease the weight of his body.

His hand reached out to touch the pillow, and then the mattress as he oh so slowly helped himself to a sitting position. Unfortunately for him, the nature of his wound prevented him from laying down - he wouldn't even try it. But even to sit brought relief. And so he sat, and stared at his surroundings. The silence was eerie, heavy, and still. If he was truly alone, why did he feel so crowded? The glassy, unclosed eyes of the deceased stared up at him from the now darkened and drying blood. Their faces exposed, some looked terrified, while others... almost peaceful. It was a strange, unfamiliar sort of peace. A peace he had never thought he would long to have, but now he did.

No. Forcing himself to stand, Diego struggled to lift himself off the bed. He couldn't give up, not just yet. He was a Liberatore, a fighter, a bear. He encouraged himself silently in his head, and thought of his father. There would always be a little fight in him, even if it couldn't get out. He wanted to live.

Struck with a sudden thought, Diego hobbled his way over to where the dead leader's body lay. Grimacing and holding his breath as he knelt lower, he began to work at the straps and hinges of the man's armor. It felt like hours as he toiled slowly, and then fought to fit himself into what parts of the suit he could. Lastly came the helmet, which shielded his face, but also limited his sight. Looking down, he murmured a silent apology before he defaced the body, using his hidden blade to make the man unrecognizable. It was a gruesome disgrace, and evil that had to be done.

Finally he stood again, using the wall to help him stand as he fought fruitlessly to suppress his grunts and curses of pain. With a half full intake of breath, Diego called out into the hallway. "Guards!" And then, when no noise came after a few moments, he called again. "GUARDS!"

[Nicola Rangé]

Nicola headed down the familiar corridors, never looking back. He hadn't listened to anything Antonnio had to say, and he couldn't care less. The only thing that mattered now was Rahmil. There was a disparity low in his heart. What if she had been captured--or worse--killed? It would all be on him. He would be at fault for not stopping his companion.

He had nearly reached the doorway to the library when a noise caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He couldn't make out where it came from, though it sounded distant, and sounded like a male voice. Creeping into the shadows, he laid his back against the wall, and listened.

GUARDS!

The voice was unmistakable. It clearly belonged to the man he had left behind not long ago. What are you up to...? he thought to himself.

[Alessia Jiron[Inactive]]

The girl stood there a moment making sure she did kill men who were going to kill her if she didn’t act. She looked around and closed her eyes for a moment listening carefully. It was quiet which meant she could run for it and not worry about them till she reached closer to where she heard the voices. Alessia kept running and made sure her senses were in tune with what was going on around her. She didn’t want to get caught again and go through the treatment she did. Of course they had every right to treat her like that she was an enemy. A sharp pain shot through her body and slowed her down even more. She stopped resting against the wall catching her breath and attempting to make her pain to go away. The girl got back to her feet and started running again trying to find where the guards were. A few more hallways later she stopped seeing to guards walking slowly. She thought about it figuring they might know where the girl was. Alessia moved quickly taking out one guard and pushed the other guard against the wall. There was a little bit of struggle to keep her strength against him. “Tell me where the girl you just captured, an assassin is.” She spoke with anger in her voice she wasn’t about to let them go without knowing where she was taking. The guard shook his head and could show that he didn’t know anything naturally. It wasn’t hard to for him to push her to the ground and attack her. Before he could sink his blade into her she used her own sword and shoved it into his chest and rolled out of the way. A voice could be heard where she was, it sounded familiar. She knew it was the other male that she left in there but she couldn’t figure out why he would be yelling for the guards. Ali got up pulling her sword out and started to look for a place she could hide if any guards would come her way.

[Diego Liberatore]

The unmistakeable clanking, the sound he had dreaded only minutes before, came louder and louder, charged into the room and broke into awful gasps, curses, and silent prayers. Some of them attended to Diego, offering what they could to help, while others examined the bodies of the dead. He put his arms on their shoulders and they helped him down the hallway. "Take me to the prisoners," he demanded sharply, trying to sound as much of an asshole as the dead man. "I want them alive."

The men looked at each other briefly, confused, and for a moment Diego's heart sank as he wondered if he had already blown his act. But they returned their glances at him without suspicion. "We've only found one trespasser - a girl. She's unconscious."

Giving himself a minute to think by grunting angrily, as if unsatisfied with their work, he weighed his options. He knew the other two wouldn't leave without Rahmil, and ran a high risk of dying just trying to retrieve her. He knew what he had to do. "There are two more, two more assassins. A man and the wounded woman - the one who had the book. Find them and bring them to me. I'll be waiting with the other prisoner." And with that, the surplus guards began their search, while the ones who supported Diego took him carefully down the corridors, allegedly to where they had taken Rahmil.

[Nicola Rangé]

And then the clanking returned, quicker in rhythm, and headed straight toward him. Nicola retreated into the shadows to avoid being seen, crouching on his heels and listening. The noise stopped not far from him, and he assumed that they must have begun a search for him. So there he was, lying in wait. He decided he would ambush them from the shadows, hopefully dispatching as many of them as possible before making a run toward the library.

And the footsteps grew louder.

Closer.

There had to be four of them... At least. He readied himself, adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins. And then the first one emerged around the corner.

Nicola fell upon the man as quick as an arrow, unsheathing his blade through his neck. The man uttered a single gurgled scream before falling to the ground, dead. He then turned, ready to pounce on the next man, but he tripped over himself clumsily.

He tumbled to the floor, uttering a single cry of defeat. His vision then went black as the guard hit him in the back of his head with the pommel of his sword.

[Alessia Jiron[Inactive]]

The female kept herself against the wall hearing more guards coming, she didn’t want to get taken again it was too much on her body. She knew they were looking for her still and it was the fact she wasn’t out of the blue yet. Alessia was starting to form a plan together in her head what she could do to get to where the other girl was. The clanking of armor became louder as she squatted down and barely peering around the corner to see how many were coming. She could tell there was about ten of them heading her way. That was when they spread out through some hallways two each which meant she could take them if they came her way. She moved back to the dark hallway and stood up and put her whole body against the wall hoping they wouldn’t come her way. Sure enough three of them turned down her hallway with torches lite. Alessia’s eyes widen and ran quickly away from them not wanting to put up the fight she needed to. Of course with thinking strategy she knew the hallway wasn’t big enough to have all three running down not really even two comfortably. She stopped pulling out her sword and readied herself for a fight that she figured she would win. One guard came at her and she dodged him before putting her sword through his chest right before she pulled her sword out the other guard ran up to her pushing her against the wall. Ali struggled to get out from his arm but she managed to grab the hilt of her sword and pulled it out of him before sticking it in the man’s leg making him let go of her. She looked around not seeing the third guard at all. Then, a whistle which made her quiver a little knowing they were after her and she needed to get to the others. An idea came to her mind as she figured she could just allow herself to get caught and hopefully they would take her to the other girl assassin so they could get out of there. That was her first priority was getting her out of there, the book was important but not for the lives of her fellow assassins. She stood hands up in the hallway as some other guards came down the hall and quickly grabbed her hands and pulling them behind her and pushing her down the hall making sure she would walk. This time she was conscious to know where she was going and made mental notes of where she could make it out. There were a few windows that could be jumped out of. They took her into the room where that captain who she thought was dead was sitting and the girl assassin. The guard who had her pushed her in to fall on her knees and she looked back with a little sigh meaning she may have to fight her way out of here. Something sort of went off in her head feeling that this man was not her enemy yet at least which was good.

[Diego Liberatore]

The door in front of him was pushed open abruptly by one of the guards, while the others helped him to a stool so he could sit. Grunting and sighing at the same time, he gratefully took the cushioned seat. Not allowing himself to get too comfortable yet, though, he put his hands on his knees and looked around the room. Rahmil was supposed to be in here.... somewhere. The room was quite dark, with only one skylight that cast a cloudy circle of light in the center of the room. All around it was dark and difficult to make out, but he noticed the basic furniture of a room including a table and several chairs stacked away in one of the corners. In another corner was what seemed to be a pile of straw, along with some old sacks of grain.

It took him a while to see it, that tiny heap in the straw. He could hardly see it in the dark, that even darker spot among the shadows. Slowly he stood up from his perch, followed by the guards, and made his way over to it, holding his breath as he looked down through the holes in his helmet. Reaching out to her, he held his hand in front of her unconscious face to check if she was breathing before he inspected the gruesome goose egg on the back of her head that had rendered her sleeping.

The guards helped him to stand again, but he barked orders at them gruffly once he was standing. "Tie her to one of those chairs and sit her next to me." he demanded, and waited in his seat as they carried her to a chair, tied her upright, and set her beside him in the light. A thundercloud clapped overhead, but the rain had finally ended. It was a while as he sat there, wishing for her to wake up but having to refrain from showing emotion. Soon the others were brought in as well, Nicola also unconscious, but the girl awake. "Them too." he said dryly, as if giving instructions to idiots, and waited for the remaining two assassins to be bound. "Now leave us, all of you. I have much to... discuss with my prisoners." he growled, and glared at them as they exited out the door.

[Nicola Rangé]

Nicola slowly regained consciousness, lifting his eyes halfway. He didn't know where he was, what was going on, or what had happened. The only thing he knew was... His head sure did hurt. He gave a slight groan of pain as he lifted his head up, examining his surroundings. He was strapped to a chair... And the room was very dark. How did he end up here?

Another wave of pain washed over him as he ached once more, and he dipped his head and closed his eyes again until it had passed. He must have been hit... But by what? He opened his eyes one more time, feeling woozy and confused. They had... Captured him? Another glance around his surroundings revealed his comrades had suffered the same fate. And before him sat... Antonnio? Was he captured as well? It didn't look like he was strapped the same way his companions were... But he couldn't be sure.