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// Chapter 1: Welcome to Italy 
// Story: Changelings and Assassins 
// by Delta 727 
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"So let me see if I can understand this..." I said to the mysterious creature. "You are a creature known as a Changeling and by the name of "Queen Chrysalis" expelled from your world after a plan to attack the wedding of a Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armour, who are relatively the same species as you, only to be defeated and sent here when you attempted to rescue yourself in the fall in your own energy portal?" Chrysalis slowly began to nod and said her reply.  Her voice had sounded as if two voices were overlapping. It had sounded threatening, yet equally friendly. I looked over to Seraffo, who stood silently. "It is not often that you stumble upon a creature from another world, is it?"

I began to nod, holding my right hand under my chin. "I would expect that you would wish to simply leave her here, considering that we do not have any ideas of what to do with her?" Vali began to shake his head just lightly enough to disguise it from Chrysalis. "You are correct. We will not be leaving her here." I slowly moved toward Chrysalis, and crouched down next to her. "You do not need to worry. We will not harm you further. I am well known in medicine. Where are you hurt?"

I had been slightly hesitant of the two creatures, and there was much that I had not known. But somehow, I felt that I could trust them. If they had meant me harm, I may have already been dead. I motioned toward my abdomen and lifted one of my front legs. The creature took my hoof in his... Whatever it had been, and began to slowly caress it in search of injury.

"You two have not answered for who, or what, you are. May I ask for an explanation?"

I began to stroll over next to her, and crouched down to keep my figure from being too intimidating. "As you wish." I placed my right hand over my chest and said, "My name is Vali cel Tradat, although many simply refer to me as 'Sentinel'. I am a Wallachian noble by birth, as well as a former Assassin." She tilted her head. "An Assassin is a person or being who is hired to kill or steal from a target with skill and precision, as well as leaving with as little attention as possible."

I nodded, and shifted my gaze to the one tending to my wounds. As he laid a hand over my back, I asked, "And who are you?"

"My name is Seraffo," I responded, not looking away from my work. "I am an Ottoman Doctor, and a former Assassin as well. I met Vali when he discovered that there was a contract set on me for theft and murder, and he discovered that I was no different than him. He searched for me, and we had nearly killed each other, as I thought he was searching for me to fill the contract." I ran my hand back and up to the base of her neck. "The brawl ended with his blade at my neck, and we called a truce." I shifted my head to my left. "The Assassin in the red cloak is Mercina. She is an apprentice of mine who is learning to become an Assassin, as well as a special ally of our Creed."

I looked into his mask, but I could read no emotion as he tended to my wounds. "You do not have a special name as... As..." I stammered as I struggled to remember the name of the white-cloaked Assassin.

"Vali," I said. "My special name had been, "The Doctor", but I severed my ties with the name, for it represented the Templars in the name. Before you ask, the Templars are, in fact, the enemies of the Assassins. That guard that had attempted to kill you earlier had been a Templar soldier."

"But why would they attempt to kill me if I pose no threat, or that I certainly am not known for a contract?" I asked.

I began to uncap a small medicine vial. "The Templars will kill anything that attacks them first or things that are unfamiliar to them that they assume pose a threat. They may have assaulted you, but they did not kill you. The guard asked what you are, instead of killing you. But I assure you, if more are to come, they will be out to kill Vali, Mercina, and I. They may kill you only for the reason that you are with us." Chrysalis's eyes widened, and I chuckled. "Do not worry, my dear. They will not have the chance to even injure you, let alone the rest of us." I removed the cap from the vial and held it to her lips. "Drink this. It will dull the pain."

I took the vial in my front teeth and tilted back my head. The medicine was thick and very bitter. As soon as I had swallowed the entire dose, I spit the vial from my mouth and began to cough. I felt Seraffo place a hand on my back until my coughing began to cease. "I am capable of watching myself in danger. I do not need guards to assist me. My Changelings will easily keep me out of harm."

"I assume the Changelings are relative to you?" Chrysalis nodded. "As far as I have seen, you had arrived here alone." She fell silent, and dropped her head. I placed my hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to fear. We will help you as we can, and hopefully find a way to return you home."

I sighed. "I would hope so more than anything..."

I stood up as I had finished my work in wrapping a bandage over her chest. "These will hold for now until you are healed. Can you walk?" In response, she shakily rose to her feet, or hooves, as it was. "Good, good. Be careful. Do not rush yourself, or you may re-open the wou-" Mercina cut me off, and said, "Then we are able to take her back to the Den. Bartello is waiting." I nodded at her suggestion, then turned to Vali. "We cannot bring her into town. It will arouse suspicion."

"Blast!" I exclaimed. Seraffo was right: If we brought Chrysalis back into town, the Templars would surely shoot her on sight. "Is there any way that we could attempt to disguise her?" Seraffo shook his head. "Ah, you are right. It would be nearly impossible to disguise someone, or something, of her stature... Then what are we to do?"

I rolled my eyes as they spoke, and began to conduct my magic. I kept my eyes on Sentinel, transforming my shape to match his as much as possible. I formed my hind legs into the legs that matched the design of him with a loose-split, black skirt around them, a gilded, black chestpiece and sleeves, and a black hood with a gilded face-mask that revealed only my eyes. I suppressed a chuckle as the three of them stared on in awe. I stood up to my full height, about the same height as the two of them, and stepped forward on my new legs. "Will this be enough to keep me from sight on our way to this, 'den'?"

Vali and I remained silent, but Mercina spoke next. "It will be perfect. You will be simply expected as one of us, and we will be able to equip you with weapons at the den." She looked to the two of us, and I glanced at Vali. "Are we agreed, Vali?"

I glanced away from Chrysalis and over to Seraffo, and said, "Yes. We will have to make our way through town. The guards will be leaving to find their missing Scout, and will let us pass." I turned, waving my hand toward Constantinople. "Come. We will arrive in about five minutes." I began to walk off, and the others followed me. We exited past the treeline and into a small, cobblestone avenue. As we began to walk, I began to explain. 

"Welcome to Constantinople, located in Istanbul, Turkey. While you are around, there will be several things that you will wish to know, things to stay near, and things to avoid. Around here, a citizen or two may be in need of assistance. This may seem like a nuisance, but many will pay well for your help. Others may be asking for less conventional things, such as a fistfight. If you are challenged at any time, attempt to avoid it. If they attack, dodge out of the way, sweep out their leg, and press your foot to their throat just hard enough to help them see your point. Then give them a warning, and walk away." We turned a corner into the main trading district in the center of town, and I stopped us by a hay bale.

"Other times, you will see certain structures that you will be able to hide in from guards, such as wells, lookout posts hung over with curtains, benches, and hay bales, such as these. You may ask how a hay bale can manage to hide a man from guards, I had wondered the same in my beginning. Did you notice that Seraffo had slipped away?"

I glanced around, and nearly began to chuckle. He was right. Seraffo had gone, and somehow I had managed to guess where he had been hiding. These two were much more clever than I had first assumed.

"I assume he is in the hay bale?"

I chuckled to myself. "You are quite clever for someone who is new to us." I whistled, and took a step back from the hay bale.

As I heard Vali's signal, I emerged from the hay bale, landing in front of them as I began to brush hay from my robes. "You took your time." I turned to Chrysalis. "If you are hiding in a hay bale or other hiding spot, it can be used to assassinate a guard that wanders too close. Many Templars are much more ignorant than others would assume."

I nodded to Seraffo, and continued walking. "Another thing you may need for some time, but you should avoid when possible, are the rooftops. Many Templars will have riflemen staged on patrols, and will give you a warning to get down, and they will shoot if you do not."

I had never heard the word, 'Rifleman' before, and was confused on what it meant. "What is a, 'rifleman', exactly?" I asked Sentinel.

"A rifleman is an infantry unit armed with a rifle. A rifle is a long shaft of wood and metal with a trigger. When the trigger is pulled, a spark catches on gunpowder, a very combustible substance. The force from the blast sends a metal ball at lethal speed in the direction of the shot. Your armour will deflect some shots, but that does not make it hurt any less, and you may still be lethally hit." We strolled down a flight of stairs past a group of Templars armed with swords and a couple with spears. "Another thing we will teach you about that involves weapons are bombs. These come in different forms of detonation and effects, such as impact shells, fuse shells, shrapnel, coal dust, lamb's blood, and caltrops. Each with a different effect, all just as useful in a given situation." We turned one last corner, and began to approach the Den tower. "Seraffo can you let us in again?"

"But of course," I said. I strolled up to the door, and began to knock three times, before Bartello threw open the door. "Seraffo! Is Sentinel ali-?" I held up one hand to silence the Assassin. "Vali is alive and well."

"Yes," I said, strolling into the den past Seraffo. "And we have quite the story to tell."


End of Chapter 1