Broken Sisters

Chapter 1: Discovery

The sky let loose its load of drops as a woman gazed down at two guards blocking the only entrance into the building she stood on. There were more guards just down the road on the left and the right. She let out a sigh as thunder rolled. Then the idea struck her. If she could attack as thunder filled the air, she could slip through without alerting the other guards.

I can't wait to find out if my sister is doing well on her own contract, she thought as she walked over to the left toward an alley. After dropping herself over the edge, she eased her way down the wall, gripping hard onto ledges to avoid falling due to the rain. As soon as her feet touched the once dry stone path, she let out a breath of relief. She hated working during storms.

After calming her racing heart, she made her way around the corner and to the guards. She kept her eyes on the skies, watching for lightning. As soon as she saw it, she dashed at the guards, ejecting both hidden blades.

The thunder crashed so loudly that it scared some people somewhere inside the building, making them scream and covering up the guards' cries as their throats were pierced. She closed her eyes as she flinched a bit from some blood spattering onto her face. Gross, was all that went through her mind. Pushing the guards down and off the blades, she listened for rushing feet. She heard none.

Her plan had worked.

She picked up one of the bodies and carried it behind a large stack of wine barrels left outside in front of a tailor shop across the road. She dropped the body there before doing the same with the other body. She double checked on the other guards' location before slipping inside.

Once inside and out of the rain, she wiped her face with a cloth from one of her pouches around her waist. She stuffed it back in the pouch when she was done, hoping she had gotten all of the blood. She couldn't afford to botch this job. Her graduation depended on it.

Taking a deep breath, she walked down the hall she found herself in, following the voices from the party being held. They led her to an open set of double doors that revealed a large ballroom. Someone certainly loves parties, she thought crossly as she activated her Eagle Vision. The neon colors still dazzled her even after all the years she had used it. She loved her ability.

She pushed her awestruck self away. Focus! she told herself. Don't mess this up!

She spotted her target in bright gold lingering on the other side of the room, flirting with a neon blue woman. She deactivated her Vision. When she saw the woman clearly, her heart stopped. It was her sister. Why was she here, flirting with a Templar?

The Assassin closed her eyes, her mission temporarily forgotten. This made no sense. Her sister had trained by her side since they were recruited ten years ago. How could all of the lessons and the creed be thrown away so easily? She opened her brown eyes and stared at her sister. No, she thought. She isn't betraying us. She is getting information for me. She finished her contract and decided to help me.

Convincing herself to believe the thought was true, she slipped into the thick crowd. She moved with the people to get to a shadowy part behind her target. She kept her gaze fixed on the two, noticing her sister had no idea she was there. She couldn't suppress a sound of disgust when they locked lips.

Now she had more reason to kill him.

The two busy making out, she stepped up behind him, her steps silent as a cat's. She drove her blade into his back and straight into his heart, her trained body naturally performing the angle perfectly. He broke the kiss and let out a strangled cry of agony. Her sister gasped in horror, making the Assassin doubt her loyalty again.

She removed her blade as she laid the man down. "May you find peace of mind now. Requiescat in pace." She struggled on the words of respect. Her sister suddenly pushed her hood down and yanked on her hair, making the Assassin grunt in pain. "Let go, Rosa!"

"You killed my boyfriend!" she screamed as she began pummeling on her with her manicured hands. The Assassin easily turned the tables and pinned her to the wall. Rosa struggled against her. It made her sister realize how much more she believed in the creed. "Rosa, how could you betray us?" she demanded, restraining herself from shaking the woman.

"Do you really think the creed can save this world? The Templars are right. We need order to keep peace." She sneered. "And now you are a prime target for killing a very important man." The cold hateful look took the Assassin by surprise. Her sister had once looked at her so kindly. They had always been there for each other. "Why?" she whispered, her heart breaking. "The creed is the right way to live. And what about all we've been through? All the hard times?"

Rosa rolled her dark brown eyes. Her red lips curled up in a face of disgust. "You are so enthralled by them that I have given up on you. You aren't the sister who took the lead and led us down the right path anymore." She lifted her face to the ceiling. "Help! My lover has been killed! Guards!"

Her cry quickly started a panic among the crowd. The Assassin threw her sister to the side before fleeing unceremoniously toward the exit. The crowd knocked her down a good number of times before she made it out into the dark hall. The candles had gone out. She listened to the people scream as she ran to the front door, one hand out on the wall, counting each door she touched to make sure her memory was correct.

Reaching the last number, she threw the door open, relieved to see the dim sunlight of day. She ran across the road and scaled the wall of the tailor shop, hauling herself up onto the roof at the top. She paused and looked down at the open door. Her mind whirled with questions. Her heart was aching with betrayal. "Goodbye, Rosa," she muttered before continuing her escape.

As she ran across the roofs, her feet slipped constantly, all of the assured grace of an Assassin on a dry day gone. Curse this storm, she thought bitterly. "Curse my sister!" she snapped out loud. She reached a gap between buildings too large to jump safely. A road was below. She looked around till she spotted a scaffolding through the heavy rain. It was on the side of the buildings down the road a bit. "Grazie," she muttered as she jogged over to the roof right across from it.

She panted hard, her mind forcing the betrayal back to the front of everything else. "No!" she cried out as thunder rumbled. How could her sister do this to them? To her? She had thought they would do everything together as Assassins. "Damn Templars!" They had managed to brainwash her sister!

"There! The Assassin! Get them!"

She turned around and saw guards struggling to get to her on the slippery tiles of the roofs. One slipped and fell, sliding over the edge and falling to his death on the road below. It brought obvious doubt unto the group of guards. They stopped. Was it really worth it?

Taking advantage of their confusion, she backed up. Judging she was a good distance for a run that would carry her across, she took off. At the edge, she jumped, the weightlessness making her feel like an eagle. She reached out and caught the edge of the top of the scaffold when she neared it. She pulled herself up on top of it and looked back at the guards. They were beginning to climb down. Any other day and they would have tried to follow.

She watched them walk away, giving up and choosing life over death. She sat down to catch her breath. Instead, the tears she'd been fighting rolled down her cheeks. Her whole world had been shattered. "Rosa, why?" she shouted at the skies.