A Different Life

4. No Match For Me

"Dammit! I told you he ran left!" Evan shouted, sparing a glare at me out of the corner of his eye.

"He wouldn't've ran at all if you didn't screw up my one chance at silent air assassination!" I yelled back, practically hissing.

Well, it was Sunday... so I had headed to Evan's house. Sunday was our video game day... and since I always, ALWAYS carried a copy of Assassin's Creed VI on me, we were playing that on the floor of his living room. The series had advanced in later years, and now offered split-screen and online story mode, as well as multiple difficulty levels. We were playing Master Assassin - the hardest of them all.

Basically, every mission was timed. There were more guards and the Templars were more difficult to find. This, of course, proved little challenge for me... there is a reason I carry a copy of the game with me at all times, after all. Ev wasn't doing horribly bad as per usual, but... well, you know.

The screen faded to a black version of the Animus, and crimson blood splattered in the background as large, white, daunting letters spelled out "Desynchronization..."

My jaw dropped. I had never seen the Game Over screen for any Assassin's Creed game. Evan's assassin had been struck with a crossbow bolt, ending the game for us both. I nearly felt like crying, before the urge to punch him took over.

I slammed my forehead into the coffee table and groaned. Well, at least I didn't have a fever this time. "Did you do this terribly last time, too?" I almost didn't want to know. If he did, well, let's just say I'm glad I don't remember it.

"What?" I pictured him furrowing his eyebrows. Had he not heard me? The coughed, jokingly replying, "Oh, yeah. Uhm... no. I was doing better than you."

"You're lying." I peeled my head from the coffee table and sighed.

"Yeah. Sorry." He said, shaking his head. Then he laughed, "Maybe my lack of skill is what caused your fever."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Mayhaps." I stretched my arms above my head with a yawn, sparing another glance at the Game Over screen. "I think I'll head home. School tomorrow, you know? Mom'll be pissed if I'm late."

"Alright. See you in Conjuration class." Evan waved after I had put the Assassin's Creed VI disc back in it's box and headed for the door.

On my way home, I wondered if Alexander would be back in class on Monday. Potion Foundations was my last class tomorrow, so if he was, he could take me to see my dad again after school. Should I ask Evan to cover for me again? Or... maybe I should just tell my mom about Alocer, and that he was training me.

I felt like that would be a bad idea, somehow. Maybe she would make me stop training... and I really wanted to get stronger.

-

The next day, classes went by uneventfully, as usual... that is, until I had walked into Potion Foundations class to see Alexander writing on the chalkboard. He asked me to stay after class again, and I felt my excitement rising as I thought about training again.

He simply nodded to Evan, who was the last student to leave class, before asking me if I was ready to visit Alocer again.

"Of course. But... what happened last time? I can't remember training." I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"You hit your head pretty hard in a sparring match. You didn't look up to anymore training after that."

"Oh. And I also wanted to ask, why did you drop me off at Evan's house instead of my home?" I continued. Alexander smiled patiently, though something gave me the hint that it wasn't all sincere.