Ezio X reader

Chapter 26: ~Behind enemy lines ~

I awoke with a sour taste in my mouth; Ezio had already gone, I remember hearing him early in the morning, in a hushed tone he told me I could stay for as long as I pleased, but I wasn't going to intrude, I knew I couldn't, even though I was given a generous offer to, I had to decline; what if Luca and Marco followed me here? Ezio can hold his own, he's an assassin after all, but I still won't cause him an inconvenience, it's disrespectful. I rose from the bed, I had noticed he had cleaned up the pallet he laid out, the blankets folded neatly in a chair nearby; I didn't think him much of a responsible, well mannered young man. I made my way out of the home in which Ezio was currently keeping, closing the door behind me as I was mentally preparing to confront the men who await me at my own doorstep, if I had the money I'd pay and leave, but it would never that simple with those men anyway, they always seem to want and demand more than they receive, and even if you're no longer living under them, they will still pursue you, I was desperate, I had no other choice but to put myself into a dangerous situation, except I hadn't expected them to take to hurting my father as well as myself, that wasn't anything necessary, even when we paid, I always tried to take a second beating in place of my father, I did everything in my power to end that suffering that was worse than living as a beggar on the damn street, I would not let them control me any longer, I plain refused to.

Still in my day old clothing that Ezio had thoughtfully washed for me, it was time to start counting the days I would go without showering, once again. Never will I appeal to men, I'm living as a disgusting mangy animal, who would want me? if I can stop the pressure put on me by Luca and Marco, it'll lift a ton of weight from my mind and frail shoulders, and maybe I can get on with living normally; if I'm not caught in trouble first, knock on wood.

Having left the place in which Ezio had kept for his visits into Venezia, I stuffed the key he had left me into my worn but tight boots; in which I had already grown out of by an earlier age, yet they were the only pair of shoes I had at all. I felt confident, unusual for myself, but I felt the strength, emotionally and physically, to finally give them a piece of my mind. Dodging huddled groups of civilians in the way of my path, I semi-sprinted through the crowds of midday people traffic, I had to halt several times behind groups of people to avoid unnecessary shoving, it would only draw attention toward myself, and that was the last thing I needed. I ended up hiding behind a wall as I had spotted someone I'd seen before, when my father was still alive and living under my care, which I wouldn't consider care, as I had to fend off men from beating him, just because I didn't have a job I ever managed to keep and pay for my living expenses, they knew that too, they extorted me; a close friend of their insane family in which they would bring with them at times, more often than not. I had to be honest, they were equaling out with how bad da pazzi family was told to be, my father told me specifically not to visit Firenze, as I was always hoping to; just because da pazzi family were taking what they wanted, as bankers that were overpowered by the Medici bank, they thought they'd lost all power, and decided to try and gain it back. The man whom Luca and Marco had accompanied them in their home invasions, to rape, steal, abuse, and every now and then you would hear something along the lines of, manslaughter. To think I even made a deal with those cowards, they could have severely hurt my father more than they already had, inflicting internal emotional damage, I felt responsible for putting him in that hell, only because I was, why should he have lived his last few years of his life unhappy, living under those demons; it made me sick to think of it.

My hands shook as I stared at the man, he stood as if he were waiting, for what? This is where my newly learnt skills would come into play, I eyed the building in which my hands rested, looking for a path, the building was only two stories, a few nooks, and a couple windows; I peeked once more to glance at the man, he looked antsy, he wasn't going to wait long, it must be important. I quickly scaled the wall, a few lingering people caught a glimpse just before I made it onto the roof, they weren't sure whether I was real, or a damned ghost. As I reached the edge of the roof, the man began to quickly make haste, he might have felt the eyes on his back, as I had figured the meeting was important, I no longer thought it as important as I did dangerous, or skeptical; relying on pure luck when it came to free running, it wasn't like the rooftops were made for me to run along them, not only were there guards stationed all throughout, there were also gaps in between buildings, but taking to the ground had greater chance of me getting caught in the act of tailing. His pace slowing every so often to no doubt catch his breath, but also relieve him of any sort of unwanted attention, he trudged forward as I lagged behind struggling to keep my eyesight locked on the man; and yet when he does arrive at his so desired location to do his shady business, what then? I'd have to figure it out as I go, unsure of how much time I truly had to do so, I attempted to keep up my old rugged boots hadn't any support in gripping the rooftops slipping every so often, steadily walking on some tightrope coincidentally attached to the other side of the roof ahead, how convenient.