Hi! This is my first ever attempt at an Assassin's Creed fanfiction! I hope that everyone will be able to follow along with the story easily (I tend to be very scatterbrained). I already have five chapters already written out; I'm just looking over, correcting, and adding things to them for now. I use a lot of game dialogue (I do not own it) but sometimes I twist the words to make it more to my liking. My Italian is very poor. I literally have an Italian Coursebook in front of me to refer to. So, I'm sorry if the language is not properly executed, lol. Also, I will give the definition of any Italian words at the end of the chapter. R&R, please and thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed; any of it's dialogue or any of it's characters. Only thing I own is Aria. (Except for her outfit, the Courteasan owns that, lol).

Enjoy. :D

Appearance:

Aria (at age 18) is about 5'8 and weighs 130 pounds. She has darkly tanned skin and chocolate brown hair that has a dark red tint to it when she is in the sun. Her eyes are a soft, light green and they have grey rims around them. She has long scars covering her lower back that happened before she came to the Auditore family. She is also missing part of her ring finger because of the sacrifice for the hidden blade. I also chose her outfit to be the one that the Courteasan has in AC: B. Although, Aria's outfit will be white and red and the sleeves will be long enough to hide her hidden blade. She will also has a hood and thigh high boots and only one glove on the hand without the missing finger. (I know its not very original to just take that outfit idea but I wanted her to seem deadly and feminine at the same time. I am sure Ezio approves of the outfit, though.)

If I Surrender

- Prologue -

Once, a very long time ago; when I was a small girl of only nine years old, I found myself wondering the streets of Monteriggioni. This probably seems a little strange for a child to be out on her own, but I could not recall who I was, why I was out so late at night and why I was by myself. I wondered throughout the pitch black streets, my steps barely making any sound; which, now thinking back on it, seemed pretty remarkable for a child. My head was pounding against my skull, making it hard for me to think straight so I just wondered aimlessly for hours.

I felt like laying on the ground and crying my eyes out. But, of course, this was not an option when I was in a city that I had no recollection of.

Suddenly, I heard a man's cough and turned quickly to see who it had been. A man stood behind me a little ways and he was positively frightening. He was a severe looking man with a long scar from above his left eyebrow to below his left eye. The eye itself was white and looked as if it had long stopped working. I felt myself step away out of fear and a gasp had managed to slip out. He frowned at the noise and backed up a few steps.

"Shh." He tried comforting me and bent his knees to rest on his heels. He raised his hand and beckoned for me to come closer. I shook my head feverishly and edged away. The mans eyes watched me very carefully and it was a little frightening. While backing away, I stepped into the light a little and heard the man curse. I flinched at the harshness of his words and he whispered,

"Mi scusi. My name is Mario Auditore." the man announced proudly. His voice softened again before continuing, "What is your name, little one?"

I hesitated for a moment but answered quietly, "Aria, signore."

Mario smiled and it made his face seemed a little less scary and warmer. I moved a little closer to him as he was still gesturing me to him. I had a strange feeling that I should be wary of a stranger; especially a stranger that was a man but I was not. He seemed to be a kind man.

"Aria…" he whispered back to me. "I do not wish to alarm you but you are bleeding rather heavily."

I looked down at my dress, which was torn to my surprise and gasped. Blood was dripping down my thighs and onto the ground. I became very dizzy, unaccustomed to seeing my own blood and brought my hand to my head. I felt something sticky on my hands and took them away from my head, looking at them curiously. They, too, were covered in crimson blood and I looked up at the strange man, Mario, and felt the tears start to build up. Mario seemed to notice and he pulled out a rag from his jacket; holding it out for me to take. I took the rag gratefully and cleared my eyes. I also wiped any blood I could see away from my body.

"Grazie." I whispered softly, never taking my eyes from his. I offered the rag back but he declined it with a shake of his head.

"What happened to you, Aria?" Mario asked, standing up and towering over me. "Where is your family?"

I thought long and hard. Where was my family? I wondered to myself. Did I have a family? I wasn't for sure but I felt like I used to but not anymore. I sniffed back a small sob and shook my head.

"I can't remember." I cried, placing my head in my hands again.

"Can't remember!" he said incredulously. He became silent soon after and I looked up to see him looking at me again. I felt a little unnerved at the way he was studying me. I slouched and tried to make myself smaller.

"Well, Aria," he started. "You may come stay at my estate until you remember. I have plenty of rooms. I won't take no for an answer!"

He held out his hand and I relief flooded through me as I reach out and grasped it. Maybe this was where I was supposed to be.

At age eleven, I had been staying at the Auditore estate for two years. It was a wondrous place to live; with all the massive rooms and courtyards. The villa itself seemed to have seen better years but I still thought it was grand. Mario had taught me how to read, write, and even speak in other languages. I was an attentive student and worked hard to impress the man who had taken me in for no reason other than to be kind. I was sitting in the garden, reading, when I noticed that Mario had approached me. I closed my book and smiled up at him as he sat on the stone bench beside me. He took my hand in his and we sat looking out at the city.

It was a quiet night for Monteriggioni, as usual. The stores were closed and there was hardly a soul wandering the streets. Of course, the courteasans flitted from place to place; mostly near the tavern, where drunken men would love their attention. I smiled at their silly games.

"You have been here for awhile, no?" Mario asked suddenly, pulling me away from my thoughts, and he looked away from the city to me. I smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Sí." I answered.

He seemed a little nervous, which was strange for him. He was a very brave man who protected Monteriggioni vigilantly; always. He looked fear in the face and made it run away screaming. At least, that is how I pictured his fights. I had never actually seen one for myself. But he had always returned alive - not exactly unwounded, though. I always wondered where his business lead him to give him such injuries.

"There have been no signs of your memory returning. So, I would like to offer you this opportunity." He grew quiet and I sat silently, waiting for him to continue. He gazed in my eyes and squeezed my hand back. "I had wondered if you would like to become a Auditore… Officially." He paused, glancing at my face again. "You know, I already consider you mia figlia."

I beamed at him as tears of pure happiness fell down my cheeks. I practically threw myself on Mario, hugging him as tightly as I could. Not even able to conceal the squeal that escaped from my mouth.

"Sí, sí!" I yelled a little too loudly, causing Mario to lean away from me with a comical expression on his face. "Of course! I already saw you as mio padre!"

Mario laughed and stood with me still hugging him. He hugged back briefly before pushing me back to an arms length to get a good look at me.

"Well, Aria Auditore, shall we go inside for dinner?"

He offered me his arm and I accepted gladly. I had to fight the urge to skip but did not bother to stop smiling so widely. Mario's eyes twinkled at me as we headed back into the estate. I felt like this was the happiest day of my life.

At age thirteen, I was given a little more freedom around Monteriggioni and left to explore often. Mario was always furious when I returned, demanding that I take one of his men with him, at least. Of course, I had been with the Auditore man long enough to pick up the bad habit of being stubborn and never heeded his words. Finally, when Mario was fed up with me never listening to him, his maid sent for me to go to his office. I was a little nervous, this usually meant that I had done something wrong and as much as I racked my brains, I could not think of what I could have done. I had not wandered beyond the Auditore estate for quite some days.

I stopped at the door of his office and tried to calm myself by thinking that I had not done anything wrong.

"Please come in, Aria."

I jumped a little bit at the sound of his voice. I did not think he knew I was there yet. I entered the office and came before my father and gave a small curtsy.

"Hello, padre."

He looked up at me and gestured for me to sit and asked me to wait a few minutes longer before we could have our conversation. I nodded and began to look around the room that Mario spent most of his time in.

It was lavishly decorated with plush chairs and beautiful paintings. There was a wall opposite of his desk that was bare and I wondered what he planned on putting there. I looked at mio padre again, and saw him writing a letter with his quill. I sat up a little straighter, trying to get a good look and wondering who Mario would be corresponding with.

I was trying to be discreet but things did not get by Mario so easily and he noticed my efforts.

"Tuo zio, Giovanni, has been writing and telling me of his two elder sons exploits." He laughed. "Them seem to be lively ones."

I had never met my uncle or cousins but had heard plenty of stories about them. The two eldest were the troublemakers; although, most of the blame usually went to the second eldest. The girl and the younger boy did not seem to be mentioned all that often. Mario rarely spoke of his brother and I wondered why that was. Perhaps there had been a fight or maybe it was the fact that his brother got married and left home.

"Do you know why you are here, Aria?"

"No." I replied honestly and eagerly; my curiosity getting the best of me.

"You have been going out into the city more often." Mario stated, staring me down. I knew that this would come up. I shifted in my seat to hide my mild discomfort.

"Sí, papa." I knew that calling him that would butter him up and he smiled briefly. I counted that a small victory in my book.

"It is very serious that you are not violated… Again." Mario said in a serious tone of voice.

I sat back, thinking of the time that he had found me. The blood running down my thighs had been a huge indicator but I had no memory of what happened before that. The doctor that Mario had called on said that I had hit my head pretty hard and then he checked to see if my virtue had been taken. It had, sadly enough, but I counted my blessing that I did not remember it happening.

"Sí, papa." I replied again. "But what can we do? I am only a mere girl."

Mario sat back in his chair and clasped his hands. He studied me hard for a moment or two and I did the same. He sighed and looked away; out the window of the villa.

"I have thought about it for a long time now." Mario began. "I think it would be in your best interest to learn some skills to help you protect yourself."

I sat up a little straighter in my seat at the mention of learning something new. I was genuinely curious about what type of skills I would need. I kept looking at him expectedly and he continued.

"We will be having lessons in the training ring in front of the villa starting tomorrow."

I sat there a little confused. Training ring? What on earth was that about? He couldn't possibly be thinking of… Could he?

"But what will I be learning?" I leaned forward and my eyes were wide with wonder.

"A variety of skills!" He said enthusiastically. "First off, I want you to be able to defend yourself in a fight. So swordplay will be involved. Secondly, free running. Thirdly…"

I interrupted him, "Free running… What is that?"

Mario shot me a look to be quiet - to which I complied quickly.

"Thirdly, blending in with people as to draw attention away from oneself." He stood and I stood with him.

"And free-running is a difficult thing to describe." His eyes twinkled mischievously. "It is more something you have to see for yourself."

At age 17, I had been training diligently every day that I could. Mario still had me learn certain histories and even had a tutor to teach me how to be more of a noble lady. Honestly, those lessons seemed to be harder to me than my actual training did. The woman seemed to want to make me a mindless husk - to obey, no matter what. It seemed to be an impossible task for me to accomplish, especially since I thought it was stupid anyway.

I stood on the edge of the training ring, waiting on Mario to get there. It was early in the morning and I could hear the birds chirping happily. I could see most of the city from the training ring and I smiled. Monteriggioni had truly become my home over the years and I was thankful that Mario had found me instead of some other man.

"Aria."

I turned quickly and hopped down in front of my father. I smiled and did a small curtsy, causing him to laugh. He ruffled my hair affectionately and I pushed him away gently.

"Today is a very important day!" Mario exclaimed. "See all of those flags bearing the Auditore crest?" I nodded. "Well, I want you to collect them all and also be back here before half an hour is up.

"It is mostly a test of free-running with a fight against me once you return. Good luck, figlia."

With that, Mario stepped away and I ran to go grab all of the flags. They appeared to be on the rooftops making a path from the villa to the wall and then back. It seemed easy enough and was a circuit that I made often. I finished the task quickly, to my fathers approval, and began preparing for the next.

"Papa?" I asked as some of his brought me my two swords. He hummed and waited for me to continue. "What are these tests for?"

He smiled and then lunged at me.

I brought my sword up to block him just in time. He pushed away and we began circling each other. I waited for his stance to falter before I swung my blades towards him. He almost missed blocking the weapons but was able to fling my short sword from my hands. We continued to circle one another waiting for the other to slip up and give us the opportunity. The duel continued the same way for quite some time; evenly matched but we were both getting tired quickly. Mario was leaving more and more openings but I was trying to wait for the perfect one. Our swords clashed for at least an hour and we were both drenched in our own sweat. I made a mistake and he was able to fling my sword away from me. He grasped my cloak, pulling me towards him and his sword but I glanced down at his stomach and smiled slowly.

Mario looked down and begun laughing as he saw my dagger poised right on his heart. He released me and held out a hand for me to take.

"After that display of talent, I would like to extend an invitation to join the Brotherhood of Assassins. To carry on my work after I am gone from this world."

I gaped at him. Assassins? Surely not… but at the same time, it all seemed to make sense. All the moves I had learned were very Assassin-like in nature and all of the history I had been learning seemed to speak of Assassins a lot. I felt like smacking myself for being so dumb.

Regardless of my inner turmoil, I grasped my father's hand and replied, "Naturalmente."

Mario looked at me proudly before releasing my hand and saying, "There is one thing, though. You must learn to use the weapon of the Assassin."

He held out a strange looking contraption that appeared to fit around your wrist. There was a intricately designed dagger imbedded in the leather that went around your wrist. I studied the blade for a long time, trying to figure out what the catch was. After the tests that I had today, there was no way this couldn't have a catch.

"Is that it?" I asked skeptically.

Mario looked at me sadly. "The weapon requires a sacrifice." When I didn't say anything, he continued, "You must lose your ring finger."

I gasped and looked down at my hand. I wiggled my finger and couldn't imagine not having it there. I won't lie, this had to be the scariest thing anyone has ever told me I must do. Maybe being an Assassin wasn't such a great idea. Then I looked at Mario and he seemed so hopeful and happy that I was going to take on his lifes work that I couldn't refuse.

"Anything for you, father." I answered.

Hope I didn't miss any of the words. Let me know if I did and I will correct this ASAP.
Thanks for reading my story. :)

Mi Scusi - I'm sorry.

Signore - Sir.

Grazie - Thank you.

Sí - Yes.

Mia Figlia - My daughter.

Mio Padre - My father.

Tuo Zio - Your Uncle.

Naturalmente - Of course.