Assassin's Creed: Phoenix

I. home

It was no ordinary mirror.

Broken glass holding melancholy within, it had been an indispensable part of this old room for years, and right in front of it, a young man was staring at his own reflection sitting on a wooden tabouret.

He watched himself, unable to remember the last time when he looked at this mirror without having the unpleasant memories attached to it. His eyes wandered around his features, black, curly hair and bronze skin, reflections of his late mother, and the gray eyes with a slight wariness growing inside of them.

His own face started to feel unfamiliar as thoughts came and went, he turned his eyes to an object he carried with him for years - a gray, custom designed walking stick with an eagle head on the top. He was shaking his right leg as he held it, trying to avoid the anxiety that this room caused him to have. This place reminded him many things. If only this mirror could talk, he thought.

He was still looking at the mirror when the sound of the door knocking filled his ears, and he took a deep breath. As he stood up using his walking stick he could swear he was starting to go dizzy - he was somehow nervous no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise.

He opened the wooden door and a deep, familiar voice of a man filled his ears. "Damn, so many keys... Finally!", the man sounded relieved as his search for the right key was over at last. Their eyes met and there he saw him - tiny man in his fifties holding some keys with a grumpy face.

The young man tried to hide his emotions as their eyes met but he knew it would be no use, that tiny man standing right in front of the door was the only family he knew for a long time. He stared at the man for a second, his dark brown hair and beard grew longer and grayer since the last time he saw him. "I knew I'd find you here." The man said, with a soft tone in his voice. "I just had to grab these first." He shook the keys as he forced a smile.

"What, you thought I'd lock the door and run away?" The young man asked with a cracking voice. He immediately regretted the words as they came out of his mouth.

The tiny man raised his eyebrows. "No..." He sounded shocked and troubled, and took a deep breath. The young man could see it in his face now, as he'd seen this expression countless of times before, this was the infamous I knew this wouldn't be so easy face. "Look, I know what's been going on lately is difficult for you to understand and-"

"Here we go again."

"If you could just listen to me."

The young man shook his head with an ironic smile on his face. "Same words, just like the last time I saw you." There was an obvious disappointment on his face. The tiny man stood there, it was as if he wanted to say something to help the poor guy. "Nothing good will come out after them. Not after you banished me from the Brotherhood."

"You know I didn't make that decision!" The tiny man insisted. "By my life, I swear, if I had any other option to keep you away and safe from what's been going on I would've done it without a second thought."

"And what has been going on, Izar?" The tiny man, Izar, inhaled when he heard his name. He tried to remain calm as he put his hand on his head, trying to think a way out of this situation. "You've been keeping so many secrets, even you can't make a way up to cover them anymore. You, and the Mentor. You both knew that I'd never do anything to compromise the Brotherhood."

"We knew that all along." Izar said, he was trying his best to remain calm, which was the best option in this case.

"Yet you decided to banish me from the only place I call home."

"Whatever path The Creed guides you, it's always in your favor when you truly understand the meaning of its tenets, so know that your path as an Assassin required some time out of The Brotherhood." Izar realised he was unintentionally raising his voice.