The two thieves knelt on the roof. One determinedly trying to open the door that would lead into the house. The other trying his best to wait patiently.
"You're not very good at this, are you?" Alessio was never known for his patience however.
"If you keep bothering me while I'm working I'll never get this door open. You understand that right?" Piero replied, still doing his best to focus on the door, though he could feel his blood beginning to boil.
Alessio pondered what his older brother Piero was telling him, but only for a moment. "No, it wouldn't matter if I was as quiet as a mouse. You still wouldn't get this door open any faster you cazzo."
At that Piero had had enough. In one fluid motion he dropped his lock pick and swung at Alessio. It was a good punch, but having grown up with each other Alessio saw the punch coming, and was able to lean away from it.
Piero's momentum made him stumble past his brother. Before he regained his footing his brother jumped on top of his back, and put him in a chokehold. Piero struggled to pull Alessio's arm off of his neck, but his grip was like iron and he could not release himself.
Running out of time, and air, Piero decided to jump backwards and crush his brother between himself and the roof. His plan worked perfectly. As they collided with the roof Alessio let out a whoosh of air and loosened his grip.
Piero pried himself away and quickly moved out of his brother's reach, doing his best to regain the air that he was being denied just moments ago.
"Ugh" Alessio groaned while lying on his back. "I think you broke something."
"I should come over there and break something. What are you trying to do, kill me?" Piero raised his voice as much as he dared, being careful not to attract any local guards.
"Hey, you swung first." Alessio said as he stood back up looking at his brother.
He saw how angry he was and decided to apologize. "I'm sorry alright? I'm just nervous, this will be our best job yet, but only if we can get the door open."
While not likely as sorry as he sounded, Piero knew his brother would never really try to hurt him.
Piero sighed and walked forward. "Fine, but one last thing."
Once he got within reach Piero drove his fist directly into Alessio's stomach. While not swinging as hard as he could, he knew the punch would still hurt.
Alessio doubled over, clutching his stomach and letting out a muffled cry. After taking a few moments to catch his breath back, Alessio spoke with a menacing tone, "You're going to pay for that."
Piero had already gotten back to trying to open the lock when he heard his brother's response. "Oh I'm sure, let's just deal with that later."
"Fine." Alessio grunted back. "How much longer on the lock?"
As if on cue the slight click of the tumblers falling into place could be heard. "Ask and you shall receive. Let's go."
The two thieves snuck in though the door, stepping lightly. The home was that of a rich member of the Roman elite, a banker or merchant, the two were not entirely sure. While they were no Borgia or Medici, they were still an affluent family with lots of wealth laying around.
The two walked through the attic, doing their best to avoid some of the furniture and items that had been stored there. They noticed some stairs leading down into the rest of the house at the end other end and made their way there.
As they were about to reach the stairs Piero heard a loud thud, quickly followed by an even louder "Merda!" Turning around he saw Alessio rubbing his head with both his hands.
Trying to stifle a laugh and yell at someone at the same time was difficult at best, but Piero was able to keep most of the mirth out of his voice. "Quiet stolto, we don't want to wake everyone up do we?"
"Shut up, that hurt" Alessio growled back in response. "I wasn't even that loud, let's just find this guys office and get what we're looking for. This job just keeps pissing me off more and more."
The two reached the stairs. Looking down they couldn't see any lights, but it was always better safe than sorry. Piero took the lead and walked down the stairs, letting his brother wait at the top for his signal. Once he was halfway down he stopped to take another look.
The stairs led into the second floor hallway. Across from where he was standing he saw the stairs leading to the first floor. There were three doors in the hallway, one next to the other stairs, one directly to the right of where Piero was, and the last between the two. A faint bit of light was coming from the door nearest the stairs.
Since the family had no children it was safe to assume that that room led to the main bedroom. From there it was just a fifty-fifty guess as to which of the other rooms were his office. Piero signaled for his brother to come down.
He walked up to the nearest door as Alessio was coming down.
"Is that the office?" Alessio whispered as he notice Piero moving towards the door.
"It's either this door or the other one, so we'll just have to find out." He whispered back.
Piero slowly turned the knob of the door, making sure he didn't make any noise. He peered inside the room and let out a small cry of accomplishment. He had guessed correctly.
"Come on" he whispered to his brother "And close the door, don't want someone taking a peak."
Alessio quickly followed into the room, and just as silently as his brother had opened the door, closed it.
Inside the office was a large wooden desk in the middle of the room, with several chairs around it. There was a large bookcase along one wall filled with books and trinkets. Across from that was a small fireplace, embers slowly dying inside of it.
Piero walked towards the fireplace with a candle he had taken from the desk and leaned it into the embers. After a few seconds the candle lit up and the room was bathed in a soft yellow glow. Just enough for the two thieves to look around, but not enough to give their presence away.
"Alright, we're looking for a small chest. Let's get to it."
The two spent the next twenty minutes looking all over for where the chest might be hidden. While wanting to make sure they looked everywhere, they were careful to put everything they moved back. As any good thief knows, it's impolite to disturb the victims personal affairs to much.
As Piero was looking around the bookcase for a hidden wall, Alessio was looking under the carpets. He noticed one of the planks under the carpet near the fireplace was worn away one one side.
He reached down into the groove and lifted. There, hidden in a small compartment, was a small chest, some rolled up parchment, and a few bags of coins.
"Piero, I found it" Alessio happily called out.
Piero moved from where he was searching to kneel next to his brother over the hole.
"Nice job, is the chest locked?"
"Let's see" Alessio turned it over in his hands several times trying to find a lock, but he couldn't find it. In fact, the chest seemed to have no discernible marks or grooves at all. It was almost like one solid chunk of wood.
He gave it a shake and heard some rattling around. "At least it isn't empty. I'll handle the box, you get the coins. I want to get out of here before we push our luck too much."
"Hold on, I want to see what these documents say."
"Seriously? Now? We've got what we want, let's go." Alessio insisted.
"Hey, these could be worth some serious money, it'll only take a few seconds. Relax."
"Ugh. If you keep this up we're going to get caught."
"Says the guy that picked a fight with me earlier tonight on the roof of our targets house."
Alessio went to make a comment but Piero was already leaning over the papers and studying them. He knew he wouldn't be listening so he started to look the chest over again.
Because the two were preoccupied they didn't hear the door creak open, and didn't notice the hooded figure until he was almost completely in the room.
"Merda!" Alessio exclaimed as he shoved the chest into his pocket. "We've got company Piero!"
Before Piero could register what his brother had said the figure was already charging him. Alessio tried to intercept him, but the man just jumped and rolled off of his back. Alessio was caught by surprise and didn't think to stop himself. He crashed into the wall with a resounding thud, dazing himself in the process.
The figure was still coming towards Piero, and having seen how quickly he disposed of his little brother he wasn't taking any chances. He grabbed the candle they had been using and threw it at the man's face.
He was able to swat it away before it hit him, but while his attention was focused on that Piero made his move. He closed the gap between them and threw his elbow into the figures face. He acted quickly and ducked below the elbow and struck Piero in the side of his knee.
"Ah!" While not painful it did cause him to fall, and that left him open to take a swift kick to the side of the head.
Alessio was beginning to get his bearings back and start to stand, but the man did not wait for him. He grabbed the papers that Piero was looking at and rushed out of the room.
He was stopped at the door however by the owner of the house and a very sharp sword. Their scuffle had woken him, and he was none too happy to see several strange men raiding his office.
The man looked to be in his late twenties with short brown hair. Since he had just woken up he was not wearing a shirt and his muscles were plain to see. That sword he was wielding likely wasn't for show either, making him seem all the more dangerous.
"No you don't you rotten assassins! You don't think I'm just going to let you get away with those documents do you?" The man sneered at the hooded figure in front of him.
"Now you just hand those over and we'll all wait for the guards to take the lot of you in." He was waving his sword dangerously at the hooded figure, forcing him to walk back into the room.
"I'm sure the Borgia would be delighted to pick your little assassin brains for your hideout, oh yes. I think I'll be greatly rewarded for your capture."
At this point Alessio had gotten to his brother's side, and had picked him up. The two stood side by side with this strange conversation going on in front of them. "Uh, I'd just like to say that we're not assassin's or whatever you're talking about. We were just here to take your gems." As Alessio said this he showed the chest to the older man and the hooded figure. "So if you just want to take this back we'll be on our way."
Both men looked surprised to see the chest out in the open, though the sword wielding owner reacted much more violently than the assassin did.
"That isn't a gem box you fools! Put that down now! You have no idea the power that you have in your hand!" As he spoke he changed his focus from the assassin to the two thieves, a big mistake.
The assassin quickly knocked the man's blade aside, and while he tried to counter with a punch, the assassin ejected a blade from his wrist and jammed it directly into the man's head.
He sputtered a little, blood pooling around where the bladed entered his skull. Then the assassin pulled his blade back and the man crashed to the ground, dead as could be.
While not being strangers to death themselves, the two brothers had a distinct fear that the assassin could kill them both very easily. They kept quiet as the assassin turned to them.
He raised his arms and pulled back his hood. Underneath the brothers could see that he was a handsome man with a goatee and a small scar crossing his upper lip on the left side.
He put on a slight smile and spoke to the two, "You two did very well to sneak into a Templar's home. Tell me, what do you know about the assassin's?"