Hey Everyone! New Chappie, eh? Heh I broke my record with this one! Tis my longest one yet (Yay!)! Anyways, as always I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to all my reviewers, to everyone who has added this story to their favorites or their alerts and to everyone who has just read this! I thank you all for your support and your kind words!
Again, a special shoutout to my friends and my very epic beta~ SporkedGamer, Mismatch-Lover, Dragon's-Maidens and ScrabbleJak (Hi guys :3)
Well there is really only one song I listened to while working on this chapter which I put down below :3
And I hope you enjoy, everyone! Have fun reading!
I'm not the same as yesterday
Ooh...It's hard to explain
How things have changed
But I'm not the same as before
And I know there's so much more ahead
I can barely believe that I'm here
And I won't surrender quietly
Step up and watch me go
E for Extinction by Thousand Foot Krutch
Chapter 4
Dinner with the Family
"What? That can't be our only option!" Rosa shouted in anger, standing up from her chair abruptly.
Leonardo remained calm despite Rosa's outburst and spoke to her in a placid tone "Rosa, Ezio needs the help of the apple to complete his mission. Besides, from what he has told me, he is the prophet. It is his destiny to wield the apple."
"But—"Rosa stopped, looking visibly disheartened. She sighed and fell slowly into the chair, bowing her head. "I just...don't want to lose him again." She spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, but still loud enough for both Leonardo and Ezio to hear clearly.
Hearing this, Ezio reached out to Rosa, gently lifting her chin and cupping her face with both his hands, speaking with complete certainty. "You won't. I promise."
Rosa smiled faintly, but it didn't reach her eyes, and they remained troubled. "That's what you said last time..."
"I'm still here, aren't I? I was just lost for a little while," Ezio told Rosa in a cheerful tone, obviously trying to cheer her up. But his attempt didn't seem to work as she seemed to now be fighting back tears. Unsure of what else to do, Ezio pulled Rosa into a tight embrace. "It's alright to cry you know." Almost as though she was given permission to do so, Rosa let out all the emotions she had kept locked away during the time she was without Ezio. She began to cry her heart out onto Ezio's shoulder as he gently rocked her back and forth while whispering words of comfort.
As her sobs began to slow, Leonardo turned to look outside, and he frowned lightly when he saw that the sky had begun to grow dark. "Ezio, Rosa, I'm sorry to interrupt, but it is almost nightfall. Ezio, you need to hurry if you hope to get home in time for you to have dinner with your family."
Ezio nodded but waited until Rosa had fully composed herself before speaking. "You're right. It would be strange if I did not attend, as I have obviously not been at Cristina's."
Leonardo's eyes twinkled in delight and the smile could be heard in his voice. "Well, that is for sure. But you have been at a friend's home for the day."
"Oh, Leonardo, il mio carissimo amico," Ezio told him, grinning.
Leonardo chuckled in return. "Si,il mio amico. Now, just explain to your family that you found me struggling with some boxes and offered me some help. Tell them that I asked if you would like me to give you a tour of my workshop and you accepted. After I had shown you around, we talked for a while and got so caught up in our conversation that you lost track of the time. Sound good?"
"Yes, it sounds like a perfect excuse."
Leonardo smiled, and then gasped a little as he remembered. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He quickly dashed off into another room of his workshop. From that room, sounds of boxes being moved and falling papers could be heard. All of a sudden, Leonardo emerged from the room carrying a box filled with paintings. He walked over and deposited it on the table where Ezio and Rosa still sat. "Here are your mother's commissions. That way you have proof that you were here! Also, give her my thanks for commissioning me, not only for her patronage, but because I wouldn't have met either of you otherwise! Just don't tell her that!"
Both Rosa and Ezio laughed lightly at that.
After a brief moment of silence, Ezio fidgeted in his seat before standing and asking hesitantly, "Leonardo, would it be all right if Rosa stayed here for the night?"
"Of course it would!" Leonardo exclaimed delightedly, raising his arms in the air happily.
"Can't I come?" Rosa asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Ezio smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'd love for you to come, but…"
"But what?"
"My family would think that you're my next, um, conquest." At this, Rosa crossed her arms, raising one eyebrow, her questioning appearance clearly stating 'Oh really?'Ezio hastily tried to explain. "At this time, I was actually with Cristina. So my family would just assume I broke up with her to be with you—"
Rosa raised her hand, effectively stopping his rant, and burst out laughing. Ezio looked at her with a very dubious expression and seemed to be wondering if she had gone mad. "Ezio, I was only kidding! I understand. But I just love to see you scrambling like that. You looked like a hopeless fool!" She continued laughing and soon both Ezio and Leonardo joined in.
Following their brief bout of laughter, Ezio picked up the apple, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and placed it into his satchel.
He grabbed the box filled with his mother's commissions and quickly made his way to the door. But he paused, glancing back as though he had forgotten something truly important. He walked swiftly back to Rosa, and he gave her a brief, but passionate kiss. He smiled, uttering a quick 'see you soon' to her grinning face, then hurried out the door.
)O(
Ezio walked through the dark, yet lively streets of Florence, and swiftly arrived at the Palazzo Auditore. As he walked, a small white object on the ground caught his eye. Recognizing immediately what it was, Ezio placed the box down. He snatched the object and stashed it in his satchel; then he picked up the box and continued on his way.
Once he reached the front door, he gently set the box on the ground and turned the door's knob, successfully opening it slightly. Ezio picked up the box once again and pushed open the door with his shoulder, closing it lightly with his foot. He could hear the cheerful chatter of his family in the dining room. Taking a deep breath, Ezio nervously walked into the room where his family was.
"Ezio, there you are!" Federico called to Ezio cheerfully from his spot at the table next to Maria and across of Claudia, who sat to the right of Petruccio while Giovanni sat at the end of the table.
Ezio chuckled sheepishly "Well, hello to you too, fratello.Oh, and mother, I have the paintings that you commissioned from Leonardo da Vinci." He lifted the box in his arms slightly to emphasis what he was holding.
Maria smiled warmly at her son. "Thank you, Ezio. But how did you know that I even had paintings commissioned from Leonardo?"
Ezio knew that now was the time to fully establish a perfect story and stick with it. Otherwise, he would be seen through his lie. "Well, you see; I ran into him today on the streets. He was struggling with some boxes of painting supplies and so I offered to carry them back to his workshop."
"So did you stay at Leonardo's for the entire day?"
"Yes." Ezio cleared his throat awkwardly. "Leonardo is a very...interesting man. He was good company, and made for good conversation."
"I see," Maria said blatantly, clearly unconvinced by her son's excuse for his absence during the day, but said nothing more.
Sensing that his mother's questioning had ended, Ezio rested the box down near the wall of the dining room and walked towards his usual spot at the table, which was left vacant in his absence. He slowly pulled out the chair, which made a very loud, unpleasant screeching noise as it scratched against the floor in Ezio's reluctance to join the table. Cringing at the sound, he stared at the troublesome chair for a moment before looking up at his family diffidently. "Heh. Sorry about that."
Ezio's family was deathly silent as they stared at him. That is, until Federico began to snicker, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. Petruccio and Giovanni were quick to join in, Claudia tried to resist the urge to laugh, and Ezio saw his mother about to scold his father and siblings before she, too, cracked up. As they shook with laughter, Ezio looked around to see his family's warm, smiling faces, their faces showing nothing but delight. They were completely unaware of the terror that would strike them in only two days. Ezio could feel tears begin to form in the corner of his eyes at the sight of his family as how it once was before it was horrifically torn apart.
'No! This time won't turn out like that, I swear it!' he thought as he blinked away the tears that had taken shape.
Turning his attention away from his family and his troubled thoughts, Ezio looked upon the delicacies which adorned the table. Cooked and heavily spice-covered pheasant, sweet, fresh fruit; and soft, finely ground wheat filled bread were only some of the things that decorated the heavily stocked table.
He had forgotten how differently he ate as an assassin compared to when he was still a noble living with his family. The stale bread and occasional unflavoured meat he had grown accustomed to eating (generally at inns) when he was back in his time, was nothing compared to the delicious meal before him.
Maria, Claudia, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio had all stopped laughing by now and were watching Ezio as he stared hungrily at the food. As they did this his stomach growled loudly and Ezio realized that he had not eaten anything all day. Giovanni smiled warmly at his second eldest son. "Well, don't just stare at the food. Go ahead and eat, Ezio," his father told him, waving his hand over the table as a signal to dig in.
Ezio immediately complied. He was unsure of what to eat first, so he reached for the decadent pheasant, grabbing a piece and– in what was not the most mannerly way possible- shoved it into his mouth. His mother sent him a scolding look at his obvious lack of manners to which he muttered out a small "Sorry." Unfortunately, he did so with a mouth full of food, which caused Maria to send him an even more reprimanding gaze. Ezio swallowed his food. Bowing his head, he spoke once again, although, this time he did so with a clear voice. "Sorry, mother."
Across the table, Federico appeared to be once again holding in laughter at his brother's entertaining misfortune. Maria glanced in his direction, her scolding look unwavering before turning to Ezio, her features quickly changing to that of concern. "Ezio, are you alright? You're acting quite strangely today..."
Ezio looked up at his mother, trying not to appear perturbed. "I'm alright; it's just been a...long day."
Maria still looked concerned, but spoke in a light-hearted tone. "Get some sleep then, tonight. That means no gallivanting off to Cristina's later." Her look of concern was now replaced with a knowing one; Maria knew her sons all too well.
Ezio smiled brightly. "Don't worry, mother. I won't." 'I'd rather go visit somewhere else tonight…but it really would be best if I didn't,' he thought quietly to himself before continuing with his meal.
Dinner continued peacefully, light chatter and laughs were shared among the family. Ezio did his best to remain calm throughout the dinner, although it was still difficult to convince himself that this all wasn't a dream. He looked at the smiling faces of his father and brothers, none of which deserved to die in two days, especially little Petruccio. The small boy was entirely innocent and unaware of the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. He knew that even if his youngest sibling wasn't hung that day, Petruccio wouldn't have lived much longer because of his illness. Either way, Ezio still wanted his little brother to have the best life he could up until the day he died. Dying in a way filled with fear and confusion certainly didn't count. As dinner ended, Ezio watched Petruccio got up from the table, and so he did as well. He walked over to his little brother. "Petruccio."
Petruccio stopped walking and turned around at the sound of his name. "Yes, brother?"
Smiling, Ezio reached into his satchel and pulled out the object which he had picked up earlier and handed it to his brother. "Here, this is for you."
Ezio's younger brother gasped in surprise as the object reached his small hands. "A feather! I've wanted one so badly!" Petruccio rushed forward and enveloped his brother in a tight hug - despite only reaching up to his brother's chest in height - which Ezio gladly returned. "Thank you so much, Ezio!" Petruccio ran off to his room, no doubt in order to begin his stash of beloved feathers that would be placed in his box.
"That was very kind of you, my son. But how did you know he wanted a feather?" Came Giovanni's questioning voice from behind Ezio.
Ezio spun around to face his father, and he knew he had to think of a lie as quickly as possible. "I... saw him looking at feathers on a rooftop a few days ago a-and thought that if I saw one, I'd give it to him, which I did." He spoke quickly and stuttered slightly, making him appear questionable. But fortunately Giovanni saw it as Ezio merely being embarrassed by doing what he may have thought to be childish.
His father smiled tenderly. "Petruccio looks up to you Ezio, it's good to see that you look out for him." Giovanni pulled his son into a hug, which Ezio hesitantly returned.
A pang of guilt rushed through Ezio at his father's words, though Giovanni had meant nothing but praise for his son. His words still caused Ezio to think upon how he had failedto look out for Petruccio, for all of his family.
Ezio wore a despair of sorrow that reflected his inner upheaval. His father saw this look, but said nothing. He knew there was something troubling his son, but he also knew him well enough to know that he would tell them what was wrong when he was ready to. He released his son from the hug and held him out at arm's length with his hand on Ezio's shoulders. "Just remember that no matter what, your mother and I are very proud of you."
It was still quite early in the evening and Ezio decided that it would be suspicious if he went to bed, no matter how tiring the day was. He walked over towards the living room where his mother was currently sitting at her favourite chair and sewing up a hole in one of his father's shirts. Claudia was resting near the window reading a book, and Federico was off studying.
Federico looked up from his studies when he heard his younger brother approaching. "Well hello there, fratello.Do you fancy a game of chess? This studying was getting overly boring," he asked Ezio, placing his book and quill down beside him.
Ezio missed the games of chess he played with his brother. Sure, he had played chess with others after becoming an assassin; Leonardo, for example, was someone he played with often. But it still was not the same thing and so he was eager to accept his brother's invitation. "Of course! I'd be happy to!"
Federico grinned broadly, and standing up he walked over to the chess table, taking a seat on the side where the white pieces lay. Ezio followed closely behind his brother and sat down on the side of the table with the red pieces were placed.
Once they had both settled into their seats, Federico reached towards one of his pawns. Picking it up, he placed it on E4 –a popular opening move—and was still smiling cheekily, clearly thinking that this game would end in his victory. Unfortunately for Federico, something that he did not know was that in the future, Ezio had improved greatly at playing chess as well as overall strategy. Ezio countered his brother's move with a very well thought through tactical move. This surprised Federico-his brother had clearly gotten better. 'Baby brother is starting to grow up,' he thought.
The game continued on and Ezio continued to show his skill, managing to pull off many moves, including pinning, skewering, and forking his brother more than once. Soon, the game came close to its end; Ezio had just taken Federico's queen, leaving his brother with only his king, while he himself still kept his rooks as well as his king. Ezio managed to corner Federico's king, and, moving his rook, it was over.
"Checkmate."
The room was filled with a shocked silence before it was broken by Giovanni clapping. Ezio hadn't even noticed that his father had come into the room to watch their game.
"Well done, my son. It's seems that you listened to the advice I gave you the last time you played against your brother, and because of that, you finally managed to win," his father told him proudly.
It was true, Ezio had listened to his father's advice, and in the future, he knew that it had helped him with far more than just chess.
"Thank you, father." By now, Ezio had grown overwhelmed by the presence of his family and really just felt the dire need to escape. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I think that I'll retire for the evening. I've had a long day." Without waiting for an answer, he quickly ran from the room. As soon as he felt he had gotten far enough away, he calmed down and his steps grew slower.
)O(
Ezio slowly walked to his room, gently trailing his hand along the wall, his path illuminated only by the dim candle light from the lamps that hung on the walls. He took the time to look at everything in great detail, and he realized it was just as he remembered it. The walls were decorated with paintings of almost every kind, the floor was covered with soft, colourful rugs, and the house was filled with the sweet aroma of light lavender incense. The nostalgia brought a small smile to his face as he remembered his childhood, how he grew up taking these simple things for granted.
As an assassin, he truly learned that not everyone were as privileged as he. During his time as a noble, he looked down upon those of the lower classes. Now that he knew the truth, he felt guilty for thinking and doing the things he did. He knew that his father never did such things, and he knew why. An assassin was by no means one of the higher "classes" they were just as good as scum. Well, based on the views of Templar rule, anyways.
'And I certainly learned that the hard way,' Ezio thought as he reached the door to his room. Turning the handle and pushing it open, he walked inside.
The moonlight, which fed through the window, lit up Ezio's modestly sized, yet well-furnished bedroom. A soft bed, a small wooden dresser to hold his clothes, a well-stocked bookshelf, and a night stand with a single candle resting upon it, were what made up his room. The room was decorated with wallpaper, a few paintings, as well as rugs, which were spread across the floor.
He had neglected to take a look at his room that morning in his panic, and so he did so now as he made his way towards his bed. He sighed once again as he remembered his room fondly, it –like the entire palazzo—was a place where he had always felt entirely safe. But he knew that his family was what really made it a home. They were the ones that truly made him feel safe. That was why he had never returned to stay at the palazzo; the emptiness was suffocating and felt loneliness whenever he passed by it during his time in Florence.
Upon reaching his bed, Ezio fell onto it and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, contemplating what had happened before closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. He could only hope that he was prepared for what was to come.
