Vivian took one look at the long wrapped item in Vero's hands and said, "What is that? A sword?"
"Not just any sword." Emilio answered with a knowing smirk while Vero removed the cords and cloth. "It's the Mezzanotte family sword; Forte Amore, borne from the mind of Xaviero Mezzanotte himself and crafted by one of the best blacksmiths in the world, at least, so I've been told."
Squalo gazed silently at the sword for a minute with thought. Vero noticed this, and that's when the Varia member commented with, "Voi, what's up with that? Have you quit practicing your swordsmanship already?"
"Ah, I can see why you would say that…" Vero said in reply after glancing at his sword. "But no, I haven't given up yet. I'm actually training with a practice sword, so I won't break or damage this one. Might need it for the journey anyway." – he then walked over to the table and set the sword down before he turned to Vivian – "You think you can get anything from this?"
Vivian moved her gaze from Vero to the sword before she answered thoughtfully.
"Well I do feel some sort of energy coming from it…" she said as she slowly reached out towards it. "May I?"
Vero allowed her to, so she took Forte Amore in her hands gingerly and closed her eyes. For a moment it seemed like nothing was going to happen, until Vivian jerked quickly, and then jerked again as she came back, panting for air.
"A man…with black hair…He has the sword…" she stated with urgency, getting all of the details out so she wouldn't forget. "He's…He's walking through an ornate front door into…into…" – she paused for a moment to catch her breath and remember what she saw – "It looks sort of like…a yellow golden hall lined with deep blue carpeting?"
"Well the man with the black hair and sword is obviously Vero's psycho of an uncle." Squalo commented.
"And the place she described happens to be the entranceway to the Mezzanotte manor, before it was wrecked by Nero himself." Antonio added while he adjusted his glasses.
"Does that mean that our next clue could be there?" Shigure asked.
"There's a possibility that it could." Romario answered with thought as he then turned to Vero. "What do you think, boss?"
The Cavallone boss pondered for a moment before he gazed at the group's worn expressions.
The day had been a long one, what with the scuffle with the Alvisio family and the gathering of the group. Not to mention that Squalo, Shigure, and Vivian had all travelled so far to join in the search and probably needed some rest.
"I believe we need to rest for the night." Vero replied authoritatively. "That way we'll be ready to regroup in the morning and continue the search."
The others agreed, and so they all settled in for a good night's sleep…
That is, except for Squalo, who was making the rounds because he sensed that someone else was awake too. He was never really a sound sleeper anyway.
Mere minutes later, he was pounding on Vero's bedroom shouting, "VOI! Open up!"
"What do you want so late at night that you have to wake up the whole mansion, Squalo?" the Cavallone boss asked tiredly as he opened the door.
"I caught this rat snooping around in your office!" the Silver haired man replied as he pulled Shigure forward by his collar.
Vero instantly became alert, looking to Shigure for an answer with deep concern. The teal haired male hesitated for a moment and then let it out as he answered with, "Look, I was just searching for the bathroom, okay?!"
For what seemed like forever, the Cavallone boss narrowed his eyes at Shigure, trying to see any sign that Shigure might be lying. After noticing that he saw no fault in the teal haired man, Vero told Squalo to let him go.
"But-." The silver haired man started to protest. "I saw him going through your files!"
"I was looking for a map of the manor in them!" Shigure stated in his defense.
"See? We do have some in our files." Vero added, noticing that Squalo was about to protest again. "Look, I heard what you had to say, and I saw that he wasn't lying. I'm tired and I want to get back to sleep. Good night Squalo."
And with that, Vero closed the door, leaving a growling and annoyed Squalo with a trembling Shigure.
"Can…Can you let me go now…?" Shigure asked hesitantly, earning a menacing glare from the man holding him. Shigure jumped, wondering what the crazy Varia member would do next, but he just sighed angrily and let him go before stalking off down the hallway…
"Okay so…" Shigure stated the next day as the group stood at the doors to the Mezzanotte main hideout. "Ladies first I guess?"
All the males then turned to Vivian in response and all she had to say was, "Yeah, sure I could…"
The doors then opened, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold, she collapsed onto the floor and blacked out.
"Vivian!" Vero shouted as he ran to her, the others not falling too far behind. After shaking her, trying to wake her up, he gazed up at Emilio for an answer.
"The stronger the lead, the stronger effect it has on her." Vivian's uncle explained. "Right now you could say that she's taking a trip back to the past…"
"Ugh," Vivian uttered as she became conscious, sitting up and rubbing her temples. "No matter how many times this happens, I still haven't gotten used to it!" – she shook her head a little before analyzing her surroundings – "Looks like I'm back in my vision again, which means…"
She turned around, and just at that moment the doors opened, revealing the young man that the others had identified as Vero's uncle Nero.
He was pretty young, looking to be in his early teen years, and stood at five feet tall. His very dark blue – almost black – hair was in a normal short cut with his bangs nearly covering his dark blue eyes – one of which had the telltale Mezzanotte star in them. He wore a simple blue shirt with dark grey slacks, and had an unsheathed Forte Amore in his possession.
Looking deeply angered, he passed the ghostly Vivian deeper into the manor. She followed him silently, until he came to the open doors of the meeting room, where most of the inner circle of the Mezzanotte family – including Xaviero and Annalisa – were chatting and generally having a good time.
Xaviero noticed him standing there and said, "Ah, Nero my son. What brings you here?"
The smile and glad greetings only made Nero all the more angered. "How can you greet me so lightheartedly, father, when we both know the truth now?" he asked, causing Xaviero to become concerned as his brows furrowed and he frowned a little. "Is it true that Rosetta will be the next boss, and not me?"
"Now Nero, we never chose either of you as the next boss." Xaviero stated in reply seriously. "We have already decided on holding a fair match between the two of you as the deciding factor of who becomes boss."
His son let out a low growl before going on to say, "But you're obviously on her side! You've sent her off to an established mafia academy and what do I get? I have to stay home and learn my lessons here!"
"Nero! That was uncalled for!" Annalisa commented, surprised at her son's angered behavior. "Besides, you chose to threaten one of your teachers, and now you're paying the-."
"ENOUGH! I've had enough of this!" Nero yelled out, making all who were in the room jump. "Whether you deny it or not, you all are on Rosetta's side. I'm the oldest! I should be the boss automatically!" – Xaviero made a move to interject, but Nero continued before he could do so – "And if I can't have my way, then I wish you all would disappear and never come back!"
A wind then picked up in the room despite the windows being open, and all who were in the room disappeared except for Nero. At that moment, Vivian was pulled out of the vision as she once again became conscious in the present…
Opening her eyes, Vivian found herself laying on an ornate blue couch, in a room that was quite unfamiliar to her. Instantly she noticed her uncle standing in the doorway and asked him, "Uncle Emilio, where are we?"
He jerked a little with surprise in response and turned around to face her, relieved that she had awakened.
"Don't worry, we're still at the Mezzanotte manor, we just couldn't have you laying in the entranceway, so we moved you here." Emilio explained. "Are you okay?" – Vivian nodded a little and he turned to the doorway – "I'm going to gather up everyone, so just sit tight okay?" With that he left the room to do as he had said.
Once everyone had come together, Vivian explained to everyone what she had seen in her vision.
"So you didn't see where they had been sent?" Vero asked her when she had finished.
"It's just like I said," Vivian answered simply. "One second they were there, and then the next they were gone."
"Meaning that Nero most likely used Word Conjuring to send them away somehow." Romario stated aloud with thought. "But according to what Rosetta has explained about that ability, he shouldn't have been able to do so…"
"So this vision she had didn't really answer any of the questions we've already asked." Shigure commented.
"That's another mystery atop a bunch of other ones." Squalo added. "Not only that, but also another wall we've run into!"
"Not necessarily." Antonio said in response. "Vero and I were just delving into past files and found something more about the sword Forte Amore." He then motioned for his boss to take over and Vero obliged.
"In the files we found a copy of a written receipt for the sword." He announced with confidence. "Turns out that Forte Amore was forged in China, by a blacksmith who goes by the name of Liáng."
"We're headed off to China then?" Squalo asked as he put two and two together.
"Yes, we are." Vero replied, smiling.
"To China then!" Shigure shouted with excitement as they then made plans to leave for the largest country in Asia…
Words cannot express at this moment how sorry I am for those who have been waiting so long for this chapter! ( ) But I do have a good reason, and that is the hectic last couple of months of school and my job.
But now that I'm off for the summer, I should have more time to write more chapters and make it up to you guys! For those of you who have waited so patiently, thank you so much and your patience will be rewarded!
Till next time!