Chapter 7
When I awoke that night I had wandered outside the Thieves' Guild and beneath the light of the full moon, had transformed into my vicious altered form. With a flap of my wings I had taken off high above the city and began to survey the damage I had done the night before. Fires sprang up all over Rome as the last of the Borgia's watchtowers burned to the ground. I decided it was safe to lower my altitude and fly between the buildings. Nobody ever came out at night anymore. It used to be because of the Borgia's curfew, but now it was the Borgia, as well as the civilians, who stayed inside when the sun had set.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two figures; a man and woman. Rather than get a closer look, I followed them towards as they moved toward the Coliseum.
(OOC note: the following is from Sonja's point of view.)
As I walked through the streets of Rome, I knew that the fires were a result of the actions of the one I'm looking for. I understood that I was risking everything to be here. But, it didn't matter. I knew he was here. And if I died for the chance to see my son, at least I would die happily. Lucian had constantly insisted we keep moving north, but he may not realize that our child could not only be alive, but a hero. When we moved through Walachia, we heard mention of a flying wolf demon that had saved the life of the local lord. The account came from the lord himself.
When I heard it, I knew our child had been there. We tracked down many leads and rumors to get here. Now that we made it, I knew he was close. Despite his protests that we move up north, Lucian never left my side throughout the journey. The center of the ancient Coliseum was a good place to look, but it was empty. Not a living soul was there. Lucian drew his sword as we moved further in. That's when I saw the threat he perceived. A man in white robes and steel armor approached us with his sword drawn. Lucian shoved me to the ground and closed the distance to dispatch his enemy.
As I watched the battle, Lucian had taken numerous blows that to a normal human would be fatal. He was losing a lot of blood and collapsed. The hooded stranger raised his blade and just before he brought it down on Lucian, I threw myself on top of him so that he could live. I took the full force of the blade and the hooded man fled. Lucian ran in the opposite direction as I lay bleeding in the shadow of the false and lying gods.
(OOC note: We're back to our hybrid's viewpoint)
I watched the ensuing scene with shock and horror. I quickly descended into the center of the Coliseum and when I had made it, the woman was lying in a pool of her own blood. I knelt down beside her and turned her body upwards. When I looked into her eyes, I noticed she still had some life left in her. She reached her hand up and stroked the side of my wolven face. "It IS you. My child." I recognized her face now from my earliest memories.
"Mother?"
"Yes. It's me. Don't you remember?" she was breathing heavily between words.
"Just hang in there. I can get you to an apothecary… I can help you."
"No… it's my time."
"Who did this to you?"
"I didn't see his face. But I know who sent him. It was Viktor. Your birth was… a travesty that earned me the death mark. When he heard I was in Rome, the Assassin's Guild must have…." As she said this, tears streamed down my face. "You have learned your father's ways. All the best parts of him live on through you. He is not the monster he's made out to be. I couldn't be prouder to have brought you into the world."
"I know what the humans called me. But what was the name intended for me?"
"Your father gave you a strong name. For his oldest friend inside the coven. Te…." She died right there in my arms. Blood loss had taken a nasty toll. I had gone for many years without ever knowing my mother. To finally meet her only to have her die in my arms felt like a white hot blade had been driven through my heart. My sadness and rage was soon known by all of Rome. The night sky was filled by my mournful howls. A deafening chorus of werewolf howls joined in, as if sympathetic to my suffering.
I had part of the puzzle. My mother WAS a vampire. I lifted her body and carried her through the streets. The rooftops were lined with Assassins, bowing their heads in respect. None of that mattered to me. My mother was murdered and the man responsible is still out there. Her soul cannot rest until he is dead. When I came upon the Thieves' Guild, Selina was standing outside waiting for me. When she saw the body in my arms, she recognized it immediately. "No," she said, "Not Sonja. What did she ever do to you?"
"Nothing. This wasn't my work. It was a member of the Assassin's Guild." We walked inside and I laid my mother's body on one of the empty beds. "She didn't deserve such a fate."
"Was she…close to you?"
"She was my mother. I only just met her today."
"Then you're…"
"I didn't want you to find out like this, but yes. I am the abomination that was the result of comingling the bloodlines." I closed my eyes, allowing myself to become the vicious flying werewolf that had killed off the Borgia's chain of command. When I opened my eyes, my transformation was complete. She had finally seen my true form.
"You take more after your father. This must be why you aren't hurt by the sun." She looked me up and down, taking in my inhuman features. "To think something so beautiful is so hated." She said with approval.
"You don't see this as a travesty?"
"More of an impossibility, but there's no reason you SHOULDN'T exist. You have a gift, whether you know it or not."
"My conception started a war, Selina."
"Sonja wouldn't want you feeling sorry for yourself."
"We'll arrange a funeral in the morning. I owe her that much." When I got a closer look at the body, I saw something that she no-doubt held quite close to her heart. A gold pendant with a small emerald gemstone in the center. Seeing no harm, I took it off of her neck as a memento, a reminder of the mother I never knew. Selina saw me take it, but rather than protest, she approved.
"She'd want you to have it." We took my mother's body to the coroner that night. However, he was closed. "I guess we'll have to do it ourselves. There's a mausoleum beneath the Coliseum. We can leave her there for centuries until we need to move the body." I nodded and we made our way out to the Coliseum. The passage beneath was fortunately clear and we were able to reach the bowels of this ancient battleground. Further down, there was a whole necropolis of dead gladiators that fought here in the days of the empire.
I had found an open stone casket and deftly placed my mother's body within. Selina looked up at me and said "Should we… say a few words for her?" I nodded. "Defiant, loving, loyal. These are just a few words describing Sonja. Her legacy lives on in the miracle she brought into this world. To her people she was a traitor. But to me and to her son, she was more than that. She gave her life to protect her miracle. May God welcome her with open arms, to his divine paradise."
"Well spoken, Selina." I closed the casket and we made our way back to the surface. The sun was beginning to rise. I reverted to my human form to avoid scaring the villagers. And any chance of finding Viktor that day vanished. I decided now was as good a time as any to look for Aleksander's body. I ran out to the gates with Selina following close behind. When we reached the city gates, there was no sign of any remains. He was either alive, or the Nine who Can't Die moved his body elsewhere. We made our way to the Thieves' Guild, our home in the holy city of Rome. I walked up to the bar and found Ezio waiting for me.
"Why the long face, brother?" he asked.
"My mother was murdered last night by a member of the Assassin's Guild. You have no reason to feel concern."
"Oh, shit. I'm so sorry. If it's any consolation, I never would have let him on the contract if I'd known."
"I appreciate that but it's too late. I'm going to need your help. I need you to have Antonio arrange a meeting. Tonight, in the Coliseum." I scribbled on a piece of parchment the name of the individual and what to tell him. He took a look at the name and raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't he the one who sent you to Walachia?"
"He's also the bastard who signed my mother's death warrant."
"I'll contact Antonio to arrange a meeting." Ezio sighed. I went back to my room to find Selina standing there.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"I'm avenging Sonja's death tonight. I'm going to confront Viktor, get some answers, and then I'm going to kill him."
"You don't have to do this! As powerful as you are he's far older and stronger than you think."
"Which is why the element of surprise is crucial. I've got it all worked out. Who does he hate more than anyone else?"
"Lucian. He would always say sparing him was a mistake." That's when I filled her in on the plan. She approved whole-heartedly. Perhaps she hated Viktor more than she let on. I knew that if I failed, she would be branded a traitor and I would be dead. Since that may have been our last night together and that we were both sober, we made love for what we thought was the last time.
The night had come and we were ready to make that bastard pay for his crime. We went out to the Colliseum where we would wait for Viktor to show up. I transformed smoothly into my hybrid form and waited in the shadows while Selina stood in plain sight. When Viktor arrived she showed him the utmost respect. "My friend in the Thieves' Guild tells me Lucian is here, in Roma."
"The rumors are true, my lord. I have captured him alive so you may kill him yourself. He waits in the shadows, bound in chains." I watched him draw closer to me.
"You have done well, Selina. Your father, Markus , would be proud. Leave us." Selina vacated the Coliseum, leaving me and Viktor alone. "So, you think you can get away with taking advantage of my hospitality. Corrupting my daughter." That's when I sprang from the shadows and checked him against the wall, revealing what I truly was.
"I want answers, bastard. A woman, my mother was killed in your name by an Assassin. Who was she?" he was stunned briefly by the gravity of the situation. Here he was, face to face with the creature he viewed as so alien a travesty that he would have killed his own kind to prevent it's creation, but he wasn't afraid.
"Sonja. She ran off with a lycan dog and then she had you. She was a traitor and deserved to die." He managed to free himself from my grip and charged at me with his sword. I extended my blades and redirected his blow, then spun around and elbowed him square in the gut. "I curse the day my bride gave her life to bring your mother into this world!"
"You killed your own DAUGHTER? You BASTARD!" He dashed backwards and I tossed a throwing knife at him, but he dodged it skillfully and Came at me again. I parried each of his blows and when I redirected his next slash, his sword went flying in the opposite direction. And stuck itself into the ground, directly above Sonja's unmarked grave. From then on, it became a bare-knuckle brawl.
He put all his power behind his right fist, but when he delivered his punch, I dodged, forcing him to overstep. When his back was to me, I elbowed him in the spine with my unarmored arm and slashed across his face with my left wing. When he regained his footing, his legs were wide open. I seized the opportunity to deliver a bone-shattering kick to his family jewels. When he was stunned, I tackled him to the ground and held my hidden blade to his throat. "Now… you have five seconds to justify your life."
"I was only trying to protect my species. Your life is a stain on my familial line, just like your mother!" I tried to summon the will to dispatch him right there, but no something held me back. "What are you waiting for? You have me down, defenseless. Finish me. FINISH ME!" I retracted my hidden blade and pulled out a the Dagger I got from Walachia with a cross-like handle and dual edge. I brought it down hard, but I had stabbed it into the ground directly beside Viktor's head.
"Death would be the easy way out," I growled. "You don't deserve it. The guilt will live in you like a disease knowing you condemned your own daughter to death." I retrieved my dagger and walked out of the Coliseum, leaving Viktor with the shame of having been defeated by a living travesty.
"You can't run forever!" he shouted. "There will be nowhere in Italy for you to hide!"
"Let them come. They'll never find me!"
"They'll NEVER stop looking!"
