The bell chimed its low, grand, hollow tune from atop the chapel. A place of worship, soon to be a place of bloodshed.
Ezio had even been given a second hidden blade for this job. Poala had managed to provide him with a bit more information about who the conspirators were (even though he had not managed to terminate any), not that he was not still largely flailing in the dark:
One they had deduced was Archbishop of Pisa Francesco Salviati, likely vengeful that the Medici had stood in his way of becoming Archbishop of Florence.
Another was, unsurprisingly, Francesco de'Pazzi, father of the late Vieri.
A third, she guessed, was Jacopo de'Pazzi, uncle of Francesco, and chief of the Pazzi banking operations.
But how many of these men would directly participate in the assault was unclear, and only Francesco de'Pazzi could he recognize by appearance.
There were thousands of faces in this crowd. A human jungle ripe for hiding...especially from Assassins. Even with his special talent he had failed to locate a single of the Templars in this sea of humans.
Were they to arrive just before the Medici presented themselves?
Was it possible they did not intend to show at all? Was it the wrong Sunday?
Regardless, he had to see this through.
He was worried, an uncertain soul in his chest. The fate of Florence and all its denizens hung in his hangs. And his mission to stop the Templars was off to a poor start.
Then he spotted Lorenzo de'Medici, holding his wife's hand delicately, look of content assurance, blissful ignorance. The climax of the day was approaching. Ezio weaved through the crowd to get closer to Lorenzo, for whenever the peace would break.
His brother Guliano was several paces behind with his own spouse, with a similar look of dumb contentment. They had no idea of the breath-taking ironies that were about to unfold. Hopefully they would live to reflect. Still, the Assassin could not help but feel he was in over his head now. The Templars had lost the element of surprise, but nothing else. The poor nineteen year old was full of dread. If he failed today...he failed all the Assassins and Auditores in Florence.
Lorenzo was about to enter the chapel when he was stopped by two of his monks. They began conversing. Were they in on it? The conspirators could be anyone, he of all people knew to expect the unexpected. Though it was Lorenzo's back that worried Ezio more than his facade.
Then suddenly there came the awaited anomaly. Ezio turned to the source of a battle cry as fat man in red broke through the crowd running towards Guliano, yelling, followed by the illustrious Francesco de'Pazzi.
Dammit, Ezio had chosen the watch the wrong man! The boy's first thought was to try to intercept the attackers, but was it too late for him? Should he focus on Lorenzo? What if those monks were among the conspirators?
The attackers made it to Guiliano and his wife screamed in grotesque terror as they began stabbing him. Ezio turned to Lorenzo, just as Lorenzo turned to the commotion. One of his monks took out a knife and went for a jab. No!
Ezio cringed inside. But it seemed to miss its target and merely graze his neck. Still, it brought Lorenzo to his knees. Ezio was horrified as he had so far been completely ineffectual. The nobleman turned to intercept a subsequent stab and managed to throw off the attacking traitor before back pedaling and drawing his own sword.
Doing the best he could at this point, the fugitive Auditore charged to assist Lorenzo. It was too late for Guiliano.
The black-robed monks seemed to notice, and took off running. But they were far from the only threat. Ezio stopped when a voice to his right caught his attention. It was Francesco, sword drawn confident, bloodied, and erect. He was advancing towards Lorenzo, slowly but eagerly. He did not even seem to be giving Ezio attention.
"Lorenzo, your life ends today, your entire-" Ezio did not indulged his proud babbling, and he began charging the cocky Pazzi with all his mite. "-family dies by my hand. You were useful for us, but you have become-"
But the Auditore got the Pazzi's attention as soon as he was close, and Francesco grabbed his arm and punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
But his attention turned immediately back to Lorenzo, rather than finishing off Ezio, who he began charging. The Auditore, feeling both grateful and slightly insulted by the dismissal, hustled himself to his feet only to hear another set of feet pounding their way towards him.
Ezio blocked an inbound sword with a metal bracer. The assailant was a Pazzi soldier whom he then punched him in the throat with his hidden blade.
But as the man fell out of relevance, the boy could see he was far from the only soldier who had joined a growing frey. Both Medici loyalists and Pazzi rebels were clashing swords and fists.
But the Assassin had to prioritize the most important man in this equation: Lorenzo de'Medici. He was dueling Francesco. It was too late for his brother, but Ezio would save one life if he could, and earn the gratitude of the most powerful man in the city. Hopefully he could snatch Francesco's life as well.
Ezio charged for the next link in the Pazzi lineage. As his feet pounded the tiled ground and the world bounced, he got closer and closer while steel clanged around him.
But even as the boy approached the dynamic seemed to be shifting.
Franesco seemed to on the defensive, getting backed against the wall. He seemed fearful. When Ezio was close, the once cocky man now put in an embarrassing and frightening position. In a surprise and cowardly move, he abruptly took off.
Ezio charged furiously to catch up but was taken by surprise as he got tackled to the ground. When the world ceased to be a blur he saw a rambunctious civilian above him, reeling back his fists.
Ezio was in an unflattering position, but before any nastiness could befall him there was a harsh zip through the air, and an arrow was stuck in the assailant's throat.
He threw the aggressive Florentine off of him and turned to see one of Lorenzo's archers standing with an empty bow.
The boy nodded huskily. "Grazie." He got to his feet.
But Francesco was now out of sight. The brave civilian had served the subject of his affections well. And protecting the remaining brother was Ezio's current priority. He turned to Lorenzo.
No longer occupied with a fight, the Medici dropped his sword tiredly, and grabbed the back of his neck. He panted heavily.
"Signore, are you alright?" Ezio ran over and inquired. Was he about to watch the second Medici brother die before his eyes? When he had known about the attack days in advance and still been able to do nothing? The Templars had been good, very good, damn them.
When Lorenzo caught his breath, he finally looked up and said, "You...you saved my life." He had confidence in his own vitality, that was encouraging. He eyed the hooded stranger with a hazy gaze. "Who...who are you?"
This would be a jarring introduction:
"Ezio Auditore," the nineteen year old said simply. It had probably been over a year since he last heard that name but-
"Ezio Auditore..." Lorenzo repeated in quiet disbelief. "You mean..."
"Yes, son of Giovanni Auditore. I am the one who escaped execution. But we will discuss that later. Right now we need to get you to safety."
The archer who had rescued Ezio offered Lorenzo de'Medici a hand to bring him to his feet, then offered him his shoulder.
"Grazie, Raffaele. Please, to my home. Ezio Auditore, please, stay with me," the nobleman requested. Around them fighting could be heard all over the city. The mass attendants had mostly scattered, a few stragglers still filtering out of the plaza.