Book 5 The Unison War, Interlude: The Assassin

"No I beg of you!" The large cardinal scream out in fear. He held the cardinal by his iconic red robe, lifting him high into the air with one arm and his other ready to strike.

"You should have thought of the consequences when you decided to deflower that farmer girl." He replied in disgust.

"She was a temptress! She wove me into her spell. She should be the one who is punished; she has broken my scared outh!" The cardinal hurriedly plead.

"With power comes responsibility. Power has corrupted your heart and I shall see that you pay for your deeds." He replied without showing any emotion.

"No!" The cardinal continue to shout unaware those who's attention he was trying to grab were already dead, killed by this intruder.

"Requiescat in pace." The moment those words were heard, the cardinal fell dead to the ground, killed by the man's hidden blade. He was sure the body would soon be found but not before he was a well away from the scene of the murder.

He made his way to the roof of the cardinal's large manor. Quite large for someone who has given up worldly possessions. The sun was on it's way down, half of it already lower than the horizon, perfect to mask his body. Unlike others who were in his order, he had preferred to be dressed in a matted red robe instead of the traditional white. He was known to strike at sundown, which made the red a perfect way for him to blend into the setting sun as he ran above the city's roofline.

The city was not as he once knew it, gone were the happy days when everyone was a peace, now the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, the hungerless became fat and the hungry became dead. After a long period of zigzagging the roofline, making sure he was not followed, he stopped as he became stuck on the last house before the city ended with the large lake. There was a dozen or so small island that doted the lake and one of them happened to be his order's hideout. He sucked air, enough from his training that allowed him to swim underwater for a minute or so until he reach the entrance to the underground hideout. Making sure there was no one near by to witness his jump, he lept into the water without making a single splash and swiftly swam home.

He was met with a large metal grate that acted as a valve, using his leg he kicked it inwards and swam inside to the protection of air. As he was used to this, he did not need to make a bid for fresh air and continued his otherwise normal breathing pattern. His red robes and it's armour padding were weigh down by the water but he knew it would only last a few moments as they were designed so that they were water resistant.

"Welcome back young Capulet." An old man in white robes replied.

"Please do not call me that Grand Master. Takuya da Capulet di Venezia died on the day old Venice ceased to exist. I am little more than a humble servant to the creed now." Takuya replied.

"I would take it you have completed your mission without concern?" The old man asked. Even though the man was quite old, he was still the Grand Master of their little order and as Takuya had found out, was still very much a natural at the art of killing.

"The cardinal has paid for his crimes." Takuya replied indifferently.

"Good, good." The Grand Master replied as he led Takuya through the hall, "Then we can start planning your next mission my son."

"Next mission Grand Master?" Takuya asked in confusion. Missions were rare and to have two on the same day was virtually unheard of.

"Yes, it seems the new Prime Minister of Britannia has taken a visit to our humble city. You must find out why he is here and what Yggdrasil is after." The old man stated as they continued into their war room. "We do not know what Yggdrasil is, but he is not a god. An immortal maybe but not a god." Replied the Grand Master. "That is why it is vital for you to find us the answers we need."

"As you command Grand Master. Is there anything else?" He asked.

"Yes, it seems the Alberoni are hosting this meeting, no doubt trying to have their daughter Felisa capture the heart of our guest. Make sure you are not recognized." The Grand Master warned. The Alberoni were once a small noble house within the city and they were the first to turn sides when the city was finally captured by the Romans. Their daughter was a year younger than himself and she was a viable marriage candidate according to his father. Of course, that was before he fell in love with Izumi and the outcome of the war.

He still did not fully understand what had happened to his beloved Izumi. When he awoke after weeks in a coma trying to heal from his injuries by the order, he was told by the Grand Master that the Montagues had fled after the city had fallen but word had it their daughter had died in her marriage bed. It was not something Takuya wanted to dwelt on, his own family had too perished during the siege and when he joined the order, he was told to forget his past identity as his only family now were the members of the order.

Takuya left then for the armoury to prepare himself. He looked at his mirror reflection in the armoury room, so much had changed since his defeat by the Roman leader the Golden Lion. The Rebirth, he reminded himself. His reflection was a constant reminder of that day, his left shoulder pad was forged from the armour remains of his former Digimon; shaped like dragons, the exact same as his Digimon. His two bracers were the same, forged from what was left of his Digimon's armour to look just as his Digimon once did and each bracer held a hidden blade, it too made from what had remained of his Digimon's great sword. He then touch the soft spot on his chest which still pained him to this day, the large scar that was visible under his cloak - its pain and its presence was a constant reminder of his failure and his death. Takuya da Capulet did indeed die that day when the Roman leader finished him with his sword, instead he was reborn as an brother of Assassin's brotherhood. He checked himself over once more before heading towards one of the many stands that held a great number of weapons. He found himself pulling one the crossbows from it's case and equipping it on his body as an extra tool for his job. As the meeting was going to held at night time, the crossbow was ideal weapon for himself to taking out guards if they spotted him, his usually method of using the setting sun as camouflage would not work if there was no sun.

He soon found himself emerging from the water onto the banks of the large island which the Alberoni family had made their home after they came to power after the war. The island was a large stretch of land on the east side of the main city island. His own family, along with Izumi's family had built their homes on the former Republic's mainland, on the west of Venice's main island with a single bridge to and from it. The Alberoni were located on the north side of the east island, which meant he had to travel through the rooftops of the suburb. The east island was less dense in terms of houses compared to the main island, it meant Takuya had to make a better effort in hiding himself amongst the shadows. Soon he found himself on the outer walls of the Alberoni manor. It was much larger than his old home, but he guessed with their betray onto the Roman's side, they were becoming much better paid.

Two guards were standing on each side of the main gate, Takuya perched on one of the houses which circled the Alberoni's. Soon he recognized the sound of click-clacking of horses and the squeak of a carriage wheel approaching his direction. The party stopped in front of the gate and Takuya with his well trained ear heard, "Make way for his honour, Prime Minister Jyou de Lyonais." There two guards quickly allowed them to pass and this signal the start of Takuya's mission. He made his way to the back wall where no guards were located and easily scaled the wall by way of degrading brick work. Once he was at the top, he could see that there was little in ways of guards attending the gardens. Not bothering with them, Takuya quickly free ran along the top of the way until he found an area where he could easily jump from the way to the main house. As this was a brick house, Takuya was glad he did not decided to change his colours before setting out as he was perfectly matched to the colour of the wall and without much moon light it made it even harder for a untrained eye to spot him. He slowly made his way up and down, side to side until he reached a window which he was sure lead to an empty room.

He crept within the house, making his way down to where the little party was taking place; when the occasional maid did manage to see him, he was quick to his feet and simply knocked them out or drugged them into a deep sleep. The ballroom was a large room, two floors with an upper balcony to oversee the room. This made the perfect spot of Takuya to spy on the group.

"Come, come my Lord, have you met my beautiful daughter yet?" It was the voice Lord Alberoni as he lead a dark haired man in glasses to his daughter. It was true, Lisa Alberoni had grown into a beautiful women since Takuya had last seen her, although her beauty was no match for his dear Izumi. The Prime Minister bowed and kiss the hand of the girl, she blushed as she became captivated by the young Frenchman. However, Takuya could see that the man did not hold the same regard for the girl who he was greeting, his eyes seemed dull and lifeless but he smiled out of politeness.

"I must say Lord Alberoni, you certainly do have a beauty for a daughter. I do hope she would find a good husband soon; these are dark times and it would be good for her to find a husband that could protect her." The frenchman replied. "My Lord, is there a more, secure place for us to discuss our war efforts?"

"Yes of course but what is the hurry? Would you not like to dance with Lisa first before we have our discussion?" Alberoni asked in confusion.

"Thank you for your kind efforts but I must hurry back to Britannia province after our meeting. My spies have confirmed the Alliance have been gathering their forces for a major attack." the frenchmen replied. Alberoni nodded his head in understanding and ushered the Prime Minister away from the party and signalling his daughter to follow. Takuya pursed but stayed in the shadows, ducking in and out of rooms and corners. The ended up in what Takuya guessed to be the Lord's study. Takuya quickly ducked into the room beside it and made his way to the window, allowing him to make his way to a secondary window leading into the study. The room was large, two stories both wall lined with selves of books, all leading to a large oak desk which Takuya spotted Alberoni and Lyonais. There were two windows in the room, the large main window and a second one on top, too high for anyone from the inside to reach and perfect for Takuya to use for his spying.

"Lisa, please bring us some Port." Alberoni ordered his daughter, she hurried off to bring her father what he had requested. "So milord, what is it that you wish to discuss in such urgency?" Alberoni asked.

"I want what remains of the former Republic's army as reinforcements to the eastern front. Ming is too large and now that the Alliance plans to attack, we need more men." The Frenchman simply asked.

"Milord! The Republic's moral is still low after our defeat, the soldiers surely will not agree to this." Alberoni explained, the Frenchman starred at him with cold eyes.

"Your job is to make the soldiers to agree. I'm sure you do not need reminding what will happen if you do not comply to what the Golden Lion has asked of you." Jyou threatened.

"Milord, surely you can be more understanding. It will take time."

"You have a week Alberoni and I'm sure we can make it more enticing for you if I were to tell you your beautiful daughter will be used as an extra investment. I'm sure you will not like it when I give your daughter to our tired soldiers." Jyou smirked as Alberoni became speechless.

"How dare you threaten me Lord Lyonais! You do not realize who you are talking to; I will too be made the Prime Minister of the Italia province, a greater position than yourself. I'm sure the Golden Lion would not like it when he finds he useless dog from a bastard land's dead." Alberoni screamed in fury.

"I am sorry that we could not come to an agreement. I bid you adieu." The room light up with the sound of thunder and a second later found Lord Alberoni dead on the floor, a musket sized bullet hole in his temple. "You can come out now Monsieur l'Assassin."

Takuya dropped from the open window and land near the Frenchman, the dead body of Alberoni between them. "Has Yggdrasil lost interest in Lord Alberoni?"

"Yggdrasil can not be bothered with such trivial things. I presume you are here for myself?" Takuya did not nod, merely continued to stare at the Frenchman. "It seems as though Yggdrasil is also finished with myself. You are already too late Monsieur l'Assassin, the plan is already in motion, Yggdrasil can not be defeated."

Takuya grabbed the man by the neck and held him up. "Tell me you French dog, what is Yggdrasil!"

Jyou gulped for air but still managed to smirk a dark smile, "Some call him a god, others call him the devil, all that matters is that we see him as the unavoidable. Come Monsieur l'Assassin, my time is up but heed my warning; Yggdrasil cannot be defeated." Jyou laughed. Takuya released his hidden blade from his bracer, in an instant the Frenchman fell to the floor. "I only wanted to free the people that were suffering in our land but I sought out the devil and my soul will pay for my mistakes. In the end, society will always be ruled by the powerful." Jyou stated as his dying words.

"You sought freedom but you were impatient. You sow the seeds but you did not water them, instead you burnt them. I prey for your soul to be at peace in the next world. Requiescat in pace." Takuya stated as he preyed for Jyou's final rites, closing his unmoving eyes forever with a wave of his hand. A loud bang was heard coming from the entrance of the study, Takuya spotted Lisa in shock, the bottle of Port smashed on the floor.

"Father, what have you done to father!" She screamed in fright.

"It was not I who was responsible for your fathers death but I have avenged him by killing his killer." Takuya prepared himself to leave.

Takuya tried to approach the girl so that he could calm her down, a frantic girl would only alert everyone to his presence. "No! Stay away from me Demonio!" The girl scream in fright. Takuya could hear voices coming near, those who were carious as to why a girl was screaming at demons. Lisa at turned around, trying to hurry those who were approaching to help. "Come, come, save me from this Demonio!" She turned around only to find the Assassin no longer there, only bodies of two dead men.