Paris, May 1491
Nearly six years had passed since the journey to Constantinople, Neri had celebrated her 19th birthday the past month and now she felt like she was finally ready to initiate her crusade. She had been training even more intensely for all this time and now felt sufficiently trained for her mission, in combat (including hand to hand fighting), stealth and climbing, though it should be mentioned that in agility and stealth, despite her unbelievable progress, she was not quite on Hay Lin's level, however it was alright and Neri was still pretty good in that department, it just happened that her teacher's skills were simply extraordinary.
Neri was now around 5'5 (167 cm) and she had a curvaceous and yet very athletic figure with an extremely toned midriff. All in all, she was in great shape. Her blonde hair grew slightly longer and her green eyes were even more piercing than before. In the years since 1485, she had been getting more and more male attention and many boys her age showed interest in her, though she had to refuse their advances in the kindest possible way as she thought she sadly could not focus on such things right now.
She had also been thinking a lot about Luigi, the mysterious young man from many years ago. According to her mark, the book was still at the same place, which pleased her but also made her more and more impatient to go and look for him once she would be done with her revenge before returning to Paris in a definite manner. Who was he, really ? What was his last name ? Did he really reveal all he knew about the book ? Does he know about the truth about the prophet mentioned in the book ? If his great-uncle really wrote that book, who could that great-uncle be ? Those questions kept torturing her over the years but now she felt like she was close to getting answers on many of these questions.
For Camille and Madeleine, many things had changed as well. Madeleine's business had grown immensely the past few years and was seemingly only going to get more prosperous. Madeleine worked extremely hard, finishing many of her days exhausted, however interestingly enough even with all of this, at 38 years old, Madeleine looked exactly the same as she did 6 years ago and hadn't aged a day despite her demanding job.
Camille and Marcel had gotten engaged last month, they truly loved each other and were very happy. They planned to get married the following year, sometime in 1492, their last names (Rousseau for Camille and Lemay for Marcel) would be combined and the couple would be the main heirs of Madeleine business, though Neri was also invited to assist in the management of the business in the future once her work was done. Marcel has grown in maturity, he was now even able to openly laugh about his own disastrous performance in a sparring match against Neri many years ago, and how his overconfidence had cost him dearly. Marcel and his mother had purchased a large house that was right next to Madeleine's household and he spent an awful lot of time there, so "virtually", Marcel was pretty much already living with his future bride though they would not share the same room until marriage. Madeleine saw this as the family growing bigger and she could not be happier as even after marriage Camille and Marcel would still be living in the house, as it was big enough to offer them any privacy they would want and also because they wanted to. Marcel and his mother were also told about Neri's reasons for temporarily returning to Italy and they both understood perfectly.
Frédéric was fairly satisfied with the tremendous progress that Neri had made and he now considered her to be even better than he was at sword fighting.
Therefore while they kept sparring together, he believed that he had nothing more to teach her, as she had managed to gain the upper hand on him in training several times the past year and he wished her success in her endeavors after which Neri gave him a hug and thanked him for teaching her everything he knew.
And thus, the day of departure for Neri had finally arrived. Madeleine had agreed to support her financially while she was in Italy and in return, Neri would also sometimes receive some of her merchandise that she would then try to sell at an interesting price and send most of the money back to Paris. So in her room, Neri put everything that she would need (clothes, weapons, food…) in her luggages and got ready to move out. She was really hoping that this adventure would take a couple of months best case scenario, or 3-4 years at most. But she was eager to do it, so that she could finally move on and return and live peacefully afterwards.
Marcel and his mother had to attend an event and therefore could not be here at this time, they were accompanied by Frédéric so they said their goodbyes to her before leaving. And then Madeleine and Camille entered Neri's room.
"So…..this is it then." Camille said with a sad tone
"Yeah…." Neri answered in a similarly depressed manner
"Listen Neri….having you with us in this house has been a blessing. We've had such a good time together. I just wish this did not have to happen under the gruesome circumstances that it did. I just want you to know that you're like the sister I always wanted to have before and…..I love you. The endless nights spent talking, playing and giggling….I'll always cherish those memories." Camille said with tears in her eyes before continuing "...And there won't be a day I won't miss you when you're gone."
Neri and Madeleine also had tears flowing and too emotional to be able to utter a word, all 3 of them simply hugged for several minutes until Neri broke the silence
"I promise you, I'll return safely, I'll write to you many times, so please, as hard as it might be..don't worry too much. You've been extremely kind to me, you have covered me with affection from the day I arrived here and…..I owe you my life. I hope we will be reunited soon enough. I'm sure that Maman, Papa and Marco would be very proud and happy that you have taken care of me so well."
"I hope they would be, and especially that their souls have been able to find peace, Chérie (dear). You already know how I feel, you mean a lot to me. Do whatever you need to do and when your mind is at peace, come back to us. This is also your home and it will always be, never forget it." Madeleine said to her niece
"Merci Tante Madeleine, Merci pour tout (Thank you Aunt Madeleine, thank you for everything)." Neri said.
"Alright, Camille, let's help her with her luggage, the carriage driver is waiting downstairs."
"You're right Maman (mom)."
On the way out, Neri also hugged and said goodbye to Sophie and thanked her for all she had done for her, and for her soup, that Neri had enjoyed so much in the first weeks of her living in Paris and Sophie wished her luck in her adventure, adding that she was eager for her to return "for good" after she was done.
Once outside and as she was about to enter her carriage, Neri looked behind one last time at Madeleine, Camille and Sophie and then shed a tear and waved her hand to them, to which all three of them waved back with Camille, also teary eyed also loudly saying "Au revoir Neri, J'espère que tu reviendras à temps pour mon mariage! (Goodbye Neri, I hope you'll be back in time for my wedding!). Neri nodded in approval, and then she entered the carriage and closed the door. She was leaving behind people she loved deeply as well the city that she had now come to call home and that saw her recovery and growth. Now, she had to be focused and ready, to strike back at the people who caused so much harm to her and her family.
Florence, May 1491
She had traveled from Paris to Toulon in order to take a ship there that would take her to Pisa in Italy before continuing to Florence on land and after around 12 days she had made it back to the Medici-ruled city, her place of birth and yet also one that felt almost cursed to her at this point. Coming back here obviously slightly reignited old traumas but she had to stand strong. In Italy (not in France though), she would be using a different last name "Nerissa Mancini" as she thought it would be much wiser due to the tense political situation there and especially because she would be staying at an inn (hotel) in Florence and in other places too.
The place she was staying at was quite comfortable and after taking around a few days to rest from the long trip, she started planning her move. She did her homework and learned that Alfonso Albergo and his wife Sina were surprisingly put on house arrest a few days before her arrival, by Lorenzo who had grown dissatisfied with them and were currently located in a villa in the countryside not too far from where Neri was residing. Knowing how cruel Lorenzo can be it would be a nice cover for Neri and she could go there by horse in the night, eliminate them and then return. However, it was also said that the place was guarded by around 8 men at all times, but due to her training, Neri felt confident that she could knock them out, kill Alfonso and Sina and then leave before they noticed a thing, as the villa was quite isolated but the environment made it possible for someone to infiltrate. She did not have much choice anyway, she had trained so hard for a reason after all. As an important note, Alfonso and Sina had no children, same thing with Cornelio.
Neri's standard outfit was a grey and blue vest that had leather arm protectors, on top of a white shirt with a white lace tie, with grey pants accompanied by a red sash with a brown belt, with boots at the bottom, that also act as leg protectors, she had several sets of this type of outfit and some in different colors. For her mission, she would also be wearing a mask that covers her mouth as well as a black hooded cloak. She would be carrying a sword and a few knives as equipment, all of which were well hidden under her hooded cloak. She also had several sets of gloves made of a fabric that happened to be able to block the light of her mark to the outside viewer when it activates, which would be extremely useful for infiltration.
She left early in the morning though, and took some of Madeleine's merchandise that she put in a box that was going to be put on her horse's back while travelling, jokingly telling the innkeeper that she would be busy all day due to that and that she hoped to find good buyers and luckily she managed to sell the entire stock throughout the day, making a nice profit, though it was a small portion it was still a good deal. The innkeeper had even advised her on potential people who could be interested in Madeleine's items. When all of that was done, she rode near to the place where Alfonso's villa was located and waited for night to fall.
After putting her horse at a safe distance, she advanced and activated her mark, scanned the area with her "eagle vision", there were indeed 8 men guarding the place. Furthermore and interestingly enough, according to her vision there weren't just two people inside the house (Alfonso and Sina) but three, another figure was inside and Neri was certain she could recognize that person's particular shape as well,, but she needed to enter the house in order to be certain. So she came up with a plan of attack. The place was indeed quite isolated but there were rows of bushes all around the area, which would help her with infiltration. She then kept her eagle vision activated at all times and positioned herself in the bushes, some of the guards were moving while others were staying still. One of the guards who happened to walk too close to her hiding spot, was grabbed and quickly knocked out by Neri who then hid his body in the bushes. And another guard was taken out the exact same way moments later, with his body also hidden, that meant 6 guards were left.
She then advanced through the bushes, came out and proceeded to walk behind two guards that were walking closely together in patrol, and she smashed their heads by putting one against the other, causing them to be knocked out instantly. Before coming out of the bushes, she had noticed a haystack cart that was against one of the walls of the house and she quickly put their bodies there. There were haystacks all around which made her task far easier. 4 guards left.
She then hid in another haystack that was also against the wall,waited for one of the guards to pass by it and also knocked him out and dragged his body inside the haystack to hide it. 3 guards left.
The three remaining guards were all at the front entrance and were the ones standing still. However, with everyone else cleared, it would be easy to take them down. So she then got up on the roof of the large villa, advanced and then found herself right above the three guards, who hadn't yet noticed that something was off and who frankly didn't look that focused on their task. Neri had identified minutes before a large metal pool that was hanging above two of the guards but slightly behind them, while the third guard was also standing a further forward than the other two.
Therefore, Neri discreetly jumped down, grabbing the pole in the process without making a big sound and while hanging, used both of her legs to bring together and smash the two guards' heads like she had done previously, but this time obviously with her legs instead. The shock made a sound, but the last guard did not hear a thing, thus Neri easily went behind him and knocked him out as well. She then proceeded to quickly hide their bodies in the nearby haystacks. All of the guards were cleared.
She then climbed back and entered the villa by one of the windows. She activated her mark and then proceeded towards her targets' positions …
"Do not worry, while he might be angry at you, I'm sure Signore (Sir) Medici will reconsider. He's just had a tough time recently." The third person said
"(Sigh), I hope so, I very much hope so. We did so much for him, and helped him get rid of the Pazzi vermins, he could at least be a little more lenient, we do not deserve this treatment." Alfonso said
"I understand you, I am glad we helped him get rid of these wretches, especially that French-speaking whore and her idiot son, though it's too bad the daughter managed to get away. However, with all of that said, do not forget that you would not even hold this position without him. You and I owe a lot to Signore Medici, just like my brother said, I'm confident that he will come around. If he truly wanted to get rid of us, we probably would have been executed immediately. So you should trust Cornelio's judgement"
So, the third man speaking with them was indeed Cornelio Bonelli who as just indicated, actually was Sina's brother and thus Alfonso Brother in law,, all three of them were in the kitchen, and Neri with her back against the wall right next to the entrance of said kitchen had just listened to the disparaging comments made about her mother Raphaelle, and her little brother Marco. Her heart was beating fast, her mark was glowing under her glove and the anger within her was rising sharply, enough was enough, fate had been somewhat kind this time, as three of her targets were in one room and she could eliminate them all at once, and so she made her way towards them, her steps were slow and had an intimidating feel to them, almost like a horror show, exacerbated by her black cloak and her face mask covering her mouth.
She was then standing at the entrance looking at her three targets, who spent a few seconds before realizing they were being watched, and when, they did, panic set in…
"Www-Who are you ? Guards! Guards ! Help quickly! Quickly!" Sina said, stuttering, the fear, far too apparent in her voice. The fact that someone neither of them three seemed to recognize, dressed the way Neri was and with the way she was looking at them, had managed to slip through and get inside without anyone noticing, was completely and understandably terrifying to her.
Alfonso also screamed for the guards and then asked "Who the hell are you !? What do you want !?" and picked up a kitchen knife as his sword wasn't on him.
Whereas Cornelio simply got up and was cowering in the corner, unable to say anything, too terrified to even utter a word..
Neri stayed silent a few more seconds, not saying a word, simply looking at them, an act that only increased the fear and anxiety within her targets' hearts.
As she was about to advance, Alfonso moved forward as well and tried to strike her with the knife he had just grabbed, however, without even drawing her own sword or knives, she blocked his attack with her left hand, headbutted him, grabbed the knife with her right hand, pinned his left hand against the wall and plunged his the knife through Alfonso's left palm, who started bleeding and screaming intensely.
"Alfonso !" Sina screamed in terror but before she could do a thing, Neri removed the knife from Alfonso's left palm, and immediately plunged it into his right palm this time also against the wall, causing him to make a high pitched scream. Neri once again removed the knife and plunged it back to his left palm again leaving it pinned against the wall with the knife, causing him to once again scream in despair, and then, she pulled one of her one knives, put his right arm in position and drove it back through Alfonso's right palm, leaving it pinned as well, putting Alfonso in pseudo crucified position in the kitchen's wall. All of this without a single word from Neri, while Alfonso now had tears coming down his face due to the unbelievable amount of pain.
Sina was crying but helpless, while Cornelio was horrified but also couldn't say a thing.
Neri looked at Alfonso and told him in a sarcastic manner "I'll deal with you later." as if she hadn't done anything to him yet and she then turned her attention to Sina and Cornelio. They were moving backwards in fear as she was moving forwards towards them.
She slowly walked to Cornelio who was against the corner and whose entire body was shaking, feeling nothing but fear, Neri simply pulled out another knife and drove it through Cornelio's throat in an extremely violent way, killing him almost instantly and his now dead body fell on the ground. Sina tried to intervene by hitting her but Neri blocked her arm and slapped her, causing her to fall as well. Sina's eyes were now red and the tears were still traveling down her face
"Cornelio ! Damn it! Argh!" Alfonso, yelled, still pinned to the wall and deeply in pain
"WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU WANT !? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS!? WHY ARE YOU HURTING MY FAMILY!?" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she got up.
"Well, I could have….." Neri started while proceeding to lower her hood and lowering her face mask
"-asked you the same question once. Don't you think Sina ?" Neri said finishing her sentence
Noticing Neri's blond hair, green eyes and her overall resemblance to Raphaelle, as well as the meaning of her words, Sina came to realize who she was.
"NO! NO! That's impossible, N-n-n-Nerissa ?" Sina asked horrified
"What !? No…." Alfonso asked confused, with a weak voice
Sina was back on her feet but couldn't say a word and so Neri asked sarcastically "What's wrong Sina ? Don't you have any more insults to throw at me or my dead mother ?" Neri said while drawing her sword and pointing it at her, very close to her face.
Surprisingly after that, Sina immediately fell to her knees in front of Neri, begging for her life and trying to ask for Mercy for her and Alfonso..
"Please, we'll give you anything! Anything you want! Just-"
"Enough!" Neri yelled at her before continuing
"I was just about to ask one question : Where is Ezio Auditore ? Do you or your husband know where he is ?" Neri pursued
"The Auditore kid ? Well...we've….we've never met him but…..but...he is quite close to Lorenzo, we have heard last month that he was in Venice and spent a lot of time there, with…..with…. a man called Antonio de Magianis….. around the San...San polo district with the local thieves guild." Sina answered, stuttering, her voice shaking, hoping it would help their case.
"Well, thank you." Neri answered
"Then….are...are you going to let us go ?" Sina said, unrealistically hopeful
But Neri answered: "You didn't really think it would be that easy now, did you ? It's pointless to try and save yourself at this point, your fate is sealed. You and your acolytes humiliated and murdered my parents, ruined the future of my little brother, mistreated him until he died and you dare beg for ME for mercy !? No….my parents, my brother…..they are the ones you should be begging for mercy and forgiveness, for everything you did and you'll have all the time to do so and after I end your life….here and now. Addio (Goodbye) Sina.". After those words, Neri swung her sword and decapitated her, Sina was no more.
"Sina! No, NO!" Alfonso screamed in complete despair, but still pinned to the wall, unable to do a single thing
Neri then grabbed Sina's head by the hair and walked towards Alfonso and then pointed the head of his now deceased wife towards him.
"Tell me Signore Albergo, How does it feel to watch someone you love and deeply care for, be killed right in front of you while you watch helpless, powerless and unable to do a single thing to change the course of the events ? Well you don't need to answer, I'm sure you know how it feels. Though, my father that day was innocent, and your wife certainly wasn't." Neri said, smirking at him, hoping to rile him up, which succeeded as he was boiling inside, wishing he could do something.
Neri then threw away Sina's head on the side without breaking eye contact with him, which enraged Alfonso even more "You're going to pay for this!" he yelled at her.
Ignoring this empty threat, she pulled out another knife and pierced Alfonso's left eye,
"Aaaaaaargh !" He yelled, agonizingly
The now half blind man was sobbing and crying, tears flowing down with his remaining eye. This was the most embarrassing night of his life, he saw himself, the great Medici captain, as unable to protect his loved ones and completely and humiliatingly helpless in front of a teenage girl.
Neri proceeded to remove the knives on Alfonso's palms, freeing his hands, but doing so did not make the pain disappear and this coupled with the pain of losing an eye made him far too weak to do anything against Neri. She then also removed the knife from Alfonso's eye and put the two knives she owned back in their places while the kitchen knife was left on the ground.
After that, she grabbed him and repeatedly punched the man, breaking his nose in the process, leaving him to look completely miserable on the ground and at her feet. She then got him up, sliced two of his fingers on his left hand with her sword and then in the end, she grabbed his head from behind and ultimately snapped his neck, brutally ending Alfonso Albergo's life.
3 of the people she hated the most in the world, were now dead. Her training and all of her efforts had so far, wonderfully paid off.
Ravenna, Italy, May 1491
It had been around a week now since Neri's revenge. After eliminating Alfonso, Sina and Cornelio, she safely and stealthily made it back to her inn and no one suspected a thing. She then left the place 2 days after, thanking the innkeeper and letting him know she had had a very "productive stay" in the area, referring to the merchandise she was able to sell, but also secretly referring to her revenge, unbeknownst to the innkeeper.
The night after the deed was done, she broke down in her bed, thinking once again about her parents and little brother and all of the suffering they had to go through, but she was obviously glad that some form of justice had been served. She did not want to go after Lorenzo immediately, therefore she opted to go see Ezio first and question him and ask why the kind boy she once knew was now apparently so closely aligned with Lorenzo de Medici, a cruel man she hated with all her heart. And interestingly enough, though Neri did not know it yet, Lorenzo upon learning of the brutal deaths of Alfonso, Sina and Cornelio, though extremely surprised, ultimately did not seem to care that much about their fates, quickly moved on from it.
Neri therefore decided to travel to Venice and look for him there, with the information that she had been provided with and now she was in the town of Ravenna and the ship she was supposed to take in order to go to Venice was leaving in two hours, but she was on time. Her luggages were already on the ship and she was walking near the port, waiting for the time they were to leave.
Then as she kept walking around, she came across a young woman, right in front of her from a very short distance, that was sitting on a bench. The woman at one point turned to her left, seemingly to look for something inside her bag but at the same time, another man went towards the woman, grabbed a necklace that the woman had left on the bench to her right and started running.
Surprisingly, the woman had not noticed yet what had happened, but when she did notice and turned back to her, Neri had already started running after the thief and after dodging a few obstacles, she tackled and overpowered him and took back the necklace, whereas the woman had also grabbed her bag and ran towards her position to see what was happening. After that, some guards that were around the area seized the thief and took him away.
Neri then walked to the woman to return the necklace.
"Grazie. Thank you so much, I'm sorry I got really distracted,." The woman said
"You're welcome." Neri answered with a smile
"This necklace means so much to me, can't think of what would have happened had I lost it."
"I see, did someone close give it to you ?"
"Yes, my father did, some time ago on my birthday. I've been cherishing it ever since."
"Oh I see, that's understandable."
The woman was around Neri's age and furthermore she had a particular accent that Neri had heard some time ago before.
"Oh by the way, I never asked for your name did I?"
"I am Nerissa, you can call me Neri for short, I'm from Florence."
"Pleased to meet you, Neri. My name is Thea, I'm Austrian."
"You're Austrian ? Wow I could have sworn….I mean thought you sounded like-"
"-Sounded like a Venetian ?" Thea asked with a smile before Neri could finish her sentence.
Neri recognized the accent she had heard from some of the venetian merchants in Constantinople when she went there.
Thea pursued "Well you wouldn't exactly be wrong. I was actually born in Venice but mainly raised in Vienna, Austria and come from a noble family there. Due to circumstances, we also had to relocate Munich (Germany) between 1485 and 1487. I had an Venetian tutor and spent most of my summers in Venice until I was 17 back in 1489, when I moved permanently to Venice while my family stayed back in Vienna and I am actually on my way there the next ship to Venice is leaving in a few hours."
"I see, that makes sense. Well, I am also on my way to Venice on the next ship. It will be my first time there"
"Oh what a coincidence, we'll be on the same ship! Are you visiting someone there ?"
"Well, I guess you could say that. It's an old friend I haven't seen in a while and someone I need to have an important conversation with, though I can't say we're necessarily on the best of terms at the moment, so it will be very tense. It's not like he'll be there to welcome me or anything, he doesn't even know that I'm coming." Neri explained
"Oh I see, I'm really sorry. well I hope everything turns out well for you and your friend." Thea responded
"I hope so too."
"Well, If you do not mind, once we arrive there, I can give you a tour of the city if you'd like ?"
"Yes, that could be fun, thank you."
"And I imagine will you be staying at an inn (hotel) ? Or do you have someone else in place there ?"
"Yes, staying at an inn was the plan, why ?" Neri asked
"Well, like I said I was really grateful that you brought back my necklace, maybe you can stay at my house, just for a few days, so that you can save money ? That's the least I can do for you after helping me."
"Oh, that's too kind, I'm not sure that-" Neri began
"It will be fine, don't worry. That's how much this necklace meant to me." Thea insisted
"Thank you Thea, that's very generous."
"You're welcome. You know, you look like a very interesting and adventurous person from what I've seen so far, your acrobatic skills are mind blowing. I am a bit adventurous myself, I've enjoyed mysteries and puzzles for a while and it has become a passion of mine. From a young age, me and my brother were given sword lessons and we were later taught how to swim and climb, my father thought it would be useful if we ever found ourselves in perilous situations of all kinds, I wasn't sure at first but I was later grateful for our training because it allowed me to pursue this passion of mine. I am actually back from a trip where I was looking for a precious mysterious stone that was relatively well hidden right here-." Thea said while pulling a black stone out of her bag while Neri was looking at it, intrigued
"-Without my training, especially in climbing, I probably would not have been able to retrieve the stone and it was hidden behind several sorts of puzzles in a remote cave."
"Wow, you are quite adventurous indeed." Neri said with a smile.
Thea was around Neri's height and was only a few months younger than her. She had long black hair and brown eyes, and had a very gentle and comforting expression and overall demeanor. She was also wearing something quite similar to Neri's standard outfits, not surprising as a usual dress would not have allowed her the kind of mobility needed to achieve the things she had just mentioned.
Venice, May 1491
Neri and Thea spent some time together on the ship on the way to Venice, with Thea mainly going into more details regarding her stone hunting adventure, which Neri was truly fascinated by. Neri was also thinking of staying in Venice for a few weeks, longer than she had stayed in Florence, so that she could write to Madeleine and Camille back in Paris, informing them of recent developments and also receive an answer from that before she maybe moves on to another city.
Also, regarding Ezio, Neri knew full well that if it had to come down to a fight between the two of them, it would be foolish of her to think that it would be an easy one and that she could just walk up to him and effortlessly dispose of the guy the way she did with Alfonso. She remembered the things she had heard about Ezio while she was in prison with Raphaelle and Marco, and the feats he had accomplished way back in 1483, and that was 8 years ago, so Ezio would probably be a much stronger opponent now and there was a good chance she could lose her life in battle against him.
When Thea and Neri finally arrived in Venice, they got off the ship not too far from Piazza San Marco and another woman that was apparently working for Thea who called her "Miss Sauer" indicating that Sauer was Thea's family name. The woman was then instructed to help transport Neri's luggages to Thea's place, while Neri and Thea were walking around the city a bit, however while advancing, they noticed a small crowd of civilians and a few guards that were looking at something on the ground, but Neri and Thea couldn't see what it was and so they got closer in order to have a better look at the situation.
When they arrived, both of them were horrified by what they saw.
"Oh my god." Thea said quietly, Whereas Neri did not say a word but looked unsettled by this gruesome sight.
It was a man, looking like he was around 50 years old, on the ground, dead. Even more than that, whoever had killed this man, had carved a marking on this victim's left arm, that everyone in the crowd could see.
The marking was seemingly carved with a knife and read (in italian) :" LIES"
But why ?
"Wait, I recognize him, this person, it's...Ignazio Contarini, a member of the council of ten. one of the most powerful men in the city's government." Thea remarked which caused Neri to look at her with a concerned expression, unsure of what to think.
And then, both of them heard from someone in the crowd right next to them that this was the second time this week that a high profile individual had been killed in this manner, with the killer leaving a carved word on the victim's arm. The previous victim was a high ranking officer in the venetian police force. It also seems like the victims were killed in a different location and then dropped at random places without anyone noticing.
This unsettled Neri even more but then she heard something else from two other people in the crowd that quickly caught her attention. It was a man and a woman speaking. The woman was dressed like a courtesan and the man did not have flattering clothes.
"Dio mio (my god) why is this happening now when everyone's away and out of the city? I hope Ezio, Antonio and the others return soon, otherwise, we'll have serious issues." The woman said
"You're absolutely right." The man remarked
Wait a minute, Ezio ? Antonio ? As in Ezio Auditore and Antonio de Magianis, the Antonio mentioned by Sina ? It could be a coincidence, but Neri firmly believed those were the individuals she was looking for and it sadly looked as if they weren't in Venice at the time but that they could be returning very soon.
Neri, still wearing her special gloves, activated her mark in order to scan Ignazio's corpse and see if she could find something, and indeed, she did find something worthy of mention. In Ignazio's left pocket, she noticed that there was a piece of paper hanging out, and to the surprise of Thea and the rest of the crowd, Neri advanced towards the corpse ignoring the guards, knelt and pulled out the piece of paper, unfolded it and read what was on it and it looked like a riddle.
On the paper, Neri could read : "What is the fastest way to get rid of strings ?"- A knife"
Assuming the killer left that note, which was very likely, it looked like said killer wanted to send a message or give away a clue to his motives through this strange riddle but he or she also seemingly provided the answer to his own enigma by mentioning the knife, so what was the killer trying to say here exactly ?
She then turned to one of the guards, showed him the note and told him that the killer might have left a clue for the authorities, but the guard simply took the note from her hands angrily and told her to get back.
"Come Neri, we should get out of there." Thea said while grabbing her hand.
As they were on their way to Thea's place, the latter asked "So, what exactly was written on that note ?"
"It was very strange. it said "What is the fastest way to get rid of strings ?" And provided the answer right after by saying : A knife . Any idea what that could mean ?"
"I mean I'm not sure but I'd love to investigate, knowing that this is the second victim killed in this fashion this week , I believe we are on to a very special brand of serial killer. That's the kind of mystery I'd like to get answered" Thea said
"Yes, it is very intriguing, I'd really like to investigate too, if I have enough time. I feel like there's something bigger at play here." Neri remarked
"That's great, we'll do it together then. By the way, we're almost there, I hope you'll enjoy the house!"
Author's note : Heavy and brutal chapter isn't it ? What do you think of the revenge and of Neri's new friend Thea ? Who is our mysterious serial killer ?
By the way, if you had trouble visualizing Neri's standard outfits, they're pretty much similar to Elise's main outfit in AC Unity. See you in the next one!