Venice, May 1491
3 days had passed since Neri and Thea's productive and heartfelt discussion and now, they were only a few hours away from leaving the house and observing the possible confrontation being Ugo's team and the killer. Upon later reflecting on Thea's words regarding what was probably going on with the murders and possible assassinations in Venice these past few years, she started wondering : If Ezio was still close with Lorenzo even at this time, does that mean that Lorenzo is also involved in the curious intrigues that have plagued Venice in recent years as well ? It's not outside the realm of possibility to think he would at the very least know about them. And why was Ezio even in Venice ? Why did he seemingly join this strange organization?
Back in Paris, she had started to strongly suspect that her uncle Francesco and her cousin Vieri, were somehow involved in the deaths of Ezio's family members. Alfonso told her directly that Ezio was the one to kill them when she was in prison with Raphaelle and Marco, so it seemed quite likely that was a cause for retaliation from him, something she could understand and would not really blame him for.
However that alone did not explain the whole story and especially not how Ezio had come to find himself involved in such seemingly dirty affairs and in an important but relatively secret power struggle in the Venetian government. Though it is clear that Lorenzo and Ezio had common enemies in Francesco, Vieri and their open supporters, she still had a hard time understanding the fact that Ezio would openly join forces against someone like Lorenzo who directly punished innocents like herself and her family simply because they happened to be related to individuals who attacked him that day in 1483. Why would he keep supporting Lorenzo to this day ?.
From the interactions that they had had together, the things she had heard about him and the things she had seen, this wasn't the kind of thing she thought Ezio would accept. She had to learn more and she believed that there was a chance she could get important answers on parts of these questions this coming night.
Eventually the time to move out came. Ugo was hoping to attract the killer at around 10 pm, so Neri and Thea decided to leave the house at around 8:45 pm in order to be safe and not miss anything. Both girls then took their weapons and cloaks and were about to leave and they were also wearing mouth-covering masks as well.
"I'm really curious to see what plan they have in mind to drag him out of his cave, the killer could very well not even show up, don't you think Neri ?"
"Yeah I wonder about that too. In the letter, they seemed confident that this plan could work and they could even capture the killer today, so we'll see."
"Yeah, I hope something big happens."
"Same. Alright, are you ready for this Thea ?"
"I was born ready. Let's go."
Meanwhile, near the church Santa Maria dei Frari, Ugo and his team were getting ready and Ugo himself would be the bait. 5 armed individuals from Ugo's faction were instructed to hide at various places very close to the church. Some hid in nearby haystacks and would wait for a signal, others in nearby bushes and a few would simply try to use the darkness of the night to hide their presence around the designated zone of operation, all of these would make it look like Ugo was relatively isolated and then ripe for the kill. Outside of them, there was barely anyone else nearby, which was perfect for Ugo's plan, who thought that he would really have the element of surprise on his side if the killer were to strike..
Since they had discovered that the previous victims had been reported missing at a moment when they should have been relatively isolated and at night before their carved bodies were actually discovered by the public and the authorities, Ugo was hoping that they would be successful in their maneuver.
After some time, Neri and Thea were closing in on Ugo's location indicated by Neri's mark, though they were advancing slowly by foot and on the ground (not by rooftops) and they ultimately found themselves behind the building that was facing the church, obviously meaning that Ugo couldn't see them there. Neri had her eagle vision activated at all times and she noticed the various hiding spots of 5 other individuals, which she quickly and rightfully deduced were Ugo's acolytes however they were not very spread out at all, as they wanted to be not too far away from Ugo in order not to give the killer a chance to escape in case of attack. Therefore, all of the hidden individuals as well as Ugo himself were in a position facing the building that Neri and Thea were behind, explaining why none of Ugo's men could see Neri coming from the direction that she took..
However, Neri noticed a perfect hiding spot in order to observe the situation for Thea and herself. This was a huge struck of luck. On the building facing the church, Neri could see with her eagle vision that there was a huge haystack on the rooftops of said building, large enough for two individuals to hide within. Neri then told Thea that they should discreetly climb up, hide in the haystack, and wait for a possible attack and Thea agreed with her plan.
Neri and Thea then climbed slowly and surely, but in order not to attract attention, once they were up, they wouldn't walk to the haystack, but instead crawl their way towards it, belly against the rooftop, which wasn't the most pleasing of experiences, but it was necessary. And it worked beautifully, they took their positions in the haystack on the rooftop. And since Neri with her eagle vision could see through it, it would allow them to monitor the situation with ease.
"Ok Thea, now we just have to wait and see if something happens, I'll let you know if I spot something with my vision." Neri whispered
"Alright, fingers crossed." Thea whispered back.
And then everyone waited, waited and waited for around an hour, but it looked like nothing was going to happen and the two girls were getting slightly impatient and staying in their current positions was getting tiresome.
And then, another hour and 50 minutes passed and it was getting really unbearable for all those waiting for something to happen. Neri's body was starting to hurt a bit after staying in that position for so long and the same could be said for Thea.
Eventually, thinking that his men might lose focus and that he himself might look suspicious to the killer if this were to continue, Ugo called off the operation and ordered his men to come out, thinking they could have another shot at him later with another plan and maybe with the help of the reinforcements he had requested (not knowing his letter never reached Mario), he could at least organize a more effective defense that would at least scare off the killer until Ezio and the others were to return.
Ugo then ordered his men to come out of their hiding spot.
"Thea, they're coming out, seems like they're getting tired of waiting"
"Yeah, that's understandable, wonder what they're gonna do now."
"Apologies everyone but it looks like this rat won't come out tonight. Once we get back, we'll let everyone at the base know what happened or I guess what didn't happen tonight and we'll discuss something else when it comes to solving our problem here." Ugo said
"Right sir." One of them said.
However, they spent around 20 more minutes standing around and engaged in discussion. However, as they were right in front of the church and about to leave, a figure with black robes, a hood of the same colour and a leather mask with the eyes visible, suddenly landed in the middle of Ugo and his team after jumping from the church's rooftop.
"NO-" Ugo barely had the time to finish his sentence whereas the rest of his team was too shocked to even begin one. They had let their guard down and did not notice this ominous presence in time and now they would pay the price for it.
Neri, who was too focused on Ugo specifically, did not initially notice the figure that was ironically also crawling on the rooftop of the church, and who was therefore right above Ugo She only noticed it right before the individual jumped and alerted Thea.
"The killer's here!"
"Are you sure ?!"
"Yes, I think so, a man in a mask and black robes just jumped right in front of them. I'm marking that person now with my vision so that we don't lose track in case of attempted escape."
Right as the dark figure landed, a smoke bomb was also dropped on the ground, adding tremendously to the level of panic and confusion among Ugo's men.
When the smoke cleared, all 5 of Ugo's men were dead on the ground, the killer had very quickly eliminated them in the confusion and the killer had firmly grabbed Ugo's throat before taunting him in a sarcastic tone : "The element of surprise, can be fatal, don't you think, Ugo ?"
Neri could see the person's face well enough through the mask with her eagle vision to tell that it was a man, though the face itself wasn't familiar..
However, Ugo could barely speak with the killer choking him with his left hand.
"Your biggest mistake was to assume that I needed you alone in order to get rid of you and that I wouldn't be flexible in my methods." The killer seemed like he was intentionally putting on a voice, at least that's how it sounded to Ugo.
After those words, he stabbed Ugo in the head with a knife and then in the neck, ending his life.
"He killed them Thea!. They're all dead!" Neri said
"What ? Should we come out now ?"
"No, wait a second."
He then stood around a bit, looking at Ugo's dead body without carving it or leaving a note of any kind, and then started to climb up on the church's rooftop in order to quickly leave the area.
"The killer's getting away Thea, let's move!"
"Right!"
The two girls then quickly got out of the haystack and started tailing the individual, on the rooftops, who did not really bother to look behind him and was strictly focused on advancing towards a destination that was yet unknown to Neri and Thea.
After around 15 minutes of stealthy pursuit, Neri and Thea's target got down the rooftop and finally landed. Neri could now see that he was now in front of a strange circular-shaped entrance at the very bottom of a seemingly abandoned building.
"He stopped. Seems like that's his final destination." Neri whispered to Thea, while the two were hidden behind a large chimney construct on a rooftop directly facing their target but with only Neri able to see through the chimney in order to observe the killer's movements..
He then slightly knelt with the left foot, kicked the circular entrance with the right foot and then got through it, sliding down to an underground location, which Neri could visualize with her eagle vision activated.
"He got through that entrance and slid down, so he's now underground. I think we can assume that's where his secret lair is, especially since this building appears to be abandoned in the conventional sense"
"I see. so, shall we go inside Neri ?"
"When looking through the walls with my vision, I don't see anyone else inside, that person is alone, but let's wait 10 minutes before going in, okay ?"
"Right! Even if we get him, we're not even sure he will reveal anything though.
"I know, but we don't have a choice, we might still learn something crucial in there so we have to try at least."
When the time came, the girls came down, got through the entrance, slid down for a few seconds. They were now in some sort of underground cave and they were advancing towards the killer's position. After a short series of free running challenges in the cave, Neri and Thea found themselves in front of a door, the only thing now separating them from the mysterious killer.
Neri and Thea looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. They then both drew out their swords in defensive posture and opened the door, with Neri in front of Thea.
The strange man who was in front of a table and still had his mask on, immediately heard the door cracking and turned around with his eyes landing on Neri and Thea.
"Well, well, well. I did not expect anyone to find this place this soon." He said upon seeing them. He also noticed that Neri had a very protective stance over Thea.
"Who are you ? And why have you been committing these murders ? What exactly are you after ?" Neri asked
"If you're here this quickly and are asking these questions, I suspect you must have followed me almost immediately after I got rid of those men tonight. Are you in leagues with them? If so, why weren't you among that group?" He asked coldly
Neri could now very clearly see the man's face under the mask with her powers but he still wasn't someone she recognized, which she never really expected to anyway. He looked like a man in his mid 20s.
"No, we are not part of them and not affiliated in any way. But we do know that something bigger is at play here. We have conducted our own separate and secret investigation, and even secretly got our hands on a letter that one of the men you killed intended to deliver to someone else. Are you the so-called templar agent Ugo and his group mentioned ? Whatever the word templar is even supposed to mean in this day and age. In any case, Ugo's team as well as those Templars appear to be very shady organizations" Neri said.
"Shady organizations ? I see, now that's interesting. And what do you actually know of these Templars if I may ask ?" He then asked from a much more relaxed tone
"The only kind of Templars we know about were supposed to have gone extinct back in 1314, outside of rumors." Neri said from a firm tone not wanting to give him a lecture.
"Ah, I see. You two are THAT clueless when it comes to this. Yet you've managed to find this place and gather crucial and sizable information about this, despite not fully understanding them. I must admit I am impressed, I even really admire that. In that case, let me propose something."
"What is it ?" Neri asked
"You with the blonde hair, You seem really determined. If you can manage to disarm me or knock me out in combat, I will gladly answer each and every one of your questions afterwards. Anything you want to ask. It's answers you're after, are you not ?"
Neri then immediately turned to Thea and gave her a very worried look and then turned back to the man.
"And…..if I die in battle, what are you going to do to my friend ?" Neri asked
"Nothing. I'll let her go." he answered
"And why would you do that ? Why would you propose such a thing?" Neri asked, surprised and unsure of his intentions.
"Because it appears you haven't been corrupted yet and something good might possibly come out of this. Had you turned out to be one of THEM, I would have kept my most sensitive secrets with me regardless, so I'm actually giving you a chance."
"What do you mean ?" Neri asked
"Enough talking for now, shall we begin ?" He asked upon drawing his sword.
Neri turned to Thea once again, however Thea tried to reassure her and thus told her : "It's alright, I know this how much this means to you. I wish there was another way but if that's how we can make him talk, you have to take that chance. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Neri then nodded, though it was clear that she had doubts about this. Thea was really touched that the first thing Neri thought about was her (Thea's) own safety before anything else after hearing what the man had to say..
"Be careful." Thea said, before moving aside.
Both combattants got into position, and the fight began. Neri struck first, though not with her sword but with a circular kick with her right foot. However, the man quickly crouched, dodging her move, got back up and smacked her in the face with his left foot in a very violent manner, causing Neri to fall. This clearly wasn't going to be a walk in the park like with Alfonso, this man seemed to be on a totally different level.
Neri's mouth had blood on the left side but she wiped it and very quickly got back up, and Thea looked more and more anxious. She then got into position just in time to block a sword assault from the man. The fight then got a bit fast-spaced. Over the next minute, they exchanged several blows before the man dodged one of her attacks and elbowed her in the stomach, but thankfully, right as he was about to land an attack of his own with his sword, Neri managed to block it with her sword in her right hand at the last moment.
The man then tried to kick her legs and cause her to fall, but Neri was able to jump over it rapidly, therefore quickly dodging that move as well. Though she was holding her own very well, Neri was obviously struggling and in the next 4 minutes, she hadn't really been able to gain the upper hand on her opponent and she was getting really frustrated.
The two fighters exchanged many more blows for a few more minutes but with no definitive result though the man managed to inflict a small wound on Neri's left arm.
After that, Neri launched a series of fast, extremely aggressive but well placed attacks that the man now had a lot of trouble containing and was thus forced to constantly move backwards to better block Neri's attacks.
However,that was what she was hoping for, as behind him, there was some sort of cell and wanted to force him into a specific position, though these assaults were also very physically taxing for herself and she would not be able to keep them up for too long, so she had to be very careful otherwise, she might leave herself opened to devastating counter attacks.
Thankfully, her plan worked, once he got close enough to the cell's bars, she feinted an attack with her sword, and as soon as he was distracted, quickly grabbed his head and bashed it against the bars, knocking him out.
"Good job Neri, you did it!" Thea said, relieved, immediately going to her side
"Yeah." Neri said back before, falling to her knees. This had been a hard fight and she was now heavily exhausted, had her plan failed, who knows what might have happened.
But she had noticed a key on a table next to the cell and deduced it might be the key to said cell. After looking with her eagle vision whether the man had more weapons on him and when she saw them, she instructed Thea to remove those weapons after being told where to look and to put the man in the cell and try to lock it using that key, which proved to be the right one.
However, they didn't remove the mask, as Neri told Thea his face wasn't familiar anyway while she saw it with her vision and that he would be answering their questions when he wakes up.
"Now, we...just….have to wait." Neri said, the exhaustion still audible in her voice
"Yeah, let's hope we get the answers we're looking for."
After around an hour and a half, the man woke up in the cell, first holding his head in pain and saying
"Well miss, looks like you won the battle, you fought very well. So, what exactly would you like to know ?"
"Who exactly are you and what are you after ? What do you know of Ezio Auditore ? Why are we hearing talks of templars in this day and age ? And who exactly are Ugo and his group ?"
"First, my name is Alessandro Carnicelli." He said, upon removing his mask.
Carnicelli was the name mentioned in Ugo's letter that talked about the "Carnicelli affair.", therefore this immediately caught Neri and Thea's attention.
"Carnicelli you said ? Ugo mentioned that name in that letter, associating it to an affair or incident he claims had caused his group a lot of stress in the past. I suppose it might have something to do with you, however, they seem to believe that you are from that Templar organization and are someone that used to spy on them before, but had managed to escape." Neri remarked
"I see, so my plan had been working perfectly on that front then, if that was truly the person that they were suspecting. No, I am no Templar, in fact, I was born and raised in the small town of Monteriggioni, in a centuries old secret organization known as the Assassin order, an organization opposed to those Templars. The Assassins, that is the group Ugo and his friends are part of, and I knew Ezio Audtiore far too well. Needless to say though, I stopped being an Assassin sometime ago and for very good reason so I have no affiliation to either organization at the moment."
"You used to be part of Ugo and Ezio's group ? What happened ? And what exactly are the Templars up to ?" Neri asked
"Well, let's start from the beginning, shall we ? I'll tell you my entire story. My father, uncle and aunt all died in a mission for the Assassin order and thus, I was raised by my mother Nella, alongside my brother Simone, and my cousin Pietro. She too had been raised in the order. I was the oldest of the three, being born in 1464 and with Simone and Pietro being respectively, 2 and 4 years younger than me."
He continued: "We trained hard since we were very young in the hope that we would be capable members of the Assassin order in the future. As I indicated before, the Assassin order has existed for centuries, some say it started around 47 BC in Egypt but no one is really sure. The official objective of the organization is to preserve the liberty and free will of humanity. To be the champions of the weak and of the little people against tyrants.
And that is where the Templars come from. From what you told me, you seem to be of the belief that the Templars are just a knightly christian order, created in the early 12th century and that disappeared in 1314, save for rumors maybe. However, the truth is far darker. The Templars have existed almost as long as the Assassins have, and the two were sworn enemies for ideological differences. The knightly order phase of the Templars was merely a ploy for their own agenda, and after 1314, they did not disappear at all, but simply returned underground so to speak.
As the Templars reject the notion of free will, believing most humans to be naturally weak and only capable of chaos if left to their own devices, the Templars believe that absolute control by them, even virtual mass enslavement, is the answer to humanity's problems. And that's how the two organizations have come to oppose each other fiercely. Therefore, from a very young age, I believed that the Assassins were the good guys if you will."
Neri was obviously shocked by the information and simply looked at Thea whose amazement could also be read on her face but the two let Alessandro continue his tale without interrupting.
"Then one day in 1481, a 13 year old boy, accompanied by his mother and sister arrived at Monteriggioni, it was the nephew of the city's ruler and his name was Ezio Auditore. We were told that Ezio's father and brothers had been victims of a conspiracy in which men named Francesco, Jacopo, Renato and Vieri de' Pazzi, that were part of the templar order, were heavily involved in. Ezio was brought up to speed with everything regarding the Assassins and Templars by his uncle Mario, who was the leader of the Assassins and after being trained by his uncle, decided to return to Florence one day and track down the men responsible.
Me, Simone and Pietro, all got along well with Ezio at the beginning, and had sparring sessions together very often. Though, if anyone could be considered Ezio's best friend, it would be Pietro and the two got very close over the years. Interestingly enough, Pietro and Ezio's sister Claudia had even developed feelings for each other over the years, which caused the rest of us to tease Pietro quite a bit.
Then in April of 1483, as Ezio had returned to Florence to get revenge on Francesco, Jacopo, Vieri and Renato, the Pazzi conspiracy took place, Giuliano de Medici was murdered and Lorenzo, who was an ally of the Assassins, almost had the same fate, before being saved by Ezio at the last minute. Ezio killed his original targets save for Jacopo who had escaped but learned in the meantime that some of the other conspirators involved in the plot against the Medici, were also templars involved in his family's ordeal : Antonio Maffei, Stefano da Bagnone, Archbishop Francesco Salviati and Bernardo Baroncelli.
Thus, later, me, my brother and my cousin helped Ezio track down and eliminate the remaining conspirators that were hidden around Tuscany, which earned all four of us a particular nickname within the Assassins: We became known as The Four Guardian Kings of the Assassin Order, as we had also managed to eliminate Templar influence in the entire Tuscan region for the foreseeable future. Though I should mention that Ezio and Pietro were quite stronger in battle than Simone and myself.
After that, Ezio discovered that there were more Templars involved in his family's death but this time in Venice : Marco, Emilio and Silvio Barbarigo among others, and thus he decided to go there and me alongside my brother and cousin would still assist him in many missions within the city, helping him get rid of his targets, notably Marco Barbarigo, though we regularly had to return to Monteriggioni to take care of many things of there.
However, in around 1489, things would start to change. First, after the death of Marco Barbarigo in 1486, his brother and Agostino, who was our ally, would take the mantle of Doge…."
Neri and Thea were listening, astonished by the revelations. It appeared that Thea's theory regarding Marco and Agostino was right on the money but even more than that, Alessandro had just revealed that her two uncles, her great uncle, and her cousin were part of the Templars and in a way it made a lot of sense and might explain the massive antagonism that they had towards the Auditore. And also, since her own father Daniele had a cold relationship with Francesco and the rest, it might explain why Daniele was not included in the secret Templar organization, and why he did not share this original hatred of the Auditore that some of the others did.
Alessandro pursued : "My own mother had started getting doubts and reservations about some of the Assassins' practices, doubts that myself and Simone also started sharing at that time. Though outside of our circle of three doubtful people, Simone was the only one to publicly voice his discontent at some of the order's policies to Mario directly, which caused Simone to have several very heated arguments with Mario and their relationship to get a bit antagonistic. Pietro at that time, did not have any doubts at all though, that would come later.
By using Doge Agostino, as well as a man named Ignazio Contarini, that was part of the council of ten as their puppets, the Assassins implemented harsh and dare I say, excessive measures on the republic of Venice, dramatically raising taxes and excessively using a lot of the city's resources in order to very tightly control the region, sometimes at the expense of the citizens's happiness and prosperity, thus making many of them miserable. Ignazio himself was elected because the Assassins helped rig the elections in his favour.
But Mario and most other Assassin leaders believed it was justified as the city needed to be under Assassin control no matter what he said. And in my head, I started to wonder and look back and everything we had done previously. And then I started thinking of things we hadn't even considered before. Like all the innocents we probably indirectly hurt, those who had gotten caught in the crossfire of the Pazzi conspiracy and suffered reprisals simply for being related to the conspirators. Did any one of us within the Assassins care about those people at the time ? Did we make sure they wouldn't be wrongly punished or that they would be safe ?
Not really. Sadly at the time, eliminating the Templars and countering their influence was all that mattered to us and all we were focused on. I then started to learn more and more about Lorenzo de Medici, our supposed ally, and truly saw for myself that he wasn't that different from the tyrants the Assassins were supposed to fight against, and yet we were allied with him and continued to support such a man. And for what ?
Even worse, around that time, I discovered one of Mario's top secret correspondence, regarding Assassin operations in Genoa around 1483. I learned from that secret letter that Mario and many Assassins leaders and allies in Genoa were directly behind the overthrow of the Doge of Genoa at the time, a man named Battista Fregoso, who wasn't even a Templar or that much of a threat but simply didn't suit their regional interests enough and so they installed their own puppet in his place, all of which I had no idea of, and neither did my mother, Simone or Pietro or even Ezio. The thing is Fregoso very nearly escaped death after being deposed. I discovered that the Assassins' actions in Genoese politics went very far back were ultimately disastrous and had contributed to heavily destabilizing the region for many years, making people's lives unnecessarily harder. So much for free will, liberty and fighting for the people, right ?
I mean, the Templars themselves had gotten rid of Doge Mocenigo who was not an Assassin and replaced him with Marco, just because Mocenigo wasn't good enough for their agenda. How different were we from those Templars really, I started to wonder ? We also try to control the populace in a way through local governments, manipulate elections, overthrow people just because they don't suit us and don't do our bidding and then openly support the tyrants who do suit us, like Lorenzo de Medici for example."
"Battista Fregoso ?" Neri thought internally, she recognized that name. It belonged to that man, she had met with Madeleine at the event in France many years ago (ref. Chapter 5) and he had even mentioned having been recently deposed as Doge of Genoa. These last few reveals also cut deep for Neri on a personal level, as Alessandro brought upon the innocents who suffered from Lorenzo and other people's wrath during the Pazzi conspiracy, something that directly related to her, but she just kept listening.
"And then, we get to the big one, the incident that marked me forever, the famous Carnicelli affair. It was in September of 1490, just last year then. Simone had recently met a woman who he had grown particularly close to. However, another girl in Monteriggioni named Rosanna who had feelings for Simone and thus got extremely jealous of his new relationship, had gotten a perfect two-fold opportunity to get rid of his new woman.
She had regularly and secretly seen the woman in question speak with another man, in an isolated part of Monteriggioni at night and one day, she eavesdropped on her conversation with that man and discovered that both of them were Templar spies. Horrified by this news and hating the woman even more, the next morning, she immediately reported the news to Mario, however, the situation backfired for Rosanna in a way.
The woman was quickly caught and executed, though the man had managed to escape. However, what Rosanna did not predict was that Mario had ordered Simone temporarily imprisoned as well, for suspicion of willingly being in contact with the enemy, that is how he put it. With him possibly even facing execution should there be a need for it after he concludes an investigation as the absolute total worst case scenario, though Mario was really hoping it wouldn't get to that point.
Like I said before, Simone and Mario had had several arguments regarding the direction the Assassin order was taking, extremely heated arguments, and thus Mario believed that it was a measure of safety, as in his mind, his disagreements with him on top of his relationship with the Templar spy in the Assassin order's stronghold of Monteriggioni itself, even though Simone had no idea she was a spy, were signs that my brother could be compromised. He knew that this was a tough decision regarding Simone and deep down he was slightly reluctant, but he thought he had to do it for now.
I was shocked. We were all surprised by the decision. Myself, Pietro and my mother were absolutely furious with Mario and argued intensely with him. Ezio and Claudia were also particularly affected by it and they both tried to talk Mario into freeing Simone but nothing would do, and many of the other Assassin leaders supported Mario in this decision.
But then, my mother, out of love and desperation, did something I will never forget. With the help of another Assassin named Dino, who sympathized with her pain, she created a fake letter whose content seemed to indicate that she was actually the one and the only one in contact with the Templars and the one who invited those spies into Monteriggioni. The letter thus implied that her son Simone knew nothing about it, and then she orchestrated a scene in which the letter would be discovered while she tried to flee and Dino made sure that he was the one to capture her after, as agreed and then she put on an act.
Her plan sadly worked perfectly, and Mario released Simone, and then 3 days later, my mother Nella, was executed in Monteriggioni for high treason against the Assassin Order. Ezio upon discovery of the letter had pleaded with Mario that my mother very clearly just wanted to take the fall for the incident and that Mario should simply release Simone and ignore the letter, but Mario would have none of it and he didn't believe Ezio. Thus Mario went along with his decision, as he believed that with the letter, attempted escape and her overall act as tangible proof, that he should not be taking a risk like that. He totally bought into mother's act. His own personal issues didn't help as well.
My mother, from childhood had always told Pietro, Simone and myself that she would never hesitate to give her own life if it meant we could live, and she showed that day that those weren't empty words. Dino later formally revealed the truth to me, Simone and to Pietro but told us not to say it to anyone else, though we knew that one day we would have to. I secretly knew about my mother's doubts regarding the Assassins obviously but Dino also secretly revealed to us that mother was even contemplating leaving the order as she felt increasingly uncomfortable but that she did not know how we, her sons and her nephew would react. Dino though, was ill at the time and thus died shortly after.
After that incident, nothing was ever the same. Simone commited suicide the next day, refusing to live in the face of such a shameful event. He could have accepted mother giving her life for him in other circumstances, but not like this.
Pietro's case was particularly tragic, he considered Ezio to be his best friend, and around the time the event took place, his relationship with Ezio's sister Claudia had progressed to the point where both of them were thinking of getting engaged soon but the incident ruined all of that and this left Claudia in tears. Though Pietro deep down still loved Claudia dearly, their relationship did not recover from this. Pietro also blamed Ezio for not doing enough to convince Mario to save my mother as he believed Ezio was the one who had the best hand at succeeding for this task, and after that last argument, they did not talk to each other again. However, myself and Ezio did have serious but extremely tense conversations after that .
Ezio was also hugely scarred by the event and he felt enormous guilt as he thought he could have done more to prevent this. My mother had always been really kind to him. More than that, this event strangely made Ezio start reconsidering many of his own past actions and as well as many of the Assassin order's policies, as well as having some regrets, notably with how the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy was handled, as Ezio like the rest of us Assassins back then, did not really concern himself with the people who had to unjustly suffer because of that conspiracy, he was only after the templars, only after his revenge. This also secretly soured his relationship with Lorenzo de Medici, though Ezio was a bit forced to keep up appearances for a time and Mario and some of the other leaders of the Assassins still wished to have a cordial alliance with the Medici. Ezio changed a lot after that.
Pietro though he hated Mario with a burning passion and wanted him gone, wasn't sure about how he would even deal with the aftermath of an assassination on Mario and what would come after. The thing is, despite all of this, Pietro still believed that the Assassin order should exist but that it needed major reforms, different leadership and could not really continue the way Mario and some of the other leaders were running it in the long term. Therefore, 3 days after the incident, Pietro went into self-imposed exile in Siena, not too far from Monteriggioni where he apparently still is at the moment, stating that he would only return to the Assassins if justice is served for mother and there is a change at the top, though unsurprisingly, that doesn't look likely. Ironically, despite their broken relationship, Ezio and Pietro agreed on the idea that the Assassins needed to drastically change, though they obviously never actually discussed this together as they no longer really talked to each other.
After some introspection as said previously, Ezio realized that the order needed change and thus Ezio's relationship with his own uncle also became a bit colder though they obviously couldn't ignore each other at all and still had to work together. However, Ezio was not sure on how to bring about this change within the Assassins and the templars were still a massive and active threat thus he had a hard time fully focusing on that task. And though Mario obviously still disliked the growing opposition, there was a huge amount of fragility within the Assassins at that moment.
He could not exactly get rid of Pietro or certainly not his nephew Ezio, and create another huge internal incident so soon after the one with my mother unless he wanted the Assassin order in Italy to collapse entirely and immediately right there and then, something the Templars would fully take advantage of, thus Mario was forced to endure it.
However, where I differ from Pietro and Ezio is that I had come to believe that the Assassins should cease to exist altogether, the organization is now unredeemable and just as corrupt as the Templars and it would be impossible to change that in the long term. Any change they could make would be short term at best and large scale secret organizations should not be constantly deciding such matters and interfering to this extent. Though I obviously never shared that specific belief with either of them and kept it for myself, I simply told Pietro I wasn't sure I agreed with his views on the topic. At first, I also wanted to kill Mario immediately but then I realized that it might not change much, that the problem was much larger and I had to look at the bigger picture, if I wanted to truly get back at him, I should use other means.
I still cared about Pietro and all of this did break my heart, however at this point that was an idea I simply could not accept, even if it came from him. For me, Assassins, Templars, they both had to go and I would not be able to forgive him if he still wanted this wretched group to continue existing even under different leadership. I could not understand why Pietro would still want to be a part of that organization in the future.
Thus, around a week later, after the affair, I also decided to leave the order and while I was travelling by sea on a large ship, I faked my death in an accident and other people apparently reported my disappearance to the Assassins. It might sound cruel but I had no other choice, this could not continue.
And that is sort of how I got to this point. I started eliminating figures of the Assassin order in Venice and leaving notes and clues behind for some of them. Hoping the Assassins would believe that the venetian spy in Monteriggioni who had escaped and collected a lot of info on the Assassins, was actually the one behind it. I believed that confusing them would be a good way of getting back at them, that it would cause a breakdown within the order and force them to look into the mirror a little bit. The truth is, I had already found the templar spy and eliminated him before even beginning to target Assassins in Venice alongside another Templar agent.
I left a note on that courtesan that I killed, talking about how refining the outside makes you lose the elements from the inside. That woman, though her courtesan activity which involves a lot of deception, was kind of a good personification of the Assassin order. For all the pretty talks of liberty, free will and all of that on the outside, on the inside, the organization is rotten, they completely lost themselves and now there is absolutely no way back, they have become just another group fighting for control and power, just like the Templars, though their means might differ. Her spilled guts on the ground were simply a poetic way of sending a subtle message to the Assassins if you will.
But what exactly could I do entirely alone outside of getting rid of these people ? Not much, however, Assassins and Templars have also fought over strange artifacts, known as pieces of eden. No one really seems to know where those objects come from, however they are relics of immense power. I then started to believe that if I could get my hands on one of them, maybe…..I could stop this madness ? However I haven't had much success when it comes to finding pieces of eden. But too many have suffered because of this secret war and something had to be done at least…. The Assassins had recently organized an expedition to retrieve one of these artifacts, though I have no idea where they sent their men and they may not even find anything at their destination.
Ezio had a special gift when it came to finding hidden treasures. Interestingly enough, Ezio shortly after arriving in Monteriggioni, had a strange glowing mark appear on his palm, almost like magic. He said that it appeared at night one day, while he was thinking in pain, of his dead father and brothers, but also of a girl called Cristina, that was his lover back in Florence but that he had to leave behind as he could not take her with him, thus Cristina got married to someone else. None of us really knew where this mark really came from or why but, over time, he realized that his mark gave him extremely useful visual abilities, such as being able to see through walls and other solid objects, and being able to leave a visual marker on whoever Ezio wanted to track or tail."
Alessandro then stopped for a few seconds, as he was clearly getting emotional, which gave Neri better time to absorb what he had said. The pieces of eden mentioned in the Isu book were apparently known to the Templars and Assassins, though they did not seem to know about their true origin unlike her. Does that mean that they know about the prophecy as well and the vault ? Neri wasn't sure how to bring that up. The story behind Nella's execution was a bit moving in a way, as well as Ezio starting to reflect on his and the Assassins' own actions due to the incident. Also Ezio apparently had the mark too ?
Before Alessandro could resume, she asked him :" This mark that Ezio has…." she then removed her glove, showed her glowing mark to Alessandro and continued "Is it like this one ?"
"Wow, yes indeed, that's exactly like his. So, there are more of you out there, as I suspected."
"Yes, but please, continue your tale."
"Very well. There's one major element I haven't talked yet about, something that has been troubling me for a while. Following my official disappearance, I have learned a disturbing truth." Alessandro said before stopping again, prompting Thea to ask him
"What is it ?"
"What if I told you that the Vatican in Rome was under the intense influence of a Templar mastermind ? Dozens of cardinals being very subtly manipulated by that sinister individual, without suspecting a thing. A menace hiding in plain sight." Alessandro noted.
"What do you mean ?" Neri asked
"The individual who is responsible for the events of the Pazzi conspiracy, the death of Doge Mocenigo and even the death of the Duke of Milan in 1475, and perhaps most importantly, the man who orchestrated the execution of Ezio's father and brothers. He is most likely the leader of the Templars in Italy. I have discovered recently that this man is hiding around Rome and has a lot of influence in the Vatican.
Ezio and I have seen him before, with our own eyes, in a way at least. He was always wearing a hooded black robe as well as a strange looking and very solid mask that somehow prevented Ezio from seeing through it and truly seeing his face by using the powers his mark had granted him. The man, maybe due to speaking through his strange mask, had a very unsettling voice and his eyes were yellow. I suspect that this mask might be a piece of eden though I am not sure. The Assassins have for a long time tried to discover his identity without any success, they did not even know where to look, however it appears that I have managed to discover at least his location on my own, in a very broad sense.
Giuliano della Rovere, Ascanio Sforza, Rodrigo Borgia, or maybe even Pope Innocent XVIII himself, this man could be ANYONE among the leading and influential figures in Rome. A man who was able to orchestrate events such as these, who is looking for these powerful pieces of eden, and is leading an organization that ultimately wants to see the subjugation and virtual enslavement of humanity, is clearly bad news. The fact that his seat of power is in Rome makes it even worse. I see that man and his faction as ultimately too dangerous and poisonous for this world, just like the Assassins.
I don't really know who you are, and you do not have to tell me. Just knowing that you are neither Assassin or Templar, that you seem very strong willed, dedicated and good natured, have been skilled enough to gather information about these affairs with your friend and that you are also an able combattant is enough for me to want to share all of this with you. You even already showed a lack of trust regarding the Assassins and Templars with what little information you had managed to gather by calling them shady organizations before I even revealed the extent of their machinations, that really piqued my interest.
You were also hesitant to accept my challenge and worried about your friend first despite it being a possible obstacle to getting the answers you were looking for and that meant so much to you according to her, so you do seem like a good person, someone who truly cares about people I assume.
When I said that you hadn't yet been corrupted, that is sort of what I meant for the most part. Unlike me and many others before, you have not been formerly brainwashed or been heavily influenced by either of these ideologies at any time in the past before. The fact that you even also seem to possess Ezio's powers makes it even better. Despite my own attempts to wash away my sins and make up for them, I feel like they will always haunt me, and that is not a burden you seem to have.
Also, I am ill, seriously ill. It's a strange disease and though it does not exactly affect my fighting capabilities and is thankfully not contagious in any way, it is still a deadly one and I could suddenly pass any time now. Personally, I don't think I have much time left.
So if you have the ability to do something about these two organizations, I'm sure the world would be a better place. I have no idea how you would go about it, but I'm certain that something can be done. Soon I'll be gone, so I don't have much choice besides hoping that you…..or someone else manages to do something about this horrific situation. For this can not continue any longer."
After a short moment of silence, Alessandro then said "Well, I guess…..this is it then. The rest is up to you. Farewell."
After this, Alessandro removed his odd looking necklace that was revealed to be a flask of poison, something Neri had failed to notice before, and then he opened it and drank it. Before Neri and Thea had the time to do a thing, Alessandro already dropped dead on the ground.
"Neri…." Thea said
"Let's return home Thea, we'll have an easier time discussing what happened once we return safely."
"Alright."
Around an hour later, they had made it back home and were relatively exhausted, but they had to stay up to analyze everything they had discovered in the past hours.
"Thea"
"Yes ?"
"I know….I know what I have to do now. That book I mentioned the other day, I have to find it now. The prophecy and the Vault I talked to you about what was included in that book, maybe they're the key ? The Vault was said to have immense power, even more than the pieces of eden, so maybe If one could find it, they would be able to use its power in order to protect people from the actions of the Assassins and Templars somehow ? Everything Alessandro told us was very alarming. Individuals have suffered unjustly because of this secret war, me included, but many many many more people have as well. I think it is necessary to take action, these two organizations are far too dangerous especially if they are also after pieces of eden."
"You're absolutely right Neri, but didn't you say that only the prophet could have access to the Vault ? Even if you find the location, you may not be able to enter it if you're not the prophet."
"That's true. To be honest with you, I think it is unlikely that I am the prophet, even though I have the mark of course. But whoever he or she is if that person even exists in our time, maybe I can find them and convince that person to help. It probably won't be easy but at least it is worth a try. And that man Luigi, I told you I was suspecting he knew more about this affair than he let on that day back in Paris, and I can still see that the book is still in Naples, so I should probably go there quickly, talk to Luigi and see what can be done. There may even be some hidden clues in the book I missed, I'm sure I'll be able to find something that can be of help."
"Right. If you're heading to Naples then I'll be going with you, don't worry about it."
"Thea, with what he told us, things are going to get even more dangerous from here on out. You don't have to follow me if you think it will be too risky."
"Of course it'll be dangerous which is why I can't let you do it alone. You'll need a lot of support for this and you can count on me. I've got to say, I am really touched by your concern for me today not just now but also before your fight, I will never forget it. I'll go with you to Naples, don't worry.."
"Thank you Thea, thanks for everything."
"You're welcome. Though I must ask you, what Alessandro said…..how does it make you feel about Ezio now ? What are you going to do when he returns ?"
Neri sighed before explaining that her anger towards Ezio had decreased a bit upon hearing the revelations and the way he had started questioning himself. She believed that Ezio was also vulnerable to bad influence at a low point in his life after his family tragedy, though she did not exactly forgive him as he was still with the Assassins and should still have a bit of agency. Therefore, she was slightly conflicted and was still determined to talk to him when he returned.
Thea then brought up the fact that Ezio also had the mark and what it could mean.
"Do you think Ezio could be the prophet ? Though he said they knew about pieces of Eden and the mark, Alessandro never talked about the prophecy or the vault in any way, do you think the Assassins and Templars know about this ?"
"I don't know, regarding Ezio or regarding the knowledge that these two groups may have. But in both cases, that would certainly complicate things if true."
Author's note : Hardest chapter to write by far. How do you like Alessandro's backstory ? What are your thoughts on Neri's development so far ? What do you think of Pietro ? I really want to hear your thoughts, and I'll see you in the next one.