Peculiarities

The ferry ride from the port of Ancona to Montenegro had been, for the most part, uneventful. The 8-hour voyage had been spent in quite opposite ways for the two passengers. The male slept for the majority of the duration of the boat ride, and his only movement upon awakening was to travel to the cafeteria and purchase some sustenance. The female, however, remained acutely aware of her surroundings, although her attention was riveted on one object. The sixth obscura painting.

Having departed the ferry, Kurtis looked around the small port town of Bar. Having traded in the Vespa back in Ancona, he wondered how the hell they were supposed to cross at least three countries and get to Istanbul, and perhaps even more importantly, what the hell they were supposed to once there. He scanned the port, looking for some sort of vehicle that they could rent, or buy, or commandeer to get them to their destination.

He had to admit, he wasn't ashamed when he bought the motorbike from the man for an absurdly cheap price, considering the bike ran and even looked good, manipulating the fact that the man spoke no English and he knew no Serbian or Albanian, and he had to admit, the euro in his hand looked rather impressive. He knew Lara would probably be disappointed, but she isn't paying, he thought, now scanning for her. He smiled at his last comment as he found her, sitting pretty atop a motorbike herself, looking far better off than he. And, as if to gloat, her bike looked better.

Lara saw him too, and returned his smile, admittedly proud of her vehicle. "You didn't honestly expect that I would allow you to drive," She said.

"Hey, I'm a good driver!" Kurtis returned with feigned hurt.

"Yes, I'm sure you are. But no doubt I'm better." She widened her smile. "Now, I suggest we get something to eat. There's a pub-like operation over there. I think we ought to discuss our course of action." She led the way to the restaurant, Kurtis following behind her.

"So, about the painting," Lara began. "I noticed something rather peculiar. All the other paintings, weren't maps per say, they just held Eckhardt's Sanglyph pieces."

"But Eckhardt is dead, the Sanglyph used. So it obviously doesn't have that."

"Right, but that aside, the painting was still different. All the other paintings where one sided." Her gaze narrowed, accusing Kurtis of his actions at the Louvre, "You should have noticed that."

"Lara—" Kurtis began, but was brushed off by Lara.

"Never mind that. The point is this painting was two sided- it has two maps, if you will. Although they are more of approximate locations."

"But Kaufman said it was the key."

"Yes. I think that one of the maps points to a key, and the other to the location of the shield. But that would mean that Kaufman new it—he claimed it was both a map and key of sorts. HeHe was witholding information from us."

Kurtis shook his head. The idea was too fantastical to comprehend. He wasn't sure that Kaufman could lie to him, to his friend's son, but at the same token, Kaufman had no reason to tell the truth. "So what do we do?"

"Suspecting Kaufman of anything does little to find the shield. We know that there is a key in Istanbul- the Haghia Sophia was in the background, although I strongly doubt that it would be there, but there is some sort of direction on the map. I bet there aren't too many Christian churches that had been preserved, although most would be mosques now…"

"No. The Lux Veritatis would have protected the key. Even though we are pretty much gone, there still would be some sort of lineage designated to protect it. The church should still be a church."

"Well, that gives us a start. But we still need more of a plan—obviously somebody wants this key," She said, referencing the events in the in the Duomo Oscuritá. "But who? Eckhardt's dead, Karel?"

"Karel's not dead, but I bet he'd be too weak from the damage you did him. It must be the other members of the cabal, whoever they are."

"And at the church?"

"Gunderson is my best bet. He wasn't killed in the Strahov, and clearly the cabal pays good money—he'd not one to refuse a good payload."

"Well then he's not going to give up after us. We should get to Istanbul as quickly as possible. I'd say it's imperative that we get to the key before anyone else does."

A/N: ahh i'm terribly sorry about this chapter. It's not my favorite. I'm updating two chapters quickly because i don't think they are that good,I'm hoping you won't hate me if at least you get two...but still let me know what you think!