NIGHTIE'S POV
Marcus managed to get us three tickets to Venice, which surprised me. What were the odds I'd be going to the same city as Dot at the same time? I got dressed into a white blouse, a black skirt, and my white sun hat, and joined my father into Mr. Donovan' car. As we stepped out or Mr. Donovan's car at the airport, he stopped Dad. "Dr. Jones." Donovan called out. Dad turned around to face him. "Be careful, don't trust anyone." Donovan warned him. Dad nodded as he, Marcus, and I boarded the plane. Dad and I kind of made up on the plane ride by studying Grandfather's Grail Diary together, but I could still tell he was upset about me sneaking off to sing with Edward. I was definitely still upset that he lied about Grandfather! Speaking of Grandfather, his work on studying the Grail was extraordinary! I couldn't wait to meet him! After about three hours, I had to take a nap. When I woke up. we were landing at Venice. When we were out on the docks, Marcus looked around. "How will we recognize this Dr. Schneider when we see him?" he asked. Dad shrugged "I don't know. Maybe he'll know us." he replied. It was bright outside, I was happy I brought my white sunhat. "Dr. Jones?" I heard a woman ask. Dad, Marcus, and I spun around to see a beautiful young woman who looked about twenty two years old. "I knew it was you, you have your father's eyes." she told him. Dad grinned mischievously. "And my mother's ears, but the rest belongs to you." he said. She almost laughed as she replied "Unfortunately the best parts are already spoken for." She then looked at me. "And this beautiful young lady must be your daughter." she said. "I am, ma'am." I replied as calmly as I could. It made me upset that Dad was flirting with this woman. He was about fifteen to sixteen years older than her, but it's fair game. But if I wanted to just sing with a boy who was only five years older, that was completely out of the question. I finally decided to voice this as Dr. Schneider introduced herself as Dr. Elsa Schneider to Marcus. "A little young for you, don't you think?" I whispered. Dad stared at me, looking frustrated. "This is different, we're both adults." he whispered back. "Please follow me." Dr. Schneider requested. So the three of us followed her along the canal. Dad was walking alongside her while Marcus and I walked behind them. "The last time I saw your father, we were in the library. He was very close to tracking down the Knight's Tomb. I never saw him so excited, he was as giddy as a schoolboy." Elsa told my father. "Who? Attila the Professor? Dad never was giddy, even as a schoolboy." Dad told her. Dad then took a flower from a vendor and held it towards Elsa. "Fraulein, do you permit me?" he asked. She chuckled as she replied "I usually don't." Dad's grin grew as he said. "I usually don't either." Elsa smiled at him. "In that case, I permit you." Dad put in her pocked as he said "It would make me very happy." Elsa suddenly put a fake frown on. "I am already sad, by tomorrow it will have faded." "Tomorrow, I'll steal you another." Dad promised. I scoffed loudly, and Marcus looked at me. "I hate to interrupt you, but the reason we're here-!" Marcus began turning his attention to Elsa, but she interrupted him. "Yes, I have something to show you." she said, handing Dad a piece of paper. "I left your father working in the library. He sent me to the map section to find an ancient plan of the city. When I got back to his table, he was gone! All his papers were missing with him, except for this." she said as Dad examined it. After he was finished, Dad showed it to Marcus and I. "Roman numerals." he said showing us.
Elsa lead us to a piazza, and pointed at a large building. "There is the library." she told us. It really didn't look like a library, it seemed a bit too grand. Apparently Dad and Marcus agreed. "That doesn't look much like a library." Dad said. "It looks like a converted church." Marcus observed. I couldn't help but agree as Elsa lead us inside. "In this case, it's the literal truth. We're standing on holy ground." Elsa told us as we walked to the main room of the library. So it was a converted church! "The columns over here, they were brought here as spoils of war." Elsa explained. "During the crusades." I finished for her. I don't know what it was, but something about Elsa that rubbed me the wrong way. "Yes." she replied, giving me a smile that may not have been sincere. "If you excuse me, the library closes in a few minutes. I will go arrange for us to stay a little longer. Sure, you go do that. When she left, Dad looked at the window. "I've seen this window before." he said. Marcus looked over at him looking puzzled. "Really, where?" he asked. "In Grandfather's Grail Diary!" I exclaimed. I remembered it in there too! "See?" Dad asked Marcus as soon as he turned to the correct page. "Look, Roman numerals!" Marcus cried. "Just like on the paper that Elsa gave us!" I exclaimed. "Dr. Schneider, Nightingale." Dad corrected me. Obviously he wanted me to respect her. Well, until I got to know her, that would have to wait. "Dad was on to something here." Dad said, looking at the window. "We found the source of the numbers, but we still don't know what they mean." Marcus pointed out. "Dad sent me this diary for a reason. Until we find out what that reason is, I suggest we keep it to ourselves." Dad said, giving Marcus and I a firm look. I nodded as I spotted Elsa walking back towards us. "Find something?" she asked. Marcus was the first to reply. "Um, yes. Three, seven, and ten. This window seems to be the source of the Roman numerals." Elsa looked at the window in shock. "I must be blind." she said. I rolled my eyes, it was kinda hard to miss the giant window. A look from Dad told me to keep my thoughts to myself. "Dad wasn't looking for a book about the knight's tomb. He was looking for the tomb itself." Dad stated. Elsa, Marcus, and I looked at him in confusion. "Don't you get it? The tomb is somewhere in the library!' he exclaimed. When our expressions didn't change, he sighed and pointed at one of the pillars beside the window. "Three." he said simply. I could see it, there was the Roman numeral for three on there! I looked at one of the pillars on the opposite side and pointed at it. "Seven!" I exclaimed. "Seven." Dad agreed. "Now where's the ten?" he asked, more to himself than to the rest of us. He then looked at us. "Look around for the ten." he said. So we split ways. Marcus looked along the walls, and Elsa looked at bookshelves. I looked at the paper in Dad's hand and noted where the ten was written by the three and seven. I looked at the floor we were standing on, something seemed odd about it's coloring. Dad and I went up a spiral staircase and looked at the floor from above there it was! "Ten!" I shouted, pointing at the floor. I could hear Dad chuckling beside me, saying "marks the spot." or something similar.
Dad and I climbed back down, and he went to the center tile of the ten. He blew dust out of it, and tried prying it out. It wouldn't budge. He then looked around and his eyes rested on one of the brass stands holding a cordon. He grabbed the brass stand and started smashing the center tile with it. As soon at the center tile had a hole in it, Dad put down the brass stand and pulled the tile out. There appeared to be some secret passage way under the library! "You don't disappoint, Dr. Jones. You're just like your father." she said, smiling. "Yeah, except he's lost and I'm not." Dad replied sourly. "Lower me down." Elsa said, holding her arms out. Dad, looking impressed with her spirit of adventure, grabbed her wrists and lowered her down into the passage. As soon as she was down there, Dad grabbed the Grail Diary, and ripped about half of the pages out. "Safe keeping." he whispered, handing the pages to Marcus. "Marcus nodded as he put the pages in his suit interior pocket. "You coming with Dr. Schneider and I, pumpkin?" Dad asked me. "I wouldn't miss it." I replied. "Come here." he said. He grabbed my wrists and lowered me down. It was dark and damp in the tunnel, and there were rats everywhere. Elsa turned her nose up in disgust as she eyed them warily. Dad lowered himself down to join us. "Come on, there's a knight who has been waiting over a thousand years to meet us." As we walked, Elsa pulled out a white cigarette lighter with a green, four leaf clover on it. She used its light to examine the symbols on the wall. "Pagen symbols, Fourth of Fifth century." she observed, looking over at my father. "Right, six hundred years before the Crusades." he replied. "The Christians would have dug their own passages and burial chambers centuries later." Elsa said. It seemed as if she was trying to impress my dad, and it also seemed as if it was working! "That's right. If there's a knight of the First Crusade entombed down here, that's where we'll find him." Dad smiled at her. I quietly scoffed, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. Soon we came across a Christian symbol. "What's this one?" Elsa asked, looking puzzled. "The Ark of the Covenant." I replied, barely glancing at it. "And you're sure?" Elsa asked, challanging me. "Pretty sure." my father replied. We eventually reached a wall with the Roman numeral X on it. "Watch out." Dad whispered to us. We took a step back, and Dad began to smash his way through the wall. He examined the dark green liquid on the other side and chuckled. "Petroleum. I could sink a well down here, and retire." he said. He then grabbed an arm of a nearby skeleton, wrapped the top in a shawl he found, dipped it in the petroleum, and held his hand out. "Give me the lighter." he said. Elsa handed it over and Dad lit his crude torch. "Let's go." he said. We followed Dad through the knee high liquid. Soon we could hear a bunch of strange squealing noises. "Oh rats." Dad said. Elsa gasped as we looked into the room ahead of us. The room was filled with rats. We slowly made our way through the rats without speaking to one another, until we came into a room with thick, oak coffins. "It must be one of these." Dad said, examining them. Elsa sighed in amazement "Loot at the artistry of these carvings, and the scrollwork!" she exclaimed. I had to agree, they were pretty remarkable. I noticed there was a coffin that was elevated above the others. "I bet that the knight is in this one!" I called out to Dad and Elsa. They came over and we shoved the lid off of the coffin.
I felt my breath being taken away as I looked in awe. This was him, Sir Richard. "This is it! We found it! Look, the engraving on the shield, it the same as on the Grail Tablet! The shield is the second marker!" Dad said, grinning as he pulled out a piece of paper. "What is that?" I asked. "A rubbing that your Grandfather made of the tablet." Dad replied as he finished the rubbing with the shield. "Just like your father, giddy as a school boy." Dad chuckled in response, and Elsa put her hand on his shoulder. "Wouldn't it amazing, if he were here with us?" she asked. Dad began laughing. "He never would have made it past the rats. He hates rats, he's scared to death of them." Dad replied. Suddenly, there was a roaring sound. The water was on fire, and the fire was headed towards us. Elsa screamed as Dad shouted "Back against the wall!" I pulled Elsa against the wall with me ad Dad tipped Sir Richard's coffin over into the water. "Quick, under it!" Dad ordered. I swam under the coffin, and held my head in the air pocket. I could hear Dad yelling at Elsa, but she, and Dad, joined me in there. "Neither of you go wandering off." Dad said, diving down. "What?!" Elsa shouted as he left. "He said to stay put!" I yelled. The rats began coming into the coffin with us, screaming as they swam. They climbed into our hair, and Elsa screamed as they did so. Right as I was about to shout at her, Dad came back. "I found a tunnel, this way!" he exclaimed. "Deep breath!" I shouted as we dived.
We came up through a man cover in the piazza. Loads of people were eating lunch, and they looked shocked by our strange and sudden appearance. "Ah, Venice." Dad quipped as he helped Elsa and I up. "Nightie?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I looked around and saw Dot sitting at a table with her mother. "Oh, hey!" I waved. "We've got to move, we've got company!" Dad shouted. I looked behind us and saw our attacker. They were a bunch of men in grey suits and fez hats. Dad grabbed me, and started guiding Elsa and I to docks. We got in a boat and sped away, but one of the men had managed to jump in the back with me. He grabbed a revolver, and was about to aim it at me, but Dad leapt on top of him, and they began to wrestle. The gun went off and nearly hit Elsa in the head. She glared back at as she drove. I elbowed the man's ribs as Dad punched his face. The man dropped his revolver, and I grabbed it. Dad threw the man overboard as I began shooting back at the two boats behind us. Dad shoved me down suddenly. "What are you doing?!" I asked. "I don't want you getting shot!" he yelled. Dad looked over at Elsa, she was steering the boat in between two larger boats. "Are you crazy?!" he asked. "Don't go between them!" Elsa looked back at him as if he was insane. "Go between them, are you crazy?!" she asked. Shaking her head, she sped our boat in between the two boats. "Stay down." Dad ordered me. I nodded as he climbed to the front, and took the wheel from Elsa. "I said turn around!" he yelled. Elsa looked upset. "You said go between them!" Dad looked at her in anger. "I said don't go between them!" he argued. The two boats began to grow closer to each other. I began breathing heavily as we sped through. I could hear men screaming, then right after that, an explosion! One of the enemy's boats had followed us through, and they didn't make it! The second boat started shooting a machine gun at us. Dad ducked Elsa's head down as he yelled "Are you still ducking, pumpkin?" I shouted back that I was, and I checked how many bullets I had left in the revolver. It was empty. Suddenly I felt a boat bump into ours, it was them! Dad jumped off our jetty, and started fighting the two men. He knocked one off of the boat, and started interrogating the last one as a large propeller began chopping their boat to bits! "No!" I yelled. "Why are you trying to kill us?!" Dad demanded of the man. "You are seeking the Holy Grail." the man replied. Dad shook his head in anger. "My father was searching for the Grail, did you kill him too?!" Dad screamed. "No!" the man yelped. "Where is he?!" Dad shouted. There was no answer. "Tall or your dead!" Dad yelled, shaking the man violently. "Tell me, tell me!" The man grabbed Dad's hands. "If you don't let go, we will both die!" the man shouted. "Then we will die!" Dad replied. "My soul is prepared, how is yours?" the man asked.
Dad let go of the man, and Elsa drove the boat to them. They both jumped in, and we sailed back to the city. Dad grabbed the man's suit again. "Alright, now where's my father?" he asked. "If you let me go, I will tell you where he is." the man said simply. Dad let go, and looked curiously at our previous enemy. "Who are you?" he asked. "My name is Kazim." the man replied, introducing himself. "Why were you trying to kill us?" Dad asked next. "The secret of the Hily Grail has been safe for a thousand years, and in all that time, the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword has been prepared to do anything to keep it that way." Kazim informed us as he showed a tatoo on his chest. He then pointed at a jetty. "Let me off at this jetty." he said. Elsa docked the boat, and as Kazim got off, he began to speak. "Ask yourself, why do you seek for the Cup of Christ? Is it for His glory, or for yours?" he asked. "We didn't come for the Cup of Christ." Dad said. "We came to find my grandfather." I said. Kazim looked at the two of us, and nodded to himself. "In that case, God be with you on your quest. He us being held in Castle Brunwald on the Austrian-German border." he told us. "Thank you." I said. Kazim nodded as he walked away. "Come on, let's get into a hotel." Dad said.