Chapter 4: Sequence 1 (Part 2)
After having a talk with Blake about her crush on Sun, Team RWBY decides to continue the game, and head for the Palazzo Auditore.
27 December, 1476
After escaping from the incident at Cristina's home, Ezio returns to his family home – the Palazzo Auditore – without drawing more attention to himself. However, he wasn't expecting his own father waiting for him at the entrance.
"Good morning, father." He greets with a nervous expression.
"Come with me." Giovanni says with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Is something wrong?" The teen asks as a way of playing dumb, hoping his father wouldn't find out about last night's events.
"Do you think me blind and deaf, son?" He turns around with disappointment in his eyes. "I know all about your fight with Vieri de' Pazzi last night. And then this little visit to Cristina! Your behavior is unacceptable! It... it..."
The girls felt really bad for Ezio. Seeing that his father disapproves of his son's reasons for being late. However, the whole thing was just a façade as Giovanni is happy that his son found love with someone.
Ezio had a shameful look on his face, but surprisingly, Giovanni laughed and changed from a serious manner to a more joyful one.
"I thought Ezio was gonna be forbidden to not see Cristina again." Weiss sighs in relief, knowing that Giovanni was pretending to be upset towards Ezio.
"I literally didn't see that one coming." Yang admits. Not expecting the sudden change Giovanni made from almost angry to happy.
"It reminds me of myself when I was your age!" He briefly recalls when he first met Maria (who is Ezio's mother) in his teens. The father then changes the subject. "I assume these misadventures won't interfere with your work today?"
"No, padre. Avete la mia parola. (No, father. You have my word.)" Ezio swears with a smile.
Inside Giovanni's office at the house, he gives Ezio a letter with some important documents needed delivering.
"I've prepared some documents here for Lorenzo de' Medici to review. I need them delivered to him."
"With haste, father." Ezio nods with understanding.
"Return to me when it's done." Giovanni said before Ezio leaves the household.
A notification shows up on the screen that shows the letter to Lorenzo.
"Hey, we might be able to read what it says." Ruby suggests. Remembering what the Templar said in the trailer. "Maybe it could contain some clue to what led to Giovanni's death that Templar mentioned in the trailer."
With a press of a button, Yang opens the letter in the Animus Database and the girls hear Giovanni's voice for the letter's handwriting.
'Al Magnifico Lorenzo de' Medici mio protettore e amico;
I have done as requested and completed my investigation into the Milano incident. I can confirm for you that it extends far beyond dissatisfaction with Duca Galeazzo Sforza's rule. It is my belief that other parties, desirous of far greater gains, manipulated events in such a way as to achieve their goals without being revealed themselves.
Lampugnani, Olgiati, and Visconti are guilty of the crime, to be sure. And they have met fitting ends for their betrayal. But several other noble families are involved as well, our own Francesco de' Pazzi among them.
Their cause and motive is not yet clear to me, but initial findings indicate a plan - the scope of which is sure to disturb you. Best we continue this conversation in person as I am hesitant to put my suspicion to paper. Reply with a place and time, and I will meet you there. I have also ordered Francesco be held by the Gonfaloniere until we can clear up this matter.
Yours in confidence,
Giovanni'
"So there are other conspiracies happening in Italy?" Blake guesses. "And this letter mentions Francesco de' Pazzi."
"Yeah." The heiress agrees after analyzing the letter a second time. "I think Francesco's imprisonment has something to do with Vieri's slandering against the Auditore family name and his rivalry against Ezio."
"But why would that man be in prison?" The scythe wielder questions.
"There's probably a good reason for it, sis." The blond brawler answers for her. "But the information in the letter are pretty much scarce on details. It did mention about an assassination on the Duke of Milano and this guy's involvement in it."
Ezio wondered how Vieri's father is involved in a murder in Milano after reading the letter. Besides, he's started to become suspicious of his father's business trips in certain Italian cities. Putting that thought aside, he leaves the house grounds to deliver the documents to Lorenzo. Upon reaching his destination, he was greeted by the Medici housekeeper.
"Ah! Ezio! Ben trovato! (Well met!) How are you?" The housekeeper greets the teenager.
Ezio greets him back with a smile as he gives the letter to him so that he can pass it to Lorenzo. "Come sempre. (Same as ever.) I have a letter for Messer Lorenzo."
"I'll see that he receives it when he returns." He nods at the boy.
"Returns?" Ezio asks.
"They've gone to Villa Careggi, I'm afraid." He explains. "And not expected back for at least another day."
"I'll let my father know." The teen says as he heads back home.
Upon returning, Ezio sees Federico outside the house to the door into their father's office.
"Keep up the good work!" Federico jokes with a grin.
"Bischero! (Penis!)" He shouts back, not finding his brother's teasing to be funny.
The girls blushed again when they read the translation of what he said. Yang snickered at another funny moment in the game. Ruby became uncomfortable while Weiss facepalms at another innuendo Ezio made. Blake, however, shyly moves her head away from the screen for a bit as she wants to forget hearing him said that.
Inside his father's office, Ezio found that they had a guest as he hears them from outside the house.
"...You worry too much, Giovanni. Francesco de' Pazzi is in prison. The threat is ended." The voice of a man says to Giovanni.
Ezio enters the office and his father notices him.
"Ah! Hello son. You remember my friend Uberto?" He formally introduces the man Uberto Alberti to his son.
"Good morning, Gonfaloniere Alberti." Ezio politely greets the guest with a bow.
"To you as well, young man." The Gonfaloniere greets back.
"I trust you delivered the message?" Giovanni asks his son.
"Sì, padre. (Yes, father.) But it seems Lorenzo is out of town." Ezio explains.
Giovanni finds it odd that his close friend isn't home. Making Ezio suspicious once more but keeps it to himself.
"Hmmm. I did not anticipate this..." He says to himself.
"What does it matter. So you wait another day or two." Uberto suggests to the head and banker of the Auditore International Bank.
Giovanni turned to Ezio. "Listen, your mother and sister have been looking for you. I'll need you again in a little while, but for now – see if you can't help them."
"Are you sure?" The teen asks with suspicion.
"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse us...?" Ezio's father answers before dismissing the teen out of the office.
"Good to see you, Ezio." The Gonfaloniere dismisses the leaving teen before turning his attention back towards Giovanni.
'Memory Synched'
Blake suspiciously eyed close at Uberto's expression. From her time in the White Fang, she used to trust those that she thought were her friends, which led to her defection from the terrorist group when they started attacking Dust shipments and humans, even their own kind that refused to believe in the White Fang's cause and join them. For this Gonfaloniere, however, there's something off about him that doesn't sit right with her. She decides to keep it to herself until there's confirmation whether he's involved with the Templars or not.
28 December, 1476
The next day, Ezio decides to take a walk around the city streets when he notices his younger sister Claudia sitting alone in the family courtyard. She is around 15 years of age (and is the same age as Ruby). Ezio then sits down a bench next to her, wanting to know what wrong with her.
"Ehi Claudia. (Hey Claudia.) How are you?" He greets the girl.
"Bene... (Okay...)" She answers, not bothering to look her brother in the eye.
Concerned for his sister, Ezio asked her what was troubling her. "You shouldn't keep things from me."
Claudia depressingly sighs. "It's Duccio."
"What of him?" He asks, confused.
"I think he's been... unfaithful." She confesses with heartbroken tears in her eyes.
Ezio's eyes widen in shock at how heartbroken she is.
"Who told you this?"
"The other girls." She answers while in depression. "I thought they were my friends."
The girls were seething with anger that Claudia's boyfriend cheated on her, and that her friends are even dating him. Yang, however, is angrier with this than her teammates as she nearly crushed the controller with her strength as her eyes turn red and her blonde hair lit up like that of a Super Saiyan.
"How dare he!" She shouts in righteous anger. "That disgusting pig!"
"Harpies!" Ezio says in disgust at how her friends treated her. "You're better off without them."
"I loved him!" She laments with a broken heart.
"No, Claudia. You only thought you did."
Convinced that Duccio - her now ex-boyfriend - has indeed cheated her, Claudia's expression changed from sadness to anger.
"He should suffer for what he's done." She declares, venom in her tone.
The girls were a bit freaked out about this side of her when she declared those words to her brother. Luckily, their fear went away as they agree with her since this Duccio committed adultery.
"Okay, that's really scary coming from her." Yang admits before changing to an evil grin that promised suffering as her lilac eyes turn red once more. "But I like the sound of what she just said. Duccio is going to suffer for cheating on her."
"Why does that sound familiar?" Ruby mutters with sarcasm, earning a mean glare from her half-sister.
A notification on Claudia's profile then pops up and the girls looked at the information Shaun has created for Desmond (and the players).
'The third child of Giovanni and Maria Auditore, and the first girl in the family, Claudia seems to have been a bit of a spoiled brat. It looks like her parents had to raise her dowry by 1000 florins after she scared away all her potential suitors.
A report from her school indicates she once attacked another girl for looking at her boyfriend...and knocked her out cold.
On the plus side, she's Ezio's sister, so you should be safe.
"I guess that explains why this Duccio cheated on Claudia." Weiss grumbles. "But I'll give her credit. She did a good job of attacking that girl who is already dating that cheating pig."
"Again, why do I get the feeling this sounds a lot like Yang?" The scythe wielder sarcastically wonders again. "Oh wait, she never had a boyfriend."
"Hey!" Yang shouts at her half-sister in annoyance.
"Wait here. I'll go have a word with him." Ezio says to his sister with betrayal and anger in his eyes as he gets up from the bench and heads near the Santa Maria del Fiore. He then sees Duccio with another woman and witnessed him giving her a ring. The young Auditore grits his teeth at the disgusting sight and walks toward them (Team RWBY has the same reaction as him).
"Oh, Duccio! It's beautiful!" The woman says, admiring the ring Duccio gave her.
"Nothing but the best for you, amore mio. (my love)" He says with a smile.
"But... what of Claudia?" She says in concern. "I thought you'd been promised to her?"
"Father said I could do much better than an Auditore." He rolls his eyes before smacking her ass.
The girls scoff in disgust, seeing that this man loves to woo different women. It's sickening.
"Birbante! (Naughty!)" She gasps. "Come, let us walk a bit."
"Walk? I had something else in mind..." He suggests as he pulled her back to him in an embrace.
"Oh Duccio..." She says before the cheater kisses her.
"Ehi, lurido porco! (Hey, dirty pig!)" Ezio shouts toward Duccio, interrupting the two.
"Ezio, my friend!" He greets in surprise.
Too bad for him as Ezio responds to him with a punch to the jaw.
"Ma che ti piglia?! (What the hell?!)" Duccio shouts in confusion as he feels the pain in his jaw.
"Holy shit, I punched him!" Yang exclaims with joy as she got a chance to punch the cheating bastard.
"You mean Ezio punched him." Blake corrects, even though it's technically a game.
"Eh. Same difference." Yang shrugs, not caring about it anyway.
"You insult my sister, parading around with this puttana. (whore)" Ezio accuses the cheating ex-boyfriend as the woman is taken aback by his insult before running off from a potential fight starting.
The girls gasp at what he just said. Ezio may have said the forbidden word, but they immediately understood that the bitch deserves it.
"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Duccio asks nervously.
"I saw the gift you gave her. Heard the things you said." The Auditore explains with anger in his voice.
"Maybe your sister shouldn't be so stingy with her virtù... (virtue...)"
"You broke her heart." Ezio deadpans.
"And now I'm going to break your face!" Duccio says as he gets in a fighting stance, resulting in a fistfight between the two.
Ezio blocks his attacks and traded blows with his own punches.
"You Auditores all talk big - but when it comes time for action? Hah!" Duccio arrogantly thinks aloud towards the Auditore.
"You'll regret ever opening your mouth!"
"I could have taught your sister a great many things! She's lucky to have had someone like me!"
"Bastardo!"
Yang eventually decides to use that phrase of bastard whenever she's up against bad people.
Ultimately, Duccio was no match for Ezio as the latter grabs the former and headbutts him, resulting in the cheater's nose breaking and falls to the ground before surrendering.
"Basta! Mi arrendo! (Stop! I yield!)" Duccio begs in a cowardly tone with his broken nose bleeding.
"Stay away from my sister!" Ezio warns him as the pig himself gets up and runs away.
'Memory Synched'
"Run away, Duccio." Yang says to the screen as her eyes turn red again before turning back to lilac. "And NEVER return!"
Her teammates gave the blonde brawler a blank stare as another note from Tython appears for Ruby to read aloud.
'Dude, did you literally just copy that line from 'The Lion King'?'
"They have 'The Lion King' on Earth, too?!" Ruby gasps in surprise. "I love that movie!"
"What?" Yang asks in confusion. What did she do wrong? "I thought it was the right time to say it!"
'Pfft. Says the girl with the terrible puns she makes.'
Yang becomes infuriated with Tython's savage and offensive message.
"You take that back!" Yang shouts at the air as a way of talking to him, eyes red in anger. "My puns aren't that bad! I worked so hard on them!"
'That you stole from your father. :|'
"Why you-!" She was about to throw a tantrum but was fortunately stopped by Ruby.
"Yang, stop!" She says to her half-sister. "Same goes for you, Tython."
Another of his notes appear.
'Very well.'
Yang's eyes turn back to normal lilac and sighs frustratingly as she is still a bit mad as she grabs the controller so they can continue the story. "Fine."
After beating up Duccio for cheating on his sister Claudia, Ezio heads back home. When he arrived, he notices a 13-year-old chubby boy by the palazzo's front gate.
"Ehi Ezio! (Hey Ezio!)" He calls out to him.
The teen approaches the boy.
"What are you doing out here, Petruccio?" Ezio asks his younger brother. "You should be in bed."
"I want those feathers." Petruccio points to the rooftops, where the eagle feathers are possibly located.
"Feathers?" Team RWBY asks in confusion.
"What for?" Ezio asks, confused.
"It's a secret." The younger brother smirks.
"Ooh, I love secrets!" Ruby says with excitement as usual.
"If I get them for you, will you go back inside?"
"Yes, I promise." The boy nods as he keeps his word and heads back inside.
A notification about Petruccio pops up on the screen and the girls accesses it to learn a bit about him.
'The youngest of the Auditore children, Petruccio was described as "having a weak constitution" by Giovanni Auditore in a letter to Lorenzo de' Medici soon after the boy's birth.
Apparently, he didn't improve with time. Petruccio was pulled from school due to illness when he was 12 and, according to records from the family doctor, was confined to bed. No other data exists after that, so it is probable that he eventually succumbed to his illness.'
The girls once again gasp in shock. They felt really bad for the boy being born sick and was permanently stuck that way.
"I don't understand." Ruby speaks up, confusion in her voice. "Shouldn't the doctors be able to help him?"
"Ruby, the technology during the Renaissance was limited at the time." Weiss explains to her. "From what I can understand in the Database, there was no existing cure yet to help Petruccio improve his health. Besides, he probably would've succumbed to his own illness anyway even if they did discover a cure for his condition."
Ruby slumps down as she thinks about what her partner has told her. Deep down she knows the heiress is right and sometimes you can't save everyone.
Ezio eventually collects a certain number of eagle feathers for his younger brother. He then returns home and hands them over to Petruccio.
"Here. As promised." The older teen says while on one knee as he gives him the feathers.
"Grazie (Thank you), brother!" Petruccio says with joy as he puts them in a chest where more feathers have been stored in.
"You still haven't told me why you want these."
"I will. In time." He promises to his older brother.
'Memory Synched'
"Just what were those feathers for anyway?" Yang wonders. "And why does Petruccio want them?"
"Maybe he told Ezio about them when he's near death's door." Blake speculates.
Tython's note appears for them.
'Petruccio never got the chance to tell him why when he died. Plus, no one knows what they're for in that chest of his. However, some fans believe that they're for the siblings' mother as sort of farewell gift if he succumbs to his illness according to the novel version of the game.'
"There's a book version?" Blake's eyes lit up as she loves to read.
'Yeah. Unfortunately, the dialogue and details are slightly different and expanded due to the books and games having totally different canons (except for one book I'm not gonna spoil its title).'
"Oh." She says. "Still, I'd very much like to read them after this game. Just send me the novel version of ACII when you have time."
'I'll keep that in mind, Blake.'
Ezio heads back outside to the family courtyard where he notices his mother Maria waiting for him.
"Buon giorno (Hello), Ezio!" She greets her son.
"Buon giorno a voi, madre. Come state? (Hello mother. How are you?)" He greets back while asking how she's doing.
"Sto bene! (I'm good!) And you? Still recovering from last night?" She asks, knowing about his night with Cristina as well as his fight with Vieri de' Pazzi.
Ezio stutters as he slightly blushes. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Of course not." She smiles with a teasing expression on her face (while Team RWBY giggle at this mother and son moment). "Anyway, I have an errand to run. I'd like you to join me."
"Con piacere. (With pleasure.)" He complies as the two of them set out for the destination Maria's going.
"Come. It's not far from here."
As the two walks to their destination, Maria brings up an important topic to her son.
"I know about your fight with Vieri..."
"What fight?" Ezio innocently asks, attempting to play dumb.
"Per piacere, (Please,) let's not play this game."
"He spoke ill of us. I could not allow him to continue." The teen says, defending his actions.
"I'm sure he's having a hard time dealing with the accusations against his father. Francesco de' Pazzi is many things – and none of them good. But even I never suspected he'd be capable of murder."
"What will happen to him?"
"I imagine there will be a trial."
"Will father speak at it?"
"He'll have to. He's the one with the evidence."
Ezio simply sighs at this. "Still, I wish there was another way."
"You've nothing to fear." She assures her son. "Everyone wants justice done. It is an unfortunate state of affairs, but it will pass."
Just as she finishes their talk, they finally arrived at a workshop.
"Here we are."
Maria knocks on the door and a certain artist/inventor opens it.
"Hello Leonardo." She greets with smile.
"Madonna Maria!" The young adult known as Leonardo da Vinci exclaims in surprise, joyed to see her again as he greets the woman.
"This is my son, Ezio." She introduces the young artist to the teen.
"Molto onorato. (It's a pleasure to meet you.)" Leonardo politely greets with a slight bow.
"L'onore è mio. (The honor is mine.)" He says, returning the greeting.
"Let me go and fetch the paintings. I'll be right back." The artist says as he goes back inside his workshop, while Ezio and Maria wait for him.
"He's very talented." She says.
"Immagino. (I guess.)" The teen shrugs, not really caring about it.
"Self-expression is vital to understanding and enjoying life. You should find an outlet." She suggests her son in finding a career path in his life.
"I have plenty of outlets."
"I meant besides vaginas." Maria deadpans with a serious look on her face.
"Mother!" Ezio whines as he blushes in embarrassment.
The girls ended up blushing once more. Ruby blushed so hard that it made her uncomfortable. Yang blushed as she snickers at how savage Ezio's mother is when she brought up an innuendo. Weiss and Blake, however, facepalmed while blushing. The heiress and cat Faunus really didn't want to hear that.
"Was bringing that up REALLY necessary?" Weiss groans in annoyance.
"Damn it, Ezio." Blake curses as this kind of talk reminded her about having 'The talk' with her own mother back home.
Leonardo returns with a box containing paintings.
"Back to your house, then?" He asks if he should help out.
"Sì. Sì. (Yes. Yes.)" She answers before asking her son to help out for once as a change of pace. "Ezio, help Leonardo, will you?"
Ezio complies and helps carry the box as they make their way back to the house.
"So, Ezio, what do you do?" Leonardo asks the teen, starting a conversation in the process.
"He's been working for his father." Maria answers for Ezio.
"Ah! You're to be a banker?"
"For now." He confirms. "And you? Art, was it?"
Leonardo eventually gives him an honest answer as he isn't sure what career choice he wants in his life.
"Truth be told, it's been difficult for me to settle. Painting is nice, but I often feel like my work lacks... I don't know... purpose. Does that make sense? I'd rather contribute more practically. More directly, Architecture, perhaps. Or anatomy. I'm not content to merely to capture the world. I want to change it."
"So in other words, he doesn't know what career he wants in his life." Yang deduces, fully understanding Leonardo as she herself can relate to him, even though she wants to explore the world as a Huntress while seeking for adventure.
"Oh, Leonardo! I have no doubt you'll go on to do great things!" Maria praises the young artist.
"Vi ringrazio, Madonna. (I thank you.) That's kind of you." He accepts the kindness with a smile.
They finally reached the Palazzo Auditore and Ezio sets the box full of paintings down on the ground in the family courtyard. He then turns around toward Maria and Leonardo.
"Thank you for the help, son. Don't let me keep you from your other duties."
"It was nice to meet you, Ezio. I hope our paths cross again."
"Anch'io. (Me too.)" Ezio nods before saying farewell to the artist as Maria then takes Leonardo inside the house to set up the paintings on the household walls.
And so begins an everlasting friendship between the two men that would endure for the rest of their live.
'Memory Synched'
"Well, that was interesting." Weiss comments.
"I have a strange feeling that's not the last we'll see of him." The blonde brawler agrees.
"He seemed nice." Ruby admits, hoping that they'll see him again soon.
"I think it's time we – as in Ezio – go back inside Giovanni's office to see if he has more important info for us to learn about." Blake suggests to her teammates as she notices the next main memory showing up on the game's mini map that's part of the HUD.
Her friends nod as they continue on with the story.
To be continued…
