Ezio stared at the map unblinkingly, yet the information seemed to be stopping halfway to his brain and turning tail. He was set up at Leonardos spare bench in the studio while the artist worked elsewhere. Giving up on the map, Ezio let his mind wander. He thought about the note he found at the studios door.
It had been from one of his old friends, who wished to catch up with him. Shed come by earlier, it said, but he was not around. She wanted to know how he was doing these days. Ezio wrote back about his expedition, and how he may be out for several more days, seeing as they have yet to make a major discovery.
And yet Ezios thoughts drift to the womans face, angry and indignant and she placed the shell on her head. Who was she? What was she doing there, and why? What sort of thief only steals at sea? So many questions, and the young man could only picture one place to get the answers from
"Hello? Ezio?" Leonardo's voice suddenly penetrated his inner thoughts, "Can you hear me?"
"Wh-what?" Ezio turned around, alarmed. He relaxed at the sight of Leonardo's frown.
"Ezio, if I didnt know any better, I'd think you were..." Leonardo tapped his finger to his chin as he considered, "well, thinking." He finished delicately.
"Nice," Ezio scowled, but then shook himself and returned to business, "Although to your shock, Leonardo, I have been thinking."
Leonardo took a seat beside him, perfect image of a caring friend. "About what? Having trouble with your new line of work?"
Ezio shrugged, "Something like that."
Silence passed between the good friends as the younger considered different ways to express his deep revelations. Finally, he settled on the right one, recapturing Leonardo's gaze.
"You know when we went sailing-"
"-Paddling, technically." Leonardo interrupted, smiling.
Ezio sent him a very pointed glare. Do you want to talk to me or not?
Leonardo looked somewhat remorseful, but kept his smile, "Mi despiace, please go on."
"Remember when we went sailing a couple days ago, and that weird lady robbed me?"
Leonardo made no reply. Instead, he continued to stare at Ezio as though he were still speaking. After a few more moments, he nodded sagely.
The Auditore rolled his eyes, "You can speak now, Leonardo."
"Si, I do remember." Leonardo replied lightly. At the look he received, he winced and said, "Okay, okay, I'm stopping!"
"If you will just take me seriously for one moment, Im trying to make a point!" Ezio muttered. Finally, Leonardo shook his head and agreed to stop his interruptions and silliness. Still, Ezio waited long enough to punish his childish friend for his impudence before continuing.
"I sort of..." Ezio hesitated. Then he tried again. "Don't you ever?"
"You want to go back and see her again, dont you?" Leonardo offered.
"Yes, exactly," Ezio answered, brows arched, "but how did you-"
"Oh, Ezio, you silly boy," Leonardo chuckled, patting his friend on the back, "I knew it from the very beginning of this conversation! But its alright, because I was planning to go back out and see her myself."
"Y-you were?" Ezio stammered.
"Indeed," Leonardo continued, standing, "in fact I have already prepared most of the equipment, including a few extras this time."
"But why?" Ezio was rather puzzled.
"Probably the same reason you were going to," Leonardo's voice became distant as he reached the other end the small room, grabbing a few objects from the desk there. He turned back and aimed a helpless shrug at his companion, coupled with a small smile. "Curiosity."
"Oh." Ezio said simply. Leonardo had planned to go back out to the ocean after all. Well, that saved the trouble of having to convince him. At ease with the simple explanation hed been given, Ezio climbed to his feet and grinned. "Then what are we waiting for?"
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The sea was even calmer than it had been previously, if such a thing were possible. There was a slight chill in the air, so the constant warmth of the sun was welcome on the two explorers. This time, Leonardo had agreed to do the paddling for the first leg of the journey, and Ezio would man their return to Venice. There had been some complication as to when exactly they'd reached the exact same spot of random ocean theyd been floated in when they met the strange woman the first time, but after a long and unreasonable amount of drifting, both men agreed they were properly lost. As this was part of the plan, Ezio did not complain. Instead, he felt an odd sense of foreboding. Something wasn't right, and he and Leonardo were just about to discover it.
Suddenly, Leonardo put a little too much extra weight into the oar and slipped a bit. When Ezio moved to help him, he noticed a strange glint coming from his friend's bag.
"Leonardo, what is this?" Ezio asked absently as his fingers began to pull at the opening to the thin sack. The Auditore found the answer first-hand before the engineer could explain.
"Eh," Leonardo laughed nervously when he saw Ezio's scandalized expression, "It's probably not what you think."
"A scalpel?" Ezio accused, eyes narrowed, "An extra-large scalpel? How could that be 'not what I think'?"
"That was just in case she agreed!" Leonardo said defensively, making a grab for the sharp instrument. Ezio held it back with a glower. "Believe me, I wouldnt dissect anything without-"
"Dissect?" Ezio repeated in outrage, "You wanted to dissect her?"
"Dio! Thats not what I meant to say!" Leonardo shouted as he made another desperate lunge for the scalpel.
"Il mio culo, your curious!"
Their argument was interrupted by a large splash that soaked through both sets of clothes and, unfortunately, Leonardo's hat.
"Boys, boys, calm down!" The woman's voice scolded them as she latched onto their boat for the second time that week, "No one can sleep down there with you two making a fuss!"
"Down there?" Ezio repeated, all pretenses with Leonardo forgotten as he focused on the stranger with the shell-hat, "What, you mean like hell 'down there'?"
"No, shut up." The beautiful woman replied flatly. Ezio found that her exotic features were one of the traits that had lured him back to sea.
Leonardo, on the other hand, was far more excited about a different set of her features. His scalpel had fallen to the floor, and as he raised his head up from retrieving it, he called out: "It's such a pleasure to see you again, madonna!"
"Is it?" she remarked dryly before noticing the shiny knife in his hand, "What do you bastardi want?"
"Ah well, you see, my dear," Leonardo began happily, "this little object is the reason I've returned to bother you. See, I have my suspicions tha-"
"-We just wanted to talk." Ezio clarified, plastering his hand over his companion's flustered mouth.
If she was not deceived, she hid it, "I'm afraid I cannot stay long, then."
"Why not?" Ezio asked.
"It's not that I dont enjoy your glorious presence," the woman explained, clearly annoyed, "there is a very strict law amongst my people: 'thou will not converse with an Earth-walker.'"
Ezio stared at her blankly.
She rolled her vibrant green eyes, "I'm not allowed to talk to you, idiot."
"Oh," Ezio said, allowing Leonardo to regain control his lips.
"But why can't you talk to us?" Leonardo insisted, "Why the rule?"
"I can't tell you that," the woman shook her head, "as it stands, I have told you too much."
"Are you going to leave again?" Ezio asked her seriously.
"Yes, I am." She replied tiredly, beginning to sink in the bright water. "Good day to you, signori."
However before she could disappear, something very strange happened. So strange it immediately captured the attention of both Leonardo and the stranger.
Ezio sighed and began to unbutton his shirt. His companions watched, mystified, as he proceeded to remove his boots as well.
"May I ask what you're doing, Ezio?" Leonardo asked after a few moments of shared confusion.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ezio replied, frowning. "If she's going to run, I'm going to follow her. I haven't asked any of my questions yet."
"I've already told you!" She groaned, "Even if you do follow me, I cannot talk to you! I cannot answer your questions!"
"Why?" Ezio asked simply. Before she could answer, a small smile worked its way onto his lips, "Because of a rule. That's why."
"What's your point?" She asked dangerously. Ezio grinned.
"How long have your people had this rule?" He pressed on.
She shrugged, "A while, I suppose."
"And has anyone ever broken it?"
"I dont know!" She glared.
"Well, if you're too scared, you don't have to-"
"-Basta," she interrupted suddenly, "What did you say?"
Ezio's smile widened until it could've challenged a Cheshire cats. He leaned closer to the edge of the gondola. "I said," he repeated, "that you're afraid of the rules."
"You didn't..." She whispered fiercely.
"You're a goody-two-shoes," he proceeded, lavishing his victory, "a daddy's girl. Little miss perfect! Wouldn't dare step a toe out of line, never act differently!"
She stared at him, the scowl gone from her face and instead replaced with something Ezio found he rather liked: a twisted smile. "So since you obviously lack the gusto to answer a few simple questions, I suppose I'll just-"
He was in the water before he'd had a chance to close his mouth, which sort of backfired on his part. Thin fingers were wired around his arms, dragging him down, down. Ezio studied his captor and his eyes widened considerably. Her legs...
She swam faster than a dolphin, kicking down with her enormous webbed feet. Her legs were long, scaly things of the sage-green persuasion. Somewhere around her waistline, the slippery green surface melted away into flesh and wraps of seaweed.
As she continued to carry him deeper into the sea, Ezio could only watch the fading sunlight filter through her many fins. The way she swam showed off her perfect balance, every single movement an act of grace. It was a type of beauty he'd never witnessed before, and because of it, he failed to notice his lungs had run out of oxygen.
His eyelids drooped and he let the scaly water goddess drag him into a thick, black fog...
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Ezio awoke to a sharp pain in his back, as though he'd fallen asleep on a pile of rocks. As he coughed and spat water, he found that he had in fact been lying on a rough patch of stone in a cave somewhere surrounded by water. When his eyes had ceased their swelling, he looked around to find the mermaid sitting beside him, legs curled up so that they resembled a glittery green tail.
"Oh, good," She grinned mischievously, "you didn't die."
"I've been working on that one lately." He panted. Looking around again, he realized they were in a small, underwater lagoon. The walls were plastered with corals and weeds, and Ezio sat on a large rock that served as a respite from all the water.
"This is my secret room," She explained, patting the rock, "only my closest friends even know about it." She paused, sending him a pleased glance, "how's that for a rule breaker?"
"Okay, I'll admit," Ezio laughed shakily, "I'm impressed." He pulled himself closer to the coral-studded wall, leaning against it. Through the silence that drifted between them, Ezio found it was hard to stop himself from staring at her legs.
"In case you haven't noticed yet," she said when she turned to him, "people here are a little different than they are where you come from."
"How so?" He asked, eyebrow cocked playfully.
She almost laughed, "Well for one thing, I could get exiled right now if I'm seen with you."
"Why? I'm serious this time."
She sighed, "It's that many of us have experienced loss at the hands of your kind. Fishing nets, scientists, pollution, they are all threats that you generate. Our leader is trying to protect us by keeping our two species separate."
"Do you agree with him?" Ezio asked.
The young woman considered his question briefly. "No, I suppose not. How are we to grow if we cannot exchange ideas? How can we ever compromise if we live our whole lives in fear? I do not think isolation is the answer..."
Ezio looked down at his lap, thinking. It was such a strange concept, to accept that they shared the sea with a race of individuals just as sentient as them. The mermaid seemed to be wondering about it too, and the air was heavy with it. After a while, Ezio decided to act.
"Am I at least allowed to ask for your name?" He asked sheepishly, smiling just a little.
She returned the gesture, "I...I dont have a name in the human-language."
Ezio nodded and turned his head against the wall for second. He saw something there that he'd missed before- while most of the other flowers had been spongy and coral-grown, a single white blossom cracked through the wall. The Auditore plucked the plant from its perch and stroked its soft petals. He inched closer to the mermaid and quickly inserted it between her fingers. She looked up at him, confused.
"How about 'Rosa'?" He suggested.
"What is that?" She asked, puzzlement turning to amusement, "What does it mean?"
"It's a very pretty type of flower that grows where I live." He explained.
The mermaid considered. Then finally, she smiled and said to him, "I think I would like that."
"Then it's decided," he nodded solemnly, "My name's Ezio, by the way."
"Ezio..." Rosa tried the name out on her tongue, "And what does that mean?"
"Well, it's a bird," he started out.
"Oh, I've seen birds," she continued, "they are always white, though."
"'Ezio' is not a white bird," he laughed, "those have been seagulls, cara."
Rosa blushed, "How many types of birds can there be?"
"Many, many types of birds," Ezio said, "I'll show them to you someday."
"That'd be nice." She replied.
They sat together for a few more moments until Rosa said: "I think you should get going."
"I may need your help with that"
This time, Ezio took a deep breath before Rosa pulled him into the water and took off at incredible speeds, soaring to the surface. They reached the gondola just in time, as Ezio felt his chest burning unbearably. Leonardo dragged him onto the boat, coughing and sputtering.
"Ezio!" He called out in surprise, "I nearly thought you'd drowned!"
"I almost did", Ezio croaked, turning to say goodbye to his mermaid friend. However by the time he'd looked over the side of the gondola, all he could catch was a flash of green beneath the waves.
AN- super duper extreme apologies, audience! For some reason I can't understand, decided to delete all punctuation from this chapter, and I've only just gone through editing it. If you find any glaring grammatical errors, I don't know what to tell you. Only that this website is cruel and unusual, and I nearly had a heartattack reading what it did to my writing... :'(
Thank you for your patience!