I've got a nice long one for you today. Enjoy ch. 7 of Twilight Creed.

The Legend of Midna: Twilight Creed

Chapter Seven: Memory Sequence 6

"Alright Mr. Fox, get up," barked Mason.

"Oh, hey, you're back," I feigned cheerfulness as I drudged toward the machine. Yesterday in the animus hadn't been as bad; even though I still was forced to go in there, he hadn't been in the room with me. Who the hell knew what he did to me while I was in Llwynog's memories?

"Yes, I'm back, Mr. Fox, and I'm better than ever." He did seem to be in a much better mood than before. "The board has extended our deadline by a few days. Apparently things at the Italian branch are going better than expected with Subject 18. It's a shame that 17…didn't work out, but apparently things are going well despite their setbacks. That, and I have a full pack of fags."

"Oh, thank the Lord for that," I sneered sardonically. "What on Earth would we have done otherwise?"

"Shut it and get in the animus," he demanded, and after receiving a "just do it" look from Caroline, I did.

"Good news, everyone," Link announced as he entered the hideout. "We've located the three that Ganym named. Cathar is in Makevi Village, just as Llwynog had said, and the Demien brothers are in Res Nam."

"Well then," said Machiavelli, "judging from the map of the realm you provided us, I suggest we go after Cathar first, as Makevi Village is much closer than Res Nam."

"I was thinking along the same lines," said Link. "Whoever is going is also in luck. The records show that Cathar is a very wealthy Twili, so you should just be able to follow the money to find him."

"I like that plan," said Ezio. "I think it would be appropriate for La Volpe and myself to accompany Shweenog to Makevi. He knows this world better than we do, so he should be the one to lead the mission. We will be there in case he needs assistance, but I am confident that we will have little, if anything, to do on this mission."

"Very well," said Link. "I'll have transport ready to take you down to the surface. It should be ready in an hour, tops."

"Where will we meet this transport?" asked La Volpe.

"Outside the city, near the Mirror," said Link. "You will know it when you see it." He turned and left the hideout, leaving the rest of us to ponder and plan.

An hour later we exited the hideout, pushing aside the altar that concealed the passage in. I half wondered if this chapel was ever actually used for anything, or if it was only here to hide the tunnel. We made our way out to where the Mirror of Twilight stood, and there next to it was a vessel akin to a sailing ship, only with propellers like what I had seen on Leonardo's plans for a flying machine. The man was not far off on his design, I noted.

"So this is what is supposed to take us to the surface?" La Volpe demanded.

"I believe so," said Ezio. "I will have to find Leonardo when we return to Italia and tell him about it. This looks very similar to his design."

"I was just thinking the same," I chimed in.

Ezio gave me a knowing look. "Well, we should not waste any more time." Without another word, we boarded the vessel, whose propellers started to spin, driving us forward. Soon we started to drop altitude, and after an indefinite amount of time, we arrived at the surface. The ship hovered roughly ten feet off the ground, and a rope ladder was lowered down for us. We each climbed down in turn, and the ladder was rolled back up.

"Well, Shweenog," said Ezio as the ship sailed out of sight, "what is our next move?"

"We wait," I said definitively. "I used to see ships leaving the port daily to take money down here and goods back up to the Floating City. All we need to do right now is wait for the next ship to arrive, and stow away in the trade cart that meets it."

"I like your thinking," said La Volpe. "We enter the village undetected, and we rest in the process."

"Exactly," I said. Thankfully there was a stable nearby, likely to house the beasts of burden while the businessmen completed their transactions. We hid there and waited for the shipping vessels to arrive. After a few hours, a ship came into view far off in the sky.

"Not much longer now," I said. Sure enough, the ship stopped just as the one we had arrived in did, and a few moments later a trade cart pulled up nearby. The driver got down and brought the beasts over to the stable as the passenger strode over to the ship to wait for the other half of his transaction to climb down from the ship.

"Are those…ostriches?" Ezio asked in what sounded like amazement. "I have seen drawings of such birds in the works of Niccolò Polo, but these do not match what he drew."

"Those are hestur fulgar," I said as we crept around the back of the stable as the driver was bringing the birds inside. They were reminiscent of ostriches, only much larger and solid black. "We don't have horses in this world, but these animals do just as good a job. Hestur fulgar translate roughly to 'horse birds' in your tongue."

"Interesting," Ezio mused, seemingly unable to take his eyes off the birds. "Well, we had better get onto that cart if we are going to."

We crept quietly to where the cart sat and climbed inside, careful not to disturb the covering that it might give away our presence; everything had to look exactly as it had when it arrived. After several tense minutes, we felt the jerk of the cart as it began its return journey to Makevi Village.

I was not sure how long we were cramped in the cart, but finally, after what felt like ages, we slowed to a halt. La Volpe, being the last one to board and therefore nearest to the back of the cart, leaned out to check if the coast was clear.

"We must move now," he hissed. Quickly and quietly, we each slid out from beneath the covering to the trade cart and headed off towards the village. I could not speak for either of the Italians, but I was taken aback when I saw where we were. Apparently Makevi Village was not so much a village and more a small city; the name belied the hustle and bustle of activity in the crowded streets and the number of sights and smells.

"So this is Makevi, is it?" Ezio mused as we interspersed with the crowd. "Well, what is our next move then, Shweenog?"

"Link said that Cathar is very wealthy," I said, trying to remember every detail, "so I think what we need to do is find a vantage point and scan the city for the richest districts."

"A solid plan," said Ezio. "We will split up, then, and meet back here in an hour." Ezio and La Volpe headed off in opposite directions, leaving me to find a starting point for myself. I walked through the streets, trying to take in everything; the sights, the sounds, the smells, everything. Not long after, I came to the Temple of Oni. There, I said to myself. The top of one of the spires should do fine. Making sure no one was watching, I went around to the back of the building and began to climb. Remembering how La Volpe had taught me, I climbed until I reached the roof. From there I carefully tread toward the front of the building, making sure I kept even footing. Once I had reached the spires, I arbitrarily chose the left one and began to climb. This was much more difficult than climbing the side of the building, as the spires tapered as they neared the top. Once I had climbed as high as I could, I cast my eyes across the city, looking for buildings that appeared to be in good repair. It made sense to me that the newer the buildings looked, the more likely to be a rich district the area would be.

The time arrived that we had agreed to rendez-vous, and when I met the Italians, La Volpe looked disappointed but Ezio seemed hopeful. I was, too.

"So, do you know where we are going now?" Ezio asked me, in such a way that suggested he already knew the answer.

"Yes," I said. "The opposite side of the city from here is where I believe Cathar may be found."

"We have a starting place," said La Volpe. "That's something, at least."

We continued on to the other side of the city, making sure to keep a low profile. Once we reached the rich district, I began my search.

"We will keep a distance from you," said Ezio. "You investigate this man, but we will be prepared to jump in to assist you if need be."

I nodded and turned to blend in with the crowd. I kept my eyes and ears open, hoping for anything that would help me in my search. Finally, as I was passing a book merchant, I overheard someone saying something very interesting.

"It would be a shame if something were to happen to this fine establishment," said a heavy-set Twili to the shop owner, who was clearly terrified of this visitor.

"I have done nothing," he said. "Leave me alone."

"Listen," said the heavy-set one, "Cathar just wants to help. Four hundred rupees every month is a small price to pay for his protection, I think. As I said, it would be a shame for something to happen to this place."

"Fine, I'll give him the money," said the shopkeeper.

"You've made a wise decision," said the burly visitor. Then he turned and continued on.

So Cathar was an extortionist as well as a businessman. It was no wonder, then, why he was so wealthy. It made me wonder how many others he had working for him. I would need to be extra careful if I were to take him down without a mess. I decided the next thing to be done was to follow this man and see where he could lead me.

I followed him through several streets, being sure to keep a distance lest he become suspicious. Eventually we came to a small garden, like the one where Ezio and I had confronted Ganym. I ducked down below the wall so that I would not be seen. Luckily some of the foliage near me was a bit high, so I was able to peer over the wall while remaining undetected.

"So?" said the Twili who was already there waiting. Unlike the one I had followed, he was tall and gangly, but that did not mean that he couldn't still be dangerous.

"We got another one," said the burly one. "Before long the entire city will be under Cathar's control."

"And then what?" demanded the other. "There's still the guard to contend with."

"That's the point," said the big one, clearly exasperated. "From the amount of protection money he'll be bringing in, Cathar will be able to completely buy off the guard. Also, I'm supposed to give you this." He handed a folded up piece of paper to the taller one. "I'm not sure why I couldn't have given it to him, but they wanted me to give to you to give to the boss."

The tall one unfolded it to read. "Haha!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "They were successful. Now it's just a matter of time, isn't it?"

"It looks that way," agreed the big one. "Well, I'd better get on. These people aren't going just hand over their money willingly."

"Too right," said the tall one. "I'll take this to Cathar straight away." Then he turned to go out the alley across from me, and the big one started back towards me. I knew what I had to do, if I could just keep out of sight. I slunk into the shadows, and thankfully the Twili turned away from me and continued on down the alley. I stalked behind him, and before he knew what had happened, I sunk my hidden blade into his back. I could almost feel the metal pierce his heart, and I knew that he was dead before he hit the ground. I thought about hiding the body, but I couldn't waste any more time. I ran through the garden to the other side, and thankfully the taller Twili hadn't reached the open street yet. I crept up behind him, being careful to remain silent, and filched the note from his belt pouch. I had been practicing my pickpocketing, and it had paid off because he showed no signs of having noticed. Then I backed off and continued to follow him until we reached a sprawling mansion that resembled the villa at Monteriggione, the way I imagined it when Ezio had described it to me. Now that I knew what the place looked like, I could take some time to read the note. I found a bench nearby, took a seat, and unfolded the note and read:

Master Dredloc will be very pleased. Orion and I were recently able to use the Mirror without being seen, and we successfully kidnapped an engineer. When we found him, he had designs all around, so I am confident that we could have taken no better a prisoner than this one. All we need now is your financial backing to being construction of the war machines that Master Dredloc has demanded. Send reply as soon as possible.

Things were starting to become a little clearer. Machiavelli had been correct in guessing that Dredloc was the one pulling the strings, and he was planning on building war machines. No doubt they would be used to attack the Palace of Twilight once Zant had been resurrected, and Cathar was the one bankrolling the operation. By extorting the citizens of Makevi, he was raising enough money to fund the construction of these weapons as well as paying off the guard not to stop them. I had to get inside that mansion and eliminate Cathar; to cut off funding would be a tremendous blow to Dredloc's plan. The only problem now was actually getting inside; the area surrounding the building was crawling with guards.

I scaled a nearby building so I could have a better view of the area. The eastern side appeared to have fewer guards that the southern or western sides, so I decided that I would need to go there to begin my infiltration. I hurried through the streets to the eastern side of the property and climbed to a rooftop there. Still the problem remained of getting past them, but as I surveyed the area an idea came to me. I had seen a tailor on my way to where I now stood, so I climbed back down to the street and head there.

"How may I serve you?" asked the shopkeeper when I approached him.

"I just need a strip of cloth," I told him. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy, either. Here is a red rupee. I think that will more than cover what I owe you for it." He handed me a long strip of cloth woven from shadows and I tucked it into my belt. I needed to return to my rooftop in order to execute my plan, so I returned to where I had been studying the area. Once there, I removed a smoke bomb that Ezio had given me from my pouch, and fashioned the cloth strip into a type of sling. I placed the smoke bomb inside and began to sling it around over my head.

"I just hope this draws their attention long enough," I said under my breath as I let the bomb fly. It hit the ground near the guards at the southern end of the property, and a thick cloud of smoke began to billow out.

"Someone is here!" I heard one of the guards shout, and I thanked the gods under my breath as the guards blocking my path hurried over to where the smoke was. I took my opportunity to streak through to the building. I picked the lock to the door with my hidden blade as I had seen Ezio do before and entered, being sure to shut and lock the door behind me.

I wasn't sure what this room was used for, but it didn't appear to be much as there was no form of artificial light. That was good for me, as it allowed me to stay hidden in the shadows. I could not believe my luck; Cathar did not appear to be home, nor were there any guards stationed inside the house. Cathar must have fancied himself wealthy enough to afford guards effective enough to keep any intruder from reaching his home. I traipsed through the house until I reached the bedroom. I entered, and took my hiding place in the rafters. All I had to do now was wait.

I stayed all day perched above Cathar's bedroom. Finally, as the sky changed to dark twilight, Cathar entered. He changed into his sleeping clothes and settled in, secure in his knowledge that nothing was out of the ordinary.

With a tremendous crash, the mattress hit the floor as the bed frame collapsed under the force of me dropping from the ceiling onto Cathar's chest. Before he had any time to react, I had him straddled with my hidden blade pressed against his throat.

"What is Dredloc planning?" I demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said with difficulty.

"Don't lie to me," I hissed. "Now, I'll ask again, what is Dredloc planning? How does he intend to return Zant to life?"

The corners of Cathar's mouth twisted into a sick kind of smile. "Perhaps the others will betray him, but I will not." As he said this, he seized my wrist in both hands and drove the point of my blade into his neck. He was dead in minutes. Knowing I could do no more, I retracted my blade and closed the lids over his eyes.

"Requiescat in pace," I said solemnly.

"What do you mean we can't keep going?" Mason demanded. I realized then I had been removed from the memory.

"Just what I said," Caroline replied. "We don't want our own Subject 16 or 17, do we?"

"No, I suppose you're right," admitted Mason. "Alright, Mr. Fox, you're free to go for today."

I hated to admit it, but I wasn't sure I was ready to leave the animus. After what I'd seen in there, I wanted to know what Dredloc had in store.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," said Caroline. At that moment, I wasn't sure which one of us she was talking to, but a look between us suggested it was me.

What the hell was going on?

AN: Just wanted to give a shout-out to TwiliRupee. I've borrowed some things from her in the past with her permission, and I wanted to give her a nod now since hestur fulgar is her invention as well. Go read some her stuff.