ACT III

[...]

"It was at this time I decided visit my old friend, Leonardo da Vinci." The hooded actor's disembodied voice explained to the bored audience. The curtain had been pulled up, but the lights were still off, only enabling the viewers to see the white shadow of the Assassin. "However, it seemed another twist awaited me."

The lights finally went on, revealing the usual Florentine setting. Ezio was in the corner, gradually making his way across to a large building. He reached it and began pounding on the door.

"Leonardo!" He called, "Leonardo!"

This went on for a few more seconds, but slowly it became apparent to all that something was supposed to happen. The Ezio actor turned a bit, hesitantly taking a look around the stage when nothing transpired. With a small shrug, he turned back to the door, pounding with far more force:

"LEONARDO!" He shouted, eyes darting around to the curtain, "LEONARDO!"

At this time there was a tiny squeak from off stage, and then a small figure was forcefully propelled on. As the audience got a better look at it, the creature appeared to be a small child, wearing a man's tunic and beret and scared out of his mind. On trembling knees, he shuddered his way closer to the other actor, who was beginning to remark him with annoyance.

"Mi-mi-mi-mi despiace, signore," He gulped, "Maestro Leonardo is not home. He was commissioned to move his entire workshop to Venezia!"

There was a silence as the child took another large swallow. The silence seemed very odd, and Ezio leaned forward a bit with raised eyebrows. It was as though someone had forgotten their cue...

The Assassin onstage cleared his throat:

"...And what was this, for Leonardo...?" He prodded the shaky actor quietly.

The child paled considerably- apparently, he had forgotten his line.

"Um!" He squealed- the hooded actor's gaze on him intensified, as though he had purposely attempted to sabotage the performance, "It's...It's..." He frowned, thinking hard.

"It's quite an opportunity!" He gasped out, suddenly remembering.

"Grazie mile, friend." Ezio said quickly, shooing the smaller actor off stage, then following suite himself.

Surprisingly, the applause were somewhat dimmer for this scene...

[...]

The lights came back on to reveal a different backdrop this time. Instead of the usual Florentine houses, there were grassy fields specked with a few mountains in the distance. A rainbow would not at all have looked out of place (though there wasn't one).

The subject of the scene was a large wagon- or what seemed to be one. In truth, it was a large brown sheet of paper, held up by supports not seen from the audience, but which the Assassins could easily assume were right behind it. In any case, a short scarlet-cloaked man was straining to fix one of the broken wheels. Or at least, the wheel seemed to be broken. It was difficult to tell.

A few moments passed like this until Ezio made his appearance onstage, strolling briskly towards the wagon.

"Leonardo!" He greeted warmly.

"Ezio?" The blonde asked, turning slightly. At the sight of the grinning Assassino, he smiled a bit. Then added apologetically:

"I'm afraid I seem to have run into a bit of trouble..." He said.

"Let me see what I can do." Ezio chuckled, moving alongside the inventor.

Meanwhile, back in the bleachers, the real Ezio frowned at his best-friend's portrayer in confusion.

"Leonardo..." He whispered, leaning across to the man, "You aren't that short...are you?"

"No, of course not," The genius huffed indignantly, "I get the feeling the playwright does not like me very much. I wouldn't be surprised if that actor is not even over 5 feet!"

"At least they got your hair color right..." Ezio murmured comfortingly, spreading his hands as he returned to his seat.

Back on stage, the two had progressed to climbing up onto the wagon on supports not seen by the viewers. As Ezio flicked the reigns and invisible horses began to move forward, the music struck a happy tune.

As the music led up, the carriage shook a bit, as though it were really moving on the road instead of bobbing in place. Ezio and Leonardo shared a meaningful glance before breaking out together:

Tumbling down the road,

Not knowing what awaits,

Off to Venezia we go,

We are on our waaaaaaaaaaay!

There was a small interlude while Leonardo took a deep breath. He then began to sing, in the sweetest voice:

In Venezia, I know there are...

Beautiful works of art!

Such inspiration cannot be bought,

It glows inside my heart!

Ezio quickly began the next verse;

But let us not forget,

It's the Templars we are after!

Venice is a rare jewel,

And it must be their mission to grasp her!

Both actors sighed knowingly- but as two flutes picked in, perking them up with staccato notes, they couldn't help but smile:

So we go-

Tumbling down the road!

Not knowing what awaits!

Off to Venezia we go,

We are on our waaaaaaaaaaay!

There was a burst of happiness from the music, which then slowly began to morph into something more ominous. There was a neigh from off stage, and both actors whirled around. Two men on horses (or what passed for them) galloped on, licking the carriage's heels. An arrow was hurled from behind the curtain- it missed the wagon by several feet, but the message had been made clear.

One of soldiers shouted out in song:

Assassin!
You think you can escape?

We are here to cut you down!

Running would be a mistake!

Ezio replied (musically):

Perhaps it would be, Borgia scum,

But I will do it anyway!

I'll fight to survive and avenge my family...

Out of my path- you'd better stay!

With that he turned back and urged the invisible horses to move faster. The music carried on desperately as arrows were exchanged between the two parties.

"Oh, this is sad..." Ezio (the real Assassin) muttered to himself in the audience, "This...This could not be farther from the truth."

"Hey!" An anxious whisper struck him from behind, "Silenzio! I'm trying to watch this part!"

Ezio turned back up to the barely visible audience member with a skeptic glare. Then he merely shrugged and turned to Rosa, who sat beside him.

"Wake me up when something interesting happens." He murmured in her ear, making himself comfortable on her shoulder.

"Hmm," From the hum in her voice, he could tell she was smiling, "Define 'interesting'?"

"Oh, you wouldn't take advantage of a tired young man, would you?" He yawned, shutting his eyes.

[...]

"Ehi, Ezio, wake up!" The young man awoke with a snort, flapping his gummy eyes open, "I think you'd like this part!"

He stared down at the stage, which had changed (not that drastically) since he had dosed off. Instead of green fields, there was what appeared to be a dock. The ground was lined with panels of wood, and he spied himself, Leonardo, and another man already on stage.

"You...You don't have a pass?" The Leonardo actor was gaping, staring at Ezio accusingly, "What do you mean, you don't have a pass?"

"Calma, amico!" The Assassin said. His hood was down, exposing his brilliant blonde hair- something Ezio already despised greatly. "I'll come up with something!"

"You'd better!" Leonardo sounded as though he was close to tears, "I have been planning this trip for months! Why didn't you tell me you 'didn't have a pass' BEFORE we LEFT?"

"Hey, hey!" Ezio continued defensively, "Non ti preoccupate, Leonardo!"

Leonardo nodded curtly and moved closer to the still unidentified man on the stage. Ezio shuffled a little bit left, then heaved a heavy sigh.

"What am I going to do...?" He wondered, apparently unaware that Leonardo was only a few feet away from him. Luckily, the actor pretended not to hear, as he had mysteriously frozen.

Just then, a sharp wail pierced the air:

"AUITO!" A woman shrieked, "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Ezio immediately flipped around, his ears attracting magnetically to the source of the sound.

A royally-dressed redhead limped on stage, carrying something in her arms.

"HELP ME!" She howled, "AUITATAME!"

"Madonna, what's wrong?" Ezio asked urgently, rushing up to her.

"My...My..." she whimpered, unable to speak the words, "...My heel..."

"What has happened to it?" Ezio continued anxiously.

"It...It..." She held up the object cradled in her arms, which turned out to be a fractured shoe, "It snapped!"

As the actor Ezio gasped in horror, the real one covered his face with this hands- gathering stares from all his companions (a particularly amused one from Rosa- almost as though she was trying not to laugh).

"Here," Ezio handed the repaired shoe back. "It shall trouble you no more, signora."

The woman took the piece of footwear with a tearstained smile, testing out the heel as she slipped it back on. As it managed to upkeep her weight, she embraced the Assassin in a warm hug.

"Oh, grazie, signore!" She sighed gratefully, "I was so worried!"

Ezio waited somewhat impatiently for them to break apart, where she cleared her throat.

"Now, we must find you a reward." She stated.

"Actually," Ezio began, suddenly grinning as inspiration clubbed him over the head, "There is, perhaps, something you could help me with!"

"Name it and it is done, amore." The suddenly independent woman purred, moving closer to him.

Ezio backed away uncomfortably.

"I need you to get me on that boat." He blurted, pointing weakly to Leonardo and the other man.

"Oh." She dropped her arms and scooted away. "Va bene...I, uh...I can do that."

Purposefully, she strutted across the stage to the ferryman, who eyed her somewhat fearfully. She reared herself back to full height, took a deep breath, and promptly smacked him across the face. The ferrymen stood for a moment, dazed, then fell to the ground.

"Ok," she said, nodding at the blonde Assassin, "You're good now."

"Grazie mile, signora." He grinned at her, approaching his friends with a slight bow of the head.

Leonardo huffed impatiently as they boarded the boat.

"Good- at this rate, we'll make it to Venice by next week." The inventor muttered loudly as the curtain went down.

END ACT III