A/N: Happy to say that this chapter will be much better than the last one, because I actually know what I want to type for this one, so please look forward to this chapter and the next ones. Also this one's short as well because I have something in mind that'll be shown next chapter…so yeah. ENJOY!
Disclaimer: Ezio…drop your pants and your mine, if not...then I guess I don't own him…*sigh*
OoOoOo
They had finally landed in Venezia and Amalia couldn't have been happier. For one, she was off that god forsaken ship that made her lose her dinner a couple of times, and two she got to put her plan in motion. Ezio wouldn't even suspect a thing, but she'd have to have the perfect timing in order for the plan to work, and doing it soon would not make the plan effective. The both of them helped Leonardo gather his belongings off of the ship and placed them on the ground next to an empty bench. As Ezio continued to help Leonardo gather his stuff, Amalia, being the lazy person that she is, sat down on the bench and stretched out her legs. She watched Ezio struggle with a couple of boxes and laughed as he almost dropped one on Leonardo's foot.
"Why aren't you helping me?" Ezio asked, picking up some paints that had fallen out of the box, which he nearly dropped on Leonardo's foot. "I think that a big strong man like you wouldn't have a problem…Or I could be wrong." She said smiling at Ezio. He rolled his eyes and turned around to talk to Leonardo when I man yelling interrupted him.
"Messer da Vinci?" A man yelled, coming from around the corner. 'What the hell.' She thought. 'Why is it that random citizens just know when to come in at the right times.'
"Yes?" Leonardo responded while getting up from his position where he had been examining the boxes for damage. "Buongiorno e ben arrivato! (Good Morning and welcome) I am Alvise, Il Signor Dona' has asked that I escort you to the workshop. Are you ready?"
Leonardo exchanged surprise glances with Amalia and Ezio as the man motioned for them to follow.
"But what about my belongings?" He asked.
"We will have someone take care of that." Leonardo quickly looked at Amalia in which she shrugged. Leonardo let out a sigh and dusted off his coats to make himself look at least a little bit presentable in the streets of Venezia. All four of them started walking as the man blabbered on about Venezia and how beautiful and perfect the place is.
"Come I will show you her wonders." Amalia jumped up and down excited at the thought of getting a tour around the city. When they had been pulling into the port she had seen how the city was bustling with life, even though they were just at the port and not into the heart of it. "Our first stop: the Rialto Bridge!" Behold the elegance with which she spans the Grand Canal. A symbol of Venetian unity and pride."
She jumped up and down trying to get a good view of the bridge over the crowd's head because she was actually quite short. Before she could even get a chance to see a good view of the bridge, Alvise waved his hand to continue on with the tour. "But I didn't even get to see the bridge yet!" She whined while pouting a bit. She heard Ezio chuckle from behind her in which she turned around and punched him in the chest. "You are lacking in something."
"Shove it Ezio." Amalia jogged to catch up with Leonardo and Alvise as they made a sharp left, heading towards a church that stood tall. "Here we are. San Giacomo di Rialto! Oldest church in Venezia. Isn't she beautiful? And her clock tower? Magnifico!" Putting a hand over her eyes to shield it from the sun, she stepped back a little bit to look at the church. The architecture was beautiful, as it stood out amongst all the other buildings surrounding it. "Come, come! There's more to see!" Alvise yelled, running ahead.
"But…" She started, but was cut off by Ezio who placed a hand on her lower back to steer her forwards.
"Come on Amalia. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to come back later and admire its beauty." She growled under her breath, completely fed up with this Alvise who didn't know how to slow down one bit. As they made their way down a couple of streets, making turns here and there, Amalia had the sudden feeling that she was being watched. She stopped in the middle of the bustling market and looked around trying to figure out where that hard stare was coming from.
It felt like someone's eyes were staring right through her soul. A sudden chill came over her as her eyes made contact with a man who had a hood covering his face. She squinted against the sun to try and get a better look at the man, but when she stepped forward to try and find him the man disappeared on a whole. "What the…"
"Is something the matter?" Ezio whispered into her ear. She jumped a little and turned around a bit, trying to look over Ezio's shoulder to find out where that person had disappeared to. The feeling of being watched didn't go away completely, and she knew that the man had just relocated to a different spot. Not wanting to alarm Ezio at all, she smiled and pulled out an excuse right out of her ass. "No! I just saw a beautiful bird and was wondering where it disappeared to."
His eyes squinted at her suspiciously, but it soon went away when they heard a man arguing with some soldiers that had come into the market.
"You were told to stay home!" One of the city guards yelled, raising his sword in the air, trying to be somewhat intimidating to the poor stall man.
"But the rent is paid. I have every right to sell here!" The man defended, waving his arms around the market, to better emphasize his point. "Emilio disagrees." All three of the city guards started laughing and proceeded to take their swords and destroy the man's stall. "No! No! Stop it! Stop!"
"Wait!" Amalia yelled, looking at Alvise, Leonardo and Ezio. "We should do something to stop them. It's not right that they should be tormenting well paying citizens like that."
"The guards could care less Amalia." Ezio told her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged them off instantly, disgusted with how they wouldn't do anything to stop it. "Let us continue the tour…elsewhere." The four of them headed off, but Amalia turned around to see what was happening to the man, but she was met with the same person that she had seen a while ago.
The man with the hood. Amalia took in a sharp intake of breath, and whipped back around, not wanting to know why that man was following her. After this tour was done, she was determined to find out who exactly this man was. She would have to hire some of the thieves to help her though. Completely lost in thought, she hadn't realized that Leonardo had stopped at a stall and picked up a doll from off of one of the tables. "Look! Isn't it amazing?" Leonrado said excitedly. "Hey I've seen one of those before. I don't remember where though." She told them, joining in on Leonardo's excitement in hopes that something like this would take her thoughts off of the man that was tailing her.
"Would you mind buying it for me? I…uh…"He scratched his left cheek while laughing a little. "I left my money with my bags." A bunch of footsteps pounding on the cobblestone of the streets could be heard as a bunch of men that looked like thieves ran past. Ezio turned sideways to avoid one of the men that almost collided with him, but another man bumped into him. The man turned around, but was revealed to Amalia as a she.
"Oh my gosh…" She whispered under her breath. 'Only god knows why some of these women look like men.'
"Hey! Mind your stop coglione! (jerk)" Ezio shouted, as the woman smirked at him. He looked down, and checked his pockets to make sure that his money was still there. "Anything gone?" She asked.
Ezio shook his head, and Alvise continued onwards. "Come. We must see other buildings." As they walked on, Amalia still felt eyes following her. 'This man is definitely a persistent person.' She thought, checking her surroundings again. Turning her head sideways, as if she were just admiring the buildings and shops, she looked around to see if there were any other people that were following her. On her left, a man with a dark red hood stood at an apple stand, gazing at the amount of apples in the basket. She knew that the man wasn't there to buy apples, for when her mossy green orbs made contact with his dark brown one's, he smiled a wide smile and turned around in another direction.
Just what was this man doing? Surely he must have some type of reason for following her. Maybe he had some business with Ezio. And when she says business, she means to kill him. 'He probably wants to take me hostage and give Ezio away to him.'
"And here we have the Palazzo della Seta. Home to Emilio Barbarigo. Normally I'd suggest a closer look. But with the way things are now…"
"Why what's happened?" Ezio asked, beating Amalia to that question. "He's attempting to unify the merchants beneath a single banner. There's been resistance. Some of it violent."
"What…" She was cut off by an over eager Ezio. "What kind of resistance?" He asked, yet again angering her because he had stolen her question again. "They say they're fighting for the people. For freedom or some such nonsense. Baggianate (nonsense), if you ask me." Amalia's eyes squinted as she thought. So if Emilio wanted to have all of the merchants in check, why didn't he do it in a peaceful way? There was surely some other way than violence to get someone to listen to you, but these leaders these days are so corrupt that they think about nothing more than hurting others. On the other side of the gate where the Palazzo stood, Amalia saw the same man from the marketplace, who's stand was destroyed, walk up to the guards and yelled at them. "They destroyed my stand! I demand compensation!"
"Here you are then." The city guard in front of the man took the end of his javelin and shoved it into the man's abdomen. "The Doge will know about this! I'll report you to the Council!" The man yelled, clutching unto his stomach. "Good luck with that my friend." Two of the guards approached him and grabbed both of his arms, rendering him from moving. "What are you doing?"
"You're under arrest for disrupting commerce."
"What!" The man yelled with wide eyes. "You just invented that! There's no such law!"
"There is now." The two men said in unison, as the dragged the man into the Palazzo. "No! Stop!" Amalia glared at the men even though they couldn't see her. How could they do something like that? For one, it was just completely wrong to go and create your own law in the first place, and two the man hadn't done anything to deserve that blow to the abdomen. She had a good mind to march right over there and kick some city guard asses, but she didn't want to bring attention to herself so she opted to just follow the tour guide as he took them to their next destination.
"And now I present to you, your workshop, Ser da Vinci! We spared no expense in its design. You'll see. It is perfect; as if you never left Firenze. I wish you great success and hope you enjoy Venezia as much as she enjoys having you!" Amalia watched as the man bowed with his hands outstretched as if he deserved some money for taking him around the city. Leonardo patted the man on the back causing the man to look into his hand, mentally asking himself what he had done wrong, why he hadn't received any money. The look of utter defeat on the Alvise's face caused Amalia to burst out laughing, and clutch unto Ezio's shoulder as if she were going to fall if she didn't grab onto something to steady herself.
"So here we are! Exciting isn't it? Care to come in?"
"Maybe later," Ezio said, walking forward to Leonardo. "But…" Amalia said, looking in between the both of them. Ezio glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but continued talking to Leonardo as if nothing had interrupted him in the first place. "I need to visit the palazzo della seta. Try and gain an Audience with Emilio."
"What good'll that do ya'?" She uttered through clenched teeth.
"As you wish. But should you find yourself with free time, or another Codex page, don't hesitate to visit. My door is always open."
"Grazie (thanks), my friend." Leonardo lifted his arms in a stance that suggest a hug and Amalia couldn't help but squeal as they both enveloped each other in a bromance hug.
"Di nulla. (It's nothing!)" Leonardo said, into Ezio's shoulder.
"I can't believe I'm seeing this." She said dramatically while wiping a fake tear from under her eye. "They grow up so fast..." She sniffed and joined in on the hug, making it awkward as the three of them were hugging in the middle of the street. Ezio was the first to pull away, but once he did, Amalia took his place and squeezed the artist in a bone-crushing hug. "A-Amalia." Leonardo said, trying to get air into his lungs.
"Let go of him." Ezio stated, grabbing her arms off of him. "But he's just too goddamn adorable." Amalia was about to reach out and glomp Leonardo, but Ezio pulled her back by the waist as Leonardo chuckled. "I will see you soon Amalia." He waved at the both of them and entered his workshop leaving the two of them outside. "So since you're headed to the Palazzo, I have some business to attend to in the marketplace." She said while picking at her nails.
"What could you possibly be doing there?" He asked as they made their way in the direction of the Palazzo. "Well, it's kind of a secret, so I can't really tell you."
"Keeping secrets away from me I see."
"What the hell kind of secret would it be if I told you, idiota." She yelled, smacking him upside the head. Ezio just gave her the look. The look that said, I-know-what-you're-up-to look, but-I-won't-say-anything. She smiled at him and pointed in the direction of an alley that looked like no one had been down there in a while. "I'm going in that direction, so I'll meet you at the Palazzo or maybe Leonardo's shop later, okay." To silence him from asking anymore questions she quickly kissed him on the cheek and dashed off down the alleyway.
OoOoOo
She was so right about it. There definitely were two men that had been following her. Of course she wasn't down there being followed. Amalia was clever enough to buy new clothing and give the ones that she was wearing to a thief, that she had paid to just walk around and act like her. It had worked perfectly as she scaled the side of the building and found herself watching from a top the rooftops. Of course the stupid thief had decided to turn in a different direction and head towards the Palazzo where Ezio probably was.
She couldn't risk having him see another person wearing her clothing, so she had to come up with something fast. Before she could do anything a bunch of heavy footsteps started pounding down the streets and past the guards that were guarding the Palazzo. The two men that had been following her exchanged glances with each other and whispered into each other's ears. Before long the men had turned in the other direction and left, leaving the thief standing there in confusion. Amalia jumped down off of the roof and landed next to the shocked thief.
"Okay you can keep everything else but the white robes and vest. I actually kind of need it." He nodded and handed her the vest and robes back before running off in a different direction. She quickly slipped on the vest over the white long sleeved shirt that she was wearing, and pulled the white robes over her head, before exiting the alley. She looked both ways before running to a stack of boxes and hopping up on each one that took her to the top of the building in front of her. As she peeked over the edge to see what all the commotion was about she saw Ezio's white robes flying behind him as he ran in step with a woman who seemed to be limping and running at the same time. Amalia felt that it was best to follow them, so she ran over roof gardens and wires that connected buildings to keep up with them as it seemed that they were headed towards the waters.
As she watched Ezio and the girl running she heard footsteps behind her. Turning her head quickly, she saw the men that had been following 'her' (the thief), brandishing swords in their hands. "Shit." She cursed, jumping over a roof, almost not making it. She pulled herself back together and made sure that she kept an eye on the men behind her, and not to lose sight of Ezio.
"You think you could fool us cagna (bitch)!" One of the men yelled. "Why that little..." She grumbled, turning around about to toss a throwing knife into his neck, but decided against it because fighting them would just slow her down. Amalia's heart skipped a beat, not in a good way, as she saw Ezio pick up the woman and ran off down the streets with other men following him. 'How come he never picked me up like that?' She thought, dodging an arrow that was shot in her direction from one of the guards on the roof.
Amalia didn't realize how close the men had gotten to her as she felt a hot searing white pain rip through her left side. The man had used his sword to cut her and lunged forward again to cause more damage, but she blocked it with her dagger. She twisted her hand in a circle and flung the sword from the man's hand. It fell off of the roof, and the man backed up as Amalia clutched her bleeding side. "Tell me who you are and who sent you?" She yelled, stepping back a bit, so that she wasn't too close to them in case they had any tricks up their sleeves. "No one sent us."
"Bullshit." She yelled, panting from how much blood she's lost. "Seems to me that you're getting tired, Amalia." Her eyes widened as
"It was Demarco, wasn't it?" She asked, raising her dagger higher, ready to strike at any time. The man on the right with the blue hood started clapping. "Very good Amalia! It seems to me that you aren't just Ezio's whore after all." Amalia growled and lunged for the man ripping part of his clothing. She slashed again and again waiting for the blade to make contact with his skin, but instead of her blade making contact with his skin, he pulled out a hidden blade and cut part of her cheek. Blood rushed down the side of her face, but she didn't feel anything as adrenaline had taken over her body.
"We don't have time for childish games anymore." The man with the blue hood tossed her a note with a stamp on the front, which landed right in front of her feet.
"He'll be waiting."
Without letting her eyes leave them, she bent down and picked up the note, watching as they retreated back from where they came from. After staring down at the note for a minute she shoved it into her pocket. As she started making her way down the building, the pain that wasn't there a second ago hit her full blast causing her to become off balance and fall the rest of the way down the building.
She landed on her bad side where the cut was, and a cry escaped her lips. Waves of pain passed throughout her entire body making her groan and roll over onto her other side. When she looked up she saw little dots of blood on the stone making her remember that she had just lost Ezio and that woman. Of course they shouldn't be her top priority at the moment because she really needed to find a doctor, but she slowly got up and dragged her body through the rest of the streets, following the trail of blood.
It suddenly stopped and she looked up to find a thief standing on the side looking into the canal below. She peeked over his head and found him staring down the canal at a boat that was already far in the distance. "Fuck." She muttered.
How was she supposed to find out where they were headed now? A thought popped into her head.
Maybe the thief would be able to tell her something.
"Hey!" She yelled grabbing the thief by his collar, while still clutching onto her side. "Where's that boat headed to."
"I can't tell you that." He said spitting in my face. "Why you!" She screamed, dropping him to the ground and kicking him in the stomach. After kicking him a couple of times she got up in his face and asked the same exact question as before. "Next time I won't be so forgiving. So tell me, where's that boat headed to?"
"If I tell you, Rosa will definitely skin my ass." He told her, fear lacing his voice. "Well if you don't tell Amalia, she's going to do more than just skin your ass. She'll mount it on her wall and eat your body for breakfast."
The thief started shaking and pointed in the direction of where the boat was. "It's head to the far end of the district. Follow the canal on the rooftops and you shall find your way there."
"How long will it take me?" She asked, not wanting to risk losing any more blood by running. "About ten minutes or so!"
"Great!" She mumbled letting go of the thieves collar. "How about you take me there instead?"
"But Antonio will…"
"Let me deal with him."
"But…" Amalia gave him a dirty look causing a shiver to run throughout his body. "Okay. Follow me." He whispered quietly.
OoOoOo
Amalia had told the thief to go into the hideout first, but not to say anything about her. She had wanted to observe from above what was happening, but she didn't want to make herself known. Why?
Her knowing and showing herself meant that she would get involved somehow. The pain in her left side slowly started to numb a bit from how much pressure she was putting on it. She had taken off her vest, which was her favorite, and had ripped it so that she could tie it around her waist. The bleeding had slowed down a bit, but it hadn't disappeared completely. Amalia watched down below as Rosa was screaming for the arrow to be removed from her. She started cursing up a storm which caused a giggle out of her, but she stopped once she soon realized how much it hurt to laugh.
"You are hurt, Amalia." She turned her head to see the thief that she had sent away holding a damp cloth in his hand. "It is fine. I don't need any help." The thief shook his head and crouched down next to her, trying to remove her hand. "What the hell are you doing?" She hissed, removing his hand from around her waist. "I am only trying to help." He said putting pressure on her wound.
Amalia tried to stifle the scream, but the pain was just too much and she cried loudly. "You did this on purpose." She yelled, pushing him away from her. "It was for your own good my dear." Amalia groaned as a man with long black hair looked up and yelled at the thief next to her. "Who is that Riccardo?"
"Her name is Amalia, and she has been wounded."
"Bring her down." Riccardo made a move to pick her up, but Amalia punched his arm and climbed down herself with much trouble. "You could have asked for my help." Riccardo suggested, grabbing her around the waist to steady her. "I don't need your help. I can manage on my own."
"Riccardo says that you are wounded. Show me."
"I'm not showing a man my wound unless he tells me his name."
"My name is Antonio. Now please show me your wound so that I may help you." Amalia sighed and untied the vest from around her waist. As soon as she did, blood started gushing out from the wound. "I believe that a sword did this, did it not?"
"No, you're right." Antonio nodded and waved over Ugo. "Take her to Bianca so that she may clean her wound." Ugo nodded, and picked Amalia up bridal style. He was about to move, but Ezio grabbed his shoulder stopping him. "Don't worry, I'll take her."
"But you don't even know where Bianca is."
"She's inside the building over there." Ezio said, nodding in that direction. Ugo sighed and handed Amalia over to Ezio like she was some ball being tossed around. As they began to walk she could feel the tension surrounding them. "You have a lot of explaining to do Amalia."
She gulped audibly.