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Chapter 72
Ezio woke up to a familiar figure standing over him.
"Paola?" How was she here in Venezia? How many years had it been since he had left her bordello and fled Firenze with his mother and sister? He thought he might be going mad.
"He's gone," she told him as she offered her hand to help him up, "but we have what we came for."
Ezio remembered what had just happened as he scrambled to his feet, heart sinking. "No!" he told her as he pulled his hand away, "I need to go after him!"
"Do you really, now? Or are you here for another reason, my son?"
Another familiar voice. This time, it came from Sister Teodora, who was walking toward him, along with everyone who had helped him fight off Rodrigo's guards
"Teodora? What…what are you all doing here?" Now there was no doubt he was losing his mind.
"Perhaps the same thing you are, Ezio. Hoping to see the prophet appear."
This voice was not familiar. It came from a tall Florentine man who walked out from behind the others and stood to the left of the rest, next to Mario.
"I came here to kill the Spaniard," Ezio corrected him. "I couldn't care less about your prophet. He never even showed up!"
The Florentine smiled a bit. "No? But YOU did."
"What?!" Ezio asked. He looked around at the others for an explanation, but they let the Florentine speak.
"A prophet's arrival was foretold and, unbeknownst to us, here you are. Perhaps all along, you were the one we sought."
The others looked at Ezio as if to affirm what had just been said. Now he was convinced the rest of them were mad and he was the only sane one.
"Cosa? Who are you?" he demanded of the Florentine (who, as far as Ezio was could discern, was the architect of this nonsense his comrades seemed to believe).
"Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli," he introduced himself. "I am an Assassin, trained in the ancient ways to safeguard mankind's evolution. Just like you, and each one of us here."
"You are all Assassins?" Ezio asked incredulously, backing away and looking at each of them as he tried to take in what Machiavelli just said. "Paola? Volpe?"
Mario stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's true, nipote. We have all been guiding you for years, teaching you the skills you would need to join our ranks." He turned to the rest of them. "I think it's time."
Antonio nodded and stepped forward as the others were leaving. "We have our prize," he said, indicating the box they had stolen as Mario picked it up carefully, "but there is much to be done." He pulled out a small map and handed it to Ezio. "Come, meet us here at sunset."
Antonio began to leave with the others, Ezio put a hand on his shoulder. "Antonio, do you have a moment?" he asked.
"Of course," the thief turned around.
Ezio hesitated for a moment. "Rosa probably won't be pleased that I'm telling you this, but she found the shipping manifest for the boat to Cyprus in your office. That's how I found Rodrigo."
Antonio smiled thoughtfully. "I should have figured as much. I shall have a word with her about privacy when I return to the den," he said, then laughed to himself. "Then again, for your sake, perhaps I won't."
"Why did you not tell me about it? Where have you been?"
"We weren't sure what we would be facing. We still don't know. Borgia may have stumbled upon something powerful. I have been away gathering what I could of our allies to face him."
"Why not let me help?"
"You've come a long way, Ezio, but you are still practically a novice. There is much to discuss, and I suspect you will need more time still to process it all. It would have been foolish to fight the Spaniard with so much running through your mind, not to mention the danger he might have posed with that object in his possession."
"What do you mean?" Ezio asked. What did Antonio think was in the box? Did he actually believe all of this too?
"We will explain later," the thief promised. "You know where to meet us."