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Chapter 111

With supper (and a large volume of wine) out of the way, the Assassins, Rosa, and Leonardo adjourned to Mario's study. Ezio spent some time catching up with his mother and sister while Leonardo was decoding the last of the Codex pages. They would certainly be interested in hearing the latest news from Firenze.

When all was ready, Ezio joined the others in the study. They had posted the Codex pages in their proper order on the wall opposite Mario's desk.

"Ezio!" his uncle welcomed him.

"It is time, Uncle," Ezio replied. "Let us finish what you and my father started all those years ago."

"Indeed," Mario smiled. "Perhaps now we can finally make sense of this prophecy...and put a stop to whatever it is the Spaniard is plotting."

"We should start by locating the vault," Ezio suggested. "The Codex pages will lead us to it. Let's take a look."

"We have looked," Machiavelli told them. "We've reviewed everything Leonardo has translated for us. None of it gives us any clue as to the vault's location. Your uncle seems to be convinced there is some kind of map hidden in the pages, but nobody else can see what he sees."

"It isn't I who can see it," Mario corrected him. "But you can, can't you, Ezio?"

"Sì, I can," Ezio nodded.

"Sei serio?" Rosa asked. "What exactly do you see?"

Ezio paused and thought for a moment, then turned to Leonardo. "I'll need to borrow one of your brushes and some ink, if you don't mind."

"Certainly," the painter agreed with a grin. "Even if I did mind, I think my curiosity would get the better of me."

He returned a minute later with the required supplies, and Ezio began tracing over the lines and curves that only he was able to see. By the time he had finished, the entire group had gathered around him, and they were left speechless until Bartolomeo asked the question on everyone's mind.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Ezio shrugged. "I've been able to see things like this for as long as I can remember. My father was the only one who knew about it."

"A remarkable talent I suppose, but I'm afraid it doesn't help us much here," Antonio said. "This map is nonsensical. Look! Even the lines don't connect properly to one another."

They all studied it quietly for another minute.

"What if it's supposed to be nonsensical?" Rosa asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Machiavelli turned to her.

"Ezio is the only one with the ability to see the original map, and you all believe him to be some sort of prophet, no?"

"That's right," said Teodora.

"Well then...if I was to make a map leading to something powerful and dangerous, I would want to make sure it fell into the right hands, wouldn't I?"

"Of course," said La Volpe, "but how does that-"

"Then I would make something that only this prophet and the people he trusts could access and decipher, and only if they have all the pages. It's nonsensical because only we are allowed to make sense of it!"

They all gave her the same confused look, so she rolled her eyes and picked up one of the pages.

"Look here," she explained, turning it on its side and putting it back into place. "Do you see how these lines match up with the others when we rotate it?"

"It's a puzzle," Ezio realized, picking up another page. "A puzzle that nobody other than us can solve!"

"Exactly!" Rosa confirmed, and the others quickly understood. They gathered around and got to work on turning the pages as well.