The Fixing Mishap 2 (ACII x Xover, Ezio's Twin!SI)

Florence, 1476

A few hours ago, Ezio and Federico were spotted having a clash with Vieri de Pazzi in the Ponte Vecchio.

Today was going to be the day, and I was itching to get my own plan started to counter the first of the many steps adopted by the Templar Conspiracy. First, however, I had to handle dinnertime with the rest of the family as Giovanni, my father, was still recovering after that last mission that saw him close to off Rodrigo Borgia.

So close, and yet so far.

In the last week, Giovanni had also accused Francesco de Pazzi of murder, a case that pretty much triggered a major reaction from the secret agitator that served the Templar cause. But for now, it was time to get ready for the meal and to leave worries of what was to come for later.

Everyone was ready for the event. Everyone but Ezio as Federico was quick to point out he lingered at the Vespucci's household for some friendly chatting. It was no secret that our older brother had been pushing my twin into trying something with Cristina, especially since it pissed off Vieri and the girl was a lovable lady.

Mother was irked, father was 'equally' angry, while Claudia was distracted in her thoughts over boys and Petruccio was only glad that he could eat with the others. Petruccio was the one brother I knew from the get-go that I couldn't save.

While his condition was not truly expanded upon in the game beyond mentioning he was bedridden even during daytime, I had the chance to be around the poor kid and I could tell it was one of those things that couldn't be cured.

A sad reminder that there were things that couldn't be changed, no matter how much we wanted, but I resolved to give my lil' bro as much care and attention as I could without making it too weird for him in these troubled years.

The meal itself was relatively tame as conversation was tempered over what happened at the Ponte Vecchio. Federico liked to brag, and while a well-understanding gaze could pick up pride in Giovanni's chiding, it was ultimately our mother, Maria's severity that won over the parental reaction.

All things considered, this meal was no different than any of those we had in the last few months, but it was the brief visit I held at my father's office that made this evening particularly interesting. It all started with a soft knock at the door, a request to step in and then me being allowed into the office.

"Gianni, it has been a long day. I know you like to bring up another good news from the bank but-"

"It's not that, father," I interrupted politely. "I wish to discuss about what happened at Ponte Vecchio."

The man appeared surprised that my tone was quite somber compared to usual. I was never a melacholic youth, so I bet it sounded weird to hear me speak like this.

"What about it? Ezio will be punished."

"It's about Vieri... and his father," I reasoned carefully. "I don't think this skirmish is the same as usual."

Eyes narrowing, Giovanni hummed. "You think it was planned?"

"A reason to be humiliated and then force a 'reaction'," I answered calmly. "I may be overthinking this but... this is gnawing at my mind for a while."

"You worry for them to use this as a pretext to attack us in our home, but I can assure you that Francesco has a limit."

"But what is it?" I argued back, my rhetorical question gaining a confused frown from the older Auditore. "I mean, Francesco is someone that is known to behave illogically at times. I am not saying he is constantly behaving beyond the law, but I believe this may be a bigger set up. I just wish, with your permission, to hire a few guards to protect the house."

Giovanni leaned back on his chair, paperwork temporarily forgotten as he spared me a long look. "For three days. No more than that."

I nodded and I used this chance to depart to do so at once before it got truly dark. In truth, I had already found a group of respectable thugs that could be employed for the occasion, so the 'hour or two' time limit I gave my father was less about finding the right guards to protect us but... an alibi.

For today I would start changing fate itself from the get-go while Ezio/Desmond are busy with the 'nightly' cutscene with Cristina. First thing first, I needed my disguise. Rather than adopt an assassin outfit just yet as I knew that our foes were going to just react aggressively, I had decided to go in as an 'anomaly'.

Someone that shouldn't be there at this time, someone that should be a 'myth' and a 'monstrous myth' at that. Yet, I had taken time to prepare the right outfit, with the right hat, mask and even smoke bombs for the occasion.

It was dark. Dark enough that no one could really make out many things as a lone figure traveled the road to the Pazzi's home. The witness of this figure could only remember the top hat, the dark clothes, and the pale white mask that showed just an eye through the disguise.

A prank? A scary joke? That was what many expected it to be. Just not a slaughterer of corrupt nobles.

When the Pazzi guards took notice of my approach, one of them came closer to demand identification, an hand by his sword but the lack of any visible weapon made him less nervous and quite cocky. He derided my 'stupid mask', tried to threaten me as he got very close and showed the hilt of his sword.

I stabbed him two times in the neck with the dagger I held behind my back, then once through the side of his head.

The sight was chilling, the other guard recoiling as his mind took a solid second to realize what happened. I stepped closer, he unleashed his sword and looked ready to scream for help. He was trying to be brave, but as a low-life he sure went down with ease as I used the blood-stained dagger to push aside his sword and then relied on the other knife I was holding to stab through his forehead.

Immediate death, no noise beyond surprise and pain before he folded on the ground. I took a moment to gauge the situation, the stench of blood unpleasant as adrenaline allowed some of the guilt to wash on my back.

These two people held no meaning to me, I didn't know their names or anything else, but their lives was something that was claimed from them for bad choices. I told myself this, but the bitterness remained. I am still a human being despite the monstrous mask I was carrying for this attack.

And they weren't the only victims I shredded.

It wasn't a mindless attack. No, I had a few targets I was willing to spare. Vieri's daughter, Viola, was busy in the garden. Poor girl was around Claudia's age, but at least she would live another day without being shamed by the Medici since I didn't plan for this to end in a full condemnation of the De Pazzi household.

Vieri was training, stabbing a dummy with ferocity as he ignored the quiet jeering from other militia guards deriding what happened in the Ponte Vecchio. He was so obsessed in destroying the thing before him that he didn't even notice that the guards had gone quiet, and that what remained was him, the dummy and the dagger I stabbed through the back of his throat.

He tensed up, reaching backward but falling on his knees as he drowned in his own blood. This time, I admit about feeling glad as Vieri was a monster and his passing prevented more grief than not. There was nothing redeeming of this individual, he was just a horrible human being.

Just not as horrible as his father.

The last act of this massacre was quite simple. While Leonardo was the one that helped me with some of the tools at my disposal, there were items he couldn't have hold onto. Such as a special sleep-inducing powder that I was able to create sleep bombs from the standard smoke ones.

Francesco had hardly a chance to react as two of the spheric bombs detonated and his lungs were stuffed with the special powder. He tried to reach for his sword but he blacked out before he could have done anything troublesome for me.

His death was delayed, albeit for just a few minutes as I dug around his office, fishing papers, letters anything that could be used to connect Umberto Alberti to the Templar Order. I found it with ease since Francesco bitched to him for a quick murder of our family.

I found a few colorful lines meant primarily for me as I was 'worse than the rat Giovanni'. As a man of nobility that got upstaged by people of humble/mercantile origins, Francesco was quite bitter towards those that destroyed the old view nobility held over the Florentine politics. But his chances of staging a coup were gone as he wouldn't be awake to see his own doom.

Hours after I was done cleaning up, the screams of the servants and of other relatives that saw the corpses I left behind would drive the attention of the local authorities. Guards were soon shaken by the view of so many dead people, but Francesco's hanging corpse was the cherry on top.

The writing 'God saw my sins, and He wept' was found in a paper stabbed onto his chest.

The crime was nefarious, without any doubt, but it was the events that saw the Confaloniere of Justice, Umberto Alberti, arrested for attempted conspiracy through documents given to the Medici through an anonymous source that truly triggered a new hunt for anti-Medici agents.

The work was dealt with as I was back home with the paperwork confirming the guards' commitment for the protection job. I went to sleep 'blissfully unaware' of the shitstorm waiting for us all in the morning, but as I had suspected Giovanni was shocked by what happened.

What I did, in the short-term, was bad. Suspicious would be cast on our family due to Giovanni's affiliation ot the Assassin Order known to Lorenzo, but since there were too many witnesses and too little interest to punish us from local agents, that would only make affairs a bit difficult on the bank matters.

Not the worst punishment, and a necessary one to get things ready for my next step as the conspiracy papers I have handed to Lorenzo through my 'masked self' was really going to trigger more troubles for the Borgia's bid for the papacy.

This was a good thing- until Giovanni decided that it was best for most of the family to prepare for a month-long trip to Monteriggioni at the end of this investigation to 'rest and recover'.

AN

Next up, the Auditore family goes to Monteriggioni but... things will get interesting Florence as the MC will linger there a bit more.

EDIT FOR FFN: The outfit is the one of Jack the Ripper from Syndicate.