Isabella jogged after Lucanis through the eluvian after writing a note on the back of Viago's message for the rest of the team. Lucanis had started making a cup of coffee when she showed him the note, and then hardly said a word before he headed to the eluvian room. He had planned to remove his leathers while the coffee brewed, so he was ready as he grabbed his rapier.

The Diamond was relatively quiet as Lucanis stalked through it with Isabella on his heels. With her raised mask and hood, she acted as his shadow, moving in sync with his gait. He watched for Teia or Viago, but they were absent from the casino. Odd given the time of day, but Lucanis dismissed the thought nearly immediately. Zara's death took precedence.

He only paused for a moment to help Isabella with the zipline before they made their way towards the Market Square. He only had one shot at this, and he was not going to lose anything else to the Venatori witch. Lucanis knew that it was just his own anxiety, but he had half a mind to tell Isabella to wait for him at the Diamond with Viago. She wouldn't, of course, and Lucanis knew that he stood a better chance of beating Zara with her at his side. Just the thought of losing her made his chest ache.

Luckily, the Market was busy this time of day, giving them some cover as Lucanis wandered through, making sure that Isabella didn't get lost. Eventually, he did find one of Viago's Crows in the spot mentioned in the letter. Lucanis walked close but nonchalantly leaned against the wall a few feet away. Isabella kept her head down on the other side of him, signaling to her fellow de Riva. Their contact casually approached, facing at an odd angle for a conversation but still towards them.

"Viago said you were coming, Isabella," the Crow mentioned before glancing at Lucanis. "The Venatori are watching this area closely, especially the area close to the café."

"Understood. We'll search there," Lucanis replied as Isabella flickered her gaze to the Crow.

"Thank you, Emelia," Isabella whispered as Lucanis started towards the café. The de Riva Crow nodded once before disappearing into the crowd, letting Isabella chase after Lucanis.

Lucanis walked into the courtyard leading to the café, checking for clues or a mark. Anything to give the Venatori away. Isabella kept close to him, searching around the area as well when she caught his attention. She pointed at a door with a nearly hidden but visible V shape carved into the wood. It didn't prove it was Venatori, but the clue matched up enough that they could take a look.

"Door's locked," he hissed after he tried to open it. Isabella looked around before gesturing towards a window not too far from the ground.

"We could try there," she offered. Lucanis gave a curt nod before she glanced around. Once making sure that the courtyard was still empty of patrons, she scaled the ivy on the wall to climb through the window. She turned to offer a hand just to see Lucanis jump in with the help of Spite's wings. She smirked with her mouth still masked. "Show off."

"We have to find where the Venatori are hiding," he reminded, trying not to smile back.

The window had led to what looked like an abandoned warehouse with rotting crates of fabric and wood. It was probably meant to be a more permanent shop for the Market before the Antaam invaded. At least once the Venatori were dealt with, then they could focus on the Antaam. After the gods, of course. His list was getting too long.

Isabella shadowed him again, keeping an eye on the rafters and corners while he forged a path. He wondered if he rushed into the situation too fast and should have waited for another companion to join them. Although, Lucanis wasn't sure he wanted Davrin along for the ride when dealing with Zara. The Warden tended to make sly comments on just about everything.

As they entered one of the more polished rooms, a Venatori appeared out of thin air, rushing towards them with twin scythes. Isabella shoved him out of the way just barely before parrying the blows with her drawn daggers. He caught his footing immediately, drawing his rapier to slice the distracted Venatori into his side. Blood spurted onto the carpet as the cultist faltered, nearly dropping one of his weapons.

The distraction was enough that Isabella was able to rush, cut through his throat, and dash past him without as much as a drop of blood on her clothing. She turned and wiped the blood on the cultist's clothing as he died before sheathing the weapon. Isabella then stood to face Lucanis almost at full attention, like she was awaiting orders. It had been awhile since she had been focused on Crow business like this.

I can see. Why she's known. As Corva Bella.

Hush, Spite, we're focusing.

Hard to focus. Bella is impressive. Waiting for our command.

She's reverting to her tra- wait, what do you meanourcommand.

She waits. She would listen. To me. I bet.

"Luca?" Isabella whispered, her head tilted just slightly. Lucanis blinked at her before shaking his head.

"I'm fine, Spite just needed to chat for a moment," Lucanis replied firmly, feeling the demon struggle against him for control. Isabella stared at him, and he was sure she was frowning beneath the fabric. "We need to keep moving."

"Agreed," Isabella nodded, gesturing for him to take the lead. He swallowed and walked into what looked like an office.

The Venatori, generally, were very organized and diligent about records, which always worked out in Lucanis's favor. For whatever reason, they found a need to document and recordeverythingthey did. That likely meant that there was something in the room that would reveal Zara's hiding place. He motioned for Isabella to search around the room before he went to the desk. She was clever, and he knew that she would let him know if she thought she found something.

Lucanis tore apart the desk, ripping through books and journals as well as loose notes that seemed to just be strewn about. Spite taunted him in the back of his mind the whole time, wanting him to look at Isabella. It seemed that Spite liked it when Isabella was focused and driven when she was dealing with something this serious. She wasn't always carefree on missions, but something about a mission in Treviso made her more rigid.

Eventually, Lucanis found what he was looking for. It was a note from Zara's trusted minion.

Julius,

I am placing you in charge of this. Move everything to the bank. It will be taken to Vyrantium from there. And see that there are no more 'misplaced' valuables. The mistress is not understanding. Do not disappoint me. You know how highly Zara favors me. I should certainly be annoyed if I had to replace you with someone more suitable.

Aquila

Lucanis waved Isabella over before handing her the note. She glanced over it and then turned to him.

"He's the one who'll tell us about Zara," Lucanis informed quietly, pocketing the note. Spite grumbled happily in the back of his mind as Isabella nodded.

"Then we better get to the bank," she whispered. "Should we alert the Crows?"

"Once we have Zara's location, we'll let your Talon know. The bank might be a dead end," he reminded as he walked to the window. With them being on the second floor, the rooftop wasn't exactly accessible, but it was doable if they were careful.

"The bank is on the other side of the district," Isabella reminded, not sure what he was staring out the window for.

"Rooftops might be quicker than the streets. Safer, too," he reminded, sitting on the sill after opening the window wide.

She pursed her lips as she walked to the window. There was still one floor above them, but no ivy or trellis to help her reach it. Her wounds felt better, but scaling a wall with just the brick would be difficult even if they were fully healed.

"Rooftops would be quicker," she admitted as he leaned out of the window slightly to get a better look above them. "Is it plausible?"

Grab her. Hold her. We will fly. Use our wings.

"There's nothing to hold onto, but Spite keeps saying to use his wings," Lucanis explained, hopping to his feet away from the window. Isabella grimaced, taking a look outside again. It would be a quick jump, and Spite hadn't let her down yet.

"So, I grab onto you and Spite will take up to the rooftops?" Isabella repeated, making sure she heard the plan right.

Yes. Yes. Tell her yes.

"That's right," Lucanis answered calmly, trying to ignore the excited demon shouting in his head.

Isabella walked towards him, studying him for a moment, not sure of the best way to situate herself. Carefully, she lifted her arms around his neck, letting her chin rest on his shoulder. Lucanis wrapped his arms around her back tightly as the demon's wings spread, sending them out the window and upwards.

Isabella's grip tightened on him the moment they left the ground, and his hands moved to support her back better, bringing her closer to him. Within seconds, their feet touched the roof before the wings dissipated. She slowly released her grip, blinking up at him.

"Quite the parlor trick," she teased as he chuckled awkwardly taking a step back. She nodded before looking around, getting her bearings again. "The bank's that way."

"Right," Lucanis replied, reminded of why they were on the roof.

He took off in the direction of the financial district with Isabella close behind him. If he hadn't known that she was following him, he would have no idea that she was there. She became a shadow in every sense, allowing her footsteps to nearly be silent. Once this contract was over and the gods were dead, Lucanis wondered if she would be interested in doing more contracts with him. They moved together seamlessly and effortlessly.

Once they reached the bank, Lucanis dropped onto one of the balconies, keeping to the shadows. Isabella stood behind him in the dark as they saw two Venatori horribly keeping guard. He supposed it was good that they were bad at their jobs, but this was just pathetic. Two assassins should've had more trouble than this, especially in Antiva.

Lucanis made a move to rush them before Isabella grabbed his arm, holding up her blow darts. He hesitated, letting her take out the two cultists as she pulled down her mask. With precision, she shot the two quickly, and they both went down in under a minute as their faces turned purple. She put away her weapon, placing the fabric over her mouth once more.

Both stepped from the shadows, admiring her handiwork. Without so much as a sound from them as they died, no alarm was sounded. The Venatori never knew how to prepare against two of the Crows best.

"Not sedative this time?" he mentioned quietly as she shrugged.

"They're not innocent bystanders," Isabella explained nonchalantly. Lucanis smirked before heading into the bank.

As they descended into the building, he could hear a loud, irritable discussion from someone with a thick Tevinter accent. They were on the right path, and Lucanis could almost make out the words. He could, however, make out the separate voices. There were at least two people discussing, which meant there were maybe four people in the room at most. Five if they were unlucky, but he was feeling good about his odds today.

Lucanis, feeling overconfident, stepped into the room, silencing the discussion. He could hear Isabella hiss a question at him, but he was feeling a little vengeful. Aquila wasn't Zara, but he would do for the time being until he could reach the witch.

"The Demon of Vyrantium?" Aquila whispered in shock and terror. Lucanis narrowed his eyes as the Venatori lackies drew their weapons. "That's impossible."

"Where is Zara?" Lucanis demanded as Isabella emerged from the shadows to back him up. Aquila gestured for his lackies to attack as he retreated to cast spells from a distance.

Lucanis met one of the Venatori head on, running his rapier through his ribs before using the cultist as a shield against the rest. Isabella raised her bow, shooting at the farther Venatori and Aquila.

"You'll regret leaving your little cell, demon!" Aquila taunted as Isabella kept shooting towards the spellcaster. Lucanis shoved the now dead cultist off his blade before parrying another blow from a different Venatori.

The battle started to dwindle as the Venatori fell, and Isabella drew her bow taunt. Aquila shouted at both of them before she loosed her arrow, catching him through the heart. The spellcaster stopped moving, staring down at the rod in his chest, and fell over dead. Lucanis sheathed his rapier, approaching the body.

"Anything?" Isabella asked, her voice uncertain. She hadn't meant to kill him, but sometimes old habits died hard in the heat of battle. Lucanis shifted through the corpse's pockets, finding Andrastean pendants and bracelets. He held up the stolen trinkets out to her as she walked up to him. "He was stealing from the Chantry?"

"The letter mentioned that he was stealing from Zara," Lucanis reminded, dropping the jewelry. Isabella exhaled, the cogs turning in her head.

"Then Zara must be at a Chantry," Isabella concluded, tapping her chin. "There's an abandoned Chantry not too far from here. The Antaam shut it down, hoping to limit public gatherings."

"I'm sure that went over well," Lucanis scoffed.

"I thought they were trying to get it reopened, but it seems like we learned why those efforts came to an end," she replied with a sigh. "We should tell the Talons."

"We should get to the Chantry," Lucanis urged as Isabella stared at him.

"While I know we are on a roll right now, we are going to need backup if we're going to take out a Chantry's worth of Venatori."

"We did fine in Minrathous with Neve."

"They didn't have a Venatori Blood Witch with them who knows how to put demons into people. I'm just saying we should send them a quick message, and maybe they can meet us there."

"Neve was supposed to show you how to counter Blood Magic," Lucanis remembered as Isabella shrugged.

"We didn't talk to Neve about it directly. We can talk to her about it when we get back, but that's why I want back up. Zara doesn't get to have the chance of taking you back," Isabella insisted as she glanced around for a quill and parchment. Lucanis gave a half-smile as she found what she was looking for at the clerk's desk.

Isabella drafted a quick message to Viago and Teia, explaining that they had found the location of Zara. She was vaguer than that, but Viago would know what she was talking about. In case the traitor Crow found the message, they wouldn't know that they were onto Zara, but Viago would know exactly what was going on.

Lucanis maintained a perimeter, making sure that no Venatori came around the hallway to surprise them. He did want to just rush to the Chantry, but he understood the wisdom of Isabella's message as well. The more Crows they could get to help, the better chance they had of putting Zara down for good. Even if they simply waited outside to make sure there were no Venatori reinforcements to aid Zara.

Isabella walked to the window and called a crow to her side, tying the message to the leg. It had been some time since she had done this, but she instructed the crow to go back to the Diamond, letting the message be carried off. Lucanis watched in awe with his arms crossed.

"I always forget some Houses send messages like that still," Lucanis mentioned as Isabella returned to his side.

"You don't send letters via crow?"

"I don't generally send letters, if you recall. Most things delivered to me are by mail anyway. It's a wonderful thing to see in practice, though."

"It was the only way I was able to stay in contact with Viago until we reached the lighthouse," she explained, letting him lead her out of the bank. "I could teach you, if you'd like. You could gain a good standing with them."

"Why not just use the regular mail system?"

"I wouldn't be able to get a message to Viago in a matter of minutes if I sent that through the postal system. And backtracking to the casino would take twice as long."

"Touche," Lucanis chuckled. "I'll think on it. Does Viago write you back via crow?"

"He did when I had stayed in one place for a long time. He would send couriers during my time with Varric to track me down instead. We never stayed in one place for very long."

"Hunting down the Dread Wolf sounds like an arduous task."

"It took longer than I expected it to, that's for sure. I thought I would be finished by twelve weeks. When nine months hit, I was starting to wonder if Solas was a myth after all," Isabella chuckled, shaking her head. "Regardless, I think crow messaging is a valuable skill, especially when you're on the road. They're scarce outside Antiva, but they'll find you."

"It's very old fashioned."

"I suppose so."

Lucanis and Isabella snuck out of the bank easily, walking back onto the streets of Treviso. He made sure to shield her from every Antaam patrol as she shadowed him. None of the patrols took any notice of them, letting them pass easily each time. He could feel Isabella's anxiety spike each time they walked near one, and he wished that he could rip up every wanted poster with her codename on it. When he found out who put the bounty out on her, they would wish they had never been born when he was through with them.