CH 38: Auditore Family Crypt

CH 38

(Third person POV)

Having finished their small tasks, Ali and Ezio finally made their way to the training ground where they trained with Mario and learned dodging and disarming from him.

Mario :"Magnifico! (Magnificent!) Once again you exceed my expectations!"

But just when he finished praising the two, one of his men came running to the training :"Signore (Sir)! We've found Jacopo's men, and await your word to strike!"

Mario nodded as he gave his orders :"Relay the following: no man moves until they have spoken with Ezio and Ali. Intesi (Understand)?"

The mercenary nodded :"It will be done!" Before he ran away and Mario turned towards the two :"Go, you two! Visit with my mercenaries in the countryside. See if Jacopo's lackeys won't lead you to him. But be careful. They will be expecting you!"

Ali and Ezio nodded :"yes, uncle, understood." And Mario patted them on the shoulder with a smile :"good. Go now, and be careful."

And he walked away after saying that, leaving the two alone. Ezio turned to Ali as she smiled :"so? Ready to go?"

Ali smiled and nodded before he raised an eyebrow :"Sì, sono pronto quando lo sei tu (yeah, I'm ready when you are).

But do tell me. Are you in for a little adventuring? There is actually an Assassin's mark in my map. I think we should explore there first."

That took Ezio's attention as she raised an eyebrow :"here? In Monteriggioni? Alright, let's go and check it out. Who knows what we will find."

Ali nodded before they both walked down the stairs and went through some alleys before they came across a door with the Audience symbol on it.

Ezio hummed as she folded her arms under her chest :"this door, huh? The Auditore family crypt. Sono stato piuttosto interessato a controllare questo posto (I've been quite interested in checking this place out)."

Ali gave a crooked smirked as he nodded towards it :"well, then what are we waiting for? Diamo un'occhiata già (Let's check it out already)."

And so, Ali opened the door before they walked inside. After walking for a little, they jumped down a hole where they entered an old place.

Ali dusted his hands off as he looked around :"wow, this place hasn't been visited in a long as time, huh?"

But Ezio rolled her eyes at him :"this place is from the time of my great great grandfather, what else did you expect?"

Ali raised his hands in surrender as he took a step away :"alright, geez. Touchy. Let's explore this place then.

Hey, check that out. It seems like a stone plaque. Let's see what's written on it. Maybe it's the memories of your great great grandfather or something."

As they walked towards the stone plague, they saw writings on it, writings that were probably left behind by Domenico Auditore, Ezio's great great grandfather, like Ali had said.

Ali folded his arms as he smirked at Ezio :"so? Are you going to read it, or should I do it for you, Ashkim (my love)?"

And Ezio rolled her eyes at his childishness :"bene, vai avanti e leggilo per noi (fine, go ahead and read it for us), Ashkim (my love)."

Ali just chuckled and shook his head in amusement :"Venice, 1296:

I was raised in a small house by the Venetian lagoon, within sight of the rough foam-capped waves of the sea. When I was barely old enough to walk, I became a sailor, navigating the Atlantic first as an apprentice and then while carrying cargo for my father's patron, Messer Marco Polo. It was a good life."

Ezio nodded when Ali finished reading out the stone plague :"you're write, this crypt is probably filled with these stone plagues that are engraved with my great great grandfather's memories. Let's look for more."

And so that's what they did as they walked through the maze like crypt before coming across another stone plague.

One that Ali read out loud again :"Ashore:

One day, while ashore in the harbor looking for work, I fell in love. She was barely twenty, but when I looked into her eyes, the whole world was reflected back, clearer and brighter than the sun. After that, I still went to sea, but my heart remained on land with the girl, who had become my wife, and our young son."

Ezio smiled as she chuckled :"haha, well isn't that sweet. Come on, let's look for more. I'm sure that these aren't the only ones."

But unlike her, Ali wasn't so excited even though he smiled. Because he knew just what was written here.

And they weren't so sweet when they come across the real ones holding the real messages. So he warned Ezio :"Ashkim, I know that this is exciting, but please don't keep your hopes up.

Uncle Mario has told us that your great great grandfather was the one that built the Auditore Villa, right?

Then, something tells me that the things that we will read here and the truths that we will discover won't be so sweet. So, please, bear yourself."

Ezio wasn't so naive anymore, so she knew what he was talking about. That's why she nodded with a serious face :"alright, I understand what you are saying."

It didn't take that long to reach the next stone plague, just a little walk :"Birthright:

One afternoon that summer, Messer Polo called me into his study. My father was already there, beside an older man, dressed in a strange hooded cape, watching us.

At that moment everything about my life changed, my father told me that he was an Assassin. Removing his ring, he showed me a strange marking on his finger, explaining that our family came from an ancient order that protected and defended mankind.

He paused, and then, when I didn't speak, Messer Polo stepped forward. He told me that the stranger in the hood would teach me, and in return I would carry him across the Mediterranean to Spain. And so began my apprenticeship with Dante Alighieri, one that was to destroy every bit of happiness I would ever have."

There was a moment of silence between the two as they looked at the words carved on the walls.

But after a few moments, Ali sighed as he started walking again :"let's go, I don't like where that ended."

Ezio just nodded with a serious face before the two moved the switch that would open the door.

But it seems like there was a time for how long the door would stay open, so the two moved quickly as they passed the door and came upon another stone plague.

Just when Ali was about to read it out loud, Ezio gently grabbed his arm and shook her head :"I will read this one.

A mentor:

In preparation for our voyage, Messer Alighieri met with me repeatedly. At first, our meetings were about purchasing supplies, but soon they became about higher things, about life, love, honor and justice.

He taught me that society was set up in such a way as to control its members, to stop us from thinking, from seeing. Soon, I could look past all the laws and illusions. I understood that mankind was being used by its rulers, that we, the people, deserved freedom.

It was then that Dante began showing me pages from a book that Messer Polo had brought back from the palace of the great Genghis Khan. The manuscript, the Codex, was about our order, the Assassins."

Ali tilted his head a bit as he pursed his lips a little in interest :"so the origin of the Codex pages leads back to Genghis Khan? That's... Really interesting to know."

Ezio nodded before she moved to another switch :"yeah, but I think we might find even more interesting things if we moved on."

After moving on and flipping some more switches to open even more doors, they finally came upon more stone plagues. Ezio read this one as well :"

An Unexpected Farewell

Our planned voyage never took place. While returning to Ravenna to pick up the remainder of his belongings, Dante died. Dismayed at the loss of my mentor, I went to inform my father and Messer Polo of the sad news. Before I could even speak, I was ushered into the study, and my father, his face white, locked the door behind me.

Shocked, I listened in silence as he spoke. Dante intended to take the Codex to Spain where it would be safe. But he was being watched. The enemy of the Assassins, the Knights Templar, still existed.

I recalled the stories he had told me of the Templars, and it all became clear. Dante had been murdered. The Templars knew about the Codex and they knew about us. Shaking, my father told me to take the Codex and leave for Spain at once with my wife and child.

As Messer Polo ushered me out the door, he handed me a small piece of paper with a number on it. With this number, I could draw on his credit, more ducats than I had ever seen in my life, at any bank in Italy."

Ali clenched his hands into fists so tight that his knuckles cracked :"these damn Templars just never knew when to fucking quit, huh?"

Ezio was also frowning before she took a deep breath in to calm down :"we still haven't gotten out of this crypt, so there must be even more stone plagues."

And soz they continued their small journey in the crypt before they came across another stone plague, which Ali read :"let me read this.

At Sea:

We set sail that night, the ship filled with cargo to sell in the markets at Barcelona. At first, all was well. Then, to avoid a coming storm, we laid anchor in the Otranto harbor. Cloaked in darkness, the pirates came. I didn't see them until they were already boarding my ship.

I hid with my family in the hold. Pulling out the Codex, I ran the worn leather cover through my hands, then, I broke the spine. The pages slid silently onto the floor. I scattered them into the chests, boxes and containers I was carrying to market.

The men who found us were drunk, I could smell it on their breath. When they asked for the Codex, I knew who had sent them. Holding back my rage, I said that I had thrown it overboard.

They started to laugh. Two held me down, still grinning, while the rest cut off my wife's clothes. She begged for mercy until her voice gave out. Once they were done, they threw her into the sea.

They took my cargo and sunk my ship, and left me, adrift, clinging to a piece of railing.

I made it to the beach with my son. My wife's body washed up on shore the next morning with the tide."

At first, Ali's voice was as nonchalant as always with a bit of rage in it. But he hid it to relax the mood and not make Ezio sad.

But he couldn't keep the rage still once he read halfway through the stone plague. His rage took over as he threw a fist at the wall while gritting his teeth.

The fist wasn't a gentle one, it was one to that contained his rage. A rage filled punch that made a crack on the wall that spread like spider webs and created a small hole on the wall.

The adrenaline formed by the rage caused him to ignore the pain of his bleeding hand as he gritted out :"these damn Templar sons of bitches...

Killing a man is fine, but doing something like that to a man's wife... If I get my hands on Templars from now on, I will make them wish they were never born..."

Ezio wasn't any better than him, but she was still better in containing her rage. So she took in deep breaths and exhales before she gently brought Ali's hand down and wiped the blood out with a piece of clothing.