Blood.
Some say Florence is a land baptized in glory and blood.
So much blood has been spilled here. By the Romans and the Saints. The Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Medici and the Pazzi.
And those who fought for freedom.
Ezio: pant
Templar VI: Give it up, Assassin! The whole city is looking for you! You won't get away this time!
Templar VI: Our orders are clear! Secure the relics and the golden apple, and one equally important command from the Pope himself—
Templar VI: Kill the Assassin Ezio Auditore.
Vertin: We will help you open the secret chamber.
APPLe: Vertin, we can't just—wait, when did you figure out how to open the secret chamber?
Alberto offers a satisfied clap.
Alberto: Well, well. It's time you shared your little secret.
APPLe: Vertin ...
Vertin: Everything will be alright. Now, let's pay attention to the fresco.
Her calm tone is a mask worn over a swirling pool of anxiety.
Vertin: Can you recall the riddle?
APPLe: Of course. It's how we got this far.
APPLe: Under the waning glow, the waning sanctuaries unite.
Vertin: Leonardo proposed that these "waning sanctuaries" must refer to vanishing points. And by "unite," he means the place these vanishing points connect.
Alberto: Hmm ...
Alberto: So we need to find where they are connected? What does the other half of the sentence mean then? "Under the waning glow" ...
APPLe: Could it be that the optical filter—I suppose that's me—must be placed at their intersection at dusk?
Vertin: I believe so.
Alberto: Well done, my obedient lambs. You've cracked the puzzle quite nicely.
Alberto: Now what follows is just some tedious work from my side.
Released from the priest's censer, wisps of fog stretch and encroach, inch by inch, within the small enclosed space.
APPLe: This APPLe feels light and dizzy ... Are we in heaven now?
Vertin: It's that sleeping gas again! Hold your breath!
APPLe: H-Hold my ...?
Time seems to have stopped moving.
The air is filled with heavy doses of scopolamine and atropine. They alter colors, twist lines, and disregard all physical laws effortlessly.
APPLe: yawn ... As above, so below ... as below, so above ...
Alberto: Fool, do you think I'd give you the chance to buy time for your friends?
The priest's figure tilts and bends in their vision, only his lips seem to remain in place.
Alberto: We will bring order to this chaotic world. By straying from order, you invite your own doom—you are bound to fail.
Vertin: pant
Alberto: Hmm?
The sharp, clear cry of an eagle snaps the Timekeeper back to awareness.
The priest paces over to the stained glass window; at first he looks anxious, but then he appears to relax.
Alberto: My memory is as poor as ever. It's nearly dusk, and our assassin is most assuredly dead—
Alberto: Ugh!
Dust-covered stained glass and blood spray intertwine into a breathtaking arc of light.
The priest kneels in the sunset light, staring up at his own death reflected in his killer's eyes.
Alberto: Ezio ...? How ...?
A faint metallic scent lingers in the air, blood and dust staining the Assassin's grayish robe.
He arrives just in time.
Ezio: You claim to bring order, but all you do is seek control.
Ezio: Fortunately, neither the world nor its people will bow so easily.
FINAL BOSS
The few defeat the many in this battle.
The priest lies on the ground, his pale, aging face distorted by a rippling pool of blood.
Alberto: cough Ezio ... You pestering bastard dog ...
Ezio: An assassin never loses track of his target.
Alberto: How did you ... survive ...?
Ezio: ...
Templar VI: You're outnumbered, Assassin. There's no way you can survive this.
Templar VI: It's better that you kneel and accept your fate. No one can withstand the Order.
The doors and windows on the street have all been tightly shut.
The bustle on the street has disappeared. Even the wind falls silent, anticipating the worst.
Ezio: Heh. Outnumbered? Where did you get that idea?
Shadows emerge from behind him flanking him on either side.
Templar VI: gasp
Templar VI: Where did they ...?!
Leaping down from rooftops, sneaking in from the alleys, the phantoms swiftly gather behind Ezio.
The wordless determination in their eyes speaks for them.
We work in the dark, to serve the light.
We are Assassins.
Ezio: All those "lowlifes" you so readily dismissed—when I needed them, they came to our aid.
Alberto: I-Impossible ...
One knee on the ground, the Assassin stares at the priest's trembling eyes, writhing in pain.
Ezio: Buy every soldier and summon every knight and every Templar in this city—it will never be enough.
The Assassin's hidden blade is driven through the priest's heart.
Alberto: No ... cough It can't ... end like this ... cough
But as it seems like the priest should breathe his last, he begins to laugh.
Alberto: Heh heh ... assassins, you're merely puppets on a string; driven by delusion.
Alberto: Each life you take ... brings you one step closer to the darkness ...
Ezio: Let it be so.
Entering the darkness is not a curse for us; it is our most solemn duty.
An assassin does not fear the darkness any more than an eagle would fear the sky.
Ezio: Faith should bring comfort, not pain.
He closes the fallen priest's eyes with undue reverence.
Ezio: Rest in peace.