Vampire: The Masquerade - Nirvana

After that night, Mercurio and Leona got back to their mission on hand, starting to collect the clues from zip—Europe isn't the territory of Prince LaCroix, so they wouldn't have the contacts and resources they were accustomed to in the USA. In fact, because they had to be discreet, they couldn't risk trusting anyone here, but at least they were not entirely helpless: There was this one drifting Kindred scholar named Beckett of the Gangrel clan, who had been investigating this Ankara Sarcophagus and was working "temporarily" with the Prince, as himself put it, seemingly the type that disliked being connected with any form of authority.

With the information from him, they were able to catch up with what exactly happened from the sarcophagus being dug out of the ground in Turkey to it falling into the hands of the "Vampire Mafia":

"I didn't step in too much in the excavation because everything seemed normal back then, and I didn't want to disturb the humans unnecessarily." Beckett opened his journal and showed Leona and Mercurio, held his glasses and explained, "But after it was shipped to Istanbul Archaeology Museums, I could sense Kindred presence in in the Eminönü district, so I immediately snuck into the museum just to take a look at it myself, but they acted faster than me—it was already gone."

"Any idea what they want with this…dead body and stone coffin?" Knowing that Giovannis were into the art of necromancy, Leona felt a little bit terrified when asking this question.

"Hmm…I only had a hypothesis. If just like everyone else had suspected, that in the sarcophagus indeed lies a very ancient Kindred—a Methuselah in slumber, for example, then maybe they are trying to make him their puppet fighter, just like how they control the other corpses…but an apex one, of course, considering how…horrifying the power of a Methuselah can be."

Mercurio was harboring doubts: "But that was definitely not something you could just…I don't know, achieve over one night, right?"

To modern Kindred society, Methuselahs are vampire semi-gods who have lived at least a thousand years, and the only Methuselahs that haven't disappeared completely from the Kindred society are the seven who are in charge of the Camarilla Senate, holding the highest authority of the entire organization, whereas the rest of them either died or withdrew. In any sense, Methuselahs are untouchable, and trying to make a Methuselah—even if it was nothing but a dead mummy—an obedient killing machine sounds just like a childish fantasy.

But of course, as an academic vampire, Beckett had that in mind already: "That is why I think it's highly possible the Giovannis will keep the sarcophagus in their oldest and biggest mansion in Florence, where the eldest of their clan gather and study necromancy, and they are the only ones whose mastery of this art is enough to make an attempt. Even if they are not up to do it, a price artifact like this will be most likely to go to the safest place they have, which is also the Florence Mansion."

Florence Mansion…Now that Beckett mentioned it, Leona recalled the illusions she saw back in her haven, and this coincidence gave her chills in the bones, for the sketch that showed her those visions was painted by Garrett, then did it mean…he somehow predicted that she would go to Europe someday?

Just the thought of this possibility made she shiver. "So how do we get in there?" Trying to calm the disturbance in her heart, Leona asked.

And that's the part that bugged Beckett: "It will be extremely difficult, especially now you are asked to remain in secret. Giovannis are like any mafia, extremely bloodline-focused and always function first and foremost as a family—they only Embrace selected candidates from the human Giovanni family and only Giovannis along with few trusted outsiders have access to the house…and the security level is crazy if you want to break and enter by force or sneak in—believe me, I have tried, and I barely made it out without being recognized."

Beckett sighed, and when he said he barely made it, he meant it legitimately—he was an Elder at the age of three hundred and Gangrels are just as renowned to be fighters as Brujahs, and he had been in and out of so many dangers for his pursue of knowledge.

"Then we will have to find a way to…I don't know, disguise ourselves?" The way Beckett depicted Giovanni mansions to be invincible made Leona feel at lost about what to do.

"Not to mention if it's feasible, to disguise ourselves we should at least get to know them well enough…otherwise, it's no use."

The room went dead silent for a while when the mind of them three couldn't find a way out, then before long, Mercurio said: "Let's start with Mira Giovanni then. At least we have this name."

Beckett seemed happy about having a breakthrough, but knowing Mercurio's beef with this woman, Leona was hesitant:

"Are you sure?"

"We don't have anything better." Mercurio was already picking up his blazer and ready to leave Beckett's place, "Or you don't trust me?"

"I didn't mean that…"

"I know. I'm just being annoying."

Mercurio blinked at her and was just about to say goodbye to Beckett, but this Gangrel scholar was also packing his luggage—which was rather minimalistic—and offered to go with them. Apparently, he was determined to follow up the work he had started, and three was better than two.

They left the little rustic hotel Beckett was staying in Lyon, and drove all the way to Italy in the sun-proof private car the Prince had sponsored them with without stopping on the road, then for the first time in almost thirty years, Mercurio was back in his hometown again.

Usually they would go separate and that could make investigation be done more quickly, but this time Leona was stuck with Mercurio—She knew zip about Italian language other than "Ciao" and "Grazie", that was the obvious reason, certainly, but deep down Leona still worried about him…going through something like this alone. It was not the problem of trusting her partner or not, but that everyone could make stupid mistakes when things became personal, like how she was...manipulated by Garrett when he introduced her into the Kindred world.

"Where did you want to start? Naples is a big city."

Strolling on the wavy stone streets that went up and down because the uneven ground below, and listening to the waves of black sea waters tapping on the shore for a couple of hours without saying anything, Leona asked, trying to say something that was...appropriate in this situation.

Mercurio didn't answer immediately, for he was too immersed in nostalgia. Thirty years did a big change to this city, but he was still unconsciously trying to look for the Déjà vu that echoed with the Naples in his memory. "Gosh…I feel so old." He sighed. He was truthfully old for a human, though he always tried to cover that up by living an extremely young and wild life.

Just when he indulged himself in all those flash-backs of past and the surges of emotions came along with it, a man in sunglasses suddenly came out from a dark alleyway, seemingly waiting for them for a long time already:

"Benvenuto a casa, Michele, Mira is expecting you."

Mercurio recognized this man as Mira's driver in no time, because he hadn't aged for one bit, and now that the driver mentioned her name, Mercurio just realized where he had just arrived: the musical bar where he met Mira Giovanni.

The reason he didn't know it at the first sight was that the bar was already renovated into a brand new, fancy style, probably had its owner changed. Them two followed the driver into the place, and Leona noticed it in an instant that all the staff members who worked here were ghouls, while the guests here were few and seemed...to value their privacy a lot: some vampires were sitting in the corner watching them vigilantly, and the others were all closing themselves in rooms, obviously discussing some serious business.

The man in sunglasses led them into one of these compartments, and inside was a small lounge with wine cabinets and a long sofa—Mira was sitting on it, waiting for them in the even same black dress she wore when she hooked up Mercurio in this bar at this exact same spot.

"Is this some sort of sick joke!?" And it really agitated him, "recreating the moment of you toying with me and making me shame my family…for what? Reliving your victory?"

Leona could see that Mercurio was already trying to control his temper. Right after finishing the sentence, he turned back, bit his thumb hard and breathed heavily like a mad animal, while Mira just shrugged and acted like it was nothing: "I trust you to fully understand it was nothing personal, just…business, that's all. In fact, I'm thanking you—our family was traditionally undervaluing women, and you helped me earn the respect I deserve."

"How do you know we are here?" Thought they made moves secretly enough, Leona was frankly caught off guard being located by their target first.

Mira shook her head, as if finding her question naïve: "This is no America, honey, here we are the landlords, you are the guests, and we stay alerted all the time unlike those partying Camarilla aristocrats. We know everything…"

"What do you want?" Mercurio asked directly. He was definitely in no mood for chatting.

"Let's talk about what you want: You two are here for the Ankara Sarcophagus, aren't you? And you know it will be something heavily guarded by my family, that's why you are here looking for me, no?" When saying, Mira poured two glasses of wine and placed them on the glass coffee table, gesturing her two guests to sit down, "So I'm here to offer the help you need."

"But why? Isn't it something very important to the Giovanni clan?" Leona didn't even touch the glass Mira pushed in front of her, out of suspicion and distrust.

"Doesn't mean it's important to me. In fact, let's say that getting the sarcophagus was the effort of one of my…rivals who wanted to impress the boss, and he did, so in fact, I'm looking for someone who can sabotage his victory, but also have their own motives so I won't be suspected." After explaining her reasons of doing so, Mira started on the key part of this conversation—there would always be a catch in a deal like this, "But I will also require you two to do a favour for me to make this trade fair. After all, I'm in a greater risk but receiving less benefits than you here."

Mercurio scoffed: "Not surprised."

Mira sipped on her glass and paused for a while, then looked at Mercurio, saying:

"Ever wanted some revenge for what Olivia and the Bellinis did to you, Michele Napolitano?"