This chapter is really long so get ready for a wild ride :) -Austin
Venice is gorgeous.
Once I get over the initial shock of arriving at a city by vertical whirlpool, I begin to appreciate the place. Rather than streets for carriages, Venice has canals for boats called gondolas. I decide to make it a goal to ride in a gondola before leaving, whenever that may be.
It might be helpful, also, if we knew where we were going.
The tallest building you can see, I recall the Alvarados specifying. The tallest building we could see from here? Or the tallest building in Venice? The tallest building we could see with cloud coverage? I didn't know these Alvarados, but something told me that they were weirdly specific and cryptic when it came to directions.
Mitch, however, seemed to know where he was going. When we had finally exited the ship (which, as I exited it, I realized was called La Rosa Morti), he had grabbed my hand in his and began to pull me quickly, weaving his way through the busy streets lit by lanterns. Every few seconds, I would look behind me to see the rest of our crew -- well, I suppose just Lindsey and K.O., skipping through the markets as Lindsey pulls K.O. excitedly.
Eventually, we arrive at a bridge that is built over one of the canals, where Mitch had claimed would be the best area to look at the entire city.
"Which building are we going to?" I ask.
Mitch shakes his head, shrugging and pulling out the Alvarado's note. "The tallest one we can see," he reads. He turns the parchment over to see the back, looking for the arrow, and his face falls when he finds none.
"Okay, so which one is that?"
Mitch shrugs. "That one looks like the tallest from here...attenti!" he says, shouting to one of the gondoliers that is rowing slowly in the water.
The gondolier looks up, and when he does, Mitch begins speaking to him. But I can't understand a word that he's saying; he's speaking a different language.
After a few sentences, the gondolier begins to speak back to the captain, pointing to the right and Mitch following his finger. Mitch smiles and nods at the man. "Grazi. Salute!" he says, and the man flashes him a smile back.
"C'mon, he said it's this way," Mitch says, reverting back to English and grabbing my hand to pull me.
"What was that?" I ask.
"What was what?" Mitch inquires, knitting his eyebrows together.
"What was that? What language were you speaking to that man?" I continue.
Mitch shrugs. "Oh, Italian."
"You know Italian?" K.O. asks from behind us.
"I was born here. Italian's my first language," Mitch explains.
"Wow. English was your second one?" K.O. says, impressed.
"No, English was my fifth," Mitch replies.
K.O. and I share a surprised glance. "You know five languages?" K.O. asks.
"Seven, actually," Mitch responds, shrugging. When K.O. and I just stand, staring at him in awe, he says simply, "Five hundred years. You pick up a few things. C'mon, let's go find the Alvarados." Then he pulls me by the hand and starts walking.
When he's sure that Mitch isn't paying him any attention, he leans down to whisper to me. "Five hundred years?"
"He's nearly five hundred years old because he's immortal," I tell K.O. quickly.
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The Clockmaker and the Pirate - EVERMORE BOOK 1
Fanfiction"The only thing I've wanted my entire life was to die, to die, to die. But then -- by a twist of fate you found yourself onboard my dinky little ship and you flashed your stupid smile and you gave me the opposite," he tells me. "What's that?" I...
