{"sf1_id":757707,"sf2_id":null,"title":"An Evening in Roma","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2347,"posted_at":"2014-09-17T15:36:00.000Z","tags":["Discovery","Food","Human","Nudity","Plot Development","Rome","Story Progression","Werewolf","eating","hotel"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/757707-an-evening-in-roma","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/757707","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=757707\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#41 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"           Edward felt a little bad for her.\nShe was judging all religious people by the cardinal. He knew that there were\nplenty of well-intentioned priests and nuns out there trying to do good deeds.\nHe doubted any of them knew of the dark chambers deep below the Vatican, nor of\nthings like werewolves and \"magic\" rings. Bad things came in many forms,\nincluding one shaped remarkably like himself. He had kept his death toll to\njust one so far, and he hoped for it to remain that way. He didn't seem to have\nthe bloodlust she had survived on. But for now, they had their own lives to\nthink about.\nWith claws protruding, the two of\nthem slid down the pipe like beads on a string, slowing down from time to time\nas they hit the braces holding it to the side of the structure. But they made\nit without drawing attention to themselves. Edward draped the robe over his\nhead, while Maggie did her best to appear to be a young boy. If nothing else,\nthey looked like pilgrims from some poor land.\nThey weaved their way through and\naround obstacles until hey made their way to the courtyard of St Peter's\nBasilica. The massive church loomed above them, and soon after, it faded behind\ntheir backs. They made their way out with a small knot of visitors, and due to\nthe robe, Edward and his small ward were very nearly ignored. Once they were in\nRome proper, they slid down the side streets until they were lost among the\nwinding ways.\n\"OK Maggie. We made it out. I don't\nknow how, but we made it out. But now what? We have no IDs, no money, and we're\ncarrying a bag of stolen priceless artifacts.\"\n\"Whine, whine, whine.  The first thing we need to do is find the main\nbranch of Banca d'Italia. Once we get there, I need to convince them that a\nrecent transfer to the bank is mine. Then, I'll have money for us, and we can\nget a hotel and buy some real clothing.\"\n\"Isn't that like the main Italian\nBank?\"\n\"Sort of. Trust me.\"\n\"You're not planning on robbing it\nare you?\"\n\"No! I had Verona deposit money in\nher several New York accounts. No point in traveling with that much cash. I\nthen had her create an account here to receive wire transfers.  Now all I have to do is to convince them that\nthe newly created account is mine.\"\n\"Good luck with that!\"\n\"Luck has nothing to do with it!\"\nHe never asked. He didn't want to\nknow. But she came out of the prestigious bank with two credit cards with an\nunlimited balance. One was in her name, and the other in his. \"You see father,\nthis is a modern age. You can't still think like a medieval werewolf. You have\nto think modern. Technology is a great thing. Look at Cardinal Shit-head. He's\nlikely still in bed dreaming of getting his hands on our property or of boning\nsome small boy's ass.  Yet here we are\nout of his little trap as easy as carving our way through jello.\"\n\"I think I would have felt better\nbumping that guy off. He knows too much!\"\n\"Not as much as he thinks he knows.\nI say let him stew. When he finds his precious piece of paper is gone, and with\nit four of his little treasures, he'll wish he was dead.\"\nTheir next stop was to the Hotel\nAlbergo Del Sole Al Pantheon. It had smaller rooms than their one in New York\nCity, but it was a fine place and likely the last spot anyone would look for\nthem. There was a little trouble getting booked in, with them not having the\nproper IDs, but again, Maggie seemed to make that go away.The porter spoke only broken English. \"Americans?\" He asked with a smile.\"Yes. Why?\"He smiled his best grin and went to the built in stereo system and with a friendly wink clicked it on. Edward nearly laughed out loud when the opening notes of Dean Martin's An Evening in Roma.\" filled the room. \"See, see, we have American music here!\" He backed out of the room and closed the doors.\nThen it was a matter of getting a seamstress\nand a tailor to the room, and after that baths and food. Maggie groaned a little\nabout that, but she was hungry. \"I could stomach just about anything right\nnow!\" Since they still didn't have clothing, they put on the bathrobes and\nprepared to eat dressed like that. When the food came in Edward drooled just\nfrom the smell. Maggie was even keenly interested for once.\n\"I guess nothing like an adventure\nto build your appetite!\"\nShe piled up a plate and stuck her\nfork into it. She bit into the pasta and sauce and sucked it down like it was\ndessert. Then she stopped. \"This is weird.\"\n\"Why?\"\n\"Because it tastes good to me. And\nmy stomach isn't feeling like shit.\"\nEdward tasted his own food.\nThankfully, his was still sitting well as before. \"Where's the ring?\"\nShe grinned. \"Were do you think?\"\nHe had given it back to her during their shower.\n\"So maybe that's something else the\nring does.\"\nHer eyes sparkled. \"Can you\nimagine! Not having to kill ever again?\"\n\"It does have its upside.\"\n\"Upside! Good god father. Upside?!\nI suppose you think I like killing people. Ok, I do, but only those I think deserve\nit. You can't deny that there are a lot of jerks and crooks out there the world\nwould be better off without.\"\nHe was shoveling in food. \"Yes, I\nagree. I just don't like being stuck in the place of having to choose. It's not\nmy style.\"\n\"But you would have preferred to\nkill Cardinal Medici?\"\n\"Yes, I think so. On the other\nhand, I'd like to know more about this guy. All of those years of hunting\nwerewolves. What's the point?\"\n\"The ring for one.\" Then she\nclamored over the sofa and grabbed the bag. She pulled out the three boxes and\nthe key. The rolled up document she set on the table. Taking the key she tried\neach of the locks again. Each time nothing happened. \nThe inscription above the one said Clavem est in mente tua. \nShe read it out loud as best as she\nwas able. Edward mumbled around his food. \"So what does that mean?\"\nShe shrugged. Then she brightened. \"I\ncan find a translator online!\" The room had a computer connected to the net, so\nshe jumped over to it and started clacking away. In no time she hollered, \"The\nkey is in your mind.\" She stopped and did a double take. \"What key is in whose\nmind?\"\n\"Probably something that had\nmeaning to someone who's been long dead. Try another one.\" \nCurvis\nvia ducit ad salute.  She came up\nwith \"The winding road leads to salvation?\"\n\"Sounds like religious mumbo jumbo.\nBut they must have some meaning.  How\nabout contestant number three?\"\nShe grabbed the sole remaining box\nand read off the inscription.\n In luce\nLunae.\nThat one sounded easy enough, and\nthe compute agreed. \"In the light of the moon. So what then? You can only open\nit in the light of the moon? That's sort of corny. Sounds like something Tolkien\nwould have written.\"\nEdward wiped his mouth and leaned\nback. \"The inscription on our box was a hint. So these must be too. I think\nthat Leonardo meant for them to be able to be opened over the ages, and in case\nsomeone forgot how, he put instructions on each box. That each one opens\ndifferently meant that no single person could easily obtain whatever was\ninside. But if this key fits but doesn't work in any of the boxes, does that\nmean there is another box out there somewhere?\"\n\"Maybe father. Does this key look\njust like yours?\"\nHe took it and held it up. It did\nlook just like his. He was expecting a different shape, one unique to each box.\nBut maybe nothing quite so extreme. Keys got lost. No point in making opening\nthe boxes impossible. \"It looks identical.\"\nShe ignored her food and\nconcentrated on the boxes.  She put the\none away that mentioned the moon. It was daylight. The winding road. What did\nthat mean?\n\"Father, what do you suppose it\nmeans by that? A winding road.\"\n\"Religiously speaking, it probably\nmeans that you never live on a straight path. You must follow life as it\nproceeds, and that is often down a curved route that takes you past all sorts\nof distractions. Once you're past those distractions, you achieve heaven.\"\n\"Riiiiiiight. No wonder people are\nso fucked up.\"\nShe sat and stared at the box for a\nwhile. She stuck the key in and turned it. But she noticed something odd. When\nit should have clicked open, it went pas t the mark a little. She applied\npressure to it. It resisted and Edward yelled at her. \"Don't break it!\"\n\"I don't think I am.\" She continued\nto apply pressure, and with a sudden click, the key moved again. She proceeded\nto push, eventually turning it and making it back to the starting point, and\nthen again. She hopped up excitedly. \"Winding! You have to wind the damn thing\nup!\"\nOne more turn rewarded her persistence\nwith a click. The lid popped up. Edward jerked in his seat. \"Hot damn Maggie,\nyou're good at this stuff!\"\nShe used her thumb to open the top\nthe rest of the way. There was nothing inside. \"Shit! Now I need to figure out\nhow to open the bottom compartment.\"\nFrom all appearances, it would seem\nthat there was no false bottom, but as this box was the same as the other back\nhome, that meant it most likely did. Maggie tried to turn the key again, but it\nwas finally stuck. She could move it neither forwards nor backwards.\n\"Well shit! Now look. It won't budge.\nMaybe I did break it.\"\nEdward took the box. \"No, I don't think\nso. Each one must be very different from each of  the others. He went to a lot of work to make\nthese all very different. So you got the lid open by turning it several times.\nNow it's stuck...\" He tried to pull the key out, but it wouldn't move. Maggie\nsnorted. Then he pushed in on it. The lock snapped and the key spun under the\nforce of the ancient spring until it was back to the start position. The bottom\npopped up.\n\"Son of a bitch!\" She cried. \"I\nwish I had had a chance of meeting this guy. I think that calling him a genius\nis faint praise indeed!\"\nInside was a small leather envelope.\nShe dumped it out and opened it up. It was another ring. She was so excited she\ndid a back flip and landed on the floor. \"Hot damn! I'll just bet priesty-pants\nnever figured it out! We've got another ring, one for you and one for me!\"\nShe tossed the ring to him. He\ndeftly grabbed it and looked at it. It was identical to the other. He would\nhave compared them, but he figured her present hiding place was suitable. It\ncould stay there for now. Later he might go after it.\nShe grabbed the first box. \"Let's\nsee what we can do about this one!\" But try as she might, it failed to open.\nShe finally got frustrated and sat down to finish her cold food. \"You know, I\nthink we should hide these other boxes. I mean, if we can't get them open that\nis. And hide the key somewhere too. Make him go back to square one.\"\n\"I suppose so. If we each have a\nring, then we're pretty much invulnerable now. I don't think wearing more than\none does us any good.\"\n\"That would make sense. Why have\nmore than one at a time. But then again, we don't know that. So keep track of\nanything different you feel or experience. Maybe we can wear both at times too.\nMaybe there is something that multiples do that a single doesn't.\"\nHe was going to say how far-fetched\nthat sounded and shut his mouth. Here he was, a new werewolf discussing the\nproperties of rings that essentially operated on magic. In Rome. With a little\nwerewolf girl he regularly had sex with. That was technically his daughter.  He was so going to need a good shrink when\nthis was all over.\nShe finished eating and room\nservice came and cleared away the remains. Their clothing came a little while\nlater, but only pre-made, store bought stuff. It was all good Italian brands and\nsoon the two of them were dressed to kill. The rest would come later.\nBut they decided for the moment to\nstay inside. By now the cardinal was probably onto them and their escape, and\nwhile he could track them in his werewolf form, the chances were good he wasn't\ngoing to be doing anything until nightfall. That gave them a few hours. They\nwere tired, but since they didn't think that they had time for a full night's\nsleep, one stayed awake while the other slept. Edward went first. Maggie\nclicked away on the online translator, deciphering the papal bull document she\nhad stolen. It took a long time, but she was able to finally figure out the\nwhole thing. She painstakingly transferred the translated text over to a word document\nfor later. She uploaded a copy of it onto the cloud in case there was ever\ngoing to be a need for it. The original; well she stared at it for a while.\nSomething was going to have to be done with it. She had ideas, but for now she\nwould wait. Besides, it was her turn to get some shuteye. \nAnd she had just the way of waking\nhim up!"}