Chapter 7: The Silence of a Lamb
Gray started walking, unsure of what his journey would bring.
While strolling, he began turning left and right in random patterns, just like Casanova had told him. He lived inside a pretty big city, so he never had the time to explore it.
He also preferred staying inside his home for most of the day, making him unaware of many interesting places. When he reached those spaces he couldn't help but think of being inside a whole different country.
Gray lived inside an Italian city called Rosano. The city had over 150,000 inhabitants, and was situated in the region called Lombardy.
In the past, it used to be a greek polis, famous in the ages for their rich history and culture.
It was the only polis in northern Italy. It's still unclear of why they had decided to conquer a city that was so far from the sea. Because of Rosano's history, it was obvious that their culture had been deeply influenced by the greeks.
Some historians tried to explain the bizarre location by saying that the ancient greeks sent prisoners and politicians who were thought to be potential tyrants or enemies of the state.
However, there's not any proof of this.
In the middle ages, the town was a popular destination for the soldiers in need of aid and refreshments. This was because the civilians had kept the Greek practice of hospitality; where they used to let foreigners live in their house for a temporary period.
The owner of the house offered them a bath, food, drinks and even gifts. Most of the times, the guests were courteous to their hosts and tried to avoid being a burden for the owner of the house.
The host didn't expect nothing material in return, they just wanted to be reciprocated by their guests in case they traveled and needed a place to stay.
Even though their city was a greek polis, they strangely didn't follow Hellenism and they didn't write. Unfortunately, their religion is completely unknown. Nobody knows who or what they were worshipping. The only things remaining of it were the oral traditions that survived inside of the river of time.
Their homes were very peculiar, for it was customary for every building to have a bell inside their rooftops. It was used in various traditions, now mostly unknown. Only two of them survived until today, but they aren't being practiced anymore.
One of them happened in those times where a guest proved to be a threat for the hosts. When a guest tried to injure or murder them, the owner of the house would ring the bell three times.
When their neighbors heard the sound, they would come out of their houses to get the threat away from their community.
No official records talk about what happened to the guests after their crimes. However, due to the archeological evidence left until today, it's known they lacked prisons.
The only remaining things are the old legends that the oldest, almost demented grandmas used to tell their grandchildren to make them fall asleep.
They sang incoherently, their raspy voices echoed that, after three days of the sin being committed, the community would sound their bells from sunset to dusk.
The community continued to accommodate the foreigners until the year 1544 AD.
In that year, there was a war between the French army, commanded by Francis De Bourbon, Count of Enghien against the combined forces of The Holy Roman Empire and Spain, commanded by Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, Marquin del Vasto.
The battle was fought near Ceresole D'Alba; in the southeast of Turin in the present days. The French army consisted of around 11,000-13,000 soldiers, 600 light cavalry troops and 900-1200 heavy cavalry troops.
While D'Avalos force was formed by 12,500-18,000 infantry troops, some of which were perhaps 4,000 musketeers. Additionally, he was only able to gather from 800 to 1,000 cavalries.
The count of Enghien intended to march towards Milan to conquer it, but D'Avalos didn't want France to gain such an important city.
In the end, the French army won against the combined armies of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. It was a bloody battle, and it's estimated that 30% of all the troops had died.
The count of Enghien then moved towards Milan, encountering the city of Rosano in his way.
The townsfolk accommodated the soldiers, aiding the injured ones.
Yet, the troops decided to turn their backs on their saviors.
The soldiers came inside the townsfolk houses, demanding 70% of their food for 'protection.'
The community gave their food without a fight. They were a city with fertile soil and abundant natural resources, so it wasn't a big deal for them.
The soldiers mocked them for their stupidity, growing more confident with each passing day.
Then, they demanded their houses, and the community gave them without a fight. This was because, before becoming a greek polis, they stemmed from various villages formed by nomad hunters, so they knew how to live comfortably whilst being amongst nature.
The townsfolk went deep inside the forest, building tents all around the biggest tree.
After weeks, the stolen food started to dwindle, making the soldier grow more frustrated as time passed. Moreover, the wounds of the injured started to become infected.
This was one of the prices for kicking out the inhabitant of Rosano out of the city. They gave them a place to stay and healed their wounds without requiring a price, yet the greed of the soldiers overcame their thankfulness.
As soon the grueling month passed, the Count of Enghien came inside the forest and proposed an offer to the townsfolk.
He offered to give their houses and food back, but only if they left their women, so they could 'treat the wounded.'
The troops saw how the people were living without a struggle, so they thought they could take their forest and live like they did.
The community, understanding the hidden meaning of their words, rejected their offer, and planned to leave the city of Rosano.
They were used to being nomad, but they were melancholic, for they had leave the hard work belonging to their ancestors.
They weren't aware that a lone soldier, a spy sent by the Count of Enghien had heard everything, however.
That night, the soldiers came into the forest, deciding to kidnap the women from the embrace of their husbands and the sisters from the love of their parents.
A brave and special woman named Althea Louvis, realizing their intent to harm her family, decided to sacrifice herself for the safety of every girl in the village.
While the women ran away with their families, Althea, like the tail of a lizard, stayed behind and made all of the soldier pay attention to her.
She danced with an otherworldly allure. Her swaying figure moved gently and slowly, grabbing the attention of all the 'warriors.'
When she saw that they were about to break free from her spell, she removed one of her garments, and when it fell to the ground, the soldiers stopped in their tracks and gazed at her, like a bunch of statues.
When she removed the last piece of her garments, her spell broke. But by then, all of the women were safe, away from the disgusting hands of these beasts who posed as men.
These monsters, frustrated of having lost the women, took her into the city to 'relieve their stress' as they said.
And after 24 hours, her body failed, and she passed away.
As soon as she took her last breath, every single troop vanished.
It's still unknown of where they went or what caused them to leave the city.
The old legends say that, after 3 days, every bell belonging from Rosano started to ring.
The melody was heard by many cities, but the only ones who knew the meaning were the townsfolk.
After 2 days, they returned to the city, finding it free from their enemies, their savior's corpse gone like her kidnappers.
They noticed that river who passed next to the city was dyed blood-red.
That day, when the high-priestess saw it, she proclaimed, "Drink its water! This is clearly the work of the lamb that sacrificed herself for us!"
And they drank until their bellies were full.
The bells rang continuously for 5 weeks, without stopping for even a second.
From that day on, the townsfolk never practiced hospitality anymore.
Althea was hailed as the protector of Rosano. The followers of the old priestess believed that she underwent under the mystical process of apotheosis.
The city who was once loved by many foreigners became just one of many cities inside the Italian peninsula.
This was one of the old legends that the grandmas sang for their kids. It had some true historical facts, but for obvious reasons nobody believes them anymore.
…
While walking, Gray saw many people strolling through the city. Even though it was something normal, he was amazed of how they all had their own lives and issues. And yet, they didn't show it on their faces.
He stopped and looked at a couple of pedestrians.
One was a young woman, while the other was a child who looked no older than four.
Gray noticed that the woman's face was as tired as it could get. Her eyeliner was smudged, and it was clear she had cried not so long ago.
Her thin face was covered with freckles while her almond-shaped blue eyes were still covered in tears, ready to burst out of her eyes.
The kid was crying, but even though the mother was tearing up herself, she held the kid to make him calm down. And then, she started singing a lullaby.
Her voice was soft, yet strained. The poor woman didn't want her child to hear the cries belonging to his mother. But luckily, the child fell asleep before it could hear her pain.
The young woman emitted a couple of silent sobs, but when she saw her child sleeping peacefully, she smiled and squeezed his chubby cheeks.
When Gray saw this event, his gaze froze. Slowly, his lips curled into a wry smile; he couldn't help but be a bit jealous.
Deep down, all he wanted was to have his mother by his side. He could only remember the times where she used to read stories and when she used to teach him how to count, but even then, his memories where hazy.
Even though he didn't know her very well, he wanted to see her again.
Talking for 5 minutes would have been enough.
He knew that she might scold him for the kind of man he had become, but that would've been alright.
He wanted to tell her that his sister had done such a good job in raising him.
He wanted to ask her about what she wanted him to be in the future, just so he could make his mother as proud as he could.
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
"Did my mother ever do that for me?"
Gray couldn't help but squeeze his own cheek, turning it red.
And once he noticed that the young mother had long walked away, he resumed walking towards the unknown location once more.
…
Gray found himself into an abandoned neighborhood. The empty buildings were uncanny, but strangely, fear didn't possess him.
Towards the end of the road he was following, there was an empty warehouse.
It held an orange color from the rust covering it. It lacked a door and had busted up windows.
When he stepped inside it, he felt a strange miasma covering the inside of the warehouse. He felt as if he had walked inside a giant gelatin.
Gray quickly noted of having a slight difficulty in walking around the place, showing that the bizarre feeling wasn't inside his mind.
"Is this the right place?"
Just as he was thinking of what to do, he heard Casanova's voice.