On the route from Taormina to Palermo, their group had to pass by a harbour city called Messina.
Messina was the third largest city of Sicily with a population around 200,000 in the 1950s. It was located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina. From the beginning of the 20th century to 1955, there were some notable events that happened in Messina.
The first event occurred in December 1908, when the city suffered an earthquake and associated tsunami that killed nearly 60,000 people and destroyed most of the ancient architecture. After that deadly disaster, Messina was largely rebuilt in the following year.
The next event was the massive air bombardments from the Allied on the city in 1943. Messina was once again seriously damaged and rebuilt.
The third event would take place in the next two months, June 1955, when this city would be chosen as the location where the European Economic Community was established.
One of the famous attractions of Messina was the Neptune fountain, which had a statue of the god of sea Neptune on the top and the statues of two mythological monsters, Scylla and Charybdis at the base. It depicted an allegory of the waters of the Strait of Messina, about its ruler, the god Neptune chaining those sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. The story represented a mirror of the physical and moral strength of the city that tamed adversity.
That was some information about Messina that Sonetto had told them two days ago.
"There's someone up ahead."
Thanks to her good eyesight, Tennant was able to see a person waving their hand from far away.
"Maybe they want to hitchhike?" Sonetto guessed.
"None of my business." Pavia replied nonchalantly.
The car from the Marino clan was a seven-seater car, which was bigger than their old car provided by the Sicily's Office. Therefore, this time even Click could have a seat on his own, though he still chose the car's roof.
As their car got closer to that person, they found out that it was an old lady with short gray hair and a tall figure. She was wearing a light yellow suit with trousers, high heels and a pair of sunglasses.
As if she realized the car wouldn't stop at her spot due to its stable speed, the woman gave up waving her hands and moved backwards.
"Is this OK?"
Sonetto said, while watching the old lady who was just about 4 meters from them with an anxious expression.
"I mean, we still have enough seats for her and there are no cars, people or buildings around here."
She tried her best to persuade the man on the driver's seat as fast as possible.
"Ask Necrologist." Vertin slightly pulled her sleeve, "She's the Boss."
Vertin's words immediately reminded Sonetto about something. She turned to the girl in black who sat behind her and asked:
"Can we stop here, Necrologist?"
Hearing Sonetto calling her name, the girl in black, who had been listening to the whispers of the deceased for a while, raised her head and looked straight at the rearview mirror.
"Please, stop." Necrologist said.
"Got it, Boss." The man grinned.
SCREEEEEECH!
He pressed down on the brake firmly and made the car stop right at the old lady's spot.
Sonetto and Vertin left the car and walked towards the old woman, while others remained on their seats. Click had already left the car's roof and gone somewhere else, but his position was still near the car, based on Balloon Party's words.
"Good afternoon, Madam."
The orange-haired girl politely greeted the old lady.
"Good afternoon, child."
The old lady greeted her back.
When they were face-to-face, Sonetto and Vertin could clearly see the prominent scar that divided the right eyebrow into two parts on her face, as well as the familiar Foundation's pin on her jacket.
"Oh, it seems we are colleagues."
The old lady smiled as she pointed to the Foundation's symbol on Sonetto's clothes.
"How about giving this pitiful old lady a ride? After all, our destinations are the same."
And then, their trip to Palermo was joined by a new member.
The old lady introduced herself as Mozzoni, whose age was over 60, and was planning to bite the dust as soon as possible after meeting her stupid son one last time in Palermo.
"Because the longer I live, the more disappointed I feel in myself."
The old lady explained casually before Sonetto's puzzled expression.
"At my age, your strength, endurance and reflex will drastically drop until one day, you can't even walk on your legs anymore."
She lightly touched her head.
"The only things that remain are your wisdom and a not yet forgetful head."
"Therefore, I prefer an ending where my mind is still alert to an ending where I'm just an impotent old lady."
Although her speech may be a bit weird and negative to normal people, she still had a point there. After all, no arcanist was actually related to the word "normal" in the first place.
"Mrs. Mozzoni, can I ask if you are a member of the Sicily's Office?" Sonetto asked.
"I used to be, but I've already retired 3 years ago."
The old lady removed her sunglasses, revealing a yellowish-brown left eye and a cloudy right eye.
"Due to my old age and some injuries from the past."
The prominent scar above her right eye and the wrinkles on her face were the clearest evidence of her words.
"What do you know about the Chief of the Sicily's Office?" Vertin said.
"You mean the current Chief?"
The old lady's expression showed a little surprise when hearing Vertin's question.
"I still remember the day I first met him. It was also the day of my retirement. He was a promising young man who was appointed by the Foundation's Headquarter."
As she recalled that moment, her unique eyes seemed to be looking into a faraway place in the past. There was no clue which time she was looking at, but it was certainly further than the moment she met the current Sicily's Chief.
"His eyes were just like mine of the old days. Stubborn yet ambitious."
After a blink of nostalgia, the old lady returned to her friendly smile and looked at Vertin.
"Why do you want to know about him?" She asked.
"Let me guess. Did he do something suspicious that involved your mission?"
The moment Mozzoni said those words, an upside down head penetrated the car's roof. That head, which was sticking at the roof, said:
"There are 4 cars from two opposite directions approaching us. Two cars in front are 300 meters away from us, two cars behind are 350 meters away. The people inside are all armed and some of them are wearing the same kind of clothes from the previous wedding."
After saying that, the head quickly disappeared to the old lady's surprise. Following his announcement, the car's atmosphere became serious.
In Mozzoni's eyes, the gangster driver was gritting his teeth in angry, the woman next to him slightly raised her eyebrows as if she was still shocked by the latest information, the oranged-haired knitted her eyebrows with the glass pen in her hand, the grayed-haired girl didn't react much and two girls at the rear seat were still doing what they had been doing up until now.
When encountering an upcoming dangerous situation, the group of these young arcanists didn't show either quick or sharp reflexes like what the people of Marino had told her before. In this group, she could sense the high individuality in each of them, except for the orange-haired girl, while the collectivity among them seemed to be lacking.
Were they actually good or was it just because they had some "strong and flashy" innate arcane skills?
As if answering her question, the team started to act.
"How is your driving skill, Pavia?" Vertin said.
"Enough to crash those fools in front into a pile of scraps."
Pavia answered with a confident attitude.
Vertin nodded, then looked at the woman on the front seat who also watched her.
"Can you immobilize a car to support him, Tennant?"
"I'm not used to using a gun at this speed. But if it's your wish, My lord,..." Tennant smiled charmingly, "...then my arcane skill should handle the rest."
Hearing a certain answer from Tennant, Vertin turned back and asked the girl who had black and white pigtails.
"Balloon Party, can you create some Pinatas for 'our guests' behind?"
"You mean they want to attend our car party?"
Balloon Party slowly said with a joyful smile on her face.
"Yes, they can't wait to attend our car party." Vertin nodded.
"I will make many many Pinatas to welcome them!"
Balloon Party happily began her work.
Next, Vertin turned her sight to Sonetto.
"To send the Pinatas right to our guests' hands, can you cast a controlling arcane skill on those Pinatas, Sonetto?"
"Yes, I'm ready any time." Sonetto seriously replied.
In the end, the gray-haired leader raised her head and talked to the car's roof.
"Click, please tell us if two cars in the back are about 30 meters from our car."
After a few seconds, there were some knocks on the roof in response to her words.
All things were set in less than 3 minutes, which impressed the old lady sitting next to Sonetto a little bit. This assignment showed that the leader knew clearly about the capabilities of each member in her team, as well as their personalities. She gained respect from those individualistic arcanists and knew how to persuade them to work together without force.
However, this was just the beginning. It was always easier said than done. Mozzoni would never believe anyone's words until she could see the real deal with her bare eye.
When they spotted the figure of two cars running in the front and the back respectively through the windshield, the distance between them was about 50 meters. Pavia sharply increased the speed as planned, while Tennant was waiting for his signal to shoot. The special revolver in her hand was already loaded with the diamond bullets created by her arcane skill.
As their car got closer and closer to their enemies with a lightning speed, which made the enemies think they wanted to crash straight into the car in the front, Pavia suddenly turned the steering wheel and turned the car 90 degrees to the right. At the same time, Tennant leaned out the car window and raised her revolver at the enemies who were about to do the same thing as her.
"Time to wake up, gentlemen."
She threw a rose into the air which became countless rose petals surrounding the enemies' cars. While their minds were blinded by the illusion, she fired the first shot into the tire of the car in the front. The tire immediately burst, causing the car to tilt to one side and be hit by the car from the behind.
Tennant continued to shoot three bullets consecutively into the tires of the other car and retreated inside their car before the enemies' bullets could make her upper body become a sieve.
Seeing her return, Pavia once again turned the steering wheel and increased the car speed to leave the two damaged cars behind.
"Are you alright?"
Vertin asked the young woman who was vaguely adjusting her breath with concern.
"I just need some moments to regain my perfect state."
Tennant replied to Vertin and closed her eyes.
"That ghost was better at supporting than I expected."
The man said idly as he recalled the moment when Tennant was about to be shot at her forehead. His excellent eyesight allowed him to see some carbuncles from nowhere falling right at the killer's head and flash lights hurting their eyes.
Now was the turn of the arcanists sitting at the back and rear seat. Though Balloon Party was disappointed that she just had enough time to create 4 Pinatas for 'their guests', that was enough. Sonetto quickly cast the controlling arcane skill that she had learned by heart on the pink Pinatas and waited for the signal from Click.
Five minutes passed and some knocks on the car's roof could be heard. Pavia lowered the car windows at Vertin and Sonetto's seat and kept a steady speed. The two girls threw the Pinatas outside the window and they began to float slowly to the direction of enemies' cars. To make sure the Pinatas were still intact when reaching the enemies and to increase their damage, Sonetto decided to enhance them by another arcane skill that was depicted by a verse of a poem.
"Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle."
As her glass pen wrote down the verse in the air, those Pinatas were covered with sparkling lights which even made Balloon Party happier. The girl looked straight at Sonetto's eyes and said with a delighted expression.
"From now on, you will be one of my good friends too!"
"It's my pleasure." Sonetto gently smiled at her words.
This time, those cars behind came close to the extent that the rearview mirrors outside could reflect their images. Through the mirror, Sonetto controlled two Pinatas floating to the car on the left, while the others coming to the car on the right. Maybe because of the fear of the balloons yesterday, none of the enemies dared to shoot the Pinatas.
As Balloon Party could sense her Pinatas were almost meeting 'their guests', she excitedly clapped her hands and said:
"Break it! Break it!"
Before the enemies' nervous eyes, the Pinatas exploded like low destructive grenades and created countless colorful paper fireworks. Not scary and dangerous like the balloons that had liquid inside, but enough to make them panic and distracted while driving.
After the first two Pinatas broke some car windows, the enemies quickly changed their direction and drove to the side of the road to prevent the others. Their actions also created the chance for the arcanists' car to leave their enemies further and further.
"That was an impressive performance of yours."
The old lady who observed their team processes praised them with a pleasant tone.
"Are you satisfied enough to tell us the complete information you know about what is actually happening in Sicily?"
What Mozzoni had said before, Vertin didn't buy it. So did her companions in the car.
"What a sharp child."
Mozzoni dropped her social smile and changed to a serious expression.
"The mess in Sicily is more awful and dangerous than you what you can imagine."
Her powerful voice gave them the feeling of a superior and if they could bring someone they knew to compare with her, that person would be Dikke.
"Listen up, children."
"You can choose to forget what you've seen from the beginning, use the report you were given and come home safely right now."
"Or choose to listen to this old lady's words and join this mess."
The old lady clasped her hands and put them on her lap.
"If you choose the second option, then I shall give you all the support that I have been preparing all the time."
Mozzoni's time was running out, while the bet still wasn't feasible on her side. She knew that the only opportunity to turn the tables in Sicily now was the group of those young arcanists right here. Though she gave them two options, the truth was that there was only one option left for them.
She must win this bet, regardless of whatever it would cost her afterwards.