Newly arrived and armed with a fountian pen

[deadlybanker]

Who: Giovanni Auditore deadlybanker - OPEN
What: A new arrival explores the castle
When: Feb 17
Where: In and around the castle
Rating: PG most likely


The crowd roared at the announcement but he didn't hear the taunts they shouted and those who cheered only served as more fuel for his anger. He spat back, denying the charges, crying out for the justice he and his family were never going to see.

Federico... Petruccio...

Sharing this fate for his mistakes...

He met the wide frightened eyes of his youngest. The lad's arms were bound behind his back as his were, a rope around his neck. While his eldest stood on his other side tied in the same manner. How could this be happening?
To lose his life, his family, all because of the actions of a traitor... a man he had once trusted enough to call a friend. Giovanni spun back on his accuser unleashing all of his rage in a fervently delivered speech.

"You are the traitor, Uberto... and one of them! You may take our lives this day, but we will have yours in return, I swear! We will–-"

The ragged vengeful screams gave way like the boards beneath his feet cutting his furious speech short, choking him, as the rope dug deeply into his neck until he could hear nothing, see nothing...

------------------

The soft silk beneath his fingers and flower scented air that filled his lungs was a jarring contrast to that horror. He reached instinctively for his neck clawing for the rope that was no longer there as surprised to find it missing as he was to realize he could breath freely again.

Giovanni sat up on the plush bed taking in his rich new surroundings with an eerie disbelieving calm. The room was lavish, even putting rooms in Palazzo Medici to shame with its needlessly extravagant canopied bed, large paintings on the walls, and gold trimmed moldings. Even the floor, what parts of it were not covered with intricately woven rugs, was inlaid with expensive foreign woods and precious stones. This richness was beyond anything he had seen before, but that being the case... This could not have been a building in Firenze. If it was not one of his patron's homes, not a Medici estate, then it could not have been Lorenzo's return that had saved him. Then who? Just where was he? And where were his sons? Where was that traitor... Uberto?

He slid from the bed, finding his way to the nearby desk on feet made unsteady by the traumatic method of his arrival. Though soon he was walking with ease just as if that event had been nothing more than a terrible nightmare.

The papers on the hardwood desk were gone over as he searched for a name or maybe an address but finding neither Giovanni turned his attention to the fountain pen set laying next to the inkwell. He had been too far away from his weapons in the hidden room of his Villa when the guards had come for him though he supposed even if he had been carrying any they would have been taken from him before his being imprisoned in the Piazza della Signoria. There were no weapons visible in the room, not even a letter opener, but in the skilled hands of an assassin the sharp nib of the fountain pen he clutched might become the method of someone's death.

Armed as he now was he took a deep breath and slipped out into the hall. He would find the answers to the questions he had and take revenge for the wrong done to his family.

Comments

[assassino]

Ezio closed his door just about as fast as he had opened it.

Why seeing the unmistakeable vision of his father down the hall would prompt him to wheel in reverse and shut the door, Ezio didn't know, but that's exactly what he did, heart-rate picking up dramatically. Was it his imagination, or was that really his father? Even after eighteen years, the picture of his father was as vivid in his mind as if it were just yesterday. Ezio was probably less recognizable, some eighteen years older than he was last time he made eye-contact with his father, but some things just don't change.

If the man down the hall really was his father, anyhow. For all Ezio knew, it was a vision and nothing more would come of it.

But fuck, he was probably noticed, the way he snapped the door shut.

"Christ," he dared mutter, to himself alone.

The nameplate on his door would be a dead giveaway, anyhow.

[deadlybanker]

The assassin wheeled around as the door slammed shut with the lamest of defenses, a fountain pen, raised to protect himself just in the off chance some one hostile had slipped out of the room behind him. But the hall remained empty? Curious.

He had been planning to walk further down the hall in this direction but the sign of life turned him back. Each door he came to was passed with renewed scrutiny. Until he reached the one that forced him to paused, even run a hand over the nameplate... Ezio? He had walked right past this room without noticing that before.

Giovanni's hand dropped away from the name plate to the handle of the door and ever so cautiously he moved to open the door.

[assassino]

Ezio watched the door handle turn with a heavy heart. What a rookie mistake, snapping the door shut like that! With his body against the door it wouldn't open, but Ezio wasn't sure that he could deny seeing his father, either.

So he stepped back, letting the door open.

But whether this was his father or not, Ezio had no idea what to say, or how to start. He could only stand there, just past the door's reach, hopelessly dreading the moment yet excited as well. His father had been dead for eighteen years, and Ezio had resigned himself to never seeing his father again –– what could he possibly say?

He just looked as though he were staring into the face of a ghost.

[deadlybanker]

On the other side of the wooden barrier Giovanni frowned, finding the handle easy enough to turn but the door still immovable meant some thing or some one had to be blocking it from the other side. Was this a trap then? He had nearly resolved to use a different means to enter the room when the door suddenly gave way, swinging open as easily as if it had never been blocked at all.

The door was given a final push then sending it on it's way with enough force to hit the wall if there was no door stop on the floor molding to prevent it. After all it might have been a trap... There might be more than one inside and any trying to hide behind the door would find it's sudden arrival a decided inconvenience.

To his surprise though, there was none but the single man standing there in the middle of the room, staring at him with the oddest expression.

His own eyes narrowed as he took in the look of the person before him. He was some how familiar and yet... so different.

"The name on the door..."

He spoke, but the confidence drained from him and the sentence was left hanging in the air unfinished. That man was so familiar! It couldn't be...?

[assassino]

Guilty as charged.

At thirty-four, Ezio had hit a point where he had spent more of his life without his father than with. A few last growth spurts and some bulking up had made him bigger than his skinny seventeen-year-old self, and while he wore his hair the same, his face had become less angular and more weather-beaten, and his jaw broader. He had the start of a beard, even, finely-manicured around the edges thanks to finer shaving tools than their time could provide. He could have been a handsome man, too, if he wasn't wearing an expression like a startled deer.

"Ah," Ezio said, when all other worlds failed him. The moment he heard Giovanni's voice, he knew, even if part of him wanted to dismiss it as an apparition or trick of the Castle's. He didn't know what so say, and as such could only open his mouth as if to say more and then close it again. His hands flexed at his sides, and his eyes settled on Giovanni's shoes rather than his face. Shame overwhelmed any feeling of relief or joy –– how could he look his father in the eyes after failing to save his life? The life of his brothers?

And then, because he couldn't just stand there and say nothing at all, he managed a pathetic:

"It is me, father. Ezio."

His voice has grown deeper.

[deadlybanker]

"Ezio is a boy."

The retort was spoken before the words this man had said were actually considered. It was a knee jerk reaction to reject that which was impossible. Ezio, his Ezio anyway... was just a lad, only just starting to find himself in life. He couldn't have grown this much in the short period of time he had been imprisoned.

Then why had this man made such a claim? Madness? A ploy? His voice when he spoke again was stern. He did not ask for information he was demanding it.

"What is this place? Where have you taken the others?"

While Ezio had grown through his many years lived Giovanni looked, a little disheveled maybe, but largely unchanged. He was even still wearing his red tunic with the elaborately embroidered cuffs just as if he had stepped right through time itself, which in effect he had. His last memories were of that moment, his families execution... or attempted execution. It must have failed if he were here alive and breathing. He was not going to be fooled by any more of Borgia's tricks. He would have his answers and he would have them now!

"Who are you really? Find your voice and speak now!"

Before I kill you.

[assassino]

What a slap in the face. Ezio found himself faltering again, at a loss of how to explain it. How could he prove his own identity when he could barely explain this place around him? Even after two years, it felt so far beyond his own understanding. Timelines and universes and time travel and alternate realities...

But when Giovanni raised his voice, Ezio's adrenaline started pumping, picking him up a little. He fumbled with his thoughts once more and then raised his own voice:

"I am Ezio Auditore!" Ezio replied. And I'm still alive, I'm still here. "I am an Assassin as you, my father, were." Are? He burned with shame just at the thought, but forced himself on: "I know that what you see now may seem like a dream, but I beg you: ask me any question, ask any task of me, and I will prove it to you."

[deadlybanker]

The raise voice brought the immediate fear that some where in this vast building guards might have overheard the shout. That was a mistake on his part, one quickly corrected by closing the door behind him. If any came they would have to take this door down first to get at those inside.

This Ezio was of a dark completion, like his son, and spoke with a sense of passion as if he had been affronted by the denunciation. It was that deep feeling more than the words he spoke that softened his Father's stance and sent his mind searching for a question. Something Ezio would know that no one else...

"My son has a unique gift, tell me what it is."

[assassino]

"Eagle vision," he replied, immediately, almost impulsively. "As you have, as many of our ancestors have."

And if that weren't enough, he continued: "You told me to fetch some papers from the hidden chamber in your office, father, and I took your Assassin's robes and broken blade and I delivered the papers to Uberto."

It almost took courage to say the last part, it all coming out rushed, almost desperate –– whether his father had died wondering why Ezio had failed to deliver the papers, that Ezio had failed them, that had haunted him for decades now.

[unmanned]

James Kidd is slipping out of his own room when he spots the man across the hall, exiting the room next to Auditore's. Strange, given that until now that room had been unoccupied. Must be a new resident. James still feels fairly new himself, even if he's been here for a month. That haze will hopefully fade soon.

"Afternoon," he greets, tipping his head in the direction of the newcomer. "Got yourself placed here, did you?"

[deadlybanker]

Before the incident still so fresh in his mind the friendly welcome would have been met by one of his own but now it was greeted by suspicion. Could anyone be trusted with Borgia pulling the strings? Giovanni closed the door behind him, but left it open just a crack. Should an escape route become necessary this would serve as well as any.

"Placed? What is it that you speak of?"

This was no prison surely, but to be placed here implied a lack of choice. Who had 'placed' him? Not Lorenzo? Borgia would have no reason to...

"Who are you?"

[unmanned]

Kidd's arrival in Paradisa hadn't been met with the most informative of folk (thanks, Ezio), so he figures the least he can do is give this stranger some sort of understanding.

"James Kidd," he replies, walking towards the man but stopping short of him--maybe he left the door open on accident, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed. "The room there you cam out of. It's yours. The castle assigns one to each of us after it brings us here."

[deadlybanker]

His name was on the name plate hanging from the door, this was noticed with a distrustful glance back at the the room he had just left. That marker was the only thing that gave the story he was hearing any kind of credibility.

"The castle assigns us a room, do you not mean the owner of the castle does?"

That was probabally what was meant...

"Where is this place? It is not like any building I recognize."

[unmanned]

"It's magic," he says, knowing full well how absurd it sounds. "There's no owner, no ruler. Just a castle full of everything a man or woman would want and then some. Like some sort of dream."

Dark eyes settle on that metal plate on his door. Auditore? It's with a bit of surprise that James looks at the man's face.

"That name yours? Giovanni Auditore?"

[deadlybanker]

Very absurd... and there is a deep frown that appears at at the explanation. Magic? He might have been gullible to have been so duped by a friend but...

"You can not really expect that to be believed?"

The distance between them had been closed by the other man's movements but the fountain pen, make shift weapon that it was, was still in his hand. It was held off to the side though, feigning the casual attitude this strange conversation seemed to call for.

"Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, just as those you work for know. Where are the others? What have you done with them?"

[unmanned]

Another Auditore. With the way time works in this place, there's a chance this man could be some descendant of Ezio's, but he could also be a father or grandfather. Names get lost in history, mentions of family summarized in brief explanations of murder and betrayal. James is quiet and still as Giovanni questions him. Quick movements might only lead to a quick end, and we can't have none of that.

"Easy, mate. I'm no Templar," he says, nearly spitting the name. Ezio's father was an Assassin, he had been told, and though his name escaped memory right now James was willing to make a guess. There had to be some reasoning behind the people the castle brought in. "All us here in this castle have been brought here without warning, from different times and places. I'll show you its magic, if that's not enough for you."

[deadlybanker]

Templar. This familiar word was immediately seized upon. So Kidd had heard of the Templars! Although he claimed not to be one of their number, a Templar would say that to throw off suspicion. Was this one an ally or was he one of them?

"How can you prove something as intangible as that?"

Meaning the magic however... his allegiance was still also in question.

let's drive home this insanity

[molotov]

Just as Giovanni slips out of his room, so does someone else. Molotov lives across the hall, of course, and has for years, so when her door swings open, it's with purpose, with complete confidence.

And so he comes face-to-face with a tall redhead with an eyepatch and a cigarette. Her leotard is black, the center of her torso is bare past her navel, although she must be headed outside, given her floor-length white fur coat. Four inch heels on red thigh high boots clack on the floor, bringing her height up past six feet.

But, just in case that isn't enough of a spectacle for a man from the past, she also has a baby bear on a leash. Her baby bear's collar is studded. She is taking him for a walk.

Welcome to Paradisa, Auditore Sr.

Her door closed, Molotov catches sight of the newcomer immediately, and snorts. "Finally deciding to fill up this floor, huh?" she says to no one in particular, her Russian accent heavy as ever, then her attention shifts more pointedly toward Giovanni. "Don't be as stupid as some of the ones on the lower floors. We have a good thing going up here."

o.o congratulations... you've managed that very well!

[deadlybanker]

He gaped. It was the height of rudeness really and he chastised himself for it but still he stood there dumbstruck by what he had seen. As an Auditore he should have been ready with a witty remark or a compliment at the very least, but no, today it was gaping as if he had never seen a woman before in his life.

He had certainly never seen one like this! A red headed lady in, what would have been at his time, a shameful lack of dress walking on long splinters instead of proper shoes. He stood back and took in her appearance from head to toe, his eyes of course lingering the longest on... the bear. A soldier he would have been expecting, but this, he was woefully unprepared for this. When he finally found his voice he tried to meet her eyes, not an easy task when there was so much else to look at.

"A good thing signora?"

it's her gift. uniting the historical people by weirding them out.

[molotov]

After three and a half years in the castle, Molotov is used to the gaping, the disorientation, the general confusion by new people. Particularly ones clearly from far in the past, if his outfit was any indication. In fact, she was pleasantly surprised by his quickness to recover. Usually it tended to take people a bit longer.

"Da, we have a floor full of smart, interesting people who do not act like morons every time something happens around here," she clarified, as her bear took a few little steps toward Giovanni and sniffed the air. "I am Molotov Cocktease. My husband and I have been here longer than anyone else on this floor. This is Mishka, don't worry about him. He is tame. Better trained than a dog."

A talent for the ages

[deadlybanker]

That is one big dog. The animal was give a cautious look as it approached, her assurances that it would not attack aside, he would rather make certain of that himself instead of risking losing a leg to the creature.

"What kinds of events tend to happen to cause so much panic, Signora..."

Cocktease? Really? She was such a flamboyant person it was decided this must have been a stage name, something chosen more for her profession than her family line. He settled on the first name then as the last left implications.

"Signora Molotov."

[molotov]

It's not a stage name, but whatever, surely Ezio will clarify these things later on. And if he doesn't, Molotov's husband can! It's fine, really.

"Oh, all sorts of things," she says casually, shrugging and leaning against the wall. "World changes, magic babies, monsters. I woke up from being killed just a few weeks ago... there is a lot that goes on around here. We need people to react calmly to it."

Molotov must be the calmest, since she's talking about it like it doesn't even matter.

[deadlybanker]

Magic babies and monsters were confusing enough but her mentioning having returned from the dead hit remarkably close to home. His jaw set in place before he looked away from her and her pet as if the answers he was looking for might be found further down the hallway... maybe they would be. His son's room was remarkably close to his own.

"If those kinds of event can really happen it is little wonder some might panic. I could not blame them for being afraid."

[molotov]

If Giovanni looks closely, he might notice the puckered scar at her neck, peeking from under the collar of her coat. Scars were all that remained of her encounter with a deadly zombie.

"You get used to it quickly," she says, shrugging again, and tugs her bear back from wandering any closer to their new acquaintance. "I am sorry, I did not catch your name."

[deadlybanker]

Oh right, a name! He was jostled back into the conversation by the simple request and politely turned back to face her, even managing a sheepish yet friendly smile despite the dark thoughts he had been momentarily lost in.

"I am sorry, arriving as I did I seem to have forgotten any manners I might once have possessed."

A bow was offered just as if he were meeting the lady of some grand household.

"Giovanni Auditore."