paradisalogs | Presents

Entry tags:

giovanni auditore

Presents

Who: Giovanni Auditore - OPEN
What: Christmas in June events
When: Run into him anytime
Where: Outside the castle
Rating: I doubt anything that requires a warning will happen

Presents under a tree.

As he neared the Castle this is what had stopped him in his tracks and brought him off the cleared pathway back into the snow. It was a custom to give presents to those you cared about but these... they were just wrapped packages with elegant bows. They held no names. Like most things of the castle they held no substance.

It was an act of remembrance, to open a few of the packages and set something down inside each of them. A few coins for Federico, a silk handkerchief for Claudia, feathers for Petruccio... and surprisingly nothing for Maria. The woman he loved but could no longer remember. He held the fourth box thinking there should be another, deciding it should be Ezio, and then dismissing it with a frown. Ezio was not the name that eluded him. There was some one else?

Potentially dark thoughts broke the instant the horse's nose bumped into his shoulder. The animal was on his own and unequipped. A dark mahogany colored stallion with coal black hair and a single white cap on a back hind leg. More striking even than the animal was the bright red bow tied around his neck. Curious.

Giovanni placed the package down and stood to pet the animal's muzzle surprised to find the tag hanging from the bow held his name.

"Now why would you be wearing this...?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The birthday of the prophet Isa was not such a grand occasion to the Muslims. Even the Christians of Europe simply held mass--a solemn affair--and banned rowdy carolers. Altaïr gave neither faith nor their resulting wars credence, but he did find out from passerby what this unusually jolly holiday was supposed to be. He didn't see how snow figured into this, and at this time of year, but stranger things had happened in this place.

So it was with a sketchy understanding of traditions, both classic and modern, that he observed the decorations as he went for a walk in the snow. Thinking of the winters in Masyaf, he had the sense to bring a cloak, taken from "his" armoire in "his" room... He still didn't sleep there. He hadn't since he'd arrived, stealing the occasional rooftop instead. Impossible now, in this weather.

"I thought the point was to receive something when opening a present?"

He didn't give the horse a thought, thinking it must be the castle's, or a nearby owner's, or even Giovanni's.

Altair? The mentore was acknowledged with a quick nod of his head, words coming only after he had a moment to think of them. How does one really explain the kind of loss and hope those particular packages now held.

"Usually so, but in this case it seemed more appropriate to fill them."

The horse was backed gently away, giving the pair the room to have a conversation without the stallion between them. Though he did toss his head once, rather unhappy to find himself moved to the side.

"The season is one for remembrance as much as anything else. For me it brings to mind the family I left behind when I was brought here."

The family he might never seen again. Killed by Borgia's hand and his own lack of foresight...

"One for each of my children, save for Ezio. Since he is here I can still show him how important he is."

The snow was bright but his eyes sought it out anyway. A glance to the ground and a chance to reach out to quiet the animal standing next to him in order to collect his thoughts.

"Have you had any children yet?"

Giovanni was commandeering the decorations' gift wrap for his own purposes? Well... alright then... But then it seemed there was a deeper purpose, as he explained further. Altaïr remained silent, even as Giovanni took a sudden and intense interest in the blinding snow.

"No, but I will. It is our way."

He hadn't thought much beyond that. His own parents had not been close to him—also a tradition. Lack of affection and their early deaths left little room for dreaming of ways he could be a doting father. He found himself frowning at the snow, too.

"Tell me, does the Brotherhood... Are Assassins close to their children, in your time?"

"Are you not?"

The sentiment behind the question was as foreign to Giovanni as doubtless his maudlin familial reminiscing was to Altair. The ideal that Assassins should be kept from forming close ties to family had been thrown out ages ago and with the Italian Assassins most especially.

"Of course we are close. Family is the most important thing of all. It binds you together and makes you stronger."

On most occasions. Here in Paradisa though... Giovanni's shoulders sagged ever so slightly.

"I do feel lost without them."

Altaïr continued to stare at the snow. His voice hardened.

"I was taught by my Mentor that these emotions made us weak. Yet it was he who betrayed us, he who was weak. Al Mualim was a Templar, but his was the only guidance I had."

He sighed. If this was a season of remembrance, he did not like it at all.

"Would that I had listened more closely to the Rafiq in Acre. These feelings are what keep us human. Had parents been allowed to love their children, perhaps I would have grown up a different man, not subject to the faults in my training. Perhaps I would not have sought Al Mualim's approval so eagerly."

And perhaps Malik would still have his arm and his brother.

"You'll do well to keep those ties. All the more reason to do what we do."

Would that he could. What would he give to be able to see them all again? To hug them and apologize for his own failings...

"You have in your power the ability to change the way the Order is run. Learn from the mistakes you have made and build upon them. I doubt our Italian Assassin Brotherhood would be as strong as it is without the work you did with it in your time."

"I have learned much, it is true." He'd come a long way from the arrogant man in Solomon's Temple.

It was still a strange thing, to be talked about as though he were of the past. His present was so immediate, so pressing, something that urged him to try escaping, even while he knew of no discernible way to do so.

"Perhaps it is due to the time I am from, but I feel there is so much left to be done. And if Maria is right, I am to face Templars in Cyprus soon..."

"There is always more to be done."

It did seem a never ending cycle and there were always more Templars around too, weren't there? It was really only here where that seemed to not be the case but in Paradisa there was a new threat, the castle and all it was capable of.

"We will just have to do what we can and leave the rest to those who come after us."

That was all he could do at any rate. His time was over, it was up to Ezio and Claudia to see the family line continue and maintain the brotherhood in his stead.

Maria hadn't spoken to Giovanni since the madness with the spirals. To be honest, she preferred to forget the whole thing. She remembered his face, though. She might not have stopped just because she recognized him, but when she came round the path and saw him patting a beautiful stallion, it was reason enough to halt.

"That's a beautiful beast," she said, drawing closer. "Yours, or does it belong to the castle itself?"

"The castle," His words were uncertain and he paused in speaking them as the bow and the name written on the tag were considered. "I think."

He recognized her too. How long had they talked over the journals about those damn spirals? In that time had they even exchanged names or had they both been so struck dumb by spirals that had gone unsaid?

"The ribbon holds my name but I do not know where he might have come from. Do you think it could be something from the castle?"

"It could. Goodness knows you can get just about anything else from it," she said. "Though I take it you didn't wish for him."

Once she came within arm's reach, she patted the horse's nose. It had a shiny coat and bright eyes; wherever it came from, it had been well taken care of.

"'Giovanni'," she read, looking at the nametag. "It's good to know your name. I'm Maria."

"I do not recall thinking it, no. My mind was on," the packages behind him were given his final regards, "something else entirely."

The animal nickered lightly, enjoying the attention of her touch and pushing his nose closer to her hands to make certain the attention continued, but Giovanni didn't move. He was frozen in place by that name. Maria? Why did hearing that name bring such a great feeling of loss? It was as if he was suddenly in free fall down a darkened pit where there was no end. No light, no air, there was only nothingness.
Could it be...
Was that the name missing from the packages?

"I..."

Even though his legs were still steady beneath him, all sense of awareness dissolved and he reached out to the horse hoping to steady himself to prevent the fall he feared might be coming.

Maria laughed lightly, charmed by the animal. It had been a long time since she could call any particular horse her own, but she could tell that Giovanni would be lucky to have this one.

Glancing over at him, she quickly forgot about the horse's demeanor. "Are you all right?" she asked, alarmed by the sudden pallor of his face. She reached out to touch his arm and steady him. "Are you ill?"

He nodded too quickly, the action betraying how false that was by it's abruptness. Everyone in Paradisa had a 'loss' forced upon them and Giovanni had been cautious over what his might have been. He had nearly decided it was the separation from his children, what greater loss than to watch those you loved die in such a way, but this was far more insidious...
He couldn't even remember her name?

"Mi dispiace," When he spoke the voice was much weaker than it had been, strained even as he tried to make sense of this all. "Marie you said?"

"Maria," she corrected him, concern evident in her tone. "I didn't think it was such a shocking name."

But it couldn't be anything to do with her, could it? They'd barely even spoken, and done so even less while in their right minds. It didn't make sense to her.

Maria. This he had meant to say but some how the name had become muddled in his thoughts in even that short span of time. He closed his eyes momentarily trying to force the name deep into the recesses of his memory where it would not be lost again.

"Of course, I have to beg your forgiveness."

He squared his shoulders as he settle his eyes on her trying in vain to regain some measure of composure.

"I think that might have been my wife's name as well."

[OOC: There see, it was the Castle making him say her name wrong. Totally wasn't a typo. Nope! Not at all!]

"It's quite all right—"

The expression on Giovanni's face and his next words drew her up short. Her name wasn't terribly uncommon, even if most English daughters were more likely to be called 'Mary,' so that part wasn't surprising. But the rest?

"You think?" she said, brow furrowing in consternation. "How do you not know?"

[ooc: I for reals thought it might actually be the brain trauma from his loss making him mess it up!]

He looked past her, past the horse whose hoof pawed at the ground trying to gain back the attention he had lost, to the distant horizon. How do you not know? That was a fine question. What kind of husband, what kind of man, forgets his wife and the mother of his children?

"I had been standing here trying to remember a name... but, that must be my loss. As payment for living again here I can not remember anything about her. Not even her name."

He really had lost everything. Everything but Ezio.

[OOC: If only I had remained quiet you never would have known!]

At first, Maria could think of anything remotely appropriate to say. She knew memories and abilities could be tampered with as part of these so-called losses, but losing such an important part of one's life was more than a little horrifying. Even if it had been her own spouse, a man she never loved, she wouldn't want to forget those years.

"I'm sorry," she said, for lack of anything more. "That's much too high a price to pay."

"Paying high prices seems to be the reason I am here."

Why did he continue to speak tot he lady, to tell her so much about himself when really they were strangers to one another? Was it really all in the name? It felt right to confide his feelings, even the ones he could not mention to Ezio, to this Maria.

"I died at home, along with my eldest and youngest sons... Perhaps I have been brought here to feed the castle's need for loss."

It was an extraordinarily awkward subject, but Maria didn't feel the need to make her excuses and find a quick exit. Maybe it was because she'd grown too comfortable with the idea, or maybe it was as simple as human kindness.

"If that's true, then this is a twisted place," she said. "You don't deserve that. No one does."

Almost no one.

"No."

Maybe it was a fit punishment to traitors, the family friend who was no true friend at all, but it was not the Assassin way. That was just the desire for revenge talking.

He might have tried to smile but he knew even before the attempt it would have failed. Determination though, this easily came out as a low undercurrent in his words.

"And maybe I can make the castle see the error in that thinking."

He did have little left to loose.

"Thank you for listening. I know it can not have been easy consoling a stranger."

"Think nothing of it."

She shook her head an offered him an awkward, if heartfelt, smile.

"If we couldn't listen to each other, we'd be very alone here, wouldn't we? Perhaps the castle listens...but it doesn't speak back to us."

And she still felt ludicrous even suggesting that much.

"You are most kind."

Gracious as she was being about it all he had placed her in an embarrassing situation. Giovanni courteously bowed at her smile hoping she had not been too disturbed by his lack of composure. Normally he was much more put together... but he hadn't been himself since his arrival.

"Maybe the castle can not speak to us as other people might but it does so through it's spells and tricks? It does seem to know what we are thinking."

He waved to the horse who stared back at the pair as if wondering why they were still talking.

"I was not thinking of a horse this evening but the night before the snow arrived I had thought it would be interesting to take up riding again. Maybe see how far away from the castle one could go."

"That sounds like a fine idea, though I'd advise you bring along supplies in case it's a long distance," she said. "I'd like to know more about the land myself."

She paused then, as something occurred to her. Giovanni...she hadn't known his name, but she had heard it before.

"Giovanni," Maria said. "You wouldn't happen to be Giovanni Auditore, would you?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject