quarantacinque || video

[betrayedblade]

[The video is dark when the device turns on. Giovanni removes his hand a moment later but the device isn't entirely facing him and the picture is skewed at an odd angle. There is the usual rubble of the worse parts of the town in the background.

The brown bundle off to the side moves slightly and it becomes apparent the shape is that of a man hunched over. It's still hard to distinguish much.]

...sed libera nos a malo.

[The figure coughs violently.]

...libera nos a malo. Avrei...

...

Così è stato questo inferno tutto il tempo? [He begins to laugh harshly and then breaks into more coughing...and what can barely be heard to sound like heartbroken sobbing intermixed.]


[[Note: Giovanni has just come back from a canon update. He has just lived through his death. He is weeping for his dead sons who are not dead here but that is besides the point. He is in his normal clothes--aka, not the assassin's robes--and there is a rather nasty red mark around his neck from where the noose hung him that will be seen in some replies.
tl;dr: He's back from a disappearance of his own.]]

[[Translations: ...and deliver us from evil.

...deliver us from evil. I would have...

So was this hell all along?]]

Comments

[video]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

Blood? [Keyword.] Is he all right? ...He should not be coming here if he is injured. Dannazione!

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

Bene. All is well at the moment, I take it?

[It better be or you have some explaining to do. You can't just let things fall apart when he's not around because now it's obvious he won't always be able to be around.]

[video]

[aninsidejob.livejournal.com]

Oh no! No he's not injured. He just... returned back to us covered in blood. [She was a little unnerved by that still. That was quite a bit of blood.] It wasn't his, and I don't know if I'm glad for that yet.

[crystal-eyed.livejournal.com]

Yes. We have some new arrivals, one minor mishap, but everything has been kept together quite well.

[ Except Eald is still trying to get all the blood out of his hair from that weird space he got tossed into. Which is why he's using audio and not video. ]

[video] she is welcome to get in on the action up above whenever you like

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

...I see. [Except of course he can't because what the hell is this place up to now? And with his son no less? Mother--!]

Very well. Thank you, Chloe.

[dreamermoa.livejournal.com]

[ :D??? ]

Oh. Well, that's good....[A little calmer now, since...yeah maybe something WAS wrong and she should make sure he really is alright.] Are you going to Gohl? I could meet you there....

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

Good. We'll discuss more when I get back, later.

[video] Heck yes! I figured I'd give her some time to... try not to fall off buildings

[aninsidejob.livejournal.com]

[She nods.]

I'll see you soon, love. Just...try not to get into too much trouble before I get there.

[crystal-eyed.livejournal.com]

Very well...

...

It's good to see you again, Giovanni.

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is best for now. Come if you have a safe way to travel, but not otherwise. I will always see you at the inventory sooner or later.

[Voice]

[postasskicking.livejournal.com]

... ... ...

[That, makes him concerned. And maybe empathetic in a way he's not likely to admit. Very quiet:]

Someone coming to get you?

[video] Ahaha. That is always a good thing...not falling off buildings...

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

Va bene.

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

...

[He smirks slightly, briefly.]

You as well, giovanne.

[Voice]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

You...

[He recognizes that voice even if it has been a while. Not that he isn't thankful to know you're all right but what the hell are you doing back in his hellhole?]

Yes. Ezio, and Federico... and Chloe.

When did you get back?

[vengefulblades.livejournal.com]

[Ezio stands at his father's side looking him over critically. Where were his assassin's robes? What he wore looked familiar but not in a way that put his mind at ease. Something about his appearance unsettled Ezio, brought back bad memories.]

As much as it pains me to rush you, you know how important it is we get indoors quickly, papa.

[video]

[bossyblade.livejournal.com]

[ A gasp followed by the dropping of the communicator. A woman can be seen out of the corner of the camera's eye. Her lovely face is pale, drawn, utterly terrified and shocked with sadness. ]

F-father?

[ The cruelty of this place...will she keep continuing to see these 'living' ghosts? It is a mark of the Assassin she has become that she forces away her distress, approaching and picking up the device again. ]

Giovanni Auditore da Firenze... is that you mio padre or merely a specter of my memory?

[Voice]

[postasskicking.livejournal.com]

[Mm, well Giovanni's talking at least which is a sign of... something he guesses.]

Couple days ago. Is that what you're doing? Just getting back?

[Either from void-blood-space-craziness or something else, he really doesn't know. Whatever it is, Seifer just keeps his voice quiet and calm. Maybe before he would have picked a fight, but he realizes that's stupid now.]

[video]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

[He can't help but stare at the communicator at the familiar and yet all too unfamiliar sight that meets his eyes there. But he would not--could not--ever forget that beautiful face, nor that lovely voice. His daughter--older, only more lovely than last he had seen her, aged like Ezio--

This place. Could not be described in words that fit it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before replying.]

It is I, cara. I am here... I am...alive.

[Voice]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

[Giovanni notes the change in character but it can wait. It can wait forever as far as he is concerned at the moment.]

Sì. I am just getting back... from home.

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

[Surprisingly, he immediately accepts the offer of help standing and grabs Federico's arm to pull himself up. He is awkward on his feet and sways, reaches out for a nearby wall to lean against. But he stands.]

Yes, I remember well.

We have to wait for Chloe.

[It would give him a chance to find his footing, too.]

[Voice]

[postasskicking.livejournal.com]

[...] Y'know this place ain't that bad always. Ask your family what made them smile lately.

Think I'm interruptin' though, I'll leave you to it.

[video]

[bossyblade.livejournal.com]

[ It is all she can do to keep from running outside, taking to the streets to look for him without caution. But she knows better, she has learned discretion and patience, endured the need for both and become stronger from the experience.

So, while she wishes for nothing more than to find some way to fly into her father's arms, as she did so often as a little girl, Claudia restrains herself. Fingers tightening with a soft creak on the material that the communicator is made of. ]

Padre...is someone coming for you?

[ She asks it calmly and collectedly, only partially successful at forcing away the emotion in her voice. ]

[Voice]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

...Perhaps I will. [And how could he disagree when the other option was...death.]

Not so much, Seifer. It is good to hear from you.

[video]

[betrayedblade.livejournal.com]

[But what kind of father would he be if he could not hear the emotion in his own daughter's voice? He smiles fondly--only a hint of sadness--at her and reaches up to brush the screen with his fingertips.]

Of course. Your brothers are already on their way. They know what they are doing.

I will be there soon, mia cara.

[video]

[bossyblade.livejournal.com]

[ There is a flare of fire in her eyes, a glint of anger - though not directed at him in particular, only at his ignorance of her own abilities.

That is no fault of his - after all, he had not lived too see her age, grow, become what she is now. That thought douses the brief flicker immediately, leaving only a soft sadness on the edges of her hard, dark, beautiful eyes. ]

I will see if they have left already - if not, I will join them. They are not the only ones who know what they are doing, mio Padre. Stare fermo, that the creatures will not find you.