-- round one.

[throngs]

NIGHT ONE. NIGHT TWO. NIGHT THREE.

Comments

CLAUDIA. NIGHT 1. OTA.

[auditor]

[ this should be rome, she thinks. if she has left astor, and all its broken things in that world, this should be rome. and instead, she does not understand the immense buildings of this place. the soft glow of light that isn't fire. all the steel and iron. her pack is too light. the air beside her, beneath her, is not warm enough. her arm does not sting an old pain, and for all loria is miserable...

claudia finds herself wishing for the mountains. the scent of grass burning in the sun, fresh rain and a crispness that follows the cliffs, and the salt of the sea carried in the wind. here, the wind carries something foreign. ale and oil, perhaps, but all the same: disgusting. (her throat feels raw.)

somewhere, glass shatters, and the hall pitches into darkness. she misplaces her foot: something that rolls beneath her and claudia falls to the ground in a hard thud. — hitting her chin and scraping her hands and she tastes copper. she groans, then, rolling onto her back. staring into the pitch. at least her tongue isn't swimming in her throat, she thinks. ]

[s16]

[ Clay enjoys the fox mask. It keeps him hidden. Keeps him secret. ]

[ After being raised from the dead and given a flesh and blood body, staying secret is something of a priority for Clay Kaczmarek. What he's not pleased about is well, the fact he was brought back in the first place. He'd finally kicked the bucket proper and then suddenly he's here, surrounded by demons and idiots. This must be some kind of circle of hell, courtesy of Mr. Alighieri himself. A punishment or a test, Clay doesn't know. ]

[ What he does know is that he's not alone in this building. What he finds is a girl face down on the floor. If he's lucky, she'll be picked off first. Why he lingers over her, why he speaks, voice hollow behind the mask, Clay doesn't know. ]

Stand up.

[auditor]

[ another groan. this would be her luck. of course. (the good assassin alighieri must be torturing her, too.) she doesn't stand. ]

I would like to wallow in peace.

[s16]

Wallow in peace and you die in pain, girl. [ Clay's chuckle is heartless. ]

[auditor]

[ sighing, shifting to push herself to her feet, ] What do you want?

[s16]

[ He knows that voice. That doesn't mean much to someone like Clay, who knows millions of voices, all of them packed into his head, waiting for processing. ] Why aren't you running?

[auditor]

[ another noise, soft. she wants to spit, but the mask... instead, she swallows the taste of copper as she reaches for a wall beside her. truth of the matter, it's too dark to run. ]

Why aren't you?

[ THIS GUY... ]

[s16]

[ because whatever's out there wouldn't bring him back just to kill him again. Clay keeps that to himself. ]

What's your name?

[auditor]

Oh, dio mio. How many questions must you ask?

[s16]

[ And suddenly everything slots into place. Where he knows that voice and how. Jesus. He wasn't the only one brought back from the dead. They had to touch his sister, too. ]

Claudia Auditore.

[auditor]

[ she stills, breath and all. this man might know her name for a hundred reasons. but she is alone, now, and standing in the dark, and god knows the reason for her being here. — for him being here. if she had a dagger... claudia wets her bottom lip. ]

Have we met?

[s16]

No, but we have something in common, Sister. [ Clay notes the nervousness in her voice. it's in his as well. ]

[auditor]

[ but shouldn't she know him, then? is it a trick? — unless he is from astor, too. she hadn't spoken to anne or connor before the coffins had reclaimed them, after all. ]

I'm afraid I do not know your name.

[s16]

You won't. Just call me Clay. [ Clay wishes she would. ] I know your brother, Ezio. I knew your father, your mother. Your other two siblings.

[auditor]

[ that might have comforted her as a girl. and she would have been so quick to trust him. (that girl isn't dead. claudia feels a lurch in her to ask for his help.) but federico and petruccio have rotted in the arno for decades, now. she should know this man. claudia takes a careful step from him. her hand itches for a blade. ]

Clay. Who else do you know?

[s16]

I know the Assassin's, sorella. [ Clay tightens his jaw, thinking of how to convince her, Claudia, his sister. ] We work in the dark to serve the light, or however that goes.

[auditor]

However —? [ her shoulders rise, but she doesn't laugh. ] You know the Templars, too?

[s16]

I would think so, considering they captured and tortured me for a year and a half. [ Clay's voice is dry. Templars. The hands that try to control all. He'd rather be dead again than be grouped with them. ]

[auditor]

[ that might be true, but that doesn't make him an assassin, either. she falls silent, then. takes another step backwards. ]

[s16]

Laa shay'a waqui'n moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. [ Something sacred to them, offered like an olive branch. ]

[auditor]

[ stillness. infiltration, she thinks. but the order's secrets are ancient, and she doesn't believe it. not a single bone in her can trust him. ]

How do you know the Auditore?

[s16]

Do you know of the Apple? [ He knows she doesn't trust him. Shit. ]

[auditor]

[ hesitating, ] Is it here?

[s16]

It's how I know your family. Or at least-- why I know your family. How is just another piece of Eden. [ Or the tech from it. The same thing, in the end. ]

[auditor]

[ silence again. the girl in her trusts him. the assassin in her hears truth. but those things feel wrong, still, and claudia feels an itch beneath her skin. in her hand for a blade. in her shins for her to run. her stomach twists. ]

[s16]

[ He's not going to be able to convince her yet. That Clay knows. He's not an idiot. Instead Clay reaches into his pack and tosses down the rope he'd been gifted upon waking up in front of Claudia. ] Take it, from Brother to Sister.

[auditor]

What is it?

[ can't see shit captain ]

[s16]

[ for fucks sake. ]

It's a rope. Sturdy, long, good for whatever you want it to be for. Take it.

[auditor]

[ fuck sake urself, creep!!! ]

Keep it.

[s16]

I insist, Claudia Auditore. [ Clay stares at her, even if she might not be able to see it through the mask. ]