Assassin's Creed fandom. AU. Inspired by Showtime's 'The Tudors' series.
Originally posted on DeviantArt, under the name MewMewShia.
Warning: This adventure contains boy-on-boy love. If you're even slightly against boy-on-boy love, for ANY reason, you're free to leave. Remember: you are in control of your eyes. I have NOT hypnotized you.
Totally Inaccurate Italian:
Vieni presto: Come quickly
Ascoltare questo: Listen to this
Featured artwork belongs to DarkQueenBahamut. It was given to me as a commission, to aid me in my attempts to uplift a friend's spirits.
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Love was a simple but strange thing.
On some days, it lifted him high into the air. In his calm, sunlit shop, he imagined himself flying amongst the birds. He never thought he could get any higher, but with every thought of love's source, happiness rose beyond the clouds. The world was little more than a speck as he worked, organizing books on rapture's bright wings.
On other days, though, it dragged him into darkness. Whenever he was separated from sunshine, the mere thought of beloved light broke his heart. He respected the duties his sunshine had to fulfill, but that didn't make separation any easier. Even as he worked with the adoring public, Leonardo found it excruciatingly difficult to operate without Ezio Auditore. Shelves of books suffered, orders were mixed up, and he forgot pages of unwritten stories.
Living without Federico's smile was difficult enough.
Leonardo da Vinci was the owner of a magnificent bookshop. He lived betwixt pages and pages of stories, songs and rhymes. Many of those books he wrote himself, but he had traveled near and far. Many of his books came from his travels, and from new friends. He instilled his heart and spirit into each and every one, loving them as a mother would love her children. He spent his days writing, drawing, infusing the pages of his life with magic only he could shower onto the world. Whenever he wasn't messing about with pens and paper, he was found on Firenze's streets. Delivering books to those that loved him, and cherished his art.
Lives were changed by the books he gave. And his life was changed by three brilliant souls.
Giovanni Auditore and his sons were beloved friends. So many of Firenze's children loved him, but the three Auditores were the strongest sources of light. They were his friends, mentors and torches, guiding him through darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. The trio's leader filled Firenze with a benevolent king's spirit, and his sons were equally magical. Federico's heart put the sun to shame, and as for Ezio? He was a raging ball of fire. A lightning bolt that couldn't be stopped, even when the moon was high.
Ezio. Ezio, Ezio, Ezio. The name was a song on Leonardo's lips, pure and miraculous. The fireball was the first Auditore he met, in Firenze's markets. Vandals bullied him as they did on a regular basis, but on a fateful day, Giovanni's thunderbolt rescued him. He made sure Leonardo returned to his bookshop safely, but the day didn't end there. True to form, the rambunctious wildfire fell in love with the bookkeeper's shop. Ezio was instantly fascinated by every book, every painting on Leonardo's walls. He loved the vivid reconstruction of waterfalls and starry skies.
Love was a simple but strange thing. Whenever Ezio was near, Leonardo couldn't have been any lighter. The bookkeeper was happy and warm, filled with the warmth of birdsong. He loved taking Ezio through his shop, which he had made with everlasting love-and soon, the two of them fell in love with each other. In no more than a few heartbeats, they realized they had been made for each other.
But then, darkness struck. Leonardo's world changed.
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Scalding hot water boiled beneath him.
So many tears had fallen, but the men were hellbent on wrenching him apart. He received no mercy, lowered closer to Hell's vicious waters.
"This is your last chance, Leonardo! Tell us and we'll spare you!"
He had already been beaten beyond comprehension. Torn, battered and bloodied, a weeping Leonardo clamped a seal on sacred words. The water beneath him seemed to laugh uproariously, welcoming him into its fiery hot abyss. "Reveal to us your secrets," one of his captors urged, while his comrades snickered.
"Tell us everything, and we'll release you! Be reasonable, Leonardo!"
But Leonardo said nothing. And he was drawn closer to the Devil's waters, sobbing. Blue eyes filled with leagues of pain, he submitted-
Then awakened, secure and lonely in his own bed.
Like a child barely emerging from the womb, he drew breath. Air was shoved into aching, burning lungs in desperate attempts to reclaim reality. But when he regained his grasp on the truth, pangs struck him as viciously as cold steel. He might have been safe, but he was alone. The sun was still asleep, the moon was on its way out...the world was still, filled with deafening silence. Accepting its maddening disquiet with tremendous reluctance, a tearful bookkeeper tossed himself out of bed. Sleep was as distant as the moon, so he decided to get some work done.
Getting out of bed was nearly impossible, though. He felt unbearably heavy, dragging each of his limbs out of slumber. Trying to organize one of his many shelves wasn't easy, either. So much of his work had to be re-arranged, because he was such a clumsy oaf, but...his attempts at fixing any problem were half-hearted.
He paid for his clumsiness with a mountain of books, which fell from the sky.
Sniffing, the blue-eyed writer fell to his knees. Books held a silent vigil over him as he wept, shivering from head to toe. Ezio's gentle hands soon clamped around his waist, but-
Leonardo da Vinci whirled around, reacting as if a demon had come to boil him.
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The nightmares didn't end there.
Leonardo's nights were increasingly painful, and whenever Ezio caught wind of them, he did everything in his power to comfort the writer. The Auditore's love and compassion soothed the feather's soul-but only for a short while. Giovanni's fireball became his assistant, on his father's behalf, but not even that could keep Leonardo safe. There were great, phenomenal secrets within his shop, and he was afraid the darkness would sweep them all away.
Several weeks down the road, darkness drew him and his bookshop into a fierce embrace.
Home 
Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:09 pm
