The Starry Maiden

A Time to Remember

Aquilo POV

Aquilo did not miss how distract Ezio would always get by women. Mainly because it is something he's never been able to relate to Ezio on. So the sudden collision between him and that strange, cloaked woman causing him to lose his train of thought on getting to Leonardo's is just confusing to Aquilo.

But Aquilo has grown accustomed to the way you have to sort of give up the driver's seat when in a memory, or you'll desynch. And that is never fun. More often than not it involves throwing up whatever your last meal was and not wanting to go back to the Animus for at least the rest of the day... But after everything that happened in the studio upstairs...

Everything glitches as he nears desynching from the sheer thought of what happened earlier. He pushes it from his mind.

Woah... Are you alright, bud? You never lose synch like that... Rebecca says over the com-link to Aquilo.

"It's alright." Aquilo assures Rebecca.

If you say so... It looks like you need to continue to Leonardo's place to secure the rest of his things.

"Okay," Aquilo says as Ezio turns to continue down the street and turning to go to Leonardo's workshop where the pair will secure Leonardo's traveling to the Auditore Villa.

According to what Rebecca and Shaun put into the info that Aquilo had briefly skimmed while waiting in the Memory Corridor, Ezio continues after these memories to save Christopher Columbus and then travels to Spain to aid the Assassins there.

Ezio enters Leonardo's workshop and looks around briefly.

"Leonardo?"

"Ah, Ezio? Is that you?" Then none other than Leonardo da Vinci comes from behind a stack of paintings.

"Are these all traveling to the Villa?"

"Ah, yes. Couldn't bear to leave them behind." Leonardo gestures to his works. Both Aquilo and Ezio note how he seems to treat his works as people more than paintings.

"So Leonardo, are you ready to go?"

"Ah, yes... Hmm... About that..."

"Leonardo..." Ezio sighs.

"I have reconnected with a friend and I may have promised to stay until just after the Carnevale."

"Leonardo..." Ezio repeats.

"I just couldn't say no, she is very persuasive."

"She?"

"Ah, yes. I've been drawing her lately. And helping her draw too. Exceptionally talented. Skill is there too, if a little unrefined. Although today she left early... I was hoping you could meet her, but she left very suddenly." Leonardo speaks more eccentrically than Aquilo had first imagined, but after going through the highlights of Ezio's memories the first time, there's no other way Aquilo could picture him now. Although, Aquilo and Ezio both couldn't ever remember hearing about Leonardo having a specific friend who was a woman and an artist of enough talent that Leonardo gave her praise like that. And if there had been Ezio would certainly remember, at least Aquilo thought so.

"I cannot recall you mentioning any lady artist friends around here the last time I saw you. You must have been fast friends indeed."

"I've known her since some years after arriving in Venezia. But, yes, she spotted me drawing then and asked if I would mind if she joined me drawing the city. She is very clever... If a little..."

"A little what?" After a long pause of Leonardo searching for the word Ezio prods.

"Sad, I suppose. She seems to hide it well, but underneath everything she seems sad. Or perhaps empty? And it comes through in her drawings. She often uses charcoal darker than I've ever seen someone use before. Say... I am a little worried about her, having left in such a hurry... Would you mind tracking her down to check on her for me?"