Torre Proibita

Aria's Escapade

Around the time of Elio's 21st birthday, the creatures of the forest would notice another figure in their midst, like a knight on their steed. But instead of a dashing prince on their trusted ride, it was a young woman who was known as Ariana Marenghi, otherwise known as Aria. She and her parents Adriano and Nedda were famous traveling entertainers, and even though she loved performing, she enjoyed taking care of the horses who pulled her family's prop and sleeping carts. Out of all the steeds, her favorite was a Clydesdale that she named "Canio" after a character in her favorite opera, and he was her closest companion. Whenever she wasn't rehearsing or memorizing lines, she would often be seen riding Canio around the area of their chosen venue, sometimes singing or having one-sided conversations as she rode.

Unfortunately, after what must have been a rotten performance, an upset audience member waited until everyone else was gone before setting the prop cart on fire. The sound of worried whinnies alerted Aria and her parents enough to get up, but by the time they got their water supplies ready to douse the fire, half the cart was in flames. Not only that, but other angry audience members were jeering at them and screaming for them to leave, and Aria was so scared that she scrambled into the prop cart to salvage whatever she could. After tossing all the props and costumes to her parents, Aria had just grabbed their personal item bags when she saw some citizens abusing Canio and the other horses, which riled Aria into more action. With a huff, she threw her own bag over her shoulder and rushed to Canio, where she succeeded in pushing everyone away from her family's steeds. Overwhelmed by everything that was happening, Aria put her bag into Canio's saddlebag before undoing his guide rope and fleeing, not even saying goodbye to her parents.

That was only a matter of months ago, and thanks to Aria's bag being filled with everything from food and water to clothes and a simple bedspread, she was able to live on her own just fine. She spent her days riding around the forest before finding a nice place to rest at night, complete with the bedspread as her blanket and her saddlebag as a pillow. All the same, she still felt miserable about being separated from her family, and she started wondering if she should head back to where she last saw them. After having bad dreams about crossing paths with harsh critics, she decided to wait a while longer before making her way back. Wanting to cheer herself up, she started singing songs as she rode around, sometimes being joined by Canio's neighs and whinnies. From silly little ditties sung by her many characters to professional opera arias, she was just passing by a stream in the forest when she heard someone's voice sounding through the trees.

After recognizing the tune as "Libiamo" from Verdi's La Traviata, she waited until the right moment before singing the soprano part, all while following the sound of her unexpected duet partner to find where they were. Once the song was done, Aria was surprised to find a stone tower in the center of the forest, and she looked around it in curiosity. Just as she was noticing the lack of an entrance other than the window, she thought she heard something rustling nearby, so she hid with Canio behind some bushes as Cassio approached the tower. Knowing that he was a powerful wizard, Aria gulped as she peeked out to see what was happening before marveling at his disappearance. After Cassio vanished at the snap of a finger and reappeared inside the tower, Aria listened as well as she could to the conversation happening between the wizard and his ward.

It seemed like Cassio was surprised to hear someone singing with whoever was up there, and since she didn't want to reveal her hiding place, Aria was embarrassed a little as she listened some more. When she heard that the tower's occupant's birthday was that day, she was sad to find out that someone was celebrating alone, so she quietly looked in Canio's saddlebag for something to possibly give as a present. Constantly keeping an eye and ear on the tower's situation, Aria wrote a birthday poem for whoever lived in the tower, who she guessed from the sound of their voice was a male. When she heard Cassio saying goodbye to whoever lived in the tower, Aria gasped and shoved her supplies back into the saddlebag before hiding as quietly as she could, and she watched as Cassio reappeared before running off.

While amazed at how the two of them had slipped under Cassio's radar, Aria poured some water and feed for Canio, keeping him busy while she finished writing her poem. Just as she had finished the poem, she was thinking of how to deliver it to the birthday boy when she heard a soft voice calling from the tower window.

"Whoever that was singing with me, you have the voice of an angel!"