secondchances | return to paradisa

"Sì, sì," he promises. "I won't go far without you."

He starts moving across the surface of the brick, stepping here, leaping there. The first good jump has him rocking on the spot before he takes the jump, momentarily completely in the air before his weight settles on his hands again as he catches the next handhold. His heart skips; it's exhilarating. The wind feels nice this high up, too, buffeting the loose fabric of his sleeves.

He glances back at her to see that she's doing alright.

"Take your time," he tells her, a bit more seriously.

She's not sure if she's gone soft from the help of gadgets, or if she's gained weight, or if she just needs to loosen her limbs, but it's most certainly not like riding a bike. Steph knows better than to look down, at least, and it's by sheer force of will that she gets herself up on the wall. Ezio lays out the route, but she's slower and not as willing to fling herself along the stone just yet.

"I'm going on a diet after this," she mutters.

He moves swift along the path; it's a short one, given how many rooms are on each floor, but it still feels like quite a ways. He doesn't quite catch what she says, but he can tell she's not having a good time.

"Steady now," he calls to her.

The only trouble from this side is that the window is closed, and it's tricky to try and pull it open without a handle on this side. There's also not much ledge to stand on if he pulls himself up, and getting it open while hanging might be even trickier. Ezio sighs, glancing back at Steph to see how she's doing, and then he pulls himself up enough to cram his hidden blade into the gap and wedge it open.

Thank God it isn't locked.

Going down is easier than going up, but she's already decided she'll be taking the stairs. She's behind enough to not need to pause when Ezio struggles with the window. The climb is still less anxiety-inducing than whatever might be in the room.

Either way, she has a feeling they're not going to have much in the way of answers. When did they ever, here?

Grunting, she follows Ezio to the window and holds out a hand to be helped in. No shame in that.

Ezio is up and through the window in no time, and he takes her hand the moment she reaches for him, locking it around her wrist so she can lock around his. He braces his other hand around the window and tugs. She'll have first sight through the window -- he's too busy looking at her.

"Well done, dolcezza," he murmurs. "Not so bad, hmm?"

At least he's still able to haul her up with ease. She grabs onto him to steady herself once she's in the room, about to reply, when she chokes on the words and instead grabs his arm in surprise rather in support.

"Ohmygod."

The first thing she sees, right on the bed against the wall, is what is clearly a human skeleton. She was worried about corpses of all manner, but she wasn't entirely prepared for a pile of bones laid out as someone maybe taking a nap on top of the duvet.

"Oh, no..."

She hopes it's no one they know. Knew. Please, convenient memory gaps, stay strong.

"Oh, crap. This is exactly the sort of creepy I was worried about." Sorta. Letting go of Ezio, she ventures forward to see if there's any faded signs of violence. Which leads her to another thought.

"So... it's probably good neither of us took tumble. I'm taking this to mean we don't come back anymore."

Ezio twists to look over his shoulder, and he leans back against the window frame for balance so he can gather Stephanie closer to him, at least until she pulls away again. That is a body, and it's regretfully not the first he's seen in a state like this -- but it is strange to see it so undisturbed, laid out peacefully. If it weren't for the bed being soaked in long-dried fluids, so red they look nearly black, he might have thought it deliberate, but he knows. The soft tissues are long gone, and the bones fall away from each other, just far enough to look distorted.

He shakes his head. Her point about Paradisa's old immortality settles heavy on him, too, but such bitterness is part of life.

"That is likely safe to assume," he remarks. "Are you alright?"

Skulls are probably her least favorite aesthetic, and she looks a little green around the gills, but she manages a nod.

"Yeah." Not her first body, but her first in this state. "Do you think... all the rooms...?"

"Unless a whole castle of people chose to lay down and die quietly in their beds, not likely," he says, gently.

Ezio gets up from the windowsill and comes over to looks. Not his first skeleton, not even his first like this, but it's the bedding that truly bothers him. If a body is left somewhere to rot, the weather washes the mess away. God takes the soul, and the earth takes the body.

"Bad luck, it would seem."

He goes to unlock the door.

"I hope you're right."

She lingers, staring at the bones. It's impossible to tell what happened here, other than time. A good amount of time, which is just confirming the state of this world.

Snapping herself out of it, she forces herself to go to the door, to breathe air that is slightly less stale.

"I'm umm... pretty confident we've been gone for a long time, and a lot's changed. And not for the better. I don't know if we should stay in the castle, Ezio."

But she's also not sure what they'll find in the city.

When she joins him at the door, he brings a palm down her back, guiding her out it. He worries about her sometimes. He's not completely sure why, in that moment, but it feels right to be -- he feels partially responsible for her upset with death, too, and he's not sure if that's right. She's a grown woman, but she's still a little tender, isn't she? Or maybe he's hardened. A little desensitized, like his hand has been held over a flame for a bit too long.

It's better to have too much empathy than too little, he thinks.

"We'll see what else we can find. At the very least, we'll strip this place of any necessary supplies."

She wonders if maybe they wasted away here too, somehow. What if they were the last brought back? All the hundreds of possibilities and knowing they're likely not going to find an answer is just as upsetting as the skeleton of someone whose name isn't even on their door.

It's all something she thinks about giving voice to, even to the extent of opening her mouth, but then she thinks better of it. Maybe later.

"I'm not too keen on seeing what's behind the rest of the locked doors. Should we try the kitchen or ballroom?"

He nods.

"The kitchen might be wise," he said. "If there's no food here, we have no business living here."

"Thankfully, I think my appetite is gonna be MIA for a while." Even before the skeleton and its stained bed, eating was going to be late, at best.

Taking his hand, she starts to lead them to the stairs.

"I have a feeling we're going to be disappointed. You?"

He closes his fingers around hers in turn.

"I am not particularly hopeful," he says. "I believe we will be bedding down in the city tonight... so I suppose we must find some coin, as well."

"... assuming anyone is there."

She's hoping no skeletons, at least. She could stomach an empty city to some degrees, but one littered with bones? Not so much.

He's thinking. If the people aren't here or they're all dead, and there aren't stores of things to eat, they will very quickly run into issues feeding themselves. Are there animals to hunt? Would they be able to grow anything before they would starve?

He let out a long breath.

"We'd best pray they are, Stephanie," he replies, a little sternly. "Or else time will be running short."

"Even if there aren't people, there has to be... something. Let me tell you, after all the crap we've both been through, going out because we starved to death is just too freakin' stupid. I refuse."

She's trying not to wonder if that's not what exactly happened to their upstairs neighbor.

Ezio doesn't relish starving. He thinks, idly, that he'd end it on his own terms first. He has no recollection of the world beyond Paradisa -- he thinks the could starve just trying to march away, but he supposes, too, that things were always different out there.

He levels her with a serious look.

"I will not let you starve. I promise that."

Stephanie gives him yet another variation of a worried look.

"Hey. I'm not going to agree to eat you if you go first," he says, half joking. And then a little more seriously: "And we're not taking a long walk off a short rooftop, either."

He pulls her right to a stop.

"Under no circumstances will any of that happen," he says, firmly. There is no joking there at all. "I am telling you that I will not allow you to come to harm."

He's being serious. It's touching, and she stops to put her hands on his arms.

"We're partners. We're going to look out for eachother, okay? You know I trust you. Whatever's going on, that for sure hasn't changed."

He nods. They're partners; they've been through a lot together, things neither of them would have ever imagined, and no matter how long it has or hasn't been, that means something. He presses a swift kiss to her temple.

"We look out for each other," he agrees. "I am certain we will see this through together."

"Of course. We don't have any other option." She gives him a bright smile, and graces him with a kiss on the cheek in return for the one on her temple. Go team. "I'm Batgirl and you're an Assassin." Big A.

"We were always good as long as we stuck together."

As far as she recalls, anyway.

Despite the gravity of the moment, he chuckles under his breath when she kisses him.

"Yes -– I believe you never wanted for amusement with me in your life, either," he replies. "And I never lacked for good advice."

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