Chapter Text
It was a serene afternoon that the representation of the Teutonic Order was enjoying. He had briefly ran away from his duties as an honorary member of the order to take a break and enjoy nature at its fullest. He might be a stubborn boy, but his soul still carved for the calmness the soft breeze of the lands around. This time committed to find the most beautiful place he could ever lay himself. Going further east would only attract the strong winds from the slavic nations, which was not the place he looked for, so he headed southern-west. As long as the climate started developing a strong fragrance of sun, and it's skies reached a bluer blue than the one violets could ever yearn of having, He noticed he was not in his territory anymore. The lost boy started thinking about the places he had to cross to arrive at such ecosystem. first of all, he recalled seeing the tallest mountains he could ever cross. they settled a type of wall that divided both places. Fortunately, he was not any knight; he was the representation of the order itself, so crossing such obstacle was as easy as tormenting the Duchy of Poland. Hehe, pagans... He thought dreamingly.
Now that he was in this unexplored land, the knight decided to find the perfect spot between the vivid lime green grass. He could feel the long and longevous strands of grass confort his not-so heavy armor. It was good to have a rest after walking for so long... the knight thought, as he pulled one of the flowers that were sharing soil with such comfortable grass. He slowly blew its petals, making a wish... He hoped god would listen to his yearns, trough the remains of the flower that were floating in the fresh air. The stick that remained was kept as a reminder of such action. Making himself welcomed, he slowly closed his eyes to the rays of the perfect sunlight. They were rather satisfying to have around his face...
...
A hand rested on the knight's chest. It had a soft texture, one that he would describe as almost perfect. The knight woke up to two honey-colored eyes that pierced his soul with sweetness. He didn't knew who this angel was, but clearly they were trying to check on him. She wore a laced white dress, one that looked like those described to be bounded to celestial creatures like angel's or cherubs, but judging from looks, she might as well be something even superior. Maybe she came to bring him to heaven out of all the rest he was having... Oh, he might've just committed sloth!!! The knight panicked internally, questioning what to do to not seem like such an undeserving sinner. The angelic-looking kid slightly giggled at his reaction. He was basically trembling between the strands of grass, so it was no surprise it looked funny. The knight melted in happiness upon seeing such smile come up from the angel that would pick him up. He felt a warm sensation cover his cheeks. Was it that he was falling in love? He shouldn't!!! Not as a knight... He covered his face to hide the redness coming from him, unfortunately the gesture was way too elaborate to be hidden from the angel's attention. She laughed even more at seeing the knight in such way, as she offered a hand to help. The texture of the hand was even more sophisticate than the way it felt on the knight's chest. He slowly stood up, as he stared at the eyes that have been captivating him from the moment he even dared to open his.
"Thou seem lost, do thou need any help finding home?" The angel-like individual said, hoping for the other boy to respond.
"Y-yes, I am." The knights blush became unbearably noticeable...
The knight was not only lost, he was stray into the kind being’s beauty. He nervously stood up, hoping he wouldn’t fall out of the nervous chills he felt. His companion smiled warmly after seeing the knight in such commotion; such smile that drove the knight crazy, as he admired her lips. They were comparable to the petals of a rose, whom never learned what rotting away meant. He remained in silence. Words couldn’t come out of his mouth, yet he wanted to speak out loud about his encounter.
“I…”
“Wait, are thou part of the Teutonic Order?”
“Y-yes”
“What could a knight from such lands, like you, be doing on these catholic territories? Unless your destiny are the Holy lands, where the one blessed by god habits, I wouldn’t understand why a knight from your class would be here.”
Words couldn’t come out of the knight’s mouth. He was convinced that the one who was asking him about his motivations was an angel sent by god himself. He couldn’t respond to the question directly, so he nodded to set his status clear. As soon as he finished, he was able to word his answer .
“I… c-came to such beautiful lands to find rest. I didn’t imagine I would come across an angel sent by our all forgiving god.”
“Angel?”
“Please, don’t punish my vagabond soul for yearning for a break. I might’ve committed sloth, but I have remained serving to thy cause. I plead for the pagan blood I have spilled…”
The knight kneeled towards his angelic companion. He felt his heart was about to tear apart, which blood would form part of the lands that were not for him to explore. He felt the softness of a hand placing itself on the upper part of his head. It slightly moved around the hair strands, making its way on the silver colored surface.
“I am not an angel… Your theory is not true. I come from the floating lands of Venice.”
The knight looked up at the Venetian. This couldn’t be right… This, magnificent over all, girl couldn’t just be his sister, carved by the blessed hands of the almighty… Yet, if she were of course she would belong to such peaceful lands, with beauty adjacent to hers.
(For context, Catholics call anyone in general their brothers, hence their believe of all coming from the same god.)
“B-but such appearance… It could only belong to an angel from heaven itself. It could deceive anyone…”
“What do thou imply by appearance?”
“Thy beautiful face, of course”
The knight started sweating out of his poor selection of words. Was he just becoming stupider? Possibly… he stood up, facing the one whom hairs blew slowly with the breeze. His eyes started filling with sour tears. If she wasn’t an heavenly appearance… then he wasn’t allowed to talk to her. He knew that if the rest of the order saw the boy who represents their community talk and admire a girl, whom he barely knew, he could be even brought up to the inquisition… not again…
The Venetian girl wiped the knights tears, as a slight pigment came from her cheeks. It was very subtle but the knight was able to notice it, even if his eyes were full of tears. How beautiful, he thought. But it shouldn’t be; he shouldn’t be driven by the wishes of his heart, yet he already did. He did ran away after all. He loved how concerned the girl looked for him. It made him feel the love he wished for from the moment he was promised god’s gaze.
“Are thou feeling alright?”
The girl looked at the knight with curiosity, yet a spark of concern could also be recognized. The knight took a minute or two to decide what he could respond with. Being direct about his punishment could possibly be what the average knight should do, but the inner conflict he was having with himself impulsed him to act tough. Besides, his desire of being with the girl with the honey eyes grew stronger by the minutes that passed by.
“Y-yes. It’s really nothing thyself should worry about. It’s just… no one has ever been this kind to me lately.”
“Ahh, thou know what they say, kindness is the medicine of the heart.”
“A-ahh yes”
The girl’s eyes sparkled. Those lights enlightened the knights soul with great warmth. He was definitely sinning at the moment… But, why did it felt so good? Shouldn’t he feel embarrassed about idolizing someone in such way? He wanted others to feel that way towards him; be seen like someone to be relied on.
“My name is Feliciano. What is thy?”
“O-oh it’s…”
The knight recalled his name being Gilbert. He was baptized by the Catholic Church itself some weeks after the Teutonic Order was founded. He remembers feeling the priest hands touch his head with holy water. He was a pure baby birthed from the movement itself, yet nowadays that status was obsolete as he became more attached to sinning. In the past he has had his own tantrums over multiple things related to the word of the all forgiving one, so he was brought to the inquisition to endure a punishment. The church slowly noticed that Gilbert could not directly die, and since they have noticed this patterns coming from other infants from other lands, they assumed he was simply blessed, therefore the church would only torture him until his body collapsed.
“Im Gilbert, I hope we can be friends!!!”
The knight smiled at Feliciano, oh wait… Feliciano? Last time he took Latin classes, which is the language that Italian comes from, he remembered such words meant happiness. How fitting considering that she made him feel very happy. But… it is worded on a way that implies it’s a masculine name… Was it that who he was falling in love with had the same gender as he did? He needed to find out.
“So, Feliciano.”
“Sì?”
“Are thou a boy?”
“Ahh, yes I am a male”
Gilbert gasped. This… He… WHAT!? He looks exactly like a female… He thought as he placed his hand in his mouth. How could this be possible? Yet, it was oddly convenient. If Feliciano is a boy that means that he can talk to him without getting in trouble around the order. That was good, right?
“Ahh, I confused thou for a female. This is truly embarrassing…”
“Oh, but I were to be a woman, why would I be talking to thee?”
The knights cheeks turned rosy red again; a red that was contrasting his snowy white skin. He already confused the individual’s identity two times, that would definitely leave a bad impression from him. He started to overthink about Feliciano’s thoughts. Maybe she found that funny from him. SHE? This was starting to confuse Gilbert a lot. Upon seeing such reaction from Gilbert, Feliciano giggled a little. It was very funny to him how he would change expression when he seemed nervous. He has noticed that Gilbert has always been nervous when talking to him, but that might’ve been because he thought he was a female. It is actually a common mistake that people make when first meeting him. He is already used to the perks that womankind may have socially, thus they do get less pressured than males when it comes to masculinity. He actually quite loved how expressive Gilbert was with his thoughts, it made him feel like he was reading his mind at some points of the conversation, so Feliciano laughed.
“Hehehehe, do thou get that flustered when committing mistakes? It’s quite nice. It reminds me of the redness that comes from the peaches when they reach it’s point. I like to illustrate them a lot.”
“Was that a compliment from from thee?”
“Thou can say it that way!!! Hehehe.”
The wind flew around Gilbert silver hairs… The boy, whose eyes resemble the sweetness of honey… He, himself just said that he found something about him nice. The knight felt his heart roar like a beast… Was it… Could it be true love that he was experiencing? The way such warm laugh could make him feel so special, made Gilbert question himself. He stood there, unable to do anything else but admiring the Venetian’s appearance. It was a aching feeling that made him want and have the will to stay with him, in that afternoon with him, together. Soon enough, Feliciano brought some flowers he retrieved from the lands he belonged. They were an intense tone of red, with no other color that could seem accentuated into them. He placed one of them in Gilbert’s ear, making its color contrast with his hair.
“Oh I was right. Those flowers do look like your eyes Gilbert!!! I’ve always thought that color is very pretty for a flower.”
“A… flower…”
The knight took one of the petals from the passionate red-toned flower that was just placed on his hairs. It was indeed a very nice accentuation, yet were his eyes even pretty for resembling it? The last time someone ever commented about his eyes, they almost slapped him for “being cursed”. The fact that the representative of such order like the Teutonic is albino, has always brought certain attention from people that believe that such attributes are a form of curse. He has gotten tired of such comments, as he believes his appearance should not matter. But, this time he got complimented over something everyone despised. Could it be that Feliciano feels the same heart ache when talking to him?, Or he could possibly just not be catholic at all? He had no idea.
“They are very common in Venice. It is said that they bring good luck and prosperity, and so I wish for thee.”
“Feliciano… are thou certain thee are catholic?”
“Why is it that you ask?”
“Well… complimenting my eyes is surely something no one else has done. They are called rather demonic.”
Feliciano’s eyes sparkled with tears. He could not believe someone would say such hurtful thing about such unique eyes. He has always appreciated the odd aspects of life, wether if it comes from the irregularity of a fruit when drawing, or an unusual color of iris. Illustrating such is his favorite thing. He really wished he could carry a paper and some brushes just to draw Gilbert’s face. Gilbert is… he looked really different from the people of Venice, and he loved that. Feliciano seemed amazed by his different characteristics that would make special. Making him very handsome if you asked him.
“Really, that seems horrible. Who would even dare to say such unpleasant things? Gilbert, just take in consideration that I do not believe whatever those people do. I think they look like precious ruby’s to me.”
Feliciano’s tanned face slightly resembled a pink blush when he finished speaking. Their hands touched Gilbert’s, as he sat on the grass. Gilbert was already seating, yet such contact made him feel even warmer inside.
“I really wish they would see it that way, yet they seem to care more about my appearance rather than actions. I do understand I may sin constantly, considering I just ran away from the order to take a rest, but… I feel very misunderstood.”
“I am really sorry to hear that… I-I believe they should not treat thee in such matters. Maybe; maybe we could go somewhere else! The lands where I came from, Venice.”
“Venice?”
“Yes. It is not far from here!!! I bet thou would find it very amusing. It has opaline skies, where you can smell the breeze of sun. It’s full of trade and movement, making everyone whom settles feel welcomed, and it’s just beautiful by itself.”
The boy with the mellisonant voice just offered the poor knight a tour to his homeland. Gilbert found it rather rude to decline, so he accepted. Feliciano took his hand and started guiding him towards the path of the city of trades. Both of them ran through the valleys of grass, fighting with the wind itself to arrive. Soon enough the place would slowly seem recognizable. There was this strange feeling of nidification that he couldn’t quite figure. Other than the fact that the ineluctable boy had been smiling at him the entire trip with a similar warmth that the climate of the region had, he felt like the city somehow resonated with Feliciano. It was as he somehow was the city. He wouldn’t figure out why until he arrived.