Warning: My beta abandoned me. So please expect grammar mistakes and dull writing.
Times of my life.
Dawn.
Ludwig woke up one morning to a blinding light. By his side stood a girl with almond eyes and sun kissed skin. She was holding a candle, wax dripping down her hands. "Breakfast is served" she said, and he felt his heart skip a beat. He saw her every day after that.
She was certainly the strangest maid in the household. She came out of nowhere. Too young to work, too beautiful to be a servant. She would diligently sweep the floors, wash the clothes, and serve the meals. But she was too clumsy and she would disappear once a week when the moon was bright in the sky. Someone told him that she lived by the river, alone, waiting for her grandfather and brother to come for her. He hoped they didn't came. He wanted her to stay forever.
As they were the only children in the manor, when they had both finished their tasks, they would sit down a tree. He would pick flowers for her, he wouldn't care for the scratches the thorns left on his skin. She would blush and take the flowers, braid them together in the shape of a crown; for her prince, she would say, because he was so brave.
Morning.
Spellbound to the tune, Ludwig heard Roderich play the piano from his study. Now that his brother was gone, it was his duty to uphold the family name, he was to become a knight. He was a bit mad at Gilbert for running away, but couldn't really blame him now that he lived the life that was meant for his brother. He sighed, he rather watch the maid dance.
They were older now, didn't have so much time to sit down a tree, but they talked. She would take Ludwig's meals to his room when he was too busy studying, and she would stay with him, quiet, sometimes humming a tune Roderich played in the morning; sometimes the books would lie forgotten, and they would dance to that tune.
It was during this period that the grandfather came back for the maid, talking about hunters and venom green eyes. Ludwig's heart clutched in his chest and dropped to his stomach. He smiled and wished her luck on her journey back home. She kissed his cheek and said they'll meet again. Roderich told him that now that the maid was gone, he should start looking for a wife, it was his duty after all. But even after he met thousands of the most beautiful girls, he couldn't forget the maid, he saw her in them and heard her voice over every word the ladies said. They were to meet again. He should go and find her. He needed to come of age first.
His brother came back from the Newfoundland a few years after, he was holding the hand of a blonde. They asked Ludwig to take them in the house, to give them shelter. He gave them a house on the hills. He couldn't risk be seen with someone carrying such a scandalous life. Yet his heart yearned his brother, and spent the weekends together. He got to know Matthew, he was a fine man. They were good alone. Even better when they were together.
Since he couldn't forget about the maid, and now that he was of age, Gilbert told him to go to her, to sweep her off her feet and bring her back to the manor. No one would care she wasn't noble. She was born in the Most Serene Republic. That alone was more valuable than all the dowry in the world.
Noon.
He finally reached her city after many weeks. He wandered for hours looking for a place to stay. No one wanted to host a foreign. Sailors said strange thing were occurring in the night, statues that moved, people missing, cries piercing the frail veil of dusk. Too lost in thoughts and worry he didn't notice when he bumped into someone. It was a young man, he was breathless and red.
"Salve! La prego mi scusi. Io sono Ludwig. Are you hurt? I wasn't paying attention to the road." The boy opened his eyes, surprised. His lips formed a beautiful smile. "Ciao Ludwig! Io sono Feliciano! It's been long since we saw each other that's for sure, but not long enough for you to call me Sir. Vieni con me! I'll take you in, if you don't have a place to stay."
The young man took him by the arm and dragged him to his house near the Canal Grande. Apparently the boy had worked in his house years ago. "It's a pity you don't remember me. We had so much fun." He had said.
Afternoon.
A few months had passed. He had told Feliciano about this girl and his urgency to find her, Feliciano could only laugh. "Bèh! I don't know any girl like that. It's a mystery! Couldn't have been a boy, perhaps?" Such idea seemed absurd in Ludwig's mind. His affections belonged to a girl, with sun kissed skin and almond eyes. "Don't worry your pretty head, Ludwig. I'm sure you will find your Melusine."
Ludwig after that, went for a walk. He couldn't stay much longer, his house needed him. Roderich had his own wife to take care of, and Gilbert couldn't do much since he lost his status when he left. He decided that if he didn't find his maid within a month, he would part without her.
He turned around a corner and he saw her, her face covered in a bouquet of flowers just like he remembered. Her sun kissed skin, her hair brown and tamed except for that one lock she had the habit to pull when she was nervous. She was giving him her back, he couldn't wait to take her by surprise. She laughed, her voice was like a spring of the most pure water. She talked, it sounded so familiar. When he was close enough he saw her, he saw him. It was Feliciano who laughed and talked. He was mad.
"You told me you didn't know any girl like that!" Feliciano had never seen Ludwig so angry, a few tears ran down his face. "You're her brother! She has a twin! I know!" Ludwig wouldn't stop yelling at Feliciano, he was angry for having lost so much time looking for someone who may not even be in that city. Because her brother was keeping him away from her. Because he felt he had been played with, taken for a fool.
Ludwig stopped at some point, he fell on his knees breathing heavily. Feliciano came out of his frozen state and kneeled in front of him. "My fratello left me a few years ago, he escaped. Ran away with a corsair he met. My grandfather died shortly after. I have always been a boy, not a girl. Ludwig mio caro, ti prego scusami."
Of course Feliciano wouldn't have told him anything, not with the tantrum he just threw. He should have known. He did the same things as her, subtly leaving hints for Ludwig to recognize him. He needed time to think, this was a boy, not a girl. He wouldn't be able to uphold the name of the family if he remained true to his heart. Still he put his hand behind Feliciano's neck and pulled them closer, their lips touched.
The kiss lasted only a few seconds. But it was all they needed. They would be shunned from society. It didn't matter. They got up from the pavement and returned to Feliciano's house. They didn't held hands but the furious blush on Ludwig's cheeks would have been enough for anyone to understand.
Once the doors were closed, Feliciano's smile vanished. "There is something I haven't told you yet. The reason why I go to the canal at night." Ludwig hugged him tight. He was sure nothing could be more important than the both of them at the moment. He kissed him again, more fiercely.
Dusk.
Ludwig woke up in the middle of the night, the room was dark, and the sheets were cold. Feliciano wasn't there. He put on his robes and went looking for him. Tried the market, the square, and the alleys the young man loved but couldn't find him. Feliciano had disappeared. That's when he heard a shout, Feliciano was there, in the middle of the Arsenale square. Four lions surrounded him but the young man was more worried about the blonde wielding a sword in front of him. Ludwig feared for his lover's life. Took an iron bar from the ground and ran towards the creatures, Feliciano screamed trying to stop him. The lions were ferocious with their attacks, Ludwig beheaded one. To another he pierced his stoned heart. With a swing he broke the wings of the smaller one. Ludwig was about to set the final blow to the last one when in the corner of his eyes he saw the blonde reaching out for his lover. The lion buried its claws in Ludwig's back and he screamed in pain. With the iron bar he pierced its head and ran towards the blonde.
Ludwig didn't remember what happened, he only remembered the frightened look on Feliciano, his face tainted with red. Chunks of flesh on the floor and a body slowly turning blue. He tried to get up but Feliciano begged him not to. And he noticed, the tail of a snake surrounded him, it hadn't been the iron bar that teared the blonde's heart, it had been the black tail.
Evening.
Once more he should have known. All the hints were there, since they were kids he should've known. A Melusine. Feliciano kissed his cheeks and said they'll meet again, someday. And he left. Disappeared in the water. Ludwig knew they'll never meet again.
He parted to his house the next day. He said he couldn't find the maid, married a beautiful girl instead, with curly and blonde hair. With her two brothers, Ludwig kept the family name up high. The trading was going well. But she couldn't provide him an heir.
Ludwig knew it wasn't her fault, it was his. He never stopped thinking about that night, when Feliciano left. He spent hours thinking about what he could possibly have done to help his lover and making him stay at the same time, to no avail. He started drinking.
He stopped touching his wife, he stopped visiting his brother. He stopped caring for his dogs and his house. Only at night he would come out, he went to the river. He would sit there in silence for most of the time. Drinking, thinking. Crying. Mourning. Loving.
One night he didn't sit. Walked slowly into the water, calling for him. It was cold. Ludwig tripped and lost his balance. The current was taking him away. Drifting, he thought that maybe the river was taking him to where Feliciano was. He stopped fighting against it.
He woke up the next morning, the sun was high in the sky and his family was beside him. They said an old woman saw a body being pulled out of the water by a sprite, and they came right over. Ludwig was sure that it hadn't been a sprite, it had been his Melusine.
Midnight.
Ludwig promised to be better after that, to live his life as best as he could. He was old and gray and wrinkled now. He never had the chance to hold a child, but promised his wife that no matter what, all his belongings would go to her when he died. Gilbert and Matthew no longer lived in the house on the hills, they actually no longer lived at all. His days were running out.
On his last day, he went to the river again. He hadn't come since he almost drowned. All day he just sat there, humming a tune he used to dance to. At night he walked into the water again. But he was fine. Extended his hand to the bottom of the river, and another hand reached. His Melusine took his face between his hands, and kissed him. He was just as beautiful as ever. With his sun kissed skin and his almond eyes, his soft lips and his soft voice. Feliciano dragged him further into the river, the water reached his chest now. A few more steps and Ludwig could no longer breathe. Feliciano kept pulling him. He saw a light. It was blinding, like the light of a candle at dawn. He was a boy again.