The sun beat down from the sapphire blue Italian sky, on to a couple walking hand in hand down a dirt path, towards the crumbling remains of a Roman villa.
"We're so lucky Romano let us come and stay here!" said Feliciano happily.
"I don't think he had much choice, you did cry and beg for two solid hours." Ludwig muttered under his breath. "Look, there's the villa."
"Ve~! It's really here!" cried the smaller man, childishly clapping his hands in delight.
"I've heard that it's haunted by a roman Princess!" he continued enthusiastically. Taking a step closer to the ruins, he spun round again. "Aren't you coming Ludwig?"
"No, I'm coming Feliciano," he answered hesitantly, before following apprehensively.
The couple clambered down a flight of worn, stone stairs, towards the few rooms of the villa which were still partially standing.
"Apparently, a Roman Emperor used to live here, with his daughter the Princess," chirped Feliciano, as he narrowly avoided falling after tripping on a rock, which skittered down a ten metre drop to their left.
"Please be careful!" cried Ludwig, as Feliciano cheerfully skipped on ahead, seeming to look everywhere but at the steep and dangerous path ahead of them.
"The Princess wore the finest silks, in all the colours of the rainbow, and had jewels that could rival the colours of a parrot's plumage," continued Feliciano, oblivious to Ludwig' pleas for him to look where he was stepping.
"She had golden, gilded sandals, and could dance with the elegance of a swan," Feliciano's voice dropped to a whisper, "yet she had a secret..."
They ducked under an ancient stone archway, into the remains of the villa itself.
"What was that secret?" asked Ludwig curiously.
"The Princess was in love with one of her Father's Soldiers, and she met with him every day, by a secret beach surrounded by tall cliffs. The beach was quite small, but had pure white sands and the sea was always incredibly clear and blue. Her Father had claimed that he was his favourite Soldier, as he was brave beyond belief, yet the two had to meet secretly as the Emperor had forbidden them from seeing each other as he wanted his daughter to marry a highborn roman boy, who's Father was a great friend of the Emperor."
Feliciano and Ludwig continued walking through the crumbling rooms, the only light provided by the numerous cracks in the walls. Ludwig smiled to himself: with Feliciano babbling away telling a story, he could almost imagine the place as it used to be, with its white marble columns and splashing fountains.
"The Princess, who could not stand the boy as she found him to be arrogant and self-absorbed, snuck out of the villa every morning before dawn when the sky was still shrouded in darkness with a basket full of food from the kitchens, and did not return until the sun had once again disappeared beneath the horizon and the moon cast silver beams from the velvet shrouded sky. For a few glorious months, the Princess and the Soldier lived in their own little paradise, yet one day, the Soldier was called to war. Being the brave soldier that he was, he left the Princess, with a kiss and a promise to return. Many months passed, and the Soldier did not return. Even when the Emperor returned home weeks later, with grand stories of chivalry and honour, the Princess's Soldier remained absent. The Princess went to the beach every day, but every day she was disappointed. About a year after the Soldier had left for war, the Princess overheard the Emperor talking to some friends; telling them the story of how a brave soldier – the bravest in his whole army – had leapt in front of an arrow to protect him yet had died himself. Distraught, the Princess hurtled from the villa, to the hidden paradise she shared with her lost love, and to the top of the tallest cliff. With a cry to the Roman Goddess of love, Venus, she cast herself off the cliff, to the waves below, laughing through her tears with euphoria at being reunited with her long lost love."
Feliciano looked at Ludwig through the darkness in the villa. He thought for a second that He saw his eyes glistening with tears, but put it down to the dim lighting instead.
"Romantic isn't it?" he said, taking his arm to lead him into the sunlight.
"Yes, it is I suppose," Ludwig replied distantly, letting Feliciano drag him outside. "Did anyone find the Princess?"
"Yes, they did. The next day, the Emperor sent out a search party to look for the Princess, as her bed had not been slept in. The servants scoured the countryside for hours and hours, until they eventually found the hidden beach and the Princess' body on the rocks below."
Walking out of the villa into the bright sunshine, they had to squint as they had become accustomed to the dim light of the ruins.
"So the Princess' ghost haunts the villa?" said Ludwig. "Is anything supposed to happen to you if you see the ghost?"
"You never see the ghost, you only ever hear her, laughing with joy at being with the Soldier again. It is said that if you hear her, you will soon marry, and will live the clichéd 'Happy Ever After'."
Feliciano suddenly shot off along a path, auburn hair blowing in the wind. "I'm going to try and find the hidden beach!" he cried enthusiastically.
As Ludwig walked slowly after him, lost in thought, he could have sworn he heard a carefree laugh come from inside the villa, and he smiled to himself, before clutching the little black velvet-lined ring box in his pocket in nervous anticipation.
A/N
My first proper GerIta! Yay! This is an adaptation of an 800 word story I had to write for my GCSE coursework, and I thought the characters fit Feli and Ludwig quite well!
If the beginning sounds a bit like HetaOni, it's because I've had it on the brain all week :/
If you can think of a better title, leave it in the comments – I had no idea what to call it!
Byeee!
Emily Prustrian