I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 2: Amaryllis

August 15, 1491
The city of Rome

"Aw! Dammit, Valeria—I'm wearing white a white blouse today…" Amaryllis started to scold her friend as she sat up in the fountain and turned her head to shoot her friend an annoyed glare, only to find herself staring up into the face of a very handsome (dare she say hot) young man instead. "Oh, um… hi?" She said a bit dumbly, suddenly at a loss for words.

"Hello…" Cesare replied a little slowly as he stared down at her, stunned to now see a girl where there had been none before. Had his eyes deceived him? He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed her seemingly miraculous appearance out of thin air, but alas there were now fewer people in the courtyard, and none who remained appeared to have been paying any attention to the fountain, or surely they would look just as shocked as he felt.

"Um, excuse me, but… where am I?" Amaryllis asked tentatively, getting his attention back on her. Now that she was over her initial moment of surprise, she noticed that he was dressed in a version of bishop's robes that matched a set on display in the Vatican museum that was supposed to be from the Renaissance period. The other people she could see from her position in the fountain's basin were also dressed in period costumes. But the biggest surprise of all had to be the change in her surroundings. She seemed to suddenly be in a completely different courtyard now, one that was smaller and more of a square than a rectangle.

"You are in the courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica." Cesare informed the mysterious girl in strange clothing, watching carefully for her reaction. Amaryllis furrowed her brow slightly in confusion.

"What? But the church's courtyard doesn't look like this." Amaryllis said dubiously as she stood up and moved to get out of the fountain. Cesare reflexively held a hand out to her, and she accepted it, using his help to balance, while she held closed the strange and colorful doublet of finely knitted yarn that she was wearing to hide her wet, almost see-through tunic. "Thanks." She said gratefully. Apparently chivalry wasn't dead. "But seriously, what's going on? This was a definitely a different courtyard when I fell in. Was the basin of the fountain moved somehow?" She asked as she buttoned up her light summer sweater, while turning about, looking all around in search for clues. The arched passage ways leading off from the square courtyard were real; definitely not the result of a skillful trompe l'oeil or some other optical allusion. Her eyes widened when she saw the rest of the fountain with the pine cone and peacocks was there too, attached to a solid stone wall. This was way too elaborate for one of Valeria's pranks! "Um… am I being punked, or are you all filming a movie here? How did you set this up so fast?" She asked tentatively, hoping there was a logical explanation.

"Punked? Movie?" Cesare asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. What was this girl talking about? She wasn't mad, was she? It would be tragic if she were; she couldn't be more than a year or two older than his younger sister. They were about the same height, too, though that was where all physical resemblance ended. Unlike his fair sister, this girl was a brunette with hazel eyes and lightly sunkissed skin. She was dressed strangely, like a man, but in feminine colors; and he also noticed she had a gold ring that bore a heart with a small cross in it on the ring finger of the hand she had given him. This girl did not appear to be a member of nobility, but neither did she belong to the mob. She was wearing a cross with several large emeralds set in gold around her neck. The pendant appeared to be much older than the two smaller, round stud emerald earrings she was wearing, because there were fewer scratches on the later, and they shined more. The slippers on her stockingless feet appeared to be gilded with gold from heel to toe. She was also far too clean to be a peasant, even for someone who had just been pulled out of a fountain.

"Wow. You're good." Amaryllis complimented him, impressed with his acting skills. If she didn't know any better, she might think he really didn't understand what she was talking about. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked it for damage. "All right, still works!" She remarked with a smile as she ran a finger across the dark screen and it lit up, missing the shocked look on Cesare's face at the sight. "What the… no service?" She asked, frowning in disappointment. Those solar flares must still be acting up. "Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to find Valeria the old fashioned way." She tucked the phone back into her pocket. "Thanks for helping me out of the fountain. My name is Amaryllis, and you are…?" She trailed off as she glanced back up at him, waiting for Cesare to introduce himself.

"Cesare." He replied, quickly wiping the gob-smacked look from his face.

"Cesare." She repeated with a smile, though she was a bit caught off guard by the look of heavy suspicion in his eyes. "Is something wrong, Cesare?"

"That thing in your hand… What is it?" He asked, pointing to the thin black rectangle that was glowing with a light of its own. Amaryllis laughed, but her smile fell when she saw the grim expression on his face.

"Oh my God… You're serious?" She said, staring at him as though she was beginning to question his sanity. "There's no way you've never seen a cell phone before."

"Cell phone?" Cesare asked, somewhat offended by the look she was giving him. "What is a 'cell phone'? How does it make light without a flame? All you did was touch it…"

"Okay, you're seriously starting to weird me out. This isn't funny anymore." She said, frowning, as she began to slowly back away. He was getting way too intense about this. Next thing you knew, he'd be accusing her of witchcraft. "Thanks for your help with getting out of the fountain, but I have to go now." Amaryllis quickly turned on her heel and started to half walk/half jog away, looking for an exit.

"Go where? Who are you?" Cesare demanded as he followed after her, careful to keep his voice even to avoid drawing unwanted attention until he understood exactly what he was dealing with.

"I already told you!" Amaryllis retorted as she picked up the pace, heading for a large, open doorway filled with blue sky. "I—" She stopped short at the top of the steps outside when she saw what was waiting for her at the bottom. Looking down, where there should have been the beautifully paved and vast St. Peter's square and obelisk, was now an unpaved ground filled with masses of people wearing the clothing of Renaissance Italy. The ancient, undeveloped city stretched on for as far as the eye could see. "Where the hell am I…?" She wondered aloud as she gaped at the scene in shock. This was not a set. She knew what she was seeing now was real. No one could fake this.

"Rome." Cesare stated as he grabbed her by the arm and started leading her somewhere less conspicuous for the private conversation he intended to have with her. Stunned and dumbfounded by what she was seeing, Amaryllis let the young bishop lead the way, trailing behind him like a lost child, as she continued to gape at her surroundings, and her surroundings gaped back. In her modern clothing, she stood out like a sore thumb. Only when she found herself being pushed into a dark alley did Amaryllis finally snap out of it and rejoin the real world.

"!" She gasped, whirling around to face Cesare. He watched as she took up a defensive stance, though he could not guess how she intended to defeat a grown man, who was nearly twice her size, unarmed. "I don't know what you intend bringing me here, but you better watch it. I know how to defend myself." She said seriously, glaring evenly at him.

"My only intention is to learn more about you." He stated calmly. "Unless you want me do more?" He added a bit suggestively, leaning close.

She leaned back to maintain the distance between them and quickly shook her head to both decline his offer and clear her head of that attractive smirk. Now was not the time to flirt!

"Very well. Let us get down to business, then. Are you a witch?" He asked as he straightened up, adopting a more serious expression. Amaryllis's jaw dropped. He seriously went there…

"No way! Why would you even think that?" She asked defensively, starting to feel like she might really be in danger. She knew what they did to witches in this time—if he were to publicly accuse her here, where she was so clearly out of place, she would be burned at the stake! It was just a question of whether or not they would torture her in an attempt to get a confession first.

"You appeared out of nowhere, speaking strange and unknown words, carrying a strange device that glowed with a flameless light at your touch." He reminded her. "I think that is a fair assumption in this situation."

"Well, think again." Amaryllis retorted, bristling. With the way she was glaring at him while still dripping water from the fountain, she reminded him of an angry, wet cat. "I know it looks strange to you, but where I come from this is all perfectly normal… Well, okay, the fountain part is weird, but I'm just as confused about how that happened as you are. One minute I'm being poked in the side by my friend and falling face first into a fountain, and the next I resurface in the same fountain, only to find myself in a completely different location surrounded by strangers! And now you accuse me of witchcraft!?" She hissed incredulously, careful to keep her voice low so the people passing by on the streets wouldn't hear.

"You seem unnerved by the accusation." He commented shrewdly.

"Duh! Wouldn't you be if you were in my situation?" She snapped defensively. "Do you know how dangerous an accusation like that is? Are you trying to kill me!? How am I supposed to defend myself when I can't even explain what happened! Are you going to condemn an innocent girl to death? I don't even believe in magic!"

"If not magic, then what?" Cesare pressed. "How do you explain that black device."

"Science!" Amaryllis exclaimed. "It's science." She stated again more calmly, pausing to take a breath before continuing. She was getting too worked up. She needed to keep a level head here. "Any sufficiently advanced technology can be indistinguishable from magic to a significantly less developed culture." She said, remembering one of Clarke's Three Laws.

"Less developed?" Cesare said dubiously. "We are in the land that is the birthplace of the renaissance movement, home to some of the world's greatest minds, and you claim to hail from a more 'advanced' land." He shook his head at her. "Tell me, where exactly is it that you come from? I've never seen clothing like yours before. Where is this land where women dress like men and hold tablets of light in their hands?" At this, the strange girl's confidence seem to shrink, and she adopted a more cautious demeanor as she gazed at him with troubled expression in her eyes.

"You wouldn't believe me if it told you." She replied solemnly with real regret. Amaryllis was beginning to feel like she may be fighting a losing battle. She might have to make a run for it soon. "It's impossible. You'd think I was insane."

"Try me." Cesare said, bracing himself.

"… I'm from the future." She said, expecting him to laugh or denounce her.

Cesare just blinked as he continued to stare at her. He had not been expecting that. Was this girl serious?

"You have already said your homeland was more advanced…"

"No, I don't mean metaphorically, I mean literally—I am literally from the future." Amaryllis insisted. "So far into the future that the country I was born in doesn't even exist yet." She raised a hand to stop Cesare when he opened his mouth to speak again. "I know how it sounds, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I don't know how or why, but somehow when I fell into that fountain, I fell over 500 years into the past, into your present. That's why the technology I have on me is so advanced that it looks like magic to you. It's the result of the culmination of five centuries' worth of knowledge and discoveries. "Just look at the printing press. If you showed that to someone from 500 years before your time, they might think it was a form of magic too if they heard how easily it could mass produce printed copies of manuscripts, when such a thing would have been inconceivable to them from their prospective, given what they knew at the time."

Cesare stared at her, looking for any sign that she might be lying to him. He saw none.

"… You really expect me to believe you are from the future?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. There was some logic in her argument, but it was still rather far-fetched. A witch would have made more sense.

"It's up to you whether you choose to believe it or not." Amaryllis replied with quiet determination as she clenched her fists at her side. "But I am not a witch. I'm just an ordinary girl in a not so ordinary situation. The only other explanation I can think of to explain this bizarre turn of events is that I hit my head when I fell into the fountain, and I'm dreaming… in which case, I would hope Valeria would have the good sense to pull me out before I drowned."

"I would think the second option you just listed would be the more reasonable conclusion… But you cannot be dreaming, because I am awake." Cesare told her with the hint of a wry smile on his lips.

"Perhaps you fell asleep without realizing it." Amaryllis said with a shrug. "Perhaps we're both dreaming."

"If this is a dream, then the consequences of our actions are of little value. We can do whatever we like." He said, taking a step closer as he stared down into her hazel eyes.

"If this is a dream, then I would like to walk through the city with you for a while before trying to return home. Even though you're a priest, you can still hold hands with a woman, can't you?" She asked, holding out her hand to him with a small smile. There was something magnetic about this guy. Even though she knew she should probably still be wary of him, she felt drawn to him, and the fact that he was a priest made her feel safe on an instinctive level as a Catholic. A priest wouldn't do anything bad, right? Even though this period in the Church's history was marred by corruption, not all holy men had been like that, and if Cesare wanted to hurt her, he probably could have done so by now. All he had to do was shout 'Witch!', but instead he had calmly listened to her side of the story before condemning her.

"Even though I'm a priest, I have already done much more than that." Cesare admitted with a sly smirk as he slipped his hand into hers and started leading her back out onto the main streets. Now that he was no longer looking at her with eyes of suspicion, he was beginning to find this girl quite charming. She was strange but amiable, and the impish yet innocent gleam in her eyes at that moment reminded him of his dear sister.

There was a hint of blush on Amaryllis's cheeks as she looked up at him with a wry smile. Okay, so maybe he was corrupt. But it wasn't creepy. He didn't look too much older than herself. It almost felt like she was talking to one of her guy friends back home.

"Are you trying to tempt me?" She asked a little coyly.

"Perhaps." He replied with a roguish grin. "Is it working?" Her whole face lit up as she laughed. Her eyes sparkled as she looked ahead.

"Hmm, making out with a hot priest… that might be a bit too naughty even for a dream. Suggesting such a thing, how do I know you aren't the devil in disguise?"

"I hide no horns beneath my biretta." He said, lifting his cornered bishop's cap in jest to prove his point. He wasn't sure what 'making out' meant, but he assumed it at least had something to do with kissing, if not more.

"I think we both know the devil doesn't really come to you with a red face an horns." She replied slyly. "No, I think he would come to you disguised as everything you've ever wanted." Cesare noted she seemed to have a far off look in her eyes as she said this, as though she had someone particular in mind.

"Have you met the devil, then?" He asked.

"I may have, once." She said with a wan smile before squaring her shoulders. "But I won't be taken for a fool." She added with determination shining in her eyes. "That's why I wear this ring." She said, holding up her left hand to show him the gold ring. "It reminds me to behave myself."

"Oh? And how does it do that?" Cesare asked curiously. "Does it light up as well?"

"No, nothing like that." Amaryllis replied with a smile. "This ring just represents the vow of chastity I took two years ago, when I was fourteen."

"You took a vow of chastity? Are you planning to become a nun?" He asked curiously. If she was sixteen now, then that made her three years older than his sweet sister and only two years younger than himself.

"Oh, God, no." She laughed. "I'm nowhere near that disciplined. I enjoy too many other vices to ever be able to take it that far. This vow only lasts until marriage. Then I can have all the sex I want. I'm just doing this as a way to guard my heart from being too easily taken advantage of. If a guy is willing to wait, then I'll know he's serious. If not, well, at least I won't have given everything to a boy who changed his mind."

"Ah, I see." Cesare said with a small smile. Perhaps he should have Lucrezia do the same.

"Huh." Amaryllis said thoughtfully to herself before laughing abruptly when something occurred to her.

"What is it?" Cesare asked, wondering if he had missed a piece of conversation.

"I just realized… from the point of view of the people back home, it must look like I disappeared into thin air, on the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I bet that'll cause a fuss." She said with a wry smile, glancing at him.

"Hm." Cesare let out a quiet, sardonic laugh of his own. "If your aim was heaven, then I am afraid you've missed your mark."

"You're telling me. I've somehow managed to land myself in the middle of one of the most corrupt ages of the Church—no offense."

"None taken." Cesare replied calmly. "It's true, after all. And I do not wear the ecclesiastical collar by choice."

"No, you don't seem like any priest I've met before." She commented, studying him out the corner of her eye. Amaryllis wondered if his family had pressured him into it. It wasn't uncommon back then for rich families to buy their sons positions of power within the church, and if Cesare was already a bishop at his age, he must have started his career in the church really young. There was nothing worse than having religion forcefully shoved down your throat. There was a time when she had been tempted to become an atheist after experiencing that sickening feeling for herself. "You look like you lack a certain 'inner peace'." She mused aloud.

"Hah! It would seem you are sharper than I first gave you credit for." Cesare said, earning himself a look. "Do I really seem so troubled?"

Looking closer, she saw in his eyes that he truly was. He looked like that collar was choking him.

"Brother!" A young, feminine voice called out before she could reply, breaking the spell they were under.

"Lucrezia!" Cesare exclaimed, letting go of Amaryllis's hand to embrace his little sister as she threw herself into his arms. "What are you doing out by yourself?"

"I'm not alone! I came with a maid." Lucrezia corrected her older brother brightly with a smile.

"I see no maid." Cesare told her.

"Oh. It appears I have lost her…" Lucrezia said as she glanced around, trailing off when she realized her brother was right.

"Does mother know you are out?" He asked with a wry smile, hoping his mischievous sister had at least gotten permission for her little adventure.

"I left a note." Lucrezia replied, looking down as she played absently with the fringe of her sleeve.

"Then she shall be doubly worried when she finds it, for then she will know for certain you are not where you should be." He told her, leaning down to gently bump his forehead against hers. "Let us return before she discovers your misadventure."

"I'm afraid she already has, brother." Lucrezia said. "It has been a good two hours since I left home."

"Then all is lost. You shall no doubt be punished severely for causing her so much grief. She will lock you and throw away the key, sis." He teased.

"Oh, no!" Lucrezia exclaimed in dismay. "Then I shall have to make the most of my outing while I still can!" She decided, taking him by the hand. She paused and blinked when she finally realized her brother was not alone. "Brother, who is this lady you have with you? Why is she all wet? And why is she dressed so strangely?" Lucrezia asked innocently with no ill intent as she looked Amaryllis up and down. Her eyes lit up when they landed on her feet. "Ah! She has golden shoes, like a character out of a fairy tale!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Ah." Cesare said, glancing back at Amaryllis, who was wearing a Mona Lisa smile on her face as she glanced between the two siblings. How should he explain the time traveler? "This is Amaryllis. I found her in a fountain." He told his little sister, deciding to keep it simple.

"A fountain?" Lucrezia said, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "Whatever were you doing in there?" She asked Amaryllis curiously.

"Well, it was hot… so I decided to take a quick dip to cool off." Amaryllis replied pleasantly.

"Ah, I see. I have often wanted to try that myself." Lucrezia admitted, nodding sagely. Cesare raised an eyebrow. It would seem his sister had found a kindred spirit. "But Mother would scold me." She added quickly. "You said your name was Amaryllis? Like the flower?"

"Yes, like the flower." Amaryllis said with a smile, deciding she rather liked Cesare's little sister. "But it has more to do with my father's interest in ancient Greek myths. He was the one who named me. Would you like to hear the story?"

"Oh, yes! I love stories." Lucrezia said as her eyes lit up with interest. "Is it romantic?"

"Well, I think it is. Legend has it that the amaryllis flower began as a shy, timid nymph named Amaryllis. Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules' strength and Apollo's beauty, but her affections were unrequited." Amaryllis explained. "Hoping that she could win him over by bestowing upon him the thing he desired most, a flower so unique it had never existed in the world before, Amaryllis sought advice from the oracle of Delphi. Then, following his instructions, Amaryllis dressed in maiden's white and appeared at Alteo's door for 30 nights, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When at last Alteo opened his door, there before him was a striking crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis's heart. With this romantic, albeit tragic, tale as its beginning, the amaryllis has come to symbolize pride, determination, and radiant beauty."

"I think I like your father." Lucrezia decided aloud. "I should like to meet him."

"And I'm sure he would like to meet you, if he were able. But I'm sorry to say my father isn't here, and I must leave to return to him soon." Amaryllis told her with an apologetic smile.

"Must you?" Lucrezia asked, looking immensely disappointed as she pouted and stared up at her with big, sad eyes. Amaryllis had to avert her own eyes from the guilt-inspiring cuteness for a moment.

"I'm afraid I must, or I may not be able to return home." She replied, sharing a significant glance with Cesare. Amaryllis was cool with hanging out for a little while, but she was beginning to feel like Cinderella at the ball. The sun looked like it was already starting to set. It was later in the day than she had thought, and she wasn't willing to bet that whatever door she had inadvertently slipped through would stay open beyond 24 hours. This kind of thing usually had a time limit in movies, didn't it?

"At any rate, we have already reached our home, Lucrezia." Cesare reminded his sister, stopping them in front of the open gates of their family's urban villa before they passed them by. "You must bid the amiable Amaryllis farewell and go inside to accept mother's punishment for sneaking out."

"Goodbye, dear nymph." Lucrezia said, as she favored Amaryllis with a hug, pouting at her older brother for putting an end to her fun. It wasn't every day that she got to go out and meet someone new who was so interesting and agreeable. Most people tended to look down her and her brothers for some reason.

"Goodbye, sweet Lucrezia." Amaryllis said with a small smile, returning the younger girl's embrace. "Goodbye, Cesare." She added once Lucrezia released her, bowing her head politely to the handsome bishop since it she felt it would have been awkward trying to curtsey in pants.

"Why do you say goodbye?" Cesare asked, looking slightly taken aback.

"Well, isn't this your home?" She asked, blinking. "I thought you would be going in with Lucrezia."

"And I thought I would walk you back. It's dangerous for a woman to walk the streets alone at night." He said, giving her a pointed look.

"Yes, please let Cesare walk with you!" Lucrezia said urgently, genuinely concerned for her safety.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." Amaryllis said, with a wave of her hand. "I know how to fight, and I have confidence that I can win in fair one."

"And if it isn't fair?" Cesare asked.

"Then I'll have to get a little help from this." She replied, tapping her emerald cross.

"I see..." Cesare said with a hint of skepticism. So, she didn't believe in magic, yet she thought a cross could protect her? "Are you sure you can find your way back?"

"My good sense of direction is one of the few things I can brag about." Amaryllis replied with a smirk. "I paid attention to where we were going on the way in and made a mental map. I can find my from here to there without a problem as long as I have light to see. Thank you for walking with me, Cesare, Lucrezia. Ciao!" She bid them farewell with a smile and wave as she turned and headed back to the fountain.

"She is a strange girl, but she amuses me, Cesare. I think I rather like her." Lucrezia said with a smile, glancing up at her brother.

"Yes. I think I do, too." Cesare agreed, watching as Amaryllis walked down the path towards the darkening horizon, alone and without fear.

"You are going to follow after her to make she reaches her destination safely, are you not, brother?" Lucrezia asked.

"Of course, dear sister." He replied with a smile, placing a hand atop her head. To be honest, he was curious about whether or not jumping back into the fountain would actually work. If it did, then that was a phenomena he would like to witness for himself.