[Luca hadn't meant to break the rules. Honestly, he would have been a perfectly legal cyclist, if he could have been. He wanted to go to school and get his license, but he 'wasn't the right type of student', so to speak. IE he had an accent and his skin was a few shades browner than what they typically liked to see. Which meant that getting licensed anywhere in England was impossible at best, so any magic he did was definitely illegal.
He was normally careful, and he always made sure nobody was watching when he did his thing. But this one time, a student had walked in right in the middle of cleaning a lab with a whirlwind of magic, and there was no way for Luca to silence him. That student was in the dean's office within the hour, and Luca was back home packing his bags even before then. He knew what happened to immigrants who were caught illegally practicing magic, and like hell was he going to wait for that kind of punishment.
But he couldn't just take a train back home to Italy, oh no. First he had to take a boat across the channel, and then he had to make his way through France, then Maldonia, and then finally through the majority of Italy to get back home. And, up until he crossed the border into Italy, he would be in constant danger of getting arrested. France was currently occupied by English troops, and though technically the Maldonian parliament and monarchy still held the power, everybody knew it was a sham. Getting caught in either of those countries meant getting sent back to England to face punishment.
Thankfully, though, his leaving early meant that he got to the docks long before word was sent to halt any Italian travelers. And fortunately Luca still had his passport from before he was married, with his original family name on it, so he used that instead of the one that bore the name 'Valentino,' which got him through checkpoints he really should have been captured at. He could only silently thank his mother for giving him such a common first name.
It was day five into his trip when he stopped in a small town in the southern part of France, not far from the Maldonian border. The town itself was unremarkable, aside from being the closest to the summer home of the Maldonian royal family, and with how that particular house had burned down about the time Luca had skipped out of England (a shame, he thought to himself, that the whole family had just died like that, leaving the youngest son to lead the country on his own). He hadn't had much time to think about it before then, but stopping in this small town so late at night gave him a chance to mull on it.
The train wouldn't be leaving until the morning, unfortunately, so Luca was going to have to find something to occupy his time. He didn't want to linger on the train, lest he attract the attention of any soldiers looking for him (by now his picture had made it abroad, so he had to make sure to keep his hat on and his collar up when he walked), so he took to the streets of this town, looking for some entertainment for the night.
Of course, this was where he actually did get recognized, but not as Luca Valentino. See, Luca happened to bear an uncanny resemblance to the crowned prince of Maldonia, something which he had noticed after seeing said prince's face plastered all over the newspapers. They weren't identical, but from behind or at a glance it was an easy mistake to make, which is exactly what happened that night.
Which was a huge problem since, you know, the crowned prince was supposed to be dead.
And it just so happened that the people who saw Luca and mistook him for the prince were the same people who had just murdered the royal family by burning down their house not even a week prior.
Such a misunderstanding might have been quickly cleared up, except that Luca was trying to keep from being recognized for other reasons, and when the men saw Luca hurrying away as soon as they said "HEY YOU", that made them even more suspicious. And more trigger-happy.
So, that is how Luca ends up diving through an open window of a random building within the town, trying to avoid getting shot at. He has no idea where he has just jumped into, nor does he know the occupants. But at this point, he cares more about his own life than offending someone else.
Hopefully the crowned prince of Maldonia isn't too freaked out by coming face-to-face with someone who has an uncanny resemblance to him. Luca might be freaking out enough for the both of them.]
Adventure 001: oh shit it's a facetwin
He was normally careful, and he always made sure nobody was watching when he did his thing. But this one time, a student had walked in right in the middle of cleaning a lab with a whirlwind of magic, and there was no way for Luca to silence him. That student was in the dean's office within the hour, and Luca was back home packing his bags even before then. He knew what happened to immigrants who were caught illegally practicing magic, and like hell was he going to wait for that kind of punishment.
But he couldn't just take a train back home to Italy, oh no. First he had to take a boat across the channel, and then he had to make his way through France, then Maldonia, and then finally through the majority of Italy to get back home. And, up until he crossed the border into Italy, he would be in constant danger of getting arrested. France was currently occupied by English troops, and though technically the Maldonian parliament and monarchy still held the power, everybody knew it was a sham. Getting caught in either of those countries meant getting sent back to England to face punishment.
Thankfully, though, his leaving early meant that he got to the docks long before word was sent to halt any Italian travelers. And fortunately Luca still had his passport from before he was married, with his original family name on it, so he used that instead of the one that bore the name 'Valentino,' which got him through checkpoints he really should have been captured at. He could only silently thank his mother for giving him such a common first name.
It was day five into his trip when he stopped in a small town in the southern part of France, not far from the Maldonian border. The town itself was unremarkable, aside from being the closest to the summer home of the Maldonian royal family, and with how that particular house had burned down about the time Luca had skipped out of England (a shame, he thought to himself, that the whole family had just died like that, leaving the youngest son to lead the country on his own). He hadn't had much time to think about it before then, but stopping in this small town so late at night gave him a chance to mull on it.
The train wouldn't be leaving until the morning, unfortunately, so Luca was going to have to find something to occupy his time. He didn't want to linger on the train, lest he attract the attention of any soldiers looking for him (by now his picture had made it abroad, so he had to make sure to keep his hat on and his collar up when he walked), so he took to the streets of this town, looking for some entertainment for the night.
Of course, this was where he actually did get recognized, but not as Luca Valentino. See, Luca happened to bear an uncanny resemblance to the crowned prince of Maldonia, something which he had noticed after seeing said prince's face plastered all over the newspapers. They weren't identical, but from behind or at a glance it was an easy mistake to make, which is exactly what happened that night.
Which was a huge problem since, you know, the crowned prince was supposed to be dead.
And it just so happened that the people who saw Luca and mistook him for the prince were the same people who had just murdered the royal family by burning down their house not even a week prior.
Such a misunderstanding might have been quickly cleared up, except that Luca was trying to keep from being recognized for other reasons, and when the men saw Luca hurrying away as soon as they said "HEY YOU", that made them even more suspicious. And more trigger-happy.
So, that is how Luca ends up diving through an open window of a random building within the town, trying to avoid getting shot at. He has no idea where he has just jumped into, nor does he know the occupants. But at this point, he cares more about his own life than offending someone else.
Hopefully the crowned prince of Maldonia isn't too freaked out by coming face-to-face with someone who has an uncanny resemblance to him. Luca might be freaking out enough for the both of them.]