Francesco Aiello

Image of Francesco in Artbreeder

### Namesake

Francesco: Spanish variation of Francis, meaning "Frenchman",Aiello: Latin surname meaning " field/smallholding"

**Francesco Aiello** is a minor posthumous character and late twin brother of Cassio Montagna in Fate of Zephyr. In Vento Aureo, Francesco is Prosciutto of La Squadra Esecuzioni.

Forced into the spotlight initially with Cassio, Francesco convinced their mother that Cassio had no potential to become the next movie star and encouraged her to ignore her younger son. In reality, he did that so Cassio would not endure the drug, sexual, and emotional abuse Francesco was put through as a result of being a child actor and model. Cassio initially grew up resenting his brother until he discovered Francesco dead from a drug overdose that caused him to suffocate in his own vomit. During their time together, Cassio noted how Francesco looked much smaller and sickly compared to him and eventually learned about the truth of Francesco's and what their mother did to him after his death. This led Cassio to kill their mother out of revenge before joining The Hitman Team after losing a fight with Olio Nero. Cassio looks up to Francesco when it comes to mentoring his subbordinates.

It is implied that Francesco is a natural-born Stand user but his Stand and its abilities is unknown.

## Appearance

Earlier in his life, Francesco and Cassio were identical in appearance with blond hair and bright blue eyes. However, as time passed, Francesco appeared to be shorter and thinner, as well as older, due to increased drug usage and the effects of having a stressful, unhealthy lifestyle caused by being overworked. Although Francesco's hair also ended up being brown like his brother, he is forced to dye it blonde and have it permed in various textures throughout his life depending on the role he is performing or whatever his mother deemed suitable for his appearance. According to Cassio, his hair is brittle as a result of constant styling and bleaching. He is often put into suits and other clothes his mother deemed to be suitable for his career, which ages him further.

When Cassio meets his brother in the afterlife, Francesco appears to be the same height and weight as his brother while also being more relaxed. He is shown wearing a dark blue silk robe with his outfit; the robe motif is similar to Prosciutto's suit. His hair also appears to be long like his brother but tied into a messy bun.

## Personality

Not much is known about Francesco beyond Cassio's perspective. It is revealed that he is quiet and self-sacrificing, loving his brother unconditionally even with Cassio showed resentment against him. Overprotective and resilient, Francesco refused to disclose to Cassio the reality of his life and forgave Cassio for not knowing how much he suffered and going as far as making lies to their mother to make Cassio appear less favorable.

## Trivia

* Francesco's backstory is heavily influenced by American actress Judy Garland. Garland, similar to Francesco, suffered from substance abuse and abuse from both her mother and the film industry before ultimately dying from an overdose.
* According to Francesco's diary, Francesco dreams of moving to Los Angeles in order to continue his acting career away from his mother and hoped to take Cassio with him.