Ceci Mariposa/Introduction

### Namesake

Gianni: Italian diminutive of Giovanni, meaning "God is gracious", in reference to Giorno Giovanna. Cecilia: Latin name, meaning "blind". Martello: Italian surname, meaning "hammer-like personality".

### Family

Unnamed father and mother (alive), Bruno Bencivenga (half-brother, deceased)

### Status

Dead

Ceci Mariposa is a member of Team Bucciarati and a minor antagonist in Fate of Zephyr.

Initially believed to be an orphan abandoned at a local orphanage, she discovered that she was Paolo Bucciarati's ex-wife's daughter from a secret affair. Ceci ran away from home after discovering the truth of her birth and finding out that she had a half-brother Bruno Bencivenga, who had just died by the time she met Paolo. As a result, Ceci ended up running into Team Bucciarati while attempting to meet him and became the team's most recent member soon after the death of Stracciatello. She ultimately dies at the hands of Cassio Montagna and Olio Nero, able to distract The Hitman Team as long as possible to allow Fedel Agnello to kidnap Gigi Una and Clara E. during the train ride to Florence.

Ceci possesses the Stand MONTERO, which has the ability to transform and manipulate objects into living insects, often using it as a means of attacking victims.

## Appearance

Ceci appears to be a teenager with an average body and height.

Due to her desire to be like Bruno and being his half-sister, Ceci's appearance resembles him. Her hair, like Bruno, is black and straight with blunt bangs that cover most of her forehead. Her hair is revealed to be down to her lower waist, which she keeps braided with a light blue bow tied at the end. She appears to be wearing a white matching two-piece outfit adorn with dark blue roses. The top part of her outfit has puffy sleeves with bows at the end. Two golden buttons are placed in the collar part of the chest area. She appears to be wearing pink lace-up sneakers that are usually untied. She appeared to have butterfly clips in her hair, with one on each side of her head.

As a child, Ceci's appearance is vastly different. Ceci resembled her mother more, with curly dark brown hair that she was made to cut to keep short while she stayed in the foster care system. Ceci used to wear a white polka dot dress and wore it when she first encountered Paolo; her shoes remained the same throughout her life. The outfit became more slim and proactive when she tried to seduce Massimo Volpe and she wore pink heels that appeared to be very small on her feet. While she was in juvenile prison, she wore a typical jail uniform that appeared to be pastel blue.

Because of her Stand, Ceci is often surrounded by bugs. Most of them are butterflies that fly near her and there are instances where she appears with other bugs like caterpillars or dragonflies crawling around her skin.

## Personality

Ceci, as the youngest member of the team, is also the most impatient and ill-tempered. Due to her age, she also has a inferiority complex that causes her to constantly overexert and overwork herself with tasks and act aggressively when communicating with her male peers. She is often described as loud, foul-mouth, and often feuding with Mela Ghirgha due to the both desiring attention from people at the same time. Due to her upbringing in foster care, she is shown to be rather immature and innocent, oftentimes unaware of proper social cues. Some of her teammates has described her behavior of that of a young teenage boy as a means of insulting her; she takes no offense of the matter despite this.

Similar to Mela, Ceci fears loneliness and having no family to consider her own. She openly talks about her thoughts to her team, oftentimes ranting about how she hated her foster parents, and sometimes her birth mother for having an affair that resulted in her own conception. Her behavior also led her to spend much of her childhood in juvenile prison and halfway houses, further stunting her emotional and social growth as a result, and developed her ill-tempered nature into what it is today. It is from her time in prison that she developed a habit of major risk-taking, contributed by her inferiority complex, and being the main cause of her jailtime due to constantly trying to escape. An example of her risk taking behavior with Team Bucciarati when she went out of her way to try to convince the team to join her by seducing Massimo as a means of helping the team out. She also developed a sense of stubbornness and wouldn't hesitate to disrespect any authority openly, including Father Diavolo, regardless of consequences it entails. Despite appearing immature and unaware of social expectations, she is cunning and resourceful. She is capable of hiding her true personality to appear innocent and unassuming when the situation calls for it- although not for long due to her impatience.

Upon meeting Paolo and becoming a member of his team, however, Ceci shows blind devotion and deep respect towards Paolo only. Oftentimes, she subtly bragged about how she is able to perform or do missions well for Paolo compared to other members and how she is the best mafioso to serve his team. Ceci sees him as a father figure she always desired and sees being with him as an opportunity to be his only daughter. As a result, Ceci acts like a "yes-man" when it comes to Paolo's orders, as seen when she took the opportunity to proclaim that she will join his efforts in taking down The Hitman Team. She often tries to gain Paolo's approval; as seen when she openly insulted her birth mother after hearing that her birth mother divorced Paolo but retracted her statement when Paolo harshly scolded her for saying such things to Angelina. Ceci's upbringing being emotionally empty led her to sought out delinquency as a means of gaining attention. Although the love and appreciation is one-sided, Paolo once commented on how her devotion grew over the years and eulogized her when he heard of her death on the phone. Ceci will use her ill-temper and personality to be Paolo's unofficial muscle, something that Paolo was willing to take advantage of, and she is willing to provide it. It is unknown if she is aware of Paolo's true thoughts on her and whether she denies it.

Despite never meeting her half-brother, she thinks highly of Bruno after hearing what happened to him after the divorce and his eventual death. As a result, she oftentimes tries to emulate his assumed character when she is around Paolo as a way to also make him see her as a sort of "replacement" for Bruno. This act is obvious when she tries to act based on what she hears Bruno was like in the past- even if it goes against her own personality. Whether she is aware of her mimicry or not, she is often stressed out or feels dejected when she feels like she is not meeting Paolo's expectations or not "being Bruno" enough in her mind.

Most often, she tried to be stoic and patient like Paolo and Bruno, but often end up blowing up in people's faces once her patience runs out. However, both the original Bruno and Ceci share the same brutal nature when it comes to their enemies.

## Abilities

### Stand

MONTERO is a close-range Stand that allows Ceci to transform herself or anything she touches into insects, mainly butterflies. The butterflies also double as beacons for her, allowing her to pinpoint their locations and relay simple information in terms of location. The butterflies are also capable of eating victims alive, using their sweat or tears to find them and ultimately eat the flesh where they are sweating. This could be mitigated if the victims are in a cool enough space where they cannot sweat, or consume or carry items that will keep them cool. Alleviating factors that can make an individual sweat, such as stress, is also another way to mitigate the issue.

## References

* Bruno Bucciarati's backstory regarding his mother: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9CzIhekjJc
* "MONTERO" / "Call Me By Your Name" music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k
* "Lil Nas X Embodies Mother Nature in Bug-Centric Photoshoot": https://floodmagazine.com/85909/lil-nas-x-bug-centric-artwork/
* Blue Butterfly symbolism: https://digestfromexperts.com/3508/blue-butterfly-meaning-symbolism-omens-and-spiritual-meanings/

Anime reference of Bruno's mother with Bruno.

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