#friend's apprentice

Part 3 of the ocs/Vesuvia crossover series

(recommend reading first two too)

Part 1: https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/175679667601/sosince-helias-isnt-an-apprentice-character-and

Part 2: https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/175782057246/second-short-story-snippet-for-this-au-thingy-or

More pics about HeliasxJulian AND AsraxLina:

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174300355036/sooo-i-promised-my-buddy-to-draw-her-apprentice

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/173387479636/alright-so-my-friend-mad-hatter-rici-has-lately

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174114849686/another-picture-set-that-needs-some-longer

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174527838151/helias-short

Here’s the story for this picture: (Lina is the apprentice of this verse, paired with Asra, and belongs to my friend @mad-hatter-rici)

Lina and her companion hurried across the streets of Vesuvia, and she felt sorry for Julian’s ear beforehand; Portia looked rather frustrated, which wasn’t surprising; her brother had made a number of himself again, apparently, and the two women were currently heading to Rowdy Raven to hopefully stop him before the dramatic man did something overly foolish - again.

Soon enough, they spot the familiar sign, and Portia marches in without any hesitation, then stopping on her tracks almost as soon as she enters. Lina almost bumps at her and rubs her nose, peeking from behind the redhead woman to see what she was glaring at.

The sight that greeted them was not at all surprising; the auburn haired man was currently fooling around hopelessly drunk, dancing on the table with his shirt half-untucked, multiple people cheering him on.

”For the love of...Ilya!” Portia marches towards him, making few bystanders back away a tad spooked upon seeing her peeved expression.

”Ahh, Pasha! How nice to see you here!” Julian greets her with a drunken grin, then proceeds to tug his sister on to the table, managing to avoid the hand trying to grab his ear in the process.

”Ilya what are you doing?! You are attracting too much attention!” Portia hisses at her brother, who just chuckles and twirls her around for a bit, before hugging her and rubbing his cheek sloppily against her hair.

”Have I ever told you how much I luv you Pasha? You’re the best little sister I could’ve ever hoped for!” He declares dramatically, gaining a slight eyeroll from the short woman who attempts to push him off her gently, but firmly.

 Lina glanced around, but luckily so far there were no guards or any of the sort in the premises. The onlookers had began to dissipate too now that they’d come, likely having seen Portia drag her brother away before.

”Yeah yeah I know Ilya, just come down will you?”

”Buut Pashaa, the night has just begun! You should join me on the dance floor, the music is quite good!” He declares and claps his hands together in rhythm with the music.

”We aren’t even on the floor!” She informs him and jumps down, trying to tug him down from the table as well.

”Come on, we need to go!”

Julian just sighs dramatically and slips his hand away from her grasp, giving her a pouty look.

”Why won’t my dear little sister dance with me? My heart is broken.” He declares with a hand held on his chest, gripping his shirt from where his heart was.

Portia rolls her eyes again and glances at Lina, as if asking her to help her out with this dramatic baby. Before the mage could even open her mouth however, a strong aura of magic brushes past her, and she looks up to find...Helias, beside her.

Shocked to see him there again, for a moment she just looks at him stunned. He was wearing the same cloak from before, gazing up at Julian with that same, pleasant and amused expression. Underneath the cloak he had a different outfit from usual she noted, which wasn’t too surprising; Nadia changed outfits almost daily as well. 

”Your highness! What brings you here?” 

Portia asks equally stunned, then notes how the foreign ruler was gazing at her brother. Slowly, she turns her gaze back towards the auburn haired drunkard on the table, who’d stopped to take a breather, only for his breathing to halt momentarily as he sees the figure examining him.

”....My Lord, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here in this hour?” He manages to regain his composure, fixing his shirt a bit and bows dramatically, which almost results him in tripping to his own feet, being a bit too drunk perhaps.

”Curiosity as always, Doctor, curiosity.” 

Helias chuckles softly, then walks closer, and actually steps - or rather sort of floats up in one fluid stepping motion - to join him on the table. It was such a bizarre sight, and a lot of people were gawking at the pair right now, which concerned both Portia and Lina equally.

Not just for Julian, it had to be dangerous for a leader - even if he was magic - to just randomly walk around like this with what was clearly expensive clothing.

Lina had honestly wondered about it last time too, and as she examined the Mirthas’ Emperor now, she could sense a powerful enchantment from the cloak he wore. 

Perhaps...

”Well I cannot deny I am delighted to see you again. I also must thank you for your kind words you’d apparently stated about me, even if I feel they are not deserved.”

Portia and Lina quickly glance at each other with heightened tension; they could not be sure how the ruler reacted to the knowledge of them eavesdropping on his conversation with his sister.

Helias just glances at them amused, before turning his gaze back at Julian. The green eyes held the same kind of intrigue from last time, and for a brief moment Julian found himself just sort of lost in them, examining the vivid, inhuman hue closely.

He still did not know what Helias was exactly, other than he probably was magic user somehow.

”I may disagree with that, but I’d rather not ruin your mood with bickering. It was quite amusing, watching you dance.”

 Julian flashes him a grin, striking a pose that gained an eyeroll from his sister, which he ignored.

”Always glad to entertain My Lord.”

”Helias. I do not care much for the title when speaking off-duty so to say.” Helias tells him with a soft laugh, then steps closer, making the brunet’s heart skip a beat, though he opted not to show his sudden nervousness.

”Well, then I must insist you call me Julian, my dear.” He tells him with a chuckle, brushing trough his auburn locks with a charming smile across his pale face.

”Very well then, Julian.” 

A pale hand reaches up to play with the long, wavy white hair as the ruler seems to contemplate on for a moment on what to do next. Lina glances at Portia, who was looking back at her uncertain, not knowing if they should interfere or not. So far, Helias’ opinion had been positive when it came to Ilya, but knowing her brother, he could turn this sour very soon.

Eventually, the cloaked figure breaks the relative silence however, offering Julian the kind of coy smile that could easily make most hearts stutter. Well, at least his did, but the doctor was aware of how easily he could be affected, so maybe it was just him.

”Perhaps you could offer me a dance? You do seem to have the skills for it.”

The brunet flushes a little at that, but then just grins, boldly grasping his hand - much to the shock and worry for his sister - tugging his companion closer, who just chuckles at his gesture, not bothered by it much to Portia’s relief.

”Why I’d be flattered to offer you one, your highness. I just hope you can keep up, I’d rather not injure your delicate feet.” He glances down pointedly, and indeed, Lina notes that like last time, Helias was barefoot. She was really curious about that honestly, figuring maybe she should ask about it sometime as it was a bit bizarre.

”Oh I am sure you’d love to, but I would prefer doing it on the floor.”

”Oh don’t worry dear, I’ll be careful with you.”

A pale hand lifts up to brush his cheek, taking the brunet by surprise.

”It’s more a concern of your wellbeing, Julian. If you trip and fall, you might injure yourself.”

 The brunet was about to inform him there was no need to worry given his peculiar trait, but he is too struck by the genuine soft concern in the musical voice, so instead, he steps down from the table, still holding a pale hand on his gloved one. He brings it up to his lips and kisses it, just as Helias slips back down from the table as well.

”If you insist, my dear.”

 Lina and Portia resign to watch from the sidelines as the brunet dances with his more unusual partner, and the young mage notes Helias was a capable dancer too. She also noticed that his feet rarely touched the ground. He’d also dropped his cloak briefly and leaving it at the edge of the table, likely to make it easier for him to dance. This was the first time she’d seen him wearing an outfit with pants, but it actually didn’t look that weird.

”Is he...floating? I don’t think Ilya is holding him up that much even if he’s shorter...” Portia muses out confused, having noticed the same thing she did.

”I think...he is. It’s some sort of passive magic thing maybe? Perhaps his kindred just like to move around by floating in general?” Lina contemplates on this peculiar detail, holding her chin thoughtfully. It didn’t feel likely as she’d never seen Lady Gwendolyn float. She always marched forward with determined steps.

 ”What are they exactly? I mean...I know Lord Helias and Lady Gwendolyn are some sort of magic folk. Milady has been telling us to be kind of hush hush about it, but...”

Lina could see her friend’s tendency to gossip shine trough for a bit as she examined the dancing pair curiously now. If the mage was honest with herself, she was curious too. The same time though, she had asked Asra about this, and he’d told her to not worry about it, stating that whatever their true selves were, neither sibling was a malevolent being.

Watching Julian and Sir Helias dance, Lina suddenly felt a pang of something in her chest; she missed Asra. He’d gone off again this morning, and even if he’d promised to be back by tomorrow, she still felt horrible sense of loneliness whenever he was away.

”We should probably get Ilya out of here soon; Lord Helias is bound to attract attention.” Portia points out suddenly, snapping Lina out of her thoughts. She sighs and smiles with a nod, and the two head for the pair. As if sensing them approach, Helias makes Julian halt his steps, and he turns to look at the two women.

”I presume you wish to send your brother home by now, my sweet?” The white haired figure asks from Portia with a light smile, and the woman nods, offering him a polite smile.

”If it’s not too much of a bother to you sire.”

”Of course not; I understand he should probably go and sleep this off.” Helias chuckles, turning to look at the brunet who looked miffed; he’d clearly been enjoying their dance a lot.

”Your skills are extraordinary my dear; then again, I should expect nothing less from a royalty.”

”Please; I simply followed your lead, Doctor.” Helias tells him with a laugh, patting his cheek gently, gaining a slight flush from his companion, who coughs a bit and then reminds him with a scolding finger to just use his name instead.

”Ah, of course, Julian. My apologies.” Helias chuckles, picking up his cloak and putting it back on, and then turns back at the two girls.

 ”I’d join you bringing him home, but I believe that would not be ......ideal to you given his circumstance.”

”Yes, we’d prefer if people wouldn’t know where he is staying at the moment much, sorry.” Lina offers the ruler an apologetic smile, but Helias just nods, stating he understood it fully.

”I should make haste as well to be frank with you; my sister has been….on the edge lately, and she’ll grow concerned if I’m gone for too long.” The white haired figure sighs and nods at them, glancing at Julian with a wry smile. 

”Hopefully I get to dance with you again, Julian; it was quite entertaining.”

”Ah, I hope so too.” The brunet manages to mumble out and watches as the pale figure disappears into the streets again.

As Lina gazes after him, she suddenly notices another familiar figure who heads after him, but not before giving them a glance. 

Azul. 

So the mage was still keeping an eye on the fluffy haired ruler.

After a brief moment of examining them, the blunet turns to head after Helias, but not before the snake on his shoulder waves his tail at them as a greeting.

”That guy again?” Portia muses upon noticing what Lina was looking at.

”Makes you wonder what happened in the past to have someone constantly stalk Lord Helias.”

Lina couldn’t agree more with her friend.

After a moment of silence, she sighs and gestures Portia to bring Julian to Mazelinka so he could sleep off his hangover.

Whee third story completed.

I initially planned to draw another picture to go along with this short story snippet, but my brain just sort of short circuited and I couldn’t decide on what to draw for it.

I’m also going to go into the actual story-reason behind why Helias is in Vesuvia soon enough; since he is not an apprentice, I wanted to create an actual background story for his presence and how this ship came to be.

Since, Y know, it’s not my style to ship stuff without giving it a story. The best part (to me anyway) about any sort of ship and couple is the journey to the point they are together, not the destination.

Helias, Azul, Azul’s snake (C) Me

Lina, Gwendolyn (C) @mad-hatter-rici

ughhhhhhhWhy do you make me answer questions like this sheep-mom??? 

They are NOT saying your original outfit is bad, kay Lina? They aren’t thinking that, you just happened to walk by so they snatched you as they were asked to do a makeover, sooo…..

They did take notes from your usual outfit though.

…..Lol. her legs kinda look like bird-feet I just realized it

I’m sorry, I dunno what happened there