“Death cast her gaze on this wretch and turned away.”

[ @unlicensedmartyr || Continued from X. ]

Julian’s words were an understatement. A tough few days? The normally reserved and sometimes blunt apprentice was… quiet. Their mind traced over the past few days numbly as the horse made its way through the sand dunes of the desert.

Arya had… finally settled back home after all the craziness with The Devil and his attempt to merge the realms. But then the one person they’d never wanted to see again had shown up: Their mother. She had come with an ultimatum and Arya was too shocked to really figure out how she could be there. However, her ultimatum was clear: return home and marry their fiance or lose everything that Arya held dear. Really… it wasn’t much of a choice. While Arya had made friends of all kinds over the past few weeks, they were still alone. And… Well, they didn’t want their personal problems becoming an issue for everyone else.

So Arya agreed to return home.

If that hadn’t been startling enough, having their wedding crashed by none-other-than Julian Devorak? Well… They were certainly startled. One thing lead to another and soon Arya found themselves facing off with their mother head to head. While Arya had no intention of ending her life… It seemed the Lady Kamini’s deal had finally soured, her soul ripped from her body before being dragged to Inferno. Watching that… left Arya more than a little traumatized. 

How were they supposed to answer? They didn’t know. Everything felt wrong. “I’m… fine… I guess…” They mumbled half-heartedly, gripping the reigns of their steed. They barely felt the cool touch of the night winds, not asking for even one rest stop.

“…Why? Why did you come after me?”

Julian trailed after them in silence, not really sure how to break the silence between them after all the recent events. He wasn’t really sure he was supposed to do it and obviously, as always, he spent too much thinking about the right words that when he finally spoke they came out all wrong. Obviously Arya was not fine, it was a stupid question really. And even if they told they were fine, it’s pretty clear it’s not true.

He spurs his own horse on so they were walking side by side and Julian’s brows furrowed at the magician’s question, as if he was trying to understand if the question was genuinely out of curiosity or if Arya was accusing him for following them and causing all those troubles.

“I...I just thought you could be in danger and I wanted to help. I just found it strange that you would go back with” he paused trying again to choose the right words to use to bring up Arya’s mother  “...her, willingly”. If Julian learnt one thing thanks to all that misadventure with the Devil it was that it was okay to ask others for help, and friends are supposed to help each other. Now, Arya didn’t ask for his help, so he was once again acting on his own accord.

“I didn’t planned it that way” thinking about it now he has to admit there were less dramatic ways of saving Arya instead of waiting for the “speak it now or forever remain silent” part of the wedding.

“No offense taken, I get that more often than you’d think.” Sun tied up the last satchel of herbs on Julian’s list and bundled them up neatly for him. “Right, so these are done.. And just so you don’t get any funny ideas about popping in here after hours, I’m taking the liberty of writing down when we’re open.”

He tore off a bit of paper and began to write, looking up to wink at Julian. “Not everyone else in this house is as lax as I am about strange handsome men wandering in when the shop is closed.”

“Also…” he put the paper into the bundle and tied it together. “I would love to dance for you. Naturally, you still have to pay for my so called herbal services, but if you’re offering to buy me a drink I’ll knock off a few coins. How’s that?”

right now, I'm in library, studying the plague. And having a mental breakdown over the thesis just to get back in character.

A small shrug is given, as well as an apologetic smile. “It might not have been exactly what he said, but something similar at least. Though, to be quite honest, I’m glad I got to meet you in person, rather than just hearing about you.” A sweet, sharp toothed grin is given. They meant every word. 

A soft huff of breath, causing some of their long hair to flutter against their face. “Now that’s not fair. Let me at least give you an IOU or something.” After a moment, they snap, an idea coming to their head. “I’ve got it. How about a day without worrying about being caught? A day out and about? I’m quite good at illusion magics, so I could make it so you looked like someone else.”