The Arcana: Fragments

I: You're a Strange One, Aren't You?

Julian x Reader x Asra

I couldn't remember the last time I had ventured out into the streets of Vesuvia. Then again, I didn't remember much of anything about myself prior to waking up in Asras arms. This world was strange, it made me feel insouciant. Moreover, I was insouciant, unbridled within my thoughts.

Lost in my thought of self wonderment I found myself caught off guard by a clamor of shouts and laughter coming within a small, low ceilinged brewery. Unintentionally, I walked in. Dozens of people were cavorting about, mingling amongst one another. What was I doing here? I had never wandered off this far from the shop, from home, from Asra. At the same time, I felt drawn to this place. Something...no, someone, called to me here. It was all strange, my fingertips pulsed with magical energy as I delved deeper into the masses of civilians. Feeling crowded and unfamiliar with my situation, I instinctively brought my cloak closer to my shoulders, my nails nervously clawing at the inside fabric. The music was loud but not unpleasant, the place smelled of rich, bitter ales of all kinds and the people, well, they all had smells of their own.

I was growing more nervous by the second, and for a moment I felt foreign hands make gropes at my cloak as I sauntered through the crowd. I didn't know where I was going, who I was looking for, or why I was even in here. Still, I stayed. I found shelter at a corner near a back entrance at the end of the brewery, peering outside the window nearby I saw the sign that adorned the establishment: The Rowdy Raven. Coincidentally, as I peered back inside I noticed a jet black raven peering at me through curious eyes, perching on the windowsill.

"You know something, don't you?", I questioned. The bird only tilted its head, eyes squinting in curiosity. "Care to tell?", I mused. Instead of replying, the bird took flight and flew inside the building before landing on a lone table adjacent to my position. "Oh, setting the mood for a tall tale are we?", I laughed to myself and sat down in the booth. It was a good spot, I realized, it felt safe. There were empty cups scattered about the surface, the raven quietly pecked at one of the cups handles as I took the time to gaze out at my surroundings. No one looked in my direction, the servers scuffled past my table without so much as a glance, I felt invisible, and I liked it. I leaned my head back and sighed, taking in the pulsing aura of the environment.

The more I focused on the energy of the room, the more I felt I was being watched. I opened my eyes and scanned the table once more, the raven was now gone, but there was a noise happening near my ear. Breathing. My hands went cold as I slowly looked to the other side of the booth, there was a coat strewn across the back of the chair. My gaze went more inwards and soon I noticed the bulge of a person strewn over in the shadows next to me. It was impossible to make out who it was, the colors they wore were so dark, exclusively black and gray it seemed. I made out a leg first and began following the clad leather boot up and up and up, towards dark gray pants and white dress shirt, before finding the pale exposed flesh of a male chest. The breathing was still in my ear as I went further up the chest to an unblemished neck, flushed with a pink glow. A bony jaw was soon in the corner of my vision, and then I felt it, the energy, the pulse in my fingertips return to me once more. It felt stronger, more desperate, it knew who this was. Finally facing the person, I saw him. I didn't know him, but my body did. My fingers, like magnets, began feeling the skin of the man fast asleep to my side. His breathing was soft but deep, it told me a thousand words and yet I could translate none of it. His cheeks were smooth and transparent, if I looked close enough I could see the veins of his neck tracing their way into his jaw, fading off into the blush of his cheeks. His skin was hot, and as I looked over to the table littered with empty ale cups I realized it wasn't from sleepiness this man was now asleep. I traced over his eyes and saw the dark purple hue under his eyelids, clearly this is a man who regularly doesn't sleep willingly. I pressed my head against his and searched for his aura, it flowed for me within a few seconds, glowing an array of hues that seemed to unfold a thousand lives this man had lived, or taken? It was hard to tell.