-Asra's POV-
"Have a good day." I bid farewell as the customer walked out of the shop. He had just gotten a tarot reading from me.
The bells on the front door jingled and another customer walked in.
Three more customers.
Three girls, all whispering and giggling to each other as they walked up to me.
The three were obviously seeking attention. They were wearing bright, colorful, revealing outfits and were all ornamented with accessories.
"Hay~" The blonde one greeted me, checking me out. I grimaced.
"Asra!" I heard (Y/N) scream from the attic. My eyes widened.
"Aw, shoot. You're not single?" The ravenette said. The blonde smirked and got closer to me, though the red-head did try to stop her by holding her back.
"Yeah.. I'm taken." I lied, backing away.
"Well, I could be better than her, y'know. I bet I'm way prettier than her." The blonde boasted, and then she caught the picture of me and (Y/N) that I had pinned to the wall by the entrance.
"Is that her? Eww. She's so ugly! Your standards must be really low. She looks like you got her off the street, like, holy-" I cut her off, "SHUT. UP."
"She's the most perfect, beautiful, intelligent person you could ever find, even past Vesuvia. Now get out of my shop!" I roared, but the girl just licked her lips, moving closer to me.
The other two, however, immediately ran out the front door.
"You're really persistent, not to mention intimidating. You must be good in be-" I pushed her out the door and slammed it, locking it once she was out.Then I dashed up the stairs, panicked.
I went into the attic to see (Y/N) lying on the floor, her eyes shut. She was squirming and muttering in her sleep. She was drenched in sweat and her hands were clenched into fists. She looked as if she were in pain.
I picked her up bridal style and carried her to our bedroom, setting her down under the covers in the bed.
"Hey, wake up." I said softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
(Y/N) just groaned, reaching out for me. I let her grab my shoulders as I positioned myself on top of her, comforting her as best as I could.
This time I could make out what (Y/N) muttered.
"My... parents...?" She groaned under her breath, a crease forming between her eyebrows.
I tensed my shoulders.
She's definitely not having a good dream, then.-(Y/N)'s POV-
"My... parents...?" I managed to choke out, horrified by his words.
The Devil nodded to me, smirking.
"What did they do?"
"Your father made a deal with me. The Devil. A rather win-lose deal, if you ask me. If you couldn't tell, I was the winner." He snarled, and I tensed.
Lucio growled and attempted to move towards me, but The Devil summoned chains around him that pulled him backwards into the wall.
"Stop!" The count yelled, but to no prevail. The Devil tightened the chains around him, "Silence, little lamb."
I squirmed a little, and The Devil threw his chains around me, too, harnessing me to the ground.
"What did my father do?" I asked silently, and Lucio visibly sweated.
"Well, little lamb, he committed sin. So then I summoned him to my realm, and he promised me that he'd do whatever I wished of him as long as I didn't hurt you." The Devil explained, licking his lips.
"Why was I brought up?"
"Why, I can't tell you everything. You'll have to ask your father about that. Trust me, you'll run into him." The Devil said before snapping his fingers and disappearing.
The chains disappeared, too.
I stumbled painfully over to Lucio, who caught me awkwardly in his arms when I almost fell.
"Who was my father? Why are you not taunting me like you always did?" I questioned, and he sighed deeply.
"I never said it yesterday, but I never wanted to taunt you. Or Doctor Devorak or Noddy." He said.
"Then why did you?"
"The Devil forced me to." The blonde man responded, looking away from me.
"Do you know where I could find my father?" I asked, and he shook his head silently.
"In the waking world, I don't even know where I am. I'm in some eerily silent forest somewhere on the other side of Vesuvia." Lucio said, meeting my eyes.
"Should I look for you?"
"Yes, but you can't tell anyone that you saw me with the Devil."
"Of course."
I felt my vision blur, and then go back to reality. I opened my eyes to see Asra on top of me, stroking my hair.
"(Y/N)! I thought I lost you again." He said, hugging you.
"Again...?" I wondered.
He instantly corrected himself, "I mean, well, nevermind."
I nuzzled against his neck and wrapped my hands around his waist as he lowered himself onto me. I felt his fluffy curls tickle my cheek.
"What happened? A nightmare?" Asra asked me, his mouth against my neck.
"Well... I saw The Devil. As in, from the tarot deck." I explained.
"Did he... say anything?" Asra asked.
"Yeah. Not much though. He said something about my father, and how he made a deal with him to protect me. He also said that I'd run into him soon." I said, and Asra rested his chin on my shoulder.
I then decided to fill the magician in with the details of the night before, at the palace. This time I did mention Lucio.
Asra let out a low groan.
"Do you know where he went?"
"No, why?"
"Well, wherever he goes trouble seems to follow. He also may have answers as to what he needs help with. Maybe it has something to do with your parents. The timing of your meeting with The Devil just seems too surreally close to your meeting with Lucio." Asra said, and I nodded against him.
"Now, you look exhausted. I'll get you some dinner, and we can watch a movie together and then sleep, okay?" He said, sitting up.
I nodded. All I really wanted at the moment was some peace and quiet.---
Soon after, Asra came into the room with a tray with two plates full of food on it.
He set the tray down on the bed and then got into the covers close beside me, propping himself against the pillow behind him like I did.
We browsed through our movie collection. Asra saw a horror movie and teased me about how I wouldn't be able to handle it, so I considered it a challenge.
He popped the horror movie into the CD cartridge and we both got back into bed together.
Asra ran his fingers through my hair as we ate our dinner.
Throughout the start of the movie, he made jokes about how dumb it was, and we laughed together about it.
I snuggled into Asra as we watched the movie. On screen, the couple was now together, talking behind a closed bedroom door.
Suddenly and loudly, a monster crashed through the door, roaring.
I tensed and buried my face into Asra's chest, looking away from the TV.
He giggled at my antics and stroked my back reassuringly.
"I knew you couldn't handle it." He giggled, his dimples showing.
"Hey, that was really loud is all." I said defensively, pouting at him.
"Yeah, right."---
The movie was over and Asra was asleep under me.
I was afraid of sleep. I really didn't want to have a nightmare, even though I now knew that this wasn't Lucio's fault.
I rested my head against Asra's chest, closing my eyes and listening to his heartbeat.
Faust wrapped herself around both of us at once, as if twining us together.
I let myself drift off to sleep. I didn't have any nightmares, but no good dreams, either. Just silent darkness.---
I woke up and yawned, blinking my eyes open to see Asra sleeping as I laid ontop of him. Faust was asleep, too, her head resting on my head.
I untangled myself from Asra's body gently and went downstairs. It appeared to be quite early, because it was still very dark out yet I felt well-rested.
I suddenly heard a loud crash and whirled around, only to see Julian, standing up and rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh. Uh, hey." He greeted awkwardly, smiling at me.
I ran up to him and told him about the sudden nightmare I had yesterday.
"We need to find Lucio! I bet he has answers. It also wouldn't hurt to have him on our side." Julian announced.
"That's what me and Asra were thinking." I said, blinking at Julian.
"So we should bring Nadia, too, since she's also having nightmares. And probably that Portia fellow, considering she's her Majesty's most loyal handmaiden. And Asra, if course."
"Don't forget me. You need a navigator." An unfamiliar voice snarled.
I whirled around again to see a tall, formidable blonde woman with dark eyes who wore an outfit almost entirely made of pelts and furs. She had a bird on her shoulder and was holding a spear in one hand.
"Who are you? Why is everyone breaking into my home?" I wondered aloud.
"Morga. I believe you know me as Montag, ahem, Lucio's mother." She introduced herself, glaring at us.
The bird on her shoulder cawed.
"And this is my bird, Jæger."
"That's perfect. We really would greatly value your help, if you could." I said, meeting her intimidating gaze.
"Fine. But we need to hurry up and leave. I can have Jæger call your little palace friends over here as you wake up your magician." Morga commanded. She whispered something to Jæger before he flew out the window and towards the palace.
I sprinted upstairs and into the bedroom.
I brushed my hand across Asra's cheek gently.
His eyes fluttered open and he sat up, "Good morning, (Y/N)."
He yawned and Faust opened her eyes, waking up as well.
"Hey, Asra. This is really sudden, but please come downstairs." I urged him.
He nodded after a moment of hesitation, grabbing your hand as you both walked down the stairs.
Julian met Asra's eyes. His grey eye widened, and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Ilya." Asra greeted sourly.
"It's Julian." The Auburn-haired man corrected sheepishly.
"Whatever." Asra growled.
"Ahh, yes. Hello, magician. I'm Morga, mother of the former Count Lucio. Listen, we're about to set off to find the bratty little goat, so hurry up and pack your things. We need to leave." She growled harshly.
The bells on the door jingled, and Queen Nadia stepped in alongside Portia. Jæger was there, too. He flew over to perch himself on Morga's shoulder.---
"And where do we think he is? We can't just go running blindly into Vesuvia." Asra commented as we discussed our plans around the table in the backroom.
"Somewhere in the wilds. Far away. I'm not entirely sure how far, though." Morga stated.
"The wilds? Do you mind if I get help for that?" Asra asked, and Morga glared at him, but didn't say anything for a moment.
"What kind of help?" She asked sharply.
"An old friend. He lives in the woods. He could be a good resource." He responded.
"His name's Muriel."
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YOU ARE READING
asra x fem! reader • apprentice
Fiksi Penggemarimagine waking up one day not remembering anything, essentially having amnesia, with a man that you come to know as you master and best friend and... more? -i don't own the arcana, it's characters and some plot aspects-