So it's time to reveal a little about Hassan's past.
He's the son of a couple of (Arab-like) merchants that'd travel through deserts in a caravan with other merchants and Hassan's aunt Zahira (who was his father's younger sister). Magic ran in his dad's family, but since the caravan didn't take too kindly to "witches", they didn't practice it, except for Zahira, who was seen as the "black sheep" of the family. When he was 5, Zahira realized Hassan had magic himself, and started teaching him and encourage him to develop it, but his parents weren't too happy about it. Growing up, Hassan felt torn between listening to his aunt and obeying his parents, until one night, at the age of 10, he had a very special dream:
He saw himself in a calm desert at night, with a starry sky full of planets and galaxies above him. Despite being alone, he wasn't scared, and he started walking among the dunes until he found an oasis. When walking towards it he caught a glimpse of something white, that when he turned to look, disappeared behind one of the palm trees. He started looking for that "white thing" all over, until he heard a voice behind him, asking him if he was lost. He turned around, a little startled, to see a white haired boy with big purple eyes, and after that, he woke up. But luckily, a couple of months later, he had that dream again, and then again, and again, and again. Each time he'd get a little more time and chance to talk to the little boy, and though they never exchanged names, they became friends and revealed to each other that they could do magic. They started showing each other what they could do, and he learned a few things from the white haired boy, things that when he'd wake up he'd tell his aunt about. Eventually, when Hassan was 11, both his aunt and him came to the conclusion that the white haired kid might be real, and they started to look for him everywhere the caravan would stop by. But sadly, incidentally, Hassan stopped having those dreams when he revealed to the kid that he was looking for him in real life, and promised that he would find him.
Years went by and they never came across him. In time Hassan gave up searching, and decided to just keep the memory and the lessons learned from those dreams. But by the time he turned 18, the caravan had grown and they were expanding horizons, so they decided to try their luck visiting Vesuvia. Walking alone through the market place, Hassan spotted a fluff of white hair among the crowd and his heart leaped to his throat. He chased it's owner down, but couldn't reach him, eventually losing sight of him, but he was absolutely sure he had seen it. He went back to tell his aunt about it, and Zahira was happy to hear the news, as happy as she was to tell him that she loved Vesuvia because she could feel it was a city full of magic.
In the end they both decided to leave the caravan and stay; Zahira opened her magic shop, and Hassan kept looking out for the white haired boy. Luckily it wasn't long before he found him, and he finally learned his name was Asra. Asra and him became friends, and eventually lovers, and, well, the rest is history uwu
I know this was long so if you read all the way through, thank you for reading! 💖
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ps. By the way I'm really proud of how this pic turned out, it might be one of the best pics I've ever done
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