From the 25 arcana oc/Ll lore asks! III, VIII, XVIII, & XXV❤️
Thanks so much for the ask! <3 :D
III.) Where in the Arcana world map does your MC come from? What was their life like there?
Eira comes from the city of Cravale, which isn't far from Vesuvia.
Eira's life in Cravale was very controlled. Her nobleman father thought it very important to keep his public appearance, which meant Eira wasn't able to explore much unless she was accompanied by one of the manor's staff. While he home was beautiful, it was confining because of her father's rules; a gilded cage, so to speak.
VIII.) If your MC could take their LI anywhere in the Arcana world, where would they take them and why? What about in the real world?
Asra:
In the Arcana world: To the various places she's heard customers talking about over the years, since she'd love to explore with Asra.
In the real world: Disney World 100%. Because yes UwU
Ilya:
In the Arcana world: On the sea. During their whirlwind romance that happened while the plague was raging, the two of them would talk about their future plans together if they were able to find a cure in time. Eira expressed interest in wanting to travel and learn how to sail, and Ilya promised he'd teach her.
In the real world: Honestly, she'd take him pretty much anywhere as long as it was away from his work so he'd finally take a break for once in his life. Of course, it'd have to be an either fun or relaxing place.
XVIII.) What is your MC up to in the ‘present’ time of your canon? Do they have goals they’re trying to achieve?
What's happening in the 'present' mainly depends on which route is taken.
If she hadn't died from the plague, she'd still be with her husband Julian with their son Bastien and adopted son Li, sailing as they fulfill one of the many dreams they shared together before the plague ended.
However, if she had died of the plague and gone through the resurrection and main story, she'd be with Asra (still completely unaware of what happened between her and Julian in the past) blissfully enjoying having him home for a change after defeating The Devil in Asra’s route. They’d be hanging around Vesuvia for a while, going on trips together to places Eira’s wanted to see, etc.
XXV.) Freebie. What’s one piece of lore about your MC that you’d like to tell the world about?
In the main Eira story (where she ends up with Asra after being ressurected), Julian had actually proposed to her during the plague and she said yes. She was married to him and pregnant with Bastien when she died, but had never told Julian cause he was already working himself into an early grave trying to find a cure to save her. Julian felt her death was his greatest failure and that he could never gain her forgiveness. He never told her that they had been together before she died, since he felt even if she gave him another chance, he wouldn’t deserve it.
Just some Eisra angst I felt like diving into because it’s 5am and I can’t sleep
Asra made his way back to Vesuvia for the first time in quite awhile. Arriving at the shop where he lived with his beloved Eira, he took a deep breath before opening the door with slight hesitation. He was excited to see her again, that was a fact, however they hadn’t been on the best of terms when he had left in the first place...
“Eira? Uh, I’m home,” he called out in the empty shop. After a few moments of silence, he softly sighed. “Eira, I know you’re probably still mad at me, and I don’t blame you, but can we just try to talk it out? Please? There’s something I need to tell you...”
Again, he was met with only silence. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he walked up the stairs to the room they often shared, but he was met with a half-made bed in an empty bedroom. Embarrassment burned at his cheeks as he realized he had been apologizing to an empty shop this entire time.
“Maybe she’s just gone to the market,” he told both himself and his familiar. “We’ll wait here for her.”
An hour passed.
Then two.
It was nearly three hours past when he has begun waiting and he was starting to worry. Actually, he had been worried ever since he had left her behind, but this was different. This didn’t feel right. He knew she had stayed in Vesuvia to help find a cure for the plague, but her work wouldn’t take all day... would it?
Deciding to investigate while he waited for her, he went to the market to speak with the person he knew could tell him where she was - Selasi. The baker greeted him with as broad of a smile someone in the midst of a plague could give.
“Asra! You’ve returned,” he said with both joy and concern. “What brought you back?”
“Well,” Asra hesitated at first and then promptly spilled all the details to Selasi, telling him about his inner turmoil, his missing Eira, everything. He had trusted Selasi with a lot in the past, so why not this? “Speaking of Eira... any idea where she is?” he asked hopefully.
Selasi’s usually cheerful expression saddened. “You haven’t heard? They took Eira to the Lazaret.”
“They what???”Asra’s heart began to pang with worry. He pressed Selasi for more information, silently praying that it wasn’t what it sounded like but unfortunately, that was all the baker could tell him.
With this troubling information stuck in his mind, he dropped Faust off at the shop, then rushed to the docks and set out for the Lazaret. The closer he got to the island, the further his heart sank.
Maybe she’s just positioned at the hospital there, he thought as he tried to calm his fears. I’m probably worrying about nothing.
As soon as his boat hit the shore, he vaulted out of it and began looking for her. The island was bigger than he had expected it to be while standing on it. It wasn’t a small island by any means - it was hard to miss while looking from the docks of Vesuvia in daylight, but the size was still surprising. Perhaps it would take longer to find her than he had originally thought.
The white haired magician searched for about fifteen minutes before remembering the compass that was in his satchel. Ilya had always thought it was broken since it didn’t point North, but in truth, it was magical and could lead you to wherever and whatever your heart desired. His heart had always desired Eira, though, which could confuse directions in some situations.
No sooner had he pulled out the compass than the needle swirled before setting itself on a target - Eira.
He ran in the direction it was leading him, running around trees and through shrubbery that was in his way. He ran and ran until he could feel he was close, then looked around at where the compass had wanted him to stop. Nothing. Nothing at all. No people, no buildings, nothing.
“Eira?” he called out, hoping she was close enough to hear. “EIRA?”
Asra sat down in the sand and tossed the compass onto the ground with a huff. He then fished a small, shiny object out of his pocket; a dainty ring that he had gotten for her during one of his adventures.
“Where are you?” he ran a frustrated hand through his curly, white hair and glanced back at the compass.
His frustration turned to curiosity when the compass needle shifted to point at a specific spot in the sand. To confirm this, he moved the compass around to see if it would maintain this destination, and it did.
He felt as if he had been punched in the gut as he realized what this meant. Eira, the girl he loved, the girl he had longed to wake up next to ever since he had left, the girl he wanted to someday start a family with, was dead.
“No,” he breathed. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Eira. This can’t be true. This can’t be true.”
He began to dig at the spot with his bare hands, frantically, brokenheartedly. As his eyes began to fill with tears, he dug. As those tears began to fall, he dug. Even as his hands began to bleed, he still dug.
And then he found them.
Eira’s bones.
A choked sob escaped him as he gingerly picked up her skull and looked at it through the blur of tears. He didn’t even have to wonder if it was truly her. The whisper of her magic that radiated from it was proof enough.
He rested his forehead against it and closed his eyes. “Eira, I... I’m so sorry,” was all he managed to say before he began sobbing; his heart thoroughly shattered.
All this time that he had been away, he had thought of her. He had thought of her emerald eyes that sparkled at the mention of adventure, of her contagious laugh, of the taste of her lips that time they had kissed when they were teenagers, of the way she would hum to herself as she cooked. He had thought of everything that made her her. Everything he loved about her. It was what brought him back in the first place.
When he was finally able to pull himself together, or at least to the best of his ability, he gathered what bones of hers he had found and placed them into his satchel.
She wouldn’t want to be buried on this god-forsaken island, he knew. And with a heavy, broken heart, he made his way back to Vesuvia.
Eira? Faust inquired when he entered the shop again.
“She’s... she’s not coming tonight, Faust,” he wearily replied. “It’s just the two of us.”
The once excited snake slithered over an gave him an affectionate squeeze, realizing he needed a hug. When not even a Faust squeeze got a smile out of the magician, she looked around for something that could. That was when she found a note that had been left, the handwriting undoubtedly Eira’s. She knew Eira always made him happy, so she brought it over to Asra and set it in front of him with a happy wag of her tail.
Eira!
Asra cautiously picked up the tear-stained paper, mentally preparing himself for whatever could be in the note. Then, he began to read:
“Asra,
Please hate me. I desperately hope you do, as it would be make this easy for you. Assuming you’re going to return one day, I decided to leave this. An explanation, a confession, and a goodbye.
First, my explanation. I couldn’t leave with you, not only because I didn’t want to leave the people of Vesuvia, but also because I was beginning to catch the plague myself. I couldn’t let you get it, too, so I tried to get you to leave. It hurt to say the things I did to you, but as long as they got you away from Vesuvia, and away from me, I told myself they were justified. I hope when you read this that the plague is no more, a cure has been found, and our loved ones are safe.
Now, my confession. I could never tell you, especially not while I was trying to make you hate me enough to leave, but Asra, I love you. Deeply, truly, desperately. I have for a long time. I just never wanted to risk losing you because of my feelings, so I kept them to myself. I know we’ve kissed before and such, but we were kids, and it was never really brought back up, so I thought you wanted to forget it happened.
I’m sorry I love you. I’m sorry for not telling you when I had the chance. I’m sorry for everything I said when we argued. I’m sorry for leaving you. This is why I ask that you hate me. Hating me will make it so much easier on you. Please curse my name. Please regret ever meeting me. Please don’t miss me. Please, Asra. My heart is forever yours, but please throw it away. It’s for your own benefit that you do. Please take care of yourself. I’m not there to, so it’s up to you. I miss you, I love you, and I desperately hope you can’t say the same for me.
Forever yours,
Eira.”
Tears fell onto the paper as he finished reading and he quickly buried his face in his hands so as not to ruin the writing further. He had messed up royally enough already; he couldn’t mess up her last words to him, too. Before Faust could ask, he rushed up to the bedroom and closed the door. He sank to the floor and he let himself fall apart as thoughts and regrets screamed at him in his mind.
If I had just stayed, I could’ve gotten the plague, too. I could be with her right now. She was just trying to help people and she died alone, probably scared, and hurting. She needed me and I wasn’t here. I left her. And the last thing we ever did was say horrible words we didn’t mean. This is my fault. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. Eira, please forgive me. I love you, too.
He awoke the next morning still on the bedroom floor, as disheveled as someone who had lost everything all at once. Miserably, he got up onto his feet and made his way downstairs. He picked up the sleeping Faust, pulled on his hat and cloak, and set off towards the palace. He needed to have a few words with a certain plague doctor, if he could even still be called that.
Asra, what would you do if became sick with the plague again?
If Eira got the plague again I’d probably go numb from shock and despair. I’d stay with her the whole time and spend what time I had left with her making sure she was comfortable and felt loved. The whole time I’d be silently praying that I’d get the plague, too, so I could be with her after she passed. If I didn’t contract the plague, though, I’d make another deal. I’d give up the last half of my heart for her. Even though it would mean my death, and she wouldn’t remember me at all, at least she would get to live. She deserves it.
If Eira was in a modern AU, how would she have met Asra?
If they had met in a modern AU setting, I think it would have been at a school function. Not that Asra would have attended the same school Eira would have, since her family is rich, but that he would definitely crash homecoming for the food. xD I lowkey want to write that out now, tbh. It follows the general theme of their original meeting (first chapter link here) while still being reasonable enough for them to meet at the ages they originally met at. Since he was 16 while she was 14, it would make sense why he wouldn’t have seen her before that fateful homecoming dance, since it would be her first year of high school. After they met, however, he would definitely hang around that particular school more often so they could see each other.
