#altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

Ravish Me, this is a Library

18+ only! Adult sexy times ahead, minors look away this is not for you.

A smutty, smutty rewrite of the paid library scene in Book VIII Chapter 2 of Julian's route. Julian apologises to Altheia, and they both get the ravishing they deserve.

Part of the Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Devil collection of rewrites.

Excerpt

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be.”  She pulled back, looked up into his eye, lifting an eyebrow coyly.  “I don’t want you to be sorry.  I want you to kiss me.”

“Wha…”  Julian’s mouth parted, but little more than a breath passed between his lips.  A look of incredulous wonder came over him… had he heard her right?  Was she serious?  She couldn’t possibly… could she?

His long, gloved fingers trembled as he touched their delicate tips lightly to Altheia’s cheek.  Dusk-grey eye tracked the features of her face, settling on her mouth as her lips, still slightly curved, parted, just a little, expectantly.  The faintest whimper escaped him as he bent very slightly, as if afraid she’d change her mind, turn away.

But she didn’t. 

She held his gaze, tilting her head a degree to the right.  Julian’s weight shifted, tentatively closer into her centre.  His hand slipped around the back of her neck, under her hair, leather against her skin sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine.  Her heart pounded, breaths quickened, longing for his touch, his kiss, desperately hoping she’d got through to him, that he’d believe in her, in them .  Resisting leaning into him, closing the gap, because it had to be him, he had to be the one to do it.

He bent, his breath hot on her face, ghosting over her skin as he brushed his nose through the hairs at her temple, pressed the lightest of kisses to her cheek.  He pulled up, just an inch, as every fibre of Altheia’s being, every pulse of her heart, begged her to pull him close.  Their eyes met again, his thumb stroked her cheek.

“Juli–”

Her words faded into a breath, a sigh, as Julian’s lips touched hers.  Almost experimentally he lingered, a low hum in the back of his throat, a shuddering breath.  When he made to pull back, Altheia moved with him, and with a surprised high-pitched sound he pressed his lips against hers again.  And again, with a muffled sound that might have been an attempt at speech, but Altheia didn’t much want him to talk now, not when his lips were so soft, so pliant in their movements against hers, as she wound an arm around his back and draped the other over his shoulder, fingers twisting into the thick curls of his hair.  Arms around her chest pulled her close, almost too close, squeezing a little too hard as his kisses became more desperate, his breaths heavier, his body trembling under her touch.  She couldn’t think of anything except the rush of elation, the high, light feeling in her heart and mind, the sudden need to run her hands over his body, to hold him close.  

Reluctantly, it seemed, Julian leaned back.  His forehead rested against hers and he closed his eyes, slowly catching his breath as his hands slipped to Altheia’s waist, as if he’d wanted to withdraw but couldn’t quite leave her sanctuary.  She closed her eyes, too, one hand on his shoulder, the other in his hair, lightly scraping her short nails over his scalp in the way she knew he found comforting.  His shoulders rose and fell in a sigh.

“I’m such a fool,” he said, his voice low and deep, heavy with regret.  Genuine, sincere, no melodrama.  “Turning you away like that.  When I know… I know there’s something between us, and it’s more than just attraction - that goes without saying, you should know by now.”

“Julian…”

“Is it possible that…”  The press of his fingers tightened a little on her waist, as if she hadn’t even spoken.  “Do you think…  You could see something attractive in… in me?”

Julian’s whole body was tense, his voice trembled with nerves.  Altheia’s heart raced, and she had to hold back a laugh.

“Julian,” she said gently, placing her hands either side of his face.  “I spent the night with you, didn’t I?”

Julian quivered.  His forehead pressed a little more against hers; he shifted his weight, his thigh brushing her hip.  “Mm.  You did, yes.”

“Nothing has changed.”

The rest is on AO3

#the arcana game #the arcana #the arcana fanfiction #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfic #julian x oc #altheia featherstone #juleia

[artausrayne]

And the Saga continues~

Introducing part 3 of Past, Present, and Future: An Arcana Saga:

The Interlude

The three years that take place between the Masquerade ritual and the in-game route, told in very short stories between Asra, Aisling (The Apprentice), and Julian's POVs. Ft. Altheia Featherstone, LunaStarhawk's OC. 😊

It's much shorter than the other two parts, but if you haven't read those first I highly recommend because there will be a lot of references that will be missed!

#the arcana #asra alnazar #julian devorak #muriel #ocs #oc #original female character #aisling grealish #original nonbinary character #Rayne #original friend's oc #Altheia Featherstone #smut #fluff and angst and smut #short stories #pirate adventures #strip darts #lots of dancing #some sads #memory wiping

[lunastarhawk]

Pin Him Down

18+ only! Adult sexy times ahead, minors look away, this is not for you!

A smutty, smutty rewrite of "I'll keep an eye on him" in Book VI Chapter 3 of Julian's route, part of the Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Devil ongoing collection of rewrites.

I opened a doc to start part 23 of ToM and this fell out instead, oops.

Part 1 - Altheia tries to give Julian Mazelinka's magic soup, but he doesn't want to sleep just yet.

Part 2 - She wants what he wants and he wants what she wants. And then she ties him to the bed.

Excerpt

His lips parted and he craned up to reach for her, but as she held him down and gave a teasing smile, he couldn't reach high enough to kiss her.  But he could move his head forward just enough to brush his nose over her collarbone.  That faint touch was enough to make her lean forward just a little more, and arch her neck back.

Julian closed his eyes as his nose tracked to the curve between her neck and shoulder; then, to the hollow at the base of her throat.  She felt his soft inhale, heard a happy hum, and the gentle vibration of his voice as he murmured,

“You smell like the sea.”

She couldn't hold back a light giggle.

“Salty, you mean?”

“Mmm, not just that.  Like you've spent your life on the coast, or a ship.”

“I do spend a lot of time at the beach.”

“That explains it.”  His hot breath tickled her throat as his nose dragged up to her pulse.  “And vanilla.  Full and sweet.  And something else… some kind of citrus?”

“I'm impressed.”  Altheia's hand slid from Julian's shoulder, up the back of his neck.  “It's bergamot.”

“Of course.  Beautiful.”  He turned his face up to her, his eye pleading but his smile sultry.  “Closer.”

She leaned forward far enough now that her breasts brushed his chest, but she pinned him now with hands on his shoulders, stopping him from arching to press against her.  She bent to the collar of his shirt, loose enough that her nose could burrow in to find the crook of his neck.

His scent washed over her, stirred something powerful in her, that familiarity, that need, stronger than it ought to be. Musk, coffee, leather, hemp, the sea. Her tongue darted between her lips to touch his skin, and then she pressed her lips there, feeling his breath shudder beneath her.  Her lips curved into a smile against him as she said,

“Salty.”

A burst of a laugh from Julian, and Altheia sat back, smiling down at him fondly.  And she bent low, her hands cupping his slender jaw, as she whispered,

“Closer. ”

She sighed into Julian's kiss.  His lips were soft, warm - surprisingly so, considering the coolness of his skin elsewhere.  Their movements were focussed, elegant, needy, but tender.  His nose pressed into her cheek, one arm snaked around her lower back, the other hand slid under her hair.

The strength of feeling that rose up in her was overwhelming and she pulled back.  Need for the closeness, for his touch.  Desire for his body, for more.  And something like… like love.  That was absurd, she knew, she barely knew more than his name.  And yet… it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

His brow furrowed lightly in concern.

“What's wrong?  I… I'm sorry, it's too much, too soon… I just…”  He bit his lip as he searched for the words, his hands restless over her arms, her back, her sides.  Eventually he rested his forehead on her shoulder.  “I want to make something real.  With you.”  He lifted his head to look into her eyes again, and there was a sad slope to his brow as his palm rested on her cheek.  “If only we had more time.”

She frowned lightly.  What did that mean?  Something real?  More time?

Still, her heart pounded and the hot wave of need rising up between her legs was insistent.  If they didn't have much time together, then…

“Let's make the most of the time we've got.”  She bent and met his kiss as his mouth sought hers.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and pressed her mouth against him, her lips moving against his as she said, “Closer.”

#the arcana #the arcana game #julian devorak #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak fanfic #julian x oc #altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

Sun and Moon, Sea and Stars

Part 21 of Tides of Memories (Julian post-route series) - on AO3

Summary

Traversing the Moon's realm in search of their shared gate, Julian lives a realisation of the future, Altheia faces the horrifying nightmares of her past, and the two of them find their way forward through their bond.

As if sensing her trepidation, he slowed a few paces away. Altheia’s gaze searched his face and saw contained joy and hope, and then a frown of worry as his smokey eyes took her in and saw what Rhaella must have seen when she’d said she looked like she’d ‘been through it’. And then it was as if he couldn’t believe he’d found her at all, as his lips parted slightly as if he meant to speak but couldn’t find words.

He stood, and held one hand out to her, gloved palm up. She turned fully, still uncertain. His eyes locked with hers and he took a step forward. Altheia took a step, and then another. And then reached out and lay her gloved hand over his.

*~*~*~* Her sun and moon His sea and stars Each other’s ship and safe harbour Always bonded, always together.

Too tired to find a proper excerpt right now lol. Anyway hi please enjoy my fic it's consuming my soul.

#the arcana #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfic #julian devorak x mc #altheia featherstone #tides of memories #juleia

[lunastarhawk]

Frozen Seas and Bonded Hearts

Part 20 of Tides of Memories - Julian post-route series (on AO3).

Summary

Julian races to pull Altheia back from breaking point, and as they head into the realms of the Arcana they both discover hidden truths about themselves, and each other.

Excerpt

Julian heard Asra’s call as if he were waking from sleep, disoriented by the journey through the portal which somehow took hours and no time at all.  His eyes were closed and he was aware of the horse underneath him, clinging to it with his thighs and a grip on its mane.  A freezing wind buffeted his face and roused him with a gasp, and he blinked his eyes into focus, picking up the reins and sitting up straight as Zephyr realised he hadn’t just wandered into a green pasture and was instead on a beach beside the creaking wooden dock, the wind carrying salty sea spray and hard rain into their faces.

He realised, belatedly, that it was the same dock where he’d tried to push her away.

He cooed reassurances to the skittish horse, patting his neck, as his own eyes squinted into the darkness, out to sea.  Asra was ahead of him, running towards the raging surf and calling out to sea, a sea that was icy blue in what moonlight struggled through the dark storm clouds.

Not icy blue, Julian realised - ice.  A path of ice cutting across the tumultuous black ocean, holding a boat still in its frozen grasp, and as his eyes travelled along it, towards the island, he saw her, and his jaw fell slack.

She had her back to them, but she’d half turned at Asra’s call.  Her long crimson coat flew around her legs in the buffeting wind, her hair whipped about her face like dark tendrils.  Her arms were by her sides, the right holding her sword, the rapier that Julian had bought her.  In the socket just underneath the hilt, the crystal he’d given her glowed dark green with shifting waves of sea-green the same colour as her eyes.

And those eyes… they moved from Asra, even as he waded thigh-deep into the sea and called her name again and again… to focus on Julian.  Even from this distance, through the dark and the rain and the sea spray, they caught him.  Bright, fierce.  Pained.

“Did Altheia do this?” Nadia gasped, emerging from the portal beside Julian on her black horse.

“I…”

He couldn’t talk, couldn’t tear his gaze from Theia.  Did you, love?  

He hadn’t put his gloves back on, and his fingers stung from the ice-cold wind and rain as he pushed his horse up to Asra.

“Asra, stop!” he cried, reaching down to grab the back of Asra’s coat just in time to stop a particularly large wave from buffeting his chest and knocking him down.  

The horse whinnied and reared back, but Julian held on, and Asra coughed as he staggered back up out of the waves.

“I have to… we have to…”

“I know, I know…”

“Ilya!  Asra!”  It was Portia, and she hurtled down the beach, her face stricken.  Aisha was right behind her.  “We tried to stop her!”

“Did she tell you anything?”  Asra asked her as he fought to catch his breath. 

Portia nodded frantically, lips blue and chattering.  Nadia dropped gracefully from her horse, took off her riding coat and wrapped it around Portia’s shoulders, pulling her in close.

“She wanted me to help her make a portal to the Star’s realm,” she said in a rush, struggling through her shivers.  “She said, because I have a connection to the Star, then I could… but I didn’t know…”

Nadia shushed her, pulling her head in to her chest.  Aisha ran up beside them.

“She took the boat with magic,” she panted.  “It went under.”

“Under?” Asra exclaimed, horrified.  

Aisha nodded.  “Yes, and she took it back up.  And then she did this!" She waved an arm towards the ice.  "Asra, she’s more powerful than you know.  More than she knows.”

“We have to save her!” Portia cried.

“If she gets to the Lazaret…”

But Julian barely heard them.  He sat, patting Zephyr’s neck and absent-mindedly whispering soothing reassurances.  His eyes were fixed on Altheia, stood on ice in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of a storm, a tempest.  

She didn’t need saving.  She was magnificent.  She was fierce.  And she’d do what she needed to do, one way or another.

But he wouldn’t let her do it alone.

Read it all here... Frozen Seas and Bonded Hearts - Tides of Memories part 20 - on AO3

#the arcana game #the arcana #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfic #tides of memories #julian x oc #altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

I commissioned the wonderful @sleepsfuriously to draw Altheia as a Siren, which is her reversed ending form.

And that was it, that was the brief, and elebuu ran with it and came up with this beautiful piece with all the raw emotion of a painful transformation that I didn't even know I needed.

Thank you a million times, I love it so much. <3

#the arcana fan apprentice #the arcana oc #altheia featherstone #siren #mermaid #mersona

[lunastarhawk]

Truth in the Undertow

Part 12 of Julian post-route series Tides of Memories (on AO3)

Summary

Angry and emotional, Asra retraces Altheia's final steps before her death three years ago, and her echoes speak her truth with potentially devastating consequences. Altheia needs Julian to trust himself and his own magical capabilities, but when all the pieces of her puzzle come together, they threaten to drag her into a suffocating undertow of her own making.

Excerpt

The echo reached the door, paused, and went through it.  Asra stumbled forwards, tripping over his feet, leaning on the wall.

As soon as his hand came in contact with the door handle, the pain tore through him, from his heart to his gut to his mind.  His eyes closed tight, and he would have screamed if he could have taken a breath.

His step over the threshold felt as if his heart shattered.  Grief overwhelmed him, desolation crushed him.  Darkness pressed in the periphery of his vision.  He held both sides of the doorframe.

Like walking into a room and forgetting what you went there for.

Walking through a door and forgetting.

Forgetting her…

… and he couldn’t sense Ilya now, only Altheia, and that was enough.  The trace of her spell remained, like paint faded in the sun.  Ilya had stood where Asra stood now.  It had shot through him, to the core of his memories, targeting everything of her.

Her face, her voice, her laugh.  Every moment they’d spent together.  Every kiss, every touch.  Wrapped up in a web of magic, tight and impenetrable.  Not gone, but forever held back, sealed away, forgotten.

Asra didn’t feel himself fall.  But his heart shattered as surely as hers had.  On his knees, as she had been, he reached out with his magic, gripping the note with her handwriting tightly.  A trembling hand reached out.  And there was hers, a pale shade tinged plague-red.  He followed in her wake, holding back tears with nothing but willpower and determination to finish this, to save Ilya from this grief.

But Asra’s magic cleansed.  Like water washing away paint, until there was nothing left.

He scrambled across the alley, as she had done.  Dragged himself up to lean against the wall, to look to the door.

Asra gathered every bit of magic he could.  Whispered hoarsely to Faust for her aid.  He had to know, he had to be sure, beyond any doubt.  Taking a deep breath, he sent his magic out.  

A tall, pale, shifting echo, sensed more than seen.  

He was hers, and she was his.

A slight, barely perceptible change in his expression.  Fear and heartbreak in dark eyes became confusion, and then a cool detachment.

“Let me help you.  What’s your name?”

He was gone.  It was all gone.  And just like that, he was no longer hers.

It was hers, the spell, Forget Me.  So that he wouldn’t grieve for her, wouldn’t hurt, wouldn’t suffer her loss.  And he doesn’t.  He doesn’t hurt, and he doesn’t cry.

The apparition shimmered and faded.  

The crush of the loss, and the disease, Asra felt as keenly as if he were her, slumping forwards onto the cold ground.  He dug his fingers into the dirt between the old paving slabs, the weeds that clung to life there, too young to have known her as she fell.  But the stone, and the earth between… her magic had left her here.  Not her life, not quite, but her essence, and it had seeped into the stone like oil separating into swirling, shimmering rainbow colours in a clear pool.  He felt her there, as he had when he’d dug into the ash, when his fingers had bled.  But now the pain wasn’t just his for losing her, but it was hers, for losing Ilya, her love and life.  

#the arcana #julian devorak #the arcana fanfiction #julian devorak fanfiction #the arcana game #tides of memories #julian x fan apprentice #altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

Her Name, a Riptide

Part 11 of Julian post-route Tides of Memories (on AO3)

Who needs canon when you can have... *gestures vaguely* whatever this is becoming.

Summary

Haunted by the devastation wrought by the Red Plague, and shunned by the medical community over her unconventional experiments, Julian's former apprentice nonetheless carries the key to the final piece of the puzzle to Julian's missing memories of Altheia. And as he coaxes it out of her, it threatens to tear Julian's world apart.

*~*~*~*

Excerpt

“Can we uhh… can we sit somewhere, hmm?  Please?”  Julian dared to step to the side a little, holding one hand towards the waiting room door.  “I saw you have a cosy waiting room here, and we can sit and catch up and… I’ll explain everything.”

Selina remained utterly expressionless, save for a tightening around her eyes, one spilled tear streaking down her cheek.

“Oh, no.”  She hissed.  “No, no.  I’ll not fall for that.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”  Julian was completely baffled.  “Fall for what?  I just want to talk.”

“Yes, yes, I know.  You love to talk.”  Her smile was humourless, bitter.  “I had a friend, once.  She was your partner.  She loved you very much.  You loved her, too.”  The smile, bitter though it was, dropped, along with her voice.  “She died.”

Julian’s breath caught, and it carried a tremulous whine when he exhaled.

“I know.  Please let me explain.”

But how could he even begin to explain, really?

“The Doctor Devorak I know wouldn’t have loved again,” she said.  “You loved her too much.  You were hers. That’s how I know you’re not him.”  She gave a twisted, whimsical smile.  “That, and your neck is straight.”  She took a step back.  “Please leave.”

“You don’t understand.”  Julian pressed his lips together, scrunched his eyes tight shut.  There was only one way he could make her listen.  He opened his eyes and fixed them on hers as he blurted out, “Altheia’s my partner now. Again."

Selina spluttered a laugh.  Theo gasped.

“Miss Theia?  But she-”

“She died,” Selina said, through gritted teeth.  She stepped up to Julian, toe to toe.  He resisted recoiling as she craned up to look at him through steely blue eyes.  His chin was almost on his chest as he looked down at her.  “Do you know how she died?”

“I… I do, yes.”  Julian spoke very carefully.  

“Do you know where she died?”

Julian exhaled a choked sob, and whispered, “No.”

He didn’t want to know.  Not yet, not like this.  But it didn’t matter what he wanted.

“In my arms.  At the Lazaret.  I put her body into the furnace.  As you told me.”

Julian’s head whirled, as that wave that crashed over him threatened to drag him out to sea.  He shook his head, over and over.

“I didn’t know…”

Selina barked a laugh.  “Ah, there, now I know for certain.  You know, you almost had me convinced.”

“What? ”

Julian could barely stand upright, barely see, barely think.  His only remotely rational thought was an inability to comprehend how Selina somehow didn’t believe that he was who he said he was.

“Doctor Devorak was there,” she said, a chill in her voice.  “He watched her collapse, outside the clinic. She never regained consciousness. I held her, on the ground.  He took her vitals.  He pronounced her dead.  She wasn’t dead yet, mind.  But she would be soon, he said.  He scribbled out the death certificate.  Saving another doctor the job, he said.  You know, they came pre-printed then.  With numbers.  We didn’t ask names anymore.  So he didn’t write her name.  Her number was 2-03-13.”  The sound that came from the back of her throat was something like a sob caught within a laugh.  “Take her to the Lazaret , he said.  And while you’re there, offer your help.   And then he left.  Like he never even knew her.”

Julian took a step back.  His chest constricted painfully and breaths would scarcely come, his lungs burning as if the air were fire.  His vision blackened around the edges.  He leaned his weight on one hand on the wall.  

“No,” he whispered.  “I… I wouldn’t… I couldn’t… please believe me…”

It was ridiculous, he knew, because she’d been there, and she remembered, which was more than he could say.  But his heart broke as surely as if Altheia were there on the floor now, taking her last breath.

“He went back to the palace,” Selina went on coolly.  “He called for me later.  I was his brightest apprentice, he said.”  She laughed suddenly.  “Which was true, in as much as all his others were dead.”

Julian’s legs could hardly take his weight.  “I… remember you…”

“Do you?  Yes, I suppose you would.  He would.  But he never spoke of her again.  Not once.  It wasn’t from loss of love, I knew that.  I know that.  It was shock, I was sure of that.”

“It wasn’t…”

His voice was barely a whisper, he couldn’t catch his breath for speech.

“So you see, you can’t fool me.  You need to leave, now.”

*~*~*~*

The beautiful banner is image is by ladywarlock03.

#the arcana game #the arcana fanfiction #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfiction #tides of memories #altheia featherstone #julian x fan apprentice #canon-divergent

[lunastarhawk]

With low effort and no concept of scale I present Altheia and her water and ice (except the birb) based pokemon team (and a bonus Julian).

- Glaceon (because ice and I'm obsessed with Eeveelutions)

- Murkrow (her familiar is a crow)(sorry Korin)

- Inteleon (looks like Julian in lizard form)

- Lapras (that face is an Altheia-adjacent smirk, sorry)

- Kingdra (who doesn't love a sea dragon?)

- Mantine (sea pancake!)

Themed team of questionable effectiveness, I choose you!

(Altheia's sprite is by sketchycrowz)

#unworthy of proper tagging #altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

A Port to Call Home

Part 16 of Julian post-route series Tides of Memories.

Summary

Julian and Altheia take a break from the books to sail to Port Tremaire, Altheia's hometown from before. There, they have some fun, Altheia finds more of herself, and Julian makes an accidental magical discovery in a very Julian sort of way.

They're being sexy, silly and magical, basically.

#the arcana #the arcana game #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfiction #altheia featherstone #julian devorak x oc #juleia

[lunastarhawk]

I've adored Master of Tides as a song for Julian for a long time, and I love Lindsey Stirling, so imagine my absolute unbridled delight when I discovered (I've only listened on Spotify until now) that in the video she's dressed in almost exactly the outfit Altheia would wear, even down to a black feather in a red hat, and completing my headcanon that Julian teaches Theia how to play. 🥰

(I mean, Theia's definitely not this good. But when the two of them are half a bottle of rum down, this is absolutely how good they think she is)

#altheia featherstone #julian × altheia headcanons #lindsey stirling #music for my blorbos is soothing my soul #playing this on loop another hundred times brb

[lunastarhawk]

The Call of the Stars

Part 14 of Julian post-route series Tides of Memories (on AO3).

On and on into the starry abyss, living my best life. Because who needs canon anyway.

Also, The Star is my new favourite to write. She's so fun.

Summary

An unexpected visitor sheds new light on Julian's book of constellations and myths. Altheia's desperate search for her gateway leads her to make a reckless decision to venture to the Arcana realms alone, and only Julian can pull her out - and chance encounters with The Star and Judgement are more than a little revelatory.

~*~*~*~

"I felt something pulling me, across the lake.  But then the feeling faded, and I walked us right into Valdemar’s trap.” “Is that really what happened?” “Yes,” Altheia said bitterly.  “I nearly got us both killed.” “Hmm.”  Judgement’s trunk curled upwards lazily.  “I don’t think so.” “That’s exactly how it happened,” Altheia said bitterly.  “My ‘intuition’ wasn’t good for much.” The impossibly deep, golden eyes narrowed a little.  “Your intuition wasn’t the problem.  When you stopped listening to it - that was where you made the wrong choice."  They paused, and then added, "But was it really wrong, after all?  You didn't find your gateway, but you found something else, didn't you?" Altheia shifted her weight on her knees as she thought.   "Well, yes.  Valdemar."  "A purpose." Altheia huffed in frustration.  “That doesn’t really help, you know.” “It helps more than you think it does.”

Excerpt

“You… really don’t know what this is, do you?”

“Ah… it’s a book of stars and stories?”

But it was intoned as a question, because suddenly Julian was certain only that it wasn’t just a book of stars and stories.  

“The name didn’t give you a clue?”  Selina was lightly mocking him. 

“I… I didn’t think… no, it didn’t, I didn’t…”

He looked at her helplessly.  Now she smiled gently.

“I won’t pretend to know much about it,” she admitted.  “But I read about a fair few schools of magic before I settled on alchemy.  Astromancers take the science of astronomy, and the magic of astrology, and they make talismans.  Very powerful ones.”

“They do?”

Julian was aware of how stupid he sounded, but for once he couldn’t find any words.

“Like I said, I don’t know all that much about it.  But I do know that these are alchemical…”  She traced around the outer circle again.  “These are planetary, or astrological… or maybe illusory.”  She tilted her head a little as she traced around the inner circle.  “Could be.  Anyway, and then you have the star chart in the centre.  I’d bet that one of those magical symbols is a trigger.”

Julian’s head whirled, partly from disbelief, partly from his underlying mistrust of magic that hadn’t quite faded - despite being in love with a magician - and partly from excitement.  

“Star charts, I understand,” he murmured.  “Alchemy, too… you take something, and you make something else.  I… don’t know about these other symbols, but…  What is it?”

Selina gave a little burst of laughter, of disbelief that Julian still wasn’t understanding.  

“It’s a spell, Julian.  Three different schools - or languages, as you say - alchemy, astrology magic, and astronomy.  Two charges, and a when.  It’s astromancy.”

“What does it do?” 

Selina shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’m not a magician of any kind.  I don’t even know all the alchemical symbols.”  She flashed him a grin.  “Try it and find out.”

Julian’s breaths quickened, his heart raced, and a cold sweat broke out on his palms and neck.

“I don’t know, I’m not a magician, I know science, the astronomy makes sense, but I don’t know any of the rest of it.”  He pushed his hands through his hair with one hand, the other on his hip.  “And how does it even work?  How do you cast it?  Just… just draw it?”

“I was joking,” Selina said gently.  But then she peered up at him, and he knew how flustered and wild-eyed he must look.  And she hesitantly ventured, “Unless…?”

Julian’s hands were trembling and a sense of panic was coming over him.  He shook his head vigorously and closed the book firmly, pushing it halfway across the table.

“No.  No, I don’t think it’s a, uh…”  he fluttered his fingers.  “a spellbook , or astromancy, it’s quite nonsense I’m sure, and besides which I have no business with it.”  Nodding decisively, he turned from the table and waved his hand in the air as he spoke, looking back over his shoulder at Selina as she followed.  “If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in all my years, it’s not to fool around with magic you don’t understand.”

~*~*~*~

“Mm.  Very wise.” 

The Call of the Stars

Part 14 of Tides of Memories

#the arcana #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfic #julian x oc #altheia featherstone #juleia #tides of memories

[lunastarhawk]

The Fool's Journey

Part 13 of Julian post-route series Tides of Memories (on AO3)

This thing is consuming my soul. In a good way.

Summary

The truths of Altheia's past, the bond and the journey she shares with Julian, and her very existence, are revealed. But not without consequence.

*~*~*~* She was little more than a construct. A soul trapped in a body that wasn’t hers, because her body was ash and charred bone at the bottom of the sea. A body trained by Asra. A Magician’s manifestation, desires made real, made possible by the power of a Major Arcana. And now he was proud of her? “Am I only your creation, Asra?”

Excerpt

“Asra’s doing a reading.”

Julian arched an eyebrow.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?  Last time you disappeared in a puff of smoke.”

Asra gave a soft, wry smile as he took the cards back from Altheia.  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, no.”

Altheia wasn’t sure of anything at all.  But she held Asra’s gaze.

“Past, present and future,” she said tightly.  “My journey. ”  With the last, her tone was laced with mockery.  

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Julian hopping up onto the kitchen counter to sit with legs hanging down, watching curiously, but silently.

Asra nodded solemnly.  “Alright.”

He passed his hand over the deck and then held it out to Altheia.  She took a breath, held it for three beats, and as she slowly released it she searched the deck.

Past.  A weak pulsing vibration.

The Magician, upright .

She heard a quiet, bitter huff of a laugh from Asra, but ignored it, as she listened for the next.

Present.  When it came, it was as the hum of a laugh in her chest. 

The Queen of Cups, reversed .

Now, a soft but quick inhalation of breath from Asra.  Again to be ignored.

Future.  It took a minute, and Altheia wasn’t sure it would call.  And then it did, a reassuringly strong, constant vibration.

Judgement, upright .

Silence.

Altheia hummed.  The numb feeling spread once more in her chest, up her neck, scratching at her brain.  Without asking Asra for the interpretation, she took the deck, and held it towards Julian.  He had a cinnamon roll halfway to his mouth, and his eyes widened when he realised Altheia’s intention.

“That’s really not a good idea.”

“Humour me.”

He hesitated for just a moment before setting the roll on top of the bag and hopping down from the counter.  His steps were wary, like a cat ready to jump from danger.  He held his hand out, and hovered over the cards.

“Go ahead.”  Altheia nodded impatiently.  “Past, present and future, your journey with me.”

“Alright.”  He started to work through the cards, and his eyes widened slightly as he came across the card that called to him sooner than he apparently expected.  He lay it on the table.

Past.  The Hanged Man, reversed.

Despite everything, one corner of Altheia’s mouth lifted in a half smile.  The way Julian had left the Hanged Man, both the realm and the archetype, were clear to her.

Julian hummed to himself as he searched for the next card, and laid it on the table next to the Hanged Man.

Present.  Knight of Cups, upright.

“Yes,” Altheia heard herself murmuring with a smile.  “I see that.”

“Well I don’t,” Julian said.  “What does it mean?”  

“Just… pick the next one.”

Julian started to say something, then evidently changed his mind, shaking his head.  But as he reached for the cards again, he flinched back.  Altheia frowned at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“It feels…”  Julian paused as he thought of the right word.  “Like… like static, I think.  It doesn’t hurt but there’s a shock. It's not unpleasant, even.  It just surprised me.”

The card he took was the one on the very top of the deck, and he turned it over onto the table quickly.

Future.  The Star, upright.

Asra sat back in his chair; Altheia looked up at him.  

"This means more than I think it does, doesn't it?" she asked.  

"Maybe," he murmured.  "She already helped you once.  Maybe she will again."

"Well, at least you didn't throw the cards at me, swear like a sailor and disappear in purple smoke this time," Julian said breezily.  But it was to cover his nervousness, she knew.

Altheia suspected that there was even more to the reading than that, but by the way Asra frowned at the cards and picked at his upper lip, it seemed that he didn't have any more than a suspicion, either.

She carefully picked up the cards and tucked them neatly back into the deck.  Standing beside her, Julian shifted his weight awkwardly.  

"Sooo, ahh…"

"Was I a fortune teller before?" she asked suddenly, interrupting Julian before he could speak.  Her tone was casual, and she didn't look up from the cards as she tapped the edges on the table.  But she could sense Asra tense.

"Before…"

"Mm." She looked up and pierced his gaze with hers.  "Before I died, Asra.  Before you resurrected me and raised me in the image you had of me. Before. "

A white curl of Asra's hair fell between his eyes as he shook his head. 

"No.  You weren't."

"What was I?"

The Fool's Journey, on AO3.

#the arcana game #the arcana fanfic #julian devorak #julian devorak fanfic #asra alnazar #altheia featherstone #julian x fan apprentice #tides of memories

[lunastarhawk]

Altheia's song ^_^ The perfect bluesy, sexy vibe for her (and the fact that the title is Julian's nickname for her is entirely coincidental I swear)

#altheia featherstone #Juleia #the arcana fan apprentice #music for my blorbos is soothing my soul #Spotify

[lunastarhawk]

#music for my blorbos is soothing my soul #juleia #altheia featherstone

[lunastarhawk]

I could post more about Altheia. She might fix me. She's pretty great I think.

@altheia-featherstone