The Arcana: His Apprentice

I Want To Stay Here (Y/N's POV)

"We have to leave, now. Let's go pack our stuff." Asra says, pulling me towards the kitchen.

"Asra, what are you talking about?" I say, pulling my arm away gently as he stops in his tracks and looks at me.

"We have to pack our things quickly, we can go somewhere far away that's quiet and pencil but we have to leave now." He says insistently.

"Asra, why are you acting like this?" I ask, worried.

"Y/N, please trust me when I say it's not safe here. Please come with me." Asra pleads.

"But, I can't just leave." I say.

"Why not?" He asks, looking at me confused.

"Asra, this is my home. I grew up here and this is all I've known my whole life. All of my memories are here, in Vesuvia. I can't just get up and move on with the snap of my fingers, please understand." I say.

"Y/N, I understand. This is my home too, we grew up here together. We met here, we live here, we fell in love here. But we have to leave for our sake." Asra says.

"But what about the people here? The plague is still affecting people and they're dying. You know we've been helping them as much as possible from this and we can't just abandon them and let them die." I say.

"I know how you feel Y/N and I really don't want to do this either. But we can't risk it, now let's go." He says, taking hold of my hand and I pull away again.

"I can't Asra, please understand ...I'm sorry." I say, looking down and rubbing my arm.

"What...?" Asra questions, trailing his words as he looks at me in shock.

"I want to stay. I want to stay and help these people. They're sick and dying and they need our help. We can't just leave them and forget them and move on with our lives." I say.

"Y/N, we can't stay." Asra says.

"But I want to, we have to!" I shout in frustration.

"It's too dangerous for you!" He shouts aggressively.

"I don't care, we have to do everything possible to protect our home." I say.

"Can't you see there's nothing left here for us?" Asra asks.

"I'm staying whether you like it or not." I say, standing my ground.

"Y/N, I don't ask much from you but please do this for me. For us..." He pleads.

"I can't..." I say.

"Don't you understand Y/N? We could die if we don't leave but you're over here being selfish and wanting to risk our lives. You are risking everything!" Asra shouts in frustration, I flinch from the sudden shouting.

"If staying here to help others means dying, I would risk dying any day." I say, crossing my arms.

"Y/N, stop acting like a child! Let's go!" He shouts.

"You know what Asra!? If you really want to leave so badly, then go!" I shout.

"Y/N..?" He says, trying to grab my arm and I flinch away.

"Go!" I say, pointing to the door as I see his face darken.

"Fine!" He shouts, heading to the shop's entrance and leaving, slamming the door behind him.

       I finally drop down to the ground on my knees, not realizing they were shaking this whole time. I replay the argument that just occurred in my mind and tears start pricking the corners of my eyes. Tears start rolling down my face as I crouch and relive the fight in my head.

       I really want him to understand that it's not easy to just pack up everything and move on to somewhere far away from your old home. This is our home. My parents and my aunt raised me here and I've never even left town. It's scary for me. I know he means well but it's hard and he's trying to make it seem like it's easy but he knows it's not.

       And the people here are dying. They are suffering and are in pain from this damned plague and they need all of the help they can get in times like this. And we've been helping them this whole time during this, if we leave we're leaving them to die. Some of them are our friends. I'd we left them like this, I would have this over my head for the rest of my life.

       But at the same time, I need Asra. He's the love of my life. He's my light in the darkness. My shoulder to cry on when I'm having a hard time. The one I can show my true self to. The only one I need to survive. He's like the air I need to breathe to survive. And now I've lost him... I thought we would get through this like he said we would...Asra, please come back to me... I need you...