The Arcana: His Apprentice

Tear Stained Letter - Y/N's POV

       Asra left the next morning without seeing me. I wanted to talk to him about making amends and working through this but I can't see him, not when I'm like this. I can't show him or tell him that I have the plague. I can't do anything about this.

       I got up and went to a specialist to see if anything is possible to treat me. By then my reflection was sickly pale, my whole body was covered in chills, a nasty cough overlapping every time I spoke and my eyes an even deeper shade of red than when I first saw them in the mirror that night.

       The specialist had explained to me that I have a severe case of the Red Plague. There are three stages to the plague, the first stage is manageable but not curable, eyes a very pale red. The second stage it is necessary to get treatment, your eyes a bright shade of red and with slight tremors. The last stage is very fatal and impossible to cure, your eyes a blood red, a very nasty cough and whole body is trembling. In my case I am in the last stage.

       The specialist told me that in a few days a group of doctors will pick me up and escort me to The Lazaret. That I will get intensive treatment along with tests and have research done on me to find a possible cure. He recommended that I say goodbye to my loved ones and prepare myself for the journey and treatments. Unfortunately my loved one was nowhere in contact with me.

       After that I went home, checking to see if Asra had returned and to my surprise he wasn't. I thought about the specialist's words over and over again for quite some time.

       Finally, three days have passed and it is the day where I am being picked up to go to The Lazaret. I sit in my room at my desk. I cleaned up the shop despite it being closed since the day I received my diagnosis. Asra hasn't returned yet and I don't think he will return by the time I leave.

       I stare at the black piece of paper before me and the feathered quill I have beside it. I have to at least let him know in some way why I will no longer be here so my only option is to write down my explanations in a letter. I pick up the quill and begin writing out my thoughts and experiences.

       I continue to write what I felt just as thoughts and memories of Asra overcame me. A tear has stained the paper, lifting my shaking hand to feel my cheek and realizing I was crying. The tears continued to flow as I kept thinking about him. How I would never be able to see his kind smile everyday anymore. How I would never be able to sit down and enjoy a cup of our favorite tea late at night with him anymore. How I won't be able to roll over to my side and wake up in the morning, seeing him asleep beside me anymore.

       I continue writing the letter, trying to hold back my tears and failing effortlessly at it. I finally finish the letter and drop the quill beside it. I continue to cry silently as I pull out an envelope and a seal. I fold the letter and slowly insert it into the envelope, closing it with the seal. I stand up while holding the letter in my hand and walk over to Asra's room. I enter slowly, expecting to see Asra at his desk reading a book like normal but nothing.

       I walk over to his desk and place it there, my hand lingering on the desk. The familiar scent of tea and wax candles filling the air as I took it in. I start tearing up until I hear a knock at the door downstairs from the shop. I wipe my tears from my eyes and quickly shuffle out of the room. I go through the hallway and walk down the stairs. I enter the kitchen and go into the shop. I open the door to see two tall figures before me. One wedding a black bird mask with a large black hat adorned with red designers and a black cloak. The other wearing a white bird mask with a smaller white hat and a white cloak, holding a staff.

Plague Doctors:

"Are you Y/N L/N?" The one in black questions.

"Y-yes." I answer, knowing what they are here for.

"We are here to escort you to The Lazaret for your condition." The one in white states.

"O-okay, let me get my stuff." I say as they nod slowly.

       I go back to my room, grabbing the single suitcase I have there. I pick it up and look around my room, what was once my old messy room was now clean, almost barren. I took the time to clean out my room since it would be unnecessary to keep everything here once I'm gone. I glance one last time at my room and go back to the shop, standing before the doctors with my suitcase in hand.

"Are you ready to depart ma'am?" The doctor in white questions.

"Y-yes." I say.

"Then let's go, shall we." The doctor dressed in black days.

       I nod and step out of the shop, closing the door behind me and casting a protection spell over the shop. The doctors walk ahead of me as I look back at the shop.

"Goodbye Asra..." I whisper to myself as I walk over to the doctors. Thinking about Asra as I hand my head low, knowing my fate.