{Events take place years before start of 'The Arcana'}
Cover art by antivancorvo
A cloaked man rushed through the darkened streets of the city, a thin figure in his arms as both black and white fabrics flowed in the wind of the night, only lamps that hung from shop doors lighting his way as he moved swiftly throughout the catacomb like passages. The figure he held, a young woman with her head back as long brown hair blew in the wind, only a thin white gown covering her frail and sickly body – utterly unconscious as blood ran down her face from the side of her mouth to the fear and dismay of the man whom carried her, her father. Dove Knight, 18, plague victim – it was like any other sob story of those whom contracted the disease, but it still came to a massive shock to the family as they lived far from the city center, only entering to deliver livestock or sell goods, wearing secure face masks as they did so, but still, it would seem their efforts to stop themselves from falling ill was futile. In denial, her family ignored the telltale sign of the whites of her eyes going red and they continued to ignore her becoming weaker and weaker until they could no more. As the evening of this day fell, she was rendered unconscious by her illness and not long after blood began to drain from her body through her nose, mouth and ears – her father took no time as to lift her and run to the city in search of one man, Doctor Julian Devorak. Usually, most victims would be taken to a large house where they were all kept in one room before being shipped to an island – it was practically a sentence to death, and Dove's father, Misha, couldn't bear the thought of his daughter being taken somewhere only to die, so he looked for not the plague house, but the doctor himself.
Approaching a large wooden door, Misha took no time in knocking harshly as he held his daughter in his arms. It took about a minute, but before long the door swung open, the doctor standing in the door way with his arms folded. The doctor looked into the eyes of the man first, raising a brow before suddenly noticing Dove in his arms and he immediately reached into his jacket and brought out a cloth, covering his nose and mouth with it clearly recognizing a plague victim.
"All victims should be taken to the plague house, doors open at 5am, I do not take personal patients." Julian said in a strong but muffled tone as he quickly began to push the door shut just before Misha wedged his foot in the doorframe.
"How much?" He suddenly said in a desperate tone, his eyes wide as Julian looked at him with wide eyes, noticing the extreme panic within the man.
"Pardon me?" Julian replied as he squinted at the man curiously as if he believed he heard him wrong.
"How much must I pay you to take my daughter right now? Please, I-"
"I have told everyone that I do not take any personal patients, no amount of money can persuade me otherwise. Now please, if you go down the street, take a left and keep walking you will find the plague house where she can be looked after well enough now excuse me." Julian attempted to push the door shut again only to feel it being slammed completely open, the sheer strength of the man outside astounding him, not to mention he was holding someone at the time, this whole event making him gasp and step back, his hand to his heart in shock.
"Doctor Julian," Misha began in a frighteningly stern tone. "I refuse to see my daughter shipped off to die on an island like sick cattle. I will give you all the money I have if you care for her, everything! Please Doctor, you're my only hope, she's my only child." The tone of the shouting man slowly became less and less as his sentences went on, his voice slowly becoming defeated as tears pooled in his darkened eyes, tears streaming down his face as he held his sickly daughter. Julian wasn't sure what it was – the proposition of wealth or the terrified look on the man's face that swayed him to change his mind, but even so, he stood aside as Misha looked to him for what seemed to be approval, Julian giving a light nod as the man passed him by. The home was small, most things fitting into the one room. Red mesh fell from every corner, giving the false illusions of walls to cut off parts of the home like a small bedroom. Book shelves were stacked high as a fire roared underneath a pot near the corner, parchments with mad scribblings everywhere, seemingly just thrown aside. Julian quickly followed Misha as he moved through his home, the dark room only lit by a single lantern propped up on a table, and without a second thought Julian swiped all the papers, likely doctor's notes, from the table, pointing down to it as Misha set Dove down gently, her hair hanging off the back of the table. Julian very quickly swapped the cloth of his mouth for a plague doctors mask making Misha step back at the shocking appearance as red glass panels stared at him for what was meant to be eyes.
"Step aside, and please find something to cover your nose and mouth unless you wish to be ill too, but I assume you likely already are infected," Julian uttered in a low tone as he swiftly removed a glove, pressing two fingers against the side of Dove's neck then simply bringing his ear to her chest. "She's alive, I'm unsure of how but she's alive. I can take over from here. You should go home and rest yourself, but first," He quickly put his glove back on as he moved over to the bubbling pot over the flame, grasping a bottle from atop a nearby mantle and filling the glass with a purple tinted liquid. "I am unsure of how well this will work, but please feed this to yourself and the rest of your family to perhaps stop the infection from spreading in case your daughter has infected you all. I cannot assure your health, but this is all I can do for those whom has not fallen ill quite yet." He said as he slowly handed the glass bottle to Misha, who quickly put it into a bag over his shoulder as it was too hot to hold before he quickly grasped the doctor's hands into his.
"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you very much. I shall bring you your payment before the week ends, I promise." Misha said in a thankful tone, tears now visibly streaming down his face as Julian stared in almost disbelief, it wasn't often he got such genuine thanks for his work, but ever still, he forced a smile back to the man as he pulled his hands back, not quite used to such Human contact, especially during a plague time, even more so when he was dressed so frighteningly.
"Of course, I shall do what I can for… Pardon me, what is your daughter's name?" He asked as he looked over his shoulder to Dove who lay still unconscious.
"Dove, Dove Knight." Misha said with a confident nod as Julian smiled, turning back to him.
"I shall look after Dove all I can, now please, hurry home – you'll catch a death in this cold, so please," He ushered the man to the door where Misha wiped his tears and offered the doctor a small wave before disappearing into the darkness of the dimly lit streets, Julian shutting the door behind him and then locking it as he slowly turned back around to Dove who lay still. "Mhmn, no wonder you've fallen ill in only a white gown made from… polycotton? My, no wonder you've gotten like this. How does your family expect to pay me when they cannot afford to dress you appropriately?" He asked himself as he moved over to a table top that had a bowl of water, taking a piece of fabric and dipping it in before making his way back to Dove, dabbing the blood from her face as he stared at her through the red glass of his plague mask. She was pale and her face was slim, but strangely enough unlike other victims, her face was very rosy, fiery in places. Her lips were still pink tinted as her joints from what he could see as she was only exposed from the shoulders upwards, her dress hanging from her chest to past her feet. Yet, a thought fazed him, what if it was simply makeup, a farce to look more well than she was as she was clearly very ill. He moved the cloth to a part where there was no blood and swiped the cold fabric across her cheek before turning it over to look at it – not a hint of colour came from her face, it was real.
"Curious. What is your secret to a fake look of wellness, Miss Dove?" He asked in a curious tone just as, as if nearly on cue, Dove's eyes began to gently flutter, Julian retracting his arm and moving back to the water bowl as she slowly opened her eyes, deep brown eyes staring around the home with a misty look in her eyes before Julian came back, fully expecting her to jump or scream at his look, but to his surprise she stayed completely still only blinking lightly at him. This was the first time he'd gotten a relaxed response to his mask, even people who had seen it time and time again still jumped in horror.
"Doctor Julian Devorak," Dove muttered in a very soft-spoken voice making Julian's eyes open wide. "Have I been brought here to die?" She asked as she softly moved her head to look at him more, a mournful expression on her face as he shook his head, moving closer to her as he picked her up from the table and into his arms, holding her close as he moved to the other side of the room, pulling back a curtain to reveal a simple bedroom, blankets on the floor with pillows, and slowly Julian lay Dove down.
"No, you haven't come here to die just yet," He teased before he quickly looked off, maybe this wasn't the best time for his darker humor. "Your father brought you so you may get well in my care." He said as he covered her frail body with another blanket as she was too weak to do it herself. The most he had seen her move was when she switched where her head to lay to look at him.
"Don't victims of this disease go to plague houses to be treated, why am I," She slowly looked around once more using only her eyes. "…What I assume to be your home?" She asked in her soft voice as Julian sighed, the truth sounded harsh when he thought about it, but he knew he wouldn't lie to someone already so ill.
"Your father said he is going to pay me greatly for keeping you here in my personal care, and the payment should be here soon. I believe he forgot that keeping plague victims in the more populated parts of the city was against the law," He said as he slowly stood back up, leaning on the large window frame of the room, looking out onto the streets, no glass dividing him from the night air. "Yet still, money is money and I'm afraid concoctions for medicine isn't cheap in a time like this, I'm sorry, I am aware that your family is poor." He said with a hint of sorrow in his voice before he turned his back to the window, pulling a small red mesh curtain over the opening.
"You should try to sleep now, although I believe due to your condition you have been asleep much more than you would like to be. Tomorrow I am going to start trying to treat you, but I cannot assure your life to you. Goodnight Dove." He said in a strong tone as he pulled the curtain of the room back to step out.
"Doctor Julian, thank you very much." Dove uttered in a soft voice as she smiled at him softly, making him stare for a moment before he regained his posture, giving her but a nod of acceptance and then drawing the thin curtain shut, as just before, Dove fell into unconsciousness.