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"Magic happens when you don't give up, even when you want to." - The Arcana's tagline 

Refer here for the in-universe dictionary.

OFFICIΛL DESCRIPTION[]

The Arcana (commonly stylized in promotional media as THE ΛRCΛNΛ or simply Arcana) is the first project Austin Dy and Kit Aguinaldo have written together in 2021 so far. Its plot features a boy's love (BL) that would contrast to that of After Solstice, which is HM's first girl's love (GL), even though The Arcana will most likely be a shounen-ai instead.

The story has six protagonists to focus on; Kellan Xalvador, Xylon Lozano, Sapphire Chauvera, siblings Izaiah and Indirah Alnazar, and Lucio Damaris. All of the characters have their own character arcs, with Kellan being The Fool, Xylon has Death, Sapphire having The Moon, Izaiah has The Hanged Man, Indirah being The Magician, and Lucio is The Devil.

STORY SUMMΛRIZΛTION[]

Kellan Xalvador was taken to the Melendezes' residence by Mythos and Corrine dela Vega after the accident he was in with his parents. With her status as the Xalvadors' familiar Blanca watches Kellan years later only to tell him one day that he's a mage and he's been accepted to attend Belvoire as a student. Though hesitant, Kellan agrees and meet Sapphire Chauvera and Xylon Lozano for the second time- not knowing about it. Izaiah Alnazar makes an appearance as a student, with Blanca recognizing her own brother later on with Xylon. The siblings then get involved into a confrontation as Izaiah goes near the border of the Black Forest, only to feel another presence with them. This prompts the group to go back into Blanca- now revealed as Indirah Alnazar's dorm room, thinking that a Warlock is watching them, although without trouble. A professor catches them going into the border and calls them in his office. Back in the Aqua dorms, Xylon and Izaiah tell the others that the Warlock that might've been in the forest with them is Lucio Damaris- and that he might be connected with the Devil Arcana as its card altered its temperature during that time. Indirah discusses the danger that would happen if the Arcanas and humans interfere with their own worlds, and that it would result to chaos.

In Imperia classes, Kellan and the others meet Blackquill, a competitive classmate of theirs. The Imperia professor teaches the class how to conjure the water Imperia, and Blackquill volunteers to demonstrate the spell. The professor then picks Kellan to do the same thing Blackquill did, although he loses control of the water's energy, resulting in Blackquill's distaste of Kellan. That afternoon in the field, while Sapphire and Xylon are playing Volley Vortex, Izaiah and Kellan get into trouble by accidentally casting the transformation spell at Blackquill. Indirah goes to the field to join them and tell them the news that their parents might be alive and were only held captive by the Warlocks. Indirah wants to save her parents for the second time, but Izaiah and Kellan disagree with her, leaving her searching for the Warlocks' caves by herself. Sapphire and Izaiah talk about how Kellan is functioning well after all he's been through while Kellan and Xylon talk about Xylon's past.

In the library, Indirah meets Lorenzo while she is reading books and maps about Belvoire. He claims that he knows who Indirah is and who her parents are, and this makes Indirah trust him. Upon seeing Lorenzo talking to his sister in the library, Izaiah assults Lorenzo saying that he's Lucio Damaris, a Warlock that they felt the presence of in the forest. When asked what he is doing in Belvoire, Lucio answers that he wants to turn to a new leaf and that he wouldn't want to be known as the stereotypical Warlock. He wants Kellan to teach him spells that he couldn't otherwise conjure, and Kellan agrees, although everyone is hesitant. In Charms class with their professor, Kellan finds out that he couldn't teach Lucio the spells he wanted to learn because of the reason that he couldn't even perform them himself, and would need Xylon to help him. Because of this, Kellan decides to practice spells with the help of Xylon for days.

With the weight of the truth and reality, Kellan breaks down, needing the comfort of his familiar. When Indirah goes to comfort him, she guides him through his happy place. At first, Kellan thinks it's his parents' house, but it's the Lazarette. Kellan then manages to connect the events that happened and guesses correctly that he died of the plague in the Lazarette and he was revived. It was later revealed that because of the sign on Xylon's chest, it was Xylon himself who revived him with the help of Death, an Arcana, to get the body of the Fool to get Kellan's new body. Lucio shares the information about the Arcana insignia, and slips up by saying he knew all about it because of Indirah and Izaiah's fortune teller parents. This causes an argument between Lucio and Izaiah since no one ever mentioned their parents being fortune tellers- and assuming that Lucio has something to do with the kidnapping. With Lucio knowing where their parents are, Indirah makes a deal: she would teach Lucio everything she knows about magic, and Lucio would help save the kidnapped.

Early next morning, Xylon and Sapphire run into Blackquill while they're training for the tryouts that afternoon. Blackquill looks down on Sapphire just because she's a girl, telling her girls have no business playing something like Vortex. This results to Sapphire and Blackquill quickly becoming sports rivals, proving each other wrong about the other's assumptions. Xylon then goes to Kellan's room to check in on him after what happened the night before, and Kellan asks him to take him to the Lazarette, to which he agrees. Sapphire checks in on Lucio, Indirah, and Izaiah into the training gym and discovers that Lucio and Izaiah weren't still on good terms with each other, with Indirah practically babysitting him. The first-years go to their Dark Arts class with a professor that catches Sapphire not paying attention, getting into a small argument and losing house points. Indirah, Sapphire's housemate, isn't thrilled with the news.

Even bigger bad news come in when Lucio tells them that the Crimson Plague is coming back, and that they need to find the most powerful mage to stop it. The reason why Lucio would need the mage is because Lucio was the one who made a deal with the Devil years ago to kill his parents so that he could lead the Warlocks by himself. This in turn numbs Indirah, who walks out to clear her head while Lucio keeps apologizing to her for what he'd done. The Devil makes an appearance to Lucio when Indirah's gone, and he reminds him of his deal- revealing that he's planning to take Kellan and give him to the Devil as his payment. After Xylon reveals to Kellan about his past- what happened that night at the Lazarette without him- both of them went to watch the lanterns for Aerith's anniversary. The second they get back to the dorms, they were taken by Indirah to her own room where the others are, discussing about the plan to infiltrate the caves and save the mages the Warlocks kidnapped, lead by Lucio.

That same night, Indirah knocks at Lucio's door to apologize, and they all get ready for the rescue they've planned hours before. Blackquill catches the group entering the Black Forest and was about to tell them off, but Sapphire threatens him and makes him join them instead. The Devil appears again to the group, threatening to kill Izaiah if Indirah doesn't come with the Devil. Indirah eventually agrees to him, and with the Devil's help, Indirah learns that Kellan isn't the mage Lucio's looking for; it was her all along, and the Devil knows this- he binds Indirah with his chains and separates her into another dimension, far away from her friends. Indirah's master, the Magician, helps her answer what they should do to beat the Devil.

Back in the Warlocks' caves, Blackquill and Sapphire team up to fight the Warlock knights that caught them, and when Lucio leads them to a dungeon, he freezes the others and threatens to take Kellan's heart with his sword, revealing all his plans and motives to them. Indirah escapes the realm and takes on Lucio, saying that she's the mage that could act as payment for the Devil- telling Lucio that he should kill her. When Lucio doesn't oblige, Indirah tries to kill herself with the killing curse, but Izaiah takes her place and he gets hit by the curse instead. Kellan tells Indirah that the Hanged Man is waiting for Izaiah in his realm, and that she should let him go for the time being. In the Hanged Man's realm, Izaiah admits to his patron that no matter what Indirah does, he still loves her, and that he forgives her for what she's done years prior. An Arcana insignia appears on Izaiah's neck as he achieves his highest point of virtue by forgiving his sister, and he comes back alive in the dungeon. The group head onto the Devil's realm, knowing what they should do next.

Indirah uses her magic to teleport them into the Devil's realm, but they end up on her gateway instead- letting the others rest with Xylon and Kellan discussing about the past and future of their relationship. When Indirah successfully teleports them into where they need to go, the Devil looks down on them and binds them for even stepping foot at his own domain. He tells the protagonists that they're only humans and mortals, and that they're all inferior to him, also revealing that Kellan is half-Warlock. Even with the pain from the chains binding them, Kellan stands upright with Xylon, telling the Devil that they aren't weak at all. They prove this by standing up one by one, fanning out from each other to distribute their energy to one another, beating the Devil with their virtues and binds him to his own realm for a thousand years.

Years later, Everlee Melendez, Kellan's cousin, grows up and attends Princeton University to read to children about the story of the binding of the Devil, which the children were skeptical about it either being magical nor real. Everlee tells them that the decision whether to believe that the story and magic is real is completely up to them. Everlee then goes home after the children, but not without waving to her friends and cousin goodbye, who were all listening to the story that whole time. Izaiah teleports them back to Belvoire, which changed dramatically through the three year interlude. While walking, Kellan gets ahold of the message an Arcana is trying to reach out to them, and Indirah confirms this by saying the Magician needs help with the Arcana realms falling apart. Gaining new confidence that they could fix it, they all teleport to the Magician's realm to help.

CHΛRΛCTERS[]

MAINS[]

Kellan Xalvador Xylon Lozano Sapphire Chauvera
Izaiah Alnazar Indirah Alnazar Lucio Damaris

EPILOGUE MAIN[]

Everlee Melendez

THE ARCANAS[]

The Fool The Devil The Magician The Hanged Man

Belvoire Staff[]

Antagonists[]

Xalvadors[]

Lozanos[]

Chauveras[]

Alnazars[]

Damarises[]

Melendezes[]

LOCΛTIONS LINKS[]

ITEMS LINKS[]

RECCURING/RUNNING GΛGS[]

  • "Fuck You, Goatman"- In Chapter XV: The Devil, Lucio says "Fuck you, Goatman" in his narration. Indirah does the same in her point of view, in Chapter XVII: The Star.
    • Goatman- In a similar note, the Devil's nickname in the franchise is "Goatman", as mentioned by a few characters in chapters.
  • Recludo- Kellan couldn't cast any charm but the vanishing and revealing charm is a running gag alone, but the spell that irritates him the most would be the unlocking charm, Recludo.
  • "Blanca or Indirah?"- Kellan forgets Indirah's real name and keeps calling her "Blanca", and it seems to not matter whether he's narrating in his own perspective or in a dialogue. He often says "Bla-- Indirah"; catching himself halfway. He learns to overcome this later on.
  • Love Quarrels and Frenemies- Sapphire and Blackquill bickering with everything, one-upping each other, as well as Izaiah and Lucio.
  • Stop Das Gay- Kellan teasing Xylon about the fact that he revived him, saying that he's in love with him so bad.
  • Poor Lucio- Lucio getting punched; once by Izaiah in Chapter IX: The Hermit, and once by Sapphire in Chapter XV: The Devil. It's also note-worthy that Izaiah tried to punch him again in Chapter XV: The Devil.
    • Beware the Frozen Heart- Similarly, for almost every chapter that they're in, Izaiah always seemed to resort to violence everytime he's with Lucio.
  • I Said I'm Sorry- Izaiah blaming Indirah for leaving him 11 years ago for thinking she could save their parents from the Warlocks at the age of 6.
  • "Choo-Choo Pickle Pie"- Izaiah saying "choo-choo pickle pie to his sister when he needed help prior to the events of the story when Indirah left him became the story's mock tagline. The help phrase was seen again in Chapter XVII: The Star, when Izaiah was taken hostage by the Devil, and in Chapter XXI: The World, where this time, the siblings said the phrase for Lucio to help them.
  • Ahh, Young Love- Blackquill and Sapphire have obvious romantic tension between the two of them every chapter they're in.
  • You're a Wizard, Iya- Indirah somehow always takes the tarot deck from Kellan without him noticing it.

JOURNΛLS[]

Some of the characters have journals- also known as side stories- scattered around Tumblr for readers to find, locked with passwords. To view a character's journal, readers would have to figure out what their password would be (all passwords don't have spaces and are all typed in lowercase). It's worth noting that all of these journals were written on an actual notebook story-wise, as technology doesn't exist in Astraea. All of these journals are modernized for readers.

Kellan Xalvador (Markuskellycow)[]
  • Password hint: He doesn't like his first name, but he finds his other nicknames adorable.
Sapphire Chauvera (SapphireChauvera)[]
  • Password hint: Childhood nickname that her parents give her.
Indirah Alnazar (bianca-alnazar)[]
  • Password hint: Her and Izaiah's emergency phrase.

ORIGINΛL SONGS[]

  • Arcane Memories
    • Eyes Wide Open by Austin Dy and Kit Aguinaldo (theme song)
      • Eyes Wide Open (Piano Ver.) by Austin Dy
      • Eyes Wide Open (Reprise) by Austin Dy and Kit Aguinaldo
    • Eleven : Eleven by Austin Dy and Kit Aguinaldo (end credits)
    • Blood, Sweat, and Tears by Kit Aguinaldo (featured)

TRIVIΛS[]

  • The Arcana's setting was supposed to be in the (Italian) Renaissance period (14th-17th century) before it was scrapped. Because of this, writers have to start writing from the prologue again and rewrite the story without it being in the Renaissance.
  • The Arcana would be the first of many projects in HM:
    • First (and so far only) story of HM to be completely written by only two writers; even the concept arts were all illustrated by Kit Aguinaldo and Austin Dy.
    • First story to be a BL with its direct opposite being After Solstice, which is the first GL project of HM. The Arcana is also canonically the third story of HM to have LGBT main characters, the first being After Solstice (Sydney Crimsen, Anna Sinclair, and Rio Togami), and the second being Beyond Worlds (Red Ordonia).
    • First shounen-ai.
    • First fantasy story of HM.
    • First story of HIRAYA.
    • First story to not reveal to the fans who the characters are supposed to be after it's being written (although other members have been told who they are).
    • Since The Arcana will be a short feature film instead, it's the first story that wouldn't have a released demo reel in 2021 (both YES or YES and Beyond Worlds have demo reels and short animated storyboards for the fans in the blog).
    • First story to have a single word as its title (alternate title: Arcana) that wasn't a translated literary work (SILENT is a film, excluding it, and Dimensiones is Beyond Worlds' title for the Spanish translation). The second would be SWAN: Murder in San Fran, as its alternate title is "SWAN".
    • First story to be written by Austin Dy.
    • First story to be written by Kit Aguinaldo in 2021 (she helped with YES or YES' puzzles and Beyond Worlds' locations, but she never wrote a part in both stories and therefore wouldn't consider her as a writer).
    • First story to have an entire album of original songs for its feature film.
    • First story to have the longest time gap between the start of its writing and the release (1 month and 5 days).
      • First story to have the shortest gap between the first book and the second book (1 week and 4 days).
    • First (and so far only) story of HM to have the release date on a holiday; in The Arcana's case, it was released on exactly December 25, 2021, Christmas Day.
      • This story is also the second instance that the dates of the story's setting is in sync with real-time; the ending of Beyond Worlds was set on Léa Navarro's birthday, and was released on July 9th, 2021- Austin and Kit's birthdays. The ending of the main story of The Arcana is also on Christmas which doubled as Lucio Damaris' birthday in-story.
  • Everytime a chapter name is a main character's patron Arcana, that Arcana's beneficiary has the point of view for that specific chapter (XII: The Hanged Man- Izaiah's point of view, XIII: Death- Xylon's point of view, XV: The Devil- Lucio's point of view, XVIII: The Moon- Sapphire's point of view).
    • The only characters who don't follow this rule are Kellan (0: The Fool is a prologue where he was unconscious), Indirah (I: The Magician has Kellan's point of view, although II: The High Priestess is set in hers to make up for it), and Everlee (her point of view is set in XXI: The World, which is the epilogue, instead of XVII: The Star)
  • Each main character's combat clothing depicts the color palette of their patron Arcana's colors, and are consistent with having gold in their ensembles:
    Arcana clothes
    • Kellan (The Fool)- Green, light blue, gold
    • Xylon (Death)- dark blue, light blue, gold
    • Sapphire (The Moon)- dark blue, gold, black
    • Izaiah (The Hanged Man)- black, red, gold
    • Indirah (The Magician)- pink, orange, gold
    • Lucio (The Devil)- white, red, gold
  • The story features real-world problems and this would also be the first story of HM to have this many conflicts solved in a book:
    • Racial discrimination- Astraea's people are categorized either under a mage, familiar, Warlock, or human, with humans considered the lowest of the low. After Kellan retrieves the title as being the "god" figure in Astraea, he lets everyone be friends regardless of blood-status.
    • Plague outbreak- Having a plague outbreak in the story as an actual antagonist (and the first story to have something as an antagonist as opposed to someone) is applied in real life, where the Coronavirus had an outbreak on March of 2020.
    • Gender inequality- In II: The High Priestess, boys are mentioned to be making fun of Sapphire Chauvera for wearing pants instead of a skirt. Dunstan Granville notices this in Chapter V: The Hierophant, and at the end of the story, he lets Sapphire lead a an all-female Vortex team as a revolution to fix gender inequality. Blackquill is also consistent with calling Sapphire "Princess" as a mock for her gender.
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