Julian Santos

By Niru

**Julian Bernardo Marrero Santos** is Legend's brother and a performer in Caraval.

## Appearance

Julian is described as tall, young and handsome with golden-brown skin and light brown eyes the color of caramel, lined with thick lashes. He has brown hair with choppy waves, and unshaved he has dark stubble with a silver streak along his jaw from giving up a day of his life for Scarlett. Also, due to Governor Dragna, he has a thin, jagged scar that runs from his jaw to the corner of his eye. His rugged face is made of sharp planes. Julian is well-built, every inch of his back is muscled, as is his torso. He has a thick scar that disfigures the space between his shoulder blades, and two more scars cross his lower back as if someone had stabbed him multiple times. He has strong shoulders and a narrow waist. There is something wild about him that can't be tamed by a gentleman's clothes. He moves with total confidence.

## Personality

At first, Julian appears to be someone who is careless, laid back, and relaxed. He acts like he doesn't want to get attached to anyone and comes off as someone who sleeps with random girls. However, says this is just part of his act as a performer in Caraval. His true self is kind and compassionate. He is quite teasing, and calls Scarlett "Crimson," much to her dislike, and probably because she dislikes it. Julian will say and do whatever is needed to get what he wants. He tells Scarlett that he uses people. He disappears many times, leaving Scarlett to try and figure things out alone, only to show up again with useless information. Scarlett's first impression of him is someone "tall, roughly handsome, and dangerous, like poison dressed up in an attractive bottle."

Eventually, Scarlet discovers that Julian is actually a performer who is only meant to be playing a part, not someone who has real feelings for her. However, Julian develops true feelings for Scarlett over the course of the game and breaks the rules in order to stay with her.

## Plot

Julian comes from the Santos family of performers. For most of his life, Julian looked up to Legend and idolized him. He stated that most of his life he wanted to be Legend. When Julian became a performer he didn't care if he lied or hurt anyone, he just wanted to impress Legend. However, after the incident with Rosa, he lost faith in everything. After that, he realised Caraval was no longer the game it once had been: meant to give people a harmless adventure and make them a little wiser. Legend had changed over the years, becoming more of a villain each time he played one, until he became a villain in real life.

A few months before Julian met Scarlett, he decided to leave, but Legend persuaded him to give him another chance and stay.

### Caraval

Julian has been on the Conquered Isle of Trisda for about a month as the first mate of the ship *El Beso Dorado*. He is going by the name Julian Marrero. Scarlett discovers Julian kissing her sister Tella in the barrel room of their estate. Scarlett pulls Tella away to inform her that she has finally received a reply from the Master of Caraval, Legend, and that he has given her three tickets for the next Caraval, one for each sister and one for Scarlett's fiancé. As the girls discuss how they can get off the island, Julian tells them that he can get them to the place where this year's Caraval is being held, the Isla de los Sueños, for the price of the third ticket. Scarlett refuses, saying it's not safe for them to go. After witnessing the cruelty of Governor Dragna however, he tells them that he will take the sisters to Caraval for free. He tells them his ship is leaving the next day at dawn and then leaves.

Later, Scarlett sends Julian a note saying to meet her at Del Ojos Beach an hour past midnight to talk about something important. When they meet, Scarlett offers Julian all three tickets if he leaves without Tella. Unbeknownst to Scarlett, Tella had convinced Julian to help smuggle a resistant Scarlett off Trisda to go to Caraval. So Julian drugs Scarlett to knock her unconscious. When Scarlett wakes up, she is in a boat with Julian. When she asks where Tella is, Julian tells her she will find Tella on Isla de los Sueños. Scarlett decides she will go to Caraval, but then they both realize that the boat is sinking and they try to swim to shore. Julian was able to swim very easily, but Scarlett wasn't, as her clothes were drowning her. Julian quickly swims over and cuts most of her clothing off with a knife, possibly saving Scarlett's life. Once they get on shore, they realize that Tella isn't there, nor is there any sign that Tella had ever been there. Scarlett tries to look for Tella, but Julian tells her that they have to find shelter or they'll freeze.

When they arrive at a clock shop, Legend had left a note and clothes, as well as food, for the two. Julian steals a pocket watch. When a worker in the clock shop offers Scarlett passageway through a grandfather clock to Caraval, Julian says not to trust him and leaves Scarlett behind. Scarlett refuses the offer, and she calls for Julian. Julian appears, and it seems like he was waiting for her. When the two reach the gates of Caraval, Jovan, a performer, says that she needs their tickets. Scarlett realizes she doesn't have them, but Julian says he has them, putting an arm around her and calling her love. Later, Julian says that they need to act like they're engaged, as the second ticket Legend gave Scarlett was for her fiancé. They get onto a boat, and as sunrise approaches, Julian pushes Scarlett into their hotel, getting locked outside. Scarlett convinces the innkeeper to let Julian in, and they receive keys to their bedrooms.

When they get to their rooms, which are right next to each other, Julian says that if he sees Tella, he'll tell her Scarlett was looking for her, dismissing Scarlett. When they enter their rooms, it turns out that there are two different doors, but it is one room. Julian says he's going to sleep on the bed, not on the lounge or the floor just because Scarlett is a girl. Scarlett says he can't do that, but Julian says he can. He gives her the first clue before she leaves.

Julian remains allies with Scarlett, helping her find her sister. Julian tells Scarlett that he is playing Caraval because he wants to win Legend's wish to fix something that had happened during an earlier Caraval. He flirts with her and begins to develop feelings for Scarlett. Scarlett starts to become suspicious of Julian after he exchanges blood with her to save her after Scarlett was scammed on a deal for information about how to win Caraval. She believes that Julian may be Legend. She confronts Julian, and Julian reveals that he is not Legend, but Legend's brother later on. When Scarlett's father and her real fiancee, Count Nicolas d'Arcy, show up, Julian is scarred by Scarlett's father on his jawline to his eye. He refuses to let her father take Scarlett and eventually saves her.

Julian then gets killed during Caraval by the performer playing Legend, Caspar. However, his death is temporary. He is revived by the real Legend once Caraval ends.

Julian finds Scarlett at the after-party. He tells her to stop looking at him like she doesn't know him. The actors bring themselves to their roles, so she does know a lot about him already. While he can't say it out loud, Scarlett figures out that he is Legend's brother. He almost left him but came back when his brother said he had a shot at redemption. Julian wanted to help Legend stop being the villain. He says he stayed though because of Scarlett. He was captivated by her love for her sister and chose to remain by her side, and his feelings for her are real. She notices that there is a scar on the side of his face from where her father sliced him. Julian explains that even though the performers resurrect at the end of the game, they keep any scars they get. Scarlett realizes she loves Julian, and they kiss.

### Legendary

Julian and Scarlett are back together. Julian asks both sisters if they would like to go to Valenda with him to celebrate Elantine's Day, and maybe to participate in the Caraval that would take place. However, Scarlett worries about the Count seeing them, and is reluctant to go. After discussing for a bit, Tella manages to persuade Scarlett to risk going to Valenda.

Later, Julian takes Tella aside before she went to hit Count Nicolas d'Arcy. Julian reveals that Count Nicolas d'Arcy never came to the last Caraval, and was actually played by one of the performers, Armando. Julian asks Tella not to tell Scarlett about this, since he knew that Scarlett would look for the Count if she ever knew that Armando actually wasn't the Count. After Tella agrees not to tell Scarlett, Tella asks for Legend's true name in exchange, to which Julian replies, "That's not even close to a fair trade, and, even if it were, I can't tell you Legend's name." However, once Tella threatens to go tell Scarlett about the Count and Armando, Julian tells her that she can find information on Legend from Nigel, Legend's fortune-teller. Scarlett does end up finding out about Armando.

Later, after Tella is attacked by the Undead Queen and Her Handmaidens, she is mostly unconscious, but hears Julian and Dante conversing. It seems like Julian fed Tella some of his blood in order to save her.

In the end, once Tella had won Caraval and was still weak from being in the Deck of Destiny, she tells Julian and Scarlett that all Legend did was walk away, and Julian seemed to be relieved at hearing that.

### Finale

After Scarlett tells Julian she wants to meet the real Count Nicolas d’Arcy, he has to leave for an errand for Legend. Scarlett is in contact with Nicolas, and plans to meet him in person.

Scarlett arrives at her suite where she and Tella have been staying after Caraval ended. She is met by a servant who tells her there’s a very handsome gentleman waiting in the first-floor parlor, who wanted to surprise Scarlett. She debates on whether the mystery person is Nicolas or Julian; however, Nicolas wasn’t the type to do such a thing, and Julian had not disclosed his location to Scarlett, or contacted her. She hoped the latter was in the room, and that he missed her as much as she missed him.

She finds Julian, noting his damp hair, shining eyes, and devastating smile, as well as a wide white bandage on one of his forearms. He greets her and her Fated gown changes, but she betrays none of what she is feeling by talking to him coolly. When she brings up his bandage, she notes his out-of-character blush. In an attempt to be friendly, he offers to accompany her to the festival, but she declines, explaining she plans to meet Nicolas. Julian is visibly disappointed, but covers it up with a smile and says that he can be their chaperone.

To Scarlett’s annoyance, he joins her in the carriage, insisting he won’t leave because “we’ve spent enough time apart,” taking her hand and pressing it to his knee. Scarlett halfheartedly tries to pull away, but Julian instead intertwines their fingers and tells her that he missed her and had tried to give her space, but realized that his actions instead made Scarlett more doubtful of him.

TBC

## Relationships

### Scarlett Dragna

Scarlett meets Julian when she discovers him kissing Tella in the barrel room of their estate. At first, Scarlett doesn't want to get too involved with Julian because she will soon be married to the Count. But as she becomes more reluctant about her impending marriage, she begins to let herself fall for Julian. Julian pushes her to take risks and go outside her comfort zone. They begin to have a romantic relationship. However, when it is revealed Julian is a performer, Scarlett starts to question their relationship. Julian was only meant to pretend to be Scarlett's fiancé to get her into the game, but ends up falling in love with her for real. After Julian promises never to lie to her, Scarlett decides to give their relationship another go. However, in Legendary it is revealed that the Count was played by a performer, Armando. Scarlett feels betrayed and lied to. She agrees to take him back but with a twist. She will also be giving her real fiancé, whom she found with the help of Jacks, another chance.

### Legend

Julian and his brother have a strained relationship. Growing up, Julian looked up to his brother. He idolized him and wanted to be him when he grew up. All he cared about was impressing Legend. After the events that led to Rosa's suicide, Julian realized Caraval was no longer the game it used to be and that Legend had changed for the worse over the years. Just as Julian was about to leave Caraval, Legend convinced him to give him another chance to redeem himself and stay.

## Gallery

Julian by Gina, Dark And Beautiful ArtJulian by Micheline RyckmanScarlett and Julian by Micheline RyckmanScarlett and Julian by Gina, Dark And Beautiful ArtBy @morgana0anagrom; Julian as the Ace of Pentacles for FairyLootJulian's tattoo by Micheline RyckmanJulian and Scarlett by Micheline RyckmanScarlett and Julian by Micheline Ryckman
## Trivia

* Julian's name is of Latin origin and means *youthful*, representing his generally easy-going and mischievous nature.
* Julian is from the Southern Empire, it is said to be a "lawless place."
* Julian was under magic which prevented him from revealing the truth to Scarlett, scarring their relationship and yet binding them in a different way.

## References

1. ↑ *Caraval*: page 106
2. ↑ https://nameberry.com/babyname/Julian