Gabriel

The Upperworld

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> Jamie

**Gabriel** (better known as **Jeremiah** or **Jamie** by Wysteria), is an Angel who was disguised as a Demon from a young age. He was raised in the royal palace where he trained and served as part of the Honor Royal Guard. Early in his career, he was appointed as Wysteria's personal bodyguard.

# Background

## Early Life

Gabriel was born in The Upperworld as the youngest son of a middle-class Angel household. Edgar, his only older brother, was already in grade school studying to become an Administration worker. **INFORMATION ABOUT HIS PARENTS(????)**

One day when Gabriel was still young, he and Edgar went out to explore the area around their home when they were separated through a game of hide-and-seek. While searching for a place to hide, Gabriel approached an Abyssal rift which transported him to The Underworld; and when it came time for Edgar to seek him out, he was unable to find his younger brother. He returned home and reported he was missing.

Meanwhile, Gabriel had been transported to the Underworld's Palace, where he was incidentally discovered by the Head Royal Scholar, Murdoch. Despite the natural adversity of the two races, Murdoch felt compassion for the fallen Angel and sought for a way to return him to The Upperworld. However, they were unable to find a safe and discreet method to do so. They changed his appearance and took him into the palace temporarily while they continued to search for a way to return Gabriel home. However, much to their concern, there seemed to be no foolproof way to do so. Furthermore, they'd become somewhat attached to the small child and found his help around the library to be useful. After much thought, Murdoch informed the King of his decision to adopt a live-in assistant. Due to their long friendship, the King readily agreed.

Unbeknownst to Gabriel, Murdoch would look for ways to return him to the Upperworld for most of his life, with no success.

## In the Palace

Murdoch decidedly named him Jeremiah, for they worried that Gabriel was too controversially Angel-like. However they wanted to preserve the somewhat Upper/Overworld sentiment.

About a month into his new residency, Jeremiah's physical condition declined further and further until he was bedridden, and became fatally sick. Murdoch rejected all Royal Healers out of the concern they would recognize his Angelic constitution. In truth, the constant exposure to demonic energy had taken a toll on the child's condition, as he was unused to the unusual environment. At his worst condition, Jeremiah entered a near-death state that caused Murdoch to dread the worst. However, he was able to recover. From thenceforth Murdoch kept him strictly insides; however, it seemed he'd gained immunity to his environment.

As Jeremiah got older, his memories of The Upperworld faded before he forgot about his previous life completely. Instead, he believed he was an orphan that had been adopted into Murdoch's care thanks to their good graces. The scholar had originally planned to tell him the truth from the start, but decided against it when they saw how well he was adjusting.

Jeremiah studied under Murdoch and also learned how to attend to the Royal Library while in their care. As a result, Jeremiah came to love reading and wanted to pursue an intellectual or even magical occupation when he got older. However, despite his best efforts, Murdoch specifically forbade him from learning sorcery due to the concern he would realize his affinity for holy magic. Thus, Jeremiah set his sights on also becoming a Royal Scholar---possibly even taking his guardian's position when they retired.

Jeremiah first met Wysteria when Murdoch began overseeing her royal studies. At this point in time, Jeremiah had already been in the palace for about one year, helping as Murdoch's junior (junior) attendant. Wysteria had never heard of another child in the palace before and thus took a great interest in him. She attempted to befriend him, even coining a nickname. Jamie was intimidated by these attempts at friendship at first, but with encouragement from Murdoch, they did eventually form a bond.

Despite her parent's disapproval, Wysteria came to spend time with Jamie on days when she had time to spare or was simply bored with royal duties; and over the years, they became close friends. It was also about this time that Wysteria began to regard him as a romantic interest, although Jamie was not aware of her feelings.

When the time came for him to choose a career path, he reluctantly agreed to applying for Knighthood through Wysteria's request. However, he was rejected due to failing the preliminary rounds. Despite his failure, however, Wysteria insisted he try again and---much to his surprise---Murdoch agreed. In truth, Murdoch was concerned that further pursuing an intellectual field would cause him to be exposed to Angelology. Wysteria then used her royal status to demand another audience with the instructor, where, much to Jamie's disappointment, he barely passed.

Although he hadn't entered his field of choice, Jamie still worked hard in his studies, especially since Murdoch seemed pleased with his career. Instead, he took to reading in between instruction hours and continued to help his guardian in the library when classes were over. It was difficult for him at first due to his lack of experience with the kind of lifestyle he was now expected to live. However, he eventually grew into his profession and passed the final examination where he was picked among others to join the Honor Royal Guard. Jamie was almost immediately transferred positions due to Wysteria's request to have him as her personal bodyguard, where he served for the following years.

# Main Story

## Pre-Departure

**something happens for some reason Murdoch starts dying???????? IDK** Sensing they were near death, Murdoch urgently told Jamie the truth of his origins, before renewing the disguise with the last of their magic. They warned the illusion would only endure for a limited time and that he should leave as soon as possible, before passing away.

Jamie immediately called for help and didn't act on Murdoch's words until after the funeral several days later, after most the shock subsides. He recognized the immediate danger of the situation but doubted the veracity of his late guardian's words. However, he believed it when he notices his hair is beginning to turn blonde.

Unfortunately, his time to slip away quietly is lost due to Wysteria's upcoming coming-of-age ceremony, where she hopes to secure a relationship with him. Unable to see an opportunity to slip away, he stays for the ceremony but becomes increasingly uneasy as parts of the disguise fade with each passing day. Furthermore, he was reluctant to leave the only home he's known with little to no explanation, especially since Wysteria recently became vocal with her intent to marry him; and through this predicament, he comes to realize his own romantic feelings. Unfortunately, this does nothing but further aggravate him concerning the situation. He becomes anxious that his identity as an Angel would only harm her if he were to tell her the truth and decides to refuse her confession. However, Wysteria remains confident in her ability to convince him and remains insistent.

Jamie decides the only time he would get a chance to leave is if something were take Wysteria's attention away from him---which reminds him of a lesson he had when he was young on elixirs. He returns to the Royal Library, which is unsupervised due to a lack of replacement since his guardian's death, and brews a crude love potion and gives it to her. Wysteria drinks it and becomes infatuated with Ezra, a fellow member of the Honor Royal Guard. She proposes to him immediately to which Eza accepts with bewilderment.

Seeing the potion has worked, Jeremiah begins to prepare to leave. Since Wysteria's attention has been drawn elsewhere, he's able to coerce her into getting a royal permission of leave rather than escaping illegally like he'd originally planned. While securing her signature, Wysteria requests that he stay for the wedding, to which he agrees out of a sense of duty.

On the day of the wedding, he stays only until Wysteria and Ezra complete their vows before leaving for The Overworld. Not long after he leaves the border, the last of his disguise falls apart.

## Post-Departure

Unsure of where to go now that he'd successfully escaped, he follows the abandoned road he'd arrived at through the countryside before arriving at a small town. There, he encounters a small stray dog which he decides to take with him, naming her Wisty in Wysteria's likeness. He also abandons his current wear for clothes he finds hung on a clothesline, uneager to attract attention with his unusual attire, leaving before he can be caught. He resorts to wearing a hat to hide his head wings, although his hair grows back rapidly whenever he attempts to cut it.

He travels along the road for several days, unable to find a permanent place to stay, before he eventually takes residence in what he believes to be an abandoned wheat mill building. Unfortunately, the next morning he's found by the child of the family who owns the mill, who runs off to fetch his older sister before Jamie can stop him. She confronts him upon arrival to which he attempts to explain his situation. She takes pity on him and introduces herself as Vicky, explaining her family runs a bakery and comes to the countryside every weekend to organize delivery from the surrounding wheat fields, which they also own. She assumes that he's travelling to the city and suggests that he and Wisty stay with them for a few days so they can give him a ride when it's time to return. Jamie, who had nowhere to go anyway, accepts the offer.

Vicky accidentally finds out about his identity as an Angel when she catches him without his various headwear on, but promises to keep it a secret. Rather, she takes a liking to him and they become friends. He eventually confesses to her that he doesn't know where to go once he reaches the city and she suggests that he work at her family's bakery, where he could stay and earn a living. He accepts, believing he's finally found a place to permanently settle down.

Unbeknownst to him, at this time Wysteria has not only begun searching for him, but The Upperworld Administration as well. Upon crossing into The Overworld and shedding his disguise, he now became susceptible to being detected by members of The Upperworld Administration, who considered it one of their many given duties to supervise the activity of The Overworld. Incidentally, he was spotted, and filed for further investigation. At the time, they did not yet suspect him to be an Angel, but rather some other supernatural entity.

For a month or so, Jamie lives peacefully in the city, becoming comfortable with the area and locals who eventually come to accept his unusual appearance and behavior as normal. Unfortunately, the peace is short-lived.

Wysteria unexpectedly bursts into the bakery one day, unable to recognize him in the heat of the moment due to the difference in his overall appearance. Furthermore, she mistakes him as who she thinks was an Angel that had kidnapped him. Jamie doesn't recognize her either for a moment due to her decision to take the appearance of a man, but eventually realizes who she is and attempts to escape, recognizing the potion must've worn off. However, Wysteria corners him and demands to know Jamie's location.

The spike in demonic activity around his monitored location ushers the UA into dispatching an angel to immediately assess the situation.

# Personality

Jamie is a quiet, thoughtful, and stoic person who's struggle to express his own emotions is commonly perceived as apathy. A loyal solider, he commits himself to people and relationships, willing to follow orders and rarely questioning his surroundings. This conscious ignorance stems mostly from his powerful desire to live a life of peace.

He generally dislikes conflict and instability, and avoids it if possible. This means that rather than face his problems, he tends to run away from them. For example, he'll bottle up his true feelings from not wanting to cause a disturbance and stuff his issues on the back burner, leading to pent up turmoil that chews him from the inside constantly. He's also afraid of pursuing what he wants. He believes his desires are sometimes selfish and puts himself under a cruel discipline to refrain from giving in to his own wishes. Instead, he's much more comfortable with going with what others want. Chances are, he genuinely doesn't mind any decision; but on the off-chance he feels strongly about something, he'll likely talk himself down. This undermining of his own desires also means he sometimes believes he knows what's better for someone else, making decisions that seem inconsiderate under the impression that it's "for their sake".

His attitude of going with what others want may lead some to believe that he's a push-over, but the reality is that Jamie is very stubborn. Rather, he stubbornly commits to his beliefs and once he makes a decision, it's difficult to convince him to reverse it. He also has deeply set opinions of himself and others that are difficult to change. The best way to change his opinions are with logic and actions.

Jamie also has a hard time showing emotion, although he may feel them strongly. This, coupled with the fact that he struggles to assert himself, leads to him to pushing away others subconsciously. He believes that his emotions are burdensome for others, and rather than trouble people, he'd rather wrestle with it himself. Of course, he never can. If someone were to ask him how he was on any given day, regardless of how he's truly feeling, he'll always respond that he's fine, and refuse to open up. In fact, if someone were to press him, he'd grow uncomfortable.

In general, Jamie is afraid of his true emotions, mostly because he's deeply ashamed of them. He thinks negative emotions are weak and selfish, and he has trouble being vulnerable because he feels mortified of his most human thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, he's afraid he'll upset a delicate balance for something seemingly insignificant if he were to express himself. To him, it's simply not worth it. He's convinced he can tough everything out and endure no matter the circumstances, and to do otherwise would be self-absorbed. This leads to a tiring inner conflict that he tries to ignore. Unfortunately, his introspective nature causes him to think about it often, and the mental tug-of-war between what he feels and his strict beliefs causes him large amounts of stress. Sometimes he'll be kept up at night by this inner turmoil.

To befriend him, don't be put off by his distancing attitude. In most cases, he keeps everyone at an arm's length to keep things as smoothly operating as possible, which may come off as cold and stiff. Only people who interact with him often have a chance of being regarded as more than acquaintances. He also highly values responsible, reliable, and down-to-earth people. However, he also admires courageous and confident people for their fearless nature, a trait that he secretly envies. Furthermore, despite his withdrawn behavior, he actually enjoys the company of friendly and excited individuals because he feels they make him feel at home, and he finds them interesting and magnetic. However, being too friendly or loud will make him uncomfortable, and to befriend him it's important to realize his personal (emotional and physical) space. This gap will close with time, though.

Jamie always gravitates to people that he admires or respects in some way, and this appreciation can only be earned through proving character through actions. Words, simply put, have little to no effect on him. He doesn't think very highly of compliments---rather, they make him uncomfortable---and too many will make him believe the person is ingenuine and a little shallow. However, he believes no one can refute the authenticity of actions, and he uses these to gauge the character of others.

# Trivia

* Jamie has good memory with people. He always remembers a name and face.
* He’s a dog person.
* He was originally created from a random romance prompt:

*"He's been your protector for years. Having come of age, you are now expected to ascend the throne as demon Queen of the Underworld, but you want him by your side. Although you've loved him since you were a teenager, he only sees you as his charge—his duty, nothing more. In order to fully ascend and claim what's rightfully yours, you must be mated by midnight of the next equinox. You only have two months to prove to this man that what you feel is real and that he is meant to be your life mate so you can rule the Underworld together."*
* OKAY IM JUST REALIZING THIS PROMPT IMPLIES PEDOPHILIA
	+ JAMIE AND WYSTERIA ARE THE SAME AGE. AND THEY DO NOT MATE

* The hair tufts were from when Joy thought that he had horns and I mistook it for his hair.