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Rafayel is the third love interest introduced in Love And Deepspace. He is an eccentric artist who lives on the beach of Whitesand Bay. If there’s one thing that can be said of spending time with Rafayel, it’s that you will never be bored.
His frequent mood swings, bursts of inspiration, and snarky remarks are sure to keep you on your toes. Rafayel is a loving (if clingy) partner who will constantly remind you how missed you are. If you are looking for a man who will always give you the time of day, he is the one for you.
This article contains spoilers for the main storyline and many of Rafayel’s Memory cards.
Who Is Rafayel?
Rafayel is a snarky Lemurian artist and a bit of an elusive character in the eyes of the public, as he very rarely leaves his studio.
After investigating a possible Wanderer attack at an art collector’s house, the MC finds one of Rafayel’s paintings at the scene. Since the painting had been tainted with Metaflux (the energy signature that indicates a Wanderer’s presence), the MC went to Rafayel’s house to ask about any possible Wanderer sightings in his studio.
Rafayel is a Lemurian. Lemurians are a race of immortal merpeople from the fabled underwater city of Lemuria. Occasionally, he’ll recite Lemurian poems and phrases or sing Lemurian songs to the MC.
Rafayel claims he did have a few Wanderers appear in his studio at late hours. In exchange for his help in her investigation, Rafayel decides to hire the MC as a private bodyguard for their trip to Hat Island, the island that they traced the Metaflux trail back to using contaminated Coral Stones Rafayel had been using as paint pigment.
Outside of spending time with the MC, Rafayel is rarely seen outside of his house. His manager, Thomas, even tells the MC that Rafayel spends half his year locked in his studio painting and the other half traveling to remote corners of the globe in search of creative inspiration.
On top of being a talented young artist, the 24-year-old Rafayel is also popular in the media for his good looks. His six-foot (182.88 cm) height, chiseled features, pink and blue eyes, and purple hair turn heads everywhere he goes.
Rafayel’s birthday is March 6. Fittingly for a Lemurian, he is a Pisces.
But painting is not the only skill he has mastered. Rafayel’s Evol is fire manipulation, and he can summon flames hot enough to split tidal waves.
Personality
Rafayel’s personality is bold, to say the least. He’s never one to hold back what he’s thinking, and he doesn’t care much about what others think of him. He’s not afraid to dish out insults and compliments alike.
As expected of an eccentric artist, no one is ever quite sure what Rafayel is thinking or what his next move will be — artistically or literally. He’s been known to make eye-catching entrances and exits alike, even going so far as to jump out of windows.
He has no shortage of personality quirks to explore, and he’s much more conscious of his ‘flaws’ than some of the other love interests. For instance, he really dislikes cats and doesn’t care who knows it. He’s also afraid of heights.
In the Memory card, Rafayel: Tailwag Moment from the Yes, Cat Caretaker pool, Rafayel lived out his worst nightmare: being turned into a cat.
This land-walking fishie is also a bit of an animal whisperer — so long as the animals are aquatic. He’s been known to converse with Octopi, goldfish, and even anemones.
But Rafayel is much more than witty one-liners and unexpected outbursts. Deep down, Rafayel struggles with abandonment issues that lead him to seek frequent validation from the MC.
Work Life
Rafayel is one of the most popular young artists in Linkon and is already a household name. His large ocean-themed paintings sell out moments after they’re released, and he’s exhibited work at several art galleries and museums.
Occasionally, Rafayel is also a guest lecturer at universities and can be found teaching an art class to young artists, such as in the memory, Rafayel: Into The Canvas.
Because his talent is much sought after, Rafayel is frequently pursued by wealthy individuals eager to get their hands on one of his pieces. Rafayel doesn’t care much about his clients, but he won’t turn down the money.
Even though Thomas laments that he wishes Rafayel would think more about the money and less about the craft, Rafayel has made several comments throughout the story that suggest he’s more than comfortable with his wealth.
Rafayel’s Past
Not much is known about Rafayel’s past other than what is revealed in his Myth stories. Rafayel hasn’t been in Linkon City nearly as long as Xavier, Zayne, Sylus, or Caleb, the game’s other love interests.
With Rafayel being a hermetic newcomer to Linkon, no one knows all that much about his history or even what his hometown is. There are very few glimpses into his past in the main story.
However, one moment in Rafayel’s past stands out as the most formative. When he was a young Lemurian boy who had washed up on the shore, he met the MC.
The MC helped Rafayel and the two talked and played on the beach for a long time. She had promised that she would always remember him and that she would visit him at the same time each year. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of either of their control, the MC lost all memory of her promise. She never returned to that beach.
Yet Rafayel returned to that same beach each year, waiting for her until, eventually, he realized she had forgotten all about him. They reunited years later when they were both adults. Rafayel meets her at a fountain and helps her capture a little red fish, which they then name Reddie together.
He seems irritated and aloof during part of the encounter and the MC writes him off as just some weird guy until they encounter each other a second time at his home.
Since the MC unwittingly broke her promise to Rafayel and never returned to the beach, Rafayel has harbored some serious trust and abandonment issues. Once the two got closer, he made it very clear that he wanted to at the very least get an ‘I’m alive and ok’ text from her each day.
Any time he could spend with her, he would, as he felt he needed to make up for the years and years of lost time behind them.
Xavier’s Myth – Sea Of Golden Sand
In Sea Of Golden Sand, the MC is a princess of Philos. She possesses a special heart that grants the people of Philos immortality and protects the planet itself. However, the Princess must sacrifice her freedom to protect her precious heart. She is forbidden from leaving the palace, except to visit the gardens.
Unsatisfied with her virtual imprisonment, the Princess has made 99 attempts to escape the castle and see the world beyond the palace walls. One night, during yet another escape attempt, the Princess disguises herself using the clothes of one of her maids and tries to slip into the lake water outside the palace.
As with all previous attempts, the Princess is caught almost immediately and when her guards fire arrows to sink the rowboat she stole, she falls into the lake. Under the water, she is trapped by seaweed. Confused and afraid of drowning, the Princess panics until a voice tells her to order the guards to leave.
Surprisingly, when she surfaces, the guard who meets her at the water’s edge thinks that she is her servant, Natasha, and not the Princess. The guards disperse, thinking that the Princess must have tried to escape elsewhere. The city is on high alert as an intruder has recently begun killing nobles.
The intruder was none other than Rafayel, the man who spoke to her in the water. Rafayel is dressed as an assassin with his face covered by a mask. The Princess realizes that if this intruder found his way into the city, he must know a way out. She convinces him to help her escape.
Once they are in the market streets outside the palace, the Princess asks to know her savior’s name. He refuses to give it to her, and she instead starts calling him Mr. Sea God. Rafayel is irritated by this and gives her his name before she keeps calling him a god.
Little does the Princess know that Rafayel truly was a former Sea God. In a past life, he gave up his godhood, people, and domain just for her. Hearing her call him a Sea God when she clearly remembers none of what transpired surely felt like a slight.
As the Princess and Rafayel wander the market, she encounters dozens of sights, smells, and tastes that she has never encountered before. She also learns that many of the items in style were supposedly favorites of ‘Her Highness.’ This stuns her, as she has never even heard of most of these things.
She laments that the only reason people care about her is because of her god-blessed heart. She couldn’t care less about her heart or the value it brings Philos. She sees her heart only as a burden which overshadows her worth as an individual with her own thoughts, desires, and hopes.
When guards find and chase them, Rafayel and the Princess duck into an alleyway where they take a moment to patch up his arrow wound again. When asked where she wants to go, the Princess tells Rafayel that she wants to see the ocean more than anything.
Rafayel seems surprised she would want to go to the ocean at all. Before they can discuss it more, the Princess’s maid, Miss Natasha approaches. Before they part, the Princess asks if Rafayel would come to visit her again, if only to repay her debt to him for taking her to the market.
Rafayel seems even more surprised that the Princess doesn’t seem to remember him at all. He asks her if she still has the fish he gave her, but she seems confused, and he realizes that she truly has no idea who he is.
In an aside, Rafayel speaks with a man called Elder Amund. It is revealed that they need the Princess’s heart — a complete Sea God’s heart — to save Lemuria. They cannot simply cut out her heart as she needs to offer it willingly for the sacrifice to work.
Back at the palace, the Princess prepares for her Coming of Age ceremony. As her maid chooses a dress for her, the Princess lies on the floor looking at a little blue fish in a bowl. She recalls that on her birthday years ago, she was gifted a Lemurian. That same Lemurian had given her the blue fish.
She realizes that the Lemurian from her birthday was Rafayel. She had been given him as a gift because Lemurians were considered powerful magical servants. Their blood could grant immortality or resurrect the dead, they sang with beautiful voices, and they listened to every command, no matter how costly.
Rather than keep Rafayel as a birthday gift, she had escaped to the lake and set him free. Back then, Rafayel had asked her to come with him, but she had refused in order to fulfil her responsibilities as Princess. However, Rafayel had vowed to return and find her again someday. He seals his vow by giving her the magical blue fish.
An arrow lands on her balcony, pulling her from her memories. It’s from Rafayel and attached to the arrow’s shaft is a little Fishtail Beacon and a note that tells her to meet him in three days.
Since her Coming of Age ceremony is also in three days, the Princess has to leave a note in her room letting Rafayel know that she still intends to meet him and has not forgotten. She would come to find him at night. However, Rafayel beats her to it and shows up on her bed.
Even though she is considered a princess in the eyes of the realm, the MC is not a true princess by blood. She is not related to the royal family. She claims that she woke up at the core of the planet when others discovered the special properties of her heart.
Rafayel teaches her how to properly use the Fishtail Beacon he gave her before he takes her out of the city yet again. They head for the dunes, leaving the Princess’s maid to take on her identity for the ball.
Rafayel takes her out into the desert where they sit on a dune and talk. He gives her a gerbil for her birthday. She asks him if he will one day show her the sea, as she considers him her Sea God for all the things he has already given her. Rafayel then goes quiet, seemingly lost in an unpleasant memory.
She admits that she has only ever seen the sea in unpleasant dreams. In those dreams, she is trapped in a hut on an island deep in the ocean. In her dreams, she knows that one day the tide will swallow her and reclaim her heart. She wants to see the island in person so that she might piece together who she really is.
Rafayel seems uneasy with her request and the Princess quickly rescinds it. She then asks him if he would like anything in return for being so kind to her. He responds that since she is his master, he can’t go against her wishes. Anything she asks of him, he must do.
Unhappy with this answer, she tells him she doesn’t truly think their bond is one of master and servant. Rafayel insists that they were bonded long before the sea dried up.
Rafayel takes her back to the palace, and they take a moment to talk out on Moonbath Lake. She asks if he was gifted to another noble after he escaped and he responds that he could only ever be captured if he wanted to be. This alarms her yet again, as she thinks it means Rafayel has wanted something from her all along.
Her entire life has been about transactions, and she feels crushed by the thought that the only person she truly likes may have been using her for her heart all along. To soothe her worries, Rafayel uses his Lemurian magic to walk and dance with her on the surface of the water. It’s his birthday gift to her.
When it’s time to retire, the Princess returns to her bedroom. Meanwhile, Elder Amund reappears by the water and hands Rafayel a ceremonial dagger. He is meant to carve out the Princess’s heart with it.
Days later, the Princess meets Rafayel and Elder Amund on the outskirts of the city. Amund seems irritated to be in her presence and is quite disrespectful. He scolds her for calling Rafayel, as she has no right to address the God of the Sea by his name.
Later, while they are traveling, the Princess asks Rafayel if he truly is a sea god, since she read that the Sea God died long ago.
Lemurians don’t call it dying. To them, death is just a long ‘slumber.’
Rafayel tells the Princess that the sea god died because his heart was stolen by humans. Being mischievous, the Princess places her hand over Rafayel’s heart to search for a heartbeat.
That night, Rafayel tells the Princess that the Lemurians have been killing nobles to free themselves. They need to be free so that they can reawaken the seas and return to their homeland.
Later, Rafayel takes the Princess to their destination: The Island of Songs. The Princess recognizes the ruins as the building from her dreams of the sea. In her dreams, she lived alone in the hut on the island, toiling away over a stone slab.
Rafayel reminds her that only those who share a bond with the God of the Sea can read the slab. Rafayel uses the Fishtail Beacon to cut their hands and use their mixed blood to awaken the slab. He reveals that the slab is the Tome of the Sea God, a ledger of Lemurian history and the Sea God’s prophecy.
The Princess realizes that in the prophecy, the only way for the seas to return is for the God of the Sea to kill his beloved and take back his heart. The mystery she’s tried to solve her whole life is answered. Her heart was never hers, to begin with. It was special because it was his.
As she gets glimpses into their past life as lovers, the Princess resolves to give back the heart he gave her willingly. She’d rather he have it and save his people as it was always meant to be his. However, unsatisfied with the prophecy, Rafayel refuses her heart, stating:
A god must protect his followers. If the legend pertaining to the god of the sea is inevitable… Shouldn’t the god of the sea himself change the story?
Despite her fervent protests, Rafayel uses his magic to erase the Princess from the Tome of the Sea God entirely. As she is erased from the tome, she loses all memory of him and the past they shared.
In the end, it is as if they had never met at all. Rafayel erases her from his story and bids his beloved bride goodbye.
Back at the palace, the Princess is a shell of her former self. She feels the thread of memories just beyond her grasp, but can’t place the gnawing emptiness inside her. She asks her maid who gave her the little blue fish, and the maid tells her that she received it from her ‘most important person.’
However, no matter how hard she tries, the Princess cannot remember who that person is. Her behavior becomes inexplicable to her as she tries to walk on water and fill the hole in her soul with a memory that no longer exists.
Her depression deepens until Natasha informs her that the king plans to execute all Lemurians who had plotted against the nobility. At that moment, the Princess remembers Rafayel and uses the Fishtail Beacon to summon him.
She catches him just before he leaves for good. Together, they ride away for Whalefall City. The Sea God’s heart has returned to him, just never in the way anyone would have expected.
- Released
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January 8, 2024
- Developer(s)
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INFOLD
- Publisher(s)
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INFOLD