#1- Companion
The downside to having only two of them in the entire party was that one of them was the offense and defense, while the other doubled as a support and healer. Normally, parties consisted of four adventurers each, with each member of the part having their own role as offense, defense, support, and healer. But no. As a Celestrian, it was quite ironic that he hated mortals, and only dealt with them for the sake of Aquila and Apus Major's approval. His tolerance for them was strong to the point he became guardian of Angel Falls, but immediately after he was given that position, an accident occurred and he fell from the Observatory, losing his wings and halo in the process.
He only had the mortals to blame.
Yet, despite his hatred for mortals, there were few mortals that seemed to be okay in his book; Erinn, for one. She had been nice enough to drag him out of the waterfall and let him stay at her house at Angel Falls up until he was better to move on his own. There was Ivor too. Despite how the other's cockiness could get on his nerves, he admired how a jerk such as he would do anything for a mortal like Erinn. Princess Simona as well. Despite being royalty, she was certainly independent, and had assisted him in calming down the spirit of the lost Wight Night. Another human that he seemed to grow fond of was Doctor Phlegming. Sure, he disliked the doctor at first, but it seemed that the wife of his death turned him friendlier, sad to say.
There was also a child that he met at Stornway, and he'd be lying if he were to say he didn't think much about the child. She was a small girl, probably younger than Jona or Bryce, with silver hair and black eyes. And even though he met with the child from time to time, he couldn't really take her with them to their journey. It was dangerous, and despite being a skilled martial artist, she was still a little girl. He had left her under Erinn's care at Stornway, and the last time he'd seen her was after he resolved the Coffinwell incident. As of now, he and a certain someone were paying off her inn bills with the own money they got from beating monsters, and it was mainly because the child had nowhere to go, as she was an orphan.
Of course, if one were to ask him who his favorite mortal was, there was the priest that was accompanying him as he gathered the Fryggs.
He had met the young priest on his first visit to Erinn's new inn at Stornway, and it had been awkward at first. He really didn't like humans, but ever-so-friendly Erinn had practically begged him to befriend the priest who was awaiting for people to accept him on their travels. Sure, the priest was inexperienced at first, but he came to be one of the strongest healers that he had ever seen in his entire life. Mind you, he was three hundred years old! How could such a young, mortal priest, carry so much faith to the point that his healing powers couldn't be matched by anyone else? And to think this was the same weak-willed priest he met at Stornway too..
"Ace." And there was the priest, holding his wand with a tight grip. He eventually relaxed his grip on the wand and stared at the Celestrian with concern visible on his rather dull, black eyes. "I.. I think we should rest, Ace. We just got the second Frygg.. and it certainly is a long way down there."
Oh yeah.
Zere Rocks. They were in the stone city of the small town of Zere, and after fighting off an evil statue, the Frygg had been given to them by the ghost of an old man who went by the name of Mason. Ace, the fallen Celestrian, huffed and leaned against the nicely-carved stone tree. Mason was truly skilled, it seemed. "We have all the time in the world. Actually, no we don't. We need to find my master and gather the Fryggs for Apus Major. Maybe I'll get my wings back the sooner I get them. Mortals get tired easily, with their weak legs. Flying is much better, you know."
The priest nodded, meekly sitting next to the Celestrian. It had been two weeks since Ace had told the young priest about his story, and that he wasn't mortal at all. It was Ace's fault that he was careless enough to not notice the young priest had followed him up to the Starflight express, and he only found out he was there as soon as he came out of the train and onto the Observatory. The priest had taken it surprisingly well, but in Ace's opinion, that was to be expected.
The young priest didn't seem to have a human aura, he noted. It was probably due to his high amount of faith, Ace reasoned.
"That sounds fun." The priest nervously chuckled.
Was it a trait for healers to often be meek and soft-spoken? Ace wondered about that. He thought only female healers were such things, but no, there was his only mortal companion. Not that he was complaining. The young priest must have suffered so much in the past to be as quiet and as timid as he is now, and as a Celestrian, it was Ace's duty to protect mortals.
Call it favoritism, but his priest companion happened to be his favorite mortal in the Protectorate, with the second being the child at Stornway, and the third being Erinn, who he would even like to call an older-sister figure to him. Maybe it was because that this mortal had the same amount of faith in the Celestrians as Erinn did, and most of his healing powers had been a gift from the heavens above due to his faith for the Celestrians and guardians.
Well, he needed to lighten up the mood, somehow. Stella was nice enough to flutter around the town and let them take their break, but the priest just couldn't loosen up. "Hey." He called out to his companion. Even though he was usually too much of a stick-in-the-mud, his companion had done so much for him today. Healing him as he suffered through countless injuries, for one. Almighty, how was someone this patient? "Remember that cute green dress we brought at Dourbridge? And the pointy hat?"
The priest nodded. "Yes. You said we'd give it to Aera."
Aera being the young girl from Stornway that Ace remembered so fondly. She was the epitome of innocence, happily bouncing around the town despite the entire Wight Night fiasco. It was honestly a shame they couldn't bring her along.
"Do you remember the set of claws we alchemised for her?" He chuckled at the memory. It was like seeing a child open a present at Christmas day, but instead of receiving a doll or a toy, she received a pair of carefully-made stone claws. "I think she's going to be stronger than me if we drop by Stornway. She's a determined one, that girl. And she'll stop at nothing just to prove to us that she's strong to accompany us."
Finally, his companion chuckled, albeit in a meek manner. "True. But she always said she wanted a pretty dress. I.. I hope the leather dress I brought for her back at Stornway was enough to satisfy her for a bit. I'm glad we got her another one. And it's a wonderful green color too. I'm sure she'd be happy. The hat is adorable too."
As selfish as mortals were, evident by the Port Llafan incident, Ace was glad he got a nice look of how selfless some of them could be. Erinn and Jona were examples of those, and so was his priest companion, who had used his share of the reward money that King Schott gave them just to buy Aera a new dress. She would always wear the same plain clothes back at the inn too, and the small girl probably wanted something pretty to wear every once in awhile. She was still a girl.
"Hm. I guess we could take a break once we go down and rest up at Dourbridge. We'll head to the next town later." Ace mused. "We got three Fryggs now. And who knows when's gonna be the last time we'll see Aera again."
Whoops. A pessimistic thought.
Nonetheless, the priest didn't react badly to such a thing, as he usually would. "True.." He murmured. "I never would have guessed that fruit-hunting was this dangerous.. but.." He glanced at Ace, softly smiling. "As your healer, I'll follow you to the edge of the world, no matter what. That was a promise I made back at Stornway, right? Back when we first met." He chuckled softly. "I.. I remember it clearly. The time we met, I mean."
"As do I." Ace closed his eyes.
"It.. it happens to be a very special night for me. I never would have thought.. that a weak priest such as I would be the companion of the guardian of Angel Falls.. a high-ranking Celestrian.."
"Oh, you flatter me." Ace teased, grinning at him.
Such a statement caused the young priest to squeak out in realization and blush a deep red color. "A-Apologies, Ace!"
The night he had visited Erinn's new inn and agreed to help her out was the same night Erinn and Patty decided to introduce him to the concept of parties and party members, and the pros and cons. He immediately shut them down, not wanting to deal with mortals, but his conscious tricked him into accepting Erinn's favor. And that was to take a lonely, young priest with him, who had been covered in head to toe with bandages and a quiet voice that was barely above a whisper. Ace didn't really want to deal with anything else, so he decided to just let the priest tag along with him until he got enough Benevollessence to give him his Celestrian powers back. And thanks to the gold he got from slaying monsters (and breaking pots and stealing from shelves, but the Almighty didn't need to know that), he used it to replace the priest's blood-stained plain clothes, muddy sandals, and half-broken laundry pole with a clean and warm leather cape, soft leather shoes, and a staff made out of strong wood. The leather shield and soft gloves were bonuses too, as well as the gold ring he had given him for protection of some sort.
The priest was still wearing it underneath those thick, rubbery Wayfarer's gloves. Ace could tell.
He didn't know the young priest's story, but the young priest knew his. It was only a matter of time before the priest would do the same. And maybe they'd be closer friends if that were to happen. Who ever heard of a Celestrian, much less someone trained by Aquila himself, befriending a mortal? Surely no one but Apus Major- okay, scratch that, the entirety of the Observatory probably knew about their closeness.
Still, Ace smiled at him, just to ensure the other he wasn't the serious and poker-faced stick-in-the-mud Aera claimed he was. It wasn't his fault Aquila was too serious. "Auren-"
Suddenly, the sound of Stella snapping at them interrupted Ace. And yes. The entire incident of Auren, the young priest, getting into the Starflight Express by complete accident, resulted into him being able to see non-mortals such as Stella and other Celestrians and ghosts. "Are you two done saying your flapping vows to each other?! This ain't a wedding nor is this glum place a church!" The faerie said, pouting like a child.
Ace clicked his tongue in annoyance, scowling at the faerie above him. "Stella, you little-"
"She is right." Auren softly said, standing up. "Why don't we use a Chimera Wing to get down from here? It's quicker and easier.. plus, Chimera Wings are not too hard to find or buy, and they're relatively cheap."
"Sounds good. I'm not really looking forward to fight anything after that statue drained me out of my energy." Ace replied. "And change of plans, let's rest at Slurry Quay rather than Dourbridge. It's much more peaceful there, and the beds are comfier. Less people means less hassle."
"You truly.. dislike mortals.. don't you..?" Auren whispered under his breath, obvious sadness laced in his voice.
"You're different though." Ace quickly told him, grabbing his arm out of fear that he might have somehow upset the other male. "You don't.. you don't have any greed. You're like Erinn, Princess Simona, Catarhinna, and Jona. You're selfless." Again, he made a soft smile. "And I wouldn't have taken you so far if I haven't grown fond of your presence, correct?"
A moment of silence passed through them, as quiet as the wind, but Auren suddenly chuckled. "I guess so. Thank you, Ace."
"No, Auren. Thank you."