AN: Unlike the last story, this will not be in third person limited POV. Probably each chapter will be told from someone else's eyes. It'll give me the chance to more thoroughly explore individual character's thoughts.

Prologue

Celsius looked up to the clear blue skies. They were more than just familiar to her now after spending a great deal of time here in this particular area. While she had spent a majority of her time lounging about the arctic environment of her own temple, after centuries upon centuries of being there, she felt she needed a change of scenery, but not too drastic of a change. Shrouded in a cloak of invisibility, she traversed the roads of Flanoir and was pleasantly surprised by the spark of life presented to her unabashedly.

People went about their lives leisurely, frantically, excitedly. She found these were things that she hadn't seen in ages. Before she knew it, she became quite obsessed with simply watching. Time began to fly by like it never had before and then after a while she returned to her temple. Idleness never felt the same.

Then she began to wander past the city limits of Flanoir and out into the vast world beyond; at least the world felt that way upon entering it once again. The world was now so full of people and development; humans and elves who clamored to know their "purpose" in this world, petty conflicts that dictated the actions of whole cities. Their imaginations were boundless and they created a world that only made sense to them, a setting in which such things as "purpose" mattered.

And then there was Heimdall. An odd little village that fancied itself "different" from the others. She'd known of the elves but she hadn't realized how separate they'd made themselves from everything else. Even so, Celsius found that they still dealt with similar matters as any other village. The only real difference was that they lived much longer than humans and she could observe the entirety of someone's life for a longer time period-something that she liked. She had, in fact, been known to latch on to one human or another and watch them throughout their lives, but it would end so quickly. It was profound how quickly a human child could start so innocent and small and then in the blink of an eye through very few experiences become so mature and old. She decided she would do the same with elves and found the experience a bit more fulfilling.

Celsius had been around for ages by the time she arbitrarily settled on an elven child just born into the world. On that day, the first thing she heard were his cries, small and cute just like any other. Curious, she had gone to investigate. Admittedly, she was a fickle person and only ever truly became obsessed over those that she found pleasing to the eyes.

The mother was cooing and shaking the babe gently in her arms until he quieted once again and when the mother left the room probably for some much needed rest, Celsius peered into the crib and believed right then and there that she must have found the elven version of an angel. He was a very plump, healthy looking baby with cheeks that she desperately wanted to pull at and his crimson eyes startled her, they were beautiful and suited him well. She realized suddenly that he could see her as his tiny little hands reached up towards her-the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She wanted to make sure what she was seeing was true so she lifted up one finger-her index finger-and moved it towards his button nose. His eyes followed it exclusively until she tapped him gently there in which he giggled playfully.

"You can," she confirmed to herself.

It was a rare ability among those of the physical realm; the telltale sign of a powerful mage. Though it was still possible for her to make herself invisible to him, she would have to use stronger magic to do so. She bent down and lifted him up, cradling him as she'd seen his mother do, shaking him gently against her. It was obviously near his nap time because he fell asleep easily in her arms. Her movements became that of gently swaying as the babe quietly slept.

She'd been by his side ever since, watching him grow. It wasn't until that fateful day in the forest that she formally introduced herself and she was glad that she did. There were even fewer times that she interacted with people, but she felt such things necessary for her continued sanity. She'd never directly helped him at least not from situations that he created on his own and she couldn't see the harm in acting as teacher to him. He proved to be a dutiful student. Any challenge she gave him, he met with determined effort. She was also grateful for his own strong sense of self. He was in awe of her, but he did not worship her.

Aside from physically training him, she chose not to influence his life in any profound way. She relayed to him one day that she had to go on a long trip and that they were likely not to meet again in a long time. He simply accepted her explanation without question and she returned to her usual post-watching, observing from the sidelines.

She had not planned on reintroducing herself, but she could no longer stand the path of self-destruction he had chosen to travel. It had started with Arcangela, the clever woman who lacked any finesse when it came to such things as love and devotion. Celsius would even venture to say that she was the first woman the elven mage had ever truly loved, the only woman he had ever considered settling down with. She was also the only woman capable of ripping apart his once impervious self-confidence.

He had simply wanted to die and Celsius would not stand for it. As far as his ability with magic went, he was her equal. In fact, he could probably wipe the floor with her. Yet when he had faced Arcangela who was considerably weaker than him, she gained the upper-hand with surprising ease. His mind and body were no longer in harmony, emotionally he was unstable, and he lacked the proper focus.

He lied there utterly defeated in the Triet Ruins wishing for death to come swiftly. He'd not planned on returning the ring the young woman Leona had lent him; he'd planned on ending it all right then and there. He did not pray for someone to come along to help, but she did anyway.

It was childsplay to heal his wounds and bring him back to full health. As soon as he sat up, she gave him a nice, crisp slap across the face for her trouble. She didn't even give him a chance to catch his bearings.

"I expected more from you," Celsius declared.

He didn't seem to register that he'd been slapped. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, those sharp eyes of his slowly taking in her presence.

"That voice...Celsius?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice full of impatience.

"You've returned from that long journey. You haven't changed in the slightest."

It had been a long time since her presence had been acknowledged by him-she found she liked the warm feeling it gave her as his eyes traveled down the entirety of her body.

"You on the other hand...are a shadow of your former self. You allowed yourself to be bested by that woman. Why?"

"I don't even follow what you're saying," he said looking away from her, his eyes gazing down at the ground.

"What's there to not understand?" Celsius pressed impatiently.

When he didn't say anything more, she lifted him up by his collar as easily as a rag-doll and then tossed him into the nearby wall. She expected to get more of a reaction out of him, but he refused to look her in the eye. After a moment, he seemed to gather the courage to do so.

"She was simply too powerful," he said heavily.

"You don't really believe that, do you," Celsius replied, her eyes narrow now.

"Yes! Why the hell would I say it if I didn't? I failed-

She slapped him again and this time she did get a rise out of him, his glorious anger beginning to show.

"Respected summon spirit though you are, you have one more time to-

She interrupted him again, this time with a devious smile on her face as her open hand crashed into his face one more time. It was as if she had unleashed a caged animal as his sweet anger finally erupted and then within a split second she was sent flying, searing pain tearing through her body.

"Celsius!" she heard his concerned voice cry out.

Before he could even reach her position, she was standing up, shrugging off the familiar sensation of pain.

"I'm fine," Celsius said before he could ask, a grin playing on her face. "Did you feel that, Felix? That is the kind of power that could destroy a weakling such as Arcangela. She was no match for you and you know it."

"Is this another one of your of lessons?" Felix asked, his voice strangely shaky.

"Yes, and from what I can see a very necessary one."

She realized then that he was practically seething. "I didn't ask for your help. You abandoned me and now you waltz back in here after three decades as if nothing's changed. A few moments ago...I was content to die; you had no right to take that away."

"Three decades is a drop in the bucket as far as time is concerned even for the likes of you, elf. And...'abandoned' is too strong a word-

"You left me a measly note which I then tore apart and threw away. You couldn't be bothered with speaking to me directly-it was far too beneathe you, oh exalted one."

He turned from her then no longer interested in keeping up a conversation, fully intending to leave her there alone.

"At least now you can return that ring of yours. She would be overjoyed to see you alive and well."

He stopped dead in his tracks. He stood motionless for a moment. "So you've been watching me this whole time?"

Celsius said nothing to this, neither confirming or denying the possibility.

"You know, most would call that stalking."

"Call it what you want," Celsius finally said. "You can hate me all you like, but if I ever catch you doing something like this again, I will be there to ruin your plans over and over again. I'd rather see you die of old age than stupidity."

"Why would you bother with something so tedious? Do you enjoy getting on my last set of nerves?"

"I enjoy watching you live, I enjoy your existence in this world."

"What does that even mean?" he asked exasperatedly. This time he granted her a glance.

"It means...don't die unnecessarily or else it would make me immensely angry."

Felix seemed unable to speak when she said this to him and after a while he left her to her own devices. She, of course, followed him as she usually did. She knew when he made contact with Leona and the others that he would be fine for awhile. She, in fact, did not watch him every waking second, but she often looked in on him.

The world was in peril once again and somehow her most favorite person had gotten involved with the right group of people to aid in healing the world. Sheena had yet to call for her help so she continued to keep tabs on Felix's whereabouts, but she did not directly involve herself; that was her only stipulation.

It was at times when she thought of her impartiality that she was glad that Felix did not rely on her for anything. He did not plead for her assistance like others before him had done even if by now he must have known that she was most likely nearby. In fact, he expected nothing from her. It freed her from the mounting guilt of not helping him each time danger abound.

But that changed one fateful night, there had been one exception to the rule. Arcangela had played her last trick on the weary Felix and he had fallen to her mysterious ailment. She watched as Raine attempted to save him, but her healing abilities were inadequate to say the least. Celsius knew her to be too proud a woman to receive formal training in the use of her magic and now she was completely useless for actually helping Felix. Arcangela hadn't taken that into consideration, but then there was always something a little off about the woman. Celsius was tiring of her disregard for life and Celsius wondered what Felix even saw in her.

She could have helped him immediately, but she decided not to for selfish reasons. She no longer wanted Felix involved with other's problems. Celsius was upset with Raine for being so ineffective, for Arcangela for continuing to want his involvement and support-she thought she would simply let him rest-he wouldn't know the difference.

By the time she came to him, he'd been in a coma for almost two weeks and his parents were understandably distressed. They'd hired the local healer to keep his vitals in check, but even they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Felix truly had been the best healer in the region as they were all painfully uninformed. His parents couldn't make too much to do about it because he wasn't supposed to be in Heimdall to begin with and the healer who came was a family friend.

Celsius calmly walked over to the elven mage and climbed on top of him straddling him with her knees. There was barely space for her on that couch, but she would make do. She ran the back of her hand gently down the side of his face all the while casting her healing magic through touch-a far more potent technique-and he was opening his eyes by the time her hand slid down to his jaw.

He should have been more startled upon seeing her so close immediately after waking, but it was as if he had expected her to be there.

"I had a dream about you," he said sluggishly. He was expectantly lethargic from his coma as his only source of energy had come from the healer, though it was a poor substitute for actual food. "And now...here you are. I should do that more often..."

"I thought you'd still be a bit angry with me."

"I do grow tired of being angry all the time."

"So I've seen or else you wouldn't be in this situation. You've forgiven Arcangela and I suppose me as well."

"Still stalking me, I see," he said, his mouth curving into a small grin.

"Is there not a better word for that," she asked as she placed her hands down on either side of his head, catching a bit on his hair.

"Unfortunately, there isn't," he murmured as she leaned forward.

She realized she'd not been looking properly at him, but at his lips. Just for a moment, her lips grazed the surface of his. Then she felt his warm, slender hands sliding deliberately slow up the length of her thighs-when had they gotten there, she wondered. He'd taken no more liberties than that. He hadn't even attempted to kiss her though they were only millimeters apart from that. His breathing seemed to have quickened, despite his natural warmth he shivered a bit underneathe her; she was notoriously cold to the touch, her body kept at a constant subarctic level, cold enough to send a person into hypothermia. She was too close to him, she realized, for too long a time period. Eventually, she pulled back and slipped her hands into his, intertwining them, skin against skin, her hands being one of the coldest areas on her. It would have been quite jarring for the elf since for the most part, hands was one of the places that the body regulated temperature.

"I think you and Leona would make a very healthy couple." He looked away when she said this. "And that you're wasting your time with Arcangela."

"She's too young," he began.

"You're all quite young in my eyes."

"Time must seem like such an insignificant thing to you."

"I have existed for eons," she said with a smile. "You're far closer to her age...than you are to mine."

"Celsius..."

"Is it maturity, perhaps?"

"No," he said shaking his head. He was looking at her once again. "I'm still..." He didn't even have to finish his sentence, she knew he was referring to Arcangela and how he still foolishly wanted her, needed her. Celsius could never fully understand the workings of one's heart, but she knew it was not always logical. "Arcangela, she helped me when I needed her."

"When?" Celsius asked before he could continue.

"I was a different person back then."

"You talk as if it was ages ago."

"It feels like it was. It felt like another life. Everyone had avoided me for a good portion of my life growing up. I had assumed that everyone hated me, that there was something I was doing wrong and I simply couldn't figure out what. Then as if none of that had ever happened before, people saw me differently, women who had never batted an eye in my direction spoke to me as if they'd been friends with me for years-

"Yes, I remember that," Celsius said, "But the elves have always been such a fickle folk. You grew up and your appearance was a great deal more pleasing on the eyes, at least to them."

"I realized that I didn't care about them at all. The same people who smiled and laughed with me were the very same ones who had shunned me and I begun to see them more as objects than actual people...especially women."

"You did plough through those women quite efficiently," she said thoughtfully, "Now it makes a little more sense."

"Privacy is just a thing of the past for me, isn't it?"

"Haven't we gone over this before?" she said with a devious smile.

Felix sighed and then continued. "They wanted something from me that I didn't feel I had yet they persisted unconcerned about any of that. My parents may have been devastated by my behavior and more so when I was exiled, but I was glad that I had an excuse to never come back. I felt as if I had seen that place for the last time. I was ready to pretend as if none of it had happened. I was not in the best of places when I left taking Lisa with me. I might have wanted to be a better person, but I knew that I wasn't. Arcangela accepted me for who I was, damaged as I was. She was the first woman who I..."

Celsius gave him a knowing look. "But she doesn't have to be your last."

"I know she's made plenty of mistakes, but I can't simply leave her like that. The entire world could hate her, but I would still want to be by her side. No one ever wants to be left alone and I won't let it happen to her."

"Do you still love her?" Celsius inquired.

"Y-yes," he stumbled.

One eyebrows rose on her face. "Hmm? You sound unsure about that."

"N-no...I'm j-just freezing is all. W-would you mind?"

It was then that she realized that her position upon him had not changed for several minutes and he shivered even more noticeably beneath her. In fact, she was beginning to see his breath.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly as she practically leaped off, she pulled away her hands from his as well and now stood looking down at him.

He had to shake the feeling back into his poor fingers as he carefully sat up, still lethargic and now also quite cold.

"I forgot how fragile you were."

"Ah, yes, us poor living creatures that would crumble at the smallest provocation."

She smiled at him. "Now that I've saved you once again. What will you do now?"

"As if you don't already know," Felix said.

"I want to hear it from you."

"I promised Leona I would train her."

"The first productive thing you've said in a long time. Try not to get into any more life-threatening danger, alright? I can't be your guardian angel all the time."

"Please," he said leaning back on the couch, "You just can't help yourself."

She bid him goodbye with a brief, lackadaisical wave of her hand and then disappeared out the door. She chided herself for being so taken with him. Even so, she knew she would be his guardian angel until the day he died.