Summary: Rouge was the Guardian of Angel Falls. At least she was, before she lost her wings and halo. The stars seemed so far away and she'd fell so far. Can she return, only to find that everything had changed?

AN: I really love this game and was itching to write this. I had to replay the whole game from the start to fully grasp and write some of the quotes I want or the scenes I forgot. I hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Quest Series

Warning: Some characters can be a bit (or much) OOC. So be warned and if a character seems OOC, please warn me about it.


"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"If you're there, please say something. Show yourself."

Thus do the voices of mortals plead, ever hopeful of proof of our existence…

For how long have we watched over their realm…?

For how long have we Celestrian existed…?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that this is worth it. Falling from the skies, being turned mortal and Celestrian, living both worlds. I can say this for sure; mortals are like a contradiction. There are those who are pure of heart and those who are evil. I know that Celestrian and mortals aren't so different. There are those who had fallen from grace due to centuries of hatred and there are those who tirelessly roamed the world to find those who are gone. The stars seemed far but in truth they're always inside me. This is how I fell from the skies, climbed back to the heavens and return to live life as a half-Celestrian and half-mortal.

This is my story, of Rouge, once Guardian of Angel Falls and now Guardian of the Mortal Realm.


Somewhere in a small village nestled around some mountains, the morning sun greeted the new day. A boy in blue ran out of his house, chasing a dog. A man wearing green starts cleaning his horse. Windows are opened and the sweet smell of home cooked meals came floating through. On one corner, a man started fishing while a woman went shopping. The morning rays hit the statue of the village Guardian at last, illuminating the figure of a Celestrian floating nearby. Even though it was early morning, everyone was up, eager for a new day.

Thus begins our story…

Minstrel of the Stars

By Hi Hikari No Kaze

Chapter 1: Guardian of Angel Falls, Rouge

A Celestrian with fiery-red hair tied into a ponytail and gold eyes floated nearby the Guardian statue. She seemed to be around 16, but don't be fooled, Celestrians live long lives. Currently said female Celestrian was yawning loudly, sitting on top of the Guardian statue. Suddenly, a thought struck her. She flipped backwards and landed lightly on her feet, facing the statue. Making sure no one was looking, she kneeled down and wrote on the nameplate

Guardian of Angel Falls, -Aquila- Rouge

Grinning cheekily, Rouge mentally congratulated herself on a job well done. That is, until she heard a slight cough behind her. Slowly she turned, smiling sheepishly, and look up to the stern face of Aquila. The bald Celestrian was her mentor for years and was like a father figure to her. Her parents had died on the Protectorate, defending a town from a wave of monsters. The details are a bit sketchy for her, since she was young when they died. Aquila, being friends with her parents, took her under his wing. Even though he was more often than not stern with her, he treated her like family and that makes her feel warm.

"Now what are you up to, Rouge?" he asked with a frown, though the amused twinkle in his eyes betrayed his emotions. He was far too used to his apprentice eccentricities.

"Nothing, Master." she replied, a little too innocently. The redhead stepped aside, letting her Master see her work. With a sly grin, she said, "I'm just making my mark while I can."

Aquila examined the nameplate and shook his head. "You should stop such childish things once you're made to a proper Guardian."

"Aww, but that's no fun!" Rouge's voice was close to a whine, pouting. "I don't want to be an old prune like you."

"This 'old prune', as you called it, is your teacher, you do well to remember that." He said sternly, standing up to face her. "You're a Guardian now. These childish acts must stop soon."

Rouge pouted childishly, but didn't argue back. Celestrians don't talk back to their superiors. Taking her silence, Aquila turned to the village and said. "You're the Guardian of Angel Falls now. I had doubted Apus Major decision because you're so young and childish." Rouge grinned sheepishly here and Aquila turned to face her, letting out a fond yet exasperated sigh. "Yet I was proven wrong and I'm glad. The village thrived under your hand and you had learned enough to become a Guardian without my help."

The redhead beamed at the praise. Aquila rarely praises her. When he did praise her it means she deserved it, and that made her heart warmed with pride and a happy grin on her face. Aquila coughed lightly to his hand to regain her attention. "Look, it seems like someone is approaching the village. Do your duty as a Guardian and make sure they arrive safely."

Rouge looked at where he pointed. An old man and a teenage girl with dark-blue hair were slowly approaching the village. The girl was supporting the old man, berating him slightly for being melodramatic and helping him reached the village. Suddenly, a cruelcumber and two slimes jumped out of the bushes and hid behind a rock, preparing to ambush them.

'Now that won't do.' Rouge thought as she flew towards the monsters, ignoring Aquila's shouts to slow down. She was one of the fastest fliers in the Observatory. It's one of the few things she was better at than her teacher and she took pride in it.

Once she reached an acceptable distance, she glided silently behind the monsters. A quick glance back shows that her mentor was observing her, watching what she was doing and ready to support her when needed be. She grinned slightly, more determined than ever to not screw up in front of him.

The fight started with her slashing a slime, drawing the monsters attention to her. They froze, surprised and Rouge took advantage of that slip-up to attack the same slime, killing it. The shock wore of shortly after she attacked. The cruelcumber thrust its spear at her as she attacked another slime. She managed to dodge the attack, but it left a thin, slightly deep wound on her arm. Luckily, Aquila got her back and slashed the cruelcumber, knocking it down in a single hit. 'Man, when can I do that?' She absentmindedly thought, defeating the last slime. She winced slightly as her wounded arm brought the finishing blow. 'I got to take of this wound…'

Aquila saw her wound and went up to approach her. "You must be more careful." He lightly berated as he healed the wound with a quick spell. "I won't always be here."

"I know Master." Rouge nodded, testing her arm before looking around, spotting no monsters left.

"See, Grandpa! There's Angel Falls up ahead." the bluenette, Erinn if she heard correctly, exclaimed happily, pointing to the village ahead.

"Aah…I honestly believed I'd never set mind tired old eyes on the place again." The old man sighed happily. "But here we are again. Home."

"Oh don't be so melodramatic, Grandpa!" Erinn teased him. "The village Guardian will have been watching over us all the way. Nothing bad would have happened to us."

That caused a spark of pride in Rouge's heart. It feels good to have someone believe in her so much, though it did point out the responsibility a Guardian has that Aquila, with some success, manage to pound into her head. It never felt quite real until she experienced it herself.

She was drawn out of her reverie when Erinn clasped her hands together and prayed. "Benevolent Rouge, thank you for protecting us on our journey."

That made her blush slightly, she didn't do that much! Aquila noticed this and smirked. "Don't let this feed your ego, Rouge." He teased.

Just before she could make a smart comeback, a blue glow surrounded Erinn and a blue crystal floated up from her to Rouge's hands. The redhead looked at it in awe. She had seen many Guardians during her apprenticeship years carrying these crystals to offer it to Yggdrasil. To think she gained one in under a week!

"Behold, Rouge." Aquila said, a slight proud tone on his voice that made her grin. "Benevolessence."

She turned to face her, grinning widely and practically jumping on her feet. She tuned out his lecture about what a Benevolessence is and what a Celestrian must do with it. She heard the lecture a million times already. Her mind wonders to when they could fly back to the Observatory and show off the Benevolessence. The looks on their face will be priceless.

A sudden hit on her head brings her back to earth. Rouge grinned sheepishly at him while Aquila sighed, far too used to her antics and occasional daydreams. At least it wasn't as bad as her early apprenticeship years. "Come, Rouge." He said, looking at her. "Let us return to the Observatory, that you may make your offering."

Rouge grinned happily, already flapping her wings. Aquila shook his head at his overeager pupil and fly too. Together, they ascended beyond the clouds and flied through the sky until they reached the age-old relic of their home. Rouge smiled as she looked up, seeing the greens against the brown. This was their home, a place they would always return to. It felt good to be back.


"Do you remember what to do upon returning from the Protectorate?" the bald Celestrian questioned her once they're finally in.

"Yup! Report to Apus Major in the Great Hall!" Rouge giddily exclaimed, wondering who should she show it off to. Perhaps Amy? Or Darek? Maybe Columba? Or perhaps, and here Rouge grinned, that old librarian Morgue? She imagined the look on her old face when she sees this. And here the old coot said that she'll never be able to live up to anything.

Of course Aquila had to spoil her daydreams. "No delaying it, Rouge." he told her sternly. "Go straight to Apus Major. I'm sure I can leave that to you. I have other business to attend to."

Rouge pouted. "Do you have to spoil everything, Master?"

"Of course I have to." he chuckled slightly at her expression. "Who else can stop you from going too far?"

"It's payback for the blackberry juice fiasco thing, isn't it?"

"Now, Rouge, we're angels, we do not do revenge." though that smirk on his face tell her otherwise.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Rouge said defensively. Aquila gives her a look and she sheepishly said. "Ok, I might be the one who gave the idea, but the twins carried them out!"

"Nonetheless, it was your idea in the beginning." the older Celestrian said. "Thus, later we shall have a little spar."

Rouge groaned at that, a little spar means a beat down for her. She never can beat the older Celestrian. "But you already punished me for that!"

"And how about the shirt incident?" Aquila asked, looking pointedly at his student. "If I recall correctly it was last week. Right on the day you first descended to the Protectorate."

"Emphasis on the first time descending, Master! I have no idea that that laundry line was there and the winds are really powerful then." Rouge protested. "Plus, I didn't know you already landed, I thought you were beside me or something, the clouds were rather dark and I also fix the laundry line back!"

Aquila shook his head, feeling a migraine coming on. "We'll discuss this after you report to Apus Major, clear?"

He didn't gain any response from his troublemaking and drawing apprentice. Looking up, he immediately cursed that action. Rouge was giving him those puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright." he said, giving in. "But only a few. Then go straight to Apus Major."

She grinned widely and suddenly threw herself at him, hugging him on the waist. "Thank you!" she said happily, letting go. "I'll be going now!"

He smiled slightly as he saw his troublesome apprentice ran, first going to the library to no doubt show off to Morgue. He chuckled slightly as he heard a crash, a stack of books falling no doubt due to his pupil, and Rouge rushing back out, a wide grin on her face and the old librarian swinging her ruler as if that was a sword hot on her heel. It was good to be back.


AN: Well, what do you think? I didn't go too over the top with Rouge did I? You know, I really think I got a problem with myself. I got several stories waiting to be written out and here I am making another fic. Please review so that I know for sure that somebody is reading this! Any kind of review (insult, criticism, flames, normal, etc) are welcomed!

Thank you for reading and please look forward to the next chapter,

Hi Hikari No Kaze