New Chapter!
Yay!
Millie fluttered quickly down, hovering above the beautiful Angel Falls waterfall. She could see people milling around, crossing the bridge, chatting, and generally enjoying the evening, where it was just cooling down as the sun dipped behind the clouds.
"I don't believe it!" a male voice shouted. "No one else noticed that the name of the guardian changed?"
"You're crazy!" another voice replied. Millie floated over to them. It was Ivor and Hugo, two young boys of the village. Appearance wise, they could be the same age as Millie. In reality, she had a good 300 or so years on them.
"It used to say 'Aqui-' something, but now it says 'Millie'. Is someone messing with me?" Ivor asked, yelling at poor Hugo. It wasn't that Hugo particularly liked Ivor, but he was the only other boy his age.
"No. No one is messing with you," Hugo said, trying to reassure him. "It's always been Millie, for as long as anyone can remember."
"Do you remember reading it before?" Ivor asked.
"Um... Well, now that you mention it... No. I can't," Hugo said, looking a little puzzled.
"You see? It's only just changed, yet everyone thinks that it's always been 'Millie'," Ivor said. "I told you so!"
"It must be the work of the Guardian," Hugo said with an understanding nod. "Maybe a change of command to a new Guardian. Whatever it is, we should be thankful of them." Millie felt her heart swell with happiness at Hugo's words. He was such a good kid.
"Guardian's are just a load of made up rubbish," Ivor dismissed with a shake of his head. "The only one who believes that is Erinn, and she's just a dumb...brunette!"
"Erinn has purple hair," Hugo pointed out.
"I don't really care! She's always going on about it!" Ivor launched into a rant about Erinn. Millie watched with a smile. Erinn was a sweet girl. If she could ever meet a human, she would want to meet Erinn.
"It's always about Erinn with you!" Hugo exclaimed. "Erinn this and Erinn that. Maybe you should just tell her that you love her already!"
"Shut up!" Ivor shouted, slapping Hugo over the head. Millie decided that she had watched for long enough and drifted away, heading past the market shop and along a path.
"Woof woof!" Millie turned to see an adorable dog running up to her. Millie loved dogs, mainly because they could see her. This one was named Sixes, and liked greeting Millie with lots of kisses. The townsfolk thought that the dog was crazy since he licked the air.
"Hello Sixes!" Millie whispered as the dog began to lick her hand. He trotted away from her, and into a clearing of flowers. He began to dig at something. "What is it, boy?"
"Arf!" Sixes said, sniffing the ground. Millie reached past him and picked up a small, shiny object: a ring.
"Whose is this, Sixes?" she asked, examining the ring. It looked fairly nice, as if it had only been on the ground for a short while. Whoever owned the ring would probably be looking for it.
"Woof woof!" Sixes licked Millie a few more times before running off, to his owner, who was yelling at him. Millie held the ring in her hand and drifted further through the town. She slipped in through the open door of the quaint little church, finding an elderly woman hunched in the front pew, praying and whispering.
"Oh, dear dead husband, I'm so sorry I lost it..." The woman was rubbing her finger and, upon closer inspection, Millie could see the tan line of a missing ring that the woman must have worn for years and years. Millie carefully dropped the ring into the ladies apron pocket, causing her to jump.
"Oh, what is this? It's my keepsake ring! Oh, my dear dead husband, it has been returned to me!" She looked around excitedly, her tired eyes sparked with happiness and excitement. "This must be the work of darling Millie! Oh, thank you so much!"
Smiling broadly, the woman was enveloped in a soft blue light, which condensed and balled up in front of Millie. Now, it was Millie's turn to grin as she held a crystal of benevolessence in her hands.
Once she had safely secured the precious energy, Millie left the church and went to check on Mr. Seljak, the farmer. His brown horse, Cabalo, was outside, grazing on the sparse grass. Millie entered the barn, only to find the farmer asleep on a pile of hay. He was muttering something about cleaning.
And then Millie noticed the overpowering smell of horse manure.
She looked at the poor old man, and then at the shovel that was leaned against a barrel. With a sigh, she drifted over and picked up the shovel, tossing six clumps of the poop into the appropriate bin. She popped the poop-covered shovel back on the barrel and turned to leave, only to knock the tool to the ground, causing what was possibly the loudest noise in the world.
Mr. Seljak jumped to his feet with a shout, narrowly missing the invisible Guardian who was ever so close to him. He took a double take at the horse pen in front of him.
"I don't believe it! I was just about to get cleaning, but then I dozed off..." his voice left off before he gave another jump. "Ah! The Guardian must have been helping me out while I rested!"
Millie smiled at his words, sensing the benevolessence that was gathering inside of him.
"Thank you, Millie! I promise you that I'll work a lot harder from now on! I'll have me another horse in no time!" he said with great conviction.
I'll remember that, Millie thought with a smile as she left again. She was about to head into the inn when she caught sight of someone on the bridge.
"Master Aquila?" she asked out loud, flying over to him.
"Hello, Millie. I see that you are doing well in your new job," Aquila said.
"Yes, Master," Millie said monotonously. Aquila noticed a small frown on her face.
"Don't worry. I'm not here because I think you aren't able to fulfill your role. I no longer protect this area. Now, I patrol the entire Protectorate to keep it safe, which means coming back to Angel Falls from time to time," he explained.
"So why are you here, Master?" Millie asked after a pause.
"There is something I must teach you," Aquila said. "It's about-," he stopped, noticing Millie's shocked face. "What?"
"Did you forget to teach me something?" Millie asked. "Something that is so important that you would leave the Observatory in order to find me and teach me it while I'm busy with my first role as a Guardian?"
"Yes, I did forget," Aquila said. "And I'd appreciate it if you would never, ever use that kind of tone with me again. Let us not forget who is the superior here."
"Yes, Master," Millie said, ducking her head. "What is it that you wanted to teach me?"
"You are now in charge of a mortal flock. That doesn't mean just taking care of the living," Aquila said. Millie gave him a slightly puzzled look. "There are some whose souls still wander this realm. They need help moving on. You can actually hear one right now." They listened hard and, surely enough, a man's shouting could be heard.
"Who is that?" Millie asked.
"One of your flock who has passed," Aquila said. "Now, go to him and help him move on." Millie looked at him and flew cautiously over to the other side of town, where an enormous man surrounded by blue light was. He looked a blacksmith with a very frighting mask on.
"Hello?" Millie said with caution. The man spun around so fast he nearly hit her.
"Finally! Someone who is willing to talk to me!" the man exclaimed. "Listen, do you know why everyone is ignoring me?" He stopped himself suddenly and gave Millie a hard stare-down.
"Is something the matter?" Millie asked.
"Wait one second! You're a bloody Celestrian, aren't you!" he shouted. Millie nodded. He had an absolutely stunned look on his face. "So... I'm dead?"
"Yeah," Millie said, feeling a little awkward. "I'm sorry that you're dead, but it happens to everyone, you know?"
"Thanks for being honest with me," he said with a heavy sigh. He looked down at his hands, as if noticing their blue transparency for the first time. "I was wondering why everyone was ignoring me."
"You're taking this quite well," Millie said with a smile.
"I was going to do it myself anyway," the man admitted. "Well, now I know what's what. I can go 'rest in peace' now, I guess." The glow of his transparent skin intensified as he began to float in the air. His form faded away completely, leaving a crystal of benevolessence in its wake.
"That was easy," Millie said as she heard her master approach her.
"It is a vitally important lesson," Aquila said. "You must remember it. Thanks to your help, a human soul is now at rest."
"Yes Master," Millie murmured.
"Benevolessence from a departed souls shine more brightly than any other. Remember that also," Aquila said. Millie nodded. "I take it that you will be returning to the Observatory, right?"
"Yes. I need to offer up the benevolessence as soon as possible," Millie said. "If that is alright with you, Master," she added.
"Of course. I will leave you to that. I need to go patrol more of the Protectorate-." He cut off at the sound of a loud whistle. Streaking across the sky, high above their heads, was the magnificent Starflight Express. They watched it until it vanished behind a thick bunch of clouds.
"The Starflight Express has been very active as of late," Aquila commented quietly. He turned to Millie. "I've changed my mind. I'll come with you after all."
And with that, the two Celestrians took to the sky.
Chapter done!
Yay!