*}*Ariana and Christian*{*
“Ariana, Christian, thank you for the help,” Aisling walked over to them.
“Y-you’re welcome,” Ariana fingered her staff, looking downcast. “Is anyone hurt?” She noticed Ryuu and Puck and gasped. “You’re both hurt! Come over here and I’ll heal you.”
Looking bewildered, Puck and Ryuu walked over. “It’s really nothing,” Puck said warily.
Ariana nodded to Christian who pulled out a bottle and handed it to her. “Even if you’re a Page of Wands and a…moratorium,” she lowered her voice so Rina wouldn’t hear, “demonic injuries can be bad if they’re not treated. Out of curiosity, how many demons have you guys fought?”
“There’ve been a few at the school, and the demon we just killed, but other than that, none,” Ryuu watched as the young girl uncorked the bottle, smelling herbal scents.
“Oh…I thought you only dealt with ghosts.” She shyly glanced at Emiko and then looked away, “Sorry if I came off as high and mighty. It’s been rough these past two days.”
“You don’t say,” murmured Puck.
Ryuu gave Puck a look and felt a soothing sensation as Ariana smoothed a cream onto his neck and the side of his face. “This is an herbal lotion that the shrine makes when dealing with injuries caused by demons. I’ll give you some extras for future cases.”
“You seem to know a lot,” Ryuu said surprised.
“I’m training to become a priestess, so I have to know a lot about spiritual rituals, entities, and other things,” she dabbed some lotion onto the side of his face. “And also,” she whispered, “I don’t blame you or Emiko or Rina for rejecting me after I was taken over, you weren’t even there…it’s just between me, Puck, and Aisling.”
While she started administering the lotion to Puck, Christian sidled over to the girls who were watching Ariana heal the boys. “I hope you don’t take my mistress’s actions the wrong way. She’s been through a lot recently.”
“Your mistress?” Emiko looked at the incredibly handsome young man.
“Yes,” he held out his hand, “sorry for not introducing myself sooner. Christian Everleigh, butler to the young priestess Ariana Roseanne.”
When she took his hand, he brought it up to his mouth and kissed it. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Emiko.”
“But I haven’t—” She stopped dead. “Wait, you’re a—”
He smiled. “There is no need to fear me Miss Emiko. I have morals, unlike that piece of trash we finished off. Furthermore, Lady Ariana is my Pactmaker.”
“Pactmaker…?”
“Yes,” he bent down to whisper into her ear, “when a demon and a human forge a bond, more or less, the human becomes the Pactmaker of that demon. Like a contract or a pact, as the name implies.”
Emiko digested all this new information. “How did Ariana become your…Pactmaker?”
Christian's turquoise blue eyes looked in Ariana’s direction and he gazed at his young mistress with utmost fondness. His words were sweetened by respect and affection, “Lady Ariana saved my life.”
Meanwhile, Ariana had finished with Ryuu and Puck and beckoned to Rina. “I’ll give you a quick ritual cleansing to be safe.”
Rina came over and Ariana began. She touched Rina’s shoulder with her staff and closed her eyes, feeling the spiritual energy swirl around her. “Gods, hear my prayer. This girl has been the victim of a demon. Let her pure heart and spirit be at rest and untainted by the evils brought upon her.”
She heard the voice of a certain god say, “Ariana, I hear you.”
Opening her eyes, she smiled at Rina. “There you go.”
“Wow,” Rina said impressed, “you have a lot of knowledge about this kind of thing. How old are you?”
“I’m 14 years old. And thank you. Having knowledge is a must to become a priestess. Oh! Christian!” her demon butler was by her side at once. “Hand me some charms.”
“Charms?” Rina looked at them questioningly.
“Good luck charms.” Ariana held one up. It was a scarlet paper with a gold Japanese symbol on it, surrounded by gold thread. “This symbol means “protection” in Japanese and should protect you from further attacks. Here’s a few for any other family members or friends.”
“Thank you so much! And how you finished off that demon with your staff was cool.”
Ariana blushed at the compliment. “Well, you shouldn’t thank just me. Thank them too.” She gestured to the others. “They did most of the work, Christian and I just finished him off.”
She pulled out a few little bottles, and walked over to Emiko, who she felt was the head of that group, and held them out. “The lotion that I put on Puck and Ryuu was an herbal lotion that’s good for demon-caused injuries. Here are a few extras to use in the future.” Flustered, she tried not to look at her. “And, I’m sorry,” her voice barely a whisper, “for sounding stuck up.”
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The definition I gave of Pactmaker is from what I got based on KC’s posts and I hope it will suffice. As you might expect, because of her curse, Ariana has never had friends outside the shrine. ^^ It’s cute how she’s trying to apologize. Continue?
