Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

Sanctuary

A woman ran up me clutching my hands in hers as she begged eagerly in another language to bless her baby.

"Gaius can help you, he was once a priest." She shook her head, why would she want an earthly priest when there's someone like me around? I ended up letting her lead me to her family, where her daughter held a small infant in her arms. The family gazed at me in awe. "All right." I nodded, rolling up my right sleeve and placing my palm on the baby's heart.

Boss, please don't set the Bigwigs on me for this. Even if I'm no longer among your choirs, I still want to do good. I made my glyphs glow and spoke the blessing in the Angelic language. The baby giggled and her mother, handing her to her mate, sprung up and hugged me in tears, kissing my hands. The rest of the family hugged and praised me after, "Think nothing of it." I said modestly.

I hope nobody else asks me for miracle work, even if working miracles is kinda my whole shtick.

A youthful voice called. Aiden came running and crashed into me with a huge hug. I hugged him back with equal vigor. "Good to see you're all right! How is your caravan?"

"We're all settled in." Aiden replied, pointing to their camp. "That was amazing  last night. I've never seen anything like it!" His eyes enlarged amazed. "Is it true you're really one of them?" He pointed upwards.
"Yes." I glanced at the sky. "I came to help you, but I have to stay in human form so I don't scare anyone. I'm sure I've become the talk of the town."

"Yes! Everybody's speaking about you!" Aiden jumped giddily. "I knew you were good from the very beginning, but nobody believed me! They called you a witch and a sorceress, and they were wrong. Now they know you're not evil!"

"I never was." I chuckled. A rebellious pain in the ass? Yes, but never evil.

"How are you going to protect us all ?" He asked.

"It's not just me protecting you all." I smirked. "Greta and her warriors are here , and there's  Alucard. It's a group effort."

"But you're the angel with holy magic." Aiden stated. "I bet you could send every vampire and demon back to the fiery pits of Hell. They wouldn't dare attack here!"

"They have." I said. "But I put a very strong magical ward around the castle that will burn off any dark creature that comes near. If they attack us again, we'll all head inside and be safe." I ruffled the boy's hair. Aiden responded as if he were about to cry. "I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay. You didn't do nothing. It's just......" He sniffled, wiping his face and presenting himself strong. "My parents used to do that and they're...."

"I understand. I'm so sorry." I knelt and hugged him.
"Thanks. I'm all right now." Aiden hugged me as tight. "I think they sent me to you."

I didn't respond, not wanting to give him hope or take it away. "You're a very brave boy."

"Thank you. I'm braver with  you. You give us all hope. Can you stay with us?"

"Sure. I can hang around your group for a while, and get them to know me."

"No, not just that." He stomped his foot. "Stay with us for good, after it's safe for us to go?"

"I can't." I said. "This is my home, and I can't leave Alucard again. He needs me."

"We need you more." His arms tightened around me. "Stay and protect us. Maggie says the people from Danesti are going to build a new village closer once it's safe to move again."

"Where did Maggie hear that?"

"There's been talk among the other refugee groups they're gonna settle somewhere else. The old Danesti's not safe anymore, so they're going to build a new one that is. I've heard the other children talk about it too. We're tired of running." He pleaded with me. " Come with us! You can help us build the new village and protect it with your magic. We'll never have to worry about demons or vampires ever again!"