Chapter Text
Garth felled the last enemy, smacking him in the side of his head with the flat of his blade. Not dead, but knocked out cold.
Garth exhaled, wiping blood off his face as he turned to see how the rest of the party was faring.
Everyone was in various states of disarray, but it was Beanie who was arguably the worst off. He was covered head to toe in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. Despite being one of the sneakiest members of the party, he was often targeted by enemies for his small stature. He could hold his own and the people he fought him got what was coming to them, but that didn’t mean Beanie could get out without a scratch.
Dolce was already rushing over to him and looking over but was interrupted from a nearby yell.
“Hold it!” A voice projected from the other side of the field.
Garth whipped around to see the newcomer, sword at the ready in case it was someone with malicious intent.
Luckily, he saw no threat.
The woman running to them had her hands in the air, and no visible weapon on her person. The first thing he noticed about her actual appearance was her pure white eyes. They seemed to almost leak light out of them.
“That little guy needs healing, let me help!” She called, a little quieter as she had gotten closer to the party.
She approached Beanie, but Garth stepped in front of him. “How can we trust you?”
The woman blinked. “I’ve got no proof for you. But you will thank me.”
Garth turned around to see the reactions of the others. Dolce was eyeing her skeptically.
“You think she’s okay?” Garth asked, stage-whispering to Dolce.
She hesitated for a second, but nodded.
Garth stepped out of the way and let the woman kneel down in front of Beanie. There was blood seeping out of his forehead, and he was much worse off than he first thought. The woman thought the same as she immediately started fretting over him.
“My name is Fayette, what’s yours?”
Beanie smirked. “The name is Bean, or Beanie for longer.”
Fayette nodded. “Alright, Beanie, will you let me heal you?”
“Sure, lady.” He shrugged. Fayette glared at him. “I mean… thank you, random lady named Fayette.”
Fayette rolled her eyes like ‘good enough’ and began working on Beanie. Radiant light encased both Fayette and Beanie, and Garth’s hand again flew to the pommel of his now-sheathed sword.
He needn’t have worried, because when the light was rescinded, Beanie was spotless. The blood had disappeared, as well as all of his other wounds. The only evidence that he had been hurt in the first place is the blood that now stained Fayette’s hands.
“How do you feel, Bean?” She asked, standing back up to full height.
Beanie rolled his shoulders as he stretched and shook his limbs. “Amazing! Thanks, random lady! Wowza, that worked so well.”
Fayette smiled. “Good.”
She turned to the rest of the party, and as Garth’s panic subsided, he allowed himself to take in the rest of her appearance. She was wearing robes that he now realised were clerics’ clothing. Something else about it looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Her hair was a pale purple, and he somehow only just noticed the pair of great white wings sprouting from her back.
An aasimar, he realised in the back of his mind. His thoughts drifted to Vyctoria. An angel.
“Is anyone else hurt?” Fayette asked, hands on hips. Her stare was oddly harsh.
Trix put his paw up. “I think Glück got stabbed.”
Glück put his hands up. “Oh, no! I’m alright. Someone else must be hurt more than me. I’ll be okay.”
His pleas were undermined by the blood spurting from his side.
“Nonsense!” Fayette growled, moving towards Glück with almost superhuman speeds.
That same radiant light spewed forth from Fayette’s hands as they clamped over Glück’s wound. When she lifted up again, the wound had closed and the blood stopped. There was still a rip in his shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, wow, thank you, Fayette. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.” He said, smiling. “How should I repay you?”
Fayette tsked. “You can repay me by not getting hurt again. Now, whose next?”
She continued like that until she had healed the wounds of everybody in the party, even the ones with nothing but minor bruises.
It clearly pained Dolce to accept the help, backing away every time the cleric came closer, but she gave in at Fayette’s insistence.
It was especially awkward when Fayette demanded Garth remove his armour so she could heal one of the reopened scars on his back. He tried to wave her off and say that he’ll take a potion from Trix later, but she didn’t take no for an answer.
Trix was happy to accept the help, to no one’s surprise.
When she was done, she sighed contentedly and dusted off her clean hands.
“Good.” She placed her hands on her hips again and gazed at the party standing before her.
“Well. What’s next?”
Trix is the one who spoke up, pawing at the air. “Now we’re going to go back to the town to tell the mayor that we’ve finished the quest.”
“And after that?”
Trix thought for a second. “Mm, I suppose we’ll go eat some food at the tavern, go to bed… and then the next day, we’ll start on another quest!”
Fayette nodded. “Alright. Okay. I’ll come with you then. You clearly need a proper healer. The Mâutheurr wants me here, to help you.”
Mâutheurr? Fayette continued as if everyone was supposed to know what that was.
“Yeah, you can stick around.” Beanie said, sticking out his forked tongue. “You’re a nice lady.”
Fayette nodded gravely. “It is decided then.”
Trix smiled and bounded on over to Fayette, talking her ear off about the quest they were on and the quests they will go on in the future. He’s sure he heard Trix talking about the new menu at the local tavern as well. Beanie joined them too, hopping up onto Fayette’s shoulders.
Glück walked up next to Garth. “She seems nice, doesn’t she?”
Garth nodded. “Yeah.”
“Are we gonna let her stay?” He asked.
“...I don’t think she’d accept anything else.”
“Good point, good point.” Glück said, clicking his tongue.
Fayette didn’t really leave them alone after that. She just kind of… stuck around. It was alright, though, because their next adventure proved her to be an invaluable asset. They weren’t struggling before, but they clearly weren’t doing their best, because Fayette’s skill in combat was truly remarkable.
She threw herself onto the front lines, and healed everybody afterwards too. She kept talking about somebody who was her Mâutheurr, but didn’t pause to explain who that was.
No one seemed to mind, though. She was a good person. And a good party member.