[Dreaming of Butterflies]

She was a future Saint. He was nothing more than a wizard. And yet, when he stares out onto his domain, watching the youth bounding through fields of wheat without a care in the world and a smile on her face, he vowed to protect that smile, no matter what.

"Rêve! Look what I found!" He stares onward, a thin smile on his face as he leans in to take a closer look at what the child had brought him. A bunch of gladiolus were proffered up to his face, and he flinches at the scent that wafted off from them. His verdant green eyes met innocent blue hues, leaning back on his staff with a hint of a grimace on his face.

"You… don't like it?"

He blanched. "No, not like that", he quickly assured the future Saint, shaking his head and damning himself for even showing such an expression in front of a child. He quickly took the bundle of flowers and stuffed them into his robe. "It's just that… I had some bad experiences with flowers back in my time. It's not you, Jeanne."

"Are you sure?"

"I am." His cheek twitched, a blank visage forming on his face to prevent himself from laughing at the frown on the child's face. She probably thought that it was intimidating, but the child was half-correct in her opinion. Her expression was intimidating due to the sole fact that he couldn't laugh at her for doing so. "Speaking of being sure, it's time for you to go, little one. Sundown is in a few more paces, and you wouldn't want to be caught after dusk around here."

"But what about you?"

Sometimes, his impatience got the better of him. He rolled his eyes, raising his staff by an inch. "I'm a wizard, Jeanne", he said, simultaneously conjuring a ball of warm light on his other hand. He didn't need to explain, given the child's wide-eyed wonder at the bouncing ball of light that leapt onto her hands. She squealed and tried throwing it back towards him, but the ball of light stuck towards her. "If you ever get caught in the dark, use that light to find your way back towards your home alright?"

"Uh…"

"Promise me?" He leaned forward, a smile on his face while sticking out his little finger. The child quickly nodded, all but launching herself towards him and shaking his hand with her own. He laughed, the creases on his face momentarily fading as she quickly bade her farewells and sprinted back towards the village.

"That child never ceases to amaze me", he observed, leaning back on his spot as he watched the swirl of colors that came with dusk. A small smile formed on his face, his arms crossing over his chest at another successful day, even as his eyes unconsciously gazed towards the hamlet that housed his ward. It would seem like there was a festival going on in the village, but the sounds…

His eyes narrowed, hand grasping tighter on his staff as he slowly stood off his porch overlooking his domain. Tiny little embers of flame danced beyond the hills of his home, slowly marching round all over the quaint village, and a flare of disbelief rose from the depths of his heart before he began sprinting towards the direction of the township.

Was it because of his interference? Doubt warred within his mind, yet even then he hastened his pace, an image of a latch opening to reveal his secrets to the world around him. His body thrummed with ethereal power, manifesting as wisps of purple light, and he glided over the fields of wheat as if they never even existed, the scenery passing before him in a blur.

A moment passed before the walls of the village stood before him, wooden walls currently set ablaze by torches of fire. Fear and panic gripped his heart for an instant, but it was not for his own safety, as he swiftly turned a club aimed for his head with a gentle strike of his staff and knocked his attacker unconscious. No – his mind searched out through every inch and cranny of the entire township, mapping each and every single individual inside in less than a second, and his feet shot off once again.

"Jeanne! Where are you!?" He screamed through a hoarse throat, the smoke filtering through his nose ignored as he walked through the flames without being burned once. In the area he searched, tapping his staff against the ground with every frantic step he took in order to give him a greater amount of detail. Panic continued on surging through his veins even as he found his charge and all but burst inside a household, flames burning the wooden walls with two corpses pooling blood in the wake of a group of men.

Inside the group was his charge.

Murder flashed through his eyes as his mind lashed out in rage, slamming every person into the burning walls and holding him there. In the center he could see his ward blubbering inelegantly, eyes wide and continuous tears being dried up by the heat. "Come on!" He said, grabbing the child's arm and snapping her out of her trance as she was dragged with him without any resistance.

He kicked down the door, the iron hinges snapping at the force of his foot as they entered a hellscape. Houses burned around them, bandits rounding up villagers and ushering them with raised weapons towards the square. Irritation flecked at the edges of his eyes, an urge to render his special brand of revenge to every bandit in the area, but he stayed his hand for the moment. There were more important things to attend to.

Jeanne stared at the scene with choked sobs and weak legs, her shoulders shivering at each and every villager that she knew being cut down without mercy. Guilt pooled around the edges of his heart and some lanced through the walls that he had put up, but he quickly shook his head and reassessed his priorities. Jeanne must remain safe.

"Kid." He tugged on the child's arm, but he got no reaction. "Kid!" This time, he tugged harder, and he was able to wrench her gaze from the surrounding slaughter. He could see her wishes, and he nodded without even thinking about whatever kind of consequences that he might accrue for the future. "JEANNE!"

Finally, she blinked and focused her attention on him. "Good", he whispered under his breath, drawing something from his robes and wrapping it around the future Saint's hands, "Look, I need you to go back to the shack. I'll take care of this."

"B-But the Pierres–"

"We can't do anything about them." She was about to speak, but her lips thinned when she saw the guilt that flashed through his eyes –"Look. We can't do anything for the Pierres. But the rest of the village needs my help. I can't do this if I don't know that you're safe." The child bit her lip, and he gently shook her shoulders to slowly ease her attention back towards him. "… Jeanne. I'll come back. Trust me, alright?"

Slowly, she shook her head. He couldn't help but sigh, flicking her on the forehead as she staggered back and tried to speak. She fell asleep before she could do so, his arms catching her before she fell, and he sighed as he retrieved a gemstone from his pockets. He muttered something into it, and the gemstone slowly expanded to form a caricature of a hunting dog, its ruby color eerily reflecting the fires that raged around the village.

"Take her to the shack." He commanded with eyes half-lidded, his mouth beginning to amend his orders. "Make sure that the two of you aren't seen, and protect her life at all costs. You can only deactivate when I return."

Ruby eyes gleamed with intelligence more complex than bestial instinct, bowing once towards him before ushering the sleeping child onto its back. With a single bound, the hunting dog began its journey back towards his shack, becoming nothing more than a red gleam of light just a few seconds later.

A pained sigh escaped his lips as he turned back towards the ensuing carnage, tapping a finger on his staff and attracting the attention of every bandit in the area. Most saw him as easy prey, all but leaping forward in a maddened craze at the sight of jewelries on his person. An invisible force pushed the first bandit back however, landing him in the path of a burning shanty as his dying screams echoed through the night.

"… Maybe it is my fault." He muttered to himself, his eyes hardening with grim determination as he stared on, sweeping his staff with fires trailing from the back of the ashen-black wood.

"You picked the wrong hamlet to raid tonight." He snarled, keeping his fury leashed behind a rational mask as he slammed his staff onto the ground, sending a wave of fire that repelled those who attempted to strike him down. "I'll make sure that your bodies remain as nothing more than charred ashes to make sure that the lot of you be remembered as laughingstocks for the rest of your eternal death."

She was a future Saint. He was nothing more than a wizard. And yet, he couldn't help but put a bit more anger in his revenge against them, in order to deny the fact that his charge would become less of a child after this. Sooner or later, fate decreed that she be decried a Saint.

If that was to be the case, then fate would find its worst obstacle that it would ever encounter.