Sailing across the skies of the Nyella on the Silver Rose was perhaps one of the most exciting things Aeolus could honestly say he’d done in a long time. It wasn’t the action itself, though, that was exciting, but more the freedom that he had not felt in a long time. New places to visit and explore were now in reach, and it was all thanks to the gift of the Goddess of Life and Love herself, Angela.

The Silver Rose was a small, personal ship, which housed three rooms aside from the engine and maintenance room. The first room was a makeshift kitchen and pantry, leaving two rooms open for them to stay in. The bedrooms themselves weren’t grandiose, but they had the basics for living in, such as beds, nightstands, and a small closet and bureau. Other than that, it was completely barren of most things.

It would take Aeolus and Rosemary a decent bit of time and silver in order to get things just the way they each wanted it, but the first thing they wanted to do was get a feel for the airship itself. Aeolus found himself at the helm, steering the small ship through the great skies with a smile across his face.

“Rosemary!” he called out from behind the wheel. “We’re making good time! How are things looking on the deck? Is she holding up well?” He had already pushed the airship to its max speed, and from what he could feel, nothing seemed to be struggling. Whoever had previously owned the ship had taken good care of it, either that or Angela had made sure to fix it up.

Rosemary was busy on her own adventure this beautiful morning. While Aeolus was busy being the captain of their airship she dove off the airship earlier in the morning to do something. She hadn’t told him she was doing it but it wouldn’t take her long right? She was right of course, it didn’t take her long to complete her mission. She sat up on the main deck with a jar and dandelion seeds.

The little half angel was humming away with Aeolus called for her. “It looks fine… It makes the clouds look like they are standing still.” She called back to him. Luckily she could keep up with the airship and she managed to track it as she completed her mission. She popped a cork into the small glass jar and smiled. “All done.”

Pushing herself up off the wooden planks she scurried across the deck and up to where Aeolus was driving. “I have something for you.” Her eyes were full of happiness and with the sunlight, it was hard to see her eyes were silver. Her long brown hair was left in long curls and she had on a short white sundress. “I… made this for you.” She held out the small jar full of dandelion seeds. “A jar full of wishes just for you.” She blushed a bit as she couldn’t think of what else to give Aeolus to show her love. “It’s not very big because I had a hard time catching all of the seeds since we’re out far.” She turned her smile up at him before floating up and kissing his lips.

“I don’t have much I can give you so I wanted to make you something.” It was a good way to start their life together wasn’t it? This airship and this meager present?

Aeolus was not worried that the little angel had decided to fly alongside the ship.  Despite her size, she kept up with it well, though there were more than a few times that she strayed a little farther than the celestial would have liked, but he couldn't really complain too much.  He'd rather be the type to let Rosemary fly away and return, than keep her a caged bird.  That would defeat the purpose of it all.  

As Rosemary landed on the deck, and scurried over excitedly, Aeolus raised an eyebrow to the little angel, who seemed to be hiding a gift.  He smiled as her innocent eyes looked up to him.  "Yes, Rosemary?" he asked, his voice filled with kindness.  As she held out the jar of dandelion seeds, Aeolus' smile widened a little more.  "Oh?"  He took the gift graciously.  She moved in for a quick kiss.  As she backed down, she commented on the airship and her 'meager' gift.

"Oh, Rosemary," he said with a sigh, shaking his head.  He swept her off her feet, twirling her around briefly before kissing her.  "Your gift is anything but meager.  It took time and effort to collect them, and you put thought into the gift.  It may not seem like much," he said, placing the jar at the side of the helm.  "But it's filled with love and commitment."  He let go of Rosemary, and turned his attention back to the skies.  "Even if Angela hadn't graced us with the ship, you alone would have been more than enough."  

As he gazed across the skies, his sharp eyes noticed something on the horizon.  It was rapidly approaching, and his eyes narrowed.  "Rosemary…take the helm."  He made his way to the main deck, and went to the side railing.  As it got closer, Aeolus clicked his tongue.  Bandits.  I've not had much luck in their run ins, have I?  He glanced back.  "Rosemary!  There are sky pirates inbound!  There's no avoiding them!  Head down into the hull…I'll deal with them!"

Rosemary tilted her head at the sigh and her name before gasping. She quickly moved her arms around his neck as he swept her up off her feet. The world spun around them as Aeolus moved them in a circle though it was rather a brief amount of time. She felt like she had the air knocked out of her as she kissed him back in a delayed sort of fashion. Finally, she took in a breath of air after the excitement and laughed with a full heart. His words made her feel special as she felt her heart jump out of her chest. Her tanned skin managed to form a good colored blush across her face as she thought about his words carefully.

“I’m just glad to be with you,” her voice was soft as she kept close to him. Soon though her gaze followed his own as she squinted to see what he saw. She could tell something was wrong before he even told her. “Okay,” she wasn’t particularly sure how good she would be at piloting the airship but she could most certainly try. Rosemary knew the basics and maybe that’s all she would need if luck was on her side.

Her ears picked up on his warning and she scrambled from the helm. “Okay!” She yelled back before going down into the hull to wait. She sat in their bedroom kneeling on the bed with her fingers grasping at the fabric of her dress. Her teeth were clenched as she thought about how much dangerous Aeolus could have been in but still, she sat there. The half angel knew that she would bring more problems than good if she were to try and help him.

Her curiosity got the best of her at some point as she opened the door of their bedroom and made her way up so she could peek up on deck from where she was. “Aeolus?” Maybe… he wasn’t there? What if he was hurt? Her mind was tinkering with all sorts of terrible possibilities that could have happened.

As soon as Rosemary had gone below the deck, Aeolus turned his attention towards the rapidly approaching airship. There was definitely something about it that was different. It was a smaller ship than the Silver Rose, and thus would be faster. A hit and run ship. It was a perfect design for bandits and military.

And Aeolus knew better than to expect a military vessel in the skies above the ocean.

It was but moments before it soared above them, and no less than five men jumped aboard, surrounding Aeolus. The bandit’s airship continued on past, and started a steep bank in order to come by for another pass. From what he could tell, they planned on taking the ship instead of trying to sink it.

“My lucky day,” Aeolus said with a smirk as he drew the blade at his waist. It hummed with energy, begging to be fed blood. “Shh…quiet…” the silver haired celestial replied with a smile. “You’ll have your fill…”

He looked around him. The two men carried swords. One was off towards the main cabin, a bow drawn taught as he aimed at Aeolus. The other two were spell casters, keeping a medium distance away.

“I see you all came prepared. Although, I must ask….” Aeolus raised his blade. “Please leave.”

As if ignoring his request, the two swordsmen attacked, and the spellcaster’s began to chant. Simultaneous to the attack, the enemy airship came back around, dropping more bandits down onto the main deck.

This is going to turn bad real quick… The celestial focused his mana, and to the naked eye, his entire being disappeared. The two swordsmen fell immediately, followed by the mages before they could finish their spell. Three more swordsmen dropped down, and one was dead before he touched the deck.

Aeolus reappeared, and the bowman in the back let loose his arrow. Aeolus spun quickly to the side, avoiding the arrow as another mage came into play. This one had been chanting before he had even left his own airship, and let loose a volley of fireballs aimed at Aeolus.

The silver haired celestial clicked his tongue in annoyance, and swung his blade, creating a buffer of wind, fizzling the fireballs.

“Bothersome…” he said with a dull tone. “Boring. Uninspired….” He sighed. “You’re all nothing to me…”