Ah, I see you're here earlier today. Of course I'm not surprised! I was expecting you! I even took the liberty of buying you the first drink of the night... Oi, Jo! Get the young 'un the drink, will ya? Ah, there ya go. Now, if my memory serves me right then we stopped last night right after I told you about how he got the Lantern, right? Yeah... Well, I think that now's the time to tell you of how I met him...
You see, I used to be an adventurer when I was young... Don't look at me like that, remember that I traveled with him. And you had to be fit to keep up with that one. So, I was an adventurer back then... Traveled from town to town, joining some same-minded people and all of that. So I was in that town, I forgot the name now and it doesn't matter anyway... And I heard that the local Noble lord got scared out of his house by ghosts, along with His entire family and staff. It was funny how he and all those other high-born were bunching in with us, common folks... So as I heard that I thought to try and exorcise them. It shouldn't be hard, right? Cold steel, Holy water, Crosses and such... So I go to that Lord guy and say: "I'll go to your house and exorcise those ghosts." Of course, he was suspicious, but I told him I've done it before. That lie almost cost me my life... After getting a promise from him to get a hefty sum in return I set off.
It didn't take me long to reach the Lord's house - a massive Mansion on the far end of the town. I admit, the thought of looting the place crossed my mind when I saw it... But I didn't. I was an adventurer, doing good deeds and being rewarded for it. So armed with a sabre I had bought at the beginning of my journey, as well as several litres of water and half a dozen crosses of different sizes, all blessed by the local priest, I walked inside. Immediately I felt an unnatural chill seep in my bones... The air was cold, heavy and damp... I don't know how it could be heavy, it just was. Oh, and wrong. The air was wrong... Hell, the whole place felt wrong! Now, I told you I was young, but I was foolish as well... Wiser men would've just turned around, leaving the place immediately. Me? I just shivered, pulled out the biggest cross from those I had and set on, using both the holy symbol and my foolishness as a shield...
At first nothing much happened... For an hour I walked the halls, searching for the Ghosts. Then night fell... I should've known that the Ghosts were more active at night... For several more hours I was left alone. And then one of them attacked me... If I hadn't emptied my bowels and bladder just a few minutes before that then I would've done it the moment I saw it... I... I fancy myself a great storyteller, but even I can't describe what that thing looked like... I remember hands... Hands and teeth... Too many of both... Yeah, I shuddered. You would've done the same if you went through that. I remember running like hell... I was once chased by a bear, you know? I ran faster from the ghost than the beast... My blessed Crosses were useless. My Holy Water was no better than dishwater. My sabre? It was batted away as if I was wielding a toothpick! And so I ran... Yes, I know I said that, don't interrupt me! So I ran... But finally it cornered me.
And there I was. Lying on my back, trembling in fear as the thing leaned over me. I closed my eyes, fearing that the end had come for me... But the expected killing or maiming blow didn't come... No, instead there was a deafening shriek that made me clutch at my ears in pain. As I opened my eyes I stared in wonder at what was probably the most beautiful sight in front of my eyes... The ghost was shrieking in pain, trying and failing to run away from a chillingly eerie green light... It's... skin, for a lack of a better word, was burning away, exposing something that I worked hard to erase from my memory. Then he stepped in front of me... My saviour... Yes, it was him. There was no emotion on his face, but the light made him... fearsome. Just like an agent of Death herself should be... Within seconds the ghost was gone and the light subdued to more manageable levels. Then he turned around, looked at me for a few seconds before silently leaving.
For a minute I just lied there, trying to make heads or tails of what happened. Then I stood up shakily and ran after him. He hadn't gotten far, having waited for me. "You have questions for me." He said. "Ask if you really want to know, but know this. The answers may not be what you may expect. You might find them..." Here he paused for a bit before continuing: "...different from your view of the world." Yes, that's right. He really opened my eyes to the world.
My first question, of course, was "Who are you?" His answer? "Just another lost Soul, searching for the light..." I wasn't satisfied with that though, and continued pestering him. Finally I got him annoyed, or as annoyed as one such as him can get, and he said: "Travel with me and you will find out." Of course, I accepted. For the better part of three years I was with Aries, helping him when he needed it. In turn he confided with me. Yes, that is how I know all this... No, no, no, I'm not breaking his trust by telling you this. Why, I even asked him once: "Why are you telling me all that? Aren't you afraid that I may tell the world about your secret?" At that he laughed... One of the two times I heard that, the other one when we got ourselves captured by this bandit chieftain that wanted to use the Lantern to bind ghosts... Why, the very notion of that was ridiculous! Of course, that chieftain didn't like his laughing and we almost died that day... Oh come on, who doesn't want to hear such a story? You? Alright, alright... So he just laughed at me and said: "Go ahead and tell anyone who wants to hear about it... It is no secret. It never was. I just chose not to proclaim it to the world..." Yeah, he was strange like that.
But the time came for us to part... We had rescued this beautiful raven-haired daughter of a baron and, well, we fell in love. I somehow managed to get Aries to stay enough for the wedding, though he disappeared right after that. He never learned to enjoy himself, the poor guy... And that was the last time I heard about him... Ah... What? Do I think he's alive? Of course he is! Death herself let him go, nobody can kill him! Not before he finds his sister anyway. Where? Who knows? He's wandering the continents out there, I'm sure of that... Some rumors say he's at the far South, some put him in the wild East or the slums of the Western cities... I'm sure that wherever he is he is doing good to people...
What? Sorry, I was thinking... Ah yes, this is the end of my tale. You'll have to look elsewhere for more. Of course I want another drink! Thank you, young 'un. I hope I was entertaining enough. Heh, of course, of course! Alright young 'un, if you want any other stories then just swing by and buy me a drink!
