Title: Righteous
Character(s): Maze, Light Hero

Hook Coast was always a cold place, he thought, but never had it been as cold as it was at that moment. Suddenly the snow beneath his back had become cold enough to penetrate even his mantle and his armor, and the winds were sharp and unforgiving.

Unforgiving.

The Hero, the adult version of the traumatized little boy he had dragged to the Guild, stood over him. Looked down at him. Pale blue eyes flickered with something (regret?) as they stared down at his fallen body. Unnaturally bright blonde hair framed his sharp face, marred by the occasional slim scar. They swayed in the wind, those bright locks of hair, providing no contrast to the full suit of bright armor he wore.

"Maybe I was wrong," Maze told him softly. "Maybe you are strong enough… to defeat Jack."

Those pale blue eyes still watched him, flickering. "Maze…"

"I wasn't," he murmured.

Small flakes of snow drifted past his view as he averted his gaze. He focused it on the sky instead of the sad looking hero looming over him. It was bright. Bright white. Snowflakes settled on his lashes as he stared and they remained there, finding no warmth to melt them. Not on the pathetic, dying body of the treacherous mage who had to run off and serve a madman out of fear.

Not on the coward, who was practically already a corpse.

The Hero came into view again, having moved from his original spot to look Maze in the face. There was still regret in those eyes, but something else as well. Something hard, harder than steel. It glinted strongly under the bright white sky overhead. Those pale blue eyes were just about glowing with that intensity.

"Maybe I am." He said.

And he took a seat next to Maze's fallen body, and suddenly the snow didn't seem so cold anymore.

(A/N: Sorry about the late update, but I've been pretty busy juggling school and work with free time among other things. This is for those who wanted to see a "Light Hero" from me, as a double apology for the lateness. Of course, my Light Hero ideas all seem to contain Maze for some reason…)