Chapter 2

The skyline melts into waves of purple and deep blue, as the second sun finally sets behind the craggy mountains, and Chris begins to wonder if he's been walking in the wrong direction. He's never been good at counting the stars so it's impossible to know what time it is, but as far as his stomach is concerned, its been far too long since he's had a meal. The air is turning colder now, his neck bare against the nipping breeze since he commandeered his scarf to be used as protection for PJ's heart. He clutched it to his chest with his left hand, the asynchrony of their heartbeats eerily comforting.

He's not entirely sure where he is going or what he hopes to find- something to help PJ, surely. But where to start? Chris has always liked the concept of an adventure, a gallant quest with a dashing hero and a powerful curse- but he usually imagined the hero as PJ in a very flattering costume and preferred curses staying where they belonged, in the newspaper headlines and happening to people who weren't him. That's not to say Chris believed other people deserved to be cursed more than them! It is more a matter of dealing with the unpleasant side of life- it exists no matter how hard you try, without magic its very hard to defeat witching clans. But he had always assumed that their wrath would fall on those who opposed them, who fought against them, not on his gorgeous, peace-loving boyfriend.

The path is dusty and wide, possibly designed for horse-drawn carriages originally, but seeing as the horses all moved up north after the revolution, it seems most likely this road has not been used for a long time, and is duly deserted. With a sigh of frustration, Chris takes a few steps into the dense forest that lines either side of the path and sits down on an old gnarly tree stump to rest for a few moments.

"Oy! Mind where you put that!" A high-pitched voice squeaks out from somewhere beneath Chris, and he leaps to his feet in surprise, quickly gathering himself and pulling the heart closer, ready to defend it with his life. However, he could not make out any form or figure between the trees or in the sky.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" His voice is more high-pitched than normal, the idea of an invisible nemesis far more petrifying than he'd anticipated.

"Don't start yelling at me- I don't go around sitting down on people like they're furniture!" Chris' eyes turn down to the stump, to the lumpy face frowning up at him. He'd only ever seen talking trees in the cinema but this one was just a stump and he most certainly did not look very amused.

"Here I am, minding my own business and enjoying the freedom of immobility when along comes Mr Gulliver himself, deeming me a pleasant place to pop his posterior- I don't think so!" The stumps voice squeaks in indignation at the end, causing Chris to flinch.

"I am so terribly sorry, I had no idea that you could-"

"That I could talk? Do you think that somehow makes it better? What, so you'll go around happily sitting down on whoever you please, so long as they've no voice to protest?" The bark crumples into a furious frown. "It's people like you who make me positively sick with this world! Thinking you're so much better than everyone with your two legs and phonetic language- well I have news for you! You're not!"

With a final, mighty glare at Chris, the stump closed its eyes and mouth, features melding back into the rough bark and disappearing cleverly between the flakes and crevasses. Unsure as to whether it was safe to move again, Chris edges back to the road and begins to walk again, his exhaustion forgotten in fear. But he's only walked a few meters when another voice calls out to him from the side of the road and his heart leaps into his throat once more.

"Hello? Is that a traveler?" This time, the voice is timid and softer, but Chris is cautious to approach. Holding his ground, he calls back into the night.
"Yes! Who are you? What do you want?"

"Oh! Oh, I didn't mean to startle you! I was just so surprised to hear the sound of footsteps I thought I might be imagining things again." Whoever this is, they certainly don't sound intimidating. Before he's decided whether or not to ignore this voice and move on, or try get some directions, a small flickering light came floating out if the dense greenery.

"Oh you are real! That's so lovely- my imaginary friends are getting so boring and they're all stupid anyway, not like you!" The voice is coming from a fairy, no taller than the length of his hand, floating in the air in front of his face. Her grin is ecstatic and she brushes long blonde strands of hair off her face before continuing to ramble, bobbing in the air as she speaks. "It's been far too long since anyone's come this way and for no good reason either! Just because there's a few unlicensed witches still roaming around and occasionally the werewolves get too close to town- that's no reason to completely avoid us like the plague, is it! You're the first person, real person I mean, that I've seen in over thirty years! It's so awesome to meet you- my name's Becca!"

With the last word, she flutters forward to float right in front of Chris' eyes, momentarily blinding him. He takes a fumbled step backwards, trying to maintain some distance from the bright, babbling creature.

"L-lovely to meet you too, Becca." She continued to fly towards him, persistant in her enthusiasm.

"So... what are you up to? What brings you here!"

Chris is a little reluctant to tell her the truth, but she seems harmless enough and soon enough he had spilled the story of how a curse had landed his true love to be the attendant of the condemned forever train.

"Oh my goodness, that's so completely awful! The forever train is a nasty place, the wifi is rubbish and they don't even let you travel unless you get a ticket (which is pretty near impossible) and anyone who's working there is stuck for life- but I suppose if you have his heart, your-" She paused to give a little giggle, "Gorgeous boyfriend PJ won't even realise the awful sentence he's been given! A heart is the only thing that keeps you from loosing your mind there..."

She seemed lost in her memories, and PJ didn't want to disrupt her, but it was clear that Becca was a vital source of information.

"So, you've been on the forever train then?"

"Well duh! How do you think I got here from fairyland? Of course, I was much smaller then so I could just sneak on in my dads pocket, I couldn't do that now so I guess I'm pretty much stuck here till we can find a way to get back!" Her words sounded sad but her tone couldn't have been more ecstatic.

"Could you take me to the train? I will try my best to help you sneak aboard again!" Chris knows that he has no plan, but this seems to be a potential lead which could take him straight to PJ! There is the small issue of not knowing what to do when he arrives, but that is a problem to be solved later on.

Becca gives out a violent giggle, "I can't do that silly! I'm waiting for my dad to come back and he'll be so angry if I've wondered off with a stranger, again! Anyway, I have no idea how to get to the train now that I'm off it- there's a forget-me-lot charm on the whole affair!" Chris heart sinks a little and his disappointment must be evident on his face, because she quickly adds on- "But you could try the voiceless chanter? She's just a little further down the road, we passed her by when we were looking for a hollow to set up home in. She seemed pretty clever, even if it took forever to get any answers!"

Chris nods, "I'll try that, thank you for your help Becca!" Unconsciously pulling PJ's heart closer again, Chris straightens up, ready to face the open road once more. Before he can depart, however, Becca suddenly flies directly in front of his face once more.

"You know, if it doesn't work out and you need a place to stay, my hollow is always available for you." She giggles again, apparently a habit of hers. "My dad often goes out and it might be a bit of a squeeze but I have no doubt I'd find something- exciting to keep you distracted the long days without your PJ."

Chris makes a swift sidestep to avoid Becca's oncoming lips and begins a swift pace down the path, calling out over his shoulder as he leaves, "M-aybe another time or something!" before scurrying away, the echoes of Becca's manic laughter chasing his ankles long after her glowing light had faded away.

Yay new chapter! I was going to wait till next saturday to update but thanks to the lovely reviews I got for the first chapter, I was inspired to post earlier :P again, apologies that this is all a little wacky- I am studying for awful exams and this is currently my indulgent reward for finishing some work! I hope you enjoyed this part and see you soon!

xx panfs