Chapter 2

"Skye", Faylenne wheezed. "Wait!"

She stopped running and Skye turned around.

"Sorry, Fay", she said shortly, breathing heavily.

Fay put her hands on her knees to catch her breath and only just realised her legs were shaking.. Steadying herself on the wall, she looked back at Skye. She was standing taut with a slight frown on her face. She looked concerned, and a bit annoyed.

"Skye, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Oh Fay, it's alright", she replied wearily, relaxing. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have let you do something so risky."

Unable to think of something to say, Fay looked at the ground in awkward silence. Skye shifted the shield on her arm before she stopped and smiled unexpectedly.

"Well! Let's not worry about that now. We're safe - that's the important thing", she declared cheerily. "Now lets get you home."

Fay straightened and smiled, suddenly feeling better. Home sounded good and she followed Skye across the street towards her new house.

Once in sight of the house, Fay ran forward into the garden. Ulrick was standing, presumably taking a good look at the small, modest building before turning around at the sound of Fay's approach. He smiled. Skye appeared at the gate.

"Ah, Skye! Good to see you," Ulrick greeted.

"And you," Skye replied respectfully with a small smile.

"What brings you here? Do you like the house?"

"The house is lovely. However, there is something we should probably discuss."

Fay slinked past Ulrick, wanting nothing more than to pretend bad at all had happened.

"Oh? What would that be?," Ulrick enquired.

"How Fay and I got into a spot of bother, which ended with Fay in a little fight."

She'd blown it.

"Faylenne," came a stern, commanding voice.

Fay flinched and stopped at the threshold of the door.

"Come here," Ulrick commanded.

With shoulders hunched, Fay slowly made her way back to Ulrick's side, her eyes fixed on the ground.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?," he asked, a low rumble of warning in his voice.

"Um...," Fay shuffled her feet uncomfortably. She didn't look up at her guardian.

"Ulrick, if I may," Skye interrupted. "It is not entirely Faylenne's fault."

"Really? Then would you like to tell me what happened?"

So Skye explained eveything, from when she let Fay spy on a mysterious figure to when she fought him, then they both escaped. At the mention of the black cloaked man, Ulrick's face drained of colour.

"A man...in a black cloak? What did he look like?," he directed at Fay. His voice was haunted.

Fay looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't see his face."

"Then...what else can you tell me? There must be something."

His voice was becoming sharp and Fay was bewildered.

"Well...he-he had a scythe..."

That seemed to calm Ulrick down and he rubbed his scar that ran down his right cheek.

He suddenly looked much older to Fay - his dark brown hair was laced with grey and his brown eyes didn't hold the same spark that they used to.

"Do you kno-," Fay faltered. "Why do you want to know?"

She was about to say 'do you know him' but deemed it too risky a question and quickly improvised. She didn't want Ulrick to get annoyed. It had been bold nonetheless.

"No reason," Ulrick dismissed it. "I just thought..."

He shook his head and Fay looked down again, watching him from the corner of her eye. Skye was silent.

"Never mind, Faylenne," Ulrick concluded. You're safe now and that's all that matters. Now off you go. You haven't unpacked yet."

Fay eyed him rather suspiciously before slowly making her way back to the house.

"Oh, Faylenne!," Ulrick called. "Did you get my scrolls?"

She stopped and slapped a hand over her forehead. After the commotion with the cloaked man, she had forgotten what she was out to do in the

first place.

Once Faylenne had run back into the town with clear directions on how to get there, Ulrick and Skye began to talk.

"Ulrick. Something is bothering you," Skye said gently.

He stopped what he was doing and gave a tired sigh. Skye frowned. She could see the age creeping onto his face too.

"Did you know that man?" She got straight to the point.

"No, but it could have been-," he stopped himself.

Skye seemd to know vaguely what he was talking about.

"That's not all that's worrying you, is it?"

Ulrick looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You're getting old," she said kindly. "Maybe it's time you settled down. Stay in this house. Don't keep moving. You're getting weary - I can see it."

"You know why I move houses, Skye. I have to protect Fay-"

"It's been years Ulrick. Nothing has happened."

He grumbled and rubbed his scar - a sign he was troubled.

"Maybe it was time you told Fay-"

"No," Ulrick snapped. "she cannot know the truth."

"She's 17. Surely she's entitled to know-"

"You know how she will react. I will not have her running off chasing some hopeless dream that she believes."

Skye went silent and tried to come up with some sort of solution. She found none.

Faylenne made her way into the heart of the city, sighing in relief when she got there. Esper City's centre consisted of four squares, all flanking a bigger, central square. Each one of the four squares had two tram lines cutting across each other in the middle that ran off to different parts of the city - tram cars being the main mode of transport - and four flower beds rested where these lines crossed. The centre was always double-leveled - paths below and above - with many tall buildings. As they reached further out into the less busy areas, the buildings became single-leveled and more detached. Eventually this led into a forest which surrounded the whole of Esper City. Faylenne's new house was close to the forest.

Walking into the central square at the very heart of the city, Fay stopped to regard the crowds of people. Many shops lined the square, more like a market-place than rows of shops. She stepped into the mass of people, carefully keeping to herself. While strange people were common-place in Esper City, Fay's silvery white hair was unique here and she got the occasional glance of interest. They were labeling her as one of the strange, she knew. She quickly bought the parchments and made her way back, just wanting to get home.

A gasp erupted from the crowd. Fay stopped and looked around her in mild confusion to see that all eyes had turned skyward. Following their gaze, she spotted a dark figure on a church rooftop and a low murmur echoed through the crowd, some shocked, others awed.

"It's Maxeill!"

"...Maxeill."

"Maxeill...?"

It was so sudden, and Fay just stood for a moment. Unsure what to make of the situation, Fay eventually tapped someones shoulder, asking who it was.

"You mean you haven't heard of him?," said the bright-eyed young woman as if it was someone worldly famous. "That's Maxeill!"

Fay bit back the comment of 'I gathered that' and frowned slightly. She tended not to listen to idle gossip of the town's goings on and waited to see if the woman would elaborate.

"You know," she continued with a little uncertainty. "The man everyone's been talking about...?"

"Do you know anything about him?," Fay asked, still not quite getting the answer she wanted. This was so confusing to her.

"Not really. That's the whole mystery of it! He appears from time to time, but no one knows why he's actually here. Some say he lurks about stealing people's hearts! But of course...that's ridiculous, right?"

"Yeah...," Fay replied absent-mindedly, looking up at the figure again.

The so-called 'Maxeill' was dressed in a long, dark-blue cloak - so dark it almost looked black. His face was obscured by a hood and he took a casual step to the edge of the roof, the toe of his boot sticking off the edge, seemingly unperturbed at the gawking crowd below. It was almost as if he didn't know they were there. He reminded her of the other mysterious cloaked man - the one she fought. But his cloak had been completely black, and made of leather. As far as Fay could see, this man's cloak was made of fabric and of course, wasn't black. She tried to see his face underneath the hood but the sun was behind him, and the angle he was at made it even harder.

His head snapped round to Fay's direction.

The suddeness of it almost made her stagger back. He was looking right at her. Or was he? Surely not...? However, she couldn't deny it. The intensity of his unseen gaze rooted her to the spot and fixed her startled eyes on his hidden face, as if sucking her in and forcing all her attention onto him. Everything else seemed to fade out. It was as if he was challenging her, seeing who would look away first. It was only then Fay realised she hadn't been breathing. Letting out a sudden gush of breath, she broke eye contact and glanced around, making sure it was her that had caught his attention. Of course, she was surrounded by people, so it was pointless.

Suddenly, more gasps burst from the crowd and Faylenne whipped her head back to the roofs.

He was gone.

He had simply disappeared and Fay wondered if he had jumped off or gone across the other roofs.

"...went over there! In the direction of Arthe Tower..." she caught drift of someone saying.

That was north of the central square, not that far away. She made a quick decision and ran through the thinning crowd, curiosity getting the better of her once again of the mysterious cloaked figure.

Wherever the strange man was, Faylenne wasn't having much luck finding him as she approached the huge tower reaching up to the sky. Vaguely disappointed, she took slow, casual steps towards the base of Arthe Tower, looking from side to side.

No one.

She was merely steps away from the base now and paused, stopping in mid-step. A chill crept up the back of her neck and she absent-mindedly rubbed it. Odd, she thought. It must have been a sudden chill when she had stepped into the shade of the building in front of her. She put her hands on her hips and, using her foot, tapped the ground twice with her toe, craining her neck to see the top of the building. She looked left. Nothing. She looked right - and leapt back in fright. A cloaked figure loomed over her.

"Looking for me?," he said in a silky voice that sent chills down Fay's spine.

She backed away, opening her mouth to say something but no words came out. The man followed her pace. His sudden presence alarmed Fay, and he would not stop advancing towards her until her back hit the solid wall at the base of the tower. She was quickly certain that this was Maxeill, as he donned the same dark-blue cloak with the hood up. He towered over her. His hand leaned against the wall, blocking Fay's escape as he stood, silent and waiting.

In the shade of the tower, Fay could almost see the man's face. Locks of pitch black hair could barely be seen under his hood. His most startling feature were his eyes. They were such a strange colour - the iciest blue Fay had ever seen. They were almost white, full of a strange spark and they watched her now, alert and searching, waiting for her reaction. As if waiting for her to speak first.

"You're Maxeill...," she breathed. Once again, she was annoyed at her loss of breath when frightened.

Maxeill's eyes flickered in what Fay thought was amusement, yet it was hard to tell.

"And what do you think?" His voice rose and fell so smoothly it was like an unbreakable flow of water.

"I've never seen you before," she replied, sliding along the wall slowly. He followed her movement. "I don't know what to think."

Something like disappointment flashed across his face, but it was gone instantly.

"Yet you followed me here." He sounded mildly amused.

Fay couldn't keep up with his sudden, yet subtle, changes of facial expressions.

"You picked me out of the crowd," she observed. "Why?"

The man's mouth curved upwards slightly.

"You really don't remember."

What did he mean by that? Fay was confused. She began to feel more and more uncomfortable by the second.

There was a long moment in which neither said anything and Fay couldn't stand the close proximity of this man any longer. In one quick movement, she slid away and tried to leap out of range, about to draw her sword. However, Maxeill was lightning fast. With amazing ease, he grabbed her arms, stopping her and spun her back round, shoving her against the wall. He leaned even closer, his hands like a tight vice on her arms and his eyes burned into hers.

"He's coming," he almost snarled, his voice dangerously low. "He's already here."

"What?," Fay breathed. She trembled and tried to wriggle from his painful grip.

"You can't hide from him much longer. He will find you."

Without another word, he let go of her and Fay staggered forward as she was no longer being held up. Before she could regain her balance, Maxeill was gone in a swift flurry of his cloak. She gasped as she caught him in the corner of her eye, jumping over her and onto Arthe Tower. She ran forward and spun around. He was gone.

"What do you mean I can't hide any longer? Hide from who?," she yelled furiously at the lonely tower, getting nothing in return - only silence.

Please tell me what you think! It will get much better once i've got into the story fully, so keep reading if you're remotely interested ;)

Kingdom Hearts (C) Square Enix
Faylenne, Ulrick, Skye, Maxeill and Esper City (C) me
Maxeill in particular is mine, and entirely mine. Please do not copy his name or him, himself, thanks!