- Chapter 2 -

An Introduction to the Palace

We were walking through the forest, Lucario was ahead of me and whilst walking, I took some time to look at him with more detail; he was roughly my height; 5'9'' and there were spikes pointing out from his chest and both of his paws. He had four sacks hanging from either side of his head and had a long, blue tail that arched at the tip. My thoughts were interrupted by Lucario,

"We don't have much to go"

I looked away, "Oh, okay…" Walking faster, to keep up with him, I thought of something to say, "So. Why are you so uptight about humans?" He turned abruptly and glared at me with his deep red…entrancing eyes.

"That is of no concern to you" and he continued walking towards the castle.

I sniffed and brushed my hair back with my fingers, "Okay then… I'm sorry if I offended you" I looked hopefully at Lucario, wondering if he would respond to my faint apology, but no luck. Thinking of something else to say, I asked,

"Erm… May I ask something?"

He tilted his head forward, I could tell he was beginning to get annoyed, and replied, "What?"

"Well… It's about you offering to help me earlier…" I trailed off.

"What about it?"

"I just don't understand it, why would you offer help so suddenly when you were trying to kill me?

"I already told you, human, I am only helping you because you helped me escape from those idiots"

I sighed in annoyance at his answer, "My name is Alex you know"

"That is of no concern to me"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as we continued walking.

I looked around to try and find out where we were, but I couldn't make out anything, and I hadn't expected to – the good thing was that it had stopped raining, and the suns rays were streaming through the holes that the tress above us made, which made me more comfortable than what I was before.

"So, what's this castle called?"

"It's named Cameron Palace"

"That's a nice name, is it nice there?"

Lucario's voice grew softer, "Yes, it is a beautiful place"

I smiled at him, and then said, "Well… Then I should enjoy it there right?" Lucario didn't answer me, he just continued walking.

Before I was able to think of something else to talk about, Lucario turned his head towards me, "We are here". I got more excited as looked closer at what was ahead of us; what I saw was amazing. The castle was large; a white, long, narrow bridge connected from the castle to where Lucario and I were. The castle had red, glistening roofs and long, blue windows which were accompanied by light grey walls. I opened my jaw in astonishment, "Its beautiful" I looked at Lucario and caught a small smile that formed on his lips, "I think that's the first time I've seen you smile"

Lucario's smile snapped away, and he glared at me with menacing eyes and I looked at him nervously, "S-Sorry"

"Humph." And began to walk across the bridge, "Keep following" I hurried after him.

We entered through large, wooden doors and I followed Lucario to hall, which amazed me even further. It was large; a throne sat at one end, with two portraits hanging on either side of it, one was a picture of the rare Pokemon mew, and the other was a portrait of a man with olden style clothes, a hat, and a staff which he held above his head.

"Who's that?" Lucario didn't answer; he just tilted his head to the side and continued walking towards the throne. Lucario motioned me to stop and I stood waiting with him, until an old woman came in and smiled at Lucario,

"Ah Lucario, you've returned" she looked at me oddly, "And who's this?"

"I-" I was immediately interrupted by Lucario,

"I would like to explain this to Lady Ilene" The old woman nodded and walked off. A few seconds passed and a tall woman; with long blond hair, and wearing a pink dress came in.

"Hello Lucario, was your trip a good one?" Lucario kneeled on the floor,

"It went well, Lady Ilene" Lady Ilene looked at me,

"And who's this?" I began to get nervous,

"My name i-is Alex" Her warm smile lessened my nerves as she spoke,

"Hello Alex, my name is Lady Ilene; may I ask why you are here?" Lucario answered,

"She helped me with a position I was stuck in, and in return, I offered her a place at the palace as she says she has no where to go"

"Hmm…Why don't you have anywhere to go? What about your parents?" I stiffened at that question,

"Erm… They passed away a month ago, and I didn't want any foster parents, so I fled" I looked away and a tear ran down my cheek, I always get depressed when I reminisced about my parents, but I was surprised by a gentle hand which lifted my head, revealing Lady Ilene in front of me.

"I'm sorry, you can stay here as long as you wish" I smiled and wiped the tear away,

"Thank-you Lady Ilene" She turned to Lucario and with a soft voice said,

"Lucario, can you show her to a room?" Lucario closed his eyes and bent his head forward,

"As you wish Lady Ilene" and he stood up and walked over to me,

"Follow me" I nodded and bid Lady Ilene goodbye, before leaving with Lucario as we began walking down a narrow hallway.

There was an eerie silence as we walked, as before in the forest, but I felt more comfortable with the thought of having a place to stay - in such a large castle

non-the-less.

"Lucario" Lucario turned his head at me,

"Yes?"

"Well… I wanted to thank-you again for helping me" He turned his head and continued walking, and I sighed.

We walked outside and I looked at the large green garden as we walked by a blue pond, "Wow, this place is amazing, as you said"

"Yes… I feel very relaxed when I am here" I looked surprised at Lucario,

"Did you just reply to me?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, nothing, nevermind" Lucario shook his head and continued walking. We reached two wooden doors, and Lucario pushed them open, and walked inside. It was a small room, in comparison to the rest of the palace, but it was nice; there was a bed on the side, and a few wooden tables. Lucario faced me and pointed to another door, "In there is your room"

"Okay" I walked to the door and opened it, it looked like the previous room, but, searching around, it showed to have a bathroom too. I walked to Lucario and smiled, "It's nice" and I then asked, "Where do you sleep?"

"I sleep in this room" And I looked around at the room that we had come in through, "There is a festival taking place soon, and the rooms in the palace are being used for it, so you will have to stay in that room until its over"

"There's a festival?"

"Yes, it is a festival for…" He stiffened at his thoughts, "For Sir Aaron, who people believe is a hero..." He looked down at the floor, "but in reality he isn't".

I was confused, and asked, "Why isn't he?" Lucario shook his head,

"It is nothing that concerns you, I will be training in another place, you are free to go around the palace" I nodded at him, "But don't disturb me" I nodded my head again and Lucario left me.

I sat down on my bed and took in a deep breath, smiling at my fortune, and then noticed Lady Ilene enter the room.

"Hello Alex, do you like the palace" I smiled at her,

"Yes, it is a very beautiful place" I began to think about the festival and Lady Ilene noticed this,

"Do you have something on you mind?" I looked at her,

"Yes, Lucario said something about a festival for Sir Aaron that is going to take place" Lady Ilene smiled at me,

"Yes, the festival will take place next week, you are welcome to participate"

"What is it about?"

"We have a yearly festival where people come dressed in medieval costumes, we then hold a Pokemon battle, and the winner will be named champion, and then a dance will take place, followed by fireworks" I lightened up at the idea,

"That sounds great!" She smiled at me,

"It will be, you should participate… Maybe not in the Pokemon battles as you lack Pokemon, but the dance and rest will be fun for you, you could even dress up" That reminded me, I had no clothes at all.

"Lady Ilene, I have nothing to wear… at all… not even for tomorrow" She walked closer to me,

"Don't worry, I will get someone to send you some clothes" I smiled at her,

"Thank-you for you hospitality"

"Not to worry, you should spend this week getting familiar with the surroundings" I nodded and she walked out the room.

I got up, off my bed, and walked outside, looking around the pond as the sun shone down on me. I began walking around the Palace, noting which way led to which hallway, and so on, it was large, but I was able to familiarize myself with different things.

I looked out of one of the windows and, to my surprise, I found Lucario. He was running from one end of a field, to the other – nonstop. I looked at his determination as he sweated, pushing his legs to the limit to ensure that he would get stronger and faster, I was not sure why, he was already fast enough. I smiled, although he disliked being around me, or so I thought, something about him made me feel happy, and I closed my eyes as the heat from the rays of the sun hit my face.

I decided to walk around even more, and walking along, my eye connected with something in a room. I walked towards it, entranced by it, there was no-one around, I walked up to it and smiled happily, it was a large, shining white piano; sitting in the middle of an empty room, its pearly white and black keys glistened from the light coming in through the windows. I sat down on the bench, and gazed happily at the keys; I could play the piano very well, and I loved to play around on the white keys, allowing parts of my life to play in perfect harmony with the beautiful sound emitted from it.

I lay my fingers on the keys, it was soft at my touch, I picked a place where I would play, and pressed one of the keys, and from it, a sound so pure and clean came from it, that it would stop any noise from disrupting it. I closed my eyes, thought about what I what had happened - I always liked to get in a particular mood before playing – and then began to press the keys.

My melody was high pitched and soft, the sound flowing slowly, and trickling around the room – it's simple melody bringing music around the empty room. I let my body sway with the music, allowing the melody to move me whichever way it wished, and then I softened the sound, slithering my fingers down on the keys on the piano, until it slowly came to an end. I smiled at what I had created, this made me even happier than before. I stood up, looked around the room to make sure no-one had heard me, and then walked out.

I walked back to my room, satisfied with my day, happy how things were going for me, and I sat on the edge of the pond, crossed my legs, and played the melody over and over inside my head, smiling as I let the sound create scenes in my head. Little did I know that someone was listening to the short melody I played, and that someone left the room as I did, with a smile.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter :D

I love adding pianos to stories, dunno why :)

R & R :P