I Told You Once, And I Told You Twice, I AM Maxwell!

Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Story

The room was warm and silent as a small teenage boy rested in his "throne" in a shrine. Or rather, his shrine. The ends of his semi-flat black hair faded to a gentle blue, just stopping high above his shoulder. The only thing that stood out in his hair was the lock of hair on his left with a tinge of red. He wore white coat lined with red and purple markings and the ends were cut like petals of a flower, or (if one would rather call it) leaves. He had a dark blue button down shirt underneath, rimmed with deep purple and wore pants that matched his coat. His hands were covered with a pair of brown gloves that reached his elbow and wore boots that reached halfway up his leg.

His eyes were closed and his body was lax against the chair, as if he was sleeping. His chest moved with each slow breath he took. A knock on the door of his shrine disrupted the peace, but the teen made no movement and continued to sleep.

"Lord Maxwell?" called a voice as the door opened. A teen with long white hair tied into a ponytail and long bangs walked into the shrine with soft steps. He wore a red lined, silver patterned white vest with a tight, black undersuit, and a deep blue feathered-collar around his neck. His vest extended to his legs, making it seem like he was wearing shorts. He also had separated white sleeves that matched his vest and a pair of red shoes. His olive green eyes caught the sight of the teen dozing off at his place once again.

The white-haired teen, Ivar, sighed and shook his head as he headed over to the other teen. "Are you sleeping on duty again? Lord Maxwell, you know you shouldn't sleep like that."

Going up a couple of stairs, Ivar made his steps a little loud to announce his presence but "Lord Maxwell" didn't budge. He placed a hand on the smaller teen's shoulder and shook him gently. "Lord Maxwell?"

When he didn't answer, Ivar tried again with a different name. "...Jude?"

Suddenly, "Lord Maxwell's" eyes snapped open, revealing a lovely shade of honey gold. For a moment, Ivar was relieved that he woke up, but there was something wrong. Jude's eyes were wide with horror and his skin felt cold. He was also several shades paler than usual.

"Ivar..." Jude muttered shakily. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you since no one had seen you after the morning rituals," Ivar answered, then asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." Jude answered with a shake of his head, his expression slowly falling into his normal blank-like look and color slowing returning to his skin. "Just a bad dream. What time is it?"

"It's just past noon, Lord Jude." Ivar said as he moved to the center of the shrine. Jude nodded as he sat up and clapped his hands together.

"Ah. I just remembered something." he lied. Jude could feel the presence of the Four hovering by him as he stood up. "I forgot to help out today!"

Ivar immediately spun on his heel to catch Jude smiling. "Now, wait right there!"

Jude didn't listen to him as he took off toward the door. In all honestly, he already did help out the people of Nia Khera, but he needed a believable excuse. Ivar caught him by the back of his coat collar and pulled him back a bit. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm heading back to Nia Khera, obviously." Jude replied.

"And just what are you going to do there?"

"...help." came Jude's answer.

"Ju--!" Ivar was only able to get one syllable of Jude's name before a gust of wind suddenly push him back, making him suddenly release the smaller teen and fall to his rear. Jude easily caught his balance and turned on his heel to face Ivar. And polite smile lit Jude's face as he waved once.