A/N: Yey! New story! Just so you guys know, the sequel for Another will not be published until mid-summer. Gomen!

Iggy: Disclaimer: Aya doesn't know Maximum Ride.

Fang: That's actually normal.

Max: At least he's trying to be. For once.

Me: Did you know that that was one of Iggy's New Year's Resolutions?

Max: HE HAS ONE? (gasps)

Iggy: You make it sound like I'm incapable of changing.

Max: Well, you have to admit.

Chapter 1

Max POV

"Ugh. . ."

The rated double H climate of Madrid, Spain is starting to affect my mental health.

Ever since I stepped foot here in this place, all I've been doing is complain, eat, groan, eat, sleep, eat, and then sleep again. Repeat for three times. All in that order. I'm not even kidding. It's like I just wasted 48 hours of my life doing nothing but nag like some 90-year-old crazy woman who's not getting her grape Jell-O. It's sad, I tell you.

So, as I re-adjust the strap of my sling bag over my right shoulder, I watch, as Ella stare with wonder in her big brown eyes at the old buildings.

"Look!" she exclaims, her left index finger pointing at Madrid's Real Academia de Bellas Artes. She raises her camera to her eye and takes a picture of the museum and its gallery houses.

I groan for the fifteenth time today. I pull on the hem of her pink t-shirt. Ella turns around, a questioning look on her pretty face.

"What is it, Max?"

"I'm hungry."

Now it's Ella's turn to groan. "But you just ate lunch two hours ago!"

A ham sandwich, a glass of lemonade, and an apple isn't considered to be lunch! It's a snack! "That was not lunch, Ella! To me that was only a pre-lunch appetizer!"

She stares at me with an incredulous face. "You've got to be kidding me!"

I point at my all-too-serious face. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" I demand.

She puts a hand on my left shoulder. "What's the purpose of this vacation?"

I sigh. "'To take my mind off my work; to let myself enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature; and to cut back on my eating habits.' I know, I know."

She pats my head, like I'm some obedient dog. "Good job." Okay, I totally feel like a dog now.

"Ugh. . . Can we at least make a little stop?" My index finger and thumb are almost touching to emphasize how small our next stop is going to be.

She crosses her arms below her chest and raises her eyebrows. "Where?"

I grin evilly.

"Cotton candy? We stopped on our way to Puerta Del Sol to go to a cotton candy stall?" Ella made it sound as if I just met Antonio Banderas and stole his Zorro costume.

I nod, while I take a bite off my blue raspberry-flavored cotton candy. I walk ahead of her, admiring the clock tower of the Real Casa de Correos.

"Take a picture of that!" I tell to Ella, and she does. Sitting on a dark corner of the steps of the landmark, I see a woman all wrapped up in colorful blankets.

I wonder, What kind of a person wears all those blankets at this 35 degrees Celcius weather?

I pull Ella's arm, as she walk farther ahead of me. She almost stumbles as she leans on my side.

"What is it, Max? Aren't you satisfied - OW!" I shush her with a pinch on her arm. I point at the woman huddled at the corner.

"Don't you think it's weird for a person to wear so many blankets?" I ask her and take a bite off my cotton candy.

She nods and studies the woman. "Unless she's suffering from a disease where she's incapable of feeling the blistering heat or maybe she just lost her home?"

I shrug, not knowing which of the reasons is why she's curled up in a ball in the steps. "Should we go ask her?"

Ella frantically shakes her head. "No. No, Max. I don't want to ask the woman. Let's just go to the plaza." She takes my hand and practically drags me away from the landmark.

But I'm stronger and taller, so I pull her to a stop. Ella groans. "I don't want to, Max! She's giving me the creeps!"

I wrap an arm around her and point at the sky. She looks up. "Our vacation right now is pathetic and boring," Ella gives me an offended look. "If we go ask the woman, maybe we'll learn something. Then maybe it could lead to an adventure." Ella is already shaking her head, even though I'm not yet done talking.

"Oh, come on!" I exclaim. "You've always been the outdoorsy type of girl; why won't you do this with me?"

"Because. . ."

"Because what?"

"She's giving off weird vibes, okay? It's like I'm getting this feeling that we shouldn't approach her."

I just stare at her. "Is this one of your 'psychic' moments again? 'Cause it's not going to work this time."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Just this once. This is my only chance to decide where we should go next. For the two days we've been here, you've been deciding where we should go! It's my turn now!"

Ella is battling with her conscience right now. You can just see it on her face. "Fine! Fine! Do whatever you want!"

I kiss her forehead and drag her behind me. She's squirming and dragging her feet.

As we reach the woman, we kneel in front of her. Then, the woman's eyes suddenly open.

Ella shut my mouth wih her hand and I shut hers with my hand. We take deep breaths as the woman's eyes stares at us.

The woman blinks, and we remove our hands from our mouths.

"¿Qué buscáis?" The woman asks in a low, cracked voice.

I don't speak Spanish. I truly don't. Even though my mother is Hispanic and fluent in Spanish, I never bothered to learn. Ella did.

I nudge her to translate me. She whispers on my ear, "She asked, 'What do you seek?'. Do you want me to answer?"

I nod. So Ella asks the woman why she's wrapped up in blankets like a burrito.

Suprisingly, the woman laughs. She's much more older than I imagined. All I can say is that wrinkles is all over her face. Maybe without the wrinkles, she would have been pretty.

Then the woman suprises us. "Americans, are you?" she asks.

Ella and I nod. The woman sits up straighter. She's actually wearing an orange sundress. Huh.

"And what brings you here in Madrid?"

I say, "Adventure."

Ella says, "Shopping."

The woman laughs her low, guttural laugh again. "Adventure, is it?"

I nod, while Ella shakes her head.

The woman laughs again. I'm liking this woman. She totally gets me.

"We're looking for adventure, ma'am." I comment, with a smile on my face.

"Well, have you heard of the ancient town of Adalia?" We shake our heads.

The woman continues. "Well, it was a famous city back in the eighteenth century. It was said that the most successful noble family originated there."

Ella and I look at each other. Interesting. History and I never really took a second glance at each other.

The woman uncovers the blanket over her head. What used to be black now is white. That's her hair. She continues, "During the year 1797, the son of Lady Araceli Navarro was the most sought-after man in the whole town. His name was Señor Alejandro Navarro. When he was an infant, his parents were overprotective of Alejandro."

"Why?" Ella asks. Ooh, History is getting her pumped-up! Me too!

"Because when he was christened, he had three godmothers. Jacinta granted Alejandro the gift of intelligence. Labonita granted Alejandro the gift of silence. Mireya granted Alejandro the gift of strength. But because his christening was kept secret, his parents did not invite Adriana. When Adriana learned about the boy's christening, she was enraged. In form of revenge, she burst into the castle of Lord Navarro and bent down on the boy. Adriana did not grant Alejandro any gift. Instead, she cursed Alejandro, saying that on the day he turns 21, he will pluck his finger on a string and fall into an eternal sleep."

"Did she say what finger? What string?" I ask curiously.

The woman shakes her head. "No, Adriana did not. So from that day on, Alejandro lived the life under strict rules and no privacy. Lady Navarro made sure that there weren't any string anywhere near Alejandro's fingers."

"Some life he lived, huh?" Ella asks me. I nod in agreement. Who would want a life like his? I wouldn't. I'd rather die.

The woman smiles at us. "It is true that Alejandro's life was miserable. When he reached his adolescence, Lady Navarro still kept a critical eye on Alejandro. So when Alejandro turned 18, all he wanted was to get away from the castle and move somewhere far, far away from the hands of his parents."

"Were his parents still strict of him?" I ask.

The woman shakes her head. "No, they were not."

"Why?" Ella asks.

"Why do you think, m'ija?" The woman arches a white brow at her.

Lightbulb moment. "Oh! Because his parents thought that now that eighteen years have passed, maybe the curse would wear off. And he did live a string-less life."

The woman nods. "Correcto. But Alejandro's parents were wrong. The curse did not wore off. Almost three years after Alejandro turned 18, Alejandro somewhat lived more free. But still, there were not a single piece of string anywhere near him. To celebrate Alejandro's twenty-first birthday, Lady Navarro decided to throw him a party, where he will not only celebrate the beginning of his adulthood, but also to choose his future bride.

"Alejandro did not know about the choosing of the bride. All he knew he was going to be officially recognized as an adult. While strolling around the castle's bright hallways, Alejandro heard a sound he has never heard of before. It was mellow, almost calming, and it affected Alejandro like a disease. Alejandro sought after the sound desperately. He reached a dark hallway; and at the end of the hallway was a door. He did not know whether or not to open the door; and then, the sound came again. Alejandro decided to open the door.

"Alejandro pulled the door, and he saw a staircase winding upwards. He took the stairs and it led him to another door. There, the sound was louder, more peaceful; he was getting addicted every second. When he opened the door, there, in the middle of the room was a guitar. Because Alejandro lived without the beauty of music, he did not know what it was."

This is getting more suspenseful by the second! The woman's low voice is making the whole story edgy and I'm actually interested!

The woman continues. "Alejandro took careful steps towards the guitar. It was lying on a wooden table, all alone. Alejandro picked up the guitar by its neck. He circled his fingers around, amazed at its slender and smooth shape. He rested the body of the guitar on his thigh and marveled silently. He did not know what to do with the strings. So, he flexed his fingers and pluck the thinnest string."

"And he went to sleep," Ella finishes for the woman.

The woman nods. "Even though Mireya granted Alejandro strength, the skin on his fingers were not tough enough to pluck the strings. Do you understand what I am saying, señoritas?"

I nod at her. I perfectly understand. When I first started playing the guitar, my fingers used to bleed and they're always skinned by the time I finished. My fingers were always covered with Band-aids for a year. It was painful, you know.

"So," Ella asks the woman. "Is this story real or is it just some made-up tale to scare the little kids?"

The woman shrugs. "Some say it is real; some say it is only fake. What do you think, m'ija?"

After hearing a very fascinating story about a guy who went to sleep because he tried playing the guitar for the first time, we leave for the Gran Via.

I think about the woman's story and debating if it's actually real or not. Then, I pull on Ella's arm. She bumps into me.

"What?"

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"To Adalia."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know if the story is true or not."

"How?"

"By car?"

Ella sighs. "Fine."

"Yes!"

A/N: Yey! RnR?