Coincidence or Fate?

'Human,' I thought, even as I lost my breath momentarily from the impact. 'Unnaturally strong, but definitely human.'

Then, we were rolling. Rolling down a garden might sound lovely, but it was far from that. The soil was a bit muddy from the past few days' worth of rain, and what little grassy cushion we rolled by stuck annoyingly on our now wet skin. The last straw was crashing hard onto a bush of roses. Despite the suddenly fragrant wisps of air, I could hardly find this lovely. And have I ever mentioned that roses have irritating and prickly thorns?

I screamed in anger, not even feeling the slightest bit pained. I thrusted both my arms towards my assailant's chest, and pushed him away from me before he could crush me further down the bushes. Finally free, I got up with a groan, and was surprised to see that I had used my full force when I had pushed against the barreling human. How did I know, you ask?

Well, you see, he was about a full 20 meters or so away from me, sprawled out on one of the beds of flowers.

'Oh dear God Solus, did I just kill someone?'

I started to despair. It hadn't even been a week since I've started my schooling here, and I might just already be sent to another institution: a prison.

Before I could start planning on how I could escape, (because I couldn't bury the body now... There were students already gathering at the windows of the castle, pointing and whispering at us!) I saw movement coming from the person.

"Alive!" I shouted aloud, and then began to run towards the body. Within a second, I was by his side. Sensing the signs of life coming from the boy, I knew I was safe. I could easily talk my way out of this if he blames me for his injuries. Yes, yes...

Sweet Alyssum. The bed of flowers we were sitting on was of my favorite kind. I sighed, growing annoyed again at the boy who had not only made my clothes look bad, but also destroyed my favorite flowers. Not even bothering to ask him any questions, I growled at him to "Get up."

Fortunately, he seemed to sense my irritation, because he stopped moving around like a turtle, and sat up stiffly like a person caught doing a crime in flagrante. He had his hood up so I couldn't see his expression that much, but I knew he was fine. In fact, based on the amount of notes wrapped around his surroundings, I knew he was more than fine. He was probably as hurt as I was during our little dance with mother nature.

I sighed yet again when he only stayed quiet. "Well?" I asked.

"... Well what?" he timidly asked back.

I groaned a scream, holding up my hands in frustration. "Well, what was that all about?? Why did you come out from the forest like a wild boar?!"

The boy had the audacity to mumble out, "To be perfectly honest, I was way faster than a mere boar."

"Want to know how fast I can throw you back where you came from?" I spat back.

He stayed quiet. Then, he coughed as he straightened himself up into a little kneel, while he sat himself back on his heels. He bowed his head, "Sorry."

"..."

"I said I'm sorry," he continued, and then he looked back up to stare at my face. "You have mud on your cheeks."

I wanted to just punch him back to Saule Kingdom.

Still fuming with anger, I flinched as he approached me with his hands held out. Sensing he had no malice in his actions, I allowed him. But then, I still didn't want whatever this was that he was about to do. "What're you doing?"

He shrugged, his robes shimmering in the daylight. "Getting the mud off."

His hands were soft, albeit a bit callused at the tips of the fingers. That made me think that he might not be a son of a noble, at least. Although, it was hard to find a commoner who could muster this kind of powerful magic. For a while, we sat there. Him brushing out the mud on my cheeks. Me just sitting there like a mild rabbit. Right on a bed of my favorite flowers.

It could've been a pretty nice way to meet a new acquaintance, if it weren't for the fact that I was glowing with fury, and the fact that I already and unmistakably... know him.

This close, his hood could never conceal the face hidden beneath it. My eyes went wide, and anger turned into shock. Without nothing else to call him by, I had no choice but to shout out, "Charles?!"

He blinked at me, before finally smiling widely. "I was wondering when you'd recognize me. I'd already thought you'd forgotten all about me."

"Yeah, well!" I flicked his fingers away from my face, and glared at him. "The hood didn't really help much!"

"Oh!" he shouted innocently, and then pulled his hood down. "I'd forgotten I was wearing it."

I stared at him with my mind swirling, heart beating erratically with mixed up feelings. This was the boy that had been appearing in my life for too many times to be considered a wild chain of coincidences. First, he had appeared as the mentee boy Sneak, marching around the Black Cave of Lunaris City like he owned it. Then, he appeared yet again, well away from underground markets, and up on the flying Isle of Malaya. Although he didn't recognize me the second time, he still held back his real name from me. And now... he was back, on level ground, right inside the grounds of one of the most protected places in the continent, where not just anyone can go to: the Lunar Academy.

I didn't know what to make of it. I certainly didn't know if it was even normal to meet a stranger so many times in only a few years, but...

This time, I was adamant about knowing who he really was.

I huffed. "Who are you?"

"Ah," he let out a confused sound, brows furrowed in worry and confusion. "I thought we had already met, yes? I don't exactly know what you-"

Grabbing him by the front of his shimmering robes, I sneered at his face. "It's weird why you're here when I'm here too. It's weird how you called out to me that day on Malaya. It's weird how you-"

'Helped me on that day when I, the princess, got lost inside the Black Cave?' my mind asked me.

I sighed, shaking him around on my grip. "It's just weird, alright! And now you're literally bumping into me! I have no choice but to think that you're following me! Why are you following me?"

He stared at me with the widest, brown eyes. And then, he snickered, his eyes narrowing down into slits. "I could ask you the same."

I let him go with a small scream. "You know what I meant!"

He only sighed through a sideward smile, and then started to get up. He dusted himself off, and I was angry when I noticed how his robes were still immaculately clean, while I sat there all covered in mud and dirt and a few stray flowers. He offered a hand down at me, smiling his eyes into crescents. "I know what you mean, and even I find it odd how we're... bumping into each other."

I stood up without his help, and looked at him pointedly with my hands on my hips.

He let out a tired laugh. "Alas, I too am clueless. Maybe we're just meant to become friends?"

I snorted. "With how hard you came barreling into me just now, I would rather think we're meant to be enemies instead."

He only laughed. "Come now, don't be like that. But, I'm sure glad we get to meet again!"

I dodged his arm as he made to wrap it around my shoulders. He shrugged it off politely like I had only refused his offer to have a cup of tea. Without even saying anything else, he started to walk forwards. I had no choice but to move as well. With the way I was now, I knew I had to make a hasty change of outfit if I wanted to make it to my next classes. I was supposed to enjoy two hours of free time, but now I was forced to move around swiftly instead. All because of him...

Ignoring the few curious eyes trained on us from the windows of the castle, we made our way through the garden. I muttered, "So, why were you running around from the forest?"

He turned to look at me. With his hood down, I got a good glimpse of his darker brown skin, and his waves of dusky hair. He was taller, and his face was more carved out. Honestly, he looked wonderful. But, I'm never going to be caught telling him that. He then answered me, "I got bored."

I looked at him with suspicion. "From what?"

"Travelling," he said easily with a shrug. "The carriages were too slow, what with all the guards and that. So, I escaped and went on ahead."

His face then filled with mischief as he grinned. "But I believe they wouldn't have found out until the second day I had left."

I decided to humor him. "And why is that?"

"Because..." he started, but then stopped as his face turned troubled. "Well, actually, it's a bit long and boring..."

"Oh, mighty! Anything but boring!" I commented.

He smiled at me. "Yes, so I'll just say it was one of my cleverest plans I'd ever made. It involved a high mage's boyman, a few carrots, and of course, like all other great exploits... a small bribe!"

I huffed. "Of course, of course."

He was still smiling proudly when he found my look. His smile quickly turned upside down. "What? Why do you look so angry? Are you disappointed I'd escaped from my parents again?"

"Oh, so the emperor and the empress came with you too?" I asked him, knowing full well how potion-laid my words were.

He flinched. "Well, no. Not for the whole way, anyway. They had to visit the Saule Kingdom, and I joined halfway... What? Why are you looking at me like that?!"

Stomping my foot, I glared up at him. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's just because I find it annoying how you keep lying even now!"

He sputtered, his face filled with a mixture of worry and disbelief. "W-What- I can't believe this!"

"You can't believe what?"

"You!" he shouted. "I can't believe how hypocritical you are. You said your name was Eleftherion, but I sensed little truth in your words!"

I gaped up at him. "How dare- Well, then, I only sensed pure lies when you claimed you were no other than Prince Charles himself! The only crown prince of the Mond Empire! How can you contest that?"

His eyes twitched. "Yeah, well, I go by Kareem in my heart anyway."

I groaned. "Kareem or Charles, it hardly matters! Why do you keep claiming you're someone you're not? Do you know what the Empire will do when they learn of an impostor, even if he was a child? Just stop this lying!"

Then, he stopped his angry walking, and his glare subsided into a smirk. "And why... do you care so much about it?"

I blinked up at him. "Because you're lying!"

"Oh?" he asked, a hand held up to tap at his chin. "Were you always this caring about the rules?"

His sudden change of attitude annoyed me. "I don't understand what you're trying to get at."

His smirk deepened into a pursed smile. "Really?"

Then, he walked forward towards me. With our height difference, he was able to look down at me quite menacingly. He continued, his face close enough that I could feel his breath, "Because it seems to me... like you're concerned about me."

I stared at him, wondering if he had really said what he had...

"Crazy," I mumbled, and then backed away and walked on before he could feel the heat forming on my face.

'I don't care about him anymore,' I thought. 'He can get hanged or shot at for all I care. He seems smart enough to know the consequences of his actions. Besides, he's way older than me! I shouldn't even be looking after him.'

For the time we walked onwards, I simply ignored him. Before I knew it, we had made it out of the gardens and now stood right outside of the castle's main doors. I ignored the looks of disgust from a pair of noble children who caught sight of my muddied clothes. I sighed, and turned to look behind me, where the boy had lagged behind. I shouted back, "So, are you a student here?"

He looked up from his sulking bow, and nodded enthusiastically at the attention I now gave him. "Yes! Well, I will be. It's my first day, really."

"Great," I grumbled. "Not only a student, but also a batchmate..."

Sensing my displeasure, he started to laugh. "So you're from Batch Pi too! We really are meant to be together, aren't we?"

This time, weirdly feeling so tired after seeing his energetic self, I couldn't even muster the strength to dodge as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. It was so easy for him... being that tall already...

"I wonder what classes I'll get... I missed the sorting, so I'll have to go through different motions. Do you think we'll be classmates? I do hope so! Let me have a look at your class list!"

I mumbled, nodded, and shook my head wearily at his utterings. Before I could answer the last bit of his speech, we were suddenly interrupted. A professor was walking briskly from the castle, a heaviness followed him through the air. He made a beeline towards us.

"What is this about students fighting in the school garden?!" he shouted. "Are you the culprits? Of course you are, with your disheveled looks! And it's obvious who lost too."

His gaze turned to me with my dirtied state. I spluttered. "N-No I didn't! I mean, it wasn't even a fight-"

The boy only laughed in absolute joy, a muddy hand on his belly. The traitor!

"Well, are you glad you destroyed the flora in the garden?" the professor turned to him. "You seem all but- but-!"

The man stopped speaking to simply gape at the boy. "Oh... Oh, dear Goddess Luna. The notice told us you'll arrive by... No matter."

Then, the man turned to me with a sharp gaze. "Head back inside, Sinus Fidei, and change out of those clothes! Don't you have classes to be at?"

I managed a few yes, sirs, and had to make my lonesome way back inside, much to my annoyance. It didn't seem like the boy would be punished, seeing as how the professor had immediately turned docile after having a glimpse at his face.

'A noble, then," I decided, but I could only glimpse back once. The man was giving the boy a few bows, and he only stood there with a placating hand and a troubled smile. He then felt my gaze on him. He grinned at me with a winning smile. 'See you later,' he mouthed out.

Feeling irritated by his mere face, I turned away to head back to my room and change.