A Fateful Encounter

Lightning cracks across the sky as violent banging echoes through the exquisite bedroom. A young girl, no older than five, was dressed quickly by frazzled maids. As the banging began to get louder, the maids worked faster and more sloppier.

“Young Mistress, please cooperate,” A violent crash echoed through a near corridor causing the room’s inhabitants to freeze in fear. The immense feeling of distress was filling the room, “Marie? W-what’s going on? Ma-”

“Shhh, Milady,” a young maid whispered to the little girl. A gunshot forced the room into panicked motion as the other maids pushed their younger and their mistress through the servants quarters.

“Marie,” a harsh voice whispered, “Get her out of here, and keep her safe!”

“Of course! Be sa-”

“Go!” The door was shut and sealed behind Marie and her panic-stricken mistress. Without a word, Marie dragged her mistress through the quarters.

“Ma-Marie?” A small voice whispered, “Where-”

“Do not worry, miss. I will get you to safety.”

“But what about my family?” The young girl’s words were distressed and desperate. Silence engulfed the two with the maid unable to answer her mistress’s question.

Finally, with sympathy dripping off of spoken words, she said, “I do not know, Mistress.” Silence enveloped them as the reached the outside of the castle walls, to which the servant’s quarters connected to. They soon left the castle behind and entered the bustling town of Cienna. As the two made it to the docks, Marie began to bring the young girl onto the docks. Unfortunately, the little girl’s hand slipped from Marie’s, and when Marie tried to turn around on grab her mistress, she was swarmed and pushed onto the boat by the crowd also trying to board. As she was swept farther and farther from her mistress she cried out, “Miss Ka-”

The bell of a small magic store rang through the air awakening the eighteen year old cashier with a start. This young lady had snow white hair and welcoming pink eyes. Her very presence was so kind and caring, so when the customer, a young man around her age with hazel colored hair and enchanting green eyes, entered the store in a panicked rush, she was engulfed with concern, “Sir?” The young man eyes met her own with surprise, fear, and a bit of an emotion she was not very familiar with.

Without missing a beat, the young man darted up and placed his hand over her mouth, “Miss, I am sorry, but I need you to keep silent about my presence. I have very dangerous people after me and there is nowhere else to go. I beg for your secrecy and hope you will not turn me over.” The young lady’s demeanor had turned around as soon as he covered her mouth. Her eye was twitching, and she had half a mind to turn the man over to whoever was after him, but the kindness in her heart won over and she pointed to a storage cabinet in the farthest corner of the room, “Thank you, miss. You won’t have to see me again after this.” She watched as he turned and entered the cabinet, and there was no way she missed the gracious smile he gave her.

As she continued her work, she could feel the overwhelming presence of a dark mage coming closer. Dark mages were very unpredictable and, obviously, dark. They had to have things done their way, or it could cost one their life. All of a sudden, the shop’s doors opened an a cloaked figure entered, “Madam,” her eyes slowly met his, “I am searching for someone. I hear you are told everything in this town, for you are the most sympathetic and easy to approach, so I was wondering if you had seen this young man.” He held up a hand-drawn poster with a very accurate portrait of the young man in the storage cabinet, “I should warn you that if you lie, you are putting your life in your own hands.”

With as much sincerity as possible, which isn’t very hard for her surprisingly, she said, “He did pass through here.” She could feel the presence of the man tense up, but the jump wasn’t enough to get the dark mage in front of her, “He didn’t stay very long, said something about being hunted. I myself feared for his well being, but that comes natural to me.” The mage stared her down as she spoke, “As much as I wanted to help him, I could not because of the danger that would come to my family.” She gestured to the photo on the wall, “So, I sent him off. At first he refused, so I forced him out. He parted with the words, ‘What you’re doing is wrong! Please reconsider!’, but I could not. I simply turned around and re-entered the shop, inconspicuously watching his departure as he left due west. That is all I know, though. I’m sorry if that was not any help.” As she feigned despair, the young man sat astounded in the cabinet. Who knew that lady had it in her to tell such an elaborate, believable lie?

“No, no, my dear. That information will help me with my hunt,” the man soon left thereafter and a sense of relief dawned onto her and the young man.

With a sigh of relief, the boy came out of the cabinet saying, “That was a very good lie you told.”

Whipping around with the biggest sense of annoyance, “You are lucky he teleported away, for you could have been in very big trouble had he wanted more information or to stock up on magic supplies! And you need to keep your presence in check! You are going to get caught and probably me as well! What is your problem?!”

“I’m sorry. There is something I have to inquire about, though. Where did you get that?” He pointed towards her left ear where a circular dangling topaz earring. It was barely visible to anyone with an untrained eye, regardless of the contrast in color.

Biting back her previous annoyance, she made eye contact and gave a sheepish smile, “I have had it for as long as I can remember.”

“May I see it?” His voice was soft and his emerald eyes gleamed with curiosity. He came closer and closer, always looking to her for some of her previous malice with his movement. A soft giggle left her lips when she saw his sincere precaution.

Just as his eyes widened, she softly answered, “I would love to, but I cannot take it off.”

“What?” Confusion now laced through his voice. Who couldn’t take off an earring?

“It has no way for me to take it off,” she lifted her hair up and turned around, “see?”

A slight sense of recognition entered his mind as he remembered one thing about the royal family, “Each member has a piece of jewelry that cannot be taken off. The missing heir had a small seemingly unnoticeable earring.” He took a few steps forward and leaned in closer for a closer look.

“Wha-what are you doing?” She could feel the earring move and felt him place his right hand on her shoulder. She jumped away, but not before he caught a glimpse of a very familiar seal. She shot him a bewildered look.

“A-ah,” He was kneeling in an instant head bowed with the utmost respect, “Milady.” He got a series of many questions after. It was to be expected. They never formally introduced themselves and now he was proclaiming her to be of noble descent. Realizing his mistake, “My apologies,” he bowed again, “I am Sora.”

“Like the sky?” She asked.

Sora nodded, “I was tasked with finding the princess, and it seems I have now found her.”

“You’ve got to be kidding! I’m not-”

“Do you know who you are? What do you remember? Did you get uneasy when you spoke to that man?” She was slowly backed into a corner. What was she to do? Lie? Tell the truth? Who knows.

“I’m not- there’s not- how? How do you know?” Slight disbelief and slight hope leaked through her voice. She might still have a blood-related family?

Sora’s eyes gleamed with happiness, “Your earring. It is the exact replica of the princess’s not only that, but you look like her. So, what do you go by? Or would you like your given name?”

“Annabelle. That is the name I’ve known all my life, but I was picked up off the streets as a child. What was my given name? Just out of curiosity, of course!” Annabelle was so flustered in the moment, she didn’t realize that she hit the bookshelf holding a jar of very acidic liquid that had been there for who knows how long. Her eyes widened as she was tackled out of the way, “Sora!”

“Kas-Kasu,” Annabelle’s eyes widened with concern seeing the liquid touch his ankle.

In one fluid motion, she was quickly behind him healing his injury, “Hold still, would you?! Do you want to be in more pain?”

“Kasumi. . . That’s y-your name. . .” He was bleeding too much.

“Stupid! Why?”

A small smile made its way onto his face, “You know, I really like clumsy people.” Tears fell from Annabelle’s eyes as she began to smile, “You are so kind, sweet, and caring.”

“We just met!” She said as she began to get hysterical, Sora’s life force was dwindling.

“Heh, sorry, Anna. I just had to tell you,” he looked to her. He wanted to know she’d be okay. That she’d keep going, “Go find your parents, your actual relatives. Keep fighting,” he was now trying hard to stay awake, “and living. Find love, and get to know them. And I-”

Tears were now freely flowing as she whispered, “I’ve found someone, but now I can’t get to know him b-because he’s l-leaving.”

His hand touched her cheek, “I’ll be with you, and no one is going to hurt you, I’ll guard you. Then, I will get the chance to know you. Just know I can wait, don’t give up yet.”

His hand grew cold and fell to the floor. Tears became waterfalls as he passed on. He was happy, though. Happy to meet her, happy to gain her trust long enough to speak to her, and he was happy to see her go to her parents, but not without giving him a proper burial.

She did what he asked, met her parents, showed them the earring, and told her younger sibling on how the great Sora saved her. The truth was very stretched in the end, but it didn’t matter. She moved on but never spoke of her name. Annabelle was something she treasured, but couldn’t bear the thought of someone else calling her that, so she took her given name. The dark mage? On the loose still, but she was not afraid. She knew that Sora was there, and would be for years because she was not giving up. Marie? She came back to the palace. No one knew why, but most people think she couldn’t live without palace life. Anna was now queen, and she passes free time staring at the sky watching over her, her Sora.