A New Arrival

From the outside pond, the large shiny fish with thick lips started singing off-key as this was a way for them to express themselves. In the room, a spinning fan on the ceiling made a squeaking sound. Scarlet was in bed with a soaked blue towel on her head. Next to her was a bowl of warm porridge with a white ceramic soup spoon. The smoke from the heat of the bowl was steaming and swirled up in the air. She turned her head to the side and the towel rolled off onto her pillow. Her eyes slowly opened.

Where am I?

An older red-haired woman with a bonnet on her hair entered the room and brought in a warm glass of milk.

“You’re awake!” She said happily. She moved a chair from the table to be closer to Scarlet.

“I brought you some warm milk.” She helped pull Scarlet to sit upright on the bed.

“Here take this glass, it’s hot so be careful.” She gently placed it in her Scarlet’s hands.

She moved it to her dry lips and began to take a sip. The milk was frothy and creamy with tiny air bubbles forming like clouds on top of the liquid. The sweetness hit her tongue, which gave her a sense of homeliness.

“I’m Rini, by the way.” She shook Scarlet’s hand politely. “My master was so worried about you when you collapsed like that.”

Scarlet was trying to recall what happened yesterday, but her memories were all fuzzy.

“I’m sorry to have caused you and your master so much trouble.” Scarlet had a worried look on her face. “Where is your master?”

“He’s outside, tending the gardens. You know, he wasn’t lying when he said that you looked like Rose. You’re like a splitting image of her.” Rini mentioned carefully examining her face.

“Yes, I keep hearing that,” Scarlet paused, she was still out of it from yesterday and feeling uncomfortable with the stares. “Do you happen to know what time it is?”

“Why it’s past noon.”

Noon?! Oh no! I’m running late to school!

She immediately stood up from the bed.

Rini asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Thank you, but I really should get going.”

She started to leave and gathered her belongings. Rini gave her the rest of her things.

Scarlet rushed out the curtain exit and saw the old man again. He was using his finger to brush off some leaves from the petals of the flowers.

She bowed to him respectfully, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re not staying longer?”

“I’m sorry, I have somewhere I need to be.” He nodded in response.

“Can you show me your markers so I can head back to the school?”

He pointed to one of the spotted golden mushrooms growing near the base of the giant tree. It had a clown face carved in it. She stood near the mushrooms while he gave a small chant and then she was gone.

She was sent flying out to the other side. While in the air, she was trying to reposition herself. She ended up falling straight down. A male student was walking at the exact same moment. She knocked him to the ground, and she fell into his arms.

Her face pressed into his dress shirt, and her arms were around him.

She lifted her head and looked at him apologetically.

“I’m really sorry, sorry.”

He had messy brown hair with dark yellow eyes that stared calmly right back at her. The distinguishing feature on his face were his z-shaped scars, there was one on each cheek. Before he could respond, she ran away in embarrassment.

She was extremely late to class. She made it through the hallway and was infront of the door. She hesitated to open it.

She had never been late before; she was always punctual.

She was afraid to go through the door. She was nervous about the blank stares coming from the other classmates and the strict professor.

Then she felt a gust of wind pass by and the doors suddenly flung open.
She stared, and she saw the face of the boy who she just fell on.

He turned to her, "Miss, I helped you." He smiled mischievously.

It was Professor’s Valerius's class. "You both are late."
He stared at the boy, disapprovingly.

Kina who was dozing off was awakened by the conversations. Her eyes zoomed in over to the boy and fixated there. She was fascinated with the boy who just entered the classroom.

"Ah you must be the new student, what is your name?"

"Flen, sir." He saluted the professor and winked at the class.

Kina leaned over to the neighboring female student and said, "That's such a cool name." She had a big smile on her face as she stared at him dreamily.

"What a nice first impression boy." He said sarcastically. "I expect you to be on time. No dilly dallying in my classroom, you understand?"

"Understood, sir."

Scarlet was trying to sneak into her seat.

"Also, you too, young lady. Don't think I have forgotten."

She gulped.

"Both of you, come see me after class."

It was time when the class ended and all of the students left. Kina wanted to stay behind, but one of the girls nudged her to leave.

“Let’s go Kina.”

“I want to hear what they will be talking about though.” Kina said while being dragged away.

Scarlet stood near the professor's desk.
Flen pulled up a chair next to her. He turned it backwards and sat on it.

The professor made his way to the desk.
"Ahem at least you two can follow directions, there's a ceremony held for our next Vice Cosmocrat and I have divided the students into teams. You two will be performing in front of the inductee. You need to impress them."

"What if we don't impress them?" Flen asked.

Professor Valerius moved his index finger across his throat.

Scarlet was shocked and sweated.

Ceremony? I’m not sure if I’m ready for this.

Flen laughed, "Sir… you can't be serious."

"Well do it and find out." Professor Valerius stepped out of the room, his footsteps could be heard through the hallway. His cloak was flowing freely behind him.

Flen turned to Scarlet, "Miss, it looks like we'll be partners."

"Yes." Scarlet said shyly. She felt a little uneasy with him. Her social interactions were close to none until she met Theo. The only other male person she had interacted much in this world was him. He was almost like Theo, but she felt he was different in a way.

Flen noticed Scarlet was quiet after that.

To break the silence, he bent over and took a slight bow.

“Miss, you can call me Flen. What name do you go by?”

“It’s Scarlet.”

“That’s quite a pretty name, Miss Scarlet.” He smiled warmly.

He paced around the room to think of ideas on how to entertain guests at the ceremony.

His face then lit up.
"Miss Scarlet, I think it would be entertaining if we did a fencing match."

"I..." Scarlet hesitated.
She was unfamiliar with fencing, and she never held a sword before.

"You don't have to be good at it. I can teach you."

After class, it became a routine that Scarlet would meet with Flen in the courtyard to practice. He would sit underneath one of the trees to wait for her.

He handed her a deep brown wooden sword; it was carved from a sturdy tree. She tried swinging it back and forth. It was lightweight, causing every strike to be heard through the wind.

Swoosh Swoosh

Flen’s wooden sword was tucked in a sheath on his belt. He had his bare hands out.

“Miss Scarlet, try to strike me down.”

Scarlet gulped in uneasiness.

He doesn’t have a sword in his hands now. Is he going free hand?

“Don’t worry, I just want to see how you are with the sword first.” He nodded, “Go ahead, don’t hold back, please.”

Clenching the sword in a sweaty grip, she felt her heart pounding. A drop of sweat trickled from her forehead, but she ignored it, focusing on Flen. With a sudden burst of speed, she lunged forward, charging straight at him with the sword leading the way.

Even as she charged, he remained still. It was when the tip of her sword drew closer, he was not as helpless as he seemed. With a swift grace, he pulled his sword from the sheath with such speed. The motion was so fast, it was almost invisible to the naked eye. It came just in time to meet her strike.

Thwack

At the force of the impact, Scarlet was pushed back and fell on her bottom.

Pim leaped out of her bag and jumped ahead. He nudged against Flen's leg, biting his pants.

"Little sir, where did you come from?" Flen tried to shake him off.

Pim snarled at Flen baring his many tiny teeth. Flen stared at him curiously.

Scarlet whispered, "Pim… it's alright. It's part of the act."

Pim still made a face at Flen. Flen saw a dust speck in one of his eyes. He lifted the protesting Pim up and blew gently, dislodging the particle. Then, he set him back down on the ground. He was relieved and happy. “Woo, woo.”

Pim seemed to change his opinion of Flen.

Scarlet smiled, "Pim said thanks."

He went over to her and took her by the hand to bring her to her feet. The sunlight shined brightly on them.

"Miss Scarlet, I assure you, you will get better at this.”

He met her gaze, she felt like she found the strength and encouragement she needed.