Occursus Forte - Meeting by Chance

I was frozen on my place on the floor, terrified at what I had done. The Lion's Den was practically deserted now. Only the seemingly-indifferent bartender, the man and I were there.

The man had finally stopped screaming. He had fallen asleep on the cold floor. I could not imagine how he must have felt when my flames raged towards him. The impact most probably left him blind. Though I knew I would have suffered much if I did not act the way I did, I could not help but feel sorry for the man whose pain I had caused. Nobody, even those with the darkest of hearts, deserved deliberate pain and suffering...

The doors of the tavern creaked open and footsteps broke the silence of the old, rundown place. By instinct, I turned towards the direction of the young man who had just entered. With his platinum-blond hair and incredibly fair complexion, he appeared quite striking. His clothes - a long silver topcoat with blood red linings worn atop his plain black undershirt and loose pants - showed off his well-proportioned body as well as his immense physique. He carried a long silver spear adorned with red streaks in his right hand.

His brilliant sapphire blue eyes darted towards my direction. An uncomfortable feeling came upon me upon the meeting of our gazes. He did not turn away as he slowly approached.
Without a word, he offered me his hand and helped me stand up.

Now up on my feet, I remained silent as he continued staring at me with curiosity. I kept my eyes to the floor, keeping myself from staring at his flawless face. I would have lost myself in his mesmerizing gaze and apart from that, I would not want him to end up like the man who laid unconscious on the floor. Who knows what more gruesome deeds my hands were capable of...

"That girl miraculously managed to defend herself against Ol' Tantus and left him lying over there," suddenly said the bartender, still without leaving his spot behind the counter. Both the young man and I turned to him in surprise. He speaks? "Flamma Puella...Fire Maiden, that's what she is..."

"Flamma Puella, huh?" His velvet voice resounded in my ears, much like an irresistable charm. His soft chuckles that followed revealed his amuseness at the name the bartender had titled me with. "The entire city's in disarray with the things your regulars have been talking about. To put it in a gist, they said that a young witch came and set fire to Tantus' face when he tried something on her."

"She's no witch, believe me... But she is capable of extraordinary things..." said the bartender, jumping off the counter with an elegant leap. He removed his shabby-looking apron, carelessly tossed it on the counter and walked towards the young man's side. "You'd be best to take her somewhere safe. I'm off to buy supplies." Giving the young man's shoulder a quick pat, the bartender marched out of the tavern.

The young man turned to me with an apologetic smile. And what a smile it was... "Sorry about that. Conrad can be like sometimes, but he is a pretty nice guy. Anyway..." He extended his free hand towards me. "My name is Lionel. Welcome to Gaudium."

Lionel...Lion...
He whose courage burns as that of a lion's spirit..
It was too much of a coincidence.
It was meeting of chance, perhaps, but for me, it was truly a meeting of fate.

Occursus Forte - Meeting by Chance
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