61 A Peculiar Turn of Events

Lydis strolled the halls, watching and observing the behaviors of the students playing in the lounge below her. She had returned to the second floor and was in the middle of trying to find Theda's bully when Bennox rounded the corner at the other end of the hall.

His head hung low, messy brown hair dangled over his eyes. Usually Owen would be next to him but he was nowhere to be found.

Swiveling quickly, Lydis made an attempt to change locations when Bennox suddenly lifted his head up. All at once his face brightened. Lydis wasn't sure why but Bennox's steps quickened and she could see the excitement on his face. As he rushed over Lydis was reminded of Valfafer for some reason. She turned to leave but Bennox called out to her.

"Lydis!" Waving his arm in the air, Bennox's smile became larger as he saw Lydis wait for him.

In truth, Lydis stopped because Bennox had reminded her of Valfafer. She was curious as to why he would act like that after just seeing her.

"Bennox, we meet again."

He smiled at her again.

"I get the feeling that this is fate once again," Bennox placed one hand over his thumping heart. "Don't you think so?"

Lydis didn't care much about fate since she herself shouldn't even be alive right then. Her body was over fifty years old, yet it retained the appearance of a ten-year-old child, growing just as one would after her awakening in the forest. Though, she couldn't tell him that.

"Fate is nothing. If you survived a battle when everyone else had died, would you call that fate? Good luck? Karma? All those uncertain factors aren't something you should rely on. Only you yourself know your abilities. If they weren't better than your opponent's then of course you'd lose."

Bennox himself didn't care about fate much but it had led him to Lydis at the times when he desperately wanted to see her. Ever since Bennox met Lydis, there was always something about her that kept her in his mind. Though he didn't know what those thoughts meant yet.

"Yet, even amongst all these kids, here we are. Alone with no one else around, just you and me. Even with the entire building full of children, here we are."

"You shouldn't let coincidences cloud your thinking. Now, I need to be someplace."

Lydis briskly walked past Bennox, each step echoing like a drum in Bennox's ears. Suddenly, he felt that if he failed to form a connection with Lydis right then and there, his chances of surviving the academy would become extremely thin. Without thinking Bennox grabbed Lydis's wrist.

"You, what are you doing?"

Fumbling for words, Bennox's mouth moved but nothing came out. Just as Lydis was about to fling his hand away Owen came running around the corner.

"Move!"

Right behind him was a hoard of girls and boys, some who looked like nobles while others looked like normal commoners. Sprinting with all his strength, Owen didn't even have time to recognize the two people in front of him.

Lydis stepped to the side while Bennox and Owen collided. Tumbling in a mess of arms and legs, Bennox was pushed to the floor.

*ugh* "Wh- Bennox?!" Owen finally recognized Bennox and tried to roll away, but the hoard of people already had them surrounded. With a jab of someone's foot, Owen flinched as they used their heel to dig into his leg.

"Speak, how do you know Miss Breavux?"

Having moved out of the way, Lydis was just outside the encirclement. Following the voice she saw that it belonged to a small girl in high heels, murky grey hair dangled just above her shoulders. On her shoulder was a large bow the color of rusty metal. In her mind, Theda's description of the bully seemed to align with the girl standing as the leader of the mob.

"I'll say it one more time so that your incompetent brain can even grasp my words. Why were you talking with Miss Breavux?" Digging her heels deeper, she seemed to find joy in seeing Owen's brow twist in pain. Although short, the girl stood taller than most girls her age due to her shoes. With a large group supporting her the girl didn't think that Owen would dare to do anything to her. Even if he did, her brothers were third years at the academy so she could easily have them beat up Owen.

Bennox's attention was no longer on Lydis but on the little annoyance stepping on Owen's leg. As he rose off the floor his cold voice shocked a few of the children present.

"Get your filthy paws off my brother." Without caring if the girl got hurt, Bennox kicked her leg away.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts!" The girl was no longer standing with her chin in the air, now she sat crouched over her leg, rubbing the spot where Bennox had kicked her. Tears streaming down her face, the girl refused to back down. "Everyone, everyone look! He is a brute, a monster, how could he hit a defenseless girl like me?"

Sobbing and wailing, the girl used every ounce of strength she had to project her voice for everyone to hear. Soon a group more than three times the original size had formed. Their curious whispers and biased comments filling the hall. Taking advantage of the situation, the girl pleaded her case.

"Those two attacked me! I only asked a question and suddenly that boy viciously kicked me!"

Pointing her small finger at Bennox, the girl's tears seemed endless.

Bennox's face twitched in anger but he held silent due to a tug from Owen. As they were both standing, Owen cupped Bennox's ear with his hand. As silently as he could, Owen whispered to Bennox.

"The one screeching is called Edith. She's a lower Baron but acts like royalty. She's quick to act and crafty with her words. Just, think before you speak is what I'm trying to say I guess?"

Bennox eyed Owen, a small smirk forming on his face.

"You think you're one to lecture 'me' about my words? Did you already forget your promise before we entered the academy?"

Owen turned his face away in embarrassment. If it wasn't for him falling into one of Edith's traps earlier, he never would've told Bennox to be careful. It had happened too fast for him to think about it at the time. Edith with her four-person entourage had approached Owen and asked about Bianca but when he refused to answer Edith had one of her followers punch her arm. Using her irritating voice, Edith had quickly gathered a group of people that took her side.

Just like now, Edith used the simple-minded kids to ignite the others into action.

Bennox looked over at Edith and saw her smirking back at him. As the saying goes, Edith was like the big fish in a small pond. Too self-engrossed, Edith's mind could only think of insults for those she saw as lower than her. If dirty slum kids like those two wanted to ignore someone like her, well, they'll have to pay the price for doing so!

"Are all of you fools? Or are you all just too bored? Don't any of you have something to be doing?" Bennox met eyes with all that stared back at him. "All of you should know that this is the academy, not a social gathering place for fun and games. How can you laze around like this knowing that classes start tomorrow?"

A few of the kids turned and mumbled to themselves but no one left the circle. If anything, it seemed that the circle was getting smaller. Seeing as no one wanted to leave Bennox sighed.

"Look closely and choose wisely." On purpose, Bennox dusted himself off even though the amount of dirt on him was little almost close to nothing. The movements of his hands brought the children's attention to the pristine white of his uniform, the purple undertones inside his cuffs and coat, and the left Gemini stitched to his left shoulder. The undeniable colors of the Horoscopes suddenly seemed to be the only thing the crowd could see.

Involuntarily, their eyes shifted to Owen who was standing next to Bennox. Dressed in the same colors, the right Gemini was stitched to his right shoulder as well.

For a few moments no one moved nor spoke. Edith seemed to have her tongue twisted as well. Bennox quickly reached down to help Owen up.

"He is also a member of the Horoscopes, now, I'll ask you again. Are all of you fools?"

The children holding the circle together faltered. When one child took a step back, it soon spread to the rest of the others. Now the circle was more like a distorted oval. Bennox eyed the kids again, his voice loud and overbearing.

"Who was it? Who instigated this farce?"

Some children exchanged confused looks, they didn't know what a 'farce' was but by the way Bennox had spoken it seemed like a bad thing. The children who did understand quickly parted from Edith. Like magic, the once camouflaged Edith was like a deer caught in headlights, frozen with fear, is what Bennox and Owen should've seen but instead when the group parted Edith had already disappeared. Her torn ribbon lay in a sad pile where she once was.