LUNA: The Invisible Princess

[Luna]

It's already late at night but I'm still wide awake. I got up from my bed and decided to walk outside the dorm even though it was a bit dark. Only a few streetlights illuminate the pathway, but some area is still dark.

My feet subconsciously brought me to the garden. I sat under a tree and leaned on it while looking at the moonlight with a serene smile.

Whenever I look up at the moon, it makes me calm and at ease. It's like my grandmother is always watching me.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a voice echoed in the silent night. Her sudden appearance surprised me a little. A girl is lying on the grass, hands both under her head while also looking up at the moon. Why didn't I notice her? Perhaps I’m lost in my train of thoughts.

"Yeah..." I uttered with a smile. She got up and approached me.

"Are you new here? I didn't see you before," she said and sat down next to me, then stared at my face. I felt conscious of the way she stares at me.

"Yep, I just got here today," I answered.

"I see. By the way, I'm Catherine Greene." she introduces herself with a wide smile. Her name sounds familiar. I think I heard it before.

"I'm Luna Syesha McCleen." I introduce myself as well.

"Nice name."

"Thanks."

Silence enveloped us. I stared at her face as the moonlight shone brightly.

"Is there something on my face?" she said while smiling. I shook my head.

"N-No. I mean... it's just... your face just looks familiar. Did we meet each other before?" I don't know, but her face looked very oddly familiar.

I heard her chuckle. "No. I think we just met today." I shrugged my shoulders. "Hmm, can I ask what power you possess?"

I looked at her. "I can manipulate ice. How about you?" she smiled and seemed to remember something.

"Water Element and Illusion."

I nodded. Wow! I finally met an illusionist as well.

"What palace did you come from?" I asked when she suddenly fell silent.

"Laikan Kingdom."

My eyes widened. What?! If I’m not mistaken, Laikan Kingdom is the only palace with tight security.

"Wow! Really? Can you tell me about your kingdom? I haven't been there yet." I said with excitement. She frowned.

"You haven't been there? How come? Aren't you a princess?" I laughed at what she said.

"Yes, I am a princess, but no one knows I am. So I haven't been to your kingdom. Only royals can go to your kingdom, right?" she nodded with furrowed eyebrows.

"Are you hiding your identity?" she wondered.

"Sort of." she nodded and didn't ask further, which is a relief.

"So, you’re from Icelania Palace? How are you related to Prince Zachary Frost?" I smiled. How can she tell that I was from Icelania Palace? Ah, maybe because I can manipulate ice. Well, Headmaster said that when someone asked which palace I came from, I would say Icelania Palace. Just to be safe.

"I'm Zach's cousin." I simply answer.

Yeah, you heard it. They also planned that I would be Zachary’s cousin, which is so weird, so they forced me to change my black hair to white again, the same hair color I had when I was in Enchantreia World. By the way, one of my abilities is to change appearance. In my case, I only changed my hair to make it believable that I came from Icelania Palace. While Claire is from the Sumo Palace because of Caleb. Tsk. Looks like Caleb likes Claire.

"Why I didn't see you before when I went there?" she seemed skeptical about my identity.

"I never go out of my room." She nodded and seemed to believe my alibi.

This is hard as I thought. I'm not used to telling lies, and it kills me every time those words spill out of my mouth.

"So, see you tomorrow? It's getting late. We should go back to the dorm now," she said as she dusted her dress while standing up. I nodded and stood up as well.

We just quietly walked back. When we entered the dorm, we separated because her room was on the other side of the hallway while my room was on the opposite side of the northern area.

I took a deep breath. Moments later, I entered my and Claire’s room and found her on the sofa, absentmindedly staring into the wall, lost deep in thoughts.

"Claire? Why are you still awake?" she jumped slightly in surprise and I chuckled.

"Luna! Where did you go? I've been looking for you for a while. I thought you left me..." she said sadly and heave a sigh. I approached her and sat down beside her. She looks like a pouting baby.

"Hey! What did I tell you? Didn't I tell you I won't leave you until you see your real family?" I said and give her a side hug. She hugged back and let out a sharp breath. "I was just taking a silent walk outside, then I found myself in the garden and then I meet someone there. Her name is Catherine Greene. I'll introduce you to her tomorrow!"

She smiled and nodded. Since it was really late at night, we decided to hit the hay. Tomorrow, we will join the classes. Now that I think about it, I have been to a different school every time I stumbled and got stuck in every dimension I went to. That put a smile on my lips.

~~~~~

We walk down the hallway with Zachary and Caleb. The students looked at us wonder struck and whispered to each other. They were talking about us. Claire had a poker face on while I just walked without a care about my surrounding. I just keep on walking with a bored expression.

"Why are you so quiet?" Caleb wondered.

We are in the same class as Zachary and Caleb. In this school, the same age is grouped together. They didn’t base their section on powers, unlike in the Enchanted Academy. But this school has a power ranking too. The more powerful you are, the higher your rank goes.

We just looked at Caleb and shrugged. He pouted his lips while Zach had a poker face on, like Claire. Until we arrived in the classroom, we were still quiet. Fortunately, Caleb calmed down and keep his cool while smiling at the other students. A typical playboy.

"Aaahhh! Prince Zachary and Prince Caleb are here already!" I frowned when there was a sudden noise in the room. Damn! That almost ruined my eardrums.

"Who are they?" I heard them say, and the blabbers resonated in the room.

We sat in the back. Zachary and Caleb were behind us.

A little while later, students screamed when a group of people suddenly entered the room. They were also beautiful and handsome, like Zachary and Caleb. Few of them were smiling friendly while the rest of them had a bored expression. They walked in our direction, but frowned when they saw us.

"Zach, who are they?" a blonde-haired girl asked Zach while her eyes were locked on Claire and me.

I give them a friendly smile. "I'm Luna, Zach's cousin." They gazed at me intently and mouths agape in awe. "And this is Claire, my friend."

Their gaze shifted to Claire, and they fell silent.

"You look familiar? Have we met before?" a guy said to Claire. But Claire just responded with a shrug.

"She looks like Princess Catherine." a girl blurted out. She wears eyeglasses but didn’t look like a nerd. I think the glasses made her look pretty.

When she mentioned Catherine’s name, a certain face of a girl from last night flashed in my mind. I quickly stared at Claire and confirmed something. They really have a resemblance.

Others agreed too. “You really look a lot like Princess Catherine.”

"Are you from the Laikan Kingdom?" a girl with black long hair and green eyes asked with a curious smile. Claire looked at me for a rescue.

"No, she's not," I answered, and they turned their attention to me.

"Huh? So what palace did she come from?" I glance at Caleb and he quickly gets what I mean.

"Guys, she's from Sumo Palace. She's my friend." Caleb said.

"And why did we only see her now?" a girl with brown hair said, eyebrows furrowed together. Caleb scratched the back of his head.

"Because she rarely goes out of their house. She only went to school now because of Luna." Caleb explained. Woah. Caleb is also good at inventing stories.

"Eh, why we haven’t known that you have a cousin, Zach? You also didn't mention anything to us about her..." I looked at Zach, who was just calm in his seat while we were being bombarded with questions from their friends. I silently rolled my eyes.

"Like Claire, she rarely goes out of their house. It was a good thing that she decided to go here." Zach says nonchalantly, keeping his poker expression. Tsk. This guy is also good at inventing a story.

They nodded, and the girls sat in front of us while the other guys sat in the back row with Zach and Caleb.

They immediately introduced themselves to us one by one, and I'm sure I'll forget their names later.

When the teacher came in, she introduced us first before starting the class.

Spell, B-O-R-I-N-G.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep in class. My sleep was cut short when someone shook my shoulders.

"Luna... wake up." I yawned, then opened my eyes and met Claire’s gaze. Then I notice that Zach and Caleb, together with their friends, surrounded me with amused expression.

"Uh, sorry, I fell asleep," I said, and yawned again. They shook their heads in amusement and then turned their backs towards the door.

Claire pulled me up, and we followed the others.

"Where will we go?" I ask.

"In the cafeteria. It's lunchtime already. You slept in class the entire morning. You’re lucky that the teachers spare you because of the Princes and Princesses." Claire said while snorting. I chuckled.

I saw Zach and Caleb waiting for us. As we entered the cafeteria, babblings and gigglings resonated throughout the room. Okay, these princes are really popular. I think the others were also princes and princesses of other kingdoms.

"Shall we join their table?" Claire whispered. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Of course!" we turned our attention beside us. The girl smiled at us. Who is this girl again? I forgot her name. The girl grabbed our wrist gently and dragged us to their table. We sat in the vacant seat.

Zasper and Niko volunteered to take our orders. We don’t have a choice but to sit down and wait.

"So, Luna, what's your ability?" Abigail asked. Oh, I remember her name.

"Ahm, ice..." I simply said.

"Wow! Cool! You have the same ability as Zach!" said Aileen. The one with the eyeglasses.

"And yours, Claire?" she asked as she turned to Claire.

"Water and Earth Element." Claire simply answered and shrugged her shoulders. Everyone looked amazed except me.

"What?!" they suddenly blurted out in shock. What’s with their reactions?

"Is there a problem?" Claire asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They all looked at each other quizzically. They’re weird.

"How come you possess two powerful abilities?"

"Are you a princess?"

"Now, we doubt that you came from Sumo Palace..."

Claire and I looked at each other. And we also looked at Zach and Caleb. They just shrugged their shoulders.

How will we answer their questions? I didn't know that having elemental power was a big deal to them.

"Luna?!" I looked behind me when someone say my name aloud. I smiled when I saw Catherine.

"Catherine!" I uttered with a smile. She walked gracefully towards our table.

I heard some whispers from the people in the cafeteria.

"She calls Princess Catherine by her name only! Are they related?"

"No, I heard, she's a cousin of Prince Zachary..."

Catherine hugged me excitedly when she reached our table. I returned the hug while giggling.

"Hi, Princess Catherine!" the group greeted Catherine, and she just smiled at them.

"Wait! You're a princess!? You never told me!" I said as I sat down. I heard her giggle.

"Well, you never asked." She retorted, and I laughed. She sat next to me.

"So, can I call you Princess Catherine too?" she shook her head.

"No, I prefer you to call me just Catherine or whatever you like to call me..." she said with a wink. I giggled and smiled broadly.

"Then I will call you Cathy from now on!" she smiled, eyes sparkled.

"I like it!" she says.

"Ehem."

"Hey Cathy, I'd like you to meet Claire, my friend. And Claire, she's the one I told you about last night."

The two princesses locked gazes with each other. Claire recovered first.

"Hi! Nice to meet you, Princess Catherine!"

"Ah, hi! Nice to meet you too, Claire!" she said and smiled at Claire, who also returned the sweet smile.

Now that I see them up close. I noticed the resemblance between the two.

I noticed the group staring at Claire and Cathy. Their gaze moved back and forth.

"Is there any problem?" Cathy asked, and the others looked away, but not Aileen.

"Did you know that Claire and you have something similar? I mean, you have a resemblance at any angle." Cathy frowned and stared at Claire. So is Claire.

Suddenly, Zasper and Niko came with the food, so we turned our attention to them.

"Yow! Princess Catherine!" the two greeted and Cathy smiled back.

We put what we had discussed aside and decided to eat first. The boys joked while eating and we just laughed at them.

I hope my suspicion about Claire and Cathy are correct. I noticed that Cathy looked at Claire from time to time and sometimes Claire caught it.

When we were done, the group decided to hang out in the garden to rest.

We walked quietly towards the garden. Cathy, Claire, and I were in the back.

"Cathy, Claire, can I talk to you both for a moment?" they stopped walking and looked at me.

"Why?" they both asked.

"I just want to say something to you two." they nodded and we excuse ourselves to the group.

I grabbed them both and teleported. I took them to the dorm and cast a barrier into the room.

"What are we going to talk about, Luna? Why do you need to put up a barrier?" Cathy asked with a serious expression.

"Can I hold your hands, Claire? Cathy?" even though they don’t know what’s going on, they still nodded hesitantly.

I held their hands and close my eyes. Many vivid images flashed through my mind all at once, causing me to wince in pain.

“Are you okay, Luna?!” I heard them say with panic in their voices.

I opened my eyes and they glow brightly and I heard them inhale sharply.

We remained in that position for a few minutes until the glow subsided. Shock and astonishment are what I saw on their faces.

I just kept staring at them. Their forehead creased in confusion while waiting for me to speak. I heard the drumming inside their chests because of anticipation, but when I smiled; they relax.

"Cathy, Claire—I have something to tell you…”