“Who are you?” The girl asked nervously.

Standing in front of her was a young boy that looked no older than her, she being a girl of fifteen years, wearing nothing but a Japanese kimono and a pair of sandals.

“It is a lovely place” the boy ignored her question as he looked around at his surroundings, he was standing on a patch of grass, to his left lay a bird bath, exquisitely set to compliment the miniature lake in front of it and clearly designed by a sculptor of some skill.

The girl couldn’t understand how the boy had come to be in front of her. Behind the boy lay a wall six meters in height and it extended all around the estate. In front of him lay a bridge which was the only way to cross the man-made lake which lay between them. Under normal circumstances it would be impossible for an intruder to have entered without being noticed beforehand.

The boy brushed aside a lock of dark hair which had stuck itself in a rather unsightly manner over his right eye; his gaze lingered over her as though he was noticing her for the first time.

“Excuse me, I appear to have lost my way” the boy grinned sheepishly, as though he was a lost lamb that truly had no idea as to how he had entered the palace grounds.

‘The minister warned you there would be times like these Luna, just stay calm’ she thought to herself, out loud however; “If you’re here for my life, I’m afraid it will be of little use to you at this time.”

It was important to keep a calm mental state even during times of crisis. Under the tutorage of a master of martial arts Luna had learnt many lessons and was confident enough in her skills that she felt she could ward off any ordinary attacker or assassin.

The boy took a step forward onto the wooden bridge before him and leaned to his right, resting his arm on the railing. His eyes locked onto hers and his gaze transformed into a sharp stare, as though he was trying to look past Luna’s eyes and into her very soul.

“Now why would you think of something as silly as that?”

He broke off his stare. He looked troubled as his eyes seemed to cross as he entered a state of deep contemplation, “You look like a girl that has a very heavy weight on her shoulders, the type of which no girl your age should have”.

Luna’s heart began to beat faster ever so slightly. It was clear that this man is no ordinary man, for indeed, in these times of trouble when even the youngest of children could pose a threat to her life, Luna no longer counted age as the separating factor between a boy and a man.

Luna thought for a second, “Indeed, I often come here to think about matters involving life, and also those that involve death.”

She decided that she would play along with him. Normally she didn’t like to stall for time, as precious a commodity as it is in these times, but this man intrigued her.

The man lost his sheepish grin, and she noticed that there was a deep scar running down his left cheek, “I wouldn’t know anything about words as deep and meaningful as the ones you talk about, after all, I am but a simple man from a gentle town.”

He lifted his hands to strip off his kimono, leaving only the underclothes, and took another few steps over the bridge. He held out his hands in front of his face, his right and left hands in a palm shape, with the right hand in front of his left. It was a movement Luna has seen hundreds of times during her training in her master’s dojo; she was being challenged to a fight.

She wasn’t the type of girl to simply engage in a meaningless fight, “so after your words, in the end all you want is to simply kill me?” The man made a clicking sound with his tongue, “nothing like that. I always felt as though all that’s needed to clear the mind is a good training session.”

Now that she viewed him closely, she could see that his garments consisted of rather shabby, yet tight-fitting and flexible, material. If it had been any other situation Luna would have taken the young man to be a practicing martial artist, rather than the assassin that he clearly was.

Luna jumped, soaring through the air, and landed in front of the man, her outer attires falling in a neat heap where she had been the second before. Appearing before the man was a completely different girl, one that was outfitted with tight, black clothing designed to be both flexible and unnoticeable underneath her outer clothes. The girl standing before him was a warrior.

The bridge trembled slightly as the two faced each other. There was a silence for a split second, and then Luna gracefully lifted her leg and sent a powerful right kick towards the man’s face. He effortlessly blocked it with his left hand. Luna ducked as a swift right straight quickly came towards her face, a counterattack which had started the moment her foot had left the ground.

She swiftly retracted her foot out of grabbing range and jumped back slightly, “you would seek to kill me, even before I have made my decision?” the man simply cocked his head to his side in confusion. He was not refuting her claim.

'Perhaps he has decided to give up all pretenses as to his reasons for being on the grounds.’

“Very well, the introductions are over!” again, Luna sent a right kick towards her attackers face, she firmly believed in the powerful blows her legs could deliver. The man simply brought his left palm to block to kick again, sighing as though he had expected more from her.

Luna smiled slightly as her foot and leg began to bend backwards to connect with her thigh mid-flight and then just as quickly straighten out again, dodging past the man’s left hand and heading directly towards his neck.

Although expecting to hear the satisfactory snap which would often accompany the act, she was surprised to see that the man was unharmed, his right hand holding back, indeed grabbing, Luna’s leg as her feint was effortlessly seen through and her kick smoothly blocked.

The man smiled “Such a strong girl, and yet you seen to be so bothered by something, I can only presume that the problem does not lie in the material realm”. Luna was beginning to tire of the man’s incessant rambling, “tell me then” she began, “what would you do, if the only way to solve a problem is to do the impossible, to fight against the destiny preordained to you by the Gods themselves?”

The man left go of her leg, ‘a foolish decision’ Luna thought but did not state it out loud.

Suddenly the man’s expression changed, “a girl that cannot decide whether or not she should follow her destiny?” as though he had suddenly become quite bored of the conversation, he aimed a punch towards her face.

As she moved to the left to avoid his fist, she failed to notice the left hook the man had thrown at her, hitting her on the side of her head and knocking her down to the ground. Luna noticed her vulnerable position, as the man positioned himself in front of her, his shadow eclipsing hers.

Suddenly the man crouched down, looking into her eyes once again, and she could see pain behind those eyes, a lingering resentment aimed towards the world. She could not understand, “why did you go easy on me?”

The man gave a small laugh, “a woman of your standing, I should be asking why you went easy on me.” Again, she was frustrated by his lack of answer, “Am I so pitiful, that you would choose to battle me without using your element?”

It was common sense that everyone in the land was born with an affinity to a certain element provided to them by their God, one they could use in battle, every creature on the continent of Aeos held the ability to manipulate the elements through magic.

The man didn’t look like he was going to answer her any time soon. “You never answered my question” she tried a different approach, the man looked confused, he could tell that Luna was not the type of girl to procrastinate in the wake of her impending fate.

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She continued, “If you had to make my decision, choosing between living the way that has always been expected of me or defying my own destiny. Attempting to create a new way of life for myself, which choice would you make?”

The man blinked in surprise, in front of him he could see a lovely woman and it was the first time he noticed her ebony black hair, her fair complexion. Yet her eyes still held the fright seen in children that cannot see a way out of a dark room, she was simply a girl that could not decide the answer to a difficult question. It was undoubtedly an answer which would inevitably lead to the loss of countless lives, no matter what choice she made.

He pointed to the sky, “Just as how the sun rises in the morning, and the moon flies across the sky at night, a person’s destiny is always predetermined; to defy your fate would be the same wishing to stop either of these unstoppable forces, an action which the whole world would laugh if you so much as thought of attempting it.”

The girls face fell, as though he had just confirmed her greatest fears, “However” he again began to speak, bringing his hand down in-between her breasts and pointed towards her heart, “if the final acts of a person’s life, is to go with what everyone believes in, and what they themselves do not wish to accept. What kind of life would that be?”

He gave the girl the gentlest of smiles he could muster, and noticed a light slowly forming in the deep pool of her eyes, the light known as hope, “I see from your eyes, you have made your decision. Just remember, pain or loss, they define us as much as happiness or love, whether it’s the world or destiny, everything has its time, and everything ends.”

Luna watched as the man stood up again and turned to leave. “Wait!” the man stopped mid turn. “I would like to know your name.” It was common practice after sparring against new people to inquire as to their name.

“What is my name? My name is Gilgamesh, and I am the man that will become the mightiest of all warriors.”

The man gave a smile at this statement, one the lay contrary to the pain he held in his eyes, “Perhaps a task as laughable as yours?”  He turned around to leave.

A disbelieving laugh rose in Luna’s throat and then died as she realised that the man was not joking. It was not unheard of for men to follow the path of the ultimate warrior. It would mean that the being in question would have no land for themselves, no people to call their own, no one to understand him or take him in as friend or family.

The man finished turning around, and began to walk off, “I know that look in your eyes, but don’t worry. In the end, I guess it’s not only you that wishes to change your destiny”

She could sense the smile on his face and his back seemed to grow broader as he spoke “You know, I really did come here by accident. But in the end, perhaps we can both show the world that we are not as powerless as destiny has decreed us to be, go forward in your beliefs, just as I will go forward in mine.”

With that, the man walked off the bridge and Luna turned her back to him. To an outsider it would seem as though the two were in too much pain to say goodbye but in Luna’s heart she could feel that there were no need for goodbyes, she had met a kindred spirit, a man with demons in his heart and a road more difficult to cross than her own.

She was sure that they would meet again, perhaps in different circumstances and in different positions in life. Although she did wonder as to how he managed to leave the grounds.

As she walked towards the large castle in the middle of the estate grounds, Luna was approached by two servants. “Greetings Princess, we welcome you once again” By this time Luna had already re-dressed into her outer garments and walked pristine as a princess should.

The servants were the only two present at the entrance; they immediately took her to her king’s quarters. As she approached the king’s bed Luna heard the familiar sound of wheezing and beheld the sight of a sickly old man, a man who would have been an Emperor, as he struggled to gather the strength to talk to her.

“My beautiful Luna, I am so sorry.” As usual, her father began his speech with an apology, “In any other city you would be guided to my estate by chariots and knights, guarded by impenetrable magic’s and greeted by a flurry of servants. Instead have to come to this, something that cannot be called a castle but should be likened to a small house, alone.”

Indeed, any other princess would have been accompanied by all these honor’s and more, and any other Emperor would never stoop so low so as to live in a castle that was as run down as this one was. One simply had to compare it to the castles inhabited by the nobility of other provinces to see how much it was lacking.

However, Luna simply smiled; it had been nine generations since the province of Darkness's God had disappeared and since then its nobility and its people alike had suffered invasions from the other provinces, to the point where their lands lay ravished and looted, its people laughed at within other nations.

“I have made my decision father” The king’s eyes seemed to imply a question, his energy for words spent already, “I have decided to join you and my brothers in your crusade” she ignored her father’s growing smile, “know that I have only agreed to this foolish expense in order to find a new hope, one that will give power to our land and its citizens that have suffered for so long.”

As she spoke, she knew her words were also being heard by her brothers, who were surely listening from the shadows they had hidden themselves in. Indeed, as if sensing the futility of their efforts, they released their dark magic and materialized as though from thin air within the room, to the right and left sides of their father’s bed.

The eldest, to the right of the bed, spoke, “as far as we can remember, it has always been our peoples fate to suffer from the harshness of the other provinces, it would be dangerous beyond belief to try and fight this.”

The second brother interrupted “it is quite possible that we will fail, and that not even a girl as lovely as you will be spared, my fair princess.”

In her opinion, her brothers were being far too formal. It was only natural for people who rarely spoke to each other except in formal functions, there was no need for a princess in their eyes if no other prince would accept, or want, her hand in marriage.

However, she still held several estates under her control as a result of her royal linage; her forces would be needed for the mission the family wished to complete. To gain respect back for her people, she had no other choice but to try and help reclaim the lands that her family had lost over generations.

“I have made my decision, we will see if our beliefs can go against destiny, brothers.” She looked her father in the eyes, “We go to war”.

As the man known as Gilgamesh looked around while walking down a street, he could see beggars around every corner, thieves, looking for fresh prey, and mothers hoping to find a good price to buy the single meal they could afford for their child.

He held his arms up high in a stretch while walking, and let a smile escape his lips. Perhaps the destiny of these people would change, perhaps it would not. But as long as one person tried to take their destiny into their own hands, how could he not try to do so for himself?

For the first time in a long time, the streets were filled with the sound of laughter.