Chapter Text
Katarina Claes woke up cold. She got up at the crack of dawn to go tend to her garden. She was surprised by how cold she was. With a start she realized that her blankets were on the floor. That was weird. Sure she moved around a lot, but usually she awoke with her blankets only half off. Well whatever, it’s not like it mattered much. She went to get dressed, and was met with more surprises. She couldn’t find her gardening clothes. The chair where she kept all of her gardening stuff was empty. She looked around, and couldn’t find any of her gardening tools either. She was starting to feel really uneasy. Perhaps Anne had cleaned up her room for her? She looked in her closet. There were a lot of clothes in there. More than she was supposed to have. She could see her normal dress in there. But that was weird, because that dress was dirty. She had worn it yesterday. Sure, she often wore that dress, but Anne always cleaned it between wears. And Anne probably wouldn’t have gotten a chance to clean it yet… Or maybe she had? Katarina felt the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach get bigger. She decided to just go to her garden. She picked out one of the other dresses that she normally wore. If she didn’t have her gardening clothes, she would just wear this one for now and change when she got back.
Katarina hurried to her garden. She didn’t like the bad feeling in her gut. She was sure her gardening would calm her down. As she neared though, the feeling grew worse. She tried to shove out the bad feeling. Focus on gardening. And then she arrived.
Her garden. It was gone. Katarina stared at the empty plot of land. That was impossible. Her garden had to be there. There was the shed, at the edge of the land. The shed where she kept all the tools she couldn’t keep in her room. She walked up to it. It was locked. That wasn’t too weird. Although, the lock was kinda weird. It was an old lock. Katarina had gotten a new lock with more security when she had started gardening here. This lock looked like the one that had been there when she first got there. She didn’t have the key for that one. In her hurry she had forgotten the other key as well. Suddenly, she remembered. The previous Gardener had always kept the key hidden behind the shed. Katarina quickly hurried and searched for it. She smiled when she found it. At least that was where it was supposed to be. She quickly opened the shed. Inside was dusty. Too dusty. All the tools that she kept in the shed, as well as all the tools she kept in her room, were in the shed. And they were all covered with a thick layer of dust. But that didn’t make sense. Dust couldn’t have accumulated so quickly. Not in a night. And where was her garden? Why was everything wrong?
Katarina found herself hyperventilating. She had to calm down. She had to call Anne. Anne would tell her what to do. What if Anne was gone though? No, that was impossible. But everything else was gone. Maybe.
Yes. Of course. Katarina focused on her breath. Yes. She began to calm down. The answer was simple. Katarina could finally breathe again. This was all just a dream. It had to be. Just a stupid nightmare. She pinched herself. Nothing happened. Katarina didn’t like that. But then again, Katarina had never had reason to pinch herself in a dream, so maybe pinching wasn’t the way to go? She knew. She would go find Anne. If not her then Keith, then Geordo, then Maria, then Mary, then Sophia, then Alan, then Nicol, then anyone else. Somebody had to be here. Surely one of them could tell her how to wake up from a dream. Maybe she would wake up naturally.
With a slightly calmer feeling, Katarina walked back to the school, and made her way to the servants quarters. Anne should already be awake by then. Anne usually met up with her at the field, or even if she didn’t, she still got ready early in the morning so she could deal with anything.
Katarina knocked on her door. No answer. Katarina knocked again. This time she heard shuffling inside. It sounded a bit weird. Not like Anne’s crisp footsteps. There was…. A dragging sound?
Anne opened the door. Only, she wasn’t dressed? That was what Katarina noticed first. Anne was in her pajamas. Next though, Katarina became aware of Anne’s face. Katarina felt panic rising up in her throat. Anne’s face. There were…. There were several scars. Not only that, as Katarina looked Anne up and down, there were scars on her arms as well. And one of her legs was… not right. Katarina couldn’t quite see since Anne’s night gown covered it up, but it was weird.
This dream was getting worse and worse and worse. Before Katarina could say anything Anne spoke up.
“Lady Claes, I see you are up early today. What is the matter?” She said, her voice sounding… slightly… off?
“Anne what happened to you?!” Katarina exclaimed before she could think of anything else.
“Whatever do you mean Lady Claes?” She asked, her eyebrow rising only just the slightest bit.
“I… All those scars? Where did you get them? Are you ok?”
Anne's eyebrow rose slightly higher. “These scars? Whatever do you mean mistress? They’ve been here for years now?”
Bile began to rise in Katarina’s throat. She needed to wake up, right now.
“Anne!” She said, her voice rising higher, and she reached out and grabbed Anne’s shoulders “How do I wake up from a nightmare?”
Anne’s face was now clearly surprised. She quickly tried to get it back under control and thought for a second. “How to wake up from a nightmare? I’m not sure, why do you ask?”
“Please,” Katarina pleaded, “This is a terrible dream and I need to wake up!”
Anne’s face went back to surprise. And there was some worry mixed in there. “My lady, what do you mean? Why do you think you’re in a dream?”
“Anne, my garden is gone and you’re hurt. Of course this is a nightmare! I just want to wake up!!”
Anne gingerly placed a hand on Katarina’s head. “My lady, what garden do you speak of? And I’m not hurt. I’ve had these for years. You know this?”
Katarina couldn’t hold back. Tears began to spring from her eyes. “No!! No!!” She began to blubber. “Anne I want to wake up.”
“My lady, let me get dressed and then we’ll head back to your room and talk. I’ll help you as best I can, ok?”
Katarina nodded, trying to bring her tears under control. A few minutes passed before Anne came back out, perfectly dressed as always. She gently led Katarina back to her room. As they walked, that’s when Katarina finally noticed it.
“Anne,” She said, coming to a stop, her voice getting strained as she spoke, “You’re limping?”
Anne nodded, “yes my lady, I am limping. Don’t you remember? I have a permanent limp. I got it at the same time as these scars. Don’t you remember? when I went back to your family after my husband died, I was badly wounded. You managed to heal most of them, but any wounds that had already healed couldn’t be healed again.”
Katarina started hyperventilating again. Anne looked worried. “My lady, please. Just a bit more. Just a bit more and we’ll be in your room. Then I can help you.”
Katarina couldn’t hear. She couldn’t breath. This nightmare was too much. Way too much. Husband? What husband? How would having a husband hurt Anne so badly?
“Anne!” She cried out. Anne winced and looked around. There was nobody. “Anne, where are Keith and Geordo and everyone else? How are they? How has this nightmare changed them?”
Anne winced again. “Master Keith? Prince Geordo? What about them could be changed?”
“I don’t know!!” Katarina wailed. “The only way this nightmare could be worse is if they were like their game counterparts!! Please don’t tell me that They’re the fortune lover characters!!”
Anne stared at her for a few seconds. “My lady I don’t know what that means?” She said quietly.
Katarina could only continue to sob, the fear of the game returning to her full force. Would she be forced to face her loved ones as her enemies in this nightmare.
“I wanna wake up!! I need to wake up!!” Katarina screamed, and everything finally took its toll on her. Everything went dark.
~~
Sound flowed into her mind. Meaningless. The darkness began to turn light. Meaningful. Light meant consciousness. As her consciousness rose up, the sound started to form into words. The sounds were familiar as well. The voices of people she knew and loved.
Katarina Claes woke with a start. As the light and sound fully flooded her senses, it took her a few seconds to make sense of her surroundings. Lots of white. She was in a bed. Not a comfortable one at that. As she looked around, she became aware of where she was. A hospital room. Why was she in the hospital?
The sounds and words were finally making sense. With it came recognition. Those were Anne, Keith and Geordo’s voices. Katarina thought about the nightmare that she’d just had. Before she could stop it, she began to sob. She was so glad it was over. Their voices quieted as they heard her. The curtain surrounding her was opened. There was Geordo.
Katarina was too happy, she immediately jumped up and hugged him. She felt him stiffen beneath her. Not that it was weird, Geordo was always weird about hugs. He gently disentangled himself from her. She saw his face. He was as composed as ever, although she could see a bit of worry in his eyes.
“Is everything alright Lady Katarina.” He asked politely.
That phrase was kind of weird, but Katarina was too busy crying to think about it.
“I h-h-had such a h-h-horrible night-m-mare!” She sobbed out. “M-my g-garden was g-gone and A-a-anne was b-badly hurt and I was s-so sc-scared about what h-h-happened to every-o-one else!!”
Geordo looked at her with a weird expression. He looked over to the side. Someone else walked into the frame. It was Keith. He wasn’t looking at Katarina, but was staring to the side instead. Katarina didn’t care though, she had never been so happy to see her little brother. She jumped up and hugged him as well. He stiffened as well, even more so than Geordo.
Katarina did think that strange. Keith always hugged her back immediately. She hugged him tighter.
“What are you doing?” He hissed
Katarina quickly disentangled herself. She looked up at him. He still wasn’t looking at her.
NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo This couldn’t be happening.
“Keith…” She called out quietly, “Why aren’t you looking at me?”
He scowled. “Why would I look at you. You hate it when I look at you.”
“Keith!” Katarina called out, her voice rising higher and higher, “Keith I’m your big sister right? You love me right? We’re friends right?!”
Now Keith did look at her. He looked disgusted. “Did you hit your head too hard or something? Since when have we been friends?”
Katarina’s world shattered. Why? Why was she still in the nightmare? Was it a nightmare? What about Geordo? She turned to him
“Hey Geordo? We’re friends right?” She asked
He gave her a funny look. He stayed quiet for a bit. The longer he took, the more Katarina’s stomach plummeted.
“You are my Fiancée Lady Claes. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Katarina’s eyes started overflowing with tears again. No it couldn’t be. She looked back and forth between them, but they were both averting their gaze.
“Lady Katarina,” She heard a voice from the side. It was Anne. She couldn’t see Anne, as the curtain was blocking her view. She went to open it, but before she could, “Lady Katarina please don’t.”
She stopped. “My lady,” Anne’s voice continued, “It seems that my appearance has frightened you, so I do not wish for you to look at me until you are feeling better.”
“Anne,” Katarina called out softly, “Anne what happened to you. Why is everyone, acting so cold?”
Katarina had a thought. An idea. It was not an idea she liked, but it was an idea nonetheless.
“My lady,” Anne said, “I truly do not know what you mean. This is how it has been.”
Katarina turned towards Geordo and Keith.
“Are you two in love with Maria Campbell?”
They both looked at her, fear and anger in their eyes. Katarina shrank back. Neither of them responded, but that was answer enough.
“Am I,” she began, “Am I the villainess?”