The Crystal: Chapter 4: A Different World

The Crystal: Chapter 4: A Different World
(Meria`s Point of View)

   I landed on the ground with a thud. "Ow. That hurt." I stand up and looked around. I was in some sort of garden that had rose bushes everywhere. There was a tall tree and several benches surrounding it. I walk over to the bench and sit down. I hear some mumbling and looked around. A guy resembling Tiamo passed by without seeing me. "Princess Reese, it's nice to meet you." I listen to their conversation. "It's nice to meet you too." Was that Reese? Why is Tiamo with her? I step out from behind my tree. "Uh, hey guys." They stare at me, dumbfounded. Reese reacts first. "You! Aren't you a maid? Why are you outside and what happened to your clothes?!" Tiamo puts his hands on Reese's shoulders. "Please try to come down princess. I'm sure there's an explanation to why a maid is outside." I don't know what to say. They don't recognize me? I walk towards them. "I'm Meria, remember?" Reese looks at me. "Well then Miss Meria, please go back inside and change your clothes." Reese looks annoyed. I nod and walk slowly away from them. Tiamo walks in front of me. "Your walking in the wrong direction."

   As I was walking in the direction Tiamo had pointed me in, I heard a loud war cry. I quickly climb a tree hoping nobody can see me since I`m wearing my camouflage pants. I look down and see the giant gate of the garden being pushed open and Luna standing there. "Reese Anya Lin! I demand you to come out immediately!" Tiamo steps out with his hand holding a sword. "Luna! Stop this at once!" Luna forms a ball of green fire in her hand. "I refuse!" She flings it at Tiamo who deflects it with his sword. I study Luna a bit. She has a tattoo on her shoulder that looks like a crown or something with angel wings. Her moon necklace is still on her but it seemed to be glowing. Instead of her normal bored look, her expression was filled with hatred and anger. I look over at Reese who has a tiara and is wearing her choker. She's wearing a long ball gown and also had a tattoo on her collarbone. It was the same one Luna had, making me wonder if they were connected somehow. Tiamo had his hair up in a long ponytail instead of having it out. His clothes were formal and something a prince would wear. I wonder why he and Luna are fighting. "Get out of the way Tiamo! I don't need you interfering!" Luna throws another fire ball at Tiamo. "Sorry, I must defend the princess." I keep watching as Tiamo attempts to fight Luna but later gets burned. "M-miss Luna!" I look towards the voice and see a red-head. It's Ashton! I jump down from my hiding place and tackle him interrupting Luna and Tiamo. They stare at me.

   Ashton lifts me up and tries to explain what's happening. "Uh, Miss Luna, I can explain." She lets him go on. Luna`s stares daggers at me. "Ashton, you know that any relationship with someone from the royals can lead to severe punishment." "M-miss Luna! I..." He`s cut off by Luna grabbing his wrist. "We're leaving." I watch as them go. Reese suddenly appears in front of me. "You are in trouble missy."

   I get dragged inside by Reese. "You stay in this room until the guards come get you. You won't be getting dinner tonight." Shoot. I'm hungry too. Reese leaves and goes somewhere in the huge castle. I hear a loud voice. "Meria Elizabeth England." I turn around and see a guard. "You will come with us." He leads me to a small room that has a closet and a cracked mirror. He lets the other guard in and leaves. The other guard takes of their helmet and I see that the hair goes up to their shoulders. "You`re a girl?" She puts her finger to her mouth. I close my mouth. "My name is Cassette. Now here let me put this lock on you.", she whispers. She takes a choker and puts it around my neck then takes a key and locks the lock on the choker. "Don't try taking it off. It's useless." I touch the choker preventing my freedom. "Why do I need it?" She crouches down to my height. "You need to fit in around here. Also, this is proof that you are a maid and belong to the royal family. I'm sure you'll be able to take it off later though." She opens the closet door and takes out a maid uniform. "This is your uniform and here is your schedule." She hands me a crumpled piece of paper. "Now hurry and change." She steps out with her helmet on again. I quickly change my clothes and put the schedule in the pocket of the apron. "I'm done." She steps back in, takes my old clothes and puts them in her bag. "I'll wash them and keep them safe. Now hurry along, there's work to be done." She leaves and closes the door behind her.

   I look at myself in the cracked mirror. I look more feminine than I am. I take out my hair and put my sidebangs into a braid. Then I put all that other hair in a ponytail. My orange hair is neat instead of messy so I shake my head a bit. I look at my schedule to see what I have to do. 12:00, Bring the princess her lunch at her room. I look at the back of the paper and find a map. I leave the small room and head toward where I think the kitchen is. As I head towards the kitchen, I see a few other maids but ignore them. I reach the kitchen and find a plump old woman. "Young lady! You are late!" I step back. "I-I`m sorry." The lady, who I assume is the head maid shoves a tray with an assortment of food into my hands. "Go, go, go! Shoo! Don't be late again!" I nod a rush off. I take out my map again and find Reese`s room. I look at the tray. There's a bowl of some soup, some garlic bread, a bunch a vegetables, mashed potatoes, and some fruit. What catches my eye is the strawberry shortcake. I hurridly go to Reese`s room but I keep eyeing the cake. I knock on the door and hear Reese shout. "Come in!" I go in and set the tray on the table. "Oh, so it's Meria." I look up.

   Reese wasn't wearing her gown anymore. Instead, she had on pants with boots and a slightly frilly top. I could still she her choker and tattoo though. "Go ahead, sit down. You're on break now." I nod and sit down next to Reese. "I know your not the real Meria." I start listening to her with more interest. "I'll explain everything to you. I am a royal, meaning related to the king or queen. All if the royals have this marking on themselves." She gestures at her tattoo. "It is impossible to remove it. Same with the collar and lock on your neck." My hand reaches up to touch the lock. "Isn't there a key to open it though?", I ask. "Yes, but there is only one key. I don't exactly know who has it." I start to lose hope in escaping. Reese goes on. "There is also `The Force`, who are people that are against the kingdom. They are formed with other tribes and kingdoms or previous royals that have turned against the kingdom. The leader is Luna da Raine, a previous royal and my half-sister." I start understanding why Luna came and attacked the royals. She hates them. "Why was Ashton with them then?" "I believe he was the second in command before he got switched to your dimension`s Ashton. I know that he wasn't ever a royal though." I let out a sigh of relief. I decide to ask a few questions. "What was my status?" She looked down at her nails. "A servant." "No, before that." She sighed. "A homeless person. Your parents died in an accident." "Oh." I know that `oh` was enough.
As I leave to go to work, Reese opens the door for me. "Good luck going home." I reply with a "Thanks", and I leave. I look down at my schedule. 1:00 Check on the Prisoners. My mouth gapes open. They have prisoners?
   
   I go down the stairs and find several cells and a large guard. The guard looks at me. "State your business." I pull out my schedule and tell him why I'm there. He hands me a tray with several bowls filled with some sort of disgusting food. "Hand these out to each of them." As I hand them out, one of the prisoners catch my eye. His eyes are eyes are full of hatred just like Luna`s were. His hazel colored hair was messy and dirty. He stared at me. Slowly, I walked over to him. "Hello." I put my hand out. He takes it cautiously and we shake hands. His clothes are tattered and worn out. I notice he has two earrings on one ear. He pulls his hand back. "Are you new around here?" I nod. "Be careful then. You might end up like I did." "What happened?", I ask. "I'll tell you my story and you'll tell me yours." I shake hands with him again. "Deal." He starts with his story. "I was once a meer servant like you. To be exact, the lowest class of servants. I served the princess several times. As I kept visiting the princess and we became close friends in secret." I interrupted him. "What's wrong with being friends?" He ignored me and kept going. "As time went on, we became more than friends. The princess had suggested many times that we should escape and join The Force but I made her stay. I should`ve listened to her. The guards found out and told the queen. I was thrown in the dungeons and the princess was given a fiancée." My eyes were filled with tears. "That's so sad!" "I know." My mind started to understand the relationships around here. Reese had an affair with Acer but now Tiamo is her fiancée. Luna hates Reese and Ashton is second in command in The Force. I start wonder if Ashton ever had secret affair. Probably not. "Now tell me your story." Startled, I look up and see Acer staring at me. "Tell me." I tell him what happened. I tell him that I`m not from his world. I say I know him but I don't know him perfectly. Acer listens closely. He is a good audience. After I finish, he sits there for a bit and thinks for a bit. The guard calls my name. "Meria Elizabeth England! Stop socializing and get back to work!" I get up slowly and wave at Acer. "Bye." He turns around and goes back to his original position and I leave. Someone grabs my wrist.
I get dragged into a dark hallway. "Let me go!" I hear a shhh sound and I stop talking. I look at the unknown person and try to figure put who it is. "Reese!? What are you doing here?" She puts her hand on my mouth. "We're switching for now. I brought you a change of clothes. Stay here until I come back." Confused, I grab the clothes she has and change. I end up wearing pants, like the one she wore earlier, a slightly frilly shirt, and I have my hair in a bun. I kept my sidebangs a braid though. I see Reese come out of the darkness in my outfit. The only thing missing is the lock on her choker but it's good enough. She takes her hair out of the two buns. Her hair falls out and I notice that her hair is actually somewhat long. She walks into the dungeon and tells the guard that she is there due to specific orders from the princess. I feel slightly alone. My hands feel the wall and I find a slight dent. I push on it and I find a small staircase. I close the secret door behind me and head down the staircase. A torch on the wall flickers as I pass by. I keep going down until I find a dead end and a ladder. I push the trapdoor above me open and climb up the ladder. As I peek out, I find Reese and Acer in kissing. I start blushing and close the trapdoor. I go back up the stairs and open the door. I sneak out and find Reese come out from the dungeon. "Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes." I nod hoping she didn't know I snuck around. We change back into our original outfits and she leaves. I feel awkward. In our world, Acer has an `attraction` towards guys. Reese does seem to have a crush on him but they aren't that attracted to eachother. I mean they just met. I lean against the secret door with a hand on my forehand. In our world, they just met. In this wrong world, they were secret lovers. I push open the door and went down the long stairs again, making a different turn. I found a small wooden door that was old and on its hinges. I pushed it open to find many shelves filled with potions. There was a cauldron in the middle of the room filled with a green liquid. There's a bed in the back of the room. I go over to one of the shelves and pick up a bottle with purple liquid. The label on it says it was some type of gravity potion. I put it on the shelf again and settled on the bed. As I was studying a bottle of on the bed, the door swings open and a tall being covered in a black cloak walks in. Startled, I drop the potion. The person grabs a bottle and opens it. They throw one of the pills at me. The last thing I see is smoke and the cloaked figure.

Written by pandalover68