It was beautiful. The inside of the hotel was painted a soft cloud nine grey, and the floor was a mosaic of different colors of glass. I believe it formed the Starry Night. That's what it seemed to be. 

I went to the front desk to tell them about the owners' decision about me, but nobody was there. So, I immediately started climbing stairs.

When I got to the top floor, I stopped. I wanted to see all of New Orleans, but I didn't want a penthouse. So, I went down a couple floors, and chose a smaller room than most of the other ones. It wasn't really small, though. It was at least the size of a two-story house flipped on it's side. 

"Whoa..." I muttered to myself, as I looked out the window to see the morning sky of New Orleans. It was pretty, but if this was day, then I was excited for night. The navy sky always intrigued me more than the pale blue.

When I went into the bathroom, what I saw amazed me. The glimmering marble floor and bathtub were spotless. The tiled walls were a pale blue, and went well with everything. It was beautiful. I heard a quiet knock, and saw Kiara standing at the door.

"Here, hon, let me draw up a bath for you. You'll take two. One to just take off that first layer of grime, and one to get a deep cleanse." Kiara walked over with a pile of towels, setting them on a stool. She pointed to a basket as she started the water. "You'll put your clothes in there when you undress. When you're done, ring the bell on the bedside table, and I'll come up to run through your hair." and then, once she shut off the water and put soap in, she left. 

Immediately, the soap started bubbling, until I couldn't see the bottom of the tub. I undressed carefully, peeling my grimy corset off of me once everything else was off. I threw my hair behind my shoulders and got into the bathtub.

I immediately felt warm. It was so nice, the bubbles were soft, and the water warm against my dirty skin. I scratched at some of the dirt, making sure that some came off, and then I soaked my hair. That was what she was doing first, right? So, once it was wet, I tried running my fingers through it. It was slightly more manageable, but not up to the high yet. I kept toying with it until, finally, I decided I should be done. Through a small window at the top of the bathroom, I could see that it was getting close to afternoon.

When I stepped out of the bathtub, I felt a chill run down my spine. I grabbed one of the fluffy towels and wrapped it around me. When I left the bathroom, I immediately went to another door that I believed to be the bedroom. I guessed right, I thought, as I saw the bell on the bedside table. I rang it, and I immediately heard boots clicking against the precious stone stairs.

Kiara came in with a hairbrush. "Let's tackle your hair, and then I'll draw you another bath and a maid to help you. I'll also be getting you a new dress, corset, and a new pair of shoes. You shouldn't have to wear men's boots." she said as she sat me down on a chair and began to fiddle with the rat's nest that grew from my head.

After about an hour or two of tugging, ripping, and a broken hairbrush, my hair was done into a neat braid that spiraled around my head into a bun.

"You have such a beautiful face. Especially your eyes." Kiara said as she came to look at the finished product of my hair. "And now your hair is out of your face it's even better. Now, I'll get a bath started and a maid to help you bathe and scrub all that dirt off." Kiara said, and she went into the bathroom. I sighed as I stood up and walked over to one of the huge windows in my room. This isn't what I imagined as a home, but this may be my safeplace for a very long time.

Kiara came out of the bathroom, and right as she did there was a knock on my door. She went to answer it on her way out, saying it wasn't a big deal to have another person clean you, especially one of your own gender. For an orphan girl who's always been solo, though, it is. And that's what I am.

A young girl, at most eleven, came into the room, full maids outfit on. She saw me, looked over at Kiara and said, "Lady, are you sure I am to clean this woman? She must be twenty at least, and I'm ten. It may be awkward."

"Cecilia, this is Jenny. She's fifteen and is fine for you to clean. It won't be that hard for you to get over it. At least she's a beautiful young lady. Be grateful I didn't assign you the man next door's daughter. She's nothing compared to Jenny." Kiara said. "Now, I must go deal with matters downstairs. I'll be back later, Jenny." and she left, slightly slamming the door behind her.

"Come this way, Mistress..." Cecilia said. I followed her into the bathroom, and quietly took the towel off and got into the bath. It was even more bubbly than the last, but these bubbles had a strange scrubby feeling on me, as if they ate the dirt off.

"That's exactly what they do." Cecilia said. I wondered how Cecilia knew that. "I have telepathy, the ability to read minds. You didn't know this place was for the supernatural and unwanted people, did you, Lady Jenny?"

I shook my head, eyes wide at this. So, I was supernatural? Is that what this meant? That's why so few people got into Armistice. You had to be supernatural to do so.

"That's right. Most people here know about you, and marvel at how you've been able to stay alive in the normal world for so long, even without your memories. That's what these bubbles do. They eat away the dirt inside and out, which means all of the fog clouding your memories before you were fifteen will be gone. You'll remember everything." Cecilia said, grabbing a washcloth. "I still have to scrub, though. The bubbles can't get every bit off." 

We talked as I was cleaned by Cecilia for a while, and when I was clean again, Cecilia went to ring the bell, leaving a note for me before she left.

"Meet me at the maid's closet on this floor after lunch, Lady Jenny, if you wish" it read. 

Kiara came up shortly, with a dress, corset, and a pair of lady's boots in hand. "I'll help you dress, Jenny." she said, and immediately took the towel off of me. I jumped at the rush of cool air it brought, and shivered again.

Kiara helped me into my corset, which was much more uncomfortable than my last one, and she squeezed it as tight as possible. Then, she put me in my dress. I loved it.

The top of the dress was a grey fabric, buttoned up, leaving room for a tie, and the back went farther than the front, going three fourths of the way down the skirt. The skirt itself was cream colored. If I took off the grey, I had a dress that had sleeves that cut off right after my shoulders, and a collared neck for a tie. The tie I wore over the cream colored inner dress was pale pink. Then, when I put the grey overcoat back on, it left enough room to see about a fourth of the tie. 

I had to have a hoop skirt on under the dress. It wasn't as huge as some of the one's I've seen, but it was still quite large. It made it the skirt itself stick out half a foot from my body.

The cream white trailed behind me carefully, the end of the skirt itself laced with floral patterned white lace. 

My boots were tipped with black, and buttoned with black buttons on the outside. The inner edge of the toes and up was a cream white color, just like my dress, and the heel of my boot was two inches tall, and black. When I stood, I was as tall as Kiara without her boots on.

"I'm sure when we give you elixir you'll grow to your average height. You're quite short for a fifteen year old girl, Jenny. Did you eat much at the places you used to stay at?" Kiara asked me, slight pity in her eyes.

"No, madam. I only ate when necessary. I didn't feel hungry most of the time. I've always been small, compared to my age group." I replied. Now the pity on her face was greater."

"Well, I'll get you elixir before bed tonight. You go explore, make friends. Have fun, Lady Jennifer Glover." Kiara said, curtsying, and hurrying out.

I noticed that, on my bedside table, was a tiara. It was a pale pink metal, probably rose gold. It matched my tie, I notice. The gems in it were a normal diamond color, just white and translucent. I carefully slid the tiara onto my head, and practiced walking in these new boots. When I felt a little more comfortable, I went outside my room to explore the first floor.

By the time I got down there, it was lunch. So, I followed signs and other people to the dining hall, and waited for someone I recognized. Then, I saw Cecilia. She looked at me, smiled, and motioned for me to come sit with her.

I carefully walked over, people bowing and curtsying as I passed. I don't know why I am royalty here, but I suppose I am, so I should act like it. I kept my chin up, despite my aching neck, and carefully walked over to sit with Cecilia.

Once I got there, I clumsily sat down next to her.

"Hello, Lady Jennifer." Cecilia said, bowing her head toward me.

"Cecilia, don't do that, please. I feel terrible enough about having you bathe me despite you not wanting to, and having this tiara on my head just because I lived on the streets for a while." I sighed. "It just doesn't feel right."

"Don't worry, Jenny. I trust that Madam Kiara gave you a title for a reason." Cecilia said. Once she finished, though, Kiara stood up, and the hall fell silent. Kiara motioned for me to stand up, I carefully, shyly did so, not liking what I think was about to happen.

"All hail Lady Jennifer Glover of Armistice, our newest addition to the family!" Kiara announced, and everyone bowed or curtsied toward me. "Now, lunch is served!" and food appeared out of nowhere on the tables. Food that wealthy people ate. Food that I didn't want to have. 

So, instead, I told Cecilia that I had to use the restroom and that I'd be right back. I left the crowded dining hall, and began to explore. I wanted to find the library that I'd heard about on the streets. All of my books were up in my room, but I only had so many.

I followed signs for at least three minutes before I found grand oak doors that opened into my haven.

So. Many. Books!

It was more books in one place than I'd ever seen. I carefully ran across the carpeted floor and climbed onto one of the rolling ladders, pushing off to find the perfect book.

Then, I found it.

"The History of the Armistice Association." I said. "This is what I need. I need to see what this place is." So, I climbed down the ladder, and began going over to the desk. As I read the back of the book, though, I ran into someone.

We both found ourselves on the floor. When we got up, I immediately started apologizing.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I really didn't mean to! Is your dress ruined? Do you have bruises? Oh, stupid Jenny!" I said to myself. "I'm so stupid! Sorry, madam." I said. The woman looked up at my face, and gasped.

"No, I should be the one sorry, Lady Jennifer." she said, curtsying. "I'm Rosa Marie Collins. I live next to you, I believe. 6th floor, second to last room." she explained. I knelt down to pick up her books and my own.

"Thank you so much. Would you like to walk around together? I just got here yesterday, so I don't know much about this place other than this is my sanctuary." At this I laughed.

"Mine, too. I just got here today, and I'm already being treated like royalty. Could you imagine just coming off of living on the streets, and then being taken to the hotel you knew only the wealthy got into. Then, you were named a lady among the owners' family." i explained. Rosa Marie looked surprised.

We kept going back and forth, exploring the halls of Armistice, and by the time we finished, lunch had been over for some time. We went to the maid closet on the sixth floor and talked with Cecilia.

The day passed, and it was good. I was happy that I had made friends, not making a horrid realization.

I had forgotten my curse.

I drank the elixir that Kiara had brought up before bed, and went to sleep shortly after.