It took two days for Liberty to accept that there was no way back to her own reality.
She accepted that this was a reality— just not the one she belonged in, in more ways than one.
Growing up in a small coastal city just south of Los Angeles and close to the base where her dad and a couple of her uncles served had been really living the dream. Her father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, and her mother was a well known civil rights attorney. She was seriously proud of them, but they certainly gave her a big legacy to live up to.
Both her Mom and Dad's families went all the way back to signing the Declaration of Independence. Her Mom's family went all the way back to some New York politicians who had penned the Constitution and given speeches that crafted a nation. The most recent generations had produced social activists who marched, sat in, and waged civic warfare in courtrooms. Her Mom was one of those courtroom warriors.
Meanwhile, her Dad's family drew its heritage from a group of rowdy rebels in Boston who threw a lot of tea into the harbor and raised hell on the battlefields. They were still out there on the front lines, protecting their homeland. Her Dad, like his father and grandfather before him, had enlisted when he was 18 and never looked back.
A lot of people would think that the two families would be like oil and water. When she had asked about it as a child, Liberty’s Mom had always just told her that they were two sides of the same coin. They all shared the same dream; they just had different jobs to do to protect it. One side stood like a sentinel that protected it from outside threats. The other was like a doctor that kept it healthy, fighting the diseases that would make it rot from the inside out. They were both needed to keep the balance, so why should they fight each other?
So when Liberty had grown up, she had followed both of her families’ traditions and joined the Army when she was eighteen to serve. She had done her four years, then cashed in that G.I. Bill and enrolled in college. Now she fought in the courtroom like her Mom, to protect the dream they were all fighting for.
Her last day in the real world had been perfect. Until it wasn’t.
It had been a great birthday, like all her others. She had spent the day at the beach with her three best friends and was heading home to celebrate at the traditional family backyard BBQ with whatever family wasn't currently deployed.
Who would have guessed that a truck would have gone careening out of control right through the crosswalk she was using and right through her while rushing to make it home before all the fireworks started?
Liberty had always felt that being born on the Fourth of July had been a real stroke of ironic luck for her, even if her Dad insisted on calling her his little Yankee Doodle Baby. There were way too many bonuses. She always got the day off from school or work, and the whole country was celebrating her birthday with her. But best of all, there were always fireworks for hours after the sun went down.
They’re always so beautiful.
Lying in a spreading pool of blood, staring up at the darkening sky as her life slipped away, she had been a little relieved when the colorful explosions began to fill the sky, drowning out the approaching sirens and the voices of the strangers who had rushed over to try and help her. At least she had gotten to see them one last time.
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Her eyes had closed on the fireworks bursting in the sky, and when she had opened them again, what felt like a moment later, she was looking at a cream ceiling decorated with gold trim. It was daytime, and sunlight had been streaming in from floor-to-ceiling windows with drawn back curtains flanking glass doors leading out to what looked like a balcony. Turning her head the other way and there was a seating area complete with couches and a table with a vase of flowers in the center.Pushing herself up on her elbows, she looked past her feet and the filigreed footboard of the incredibly soft bed she was lying in to see an antique-looking vanity with a large mirror and several cabinets. All the furniture in this room looked antique, really. Straight out of the baroque period. All cream painted wood with gold edging, dusty pink upholstery, and spindly legs. Delicate but super ritzy.
This was not the base hospital. Not the city hospital either. Where were all the machines and the smell of disinfectant? The nurses in their scrubs and squeaky rubber shoes? And she definitely wouldn't have rated a private room with a huge bed and- were these silk sheets?! She should be in an ER with about twenty other people separated by those sliding curtains, not in some swanky room that looked to be about twice the size of her first apartment after college.
Sitting all the way up with a groan, Liberty ran a hand through her long, wavy hair. Wait- long, wavy hair? She had kept her pin-straight black hair in a shoulder-length bob since her time in the Army. Picking up one of the long strands that now surrounded her like a delicate cloud, she stared in disbelief. Not only was it now long enough to reach at least her waist with an attractive wave, but it wasn't black. It was purple.
Well, to be more specific, it was a lavender color. It was soft and shiny too. Liberty reached up to tug at her scalp. This had to be a wig.
Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to the mirror on the vanity across from the bed. The mirror showed a large bed with lots of big, fluffy pillows and rumpled sheets. In the middle of that bed sat a girl in an old-fashioned nightgown covered in ribbons and frills with a high buttoned collar. Her arms were over her head, tugging on her long, wavy, lavender hair.
Liberty looked down to see her chest covered in a pale white nightgown with ribbons and frills and a row of buttons down the middle. She looked back in the mirror and dropped the hair in her hands and lowered her arms. The girl in the mirror dropped her hair and lowered her arms. Liberty raised her right arm and flapped her hand. The girl in the mirror raised her arm and flapped her hand.
What the...
Liberty scrambled off the bed and over to the mirror while the girl in the mirror scrambled off her bed and approached her mirror. The mirror showed a girl with delicate features set in a pale oval face. Her wide eyes, fringed with thick lashes, were a startling turquoise color that had to be from contacts. That color did not appear in nature. A straight nose with a slight upturn led down to a cupid bow mouth, tinted soft pink. With the cloud of lavender waves falling around her, the whole vibe screamed sweet and innocent. She should be seeing her face, with its sharp jaw, wide lips, and upturned gold-flecked green eyes. Her vibe had never been sweet and innocent.
She watched as the girl in the mirror lifted a slightly trembling hand to rub her cheek, just as she felt her own hand brush along her cheek. Feeling a little bit of panic set in, she pinched her cheek and tugged, watching the girl in the mirror perfectly mimic her.
"Ouch!" She let her cheek go as the girl in the mirror did the same. A growing sense of unease rising in her, she blinked in the SOS sequence, alternating eyes as she watched the girl in the mirror match her motions perfectly. That unease began to morph into something close to panic as she tugged the lavender hair harder. She had to remove the wig, but the only thing she accomplished was making her scalp hurt as the weird, offending hair stayed put.
How were they doing this? The special effects were off the chain.
"Okay, guys. You got me. Excellent prank! Where are the cameras? Who signed me up for this show? I gotta give it to you- the production value is off the charts! This has got to be some top-grade AI and digital screens. This really looks like a mirror," she muttered as she let go of her hair and started scanning the room. She was so absorbed in looking for hidden cameras that she didn't hear the door in the wall on the other side of the room open. A sharp gasp rang out and had her dropping her hair and whirling around to see a girl holding another vase of flowers. The young woman paused to place the vase gently on a table by the door and rush towards her. The young woman had her brown hair in a tight bun and was wearing a black dress covered by... was that a pinafore? An honest to god pinafore?"My Lady, you're finally awake!" The happiness in the girl's voice showed in the smile on her face as she dropped a short curtsy and slid her hand under Liberty's elbow, and started to lead her back to the bed. "The doctor wasn't sure if you'd wake up today, but I'm so glad to see you up and about. But you really should be in bed resting. The fever just broke yesterday, and you being awake is more than we could hope for! Now let's get you all tucked up," she chattered as she expertly herded the shocked Liberty back to the bed and tucked the blankets around her, settling her against the pillows she expertly fluffed.
The girl had kept chattering as she moved on to wandering around the room tidying under Liberty's watchful gaze, unbothered that there was no response from the girl on the bed. "The Count, Countess, and young master will be so happy to hear you've awoken. They've been so worried about you!"
"So what character are you supposed to be?" Liberty finally interrupted her. "What role did the producers give you? I've caught on, so you should call this off. I'm sorry that this episode is probably going to be a bust. But really, which one of my cousins put you up to this?" She tried for a cheerful chuckle as she tried to get the girl to give up the act.
The girl stopped and looked at Liberty, then shook her head slightly. "Role, my lady? I'm your maid, Erica." A slight look of worry crept onto her face as she took in the look of non-comprehension on Liberty's face. "Are you truly feeling alright? The fever was really bad. I should go get the doctor and the Countess," she almost muttered the last to herself before taking another searching glance at Liberty while biting her lip anxiously. Then the girl swung around and strode out of the room purposefully, closing the door softly behind her and leaving Liberty alone once more.
She blew a strand of hair out of her face in frustration and called out again. "Hey guys! I'm super impressed with all this, but it's time to give it up." Her eyes kept darting around the room, looking for cameras. She was lifting the covers to get out of bed and search again when the door opened once more and the maid rushed back into the room, followed by a well-dressed elderly man in a smart three piece suit with silver hair and a fearsome mustache, clutching a medical bag with a stethoscope around his neck. He rushed right to her side and took her wrist in his hand, taking her pulse. "My lady, you're up and about. Excellent! Let me just check you over. Erica has said that you might be a little out of sorts." Liberty was amazed that the mustache hid his lips completely. It looked like it moved up and down on its own while he spoke. It reminded her of a cartoon she saw as a kid.
"Look- this has been great, but I have to get back to my family. I have court on Monday too, so if you could just skip to the big reveal, I promise to squeal with the right level of whoo girl. How do you do that mustache, by the way? It's unreal how it moves like it's a solid piece..." She caught herself reaching out to touch it and snatched her hand back when she saw the sharp dip in his eyebrows, indicating that he was frowning at her.
"Lady Serena, have you felt any discomfort in your head?" He turned her head from side to side and examined her eyes. After a moment, he turned to the maid and asked, "When she first got ill, did she fall? Or maybe when she awoke? Perhaps she fell and hit her head? You did say she was walking around the room when you found her- correct?"
The girl opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a woman gliding through the door and rushing to the bedside to embrace Liberty in a cloud of soft perfume. "Oh my baby, you are finally awake!" The woman was the definition of aging gracefully.
While she was clearly a mature woman, there were no creases or obvious wrinkles to mar her fair features. She was dressed elegantly, wearing what Liberty could only describe as a gown in a pale gold edged in lace that paired well with turquoise eyes that dominated her face and seemed to match those of the girl in the mirror that Liberty had seen. And to top it all off, this woman had pink hair.
Seriously, cotton candy pink hair?
"How is my little Serena feeling, Dr. Brown? Has the illness passed? " The woman pulled back and rubbed Liberty's shoulder, searching the doctor's face. The older man cleared his throat and shot a meaningful look at the maid, then began to answer."Who is Serena?" Liberty interrupted. She felt that she needed to get a hold of this conversation and start getting some answers from somebody, and this seemed like a good place to start. Calling out this prank didn't seem to be getting her anywhere, and she really needed to get home. The three others responded by exchanging looks, showing various levels of shock fading into concern.
"Probably more importantly- who are all of you supposed to be and when can I go home?" That's when things started to get complicated, and it was made clear to Liberty that home was very, very far away.
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