The Luckiest Girl In The World

"Ooooh, it's got an in-suite hot tub-slash-jacuzzi," Kathy said, reading from the room's amenities list, even as she sprawled out on the king-sized bed and could just go looking for said amenities. "And an in-room bar, flat screen color TV with premium cable package--no porn, though, sorry, gotta pay extra for that. 24-hour room and laundry service, in-suite massages, oh my god yes, and a seven-head luxury shower." She paused, thinking that over. "Might have to try that, hmm."

Sometimes you just had to get off the island for awhile, like right after your soul was partially eaten by a skinless tremens and you were now questioning whether or not you should ever drink again. That was, in fact, a very good time to leave the goddamn island, just to get your head on straight and remember that that kind of thing wasn't normal.

Right now, already in a bathrobe that was thick and warm and just a little too big for her, Kathy could almost pretend that the weekend hadn't happened at all. Except that she kept looking at the champagne resting in the bucket of ice and just kinda not feeling it.

[For either/both of the guys she'd be there with! nfb for distance.]

Kathy had been a busy little bee over the last few days and, finally, all of her holiday shopping was over with. And rather than attempting to wrap everything at the house, where anyone could wander in and spoil themselves for their Christmas (or birthday!) surprises, Kathy had brought all of the presents to the warehouse to wrap in peace and security. They'd stay there until the household managed to get a proper Christmas tree set up and decorated and then she'd bring them home and stash them under it and at last the house would be ready for Christmas.

Maybe they could go out and get a tree this weekend, if Dante got back from Limbo City by then? She was hoping they could decorate the tree together, as a household, with mulled wine and Christmas carols and tasty treats because bribing her housemates with sugar was a tried and true method.

Just a few more presents and her wrapping would be done. And then maybe she'd go get whatever insane holiday drink the Perk had concocted over the last week and then go bug Eliot for another guitar lesson or something.

[Open for all your BDE folks!]

So, after fighting with some of the creepy aliens in the park, Kathy had ended up falling into one of those holes and ended up...in Korea? It had been years since she'd been to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul with her family, but she recognized it immediately. Which, honestly, just made everything weirder.

"Gongju! Gongju!" A woman scurried over to Kathy's side, dressed in an elaborate hanbok, like a court lady straight out of a hostorical fashion plate. "There you are! We've been searching all over for you!"

"For me?" Kathy asked. How could they possibly be looking for her when she'd only just arrived? "...Why are you calling me princess?"

The woman clucked at her, shaking her head and herding her into the palace. "These are just nerves, gongju," she said firmly. "But you really must accept your new station. We're both just lucky that I noticed you were missing before Her Majesty did. The whole palace is in an uproar!"

"It...is?" Kathy asked, still trying to find the thread of the conversation. "Because of me?"

"Oh no, gongju! Much worse!" Kathy wasn't sure how to respond to that. "The prince! Has come! Early!"

...Could she maybe go back to just being confused by being in Seoul? Because even with all the information she was getting from the chattering lady, she was just that much more confused. Holding up her hand, she stopped in her tracks and refused to budge. Not until she got some answers. "Okay," she said. "Time out. Prince? The heck? There has to be some mistake. I'm just an ordinary high school student."

The lady sighed. "That might have been true before, gongju, but no longer. Not since your betrothal to the prince was announced by His Majesty, the king. Now you're a princess and one day will be queen! But now you must stop dawdling! You're finally meeting His Highness and everything must be perfect!"

That was definitely an explanation, if not exactly a helpful one. Betrothal? Prince? Her?!

"Please, hurry gongju! We have so much to do before the wedding!"

At the word 'wedding,' Kathy just bluescreened. Which got her through the incredibly intricate bathing ritual, the extensive dressing and hair styling ceremonies, and the meeting with the prince's mother who didn't hide her thoughts on having a commoner wed her beloved son. Dressed in an elaborate gown that probably cost more money than Kathy had ever seen in her life, she came back to herself when she was escorted into-- "Did that guy just say these are the prince's rooms? Shouldn't we be chaperoned? Something?"

"Please be calm, gongju," her maid whispered. "It's tradition. The wedding festivities will take all day tomorrow and well into the night. You'll both be too exhausted tomorrow evening for your...marital duties. Which is why they shall take place tonight instead."

"You think they'll what?!" Kathy snapped, only to be answered by the closing of the doors behind her. Okaaaay then. Time to find this 'prince' and tell him there was no way in hell that there would be no duties or marriages or anything else!

[For the other one appalled to be here!]

Kathy sat in the dark, the small circle of light from her desk lamp providing any illumination at all. It was, of course, trained on the mirror, as it had been since Thursday night, once Kathy realized that the daylight had faded enough to make it difficult to see the images that her mirror was showing her. She hadn't eaten since she'd found half a container of Tic Tacs in a drawer Friday evening. She hadn't drunk anything since she finished the contents of her water bottle yesterday afternoon. She hadn't slept in--well, who was keeping track of that? Kathy wasn't.

( It's like pollen week all over again )

She wasn't hungry, even though her shirt was falling over gaunt shoulders too thin to keep the straps up. She wasn't thirsty, even though her mouth was dry and her lips were cracked. She wasn't tired, for all that the circles under her eyes were dark enough to look like bruises. Instead, with lips that tore and bled from the movement, Kathy was grinning in the dark.

Hours later, though, that smile stopped abruptly--the same time her mirror went dark. "What?" Kathy reached for her mirror with hands that shook. "No," she whimpered. "Please, don't! Please!" Was something wrong? Did she somehow break it? How was she supposed to know what was going to happen to her if she couldn't watch in the mirror?

She needed to talk to Mr. Gaunt. She needed to know what had happened. She needed to get to Needful Things.

[Mirror cut text is NFB, please! Many thanks to theheadkid, not_every_mage, smilestopscars, and gunslingerpose for letting my mod their boys for sexy illusory funtimes. PG-13 rating for material under the cut.]