sea of time

3

Caspar eventually fell asleep. He never stayed up past 9:00 pm on a good day, so staying up until 5:00 really did a number on him

“Wake up, please…”

“5 more minutes, please….” Caspar responded. He heard a sigh of relief afterwards.

Wait, who was talking to him? Caspar’s eyes snapped open. Standing above him was a teenage girl with pretty brown hair cascading down her shoulders, wearing a hat that Caspar could’ve sworn he’d only seen on golf fields before.

“I was worried you had died! I thought you were one of the drunk men who usually come here, but you’re clearly too young… What are you doing back here?” the girl said, cracks of worry slipping through her mostly calm demeanor.

“Uh, this might sound stupid, but I don’t really know… What year is it?” Caspar said, a bit sheepishly.

“It’s 1180. You must’ve hit your head. Here, come inside.” She turned around and started walking towards what was probably a house.

Caspar got up, and it was only then that he noticed that he was naked, sans a fancy looking towel the girl must’ve given to him.

I really did make it. He tried to suppress a giggle, but it still came out. It was just so exciting!

The girl turned around for a moment,“What are you laughing about?” then she quickly turned her face away when she noticed Caspar was in fact, still naked. “Put the towel on, please!”

“Oh, sorry!” Caspar did as she asked him to, then started to catch up to where she was walking. It wasn’t a house like he had thought, it was plenty bigger and seemed a lot fancier from the outside.

“I’m not actually supposed to bring you in here, so be quiet and just follow me.” she whispered to him, holding the door open.

Caspar stepped into the building. It was still rather difficult to tell what it was, but he could tell now that it certainly wasn’t a house. He followed the girl until they arrived at a door with the name Dorothea on it. She opened the door, and just as quickly shut it immediately after she and Caspar entered the room. The room appeared to be a dressing room, full of vibrantly coloured dresses and fancy shoes.

“I don’t think Dorothea would want us sneaking into her room.” Caspar whispered, after taking a seat on the floor.

“What are you talking about?” the girl had walked over to behind where the dresses were.

“It says Dorothea on the door, so I just assumed it was her room.” the girl hadn’t spoken in a whisper, so Caspar didn’t either.

She turned to him and while her eyes said that she was unimpressed, her smile told a different story. “I’m Dorothea. Dorothea Arnault.”

“Oh!”

Caspar tried for a moment to figure out why he felt so awkward. That’s it.

“My name is Caspar.” he said, proud that he figured out the source of the awkwardness.

She turned to him with the same look again. “And your last name is?”

That pride was immediately retracted. Uh….

“Bergliez. Bergliez is my last name.” Why did the first name to come out have to be my teacher’s name?

“Ah, I see.” At least Dorothea seemed proud of herself for getting that information out of him. “I was worried you’d forgotten even your name!”

“Why would I have forgotten my name?” Caspar asked, “and what are you even doing over there?”

Dorothea seemed to have had enough of this game of “Look back, Look forth” so she didn’t bother to look. “Well, you obviously hit your head. You didn’t know the year, you didn’t know where you where, you struggled to remember your last name, and - this is a may be a little self centered, but - you didn’t know who I am, and I’m pretty damn popular around here! Pardon my language. Also, I’m getting you some clothes. Sorry, but you’ll have to wear women’s clothes for now. I don’t have any men’s.” she looked back at him, “But I think they’ll fit, you’re not all too big.”

“Hey!”

She handed him a white ruffled blouse and what looked to be poppy-red shorts. “Sorry, these are the best I’ve really got for you. Hopefully the bloomers can pass as shorts.”

———--

I look ridiculous.

He finally opened the door for Dorothea after having what felt like a staring contest with himself in the mirror. The fabric was all drapey at his chest, and all too tight “down there”.

“Caspar, you’re wearing the bloomers backwards.”

Ah.


—————

Take two.

“Alright, I look only a bit less stupid.” The clothes were loose enough that they made him look like a boy. Only downside was that he looked like he was 12.

“Well, take what you can get. Less is better than more! Here, you can have this jacket, one of my dates left it here, it might make you look a bit more masculine.” She gave him a black suit-coat.

“I look like a ballroom cooked up in a stew.” Caspar groaned out.

“Well, you better get used to it, I don’t know if they’ll let you into the Officer’s academy with that attitude.” Dorothea’s words were coated with smugness, but had an underlying worry to them. “Look, I know what it’s like to be a commoner. To not know anything of what’s going on around you, and to not have any control over your life. It’s a miracle that I got out of it, and I’m trying to do the same for you. So please,” she looked over her shoulder to him, “try to be a bit nicer about it.”

“Look, I’m sorry Dorothea. I shouldn't have been so whiny.” Caspar said, head hung in shame. “Wait, what was that about the Officer’s academy?”

“Oh right. You see,” Dorothea spun around to look at him. ”I’m friends with one of the professors at this big church academy called Garreg Mach. It costs a fair bit to get in, but they basically take care of your completely in the time you go there. In fact, tonight I’m taking a carriage there. I was thinking that I can’t just let you go out on the street like that, not remembering a thing! So, maybe you would want to come along?”

“I don’t have the money for that kind of thing! Weren’t you just going on about how you know what it’s like to be poor? It sounds awesome, though, so I really wish I could go!” Caspar said.

“Oh Caspar, I would be paying for you to go.” Dorothea said, the fondness in her eyes reminded him of what he’d seen on older siblings in family movies. Jeffrey never looked so kindly to him, though.

“Really?”

Dorothea nodded.

“I’d love to go!” Caspar practically shouted.

“Keep your voice down!”