I Don't Belong Here

✦... What?✦

I hear the beeping of my alarm again. I groan, going to press the button. I reach over to tap the box on my nightstand but my fingers hit nothing. My eyes squint open in confusion. I front of me is no nightstand, instead, there is empty space. Was I robbed? The beeping is actually bells in the distance, not my alarm.

I groggily sit up, eyesight still blurred with sleep. I lift my arms to rub my eyes but something feels off. A material covers my arms which is weird as I sleep in t-shirts. And my legs are covered in something too, and my feet. Why should I be wearing a long skirt, shoes and a long sleeve to bed? I don't even own a skirt! I finally rub my eyes to clear my vision. Slowly, my sight clears and my room greets me.

Wait... This is not my room.

I seem to be in a stone room, lying in an uncomfortable bed of straw and animal skins, and the bed frame is made of beat-up old wood pegs. A dresser sits in the corner, the thing looks like my great grandma's handmade trunk. The handles are simple iron buttons and the wood isn't even polished. On the opposite side of the room is another bed.

Where the fuck am I? Is this a dream? The only things I recognize are on a small wooden table at the foot of the bed. My grandpa's satchel, my longbow and its quiver.

I remove the covers from me and place my feet on the floor. My feet are dressed in very uncomfortable flats. My body wears a dress, one that looks like a milkmaid dress. It's a pale green with a brown overdress/coat thing with a lace tying it across my chest and it only reaches my ankles. My hair is down and quite messy although it still feels like I showered yesterday.

I take one last look at the room. This has to be a dream, right? I sling my bow and quiver over my shoulder and slide the gloves on. Walking out the door, I notice that the room revealed is some kind of lab. Glass vials of something-or-other are bubbling while dripping into others. Books filled with handwritten words and pictures of plants decorate the countertops. In the middle is an old man tending to another lab set-up.

"Ah, she's awake," he cheers when he sees me. "Tried to wake you an hour ago, seemed to be dead, you were."

I only stare blankly at the man. He's wearing brown clothing that I can only describe as 'robes'. His white hair reminds me of Doctor Emmet Brown from Back to the Future, and he looks to be maybe 60 years old.

"Uh..." I trail off, not really knowing what to say. "Who are you?"

"My name is Gaius, young one," he answers. "And who might you be?"

"Um, Y/n," I answer. "Y/n Morrison."

"Well, Miss Morrison," he points to my bow, "I would put those away. Women are not typically hunters here."

I raise a brow. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really. Now, put them away somewhere before you get in trouble."

I only shrug and put them back in the room. When I emerge the man speaks again.

"I presume you are not from around here," he guesses without looking up.

I click my tongue and nervously smile. "You could say that."

"Well, then, why don't you look around town," he suggests. "Get to know the place."

"Ok," I say with a shrug. I feel a little naked without my bow so I slip a small dagger from the tabletop to defend myself.

I open the door to the lab room, follow a hallway to a spiral staircase. There is a sign on the wall that says 'Court Physician'. Oh, so Gaius is a doctor. That explains the lab stuff. I descend the stairs to a door. The door is guarded by two guards dressed in red cloth and chainmail on the outside, beyond them is a busy street. I follow the street to what seems to be a courtyard. In the space is a platform surrounded by a small crowd.