Chapter Text
Katarina Claes had a headache.
That, in itself was not particularly unusual; she tended to have headaches often and for a variety of reasons. She was used to the sugar rush headaches from eating too many of Maria's sweets. She was well acquainted with the stress headaches from worrying about doom flags or exams. And she was, despite her best efforts, familiar with the headaches that came from bumping her head on the underside of the shelves in the store house when she knelt down to pick up gardening equipment.
This headache, however, was not any of those. Unlike her other headaches, this was a shock of pain right in the dead center of her forehead, right where her cross-shaped scar used to be... or, perhaps, still was. She couldn't see the mark anymore, but Geordo seemed convinced it was still quite visible. She'd had headaches like this on rare occasions since she first got the scar, along with a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something, but the pain usually passed quickly enough, and so she never gave it much more thought than that.
A red kite arced across the summer sky, sun shining through it's thin fabric as Katarina stood in fields in front of her estate. Although a far cry from the video-game and anime binges she used to fill her summer with, the simple, old-fashioned act of kite-flying seemed like an ideal way to spend a day of her summer vacation in this new world. On the last day of school before the break, she had invited all of her friends to come over to her family manor, to which they all happily agreed. Now that the day was finally here, it seemed all too perfect a summer day- birds chirping happily, sun shining, and a slight wind blowing, so it wasn't too terribly hot. So naturally, when Mary suggested they spend the day outside flying kites, Katarina wholeheartedly welcomed the idea.
That is, she welcomed it until she saw the kites and felt a flash of pain in her forehead. Weird.
Still, a little pain wasn't enough to keep her from a fun summer day with her friends! The brunette smiled brightly as her kite danced across the sky along with kites being flown by Maria, Mary, Geordo, and Keith. Her other friends sat in the fields nearby as they watched the show; Alan and Nicol wrote in their school notebooks together, while Sophia read the newest Devilish Count novel.
With her friends smiling, her kite flying, the birds chirping, and not a doom flag in sight, Katarina thought the couldn't be any better! A sparrow sailing through the air fluttered around her kite string, and another pinch of pain touched her forehead. She winced.
Well, maybe it could be a bit better...
----
To say Maria Campbell wasn't a bit nervous to visit the Claes family home would be untrue. Despite the unwavering kindness and acceptance she had found in Katarina and Keith, the blonde still held a figment of apprehension that her parents would not be as welcoming of a commoner such as herself. Her concerns were quickly assuaged upon arriving at Katarina's home as she and the others were warmly invited in. Spending a day with her friends from school was such a lovely idea, and the Claes estate was a beautiful place to spend it. Not to mention, any opportunity to share her time with Katarina was something she would jump at.
Watching the beautiful brunette smiling and laughing as she flew her kite across the clear summer sky made her heart soar! Although... Katarina kept rubbing her forehead. Was she unwell? Maria did not was to embarrass the girl by asking her if she was feeling alright in front of everyone, but perhaps if she got a rare moment alone with her later, she could ask. Her light magic could remedy most simple ailments quickly enough, so she'd be happy to offer to help her friend if she got a chance.
---
As the whimsical day of playing in the meadow eventually began to wind down, the group headed back indoors.
"I'm staaarving..." Katarina moaned as they walked into the house. The day of running in the fields had taken it's toll on the exuberant girl's energy levels.
"I brought some sweets with me," Maria offered, remembering to bring a snack for her friend when she came over to her house.
"Really?" Katarina asked, wide-eyed, "Maria, you're the best!"
"I left them in the parlor before we went out to play," Maria blushed, always enjoying the chance please her friend.
The group entered the parlor to find Duke and Duchess Claes sat at the table by the window.
"Thank you again for having us over!" Mary called over to them.
"Yes, thank you so much!" Maria agreed.
"It's quite alright, I'm glad you all had fun today," Miri Claes responded. In truth, she had no problem having all of Katarina's friends over, and it was nice to discover her daughter kept such good company. Her daughter who, at that moment, was stuffing her face with muffins from a basket on the table. "Katarina, show some manners!" the duchess scolded her, once again frustrated by her daughter's overwhelming lack of etiquette.
"M'mm hmmgry!" Katarina replied through a mouth full of food.
"We'll be having dinner in two hours! And we have guests, so behave yourself!" She knew it was fruitless, though. Any semblance of a proper young lady had faded from Katarina ever since she bumped her head when she was a child.
"Lord and Lady Claes, I would like to say, your Memory Mirror is quite beautiful," Alan said after an awkward moment of Katarina trying to swallow the mass of food in her mouth while her mother glared daggers at her.
"Thank you Alan, it was a gift from the Ministry many years ago," the duke replied, turning his attention to the mirror in question.
"Ooh, a Memory Mirror!" Katarina, having recovered from her mouthful of snack, looked on in wonder as if seeing it for the first time,"What's a Memory Mirror?"
"Surely you've seen this before, Katarina? It's been here since before you were born," her mother inquired, still slightly exasperated with her daughter's behavior."
"Yeah I've seen it before, but why's it called a Memory Mirror?" Katarina asked, looking across at her reflection in it.
About six feet long by four feet tall, the Memory Mirror occupied a large portion of the wall. The mirror itself was a standard reflective surface, although it appeared to be made of some sort of darker metal, rather than the standard silver of most mirrors. The frame was an ornately carved obsidian pattern, with an opalescent tile on each of the four corners.
"Memory Mirrors," Maria explained, "are tools for recalling one's memories. They're often used in trials and for people who have difficulty remember things. When you place your hand on the tile, the mirror can show a particular memory."
"Right," Keith agreed, walking over to the mirror, "If, for instance, I focused on our activities earlier today..." The image in the mirror swirled, slowly turning from a reflection of Katarina and her companions to a view of the meadow with kites dancing across the sky.
"Oooh! That's us!" Katarina pointed excitedly, seeing herself, Geordo, Maria, and Mary flying kites, "Why aren't you in the memory though, Keith?"
"Well, it's my memory," he removed his hand from the tile, and the mirror swirled back to a reflection of the group in the parlor, "so it's from my perspective. If one of you guys tried it, it would show the scene from your perspective."
"Cool! I'm gonna try it!" Katarina leapt quickly towards the mirror. She stretched her hand out toward the tile and....
BBZZZZZAAAAPPPP!!!
A shock of bright blue electricity snapped out of the mirror, sparking Katarina on the fingertips. She yelped and drew back in shock, quickly turning away from the mirror and kneeling down to the floor.
"Katarina, are you alright?" Geordo knelt down, already by his fiance's side, with Mary close behind. The others were concerned and turned their attention to her as well, no noticing as the image in the mirror began to swirl...
"Yeah, I'm fine, that just scared me.... Why did the mirror zap me though? It didn't zap you, Keith." Katarina turned to her brother, but he looked just as perplexed by the situation as she was. "And anyways, what kind of..." Katarina trailed off as she turned to face the mirror again, suddenly transfixed by the image in it. That place was....
"Oooooh!" the brunette squealed in delight, hurrying over closer to get a better view what was currently unfolding in the mirror, "I remember that night!"
As Keith turned to inspect the mirror, he was immediately met with a decidedly unfamiliar scene. His sister had said she remembered that night, but he certainly didn't. In fact, he wasn't even quite sure what he was looking at. It looked like a long narrow room, with benches full of people on both sides, and many people standing in the center. Upon closer inspection, however, the room was actually moving, an unfamiliar city visible out the windows that lined both sides. A large carriage, perhaps? But not even the wealthiest nobles had a carriage that long, and the people inside didn't exactly appear wealthy. In fact, some almost looked like beggars. Katarina was apparently holding some bags full of fabrics at the time of the memory, as the perspective looked down for a moment.
"Ah, yeah, this is when I went to Shibuya to get cosplay stuff! Acchan and I were gonna go to Comiket together, and I stayed out shopping and late and caught one of the last trains home!" Katarina said to no one in particular as the memory kept playing out.
"Um, Katarina, where exactly....?" Keith began, thoroughly puzzled by the strange city seen out the windows in the memory.
"I forgot how beautiful Tokyo Tower looked at night, I haven't seen it in years!" The memory-Katarina looked out the window, shifting the focus of the memory to the red spire of Tokyo Tower and the surrounding sprawling city.
Nicol looked at the image, genuinely confused. He considered himself fairly well educated on the other neighboring nations, but he could not recall any place that looked like this. There were dozens of buildings reaching higher into the sky than even the tallest towers in the capitol of Sorcier, each one glowing with lights clearly much brighter than torchlight. He could only imagine that if such a place existed, it must be far, far away.
"That looks kind of familiar," Sophia said quietly, but the others were too focused on the odd sight in the mirror to hear her. Even Katarina's parents had walked closer to get a better look at the scene unfolding, seemingly just as confused as everyone else.
"That's right! I had got home so late and Mom was furious at me!" Katarina unconsciously rubbed the center of her forehead, "That was just a couple weeks before...I....."
Suddenly, it dawned on the duke's daughter just what exactly this memory was of, as well as where she currently was. She turned around slowly, only to be met with looks of unease and confusion from her friends and parents. A feeling of anxiety gripped her heart; she had never expected to tell anyone about that part of herself! She didn't even know how, really, and now with those looks from everyone, and the scene continuing to play out in the mirror, she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid explaining it!
"Katarina," her mother began, a clear sense of worry in her voice, "when exactly is that memory from?"
Katarina racked her brain, trying to think of some form of explanation but came up empty. What other choice was there except....
"They're my memories... from my last life in another world."
