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What June had expected to wake up to was her version of normal for that day. Wake up around seven or eight, get coffee, wake up her sisters, and then they would finish cleaning up their grandma's home. Maybe get lunch out to help the mood of having buried your grandma to her grave a month ago and cheer Brooke up at least a little.
What she wasn't expecting to wake up to was the very distinct feeling of being wrapped in silk. Like the ones that just screamed ‘I'm better than you’, rolling on a soft mattress and seeing a blurry image of a curtain bed in front of you. That immediately got her to question where she was because a couch would not be this cloud soft nor have curtains attached to it. Hell, June remembered complaining about the couch breaking her back when she and her sisters would sleepover at grandma's. And she even put on a bit about her back aching and getting old just to get Brooke to crack a smile last night!
So where…?
June got up with a confused groan and a weird headache throbbing at the back of her eyes. Then a flurry of blurred movement out of the corner of her sight caught her a bit off guard.
Huh, her sisters always woke after her, it was rare for any or all of them to be up before the eldest. Then that assumption was quickly beaten to the dirt when a sudden gasp suited for some melodrama was heard.
June thought it was Cleo or Flora as those two have been theatre kids and she craned her neck to give an annoyed look only to freeze when she saw a maid.
Like a legit young maid in some Victorian style apron and black dress from some historical drama she saw Flora binge watch a couple of times.
CRASH!
The tea set that the maid had been holding, dropped to the floor in a second as the maid stumbled forward so quickly that it made June flinch.
“My lady you're awake!” The maid exclaimed as she quickly put her hand on June’s forehead.
“Uhmm who–”
“No! No! Stay still my lady, I shall call for the physician immediately!” Then like that the maid bolted out of the room and left a very dumbfounded June in the silk curtain bed.
“What…?”
Then like the universe still betting on scaring her—June yelped when a digital screen came in front of her with an automotive voice.
“Welcome player 1 to Empires Rise and Fall! You have been successfully binded and 4 other players are currently pending so please be patient and have a wonderful playthrough of this riveting romance political fantasy!”
…..
“WHAT THE FUCK?!!” June screeched as she reached for the holographic screen that had way too many flowers on the title. Her mind raced a mile a minute as she processed the words—her eyes scanning what this weird isekai bullshit she was reading.
“What fuck do you mean Empires Rise and Fall?!”
While June and all her sisters loved that game (Brooke was warming up to it) and got into so many petty debates on the story flow and tropes. This was the last game she would have wanted to be transported to cause spoilers EVERYONE BUT THE HEROINE DIES!
“Player 1 I will repeat with more information, you have been bounded to Empires Rise and Fall currently in the backstory arc of the Bellthorn family, the family of villainesses as the main matriarch Judith Bellthorn and currently 4 other players will be joining you to your journey to be a villainess the game deserves!”
“Did you just say Judith…?” She stammered, her emotions only becoming one now—fear.
Then she threw the holographic screen away and fell out of bed in a hurry, heading straight for the gigantic heavily ornate mirror near the balcony window thing. And came to a dead stop cause holy shit…
June considered herself to be on the spectrum of pretty with her square jaw, bright blue eyes, and flowy brown hair but the face in the mirror staring at her was just something else. She still had her square jaw but it was much more stylized to look sharp and structured, and her eye shape was that ideal 1920s style that ladies would kill for. Her hair was a lovely turquoise with black streaks that had a slight curl and her skin wasn’t the sunkissed tan it was before but blue like grey with specks of black cracks on the corners of her forehead. She looked like a vintage porcelain doll that belonged to some music box, not a walking living being. Her eyes were what got her to pause just in awe, they were still blue but it was closer to sapphire blue rather than the baby blue she had and her sclera was completely pitch black, an s-class design for a villain in a game in her opinion.
“Oh fuck I really am Judith.” June really did look exactly like the in-game design when there would be cut scenes of Judith in her nightgown plotting the heroine Poppy’s downfall and being the evil paranoid villain she was made to be. Wait…didn't that screen say this was the backstory portion? So she would already have her magic.
June looked down and yup there was the proof she needed to see. From the tips of her fingers all the way to her elbow it was all pitch black with white runes for shadows and another of a bluebell flower. Literally marking her power to be in touch with dark magic and her speciality being that annoying plot device for spying through plants! Not to mention corrupting them!
God, June will never live down that day she ended rage quitting after failing to beat a particular battle of Judith too many times because of that stupid ability she ended breaking the window with her counsel.
Wait back on topic she was Judith Bellthorn!
The matriarchal badass mage who was the mastermind to all the misfortune on the 6 empires in the game and the one who kidnaps the heroine’s sister Viva to prevent the prophecy!
Who is also the most tragic and evil villainess who gets burned to death via light magic in the final stretch…
June freaking out grabbed her hair and looked to the floor muttering, “Of course of all the villainess I could’ve been bound to it had to be the op final boss with the most on screen gruesome death!”
Timing really wasn’t on her side as before she could spiral anymore she heard voices outside her door and guess it must be that maid before with a doctor or something like that. Shit what did they call doctors in this era? Fictional era?
Once again June got jumpscared as the digital screen came in front of her that made her back away from the mirror.
“Binding of Bryn Bellthorn to player 2 complete! Player 1 should be advised to visit player 2 before her awakening as Bryn’s magic will be unstable as per protocol of the backstory arc!”
‘Wait…if their are other players and the only ones who played this game with me are—’
“Oh fuck, my sisters!”
Like that June felt like she was dunked by an ice bucket as the automotive voice collided with the sound of the bedroom door opening as three more people came in. Three maids and what looked like an old timey doctor with a ridiculous moustache meant for a cartoon.
June could only mentally grimace at the image that was probably in front of them. A young lady cowering away from a mirror in her nightgown, in quite an embarrassing position and with the stupid etiquette rules of the game that were weirdly detailed it probably looked like she was being a S-tier crazy. Or in their terms, hysterical.
Case in point with the doctor coming towards her with a very concerned, “My Lady I—!”
June raised her hand to stop him and glared at him cause she was getting tired of this bullshit and only wanted to make sure her sisters were here. This unfortunately had the unintended consequence of scaring the guy with a very audible “Eeep!” out of him. She didn’t take into account that since she, being in a villainess role will always look intimidating in any scenario because of game logic, could only mentally slap herself but she needed to get priorities straight.
“Where is Bryn?” She asked in an icy tone that—what the hell?! Why did her voice suddenly drop at least two pitches to sound like a grown, more intimidating woman than the 16 year old Judith is supposed to be in the backstory arc?!
The first maid that June saw when she woke up quickly knelt beside her to help her get up and June did just that and wow did this feel weird. June shook her head and asked again to the maid who was trying to gently guide her back to the bed.
“I said where is Bryn?!” Her tone being angry and demanding—also completely out of her control as June wanted to say those words normally but again it turned way too emotional like it was meant for a cutscen—
Wait, this is a cutscene.
“Player 1 is correct! This is the new backstory portion with your binding now reworking the story! Issuing small warning as the climax of the scene is to happen in 3…2”
Before June could verbally ask she suddenly felt a rushing power come over her then release like wooshing air and suddenly the shadows of every corner of the room reformed into sprouting spikes. Stabbing a couple of the ornate furniture around the bedroom and only by a miracle did none of the other people get scratched. Though it definitely did the trick in scaring their asses to answer her question.
“The young lady Bryn is still recovering my ladyship! She’s still in her room!” The youngest looking maid squeaked, cowering and shaking behind the doctor.
Fuck did June feel so bad for that.
But she didn’t have time as she needed to make sure if the other players really were her sisters. So June bolted out of the room in a blob of lace and the shadows of the dawn of the hallway came to react as they also started shifting to become a bit spiky. “Okay, the first thing to do after all this bullshit is get control over this stupid magic!” she yelled, and just her luck it echoed creepily that probably scared even more people in this mansion.
God I better get a break after I get my sisters!
If June remembered correctly with the backstory arc of the game, this should be right around the aftermath of Judith’s disastrous magic awakening before the corrupt royal court when her distant uncle tried to become the new Bellthron master cause Judith was a girl and therefore saw his chance to get more power. Judith who had just lost her parents and very emotional ended up awakening her dark magic early and well…lost control. Getting her uncle fatally injured who would die after a bit and a lot of core court members too, indecently creating a power vacuum. Also the next two younger sisters of Judith who were with her at court ended up awakening their own unique magic early too hence why all of them were still recovering. A year later, Judith, Brynn, and Catherine would exploit the power vacuum with their parent’s old faction and start their descent into villainy.
Brynn in the direct aftermath of the incident was said in some of the dialogue of the game ended up accidentally injuring or maiming a couple of the servants when she wakes up. But that was in the original script where she woke up before Judith and therefore June could stop it and find her answers!
With disturbing familiarity in the gilded hallways of the mansion and avoiding other servants who were following her out of worry, June finally saw the ornate ocean inspired door and there were a couple of the maids about to open the door. The same maids that would be victims in the old timeline and so she quickly barked at them to get out of the way when a small flash of blue came out of the door hinges. The maid quickly scurried giving June the space to swing the doors open and quickly got the answer she needed.
There in a similar silk curtain bed was a young girl who looked to be around fifteen with dark purple hair that curled in perfect waves and kneeling as she clutched her stomach with a panicked expression. Byrnn quickly looked up at June and parted her mouth in shock as she spied the screen that had followed June right beside her.
June too started at the identical screen that was in front of Brynn and a beep sounded on each of their screens for a second and like that the image of Brynn was replaced with the familiar image of her sister Briar and to Briar the image of the villainess Judith was replaced with the vision of June.
“June…?”
Oh fuck her sisters did get caught up in this.