Welcome to Gaia! ::

((That may be a while sweetie... ))

Hector didn't reply. For all her stubbornness, she did manage to fall asleep. She slept on her side with a thick blanket wrapped around her body as she faced away from the door, dreaming about standing over a mountain of Norran soldiers with holding an Ander flag. "I... am... unstopable..." she mumbled in her sleep.

((Hey Cookies, want me to transfer the Shepard profile too?))

((Ok. Just wondering.))

Hector snuggled warm under the covers. She hummed a little war tune with a slight giggle as she dreamed about the vast fields of Norra, the fields of her ancestors. Her voice was soft and feminine like the falling of snow. She rolled a little bit, gripping the blankets tighter as she thought about horse riding with the wind in her hair.

((What kind of dream are you thinking of?))

Hector continued to ride in the field of her dreams when suddenly, the sky became black. Still, she paid it no mind. She still enjoyed the flowers and the light coming from the ground until the darkness in the sky became like a dangerous storm. She began to feel uncomfortable, and she flipped over in her bed, curling up a little more as her face changed to one of concern.

((Um... I got something.))

Suddenly her dream changed and she found herself in a familiar room, standing as a child once again in a dress. She was spying on her father and nurse from afar as they talked in the parlor.

"I'm concerned." her nurse said. "Hector is such a weak willed boy, and Priscilla is too stubborn. I heard they broke another switch over her today."

"What reason did they have?" Her father asked.

"They said she didn't want to draw what they told her to draw." Her nurse replied.

"For something so stupid?" Her father asked.

"Stupid? She was disobedient." Her mother insisted.

"Foolish woman. Are you sure it wasn't for some other petty and selfish reason?" He demanded. The nurse was silent, taking his words in with surprise. "Well there's your problem. You don't beat Hector enough, and Priscilla has become resilient to beatings. Clearly the tutors spoil Hector because you have favored him. Priscilla is clever and willful because you have made yourself her enemy. If Priscilla was a man, I'd have no problem giving her all that I have, but as a daughter she is an embarrassment." Her father replied. "Stop asking me these foolish questions and do your job properly. I don't care whether or not you are jealous of my daughter, but you will suffer the consequences if she does not become a proper lady."

"Yes, my lord." The nurse replied.

((*shrugs* I don't see why not. You could make it part of the magic or something. As long as he isn't doing something absolutely crazy with the magic, I don't care that much.))

Hector rolled over again, her back towards Eviz as she grabbed her pillow, pressing her face hard against it. As her grip on the blanked loosened, it fell off her shoulders, showing the top part of her back. Though her back was soft, pale, and smooth, it was covered in old scars from being constantly beaten. It was a common practice among strict nobles in Ander, but one would still be surprised to see so many, especially on Hector.

Slowly, the scene changed as she found her younger self clawing at her bed. Her hair was long and the color of snow, and her face delicate but willful as she fought back against a terrible fever.

"How long has she been like this?!" She heard her father demand.

"She was complaining about her head hurting for a few weeks now. She's been slowly growing more and more out of breath and her hands are always hot." A younger John replied. "The nurse told me she had informed you and that you ordered her to continue anyway. This morning she collapsed. Please, sir. I know I'm just a slave and the treatment is rough for her own benefit, but at this rate..."

"I didn't know about any of this..." her father replied. "Tell the nurse and everyone that she hired that she is fired. I'm sending Hector to the academy to become a man, and I'll find someone else to take care of her. Call a doctor. We'll just have to appear at court without her. I'm sure the king will understand."

"Yes, my lord." John replied with a bow.

"F-father..." She muttered.

"Everything will be fine now, Priscilla. I promise." Her father replied with a soft pat on her head. "You're a strong willed child. You will live through this."

"I... I have a bad feeling... please... be safe..." She muttered, very pale as if at death's door.

"Everything will be fine." he told her before turning and leaving the room with his wife and a boy that looked almost identical to her, even though he was older. She then proceeded to hear her father yell out the nurse and order them to be thrown out into the street.

Very much like in the dream, Hector began to grip the bottom sheets of her bed. She breathed deeply as she recalled what had happened, and she felt a cold sweat, feeling too hot under the blankets.

The nightmare shifted a few months after the accident. She was the new student at the military academy, and she heard all of the whispers and rumors the other boys said about her. She studied hard to all hours of the night, and trained twice as hard as the other boys in order to keep up with them. 'I'm not a boy... this is the price I must pay to become one...' she would tell herself.

She was always at top in academics, making sure she was far above everyone else even before they taught certain classes. Still, she was barely marginal in athletics, always giving it her all in order to just pass. It made her beyond furious, and that fury drove her to work harder and harder. She did drills with swords twice the weight of the normal practice sword and healed herself with magic. She used her feminine voice to charm the horses while she cleaned the stables as a chore, and they felt very more comfortable around her then the other boys. Overall, she acted cold and merciless to all of the other boys. Finally, it showed the prince appearing. He was cocky and curious about her and her icy personality. She found his laid back personality irritating because he worked so little to become both very smart and athletic. He challenged her to a sword fight, and to everyone's surprise, she won.

Out of the dream, she began to chuckle, feeling the same disbelief that she actually beat the king's son. The sword fights happened again and again and again, all with her success, and she tried harder and harder to keep up her muscles as the labor became easier. People honored her for her brains and strength, and she felt happy for the first time, feeling as if that world of noblemen was where she was supposed to be the entire time.