God I hated the color white.

 

I hated it with a passion. It didn’t help that I was surrounded by snow for a thousand miles in this godforsaken forest. My eyesight was dyed a deep red from the blood in my eyes. My lungs heaved, pushing my broken body beyond its limits. My regeneration was hampered from the bullet too deep in my side.

 

I felt the frozen air clog up my metal suit that peered out of my torn-up coat. I looked down at my side, where a gaping hole stood in my armor. I could see frozen blood clog up my bare skin. The ice started to seep its way into my sensors, messing up my temperature regulator.

My drooping eyelids threatened to put me to sleep in this blizzard. I felt tired, hungry, and I think I started developing frostbite from my exposed side.

 

I held a pistol on my right palm. Checking its ammo, I noticed I only had six bullets left in the chamber. Tch, I clicked my tongue in frustration.

 

I was stranded, low on ammo, and was bleeding from my side. Shit, I berated myself, Why the hell did I come here again? I said, regret apparent for running to the Alaskan forest the moment I took off my gas mask, nearly suffocating; I instantly felt the burning cold seep into the cuts of my face. “Agh!” That was a stupid decision.

 

The pain jolted my consciousness awake; I was half grateful for that. If I had fallen asleep here, my siblings would’ve found me, or worse, I would’ve gone to an early grave. My feet stumbled through the snow like an infant just barely learning how to walk. I couldn’t focus my energy on walking.

 

My skin started to feel prickly as if I were hovering my hand over a red hot flame. 

 

To think my siblings had chased me all the way to Alaska. Apparently my father didn’t appreciate my departure and sent them all to kill me. Should I have felt honored he poured all this attention into killing me? Hell no.

 

I heard explosions in the background. Looking up, I saw clouds of smoke rising up. That must’ve meant my siblings were close by. There were going to blow up everything in an attempt to flush me out. I didn’t have very long until they find me. 

 

My visibility was pretty much in the trash as the snowstorm swarmed my surroundings. Snow fell on my head and shoulders at a rapid rate, turning me into a walking snowwoman.

 

A short while ago I felt desperate to survive, but now I felt exhausted. If it wasn’t for the pain I would’ve fallen asleep then died from hypothermia.

 

I was hanging on by a thread.

 

Haahhhh... I really don’t want to die, I thought. But...I don’t think I can get out of here… Resigned, I sat on my knees, and as they slowly sank in the snow like quicksand, I shut my eyes.

 

Aghhh, a strange smell, possibly perfume, overwhelmed my senses. The snow that once paralyzed my sense of touch was now gone. I felt a sense of incongruity as everything around me changed. I was no longer surrounded by white death, but by an expansive red carpet.

 

My body shivered, even as I was gone from the cold. Hypothermia must’ve set in before I noticed it. I just didn’t notice it. Was I suffering from frostbite? Frostnip?

 

I pushed with all of my strength just to look up at a crowd staring at me. They all seemed to wear gaudy dresses and suits. What the hell? My jaw dropped, then I laughed sardonically, or tried to, but only a pained chuckle wormed its way out of my throat as I continued shivering.

 

From the middle of the crowd sat someone who wore some gaudy dress-like suit, with a crown on his head. Next to him were two twin girls – I presumed daughters of his. They wore some kind of fancy and puffy royal clothing with crowns of their owns.

 

They looked like princesses.

 

Farther down the right, I noticed a girl wearing robes and a pointy hat, standing next to the King. Was she a queen? No, she looked more like a subject of the king than his wife.

 

I looked down at my data pad attached to my left arm, wondering if my sensors would work if I smacked it a few times. Nope, the data pad didn’t work. I hoped the voice command AI still worked.

 

At least I still had my knife, gun, and mask. I held the mask and noticed particles of ice seeped through the lenses. The glass was cracked.

 

Then, I heard a few – no – dozen voices overlapping each other.

 

They were speaking in a strange tongue; it was foreign, almost alien. I tapped the earpiece on my left ear. “Athens…activate the language modulator.” Hopefully the AI was still functional enough to translate languages.

 

Then, almost in real-time, their voices became understandable through the AI speaking into my ear. “Decoding and translating language,” I heard Athens say.

 

“A woman?”

 

“I thought summoned heroes were supposed to be males…”

 

“What is the king supposed to do? He only has princesses.”

 

“Look, she has a dagger at her waist. She’s probably an assassin or knight.”

 

“A female hero? I don’t know how to feel about that.”

 

Am I hallucinating from the cold? Did I get summoned to another world? Am I in the afterlife?

 

I had no clue.

 

“Oooh! The hero’s a girl!” One of the princesses squealed.

 

“Maybe we should have Duke Renold’s son marry her?” Her twin said offhandedly. She looked bored out of her mind.

 

Are they trying to sell me? I startled. None of them seemed to realize I was freezing.

 

“The way she’s twitching is starting to scare me. She’s creepy, isn’t she?” Some haughty woman snarled at me.

 

“I-isn’t she shivering? She’s shivering! She’s sick! We need to help her!” Another person cried out. At least he had better judgement.

 

Suddenly, the seemingly-most important man in the room stood up, staff in hand. “Knights! Bring her to a healer! Now!” His voice echoed through the throne room.

 

Knights? Haaaah....this is so cliché…

 

A bunch of rough-looking men in medieval armor surrounded me. A handsome looking old man with silver hair, the captain – I think? – raised me up and ran with an ounce of his strength. He was taking me to the infirmary. With a powerful kick, he flung open two metal doors. A frightened hyah! reverberated through the room. I turned my eyes towards this ‘healer’ and noticed it was a woman in her late twenties.

 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to-” Her words died as she looked at me shivering. Immediately, she signaled to place me on a bed.

 

I was probably a decade younger than her as I noticed her small wrinkles on her cheeks. Her long red hair jump as she quickly dashed towards me as the knight placed me on a small bed as gently as possible.

 

“I need to remove her clothes, leave the room,” the doctor-esque healer commanded the knight with a harsh voice. He bowed and left the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw several knights had followed him.

 

The captain shut the door behind him and left.

 

I felt the doctor’s hands fiddle with my armor. She had no idea how to remove them, looking confused and frustrated as she constantly tried to peel off the armor. They were locked by what was left of my Athens AI system.

 

“System…disengage...” I muttered. Immediately, my suit opened up, which startled the doctor, but she quickly recollected herself and removed all the metal platings, then had a much easier time removing the black foam clothing. Many pieces of it were frozen, though.

 

In my birthday suit, considering practically all of my clothing were either frozen or wet, she immediately wrapped me in these warm blankets. “Hold still, do not move,” she said as she started preparing some kind of drink. I couldn’t tell its color nor its odour, but as she brought it to my lips, I felt it was warm – not too hot, but definitely not cold.

 

I started feeling much better, all things considered. “F-ood…”

 

“Here.” She handed me two bananas and I gulped them down with fervor. I was still hungry, but my stomach wasn’t feeling as terrible as before.

 

I started to feel really sleepy as the warmth from the drink and blankets really started to settle in.

 

I guess I should go to slee-

 

SMACK.

 

I felt a massive sting at my cheek. Startled, I looked up at the doctor; her palm was red. “I’m sorry, but I need you to stay awake. Otherwise you can die.”

 

“Oh....right....”

 

After what felt like a whole day of intense treatment, the doctor let me leave the infirmary care. Every time I was about to fall asleep, she would use less-than-peaceful methods to keep me awake. She had guts; I liked her.

 

I was still confused and irritated throughout the whole process, though.

 

I guess I wasn’t too good of an assessor when it came to my own health, but what did I know; doctors know best.

 

After my hypothermia was ‘cured’ and I was safe, the doctor called a knight that was stationed outside the room – I said a knight, but it was the captain.

 

I held the blanket against my skin as I observed him.

 

“Captain Albert,” the doctor curtsied. Albert, huh, I thought. She continued, “Call the maids to bring her some nightwear – preferably warm.”

 

“On it, Doctor Hawthorne.”

 

He left, and after a few minutes, another knock was heard on the door; the doctor opened it, and three maids entered the infirmary with some boxes. I peeked inside the wooden boxes they carried and I noticed some fancy nightwear. At least they weren’t the risqué kind – they looked more like pajamas, really.

 

One of them carried some medieval underwear, a loose-fitting shirt, and a weird tie-in undergarment.

 

“Excuse us for our rudeness, Lady Hero,” the tallest maid of the three said. She looked more like an Amazon woman than a maid, especially with her tanned skin and scars; she looked horribly misplaced in that outfit. Still, she wasn’t bad-looking. Her dark skin and the white maid outfit clashed pretty well.

 

Immediately, they got to work. The short black-haired maid with rimmed glasses and a freckled face shoved me in those medieval undergarments while the other two practically slid the paja-err, nightwear on me. The Amazon maid slid the pants while the shortest of the three – a blonde woman with green eyes, raised my hands in order to place the shirt on me.

 

Them having pajamas similar to my planet’s own felt odd, but if my hypothesis is correct, then if there were otherworld ‘heroes’ like me, they could have influenced this kingdom’s culture.

 

“Let’s escort you to your room, Lady Hero,” the amazon maid said, “His Majesty wishes to have an audience with you tomorrow morning after you have recuperated.”

 

I’ve only muttered like five words since coming here and they’re all talk about heroes and kings. Give me a break, will you?

 

Exhausted, I observed my new room. The king-sized bed was filled with frills and was proficiently made. There was a mirror placed on a large wooden drawer painted black; there was no small amounts of jewelry on top. To add to that, there were several medieval make-up products. Hah, I thought, I’m not going to use them. The walls were high-quality stone, and the windows were massive; the curtains over them were a beautiful blue. The room was quite extravagant, to say the least.

 

I noticed my gas mask and armor placed neatly on a chair next to the drawer. My knife and gun were missing, unfortunately. Were the maids holding onto my weapons? I’m sure they’re studying my gun, I thought, It'd be funny if someone shoots themselves in the foot.

 

Though the addition of a mirror, make-up, and jewelry must have been added in a hurry because they just found out the hero isn’t a man. I really wish they’d put effort in more important things, like explaining what the fuck I’m doing here, I sighed.

 

I shook my head, saying “whatever” as I jumped headfirst into the bed. I didn’t care much about appearances, and I won’t any time soon.

 

Wrapping myself around the dark red blankets, my eyes focused on the ceiling. I drifted off to sleep.

 

At the time I probably should’ve done some intelligence gathering like spying on the King, but I was too tired. Hahh…I’ll figure out my next move tomorrow.

 

I had a terrible dream that night; if there’s one thing I hate about sleeping is the constant reminders. Every time I dream, she appears: my regret in human form.

 

Several hours later…

 

Gasp! I woke up with dried tears in the crust of my eyes. I struggled for air. Ugh…I had a nightmare. Wiping the crust off my eyes drowsily, I noticed I was still in the Hero’s personal chambers, well, my chambers. My right ear hurt from sleeping with the translating earpiece on. 

 

It was hard to focus my eyes due to the drowsiness and dried tears. “I should wash my face,” I muttered to myself.

 

After calling the Amazon maid, she escorted me to the washroom; I noticed it had a sink with a blue gem attached to the top of the faucet. There were sparkles inside the blue gem like the electricity of a battery. I turned to Claire,“Hey Amazon mai-“

 

“Claire.” She interrupted me.

 

Teasingly, I decided to say it again, “Amazo-“

 

“It’s Claire.”

 

Whoops, dangerous territory, I thought, “Claire, any mouth products to clean teeth in the morning?” Please say yes, please say ye-

 

In the cabinet next to me, she fiddled through and took out a bottle of what looked like blue toothpaste and a brand new toothbrush. Seeing these two products in a fantasy world made me confused. Maybe this world’s technology is advanced through magic rather than science? Many of these products seem to be magical counterparts of stuff over at my world.

 

“Thanks, Amazon mai-“

 

“Claire!”

 

“Th-thanks Claire,” I grimaced. I felt that if I forgot her name again, she’d definitely smack me with a metal basin.

 

After I left the washroom with Claire behind me, the other two maids from yesterday along with several new ones surrounded me. I noticed some had pointy ears, others had animal ears, and one even had scales. Truly, a fantasy world, I thought. I nearly snickered, desperate to keep my poker face at just how hilariously outrageous my situation was.

 

“Lady Hero, please excuse our discourtesy,” they literally dragged me back to my room where I noticed several different clothes – ranging from knightly to noblewoman style, neatly laid on my bed. They must’ve been in my room while I was in the washroom.

 

I had a bad feeling about this when a black-haired elven maid smiled at me. Shit. Never had I been stripped that fast before. These women had skills.

 

After what felt like a dozen outfit changes, they finally stuck me in what looked like a ceremonial knight dress designed not for women, but for men. My physique was more manly than ladylike, considering I was more muscular than curvy and had countless scars.

 

When they had stripped me, all the maids – excluding Claire, gasped. For what seemed like forever, they stared at my stomach and back. Many of them grimaced, others shot gazed of sympathy over the countless scars and burns my body has accumulated over the years.

 

Claire was the only one who shot me a look of acknowledgement and pride. This woman is a warrior cliché through and through, isn’t she?

 

The raven-haired maid with glasses (from earlier) placed her hands together in a prayer-like fashion, “I, Lilia Schwartz, humbly wish you victory.”

 

So her name was Lilia.

 

I decided to ignore the fact that she practically sending me off to war without my consent. “And your name?” I pointed towards the blonde green-eyed woman from yesterday. She nearly flinched from being singled out.

 

“Alicia Gerald,” she curtsied, “Pleased to have made your acquaintance.”

 

I nodded in acknowledgement. I was going to ask the other maids – especially the scaly one and the black-haired elven maid, their names, but decided against it. I didn’t really have the time for that as I was literally standing buck-naked.

 

Some of them looked a little disappointed since I didn’t ask for their names when I said, “It’s getting breezy here.”

 

They got the message as they resumed toying with me as their dress-up doll until they stuck me with said-ceremonial knight dress.

 

The black pants were a snug fit, and the belt carried a very beautiful silver sword with a red handle. I could tell it was only ceremonial, though.

 

Crimson buttons ran down from both sides of my black suit, with golden pads on both of my shoulders. The maids also trimmed my hair a bit. It didn’t take too long since it was already short enough.

 

The collar was way too tight though. I sorely wished I was wearing my old suit from before I got here, but that thing was broken and battered badly. Would I even be able to fix it? 

 

I felt dizzy after the maids basically prettied me up, but they basically dragged me up afterwards and escorted me to the throne room. Sighhhh.....My lack of enthusiasm was chastised by Claire.

She’s already started getting chummy with me. Could I use this?

 

After a few minutes, the maids opened two large doors, and the blinding light of the throne room entered my pupils. They quickly dragged me to the front of the king, and they all knelt in his audience, their gazes plastered on the red carpet below them.

 

Alicia glanced at me, giving me puppy dog eyes, begging me to kneel.

 

No. I shook my head, I’m not kneeling.

 

The king gazed at me, assessing my worth. He seemed amused that I didn’t kneel like the quivering maids did. I kept my poker face on. I hated politicians and knew I had to keep my guard up around them. “Greetings, Lady Hero from another world. I am King Narci’Hya the fourth, and these two,” two princesses emerged from behind his arms, “Are my daughters, Princess Narci’Zinnia and Narci’Amaryllis.”

 

Twins – exact copies of each other, had reddish-flame hair and somewhat pointy features. Their hazel eyes contrasted with their hair, making them even more breath-taking.

 

The one on the left – Zinnia, had a meeker personality, as she shied away from my direct eye contact by hiding behind her father’s arm. Amaryllis, though, was definitely snobby as she had an aura of ‘stuck-up royalty’. It definitely seemed like she wanted me as an asset.

 

One thing they did share in common -apart from appearances – was that they were both eyeing me up. I suppose they wanted to know my abilities.

 

Another thing I noticed is that their names didn’t follow the same conventional naming pattern anyone else here had.

 

I didn’t see the robed woman anywhere.

 

“You have many questions, O’Lady Hero of Ours, and I shall explain.” There were nobles below the king, and as they glimpsed at me angrily, one almost shouted before the king waved his hand so regally, essentially shutting him up. “Our kingdom, the great Dahlia Kingdom, currently suffers attacks from two sides:  the Empire of Thorn, and the Ghost Forest. We require the strength of an otherworlder to push them back and regain the peace the Dahlia Kingdom has worked to hard to protect.”

 

Typical. They want to use me as a soldier.

 

“Those barbaric draconians and parasitic majin dare threaten our lovely kingdom’s peace! We implore you to lend us your aid, O’Lady Hero of Ours.” He gave me a very vague look, almost poker-faced, but a slight upward curve of his lips told me that whatever he was going to say next was filled with malicious intent. “May we know your name, O’Lady Hero of Ours?”

 

There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my gut. My stomach churned just by looking at the slight half-smirk the King gave me. A glint in his eyes rang warning sirens in my ears. Something told me I shouldn’t answer his question.

 

My instincts screamed not to trust him.

 

My mouth moved as smoothly as possible. “Allyson Parker.”

 

I lied. Everywhere I went, I spewed lies left and right.

 

And what I said to the King… .That was my very first lie in another world.