Chapter 1 -

"... yeah I've got the papers thanks mum, okay. Okay, alright I've really got to go, alright, bye, bye". Having to repeat himself multiple times in order to get his mother off the phone, the young man tucked his phone back in his pocket. He was currently running late for a presentation he promised his professor to give to the rest of the class. He'd prepared the blueprints the night before but hadn't actually thought of what he would say and how he would structure the talk. For extra credit he'd offered to give the talk to the professor who agreed wholeheartedly, but now regretted the hole he had dug for himself, despite how much he enjoyed the topic of the presentation.

'Ah come on' he noticed his shoe had become untied. As he bent down to tie it back up he thought how taking a detour through the university's garden as an intended shortcut only ended up in him getting lost. Glancing at his watch he realised he'd have to start running, but upon getting back to his feet he found himself in very different surroundings. The paving stones that guided walkers through the garden remained the same but the benches and encompassing students had disappeared. To the right of him the grassy area had expanded tenfold and unique trees were dotted through the peaceful landscape. The university's towering buildings that neighboured the small park had also disappeared, in place of the remarkably flat green expanse. A rather large lake was set on the left of the young man, and he could just make out some buildings on the opposite side. The paving stones were seemingly placed next to the lake throughout its circumference, creating a serene garden walkway. 'What the…' the young man thought, a faint smile formed on his face as he breathed out an exasperated laugh, wondering just how his situation had turned from bad to worse. Not only had he gotten lost, he had now lost complete track of where on earth he was.

A faint cry in the distance grew louder as the young man turned behind him, "Master Vitervo? Is that you?" He noticed an older man barreling towards him, not quite running or walking, just moving with great intent. As the older man got closer he saw the peculiar outfit he was wearing, a smart black jacket with grey trousers, and a fancy-looking white shirt beneath the ornamental jacket. The elder gentleman grabbed him by the collar of his coat and began inspecting him. "Useless child", he spat out. "We've been looking for you all morning. What are you even wearing?". The young man didn't appreciate how he was being ragged around and batted his oppressor's arm away "Do you wanna get off me you old fart, I've never even seen you before and I've got no clue where I am?" The young man couldn't believe how his morning was turning out. He was normally respectful towards his elders but there was something about the old man that rubbed him up the wrong way. Adopting a more stern but reasonable tone, the well-dressed man carried on, "This is rich even for you young master. I am unaware of what you've actually been up to this past morning but your presence is requested in the main palace. Get yourself changed and meet His Grace in his private study" "Where exactly would I get changed?" The old man considered ignoring him but decided to entertain the seemingly bizarre question, "Where else but your living quarters?", before pointing to the house across the lake that he had noticed earlier.

The old man had turned around and scuttled off the way he came, leaving him standing alone again. 'Master Vitervo?' he thought as he began to follow the path around the lake. 'Did I smoke something? Am I dreaming?' He had a tendency to lose track of time but had never before found himself in completely new surroundings. Deciding to play along with the situation he found himself in, for reasons that even he was unaware of, he followed the old man's instructions to meet "His Grace". As he got close to the house he noticed a girl in a maids outfit struggling to carry two large sheets in her dainty arms. He veered off course to help her - "Any help with that?", his sincere question was only met with a disgusted expression on the girl's face. "I think I'll be alright, thanks anyway Master". He was surprised that such a simple offer would be met with sheer antipathy. As she began to walk off he casually called to her again "You don't have to call me master you know". The girl turned around with a more puzzled look this time, "At your request, Sansevastian". Looking around to see if the maid was talking to anyone else with a name as stupid as "Sansevestian", he quickly realised he had been mistaken for this person again, similar to the old man. He watched her continue to struggle with the sheets as she took off down the garden path, before losing interest and entering the miniature courtyard that the man had pointed to earlier.

From across the lake it looked like a singular building at most, but he realised the area offered more than it seemed. Three houses surrounded a simple stone fountain, with a barn and stables tucked further back. A few empty stalls populated the spaces between the houses that were arranged in a circle around the fountain. Walking up to one of the houses he noticed two more girls dressed in the same outfit as the one earlier. They were washing clothes using a Victorian method, which further threw off the young man. One of them spotted that he was approaching and nudged the other, before they both stopped what they were doing, turned towards him and stood upright with their hands clasped in front of them. Taken aback by the formality of the situation, he took a moment to remember his question. "... uh, could one of you point me to my living quarters perhaps?" One of them looked down and held in a laugh as the other simply smirked and pointed to the house across from them. Not bothering to thank them he headed for the house, but he could've sworn one of them had just called him a disappointment under her breath?

Opening the obnoxiously loud wooden door to a house that could only be described as medieval, he found himself in a quaint little kitchen, with what seemed like a living quarters towards the back of the house. He followed the stairs that led up to the second floor, opening different doors until he saw what appeared to be a bedroom. As he dumped his bag and clothes in the bottom of the wardrobe he looked through the clothing rail. Never before had he seen such an odd collection of trousers, shirts, jackets and even some awfully smart-looking shoes. Opting for trousers he could only describe as chinos, and a casual pale-blue shirt he began to tie up the posh pair of brown shoes that were already strewn across the floor when he entered the room. Remembering what happened the last time he tied up his shoes, he shut his eyes as he did both of them up, hoping to find himself back in a place he at least recognised. He opened his eyes to the same bedroom, chuckling to himself about how absurd he was being. 'Where the fuck am I?'. He didn't know of a place like this for miles around the university, or a place like this anywhere for that matter.