As most main characters are in stories such as these, Katherine Taylor was far from extraordinary. She went to school as she imagined every other seventeen year olds in America did, and browsed the Internet whenever she was free and had nothing to do. She had, at the age of thirteen, started a blog, but she hadn't written on it often until the age of sixteen, at which point she decided that when she got older, she would remember very little of what she had done when she was younger, and so although Katie's days were filled with dullness, she did her best to summarize her days well in posts.
In any case, I shall spare you and move on to the day of excitement. Katie was on her way back from school, her pink and grey backpack filled with homework, so she had both straps on her arms and had her thumbs coming in between the grey straps and her plain blue t-shirt.
She was three blocks away from reaching her house when a cool breeze came upon her and she felt the need to stop, so she did. In addition, she started to feel nauseous, so she closed her eyes and knelt down, clenching her stomach.
"You all right?" a male voice with a British accent inquired, Katie assumed the question was directed at her, and therefore opened her eyes, looking for a face to connect with the voice. She didn't have to search long before she saw a young man on her right, picking herbs. He had short black hair, and his ears stuck out a bit. The boy was not the first thing Katie noticed. She was in a field with many plants, mostly flowers, and a few trees. There was a medieval castle nearby.
"Er, yes," Katie replied slightly faintly. "Just a tad nauseous."
"Do you need to see the physician? I know him personally, and I'm certain he'd be more than happy to help."
"No, thank you," Katherine replied gratefully, standing. "That's unnecessary."
"Okay," the young man replied, kneeling down to pick a plant. "But if you need anything, don't be afraid to tell me."
"Very generous, thank you," Katie replied.
"Oh, it's no problem," he said, smiling at Katie. Katie returned the smile, and after looking at the city for a while, asked, "Sorry, but... what city is this?"
The man stopped gathering herbs and looked up at her. After a pause, he answered, "Camelot."
"Camelot?" Katie replied, surprised. "That," she said, pointing at the wall, "is Camelot?"
"Yeah," the young man replied. "Are you lost?"
"I don't know," Katie said faintly. "Um," she added, a bit louder. "I think I ought to see the physician, after all."
The boy nodded, stood up, started walking towards the wall, then paused, looking back. "Do you need any help?"
"No thank you," Katie replied, following him down the hill. "I'm quite sure I can walk okay."
"All right," the boy said, and started walking again, Katie close behind. "I'm Merlin, by the way."
Katie promptly stopped. "Merlin?" she asked, shocked. After a pause and receiving a short stare at her, Katie continued, "nice to meet you. My name's..." she paused again. Katherine had always introduced herself as Katie, but after thinking about it, she decided Katherine would be more suited to the time. "Katherine," she finished, and continued walking, which got Merlin to continue as well.
"Nice to meet you, Katherine." Merlin offered Katherine his hand, and Katherine shook it, surprised they shook hands in that time.
"Where did you travel from?" Merlin asked Katherine as they entered the walls.
Katherine paused. "Derbyshire," she replied, after some thought.
"Derbyshire?" Merlin asked, thinking. "I don't believe I've heard of such a place."
"Really?" Katherine replied, trying to hide her nervousness, but her voice cracked, and she knew she had failed.
"It must be a great length away," Merlin commented.
"Yes," Katherine said, nearly shouting. She was bad at being deceptive, as she was aware of previously. "Yes," she continued, more quietly this time. "It is."
The two remained quiet until they reached the door to the physician's room. "Here we are," Merlin said, opening the door.
The first thing Katherine noticed upon entering was that there were a great many bottles around, most filled with strangely colored liquids. The second thing she noticed was that there were also a great amount of books, most ancient-looking, which was surprising to Katie since this time era seemed old in itself. The third thing Katherine noticed was that the place was messily organized, and the fourth thing, or rather the first person, she noticed was an old man with somewhat long white hair and was wearing a red robe.
"Gaius," Merlin said, "this is Katherine. I found her while gathering the herbs you asked for." At this, Merlin put the few plants he had picked on one of the two tables. "She's just traveled a long way and feels a bit nauseous."
"Oh, well, sit down, Katherine," Gaius said, putting down a couple bottles he was holding and moved to pull out a chair for Katie.
"Thank you," Katherine said gratefully, sitting down. She paused a bit as Gaius picked up the herbs Merlin brought, inspecting them. "Um," Katie said, getting the two's attention. "I'm also a bit light-headed and... may be suffering a little memory loss." She said the last bit fairly quietly.
"Memory loss?" Gaius said, worried. "Do you know how much?"
Katie paused before replying. "No... quite a bit, though... I believe."
"Well," Gaius said, "I'm dearly sorry to hear that. I'll do what I can. Perhaps you'd like to lie down instead?"
Katherine simply nodded, and Merlin touched up a nearby bed before offering it to her.
"Thanks," Katherine said to Merlin before laying down.
Gaius pulled up a chair and sat next to Katherine. "Could you tell me what you remember, dear girl?"
Katherine paused. 'What should I tell them?' she wondered to herself. "Well... my name. My age, seventeen." Katie bit her lip, wondering what else she should say.
"You're from Derbyshire," Merlin put in.
"Yes, well," Katie paused again, then quietly said, "I kinda made that up. Sorry."
"It's all right, don't worry about it," Merlin said, smiling a bit. Katherine returned the smile, glad to be forgiven so easily. "You did seem to recognize the name Camelot, though."
"Yeah," Katherine admitted. "I... dunno where from, though."
"Oh," Merlin said quietly.
"You seem to have lost quite a bit," Gaius said, thinking.
"Yeah, well..." Katherine started. "Could I take a nap? I am rather tired."
"Of course," Gaius answered. "In fact, I recommend that."
"Thank you," Katherine sighed happily, and closed her eyes. She had stayed up longer than she should have the night before doing free reading, and naturally had to get up early for school.
Gaius and Merlin stepped away, talking amongst themselves, but Katherine was too busy thinking and drifting into unconsciousness to pay any mind. The last thing she thought about falling asleep was, "I wonder why they haven't commented on my clothes yet", but quite naturally, she forgot ever thinking that the moment she woke up.
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