"Tommy you idiot!" Diamond gritted her teeth as she climbed out of the water. She finally remembered her friend could swim; he must have stayed underwater for some time to trick her into the pool. She sat on the ground, wet from head to toe, smelling like...fish? Feeling something wriggling in her hair, she felt for her hair and gave a yelp of surprise before shaking her head hard, sending some tiny fishes the size of anchovies to the ground. She could not be certain but from the smell of the water, the writhing thing in her hair, she had just swam in a fish pond. But wasn't it supposed to be a clear swimming pool? Did she remembered wrongly...

Diamond frowned. Her surroundings felt strange to her; it seemed she was in a different place altogether. The night seemed darker than before, and what was supposed to be the modern furnishing around the pool were replaced with neatly trimmed shrubs and small pretty paths made of round polished pebbles. She supposed it was a garden of sort, probably owned by some kind of rich person, judging by the neat beautiful landscaping. The air smelled sweet of grass and flowers save for the wet fishy smell that was slowly drying on her. She rubbed her arms for warmth and frowned some more in thought. What was happening? It was only moments ago when she jumped into the pool to save her friend and now she ended up in the middle of somebody's garden of nowhere. Diamond shook her head to rid her mind of jumbled thoughts. She had to face the present; it was pointless to wonder about the past when it clearly did nothing to provide her the answers she needed.

Diamond stood, shivering. She had to get something dry to wear quick and if possible, a nice warm bath or risk coming down with fever and terrible cold. She walked barefooted on the pebbled path, muttering a few low curses at her friend for causing her such predicament. Her brown eyes swept around the area for sign of human activity. There were people moving in hurried paces into a building, in which she realised was a grand mansion. Feeling curious, Diamond followed an elderly couple who was too absorbed about the fact that they had arrived quite late to be bothered by the girl's presence behind. She ventured along the hallway, keeping her head down pretending to be more interested at the ground beneath her or looking away whenever she sensed curious eyes on her. Once or twice she dared a peek at those who looked her way, and they were mostly girls in black and white dresses, presumably servants in that wealthy household. 

"Oh my, how breathtaking..." The elderly man in front of her spoke in awe as they entered into a luxurious ballroom. Rubbing her arms for warmth, Diamond shuffled to the side of the room to observe as inconspicuously as possible. From her vantage point, she could see the crowd, at least a hundred or more, gathered around some kind of stage. One could tell the people attending the event, a party she gathered from the various delicacies served at the side tables, were of the rich sort judging from how they portrayed their wealth with gold and jewels on their necks, hands and lovely colourful clothing. The servants stood out in contrast, their black-and-white forms moving in and out of the crowd with heads lowered and men in dark blue suits littered across the room, dishing out drinks and refilling glasses after glasses. Faint music filled the air and the crowd seemed captivated by a dancer's performance. [i]Hmm, a party[/i], Diamond thought. She felt like joining the crowd to watch the performance, but the pressing need of wearing dry clothes made her turn to one of the servant girls who happened to walk unconsciously towards her.

"Hi, I'm sorry but is there any dry clothes you can spare me? I..." she paused for a while, "...fell into the pond accidentally and lost my shoes there. I would appreciate it if I can get a bath, if not, just some dry clothes is fine." The servant girl about her age jumped in surprise at being addressed and she stared at her wide-eyed as though she had seen a ghost. The girl looked about a few times as though afraid somebody would come and give her a few spankings before she answered Diamond in a small voice with eyes downcast, her expression half-puzzled and half-afraid. "My Lady...I could bring you to the fitting room...there might be one two spare gowns that might be of use to you..." The girl glanced at Diamond nervously before moving away with small quick steps. Diamond shrugged to herself and giving the crowd one last look, she took after the girl's lead.

***

"Oh gosh, this feels soooo gooooooood...I can't believe I smell like a fish just now! Ugh! And hmm, this is pretty," Diamond said to herself as she rubbed her hair dry with a towel while looking into the mirror. She was lucky there was a pink gown made of silk and a matching pair of red shoes that suited her. Although she found the gown to be elaborate and low cut to her liking, she was not in a position to complain. She wanted to ask a few questions to the servant girl but the girl seemed uncomfortable around her and always kept her head lowered. "You look like a pitiful servant, like a slave lol," Diamond told her lightly and the girl looked up with a confused expression before returning to her submissive look. "Yes My Lady, we look like who we should be, as Master Octave's slaves." And she mumbled an excuse that she was needed elsewhere before leaving Diamond wondering alone in the room at her words.

Feeling restless, Diamond quickly dried her hair before wandering out of the building through the way led by the girl earlier. Her instinct told her the house was not a place for her to linger around for long, however fascinating its interior appeared to be. From what she gathered, the mansion she had just intruded was owned by this so-called Master Octave. And it seemed Master Octave kept slaves to do his bidding, something she disapproved coming from a world that spoke greatly of human rights.

Diamond sighed, her expression troubled. Everything seemed so weird the moment she appeared out of the fish pond. She wondered if she had stepped into a different era of the past. There were slaves to begin with, a Master Octave and rich people's party...

"Hmm, rich people's party," she mused aloud, stroking her chin in thought. Now that she was dressed like a rich girl herself, she could probably play along as one of them. And maybe with luck, she might be able to find her way back home somehow.

With a determined look, Diamond walked as ladylike as possible towards the crowd.