1 Prologue - Drowning

Bonnie fell into the clear lakewater. Tiny bubbles rose around her. Shouts could be heard from afar.

A woman was thrown into the river from a concrete bridge. Murky water surrounded her.

Bonnie flailed, not knowing how to swim. Her heavy dress pulled her deeper.

The woman struggled against the ropes binding her ankles. She could swim to the surface if only they weren't there.

Bonnie could see the shadow of a knight approaching to pull her out. Soon, she felt a hand grab her arm.

The woman's lungs were emptied as the current slammed against her body.

Bonnie was ripped from the lake's jaws and gasped for air, hacking and coughing. Her father was running towards her, a worried look on his face.

The woman lost consciousness as the murky maws drew her deeper, never to wake again.

Bonnie flipped onto her back and breathed heavily. The water was gone from her lungs, but all her mind saw was the dark, embroiled depths of an unknown river completely surround her. Quickly, scenes of memories played over the dreary water as if someone else's life was flashing before her eyes.

Slowly, the memories and cloudy water faded and Bonnie realized there were tears staining her face. Her father, the king, and her knight's faces hovered over her with concern.

"Are you able to breathe, your highness?" the knight asked.

Bonnie coughed twice before replying. "Y-yes."

King Meridian hugged his daughter close to his chest. "I'm sorry, baby. I should have been more careful."

Bonnie, still in shock, hugged her father back as hard as her muscles would allow and began crying from the intensity of it all. Her vision slowly faded away and she fainted in her father's arms.

Princess Bonnie of Allyn was never quite the same after the incident where she nearly drowned at eight years old.

~~~

It took several days before Bonnie had managed to process what had happened. The scenes she had seen in the murky water belonged to a woman named Dorothy. She saw a strange world with giant buildings made of metal and glass. These memories burrowed into Bonnie's brain and integrated Dorothy's identity with Bonnie's, right next to her new debilitating fear of water.

By the end, Bonnie had become a completely different person. Not quite Bonnie, but not Dorothy either. The two individuals no longer existed, only a strange amalgamation of the two, which made the new Bonnie sad, as if she was mourning two good friends while being those friends at the same time. It was especially sad because she had only just met one of them.

Complicated identity crisis aside, Bonnie realized something with the help of Dorothy's memories. Both Old Bonnie and Dorothy were what "modern" people called autistic. With both her predecessors being autistic, there was no way New Bonnie wasn't as well.

It now made sense why Old Bonnie had had so much trouble making friends. In this era, as a princess, she was supposed to act a certain way, at certain times, without a certain reason, and Old Bonnie hadn't learned how to make a mask and pretend to be normal yet.

Luckily, hiding her true self behind manual smiles and dreaded small talk was one of Dorothy's specialties. Although, she did sometimes seem like a robot.

Before Bonnie could continue down her train of thought, a maid knocked on the door and she forgot everything she had been thinking about.

"The king and queen are awaiting your arrival in the dining hall, your highness."

"Mm-hm." Bonnie quickly checked the mirror to make sure everything was in place. She had green eyes, dark brown hair that was almost black, brown skin, and was wearing a poofy green dress. There weren't any wrinkles in her dress or loose strands of hair, so she followed the maid to the dining hall.

Upon reaching the dining hall, the little princess ran and hugged her father, who was waiting with open arms. The queen sent her a worried gaze filled with affection.

Bonnie is such a lucky girl...

The princess shook the thoughts from her mind. There was no reason for her to be jealous of herself.

"Are you feeling any better today, Bonnie?" her father asked. "You seem much better at least."

"Mm-hm!" Bonnie nodded, maybe a bit too aggressively. She could feel her brain shake.

Bonnie sat in her chair at the table and began eating. She copied what the queen did for fun and practice. She wanted to see how long it would take her mother to sniff out the copycat.

It was going well until Bonnie didn't quite hold her cup with enough strength and it fell. Bonnie panicked and stuck out her hands, as if that would do anything.

... and then the water stopped mid air as the cup clattered to the floor without it.

The water hung there for a few seconds longer before splashing to the ground. Both the king and queen were staring at their only daughter.

Her father cleared his throat. "Ahem, please call the magic advisor to my office at once."

"Yes, your majesty," an old butler said before leaving the room. Her father left as soon as he finished eating, as well.

Later, it was revealed that Princess Bonnie could wield water water magic, likely triggered by the drowning incident.

Bonnie could only think that if the goddess were real, she must be a madwoman.