Gender Roles are Reversed in this World

Summoned in Pajamas

Do well in school. Get into a good university, and get a degree in a respectable field. Then, get a stable job live comfortably as a responsible adult contributing to society. What an absolute load of horse s**t. October had done well on the first half of that list. But, apparently, four-year degrees in science didn't count for much these days. In fact, they only seemed to count for making October uniquely qualified to bag groceries and cook short-order meals at a local grocery and cafe combo. 

That Fine Arts Degree that October's parents were always warning her about was starting to seem pretty good in comparison. Get a Chemistry Degree, they said. It's so much more stable than Art, they said. Well, now all of October's studio friends might be just as dead inside as her, but at least they made more than eight dollars an hour. Jesus Christ. Maybe it would have seemed less hopeless if October was the only one. But, half the kitchen and the entirety of the register staff had at least one four-year degree, and none of them seemed able to find any work

other than slinging pork chops into the fryer--or another form of retail hell. 

October spent a lot of time feeling crushed under the weight of unfulfilled promises. Promises about jobs, if only she'd be a good girl and study hard. If only she'd keep on sending in job applications and be a 'self-starter.' Whatever that meant. There were other promises, too. Like the promise that she'd find someone to love. God. What bullshit. 

What was waiting for October after college was nothing but debt, and a handful of failed attempts at online dating that she'd rather not think about. Well, and the endless questions from her parents about when she was going to get a 'real job' and find a boyfriend. So, like every other day, October counted the minutes on the clock until her shift was over. Then, she clocked out, and walked to the back--where her bicycle was chained to a fence in the grassy strip between cafe's shopping strip and the one behind it. 

She wound up the short length of chain, and put it in her backpack with the lock. And, for the fifth time that week, October took her bike helmet out from her backpack and thought about whether or not it was worth it to put on. Yeah. Better just do it. Traffic accident deaths were probably painful. 

Coward, said one part of her mind. Yeah. That was about right. October huffed a breath out of her nose, and headed home. 

The apartment was dark when October arrived. Fall was rough pulling closing shifts at Lucky Clover, mostly because of the wet and the cold. But, the dark was the worst. She flipped on the light, put her backpack on its hook by door. Then she closed the door, and slid down to the floor and sat. 

Only a handful of cardboard boxes remained in the once cluttered apartment common room. Melissa was just about moved out--and took all of her real furniture with her. All that was left was probably kitchen tools she didn't especially care about, and a couple of markers that managed to roll somewhere out-of-sight. And maybe like...one of her planner decorations that she didn't like anymore, October guessed. 

Ugh. So much for the oasis of leftovers and meals that October didn't have to cook herself. October felt like crying. It was amazing how the concept of having to do something else after shift seemed so impossible. Come on. It was just going to be ramen with veg and one egg again. So why did she want to just forget it and go to bed? Why did it feel so big? 

She only managed a few sniffs before peeling herself off the floor. Forget it. The tears wouldn't come. October cooked her dinner, but didn't bother to use a bowl. The pot was just fine with a kitchen towel between it and her desk. Besides, a bowl meant more dishes that she wouldn't have the time to wake up and clean before her shift began the next day. Ugh. Just how depressing was that? 

At least October's room was still the same. Art covered the walls in cheap dollar-store frames. A handful of plush friends peeked out from her crowded Walmart bookcases--which were now bowing under the weight of her collection. The bookcases were more or less organized by subject-matter, including watercolors, web coding, and editing manuals. There were no textbooks from October's university days. Most of those could be sold back at over $50 each, if she was quick about it. 

The most crowded part of the room was the desk--covered in a pile of sketchbooks on one side. On the other side, a five-gallon fish tank took up the tidiest space. Cords from the aquarium filter and heater piled in a knot that fell behind the desk. October's aging laptop sat in the middle space, with a few mugs of dried drinks scattered about. 

"Hey, FancyFins," October sighed, sinking onto the balance ball in front of the desk, "did you have another hard day in the wiggle mines?" 

FancyFins, the steel blue, long-finned bettafish in the dank, blew a bubble from his permanently puckered mouth. Then he flapped his long, decorative fins a few times. 

"Yeah, that's pretty rough, buddy," October said. She opened a desk drawer and took out a small plastic bottle of premium betta pellet food. She always bought the good stuff for FancyFins. If $20 a month meant at least one of them ate well, then it was worth it. Plus, he seemed a lot more excited about the premium pellets from the pro betta breeders than the ones October could find in the pet store. One, two, three pellets. 

FancyFins splashed in a silken whirl of metallic fins. He zoomed around the tank once, then gobbled up the last two pellets with a flourish. Then, he went about his fishy business of scavenging around the tank, looking for some miracle snack that might have escaped his notice. Good for him. 

October oozed out of her old university hoodie, throwing it onto the bed, and settled onto the balance ball. Ok. She'd just check her emails and maybe read some webcomics before making dinner. Enough time to drink from her favorite water bottle, and hopefully relax enough to make cooking dinner possible. 

Alright. Form email. Form email. Form email. A few rejections from job applications. An email from her Aunt--probably mad that October said she couldn't fly out for her cousin's wedding later that month. Come on. October barely made more than minimum wage, and there was no way her manager was going to let her have that time off. Even if she could take it off, with Melissa would be off the lease in a month and there was no telling if October would find someone to fit the rent gap in that time. Ugh. That was just one more thing that October couldn't bring herself to think about. 

She managed to put together a warm bowl of ramen and cheap vegetables about an hour after looking at her emails. At some point, October's parents called, just to let her know that her aunt was really upset. Couldn't she do something about it? Wasn't there some way that she could make it over? Geeze. That took up another hour. October had a habit of keeping time on these things. An hour was about average. She did get the dishes scrubbed and soaked during the call, which was one small victory. 

Next up, job applications. At this point, October would be happy to get anything over $12 an hour, or something that let her sit down at a desk. The balance ball was helping with her back pain, but she couldn't swing expensive shoes. Sooner or later, it was going to come back to bite her. Alright. Five more openings that week. It had gotten to the point where October had applied to just about everything within her experience level and education level within 30 minutes on bike from the apartment. The only problem with the bike was the highway. She'd be willing to go up to 50 minutes away on bike--but only if she could keep off the highway. It would get rougher during the winter. But, what could she do? 

Job applications sent off, October turned off the aquarium light above FancyFins's tank, dried her hair, and then tried to force herself to sleep. Or, failing that, at least relax. 

What were the odds that she'd get another call or email about that wedding tomorrow? Pretty high. Ian was her Aunt's little golden boy. Went to college when he was 12. Became a doctor when he was barely over 20. And, now, he'd finally found someone to marry him who didn't mind the fact that he had the social maturity of a seven-year-old or couldn't take care of himself. Or, the fact that Aunt Mary liked to drop in at Ian's place unannounced, as often as five times a week. 

At least that meant Aunt Mary would stop taking October to introduce Ian to her young, single friends. Everyone was tired of that. Especially Aunt Mary's commentary about how October should have more successful, or at least prettier, friends. Yeah. Nobody was going to miss that one. 

October double-checked the alarm on her phone. Then, she snuck a peak at Melissa's i********: account, sighed, and then rolled over. 

Perfect, beautiful, funny, talented Melissa. Melissa, who managed to escape retail and food service with talent alone. God. What she wouldn't have given to be Melissa.

At some point, sleep finally came for October. But, she tossed and turned, haunted by the vague dream story that she could have been Melissa--if only she hadn’t missed one, singular, necessary thing. It could have been her. It could have been her. 

October could have a million followers on YouTube and i********:. She could have fans that sent her gifts, and add revenue that meant she could not just pay her rent, but buy nice things for herself. She could have had enough brand deals to actually move out of this apartment and into a real home. A place she didn’t have to worry about the laundry machines constantly leaking, or the garbage disposal being the cheapest thing that the landlord could get away with using. 

That one thing, she missed it. And the dream spiraled closer. It showed all the times October had missed it, all the times she had a shot at everything that could have been. In a cold sweat, October choked on her own restless snore and woke up.

But, what woke her was not the alarm for work, the garbage truck, or the couple next door fighting. Instead, it felt like someone had turned her mattress over and dumped her on her ass, on the cold tile floor. 

Someone said something in a grand, booming voice. But, October couldn't quite make it out in her confusion. Her apartment was gone. Instead, the sunlight beamed in from complicated stained glass windows. Each pattern depicted a woman in extravagant clothing, surrounded by flowers and animals of different kinds. The floor was made of some bright, cold, smooth stone. And there were a handful of people standing around, each of them in fancy clothes. All of them staring at October and her Pokemon pajamas. 

"Thank you for accepting our summons to this world, Land Soul," a tall woman with handsome features bowed at the waist, a gentle smile on her face. 

The tall woman wore a loose dress--maybe a robe. It was a steel grey, with embroidery of lilies and other vines in pearly white. She had a pretty average build, but her demeanor reminded October of the playground monitors she always got in trouble with when she was a kid. A few people within the gathered group began whispering, but a few glances from the woman in grey were enough to silence the room once again. She paused, waiting for absolute silence. October noticed that there was a string of tiny pearls and silver beads forming glasses string for the tall woman. Each pearl was perfectly round, and shone with a satiny, cold, blue brilliance within their pale color. 

"My name is Lady Vivi, and I will explain your current situation," she said. 

"I am a member of the advisory council to the Empress. You have been summoned from your world to ours in order to serve Her Highness, The Empress, by revitalizing land," Lady Vivi continued talking. 

"Our world has faced many tragedies, but your abilities will help us return it to life. But, we would not ask you to do so without knowledge or training. We invite you to stay at the imperial palace to learn the ways of our world and your power." 

It felt like a dream. Of course, this sort of thing only happened in video games. Most likely, October thought, she'd broken her string of nightmares about getting to work late or somehow being back in high school. In its own way, that was nice. Maybe she'd actually wake up refreshed, for once. Even if it was just a fantasy, October would love to just toss away all the garbage in her life and just indulge. 

Lady Vivi spoke at length about things like magical theory, honor, and duty. October supposed that sort of thing might be real in a dream world. That would certainly make a pretty good dream. 

"Lady Vivi, it would be my highest honor to accept such an important task. But, if I am not to return to my own world, I must be assured of the safety of my companion, Sir FancyFins," October said. 

It would be fun to see how that would work out. 

Lady Vivi paused, then snapped her fingers. Another woman, this one in a jade green robe, walked to the front. 

"Please see to it that the Land Soul's familiar is safely summoned tonight," Lady Vivi said. 

The other woman nodded her head, returning to the rest of the group. Those remaining women seemed to turn inward as a group, quietly chatting about gathering reagents and another mystic-sounding talk. That would really be something, if FancyFins ended up showing in this dream as well. October internally laughed. Maybe it would be a grand adventure for him, too. Although, she couldn't imagine what FancyFins would do in a fantasy dream. Probably just look for more pellets to eat. Fancy, fantasy pellets! 

October didn't pay much attention to the way Lady Vivi lead her around what was apparently the imperial palace. It was all a dream anyway, so there was no point in trying to remember. Probably, the walls would just move on their own, or October would just get lost at the convenience of the dream's plot. Utterly pointless. 

Lady Vivi eventually lead her down a hall where the walls were all intricately painted with green forests, lush with dark trees and flowering plants in a variety of colors. Even the ceiling was painted, tree boughs coming together to loosely conceal puffy clouds that lead way to an inky dark sky and unfamiliar stars. The support beams on the walls were also carved with delicate geometric patterns with floral accents. The flowers on the wood were all gilded in a warm-colored metal, or maybe painted. October doubted that she would know what actual gilding looked like. So she wasn't sure if her dream would know either. 

October was left at a suite, complete with sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom. Lady Vivi told her to wait and rest. Dinner, and her familiar, would be brought when they were ready. As soon as Lady Vivi closed the double doors behind her, October flopped onto the couch in the sitting room. There was no point in sleeping in a dream, especially if fantasy dream food was coming. Hopefully, she could find some other interesting items in the room to hold her over until that, or until she woke up.