The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 1 - New arrivals

           Lizzie walked awkwardly towards spawn, adjusting her mask that hid her feline features. Soon she wouldn't need it anymore. You don't have to follow through yet. They don't know yet. A voice in her head reminded her, but Lizzie shrugged it off. She had been thinking about this decision for a while. She had been hiding the fact that she was an anthropomorphic cat from her fellow rulers, worrying about what they could do to her for being so different, but after so long of meeting them and bonding with them and doing all sorts of things with them, she felt that she couldn't put it off any longer. She owed it to them to learn the truth about her, after everything that had happened. 

           Spawn was a massive stone castle that all the emperors had helped to build together. The castle consisted of twelve towers surrounding a circular main room in the middle, and each emperor got to build up and decorate a singular tower based on the decor, palette, and build style of their empires. Of course, there were thirteen empires, and not twelve, but False, the grand architect of Cogsmeade, had been asleep for most of the important proceedings so she was quietly left out. 

           The main room had been mostly furnished by Great Witch Shelby, but a couple other people helped. It had twelve seats for each emperor, arranged in a circle. The walls were made of white and gray bricks with doors leading to each tower, labelled by the respective empire's banner, and shelves of fancy tomes filled up the spaces in between the doors. The ceiling was no less fancy; boasting a beacon chandelier decorated with clusters of amethysts and shards of diamonds. Braids of glowberry vines and ivies dangled down from the ceiling, clinging to the walls and trailing to the floor.

           All the other rulers were at spawn waiting for Lizzie when she got there. False, finally awake after being asleep for too long, Joel, still wearing the Crown that let him command the other emperors, Jimmy, still short, fWhip, green and jokey, Joey, eying Katherine, Shelby, with white hair and also eying Katherine, Katherine, trying to not look at either of them, Pix, still ghostly and see-through, Oli, playing a tune, Gem, looking bright and regal, Scott, wearing even more colorful clothes than usual, and Sausage, eating an empanada. They all perked up when they saw Lizzie. Joel noticed her first. "Oh, Lizzie, took you long enough." "Why'd you call us all to spawn?" Joey asked. "You said it was an urgent matter," Pix added. 

           Lizzie froze, staring at all of them. Now or never. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to tell you all a secret I have told absolutely no one in my life whatsoever." Everyone looked slightly more interested and leaned forward in their seat. Lizzie closed her eyes and took off her mask with a dramatic flourish. Then she opened her eyes and looked at all of them. "I'm secretly a cat." 

           She paused, waiting for the shocked reactions. None came. Pirate Joe even yawned. "Is that it? When're you gonna reveal the dramatic secret?" Lizzie was taken aback. Why were they not surprised? "Um, that was the dramatic secret." Lizzie explained, feeling foolish. Sausage raised his hand. "Uh, Lizzie, I don't know how to tell you this, but we already knew. All of us." Everyone nodded. Lizzie took a step backward, feeling awkward and embarrassed now. "What?! Really?!" "Yes, Lizzie, we've literally been calling you 'the cat lady' behind your back," Scott said. Lizzie just stood there, dumbfounded. "How did you know I was a cat?!"

           "Lizzie, just look at yourself," Gem told her. Sausage fished out a mirror from somewhere and gave it to the mayor, who studied her reflection. "What? I did a good job at hiding my feline species." "Your tail is sticking out of your clothes," Joel said. "You don't even wear gloves; we can all see your paws," Scott said. "That was how I found out." Lizzie felt more and more foolish with every word the other emperors said. "But... but I thought a human mask and wig would work to hide me!" The mayor sputtered. "Lizzie, pink hair is nice, but a pink wig doesn't look exactly natural," Shelby said, patting her shoulder. "Not to mention that your mask doesn't change with your expression and looks totally fake," fWhip pointed out. 

           "Oh. I guess I wasn't that good at hiding my secret, was I?" Lizzie said, feeling very small. "Nope," Everyone said at once. "But... but why did none of you tell me that you knew?!" Lizzie blew up, feeling mad and betrayed and embarrassed all at once. I thought I could trust them enough to tell me something important like this! All the other emperors looked at the ceiling, at the floor, at each other, at every direction but at Lizzie. "Well..." Katherine started. "We didn't want you to feel worried that we knew." "But now I know you know, and I'm mad about it," Lizzie huffed. 

           And then twelve more people suddenly teleported into spawn right next to them. Jimmy yelped, Shelby screamed. Sausage looked around confusedly and said, "That wasn't me, right? I thought I got my multiversal magic under control already!" One of the new arrivals perked up at the sound of his voice and looked around, unsure of where it was coming from. That was when Lizzie had a shocking realization. 

           The new arrivals looked just like them.