Story Hub: [link]
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0 //~~~//
“I don’t care anymore. I quit!” The black-haired maid slammed her fist on the table, leaving a nice dent in the mahogany wood. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was a mess, and her uniform was in tatters. The girl couldn’t have been older than twenty, yet her eyes told a different story.
“You can’t-” A well-dressed blonde woman tried to reply.
“No, forget it,” the maid turned on her heel, “that brat is completely out of control. I didn’t train my whole life just to be a babysitter.” She ripped off her apron and threw it on the ground before marching toward the door.
“Caenia, please,” the blonde pleaded. “Let’s take a moment to think and let cooler heads prevail.”
“I did think,” Caenia stopped, “and I realized I wasted my whole life on this stupid tradition.” The maid turned towards the other woman as her voice trembled. “Get someone else to do it, you stupid cow, because you’ll never see me again.” With that said, the maid kicked the door open and marched out.
“Caenia!” The blonde tried to follow.
“Go ahead, try and stop me. I dare you!” Caenia swore as she stomped away. The blonde didn’t follow; she simply stood there, completely stunned. Once the dust had settled, another maid dared to approach her.
“Lady Aphros, what do we do know?” The maid inquired. “Caenia was the last member of the family of age. Who will attend the third princess now?”
“No,” Aphros shook her head, “she wasn’t the last. There is another.” The blonde looked wistfully out a nearby window that displayed the city’s skyline.
…
“Who?” The maid asked.
“I’m trying to be dramatic here,” Aphros fumed.
“Oops, sorry,” the maid bowed.
\\~~~\\
//~~~//
In a possible future, in a world not unlike our own, one single kingdom rose as the dominant and only power. It was an ethereal realm with castles made of gemstones and technology so great it was indiscernible from magic. A land where humanity had advanced so far that to live in comfort and excess was the standard, and a life of hard labor and servitude was a rarity. It was known as the kingdom of Celene.
To be a worker, a servant, or a laborer in this kingdom was seen as a mark of honor. They were the 1% who slaved their lives away so others may prosper. Such a great sacrifice was recognized and rightfully praised. Alas, to be a worker was not a simple choice but a burden granted at birth. As in our time, where being noble meant being part of a family lineage, a worker was a sort of birthright in this kingdom. Grand worker families spread their branches across the domain. To be born in one meant a life of hard work and labor, no matter your personal opinion.
However, their best and brightest were chosen for the highest of honors, to be the personal servants for the eternal royal family that ruled this ethereal kingdom. Among those best and brightest exists one family, the Diane. For generations, that family has held the grandest honor of being the only ones allowed to attend the Queen and her daughters. However, such an exclusive honor can create odd results in exceptional circumstances. Such abnormal results greatly influenced the life of a certain young woman who knew naught of what her family history truly meant.
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I //~~~//
Eptáber 12th 757
As her alarm went off, Serena quickly shut the device and dragged herself out of bed with a yawn. A glance at the clock revealed it was 8:23 am, which meant school started in a little over half an hour. Good thing she only had a five-minute commute. The girl looked around her room; it was about 70 square meters. Most of her peers thought it was too small, but she didn’t mind. The stand-out features were the multiple shelves of books she never read, the half dozen posters she got at the movies ten years ago, and the 250-centimeter television. However, the handful of old toys, games, and bird figurines that dotted the space made it feel like home.
Serena passed before a mirror and glanced at her reflection; a seventeen-year-old girl with bright blue eyes and medium-length raven hair stared back. With a sigh, the teenager went through her morning routine in fast-forward and was downstairs dressed and cleaned up by 8:37 am. Not quite a new record, but good enough.
The raven-haired girl’s stairs ran right down into the kitchen, where her mother was putting the finishing touches on breakfast. Or rather, her mother was taking the breakfast out of the automated machine that made breakfast for them. As the parent and child crossed paths, they shared a glance.
“Don’t’ be late, Serena,” her mother advised as she handed her child a piece of toast with an egg on it. The older woman sported the same hair as Serena but wore it much longer. She also had the same blue eyes, although they appeared a little duller from age.
“I won’t be,” Serena assured, took the toast, and ate it on her way out the door. With a pep in her step, the teen raced out into their yard. The 500-square meter building that was her home and the even larger surrounding property felt like a trial to run across every morning. Serena briefly wondered how her many neighbors with even larger properties dealt with it. Thankfully, the pathways that ran around her home were partially automated and zipped her to the street in a minute.
Serena spared a glance towards the many small machines that roamed around the neighborhood, cleaning trash and trimming lawns. Serena shrugged at the familiar sight and pilled into a smooth, almost bubble-shaped vehicle sitting in the street. With the click of a few buttons, the machine lifted off the ground, and the next thing Serena knew, she was at school after a blur of a trip.
Serena took a first uneasy step out of the vehicle; she never could get used to being carted around at the speed of sound. As the teenager looked back the way she came, her home wasn’t anywhere in view, but why would it? She had gone straight from the suburbs into the heart of the city.
The city of New Celene was quite a magnificent, if gaudy, place. Serena didn’t know what possessed the architects to build all the structures out of crystals and gemstones. All the buildings outside the city, like her home, were constructed with steel, brick and/or wood. However, the teen had long since stopped questioning it and simply walked towards her school built of sapphires.
The school day went by in a blur for Serena, who was only looking forward to the weekend. At least the teachers for her morning class were enthusiastic about the material, not that her classmates showed them any respect or attention. By the afternoon, all they had left were the apathetic teachers who barely did anything. Yet, her classmates behaved perfectly for them.
‘Freaking double standards,’ Serena thought as she left school around 1:30 pm. Her classmates scrambled out of the building as fast as they could, but the teen just took her time, avoiding the crowd. As she made her way down the school’s front steps, Serena looked to her left to see a group of girls gossiping. She looked to her right to see a boy and girl walking away while holding hands. Straight ahead, she saw a mixed group running off to play sports. The raven-haired girl sighed and moved on. Serena didn’t feel like taking the transport back, so she decided to walk through the city for a bit.
The gem-ladened city shined from all angles. Every street was a breathtaking sight, as long as you didn’t stare toward the sun. Every building seemed crammed with luxury shops for clothing, food, furniture, and, of course, jewels. The city’s wealth practically bled into the streets.
The crowds of regular folk walked casually through the city, sparring not a single look towards the sights that had long since become mundane for them. However, Serena spied a few working people dotted among the crowds. Their posture and movements were impeccable, albeit rigid. Alas, they seemed almost panicked in Serena’s eyes, as though they were mere moments from something disastrous.
The fear revealed itself to be well founded when a young worker coordinating a bunch of garbage-collecting robots accidentally kicked a fallen can. The small piece of trash hit some well-dressed man’s shoes. His face instantly turned red, and he broke into a ferocious yell.
“You got your garbage on my shoes, you idiot. Do you know how much these cost?” The man screamed.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the young worker cowered. Serena looked away from the scene in disgust. However, despite her best efforts, the teen seemed to run into a similar sight at least once every other block. If it wasn’t some woman yelling at the lone worker at a fast-food restaurant, then it was a man criticizing a retail employee’s work ethic.
‘How ridiculous can people be?’ Serena groaned and ducked into a coffee shop for some quiet. Alas, her moment of solace was short-lived, as several of her classmates were already inside the establishment. A group of gossiping girls saw Serena enter and immediately started talking in hushed whispers. ‘Apparently, that ridiculous,’ the teen resisted the urge to gag.
Serena bought a coffee from an automated machine and sat as far away from her peers as possible. Thankfully, a nearby television was on to distract her from her obnoxious classmates. Unfortunately, it had been tuned to a gossipy, celebrity and politics news program starring four hosts with wacky haircuts.
“…and that’s all for the royal family news,” the black-haired female host said, who wore her hair in two pyramid-shaped buns.
“They never fail to entertain,” a silver-haired host with three braided ponytails commented.
“But onto juicier news,” a brunette host with hair that looked like a modern art project gone wrong announced. “Lady Aphros is at it again.”
“After last week’s formal ball went up in flames, quite literally,” the last host, a green-haired woman adorned with bird feathers worn like a crown, added. “The high noble has already gone into full damage control, assuring it was all just a misunderstanding.”
“Which would be no big deal on its own,” the pyramid-haired woman interrupted, “if it wasn’t for the fact that who else but Lord Adonis vouched for her.”
“Oh, they’re speaking again?” The brunette laughed.
“Apparently,” the silver-haired host confirmed. “Now they’re both going on and on about forging a better future for the kingdom.”
“Quite impressive after their last public outing ended in-” The green-haired woman began. However, Serena had already exited the coffee shop, unable to listen to the trashy program any longer.
“I can’t believe people watch that trash,” Serena felt sick to her stomach sitting through that bit of television. ‘Oh well, at least I can go home where that crap will never follow me,’ the teen took solace in that fact. A brief search led her to another of the bubble machines, and mere minutes later, Serena was back in her neighborhood, only a block from home.
The place was idyllic as usual, birds sang, and children played. It was a welcome respite from the city. Even then, Serena’s walk did not go uninterrupted. As usual, young children are wild creatures, and they made faces at Serena and every other passerby. The teen ignored them, they were just obnoxious children, after all, and they weren’t hurting anybody.
A few of the kids apparently felt challenged by this and ran past and around the raven-haired girl, trying to grab her attention. But Serena remained firm in her decision to ignore them, so the children grew frustrated and then bored with her, as children tend to do. They bolted passed her again, back to their yards to find something new to occupy their time, except for one little girl at the end who tripped and fell on the sidewalk, right on her face.
‘Here we go,’ Serena rolled her eyes as she heard a flood of tears incoming. “Hey,” the teen walked over to the small child and helped her up, “are you okay?” The teen looked up and down the kid and didn’t see any scrapes or cuts.
“Uh, huh,” the little girl nodded before running off with a quick thank you.
‘Freakin kids,’ Serena shook her head and continued on her way home. ‘I’d say that completes this day,’ the raven-haired girl thought too soon.
“Halt, Serena! I challenge you!” A girl with long silver hair and red eyes jumped in Serena’s way.
‘Who is this?’ Serena scratched her head. The other girl looked familiar, but Serena had difficulty placing a name to the face. The teen silently cursed herself for being so bad at names and faces.
“You may have got the better of me last time, but this I’ll show you what for!” The silver girl declared.
“Right, and what kind of challenge is this?” Serena asked. ‘Wait, I remember now. She tried to coerce me into an eating contest last month and climbing trees a few months before that…I don’t think I ever got her name…But I do know how to deal with her…’
“Um…A challenge, like a contest, any contest,” the spirited girl replied.
“Sure, how about a race then?” The raven-haired girl offered.
“That’s fine,” the silver girl puffed out her chest and lined herself up next to Serena.
“On three then,” Serena explained, “one…two…three…go!” The silver-haired girl raced off at a pretty good pace, leaving Serena behind, who just stood there and smirked. “Seriously, who was that idiot?” The girl shrugged and finished her walk home.
\\~~~\\ II //~~~//
Serena quickly glided through her home before reaching the kitchen. As usual, her mother, Romeda, awaited her there. Her mom was staring aimlessly until she noticed her daughter approaching. Serena briefly wondered why her mother spent so much time in the kitchen, even though the older woman didn’t cook or even wash dishes. However, any inquiries were met with vague answers like “it just feels right.”
“Hello, Serena. Good day at school?” Her mother asked.
“About the usual,” Serena shrugged. They both knew school had ended almost two hours ago, but Serena’s mother never questioned where her daughter spent her afternoons. Something the teen was silently thankful for. Whether it was a sign of trust or indifference, Serena couldn’t say.
“You got another letter from a university,” Romeda pointed at a growing pile of esoteric educational offers. Some in large envelopes, others presented on cheap digital tablets, and atop them all was a single plain envelope.
“Another one? My grades aren’t that good,” Serena sighed. “I hope you don’t expect me to pick. The school year barely started.”
“Of course not,” Romeda shook her head, “but it never hurts to think about the future. Your father always said-”
‘Here we go. Dad did so much for the family and carried the entire city on his back,’ the raven-haired girl rolled her eyes while her mother lectured. “Yeah, yeah, value your future or whatever,” the teen interrupted. “Mother, I barely know what I’m doing now. How could I possibly figure out what I’m doing in the future?”
“Fine, fine,” Romeda relented.
“I still have nine months. I’ll figure it out by then,” Serena walked past her, “and if not, I’ll have plenty of time to think once school let’s out.”
“Whatever you say, Serena,” her mother. “I just want you to think about it seriously.”
“It’s not like I haven’t thought about it,” the teen threw up her hands. “I’ve been thinking about archery, or maybe something like engineering. Problem-solving feels like a good use of my energy.”
“You don’t have to work, Serena,” her mother shook her head. “You can go traveling or become an artist.”
“Nobody has to work, Mom…barring the workers,” Serena quickly corrected herself. “But I just can’t see myself flitting through life. It just sounds too boring and uneventful.”
“You’re free to think that, Serena,” Romeda replied. “I’m happy you’re really…” Her mother trailed off. The older woman’s eyes grew vacant as she clutched her left arm absentmindedly.
‘Not this again,’ the teen thought. “Mom, you still with us?” Serena tried to get her mother’s attention.
“Oh, I’m fine,” the older woman snapped out of it. “I’m going to go and think about dinner.” Romeda stepped out into the living room.
‘I just don’t get her sometimes,’ Serena turned back towards her stairs. ‘One second we’re talking, the next she’s a million miles away. What is this like the third or fourth time this month? It’s starting to freak me out.’ As the teen moved towards her room, a nameless dread washed over her. ‘Crap, and now I’m feeling it again too.’
Serena swiftly retreated to her room and dealt with the sudden bout of anxiety the only way she knew how, by playing with her hair. With just a few strokes of her brush, that ugly sensation haunting the teen began to dissipate. A couple hours and a few lazy braids later, the dread was all but forgotten. Successfully calmed down, Serena threw herself onto her bed, flicked on the television to the news, and turned on her computer. Which stat adjacent to her bed. About ten minutes later, Serena flipped the television to reruns of old cartoons, as every station insisted on airing the same half-dozen celebrity drama stories.
‘Do people have anything better to do than lap this garbage up?’ The teen wondered. ‘Apparently not,’ Serena realized as she scrolled through several social media sites covering mostly the same stories. ‘Being a low noble has enough drama. We don’t need to busy ourselves with whatever crap the high nobles have stirred up.’ Thoroughly disgusted, the teen closed down all her tabs on social media sites and let out a big sigh.
‘I’m going to find some real entertainment,’ Serena pulled out her phone. The device was an older cyber-crystal touchscreen model. It was normally thin as paper but automatically adjusted its size and thickness to fit the grip of the current user. She clicked through her phone’s bookmarks which took her to a huge archive website. ‘Let’s see, Pulp, Sci-fi, bingo,’ the raven-haired girl pulled up a massive collection of stories that predated her own civilization. ‘Ha, that’s not how lasers work...a stupid robot? How corny…I like the hero guy. Why can’t more people be like him?’ The teen whittled away the rest of her day reading the ancient fiction.
\\~~~\\ III //~~~//
Serena was never one to remember her dreams, but this time she’d make an exception. The teen saw a massive palace, a familiar sight as it was the grand centerpiece of New Celene. Her dream self passed through its halls and saw the hundreds if not thousands of people residing there. Alas, the young girl could not make out their faces, only featureless blank expressions, like dolls. They moved like clockwork, an army of faceless figures circled through the palace like an army.
Like a child watching a colony of ants, Serena was mesmerized by the sight. Her chest felt lighter watching the scene as her brain inscribed each of the hundreds of motions into her memory. Yet, her heart felt heavier the longer she watched, while some disturbing sensation gnawed at the back of her thoughts.
The teen felt herself pulled away from this sight, like a figure dangling by a string. Some force flung her higher and higher until she reached the top of the palace. There, more and more faceless people circled around a single point. Sitting above them all was a single figure who radiated an indescribable sensation. It was warm yet blinding.
Serena was struck by an unyielding familiarity, yet she could not place the figure. With no face, voice, or even details to go by, it seemed impossible to discern. Then, like a cascade of dominoes, it all clicked in place. Even her diluted, dreaming brain could recognize that within the palace, the one person who stood above all was-
The dream violently shifted, and Serena was thrown like a ragdoll and crashed through what seemed like glass. Her body sweated as what felt like flames passed over her. Feelings of anger and frustration assaulted her body like a swirling chaos. It got to the point that she couldn’t tell if they were her own thoughts or exterior invaders.
Then with a flash of yellow, the turmoil came to a swift end, and Serena crashed down into her mother’s arms. The brief moment of comfort was interrupted as a loud bang forced her back to the waking world. Yet, the teen could feel the tiniest bit of resistance to leaving her dreams. Something about looking up at her mother in that dream struck the chord of familiarity again.
\\~~~\\
IV //~~~//
Eptáber 13th 757
“Serena, wake up!” Her mother’s voice caused the teen’s eyes to flutter open. It was a weekend, so she had allowed herself to sleep in, which made the urgency in her mother’s voice all the more confusing. Serena gingerly stepped out of bed with a yawn and brushed some long locks of hair out of her face. She glanced at her mirror, and the reflection of a disheveled teen stated back. A brief thought to brush her bedhead and wash her face passed through her mind, but she dismissed them.
‘I’ll do it after I know what has mother so worked up,’ Serena assured herself and shuffled out her door and down the hall. Another yawn escaped her mouth as she lazily stepped down the stairs towards the kitchen. As the teen approached the threshold between the rooms, she first saw her mother in the gap between the stairs and ceiling. As they locked eyes, the older woman had a flash of panic. ‘What’s her proble-?’ Serena thought until she realized they had a houseguest.
The woman stood tall, with an air of authority. Serena instantly recognized her royal garb from television and pictures. The formal outfit was almost militaristic in design, resembling an officer’s uniform, but was softened enough to fit a formal occasion. Now the only problem was putting a name to the face. Blonde hair was fairly popular; the only question was, who wore it so short and wavy? The deep blue eyes and pretty face looked familiar to Serena, but she couldn’t place them exactly.
It didn’t help that something about the woman made Serena’s head feel dizzy. Maybe it was the faint aroma in the air, probably a perfume or something. Perhaps it was because the woman looked like those digitally altered photos of super models that made them appear impossibly thin and flawless. Whatever it was, this oddly familiar woman was standing in Serena’s kitchen, and the teen had no idea why.
“Lady Aphros, I apologize for my daughter’s disheveled appearance!” Romeda bowed. Serena looked down at her person, and her cheeks went beet red as she realized she was still in her pajamas.
“It’s fine. I did come by unannounced after all,” Lady Aphros giggled. Serena tried her hardest not to die of embarrassment on the spot. Of all the people in the world to see her in such a state, the only way it could be worse was if the royal family itself was here. Aphros was literally the highest-ranking noble, the Queen’s left hand, and here Serena was in her jammies, with unbrushed hair and probably something on her face.
“I’ll go and make myself presentable,” Serena tried to scramble back upstairs.
“There’s no need,” Aphros shook her head. “You don’t need to be in formal dress to be delivered news.”
“News?” Serena paused and looked to her mother for guidance. The older woman merely clutched her left arm.
“Serena Moffat,” Lady Aphros began, “do you know your mother’s maiden name?”
“No, I don’t,” Serena replied honestly.
“Well, let me be the first to tell you then,” Lady Aphros smiled. “Your mother is from the Diane family. The royal family’s personal attendants.”
“Bu...Wha...?” Serena was taken off guard. She turned back to her mother, and her mother only replied with a nod.
“I know this is coming from nowhere; however, it is a somewhat urgent matter,” the blonde woman explained. “One of your cousins was set to be the personal maid to the Queen’s youngest daughter. Alas, some complications arose, and your cousin has been deemed…unfit to hold such a position anymore. You are the only other member of the family of age to take over the role. The rest are either too young or old or already in a position.”
“You want me,” Serena pointed at herself, “to work in the palace as the princess’s maid?”
“That’s what I said, yes,” Lady Aphros replied flatly.
“I see,” Serena nodded and turned to her mother. “When were you going to tell me that you were a worker?”
“I was hoping it would never be relevant,” Romeda clutched her arm again. “It’s not something you should have had to worry about.” Serena’s mother looked at Lady Aphros, and a renewed panic suddenly consumed her eyes. “I mean… it’s a great honor to-”
“It’s fine,” Aphros held up her hand, “I understand your reservations, but yours is the only family we trust with such a responsibility.”
“So, you’re saying I don’t have a choice?” Serena asked.
“Well, I was trying to put it more gently than that, but yes,” the blonde admitted.
“Of course,” Serena gathered herself. “When do I start?”
“Before year’s end,” Aphros answered.
“That’s not even four months away,” Serena was taken aback. “This is all happening so fast-”
“I apologize; I should have been more explicit,” Lady Aphros continued. “You’ll be starting at the palace before year’s end. However, there is a certain amount of training and preparation you must be put through to fulfill your role properly.”
“How long does that take?” Serena asked, unable to hide her concern.
“Normally, upwards of ten years,” Aphros revealed, and Serena’s expression immediately dampened. “However, due to the unique circumstances, we’ll put you through an accelerated course of two or three months to cover the essentials. Then the rest can be taught on the job, so to speak.”
“W-wonderful,” Serena forced a smile. ‘Oh Lord, why me? I don’t know the first damn thing about being a worker. I can’t do this. But what am I supposed to do, tell her no?’
“I understand your reservations, but this is an important job,” Lady Aphros began to walk away. “I shall return in a week’s time. Please get your affairs in order and prepare only your essentials to take with you.” With that, the noble left Serena’s home, leaving the young girl and her mother with more than a bit of whiplash.
‘Oh Lord,’ with Aphros gone, the teen allowed her panic to consume her. ‘A week, I have a week to drop everything? What about my future? I wasn’t joking about archery and engineering. I wanted to…I wanted to…’
“Mother, what do we-?” Serena looked back to see her mother failing to fight back a flood of tears.
“I’m sure this will be good for you, Serena. You’ll make me proud, I know it,” her mother assured. Serena said nothing and gave her mother a hug. The two stood together silently for what felt like forever.
To Be Continued…
>>>~~~~<<<
Sometimes a life changing event can come from out of nowhere, but perhaps it was always laying in wait.
Author Notes: Finally, after way too long the first chapter of the Maid in Fantasy rewrite is out into the world. The second and third chapters are close to completion as well, so those shouldn't take as long.
As for this chapter, it's gone over an extreme expansion. Almost all the content from the original version is still here, but it's just the end of the chapter rather than the whole thing. The first version was written on a whim, meant to be part of a much shorter overall arc, but I had too much fun writing and turned it into a series. However, since the original chapter wasn't written with a series in mind, it was short and didn't bother with details, because they weren't needed.
Now that this is the first installment in a series, I felt the need to elaborate on Serena's life before she was "hired", show what she had to lose. I also took it as a chance to spruce up the presentation a little.
*Also for those confused about the Eptáber Xth 757 headers, that's the in-universe date. For reference, they're about to enter autumn of the 757th year of their kingdom.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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