Story Hub: [link]
\\~~~\\ I //~~~//
“Penelo! Penelo! PENELO!” Serena relentlessly shouted as Penelo dragged her and Irene through the sewers like a blind bull. “Penelo, I win!” The maid changed tactics.
“No, you don’t! Wait, when did you get here, Serena?” Penelo stopped on a dime, sending Serena and the Princess forward into a muck puddle. Well, Serena landed in the muck puddle, and Irene landed on top of her.
“Finally, now we can…be horribly lost,” Serena realized as she looked around. As one would expect, the sewers were dark, dank, and stank to high heaven. Lord knows how far away from the palace they were dragged before she got Penelo to stop. Even if they did know the way they came, it’d be a miracle to make it back, considering how dark it was.
“Wow, Serena, I didn’t know you were so serious about continuing our rivalry that you’d follow me this far,” Penelo commented. “All right, square up. Let’s finish this.”
“Penelo, you oblivious nitwit, you dragged us out here!” Serena pointed out. “I’ve been screaming at you for the past kilometer!”
“Huh, you know I did feel heavier than usual,” Penelo hummed.
“Gaah!” Serena would have slammed her head into the ground if it wasn’t covered in slime and muck and other unpleasant fluids. Speaking of which.
“It smells down here,” Irene plugged her nose. It could not be stated enough just how bad it smelled. The horrid stench of a gas station bathroom, the putrid odor of the wrong side of a meat processing plant, the disgusting waft of the inside of a diseased animal’s rectum, and many more competed to assault one’s nose. And they were all winning.
‘You’re the one who wanted to have fun in the sewers,’ Serena rolled her eyes. “But I agree. Penelo, how do we get back to the palace from here?”
“No clue,” Penelo answered. “It’s too dark to know where you’re going.”
“Then how do you navigate down here?” Serena exclaimed.
“I don’t. I just run and run until I find what I’m looking for,” Penelo explained. “Sometimes they put walls in my way, and I have to smash them.”
“Oh, this is going to be one of those long days,” Serena groaned.
\\~~~\\ II //~~~//
With no other option, the trio began to wander the sewers slowly. Serena kept Princess Irene on her shoulders so the young girl wouldn’t have to traverse the muck. The maid also eyed the river of sewage beside them suspiciously, as well as the twisted network of pipes that ran all around them. It would be just her luck to run into another burst pipe or a sudden overflow rushing through the tunnel. However, beyond all that, Penelo took most of Serena’s attention.
‘How did she get so strong?’ Serena wondered. ‘She was always stubborn and full of energy, but she was still a dainty…er, she was still an average low noble who just got in over her head all the time. Now she’s more superhuman than me or Orion, and we’ve had training from Lady Ze. Orion, more so, he’s been training his whole life, yet Penelo exceeded us in half the time? Was she always like that? No, she must have gone through hell down here. It’s the only thing that makes sense.’
“That rock is shaped kind of funny,” Penelo pointed out.
“That’s not a rock,” Serena shook her head. ‘Then again, she was always quite the character-’ A low growl and bubbling sewage water interrupted the maid’s thought. “The heck was that?” Irene gripped tightly to Serena’s neck as the two tracked the source of the sound.
A shape began to emerge from the river of sewage. It was long and rounded, but rather than standing up, it crawled toward the trio before springing up and revealing its entire body. A giant sewer leech had come to feast upon their flesh.
“What’s with all the giant animals around here?” Serena jumped away as the beast lunged at her. “Penelo, you could have warned me about this.”
“It’s just a leech,” Penelo replied.
“Just a leech?” Serena was almost stunned by Penelo’s casual demeanor. ‘That thing is big enough to eat a (regular-sized) cow and still have room for dessert.’ The maid dodged another of the beast’s assaults as it strangely avoided Penelo. Serena struggled to keep moving, having to keep Irene on her shoulders and watch for the somewhat narrow walls of the tunnel.
“Serena, make it go away!” Irene pleaded.
“Working on it,” Serena drew her hidden dagger as she kicked at the leech to no effect. Her physical blows just bounced off its slimy hide.
“Come on, Serena, you have to hit it harder than that. Stop playing around,” Penelo warned.
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Serena’s temper flared. In her burst of anger, she channeled her magic through the dagger and created a blade. “Die, you overgrown slug!” She sliced at the beast, which recoiled from the bright light as the fire sword made a sizzling contact with its skin. Serena struck true, leaving a large gash in the creature’s side. “Did I get it?”
The leech responded with a ferocious hiss and lunged at the maid again. Serena guarded herself, praying her next strike would kill the monster. But it never came to that. Penelo appeared by the leech and slammed it from above. With a single squelch, the creature was flattened like a slug on an active basketball court.
“Well, that’s a thing,” Serena cringed as some of the leech’s slime landed on her body. ‘And very annoying,’ the maid’s blade of flame remained partially lit. ‘Penelo might be stronger than any other worker I’ve run into. Maybe even more than Penth or Alcim, at least physically…’
“Think I could eat this?” Penelo inquired. “Oh, cook it on your fire thingy.”
‘Mentally, on the other hand…’ Serena rolled her eyes, but then her danger sense went off. The world slowed down as giant leeches, bugs, and other strange creatures crawled out from every nook and cranny of the tunnel. Even in her heightened state, Serena couldn’t count them all. There must have been more than a dozen.
“Gah, creepy crawlers and not the fun kind,” Irene jumped off Serena’s shoulders, “I told Momma this would happen, but she didn’t listen.” The Princess raced away in terror.
“Princess!” Serena panicked as her charge zipped away into the darkness. “Penelo, come on, we have to go after her…Penelo?”
“Let me at ’em, let me at ’em!” Penelo squared up against the creatures.
“No!” Serena grabbed the other girl by the collar and dragged her away. Using her still alit dagger as a torch, she ran after Irene with Penelo in tow. However, in their rush through the tunnels, they didn’t notice the mysterious figures watching their every move.
\\~~~\\ III //~~~//
Thankfully, sewer-dwelling slugs and leeches were not famous for their speed, so the group evaded the beasts quickly. Alas, it took an embarrassing amount of time before they realized that, so now they were even more lost. At least Serena managed to catch up to Irene, who was still spotless despite running around the muck for almost a half hour. The maid had long since stopped questioning how that worked.
“Hey, that tunnel looks familiar,” Penelo pointed out, “but I don’t remember that one being next to it.”
“Penelo, please tell me we haven’t been running in circles the entire time,” Serena groaned.
“Okay,” Penelo nodded. “We haven’t been running in circles.”
“Ugh,” Serena sighed, “do you have even the slightest idea where we are?”
“Nope, I don’t think I’ve been down this way before,” Penelo shrugs.
“I thought you said that tunnel looked familiar?” Serena recalled.
“I did, but this place is tricky,” the silver-haired girl explained. “I’m surprised they haven’t put a wall in our way yet.”
“Penelo, walls don’t just magically…wait, no, that’s the wrong mindset,” Serena shook her head. ‘If this is connected to the palace, I could believe that walls just spring out of nowhere. But this is Penelo we’re talking about. Her sense of direction is awful, to say the least. Not to mention she’s not the sharpest knife in the crayon box, so I think-’ The maid crashed right into a wall. “The heck?”
“Told ya,” Penelo crossed her arms and nodded proudly.
“This was not here before,” Serena exclaimed, “it was an endless tunnel!”
“Wow, it just appeared right in front of Serena to ruin her thought,” Irene commented.
“Don’t tell me you can read minds like the Queen?” Serena rubbed her nose.
“No,” Irene replied flatly. Yet, Serena wasn’t sure she believed her.
“Okay, forget this. Penelo, what do you normally do when you’re this lost?” Serena asked.
“I smash a hole in the ceiling and start digging up,” the Gataki answered.
“Not doing that, for all we know, we’re under a lake or twenty meters of concrete,” Serena shook her head. “Wait, we’re under the palace, so it wouldn’t be a lake…maybe, I don’t know, a water pipe? That seems likely.”
“Oh yeah,” Penelo nodded, the message flying right over her head.
‘Well, this is where I die,’ Serena was ready to give up, ‘in a smelly sewer, my clothes ruined, lord knows what in my hair, with this moron chatting in my ear. Of the stupid ways I’ve almost died over the past six months, why’d this have to be the one?’
Fate sufficiently tempted, several shadowy figures emerged from a nearby tunnel. They held long rod-like weapons, and even in the light of Serena’s flame, the trio couldn’t make out many details. While they stood on two legs, their heads weren’t human-shaped, and their speech was muffled nonsense.
‘Damn it, universe, I was joking,’ Serena’s heart dropped. As an icy fear crawled up her back, her flame died out. The maid quickly grabbed Irene and threw her over her shoulder. “Penelo, run!”
“Again?” The other girl huffed but still followed Serena as they tried to dash away through the only adjacent tunnel not blocked by sewer dwellers. However, they were quickly met by more of the figures blocking their way.
“Why me?” Serena whined.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Meanwhile, back at the palace gardens, things were proceeding as one would expect.
“Lady Aphros, they’re still coming!” Orion shouted.
“Oh, Ze, why must you still be on vacation?” Aphros fumed. “Now I have to fight all the slimy sewer dwellers!” The noble raised her hand. “Guards, circle the creatures, don’t let them breach the perimeter. Also, they smell really bad, just fair warning.”
\\~~~\\ IV //~~~//
While it wasn’t the first time Serena had been completely surrounded (a fact that she did not like), the maid was far too weary from the painful hour that led up to this moment. Whatever these things were, Serena was convinced they’d be the last thing she’d see in this life.
‘Forgive me, Mother, for failing to return home,’ Serena began to recite her last will, ‘forgive me, Orion, for leaving you alone. Forgive me, Irene, for being unable to protect you, and forgive me, Queen Celene, for failing to protect your daughter. May whatever powers watch over me have mercy upon this poor unfortunate maid in what may lie beyond.’
“Let me at ’em, let me at ’em,” Penelo squared up for a fight, oblivious to Serena’s resignation or Irene clinging to the latter’s leg. The figures tightened their circle around the three before the tallest at the front held up something in its free hand, and with a click, Serena was blinded by a sudden light.
“Gah…wait, that’s a flashlight,” Serena realized. In addition, in the improved light, she noticed that she wasn’t surrounded by weird creatures with odd-shaped heads but by people in gas masks and familiar-looking boiler suits wielding large brooms and brushes. The leading figure then removed his mask, revealing the face of a grizzled old man with a bald head and crooked teeth.
“Penelo, where have you been, and who is this?” The man asked.
“Oh, hi old man, I hardly recognized you,” Penelo dropped to a neutral stance. “This is Serena, my destined rival. I just met her at the palace, and then she got herself lost.”
“Skimming on the details, I see,” Serena glared at Penelo, who looked back at her with an expression of blissful ignorance. “You must be the Gataki family, I presume,” the maid shook her head and turned to the old man.
“That’d be us,” the old man replied, “we saw you three running around like crazed rats. Cut ya off before you could get yourselves any more lost.”
“I take it this happens often, then?” Serena inquired.
“With Little Penelo, yep, just ask her parents over there,” he pointed to a pair of gas-masked figures behind them who waved. “Penelo girl, what happened to your gas mask and flashlight?”
“Oh, they broke again,” Penelo shrugged, which earned a sigh from all the Gatakis surrounding them. “Besides, I don’t need them. I can see in the dark just fine.”
“Then, in that case,” Serena fumed, “why didn’t you recognize your coworkers when they first appeared? You were ready to fight them!”
“I haven’t committed all their faces to memory, Serena,” Penelo laughed.
“Yeah, that’s not the issue here,” Serena snapped.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
“Lady Aphros, the guards can’t hold them much longer!” Orion shouted.
“Already? Call in reinforcements then,” Aphros exclaimed.
“They need your help, Lady Aphros,” Orion pointed out.
“No way, I’m not touching those things. They’re disgusting,” Aphros cringed.
“Lady Aphros, please!” Orion pleaded.
“Fine, but I’m going to complain about it the whole time,” Aphros sighed. As she stepped forward to assist, the noble immediately stopped dead in her tracks as something else emerged from the hole. “Oh, that’s a big one.”
\\~~~\\ V //~~~//
With all misunderstandings cleared, the Gataki kind offered to lead Serena and Irene back to the palace. Serena tactfully omitted that the little girl next to her was one of the princesses. However, the fact that Irene was still untouched by the filth of the sewers probably tipped them off the child was unusual.
“…And since then, we’ve been in charge of them sewers, keepin em running, fixin this and that, and clearing trash upside,” the Old Man Gataki rambled on. “Although, most of the work nowadays is wranglin the weird things down here before they escape and cause problems.”
‘He must mean the leeches and slugs,’ Serena shuddered. ‘Although, if Penelo has been tangling with those things, day in and day out, no wonder she’s gotten so tough. I have my share of problems at work, but most of them (keyword most) don’t try to eat me constantly.’
“… It’s no problem to lead you back anyway, little miss. We need to find that there blockage in the palace water pipers before it goes kablooey,” the old man continued.
“Um, question,” Serena gulped.
“What’s the problem?” The old man looked at her.
“Say one of those pipes backs up so much it burst open, blowing a hole in the palace gardens,” Serena suggested. “How bad would that be?”
“Oh, very bad, young lady,” Old Man Gataki explained. “Them nasties are attracted to the places like the palace, like flies to honey. Lots of people and food, and it’s where all the magic in the land gathers.”
“They’re attracted to magic?” Serena felt a chill go up her spine. Suddenly, some things started making sense, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“Yep, some of the sciency ladies from the palace explained it to me,” the old man nodded. “They don’t get that big on their own. Some magicy stuff gets flushed down here over time. It’s like radiation, gets stuck on you the more you’re around it. Then the bottom feeders wallow and feed on some of that stuff, and they start bulkin up. And they may not be the smartest critters, but they can put two and two together and realize the magic stuff makes em stronger.”
“So, they go after it relentlessly?” Serena guessed.
“Yep,” Old Man Gataki confirmed, “and er… what’s their name? Right, Genral Chrona told us all about it when they came looking for some stuff they misplaced or something like that.”
‘Of course, Chrona is involved somehow. Why is it that whenever something needlessly dangerous exists, it has their grubby fingers all over it?’ Serena would have shoved her head in her hands if it wasn’t for what she may or may not have touched down here.
“Why’d you ask such a question anyways?” The old man wondered.
“Well…” Serena held in a concerned breath.
“You ain’t speakin in hypotheticals, are ya?” Old Man Gataki realized.
“No,” Serena admitted.
“Double time it, we got big problems!” The old man railed his family.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
The group raced back towards the palace with incredible haste. Ultimately, they didn’t need the Gataki’s guidance to retrace their steps. The many creatures of the sewers were all beelining for the hole Penelo made like a mass migration. From there, it became a game of follow the swarm of giant leeches and slugs, with the added caveat they had to fight most of the way there. Thankfully, the Gataki were old hands at felling such creatures.
“There are too many of ’em,” Old Man Gataki exclaimed. Despite the dozen or so Gataki family members on their side, the hundreds of leeches and slugs were like an impenetrable wall of slime. “We might only have a city block between us and the hole, but it’d be faster to dig for gold with a plastic spoon than cut through those beasts.”
“Heaven only knows what the gardens look like right now,” Serena shuddered. “If only we could make that last push,” the maid looked to her side to see Penelo. “No, that’d be too crazy to work.”
“If ya got a plan, young lady, I’m all ears,” Old Man Gataki shouted.
“Well, it won’t get us all through, but it might get a couple of us to the end,” Serena admitted. “Although, it puts Penelo in the thick of danger…”
“Young lady, I’m sure you’ve noticed, but little Penelo can take care of herself,” the old man assured.
“Alright,” Serena shrugged. “Hey Penelo, race you back to the gardens.”
“You’re on!” Penelo’s eyes became alight with a renewed vigor. The silver-haired girl wound up like a slingshot and barrelled forward like a bull. She cut a neat one-person-wide hole through the mass of leeches and slugs.
“Hold on, Princess, this is going to stink, literally,” Serena warned as Irene gripped Serena’s back for dear life. The maid bolted after Penelo with a full-tilt sprint. Serena didn’t even know she could run this fast, but man-eating slugs made for great motivation. She could already picture Lady Ze looking on proudly for coming up with such a unique way to get her cardio. ‘Dear Lord, now I know this place is starting to get to me since I thought this was a good idea.’
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Thankfully, Penelo was a girl on a mission, so she didn’t stray from her path. The Gataki blitzed right through the slimy hordes back to the hole that started this mess. Unfortunately, it was clogged by dozens of leeches and slugs trying to escape all at once. Still, Penelo was never one to be deterred by such obstacles.
“I win!” Penelo shouted as she reopened the hole by making mincemeat of a few dozen gastropods and parasites.
“Yes, you win, keep moving!” Serena urged as she followed in the force of nature’s wake. Carried by the force of Penelo’s charge, all three of them were thrown into the air across the gardens and landed conveniently at Aphros’s feet.
“That’s impressive, Serena,” Aphros looked down at the two filth-covered workers and completely spotless Princess. “But you do stink.”
“I’d say you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had, but clearly you can,” Serena exclaimed, “How bad is it…Dear Lord, what is that?” The maid turned her head to behold a giant…something, knocking around the palace guard. It was like you took a giant monster’s mouth, gave it a pair of legs plus a dozen tentacles, and called it a day.
“I don’t know, but it’s pretty hardy,” Aphros admitted.
“You tried fighting it?” Serena asked.
“No way, I’m not touching that thing,” Aphros cringed, “Orion did try to slash it with his sword, but it sent him flying right into, conveniently enough, the infirmary.” The noble gestured to a broken window a ways behind her.
“And that’s not reason enough to try and stop that thing?” Serena exclaimed.
“Well, I have a way to get rid of it, but I don’t think the Queen will approve of the collateral damage,” Aphros revealed. “All these sewer creatures are kind of resistant to magic, so I’d need to hit it with something a little too big.”
“Great,” Serena looked back at the melee behind her. The palace guards were not exactly threatened by individual giant slugs or leeches. However, being grossly outnumbered made the fight a losing one. That, and the giant mouth thing, was completely implacable. Thankfully, she had what might be the difference maker sitting right next to her. “Lady Aphros, please keep the Princess safe.”
“Serena, I don’t like how you’re saying that,” Aphros looked concerned.
“Penelo, time for round two. Let’s see who can defeat the most monsters,” Serena challenged the other girl, “beating the big mouth thing is for bonus points.”
“You’re on!” Penelo slammed the ground in excitement. “I eat slugs like these for breakfast.” The silver-haired girl charged off to battle.
“Funny thing is, she’s probably not kidding,” Serena shrugged and picked up a fallen guard’s halberd. “If magic doesn’t work, azure stone should be an adequate replacement.” The maid raced after Penelo.
“She’s trying to make me look bad,” Aphros hummed.
“Yep,” Irene agreed, “she does make you look bad.” This comment prompted a surprised stare from Aphros.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Serena was grateful to discover that while the sewer dwellers were highly resistant to magic, their slimy hides could not repel azure stone. It felt surprisingly good to cleave through a half dozen of the creatures with ease. However, Serena was smart enough to realize that the chaos of the melee allowed her to take out so many at once. On the other hand, Penelo was plowing through the crowd like a wrecking ball, just as much a danger to the palace guards as the leeches and slugs.
‘I’m starting to wonder if she’s even human,’ Serena thought as she stabbed another slug. ‘I’m also wondering why the hell I ran back into the breach so readily,’ she ducked under a lunge from a flying leech, ‘it’s not really my problem to fix, but I’m not going to sit on my ass like Aphros while that thing is tearing into the palace.’ The maid looked back at the Monster as she now dubbed it. ‘No way in hell I can kill that thing, but I know someone who can.’
“Take this, you stupid slug!” Penelo grabbed one of the slugs by the tail, hefted it up, and used it as a club to smash a couple of leeches.
‘Alright, please don’t see through my ruse this time,’ Serena took a shallow breath (it stank she wasn’t taking a deep one). “Penelo, I’m up to 15, and now I’m going for the big one. Try to keep up,” Serena lied.
“No way, I’m only at 12. You’re cheating somehow,” Penelo stamped her feet, crushing another leech. “I’ll kill the big thing first!” The silver-haired girl threw herself towards the Monster.
The Monster had just knocked down another wave of guards when Penelo appeared before it. The creature paid the girl no more mind than any of the guards and tried to swat her with its tentacles. While its whip-like appendages had broken bones on grown men, it only managed to slow down Penelo, who clocked the creature in the leg with a punch…also to little effect.
“Maybe I was too optimistic,” Serena gulped.
“GRAAAGGHHHH!” The Monster roared and kicked Penelo across the gardens. The Gataki flew like a ragdoll and crashed through a nearby wall. Serena was certain that kind of blow would break all of someone’s bones, if not outright kill them, even for the superhuman workers.
“You jerk!” Penelo bounced back up. She was covered in cuts and bruises, but the damage appeared otherwise cosmetic.
“No, she’s definitely not human,” Serena affirmed to herself.
“Take this!” Penelo charged again, leaping into the air to smash the Monster’s jaw.
“Graraghahha!” The Monster shouted a challenge back and… “Nom,” closed its mouth around the Gataki.
‘Oh crap, it’s going to swallow her…Wait, can it swallow? It’s just a big mouth. Does it even have a stomach? Is it just a big walking stomach?’ Serena was both panicked and confused. ‘Great, now I have to try and bail her out without getting killed myself…’
“Grah?” The Monster shuddered. Something (read: Penelo) was bouncing around its inside. It desperately tried to stay strong, but unfortunately for the creature, it is much easier to burst out through a row of teeth than through flesh and bone.
“Freedom!” Penelo smashed through the Monster’s jagged teeth. The girl flung herself away from the creature and landed on a giant slug, splatting the mollusk.
“WHAHAHAHGGGG!” The Monster cried out in pain and tried to stomp Penelo. Its foot went right down with a thud, but…
“Stupid jerk,” Penelo lifted the foot. “Get off!” She threw the Monster off balance, causing it to stumble back towards the hole.
‘Opportunity comes a knocking,’ Serena jumped into the air. ‘Magic won’t work, but maybe inner strength will.’ The maid’s supercharged kick collided with the Monster with a thunderous whomp, sending the beast crashing back into the sewers, where it landed with a sickening squelch. ‘Now for the rest,’ Serena knew she couldn’t revel in her victory.
“Nice job, Serena. You made this so much easier,” Aphros complimented from afar. The noble’s chain sword suddenly wrapped around the area, surrounding all the remaining slugs and leeches. It was alight with sparking yellow magic. The beasts rushed towards the chain with a hunger in their souls but were summarily shocked for their troubles. As the chain formed a tight ring, it began to shrink.
“And that’s our cue, come on Penelo,” Serena urged.
“You stole my kill,” Penelo fumed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Serena rushed away with Penelo chasing after. The two leaped the chain, which was reinforced by a line of the remaining guards. With the number of sewer creatures reduced and with Aphros’s support, the guards quickly forced them back into the dark depths from whence they came.
“Well, that hopefully takes care of tha…” Serena couldn’t even finish her thought.
“GRAAAAAAA!!!” The Monster remerged, battered and woozy, but rose from the hole with fury.
‘Oh right, sometimes I forget how things work around here,’ Serena sighed. “Hey, Penelo, do you want your kill?”
“Yes, that jerk face…mouth, won’t stop me this time!” Penelo wound up for round two.
“Yeah,” Serena tried to put on airs but realized just how exhausted she was. Putting all her force behind that last kick must have burnt through her supply of adrenaline. Lady Aré was right. Force and violence wouldn’t be enough to solve all her problems, but maybe... ‘We need to stop this thing and have at least a temporary stopgap to more of those things flooding in. Good thing we’re in the gardens.’
“Now to smash his head in,” Penelo started walking forward.
“Hey, Penelo, I bet you can’t crush it under that big boulder,” Serena pointed to one of the larger boulders in the gardens. It was a big chunk of rock, bigger than the hole from which the monster emerged.
“Bah, I can do that. Watch me,” Penelo zipped over to the boulder and tried to pick it up.
‘Who am I kidding? There’s no way someone her size can lift that,’ Serena tempted fate on purpose this time.
“Raagghh!” Penelo picked up the boulder with incredible effort.
‘Thank you,’ Serena looked up to whatever being was listening to her.
“My turn to smush you!” Penelo brought the rock right down on top of the Monster. If it had eyes, they’d probably be bulging in shock right now. With a thundering smash, the boulder crushed the Monster underneath, forcing it back into the sewers while plugging the hole.
“Crisis…averted,” Serena’s legs finally gave out, and she collapsed.
\\~~~\\ VI //~~~//
With the immediate problem resolved, the palace guard reinforced Penelo’s makeshift barricade until more permanent repairs could be made. The two most responsible for saving the day were brought before Lady Aphros. Serena had regained her composure but was still covered in slime and muck. Penelo was still just as chipper and energetic as ever and was also covered in filth.
“Well, I have to say, you two made quick work of those creatures,” Aphros said while plugging her nose. “You even led the Princess back to safety despite being in the belly of the beast. I’d say that’s at least worth a commendation or two. I think you have a talent for this, Serena.”
“Hooray,” Serena tried to sound excited.
“I still won, by the way,” Penelo affirmed.
“Now, as for a reward, I’m not sure what to-” Aphros was interrupted.
“What in the nine layers of hell happened to the gardens!” Lady Aré’s scream filled the area.
‘Should have seen this coming,’ Serena sighed and braced for punishment.
“Those trees are shattered, the rocks are all over the place, there’s slime and dead creatures everywhere, a bunch of shattered windows, and that wall is collapsed,” Aré pointed out about half the damage done. And I think that guard over there might be dead. Someone check on him, please.”
“Lady Aré, how has your day been?” Lady Aphros chirped.
“The Queen and I were attending a brief meeting in Zodiac,” Aré explained. “We were gone for two hours, what happened?”
“Oh, you know, a burst pipe blew a hole in the gardens,” Aphros told a not-quite half-truth.
“Who is responsible for this?” Aré demanded to know.
“Me,” Penelo raised her hand, earning an absolute death glare from Aré.
‘Dear Lord, Penelo, why’d you open your big mouth,’ Serena sighed. ‘I’d defend her, but there’s not a single thing I can say that’s true that wouldn’t make her look bad.’
“Now, now, Lady Aré,” Aphros jumped to Penelo’s defense. While Penelo did make the hole in the ground, which let all those sewer creatures in, and she did wreck parts of the gardens, she’s also the one who fixed the problem.”
‘I see she carefully omitted some parts, but frankly, I’m glad to not take any credit on this one,’ Serena thought.
“Oh, is that so,” Aré looked down at Penelo, “I’m sure you think you deserve a reward after fixing a problem you caused in the first place.”
“I guess?” Penelo scratched her head.
“Here’s a reward,” Aré jabbed her finger at the girl. “You shall clean the palace toilets...Forever!”
“…” Penelo stared back at Aré blankly for a few seconds. “Hooray,” she suddenly cheered.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Life at the palace swiftly returned to whatever passed for normal. Serena continued her duties as usual (after a couple dozen baths). The only change was Penelo, who had been officially hired by the palace as their “Bathroom Sanitation Expert” for life. The day after the incident, Serena had just left the infirmary, having checked on poor Orion, when she ran into her new coworker.
“Serena, I challenge you,” Penelo appeared before the other maid. The silver-haired girl was now dressed in a maid uniform of her own. It resembled Serena’s but did not have the royal family’s crest etched into the collar.
“Not today, Penelo. I have to find Princess Irene a new play area after someone destroyed the previous one,” Serena glared.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’m working here now, so we can compete whenever,” Penelo shrugged. Oh, but I’m still on call for family duties. Mom and Dad were so happy when they heard I got a job at the palace. Cleaning the palace toilets is the most prestigious position a Gataki can hope to achieve.”
‘I can’t tell if that’s sad, horrible, or both,’ Serena shook her head.
“My destined rival,” Penelo’s eyes lit up. Today, we stand shoulder to shoulder, tomorrow, we stand face to face, and the day after that...I don’t know what happens.”
“Sure, why not,” Serena shrugged, and Penelo skipped off to perform her duties. Serena was bewildered by how the other girl found so much joy in her work. ‘And even after all this, I can’t bring myself to dislike that girl. Annoying headache, yes, hate, no.’ The maid marched down the hall towards Irene’s room. ‘And heck, a piece of my life from before this mess just wormed its way into the palace, kind of refreshing, honestly.’ At that point, a loud ringing from down the hall caught Serena’s attention.
“Hi, Mom,” Penelo answered her cell phone. “Yeah, I’m in the palace right now…I know I’m excited too…Sure, I’ll swing by the sewers in a couple hours…” As the silver-haired girl walked out of sight, the raven-haired maid stood in place, clutching her heart.
‘If only it was so easy for me…’ Serena swallowed. Maybe I’ll call Mom another day, and maybe one day both Penelo and I can go home…’ The maid took a deep breath and continued on her path.
“After all, I have a promise to keep…”
May This Fantasy Continue A Little Longer…
Next Time:
Chapter XXI: Horsing Around, Part 1
>>>~~~~<<<
Maintaining old friendships is an important aspect of one's career. You never know when you'll run into someone you know who is the exact right person to help you.
Author's Note: And that's chapter 20, like I said last week, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Especially, Serena and Penelo's interactions. Serena is an excellent straight man, and she's always at her best against increasingly absurd people who live in their own little world. Penelo on the other hand, isn't weird because she's from the palace, no she was always strange and fits right in along her new peers. She's kind of like Irene in that she's on the naive side, and obstacles are optional, she goes where she wants to. Unlike Irene, Penelo is a more physical character who barrels through all her problems.
I've got more planned for her in the future so look forward to it. Meanwhile, let's say Serena isn't the only one who will have a rival...
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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