Story Hub: [link]
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0 //~~~//
In a possible future, in a world not unlike our own, there exists a single kingdom as the dominant and only power. An ethereal realm with castles and cities made of gemstones and technology so great it was indiscernible from the magic they used in everyday life. A land where humanity had advanced so far that to live in comfort and excess was the standard, and a life of hard labor was a rarity. This place was known as the kingdom of Celene.
To be a worker in this kingdom was supposedly seen as a mark of honor. They were the 1% who slaved their lives away so the wealthy 99% could prosper. Alas, to be a “worker” was not a simple choice but a burden granted at birth. 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 own desires.
However, their best and brightest were chosen for the highest of honors, to act as the personal servants for the eternal royal family that ruled this kingdom. Among the best, one family stood above them all, the Diane family. For generations, the Diane 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. One such abnormality greatly influenced the life of young Serena Diane. Pulled from her simple life as a low noble to directly serving the Queen’s youngest daughter, Serena’s destiny has been taken out of her own hands, and that’s the least of her worries…
\\~~~\\
I //~~~//
Maia 20th 758
Life in the royal palace continued as it always did. The nobility and royalty working together within its crystal walls to make decisions that shaped an entire planet lent an air of gravitas to its marble halls. Meanwhile, the hundreds of workers who made up its staff worked diligently to keep the structure running and polished to a mirror shine. Such a place would demand only the highest level of dignity and grace in its every corner.
“Princess Irene, cease your actions at once!” Serena yelled. The raven-haired maid rushed after her charge but knew no matter how fast she moved, she’d only make it by the skin of her teeth.
“Can’t catch me!” Irene bounced through the hall with the elegance of a fairy and the grace of an enraged bull. The young princess was too focused on their supposed game of tag to spare a thought for the gold and gem-encrusted statue she had knocked over. Which would typically be easy to save from an untimely destruction if it weren’t for the fact it was the size of a person.
“Blast it all,” Serena double-timed it to catch the falling priceless work of art. The sight of a teenage girl holding up a solid gold statue would usually be an astonishing sight. However, despite her proclamations, the maid was far from an average girl anymore. “Princess Irene, that’s the fourth statue you’ve almost destroyed in the past ten minutes! You stop this tomfoolery at once, or no second dessert tonight!”
“You wouldn’t,” Irene froze in shock at the thought of being denied her second daily allotment of sugary treats. This break in the action gave Serena time to safely right the statue without concern for Irene escaping.
“I most certainly would, Your Highness,” the maid put her hands to her hips. “Now, will you finally come with me to your etiquette lesson? We’re already 30 minutes late.”
“Mmmmmm,” Irene hummed. “Nope,” she spun on her heel and tried to escape again.
“Not this time,” Serena wrapped her hands around Irene’s arms and hefted the child into the air. “By the privileges granted to me as your personal attendant, I shall transport you to the etiquette lesson assigned to you by Lady Aphros. Against your will if I must.”
“Noooooo,” Irene whined as Serena carried her away over her shoulder.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
“Maid, what is this about Princess Irene being late to another etiquette lesson?” Lady Aré confronted Serena. The noble’s dark red hair framed her vicious green eyes, a look enhanced by her militaristic uniform that made her look like she was ready to lead a siege. The difference in height between the two was no more than 5 centimeters in Aré’s favor. Yet, she certainly acted like she towered over the maid.
“One hundred and eighty-six,” Serena replied flatly.
“What?” Aré’s rising fury was disrupted by a wave of confusion.
“Her Highness Princess Irene has been late to or missed 186 etiquette lessons by my count,” Serena clarified. “Not counting the lessons preemptively canceled by other events or those replaced by Lady Aphros’s magic lessons.”
“You’ve been keeping count?” Aré’s expression continued to fluctuate between various conflicting emotions.
“There’s been little else I’ve had liberty to do in the face of Princess Irene’s tendency to chart her own course for the day,” the maid described the child’s behavior as diplomatically as possible.
“Is that supposed to be your excuse for failing your duty to ensure her timely arrival to all of her lessons?” Aré glared down at the young woman.
“No, Lady Aré, that is merely a statement of my reaction to Her Highness’s unusual antics,” Serena didn’t budge. “If you desire my excuses for her tardiness, I can relate them chronologically or alphabetically. Whichever is your preference. However, I must warn you most of them begin with, ‘Princess Irene decided that she’d rather…’ followed by a description of her physics-defying actions.”
“Is that your idea of a joke? Do you consider yourself a comedian? Are you mocking me?” The noble asked in quick succession.
“In order of the questions you asked. No, Lady Aré. My self-esteem is far too low for me to even consider elevating myself to such a position. And I would never dream of doing such a thing.”
“You’re testing my patience, maid,” Lady Aré snapped.
“The same way the Princess is testing the tensile strength of the chain holding up that chandelier?” Serena pointed upwards.
“What are you…? Oh my Lord, Princess Irene, get down from there this instant!” Aré looked up to see Irene swinging around on the aforementioned chandelier. Which just so happened to be over ten meters high off the ground. “Maid, what are you waiting for? Retrieve your charge!”
“I would, Lady Aré. However, the sheer walls and the lack of handholds make it impossible for me to reach her. Unless I spontaneously developed the power of flight,” Serena admitted.
“Can you not jump that high? You are a Diane maid. It should be more than possible for you,” Aré claimed.
“My record is a little over six meters, so no it is not possible,” Serena denied.
“Enough with your excuses. Get her down this instant!” Lady Aré demanded.
“Very well,” Serena stepped forward. “Princess Irene, get down from there this instant, or you will lose your second-midafternoon snack privilege as well.”
“I’m back,” the Princess practically materialized behind Serena.
“You could have done that at any time?” Aré fumed. “Then why were you being so obstinate?”
“I was only answering your questions, Lady Aré,” Serena replied as she took Irene’s hand. “I apologize,” she bowed, “I know you wish to continue our conversation. However, I must see the Princess to her math lesson.”
“Get out of my sight,” Aré huffed and turned to walk away.
‘Don’t have to tell me twice,’ Serena led Irene away.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
‘Today has been surprisingly calm,’ Serena thought as she guided Irene to her math lesson. ‘I hate that I’m being genuine right now,’ the maid suppressed a groan. ‘Of course, now that I’ve thought that, it means someone will show up in the next five seconds to ruin my mood.’ Serena felt her danger sense go off. It was like a symphony, a symphony that could only be achieved by a chorus of “Incoming Missile” alerts sounding off in concert. ‘I hate it when I’m right.’
“Serena,” Lady Aphros jumped out from behind a corner. The noble proudly showed off her new hairstyle. Her long blonde hair was now wavy and fell just past her waist. Notably, it now completely covered her right eye, and the sides were adorned with seashell-shaped jewelry. The new look did little to obscure the look of mischief on Aphros’s face. “I’m glad I finally found you. I have a lovely opportunity for you.”
“Apologies, Lady Aphros, but we…” Serena dug for a good excuse. Not that Aphros would accept any excuse. Even ‘I’m currently on fire and need medical attention,’ wouldn’t be enough to escape from the noble’s schemes.
“Don’t have time to deal with your craps[1],” Irene finished the sentence, causing both Serena and Aphros to look at her in shock.
“Princess Irene, where did you learn to say such things?” Aphros was taken aback.
“From Auntie Aré, I learned a whole bunch of new words today when she was yelling at Serena,” Irene lied. “What was the other one? It began with an F?”
“Shock!” Aphros emoted while doing her best imitation of The Scream. “Using such language in front of a child, I’m going to have a word with her,” Aphros marched off, forgetting her original intent.
“Princess Irene,” Serena looked at her charge in shock. “Did you just throw Lady Aré under the bus?”
“Yep, and I want second dessert back,” Irene stuck her tongue out.
‘I never took it away. I just threatened to,’ Serena sighed. “Very well, Your Highness,” Serena agreed, but before she could take a breath in relief, she realized her danger sense had not stopped.
“Serena, I challenge you!” Penelo smashed through a nearby wall. The silver-haired maid held an unquenchable fury in her red eyes. The same kind a ten-year-old gets when you beat them at a video game.
‘Great, just what I needed, the densest material on the planet,’ Serena rolled her eyes. ‘Hope this works.’ The maid sighed and pointed down the hallway. “She went that way.”
“Wah?” Penelo was taken aback.
“What are you waiting for? She went that way, go!” Serena shouted.
“But I?” Penelo scathed her head.
“She’s getting away. Are you going to let her do that?” Serena exclaimed.
“No!” Penelo got fired up.
“Then go, now!” Serena declared.
“Yeah, here I come!” Penelo raced down the hallway, likely on a collision course with Aphros and Aré.
“I cannot believe that worked,” Serena groaned, but before she could take another step, her danger sense decided to butt in again.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t the Diane understudy,” Medy peaked from around the corner, only briefly confused by the massive hole in the wall. The ponytailed brunette had a look of malice on her like no other.
‘Well, if it isn’t the crazy one,’ Serena thought. “Where’s the piglet?”
“I’m not a piglet,” Jace jumped from around the corner. The blonde butler’s sneer hadn’t faded one bit from his time as a piglet. Although, his voice did have less bite.
“Oh, you’re back, how wonderful,” Serena lied.
“Stuff it with the sarcasm. Now that I’m back, you and Orion will never have a chance to humiliate us again,” Jace declared.
“You don’t need our help to humiliate yourself,” Serena replied.
“You better believe I…Hey, I’m not falling for that,” Jace proclaimed without a hint of self-awareness.
“This whole conversation is lovely and all, but I have to be literally anywhere else right now,” Serena stated before taking a firm hold of Irene’s hand and walking away.
“Hey, where are you going? Don’t you walk away from me!” Jace snapped.
“Chicken, buk, buk, buk,” Medy displayed her maturity.
“They’re annoying,” Irene whispered to Serena.
“A very correct observation,” Serena affirmed as they picked up the pace before the other two decided to chase them.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
After a long, nonsense-filled day, Serena dragged herself to her bedroom. Thankfully, she didn’t see more of Penelo, Medy, Jace, Aphros, or even Aré. Although, that didn’t stop other insane things from happening, like Irene trying to climb the wrong side of a stairwell or a giant boar getting loose from the kitchens and attacking the maid (did they slaughter whole animals in the palace?). Despite all this, Serena managed through it because tomorrow was her day off. She only got one of those every few months if she was lucky, and this was one of those lucky days.
Normally, this would be a time for her to crash into her bed and sleep for the next 30 hours, but Serena wasn’t quite ready to go to bed yet. Something about almost dying (again) made it difficult for her to calm down enough to get to sleep. Thankfully, with nowhere to be tomorrow, she had some flexibility in her sleep schedule and knew exactly how to calm her nerves.
“I’d love to look my best, but I don’t have the brainpower right now,” Serena lamented as she discarded her maid uniform for her street clothes. A simple pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt, and sneakers completed Serena’s transformation into a normal-looking girl. ‘In hindsight, buying this pair of jeans feels silly. It’s like I can never escape the colors of my uniform,’ the raven-haired girl thought as she brushed her hair back. ‘Then again, I never liked blue jeans much anyway. Blue was never my color,’ she shrugged and left.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
The evening sky overlooking New Celene gave way to the darkness of the underground as Serena descended into the old city. After her first foray underground, Serena had made a habit of checking her corners to ensure she wasn’t being followed. However, after almost half a year of making the trek into these crumbled ruins, the maid gradually neglected the routine. In her mind, if someone planned to take a shot at her, they would have done so by now, and if someone from the palace didn’t approve of her escapades, they’d have made their opinion known.
Serena traced a familiar path through the ruins, passing by the same rough characters who long since learned not to bother her. The maid took comfort in the fact that despite the sketchy look of the area, it was hardly the den of hardened criminals or the desperate. No, it was the home of the outcasts and the disgraced. People who either chose to live here or were suffering from the consequences of prior actions (although not necessarily their own). Which also described the person Serena intended to visit down here.
Around a corner lay an old bar with a big sign that read “Brando’s,” the maid smiled as she pushed open the door and welcomed the familiar sight of the interior. As usual, there was only a single patron and the bartender. While the bartender rolled his eyes at Serena’s arrival, the patron, a young woman with disheveled black hair, didn’t react and focused on her drink.
“A warm welcome as always,” Serena commented as she sat at the bar next to the other patron.
“If you want a kiss and a hug, go home to your mommy,” the other patron grumbled. “Oh right, you can’t.”
“Talking like that, you must make lots of friends, Caenia,” Serena replied.
“Bah, who needs ’em,” Caenia turned to face Serena. She brushed back some of her messy hair, exposing her deep blue eyes. Caenia was dressed in her usual stained shirt and ripped jeans. “Did you finally up and quit like I told you?”
“I’d love to really, but I’m under contract,” Serena responded, pretending Caenia didn’t always ask her the same question. “No, today wasn’t too bad. I only almost died once instead of three times. Also, I got to see someone throw Aré under the bus, so that was interesting, at least.”
“Ha, who had the balls to throw Aré under the bus?” Caenia laughed.
“A certain troublesome little girl,” Serena replied as she signaled the bartender for her usual glass of milk.
“I always figured that little brat was pulling shit like that,” Caenia seemed vindicated. The two young ladies continued to chat, the world around them fading away as they vented about the daily nonsense they had dealt with at the palace. Initially, Serena had always come to Caenia seeking advice on dealing with her many problems at the palace. Eventually, those questions were exchanged for these mutual venting sessions. It had become a welcome routine for Serena, who was glad to find someone with a similar (albeit far more cynical) perspective to herself. She didn’t know why Caenia had seemed to welcome these conversations. Whether her predecessor had taken a liking to her or just found her a convenient to vent to, Serena couldn’t say, but they got along well enough.
“So, your friend willingly became a worker? And got excited when she was told to clean the toilets? Is she an idiot, or does she have a fetish?” Caenia asked.
“Well, I would describe her as dumb as a brick and twice as tough,” Serena replied, “but to be more diplomatic, I’d say she’s incredibly simple-minded and easily influenced.”
“Yeah, that’s called being an idiot,” Caenia retorted. “Better that than those weirdoes with fetishes. I’ve seen that too many times.”
“You can’t be serious?” Serena was taken aback, but Caenia just gave her a stare. “Oh Lord, you’re serious. Why?”
“Have you met some of the people in Aphros’s faction?” The older girl asked.
“Unfortunately. A bunch of them tried to kill me and were probably planning to frame me magnicide if you don’t remember?” Serena rolled her eyes. “Don’t even get me started on the Lady herself.”
“Sounds familiar,” Caenia chuckled as she polished off her drink.
“Making excellent company, I see,” a familiar voice echoed from behind Serena. The maid sprang to attention on instinct and quickly realized why.
“Lady Aré? What are you doing here?” Serena paled as she saw the noble. The bartender wisely ducked into the back while the two stared off.
“I had heard you spent some of your evenings outside the palace,” Aré explained. “I assumed you might spend them with your mother, but today I learned you haven’t visited your mother once since you started working in the palace. Worse yet, you use your precious time to consort with someone so disgraceful.”
“That’s…” Serena felt sick to her stomach. It was true. She hadn’t visited her mother once. Hell, she barely spoke to her on the phone these days. But she couldn’t face her mother right now. Seeing her, being home, it would just remind her of what she had lost.
“As if the bright and noble Lady Aré is a paragon of purity and justice,” Caenia hiccupped. “Offer any blessings lately, oh virtuous head of faith?”
“I have nothing to say to someone who was overcome by a mere child,” Aré practically spat in Caenia’s direction. “Maid, we’re leaving. Now.”
“I…Uh,” Serena was stunned as Aré grabbed her by the arm.
“I dare you to spend five minutes watching the brat and see how long you last,” Caenia snapped.
“That’s not my duty. It was yours, and you failed, and don’t you dare speak ill of the princess,” Aré yanked Serena towards the door.
“Glad to know I was right about you people,” Caenia huffed. “I know what you’re trying to do with the kid, Aré. You disgust me.”
‘Well, I’m learning more than I ever wanted to right now,’ Serena noted the exchange.
“Really? Then I’m glad to know I was right about you as well,” Aré glared back at Caenia. “If Lady Posei could see you right now…”
“Don’t you dare bring her into this!” Caenia slammed her fist on the bar, splintering the wood with the force of a sledgehammer.
“This conversation isn’t worth my time,” Aré shook her head. “Goodbye, Caenia,” Aré dragged Serena out the door.
‘What was that about?’ Serena was left with more questions than answers.
\\~~~\\
II //~~~//
The journey back to the palace was one of the most unpleasant and humiliating experiences Serena had the displeasure to go through in her young life. The maid felt like a small child being punished by a teacher for the most innocuous and petty reasons. It didn’t help that Aré refused to make eye contact with her, or even countenance the idea of a conversation. Every time she opened her mouth to say something, the noble shut her down. Aré didn’t let her go until she dragged the maid into a side room (on the upper floor of the palace where all the high noble’s rooms were of course. Aré obviously shouldn’t have to deal with a long walk to her bedroom after chewing out Serena for the umpteenth time).
“Maid, I’m sure this goes without saying, but since I know you have trouble following directions, I’ll tell you anyway,” Aré began. Her words were that of a condescending adult, but her tone was deathly serious. “You are forbidden to see that woman again, do you understand?”
“Crystal,” Serena replied with as little emotion as possible.
“Good, now on to the matter of your punishment,” Aré continued. “Since you insist on sneaking out like an ill-behaved child, I shall treat you as such. You’re hereby confined to the palace grounds unless otherwise ordered to leave, effective immediately. Understand?”
“Of course, Lady Aré,” Serena kept her flat tone.
“At least your ears still work,” Aré huffed, “now off with you.”
‘As if I didn’t have enough reason to hate your guts Aré,’ Serena grumbled.
“What was that?” The noble heard.
“I said, ma’am, yes, ma’am,” Serena’s calm composure began to crumble into barely continued frustration.
“I know you’re likely upset at this turn of events, but it’s for the best,” Aré asserted. “What would people think of seeing you associate with Caenia?” That was it. That was the breaking point. Serena could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat for several long, agonizing seconds.
“I don’t care,” she said quietly.
“Speak up,” Aré snapped.
“I said, I don’t care!” Serena snapped back. “I don’t care what other people think, and I sure as hell don’t care what you think!”
“Maid, do you know what you’re saying to me?” Aré’s fury rose in response. “Is your goal to get yourself in even more trouble than you already are?”
“Go ahead, punish me. You’ve already taken away the only person in the world who understands what I’m going through. What more can you possibly do?” Serena challenged. “You sure as hell can’t fire me, so then what? Strip my bed? Double my training? Beat me? Take all my meager possessions? I deal with worse on a regular basis. Face it, you can’t punish me in a way that matters.”
“Maid, has your time with Aphros-!” Aré tried to retort.
“Oh, don’t even start with Aphros this, Aphros that,” Serena interrupted the noble. “You talk so much shit about her behind her back and to her face, but you’re just like her. You think you know everything and what’s best for everyone around you. You’re condescending and manipulative and pretend to care about the people around you only when it suits you. But the second your ass is on the line, you’ll do anything to protect yourself at their expense.” The maid was so heated, she failed to realize she was on the verge of tears.
“…” Aré was silent. It was hard to tell if she was still angry or stunned by Serena’s tirade.
“You clearly don’t even know my fucking name, despite the fact you took it upon yourself to train me, because you thought Aphros failed to. At least she bothered to remember it,” Serena continued. “It’s no wonder Caenia quit if she had to deal with ungrateful people like you her whole life. What’s the point in doing everything I can for the Princess if my only reward is more scolding from you? What’s the point when my few pieces of solace in this miserable life are ripped away from me at your whim? What’s the point in anything when all I’m going to do is suffer because of other people’s actions?” The maid’s voice cracked as she barely held back a flood of tears.
Aré had remained quiet through the latter half of the tirade. Yet, the heat in the room was slowly rising as nameless anger began to boil inside her heart. It seemed the screaming match of the century was about to unfold in this little side room. However, just as Aré seemed ready to boil over in anger, the tension deflated.
“Sere-,” the noble began to say calmly, but then Aphros burst into the room.
“What’s going on here?” The blonde inquired as she looked back and forth at them quizzically. Once she noticed Serena’s tearful expression, Aphros turned to her peer, “Aré, what did you say to the poor girl this time?”
“Fuck off!” Serena screamed at Aphros and stormed out of the room without giving either noble a chance to stop her.
“Seriously, what did you say to her?” Aphros back at Aré, shaken by Serena’s outburst.
“I was only acting in the best interest of the palace. At least, I thought so,” Aré began. “What happened was…” The noble explained everything.
“You did what?” Aphros nearly jumped.
\\~~~\\
III //~~~//
Caenia stumbled down the streets of the old city, a musty bottle of booze she stole from behind the counter of the bar in her hand (if the bartender was never coming back, then she’d just help herself). Alas, the taste of alcohol was a touch more bitter than usual, to the point she derived no enjoyment from the process of gulping it down like an addict (it didn’t stop her, she just wasn’t having fun).
“I guess some things in the palace will never fucking change,” Caenia hissed as she pressed up against a wall for stability. She put the bottle up to her lips to take another sip (read: minute-long swig) but realized it was empty. With a grumble, she dropped the useless bottle and started on her path to the miserable little hole in the wall she called home.
The ex-maid dragged herself up a flight of stairs onto the second floor of one of many buildings in disrepair. The outside looked stripped bare as if it used to be somewhere important or expensive. The inside told several stories. Clearly, this place had gone through many lives. A fancy arcade, a restaurant, low-rent apartments, an office, and finally, an entertainment center for some long-forgotten brand. Caenia didn’t care what it was used for, just that it was spacious, and everyone else avoided it like a plague (mostly because she lived there).
Caenia kicked open the door to her “bedroom” which consisted of a single king-sized mattress on a broken bedframe (Caenia still kicked herself for smashing it when she came home more sloshed than usual one night), a vanity covered in dust, an open dresser with barely any clothes in it, a laundry basket with a mountain of clothes in it and a mini-fridge (recently emptied of all its alcohol).
With little desire to do anything else, the ex-maid kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the bed, pulling a warm set of blankets (that she nicked from someone else obviously) over her. Caenia closed her eyes and just waited for this day to end already so she could sober up (and get back to drinking). Money was a little tight (she wasn’t going to accept the universal income, she refused to live off of the palace’s charity), so she’d have to shake some people down tomorrow from pocket change. With that final thought, the young woman drifted off into sleep.
“Who’s there?” Caenia’s eyes snapped awake, and she leaped to her feet, drawing a knife she had hidden in her jeans. Her eyes traced the room until she spotted a figure standing in the shadows. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have even noticed the intruder, but Caenia wasn’t just anyone. If Caenia hadn’t been drunk, she would have spotted the intruder immediately. That’s what bugged her. This person had clearly been here a while, maybe even before she got home. If they wanted to attack her, they would have by now, but instead, they stood there waiting for her to notice. “Don’t think I can’t see you! Come out of the shadows, and we’ll settle this properly!”
The figure stepped out from the darkness. The sight of them only made Caenia angrier.
“You? Of all people? What do you want!” Caenia snapped.
To be Continued…
>>>~~~~<<<
Hard feelings often persist in the shadow of impassioned exits from one's job. Once a bridge is burnt, there may be people on both sides who want to keep it that way, but should it?
Author's Note: And we're back with the main story. When did the last main chapter come out? Mid-June? And the last volume's epilogue was in July? Where does the time go? Well as you can see it went into the first chapter, which became much bigger than I ever expected. I have a lot of ground to cover at the start of this volume.
On the bright side, the latter half of this chapter is coming next week, and the following chapter shouldn't be too long after.
As for this chapter, my main goal was twofold, bring us back into the world as any good first chapter to a volume should and setup the conflict (although I guess the chapter name kind of gave that away didn't it?). We'll see more about the fallout of this interaction next time.
On a lighter note, character interactions are often my favorite parts of writing and this chapter had quite a few. Rapid fire reintroducing many of the side characters who will be relevant in this volume was a good warm up stretch for later (although I wish I could have fit Orion and Atlanta in there, but their characters don't really lend themselves to starting shenanigans. Shenanigans usually relentlessly attack them instead).
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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