The Prodigal Maid Returns

The familiar sound of the familiar crunch of snow had not changed. It was a relaxing and soothing sound to hear. The howling winter winds of the mountain ever blowing and spreading the cold of the mountains had been something she sought to never take for granted ever again. It was a harsh time she knew had to have gone through in her passing. Thankfully, she was able to reunite with Addilyn once again and had been filled in a little bit on how things went upon her telling the guild mistress that she had died. Though the look on the actresses face when she had was quite a sight to see. She put the girl into hiding until she could figure out what to do with her situation. The maid cared for her little mentee enough to have shared her magic, so she would make sure she could continue to keep her safe.

As the dragoness had seen the silhouette of the castle in the distance, her heart started to race. That god slaying blood pumping nervously through her heart as she felt a nervous feeling. What was everyone going to think now that she was back? How would she explain the contract she formed with the person whom brought her back from the dead? And what she’d become from it? Well.. she couldn’t say she wasn’t prepared for the inevitability of this interaction. It wasn’t what she hoped for her life, but it became something she enjoyed out of the life she’d been kept into. Something wasn’t right about it all, however she didn’t really care anymore. Her bout with death made her want to kill as much as it was to protect those she had come to care for. That meant facing whatever punishment that Saraphina had in store for her for not being around.

Opening the doors to the hall felt like a heavy chore. A big weight that her hesitating hands and arms struggled to do. But that became nothing more than her mind playing tricks on her. The heels she wore with her normal maid uniform clicked onto the floor. As she walked in, two white sections of hair came out from her body as the maid used this to cover her entire body from becoming soaked with melted snow. With them shut, the hair covered body receded back to its normal length and shape. Looking up and around, the several maids in the hall dropped their cleaning tools in shock. ”My. You’re away for some time and the roof becomes messier than when you first got here. I guess I have to show you how to do it in the event I disappear again.” She spoke in a relaxed manner, sighing and then letting off a small chuckle.

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The maid was well aware of all whom saw her from the moment her eyes glanced about the room. The fact her photographic memory remained in tact even after death and rebirth was a very fortunate feeling. However, seeing Bertrand having seen her meant soon the Queen herself would be upon the group and from there she would have to make sure to not only be presentable for that reunion, but be prepared to seek forgiveness. Why forgiveness? Well, Saraphina was truly a spoiled child of a woman, but she was not one who ever sought to never get her hands dirty. It was a respectable position to see her in and though she disliked having to be looked down on sometimes as a maid... the opposite side of her life would have been filled with the same difference, however only seeming to be stricter. If anything, being a maid was much more freeing than being a nun. Though perhaps the experience here has altered that after much time.

After the disappearance of the angelic butler, Sanguine's eyes turned to the remainder of the room. Slowly taking steps further in, she looked to see the maids and some familiar members whom seemed to be extremely distraught by her being alive and in the same room as she. Lightly smiling towards them, she had no words to say really. her first words of any sort towards an explanation belonged to that of the queen and that would not change for any reason. Not only did she serve this guild faithfully, but she did so with Saraphina in much more of a capacity. Even being a bit of a novice of a maid, the demi-dragoness was tasked to help teach Nadaline skills to help. It wasn't something that she thought she would be good at, but it boosted her confidence to do her own job and that feeling fo trust only bonded her closer to this place as a home. She felt loved and accepted, and with the vanishing of Grim... she truly needed to be in a place around those that would not step on her heart.

When the blood slayers ears picked up on the hurried clacking heels on the ground, it brought a smile to her face. A bit closer to a smirk, but that hurried, princess clopping was truly an angry Queen. The thought alone was enough to make her want to laugh, but she prevented herself from doing so trying to keep herself presentable. Her hands placed over one another in front of her over the apron of her maid uniform, she waited for Saraphina to approach her. She looked down just a little, barely taller than the Queen but for a few inches even with both women in heels when she moved her hands to her sides, pinching her sides and leaning into a curtsy. "I came to do my job as a maid to this guild, my Queen." She replied, pausing and remaining in her position. "Please forgive my absence and worries for Addilyn's appearing here. I would love to explain if you would allow it and will accept whatever punishment you see fit, your highness." She would then rise back up, returning her hands to what felt like a natural position and remain still, knowing at the very least the queen would begin to yell at her.

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There was no ruining the smile plastered to the maids face. Despite knowing and practically feeling the anger seeping out of the woman, she had no reason really to say a word nor to stop her cheerful appearance. Her eyes watched the queens hand raise high up above her head, curious as to what she planned to do with it. There was a curious look that she formed for the brief moment before having a hand clap down in a thunderous sound. The sound echoed through the halls, silencing all as they stared in horror and disbelief. The force of her hand had turned the maids head to the side where it sat for a moment. Having slapped the smile from her face, she looked surprised herself until she came to a quick realization.

She deserved it.

It seemed like a cruel way to put it to say that she deserved to be treated like some helpless servant with the power she held, but that never mattered to her. She chose to be a maid the moment she swore to her former master that she would serve her. Since loyalty failed with her, she saw it necessary to put herself into the guild that continued to love her more than anywhere she had tried to be. ”As strong as ever I see, my queen~” She said, turning her head back to the woman with a newfound smile on her face. Her cheek was bright red from the slap. And the pain? Well she was so used to pain that frankly it meant nothing to her. Be it mental, emotional, or physical. Frankly, some days she was surprised she had emotions herself.

Without much more than a formal curtsy, she parted ways to the kitchen to prepare the tea as ordered. Nothing. No sound or words could be heard for minutes on end. The maids and members still watching must have felt like it took nearly an hour before Sanguine finally returned to the parlor with the tea on a cart, covered over with a metal lid. Something she used to do to warm the cups so the tea would remain hot longer without burning the hand of those who held it. Next was the unveiling of the tea. A fresh steaming pot of sweet, black tea had been poured into a cup and on the plate dish had carefully been set two chocolate covered tea biscuits. Several more stacked on a plate that sat just opposite of the queens view as not to spoil the surprise of the treat she added. Sanguine then picked up the pot and poured the cup, setting it before the queen before placing it back down and standing by her side, still saying not one word.

Why? Well a good maid would ask if everything was to her liking. The perfect maid would simply wait to be spoken to and enjoy any praise of a job they had done. It took a while to learn that herself under Grim… but this surely would be the woman in white’s greatest treasure to date.

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A bright smile of glee formed on the maids face from the simple reply of approval from Saraphina’s lips. She was excited to know she had still retained her skills in at least making tea, if not cooking altogether. Should Kyra and such other cannibalistic members of the guild still reside in enough number, she may have to re-educate herself on butchering skills to make meat for the “special chili” she made for them as it had something they were more akin to wanting to chow on. And her cattle of choice were the wasted away dungeon prisoners casted away from the members fun, hand picked by the maid herself as she had walked them so often to assure that they were alive and well, and if not.. well they made sure others were for sure~

The white haired maid stepped to the side of the chair in which Saraphina had sat herself in. She would get down beside it, knelt down but placing her hands at her lap instead of in the air. There were many things that Sanguine would say or do without question, however something as minor and holding her hands up in the air was a little order she would not follow. Even if it would send the queen into a tantrum for it. It was a bit of a new thing to her, a rare bit of selective order obedience for the maid, but in this case she felt it better to do that than look like some whipped servant acting with the fear of god in them… that’s what they had the slaves in the dungeons Ford after all.

With a light sigh, she would look up to the ice queen, the smile wiped from her face and leaving only a look of disappointment. Mainly aimed at her own self. ”My queen, I would never leave the guild and go elsewhere. My last job.. technically had been my last job.” Sanguine rattled off, pausing to clear her throat. ”I took up a job to protect a midi actress who had been a target for an assassination. She, being Addilyn, was quite the sweet girl. I did take a liking to her and the job seemed to become much more pressing than a simple tag along. At last years summer festivities, they had sent quite a number of quite agile and powerful mages. As I did what I could without leveling the entirety of the town to preserve my mission, I simply fought and came to one last alternative of save her… and I admit it was selfish on my part to do so without considering you or the guild.” She again stopped to take a breath of air and exhale. ”I ended up sacrificing my own life in order to save hers, as my job had been to do. I have no regrets in my choice of action. However, in the event of my death having come, my body was stolen from where it was being examined. I woke up suddenly, this rush of this overflowing power within me and it felt so… so unimaginably great. I quite frankly do not know from whom it was who resurrected me, but they allowed me to do as I pleased with this new life. Their job for me will come when they need me, but until such time, I immediately came back to here. To where I belong and will do so until such time that I die again… hopefully this time to protect this guild and not someone outside of it.”

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The tone that Saraphina showed in retort to her information seemed to be a little more than a slap in the maids face. More over the comment that immediately followed hurt a little to hear it and her head lowered down. She felt a bit of a shame hit her thinking she let down someone who brought her in and gave her a life she was so grateful to have. When the finger pushed her head up, it came with no resistance at all. Concerned at what she was doing, the maid simply stared in disbelief at the words that left the Queens mouth. Her eyes glistened with surprise and her mouth slowly ushered into a smile. "I.. I was simply performing a job just the same as I would if I were protecting your highness herself..." She took a simple pause, nodding seemingly to herself. "I will not make that mistake again, my Queen."

For a moment, Saraphina seemed to retreat back to her seat and remain silent. Most likely collecting her thoughts over the information given to her, she requested one thing and it was quite a suitably acceptable order. "I shall do my best to do just that... Though it might prove hard. Reviving me was no easy task in any sort of fashion." Thinking over the specifics in which she had been revived required that of a black dragon and a demon on top of whatever else had been used in her reincarnation.

Being asked about her guild mark had made her look down to her left hip, then back up to the Queen. She smiled and even as Nadaline had set the stamp down in the woman's hands, the maid nodded happily. "Yes, ma'am. That was one of the first things I noticed was still on my body when I first awoke... though frankly I wish clothes were also one." With a light shrug and brief, muffled chuckle, she pointed to the location where her stamp was still located and only looked up to the white haired woman. "I would never step foot in front of you without this mark less i were to beg for it back." Though Sanguine could never forsee herself being without Errings Rising, she wondered what else there might have been swimming about in the woman's mind.

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