With their horses kindly being taken to the empty stables, the group, with Etrius being the leader, was being given a tour of the town by the leader of the maid collective, Hilda.

 

“And here we have our fourth grave yard planned if we ever need it.” Hilda smiled.

“Why do you have so many graveyards?” Etrius asked.

“That’s what you're curious about?” Iris asked. “Not why everyone is dressed as maids?”

“That is because we are maids.” Hilda smiled.

“Okay, but what about the grave yards?” Etrius asked.

“That is because when anyone tries to leave, the angry one appears!” She said cheerfully.

“Who’s the angry one?” Etrius asked.

“They kill anyone who tries to leave.” She said.

“…” Iris and her children froze.

“Yeah, well we’re different.” Etrius said.

“Thirty seven.” She said.

“Thirty seven?” Etrius asked.

“That's how many people said that before you.” She said.

“They weren’t different enough.” It said.

“Eighteen.”

“Shit.”

“Twelve.”

“Are we trapped here?” Iris asked worriedly.

“Fourteen, and of course not.” Hilda said. “You can leave at any time you want.”

“But you said that anyone who leaves dies.” Rose pointed out.

“Death is a way out.” Hilda said with eyes similar to a dead fish.

“How do you guys get food here if you can’t leave?” Violet asked.

“Our warehouse restocks itself every week.” She said. “Probably through the maleficent spells of a foul witch. But we don’t know for certain.”

“Sounds like you don’t look too kindly upon magic.” Etrius said.

“No, we hate it and everyone who uses it.” She smiled.

“…” Etrius looked at her.

“… Oh!” She said. “Except for you witc- master.”

“So you are just assuming I can use magic?” Etrius asked.

“Can you?” She asked, her smile faltering.

“No.” It lied.

“Oh good!” She smiled. “I thought for a second that the master was a nefarious witch who deserves nothing but to face the wrath of the angry one!”

“I don’t like this place, can we leave?” Iris asked, tugging on Etrius’ sleeve.

“Leaving is impossible. Every conceivable way of leaving this miserable town has already been tried.” Hilda said. “We have the grave yards to prove it.”

“What about a tunnel?” Rose asked.

“Exploded.” Hilda said.

“Fly out?” Violet suggested.

“We can’t fly.” She said.

“What if you all run?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, surely he can't get you all.” Iris said.

“We have a memorial to the charge of the one hundred who thought the same thing.” She said.

“Why not kill it?” Etrius asked.

“Ah yes, the old ‘slip poison into his tea’ trick. Why didn’t we think of that?” She asked. “Oh wait, we did.”

“The angry one seriously came out to drink tea?” Iris asked.

“If by that you mean blow up the tea cart with our finest tea set? Then yes.” She said. “Sorry if I sound on edge, but the angry one has been a problem for us for quite some time.”

“That sucks.” Etrius said.

“That’s an understatement.” She said. “Now please, it's getting late, we have a grand feast prepared for you in the manor.”

 

Without waiting for them, Hilda turned and headed down the road for the largest building in town. With no other option but to follow her, that's what they did. Though as they did, Etrius still had a series of questions.

 

“Did you like, come to this town and get trapped or did the angry one suddenly appear and kill everyone?” Etrius asked.

“For that story you’ll have to speak with our lore master.” She said.

“Okay, so who is your lore master?” It asked.

“That would be me.” She said.

“Then can you tell us the lore of this town?” It asked.

“Certainly.” She said.

“That's nice.” It said.

 

Instead of saying anything however, Hilda wordlessly continued towards the manner. Etrius, for its part, did nothing to encourage her to talk, leaving Iris and her children in an odd state.

 

“You two seem to get along…” Iris said.

“Is that so?” Etrius asked.

“That's news to me.” Hilda said.

 

The two did not look at each other or the children, and simply continued to walk. Iris looked at her children and worried for their future. Not only were they stuck in this town, but they were stuck in this town with people like Etrius and Hilda.

Arriving at the manor they were greeted by a group of maids, and led into the dining hall by another group of maids, and were seated by yet another group of maids. And then, you guessed it, dinner was brought to them by another group of maids. The food was food, but Iris couldn’t exactly enjoy it as she was unfamiliar and uncomfortable being surrounded by and watched by dozens of maids. They weren't even being subtle about it. All of the maids in the room, save for Hilda who was missing, was watching Iris. And only Iris.

 

“There's a little sweat on your forehead, miss…” One of the younger maids said.

“!?” Iris panicked and wiped what sweat was there.

“Could you please calm down, you're scaring her.” Etrius said, not bothering to look at the offending maid.

“Sorry, it's just a little maid prank.” The maid apologized, not at all sounding sorry.

 

Etrius was sure that there was no such thing as a maid prank, but as it played pranks of its own from time to time, and sometimes as a maid itself. It didn’t want to call her out or risk becoming even more of a hypocrite then it already was. The five continued with their dinner, with a somewhat awkward atmosphere. The maids at least we're no longer obviously staring at Iris, so she was able to eat in some semblance of peace.

After their dinner passed in silence, the doors at the far end of the room opened up to reveal Hilda who was pushing a cart with some sort of decorative silver tray on it. As they looked at it curiously, the maids who were standing at the edge of the room cleared off the table of its dishes and left the room. Now alone with Hilda and her non-threatening smile, they waited as she pushed the cart to Etrius’ side.

 

“Master, I believe that you are the head of the family?” Hilda asked.

“Actually, we aren't related.” Iris pointed out.

“Eh?” Hilda asked.

 

Hilda, somewhat confused, looked from Etrius to Iris, only now noticing that they didn’t exactly look like family. She also noticed that Etrius still wore its hood despite being inside, and thought that that was kind of rude.

 

“Who is the head of the house?” Hilda asked.

“Eh…” Iris avoided eye contact.

“If anything, they are under my care, for the time being.” Etrius said.

“Ah, I understand.” She nodded. “In any case, there is an object for the head of the house.”

 

Removing the silver lid of the tray, she revealed a black, shiny, rectangle, small enough to comfortably fit in the palm of one’s hand. Looking at it, Etrius instantly recognized it as a smartphone from earth. The very same earth that had its moon’s orbit destabilized and fragmented into a ring around the planet. Looking at it, Etrius noticed that Hilda was looking at it expectantly. Picking it up, Etrius scanned its internals and noticed that its battery was dead. Hooking it up to its own power source, Etrius turned it on.

 

“Ah, so you are a witch…” Hilda said, taking a step back, almost tripping in the process.

“This isn’t a magic artifact.” Etrius said, preventing her fall. “It’s a piece of technology from another world.”

“So, its from another throne world?” She asked. “I didn’t know that they had things such as these.”

“Yeah, well this planet is kind of a backwater place.” Etrius admitted. “You don’t even have sliced bread.”

“We have bread knives for that.” She said. “So what is this thing?”

“It’s a smartphone.” Etrius said.

“It doesn’t look so smart to me.” She said.

“It’s significantly smarter than you.” It said.

“!” Hilda looked offended.

“What is that thing for?” Iris asked.

“You can contact people far away with it and use the internet but you haven't invented that yet.” It said.

“So, can you talk to people with it?” Rose asked.

“No, there is no phone service here.” Etrius said.

“So, what can you do with it?” Hilda asked.

“Not much.” Etrius said.

“Then what's the point?” Hilda asked, none to pleased.

“Mind if I keep it?” Etrius asked.

“We don’t want it, that thing is cursed.” She said.

“How so?” It asked.

“It was making a ringing noise for three days and no one nearby could sleep.” She said.

“That was probably the alarm.” It said.

“Well, tell the alarm that we hate it.” She said.

“I’m just going to turn it off.” It said doing exactly that. “So, about that whole, ‘lore of the town thing?’ mind telling us?”

“Yes, well that is a long story.” She said, clearing her throat. “Long ago, a group of people decided that this wasn’t the worst place to live, so they put down their bags and started living here.”

“Skip a bit please.” Etrius said.

“Seven years ago when the lord of the town was leaving, the angry one appeared and made him explode.” She said. “We wanted to go and try to save our master, but the men of the town said, ‘this aint no job for a maiden! Go back to the kitchen!’ And when they ran over, the angry one flew over and killed them. It just kept happening and eventually all that was left was us maids.”

“Wait, the angry one flies?” Iris asked.

“Yes, and very fast too.” Hilda said. “Like fuush! And Vreewe! And when it kills people it usually goes brrrt! And sometimes they turn into a red mist.”

“Is the angry one a dragon?” Iris asked.

“Dragon deez nuts on your face?” She asked.

“What?” Iris asked.

“What?” Hilda asked.

“So, why doesn’t the angry one kill people who are entering the town?” Etrius asked.

“We’re not sure. All that we know is that its foul magic kills all those attempting to leave.” She said.

“Another question.” Etrius said. “Are you actually a maid?”

“I’m wearing the dress, aren't I?” She asked, picking up her skirt and giving a twirl.

“Just having the outfit doesn’t make you a maid.” It said.

“Yes it does.” She said.

“It does not.” It said.

“Have you ever even seen a maid?”

“Yes I have. My daughters’ friend has one.” It said.

“Oh.” She said. “Well, I’m an actual maid. Ask me any maid question.”

“Um-” Rose started.

“You use the feather duster.” She said. “Next question.”

“Name any one of us.” Etrius said.

“That was not phrased as a question.” She said.

“What’s my-” Iris started.

“No more questions.” She said.

“I hate this place…” Iris said, holding her head in her hands. “I can’t stand it…”

“It sounds like the masters are tired, let me show you to your rooms.” She smiled. “Follow me.”

Laying in the back of her carriage, Eir stared at the canvas ceiling blocking the night sky. Normally traveling in a carriage would be cramped, but Eir was lucky as only she was in the back. Lady Washington, as she had come to learn, did not sleep. And, although she did not see her, she heard the familiar sound of her heavy footsteps outside. Her footsteps sounded like that of a clawed creature, which admittedly, she was. With many thoughts in her mind, Eir tossed and turned in her bedding. Unable to sleep, she threw open the curtain in the back and leaned out.

 

“Hey, Lady Washington.” Eir called out into the dark.

“Yes?” She answered, appearing in front of her.

 

Already used to this, Eir no longer jumped in surprise, but instead looked at her bathed in the moonlight.

 

“I can’t sleep, mind if we talk?” Eir asked.

“Of course.” She said.

“There’s been a few things on my mind, but do you mind telling me about this ‘darling’ of yours?” Eir asked.

“What about my beloved darling?” She asked.

“What is he like?” Eir asked.

“Well… kind for one.” She said. “Normally when people learn of me they die, but darling came to me.”

“What does that have to do with being kind?”

“Believe it or not, darling wanted to learn more about me, and that's when I first had an idea of what ‘myself’ was. For thousands of years we were together but one day it escaped, so I followed.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘escaped’?”

“You can call that my adolescence despite me being around for much longer, but I was curious about it, who made me discover me. Despite everything coming to me, I came to it, but I had no chance to catch up. Still though, I gave chase as best as I could. Although you might not know it, I don’t have an actual body, but at the same time I had many. I know it sounds strange but that’s what I am.” She laughed.

“Huh…”

“I’m not sure how long it took, but eventually darling noticed me slowly surrounding it and once more, came to me. Though it didn’t stay, it left me a gift. A way to meet up. I wanted to embrace it and never let it go. Even now thinking about it makes me feel warm… It’s all I want, to be with it for as long as I last…”

 

Smiling, Lady Washington held the necklace in her hand, close to her heart.

 

“For a time we were together but… I only wish to be with it. To know if it loves me.” She muttered.

“Why not tell him- it? Why not say that?” Eir asked.

“That’s because if it loves me, it may forget me.” She said. “I don’t want that to happen. That's one of the reasons I’ve stopped chasing it. If I hold it, I may lose it forever. But as we are now, I know that it’ll remember me. It’s ironic that it fears that I have forgotten it. I never will. For as long as I exist, I will always treasure my beloved darling, even if we cannot hold each other.”

“Damn…” Eir said. “Well, do you know where it is?”

“Unfortunately, no.” She shook her head, or at least so Eir thought. “In my current form, as limited as it is, darling’s location is unknown to me.”

"So it can be anywhere?"

"Anywhere it desires."

"Even right behind you at this very moment- By the great father it's there!" Eir said pointing into the forest.

"It is not, I am sure of it." She said.

 

Though she said that, Eir couldn't help but notice the reluctance in her voice as she spoke.

 

"Well, I don't know if I could help, but if you ever need help looking for him, or her, I'm not actually sure who it is, but if you ever need help looking for them I'm free to help." Eir said.

"Thank you, but there is no need." She said. "Truthfully speaking, we are likely moving towards each other as we speak."

"Wait, I thought you said that you said that you stopped chasing it." Eir said.

"I have, but this form of mine is likely being guided towards my darling by my true self. I may not be aware of it, but I may find myself lucky and reunite with my darling." She said. "Though it may take several thousands or even billions of years, I'm not too sure of it."

"Wait-" Eir hesitated. "Is this not you? Are you not standing in front of me?"

"This is me, but only a fragment contained in this vessel." She said.

"So, where is the 'real' you?" Eir asked.

"This is the real me, just not all of me." She said.

"I don't understand." Eir shook her head.

"This doll I inhabit contains a portion of my true self, one which limits the effects of my true form." She explained. "With this form, I can go places I normally would be unable to."

"You say that, but without that spell of yours blocking any memories of your appearance every mortal around here would be struck by madness." Eir said.

"Yes, though I hate to admit it, I'm not very good at creating any suitable vessel for any sort of myself. Even now as I am limiting myself, it feels as if I am treading on eggshells." She said.

"Huh… Well I doubt that there's anything I can do, but if there is some way I can help, feel free to tell me." Eir said.

"Thank you." She said.

 

As she watched, Lady Washington appeared to bow slightly, with the necklace in her hands swinging in the slight breeze.