That Butler, New Face

That Butler, Scandalous

"Once upon a time, there lived a very special family, who possessed a very special gift... They could see the future in their dreams,"  Undertaker began as they rode together on his black hearse together in  the cold. It felt surreal to Chêne, traveling through the twilight like  that, surrounded by darkness and death during the blue hour while  listening to a madman tell her a fairy tale. "This... ability...  could be both a blessing and curse, but one particular generation  learned how to use it solely to their advantage. They began using their  insight to gain power, wealth, and favor with certain monarchs, and they  came to be known as the Devinettes." Chêne froze when the full weight  of his words hit her, and her eyes widened in shock as she turned to  face him.

No... It couldn't be...

"Influencing one or  two small events here and there to ease one's conscience is no great  sin, as long as it is done responsibly, but there is a difference  between what one 'can' and what one 'should' do," he  continued. "The Devinettes ignored this crucial difference, and their  folly had dire consequences on the world's natural order. People who  should have died didn't, and people who shouldn't have died did.  Together they began to selfishly unravel the tapestry of fate and  reshape it to suit their own personal agenda. They tried to play God,  and they failed miserably. The more they deviated from the original  plan, the world fell into chaos. A schism between the reality of what  was and what should have been began to form, creating two  parallel worlds... one where humans relied too much on magic, and one  where they relied on it too little. Though this was done to preserve the  timeline of both worlds without having to destroy one or the other and  all who inhabited them, it created a terrible imbalance, especially when  the ones responsible for the splitting of realities refused to stop the  behavior that had caused it in the first place. The Devinettes of this  world were given one last chance to behave themselves, but they refused...  So they had to be stopped."

Chêne's eyes widened, and  she felt herself shudder as a terrible chill shivered up her spine, as  though someone had just walked over her grave.

They were  killed... every last one of them. She knew it now, what had happened to  her family, or at least her ancestors, in this world...

"And... did 'stopping' them... restore balance?" she asked a bit hesitantly, swallowing the nervous lump in her throat.

"... That  is a story for another day, Miss Maid," Undertaker said, glancing at  her, as his usual grin began to snake its wake back onto his face again.  "This is your stop, Miss Maid," he told her as he pulled back on the  reins and the hearse rolled to a stop just in front of the circus's  gates, waving her off. Chêne furrowed her brow slightly in confusion at  their timely arrival and the sudden dismissal as she began to climb down  from the seat.

"How do you know all of this?" she asked, pausing. How did he even known this is where she was headed?

"Hmm... I wonder..." he replied enigmatically, grinning at her like a demented Cheshire cat. "Remember to choose wisely, Miss Maid," he told her as he cracked the reins and started driving away. "And do  try not to get caught next time~!" He cackled as his black hearse took  off down the lane, disappearing off into the night. Chêne stared after  him for a moment longer, gently tracing her fingers over the family  brooch, before heading back into the circus grounds.

=†=†=†=†=

"You  certainly took your time," Sebastian remarked as she entered their  tent. "I had half a mind to send out a search party," he teased,  smirking, as he approached his pensive wife. Did she delight in making  him worry about her. His smile faltered slightly when he noticed the  melancholy expression in her normally bright and cheerful eyes. "What is  it? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.