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Emily was a girl with a mission. A mission to make sure the world was worthy of her mistress's presence. No dust allowed! Lines must be tidy and parallel! All containers must be sealed! All damaged items must be destroyed! This wasn't just any trifling mission, this was her life's work. Maintaining the large Lee mansion had gotten fairly easy over the years, the rest of the staff being trained to the necessary standards. Unfortunately, Crystal Academy was much larger, and so far the school's staff had yet to convince Emily that they bothered to meet any standards whatsoever. So the little maid had to take the matter into her own hands.

As the school was too large to take on all at once, every night she set aside several class and common rooms that she would "fix." Her primary concern were the areas that Miss Mindy would actually have to set foot in. (The rest of the school would need to be taken care of as well, so they couldn't contaminate everything else with their wanton disorder.) Tonight she had a very particular classroom in mind, that very day she had noticed dust on the windowsills. Not to mention the teacher's books in complete disarray, possibly on purpose. Emily had her suspicions about him. He looked like the type of person to leave the cap off the toothpaste.

Standing at the door, she noticed the room's lights were still on. Was the teacher still here? Frowning Emily tested the knob. It was unlocked. Carefully, she eased the door open a crack and peeked in, searching for the teacher. The maid let out a small sigh of relief, just a student. Caution gone, Emily threw the door open the rest of the way, and marched in with a bucket of carefully selected cleaning supplies.

Though her expression didn’t change, Emily was fairly startled by the girl’s sudden questioning. She was used to receiving a certain amount of invisibility when she cleaned. It was something she had come to take for granted, and hadn’t really expected any of the student at Crystal Academy to behave otherwise. Staring at the girl, her expression became somewhat considering as she replied seriously, “It is after school.” Speaking of which, why was this girl still in the classroom? Could it be that she had noticed Emily’s covert clean-up activities and had been waiting for her? Was this a trap?

Flushing slightly at the thought of falling so easily into the other girl’s clutches, the small girl stated ,“If you think to entrap me in some way, there will be consequences. Dire consequences.” With a certain amount of defiance, Emily set to work on a cleaning the teacher’s desk, all the while never taking her eyes off the other girl.

Emily's hands stilled as the other girl began discussing human cages. This girl...what was she planning that involved cages? Slave trading? Organ harvest? Or could it be...recruiting for an underground fighting tournament?! The maid's heart sped up a little at the thought of becoming a gladiator of the city's dark and seedy underworld.

It sped up still more as the girl asked about how she armed herself. And then...robots? With laser beams? Emily's eyes took on a knowing sparkle, and she acknowledged the other girl's cunning with a small smile. "If that's what you're offering for me to join your endeavors...then I'll have to think about it." And ask Miss Mindy later of course.

But for this girl to know enough about Emily to not only know that she longed to follow in the passionately violent footsteps of the wrestler Don Diablos, but what sort of offer to make as well...

Well. The person in front of her was most formidable indeed. Giving the girl a small nod of approval before returning her attention to the work at hand, she continued, "You've done you're homework well."

The knowing smile remained firmly in place as Emily clasped her hands in front of her and gave a small bow. "My name is Emily Moffat."

Asking her name, as if she hadn't already been thoroughly researched. Well, never let it be said that Miss Mindy's Best Maid wasn't up to this sort of game. It was a bit unexpected, however, to find this sort of situation in Crystal Academy of all places, and with another student.

What kind of person was this Serah Eos? The leader of an upscale gang? Yakuza? Or possibly,"....Mafia princess." Emily pondered this last, not realizing she had spoken aloud.

Mysterious Maid. Emily's eyes practically sparkled at what could only be her new secret identity as an underground fighter. It had everything! It was descriptive! (The maid part.) It had an air of mystery! (The mysterious part.) It was, quite simply: perfect.

The extent to which this young crime boss had displayed her knowledge and cleverness was beyond impressive. Miss Mindy must know more of this person, and it would be up to Emily establish relations with her. With a light flush of excitement, Emily firmly grasped the offered item. This must be a Mafia ceremony of sorts, and she didn't dare offend the girl before her.

"Principessa..." Emily began as she unwrapped the sucker. "I accept," and popped the candy into her mouth.

Ah.

Oh.

Oh no.

Not a Mafia Ceremony, but a Mafia Test! Emily's face scrunched a little but she tried to stay strong. She would endure this. Mysterious Maid wouldn't be defeated here!

At Don Serah's nod, Emily slowly reached up toward the hellpop to remove it from her mouth, manfully resisting the urge to simply spit it out nownownow! Just an inch away, her hand paused and her eyes widened in realization. The test wasn't over! It was just beginning.

The temptation of the juice box! That confiding nod! Her loyalty and ability to withstand interrogation techniques was being tested! The sheer evil genius of it was almost on the same level as Miss Mindy!

Mysterious Maid dropped her hand and looked back at Mafia Princess, her eyes shining as well. With unshed tears. What a ruthless person this was! But Emily couldn't resent such efficient methods. Not at all, this was a person to respect. A person to learn from.

As the sweat started beading up on her forehead, Emily comforted herself with the fact that Don Diablos would have approved.

Even as Mafia Princess was ruthless, so was she merciful! Emily's hand only trembled a little as she removed the torturous candy from her mouth, placed it back into it's wrapper, and neatly packaged it back up. Only then did she allow herself to reach out and take the most wonderful sip of juice in the history of the world. In the history of her life.

Even as the beverage quenched her body, so did Don Serah's words satisfy Emily's mind and heart. She had done it! The was Mysterious Maid's first major victory, and quite possibly her first step into Destiny City's criminal underworld.

Finally feeling capable of speech, Mysterious Maid bowed low and replied earnestly, "Madonna, I thank you for honoring me with such a worthy challenge."