I keep on walking, and get to a room I'm very familiar with. Of course they'd use Brady and my main hook-up room as the meeting room we meet in. I have no doubt Amelia is behind that. For such a sweet girl, she's pure evil sometimes.

"As the girls seem to be not with us, it will be us two. Zeev, go check on the girls," I order, getting him out of the room before I realize I probably said that backwards.

"Now, you will have to share since I can't make copies, but here are some files that should explain everything perfectly." I say, as I start to distribute the files.

"I won't need any. I believe you, and even trust you to some small extent." Miguel says as I try to hand him one.

"Very well. Miguel, will you please go catch up with Zeev. I worry about the state of whatever room the four of them are in if they're left unsupervised." I also worry about what would happen if Zeev got pulled into this awful plan too. Though, at least I won't have to chance Miguel figuring out everything in the file.

"Your personal file?" Ruben questions, holding it up.

"Yes, I thought it might clear somethings up." I answer.

"Well, given that I have a limited time to read, I think I'll set this aside. I'm sure I can make sense of things without it," He says, and I hold in a sigh of relief. It seems my secrets are still safe.

"I'll go put it back up then," I say sweetly as I grab my file.

It doesn't take that long to get to the archive room, nor that long back. I hear very little to no noise out of the room with the others, which is mildly concerning on one hand, put then again it's unlikely they would be plotting something if Miguel was in the room with them. At least I hope not.

I reenter the room Ruben's in, and surprisingly enough, don't see him reading. "Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No, not at all?" He answers, slightly kindly. This is now very concerning.

"Then why aren't you reading?"

"Because I don't need to. Only someone so sure that they're in the right would go through such lengths to convince me, and if you believe you're right that strongly, there is nothing I could do to convince you otherwise. My daughter and Miguel both believe you, as does my son-in-law, and deep down, I believe my niece does too. That's all the proof I need, though if I may ask, why are you so concerned about Luna? She's a child, and you hate children."

I wince it the last bit. "It's true that I'm not overly fond of children, at any age. Babies are too young and require too much care, care that I believe I cannot provide to them. Young children are very clingy, and then they get bratty as they get older. Teens, well you had to raise one. Enough said. I'm not suited well for children, at least most children.

"Luna's different though. She's quiet. Perceptive. Intelligent." I say, smiling slightly. The one thing that I don't say is that she's like me; she could be the person I would have been if I hadn't gotten involved in all this stuff. However, she wants to be in this, just like another young child I know, counting the days until she got her note.

"You know, I think you don't really hate children as much as you say you do," Ruben says, standing up.

"I don't?" I ask.

"Of course not. You just don't like it when they're yours; you don't want to be in charge of them alone because you're worried that you'll do something wrong and mess them up. That they'll turn out like you, which you somehow see as bad." He says before leaving me sitting alone in the meeting room.

"What is it about men old enough to be my father. They all seem to able to read me no matter what defenses I have. Let's just hope this one isn't like the last one." I mutter before leaving the room, stopping as I find a red splotch on the door frame. I remember how that got there.

"Brady, come on, it's just one kiss." I try to coax him into doing it.

"Absolutely not, LB. The last time we did that, Ailstar caught us. I'm not risking it this time." Brady argues, and I sigh.

"Fine. Let's get this stupid meeting over with, then." I say as we enter the meeting room.

The meeting was beyond awful. I now know why Catherine let me take it over; she didn't want to do it. Not even five minutes in and I wanted to stab everyone in the room, Brady including, since he was teasing me about all the idiocy. Of course, his stab wound would only be a small flesh wound, like a small slice on the wrist. Everyone else's would be across the neck.

When I can't stand it any longer, "I'm sorry. I just have the worst headache. Can you excuse me for a couple of minutes while I go get a cup of tea and some medicine." I don't wait for their response, and basically run out of the room.

I let out a sigh of relief as I exit the room, and go make some lemon tea. I do actually have a headache, caused by all the idiocy in the room.

I reluctantly head back to the meeting. I see Brady on the outside of the door. I quickly walk over to where he's at, and give him a very strong peck on the cheek. "You owe me." I hiss in his ear.

"Perhaps so," he whispers back. "Why don't we go ahead and kiss really quick. After all, it should take me some time to find you."

I smirk, and he moves over to the side of the door. I go in to kiss him, and at the last second he ducks out of the way, and opens the door.

I kiss the door frame, but quickly right myself, and trip him on the way to my seat. However, the entire room saw what happened earlier. "Payback's awful, isn't it?" He mouths.

"You may have won this battle, but I will win the war," Is my response.

Let's just say neither of us focused on the rest of the meeting.

"Is something about that door frame really interesting?" Miguel asks.

"No, not really. Just some memories." I respond, trying to smile. I'm sure my face looks very odd and awkward. Some people just weren't meant to smile; I'm one of them. It looks awful on me.

"Good or bad?"

"Good. Definitely good. And funny too."

"That's good. We all need some nice memories. Oh, I was supposed to find you, already did, and we were supposed to go to the room next door for some sort of mission briefing. Amelia's words, not mine." He says, and I laugh.

"That's Amelia for you; very professional. As if you guys could do the mission briefing without me, since I know the plan. Besides, spoiler, the only part that I'm letting you guys in on is staying out of my hair as I get a sailboat for us."

"That sounds very fun, but have you met your friends? I have a feeling that's not going to go over well with them," Miguel tries to warn, and I smirk slightly. Oh, I know it will go over perfectly well, as long as a special someone goes with me, which is exactly what I need for my plan to work. I love making them play into my hand, but making them think they are just playing into their own.

"We'll see," I respond humming.

"You know, I'm really starting to hate it when you do that," Miguel says, though it's lacking that much heat.

"So, the plan?" I ask as I get in the room.

"Wait, what! You don't have a plan? Amelia says, basically freaking out.

"Of course I do. I just heard that you were doing a mission briefing, and thought you might have a better one."

"Very funny," She says as she playfully hits me.

"Why yes, I thought it was.

"So, the plan. I go to the dock, get us a sailboat, you guys," I gesture to the pirates, "help with sailing because I know nothing, and come to think of it the only of us four that know anything is Amelia because of her father, and she can't exactly do what she knows. Any comments, thoughts, or concerns. None, great. I'll just go," I say, honestly not giving them a chance to comment. That bites me in the side a second later.

"Actually, I do have a concern. You going alone. Miguel has to go with you," Ruben objects, and I try not to roll my eyes. So, he's going along with his daughter. We are seriously outnumbered here.

I turn to Miguel. Of course, I can't let anyone know I actually want this for my manipulation tactic at the docks, so I can't act too happy about it. "Remember the rules; stay out of the way, and let me do the talking."

"So all I have to do is stand there and look handsome?" He asks.

I smile slightly. It shouldn't be too hard for you to do that. "I know you meant that sarcastically, but yes. That is exactly what you need to do; just be quiet. I've got everything else planned out, and taken care of." Hopefully, I think to myself.

Miguel shakes his head, and leaves the room. "We will be at the docks. We'll meet on the other side of town; by my old home," I clarify, and they nod. I sure do hope Miguel can sail, or instruct me enough for

the two of us can make it halfway around the island on our own.

"So, how much of that is an act?" He acts as we walk through the tunnels.

"I have no clue what we're talking about," I respond.

"Oh, sure you don't. That whole, arrogant, cold, know-it-all, annoyed-at-everything, I hate the entire world and I would burn it for fun, everyone around me is inferior, attitude that you put on as soon as your friends arrived. How much of it is fake, and how jaded did you have to become to create it?" He presses.

I close my eyes. Of course he could see through it. After all, Brady could, and the universe just seems to hate me since it brought Brady reincarnated into my life.

"You can't tell anyone else. First of all, they wouldn't believe you. I've had this going on for as long as we've met. Second of all, it would be a major betrayal for me, and I'd have to kill you.

"It started when I was six. It was then that I realized I was different from all the other kids. Things they had trouble grasping and their older siblings were having trouble understanding, I could get from simply looking at the book. Memorizing things was a cinch; all I had to do was look at it or read it. I guess you can see where I get the know-it-all part from; it's hard to act like something you're not.

"Where the jaded part as you put it comes in, that's a bit harder. I have the typical tragic backstory; my mother died when I was young. My father was an Admiral so he basically pretended I didn't exist, and he's like most men around here; he believes because I'm a girl I'll never amount to anything. I wanted to make him proud so much, but nothing I did was ever good enough, especially when I did something I thought he would like. That turned out to be too boyish; he wanted me to be the perfect daughter, and even had his sights set on me marrying one of the King's sons.

"That was when I first started to realize I needed to shut off. But I still had too much good in me; I tried to help other students. Mainly with schoolwork, because I was just that person. I would explain things to them, and their older siblibings too. Through that, I thought that I'd made friends, but it turned out they were just using me. When I wasn't around, they were gossiping, calling me a know-it-all, and a bunch of other bad stuff to a six-year-old. Well, word got back to my father what was going on, and then I was in a whole world of trouble.

"You see, my father didn't want me to go to school; he was apparently going to teach me everything himself. With how little he was at the house I don't know. So, he wasn't all that happy I went behind his back to enroll myself in school, and forged his name. Actually, that's putting it mildly. That was the only time he ever laid hands on me, and I promised myself it would be the last time someone did that and didn't pay instantly. I haven't broken that promise either.

"I think that's when it started. After that, I closed myself off. I realized no one was looking out for me, but myself. If something happened to me, they'd say it was my fault. I learned blackmail information is power, and that you can use knowledge as power if you yourself don't possess enough to keep people away from you. I used that information to my advantage.

"This caught the eye of a spy organization. Turns out, I was a legacy there, and was automatically promoted to leader of a new division because I did the best on the opening exams. Then, this became who I was. It was easier to keep comments from bothering me if it was just a personna. Then, as with what happens with all long term personas, it became the real me. Now, anything else is just another persona I'm broadcasting. I don't know who the real me is anymore, and I don't need to. The real me was weak, and she would have been dead ten times over in this world. It's better this way; no one will cry when I'm gone. A few will probably rejoice; it'll be best for everyone that way." I say, honestly forgetting Miguel is here. That's probably why I said so much; even Amelia and Zeev don't know the full story.

"What about your friends?" He asks, and it takes me a few seconds to catch what he's asking.

"They'll be sad, possibly, and they'll go to my funeral instead of the party next door celebrating my death. I expect they'll be the only ones there though, and hopefully won't stay for too long." I respond, trying to keep my tone light.

"So, keeping yourself unattached from people and making them stay unattached from you is because of why?"

"Because love is pain."

"You can't go through life without love though," He argues.

I let out a bitter laugh. I know that all too well. "And that's why life is pain. Anyone telling you different is trying to sell you something."

We're silent for a while, which is perfectly fine by me. I spilled too much on that painful trip down memory lane. Then again, when is there a nice memory trip?

We reach the docks, and I move straight to the last place a pirate wants to go; the control.

"Hello, Wolfric," I say.

"Well, well, Miss Loveday Bryn Player is gracing my office. When Anderson has put a warrant out on you nonetheless. Is something the matter, since I can't see this being a friendly social call." He responds.

"Yes, my friend and I need a sailing ship, just a small one. We'll be renting it for a couple of weeks." I respond professionally, ignoring how he's ogling.

"I'm sure we could work out a price," He hums.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that my friend is my fiance. Well, husband now. That's we need the sailing boat, see. Our parents don't really know, and to say we'd get backlash is putting it lightly. Now, we are married, so any child won't be illegitimate, and our parents might just be excited enough about a grandchild they'd forgot the means, if you catch my drift," I say with a smirk, watching the two men's reactions. Honestly, they're not that different.

Wolfric is just complete shock and frustration. He's had a thing for me for far too long, so it was kind of fun to shut him down like that instead of kicking his butt like I normally do. Miguel is also shock, but his has a hint of pride and awe in it.

"Of course, I have just the boat for you. And you guys can have it free, as a wedding present and well wish for the future babe," He offers, nervously glancing at Miguel. Sometimes I really do have too much fun.

"Oh, that would be just perfect. Thank you so much. Is it the Brianna?" I ask, and he nods. "Lovely, I know where it is and what it looks like. We'll just go there and get out of your hair quickly," I say with a devilish smile as I drag Miguel out.

"You're really manipulative, I hope you know that." He says, and I laugh.

"Yes, I am. Though, I must admit, you are the first who's seen through me so clearly. How do you do it? Am I losing my touch already?" I question, searching for my ship.

"Easy, in both personas you act too different. The switch was too drastic, especially after everything you've been through. And I can't see the one I knew being true, which means the other can't be either. There's a different you in there somewhere, she's just buried down under a lot of shields." Miguel explains.

"Too different, very interesting," I muse aloud. Inwardly, I'm thinking about how he's taking down all my shields far too fast for my liking. The sooner I get the information from Dirk and kill him, the better. Though, to do that, I have to get Luna, and then there's the possibility of Avidgor being there, and I don't even need to try to petition to interrogate Dirk because I've already killed Avidgor. Honestly, everything I have to plan for to make sure nothing goes haywire and to make sure I can keep myself half-way sane is ridiculous.

"So, the Brianna. Why that name? A family member or friend?"

"No, actually. It was my mother's ship, salvaged from her mothers and all the way up to our leading ancestor, Drest Madwolf. However, she went by the name of Brianna in court when she married Lord Faintree, considering it was more proper. She was the founder of the IEA, and so we've always had a ship named after her in our fleet in some way. Brianna, just happens to be our current one, and she's a beauty. You won't find a faster one, nor one better equid for taking on anything the sea will throw at you." I say, not bothering to keep the pride out of my voice. I may be able to sail her, but I'm extremely proud of Brianna.

"I can think of a few," Miguel responds, and I playfully swat him.

"Oh, yes. I know you sailors are loyal to your ships. Just like I'm loyal to Brianna. She's apart of the family, and basically the only one I have left." I respond, and he's quite.

Then, I fully realize what I said. Only my idiots are used to that form of humor of mine. Scathing sarcasm, expected. Me casually throwing in personal loss and not even blinking an eye because I don't notice it, not so much.

This also opens up a whole new problem. This along with me playfully hitting him means that I'm getting close to him. Too close, too fast. Just like what it was like with Brady.

I stumble as I step onto the boat. I've fallen in love with Miguel.