Eleven

Game of Life

It's been…ten years now.

Ten years since I left that place and those people.

Ten since I left behind a lifestyle I never asked for.

And yet the teachings I learned there have always been the most appropriate in my life.

It all started after my father's murder.

I was appointed a legal guardian before ACS took me. Uncle Donnie took me in despite being a widower with children of his own. But the government thought that they knew better than to leave me with someone who knew me since birth so they took me away.

The first few days I spent them in a shelter while they found me a suitable foster home. A week went by before they placed me in a possible candidate's. A month in and everything seemed all right. It was after the ACS agent came by to verify my well-being and saw that I was all right that it all started going wrong.

The woman they took to me with was involved in some business that needed for her to travel constantly. Not very far distances but she would constantly leave me alone by myself. Unattended and as young as I was, I had to learn to care for myself; making meals, cleaning, and studying were what I mostly had to do.

On one of the occasions that I went out to get groceries a boy a few years older than me was waiting outside the lady's door. He might have been twelve or so but at my age and height he was intimidating not to mention his rough appearance.

He started to ask about the lady that lived with me but I knew not where she went most of the times, just that she left for long periods. He didn't care. An argument broke out, one that turned into a struggle pretty fast.

The moment he became tired of fighting me, he drew out a knife and was adamant to cut me. So scared was I that I let it all pass me by. My brain shut off.

And be it by divine hand or sheer luck, a miracle happened…he didn't kill me. It had been the opposite; I wounded him severely. Thank goodness it hadn't been enough to kill him but I later came to know he was crippled from the arm that I had stabbed.

The lady came back a few minutes later with another woman and reprimanded me for what I had done. She was hysteric saying that she didn't have any way to repay 'Mother' for an accident like that. The woman that had accompanied her there told her that she could trade for liberation of her debt.

Back then I didn't know what they were talking about or how it implicated me. Wish I would've though, it could've saved me a whole lot of trouble.

Regardless of that, the lady took me to Mother and told me that she would be my mother from now on. I didn't object. Didn't know that what she was doing was wrong not to mention illegal. It wasn't until later that I found out that she used me as leverage to pay of a debt she'd gathered betting on the ponies to the famille; a French gang that had settled there a few years back and was vastly known in the area for running the underground turfs.

A family that took orphans in to train them as all the different positions they needed. But for whatever reason, the head of the family, Mother Noir, saw something in me and decided that I would be her new 'daughter'.

Despite how nifty the title sounds it was anything but. Because she had chosen me specifically it only intensified the training that I went through in contrast to all the other initiates.

"This will be your new home, child. And here you shall live under my rules. You will be bred to fight both physically and mentally and tested to proof yourself to the family and to me, it's Mother."

And that training put me through hell and back. The reason they got their members young was to indoctrinate them. The forty of us that entered that year ranged from the ages of five to ten but never any older. And although the younger ones were given more time to recuperate were they injured, we all went through the same rigorous training.

Now that I think about it, it reminds me of the military—and seeing how I went with Seb and Ger one year along with Jade to a boot camp, I knew exactly what they did. In there their tactics were to take you to the breaking point and rebuild you as they saw fit.

This was no different…only harder.

They broke you then build you a quarter of the way for inspection from Mother. If she saw you weren't making proper progress, you got beaten. If you were doing fine you were only deprived of food and water for a day or two. And if you were exceptionally good they only trained you harder. There was no winning this.

When I first started my training, I was in the bottom quite a lot so I got beaten up a lot. There were no scars to show unless you looked at the soles of my feet. That's the only place where the beater was allowed to leave them but hardly the only place they were allowed to hit. Mother Noir liked her soldiers clean and presentable. She hated imperfections on her being and seeing as we were part of her family we were a part of her too; and if we were sullied it meant she too was dirty.

She hated not being perfect but she hated her new recruits being weak even more.

And that I, her hand-selected prodigy, was doing so poorly infuriated her.

Mother Noir allowed harsher beatings on me than on the others so that I would learn not to disgrace her. At first the beatings hurt enough to make me cry but as the days went by I learned that crying only made it worse. So instead I thought of other things; happy things. Soon I was so detached that beatings didn't serve a purpose anymore.

At noticing this, Mother Noir decided to break me another way. She liked guns so she used me as a target practice. Mother was known for being the best gunslinger there was and she enjoyed seeing me panic because of what she did.

"If you won't learn one way you will learn another," she would say every time she practiced before cocking her gun at the target behind me.

That taught me a good lesson I didn't forget: fear is a great instigator.

So after a couple more times in the bottom, I decided to train until I couldn't anymore and better myself. If I wanted to live a relatively pain-free life there, I needed to be at the top of the roster at all times. Being pushed to do better beat the hell out of…well, being beat.

Soon I could take kids that were several years older than me not to mention taller and beefier. I learned that my small height made me quick and that I could simply use my opponent against themselves.

The best lesson was that brains always beat brawn.

By the end of our training only eight kids remained and I was the youngest and best fighter. I could hold my own against them all and Mother Noir couldn't be happier. The others kids not so much. They resented me for making them look bad but back then it was a thing of beat or be beaten, quite literally.

But it was stupid of me to think that just because we had gone past the training phase that we were done and safe. That was just preparation; the next phase was a hazing for the initiation.

That hazing was what left the most enduring scars. The same ones that Road exploited in my dreams.

The fear of heights came from the first part. They bounded us in ropes, hands behind our backs, and tied us up to tall tree branches right over a deep lake.

Mother Noir told us that we would be left there for five days and that if after that time we hadn't already brought ourselves down that we were done with initiation and would be sent to the chopping block.

None of us wanted to go to the chopping block. That was a place from where no one returned. The kids that had failed to pass on to the initiation phase were taken there and never came out. In the chopping block they did just that…chopped.

Those five days and nights were a hell that I can't explain. My wrists some times feel the phantom pain of the rough ropes around them. I wasn't the first to get down but I got out of it some time during the fourth night. When I fell into the water it was like hitting an ice bath. It chilled my lungs so badly that it hurt to breath but I made it.

Two weren't so lucky.

And since they would punish us if we helped them there wasn't much we could do. They came back for us the sixth morning. The bodyguards took the two down and off to the chopping block in a tantrum of cries and yells.

They took us to eat and get dressed afterwards but it wasn't over yet. That same night we got taken out into a room one by one were they sat us on a chair and leaned us back to put towels over our faces before pouring small amounts of water over us.

It felt horrible, like I was drowning.

They didn't actually waterboard us for long. It was just to break us. It was to see which ones were loyal under stressful situations and which ones weren't. That was the much harsher test that cut our numbers down to three.

Me and two others.

The initiation was the end of it. Mother Noir welcomed us to the family and baptized us with our weapons and positions.

The boys that survived were given a gun and a hunting knife and were given positions of guards in the facilities. I was given that butterfly knife that I always have handy and also the position to be Mother's guard alongside the other two adults.

It was clear to say that the other two were displeased with my role and how I was jumping hoops because of Mother's favor. But I would've given that position up to anybody who wanted it had I been able to.

Because of my age, Mother liked keeping me better as an ornament than an actual bodyguard. I was a kid of barely seven and a half when I finished my initiation so she kept me as a mere lapdog to show off around in meetings with turf leaders or the like. There was only one thing she did allow me to do though.

When they caught people that needed interrogation and they wouldn't seem to budge under normal circumstances, Mother Noir would send me in.

I know what you're saying; "Why would they be more scared of a child?"

Well, that detachment that I began having during my training was more permanent than I, or anybody for that matter really, thought. Mother Noir noticed that as time went by I continued to detach from the present and let myself act automatically under orders.

She knew that I did this mostly when I faced things I didn't want to do. And torturing—which they so shamelessly called interrogating—was something I loathe even today. Seeing innocents suffer is something I've never been fond of just like Papa.

He was a narcotics detective and knew that a lot of the times he had to grill down perps and the like but it really pained him to grill the citizens who fell victims to them. And apparently I'm not any more indifferent than he was.

But when I was given an order, I had to follow it. If not—I feared the consequences every second of the day and Mother Noir never failed to remind me.

It was either join the interrogations or the chopping block.

You can guess what I picked.

The interrogations weren't so bad when I didn't have to get involved. They would get hurt, yeah, but at least it wasn't me who was causing it to them. But when they wouldn't crack that's when I got thrown at them.

Because of my detachment, I was indifferent to their pain or what harm I caused them. Mother Noir had already taught me plenty on effective torture techniques and I knew how to make people talk. Ask them nicely and if it didn't work, ask them nicely again but the second time would be with a honeyed tone and an underlying threat of bodily harm by me.

Many didn't believe a child could harm anybody; that was their first mistake. If I was told to, I stabbed people, cut their fingers or ears off, jab at eyeballs, and I had to do this all while having a smile on my face.

Now I know why Road had scared me so much the first time I met her. She reminds me a lot of myself back in those times. Back then I didn't care about them, only about my survival in the family.

Those who believed my threat enough, or who had suffered hours by my hand, would sing like birds to Mother's requests, and once my job was done I was let go.

It was afterwards that the mental damage hit me. The scenes that I caused would never completely ingrain in my brain until after I fell asleep. They came back in nightmares so vivid and lucid that I would wake up screaming and crying in the middle of the night.

Every night and day was the same for those three long years.

Until the day that they weren't—I'll never forget that night…or her name.

Cherise Campbell.

We started interrogating her that night, a young mother from the city who worked at an opposing family's bar. As always, I sat in during the interrogation that Rufus and Harold—Mother's new bodyguards and, coincidentally, the grown boys that I had trained and passed with—were conducting.

Despite the horrendous techniques—and I mean uglier than ugly—Cherise continued to hold her silence. It was something that I couldn't fathom from her or any who came before her. They remained silent until they had to be physically and mentally abused to such point that it was inhuman.

To each their own, I suppose, but something seemed different about Cherise. I had overheard Mother talking about her as being an informant for the opposing family and that if anybody knew anything it would be her. But the more the interrogation went on, the more I realized that she wasn't lying; she didn't know anything about what we were asking of her.

The fifth night that we had her I was told to keep her awake and deprived from sleep. Despite being an order, I would let her sleep small intervals then wake her. At least that way she got a bit of sleep. If she didn't feel like sleeping, she would talk to me despite the fact that I was prohibited from speaking to her.

She told me a lot of things: about her family and mostly her older sister, about her diseased husband and about her cute little boy, her 'little Nicky'.

The days went by and she and I would just spend the time like that: me listening to her talk about her life. But after a month of having her there, Mother Noir finally gave the order she seldom gave for interrogation victims.

"If she won't speak for her own peace then she will rest in pieces."

The only difference was that she didn't give that order to Rufus or Harold, she gave it to me.

Me—a girl of barely ten years of age.

A girl that despite having lost her innocence and hope in life still believed in what her father told her.

"Every life matters, reinita. All who live deserve a chance to do just that. Who are we to take away what God has given?"

Rufus and Harold held her and Mother Noir gave me the gun.

A few minutes went by but they felt like an eternity. She had never asked this of me and for a good reason. Mother Noir knew I couldn't do it. She was well aware that I was too young and weak-minded to commit such a thing. That this was the only action where my detachment didn't work.

And she exploited that.

She left Cherise's mouth ungagged during this execution and I heard every last word she said.

"Do it."

"It's okay, ma petite."

"I'll be fine."

She was trying to comfort me. Cherise realized how hard this was on me and was trying to make it easier by telling me it wasn't my fault and that I should just get it over with. But how could I? She was the nicest person that I had met ever since I came to be there.

She was like Papa.

And that just made my decision that much simpler.

Someone who's like Papa doesn't deserve to die.

So I did what I had never done before—I disobeyed a direct order.

To say that Mother was furious would be an understatement. She was so livid with rage that she snatched the gun from me and bashed me with the grip right on the side of my head. The hit was so hard that it left me dazed.

She called me a disgrace and that I would pay dearly for it. She muttered in a language I cannot to this day understand and ordered Rufus and Harold to take Cherise back.

As for me…

"Take the prisoner back to her cell. As for you, you've disgraced me for the last time. Tomorrow I will deal with this vermin myself and you along with it."

They locked me up along with Cherise to face Mother's execution in the morrow. The thing is I wasn't a scared a little girl anymore. That disobedience fired up something in me that till this day stands: my will to live.

Too bad they taught me too well.

With what I had learned from those three years, I managed to get Cherise and I out of the chains and out towards freedom. We were a good distance out when the sirens of the building went off. They figured we had escaped and not far behind we could hear the ruckus that was being made from them looking for us.

I thought it couldn't get worse…until it did.

"Run, mon cherie." But despite how vehemently I refused her, she only smiled caringly. "Get away and live. One as kind as you deserves a life better than this." And before I could stop her she ran in their direction. Going back would be suicide for both of us and if I went back I would just dishonor her wish.

But the real reason why I ran away was because I was a coward who couldn't protect the only person who had shown me kindness in that horrid place.

Tears staining my face, I ran as far as the alleyways of the nearby city before I was caught. The only thing I felt was a sharp pinch on my leg that sent me down before I knew it. A foot kicked me over and there above me were Harold and Rufus with sadistic grins.

"Mother was right."

"Isn't she always? So creepy."

"Well, we've got to deal with the runt. Don't want her snitching us out."

Rufus knelt down before me as I laid in my paralyzed state before spiting in my face and stabbing my abdomen. The pain was intense but despite that I couldn't utter a single word. Whatever they had shot me with was potent enough to render my tiny body useless.

"What'd you say, Ruf? Want to have our fun with her?"

"Sure, why not? She's gonna get killed anyway once we take her back."

"Finally—" I couldn't see much but I did hear him begin to unbuckle his belt. "Payback time." But before he was able to do whatever awful thing he had planned a noise nearby caught them unawares. "Hear that?"

"Must be people passing by."

"This late?"

The noise became a ruckus that scared them enough to act rashly. They knew they needed to get away but they also knew that if they let me live and Mother found out the two of them would wind up dead.

"Hurry, Ruf!"

"Don't worry, sweet cheeks—" he assured with a manic grin while cocking the gun right at my heart. "This will only hurt a lot."

Those were the words that I would learn to despise for the rest of my days along with the deafening popping mingled with a loud shout.

The pain blurred a lot of the memories from when I got shot to when I woke up in the hospital. All I do remember is a voice—a boy's voice—attempting to keep me conscious and a hand trying to put pressure on the wounds.

"D-Don't worry, you're gonna be okay—You hear that? The ambulance is near. You're gonna be all right—Don't go. Stay with me—I won't let anything else happen to you. But please, stay with me."

Those kind words were all I remembered after I woke up in the hospital a couple of days later. The only one there beside me was a young boy who couldn't have been any older than four years or so compared to me. He had been watching me sleep and the moment I awoke his gentle honey-colored eyes smiled at me.

"Good morning," he jokingly whispered while brushing the hair off my brow. "You're okay now. You'll be just fine."

As he tells me, Jaden had snuck out that day and was on his way to see some friends when he heard the commotion. Because he only heard children he thought it was some fight so he looked for it and found the two harassing me. He yelled which is what I guess the two heard that made them panic.

Panicked enough to miss the shot at my heart by a few inches.

Jaden had scared them away and saved my life.

The few months that followed were a havoc. I was still in the hospital when the cops came to arrest me. Jaden, who for some reason was still staying by my side, argued against them but couldn't stop them. Besides, I knew they were doing the right thing.

They told me some days later that they didn't want to arrest me. All that they wanted was information about Mother Noir and the famille and in exchange they would let me out on probation.

I didn't hesitate to answer them after that betrayal. There wasn't much I could recall but what I did helped them. While I was still in the hospital, the DEA and FBI caught several of the members and staked out the hideouts. By the time I was fully recovered, Mother Noir's family was obliterated to the ground.

Charged with several accounts of unlawful imprisonment, drug and human trafficking, and possession of illegal explosive devices, the family members who were caught, the ones working in governmental offices and those in regular businesses were all convicted.

Including Mother Noir—Estelle Campbell, eldest daughter of the Campbell family and older sister of Cherise who had tragically died the night of the escape.

And after that last day in court when the jury made their final decision, I finally knew that my nightmare was over.

But there was another I dreaded to come.

I was yet again homeless in a city that I knew nothing about. There was no one to take me in or take me back home. I knew that the moment this ended I would once again end up in the system like before.

My assumptions were proven wrong, though, when the A.D.A on the case came after the court's final say to see me at the hospital a few days before my discharge.

Her name was Colette O'Conner.

Jaden's mother.

She had talked to ACS beforehand about taking me in. They had no objections against it and so after my discharge I was appointed the O'Conners as a surrogate family until I stayed there long enough for them to adopt me.

The first years there when I was still in probation and still plagued by nightmarish flashbacks were the worst, but I could tell that they loved me and cared about me. They helped me by sending me to therapy and giving me all the support they could and with time I got somewhat accustomed back into a normal life.

Yet never fully recovered either.

And well…the rest is history.

As I lay simply catatonic in bed, the past seems to rush in like the flood gates were just opened. And seeing as not even a half an hour ago I was almost killed, I'm not surprised the nasty flashbacks aren't coming. But hey, who am I to complain?

It's not like here I won't make some great new ones.

A sigh escapes me as I try to rid my head of the nasty thoughts but my mind keeps comparing this crazy family with Mother's.

If I had to say, the so called Millennium Earl is a good surrogate of Noir just fatter and creepier while all the others I've seen and have yet to meet are the same thugs that I hanged with before.

It's by seeing it this way that I can control my emotions better about this whole situation.

Detachment.

My best weapon of all. By detaching myself from this emotionally I can concentrate better on how to escape or fulfill their stupid requests.

But it was turning out to be hard to detach myself this time. Especially because for almost a year now I have been fraternizing with one of them. It did take the edge away from me though. It helped that I could see them like they saw me, just a sack of flesh and bones to use.

The more I think about it this way, though, the more I can't help but want to stop it. I've fought against these urges and habits for over ten years and I swear I was making progress. But resort back to them now, all those years of therapy and care will all have been for naught.

My mind's in a jumble of thoughts when a sudden knock on the door startles me. Since I'm still jumpy about what happened earlier my hand goes to my butterfly knife out of instinct.

"Miss Pet." Grand, just…grand. "We're here to take you to dinner."

Dinner?

That's right. Sheril told me about dinner being soon and if I missed it I wouldn't eat till morning. Honestly, I didn't want to see any of them but the moment my stomach rumbles I know that I can't fight against it.

Damn me and my huge appetite.

"C-Come in," is the order I give but never take my hand away from my pocket as they enter.

The maid that comes in is pretty young by the looks of her and the others aren't much different. Curly blonde hair and brown eyes remain with a small smile that I can see from a thousand miles how fake it is. There's no doubt that she was told how they're to treat me. And she isn't wasting time dallying around.

"Let's prepare you for dinner."

Prepare me?

"Excuse you?" I ask a bit unnerved by her phrasing.

"We were ordered by Lord Kamelot to dress you appropriately for dinner with the family." She went up ahead to the wardrobe that stood in the room and began looking through it. "You shall bathe first and then we shall see about your apparel."

Bathe? Before I can even raise my question, the other maids are pushing and shoving me towards another door in the room which leads us to the bathroom. One starts preparing the tub while the other attempts to harass me into taking my clothes off.

It's when she starts getting a head start that I snap at her. "I can do that myself!"

She backs off and stares at me dully for a moment before she goes on to help the other maid with the tub and other things. It isn't embarrassing to be naked in front of others, I just don't like being undressed like a little kid.

Once I'm fully unclothed, I sink into the tub that they graciously prepared and sigh out of relief from what the warm water is doing to my muscles.

Oh, how I needed this.

Spas were never my thing but I can appreciate where their clientele came from. The calm I have is interrupted when the maids start to shove their hands in to bathe me. It turns into a struggle between us all to see who's stronger. Surprisingly, they're on par with me if not stronger. It's like fighting against girls of steel.

In the end, I had no choice but to succumb to the pampering or whatever you call this. The bath went quickly, thank goodness, and soon I'm outside toweling myself dry. When I look around for the clothes I left out when I came in I'm shocked to see they've disappeared. Everything but my knife is gone.

Turning to the maid that was still rummaging through the wardrobe, I cry out in a high pitched voice.

"Where are my things?

"We threw them away. Young lady Road's orders," she says nonchalantly.

Fucking brat.

My head turns to the bed where the maid has already placed out a change of clothes…including underwear that couldn't be any scantier had a pro chosen them. And for some reason a single name comes to mind but I quickly dismiss that thought when I remember what had happened in the bathroom I just left.

Don't be stupid again, Reina.

That's right. Whatever they do I have to look at it through a microscope. It's the best way I can think of to at least stay toe-to-toe with these freakish people.

But regardless of my tastes, I have to learn what I'm fighting up against. These people aren't human and they can do things that I can't begin to fathom. I know what Road—Professor X—and Tyki—Shadowcat— can do but there are still those that I saw the first day they brought me here that I haven't seen. It's wise to be afraid of the known as well as the unknown.

"Miss Pet, we'll go on ahead to dress you now." The maid's comment made me turn to her completely perplexed.

"Wait, dress me—" But before I could fight back or keep them away from me, their tiny crummy hands are harassing me to change into those clothes.

Why do I feel like this?

It was hard for Tyki to even fathom what the emotion that's piling at the bottom of his stomach could be. It's annoying and it's been bothering him ever since he came out of Reina's room.

After that little attempt to spook her…

Maybe it's—

No, don't even think it.

It's preposterous that he, Tyki Mikk, could even begin to feel that when she was the one that provoked him. Reina was the one that cut him with that knife of hers. It's one thing that the knife actually harmed him—the attack itself took him by surprise which was most likely why his powers hadn't worked.

But the sight of someone fighting so vehemently against him made something in him boil with excitement, and that was something he couldn't have ignored. Especially when it had been the girl that always kept a straight face in the presence of danger.

It touched something in his dark side that just urged to see her fighting. It wanted to see her struggle, writhe, and suffer.

But then those emotions kindled something on his other side; a side that didn't want any of it. One that had seen just how careless that girl could be, enough to endanger herself for others. And one that felt that he needed to protect that reckless woman.

And it ticked him off how he was at war with himself about this, at least the two parts that consisted of his life.

One wanted her to strife against him; the other wanted to see her safe from harm.

Well, shit, what's the matter with me?

"Something wrong, Tyki?"

Road's voice snaps him out of the struggle his two sides were having to what's happening now. Because it's only their family for dinner, Tyki knew that he could just let himself be and not be bothered by anybody. So far Sheril, the twins and Sweet Tooth had arrived and Road had said that Lulubell wouldn't be there. The Earl wasn't going to join them that evening for dinner either so there wasn't any pressure to wait for anybody.

But besides them there's still one person missing.

"Nothing," he says with a finality while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Wasn't she going to join us for dinner?"

"Maids were sent for it," Sheril answers before any of the rest can. "But whether it comes or not is its choice."

"Oh, pooch?" Road's voice rose an octave at asking about the family's new pet. "She'll come. I'm making her."

"Making her?" Tyki repeats a bit confused at her wording. He eyes his niece suspiciously from his place at the table. A single empty seat lays between him and that sugary smile of hers. "Why're you interested?"

"I'm not~" she confesses while playing around with the chair she's on, toppling it precariously on its hind legs. "I just really, really hate her~"

Not good.

He knew it couldn't be because of anything good but it'd be better to know beforehand. "How so?"

"Just do. Ah!" Road stands on her chair and ganders behind the back of it towards the entrance. "Finally, we're starving here!"

"The maids you sent were the ones that took their sweet ass time!"

At hearing her, he turns on his chair to glance at the girl that he couldn't keep his mind away from. And despite the vulgar mouth of hers that had, for some reason, augmented here, she really hadn't changed much. Through the red blouse and paneled black skirt, he can still see the girl that holds a sharp tongue and hard head.

"Quit complaining—" Road quirks and points at the chair between them two before taking her own sit again. "And sit."

"No."

The answer's instant and with no hesitation.

She's still sore about it?

Despite having turned around on his chair already, he clearly hears the disdain in her voice with a tinge of fear. And although he relished in it there's still a part of him that didn't like it. For once he started to think that he might have gone a little too far.

"It's an order. And you can't disobey~" Road sourly reminds her and he hears the click of her tongue.

Oh yeah, this is clearly hurting her ego. And her sanity.

The chair beside him creaks when she pulls it out for herself and takes a sit all the while determined to not glance at him.

Definitely sore about it.

"Now that pooch is here—" Road cheers giddily while reaching out and patting Reina's head. "Let's eat!"

But all the while the dishes were being brought in, he couldn't keep away his eyes from the tight fist that Reina held back along with her sure desire to hit Road for that demining gesture.

Oh boy, it's going to be a long dinner.

This is without a doubt the longest dinner of my life.

Forget meeting the other members of the freaking Adam's Family, I'm forced to endure it with Psycho Professor X and Murderous Shadowcat at either side of me. This is the worst dinner ever.

"So lil' kitty cat's our pet now?"

"Let's go drown kitty cat, heehee!"

These two so far are the most annoying duo I've ever met. Devit and Jasdero—or Jasdevi as they call themselves—are the teen twins of the family whom I'd cross paths with the first time I stumbled upon the white city.

Devit was an egotistical and eccentric boy who joked around and liked to infuriate everybody. Jasdero seems to be more of a follower of his brother and didn't seem harmful just annoying. The two of them together though is like dealing with two toddlers.

"Are kitty cats sweet?"

And speaking of toddlers…

Skin Boric is something beyond my comprehension. He's the giant that sucker punched me the first time we met with the twins. Besides the fact that I'm never going to live that down, he has a very unique thought process. Everything that comes out of his mouth is about hurting others or about sweets. And all throughout dinner he's eaten nothing but candy and cake.

This family will drive me crazy.

All the dumb questions that have implicated any humiliation or such I've been intent on avoiding which have been done mostly by the twins and big guy. Road, Sheril, and…he have been quiet for most of the dinner.

It isn't until after dinner is done that Sheril starts talking about other matters. These are apparently some business that the family has been going through because the twins complain about it being discussed again. Skin isn't even mildly disturbed by it since I suppose he's not needed for it because, let's admit it, he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

The only ones listening if anything are Road and…Tyki.

God, I can't shake the awful feeling from before off of me. It's like a lingering pest. But the thing is that I need to get rid of this or I won't be able to work properly.

Shake it off, Reina.

But it's hard when the images are still vivid and he's sitting right next to me. Damn Road for her stupid ass order. Swear to everything that I was about to punch the twat when she reminded me about having to follow their commands. It took a lot of my will power but I managed to sit back and just eat what I could stomach while sitting at a table with these people.

But you have to.

"Is this about the Cristiano's again?" Road's sudden question calls me to attention when Sheril passes a set of files around to her and the others.

"Precisely," he replies with a sigh while looking at a copy.

"Why not just kill them and get it over with?" Devit suggests while giving the stink eye to the papers. Jasdero only agrees with his brother while he draws on the documents.

Sheril reprimands them about it quickly enough though. "Too much attention. Besides, an outside interference would not aide us in the least. We don't want a downfall, what is needed is war."

Too curious for my own good, I'm speaking before I can stop myself. "War?"

"To create Akuma!" Jasdero blurts out and gets a reproach from Devit.

"Dumbass, kitty cat ain't supposed to know!"

"Why not?" I keep pestering them; surely enough, one of them is bound to slip. And I am genuinely curious about this Akuma; it sounds familiar but I can't pinpoint my finger on why.

"Because your human, mutt. Simple as that." Sheril's comment angers me because of the way he so quickly dismisses me.

How the hell am I supposed to prove myself if they won't let me?

"I could help. It's why I'm here for anyway," I reply although I can feel they weren't really expecting me to press on the matter.

"Not in this matter you won't." Sheril was quick to retort with a frown on his face and a glare that I match instantly. "This is task the Earl left us and we must do it."

"The only ones assigned were Tyki and you, right?" Devit asks tossing the papers aside nonchalantly and giving him a droll stare. "So why are we hearing about this too?"

"Tyki and Sheril suck at their jobs!" Jasdero inputs with a giggle.

"The Cristiano's have been a big influence in the country before the Kamelot's stepped into the picture," Road explains while eyeing the files inside with a bored look. "Kicking them off to war will be hard since they've always been the pacifist type."

"Like I said, just kill them off and it'll be done and over with!" Devit yells and Jasdero follows close behind with the insults. An argument quickly ensues against the three of them while the rest of us spectate.

Really, they're like the monkeys trying to win over the last banana.

Both think they're smarter than the other and that just brings them down to a whole new level of stupidity. Really, if anything I could come up with at least something to shut them up. Back with Mother, I used to sit in a lot of her planning and learned a thing or two. Not to mention that Seb got in the special tactics division and was a great strategist.

He kicked our ass in chess that's for sure.

The train of thought that I have is suddenly interrupted when a nudge comes to my elbow from the right. Having forgotten for a slight second, I glance down to it and see a file of the documents rather near to me.

This makes me glance up from them to the person who passed them along.

Tyki isn't meeting my sight, he's simply leaning on his palm rather bored about this while his other slides the file over to me. A glare passes over me that he catches on to and that finally makes him looks at me. He gives out a sigh and instead of answering my fury, he lightly taps the file twice with his finger before going back to lounging in the mist of the arguing.

My curiosity has always been a big thing about me, so it's hard to keep myself from not peeking. That's why I take the opportunity of their arguing to look inside of what Tyki gave me.

The Cristiano family was a very—how to put it—large family. The newly wed, Trevor Cristiano had ten children to accompany him after her wife's death and a new wife that gave him the title. He held the love of a whole country and an army that saw after him as he did them. For almost twenty years he has reigned over his capital and the people to give them everything they needed.

And they wanted to cause a war, why again?

It didn't make sense.

Life seldom does.

True. Wars are always caused by selfish reasons more often than not and usually it's the victor who writes history. Who is to say that the Cristiano's didn't spill blood themselves to rise to the ranks? But then again, who says that this family of loons hasn't either.

But right at this moment, it is in my best interest to help the loons if I wanted to comply with my self-preservation.

That's a quick affirmative.

Yes, brain. Once again, we're on the same page.

And thankfully this scenario is something I've seen. It reminds me of a typical game of chess I would play with Sebastian. The mastermind of manipulation, he's the only one who was really any challenge against me when it came to mind games.

Particularly in chess.

"It's all about the base, Reina. Just like a body stands upon the good foundation of your feet so do your pieces. In chess, it doesn't matter where you put your pawns, knights, or bishops. If the opponent can topple the base of your game, your king, then it's game over. Once the single foundation falls, everything falls in line with it."

"It's a game of chess."

"What are you talking about?"

Sheril's sudden outburst bursts my bubble from the past and makes me face up from the papers I have in front of me. Suddenly, I'm self-conscious about everybody's staring at me including Tyki.

Shit, I spoke aloud.

"I-It's just—" Really? I'm getting stutters now of all times? Fuck you, brain.

"You shouldn't have that. For the love of—Tyki, abstain from these absurdities. It can't help us," Sheril says reaching out for the papers ready to snatch them away from me.

Before he can though Tyki already has his fingers pressing the papers against the table and hinders his brother from taking them away. He holds the same blasé look in his eyes but a small grin forms on his lips. "But I believe she was about to say something. Why not let her? She is here for that, after all."

The spotlight suddenly shifts to me and makes my throat go dry.

Shit, my stage fright.

Just suck it up and do it, Reina.

Right.

Before it drowns me, I take a deep breath and continue on. "It's a game of chess."

"Chess?" Road asks with a coo to her voice. She tilts her head to the side like a lost puppy and asks again. "How so?"

"Well—" It's going to be hard to explain this but I have to do my best at it. Tyki just gave me an opportunity to prove myself useful and I'm not going to throw it away. "Think of it as a game—"

"Don't we always?" Devit interrupts rudely and knocks his fist with Jasdero.

This boils my blood and out of the blue, my hand grabs the spoon beside me and throws it between them. The clattering of the silverware follows the shocked faces of the two. I give them a glare before pointing something out first.

"Interrupt me again and it'll be something sharper I throw next." This shuts them up, if in bafflement or fear is up for debate but I couldn't care less.

Assholes.

I give them one last pointed look before turning back to Sheril. "Like I was saying, if you look at this as a chess game then it's simple. Trevor Cristiano is the head of the family so he's the king. His family are the other main pieces while the rest consist of the pawns. The country would then be this—"

I grab the pen that Sheril was using and draw an upside-down triangle and divide it into pieces horizontally. "Politics have never been my thing but I've heard it's always a thing of depleting numbers in war. It's always something like 'leave them vulnerable so take away the people that protect them' thing."

"If you're saying for us to kill of armies then you're wasting my time," Sheril quickly interrupts me. Too bad I can't throw shit at him. "It's been done and they keep coming strong with their idiotic views. So if you have a point, make it and it better be good, mutt."

Well, excuse me.

But he caught me, I'll give him that. I've been trying to stall by thinking this through as I explain it but now I have to hit my point before he kicks me out and I lose my chance.

Just throw it out there, Reina.

"Leave the king alone."

"What?" This time it isn't just Sheril but also Tyki and Devit who spoke while Jasdero, Skin and Road stare in anticipation.

War for dummies. I'd win millions if I publish a book like that here.

Concentrate and explain, Rei. That's all you've gotta do.

"Like you said, depleting their armies won't do jack to them. Soldiers have always been a dispensable asset to countries. They have the nasty mentally that they can always get more. Frankly, though, this seems to be the case here."

I go back to my drawing and instead circle the pinnacle that holds the whole system in balance. "If you can rid them of the base, they'll be like headless chickens running around. People are like sheep, they follow. But they're not stupid either; they follow one who's more capable than them. One who they can assure can carry them through with the least amount of causalities. In short, it's a matter of security."

A big circle is what I draw around the top and biggest part of the upside-down pyramid. "If you take away that security then they won't follow and the country will be left without an army."

"Killing Cristiano won't work," Road points out. "He's their safe haven but killing him will bring too much attention. It won't do, pooch."

"I'm not talking about killing him. I'm talking about killing his trust in others."

The room falls silent at this as if trying to suck in what I just told them.

Uploading…

Sheril's the first to finish. "And how pray tell would we do that?"

Download complete.

It's easy to answer Sheril's questions now that I have my ducks in a row so I continue with my train of thought while I still have it. "Make him believe those closest to him are betraying him."

"Planting mistrust on his generals won't do either," Sheril adds.

"I said closest," I repeat with a clear emphasis on that last part.

"And who's closest than family."Road seems to be the first one to finally follow my thought.

"Family?" Devit asks a bit intrigued apparently by how my mind's working this problem out.

"Exactly. Get him to distrust his family, his wife, sons, and daughters, and he'll fall into a pit of quick sand. Once he loses the ability to trust his family he won't trust anybody and only sink himself further. A man who can't trust believes everybody's out to get him and will be prone to rash and stupid decisions. Say, like going into war despite being a renowned pacifist."

"Distrust in the family, huh?" Sheril repeats, speculating the suggestion.

"Family is something that isn't easily broken but once it is there's seldom anything that can repair it," I say as my final thought and lay back on my chair as I close the file. "If that doesn't work, I don't know what will."

"Sounds well thought out," Road compliments but it just sends chills down my spine. It's easy to see she didn't mean those words but I simply avert my gaze as she speaks. "What do you think, father?"

A few minutes of silence fall as he reviews the information he has and the plan I just gave them. "Very well, we will resort to this plan of yours and see how it plays. Murder would be too much implication in our part so we'll take it as a last resort for now."

Great.

The sarcasm can't flow thick enough out of that one thought. The reason being because I just gave out a mass murderer a plan to possibly create war. It's just like being with Mother Noir again.

"Don't feel too down, pooch," Road coos with a smile while leaning on the table to glance at me. "This'll tally on to your life count~"

Whippy-fucking-doo.

It's then that we're dismissed from the table and we all start heading our different ways. A hand on my forearm makes me turnabout and freeze at seeing who had stopped me.

"W-What do you want…" The venom couldn't have been spat out more vehemently from me had I tried. Tyki doesn't seem fazed about it though.

"A thank you would be mildly appreciated."

What. Did he just. Say?

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me?"

"I'm not."

This fucking bastard. "After what you did, I should be the one to get an apology!" My voice isn't loud but the hiss gives a bit of the fraction of how livid I am at him.

"You're still mad about that? Look I was just—"

"Mad?!" My voice finally raises an octave when I interrupt him. The balls on this one…! "I'm not mad, you ass, I'm furious!"

"Same—"

"Finish that and I'll kick you so hard in the crotch that your voice will rise a pitch."

The threat isn't taken seriously but it doesn't go ignored. "You're not scared anymore, I see."

Yeah, I am.

But fuck fear.

I ain't nobody's bitch and fear won't be the first.

But he is slightly correct. A smidge, really. Had he not given me those papers, I wouldn't have come up with that plan.

A smidge, really?

Okay, maybe more than a smidge but that didn't change the fact that he almost killed me. But if I want to cohabit with these people I'd have to guess that something like that would come every day. I might as well get accustomed to fending myself against it.

"No, I'm not scared anymore but I am furious with you. This helped me and it might have been because of you but it hasn't covered for what you almost did."

"It isn't a big deal."

"Almost killing me isn't a big deal!?"

He puts his hand over my mouth to keep my rising voice muffled while holding my arm with the other. "Keep it down."

"Fuck off," I cuss even louder so that it'll go through his hand.

"What do you want from me?"

"An a-po-lo-gy!" I emphasize each word to make my point across. He cringes at the prospect of that and turns his head away from me. And then it occurs to me how I can wiggle it out of him. "What, are you not man enough to cough up a meager 'sorry'?"

That hits home because he turns with an annoyed look and forced smirk on his face. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me!"

He covers my mouth and sighs before looking me in the eye. "I'm…."

My hand comes up to his and removes it from my mouth. "I can't hear you!"

"Would you be quiet!?" he hisses before I wriggle my way out of his grip.

"Say it, you coward!" I say loud enough for him to hear but not enough for anybody else. "You big baby! You're nothing more than a scared little pus—"

"I said I'm sorry, you obnoxious brat!" he finally yells tired of my bullying.

"Ha!" I burst out in a stupid, boasting grin that mimics his usual one. "Made ya say it."

"You little—" he groans while grabbing me by the crown of my head as if threatening to head bump me like he's done before when I really annoyed him.

This remains me of how we're usually with Eeze and the others and it seems he gets the same idea because he swiftly lets me go and we stand a few feet from one another. It's clear that he isn't comfortable being like that when he's in this place but it's seems to be more natural than this aristocrat crap he plays along with.

At least to me it looks that way.

A smile creeps on my lips at noticing that despite how much of a psycho he can be, there's also a part of him that still remains the same.

The one of the man I've grown accustomed to.

He's still there.

"I still haven't forgiven you," I clearly state and that just seems to tick him off even more but it makes me smile for some reason. "But it's a start." I turn to go and simply bid him a good night before I leave towards the room that isn't too far away.

A few days go by that I'm left in my room for most of the day with nothing to do except go to the dining room to eat my meals. It's not until the third that I get ambushed by the maids again and this time Tyki's with them.

"What now?" I ask as they change me in the bathroom and Tyki remains in the bedroom. "Another dinner?"

"The Earl wants to speak to you," he simply answers. It's a fast change of clothes since I'm getting used to their harassment by now. I'm out the door with Tyki leading the way before I know it.

We're standing before a normal door like any other and we both go through before any more time passes. Once we go into the room the first thing I notice is how dark it is but that doesn't seem to bother the Earl who sits in a chair knitting away.

That same stupid grin sits on his face along with the dumb hat. He hasn't really changed much since I saw him the first time.

"Sheril told me about your little feat during dinner the other night," he says without any dallying and that's fantastic. I hate beating around the bush too. "Quite a little stunt, on both your ends."

So, that's why he's here too.

He's getting scolded.

"Millennium Earl, I just—"

"No need for excuses," he quickly interjects. "I'm not mad. At least not this time. But do refrain from this ever happening again, Tyki-pyon."

"Yes."

Damn, and I thought I was a leashed dog.

"And for you pooch—"

Speaking of…

"You're little idea seems to have been of some help to Sheril's troubles, so for now I'll let you live another day. But don't go around playing your little tricks again or it won't count. Are we clear?"

"I suppose," I reply loud enough for him to hear me.

"When you speak to me, it's a yes or no, pooch. Understood?"

Fuck, he's exactly like Mother Noir.

"Yes." This only assures me that I mustn't go against him or he will keep to the promises that Noir never could.

"For now, since Sheril won't be able to attend, you will go in his stead to the ball to accompany Road," he informs me and I can't help but be shocked.

A ball?

"A ball, but I—"

"No back talking." His voice didn't rise but his tone changes and that's enough to send a forewarning in me. "Now you will do as you're told and cause no ruckus during this event."

That's enough for me but it's hard to keep quiet about something as stupid as that. But I have no choice. "Yes, Millennium Earl."

"Good girl," the compliment sickens me but I gulp down the insults that threaten to come out of my throat. Tyki excuses us and starts to get us out but not fast enough before the fatso speaks again. "Remember, I don't even want to hear a word of you acting out. A pooch should learn to follow orders. And if you don't…off to the chopping block you go."

W-What..?

"You bastard…" the murmured insult is out of my mouth before I can keep it in and my hand's already on my butterfly knife that's on my waist before I can hold myself back.

Yet a large enough hand covers mine over the knife and keeps me from pulling it completely out.

"Don't," Tyki quietly whispers in my ear. "He's baiting you."

Road's sudden giggling comes over my head snapping me out of my angry stupor and I glance over my shoulder to see her clinging onto the Earl's neck as they start chatting.

He completely ignored me. It's clear now what Tyki means by that warning. He doesn't see me as a threat…only a vermin he'd be glad to get rid of. And by baiting me to attack him, he'll have the pleasure of killing me himself.

But I can't fall for it again. I won't. He may see me as a mere lapdog but he's wrong. I'm a full grown tigress.

And this tigress lies low not from fear but for aim.

A/N:

That was so much longer than I anticipated. Good thing I cut this chapter from the last one. I did not expect this to hit 10k in word count but, holy crap cx

But anyway, what'd you guys think? For some reason I was a little iffy about publishing this version of the chapter. Something disconnects when I explained the past and moved on to the present. Don't know if any of you caught it. Oh and I suck writing in Tyki's POV cx this one was one I didn't like much. Tried changing it around as best as I could to make it sound right and I hope it did something xD

I wanted to explain something here too, while I'm at it. The reason these brief three years of her life were more detailed than the rest is because of the impact they had on her life and person as a whole. It's in this pivotal point that Reina stops being a child and is forced to grow up. A point that changes her life and the way she views it. It simply is something that had to be written in depth, at least I think it had to (-w-) in order to explain a lot of where her personality comes from.

But now that I'm done, I'd like to give some thanks c:

First to the Followers and Favorite-r:

-kaikurayami
- Neon-Orange-Ninja-Penguin

Not many but any is better than nothing c: Now for the reviewers that I couldn't reach:

-Neko: So glad you liked it and that it got you to write a full review this time. I love knowing the opinions of all the readers c: So first of, the Mary Sue thing. Sure, I had my doubts about the dream may be a little too much. But seeing as the Noahs are super-humans there was no point in making her stronger physically, so I decided to opt for the less of two evils and have her be mentally strong. As for that feeling you got about her not feeling enough during the attack last chapter, I get what you were trying to say and hopefully this chapter helped a little. The reason she didn't was mostly because of her detachment; it basically causes her to switch into a survival mode that blocks everything else out-including common sense or emotion. It's why she broke down only at the end too. Once it was over that switch turned off and everything that happened came flooding in. And I see what you mean about the ending but again I hope this explains a little about how Reina-or more like how her brain works. And no worries! I take no offense. Criticisms help me grow as a writer and are something that I appreciate just as much as compliments c: So thanks!

-Neko: This one's for your review on Disjunction that I barely got cx Two Surnames aren't just a Hispanic thing, at least not that I'm aware of but she doesn't. Her parents married and her mother took her father's surname which passed on. As for the ark incident, it's not that they haven't thought or talked about it, I just haven't touched upon it and what they got on her :o It's one of the main reasons as to why Road wanted to keep her too.

-Hana: Ah, German! Cool! xD Had to Google translate that but it's still cool! Anyway, yeah, if you thought the last chapter was dramatic, what ya think about this one -w- Reina grew to be a fighter. And like the end says she won't take anything lying down. Hopefully it'll work for her in the future cx

And guys! Eagerly await next chapter. I've got some juicy jealousy and a tinge of romance coming up at that ball ;9 Along with a nifty surprise from a very good friend and amazing artist. Oops, spoilers…or not x3

For now, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and that you stay tuned for the next one! :D