Talia couldn't have been happier to be away from the group--the last thing on earth that she would have liked to see was anyone familiar walking so much as across the street. But there was no one, and almost nothing could spoil her rare good mood.

Almost nothing.

Not two minutes after she had gotten good and far away from her comrades, she ran right into her least favorite stalker--Drew. He stood smugly in the center of her path, his nearly brown hair combed neatly. She froze, her eyes widened, then she groaned. He body hunched over and her shoulders sagged as if she had a very heavy burden on her back. "Just my luck." She reached up and covered one half of her face with a pale hand.

"Talia! What a pleasure!" She beamed. She was aware that, though he acted it, he had not just recently noticed her--he had most definitely been watching her from much farther off, making sure that he would be in this town at the same time as she was. He seemed to do that a lot. Oh yes, a pleasure. Especially since you planned to meet me here. "What brings you to this little providence?"

"A good question, but not one that I feel obligated to answer. Good day, sir." She nodded to him after she had straightened back up and composed herself. She turned on her heel and began to walk away. Elated as she was about her no-Jack-no-Sarah-no-anything week, Drew had already begun to spoil it. Knowing he was here, on the very island that she had hoped to escape from him on, made her throat want to collapse, fall into her stomach, and force her digestive system to plummet to her toes. Which she also hoped would not actually happen.

As Drew watched her turn, the sun catching in her blazing hair, a strange smile played across his lips. "Yes, indeed. A good day, Captain." He said, closing his eyes and clasping his hands behind his back.

Though the village could have likely qualified for most boring town in all history, Talia found great pleasure in aimlessly wandering the streets in the east section (she purposefully avoided the port, north, and west sections, where there were people she knew hanging around) and watching the hapless peasants roam the walkways, hand baskets verily adhered to the crook of their arms. Her unusual state of miraculous joy would most likely end tomorrow after the insanity and madness wore off, but she didn't mind at the moment. She would continue to explore the area, then she would find a place to sleep--the Death Lily was now protected by an imaginary barrier that would stun Talia if she got too close…or so it seemed to her--and find something to entertain her tomorrow.

She asked a few people questions about the town, bought some cheap merchandise, and ate some street vendor food, which cost around the same price as the cheap merchandise. She wasn't sure which was sadder--that the merchandise was about as expensive as some spare boxes, or that she food cost the same amount.

When it began to get dark, eerie bluish moonlight flooding the area, Talia began looking for a place to stay for the night. The tavern--which there were many. At least one in each section…it was a large town, albeit boring, you know--was shedding bright, warm light onto the cobblestones through its windows, and it seemed quite welcoming to the young Captain.

Of course she fit in at a tavern--she was Irish, after all. She hung around at the tables for a bit, ecstasy somewhat dampened now that the day was ending. And she secured her safety in the building after an unsuspecting man hit on her and, true to Talia's style, he wound up missing the top of his ear and a pinkie finger. After that, no one bothered her, and as an added bonus, she got a room very easily.

It wasn't a very heavily furnished room--it had the essentials; a bed, a dresser, a few bottles on the window sills for decoration. There were two windows--they were on the opposite side of the room as the bed, and let in an adequate amount of light, or so she assumed--she couldn't tell, mostly due to the fact that it was dark, and no light was coming in at the moment. Sitting down on the bed, she surveyed the room once more. For just a moment, she felt a twinge of lament, perhaps missing the occasional accidental-burst-in-on-her-room-preceding-vicious-beat-down. But it was only a twinge, and she lay down on the bed, her mouth curved in a very satisfied smile. It was going to be a good week.

- - - - -

Talia was awakened the next morning by sunlight flooding her room with oceans of gold and ivory. Squinting, she headed back downstairs to the noisy, rowdy bar. The bar where everyone stared at her with strange looks. The bar where everyone avoided her. The bar where she decided that she wouldn't stay long, and so she soon left the tavern and headed to the large, nearby building that she had first noticed on her excursion through the area.

The first thing she saw as she entered through the large front doors was…well…an entryway with another set of doors. The first thing she saw after those doors was a stage with big, red, smooth-looking curtains edging it. Scattered about the stage floor was a large grouping of people, presumably actors, rehearsing, or so it seemed. In truth, it hardly looked organized--the actors and actresses were all off on their own, working on separate scenes, arms flailing around dramatically and voices stretching to the ceiling--in other words, absolute chaos. In orderly rows in front of the stage was seating for an audience, lined up in such a way that there was a large aisle down the center of the seats. The few windows that they had in the building were wide open, so there was clear morning light draping across the floor and chairs. And there was a back wall. But it wasn't really the back wall--behind the wall was "back stage" where the performers prepared and the dressing rooms were--likely the home of more mayhem, judging by the people onstage.

No one noticed the young, flaming haired woman run backstage, past the preoccupied men and women in the spotlight, and no one noticed her slip into a dressing room behind the "back wall."

She had entered out of curiosity--to find out what kind of clothing the dramatists wore while assuming the role of a make-believe persona. But when she had closed the door behind her, she became suddenly entranced by the many colors of costumes lining the room in piles (clearly the owner of the dressing room was not a tidy one). After quickly combing the room for people, she began rummaging through the piles with glee.

It just so happened that some of Sarah's luck rubbed off on Talia, because soon after this, the occupant of the room stepped through the door. Though she made little noise, Talia heard her enter and spun around, caught red-handed. She recognized her as one of the actresses practicing--she had hit a fellow actor over the head with a prop, and Talia had not been sure whether it was part of the scene or if she had just been angry.

The woman said nothing. She didn't dart out of the room, she didn't scream. She merely clasped her hands behind her back.

"Looking for something?"

Her eyes widened for a moment as she wracked her brain for an excuse. "N-no." She figured that her usual attitude wouldn't get her out of this, so she became her alter-ego--the annoyingly innocent young girl who's confused and abused. It usually fooled people.

"Oh. Well then, why are you in here? In my dressing room?"

"…" Talia stared. "Umm…" She looked at her feet, which she was shuffling around to look shy. "…Your clothes are just so pretty…seeing them made me really want to pursue my dream--to become an actress…" Her real answer is as follows; I like your clothes, you wench. Speak a word and lose a limb.

"Ah. I see. Well…that doesn't…really…justify you being in my dressing room…also, if you want to be an actress, get a job acting, and if you want to get a job acting, go talk to the man onstage in front. However, I don't believe there are any more spots…" Talia stared again. There was a hint of "high-and-mighty" in the woman's voice, and it was beginning to irritate her. It was truly too bad that she couldn't just stab her and get it over with, or so she thought. "I suppose you could be my understudy…"

"Oh, could I?" Talia's face broke out in a very bright smile. Though she had been lying about wanting to become an actress--she was perfectly happy with her life of piracy--she was really quite a good actress already. "That would be wonderful!" She grabbed the woman's hand. In reality, she would rather kill herself that be this woman's understudy, but at least it would keep her out of trouble for the time-being.

"Oh, alright. I don't really need an understudy…and if I did, you wouldn't be my first choice…" The more she talked, the more her remarks sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. Talia was doing her best to keep her eye from twitching. "but you'll have to do." Even if my eye was twitching, she's so blinded by herself that she probably wouldn't notice. "You'll need work though," Talia nodded rigidly. "my acting skill is terribly difficult to reach, as is my beauty, and you're obviously quite far off on matching my looks. And your hair! It's so…stringy!"

And then she snapped. She may have been thick-skinned, but no one messed with Talia's hair.

She blacked out at this moment, but when she woke up, she saw the woman dead on the floor, and when she saw the blood on her hands and knife, she could guess what had happened. At first she was almost overjoyed. No more annoying, conceited actress woman! And then she realized that someone was bound to discover the body. Better think up an excuse, Talia. She thought, blankly cleaning her blade on the first blouse she could find. She buried the shirt beneath a nearby heap of clothes, then stood up. Judging by the footsteps growing louder, someone was coming. "Oh good." She said. "Improvisation is good."

She had no story.

Several men (actors that she recognized from the anarchistic rehearsal) burst through the door. The woman must have screamed or something. Blasted girl. She thought. Men don't just burst through the doors of women's dressing rooms unless they have a very, very good reason.

"Dear God…" The man in front crossed himself. "What happened here?" This was clearly the man in charge. The two others behind him rushed in and knelt beside the dead woman. Talia opened her mouth.

"…I'm a friend of her--I came in here looking for her, and found her like this on the ground."

"So it was you who screamed?" One of the men on the floor asked. She nodded. "Could have sworn it sounded like Jesse…" He gestured to the dead woman. Okay, her name is Jesse. Good. Alright.

"What do we do? Jesse's the main character! And the only woman working. Now she's…" The other man on the floor glanced at Jesse, and shuddered.

Talia said nothing. Though there were a lot of things that she could have said, she kept her mouth shut, for fear of what might come out.

The head guy thought for a moment, then pointed at Talia. "You. Can you act?" She nodded, almost forgetting that she was being her alter-ego. She clasped her hands behind her back. "Hmm…you'll have to do. Welcome to the group, miss. What's your name?"

"…Talia Marsh." She lied. She didn't want to use her real last name--she was a well known pirate, and would rather have not spoiled her current escape from danger, or rather, getting caught.

"Talia Marsh. Okay, why don't you come with me and I'll explain the plot of the play." He didn't seem too aggrieved at the death of Jesse. Perhaps he felt the same way about her as Talia.

She soon discovered that, in the play, she would be playing a governor's daughter, kidnapped by pirates. Basically, all she had to do was scream, talk a little bit, then get saved by some guy. And if all went well, it would be played the day before she had to catch up with her friends. What luck.

Of course she spent a half an hour trying to convince the head guy to let her be a pirate instead, but since she got no where, she gave up and started reading through her three lines.

Rehearsal ended late, so she immediately headed back to the tavern after it finished, where she fell asleep almost the second she hit the bed. She could do anything from riding horses in a big dress to rigging sails on the Death Lily, even to putting up with mister creepy-stalker-Drew-man, but acting, or rather, living through the madness that is rehearsal, really took it out of her.

- - - - -

She managed to get some breakfast the next morning, though she ate it at the tavern instead of the street near the vendor where she salvaged it. Only one person spoke to her, and it was an odd, Spanish man who continually flipped his glossy black hair out of his face. In other words, he spent ten minutes non-verbally hitting on her. After she blew him off royally, he revealed to her that he would be playing the guy who would save her in the play. It didn't change her attitude toward him, but at least she knew who he was.

Soon after she finished eating, he insisted on escorting her to the theatre, which she actively protested against--she ended up walking with him anyway. She felt pretty miserable about having to be within five feet of him, but on the other hand, she managed to make it boring for him as well by saying absolutely nothing and staring at him intently. By the time they reached the stage inside the theatre, he had begun to distance himself from her in a very large way.

She was satisfied.

Rehearsal started almost as soon as they entered, and this time it wasn't so discombobulated. Talia already knew what she was supposed to do, so she did quite well while most others were asking what to do in the middle of a scene. The strange Spanish man (his name was Miguel) was a fairly decent actor, but he often overacted. He also avoided Talia whenever possible, which wasn't very often since they were the main characters and their characters were in love. Talia, however, spent her spare time correcting the actors playing the pirates, which she was very sure annoyed the life out of them. This was how the day went, and how the next day began--but it didn't end the same as the day before.

It was about the middle of the day--the window drapes were half-drawn, the curtain was just opening on a new act, and Talia was going to be in yet another scene with Miguel. She stood in the middle of the stage, tapping her foot as she waited for her partner.

"I quit." His Spaniard voice said as he stuck his head out from behind the curtain. "I quit, no way I am going to work with her." He pointed at Talia dramatically, then turned and left. The back door shutting became very audible a few seconds later.

"Oh that's wonderful." The head guy exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "What now? A plague of locusts??" He was referring to the fact that Miguel was the star of the play. Talia smiled faintly and hid her mouth with the back of her hand. If there was no star then…

"Oh dear, I suppose the play will have to be canceled…" She sighed, disguising her enormous glee. "What a shame." And then a man in the audience (there were a few people sitting and watching them practice) stood on his feet.

"If I may be so bold," He walked out of his row and toward the stage, where he was quite visible in the light. Talia's lips drew together Oh…not you… She thought. "I could fill in for your lost actor."

As if by fate, the man was Drew. And he smiled broadly at Talia. She wasn't sure if he was just doing this to be around her, or if he really thought that she was upset about the play being canceled. She opened her mouth to say something, but the head guy interrupted her.

"What a life saver you are! Brilliant! What's your name, my good man?"

"Drew Amone." He said, bowing. He stepped on stage and walked right over to Talia. "Hello, dear Talia. I never expected to see you here."

"You've become quite monotonous lately."

He handed her a rose from behind his back. "For you." She rolled her eyes and snatched the flower.

"Oh," The head guy happened to look over at that very moment. "So you two know each other?"

"Yes! Of course, we've known each other forever!"

"No. I've never met him in my life."

"Don't be silly, Talia, don't you remember me?"

"…No."

Drew clapped her on the back. "Ah, she jests! What a riot!" Talia was stunned to realize that Drew actually believed that she was joking.

Dear mother of God, help me. She sighed and folded her arms across her chest. The head guy believed Drew, not her, which meant…well, she wasn't sure, but she knew it wouldn't be pretty. Perhaps pretty for Drew, but not for her. She tugged slowly at her bandana. This was going to be a long week.

The head guy clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Wonderful! Jolly good! Now you won't have a problem with that kiss scene, Talia!"

Snap.

"What?"

Normally, Talia's outburst in an occasion such as this would be mild on the gauge of Ms.-Frost's-violent-reactions, but it was a combination of the cheery sound in the head guy's voice and the surprised, yet pleased look on Drew's face that made her nearly blow her top. She stormed past Drew and into the boss' face.

"I do not remember any kissing scene." Her long hair hung near her shoulders in somewhat tangled tresses. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were shooting sparks. The man was silent. "Where did it come from?"

"Oh…well…I took it out because I figured that you wouldn't want to…kiss Miguel…but since you're friends--" At this point, Talia made a very unladylike sound. "--with Drew, I'm bringing it back!"

She stared. "…I hate him!!"

"Hate is a very strong word. Besides, it's better to kiss someone you know than a complete stranger."

"I would rather kiss a rampant, vicious murderer than that man!" She exclaimed. A lock of crimson hair slapped her in the face as she jerked her head while speaking.

The head guy was hardly paying attention now. "You're overreacting. It--he's not that bad." He watched as the remaining players began to review their lines separately, causing a great and familiar ruckus. "Take it as a personal request, from me to you."

"Well, I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request." She replied hotly.

He waved at her, distracted, then walked off in a different direction. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Fine!" She turned and stomped off loudly to her dressing room, where she slammed the door and sat down in front of her moderately small mirror. She seized her brush and began to attack her hair. Her level on the violet reactions gauge was around seven or eight. Usually when Talia brushed her hair in such a harsh manner, it merely untangled it, but it appeared that today, her hair decided to get the comb stuck, and so Talia wound up with a brush hanging heavily off of a long dread. She stood, walked over to the wall, and dropped her forehead noisily onto it. Now, not only did she have to work with a complete imbecile, but she also had to work with a maniac who followed her everywhere in some sort of freaky, love struck trance.

What a day.

When she calmed down, she sat down again and slowly worked the brush out of her hair, then she took several deep breaths and left the room.

"Welcome back, Miss Marsh," The head guy said as she re-entered on the stage. "ready to continue? Drew is already familiar with his lines, so we can pick up right where we left off." Talia shrugged, fingering her bottom left earring. It was right about now that she wished she hadn't gotten herself into this situation.

Somewhere during the end half of rehearsal, Talia glanced at Drew to see him smiling at her very happily from the other side of the stage. She smiled sarcastically, then turned away. He was creeping her out.

By the end of the day, Talia had counted Drew smiling at her sixteen times and she felt so relieved to be heading back to the tavern, that she nearly bounded out of the theatre.

"Remember--practice your lines! The play is in two days!"

- - - - -

Nothing really of interest happened the day after, Drew spent his free moments hitting on Talia, but the next day…

The next day was the dress rehearsal.

- - - - -

Talia arrived at the theatre earlier than usual that day, and immediately headed to her dressing room to get changed. As she slipped into her elaborate outfit--a flowery, whitish gown with so many ribbons that, if you could eat them, it would feed a small community--she grumbled about how she hated dresses. She had hoped that the dance would be the last time she wore one. Eventually, the head guy and a hair dresser of sorts arrived and the hairdresser did her hair in some fancy, confusing way that made Talia dizzy whenever she looked in the mirror.

As the time passed and she waited for the other actors to arrive, she sat on the stage and listened to the head guy as he reminded her of what she was supposed to do--when to scream, when to faint, when to say her lines…things she already knew. He continued to do so even after people started coming--she didn't especially mind that he was reminding her. Not, at least, until after he began to repeat himself.

Then Drew entered and the annoying head guy left her to bug him instead. It seemed that her personal stalker was already dressed, so he gladly sat down and listened to the head guy list all of the things he had to do, as opposed to running backstage and getting changed, like everyone else.

What seemed like hours later, the head guy clapped and ordered everyone backstage. "Let's go! Not sure about you, but I'd like to get this rehearsal finished before nightfall!" This amused Talia, since he was, essentially, the one holding everyone up. Everyone shuffled backstage as the curtains began to drop, then the play began.

From what the head guy could see, this is how the play went:

Talia (or Mary, as she was called in the play) entered as the curtains drew back. She leaned against a wooden railing--a prop that a few men had built during the week.

"Oh…what a lovely day!" She said enthusiastically, motioning to the scenery ahead of her. "The people are happy, the ports are busy, the soldiers are on guard…and there's my father--hello Father!" She waved.

From off stage: "Hello Mary!"

Mary smiled wider. "Just a moment, I'll be right down!" Then the curtains closed. When they opened again, Mary and another man (her father) stood in the center of the stage.

"There's someone here to see you, Mary." Her father (also the governor) said as Mary stood silently, listening.

"Oh! Really?" She clapped, jumping a little. The father nodded, motioning toward the curtain closest to him.

"Yes. Come in!" Just as he said this, Drew (also called Edward) walked in, smiling and carrying a flower. Mary giggled and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Edward! What a wonderful surprise!"

"Mary!"

The two obvious lovers hugged and the father stepped back toward the scenery, which was painted onto a large board to look like a courtyard littered with trees and stone sculptures. Edward handed Mary the flower, which was a yellow rose (The true Talia shuddered--she hated yellow). She took it from him and petted it lovingly for a moment.

"Governor!" A soldier ran in and the father/governor jumped, startled. "Pirates have landed at our port!" Everyone on stage make a look of terrible fright, and Edward quickly embraced Mary.

"Mary, go inside. Lock the doors." Mary looked at her father as she moved away from her love, then she looked at Edward.

He made a dramatic pose, looking off stage, then said determinedly, "I'll fight them." Mary put a hand on her mouth, timidly, then ran off stage in the opposite direction. The curtains closed again, and there was a loud shuffling behind the red barrier. A few minutes later, the opened yet again onto a scene, this one with a good amount of people. Edward was sword fighting with a pirate wearing a clichéd costume, and about three other pirates were fighting with soldiers. But this was only one half of the stage--the other half was Mary at the mansion that she lived in. The whole time while they were fighting pirates, she was frozen, then the fight scene froze, and she began. She hastily locked the doors and stood in the hall, looking around, frightened. Then there was a knock at the door, making a fake, woody sort of sound. Mary turned.

"Who could that be…?" She walked to the door and slowly opened it. She jumped back just as a pirate stepped in, grinning.

"Greetin's, Miss gov'na." He slurred in a British tainted accent. The British's accent sounded a bit flat, in Talia's opinion, but she had to emulate it to be Mary, so she wasn't complaining.

Mary screamed as loud as she could, then the pirate grabbed her and dragged her out the door and off the stage. Then the fight scene continued. Edward was fighting when he saw Mary being dragged off (or so we assume--he was just looking off stage, really).

"Mary!" He shouted, running off stage in the direction he was looking, and cueing the close of the curtains. When they, yet again, opened, the scenery had changed to a port with a large pirate ship floating off shore, the detail in the painting lacking a bit, and on stage was Mary being pulled across the length of the floor by the British pirate, screaming and struggling. As the two of them disappeared behind the other curtain, Edward appeared on stage, dropping his sword. "Nooo!! Ma-a-a-ary!" He cried, dropping to his knees, then the curtains closed for a final time during that act.

The incredibly boring next act (the head guy, also the writer, wasn't very good at writing plays, obviously) went quite slowly--Talia nearly missed her screaming points as she fought the urge to fall asleep on the spot. It seemed like two days had passed when the second act finished and everyone began to ready themselves for the third act--the act that she was dreading.

The curtains opened onto Mary on the pirate ship, about to walk the plank. She looked frightfully back at the pirates behind her. The captain grinned. Just as she was about to jump, Edward amazingly jumped on board. He laughed and began slashing and fighting with the crew.

"Edward!" She smiled, turning to face the ship. After all of the pirates were either dead or had jumped off the side of the hip, Edward pulled Mary off the plank. "Thank you for saving me!" She beamed at him.

"What else could I do?" He smiled, too, then they kissed and the curtains closed (This scene was actually a lot longer than it seemed--the fight with the pirates was quite drawn out. And sort of boring, too.) The group didn't bother with curtain call--it was only the head guy watching and he was clapping rapidly and with great enthusiasm.

"Wonderful!" Talia was, once again, amused--of course it was wonderful. He wrote it! She smirked and shook her head, her loose hair falling into her sweat-stained face. Then she began to furiously scrub at her lips--she had just kissed Drew. She had just kissed…Drew. She shuddered, thinking about how she had to do it again tomorrow. No doubt he was happy, though. Just the look on his face--a look of mingled joy and lightheadedness--portrayed his opinion. At least it'll be over soon. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take--I'd actually rather be with Pandora and…Jack…wait…no, yeah, Jack. She thought, walking to her dressing room.

After changing back into her much more comfortable clothing, she returned to the stage, where some of the men were taking down the pirate ship and replacing it with the first scenery, the courtyard one. The people not setting up for tomorrow were sitting in the seats in front of the stage, waiting.

"Alright, everyone can go home. Eat something, get some sleep, tomorrow ill be a big day!" The head guy finally said. Talia walked out, heading to the street vendor that she favored when in came to…gaining free food. As she sat and ate her dinner, she looked toward the east section.

"Should I…?" She asked quietly. Sarah was over there somewhere. Should she go see what was up? Maybe exchange humorous anecdotes about the happenings of the week? The more she thought about it, the more she decided that, no, if she went, a fight would ensue, possibly getting them arrested, and wouldn't that be a way to celebrate escaping conviction for murdering an actress. She finished up, then leisurely headed back to the tavern. She was going to need all the rest she could get if she wanted to even show up tomorrow.

The next day, though it was the day of the performance, was strangely calmer than the day before. Everyone was a good deal more ready now that they had practiced it for their boss while in their costumes, and even Talia was willing to do her best--well, good enough, at least. The head guy, though, was so jumpy and nervous that it was getting a little irritating to listen to him worry and mutter about things that could go horribly wrong.

She was so used to seeing large crowds of people staring at her that having to be on stage in front of such an expansive (…sort of) audience did not phase her in the least bit. She said her lines, screamed at the right times, and managed to survive through kissing Drew--again. The play wasn't a huge success, but the people enjoyed it, and she could tell the head guy felt happy and proud. It wasn't a tearful goodbye, either. The head guy dismissed them (he was crying, however) and everyone headed home. The sun was still out, and Talia wasn't sure what to do with herself, so she visited the prison. She talked to some of the inmates, cased the joint in case she were to get caught, and generally had a decent time. Though she wouldn't admit it EVER, the couldn't wait to get back to the Death Lily.