"Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive."
–Sun Tzu, The Art of War
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Elizabeth
"What the hell happened to you?!"
"I was attacked AllFall. Duh."
"By who?" Alien asked.
The Baron glanced at me, he had only walked in. He didn't look hurt but looked like he had skated across the room of the mansion with his backpack grapple.
"AllFall? Could you get Sarah from the academy and take her to the dojo for me? Don't get anything flashy and tell her I won't be able to check on her progress today."
He didn't trust me enough to hear much but hey, only people who really knew him was Weyha, Alien, and... A.o.D.D. Before he left he turned and added,
"And oh, AllFall? Please help Sarah with whatever work she gets from the academy, okay?"
Then he left.
Turns out I was babysitting with the chauffeur today...
We were in an old Escalade and we were heading into the poorer parts of town. I began to get alarmed; was this all simply a trap? Was he attacked by Angels that somehow knew me?
"Hey," I asked the chauffeur, "where are we going?"
He shrugged, "To pick up Sarah." He met my eyes on the rear view, "Why?"
I shrugged in reply.
"So," he asked hesitantly, "you were in China?"
"Yeah," I said it in a way that implied that he better cut to the chase.
"Well," he bobbled his head nervously, "I heard the seats are on the passenger side and all. T'was just wondering about the cars. Me and my brothers used to street race but we never went international."
"Oh really?" I said not entirely to interested but having some small talk was nice.
"Yeah, but uh... I've been kinda wanting to tell someone something."
'So much for small talk' I mentally groaned.
"I've normally went to my superiors about stuff but this is more delicate..."
"A woman?" I dryly guessed.
"I was Obsidian's chauffeur at the Boss' wedding," he started with determination to get it off his chest before he lost his chance, "and she was a crying sobbing mess."
Wow, wasn't expecting that...
I blinked a few times...
Then I recalled the strange and angry glances she was giving when the Angels came.
"Oh my God."
"Yeah," he said watching me in the rear view, "delicate."
I wasn't going to voice it aloud but Obsidian likes the Baron.
"I ain't no drama hound but I don't know if I can go to the Baron. Not only because of how delicate it is but because I am simply the chauffeur. It had me concerned, especially after the whole Magmantis thing."
And that was when I deduced that someone told him something...
"What had happened hmm?" I asked, fishing if he actually knew or not.
"You don't know by now?"
"I remember Alien saying something about Salamay in a love triangle? Did Alien put you up to this?"
His silence answered me.
"I'll make sure to talk to him about it."
"We're here by the way."
And I nearly jumped when Sarah rapped on the window. I reached over and opened the door and she came in with a smile...
...that faded.
"Sarah!" I exclaimed.
She had a pink dolphin backpack, a white tee with Minions, a long sleeve undershirt and a black skirt with leggings. All of which were smudged with dirt to conceal the fact that her illegal guardian can afford three-million dollar Maserati Birdcages ten times the worth of a Lamborghini.
"What?" She asked, oblivious to how she was hanging out the open door.
"I-" surprised, "I didn't know you went to school."
"Yeah," she said sheepishly.
"Sarah?" The chauffeur said.
She apologized when she took a seat next to me and said,
"Yeah, I didn't know that you were acrobatic as well..."
She didn't know it, but I deduced that is what the others were talking about. The thought seemed wrong but this might be a good time for information...
...even if it is from a six year old.
"So," I said crossing my hands over each other, "how was your day?"
She stuck out her lip,
"It was good. It's just... Teddy used to pick me up from school."
I licked my lips and tried to compose a good answer. The knife named, "You killed Teddy" wrenched deeper into me.
"I-I'm sorry that he isn't here anymore Sarah."
"It's okay, you didn't do it and I will always have Fluffy!"
She held up a snow globe with a bunny in it. That must be what Fluffy stays in when he's not biting people's heads off.
After a few more minutes I tried to start some small talk,
"So, do you like going to the circus?"
She bobbled he head, Fluffy's globe in her lap, "Kinda..."
"You don't? Have you ever snuck in? That's what me and my family did on occasion."
Her emotions flatlined, and she shifted her gaze to mine,
"The Baron told me to not ask about people's families because most of them were not good."
I pursed my lips.
"But you seem to have a good family right?"
"You know," I said old pain rising, "now that you say it. I don't want to talk about my family anymore."
They're dead after all...
"But no," she resumed in her old rigor, "we never snuck into one. That'd be fun but Baron told me to not even say the word circus or family sometimes. He told me they're trigger words."
"Why are they trigger words?" Why would the Baron tell a six year old this? She replied in an ominous darkness,
"Thread Walker's family had a circus, and they were NOT good."
-
The dojo was a converted old Boys and Girls Club. It was a solid enough set up for martial arts and acrobatics that an Angel could practice there. Sarah today had a lot of homework and was in the area where kids used to play air hockey and ping pong. It had bean bag chairs, couches and tables perfect for city kids before the Second Depression to get their homework done before they played basketball or something.
I was watching her do bar division at lamplight. I don't know why a lone gas lamp was her school light of choice but it was nice.
"What's three-hundred fifty-six divided by three?"
I smiled and rose a brow, I was resting my head on my propped arm and mumbled,
"Didn't your teacher teach you that?"
"I don't know! The kids next to me keep distracting me! I'm going to kill them one day I swear!"
I frowned... and she looked at me,
"I didn't really mean that Elsa."
"Elsa?"
"Yeah! Elsa's cool!"
"Wow," I said with a genuine smile, "that's punny."
She smiled sheepishly as I drank from my water bottle.
"Alien told me what a pun was! Ha! That's..."
Funny? Punny? Bunny? We just laughed and then I took another sip,
"Yeah, one day, I was annoying Alien right? He told me that maybe when I am twelve that I will have a kid..."
Needless to say, I spewed the water that I was drinking...
"He did not!"
"Yeah..." she said in thought, "I still don't know what he meant. The Baron would never tell me. Can you?"
"Uhh..." for some reason I felt NO wasn't a good answer so I said, "you got math to do."
She let her head fall into her math book and whine from out the pages,
"I don't wanna do it, and Teddy isn't here to help!"
After getting over that knife I named earlier twisting I asked,
"So the Baron would teach you karate and stuff right?"
She had her head positioned so I could see her smile,
"He teaches me to 'fight'. Like if a boy grabs me I knee him in the crotch and punch him in the throat!"
Gawd what are they teaching these kids? Well, she does have a evil hulk-like bunny that rips people apart...
"Has anyone taught you that learning to fight is like a discipline?"
She glanced up and pursed her lips, and watched me when she said,
"Teddy did. He said he was like a mentor to me." She watched my reaction and asked, "Why do you get sad when I or anyone else mentions Teddy?"
I gave her a dark look, the gravity of my tone increased,
"You. Have. Math. To. Do."
She frowned,
"About discipline?" She squeaked...
I... tried to smile reassuringly,
"Fighting, is a discipline for the body. Math, is the same thing but for the mind. Would it help if you envisioned math as a battle with your mind?"
She looked at her math problems with a new interest,
"Maybe..."
"I'm not a crazy historian or anything but I think even Roman soldiers would learn math to discipline their minds. With disciplined minds they would make better decisions in battle."
"Wow..." then she looked at me, "there's a problem. What does discipline mean again?"
I smiled and shook my head...
This is going to be a long and interesting math session...
-
While Sarah was figuring out her math I was thinking about trigger words. I had made a little list of everyone's names on my phone that I saved for later. I deduced that if I can figure out the trigger words it would tell me a lot about the others.
"So," I asked over ice cream after a long math day, "I am kinda new here and I was wondering if you could tell me the trigger words. I just don't want to accidentally step on anyone's toes..."
She observed me a moment and smiled mischievously, "Only if you give me a soda."
I smiled shaking my head, I glanced at my watch and said,
"It's nine o'clock and you got school tomorrow..."
"So?" She asked with an evil grin that would make the others proud.
I reluctantly gave her a soda.
"Well, I don't have any trigger words but if Fluffy thinks I'm in danger he'll..." she paused for effect, "fluff you."
She opened the canned soda and sipped before continuing,
"Thread Walker has a few. Don't say freak or circus and especially circus freak. Watch out when you talk about throwing knives at people. Oh, and fathers."
She poked her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in thought and said,
"Obsidian has a few. Don't call her ugly, weird, or goth... or ugly weird goth. She's sensitive to bullies and some other things I can't think of right now."
She massaged her temples with two of her fingers while resting her elbows on the table for a moment,
"Ugh, math," she took a sip and continued, "Alien is pretty sensitive as well, especially when MasterLock is concerned," I rolled my eyes to that (of course he is), "one time when MasterLock was newer on the team Alien held a knife to Angel's crotch and said, 'if you say one more thing'-"
"Honey," I said sheepishly, "skip that part."
"Okay, ummm, don't call him stupid or talk about comas or sisters or perhaps sisters with comas? Don't mention retards or mental disorders or illnesses."
"How do you know what those are?"
She thought and said, "I made the mistake of asking him."
"Okay," she scratched her head, "Weyha doesn't have any but before he gets really mad he'll call you sunshine. MasterLock is the same way if she says 'sugar' dryly."
"Ooh!" She added quickly, "Do. Not. I repeat. Do. Not. Talk about fathers to the Baron. Don't you dare call him ugly, useless, worthless, or good for nothing."
She sipped her soda, "And I think- No!"
She added, "Do. Not. Go into the Baron's smashed room!"
"What is it?"
"That door with barricades? The barricades are to mar the hateful door he told me. He went in there to think the other day but he isn't in there very often," she licked her ice cream, "I think."