Information Warfare [Closed]

Maria was done with her chores and had nothing else to do, except learn. She had a few reading and writing assignments that had been given to her, so she sat in the middle of her bedroom and was trying to learn. Unfortunately, she wasn't having an easy time with it. She didn't understand something about i's being after c's or why the comma went before an s after a word. It was confusing! Out of frustration, Maria threw her pencil an kicked at the books, groaning in anger until a knock came to the door. She immediately shushed and tried cleaning up real fast. "Who's there?" she asked cheerfully. She still hadn't mastered the "come in" or "who is it" greetings that were more accepted. She heard Neil's voice and perked up, completely forgetting about her work, "Okay! I'm coming!"

Maria brushed her hair a bit, ignoring the mess on the floor, and hurried along to Neil's office. She was going to just rush in, but remembered getting in trouble for doing that before. She knocked and waited. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frankie down the hall way waving at her and calling out to her. The moment Neil said she could come in, she rushed inside and locked his office door. She leaned down and looked through the keyhole to see if Frankie would move on, but Neil spoke up and grabbed her attention. She hurried over to the chair and sat down. She looked at the package and a star sparkled in her eye when she realized what it was. "Yummy! Thank you." she said and hugged it, but glared at the books. The glare faded a moment later. "It's hard and I don't understand some things." she said and opened up the first book, "I like the pictures in this one." And she began reading.

"Mister Phil says it's cause I've never had nothing good. Wait..." Maria stopped and pointed at the air, repeating that sentence in her mind a few times and then spoke up again, "Mister Phil says it's because I haven't had ever had anything good." She stopped again, thought about that sentence, smiled, and nodded. "Yes, that is how I'm supposed to say it... Mister Phil says that not having anything before makes me like what other people find basic. It's why the bathroom is my favorite room. I'm allowed to lock it and it's clean and helps me stay clean as well. My second favorite room is this one, though." Maria looked around the room and then returned to her books to begin reading.

Maria dazed out again until he said her name. It was the best way of getting her attention. "Exciting jobs always meant someone was getting hurt, so I'm glad that they are not exciting, but um..." she thought about what his question was and stared at him while coming up with an answer. She did this often, but it always meant her answer had something to do with him. She smiled again and shrugged. "I don't want to be anywhere else." she said as her answer. Maria liked it here. She liked being around Neil and sometimes Frankie was fun. Now that she was learning more, she wasn't always scared of him, but that was only when Mister Phil was around. He told Frankie to keep his hands to himself.

Maria's head spun around at the sound of cracking wood. It was loud and coming from the front of the house. She looked back to Neil and just waited for the signal. Once she got it, she was up and out of his office. Maria quickly moved to a room at the front of the house and slipped out the window. She slid down from the second story, landing lightly in the grass, and then rushed around to the front door. They had taken out anyone that was already out here, so they wouldn't be expecting her. When she came up behind them, Maria didn't hesitate. She had three knives in her hand, all seemingly coming out of nowhere. Within two seconds, each knife was thrown at the backs of each mook that stood in Neil's door. She quickly drew a second batch as they realized what was going on and she tossed two at the other she had not hit, unfortunately not recognizing the unarmed man as the leader. The men were in pain and Maria was ready to throw more if they turned to her, but she froze like a turret in the front door way. "The next won't allow any of you to live. Move and so will I. Your host will be here soon."

Neil on one side, Maria on the other. More than half of their little army had been taken down within seconds by a young girl they just didn't see coming. Retaliation was foolish. This was the only time Maria actually looked frightening, when she was in battle mode and ready to kill for Neil. Maria was a little ninja, so when she was told to be by Neil's side, she practically disappeared and reappeared next to him. In reality, she was a quick little monkey who darted over to his side. Once in Neil's office, she stood off to the side of his desk, but behind him. Her knives never left her hands, but she kept them behind her back as if she were innocently standing there. She wasn't hiding them, it was more of an "I won't attack if you don't fuck up" gesture. Maria stayed silent, but her irritation was growing. She did not appreciate the repeated interruption and rude behavior they were showing toward Neil.

Maria held back a chuckle when Neil went sarcastic. Did these guys even realize what Grandview was? Maria didn't either; however, she knew it was scary. When Neil got defensive of her, Maria froze. She didn't want to look at him in shock because she knew that would hint something toward other people. She knew better than to show her leaders weaknesses, changes in behavior, or hinting at codes or signals they had. She learned this from the Vonnera. That didn't stop her from wanting to smile wider than she had before. She actually felt something warm in her stomach right then. "Right." she nodded and showed a smile quite a bit more devious than normal, "Barging into someone's home, breaking down their door, and threatening them is not the smartest way to make friends or get what you want. It really only gets you a knife... or two..." Maria looked to the mook she hit twice, "...in your back."

Maria smiled so widely when she made Neil laugh like that. She felt her heart sore a little and she wanted to jump for joy. She would have too, if it weren't for her self control. Of course, that feeling was snatched away by the outburst of the leader. Maria felt her hand twitch. She was ready to throw her knives if she needed to. She felt a little anxious, wanting to jump forward at these bastards like a dog wanting to protect it's master. She received her orders, so the first thing she did was dart forward and roundhouse kick the joker away from his friends. The others attempted to retaliate, but with a graceful twirl, Maria slit two throats. The two that remained were the leader and one that was trying to flee Neil's office. Maria decided to take care of the leader first, so he now had her attention.

Maria side stepped the man as he swung a knife at her. She sidestepped again when he brought out a second and used that as well. Maria was calm and confident in her movements. The man was irate and become worse. He swung his knives at her in a flurry of anger, missing each one until she had to block using one of her own knives. Maria was quick, but this man's strength overpowered her. He pushed her back, causing her to trip over one of his men. His knife slipped passed hers and into her upper right shoulder. She grit her teeth, but not a single noise came from Maria as she kicked him off. The two quickly stood and he charged her again. The moment the man got to close, she roundhouse kicked him again and then added an extra spin to bring her knife back around, stabbing into his head.

Maria then darted out of the office and toward the front door without hesitation. She began her way back upstairs a minute later. She finished off the one that fled and returned to Neil. She seemed to not even feel the pain in her shoulder. She acted like it wasn't there, but it was still bleeding quite a bit. "Do I have to clean this up?" she asked, hoping for him to say no. It wasn't usually her job, but if he told her too, she wasn't going to argue. "And what do you want to do about the big door in the front?"

Maria looked to the wrong shoulder at first, but then saw the blood. She didn't even seem phased. "Do I need one?" she asked and pulled her shirt away to look at the wound through her collar. "It's just a stab hole." she explained. She began poking at it, which made it bleed a bit more. "I guess I do." Maria sat down where she had been told, "But don't waste painkillers on me. They don't work." She kept playing with the wound like she was fascinated with it. Maria couldn't remember what pain actually felt like, which was a good thing. This was barely a sting in her book, more like an itch. Maria happily went with Neil back down stairs once he was done talking to the doctor. "My chores are actually done. I did them really early because I wanted to see if I could stay near you today." Maria never asked to be with him, or participate in his dealings. She just wanted to be near him. Whether that meant she was sitting in the far corner of a room he was in, or right at his table, she didn't care. It's where she liked to be.

"No, you're not interesting." Maria said honestly and with a smile, "You're just my favorite person in this world. I like being around you." Maria sat down and kept playing with her wound. She didn't care that she was ripping it and making it worse. It was itching her. Neil brought up what she had said. "I have no need for them." she said as she wiped her blood on her skirt, "Vonnera made sure of it. He hit me a lot, stabbed me, shot me, had horses pull my body until my limbs weren't in my sockets anymore..." Maria explained all of this like she was speaking of her daily duties, "He said I needed to learn to not feel pain. He had some people come in with Arcana that altered the way I felt it while they beat me. He did it so often that my brain now thinks most pain is an itch or something... It's annoying." Maria's shoulder twitched a bit and she began scratching at it again. "Annoying, but it worked for him. He said me not feeling pain made me the perfect shield. Like this, I don't hesitate to take a hit for someone and can get up again to keep fighting for them. If you don't feel it, you don't fear it."

Maria's eyes widened. She was completely horrified. For that single moment, she felt sick to her stomach and completely appalled at her own existence. She was going to say something, but Neil raised a finger. He wasn't talking about her. Maria visibly relaxed. The whites of her eyes has become red in that short time and evidence of tears were apparent. Luckily, she felt better the moment he clarified. She was glad to hear she wasn't just his sword, nor was she his shield. She nodded in agreement, liking his arrangement. "Neil..." she spoke up, but it sounded like her voice cracked. She was hesitating. She cleared her throat and sighed. "What does it mean when a girl belongs to you?" she asked nervously, "I mean... When someone say 'you're my girl' or... wait... That's not what I mean."

Maria thought for a moment. She got that one wrong again. "When someone says 'you're gonna be my girl', I mean. Is that a good thing? A-And if it is, can a guy belong to a girl? Like... could a girl say to a guy that same thing, but with guy instead of that with girl?" Maria knew she was sounding strange, but she couldn't get the words right. She stood up in frustration and stomped her foot. She rubbed her forehead, trying to reword what she was saying, but it wasn't coming to her! "Can a man belong to a woman to? Or do men just own women? Are there any free women that can work like you do? Or are all women slaves and workers? I mean... Ugh!" she kicked hard at one of the dead bodies, so hard that she fell on her ass. "I don't know what I mean anymore! The words aren't working like they should."

"Astute." she repeated immediately. She had a habit of doing that on words she never heard before. Half-way through his explanation, she did it again. "Friendship." she said, tilting her head. She heard this word before, but it was more of a clarification for herself. It could happen between friends. Maria's mind began racking up quite a few more questions, but she had to keep listening first! And she was glad she did. "You and I?" she did it again, but with more curiosity. Okay, so she just had a habit of repeating things she found interesting. Maria was excited when he asked a question about her! That was amazing! She held up her hand and counted out a few things, but was immediately confused. "I don't know..." she said and then looked around her skirt. She grabbed a knife from one of her many hidden areas and looked at it. "I got this when I was five. I remember the day because it was the only birthday present that I ever got... Miste-... Gabriel marked it for each year I didn't die..." Maria counted the marks up. They were on the handle of the blade and each were very small, but deep. "What is five with nineteen put with it?" Yes, this little lady was actually twenty four years old.

"Gabriel said I was born too early so I'll stay small forever." Maria gave a quick explanation of her age and size. She didn't really like it, but if it made her more useful to Neil, she'd be happy about that. He continued his explanation, but she only smiled. She waved her hands and shook her head. "No, no. I know about sex. Someone tried it with me a long time ago and got their dick cut off because of it." Maria said as she twirled a knife between her fingers and then put it away somewhere.

"I know I don't know a lot of things about people and most basic things like reading, but I know lots about other stuff. I know the body like the back of my hand. I know about sex because it was going to be my job for Gabriel's guards; I made sure it didn't work for them though. A friend read me a book about  this love thing one day and decided I didn't want just sex. It was just about this woman who was hit all the time by the one she belonged to. She thought she loved him and he loved her, but he hurt her always and so she ran away. She found a man that didn't hurt her anymore and she gave herself to him. Sounded nicer than being a sex slave. Gabriel said that was just a fairy tale, but the lady who read me the book said it wasn't. Gabriel was mean to me, so I listened to her more. After that, I started my combat training. He didn't want to go through the hassle of getting one of his men's dick cut off again. And besides, he said my skill with a knife was worth more than lying on my back forever."

Maria stopped there. She had pretty much proven there was a fairy tale going on in her head right now. She was trying to understand it and herself at the same time. It was just becoming more difficult for her. Grandview was not the place to try and be happy, even if it's all you want. Neil continued on after her story and Maria listened. "I want to be your friend first, though." Maria looked to the ground when she said that. She was being honest, but she didn't think he'd want to hear that. He even though she'd get in trouble for saying it. "I mean... Employees are good, I think, but aren't friends better? Th-They mean something and would do more than an employee, right? I mean, I-..." she whimpered, still staring at the floor, "I asked cause of Frankie... He's the one that keeps saying I will belong to him and if it means what you say it means, then it might not be that bad... I think. At least I'd be important to someone, maybe. And he's never hit me. He always smiles at me. It's scary because it confuses me, but..." Maria sighed and curled her knees to her chest, hiding her face in them, "I don't know..."