Escorting Mina was easy. Now I have to "check the perimeter."

I go outside, and notice that one of Mina's guards is stationed near the end of the hallway. Swerving around, I put a cloth to his mouth and shoot him with my gun. It has a silencer on it, so nobody will notice.

Walking back towards the meeting place, I spot Headmistress Rigga, and silently look then brush past her once. That's our code.

I then trot towards Mina and whisper in her ear, "Headmistress Rigga is alone in a meeting room with several Resistance supporters and soldiers. They've got her cornered, even when they weren't supposed to be there. We request your leadership."

Mina looks uneasily at me before stiffly rising and following me out of the ball room and through the spotless white hallway.

She senses something, but hopefully it'll be too late.

I open the door to the meeting room, where Rigga is sitting, "bound," to a chair. Mina glances towards the door before I close it, and she walks in front of her.

"We didn't want trouble," Mina begins. "Why did you capture her?"

They shrug, and one of them speaks up, "We saw her snooping around in some files-"

"Why would those files interest us?" she snaps.

"Look, we admit, we acted on impulse. It's just, someone back at the Resistance base commanded that we capture Rigga here, so we did."

"Who?" Mina asks, with a deadly uneasiness in her voice.

Before they can answer, Rigga interrupts.

"One thing that you should know about the Black Skull," Rigga says.

Mina's fur raises and I see her reaching for something. A pocket. In the skirt of her ball gown.

Rigga smiles, but her expression turns serious and she looks up. "Is that we have people everywhere."

Mina saw it coming.

I shoot my gun at the two Resistance soldiers, while Mina shoots Rigga in the leg. Rigga yells and falls over, but I bolt out the door, running through the ball room. Mina quickly pursues me, and shoots several times, as do I. But we can't get clear aim.

Screams errupt in the ball room, and I exit it into the open air. But I don't see Mina pursuing me. Looking through the window, I notice that she tries to calm everyone down and tell them to continue, and that this is a different matter that will be carried outside. Good thing I can read lips.

I run through the clearing, and Mina bursts out moments later. Firing at her, I shoot her in the arm, and I can tell even from a distance that she hisses.

But I guess it was a mistake to look behind, as I am newer to the training of the Black Skull, because I trip over a large rock.

Mina fires her gun once, and fire explodes in my leg. I force myself to move, but with my pace slower, Mina sloppily shoots me in the other leg. Her arm is injured, so I can't expect her aim to be the best.

She catches up and towers over me and kicks the gun out of my hand, pointing the gun at my face.

"Who do you work for?" she shouts.

I laugh a laugh of a dead person. "Is it not obvious?" My words are slurred.

"The Black Skull," she whispers.

I laugh again, this time coughing.

Then she comes to another realisation.

"Ruby." she says. "Ruby Crânenoir. Black Skull. Well, looks like the Black Skull doesn't do very well with new soldiers. You're coming back to the base with us."

"I am not a soldier, I am a member," I say. "And you underestimate the Black Skull. You will never know who is in it. I am merely a helper. But to get to the core-"

The gun from the distance sounds, and I feel it go to my head. With darkness enfulging me, I smile at Mina's confusion.

That wasn't her. 

I look around to the direction of where the gun shot came from. That shouldn't have happened. Now it's going to look like I killed her. And sure enough, I hear the sound of thunderous horsesteps coming away. Of course. They had the Guard here, protecting all of the royal officials at the ball. 

I'm surrounded by a dozen horses and their riders, and one hops down, advancing towards me with cuffs and a sword.

"Look, do I look like I killed her?" I ask, my tone rising.

"Even royalty can turn bad," one of them mutters.

"I am part of the Resistance, and she was an enemy and tried to kill me. She has already murdered two high-ranked Resistance officers!"

The rider hesitates but puts his weapon away. 

"The Resistance better watch it. Within a day, the entire Kyngdom will know what they did."

"What I did," I snap. "Leave the Resistance out of it."

The rider nods. "Will do. Can we escort you back to the ball?"

Exclaiming in frustration, I pick up my skirts and walk back myself, while they decide what to do with Ruby's body.

So. Destroy the Resistance's reputation slowly by starting with the soldiers that carry representation. I'm not going to let that happen to my friends, who have basically become my family.

I'm going to create a diversion for Kyngdom and the Guard and everyone else to see so the Resistance can do what they need to do to take down the Black Skull.

I'm going to join the Black Skull, somehow. I won't be Mina, I'll assume a different identity. But I won't tell the Resistance. I'll tell them that I'm going on a trip for my kingdom.

I had thought about doing this all along. Now to find a scientist that can change me into a human. Again.