The little girl just arrived home from school but she ran off straight to her room, not even greeting her parents or the rest of her siblings as she usually does. Slamming the door behind her she threw her backpack to the ground and snatched one of the pillows from her bed, punching it as hard as she could. After brutalizing her pillow and then screaming into it for good measure, she walked over to her desk and pulled out her sketchbook from one of the drawers. Normally the sketchbook had nothing but dress and jewelry ideas but today it would be used for a different purpose. Fiori's red eyes were dried up from the tears but her cheek had a large bruise on it. The child was sketching out stick figures of two boys from her school. She began making a list of all the things that were important to them. 

"Family? No. They bully their siblings too." She muttered darkly to herself, "They don't have any crushes either." 

Fiori continued down the list, striking out anything that wasn't deeply important to the two boys. She eventually decided on wealth, which was the one thing the boys prided themselves on and always gloated about. They built their entire identities around the money they had. A small smile appeared on Fiori's face as she finally discovered the thing she could hurt them with. After making her list, she closed her sketchbook and left her room. Who was the best person to help with her revenge? She considered her siblings for a moment but knew they would immediately jump to violence.

Seeing the bullies get their faces beat in would be nice, but it would be a temporary pain at best. Fiori knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she saw them begging on their knees, their faces filled with devastation. Simone and Lewis both were smart enough to help her pull it off. Simone was busy with her siblings and usually was the one to reign them in. That left her father. Fiori rushed straight over to his room, knocking on it to see if he was there. When he answered, she had the tears ready. 

"Daddy!" She cried reaching up to him, "I need your help!"

It was unusual for Fiori to come straight home and go to her room. And it was not lost on Lewis, nor Simone, what was happening in her room. The two were fairly adept at distinguishing the moods of their children, especially when they were in distress. Fiori, though, was a rather special child, and tended to need her own space to work through her own problems. And, for the most part, Lewis trusted that she knew when to ask for help.

That being said, he was rather surprised when she came running to him. This must have been a rather difficult challenge for her. The ex-assassin could see the crocodile tears coming, but the girl should know better than to need to use them. Lewis and Simone were always willing to give their advice and help where they could, even when it came to rather…difficult situations.

Lewis did wonder if that squirrel would ever recover.

“Well, well, Fiori,” Lewis said as he pulled away from his desk. It was more busywork than anything lately. Reading up on harvesting techniques and unique strands of grapes. There wasn’t much else for him to do during the school days. “What’s wrong?” Lewis had taken to wearing a plain tunic and pants around the house. Since he rarely needed to go out, he preferred the lazy, comfortable clothes. Fiori was smart…so whatever she need help with was something bound to be interesting.

Fiori had a genuine smile on her face when she saw her father. She enjoyed every bit of attention and love from her parents. The girl ran over to Lewis and hugged his leg, mostly out of habit. She looked at him with her big ruby eyes but there was a mischievous smile on her face. The kind of smile that meant somebody was in trouble or was going to be in trouble soon.

"Tell me, how do I make people give me money?" She asked, "I wanna make them hand over their money to me, whether they like it or not!"

Fiori had gotten caught up in her plans for revenge that she had completely forgotten to clue him in on what was going on. But there was a bruise on her face, a bruise that hadn't been there earlier that morning. Pulling out her sketchbook drawing from her pocket, she showed him the stick figures that had big words REVENGE titled above the drawing in red crayon.

"Jerry and Thomas hit me today." She explained, "I don't wanna just make them hurt. I wanna tear them down and never let them get back up again. They like money and it's the only thing they seem to love. If I take that away, they will be devastated."

The only thing that would go wrong is if her father tried to give her the whole forgive people speech or make some other excuse. When she told her teachers about the incident, they just claimed that the boys just liked her and told her to forgive them. She never understood the concept of hitting people because of love and she certainly knew Thomas and Jerry were not in love with her. Even if they were, she hated them and never wanted that.

"Is there a way to force money from them?" Fiori asked.

The first thing that Lewis saw on Fiori as she came in were the bruises. While normally Lewis would be full of murderous intent for his children, he knew that there were certain…limitations to what he was and wasn’t allowed to express in front of his kids. It was something that he had worked on, and Simone had been very proud of him over. It was when Fiori started speaking of her ideas of revenge, though, that Lewis couldn't help but smile. This wasn’t one of his caring, smiles…no, this was a smile that was more on the sadistic side.

“Fiori, my daughter…” Lewis knelt down. “Taking money from people is wrong in almost all cases. There are a few…minor exceptions, though. For instance…did you know that Daddy used to be a thief? I had to steal to survive. But we only stole from people who deserved it…” He ruffled her hair. “And from what you’re telling me…” And what I know… “These boys deserve it.”

The ex-assassin looked Fiori over. “You certainly can’t take it by force, but…there are a few things that we can try. It does depend on how willing you are to throw your pride, though.” Lewis stood up. “The easiest way would be to get close to them…manipulate their feelings, and more or less pull out the rug beneath them once they let you into their inner circle, but…” Lewis’ eyes twinkled. “I have a feeling that you can do so much better than that, my dearest daughter.”

Lewis clapped his hands together. “How about we start a war…”

When Lewis began telling her that stealing was wrong, she began to worry that he wouldn't help her and tell her off for thinking of revenge. Then he mentioned exceptions. She looked at him with excitement as he began talking about how he had to steal to survive. The idea of her father having to steal for survival seemed so foreign. He lived with the family in a massive house and had more money than some of the most powerful nobles. She would have to ask about his previous life later. Fiori softly smiled as he reached down and ruffled her hair, a genuine smile this time.

When he suggested getting close to them, she considered it for a moment. It sounded terrible, the idea of having to compliment those boys or pretend to like them made her face scrunch up in disgust. But if it was necessary, she would do it. Yet her father seemed to have a different plan in mind. A war. Fiori reached up and took her father by the hands and with a sweet little smile, nodded her head.

"Yes!" She said, "We will make war. How?"

Her voice sounded as sweet as a bell and yet there was a hidden venom. Fiori wasn't a particularly violent person or someone who liked causing others pain. If she caused pain it was accidental or that person had wronged her in some form. However, when getting her revenge, a more venomous devious side of her would appear. It happened with her siblings whenever they made her mad but even then it was just a prank. This was true revenge.

"They're not stupid." Fiori hesitantly admitted, "They know how to bully without getting caught. We gotta be careful."

The child hated to admit that the bullies were smart but if they were going to take them down, they would have to be honest with the opponent's skills and intelligence levels. Fiori still wanted to go after them in full force but she knew better than to underestimate them. But she had confidence. Her father was an adult and was an expert in tricking other adults.

The fact that Fiori held such a desire for revenge was a prideful moment for Lewis, even though in all rights it should not have been. Still, this was a strange scenario that he found himself in, one where he had to tread carefully. As an ex-assassin, he had a variety of ways to deal with this, and none of them could be traced back to him. However, this was a lesson for Fiori too, in how to craft ideas and stand up for herself. He had to guide her in a way that nurtured her skills, while carefully making sure that they didn’t go too far with the whole revenge.

Lewis thought carefully for a moment. “So, let’s go over what we know. The most important part of any fight is knowledge.” He walked over to his desk and pulled out a notebook, and then sat down with Fiori on the floor. He handed the notebook over to her, along with a quill and ink.

“There are two targets. Jerry and Thomas. Each of them are in a noble house of Benin. If I remember correctly…” Lewis closed his eyes. “Jerry Hannah… The Hannah Family. They’re focused on inland trading for Benin. Small scale, but lucrative. They own some of the farms on Nakuru as well. The other one…Thomas Brayburry. The Brayburry House…” That was going to be harder to deal with. “They run one of the island ferry services. There are a few different ones… there’s is the third largest of the services. The boat that takes us to and from the island? It's owned by the Braryburry family. I’m certain that the same ferry service also runs to Nakuru as well…”

This was all important information, but what they needed was a conflict. Something they could manufacture and nurture to an exploding point. “Now Fiori…what are some of the things that we can do? Think carefully…”

Fiori sat with her father on the floor and took the notebook, looking up at him with a little smile. It had been a while since the two had worked on a project like this. If she realized she had wanted this, she would have found something for them to work on and done it sooner. Fiori knew all she had to do was ask. The girl began to focus on the two targets. She wrote down their full names, the families that Lewis was describing, and even added some doodles to get the point across. Her drawing skills had improved over the years, even if she still used stick figures for people. Her father then asked what they could do. Fiori pondered for a moment then began writing what she knew about the two boys. 

"Jerry likes to talk about his allowance. But he only does it when Thomas is around. When Thomas isn't around Jerry will still be mean but he won't hit." She recounted, "Thomas is the violent one but only is like that when other people are watching." 

That was their behaviors that Fiori had picked up. The hitting her thing was new but she was aware of what they did to other children. She had been watching them for a while since they had hit one of her friends. 

"Thomas hates dogs, I think he's scared of them." Fiori explained, "Jerry teases him about this. Oh and Jerry likes Thomas' sister. She's only a year younger. But Jerry hasn't said a word of it since Thomas is so protective. I also know they fight over who's family is better. But they don't fight each other with fists." 

The amount of information Fiori was able to gather was limited but she hoped it would prove useful.

"Maybe we should use Thomas' sister to pit them against each other?" Fiori suggested, "I don't think we'd even need to involve her. The mention of her name should be enough. And then use their small feud over families and inflate them somehow?"

She was basing most of her ideas off of a revenge novel she had swiped from the library. She even designed costumes for the novel. 

Lewis smiled as the little deviant started writing down information. She was quite the diligent note taker when she wanted to be, which showed in her courses at the island school. He was glad that at least one of their kids was keeping up with their studies. All of them were smart. Too smart.

“So, they both like to show off, but for different reasons. Jerry seems to want to show off his wealth, but only when it doesn’t conflict with his buddy. Perhaps it’s a sore spot between the two. They might have fought about it before and come to some sort of agreement. Thomas, though, likes to be the center of attention. Each of them has a vice of sorts.” It was interesting how the kids of these noble families took so much after their parents. As far as Lewis was aware, Simone had dealings with the two families during the council meetings. Both families were well respected, but for all the wrong reasons.

There was more information, though. Lewis thought about the rest of the information that was given. “Well, we do have a rather raucous dog in the family.” It was impossible to tell if Lewis was talking about the actual dog, a gifted dire wolf by the name of Eyolf, or if he was referencing Rex. Both would protect Fiori in a heartbeat, and listen to the girl.

“Well…there are a few ways to approach this. Let’s see…” Lewis closed his eyes. “Let’s review.”

“Jerry likes to show off his wealth, and adores Thomas’ sister. His family also likes to show off their wealth, and owns some farms and focuses on trading. Thomas likes to show off his strength, but is scared of dogs. His family owns a ferry service for the island.” As he spoke, Fiori lit up and made her suggestion. Using Thomas’ sister to pit them against each other. Using that to spark a war between the families.

“That is a brilliant idea, Fiori. Now…” He smirked. “Here’s how we go about that. A letter. We can keep it anonymous, but heavily hint that it’s Thomas’ sister who is writing. Now…what should the letter entail? A meeting place, probably in secret. Professions of love.” He thought for a moment. “And perhaps a request. A gift…maybe a rather raucous dire wolf lent by a friend?” He gave Fiori a look.

Fiori nodded along as her father put together the information that they figured out during their conversation. He then mentioned a rather raucous dog, which was either the dire wolf or Rex. Fiori's bets were on Rex. The little girl smiled as she finished her notes, which were mostly doodles and a list of information from their discussion. She smiled proudly as her father complimented her plan. At this rate, they were going to get the best revenge! He suggested an anonymous letter to lure Jerry to some sort of trap. Fiori placed her hand on her chin for a moment, her mind deep in thought. The idea was great but she was trying to see where he was going with this idea. Then it struck her.

"So we'll get Jerry there with the letter and then…" She began, "I could write a letter from Jerry to Thomas asking for them to meet up at the same place. They'll blame each other and the dog will be scary. That's you're plan, right?"

Fiori knew her dad was clever but coming up with such an ingenious plan in a matter of moments was incredible! Picking up a piece of paper, she ran over to her desk and began writing the first letter. She wasn't as familiar with Thomas' sister but she had a feeling that as long as the handwriting was girly and not recognizable, it would be more than enough for a young hopeful boy. The letter was simple, a request from a girl to meet up with him in the forest near the school because she needed to tell him something important. She used Jerry's nickname, Jer which Thomas had used along with one of the teachers that knew the boy personally. She added this into the letter to make it clear that whoever was writing knew the boy personally. Once she was finished the little girl handed it to her father for him to read. The letter was cute, sweet, and to the point. She even added a heart at the end of the letter to emphasize the point.

"One day I'll write a REAL love letter." She mumbled, slightly upset she had to waste the first one on some stupid boys.

Revenge was more important than that. Looking over to the desk, she wondered how to handle a letter from Jerry to lure Thomas. Fiori went through her bag and found a crumpled-up ball of paper. Pressing it to the desk, she spread it out revealing a crudely made sign that said "Red-Eyed Freak". Her red eyes were the part of her that drew the most attention of the two bullies. Yet Fiori somehow knew that if it wasn't her eyes, then it would have been something else. It would have been her hair or her behavior or something else. Using the note, she began writing the second note in Jerry's handwriting, a talent that she recently had been taught.

"My siblings taught me how to forge notes." She explained to her dad, "They said it would help if I ever need a free hall pass."

She said siblings and they to avoid snitching on the one who taught it to her. Fiori had a feeling her dad wouldn't mind as much but she was still cautious. Bullies were fine to rat out but not family. Soon she was done with the second letter and handed it to Lewis with a bright sunny little smile.

"Are these good?" The little girl asked.