Rebel Lies

Chapter 8; Diary of Diane

I can't believe I'm writing in this thing out of my own premonition, but I'm not sure what to believe anymore. No one can read these, if the royals or even the rest of the rebels get their hands on this, then I'm done for. Once I reach a final decision on what or who to trust, I will burn this to dust.

So... I suppose I should start from the beginning: my name is Diane DeMarke and I am on a secret mission. It's been long in progress really, if we can send a rebel into the castle as a high ranking official then we can win this war. Problem was: no one can become an official in Amal unless they have "proven themselves to be loyal to Amal" whatever that means. So our only option was the Royal Lottery, which was in my opinion a blind shot in the dark because no one KNEW how it worked. Randomness: impossible. Looks: maybe. Allies: likely. A clown who would just follow their orders: definitely. Either way, we still submitted a few names of our top agents: of course I had absolutely no hope that this would work, in fact I thought it could expose us, but the boss demanded it so it happened.

And voilà, I'm here now, writing this.
This is stupid. I'm basically talking to myself. But I can't anymore, between giving Ophelia updates to deliver to HQ and trying to figure out whose side I am actually on, I have to write it down or I'll officially go nuts. Great and now I have to go to Spanish lessons, who needs the Spaniards anyway?!!!

I was very confused. That was the end of the first diary entry after seemingly months of reports. Scrolling through the pages quickly, it seemed like another month before she tried to write again. I was beginning to doubt myself, this entry made me wonder if this was some elaborate plan of Diane's. Maybe it's an elaborate plan from Rarity. Or Maybe Diane is in need of help. I was worried. I came here to help Diane but instead I got a... I'm not even sure what this is?! Did Diane even actually write it?! I close the 'diary' and propped my elbows on top. I didn't know what to do. Does this mean my cover is blown? I'm not even sure anymore.

No. I can't let them win. I can't let Diane down, she needed my help, and so did Ophelia. So I gathered up my dress and looked for a comfortable pair of pants, but of course there were none. I sighed, no one wears dresses anymore, why don't they have at least ONE pair of pants?! Instead, I just threw on the simplest and least obstructive dress I could find: a knee-length yellow floral sundress without much structure or poof. Yellow wouldn't have been my first choice for blending in but I'd much rather be able to run and jump than be mediocre at everything. I wore the only pair of flats which somehow fit me perfectly. How? How did they have the time between the RL and me coming here to tailor all these clothes?! I decided to take Diane's diary and my notebook with me in a messenger bag so as to have a backup plan in case anyone questioned what I was doing. I was thinking that the bag could get in the way if I was trying to run but it was better than holding the books, and taking Diane's diary only could be suspicious. I still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to her or if I was being set up. All I knew was that Diane had thankfully drew a map of the place, and I was never more grateful for her architecture degree. I may have a photographic memory but it hasn't been exactly helpful lately especially in this castle.

My first stop was the office that I had stumbled upon last night when I was looking for my room. I found it easily enough this time, but my dress wasn't being exactly helpful with not making me look suspicious. The office was empty at first glance, but i didn't know much about whose it was or their schedule. I should've probably figured that out first. I've literally forgotten how to do my job it seems. I need to be more methodical in the future, but for now I guess I'm already here. I started to look around the office, taking a literal mental image of where everything is, before disturbing anything. Having had a look around, I start to open the different drawers and cabinets, what's unlocked of them anyway. The storage system of whoever's office this was was miserable, but at least they probably won't notice if something disappears. After I was done, I decided to have a look through the papers on the desk; it might be risky especially that I don't know when the person will comeback but I was hoping to find a schedule or something useful. Looking through the papers, I found lots of letters addressed to a Mr. Meyers from Apollo. I was very confused, Sebastian had said it was Mires' study. Was Meyers a code name for Mires? It wasn't exactly genius nor did it fit an anagram for either Sebastian or Mires. Meyers. Mires. I guess it could be, but why would Mires just leave something like this out in the open? I froze as I heard footsteps coming close, I opted to put everything back and not take the letter. Then I hid under the desk. The worst place to hide but they were very close.

"No! I won't go back in there!" A familiar voice shouted. Sebastian, I think.
"Son! This isn't some game! How will you be chosen to rule if you keep acting out like this!" Replied a deep male voice that was probably Mires.
"Why do you think that I WANT to rule?! Can't I just be a normal human for once ?!"
"You are not! And it's time for you to—" Mires was interrupted by a heavy bout of coughing. There was a lot of shuffling around until I could see their shadows close to the desk, one of them likely sitting in the chair.
" I'm fine! I've told you it's just a cold." Mires said sternly.
" a cold doesn't make you cough up BLOOD" and a heavy silence followed with small coughs breaking it every while.
"I. am. fine." Mires reiterated in seemingly great pain. I wasn't entirely sure what they had been arguing about, but they had seemingly stopped now, opting for silence instead. That was until one of them got up and came beside the desk, fishing something out form the glass cabinet on the bookshelves on the wall. It had been Sebastian, and he was getting a bottle similar to the one I had seen him holding before.
" here—" he began to say.
" absolutely not. That stuff is making it worse. If the doctors would have just left me alone, I would have been fine by now." I wondered which doctor it was, because there was one that was a spy under the Rebels. He was surprisingly useful, no one suspects the doc of telling anyone what is happening in the room. I added that to my list of things to check out in my head, he could be helpful to get a hold of the royals' schedules. Or one of our maids could get on it.
"Dad." It was such a weird thing hearing royals talk as if they're humans, " please, I would like my children to have fun with their grandpa." It was an obvious emotional grab, but it seemingly worked as the king agreed and I could hear the bottle being set down on the table.
Mires made a last request for Sebastian to go back to his lessons and he agreed given that Mires would rest, and soon they were both out of the office. I finally got up from my crouch position under the desk, and stretched. I needed to get out and figure out their schedules. I sent a QN to HQ about getting their schedules from a maid or doctor, and took out the letter that I'd been holding before they came. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it, it was sealed and I was afraid opening it would leave a mark. I attempted to open it with the techniques that we had learned at HQ, but to no avail. Defeated, I put it back and looked for a schedule instead, still I kept a mental note to think of how to open it.

After an hour of searching, I just plopped onto a chair. I couldn't find anything useful, they were all probably locked, I'd need to break the locks or steal the keys, so I put those on my to do list, and decided to head back to my room and come up with a clear plan. I was annoyed at the lack of incriminating evidence but not surprised as I wasn't thinking clearly when I came up with this crappy plan.

As I was heading back to my room, I received a QN from HQ, and stopped in my tracks. I'd assumed they would send me a "sure thing" at the very least or to already have the schedules in the database at the very best. BUT NO. They freaking told me to figure it out myself because they have more important things to do and I should be able to figure it out on my own. I sighed. Why did I expect more? they did the exact same thing to Diane and Ophelia. I continued walking to my room determined to make the perfect plan and show them all how they shouldn't have underestimated me. That is, that's what I was planning to do until I saw the princess standing in front of the door to my room.