Alexandria looked around the room trying to locate the person speaking. Fina shrugged her shoulders, not able to provide an answer either. A woman appeared next to Alexandria peering down at the map. A curious expression was painted on her face. “You should really think about this before just blindly picking a spot. How can you really know what the right choice is, especially taking into account who you're dealing with?”

Turning to face the woman Alexandria wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t sure who this person was but for some reason they had a good point. Even though Fina had kept her word from the start. The value of the land and resources was best known to Fina. Without that level of knowledge how could Alexandria make an informed decision. “If you were me, which one would you pick?” Alexandria asked curious to learn more about this woman who appeared out of nowhere.

The mysterious woman thought for a moment. It wasn’t the easiest choice in the world but having someone else help out may not be a bad idea. The woman let her finger land on the bottom piece which had the most island. “This one has some good islands, and you have more places to store and build.”

Fina looked up from the table, raising an eyebrow. “Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?” She reached into her coat for her pistol. The woman wagged her finger at Fina. There was something off and Fina did like it at all. Her hand reached the holster but felt nothing. Her eyes went wide patting down her coat to find it. Looking up to see the woman holding it looking it over.

“This is an interesting weapon. It must be something specifically designed for you. So, there is no need for me to have it.” She tossed it back to Fina carelessly. Turning her attention back to Alexandria. “My name is Valentina. You have been making a scene everywhere you go. Any room on your ship for me?”

There was silence for a moment. Fina on the other hand wanted to explode in her chair. Valentina had already done so much in a small amount of time. Now she was asking to join the crew. What did she have that Alexandria could possibly need? “Well Valentina, how were you able to get Fina’s weapon from her?” Alexandria was curious about that one detail. That was something that had to be a power of some kind.

Valentina tilted her head to the side. She wasn’t sure how to answer that question at the moment. “If I told you all my secrets up front then there wouldn’t be any fun in getting to know everyone. Let’s just say time wasn’t on her side.” Valentina smirked, giving Fina a quick wink, throwing her pistol across the room at her. Fina caught it with ease slipping it back into her jacket holster.

“Take my weapon again and you can examine it while I blow your head off.” Fina was in no mode to play with someone on her island taking liberties with her weapons. She still wanted to know how the hell Valentina even made it on without being noticed. That would be something to settle after she confirmed Alexandria’s choice of territory. “Are you sure you want to pick what this woman told you to choose?” Fina asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Looking over the map a bit more, Alexandria could tell it was the best option. She wasn’t sure how Valentina saw it before her, but it was the right choice. “Yeah, after looking over the map again, I am sticking with my pick.” Alexandria gave a sly smirk noticing that Fina wasn’t pleased at all by the confirmation. That would mean the fight to get it would be even more difficult now. At least now she had a new crew member to help out.

She looked over at Valentina who was now just looking around the room talking to herself. “Excuse me didn’t you see you wanted to join my crew?” Alexandria was ready to see what this person really had to offer. There were still standards to be upheld regardless of how young her crew was at the moment. Something was wrong with her that much was clear just by looking at her actions at the moment.

No one spoke for a moment just waiting for Valentina to answer. She wasn’t talking to herself anymore but wasn’t paying full attention. That in and of itself was annoying enough to lash out at her. Alexandria stepped forward smacking her lightly on the shoulder with her cane. Thankfully that snapped her back to the present. “Yes, I do want to join your crew. My abilities could be very useful to you as you have already seen.” She took a bow as if everyone in the room saw what she did. The issue was no one saw how she even came into the room.

“That is rather hard to believe since I haven’t seen anything. You helped me pick a good space of territory and you swiped Fina’s weapon. How did you do all these things?” Alexandria asked the question again even though she already knew the answer. This woman enjoyed playing games and Alexandria didn’t want to play around about abilities. Those were the lifeblood of every single person out there. Without those abilities they would be dead or worse in a facility.

Valentina let out a soft sigh. “I have no intention of disclosing my powers in front of someone who I don’t trust.” She shrugged her shoulders looking in Fina’s direction. “No offense but you did just try and trick her into a bad pick.” Fina flares her nostrils at Valentina, not in the mood for this nonsense. Now she needed to send word to the territories so that they could prepare for Alexandria's arrival.

“You have a full year to take the full area you have picked out. Once that is finished, I will take my payment. Do you agree with that?” Fina asked standing up to walk over to her. She was going to ignore Valentina for the moment. There was the possibility of her joining Alexandria which would be annoying. Stopping in front of Alexandria she extended her hand to officially seal the deal.

It was fun to see Fina a little annoyed especially after just losing a good piece of her territory. Alexandria grasped Fina’s hand firmly. “We have a deal. It is going to be a fucking blast gaining new territory owned by one of the strongest pirates around. Don’t be too mad, my choice was already made even before Valentina said anything.” That would hopefully change Fina’s anger if only a little away from Valentina. There was something she had that Alexandria wanted. If being alone with her for a moment was the only way to figure it out, then so be it. Alexandria gave a bow of respect which Fina returned.

She turned back to Valentina who had been strangely quiet through that whole exchange. Alexandria didn’t mean to ignore her immediately after asking a question, but it needed to be addressed. “If you would follow me back to my ship, we can talk about you joining the crew in more detail.” Valentina nodded in response following Alexandria out the door. Alexandria waved to Fina on their way out.

They moved to the dock rather quickly, stopping at the end where her three ships were moored. Eve and Lyric followed them but neither moved since Valentina showed up. For some reason she felt normal to them, and they couldn’t understand why at the moment. “So, what is your ability now that we are among crew members?” This would be the last time Alexandria asked nicely. There were no more excuses left to give.

Valentina smiled looking at the three of them around her along with the ships and the open water. She had been in darkness for so long seeing the outside was still breathtaking. “I can bend space and time to a certain extent. Of course, that carries a price which is equal to how much I do and how long it lasts.” Everyone stood there stunned for a moment. This type of ability had never been recorded since the beginning of the virus outbreak.

“That is a damn amazing ability. You have been alone this whole time? Why haven’t you joined any kind of organization?” Alexandria was trying not to trip over her own words. She also didn’t want to shoot too many questions at her at once. This would change the game depending on the limitations. Both Eve and Lyric looked like statues in the background still just taking in the weight of the moment.

She let the questions wash over her for a moment. There were quite a few of them but it would be fun to answer them all. “In reality it was only two questions. Yes, I have been alone for as long as I can remember. There is nothing fun about joining a place that doesn’t enjoy what it does.” Valentina was very strange, but she had a childlike joy that even Lyric couldn’t match. She was now waiting for Alexandria to answer her. After the shock of everything finally wears off, hopefully they can move forward. They did have a huge fight ahead of them. That is if Valentina became a part of the crew.

The fact that Valentina had been alone for so long weighed on Alexandria’s mind. How could someone with such an impressive power be alone all their life? Of course, she did say as long as she could remember. There could be some memory loss there which could be a side effect of her abilities maybe. “Well, if you still want to join the crew, having someone of your skill set would be invaluable. It would be nice to know the drawbacks from your abilities. Maybe just the major ones to start out with.” That was a personal thing to ask but it was important to know.

Her face twisted a bit trying to think of the bigger drawbacks. It usually took her a little while to remember what happened after performing a larger scale time ability. “Temporary memory loss is a big one for most of the abilities. There also may be an ability that messes with the years of my life. I haven’t played with an ability that big yet so I can’t say for certain.” Those were the most pressing drawbacks she could think of right now. Hopefully they were exactly the things that Alexandria was wanting to hear about. She had a problem at times for saying too much information.

Those were good things to know especially depending on the type of situation. Alexandria was already convinced Valentina should join them. However, the rest of the crew needed to be involved in that decision. She motioned for everyone to follow her onto the ship where Tyra was waiting for them. The deck of the ship had a few things on board with the rest of the cargo split onto the other ships to save room. It would be much easier to maneuver with this ship as long as it stayed the ideal weight. Alexandria invited everyone into her cabin for a quick conversation.

“This is Valentina, she can bend space and time. I brought her here because she has requested to join the crew. I know this is something I could say yes to right away. However, do any of you have questions, concerns, or sarcastic remarks?” Alexandria wasn’t going to mince words and they were going to do this as a group until the crew was filled. She didn’t think there was going to be a problem with anyone, at least not in the beginning. There is also the matter of Alexandria’s fainting that needed to be looked into further. Not only did they have a large area to conquer but now hopefully a new crew member to join them on that adventure.