10th Squad 3rd Seat: Thank you for pointing that out, I already corrected it. If anyone finds mistakes like those, lease tell me in your review.
Innocent Law: I was born in America, but I grew up in another country, thus I don't consider English as my first language.
Law-heartPirates, Miss Doflamingo, bunny-chan66, u-know: Thank you for your support!
Since its getting to the end of the school year, I'm going to be really busy. I'm hoping to make my chapters longer (the ones in Four Sheets to the Wind are awfully short, I just noticed it), so I may not be able to update often... But I promise that I will finish Over the Edge! Anyway, tell me what you think about this chapter in your reviews!
Chap. 1
"I swear this sacred oath that to Shichibukai and Donquixote Family leader, Donquixote Doflamingo, I will be faithful and obedient to the leader Donquixote Family and its members, Donquixote Doflamingo, to observe its code, and to conscientiously fulfill my official duties, so God help me." Virva bowed her head toward the tall man sitting on the seat before her in respect. The burning card with a saint pictured that had been passed rapidly by the other Family members was already consumed by fire, leaving only ashes to be swept by the wind. She lifted her head. "As burns this saint, so will burn my soul. I enter alive and I will have to get out dead." [1] The man smiled.
"Welcome to the Donquixote Family, Colombo Virva." A raven-hair woman stood up and walked towards her. Virva recognized her; she had been with Young Master whenever he visited her. He called her "Baby 5", which seemed more likely to be a code name than a real one. She took Virva's hand and prickled one of her fingers with a pin, squeezing it until blood came out and dropped into the bowl below. A gun and a dagger were placed beside it. The man's voice rang upon her ears.
"This blood means that we are now one Family. You live by the gun and the knife and you die by the gun and the knife."
The woman let go of her hand, and she bowed to the man in return. "So be it, Young Master."
Murmurs swept past the other members present. The initiation had come to an end; she sensed it rather than anybody told her. Young Master rose and smiled to her.
"Fufufu… From now on your code name shall be 'Ocelot", Virva. You will be known by it and it would be used for communication between members within the Family. Now you may go meet the other members."
Virva nodded as she was pulled away by Baby 5, the only member she knew besides Young Master, the leader of the family. She was raised up by him; her parents had died when she was too young to remember them. If it weren't for Young Master, she could have died at an early age in some infamous slum. It was Young Master who took her in, supported her life, treating her as if she were his younger sister. It would be a lie if Virva said she wasn't grateful for what he had done.
Young Master, better known as "Heavenly Yaksha" Donquixote Doflamingo, was one of the most powerful mafia leaders, so powerful that the World Government granted him a seat as one of the Shichibukai, though it was notable that most Shichibukai were mafia leaders, with the exception of Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, who was an assassin instead. Virva was well aware of his status, and it was the only reason she chose to join his Family on her 18th birthday. What a great way of celebrating adulthood and showing your gratitude to a mafia leader. Baby 5's voice pulled her back to reality.
"I'm so happy that you finally became part of the Family!" Baby 5 guided her through the crowd. "Young Master had always been mentioning you to the Family. He seems to think highly of you."
"Really?" Virva's eyes widened with surprise. Doflamingo was kind to her, but she never thought that he would have a high opinion of her. After all, she was just merely an 18-year-old girl who had some talent in playing the violin. What could she possibly give him besides her loyalty?
"Of course. He called some of the most important members of—" The older woman was cut off by someone.
"Behehehe, I heard one of your boyfriends was beaten up again by Young Master, Baby 5?"
A bedraggled man suddenly pressed towards them, getting a bit too close for comfort. He was much taller than both Virva and Baby 5, and his body somehow reminded her of snails. His entire body seemed to be made from a thick substance that is secreting off him. Baby 5 frowned and started to yell back at him.
"You're too close! And how many times are you going to say that?! I'm already sick of it!"
The man backed up a bit and turned his attention to Virva instead. "So this is the girl Doffy nominated himself?" He took a step towards her, as if he wanted a better look. Biting her lip, Virva took a step back.
"Yes; leave that poor girl alone, Trébol, you're frightening her!" Baby 5 stood between them. The man she called "Trébol" simply laughed.
"Has she met the other members yet?" He asked, advancing forward as Baby 5 and Virva were backing off.
"No! She's just a rookie, Trébol! I was taking her around before you started harassing us!" Baby 5 screamed at him. Virva decided that it would be a nice time to slip away and leave the two alone. Baby 5 was certainly nice, but Trébol… Anyway, she liked it better on her own.
Sipping on a cup of champagne, Virva explored the place and studied the people. Most of them were weird. Dangerous they were, she could sense it, which only excited her more. This was a mafia family, after all; a smile crept up her face as she finished the last of the champagne. She could hear whispers behind her back.
"So that's the new chick—"
"You're too loud, Lily. She might hear you."
"So? It doesn't seem like she could fight at all. A violinist. What could she do, eat me?" Virva glanced at the person who was talking. It was a girl with dirty blonde hair, and weirdly, she had sunglasses on, even though they were indoors. She had a strip of blue fur lying downwards, which didn't match the rest of her explosive outfit.
"Shh, she's looking towards us. I think she heard you." A woman with dark hair and tanned skin tried to hush her up, looking quite worried about Lily. Beside her sat a tall man with a good physique. He seemed to be bored and paid little interest to Lily, who was calling out to Virva.
"Hey, you, over there." Virva narrowed her eyes as she turned over to face the blonde girl. "Yes, I'm talking to you." Lily seemed a bit older than her, perhaps a little over 20? The girl sneered at her. "So you're the recruit who joined today?"
"Yes." Virva took a step nearer. Lily towered above her. Virva wondered how tall Lily would be if she hadn't wore those high heels. She probably would have been taller then. They looked awfully painful to Virva. Raising an eyebrow, she lifted up her head. "May I help you with anything?"
"You! Know your place, musician. This is mafia you're facing; not a fancy classical concert of yours."
"Lily!" A woman with pink hair glared at them, a hint of warning in her voice. Yet everyone stood by; they seemed to be curious about how Virva would react.
"Well, if that's all you got to say, please pardon me, madam. You're in my way."
That did the trick. The blonde female was furious. "A person should know their place, you little bit—" Her hand was raised high, but it never fell onto Virva's face. She caught it midair, her grip tight on Lily's wrist. She could hear something crack.
"You have said well. A person should know their place." Smirking, Virva threw her senior towards the ground. Pulling out her gun, she pushed it right into the blonde's face. "Do you have anything to say now?"
"Fufufufu, I've seen that you've met with the Bellamy Family, an ally of ours." Young Master stood beside her. Virva lowered her head.
"An ally? I'm terribly sorry if I caused any trouble for you, Young Master."
"Fufufufufufu… Trouble? There's nothing wrong in demonstrating your status to others, Vinny." Young Master finally managed to stop laughing. "Did you enjoy yourself?"
"Surely." Virva replied as she watched Lily picked herself up, her voice emotionless.
"Good. I have someone to introduce to you now. Don't worry about them; they can settle themselves."
As she walked away with Doflamingo, she could hear other members of the Bellamy Family scowling Lily. When she turned back and gave them one last look, she saw Lily mouth something to her.
I will get you.
Smiling, Virva whispered back to her, "I look forward to it."
She quickly caught up with Young Master. "There was something I was wondering, Young Master." She had to jog to keep up with him.
"What is it, Vinny?" Young Master looked at her, his pace slowed a bit.
"During the initiation you said something about a code name. What is that for?"
"Oh. That's for communication during missions and other stuff. We don't need them during meetings like these."
"What do we need to cover up? The government knows that you're mafia, right?"
"Fufufu, you are right, but we're not supposed to just expose it to everyone. What belongs to the underworld is to be remained hidden. There are also times that we don't need the government to know everything we're up to."
"Got it." She exhaled slowly, digesting the information. "Who are we going to meet?"
"A high-ranking subordinate of mine. There he is." Virva followed Doflamingo's gaze. In the corner stood a young man. He had a fur hat on, and tribal-style tattoos ran down his arms. He wore a hoodie and his pants had some spots with a pattern similar to a snow leopard. A smirk was hanging on his face, though his gray eyes were distant and cold.
"Young Master." He greeted Doflamingo quietly.
"Trafalgar Law. This is Colombo Virva; you two will be partners from now on. Virva's a recruit of ours; I believe I can trust you to take care of her." Virva flinched a bit. Young Master did not tell her about having a partner. She turned to him, confused, but he was not looking at her.
"Yes sir." The man Doflamingo called "Law" stepped out of the shadows. It was then when she noticed a tall white bear standing beside him in overalls. She looked curiously at the bear; it didn't seem to show any discomfort standing up in those clothes.
"You don't have to stare at Bepo like that; he doesn't bite." Law eyed her coolly. Realizing she was staring, Virva blushed a bit and turned her head away. A wide spread grin hung on Doflamingo's face.
"While you get acquainted, I'd like to excuse myself. There are many things still waiting for me to finish." He said as he walked out, closing the door behind him. Virva watched the door slowly shut.
She didn't like the feeling of being closed up with Trafalgar Law. For some reason she didn't like him; staying beside him made her feel uncomfortable. There seemed to be more to him than the simple smirk that remained on his face all the time. His eyes were wild. For a relatively long time there was an awkward silence between the two. It was Bepo, the bear, the first to break it.
"Can you speak?"
It was sort of amusing to hear a bear ask a person if they could speak. "Yes." She answered, trying to hide her smile. "I didn't know that bears could talk though."
The bear seemed to blush under his fur and lowered his head. "Bepo is special." Law explained, leaning back onto the wall behind him. "He knows how to talk and he can understand some other languages. I taught him when we were younger." His silver-gray eyes seemed warmer and friendlier, for some reason. She took a step nearer.
"How interesting. It's almost like a gift; I've never met a talking animal before." With the help of the light spilling into the room from the window she studied the creature's face. He seemed like any other bear, besides his fur was white and he was biped instead of being a quadruped. The bear looked very cute, despite his huge body and large paws.
"Can I pet him?" She turned to Law. The young man simply shrugged.
"You'll have to ask him. I don't own him; he's just a friend of mine."
Virva turned hopefully to the bear. He nodded shyly. She petted him softly on the head. His fur was so soft and warm it made her want to hug him. Even as an 18-year-old teenager Virva still had a soft spot for cute and fuzzy animals. Law smirked silently beside them.
Many years later, the bear was still an alleviative between the two. When she thought about it, it seemed to her, that, only when Bepo was with them, their attitude towards each other—or rather, her attitude towards him, would ease a bit.
And that was only the start of their relationship.
Most of the time all she did with him was training, since she was a recruit to the whole Underworld he lived in. True, she was raised up by Doflamingo, but that didn't mean that he had pulled her up in the dark Underworld. No, rather he raised her up and hid most of the part of the mafia world, only dropping the slightest hints of it until she was 16. Virva had sensed some of it when she started her training during 12, but it was nothing compared to what Law was pushing her into. She did not make any complaints of that; Young Master had already warned her about the harshness of a mafia life. She had chosen it herself; she did not want to disappoint him.
Other than that, he was an escort of hers whenever there were parties or meetings in the Family. As a musician she often held concerts of her own; on a few rare occasions he would attend with her. They were nothing more than partners.
So it was odd for him to show up in her house early in the morning sitting on the couch petting her pet cat with his two subordinates Penguin and Shachi standing in the living room with Bepo in the corner. They did a pretty good job sneaking into her house, since she was not alerted and they somehow had managed to gain the trust of her vigilant tabby. Thank LORD she had a habit of changing into casual clothes right after she woke up every day in the morning. She had no notion of meeting any men in her night gown, no matter who the person was. She scowled the few men after entering the living room, glancing at her unfaithful cat that was rubbing his cheek against Trafalgar Law's arm.
"How on earth did you get in here?" She asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Law stood up and smirked.
"Doflamingo gave me a copy of your keys. I thought you already knew that."
Shit. Virva gritted her teeth. Young Master often did things without letting her know; she should have known better. Slowly exhaling and rolling her eyes, she threw out her next question.
"What are you here for?" She leaned back onto the wall behind her. It would be no use asking how he knew her address; Young Master probably told him that when he gave him the keys. Once she got them out of the house she was definitely calling locksmith.
"There's an emergency meeting at Tokyo; Doflamingo didn't say much on the phone, but it seems to have something to with a few of the other Shichibukai. It's scheduled tomorrow evening at 7; I've already had the plane ready to go."
"You could have called me instead of breaking into my house." Virva picked up her cat and placed him onto a cupboard beside her. She did not want her pet anywhere near Law, and especially did not want him getting close to that man.
"It would be much faster if I came here to pick you up right away." He stepped closer to her. Virva wanted to step away, but there was a solid wall behind her. She eyed him warily and hand her hand on her pistol. She never trusted him; it was suspicious enough that he broke into her house without telling her. But he stopped when he was a few steps away from her, yet the feeling of him towering over her did not go away.
"I did not break into your house; I simply walked in after opening the door with the key." His voice was calm even though Virva was positive that he noticed her moves. "Shouldn't you go and pack some of your things for the meeting? From what Doflamingo had told me we will be stuck there a few days. We can wait for you here."
"…Stay here." She replied, her voice almost a growl. Virva stormed back into her own room, grabbing some clothes from her wardrobe and throwing them into her suitcase that was lying on the floor open.
Law sank back down onto the couch as she left the living room. Penguin raised an eyebrow as he spoke.
"She looked as if she was going to shoot you when you approached her."
"She probably was going to do so." Law replied lazily. The cat jumped down from the cupboard and leapt onto the couch, taking a spot beside him. Shachi and Penguin exchanged a worried glance.
"What was that for?" Penguin asked. Law shrugged and replied.
"I don't know. She just seems to be uncomfortable with men, besides Doflamingo."
"She's an androphobia [2]? What a pity." Looking at Penguin's expression, Law couldn't help but smirk.
"I didn't know that you would actually have the guts to try to flirt with her. She was raised and is valued by Doflamingo, after all."
That kept both Penguin and Shachi's mouth shut till Virva returned to the living room. She still seemed angry and frustrated, and she glared at him as she picked up the cat from the couch.
Her fury still did not seem to fade when they aboard the plane. She had never been treated like this before, with someone breaking into her house and then acted as if they owned the place. Perhaps they technically did, since she lived in the area Law was in charge, but it still angered her. Who did he think he was?
[1] This oath is a combination of the Wehrmacht Oath, the Civil Servant Oath of the Hitler Oath, and the mafia initiation ritual. Just thought that I should tell you guys in case anyone thought that was familiar.
[2]Androphobia: an abnormal fear of men. The word is derived from the Greek word άνήρ (man) and φόβος (fear)