Chapter One- Ace of Hearts
Locking the door of her company building, Agatha adjusted her regency blazer and looked into the streets. Streetlights emitted a yellow glow and the Marine bulletin board showed all the wanted posters of all the seas.
The Grand Line had pirates with bounties over fifty million belli, not to mention the infamous commander of the second division, Portgas D. Ace. Their faces seemed to glare at Agatha, however she ignored them and started walking.
Hollow leather footsteps filled the silent atmosphere, until a click was heard. A click of a gun.
The woman didn't bother looking behind her, and her brisk stroll broke into a run.
Agatha looked to her left-an abandoned warehouse. Her direction changed towards the stockroom and her hand was at the knob when a loud bang struck.
"Why, I first have to die."
Agatha's body fell immediately, blood immediately gushing from her back. The shadow of the assassin was upon her.
There was a baby cry and a few loud shouts, but there was no Marine base on Parenaj island. The assassin took a small transponder snail out of jacket and whispered,
"Sir, Gioacchino is dead."
"Excellent. I see your position, drag the body into the warehouse and burn the building. No one must know it was us, and they won't be able to-without a body to inspect." A low and cracked voice responded, then paused to take a satisfied sigh.
"Yes sir." The man dragged Agatha's body inside the building, making sure that the blood would not leave a trail on the ground, then looking around to see if anyone was inside. When it seemed that he was the only soul in the area, he dumped the body swiftly against the metallic walls, and planted a bomb right next to her.
Augustus looked at his partner, shocked.
"Die? So you're going to 'leave' the island by committing suicide? I wouldn't have expected this from you." He said, staring hard into Agatha's eyes.
"Relax, old man. I told you-I have a plan." The woman replied.
Turning it on, the assassin saw that he had seven minutes to escape the construction and have a distance of a good three feet away from it.
The man closed the door quietly to not alert any passerby, and casually walked away.
"And that would be...?" Agatha's partner asked, hoping that she would immediately continue his sentence. It was sometimes hard to understand what his associate meant, and this was one of those times.
"Guess."
"Gotta give me a hint first, sweetheart."
Agatha dropped another mint into her mouth.
"Did you know, that there were some ludicrous rumors that some pirate in East Blue gave a different person to be executed and is still alive himself? My plan is revolving around that concept." Agatha said, her finger making small circles in the air.
It took a few moments for Guzman Augustus to find out where she was going, and when he did his face showed a large and toothy smile.
"Who's the unlucky sucker that's a part of your ploy?"
The warehouse was cold, silent, and empty. There were six minutes and thirty-five left until the bomb would detonate, and Agatha's body would be turned to ashes.
Or not.
Agatha wagged her finger at Augustus.
"Ah ah ah, I said it only revolved around the concept. It's not the same." She said, pulling a smug face.
"Damn it, sugar pop, just tell me! Stop looking all smug and just cut to the chase!" Augustus said, nearly loosing his mind. Honestly, he felt that though his partner was smart, she was also quite conceited. Too conceited, actually.
The dead body now seemed not so dead, as an eye peaked open, the iris looking around for any stranger. When the coast was clear, Agatha stood up and brushed the dust off her pants and sleeves. Checking the bomb time, there was now 4 seconds left until the end of the sixth minute.
She looked around, then spotted a back entrance at her right.
Knowing the she would have to be clear of the building by the time the bomb explodes, Agatha decided that a speedy flee would be quite appropriate in this situation.
"I've already turned down Bennette's offer." She said.
"Really? How was he like?"
"... Temperamental. I have never seen anyone go from desperate to downcast then to furious in less than four minutes. He even went as far as ordering his guards to force me out of the building."
Agatha's sentence made Augustus choke on his cigar, continuously pounding his chest to breath.
"Out of the building?! You went all the way to the other side of the island to just say 'no'?! Why-why didn't you just get a transponder snail and tell him over the phone?!"Augustus exclaimed.
"I'm not sure if Bennette himself would send an assassin, maybe because I located his base and declined his offer, but someone did. He's been stalking me lately, memorizing my activities, sneaking in my mansion, and etc."
It took a few moments for Augustus to realize the tense position he was in and took a deep breath, relaxing his back.
"Sweetheart, you still didn't say a lick about the actual plan." He said, taking another deep breath of the cigarette, then blowing a long stream of smoke through his mouth.
"Bullet-proof vests are hard to come by, aren't they?" Agatha said, the phrase seeming random and completely avoiding the subject.
"And most assassins use only guns to kill victims, don't they?"
It suddenly clicked for Agatha's associate, who took a large laugh.
"That's the plan? Fake your death by just using a bullet proof vest? That's not the most original plan I've seen you make."
"But, it's practical. So practical, it won't be given a single thought." Agatha said.
Her associate raised a thick eyebrow, definitely showing that he did not agree with her.
"All you need to do is get me a change of clothes and meet me at that old warehouse we used to hold our liquor."
"Warehouse 96?" Augustus questioned.
"That's the one."
Closing the door behind her, Agatha looked around, her eyes then catching a large figure in the shadows.
"There you are. Nice to know that you honor last requests." She said, watching Augustus and his trail of smoke disappear into the air.
"Anything for friends, darling." Agatha paused at hearing the word 'friend', though she didn't try to correct him. He could believe whatever he want, it didn't matter. She would never see him again, at least, not in the near future.
Augustus sniffed and scrunched his large nose.
"You never told me you were going to be using fake blood." He said.
"Fake blood? Sure, if you think it's fake, go on." The woman replied, surprising her past partner.
"Anyways, here is the change of clothes, and a gun." He said, handing the subjects into Agatha's hands.
"Thank you, Augustus, may you have a successful business." She said, starting to leave.
"Wait, take this." Augustus handed something onto Agatha's hand, his large fingers covering the object. When he revealed it, the woman's eyes went wide.
"You really want me to keep this?" She questioned, and was answered with a nod. Agatha smiled a thin smile and continued.
"You always knew how to make things depressing. Anyways, a bomb is about to explode, so you better clear out now."
Augustus nodded again, and before he started walking he asked,
"Will you still be going under 'Gioacchino', Miss Agatha?"
"Please. Call me Agatha. Fabre J. Agatha."
The past partner made a wide smile showing his teeth, took another sigh of smoke, and started to leave. As did Agatha.
The distance between the two greatened, and both would have left the scene quickly enough before the minutes the bomb ticked finished, and Warehouse 96 would be blasted to smithereens. Then, the next day, the death of Gioacchino Agatha would ring in the ears of the twisted people living in Parenaj Island.
Author's Note:
The Fabergé eggs are ornately decorated, jeweled spheres made by Peter Carl Fabergé and his team of craftsmen. Though the spelling differs, it is pronounced similarly like Agatha's new last and middle names- Fabre J.
Parenaj island is an imaginary island located on the Grand Line. Parenaj is actually Haitian Creole for 'godfather'. I chose that word because my brother was watching The Godfather on his mac, and I was out of ideas for any other word to use as the island name-so I used that one.
For people who may not remember, the pirate in East Blue Agatha was talking about was Kuro/Kurahadol. There were probably these kind of rumors for any pirate that didn't have a public execution-Since Mister Oda depicts his story in a time period where people were very superstitious (in my opinion).
Anyways, new update plan: Because I am constantly being interrupted from writing this story, A Heart Covered in Soft Brass will update SUNDAY.
Recently, my middle school life has been flooding me with projects, so I think a weekly plan would be best-especially since I don't want to be those writers that create a story, then disappears for, like, a month.
Also, for Agatha's new outfit, please vote on which one you like! There are three and link to see them is here:
: / / heartcoveredinsoftbrass . tumblr / 6
Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to color them, but please cast your vote through a review because I really don't understand how those 'Poll' functions work.
Thank you! See you next Sunday!