And here's chapter 3! Anyway. On with the world. So, I guess I will be leaving A Doll's LIfe up, mostly because of the all the reviews which I love very much and would greatly miss. Anywho, ask me questions and give me suggestions, I'll respond and love every bit of them.
Chapter Three
The world must enjoy my suffering. Whatever god exists must hate me. All I wanted was my child back. To look into bright happy eyes and hear her joyful laughter. Instead, I look into eyes of glass that are empty and listen to a laugh that seems recorded. It seems I need all three stones to bring those eyes to life. But Raux has the last stone. Raux has it and there is no chance he'll willingly give it to me. ~ Page 195 of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.
The Straw hat pirates watched in morbid fascination as the shriveled old man named Gama skillfully mended the seam on Marcy's back. Each perfectly and evenly placed stitch slowly pulling mock skin closed over a white marble spine. The blood like goo no longer oozed from the torn seam. Instead the goo, which they had been informed is commonly known as defense gel, had formed a thin slightly solidified film over the exposed spine. Like blood forming a scab.
After everyone had calmed down, it had been decided that it would be best for Luffy and his friends to leave the town for the time being. And so the pirates had followed Marcy to the little workshop on the cliff, Marcy's home, with Gama following very slowly behind them. At first Usopp had made claims that the place was haunted which earned him a rather nasty look from a certain living doll. This only proved to further frighten the long nosed sniper. Zoro was only slightly bothered by the sight of all the blank staring faces of the dolls with dull hollow eyes that watched him. He found it just moderately creepy and a little bit hard to ignore. Sanji almost instantly found a doll with orange hair and swooned over it's likeness to Nami. Nami ignored Sanji in favor of examining the quality of the shelved dolls, all of whom appeared to have been recently and thoroughly cleaned. Luffy was far more interested in Marcy herself than the dolls.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Usopp questioned as he watched the sturdy twine being pulled through her flesh. He felt bad for the doll. It couldn't be fun to have to get seams sewn shut every so often. There had to have been better ways for her skin to be mended or even replaced. Usopp went pale at the thought of replacing her skin.
"Nope."
"It looks painful. . . . Very painful." He cringed after Gama gave the twine a particularly hard tug.
"It isn't." Marcy sat with her front pressed against the back of a wooden chair. Her legs on either side of it, feet swinging slowly and bare back facing Gama. "I can choose to feel pain or not to feel it. I'm a doll after all, I don't need to feel anything just like I don't need to eat, sleep or breathe. I simply do because I want to or enjoy to."
"Who in their right mind would want to feel pain?" Nami asked, tearing her gaze away from the dolls.
"Yeah. If you don't have to then why would you?" Usopp furrowed his brows.
"It's not only pain. To cease feeling pain, I have to cease all physical sensations. You can't have one without the other."
"So then would you just turn it off when you got into a fight or something?"
"No, Usopp. Think about it." Marcy tugged on another thin deep v-neck tank top once Gama finished closing her seam. "If I do that, how will I know when I've been wounded? Well. . . I guess honestly, it wouldn't matter with this body since I can't die, but still. Pain is helpful in battles. I wouldn't really know. I've never been in a battle just some training. And I'm not really alive so well, just never mind."
"Hmmm." Usopp crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "I think I get it. If you can't feel the wound you don't know how bad it is. So if it's a lethal wound you run the risk of suddenly being disabled or even dieing because you didn't do anything to take care of it." Marcy nodded at Usopp.
"I guess I understand." Nami shrugged.
"It'd be suicide for someone to fight when they can't feel pain." Zoro grumbled from his leaning position in the furthest corner. The single place where the dolls weren't covering the walls. "You'd just keep getting wounds until your body gave out. Besides pain's a good tool for learning."
"I don't know about that last part, but I want to be human." Marcy was staring at an old picture on the wall. In the picture was a man, a woman, and their child. The little child looked like a younger version of Marcy, except the eyes held a life and vitality that showed no traces of ever being in Marcy's pastel green eyes. "To do that, I need to feel everything a human does. So I need to feel pain. Everything that is used to define someone as being alive, I have to feel or experience."
A silence feel over everyone as they gazed at Marcy. It was a peculiar thing to be staring at someone who wanted the one thing they all had without even asking for it.
"Well, since you all got shot at, the very least I can do is make you all dinner." With that Marcy stood and headed for the kitchen, her long denim skirt swishing as she walked. "I cook for Father all the time, so don't worry. I'm actually pretty good at it." Marcy vanished around the corner. Sanji leapt from his seat and followed her into the kitchen, hearts fluttering off of him as he cooed about helping his beautiful doll.
"You did an amazing job with her. I didn't even realize she wasn't human until she said so." Nami said looking at Gama. He blinked at her.
"I'm only a family friend." He carefully took a seat. "I had no had hand in making poor Marcy, only learned how to mend her."
"Really? Then who's her father?"
"Some guy named Ryuuden, right?" Luffy asked scratching the side of his head.
"You're only saying that because of what I said back on the ship." Nami grumbled shooting him an annoyed look.
"No, the boy's right."
"Seriously?" Nami asked a look of disbelief on her face.
"How did he know that?" Usopp asked staring at Luffy like he was a stranger.
"Probably just a lucky guess." Zoro said shrugging his shoulders.
"No." Luffy frowned. "She told me when I met her this morning."
"And you remembered it?" Usopp was more than a little amazed.
"Yeah." Luffy scratched at the side of his head again. "Was I not supposed to?"
"No. That's not the point." Usopp sighed.
"Then what is? I'm confused."
"Never mind that." Nami turned fully to Gama. "So Ryuuden made Marcy, but he hasn't been seen or heard from in decades. Has he just been hiding out and taking care of her for all this time?"
"He left yesterday on a ship the same color as Marcy's eyes." Luffy said while playing with a puppet that looked like a perfect little wolf.
"And how the hell would you know that one?" Usopp grumbled.
"Huh? Oh! Marcy asked me if we saw his ship when we came here."
"Why does he remember everything she says, when he forgets what we tell him two seconds later?" Nami growled.
"I remember everything you say, my beautiful Nami." Sanji cried with hearts for eyes, poking his head out of the kitchen for a moment. The other pirates could hear a low grumbling from inside the kitchen, before Sanji was shoved fully out and a door slammed shut behind him.
"That's because you're a love sick fool."
"You're just saying that because you're too thick headed to see the beauty and majesty in everything Nami does and says, you stupid Marimo!" Sanji had an internal debate about reentering the kitchen to be with his gorgeous doll or to stay out here with his beautiful Nami-swan.
"There's nothing majestic about that she-demon, curly brow!"
"How dare you deny Nami's majesty!" Two violent lump inducing hits later and the two men sat with large bumps on their heads while Nami growled.
"May I finish what I was going to say or should I just continue to sit here quietly?" Gama asked as a sweat drop ran down the side of his wrinkled face.
"Just ignore them." Usopp sighed. "I'll listen to you. I'm usually the only one that listens to these stories anyway." He thought back to all the other times it had happened already.
"Alright then." Gama said slowly, still not sure what to make of these people. . . These pirates. "Well, what the boy said, again, is true. But Ryuuden didn't leave yesterday."
"If he didn't, then how come Marcy asked if we saw his ship?" Usopp questioned with his head tilted.
"Ryuuden left over fifty years ago and died shortly after that." Gama looked towards the kitchen door. Faint humming could be heard accompanied by the smell of cooking food. "Because Marcy isn't human she doesn't exactly age. And because she isn't human, she can't properly handle the stress of tragedy. She couldn't handle knowing she'd lost her father and lost the opportunity to become human. She lost everything that day."
"What happened?" Nami wondered. Luffy watched Gama as the old man lowered his head slightly.
"Ryuuden left to hunt down the last life stone for Marcy's heart. With that final stone, Marcy will be as close to human as possible for her to be. That was the dream of her father Ryuuden, to make her human. It was also Marcy's dream, to be the best human daughter she could be for Ryuuden." Luffy looked hard at the old man, before his intense gaze turned to the kitchen door. The wolf puppet lay forgotten, while all his crew felt a tingling sense of deja vu, they had each received a similar look. "The story is that Ryuuden had found the last stone, but someone else wanted the stones and relic of life as well. Ryuuden and all his crew vanished, no bodies, nothing, but a mangled ship. They don't know what happened to the third stone. The assumption is that it's still on Ryuuden's ship since no one ever found the stone and the ship was left alone to be a mass grave marker."
"They were so close." Nami whispered gazing down at the ground.
"That doesn't explain why she thinks Ryuuden left yesterday, though?" Usopp asked.
"It does though. You see, Marcy may be very close to being human, but she isn't. She was never meant to feel tragedy. Her mind didn't know how to cope with it, so it refused to accept it. Resulting in her remaining in a time when she was happy and their dreams were possible."
"So she's stuck in the day after her father left. Waiting for him to return to make her human and to be a family. How tragic." Sanji took a drag from his cigarette.
"But she has to have noticed that time's moved on from then. That people have gotten older." Nami felt her heart ache for the doll. No matter what anyone said about her, Nami wasn't heartless and she knew the pain of losing a parent.
"She has. Deep down, she knows that everything has crumbled around her. She knows that the world she's living in isn't right, but she's stuck there. The stress of remaining in that world of hers is causing her heart to burn through gems faster than she should even in the most strenuous conditions. I have to replace them every week at the least." After Gama finished talking a silence fell over them.
"Is there anything you can do to help her?" Nami whispered.
"Nothing that I haven't already tried. After I die, there'll be no one to maintain her and she'll turn back into a doll for good. The people decided that she'll be sealed away in an underground tomb so that nothing can damage her or take her heart."
"Have you tried telling her again? Maybe it'd sink in if you told her repeatedly. I mean something has to work." Usopp suggested, thinking hard.
"I did that for the first five years. It just caused her heart to burn through the gems almost instantly. Though she did seem to understand before her heart shut down."
"Then we'll just keep telling her until she understands!" Luffy shouted leaping from his place on the floor and rushing into the kitchen.
"Wait! That won't-" Gama never got to finish his sentence.
"MARCY! YOUR FATHER'S DEAD! HE'S BEEN DEAD FOR A LONG TIME! HE'S NOT COMING BACK SO SNAP OUT OF YOUR WEIRD TRANCE THING AND COME BACK TO REALITY!"
"W-what?" Everyone rushed into the kitchen. Their jaws dropped at what Luffy shouted at the poor doll.
"What the hell are you thinking, you dumb ass!" Nami slammed her fist into the back of his head.
"Why would you scream that at the poor girl!" Sanji shrieked, looking ready to beat down his captain. "You have to tell women things in a more compassionate manner!"
"Gama just said that telling her didn't work!" Ussop couldn't believe Luffy's stupidity at the moment. He was doing so well earlier.
"I'm not sure screaming at her like that is really going to do anything to help her." Zoro said as he took in the wide eyed appearance of the doll standing before them.
"SHUT UP!" Everyone blinked at Luffy's outburst. "MARCY! STOP BEING STUPID! YOUR FATHER'S DEAD. HE'S NOT COMING BACK SO JUST MOVE ON! YOU CAN STILL BE A HUMAN THAT HE'D BE PROUD OF, BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE ON! UNDERSTAND! WE'LL EVEN HELP YOU! YOU DON'T NEED TO KEEP DOING THIS! WE'LL BE YOUR NEW FAMILY, OKAY!?"
The world around Marcy swirled and danced. Hundreds of images and thoughts flashed before her eyes in rapid succession all the while Luffy's words played through her mind, booming over the hundreds of times Gama had said those words as well. A throbbing pain erupted in her skull. SHe let out a shriek, startling everyone. Then everything stopped. The world snapped into focus and her eyes locked onto the serious expression of Luffy. Her gaze moved to Gama and a stream of images flooded her eyes. It was almost a movie of sorts, images playing in reverse. Hundreds of images of Gama, all going from the way he is now back to the way he was the day he first told her that Father was dead and she had no chance of becoming a human daughter he could be proud of. Gama had gotten older. Everyone had gotten older, but she had stayed the same and remained stuck in some stupid fantasy world. Suddenly the pain and agony of losing her father and their dream burned through entire body. A sharp twitch wracked her body and then she froze. The hum of her heart faded away. She knew no more.
They had watched the realization burn in her eyes. They saw the sudden pain fill her and they watched as her heart burned out in front of them. She was a perfect doll made of satin and silk standing before them. Not a single trace of life in her entire being, but her pastel eyes looked so very sad and alone.
"I told you. This happens every time someone tells her." Gama sighed. "Help me get her to the bed, please."
"I'd be more than happy to carry th-"
"Which way is the bed?" Zoro cut Sanji off with his question. He had Marcy thrown over his shoulder.
"I was going to do that you bastard!" Sanji shouted and stomped his foot. "And don't carry her like that! She's a delicate doll that should be handled with the utmost care and delicacy!"
"She's a doll." Zoro deadpanned. "She can't feel anything right now anyway."
"How can you be so cruel!" Sanji followed Zoro and Gama out of the room shouting.
"Luffy, Why'd you do that, anyway? Gama said it wouldn't work." Ussop gazed at their captain in curiosity as they followed after Gama into the bedroom.
"Cause she's being stupid and someone needs to tell her that."
"What do you mean she's being stupid!?" Gama rounded on Luffy anger making his aged body shudder. "She lost her father and her dreams! What do you expect her to do!?"
"That's why she's stupid." Luffy looked Gama in the eyes. "Her dad might have died, but she can still become human and be a daughter that he would be proud of."
"She can?" Gama looked from Marcy to Luffy and back. "How? She'd need the last stone, but no one knows where it is."
"You said it was probably on her dad's ship right?" Gama nodded. "Then tell me where his ship was when he was killed." Gama held Luffy's gaze. He debated for a moment before coming to a decision.
"It was on the Grand Line." Almost in unison every one of Luffy's crew knew what the next words from their captain's mouth were going to be.
"Then she'll join my crew and come with us to the Grand Line!" Luffy announced.
"Not a chance." Gama said immediately without blinking. Luffy let out a whining sound.
"Why not?"
"Why do you want her to join your crew anyway?" Gama demanded.
"She's cool!"
"You don't even know if she can fight."
"Can she?"
"Well, yes, of course. Ryuuden built a multitude of retractable blades into her body and a few other things for battle and WHY THE HELL AM I TELLING YOU THIS!?"
"Retractable blades?" Luffy blinked a few times before a grin split his face. "That's soooo cool! What else can she do?"
"Well, since she doesn't need organs or anything, she has several different organs that hold a multitude of things. For example there's one that holds a highly flammable oil that she can turn into a gas and exhale while igniting it with a spark she can make by gnashing her teeth together. It's about the same effect as a flamethrower and GOD DAMN IT! STOP MAKING ME DO THAT!"
"He's not making you do anything, Mister." Ussop whispered as a sweat drop ran down his face.
"Oh wow. She's definitely joining now!"
"I SAID NO!"
"Whyyyyyyyyyy?"
"BECAUSE I SAID SO DAMN IT!"
"When can she join then?"
"Never."
"What? That's not fair! Tell me when!"
"I said NEVER!"
"I refuse to accept that!" Luffy crossed his arms and frowned. "Tell me when she can join!"
"Fine! You wanna know when she can join your crew?" Luffy nodded with a massive grin. "If you get her out of her endless cycle for good then she can join your crew!"
"Alright! That'll be easy!"
"Exactly what part of that will be easy!?" Nami shrieked at Luffy before turning to Gama. "And aren't you supposed to be restarting her heart or something?"
"DAMN IT I FORGOT!"
"HOW'D YOU FORGET THAT!?"