Took me long enough, right! I'm sooooorry!
I haven't really got anything to say right now, so... Enjoy!
"Zoro? You here?" A small voice called, following a quiet knock on the outside of the shrine. Zoro knew who it was, but, he had arrived unannounced. Unannounced visits were almost never good. "Come on in." Zoro half sighed. He wasn't sure he was ready to hear why his friend decided to show up in the middle of the night, but, he couldn't leave the poor guy out in the dark by himself.
Wood scraped against wood as the door opened halfway. "Excuse me... Sorry for coming so late Zoro." The small silhouette in the doorway apologized. "'S fine. I wasn't sleeping or anything." Zoro said. He hadn't been sleeping, but, he had been trying to. Of course, he didn't want his friend to feel like a bother.
"Well, I, uh... I have some news. It's kinda bad. Or, at least, that's what the others have said. But, I really-"
"Chopper, just tell me what it is." Zoro interrupted. Chopper swallowed and closed the door behind himself. "It's not something we have to worry about, okay? I got a message from them saying it's all under control." He was trying to prevent a bad reaction, Zoro knew. Keeping in mind that his friend believed he would react badly, Zoro took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Zoro asked, "Okay, what?"
"It's about the chest."
Zoro tensed slightly, and raised an eyebrow. "What about it? Isn't that thing protected?"
"It was. I don't know how it happened, really, small details, you know? It just... It's gone." Chopper said, in an almost apologetic way. When Zoro didn't say anything, didn't even blink as far as Chopper could tell, he gave the rest of the information. "They think someone stole it."
After an appropriate amount of time spent controlling himself, Zoro inhaled sharply. "What? Stole it? How the fuck could anyone do that? No one could touch that fuckin' thing!" Zoro ranted. It wasn't the kind of thing he could just keep in his head, he decided. "I mean, not even we can touch it! Who could-!"
"Humans." Chopper answered, cutting off Zoro's question. The swordsman paused in his half-standing position and stared at Chopper. "You're kidding." He said, significantly calmer than a moment ago.
Chopper shook his head. "Two adolescent humans. The others aren't really worried about them, though; they're just going to figure out how to get the chest back."
"Wow." Zoro could find no other words. It was just 'wow'. He was just presented with news so unfathomable to his brain that it could only function enough for a single 'wow'. For the longest time, Zoro had known the chest was untouchable. Everyone who knew about it told him that the chest was un-gettable. Or at least, that's how he understood it. Nobody had tried to get it because it was safe where it was. To think that something so important had been stolen, and by humans, no less... Wow.
"Well, I haven't had much time to study these historic items; so, I haven't quite connected all of it together." Robin said, gesturing towards the chest that she'd brought in from another room. It was made from a very dark wood and the edges were secured with some kind of metal that had faded and rusted over a long period of time. Dirt was in almost every crevice in the wood, except for the places that had obviously been cleaned recently.
Sanji studied the chest, barely keeping himself seated. His curiosity was plain on his face, and Robin couldn't help but think he looked so much like a child. "An impressive artifact, is it not?" She asked, trailing her fingers across the heavily scarred wood. Sanji nodded in agreement. He wasn't sure what to say. He was impressed by the chest before him. The buried treasure idea was always a cool one to him.
"So," Sanji began, rubbing at an engraved design on the back of the chest. "Aside from the diary, what was in here?"
"Not much. A few hand-written documents, all of them rather old, a dried up ink well, a quill pen and a handful of ancient currency." Robin explained, unlocking the chest in three different places. "There were also some bottles of various herbs and roots, but, I sent those off to a friend of mine for examination." She added.
"Ah. What are the documents about?"
"That is what I'm getting to, if you will allow me, Cook-san. The documents are records, much like in the journal, but, more official." Robin opened the chest delicately until the hinges in the back refused to go any further. She gestured to the spot on the couch right beside her. Sanji smiled and walked around the coffee table and happily took the seat beside Robin. He had a clear view inside the treasure chest from there, and by 'the treasure chest', he of course meant on the table. "May I?" Sanji asked, reaching for a tattered-looking scroll.
"You may." Robin nodded. "Please use extreme caution, Cook-san, when handling these papers. They are very fragile." She lifted the ink well from the chest and pointed to its label. It read 'since 1600'.
Sanji nodded as he unraveled the scroll he'd pulled out. It was about a foot and a half long, browning all around the edges and covered in alien script. Sanji couldn't understand a word of it. "What is this? I've never seen anything that even looks like it." He squinted at the page in hopes of understanding something, but, it didn't help. He was lost on a piece of paper.
"Oh, yes. Did I forget to say? Most of the journal and all of the documents are written in an ancient text, some of which I recognize as traditional scripture of an old civilization." Robin noted, pointing at one of the characters on the page. "I'm unsure about the origins of this particular script, however."
Sanji sighed. He rolled the scroll back up and replaced it in the chest. "That was kind of a letdown." He mumbled, pouting ever-so-slightly. Robin noticed that and laughed. "I haven't told you the most interesting part yet, Cook-san. Would you still like to hear it?"
"Of course." Sanji said, smiling.
Robin nodded, taking the journal out of the treasure chest, and opening it to a page that was marked by the old red ribbon that bound the book. "I'll start by reading a bit from the parts that are clear and easy to understand." She said, pulling a smart-looking pair of reading glasses from her breast pocket. She placed the glasses on the end of her nose, and began reading aloud after a moment of adjusting. "'In our world, there are many unholy things. I've come across monsters, demons, if you'll believe. Evil creatures, blood thirsty, each with a taste for different flesh. They crave humans, as they have succeeded in being what no demon could ever be; pure.'"
"I read that part before." Sanji said, nodding.
Robin looked at him without turning her head away from the journal. "Did you read further?"
"Ah, no. Forgive me for interrupting, Robin-chan, please continue."
Turning her eyes back to the page, she began reading immediately. "'They are all around us, every place, and everyday. No human can differentiate between humans and demons by looking at them, surely not even I. The differences are in the soul. Demons are so incredibly different in nature and ability. I have only just begun trying to convince other people of this. No one believes me. All I've accomplished is raising a flag to the demonic population, letting them know that I need to be dealt with. Note to self: Demons don't like it when humans know about them. They bite.
"'I discovered something today; the only safe place for me, possessing the knowledge that I do, is the Calm Belt Graveyard.'" Robin paused in her reading. She looked at Sanji with a very curious expression. "I know that place." She said quietly, smiling at the prospect of an idea she would only bring up at a later date.
Sanji raised an eyebrow at her expression. He was hoping she would see that he wanted to know the significance of the Calm Belt Graveyard. Unfortunately, whether she ignored him or just didn't see, Robin continued to read. "'Those demons are out to get me. I am afraid that I'm living in my last days. Then again, I've been thinking that for weeks now, and here I sit, writing in my journal still. I will try to get down as much information as possible before they get me.'"
Robin stopped abruptly, making it sound like an incomplete sentence. She stared at the page, mouth hanging open slightly. If Sanji didn't know better, he'd say that she looked a bit scared. "What's wrong, Robin-chan?" He asked, leaning over to see if it was something just incredibly shocking on the page.
Before the cook got to see anything, though, Robin shut the diary, removing the ribbon from that page. "It switched to that strange language sooner than I thought." Robin said, by way of apology. "Forgive me, Cook-san, it may take a while for me to decipher this dead language."
"That's alright. Your brilliance should be more than a match for that writing~!" Sanji said, grinning.
"How very sweet of you, Cook-san. Now, if you don't mind, it's been a long day... Perhaps I will let you know if I find something some other time?" Robin subtly gestured towards the door. Sanji caught on to her hints and nodded. "Yes Ma'am. I'll leave you to yourself then~." Sanji sighed. He got up and, after bidding a few flamboyant good-byes, left Robin's house.
Standing on the front step, hand still in the air from waving, Sanji couldn't help but feel that he was shooed out forcefully. Of course, his lovely, delicate Robin-chwan didn't force him out, that would be very unlike her. She simply became fatigued over the course of the day, Sanji decided, though it had seemed a bit peculiar the way she ushered him out.
Being the gentleman he was, Sanji told himself he would not press Robin on the matter. It was small and insignificant, anyway. Something more urgent at the moment would be the weather, Sanji thought, shrugging his shoulders up to his ears to protect them from the evening chill. During the day, when the sun was out, everything was butterflies and rainbows, but, at night it would have been warmer if someone had just replaced Sanji's spine with an icicle. That is to say, it was very cold out.
Very much regretting not having driven, Sanji pulled his jacket on further and trekked down the sidewalk accompanied by a cold wind. The yellow street-lights provided a bit of an eerie mood, assisted in its creepiness by a distant car alarm and a chorus of sleepless dogs. Honestly, Sanji didn't easily scare, but, the echoing silence was beginning to get to him. Every time a new sound broke the quiet, he jumped. It wasn't voluntary, it wasn't manly, and Sanji despised it. He could only hope that no beautiful girls crossed his path while he was in that skittish state.
Perhaps a bit quicker than normal, Sanji crossed the street, anticipating all the necessary turns to get back home five minutes in advance. Surprisingly, Robin's neighborhood didn't seem to have much traffic, or any people for that matter, so that would make it easier to get back, Sanji figured.
Only a few minutes into his walk, he started to hear the people and businesses that were open late on the same street as the Baratie. It was quite a comfort. However, an unsettling chill had taken up residence in Sanji's neck. A feeling similar to 'I'm being watched' goaded him into glancing over each shoulder. He wasn't sure when or why it started, but, it was creeping the shit out of him.
Even as the lights became brighter, the people more frequent and the noise grew annoyingly, that tingle didn't go away. One of a hundred people could have been watching Sanji on that street. A random stranger in passing following Sanji with their eyes. He loosened up a little when he told himself it was someone random, but, he could not be called calm. Not until he could see the Baratie's front door.
He was so close, he knew, in the home stretch, but the pedestrian light wouldn't turn. There were maybe two cars way back that the light was waiting on. Sanji had to wait on that light. He couldn't, in good conscience, cross the street on a red light while everyone else had to wait on green. Still, having to stay put while that chill worked its way down his spine made Sanji a little punchy.
The few people that were waiting at the curb with him didn't seem to be looking at him, as far as he could tell. But, who was? Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me... or, whatever it is that tells me I'm being watched. I don't even know how that happens. Sanji shook his head slightly and rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand in hopes of ridding himself of that creeping feeling. It didn't really go away, but, Sanji had already decided it was nothing important.
That was him. That curly bastard... what was he doing at Robin's house?
Sanji sighed as he closed the door behind himself. Safe. His room, his haven, was dark, lit only by the lights of the town outside his window. The darkness, surprisingly, didn't bother him as he shed his jacket and shoes on his way to the bathroom. The restaurant downstairs was still busy, but, he figured he could get away with cleaning himself up a bit.
Actually, Sanji didn't think he'd be going back to work again that night, since it was already nine thirty, and closing time on a weekday was ten-ish. But, that didn't even matter. Really, nothing did, except for the lack of feeling like he was being watched.
Sighing again, Sanji laid out his pajamas and toothbrush on the edge of the sink beside the shower. He looked around for a towel that he was sure was in the bathroom. Not any hanging, or even in the floor... That damn old fart. Sanji mentally cursed the shared bathroom. There was nothing he could do, though. They only needed one bathroom between the two of them, and forty-seven towels for Zeff. Sanji groaned at the truth in that thought as he trudged towards wherever he'd put down that laundry basket.
Like any normal person, Sanji found that he'd left the basket of towels in the kitchen sink, (though he blamed that one on Zeff). He pulled out the biggest, fluffiest, whitest towel in there, slung it over his shoulder and started back towards the bathroom.
Just as Sanji was closing the door behind himself, a muffled sound reached his ears. A sound reminiscent of glass breaking, if he'd heard correctly. He hit his head against the door once on purpose before heading back out. "What the hell'd you break, old fart?" Sanji called. No answer.
"Seriously? Just own up to it; even older-than-dust bastards break shit." Sanji grumbled, looking around the living room. No one was in there, and no one was shouting about 'respect your elders, eggplant'. The cook didn't know if that was good or bad. It could mean the old fart is incapable of arguing, 'cause he hurt himself or whatever... It could mean he's ignoring me, hiding out in his room... Or it could mean-
A dull thud sounded from across the hall, interrupting Sanji's thoughts. He swiftly strode to Zeff's bedroom door and swung it wide open. Nothing seemed out of place. Not a blonde moustache hair in sight.
Sanji frowned. He left Zeff's door as it was, just in case, and went to his own room. Carefully, Sanji pushed the door open. He couldn't see much in his room. The light from the hall was no help and the light from outside were only faint, but, Sanji could tell something was off about his room.
As he flicked on the overhead light, Sanji looked around. Almost immediately, he noticed that his touch-lamp off the bedside table had fallen and shattered. The tension he didn't realize had gathered left him and his shoulders slumped. "Thank God it's just the lamp." He whispered to himself. It was a mess, of course, but he could sweep it up later, and bid that lamp good riddance.
Sanji took a deep breath and turned off the light. As he turned to leave, though, he felt a chill. He snapped his attention right to the window. The window that was wide open.
EHHHHHH? What is going to happen next? Hahaha. ^^ I don't know, was that a fail cliff-hanger? It kind of was, wasn't it?
Well, whatever. Reviews are loved!