Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, but Kyra was my idea.
Kyra punches a Marine in the face, caving in his skull and spraying his brains from his ears. The corpse hits the ice at the same moment that another Marine receives a foot through his diaphragm. Off to the side, Straw Hat is surrounded by his own circle of men; those struck by his rubber limbs do not rise again, whether due to unconsciousness or death the sorceress can't determine. Bodies in various states of disrepair litter the ice behind the two.
Kyra snatches one soldier's hand in her own and squeezes; the man's arm from fingers to shoulder explodes, and he falls back with a scream. She reaches over and shoves a pirate out of the way, punching the sword about to cleave said pirate in two and shattering it into half a dozen pieces. Its wielder's jaw is soon swiped from its hinges, flying off across the frozen bay even as he chokes to death on his own blood. Ignoring the thanks from the pirate she just saved, the girl spins around on blackened feet to swing a high kick at an oncoming opponent. Her blow causes his head to tear from his shoulders in an arterial spurt of blood that soaks Kyra's face and front.
"Duck, Kyra!"
The mage does so, dropping down onto her haunches in the blink of an eye. An abnormally long arm shoots over her head to pound into a Marine an instant away from firing his rifle. Kyra is quick to get back on her feet, jumping over Straw Hat to clamp her hands around the skull of a man about to stab the boy from behind. The attacker's head explodes like some overripe melon, showering the two young fighters with blood and brains. Both of them launch themselves at the closest soldiers, fists raised and teeth bared. Chaos reigns around them; Marines and pirates alike fall on the ice as swords and maces and bullets cut through the air. Whitebeard's brats appear to have decided to help the destructive duo, whether because of orders or because they just really want to lend Fire Fist Ace's stupid little brother a hand is unclear.
Kyra doesn't really care, and would just as soon they stop cutting in on her fun. She most certainly doesn't need any protection. She can keep these 'gloves' and the matching 'boots' on for hours without noticeable drain. If these other pirates would get the hell out of the way more often, there would be no limit to the amount of carnage with her name on it. The Marines would drop like so many flies.
A blinding yellow flash shoots towards them; Kyra instantly moves over to grab Straw Hat and wraps them both in a shield. No sooner has she done so than what looks to be a beam of light connects with the protective bubble, sending shockwave ripples over its surface and shoving the whole thing back a good ten feet, knocking the two inside off their feet.
"What the hell was that?" Kyra snarls as she and Straw Hat try to untangle themselves.
From in front of them, a languid voice calls out, "The Tenryubito would be on my case if I let you go again, Straw Hat Luffy."
"It's an Admiral! It's Kizaru!" someone shouts in a panic, causing curses and screams to fill the air as the pirates react to the revelation.
Straw Hat gets to his feet and takes off running, once more bleating his precious brother's name. He gets no further than the shield protecting him, however. Upon trying to barrel through it the boy collides with what must feel like a brick wall, stopping his forward motion rather abruptly. He stumbles back with a curse, rounding on Kyra with a frown.
"Hey, I can't get out! I have to go! Ace is this way!"
The bubble turns black and blinks out of existence, appearing in a different spot half a second later and dumping its contents into the middle of another brawl. Kyra bowls Straw Hat over backwards, saving him from losing his head, and dispatches his would-be killer with a single strike through the center of the chest. Using the power surge gained by transporting, Kyra makes a swift backhand motion as though slapping someone in the face; the soldiers for a hundred yards in front of her explode.
Straw Hat wastes no time, stampeding past Kyra, still intent on reaching the platform. She makes no move to follow. Her breathing is heavy. She is soaked in the blood of others. Screams and cries of pain split the air in every direction as cannon fire rains down upon the ice. People are killing and dying all around her, and the smell of blood is overpowering.
Kyra is having the time of her life.
Laughing, the girl catches an oncoming fist and yanks, tearing the arm from its shoulder. The arm is then encased in black and used to knock its former owner's head off before being tossed aside. Sidestepping someone thrown her way by the rubber menace far ahead, her hand sinks into another man's stomach up to the elbow before she pulls it back, jerking the intestines out with her clenched fist as her victim screams in agony.
Absorbed in slaughter, Kyra is taken off guard when something knocks her over from behind moments before another light sword shoots through the space where her head was two seconds ago. Landing hard on the ice with a snarl, she throws her savior off and leaps to her feet, rounding on the possible threat to see... fishnet stockings?
A man wearing some kind of weird hat that looks like the head of a rabbit, paired with women's lingerie and aforementioned stockings, is in the process of getting up from where Kyra has just chunked him.
"Be careful, sister! That Kuma guy almost blew your head off!" Rabbit-man shouts, struggling to make himself heard over the cacophony of noise from every direction. He gives her a strange little wave before diving back into the fracas, large wooden club in hand. An entire crowd of people - both men and women - dressed in their undies is quick to follow him, screaming battle cries and brandishing weapons. Straw Hat has disappeared at some point. Kyra plows on with little regard for him. She is not here to babysit, and she doesn't really care overmuch if the actual execution is stopped or not. The life and well-being of Fire Fist Ace is not her concern. Kyra is here only for the purpose of personal revenge. If helping Straw Hat Luffy means the chance to butcher a lot of Marines at the same time, then sure, she'll lend a hand. Otherwise he's on his own.
A freakish-looking individual wearing some truly atrocious pants stands a short distance in front of her, laughing hysterically as creatures begin breaking through the ice to attack the incoming pirates. Straw Hat resurfaces, his rubber body catching the bullets shot from the creatures' guns and throwing them back to no avail; the things rise and come forward again. A veritable mob of soldiers descends upon the young Supernova, who sends them flying back with punches and kicks as swiftly as he can. Kyra bolts into the crowd around him, dispatching Marines left and right. Whatever those things from under the ice are, they are not alive; she puts a hole through the head of one, tears the place where an artery should be from the leg of another, and still they do not fall. They simply rise and continue attacking.
"Straw Hat, what the fuck are these things?" Kyra shouts, kicking one away from her and tearing the upper half of its body from the lower. Clawed hands reach for her face, intent on gouging her eyes out. She tosses the torso aside and dodges a live Marine's sword thrust.
"Zombies!" the boy screams back, taking a shallow slash to the abdomen before flooring his attacker. "They're zombies, Moria makes them!"
"Well, how the hell do you kill them?" the mage barks, blowing up the head of one of these zombies even as another takes a swipe at her. Straw Hat fails to answer, distracted by shouts from his brother up on the execution platform. Kyra ignores their reunion, too busy killing any nearby Marines and trying not to get too close to undead fighters at the same time. She does not wish to tangle with something that she does not know how to defeat. The sorceress is close to being mauled by what looks to be a reanimated bear in Marine regalia when a miniature tidal wave slams into her. Floundering helpless in its grip, once the water settles Kyra looks up from her place on the ice to see the zombie warriors crumbling to the ground. They do not rise again. Not wasting time to wonder where the hell the wave came from when the whole of the bay is frozen, the soaking girl zips past the pear-shaped weirdo in time to miss tangling with a giant. The hulking being instead focuses on attempting to squash Straw Hat, with no success, as Sengoku drones on in the background.
"It's only one rookie! Don't let him dictate the entire war this way! That man will be a danger in the future. He was raised with his sworn brother, Ace, but his actual bloodline makes him the son of the revolutionary, Monkey D. Dragon!"
The whole world screeches to a stop for Kyra as her brain sputters over those words. Monkey D. Dragon? Most wanted man in the world? Father to a brainless idiot like Straw Hat Luffy?
No shit?
Kyra shields herself from attack, stopping her advance towards Sengoku's position to look back. Straw Hat Luffy has somehow inflated his arm to several times its normal size, until it strongly resembles one belonging to a member of the giant race. This arm is currently being used to punch an actual giant, knocking it backwards. The immense bulk falls to the ice, cracks spider-webbing out from his prone form as the rubber wonder screams that he will save his brother even if he must die to do so.
Heh. Kyra's kinda starting to like this brat.
Turning back around as the creepy people in their underwear move up to stand with Straw Hat, Kyra eyes the Marines on all sides even as they advance on her. All is still for a moment - until a gung-ho soldier lets out a shout and leaps forward, spurring his comrades to follow with yells of their own. Straw Hat and company answer with adrenaline fueled screams as they rush past, weapons at the ready. Cannon fire is heard; the lethal balls hurtle towards them, hitting the ice all around. Straw Hat jumps into the air and inflates himself to bounce one back at the Marines; Kyra extends her shield around the crowd of pirates to protect them and herself from the rest. The shield comes down as soon as the cannons cease.
Elbow-deep in some luckless bastard's chest, Kyra watches from one side as the combined attacks of Straw Hat Luffy, Jinbei the fishman, and the freak with the abnormally large head blast a path through the Marines. All three speedily begin to surge forward, repelling attacks from all sides as they go and closely followed by the hoard of creepies. Dismissing them for the moment, the mage goes back to slaughtering anyone who crosses her path that wears the insignia of the Marines, slowly pushing forward towards her true target. She is going to kill Sengoku today. She will kill him and flay his sorry hide until an open casket will be out of the question.
A battle cry from the side draws Kyra's attention to a young woman rushing towards her, sword upraised. Kyra easily dodges, having no intention of butchering a fellow female even if she is a Marine. Ducking under another well executed swing of the sword, the sorceress grabs the Marine by the wrist and holds her immobile while a magic-encased foot connects with her abdomen. Kyra lets her prisoner go; the woman falls to her knees, every breath of air once in her lungs now knocked from them. Glancing in the direction from which her feminine attacker had come, Kyra is just in time to see Straw Hat wrestling with an overly good-looking woman atop the coils of a pink and white snake. Straw Hat has the look of a child given the key to a candy store; he pulls himself from the woman and tears off, shouting his thanks over his shoulder as he runs.
Strange, spastic little idiot.
Some guy smoking multiple cigars attempts to follow the pirate, but is detained by the gorgeous snake lady. Kyra continues on towards Sengoku, slaughtering soldiers as she goes.
A hand suddenly caresses her elbow from behind. Spinning around, the girl throws a punch at the empty air. Confused, she flinches away from the feel of nonexistent fingers running over her cheek and lashes out with a whip of black magic. If someone is hiding, invisible for whatever crazy reason, that should have taken care of them. But no, here are those airy digits brushing over her neck in a half-threatening, half-caressing gesture.
Hello, lovey.
Kyra stumbles at the telepathic communication, at that voice which has just spoken into her mind. His voice.
Surprised? It's been awhile, hasn't it lovey?
Oh, fuck. No. Just no. He isn't here, this isn't happening.
No worries, sweet. Sorry I'm not around at the moment; if I'd known you'd be at that little bash I would have gone too.
Thank the gods. Kyra ducks under a sword meant to take her head off, absentmindedly smacking her attacker's chest and causing his heart to implode. Pushing a shield out around herself for protection, the sorceress crouches on the ice and concentrates on the voice inside her head, trying not to let him know how terrified she is.
What do you want?
He sounds extremely amused, a teasing quality to his mental voice that reminds her of the first time he cut into her with a glowing scalpel. I don't want anything at the moment, lovey. Just thought I'd say hello. I've missed having you around the labs, you know. Would you like to come visit?
Get out of my head, fucking bastard!
Spectral laughter fills her cranium, drawing a hiss of pain from between clenched teeth.
Now, now, lovey. Why would I be leaving so soon when you have such a pretty noggin for me to scramble? Four years apart and that's all you can say to me? I'm hurt, lovey.
Kyra snarls, both mentally and out in the mess of war. Fuck you, sadistic prick.
The hands come back after this comment, teasing and tormenting in inappropriate places just to make the girl flinch. Fingers massage her neck and shoulders; a palm slides down the length of her back. Kyra shudders, sickened by his touch, trying desperately to shove him out of her mind.
Oh, I like that suggestion, lovey. We'll have plenty of time to play when I find you. You don't mind waiting, right lovey?
Another snarl, this one far more animalistic than the last. I'd sooner perform fellatio on Sengoku's pet goat than ever let you physically touch me again!
The beleaguered woman's knees give out so that they hit the ice, her head screaming in agony at the sudden unbearable pressure from an unseen force. She bellows her agony, hands fisted in her hair as her power goes haywire, gouging out deep craters of the ice to leave only water behind. The pressure increases even as the magic rushes to defend its mistress, building to an awful crescendo until Kyra is sure the only thing currently keeping her head from exploding is sheer dumb luck. Weirdly enough, even as the pain forces her to curl into a ball and she screams and twitches with it; even as her outward magic become wilder and less stable as it fights to save her from absent opponents, the only thing Kyra can think is Damn, Law is going to be so pissed at me for getting myself killed.
As abruptly as it began it is over, leaving Kyra to lie upon the ice and shiver in its aftermath. Those damned hands are back, stroking her quivering shoulder blades in a mockingly soothing manner.
There, there, lovey. We've learned our lesson about smart remarks, now haven't we? No need for a repeat, is there? Of course not. You're going to be a good girl for me now, aren't you lovey? His voice is soft, gentle. If not for the fact that the speaker spent six fan-fucking-tastic years torturing her to within an inch of her sanity, Kyra would completely believe his sincerity.
I'm... I'm going to kill you someday.
The thought is formed before she can even consider censoring it. Once said, she no long wants to censor it.
I'm going to hunt you down and torture you just like you did to me. I'm going to pour chemicals down your throat until you drown. I'm going to remove your organs while you're awake and alive, just to see if you can regrow them like I can. I'm going to kill you slowly... and carefully... and when I'm finished with you, when whatever's left of you is no more use to me... I'm going to give what's left to my new captain for research material. I'm... Going... To... BUTCHER YOU! I'LL FIND YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME FUCKING MONSTER? I'LL FIND YOU, AND I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I DO!
Deep, rolling laughter echoes in her mind, even as it begins to fade under the never-ending onslaught provided by the witch's magic. I'll be looking for you too, lovey. Watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike. And when I find you... and I will find you... I will never let you go again. You're still mine, lovey. You will never escape from me. Remember that, lovey-dearest...
And just like that Kyra is alone in her mind and body, huddled in the fetal position even as the pain fades into nothing.
Law sits on Kyra's bed, hat and sword on the mattress next to him and long fingers running over the leather cover of a book he holds. He has already flipped it open to reveal neat, careful handwriting filling roughly half of the thick text. In his hands he holds his magician's diary.
This should explain why the doctor is smirking.
Bepo has everyone well in hand, and the crew knows how to do their jobs. There is nothing for him to do until they get closer to Marineford. Law makes himself comfortable and flips to a random page.
Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee
All through the night
Guardian angels the gods will send thee
All through the night
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping
Hill and dale in slumber steeping
I my loving vigil keeping
All through the night.
While the moon her watch is keeping
All through the night
While the weary world is sleeping
All through the night
O'er thy spirit gently stealing
Visions of delight revealing
Breathes a pure and holy feeling
All through the night.
Though I roam a minstrel lonely
All through the night
My true harp shall praise sing only
All through the night
Love's young dream, alas, is over
Yet my strains of love shall hover
Near the presence of my lover
All through the night.
The words repeat themselves endlessly in my head. They're always in Mama's voice; I guess that figures, as this was always her favorite lullaby to sing me. Sometimes I think I'm ill or something; every time I think about her, my chest aches like I've just been punched...
...I saw a fishman for the first time yesterday. He was fierce-looking, to be sure, but I don't understand why the people here call them monsters. I've seen those, and this guy was just a different species of creature. Just because he looked weird to me doesn't mean he's a monster. He probably thought I looked weird, too. Mama used to say that it was incredibly stupid to judge a person by their looks. She'd use the shaman's daughter as an example; Lihla was gorgeous even as a child, but she was a total bitch to everyone back home. I wonder if she took over for her father, or if he's still alive...
...Another nightmare tonight. It's a good thing this shitty little apartment building is practically empty or I would have had people pounding on my walls, I was screaming so loud when I woke up. Gods, am I ever going to be able to sleep without seeing him? Will I ever be free of this terror that grips me at the mere thought of that man?
Law flips through the pages, learning more and more about his newest crew member with every word. She enjoys sunsets. She despises coconuts. She desperately misses her mother. She has nightmares of similar circumstances every night, always revolving around the mysterious 'him' who is mentioned but never named in the journal.
Kyra's also been keeping an eye on Law and his fellow rookies, as evidenced when he unearths all of their wanted posters tucked into the pages of her diary. She makes idle observations about each of them. The surgeon is particularly pleased to read her reference to Eustass Kidd, in which she likens the man to a flat-chested whore with hideous fashion sense that needs some refresher courses on how to apply all that makeup he wears. The sorceress has written five whole pages on the subject of Straw Hat Luffy and his crew, praising the brainless fool for his so-called heroic deeds and musing on the nature of such a man that he has ended up a pirate when all he seems to do is run around helping people. Law resists the urge to rip the pages out and shred them; he doesn't want Kyra knowing he's reading this, after all.
On the Dark Doctor himself, the girl has written little:
This man from North Blue has such a strange ability. I read in the paper the other day that he somehow rearranged the body parts of a whole ship of Marines without actually hurting them. From his wanted poster, he looks like a bit of a smartass; the little grin just seems to say, "Yeah, I'm awesome and I could kill you with my pinkie and never lose the smirk, that's just how awesome I am". He has a cool hat, though. Wonder where he got it.
Bepo gave Law his hat. The bear never has said where exactly he acquired it, and Law's never really cared to ask.
Five little sentences, while Straw Hat is given five pages. He knows that Kyra has no love for the Marines, so his treatment of them surely would not be a sore spot. Does she simply dislike him because, unlike a certain idiot, he is much like other pirates in his dealings with civilians?
Che. What does it matter, in any case? Kyra knows nothing about Trafalgar Law; nothing about his dreams and ambitions; nothing about the man himself. Even if she did, Law could care less if the woman likes his personality or not. He is the Surgeon of Death, the Dark Doctor. He isn't some simpering fool pandering for a girl's attention. It doesn't matter if Kyra likes Straw Hat Luffy over him. She is on his crew, and he will not give up so valuable a crewmate without a fight - her wishes be damned.
He tosses the journal aside and picks up Kyra's satchel, rummaging through it. Aside from clothes, most of which Law provided, the only thing in the bag is a small pouch that could be used to hold money or valuables. It does not clink when shaken, and is therefore not full of money. Curious over the weight of the thing, the snooping surgeon opens the pouch and upends it into his hand.
A solid something on a fine golden chain falls out. Law sets the pouch aside and runs inquisitive fingers over the object, bringing it to eye level so that he can examine it.
Jewelry. Kyra does not strike her captain as the type to wear pretty baubles; her ears are unpierced, and he has not seen her wearing bracelets or necklaces. Yet that is what he holds in his hands: a pure gold half-heart on a chain of the same metal, obviously one of a matching pair. Law wonders where the other half of the heart is. Who wears his magician's token around their neck?
He is slightly surprised at the fury this question sparks. Kyra is his. No one else will lay claim on her while that holds true, and short of one of them dying she will be his for a long time. Law clenches his fist around the little necklace, his knuckles standing out white against his tanned and tattooed skin. Kyra is his and his alone. If anyone attempts to snatch her for their own gain - be they Straw Hat Luffy, the Marines, or some fucking lover the girl picked up after escaping from experimentation - they will be dispatched ruthlessly as is Law's nature. He does not give up what is his lightly, and any crew members remain so unless he decides otherwise.
His little magician is not going anywhere. If she ever does attempt to leave, he will be there to remind her of her place - which is at his side. Kyra is a deadly, dangerous person; just the kind of person Law needs on his crew. Given time, the surgeon is confident that he can convince the girl that she belongs with him and with his men. Where else is she going to go, anyway? Law does not think Kyra wants to spend her entire life alone because of her powers. Who but a band of pirates would be brave enough or crazy enough to befriend her? Bepo is already strangely protective of her; Shachi and Penguin are both enthralled by her abilities (and her breakfasts). Most of the rest of the crew will accept her simply because Law commands it. Aside from Neil (who is obviously going to be a problem) and perhaps the lead mechanic Haru, who is superstitious and thinks women on a ship is horribly unlucky, no one has raised even the smallest objection to Kyra's presence in the short time she has been here. Then again, when the girl can butcher the whole crew with a flick of the wrist, and the captain can mix-and-match any dissenters, that isn't all too surprising.
Law begins tidying up, putting the bauble in its pouch and back in the satchel. The clothes are replaced, as is the journal with its wanted posters. Setting the bag on the floor and moving his sword and hat, the pirate swings his feet up onto Kyra's bed and lies back with his hands behind his head. A smirk tugs at his lips as he closes his eyes, deciding a little nap is in order. Bepo will come get him when the sub nears Marineford. He's got the time.
A/N: Please review. Beta'd by Tomas the Betrayer.
