It had been over a year and a half since Ember had been taken she was now nine years old. She hadn't meant to but she had become close to Sanji not the way she was with her siblings but they were friends. She had convinced Alex to let him train with her instead of with his siblings. He hadn't tried to kill himself and she had kept her promise and hadn't cut since that night. Sanji's siblings were jerks and would still bully Sanji whenever they got the chance, unfortunately.
Things only got worse as time went on Ember started hearing things about going on a mission.
"Again," Alex barked at her as she skidded across the training room floor.
They were working on something new. She had to use her wind to push herself off the ground at least six feet high and then launch her self at Alex, trying to land a hit like this was difficult but effective. She was just about to land the hit on Alex's weapon when she heard the door open and slam against the wall.
Alex stepped back and Ember landed on her feet and turned to look at who was coming in. It was Judge and a few of his men that were always with him.
"Is she ready?" Judge questioned.
"Yes, sir," Alex answered standing up straighter.
"Then get her equipment and fill her in she's going on her first mission." With that Judge left the room slamming the door.
Ember followed Alex out of the training room and down the hall to a room she'd never been allowed in.
Upon opening the door she found out why as the room had weapons everywhere. But Alex ignored all the swords, maces, axes, and other random things, he went straight to the back and pulled out a large box and gave it to her.
"Go back to your room and put it on I'll be there a few minutes." Ember did as told.
Once she got back to her room she opened the box and stared at what was in it. It was a suit of some sort, it was made from a thick black leather that was plain and dull. It took a few minutes to put it on since she had to figure out how to get it on. She looked in the mirror so she could get a better look at it. The suit itself wasn't much, just a plain black leather bodysuit that was easy to move in. It had a mask that covered the lower half of her face and a hood that covered the top half. On the arms, she felt a long strip inside the leather and when she flicked her wrist to see how well she could move a blade came out that went to her fingertips. Before she could look at the suit anymore there was a knock at her door.
Alex came in with another box in his hands.
"I see you already found one of the hidden blades." He sighed setting the box in his hands on the bed.
Ember walked over to him.
"Your mission info, as well as the suit's abilities, are in the envelope and there is a cloak in that box. Judge is expecting you in fifteen minutes don't be late." With that Alex left the room.
Ember picked up the envelope and looked at the 'mission'. She was to kill a nobleman in the Goa Kingdom because he had failed to pay Judge, she had four months to get it done and be back. She was to go alone and if she was caught she would have no connection to Jude. Ember clipped the cloak onto her suit and left her room and made her way to Jude's office. Since she was a few minutes early, she decided to wait outside. She heard voices from inside it sounded like arguing.
"She is nine years old she is not ready for this Judge!" She heard Alex scream.
Ember walked into the room without knocking and stared straight at Alex," I am more than ready for something as simple as this Alex." She spat his name.
*/0\*
Ember was soon set off on her own ship by herself towards the East Blue.
The journey itself took a month so by the time she could see Dawn Island she was more than ready to get off the small boat and get her job done quickly so she could relax for a while before having to go back. She docked the boat on the far side of the island where there was nothing but jungle or forest it seemed like a mix of the two. She hadn't stepped into a forest since she'd been with the Vinsmoke family and she honestly never wanted to be in one again but it seemed she had no choice at the moment.
As she walked through the forest on steroids she noted a few things, one the trees were humungous and so what were the animals. In the ten minutes she had been there she had to fight three animals one of which was a huge bear.
To move faster Ember flew through the trees until she hit the end of the forest and a giant trash heap began.
'This must be Grey Terminal and that means over that wall is High Town where my target is located' She thought to herself.
Since she wished to be done with her mission relatively quickly so she could relax and learn more social skills as Alex had instructed her to do she quickly made her way into High Town. She slipped past the guards easily. By the time she had made it close to her targets house, the sun was starting to set which was perfect for what she needed to do.
Ember slipped inside and made her way to the dining room which thankfully was easy since she had memorized the map she had been given right before she left. She hid right outside the opened window and listened in on the conversation going on inside.
"What are we going to do about Sabo?" Her targets wife asked.
"I've hired a few thugs that will find him in Grey Terminal tomorrow and I'll bringing him home so he'll stop this madness and get back to his studies." The man at the head of the table or her target spoke.
Ember didn't need to stay after that, she knew where her target would be and it would be easier to cover up a murder in a lawless area, even in brode daylight. Under her hood Ember glared out at the city, she wasn't looking forward to what she was going to have to do but she had no choice.
The way back to the forest was uneventful and a bit boring but she didn't need any distractions if she wanted to be able to pull this off and get away with it. She didn't sleep that night and really she hadn't expected to in the first place. The last time she had taken a life it had almost driven her to commit suicide. Now she was expected to take a life intentionally the only way she would be able to do it was to hate the man she didn't even know. It was surprisingly easy since the man was a noble and seemed to be a snobby one at that.
The sudden feeling of being watched drew her out of her thoughts and she noticed the forest was eerily quiet around her. Standing up she looked around the forest and her eyes stopped on a bush that was shaking slightly. Pulling out a small dagger from her hip she threw it at the bush and heard a scream and a small boy came running out of the bush unharmed but obviously shaken up.
"HEY! Why'd you throw that at me!" He yelled his face turning red.
"Why were you watching me." She calmly shot back and he seemed to calm down.
"Oh, right, sorry I saw you yesterday and I wanted to meet you. I'm Luffy by the way!" He explained himself with a smile.
She was offset by the kid's upbeat attitude and she scowled at him," Leave me alone." She walked away from him towards the bush to grab her dagger but he trailed behind her like a lost puppy.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM LUFFY!" An angry shout caused her to turn around.
There was an older boy running towards her with his fist in the air, he looked a lot like the kid standing next to her. As he drew closer she sidestepped him and flipped him on his back.
"Tell your brother to stop following me." She glared at him as he laid on the ground in a daze.
She was thankful she still had her hood up so they couldn't see her face. As she walked away she grabbed her pack that was laying against the tree she had been attempting to sleep against. They didn't follow her as she left, making her way to Grey Terminal to start looking for her target.
It had been about four hours and she had finally found the nobleman. He was surrounded by four guards and in front of him was the two boys she had run into earlier and a third boy looking to be the same age. The two black haired boys had swords up against their necks and the blond boy was being held by a man that had checkered teeth.
"Sabo you're coming back now!" The nobleman yelled and the blond haired boy looked ready to fight.
Ember was filled with rage as she looked at the boy named Luffy he looked so scared, he reminded her of June.
"Well well well, looks like I didn't have to look very hard to find you, Outlook." She stepped out and walked slowly with a wicked grin on her face.
"What who are you!" He screamed taking a step back.
She didn't say anything as she lifted her hand and took off her glove and showed him the 66 mark she had on the back of her hand. It was only temporary and done quickly but it did the trick as Outlook started backing up. He looked terrified.
"No no no no. NOT NOW!" He screamed and began running away but he didn't get very far when he started floating along with his guards and the hired thugs.
Ember flicked her wrist and the four guards went straight into a pile of garbage, and the hired thugs went into another pile of garbage all were unconscious. The only ones left were Outlook the leader of the thugs and the three boys who looked confused.
She brought the two adults closer to her, she looked to the thug first," I wonder what would happen if I sent you flying, I wonder how long you'd stay in the air." She smiled sweetly and with another flick of her wrist, he indeed went flying into the sky until you could no longer see him. Outlook was shaking with fear when she turned to him.
"You failed to pay, what do you have to say for yourself?" He was paler than paper.
"I'm so sorry if you let me live I'll never miss another payment!" He begged tears streamed down his face.
"The contract has already been made, you have failed to pay and now you will pay the price." She spoke to him calmly and with no emotion in her voice.
She activated her left wrist blade and in one swift movement she slit his throat and dropped him to the ground. He grabbed at his neck as blood gushed out of the cut arteries it only took a few seconds before he stopped struggling and as he lay still on the ground she glanced up at the three boys who looked mortified. Spinning around she stalked back to the forest.
Ember made it to a small stream when she collapsed to her knees and threw up, tears streamed down her face as she sobbed grabbing the soil under her hands. Choked sobs escaped her and her whole body shook. She looked up to the sky and let out a scream, her hood falling from her head.
What had she done?
That took waaaayyyy to long to write I'm so sorry. I know its a lot shorter than most of the other chapters but I'm going to try a different writing style for the next chapter and I needed this one to end here.
As always I hoped you enjoyed and I am welcomed to comments and sugestions.
Bye Bye!
