Chapter 10: Exiting

When I ran I didn't really pay much attention to where I was going, only that I was leaving. My body was now paying the price for it. The way my chest heaved up and down and my throat burn was proof enough, but at least it took my mind off of the mental pain. The thought of leaving…

My heart did a one-eighty. I was being watched! Or was it my imagination? Did I hope that miraculously Ace had followed me down here and was going to save me from this nightmare? It was too much for me to handle, this was the worst feeling I have ever experienced. Leaving them behind….leaving Ace behind…it was too much. I didn't want to think about it.

"Farra, you're here early!" exclaimed the man. I looked up to see him leaning against a broken tree, in the distance behind him was the lights of Dadan's hideout.

"W-what are you doing out h-here?" I sniffled.

"Uh….," he raised his hand, in it was a lit cigarette," It's a rather nasty habit, you shouldn't pick up."

"Who a-are you?" I asked.

"Your brother, silly," he smiled genuinely.

"I mean, what's your name?" I growled.

"Eric," He responded flatly.

"How do I know I can trust you, Eric?" I examined.

"Well, you're just gonna have to." He grinned.

"Prove to me you're my biological brother, and I will go without a fight." I jabbed a finger forward. "But if you can't I'm going home."

He smiled at me.

"You got Mom's iron will, that's for sure! Okay, DEAL, if I can prove to you that we're related, you promise to come?"

"Yes," I bit out. He smiled again and approached me with his fingers wrapped around his shirt sleeve. He yanked the sleeve down past his forearm to his elbow. On his wrist was a smoothly decorated tattoo with the letters "P" "E" "R" "O".

"Pair-ru?" I asked.

"Pair-row," He corrected, "It's our family name."

"That proves nothing to me!" I angrily barked.

"But this does," He held out to me a small crystal that emitted a light blue glow. It was just like the one I always wore, I guess I had forgotten about it. I frantically dipped my fingers into the front of my shirt to pull out the same blue crystal except it was in my hands and his was in his hands still.

"Where did you-"

"Where did you, Farra? You really don't see do you? You were born here, can't imagine what Mom was thinking, and something happened. You really belong in Atlantis."

I remained silent.

"This is a lot for a kid to process, I get that, Let's just go inside to get some sle-"

"No," I cut, "I want to leave now, I've said my goodbyes, don't make me regret my decision!"

He looked at me for a long while before answering. "You always were smarter than me," and without another word we began to walk away. Leaving my heart and possibly all my joy behind. What was the reason for going with Eric, I had no idea, but hopefully one day, I will be free.

'Freedom? Do I really want that?' I didn't know. I looked back into the trees and smiled weakly, tears already streaming down my face.

"Bye, guys."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?!" Sabo yelled.

"She left late last night," Ace answered somberly. He had been staring at the spot where he watched Farra disappear last night, stupidly hoping it was a bad dream and she had just gone to take a bath.

"Doesn't she love us?" Luffy whimpered.

"…," Ace didn't know how to respond. He knew all too well that she loved them, but why did she leave he wondered. "Farra has always been smarter than all of us, so it's weird to say but I think she left because she loved us."

"So, she's coming back?" Luffy was being all too hopeful of the situation.

"No," Ace answered.

"That stupid man! This is all his fault! If we hadn't of left Farra alone she wouldn't have gotten scared and ran away!" Sabo cried biting back tears. Ace looked at his brothers from the corner of his eye. Truthfully, Ace was the most upset, he watched her leave, and there was a giant sinking feeling in his heart now. He loved Farra, possibly more than his desire to prove himself, and she still left.

"Farra is gone now, but at least we know she's safe," Ace sighed.

"HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?! I DIDN'T EVEN GET A LOOK AT THE GUY THAT TOOK HER!" Sabo hollered.

"But I did," Ace assured. "I followed her last night; just to make sure she was safe! He showed her something, something I guess let her know she was okay with him, and then they left."

"IF YOU FOLLOWED HER, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?!" Sabo was more than just a little angry now. He was furious, Ace was in an arms distance from her and he let her walk away.

"She looked back," Ace stated, "She was sure she knew what she was doing, and I didn't want to argue or fight with her, she wouldn't of come any way, I'm pretty sure she say me and she still kept walking.

"FARRA!" Luffy was in tears now.

"Luffy, get up!" Sabo growled wiping a few tears of his own away.

"I didn't want her to hate me!" Ace whispered to himself tears threatening to pass his eyelids. Silently the brothers got ready to go training and hunting for the day, without a single breath about Farra.

In no time at all Farra and Eric arrived where they had needed to go. Mysteriously along the way Farra had slipped into a deep sleep and Eric carried her the entire way there. Which was saying a lot considering Farra never slept unless necessary. Nevertheless, Eric had brought her back to the conscious world when they had arrived at a small entrance covered with leaves and boulders blocking any noticeable entrances.

"There's no way in," I sighed looking at him.

"Look again," He laughed showing me a small rock with engravings in it. The weird markings traveled down the length of the rock in a strange square sequence. In the center was a tiny hole.

"So?" I rumbled.

"Put your crystal in the indention." I stared at him like he was an idiot. "No seriously, try it!"

Despite my doubt, I did as I was told. The crystal fit into the slot with ease and it made a loud clicking noise.

"Turn it clockwise," He demonstrated twirling his finger around. I did as he told and the engravings started to glow. A loud rumbling came from behind the leaves. The rocks began to shift in all direction to reveal a leafy entrance. I couldn't see through it but I knew it was there.

"Whoa!" I gasped.

"Welcome to Atlantis," He smiled pulling back the leaves.

There before me was enormous waterfalls raining down upon the lava below, steam rising from the reaction, one large corroded bridge, and not far off into the distance a soft glow of something over a stone platform. A closer examination showed that there was a city under the glow!

"Whoa, is that a city!?" I gasped.

"Haha, yeah!" He chuckled.

"I mean, um…" I blushed looking over to the side. "Nevermind!"

"Come on, you got to admit that's pretty cool!" Eric laughed.

"Not as cool as the hideout Ace, Sabo, and Luffy made!" I snapped.

"Do you like it?" He asked ignoring my statement.

"You know, when I woke up yesterday I didn't expect to leave my home and family behind to be dragged away by some psychopath claiming to be my biological brother." I continued.

"Then why did you come with me?" He asked through his teeth.

"Because I know you would have chased us until you got me, am I right?" I looked into his eyes.

"Yeah, the thing is, I didn't care how long it would have taken, I would have hunted you down and brought you with me, kicking and screaming." He narrowed his eyes, "and no ten year old kid would be able to stop me!" I flinched at the mention of Ace.

"Happy now? I'm 'safe', as you would say, and depressed." I snapped.

"I'm not your friend, Farra! I'm your brother, and that's all."

"My other brothers were my friends and much nicer than you." I snapped. Suddenly there was a quick pop against my check. The blow didn't necessarily hurt as much as it was unexpected. That aside I felt a pain in my heart. I looked up to see Eric standing over me, his arms folded over his chest.

"y-you…hit me?" I whimpered.

"Learn your place, and learn respect for your elders!" He snapped.

"WHAT KIND OF A BROTHER HITS HIS SISTER!?" I cried. There was no use running nor was there point in screaming for help. If my judgment was incorrect about this man, he was going to kill me.

"I'm trying to protect you, Farra" He lifted me into his arms and walked forward onto the bridge. I shut my eyes tightly and held back sobs.

"I hate you!" I whispered.

"Yeah, I figured." He said as shadows surrounded us. The shadows appeared to be people, dressed in mask of fierce demons bathed in a blue and white trim. Scruff covered the outskirts of their mask, covering their bodies from identity. It was impossible to see past all the armor.

"Tado sumowa, hitasho," One spoke but I had no actual clue as to what the heck it said.

"Hitari, shimosaw tado," Eric responded. I was pretty sure now that this was a made up language. No human could possible understand what they were saying.

"Farra this is June and her sister, Nora." Two fighters unmasked to reveal beautiful woman underneath.

"She's precious!" Nora exclaimed. She ran to me and yanked me from Eric's arms, despite his protest. "Hi, Farra, is your big brother bothering you?"

"Yes." I stated bluntly.

"Eric! Where did you get this girl?!" June growled.

"From a place called Trash Mountain, in sires dimension." He answered.

"Sires?" I asked.

"In our language that means pirate." Nora answered.

"You had no right to take her from there!" June scowled.

'Tell me about it!' I thought to myself.

"I happen to recall you saying that I was free to find her when I turned eighteen." Eric growled.

"FIND!" she spit through her teeth, "Not kidnap!"

"Or protect?!" Eric was furious, "I already lost both my parents, I am not losing my younger sister too."

"Eric, no one can blame you for feeling protective over her, but look at what you've done, you took this girl away from the closes thing she had to family." Nora said lifting me in her arms so we were eye level.

"I'm her family." Eric cried.

"To her you're a stranger, not a savior, her family was back in sires, where she was born." Nora continued.

"So what? She's here now!" Eric said. Everything went quite after that.

"Farra, you want to go back, don't you?" Nora asked.

"More than anything, I only left because I knew there was no other choice." I said looking away.

"Smart girl." Nora moved some hair from my face, "I suggest you do not return just yet though."

"What?!" I asked completely shocked by the road she choose.

"You want to join your brothers again, but you want to protect them." She stated. "Then I suggest you get stronger, and you can't get stronger with those boys babying you all the time."

"Your point?" I asked.

"Become my student, my daughter, I will teach you how to defend yourself and those you love." Nora smiled, "You have the right to refuse, but that would not be wise."

"Nora! I brought her here to protect her not to through her into combat!" Eric snarled.

"Eric, she will hate you forever if you choose this path for her." Nora warned.

"I want to fight!" I shouted. "If it means rejoining my brothers, I'll do anything!"

"That a girl!" Nora winked. "June, do you oppose?"

"Of course not!" June smiled.

"Eric, do you oppose?"

"Of course!" Eric barked, " but if she really wants to do this, at least it's with you."

"Well, there you have it, Farra," she turned to me, "Welcome to Hell."