"Do I have to?" She asks desperately.
"Yes," Lushu and Shoya answer firmly.
She wilts as the harness is clicked into place; Shoya fiddles with the complicated straps until she barely feels them. Lushu holds the lantern up, and the light shining in her eyes keeps her from seeing what Shoya's doing. She regrets letting these two come up with a plan, regrets not just killing everything in sight.
"Every king needs a crown. I'm glad you came with one," Shoya jokes.
"That's my dear Mella's work. She's been making them for as long as she could walk," Lushu gushes.
That thing is still on her head? She moves to touch it and gets slapped on the arm for her trouble. She heaves a heavy sigh. It feels like forever, but Shoya doesn't take much longer on the device attached to shoulders.
"Let's make you presentable, your highness," Shoya smirks and moves to mess with band around her head. "What," Shoya's smirk fades in surprise, "did she use glue? What's this thing made of?"
She remembers twisting and fuzzy flowers but not much else. She'd been completely out of her depth and had simply nodded her head to everything. Had the girl used an adhesive?
"She could have," she says with uncertainty.
"Mella is amazing," Lusu nods vigorously.
The plan is simple: launch an assault during the morning speech. Luku stands on a special platform where he repeats the same speech every day in an effort to keep the hypnosis strong. The forge lies above it and will be her ambush point.
Lushu and Shoya will be going to the ground for a special task; once it's complete they'll signal her through the use of smoke signals before slipping away.
"My own creation. You can make anything in the forge if you know the basics," Shoya says, holding up a small metal ball. "I made the smoke pink because why not."
"Didn't your father attempt to create those and lost his eyebrows?" Lushu asks.
Shoya merely smiles, and Lushu backs away with small steps. It's a marvelous idea. She decides to remain close to the exit out of precaution. Thankfully the rest of their preparations go off without any explosions, but time soon runs out. They have no choice but to get into position before someone notices them.
"Hypnosis or not, I value my life more than theirs. Do the same for yourselves and no heroics," she orders.
Lushu and Shoya salute her with solemn expressions, and she nods with a sigh. At no point in time did she want to be a king, not even as a fantasy. Dragons don't have to deal with people, she thinks with despair, just eat them.
...
"We are the few, chosen by God to lead the ones beneath us! We must rise to further heights and further ourselves before Him! To that end, I have been given the task to lead the way. It is a burden I shoulder for you. With your support behind me, our prayers will surely be heard!"
She feels her eye twitch. Up on the side of the mountain, hidden in the shade of a fluffy tree, she feels a headache coming on from the shouting below her. Perhaps it's her imagination, but Tsubasa de Tobu's hilt feels warm against her hand. Let's shut him up, the sword seems to say.
"Not yet," she whispers to the katana.
Grand, gold wings shine from the platform along with long, black hair like Lushu's. She can't see his face from here, but she's sure Luku looks identical to Luza. The thought alone makes her grit her teeth. If she falters raising her blade, she'll just have to remember this annoying speech.
"Erel Kingdom will be prosperous! It will be magnificent! I will lead the way and—"
"Wrong! You aren't the one meant to be king!" Shoya yells.
Even way up here, she can feel the sudden, shocked silence. She can make out Shoya's furious gesturing, and Lushu's black hair next to her. They stand out among silver wings without any of their own. She waits patiently for another shout.
"I AM THE KING!" Luku's annoying voice is loud enough to be heard throughout Cherub Island.
"You've fallen and a new king rises!" Lushu roars.
A screaming match ensues, and she can't understand any of it. The crowd around the platform is clearly aggravated, but no weapons rise. Shoya had theorized that with the machine turned off, the repeated words being thrown around by someone other than Luku could confuse them. It appears to be true.
"If God is behind our king, then the king will be the victorious one today!" Shoya shouts before pink smoke envelops her.
"I have no need for such a wicked brother!" Lushu cries before disappearing in a cloud of pink as well.
It's time. She moves her foot only to freeze. The ground is an awfully long way down. No, she needs to go now. She takes a deep breath, unsheathes her sword, and leaps.
"Strike true, Tsubasa de Tobu!" She cries as her wings snap out behind her.
The wings on her back are light and shine with metallic feathers. She had feared them too fragile, feared she would be jumping to her death. She's never been happier to be wrong. The wings are far more responsive than Lushu's had been and move in a way that seem to respond to her very mind.
Her wings flare out farther, and she aims for the shine of gold below her. She grins as the world itself seems to rise to meet her, and she readies Tsubasa de Tobu who sings for blood. She folds her wings in and thrusts downward with all her strength. Luku moves out of the way in time, and her sword slides into the platform instead.
She didn't think her initial attack would work—had counted on it not working in fact—but if Luku was stupid enough to just stand there then he'd deserve a blade to the head.
"Who dares? What worthless bitch dares?" Luku spits while his lip trembles.
"I dare, and I'm the furthest thing from worthless," she says, pulling her sword free to point at Luku.
She sneers and lifts her head haughtily. She usually hates theatrics—she especially finds it distasteful to use Tsubasa de Tobu's blade as a tool instead of a weapon—but there's a certain satisfaction to be had from waving her katana at this man's face.
"Followers, arrest her! I order you as your king!" Luku calls while backing up.
The purple and gold robes do nothing to hide the man's shaking. Luku nearly trips on his white cape, and she almost breaks character to smile. It would have been hilarious to watch him tumble off the stage. She catches movement in the corner of her eye and continues the act.
"You're not the king. I am. Back off all of you," she orders while flaring her wings, "or do you not believe that your God-approved king can win?"
The crowd around the platform stops at her words to glance at each other uncertainly. Weapons lower and small, crazed eyes watch the platform silently. Luku gapes at the disobedience.
"I was given golden wings as a sign!" Luku tries to appeal desperately.
"Rainbow wings, plebeian," she smiles, and her feathers shimmer tauntingly.
Granted, it's more of a silver-white that shines rainbow along the edges of the feathers. But why argue semantics? She's just glad Shoya had listened to her. The initial idea had been to fight gold with gold, but upon seeing her disgruntled expression over the suggestion, Lushu and Shoya had put their heads together to think of a different color.
"You know you look like a friend of mine," she says casually. "He has redder hair though. Name's Luza. Ever heard of him?"
Luku aims a knife at her, and she uses Tusbasa de Tobu to knock it out of his hands. She keeps the tip of the blade in his face. She's tempted to drag it across his nose.
"Why'd you do it? Why did you leave Luza to die? He was your son!" She demands.
She doesn't get an answer, but the glance to a woman wearing very little says everything. How many times had she'd seen children born out of duty and social pressure? She had almost done same before he ran away from home.
"How long have you resented him for being born?" She asks, moving her blade closer to flesh. "Speak," she demands when Luku remains silent.
"The moment it came out of that woman, and I had to spend every moment of my life with it," Luku replies stiffly, eyes full of resentment.
"You tried to kill him before then, haven't you?" She questions with narrow eyes.
Luza had painted a loving father, but Lushu had indicated a lack of closeness despite the Lodge's design. There's no evidence to suggest attempted murder, but she knows it to be true, feels it in her bones.
"No matter what I did, it never died. The accident with the sled didn't kill it and neither did drowning it," Luku says spitefully.
"Luku, what are you saying?" A mess of orange hair rushes the platform. "What have you done to him to make him lie, you monster?"
It's a momentary distraction, and Luku takes the chance to pull out another knife and a seashell—no, a Dial. She backs off, and keeps Diana and Luku in front of her. Tsubasa de Tobu stays pointed at Luku.
"Luku, punish them for making you lie! Luza is dead, and they spit on his memory," Diana says, attempting to climb up the platform. "You would never hurt our son! You only ever wanted what was right!"
Diana looks to Luku pleadingly. She doesn't know what happens to make Diana freeze, to look at Luku with such wounded eyes, but the woman backs away from the platform while shaking her head. Diana's eyes never leave Luku's even as her face twists in despair.
"You told me he was my greatest achievement. You told me he died because I was a failure of a mother. You told me I didn't deserve wings to gather his body," Diana whispers.
"You deserve nothing," Luku says coldly, "including that damn child of yours."
Diana falls to the ground with a sob as Luku rears back to throw the knife at her. She steps forward to deflect it but is left open to the Dial in Luku's hand. She gets knocked into the air by an impossibly strong wind, and her wings spring open to stop her fall. She shakes her head dazedly.
Luku took a gamble that pays off; there's no way he knew for certain she would have stepped in to save that woman. Her hand grips empty air, and she suddenly realizes Tsubasa de Tobu is gone.
"Diana!" Lushu rushes to the woman from his hiding place among the crowd only to look up at her with wide eyes. "Kuina, watch out!"
Too busy looking for her missing sword, she fails to see Luku grabbing a spear from one of the villagers and using the Dial to rush towards her. He pierces her wing with the spear before blasting her with the Dial again. She manages to grab Luku's arm before it hits her, and they both soar into the clouds beyond the island.
Luku attempts to pry her off of him, and she bashes her head against his nose. The man begins flailing in panic once they begin descending at a rapid pace. She head-butts Luku again, hard enough that she begins seeing stars, and Luku goes limp.
I'm taking you with me, she thinks as the ground greets her.
(When she thinks of her father, she thinks of a man with a smiling face and an uncaring gaze. When he thinks of his father, he thinks of a man passed out on the ground, surrounded by beer cans. He doesn't remember his last words to his father, but she holds a brush to write hers.
Kneeling on the ground and with careful strokes, it takes her three tries to get the letter right, and she doesn't understand. She should have needed only one piece of paper. Why does it take such a long time to properly convey her goodbye?
Father,
When you get this, I will have sailed away.)
Her eyes snap open, and she rolls to avoid the spear aimed at her face. A wing folded against her back pops open and slaps Luku away from her. She rubs her face tiredly. Can this day end yet?
"Why do you get in the way of my people?" Luku yells, waving the spear like a buffoon.
"I'm only getting in the way of you," she says flatly, "and it brings me great joy to make shitty fathers suffer."
She gets to her feet, wincing at the pain in her back. Her head hurts too. She looks around and sees nothing but sand and a few dead-looking trees. This must be Southside, the lowest section of the island. It had looked barren from the air, but this just is ridiculous. She expects tumbleweed to fly by at any moment.
Luku rushes her with a scream, and she punches him in the jaw. He goes down immediately. She looks at the man with a thoughtful hum. She has her knives and shuriken, but it would be much more satisfying to use her fists.
(I'm taking the sword you gifted me a few weeks ago. It should suffice.
You should have seen this coming. I will not let anyone decide my fate.
I am truly grateful to you for feeding me, teaching me, clothing me. For listening to my most important request though I know you only did so because you see Zoro's potential as I do.)
"You left him to die. You never cared about him or the Rooz. It was only a promise made to kill him," she says coolly, grabbing Luku by the front of the shirt. "Why are you such a shitty parent? What makes people like you? Answer me."
"My son is supposed to obey me!" Luku grits out with quivering pupils.
"Your son doesn't have to do shit," she says punching him in the gut. "He never chose to be your kid, but you chose to have him whether you like it or not. The one with the obligation is you!"
(Still, I cannot forgive you. You were a constant in my life, yet you were never there for me. You never cared. Everything I learned has been through my own efforts.
The greatest thing you did was not stopping me from learning. We do not love each other, so this shouldn't be a painful parting.)
"I am the rightful king. I am—" Luku gasps.
She silences him with a punch to the teeth; she thinks a few breaks beneath her fist. She could do this all day, but she's so tired and hungry. Staying up through the night is bad enough without starving, and she had to listen to that damn speech too. It's time to take out the trash and go to bed.
Bringing Luku's face closer to her own, she sees no resemblance to her cheerful friend. Good, it'll make this easier then. She didn't pick this fight to become a king or to overthrow a mad one. She only wanted justice for Luza, for herself.
Looking at this broken form of a man, she feels nothing but contempt. She will have justice. She feels it in her gut and in her throat.
"I will tell you a secret. I am no king," she hisses in his ear. "I am a dragon."
She lets go of the man and breathes. Though it feels like smoke to her, it is flames that pour out of her mouth. Golden wings catch fire, and Luku wails out in panic. She holds down a flailing arm and spits out more fire, only stopping once there are no more feathers to burn.
Grabbing the slightly crispy Luku, she drags him all the way to the edge of the island. It's not too long of a walk fortunately. Having already said everything she wanted to, she tosses the man over the edge and watches the body disappear into the clouds. She smiles grimly. It's over.
(I will not be back. Let Zoro's children inherit the dojo.
Kuina)
...
"Thanks for coming to get me," she says, biting into a hastily made pie, "and for finding Tsubasa de Tobu."
Bless Melnia with all her soul; she's never tasted anything better in her life. All Lushu had to say was that their guest was hungry and hurt, and the lady had rallied Seraph Village for food and medicine.
"No problem! We'll have your wings repaired in no time, and you'll be able to move through the island freely," Shoya says. "Though I'm still amazed at that sword of yours."
Shoya doesn't mean by the color. Upon being rescued, her first demand had been retrieving Tsubasa de Tobu. They found the sword after noticing the villagers crowding around a destroyed portrait of Luku; apparently Tsubasa de Tobu was sticking straight through his head. Erel Kingdom had accepted her right to rule after that.
"My king," Shoya purrs, "why don't you stay here? I would make a great queen."
"You would," she acknowledges, "but I have to give the queen's crown to a princess with the greenest hair in the land."
It'd be a great prank in her opinion. She plans to bring up her childhood promise to Zoro to watch his face fall. Telling him he'd be a queen would be even funnier. It'll be something to laugh over later once they part ways.
Once her wounds have been taken care of, the worst part of their assault on tyranny comes to pass: cleanup. She nods her head to Shoya and Lushu's suggestions concerning Erel Kingdom under the pretense of being a ruler. Mella runs off to make her a new "better and totally royal" flower crown.
"I don't know how, but Keiku apparently kept Luku company for years. Blue Rooz Island years. Since she didn't get Diana's permission, she's broken the law. As Keiku is my cousin, she is my responsibility. I will oversee her punishment," Shoya says.
The twinkle in Shoya's eyes makes her think of a child getting something new to play with. She doesn't have much sympathy for a woman who would cheat with Luku of all people, but she can't help but think, good luck, Keiku.
Shoya reunites with her father with a slap on the arm and a, "What have we learned about not listening to me?" while dragging Keiku behind her. All three disappear, and she pretends she doesn't hear Keiku's screaming over being shaved bald in the distance.
Lushu gives up leadership of Westside temporarily to his wife, Melnia, while he attempts to help her settle Erel Kingdom. To be honest, he does most of the work. If it weren't for the fact that her wings still needed to be fixed, she would have jumped off the island already.
"What are you going to do about Diana and Luza?" She asks, resting her head on Luku's desk.
"I will either take Diana into my home as my sister or my second wife depending on what Melnia and Diana want to do. I will be taking in Luza as my own," Lushu says firmly from a chair next to her.
There's a moment of hesitation on Lushu's end, and she tries not to fall asleep. It's hard considering at this point even the ground looks inviting.
"I will tell Luza that his father died regretting leaving him there, and that I promised to go get Luza in his place. As for how long it took," Lushu hums, "I will say it took your unique intervention to find a way back down safely."
"Is that wise?" She picks up her head to squint at Lushu.
Lies have a way of coming out sooner or later. Luza will be devastated when that happens even if not telling him that she murdered his father is rather appealing.
"Probably not, but I do not have the heart nor the strength to tell the truth," Lushu smiles sadly.
She doesn't either; she ends up requesting Lushu delay getting Luza until she leaves.
...
It'll take some time to gather the correct materials for repairs as the creation of her wings had taken the remaining stockpile, so she's stuck on Cherub Island for a while. As a late "coronation gift," Shoya invites her to the forge to send out messages. She's not quite sure what the woman means until she sees what looks like a printing press attached to three different roller-coaster tracks.
"I've never used this one, and my translation might not be perfect, but this should be able to send out a message to anyone, anywhere," Shoya says.
She watches the woman walk back and forth while muttering. Shoya pokes a few things before grabbing up a handful of metal plates.
"Alright, I've got it. Write the names of the receivers on these plates with these cables attached to your head. Think of the receiver while you write the name," Shoya says, holding up cables coming from the machine. "The plates with the messages need to be on the same track as the names."
She can't even begin to know how Shoya can figure any of this out. All the tubes, tracks, and shifting plates look like a jumbled mess. She doesn't understand the mailing process, not really.
"Your messages are going to be tiny, only as much as can fit on here," Shoya holds up a plate as big as her hand. "There's five here, so you can make multiple messages if you want."
She thinks long and hard. Five messages—does she even know that many people? With a start, she realizes she does. She actually has friends to send mail to; though it's taken this long for her to admit it.
Each plate is onetime use since the sending process destroys it. She writes her messages out carefully and with much thought. Shoya helps her send them out as soon as she finishes writing it, and she's soon left with her fifth blank plate.
"Oops," Shoya lets out.
"What is 'Oops?' " She asks with trepidation.
"I mixed up the plates from your first two messages. I'm so sorry," Shoya apologizes with a facepalm.
Her first two are—ah. Oops, indeed. She looks down at the last plate with a frown. She could use this to correct the mistake, but there was a special message she'd been saving for last. Oh well, she'll just have to clear the air in person.
...
(The first message:
I hope you've gotten stronger. I'll be coming to challenge you. That sword you have is special, and only the best can wield it. Prove to me that I shouldn't take it.
Wait for me,
Kuina
There's a slight widening of unusual yellow eyes and an amused twist of the lips. A humandrill that had bravely wandered close to the castle retreats with a scream as loud, booming laughter echoes into the surrounding area.
...
The second message:
A strangely shaped cylinder rockets towards his head, and he cuts it in half without hesitation. Upon inspection, a tiny piece of paper rests inside one of the sliced halves. If it's a trap, better to spring it before the captain does.
"I hope you die," he reads.
"What the hell?" He asks, eyebrows twitching.
...
The third message:
I gained wings. I'll be looking for a pair of fins soon. You better step up your game.
Kuina
His sharp tooth grin leaves his current companions wary. He slings a bag over his shoulder and sinks back into the ocean. He's got a race to win.
...
The fourth message:
"Madam Shilla, Roberto, I hope you are well. I made it to the Grand Line, and each day is a new surprise. I still have Tsubasa de Tobu. Thinking of you, Kuina. P.S. Get married already," she reads tearfully.
"Still a child, I see," Roberto says gruffly.
She taps her painted nails against the piece of paper with a thoughtful frown. Her dear Kuina must be so lonely on the Grand Line. Is she getting enough to eat? Enough sleep?
"No, absolutely not," Roberto says with alarm.
She smiles sweetly in reply.
...
The fifth message:
Father,
I am sorry for how I left, but I am not sorry for leaving. I have much to tell you about my adventures. I will return one day, so let's have tea.
Love,
Kuina)