And I'm back! Far from completely healed and I've had to edit this chapter nearly eight times cause my head's still a bit foggy and I took the story down some crazy rabbit trail that would have cost me all of my readers.

Anyway this chapter was meant to be finished and published days ago, but it's slow going and I'm having a hard time focusing. I apologize in advance if some parts of this chapter don't make complete sense.

Chapter 13

Marcy sat in the snow examining her new temporary limb. Her eyes were dull looking, half lidded as they slowly shifted back and forth from the metal contraption to it's builder. Ussop swallowed thickly every time pastel eyes stared at him. He had a nice wall of snowing forming around him, though it would do no good if Marcy decided to attack him. He prayed Marcy didn't attack him. She hadn't said a single thing to him, not a word. The only acknowledgement he had received from her besides the dull glances was her pointing the substitute limb at him and glaring. For some reason that moment brought the memory of the cannibalism conversation back to his mind. He shuddered before casting a glance at Marcy, she met his gaze. Ussop swallowed thickly again as her lips spread in a nasty sneer. Had her teeth always been so sparkly and sharp?

Zoro had seated himself between the two, but slightly behind them. He was waiting for Marcy to attack Ussop. He was rather worried for Ussop's sake. When Zoro regained consciousness last night, he had heard Marcy mumbling to herself. He could only make out one part of her mumblings, but it left him rather worried. He was positive he had heard her say 'I'm not human so it's not cannibalism.' shortly followed by, 'Maybe Sanji will cook him if I ask nicely.' Yeah, Zoro was just a bit worried, but honestly, did anyone really think that lump of limb was going to go over well with Marcy? With a sigh, he began speaking, gaining both the possibly cannibalistic doll's and the terrified sniper's attention.

"Ussop, you wanna tell her what that thing on her arm does before she decides to just eat you?" Marcy grinned as if to confirm that she was planning on eating Ussop. Ussop nodded vigorously, partly crouched behind his defensive wall of snow.

"Alright, well, first things first. All of the controlling mechanisms are on the inside. I figured that once it was attached to you, you could control it about the same way you do with the rest of your body." Marcy nodded her head affirmation. The threads that connected to her heart wove through her body like nerves and acted like internal controls. They moved according to Marcy's needs to create the appropriate movements and happenings. She already had tendrils probing the inside of the thing on her arm. "Good. So I tried to keep things close to what your used to. There should be a small dial on the left side a few inches from the connective area." Marcy nodded, coiling tendrils around the knob. "It turns to the left, you should hear a click." The knob turned easily, a click sounded, and the contraption went from being cylindrical to forming a spike about six inches longer then it had been. Marcy nodded. She didn't look impressed, but she was far from being against the idea of eating Ussop. "Turn it one more click." Marcy did as told and the spike collapsed as a pincher type of thing extended. Marcy still did not look impressed. "Turn the knob one more time, please." The pincher folded away and the thing shifted into an open ended funnel. Marcy gazed at Ussop curiously. "This one is by far the best form of the three. It's capable of firing anything you choose at a speed as fast if not faster then a gun or a cannon! The size adjusts to suit whatever you decide to fire. Now, I've created-" A small pop sounded shortly before a small pinkish red ball slammed into Ussop's forehead. A welt formed between his eyes and he grumbled. "Alright, as I was saying, I made special bullets for you to u-" Another pop sounded just before one of the needles Marcy usually wielded like a blade tore a hole in Ussop's snow wall. Zoro's face went black while Ussop shrieked. For some reason, Zoro had the feeling that Marcy would be shooting things at them now. "Let's just move on to the last few features. Turn the knob back to it's starting position." Marcy did as told. Her arm thing returned to it's original state. "Now, there's a small lever. Pull that." Her arm thing split open in four pieces, resembling a metal flower. Silence reigned. Marcy had no clue what the hell this was supposed to be and her displeasure was overtly evident. Ussop shuddered in fear as she turned bland eyes to him.

"What is that?" Zoro watched curiously. It was rather dumb looking.

"That is the greatest feature of all! THE UTILITY FLOWER!" Ussop shouted with pride, hands on hips and nose in the air. A multitude of things sprung free from each segment. One segment had knives, each about three inches long, with different blade types, a pair of scissors, and a small slot filled with needles of varying thickness and length. The next segment had screwdrivers. The third one had spools of different things, wire, thread, twine for stitches in flesh, some type of elastic thread, and what looked to be barbed wire. The final segment had odd things to say the least. There was a pair of tweezers, a cark screw, a bottle cap opener, and a lighter. "Now, no matter what, you'll always be prepared for anything!" The four segments snapped closed. Marcy's face was shadowed as her head was bowed. Slowly her uncovered eye snapped to Ussop, it was wide and glistening with nasty intentions, mouth pulling wide. Ussop didn't notice as he continued on with his proud boasting. A chill ran down Zoro's spine. God, that doll knew how to be creepy.

"Ussop~?" Marcy called. The sniper turned to her proudly, but froze, going paler then the snow wall around him.

"Y-yes?" She stood, but made no move toward him.

"I am not a utility bag." She took two steps towards the shivering sniper. Zoro watched, he was only going to interfere unless Ussop was near death.

"Yes. Sorry." Ussop bowed, hands held up and pressed together with head bowed.

"And You will have a new ARM built for me quickly." She moved closer. Ussop dove behind Zoro. Zoro tried to shake him off, but Ussop clung to him like a fungus.

"A-a-a-about that. . . Umm. . . Well. I never really managed to get material for your bones or anything and this place doesn't have any. . . I checked already. So, I can't really make an arm for you yet." Zoro ducked when Marcy let out a string of garbled shouts and swung her club of an arm. He knew the agony that thing could inflict and he wasn't about to take another blow to the head. Ussop however he didn't dodge quite fast enough as the club caught his nose and caused it to crunch, bending at an odd angle. Ussop shrieked and Marcy lunged. Zoro moved to intercept, but stopped, confused.

Marcy had stopped short, her club like hand just inches from Ussop's skull, a blank look bending her face. Pastel eyes shifted to stare into the distance. The three pirates remained in their halted positions for several moments.

Zoro tensed further. He could feeling a killing aura rippling around them, directed entirely on Marcy. His eyes became fixed on the same point as Marcy. He saw nothing, but the edge of the mountain. That didn't faze him. He knew she was here. He could feel it and he could smell the faint burn of acid in the air. His eyes snapped to Marcy as she began to work her way towards that point.

"Marcy." Zoro's deep voice called. There was no definite meaning behind the way he called her name, but it meant more then could be explained in words. Marcy seemed to understand. She turned her eye toward him and met his gaze. Zoro snorted, falling back into the snow and closing his eyes. Marcy continued forward, vanishing in the falling snow.

She wandered for a moment, following a strange itch that called to her. She followed that itch until music filled the air, faint and sad. She had heard this song before back in Logue Town, in that small shop as she held that stupid doll in her hands. Marcy came to a stop when the music was at it's loudest. Above head level and a few yards ahead of Marcy, floated a rippling purple cloud. It hovered several feet away from the edge of the mountain. On that cloud sat a girl with acid green hair. She hummed with the sad tune that flowed from a porcelain and satin doll that she held in her small hands. The child grinned at Marcy.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come." The girl laughed. It was light and airy and very unnatural. "I'm glad you did though. I have big news for you."

"Honestly, I don't really care."

"Now, that was just rude." Marcy stuck her tongue out at the girl, who sighed in annoyance. "Can I just tell you what I came to tell you?" Marcy looked away with arms crossed and pout on her face. She shook her head in the negative. "And why not?" A tic mark formed on the girl's head.

"I'm not talking to you unless you give me a name to call you by." The girl almost snarled at Marcy.

"I told you to call me-" Marcy cut the girl off.

"I'm NOT calling you Big Sis nor will I call you any abbreviation or form of my name."

"Those are the only names I was ever given."

"By that ass hat, Raux, right?" The girl nodded, shocked. "You obviously don't like him, so pick your own name already."

"But children are named by their parents and Ryuuden never gave me a name." Marcy gave the girl a look that stated the girl was stupid.

"You're not a child. You never were." The girl opened her mouth to argue, but Marcy continued on. "Shut up and give me a name or I'm leaving." The girl stared at Marcy long and hard. She was aggravated. Why did it matter what she called her? She was just a doll borrowing a human's body. In a few decades or sooner she would abandon this one and steal a new one. A name was unimportant. In that moment, with that thought, a memory sparked to life in both of the doll's minds. It linked them, solidifying a bond that had always existed somewhere deep down and unseen.

Ryuuden smiled bright as he stared down at his frowning child. She had only been alive for a week and a day, she was still so very young and so very unaware. Ryuuden wanted her to know everything, but he didn't want to spoil her. He knew already that she was very much informed on the logical aspects of everything in this world, he had no idea how she was, but it was obvious by the glint in her eyes. It was the heart, he guessed, that gifted her with the most basics of logic. Still, his darling doll burned with curiosity. Just moments ago she'd asked him about names and meanings.

" You see, Marcy, All names have a meaning. My dearly departed wife's name was Mary, which meant of the sea. Never before had I met a woman who loved the sea more then the fish themselves." Ryuuden smiled as memories flooded his mind. Memories of his beautiful wife and her love of the sea. Marcy stared at him as he came back from his memories. "Point is, every name is special and has a meaning."

"Alright, what does your name mean then?" Ryuuden froze, a twitch jerking his body before he turned to his daughter with nervous laughter.

"It doesn't really have a meaning."

"You just said that all names have meanings."

"I know. But you see, my name is just two words put together cause my parents thought it sounded nice." Marcy snorted at him.

"So not all names have meanings."

"Don't you get smart with me, young lady."

"I'm confused again."

"Some names have meanings that aren't written down. A personal meaning, I guess."

"Still confused." Ryuuden grumbled for a moment scratching at his stubble.

"I told you about the slaves right?" Marcy nodded. "Say a slave was named by their master." Marcy nodded again. "The name their master gave them would symbolize their slavery, the fact that they are someone's property. It would mean that they are a slave, not even capable of choosing what they are called. Does that make things a bit more clear?" Marcy blinked twice.

"Yeah, I guess." She scratched her head. "So what does my name mean?" A nervous sweat drop ran down Ryuuden's face.

"Well, it's the female form of Marcus which means warlike. . ." Ryuuden grinned at Marcy, who turned away.

"That's stupid."

"HEY!" Marcy ignored him. "C'mon! Think of it as representing how much Papa loves you!" She continued to ignore him. "HEY! I said you could pick your name and you said you liked that one!"

"ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONE YOU WANTED TO CALL ME!"

"I DIDN'T MAKE YOU PICK IT! AND DON'T YELL AT YOUR FATHER!"

"I. . . I wasn't expecting that. . ." The girl whispered, once the memory released the dolls. "I mean. I knew you had caught a glimpse of my past yesterday, that was why I decided to come here, but I didn't know we could do that."

"Yesterday?" Marcy blinked.

"Yeah. I've always been able to tap into you. It's how I knew you had come out of that insanity. I figured if I could do that then you could do the same, but I didn't think we could manage it at the same time like that."

"What was that?" The girl blinked at Marcy before grinning.

"I'll tell you later, but didn't you want a name?" Marcy nodded. After a long moment of silence, the girl grinned. " Call me Sesi. It means sister."

"Alright. Sesi, what did you want to talk to me about?" The girl, Sesi, felt an odd warm feeling course through her. She felt lighter, more free. Had riding herself of the name forced upon been that liberating? Could choosing her own name really make that much of a difference? Sesi doubted it. It was just the way Marcy had said her new name. With that warm accepting tone that spoke of affection and pride. That was what this feeling was from. It was not caused by changing her name. That would just be absurd, though she was rather proud of her new name. It was different and beautiful. And now Marcy had to refer to her as her sister! Sesi smiled in serene triumph. Marcy was slightly disturbed by the expression.

"I have some information that would really be useful to you."

"I highly doubt that." Sesi threw Marcy a rather mocking look.

"Since the last time you saw me, I've been hunting down and killing any and all members of Raux's crew. So, I've got pretty good tabs on all of their movements." Marcy's eyes narrowed.

"And why would you do that?"

"I hate Raux. Very much so. Actually I hate him more then you could possibly imagine. I'm . . . incapable of killing Raux himself and several specific members of his crew, but I'm doing all that I can to hinder him."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sesi smiled. It was devious and nasty. Marcy felt fear and anxiety curl in her gut.

"I'm telling you because without me doing all of this, you and your friends would have been attacked almost constantly by this point. That would make saving Alabasta very hard, wouldn't it?" Marcy nodded. Sesi smiled brighter. "I'm simply hoping that when the time comes, you'll return the favor."

"What favor?" Sesi waved her hand dismissively.

"We'll discuss that later, but for now, I've got something you just have to hear." Sesi's eyes held such a morbid intensity that Marcy couldn't break away from her stare. "One of Raux's top men works for Crocodile." Sesi's cloud floated closer, so that she could lean down to whisper into Marcy's satin ear. "She has the third stone~!" Marcy's eyes went wide.

"What was that about?" Ussop questioned, scratching at his head and staring in the direction Marcy wandered. "Wasn't she going to beat my brains out?" Zoro didn't even crack an eye open.

"She had to go take care of something."

"All the way up here?"

"Mm." Zoro sat up as Luffy began to come into view. "Some problems just follow you." With the glance Zoro shot in the direction Marcy wandered, Ussop had a sudden realization on what that 'something' was.

"Y-you mean, that g-girl followed us here?" Ussop stared intently into the falling snow. Waiting for signs to show Marcy was fighting. He swallowed thickly. They should go to Marcy. They should be there with her. Zoro grunted in response to Ussop. Ussop rounded on him. "WAIT! YOU KNEW THAT AND YOU JUST LET HER GO ALL ALONE LIKE THAT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!? SHE COULD BE GETTING TORN TO PIECES RIGHT NOW!" Zoro snorted and rolled his eyes.

"She wanted go by herself." Zoro watched Luffy in a bored manner as the boy panted and shouted at the little reindeer. "Besides, she's already on her way back to us." Ussop turned and true to Zoro's word, Marcy's form was slowly coming into view. She had no wounds, but her face was contorted in frustration.

"HEY, REINDEER!" Marcy's eyes snapped up at Luffy's shout, a surprised look overtaking the frustration. "JUST COME AND BE A PIRATE WITH US!" Marcy smiled wearily and shook her head. When she came to a stop beside Ussop, he looked away from her and to Luffy.

"Give it up, Luffy. You've been chasing him for a long time, but he's still running away."

"Maybe he doesn't want to become a pirate." Zoro added.

"Or maybe he thinks you're going to try to eat him again." Marcy grumbled.

"He tried to eat him?"

"Yup. Oh and Ussop?"

"Hmm?" A loud whumping crack filled the air and Ussop hit the ground twitching and bleeding. Zoro flinched in remembrance of the pain that Marcy's club like hand caused him. Poor Ussop didn't stand a chance.

"How can you know that? I want to take him with me." Luffy shouted at Zoro, while Marcy used Ussop as a couch. Every time the poor sniper twitched, Marcy knocked him over the head.

"THAT'S ONLY YOUR DECISION!" Zoro screamed looking aggravated. He was ignored, by everyone.

"REINDEER! REINDEER!" Luffy shrieked annoyingly and slowly but surely the little reindeer came into view. "AH! REINDEER! Hey, you want to become a pirate with me, right?" The little guy looked sad and determined, scared maybe.

"That's impossible." His tiny voice stated. Marcy felt a desire to hug the little thing course through her.

"Why is it impossible? A pirate's life is very fun, you know?" Ussop twitched and Marcy slammed her club like hand onto his head. Zoro poked her with a sheathed sword.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard there?" Marcy looked at him, raised her club hand, and grinned. Zoro grimaced back. "You're right, carry on."

"I really want to. Thank you." Marcy stood and stared. The little guy was near tears. "But I'm a reindeer. I have hooves and horns. I also have a blue nose!" Luffy was frowning. Everyone else just watched. "Actually. . . . I want to be a pirate, too! But I'm a monster, not human! I'm a monster! I can't be friends with humans! That's why I cam here just to thank you! . . . Thank you for asking me. But I will stay here. If you're bored, just come to visit me sometimes." Tears began their trail down his fur covered cheeks.

"That's stupid!" Marcy grumbled, the reindeer stared at her. "I'm not human. I'm covered in patches and stitches and now I've got this stupid utility club thing for a hand. I'm made of clothe and stone and whatever else has been used to repair me. I don't heal. I just get patched up. I don't bleed, I just ooze some kind of gel. I don't have a heart beat or a brain or any other organ. If not being human makes you a monster, then I'm one as well, so we can be friends!" Tears flowed freely, dampening his brown fur. Marcy slowly trekked through the snow towards him.

"But you look human! I don't! I'm a reindeer that walks on two legs and talks! I'm a m-" She cut him off before he could finish.

"You are Chopper, an adorable little fellow that's being too hard on himself." Her satin arms curled around him and she lifted Chopper off the ground and into her chest. Marcy nuzzled her face into his soft brown fur. His little arms curled around her shoulders as best they could. Chopper's tears soaked into Marcy's jacket as a beautiful reassuring hum began to dance through his tiny body.

"JUST SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy screamed to the heavens. Chopper sobbed harder.

"You heard the boy." Marcy whispered and Chopper nodded.

"O.K.!"

After Chopper managed to calm down, he took off to pack his things and say his goodbye's, leaving his new crew and family outside waiting. Marcy glared at the ground in thought while the others talked. Something inside her made it clear that she should tell them about the visit she had from . . . Sesi, but she didn't want too. She didn't want them to point pout the fact that she was blindly listening to the words of a being who had left it unclear about her intentions towards Marcy and them, but it was her only lead.

"Marcy?" Vivi's soft voice pulled her attention back to the group. Everyone was staring at her, except for Sanji who was lying on the ground unconscious. Marcy blinked at her curiously. "Is something wrong? You look very bothered."

"Yeah, Vivi's right." Ussop added, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Does it have something to with that girl from earlier?" That gained everyone's complete attention. Luffy's smile faded slightly and Nami's eye widened.

"Girl?" Vivi questioned.

"Yeah. There's this girl, well, a doll that steals bodies, she claims to be Marcy's sister and well, I'm not sure if she's with us or against us, but she's really creepy." Ussop explained. Vivi nodded in slight horrified fascination.

"And she was here? Earlier?" Vivi looked almost terrified. Marcy nodded, looking down out of embarrassment.

"Her name is Sesi. . . Well that's the name she picked for herself anyway." Marcy mumbled.

"What'd she want?" Luffy asked. His face wasn't stern and serious, but it wasn't smiling either. The expression made Marcy uneasy.

"She had information for me. . . .about the third stone." Her friends responded the way she predicted.

"You can't really believe her, right?" Nami exclaimed. "I mean, she may not have said she was our enemy, but she made it clear she didn't want to help us!"

"I'm with Nami on this." Ussop agreed. "She didn't strike me as the kind to do something for free. I suspect she only gave you that information so you would owe her and I don't think you would really want to be in debt to a person who steals bodies."

"Hold on, you two. Shouldn't you at least let Marcy tell us what Sesi told her before you decide on whether or not trust the information?" Vivi reasoned. Nami and Ussop grumbled a bit, but said nothing more. "Go on, Marcy." Marcy sighed, shuffling her feet nervously in the snow.

"She said that one of Raux's most trusted crew members is working for Crocodile as well. Sort of like a side job, but it's mainly that woman's sick idea of fun. Sesi told me that she's some guy called Bon Clay's partner."

"Bon Clay's partner? Miss Thanksgiving?" Vivi whispered. "I heard about her, but I've never met her. Very few have. I heard that she was part of a different group as well, but I wasn't sure on the validity of that. From what I know, she's completely deranged. It's believed that she has devil fruit powers but nothing has been confirmed. All that I know for sure, is that she constantly changes her physical appearance. Every aspect of it except, her eyes are always a type of green and most of her is a deep black, usually long. Nothing else about her stays the same for very long."

"A-alright. Well, what's the big deal about her anyway?" Nami demanded.

"Sesi said that she had the third stone. Raux left it with her to keep it safe." Marcy scratched at the back of her head in slight anxiety. "That woman treasures it. Considers it her sacred duty to watch the stone for Raux, says he's her beloved or something like that. Sesi told me that that woman embedded the stone into her own body, so that no one could take it away from her. . ." Everyone's face held varying degrees of shock and disgust at this. Luffy was the first to get over it.

"Well, it's a good thing we're going to go kick Crocodile's ass already! We'll get two things done at once!" Luffy grinned brightly. Zoro and Nami shot Marcy a look, neither smiled.

"You gunna tell them, or should I?" Zoro asked. Marcy glanced at him and sighed. Luffy was rambling on about how cool Marcy was going to be when she was human and all of the things they would be able to do together and experience. She didn't want to ruin his excitement.

"Luffy?" He 'hmm'ed in response. Looking at her with big blinking eyes. "I need to find two more pieces. It's not just the last stone that I need now." Luffy blinked.

"So there are more stones you need then?" Marcy shook her head.

"No. I need. . .well, I guess the other two pieces would be like a brain and a soul, possibly." Luffy blinked again before grinning with a laugh.

"You don't have a brain!" Marcy promptly began to slam her utility club (that's what she'd officially named it) into Luffy's rubber skull. In the midst of Luffy's bludgeoning, Chopper came charging towards them.

"I'M BEING CHASED!" Marcy released Luffy and raised an eyebrow. "EVERYONE HOP ON! WE'RE GOING DOWN NOW!" Without a second thought, Marcy launched herself towards the sleigh pulling reindeer. Everyone else piled into the sleigh, Marcy choose to latch herself to Chopper's back and ride him like a horse.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" She shrieked as they descended the rope down the mountain. Her grin was wider then Luffy's and she giggled happily.

"NO FAIR!" Luffy shouted. "Nami! I wanna ride on Chopper's back too!" Nami rounded on Marcy with sharp scary teeth.

"WOULD YOU GET OFF HIM!" Marcy blew a raspberry at Nami.

"You're just jealous, you witch!"

"WITCH! I'LL SHOW YOU A WITCH!" Marcy raised herself up off Chopper slightly. Just enough to firmly pat her bottom at Nami while sticking her tongue out and pylling her eyelid down. Nami roared in rage.