NOTES: Alright guys, I know it's been a really long time, but here is another chapter. I actually had this finished last year already (yeah, I know), but I ended up being spirited away towards other things, such as KHR (of the non-yaoi sort) and real-life dramatics that totally killed my desire to work on this. Fortunately, thanks to a random PM of randomness, I decided to try to pick it back up and maybe even finish it. I know… le gasp. Nehs finishing a large, multi-chaptered story; the world's gonna end. I'm also sprucing-up things from the past few chapters to fix typos, word order/usage and the like. I'm a whole year older with a whole year of working on my writing behind me.
REVIEWER THANKS: Dixxy and Rose, thank you very much. Now, let's do this.
Inherited Will, Destiny if the Age
Chapter Fifty
Rika: Rocky Landing
I don't remember how long we were sailing exactly before we came up to Isla de Navi. We landed on the forested side of the island, being as the town was on the other side on top a cliff. Dan was really excited when we got there, since he hadn't seen his home island in well over a year.
"It's gonna be so much fun!" he said as we were anchoring Sorrow-go just outside the shallows. "I have to introduce you to my Uncle Alex! He's really cool! Then I can tell them everything about Drum and that it's a good place again!"
"Hold your horses, Squirt," Paulie-ji said as he yanked on Dan's collar. "We're on the other side of the island; save your energy for later."
"Okay!" Dan smiled. After Paulie-ji let him go, he jumped into the dinghy we were going to use to get to shore. He seemed excited, which I can't blame him. I would be that excited too if I knew the island we were on had my mom. It made me a little sad, but still glad in a way. We were a hike away from bringing Dan safely back to his uncle.
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Aisa-chan said once we got to shore.
"What, are you that attached to Dan?" Kappa-kun snorted. He was looking at Dan with one of his angry faces as he ran around on the beach.
"No, something feels off about this place," Aisa-chan said. "It doesn't feel like the other islands we've been landing on."
"You're superstitious," Piiman-kun laughed. "Let's just head on over to the town. The sooner we get Dan back, the sooner we can relax… right?"
"Right!" Dan chimed in. He and Dan then rushed up the hill we were at the foot of, leaving the rest of us to catch up. I got them easily, so did Aisa-chan and Ninjin-kun, but the others seemed to have a tougher time.
"Stop running so fast you guys!" Chabo-kun shouted. I just laughed and began to run backwards.
"You have to catch me first!"
"Captain, I have to agree with Aisa on this one!" Tamanegi-kun yelled. "This foliage looks like it had some unusual stress within the past few months!" I began to run forward again and looked at Aisa-chan.
"Is that what you sensed?" I asked.
"No, but it might have something to do with it," she said. We came to a stop at the top of the hill and were in a clearing. A bunch of trees were on the other side of the clearing, which Dan immediately headed towards.
"The village's on the other side of the trees there!" he cried excitedly. He began looking around in the tall grass for something as the rest of us walked towards him.
"This ground feels unnaturally unsteady," Tamanegi-kun said. He kicked at the dirt a little and frowned. "This grass seems shorter than the rest as well."
"Much anger rests in this soil," Aisa-chan said.
"Now you can talk to dirt?" Paulie-ji asked?
"Aisa-chan knows what she's doing," I said. "Leave her alone Paulie-ji."
"Look at this Tashigi-sis!" Dan-kun giggled as he ran up to Tashigi-chan. He held up a rusty little sword that wasn't much bigger than a large knife. "I hid this away under that rock there before I left!"
"That's nice," Tashigi-san said, her voice kinda deadpan. She hadn't put too much emotion into anything she said since she apologized to us about running away. I said that I didn't care, but she probably didn't listen. Hey, I'm not going to make her decisions for her, but I certainly don't want her to feel alone either.
"Can we please to the village now? This place is giving me the willies," Moda said as she grabbed the back of my shirt. It always amazed me how easily Moda got scared, so I never really argued with it. We went forward some more. We went into the trees and once we couldn't see the field anymore, Tashigi-chan drew her sword.
"Stand back," she said. Tashigi-chan jumped to the head of the group and began walking carefully.
"What's going on Tashigi-sis?" Dan-kun asked. "Why're you doing that?"
"I've smelled this stench before," she said, looking around quickly.
"Stench? Are you a dog now?" Paulie-ji asked sourly.
"She thinks it's a stench, but it's more of a presence," Aisa-chan said. I didn't know what was up. I felt like everything was normal.
"What are you talking about?" Ninjin-kun asked. "What are you two mean by stench and presence?"
"It reminds me of home," Tashigi-chan snapped. That was kinda funny. Why would she say that this place reminded her of home if she didn't feel like everything was on the level? She confuses me sometimes.
"Well, if you guys are so afraid, then I'm gonna go ahead without you," I said, taking Dan by the hand and walking further into the trees.
"No, we have to go back Taisa," Tashigi-chan argued.
"I'm taking Dan home like I promised."
"Then think of Dan!" she roared. I stopped dead in my tracks.
So that's what they meant.
"Back to the ship," I said, turning around on my heel. Dan-kun tugged at my hand.
"I thought we were going to go see Uncle Alex!" he pouted.
"Not quite yet," I said. "I think we forgot something on the ship…"
"Liar!" Dan-kun shouted. He pulled away from my hand and began running towards his village.
"Idiot…!" Aisa-chan hissed as she bolted off after him. The rest of us started to run too, but we were not quick enough. Dan-kun was standing at the edge of the trees when we finally caught up to him, not believing his eyes.
The village on Isla de Navi lay before us in a smoky pit of ashes. It didn't seem like anyone was still around. This was why Aisa-chan didn't want Dan-kun to come. He was expecting his uncle to be here, but he isn't now. Maybe this was what had happened to Tashigi-chan's village too, if she was able to recognize the feeling.
"Uncle Alex!" Dan-kun shouted as he began to walk through the burned village. "Uncle Alex! Miss Sakaki! Elder Hiru! Lucy! Where is everyone!?"
"This doesn't look good," Chabo-kun said. He touched a doorframe which immediately collapsed. "Whoever did this must've come a while ago."
"The questions is though, who did it?" Tamanegi-kun asked. He scratched his chin, thinking about what we saw.
"Straw Hat-sis!" Dan cried, running up to me. "No one's here! Where is everyone?"
"I don't know," I said.
"Paulie, come with me," Tashigi-chan said. She and Paulie-ji went up into a tall stone tower that seemed like it was in the middle of the village. Kappa-kun quickly followed them.
"I wonder what had happened here," Tamanegi-kun said as he looked at some burn marks in the grass. All the ground was grass, except some burned lines that looked like they came from whatever burned the rest of the village. Paulie-ji, Kappa-kun and Tashigi-chan came down from the tower with sheet-white faces.
"We've got ourselves a problem," Paulie-ji said, holding out a piece of paper. Tamanegi-kun took it and stared.
"Law?" he asked.
"None other," Kappa-kun sighed. "That's why everything's like this."
Huh? Law? That didn't make much sense.
"Law?" I asked. "Like in a law that's supposed to be followed?"
"No, law as in Trafalgar Law, an offshoot-pirate to the fleet of the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo," Tamanegi-kun said. "He had many pirates loyal to him in the North Blue and when the world went under, his contacts were spread throughout the world. He's one of Boss Jango and Fullbody's biggest traders."
Boss Jango and Fullbody?!
"Then these people are long gone," Ninjin-kun sighed. "They never let anyone get away."
I looked at the paper sitting in Tamanegi-kun's hand. It was of a round, smiling face that had little branches coming from it. A pair of deep purple, furious eyes flashed before me. It was suddenly raining again. I gasped.
"What's wrong Rika-san?" Moda-chan asked, snapping me back to Isla de Navi. "You look pale."
"I was just remembering something, that's all," I said softly. I can't tell them about the man with the wild purple eyes. I just… can't.
"Then let's get looking for something that could help us find them," Tashigi-chan said. "Moda, please watch Dan."
The rest of us split up into groups as we began to search, leaving Moda-chan and Dan sitting in the grassy town square. Chabo-kun went with me as we went into some burnt buildings.
"Kind of spooky how this place turned out, huh?" he asked as we went through some charred papers.
"Yeah," I answered. I was still thinking about that night so long ago, so I must not've sounded like myself.
"What's the matter Captain Rika?" Chabo-kun asked. "You're shaking."
"It's nothing," I said, dumping a desk drawer on the floor. "I'm fine."
"Rika!" Chabo-kun said, grabbing my arm. He looked scared… like I was scaring him. I could feel my eyes filling with tears. Ah, damn. Chabo-kun gave me a hug and I started to cry.
I could see the tavern where I worked as a teenager. My parents and Luffy-nii were long dead and it was all I had. An unusual customer had walked in, wanting to know where Morgan was. He talked funny and ordered lots of grog. He hid his eyes behind sunglasses, even though it was night and raining.
"W'en d' yeh t'ink said Morgan's gonna make 'is return Rosie?" he asked, looking up at me as I served him his drinks.
"I don't know," I said. The man made me nervous, asking for Morgan like he was. Sure there wasn't a soul inside the tavern that didn't hate Morgan and wanted to teach him a lesson, but no one there could have done anything. Soon, it was closing time. The owner was on the other side of town, so it was my job to throw out the stranger.
"Sir, it's time for you to leave," I said, lightly tapping him on the shoulder. Before I could realize it, my body was thrown to the wall by an invisible force. I went to scream for help, but the man stood up and shoved his hand over my mouth.
"No use callin' fer anyone, Rosie. T'ey're all tucked up in t'er beds. No one cares 'bout w'a 'appens t' yeh," he whispered, his breath reeking of grog. I wasn't sure if it was the drink talking or not. "So t'en Rosie, 'ow ol' are yeh? Sev'n'een? Eig'een? Yeh know it's not right fer a girlie yer age t' be workin' all 'lone in a place like this. Yeh could get 'urt." He smelled my hair, sending a shiver down my spine.
"Rika…!" gasped the owner, Diin. He was standing at the doorway, looking shocked.
"Tis is none've yeh business," the man said. He raised a hand and Diin flew into the wall and was knocked unconscious.
"Now w'ere were we?" he chuckled. "Tell meh Rosie, ar' yeh scared?"
My jaw was let loose, just long enough for me to chomp down on his hand. I bit his pinky finger clean off on accident. He howled in pain and I fell to the ground. I tried to spit out the finger, but it forced itself down; I almost choked because it tasted so nasty.
"'Ow dare yeh Rosie!" he screamed, kicking me. His sunglasses had come off, his eyes driving into me like nothing I had ever seen before. They were the color of a royal purple and an angry thunderhead at the same time. He kicked me again and again and left in a fury.
I later learned he was Donquixote Doflamingo and that I could no longer swim.
Author's Notes
I totally made up that accent for Doflamingo. When I read One Piece, that's how it comes out in my brain. Hey, Jewelry Bonney comes out as a hard-ass Southern belle and Duval sounds something like the dude who voiced Jango and Mr. 2 Bon Clay, heavy on the okama. –shrugs- I don't make the voice appear in my head; they just do.
This chapter was also fairly edited from the original that I found on my computer, so bear with me, please.
