DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE
Just so ya'll know, this is a rather short chapter compared to what I've been posting, and I apologize for that :( Hopefully, my next chapter will be up by Thursday, and that will make up for this one :)
Chapter Fifty-Two
The Heart Pirates didn't have time to deal with the people flooding from the doors of the mansion, screaming in fear of the fire that raged in the building. Law used his Devil Fruit powers to remove people from the area, more to get them out of his way then to help them survive. Killian and Tino ran in ahead, shoving people and stepping over the bodies that littered the floor, burnt beyond recognition. Nate stayed outside, running around the building with Bepo, trying to find where Mara was in the building based off her scent. If Bepo went into the building and got too much smoke in his nose, it would be a lost cause.
Penguin and Shachi flanked their captain, ignoring when he used his blade to cut men and women down who were grasping onto his sleeves for help. They watched everything, looking for their girl among the people who were shoving to get through the windows and side doors. When they didn't see her at all, they felt an increasing worry grip at them. She couldn't have died, could she? This bomb and fire couldn't have killed the girl who was able to survive a blast from Kuma with her quick thinking. Definitely not the girl who took down Akainu to save her brothers without a care for her own safety. Not the girl who fought with all her strength to take down and kill a madman who had meant to kill their entire crew.
Mara wouldn't be taken down by some cliché bombs going off at a party.
Killian and Tino returned to the group after scouting downstairs. "We looked everywhere." Tino explained covering his mouth with his sleeve so as not to draw too much smoke into his lungs. "Mara's not anywhere. We can't get upstairs, captain."
Law followed them around the fountain, which he believed must have looked beautiful at one point, but was now a crumbled mess of concrete and evaporating water in the middle of the room. At the base of the stairs, Law saw the problem—the stairs themselves were a burning inferno. Large pieces of concrete from the fountain, the sizes of small boats, covered the majority of the stairs. He knew he could move them with his Devil Fruit powers, but when he tried, nothing happened.
The four men surrounding their captain looked at him in shock. Law tried again, concentrating hard, but again, nothing happened. He was reminded of the problem that they faced on that island with the dinosaurs, but figured that this couldn't have been the work of the same Devil Fruit from before. There had to be something else that was wrong.
"The air…" Killian looked in the air after Law spoke, expecting an attack from up above, but frowned when he saw nothing. When he questioned his captain about it, Law grit his teeth and cursed. "There's something wrong with the air."
"Do you think it's like…sea-stone mist in the air?" Tino asked unsure if something like that was even real. Killian shrugged, wondering the same thing as his brother.
Law shrugged and stalked forward, intent on forcibly moving the concrete blocks from his path to get up the stairs to find her.
"Why won't you let me touch you?!"
Law stilled, having heard the booming and slightly familiar voice from above. The four crew members paused as well, each looking up at the second floor to see if they could spot the source of the voice. They couldn't be sure, but assumed that it was the voice of this Watori character that Mara was here for. Hell, it was so loud that they all couldn't be sure that there was a voice in the first place.
When they heard Mara respond, they all knew they weren't hearing things
"Because you're fucking disgusting!"
A series of thumps followed, and when Killian moved further to the right of the base of the stairs, looking up to the left side of the hallway, he could see that a large door was being beaten on from the other side. "I think I see where she is!" The rest of the group walked over, and in their minds, they were formulating ways that they could get up there.
"Bepo can't get the scent straight! He said she was running around outside, but then smelled he up in some room on the second floor!" Nate ran into the building, looking around for a moment to find the crew before spotting them behind the broken fountain. He charged over, trying to hurry before Bepo got even more confused over the different smells of Mara. The polar bear was left standing outside of the window he caught her scent at, keeping his nose on the scent from the trees as well, lest he get his sense of smell messed up from the smoke filled air.
Law turned to Nate, who was standing beside the large pieces of concrete and covering his mouth with the sleeve of his boiler suit. "Are we able to get to the room from outside?"
Nate nodded, swinging his arm to get the others to follow him. "If you can use your 'Room' then we can definitely—" The pounding from the door in which Mara was behind started again, interrupting the conversations and planning between the Heart Pirates. Nate looked up in the direction of the sound, confusion evident on his face. "What…?"
"Stop trying to take off my dress, you bastard!"
"Why can't you accept me?"
The banging stopped for a moment, and the men staring up at the door with heated glares and clenched fists almost decided to forget about the burning inferno that was their obstacle and running up to where their girl was in trouble. Law took a step towards the fire, the heat burning his skin. He was prepared to charge through and save her once and for all, no more of this waiting for the safe moment bullshit and—
A sound stopped all thinking. The eyes of every man moved to the wall on the far left of the room—the wall that was more than likely connected to whatever room Mara was in. It was the sound of cracking, and before anyone could analyze it anymore, a hole was blasted through the wall, and out flew a figure in a pale pink, form fitting dress. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the figure coming from the wall was Mara, and she was actually dressed up.
And she was slamming pretty hard into the ground.
888
I had a hard time keeping Marue's hands away from me in the sort-of small space of his bedroom. It didn't help that my vision was clouded by the unshed tears that collected from that deep feeling of betrayal and hatred. It had been a while that he had been tricking me into thinking he was an ally to help me be free from the monster in my life, and it turned out, in the end, he was the true monster in all of this. When I thought about it, I guess it made sense.
He appeared out of nowhere before my capture on Sabaody, offering to hear my story and help find my pursuer with no prompting or actual need to do so. He always seemed to know where Raven was as well. I always thought he had a Devil Fruit power that allowed him to see where someone was at any given time. Instead, he knew where Raven was because he was controlling him. It may or may not have been a Devil Fruit this whole time—Kaeli was pretty adamant that he didn't have one.
A hand, during my thinking back, entered my field of vision too close for comfort. I leapt back, slamming into the end of the bed and nearly falling to the side. Marue frowned, angry that he didn't catch me off guard. When he saw that I was keeping myself from falling backwards onto his bed with my hands bracing me against the end, he grinned—a sick look that made him appear monstrous and perverted.
"Have I told you that you look ravishing, my little Mara?"
I gagged openly at his statement, a move that seemed to piss him off. "You're disgusting." He swept his hand out again, and I tried to use my powers once more, a feat that hadn't been working, but failed, simply deciding to move out of the way by ducking under his massive arms. You never realize how muscular someone is until you're fighting them.
He punched out when I was ducking away, catching my arm with a solid hit that sent my body twirling into a nightstand and a cry to escape my lips. I could feel the bruise forming on my skin. Upon hearing my cry, Marue looked panicked, moving to touch me again, as if he regretted hurting me in the first place. I moved away from his hands, brandishing a lamp to keep him at bay.
Anger burned in his emerald eyes as he brought his hands to his sides and clenched them into fists. "Why won't you let me touch you?!" Marue moved to me again, grabbing onto my shoulder successfully and shaking me. He appeared to be trying to knock some sense into me, and I bit deep into my tongue as he shook my body like a ragdoll.
Using my injury as an opportunity, I spit my blood into his face and kicked him in the stomach at the same time, effectively knocking him away so I could move back to the door to escape. "Because you're fucking disgusting!" I called over my shoulder, grasping the door handle and attempting to open the door. It would open and I begin to panic, shaking the doorknob and pounding on the wood with a fist. "Why won't this thing open?" I grunted to myself, bracing one heeled foot against the wooden frame in hopes that it would help me pry the door open.
"That's because it's locked."
Hands wound around my waist, sweeping my arms against my sides and pinning them there. His breath fanned over the back of my neck, ragged from exertion. I felt bile rise as I wriggled around, attempting to free myself from his vice-like hold. A hold that was familiar. A hold that was the same hold from the fight with Raven. There was no doubt in my mind before that Marue was the same man from the beach that day, but having the tangible proof almost broke me down completely.
I was turned in the arms, trapped effectively between the wooden door and Marue's body. I moved to spit on him again, but froze when he picked me up from the ground, forcing my body to stay up against the door with his own. My head could have easily rested stop his in the position. He gave a contented sigh before pressed his lips against my neck.
"Get off of me." I growled, kicking out at him with my feet, but unable to find any part of him to kick. My feet ended up hitting the door repeatedly. He pressed several kisses against my neck, licking occasionally as he trailed them down to my chest, grabbing the fabric of my dress with his teeth and moving to pull it down. I brought my head down quickly, connecting my forehead to the top of his head in a painful, yet effective move to get him to stop.
"Stop being that way, Mara." He brought a hand up to my chest now, cupping my breast in one hand while hooking his fingers under the fabric. I kicked out some more, disgust and mortification causing more bile to rise.
"Stop trying to take off my dress, you bastard!" My foot finally made contact with something and he released me with a pained cry, falling to his knees and dropping me. I moved from the door, giving up on getting out through it, and sprinted across the room to the wall, grabbing a metal chair from in front of the desk there.
"Why can't you accept me?"
I hit the chair repeatedly against the wall, ignoring his questions and intent on getting out of this room. Hopefully, once out, I would be able to use my powers again. If not, then I would have to get out of this mansion and hope that they worked outside.
When the cracks on the wall grew larger and I was able to see the other side, I put more strength into getting out, knocking the chair against the wall a few more times before breaking through. Marue had gotten up now and was stalking towards me with a heated glare and a knife in his hand.
I didn't know what else to do, so I threw the chair at him, hitting him in the chest and head, before jumping out of the hole.
[A/N]: I think this chapter is the last of the Heart Pirate POV, but I could be wrong, as I am still finishing up my next few chapters.
I'm also extremely happy that I stumped a lot of you with the big unveil of Marue being Watori. That makes me a very happy girl ^_^
Review and let me know what you think. Love you and see you soon~
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