Chapter 44

Echo of the Past

He was scrawny, caked with dirt and looked like he had gone through a terrible whipping recently. Everyone around her was looking away. Why were they ignoring him as if he wasn't there? She listened to him, he needed a doctor and some rest.

"Please!" The boy sobbed. "Please someone help us. He's killing everyone! Please, won't anyone help us?" On his hands and knees he begged. A child, desperately crying for help. She frowned.

No one wanted to acknowledge the boy. Cowards. She thought. The boy held himself now and cried his heart out. Mari sighed. Well, she needed something to do and he seemed to really need help.

"Come here boy. Tell me what you need, bartender, food for the boy." Mari turned to the child.

"Miss no! We can't let you do that! You will be killed. Event he Navy won't help them." A man cried out.

"Ignore the boy! He will bring disaster to us all for even being here!"

Her head turned to the crowed and she tossed her hood back, white locks spilling over her shoulders, blue eyes piercing into the souls of all around her. Though she was only fourteen she was strong and more mature than any adult. Right now her eyes shot icy flames at all around her.

"You people make me sick! This child needs help and you sit here like a bunch of chickens too afraid to stick your head out of the coop. Shut up! I will help him. Because he asked to be helped. You go back to your drinks and cowardly ways. Boy! Come here." She motioned to the seat beside her. "Sir, I requested food for the boy. And drink please."

He came up to her, wincing and still sobbing. She had him tell her everything. The more she listened the more disgusted she became with the people around her. Allowing this to go on. She slammed the berries on the counter and took the boy off.

"Where is the doctor?" She stopped at the door but did not turn back.

"About two buildings down, on the left from here." The bartender said. "You are her aren't you? The demon they are talking about?"

She looked back at him her eyes frosty. "So what if I am?" She asked before she left. In her wake the room became freezing cold and ice formed over the stool she had sat upon.

"The demon..." Whispers began.

Mari entered the town ready to liberate them. But what she was met with was not a pirate gang on a power trip. The bodies looked like they had been nearly torn apart. Young and old were lying out for the sun to rot. And the boy beside her broke down screaming.

"MAMA! PAPA! NOOOOO!" He fell to his knees and cried.

Mari balled her fists and rage over took her. He laughed. The pirate captain laughed. The battle didn't last long. A few seconds really, Mari blacked out. She tore him limb from limb, until finally she shut off his screams for mercy by killing him. The band of pirates fled quickly. She held the young man in her arms after that. For a long time.

Terry…Terry…

Terry

The ice that covered everything was so dense and thick it could be walked on safely. Luffy was running. He ran as fast as he could to where Mari fell.

"Mari! Mari!" He bellowed.

"HUH? STUPID ICE. DUMB GIRL COULDN'T JUST DIE WITHOUT ANYTHING LEFT." Forte kicked at the ice around him and sent a ton of it flying. But it just formed back quickly. "EH? WHAT'S THIS NOW?"

The ice began to glow and hum. Luffy skittered to a halt where Mari dropped and looked around trying to see under the ice. Forte looked down at him and reached out to grab him.

"OH LOOK ANOTHER TOY!"

"Luffy look out!" Usopp yelled.

As Forte reached out to Luffy he looked up, the heat of his reach nearly seared his hair off. Luffy prepared for a fight. His flaming hand reached out to grab Luffy, fingers curling as Forte laughed.

The ice shattered and a huge clawed hand of ice gripped Forte's wrist and froze his arm all the way up. Forte let out a scream and yanked his arm back.

"WHAT IS THIS!?" He roared.

The hand slammed down on the ice as if finding purchase, another clawed hand tore free of the ice and slammed down on it hard. Luffy slipped and fell on his bottom. The ice beneath him cracked and split, he fell into the cracks.

"Luffy!" Chopper cried.

"What's going on?!" Nami screamed.

From the ice something came. It broke the surface like a tidal wave and rose up. A huge monster of ice stood from the water. It was terrifying and cold. A freezing mist covered the water and spread through the town. Nami shivered and watched with awe as the demon reached up with one clawed hand and removed something from its head. It looked like a woman. The creature had the figure of a female with ice smooth like skin, shards made up her hair all the way down and her body looked as if ice was its clothing. And from each pure white eye a single long triangle came down its cheeks. Making it look like it was crying. The creature held up its hand and brought it close to her face. Everyone saw it then. Luffy was sitting on the clawed hand of this demon of ice.

"Mari?! It has to be Mari." Sanji gaped. So beautiful, the fire didn't bother this being and in fact made her shine beautifully.

Luffy looked up at her and gaped. She tilted her head and gently set Luffy down on the docks. Then looked at her hands. Something seemed to have deeply upset her because her shoulders shook and she put her head in her clawed hands and wept.

Forte was annoyed. "STUPID BEAST! JUST DIE ALREADY!" He shook off the ice and launched an attack on her. A huge flaming fist came at her.

Her head came up and she looked right at him, then her arms went down and she let out a scream so powerful it traveled far and wide. The ice broke around her and the fist that came at her met with a wall of thick ice. He brought it back and frowned.

"TCH! USELESS. I AM A GOD! YOU ARE A BEAST! I WILL KILL YOU REGARDLESS!"

He attacked again, this time Mari silently swung her own clawed hands. Slicing deeply into his arm and causing ice to cover his wounds. He jumped back in pain and shook his arm. Their movement made the water shake and the ice crash against once another. Luffy got off the docks fast as a huge chunk of ice took it out. Everyone watched helplessly as Mari and Forte battled. They punches, sliced and smacked each other. He was covered in icy wounds and she was wiping away wounds with fire inside them. She threw out her hand and an Axe began to form. The one she favored recently. Its sleek design and double sided head looked very dangerous. If she dropped that it would cleave a mighty hole in the ground. Forte summoned a long blade himself and they prepared for battle.

They watched from afar. Mari swung the Axe wildly forcing Forte back as he tried to defend. He seemed to be having a hard time of it. The water lapped around him more and more as he was pushed out to sea. But Mari looked as if she was a part of the sea. Forte threw fire at her but her ice never melted and soon he was panicking.

"STOP GIRL! I SEE YOU ARE POWERFUL! HOW ABOUT WE TEAM UP? HUH? WE CAN RULE THIS WORLD! OUR POWER IS UN BEATABLE!" He tried to reason with her. His mind had change about getting revenge. He was so powerful. The world was at his mercy. He was beyond petty human vengeances.

Mari stopped then. Luffy watched her closely. She would never side with him. Never.

Mari dropped her axe into the ocean and looked at Forte with dark eyes. The earth rocked from the force and water began to swirl around her. Her mouth opened then. But no sound came out. Mari didn't speak. But they heard her in their minds.

BASTARD! You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM! You will pay for what you have done! I WILL KILL YOU!

Luffy took off. He was jumping on Ice chunks headed towards Mariette.

"IDIOT!" Nami screamed at him.

"Nami! We need to get out of here! Those ice chunks are going to hit Sunny." Franky rushed over to Nami. Chopper and Robin came from the other direction.

"We don't need to worry about that." Sanji appeared.

"Why not?"

"I just checked the ship. Sunny is fine. Seems the ice is avoiding Sunny." Said smoothly.

"That's good then. One less worry." Usopp and Brook walked up.

"Where is out moss headed friend?" Brook asked.

Everyone looked around.

"Hey! Chopper, I need your help!" Zoro called from behind them. They all turned to him.

xxXxx

Luffy jumped up closer to her and threw his hands out as Mari was screaming inside his head. Forte was holding his ears and screaming for her to shut up. The noise was almost too much. He gripped her hair and used the spiked ice to pull himself close to her face. He sat on her shoulder and watched. She raised her clawed hand and ice began to swirl in her palm.

DID DIE DIE!

She screamed. Luffy gripped her shoulder as tightly as he could. She was a bit slippery. The strangest thing happened then. Where he sat was no longer slick. It almost felt like the ground. He stood up and looked up to her. She had not looked at him. How had she known he was there?

The snow in her hand was so cold it nearly had him freezing. IT grew larger and larger until he couldn't see forte over her hand anymore. He finally spoke to her.

"Is this what you want to do?"

The screaming stopped. There was a hiccupping sob and he continued.

"Will killing him, killing anyone stop what has happened now? Do you think Terry wants you to go back to the way things were? To when you killed pirates?" Luffy asked her calmly. The frost grew larger.

"Is this something you are willing to live with from now on?"

Will you hate me Luffy? The question was whispered sadly.

Luffy looked down. "No. I will love you always."

She shook violently and her hand slowly lowered to the ground. The snow began to melt away. She let out a sigh. Forte stopped trying to drown her out and when she lowered her hand he struck. She moved quickly but had not anticipated where he was striking. It was not to get her, but to grab Luffy. He snatched Luffy from her shoulder and shoved Mariette with his other hand.

"OOOOOOOOWWWWW! HOT HOT HOT!" Luffy squirmed in pain.

"FOOL GIRL! THINKING YOU COULD BEAT ME! WATCH AS I TAKE EVERYTHING DEAR TO YOU." He held Luffy up in his fisted hand and began to squeeze and turn up the temperature.

Mariette screamed and shot her hand at Forte.

YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM FROM ME!

A lance of ice struck him then. As he laughed with a struggling Luffy in his hand the lance pierced his chest. Forte stopped and Luffy was released from his hand to fall limply to the ground. Mari reached out a hand to him and he landed on soft snow as it gathered in her clawed hand. Luffy let out a breath of shock and them began to roll in the snow trying to cool off. Forte looked at Mariette in shock.

"YOU ACTUALLY DID IT…" He then looked to the lance. Her hand had become part of the ice and when she drew it back the claws returned, blood soaked her hand. A crater sized hole filled his chest where his heart had been.

Mari brought Luffy to her chest and looked at Forte darkly. Her whole body becoming black ice.

For Terry…for the town…for me. Go in peace knowing that to kill you, I have killed myself. She said softly.

Luffy stopped rolling and looked up at her sharply. What? Forte lit up like a bonfire. His screams of pain as the flames consumed him stun their ears. Mariette covered Luffy by half closing her hand over him. The fire slowly died leaving nothing but ash to float away on the ocean top. Forte had burned out. He never really had much time left anyway.

Her hand opened again and she looked down to Luffy. He frowned up at her.

"Mari, what do you mean you kill yourself? You cannot die!" He stood up.

She smiled and her face cracked.

"No! No you can't die! You beat him! You won! Why do you have do die for him?!" Luffy raged.

She closed her eyes.

"Mari don't you dare! Don't you dare leave me! I didn't give you permission!" He yelled at her.

Her eyes snapped open again in surprise.

"You do not have permission to die! You have to live. I order you to."

She brought her bloodied hand up to her face and laughed into the back of her wrist. Her body began to fracture everywhere. He could hear her giggling.

"Mari, don't lose this battle. Live please. I don't want you to go."

She looked at him and smiled so softly.

My time…has come...I should never have opened this power. I must now pay the price.

She gently set him on the shore and turned away.

"MARI DON'T YOU DARE! YOU ARE STAYING WITH ME! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" He bellowed at her. She turned around and smiled at him. Then brought her clean hand up to wave at him. "NO!"

She folded her hands before her and closed her eyes. Her body fractured totally and broke into millions of tiny shards. Everyone watched in shock. Nami's hands flew to her mouth and tears spilled from her eyes. The sun broke though the clouds and as the shards fell they glittered like tears that fell into the ocean.

Luffy bellowed into the sky. Rage taking him over as he beat on the ground and screamed for Mari. Then sadness set in. A dark depression took him over. She was gone. He stared hollowly at the ocean. His heart ached terribly. He loved her. And now…he lost her.

xxXxx

Why did it not hurt? Shouldn't death hurt more? Shouldn't she be suffering for her crimes? Why did she feel like she was floating? It felt nice at least. She let hr fingers trail in the water around her. It was cold but not unpleasant. Was this death? How long would she float for? The sky was so blue. It was beautiful. She would not mind lying here for eternity. Waiting. Perhaps once day Luffy would sail by her, they could float together in eternity. She hoped he lived a full life though. With lots of adventures.

"Death is nice. I hope the sky stays this way forever."

There was a chuckle near her. "That would be really hard, considering you are not dead."

She gasped and sat up suddenly, the sky was no longer so bright but clouds were parting. She looked around her. She was lying on the bank of the Island. Her clothes were soaked and ruined. She spotted someone's legs by her head and she looked up the body.

The man smiled down at her wickedly.

"Terry? I have to be dead, cause you are." She said shocked.

"Now what gave you that impression?" He asked with a laugh. "I'm as alive as the next person."

There was no one around.

"Okay bad pun got it." He chuckled and offered her his hand. "I'm not dead. And neither are you." He told her.

"Then where are we?" She asked him as he helped her up.

"Well if you look that way across the water you will see that there is a person looking for you. I think that is Luffy. And that way is the Town where everyone else is right now."

She looked up at him. "You are alive?" She asked.

"Very much so. Thanks to Chopper. Great doctor your captain has. Come on. Before he slips into a depression and thinks you are imaginary like you think I am." Terry grinned.

"How?" Mari asked grabbing his arm. She could feel the solidity of his body. He was real.

"Zoro. He got me out of there quickly. Of course he and I suffered some seriously painful burns. But nothing bad. He could walk at least. I on the other hand…not so much at first, sadly I used up all that protection you left behind surviving that blast. Now save the questions. Run to your lover girl." Terry pushed her forward.

Mari grinned and punched his hurt arm. "Jerk. Making me worry. I'll see you in a minute." She told him. Then she was gone.

He looked into the sun and smiled. "The sky is nice now. Feels more free." Time for him to go back to his family. They were probably worried sick.

xxXxx

"Luffy, come on, you have to get up, you can't just sit here looking out at the sea." Usopp told him.

Luffy didn't move.

"Luffy, she wouldn't want this." Franky put in.

Sanji shook his head. "He's heart broken, he will need time. I'm going to miss her too. Her sweet smile, her cute laugh. The way she always called out to us from afar."

"Hey!"

"Just like that. With such joy and energy! OH MARI! I will miss you so much!" Sanji began to cry and dropped beside Luffy.

"IDIOTS!" Nami approached them and smacked them both on the head hard.

Luffy looked at Nami angrily. "What the heck! Can't you see I'm in pain?!"

"I don't know why you are, there is no reason to be." Nami folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"That's the coldest thing you have ever said! Mari thought of you as her friend and this is how you talk about her after she is dead?!" Luffy fumed.

"What do you mean thought of? She still thinks of me that way I'm sure." Nami pointed with her thumb behind her. "After all I doubt she would be running towards us like that if she didn't like any of us." She grinned.

Everyone turned to see Mari running towards them at top speed. Luffy got up and brushed past everyone. He ran towards her lighting fast. His arms open and they crashed together. She wrapped herself around him as if she had no plans to let go ever and he began to kiss her wherever he could reach her without pulling away.

"Luffy Luffy Luffy!" She cried.

"Mari! Never again Mari! Never!" He hugged her tightly.

She laughed and sobbed against him. He held her there as the others slowly made their way to them.

"I thought I had lost you." Luffy whispered.

"You almost did." She whispered back.

"How?" He asked her.

"I don't know. But I'm glad. I don't want to leave you. Ever." She told him. They pulled back and smiled at each other.

"Don't you ever wave good bye to me like that again. I was torn apart." He told her.

She blushed. "I won't, I promise." She whispered.

"Good." He sealed that with a hot kiss.

When the others reached them everyone hugged Mari except Zoro who simply nodded. She thanked him for saving Terry and he sniffed and nodded again with a tough guy air. She slapped his burnt arm and made him wince. To which she laughed.

"Um…I think we should go let the townsfolk know its safe to come back." Robin said.

They all suddenly remembered at once and went rushing off to go tell them. Luffy and Mari held hands as they walked behind the others. Content to wait a little longer to get all the people back.

"Mari. I love you." Luffy said.

"I love you, Luffy." She said back.

He nodded and smiled hugely.

"That form was awesome by the way. How did you do that?"

She shook her head. "Honestly Luffy, I have no clue how." She laughed.

xxXxx

The fruit floated in the ocean, bobbing up and down. Until a net lifted it up and brought it onto the deck. It was picked up and rushed below deck and handed through the door.

"Ah, about time I got it back from that idiot Forte. My beauty. You are quite the trouble causer. What new secrets do you have to tell me today?" Boris grinned.


Oh the Dun dun dunnnnness. XD

DorkyFox: Mwahaha! Oh so very real.