Chapter 32
She had given that inspirational speech in front of everyone for Sabo to lift his damn butt off the ground and start fighting seriously.
"But the truth is that I'm screwed" she thought to herself.
Her arm's bleeding was horrible. There was no way to save herself from that. She knew very well that she would have only a couple of minutes before she bled to death.
"Ahhh, damn. I think I spoke too much".
She tightened her sword with all her might. If she was going to die, at least she would fight.
Mina felt Sabo's hand on her shoulder.
-Let's do it.
Both began to fight against Im.
She was physically strong and fast, but recognized that her defense was kinda bad. Thank goodness that her agility could make her avoid several blows.
Im hit her and made her fell to the floor so hard that thought her soul was leaking, but she got up one more time.
"I can't die yet, I have to hurt him somehow, or they won't beat him"
Also, she was starting to get dizzy from the blood loss. Her eyes were no longer focusing well.
But Im defended herself well from her attacks, managed to see through her actions and managed to block them.
"It doesn't matter if someone can see the future if they react slowly"
She increased the speed of her attacks until her body practically moved on its own, making her no longer felt anything.
Finally, saw an opening.
"It's awy too hard...!"
Mina thought she wasn't going to make it, but heard Sabo snap his fingers.
The metal began to burn, alowing her to cut off Im's arm.
-Fuck you!
Im started screaming like crazy.
-BITCH!
With a blow, he smashed her against the stones.
Air blew out of her lungs.
She knew that she could no longer move.
No, she couldn't die without knowing the outcome of that fight. She needed to know that that scum was dead, that he was going to accompany her to hell.
She no longer felt anything, neither cold nor hot. Nor pain. She didn't even feel her own body.
-Ah, fuck...
Mina could see that Sabo and Luffy were beginning to fight Im-sama.
After a while, Sabo also fell to the ground, seriously injured, so in the end it was Luffy and his nakamas who continued the battle with Dragon.
Mina looked at her nakama, just as fucked up as she was, but still able to get up and fight alongside his brother and teacher.
Law ran to Mina.
Part of his head had been broken against the stones, so he was in danger of dying at any moment.
-Dumb woman.
She smiled.
-You're going to bleed to death, I must take you to the submarine right now - he said while keeping calm
But Mina raised an arm to stop him.
-No, not yet.
-Do you think I'm asking, Mina-ya? I'm the doctor here, not you, so shut up!
She pointed to the two brothers, Luffy and Sabo.
-I need to see them - she spat blood - I need to see they winning.
-Are you out of your mind...?
-If Sabo wins and changes the world, I must see it - Mina smiled - And if he dies trying, then I will die with him.
Law looked at her in shock first, but then understood.
Because he said the same thing in Dressrosa. If Luffy managed to win, he should see it. But if Luffy had lost, then he would die alongside the rubber boy.
Law sighed.
-Room.
-Law...
-Calm down, we'll stay here. But I need you to stay alive.
She smiled.
-Thank you.
While receiving Law treatment, she saw Sabo and Luffy continue their fight.
Mina had not lied. The moment Sabo would stop breathing, she would do it too, because that had been her oath.
Still, she didn't want to die.
Something inside her screamed that still didn't want to stop breathing, that she didn't want to leave this world yet. Was something like that even logic? Not wanting to die? To be actually scared of dying?
"Please... just... don't die, Sabo"
Sabo knew he had to move fast.
Luffy and Dragon were at his side.
-SABO, LET'S DO IT!
He nodded. It was now or never.
Sabo used all the strength he had to create the largest flare that Mera Mera No Mi allowed. The power was such that his own body started to burn.
He felt he was going to turn himself to ashes.
"Will I be burning alive?"
Could he burn himself even if he was a man of fire?
But he didn't care anymore, he knew that was his duty.
-We will finish what was started 800 years ago!
Law and Mina saw how Sabo, Luffy and Dragon managed to defeat Im-sama.
-You did it... you're really going to change the world...
-I can't belive it...
Mina remembered the day she met Sabo at Dressrosa, more than 5 years ago.
That boy managed to convince her that, maybe, life deserved to be lived.
That boy had marked his own hand for a girl he didn't even know.
"I promise you that the world can be changed"
Sabo, completely wounded, and also about to lose consciousness due to the wounds, looked at her.
-We have won - he smiled at her.
-Yeah, you've won.
Despite her own body no longer responding, Mina managed to get up.
Law said nothing, knowing what that victory meant.
Sabo stared at her friend and smiled.
-You look terrible.
-You too, you look like a hot dog.
Sabo laughed, and Mina did too.
Suddenly, both of them began to feel their tears fall.
Sabo, who could still move, ran to hug her.
-We really have. We have won.
The blonde's body burned and smelled of burned meat, but still Mina did not remove Sabo from her side, and continued to let herself be embraced.
They both felt that more people were hugging them. They were Koala, Jack, Kaito, Ivankov, Inazuma...
Mina felt the warmth of all her nakamas. Of all those people who were her family.
-Damn, I thought we were going to die! - Koala exclaimed while crying hysterically - I can't believe we really did it!
-I honestly can't believe it either - Inazuma said - The odds were so... absurdly pathetic.
-Oi! Didn't anyone trust your chief of staff or what? Sabo asked angrily, making everyone laugh.
-Honestly, no - said Jack.
-Fuck off! Only Mina understands me! - Sabo exclaimed pretending to be upset while everyone laughed - Right, Mina?
But she didn't answer back.
-Mina...?
White.
She woke up suddenly. Everything was white around her.
-Am I... dead?
-You are, and you are not - a voice answered to her question, making her turn around.
It was her father. Or so she believed.
She didn't remember much about him, but those eyes just like her own and his looks exactly like Doffy's made it obvious.
Rocinante was just as she vaguely remembered him, dressed in his Marien uniform.
-You've grown, kid.
She looked at him once more, stunned.
-Are you... real?
The blonde laughed.
-Who knows. You're kinda death, so maybe I'm a product of your imagination.
Mina turned to see her around.
It was an infinite white void, with nothing in it. Just the two of them.
-Why am I here?
-Someone is trying to keep you alive. So you didn't die yet, but can't go back either.
Mina reacted.
-Law?
-That brat took advantage of the Akuma No Mi I gave him - he said with a smile - Who was going to tell me that you were even going to coincide in this life. The world is smaller than I thought.
She sighed.
-He was the boy for whom you decided to sacrifice your life and leave me behind?
Rocinante smiled.
-Yes.
-Can I ask why?
Rocinante smiled.
-I don't even know. I just felt like I should, because I love him.
Mina sighed.
-Thank you.
Rocinante looked at her in surprise.
-Eehhhh!? Why do you thank me!? I thought you were going to be so fucking mad with me!
Mina laughed.
-I lost my father, but I met a wonderful person instead. I guess that's why I should thank you.
Rocinante blushed.
-Such a dumb kid... I can't belive that being with Doffy didn't drive you mad. You have actually a good personality!
Mina smiled at Doffy's memory.
-If I die... Do you think he ...
-Yes - he interrupted her - Doflamingo loves you more than you think - Rocinante sighed annoyed- Although in its twisted way
Mina smiled and, after a moment in silence, dared to ask.
-Is Mjosgard with you?
He smiled.
-Do you want to see him?
-No, I don't deserve it. I let him die.
-He didn't die in vain. He chose to do it that way. He chose to do it for you just the way I did it with Law. Please, forgive yourself.
-It's way too soon for that.
Mina felt her father hugged her. She let herself be embraced by Rocinante.
Suddenly, Mina could see that there was a person besides her and her father.
She was a woman who surprisingly looked like her.
Mina said nothing to her father, but noted that the woman was smiling at her.
-Thank you.
"Thank you?"
Suddenly Mina remembered that woman. It was the first Donquixote he saw in the portraits of the Mjosgard mansion in Marijoa. An ancestor.
Maybe another one of the women killed by Im-sama.
"I wonder what your story was. And everyone else's ..."
-That doesn't matter anymore - said that woman out loud with a smile - It doesn't matter anymore, because now everything is fine thanks to you.
Mina did not know how to answer, but she was happy that she could have helped the tormented soul in some way.
-I want to go back.
-Then it's time to say goodbye - Rocinante smiled - Be a good kid, and be happy. Both of you please, find happiness.
-800 years ago-
-It's your wedding day! Aren't you excited? Finally the tensions between both sides will be solved thanks to your union!
-Why the hell are you more excited than me, Joy Boy?
The boy in the straw hat smiled as usual.
After a couple of hours, they were finally going to get married. It had been because of love, but peace was essential at the same time.
Everyone watched the event with joy, but no one expected the bride to be shot to death.
-You can't die! - exclaimed the groom with tears in his eyes - Don't do this to me, please!
The woman smiled at the man who was to be her husband.
-The world... is going to change because of this, sorry.
A huge dispute arose at that time. The side of the Allied countries blamed the D for the murder of their wife, while the D accused the others of trying to charge them with a murder they hadn't committed.
It wasn't the definitive trigger, but it was the spark that fanned the flames.
-I know it was you - said the boy from the D while trembling with anger - You loved her too. Why the hell did you kill her!?
-This is only the beginning - Im replied smiling - This is the beginning of your end.
...
It was her again. A century had passed since the battle that changed the world. Im-sama had done well to force them to reproduce among themselves, since someone had finally inherited her same traits.
Im-sama knew she wasn't her, but it was enough for him.
The new woman accepted his feelings, so Im was happy.
Until the day that man appeared.
Was it a coincidence? Impossible. And if it was, it was one of the most tacky jokes ever.
He was a guardian of the Tenryubito woman. Im-sama thought that it was impossible for her, who had been educated with the Tenryubito pride, to notice someone of such low level, but he was completely wrong.
Im-sama couldn't bear the anger he felt when saw them together again. Had she preferred such a low being over HIM? Anger washed over Im and he choked her with his own hands in front of the bastard, whom he later ordered to cut off his head.
...
The next time, two centuries passed.
Another girl appeared, looking the same.
This time, he put her by his side since she was a child, and didn't allow any man to approach her.
But it was even worse, because this time, that man appeared as one of her slaves.
She cheated on him with a slave! With a fucking slave!
Once again, anger seized Im and he ordered the woman to be hanged, cutting off the slave's hands and letting him bleed to death next to her hanging corpse.
...
Another two centuries more, and another girl with the same appearance was born again.
The woman was much more irascible than all the others, so she ran away from Marijoa after a family tantrum.
Along the way, she met a woodcutter who lived alone.
And again, he was that damn D.
Were they laughing at him?
Im sent them out to hunt and they both were killed by a pack of rabid dogs that launched at them.
...
A century passed, and she was born once again.
This was already a personal matter, a matter of pride. Im wasn't going to take risks.
Im-sama married the woman to her cousin (whom she didn't love) and they had children. He took her as a lover despite having a husband, and since she repudiated her husband, she willingly accepted Im-sama.
This woman behaved well, but Im wasn't going to trust her, so he locked her in a room, with no other contact than his own. He didn't even allow her to see her two children.
-Why can't we see mom, Im-sama? - little Homing asked.
-Because she's delicate - Im-sama replied with a false kindness - If she comes out, she will break. If you stay here, you will never suffer, because you will be treated as the superior being that you are, do you understand?
Those sinister words made little Homing begin to rethink whether it really was the best thing to do to stay within Marijoa, which led to all the misfortune events for his family.
The woman only could interact when a guard delivered her food, so Im-sama thought he had finally got rid of that man.
But that man was the guard who brought her the food, and they eventually fell in love.
"They are making fun of me" Im-sama thought furiously "They laugh at my face"
This time, that man knew how to fight, so he tried to defend his beloved. He gave Im-sama a few problems, but Im finally managed to kill them both and hung their bodies at the entrance to Marijoa as a warning.
Unfortunately, Homing demanded to leave Marijoa years later, so the main branch of the Donquixotes would become a commoner. Im was not going to allow that woman to be born out of his control, so he made sure that family died in disgrace.
The brothers Doflamingo and Rocinante survived the purge, but the older brother murdered the younger one, so Doflamingo was the last of that family, and with the disastrous personality he had, Im-sama knew he would never have children.
"Finally," he thought relieved, "I've finally gotten rid of all of them."
What he didn't know was that, the little brother had a daughter when he was young, a few years before he was killed. Also, Rocinante never officially registered her, so Im-sama couldn't control that woman being born again.
But he found her again during that Reverie. She was a teenager and her hair was no longer blonde. You could tell there was commoner's blood inside her.
"Doflamingo had a daughter? When?"
That girl had the worst personality of all of them. She was wild, violent, and tremendously suspicious. Also, she was a soldier, so she was neither docile nor weak.
Im-sama wanted that girl, he needed that girl.
But Doflamingo murdered. Or at least that's what he believed.
Years later, he found her in Marijoa because she claimed her position as a descendant of the family, since Mjosgard had not given offspring.
She was already an adult, and from Im-sama's perspective, she was exactly the same as the first. She had the same fire in her eyes.
However, this time she fought against him herself, and she seriously wounded him. Because of her, those two little boys, the fiery one and the rubber one, could killed him.
While Im-sama knew that his immortal life was going to end at that moment, because of the same stupid boy with a straw hat that bothered so much 800 years ago (Joy Boy? Was that his name?). But, he could see how the only woman to that he ever loved in his life, was dying a few meters away from him.
"At least, this time we will see each other in hell" Im-sama thought with some relief "And without that bastard"
But suddenly, Im-sama saw a man running towards her.
It was HIM. And also looked almost the same as the first of all, with the same golden eyes.
Im-sama laughed bitterly.
"This time, it was her who fought against me, and on top of that, you were reborn as a doctor"
Im-sama saw the surgeon give orders to a few people, while holding the young woman's almost inert body in his arms.
Law didn't know why, but he ended up gazing at the man who was defeated by Luffy.
Law looked at Im-sama with infinite hatred. The man who make everyone suffer so much. The man who almost killed Mina.
Law couldn't help it, it was like a reflection. An involuntary spasm.
He raised his middle finger to Im-sama.
Im-sama chuckled as he felt his immortal life finally come to an end.
-Fucking bastard.