Author: YAY NEW CHAPTER! :D Thank you to all of you who have replied and added me to your alerts! It means a lot to me that you all like my stories! I hope all of you enjoy this chapter!
—
" YOU DIRTY DEFILER OF LITTLE SISTERS!" Boa Hancock screeched as Sandersonia and Marigold held her back from strangling Ace who stood there, smirking evilly.
" Nee-chan, please calm down!" Ai said hurriedly, standing between her sisters and her Groom. She held her hands up weakly as she attempt to calm the Alpha She-Wolf down. " Please, you'll wake up everyone!"
" CALM DOWN? THAT PERVERT DEFILED YOU! LOOK AT YOU! HE'S LEFT THOSE DISGUSTING MARKS ALL OVER YOU!" Hancock screeched angrily. Ai felt her face redden as she noticed the love marks that Ace had left on her exposed shoulders and throat. She quickly regretted her choice in attire now.
" Nee-chan, please-" Ai broke off as Ace grabbed her shoulder lightly from behind and captured her lips hungrily. 'You really have no sense of self preservation, do you!' Ai thought hurriedly.
" YOU PIG!" Hancock gasped as her face, along with her two sisters, turned bright red. " HOW DARE YOU DEFILE MY SISTER IN-FRONT OF ME!"
" A-Ace!" Ai squeaked, her face cherry red at his actions causing him to smirk again.
" I regret nothing."
" Y-You-"
" HI HANCOCK!" Luffy's cheary voice yelled suddenly, breaking the tension.
" LUFFY-KUN!" The Empress yelled excitedly, hearts appearing in her eyes as she saw the young wolf. " I HAVE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!"
" Really? How come?"
" Well Luffy, you were hurt when Lucci attacked Ai." Sandersonia replied eyeing him worriedly. " We were all worried about you."
" Aw, well that was nice of you guys to worry but I'm fine, really!" Luffy laughed, scratching his head awkwardly. " Is that why you guys came?"
" We came to see how you AND Ai were doing!" Hancock said glaring angrily over at Ace who pulled Ai closer to him. A smug smile present on his freckled face. " We would have been here sooner but-"
" Ah don't worry about it, Hancock!" Luffy laughed. " Ai and I are fine now…AND SHE'S A VAMPIRE NOW TOO!"
" I can see that, Luffy-kun." Hancock said angrily, glaring at Ace. " He defiled my sweet baby sister!"
" He saved her life!" Luffy protested. " If Ace hadn't given Ai his blood then she would have died!"
" That's right, Nee-chan! Ace saved me."
" Yeah! Now if anyone tries to hurt her she can better defend herself!" Luffy stated.
" I know, Luffy-kun, but I'm just worried about the Order. I've been hearing things…things that means Ai is still on their Hit List. That she is in more danger now that she's been Changed than before."
" What are you talking about?" Luffy asked.
" Lucci isn't one to take failure lightly, Luffy! The fact that Ai is alive after he was sent to kill her is a huge insult to him. He's more then likely going to come after her again."
Ai winced as she felt Ace's grip on her shoulder tighten. " Security has been tighten even more since the attack." He stated stiffly. " I'm personally not letting her out of my sight."
" She shouldn't have been out of you sight to begin with!"
" Nee-chan, you don't know what happened that day! Ace wasn't at fault for it! I got mad at him and stormed off! That was when I was attacked! If Ace and Luffy hadn't been there, then I could have died."
" I am grateful that he saved you, baby sister…but-"
" I know you love me, Nee-chan. I know how protective you are of me and I am very grateful." Ai said taking the Empress' hand. " I love that about all of you but I want you to know that I am happy and I love Ace very much. I don't want you to blame him for anything, he's doing a good job of that himself."
" Ai-"
" You are, Ace…and I want you to stop. Blaming yourself isn't doing anyone any good." Ai said stiffly. " This isn't anyone's fault except the people that attacked me."
" Speaking of people that attacked you. What will be done about that boy." Hancock hissed hatefully.
" Coby is currently in the holding cells." Ai said, adding emphasis to the boy's name. " It must have been hard for him coming here and all. He is Luffy's friend and all. Coming here to attack someone who Luffy knows would have been hard."
" WHAT is to be done with HIM?" Hancock asked again, hugging Ai protectively. " He put a knife to my baby sister's throat and THAT should not go unpunished."
" Coby is a good person! He only wants to help people!" Luffy said in defense.
" He still-"
" The old man hasn't decided what will be done to Coby yet." Ace said interrupting the Hancock.
" I really hope nothing bad." Ai said to everyone's surprise. " Coby didn't want to hurt me."
" The knife to the throat said otherwise." Merigold said hautily.
—
" Tell us why you went after our princess, boy." Rayleigh said calmly, twirling a knife between his fingers. The violet hair boy he spoke to was chained weakly to the wall.
" I had no intent to hurt her." Coby said weakly.
" You held a knife to the girl's throat, that is an interesting way to show you meant her no harm."
" I-"
" What were you planning to do if Luffy hadn't intervened? Were you just going to allow Lucci to kill an innocent girl?"
" I-"
" Mr. Silvers?" Rayleigh turned to see Ai coming towards him nervously.
" Princess, what are you doing down here?" Rayleigh asked quickly, standing as she came down the stairs.
" My name is Ai, Mr. Silvers…not Princess." Ai said quietly. " And I came to see Coby…"
" You came to see the boy that tried to kill you?"
" Yes." Ai said quietly. " I also came to see my little brother's friend and to see if there was anything I could do for him."
" I don't understand."
" Neither do I." Ai said quietly. " But I'd like to see him either way."
" As you wish, Princess." Rayleigh said nodding politely.
" Alone, please…and it's Ai, Mr. Silvers." Ai said with a small smile.
" As you wish…Ai." Rayleigh said with a slight moment of hesitation. Lifting her hand, the Dark King placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. " If you need anything, I'll be outside the door."
" Thank you." Ai said shyly, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks. Rayleigh nodded before he headed up the stairs, he cast one more glance over his shoulder earning a reassuring smile from Ai before he closed the door.
" You're a Vampire now…" Ai's attention was brought back to the chained boy.
" I suppose I always was…at the very least a Half Vampire." Ai said fiddling with fingers awkwardly before walking to a nearby bucket of water and placing some into a laddle. " Ace was only able to unseal them." She walked over and offered the water to the boy.
" What?" He asked eyeing her suspiciously.
" It turns out my mother was a Vampire by birth and my birth father was a human." Ai said smiling kindly, taking a sip from the spoon before offering it to him once more. " They loved each other very much. So much so that my mother honored my father's wishes and didn't Change him." Coby remained silent as Ai spoke but finally took some water from her. " I know the Supernaturals have done quite a bit of evil in this world but so have humans."
" I know that." Coby said weakly.
" I don't know what your reasons are for being in the Order but they are yours. You must not hate Supernaturals to much if you are friends with Luffy."
" Luffy saved my life once." Coby said weakly. " He stopped a band of demons from tearing me to pieces and then we ate some dinner together." A happy laugh came from Ai at the thought.
" That sounds like something Luffy would do!"
" He took me to meet his grandpa who took me under his wing and made me strong. He gave me a code to live by."
" What kind of code is that?"
" Protect the weak through justice." Coby said, a hint of pride in his voice.
" Who decides what is Justice?" Ai asked. " That man called Lucci?"
" Lucci is a madman!" Coby said quickly. " He doesn't believe supernaturals can be good!"
" But isn't he a supernatural too? A jaguar thing."
" Lucci was turned into a Jaguar Shifter when he was younger, like Luffy when he was a kid…but instead of being like Luffy he became like Commander Malikai. Evil and hateful."
" Who is Commander Malikai?" Ai asked in confusion. " Why does he hate supernaturals?"
" The rumor is that they killed his son. One corrupted him to the point of madness and then killed him."
" That sounds horrible." Ai said weakly. " I am sorry for his loss."
" Don't be, he's an evil bastard." Coby said.
" Still…"
" Doesn't matter what happened to his son, he's very cruel to even his allies." Coby said weakly. " He's never once gave any consideration to what may happen to them or…what happens to the supernaturals that serve the Order…like your sister or Lucci."
" My sister can handle herself, she's quite strong." Ai said calmly, offering the boy more water.
" But she's not invincible." Coby said taking a few more sips. " Even the Wolf Empress has a weakness that they will eventually discover and use against her."
" But if she works with them-"
" For them."
" My sister works for no one but herself."
" Your sister does what she needs to survive." Coby said resentfully. " She does what she needs to to protect her pack from others which means making deals with the Order."
Ai went silent at the news, thinking about her sister and the Order. She never knew what all her sister did with the Order but she knew it was in order to protect her pack from invaders. " Why are you being nice to me?"
Ai's attention came back to the chained boy before her. " What do you mean?" She asked innocently.
" Why are you being nice to me? Did the King send you down here to trick me?"
" Trick you how?" Ai asked a vein beginning to throb in her forehead.
" By being nice to me and getting me to let my guard down just to get information out of me!"
" Well for your information, I was being nice because you are friends with Luffy. Since you are Luffy's friend that led me to believe that you are a decent person. On top of that you refused to hurt me when Lucci ordered you to kill me…however, since you think-"
" I-I'm sorry!" Coby squeaked as the blunette began to berate him for his words. " Really!"
" SOMEONE IS BEING NOICE TO YOU AND YOU INSULT THEM! SO FREAKING RUDE!" Ai berated the violet haired boy. " WEREN'T YOU RAISED WITH ANY MANNERS!" As her temper rose Coby felt a sudden forceful breeze kick up. " I JUST C-"
Ai felt a sudden dizziness flood her and her vision began to go black. " A-AI!" She heard Coby yell quickly before her vision blackened completely.
Coby gaped as he saw Gol D. Roger catch the small blunette lightly. The King of All Vampires lifted her easily up into his arms, a loving father like smile appearing on his face. " Well that was unexpected, wouldn't you say?"
Coby didn't even realize that the King had spoken to him. He had seen Ai controlling the wind around them. He had heard rumors that some vampires could manipulate the elements. He had seen Ace wield fire on a few previous occasions but he had never heard of a newly turned vampire displaying such powers.
" I believe if I hadn't stopped her she may have blew this entire castle apart." Roger laughed. " To think she has a power like this at this young of an age. Yet, Ace displayed his powers as a toddler."
" I-Is she alright?" Coby asked warily, unsure how the King would react to his question.
" She's merely sleeping. I used some of my Haki to calm her down. New vampires tend to be a like toddlers. Anything could upset them without someone meaning to." Coby nodded at the King's words, not really registering them. That was until the King said something that he wasn't sure he had heard right. " I'll be setting you free, boy."
" W-What?"
" I said I'll be setting you free." Roger repeated, readjusting Ai carefully in his arms. " And no, I'm not trying to trick you. My son and Luffy convinced me that you didn't want to hurt my daughter-in-law."
Coby didn't know what to think. A man he had been told his entire life was cruel and wouldn't hesitate to kill him for sport was releasing him. " I-"
" Go back to your precious organization, boy. Go and tell them that mercy was shown to you. Know that if the tables were reversed, they would show no such kindness to my kind." With that said, the King left the dungeon, passing his second in command at the doorway.
" You are letting the boy go?"
" He posses no threat to us. Ace assured me that can be reasoned with." Roger said calmly.
" You're sure?"
" I believe he could become a powerful ally to us later on, but right now, it will be good for him to see that we are not savages like the Order has told him." Rayleigh nodded, understanding his King's order. His eyes shifted to the unconscious blunette before him.
" She reminds me of Lady Rouge."
" Stubborn to no end? Of course she is. The men of my family have always been attracted to strong willed females." Roger laughed. " My grandsons will be twice as thick headed as their father with her as their mother."
" Don't let Ace hear you say that. He apparently doesn't want children."
" Well, I didn't want them either until Ace was born and I held him in my arms. Holding that small little bundle in my arms terrified me more then any battle I had ever been in in my entire life." Rayleigh burst out laughing at the memory.
" I remember, you almost dropped the boy and Rouge didn't let you hold him for a month."
" Yeeeeeah, hopefully Ace won't make that same mistake."
" What mistake?" Roger turned to see Rouge coming towards them.
" Drop our grandsons."
" He knows how to hold children, unlike you did and what happened to Ai?" Rouge asked worriedly.
" Nothing, I just had to calm her down before she caused a tornado so powerful that it destroys the castle." Roger said happily.
" What?" Rouge gaped.
" It would appear our daughter-in-law is gifted like Ace is."
" Gifted how?" Rouge asked curiously.
" It would appear that she may be able to manipulate the wind."
" WHAT!" Rouge exclaimed excitedly. " That is wonderful! That means she'll be able to protect herself and our future grand babies better!"
" Of course, but we will need to train her. Can't let her run around with those powers unchecked." Roger laughed heading towards his son's chambers. " However, Newgate would find hilarious if she accidentally dismantled my castle."
" Indeed he would!" Rouge laughed before noticing Rayleigh had disappeared. " Where did Rayleigh go?"
" I believe to release our guest and then to spend so much needed time with Shakky."
" Oh that's right! She is back from her trip to meet with Edward."
" It took a lot of effort on her's and Thatch's part to keep Newgate from storming the castle and taking both Ace and Ai to his home and then launching a full blown war against the Order." Roger said approaching Ace's room. " Thankfully Shakky is such a great negotiator."
" Edward does love his children and after what the Order did to Alduin and Elia I don't blame him for being overprotective of Ai-chan. Not only that but Teach is still out there and Edward has uncountable eyes and ears out there lying in wait." Rouge said opening the door to the room.
" As do we, the simple fact that he did what he did to a child and Ace's Bride at that. I can't allow someone like that to roam free."
" And that my love, is one of the many reasons I love you."
