Ch. 16- Tales From the Dead

Disclaimer: Sorry, but I don't own One Piece

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Friday, November 22

Emily was kidnapped again and it's really my fault that Pam took her. If I would have gotten to her in time, we would have used the three Dark Diamond Bracelets and Pam would have been destroyed, but I came too late. The crew said that it wasn't my fault. They said that it wasn't my fault. They said that I had no idea that Pam was going to come when I was all the way at the other side of the castle.

Kristina told me that every Almani, even the deceased, have a story but to hear it you have to want to listen and believe the story. She said that may help us into finding out exactly what will happen to Emily. Dammit, I don't have time to listen to stories. It's my fault that Emily got captured and I'm not going to waste any time helping getting her back.

-Nami

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Emily's scream echoed throughout Emerald Town. Stepping out of the shadows was a tall, blonde man, Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina.

"Emily, get behind me." Zoro demanded, half shoving the small girl behind him. Zoro took out his three swords and got ready to attack.

Pam laughed, "There's four of us and one of you. This won't take very long."

"You're not taking her again." Zoro told her through the sword in his mouth.

Pam laughed, "I'm not going to take her. I'm going to borrow her. I'll give her back when I'm done with her." Emily started shaking in fear and grabbed the back of Zoro's shirt.

Zoro shook his head at Pam, "Forget it. She's staying with me." Pam laughed louder than she did before.

Pam held up her power-sucking pendant and took all the power from the elemental fairies that Bryce captured earlier. Her hazel eyes glowed and she called out, "Super Possess!" A shot of thin red light flew from Pam, passed Zoro, and into Emily. Emily let out a quick scream of pain then stopped. Her blue-green eyes were empty and her hand let go of Zoro's shirt. Her body was no longer shaking.

"Emily?" Zoro asked, looking behind him. Emily didn't respond, nor did she move. Zoro's eyes burned with anger as he shot a pissed off look at Pam, "What the Hell did you do to her?"

Pam laughed and called out, "Come here, Emily." Without hesitation, Emily walked around Zoro and towards Pam. Before Zoro could stop Emily, Pam turned to the tall, blonde man next to her, "Get him, Bryce."

The man nodded and jumped down in front of Zoro. Bryce calmly closed his eyes and made four copies of him. At the same time, the five Bryces unsleathed swords and started going after Zoro.

"Emily! Stop!" Zoro yelled at the smaller girl. Emily didn't. One of Bryce's swords slashed one of Zoro's legs.

A river of blood flowed out of the slash, but not one of the two men stopped fighting. Kristina, Chopper, and Sanji ran into the room and stared in shock at the five men fighting Zoro and Emily walking mindlessly towards Pam.

"Emily? What are you doing?" Chopper asked the possessed girl. Emily kept moving.

Sanji stepped forward and grabbed Emily's right hand and tried pulling her back, but it didn't do any good. Although she was much smaller and physically weaker than he was, she kept walking and got out of his grip. The rest of the group came up and screamed for Emily to stop and come back, but she didn't hear them.

Emily finally did stop when she stood next to Pam. Pam slipped an arm over Emily's shoulders and smirked at the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro was still fighting with the five Bryces, but the Bryces weren't getting injured.

"Mother! Look at her eyes!" Lyssa screamed to Pam while pointing at Emily. Emily's eyes were starting to fill up.

"Damn! The effect is wearing off!" Pam yelled.

The first thing she did was order Sabrina and Lyssa to hold Emily. Once the task was complete, Pam lifted a hand and roughly smacked Emily in the back of the head.

Immediately, Emily's eyes closed and she fell unconscious in the arms of Lyssa and Sabrina.

Pam roughly grabbed Emily by the waist and lifted her up off of the ground, "Okay, Bryce. We can go now."

One of the Bryces nodded his head and walked over to Pam.

The lone Bryce reached into his pocket. The remaining four disappeared. Bryce took his hand out of his pocket and hurled something at the ground. A huge cloud of smoke surrounded Pam, Lyssa, Sabrina, Emily, and Bryce.

Quickly, Zoro dashed to the cloud in hopes of getting Emily's body free from Pam's clutches, but the cloud disappeared along with Pam, Lyssa, Sabrina, Emily, and Bryce before he got there. Zoro fell to his knees and slammed a fist onto the ground, "Dammit! Not again! How the Hell could I let this happen to her again?"

Nami turned her head to the ground, "It's not your fault. It's mine."

Zoro looked at her in disbelief, "What do you mean?"

Nami lifted her head, "I didn't come in time. If I would have gotten here earlier, I could have used my Dark Diamond Bracelet to help destroy Pam and Emily wouldn't have been captured again."

Zoro shook his head, "No, it's my fault. I should have protected her."

"It's not any of your faults," Luffy yelled from in between Nami and Zoro, "Nobody knew that Pam would know that we were here or that she'd do what she did to capture Emily."

Zoro and Nami tried to protest, but the rest of the group wouldn't listen to them, not until they agreed that it wasn't their fault.

"Dammit, I was hoping that I'd never see Bryce again." Kristina muttered, slamming a fist into one of her hands.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked her.

"Bryce is an illusionist who used to live in the villages outside of Almania. Years ago, he used his illusions to scare people to death. He got kicked out of his village and joined Pam. He was one of the people destroying my town." Kristina answered.

"So, do you know where Pam might be with Emily?" Zoro asked her.

Kristina stared at him, "I already told you I didn't."

"Well then how the Hell are we supposed to find out where they are? It's not even sunset yet, so the fairies aren't out!" Zoro exploded.

"There is another way to find out." Kristina told him.

"How can there be another way? You said that we could ask the magical creatures to see if they knew." Nicole asked her.

Kristina partially smirked, "I didn't say that was the ONLY way. There is another."

"Which is?" Zoro asked.

"Every Almani, dead or alive, has a story. All you have to do is be patient and you may get the answer you're looking for. That's all I can tell you." Kristina answered.

"Well, how do we get to hear the stories?" Luffy asked anxiously.

"You're going to have to find that one out for yourself. See ya." Kristina told him. Before anyone could ask anything else, she disappeared. Everybody stared at each other in confusion and annoyance. Now they had no idea where Pam was holding Emily.

"Well, we might as well start looking." Luffy announced to his crew and Nicole. They all nodded in agreement.

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"Mother, are we almost there? This place is giving me the creeps." Lyssa shuddered as she walked in between Pam and Sabrina.

"Almost Lyssa." Pam answered in annoyance. She turned to Bryce, who was walking next to her with an unconscious Emily on his back, "She still out?"

Bryce nodded, "I think you hit her hard enough to keep her like this for at least another hour."

Lyssa kept shivering as she followed Pam, Sabrina, Bryce, and Emily down a dark hallway. Pam and Sabrina were the only ones holding lanterns, but even that light was extremely dim.

"Is she heavy, Bryce?" Sabrina asked.

"Who?" Bryce asked cluelessly.

"The girl on your back, stupid." Sabrina softly shouted.

"Oh. No, she's actually pretty light. You just better hope that she can do the job." Bryce answered.

"Oh, she will. Trust me." Pam said out loud.

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"Ryan, we're here!" Tashigi called to her younger cousin. Immediately, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran out onto the deck of the Marine's ship.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Kelly gasped as she looked at the lush, green plants of Almania.

"Is she really here?" Kim asked Ryan. Ryan shrugged, "She'd better be. We've been traveling this far and I'm almost positive that this is where she'd end up."

"Hey! There's another ship here!" Kelly shouted, pointing at a nearby ship.

"Is it that pirate ship with Zoro on it?" Ryan asked, leaning over the edge of the ship to get a closer look.

"No, it's not." Tashigi told him, "This ship is much different." The ship docked and Ryan drug his friends to their quarters to grab their swords.

"Come on. Let's go search the ship. Maybe she's on it." Ryan whispered to his friends.

"Okay." Kim and Kelly whispered back and started to follow him back up to the deck.

The three of them were now on the deck and would have gotten off the ship…if they hadn't have been stopped by a voice yelling, "Glory! Himura! Uchiha!" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan jumped and turned around to see Smoker staring at them.

"S-smoker-san?" Kim asked.

"What are you three doing up here?" Smoker asked them, blowing a bit of smoke at them.

"Ummm…can we go investigate the ship?" Ryan asked.

Smoker looked at all three of them and sighed, "Tashigi and a few others are leaving to investigate. You may go with them."

"Arigato!" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan shouted, bowing their heads and heading for Tashigi.

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Footsteps echoed within BF1, the room on Almani history.

Nicole had been there before and had returned again with Robin and Zoro following her. This second trip seemed a little…strange since she went down the first time. The floors were still dusty and full of cobwebs, but the strange thing came from the stones that had the names of the Royal Family members. Some of the names were glowing even though they didn't before.

Carefully, with the question of what happened to Almania fifteen years earlier, Nicole lifted a hand to the glowing letters that formed the name "Melissa" and touched it. A vision filled her head, one so horrible in Nicole's opinion that made her cry. Quickly, she removed her hand, her body shaking and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked the younger girl.

It took Nicole a minute to speak, "I asked what happened fifteen years ago and a name glowed. I touched it and saw what happened. It was horrible."

Just to see what Nicole was talking about, Robin asked in her head the same question Nicole asked, placed her hand on Melissa's glowing name, and watched the vision.

- - - - VISION- - - -

Melissa sat on a chair in her bedroom, drinking lemonade and playing with some of her stuffed animal dogs. Everything was peaceful and quiet…until a loud bang and screams filled the air. Melissa jumped in surprise and accidentally tipped over her glass. "Oh man, Dad's going to kill me." She sighed, staring at the spilled liquid on the floor.

Melissa got up and started heading for the window to see what all the screaming was about, but before she got there, a figure burst in, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the hallway. The next thing she knew, she was standing next to her sister and in front of her dad. Both Kristina and her dad looked afraid.

"What's happening, Dad?" Kristina asked, stammering a little.

"Almania is under attack. I need you girls to evacuate the castle while the others fight off the demons." their father answered.

"Aren't Joshua and Andrew coming, too?" Melissa asked.

Her father shook his head, "They will be staying here fighting."

"But, why do they get to fight and not us?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah." Kristina agreed.

"Your cousins are seventeen and fifteen." Their father simply answered.

"But Andrew's a year younger than me. Why can't I fight? I'm more experienced in sword-fighting than both of them put together." Kristina asked angrily.

"Your cousins are boys and none of them are possible heirs to the throne." her father told her.

"Dammit…" Kristina muttered.

"Now, take your sister and hide someplace safe, Kristina. You can come out when the attack when the attack is over and I'll keep the promise I made." Her father demanded.

Kristina stomped a foot, "Fine." She grabbed Melissa's hand and started running, avoiding the guards running passed both girls. Both girls suddenly stopped.

"The doorway is completely blocked off!" Melissa yelled, pointing ahead at the front door, which was blocked by knights and the girls' teachers running around, grabbing weapons and armor and following orders.

Kristina looked around with a scared look on her face. She knew there would be no way to get through the front door without some help, but even that was unlikely to happen. Kristina noticed one of her teachers running into the room with a sword and shield. "Mr. Strohschein!" Kristina yelled.

Her teacher stopped, "Get out of the castle!"

"But the front door is blocked!" Melissa yelled.

"Then find another exit!" Mr. Strohschein yelled back and continued running.

"The back!" Kristina told her sister. Both girls ran as fast as they could to the back door of the castle, avoiding all the running fighters. As they ran, a hand grabbed Kristina's free arm and stopped them. Kristina quickly turned her head and stared into the eyes of the boy she was arranged to marry, "Van?"

Van moved a sword into her free hand, "Use this to kill anything that gets in your way."

"What about you?" Melissa asked. Van was silent.

"You're not going to fight are you?" Kristina asked wide-eyed.

Van nodded. "No! I won't let you fight. You can't do it!" She yelled.

Van put his hands on her shoulders, "I have to fight. I promise that I'll come looking for both of you when all this fighting is over with. I promise."

"Alright." Kristina told him. Van gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and Melissa a soft pat on her blonde head and left. Kristina dragged Melissa out the back door and into the large yard.

At first the girls couldn't move. There was so much fighting, blood, and death all around them. They saw Pam, Bryce, and a few of their servants killing their beloved race. Finally Kristina able to move again. She ran passed all the screaming and fighting, dragging Melissa next to her.

"Where are we going?" Melissa shouted.

"I'm taking you to my garden." Kristina shouted back.

Suddenly Kristina stopped.

Melissa looked at her sister's back and screamed. In her sister's back were two daggers. Blood was coming out of the wounds, but the daggers were still stuck. Kristina let go of Melissa's hand, moved her sword into Melissa's hands, and started to put her hands behind her back.

Quickly, Kristina pulled out the two daggers, turned around to see two of Pam's servants floating around in jet packs and laughing at her, and threw the daggers back at them. The laughing stopped right when the daggers went through their throats. Kristina took her sword and Melissa's hand and kept running.

"Kristina, you're bleeding!" Melissa yelled, looking at her sister's back.

"It's okay. I'll take care of it when we get to my garden." Kristina yelled back, wincing in pain but not stopping.

The girls were not far from Kristina's garden when Melissa stopped, "I forgot my teddy bear!"

"Melissa, you can get it after the attack is over. Now we have to keep going." Kristina yelled, trying to pull her younger sister towards the garden.

"No, I have to get him. Mama gave him to me before she died and I can't leave him alone." Melissa yelled, yanking her hand out of Kristina's, "I'll be back in a minute!"

"Melissa, wait!" Kristina yelled, reaching for her sister, but it was too late.

Melissa ran right into the battle, back to the castle. Melissa dashed by her dying race and her enemies. She was only a few feet away from the castle entrance when Pam walked up to her and shoved a sword into her chest, killing her instantly.

- - - -END VISION- - - -

Robin removed her hand and stared in shock at what she had just seen. "My God…" she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked, walking up to her.

"Ask a question, put your hand on the glowing name, and you'll get a story. God, this one was terrible." Robin told him still in shock.

Zoro shrugged his shoulders, "Fine." He closed his eyes and silently asked,

"Where did they bring Emily?" He opened his eyes and saw the name "Joshua", a cousin of Melissa, glow. Zoro touched Joshua's name and started watching the vision that entered his head.

- - - -VISION- - - -

"Are we almost there?" A young voice whispered.

"Almost." Another whispered back.

"Why couldn't we take the elevator to get down here?" A third voice, the deepest voice, asked.

"You dumbass, Joshua. If we would have used the elevator, we'd get caught." the first voice said to the third.

The owner of the second voice stopped, "I think we're here. Stephanie, shoot a fireball straight ahead." The owner of the first voice shot a flame straight ahead and saw the Royal Family crest glow. "We're here." The second voice announced.

The owners of the voices walked forward and pushed open the door with the crest. With her powers, Stephanie lit the many torch holders in the room they were now standing in.

Joshua closed the door behind him. He looked around the room in surprise, "Wow…I never knew there was such a place in this very castle."

Kristina stared at him, "Of course there is. What the hell have your parents been teaching you?"

"My parents have taught me enough things to make me a ruler of Almania." Joshua exploded. Stephanie and Kristina softly smacked their foreheads.

"Joshua, you aren't going to be a ruler. The ruler will either be me or my sister." Kristina told him.

Joshua laughed, "Yeah right. Like a twelve-year-old or a six-year-old are really going to rule."

"When we grow up, you idiot." Kristina softly shouted.

"Hey, what's this room used for?" Stephanie asked her twelve-year-old friend.

"This is where the most powerful Almani spells are stored. Only an alive person can use them, but you have to have complete control of your powers or you could die. Sacrifices were made here years ago." Kristina explained.

"Really?" Stephanie asked. Kristina nodded. "Then why aren't we allowed to be down here?" Stephanie asked.

"Years ago, 150 I think, the king decided not do to the sacrifices anymore, but since this room was part of the castle, he couldn't demolish this room, so he locked it up. The king was also afraid that one of the Almani would not understand the importance and danger of this room and accidentally sacrifice themselves for nothing." Kristina explained.

"Why can't I read these writings on the walls?" Joshua asked, pointing at the written spells on the walls, platforms, and shelves.

"Because you skipped class when we were taught how to speak the really really REALLY old Almanian language, stupid." Kristina told him.

Stephanie leaned towards Kristina's ear and whispered, "Why did we have to bring Joshua down with us and not Andrew or Melissa?"

"Because I couldn't find Andrew, Melissa would have told on us and gotten us in trouble, but even though Joshua will probably tell on us, he'll get in trouble also for being with us." Kristina whispered back.

Stephanie nodded.

"I like this place." Joshua said out loud.

"Me too. It was worth coming down four floors to this room." Stephanie agreed.

- - - -END VISION- - - -

Zoro quickly removed his hand from Joshua's name. Was the vision telling him the truth? Was Emily really in the castle and just a few floors under the floor he was currently on? He didn't believe it was true, but then again, these stories didn't lie, or at least he was told they didn't. "I know where Emily is!" Zoro announced, running up to the first floor.

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Emily opened her blue-green eyes and looked around the room she was in. the room was lit with torches, a platform was under her feet, and Pam, her daughters, and Bryce were surrounding her.

"Ah, you're awake." Pam said in a sickly sweet voice.

Emily looked at her body. Her clothes that were given by Nami were gone as was her green hair ribbon. Now she wore a white ceremonial robe that was too big for her, a pair of white slippers that were also too big for her, and her beautiful emerald hair was tied into a bun with a white ribbon. She looked right at Pam with fear in her eyes and asked, "Where am I?"

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A/N: Okay, this chapter is done. All the new characters in this chapter are actual people. Joshua and Andrew are my cousins(Joshua is 11 months older than me, Andrew is a year younger than me) and Stephanie is a friend of mine.