Chapter 8

Sen looked down from the third story of the crumbling building at Zoro and Usopp. "This isn't the best place for sightseeing."

It looked like she was in what was left of someone's living room, and the entire room had been trashed. From the building collapsing, or a prior event was anyone's guess. The floor and walls had exposed pipes and wires flailing in the air.

"What in the world happened here?!" Usopp kicked a rock out of the way and navigated closer to the building to hear her.

"A monster destroyed the place a few weeks ago. I used to live here." She took a few steps back and tried to sort through some junk on a table by throwing what she didn't need over the side.

Usopp's eyes went wide and his knees started to shake. "What kind of m-m-monster...?"

"...A very angry one. It's gone now, so don't worry about it." She couldn't find what she was looking for, so the table went over the side and crashed beside them. "Don't you have anything better to do?! Get those swords of yours sharpened or something. Or are you stalking me for some reason?"

"Hnn... took a wrong turn is all." Zoro turned to leave, dragging Usopp with him.

Sen continued to let her frustration build up as she went through the apartment. More furniture flew over the side of the building, mostly little things like books and metal plates. As Zoro and Usopp got around the corner, they heard Sen scream in anger, a crack of thunder and concrete crumbling. A cloud of dust blew past their feet and a black rain cloud gathered overhead.

Zoro grimaced. "Thought as much..." He turned around with Usopp and went back to the wreckage.

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Sen coughed and waved the smoke from her face. The floor she was on gave way as a result of a quick display of anger and buried her underneath a few tons of building.

"Hellll...." She whined. 'Now I'm a captive audience.' She tried not to think of the past few weeks, but her predicament left her with nothing else to do. Getting out would take a while...

'Why in the world did you come back here...?'

"I just wanted a little solace is all." She pushed rather weakly against the rocks above her, and managed to make a good sized hole. Not that there was anything to look at. Just dark grey skies. The surrounding rocks didn't move, though.

'And you got the opposite. You always do that. At least you waited for those two guys to leave. You got attached to them waayy too quickly..' Her mind's voice seemed pained to admit attachment to them.

"Did you have to throw that table at them?"

'And just why do you care? 1) They're pirates. Probably the lowest life-forms on the Grand Line and your source of income, 2) Does it really look like you could hurt them with just a table? and 3) They may be like you, but they don't like you.'

"Sometimes you just have to try. Just what have I got left? My home is gone, the whole city hates me, my fiancé dumped me, and now he's trying to kill me. My pet will be back soon, then I'll probably drown down here. Father hasn't been seen in almost a year. I'm as old as the ground itself, and I STILL can't get my elementary powers under control, and worst of all, I'm a freak. I think a ragtag bunch of kids in a sheep boat are the least of my problems."

'No, the least of your problems WAS the necklace you came here for. Planning to destroy it, or maybe find Vandis to give it back? I think it should be destroyed. 55 Million is worth pissing him off now.'

Sen snickered to herself. "And to think that's a lot in the outside world. Although, the things the outside world does bring to our island..."

Sen had calmed down and focused her thoughts on memories of her father, and the fantastic stories he would tell about the things he saw in his travels as a merchant. He used to bring trinkets and things back for her, such a stone that played music, sunken treasure, and even a strange pet. Unfortunately, out of its element, it died of depression. The giant bird made her think about herself. What if the council doesn't keep their promise and they force her to leave the island? She couldn't leave. This was her home...

'A home is somewhere where you feel comfortable. Where you're wanted. WHERE YOU CAN BE YOURSELF.'

"Shut up. It's more than that. It's a familiar place."

'You mean like people you thought you knew? Places you thought you could go, but now you're not welcome anymore?'

"Stop it."

'People who abandoned you in your time of greatest need?'

"...Well it's not like they could've stopped me anyway!!" The clouds overhead sparked a few shots of lightning across the sky.

'They could've stopped you. You're weak. And you're stupid too. Plain and simple, you're going to die. And you're going to take a whole mess of people with you. You're just going to stay here and rot and live in their contempt, and your own until they finally decide you're worthless. Like the village idiot. Nothing you do is going to convince them otherwise...'

"No. We'll show them..." Her heart started to race, and her anger rose again, and she wasn't about to stop it. "They'll see, they should have trusted me... They shouldn't have abandoned me... I meant no harm!! They said they would help me!!! It wasn't my fault! I'll kill them... Starting with Illian and Vandis. My own brother betrayed me... Vandis swore his soul to me..."

Sen was too busy simmering in her anger to notice Zoro and Usopp directly over her. They were throwing rocks out of the way when they heard her voice over the now pouring rain. As before on the ship, the louder her voice got, the more responsive the storm was.

"Whoa, someone's extremely bitter..." Usopp followed the sound of Sen's voice to a hole in the rocks. He couldn't see her, but noticed the pebbles around the hole were starting to vibrate...

Zoro pulled some of the stones away and widened the hole. "Oi! Sen! Are you alright down there?!" He reached down to grab her hand.

Sen's eyes fixed on Zoro and she gave him a look that managed to chill him to the bone. Glowing gold eyes pierced the darkness and followed him and Usopp. "If you don't want to die, I suggest you take your nakama and get the hell off this island while you still can."

"Yes, MA'AM!" He wasn't sure what else Sen was, but when a woman made a threat, there was good reason to run. That 'woman scorned' saying went double when there was mysterious power involved...

"We can't leave until our log pose sets. So no." He did take caution though. He wasn't completely sure what her powers were save for creating torrential storms when pissed off. ... "Which fruit did you eat...?"

That question stopped everything around, including Sen. The cloud overhead halted the rain and hovered in the air, as if it was waiting for Sen's answer also. Even the air itself settled out of the currents that Sen was creating.

"....What...?"

"Your fear of water, the way people are afraid of you, the way you act around Chopper, the way you can't seem to control yourself... It's obvious. At least you're not a complete idiot like our captain..."

Zoro was cut off by a strike of lightning that was close enough to knock him down, but not to hurt him. The storm returned to its normal intensity and the air currents circled around Zoro menacingly. "None of your business! NOW GET OUT OF HERE!!"

"Watch it..." Naturally Zoro didn't take kindly to being attacked, especially by a witch of Sen's caliber. He almost had his thumb on the hilt of his sword but thought better of it. She was probably just afraid anyway.

"No, YOU WATCH IT. You rescued me and I returned the favor. And I'll make sure you get out of here safely. But that's it. If you don't beat it now, you can either die here, or the second you try to open your sails again. JUST GO AWAY." Sen finally gathered enough strength to get out of the hole. A dusty hand came up and grabbed a piece of concrete next to Zoro's foot. Other than the dust and debris all over her, there wasn't a single scratch on her. The cloud overhead condensed down into a smaller version of itself and settled over Sen's head, sparing the rest of the area from its wrath. Her eyes pierced into him again, but they didn't have the same glow as before. In fact, her eyes were clouded over and having trouble focussing...

"Fine. Whatever. I'm outta' here." He growled and climbed down from the rubble. The rain had washed away Usopp's footprints in the mud, and the layer of ozone was now stifling and made him dizzy.

Sen was still breathing heavy and moved slowly in the other direction. Zoro interrupting her fit had an odd effect and now she had trouble concentrating. She couldn't be angry or sad or anything. Everything just hurt. Since the nearby buildings had been abandoned after the attack, she went into one that wasn't in danger of collapsing. Again, the cloud didn't follow her and dissipated in the doorway. She slid down to the floor in a wet heap and closed her eyes. "Somebody help me..."