Everything is going well for a while, but eventually it will come to an end.
It was after a storm, and our hideout needed some repair, so we went down into the trash heap to gather up materials, only for Bluejam and his crew to get us all and revealed that it was all Sabo's jerkass of a dad that planned it all.
"NO! GIVE SABO BACK, YOU BASTARD!" I yell as I struggle from the pirate's grip, but it only tightens.
"GIVE SABO BACK, BLUEJAM!" Luffy yells as he also tries to struggle away.
"What do you mean by 'give Sabo back'?! Sabo is my son! It's the children's responsibility to obey their parents' orders! How dare you brainwash him to run away from his home?!" The asshole noble scoffs, "Are you targeting my fortune, you scum?!" He accuses.
"What the fuck did you say, you rotten noble?!" I snap at him angrily, and that gives me a throw down to the uneven ground. The sharp parts of the trash cut my face and bleed out, making some blood splatters on the noble's cheek.
"Hey pirate! Be careful to hit these children! I got dirtied by the trash mountain children's blood! Better clean off the germs." The noble says as he wipes off my blood using a handkerchief.
"Eris!" Both Ace and Luffy call out, while Sabo looks grim and grits his teeth.
"Fuck…" I mutter as I try to get up, blood flowing down my face as I look up into Sabo's eyes, silently telling him to not say anything. But Sabo clenches his eyes closed.
"Stop it dad! I did not get brainwashed by them at all! I left by my own decision!" Sabo tries to argue, but the noble wants to hear no more.
"Shut your mouth!" He yells at Sabo before turning to Bluejam, "I leave the rest to you, pirates." He says and Bluejam bows a bit at him.
"Don't worry sir! We already got your payments; we will beat these children so they won't get close to your son anymore." Bluejam says with a scheming smile.
"Your 'son'? Sabo is no son of some rotten noble like you!" I yell at the noble and glare at him, who seems even more annoyed and bored by my outburst, "Just you wait, Outlook the 3rd. I will make you regret calling Sabo your 'son', or even regretting the fact that you're alive. I will hunt you down until the end of time." I threaten with a snarl.
That gets a glare back from the said noble, and I get another shove of face into the ground.
"Stop it, Bluejam! Father, stop it! I understand!" Sabo quickly says in panic and the noble turns to look at him.
"What did you understand, Sabo?" The noble asks slowly.
"DON'T DO IT, SABO!"
"SABO!"
Sabo grits his teeth as he looks down, fists clenching so hard that his knuckles turn white. "I-I'll do anything you say! And live a life that you say! But please… don't hurt these three!" Sabo pleads, "Please… They're my precious brothers…!"
I grit my teeth together as the noble turns around to face Sabo. "Well then, if you say so. Now let's go home, Sabo." He says and just like that, he, the town guards and Sabo walk away from us.
"STOP IT SABO! DON'T LEAVE US!" I yell and push myself up.
"DON'T LEAVE SABO! RUN! WE'RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT! WE PROMISED THAT WE'RE GONNA BE FREE, RIGHT?!" Ace yells along as he also pushes himself up to his feet, "DO YOU WANT IT TO END LIKE THIS?! SABO!"
But none of them even stop or turn to look at us. I punch the ground as frustrated tears start to well up in my eyes, Ace is cursing loudly while Luffy is crying his eyes out and calling for Sabo. Damn it all! I wish I'm stronger! I'm too naïve to think that I'm strong enough.
…But unlike them, I have one other plan.
"TAKAO!" I call out, loud enough for Takao in the woods to hear my order, "I LEAVE SABO TO YOU! KEEP AN EYE ON HIM FROM THE DISTANCE! AND STAY HIDDEN!"
And as Bluejam's crew takes us to his ship, I manage to spot a blur of blue flying to the town direction. My head is pounding and I feel light-headed, but I try to shake it off. My vision starts to get blurry and I start to wheeze not even halfway to our destination, but I ignore it all as my mind drifts off back a few hours ago…
XXX
I sneezed and coughed a few times after the storm started to calm down. And thanks to that stupid storm, I was drenched and the strong wind made me feel cold and I sneezed again.
"You okay, Eris? You don't look so good." Sabo pointed out as he approached me, but I just shook my head.
"I'm fine. It's just a little cold, so don't worry about it." I simply said as I waved a hand at him.
"You sure? Your face is getting redder, y'know." He points out again.
"I'll be fine! Nothing that a good meal and a nice sleep can't fix." I shrugged it off. He was about to say something back, but he changed his mind and turned to the other two.
"Well, because of that storm, our hideout needs repairing. We should get materials to repair it." Sabo said.
"Yeah, we should." Ace replied as he looked at the condition of their home.
"We should look for a telescope!" Luffy said excitedly.
"Don't you mean binoculars, Master Luffy?" Takao pointed out.
"Yeah, that's what I said." Luffy replied.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go then!" I exclaimed as I ran out with Flame and Takao, "Last one there will do laundry!"
"Wait for me!"
XXX
Don't tell me I got sick from that…
I just sigh before coughing as the boys are yelling at Bluejam before his crew let the rope that binds us go. Luffy is snarling at them while Ace is staring cautiously at Bluejam and his crew. I feel light-headed when I try to stand up, so I stay on the ground as I sneeze and cough.
That worries the boys as they quickly back to their knees to check up on me, but I quickly wave them off.
"I'm fine. I'm a little light-headed, that's all. Don't worry about me." I assure them as I push myself up again and try my best to stay steady. The boys are looking at me with worry before we look at Bluejam.
He's talking things to us and the boys are shouting things, but I can't really pay attention because it already takes a lot from me just standing up and breathing. I can feel that my temperature is rising too. Am I really that sick? I hope not—
Oh wait, this is my first time getting sick here and I don't think I got myself a flu vaccine here yet.
Oh no.
Lady Fate is literally offering me to Death this time!
But still, I stand tall.
Bluejam tells us to bring some boxes to put around Gray Terminal. Luffy protests, but Ace accepts it, so now we're bringing boxes here and there. I'm bringing one box around while the boys bring two, with Flame sticking to my side and whining each time he sees my face, which starts to flush and is breathing heavily. The boys are also getting worried, but I shrug it off and decide to push through to do the job.
After we finished, we reached home safely. But as we arrived inside, my legs eventually gave in and collapsed on the floor. I can feel approaching footsteps and the boys and Flame's panicked atmosphere. I can't take in whatever they're saying and my vision darkens when I feel familiar hands are on me.
XXX
"What should we do, Ace?! Eris is sick and she's not waking up!" Luffy exclaims as he panics.
"Shut up, will you?! I'm searching for the medicine she bought a week ago!" Ace snaps as he rummages through Eris' satchel, searching for the said medicine. Sure, he made fun of her when she did it, but now he's glad she was prepared for things like this.
The sudden collapse from their brother is panicking them, and now totally in dismay. Luffy is covering her with all of their blankets, while Flame stays by his master's side and heats his temperature up to keep her warm.
The heavy breathings and hoarse coughs from Eris snap them out; she's muttering things with her hoarse throat.
"S-Shabho…" She mutters weakly before coughing loudly. As he's the nearest one of the two, Luffy holds his hand out to her forehead, only to immediately pull it back with a yelp and blows on his palm.
"Hot! Ace, this is bad! Eris feels really hot! What should we do?!" Luffy exclaims, eyes start to get glassy.
"Hot?! That's bad! She has a fever! Luffy, hurry and grab some water! HURRY!" Ace orders and Luffy immediately does what he was told. Ace approaches Eris and notices that she's breathing heavily and hoarse before she coughs loudly.
"Damn it, Eris. First Sabo, now you. Why the hell our day today is getting worse with your sudden collapse…?!" Ace curses softly as he grits his teeth together in frustration.
"Ace! I got the water! What should we do now?!" Luffy asks as he enters with a basin of water in his hands.
"Put it down to her and keep an eye on her! I'm going to find a cloth to compress her!" Ace replies as he stands up and starts to search for said cloth. He eventually found the said cloth (handkerchief) in Eris' satchel and ran to the younger ones, dipping the cloth into the water and squeezing out excessive water and using it to clean the wounds on her face from this afternoon. He patches the wounds up and dips the cloth back into the water, squeezing out the water, and places it on her forehead after brushing her hair out from her face.
Ace and Luffy can only watch Eris' face, which is flushing from her sudden sickness. They can't sleep, so they watch over her that night until the sun rises, but she still has a high fever and her breathing is still hoarse. They want to stay and watch for her, but Flame just barks at them to do their job from Bluejam, while he watches over his master.
["You better get well after we got back, Eris."] Ace thinks before he walks out from their hideout together with Luffy.
XXX
I woke up with a bad feeling.
I sit up slowly and something falls off from my forehead as I cough a little. I'm still a bit dizzy and light-headed, and pretty sure my fever is still around, but something doesn't feel right and I woke up. Flame is laying by my side and whines at me, seemingly worried for me.
"I'm okay, Flame. Don't worry about me… We need to go and search for Luffy and Ace right now. I have a bad feeling…" I croak as I throw the blankets off of me and stand up slowly, using my pipe that's conveniently beside me to help.
I glance at the window. The sky is getting dark and the sun is setting by the horizon. I see a bottle of fever syrup and a glass of water on a box next to me, so I decide to down those before grabbing my satchel, rummaging through it and finding what I was looking for: a small folding knife.
I try my best to quickly get changed into a shirt and shorts, tying my hair into a bun and putting the knife into my pocket. I gently fiddle with the heart locket I always have on me and close my eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out before slowly walking to the exit, but Flame is blocking the way.
"C'mon Flame, go away or follow me. I have to go save those two now! They're in danger!" I growl and cough a bit, but Flame isn't budging. He doesn't need the ability to talk to tell me that I need to rest.
"Fucking hell, Flame! I'm serious, don't be stubborn!" I snap at him, slamming my pipe down. He's not budging, but he eventually relents and turns his back to me before glancing back at me, giving me some kind of signal to ride him.
I give him a disbelief look before smiling weakly and hopping on, holding tight before he runs off the room and to the Gray Terminal.
As we get nearer, I see that the whole place is in the sea of flames. Hot sea of scarlet and the unbelievable heat that even travels into the edge of the forest makes me widen my eyes, but that didn't stop me from ordering Flame to run when Bluejam's ship is. When we're inside, I immediately see Ace and Luffy, tied up on a pole and Ace is trying to cut the ropes off.
"Ace! Luffy!" I call out before coughing. I swear, talking in such a high volume when you're sick and surrounded by fire and smoke is totally giving your throat a hard job.
The boys turn and widen their eyes, seeing me, "Eris!"
I hop off and wobble a bit, but I run to them and take out my knife to cut the ropes off. After a few moments, the ropes are off and the four of us quickly run out from there. And as if on cue, the place suddenly crumbles down and gets destroyed.
"What the hell are you doing here?! You're still sick!" Ace snaps at me.
"I can't sleep if you guys are in danger." I reply simply and lean on Flame with a groan. All this heat and my sickness are making my vision blurring, but I shake it off. "C'mon, we better search for a way out before we turned into grilled steaks." I tell them before coughing.
We start to run around, searching for a way out, but unfortunately the heat is too much for me and I almost passed out again, but I keep reminding myself that the boys' lives are on edge here. I can't get myself to lose focus or get careless.
Eventually we stop for a moment, and I notice that a burning debris is about to fall onto Ace. I quickly push him out and the debris falls on me instead, burning the back of my right shoulder. I screech out in pain as the seething, hot-cold pain branding me with burning embers.
"ERIS!" The boys yell while Flame quickly kicks the debris off of me and whines at me. Fuck, that hurts like a bitch! I bet it's gonna leave a scar…
"I-I'm okay…" I mutter and cough again. I can't breathe properly with all these smokes! God-fucking-damn it!
"'Okay', you say?! Damn it, Eris! You're sick and you almost died because of that debris that fell on you!" Ace yells at me, "Stop acting like you're strong, damn it!"
"Then what should I do?! Staying in our hideout while Sabo and you two are fighting over our lives?! I told you I'm gonna protect you guys no matter what! Either I'm sick or not!" I shout back in frustration, "I'm sick of being made fun of! I'm sick of everyone telling me I'm useless! I'm sick of everyone calling me a burden! I'm sick of my parents telling me I should obey because they're my parents! I'm sick of my sister telling me to do things because 'I'll look good in the eyes of others'! I'M SICK OF EVERYONE RESTRICTING ME FOR DOING WHAT I WANT!" I yell at him before coughing loudly.
Ace is silent for a moment before sighing and replies, "…Sorry. I'm just…worried."
I just shake my head and hop on Flame's back, flinching and hissing at the burning pain on my shoulder. "…'s okay. Let's just go and find a way out." I croak out and cough again.
The boys nod and we run off again. Luffy was complaining along the way and got yelled at by Ace, making him say the reverse thing he said before. My vision is getting spotty and I start to slip off Flame's back before finally slipping off completely and landing on the ground.
"Eris!"
The whole thing is a blur to me. I can only make out some of the conversation before I was put on a familiar back. I grip on his shirt as hard as I can so I won't slip off as Ace starts to run again, with Luffy and Flame in tow. But they suddenly stop and I can feel the presence of people surrounding us.
I let myself off of Ace and landed on the ground, trying to push myself up to no avail. I don't have the energy to do it, but I managed to glance up to see Luffy and Ace are being held by Bluejam pirates, while Flame is being held down. They're shouting at each other before I see Luffy bites the pirate that held him, making him let him go and attacks Luffy with his sword. Luffy tries to block, but the sword cuts through the pipe and gets Luffy.
"LUFFY!" Ace yells out, but the pirate ignores him as he braces to stab Luffy, who's crying and rolling around in pain. Seeing that, I see red as Ace yells out in desperation.
"DON'T TOUCH LUFFY!"
I feel some kind of a shockwave from Ace while I feel a burst of strength from myself. I see that the pirates other than Bluejam fell unconscious; making him stare in shock and confusion before he grabs Ace that runs to check on Luffy and stomps on him.
"DON'T TOUCH ACE!" I yell out as I use that inner strength to push myself up, readying my knife and jumping into Bluejam. I plunge the knife into his thigh, and he screeches out in pain as the energy immediately escapes me that I collapse back onto the ground.
"You little bitch!" is what I managed to hear before a click.
I close my eyes and brace myself for a sharp pain, but as a bang is heard, I feel no pain.
"Dadan!" I hear Ace and Luffy call out. Oh, Dadan's here…
I can't say anything as my sickness comes back to me and I'm wheezing for clean air until someone holds me up, quickly recognizing it as Magra.
"Boss! This is bad! Eris has a high fever and a nasty burn!" He announces urgently.
"What?! Then why the hell is she here?!" Dadan yells back. She's saying things (to Bluejam, maybe) before exclaiming to run away, but Ace is still there, not moving an inch.
"N-no…! Ace…!" I call for him, but it's too low for him to hear. I reach my hand out, but his blurry figure gets smaller and further away, and I can't do anything to drag him back. I hate this… this frustration of not having control. I hate being weak. I need to get stronger. Stronger and stronger, so I can keep those I care about safe from this world.
I need more power…!
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(Posted on April 1st, 2022)
