Here you go, another chapter. I hope I didn't scare you all with the last. Have fun!

~Rebecca

Chapter 9, The Power of Gems

The gem around his neck grew immensely cold in the span of a few seconds. Sanji jerked back in fright, away from the bed he had been crying on. He looked down at the jewel and frowned at it's cold attitude. There's something very wrong. Sanji had heard, on the island, that the gems showed the feelings of their counterpart. With a frown, the Chef rubbed his finger over the gem, expecting to feel Zoro's life force pumping into his finger.

There's absolutely nothing but freezing cold.

Weird, Sanji was sure it had been softly humming against his skin only a minute ago. It was stone cold to the touch and no humming came from it. Slowly, he let it fall back onto his chest. Sanji's eyes were wide, tears leaking from them even though he didn't know why. Sanji wiped at his eyes furiously. It wasn't, it couldn't be. He had to believe in Zoro. Shoda promised him. He'd promised. He'd fucking promised he wouldn't hurt Zoro and now look what that got him!

Sanji abruptly sat up and kicked against the nearest thing. The wardrobe with dresses went flying against the wall, splintering to pieces. The Cook kicked at the wall next, socked feet denting it even though he wasn't wearing his steel toed boots. He felt a crack, and as he looked, a wave of – something – left his body in his rage, the wall cracking into splintered wood.

Sanji didn't care what it was, couldn't care as his mind was preoccupied with screaming. He screamed till his throat was raw and until the tears clogged his throat. Only then did he fall to the floor in a pathetic heap of emotions and fragileness. He curled in on himself, hating himself for the situation.

"You liar," he grit out.

He cursed Shoda until he couldn't come up with any more hells for him to life in. He'd wished for him to be send to Kamabakka kingdom if that was what it took. Iva-san would probably just kill the one who 'ruined my candy-boy's future!' anyway. Not that he minded.

His life was over. The one person he truly loved was gone and he didn't even get to marry the bastard. He loved Zoro so much it actually hurt to have his heart torn from his chest and he howled once more in agony. Shoda had lied to him, and he would pay. The one thing he cherished was taken from him and the person who had done that would suffer by his hands. He swore on it.

Sanji hiccupped, clutching at the Sapphire and praying over and over again, hoping that it was all a dream.

Of course, he didn't wake up, but something else happened that gave him a tiny bit of hope. Suddenly, the gem in his hand grew a little warmer, and Sanji couldn't believe it as it suddenly produced a bright light. He had to shield his eyes from it with both his hands and squeezed them shut anyway. When he looked again, there were two gems around his neck. One was blue, and one was green.

He immediately recognized it as Zoro's Jade. It had his sheen to it, that mossy color. Sanji couldn't help but smile. He wondered if this was what happened when one of them- No, he wouldn't admit to it just yet. He had to hope, dream.

The gem felt warm to the touch and as Sanji concentrated, he felt thrumming under his fingers. It was a little weak and perhaps a bit too slow, but it was a heartbeat. Sanji's eyes widened and a smile crept onto his face. He didn't know what happened, but Zoro was still alive!

Instantly, Sanji had a great idea. If the gems read their vitals, it could help the crew! Sanji hastily stood up, hoping to God he was right. He also hoped Zoro was indeed alive and that it wasn't a trick being played by his mind. He trotted to the window and swung it open, salty ocean spray hitting him in the face. Sanji ignored it and used the last of his energy to summon a bit of his Devil Fruit. With effort that had his knees trembling he transformed his vocal cords into those of a mermaid. It had him shaking and his neck burning in pain, but he'd done it. He unclipped his necklace and screamed out over the waters to any fish that would hear him.

His legs gave out right then and he crashed to the floor. Sanji panted, he'd lost all his energy and couldn't even get up again. He was doomed, he couldn't give the necklace to a fish like this. A sudden flapping sound made him aware that a news coo had flown into the room. The bird landed in front of him and produced a piece of white paper, a pen and a very small box.

Sanji's eyed the bird for a second, before understanding that his Devil Fruit had accommodated for every damned animal. The bird had heard him, and was going to deliver his message. Sanji smiled gratefully and picked up the pen. He quickly wrote a small note to his crew and had a sense of déjà vu. It was kinda funny actually. Sanji smiled, memories fondly in his head. He gave the pen back to the bird and pushed the note inside the cylinder box, together with both necklaces.

"Please take these to the Straw Hat Pirates," he mumbled to the bird.

The bird chirped, looked at him as if judging him and took off into the sky. Sanji could only smile once more before exhaustion took over and his head smacked onto the floor, but he didn't feel it.

(Please help.)
(Taskuketekudasai.)
助けてください。

(Shoda is torturing Zoro, he killed him.)
(Shoda wa Zoro o gomon shi, kare o koroshita.)
正田はゾロを拷問し、彼を殺した。

(I can't do this.)
(Dekimasen.)
できません。

(Help.)
(Tasukete.)
助けて。

(Sanji.)
サンジ。

o-o-o

The scream tore through the ship and a few Soldiers stiffened. They glanced fearfully at each other as the scream died down. It had been going on like this for a minute or so. One of the Soldiers dared to grab his Snail phone and called the Captain.

"Boss, your, uh- your wife is screaming, sir," he said.

A crackling sound came from the other end of the line and a 'roger' was all that was said before the Captain hung up. The Soldier sighed in relief and grinned ruefully at his companions. They smiled as well, until a wave of energy hit them and the first Soldier watched as the other two crumpled to the ground. He yelped in surprise and felt his knees go weak. He stared in surprise, vision blurry.

"Oh," he said. "Conquerors Haki."

Then he fell over, unconscious.

It wasn't long before the Captain came running, having also experienced the Haki burst. He quickly looked over the Soldiers, relieved that they were alright. He made a call for other's to come get them. He'd deal with that later, but first, Annabeth.

He opened the door to the room only to have his eyes widen. The window was open, and for only a second he wondered if she'd climbed out to drown herself. That was not the case, luckily. He spotted her under the window, passed out. Her neck was empty of the necklace and Shoda wondered if she'd gotten rid of it. He walked over to her and frowned as he saw that her neck looked a little red.

He squatted down and pulled the collar aside a little, jerking back as he found burned skin underneath. He growled, she'd used her powers, but for what he had no idea. It would be a mystery, until she told him herself. Shoda sighed and pushed his arms under her shoulders and knees, lifting her up and walking out the door towards the infirmary. He laid her on the bed and ordered a doctor to treat the burns.

It wasn't long before he took her back to the bedroom. She looked exhausted, he wondered why. He laid her down on the bed and in a swift motion, stripped her of her dress and socks. He only then noted the dent in the wall, spider cracks running up to the window. He frowned, what in the world had she been doing. It was obvious she still had a lot of kicking power. It was time to put an end to that. Shoda was going to make sure she wouldn't escape him. And he had the perfect hostage.

For now, though, he would let her sleep and once she woke up, she would be the perfect wife. He'd make her do whatever she wanted, and when he was ready, he would indulge in his prize in the ways that he had been keeping from himself. He'd make his last wish a reality, like he'd promised on his wife's grave.

It wouldn't be long now, before he had a descendant that would carry on his legacy.

o-o-o

Not too far from the ship, up above in the sky, was the news coo Sanji had given the gems to. Truth be told, the bird was very worried about the blonde haired woman he had seen. She had looked rather exhausted to be fair. With grim determination, the gull decided that he would absolutely deliver the woman's message to the Straw Hat Pirates, even if he died trying.

It may have been a difficult task for one such as the gull, but he wouldn't let up. Through storms he flew, through sunshine, and once through snow. It was horrible, but the package he carried was kept safe and dry. He would make sure that woman was helped.

"Where are you going?" a voice asked.

The gull looked sideways to see another news coo flying beside him. He sighed in relief, lucky that it hadn't been something dangerous.

"I must deliver this package to the Straw Hat Pirates, it is important," he replied.

The other gull nodded and kept up the pace as he accompanied his friend towards the pirate ship. It was a long journey and the first bird wondered why the ships were so far apart when one of their own was kidnapped. They only received the answer as they touched down on the ship, shocked to see the entire crew passed out on the deck.

A woman with red hair lay sideways on the deck, in her hand a blue baton. A woman with dark hair was leaning against the railing, head limply lolling onto her chest. A raccoon dog was sprawled in the middle of the grass beside a man with a long nose. A robot like man and a skeleton were piled on each other, snoring away in the sun. And lastly, the boy wearing the straw hat was tied around the mast with his own limbs.

The second gull burst out in laughter and flapped his wings a few times. He called out a success to his friend and left him to his job, he had newspapers to deliver. The first bird sighed, how was he going to deliver the message when all of them were passed out. He had to think of something. He decided to do the first thing that came up in his head, and so he pecked the raccoon dog in the face.

The animal shot up with a shout, alarming the others into a state of awareness as well. The raccoon dog whipped his head to the gull and frowned.

"Who are you? Where are we?" he asked.

"You are on your ship, I'm just a news coo that has a message for you," the bird replied, setting down the cylinder box with the message and the gems in it. "Goodbye," he said and took to the skies.

Chopper watched the bird fly away with a frown, then he looked down on the cylinder. What was the message. He picked it up and looked around at the crew. How long had they been sleeping? Where were Zoro and Sanji?

"What is that, Chopper?" Ussop questioned.

Chopper opened the cap of the cylinder and plucked the paper out. "It's a message. The bird said it was for us," he said.

He made his way over to Nami and gave her the box and the paper. She frowned, but took them, looking over the paper. The crew watched in silence as Nami's face went from confused to horrified in the span of a second. She dropped the box from her lax grip and stared, terrified.

"Th-that's not possible," she murmured.

"What is?" Chopper asked, interested in the message. He picked up the box she had dropped and looked inside, only to gasp at what he found. "Their jewels!" he exclaimed, tugging them out the box.

He held them up for the crew to see, and only then did Chopper notice the faint glow of the Jade, which was rapidly fading. He shrieked and held onto it with his hoofs, wondering what it meant. The gem was thrumming beneath his hoofs, like a heartbeat, only it slowed every second.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed.

Beside him, Nami had fallen to her knees, the paper drifting down to lay beside her. Luffy stalked up to the paper, but Robin was there first and read it out loud for everyone to hear. Their faces paled and they looked at Chopper for conformation.

"It's fading," he whispered.

"What is?" Ussop asked.

"Zoro's heartbeat," Chopper replied in horror. "He's dying."

"But Sanji said that Shoda killed him, how can he still be alive then and dying?" Nami exclaimed in sudden rage, fists balled at her side.

"I don't know," Chopper replied. "OH!" he then said.

The crew waited patiently for him to say something and the young doctor was silent for a good while. He concentrated on the gem, and felt it as the life drained from it, then returned full force very suddenly.

"Something is wrong with him, Sanji seems fine, judging by the gem. But Zoro was dead not five seconds ago. Someone brought him back to live!" Chopper said.

"How is that possible?" Luffy grumbled.

"I don't know, but we have to save them!" Chopper yelped. "Right now, if this goes on longer it could have an effect on them that could end badly!"

Luffy nodded and stood straight, hat shadowing his eyes. He was livid, the crew could sense it. They had no doubt that Shoda was going to be begging for his life when the Captain was done with him.

"Let's go, you guys. Sanji needs us, and Zoro too," he said.

"YEAH!" the crew yelled out in response.

o-o-o

Somewhere on the Grand Line

A certain Surgeon of Death stopped dead in his tracks. His sword clattered to the floor as he gasped for air. Behind him, Shachi and Penguin were suddenly very pale. The Captain's legs buckled and the both of them quickly sped forward to catch him.

"Captain!" they yelped out in distress.

Law grabbed onto one of their arms, his breath ragged as he tried to control his swimming head. He felt nauseous, like he'd lost too much blood. He took in a gulp of air and coughed once. His whole body shivered and he felt like he was going to pass out any second.

"Captain what happened?" suddenly there were multiple voices.

Law pried his eyes open to look at his men, and with a groan, he tried to stand. It didn't work, his legs were too weak and they buckled under his weight. Shachi and Penguin held him up and Law felt a little grateful.

"Someone... Is playing with a life... I can feel it..." he grit out.

Shachi and Penguin looked at each other worriedly. Their Captain had never been able to sense such things. They wondered who it was.

"Can you tell who it is?" they asked.

Law shook his head slowly. He only knew their general location, and where they belonged. "No, but I do know that the Straw Hats are in need of our assistance. Set a course towards their ship immediately," he ordered.

The people behind him agreed and ran off to do their duties. Strong arms surrounded law's body and he was lifted up by Bepo. The bear cuddled him close and Law sighed in comfort. Why was someone playing with a life of the Straw Hats. How had they even managed that. Something was off, why was he able to feel this?

Law felt a little sick realizing that he could sense people dying, but not as revolted as he would have thought. He was a doctor after all, and lots of people died when he was doing something. But this wasn't so simple. He wanted to know what was going on, he needed this feeling gone, or else he would absolutely go insane. He wanted to prevent people's death for the most part, except his enemies of course, but certainly not his allies. They were supposed to stay alive until the end.

Bepo carried him off, placing him in his own bed and staying with him until law fell asleep. He needed the nap more than anything. Perhaps it had to do with his lack of sleep the last few days. Something was coming, something bad, he could feel it. What it was, he didn't know. Was it dangerous? Hell yes.

For him and for his alliance. He had to warn them, even if he didn't know what the danger was. He had to help them, warn them, fight with them. Something was going to shift the world, and he felt it coming like a giant storm inside of him.

"Bepo..." he groaned.

"Yes, Captain?" Bepo asked.

"Something bad is gonna happen."

Bepo smiled a bit. "Something bad always happens when we're dealing with the Straw Hats."

Law couldn't help the scoff and the rolling of his eyes. A small smile crept onto his face and he sighed.

"Of course, that's what Mugiwara-ya brings with him, bearing the name of D... Just like myself."