"Speaking"
"Thoughts"
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece nor its characters, Eichiro Oda does.
.
.
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 12, XXXX
6:37 PM
West Blue
Toroan Northern Port
"What do you have in mind, Brie?""
Robin asked the girl beside her, seeming to have found a loophole in their current predicament. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. There wasn't really enough elbow room this time.
Just think about it, there was a whole unit of the navy stationed a few meters away from them and at any given moment they could become suspicious of their peculiar actions and pursue them.
That wasn't really an ideal thing to happen.
Obstacle number two being, that the escape vessel is way down there, mind you, below the cliff, and yet there is also another group of marines down under.
So what could they possibly do?
"Trust me on this one, okay? Robin-nee, Aunt Lia." Brielle asked of the two next to her, her eyes pleading.
She really needed to gain their trust on this one. Though it might be a bit hard to do, because she is a child and seriously, what adult would trust a toddler just shy from being six, with a situation as crucial as this one?
Nobod-
"Of course I trust you sweetie, besides, I can't think of anything…..whatever you might have in mind is still better than nothing." Ophelia suggested, her face looking deep in thought.
Brielle stood corrected, maybe the adults here are far more sensible and appreciative of a child's opinion.
"I trust you too, Brielle-san"
"Ah…..really?" Brielle asked again, dumbfounded by the quick answer, surely they might have a bit more questions in regard to this, but as the girl received her much needed words of affirmation, she proceeded on with her plan, no matter how crazy and faulty it sounded.
She have decided to unleash her secret trump card.
You see, during her training days, her mother always stuck to her 'lesson plan' and never brought out the original reference: the book, aka the songs of a siren, mostly because the majority of the content written on it are still way too complicated and completely out of Brielle's current level.
But Brielle was as curious as her mother, and hence, she borrowed (stole) the book, took a quick peek at it, and successfully copied only one song from it without Melody ever knowing. (That clever brat)
After a quick skim, she decided on one that looks like something she could do despite her lack of experience and capability.
[Sopeia's Ballads, Chapter 10, Page 148: The Sailor's Lullaby]
"Okay, I need you two to cover your ears, I'll do something, and make sure to not let yourself hear anything alright?"
"I don't really understand, but, alright. I have questions but I guess now isn't really the ideal time to ask." Lia answered honestly, but they didn't really have that many options.
"Okay, Brielle-san." Robin also replied, having complete faith in the girl.
"Thank you." Brielle said with a smile and parted from the other two. She gave a quick nod and approached the group of marines that looked very disheveled and conflicted. They looked a bit distressed too, but only under the mask of resilience and bravery.
A major contrast compared to their mood just a few minutes prior.
She walked her way closer to them with a clenched fist, with a nervous smile and a rapidly beating heart.
The men didn't pay her much attention and was busy amongst themselves as they were preparing their forces. Nobody noticed her small figure come up towards them slowly and deliberately.
They pulled out their large artilleries, cannons, bazookas, swords, riffles, and every bit of weaponry they garnered in that base.
It was a pretty terrifying sight.
Nevertheless, the little girl stood firm and confided in her burning determination to protect the ones that she loves and escape those that try to put them in danger.
She turned around and made a sort of hand sign in the air facing her aunt and friend with a fiery gaze, and when she received a thumbs up from the both of them, she turned back to the navy.
"Time to bring out the big guns."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
With a deep breathe to calm her nerves, she sang.
It was a bit shaky at first, as she was unused to performing something she clearly wasn't suited for, but what other choice did she have?
Lay your head on my shoulder
This turned a few heads, the guys must have been thinking why on all the four blues was this child there in the midst of their work, and singing too no doubt, but they have come to be ever so entranced.
I'll sing a lullaby for you
The little girl can sing, they all unconsciously agreed, they could say judging from hearing her few soft notes and gentle childlike voice.
Of adventures over yonder
Their words died on their throat, unable to voice out their confusion. Questions left unasked, like why were they feeling, just a little bit weary and that the night seems to call them over.
Through the vast, wide, oceans of blue
Slowly but surely, their actions have become sluggish, toppling over one another as an intoxicatingly sweet melody filled in the crevices of their soul. A craving they didn't know they had.
I'll hum a tale of valiant sights
Barely could their eyelids remain open, whatever that was, they never wanted it to stop. It was conflicting really, on one hand, the mission was urgent and they needed to be alert, but on the other they were all so very tired and the temptation was just too enticing to resist.
But for now, sleep down under
One after another, bodies slumped on top of each other and fell over like flies. Some tried to resist the urge, but it was futile. The song had them wrapped on its non-existent little finger. It was already dark, and the night breeze was so comforting.
The endless skies and diamond nights
Under the light of the moon, a lone girl remained standing in the area, with her hands joined together, she held them close, near her heart. It was draining her energy way too quickly, and she felt a bit dizzy.
Close your eyes, deep into slumber
As she uttered the last of her song, she heaved a long bearing sigh. She looked over at the fallen marines, clearly knocked-out. This made her elicit the tiniest grin, the plan was a success.
She turned and gave a look back at the two who were waiting patiently for her from just a few meters away, their hands still cupping their ears tightly.
They look unaffected, the girls thought, and with the last of her strength, she made an okay sign high up in the air, and the action was responded with the lowering of their hands and a bringing out a smile.
Knowing the fact that everything turned out just fine, her legs gave out and she finally had the liberty to pass out.
Seeing this, both Ophelia and Robin ran fast towards the unconscious girl laying on the grass. Worry filled up inside of them as they neared her body.
Ophelia craned her head over to the once awake-and lively men, who were now in the same situation as her niece.
If one didn't look close enough, they might have missed the slow rising and falling of their chests, and then they would've probably assumed that the little girl massacred them all.
But thankfully, they were just asleep, under a spell.
This eased the aunt's underlying worry that Brielle might somehow had to sacrifice herself, to sully her innocent hands for the sake of them all.
"B-Brielle…..?...Brielle! Oh God! I should've done something else! I-If I knew this would happen I'd never have allowed her to do this!"
She knelt down and shook her body gently, but the girl was still unrespondent.
Ophelia blamed herself for not being crafty enough to come up with an alternative, less worry-inducing plan, and now, she didn't know why her niece suddenly fell unconscious and how on earth are the marines flat on their faces, sleeping their asses of?
"Brielle-san…..! Please wake up!" Robin cried, her tears lining her eyes with worry. She scooted closer to the little one and wiped the sweat that formed on her forehead.
Her lips quivered at the sight of the other girl, what did she do to herself? Robin wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to Brielle. After everything she's done for her, no way in hell would she let her get harmed, not on her watch.
Was what she initially thought, but this…she felt…..angry at not being able to be more of help, and now Brielle was unconscious and they don't know how to help her.
"Ur….gh…." Brielle coiled and grunted.
This caused the two to look at her hopefully, she turned a bit more in her sleep. She furrowed her eyebrows and a few moments later, she finally opened her eyes.
Brielle's sight was a bit blurry at first, but when it cleared, it showed Ophelia and Robin anxiously waiting for her to regain consciousness.
"Wha—What? Aunt….Lia? R-Robin-nee….?" She worded out, still half-aware of her surroundings, what was she doing again?
""Brielle!"" The two females gave out a smile of relief.
"What…happened? Wait- the plan! Did I- no did it work….?"
"Yeah, it sure did. I don't know what you just did, but please don't do it again, I don't want you to hurt yourself like this!"
Ophelia said, clearly debating whether to be displeased at her recklessness or be proud of whatever she just did, it was still amazing how she managed to knock them out without having to move a muscle or fight back.
She decided on the latter.
"That's right Brielle-san, please take care of yourself more…" Robin pleaded at her friend, but she could only reply with,
"I'm sorry, but no promises, hehe" Brielle replied with a matching laugh.
"Aish, what do I do with you, I swear you really are like your mother…" Ophelia sighed, and slowly lifted Brielle of the ground and helped her dust away the stray blades of grass that clung on her dress.
Robin could only accept the bit of recklessness that her friend had and stuck close to her, holding her hand in hers yet again for comfort.
The younger girl gave her hand a little squeeze to reassure her unending worries.
"Well, are you feeling better now, Brie? Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I'm okay Aunt Lia. We better get going now though, the coast is clear to head down the cliff."
"Alright, let's go."
The three, now took off and went through the sea of snoring marines that littered the area, and went near the makeshift path downhill and into the seashore by the docks.
Stealthy, like one of those spy movies that Brielle used to watch, they tiptoed in between the ships until they made it near yet another bunch of marines. They hid themselves behind a nearby boat and eavesdropped on their conversation.
The marines have gathered in a circle, discussing what actions to take now that the situation has become dire.
"What do we do now, Captain? Seems like the perpetrator has made his move." One man said, holding his rifle on one hand, and a salute formed on the other.
"Isn't it obvious? We corner him and fight back with all we've got, it is only right since he had taken out our entire unit, including that Timothy he isn't really all that much of a fight anyway."
A man in the center of the circle stated, as a matter of fact, in a tone that the others didn't sit well with them. Awfully arrogant of him to assume that it was all too easy for them.
He didn't even address his fellow captain properly. Still, they had enough decency to respect the man of a higher rank than them, and it was not like he couldn't back up his words, he had already proven himself, but his attitude needed some work.
The group he was currently leading was Timothy's men after all.
Now he didn't have any spare respect for them as well, his reputation took a hit, but it seemed like the man didn't give a shit.
"But sir, they have proven to be quite formidable, they even disintegrated our cannons! I mean, how did they do that?!" another marine stepped forward as he stated his worries.
"Why, do you not have any faith in your allies? 0163?" the captain taunted, now facing the other.
"It's not that I-" the man reasoned, but he was so rudely cut off by the higher ranking man, only referring to him by his marine code number no less, was he looking down on him or something?
"Silence FOOL!" the captain scolded the poor marine in a booming voice worthy of an Oscar.
This earned more than a few side glances from the others. The blatant rudeness was hard to ignore, but alas, they could only bear with it and suck it up.
"You really think I don't know that?! If things go even worse than it already is because of your troop's incompetence, then I still got something to drag him into hell."
"Sir! We have received intel on Alexander's accomplice!"
Another man came into view and approached from the behind them, it was Petty Officer Nathan, from a few chapters earlier. He came back with a new report and info about the case and mission at hand.
"Ah! There we go, at least someone has proved themselves useful. Well, who is it, 0825?"
Even though he was put off by the choice of addressing him, but still he complied.
"It is his wife, Melody. According to some eyewitnesses, she was the one responsible for the cannons and the shooting incident. Apparently, she is some sort of a witch, and enchantress that made them do it."
Nathan elaborated whilst flipping through the pages of his documents.
"A devil fruit user? So that frail looking bitch can actually fight?"
The captain thought, remembering the face of the wanted man's wife, blonde hair, green eyes, an overall pretty woman, she was quite the looker, but he didn't expect her to be one of those kind.
Well, it was his woman after all, you can expect that much.
"I see, well that explains things, it seems like she's more trouble than she's worth. We will arrest her as well for aiding the assault against the marines and destruction of our property. Make sure to engage combat with her on sea. That way, it'll be much easier to deal with her. Shove her into the water, or do something that'll make her fall over, and most importantly, use seastone-tipped weapons. Devil fruit users are always such a pain to deal with."
The group nodded collectively at his orders, the only thing that made him tolerable was that he was actually proficient in his job, and that made it all more infuriating.
"I at least know for a fact that Alexander is not one of those, so rest assured he's not going anywhere else but prison. Now, remember the plan. Corner them and don't let them escape."
"SIR YES SIR!" They shouted in unison, they were about to go into their respective positions, but the captain stopped them
"Oh, and one more thing, seize the rats eavesdropping on our conversation."
The man smirked and jumped high up in the air and reappeared behind the three hiding behind the ship, paralyzed in shock at what they've learned.
He had unsheathed his sword and raised it in line with their throats, the metallic color glinted at the light of the moon.
"Now, please explain what three lovely ladies are doing here huh?" He said threateningly despite his smiling face.
It was if the looks of horror that spread on the female's faces sealed their fate right then and there. Each, with varying degrees of fear
"OH NO!"
"WHAT?!"
"Shit"
"Checkmate."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
Word Count: 2,862
Date of Publication:
A/N- Short chapter, I know, but writing 5k word chapters really burns me out and led me to procrastinate (3 week delay from my usual updating schedule), so, I'm sorry about that, but at least with shorter chapters, the updates would be a bit faster.