If you've gotten this far, for starters THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I'm just popping in to tell you I have conducted a re-write chapter one, (the cringe was real) and re-told a crucial event. I really wasn't happy with how I wrote it and how unoriginal it was (black butler watchers know what I'm talking about, I apologise, I was just so into it then and was young and dumb.)
Anyway! have a re-read of chappy 1 to see how Enyo REALLY lost her eye. looove youuuu...
Chapter 24: Un-holy Reunion
The pirates made their way back to the church, but this time, they brought a little surprise of their own. Enyo was impressed that a man so large could move so quietly. Bart never made a sound when he walked, no one did, and now they stood behind the man while he drew back his massive fist.
'Shame, that's a very nice door.'
Enyo mused as Law nodded to his crewman, the latter slammed that huge fist into the ornate doors. Wood exploded and the metal groaned from the force of the punch, what remained barely clung to busted hinges. The pirates strode in before the dust from the blast had even cleared, catching the would-be ambushers off guard. Those who were sitting stood straight, and those weren't put up their guard. There were ten enemies in all, the deceitful priest stood at the far back near the altar, with his clandestine thugs before him like pieces on a chess board.
To the left stood the two nuns who had intentionally left the door unlocked earlier, one bore a sleek katana, while the other palmed two stiletto knives and wore a sadistic grin. A few pews up, two men dressed as lesser priests drew their swords, the first was a dual wielder while the second man only carried one, though he was sure to be just a dangerous.
On the right were four more scattered amongst the seats, another nun, casually swinging her rope dart side to side like a pendulum, and three men, the centre one was the largest, cracking his knuckles underneath heavy gauntlets, while the other two griped their weapons tighter, a spear and a mace. Enyo's eye narrowed as she stared straight down the aisle, to the woman who almost claimed her life.
The thief stood casually with a hand on her hip and head tilted, a cocky smile on her masked face. Once again the twitching ears and tail were present, the latter swaying to and fro like that an impatient cat.
"Well, I didn't expect to see you again…"
"Sorry to disappoint you." (E)
"Not at all, now we can have some real fun."
The group were about to attack, but Law drew his sword and sent a flying slash straight forward, the thief crouched just in time and the priest dove out of the way. The sound of stone being carved echoed through the halls, and the clergy looked to the altar, their faces warped in shock and horror.
The massive sarcophagus behind the now halved altar was split, a clean cut ran diagonally across the polished stone. Slowly, with a deep grazing sound, the top section of the monument slid off and crashed to the ground, but that was not all. Along with the crumbling and cracking of stone, a jingling sound reverberated off of the walls. Like a mythic waterfall, gold and jewels poured out and pooled around the shrine.
The enemy were completely stunned with shock. Enyo relished in self satisfaction, and her captain broke the silence, causing all but his crew to turn to him.
"To be honest, I never really considered the possibility of an entire thieves guild on this island, but really, there's no better place, is there?"
The thugs gritted their teeth as their leader clumsily got to his feet, Law continued.
"The amount of workmanship that's gone into this place must have cost a fortune, so I'm guessing that was your patron I met downstairs…"
The animal woman cut in with a snarky voice.
"He got greedy, kept demanding more money, larger cuts from our scores. So we cut him out."
"And the others?" Enyo asked
"Pirates, marines, other nosey people, but don't worry, you'll join them soon enough."
With her last words the woman's sharp claws flicked out, signalling the others to attack. Within moments everyone was engaged in battle, Law fought both the katana wielding woman and the man with the double swords, while the second nun attacked Sachi, striking wildly with those needle-like knives.
The man with the single sword went for Law as well but penguin cut in and engaged the enemy first. Further away, Bepo was up against both the man with mace and the woman with her rope dart. Not one to be left out, Bart challenged the man in the gauntlets, the metal clanged as their hands met in an initial test of strength.
Enyo began charging for the woman who had beaten her once, she wanted retribution. She was nearly there when the man with the spear made an attempt to skewer her.
"Stop!"
The yellow eyed thief said, and the man stopped dead, looking at her in confusion.
"She's mine."
Her voice was confident, and the reedy man gave a seedy smile and went off to help his friend with Bart.
"Now, let's finish what we started."
Enyo focused on the woman, and that weird sense welled inside of her, like she could feel the very tension in the air. The animal woman lunged, claws out, slashing for Enyo's face, but the steely haired woman dodged, just like Bepo had shown her. She rolled into a crouching position and sent a few tendrils of hair lashing for the enemy, those shining nails shredded through the attack. As the severed hair fell Enyo leapt forward, brandishing Selene, and made to slice the woman's midsection, but the thief was nimble, and twisted out of the way, swiping again at Enyo. The pirate dodged once more but not fast enough, three slashes ruined the upper arm of her new suit, and blood tricked down the limb, not severe, but enough to earn a hiss from the one eyed woman.
"I can see that you're piss poor at fighting."
The thief teased.
"But even if you weren't a complete novice, it would still be pointless."
That striped tail swayed from side to side as a cruel smile cracked her ruby painted lips.
"I ate the furry furry no mi, model raccoon. I am a racoon Woman, you can't hope to match my agility, or my strength, or my claws."
Enyo let out something between a huff and a scoff.
"I see, that explains why you're such a skulking coward."
The zoan user didn't look too pleased at the insult.
"And as for everything else, I think I'll just surpass you instead."
As the words fell from her lips Enyo's hair rippled, wrapping around her arms, amassing beyond her fingertips, extending thier reach. The thief's golden eyes widened as she saw her opponents arms open before her, as if welcoming her to her doom.
"Nemean Claw…"
The pirate uttered, as the undulating strands bound tight and took shape, a pair of hulking yet sleek gauntlets ending in large fierce talons encased her arms. Enyo took in a calm breath, getting a feel of the new extremities, flexing them, letting the thief imagine how she might use them as she stood there in fear. Finally, Enyo attacked.
Law didn't have time to check on everyone's battles, he was busy with his own opponents. It was his sword vs three others, the nun with the katana, and the dual wielding man. Steel hit him from every direction, and in every direction, he blocked. The constant and harsh clash of metal sounded around him, it was annoying, and he was starting to get a headache. Law hadn't slept since yesterday, and once returned to the sub and seeing after his crews health went to his office to brood, on his stolen goods, and on the suspicious clergy. He'd had a theory, but it made him sick. Those of the cloth were supposed to help people, guide them. Law wasn't a religious person by any means, but growing up he and his classmates were taught and cared for by the kind sister, and they all met a horrible end.
He was torn from his thoughts as a sharp hiss came from nearby, Enyo had taken a hit, Law assessed the wound from a distance,
"Nothing serious, though the middle one may need stitches."
"Now isn't the time to be getting distracted."
The woman said as she brought the shining katana down, aiming for the shoulder that wielded kikoku. Law sidestepped with practiced ease and brought the handle of his sword down, hitting the back of her head and knocking her unconscious.
"Sister!" The dual wielding man shouted as his comrade fell to the floor.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
…
Bart and his opponent struggled against one another.
"Haha! It's been too long since Russo has been able to fight like this! With all of Russo's strength." The brute chuckled, clearly enjoying himself.
The weedy man with the spear ran over, ready to stick Bart right in his side. However the huge pirate landed a head-butt too Russo, and with his now free hands swatted away the insect-like man, sending him flying across the church.
" I don't sympathise with you."
Bart stated, as he landed a beautiful left hook on Russo's face. The huge man reeled back from the hit, but stood his ground, his foot sliding back. Russo threw a punch with his right, aiming straight for Bart's face, but he didn't know how agile the pirate could be despite his size. The former captain stepped to the side allowing the heavy metal gauntlet to breeze past his head, as it did he took the enemy's arm in his hands and twisted. Using Russo's momentum against him, Bart flipped the man over and onto his back, smashing some of the wooden pews along with him. The large thug didn't get the chance to regain himself as Bart clocked him square in the face, taking him out of the fight.
Bart panted as he looked to see how his crew mates were doing. The captain had taken out one of his opponents and now faced a man brandishing two swords. Same with Bepo, he had knocked out the mace wielding thug, but was on the defensive with a woman who swung a rope-dart like an extension of herself. With Sachi using a set of kunai, he managed to hold the nun who slashed with daggers at bay, for now, and Penguin seemed to be holding his own against his challenger. All that was left was Enyo, far up the back she danced with her adversary. Her arm was bleeding but that didn't seem to faze her, Bart noticed large, demonic talons extending from her arms. The other woman, a zoan user kept her distance from the claws, her sharp teeth clenched in annoyance.
"Tch." The raccoon clicked her tongue.
"There's no seawater to save you from me now."
Enyo said, and she lunged forward, her arm out and ready to swipe, but the thief dodged, and leapt forward to kick Enyo in the face. Once again that strange sense that slowed down time kicked in, and the Steely haired woman was able to avoid the attack. Whatever this was, she needed to learn to control it. While her leg missed, she swiped with the claws, missing Enyo's throat by mere centimetres. Sharp nails caught the black pearl necklace and severed the string, the obsidian orbs showered the stones beneath them, along with the golden heart. Enyo's eye widened in shock, and the false nun seized the moment, kicking her opponent in the torso and sending her back with great force.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!"
Enyo cried out in pain, she had been kicked in the same spot as before, and was certain there was now more damage than just bruising. The nemean claws ripped up the stone floor as they dug in, stopping Enyo from sliding back any further. She panted, the pain resonating from her midsection pulsing through her. The zoan user bolted forward, arm up, her eyes wild and claws out for a devastating slash, but Enyo clenched her teeth and fought through the pain, the silvery hand of a monster grabbed the raccoon woman mid-air, and squeezed.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"No!" The rope-dart wilder cried out.
Her moment of distraction was all Bepo needed to land a precise karate chop, and knock her out.
"Yield!" Enyo said as she squeezed.
"Screw you!" The raccoon spat back.
So Enyo squeezed harder. The thief gritted her teeth and stained under the pressure. The hair armouring Enyo's free arm receded, as the other began to slither and wrap its prisoner in a tight cocoon, just as a spider does its prey, and just as she had done in the forest.
She turned to see the others has all triumphed in their respective battles.
"Wait! Where is the priest!?"
Someone cried out in alarm.
"Tchehehe"
Enyos prisoner coughed out a chuckle, wheezing from the pressure on her lungs.
"He's been gone for ages… but don't worry, he'll be back soon… marines in tow. I'm sure they'd love to see you all again."
Enyo slammed the woman into a nearby pillar and bound her to it. Taking out Selene the pressed the blade to the woman's throat.
" We'll be long gone before that. Now I want you to tell me everything you know about the pigments in the cellar."
The woman spoke through clenched teeth, and tried to distance herself from the scythe at her neck.
"I don't know shit."
"You're lying! Pheonix orange, Borgia red, Flevance white! Someone is still making them, someone is still selling them!"
"I don't know I swear! This place was already built before I came here!"
Enyo stepped back, slicing her hair free and leaving the woman tied up. She walked back to her comrades who were filling sacks they pulled out of god knows where with gold and jewels. Her expression was a mix of worry and anger, and her hand went up to toy with the pendant around her neck.
'that's right, she ripped my necklace off.'
Enyo looked around the floor for the pearls, and that golden heart, but with all the scraping and scooping, she conceded that it was gone. Maybe if she had time she could dig through the mounds of treasure they brought back and piece it together again, if it wasn't left behind.
Law stood up straight from where he was crouched over some scattered gold. He pocketed something and strode lazily over to Enyo, who was scanning the floor.
"Find what you were looking for?"
She looked up.
[sigh] "No... I just... I wish there was something I could do, about the pigments."
Law hummed in thought, then turned to his men... and bear.
"That's enough, we have more than we came here with. Let's go."
. . .
The marines hastened to the church as quickly and quietly as possible. Remus, though covered in bandages, charged through the door first. Though he did not expect the scene before him. Aries followed calmly through the busted doors to see most of the clergy unconscious, some still clutching their weapons. One was bound and gagged to a pillar by who he could only guess as the pirate woman with the snake-like hair. At the back of the hall small piles of gold were left behind, one would imagine from a much larger hoard. The old marine walked forward and crouched.
"Clear everyone out, and summon the priest."
He commanded. Moments later the priest appeared with a dramatic "woe is me" look on his face.
"Oh saint! May you strike down those heathen pirates that desecrated your holy-"
He blanched, reaching the commanders side he saw what the former was crouched beside, inspecting.
"Care to explain this? Father?"
Seven old jars sat neatly arranged in a semi-circle, all with the dust brushed off their lables.
Pheonix Orange, Borgia Red, Flevance White.
The priest was wordless...
"Take him and the rest of his "clergy" back to the ship, they have some explaining to do. And get a bio-hazard team in here to analyse and dispose of this."
"But sir, the pirates." Remus started.
"Pirates come and go every day soldier, I think we may have come upon something more sinister."
Aries patted his subordinates shoulder and walked out of the temple.