Note from the Author: So I'm really not sure what happened last week. The website glitched when I tried to upload the chapter, and despite attempts to re-upload, I don't think the update email went out. Fingers are crossed for this week.

So I've been building to this for a long time. I hope it meets expectations. On this particular chapter and/or the next one, I'd appreciate reviews just to get a pulse for how you're feeling about this story thus far.

- I guess by way of explanation, my husband refuses to be my sounding board any more because he just can't stand the way Zoro and Helena are treating each other. He doesn't want to hear more of the story until they are happy again. Which is going to happen, I promise. So if you feel like walking away after this chapter, know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Also know that I never intended the dramafest that this tale has become. Originally it was going to be a short story. Zoro shows up, cuts through some axes, there's some kissing, Zoro goes back to sea happy to have seen Helena. Short, sweet, fun, to the point. -But then, somehow their dead son became a thing. And Calypso showed up- yeah, that guy's particularly messed up my plans (and you know he's happy about it).

So yeah, now I have to lie in the bed I've made. It's been painful to write, particularly this chapter and the one after it. I can only imagine what all of you are thinking. (Hence I ask for reviews so I can actually KNOW what you're thinking).

Ch. 13 – Lord Death and His Lady

From a quiet corner of the throne room, Zoro watched the princes milling about in their glittering festival finery. Though he hid behind the safety of his mask, he pulled his black hood further over his head to ensure he wouldn't be recognized.

"You know your swords are going to give you away sooner than anything else," Perona pointed out, stuffing her face with a creampuff and other snacks she'd retrieved from the hors d'oeuvre table.

"Yeah, or the fact that you're the only girl here besides the servants," Zoro noted, placing a hand defensively over his swords. His jacket half hid them from the casual observer; he just hoped Helena wouldn't notice them. "Did you have to come along?"

With the party closed off from the public, the only people attending it were Helena's suitors. Cygnus had been able to get them in, obviously, but had disappeared soon after that, leaving Perona and Zoro to their own devices for the time being. The Queen herself had yet to make an appearance.

"Of course I had to come along! Do you know what indignities I suffered on your account?" Perona cried, looking about as ruffled as her dress. "At least this way I get to see you make your romantic, dramatic entrance. And laugh as you mess it up horribly. Holo-holo-holo! You're not really the romantic type, you know that?"

As if he needed the reminder. "I'm not making any sort of entrance. I just need to talk to Helena about something and get out. – and make sure she doesn't get assassinated." All the better if she didn't recognize him in the process, but he doubted he'd be so lucky, even with the mask. Then again, he had lost his own lookalike contest….

"Going to find out if she has a lover or not?" Perona goaded. "I know you don't believe me."

Zoro remained silent. He wasn't about to tell the likes of Perona about Helena's little tryst in the garden. Speaking of, Zoro had yet to spot that Calypso jerk. Quite a few of the suiters wore masks, so it was possible he was there, but Zoro didn't see any dreadlocks either.

Perona grabbed his arm and shook it in excitement. "She's here!" she half-whispered, half screamed in his ear. "That's her! That's her! That's her!"

Conversation immediately ceased as all eyes turned toward the elegant figure making her way across the marbled tile, trailing flowers and green satin in her wake. Though a small masquerade mask shaded her eyes, her poise gave her away. Queen Helena was every bit as regal as her title suggested.

Her mask was two toned, one side green satin framed with cheerful blossoms, the other black and austere with rigid angles. The moment Perona saw it she apparently couldn't resist muttering, "Guess it fits, her being two-faced and all…"

"What?" Zoro snapped. He'd heard her; he just wanted to let her know she was out of line.

"Nothing," Perona said quickly. "Wonder who she's supposed to be dressed as."

"She's the goddess, Persephone," Cygnus put in cheerfully, appearing by Zoro's side. The King had changed into cleaner clothes, but did not wear a costume. Perhaps he wanted to be recognized. "I don't suppose you're familiar with the story?"

He glanced slyly at Zoro, who shook his head.

"Well, she's married to the Lord of the Underworld."

Zoro glanced down at his black duds, his mouth pursed in an unamused line. "So we match. How cute," he intoned blandly, glaring at his Father-in-Law as though it were his fault.

"I thought so!" Cygnus said, throwing him a wink.

"Papa, who are your friends?"

Zoro's heart stopped at the sound of her voice.

"You don't look like one of the princes," Helena observed looking him up and down.

Zoro cursed inwardly when he realized what she meant. He'd chosen ordinary street clothes when the rest of her suitors were all wearing their finest. That meant he stood out from the crowd.

"Interesting costume choice…" she went on. "You know it's bad luck to dress as Hades."

"It's a modern interpretation," Cygnus informed her chipperly. "Helena, these are some friends of mine, visiting from far away."

Helena's small mask hid the confusion on her face but not from her voice. "At a time like this?" she said through a forced smile.

"Oh, they're fine, they're fine," Cygnus said, waving a hand dismissively. He turned to Perona and Zoro, "Come you two. You will sit beside the Queen to dine tonight."

"What?" Helena gasped, but then seemed to remember her manners. "Of course. Any friends of Father's are friends of mine."

Helena and Cygnus led the way to the enormous banquet table, which curved around a strange centerpiece. Zoro eyed it with curiosity; twelve thick steel axes held up in a line by a mess of tree roots digging into the marble flooring – that must have been Hector's doing. What were they there for?

As they walked, Zoro overheard Helena whisper harshly to her father: "What on Gaia's green earth are you thinking? Putting them beside me in a place of honor will put your friends in danger. More particularly that man. The Princes will think…"

"Don't worry about it," Cygnus replied unapologetically. "These two helped me out of a tight spot. I need to repay them for the kindness."

The table ran in front of Helena's throne. She seated herself, thereby inviting the other guests to do the same. A pair of foppish princes dressed as birds in high powdered wigs tried to take the seats on her right and left, then gave a start as they noticed the King.

"Your Majesty!" one man shrilled. Zoro recognized him but didn't recall his name. He'd competed for Helena's hand back when Zoro had last been here. "I…I thought you were…uh…"

"On holiday?" Cygnus supplied with a sickly sweet smile. "I couldn't miss the City of Dionysus Festival, could I, Prince Pompadour? I don't suppose you could move away from my seat?"

Pompadour backed away as Cygnus took his place at Helena's right. The powdered man grabbed the arm of his fellow prince, who had just taken Perona by the hand:

"En Chante, Mademoiselle!" he said, kissing her fingers. "Where do you hail from? Are you a neighboring Princess?"

Perona snatched her hand away. "Yes I am," she said haughtily, clearly pleased at being recognized as the royalty she proclaimed herself to be. "Now take a hike, buster."

"Come on, Popinjay," Pompadour growled at his brother, dragging him away. Popinjay complied, but first he flicked open his fan, fluttering it toward his face as he winked at Perona with wouldbe charm.

Helena turned to Zoro, gesturing toward the cushioned chair at her left. "Please be seated, friend. I apologize for my earlier manner. You are most welcome here."

She seemed relieved not to be sitting by Popinjay and Pompadour. Zoro took his seat without further fuss, though he had started to sweat bullets beneath his mask. Cygnus had set them up with the perfect opportunity to talk. Maybe he could find a way to learn what he needed to without her recognizing who he was, but he'd have to be clever.

Perona sat beside Zoro, grinning at him eagerly. She was clearly excited for him to make that dramatic, romantic entrance she kept talking about. Too bad. Zoro fully intended to disappoint her.

As the meal commenced, Helena turned to him, smiling an easy, polite sort of smile. "Where do you hail from, stranger?" she asked.

Not ready to give himself away, unsure how to answer her, Zoro remained silent.

"Taciturn fellow, hm?" Helena observed. "Your costume was well chosen then. Might I enquire as to how you helped my father? He hasn't been particularly forthcoming about where he's been the past few days."

Zoro was spared having to answer her when Cygnus stood, tapping a fork on one of his glasses to draw everyone's attention.

"Friends, I have an announcement!" he proclaimed. "This silly competition for my daughter's hand has gone on long enough. It is time she remarried."

A wave of excited murmurs passed through the room, as well as some confused glances. Zoro noticed the two powdered princes from earlier talking furtively into a transponder snail half hidden in one of their fancy silk jackets. It appeared Cygnus was trying to throw them off, along with their assassination plans. Unfortunately Helena didn't know that:

"Excuse me?" she hissed, starting to rise. Her father caught her by the shoulder, and looked at her sternly.

"You forget, my dear, that Queen or not, as your father I still have the right by law to give you away in marriage."

"I should have changed that law when I had the chance," she muttered under her breath, and Zoro couldn't help a smirk. Yes, that law had caused her some trouble in the past. He had told her to change it back then, and she hadn't listened.

"Now, choosing among you is beyond me, unless you have a preference my dear," Cygnus said, turning toward her with a twinkle in his eye.

Well, here was her chance to choose that Calypso jerk. Helena was apparently too gobsmacked to get his name out, leastways she mouthed wordlessly at her father until he went on:

"As I thought." He turned toward the suitors again. "Well, I must remain a man of my word; the competition with the axes remains in force. However, as we really need to end this before my daughter is too old to give me grandchildren…" Helena released an indignant huff, but Cygnus continued as though she were a prize horse to be bred: "Instead of having to cut through all of the axes by blade of mouth, we'll just see who can leave the biggest dent by blade of mouth, shall we?"

"Oo, he's good," Perona whispered in Zoro's ear. "He's set it up perfectly for you."

"This has been the competition for her hand?" Zoro whispered back, contemplating the axes now that he saw them in a new light. "They have to cut through those axes with a sword in their mouth?"

"See, she's been waiting for you to come take her back," Perona giggled. "Guess you left her to wait too long, or she wouldn't have taken on a lov…"

Zoro pushed her away before she could goad him further. He chanced a glance back at his wife, who stared helplessly at the men lining up to try once more for her hand.

"Father, please don't do this," she pleaded.

Of course she was nervous. After all, her vertically challenged though exceptionally strong boyfriend was nowhere in sight. Gazing out over the crowd of suitors, Zoro was certain of it now; for whatever reason, Calypso was not at the party. That meant that as far as Helena knew, he'd lost his final chance at her hand.

"Trust me, daughter mine. I know what I am doing," Cygnus tried to reassure her. She didn't look particularly reassured.

Sunset came and went as each Prince tried his teeth at the axes. Cygnus had successfully forestalled any assassination attempt. – and knocked out some of their teeth. He kept glancing at Zoro, obviously wondering when his Son-in-Law would use the chance to make his presence known.

"You should give it a try," Perona said loudly, nudging him.

Helena turned to look at him as if daring him to even think about it. Zoro didn't move.

So far, no one had managed to cut through the first axe, though a few (probably Marines in disguise) had left some sizeable marks. The clipboard woman, Nysa, stood by and measured each dent as they formed, then dutifully scribbled down each man's stats.

Before they'd gotten more than halfway through the hopeful suitors, Helena stood, her mouth set in a hard line. She tied the front of her gown open to reveal the fitted leggings and sandals she wore beneath. Drawing Peleus, she vaulted over the table in front of her, somehow managing it without knocking dishes, food, and silverware to the floor with her long train.

"Helena, wait!" Cygnus called, but she just glared at him angrily, raised the hilt of her sword to her mouth, and clamped down.

Zoro winced as she launched herself toward the axes, fully expecting her to rebound like the other swordsmen before her had done. To his surprise, she cut clean through to tops of not just one, but six axes. She stopped herself before the seventh, apparently aware of her own limits.

Taking her sword in hand, she straightened up, glaring at her father in triumph.

Zoro's heart fluttered.

"Aw, what are you grinning about?" Perona whispered to him.

"Nothing," he defended sheepishly, the grin she mentioned vanishing the moment she pointed it out. "It's just…I, uh, didn't expect her to keep working on that…"

Helena turned her glare upon the suitors, gesturing toward the axes. "I want it known that the man I married was at least twice the swordsman I am, and ten times the man any of you will ever be."

"Oo," Perona said. "That doesn't sound like a woman who has a lover."

"No, it doesn't…" Zoro replied quietly, his mind trying to process what he was hearing. If he didn't know any better, he might think she was still in love with him.

Helena went on: "I am sure you all realize by now that you are nowhere near his equal, but you could at the very least try to measure up to me. In the years you have been here, wasting my goods and my time, have any of you even attempted to train yourselves for this task?"

A valid point, Zoro thought. Even smooth-moves Calypso Blue apparently hadn't managed to cut through any of the axes, had he? For all he'd won her over, he hadn't worked all that hard to win her hand.

A murmur passed through the crowd, and with wild eyes Helena turned on her heel, marching back to the table.

"Helena…" her father started.

"Do not lecture me, sire," she snarled, not bothering to keep her voice down. "You may be my father, but I am the Queen. I know what I want for this country, and it is not a weak, selfish, undisciplined fool, whatever favorable alliance he may bring to the table."

A powerful silence settled through the hall as Helena took up her place on the throne, glaring coldly at the crowd of suitors. Those who remained in line to try the axes started to back away, looking at Pompadour and Popinjay for guidance.

"Helena, I would never have you settle for someone who did not deserve you," Cygnus told her quietly, looking to Zoro for help.

Uh, had Cygnus just paid him a compliment?

The disguised swordsman sighed. Slowly he started to rise, but Perona pushed him aside. The Ghost Princess did not hesitate to confront Helena head on, glaring up into her eyes.

"That's pretty big talk, Queenie," she pronounced. "But here's the thing; I know the truth of who you keep in your bed!"

Helena's eyes widened behind her mask. Zoro could see the anger and fear pass through her in an almost physical wave. –Normally Helena wouldn't draw on an unarmed foe, but there was something wild about her now, just like when she'd beheaded the goddess in the garden. When she drew her sword, Zoro was already there to parry it, defending Perona from the Queen's wrath.

Helena glared at him for a bare moment before her eyes alighted on the gold band resting at the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.

"That sword…" she breathed, her blade faltering.

"It's alright, Helena," he murmured to her, and in that moment he genuinely meant it. "You didn't know."

He didn't want to look at her after that; didn't want to risk seeing her potential disappointment that he was still alive just when she had found love elsewhere. Placing the hilt of his katana in his mouth, he vaulted the table. With practiced ease, he launched himself at the steel, slicing cleanly through all twelve axe heads, even the partial ones Helena had left behind.

For a moment all that could be heard was the clunk clunk of the broken axes falling to the ground. No one dared to say or do anything. Zoro straightened up, taking his sword in hand as he gazed triumphantly over the cowering suitors, who again turned to Pompadour and Popinjay for guidance.

Helena was the first to get her bearings. When Zoro turned back to look at her, it was not to find her welcoming him with open arms. She didn't bother vaulting the table again; she cut clean through it, forcing Perona and Cygnus to jump back or have fine china, silver soup tureens and porcelain gravy boats fall into their laps.

"How dare you?" she breathed, her rapier gleaming in the light of the crystal chandeliers. She launched herself at him, forcing him to parry. "HOW DARE YOU?"

"Helena, what…?!"

They exchanged blows, the sound of their swords echoing about the marbled hall as everyone backed away from them, giving them room.

"How dare you come here with his swords, looking like him, sounding like him?" she accused. "What have you done to him?"

"Helena!" her father called in warning.

Though it partially hid her expression, Helena's mask intensified her eyes, heightening the wildness Zoro had seen in them earlier.

"Helena, it's really me!" Zoro insisted. Though he'd mostly played the defensive, he pushed her back with a strong blow, giving them both room. "Who else would be able to do that?" he gestured toward the axes with his sword.

"Zoro wouldn't come here!" she asserted, launching herself at him again. "He's not the world's greatest swordsman yet; if he were, we would have heard about it. Who are you really?"

"You're right, I shouldn't be here," Zoro replied, calmly blocking her. "Though technically you only said…"

"Oh, for Pete's sake, just take off the stupid mask, Zoro!" Perona shouted at him.

"I can't!" Zoro exasperated.

"Why not?" Helena asked, a victorious smile creeping over her face. "Because it would give you away?"

"Because you specifically said that you didn't want to see my face in Ilium until I'd become the world's greatest swordsman!"

Helena's blade lowered an inch, the wildness in her eyes faltering as she chuckled in disbelief at his clever workaround. "That…sounds like something he would say..."

"Anyway, if my voice and swords aren't enough, I'm really not sure how my face is going to convince you," he pointed out, then wished he hadn't said anything. The wildness reignited in her eyes, and her countenance again hardened beneath the mask.

"Whichever god sent you, I suggest you back off before I make you pay for this cruel imitation."

"I'm NOT an imitation!" Zoro insisted angrily. Again with losing his own lookalike contest!—And just when he actually wanted to be recognized! What more could he do to persuade her?

"Helena…!" he started again.

She had yet to draw any of her other blades, but that didn't stop her from using her feet. He barely dodged a kick aimed at his mask, and that by use of Observation Haki. He didn't get a chance to speak after that; she came at him too fast and hard.

It actually pleased him to note that she had gotten stronger. It hadn't been by much though; leastways, not at the pace he had. There was something a bit different about the way she fought too. Her center of gravity had shifted; she had hips now when she'd been straight as a rail before. He had noticed it during her fight with Calypso earlier, but had just assumed it had come with growing older. Now he understood: her hips were wider because of their son.

Their son! –Now didn't seem like a particularly good time to bring him up. If he wanted to talk to her, he'd have to calm her down.

Zoro changed his stance, smoothly taking over the fight and putting her on the defensive instead. After a few blows, she roared at him in frustration:

"Stop it!"

Without even realizing it, she had started holding her rapier with two hands like a katana.

"You know this," he prodded gently as they circled one another.

"It's the East Blue Kata," she snapped, then went on faltering. "The one that you, that he…that we… But anyone could have learned it."

She really was determined not to believe him. He remembered how she'd recognized him as a fox, then immediately given up the notion. Whatever the stupid gods had done to her had destroyed something in her; not just her piety, but her hope as well.

She defended her delusion as though shattering it would break her. The problem was, she was clearly already broken.

"Fine; what about this?"

He switched it up, and soon she reverted to holding the rapier in one hand. This kata had more of a rhythm to it, like a dance. She apparently didn't feel like dancing though; as soon as she realized what it was she destroyed the rhythm, forcing him back with another roar and a well-timed lunge.

"Stop it!" she cried again. She didn't even bother to say what she knew it was; the rapier-katana form they'd created together for their wedding. She glared at him, her chest heaving with both physical and emotional exertion.

The fight had taken most of his concentration, but he could hear the suitors chattering to one another now. Pompadour's shrill voice pierced above the crowd:

"Now, you idiots! Get her while she's distracted!"

His brother, Popinjay tossed his fan into the air, signaling the assassins. All of the princes and marines threw off their hats and masks, sliding gas-masks over their faces instead.

Helena didn't seem to notice any of it. She charged at Zoro, the point of her rapier aiming to run him through. At the same time the marines disguised as princes lunged at her, ready for the kill.

Zoro's eye widened. He had only seconds left to think of how he would shake Helena out of her break with reality. It came to him as he drew his remaining two katana to defend her; particularly as he pulled out Sandai Kitetsu. The cursed blade reminded him of a different battle they'd fought once; he with her blade and she with his. He only hoped he correctly remembered the properties of her magical sword.

He focused on blocking the crowd of marines, and let her pierce him with Peleus, or try to. The blade dodged around his side of its own accord, and Helena, too shocked to recalibrate, fell half into an embrace against his chest with the momentum of the lunge.

Meanwhile Zoro held every one of the marines at bay with his katana; an impressive feat, what with twenty or more blades to three of his.

Helena's sword arm fell limply to her side, but she couldn't back up; Zoro had his swords crossed over her to keep the blades of the shocked marines at bay. When she got her bearings, she looked up into Zoro's straining face. He smirked at her around the katana in his mouth.

"Peleus can't hurt a member of the royal family," Zoro reminded her. "That includes your husband, doesn't it?"

"Zoro," she breathed at last. Her sword fell from her limp fingers, and she let her forehead rest wearily against his shoulder. "Dammit, Zoro. I'm not ready to face you yet…"

Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"I, uh, missed you too," he said awkwardly, his arms starting shake with the exertion of keeping the marines blades from slicing them both to ribbons. "Now, could you duck, please?"

Helena didn't move. A sudden hissing filled the air, and Zoro's eyes widened. That had to be the gas canisters going off. White smoke swirled in the corners of his vision.

"Helena, get down!" he barked. "And don't breathe!"

"Wait," she started, lifting her hands to his chest as though to stop him.

Crazy woman! There wasn't time for a tearful reunion. He took a step forward, shoving all of the marines back a few feet with a swipe of his three swords. His forward momentum knocked Helena roughly to the ground, and Zoro crouched over her in an attack stance.

"Zoro, I said wait!" she insisted again, but he ignored her.

"Dragon Twister!"

He released a tornado of slashes that threw the marines crashing into the far wall, or into tables, or through windows. A few of them didn't get back up. More importantly, the slashing wind caught the gas and blew it out of the broken windows and through the giant hole Zoro had just created in the marble ceiling.

"Did I say only twice the swordsman I am?" Helena uttered, her eyes wide as she took in the strength of his attack. "Because I think that may have been an understatement…"

Zoro grinned. She hadn't seen anything yet!

The princes had all been crouched over the gas canisters hidden in the greenery in various parts of the hall, and so had managed to dodge the attack. That was fine by Zoro. It just extended the fun. Straightening up, he looked at them with a hellish gleam in his eye.

"When you realized you couldn't measure up to me, you should have run," he informed them calmly. "Now it's too late."

The princes squeaked, throwing off their now useless gas masks as they made for the enormously heavy main doors, which they themselves had sealed shut moments ago. They struggled to get them open in a terrified frenzy.

"Hector, NOW!" Cygnus shouted.

Zoro might have been puzzled at this; the General was nowhere in sight. Seconds later the big man meshed through the sealed wooden doors to appear suddenly amidst the terrified princes. He put his wood wood fruit to good use, melding the giant doors shut in a flurry of twisting branches.

The Princes turned to try and flee out of the broken windows next, but Hector's roots and branches grew at an alarming rate, twisting to block all of the windows and any other possible avenues of escape. The Princes turned toward Zoro in dread.

"Wait, let's be reasonable," Prince Pompadour shrilled, coming forward as spokesman, though he trembled in his bejeweled boots. "We see you're alive and well now, sir, and we have no reason to pursue the Queen anymore. Let us go in peace, and I am sure we can make ten times the recompense for any damage we have done or goods we have consumed."

Zoro sheathed two of his swords, but pointed the third at the trembling man. "You should have thought of that BEFORE you tried to murder my wife," he said calmly. "I suggest you all draw your swords. That is, unless you want to die dishonorably, like the cowards you are."

"Wait!" Helena cried again. She had gotten to her feet and stood between Zoro and Pompadour, facing her husband with her arms out, imploring. "Zoro, please. Just let them go."

"You're defending them?" Zoro asked, his temper flaring despite his best efforts to keep it at bay. Her strange behavior was starting to grate on him, and all his frustrations with her seemed to come pushing out of him in a snide remark: "I should have realized. You always did like having men chase after you, didn't you?"

"No!" Helena said, taken aback, "It's not like that, it's…"

One of the princes, no, by the size of his biceps he had to be a marine, used Helena's distraction to try to sneak up on her, pushing Pompadour aside. The marine made to stab her in the back with his sword, but Zoro was already there, running him through.

After that, there was no stopping the battle. The princes were forced to draw their weapons to defend themselves. Soon Helena's guards had joined the fray, led by Paris, who had a wildly triumphant look in his eye.

"VENGENCE FOR MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" Zoro heard him say as he shot a spray of swords at the suitors.

As the battle raged on, the ceiling creaked, its stability shot after Zoro's dragon twister, and even moreso with Hector's branches and roots digging into the walls and supports. Zoro looked up just in time to see a chandelier falling straight toward him.

He caught a glimpse of forest green satin as someone tackled him out of the way. He and his rescuer skidded a few feet on the marble, landing clear of the shattering crystal.

The battle only paused momentarily at the shock of the chandelier falling. It picked up again seconds later, the princes showing they actually had some mettle as they fought for their lives.

"Thanks, Helena," Zoro said sincerely, attempting to get up.

"You jerk," Helena snarled from on top of him, keeping him pinned. "Why'd you have to come back tonight of all nights, anyway?"

"That's the thanks I get?" Zoro started, trying to straighten up again to no avail.

"What, for destroying my throne room?" she growled. "I had everything under control until you showed up. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the only reason I let any of them stay is because I'm trying to prevent a war here."

Zoro pushed her off of him with force, gesturing toward the battle in frustration. "Look around you, Helena!" he cried, "These men conspired with your worst enemy to take over your kingdom! If you ask me, you're already AT war."

"I didn't ask you…" Helena started angrily, but her father cut her off.

"The man's right, Helena," he said. He stood beside them, his sword at the ready. Zoro blinked at him in surprise; that was a practiced stance. When had Cygnus learned how to fight?

"You're taking his side?" Helena snapped, backing off of Zoro as she rounded on her father. "But you said…! But you…" she stammered angrily, "You're the only reason I allowed any of this in the first place!"

Trembling with rage, she looked from her father to Zoro and back again.

"Oh, to Hades with it!" she cried, drawing her sword and launching herself into the battle with a will. Despite his own frustrations, Zoro couldn't help but chuckle when she dispatched one of the princes with a loud: "THAT'S for staring at my bum, you perv! And you thought I wouldn't notice!" She turned to another one, ready to make quick work of him. "And YOU, Prince Franion! Don't think I didn't see how you were treating the serving girls! Pig!"

"Oh dear," Cygnus sighed as Zoro got to his feet. "I knew she was unstable, but I didn't realize how much or I might have warned you."

"Unstable?" Zoro asked, settling again into a fighting stance. "If you ask me she's completely insane."

"Please forgive her," Cygnus pled. "The past few years have not been kind to her."

As if that was an excuse! The past few years had been no picnic for Zoro either, but that didn't mean he had started pursing other women. -Or pretended his wife was dead to the point that he tried to kill her when they met. And since when had Helena started acting like a doormat, letting people walk all over her just to keep the peace? She wasn't at all the woman he remembered.

They didn't have a chance to keep talking after that. He vented his frustrations on combat as much as he could, but the princes and their navy allies didn't pose enough of a challenge. Somehow he and Helena ended the battle back to back.

Though she had been late to the fight, in her anger she had dispatched almost as many foes as Zoro had. Dressed as Death and his Wife, Zoro and Helena surveyed the scene in the stillness to follow, but were disinclined to turn toward each other. All eyes were on them, they knew, but they had nothing to say.

A slow clap echoed through the halls. It was Perona, who hadn't even bothered to join the fight. Leaning on her shepherds crook, she'd watched the proceedings, growing more and more delighted the more miserable it all became.

"That was fun," she said with a grin, surrounded by her giggling negativity ghosts. "Now for the real fight."