Here's the first chapter for part 2! Enjoy!
CHAPTER 17
Heavenly Retribution? Sunset vs. Sunrise!
Ari and Zoro part ways at the fork between the west and east wing, and Ari travels the length of the hall, on her way to her room. She finds herself deep in thought as she walks. She can't help but feel like she's forgetting something.
Ari continues to ponder what she's missing when she comes to a stop in the middle of her room. Her train of thought is cut off when a voice at her doorway startles her, "So do you think you'll be coming back to the cottage?"
Ari instantly recognizes the voice as Marguerite's and she turns to say, "You know what? I'll think I'll stay here a while longer."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she replies. "Besides, it has a really nice gym and all that."
"Yeah, it's the gym that you find nice. Uhuh, yeah, just keep telling yourself that, Ari. Well, anyway, I'm gonna get back to the cottage, but we're good right?"
"Yeah, we're good." Ari crosses the expanse of her room and hugs her friend.
"Well, cya later then!" Marguerite turns to leave, but Ari catches her with a suspicious look in her eye.
"Wait… why were you here in the first place? Sanji huh? Not my type, but ok I guess you're both blondes to consider love in the first place."
"What's up with this complex you have with blondes?!" Marguerite karate chops her on the head. "And no, Sanji just wanted my pancake recipe, that's all."
"Uhuh, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Marguerite." Ari chuckles. Man, she reminds me of Pheo sometimes.
"I can't believe this. Byee!" Marguerite tromps out of the room and Ari continues on with her insistent laughter.
"WE'RE STILL GOOD RIGHT?" Ari calls out the door to her.
"YEAH, WE'RE GOOD," Marguerite shouts back.
XXX
"Ari….." a voice calls. "She's out to get you! You have to run! Run! RUN ALREADY!"
And so Ari runs down the halls and out her bedroom door, trying her best to get away from whoever it is that's chasing her. The heels click along the halls and each click-clack spells a letter of danger. The palace around her is crackling from the fire that roars down from the heavens in angry retribution. The flames lick up the walls, traveling at an alarming rate to the ceiling above her. Suddenly, the ceiling gives and collapses, barely missing her. She manages to maneuver around the jumble of beams, but the smoke is unavoidable. It comes up from the floorboards in a rage and clouds her lungs; stings at her eyes. Soon, the tears welling up in her eyes obstruct her vision completely and she falls down to the burning ground. The floorboards bend in protest and snap under her weight and she falls down into the servants' quarters. A single maid comes before her with a whip in hand. The maid's hair provides a stark contrast to the red flames surrounding them, but before Ari can look closer at her features, she is somewhere else entirely.
She is now standing in the doorway of a shed. The sky is streaked with a red that drips back down to the horizon, where the sun is currently setting at a much faster pace than usual. The wind blows harshly against her skin and whips her hair into her face. Ari can barely make out a shadowy figure at the edge of the beach through the chunks of hair obstructing her vision. Ari peels some of her hair out of her face and is shocked to find that half of it is burned off. Pushing the spiraling fear out of the way, she pulls what's left of her hair into a tight ponytail. She can now see that the figure appears to be a woman and that there's a small rowboat docked on the beach behind her. The woman is waving her arms and pointing at the boat.
She's motioning towards the boat… does she want me to get in? I don't know her… but… she looks somewhat famil- cannon fire is heard and that's all the motivation the former pirate captain needs to get moving. The shadow woman picks up the pace and waves her arms frantically, motioning for Ari to move faster. Another explosion is heard, except this time it's alarmingly close to the cliffside behind her. Just five more steps… four more steps… three more steps… two more steps… one more- KABOOOOOMCRRACKKK! The pomegranate trees on the cliffside behind her crack and bend at their roots from the explosion, causing them to tumble down the cliffside and onto the beach. One of the trees traps Ari's foot just as she's a feather's distance from the boat. The fire from the tree flares its way up from her feet to her body. The fire gnaws its way through her clothes and then greedily latches onto her skin. She cries out in agony and futily reaches for the boat's edge. The fire catches onto her hair and she hisses through her teeth. She continues to reach for any scrap of hope left, even if it's the edge of a little row boat. Just… a little… farther… She vaguely feels the tree roll off of whatever's left of her foot and tries one last time to reach for the boat.
Finally, her hand catches onto it, and all at once, her body is whole again. The blood-red evening sky is now replaced with a lazy sunrise and there is no longer a forest on fire or explosions booming in the air. Her hair, which had been previously burned to ash was as rich and shiny as she remembered it being. Her foot, which was practically burned off completely, was fully functional without a burn in sight. Huh? She looks around her and finds that she is out at sea with the shadow woman. The woman looks over at her and seems to be smiling. She points out to the sunlit horizon, as if indicating that that's where Ari should go. Ari looks behind them to the west and all she sees for miles is the vast ocean. So monumental in size that she can hardly comprehend its worth or meaning.