This one follows Thesa. That's gonna be the usual order I think: one chapter Law, one chapter Thesa.

Anyways, can anyone guess what she is?

Hope you enjoy! *hugs*

"I live inside the shadows,

For there's comfort out of sight.

I fear you'll see right through me,

If you hold me to the light."

- Erin Hanson

It was incredible what the lack of information and a vivid imagination could give birth to. Thesa pushed the sunglasses up her nose and continued reading the newspaper trough the dark lenses. Again, some dozen unsolved murders were pinned on the unholy Soul Sucking Witch and her demonic familiar. The young woman sighed, people really had nothing better to do than invent scary bed time stories about her? How did these rumors spread anyway? Did each island have its own version of a truth that they twisted to mirror their own fears?

Nori must have felt her distress and rubbed her big head against the woman's leg. Off the entire canard she had heard over the years, the stories about her panther were both the most ridiculous and accurate. The feline didn't have a bad bone in her body, only becoming defensive when Thesa or someone close to them was in danger, but she could make ice-cold fear spread through your marrow with one single howl. She had found the animal a long time ago, when she was still a cub, and they've been inseparable ever since. Practically growing together, they were like sisters, and although the cat couldn't speak, she was highly intelligent. Or maybe it was some kind of extra sense she possessed, a sort of power only particular animals could develop. Nori watched her with sharp eyes and Thesa couldn't help but wonder what was going on in the panther's heard. But then again, the young mercenary had a hard time understanding the reasoning of her own species. There was no point in even trying to figure out the thoughts of a giant cat.

Turning back to the newspaper, she glared at the page dedicated entirely to the feared devilish mercenary. One of the pictures depicted a terrifying woman dressed from head to toe in black. Another was of an old hag, seemingly powerless, if not in need of help. Below was a woman with bright orange hair, plated neatly in a long braid and casually wearing short pants and a green t-shirt. The last one was of an angelic looking girl in white, with long golden hair and innocent blue eyes. There was a debate on which photo was accurate, if either was. Thesa snorted.

If only they knew… Would they still think her so horrid? Would bored people of some far off land still name her after nightmares? Or would they find something worse, something befitting her condition? Some awful thing - not entirely human. Nori purred loudly, a thing she did to get Thesa's attention. She scratched the animal behind its ears.

"I'm alright, Nori." And she was. That day. But there were times when she feared she was as evil as the gossip made her. Moments when she saw herself as a cold blooded monster still.

A beautiful young waitress brought her the lemonade she ordered, eyeing Nori suspiciously. The feline paid her no heed, like she did with almost everyone. As Thesa liked to joke, some people were not worth being acknowledged by Nori. The cat sure had standards. She tipped the waitress, who seemed to relax when Thesa flashed her a warm smile. She sucked on the yellow straw in her lemonade and examined her surroundings trough her black sunglasses.

Sabaody Archipelago was one of Thesa's lest favorite places for several reasons. There were too many people, it was noisy and tiring. But above all else, Celestial Dragons lurked around. Celestial Dragons, the title made her laugh. It was as accurate as some of the titles given to her. She despised people who thought they were somehow superior to others and the so called 'pure bloods' were the most ridiculous form of snobbery and hypocrisy possible. The last time she was on the archipelago she had to muster all her self-restraint not to kill one of the pompous bastards. It would have been so easy, the trigger almost begged to be pulled. By the time an Admiral would have showed up the damage would have been done and Thesa long gone. She feared for the safety of the citizens though. It was true they would have never caught her, but innocent lives would have paid for the death of a Celestial Dragona one way or another.

She rubbed her forehead and tipped her classy red sunhat a little, for a more stylish effect. She was pretty pleased with her current outfit. The red velvet dress was one of the favorite results of her past shopping spree. It was perfect: it covered her arms, it was long enough, just above her knees and it had a generous neck line. Paired with elegant black gloves and knee high boots, she was revealing exactly the skin she wanted – her face, a little chest, a glimpse of her thighs - all the while managing to look appealing to the eye.

Her hair was a waterfall of dark brown curls. She thought about making them mahogany-black too, but decided to add more color, give the look a natural appeal. She opted for steel grey eyes. The finishing touch was a small beauty mark above her lips. Before leaving her ship she thought of applying some make-up, to change her features as she usually did, but sun glasses seemed just as effective.

All in all, it was her number one disguise so far.

All that work, just to kill a small nobody. It was kind of sad. Thesa had half a mind to change her outfit and keep it for a better occasion. But she wanted to be done with it and leave the Archipelago. She was not there to sight-see.

She fished trough her red purse and took out a piece of paper. Flipping it open, careful not to show the contents too openly, she examined it with disdain. Antoine de Ravin. A small noble that no one would miss. Well, except his five mistresses. Probably.

Thesa already knew the man's profile in and out, but she felt the need to look at the picture one last time before she set off to end his pathetic life. She felt that need more and more often. The noble might have been a scum, a two-faced cheater that spent the family's fortune on drinking and whores, but what gave Thesa the right to murder him? Even if the wife requested it, by ending a life, wasn't she just a bad as the Celestial Dragons she despised so bad?

She had no time for this! Gloved hands crumpled the paper and shoved it back in the purse. She checked the small revolver, her own creation. It was locked and loaded. Before closing the handbag and tossed it on her shoulder with grace, Thesa gave her panther a white cloth to smell.

Nori didn't need to be told what to do. The panther took the lead, sniffing the air searching for the man's scent. It was suck a useful skill. All Thesa had to do was ask the buyer for something the target had touched recently, and the black feline could find him in a radius of a few miles, no matter how many different perfumes and smells tried to stop her. It was one of the things that made the mercenary life an easy choice.

The young woman scanned the faces of the people passing by. So many people, happy, sad, young, old, couples, loners. She drifted through the mass of figures, nimble on her high heeled shoes, eyes in every direction. As with most things, she had mixed feelings about crowds. On one hand she hated them. They made her feel small and unimportant. It drained her of energy to focus on her surroundings within so much movement. On the other hand, they made her feel small and unimportant. She was just another piece of a grand clockwork, gears moving out of her control. It was weird even to her how the same feelings could stir so differently depending on her mood. Regardless of her love-hate opinion towards crowds, she needed to finish her job. She had already been paid for it.

Minutes later, Nori stopped in front of a Human Auction house. Great. She petted her panther and instructed her to wait outside no matter what happened and went up to the front door. A guard wanted to stop her, but one angry snarl from Nori made him back away. One of the reasons she didn't do anything to prove the rumors wrong was that they sometimes came in handy. People usually doubted she was indeed Theresa Frey, but very few were willing to bet their lives on it when Nori was baring her fangs at them.

Entering the building, Thesa cringed. She saw many note-worthy faces and even more scum. And as her luck would have it, two 'majestic' Celestial Dragons were up front. She wanted to puke on them. But they were not the reason she was there. She scanned the room for her unsuspecting victim. Finding him with ease, she calculated where it would be optimal for her to sit. She needed a clean shot. She took a seat on the end of a row near the back, in straight line with the man's head.

She needed a plan. She could kill the lights to create panic, kill the filth and be on her way. The chaos might attract an Admiral but once he'll realize the target was a lowly no one, he'd most likely leave. Or she could wait out the auction and kill him as he passes her on his way out, but she was already on the blasted island for longer than she wanted.

As Thesa was plotting the man's demise, she felt a pair of eyes digging in the back of her head. She turned and was met with the steel stare of none other than the Surgeon of Death. Fan-freaking-tastic. Thesa had forgotten all about the Supernova in the month that passed since she left his yellow submarine. She relaxed thinking he was never going to recognize her, she was an entirely different person from the girl he saw last. But the bastard smirked. Playing in her role, she smiled back and gave him a wink over the rim of her sun glasses. His smile widened, tongue wetting his lower lip.

Thesa was laughing internally. Whatever the pirate's dirty mind was hoping for, it was never going to happen. She turned her head and focused on her task. She had no time for distractions, even infuriatingly gorgeous ones as the Captain of the Heart Pirates. She pushed away her thoughts about the surprisingly adorable name of the crew and paid attention to the bidding for a while. It was a good way to bring her bile back in her throat.

Annoyed by the auction dragging forever, she pushed the purse open and wrapped her gloved fingers around the gun. She needed a distraction, though. As if on cue, the announcer brought in an actual mermaid for sale. It wouldn't have bothered the young mercenary so bad if the Celestial Dragon wouldn't have purchased her. Thesa's mind wandered for a few seconds, delaying the death of her target. Poor, poor mermaid. She was in for a miserable short life. Thesa could save her. But she didn't save people, she killed them!

She was brought out of her daydream by a bunch of pirates barging in trough a wall. Thesa smiled. She could use them as a distraction. She couldn't have orchestrated things better even she had planned the whole thing an entire year in advance. The pirates argued with one another, mentioning something about the mermaid, who was apparently their friend. The light caught in something, glimmering from the front rows. That's when she saw the pistol in the World Noble's hand. The mercenary acted mechanically as her mind screamed at her to stop. Still, her hand lifted. The trigger was pulled, mirroring the one held by the sinful fingers of the Celestial Dragon. She hid the gun back in her purse with a fluid motion. And it was done. That fast! That easy!

She was sick. For a moment her hand was no different than that monster's, that excuse of a human being. Her heart rate elevated as her eyes pinned the dead man a few rows before her. No one had noticed his head fall to the side; all eyes were on the shot fishman. Her hands gripped her chair's armrests. She closed her eyes and took a few long breaths. She reopened them just in time to see the brunette pirate punch the Celestial Dragon square in the face. There were very few people that gained her instant admiration, but that young boy, fool or hero, was one of them.

Hell broke loose within seconds. With all the high regard she held the boy in, Thesa still needed to leave. Her task was done. There was no reason to linger and wait for the Admiral. She got up, but all of a sudden people started dropping like flies. Thesa recognized the Haki wave and looked around for the owner. The wall behind the mermaid split open and an old man followed by a giant appeared. The two chatted, stating the man was there to steal money and return to gambling.

"Why, if it isn't Hachi! And little Thesa! It's been a while. What are you doing here?" There was a playful glint in his eyes as he asked her.

"What are you doing here, Ray-san?" She respected the old geezer, but he was so care-free it bugged her sometimes. Calling her 'little Thesa' out in the open… She shook her head and went to give her old master a hug. Training with him, even for the short while, had been both a blessing and a nightmare.

"Well, haven't you grown up nicely!" He tipped back her red hat to peer at her better but she pulled it back with a fierce determination, earning a chuckle from him. The 'Dark Knight' examined the hall and realized what had transpired. Well, he probably only had half the story, but she was not about to burst his bubble. As the old man took care of the slave collar around the mermaid's neck, Thesa turned to the door. The marines were already gathered outside, shouting for them to get out and give up without a fight. She was still hoping they would get away with no scratch. And by 'they' she mostly meant herself and Nori. The only other person she cared for was Rayleigh, but he was more than capable of taking care of himself.

She was stopped right before the door. Looking back, she saw the tattooed fingers gripping her clothed right wrist. DEATH. She followed the hand, already knowing who it belonged to. Steel grey eyes examined her with curiosity. Did he know? He had no way… The big sunglasses and the hat were obscuring much of her face. And he'd only seen her once before. Maybe if he would notice Nori he could connect 'little Thesa' with her gloved hands and see trough her façade. If he wanted to say anything he didn't get the chance. The doors to the auction house were opened and the pirates were making their way out. Thesa pulled back her hand when Ray-san passed them and joined him.

"I'll take care of the marines." She eyed Eustass "Captain" Kid up and down with a mixture of curiosity and disgust, her eyes resting more on the mechanic hand than on any other aspects of the redhead. He was one odd ball. And who named their child Eustass anymore?

"Leave this to me."

"Shut up you two, I'll take out the marines."

"You're noisy…"

"Stop bickering."

"You're the one who doesn't get it."

"Like I said, leave this to me."

"No, I'll do it."

"Don't order me around!"

Men! The three pirate captains started arguing like the big children they were. Not that she minded; they could have all the marines for all she cared. Thesa helped Rayleigh lift the fishman on his back, ignoring the stares the Straw Hat crew gave her. As they reached the outside, Nori came and rubbed herself against the old man's leg.

"I missed you too, Nori." He laughed and rubbed her ear. Thesa looked at the panther, then at the back of Trafalgar Law and sighed. He would recognize her panther, wouldn't he? She had to presume one was not named a Supernova by being retarded… His crew came out too, all of them appearing bored and used to their captain wrecking havoc.

"You're overdoing it, captain…" The scene was truly deranged. While Straw Hat and Kid displayed power and agility, Trafalgar's abilities were rather… twisted. She wondered if the poor marines would return to normal after some time or after they got far enough from the Surgeon of Death. But all that was unimportant. The more pressing matter was for her to disappear. She locked eyes with Silvers Rayleigh and he gave her a smile.

"Take care, Thesa. Do visit when we're both not otherwise engaged." She sighed again and nodded her head. She and Nori made their way stealthy around the auction house, in the opposite direction. They were making their way to the ship when the feline stopped dead in her track.

A beam of light passes right in front of Thesa's face and blasted the wall to pieces. Was the day ever going to end? Was she cursed or something? Every time she came to Sabaody something made her stay way longer than planned. It was becoming ridiculous. Not as ridiculous as being attacked by two Bartholomew Kumas, though. Something was very wrong.

One of the Kumas darted past her, probably after the pirates, the other stared at her. Well, she was not going to let it fire first. Thesa pulled out a pair or bigger handguns that were strapped to her thighs and hidden by her velvet dress and fired. Bullet after bullet ricocheted from the Shichibukai. What was he made of? She saw Nori crouching in an offensive stance behind him. The panther made an attack of her own, leaping and striking him with her claws. That opened him up, for a lack of better words, because inside his chest Thesa saw only wires. Her heart tightened. The thing was not Kuma at all, it was some kind of robot. That explained how there could be two of them. She placed her guns back in their holsters on her hips and pulled out a grenade. She hesitated for a brief moment, then pushed the explosive in the opening made by Nori. The robot's torso exploded, hardware flying everywhere.

When she turned to see if the other 'Kuma' was gone, she noticed a third one sneaking up behind a group of pirates, mouth opened, read to fire. Not her problem! As she dashed away towards her ship, she saw the hit was directed towards one of the Heart Pirates. No, not the white bear! Why couldn't the thing try and kill Trafalgar? Thesa wouldn't mind that much, her debt would be erased and all...

Damn her love for animals!

Pain pierced through her right shoulder as she pushed the fluffy pirate from harm's way. Better her shoulder than the mink's head, right? But, for a mercenary, one that was referred to as 'Breaker of men', Thesa's pain tolerance was extremely low. It was something she couldn't really control. She was not rendered useless by pain, she knew 'pain' was just the brain's way to signal something was off. But it felt a hundred times worse than it actually was. Her shoulder wound seemed to her as if her entire arm was blown away. That feeling alone brought back agonizing memories. Still, she pulled another grenade from her purse and with fast movements she threw it in the open mouth of the Kuma as it was readying to fire. It blew the head off, but Thesa was pushed back by the blast. She watched as the pirates fought the remaining Kumas. The one with the blown up torso still had some spunk in him, coming back to life and hitting two pirates. Why was there so much blood on her hand? The last thing Thesa saw was Nori's nose. Someone was apologizing frantically in the background. She smiled, ticked by her panther's whiskers, before everything turned black.

Any guesses? She's nothing supernatural. There are more of her kind in the manga. *grin*