Chapter 7
A few people to meet, huh. So this was to be his duty? To run around in the land of the dead looking for people, rounding them up so that they would be ready to pass into the world of the living for 48 hours during Samhain? That was just perfect. He could picture it, looking for old men desperate to reunite with their still living widowed wives, crying children looking for their parents, mothers and fathers crying out for their orphaned children. Yes, he would do it, and though he wanted to think of it begrudgingly, he couldn't, his heart went out to all of them, he wanted to help them, he truly did. And that is what pissed him off, his ever dying need to help others, to always put everyone else first and himself second.
"You truly are a selfless person; it is a trait not many have," the Shepherd said looking at Sanji, still with that warm smile. "But our list is not that long, I am not the only one cursed by the Crone, but I am the one bonded to you." He gestured to the mark, "Will you do the honour of opening the gate?"
Sanji took a few tentative steps up the stairs and came to stand next to the old man, "I-," He looked down on the three feathers surrounded by the knotted pattern. As he looked at it closer there was writing around it too, "I don't know-," he trailed off as the letters suddenly seem to glow faintly.
Pass through me and look, tread your steps lightly.
It is not the end, and yet not the beginning.
Let your gait be firm, but not too hard.
See the beauty, but do not be deceived.
Find what you seek and let it be.
Go through me and set them free.
Sanji read it out in barely a whisper, "Wha-," he had barely formed his mouth around the question however as the tree began to shine brightly. It soon became too much and he had to shield his eyes from the light. What the hell?
oOo
He opened his eyes slowly, the light was bright and he cursed under his breath as he had to blink several times before he got used to it. For a split second he had been afraid he was back to being blinded by golden threads, but as his eyes finally adjusted to the world around him, they were gone. He breathed a sigh of relief.
As he looked around he saw the Shepherd sitting next to him, his head lifted towards the sky and his eyes closed. "Um?"
"It has been quite some time since I last saw a blue sky and such a big sun; it is not often I am able to enjoy its rays like this." There was a hint of melancholy in his voice, and Sanji couldn't help lift his head to the sky as well. It hadn't been that many days since he had seen it, but he could understand. If all the old man had seen for the last twelve years was that flux sky back in that forest, he would enjoy it just as much.
"Where are we?" He looked around; they were sitting on a grassy hill looking out over the sea. It was the calmest place he had been in a very long time, and he was suddenly reminded of East Blue for some reason.
"East Blue," the Shepherd murmured before he took a deep breath "Yes, that is where we are," It was as he was trying to savoir the smell of salt and flowers as a light breeze drifted by them. "The home to the first on our list."
Sanji plucked out a new cigarette from his pocket, "Hmmm," he tapped it gently on his knee as he took a deep breath himself, "It's been a long time since I've seen this sea. I always thought I'd have to wait until we made it, to see it again." He gently raised it to his mouth and lit it. "So who are we here to find?"
"Portgas D. Ace," the old man smiled, "I do wonder if he is much like his father."
Sanji coughed violently around his cigarette, before he stared open mouthed at him; they were going to find Ace? Ace? Luffy's brother, Ace? The same guy they met in Alabasta? Ace, who died at Marineford in front of Luffy barely two years ago? "You-," He swallowed thickly, "You're telling me Luffy gets to meet Ace on Samhain?" He felt heat rise inside him and he balled his fist.
"You seem angered by this; I would think it would have made you glad." The old man still had his face turned to the sky with his eyes closed, and he wore that warm smile again. Sanji felt like kicking that smile off his face.
"Of course I'm fucking angry about it!" He spat, "Luffy has barely started healing after what happened! He still has nightmares about it, he tries to act like nothing is wrong, but we can all feel it!" He was breathing hard. He had gotten to his feet, and was pacing back and forth so he could restrain himself from kicking out in fury. "What the fuck do you think will happen if Luffy sees Ace again, huh?" He was seething, this was not what he had signed up for, helping random men, women and children he would do in a heartbeat, but this? "All those wounds he has had to carry with him for two whole years, being on his own to deal with the grief and guilt, and now we finally got back together and are trying our fucking best to help him mend, and we're just gonna throw Ace in his fucking face? What the fuck do you think that will do to him, huh?"
The old man turned his head and looked up at him sadly, "I am not the one who made the list, I am just the Shepherd, I have no say in who we need to find." He sighed dejectedly before turning his head back to the sky again, "The Crone is the one who decides, and it is our duty to follow her command."
Sanji went over to a nearby tree and kicked it so it uprooted and smashed through several others, his feet were ablaze, but he didn't care. The crew had been back together for barely a month, and he had seen how much pain Luffy had been in. Several nights he had woken up to see Luffy staring wildly around himself before letting out sighs of relief, he had seen the hollowed look on his face when he thought no one was around, and the blank stares as he looked over the ocean. He knew how much it was affecting their captain, he recognized the looks Luffy got, because it was the same he had had when he was younger. The flashbacks, the hurt and the grief. They had been doing their fucking best to not mention it, to just be there for him when he needed them. Sanji had vowed to never let his captain go through something like that ever again, and now? Now he had to go and find the one thing, the one person, who could ruin Luffy all over again. "It's not fair, damnit!"
"Life is not fair, you off all people should know this." The old man had not moved, and was still sitting on the ground, quietly enjoying the view as Sanji had stormed and raged at the injustice of it all.
"How the fuck can you be so damn calm about this?" Sanji spat at him.
"It is not the first time I have had to find someone who could make the grief of someone else worse," The Shepherd lowered his head and looked over the calm sea in front of them. "But in all my years, it never has. Quite the contrary, it has often been what the person needed the most."
"So you're saying that Luffy needs this?" He growled.
"The Crone seems to think so, or she would not have put his name on our list." The old man raised his hands over his head and stretched before gracefully getting to his feet. "I feel we have spent enough time basking in the sun now, do you not agree?" He looked at him, there was still a hint of sadness in his cerulean eyes, and Sanji felt some of his fury die down.
Could it be true? Could meeting Ace now really help Luffy? It had only been two years; his death was still so fresh in all their minds. He didn't like it, meeting your loved ones again should be a happy reunion, not one filled with anguish and guilt. He relit his cigarette and took a deep drag from it before letting the smoke out slowly, "Tell me something, who is the Crone? You talk about her like she is a goddess, and while I think of all women like goddesses, she seems different somehow."
The Shepherd looked up to the sky again; a look of fondness crossed his face. "She is truly a goddess. The Old Crone, it is one of her many names, but she has also been known to be called a hag these past few centuries," he shook his head and chuckled softly, "now it is thought of as something bad, something to be feared, and many are repulsed by the name alone, but would you believe me when I tell you that the name in ancient times actually meant, the holy one, intelligence and a vessel of female wisdom?" His gaze fell on the sea again, "Once she was revered as a woman of power whose vast stories of wisdom came with her age and the life-long practise of her many skills. She has compassion without the illusion or sentiment of youth. All knowledge of the Maiden and Mother lives within her. She is darkness and winter, and her colour is black. She used to be associated with wisdom, divination, prophesy, endings, old age, rest and secrets. Her many symbols are those of crow's feathers, bones, spirals, broomsticks and dark coloured stones. She is both the destroyer, and the healer, the grandmother and the eternal womb of rebirth. She has a cauldron so deep it contains the great cosmic womb in which all things are conceived, grown and are reborn." He let out a despondent sigh, "She is my love, my captor and my life."
Sanji hummed, "She sounds like some kind of fairytale witch."
"That she is, but not the kind that is sometimes called out to women who do undesirable deeds, I believe your crewmate, Roronoa Zoro, has often called your dear Nami that on more than one occasion. Has he not?"
Sanji growled, "Yes, that bastard has no manners when it comes to treating women with respect!" He huffed and felt the need to bash the marimo's head in as he thought about it.
"But yes, it is easy to think of her as a witch, but her powers are those of a goddess. She watches over the ebb and flow of time, rarely intervening, but always watching. Her powers though always strong, are always greater during Samhain, as is the nature with all things now and what once was." He turned around and looked at the trees around them, "We really should be on our way, I believe you know where we should go." He looked over to where Sanji stood next to the crater he had just made, and looked at him expectantly.
Sanji looked at the sky, a true goddess, oh how I would love to gaze upon her beauty. He shook his head and lowered his eyes to look around as well before meeting the old man's expectant stare, "How the hell should I know, I've never been here before!"
The Shepherd sighed, "The Crone has given you the gift, or curse if you will, of sight. You should be able to see his thread. It is the reason for our bond, you are the seer and our guide."
Sanji stared at him, the thread? "You mean to tell me," he felt his anger flare up again, "that the reason I went blind and saw a million golden threads is because of this?" He waved his hand to indicate the forest around him.
"Yes, they are spirit threads, or soul threads, whichever you prefer. I am unable to see them, I am just the Shepherd, the one who is able to guide the dead through the veil," he raised an eyebrow at him, "you are the one who is able find them."
Perfect! Just perfect! He felt his hand clench and unclench as he again let his eyes peer into the forest around them. There was nothing, no trace of a thread anywhere. He relit his cigarette that was hanging on his lip, the smoke coiling in the air and he watched it drift towards the forest. He frowned, there was no wind going in that direction, oh you can't be serious.
He grumbled, but decided to throw caution to the wind and followed it. When the smoke died down he puffed a little on it, trying to keep it going for as long as possible. He didn't need to do it for too long however as they soon came upon a clearing next to the sea again, and he could see the faint trace of a thread coiling itself around a massive tree where a treehouse had been built almost in the top of it.
"It's here," he said excitedly, and he couldn't help but smile in relief at the sight of it.
AN: A little note on the Crone, she is real and has been worshiped in many religions and societies since the dawn of time, she is often thought of as a part of the Triple-Goddess. In every mythology there is at least one Crone Goddess, and they are usually depicted the same in all of them. She is not, contrary to popular (early and modern Christianity for example) beliefs, evil or wicked.
As always, I hope you're liking the story so far, and please fav/follow and or leave a review if you do.
