Emerald: Yo! I'm back with another update! The last two chapters have been edited, I would suggest going back and re-reading them as well as the ANs as they hold important changes.
I hope you guys read the explanation last chapter, or you might have some questions as the story goes on.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Kagome hurried outside to find Khanen waiting outside her door.
"What's wrong?"
"Oyaji has a plan to get you into Impel Down, he called for you immediately, he and the other commanders are already in the planning room," Khanen explained as he led the way up the stairs and to the next level.
Kagome nodded, "Thank you Khanen. I can go from here."
Khanen nodded, he split at the dead end and left for his own room.
Kagome pushed open the door to find half of the commanders half-asleep and the other half, wide-awake, "I heard you've got a plan?"
The door shut with a loud click.
"Ne, Jinbei?"
"Hm?"
"I have a favor to ask of you."
Jinbei looked at Ace, "A favor?"
"Take care of my little brother for me. He's not too smart but he has a good heart. I can't look out for him anymore."
"Kagome, do you have everything you need?" Marco asked as he watched Kagome tighten the strap on her pack.
"Mhm," Kagome nodded, swinging the yellow backpack on to her shoulders. She walked to her cupboard and withdrew her weapon: a long black metal scythe with the blade's edge a gleaming blue. She expertly twirled it around, admiring the graceful beauty of the blade then swung it on to her back so it laid diagonally; the blade by her shoulder and the end of the staff going down to her calves. She never went on any mission without her beloved *Amatsu.
"We should go over the plan again, remember, you have to-" Marco was cut off.
"Yeah, yeah, stop worrying," Kagome said, waving her hand dismissively, "Honestly, I can take care of myself."
Turning to face the 1st Division Commander, she continued, "Believe it or not, this is NOT the most dangerous thing I've done."
Marco snorted, "Please, you just got lucky those other times!"
Kagome placed her hands on her hips while following Marco out of her cabin, "I did not!"
Marco rolled his eyes, "You sat in the middle of your home with a barrier around yourself while everything went to hell outside the first time. And," he turned to face her, his expression incredulous, "How the hell did you not notice there was a freaking Buster Call going on around you?"
Kagome blushed and narrowed her eyes, "It's not like that! I just wanted some peace and quiet to read a book! I kept getting interrupted so I thought that I'd place a barrier that blocked everything out. How was I supposed to know that the Government bakas were about to eliminate that island?"
Marco shook his head, "And if that isn't enough-"
Kagome growled, "I get it! Okay, I have some of the worst luck possible! But, it'll be fine! I did survive that and more after all."
Kagome opened the door leading to the deck and walked out, Marco following behind her.
Vista smirked knowingly as the two came to stand beside him, "He brought it up again?"
Kagome shot him a dirty look, "Shut up, Vista."
Vista chuckled.
Everyone knew Kagome's history and how she had become infamous. They would often tease her about it, but she knew that it was just harmless fun and they did respect her. Well, after she had proven herself, respect had to be earned after all.
"Kagome, are you ready to go?" Whitebeard asked as he sat in the chair surrounded by the medical staff.
"Hai, I've got everything ready, is Khanen Senchou ready?" Kagome asked, using the fake title that had been given to Khanen.
The plan was relatively simple. They had found out that Boa Hancock, one of the Shichibukai, was travelling to Impel Down. According to the recorded audio one of their spies had gotten their hands on, Hancock wanted to meet Ace before the execution and would be travelling on a marine ship. If all went to plan, the marine ship would come across an unknown pirate ship and while they battled, Kagome would sneak on board the marine vessel, the pirates would then make their escape and she would make her way to the prison.
After that, she'd get Ace out and use the baby den den mushi to call one of the division commanders to pick them up. It was all relatively straightforward and hopefully there wouldn't be any complications. She hoped.
"Ready," Khanen said, appearing from behind her. She nodded to him, then looked back at the medical staff surrounding Whitebeard, "Oi! I better not find out you've given Jiji any rum until I get back! His body needs a break now that I'm not going to be healing him every night. Understood?"
"Understood!" came the reply from all the nurses. They knew not to go against her orders, while Whitebeard was to be feared, more so than Kagome, he wouldn't do anything too bad to them, as they were a part of his family, but if Kagome found out that they had went against her orders, considered family or not, she would punish them and it wouldn't be pretty.
Whitebeard mentally sighed, that troublesome daughter of his worried too much.
"Alright, those of you going with Khanen and Kagome, be careful! Don't go over board! Remember, you guys are new no-name pirates!" Marco spoke, "Don't use any techniques that you are known for!"
"Hai!"
"Good luck," Marco spoke as the group of twenty pirates boarded the small vessel, well, small compared to the Moby Dick. It was specially designed for the calm belt, where the marine ship was traveling.
Whitebeard watched the small ship sail away, as soon as it was out of hearing range, he turned to Marco, "Assemble our allies. If Kagome doesn't make it, then we need to be prepared."
"Hai!" Marco spoke and quickly walked off.
'Kagome, I hope that you make it in time,' Marco thought.
"Everyone! To your positions!" Khanen shouted as the crew entered the calm belt a few hours later.
"Khanen, do you have a lock on the marine ship?" Kagome asked.
"Hai, we should reach them just before they are in seeing distance of Impel Down, so about two more days," Khanen replied.
Kagome nodded, "Make sure to come get me before we reach the ship. For now, I need to go meditate."
Khanen nodded, "Hai."
"Commander!"
Kagome opened her eyes as a pirate suddenly burst in. Kagome narrowed her eyes, "What?"
"Ah! Gomen, but there's another pirate ship coming from the other direction and the marine ship is in sight!"
"Fine, tell Khanen I'm coming."
"Hai!"
"And…"
The pirate paused looking back to see Kagome's narrowed eyes, "If you ever barge in to my room again…" she let the threat hang in the air as she swung her scythe so that the metal staff made a thump on the wooden floor of the room.
The pirate gulped and fled the room.
Kagome scowled, there were a number of perverts worse than Miroku on a pirate ship. She would bet her powers that the other pirate was hoping to catch her undressing or some shit. She shook her head, she'd changed a lot since the Feudal Era, and it was a good thing. While she hadn't gotten rid of her morals, she had changed quite a few of them. She sighed, she guessed it came with becoming a pirate. She frowned at the thought of what could have happened if she were still the same naïve girl she had been four years ago. Even at 19, she was told that she was too softhearted, but there were some things that she just couldn't and wouldn't change.
She arrived on deck to see the crew "panicking" at seeing a marine ship.
"Well then, let's get this party started," Kagome smirked, bringing her hands together, a blue barrier went up around her, letting her go unseen.
Although her devil fruit abilities allowed her to make barriers, she could only make elemental barriers from what she had found, though she still didn't know the name of the fruit she ate. At first, many of the crew thought that it was a barrier fruit that she ate, but it turned out that there was this other pirate with the ability to make barriers, and his weren't elemental.
She mentally thanked Sesshoumaru and Miroku once again. Without them, she would've been in big trouble in this Era of Pirates. While Miroku had taught her to use her miko powers and form barriers, it was Sesshoumaru who taught her hand-to-hand combat and how to form different types of concealment barriers.
"AHHH! IT'S THE MARINES!" A crew member shouted, catching the attention of the marine ship not too far away.
"Fire the cannonballs!" Khanen shouted loud enough for the marines to hear.
"Sir! It seems like we are under attack!" A marine yelled, "It's a pirate ship."
"A pirate ship? Can you identify the flag?" Momonga asked standing up.
"No sir! But it seems to be coming towards us."
"Fire the cannons!" Momonga ordered.
"Hai!"
Kagome waited for the ship to come close enough to the marine vessel. The pirates around her were running around, preparing the ropes so they could board the taller ship. Their ship came to a halt and the pirates screamed as they climbed from the ropes on to the marine vessel.
"AHHHH!" One of the pirates screamed as he was shot, falling off his rope he fell in to the water.
The other pirates continued, many boarded the marine ship and an all out fight broke out.
In the confusion, Kagome climbed a board the marine vessel, her barrier temporarily down. Once she swung herself over the side of the ship, her barrier went back up, concealing her from the eyes of the marines. She looked around for a safe place to hide and saw a door to her right.
She carefully made her way to the door, watching out for flying bodies and weapons. Once she got to the door, she quickly turned the knob and ran in, the door closing behind her.
"Who's there?" A voice demanded.
Kagome turned around, 'Shit!'
"Retreat!" Khanen yelled, "The marines are too strong! Retreat!"
The pirates all hurried back to their ships, but the marines, seeing the advantage, pursued the criminals.
"Don't let them go!" A marine shouted.
Khanen, seeing that all the men were on the ship once more, gave orders, "Raido! Maito! Fire of the cannons! Everyone else! To your positions!"
A knock sounded on the door, Hancock hurried to answer it, "Hai?"
"Ano, the pirate attack from before has been dealt with, are you okay? Are there any pirates inside?" A marine asked.
"Iie. There is no one here but me," Hancock said.
The marine nodded, "Also, we will be entering the Tarai Current soon."
Hancock nodded and the marine left the Empress alone. Once he was gone, the Empress turned to scan the room once again and saw that there was no one there.
"Luffy, you can come out," Hancock said.
"Ah," Luffy said, as he slid down from under her coat.
Kagome held back a gasp as her eyes widened.
*Amatsu – Amatsu Mikaboshi is the Japanese god of evil and darkness. By the way, I'm going to upload an image of the scythe soon, as I know I didn't really describe it in detail. It'll most likely be the cover image.
Emerald: Ah, hi… So, um, I'm really sorry for the late update. I was supposed to update this, well, last year, but I got a little distracted. I hope you like it!
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