I would have posted this sooner but my internet went down. Darn it!!! But I do have to warn you people's about something. The last part of this chapter about Luffy is slightly intense. If you don't want to read it, you don't have to. But if you do, well, you've been warned! Remember, it came from my slightly twisted brian.
Chapter 8
Vivi now sat in a cold, hard, stone cell, somewhere around Alubarna. She didn't know exactly where but she did know how she got here.
Earlier
Vivi had been riding back from Nanohana, deep in thought. She was being as cautious as she could and heeding Kohza's words. And besides, she figured she could trust Karoo to keep watch.
Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, there had been a blinding sandstorm. Karoo had stopped as Vivi held up a hand to sheild her eyes.
She yelled to Karoo to follow her as she hopped off and headed in the direction she thought was right. Unfortunately, it was the wrong direction to avoid being taken hostage.
A hand had reached out and pulled her close to them. They had yelled that if she wanted to remain alive she would come with them. She had fearfully nodded her head and obidiently followed. She didn't know what had happened to Karoo. She couldn't see or hear him anymore. She wasn't sure how many people there were but she didn't want to fight them. That was when a sweet smelling cloth had been pressed to her nose and mouth and she had soon lost consciousness.
Present
She had woken up about an hour ago and found herself to be in this cell. She was currently chained to the wall by shackles that held up her arms and chained up her ankles. The rest of her just hung limply.
"Father." she whisphered.
At the Palace
"King Cobra! Sir?!! Get help someone!!!!" one of the guards that had stayed behind cried.
"But...but...isn't he dead?" another guard asked.
"I don't know but are we going to stand around and find out or try and save him?!!!" the first one replied. "Now, GO GET A DOCTOR!!!!"
"Y-Y-Yes sir." the gaurd replied, shaking.
A moment later, he returned with the palace doctor. He went over to the King's bed to see if he could find a pulse. He released the King's arm with a small but wary smile, "He's alive but we need to seal up the wound quickly. I'll have to carefully remove the dagger and then quickly bandage him up. If I do it right, he should heal in a couple of weeks. Now, I need you to get a cloth, some warm water, and clean bandages." the doctor ordered.
The remaining guards quickly ran from the room to collect the items. They returned in a couple of minutes with the needed items.
The doctor carefully removed the dagger and used the warm water and cloth to clean the wound and cut down on the bleeding. Then, he removed the King's shirt and cleaned the wound that way too. Then, very carefully, he bandaged it up to stop the bleeding. He turned to the guards. "I'd like to keep an eye on him if that's all right. I want to make sure he doesn't get any worse. There may be some damage inside that I haven't seen yet." the doctor said.
"That's fine. We'll keep guards posted at all possible intrances, so you'll be safe. We have a feeling that boy might try something else." the guard said.
"Isn't he locked up?!" the doctor asked nervously.
"Yeah, but just to be safe." the guard said and then left.
At that moment, the King woke up. He sat up and looked around. "Where's Luffy?" he asked.
"Your Majesty, you shouldn't be stressing yourself so much. Your wound, it will-" the doctor said but was cut off by Cobra.
"I'm fine." he insisted. "Where's Luffy?"
"I-I'm afraid I don't know who that is Sir." the doctor replied.
"It's that kid, well, he's not a kid anymore, but that man that was in here before you came." Cobra explained impatiently.
"The guard?" the doctor said, confused.
"No. The one who stabbed me." Cobra replied.
"But Sir, why would you want to see him?!!" the doctor asked in alarm.
"He saved this country once. And, I want to appologize to him." Cobra said.
"What?!!!! But...but...but he tried to kill you!!!!!" he cried.
Cobra held up his hand to silence him. "It wasn't his fault. It's something I can't explain right now but I hurt that boy more then you will ever know. And it wasn't his idea. He was sent by someone."
"Sent? By-" but the doctor was cut off by the same guard bursting through the doors at that time.
"We need your help!" he cried to the doctor. Then he noticed the King was awake. "Oh, your higness. Good to see your alright."
"What's happened?" the doctor asked, panic creeping into his voice. The guard motioned for him to come closer and he did.
"It's Kelvin." the guard whispered. "Come quick."
The doctor nodded and followed. "I'll come check on you later Sir." he said to Cobra and walked out.
"Luffy, what have you done now?" Cobra thought to himself. He had no doubt that it had something to do with Luffy's break in. What though, he wasn't sure.
The doctor followed the guard down the hallway and toward Kelvin's bedroom. They entered and the doctor immediately saw the urgency of the situation.
"More water and cloth sir?" the guard asked.
"Alot more." the doctor replied. As the guard left, he walked over to Kelvin to check his pulse because he didn't appear to be breathing. He found that he was alive, but barely. It appeared that the same dagger had made his wound. That meant that he had suffered much longer then Cobra had. Luckily, it didn't appear to have pierced his heart. "How's he still alive?" the doctor thought to himself as he examined Kelvin.
Soon, he had layed Kelvin in his bed and assured the guards that he would be okay in awhile. As he walked into the hallway, he turned to the guard that had fetched him in the first place. "Cobra, he told me something when he woke up."
"What?" the guard asked eagerly. This was his first time seeing any action since the palace was usually quiet.
"He told me that someone sent that man that tried to kill him." the doctor replied. "Now, I'm no guard but you might want to do some serious questioning to make sure no one will come and finish the job. The King wants to see that man and appologize but don't let them anywhere near each other, got that?" the doctor asked.
The guard nodded. "Good." was all he said before walking off.
In the Palace Prison
Luffy was chained to the wall with seastone cuffs around his wrists and ankles. Any of the anger and hatred he had felt earlier was gone. He was a murderer. He truly had become what Kelvin had said, a monster.
"Monster!" Kelvin's voice echoed in his head.
"Found your place. Lost everything." Nami's voice echoed.
"Alone." Crocodile's voice echoed back to him.
"NO!!!" Vivi's scream was the last echo.
He snapped back to reality. He still didn't raise his head, though. His hat layed on the ground beside him but that didn't matter right now.
His shaggy black hair fell over his eyes, creating a shadow.
The cell door opened but he didn't stir.
"Hey boy, you have some explaining to do." a guard said as he walked in. It was the same one who had spoken to the doctor earlier. He was followed by two of his buddies. One held a spear and the other held a long rope with a handle on the end.
Luffy stared at them with cold, forsaken eyes before looking back at the floor.
"Look at me when a speak to you!" the guard cried. He pulled out his sword. "I have a few questions for you, that's all." the guard said.
At this, Luffy raised his head. "There's nothing for you to ask." he said bitterly. "You know what happened. You know what I've done."
"They are alive." the guard said.
This seemed to bring a little emotion from Luffy. It was a mixture of disbelief and reasurance.
"The King told us something when he woked up. He told us that someone sent you. We want to know who that person is." the guard said. He held his sword threatiningly close to Luffy's neck. "I oughta slit your throat for what you've done but the King won't allow it. He still likes you for some reason. He thinks he should appologize to you." the guard said with a snort.
Luffy seemed genuinly surprised by this. "He does?"
"He's probably dillusional. He had no reason to appologize. But I'll ask the questions. Who sent you?" he demanded.
"No one sent me. I came on my own." Luffy insisted. He was afraid to reveal Crocodile's name. He was chained up and powerless and would most likely be killed, and it wouldn't have anything to do with the guards.
"Boys." the guard said. Then to Luffy, "Here's the consequence of lying."
The guard with the spear advanced toward Luffy who watched him cautiously. Suddenly, the guard jabbed the spear at Luffy and it slightly pierced his left shoulder. He cried out in pain as a slight trickle of blood ran from the wound.
"Now, I'll ask again. Who sent you?" the guard asked.
Luffy gritted his teeth. "No one. No one sent me!" he cried out.
The guard nodded and his other friend removed Luffy's shirt and whipped him across the chest, leaving a giant, red welt. This time, Luffy screamed. He couldn't help it. The seastone had lowered his resistence as well as his strength.
The guard grinned at this. "You can't win, so just tell us. Who sent you?"
"NO ONE!!!!!!" Luffy screamed.
This time, the guard took his sword slashed down the length of the welt, opening it up and making blood pour out of it. Luffy screamed in sheer agony. If he had thought the welt was bad, this was ten times worse.
The questioning went on like this for awhile and each question brought the same result. When the guards got tired of hitting his front side, they unchained him from the wall and hit his back. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they left. They didn't bother chaining him back up. He wouldn't be going anywhere and they knew it.
As the door shut, Luffy used his head to push himself up. He sat on his knees, doubled over. That was a far as he could go. He wheezed and coughed and spit up a little blood. It seemed that there wasn't one part of his body that hadn't been injured in some way. There was even a huge welt stretching from above his left eye to his right cheek. The cell was blood splattered.
Eventually, he layed back down and writhed in pain. There was no escaping it. It was always there, no matter which way he moved. He began to wonder if he should just tell them who had sent him. The pain he was experiencing right now made death seem okay, almost invitable.
He spent the rest of the night in a half waking, half sleeping, pain filled state. He wasn't aware of the time, only the endless pain.
That morning, or he thought it was morning, the door opened once again. It was the guards. They tortured him again, but not so long this time. He still refused to tell. Facing Crocodile was still worse. They soon gave up and left but promised to be back.
The pain was even worse this time. Any wounds they had given him the night before had either been reopened or intensified.
A couple hours later, the door opened again. Luffy didn't look up. He didn't want to know and in truth, he didn't have the strength.
"I've been sent to get you." a voice said.
Luffy recognized it and forced his head to look up. "M-M-Mr.1?" he said weakly.
Das Bones looked over him and then picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. Luffy cringed at the pain the jolt caused but remained silent. "The boss wants to see you." was all Luffy remembered him saying. The rest was a blur.
I warned you didn't I? If you didn't read it, well, you're one of the lucky ones. Lol! Just kidding. Being a Luffy fan, that part was hard for me to write so I know it was hard to read. I just noticed that there was still a little OOC in this chapter but it's not as bad as the last one. Thanks for reading!
