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Chapter 16: Arrogance Kills a Man

"Say your prayers, boy!" Yume roared savagely, the blood smeared over his boots and Luna's white robes. A scream from somewhere, possibly Robin, the woman who never shows extreme emotions, and Chehero. When the blade was raised and the blood stained anything in sight, there was a shocking discovery. Matt himself had leaped in front of Sanji during the fray and took the blow head on; part of his torso was sliced open horizontally yet there was a smirk across his face. "What sorcery is this?!"

"It's not a trick, not a treat. His life is more important than mine....Suke..." Matt weakly smiled as he touched Sanji; the two faded into nothingness, leaving Yume to glance around the room quickly. Luna's nose twitched, the scent of the two perverts drifted to her: the back room. As Yume prepared to argue with Luffy, she sneaked away from hte scene and quietly open the sliding door to see Sanji tearing his robes apart to make a cloth-like bandage to wrap around Matt. Shuzan entered and shooed the chef away from Matt's body.

"The boy would be alright, I've tended to these kind of wounds before; they're never pretty." Shuzan assured them, Luna gave an uneasy nod as they heard Yume and Luffy shouting not so far away. Hours passed, the sound of a door slamming shut made Luna wake up tp find herself leaning against the wall while sitting. Only a small light illuminated the room, she could tell that Sanji was trying ot keep awake since his head would go down and then shoot up once in a while. He seemed to be mumbling. She scooted closer to him and tapped his shoulder.

"We're seeing things..." he murmured softly, his sleepy eyes drifted to hers. "Just tell me this never happened....ever...."

She frowned,"This was what I've been trying to say earlier..."

"No, I'm losing it!" the shout made her jump. "I've seen things in my life that had been disturbing..." he thought of Kokoro as a mermaid and he shuddered. "This is really disturbing shit, but is something I can't handle!"

"Then what do you want us to do? Run away to sea and be like Bonnie and Clyde?!"

"If you two...(cough)....are gonna be Bonnie and Clyde....take my gun...." wheezed Matt, the injured man who was forgotten. "Both of them, silver and iron..."

"Shush, don't talk..." Luna gently whispered. "No one's running off anywhere-"

"Fucked-cook...where's the fucker? Did he leave?"

"He's right here..."

"Good....because I understand what happened now...when the blade touched me...I saw her...Becky...her heart's gettin' torn out..."

"Torn out?" Sanji murmured, Shuzan came in through the sliding door with a blade similar to Yume's; he gave a slight bow in respect,"Not to interrupt, but I cant help myself to this. The heart being torn out....it is a dark margic ritual. With a blade blessed by our Oni Kami, it is known to have great power yet huge drawbacks. Only it can be wielded by any man of royal blood of the Yume Dynasty or any of the military captains like Akumu. Around the Ketsuki Dynasty, the ritual became popular among the priests to calm the gods."

"Ketsuki had his own Dynasty?"

"Yes, yes, Sanji. When Yume's father came to the thrown, hell has been brought upon the earth since he trusted the Marines, no?...there's a little story between Yume and Akumu. He says that you, Sanji-san, and him are no different than two birds. You see...why did Yume choose this place? Of all places to hide, why this shrine? The sewers would have been useful, or the docks, perhaps?"

"This was the closest thing to the palace?" guessed Luna.

"Wrong, this was where his only wife was buried...he holds great respect for Akumu; he even said to me that he sees her in him...thought they seem like two oddball brothers, the connection is no larger than anything else in the world."

"Well...how'd she die?"

"She was murdered by Horus. Yume...he was never the same since the last time he was here in Yume Kado, before you came. We, Ketsuki, Trace, me, and Yume and Akumu themselves, have been warning you, Sanji, when we noted the turn of behaviour inside of your head. Why we say do not be arrogant towards Luna; this was the way Yume acted to Tori, this was the way she died. Through the arrogance of a single man. Yume had left to go hunting, that was when Horus attacked. My Brothers fear for the safety of Luna herself, why we continue to call Luna Sorceress and Sanji Protector."

"Sanji and Yume are the Protectors and me and Tori are the Sorceress...but I can't use magic-"

"Devil fruits are magic. The fact that you are able to turn into a wolf is magic itself. The Path is Becky: she represents th Dream Bracelet and the child Yume and Tori were to have. All three sides of the pyramid..."

"There...aren't any pyramids here." Matt coughed. "Is this the Mummy now? I swear...it was Prince of Persia before....see, Fucker?" that word had became a habit of Matt to say and call Sanji that. "...arrogance kills a man...gram-pa told me that...cough!" Blood splattered Luna's lap and his hand extended to her cheek; to Sanji's anger, she blushed and EVEN took his hand to hold. Shuzan opened Matt's assortment of bandages and they saw a long deep cut that glowed slightly in red.

"The Tears aren't working...." mumbled Shuzan, a lightbulb appeared overhead and clicked. "Damn, damn, damn, Yume used Yumegyptian Manticore poison!"

"A tainted blade?"

"No, worse. Yumegyptian Manticores are the rarest and most deadliest animals to ever roam the lands, their poison is stronger than an average manticore. It kills an average person within ten hours!"

"We've been sitting around here for eight hours, what do we do?!" Luna asked, her voice cracking.

"Ride for the Phoenix Fountain...."

(Anytime)

"You only have two hours to reach it, take my horse, he's the fastest when carrying two people and will never stop," Shuzan hauled Matt to Luna's lap and hitched the saddle sacks, inside were numerous empty bottles. "Head south, fallow the river to find your way back. Be sure to fill the bottles with the Phoenix Tears." Matt coughed up blood again. "And hurry-"

"Oi, don't think I'll let you go alone!" Sanji nearly shouted as he appeared from the city gates, riding a horse. Richie trailed behind. "We'll tag along...just in case."

"Be careful, Horus has many of his forces patrolling the desert, even more than the past," he warned the four riders as they galloped off into the dead, desert night. "Gods, protect them..."

Ten miles had passed, their horses never ceased. It must be an hour's ride, but well worth the trouble. Luna had been keeping Matt awake by taking to him, her voice was soft and warming, that was more than enough to keep him on his toes. A full moon was out, giving them light that could illuminate the way. Suddenly, a giant peacock flew into view and swept Luna's horse off his legs; she and Matt came crashing to the ground with tremendous force. Sanji and Richie tugged on the reins and turned their horses to face the peacock. It transformed into Akumu, his sword in hand. His breathing was labored, as if he was working like a slave.

Richie got off his horse and took out his whip, which cracked in the air, and a nodachi, he gave a smirk,"So, is it a fight you want-?" Akumu responded in heavy pants, his mouth opening and closing. "Bloody hell! His face!" The prince gave an ear-splitting wail into the night, they covered their ears with little success of drowning out the pain. "Shit, what's he doing?!"

"Summoning something!" answered Sanji. "What ever it is, I don't wanna stick around!" he kicked in the stirrups and tried to canter off, but his horse tripped over an invisible force. It was Yume again, his sword dripping of some sort of liquid. "Okey, maybe I do-"

"Get that sword away from him, it's tainted with the poison!" Luna warned them, she switched to demon point and carried Matt atop her back.

"How about we stay away?" Richie suggested as he hitched his horse. "We can't fight him head on-no fucking way, this place is mental!" His horse reared greatly, bucking him off in several jumps but his foot was caught in the stirrups, causing him to be dragged along with the horse. Within minutes, the group of three were left with Akumu.

"This place is crazier than a boat shop in a desert town," Sanji commented, Luna gave a nod of agreement before Akumu lashed out at them, the tip barely missing his collar bone. "That's close-Luna, you know that sand-"

"Already on it!" she responded before disappearing; a sand storm had rolled in, temporarly blinding everyone in sight. There was a blue flash, the hunt had begun. He gave a sigh of relief but stayed alert, careful of where he placed his foot, either Akumu's sword or Luna's foot can appear out of nowhere. Taking several cautious steps back with the wind in his face, he suddenly bumped into Akumu, who whipped around and prepared to take his blade overhead. Luna appeared, her leg in brilliant sapphire flames.

"Diable Coeur: Okami Tobe!"

(Devil's Heart: Wolf Fangs)

Her legs immediately clamped around Akumu's neck, she did a handstand on the ground and kicked him into the air. His sword dropped to the ground as he escalated higher and higher; Sanji and Luna leaped after him and landed a full course of kicks simultaneously. There was a brief pause between the two and Akumu's hand shot out for both of their necks, he wore gauntlets with clawed fingers, and hurled them to the ground. The impact of it all had stopped the sand storm, the sands calmed and the wind subsided.

Sanji gritted his teeth and rolled onto his back to see above; Akumu was charging after him from above, his hands opened and the claws shined like an eagle's talons. His sword laid next to him, Sanji grabbed it desperately and pointed it upwards, the hilt rested above his chest. Luna came up and leaped for Akumu, jaws bearing, but he took her in his arms and forced her into returning to human point and he himself threw her at Sanji's trap. Unable to change course, she came down, chest first, into the tip of the sword. Her body never stopped until it touched the hilt.

He stared up at her glassy eyes, no longer playful or life like, but dead. Akumu glared down at them and transformed into a peacock, his wings flapped endlessly as he flew towards Yume Kado. Sanji, with great care, pushed Luna off of him and quickly pulled the sword out of her chest. Velvet blood dripped along the sand as he tossed the tainted nodachi away. Already an hour had passed, there was not that much time left for Matt, but with the newest injury, Luna wouldn't have that time either.

Matt laid not-so-far from him and Luna, whose breath had become light, along with her heartbeat. He immediately held her close to him, her blood pouring freely to his clothes.

"Nothing to do. I'm out of time and out of luck," he whimpered weakly, his hands clutched her hair tightly. "I don't know what to do..." Many thoughts of the past three months had crossed his mind as tears swelled up in his eyes.

"Someone catch me when I fall."

"I couldn't catch you then, I tried to now..."

"You can't trust us, can you?"

"If I had agreed to cooperate with everyone, we wouldn't be in this fix..."

"If you hadn't been so careless, none of this would've happened!"

"I shouldn't have been careless..."

"If you were a mother, you'd SUCK!"

"You would've been a great mother..."

"Because it's true."

"It's not true..."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Even Nami-san noticed..."

"Do not be so arrogant."

"...how much had changed..."

"I even wonder why I even loved her!"

"I still wonder now..."

"Do not fallow me."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Don't leave us entirely."

"I wasn't leaving in the first place..."

"I don't want this anymore!"

"Me neither..."

"Then make it stop!"

"I wish I could..."

"I won't let anyone you cherish get hurt or killed."

"You cherish me, don't you?"

"Anyone you cherish."

"I'm just hurting myself...because I couldn't protect you..."

"...arrogance kills a man..."

"I broke that promise...please forgive me! I'm sorry, I really am! Just don't leave me!"

Happy New Years!