Angel of Death Fruit

Book One: Deadline

By Dixxy Mour

Chapter Five – March 2, 1:00 am

Nami stared at the clock on the wall and curled up tighter around the pillow. She should probably be getting some sleep, but the events of the evening kept running through her mind. She clenched her eyes shut and sniffled. I know what happened wasn't my fault, but why does it feel that way?

After Sanji had been kidnapped by Elizabeth Stoker, Robin decided the best plan of action would be to get some sleep and try to figure out where their friend had been taken in the morning. "We won't do Cook-san any favors if we're wandering around the island exhausted – if we need to fight, we'd best do so at the top of our game, and if we're to search, we'd best do that with our eyes open."

Nami wasn't sure how Robin was doing, but instead of going to her own room and her own bed, the navigator had found herself curled up on the top of Sanji's bed, cuddling with one of his pillows and feeling guilty over what had happened. Right now, she felt an overwhelming urge to be near anything that had to do with him. Since she didn't want to sleep in the kitchen, his bed was the next logical choice.

She buried her face into the pillow and breathed deeply – she could smell Sanji on the pillow. Cigarettes, seafood, and a hint of wine. It was almost as if she was breathing into his shoulder or he was in the room with her, and she felt her stomach hurt – the guilt was terrible. I should have been better to him.

Nami didn't think she was in love with Sanji like he was with her – and considering his final "I love you" was, in his eyes, a last confession, it probably wasn't his normal "love cook" thing – but she did consider him a close friend, just like everyone else on the ship. Certainly his behavior could get a little annoying, but even if it was for all the wrong reasons, he was always on her side and quick to defend her. And sometimes she was able to talk to him and he didn't start going crazy on her – and those times were nice. Love or not, Sanji was her friend, and right now that was what she was focused on getting back. They'd deal with his confessions of love later – right now she needed to make sure that he had a later.

It was almost like her childhood nightmare had come true. The woman who haunted her dreams had appeared out of no where and kidnapped one of her friends – someone who hadn't been able to escape the fate that Bellemere-san saved her and Nojiko from all those years ago. It wasn't her who had been taken away, but the pain and fear was immense. This was why Sanji hadn't seen his family in so long – he had no choice but to keep running.

This was why he was on the Orbit as a little boy.

This was another reason why he stayed with Zeff.

Inwardly, Nami wondered if Sanji's desperation for a bounty had something to do with his victimization – it wouldn't be the best way to do it, but it was possibly the only way he had of letting his friends and family in North Blue know he was alive. He must think it's better they know he's an alive pirate than think he's a dead child. Even if they shun him or hate him or fear him. . . he wants them all to know that he's out there and that, for a while, he was okay.

She heard a knock on the door and sat up. "Robin?" she asked.

The door opened and Robin poked her head in, then stepped inside once she spotted the navigator. She had a frown on her face and Nami feared the worst. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Elizabeth Stoker is not the only stranger who was on the ship this evening. I believe we had another intruder."

Nami bolted upright. "What?!"

Robin sat down on Sanji's bed and crossed her legs. She had a book in her lap, but focused on the intruder first. "I watched someone get off the ship – used rope to get from the Thousand Sunny to the beach, so they were either avoiding making a loud sound when they hit the water, or they're a Devil Fruit user. Regardless, I couldn't tell if this was one of Stoker's minions or not, but I believe it's the former because they didn't do anything when Stoker showed up – if I am correct, we have a third party in play."

Nami grimaced. "That's not good."

"No, it isn't," said Robin. "However, it's difficult to say who they are and why they're here. This is a Wild Isle – Eternal Poses can't point to them and they attract ships sporadically. That said, there's a chance I'm wrong, but it does prove that it's not just us and her on this island anymore."

"Did you get a good look at them?" Nami asked.

"I think it was a female but it's dark and they were wearing dark clothing."

The navigator lowered her head. "Things just keep getting worse, don't they?"

Robin sighed. "There's not much we can do about that now – if that person was a third party, we'll need to deal with them if they decide to show themselves to us. But for now, I do have some information." She tapped the book in her lap, and Nami moved next to Robin. "This book gave a rather detailed explanation of all three Angel of Death fruits, and I thought that it might be useful in helping Cook-san escape from Stoker."

"I thought you were asleep."

"I thought you would have gone to your own bed."

Nami didn't acknowledge the statement. "What did you find out?"

"The Angel of Death fruits are similar to all other Devil Fruits in that their users cannot swim, are weakened by sea stone, and only one of each fruit can exist at any given time. However, this is where the similarities end," she said. "The fruit Cook-san has fallen victim to recquires the user to kill others."

Nami nodded. "How does the Life Life fruit work?"

"The user of the Life Life fruit may be able to attain eternal life including immunity to poisons, physical injury, aging, and disease provided they can drain the life energy from others," said Robin. "Everyone will one day die – assuming a person does not get sick or is mortally wounded, they will die of old age. The natural time they have left is what Stoker steals – essentially, a person dies of old age before they even live to see my age.

"The trick is that removing this time is not easy – it's secured to the soul very, very closely and it takes something wicked to loosen it. That's what the Garnish is for and why it takes so long – the Garnish spends twelve years loosening the time from the body of the victim and when twelve years is up, it's severed enough from the soul that the Life Life user can consume it, killing the victim and making her life longer."

"Then she goes after children because they have more life left than someone older."

"That, and the Garnish doesn't work on anyone older than twelve years old – this is why the two of us are, relatively speaking, 'safe' from Elizabeth Stoker – at least as far as her Devil Fruit goes," said Robin. "The Mercy Task is the only thing that can re-tighten the time to the soul – even if we were to somehow kill Stoker, Cook-san would perish anyways."

"What about the three days?" asked Nami.

Robin sighed. "Because the Mercy Task is what drains the time from the victim," she said. "For example, if the task was to drink sea water, then the victim would need to drink sea water on their own. If they are unable to do it in twelve years, then Stoker would force-feed sea water down the throat of the victim, killing them instantly – however, technically someone else could perform the Mercy Task shortly after time ran out if they got to the victim before Stoker does. The three extra days kick in if the soul senses kindred souls nearby when they're about to face the Life Life user – because we were nearby when Cook-san ran out of time, his soul was able to reattach some of that time – not a lot, but enough to keep Stoker from harming him for another three days."

"The running away thing?"

"Because being near anyone he knew before hand will make him sick and weak – it would eventually kill him, but the effect wears off once the Mercy Task is completed," said Robin. "This doesn't happen with people they meet AFTER being Garnished, however – but if he told them about it, then that person would emit the same energy as someone he knew from before."

"Then we can't even get close to him because we know about it!?" said Nami.

Robin shook her head. "Stoker told us – Cook-san was unconcious."

"So we can still save him," said Nami. "But we're running out of time."

Robin placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "We will find him, Navigator-san," she said, giving Nami a reassuring hug. "This crew doesn't give up when one of their own is in trouble – if I could be rescued from Enies Lobby, then we can rescue Cook-san from Elizabeth Stoker."

"Thanks, Robin," said Nami. She leaned in towards the older woman and rested her head on her shoulder, eventually falling asleep. Robin gently laid her down on the cook's bed and stepped away. On a second thought, she grabbed a throw blanket hanging off the edge of a chair and gently draped it over the navigator. She calmly sighed and snuggled into the blanket.

She'll be all right. . . for now.

March 2, 7:20 am

. . . urgh. . .

Sanji felt like he had a really bad hangover – even worse than the time he'd foolishly tried to outdrink Nami AND Zoro in a drinking contest. And that had been a terrible day indeed. Plus, his arms hurt and he wasn't sure why. I don't remember having anything to drink. . . what happened again?

He heard the sound of humming and recognized the voice. That was the voice of Elizabeth Stoker. Inwardly, Sanji groaned. Oh. Right. But. . . why am I not dead yet? Shouldn't she have killed me already? I don't think this is the afterlife but. . . Nami-san! Robin-chan! They were there, too! He grimaced. He really hadn't wanted them to see that.

Sanji opened his eyes and saw a very blurry room with a very blurry Elizabeth Stoker sitting in a chair nearby. He blinked a few times and looked up – his wrists were tied to a rope hanging from the ceiling, and because he'd fallen unconscious (but when had that happened?) all of his weight was being supported by the rope. Sluggishly, he tried to regain his balance and stand up – this was enough to get the woman's attention.

"Ah, I see you're awake," she said. Elizabeth Stoker walked over and reached her hand towards his head – Sanji tried to get away, but the ropes kept him in place as she moved the hair over his left eye out of the way. He felt a panic deep within his stomach – he hated having that THING exposed! "The Garnishes always look so pretty when they're ripened."

"I've had to hide it from the world for twelve years," Sanji said through his teeth.

"Aw, come now – it's not so bad."

"For you."

Elizabeth grinned and stroked his chin. "You've grown so much – it's amazing how much a child grows in twelve years. You've got hair on your chin and your voice is so much deeper than it used to be." She touched his arm. "And those arms! So muscular!" Even though Sanji squirmed to get away, she continued to inspect him. He clenched his eyes shut – almost any other woman in the world he would have been fine with, but her? Sanji felt sick to his stomach. "And your chest! Your legs! Your butt! You're in such peak condition!" Elizabeth grinned sadistically. "It's a shame that no woman has gone near you, isn't it?"

Sanji snapped his eyes open and turned bright red. Elizabeth laughed, completely delighted at making him so on edge. He glared at her and tried to look as threatening as someone could when they were tied up like he was (and still incredibly embarrassed). "Nami-san and Robin-chan are going to find me – they're going to find our captain and they're all going to stop you before you can hurt any more children," he said. "They're my friends – my nakama – they won't abandon me!"

Well, the Marimo head might, but she doesn't need to know that. . .

"Ah, that may be true. . . but can they find you? How do you know my associates won't kill them first?" she said. Sanji's eyes widened, but he shook his head. "No? You think they can take them? All because of the bounties you've gotten yourselves? Well, isn't that interesting. You think that your little crew can handle my men and women – that's just adorable. I'm worth much more than your entire crew combined and with good reason. The World Government might not like my Devil Fruit and gave me a bounty simply for that, but I think I'm definitely worth the ten billion berry price tag after all the work I've done."

"You don't know what they're capable of," he said. "Luffy brought down Enies Lobby!"

"The rubbery kid?" She snorted. "Please. He doesn't seem too bright."

Sanji had to admit that was true, but he wasn't done arguing his point. "So what if he's dumb? He's really, really tough. He's worth three hundred million for a reason – once he finds out what's going on, he won't stop until he kicks your ass. He might not be a genius or anything, but he cares about his crew enough that he'll go to any length to hurt anyone who tries to hurt us. That's why we invaded Enies Lobby – one of our own was in trouble and we weren't going to let anything bad happen to her! We risk our lives for each other! Don't tell me you think Luffy wouldn't do the same for me? He's my captain and he's my friend. He's not going to leave me here."

"If he realizes you're gone."

Sanji glared at her. "Nami-san and Robin-chan were there – they know you have me."

"They also know they have less than three days to find you – this island is big enough that they'll have enough trouble locating you, never mind the rest of your crew. As it is, however, I do have a minion keeping an eye on them to make sure no such chance meeting takes place between the girls and the rest of your crew."

Sanji's eyes widened. "Your minion?"

Elizabeth shrugged rolled her eyes. "Oh please – this isn't a one woman operation. I have several employees working for me – they collect bounties, find children for me, take care of pesky people who might try to stand in my way, keep an eye on my businesses . . . I'm not doing this by myself," she said.

The cook felt himself get angry, but resisted kicking Elizabeth Stoker – she was within kicking distance – his legs were certainly long enough to reach her – but he couldnt bring himself to do it. No. Even if she's a monster. . . she's still a woman. I can't break my promise. I just. . . UGH! Sanji felt even more powerless than he would have expected at this point. As strong as he was, as dangerous and smart as he was. . . he was like a kitten in her presence.

Elizabeth Stoker looked Sanji up and down, evidently unmoved by his speech. "Aren't you 'Black Leg Sanji'? Don't you fight with your legs? Why aren't YOU trying to kick my ass?" She stepped forward, eying him with suspicion. "I'm a bit surprised – usually the Garnished have taken a few swipes at me – all you've tried to do is back away." She grinned. "Are you that afraid to strike me? Or is your bounty an exaggeration?"

"I didn't get a price on my head for beating up girls. I don't kick women." Sanji closed his eyes and shook his head. "No matter how much I despise you and hate you and want to never see your face ever again, I promised myself that I will never again strike a woman. Even if it means I forfeit my life."

"Again?" she asked, grinning.

Sanji looked away. "It's none of your business."

She laughed. "You amuse me."

"You disgust me."

Elizabeth shrugged and turned away. "I'm getting bored with you now, but fear not. You have a guest waiting to see you. I'll leave the two of you alone." She stepped out of the room and closed the door. Sanji stared at the door in confusion. A guest? Certainly it wasn't going to be Luffy or Nami or any of the other Straw Hats, but who was his "guest"?

March 2, 7:26 am

As his mistress left the room, Kenji stood, gripping the sword at his side as he stood up. Sanji hadn't noticed him yet, which was fine by him. He was just well aware that he was going to want to keep a good distance from the soon to be irate young man. Still. . . he was interested to see what Sanji had grown up to be.

He was tall, just like his father, and a bit skinny, much like his mother. He had his mother's hair and his father's eyebrows. He looked a little like his paternal grandfather – minus the crazy eyebrows, of course – but it was interesting to see what the little child he hadn't seen for twelve years had grown up to be.

A pirate. Ha. Gotta hand it to you, kid – seventy-seven million isn't shabby.

Kenji cleared his throat. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Sanji's body froze for an instant, and Kenji grinned. Second later, he spun around (the rope was just long enough for Sanji to be able to do so) and glared at him. "You! You stinking son of a bitch!" As expected, Sanji tried to lunge for him, but the rope kept him in place. Of course, the rope wouldn't matter much – just being near him was enough to put the prisoner's life in danger, so the visit would have to be short.

Kenji shook his head and frowned. "That's not a nice way to refer to your grandmother."

Sanji growled. "If she knew what you did. . . she would have disowned you." He struggled against the rope, but still couldn't get any closer. Kenji laughed at him, slapping his knee. "You stopped being my uncle the day you sold me out to that woman! I trusted you! You took me away from my parents and brought me to that monster all for what? A bag of money? For your own nephew? Even if it wasn't me you did this to I would still think you were a sick son of a – ooo. . . my head. . ." Sanji slumped forward – concious, but clearly feeling ill. Kenji started to laugh as his nephew looked up at him. "So. . . this is what she meant by not being able to see anyone. . ."

"Correct – you were wise to take that advice," he said. He grinned, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Now, my dear nephew, I won't be able to stay much longer because my mistress does need you alive. . . but I think it would be wise of me to stay long enough to weaken you."

"Fuck you." Hmph. He's lively enough to swear. Lovely.

Kenji clucked his tongue. "That's no way to speak to your elders – what have these pirates been teaching you?" Sanji continued to glare at him, but Kenji just shrugged it off and paced a bit. "We haven't seen each other for a long time – aren't you at all interested in telling me what you've been doing?"

"Shut up."

"You were worth quite a bit of money – back then, I mean," he said. He sat down a good distance away from his nephew (who still looked rather ill – now he was slightly pale and seemed to be sweating), crossing his legs took a drink from a hip flask. "I didn't originally intend to go after my brother's kids, but I really didn't have much of a choice. Do you realize how hard it is to get a kid away from their parents long enough for them to meet with Elizabeth?"

"Die."

Kenji ignored Sanji's insults. "I wanted to let you know that aside from your little ragtag pirate friends, you really don't have anything to live for," he said. "I mean really – you're pirates. Did you honestly think you'd be able to do anything with yourself after that? You threw your life away the day you joined them, you know."

Sanji raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean I have nothing to live for?" he said.

"Oh, you MUST know about what happened to your parents!"

"Of course I know! Did you have something to do with that!?" Sanji snapped.

Kenji shrugged and shook his head. "Nope. But I do know that they were looking for you when the accident happened." Sanji paled at the revelation that he had inadvertently caused his parents' untimely deaths. Such a horrible accident. . . and now he was going to spend what little time he had left blaming himself.

Sanji looked up at his uncle in defeat. "But, the articles in the papers said they were survived by two of their children," he said. There was a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes. Kenji closed his own – he would have to put an end to that. "I know by then everyone thought I was dead but they were alive. I might have a bounty but I still have them."

"As for your precious siblings. . ." He drew the sword from its sheath, and Sanji's eyes went wide. "See the blood stain on this sword?" he said. Sanji nodded – he was beyond stupefied as the realization dawned on him. "The metal this blade is crafted from needs to be washed immediately if it comes in contact with blood, or it will stain. It's still a magnificent sword, but this blood?"

Horror lit up on Sanji's face. "You. . . you couldn't. . ."

Kenji grinned. "It's Akito's."

Author's Notes

Although it's true that even at this point Sanji has his intense code of chivalry, he is okay with OTHER people kicking a woman's ass – I'm kind of using Enies Lobby (the whole Califa thing) as my reasoning, and I'm pretty sure he was okay with Luffy's fight with Vivi (that or Sanji is good about listening to his captain).

A lot of fine-tuning went on with Robin's explanation of the Life Life fruit to Nami – the most BASIC explanation was what I had in mind before – i.e. "something bad" happens if Sanji talks about his problem or goes crying to his folks – now it works so that he would die.

There had to be some final decisions on my version of Sanji's family tree and pedigree this chapter – mostly because, one, Kenji also has the curly eyebrow, ergo, he must be the brother of the parent Sanji inherited that trait from. I actually did make up a pedigree for Sanji using Photoshop (sigh I will be very sad when my trial version runs out. . . at least I still have Elements). It isn't as intricate as it could be (I don't have his mother's side of the family on their except for his mother), but there are three generations included. If it's released it will be at the end of this story.

I do have one small request in regards to reviews – if possible, I do have a strong preference for signed reviews, although I will accept anonymous reviews. This is so I can respond to your reviews.

Dixxy