WARNINGS: YOAI (boyXboy) Shanks X Luffy, and wide age differences between people in a relationship.
Don't like, don't read. You've been warned.
'…' what they are thinking
"…" what they are saying
Disclaimer: Oda owns One Piece.
Being a Girl
Chapter 17: Solving Problems
--
PLEASE READ THIS NOTE: Teiluj's name is now Juliet. Oemor's name is now Romeo. (Before the names Juliet and Romeo were spelled backwards, but I decided to change it. Sorry for any confusion.) --
Juliet glided into the mansion while Shanks and Luffy were fighting the Marines out front. 'Why is it so dark in here?' She wondered looking around. The ceiling was high and the windows, boarded up by thick wood, were far above her head.
BAM! Juliet whipped around when the doors behind her slammed shut. Frantically she tried to push the doors open. They didn't budge. From outside came the voices of Shanks and Luffy. She was about to call out to them when the sound of footsteps reached her ears. The cold, emptiness of the sound made her knees shake and her body tremble. Juliet turned slowly away from the doors and towards the approaching malicious aura that felt like an impending death. A death more than just becoming a ghost.
The sound of steps -- cold, fluid and even -- bounced off the stone of the mansion walls.
"Juliet…" The approaching figure said.
Terrified, Juliet recognized the voice, and would have calmed if it wasn't for the undeniable spite that surrounded in the words.
"R-Romeo," Juliet replied, her voice dry.
There was enough light coming through cracks in the windows and under the door that Juliet could make out the figure of her lover as he neared. Some of the light caught the blade he was holding. Another ray of light fell on his face, illuminating his lethal smile.
Juliet's knees gave out on her. She fell to the ground and pressed herself against the door, which Luffy was banging on from the other side as he yelled her name. But she couldn't respond; her eyes were fixed on the man in front of her.
"W-W-What is this? That knife? And your walking? Why are you here in the Marine's Mansion?" Juliet fumbles over her words, "I-It must be a mis-mis.. misunderstanding." But even she, quivering from her distress, did not believe herself.
Romeo stopped in front of her and stared down his nose, "I'm going to kill you with this knife." Plain, simple, piercing words.
The banging on the other side of the door stopped. The room was silent and Juliet managed to hear the crunch of gravel as two pairs of feet moved away. 'There leaving,' Juliet thought in horror. '…Please, come back…someone… I'm scared I'm going to die. Romeo…'
"There's no one to help you," The man raised his knife.
"W-Why?" Juliet chocked out, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I never loved you. If I had loved you than we would not have turned into ghosts, living in this misery. Do you know the tale the villagers tell?: If the people who come here aren't really in love when they remove their hoods, then they turn into ghosts. Ghosts like us. Rephrase that and this is what you have: If they aren't in love, then they are like us. Not in love."
Juliet shook her head, "N-No."
Romeo raised the knife higher above his head, "And now it's time to get rid of you, so Tanya and I can live together." He swung his knife down with all his might, aiming for the heart of the petrified and defenseless Juliet.
--Meanwhile--
Luffy stretched his arms and gripped the edge of mansion's roof. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" He yelled as he catapulted himself and Shanks, who was holding onto him, into the air. They flew up high above their target before gravity pulled them down and they landed onto the roof.
Shanks sighed in relief from under his hood, "Next time you should give more of a warning, instead of saying 'Grab my waist, I know a way in!'"
"Well, I'm sure there's a way in from the roof! It's so weird though that the windows don't have a ledge or anything I could have grabbed on to," pouted Luffy.
"It might have been made purposefully that way..." Shanks pondered as he looked around and saw a door not very far away that Luffy was already running over to. The young man was right about an entrance, and wasn't going to loose any time thinking about the strange construction of the mansion.
As Shanks got closer to the door he noticed that the walls around it were nether long nor wide, but he was sure there would be enough room inside for a staircase or a ladder.
Luffy tried the handle and it didn't budge. The door was locked. Luffy frowned and Shanks, ticked off by all the closed doors obstructing their path, motioned Luffy out of the way, unsheathed his sword, and swung at the door.
Now only did the door break, but the wall behind it was knocked down and debris of broken wood and stone were blown into the distance.
"Looks like that door wasn't made out of anything special!" Luffy laughed as he pushed some leftover debris aside to look for an opening, "Why didn't you just do that to the wall of the mansion?"
"For the same reason you didn't," Shanks said knowingly from under his hood.
"So you heard it too!?" Luffy exclaimed, "I thought I was just imagining things!"
"No, there was definitely someone, probably a ghost, whispering that they'd kill Juliet and Nami if we broke down the doors or walls," Shanks frowned.
"Shishishi, but that's what you did just now!"
"Well, down near the door I could tell the ghost was close by because I could sense their presence, however small it was. Right now, though, I can't sense anything… I guess these ghosts can't fly very far up," Shanks mused.
"Ghosts that can't fly are pretty weird," Luffy laughed at his own logic as he and Shanks shifted through derbies looking for a door. "By the way, Shanks, what do you mean by 'Sense it's presence'? Can you really do that?"
"Of course I can," the older man said smugly, "Every living thing, and apparently those ghosts too, have something called haki. Kind of like life energy. When we were down there, outside the front entrance, there was us and one other person with haki. On the other side of the doors I could sense Juliet with her haki, an approaching person… and one other person who has strong haki that seems familiar."
"I don't really get it…" Luffy tilted his head. "Oh! I found something!" The boy exclaimed as he pulled upwards on a handle in the ground, causing a panel of stone to lift and reveal a ladder.
"It's too dark to see the bottom," Shanks stated in distaste, though he knew they'd go down anyway.
"Oh well! We got to help Juliet and Nami!" Luffy grinned and jumped straight into the whole, not bother to use the ladder at all. The young man's cloak disapeared last as he was enveloped by the darkness.
"Don't use saving them like an excuse," Shanks said even though he knew Luffy wouldn't hear. Taking a breath, he jumped in and hoped that a pit of flames didn't await him and Luffy down below. Especially Luffy.
--Inside the Mansion --
"A-ah." Juliet's gasped, wide-eyed.
Romeo frowned, trying to force his knife down, but unable to because of the sword blocking it's path. "Who the hell are you?"
Zoro crouched in front of Juliet, his sword effortlessly blocking the knife above his head. "None of your business." He stood up and pushed his sword hand forward, causing Romeo to stumble back.
"Get out of my way," Romeo growled, "You are the one who has no business here."
--Flashback --
"Hi!" A seven girl with long black hair and a pale face cheerfully ran up and hugged her friend.
"Hi Juliet," Romeo, eight years old, blushed.
"I picked a flower for you!" Juliet smiled, holding out a dandelion.
"Thanks…" the boy smiled back and took the flower, his cheeks tinted red, "I'm glad to see your not sick anymore."
"Don't worry about me; I'm strong!" The fragile looking girl flexed her pretend-muscles.
The two children laughed and spent the day, like many others, playing together.
But those happy and carefree days were over when, at thirteen years old, Romeo was sent to war. A bloody, desperate war with a neighboring island. When he came back four years later he was a distant seventeen year old. But Juliet still loved him, and Romeo, though talking little, didn't push her away.
Juliet's father was the mayor of the island, and the mayor did not want his daughter to cry. Because of that, if Romeo broke Juliet's heart and made her cry, he would be forced to leave the island. He did not want to leave his home, so when Juliet confessed her love, Romeo lied to keep her happy.
Juliet believed his lie blindly. Even at twenty-five years old, when she caught a disease and died, Romeo was still by her side, and she never knew that every year he spent with her caused his hidden aggression to grow. But the moment after she died his spite could not remain quite any more. It burst from him like an evil monster, and he stabbed her dead body over and over. Driven mad from war and his constant lies, he was enraged that no one was feeling the pain, so he stabbed himself and bled to his grave.
--
"Even in death I have put up with perfect, heavenly, do-gooder Juliet," Romeo raged, "And I can't take it any more!" He ran at Zoro with his knife raised.
But being able to cause pain also meant he could feel pain. And swordsmen was good at hurting people.
One slash of Zoro's sword and the crazed man fell to the ground.
"Romeo!" Juliet cried out, but her shaking legs could not carry her over to her lover's side.
Zoro shielded his sword and walked over to the sobbing Juliet. He knelt in front of her, "Are you ok?" He asked being unusually nice.
"Romeo… Why did you have to kill Romeo?" Was all Juliet could say.
Zoro signed, 'women,' "The cut's not as bad as it looks. He's unconscious, but still alive."
Juliet's crying softened, "That's good… really good…"
"He tried to kill you."
Juliet nodded, "I know but…" She looked over at Romeo and the knife that laid next to him. "But it must have been that knife and Tanya that corrupted his heart!"
A vain pulsed in Zoro's forehead, "How thick can you get; the guy is obviously in charge of his own actions!… And what does this have to do with Tanya?"
Juliet looked to the floor, she knew Luffy's crewmember was right about Romeo, but she didn't want to believe it. "Tanya is a Marine Captain…" Juliet explained, "She kidnapped your friend Nami and took her to this mansion. Shanks, Luffy and I came here to save her. But… it looks like Shanks-san and Luffy-san just left me..." Juliet tried to stifle another sob.
"Honestly," Zoro rubbed his forehead, "What a mess. And they didn't abandon you. They probably went to look for another way in. When I came in here earlier I noticed that the front door to this place is made out of an unbreakable metal. Luckily for me the door was open, so I came in and had a nap before your screaming and Luffy's banging on the door woke me up."
Juliet wiped the tears from her eyes, "I see…" Luffy's crewmate really was a nice guy.
"By the way," Zoro squinted, "Am I still tired or are you kinda translucent?"
"It's because I'm a ghost, Zoro-san," Juliet tried to smile through the tears still in her eyes.
"And you know my name how…?"
"I saw you on your ship kissing Luffy-san."
Zoro sweated, "Well whatever," He stood up quickly, "I'm going to go find Nami. It's too late at night to be running around."
Just then a small, wooden-framed door in the far corner of the room opened and figure came out muttering, "What the hell is this shitty place?"
--Deeper inside the Mansion--
"There!" Nami exclaimed as the lock clicked and the door to her cell swung open. She didn't know what Tanya was planning on doing with her, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out! She had to warn Shanks and Luffy about Tanya's trap, though she wasn't sure if they'd fall for it either way. 'Luffy's too stupid to read a note.'
Nami ran down the long hallway while pulling the yellow hood of her cloak over her head. Her shoes made small tapping noises as they connected with the stone, but luckily there weren't any Marines around. It seemed they weren't loyal enough to Tanya to guard one measly pirate's cell. Not that she was a measly pirate, but she didn't mind if her opponent underestimated her.
Nami turned the corner, looking for an exit, but what she saw made her skid to a stop. On the other end of the hallway stood Tanya and Doctor Dracula, equally surprised to have seen her.
--
Authors Note: I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter! Next time I promise I'll update again within week, and there's going to be a lot more of Shanks and Luffy in it too, since I know they didn't show up much in this one.
Also, there's a new poll in my profile which asks if you want a lemon in this story or not. Please vote on it, it doesn't take long.
And reviews would be really appreciated! I'm not too confident on how this chapter turned out. :(
In the next chapter: Is Nami going to be alright? Where in the mansion did Shanks and Luffy end up? And who is that person coming into the room Zoro and Juliet are in? Lets all hope Chapter 18 comes out soon!