It was hard, some days, keeping up the act and making sure that she didn't slip up or fuck up too badly. Anberlyn had been doing it so long now, that sometimes it was hard to tell where the act ended and she began.

Doflamingo thought she had given up, that she was no longer plotting his demise. But, after everything they had been though, after everything her had put her through, how he thought that she was trustworthy or loyal to him and only him, Anberlyn did not know. After all, Doflamingo was a very smart and cunning man, not stupid at all.

Doflamingo was also arrogant and slightly delusional and maybe that was where the fault lay.

Maybe he believed that she had given up, that he had somehow tamed her spirit. Even though she certainly acted like it, such was not the case.

Admittedly, some things were more difficult to get used to than others.

"Sweetheart. This attitude of yours just won't do." Doflamingo tsked as Anberlyn pushed the hand he had put on her waist and shrugging away from the arm he had wrapped around her back.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She grumbled hugging herself.

It wasn't because of the chain of events that followed Anberlyn's failure that were upsetting her, because she had become skilled at throwing a whitewash over her thoughts when intimacy transpired between them. When her thoughts and emotions were ignored and the sensations of intercourse were focused on, there was absolutely nothing to complain about, not even the careless breaking of skin. So, that was not the problem at all.

Anberlyn's attitude, as of late, had been quite melancholy. She had been walking around with her head down, with a storm cloud above her head, one that seemed to be putting out her inner fire, the very fire Doflamingo enjoyed so much.

The blonde man frowned down at the woman. The dark bruises that covered her body were beginning to fade from a nasty mix of purple blue and green to a yellow and blue and soon enough, all traces of the other night would be gone from everything but their memories.

She hadn't even bothered to correct him when he called to her using anything but her name.

"Sweetheart." He grumbled, grabbing her chin and making her look up at him. Anberlyn had never acted like this before. And for a moment, he wondered, uneasily, if this was what it was going to be like when he tamed Anberlyn, the woman who was usually nothing short than a force of nature. "What's bringing you down?"

Doflamingo expected Anberlyn to tell him that he was her problem, that he was what was bringing her down. But, what was new? He was always crawling under her skin, pushing her buttons, poking and prodding her and pushing her over the edge. Doflamingo knew damn well everything he did to her and how she despised it all. He wouldn't have been surprised if she glared at him and tried jerking her chin out of his grasp, he wouldn't mind if she did either and showed him that there was something left of Anberlyn still residing within the shell of her body.

But she just mumbled something unintelligible, her eyes avoiding his, her brow smooth, no anger or annoyance even slightly detectable.

Usually, she'd feel a stab of satisfaction when it was her who managed to clear the smile from Doflamingo's face.

But, her chest was void of satisfaction this time around.

Anberlyn didn't want to give up, to fully conform to Doflamingo's ways, ideas, wants and needs. She didn't want to become one of his pawns, obeying his orders without a second thought.

But, Anberlyn didn't see what choice she had.

The man was practically invincible; she couldn't lay a single, harmful finger on him, not yet at least. She had been getting stronger and stronger ever since that fateful day their paths crossed but, even then, there was a long road of training, of powering up, of slaying anyone who posed a threat to Doflamingo or her goal, ahead of her. Her future was bleak, with a lot of obeying and a lot less disobeying in store. Anberlyn knew full well that to be complacent with a man like Doflamingo would be complete and utter misery.

She had failed to take his life so many times it was just disgusting and rather depressing. And that was what was getting her down since the other night. She had him under her thumb but yet she had been unable to go through with the assassination.

"You know I don't like your attitude as of late." He grumbling threateningly, changing his tactics. Maybe fear would startle Anberlyn into regaining her wits about her.

"Sorry."

Now Doflamingo was concerned. Not worried per se, but something was most definitely wrong with Anberlyn.

"Can you let me go?" asked Anberlyn in a quiet voice with a tone he had never heard her use while addressing him.

Unsure of what to do, of how to react but, knowing that denying her wouldn't make her angry or perpetrate any kind of reaction or amusement, Doflamingo released Anberlyn's chin and watched as she trudged to the door that led below deck and disappear behind it.

Anberlyn meandered towards her room, like a leaf down the course of a little creek, to her, rarely used, room. Not bothering to flip on the light, she wafted over to her bed and lay on top of her covers, head resting on the pillow, blinking slowly as she thought about things.

After a few seconds, her eyes landed on her nightstand, on which sat two glass cubes. Her eyes and thoughts focused on them and their contents. One cube had a milky substance within it and was only half full. That was the one that was responsible for not only erasing her old scars, but for making room for new ones, as Doflamingo had so kindly thanked her for, as if she had meant to create more space on the canvas of her body for more permanent brushstrokes of pink and white.

The other, had within its core a sphere of apple green liquid. That one was unopened and could supposedly erase memories. The amount of how much you drank determined how much you could forget. Both of them had been bought from the little back alley shop, from which she had bought the poison, that had gone to waste, from.

Reaching out, slowly, as if in a dream, Anberlyn's fingertips found purchase on the cool glass and she picked up the closest cube and then rolled onto her back, contemplating the green liquid and what she should do with it.

She could forget.

She had bought it for that purpose after all. After succeeding in killing Doflamingo, Anberlyn had considered leaving the ship and downing the contents after applying the scar eraser to her body. Of course, with the initial part of the plan having not turned out as she had planned, she had nothing to do with the green potion.

Biting her bottom lip, Anberlyn mused over what she could do and the consequences of acting out the different courses of action that crossed her mind.

Later that day, Doflamingo got a call about an island that was going to war with a neighboring island in the New World. The caller was going to give him the funds so that he could produce the weapons and supplies under his name. The caller gave him very clear instructions as to which side to support, all he had to do was to collect the funds and then they'd be set to start shipping the weapons to the island.

So, after the line was cut, Doflamingo strolled from the library like office space where most business was conducted and made a B-line to Anberlyn's room. If she was going to be all gloomy and depressed for the entire trip, then it was going to be a very long, very boring trip. But, maybe he could somehow coax the Anberlyn he so adored and knew so well out of hiding.

Doflamingo came to a stop just outside her door and nudged it open with his foot.

Dark eyes shifted from outer space to him with a questioning expression within their depths.

She sat up, swinging her legs to the side of the bed, mumbling, "Just be quick."

Anberlyn was aware of how pathetic her behavior had been for the past few days, but she thought that she had every right to wallow in self-pity, complete and utter embarrassment and shame for just a little bit before she stepped off the edge and completed the transformation that had been taking place since Doflamingo had stolen her away from the auction house.

He had been trying to shape her into something he could use, something that could be a weapon, someone who could be a convenient tool and Anberlyn wasn't ready to become that and she knew she never would be.

It was a damn good thing that Doflamingo was so skilled at keeping his composure. He didn't know if he would have been displeased at her deadbeat attitude, or if he should have been delighted that she was no longer fighting him tooth and nail over every little thing.

"I'm not here for that. Get up." The one time he's not in the mood is the one time she is willing. Go figure.

Anberlyn rose to her feet and followed him to the deck, where she climbed onto his back and they took off, just like that. There was no fighting, no resisting, no nothing. Getting moving did not take ten minutes and he didn't have to snatch her off of the deck kicking and screaming, as he had in the past.

The trip was quiet, as they often were, but this kind of silence was different that the usual, rigid and angry silence that hung between her and Doflamingo on a typical business trip.

If Doflamingo knew what was wrong, he could correct it. He could return Anberlyn to her natural state and return things to normal, to how he preferred them.

"Is it my fault?" Doflamingo asked, figuring that it was. Every problem of Anberlyn's was his fault, she had told him as much once upon a time when she was her usual, fiery, self.

"Don't worry about it." Anberlyn exhaled her response.

It was his fault, but not really, it was hers too. If she had tried harder she could have succeeded. Her acting had been flawless, he probably still didn't suspect a thing, it was simple act and a matter of seconds and she had fucked up her plans for the night and the future.

Dammit! Doflamingo mentally raged.

He was starting to get really annoyed. The first two days or so had been nice, rather peaceful except for Baby 5's failed attempts to end his life and the typical squabbling of his crew amongst themselves. The third day had been kind of annoying, but hadn't really bothered him because he was seeing a side of Anberlyn he had never seen before. The same thing could be said about the fourth day.

But now, now that she had been depressed for the past five days…the annoyance was starting to set in at an alarming rate.

"So it is?" He asked with a touch of anger.

Doflamingo was well aware of the current reversal of roles at the moment and the irony of the fact that now that he had gotten what he had wanted from her, a broken mind, body and spirit, he'd rather have Anberlyn as she was, unbroken and fierce. She was much more entertaining that way.

"Does it matter?"

"No. I suppose it doesn't." He grumbled, glaring at the horizon and the island that was their destination.

Not long after, they reached the north beach of the island, dropping from the clouds, Anberlyn from his back.

Doflamingo examined the woman now standing before him, reached into his jacket and pulled out the velvet, drawstring pouch filled with beri, which he gave to her. It was for her to spend; it seemed to keep her occupied and her mind off of running and hiding from him as she had done a great number of times in the past.

"Stay on the beach." He ordered. There was a dock at the curve of the island that was lined with ocean front shops and restaurants that was far from the specified rendezvous point.

Before Anberlyn could respond, Doflamingo was gone, having no desire to hear a complacent answer. He would have been happier with her snapping that she would do whatever she wanted.

Anberlyn looked at the stores in the distance and then to the thin line of trees not far from her. They offered a nice strip of shade that would be a great place for a pleasant little nap. So she headed for the shade, sat down and took a cube from between her breast.

She hadn't managed to take Doflamingo's life, but she could still forget.

Once he had what he needed and business had been wrapped up, Doflamingo returned to the beach, to the strange strip of trees where Anberlyn should have been. With Anberlyn's current depression, and strange compliance, he expected to find her on the beach somewhere. But, when she was nowhere to be found, Doflamingo thought nothing of it. Anberlyn was just in a store, spending money and not spending her time trying to hide from him. But, as he turned to start towards the waterfront stores, something in the sand did catch his attention.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that lying in the sand was Anberlyn's karars, next to which lay a glass cube with a hollowed out center and the remnants of a light green liquid.

Picking up the weapons, he started towards the shoreline stores, already knowing that he wouldn't find Anberlyn in any of them. It wasn't to say that he didn't look anyways.

One would think that after so many failed escape attempts via hiding on an island, that Anberlyn would learn her lesson. Her escape attempts only hurt her and an innumerable amount of innocent people.

The fortunate thing was that Doflamingo didn't mind a good game of cat and mouse too terribly bad.

As suspected, the shops and eateries were void of the maroon haired woman by the name of Anberlyn. So, into town Doflamingo ventured, on the hunt for his bold little mouse.

As it turned out, she was in the New World, meaning that somehow she had crossed into the new world. But, Anberlyn had no recollection of passing through the Red Line or Fishmen Island. That wasn't the only strange thing that Anberlyn was left wondering about.

All over her body were these strange bruises, all in plain sight, and Anberlyn had no clue how she got those, she had never bruised easily before. And, somehow her hair's length had been reduced by about two thirds, but she would have never gotten a haircut, she always looked so silly with short hair, or so she thought.

That wasn't the only mystery however.

There were those strange weapons that she had ditched on the beach and the pouch filled with money that couldn't be hers because she wasn't near rich enough to have filled the bag with so much money.

But, at least the beris were being put to good use. She had already bought a world map that showed her where she was and the different courses she could take to get back to Sabaody. After she had figured out where she was and had set her course, Anberlyn had bought a ticket for a ferry to the next island and planned on island hopping until home was reached.

All that was left to do was to wait until the ferry returned to the island, which could take up to a week at the very most, two days at the very least. She had just missed it by three hours.

With nothing to do but kill time, Anberlyn set up room and board in exchange for work, which would start in a few hours. Until then, she was free to roam and explore the island. For being in the New World, it seemed quite tame, rather like the island on the Grand Line. But, from what she had gathered from the locals, when night fell, the only safe place was indoors. Well, night wasn't falling for another five hours, so she would worry about that when the time came.

Kind of hungry, Anberlyn spared a fruit cart some beri. And as she examined the fruit, determined to pick the best one, something from the edge of her sight, drew her attention to the strange smooth, white and orange fruit in her hand and to her left, where she saw a monster of a man sauntering down the street, wearing orange pants that weren't quite long enough, a white shirt that wasn't fully buttoned and a strange pink…cape?

Their eyes locked and a smile broke out across the man's face. His pace quickened and he opened his arms wide, as if accepting a hug from her but, she would never get close enough to that man to wrap her arms around him.

Anberlyn had seen his face before, but, she couldn't place where. All she knew was that a man dressed like that, with that kind of expression on his face could mean nothing good. So, she thrust her free hand out towards the man, liquefied the ground beneath his feet and once he was ankle deep in the earth, she solidified it and took off, slipping behind the cart owner and down the narrow street behind.

The look Anberlyn had given him when she noticed him coming down the street had not been one resembling, 'oh shit I've been caught!', as it should have been. After all, she was trying to hide and escape the island from under his nose; they had been through this many times before. However, Anberlyn had never once been foolish enough to attempt to hide in plain sight. With her red hair, long legs and switchblade attitude, she stuck out like a sore thumb more often than not.

Instead, the look on her face resembled a mix of confusion and fear, something along the lines of 'I don't know who the hell you are you freak, but I'm getting away from you'.

Doflamingo frowned down at his feet, which were covered by perfectly solid dirt. She hadn't given him even a second to react to the two different matter shifts she had orchestrated in a matter of seconds. The funny thing was that he had never, not once, witnessed her use her devils fruit ability that quickly. If she was using it to kill people, she teased them, before going for the kill. If she were using it for his convenience, she took her sweet time to do what he wanted done.

After all of her assassination attempts, Doflamingo was surprised that she hadn't already tried solidifying his blood or his heart, as she had done to a great many people. He was surprised that she hadn't liquefied the couch he sat on or the bed he slept in and then solidified it so that he was within the couch or bed and then killed him from there. Maybe, when it came to killing him, her devil fruit was forgotten and she resorted to primitive methods like the seastone ring and sabotaging his flight path.

Once his feet were free, his shoes filled with an unpleasant amount of dirt, Doflamingo went down the side street she had fled. She couldn't have gotten very far in the few seconds it had taken him to free his feet, and even if she had, a single one of his strides were the length of four, if not more, of hers.

If Anberlyn had waited any longer so that he would sink farther into the street, then he would have gotten free before the ground solidified. And, if she hadn't bothered to use her devil fruit, he would have caught her in a matter of seconds, and it seemed that she knew it. Doflamingo couldn't help but smile and applaud Anberlyn's calculating actions. She was turning into a mighty fine subordinate. One day she could even be an asset. But first, he had to catch her.

Eyes concealed by purple glasses darted about the street, skimming the crowd for a head of purplish red.

Anberlyn looked over her shoulder, having the strangest feeling that that maneuver wouldn't buy her much time at all. She considered ducking into any number of the stores that she rushed past, but if he were to happen to look into every store, there wouldn't much hiding, which she had a sinking feeling wouldn't work at all.

Anberlyn had too keep moving.

So, as she rounded yet another corner, she looked back, hoping that he wasn't free yet. But, as she looked back, he appeared at the end of the street. Her heart began beating sporadically in her chest, her blood pounding in her ears as her body began producing adrenaline. Anberlyn didn't know why, but she was afraid, not just of that man but what would happen if he were to catch her.

She couldn't remember having ever encountering him. But, there seemed to be a blank in her memory, just like there was in the world's history, something had happened since her morning commute through the groves and to the tavern in which she worked, but what, she didn't have a clue. Judging on how that man was chasing her, they weren't strangers, as she thought they were.

Looking forwards, Anberlyn realized her mistake. She hadn't just run into a side street, but into an alleyway. She was coming up on a dead end. But, she couldn't stop, so, Anberlyn threw her hands out in front of her and as the brick touched her fingertips, she willed it to liquefy and allow her to pass through it. She kept running, and liquefying every solid thing in her way. Anberlyn could not let that man catch up to her.

Anberlyn was out of sight before he could take control of her body and force her to walk towards him and not run away from him, she was gone. Even though she had disappeared around a corner down the street, he knew what direction she was going. But time he reached the street she had disappeared down, Anberlyn would have turned down several other streets and be long gone.

"What's that!?" A woman screeched, pointing to the sky, causing her, and several other people to look up.

What they saw were strings arcing up into the sky and connecting at a single point, creating what appeared to be a bird cage, one that she was right in the middle of. Unsure of what to do, Anberlyn kept running, getting closer and closer to the strings, which were still quite a ways off.

Doflamingo crouched on the edge of a relatively tall building. The base of the bird cage had a mile long diameter, and Anberlyn was somewhere within that mile. Instead of searching for her, instead of sifting through all of that space, he was slowly going to reduce the diameter until there was only enough space for a woman about five foot some odd inches tall.

The buildings in the distance began crumbling to the ground, creating a sound twice as tremendous as thunder on a stormy night, as she got closer to the very thin bars. Or were they getting closer to her?

Anberlyn came to a stop and squinted at the bars, trying to figure out if it was her imagination, or her eyes playing tricks on her, or if the bars were actually moving in. Anberlyn stood still, unsure as to where she should start back tracking, or maybe she could try fitting through the bars and continuing on?

Deciding that the later of the two options was best, she waited until the bars were close enough to touch. When they were right in front of her, Anberlyn realized that slipping between them was not an option, there was no way she could fit even her hand between the spaces of the bar. But, maybe she could pull them apart.

As she prepared to see if that was something she could do, screams erupted from the transfixed people standing still on the street next to her. When Anberlyn looked, she saw the spurting blood, flailing limbs, severed appendages and panicking people. Like her, they had just realized the danger that they were in, and tried running, just like she.

The bars cut through them like a knife through butter and left, in their wake, mutilated bodies in several different pieces, decimated buildings and a river of blood. Watching the bodies fall, the people suffer, the buildings crumble, Anerblyn was rooted to the spot, having never seen so much bloodshed in such a short period of time. Sure, she had witnessed a handful of murders in Sabaody, but, never anything like this. She wanted to close her eyes, to cover her ears so that she didn't have to hear the roar of their pain and the crashing of the buildings, but she couldn't bring herself to so much as look away.

And it wasn't until there was a sharp stinging in her arm. Her attention flashed to her upper arm to see that slowly burying into the flesh was one of the bars. It wasn't until then that Anberlyn was able to lift her feet off the ground and flee the bars that offered nowhere to go. They were closing in, tearing through buildings, people and anything else in their way and soon enough she was going to meet the same fate as the people who couldn't escape the bars fast enough.

Somehow, Anberlyn knew that it was the blonde man's fault that everyone around her was dying, that the city was being destroyed. But, it didn't change the fact that the places she had to go were becoming less and less.

Doflamingo almost wished he could see Anberlyn's expression as the bird cage closed in around her, capturing her and leaving only her alive.

As the bars drew away from him, he followed them at a rather relaxed pace.

Eyes wildly darting around, the bars now only a foot away from her in every direction, Anberlyn searched for a way out, even though it was quite evident that there was none. If she believed in any kind of god, in any higher power, she would have fallen to her knees and begged them to get her out of this situation, because, at the moment, she was powerless unless she wanted to die.

"You forgot these at the beach Anberlyn. You're supposed to take better care of your precious weapons. When they're gone, I'm not getting you new ones." In all honesty, he probably would, when he got the chance, it was kind of hot watching her slash and hack men and women alike down.

Despite his words, he made no movement to lower the bars and hand her the weapons, instead, he just kept them in one hand.

When she didn't respond, he said, "Chin up." A voice said. In the string cage, Anberlyn whipped around, an expression of familiar hate mixed with unfamiliar fear on her face, dancing in her eyes. For some reason, her arm was bleeding incessantly, as if she had been caught by the strings. "Oh, hey, you're bleeding Sweetheart." He crooned, not the least bit remorseful of the fact.

"My name is Anberlyn." She growled through narrowed eyes that tried to hide the fear behind the anger, causing Doflamingo to joyously smile.

The usual Anberlyn had returned. That was almost worth celebrating.

And suddenly, Anberlyn realized where she had seen the blondes face. How had she gotten caught up with a wanted criminal? His bounty was at least three hundred million beri high and there was no way he was going to let her live now that he had caught her

"Kill me swiftly." She grumbled.

"I'm not going to kill you Sweetheart-"

"I thought I told you my name is Anberlyn. I really don't like nicknames Donquixote."

So that was why Anberlyn was always correction him? Doflamingo wondered, with a chuckle.' nicknames huh?

After that she added, "Besides, I don't see how I could be of any use to you at all Donquixote Doflamingo."

At that, the smile fell from his face.

Anberlyn might be her usual self, but something wasn't quite right. First off, she never used his surname unless she was really mad. Even though, she was probably burning at the thought of being stuck in a cage crafted of his strings that wouldn't have caused her to call him Donquixote twice in the same minute.

She knew it! It was his entire fault that these bars had been cutting everything except her down. She knew it! She had been the target of the bars.

And then, Anberlyn realized that when he had first approached her, he had used her name, not the word Sweetheart.

In an unsure manner, she asked, "How do you know me?"

Anberlyn was almost afraid of the answer. She was afraid of what she might have done to earn this man's attention. She remembered reading quite a lot about him and his pirate crew in the newspapers, he was one wanted man, despised by many, her included. Yes, in the short amount of time they had known each other, already there was this bubbling cauldron of hate churning in her stomach.

"I saved you." He answered truthfully enough.

If he hadn't claimed her before someone had bought her, then she would have been bought by someone who wanted her for nothing but physical labor. Of course with her personality, someone would have gotten tired of her not long after they had bought her and then Anberlyn's life would have been ended, as simple as that. In short, he was her savior, putting up with her switchblade attitude and fiery words, all of her assassination attempts and the obvious contempt she felt towards him.

"From what?" The only thing she needed saving from was this cage. On Sabaody, there were the slavers, always on the hunt for people to take to the Auctioning House, but she had become quite skilled at avoiding them and making it to her work, avoiding their usual routes and going to and from work when less of them were out. That was just a part of living on Sabaody, the slavers and the maze of groves.

"The Auctioning House." The blonde haired man told her.

But, at that she just scoffed. There was no way slavers had gotten her, let alone managed to get her to the Auctioning House

"You don't remember?" Doflamingo asked, his brow furrowing, the smile on his face curling into a frown. The first question she had asked, the one pertaining to how he knew her, had been unnerving enough. But, the questions that followed were sending his thoughts into a downward spiral to one conclusion, one in which he did not wish to reach.

He had spent too much time and effort on the woman only to have her forget everything from her combat skills, to her hardened heart and the punishments and lessons only experience could teach her. He had perfectly crafted her, but, now everything was undone. A single string had been pulled and now it had all unraveled, and only in a matter of seconds.

"I wouldn't have asked if I did." She snapped irately, realizing that she shouldn't take such a tone with the man before her after the words were out in the open air between them.

Doflamingo frowned.

The Anberlyn seemed to have returned, in terms of her personality, but, now her memories were gone. That glass cube he had found by her katars with the green liquid in it came to mind and he knew that, somehow, it was connected, and once he made her remember, he would find out how.

"The past two years? You don't remember any of it?" Doflamingo asked. Anberlyn shook her head. "You have no recollection of being Matter Shifter Anberlyn or becoming a part of the family?" With each 'no' he received, the angrier he became.

Two years had been erased from her memory?! Anberlyn mentally panicked. She knew quite well that that a lot of things could happen or go wrong in a mere hour, now imagine two whole years.

According to the very wanted man, she had joined his 'family' and went by Matter Shifter Anberlyn, though that sounded more like an epithet than anything.

Did that mean that she had become a pirate, one of his subordinates within the last two years? Hadn't he said something about the Auctioning House?

Mentally, Anberlyn began scrabbling to connect the dots, to write something in the blank space of her memory. But, she didn't want his words to be true, they couldn't have. She could kill a fly no problem, and swindle the tavern goers out of a few beri no problem, in fact, the owner encouraged it, but she couldn't be someone who cheated, lied and killed for a living, a pirate was something she could never be.

What brought Anberlyn out of her thoughts was the sight of the man's expression transforming like a caterpillar into a butterfly. The carefree smile slowly drooped into a rather neutral expression that couldn't be identified as happy or otherwise. Then his brow began furrowing and out came the displeased frown, completing the transformation.

She was in trouble, Anberlyn could tell that much and she had half the mind to fall to her knees and beg for her life. Because even though it would devastate her pride, her life would hopefully still remain intact.

At this point, that was all that mattered.

But Anberlyn couldn't bring herself to fall to her knees; she couldn't even bend her locked knees. And she couldn't bring herself to utter even a sound, let alone a plea for her life from her desert dry mouth.

She shouldn't show the man fear, but it was far too late for that. She had been terrified of Doflamingo when he was smiling, his strange purple shades glinting in the light, but, now that he was frowning, she was trembling like the last leaf on a tree, from fright.

To be simply put, Doflamingo was furious.

When the bars to the harmful cage fell, Anberlyn saw her opportunity. Like before, she liquefied the ground beneath his feet and solidified it before he could go anywhere and then she turned to run in the opposite direction, even though that hadn't worked so well last time. But, before she could so much as turn her body, a long arm reached out and rough fingers wrapped around her throat, holding her in a vice like grip that she couldn't hope to escape.

Anberlyn let out a, rather satisfying, strangled gasp as he lifted her off of her feet and up to eye level. In his hand, she dangled, the tips of their noses only centimeters apart, her frightened breathing dancing across his face, her quickened heart beat thrumming beneath his fingertips.

Anberlyn could feel the anger radiating from his aura, but she couldn't figure out what it was she had done to perpetrate such a reaction from the pirate man.

If she did, she would figure out a way to get out of this situation.

"Don't worry Sweetheart." Doflamingo sneered as tears began making their way from the corners of Anberlyn's eyes, leaving parallel streaks down her cheeks. "I'm not going to kill you." And, with that, he reared back and threw her with all of his might, like a child throwing a ragdoll across the room.

He had invested too much time, too much energy in Anberlyn just to kill her, to let her forget all of his valuable lessons. In her current state, Anberlyn could not be of any use to him. Anberlyn had so much potential and it would be such a shame to let her go. But, if she was more trouble than she was worth, than Doflamingo would have no choice.

The buildings remains that her body crashed into exploded, sending out a shower of debris in all directions, as well as kicking up a large cloud of dust. The impact shouldn't have killed her, and as long as she hadn't hit her head, she'd be fine.

Not going to kill me huh? Anberlyn bitterly thought as the spinning world around her came to a topsy-turvy stand still, the dust that tickled her lungs settling enough so that the view of Doflamingo, the Pirate she had somehow involved herself with, was obscured by nothing. Once the world stopped spinning, Anberlyn pushed herself off of the jagged chunks of building, the bricks, the glass, and anything else that was protruding from the rubble, and stumbled from the wreck, coughing on the dust and trying her best to ignore the injuries she may or may not have sustained.

Already, she had shown too much fear to a monster who preyed off the very emotion but, Anberlyn was unwilling to continue satisfying any more of its appetite. All she had to do was be strong until he left, which would hopefully be soon.

Somehow, Anberlyn had managed to piss off a very powerful pirate who was now hell bent on 'not killing her'. But, even though he had promised that death was would not be one of the outcomes of their meeting, there were things worse than death. His promise did not bode well for her that was for damn sure.

What was even worse was that Anberlyn was paying for something she had no recollection for.

"Wh-whatever I did…I…I'm sorry." Anberlyn weakly tried. She had no faith that words would help solve this problem. It wasn't as though words had ever helped her out of a sticky situation, at least not near as often as they got her into them and now would be no different.

Whatever she had done, it must have been something terrible in order to invoke this kind of reaction and incur this man's wrath.

"Anberlyn, sweetheart, sorry isn't going to rectify your imprudent decisions." Sang Doflamingo as he approached Anberlyn, well aware of how she was discreetly scooting away from him, consciously keeping out of arms reach, though that wasn't going to help her any.

It was clear that, despite the aura of anger about him, that he was somehow enjoying himself. Anberlyn of course realized this as her chin was captured in his grasp and she was yanked closer and forced to look up at him.

"But, I'm sure I can spark a memory or two for you." Once one returned, it would be a matter of time before they all returned and the old Anberlyn, with all of her memories intact, would be his once again. Sparking the first few were what was going to be the problem.

With those words, Doflamingo stooped down low and stole a kiss, hoping to spark something, anything. After all, she always hated when he did that, she hated most contact between the two of them, and so maybe that hate would trigger the memories of every time he had stolen a kiss or wrapped his arm around her shoulder or waist or all of the nights and early mornings they had shared doing anything but sleeping.

He had to admit, that he was kind of disappointed that she reacted as she typically did and not as she had the other day.

Anberlyn grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him away from her. When the kiss was broken, she swiped the back of her hand across her mouth, eyes narrowed, a grimace on her face. "My memory isn't the problem, you're just delusional!"

She couldn't believe that he had just done that.

Sparking a memory?! That was a load of bullshit! He just wanted a reason to touch her, like so many other men did. At one point of time, her and one of her friends had considered going lesbian to keep the guys off of the other, or at least fake it while at work. Surprisingly, that had worked for at least a year and a half.

She wondered if she were to tell the man that she was into girls if he would leave her alone or if she would just be wasting breath.

Doflamingo couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. He couldn't say that he disagreed with her diagnosis of his mental state, but, what did it matter?

"Sweetheart-"

"Don't call me that you filthy pirate." She growled, sounding like one of those annoying little Marine's.

Deciding to excuse her, Doflamingo changed what he had been going to say and instead said, "You know you're just a filthy pirate as well." He reached into his jacket and pulled out the wanted poster, uncurling it for her to see.

Anberlyn had the strangest sense of déjà vu as her wide eyes took in not only the price on her head, but also the picture and the clothes she was wearing, was that a Marine's top? Under the picture was the words Matter Changer Anberlyn, just as Donquixote had said.

Only, instead of panicking because the woman in the picture over the ridiculously large bounty was in fact her, she was filled with a sense of…of pride and surprise, unable to believe that she was worth that much money. She also had the strangest sense of being under dressed, but, that was ignored.

"No." She murmured at least five times in a row. "Wh-why do you have that?"

"You earned it Sweetheart." Doflamingo sneered at Anberlyn, watching as she continued trying to deny everything he had said up to this point. "Maybe these will help you remember?" And with that, Doflamingo handed her the katars he had found on the beach, the ones he had so generously bought her.

With shaky hands, Anberlyn reached out, grasping their handles and holding them tight. As she did, there was a tidal wave of sensations that crashed over her. A discerning kind of trill filled her chest as the images of men and women falling one after another before her filled her mind's eye, their screams filled her ears and she felt their blood landing on her skin, like drops of rain while being caught outside in an unexpected storm.

Doflamingo watched as she lifted her hand up to her cheek, turning her face skywards as she muttered something about rain. Looking up, he saw that the skies were pretty clear.

"So?" he expectantly asked.

But, Anberlyn just shook her head and said, "Nothing. Sorry," before practically throwing them at him, as if she couldn't get rid of them fast enough.

An unnerving smile curled up the corners of Donquixote's mouth as he said, "You can't fool me Sweetheart."

"That-that's not me." Anberlyn tried, pushing the poster and the man's hands away from her.

Delighted that the little amnesia spell was coming to an end, Doflamingo sang, "You're remembering."

Then, having a brilliant idea, he swept Anberlyn off of her feet and lopped towards the beach where he had found that cube. Both the wanted poster and the katars both had a catastrophic effect on Anberlyn and her lack of memory. She could deny remembering anything, but, he knew better.

"Put me down!" She shouted, beating at his chest, kicking her feet, opting to liquefy the ground where she anticipated his feet to land. But, none of her antics worked and they arrived at the strip of shade. After only a few seconds of searching, the cube was found, just where it had been left.

Putting Anberlyn down, he stooped low to pick it up and then presented it to her asking, "What is this?"

Anberlyn took the cube from his hands and frowned as everything came rushing back to her at once, getting caught by the slavers, the Auctioning House, the countless trips across the ocean's sky, the assassination attempts and failures, the wanted poster and the week with the Marines that resulted in her hair's mysterious shortening, her goal to kill him no matter what, everything.

With a trembling jaw, Anberlyn fell to her knees, sobbing over her recent failure. The apple green liquid was supposed to have erased her memories, and even though it had done its job, she was supposed to be able to escape, to leave Doflamingo in the dust and never see him again.

Somewhat baffled by Anberlyn's response, Doflamingo crouched down next to the shaking girl and reached for her chin, forcing her to look up at him with tear filled eyes and soaked cheeks. Her tears flowed from puffy, red eyes and collected at her chin, dripping onto her chest or slipping down her bruised throat. She was always acting strong; as though nothing bothered her, and if something did bother her, she let him know, not through tears, but by irate comments and clipped phrases.

"Well?" he asked expectantly, his question still unanswered.

"Some-something t-to erase y-you from my mem-ory." Anberlyn sobbed, trying to collect herself, but, after a few seconds of trembling lips, she was unable to hold the straight face any longer and cried without holding back, as though Doflamingo wasn't in plain sight, as no one could see or hear her. "Please don't kill me." She begged, only able to imagine all of the horrible things he could do to teach her a lesson, to ensure that she would never again try erasing her memory again.

Before Doflamingo could say anything, she let go of the cube and launched herself into his arms, like a child going to their parent despite the fact that the parent was the one that made them upset in the first place.

Anberlyn buried her face into the pink feathered jacket, her hands fisting in his white shirt, still on her knees in the sand. It was less embarrassing to cry like she was if he couldn't just watch her like a freak show. It was also for her own protection, it was harder to hurt someone when they were clinging to you. It wasn't to say that he couldn't use his strings and get her off of him and then punish her.

She had failed again. Not in an assassination attempt this time, but in another escape attempt.

"Why did you want to erase your memory?" Doflamingo asked as though he wasn't able to concoct an answer himself, as if he didn't have a clue.

She wasn't yet ready to become one of his pawns. Doing what he wanted, when he wanted, as he wanted, was something Anberlyn didn't even think she was capable of doing. But, if she accepted her place as his subordinate, then what was she supposed to do?

She wanted to tell him all of this, to verbalize her thoughts but, Anberlyn was able to manage was the word, "Be-because."

"And you're under the impression that I should kill you?" Anberlyn nodded her head, but offered no muffled response. "Do you think I should?" No normal person would tell someone that they should kill them, he knew that, but she wasn't in her right mind yet. Even if she said yes, he wouldn't.

Anberlyn would fully return in a few days, Doflamingo was nothing but confident in this belief.

"Ple-ase don't." She raggedly exhaled her answer.

Doflamingo reached up and stroked Anberlyn's hair in a manner that could be mistaken as loving, a small smile on his face.

She tensed when his hand touched her head, but, after several moments of him not violently grabbing her hair and trying to pull her away or his fingers grabbing her neck, she relaxed if only a little.

"You have nothing to fear Sweetheart."

"R-really?" Anberlyn couldn't believe her ears.

Nothing to fear?

There must be a catch.

"I can let you off this one time because you've learned your lesson, haven't you?" It wasn't much of a question. Doflamingo knew that Anberlyn would not be pulling a stunt like this any time ever again. She nodded.

He rose to his feet, scooping Anberlyn out of the sand and shifting her to his back, where she buried her neck into the pink fluff of his jacket.

Somewhere along the way, Anberlyn reached into the waistline of her skirt, found the ferry ticket and, after staring longingly at it, she uncurled the fingers around the slip of paper and let the wind carry it away.

A/n: Hey, lookie here, another longer chapter in the same week1 :D This chapter was considerably easier than chapter 7 to write, but i hope you like it just as much.

Guest 2: Yes, thank you for differentiating yourself from the other guest. Now it's considerably easier to address you guys (gals?) Thank you for both of those reviews and this recent one. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

Everyone else: Thanks for your positive feedback pertaining the previous chapter. it is much appreciated since I was so nervous about what you guys would think.

Review please. I would be delighted to hear your thoughts and opinions. Please, if you think that I have gotten anyone OOC, tells me. Thank you much for reading and I hope to see you next chapter.