Soooo, here I am again! I'm sorry for the irregular updates, but for some reason I get a lot of Writer's Block from this story. That doesn't mean I will never update, however.
This chapter is dedicated to everyone that has read the story up till now, and especially my proofreader and brainstorm-buddy DreamweaverAki!
I don't own anything but my own creations.
Enjoy!
"Mephisto, sir, there has been another attack!"
"Which section?"
"North-west, sir!"
Mephisto sat in his chair, his pink gaming controller on his bureau. But right now was not the time for games. Right now, he had a job to do. Since the incident in Gehenna, forces had been stirring, and even Satan had no idea who it could be, although they did suspect one man. Or rather: Deity. Tartarus. He had disappeared, but the chances of him being involved were high.
Mephisto excused the man after he was done reporting. He had to do something. He needed everyone he could get. It was a shame those five were gone right now…
The phone ringed. Again.
"Mephisto, have you got any news?"
"Just mehr attacks, nothing important."
"Contact me if anything happens."
Mephisto rolled his eyes. He was not their puppet! More like they were his. "Hat something geschehen by you, then?"
"No, no, we'll contact you if there has."
Mephisto smirked. It worked again. "Gut."
He hung up.
"Okay, that's it. Next time we'll just buy the fruit on the market or something." Shizu said, fed up.
"Nah, that'll be boring. Only the stupid fruits end up on the market." Blue supplied.
Before them stood the castle, covered in snow. It had a kind of creepy, but still beautiful air to it. At the top of the castle, a pirate flag with sakura on it waved in the wind. They took a minute to admire the sight.
"Hey, Blue, are you sure this one hasn't been found yet? I mean, it's in a castle, and your fruits aren't exactly unnoticeable." Percy questioned.
"I don't know, but this castle seems abandoned. Maybe it only spawned here after it was abandoned?"
"According to Dalton, this castle isn't abandoned. Some genius doctor lives here, but Dalton warned me that she was a bit eccentric. She started an institute for doctors a while back. So why hasn't the fruit been noticed?"
"I… don't know."
"Couldn't you sense which fruit?" Shizu asked.
"Normally, yeah, I can. Not now though." Blue said, puzzled.
"Well," Shizu decided, "Let's find out what it is then!"
They went through the door, which was open, and saw a hall, also covered in snow. They looked around for a bit.
"So, Blue, any idea where it is?"
Yeah, over there." He began walking up the staircase. Shizu and Percy followed him. They didn't know that they were watched, by multiple pairs of eyes.
Rally couldn't believe his own luck. They went up the mountain! If he ever wanted to catch them, this would be the best time! And then, he would make them pay, before handing them over to whoever wanted them, be it Akainu or slave traders. He had seen the one with the horns swim, so it wasn't a devil fruit. He would be worth a lot of money.
But first he had to make it possible for him to catch him. As far as he knew, they weren't able to survive great jumps, so all he had to do was to disable the lift so they couldn't come down anymore.
They were in the attic of the snow-infested castle.
"Are you sure it's here?" Shizu said.
"Yeah, it's here. Look over there!" He pointed towards the corner of the room. The three inched closer and took a look. It was a strawberry with multiple swirls on it.
"Strange. Usually strawberries don't grow in cold attics. Are you sure it hadn't been found yet?" Percy said. Shizu rolled her eyes at the obvious. Of course strawberries didn't grow here.
"I don't know. Maybe someone lost it here and didn't find it again, It is pretty small…" Blue said.
"Well, the only thing to do now is to eat it." Shizu said, and she picked it up.
"Well, okay then. Enjoy your fruit."
Shizu popped the fruit in her mouth and chewed it. She made a disgusted face, and she looked a bit green, but she managed not to spit it out. Then she swallowed it, and shivered.
"So, how do I know which fruit it is?"
"Wait and see, probably." Percy said. "Let's go back."
They went back to the staircase which they came from, and opened the door, but were stopped at knifepoint. Some old woman was glaring at them at the other side of the door. Behind her were a few people in typical doctor-outfits, the gloves included and their faces covered, as if they were going to practice surgery on someone any moment. Percy hoped it wasn't them.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in here?"
"We are tourists, just looking around." Percy said. "Are you dr. Kureha?"
"How do you know that name?" the newly identified Dr. Kureha asked.
"Dalton told me about you."
She put the knife away. "That's all right then. If Dalton trusts you, you're probably not too bad."
"You are a bit strange though, the first people in years who thought the attic was interesting…"
"Do any of you need a doctor?" The three shook their heads.
Then Kureha looked at Shizu. "Do you want to know the secret of my youth?"
"No, thanks."
"Ah, such a shame. Well, enjoy your stay on Drum then." She went away.
Percy wasn't even outside for more than a second, when he saw someone charging towards them.
"How dare you lie to me! You filthy pirate scum! I will capture you and turn you in!"
Percy quickly got out his pen, and it transformed into a sword right on time to block Rally's first strike.
He blocked some more strikes before asking: "Aren't you underestimating me?"
"How dare you think that I: Captain Rally of the Marines, would ever be so stupid as to underestimate pirates!"
Blue and Shizu stood on the side, watching. They knew Percy was just playing with Rally, so they didn't help.
"It seems that you are plenty stupid to me." Percy taunted. That caused Rally to scream in rage and try to stab Percy, but Percy was faster. In a combination of his roman reflexes and his time powers, he quickly sidestepped and disarmed Rally. He held his sword against his throat.
"I win. Now, who else is after us?"
Now Rally understood he had been stupid, he had really underestimated them and he had attacked them without first analysing their powers. But that realization wouldn't help him right now. Besides, he only wanted to delay them anyway. Even though he failed, he did see one of them in action, which could be helpful later.
"None, then. Okay." Percy let Rally go and he, Blue and Shizu walked away. Percy almost expected an attack from behind, but was surprised when it never came. He looked behind him, and saw that Rally was gone.
Rally quickly made his way to the rope he had attached to the mountain. He may not be too strong, but he had a plan, and he had prepared it well. In the distance, he could see the ships of the marine in the harbour. Good. He found his rope and started lowering himself down.
"Say Percy, can't you lower us down with your time powers?" Shizu asked.
"Yeah!" Blue agreed.
"No, I can only make sure that we won't land on something hard. I can lower myself though."
He looked at the sliced cable again. The lift was obviously disabled. Was this Rally's plan?
"Did you already figure out what your fruit power is?" Percy turned to Shizu.
"No."
"Then we'll stay, for now…"
As soon as Rally's foot touched the ground he ran in the direction of the harbour. He got some strange stares from the people he passed, but he didn't care. The admiral would reward him greatly.
When he reached the harbour, he went to the closest marine he saw.
"Are you Captain Rally?"
"Yes."
"And the pirates?"
"The pirates are on that mountain. They're trapped, so don't worry about them escaping."
"Okay. Men! Follow me!" The man said with an air of confidence and a smirk.
"Doctor Kureha didn't have anything either. She wasn't really happy though." Blue said.
"Say Percy, couldn't you just turn back time for the lift or something." Shizu asked.
"I never trained that power, I can't do that yet."
Suddenly, Blue motioned for Percy and Shizu to come over.
"Marines. And Rally is with them."
The marines positioned two cannons in front of the mountain. When they shot, two grappling hooks came out, attached to ropes. The grappling hooks became stuck behind some rocks, effectively laying the base for a makeshift lift. The marines then attached a wooden board to the ropes, and shot another grappling hook from a cannon on the wooden board. They started moving the board up the mountain by reeling in the rope attached to the grappling hook and the cannon on the wooden board.
"Look out for him!" Rally pointed to Percy. "He has strange powers!"
The leading marine ignored him, however, and went up with the lift.
"Styx! This is not going to be good." Percy activated Riptide. It was at times like these that he wished he had better control over his time powers. If he did, he would probably be able to capture the makeshift lift and get down, without getting hurt.
"I'm in too, Percy!" Blue said, smiling like a kid about to step on a leaf. Percy supposed he was just giddy. He summoned a pirate sabre out of thin air.
"Guys! I don't know how to fight!" Shizu said, panicking.
Percy swore in his mind, he would have to train her later. "Go inside the castle then. Well get you when we're done!"
Shizu went to the castle. Meanwhile, the lift had reached the top of the mountain, and marines were running to Percy and Blue. Percy immediately stopped time and started slashing at as much marines as he could, but before long he lost his concentration on his time powers because of his multitasking. From there on he just started attacking the nearest marines he could find. He did however take a good many marines down by his first attack.
Blue was faring well too. He was duelling with two marines at the same time, and he was winning.
Suddenly, Percy had an idea. He had never tried this before, but it could work.
He summoned some salt water and used it to blast the marines he was duelling. While they were writhing in agony because of the salt in their wounds, Percy quickly focused on his Tranquillity aspect. He too his sword, and manipulated a part of his aspect in the sword. Before he could complete this procedure, he was attacked by other marines, so he had to stop the process too fight back.
"Hey Blue! I have a plan! Can you take over for a while?"
"Naw, I'm busy playing here!"
Percy swore under his breath. He had to do this differently then. So he concentrated once again on Tranquillity, but this time he forced it outwards in a cone in front of himself. The marines immediately slumped on the ground, grinning like the stupid grunts they were.
Percy again focused on his Tranquillity, and manipulated a part of it in his sword. It was a bit harder this time, but in the end he succeeded; His sword started glowing a dull brown or orange-like colour.
Just in time too, because he got assaulted by the leader of the marines.
"And now, give up or meet your end!" The man said, and he jumped at Percy, his bare hands before him. Percy prepared to block it, but Blue was earlier. He brought his sabre down on the palm of the leader's hands, but instead of getting cut, nothing happened, and the leader closed his hands around the sabre.
"See my power! I am a crushing man, able to crush everything I can hold between these hands!"
He crushed the sabre without any sign of resistance on the sabre's part.
"And now I will crush your spirit and take you back to headquarters!"
Percy wasn't too scared, however. This man's behaviour was a lot like the behaviour of some monsters back at the Camp: cocky, not too smart, and completely blind to any openings in his fighting stance. Percy quickly slashed the man's legs, and the man slumped down and grinned like an idiot too.
"Come, let's get Shizu and go!" Percy yelled at Blue.
"Okay!" Blue ran to the castle even faster than Percy.
"SHIZU! WE'RE DONE!"
Shizu came out quickly, and ran towards the two. Together, they went to the lift, and sliced the rope connecting to the cannon on the wooden board.
When they were on the ground below, they got off the lift, and prepared to go to the city.
"Not so fast!" Rally took Percy and Blue by surprise, when he suddenly put a knife at Shizu's throat.
"You're all going to come with me. Quietly!"
Shizu knew she was in trouble when she felt the steel touch her throat. She knew she had to do something, but what? It seemed that Percy and Blue were planning something though.
But when they entered the city, nothing had happened yet. Shizu presumed it was because she was at risk. Suddenly, she felt something happen. She looked behind her, to see Rally look back in surprise. His look morphed in a blank one, and Shizu struggled free.
She ran to Percy and Blue. "Let's go!"
Rally had them. He really had them! But then she was free! It was all very strange. Rally knew he had missed his chance to get them. First and foremost he needed to train. With his level of skill, he would never get them. Although him losing focus for a while was strange… With a feeling of anger, he ran to his boat, and followed the departing pirate crew.
While Annabeth was washing the dishes, Nico returned through the shadows.
"He wasn't on that island today. I also went around with his description, but nobody has seen him. Did you have any luck?"
"No, sorry."
"I did see some strange pillar of water shoot up from the sea in a distance. Maybe that's him?"
"No, that's the knock-up stream." The two turned and saw that Shakkie had entered the room.
"It is a natural phenomenon from the Grand Line."
"So, when do you think you can do the next trip?"
"In about two days. Do you already have an island?"
"Yes, I heard it's called Long Ring Long Land."
Notes: Hat Geschehen = has happened, mehr = more, gut = okay.
That was it. It's a shame I couldn't do more Kureha, but she's so hard to write! So to prevent OOC-ness, I have only given her a cameo. Sorry!
Till next time! And if you liked it, review!
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