Declaimer: I don´t own One Piece nor Harry Potter
Words: 3 326
A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long, but my life has not been easy lately... For more explanation, read the a/n at the end. For now, enjoy. :)
She was wrong… wrong about everything and anything, and she knew it now, looking at the war before her. She knew nothing about wars. The things she had read, heard, studied, dreamt and imagined were nothing like what she was seeing then, for the first time. Blood… red, crimson blood flown everywhere, splashed around the ground and walls as people slashed each other with sparkling blades over and over again. Heads rolled, literally, and Reina found herself looking away, trying hard not to throw up and run away.
"Reina, don´t look." Ace whispered, putting his warm arm around her, knowing fully that she had never seen a real war. Sure, she had told them all about her world and the wars, which pledged the apparently peaceful world, but those were far away, unreachable to her green eyes. The most she had seen in their world were small fights where some people did get hurt, but no one died, no one sacrificed their lives for nothing… However, this was a war, and wars were cruel and heartless, slicing people´s lives like cheese. "You should go back…"
"No… I´m fine." Taking deep breath, the girl took her feelings under control, ignoring the concerned look she was receiving "I´m fine, Ace." She repeated, but the fire user did not believe her at all. Her already pale skin shone unhealthy under the blazing sky, quickly turning into blue rather than white. Nevertheless, she had said she was all right… and he knew she was brave enough to accept and overcome everything. Or at least he hopped.
Moving forward, her eyes trying really hard not to pay attention to the red brushes, Reina took a deep breathe. They were not supposed to be losing time, because there was no time to lose. They had a big purpose there and getting distracted by minor feelings would not help their cause. "We need to hurry."
Yes, the time was running out… and if they didn´t find their target in two hours, the whole palace would go up the air, as two bombs had been placed on the grounds. Ace and Reina had to find them, disarm them somehow and wish there were no more.
Actually, it had been only two days since they first found out about it, from a letter Sun-can had left her. It had only been a few weeks since their last meeting with Crocodile, where they almost died… it had been only a small eternity since Reina promised herself she would learn how to control her powers, becoming stronger.
It all happened in a bright morning, or at least the letter part. They had stopped in an inn to rest, since the next day they would ride non-stop towards the city of their destination, and the plan needed to be discussed and perfected unless they all wanted to die. At the morning, Reina, Ace and Luffy decided to take a small walk… In other words, Ace forced them to come with him so he could talk, and yell, at them. In the past few days he had been with them, he found a couple of things which worried him a lot.
Therefore, as they walked and walked, Ace kept nagging. Honestly, Luffy was being too much of a pain in the neck to everyone with his impulsive actions, bouncy personality and food mania. Luffy really wanted to talk back, refer Ace´s own food mania and sleeping habits, but then the older brother turned his attention to Reina, about whom he had even more things to say.
First of all, he started to criticizing her wardrobe, which consisted mostly of comfortable shorts and shirts. Apparently, a girl her age should not wear such revealing objects, especially not the ones that show so much of her skin. Men were wolf and if she wasn´t careful, she could get eaten.
"Ace, you are not making any sense! Just look at Nami and…" However, before she had the chance to answer, he continued. Apparently, her clothes wasn´t his only concern.
"Your attitude is bad too. You day dream too much. Anyone will be able to approach you without your knowledge if you keep this up. Then what? You are a good fighter, but there are many man who…" And so the nagging continued, neither Luffy nor Reina able to say a thing back. Not that they didn´t have enough to say, but there was no time or moment to jump in as he continued rambling and rambling and rambling…
At one point, too tired to pay him attention anymore, Reina just stopped walking. Just like that, her feet did not move anymore, only her eyes following her brothers´ walk amused. When Ace started talking, or more like rambling, he stopped paying her and Luffy attention. Therefore, all you needed to do was make small motions and he would never realize you disappeared.
"Bye, bye." Grinning, Reina sighed in relief. She loved Ace, she truly did, but sometimes he could be such pain… Well, not just some times. Ace was really protective of them, and if he saw something which could bring them harm, he would usually make the problem go away. However, Reina saw no problem in how she dressed. Come on, Nami was WAY worse, and yet he hadn´t said a thing. Maybe because she wasn´t his sister… but that was off the point.
Anyway, now that Ace and Luffy were gone, she was free for some time! Yey to freedom! The city they were in looked really interesting from the cultural and historical point of view, so maybe she should explore it a little bit before…
"Are you lost, girl?" A deep voice sounded right behind her, followed by manly laughs. Confused, Reina turned around only to stare at a rather unhandsome man, his hair painted with pink and green color, two other people standing near him.
"Nope, I´m not." That was her immediate answer, and she wonder how those three met. The man who talked to her was neither slim nor tall, a normal mixture of all. His face, however, was as ugly as it could be. The other one, with long unhealthy looking hair, was really tall; his companion fat and bald. No, honestly, how did they met again?
As she prepared to walk away, the colorful haired man caught her hand, forcing her to say. "Come on, sweaty, why don´t you play with us for a moment? We´ll pay you good." A grin rose to his creepy face, showing a golden tooth in its full splendor. Reina, however, was more than disgusted by his touch to even pay attention to his words, or his appearance.
"Let me go, loser." She stated, trying to get free as the other two started to surround her. Neither one of the residents, or shop owners, around her dared to help her, what only made her feel worse. To be honest, Reina was tired. Tired from the ride, from her use of powers a few hours earlier when she almost blew Luffy up, from the thoughts about war that roamed her head for a while now. It had been such a pain to stand up that morning… and now that? "Just let me go, and we can pretend nothing ever happened. Or else…"
"Or else?" The grin grew wider, and Reina struggled against the desire to kick him in the chin and see that tooth fly high. "What a poor girl like you will do to me? No one will help you, little girl, no one dared to stand up to the…"
"Oh, there you are!" A voice from the sky startled the emerald eyed girl who was ready to kick that man whom called her little, something landing right on top of the said offender. For a moment, she stumbled forward, his hand still holding hers, before she managed to get free and take some steps back.
"Luffy, I said no flying!" Ace yelled soundly at the grinning boy, not even noticing he was sitting on top of someone. "I asked you were she was, and not to take us here!" It sounded like he hadn´t appreciated the fall…
"Yes, but how should I have known if I hadn´t seen her?" Luffy returned back, standing up with a bigger grin. "Now, I can answer. Here she is!" Black eyes stared at him skeptically as Ace also stood up, not believing someone would do that… Then again, it was Luffy, so everything was possible with that one.
Sighing loudly, Ace turned around and grabbed Reina´s hand, forcing her and Luffy to follow him. "I stop paying attention to you for one second, and you disappear like that? Why do you do that so much, Reina? Getting lost in a small city as this while…"
"First of all, I did not get lost." Reina stopped him from starting again, feeling she would die from boredom. Even those three were more interesting than his nagging. "And second of all, I can take care of myself Ace. I am not a little girl anymore."
Ace just rolled his eyes, trying really hard not to retort back. Yea right, he could see how she was taking care of herself… If he and Luffy hadn't appeared, who knows what could have happened. "Don´t you even start, Ace! I was going to kick him and run away, you just appeared before I managed!"
"I didn´t say anything…" Now it was Reina´s time to narrow her eyes, thou she promptly ignored him in the favor at staring at Luffy, whom was leading the way somewhere. Somehow, she had a feeling he was leading them to a bar or something… "Luffy, no. Time to go back."
"But…" Luffy´s eyes dropped into a puppy expression as he contemplated the possibility of not eating meat. "I am hungry, Ace! Let´s go eat something before we come back!" He wanted to eat MEAT, and no one could stop him from… looking at Ace´s reproving look, he sighed. Ok, maybe some people could stop him. "Sure, sure, let´s go back."
Sighing, feeling like he just gained two more children to take care of, Ace started to lead the way. Since they were on the opposite side of the town, they would need to pass by the big stadium. Then, from that point on, the path was completely straight. "Don´t worry. It´s almost mid-day. I bet Sanji has some amazing food waiting for you."
At such prospect, Luffy had to smile, trying to run back despite not knowing the way. Reina who watched everything silently just smiled at the silliness, having to admit Ace knew how to handle the Straw Hat´s Capitan pretty well. Then again, they did live together for most of their lives so far. "Hey, want do you think of sending Sado a…"
"Look who we have here." A voice interrupted whatever Reina wanted to say, and the group froze still at the voice, or more like at the sight before them. "You know, I´ve been meaning to see you for a while now, but I wasn´t sure where you guys were stationed. Nice to see you again, Rei-chan."
Blinking, not sure what to say, Reina mumbled. "Sun…" After all, what were the odds of finding Crocodile´s right hand in such a place, especially after Luffy had meet him some days ago and almost died? "Where is he?"
"Calm down, he´s not here." Sun stated relaxed, taking letter from her bag. "I bet you would like to meet him, but he´s already at the castle. I was just tying lose ends before joining him. I heard your brother had a run with him… Good to see he´s all better now." A kind smile formed on the red lips of the assassin, before she threw the letter to her. "Read those after I leave, too much questions."
"Wait, what?" Dumbstruck, all Reina, Ace and Luffy could do was watch as the woman jumped on top of bird and rode away, not sure what to do or say. Usually, when your enemy found you, it meant there would be a fight… not letter and a quick disappearance. "Now that was weird…"
"You say it." Luffy added, still watching the place where Sun had been just a moment ago as if she was still there… "I wonder if there is a meat that appears and disappears just like that… Now that would be awesome!"
Ignoring him, Reina opened the letter, reading it with Ace by her side. Now that was something she was not expecting…
"Dear Reina-chan." It wrote. "I believe I have some information for you. On the day of the revolution, two bombs will be placed in the palace, and I think it´s better if you stop them before they explode. With love, Sun."
"Sun? Love?" Ace asked confused, sending his sister a warning look. Right… she had forgotten to tell him she knew Crocodile´s right arm… "Reina, don´t you have something to explain?"
"Look, it´s not what it looks." Now, think brain, how would she slip from that one? Unlike Luffy who would lose all interests in seconds, Ace´s concentration could rival a monk´s. Damn it, think! "I met her before I knew whom she was and we kind of became friends… She is nicer than you think." Sure, Reina, play the nice card… Damn, her brain just froze some times.
"Reina! What were you thinking?" She was half expecting him to get angry and yell, but the strangely contained voice made it ten times worse. "How many times have I told you not to make friendships easily? You trust people right away. Not everyone in this place is good, evil people who pretend to be nice exist, and it is time for you to accept it. Stop trusting people so easily!"
"She is nice!" Reina yelled back, her cheeks slightly tinted in red from anger. "I am not stupid and certainly not naïve! If I say she is a nice person, she is a nice person, and despite being with Crocodile, she cares about people!" Shoving the letter into his face as a proof, they glared at each other for seconds.
Sighing, Ace shook his head, almost as if he was disappointed. "You are naïve, Reina Potter." Her eyes narrowed a tinny millimeter, but it was enough to make Luffy take a step back. She did not like being called by her surname; it made her feel like a child. "You try seeing the best in people, even if there is none, forgetting about their mistakes. However, having such an attitude won´t help you here. Pirates and marines lie and kill, and the light you are searching does not exist in most of them. It is time you…"
"Shut up!" Reina yelled back, glaring furious. "Portgas D. Ace, shut your mouth now or else…" Bright green flashed for some seconds in her eyes, and she meant what she said. Even Luffy could see that, quickly hiding behind a building. The good news were that this time, he had not been the one to anger her.
Taking a few steps back, Ace couldn´t help but lift his hands up. Reina sure had an unstable humor… "My bad, my bad, I shouldn´t have said that." He apologized, realizing he really shouldn´t have said that. It had hurt her, and thou he thought it was true, saying it that way had not been nice. "I´m sorry, Reina, sorry."
Frowning and pouting, she just started at him for a moment, before throwing her arms around him. "I´m sorry too…" She mumbled, hiding her red cheeks. She shouldn´t have reacted like that… "I understand your concern, I really do, but she is a good person…"
Locking his arms around her, a faint smile fighting its way to his lips, Ace nodded. "If you say so… I guess I will have to believe in your intuition this time, hime-sama." For a moment Reina found herself fighting the will to hit him, but decided to let it go in favor of keep hugging him. Being called princess did not make her happy… most of the time at least.
"I want a hug too!" Luffy suddenly yelled, appearing behind them and enveloping them with his rubber hands. "Thou I must admit I wanted to see Ace fly up high, don´t leave me behind and hug behind my back!" For a moment, the three of them just stood, hugging each other and laughing. That is, until Nami´s scary voice was heard though all city, promising pain if they didn´t come back that instant!
Now back to the present, the search for the impossible had begun. The castle, the ground they needed to cover in two hours, was a big place with huge ceilings, white and gold spotless walls, and rich decorations adoring every single corner… Big flowers bloomed freely, their colorful petals stained by red, scarlet blood. Even there, in the enormous castle, the war had not gone unnoticed.
"Need to hurry…" Ace thought as he picked up the pace, his black eyes scanning the surroundings. After a heated discussion just some seconds ago with a rather tick headed girl with green eyes, which the fire user lost, they came to a conclusion there was too much ground to cover, so they should first checks the key points: the throne room and main public garden. Then, she decided it would be better if they separated, running away before he had the chance to say a damn thing. "Screw this all…."
Turning around the corner, he almost was attacked by a couple of guards, whom ran who knows where, the king following them worried, not that anyone could judge him. After all, his kingdom was in war, not something anyone would like to happen. "Hurry! We need to stop him!" The said king yelled on top of his lungs, walking away, leaving the startled pirate by himself behind the base.
"Man, that was close…" Ace thought as he snuck in the throne room, somehow managing to do it without alerting the guards. Well, that day was go getting worse and worse with every second… and he had the feeling it was only getting started.
The throne room was a spacious structure adorned with almost nothing and still managing to look royal. A golden throne sat almost at the back of the room, scarlet curtains falling down from the ceiling behind it, red, precious looking carpet extending itself towards the big entrance door that was currently closed. A few flowers managed to live somehow in the corners, curving their stems towards the light. "Wow." Ace mumbled, taking a deep breathe.
If it was him, where would be hide a bomb? "Under the throne." Running forward to the target, his black eyes narrowing down, he knew he was right the moment some red blinking light caught his attention. Smirking, he wondered for a moment how would he disable it, when something on his left caught his attention.
Lifting his arms to guard just in time, the pirate stopped a punch directed his way, trying to kick the opponent before even knowing whom it was. Sailing for so many years now, Ace knew confusion and distraction could kill you.
"Who are you?" The stranger who just attacked Ace inquired peacefully, as if he had not just attacked someone. "This place if off limits. Go away or die."
Frowning, he just couldn´t help but curse his luck. "Look, I know this will sound fishy… I´m here on the behalf of your princess, Vivi, to defuse a bomb Crocodile left…" An arrow almost hit him in his head, but Ace jumped back, not wanting to waste energy on regenerating a skull. "Hey, listen what other people say!"
"Vivi-sama never told us about having a friend like you." The guard answered back, ready to kill. "You did not left when you had the chance. Now, you will die."
A/N: Thanks for reading everyone. Nope, I did not die... My cat was sick, really sick, her new born kittens died and I was busy with tests... The last thing I wanted to do was write, believe me... that and the lack of ideas from my plot bunny, whom is tormenting me with funny future possibilities without caring for the present... Once again, I am sorry!
I will put a deadline to next Saturday, 15th March, so hopefully everything will go smoothly and I´ll have one more chapter to present you guys! Until then, have a nice week!
Kaggami-chan