Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry I couldn't update. Sick and all… lost my voice *sigh* Exams are approaching so please don't expect really fast updates… Sorry for that.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Without warning Eustass found himself falling into a void that was mysteriously created beneath his feet. He would have screamed had he not been so proud.

"Damn it! I'm definitely going to murder you when I get back!" he swore as cold black tendrils grabbed at him once more. The slick cool tendrils made the red haired man sick to the gut. It was not only terrifying… it was a manifestation of darkness itself.

"Damn it…" Eustass cursed as his face scrunched up in pain. His head felt as if it were crushed under a huge pressure. His vision was invaded by dark spots that soon become total darkness. He had lost conscious once more, dragged along with the tendrils to wherever he would be brought to this time.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Eustass cracked open an eye. He groaned. The first thing that came to vision was a nose.

Yes, a nose. A very long nose. "Like that annoying sniper…" Eustass added in his mind. It did not take long for two and two to click. He jumped and cursed in his mother tongue.

The young boy with a very long nose shrieked and fell backwards onto his bottom heavily. Scrawny legs that could barely hold his weight gave out as the boy scrambled backwards away from the gruff pirate captain.

Eustass wanted to pursue the boy but found that he was being restrained.

Looking down, Eustass noticed that he was being tied by a very strong rope. The knot was done expertly and it would be near impossible to untie it himself. He felt around and huffed angrily. There was not even a knife so he could cut it. Eustass glared at the boy. The boy whimpered.

Eustass looked at the trembling boy. Even though he knew Usopp was a coward Eustass still could not help but feel that the boy was pathetic. He sighed.

Usopp watched the suspicious man he caught lying in his hideout sigh and could not help but feel offended a little. Somehow it seemed as if he was not being taken seriously even after having the man bound and rendered helpless. Those knots he tied were definitely going to hold even an elephant. There was no way the man could escape them unless he was a magician.

Getting a little offended by how unaffected the captured man is, Usopp growled and stood up. He brushed away the dust on his pants and got his sling shot ready. "O-Oi!" the tremors in his voice not completely gone.

Eustass looked at the terrified boy, bored. "Oi oi oi… I don't have time to be dealing with this…"

"Look," Eustass negotiated with the boy who looked as if he would collapse from heart failure any time. "I'm not really going to do anything so you could let me go."

Usopp eyed him warily and refused to be convinced by a suspicious looking man in his secret hideout. "You are a fool to think I would believe you."

The last of Eustass's patience ran out. It might have been the idea to help Des gather enough power by aiding the straw hat crew members' past. However he did not sign up to deal with a kid who thought he bore the burden of the entire world. The boy was only four or five and yet he acted so maturely it made Eustass sick.

The annoyance trapped in Eustass made him exceed what his rented body should be capable off. Slowly the ropes started to snap under the tension from the force of those scrawny arms.

Eustass had been trapped in a body of a thin and gaunt man this time but none of that helped make him seem any less intimidating. If anything, what he just did made the sniper pee in his pants.

Eustass glared at the boy sitting in a puddle on the ground. "Don't speak as if you know everything. You are just a boy. What do you know of the world? If you think this world is cruel then you should be doing something to make it better instead of adding on to the darkness that already existed…"

Usopp trembled in fear at those words. They reflected everything he had been through. He had never seen his father as his mother told him he went back out to sea because it was calling him. To a young boy like Usopp it made no difference what the reason was.

His father was never there for him and Usopp had only his mother and himself. They fend for themselves and all Usopp knew was the hardships they had to face. Often when the other children of the village teased him about being a child not wanted by his father he felt the hatred build up within him.

"My father abandoned me!" the boy yelled with snot dripping from his long nose.

Eustass was boiling with rage within from some unknown reason. "Who told you that?"

From what Eustass knew, the sniper's father was an important man in Shank's crew. He was the best sniper that ever existed. How could such a man abandon his family? There had to be some misunderstanding. That kind of man would never abandon his family. He left them on shore to protect them. There was no way the marines would not pursue him after such a bounty was placed on his head. The only way to protect his family was to leave them.

Usopp shook under the intense aura. The man before him though scrawny, resembled a demon. The unconcealed anger boiling beneath the smooth mask was obvious and the hairs at the back of Usopp's neck stood. He should run but his legs failed to function. He should look away but his gaze was already trapped within that predatory glare. He could not tear his eyes away. His throat was suddenly parched and his mouth dry. The words he wanted to say failed him that instance.

"The other children in the village…"

Eustass felt the same hurt Usopp felt. The boy's tears reflected the exact ones in his heart.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

About ten years ago…

Eustass Kid was the only child with red hair. He was different. Eustass did not grow up with parents. He only grew up knowing how to fight and fend for himself ever since he knew how to talk. His grandmother who was formerly his care taker passed away almost after Eustass was able to walk around on his own.

Eustass survived on scraps of food he picked up or was taken in by people who pitied him for a few weeks until he was thrown out again for being too difficult to handle.

No one cared for him. No one needed him. He was unwanted.

"I don't need anyone," young Eustass told himself this lie every day. "I don't need anyone…"

The words were repeated day after day and soon enough it became part of the boy. He stood on his own and depended on no one. He fought his own battles. Sometimes he won and other times he lost. When he lost he had to drag himself back injured and hungry. When he won he would enjoy a decent morsel of food won by the winner from the other street urchins.

After a while, cuts and bruises were normal and his way of living took on a more savage form. It was to kill or be killed. He learnt it the hard way in winter. The first time Eustass took a life was when he was five. He remembered it vividly.

Eustass struggled. The man was too strong. He was poor and wretched enough without a robber harassing him. The only valuable he had with him was just an oversized ring left to him by someone important. There was his name engraved in the band of the ring and Eustass treasured it more than his life.

The robber had a knife and Eustass struggled from the choke hold. Clearly the struggling made it difficult for the robber to remove the ring from around Eustass's neck.

The robber was about to cut off the chain holding the ring around Eustass's neck when Eustass kicked the man hard in the groin.

Scrambling out of the man's reach Eustass collapsed, weak from the oxygen deprivation. He only had a fraction of time before reacting according to his instinct.

The arm that he used to shield himself from the onslaught slash dropped to the ground with a resounding thud. It sickened him to think about it. Eustass did not have time to think about what he lost with the primitive instinct for self-preservation still deeply embedded in his mind, clouding his judgment.

By the time he became conscious of his own actions, Eustass had killed a man.

Bathed in red on a winter's night, red tainted the pure white and the coldness did not help soothe the burning pain in replacement of his severed arm. There was so much grief that tears could not express.

Eustass Kid decided to burry all useless emotions he deemed weak from then on and chose to walk down the path on sin. Becoming a pirate was just another excuse for him to continue shouldering this burden, looking for a way to atone for everything he had done. The path he chose was drenched in blood and his soul was definitely condemned to hell.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Before Eustass could say anything to Usopp a man stumbled into the hideout. Usopp snapped out of his fear induced trance.

Eustass cursed.

"Usopp-kun! Your mother… your mother she…"

The sniper's eyes widened and as quick as the man he left with Usopp running behind. Eustass growled in annoyance. He followed them closely.

When they reached a small run down hut, Eustass saw Usopp running in. He decided that waiting outside would be a better option.

It had to be several hours before Usopp came out again. Eustass sauntered to the boy and lightly grasped his slumped shoulders.

Eustass saw how Usopp's eyes were rimmed red. Clearly the boy cried. Eustass's face softened.

"What happened?"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

"Mister… the doctors said she won't make it pass this autumn. My mother really wants to see my father before she goes but I know that man won't be coming back any time soon. I don't know what I should do…" Usopp sobbed.

Eustass frowned. He never saw how the sniper wore his heart on his sleeve before because he was always goofing around and covering up his true emotions with his lies.

An idea struck Eustass. "Why don't you tell her a story then? Tell her a story about your father. It should make her happy ad she might get well again."

The suggestion made the boy cease crying for a while he sniffled. "Really?"

Eustass grinned and felt something twist oddly within him. "Yes sure!" he tried to smile as convincingly as he could. Lying was a hard thing to do since Eustass did not have a bone in him that could make things up. Lying was definitely a skill Eustass did not have. It took a lot of imagination. Once a lie was told many more stories had to be made up to cover that lie. As soon as a lie was told it felt as if everything else had to be covered for as well otherwise the perfect assuring image he had in front of the boy would collapse.

"I wonder how that sniper does it so easily… Must have been years of practice."

Usopp bought it without more questions to which Eustass was thankful of. "Thank you Mr. Stranger. I will do my best. If my stories can make my mother happy then I will continue to tell her stories to brighten her days. Even if it means lying to her that my father would never come back… I will continue to tell stories every day so that she will always smile. I want her to be happy."

Eustass smiled. He knew the boy's pain. He knew what the boy was trying to accomplish too. He did it as well after all. He lied to himself instead of everyone else. That was the only difference between them.

"I lied that it did not hurt… I lied that I did not have feelings. I lied that I wasn't sad. It might not be a good thing but it will help you get through your toughest times. As long as there is hope, everything will be fine even if it is not."

Eustass watched Usopp run off. His smile cracked and it turned into a grim line. Tears fell from his eyes for the first time in many years.

"I can continue to lie but if you are gone, Trafalgar, then what should I continue lying about? It's meaningless if you're not with me… At least for once give me the chance to tell you the truth. I was a coward like him because I refused to acknowledge the truth that I had feelings."

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Des felt the energy channel through her. She heard his thoughts and the cry of his heart. The small life in her hands throbbed warmly. It pulsed as if speaking to her. The orb of light grew in size once more. It had shrunk to the size of a child's fist.

A warm breeze swept Eustass back to where Des was. By now he wasn't bothered if she was present physically. Law's life resonated in the room and Eustass sensed his presence strongly. He knew Law was safe.

Des put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "You did well."

Eustass did not bother lifting his head. "Did I do the right thing?"

Des gave him a small sad smile. "That is something determined by the future. You did what you had to. Are you ready for the next person?"

Eustass lifted his head slowly and their eyes met. The sorrowful gaze reflected his. Eustass knew at once Des understood his pain and was comforted by that thought.

Briefly glazing over Trafalgar Law, Eustass nodded. "I can do it."

"For him," Eustass added silently and steeled his resolve.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Author's Note: Exams coming… rib cage fractured from coughing too much again. I'm not yet fully recovered but then I figured out I could at least update this chapter for all of you. Who would you want to see next? Drop me a reply and a review if you can forgive me for updating this so late… Thank you for supporting me.