Chapter 3: If you were gay, that 'a be okay

Kat's dexterous fingers moved as a blur as she typed a well written e-mail the the Collage of Ridgeway, Department of Early Chinese Languages. It was easy finding the site, getting the e-mail address was like pulling wisdom teeth.

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Kat asked nervously as Rebecka worked on the scanner, putting pictures of the book inside it.

"We have no other choice." Rebecka replied. "We need to know exactly what happened. This Collage is our only hope of figuring out what's going on."

"Okay... but we're going to try to get rid of this... tattoo... first though right? It's really starting to creep me out. Like that little purple line, it grew! See! It's longer now!"

Rebecka nodded, as Kat turned the back of her left arm out. The tiny purple line at the end grew twice as long. It's only been a day since their encounter with Eustass Kid but to Rebecka and Kat it was much longer than that.

"There... done" Said Kat, finishing her e-mail with a flourish. "And send. I wonder when they'll write back. I hope those pictures were enough to pry their interest." Kat's eyes feel the the tattoo on her arm, her face passive. "I'm going to go for a walk." She declared suddenly.

Rebecka watched her go, feeling a pang of guilt course through her. She leaned back in her chair, starting contemplatively at the computer screen. She thought about a lot of things, her brain struggling to make sense of everything. She was intelligent, she could solve any problem that she came across but this... this was something beyond her.

Rebecka stood up slowly, walking to the stool that the book sat on. She had gotten more oil from the tool shed in the backyard and even stole some of her neighbors flowers. She lit the new wick and pictured Eustass Kid in her head.

He was in the same place as last time, laying flat on his bed. White bandages were wrapped around his right arm.

"Hello." Rebecka said calmly. Kid's head turned and his eyes meet her's, sending a shiver of fright down her spine. Something terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. "Sorry to intrude."

"Ever heard of knocking bitch." Kid growled.

Rebecka eyed him coolly, "What happened to your right arm?"

Kid rolled of his bed and pressed his face close to the fire showing Rebecka. "You better hope you and your bitch friend never meet me in real life, because I'll kill the both of you."

There was sadness in Rebecka's voice when she answered. "I probably deserve it."

Kid tore at the bandages on his arms, reviling the dragon tattoo. "This." He held his arm up to the flame. "This is what you did to me, tell me what the hell did you do."

"We don't know." said Rebecka. "We don't know but we're trying to figure it out right now. You're not the only one affected. A tiger is on Kat's left arm. Tell me, is any part of the dragon bright?"

"Yeah."

"I'll figure this out." And she broke of the connection.

Eustass Kid started into the fire, seeing nothing but orange and red flicker across the glass casing. Why the hell was his life suddenly turned around by two girls? Anger raged through him and so did the helplessness that he could do nothing.

He methodically wrapped a new bandage around his arm. He had convinced he crew it was burn from the oil lamp, he doubted they believed it. Nonetheless they never made inquires. Kid almost felt sorry for the next fool that crossed him. He'll murder them before they could blink.

Kathline didn't come back from her walk until late that night. She let herself in with the key hidden in the flower pot outside the door and sulked down the stairs. The first thing she saw was the magic book, laying harmlessly on the wooden stool. A ring of white roses around it. Rebecka was asleep on the couch. Kat didn't worry about her waking up, Becky was a very heavy sleeper. So heavy that it was near impossible to wake her up before she did so naturally.

Kat was hesitant to go near the book again. She wanted to go to the book. She wanted to go back to the One Piece world. Kathline carefully lit the partially burned wick. The bright flame cast an eerie glow in the dark room. She felt fear bubble up inside her, the flame her only island in a sea of darkness.

Slowly a large ship came into view and Red Haired shanks could be seen standing at the bow of his ship. It was night and the stars usually bright against the dark night sky. Kat watchied him for a few moments. His face was lit by a fire she couldn't see. She remembered Kid could see them before through a fire in his room.

Shanks sighed, troubled, and turned to the fire. His eyes meet Kat's in stunned silence.

"Are you a fire fairy." He said seriously. It took all of Kat's will not to laugh.

"No, I'm a girl from another dimension using a magic book to create a portal from my world to yours."

Shanks laughed lightheartedly. "Oh really? That's great! I should throw a party! It's not often one meet's someone from another dimension!"

"You really do love to throw parties." Kat laughed with him. Giggling when she saw that Shanks already had a cup of alcohol in hand. "I'm too young to drink though."

"Aw, you are." Shanks made a pouting face but before Kat knew it he was smiling again. "It's okay to bend a few rules every now and then! And who doesn't drink at their own party! Though I am curious, what dose a girl from another dimension want with me?"

Sunday morning never agreed with Rebecka. There was just something about Sundays that irritated her. It was the last day of the weekend, it was church day, and it was the day her father left. The basement lights were on when Rebecka opened her eyes. The large clock on the wall above the computer told her it was just five minutes after eleven o' clock.

She sat up, stretching out her back and slowly rolling her neck. She wondered if her mother was home. Kat walked in from the other room, fully dressed and brushing her hair. She saw the tattoo on Kat's arm, the small line was longer. It was a marker of time. She thought suddenly. It's counting down to something. She didn't say anything about, suggesting they go get breakfast.

She tried not to think about what would happen when the tattoo was fully outlined.

They didn't get a reply from the collage until Thursday. The Department of Early Chinese Languages or DECL was very excited to hear about their book. In the girl's e-mail they said that they won't give up the actually book but send pictures of it's pages. The students of DECL were disappointed at this but respected their wishes. They had translated most of the pages they sent and they expressed their great curiosity at the rest.

The pages they sent had described a curse, the purpose of this curse is unknown but it was a sort of lovers curse. Kat paled considerably at the 'lovers' part and when Rebecka read the rest of the note she feared the girl would faint.

"The next solstice... the winter solstice..."

"Becky..." Kat asked nervously. "What are you talking about..."

Rebecka paused before answering. "The curse lasts until the solstice where it... well it's vague but something to do with the soul or body. Either way it's something bad. The curse is a lover's curse, why or how is unknown. This is just my theory but the book's magic works through our thoughts. We open a portal and think about where we want to go and we go there. You get angry and wish harm on someone well then you curse them. What were you thinking about when the curse happened?"

Kat's face grew hot and said nothing for several long seconds, when she tried to speak she choked over her own words. Eventually she explained what she thought and Rebecka didn't know if she should be shocked or amazed.

"You are a pervert." She finally commented.

"Sh-shut up!" Kat shouted, her face redder than a tomato. "I hate yoai with Eustass Kid in it cuz he's too badass for it but he got me really, really pissed and I thought it'd be... just deserts if he had to... do it with a man or die..."

"Well that's exactly what you did Kat. Don't you know to be careful of what you wish for."

"I know that!" Kat threw herself on the couch, curling up into a ball. "I know that! I know that ! I know that! Oh god what have I done." She sat up, a look of pure horror on her face. "Whose going to tell Kid! He'll kill me! He'll kill me! I'm to young to die at the hands of a hot guy! There's so much I wanted to do before I died! Can't we just not ever tell him? Yeah that will work. All we have to do is put the book in a chest and bury it! Like in Jumanji! Then it'll be someone else's problem!"

"Kat!" Rebecka snapped. "We have to tell him! You're effected by the curse as well! If he doesn't have sex with a man before the winter solstice then both of you could die!"

Tears streamed down Kat's eyes as she cried quietly to herself for several minutes. Rebecka left her alone, knowing it was just her way of accepting things. Rebecka lit the fire and opened the portal. For a moment she thought that the portal was wrong. All she could see was steam. Through the haze she could make out the figure of a man. The sound of running water, a shower perhaps, reached her ears. The water turned off and the haze started to clear. She saw the man standing on white, bathroom tile.

She smacked the bowl of oil to the floor the fire catching the oil, now soaking into the carpet. Kat screamed as the fire roared up into the air, singeing Rebecka's eyebrows. Kat ran up behind her, hitting the fire with a white throw pillow. It won't be white any more. Collecting herself Rebecka grabbed a comforter and started to help Kat put out the fire.

Finally, after battling the fire for ten minutes and ruining one pillow and one blanket they fell to the floor. Exhausted.

"What. The Hell. Becky." Kat wheezed, coughing to clear her lungs of smoke.

"I-I-I... uh... I... you see. You don't think my mom will notice do you?"

"That's not what I asked."

It was Rebecka's turn to blush. She never blushed as strongly as Kat did but her nose turned the brightest red, blood dripping from it. "I was... well I was going to tell Kid... what we found out and um..."

Kat stared at her with narrowed, intense eyes. "What did you see."

"He was finishing a shower and I..."

A big, fat blush exploded on Kat's face. It was like Budda whispered the whole story to her. The sent her into enlightenment. "You lucky duck! You saw him naked didn't you!"

Rebecka nodded, her eyes focused on the ceiling, using the hem of her shirt to stop the blood.

"Well..." Kat stared at her with big expectant eyes.

"Well what?"

"Did he have a nice ass?"

Blood spurted from Rebecka's nose like a fountain in Central park. She sputtered franticly, the little stream of blood now a waterfall. "Wh-what kind of question is that! Why are you asking that! Why do you want to know!"

Kat grabbed her by the shoulders and shook violently. "You either saw his ass or not now tell me if you saw his sexy-fine ass!"

"Yes I saw it! St-stop shaking me! My hear hurts!"

Kat stopped and grinned with a satisfied nod, but she couldn't just stop there. "So... did you see... anything else?" It was such a proud statement considering it came from virgin number 1. Virgin number 2 passed out promptly from blood loss. "H-hey! Becky! It was a joke! You didn't seriously see it did you! Becky! Oh crap... how the hell am I going to explain this to momma Thornson!"

At the Hospital...

"Why were you girls playing with fire?" Lillia Thornson or AKA Rebecka's mom asked Kathline as they sat outside the Emergency room. "And how did Becka lose so much blood. You girls... aren't cutting are you?"

Kat tried really, really hard not to roll her eyes. "No momma Thornson, we were not cutting our noses."

Lillia nodded dazedly. She looked older than usual, her blond hair duller. She appeared to be stoned, her blue eyes always distant. The smell of alcohol hung to her clothes like skunk stench. "J-just be good girls okay. I think some of my old dolls are in the attic. You can go up and get them to play with. J-just don't try to burn them."

"Pyros" James smirked from the other side of Lillia. "Don't be so hard on yourself mom, their just bad eggs. I'll always be your perfect little boy."

Kat growled. "Says the gear head that goes off with his little gear head bastard buddies to get high of car exhaustion."

"Both of you!" Interjected Lillia in a rare moment of authority. "This... is a hospital. We are here for your sister." Her voice grew distant till it was nothing more than a whisper. "James, why don't you go the cafeteria and by us something to eat." She handed him her wallet.

Jame's took it without a word and walked off. Kat huffed, watching him walk down the long hall. He was probably going to buy the cheapest crap he could find and pocket some money for himself. She doubted momma Thornson ever thought things through.

The doors across from them opened and a old doctor in long white doctor robes walked out. He scratched a few things down on his clip board and said to Lilla with a smile.

"Your daughter is fine. We gave her some blood and right now she's resting. You can go in and see her but she'll have to stay the night, just to be sure everything is okay.

Lillia looked from the doctor to Kathline. "I see, that's good then. Doctor, can my children stay here to watch over Rebecka. They know her medical history better than I do. I just need to get to work right away and I can't run them home."

The doctor's eyes widened. Kat could see the shock slowly die as he figured Lillia was really saying what he thought she was saying.

"Ma'am. This isn't an inn. You can't leave your children here!"

Kat interjected, putting on her most pathetic face. "Doctor, please. We live in our car and momma needs the car to work, but her boss doesn't like kids. He said that if he saw us again he'd fire momma! I know we're asking a lot but please. Momma needs to work to get money." She added tears for good measure.

The doctor looked pained when he gave his answer. "Okay, fine. You don't need to lie... no matter how convincingly. Just get in the room. This is a one time exception. Remember that. Just don't cause trouble or we'll kick you out." And he promptly walked off.

Lillia watched all that happened with a blank expression. "What's with that bag you brought Lina?"

"It's Kathline momma Thornson and it has our homework in it. Now get to work. And don't forget to get your wallet from James. Don't forget it."

Lillia nodded and left. She looked like she was floating when she walked. She was a very ghost like person. If Kat could help it she would never yell at momma Thornson or lest she'd disappear.

Kat zipped into Rebecka's room, closing the door and rushing to the side of Rebecka's bed. "Becky... Becky... Becky!" She shook the other girl's arm. Rebecka moaned in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I?"

Kat let out a burp of laughter. "Wow, was that cliched. You're at the hospital because you passed out from a lack of blood. Boy, no one can get a nosebleed like you can. I think you broke a few world records. Like biggest blood fountain."

Rebecka's eyes narrowed into sharp, unamused slits. "Any important reason why you're here?"

"Well momma Thornson left me and Jame's here to spend the night and I... brought the magic book."

"You what?"

"Shuush! Do want a nurse to run in here? It's okay, I wrapped it up so it's protected. Besides... you said so yourself... we need to tell Kid about the curse."

"You just don't want to die do you?"

Kathline nodded. "Yep, because I'm the biggest coward there is, well maybe except for Usopp."

"Let's get this over with." Rebecka sighed.

Kat set the magic book, bound in torn shreds of newspaper and laid a ring or flowers on Rebecka's bed. When Kat tried to pull out a bowl to light the fire Rebecka stopped her.

"You can't start a fire in a hospital. They'll throw a fit."

Kat obviously didn't think this through. "I snuck all this stuff in for nothing! Well what do we do then? "

"Try something else? Rebecka suggested. "Like a mirror. Or fill the bowl with water. Let's try that."

Kat took the bowl into the bathroom and when she came back it was filled with water. They balanced it carefully on Rebecka's knees. White dust swirled across the clear water and the cold hospital air was suddenly too warm. And for a moment if felt like they were being burned by invisible fire.

The white, wispy water suddenly changed to the inside of a dusky bar. The strong scent of sea salt and rum hit their noses. Eustass Kid was sitting in a far corner of the room, his crew could be seen picking fights with others off to the side.

Eustass was just trying to enjoy a nice warm meal. Apparently he couldn't do so since he saw two girls in his soup. "Shit."

"Captain?" On of the crew called to him. Eustass looked up, bluffing his way out of the bar and into the bathroom. He turned on the old faucet, letting the water rush down the pipe. Just his luck it got clogged and the two girls appeared again.

"Why's the big scary Captain running away from two little girls." The red haired one said smoothly.

"Shut it and tell me what you want so I can leave." Eustass said, his fingers flexing like he was choking someone.

Rebecka spoke first. Kathline looked too scared to speak. Her eyes saw the bandage wrapped around his right arm and couldn't help but look down at the tiger tattoo on her left arm. Kid saw it too, half the tiger's tail was lit.

"It's a curse. That's what causing the strange markings. Their like a calendar. My theory is that the tattoo like markings will be fully outlined on the Winter Solstice. And-"

"What happens on the Solstice." Kid asked suddenly.

Rebecka was later proud she managed to say this with a straight face, even if it was a bit rushed. "You have to have sex with a man before then or else you die... or something along those lines. We're not sure what but either way it's bad.

"Hahaha, okay. Enough joking." Kid was amused. These girls, these crazy girls what imaginations they had.

"We're serious." Rebecka said calmly. "That's the curse. Have sex with a man or... die."

The silence in the air was heavy. Nerves racked up inside Kat, Rebecka fared no better. It was a surprisingly hard thing to do. Telling your favorite character of your favorite manga to be gay or die. Rebecka knew that if they told him that in his world, well... it wouldn't have been pretty. Kat thought of that as well for sure refused to look at Kid.

"You. Bitch." Was all Kid growled before smashing his hand into the sink, purple sparks flying off his fingers.

The water in the bowl shook violently and then it was just normal water.

Rebecka closed the magic book, giving it to Kat to cover in newspaper and put back in her bag. She leaned back in her bed when a thought crossed her.

"I wonder if we did any psychological damage to him."

Tally Mai-chan: And the plot is here! Took three chapters but it's here nonetheless! So just what is to come? Drama! Suspense! Betrayal? And more Eustass Kid! And you can get all of that and more if you just leave one review! Just click that shinny review button.

It's practically begging you! I'm practically begging you! My writing power comes from reviews so don't forget it!