Anybody who knows me knows I have this thing for Zoro's earrings, so of course I had to do at least one prompt about them...
Title: Legendary Treasure
Theme: #24: 1000
Claim: Zoro
(Words:) 6,943
Rating: PG
Warnings: Couple swears, Zoro in a foul mood...that's it XD
Disclaimer(s): I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. I do not own the prompts either—those are assigned by 30_OnePiece.
It was just his frikkin' luck, Zoro decided, that the inevitably weird stuff always started to happen to him the moment he started getting used to something decidedly easy and relatively normal.
Well, really, it was the whole crew's luck, he thought with a sigh. They'd had a good week. No marine chases, an unexpected discovery of an old abandoned treasure on and island they'd stopped by for a barbecue, and most recently they'd arrived on a pirate-friendly island. Their luck had been so fine that Nami had even decided to treat them all to dinner with some of the capital they'd gained from the treasure (Zoro had initially regarded the offer warily, but it turned out the witch was genuine for once, and in the end he'd resolved to enjoy it). They'd found a pirate-friendly establishment that had a menu sophisticated enough to satisfy curly-brow's expectations on what a restaurant should be, while being low-brow enough that they wouldn't get kicked out when Luffy inevitably devoured most of their food stock. Nami was satisfied with the prices, there was plenty of room for the rowdy antics of the Straw Hats, and Brook won a few points with the rest of the patrons when he leapt up mid-meal to play some songs on his violin and they got free entertainment with their dinner.
Zoro himself was quite satisfied with the establishment—they had a good selection of booze here that was cheap enough not to earn himself lectures from Nami when he kept ordering more. He was getting quite comfortable, cradling his sixteenth mug in one hand has he watched his crew's antics. Which was why he was entirely caught unawares when a short man in a khaki suit seemed to appear out of nowhere at his side, and screamed in a high-pitched wail of excitement directly in his ear, "At last, I've found them at last!"
Zoro gave an entirely undignified yell of surprise and barely kept himself from tipping over in his chair in alarm. As it was, his mug of booze sloshed everywhere, and he stared down at his now-soaked shirt and pants in mourning before giving the man a dirty look. "What the hell was that for?" he growled low under his breath, in the same voice that had earned him the 'Demon of the East Blue' title.
The puny little man didn't look that impressive—his suit was wrinkled and shabby looking, and his hands and face looked pudgy from never doing a day's hard work once in his life—so Zoro fully expected him to start cowering in the face of the same glare that had made pirates tremble. The man neither cowered nor trembled. Instead, ignoring Zoro's question completely, he reached out with quivering excitement to snatch at Zoro's earrings.
"Hey!" Zoro snarled, and jerked his head away just in time. The man looked only slightly disappointed, and reached forward again to grab at them, so Zoro slapped his hand away and growled warningly, "Personal space, old man—you get in mine again and you're gonna lose an arm."
The rest of the Straw Hat antics had ground to a halt, and all eight of the others watched the proceedings with confusion and surprise. "I'd listen to him, if I were you," Usopp warned timidly after a moment. "He sort of has a thing for cutting off body parts."
Zoro wanted to tell him that was not actually true, only that would sort of ruin the effect of his threat, so he didn't. Instead he glared at the suit-man instead, who seemed to have realized by now that other people were speaking to him and looked quite puzzled as to why they were all acting so confused and angry.
That, and his eyes kept glancing to Zoro's left just barely, so the swordsman could tell his earrings were clearly a distraction. Which made no sense. Hell, they were just earrings. They were gold, sure, and that made them worth a little something—but if the man was trying to steal money, there were definitely easier targets ranged around on the tables the other patrons were sitting at, and probably worth more, too.
The suit-man still looked politely puzzled, interspersed with excited, longing glances in the general direction of Zoro's left ear. Without warning understanding seemed to blossom across his face, and he said suddenly, "Oh my, oh my! You really don't know what you have, do you?"
Zoro was about to respond that he had earrings and that was all, thank you very much. But at that moment two large, dark-suited men dashed into the restaurant and made a beeline for the khaki-suited man making such a nuisance of himself, yelling frantically, "Mr. Togorin, there you are! We've been worried."
The little man, Mr. Togorin, waved the much larger men aside absently. "My bodyguards," he confided to Zoro, as though they were old acquaintances. "Lovely people, and they mean well I'm sure, but they do get in the way of business."
"You're still getting in the way of my business," Zoro said acidly, "So get the hell out of my face before I make you." The bodyguards tensed, hands reaching for badly concealed pistols, but Togorin waved to them warningly again and they halted slowly.
"They're very jumpy," Togorin supplied. "So are you, for that matter. I imagine you're being very rude because I startled you and spilled your drink, yes? Well, that's easily remedied, I'll buy you a new one. Waiter!" He waved over one of the servers, ordered a new drink for Zoro, and charged it to his own tab. The new mug was clunked down in front of Zoro with impressive speed, but he regarded it warily, suddenly suspicious about the man's motives.
"Well go on, go on!" the man said amicably. "It isn't poisoned you know. So very unprofessional and uncouth. What about the rest of you?" he added suddenly, turning to the rest of the Straw Hats. "Would you like more drinks? Perhaps another meal? Dessert?"
"Meat!" Luffy supplied eagerly, never one to pass on free food.
"Naturally, naturally!" the little man agreed delightedly, and with another screech for the waiter and another charge to his tab a whole plateful of roasted meats were slammed down in front of Luffy, once again with very impressive speed.
" 'fanksh, mishtuh!" Luffy said around a mouthful of roasted chicken, somehow managing to stuff his face and beam simultaneously. "Wath dish fur?"
"Nothing at all, nothing at all!" Togorin declared. "Merely a token of my friendship to you."
"We still don't know who the hell you are," Sanji pointed out, also looking a little suspicious. Thank fuck the curly brow had at least a little common sense sometimes.
"Ah, my apologies, my apologies!" Togorin said. He withdrew from Zoro (thankfully) long enough to make a polite, sophisticated bow, and said, "Sal Togorin at your service! I am an avid collector of items of profound significance—famous heirlooms and significant artifacts, namely, but I do dabble in some jewelry as well, as long as there's a story to it!"
Robin perked slightly at this, and cocked her head with interest. "Artifacts?" she said curiously. "Are you perhaps a historian?"
"Not quite, my dear, not quite!" Togorin said immediately (Zoro was getting tired of him repeating everything). "I wouldn't go quite so far as to say I am a fully fledged historian. But I do make an effort to learn the history of all the special things I collect! If you have the time, perhaps I can show you some of my collection and regale to you the histories of each object!"
"Perhaps," Robin said with a slight smile. "Depending on what is in your collection, that could be quite educational."
"Indeed it is, my dear, indeed it is," Togorin said none-too-modestly, "And if you'll wait but a few days, the cornerstone of my collection will finally be completed!" And he gestured dramatically at Zoro's head.
There was a long pause as the the Straw Hats stared at him, and then Chopper said worriedly, "You collect pirate heads?"
"You're not a bounty hunter, are ya?" Franky questioned with a frown. Luffy's enthusiastic meat-eating binge ground to a halt as his eyes narrowed in Togorin's direction.
The man looked genuinely surprised. "Heavens, no!" he said after a moment, looking appalled at the notion. "What sort of barbarian do you take me for?"
"The kind that wants money," Nami said, eyes narrowed (as if she was one to talk, Zoro thought with a snort). "Zoro's head happens to be worth a lot of it."
Togorin looked bewildered still, so one of his body guards supplied, "Check the bounty poster, boss. It's there."
The little man produced a worn, folded slip of parchment from one of his pockets immediately. Once unfolded, it turned out to be a faded copy of Zoro's bounty poster, which Togorin lifted for a side by side comparison with the real thing. Zoro suffered the comparison with the barest traces of patience, and only because he was absolutely confident if the man really was a head-hunter Zoro could beat him easily.
"So it is, so it is!" Togorin finally said excitedly, and to Zoro's supreme irritation, the little man clapped him on the shoulder in far too friendly a manner. "Congratulations on such an enormous bounty, my friend! But I'm not actually after that," he added, addressing the rest of the Straw Hats, who visibly relaxed (and in Luffy's case went back to eating). "I'm after these," he added, pointing to the poster, and the three golden earrings just barely visible on the photograph-Zoro's turned head.
The Straw Hats stared at the little man like he was crazy—which, considering the source of the stares, spoke volumes about the man's insanity. After a moment Usopp said hesitantly, "You wanted Zoro's...earrings?"
"Earrings!" Togorin scoffed. "Earrings! Why, they aren't earrings at all!"
"Yes, they are," Zoro started to argue (and he should sure as hell know, he was wearing them), but Togorin ran right over him, gesturing excitedly.
"Imagine, my dears, just imagine my complete and utter shock when I opened my morning newspaper several months ago and there, staring back at me from the latest bounty pages released, were the very objects of my search for the last ten years! Why, it had to be fate! So I began my final search for this man—" (he gestured with the bounty poster wildly in Zoro's face) "—in order to finally recover the last three after generations of searching!"
Zoro was about to tell the man just what exactly he thought of this ridiculous story, but Robin interrupted him smoothly, asking, "And what exactly have you been searching for, Mr. Togorin?"
The little man took a deep breath, paused for dramatic effect, and then said in a hushed whisper, "The One Thousand Tears of the Goddess."
Robin let out a small 'oh' of surprise, but the rest of the crew stared blankly. After a moment Zoro said dryly, "You think my earrings are some by-product of a fake all-powerful witch crying?"
Togorin looked affronted by Zoro's less than friendly tone and language, but said enthusiastically, "I don't think, I know! The Tears are an ancient treasure that my family has spent generations collecting, all they way back to my grandfather's grandfather. Legend has it that once upon a time, on a certain island, many terrible things happened, and the goddess that ruled over the island became very sad! She wept tears of pure gold, all imbued with the powers of the goddess herself, and it was her very mourning that allowed her subjects to recover from all the death and destruction! Her people were able to take those tears and use the power of all that kindness bundled together to restore their island and cure its people. Sadly, the Tears were scattered across the world shortly after by some very opportunistic thieves, but legend has it if all one-thousand of them are gathered together again, their ability to grant miracles will be restored!"
"That's a load of crap," Zoro said flatly. "These haven't done anything special since they day I got them. And I don't believe in gods."
"The legend itself might be inaccurate," Robin agreed, "but I have heard the stories, and the existence of the treasure is entirely true. I've read articles about it in the past, although I've never seen images of the Tears themselves." She cocked her head curiously. "Mr. Togorin, how is it you know that Swordsman-san's earrings are a part of the collection?"
"Because," Togorin said enthusiastically, "Because, my dear, I have all the others!" And he withdrew from his pocket several photographs, waving them about enthusiastically. The bodyguards cleared space on the table for him without so much as asking, and he spread the photographs out for them. "Many of them were incorporated into jewelry over time," Togorin said, gesturing at the pictures. "See, this is a bracelet here, and this is a necklace, and here's a hairpiece...and here's some basic ones on their own, not added to anything. You see the resemblance, yes?"
"Wow," several of the Straw Hats said, and Chopper even helpfully pointed out the obvious: "They've all got the same shape!" Which was true enough—the same long teardrop-shaped pieces were replicated everywhere, all the same size, and each and every one identical to each other. And, Zoro realized a little uncomfortably, also identical to his own earrings, minus the hoops of course.
"Nine hundred and ninety-seven beautiful specimens," Togorin said proudly, "Collected over the span of several centuries. And now, at last, after generations of hard work, the final three are within my grasp—literally!"
He reached for the earrings still attached to Zoro's ear, and the swordsman jerked his head away again with a snarl. "Back off, old man," he warned. "I wasn't joking about taking your arm off. And I don't give away my things so easily."
"Of course, of course," Togorin said immediately, with several amicable nods. "Naturally I can't think to deprive you of them for free. Name your price, I'm willing to pay anything for the final Tears." He snapped his fingers, and one of the body guards produced a fine sheet of parchment, a ritzy-looking fountain pen, and sealing wax. "My family name is known through most of the financial districts," Togorin added. "Money lenders and beri exchange offices will have the sum prepared for me within the hour, as soon as you name it!"
Nami looked ready to drool at the very prospect of naming any price, and opened her mouth to 'help' Zoro with his decision, but the swordsman spoke up before she could. "They're not for sale," he said flatly.
Togorin blinked in surprise, and the rest of the Straw Hats gasped in shock. Nami all but shrieked at him how idiotic he was being, but Zoro ignored her and stood firm, glaring at the little man defiantly.
"Not for sale?" Togorin said after a moment. "Well, perhaps I can offer you something else? A rare artifact? Adam wood? Perhaps a sword—I have several exquisite katana from the age of—"
"No is no, old man," Zoro said flatly. "These are mine. They were a gift from a friend, and nothing you can say or offer me is going to change my answer."
"But my friend," Togorin said pleadingly, "My friend, you don't understand—to you they are just trinkets, but to me they are—"
"He said no," Luffy interrupted, very calmly. "Sorry, mister, but if Zoro said no, then it's no. Thanks for the meat though!"
Nami shrieked in rage and punched him in the head, and looked like she'd be gunning for Zoro next, but the swordsman had enough of the whole encounter. The meal just wasn't fun anymore. So he stood up, leaving Togorin's mug untouched on the table, pushed his way forcibly past the two bodyguards, and growled over his shoulder, "I'll meet you back at the ship, guys. Later."
And then he was out of the building, not even bothering to look back at the irritating collector or his goons.
The rest of the Straw Hats arrived barely twenty minutes after Zoro got back to the ship, which Zoro found mildly puzzling, seeing as Luffy was definitely far from full when he'd left. Oh well. Nami almost immediately made a beeline for him where he'd just settled down for a nap on the deck to give him a fierce kick, and as he glared up at her she shrieked furiously, "What the hell was that about, Zoro? You just had the opportunity to keep our ship funded for the rest of our lives and even a chance to pay off your debt and you blew it!"
Zoro shrugged. "The price wasn't worth it," he said simply. "Besides," he added on impulse, "That guy was full of crap. He probably just wants them for his stupid wish-granting legend, and there's no way that's true."
"You seem quite certain of that, Zoro-san," Brook said from nearby. It seemed most of the crew had settled around their swordsman for the time being, likely out of curiosity more than anything else.
Zoro shrugged. "Sure I am. Weird stuff has happened on the Grand Line before, but goddess tears? Please. That has to be a hoax."
"Last time you said that about a god you got blasted with electricity, among other things," Usopp pointed out tentatively.
"Last time it also wasn't a god, either," Zoro reminded him dryly. "Just an egotistical asshole with a logia power that made him think he was a god. I'm still not convinced this guy's story is real, either."
"He is correct about one thing," Robin said suddenly, emerging from the Sunny's library and striding towards them with an old book in one hand. "Regardless of whether the legend attached to it is real, the treasure most certainly is, and I believe his identification of Swordsman-san's earrings is correct. Here." She flipped the book around to face the others, revealing several hand-drawn sketches of the same long teardrop shape, under the heading Tears of the Goddess.
"I must confess I never even considered Swordsman-san's earrings as parts of the treasure," Robin said. "But then, I always assumed the majority of the collection was still hidden in tombs or lost forever. You didn't steal those from a tomb, did you, Swordsman-san?" The last was addressed to Zoro, and contained the barest razor edge of warning even though her expression was neutral enough.
"No," Zoro said insistently (and with a great deal of inward relief, not that he'd let it show—Robin took her ruins very seriously). "My teacher gave them to me before I left my village, in case of money troubles," he explained. "They were always earrings. He said he didn't want me to die in a ditch somewhere 'cause I didn't have enough to eat or got sick or whatever. If I ever got in a jam and needed the cash he wanted me to sell one, but I never ran into problems that bad, so I've got all three still." He scowled. "And I don't intend to sell any of them unless I absolutely have to. I'm not just throwing away a gift from my master so easily."
"Millions of beris, Zoro," Nami pleaded. "That is absolutely necessary to the survival of the crew!"
"I'd listen to her, sir," came a new voice. "The young woman there knows what she's talking about."
The crew whipped around to face the voice. One of the bodyguards from the restaurant was back, with six other black-suited men in tow. The men carried a number of crates, and the bodyguard held a katana in one hand, still sheathed.
Zoro scowled. "You here to fight?" he said to the bodyguard, eyeing the sword. He hoped the answer was yes. He could really use a good ass-kicking to clear his head.
"Absolutely not, sir," the bodyguard said coolly, to Zoro's disappointment. "I was instructed to offer you this blade as a potential trade payment for the final three Tears you possess." He held out the katana, displaying the sheath, before drawing the blade to display it. "This is an o wazamono grade katana, the finest in my master's collection. It would be an excellent replacement for the cursed wazamono grade katana you currently wear, don't you think?"
Zoro could practically hear Sandai Kitetsu snarling in outrage at the thought of being replaced—it was a wonder the rest of the crew couldn't, the sword was so forceful. "No," the swordsman said coldly. "My current swords are fine, and I already told you, I'm not giving my earrings away."
The bodyguard sheathed the sword and continued on as if Zoro hadn't spoken the last part. "A payment of gold and jewels, then," the bodyguard said next, waving three of his suited cohorts forward next. The men placed their crates on the ground and drew back the lids, exposing shining gold and glittering gems of all colors. Nami almost fainted at the sight of it.
"They are the highest-quality jewels we possess," the bodyguard continued, "And the gold is the purest we—"
"No," Zoro growled. "You got wax in your ears or something? I said no deals. Get lost!"
Again the bodyguard ignored him, and waved the gold-bearing men back before drawing the others forward as well. "Perhaps a gift for your crew, then? My master has heard stories that Roronoa Zoro is very dedicated to his crew. Gold and jewels might not interest you, but what about their happiness? We can easily provide."
The last three crates cracked down onto the deck and were opened. "The first," the bodyguard drawled, "possesses a number of high-grade meats directly from the finest butcher available on the island, and comes with an additional offer of stocking your ship fully before you leave. My master thoughtfully includes a number of extremely rare spices in the package. They are very expensive as they only come from one island in the New World, and are in high demand at the finest gourmet restaurants all over the world; only expert cooks dare to use them.
"The second crate contains a number of rare medicinal herbs, and several equally rare books on some of the stranger or more dangerous diseases of the Grand Line. Additionally, my master has added, from his own personal collection no less, a number of extremely rare tomes thought to have been destroyed centuries ago on several ancient races and civilizations.
"The final box," the bodyguard finished, "Contains a number of research texts regarding engineering feats, particularly in regards to ship building and defense. Additionally, my master is quite willing to obtain more Adam Wood for your fine ship here, having learned what it is built of. A number of old and very rare instruments are also included for the entertainment of the crew. Well?" The bodyguard smirked again. "Will you refuse now?"
Zoro grit his teeth. The man was fighting dirty now. Zoro could easily see how excited the rest of the crew looked, and that just wasn't fair, damn it.
But it was Luffy who interrupted. And although it looked as though it physically pained him to refuse an offer of meat, he said sternly, "Zoro said no, and now you're cheating. So go away!"
The others nodded in agreement, although some looked as though they had more trouble with it than others. Brook claimed he was quite satisfied with his violin, Robin observed coolly that she had lived without the tomes already and could continue to do so easily, and Usopp made a show of being amazing enough to figure things out without needing the texts.
The bodyguard looked irritated, and snapped his fingers. The crates were all closed and withdrawn, and he said coldly, "You make business very difficult, sir."
Zoro shrugged. "It's not that hard. I said no. Now go away."
The man looked angry as he and his cohorts withdrew, and the Straw Hats scattered after a moment to get back to their business. But Zoro stared after Torogin's men for some time afterwards. The rest of the crew seemed to think the mess was over with, but Zoro had a strange thing that the whole Tears issue was far from over.
To Zoro's complete and utter disgust, he was right: the mess was far from over. They saw nothing of the bodyguard or Togorin's other suited followers for the rest of the evening, but they made a reappearance in the dead of night, when Zoro took over his watch at one in the morning.
As usual, the swordsman dozed through his lookout shift. Although he was technically supposed to be on watch, and Nami constantly insisted that meant with one's eyes open, Zoro was fully confident that he would sense anyone unfamiliar messing about on the ship. He was correct, and knew immediately when an unfamiliar foot stepped upon the decks, although he feigned sleep for the moment until he could figure out what the new presence was up to.
It didn't take long to find out. The figure didn't make for the interior of the Sunny to try and steal gold or catch a bounty. Instead, the person made a beeline straight for Zoro, creeping forward with a surprising amount of skill that probably would have let him go undetected around most people.
But Zoro wasn't most people, and he could feel the sneak coming towards him as clearly as he were watching the man with open eyes. He let the man get in range, and just as the unwelcome visitor started slowly and carefully reaching out for the left side of Zoro's head, the swordsman made his move. His own hand shot out and snatched the would-be thief's wrist, wrenching it aside with a painful-sounding crack, and the man shrieked in alarm.
"Stealing isn't nice," Zoro told him flatly, glaring, and still holding the thief's wrist in an iron grip. "Your boss is starting to play dirty. He must want these things real bad."
The man was enough of a professional that he gave no information away about who had employed him (not that it wasn't already obvious), although he did whine in pain again and feebly tried to free his wrist with his other hand.
"I'll let you go if you get lost and don't come back," Zoro told him calmly. The man nodded frantically in agreement, and Zoro released his wrist. Almost immediately the thief darted back the way he'd come, still on mostly silent feet, cradling his injured arm with his other hand. He vanished over the side of the ship, and, true to his word, did not return again. Nor, Zoro was pleased to see, did any of his thief-buddies, out to finish the job. He dozed comfortably for the rest of the night.
Sadly, the lull didn't last, and when Togorin struck again in his desperate attempt for a few earrings Zoro found himself starting to get really annoyed. This time it was in the morning, shortly after breakfast. Nami, Usopp and Chopper had gone out to do some shopping in the town, but everyone else was still on the ship. Togorin appeared to have given up on subtlety, and was now trying a new tactic: brute force. No less than thirty thickly built men, all resembling the bodyguards of the day before, stormed the ship with pistols and swords at the ready, determined to take their Tears by any means necessary.
Of course, Zoro thought dryly, as he put down five of the men with a single swipe of his swords, for all Togorin's money he certainly wasn't that bright. After all, just yesterday he'd acknowledged how much Zoro's bounty was worth—and Zoro didn't get such a high price on his head by being a cuddly teddy bear. If Zoro was dangerous, the rest of his crew was bound to be as well; it was almost disappointing that Togorin thought thirty men would be enough. He should have sent a couple hundred if he wanted to make any headway. The Straw Hats dispatched the unexpected attackers easily, and Zoro felt so cheated out of a fight he turned on curly-brow to finish it. At least his spars with the annoying bastard were more interesting than that pathetic excuse for a brawl.
But the ultimate last straw for Zoro was the message Togorin sent them later that afternoon. Nami, Usopp and Chopper were taking longer than they'd said to return, and Sanji finally went haring off after them (or more specifically, Nami), with Franky and Brook following at a more leisurely pace. Zoro wasn't too worried; they'd likely just bought too much stuff, or Nami'd found some poor bastard she was trying to swindle out of his money. But that was until the bodyguard showed up again, with a smug smirk on his face, informing the remainder of the crew on the Sunny that 'the girl, the deer, and the longnose' had been kidnapped and were being held for the ransom of the final three Tears of the Goddess.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Zoro scowled. "They're fucking earrings. No, Luffy, it's okay, I got this." He waved of his captain absently, who looked angry that his crew was being messed with but backed off at Zoro's request. "Lead the way," the swordsman finished to the bodyguard, who smirked again, nodded, and promptly led Zoro to Togorin's base of operations, a swanky-looking hotel that looked like it had been booked entirely for one person, with guards armed to the teeth stationed at every conceivable doorway.
As if things couldn't possibly get any more annoying. Zoro sighed, promptly knocked out his guide before the man could so much as twitch his fingers for his gun, and set to breaking his way into the hotel to get his nakama back and settle this irritating situation once and for all.
It took him an obnoxiously long twenty minutes to get inside the place and find Togorin. The guards weren't especially difficult to beat (and most of them were terrible shots), but there were a lot of them everywhere, which was annoying. Plus the interior of the hotel was organized in such a bizarre fashion it was a bit difficult to find his way around, and there were these ridiculous traps everywhere, like straight out of one of Usopp's wild stories, which weren't particularly hard to sense or break but were so numerous Zoro was practically tripping over them. So when he finally did find Togorin in one of the deluxe suites of the hotel, it was in extremely bad spirits, in a very much unforgiving mood and with a desire to pound the pudgy little man's face in.
The desire only increased when he spotted Togorin standing at the back of the large room next to his nakama, all three of whom had sword blades pressed to their necks by several of the same big hulking guards that were outside. Zoro could have beaten them easily, but wouldn't risk it if they had hostages like that, so he settled for a particularly menacing glower in Togorin's direction that was fueled entirely by his bad mood.
"My friend," Togorin said sadly, "My friend, I wish it hadn't come to this! I detest having to resort to violence."
"I don't," Zoro answered. In fact he was really looking forward to resorting to violence for this guy.
"So I see, so I see," Togorin said, wincing just slightly at the trail of unconscious guards and smashed-up traps visible in the hallway behind Zoro. "However, I believe I can safely say that as long as I've got your friends in my hands, you'll be willing to deal on my terms?"
Zoro said nothing, but Togorin was unfortunately right: he wouldn't risk his friends' lives, not over something as ridiculous as earrings. They were important to him as a keepsake of his home, in the same way Wadou Ichimonji was a symbol of a promise, but they weren't worth even one life, let alone three. Togorin seemed to realize it, and chuckled slightly saying, "Good, good! I'm glad we understand each other then! In that case, I want you to remove the last of the three Tears of the Goddess from your ear, and drop them in that chest over there."
He gestured with one pudgy hand, and Zoro noted for the first time that there was an enormous, shallow box in the middle of the room, which brimmed with gold that glittered brightly in the lamplights. "When I do, you'll let my friends go," Zoro said, more of a demand than a question.
"Only after I've a chance to test the legend of the miracle," Togorin said. "You might have swapped the originals for fakes, and I would hate to find myself cheated out of my family's desire after generations of searching."
Zoro rolled his eyes. The thought hadn't even occurred to him to swap his earrings out for fakes—the man was paranoid. But he was also obviously only interested in trying out this whole miracle thing, and Zoro could tell him easily it wasn't going to happen. "Fine," Zoro said curtly, "I'll stick around for a bit to give you a chance to play with your stupid treasure, but my captain wants his whole crew back by dinner, and trust me, you do not want to make him wait for dinner."
Togorin looked too excited to even care, and waved Zoro forward absently with a simple, "Of course, of course!" Zoro rolled his eyes again, but sheathed his swords and reached up to unclip the three earrings. It felt strange to not have them there; he never took them off, not even when he slept, and with the weight of them missing his head felt unbalanced. He collected the three together and dropped them carefully on top of the other gold teardrop-shaped pieces in the chest, and then stepped back, waiting impatiently and glaring at the men who had blades at his nakama's throats.
Togorin darted forward almost immediately to the edge of the chest, practically giggling with glee as he stared down at his completed collection. "Generations of work, finally complete!" he said excitedly. "My great great grandfather would insist that we return the chest immediately to its home island, but after so many years devoted to its search, I think the Togorin family has earned a few miracles, don't you?"
Zoro assumed he was being spoken to, but said nothing. It didn't seem to matter. Togorin rubbed his hands together greedily at the edge of the chest, and then said, "Oh great goddess, I beseech thee. In the name of your servants all these years, grant me the greatest treasures of the world!"
Absolutely nothing happened, exactly as Zoro expected. Just to emphasize it, he looked back and forth around the room, and then observed dryly, "I don't think it worked."
"Quiet, quiet!" Togorin snapped, and turned back to the chest. "Perhaps she simply doesn't like material requests. Very well. Oh great goddess, I ask you to grant me great strength and agility, and the power to combat any Devil Fruit!"
There was no flash of light or odd hum of power, and Zoro couldn't even sense any spectral or cursed presences, like he could with Sandai Kitetsu. Togorin seemed puzzled as well, but tested his wish by punching a nearby wall. He dragged his hand away with a help, and cradled rapidly bruising knuckles with a wince.
"Zero for two," Zoro said, bored. "Can I have my friends back yet?"
"You most certainly may not," Togorin snapped again, and turned back to the chest. "Goddess, grant me a beautiful maiden to do my every bidding!" Nothing. "Grant me the knowledge of the world!" Nothing. "Offer me eternal youth!" And still nothing.
"What is wrong with this treasure?" the pudgy little man finally shrieked, enraged. "No, you really must have swapped the final three with different pieces," he decided a moment later, and reached forward to snatch at the earrings to inspect them. The moment his hands touched the gold there was a sharp crackling noise of electricity, and the man leapt back, nursing a few burned fingers in addition to his bruised knuckles. "This must be your fault, Roronoa," the man finally whined, giving the swordsman a less than terrifying glare.
Zoro rolled his eyes again. The man was a bigger idiot than he'd thought. Nami might be able to find a way to charge up gold with electricity, but she was still across the room with a sword to her neck, and Zoro had nothing at all to do with this.
Togorin continued demanding, begging, and shrieking his extravagant requests, and Zoro was starting to get irritated now. He'd waited long enough, and held up his end of the deal; he wanted his nakama safe already. "Hey," he said sarcastically, fed up with the man's behavior. "Ask her if you're going to stop your bitching, give me my friends back, and leave us alone already."
He'd meant it as a threat, or possibly a distraction. What he hadn't expected was that Togorin would abruptly stand ramrod-straight, and murmur, "My goodness, my goodness! What a wonderful idea. Boys, release the children." And before the guards could so much as question the order, Togorin promptly trotted out the door, down the hall, and out of sight.
"Huh," Zoro said, staring over his shoulder after the man. Now that had been...odd.
The guards seemed just as shocked by the unexpected turn in behavior, and exchanged bewildered glances with each other. But then, realizing that their employer had really and truly left them behind, they abandoned the Straw Hats that they were holding hostage and darted after the man, frantically yelling Togorin's name. In a moment the room was completely empty, other than four very surprised pirates.
"Maybe there is something to that legend after all," Usopp finally said after a moment, rubbing his neck, as Chopper checked him over frantically.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Not you, too," he said in exasperation. "It's just a coincidence. The guy's a nutcase."
"Who knows, and more importantly, who cares?" Nami said, pulling herself to her feet. "What's important is that he left a whole treasure trove of jewelry behind!" And, with a wide grin and a glimmer in her eyes that could almost have been mistaken for beri signs, she darted for the chest in the center that was still filled to the brim with the so-called One Thousand Tears of the Goddess.
Almost as soon as her fingers touched the gold, she yelped in surprise and staggered back, clutching her hand. "Ow!" she shrieked furiously. "What the hell? It shocked me!"
"It did the same thing to him," Zoro pointed out.
"But that makes no sense," Nami said in exasperation. "The charge should have been negated when he touched it, unless it's sitting on a live electrical field or something, and this is just...floor." She stomped on the hardwood panels in frustration, and tried more tentatively to touch the chest of gold again, with the same literally shocking result. "What good is gold if you can't hold it?" she finally hissed in frustration, after nursing her own burnt fingers. "That's not a miracle treasure, it's cursed."
"C-cursed?" Usopp said, trembling. Chopper promptly hid behind his leg the wrong way, glancing fearfully at the chest of gold pieces.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Cowards," he said. "It's definitely not cursed, or I'd know." And then, since Togorin didn't seem to be coming back any time soon, and because he'd cheated anyway, holding nakama hostage, Zoro reached into the box to retrieve his own three earrings, still sitting at the top of the pile. Nothing shocked him, and while there was a puzzling sensation of satisfaction as he touched the gold he just shrugged and attributed it to his own success at retrieving his belongings. He replaced the three earrings, a little clumsily since he wasn't used to taking them off to begin with, and nodded with satisfaction once their familiar weight was replaced. The little ringing chime they made was almost comforting.
"Is the charge gone?" Nami asked, and reached out for the chest again, only to be zapped for a third time. "Ow!"
"Just leave it," Zoro said. "It obviously doesn't want you touching it." Although it was a bit puzzling that it apparently had some degree of sentience, almost like Kitetsu, even though he couldn't sense a presence at all.
"It's such a waste, to just leave it here," Nami said with a forlorn sigh.
"Whatever. Somebody else can probably use it, anyway," Zoro said. "Now let's go already. I wasn't kidding about the dinner thing earlier."
So they left, with Chopper enthusiastically thanking Zoro for the rescue, and Usopp insisting he totally had a backup plan, and Nami murmuring sullenly under her breath about having to leave a fortune behind because of unnatural causes. Zoro listened patiently, and if he heard the ethereal, laughing female voice coming from behind them in the empty room, he definitely didn't let on.
Happy Friday the 13th Everybody! :D
~VelkynKarma