Chapter Six - Hypocrisy By Oneself
She didn't need friends; she had to keep telling herself that every time Jaclyn presented herself before Emilia. Jaclyn was one of those who worked under Bristoff and she knew Emilia really well. At the time, Emilia had no thought of staying away from people; it was only after the death of Bristoff she didn't want any more casualties. "You okay?" Jaclyn asked and Emilia nodded. "Never better," with that the blue haired girl walked away, leaving her alone. It was no secret that fate was not kind to her, and Emilia never meant to see Jaclyn ever again. It was her responsibility now; it was her job to stay away from everybody she once knew, so that they would never get hurt. They must never be entangled in what she was looking for.
She never once thought about Ace, it was always the little girl who corroded her mind over and over again. All she asked Emilia to help her with was to get to Drau, so that the girl could see her mother again. Guilt washed her over, and Emilia couldn't even sleep at night, for images of the girl suffering at the hands of her criminal like masters flooded inside her mind. She brushed a hand through her head, it was nighttime, and she was sure. The air was cold, and she could tell just by smelling the wind. She let out a breath and leaned against the cage she was in and thought about the girl, for her thoughts couldn't leave her alone. There was a reason she didn't help her. There was a reason Emilia had to be the cold, uncaring person that she is now. She couldn't let anyone see her weakness; she couldn't let anyone get close in fear of getting them hurt. Just as she had done to Bristoff. Even though she never liked the Marines, Bristoff was someone who could be trusted. The man was like a father to her, a father she never had.
In just a few hours she was going to reach the Marine headquarters, but she was told that it wasn't at Marineford. It was somewhere where they couldn't create a fuss about Emilia being hanged, for she was sure if the Admirals were involved both Kizaru and Aokiji would stop her death from happening. She was sure Akainu could care less about her, and she wasn't sure about Kizaru, but Aokiji for sure wouldn't let her die. She didn't know why or how, but she had a strong feeling that Aokiji knew she didn't kill anyone. "What're you thinking about?" Jaclyn asked, smirking against the door and Emilia forced a smile as she said, "Nothing important," she lied through her teeth. She was scared once more. She just didn't know why.
Ace was angry at almost everything that was happening. Sure, he had lost the marine ship that had Emilia in it, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get her back. They weren't off course, but he was wary about finding Emilia before it was too late. Joel was the one who kept some confidence in what he was doing, telling him over and over again that Emilia will be found and that the Spade pirates will take her to the New World like she wanted. "Why do you want her back so much, captain? She's been nothing but trouble!" one of his crewmates stated, but Ace didn't reply. His gaze was fixed to the sea before him, and the little girl Tash watched him keenly.
There was something about this man she knew, she knew he wasn't the sort to go back on his word. If he said he was going to save her then he would, but she didn't understand why he bothered. Was it just curiosity that drove him? She just didn't know that it was. Tash believed someone like Emilia didn't deserve Ace's kindness, for Emilia didn't shower any kindness on her own. She rejected helping her, didn't she? Emilia didn't deserve help from the same man that was helping her. Tash looked down, forlorn with what was going on, but there wasn't anything she could do. Her eight year old self had to depend on Ace's ship and strength to get her back to her mother.
Ace had his reasons for not backing down. Sure, Emilia was nothing but trouble. Helping her now seemed more risky then heading to the marine headquarters and saying hello. She wasn't grateful, and she sure as hell didn't give them any reason to like her. Ace didn't like her at all, in fact. She was the type of girl he wanted to avoid; she was the type of person he wanted to stay away from, irrespective of the gender. Emilia once worked for the marines, and she left them after someone put the blame of murder on her. What Ace didn't understand was why. Why would someone do something like that to her? Was she that important that the marines had to get rid of in such a cheap manner? Did his grandfather know something about this? It seemed as if everyone knew about Emilia's betrayal, but surely there had to be someone who knew the truth. As cliché as it sounded, Emilia was framed but the only thing that was left to find out now was why she was.
"Is there something on your mind, captain?" Ace didn't shake his head or let it show that something was in his mind, he simply stared ahead and let out a sigh. "Captain, we'll find her." Joel's gruff voice said and a smile streaked Ace's features. Emilia might have been a spy, but she was someone who was travelling with the Spade pirates, he didn't want her death to be on his hands.
"Can anyone see the navy ship?" Ace voiced loudly and a bunch of them denied sight of anything. But a few minutes later, one of the pirates who were on the crow's nest yelled back, "I see something! An island! Not too big, but enough to have a few buildings here and there! There's a port too!" Ace cussed. He knew that the marines had a lot of HQ's in many places, and getting out of there alive would definitely be hard. This would be his first time doing something this dangerous, and he wouldn't lie if he said he was excited. A smirk was now plastered on his face as he said, "Do you see the navy ship?"
A minute later, "Yes, captain!" That was all he needed.
Emilia hated being kicked on the face. It always stung so badly the day after, the blood would be dried on the side of her lip, and there would be a very visible bruise, but the sting wouldn't go for days. She hated being kicked in the stomach for something of the same reason, but the kick to the stomach would make it much harder to sit down. When Cancer did both of those things to her, unlike normal reactions Emilia just laughed. Cancer cocked his eyebrow at her and simply said, "Are you some kind of masochist, Sylph?" Emilia spat out blood. She was sure his kick would have broken a few ribs along the way. "Wait till I get my hands on you, you fucking retard," she warned him and some part of it made the hair on the back of his head stand.
"You will die here," he told her as he walked out and she knew she'd never let that happen. She couldn't die here; there was no way she was going to allow that to happen. If there was anything she wanted to do as her life's only aim, then it was to fulfill that one goal that she had. To find the man in the poster. Jaclyn walked in around ten minutes after Cancer left the room and winced at the sight of Emilia, groaning in pain on the floor. "You need help-""Get away from me!" she snapped rather loudly and the blue haired girl's eyes widened. "Emilia-""Just go!" she screeched before coughing out blood once more. Her handcuffs not being seastone gave her strength, but that wasn't enough. The kicks Cancer gave her could have killed her if those handcuffs were seastone.
She could tell the ship had stopped and had been stationary from a long time. The burning sensation in her chest didn't lessen, and she was sure that Cancer had only kicked her stomach and not her chest, but then why was her chest burning? She had no clue. Emilia tried looking out of the window in that room and found nothing. Complete and utter darkness and that only raised more questions than it did answers. She turned back to the door which was locked, and Jaclyn hadn't come in with dinner as usual. Emilia felt bad, but she knew what she did was the right thing. Her eyes held malice in them when she thought of the marines, and she couldn't let herself feel pity for them.
She knew the trial would begin the next day. Dark thoughts loomed in her mind, thoughts about her past, of how she abandoned everyone that had cared for her because of her own selfish reasons. She had never wanted to become a pirate like her father was, she never wanted to waste her time going after gold or One Piece like every idiot pirate on the surface of the earth wanted, she simply wanted a quiet life. She always wanted a quiet life. But, that was taken away from her when her village was abducted. It all changed when she turned ten years old.
Emilia grunted as the light hit her face, the pain in her ribs hadn't reduced and there was now a new sting at the corner of her lip. The kick to the face, she recalled. It wasn't as if she was new to all such torture. Pain was everywhere from where she came from. Being an orphan and growing up alone, she was used to being scrutinized for theft and beating up the other children. Emilia had been a very unruly child and that gave everyone a reason to think she was a monster, especially since they knew she was related to him. Pain never left her. Even though she had not been to her village in years, the pain she lived through was carried on. The wounds were everlasting; there would always be scars. But even the bloodiest scars faded over time until it was hard to see them printed on the skin at all, and the only thing that was left behind was the recollection of how painful it had once been.
"When are they taking me out of here?" She grumbled, not expecting any answer and she didn't get one. There were images of how she could escape that flooded her mind, should she just fly off onto a ship and sail away? How else could she do anything that came to borderline escaping? There was no way she could escape without getting caught? Was there anyone out there who would rescue her like last time? Whitebeard helped her, and for that she was grateful even if it is the slightest, but this time there could be no such miracle right?
When the sound of footsteps alerted her ear, Emilia scrunched her nose. The wind was just a little strong right then, so it told her who was coming with the smell that it carried. It was Cancer, and behind him was Jaclyn. Emilia wondered why Jaclyn was following Cancer, the two never had any reason to talk to each other, other than the fact that she was on his ship to clean it, Jaclyn was no special person. "Hear ye~, Hear ye~" He sang, confusing Emilia with the sudden change in his demeanor. He smelt strong, he smelt confident. Emilia hated it when her enemy was confident.
"I see she's done some changes," Cancer grabbed Jaclyn by her arm, who looked a little beat up, and yanked her forward so that Emilia could see her. Shock presented itself on her features, and Emilia was tempted to scream out Jaclyn's name, but she couldn't. For Jaclyn's safety, Emilia knew she couldn't scream her name out. "Care to explain why these changes occurred, o' little friend of my ship cleaner?" Cancer asked, before pushing the blue haired female on to the ground of the ship, right in front of Emilia's cage and started to kick her. Emilia wanted so very badly to protest, she wanted to stop the man from beating her up, but one more syllable from her would mean her death. "What the hell are you doing? If you want to beat someone, do it someplace else-""And she acts all oblivious of what I ask her!" He announced like he was talking to a crowd. Emilia broke out in a cold sweat now.
"What the hell are you talking about, Cancer?" She snapped at him, hoping with all her heart that her voice didn't give away the tension she had building up inside her. Cancer grinned and kicked Jaclyn one last time before taking out handcuffs from his pocket. "You truly believe you're helping your friend, but sadly…" Cancer glanced at the almost unconscious woman below his feet and then back at Emilia as he continued, "…she ratted you out," Emilia didn't show any outward signs of surprise. That was impossible! Not Jaclyn, anyone but her!
"Jaclyn is a shameless, back-stabber, Emilia the Sylph!" Cancer made his final announcement, and then turned to Emilia to say, "What a pathetic life you live, it's honestly inspiring to see you cling to that filth of a life and try and survive," Emilia frowned. "Even pirates quiver at the sound of your name, you have no comrades!" he pointed out and the girl merely listened. She wished she could zone out and think of something else, but there was nothing else to think about. "A run away, who ran from the only home she ever had! Searching for someone who could give her life meaning! Joined the marines for information on that somebody, but exited after knowing that the person she was looking for, was erased from navy records. Then killing Vice-Commander Bristoff because it was easy! In the meanwhile, there is no one to back you up, no one you can call friend! No one who can save you when you're life is almost out of your grasp, a truly, pathetic, pathetic life indeed!"
Emilia felt tears sting her eyes after a very long time. She didn't let them fall; they weren't the sort of tears that were destined to wet her cheeks. They were the tears that would sting her eyes and then with a few blinks, go away, just to remind her that her heart could still feel the pain that the words carry. Emilia turned away refusing to believe that Jaclyn had ratted her out. She knew Jaclyn would do no such thing. "It's as if you don't even want to believe me, ha!"
With saying that, Cancer grabbed Jaclyn by her hair and pulled her to face Emilia. Jaclyn groaned in pain, the wind-wind no mi user almost felt her heart clench at the sight. "I'm sorry…Emilia…they…offered me…a higher post…" Emilia's eyes slowly widened. No, she was not hearing this. No, Jaclyn did not just say that. No, this couldn't be happening! Emilia staggered forward and held onto the railings of the cage she was in, and screamed, "What?!" Cancer finally got what he came for. "Why is it so surprising, Emilia the Sylph?" He asked, Emilia didn't utter a word in response. "You were the one who always said to yourself, 'I do not need friends' and crap like that. And here you are, quivering at the sight of a girl you considered close, because she betrayed you. You should have expected this, since of course, you don't need friends! You shouldn't be surprised with such behavior! You expected her not to turn you in, which of course, is a sign of seeking friendship! You're a hypocrite, Emilia the Sylph!" Cancer said.
No word entered her mind; she was beyond shocked at what she heard. Cancer was right, if Emilia had stuck to her own plans of escape (which she didn't have, at the time) she wouldn't have been in such a situation. It was true, she knew she was a hypocrite, if she truly believed she didn't need friends, then this wouldn't have happened. If she truly believed that Jaclyn or anyone else weren't what she called friends, she wouldn't have expected Jaclyn to help her, for expectation itself a sign of looking for comfort. What comfort can she have, the one who does not seek the shoulder of a friend?
"You deserve this," Cancer told her, and walked out, dragging Jaclyn with him. "We're not letting you out of that cage, Emilia. You will not be hanged," he told her as he stepped out of the door. Emilia's hopes for survival was now lost. She had been betrayed, and it was entirely her fault. She felt no tear land on her cheek. She felt nothing. She felt cold, she felt lost. There was no hunger, there was no other feeling. For the first time in many years, Emilia believed, this was what it felt like to be betrayed.
Author's Note: So, Emilia's a hypocrite. I'm sure many have figured that out already, and there's more to that story where she was framed for teh murder of Bristoff. Emilia has a guilt-syndrome, and you shall see why in the later chapters~
College has been so suffocating! There's this fest thing going on, and I had to announce that I am ready to volunteer when I actually am not, because volunteering is a pain and social chains pull you down so much! Ugh, anyway, Kuroko no Basuke ended and the last chapter made me cry, like sure Akashi didn't make anyone cry before. *Sniffs* I really can't understand what turn the One Piece manga is taking, but it surely has me hooked! Just wish the anime progressed faster.
Next chapter, you shall see something cool. Or at least, I think it's cool, lel. Review, my dear readers~! I always love reading what you think~