Chapter 4
Three days after chapter 3
Docked on an island in the west blue
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Alice sat between Zoro and Chelsea. Both lay in their respective beds, in the med bay. This being a place Alice preferred to avoid, though the pirate captain would make an exception finding both her crewmate and soul mate unconscious and suffering from the wounds inflicted by an angel hell bent on killing her crew.
Emily twirled into the med bay with a tray in hand. Alice sparred her not a glance and just stared dangers at her own hands. The angel's heels tapped lightly on the wood first approaching her captain and setting a steaming bowl of stew on the stool beside Alice.
Kyle glanced at Emily when she came in the door, his brown eyes glowing gold before they went back to his soul mate. Ivan lie in the bed across from Zoro, his pale cheats stitched up yet he was still comatose from the effects of Jakob's sword. Kyle himself didn't look at Emily when she put the bowl next to him.
"Hana told me to tell you she won't be back till sunset." Emily said as she placed the tray under her arm and waited for some kind of reaction from her captain.
Alice barely raised her head. Poison green eyes stared at Emily through strands of hair. "Is that all?" She asked in a deadly calm voice with a stare that would scare Satan himself.
Emily cringed slightly, regretting sneaking away three days ago. "Yes." she muttered, dashing out of the med bay before Alice could beat her with a book again.
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Kyle asked as he slowly raised his head to look at his captain who to him seemed more of a sister than anything to him.
"I don't know anymore." Alice said, setting aside the needle and small doll. Her eyes came to meet Kyle's, the poison green and golden yellow meeting into an unblinking staring contest.
"I think you need to blow off some self-loathing and anger. Then maybe get some sleep." Kyle finally voiced, deciding it was better to do so now before Alice went and did something stupid.
Alice let out a long winded sigh, her body moving to stand up. "You're probably right."
"Probably?" Kyle questioned. Seriously doubting Alice's sanity right about now.
The pirate captain gave her interrogator a pointed look before smiling slightly. "Don't question me." She said before both broke into a fit of laughter.
"Watch over these two, too." Alice said weakly, walking around Chelsea's bed and to the door. "Don't let them do anything stupid should they awake before I return."
Kyle waved his hand in dismissal "Go blow off steam, I'll Stay and keep watch. Just don't come back early."
Kyle retorted picking up the bowl of stew from where it sat next to him.
Alice rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her. Various bottles on the selves shook with the unnecessary force of the wooden door before calming down. Kyle looked to Zoro with slight pity. He hoped Zoro was ready for someone like Alice. After all she was quite moody every now and then.
Sam looked through the clock smith's window, looking at the beautiful workmanship of the time pieces. Thanatos stood behind him arms crossed, slowly tick marks began to appear on his forehead. The demon loved the time wizard but sometimes the blonde's obsession with any form of time related object was a little out of hand.
"Which one do you think Alice would like most?" Sam asked, pointing to a collection of silver and gold pocket watches sitting on a stand.
"Something gold?" Thanatos said though it sounded more like a question than an answer.
Sam frowned turning to face his soul mate. "Weren't you paying attention?" Anger obviously in his voice.
Thanatos gave a blank stare and a blunt "No."
Sam sighed, snatching Thanatos's hand and pulled the demon into the shop. "Pay attention or no sweets tonight."
Thanatos pouted before looking intently at his soul mate, waiting for a crash course in pocket watches. His sweets were on the line. The sugary sweet taste of sugar was at risk and the demon would get it no matter what.
Sam dragged Thanatos up to the clock smith who took his time cleaning a silvery gear till it sparkled.
"Excuse me sir. I am sorry to bother you but the pocket watch in your window caught my eye. I was wondering if you had any finer merchandise." Sam's voice carried a hint of authority mixed with a polite tone, making the shop keeper give him a once over before smiling.
"Why of course. I'll be right back" The man said, disappearing into the back of the shop and leaving what he supposed were youngsters behind.
Thanatos suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was the kind of bad feeling any demon got when coming across a cursed item that had the potential to kill anything or anyone that came into contact with it.
"I think we should leave." Thanatos said, gripping his soul mate's hard. The urge to flee creeping across his skin, raising the hair on the back of his neck.
Sam remained firmly planted to the spot, looking directly at his demon soul mate for a moment before a smile broke across his face as worry gathered in Thanatos's red eyes. "I'm staying put. A cursed pocket watch will be a good addition to Alice's collection."
Thanatos groaned. The urge to slam his head against something showed evident in the demon's facial expression. He knew well about Alice's obsession with cursed objects. Having a collection of such objects on the ship and a mausoleum of such items in the capital of their steadily growing empire of a home.
The clock smith appeared from the back with two small boxes in his hands. "These are my finest." He said with pride, setting the time keeping pieces in front of Sam.
Sam turned and smiled politely before turning his attention to the pocket watches. The first one had a smooth dark red and blue marble look. Etched in olden tongue was the words 'to undo what has been done.' the hinge and adjustment piece held a curved swirl to where the button to open the cover was resided. The time wizard pressed the button with all the care in the world. The cover popped open.
The hands were of elegant black swirls. Each number where almost shinning against the pale white background. Carved in the back of the cover was a snake in the sign of an infinity symbol.
Sam closed the first watch and took a breath as if to sigh in relief before picking up the second pocket watch. A tingling sensation. The immortal instantly put it down. The watch was indeed cursed, touching it had just proven Thanatos's feeling. "We'll take them both." Sam gave a small smile to the clerk. Alice and Hana were going to enjoy these.
Keely stared up at the sky, shopping bags in hand as she tried to think of why Alice has yet to speak a word to her. The shape shifter didn't understand why she had been given such harsh looks. She knew the broken glass wasn't the problem, considering Keely broke more glass at Alice's birthday party 63 years ago.
Hana walked next to Keely with a long shopping list in hand, crossing of items she had gotten at the last store. The only things left was a few herbs, bed sheets, linens, stitching needles, and thread. The doctor was surprised her shopping didn't take as long as it normally did. What would have been a day of none stop buying was cut down to a mere four hours.
"Hey Hana?" Keely asked, looking from the clouds to her friend. The cold didn't bother her as it should of.
"Nan des ka.*" Hana asked, glancing at her ginger friend, giving her full attention to the smaller female.
"Why is Alice mad at me?" The skin walker paused in her walking for a moment before continuing to walk and catch up to Hana.
Hana folded up her list, placing it in the breast pocket of her fur jacket. That right there seemed to be an age old question the doctor mused to herself. Their captain was angry if not then she was highly violent. She was capable of staying mad at someone for years on end if someone was not careful. She of course never had to deal with the captain's anger, being of two people to never seriously anger the captain. Hana had always
managed to come back in time to avoid the wrath of Alice.
"I don't know. Alice can be destructive and thick headed at times. She's probably angry about you sneaking of and not scouting the area first." Hana answered honestly, her brown eyes turning to the horizon in front of her.
Keely nodded in understanding and agreement. She knew how her captain was. She just hoped Alice would be happy with her soon, having your best friend/sister mad at you was not a pleasant thing especially when her stare was as sharp as steel and a glare that gave Satan a heart attack.
"Look at it this way." Hana began as she looked back to the ginger. "At least she hasn't tied you to the main mast, upside down like last time."
Keely shivered, "Never again am I doing that." Keely said, not wanting a repeat of that dizzying week.
Alice slammed her fist against the blue leather of a punching bag. The sack swung in resistance well rattling the chains it hung upon. The pirate captain threw another punch and another, making the chains creek and groan before they broke, sending the sand filled sack rolling across the gym. A frustrated growl left her lips as she followed it down to her knees before once again punching the crap out of it.
An angered scream left her lips as she stood up, kicking the bag away from her and into the full length mirror across the gym.
Clapping sounded from the doorway, making Alice whirl around. Her furious dark eyes landing on Thanatos. Her anger flared in her blood, shot eyes making Thanatos smirk. His red eyes gleamed unyielding as he stepped into the room. Removing the white long sleeve jacket and black stripped red long sleeved shirt.
"No holds barred, we use everything but our devil fruit powers and Haki." Thanatos said, pulling his long black hair back into a low ponytail, his real tail closing the gym door.
Alice growled out in agreement, raising her fists and going into a fighting stance. Thanatos moved forward, standing in front of Alice and taking his own fighting stance. Both let out a demonic growl, their eyes going to a more demonic state and sized each other up before attacking simultaneously. Alice's fist landing a hit in Thanatos's face and Thanatos's claws digging into Alice's side. Both let out a growl stepping back and clashing once again. This was going to be a fight of endurance. Thanatos thought as he threw Alice into the mirrors across the room. This was going to be a long gruesome fight.
Sam set his shopping bag beside the infirmary door. His hand twisted the knob and closed it after him silently before a bang echoed through the ship, followed by a clash, crunch, and shudder. The time wizard cringed, feeling the slight pain in his cheek before it disappeared.
Kyle blinked, looking up at the immortal who had just come in. The sound of fragile objects breaking echoed throughout the ship. He knew instantly that Alice and Thanatos were going at it, trying to beat each other to a pulp again.
"Hana's just going to love this one." Kyle mused, followed by another bang.
Sam shook his head, will his soul mate never learns to control his actions when it comes to Alice. Loving to spar with the captain when she was angry was never a good thing. "Let's just hope don't destroy each other." Sam said.
Kyle shrugged, glancing back at Ivan. His soul mate's face scrunched up in pain, which he could feel a piece of but could do nothing about. "Why are you back so early?" He asked, craving for a small distraction.
"I found Alice and Hana a pocket watch and White Beard is on his way as well as Admiral Sakazuki (Akainu). Both entered the barrier minutes ago." Sam answered well taking a seat in Alice's chair.
"And Thanatos wanted to spar with Alice." Kyle added. Which was confirmed by the crash that followed moments later.
Kyle ground his eyes looking directly up at the ceiling fish tank, watching the shark curl within the confines of the tank that was being followed by a school of colorful fish. As much as he respected Akainu or White Beard he really didn't feel like explaining to the captain nor admiral why there soul mate was injured.
Nick chose to walk in then, wearing a pair of dark blue baggy pajamas pants. The gray tank top hung loosely wrinkled from sleeping in. The human looking fish man rubbed sleep from his eyes, tired from night watch for the past two nights.
"What's with all the banging?" He asked. The lack of sleep obvious in his voice and emerald eyes.
Kyle frowned for a single moment before smiling. "That would be Alice beating Thanatos or Thanatos beating up Alice. I told Alice to blow off some steam and I believe Thanatos is helping her with that."
Nick shook his head, walking over to Hana's rolling chair. His emerald eyes closed again well he rubbed his temple. Another crash echoed through the ship, followed by a demonic roar then a hiss.
"What are they doing? Destroying each other?" Nick growling himself. The temptation to go into the gym and yell at Alice settling into his mind. The dark roar followed by a crash and bang changing his mind.
Ivan opened his eyes, focusing in on the glass ceiling of the med bay. The dark eyes stared at the sea creatures as they moved around. His eyes instantly moving to the side as a smile appeared on his face. Gripping his soul mate's hand he gained Kyle's attention.
"How long have you been up?" Ivan questioned, the first thing in his mind being his soul mate's wellbeing.
Kyle looked to Ivan, the smile on his face could light a billion stars. The angel instantly pulled the injured demon into a bone crushing hug. "Don't ever do that again."
Ivan coughed but returned the hug none the less. "This is only a scratch." He reassured Kyle as he glanced at the other occupants in the room. "It is nothing to worry about."
Kyle pulled away and slapped Ivan upside the head. "You were hit by Jacob's sword. Twice! It could have possibly killed you! He could have possibly killed you!" Kyle snapped, glaring menacingly down at his soul mate.
"I would hate to interrupt your lover's spat, but we have bigger problems to worry about." Sam said, light blue eyes looking at the two sternly.
This caught Ivan's attention as well as Nick's. "What could be a bigger problem?" They said at once, looking as if they would cut a bitch.
"Our first problem is the fact that Whitebeard and Akainu are heading full speed towards us. Chelsea's still unconscious. We get to explain to them why she's still injured. To top it off Alice and Thanatos are most likely having a full out war in the gym." Sam paused, a crash was heard as if to prove the point that indeed a two man war was raging. Sam continued, "Now let's add the fact of our captain is beyond the point of anger, she's currently mad at our cook, probably hasn't eaten in the past three days, as well as no sleep, and Hana hasn't been able to calm her down."
Nick slammed the palms of his hands into his forehead. Then dragged them down his paling face. He was to tired for all of this. An angry captain was one thing but an Alice lacking key elements for survival that were meant to keep a human healthy was another thing all together.
"So we're looking at least a code black." Ivan confirmed, sitting up and choosing to ignore Kyle's glare.
"That's what it sounds like." Nick whined, leaning back in his chair and trying not to punch something.
"First let's focus on White Beard and Akainu. The worst thing they can do id yell at Alice for letting Chelsea get hurt." Kyle threw out, wanting to deal with the large marine and even larger pirate captain.
Sam snorted, sarcasm dripping from each word as he spoke. "And that went so well last time." Sam then gave a pointed look at the fish man, who was cracking a smile in remembrance. "Don't smile, we still have to clean up after the bloody mess."
"Thanatos will take care of Alice. If you shut up you would know the banging stopped." Ivan's tone was harsh and caught everyone's attention.
"Now we just wait for the winner to lug in the loser." Nick said, knowing either way Hana's going to be angry with both of them.
Thanatos limped over to Alice's half-conscious form. Half his body was riddled with new wounds. A good portion of his bones were broken, a good number of bones had been ripped from the demon prince's skeleton and used against him. The demon prince was surprised he was even moving.
Alice though, looked worst then him. Her slightly tanned skin was covered in various shades of burses, ranging from blue to a deep black. Half of her right arm was gone, many if not most of her bones were shatter, and she no doubt had some kind of internal bleeding. The demon prince was surprised she was still breathing let alone conscious. Thanatos know to some extent he had crushed her rib cage and a good 80% of her spine when he pounded the anvil into her back.
Thanatos kneeled by Alice's side. Carefully sliding one arm under his captain's busted right knee cap then slide his newly attached left arm under her 1 cracked and the other shattered shoulder blades. Secretly glade they weren't completely decimated. Glancing down ate Alice, Thanatos knew Hana was going to give him the third degree when they were both patched up.
Thanatos lifted the beaten captain from the ground. He finally realized how much blood she had lost and how much drenched her skin. Then turned on his heels heading straight for the med bay. "Alice stay awake until we get to the sick bay. I don't need you dead."
"I do as I please." Alice coughed out. Half lidded eyes casting their glazed gaze on the demon. "Alice stay away. The blood lost will kill you if the pain doesn't." Thanatos growled limping over ash, destroyed weights and cracked planks.
Thanatos's black spade tale darted forward opening the door from the gym to the med bay for the two. The only thing that hadn't been destroyed in the whole gym. The demon prince stepped through the door only to feel the burning glare of Ivan.
"What the fuck Thanatos! It looks like you placed her threw a meat grinder" The earth demon spat. A growl rumbling in his chest going up into the throat.
Thanatos gave Ivan the darkest glare he could muster at that moment to his fellow demon. Unconsciously digging his fingered into his captain's arm making the bused skin to bleed. Alice winced glazed eyes turning their gaze to Ivan.
Ivan was instantly up brushing past Kyle's hands and headed right for Thanatos. Nick was up as well moving faster than Ivan. He grabbed Alice from Thanatos ducking under Ivan's fist that hit Sam square in the face.
Nick moved in a quick place using his left leg to push the empty bed to the left of Zoro against the swordsman's bed. The half fishman carefully placed Alice in the bed somehow removing the sea stone collar from his captain's neck and dropped it on the corner of the bed. Alice reached out with her good hand and grabbed ahold of Zoro's hand. Willing the missing limb to regulate.
Alice's eyes returned to focus no longer glazed and glanced off to the side. The sight that met her brown eyes was unpleasant. Ivan had Thanatos pinned to the wall by his neck. Thanatos clawed at Ivan's arm while Sam had Kyle pinned to the floor. His sand blade against the fallen angel's neck threatening to draw blood.
Alice couldn't find her voice so she did the next best thing. The pirate captain sent out a strong burst of conqueror's Haki, distracting both demons and their mates enough to manipulate them to opposite sides of the room with her devil fruit before falling into blissful sleep.
Nick shivered glancing at his fellow crewmates. The hair's on the back of his neck stood on end. "I believe we all can agree that the four of you will get hell when Alice wakes up."
Nan des ka means what is it?