CHAPTER 41 - Intruder Exigence
"How are you feeling, Captain Law?" Tamayo asked.
"Better. The spasms have calmed down." Law replied, laid on the bed. "The medicine seems to be working."
"How's the situation out there?" he asked.
"Not good." replied Tamayo "But don't think for a second that you should go. You have done your part, Captain. It was bad enough that this should have happened."
"Bah! These aren't the Demons that you all are so eager to get rid of, but reincarnations of a Devil Fruit power. Let me get at them." Law growled, getting out of bed.
"No, you don't!" Tamayo snapped pushing Law back into his bed.
Law grabbed hold of his blade in retort.
"Don't you dare." he hissed. "This is a pirate's fight."
"And no one told you to get involved with the Upper Moons. It's all the same. Monsters don't judge amongst humans. Innocents, Demon Slayers or Pirates for that matter. Trust those Demon Slayers fighting out there in the way they trust in you." Tamayo explained.
"Please, Law-san. Don't be so stubborn!" Aoi urged.
Law observed the girl and realised that he had caused her grief the other day. After a moment of thought, Law decided to compromise.
"Very well. I won't go fight the zombies." he declared, much to Aoi's relief. "But I need to see Moria."
Tamayo agreed to the compromise.
Law was accompanied by Tamayo and Aoi to the secret room where Moria's head had been stashed. The door was opened.
"Kishishishi..." the laughter resounded through the room.
"Looks like you are enjoying yourself?" Law asked with indifference.
"Too late, Trafalgar! You won't survive the night. And there's no Pirate Hunter to aid you." Moria replied.
"Your zombies are outside. The Night Hunt? Never seen a Paramecia user create a ruckus without a body..."
"It had been a difficult comeback, but no matter. Kishishi..." Moria laughed. "And that's not all."
Moria's head began to change colour.
"We should end him." Tamayo hastened, ready to attack.
"No, wait." Law stopped her, observing ahead, "There's no point."
Despite his calm observation, he couldn't keep his surprise that Moria's head had been flipped for a Doppelman's head. In other words, Moria had switched places with a shadow Doppelman located someplace else.
"What happened to him?" Aoi was surprised to find the dark husk of a head left behind.
"It's obvious he has escaped." Law mentioned. But he knew that most of the active Paramecia-type Devil Fruits have a small range of function. That meant Moria was somewhere close. Law's hunch, Moria was most likely located behind the zombie invasion and acted as the Shadow Master. But it didn't make sense for a headless body to revive all the zombies on his own, and finding its path all the way to the Demon Slayer headquarters. Did Moria's head act as some kind of beacon beckoning the zombies right to the Butterfly Mansion? There was no answer to that. But Law did know that Moria had help. His first assumption was the infamous Dr. Hogback who had been with Moria during the Ryukyu Island and the later sea incidents.
"Well, he is nearby if nothing else." Law mentioned the others.
"Where?" Tamayo asked.
"Somewhere safe from immediate harm. My guess is behind the zombie army."
Aoi went outside the room and discovered reinforcements. She brought them inside.
"Captain Law. At your service." mentioned Hinatsuru, who came along with Makio and Suma.
"Sorry, we had some business to take care of." Makio mentioned.
"No worries. You three head ahead with Tamayo and aid the others." Law said.
"You don't look so good." Suma observed in worry.
"Don't worry about me." Law said. "There won't be a Mansion left should the enemy breach. Wish I could help..."
"Desist that thought, Trafalgar Law!" bellowed Tamayo. "Employing your sorcery powers can cost you your life."
"What happened?" Hinatsuru asked in surprise.
"He had breathing spasm from using his powers. He was withdrawn from battle for the very same reason." Aoi replied.
"Poor Captain." Suma sobbed.
"Don't worry about me. I should be the least of your concern. Has Tomioka arrived?" Law asked.
"He arrived a few moments back." Aoi reported.
"Alright, you all go. I'll hear from you all." Law said, leaving the room with the others. The kunoichis rushed the other way towards the battle. Tamayo gave Aoi an emergency prescription, should Law suffer for further spasms.
"Got it." Aoi nodded, returning back to Law.
They found Law's room door open, despite being locked when they had left before.
"Unexpected things are hounding us tonight." He remarked.
"A thief! But how? I know for one thing that it wasn't a Demon." Aoi said.
"You do?"
"I may not look like it but I had cleared the Final Selection to become a Demon Slayer. I can sense a Demon if nothing else."
"I'll take your word for it."
Aoi rushed inside and checked around. The room was a big mess. Piles of books and papers scattered throughout the ground.
"Who did this?" she was shocked.
"Whoever it was, must have been careful." Law mentioned, knowing well that he couldn't detect the intruder with his Observation Haki. He looked around, and despite the mess, there was nothing amiss or stolen.
Except for his desk drawer being broken and left open. Aoi got notice of the same. Law realised that the only thing missing was the heart that he had kept inside.
"The thief was after the heart!" Aoi realised all the same.
Law looked around, trying to sense any presence. He found no trace with his Observation Haki.
"Someone had been watching us before we left my room." He mentioned.
"Could it have been Moria? I don't understand." Aoi was worried.
"Neither do I." Law looked around, preoccupied in thought.
"Please wait a moment." Aoi rushed off outside, whilst Law wandered in his thoughts.
He knew for once that it couldn't have been Moria himself with his headless body prancing through the Mansion. That would have been an obvious find.
The intruder had known of Moria's heart, and that itself proved that the fellow was somehow connected to the Shadow Master one way or the other. If Kibutsuji had known of Law and Zoro there was a chance the Demon King would have known of Moria as well. Doflamingo had already made contact with a group of Kibutsuji's Demons the other day. Despite Aoi's perceptive skills and a deduction that a Demon had not been involved with the thievery, Law was wary that there were Demons like Daki who could hide their presence. If Kibutsuji was involved, what was his plan? Law couldn't fathom the enemy planning to recruit both Doflamingo and Moria into their schemes.
After a second thought, he wanted to let things be. Moria and Doflamingo were enemies, if nothing else. And Kibutsuji had no idea regarding that information.
Aoi showed up, holding a Nichirin blade. Law was surprised to find her with a weapon.
"There might be enemies lurking in the darkness. Since you are not in the best shape to fight, I shall help you the best I can." Aoi said with conviction, which Law appreciated.
"There's nothing here." Law said, walking out of the room. Aoi followed suit.
"What do you plan to do?" Aoi asked.
"The courtyard's facing the other side of the zombie battle. We sit out there and observe the night."
Aoi understood what he meant. Law could rest and contemplate on his Observation Haki looking over the whole Mansion.
"I don't know. Won't you be stressing yourself out? And from what Lady Tamayo have to say..."
"I don't know why but that spasm happened because I used my Devil Fruit power. All we'll be doing now is scouting duty. Everyone's busy with the zombies. You and I are the only ones with blades to cover that side of the Mansion."
They arrived by the courtyard, and rested on the wooden walkway.
"The little ones are in the infirmary, am I right?" Law asked.
"Kiyo, Sumi and Naho are attending the wounded Demon Slayers." Aoi replied.
"Hmm. They will be alright. Me and my Haki will be keeping an eye on their situation."
"There's no end to this!" Tomioka growled, leaping above a group of zombies. "Waterfall Basin!"
He slammed his Breathing Technique on the enemies below, sweeping off the whole horde.
"We have run out of salt." Shinobu reported.
"Not good." Tomioka said.
Tamayo showed up behind them.
"Moria's head has escaped." she mentioned.
"What?" Tomioka was confused.
"It was replaced by a shadow. Must have been the pirate's sorcery."
"The Doppelman!" Shinobu realised. "I didn't know he could have done that."
"Law explains that Moria's yet in the vicinity." Tamayo added.
"Moria must have shown up somewhere nearby with the rest of the body." Shinobu explained. "Something must have gone wrong. Moria wouldn't have dared to escape with his heart in Law's grasp."
"'Heart?'" Tamayo asked confused.
"Shinobu's right. Moria is vicious, but Law turned the tables upside down back at sea. Moria wouldn't have started this crusade should there be any uncertainty of winning." Tomioka said.
"Law wouldn't be so careless. From what I can tell, he had gained quite a substantial advantage after defeating the Warlord Moria. I couldn't fathom why he'd be lax right now." Shinobu said.
"Don't forget Law's not well in health. Moria might have gotten news of that. He might have some spy." Tamayo mentioned.
"The only human he had on board was that Dr. Hogback. Everyone would have detected his presence should he have attempted stealing Moria's heart back." Tomioka said.
Shinobu nodded in agreement.
"Was it one of his zombies from the ship? Like that sniper?" she asked.
"Last I heard, the ship went down with every zombie on board." Tomioka mentioned. "Did the zombies lose their shadows after falling into the sea? A lot of uncertain circumstances."
The battle went on. After squelching another group of zombies with physical brutality, Tomioka and Shinobu were surprised to find Aoi come up to them with a report. The young girl explained the event that had happened in Law's room.
"You say Law's room was breached?" Shinobu asked Aoi.
The latter nodded.
"So, Moria is back with both his head and heart. It seems he had it planned all along." Tomioka remarked. "The worst has come to pass."
"It's surprising none of us could detect any outside presence." Shinobu was surprised.
"Don't look at me. You are the one training with Observation Haki. I can only sense the presence of Demons."
"I know. But either way, I couldn't sense anything other than the zombies. Law made no mention. Some dangerous fellow had infiltrated my home. And it makes me mad."
"Law-san says it was one of Moria's associates." Aoi mentioned.
"Of course. No one would have been dedicated enough to steal Moria's heart in the mere moment." Tomioka agreed. "But what bothers me is the identity of the intruder. Are we underestimating the devious Dr. Hogback?"
"Law-san doesn't believe it was that man." Aoi stated.
"Well, either way, it's just like Tamayo had mentioned. Moria's nearby. And we can find answers once we can defeat him." Shinobu said.
"Easier said than done. Unlike Law's gambit from before, Moria will be on alert this time." Tomioka said.
On the other side, Law sat observing the courtyard.
A group of Demon Slayer reinforcements had shown up. They had received report from Goto, the Kakushi, and were eager to join battle along with Shinobu and the others. But instead, Law gave them a new order to keep watch around the Mansion.
"Keep eyes out for intruders. One of them went past not too long ago." he mentioned.
"Yes sir." the Demon Slayers scattered.
Aoi returned back and observed the reinforcements rush through the Mansion.
"More sets of eyes are better than one." Law said.
"I have relayed the news relating the heart." Aoi said.
"How's the situation out there?"
"Lady Shinobu and Hashira Tomioka mentioned of fighting the way to Moria. But the salt supply had ended and the zombie surge seems endless."
"Moria is giving it all. His pirate honour is on the line." Law said. "At the same time I'm really feeling helpless in the regard."
"You have done a lot for us. It won't be your fault should the worst happen."
"Don't worry about that. I trained those kids Tanjiro and Nezuko the past week. And there's Tomioka and Shinobu. They'll figure something out."
"They will." Aoi agreed.
It hadn't been long after when Law decided to take notice of something interesting and unexpected. He got up to his feet much to Aoi's surprise. The girl observed his grave expression with curiosity.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Stay beside me." Law replied, rushing along the walkway towards the infirmary.
Aoi followed him and soon realised the reason Law was worked up. She felt a faint presence of a Demon. But then she realised that she had felt the very same presence before. It belonged to the Upper Moon Daki; the Demon in her pitiful condition had been bounded inside the Mansion lab. But the trouble remained on the fact that Daki's presence was moving through the Mansion.
Law knew that Daki herself was not capable of breaking free, especially from Shinobu's experiments and paralysing poison.
They soon came upon the corridor that went past the infirmary towards the lab.
"I don't get it but why is the Demon presence moving? The Upper Moon was in severe captivity." Aoi mentioned in growing fear.
"Let's find out." Law replied, drawing his blade.
And they soon did. There she was, Daki, but in the same worsened shape, glaring back upon the people ahead of her. Much to Aoi's surprise, the shrivelled Upper Moon had an ally.
A Demon Slayer of all people, held the Demon in his grasp.
TO BE CONTINUED...