Lyn laughed and pressed her tear-stained cheeks against Cassandra's. "I missed you so much, Cee."

"I missed you too." Lyn had somehow gotten away with reducing her striped shirt into a crop top. Cassandra held her girlfriend at arm's-length to admire her short hair and the barely visible scars scattered about her skin. She couldn't wait to go over each one with all the time in the world, but her gaze was inevitably drawn to the enormous scar that went straight down from below the left corner of Lyn's mouth to her pelvis with a small gap between her chin and sternum.

"I made a mistake," Lyn joked through her tears. "Oops."

Cassandra fiercely kissed her again, then lightly pressed her lips to the top of Lyn's scar. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm so much more than okay." Lyn roughly rubbed Cassandra's pixie cut. "You're as fucking hot as you've always been. Hotter, actually. Spirits, I've missed you so much."

As much as Cassandra wanted to keep making out, she couldn't let herself be distracted. "We were supposed to have more time together, but a busted elevator sent me through Spiky Hell. It's technically safer now, but I just want to-" Unable to resist, she interrupted herself with another drawn-out kiss, barely able to keep herself from moaning. Lyn was more than happy to reciprocate, her tongue sliding along Cassandra's. "I can't wait until tonight."

Lyn's eyes sparkled. "You're telling me. How out of practice are you?"

"Generally, I'm not. With one of these"-she ran a finger between Lyn's legs-"a bit."

"I'm just glad you had fun without me. I was worried you wouldn't."

"You're only more than enough for me when you're with me." Her gaze lingered on Lyn's lips. "And now you are."

Lyn giggled and gave her a light peck. "And we will be forever. For real, this time."

"I will never let us get burned like that again," Cassandra vowed.

"Only if you don't overwork yourself. I'll stop you before you do."

Cassandra embraced her tightly. "You don't want to hear how bad I've been at that."

"Oh, yes I do."

"You don't." She filled Lyn in on the plan, tenderly stroking her all the while.

Lyn pecked Cassandra's cheek this time. "You're gonna tell us ev-"

The sound of a heavy blow was accompanied by the unmistakable creak of bending metal. "STAY CALM!" Pythia bellowed. "WAIT UNTIL I GET OUT!"

The two pirates rushed to join the people congregating in the middle of the room. Fear tangibly rippled through its occupants as Pythia's strikes grew more and more forceful. The portcullis bulged beneath her attacks, but remained in place. The guards finished charging into the room, fingers tightening on their weapons as they fought to keep from panicking. One particularly strong hit shook the entire floor, and everyone strove to keep their balance.

A chill settled on the room when Pythia's assault suddenly ceased. Only heavy breathing could be heard. The guards had just barely relaxed when Pythia burst through her gate, flinging the portcullis out of her way, her slitted eyes roving about. "BE LOUD AND HAVE FUN! STAY AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE ROOM WHEN I START HITTING IT!"

Her hive voiced their approval as they stampeded off of her to join the pandemonium. Some of her iron-foot snails had left the warmth and comfort of her robes to encase her head. Oloxoco's thick scales protected him from most attacks as he surged about like a river from a burst dam. He slithered over to the two pirates and looked up at them with bright white eyes. Cassandra crouched to rub his nose. "Been keeping her happy?"

"She's been having fun making so many new friends!" Lyn said. "He's just been lazing around."

Oloxoco flicked his tongue out at her and returned to Pythia, who was hammering her limbs against the floor. Cassandra followed through the cells and pens he had demolished to see Shinobu break through the wall damaged by the thrown portcullis and join the rampage. Pythia briefly reared up to her full height when she spotted her Sisters. "Cover and disguise Lyn! Remember, make it look like she was eaten without actually eating her!"

Lyn tumbled to the ground and was quickly swarmed by a veritable menagerie of animals. A cluster of fennel-web spiders spun intricate new designs over her clothes, swiftly obscuring her prisoner's garb. Cassandra didn't even spare a glance for the spiders' work, running past them and meeting back up with Shinobu. Her brow narrowed when she saw the swollen blood vessels in Shinobu's eyes, but said nothing. The last thing she needed was an out-of-control oni messing up her plans.

Shouts rang out as Pythia broke through the floor. A swarm of insects and several cucullate pitohuis slowed Cassandra's descent, and she hit the ground running. Her feet sank in the hot sands as she followed her nose. Aisha living on her ship for over a month was more than enough time to commit her scent to memory. The question was if Aisha wanted to return to whatever new ship she would command.

She smiled when she spotted the woman swinging a huge stone column like it was an inflatable prop. Aisha had definitely not lost any weight since entering Impel Down, and the horizontal stripes on her headscarf and uniform only made her appear wider. She paused when she caught sight of Cassandra and hustled over, resting the pillar over her shoulder. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes. What an unexpectedly attention-getting entrance."

"Uh-huh. What's your plan, go back into my employ or finish your sentence?"

"I'm going with you." Cassandra nodded and was turning away when Aisha continued, "As a crew member."

Cassandra blinked at her in disbelief. "I'm sorry? No, tell me later. Hit me back over there, don't fight the guards as much as you can help it, and do not squash the spiders that will swarm you. They'll change your clothes, and you'll die if they bite you." She reflected on Aisha's mass. "Probably."

For someone who wanted to join her crew, Aisha sure didn't hesitate to smack her with the column. Even though she boosted her adrenal system and hardened her body beneath her clothes with Haki, Cassandra still grunted when she was knocked away. Oloxoco rose up to intercept her, allowing her to slide down his back and shout, "Coming with!"

Sand fountained through the air as Pythia redoubled her efforts. The prisoners were all giving her a wide berth, and there was a notable lack of people attacking her. Cassandra watched the guards run along the balconies as they descended to the floor below, internally debating on whether she should have asked Jen to go to Level 4 instead of Level 6. She still wasn't sure if avoiding Jen's bragging was worth making her plan slightly riskier.

Everyone was more prepared when Pythia smashed her way through the floor again. Cassandra immediately located the warden's bottom-heavy form, and his smile and brief chin raise let her know who exactly he was. "This stops here!" Jordan shouted as Pythia hit the ground. "Take that thing down no matter what! Stay out of my way; there's plenty enough of that monster to go around!"

"Only pretend to attack the tall one with the huge thighs and clear face mask! That's Jordan! She's not really trying to hurt me! It's okay to knock her around a bit, but do not poison her unless I tell you to."

Blazing Hell may not have been as dry as Starvation Hell, but the increased proximity to the furnaces definitely made the heat more unbearable. The guards helped get Cassandra away from the center as they ran towards Pythia. Her hive filled the air as they set upon guards and prisoners alike, though it was clear some animals were starting to overheat. Sizzling water streamed by Cassandra's feet as the enormous cauldron was knocked over, hollow echoes reverberating throughout the room as the air grew even hotter and more humid.

She slid next to one of the prisoners, throwing an arm around his shoulders to halt her momentum. "Ready to go?"

Alexander pretended to stabilize her as he hugged her tightly, tears of joy trickling down his face. "You know it."

"Good. You're gonna fall into a furnace and burn alive."

They ran along the edges of the battle until Shinobu crashed nearby amid a flurry of animals. Once Cassandra was sure the sovereign monitors were paying attention, she shoved Alexander towards the nearest searing opening. He stumbled and fell, and the lizards rushed by and pulled him underneath them just before he rolled in. Cassandra located the nearby video snail and positioned herself between it and her nakama, Shinobu rushing over to embrace Cassandra and further obscure him. He only squirmed a little as fennel-web spiders streamed off of Shinobu and began altering his clothes.

Getting away from the brawl had been easy enough, but getting back was entirely different. Leaving Alexander to Shinobu, Cassandra struggled to get through the army of guards trying in vain to bring Pythia down from a distance. Her thick robes and skin prevented most bullets from doing any damage, and the shells of her iron-footed snails deflected the rest. Thick webs protected her eyes, and any damage was swiftly woven closed.

Triumphant shouts rang out when a large group of guards managed to get the massive cauldron off the ground and hurl it at Pythia. She lifted her arm to bat it aside, but Jordan had already jumped into the air and intercepted the vessel midflight. It stuck fast to Pythia's sleeve, pulling her off-balance enough for several large Zoan hybrids to topple her onto her side.

Her hive's behavior immediately changed from aimless mayhem to coordinated carnage. Cucullate pitohuis and strikethrushes swooped up with freshly-woven nets to pull the drifting casket jellies down into the fray, the jellies' unparalleled venom inducing ear-piercing screams. Goliath beasteater spiders the size of large dogs taxied tiny reaper scorpions and smooching bugs around while venom moths dropped artillery ants from above. Marathon spiders zipped underfoot to deal with anyone who had tripped avoiding hawking wasps or been bowled over by the sovereign monitors. Oloxoco slithered up anything that wasn't a furnace and dive bombed whoever posed the most threat to Pythia, his venom making quick work of everything he bit.

As deadly as Pythia's animals were, their numbers were not limitless. Cassandra wove under a wildly swung fist and knocked a wounded goliath beasteater out of the reach of a guard's sword. Shinobu arrived immediately afterwards, shoving a cluster of guards into Oloxoco's path. Her haggard breathing and reddening eyes prompted Cassandra to kiss her cheek. "Tell Py she's behind schedule."

Cassandra clumsily chased after her and fell to the ground. A guard grabbed the back of her shirt and tossed her away from the center. She fled to the nearest security and hammered her fist on the door, her uneven breaths causing slight time differences between each hit. She turned back towards Pythia as horror spread across her face. "No, Gino!"

A guard opened the door ever so slightly as she ran away and quickly shut it again. Everyone in front of her seemed to spontaneously slap a hand to the back of their neck as they swayed on their knees, and she maneuvered through them without any resistance. She vaulted over Oloxoco when he surged in front of her and landed on the fractured floor. She shouted as she punched Pythia, and a gigantic centipede pulled her into the billowy robes, the rough fibers scratching at her skin.

She allowed herself a joyful smile when she got to her feet. Lyn and Alexander sat on swings made of spider silk while two gigantic centipedes, a goliath beasteater, and a copious amount of spiderwebs were needed to stick Aisha to Pythia's skin. Shinobu meditated with her legs crossed and Raven crouching on one knee. Cassandra quickly pressed a finger to her lips and waved her hand before they could speak. "We're almost two minutes behind schedule. Where's Yin?"

"She cannot currently leave Level 5 without arousing suspicion," Raven said.

They regained their balance after the floor dropped slightly. "We're about to go to Level 5. A lot of Py's hive will stay up here to fight the guards. Aisha, your first order as a Black Glove Pirate is to help Pythia get to Level 6." Everyone's heads snapped towards the rotund woman. "Don't worry about being seen; you'll be covered. Hit the floor, but stop before you hurt yourself. You'll get reinforcements soon enough. There are actually two floors between Levels 5 and 6. Amica, you're coming with me after we break through the first one."

The floor collapsed before Lyn could ask why, and they all held on to soften their landing on the thick snow. Shinobu's tension seemed to melt away as frigid air swept in, her clear eyes opening wide. "I'm cool."

She climbed to her feet and ran from the comfort of Pythia's robes. Cassandra went after her, holding herself tightly as she shivered. Her throat felt like it would freeze every time she inhaled as she slowed to a stop and looked around blindly, unwilling to drop character despite the thick fog. After turning this way and that, she took off and clenched her teeth to prevent them from chattering. She hopped over a frozen figure and landed sloppily, her feet shooting out from underneath her. She came to a sudden stop when she slid into a tree, groaning loudly in pain.

A large shape silently approached her and knelt by her side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not used to snow. Fuck, you're ugly."

Cain's eyes crinkled behind his long unkempt hair and bushy beard. "So I've heard. Stay safe. Something appears to need my attention."

"At least fucking help me up." Her hand definitely didn't fit as far around his finger as it had when they had left each other. "Did you get frostbite or something? Why are you so cold?"

"It's called Freezing Hell for a reason." She couldn't fault him for lingering a little longer than he should have before heading off to Pythia; she had barely resisted the urge to hug him under the pretext of being extremely thankful for his assistance. She was brushing snow off her clothes when low growls sounded out. Watchwolves closed in around her, teeth bared threateningly, but paused when she emitted just a tiny bit of Conqueror's Haki. They whimpered when she looked at them and meekly retreated, tails between their legs.

One objective completed, she sprinted towards a door to the exterior of the level. It opened before she had a chance to knock, several guards spilling past her. She peered through the doorway as she rubbed her arms. "Forklift?"

"Owen!" Yin shouted as she ran up. "What're you doing here?"

They steadied each other as the level shook, Theo sliding over to help. "Some freak has been bashing its way down the prison. I think it's trying to get out. I'm trying to help stop it, but it's got more assistance than I thought it would and Gino's been a huge pain to keep track of. Can you help me back? I'm shit at dealing with snow."

The three of them took their time traversing the icy terrain, pausing whenever a large spray of ice hurtled by them. The warden's adhesive Fruit definitely slowed Pythia's progress, but the power also allowed her to pull up large chunks of the floor after breaking it enough. Her hive had mostly returned to the warmth of her robes, but enough of it still swarmed around her to hide Cain and Aisha, their camouflaged clothes and the omnipresent fog making it even harder to see them.

Jordan did a double take when they approached the handful of guards still trying to bring Pythia down. "What are you doing?! Get away!"

"I can calm it down!"

"Whatever! I'm not responsible if you-"

Cassandra dove forward when the floor broke apart. Dust and stale air rushed past them as they hit the ground, making everyone cough madly. The guards radiated confusion as they looked around the unlit area that had remained undisturbed for years if not decades. They had little time to wonder as Pythia resumed her assault, shielding their eyes as they tried to get close.

Without the need to fool video surveillance, Cassandra simply ran through the throng and ducked under Pythia's robes. "By 15:34," she reminded them as she grabbed Lyn's hand. After receiving some masks for the dust, they slipped back through the fighters and into the darkness. Without information and floorplans, Cassandra could only rely on her senses to direct her. Their footfalls rebounding off the walls allowed her to run without hitting anything as she honed in on her target, and in this instance, she was glad Lyn had no trouble blindly following her.

She gathered herself as they arrived at a doorway, almost ten years of anger roiling within her. "Let. Me. In."

Lyn squeezed her hand as seconds ticked by and her Conqueror's Haki started leaking out. Only the fact that she was unarmed kept her from attacking when the door finally opened, and it still took everything she had not to accidentally break Lyn's fingers. A woman slightly shorter than she was stepped back to get a better look at the pair. Time had been kind to her, her wrinkles slightly more prominent but not distracting. Her seemingly soft body and casual stance belied her true nature. Lyn gasped when her hazel eyes shifted over from Cassandra and a familiar smirk crossed the woman's face. "Well, isn't this a welcome surprise. It's so good to see you, darling."

"Fuck off," Cassandra snapped. "I don't have a lot of time, Mom. Tell me truthfully: were you hired by Han Janz to assassinate the Five Stars?"

"Unfortunately, that is incorrect." Priya's smirk grew. "How does that make you feel?"

"I was hoping for a sensible answer and dreading how similar we are. You wouldn't have abandoned your fucking family and more importantly, your title just for that. The only reason you did is because you wouldn't be able to fulfill your duties if you took the mission, and there's no way you would let yourself be known as someone who couldn't stay on top of her shit. You got a target that would take up so much time to assassinate by Black Glove standards that you'd have to focus solely on it to get it done in your lifetime. Han Janz didn't hire you to assassinate the Five Stars of the World Government.

"He hired you to assassinate the World Government itself."

Priya laughed and clapped her hands. "You never cease to amaze me. Do you know how much of a handful she was growing up?" she asked Lyn. "Everytime we thought we knew what she was going to do, we felt like fools when her ideas came to fruition."

"This isn't the time for jokes. Fuck being a mom to Helen and I. You just wanted to be known as the greatest assassin of all time."

"I am the greatest assassin of all time. I'm just working on the proof."

Cassandra glanced at Lyn. "See?"

"Yeah, I see that you two are definitely mother and daughter."

"If you think-"

"You abandoned your family too, Cassandra," Priya said gently as Lyn held Cassandra back. "You didn't have to be exiled. I have no doubt that you could have figured out a way to stay, but you were too proud and angry to even consider it. I know what you said to the council. There wasn't much negotiation involved."

"I devoted my fucking life to making our Family greater, and they voted unanimously against Dad to kick me out! What could I have done that he couldn't? How is that me abandoning my family?"

"You abandoned a young girl desperate for physical affection that only three people in the world can provably provide." Priya's loving, soothing voice only incensed Cassandra further. "You abandoned a kindhearted migoi terrified of her own body. You abandoned a young woman who can only communicate her complex thoughts to six other people. You abandoned a World Noble who would bow to you without a second thought. You abandoned a Human who formed an identity to be proud of instead of disappearing into homogeneity. You abandoned a staunch misogynist who thought women were too weak to be worth interacting with. Your abandonment of a woman who had never felt personal connections was so intolerable to her that she in turn had to abandon the aforesaid people to be at your side."

"I DID NOT ABANDON THEM!" she shouted, struggling to break out of Lyn's embrace.

"They certainly felt like you had."

"I'm not you! I will never just disappear from their lives without a trace! I can't live without my family, and all of them know that! I used to be annoyed that my Sisters kept dropping by, but not anymore! As long as they're doing their jobs, I want them to visit me every godsdamn time they can! They won't be forced to find a place that doesn't exist!"

Priya slightly tilted her head. "Oh, so you intend to stay on every island long enough that they can spend months determining where you are, getting there, hanging out with you, and getting back? The New World doesn't have island chains like Paradise. There's no predicting where you'll be, especially with that navigator of yours."

"Between four Marine admirals, the Seven Warlords, the four Five Emperors, the ex-Emperor, and the countless people also vying for One Piece, I sure can't blitz my way through like I did Paradise. They'll figure it out."

"You can't afford to take too long. I hear Empress Bol is getting close."

"You just had to bring up that fucking-"

"It is good to meet my daughter's girlfriend in person," Priya interrupted, leaving Cassandra apoplectic with rage. "I knew Cassandra would be stopping by, but your presence is genuinely unexpected. I would have thought she would want you to stay as far away from me as possible."

"She promised me she'd let me come with her to see you," Lyn explained, "although she didn't think it would happen so soon."

"Or that you would be available to accompany her," Priya accurately stated as Cassandra bit back her retort. "She was meticulous about hiding her bisexuality, but you managed to pull her out of the closet. You are an extremely fascinating person, Lyn Mojigata. Or should I say, Evelyn Fischracci?"

Lyn frowned in confusion. "Who?"

Priya lifted a thick file from the table by the door and opened it. "Certainly an unusual name, long E, two syllables long. Did the nuns remove 'Eve' from your name to hide the darkness of night?"

"My name isn't-" She stopped short, and Cassandra hugged Lyn's suddenly loose arms to keep them in place. She much preferred wearing the infuriatingly patronizing Black Glove smile instead of being on the receiving end of it.

"Isn't what? This divide is reflected in your behavior as well. It's not multiple personalities in one body, although it can be easier to talk about it that way. They're two facets of the same gem. You sequester part of yourself in order to deal with difficult matters. Nobody understands how Lyn could handle loving and dating my daughter. Eve, on the other hand, can endure her unchangeable malevolence and unapologetically reciprocate her love. I suppose it's a side effect of the nuns manufacturing your memories so you would forget the truth about your parents. How sure are you about who you really are?"

A different kind of ire scorched Cassandra's body when Lyn slumped against her. "Don't listen to a word she's saying. Damien isn't his alter ego Buttercup when he's socializing with us, nor is Miserie the Ghostmaster Joe when she gets freaked out. We all have different sides of ourselves. It's part of being alive."

"Do you know who the Fischraccis are?" Priya probed. "Have you ever wondered why you never fit in?"

"We are leaving," Cassandra snarled. "I have a schedule to keep. See you in another decade assuming I don't drown you and everyone else in this place."

"Really, darling? That's all the time you managed to carve out?"

She scoffed and turned away. "That's as long as I can stand being around you right now."

It felt like they had suddenly been transported into the underworld itself. Lyn's knees gave way and she desperately clutched at her girlfriend, gasping for air. "We have so much more to talk about, Cassandra."

"Then feel free to drop by. Dad has several times. Breathe, Lyn. Your mind is only telling you that you're dead and can't anymore."

"I don't have time to chase you all over the New World."

Cassandra hefted Lyn into her arms. "And I don't have time to listen to my leviathan cunt of a mother pick my life apart with excruciating detail during my first meeting with her in years. Have fun assassinating an idea. I'll tell Helen you've become even shittier than we expected."

Lyn gasped as Priya retracted her aura and they returned to the realm of the living. "Never forget that I love you, dearest."

"I'll never forget you saying those words." She boosted her system and sprinted as fast as she could back to the others. Lyn held on for dear life and cried into Cassandra's shoulder. With the mask over her mouth, Cassandra couldn't even spare a breath to comfort her girlfriend. She didn't even know if she could look Lyn in the face.

A gigantic centipede was waiting by the hole in the floor, two white sheets dangling from its antennae. Clinging to the unstable rock edge, it lowered them down after Cassandra covered her and Lyn's heads and dropped them the rest of the way. Pythia instantly looked at them when they landed despite the near-total blackness. "We're leaving! Hey, you guys! We're coming out!"

Her remaining animals rushed to her as she bashed her way through the wall into the waterlock, managing to create an opening slightly above the water level. Her dive sent a deluge of seawater through the room. Cassandra fought against the current until some cowardly sea snakes wrapped around her limbs and pulled her forward. She took a deep breath before they fully submerged into the Calm Belt. Thankfully, Lyn's grip had only tightened over time, and Cassandra closed her eyes as her body went limp.