A/N: So sorry it has taken me practically a month to get an update up. At least it's a long chapter, right? - There might be some mistakes in here. My sounding board (hubbs) was really tired, and fell asleep while I was reading it to him. I'm too eager to update to wait for him to wake up from his nap.
Hey, him falling asleep doesn't mean the chapter is boring! -we have a teething baby! We haven't slept!
Ch. 12 – Mihawk
Helena felt obliged to stop her tale when her husband burst into loud laughter.
"Bah ha ha ha! Oh, please tell me he had to cut off those stupid dreads after that!" he pleaded, a grin spreading across his face at long last. Helena chuckled.
"Those super cool dreads you mean?" she teased, and Zoro narrowed his gaze at her.
"Don't call them cool," he huffed.
Helena giggled. "Are you kidding? He is way too vain to cut his dreadlocks off. I mean, they're almost to his waist. They probably took a lifetime to grow!" she shrugged. "And like it or not, they are pretty cool, just not when they're smothered in cheese."
"Hmph, if you say so," Zoro grunted, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. "So, if he didn't cut them off, what happened to him?"
"Well, let's just say we have his vanity to thank for almost single-handedly dealing with our rat problem," Helena said. "Unlike a certain someone I know who would rather cut off his body parts than lose a battle," she nudged Zoro in the ribs, "Calypso allowed himself to become a malacoda magnet. He ran away from them through the streets, cutting down swaths of them as they attacked him." Helena giggled, then almost couldn't speak through her own amusement: "See, this made Feta mad, so he kept smothering Calypso in more and more cheese, which meant more and more kept attacking him. It was beautiful."
The Straw Hats joined in her laughter, but soon she sobered.
"You'd think that would have helped us gain back some footing," Helena continued. "And some of my people were foolish enough to think it meant we could take back the city. Polydorus and I wasted a lot of time convincing people to leave."
"You still had the marines and the schichibukai to worry about," Robin observed, and Helena nodded.
"I organized as many as would listen to help to get the injured out, and made it my mission to get as many access to the ships docked in the western port as possible. – I don't know if you all saw it while you were there. We don't keep most of our triremes in the bay where the sea prism mines are. – it makes them easy targets." Helena sighed. "I had Polydorus leading his small unit, Achilles leading my men, and Raqueline du Agamemnon leading her father's hired hands. Many brave civilians joined their swords to each of these groups, but it still wasn't enough. Not against the Schichibukai. Not with sabotaged sea prism weapons."
"Raqueline led her father's men?" Usopp asked in surprise. "She's, um, not exactly combat material."
Helena smiled wryly. "True. But seeing one's homeland go up in smoke has a way of building one's courage, I suppose. She led bravely."
"She must be pretty strong if she survived Diddy's assassination attempt," Usopp acknowledged.
"Diddy intentionally left her alive," Helena explained, brow furrowed pensively. "Raqueline told me she had been knocked out and tied up in her workshop. I don't know why Diddy saved her, but despite what Raqueline seems to think, I doubt her great grandmother was motivated by compassion, even if Raqueline was her favorite."
"An artist's respect toward an artist, perhaps?" Robin ventured.
Helena shook her head. "Many of Diddy's progeny were talented artisans," she pointed out. "But that's a mystery for another time. Suffice it, Raqueline, Achilles, Polydorus and I had our hands full. When our enemies saw that we were headed to the Western Port, many of the Schichibukai left off attacking the bay and focused their attention on stopping and destroying our ships. My people had to fight their way through the marines in the city, and then had the schichibukai and their crews to deal with on their way out.
"Fortunately, the Seven Warlords aren't exactly a well-coordinated team, nor do they seem completely loyal to the World Government. Occasionally they seemed to get in one another's way, but I think a few just didn't care if their targets escaped. Otherwise none of our ships would have gotten through.
"However, all of them seemed to have been given orders specifically to capture or kill the royal family. I met several of them face to face, and only managed to survive thanks to the chaos of battle. An explosion caused by Bartholomew Kuma tossed me up onto what remained of the western wall. I had only just started to recover when I ran into him."
She heard Zoro's breath catch beside her. By the looks on everyone's faces, they knew precisely who she meant.
Helena stared into the golden eyes of Dracule Mihawk, only about five sword lengths away. Bloodied and breathing hard from all the fighting, she held Peleus at rest between them, clutching it two-handed for the added strength she knew she would need.
Mihawk's sword remained in its sheath. – Come to think of it, aside from the initial attack on the palace, he hadn't done much of anything during the battle. She hadn't seen his signature, devastating slashes directed toward any of her civilians. Perhaps he had come up here for a better view of the battle, but he had yet to destroy any of her ships, though he was beyond capable from this vantage.
He regarded her through his usual, archaic expression. She resisted the urge to freeze under his intense stare.
"I had a feeling…I would…run into you again," she panted. "I had…just hoped I'd be ready…by then…"
"If you suspected as much, you should have trained harder," Mihawk observed calmly. "I attacked the palace merely to see if you would defend it. I was disappointed, Daughter of Leda."
Helena smirked. "I'm afraid I was a bit…tied up at the time," she pointed out.
"A feeble excuse."
"I know."
Mihawk slowly drew his infamous sword.
"Show me you are worthy to bear her name, Helena du Leda," he said, leveling it at her. "Defend what you love."
Helena took a deep breath and raised her mother's sword. Of all the moments she had stared death in the face that evening, this felt the most inviting. She knew Mihawk wouldn't be impressed with what she had to offer, but if she could die on his blade she could die with honor.
Before either could launch an attack, a familiar giggle caught Helena's attention. It was hardly loud enough to hear above the sounds of battle, or of the flames now raging afresh in the city below, but a mother would know it anywhere.
"Kuina?" Helena cried.
Just then, a little green-haired ball of bedraggled gold fluff dashed between the two combatants. She threw her arms around Mihawk's leg, so tiny she barely came above his knee.
"Kuina, what in Hades are you doing here?!" Helena cried, hardly attempting to stifle her anger or her language. "Where are your nursemaids?!"
Mihawk turned a pensive frown down to the child. He lifted his leg and attempted to shake her off with no effect.
"I yike you!" she informed him, fearlessly meeting his gaze. "You yike Papa!"
"What in Styx are you talking about?" Helena demanded. "He looks nothing like your father!"
"The Princess, I presume," Mihawk observed, regarding her with interest now. "That's an unusual hair color…"
He burst into pleasant laughter. Helena hadn't realized he was capable.
"So Roronoa's the lucky groom, eh?" he chortled. "I was right! I knew he'd be the one!"
Helena frowned peevishly. She knew Zoro had only been obeying the provisos, but it was a little irksome that in the two years he'd trained with Mihawk, her name hadn't come up. "Kuina, come away from him!"
Lowering his sword, Mihawk knelt to the princess' level. She tried to throw her arms about his neck, but he placed an impeding hand on her small shoulder.
"She detects my power," he informed Helena after a moment of searching the child's eyes. "She must have a natural penchant for haki. That is rare in one so young. You should expect great things from her."
"I always have," Helena replied without ire. "She is the daughter of kings. – Kuina, come here, please."
Kuina giggled again and finally turned to run to her mother's side. Helena lifted her onto her hip and raised her sword again. "Where were we?"
Mihawk blinked at her in surprise. "You intend to fight me like this?"
"You told me to protect what I love," Helena replied, brow furrowed beneath her crown. "Kuina has always made me stronger."
"You didn't seriously fight Mihawk with our daughter on your hip," Zoro interrupted incredulously. "Even I'm not that dumb."
Helena gave him an unamused look. "Oh really? And you fighting a hydra with Kuina riding piggy back was different?"
"I didn't have a choice! He was shooting fire balls at us!"
"Well, what did you expect me to do? I couldn't turn my back on our duel, but I couldn't just let Kuina run around on a battlefield either. It was the safest option I could think of!"
"Safest option?" Zoro scoffed, "Where were Andromache and the other nursemaids?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Helena grumbled. "My guess is Cipher Pol had something to do with it…"
Earlier, Andromache made her way through the wrecked streets of Ilium with a bundle strapped to her back. Alone, she drew her enormous sword and turned to face a masked opponent. This one wore an enormous wooden helmet over her face, impersonating Athena, but Ann knew her by the belt of sewing tools about her waist.
Diddy.
"I had a feeling you had it in for Helena," the Lieutenant of the Nursemaid Unit observed, gaze narrowed. "You always blew off her requests for mobile clothing. You wanted to get her killed."
The Cipher Pol agent laughed, her older, drier voice confirming her identity. "Not really," she confessed. "I just wanted her to look fabulous. It's not my fault fashion didn't matter to her as much as function. The only true death trap was the dress I made her for tonight."
Diddy reached into her toolbelt, then flexed her hands. Ten needles suddenly lined her fingernails like claws.
"She'd have died beautifully if she hadn't cut those lousy slits in it," the seamstress went on. "Now she just looks trashy. Fitting, I suppose, given she is the most garbage ruler Ilium has ever seen."
Andromache's lip twitched, but she didn't bother with a response. She swung her enormous sword hard and fast, aiming to slash Diddy straight through the torso if the Cipher Pol agent hadn't disappeared suddenly.
If Dracule Andromache lacked her brother's strength and practice, she still had some of his natural born talent. She could sense her opponent, though had never learned to call this extra sense haki, and managed to side step an attempt to jab five needles into her jugular.
Diddy disappeared again, and Andromache had to remain completely focused against the assassin's quick skill. This time more prepared, Helena's master managed to land a hit, striking Diddy through. The seamstress crumpled and fell.
…that should have chopped her in half.
"Thunder farts!" Andromache cursed. "I left the stupid child proofing on again!"
She pulled off the foam edge to her sword. Nursing bruised ribs, Diddy used the brief respite to access her toolbelt. Apparently realizing she would be safer attacking from a distance, she tied a ribbon to the handle of a rotary cutter and whipped the circular blade at the sword master.
Ann deflected it easily, batting the cutter aside
"Your attack style relies too much on surprise, old lady," she goaded.
A second, surprise blade came at Ann as she spoke; a quilting needle on a thread, almost undetectable. It had been aimed at her heart, but Ann side-stepped it and drew a sea stone dagger to slice the thread through.
"Come now, this is getting pathetic," Andromache goaded as Diddy drew a pair of long, sharp fabric shears. "Keep embarrassing yourself like this, and any victory of mine will just feel like elderly abuse."
A sudden rumbling split the air, and Andromache's attention caught on the enormous, striped tree monster crouched near the palace. A great volcanic eruption had rocketed straight through him, spraying skyward in a glowing red fountain from the plumes of his giant helmet. The wooden kaiju burst into flames.
Anyone near that enormous bonfire had to be dead. Waves of heat distorted the air, catching any wood remotely near the plaza on fire, including the Grove of Kings. Andromache could feel the searing air from where she stood.
"Hector…" she murmured, tears stinging her eyes from more than the heat.
Thus distracted, she didn't notice Diddy's incoming shears a moment later. The assassin dived for her back, and attacked the bundle, cutting the top open.
"What's this?!" Diddy shrieked, gazing inside the ruptured bundle. "The Princess isn't here!"
Andromache spun around, swinging her blade wide as she went. The spry old lady had already disappeared, however, and the enormous blade connected with nothing but air.
"A decoy," Diddy growled. "I should have known you wouldn't be the one to have her."
Andromache grinned. "That would have been too obvious. I'm the leader of the unit after all. – you'd have been better off attacking me directly with those shears."
Diddy holstered the weapon, highly affronted. "What kind of rube do you take me for?!" she cried. "I would never use my fabric sheers to cut anything but fabric!"
Andromache blinked at her in surprise, but then held her sword at the ready. "You'll regret not taking the opening, old lady!"
"I don't have time to waste with you, short stuff," Diddy countered. She disappeared again, only this time she didn't reappear. Andromache had sensed her as she dodged around her ready sword jetted away toward another nursemaid.
"Drat. She's headed toward Camilla. What I wouldn't give to have our transponder snails up and running."
After their near execution, the nursemaids had barely managed to find their weapons and formulate their ruse before splitting up. They hadn't been able to retrieve the mini transponders they usually carried to keep in touch with one another. It was probably for the best. Transponders could be tapped, after all.
"You can say that again."
Andromache whipped around to find her son, Astayanax. He had apparently thrown away his own decoy bundle. "I got attacked by Orpheus," he replied to her queried look. "He knows I don't have her, so he went to attack Camilla too."
So Cipher Pol had figured, as Andromache had, that her son would be the next most obvious choice in this little decoy ruse. Astayanax had always been Kuina's favorite after all.
Like her mother before her, Kuina had always gravitated toward the strong, masculine figures in her life. – or maybe it was because out of all the nursemaids, Ax had the cushy job of teaching her fun things, like songs, arts and crafts. They had almost hired Orpheus for the job – imagine! – but went with Ax, not for any musical prowess, but because he already knew of Kuina's existence. It seemed best to let as few people in on the secret as possible.
Anyway, because of his parents' relationship with the queen, the young soldier had already bonded with the child before the unit was assembled. And he loved his job. It was a sight watching the enormous young man try to cut through paper using a tiny pair of childproofed scissors.
"I think I saw Nysa's headed for Prue," he went on, "Wish we could warn them."
"We should go help," Ann remarked. "They're going to figure out which one of us has her soon enough, and she's going to need backup if she can't get her to the ships in time."
Ax flipped his tiny sea prism dagger about his hand, and gripped it tightly. "Right," he said, falling into step beside his mother as she sprinted off toward the Western Wall. "Hey, Mom…"
"Yes?"
"Is Dad…?" Astyanax started vulnerably, glancing at the enormous pillar of wood and flames that had once been his father.
"I don't know, Ax," she replied, trying to keep the warble from showing in her own voice. "Focus on the mission."
Prunella du Aeschylus had been Kuina's instructor in law and etiquette. Not that they had gotten much into the former yet; so far their lessons had consisted of pleases and thank yous, table manners and curtsies. As such, the middle-aged woman had coordinated with the palace party planner in recent days, discussing opportunities in which the princess would be expected to make an appearance and her expected behavior.
Prue glared through a pair of spectacles at the masked cipher pol agent now – her opponent wore the beaked mask of Hera, but had done nothing to hide her eclectic fashion sense. Despite her excellent planning skills, Nysa had always dressed in a chaotic mix of patterns and styles. – a tartan and a toga, for instance.
"I never did like you, Nysa," Prunella mused aloud in a deep, melodious voice. "You never took the time to be polite, did you? Always running to the next thing without so much as a how-do-you-do."
"Never time," Nysa bit back, reaching into her sporran.
"There is always time to be polite," Prue pointed out indignantly, slicking back a strand of her own greying hair that had fallen out of the pair of sleek buns perfectly perched on either side of her head.
It was no wonder the otherwise meticulous woman had a few strands of hair out of place. Her weapon, an enormous ball and chain flail, stood strapped by its handle to her back, allowing the giant, steel ball to swing back and forth just inches from the top of her head. It swung evenly over her part, right between the two buns.
The broad, slightly rotund woman resembled the weapon somewhat. She drew it from her back with meaty hands and, unlike their fearless leader, Prunella remembered to take the child proofing off it before swinging it around. With surprising speed and accuracy, she smashed it, first on one side of her, then on the other, leaving threatening craters in the cobbles beside her.
"Now hold still, if you please."
Despite Prunella's polite request, Nysa disappeared as she dodged the blow. She appeared moments later behind her. Pulling a knife from hammer space, she sliced the bundle from Prue's back and stashed it in her sporran before the nursemaid could react.
"Taking without permission? How insolent!" Prue cried. "Someone needs a time out!"
She spun the ball and chain around hard, but Nysa just stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry before she disappeared again.
"How rude," said Prue.
Camilla the Amazon had come to Ilium half a decade ago. She had served as a spearman under the Lieutenant prior to the need of a nursemaid unit, and had earned Andromache's trust in combat. She had specialized in the Princess' physical education and development.
The premature child had struggled at first, learning to walk and run. She had a warrior's spirit, however, and had quickly conquered her fear of falling, easily earning Camilla's respect. Like Mihawk, Camilla had noticed the child's capricious sense of haki, but had never thought to communicate as much to the queen. – mostly because she doubted her own perceptions in the haki department. She had never had much of a grasp of it herself, which had ultimately led to her leaving Amazon Lily in the first place.
She suspected the princess used this haki to compensate for some of her developmental shortfalls, but as she lacked a complete understanding of the mysterious power, she couldn't say for sure. Kuina just seemed to have remarkable eye sight and hearing for a premie. Perhaps she was simply a medical miracle.
Carrying her own bundle, Camilla had just about reached the bay when she noticed two masked cipher pol agents on her tail. – one wearing the Helmet of Athena, another wearing the Mask of Apollo. Diddy and Orpheus respectively. Camilla recognized the former by her toolbelt, and the later by the guitar strapped to his back.
She whipped around to face them, long, sable and violet box braids swirling around her dark face and fierce snarl as she spun her tree trunk of a spear and held it at the ready.
The agents stopped suddenly, though not out of fear for her weapon. A third agent, Nysa in the mask of Hera, incepted them.
"Princess, captured," she snapped at the other two, holding up her bag.
"What?!" Camilla cried, eyeing the sporran in confusion. How could Princess Kuina fit into such a tiny bag?
"Hmph, you sure you have her in that ugly purse of yours, Nysa?" Diddy snapped. "Most of them are carrying decoys, you know."
"Look!" Nysa snapped back, reaching into the bag and pulling out a cloth bundle.
Camilla's eyes widened in surprise. The child-sized bundle emerged easily from the tiny fur purse. "Return her at once, you two-faced jerks!" the warrior cried, charging them again. She focused on Nysa, but all three agents disappeared the moment she swung her spear.
Something struck her in the side a split second later. Five tiny blades; throwing daggers in the shape of musical notes. Fortunately, she wore Kevlar (another relic of not being able to use Haki on Maiden Isle) which stopped them from doing vital damage. She turned, lip twitching to face Orpheus, who had nocked another five blades into each of the strings of his guitar:
"Come on Camilla," he yawned. "At least make the fight interesting."
Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang! He released the blades one at a time. None of them stuck in her armor this time as she batted them aside with her huge spear. Unfortunately, this left her wide open to the other agents. They each tried to stab her with…a finger?
Her bullet proof armor stopped them short, and they each shrieked as they sprained their pointers.
"How could such a tacky vest stop my finger bullet?" Diddy screamed.
Camilla used their distraction to snatch the bundle back from Nysa.
"Don't worry; I've got you Princess," she cooed, pulling the cloth free of what should have been Kuina's face. She blinked at the decoy doll in its place and smirked, dropping it.
"I told you!" Diddy shrieked, still nursing her sprained finger. "I thought you were the meticulous one. You didn't think to check?"
Nysa shrugged.
"Well, we know this one doesn't have her, or she wouldn't have freaked out when she thought we did," Orpheus pointed out. "There's only one left! We need to get her before the Princess escapes!"
"I can't let you do that," Camilla started, but the three agents didn't spare her another glance before disappearing into the night.
En route to the final nursemaid, Nysa stopped her fellow agents on the wall, ditching her mask. With a freaky grin she reached into her purse yet again, only this time she pulled out the actual princess.
"What, you really got her?" Diddy exclaimed as she and Orpheus removed their masks as well. "Despite your love of mixed patterns, you're pretty competent. Why the charade?"
Orpheus yawned. "She was obviously throwing Camilla off our trail. They'll all think we're after the last one, but now we just need to leave the island with the princess."
"And you're actually observant despite your perpetually vacuous expression," Diddy went on, impressed. "Which nursemaid had her, anyway? Astayanax? Prunella?"
Nysa shook her head, "Epiphany," she said.
Diddy stared at her as though expecting her to go on. When she didn't say anything more, Diddy prodded, "Epiphany about what?"
Orpheus yawned again and gave her a jaded look. "Epiphany is the nursemaid's name."
"Oh. Yes. I knew that," Diddy muttered. "Wait, isn't she the priestess? They gave her to the weakest of the five? Were they counting on their gods to protect her or something?"
"They knew she'd be the last one we'd check, more likely," Orpheus pointed out flatly yet again. "Can we get on with this? Today has been the single most awful day of my life. I need a nap."
Nysa nodded and went to stow their prize in her bag again. Unfortunately for them, Princess Kuina had had quite enough of being yanked around by grown ups that evening. She clamped down hard on Nysa's hand. The event planner hadn't planned for such an event, and dropped her in surprise.
Shaking free of the blanket bundle, Kuina bolted away from them. "WANT PAPA!" she shrieked, clutching her fox plush to her.
"AFTER THAT FABULOUSLY DRESSED CHILD!" Diddy commanded, and the three took off only to stop short when Astayanax and Andromache stood in their way, weapons drawn. Behind Hector's family, they could see the last nursemaid giving chase to Kuina.
"We'll cover you, Epiphany!" Andromache called back to a violet clad priestess.
"Alright, little Princess. Wait up for your Auntie Piffy! Ack!"
Though a woman in her prime, the final nursemaid suddenly face planted out of a dead run. A great flounce of dark, permed hair flopped over her face as her backside stuck straight into the air from where she lay in a graceless heep.
Cursing an old knee injury, she pushed herself upright, wiping dust from her vision. She had a single, silver strand framing her face, adding a note of wisdom to her keen eyes. Whipping out a crossbow as tall as she was, she gave it a flick and suddenly the weapon unfolded into a large, wooden walker. Using this to assist her, she continued her chase of the fleeing toddler, crying: "Come on, Kuina! I've got chocolate sandwich cookies! Your favorite!"
The inevitable clash between nursemaids and cipher pol stalled as they watched Epiphany hobble along ineffectively, calling out bribes in the form of sweets and cursing her bum knee under her breath.
"She seems pretty…underqualified," Orpheus noted.
"Who hired her, anyway?" Diddy inquired.
"Cygnus," Andromache and Astayanax said flatly at once.
"Ohhh," all three Cipher Pol Agents acknowledged. Cygnus had questionable taste in staff sometimes. After all, he had once hired Feta as a head chef.
"She's more than qualified, though!" Andromache defended.
"Really?" asked the Cipher Pol agents.
"Kuina needed a priestess for her religious education," Astayanax clarified, "Queen Helena's not too keen on that particular subject of late."
"She's also a professional cook," Ann put in. "Which helped us keep the princess properly fed while the palace staff couldn't know about her."
"And don't forget, she's in charge of story time," Ax reminded her.
The Cipher Pol agents nodded to one another. "Ah, yes, story time, very important," they said.
"There's also one other thing you should know about her," Ann put in with a smirk
"What's that?" Nysa asked.
"She's a really good shot," Ax said with a wicked grin.
Nysa, Diddy, and Orpheus had allowed themselves to become distracted by the conversation, and so hadn't noticed Epiphany turn her attention back to them, her walker temporarily back in crossbow mode. She fired a bolt the size of a small tree, catching the line of agents by the collars of their clothing, launching them off of the wall.
It wouldn't hold them for long. They were far too quick for that. The nursemaids had to act fast, but Kuina had just interrupted an important duel.
Helena glared at the World's Greatest Swordsman, her face deadly serious despite his incredulity. Clutching Kuina to her, she knew she had no choice but to survive this match, for her daughter's sake.
Mihawk didn't raise his blade. His mouth dropped open to retort when the priestess Epiphany suddenly dashed between them. She had stowed her walker in cross bow form on her back, and had her arms extended toward her charge.
"Kuina come here, you little…!" she started, then caught sight of Helena, "…angel?"
She seemed to realize Helena had her sword pointed toward an opponent, then glanced over her own shoulder to catch sight of Mihawk.
"Zeus Almighty!" she cursed, clutching her heart in shock. "You're Ann's brother! The scary swordsman guy! Oh man. I...love your hat!" she made finger guns at Mihawk, who glanced up at his hat introspectively.
She turned toward Helena again.
"Um…are you guys about to, um, duel? Can I just…?"
She took Kuina from Helena, who had one brow raised toward her, demanding an explanation without so many words.
"Sorry, Majesty, can't talk now. I've got at least three Cipher Pol agents after me right now." She eyed the sheaths that had once housed Helena's foot swords, which she wore buckled across her chest. Noticing they were empty, and that the Queen's foot blades were nowhere in sight, she pointed to them, "Hey, you aren't using those, right? May I…?"
Both of Helena's brows furrowed this time, but she quickly unbuckled and handed the nursemaid her sword sheaths. "I guess they're only slowing me down at this point anyway," she acknowledged.
"Great! Because I just had an epiphany," said Epiphany.
She drew one of her ballista-sized crossbow bolts and narrowed her eyes at it, sizing it up beside the princess. She handed Kuina some homemade chocolate sandwich cookies, which she always carried as bribery at any given time. "Be good, little one," she said, brushing a kiss on the child's head.
Using Helena's sheaths, she lashed Kuina – cookie, fox and all – to the bolt. Buckling the sheaths tight, she took aim toward the bay, and fired.
"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..!" the little princesss cried, her voice dopplering into the distance.
This dumbfounding escape left Helena and Mihawk at a loss for words.
Unfazed by the strangeness of her plan, Epiphany fist pumped, apparently satisfied with where Kuina had landed. Grinning, she turned back to the two swordsmen, gave them a nod irrespective of their shocked expressions, then took off back in the direction of Andromache and Astayanax. She faceplanted before getting too far and once again whipped out her walker, cursing her knee.
Mihawk watched her hobble along, his mouth half open in surprise. At last he turned back to Helena and raised his sword:
"I take back what I said," he said in a calm, flat tone. "Keep your expectations low. Your child will be lucky to survive to adulthood."