Hey, all my faithful readers! Here it is! Stay tuned for the latest chapters~! This Chapter goes out to all those faithful readers and my awesome reviewers. Having you guys back me up, makes writing this book so much more worth it!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters however, Rosalie is my OC.

Here you go! Please enjoy it

Chapter 36

It was a mess.

A groan escaped the male who lay next to Ryusei. They were in a medium sized room with two single beds and one cupboard that separated them. The temperature in the room was held warm by the fireplace to keep them from freezing.

The only noise that could be heard was Blake's occasional snoring and the rough winter wind outside the house. After what happened, they were saved by an unknown person and brought to the winter side of the island.

Not being able to argue because of exhaustion and wounds, Ryusei let the male tend to their wounds. Blake and Rosalie hadn't woken up once in the past few days and he didn't bother them either. He only wanted them to heal up soon.

There was a knock on the door and Ryusei glanced up at the entrance. The masked man entered with two trays. He wore a thick cloak and never took off his mask, not even when he treated them. He was a completely mysterious figure.

"It looks like your friend's still sleeping. Would you mind waking him up for me?" The masked male asked and Ryusei nodded. The dark haired walked towards Blake and shook him gently. When nothing happened, Ryusei gave him a painful pinch.

"Ah! I'm up! I'm up!" Blake exclaimed and blinked a few times. He rubbed his eyes as he took in the environment, confusion coursing through his veins. "What the…? When did-Oh! You're that freak that tossed me around like a ragdoll!" Blake pointed at the masked figure.

"You're welcome," the masked male replied as he put down both of their trays. Blake was about to curse at him until he noticed his bandaged body. The pain was limited by his movement and his aching muscles felt much better.

The strange male walked towards the fireplace and poked a bit at the fire, the wood blistering as he did so. He grabbed a few pieces of dry wood and threw it on the fire to make sure that it won't go out any time soon.

"T-Thanks for taking care of us…um, who are you?" Blake asked, his companion sitting by his side. The stranger seemed to stare at the fire, as he silently decided if he was going to answer his question. He let out a sigh and turned towards them.

"I'd hoped that I could reveal my identity when Rosalie woke up but I might as well do it now." He unmasked himself, a pair of dark brown eyes complemented by short brown hair. He took off his cloak, a tattoo of a quill and a dagger in the crook of his neck and a scar over his right eyebrow.

"My name is Aston. I'm a friend of Rosalie's mother and a blacksmith. Nice to meet you," Aston introduced himself, the other two staring at him in disbelief. Aston gave them a friendly smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You know Rosalie-san's mother?"

"Yeah, I knew her or rather I was one of her subordinates when I was younger," Aston replied as he put away the cloak and mask in one of the closets. He closed the door and let out a satisfied grunt, turning towards them.

"I've been keeping tabs on where Rosalie was and was lucky enough to find that she came to this island. I've always wanted to meet her. I had hoped that it would be under better circumstances." Aston's facial expression softened and a small frown came onto his lips.

"Where is she now? Is she alright?" Blake asked as he jumped out of bed only to flinch at the sudden pain. Ryusei immediately scolded him and helped him to sit on the bed again. Aston crossed his arms over his chest.

"You should be careful. Your wounds were pretty severe too. As for Rosalie, it's going to take a while before her wounds heal completely. They're closed up but if she doesn't take it easy then they'll easily reopen again," Aston replied and let out a sigh.

To make matters worse is that she has that cursed dagger. The curse has spread pretty far and if nothing is done, it'll be fatal. Aston thought and briefly closed his eyes as his thoughts ran amok within his mind. He had to find a solution soon.

"C-Can we see her?"

Aston opened his eyes and saw the two males plead him with their eyes. He gave them a smile and nodded and he gestured for them to follow him. Ryusei helped Blake up and followed the male out of the room.

"I should have everything you'll need. The bathroom you will be using is right next to you, the kitchen is down the hall on the right side, the dining room just passed that and there is a living room at the end of the hall." Aston informed them as they walked on.

"There is a second floor but it's only used for training. When you're feeling better you can feel more than welcome to train there since it's much too cold outside. Also, my workshop is next to the house if you need me for anything," Aston added and tapped his chin to think of something more.

Aston stopped at a closed door and showed them to keep quiet. He then opened the door, the darkness of the room something their eyes had to adjust to. They entered the room and searched for the familiar redhead before they paled.

The view…wasn't pretty.

Rosalie lay on the bed, the darkness covering her right side almost completely and her face was contorted into a painful expression. The rest of her body was bandaged up around places where the wounds hadn't healed yet and some scars were visible on her skin from when she protected them.

"She hasn't woken up once since I brought you here. Physically she seems to be fine but I worry when she wakes up. This is a powerful curse that's taking over her. I called in some help so I hope that he can help with this. He should arrive soon," Aston said, the other two males speechless.

"This is our fault. We should've never gotten in her way. Maybe then…" Blake clenched his eyes shut as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. "Maybe then she wouldn't have been hurt so bad…" He murmured out and Aston frowned.

"I doubt that would make a difference." He earned a confused glance from them. "The World Government issued an immediate arrest of her and bad luck was on her side to have Doflamingo track her down. Whether you were there or not, this would still be the end result," he pointed out.

"It's not fair…"

"Alright, let's leave her to rest. You can come check on her later if you want to but don't try anything-" Aston cut himself off when he felt a cold shiver run down his spine and his eyes widened. This was happening much sooner than he anticipated.

"Get out of here," he warned the two and before they could ask him what was going on, they were pushed aside. There was sudden movement in the room as Rosalie tackled Aston to the ground, dagger in hand.

Aston managed to grab her wrist with both his hands to stop the dagger from piercing his face. He could see the murderous intent in her blackened eyes and the darkness almost looked alive as it moved beneath her skin.

"Rosalie, you have to snap out of it. The dagger is controlling you to do things against your will." He gritted his teeth as her strength increased. "Your mother could control it. Now it's time for you to control it as well!" He yelled at her and her eyes widened.

Rosalie stared at him and shook her head, her blackened eyes slowly becoming blue again. She was returning to her conscious mind. Aston managed to push her off him and watched her carefully as she looked down in confusion.

"My mother…?" She murmured as her hand held her head as it throbbed in pain. She could barely remember anything. She didn't know where she was or what happened to get her here. What was she doing the last time?

"That's it. Take it all in. You have all the time in the world." She looked at Aston, his calmness making her feel a bit more at ease. "My name is Aston, I'm a friend. I found you and your friends injured. I took you in and I'll be taking care of you for a little while," Aston told her and Rosalie blinked in confusion.

"Aston? You… I've heard that name before. Wait, you're a friend of my mother. Y-You once worked at the bar with her." Rosalie winced at her throbbing head. Aston blinked in surprise and then gave her a warm smile.

"Yeah, that's me. I worked there with Liza-san and Richard-san before I went to travel around with Shanks-san. Nice to meet you, Rosalie," Aston held out his hand and Rosalie hesitantly reached to shake his hand, only to stop.

Her eyes widened at the shadow-like darkness that covered her arm and hissed when she touched the skin. It was hot. She swallowed thickly and then looked at the dagger. She let it fall from her grasp and her eyes widened as a bunch of images flew through her head.

"Everything is going to be alright, Rosalie. You're safe here. You have nothing to worry about. No one will be able to hurt any of you here. You haven't hurt anyone and you haven't done anything wrong," He softly spoke to her and Rosalie let out a shaky breath.

Kill.

"I have to get out of here," Rosalie rasped out and grabbed her head when a familiar voice echoed through it. She had to get out of this room, away from people, away from anything she could harm before she killed someone.

"Rosalie-""Out of the way!" She pushed him away and he crashed into the wall, not expecting her monstrous strength. Rosalie then burst out the window, glass shattering everywhere. She hissed at the icy blizzard wind and blood dripped onto the white snow from the glass that cut her.

Without another thought, she rushed off into the unknown, trying to push away the voice inside her head. The dagger and the swirls burnt her skin but for some odd reason she couldn't let go of the weapon. Her hand refused to.

"Rosalie! Damn it. I guess I won't be able to wait for him to come. I'll have to take matters into my own hands." He burst out of her room, two faces immediately in his sights. "I told you to go to your room. Now do as I told you!" He snapped at them and they paled.

They quickly entered their room and he let out a groan. He had to get the bracelet he prepared and get it to her quickly. Unfortunately, there was quite a snow storm outside and finding her in this mess was going to be difficult.

Either way, he had to.

Rosalie could feel the snow cut through her bandaged skin, the cold blizzard whipping against her sore and aching body. Even so, she continued to drag herself through the thick snow, her body shivering at the low temperature.

Kill. Find that bastard! Kill him!

Rosalie gritted her teeth as the voice shouted in her head, her consciousness fading out for the brief moment it spoke. She could feel the anger and frustration course through her veins. She wanted to kill Doflamingo.

No, the darkness wanted to kill him. No, she wanted to kill him.

Rosalie let out a loud yell into the wind and tried to push away the shadows in her thoughts. She looked down at the dagger, her hand gripping it tightly. She couldn't let it go. Her cursed arm refused to listen to her.

She fell to her knees in the snow and clenched her eyes shut as tears started to sting her eyes. Her body couldn't move any further and she was tired. She could feel her consciousness fading in and out, the darkness knocking at her thoughts.

"Someone… Anyone… Please… Save me…" She gasped as her tears cascaded down her cheeks. She didn't want to be controlled by madness. She didn't want to kill anyone. She wanted to rest. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of running.

Kill me.

"When that kid called me in, I didn't think that it would've been this serious," a gruff voice spoke up and Rosalie's eyes blackened at the newcomer's presence. "This is such a nuisance. You're a stupid one to have yourself consumed by that dagger," the male said and Rosalie growled.

She shook her head as she tried to push through to her conscious state and looked up at the shadowing figure. "W-Who are you?" She managed to rasp out, her vision blurry. She watched as the male moved and felt the darkness crawl underneath her skin.

He blocked her sudden attack with a small blade that stuck out from a cross that he wore around his neck. He watched with a bored expression as Rosalie struggled against him, only half of her strength in the attack.

"I expected much more from you, Young Red Menace." He let out a sigh and spun the dagger out of her grasp, causing her to fall backwards while holding her sore arm. She landed in the snow, out of breath and blood soaking the white surface beneath her.

"Please… Just kill me…"

He frowned deeply and sheathed the smaller blade before pulling out a large black bladed sword. Rosalie's eyes briefly widened as he brought it to her neck, recognizing the sword almost immediately. There was only one person who wielded the black blade.

It would all end now. The curse would end with her and she would bring no more harm to anyone. She wouldn't cause any more trouble for anyone. It was better this way. She wouldn't have to face Law or the crew with her cursed body.

Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and she bit down on her bottom lip. A part of her didn't want to die. She still wanted to do so much. She wanted to see Law one last time again and the crew, Shanks, Kid. However, it was too late. This was it.

Everyone… I'm sorry…

The blackened blade was lifted up in the air and Rosalie let out a breath, the cold air around her not mattering anymore. The voice in her head still screamed at her, the madness that etched beneath her skin burning.

"Gotcha!" Aston's voice suddenly came from behind Rosalie and her blue eyes shot open. Something icy was clasped around her upper right arm. She gasped as she felt the burning sensation vanish from her face and shoulder.

She could feel something crawl beneath the surface as the metal bracelet sucked out the curse from the rest of her body, trapping it in her right arm. Her eyes closed shut and she fell onto the snow in an unconscious state.

Aston let out a loud sigh of relief as he fell onto the snow next to her. He made it in time! He had a rough time finding where she was since she hid her presence well. Luckily, he felt another strong presence and it led him straight towards the duo.

"You're late."

Aston looked up at the male and groaned as he stood up. "I can say the same to you!" He let out a sigh and then smiled at the male who sheathed his sword, picking up the cursed dagger without even wincing soon after.

"It's good to see you again, Mihawk-san."

Mihawk grunted and looked at the weapon. He felt a nostalgic itch come from his chest where Liza cut him long ago. This was Liza's dagger, the fact that it was hers leaving a dull ache in his chest. It was the last thing left of the female.

"Get her fixed up. We have a lot to discuss," Mihawk spoke up and Aston grunted. He picked Rosalie up, careful not to open up any of her wounds. He wanted to scold her for getting glass in some of her wounds but she was unconscious and he didn't have the strength to argue.

"Follow me."

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