Free Heart

Ch. 15 - I am Exercising My Own Free Will

After running for a 2 minutes, Emmy lost sight of both Usopp and Luffy but she knew all she had to do was go north. The only problem was, she wasn't sure where north actually was. She stopped for a minute to look around for clues. All she could see were fields and trees. It looked like she had ran past this place before but...she couldn't be sure. "Oh dear," she murmured and bit her lip. Where's north?

She heard the jingling of metal and she turned just in time to see Klahadore's sillhouette in the distance. She quickly ducked behind a nearby tree and watched him as he passed. He was carrying a long duffle bag next to him and whatever was in it, rattled with every step he took. Emmy gulped. He must be heading to the north shore to join his pirate group...But I thought he was waiting for them to come to the mansion?

Klahadore walked right past the tree that Emmy was hiding behind and she felt a flash of impatience and bloodlust.

Her eyes widened. Oh no! Don't tell me he got restless and killed Kaya-sama already!

She waited until he had cleared the area and she sprinted for the mansion. The north shore might be under attack but Kaya's life might already be in danger. Usopp and Luffy were probably already there at the north shore so it was up to Emmy to get to Kaya.

"Emmy-san!"

Emmy gasped and she whirled around to see Pepper, Onion, and Carrot chasing after her.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We woke up early because we were worried that the pirates were going to attack us!" Onion shouted, "And we were worried that Kaya-sama is in danger."

"Right! Kaya-sama!" Emmy said and she rushed forward again, "Come with me and I'll explain everything later."

They arrived at the gate and found no guards there. Emmy looked at the kids, "Do you know of another way in?"

The kids nodded, "The Captain usually crawls through a hole he made in the bushes. We can try there!"

"Okay," Emmy said. She untied her apron and wove it behind the bars. She held onto both sides of the apron and used it to shimmy herself up, "You guys go. I'll go get Kaya-sama."

"Emmy-san!" they shouted as Emmy lost her footing and slid down the iron bars just a touch, "Are you sure you can do this?"

"It's not about if I can or not!" Emmy said with gritted teeth, "I must do this. Now go! Find an opening and if you can't, just wait for me here!"

"Okay!" they said and the kids ran off.

She shakily made it to the top and took a deep breath before swinging her legs over the gate. Her arms were tired and the bottom of her shoes had barely any traction. She only managed to climb a foot of the way down before falling the rest of the way.

"Oof," she gasped as her skull bounced from the impact and her headband flew off her head. Her back suddenly felt like it was on fire and she cried out in surprise.

"Kyaaaa," she screamed and then flipped onto her stomach to look at the steps of the mansion.

Someone was hurt. They were close by and they were hurt. She grabbed her headband, pushed it firmly on her head and sprinted towards the door. The front door was left unlocked and she ran to the first room she could think of, which was the only other room she had been in, the drawing room.

"MERRY!" she heard Kaya's voice cry out just as she ran through the door.

A man with fuzzy white hair was lying face down in a pool of his own blood while Kaya, in her nightdress and a coat draped over her shoulders, was shaking him.