-Chapter Three Hundred and Eleven-
-Everybody's P.O.V-
When Devin had walked into the kitchen at three in the morning for a glass of water, he didn't expect to find someone seated at the kitchen table. Jumping back in surprise, he soon narrowed his eyes the minute he realized that it was just their unwanted house guest—her eyes were currently trained on the cracked wall of the kitchen where she had smashed into it. Inside the house the damage didn't look too bad...but on the other side of the wall, it was much. Just as he prepared to open his mouth and say something snarky about how creepy it was for her to be sitting here in the dark...he stopped and raised an eyebrow when he finally noticed just how puffy and red her eyes were as if she had been crying earlier before he had arrived.
"What are you doing up?" he settled on asked, slowly moving to the cabinets in order to retrieve a glass. He didn't receive an answer as Skylar barely moved her gaze in his direction...her head hurt, her eyes stung, and her chest felt tight. To be quite honest, she wished that the man had stayed silent, got what he needed, and left her to sulk in peace. Right now there were a million thoughts going through her mind, the most notable ones being her desire to be with her friends and to feel Zoro hold her close once again as he tells her just how much he loves her. They were simple desires that she thought—that she hoped would drive these horrid memories of hers away.
Devin peered back at her, raising an questioning eyebrow at the lack of response he was given. Just earlier in the day she was talkative with him and his brother—answering question and question or responding to his sharp tongue with curt words of her own. Yes, she was talkative...or more accurately, she was talkative with his brother and nothing short of an annoyance to him.
"What? Not going to answer my question?" he asked, filling the cup with tap water before walking over to the kitchen table and plopping down in the seat across from her. He closely watched her as he took a sip—waiting for her to make a remark of some kind...but instead he was only greeted with silence and a blank stare once more. "Uh...had a bad dream or something?" he tried once more, already slowly growing agitated with the woman's lack of responding. Heaving a tired sigh, he leaned back into his chair and stared up at the ceiling, already getting ready to stand up and head back to his room.
"You could say it was something like that" the small, delicate voice is what stopped him from moving as he slowly looked towards the young woman from the corner of his eye. He noted just how tired she sounded...not the kind of tired where you've been up all night and were in desperate need of sleep, but the kind of tired one feels when they're just done with everything—the kind of tired that made one want to close their eyes and never open them again. Once more did Skylar fall silent, her eyes now trained on the brunet in front of her as he slowly nodded.
"Uh...want to talk about it?" he awkwardly asked before clearing his throat. "Not with me, of course, I can go wake Shawn—he's better with this kind of crap."
"No" was the only response he got as the young woman continued to stare at him before suddenly smiling and heaving a silent sigh. "I don't want to burden that sweet boy with my problems and you're too much of an ass to care."
"Oi!" Devin snapped, straightening his posture as he glared at the woman.
-Skylar's P.O.V-
I softly chuckled at the glare I received for my response as the cruel whispers in the back of my mind now started subside as I leaned back into the chair I was seated in. Sluggishly tilting my head back until my eyes were staring straight up at the ceiling.
"So you're up and about because of some nightmare? Doesn't that sound a bit childish for a pirate?" Devin asked, taking a sip of his water.
"Doesn't it sound a bit childish to leave your wall damaged because you don't want to pay to fix it?" I responded back, barely bothering to look in his direction.
"I told you, I ain't paying for something I didn't break—also, I'm not made of money or anything" I heard the brunet scoff before distracting himself with another sip of his water. It grew silent between us once again after that with only the sounds of his occasional gulps as he drunk his water to interrupt it. "Well I'm going back to bed, try anything while we're asleep and I'll fucking throw your ass to the Marines" he soon said as he finished the last of his drink, dropping the glass off at the sink—not even bothering to clean and put it away.
"I'd like to see you fucking try" I hummed as he left.
"Just you wait, in half a week you'll be begging me to spare you" I heard him call back before the sound of a door shutting reached my ears and I was once again left alone with my thoughts. Slowly did I rest a hand against my chest, feeling how it ached and yearned for both my friends and lover...
With a tired sigh and small smile, I stood and slowly made my way back to my temporary room—wondering what memories my mind will ravish me with next.
-An Unspecified Amount of Time Later-
"Come on, I already apologized for putting the deal on a sudden halt like that—but with this sudden influx of pirates, you know Devin isn't going to give up this opportunity of catching any big bounties the Marines miss since they're all in a mess currently" Shawn sighed as I crossed my arms and pouted. Sinking further down into the couch cushions.
"We had an agreement and when the day finally comes, that idiot brother of yours bolts because of some stupid pirates..." I grumbled as I crossed my arms.
"It's strange, we normally get a pirate or two around here, but never this many" Shawn frowned as he peered down at the book in his hands. "Makes me regret not going to that big event in town a while back, wonder if that had anything to do with this—curse that moron for building this house so far out into the woods, the old house was just fine."
"Geez, I've already wasted enough time here—I should have left the day I said I would" I sighed as I threw myself up off the couch. "I'm leaving."
"What?! You can't do that!" Shawn worriedly frowned as he lowered his book and snapped to attention. "Marines are swarming the town left and right to keep all these pirates at bay!" he warned.
"Don't care" I gave a half assed wave as I gathered up my swords, only stopping when my wrist was suddenly snatched up by the blond seated on the floor when I went to pass by him.
"Okay, let's say you make it to the harbor without any of the Marines recognizing you—what are you going to do then? The only boats at the harbor currently are pirate ships and fishing boats that won't last long out at sea" Shawn frowned as I stared down at him.
"I'll bribe them..." I mumbled, ripping my wrist out of his grip as I began to think of what the best course of action would be from this point onwards. I was keeping them waiting...I wanted to see them—no, I needed to see them and needed to seem them now. I couldn't waste any more time here than I already have, especially not with this sudden sinking feeling in my gut that was slowly beginning to make my stomach churn with unease the longer I spent here. It felt like something was wrong...like something bad has happened though I didn't know what.
"With what money?" Shawn scoffed, pushing himself to stand as he quickly wrapped his arms around my waist in an attempt to hold me back. "I promised you that the deal would be back on when Devin comes back, didn't I? Just wait a bit longer!" he begged.
"I'll come up with something" I argued as I started to struggle against him—this felt ridiculous and I had no doubt it looked ridiculous as I started throwing our bodies from side to side in my attempts to make him let go. "Let go—the deals off since you didn't keep your end of the bargain! Why the hell do you care what happens to a pirate like me anyways?!"
"Because Devin is scary when he's mad" the blond suddenly whimpered, tears streaming down his face as he shivered in thought of his older brother's wrath.
"Is that seriously your only reason?!" I snapped at the teen as our struggle soon came to a screeching halt the minute we both heard the front door open.
"Ah, Devin! Welcome home—what's wrong?" Shawn frowned the minute he spotted the tight expression on his brother's face as the brunet came in, slamming the door behind him in the process. I raised an eyebrow at his stiff posture as he clutched a newspaper in his hand.
"Finally, I thought you'd never come back" I groaned as the blond finally released me. "Come on, I don't care if you're tired after fighting all those pirates—you have a deal to...fulfill..." quickly did my frustration soon turn into confusion the minute the newspaper in his hand was harshly shoved into my chest.
"I think you should see this" his voice was strained and his face void of emotion as he walked passed me and into the kitchen.
"Bro...?" Shawn muttered, tilting his head before peering over my shoulder as I looked after the older man, confused by his actions before finally, holding the paper he had given me out just so I could see what was so important that he had to give it to me.
"Why do I—" my breath got caught in my throat and my chest tightened the minute I opened the paper and saw the leading article, familiar names greeted me in the words written out as they weaved a tale of a battle from not that long ago as a familiar face I had only seen for a short period of time laid still on the ground in the picture that was used for the article. "N-no...this can't be right..." my lower lip quivered as my body started to shake.
"Skylar...?" Shawn questioned as I felt my legs give out from underneath me and I dropped to my knees. Hands clenching either side of the paper as I scanned the words written out. Up and down and side to side did my eyes go, desperately looking for any signs that this was just some cruel joke and everything I was reading wasn't real. It couldn't be...could it...? Before I knew it, I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes and blurring my vision as I continued to read what was in front of me over and over and over and over and over and over and—
My chest tightened to the point that it hurt as I thought of the pain that he must been going through at this moment. I thought of the agony he must be feeling that I could only imagine one would feel after such a great loss...he was hurting and none of us where there to help him. None of us are there to comfort him...our captain was suffering...
"Luffy..." I whimpered as I ignored the confused and worried blond that hovered over me and curled up, tightly holding the newspaper to my chest.
-Zoro's P.O.V-
"Yikes! We're in trouble now" Perona whimpered as she floated close by, warily staring down at the armed monkeys that surrounded the place. "Whoa, they're angry" she shivered as a few of them pointed and made sounds before they pointed at themselves as if making the statement that they'd be the ones to take charge around here. "What did that one just say?" she asked as a large monkey stepped forward and caused the others to back down.
"How should I know? Either way, I'm not chatting it up with these guys—there's no point" I grunted, drawing my swords just as the larger monkey of the group shot forward. Our weapons clashed as I blocked each attack the giant primate sent my way, throwing in a few of my own that he dodged himself. I soon groaned the minute I was struck and thrown back, the primate happily cheering as he watched me fly back before shooting forward to deliver another blow. Quickly did I dig my feet into the ground and brought myself to a standstill. "Three Sword Style: Bull Demon, Bold Hooves!"
Once the monkey drew near, I lashed out with my attack—striking him head on and shattering the armor that he wore. This caused all the other monkeys that witness this to start jumping around and making a loud racket. Almost like they were possibly angry or excited about their friends defeat. More primates soon started to appear, popping up out of nowhere.
"Oh no! How many of these things are there?" Perona shakily asked, just as I quickly turned around and winced the minute I felt a bullet whiz pass my head—cutting my cheek in the process.
'Damn, they're smart—they're using weapons just like a human' I silently noted as all of them came rushing towards me, giving out warrior cries of their own as they did so. "Three Sword Style: Dragon Twister!" I sent them all flying away only to watch as they quickly regained their composure and came rushing right back. "Whoa!" I immediately blocked the sudden attacks that were sent my way, swords clashing with their own before groaning in pain as I felt my wound start to reopen. 'They reopened, my wound—is that what they were aiming for?!'
"Idiot! How many times do I have to tell you? You need to rest before going off and doing something reckless—I swear, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed!"
Her voice...I could hear her scolding me...I could even see her making that cute pouty face of hers that she normally made whenever she was worried about or frustrated with me...
I grunted as I stumbled forward, now realizing that I had lost one of my swords in the process as I listened as one of the monkeys started to cry out—watching through blurred vision that was slowly going in and out as it started to advance towards me with what appeared to be a mallet in its hands. My breathing was ragged at this point as I tried my best to keep myself upright before clenching my jaw the minute I was struck and thrown back into a stone cross—body soon harshly hitting the ground face first as gravity dragged me down.
"Um...you're not dead, are you?" Perona nervously asked as she floated over to me.
"Shut up, this is no time for you to annoy me" I groaned.
"W-what? How dare you accuse me of being annoying when I'm genuinely concerned for your safety!" she angrily snapped. "Whatever, I don't care—get eaten by these evil monkeys, why don't you!" I ignored her as I pushed myself into a seated position, groaning as I watched how the monkeys started to advance forward.
"Tch! Well, I'm screwed..." I grumbled.
"Don't be so nonchalant about that, dumbass!"
I lowly chuckled at the thought...yeah that's definitely something she would say as she'd snap at me for making such a casual remark. I wonder how she's holding up—wondered about what kinds of troubles that she was possibly facing right now? My thoughts were soon interrupted by the annoying sound of the primates who loudly began to screech as from the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted one holding one of my swords...but instead of reaching for it, I just closed my eyes and lowered my head—accepting defeat. Only to quickly snap my eyes back open the minute the monkeys quieted down and the faint sound of footsteps filled the air.
They all suddenly looked back, eyes wide and frantic as they stared towards a slowly advancing figure in the mist. All too soon did frantic cries leave the primates lips, their tails sticking straight up and fur puffed up in fright as they stood on all fours—screeching at the incoming figure before quickly scampering away.
"What's that aura...?" I asked, noting just how thick the air now felt as memories of my first encounter with Mihawk flooded my mind...slowly did my eyes widen now that the figure in front of me started to become clear and more recognizable.
"It...it's him!" Perona gasped.
"There's no way" I rasped out as the man came to a stop in front of me.
"It's Hawkeye—Hawkeye Mihawk..." Perona breathlessly breathed out, confirming that I was was seeing was real as I groaned and grabbed for the handle of my sword—attempting to push myself to stand in the process.
"Save your strength, Roronoa Zoro" Mihawk said, causing me to stop in my attempts. "Your wounds are too severe to ignore any longer and to be quite frank, you have no hope of defeating me if you lost to those apes."
"Yeah, well what the hell are you doing here?" I asked.
"I've been living in that castle for a while now—what brings you here?" he asked as he motioned to the castle off in the distance that I had first awoken inside of.
"That would be one of your Seven Warlord pals, Kuma sent the whole crew flying" I grunted.
"I see, that explains things then" Mihawk nodded. "Straw Hat was fighting with a different group at Marineford" he noted, causing my eyes to widened.
"Hang on, did you see Luffy?" I quickly asked, now wishing to know about the whereabouts of my captain and how he was fairing. "Is he alright? What was he doing?"
"He should still be alive, but as he left the battle, he appeared to be severely traumatized" Mihawk answered.
"Why's that?" I frowned.
"Don't you know? His brother is dead" my breath got caught in my throat the minute those words left Mihawk's lips.
"I can't believe it..." I breathed out in disbelief.
"Fire Fist Ace died right before Straw Hat's eyes" Mihawk revealed as I looked down, fist tightly clenching the handle of my sword and eyes staring on in disbelief at what I was hearing.
"Luffy" I clenched my jaw, vision already starting to waver at the thought of my captain's pain.