Regret settle over my shoulders like a wet blanket. It was a familiar mantle. Intrusive and unwelcome. The rays of winter sun did nothing for the cold. I turned my face up to it anyway. I closed my eyes and soaked it in. Soaked up the sunlight and let the remorse fall off. No matter what I did, I was always a day late and a dollar short.
But not today.
Oh no, not today.
Today I still had time.
Time to make a difference.
I focused on the Haki around me. Near the cross of 4th and C street, all I could feel were bundles of joy and eagerness for the coming spring. Shopping and chatter. Mention of the Celestial Dragon on the island had me rubbing my neck. Serena was no Amilia, but she was no joke, either.
I twitched as something touched my face. I opened my eyes to see snow drifting down from the pale sky. I stared at it for several seconds before I was able to pull myself back to the present. Everything that Channing had told me about his friend said that she would be found exactly in the opposite direction from where she was supposed to be. Since the cafe where I left her crew was on the corner of 5th and B, I needed to be closer to 25th and V street. It was too close to Poor Man's Walk for my liking, and way too close to the small outpost of Black Antlers.
My options were to either go or give up.
I started walking North.
I stuck my hands in my pockets and kept my eyes forward. Out of my peripherals, I noticed several people in clothes darker than what the natives usually wore. They weren't black, but deep browns and beiges. They didn't stand out, but they didn't quite fit, either. Maybe if they had been as excited about the perfectly white flakes falling from the sky as the people who belonged here, it would have taken me more time to notice them. Two stars.
They didn't seem to notice me. I looked like some nobody in a bright blue trench coat and a grey turtleneck. It helped that I had the strangest hair color. I smirked. I remembered Mom being so confused when my little brother was born.
"I understand one child with green hair, but two!?" She exclaimed.
Lost in thought, I wondered how my little brother had turned out. He was always a hard headed little snot. I wanted to meet him. What kind of man was he? As soon as I had done my part in keeping the Poison Tongue out of the World Government's eye, I would find out. Maybe I'd even ask to join his crew. I could take back the family name.
Roronoa.
I grinned to myself at the thought, and the feeling of someone closing in behind me. I turned down a wide alley. It was an outlet for several apartment buildings and fairly well traveled. Conveniently, we'd missed the lunch hour and it was going to be quiet for a while before people started coming home from work.
Hands still in my pockets, I stopped inside the shadow. "Your stalking ability is top notch. Five stars!"
"A funny guy, are ya?" He growled. His footsteps changed. The sound of leather soles on concrete changed to hooves and kept coming.
I let him get within ten feet before I spun around. I wasn't surprised to see tan fur on his face or a set of four point antlers sprouting from his head. He lowered his head and charged. I grabbed his antlers, digging in my heels. My armament haki kept the hard bone from damaging my hands. He grunted in surprise. "The fuck you made out of, punk?"
"Sarcasm and regret." I told him solemnly. My knee came up and broke his nose. While he was processing the shock and pain, I stood him up and slammed him into the wall. I held my armament blackened arm against his throat and pressed him against the bricks. His face turned red and he grabbed my wrist and elbow. His blood ran down my leather coat, filling every seam and wrinkle. His horns shrank to nothing as he lost his transformation. "Why are you following me?"
"Yo-you!" He choked out as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. "Can't ma-ake me talk!"
"That's too bad." I kept him pinned while I poked a hole in his gut. "Have you ever seen someone die of a gut wound?" His face was contorted with pain. "It's a slow, shitty way to die. Only gets a one star death rating." I stabbed him with another Finger Pistol and left my finger in the wound. "But for torture?" It curled between the two bullet holes and stuck out the original one. He looked like he might faint. "Five stars. So. I take it you haven't found her yet?"
He swallowed spit and blood. I ripped the skin and sank another hole on the other side of his stomach. "Giovanni doesn't give two shits about you, you know. Your pals out there won't even come looking for you. So do yourself a favor and stop." Stab. "Wasting." Rip. "My." Stab. "Time." Stab.
He moaned. His hands fell to his sides, bouncing off the brick. "We don't. Know. She was. Supposed to. At the. Cafe!"
"Thanks." I dropped him. His breath trailed from his mouth as he panted. He held his shredded belly together with both hands. The blood that streamed from between fat fingers steamed in the cold air. The snow stuck to his fur and skin. "For what it's worth, I do hope someone finds you before you die." I stepped out of the alley without a backwards glance. I couldn't afford one. If that one was following me, then who else had noticed me?
The answer, I discovered as I approached 20th and R, was plenty of Black Antlers. Most of them appeared to be Sheep and Goat variations, which explained them being found in a herd.
I gave a hard sigh. They cracked knuckles and snickered as if they thought they would intimidate me. There were only ten of them, but I was out of Kairoseki cuffs. The unanticipated visit by Trafalgar Law had unfortunately required their use.
"Xander the Skink." The brawny man towards the middle with two sets of curling ram's horns bared crooked teeth. "Or should we call yeh Yellow Belly?"
I felt my face twitch into an awful smile. "Try Roronoa." I kicked the ground, activating my Soru technique. I appeared behind him, appearing to hover just over his shoulders. I gave the group about half a second to respond before peppering the Big Ram's shoulder full of holes with Shigan. Expertly placed shots severed most of his connective tissues, rendering his arms useless. It didn't put him out of the fight entirely, but it brought down his difficulty level from four to maybe two stars. "Do your homework, class."
An impossibly small goat knocked me out of the air. The top of her head knocked the air from my lungs and I barely managed to stay on my feet. "Roronoa is a sword guy!" she piped in a tiny, sweet voice. Her yellow eyes were deep and vibrant, and she looked overall too fragile to be a part of this burly crew. Her horns were even tiny and barely curved.
I kept my eyes trained on her as the group closed in behind me. "I haven't used a sword in sixteen years. Gave mine to my little brother." Now I couldn't help but feel nostalgic and affectionate. I had a feeling of hiraeth, a longing to return to a home that never existed. "Seems he put it to good use."
The air behind me shifted. Three herdmates lunged at the same time, thinking they were taking advantage of my sentimentality. I jumped back into the air. My feet cleared their horns at the last second, but the small one was in my face again. I crossed my arms over my face and neck, blackening them with Haki. Her foot nearly sent me flying again.
"You just don't have the power of my last partner." I lamented with a sarcastic grin. "About the same size, but... Disappointing."
I watched a shudder of anger go through her. "Listen here, you dumb shit." Her voice was too cute for the words she was using. I had to suppress a giggle. "I may be little, but I'll send my foot so far up your ass you'll-"
"You're really much too cute to use words like that." I managed with a straight face. "As a character concept, four stars."
Her shoulders twitched again. "What the fuck does that even mean?"
The herd didn't seem exactly sure how to handle me. I was a little surprised by their lack of ambition, considering the difference in numbers. The little one and I both stayed in the air, kicking it at regular intervals to maintain altitude. The snow began to settle in piles around us, clinging like a soft blanket. I just grinned. "What's your name?"
"Tanya." She answered grudgingly.
I nodded. "Well, Tanya, I think it's your naptime." I closed the distance between us in a microsecond. My heel connected with the top of her head. She hit the ground and lay in a heap at the foot of a woman with curling golden horns. It was my turn to bare my teeth at the party. One down, nine to go. "Who's next?"
/-/-/-/-/
The energy near 20th was massive. I should have ignored it completely. I should have. I needed to keep going, just straight down 20th until I hit B, then... Was it East or West? Left or Right? I swallowed my rising panic and trudged through the snow. I hated the snow. Cold and wet and clinging. My toes were beginning to go numb from exposure. Law was not going to be a happy captain when I got home with frozen fingers and toes. I was not a happy pirate when my feet slid on a patch of ice. I just bundled my hands under my armpits and hunched against the chill.
I needed to go south down 20th. I was on T street. I needed to keep going... But I could feel the Haki of at least ten people, maybe eleven. No, just ten. A spark suddenly went out, leaving a small vacuum where I had been focusing my attention. As I got closer, another spark faded. I could hear the sounds of a scuffle now, muffled by the clogging snow.
I heard snippets of frustration and name calling. I paused around the corner, back against the large building. People passing by didn't seem to notice or care, going about their daily lives as if I didn't exist. Which was fine with me. They were the suit and tie types; the white heels and tiny lace paracel types. They seemed so contrary to the energy happening in the alley.
Angry, combative, low class. More like pirates and murderers than anything I'd felt outside of my own crew. I realized suddenly that it wasn't a free for all. The now six remaining sparks seemed to be five on one. One determined, solemn aura.
He felt like a lighthouse. A long forgotten, haunted place left on the foggy shores of an empty cliff, still sending a signal to anyone at all that could save him. He felt like a prison. A single cell of isolation and torture. Trapped by his own regret. And he felt... Kind.
I swallowed again. Blew hot air into my hands. Turned the corner.
The person I had singled in on stood, panting, in the center of the alley. His long green hair was falling out of his ponytail. One shoulder was dislocated, and he had a cut pouring blood into his left eye. Several bodies, broken and bloody but still breathing, had been tossed to the side. The other five horned individuals eyed him warily. They weren't untouched: several small, finger sized holes littered arms and legs, some barely missing vital spots in their torsos.
A flare in Haki from the woman with curly, golden horns was my only warning. I didn't even know I was going to do anything about it until I was between her and the green haired man. The back of my hand came down at an angle. I barely felt it connect with her cloven foot and thin, bony leg. I just watched her kick arc away, sending her off balance. My other hand came across and slapped her cheek. As she registered the shock and my presence, I grabbed her shirt collar and pulled her forward. Simultaneously my other palm shot out towards her. Her nose crunched into the back of her head with maybe more force than necessary. Unlike her companions, this one would never get up again.
My back was to the mans, but I didn't need to see him to know that he was frustrated. "I'll be thankful later, but you are making my job really hard." He grumbled. "One star."
"I saved your life." I growled back at him. My eyes darted between the goat man with one set of straight horns and a set of curled horns and the one with an uneven set of spirals. They both grinned. "Well." I huffed. "I think I fucked up."
"Yup. I'm Xander." I could feel his anticipation. Four on two were better odds, but I wasn't much for big battle and he was hurt. "Just don't die, okay? Your captain already hates me and I don't fancy my insides being stung out just yet."
My opponent with the mismatched curls darted forward. I sidestepped his reaching hands and kicked his kneecap, then dropped my heel on where his toes should have been. Obviously I missed them. Cloven feet don't really take up the space that human feet do. I realized belatedly that his knee simply bent with my kick. It was twisted backwards.
He adjusted his angle and caught Xander by the pony tail. Before I could break his elbow, my neglected opponent grabbed my braid and jerked me into his chest. It was uncomfortably warm and sweaty. He leaned into my ear. "Time to go home."
I slammed my elbow into his gut, just below his belly button. As he came forward, I grabbed his horn and flung myself around. The momentum brought my feet off the round, and I jammed my knee into his spine. I heard a satisfying crunch as I broke his spinal cord, and allowed my weight and his poor balance (as well as his now crippled legs) to bring us to the ground. I ensured that his face bore the brunt of the fall.
I looked up to see that Xander had somehow removed the offending hand that had pulled his hair and was actively engaged with the other three. He was mostly only able to block, and I watched the goats slam their heads into his arms and shoulders. Sparks flew off his black armament Haki. With a deep breath to steady myself, I darted through the snow. My weight collided with the Uneven Horns and sent us both to the ground. His bloody stump pushed at my face, smearing my skin. Even with massive blood loss, he was still physically much stronger than me. He rolled me over and pinned me into the cold snow. It got up under my shirt, and I suddenly, desperately, missed Ikkaku.
His triumphant grin replaced her sweet face. "Giovani Andromeda. Your daddy's been looking all over for you!"
I blinked. "Excuse me? My name is Karovich Andromeda. My dad is somewhere in the North Blue with my sibl-"
"Oh, no." he shook his head. "No, your real father. Black Elk Giovani is here in Hell."
My blood ran cold. Snow swirled around us. Black Elk Giovani could not be part of my blood family. They were all dead. I watched them. Except... I remembered Бабушка telling me about Gordon. How he gambled and drank himself to death. I didn't see him die; I was only told that he was already dead. "Giovani... Gordon?" I heard myself whisper.
Before he could give me a proper answer, Xander's Haki black foot collided with his stomach and sent him flying. I was too stunned to move. All I could do was watch the snow come down. I realized belatedly that I was crying. I felt... Happy. Terrified. Disgusted. Guilty. Dirty.
Бабушка's voice, half remembered, floated in the back of my mind. He drank himself into another person. Gambled away his life. Пустое сердце... To a man with an empty chest.
"I don't want him to be alive."
"Well," Xander sat down beside me, "Unlike you, I try not to make it a habit to kill people. So. He's probably gonna wake up in a few minutes. We shouldn't be here when he does."
I shook my head. "You don't understand. Giovani Gordon... I... Want him to be dead."
"Ah." Was the only response I got. Xander hauled me to my feet and wiped the blood out of his eyes. "It won't matter. Come with me. I'll take you back to the Polar Tang."
/-/-/-/-/
I followed the green haired kid down the alley. Every step made my heart beat faster; harder. I was so far away from my crew. I just wanted to head due South until we hit The Polar Tang, but Xander said he was trying to get me back to them, taking the long way through the city to avoid the Celestial Guards.
"And, uh, how exactly do you know Riza, again?"
He snorted, peering around the corner. "Amelia and Kasey had playdates." Xander rubbed his neck. "I got pretty acquainted with their relationship." He gave me a rueful grin. "Knowing her was actually my ticket to freedom, so I'm not keen on getting caught by Slave Hunter Riza, either."
I nodded, but I was to have second thoughts. Xander claimed to be an escaped slave, but I didn't know of anyone outside of Jean who had escaped the Celestial Dragons after being branded. I glanced nervously over my shoulder.
A thwrmp and a sharp grunt caused my head to snap back. Wide eyes took in Xander laying on his stomach in front of me. He was in the cross roads between four buildings. My chest seized. I panicked. I should have checked to make sure he was alive. Instead, the panic overwhelmed me. I could not, could not, be near Giovani Gordon. I spun on my heel. I only took half a step before heavy, scaled hands grabbed my arms at the elbows and jerked me back. I hit his chest with enough force to make me exhale.
"Let go!" My voice shook. My stomach churned. "Let go!"
Hot air tickled my ear as a familiar voice whispered, "Not this time, Andromeda."
Even knowing that it was the fish man who had kidnapped me before, I couldn't feel his aura. I wasn't sure if it was the panic filling my lungs or something he was actively doing to prevent me from feeling his presence. I took in as much air as I could and shrieked. I attempted words, but content was less important than sheer volume. At the same time, I pressed my Haki out, searching for anyone in my crew.
He lifted me into the air, my back pressed against his chest. I flailed my legs, but couldn't get purchase. All I could do was scream. "LAAAAAAAWWWWW!"