Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund.

After that stunt she had pulled at the palace, Ro didn’t particularly want to be anywhere near Alabasta. It wasn’t like she was wanted or anything, it was just that she should be locked up right about now. However, she was sure she wouldn’t be considered a big time criminal at this point. But as they say, better safe than sorry. She had taken leave from the capital for now while she got her affairs in order. She had already made her first move, she wouldn’t be going back now. Things were finally beginning to get interesting on this desert island. A storm was on the horizon, she could smell it. Ro just had to make sure that her sail was unfurled and ready to catch the oncoming winds so they may sweep her off to a better place. Although she must be careful, for that same storm could rip her sail to tatters.


She had come out to Katorea to stay for the meanwhile while she waited for the water to boil. It was a nice town to lay low in. It was a decent size and therefore she would have access to most amenities that she desired, but it wasn’t big enough to create the daunting atmosphere that a city sometimes would. Walking through the streets gave her a pleasant pedestrian feel, as though the biggest thing she had to worry about was getting to the bakers before they ran out of morning bread. But then again, she was one person that could never live a normal life. Trouble always seemed to find her, though she usually spared it by looking for it herself. It seemed like today would be no different. She was wearing and old hooded coat at the time, not trying to show her face so easily to the world, deciding to stroll to the market to pick up some supplies.


“We're pirates...”
Ro passed by a group and heard their conversation. Pirates? Her ears perked up, her step faltering for a split second before slowing down to listen to more. “I'm not starving over Junbei's habit of being a goodie too shoes all the time” Junbei? Where had she heard that name before? Looking over her shoulder she noticed the young man for the first time. Wait.. Hadn’t the name Junbei come across her desk before? Yes, he had ordered a pair of tonfas from the Germa store. He was the kid that had recently made a ruckus back on Jaya if she remembered correctly. What was he doing on Sandy Island? Before the moment had passed, Ro had already decided to try to take advantage of this.


They had passed by each other at this point, so Ro turned around and lowered her hood, calling out to the young man. “Excuse me? You wouldn’t happen to be Junbei von Echo would you? My name is Elena Veil. You must let me buy you lunch, I have something to discuss with you.” Although her request was rather insistent, she half curtsied and remained with a slightly submissive posture so that she may not threaten the pirates.

[532]

Equipment: Central System, 2 x Energy Pistols (2UP)

The woman known as Elena smiled warmly as the rest of Junbei’s crew left the pair alone. She got the feeling that they had assumed that there was something romantic about this encounter although it was not her intention. She wouldn’t have minded if they had tagged along as well, though maybe one man alone would be easier to use than his whole crew. “No! We haven’t met, I just happen to have heard of you through word of mouth. Apparently you are quite the fearsome pirate and well, we will talk more once we grab some food.” They strolled off together until they came upon a noodle house. Ro followed the young man in, as he seemed to know what he wanted. They sat down and very soon after, Junbei was ordering the whole menu, twice over. Elena’s eyebrows rose higher and higher as his order became larger and larger. Her smile faltered into a twitch as she realised her mistake of offering to buy him lunch. She was going to be drained of everything she had!


Ro was damned if she wasn’t gonna let this opportunity go to waste now. She tried to open up the dialogue while not thinking too much about her wallet. “Well you see, I need help from someone strong and daring.” She leaned in a little and lowered her voice. “Have you heard of the cursed treasure map?” There was a rumour going around at the moment about a map that lead to great treasures. Apparently it was being held by a pirate group hiding somewhere around the coast of Sandy Island. Ro didn’t believe in such things herself, there was always plenty of tales of treasure when there were pirates involved. But that being said, a pirate’s love for booty and adventure was truer than any love one could have for another. She was confident she could use this to her advantage. “I know where the map is you see, but I am not strong enough to take it myself. I would only be looking for a small cut of the treasure.” Ro looked at him with wide eyes. In reality, she didn’t know where the map was at all or if there even was one to begin with. But she did have a place in mind that could use a strong pirate running around in it, causing mayhem.

[405]

What a mess of a scene. Their lunch had been so rudely interrupted, just when she was getting to the point. Pirates and their goddamn treasure lust. Ro was having second thoughts about this plan already. Oh well, she may as well ride this out since she was here. Having a gun pointed at her did not really worry her too much, but she acted distressed to play the part. What did interest her though, was how Junbei ignored the threatening entrance altogether and instead decided to address the cook, who was at this time, writhing in pain from his wound. Curious… Who was this man? She watched while he confronted the attackers, snapping his fingers. The next moment, they were on the ground squirming around while clutching their ears. What had just happened? Was that Junbei’s doing? She couldn’t be sure. He had a tonfa in his hand, brandishing it at the downed thugs. With him in the dominating position, he asked about the map.


Ro decided to take this moment to pipe up and try to get a little control of the situation back. “Excuse me Mr von Echo, I think I may be able to answer that. There is a map, stained with the blood of adventurers, said to lead to a great city of gold, the likes of which has never been seen before. A paradise for all who yearn for wealth, this is what many people seek. This is the treasure that I seek, and I happen to know where the map is.” Rokuju gave a little wink at Junbei. Of course, she didn’t really believe in this treasure map, she just recycled what information she had heard herself. Seeing the greedy glint in the thug’s eyes, she knew she was on the right path. “I can take you there. If they are going after the treasure too then you should probably get rid of them or else they’ll cause trouble later on.”


Regardless of what Junbei decided to do with the pirates, Ro would be ready to lead the Songbird Pirates through the desert to the destination that she had planned, if that is what they wished. The trip would take a few hours through the sweltering heat, but not too long before they would come to the coast. Rokuju was intending to tell them that the Royal Alabastian fleet had the map and hopefully get them to attack it for her. But when they would get to the top of the ridge and look down on the port, the sight shocked her. Four pirate ships were inside the port and looked like a battle had already taken place. What the hell was going on here, why were a bunch of pirates attacking the port? Her plan fell apart in front of her eyes. What would she do now?

[483]

Thankfully, Junbei had agreed to join her, the little scene at the noodle house adding a bit of legitimacy to her story. The Auburn Songbird as they had called him, promptly assembled his crew and was ready for the trip. Ro lead them through the desert at a brisk pace, stopping for the occasional water break. You would think that after being on this island for this long she would be used to the weather by now, but on scorching days like these, she couldn’t help but swelter. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until they had arrived. She had been shocked yes, and for a second she had let down her guard.


"Did you know Miss Veil... That when people lie... Even in the slightest, there heart beat intensifies from it's basic palpitations..."
What was this? Ro turned to see her new acquaintance beside her, his facial structure contort into a mildly angry expression. So the ruse was up was it? Junbei claimed some sort of knowledge through the way her heart beat differently when she was lying. An interesting notion, she had heard of people with fierce haki being able to sense the emotions of those around them, but this seemed slightly different. If he did indeed have access to that kind of info then it would be pointless to keep up the ruse. She relaxed herself, giving up the innocent helpless persona and returning to her calm neutrality. “You got me, I’m sorry for trying to take advantage.” She said with the corner of her mouth twitching up in a smile.


Now, what was she going to do now? It sounded like Junbei and his crew were still interested in the group of boats in the port. She had avoided saying anything on the matter because well, if the pirate did have a way to tell when she was lying then there wasn’t much point. Maybe she could slip away while they were distracted, after all, it seems that her initial objective of taking out the port had already been done for her. She had done all of these shenanigans just to be made a fool of. Lady Fate really did have a strange sense of humour.


But then again, she was intrigued to know what was going on with the ships in the harbour. She had definitely not expected to run into this situation. Pirates usually tried to avoid outright battle as it really wasn’t that profitable, so it was strange to see such a militaristic strategy. This smelled funny to her. If there was more to the Alabastian power dynamic than what she knew of already then it was in her best interest to investigate further. Having a good idea about what was going on was very necessary, information really was the most valuable resource.


So she decided on her course of action. She started to make her way down towards the ships without hurry. Deciding that if the Songbird Pirates wanted to come or go then that was fine with her, she was confident she could handle whatever situation came up on the fly.

[531]

So she had made up her mind to investigate the ships further, not long after she began making her merry way down from the ridge, had Jinbei’s hard body collided with her own and she fell sprawling down the sand bank, head over heels. Moaning, she slowly got up, spit the granules from her mouth and shook the rest out from underneath her clothes. What a clumsy maneuver, still, it was effective at getting her attention. What he said next, she definitely didn’t expect. Apparently, despite her untruth, he would still help her. He talked like he had some chivalrous code, something that was quite strange coming from a pirate’s mouth. Who was this guy? He seemed to simultaneously be aware of the situation yet uncaring for what implications it held. Ro couldn’t help but smile, genuinely this time. This was definitely an interesting day.


Boom! A cannon ball flew over them and buried itself into the sandy ridge. The ships in the bay had noticed them and had begun firing on them. They were only a small group, why were they being attacked? Their aggressiveness was suspicious. In response to the cannon ball, Junbei seemed to disappear right in front of her very eyes. This was surely a power of a devil fruit. She watched him in a matter of seconds, appear on one of the ships. It looked like he was ready to fight. Ro was ready to get to work too.


She dashed off in the direction of one of the other boats instead of the one her new pirate friend had jumped onto. Careful not to dip into her own fruit power, she stopped herself from going full speed, settling for a quarter of what she was capable of. The enemy ship had already noticed her and were scrambling to get into position, their cannons turning and flintlocks aiming. But there just wasn’t enough notice before Ro had made her entrance. The two boxes on her wrist manipulated down into pistols which filled her hand. One of them was preloaded with standard iron bullets, the other was empty. As she drew within fifty metres, she aimed her empty pistol up at the ship’s cannon line. Click, she pulled the trigger, sending an energy round into the side of the ship. It made contact, busting a massive hole and sending a cloud of debris out into the air. Oh what a marvel her inventions were, their powerful energy shot strong enough to even rock a boat the size of this. She was coming up to the end of the wharf here, she would have to make the rest of the distance with a jump. Contorting her body, she sprung horizontally and sped up just enough for her to jump twenty metres across to the ship. But she wasn’t aiming for the deck. Ro aimed the same pistol lower, and fired another shot that would smash into the side of the ship and create an entry point in which she sailed through. There she stood in the gaping hole in the side of the ship, thinking about what to do next.


A woman’s scream pierced the already full air. Looking at it’s source, Ro discovered that she had in fact, entered into the kitchen of the ship, and this woman here looked like a chef. Stepping over to her, she smacked the butt of one of her guns into the side of the woman’s head, knocking her out. Now, amid this chaos, she would need a gameplan. She wanted information, so she should try to locate the captain’s quarters or if there was some sort of communications or officer’s room then that would be perfect. She decided to disguise herself, as a brute force fight probably wouldn’t give her enough time for her to look around. Rokuju Vinsmoke took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. It looked like she would have to wake the devil inside herself and draw upon its power. She harnessed the light that flowed around herself, bending and manipulating and changing its properties. When she opened the door on the other side of the room, what she looked like had completely changed. She had now assumed the identity of the now unconscious cook.


She hurried down the hallway, turning a corner before coming across a squad of men, on their way down to where Ro had entered the ship. For the second time today, it looked like Ro would be required to use her well polished chameleon impression. Her face contorted into terror and she scrambled away from the kitchen and past the men, pointing back at where she had come from and whimpering something about a ‘monster’. She successfully made it past them. This disguise wouldn’t last for too long, as she had decided not to waste time disposing of the original cook’s body. She hurried now, taking little time to be cautious. Running up the steps, she again passed more armed men. Luckily, they were too caught up in the moment to question what the cook was doing upstairs. She could already feel the power of the Pika Pika sapping her energy as she scrambled around, looking for something of use to her. That little corner of darkness appeared once more, the little tendrils of doubt licking at her heart.


She was beginning to lose her cool when she booted open the last door to find a dozen or so men and women. They looked older and more experienced than the others, toting a mix of guns and swords. They had been in the middle of arguing, clearly in some type of meeting. This looked like the place, however she had just barged in looking like the ship’s cook. “What the hell are you doing here?” One stressed out moustached man asked. Ro made sure that she was milking the flustered appearance while changing the light around her pistols, making it appear as though she was empty handed. She was out of time, she would have to cut the games for now. Raising her loaded pistol, she sent a bullet through the heads of the nearest few officers, their heads spurting with blood and grey matter. However it hadn’t taken long for them to react, the moustached man brandishing his sword and making a swing at Ro. It was clear that these men were a cut above the usual rabble. But they had yet to bare witness to the devil that lived within. She had to do it. She had to draw on its strength again. Bolts of pure yellow light flew from her body as her skin blazed as brilliantly as the sun. The rays pierced metal and flesh alike, ripping people apart. Ro let the rays reflect off the room’s walls and ricochet back into the people at the back, filling the room with deadly lasers. Compared to the light’s movement, the men and women were snails, moving barely a centimetre before their bodies had been run through with the beams of pure energy. But this power had a price, the darkness in Ro’s hears grew manifesting in a physical ache in the middle of her chest.


The young scientist took a shaky breath to calm herself. The bodies dropped to the floor and slumped over the table, all of them dead. Refocusing, she walked around the room, trying to see what she could dig up. Pulling one woman off of her paperwork, she spent precious seconds flicking through them. Schedules, schematics, maps, it was a planned operation, but then again, she could have already guessed as much. Tch, she couldn’t find anything that would signal motive. Gah, she hadn’t had time to interrogate anyone. Thumping came from down the hall. Looking up, she found a squad had come to investigate what the commotion was all about. Looks like she had run out of time. Well, that was just fine. It looked like there wasn’t anything to gain from this ship. It was time to move onto the next one.


Her body glowed bright yellow, for she was a woman of the light. Her form changed into something lacking a tangible body. And then the golden rays erupted from her once more. This time, she did not care to rein them in, she did not care to reflect them, instead letting them destroy to their hearts content. And then she flew. Ignoring the rooms and corridors, she flew down to the bottom of the ship, the laser carving and incinerating a pathway for her. She gave no heed to man nor mouse, for she had fully given in to the devil that resided within her. Right down to the hull she moved, until she was five metres from the outer hull. Then she flew forwards, ripping the bottom of the boat in two and out the other side. She changed her appearance before leaving, this time taking the guise of a seagull. There she would fly off to the next boat, landing on the deck just in time to turn around and see the ship slowly sink to the bottom of the harbour.


Ro panted for a moment, gathering herself. She had run out of patience for this nonsense. She saw Junbei had destroyed one of the ships as well and was currently on the only other remaining ship. Geez that kid was strong. It would be in her best interest to finish you as quick as possible, she still wanted to slip away without him noticing. Unbeknownst to her, this ship had a certain map on it.

[1625]

resources:

enemies defeated in this post:

It looked like she had landed on the flagship without anyone noticing. The light disguised her form, if anyone was to look upon her all they would see was a seagull hopping about. She did not like using her fruit powers this much, but it was necessary for the moment. Looking back at the ship she had just destroyed, the wooden structure was slowly sinking into the water. People were jumping off the decks, only to be sucked under by the pull of the water as the ship sunk. She was already starting to feel the toll of the fruit on her body, her breathing becoming laboured. Now, to try to discern what she could from this boat. Ro decided that she would take her leave if she hadn’t made any more progress with this ship. She prowled around the deck, trying her best not to make any sound. Peeking around the corner, she noticed Junbei had made his way onto the deck of this ship. Well, there wasn’t much point trying to avoid him now. She let the light around her flow back into it’s natural state, making the bird disappear and the girl appear. She then walked out to meet him. It looked like he had just finished defeating another few pirates, their bodies strewn over the wooden deck. When she approached, it seemed like he was already aware of her presence. This is when he told her about the location of the guards. This did sound like a likely location of whatever was most valuable to these pirates. Whatever it was, it could give her the insight that she was wanting. She would nod at Junbei and make her way to the stairs that would take her down to the lower levels. From the sound of it, he was going to look at something else that had taken his attention.


Her heels clacked as she descended, and the thought struck her that she was being deceived. Would she trust the information that she had been given? Was she really just going to go deep into the bottom of the ship while the young pirate went off on his own to do whatever he intended? Down this far, she would be trapped. Her mind filled with suspicions. It was the sort of thing she would do to someone else, she had already lied to him once today, she wouldn’t blame him for returning the favour. And yet, something inside wanted to trust the ‘Auburn Songbird’. Maybe it was her instinct. After travelling the Grandline and coming into contact with all sorts of people, she had become quite the discerner of character. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on the tonfa wielding warrior. Pushing her thoughts to the back, she decided to trust his information for now. She would have a quick look around and if she couldn’t find anything then she would be out of there.


With a rudimentary plan at the ready, she took the second flight of stairs, only to find a pair of men coming up the other way. Raising her loaded gun, she emptied the couple of bullets that were still in their chambers into their skulls before running past. She would have to be careful from now on, the enemies on this ship knew that there was dangerous people coming for them. They would be on high alert and ready to fight. Grabbing half a dozen metal pellets from her back pocket, she flicked open the energy pistol and refilled it. This looked like the bottom level of the ship, the boat’s hull located directly to her right. The level was strangely empty. The pair of grunts she had run into had probably just been a scouting party or something. It was at this point that she wished Junbei had given her more detail as to the exact position of the enemies, this was getting quite dangerous. Upon reaching the end of the hall, it became apparent which rooms was the one of interest. There was a large section of the back of the ship that looked like it would usually be used for storage and the like. But now the door had been barricaded up from the outside. Planks nailed across and tables moved into place. She would bet anything that if she tried to get through that door, she would be littered with bullets before she could say hello. Luckily for her, doors weren’t the only entrance.


She would take her unloaded pistol and fire a round into the door, smashing a hole through and tossing debris. But this was only a distraction. She fired a second shot into the side of the room and sprinted through the hole as soon as the explosion subsided. The men inside had set up quite the well fortified position, with riflemen hiding in a bunker of furniture and swordsmen guarding the doorway. They were still looking at the doorway when Ro entered. Their heads slowly turned towards her, the stress twisting their faces.
A voice whispered inside her. Ro’s strength unable to keep it within any longer. Light glowed from her very core and unleashed a wave of force, smashing the bodies like ragdolls into the side of the storeroom. A brilliant yellow covered the room and scattered objects. Like Rokuju was the sun herself, the room lit up like every surface was plated in gold. A smile grew on her face, which grew into an ugly grimace. Raising her two pistols, she shot at the men, relieving them of their worldly troubles. Down each one went, the bloodlust in the young woman’s eyes ebbing with every taken life. Finally, she was able to wrestle control back into her own hands, just in time to find one last man alive, sprawled across the half destroyed floor.


Ro walked over to him and knelt down. His head had been smashed against something, blood pouring from his temple into his left eye. He panted and shuddered from shock, one arm raised up so as though he may try to fend his attacker off. Ro jammed one of her pistols into the underside of the man’s jaw. “What is your objective here on Sandy Island?” She waited for a few seconds, her question not eliciting a reply. She pointed at the safe. “What’s in there?” Still no answer, so she got to her feet and walked over to the metal box.
“You’ll never have it!” Somehow, the man had gathered enough will to grab a sword and launch himself at the blonde scientist. Without turning her attention away from the safe, she raised her pistol and put a lead bullet between his eyes. Now she was intrigued. Was whatever was in here worth dying for? They had certainly guarded it well. Extending her finger, a laser protruded from it, cutting into the safe. A few seconds later, she had cut through the thick iron barrier.


Inside was a single box, no bigger than a shoebox. Upon pulling it out, it didn’t feel like anything was in there, it was so light. Ro opened it and peered inside. It was.. An old tattered document. Her fingers inched closer, closing around the weathered brown parchment. No way… These markings… It’s a treasure map. “Kekekeke...” Ro heard herself laugh. But she hadn’t done anything of the sort. Feeling a tingling down her arm, she looked, to see a dark tendril of shadow creeping down her arm. Her heartbeat skipped, looking up from where the darkness came from, she saw that it was flooding down her body, emanating from her own heart. Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Looking up, there she was, somebody that she recognised when she peered into the mirror. But she had that same ugly grimace that had been plastered on her face while she had killed those men. “Kekekeke…” It laughed again. And then the darkness flowing from her heart spread quickly to the space around her, filling up the room and then making it disappear. Soon it was just the pair of twins, facing each other in an endless void of darkness. But this was just in her mind, Ro’s real body collapsed to the ground, the cursed map fluttering to the ground.

[1410]

resources:

enemies defeated this post:

Nothingness gripped her. She would have thought that she had her eyes closed in a dark room if it weren’t for that mirror image of herself. Where was she? Somewhere and nowhere at the same time. Unrecognisable yet familiar. She seemed to be floating, or at least, no earthly force affected her. Her movements slowed, each moment stretched out. “Where am I” she finally asked her double. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a mystified statement. Lifting her hand up to look at it, she saw the double reflect her motion.
“You are right where you need to be.” It returned, like it’s mouth was the only thing not synced up with her. As if her senses returned, she became annoyed, and then frustrated.
“Tell me what the hell is going on!” All she received in response was a wide smile.
“Ahh there’s the fieriness I’ve come to expect.” It chuckled. “You have come to know the darkness inside yourself.”
“Gah, screw this!” Ro flipped out her pistol and shot at the clone, unsure what exactly it would do but being annoyed enough to lash out regardless. The bullet flew the metres between them and pierced the clone. “Ahrgh!” Ro let out a yelp of pain as she felt a bullet pierce her chest. Looking down at the red hot stinging, she would find that there was no wound.
“Now why would you shoot yourself? That self destructive behaviour is starting to get worse, isn’t it? Do you really hate yourself that much?” The scientist clutched her chest where the pain slowly ebbed.
“Screw you.” She said under her breath.
“Screw me? But I AM you!” A cackle of laughter was let out from the double’s mouth. Then her form shifted, swirling into a point like water let down a drain. Then all of a sudden, light flashed in every direction, lighting up the darkness so that her environment was completely white.


She heard her voice again. This time not coming from somewhere nearby, but like an echoing call coming from all directions at once. “But how would you know that? You can’t even recognise who you are anymore. Really, who are you even? You have lived so many different lives under so many different names. Are you Elena or are you Jane or maybe Andrea?”
“My name is Rokuju Vinsmoke!” She shouted it at the top of her lungs, trying to provide a truth that would whitewash the confusing mess. The voice in response, only increased in volume, now it felt like it had penetrated her skull, feeling her own voice echo in her brain.
“Who is that? No one has been Rokuju for years! The Vinsmokes are a strong family, full of brave warriors and important nobles. The woman I see before me scrabbles around in the sand like a rat!” Ro’s breathing was increasing to the point where she was beginning to hyperventilate. She couldn’t refute that. In her eyes and in the eyes of her siblings, their former glory was so far from what they were now. The truth of their peasantry was horrifying.


The voice didn’t seem to stop. No matter how hard she clutched her ears, she could not drive the sound from her head. “Yes, you are a failure. Your family…” Forms were beginning to appear in front of her. Three blobs stretched out into familiar shapes. They were her three siblings. Except they had their backs to her, staring off into the distance. “You are so much weaker than them. You have let them all down.” Tears welled up in her eyes and her breath hiccuped. It was true. She couldn’t do anything. Even her younger brother that she had raised for the second half of his childhood had left her, finally fed up with her failings, trying to carve out a future himself. “They have all left you behind. You are useless. Worthless.” Ro stretched out her arm.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry..” She whispered. “Goji, Shichiji, Hachiju…”
Everything went blue.
“Are you ok Rokuju?” blinking, she realised she was looking at the sky. Looking at the huge mass above her, she realised it was her older brother, Shichiji. He was a young man here, younger than she was now. His body coated in dark black haki. The ship underneath her swayed and jolted, the noises of cannonballs exploding and ripping through timber. They were in a firefight, their ship was being surrounded by the marines. But her older brother stood over her, his unwavering blue eyes trained on her. Despite the intense situation, being in his presence made her feel at ease. WIthout looking behind him, his arm whipped around, grabbing the cannonball that was whistling towards them, palming it then crushing it to dust with his massive hand. He smiled. “Let’s get you out of here.”


Everything went brown.
“I get it!” A teenager yelled at her. It was her younger brother Goji, he being several years younger than he currently was. They were in an old cabin, the glow of the candlelight magnified the silence of the night. Ro remembered. This was when they had spent a few months on Karakuri Island and her younger brother had just come back from a night of fooling around with the revolutionaries of the female persuasion. Ro had been standing over him, lecturing him while he wiped the lipstick off the side of his cheek. “You’re always so goddamn smart and responsible aren’t you! Don’t you think it doesn’t tear me up knowing that I can’t do anything to help us?” He had shouted back at her, tears welling up in his eyes.


Her memories started flowing back. Yes… Her family, they were all trying their hardest. They were all just like her. She couldn’t let them down. The anchors that she clung to as her motivation for moving forward were masking the echoing noise of her mirror self. “So what? You’re a failure!” She heard the sound of her voice in her head.
“Yes I am a failure.” She agreed, her breath settling and her focus returning to the situation at hand. She was back in the black room, opposite herself.
“And you’ll fail again, and again!” The voice cackled in glee.
“No I will not fail. But if I do, I will keep going and try again.” She tempered her resolve, beating it down into a thick armour that would resist the attack.
“You’ll die in a gutter like the rat you are, your brothers and sister will never want to know what a useless good for nothing their own blood is!” It’s eyes were beginning to bulge and twist.
“No! I cannot die until I restore our family name! I WILL NOT die until I stand side by side with my siblings!” She was finally sure of herself. All shred of doubt gone from her own body, she faced the map’s curse with an unwavering spirit. Her mirrored self screeched as it’s form twisted and and grew into a ghoul shaped humanoid, writhing and slowly fading.


A slit of light pierced the darkness. The slit widened, the black nothingness beginning to fade. Blue and white filled her eyes, a seagull cawed, and a cool wind swept over her body, fluttering a young man’s hair as he looked down at her. It was… Was it just a dream? Who is this? A name came to mind. “Junbei…” she spoke quietly. Trying to move, she tensed her abdomen and then relaxed in a soft groan. She felt sore and fatigued, her face wet and fringe matted with sweat. Oh right… The map and the pirates. Focus returned to her eyes and she slowly eased herself up. Rubbing her head, she looked around, seeing that she had been surrounded by the young pirate’s crew. “That map.” She finally managed to speak. “It’s really cursed, it’s the real deal.” She looked at Junbei, realising what must have happened while she had been out. “Thanks for coming back for me.” She grinned, genuinely happy.


That curse had taken her self doubt and made it into a monster, manipulating and attempting to drown her in despair. But she had to be thankful, for she had beaten herself, managing to vanquish the darkness by holding on to what was real.

[1425]