"400 years." The spirit woman ground out, bringing her sword down with immense force, cracking and slicing through the polished marble floors. The blue-haired man sidestepped the attack. This only served to anger her further, and she yanked her weapon from the ground. "For 400 years I have hunted you, and my bloodlust has never waned."
"Your anger blinds you, Nemesis." The man said, frowning in equal irritation. She swung again, and this time he was forced to pull his own long sword from his back to block the blade to his neck. "Whatever quarrel caused this is meaningless now!"
She paused, heaving from exertion and unrestrained rage. "Quarrel? Meaningless!? How dare you!" With a yell, she disconnected their blades and thrust towards his stomach. He jumped back, knocking over the red sofa in the process.
"It would be nice to know what you think I've done!" For the first time, he fought back, aiming a glancing blow at her side, but she blocked. They stood toe to toe, blades locked with force.
"You toyed with my affections and tossed me aside for some mortal girl!"
The man looked confused for a moment, frowning deeply and looking to the side. He sighed deeply. "Is that what happened?"
Nemesis hesitated, too in shock to really understand what was being said. "What?" He took her moment of unbalance and struck from the side, she pushed away, but his blade grazed the side of her arm. She grunted, looking to see a thin line of blood form and begin to drip down her skin. She covered it with a hand, her anger intensifying.
"Explain what you mean." She demanded, watching him in anticipation. He scratched the back of his head, an almost sheepish expression on his face.
"Nemesis, it has been several centuries. How could you expect me to remember what happened so long ago? There've been so many women since then-" She snarled, lunging towards his person with a speed he couldn't match. Her sword impaled his left shoulder, and he grunted in pain.
"I was with child, Iapetus! Your child!" He grimaced, and she dug the blade into the wall behind him. He was pinned, held there by her sword. Huffing out a breath, he tried to raise his sword to her, but she knocked it away.
"You were? I don't remember." She about screamed, approaching his pinned body in a rush. She grabbed his neck, squeezing with everything she had.
"The life of my precious daughter was taken from me because of your insolence." She whispered vehemently, watching with sick pleasure as his face began to darken from lack of blood. A twisted grin met her lips, and she laughed darkly. "It is only fitting for you to lose yours by my hand."
In a burst of strength, Iapetus placed his foot on her chest, kicking her away and out of reach. The wind was knocked out of her, and he dislodged his body from her sword. It clattered to the ground, and he gripped his a little tighter. Blood flowed freely from the wound on his shoulder, but he payed it no heed.
"I do not see your reason to hate me so, but if you wish to duel, I will not hold back." He warned, but she was not swayed. Unable to use her sword, she reached for a single, decorative dagger strapped to her belt. Holding it up, she took a breath.
"I shall take pleasure in killing you, Iapetus."
Bepo watched the dueling spirits with anxiety. They were still shining, making it hard to see without squinting. Further away lay James, who was still unconscious as well. It was a bit shocking that the blue-haired spirit had come from inside of him, and it still confused the bear a great deal, but he was more concerned about Summer. Looking down at her in his arms, she hadn't moved since stepping foot in the room.
"Summer?" He asked, gently nudging her arm. There wasn't a response, and he sighed in worry. All he could do now was wait for the others to get back.
"Find them and kill them." Law ordered, entering the hallway with Penguin and Shachi. The three moved slowly, not wanting to blindly rush into a situation they knew nothing about. Law took up the back, holding out his sword in preparation.
"This is too weird." Shachi said, noticing the empty hallways. The people hadn't had long before the pirates had gone after them. They had to be close.
"Keep your guard up." Law warned, and they nodded. Their steps echoed down the marble halls, making it difficult to listen for the enemy. Soon enough, they came to a intersected point of two hallways. The three stopped, looking cautiously down each way.
"We'll have to split up. Search every room, even if it's locked. We don't want to take any chances." The Captain nodded to the two, and they readied their weapons, each one taking a separate direction.
Shachi turned down the hall on the left. Penguin went right. The Captain continued straight.
Shachi held his gun out at the ready, slowly stalking down the hall. Senses heightened, he approached the first door. Trying the knob, it was locked. Still, he couldn't take any chances of the enemy simply lying in wait and attacking them from behind. With a gulp, he backed up a few paces. Then, planting his feet, he shifted forwards and kicked it open.
Aiming the gun inside, he stepped in quickly. The room was rather sparse, a sitting room or parlor of some kind. It was grandly furnished with exotic furniture and expensive-looking decor. It smelled faintly of some kind of musky wood too. Nobody was inside, and she he backed out.
The next door was unlocked, and he threw it open in a rush. It turned out to be a bedroom, with blood-red coverings for the ottoman and bed, and a rug made from the pelt of a tiger. Seeing no one inside, he exited the room.
He stalked to the next door, stopping instantly when he saw it was an inch or so ajar. Gripping the gun a little tighter, he took a silent deep breath before approaching.
'You can do this. Your nakama's lives are in danger.' With a final pep talk, he kicked open the door and pointed the gun at the redhead inside…
Penguin had his sword ready, held out in case of any funny business from the enemy. He was certain there was someone down this hall. There wasn't anything to indicate that, but he just felt like…something wasn't right. There were doors on the left and right, directly in front of one another. He checked the left one first. No one in side. The right one had the same result.
Exiting the second door, he started down the hall once more. Then he stopped. A decorative table that sat against the wall was slightly askew, turned to the left just enough to be noticed but not outrageously so. It didn't look natural, and he approached it.
'Hmm…maybe the bumped into it?' He shook his head, forcing his attention on his surroundings. In doing so, it became evident that there was a broken vase of flowers further down. It was one that sat on the floor for decoration, but it had been knocked over and the large flower it held, along with the dirt, was spilled all over the floor. Water streamed past the contents and branched off in different directions.
He stepped past the mess, noticing an open door just past it. He could hear a female voice inside, and he raised his weapon in preparation. Lunging inside, his sword connected with that of the person inside…
Law was no fool. He knew a trap when he saw one. Separating his men into single groups wasn't his first choice when it came to the crossroads in the hall, but having three dangerous enemies somewhere in a large mansion that was too twisted to navigate properly was too risky to attempt. Who even knew how many people they had? There could be dozens hidden in the halls lying in wait that they hadn't seen.
He held his nodachi by his side loosely. It would do no good to remain tense before a fight even started. His muscles would tire quicker and with an enemy like this, one he knew absolutely nothing about, he wanted to keep everything to his advantage.
There was a shuffling further up, and he paused. No one was in the hallway, and he'd checked the doors up to this point. Nothing looked out of place or moved. Not even a grain of dirt from a dirty shoe. Perhaps no one had even come down this way?
Suddenly, something small and white began moving towards him on the floor. He stopped and held up his sword in wait. The thing got close enough to him and he recognized that it was…
…A bunny? Law frowned, watching as the creature hopped up to him without a care. It stopped about ten feet away. After that, it simply stared up at the Shichibukai, wriggling its nose as it sniffed the air. It's whiskers fluttered up and down with the movement, and Law slowly lowered his weapon.
'What the hell?' He thought, surprised when it turned on it's heel and began hopping back in the direction it had come. Then, after a few feet of hopping, it stopped and turned to look at him. Cocking its head, it stared at the pirate.
'It wants me to…follow?' He thought in bemusement. He took a step forward and the bunny began hopping away again, satisfied that he had gotten the message. With a sigh, the pirate Captain followed the small animal to a room at the end of the hall. It went inside, and Law was greeted with the blade of a sword being swung towards his face…
They were both wounded. Him in his shoulder and her in her chest. They were bleeding heavily, too fast for either of their liking. But Nemesis was far from sated. She hadn't endured 400 years of waiting to die. No, she'd waited to kill. To exact revenge. To sate her ever-growing bloodlust.
"When will you give in?" Iapetus gasped, holding his arm in pain. She coughed, spitting up blood onto the white tiled floor. Grinning, blood staining her teeth, she laughed darkly.
"When your blood soaks these floors and your head is no longer attached to your body." She raised the dagger and lunged, missing him by an inch as he sidestepped. He swung the sword up, cutting a chunk of her hair by the ends. "Your very existence spites me."
"So, I must die to satisfy you?"
"I'm surprised by how long it took you to realize my intentions." She spit. He narrowed his eyes.
"I wondered what you were planning when you had the elders perform the spirit chaining on you. I couldn't fathom it would be for this." She scoffed, raising her daggers in time to deflect the blade from slicing her belly open.
"Oh yes. It's a shame you had it performed as well. I would have enjoyed simply watching your body burn as I destroyed Mount Olympus."
"You caused the island's destruction?" He asked in shock. Their blades rang together, again and again as sword met dagger. The sound echoed around them, but Nemesis was too preoccupied to really notice.
"My pleas were heard by no one. Only the elders would listen. The life of my unborn child meant nothing to any of those who lived there. They all deserved to die. And so they did."
He snarled then, attacking with some renewed strength. "You have been misguided in your hatred, Nemesis! Those people did not deserve the fate they were given!"
"And neither did I!" She screamed, pushing back with the last of her hatred. "My sorrow didn't matter to you or anyone."
"And that is cause for murder?" He asked incredulously. She chuckled lowly, pushing away from him to rest for just a moment
"Justification is a relative concept. The only thing that is certainly known is this: watching you die the first time was a pleasure. Watching you die again will be just as enjoyable, Iapetus."
She leapt forwards with another thrust, and their blades danced together once again.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
