I picked up the baby girl, those purple eyes were so big and cute, difficult to admit... she didn't belong to this world of disease.
"Are you going to grow up to become one of those disgusting fiends…? Are you going to get infected with that disease? If I leave you here..."
"Ma?"
She didn't seem to understand what I was saying; so pure, innocent… untainted... that I felt the urge to take her away and only ended up shaking my head at my own stupidity.
It was a waste of time, I didn't even come for this... how ironic, to hug a baby while thinking of ending somebody's life.
I put the baby down on the bed albeit reluctantly, but the more I looked at her the more she resembled the woman I was looking for-
*CLICK*
I got on guard right away when the noise of the door clicked. It opened and I was left rooted in my spot.
"Mom?"
"Ma!"
I heard an echo, the little girl and I both yelped at the same time, with different exclamations, but the same intonation. The person who entered didn't resemble my mother in even a single aspect, physically… but her entrance made me remember fifteen years of regrets.
I had looked at her wanted poster, that livid expression was gone. The enthusiasm was gone… the desire to live was gone. Her clothes were haggard, her hair in disarray, her face bruised.
When she saw me her first reaction was shock, her second reaction was alarm.
!!!
"Who are you!? Get away from my baby!" She rushed at me with the swiftness of something beyond a damsel in distress, she clearly knew how to throw punches. Her first, however, didn't have Haki and so she phased through me, arriving next to her daughter and looking at me in shock.
"Logia... who are you?! I-I will call..."
"Hmph, who are you going to call?"
"That-"
Her helpless expression amused me. No one is going to help you here... you're just a captive toy. This is the woman I'm looking for. I knew she'd react like this, but her shouting is not what we need. I flickered next to her to cover her mouth.
"You're Ginny… aren't you?"
"…" She didn't answer outrightly but nodded, still in distress at her helplessness.
"I'm with Dragon and Kuma, we came to save you".
Her shock was apparent before eventually nodding to keep quiet. I released her, looking for the communicator.
"K-Kumachi is here?"
"Kumachi? Ah, Kuma... yes, I'll call him to get you-"
"No, stop...!"
Her hand held mine looking for the den den mushi, she was shivering.
"Ah?"
"I-I don't want him... to see me like this..."
Her face turned to one side and I managed to take a glimpse of something rough bluish in colour embedding her face, they looked like blue stones. I thought it must have been something from birth, but her wanted poster showed precisely the right side of her face and she didn't have that in the poster.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think it is easy to just come here and rescue you? every second is important!"
I slapped her hand away and insisted, but so did she, even going as far as to take the communicator away with tears in her eyes.
"I'm not worth it... I'm not worth his love. Please just take my daughter, she's innocent, she has nothing to do with this. Tell Kumachi to take care of her... tell him that I'm dead, that you couldn't find me... something like that!"
"You... I understand how much you have suffered but there is always a second chance. It is only finished if you give up".
"..."
I don't know where those words came from or if I even thought like that. Since when am I optimistic? I'm here with the intention of killing that bastard and then dying... how am I even qualified to encourage someone to live?
Nevertheless, the more I see her the more I recall my mother... would it have been like this for her too? if that bastard finally came and saved us... would she have told him it was too late?
"Ma!"
"Look at your daughter, she loves you... are you such enough of a b*tch to leave her on her own?! Do you know what sort of hardships she may end up living in? Kuma is a revolutionary, he may one day perish... what's going to happen to your daughter then?"
"..."
My words seemed to have done something, she faltered and gave me the opportunity to look for the communicator. But then, another hurdle resurfaced in my mind. If I call them now and we take Ginny away... when do I get the chance to slaughter Rosward? Is Veyron going to allow me...? I don't need him to allow me.
"Take this..."
"Ah?!"
I gave her the communicator.
"Were you with Rosward Esquivel? Is he whom you're married to?"
She nodded in disgust, "I didn't want to-"
"I know... I know. Listen to me, this den den mushi is to contact Dragon and Kuma who is also searching for you elsewhere. Once I'm out of here, in a few minutes, tell them to come for you and your location, you get me? If they ask for me, tell them I am gone awol, they can leave without me".
"What about you? And who are you anyway? I don't know your name... are you one of Kumachi's friends?"
She must be confused and understandably so, her hand stopped me from leaving as if she was afraid this was some sort of ploy or test.
"You don't need to know. Listen to me, Ginny. You have a second chance... don't waste it. Nothing of what happened here is your fault, you understand? Once you're out of here, forget everything and start over with your daughter and your man, that's what you have to do. Stop thinking nonsense or whatever sh*t of whether you're worth it or not, that bastard is lucky you still love him after he abandoned you for this long. You still love him don't you?".
"I-I do".
"Then stop thinking nonsense... and live. Just live and even if you don't want to... do it for the kiddo. I'm out".
...
I didn't intend to waste time. After telling her those words and looking at the little girl one last time, I flashed away from that room, heading upstairs with a single intention, not even willing to conceal my killing intent any longer.
I must massacre that bastard. For me, for Mom, for Ginny and for all the people they have ruined. I'll slaughter him with my very hands and if by then the knight hasn't spotted me, I'll level this whole mansion.
WHOOSH!
I moved so fast, but something wasn't right. I kept going up and beyond, into the corridors and the hallways, but it felt like I was returning on my steps, like this was some sort of mace.
'What's going on?'.
I burst into many rooms and they all looked exactly the same, there was nobody inside.
"Tch!"
My killing intent only increased swiftly when once again I bumped into something invisible. Are there some sort of protective arrays protecting this mansion? Some sort of power or barrier that I can't see...? Has the knight already spotted me, is that it?!
At times I felt I was advancing, at times I felt I was strained.
Eventually, I reached it... that massive room with a big *ss golden door on the last floor, it had to be this.
"Rosward..."
I burst inside and there he was... sadly, he wasn't by himself.
"HAAA!!" He screamed like a pig once he witnessed me, his damn ugly body semi-naked and still a bit sweaty, he was kneeling on the ground, hugging somebody's leg.
"Ancestor, please save me!"
"..."
"Rosward... haha, finally... I'll kill you... I SLICE YOU IN HALF YOU PIECE OF GARBAGE!".
WHOOOSH!
"HAAAA!!!"
A barrage of sand transformed into the sharpest of blades, sticking across and slicing the whole floor in half until it reached Rossward.
CLAAANGG!!!!
!!!
The woman in question sighed and moved her naked slender hand just a tad bit, a single finger coated in Armament Haki but that Haki was giving off such tyrannical energy.
RUMBLE!!
I felt Conqueror Haki from that finger and it was all it took for it to stop my technique.
BOOOOOMMMM!!!
The world around me fluttered, my eyelids opened and closed a single time. Faster than anything that any person could see... and yet, that was all it took to see my technique being returned right towards me.
CHAAA!!!
RUMBLE!!!
Another Conqueror Haki manifested, an individual appearing from nothingness in the form of a lightning strike, with a single finger coated in Haki and red lightning.
BOOOOMMMMM!!!!
Half of the mansion was sliced in half by my technique, I had to cover my eyes as everything around me seemed to turn slowly. Veyron was right there, I was astonished... when? since when have you been following?
RUMBLE!!!
Another flutter... one more time I opened my eyes and closed them, just a slight flicker of my eyelids. That was all it took for the mansion to be back to normal. As if nothing had happened.
"..."
W-What is going on...? These two monsters, I can't even comprehend what they're doing!
...
"Your power is indeed remarkable, Dracule Veyron. You have been interfering with me for a while now".
"And you have shattered my barriers one after the other. Getting in Ali's way... what sort of ridiculous power is that, time control? For a devil fruit even that is beyond ridiculous".
"It won't be me divulging my secrets during this junction. It was a mistake for Alicia to come here. Your mother sacrificed herself for nothing. And you too, Veyron... do you want a full-blown war between Marie Geoise and Shandora? "
"..."
"Or could it be that you're underestimating Lord Imu's power once again?".
"Even if a war were to break out-"
"Must I show you...? That you coming here was the wrong choice".