Chapter Seven

Luffy and Chopper watched silently as Bleu led Mer past their cell.

They did, however, leap up to see through the bars on where she was going. Through a small cell door a few feet away from the end of their larger cell.

“I’m so so sorry, Mer.” they heard Bleu say.

Mer didn’t reply but walked into the small cell and instantly fell to her knees and sat down on the floor.

As soon as Bleu was out of the hallway, Mer let out a terrible scream of pain.

“Mer? What is it?” Chopper cried out to her through the bars.

Mer was now laying on the floor, holding her shoulder and arm.

“Broken!” she managed to bark out through her cries of pain, “My shoulder! My arm! My ankle!” she yelled.

“You walked in here, it can’t be that bad? Maybe just sprained?” Chopper suggested through her cries.

“No! It’s broken! I heard it crack when I hit the wall!” she cried out, tears falling onto the floor.

“What did they do to you, Mer?” Luffy asked seriously.

Mer turned her face towards Luffy and retold the entier story. How she worked for Mr. Dieux. How Bleu’s power worked. How Dieux’s powers work. How the rest of them have the rest of the crew. Everything.

Luffy’s head was down, his hat masking the anger on his face.

“I can’t do anything. I’m completely powerless in this cell.”

“You’re not touching the bars?” Chopper stated, confused.

“The entier cell is made of Sea Prism Stones. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the cell...” she said, grasping control on her cries of pain.

“So it’s like you’re in-”

“Water. I’m floating in the abyss but I can breath, so I can not die in here.” she said darkly.

“Where are the others?” Luffy asked quietly, but Mer heard him.

“I don’t know,” she said in a half whisper, “I’m blind in here. I don’t even know what you two are thinking!”

I-T-S-A-G-R-E-A-T-D-A-Y-T-O-B-E-A-L-I-V-E

Three women and three men stood at the ready as Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro sat in the wingback chairs. Zoro thought he saw a hint of disgust in the green woman’s face. Zoro looked about and saw that he was sitting in the green chair. Sanji was in the white chair, Nami in the red one, Usopp in the blue one.

“Ah! Welcome, Straw Hat Crew!” a man said brightly, coming out from a secret door beside the massive fireplace.

“Who are you?” Nami snapped, her hand still at her face. She had a piece of cloth up to her bloody cheek, having ripped it from the bottom her tanktop she was wearing.

“I am Mr. Dieux, Miss Nami!” he said, smiling that charming smile of his.

“You know my name?” Nami asked, looking at him with a confused look.

“Who wouldn’t know the name of such a pretty lady!” Dieux said, smiling at Nami, who blushed and giggled.

Zoro watched the reactions of the six people standing there, the girl in green looked like she was about to barf.

“Where’s Luffy and Chopper?” Zoro asked the man, who was kissing Nami’s hand. Sanji beside her looked like he could kill the man.

“Your captain? Haven’t seen him!” Dieux said pleasantly.

Sanji and Zoro exchanged glances.

“Mer is in her cell now, sir. The one next to the Straw Hat and the Reindeer, like you said.” a male voice called from the other end of the room.

Dieux’s face was livid. The other six looked shocked and scared.

“Thank you,” Dieux said stiffly, “Bleu.” he looked as if he could kill Bleu. The crew turned in their seats to see the man in blue. Bleu looked very very smug.

“Where is she?” Sanji demanded.

“Where are Luffy and Chopper?” Nami demanded.

“Ok, ok.” Dieux said, putting his hands up in surrender. “We put them in cells. Ciel, show them to the cells.” Dieux said, throwing the girl in the white flapper dress a ring of keys.

“Follow me, please.” Ciel said in her trill of a voice and started walking.

The four followed the flapper as she led them out of the room.

As soon as they rounded the dark corner past the stairs, Fleur burst, “HOW COULD YOU, BLEU!?” she screamed, Vert holding her back.

“The same way I managed to follow Dieux’s orders and hurt Mer.” Bleu said, standing up to Fleur.

“You know she deserved what she got!” Fleur yelled, shaking off Vert. He let go instantly, as if afraid of her.

“She did not!” Bleu protested, “She’s better than all of us here! Even you know that!”

Fleur glared and reached into the purse at her side and threw out suddenly to the ground a handful of dirt.

Bleu started running to her but was too late as an octopus of thick green vines shot out of the little pile of dirt.

One of the vines twisted itself around Bleu’s body and lifted him up into the air and threw him at the wall, hitting the same spot Mer had before.

Bleu slid to the floor, smiling darkly as he lifted himself up slowly off the floor. He was hunched slightly, letting his arms dangle as suddenly the vines sunk back into the dirt as if they had never been there before, and a giant violent purple Venus Flytrap sprung out, aiming at Fleur herself.

Fleur swore loudly as the flower aimed itself at her.

“HOW COULD I BE SUCH AN IDIOT?” she screamed as she remembered that Bleu, if he touches a person he acquires their Devil Fruit power for an hour, and if he touches that which is being controlled by their Devil Fruit power then he can also acquire the power that way, too.

“You’ve always been, Fleur!” Bleu shouted happily, darkly, as he kept trying to get the flower to snap and eat her. All it was doing was snapping as she dodged out of it’s way, leaping about.

“YOU COULD HELP, YOU KNOW!” Fleur screamed at the other four standing there.

“How are we suppose to fight Bleu?” Vert yelled, “We touch him, he’s just like us!”

“THEN DON’T TOUCH HIM!” Fleur screamed, avoiding the flower yet again but jumping onto it.

“WE’RE NOT MER!” Blanc yelled.

Tirer ran after Bleu.

“CAT O’ NINE TAILS!” she screamed, whipping her long now steel strong hair at Bleu, nicking his hand has he tried to jump back away from her. But that light whip, which got his hand to be bleeding profusely in thin little lines all down his hand, was enough to earn him Tirer’s power.

His hand was now as flat as paper and strong as steel (while still bleeding) as he ran up to Tirer and pimp slapped her across the room causing her to slide across the floor and smash into the wall.

“YOU JERK!” Rouge yelled, running up and smacking his hand down on Bleu’s normal arm quickly and hearing Bleu’s screams of pain as his skin felt like it was being stabbed at every square millimeter by blazing hot knives and his eyes being gorged out of their sockets.

Slowly, Bleu, despite the pain he was feeling, raised his hand up to Rouge’s bare hand and suddenly Rouge was the one screaming in pain, feeling the exact same thing as Bleu had been feeling.

“Rouge!” Bleu heard Tirer yell in pain and anger as she watched him wither in pain.

Rouge slowly inched towards the floor and when he was laying on it, Bleu let go and stood up over him as Rouge lay there, panting like he had just sprinted 20 laps in a pool.

“None of you can beat me. You all know that. So why are you still trying?” Bleu said cockilly with a hint of the dark side in there.

“Why are you doing this, Bleu?” Fleur demanded as she stood there, hunched slightly over her dirt pile.

“Because Mer was right. You are all evil.” Bleu said.

“SIR! SIR! THEY ESCAPED!” Ciel screamed, running into the room, her heals clicking loudly on the marble floor.

Dieux, who had been watching silently from beside the fireplace walked into view, “HOW!?” he bellowed at her, striking his hand through the air.

Ciel tripped to her knees, feeling the force taken away from her. She replied, sobbing, “I! I don’t know?”

“WEREN’T YOU USING YOUR POWERS?” Dieux screamed, walking towards her.

“I...? I was!” she sobbed. Blanc running over to comfort her.

“Then how did they escape?!” Dieux hissed.

Ciel was staring up at Dieux with glossy eyes, Blanc down on one knee beside her.

Dieux slowly took out a long ornate looking knife and admired it in the glow of the fire. The red splayed across the blade making it look like blood.

Slowly, he situated the blade beneath Ciel’s jaw line.

Bleu smirked at what happened next.

Ciel disappeared along with Blanc.

Dieux swung madly but there was nothing there to hit. They were gone.

K-R-Y-P-T-O-N-I-T-E

The invisible and intangible Ciel and Blanc ran through the dark twisting hallways till they found what they were looking for, the Straw Hats.

“Keep quite, Ciel,” Blanc whispered to her. When Blanc was in this state, he could see anything he was making invisible and sometimes anything else that was invisible. But most of the time the only other thing that was invisible was the thing he was making invisible and if it was a person, they could see him. He could see that Ciel was still crying.

She nodded.

He let go of her hand and made himself visible and solid again and walked up to the Straw Hats, earning a kick in the face by Sanji.

“That’s for the punch before!” Sanji roared.

“Hold it!” Blanc yelled, realigning his jaw. “I’m here to help you!”

A blade was at his newly aligned chin, “Why should we believe you?” Zoro growled.

“Bet ya Mer could tell if he was lying.” Usopp muttered.

“Mer! Yeah! I can take you to Mer! I can take you to your Captain and the other one, too! I know where they are!”

Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp exchanged hard glances.

“Why are you helping us?” Nami demanded.

“Because-”

“Bleu was right.” the light trill of a voice sounded from nowhere.

“What the hell was that?” Zoro barked.

Blanc made Ciel visible and had to leap in front of her to prevent her from getting hurt by the crew, who nearly killed her at the sight.

“She’s with me!” Blanc yelled.

“We can’t trust you!” Nami shouted.

Blanc sighed and looked at Ciel, “Trust us till we take you to Mer, then you ask her if we’re lying.” Blanc said.

They deliberated.

Zoro growled when he said, “Fine. Take us to Mer.”

I-D-O-N-T-L-I-K-E-I-T-L-I-K-E-T-H-I-S

The invisible crew and Blanc and Ciel walked into the cell chamber and walked down to the end where they found Luffy and Chopper playing cards and Mer still as death on the floor in hers.

“Luffy? Where did you get those cards?” Nami asked, forgetting she was invisible.

“Who said that?” Luffy shouted, Chopper screaming in fright, Mer’s eyes shooting open.

“MAKE US VISIBLE!” Nami screamed.

“Oops!” Blanc said and turned them all visible again.

“Hey, guys! Wanna get us out?” Luffy asked as Chopper foamed at the mouth and fell to the floor.

The crew turned to Ciel and Blanc.

“We can’t touch the bars.” Ciel said.

“They’re made of Sea Prism Stones.” Blanc added.

“How do we get them out then?” Sanji asked as he stood beside Mer’s small cell door. She was still laying on the floor, but her head was tilted towards Sanji.

“The key.” Ciel and Blanc replied.

“Where is it?” Nami asked bluntly.

“Dieux only gave one to himself and his top two. Mer and Bleu.”

“Mer! You have a key? Why didn’t you just let yourself out?” Sanji asked, looking at her through the bars.

“Because she’s in the special cell. The only cell that has not only the bars made of Prims stones, but the floor, the walls... the ceiling.”

Mer managed to nod.

“What happened to you?” Sanji asked her, placing his hand on her forehead.

“She was fighting agaist Bleu at Dieux’s orders. Bleu had her powers then.” Ciel replied.

“What?”

“Bleu, if he touches someone with a Devil Fruit power then he has that power for an hour. It’s very very tough to defeat him. I’ve never seen it happen before since knowing him.” Blanc explained.

“So if he touched me he could go Gomu Gomu too?” Luffy asked, excited.

“Yes, he could.” Ciel said.

“COOOOOOOOOL!” Luffy shouted, bouncing up and down.

“Where is your key, Mer?” Sanji asked her.

“It’s hidden in my hair.” Mer said, moving her head so the ponytail was facing Sanji.

“Where in your hair?”

“Undo it and you’ll find it.” Mer said.

Sanji reached in and gently untied the light blue ribbon that was keeping Mer’s long black hair up. It splayed around as he held up the ribbon to find the key, a tiny little silver key the size of a pinky nail, tied to the end of it.

Blanc took it from him and slid it into a tiny crack in one of the bars.

They all heard the tumblers shift and click and the door swung open.

Sanji bent over and picked Mer up off the floor.

“What do we do now?” Ciel asked as Blanc opened the door up for Luffy and Chopper.

“We kill the Dieux guy.” Luffy said, swinging his arm around at the shoulder.

“How do we do that? He’s still got Fleur, Vert, Tirer, and Rouge on his side! Not to mention his own powers!” Blanc said, flabbergasted.

“Don’t worry. We’ll defeat him.”

“What about Bleu?” Mer asked from Sanji’s arms. Her fishnet robe was gone.

“I don’t know. We were fighting against him after he came back but I don’t know what happened to him after we fled.” Blanc said.

“You guys were fighting against him?” Mer asked in a whisper, astonished.

“Yeah. He was really upset about what he had to do to you.” Blanc said and watched Mer’s face light up.

“Sanji! Let me down!” she said.

“Can you walk, Mer-chan?” Sanji asked, holding her tighter, but she floated away and set herself down.

“GOD does that feel good to be able to do that again! Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m keeping myself up!” she said and started walking down the corridor, Luffy and Zoro behind her, eager for a fight.

The other glanced around but followed.

I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-T-T-O-M-I-S-S-A-T-H-I-N-G

Bleu fell to the floor finally after behing smashed by Vert’s epically strong punch. Blood flowed from his nose and mouth and one of his eyes was swollen. Dieux was preventing Bleu to gain any of Vert’s powers while Vert was using his freely. Fleur, Tirer, and Rouge watched, very loyal to Dieux.

“Enough, Vert. I think he gets it.” Dieux said darkly, walking past Vert and patting him on the shoulder as he went towards where Bleu lay crumpled on the floor.

“Do you get now what you have done, Bleu?” Dieux hissed into Bleu’s ear.

“Why don’t you just kill me, it’ll spare you the problem!” Bleu spat at him, getting blood on his shiny black shoes.

“But your power is so unique! It would be more of a loss than a gain.” Dieux said mockingly.

“You can’t control me. You can’t control anyone with a brain! You’ve never been able to control me or Mer and now you’ve lost Ciel and Blanc. You’re pathetic!”

Dieux, angered so much, he kicked Bleu in the face before stalking back off.

Vert cracked his knuckles as Rouge flexed his fingers.

Suddenly, they couldn’t move.

Then Dieux stopped.

“What the hell?” he shouted, turning around suddenly not on his doing.

Then he saw the line.

Sanji tapping the toe of his shoe, Zoro tying his bandanna, Usopp bringing his goggles down, Nami fixing her staff, Mer just standing there, Blanc and Ciel looking menacing, Chopper standing there, transfixed, and Luffy standing a few feet ahead of them all, slowly placing his hat on his head.

“So you got them out of their cells. Bravo!” Dieux shouted angrily, “What are you going to do to me now? Or have you forgotten that I can take away your powers with a snap of my fingers?”

“So what if you can? We’re still gonna kick your ass.” Luffy said, his fists on his hips.

Dieux let out a very loud, “HA!”

“We will.” Luffy insisted.

“Destroy them.”

Fleur, Tirer, Rouge, and Vert ran at the line.

Tirer went after Zoro.

“Blade against blade.” She said, her blood hair down.

“You don’t have any swords, so it’s not very fair.” Zoro said, not really caring that it wasn’t fair.

“I have more swords than you do, Roronoa Zoro... in a way.” Tirer replied sinisterly.

Zoro’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh really?”

Slowly, Tirer’s arms flattened in front of Zoro’s eyes as they popped watching.

Tirer shrieked as she leapt at Zoro, slicing her arms through the air at him.

Zoro then stuck up one of his swords and started sword fighting her sword style.

Sanji turned to see Vert standing in front of him.

“Come on, curly q!” Vert said, moving his fingers in the ‘come closer’ motion, egging Sanji on.

Sanji sighed and suddenly kicked Vert in the face.

Vert coughed and blood spurted out, “Wow. What a powerful kick... that actually hurt?” he said, confused, but suddenly sprang forward and puched Sanji in the gut.

Nami and Usopp were against Rouge.

“Oh crap! It’s the torture guy!” Usopp shouted, hiding behind Nami instantly.

Rouge smirked, “Hello, pretty lady!”

Nami pole vaulted herself to kick Rouge in the face, but he quickly grabbedf her ankle and she started screaming as he swung her around and threw her.

“What did you do to her?” Usopp cowered.

“Electrocuted her!” Rouge said, laughing, coming towards Usopp.

“Uhh uhh! USOPP FIRE BALL!” he yelled and sling shot a small bright orange ball at Rouge’s face. It burst and suddenly Rouge was on the floor screaming as the hot sauce, pepper, and coal dust seeped into his eyes.

“USOPP HAMMER!”

Mer and Fleur were staring each other down.

“Oh, Fleur! You knew you could never be his right hand so WHY WERE YOU ALWAYS TRYING?” Mer screamed.

“YOU WERE ALWAYS STEALING THE GLORY AND YOU NEVER CARED! I WAS THE MOST LOYAL! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS RIGHT HAND!” Fleur screamed, throwing dirt to the floor and lifting huge tree thick vines out of it.

They twisted towards Mer but she lifted herself away and out of their reach, ducking a dodging and weaving around them with her mind.

“I’m more powerful than you! I’ve always been more powerful than you! GET OVER IT!” Mer screamed back.

Out of nowhere a vine came down and batted Mer out of the air. She hit the ground hard.

Fleur walked over to her, a giant rock bolder hovering over her, and as she was about to swing it down onto Mer’s head, it fell from the air.

Blood curdling screams were heard over by Zoro as Tirer’s arms suddenly went back to normal and Zoro cut them off right above the elbows.

Vert was suddenly getting his ass kicked as Sanji kicked him across the room, crashing into the wingback chairs.

Rouge was already dead from all the blunt forces of Usopp’s hammer.

“ONI GIRI!” Zoro yelled and Tirer was gone.

One last smash down kick from Sanji to Vert’s head and he was dead, too.

“What’s happening? DIEUX!?” Fleur screamed, feeling her powers gone.

“It’s not... me?” he said from where he was still in the air, feeling his powers gone, too.

Mer turned her head to see Bleu smiling from where he was laying on the floor.

Fleur’s livid face turned to Bleu and she let out a shriek of anger and started running towards him.

She passed Zoro and grabbed one of his swords and with it stabbed down into Bleu’s chest, jamming the blade into the floor.

“BLEU!” Mer screamed, getting up as best she could and crawling over to him quickly.

“Bleu!” she said shakily as the tears started coming.

“It’s ok... Mer!” he said stiffly, trying to get the words out. “It’s ok!”

“No!” Mer said, chocking her tears as best she could, but failing.

Bleu smiled at her and placed his hand at her cheek, wiping away a tear.

“I’ll see you later, Mer.” he said softly, still smiling at her, as if he would see her the next day.

Mer clutched his hand to her face till finally his breath was gone, his eyes were shut. He was dead.

The entier room was silent. Everyone was frozen. Mer wasn’t moving as she crouched there on one knee. Till finally-

CRACK!

Fleur started screaming as she fell to the floor, clutching at her legs which were both bent at odd angles.

Dieux then fell to the floor with a clatter. He started running but was picked up and thrown into the roaring fire, his screams penetrating.

Mer stood up slowly, her eyes hard and set on Fleur. Fleur was busy trying to inch away but Mer picked her up and threw her at the wall. Then threw her at another wall and another wall and another wall till Fleur was on the floor, unable to move.

Mer then took the sword out of Bleu’s heart and walked slowly over to where Fleur was, ignoring Dieux’s screams. The crew was frozen.

“Hello... and good bye, Fleur.” Mer said and stabbed the sword down into Fleur’s heart.

She then walked back, slowly, over to Bleu’s body, laid down beside it, and cried.

W-H-E-N-L-O-V-E-I-S-G-O-N-E

“You can come sit, Nami.” Mer said as she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin on the ground. She was wearing jeans and a pale blue shirt. Her black razor cropped hair was blowing in the slight breeze up on the shaded hill. Mer was sitting before a makeshift wooden cross and freshly dug earth.

“I’m sorry, Mer.” Nami said quietly, sitting indian style beside Mer.

Mer sighed. The past 24 hours had been more of a blur to her. Taking Bleu’s body up to the hill, digging the hole and placing him in it gently, and then taking the sword that had killed him and Fleur and cutting off her long ponytail with the pale blue ribbon keeping it together off her head. She lowered that onto Bleu’s body and buried him herself. With the sword, after burying him, she finished cutting her hair so it didn’t look so choppy. So her hair was now in a razor cropped style. Covering her ears and hanging low in her eyes.

“You understand. If any of the boys were here, I probably would have told them to leave. But you understand this burial.”

“My mother.” Nami whispered, looking at the fresh dirt as it dug up memories she’d rather have not thought of ever. Then she remembered that Mer could see what she was seeing.

Mer took a deep breath again and stretched her legs out in front of her. She had taken her flip flops off.

“You know... Mer’s not my real name.” Mer said as she looked up at the deep blue sky with its big puffy white clouds.

Nami turned to her, “Oh? What is it?” thinking of India Adelle.

“I don’t know. It’s not India Adelle, that’s just one of those that I went by for a while.”

“How do you not know your real name?”

“My earliest memories are on the Grand Line with, who I consider, my mother. She told me I was actually born in the South Blue. But I was brought out of there as the island I lived on was having a violent revolution. My birth mother got me out of there, but nobody knows what happened to her after that. My mother found me when I was 18 months old as the ship that held those that left the island entered into the Grand Line. She named me India because she told me they couldn’t remember my real name. I was with her till I was six. I was kidnaped and brought into the whole new world of piracy. But the odd thing is that I don’t remember ever eating the Devil Fruit.”

“Why haven’t you told us this before?” Nami asked as Mer finished her speech.

“I couldn’t. I was still tied to Dieux then. Now I’m not. So I can freely be on the crew. I’m sorry I put you all in danger like that.”

“I’m sure Luffy loved it all.” Nami brushed off.

“Heh! He did.” Mer said, smiling for the first time in a long time.

“Shall we return to the ship?” Nami asked after a few minutes of silence.

Mer sighed, “Sure. Hold on a minute, though?”

Nami stood there as Mer picked up Zoro’s white sword and stood over the grave.

“I’ll see you later, Bleu.” Mer said and she and Nami walked back to the ship.

12-21-08

How sad...

SOngTimE

It’s a Great Day To Be Alive- Travis Tritt

Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down

I Don’t Like It Like This- The Radio Dept.

I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing- Aerosmith

When Love is Gone- from The Muppet Christmas Carol