Trinket of Syzygy | One Piece fanfic

012.

Chapter 12: Starry Conquest

5 PM in the afternoon. The sun has already begun setting into the horizon. Clouds drifting and the skies, painted a warm orange. A voice constantly rung in someone's head "Aries.. Aries! ARIES!" Quince completely opened his eyes, now capable of hearing a paradox of mingling voices from the distance, some shrill, others gruff. They belonged to none other than Hilda and her subordinates. "What in god's name is taking her so long?!" Hilda groaned impatiently. "Miss Hilda! She's here!" One of the servants called out. Hilda's piercing gaze averted to Lyna, as she frantically scurried to her direction. Hilda however, was clearly not amused. "Miss Hilda! Everyone! I bear important news!" Once Lyna has finally reached her crew, she briefly took a moment to catch her breath. But before she could even speak, Hilda's foot was raised aloft, curb stomping Lyna's body in the process. "Agh-!! M-Miss Hilda..?" Shock was once again, written across the many faces of Hilda's servants. They knew all too well that they couldn't do anything to assuage the situation, no matter how hard they try. "To think that you could still show your face in front of me, after returning late and empty-handed. You have some real guts, dear. How about I try crushing them?" "Miss.. Hilda, please.. you won't believe what I'm about to tell you! Everyone, liste-" Hilda gripped onto Lyna's arms and with no signs of reluctance, ripped them off with sheer strength. Lyna's blood curdling scream alerted the entire area and roused Quince, entirely. His eyes wide open, witnessing a lucid, yet macabre view of an armless girl. A shower of blood gushing everywhere. "Surely you could at least, recall the threat that goes hand in hand with the dereliction of your duty, right?" Hilda giggled menacingly, her face sprinkled with blood. "Sad to say that your limbs alone wouldn't do much good. The source of your power.. It's dependent on that ribbon, isn't it? Give it to me." Lyna managed to squeak out a few words in her critical state - a drastic loss of blood. "But... Miss Pele gave it to me.." "Oh how silly of me! Pardon me, my dear. But you don't even have any arms, do you? How are you gonna stop me from seizing it?!" Hilda released yet another barbaric laugh, whilst her subordinates were ultimately shuddering. "Now.." Hilda's nose scrunched up, her fury in full manifestation. She raised Lyna's entire body by her neck and took her final gander upon the female pirate's agony "Do me one last favor." "Wh-what is it..?"  "Die." Hilda tossed her body upwards and punched a gaping hole right through her stomach. With her firmest grip, she then grasped onto Lyna's head shortly after, and instantly crushed her skull. The remains as such, were nothing but a lifeless body landing roughly on the ground. Hilda took the ribbon off of Lyna's ankle and wrapped it around hers. "Now listen up, you tottery tramps. I did all that to set an example of what would happen, should any one of you disobey me. Is. that. clear?!" Her subordinates nodded simultaneously, a hint of fear still present in their hunched comportment. Quince's line of vision stuck to Lyna's corpse. His eyes were trembling, a rush of adrenaline surging through his veins. "POWER PULSE!" Albeit exhausted, the entirety of Quince's body heavily jostled through the crowd of female pirates and towards Hilda. The slipstream in his trail turned into a transient, yet insurmountable squall that knocked away the entirety of Hilda's subordinates. He then directly shoved a serrated hoof into Hilda's guts, causing her to cough up blood. Though, she withstood it quite well, as she was only sent gliding across the dirt a few inches back. "For someone whose life is hanging at the end of its rope, you seem to be doing a pretty god job in being as persistent and pesky as ever. Alas, that flimsy excuse of an attack would certainly not get you anywhere." Hilda got into her battle stance as she began bracing her momentum. Gradually, Quince transformed into his hybrid form. His steel-like eyes brimmed with spunk and utmost vengeance. "I swear I'll make you pay, Hilda. Even if it means death!"

A cluster of dark, gloomy clouds slowly formed within the previously bright ether. Soon, heavy raindrops began falling, drenching the whole city in a matter of seconds. In front of the mansion, the flames surrounding the post-explosion crater were instantly doused by the overwhelming downpour. At the crater's core were two figures. One sitting upright and the other laying on their arm. "Ruby, wake the hell up!" Rogue swiped his most gentle slap against Ruby's cheek. "OW!" Ruby instantly sprang up out of pain. "Rogue, what the actual fuck are you doing?!" "I was trying to wake you up, moron." "You could've done it gently!" "Was that not gentle enough..?" "What do you mean not gentle enough..? HUH?!" A vivid hue of ocean blue glowed through Ruby's pocket. It was only until now that the both of them noticed. "What is that?" Rogue took a slight peek, as Ruby proceeded to fumble her hand in her pocket. Cassandra upon waking up has noticed a glowing aura, hovering aloft the crater. Her pupils widened greatly. Ruby then pulled out a glistening mineral. "You remember the thick wall we encountered on our way here? The one you thought was an iceberg?" Ruby questioned Rogue earnestly. "Yeah. How did it find its way into your pocket?" "After Quince broke through it, I decided to scrape up an average sized fragment that drained almost half of his devil fruit abilities. Luckily, it was the biggest among every remnant of it, since he only made contact with the central point of the mineral-like wall, which he then charged through." Rogue stood up and trudged up the relatively deep crater. Afterwards, he helped Ruby to do the same. "Well that's one out of two mysteries explained. The second one being... How are we still alive after that explosion?" As Ruby brought herself up for the final lurch, she circled her forehead with the base of her palm, staring into the glowing mineral that rested atop her left hand. She then held onto it with a lightly closed fist and looked at Rogue. "This is just a theory, so take this with a grain of salt. But I personally think that this very mineral is what ultimately kept us alive. Just think about it. It's quite literally stored with Quince's zodiac powers. Plus, why would it be specifically glowing just now in this present time of danger? This can't be a mere coincidence, I'm telling you." Cassandra ran towards the two with a shriveling look. "Is that what I think it is..?" Ruby gingerly hid the mineral from Cassandra's sight. "What do you want, Cassandra?!" Rogue unsheathed his blade in front of her and spoke solemnly. "Haven't you learned of our previous battle and how it panned out for your case?" Cassandra held up her arms as a surrendering gesture. "I'm not here to fight and I already know damn well that I can't defeat any of you. Much less, the two of you altogether. I'm not stupid, you know." Rogue slightly lowered his sword, as Ruby stepped in front of him. "You're the mayor of this city, aren't you?" "Well obviously." "Then you must know what this is." Ruby stretched out an arm and revealed the blue, resplendent mineral. "I do. They're called Astrae minerals." "Is that it?"  Ruby replied sarcastically. To which Cassandra scoffed. "Do you think I'm daft? Why would I go into detail about an important piece of information to someone like you? We're enemies, after all." Ruby clenched another fist and socked Cassandra with it. "OUCH!" She then tackled her onto the wet ground. "Are you telling me or not?!" "Let go of me, you harlot!" "Who are you calling a harlot?!"  Rogue silently wrung out a piece of his garment, while standing beneath a thick tree foliage to prevent himself from getting soaked by the rain. He was amused by their little cat fight.