Ikari ][ One Piece ][

Chapter Eleven

~Ace's POV~

                "Is it just me or does she seem a little more menacing than usual?" Thatch pondered aloud as we stepped off the docks at a small island. He indicated the beautiful doll like girl ahead of us.

                Her dainty body was tenser than I'd ever seen it before; her jaw clenched tightly shut, her fists balled into taut fists leaving her knuckles white and her hellfire eyes ablaze with unbridled rage. She was even more of a ticking time bomb than usual. The crew steered clear of her as if there were some violent unseen force wrapped around her pushing everything else back.

                Thatch nudged me forward, "See what's wrong, she's been like this since she found out we were coming to this island."

                "Hey, Doll Face, what's u-?" I reached out to touch her and cut off with a gasp as my entire body was suddenly overcome with agony. A thin crimson strand of her blood had leeched onto me and invaded my bloodstream.

                "Ace!" Everyone panicked; they knew a dose of her blood was certain death.

                "It's me, Doll Face." I cooed. Her eyes were wild and filled with uncertainty and madness. She wasn't with us.

                Clarity filled her hellish eyes and I winced as her blood pierced through me, exiting my blood stream in the nick of time. "Sorry." She murmured softly.

                "What's wrong?" I kept my distance.

                Her gaze wandered away from me, drifting to a house on the outskirts of town, a quaint white house on the hillside with an overgrown garden that looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. I followed her gaze.

                "What's that?"

                She shrugged and turned to continue her way into town.

                Thatch appeared at my side, "What was that all about? She nearly killed you."

                I pointed to the house on the hill, "I'm not sure, but we should find out more about that house."

                Thatch nodded. "You keep an eye on anger management. Make sure she doesn't slaughter the entire village, I'll investigate."

                I nodded and trotted after the girl. It was a quaint little town with decent sized homes, various shops and white picket fences. Children played in the streets, neighbors conversed and overall every citizen seemed happy and carefree. No one would ever suspect that a very serious drug had ever caused the town problems years prior. Oyaji wanted us to research a drug that had been cycling through some of the territories under his protection. It seemed this particular drug had ruined several families in this particular town, but I couldn't believe it by looking at the merry people.

                "Welcome newcomers." A jovial looking man in his late fifties with graying auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes waved as we made our way into town. He was dressed somewhat casually wearing a pair of brown slacks, a simple button up shirt and a pair of nice loafers. His gaze fell on the doll like girl a few paces ahead of me and his eyes nearly bulged right out of their sockets. "A-A-Anna-belle." The man stuttered in horror.

                "Mayor." The doll like girl nodded to the man.

                How did she know he was the mayor?

                "Why are you here?" The man took a faltering step away from the girl, "Y-You said your business was done." He nearly fell backward as he tripped over his own loafer in an attempt to scramble away from the girl.

                Some of the townspeople spotted the girl a few seemed to recognize her and displayed similar reactions as the mayor. Parents called for their children and hurried them inside homes. Market goers quickly ducked into shops. A few people remained on the street watching how things would unfold.

                "We appreciate that you handled the problem, but you're no longer welcome here." The mayor apparently found his courage, "Annabelle, you are to leave at onc-."

                "Shut your mouth, old man." Doll Face hissed icily, "I will go where I please and no man shall ever tell me differently." Her glare was positively terrifying.

                "Oy, Doll Face, what's going on?" I took a tentative step toward her.

                "The quicker you answer his questions," She casually waved in my direction, "the quicker I'll leave."

                The men and women gathered in the street turned their wary eyes to me.

                "What's going on?" I stared around baffled.

                The doll like girl spun on her heel to face me, her champagne blond hair catching the setting sunlight and appearing like a curtain of flames around her delicate torso. Her eyes were ablaze and an eerie twisted smile had claimed her lips, "Welcome to my hometown, Commander." She cast her arms out in welcome as a dark laugh escaped her painted lips.

                My gut wrenched. This is where it all happened? The place all those horrible, unthinkable things happened to her. My eyes widened in horror. This was the hell she had so desperately fought, struggled and killed to claw her way out of.

Video- "Identity Disorder" By Of Mice & Men