Rise Of A New Heart

Chapter 24: Un-holy Reunion

The pirates made their way back to the church, but this time, they brought a little surprise of their own. Enyo was impressed that a man so large could move so quietly. Bart never made a sound when he walked, no one did, and now they stood behind the man while he drew back his massive fist.

'Shame, that's a very nice door.'

Enyo mused as Law nodded to his crewman, the latter slammed that huge fist into the ornate doors. Wood exploded and the metal groaned from the force of the punch, what remained barely clung to busted hinges. The pirates strode in before the dust from the blast had even cleared, catching the would-be ambushers off guard. Those who were sitting stood straight, and those weren't put up their guard. There were ten enemies in all, the deceitful priest stood at the far back near the altar, with his clandestine thugs before him like pieces on a chess board.

To the left stood the two nuns who had intentionally left the door unlocked earlier, one bore a sleek katana, while the other palmed two stiletto knives and wore a sadistic grin. A few pews up, two men dressed as lesser priests drew their swords, the first was a dual wielder while the second man only carried one, though he was sure to be just a dangerous.

On the right were four more scattered amongst the seats, another nun, casually swinging her rope dart side to side like a pendulum, and three men, the centre one was the largest, cracking his knuckles underneath heavy gauntlets, while the other two griped their weapons tighter, a spear and a mace. Enyo's eye narrowed as she stared straight down the aisle, to the woman who almost claimed her life.

The thief stood casually with a hand on her hip and head tilted, a cocky smile on her masked face. Once again the twitching ears and tail were present, the latter swaying to and fro like that an impatient cat.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you again..."

"Sorry to disappoint you." (E)

"Not at all, now we can have some real fun."

The group were about to attack, but Law drew his sword and sent a flying slash straight forward, the thief crouched just in time and the priest dove out of the way. The sound of stone being carved echoed through the halls, and the clergy looked to the altar, their faces warped in shock and horror.

The massive sarcophagus behind the now halved altar was split, a clean cut ran diagonally across the polished stone. Slowly, with a deep grazing sound, the top section of the monument slid off and crashed to the ground, but that was not all. Along with the crumbling and cracking of stone, a jingling sound reverberated off of the walls. Like a mythic waterfall, gold and jewels poured out and pooled around the shrine.

The enemy were completely stunned with shock. Enyo relished in self satisfaction, and her captain broke the silence, causing all but his crew to turn to him.

"To be honest, I never really considered the possibility of an entire thieves guild on this island, but really, there's no better place, is there?"

The thugs gritted their teeth as their leader clumsily got to his feet, Law continued.

"The amount of workmanship that's gone into this place must have cost a fortune, so I'm guessing that was your patron I met downstairs..."

The animal woman cut in with a snarky voice.

"He got greedy, kept demanding more money, larger cuts from our scores. So we cut him out."

"And the others?" Enyo asked

"Pirates, marines, other nosey people, but don't worry, you'll join them soon enough."

With her last words the woman's sharp claws flicked out, signalling the others to attack. Within moments everyone was engaged in battle, Law fought both the katana wielding woman and the man with the double swords, while the second nun attacked Sachi, striking wildly with those needle-like knives.