The path to Lady Ranko's mansion was dark and a little spooky—or maybe that was just my nerves. But the birds didn't seem to be quite so energetic, and I thought I saw eyeballs peering out of the shadows in the trees. I shivered and my eye twitched. Lucy, on the other hand, didn't seem affected by the creepiness at all. She simply skipped along happily, singing about how all the islands in every sea were idiots. Meanwhile, I noticed that the path was so twisty that we'd probably turned back on ourselves at least 15 times by now.
"Lucy-chan," I sighed, "this is supposed to be a tense atmosphere."
"So?" she said, turning to me and blinking. "Oi, Aqua, do you know any funny songs?"
I thought for a moment. On one hand, if I taught her a new song, she'd stop singing about the islands in the North Blue—on the other, she'd sing that song non-stop. I shrugged and decided it was better than constantly hearing about the North Blue islands freezing. "Have you ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody?"
Evidently, she hadn't, but soon enough all you could hear on the path was, "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango? Thunder bolt and lightning. Very, very frightening me. Galileo! Galileo. Galileo! Galileo Figaro magnifico!"
What could have been hours or minutes later (I was so bored I couldn't really tell), my feet were aching from walking so far... but we'd finally come upon the castle-like mansion that Dr. Konoha had mentioned.
It was like something out of the middle ages. Turrets and lookout posts loomed over us, and the door was some type of rotten, black wood. There was a splash from somewhere in front and below our feet; I looked and realized the place had a moat and drawbridge. Unlike Lady Testarossa's mansion, which had appeared strange but felt warm, this place was brimming with evil. You could feel it like a cold bath all around you. Even Lucy grew unusually quiet.
"So that's the lady's house, eh?" she said quietly. The sky was growing quickly darker, with both night and storm clouds coming on us, and her eyes were shielded beneath her straw hat, so I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
I frowned. The door was blocked by dark iron gates. How we were supposed to get inside when the door was blocked was beyond me. Lucy didn't know how to do Gear Third yet, so she couldn't simply knock the gates down.
Suddenly, as if someone had thrown a switch in the sky, the clouds poured chilly rain all over us. I, of course, stayed dry due to my demigodishness, but it still felt cold. The wind picked up and tore around wildly, threatening to rip off my leather jacket. I zipped it up in defiance. My neck tingled and I suddenly felt like I was bursting with strength. Lucy put a hand on her hat to keep it from blowing away.
"It's a hurricane," I said.
Lucy blinked. "Then why didn't Nami tell us about it?"
I shrugged. "This is the Grand Line we're in. It probably came up so soon that she didn't have the time to run out here and warn us about it. But that's not the point. It's a hurricane . A sea storm."
She pounded her fist. "So you're getting stronger?"
On instinct, I unsheathed my sword, wincing at the scratch of metal on metal. "Yeah. Stand back. I don't know what I'm about to do, but it's gonna be powerful."
She nodded and stepped away. My sword sparked with energy and I let out a kind of primal battle cry. I gripped Raising Blue with both hands and pointed it straight at the gates. The rain droplets from the storm condensed into steam and went... right into my sword?
My mouth moved on my own. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
*FWOOM*
Much to the shock of myself and awed delight of Lucy, the water was released as I swung Raising Blue, smashing through the iron gates and splashing against the doors. For a second, nothing happened, and we stood there in the small hurricane, getting chilled by the rain and buffeted by the wind. Then a sharp line sparked along the gates and they fell toward us, into the moat. The door, too, was cut in half.
My jaw dropped.
That attack was powerful enough to cut water. That had to be it. It made the water sharper, tougher, and more forceful than a sword, and was then able to cut through iron. But if I had that kind of power...
Then I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavy. I'd been so surprised by the strength of the attack that I hadn't realized just how much it had taken out of me.
"Amazing, Aqua," Lucy said excitedly. "How did you do that!? Are you okay?"
"Thanks," I wheezed, "instinct, and after a minute, yeah."
"Oh, okay."
When I had finally caught my breath and stood up again, we entered the castle and looked around tensely. Unlike the time I'd gone to visit Lady Testarossa, the scenery didn't change the moment I stepped through the threshold. It remained a large, dark room. The walls were made of stone and the damp stench of mildew hung in the air. I wrinkled my nose. Somebody needed to hire a maid and get this place cleaned up.
A light blinked on overhead, revealing a cloaked person standing at the foot of two staircases that followed the room's contours. Her cloak was gray and had a strange patched design, like it had been ripped apart on multiple occasions and then sewn together poorly. The shades of grey varied, too, which led me to believe my guess hadn't been far off the mark. Heck, even my step-sister could sew better than her...
I frowned. A flair shot through me when I thought about my step-sister, a flair of pain and betrayal.
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
"Who do you think you are, young ones, barging into my home and smashing the door down?" said the person. The voice was clearly female, though it was strange. I couldn't tell whether it was an old person or a young person; maybe someone in between.
Lucy cracked her knuckles and stretched. "I'm Monkey D. Lucy, and I'm gonna be the pirate queen."
I decided to warm up, too. "I'm Sapphire D. Aqua, and I'm gonna be the strongest martial artist in the world."
The woman seemingly shrugged, but under that cloak, I couldn't tell. Speaking of cloaks, what is it with people I encounter and cloaks? It seems like everyone wears them in this world. Were they some new fashion statement or something? Well, anyway, she said, "Starting off with introductions, then? You can call Lady Ranko, and I am a demigoddess daughter of the god of war, Mikazuki. I also have the power of the Gender-Gender Fruit, and unless either of you can defeat me, I am going to steal one of your genders."
"So you're Lady Ranko, eh?" Lucy growled angrily. "I'm gonna kick your ass so the villagers can be free!"
Ranko scoffed. "You? Kick my ass? I think not."
"Did you hear her, Lucy?" I asked quietly. "She's a demigoddess, like me. We've gotta be careful."
"Let's get this thing started!" roared Lucy, ignoring me as usual. I sighed in defeat.
Outside, there was a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder so loud that it made my ears ring. When my head had finally cleared, our enemy was gone—
vanished.
"Whoa, she's fast!" Lucy gasped.
I thought I felt something behind me and turned quickly, unsheathing Raising Blue again. As my blade swept through the air, it stopped forcefully against a long stick with a curved blade at the end: A black scythe.
Ranko sneered. She had taken off her cloak, revealing her true self. She looked no younger than Lucy or myself, but there was an air around her that suggested an older, powerful force. I remembered Dr. Konoha's words: She can steal genders and somehow convert them into a serum for eternal youth.
My blue sword and her black scythe shook in their locked positions. Then she pulled away and promptly vanished. In daylight, it would've been hard to find her anyway; as dimly lit as the room was, it was nearly impossible. But this didn't deter Lucy.
"Aqua, duck!" she shouted, narrowing her eyes and clenching her fists. I didn't need to be told twice. The moment I had hit the floor, my rubbery captain's fists had shot out wildly around the room, fast enough to make it look as though she had multiple arms. They bounced off the walls and smashed expensive-looking vases. "GUM-GUM FIREWORKS!"
"Dork!" I cursed, feeling the force of her arms nearly hit me and brush against my blue hair. "That stupid attack is gonna hit me, too!"
Lucy retracted her arms with a firm snap. "Sorry. Damn, she's fast. Not one of those punches hit her."
"What?" I gasped as I stood up.
"I should think not," said Ranko's mysterious voice. I froze and turned quickly, swiping with my sword to block another attack. Our weapons clanged against each other. Ranko twisted her grip and slammed a side strike at me. I only barely leapt backwards in time to dodge. As it was, her longer scythe ripped a thin line in my leather jacket.
My eye twitched profusely and I glared at the enemy demigod, blocking some more as she forced me back. "Bitch," I hissed. "Never hurt my jacket . It's my treasure ." I locked blades with the daughter of Mikazuki again and drew back for a punch, but—
"GUM-GUM WHIP!" Lucy's voice rang out from behind me, making me duck on instinct.
*SLAM*
The satisfying sound of a leg connecting with someone's side brought a smirk to my face. So even though she was remarkably strong and fast, she wasn't invincible.
Footsteps echoed around the main hall of the castle, clashing with the howling wind and the booming thunder. I turned in a slow circle, wondering where Lady Ranko would show up next. A minute passed and I didn't catch hide nor hair of her. Then, as I was connecting gazes with Lucy, who was circling like I was, her eyes widened and she threw a stretching punch at the air above me. "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
I looked up quickly, expecting to hear the sound of bones crunching, but all I heard was a small bumf. I saw Ranko descending from the air above me, hand stopping Lucy's fist and other hand swinging her scythe at me. I yelped and rolled to the side, managing not to impale myself by accident. The ground was hard and hurt my shoulder, but it was better than getting stabbed by that scythe... speaking of which, I decided to unzip it and shrug it off. The wind was lesser in here and wouldn't blow it away; plus, wearing it as I battled would only get it injured.
I wrapped my hands in water, discarding Raising Blue beside my jacket and charging Lady Ranko. "HYDRO BOXING!" I shouted, smashing my fists in an endless barrage of splashing water. I pulled away, only to find my fists sore; Ranko had blocked all of my attacks with the staff part of her weapon alone.
But Lucy followed up, appearing behind Ranko and jumping up into the air, spinning around with her feet pressed together. She called out the name of her attack: "Gum-Gum Spear!" Her legs stabbed down at the war demigoddess. But before they could connect, the target disappeared... causing Lucy to hit me by accident.
"Sorry!" she said, wincing and landing smoothly.
My eyes widened in sudden pain and I was thrown to the floor, rolling behind me, the air knocked out my lungs. I finally stopped and tried to catch my breath, but before I could, Ranko appeared above me, easily straddling me and holding me in place by pressing the staff part of her scythe into my chest. I froze in cold fear as her frown thinned and curved up into a sadistic smirk. Raising Blue in her mouth like Zoro's Wado Ichimonji was a butcher's knife. And the angle her neck was twisted in pointed the pointed weapon right at my heart.
I was breathing heavily, trying to calm myself but failing badly. My eye twitched, the only part of me that was moving. My mind was clouding over in fright, like it had at the town square in Loguetown.
Danger. I was in terrible danger. One swipe of her neck could end my life.
"A... Aqua!" came Lucy's strangled cry. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her stretch both arms back in the Bazooka stance, but Lady Ranko gave her a sharp look.
"One move and the boy dies," she said through the knife. How she and Zoro could talk like that was beyond me... heck, how they could fight like that was beyond me. They must have some serious neck muscles, I decided.
My captain's arms froze mid-stretch.
"Good girl."
My eye twitched even more and my neck tingled. I could feel myself calming down and regaining some control over myself—I had been driven into shock by the fact that she'd locked me against the floor—and I was just about to kick her when I saw something that made my blood run cold: Lady Ranko's neck flicking down and the knife plunging into my chest.
No...! I'm gonna... die!