Capítulo 116: An Old Acquaintance
Cherry followed the sound of clanging metal.
She knew this sound, she had heard it often for many years and she couldn't possibly mistake it for anything else.
This was the technique of her former teacher and master. The very same one who used her own masterpiece to kill her.
Memories from long ago surfaced in her mind. Of the day her master found her half starved and begging in the street. Of the very first dagger she had smithed under his guidance. Of how excited she was to show him that she had finally caught up to him, and the sense of betrayal that had followed soon after.
He had been as closest to a father figure she had ever possessed.
All ruined by a moment of greed.
She reached a heavily reinforced sea stone alloy door, the sounds were coming from right behind it. Cherry pulled out her spear and easily destroyed the lock with a sharp thrust, and then kicked the door open.
The clanging of hammer on metal didn't stop as she stepped inside.
Before a very exquisite forge was a young man who looked about the same age as herself hammering away at an unfinished blade.
Cherry didn't stop him. Instead she observed his every movement, making sure that she was correct. It was possible he could be an apprentice mimicking his master.
But she was sure now, it was too skillful to be an apprentice and anyone he taught would have developed their own style by the time they reached this level.
He stopped hammering at the blade and stuck it back into the forge to bring the heat back up. Then he stretched his fingers and turned to look at her.
"Although you rudely barged into my smithy, at least you have the sense not to interrupt me. Who are you and what do you want?" He spoke curtly, not the least bit nervous.
{ You know who I am. } Cherry spoke in a language that wasn't native to this world.
His eyes widened almost imperceivably.
{ I see. You've come to kill me then? } He asked, glancing at the spear in her hand. { Not bad work given the garbage we have to work with in this world. A bound weapon? }
{ First I'll get answers from you, then I'll send you on your way swiftly. } Cherry replied, not answering his own question.
{ Ask away. } He said, leaning against a workbench. { What first, why did I do it? You might gte a kick out of that one. }
{ First tell me if and who you've told about immortal techniques from our world. } Cherry ordered, maintaining her vigilance.
{ No one, not even that creepy undead bastard. I'd sooner die before giving away one of my advantages. } He said, taking a metal file to his nails.
{ Good. You can die now. } Cherry brandished her spear.
{ Wait wait wait wait! You really don't want to know anything else?!" He got flustered. Seeing her momentarily pause, he started to plead his case. "I knew this day would come eventually the day I came to my senses about 6 years ago. I've had my answers to whatever questions you might ask all figured out you know? At least let me do that much! }
Cherry was annoyed, why couldn't the bastard just accept his death like a man instead of trying to stall for time?
{ Fine, no one can save you in any case. } Cherry said. She was somewhat curious and knowing would help her to let it go. { Why don't we start with "Why", then? }
{ I-it's not like I wanted to do it, you know? I did care about you somewhat, but it was you or me. } He said. { You see, I was a fraud! All my greatest works, especially the Spear of Aeons, were robbed from their real creators and passed off as my own. The other masters were starting to get suspicious since I hadn't produced anything comparable in a long time. then you came along with that sword... }
{ You expect me to believe that you cared about me when you murdered me?! } Cherry growled in response.
{ I know it sounds like a lie, but it's the truth. I have always lived while putting myself before all others, but that doesn't means I couldn't care about someone else... } He said, leaning back in a subconscious attempt to distance himself.
{ You said you came to yourself 6 years ago. Why did you take so long when I came to myself 18 years ago? } Cherry calmed herself and asked. She had her own ideas, but wanted his opinion on the matter. Fraud or not, he at least had a great deal more experience than her.
{ Ah, I see. That makes sense. You were only stabbed, while I was at the epicenter of the sword's self destruction. The injuries to my soul were much greater, so it took longer to recover. Though frankly it's surprising either of us recovered. } He spoke, habitually starting to lecture her. { I suspect there must have been a problem with your soul annihilating inscription, or perhaps it's just that soul destruction has been misunderstood the whole time. After all, if the soul is sent outside the myriad realms, it accomplishes basically the same thing. }
Cherry thought that made sense. Perhaps she'd try to study soul related devil fruit more closely in the future and see if she could work out what happened, but that was for a different time.
{ Well, that's all I want to know. Goodbye and good riddance. } Cherry thrust her spear without holding back.
Her old master didn't dodge but instead smirked at her. Soon she found out why as a clawed skeletal hand latched onto her spear only centimeters from piercing his heart.
"Hahaha! Foolish girl! Not every powerhouse is involved in the war!" He sneered.
Wilson Alexander held the spear firmly in his grasp. "That was a close one."
Cherry felt foolish. She had let her emotions cloud her judgement and forgotten about this bag of bones, and that she couldn't pick him up with Life Sense.
"Now uphold your end of the deal. Kill her and send her soul to hell! Then I'll tell you all my secrets!" The young blacksmith shouted.
"Couldn't even do it yourself, huh? Coward." Cherry mocked, but she was quite anxious now. Wilson didn't have a reason to kill her before, but he did now and she wasn't sure she could escape him.
Wilson surprised both of the reincarnated immortals however. He placed a hand on the younger man's head, then pulled Cherry's spear to pierce his heart.
"I was almost too late to send you off, young man." Wilson spoke in a grandfatherly tone, but his face was twisted with a sadistic perversion.
"W-what...?" Were the only words the young man could speak before the light vanished from his eyes.
Wilson pulled a ghostly wisp from the man's head that struggled in his grasp. He turned to look at the flabbergasted Cherry.
"You want to know why?" He said, Cherry nodded. "I already told you about my hobby. Between the two of you, his soul is so much more appealing. A soul from another world filled with so much sin and darkness, it'll be delicious to send him to hell..."
His voice trailed off as he unhinged his jaw and slurped up the wisp. Cherry thought she heard it scream faintly as it was pulled into the dark abyss below.
"What about me then?" Cherry asked tentatively.
"You can go, just take credit for his death for me, will you? That's the only reason I didn't kill him earlier, they would have annoyed me a lot about killing their talented new blacksmith." Wilson said, but he saw she was a bit confused.
"You've got all the time in the world to become more delicious. I can wait." He licked his lips, then stalked out of the room.
Cherry watched him leave, keeping her guard up in case he changed his mind. After a while she sighed as some of the tension left her body. She glanced around the room.
'This is some pretty high quality metal, guess I won't leave empty handed.' She thought, scooping it all up into a thick bag she found nearby.
'Time to go!' Cherry scurried out, not even taking a second glance at the crumpled form of her former master. He was behind her now, no longer a plague upon her second chance.
'I'm definitely going to kill that old bastard when I'm strong enough, though. You're not gonna eat my soul, sicko.' She thought as she worked her way back to the battle.
Capítulo 117: Hero of the Marines
Cherry burrowed out of the ground where there weren't any nearby marines and made her way towards the battle from behind their lines.
She looked over the scene to see what changes had taken place.\
A horned giant with yellow skin that was big enough to make other giants looks small was collapsed on the wall that was between the bay and the marine forces.
Pacifistas had shown up behind Whitebeard's allies and started to lay waste to them.
One of Whitebeard's allies had stabbed him through the chest in a sudden betrayal, though with the energy Cherry had loaned him that injury wasn't all that serious.
The surprising thing was that Whitebeard forgave the traitor. Whitebeard was a great model for healthy masculinity she supposed.
Ace and Luffy, who had been freed from their restraints, were having a lot of trouble fighting their way out as they were surrounded by enemies. In particular it seemed that Garp had decided to stop them.
"Since this is the path you've chosen, you'll have to walk it over my dead body!" Garp said to them. Though his words were harsh and unyielding, the tears streaking down his face betrayed his conflicted emotions.
Cherry rushed through the crowds of marines with her traceless steps. By the time the marines she passed by realized what happened she was already beyond their reach.
Garp swung a fist towards Luffy who was charging him. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Luffy that he clashed with, but the spear of a young woman with sharp eyes.
"Hey, you old coot! How about I do you a huge favor and keep you company for a while, hm?" Cherry spoke with a smile.
Garp showed no annoyance or anger at her intervention. Instead there was an immeasurable relief and gratitude.
Garp pushed her back with his haki coated fist. "I won't go easy on you, girl!"
"That's good old man. How would I be able to face Luffy after killing you, huh?" Cherry teased.
Ace and Luffy took a hint and used the opportunity to push through the throngs of marines away from Garp and Cherry.
Before they started in earnest, the world seemed to tilt.
"Whitebeard..." Garp muttered, suggesting that it was the legendary pirate's doing.
"That there is a real man, Garp. You need to pull your head out of your ass and see what's really important." Cherry lectured.
"This is no time for talking, fight me!" Garp launched himself at her, his indomitable fist bearing down on her.
Cherry held nothing back, she couldn't afford to against this man. As she poured her haki into her spear, thrusting it towards the old man with all the vibrational energy she could muster, she felt a familiar tickle of something far beneath the surface of herself. That last time she had felt it was her fight again Wilson Alexander at Water 7.
*Boom*
The clash between fist and spear sent both of them taking several steps backwards. Nearby marines who had been hoping to interfere were sent flying away, clearing a circle for their fight to take place in.
A few more exchanges occurred, with Cherry always losing out, but not by too much. These were just probing attacks however, to gauge each other's strength.
Soon Garp got serious and Cherry was in a real tough spot. She was always on the back foot, but hadn't taken any direct attacks yet.
All the while, Cherry was trying to draw upon whatever power it was that was lurking beneath. She had an idea of what it was, but didn't know what she needed to do to bring it out.
"You aren't going to get anywhere with an attitude like that, girl. You won't even be able to beat an old man like me." Garp commented during one of their rare, very short respites.
"What do you mean, old man. I'm doing the best I can here." Cherry said, fending off another punch.
"You're fighting to stall, not to win. That's fine for anyone else, but if you want to get somewhere in the world you'll need to be more like Luffy." Garp said nothing more and sped up his onslaught.
'Why would I fight to win? I know I can't win against him, so what's the point in deluding myself?' Cherry thought. Then an idea started to form in her mind. She looked over at Luffy who, despite obviously being out of his league here, seemed to have every confidence in his ability to succeed in his goal.
'Let's try it then...' Cherry though, then entered a half meditative state. She tried to convince herself that she could beat Garp, despite his overwhelming strength.
Cherry's eyes widened and she went on a desperate offensive. She started to take his attacks now, but she also started to break through his defenses as well.
Garp sensed the change that came over her and could only grin widely. 'Me and my big mouth...'
A marine captain tried to take advantage of Cherry's lower defenses and aimed his bazooka at her.
Cherry sensed his intent and glanced at him.
*Voom*
The marine captain suddenly collapse to the ground unconscious, baffling his comrades around him as to what happened.
Garp and a few powerhouses that were paying attention knew better though.
'Conqueror's Haki.' They thought simultaneously.
"So that's what it was after all. Interesting." Cherry spoke to herself. It didn't really help in this fight against Garp right now, but she had high expectations for the future.
The marines raised some sort of steel wall around the bay, but Whitebeard shattered them left and right with his devil fruit power.
"Things aren't looking up for your side Garp. Sure you don't want to switch?" Cherry mocked.
Garp only shook his head.
Cherry brandished her spear. She intended to win this fight despite the poor odds.
Once poor the old man and young woman clashed. Like before Cherry was fighting in a seemingly crazed manner, allowed strikes to get passed her guard. However, Garp started to take more damage now, not to mention that his arms felt like they were on fire from all the Hasshoken blows they'd taken.
'What kind of technique is this? It even penetrates my armament haki somewhat.' Garp thought. If Chinjao had heard this, he would be crying tears of hatred.
Whilst Garp had countless tiny fractures in his arms and many cuts and shallow stab wounds, Cherry was starting to look like a mess. Even with her body that ordinary people couldn't hope to damage, she looked like she was at death's door.
The marines around her had gone pale from fear at how this woman who ought to be dead a few times over was still fighting as hard as she was in the beginning of the fight, and against the hero Garp too!
Cherry's tactics started to get wilder and wilder. At one point she even bit down on Garp's right ear and took a chunk out of it.
"You damned brat!" Garp forgot about his original gratitude towards Cherry for giving him a way to avoid choosing between family and duty. Now he was just angry.
Whitebeard was cleaving his way through the marines like a hot knife through butter. The three admirals and Sengoku had to personally face him to to keep him from advancing, but of course Whitebeard wasn't alone so they were on the losing side.
Garp was running out of stamina, the years have not been kind to him. Cherry on the other hand wasn't even out of breath, which he found to be absurd considering her injuries.
"Time to end this old man. It's my win." Cherry taunted.
"Not if I can help it!" Garp charged her.
Cherry thrust her spear to meet his fist, but the impact didn't come this time. The spear simply vanished from her hand, and in its place there appeared a revolver.
*BANG!*
Garp didn't manage to coat his torso with haki in time and he felt a bullet ripped though his abdomen.
That wasn't the end either as Cherry took advantage of his surprise and exhaustion to land a drop kick into his face.
Garp fell backward and skid along the ground for a few dozen meters before coming to a stop. His strength was failing him and he barely managed to prop himself up enough to see Cherry run away.
Garp plopped himself back down and waited for the medic marines to start fussing over him. He was out of the fight now, so he could rest easy knowing Sengoku couldn't complain too much.
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