Part 6.14

The very first words to come out of Elizabeth's mouth when I wheel her chair outside is, "This place is the great nation of Diz-Harmony? This place is a dump."

She snorts derisively as I pick her chair up so she's lifted over a pile of rubble laying outside the mansion. I'm almost completely distracted by that pile of bricks but I shake my head and regain enough of my attention to reply.

"Well the city did look a lot snazzier before we came through. Really I just told the guys to destroy whatever they could because Dulchi told me some stuff about the nobles here that made me not like them. Then some political stuff happened after we got here. So now we're rounding up all the nobles and more likely than not we'll torture some information out of them."

Elizabeth sighed. Then she looked over her shoulder at me and sighed again, but more dramatically.

I blinked blankly at her and she began to frown. The corner if her lips traveling downwards very quickly. It was kinda obvious I said something wrong but I couldn't think of anything right off the top of my head.

I continued to walk Elizabeth through the ruined remains of her home for several moments in frustrated silence before she broke it. She crossed her arms and huffed loudly, "You said that you and your... crew," she said the word with as much disdain as I do 'stiches', "were rounding up the upper class for mass torture and interrogation. Unless you have lost your mind in the past few moments I am a noble."

"Oh yeah. You are a noble. Sorry I forgot." I say a little sheepishly.

"Since I am a noble that means you intend to torture me." She sighs and places one hand against her forehead while she resumes smirking. "That means my end is nigh. What a cruel fate to befall a beautiful maiden such as myself at the hands of a dirty buccaneer such as yourself."

I stop pushing her chair and reply, "I'm only a dirty buccaneer because I never bathe of my own free will. I just wanted you to know that before I continue."

As we continued walking I occasionally lifted her chair up in the air so we could avoid piles of whatever debris we encountered. The debits ranged from building parts, dead bodies, and random barrels just laying on the street.

I breathed in and out of my nose. "Oh yeah. You're not going to be tortured either."

This surprised Elizabeth. "Why not? I hope the reason isn't too..." She blushes a little.

"Pretty simple reason. It's because I don't want to torture you to death. It's part of this whole empathy thing I'm trying. Empathy never existed in Impel Down-"

Warden holding a small checkered napkin filled with food in my cell. His birthday present to me.

Warden apologizing as I am sentenced to a deeper floor of the prison.

Warden telling me about his youth, and how he wished to be a gardener like his mother.

Warden telling me about how amazing the world is for people who follow the law.

Warden killing the prisoners that had nearly killed me when I was younger.

Warden standing uncertainly outside of my cell as I wake from a nightmare as a child. He doesn't enter my cell or say a word.

Warden holding my infant self. He is sobbing acidic tears, leaving scars down his cheeks.

"-So I thought I'd give it a try. What's the worst that can happen."

Elizabeth snorts again. "Empathy? Please. Lying to a noble is shameful. Be honest, you just want me for my body. Why else would an older brutish pirate kidnap a young girl like myself."

I look her over quickly and shake my head. "Nah. You're too skinny."

"You think I'm skinny? Wait. What do you mean I'm too skinny? What kind of tastes do you have exactly?"

"My taste in people? Well, I always thought that the fresher the body the better the taste. Lightly roasted over an open fire with a bit of salt and a cup of prison beer. That's my favorite taste of people."

I see Elizabeth's mouth drop open. "My word! You're a cannibal!"

I keep on walking waiting for her to finish her sentence but apparently that's all she has to say. Weird.

"Yeah, so? If you spend more than eight months on Level Three of Impel Down you either became a cannibal or die. I like life, so I ate dead people. Sometimes I killed others in order to make dead people. It's not that big of a deal. Plenty of people do it."

"Of course it's a 'big' deal! Life is sacred and cannibalism is wrong. It perverts it."

Life... sacred? I couldn't help myself and I snorted. Then I snorted again. After that it evolved into a full blown laugh.

"Ihsihsihsihsihsihs! Life is sacred? What a load of crap. Life isn't sacred. Fuck. Life isn't even all that important."

I stop walking and make my way in front of the wheelchair. Then I squat down so Elizabeth can get a good look at me. I remove my hockey mask as well so she can see that I'm smiling about the absurd thing I heard her say.

"You know what life is? Life is a privilege. A privilege that be taken away by anything at anytime. Like any privilege I imagine, it comes with it's costs. It's pain after pain after pain. It hurts to live, and it will never stop hurting until you lose your life. Even if you somehow continue to live through all that tries to take your life from you there is no reward at the end. Just more of the pain that comes with life."

I lean in really close to her face so she can see how serious I am.

"If life was sacred then Impel Down wouldn't exist. If life was important than no one would die."

Elizabeth's reaction is simple. She smirks and simply tells me, "You're wrong."

I recoiled. I couldn't remember the last time someone told me I was wrong. I'm usually right about all kinds of stuff and the crew don't tell me I'm wrong about it. "How? How am I wrong?"

"If life wasn't sacred then why do people treasure their own and the lives of those they love so much? If you think life isn't important, then why haven't you given up your's?"

I'm stumped. I have no good answer beyond telling her 'because I said so' and leaving it at that.

"Yeah well..." I quickly put my mask back on and continue to push her to where I am going to meet up with the crew. I don't have a comeback prepared and I'm struggling to come up with one now. The struggle is real damn it!

"Yeah well what Tennoh?"

"Yeah well, I'm not an 'older brutish pirate'. I'm only around seventeen I think."

"WHAT!" Elizabeth screeches.

I didn't move fast enough to cover my head when I saw her take a deep breath so now I hear ringing in my ears. While I'm digging my finger in my ear to try and stop the ringing she says, "That makes me a year older than you! What have you been eating to make yourself so large?"

I shrug. "I eat what I can, when I can. Speaking of eating, we're here."

In front of me is my crew, and rows upon rows of beaten and bloody people tied up with rope on their knees. I recognize the unconscious and burnt form of Reeze amongst them. It's time I do that thing for Clair. It's all part of Keystone's plan and since I've gone this far with it I might as well go all the way.