Doomed Groom

"You have my thanks, young lady!" Heinrich stood himself up after Pekoms released him and straightened his worn out coat. "This is the first time in years that I've been assaulted by some ruffian!"

"Why didn't you just sneak out of the chateau through one of the regular entrances?" Cherry asked, though she suspected the answer.

"The chateau is well guarded. If I was caught, it would be the end of me." Heinrich said.

"But you risked stealing food and other things over the course of decades?" Cherry pointed out.

Heinrich turned his eyes away bashfully. "Even if I got out the front door, there would still be others that I would have to evade, and then I would need to secure passage away from the island on top of that somehow."

"And after a few years of living like a rat in the walls and your skills of evading detection had improved greatly, it wasn't just the prospect of getting caught that scared you, was it?" Cherry asked. "You were afraid to go back to a normal life after such a long time?"

Heinrich broke down into hysterical tears. Pekoms felt pity for the old man stirring in his chest again.

"Well, I can help you out by taking away one of those fears," Cherry offered. "In exchange for letting me in on all the dirty little secrets you must have overheard since you've been here~"

"How do you intend to do so?" Heinrich asked, after regaining some semblance of control over his emotions.

"Walls aren't a thing that can stop me and guards are no better at it," Cherry spoke with a confidence tempered by experience.

"If… If you can get me off the island safely, then I suppose I can tell you what I've heard." Heinrich said.

"Gimme that juicy gossip and you can see the open sky again~" Cherry egged him on.

Heinrich truly had overheard quite a few secrets over the years. Most of them weren't tactically useful, but quite a few were pretty funny at least. However, when she heard that the scar on Brulee's face was given to her by cowards who were too scared to face Katakuri and that he had hidden his face ever since, she felt an odd desire to find out who did it and skin them.

She shook that feeling away, though. Empathy towards who would likely become an enemy soon would do her little good.

"Oh, and just recently I overheard some plans to kill the groom during an upcoming wedding." Heinrich finished off with a bombshell.

"Hoooh~?" Cherry hummed ominously, making Heinrich shrink away from her.

"What?!" Pekoms hadn't had any clue that that was going to happen. Then again, he wasn't a member of the Charlotte family, so it was natural that he wouldn't have been told every little detail.

Cherry was glad to have heard this now than to find out by surprise in the middle of the ceremony. Sanji was more than capable of dodging someone's aim, but if he were distracted by a beautiful girl like Pudding, then he might actually get hit.

Likewise, if Cherry hadn't anticipated it, then there was a chance she'd fail to stop the first shot, though the shooter would be dead before they could line up a second for certain.

"Just for that last one, I'll give you some cash to go with your escape," Cherry pulled a stack of Beri from her pocket and tossed it to Heinrich. "Now let's get going. I've got some people to talk to."

Cherry moved through the wall passageways with the same ease of someone who had lived within them for decades, so it didn't take long for them to reach an outerwall on the ground floor. Heinrich had kicked up a fuss momentarily when she went into the passageway that went past Katakuri's room, but Cherry assured him that Katakuri wasn't inside at the moment.

Placing her hand on the wall, she pushed and a cut out square of the wall toppled over. They were on the east side of the chateau and the evening sun would have cast a long shadow with the massive structure if not for the heavy cloud cover.

"This… isn't what I expected." Heinrich said, as he was rather looking forward to 'seeing the open sky again'.

"Don't be such a downer. You'll see it eventually, once you've gotten out of here." Cherry assured. "Let's go find you a boat."

"Wait wait wait! We'll just go?! I'll be recognised!" Heinrich stood in her way as she made for the city.

"You haven't been seen for decades, dude. Nobody will recognise you," Cherry said, pressing onwards without stopping.

"What about me? I WILL be recognised." Pekoms pointed out.

"Hm, right." Cherry nodded in agreement. "Just tuck into your shell, I'll carry you."

"..." That wasn't the answer he was expecting. He sighed and did as she suggested, transforming into his full turtle form and tucking inside his shell. Cherry picked him up and held him under her arm.

Cherry's words were proven true as people hardly spared Heinrich a glance. If they looked at them at all, it was odd looks sent Cherry's way, which only made sense when she was carrying a large turtle.

Fortunately, Whole Cake Island and Totto Land in general wasn't just some pirate hideout and actually received a fair amount of honest trade from the world beyond Big Mom's territory. As such, it was easy enough to find a merchant who would take Heinrich where he wanted to go, which happened to be literally anywhere else.

Anywhere else happened to be Dressrosa.

"Dressrosa is a good place to go for a man of your talents, Heinrich. They happened to have a lot of architectural needs at the moment. Assuming you haven't lost your touch," Cherry said.

"Or lost touch with reality in general…" Pekoms mumbled in addition.

Heinrich looked out to the sea of juice with a wistful expression. He found it difficult to believe he was really doing this. A part of him had always known that he would die in those walls, that the smell would eventually draw attention to his corpse, or maybe that it wouldn't ever be found. Having that part of himself proven wrong lightened a weight on his heart he didn't know was there.

Cherry waved goodbye after paying the merchant handsomely and went back into the city.

"You don't intend to make me leave, too?" Pekoms asked.

"Because you might change your mind and go blabbing to Big Mom? If you do, then you do," Cherry said. "You helped us when you didn't have to. I don't count it as repayment for saving your people, that isn't your debt to pay as far as I'm concerned. So I'll give you a chance to make your own choices, and I at least will call it even no matter what happens."

Pekoms was quiet, mulling over her words. Was there a path where he didn't have to choose a side? He didn't know, but perhaps it was worth searching for.

Cherry took him to a less populated part of town and turned him loose. "Here's your stop. Don't get captured again because I won't save you again."

"No, I don't think I will, gao." Pekoms slunk into an alley without another word and they parted ways.