The Castle End

The Castle Part 9

\____-o(X)o-_____/​

"Excuse me?"

"Mm? Yes?" The librarian looked about in curiosity, and I had to do this little hop to get my elbows atop her desk and pull myself up.

"What would it take to get a library card?"

The librarian stared at the five year old, legs dangling as I did my best Kilroy impression peeking over the top of her desk. I honestly wasn't dressed appropriately for a library, given that my shirt was essentially nice canvas and my shorts were worn denim, and my shoes were really basic sandals.

"Um… a… library card?" she stared down at me.

"Yes please." My voice was still infuriatingly high pitched, looking and sounding cutesy was not in my favor right now, "I would like to check out books please."

A bemused smile appeared on the middle aged woman's face, "And you know how to read young man?"

"Yes ma'am."

Her smile told me just how much she believed that, and I pouted, "Of course you can. Where's your mother?"

"Shopping. Probably near the fruit aisles right now."

"Did she say it was okay for you to come here?" the middle aged woman asked, pushing a strand of hair that had escaped her practical bun back behind her ear.

I frowned, "She said I could go play. And a library is safer than just being outside and playing."

Oh, momma would be unhappy with me for this… but I wanted to know!

"Well, if you want a library card, your mother is going to have to come in to sign for you." The middle aged woman said kindly. But fuck a duck it's not what I wanted to hear. My brows furrowed and I frowned. There was no way momma would let my little ass sign up for a library card. 'No son of mine will be a scholar!'

"But I know how to read and write and how to determine whether a contract is acceptable or not. Why can't I sign for myself?"

The librarian, bless her, was only a little patronizing when she reached out and patted me atop the head, "I'm sorry sweetie, you're too little to sign for yourself."

I frowned harder.

*thump*

Turning, I found a girl setting books down onto the librarians desk… barely any taller than me. Dark blue hair that barely reached past her chin and a simple sundress… and five books about as thick as my forearm. I blinked.

"Ah, Ami, your books today?"

The girl, who couldn't have been older than seven, nodded, "Yes ma'am."

Now that made me pout at the librarian, "Why does she get to check out books and I don't?"

The girl shrank away, which made me feel a bit bad, and the unhappy look on the librarians face didn't help, "Because she asked her mother to get her a library card."

"S-Sorry…" the girl ducked her head, making me frown.

"Why?" I asked her, "You have nothing to apologize for. It's not your fault my momma doesn't want me reading too much." I knew why she was apologizing. Despite my appearance and the unusual effects of my body's hormones on my moods, I wasn't truly a child mentally. But it really had to be pointed out, she had nothing to apologize for.

"Oh… um… sorry." The girl fiddled with her thumbs, looking away, "Um… what did you want to check out?"

I blinked in surprise, "Ah… I was hoping to pick up World History Volume 1 and Dictionary."

Yes, it was dry reading to be sure, but fuck if I didn't need to get some background knowledge to work from. I only sort of knew the language as it is. Pirates weren't exactly the best group to learn diction and vocabulary from.

"I…" her head ducked down, bangs falling in front of her eyes, "I could check them out for you…"

My eyebrows went up and I beamed, "I'd really appreciate that."

The librarian pursed her lips, "Ami, sweetie, you don't have to do this.

She ducked her head, "But..." She worked her lip with her teeth for a moment before looking up at the middle aged woman defiantly, "No one shouldn't be able to read…"

With an affectionate sigh, the librarian smiled, "Alright sweetie, if you're sure."

I smiled at the taller girl, a big silly grin on my face, "Thank you." The girl ducked her head, cheeks turning a bit red. It was honestly adorable. I turned to the librarian since the girl was quiet for a long moment, "Is there a limit on how many books she can check out at a time?"

The middle aged woman nodded and I looked to the slightly taller girl, "I don't really want to limit how many books you can check out too much, so I'll keep it to just one book, okay?"

"Mhm," she nodded, hands clasped in front of her dress.

I reached up, and man was it an up, curse my midget size! I grabbed onto her stack of books and slid them off of the table and onto the top of my head, balancing them there as I grinned, "So what are you reading?"

"Ah-! I can carry those…" she said softly, making a reaching motion towards the books.

With a laugh, I shook my head, "You're helping me out, so it's only right that I return the favor." Mostly true, there was also the fact that I just liked helping people, and I didn't really like owing people, but the big thing was that it was fair. She was doing me a favor, so I'd return it.

The girl, Ami, fretted with her hands, "O-Okay… um… w-which book did you want to read?"

"World history first. But won't you have to give up a book?"

"Mhm…" biting her lip, she reached out again, pulling one of the books from the stack atop my head before looking to the librarian, "I'll put this book back Miss Akiyama."

The librarian adjusted her glasses, "Alright sweetie, just be sure that the numbers line up. You know where the stool is if you need it."

"Yes Miss Akiyama."

"And you," a finger was wagged in my direction, "You be sure to return the book on time, I won't have you ruining her good record."

"I won't Miss Akiyama," I parroted, though I did mean it, "I'll return the book before my ship leaves."

Satisfied, the librarian nodded, "Alright, now you two have fun."

"Yes ma'am." We both said before turning back towards the library proper.

Ami clutched the book close to her chest and I followed after her as she led the way to where she'd gotten the book. With a smile, I asked, "So… what are you reading?"

-oOo-​

Armored Huns rushed into the room, guns at the ready and I decided now was a good time to be somewhere else. My ears were still ringing, my body still ached all over and my balance was shot. My jaw was still dented in from Poochie's fist, and my arms and ribs were both bent slightly out of line from Bleda's hug of dooooooom…

"Prince Bleda!"

Yeah, no.

"Soru!"

I completely embarrassed myself as I nearly smacked my face against one of the pillars holding up the balcony. My balance was still shot and I was too tired to honestly consider Soru, but I was still fast enough to run. Aborting the attempt to flash-step, I ducked my head and pulled the tattered remains of my hood down, I took a deep breath and flexed, making my ribs pop back into place.

"Stop! In the name of the Hun Dynasty-!"

"Sorry!" All steel all the time! "Not happening!"

I jumped straight over the heads of the guards as the feeling of steel pouring through my limbs, transforming everything into steel. Three steps later and I was out the hole that Attila's body had made, landing in a hallway and making a hard turn. In spite of the various cries of 'Stop!' and 'Halt!' and y'know, the bullets, I ran through the halls. The first floor was just as ornate as the ones above, just with a cobblestone floor with some fancy carpet instead of wood.

"The Princes are dead!" The cry went up behind me and I frowned. Fuck.

"Get him!"

"You bastard!"

Props to them, they came charging around the corner after me in spite of having 'killed' their leaders. I skidded around a corner, struggling to stop my momentum properly because holy shit that's a lot more momentum!

It'd be really nice to know the layout of this place. Kinda frustrated that I hadn't bothered to do more than glance at the maps they'd made of this place while prepping for this. Now where's Bonney and the others?

** Bullet through left shoulder–**

"Stop!"

I started to dodge reflexively, only half completing it during my run, but the bullet skimmed off of my shoulder with a ping.

'… right. Metal.'

Forgoing dodging, I just ran as bullets began to pepper my back, trying to sense out where the rest of the crew were… super happy to have an Ability now, because I am in no state to dodge or defend against bullets, and the things are just bouncing off of my coat.

Break off point! Do I turn or straight–?

** Left–**

Left it is then!

This time anticipating my increased mass, I skidded around the corner, iron shoes tearing up the carpet and sparking against the stone beneath it as I drifted around and began to run once more. Holy shit was my power not stealthy at all because each footstep was a boom that resounded in the floor. This hall ended in a T junction, left or right-? Circle back around or try and go up to get out a window-?

Someone ran out around the corner at the end of the hall and my hand dropped to my empty holster– dropped my gun? Shit, dropped my gun.

My eyebrows shot up, "Tom-!"

The black-bearded man, once more in his prime, skidded to a halt, "Florida! Let's goooOOoh crap!"

There was the thunder of footsteps behind me as the guards finally turned the corner behind me, "I know right?! Let's move!"

Tom brought up the revolver I'd made him and fired three quick shots over my shoulder as I caught up, making the Huns behind me duck and stumble. In moments I was skidding to a halt beside the larger man before the First Mate and I bolted back down the hallway he'd come down, "What's the plan?!"

I had to slow down some to not overtake Tom, but he was making decent time, "The Captain's going to be creating a distraction for us and we'll meet up with her and get out of here! Once we're in the forest, we'll split up and meet back up at the ship!"

"Got'cha! Lead the way!"

"Stop-!"

Grabbing Tom, I shoved the larger man in front of me and flared my arms up to cover as much of his back as possible before the gunfire started, bullets pinging off of my back uselessly. I couldn't even feel them through my metal coat.

"Shit!" A snap-shot from Tom went over my shoulder and one of the Huns let out a cry. The two of us rushing around another corner.

Two more quick turns and– Ooh! Hello statue!

Up against one of the walls, instead of another painting or a fancy vase, was a large statue. White marble, honestly super well made, taller than me, something roman-esque… former deity? Eh. Doesn't matter.

'Steel strength don't fail me now!' My arm snapped out and I skidded to a halt, grabbing a hold of the marble statue. Sorry statue, you're very pretty but I need some help. Grabbing it with both hands, steel fingers sunk into the stone and I lifted it above my head with surprising ease. Now, waaait for it–

"Florida, what are you-?"

The guards came around the corner and I grinned, muscles of literal chorded steel bunched as I heaved. The Huns backpedaled, trying to scurry back behind the corner, but the statue wasn't aimed at them. The marble exploded as it hit the ground just in front of the soldiers, shrapnel pinging off of my skin harmlessly as a dust-cloud filled the hallway.

"That!" I spun on my heel and ran, catching up to Tom in a moment, "Let's move!"

---

I clutched my side, stemming the slow flow of blood as best I could, jogging beside Tom. Attila's arrows had nicked me, and the damage had transferred to my flesh and blood form. Fucking hell, is this what a Logia user feels like when they get hit by a Haki user? The one that had glanced off of my Tekkai had only left a scratch in my skin.

The one I hadn't dodged properly and had ended up striking Bleda though? That had gouged out a bit of my flesh. The cut into my steel body had been almost an inch deep, and I'd blithely transformed back into flesh to keep my feet from booming against the floor.

Ow.

I'd quickly transformed the portion back into steel, but it was still slowly leaking blood. Maybe it'd been bleeding before at this rate and I hadn't realized? Maybe because the rest of me wasn't steel? I didn't know. But fuck this shit.

"How are we getting out?" I asked softly as we skidded to a halt just before an intersection.

"The Captain should be setting off the charges soon." Tom said, glancing around the corner and down the halls, holding his ten gallon hat tightly onto his head. We were on the third floor of the opulent castle, we'd dodged a few more patrols on the way up here, but we'd been moving quickly and there'd been progressively more and more guards up here. Satisfied it was safe, Tom rushed around the corner and to a door with me in tow.

"Aaaand?" I prompted, following after Tom as he ducked into the room– well there's most of the crew... A quick glance, none of them were injured, though there were a few bullet holes in some shirts here and there as well as splotches of red, but unmarred skin beneath those holes... Bonney must have gotten to them.

I let out a little sigh of relief.

The room was pretty small, and it was a bit surprising we'd packed 15 good sized guys in here. I was the smallest 'adult' in the room, though some of the crew were still in their child forms, but someone was missing. Tom quietly closed the door behind me as I walked in, clutching my side. A quick glance around confirmed that there was no distinct splash of pink hair, "Oi... where's Bonney?"

"Setting off the distraction." Jaime said from the back of the group, up against the stone wall opposite the door. The outer wall? The room was mostly bare, just some boxes in here... probably a storage room?

I scowled a bit, holding my side as I walked through the group, the crew members parting to allow me to step up beside the man with the pear-shaped head, "By herself?"

Jaime was in his usual green turtleneck and shorts, though the mexican-esque man was sans his usual cowboy hat and rapier. He looked back at me from the–Hello! Explosives! My eyebrows went up as Jaime half turned from the black powder charge he was working into a hole between the large stones of the wall, "The Captain can handle herself." He grinned.

"Of course she can," I said with an eyeroll, before pointing out in concern, "But that's a risky move. She's not bulletproof." An amused smile seemed to cross the faces of every crewmember in the room. And I glanced amongst them, "… what?"

"She'll be fine." Tom said confidently, crouching behind one of the boxes opposite the explosives as Jaime rolled out a fuse.

'Doesn't mean I stop worrying.' I grumbled internally even as I backed up as well, joining most of the crew in getting as far away from the explosives as possible. The rest of the large men took cover behind boxes, sometimes squeezing together to ensure they were covered. There was basically an open channel between the door and the far wall with the explosives inside it...

Given the amount of available cover and the size of the other crewmembers... I took a knee right in front of the door and flexed my body back into metal.

Tom started to speak, but shut his mouth quickly at the sound of boots outside the door.

"Where'd they go?"

"Damnit, there's no way they got away!"

"Maybe they're on the roof?"

"Let's go!"

And the footsteps receded down the hall, the group relaxed.

I touched the cut in my side carefully, it didn't hurt while I was metal... but my shirt was metal as well, so I couldn't tell if I was still bleeding or not... my chin still ached a bit. But all of my dents had popped back out when I'd shifted from metal to flesh. I was pretty sure that the cuts were due to Attila's Haki, but... did the ache in my chin confirm that the Rokushiki style was partially Haki based?

Ugh, not enough info to confirm if it's that or just confirmation bias–

A distant rumble made the castle tremble just the slightest bit and with a flick of his wrist, Jaime lit the match in his hand and then the fuse. As the chord burned away and the group dove behind their boxes, I held an arm in front of my face just in case and whispered, "What she'd do?"

"Fired one of the cannons in the keep at the gunpowder we'd buried outside the outer wall." Casey, still a kid, said hurriedly as the fuse burned away.

'... the scavanger hunt! ... well I'll be. Clever.'

Moments later, the small charges of gunpowder went off and the rapid explosions made the wall shake and dent outwards.

Tom and Rodger, the two largest men here stepped out, lowering their shoulders and rushed forward, slamming their shoulders into the now loosened stones. They took two steps back and slammed into the wall again and the stones budged maybe half an inch. A small frown found itself on my face as I stood and walked over as they repeated the process. Another charge, another half an inch. Once more, and this time an inch, one of the stones wobbling, "Move."

The two men blinked, looking at my short ass, only 170 centimeters compared to their near 2 meters of height. They shared a glance before stepping out of the way.

I stepped up and planted my lead foot. I focused my will, my intent. Given the size of the blocks and what we were trying to do... The wall will be blown outwards. Armament. My life energy and intent pooled around my right foot and shin, making the gunmetal gray pants bubble with orange light before taking on a black sheen, "Falcon..." My lead foot pivoted and my right leg lashed out in a simple straight kick, "Kick!"

My foot contacted the stone, steel shattered the large block even as my intent and will transferred the force through the rest of the stones in a shockwave. The entire wall exploded outwards, blocks flying through the air, leaving a gaping hole in the outer wall of the keep that nearly stretched from floor to ceiling.

"… bit more than we needed Florida..." Tom whispered, staring.

"Bit more than I intended..." I responded, foot still extended and more than a little stunned myself, "Haven't really dialed in how strong I am while transformed yet..."

The child-form Casey ran forward, a coil of rope in hand that was tied to one of the boxes, tossing it out the hole. Surprisingly, there were almost no guards in sight, maybe one or two... Jaime was the first to slide down, quickly followed by another as I took a knee beside the rope.

Then it clicked. The explosion we just heard was probably on the opposite side of the castle. And there was a hole in the outer wall... probably one of the other earlier explosions. If we were on this side of the castle, what would require the attention of most of the guar– the horses. The other explosion was probably in the horse pens or a fire and the forces were required to get them brought together or the Huns would lose all of their military power!

In spite of the loss of life and probably extensive property damage, I really had to respect the deviousness of the plan. The Huns being kinda dicks made it easier.

Tom stopped beside me as another crew member slid quickly down the rope, "Florida, you're hurt, you should go."

"I'm also bulletproof," I pointed out, almost reflexively, "I'll go last."

The First Mate of the Bonney Pirates put a hand on my shoulder, the sensation muffled through my metal form, "Florida, your entire side was red..."

"I'm going last." I insisted, crouched as I was in front of the hole, "I'll cover you on the way out."

Tom frowned, "But you need–"

"I need to not lose another family!" I snapped, the outburst making the crew pause. Then it clicked what I'd said and I slumped, looking down at the floor.

After a moment's hesitation, Tom's hand tried to squeeze my metal shoulder, "Florida, don't worry. Now get going, you need to get out of here too."

There was another explosion, this time off to the right, the castle gate?

I sighed and stood, I wasn't happy about it, but there were only us and two more guys left anyways, "Alright, let's go then."

"Good, now get goi–" Tom smiled and gave me a small push, and I stepped out of the hole, "-iiIING?!"

My left hand snapped out to dig my fingers grasped the stone wall, nails carving shallow furrows into the stone as I slid down with a low grinding sound, slowing my descent. I was too tired to consider using Geppo while in full steel, and with my injury I didn't dare transform back to flesh. My feet touched the grass with only a muffled whump.

A quick glance confirmed that Tom was still staring, and I gave him a shit eating grin and a thumbs up.

He promptly flicked me off.

I grinned just a bit as I took off at a jog towards the hole in the outer wall as the last few crew slid down the rope. I looked about, the only guard on the wall on this side was slumped over the wall, probably shot. There was a billowing black smoke coming from the other side of the keep and no one on this side... thankfully. Because the line of the crew running from the keep to the outer wall wasn't exactly subtle, especially with each of my footsteps making a muffled whump. Wait, was that–?

"Oi! Ironhide!" Yup, that was Bonney leaning over the top of the castle keep, "Catch!"

She disapeared from view and I cussed under my breath. Bad timing! I relaxed as much of my upper body into flesh as I dared and readied myself as Daniel and then Tom both rushed past me. Bonney suddenly leaped from the top of the keep, hurtling through the air. Her aim was a little off so I had to shift back a few steps, holding my arms out for a bridal carry and bracing myself as the warm mass of pirate Captain slammed into me in an awkward tumble.

I cringed just a bit at the twinge it sent through the metallic gash in my side, skidding back a few inches as my knees flexed to absorb the shock, "Need to lay off the cookies-!"

"Shut up!" Bonney snapped without heat, elbowing me in the chest even as she rolled out of my arms and onto her feet, my right arm reflexively going back to the metallic gash. She grabbed my arm and started to drag me along, "Come on! They were busting through the door to the roof–"

** Bullet through Bonney's back– **

My left arm shot out, already steel even as the gun fired, the bullet pinging off of my metallic. There was an instant's surprise on Bonney's face before we started to run, the two of us the last of the Bonney pirates to reach the hole in the wall, "Busted... past tense!"

"Shut your face and run!"

---

Bonney and I had caught up to the mass of men that was the crew quickly, Bonney shouting as we approached, "Who's got the sacks?!"

Daniel, one of the thinner crewmembers, clean shaven and with long, wavy brown hair piped up, "Here!" he tossed over a large burlap sack which Bonney caught. I had totally missed that they were carrying that.

"Alright! Line up and group up!" Bonney commanded, throwing the sack over her shoulder… said sack was larger than her torso mind you, "You know your buddies! We'll meet back up at the ship!"

Her hand touched each crew member in turn, ages changing quickly, some became old and doddered off at a good pace, others young, running off as a pack, and some stayed at their prime. In only a few moments that was obviously a practiced routine, the group broke up and scattered into the forest.

A devilish smile on her face, Bonney turned to me, "Come on Ironhide, we'll… run…" she trailed off, scowling at my face, "… the fuck happened to you?"

"Huns." I said simply, a bemused smile on my face.

"You're bleeding from your ear," she said with a scowl.

"… not surprised." I admitted, things were still echo-y on that side…

What did surprise me was how Bonney's hand appeared in my vision, a thoughtful look on her face. Her surprisingly soft fingers touched my ear, and just as I realized what she was doing, hearing returned to my right side with a pop. A small look of surprise and quite possibly wonder appeared on my face.

"Better?" she asked with a small smirk, pulling her hand away.

I smiled, "Much."

"There they are!"

We glanced back before taking off into the woods, "Can you do that on the run?"

"Not yet! Why?"

I pulled my jacket back, showing the red stain in my shirt and damn it really does cover most of my left side now. Surprisingly, I... wasn't worried. Not about getting back to the Cake, Bonney and I were faster than normal people even on foot. Not about the others, they obviously could handle themselves. I wasn't even worried about myself really. This all felt... normal, I guess?

"Fucking hell!" Bonney exclaimed.

It wasn't the style of thing I'd done with the Eyepatch Pirates... but...

"It's steel right now-!" we leapt over a downed log as we ran, "So I'm not bleeding but can we handle this soon-ish?"

But I guess...

"No shit!"

I guess I really had found a family.

---

The Castle End