[86] Sadness
[2200 Words]
Bonus chapter (1/3)
Since we have reached 10k collection, I owe you 3 Bonus chapters, this is one of them.
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The Grand Line, Paradise.
Skypiea, specifically at Conis' house.
[A/N: I wrote Konis instead of conis in the previous chapter, which is a mistake.]
"Isn't the captain a bit late?" Kaya whispered to Nojiko, who was sitting in front of her.
The latter replied with a slight frown, "You're right... It's been 15 minutes since they left."
Even the crew members felt that Ren was late, and each of them began to put forth some random theories about the reason for his delay, just to pass the time.
Even Conis and her father felt puzzled because Ren, who went to get the ingredients, seemed like he wouldn't return at all.
So, Conis' house fell into an awkward silence.
*Cough.*
"Sorry for the delay..." Ren's calm voice interrupted their thoughts, walking with Nami, whose face seemed slightly flushed.
Nojiko frowned upon seeing Nami's appearance and muttered to herself, 'As I expected... They were fooling around!' She felt jealous but maintained her cool demeanor.
"Captain, we're feeling hungry."
Mikita complained, but a beautiful smile quickly formed on her face when she looked at the food boxes Ren was carrying effortlessly.
"Hello, Mr. Ren, please have a seat to rest a bit, and I'll prepare the food. Carrying those boxes must have been tiring, right?" Conis smiled, trying to guilt-trip him, but he noticed her trembling face.
Ignoring Conis' condition, Ren acted as if there was no problem and said, "Thank you, Miss Conis. As much as I want to try your food, I think there should be an extra person to help you in the kitchen. What do you think, Nojiko?"
She turned to him, and their eyes met. She didn't object to what he wanted and replied, "It would be my pleasure."
So, the two girls headed to the kitchen together. Ren could see Conis' tense smile and decided he needed to pressure her more to see what she would decide.
Would she tell them about the danger they would face?
Or would she let them die at the hands of Enel?
Ren looked forward to this psychological game.
____
"Are you okay, Conis? You seem to be shaking," Nojiko asked the blonde woman in front of her with concern.
"Y-yes, I'm fine..." Conis opened her mouth and answered with a small voice that didn't match her declaration of being fine.
The two were in the kitchen, and several minutes had passed since they arrived here. At first, Nojiko brought up various topics with Conis to lure her into the trap.
If it weren't for Ren's voice that Nojiko heard in her head when they were in the guest room, she wouldn't have gone through all this trouble. She didn't know how the captain could communicate with her like this, but it seemed to be related to hypnotism.
As long as the person was close to him, he could establish a certain connection and give orders to the designated person, making them hypnotized.
But Nojiko wasn't like that. She received instructions on what to do and had the ability to refuse if she wanted. Not that she would, but this confirmed to Nojiko that she hadn't been hypnotized magnetically.
Of course, Nojiko wouldn't object even if it happened.
Her train of thought was interrupted, and she asked with fake concern, "Really? That's comfortable. Oh- where were we? We were talking about the god who rules Skypiea, right?"
"Shhhh!"
Conis' expressions changed to absolute horror, and she covered Nojiko's mouth to prevent her from speaking.
"W-e shouldn't talk about the god anymor..." Conis said fearfully.
Nojiko knew the reason for her fear. Ren told them that the god of Skypiea was a madman who ate a powerful Logia fruit that allowed him to control lightning as he pleased, becoming a lightning man.
But why did Conis prevent her from speaking? Could this god have a way to overhear their conversation?
Perhaps it was Observation Haki... but the captain didn't tell us about that.
Nojiko pondered for a moment about Ren's reasons for doing this, but in the next moment, a change occurred.
It must be said that everything was about to fall apart for Conis.
*Crack!*
*Crack!*
*Boom!!*
"!!!"
A thunderbolt appeared in the sky and headed towards Conis' house at an incredible speed, targeting the two figures in the kitchen.
Nojiko pushed Conis aside without a word, throwing the girl backward to a safe distance.
"Partial Body Explosion!!"
*Boom!!*
A louder explosion was heard than the one caused by the appearance of the lightning, all happening in just a second when Nojiko noticed the weather change in the sky and remembered Ren's explanation about Enel's Devil Fruit, she made her decision quickly and moved Conis away from danger then confronted the attack.
Several plates exploded in the kitchen, and black smoke rose in the place. Conis looked at the spot where Nojiko was, now covered in smoke, with an expression of guilt and sadness.
"N-no... Nojik-san!!"
"Let's cut the drama short. I'm fine."
Conis was surprised as she looked at Nojiko, who seemed to have suffered no harm. Even her clothes, which exploded with her, didn't receive any scratches.
She didn't possess eternal clothes, but it seemed that clothes used with the Bomb-Bomb Fruit wouldn't explode with the user.
"Are you okay, Conis?!"
A cry came from behind, and Pagaya rushed in to check on his daughter.
He didn't come alone; Ren and all the girls were there, even though Ren could see that Nojiko wasn't hurt because she used the power of her body explosion to defend against the thunderbolt sent by Enel.
"Are you okay, Nojiko?" Nami asked anxiously, and the rest of the girls quickly joined in relief when they saw that she was okay.
*Crackle!*
*Boom!*
Suddenly, without warning, another lightning bolt struck the kitchen. The house's ceiling collapsed, and Enel's thunderbolts managed to reach one of the figures in the ruined kitchen.
"N-no! Dad!" Tears formed on Conis' face, and she rushed to her father, whose face was unrecognizable due to the lightning bolt.
"Girls, move behind me!" Ren said calmly and forced Conis, who was lying in front of her father's body, to return behind him with the rest of the girls.
___
*Crackle!*
*Rumble!*
The weather was stormy, and the deafening thunder struck at a specific place in Skypiea, the Upper Yard.
Enel smiled wickedly when he saw that one of the criminals was receiving his divine punishment.
But he was angry because he couldn't kill the woman who questioned his identity. It was unacceptable blasphemy and nonsense!
But he suppressed his anger when he heard from his subordinates that the criminals' ship had been abducted and was on its way to him, to the Upper Yard.
"Come to receive punishment from this god!"
Enel's laughter echoed throughout the Upper Yard. The turbulent atmosphere never ceased; on the contrary, the thunder strikes intensified, and some unlucky ones were randomly killed, but Enel didn't care.
He didn't even think about how that woman managed to survive after he struck her with his divine judgment.
She was just lucky! Yes, lucky!
Those were Enel's thoughts.
___-
Back on Angel Island, Conis' house was damaged due to the previous attack. The neighbors dared not venture out to see what was happening; they knew that their god had decided to punish another wrongdoer.
Fear crept into their hearts; they dared not speak aloud for fear of attracting the god's wrath.
Back to Ren and the others.
Kaya looked at Conis, who was crying with pity. She didn't know the other party much, but she was kind-hearted enough to show her sadness.
Nami fell silent and saw in Conis herself from several years ago, although she was younger, but they all lost something dear to them.
But her mood improved slightly when she remembered that Bell-mère was with her now; her spirit was present in the ring she was wearing now.
She didn't mind wearing that ring even when she was having sex with Ren.
Anyway, Nami shifted her gaze to Nojiko.
"Sorry, Conis-san... If I hadn't continued talking about that god, none of this would have happened."
In the Upper Yard, Enel heard that the woman who escaped his attack was talking about him again, but he laughed wickedly and didn't make any move; they would come to him anyway.
Back to Conis, she looked at Nojiko with her teary, sad eyes and said, "Don't blame yourself, Nojiko-san. I'm the one who started this in the first place..."
"And because of me, the god targeted you. But fortunately, you survived. If I had warned you from the beginning, you wouldn't have been in danger... and my father wouldn't have died, I-I'm the one at fault-"
"No."
Ren's calm voice silenced her.
"You're not at fault, and neither is Nojiko." He held Conis and lifted her from the dirty ground, then pretended to put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief from The Infinity Space.
He began to wipe away her tears, feeling Enel spying on them. He didn't like being spied on like this, but he suppressed his anger and let him watch.
He placed the handkerchief in Conis' trembling hand and said, "The one at fault is that god."
Ren's calm voice was like a charm cast on Conis' heart; she didn't know when, but the girl began to calm down.
The girls looked at this scene with different expressions—touched, admiring, and sad.
A small sigh escaped from Ren's mouth, then he said, "Do you want to take revenge on that damned god?"
"R-revenge?" Conis said innocently, wiping away the tears and mucus from her face with Ren's help, so she regained her sparkle, but the gloom and sadness didn't disappear from her face.
"N-no... we can't resist the god's power." Conis' trembling returned when she remembered Enel's power, and her father's death made her fear greater.
Fear and uncertainty spread in her heart; she was afraid that the god heard what Ren said, and he would kill them as he did with her father. Her trembling increased.
Then she felt Ren's hand gently rest on her head to calm her down, and quickly she found herself in his embrace.
'What is this feeling...' she thought in her mind. Why did she feel comfort in the arms of this man? She wanted to resist, to pull away from his embrace, to scold him for holding her like this.
But she couldn't. She didn't find the strength to do so.
She was exhausted, extremely exhausted...
Since the servants of the god informed them that they must lure the criminals to the sacred land, Conis felt that today would be different.
She felt guilty because she was about to cause the deaths of innocent people, but one cannot oppose the will of God.
However, a turning point occurred while she was preparing food with one of those "criminals" as categorized by God. She mentioned the forbidden topic of God , Enel .
She wanted to hint to Nojiko that they had to escape and leave. Conis didn't know why, but she knew it might lead to something she would deeply regret.
But God decided to punish her at that moment, killing her father and almost killing her too if it weren't for Nojiko to save her.
And here she was now, shedding tears of sadness and grief in the arms of this man from the Blue Sea. She just wanted a place to breathe out her pent-up feelings.
"Don't be afraid, I'll avenge your father," Ren's gentle and soothing voice entered her ears, and Conis felt an indescribable feeling at that moment.
She felt that this man wasn't joking. Her thoughts were conflicting—denial and trust, sadness and comfort and calmness—mixing all these feelings to form the current situation.
Ren sighed as he looked at Conis in his arms.
He knew this was the best time to win her heart.
Ren didn't expect Conis to provoke Enel's wrath, leading to her father's death. But that Bastard Enel... dared to attack Nojiko?!
He would make sure to take care of him later.
Ren knew there was no foolproof plan, and variables were everywhere. He had no way to make Conis not mention Enel's topic to Nojiko in an attempt to warn her.
'This kind girl, maybe guilt is what made her do this, but it ended badly for her...' he thought in his mind, then saw that conis had already fallen asleep.
"Take care of her, Nojiko," Nojiko nodded when she heard Ren's words. He then looked at Nami and said, "Retrieve the ship, Nami, and kill those who stole it."
"Aye Aye Captain!"
Nami replied quickly. Her mood was already bad, and she wanted something to vent. Since sex wasn't an option in this situation, killing was the only choice.
____
In the upper Yard.
Enel, who heard Ren's words about revenge, was furious. Extremely furious.
"You infidel! Blasphemer!"
*Thunder!!*
*Rumbling!!*
*BOOM!!*
Enel was raging and furious to the extreme, even wanting to kill Ren and his group right away!
"Ohm, Satori, Shura, Gedatsu, come here Now!!!"
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Author's gossiping.
You are greatly mistaken if you think that Summoning a Netherworld Spirit skill has no limits.
400 PS = Bonus chapter.
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1400 PS = Bonus chapter.