SησωƁιяɗ Aɗνєηтυяєѕ

Taking place almost three months after she gives birth, Monet is all by herself looking
 for a place where to raise the baby.

First part.

    There was a little path that crossed the dark forest, suposedly ending at that old woman’s mansion. A while ago it had been a decent road, but now the bushes and the oblivion made it hard to distinguish in the forest’s ground covered with fallen leaves. Monet kept walking, between the tall trees and the wild grass that seemed to want to get a hold of her cape, breastfeeding Lynette, that woke up right after leaving the Mayor’s house. Her eyes were focused on her precious baby girl, but her senses were attentive at what the forest could be hiding. She could hear the whispering of the trees, the soft caresses of the wind making the leaves murmur. The ground was wet and even her soft steps left faint footprints on it.

During her pregnancy and the almost three months after that she had been training her observation Haki. It was going to be a required skill now that she was all by herself, and with a baby to look after, in the middle of nowhere. Law, Barto, and herself weren’t that worried if she knew how to use Observation Haki. She would have to continue training, of course, but at the moment there were another pressing matters she had to take care of.

After a bit more than twenty minutes of walking the tall trees started to die off, leaving only the thick vegetation of bushes and grass. The path that had been hard to follow now was paved with stone again, and soon Monet saw why. Behind the huge lake the Mansion could be seen, colossal building by any standards. More than a Mansion it remembered her to a french châteu, tower included. There where dark clouds, threatening with a storm, right above the mansion and the lake.

Monet eyes narrowed slightly, hoping it didn’t rain and her brows drew a mild frown. She would have to circle the lake and use one of the two bridges to access it, and that would mean another good fifteen minutes of walking, but she didn’t mind. Lynette was looking at her, moving her tiny chubby arms and smiling with that adorable toothless grin. It was amazing how much she had grown in just three months. There were slight changes that she was able to notice everyday, from the way she could focus her eyes and she tried to point at things or to control her limbs to the way she recognized her voice and her face. Monet adored the way Lynette, whenever she was lying on the bed, tried to lift her head, and everyday she managed to do it better. A small, almost unnoticeable sigh escaped her lips.            Law was missing all that.

Finally she made it to the mansion’s fence. Black, rusty at some places, and she was sure it would make an annoying screech once she pushed it, and she wasn’t wrong. Luckily, it didn’t bother Lynette.

A lightning ran from cloud to cloud once she stepped in the main entrance’s path, making a startling noise. Lynette, groaned, moving her chubby arms up and down, and Monet kissed her forehead. Her senses were sharpening with each passing second.

It was a huge garden, unkempt and messy. It had been forever since the lawn was last cut, and the rose bushes had gone wild a long time ago. It almost felt like if no one lived there in a long time. Another lightning and a noisy thunder followed and Monet was almost sure it was about to start raining, and she wasn’t wrong. The first drops fell upon her cloak as soon as her feet were on the stairs, but there was something wrong there. She felt it, but Monet didn’t know what it was exactly. Without even thinking about it she extended her hand to see how the drops fell on her palm, but it didn’t feel wet, nor like rain at all. Her eyes narrowed a bit while she studied that weird happening.

It wasn’t real rain.

Was it an illusion? Her brows drew a frown as the same hand knocked the door, that inmediately after seemed to shake. Dust fell like if it was an earthquake, and long and deep cracks appeared in the walls and the columns, but she didn’t feel her feet tremble in the slightest, nor she couched from the dust.

“So a devil fruit user.” she muttered, covering Lynette with her cloak and bringing her closer.. Senses sharpened further whilst she pushed the door open. The furniture and the pictures fell, making great noise, but she didn’t move, scanning the room. The hall was dark and huge , the floor seemed a huge chess board made with the finest marbles with two stairs at each side and. Monet was focused on the both of them. She could feel a presence in that house, but her Haki wasn’t strong enough as to know where exactly that other being was. When she was about to speak, she could hear it. Loud, heavy steps coming from one of the stairs. Monet could hear it before she saw it. A huge black wolf the size of a horse, growling warningly whilst going downstairs. The long black fur of the beast was standing up on end at his back, ears backwards and his growls echoed in the room. From where she was standing she could see the beast’s drool dripping to the floor. The red eyes of the wolf were focused on her, and illusion or not Monet ignored if it could hurt them, so she got ready to fight, muscles stiffening and a calculating glint sparkling in her eyes. The temperature of the room fell several degrees and Monet brought Lynette closer to her body, securing her with her left arm.

That wolf had nothing to do if she turnt into the Mannen Yuki, but she couldn’t do so whilst carrying Lynette. Such an annoying situation. She could hear Law’s voice saying that she couldn’t do that by herself, that she couldn’t take care of her and the baby, that there were dangers in the Grand Line and that he could protect them— all those words he said trying to make her stay. The frown in her forehead grew deeper. She wouldn’t give Law the satisfaction.

The wolf begun running towards them, jumping the last set of steps, and thus she made her move. Her right hand extended, open, making a smooth movement upwards and her snow appeared in the floor, creating a thick wall of ten year hardened snow around the beast, making sure it couldn’t move.

She was expecting to hear some sort of complaint or surprise coming from the wolf, but she heard nothing. So another illusion? Confused whilst eyeing the snow prison she created for that beast she could hear a gasp of surprise coming from the other staircase.

“I don’t have time for games.” she announced, her eyes focused where she thought the noise had come from. Whoever it was, it was there. “Show yourself.”

Funny thing that she wasn’t waiting for an actual reply, but she got one. “Get out of my house.” the voice of an old woman spat. “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. House” the voice repeated and her eyes narrowed. Monet’s lower body turnt into snow and two seconds she found herself on the top of the other staircase and the woman, that had been hiding behind a huge clock on the wall squeaked, surprised, and tripped, falling backwards. “GET OUT. GET OUT YOU MONSTER!”

“Monster? Excuse you.” Monet huffed. That old woman had been the one to fake rain, an earthquake and a huge wolf. “Can you calm down, please? I am not going to hurt you unless you try to hurt us.” Now that Monet could see it better she opened her eyes slightly, surprised. It was a woman around a meter seventy tall, but she wouldn’t even weight forty kilos. It felt like looking to a living skeleton. She wasn’t a threat to Monet, nor to Lynette, devil fruit user or not.

There was an embarassing silence that was broke by the baby noises her daughter was making, and Monet opened the cloak slightly to see her and the baby granted her with a great toothless grin that made her chuckle. Apparently she had liked that of flying ten meters and landing on top of the stairs.

Monet could feel the curious eyes of the woman on the floor studying them, going from the baby to her as her lips pressed to a thin line. Sighing, Monet offered her hand, willing to help the woman to stand up.

“I mean no disrupt.” Monet apologized even if it wasn’t her fault. “But we need a place where to stay for a few days until I find somewhere to live in the village.” Since the mayor wasn’t helping in the slightest she would ask other people to see if there was any empty house. The woman wasn’t replying yet, still studying her and Monet sighed. “You wouldn’t even know we are here, and of course I am not planning to stay for free. I can pay.” she offered, but there was no change in that woman’s wrinkled face. Possibly someone that lived in such a huge mansion didn’t need any money, but then, why was she so skinny? Was she sick?“… or I can help you with the housework?” she questioned, unsure of what else to say to sleep there that night that didn’t include a threat. The floor and the walls could hardly have any more dust.

There was a change in the woman’s features. Her expression relaxed and the wrinkles became less noticeable.Now she didn’t look like a complete raisin. Her hues lost part of her defiance and despise. Monet adverted that she had nice features, no doubt that when she was young she had been a strikingly beautiful woman. A tiny voice could be heard in the quietness of the corridor, that woman spoke finally, her tone humble, now if it felt like if she was scared.

                “—-can you cook?”