[A year later, the phone slips from Sanji's pocket as he goes skidding across the ground and then crashing into the fortress behind him. With everyone's attention drawn to the scene of violence, nobody notices the device and it lies there, forgotten, until Reiju scoops it up a while later.
She turns the unfamiliar piece of technology around in her hands before pocketing it. It's Sanji's, she knows. Whatever it is, she'll return it to him later.
Night falls and morning comes. The family breaks fast at the throne room, and the chance to pass anything under the table without their brothers noticing escapes her. It's by sheer chance that she moves just so in her own chamber soon after, miraculously dialing a frequent contact of Sanji's . . . Naturally, she won't be answering back once the call picks up.]
[ A year later, and Mark, beaten to hell and back, has had some changes of heart. One particularly prominent change of heart, new and unexplored and not yet expressed to anyone, left to be an agitated feeling churning in his gut.
The good news: he's healed for the most part. Maybe still a little sore, but the casts are off, the black eye long gone. Physically, he's fine. Emotionally, mentally, he's disquieted, but he knows he's right. He knows now that he's right—
He gets an unexpected phone call. Answers it. Gets zero response. And considering everything he's just been through, Mark immediately assumes the worst.
Fuck it. Fuck it, there are plenty of other superheroes still around, and his dad is probably on the way back from somewhere in deep space where he'd conveniently not been around so Mark could get his bones shattered, and Mark's face is kind of a problem these days anyway. Fuck it, this is probably life and death where one of his best friends is concerned and everything sucks here right now anyway, so he can toss some clothes and toiletries in a backpack (learning from last time), don his suit, and just go.
So he appears, right there in Reiju's chamber, masked up and floating in the air with fists balled tight, looking around. ]
Sanji?! Sanji, what's wro—
[ Spots Reiju, who is probably appearing very non-threatening, and lowers his hands. Not his body, he's just going to keep floating there, but at least the rest of Mark's posture slackens, aggressive voice fading into confusion. ]
Um.
[ She looks vaguely familiar, but he can't place it. ]
[She's in the middle of studying her reflection in the tri-fold mirror of her vanity when a mysterious man appears. While her body tenses, her expression is placid with the slight upward curl of her lips as she cranes her neck toward the masked stranger. From where did he come?
There's a lot of flying these days. It's ironic, really.]
Sanji is somewhere else in the castle.
[Sulking, probably. All the fight left him the second their father pulled out his trump card, and now he must be wandering the halls for the lack of anything better to do. It's a wonder to Reiju why he's suddenly clammed up after spitting righteous vitriol at their blood with such bravado. He should've run the second he was summoned back to this place . . . yet he didn't.
She shifts on her chair to turn in the stranger's direction. Her personal chamber is quite large, albeit spacious in that there isn't much in the way of furnishing. What's there—the vanity, the bed, the circular chairs and table, and essentials of that nature—is undeniably expensive, but the walls are almost empty aside from the sconces mounted on them.]
[ The first thing Mark notices, class-conscious as he is not, is how much open space there is here. Everything looks nice, but empty, like it isn't really lived in. For a guy who buys collectibles and fills his space with nonsense that sparks joy, this place looks kind of... sad? It feels kind of sad.
He isn't so rude as to keep looking around when a person is talking to him, though. When Reiju shifts his gaze connects with hers, even if his own is hidden behind dark goggles. She looks familiar. It isn't just the eyebrow, she looks—
the castle.
Mark swallows. ]
Yeah. [ His voice is small, uncertain. Not in his answer, just in worry for what he thinks could be coming Sanji's away. ] Did you call me to help him? Because I'm ready to do that. Right now.
[ Let's go, his body may be saying as it tenses. He's ready. Why aren't they going right now? ]
[Reiju dips her head at the question. Her right hand reaches back around herself, where she feels for the strange device she'd picked up. Pulling it out and holding it in front of her, she inspects the blank screen.
Is this what did it? She didn't call anyone. He doesn't seem aware of what's going on, either. In that case, she can't have him wandering off, much less without a clue as to the circumstances.
Leaning back, she folds her arms in front of her.]
The two of you must be close if you've come this far. But I'm sorry to say that it wasn't my intention to call on you.
[ There's an anxious energy to him as his gaze immediately goes to the phone, head movement betraying what his goggles continue to hide. So she has that. And not Sanji. Because something must be wrong, why is she acting so nonchalant, can they just go—
It wasn't her intention, and he huffs, agitated. ]
You buttdialed me, didn't you? [ Mark's voice is incredulous, but he shakes it off with a literal shake of his head. ] But you have his phone and he doesn't, so something must be wrong, right? He still needs help. Right?
[ Right? There's an edge creeping into his voice, like it'd be really nice if she told him exactly what he wants to hear right about now. ]
["Buttdialed"? She glances at the device in her grasp. So it's called a phone. It's probably like a transponder snail, though the exact nature of its communicative capacity eludes her.
And the stranger is getting antsier by the second. If the two are really as close as this implies, it's no wonder.
He just happened to drop it. I've been meaning to return it, but there's no need to rush. After all, this is his home.
[Why should he need help in his home? . . . is what she implies without saying it aloud, because there's no truth in those words.]
[ He knows just enough to know there's no truth in those last words of hers. Mark takes a deep breath to steady himself, because as far as he knows right now, she isn't the enemy.
But she might be, if she keeps being calm and simultaneously cagey like this. But he's— He still has standards. Just because some people need to die doesn't mean he needs to make that judgment call immediately. So. Deep breath. Calm voice, but with that underlying tension. ]
Sanji wants to act like this place doesn't exist. So if he's here he needs help, because I don't think there's any situation in which he'd actually want to be here.
[His argument gives her pause. It's still hard to tell where he fits in the puzzle, but he's right in that she's been wondering the same thing. Why is Sanji still here after such a harrowing departure 13 years ago? She told him never to come back. Ichiji was right on that front; they've never understood each other, and this complicates otherwise simple matters.
Does this masked stranger understand? If what he says is true, her brother's silence is all the more concerning and perplexing.]
It was Sanji's choice to stay here. If you interfere, he won't be happy.
[She plants her heeled feet on the floor and stands, holding the phone up.]
If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself while I return this.
[ Mark's brow furrows under his mask, first out of frustration — why is she still giving him a runaround — and then out of consideration. Because yeah, while he could see Sanji not being happy about Mark being here to help him, tough shit, right? He'd never thought it was a good idea to act like all of this from his childhood never happened, and now Mark's here anyway, so...
But then she stands, and Mark perks up, not even noticing the way the tension bleeds from his body, curled fists loosening at his sides. He tilts his head, analyzing her and her words both, before drifting downwards to set feet back on the ground. ]
Sounds good to me. Lead the way.
[ He can relax for the moment now that he knows they're going to be doing something. ]
For my little brother's sake, I'd like you to stay out of sight when it's not just you and me.
[Their father won't take kindly to potential kinks in his plans. This is the concession she's chosen to make, considering how tightly wound this particular visitor appears to be. It's evident from his body language alone that he wears his heart on his sleeves, which rarely goes over well in these parts.
No sooner than she takes two steps out of her chamber and into the equally austere corridor does company visit in the form of three men. Reiju's hand stills on the door to her room, strategically paused to keep the stranger inside and out of her brothers' view at the present angle.
"Oh, Reiju," says a deep voice that borders on smug. As always, Niji flashes her a toothy grin that compensates for the lack of visible eyes behind his goggles. "So this is where you've been."]
Were you expecting otherwise?
[Reiju's tone is clipped in response. Niji may be her brother, but there's little love between them, simply because he isn't capable of such a thing while she navigates around that lack for her selfish sense of self-preservation.
"We missed you at the reunion," replies Niji, not sounding regretful in the slightest.
"You should've been there." Yonji sounds perkier, if throaty. It suits his larger frame, being the biggest of the Vinsmoke sons. "Then it would've been a proper reunion."
Perhaps visible from Mark's limited vantage point, Reiju's eyes narrow faintly as to be nigh imperceptible.]
Reunion?
["It's been 13 years since we last saw Sanji," answers Ichiji. He must be in a good mood, judging by the quirk in his usually tightly set lips. His voice is a touch higher than the rest, yet equally as more detached. "Naturally, we took the time to remind him of the order of things."
The suggestion isn't lost on Reiju, who remains the picture of apathy despite the tightness in her chest. As far as her brothers know, Sanji isn't even worth the dirt on her heels. Rather, what matters most is . . . ]
Father will be displeased if you've marred his face.
["He may be a pirate, but he's still the same failure from before. If that hasn't turned the bride's family away, a bruised face will change nothing," says Niji as three sets of footfalls sound. The brothers have tired of explaining themselves to their frigid sister, and they're no doubt off to celebrate among themselves in one of their rooms. "See you later."
Reiju waits until their collective presence has faded before lowering her hand from the door, where she'd been keeping it to discourage the masked visitor from exiting. What rotten luck.]
Mark hesitates as things start to click together, just why this woman looks so familiar, and it isn't just that outright stated familial relationship to Sanji. He remembers a little girl telling a little boy to run, to never come back, and—
And before he can think further, move further, they're interrupted. It's a good thing Mark saw that memory after all, because knowing that despite her cold exterior she does care about Sanji — or at the very least, did — he's much more willing to not make a fuss. He stops where he is, not moving, hardly breathing as he listens in on everything.
There is a surge of anger leaping to the forefront, teeth bared, nostrils flaring as they talk about this reunion. So it's a good thing he's here after all, he decides, and he isn't going to let Sanji tell him otherwise. His fists clench again, shoulders tensing, but Sanji's sister was clearly not a part of this, and from his vantage point he can hazard a guess she doesn't approve. The others — brothers? — sound like they've had a good time compared to her dismissiveness, and Mark kind of wants to punch a hole in each of them.
Won't. (Yet?) The talk of a bride is another alarm bell on its own, because as far as he knows Sanji and Asa haven't broken up, and for as weird as Asa could be, he doubts she was a part of this. Something is very, very wrong here, and for as much as he'd like to burst his way through every part of this castle until he finds Sanji and removes him from the situation, he has enough sense to recognize that if the people here have some way of neutralizing him, then Sanji probably isn't getting any help whatsoever.
Which means he's going to have to play it smart.
... Which means Mark is going to have to listen to Sanji's sister. By the time she's lowered her hand from the door the open anger on his features has been sharpened into a cold determination. He brings his own hand up to push the door open a little further, allowing him to see more of the mostly-vacated hallway, and stares directly at her. ]
So we're getting him out of here, right? [ Judging by the tone of his voice, it's not a question — but after a beat he softens. ] I know you helped him escape once before. I just need to know if you're still that person.
[ As long as she is, he'll follow her lead. If she isn't... Well, maybe his own element of surprise will keep any consequences of his impulsiveness at bay. ]
[The naked anger on his face earlier was reminiscent of the look Sanji had worn mere hours ago. Instead of resignation, however, there's now resolve in the tight set of the former's lips. Reiju's gaze lingers on his obscured face, her eyes blinking slowly at the question laced in those steadfast words.
Nobody changes in Germa, much less for the better. That was why Sanji had to go. This friend of his is deeply sentimental if he's willing to trust her word at face value, but this could be a good thing. If he's still here, much as she would like him to, Sanji will not leave. While it doesn't matter what sort of person or thing she is now, if he were to meet with his friend, then perhaps . . .
Reiju turns her head away to begin striding down the medieval corridor in the direction from which her brothers came. A visit from them never ends without bloodshed and broken skin.]
Mark pauses for a second, processing that, before he starts following her. He's staying on the ground now, footsteps right behind her — at least until he uses his longer stride to catch up and walk alongside her.
Peers at her. Scrutinizes her from underneath his goggles. ]
You didn't really answer me.
[ But he's still walking beside her anyway, so evidently he has no problem with the let's find Sanji component. Gonna keep staring at her in the meantime, though, like that'll will out something he wants to hear. ]
[It wasn't, and she won't—not until she hears what Sanji has to say to his friend. The latter's gaze on her is palpable, but Reiju keeps hers trained on the empty corridor before them. They round the aforementioned bend and press onward, soon after which they come upon a set of large, ajar double doors, where she gives him this much:]
It's been over a decade since Sanji left Germa. We're no longer children; just bear in mind that he chose to come back. [She finally looks over her shoulder at him.] And the contents of this room are to stay behind these doors.
[Even she and her brothers were barred from entering as children. This is a closely guarded secret of the kingdom that she's willing to expose as a byproduct of taking him to Sanji. With that perfunctory warning out of the way, she pushes a door wide open, revealing a modern laboratory.
Rows upon rows and even snaking up like pillars are large cylinders in a shape akin to a corked bottle. Each is numbered with a glass-like casing around the top half, filled with some sort of fluid and a slumbering body. If Mark cares to look long enough, he'll notice that all of these people—hundreds of them, mostly male—are identical to each other among a handful of variants, and they occupy most of the space in the laboratory.
None of this is exciting to Reiju, who steps forward—toward the medical team clamoring around a figure on the floor farther inside—with the decisive clack of her heel.]
Step back!
["Oh," says a fretful doctor, "Lady Reiju, we're about to treat his . . . "]
I said, get out of my way!
[The doctors pick up their bags and flee in a comedic panic at her outburst, hardly even noticing Mark in the vicinity. The laboratory falls quiet, filled by the background humming of machinery, as Reiju steps over to her fallen brother's side.
Swollen beyond recognition, Sanji's face is a mess of bloody bruises. His visible eye just barely manages to open at her approach that she wonders if he can even see in that sorry state. Cracks of various sizes in the bloodstained ground and the sizable cables running along it, some severe enough to expose the wires within, suggest that he must have been slammed against them more than once. All told, he's lucky that his body is still intact at a glance.
Reiju's shoulders sag in a silent sigh. They're no longer children, and their brothers are even stronger now. Judging by the state of them from before, Sanji hadn't fought back—hadn't even used haki to defend himself from their abuse.]
[ A year ago, Mark probably would have wilted at Reiju's look, let the fight drain out of him and cede power to someone clearly more experienced. But a lot's happened to him in the past year, and he isn't feeling so milquetoast anymore. Instead he just nods, because Sanji's family sure likes their fucked up little secrets, huh.
But he doesn't believe for a second that Sanji actually chose to come back.
He follows her into the lab, and immediately feels a chill up his spine, thinking about the white room at the GDA. Instinctively Mark brings a hand up to his ear, like it's just occurred to him that he might be walking into a trap and might be writhing on the ground at any second. The threat of his own personal horror mutes what he should be feeling at seeing a bunch of bodies in test tubes, and his body goes rigid again, on guard.
So he misses Sanji entirely — at least until Reiju starts making demands, and the doctors all flee, and he's just standing there until he sees him.
Within a fraction of a second Mark is at Sanji's side opposite from Reiju, creating a gust of wind with the speed at which he moves. This isn't something he's used to seeing; usually, it's Mark who's the one lying amid the wreckage, barely conscious and beaten to all hell, not someone he cares about. He pulls his mask off, hovering over Sanji worriedly, Reiju all but forgotten. (Sorry sweet Reiju.) ]
Sanji? Oh, god... [ Any commanding presence he's tried to maintain is gone, Mark worrying at his lower lip, brows knit together as he reaches to try to take Sanji's hands in his own. ] I'm going to get you out of here, okay?
[ Where to, he doesn't know. The Baratie? Somehow? He isn't thinking much further ahead than scoop up Sanji, fly through the roof, leave. What to do after that is a problem for future Mark. ]
[Oh, Reiju thinks as recognition flickers in her eyes, it's Mark. That explains a few things while raising some questions. She doesn't mind being forgotten; in fact, this is what she'd prefer in favor of watching their interaction.
Meanwhile, Sanji's heart stops at the sound of a familiar voice that doesn't belong within these walls.]
Mark . . . ?!
[Eyes widening to half their usual size, Sanji snaps upright. He grits his teeth through the shooting pain in his lower back, and bites out a strangled protest as resignation churns into panic at the idea of fleeing this hell he once called home—of the consequences that would bring down on the eastern sea.]
No!
[The golden bracelets fitted around his wrists bump against his pisiforms when he brings his hands up and out of Mark's grasp, all but ripping himself away from a friend who only means well. Everything aches, but he tamps down on the pain and the fear with a deep furrow of his brow. Sanji draws a knee up and rests an arm against it, his face turned away from Mark. Like this, he glimpses Reiju's leg in his periphery.]
[ Mark, single-minded and simple as he is, continues to forget that Reiju is there entirely. He moves with Sanji as the latter snaps upright, eyes widening for a second at the sudden movement, the obvious pain. But Sanji's still very much alive, and that's the only thing he cares about right now.
Only to recoil when Sanji rips himself away from him. Mark unceremoniously falls back on his ass, staring at him, confused and deeply, deeply concerned. There's a lot wrong here; that Sanji is so injured should be at the top of the list, but his rejection feels worse. Is worse. ]
... Okay. [ Mark hesitates for a moment before shifting into a squat, staying down on Sanji's level, but ready to get up at any time. He doesn't reach out to him, though, and his voice is small before taking on a pleading tone. ] Okay, but let's get you out of here, alright? I know you don't want to be here. I've got you.
[Mark knows. That makes this a hundred times more difficult than it needs to be, because the guy is a stubborn bleeding heart who can't let things go. To make matters worse, he's not even a native of this world, which means he's stuck here over something that doesn't concern him. He's already dealing with enough back home. Why does he have to be here?
Sanji's hands clench into fists as he sucks in a deep breath. He angles his head down and halfway toward Mark, eyeing the floor between them.]
How did you get here?
["I brought him," says Reiju, to which Sanji whips around and calls her name in disbelief. "We can talk about it in your room. This place isn't secure, and you need treatment."]
. . . Fine.
[He climbs onto his feet, swaying exactly once before righting himself and looking over his shoulder at Mark. At this angle, his hair obscures most of his profile to keep the worst of his visible injuries from the latter's line of sight.]
Let's go. [His swollen eye sweeps over the test tubes all around them. He hunches in on himself, dropping his voice to a murmur:] This place is making me sick.
[And he needed Mark out of here yesterday, far away from his family troubles.]
[ He's trying to swallow his heart back down, the way it leaps into his throat at the sight of what's happened to Sanji. Maybe it's worse because he can't see the full extent of his injuries and it lets his mind run wild with the possibilities. He doesn't think Sanji can take damage to the extent that he can, so maybe that makes it all worse? Or maybe he can, and it really is just that bad— Mark doesn't know.
His throat bobs either way, trepidation churning in his gut. In search of something to do he chooses to follow what's visible of Sanji's gaze, looking over at the test tubes, the bodies in them. Now he can see that they're almost identical, which is unnerving for a whole other set of multiverse reasons, but that's his own shit. He doesn't need to drag that up here.
Focus on Sanji instead. He likes that Sanji listening to reason, and he probably should thank Reiju for saying something, for bringing him here, for... a lot of things? But like she said, this place isn't secure (this was not something he thought to be concerned about), so it'll have to wait.
He also liked that Sanji was talking, but casual conversation is a little impossible at the moment, so Mark has to go with the next best (shitty) option. He has enough sense to pull his mask back on at least, but his demeanour is much more uncertain now, to the point that it might even be somewhat familiar to Reiju too. ]
Yeah, me too. [ This place is making him feel sick, too. He shouldn't ask, he shouldn't ask, he shouldn't ask but he wants to keep the conversation going, he's going to ask. ] What is this place, anyway?
[Sanji freezes mid step at the question. Germa's secrets mean nothing to him, but the same can't be said for Mark's well-being. Although the concern isn't lost on him, divulging too much will only serve to trap Mark even more. Sanji can't have that.
In the end, he mutters:] Nowhere important.
[Mercifully, Reiju doesn't interject as she leads the march back to the residential wing. Rather than his usual two-piece suit, Sanji's in a white ruffled shirt with a pair of dark pants, both cut from the highest quality of fabric only the elite can afford. The raiment feels wrong on him, but he shoves both hands in the trouser pockets, his shoulders hiked up into a hunch, and follows after his sister to get things moving so that Mark can leave.
[ Mark frowns, outright stopping for a moment at Sanji's words — at least until he recognizes that the two of them are going to keep going, and he shifts to a glide to catch up, feet touching the ground again when he's right beside Sanji, staring at him through those black goggles of his.
At the very least he knows enough to keep his voice quiet, but there's more of an edge to it when he speaks. ]
You know I didn't believe you the first time you tried to tell me that, right.
[ Not even the pretense of a question this time. Just scrutiny — come on, man. Even if he recognizes they should only be really having this conversation in his room, he's not going to let Sanji think he can get away with just sweeping everything under the rug. ]
One of his hands twitches in a pocket. This is the thing about Mark. No guy on the crew is so willing to explore feelings and personal details with one another while the girls are content to let sleeping dogs lie in peace. Mark isn't built like that: He sees a vulnerability, and he has to treat it like something precious, because it's the good, fair thing to do—except this isn't fair. Sanji has no intention of sharing in that.
He keeps his limited vision on Reiju's back. Knowing her, she's listening in on every whispered word between them. Mark's getup is a little different from what he remembers, but that just reinforces the thought that the guy doesn't belong here.]
It has nothing to do with me.
[Nor does he want to have anything to do with it. It's sickening, and his stomach roils at the mere thought of that place they've just left behind. He wants to put it out of his mind altogether.]
Mark's too focused on watching Sanji watch Reiju to notice that twitch, or the quality of his clothes, or much of anything beyond what's directly in front of him. All of his brainpower is going into trying to discern his expression, but that's pretty difficult on its own considering the state he's in. His eyes narrow, not that anyone can see that, and he's silent for a little too long, like he knows trying to get something out of Sanji is going to be a losing battle but he wants to fight it anyway.
After a moment, ] Okay.
[ He'll drop it. Just like that.
Except no he won't. ]
But once you're safe, I can come back and handle it.
[ Handle what, he doesn't know, but when he's basically a walking nuke Mark's pretty sure he can take care of anything in this castle one way or another. ]
[It's not that he doubts Mark's abilities. The guy is stupidly strong and durable. He's Invincible. If anyone can tear through the castle in one shot, it's him.
Sanji chews discreetly on his swollen lower lip.
Despite that, he can't shake off the dread swirling in his gut at the thought of Mark's handling anything. They've left that disgusting laboratory, yet he feels even sicker the closer they get to his assigned chamber. It's not the room he had as a kid with a bookshelf full of books he'd read to enrich his developing mind, but a standard bedroom with expensive furnishing and a tacky portrait of Judge, looming over the decapitated heads of four kings, that takes up almost the entire length of a wall. It's an eyesore; however, it's a step up from the real thing, so he drags his feet inside once they make it to the doors.
Reiju passes the forgotten phone to him on his way inside. She lingers in the doorway, and then turns away once Mark passes her. "I'm going to fetch some supplies. Make yourselves comfortable in the meantime." With that, she takes her leave while Sanji stands in the middle of the spacious room in silence, his back to her departing figure with the phone clutched tightly in one hand at his side.
Just what is she up to? He takes in a shallow, quiet breath and holds it before exhaling silently. He's already lost it once the other night, clawing at his scalp and bellowing at the top of his lungs, and he's not about to do that in front of Mark. It's his fault the guy is here.]
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no subject
She turns the unfamiliar piece of technology around in her hands before pocketing it. It's Sanji's, she knows. Whatever it is, she'll return it to him later.
Night falls and morning comes. The family breaks fast at the throne room, and the chance to pass anything under the table without their brothers noticing escapes her. It's by sheer chance that she moves just so in her own chamber soon after, miraculously dialing a frequent contact of Sanji's . . . Naturally, she won't be answering back once the call picks up.]
no subject
The good news: he's healed for the most part. Maybe still a little sore, but the casts are off, the black eye long gone. Physically, he's fine. Emotionally, mentally, he's disquieted, but he knows he's right. He knows now that he's right—
He gets an unexpected phone call. Answers it. Gets zero response. And considering everything he's just been through, Mark immediately assumes the worst.
Fuck it. Fuck it, there are plenty of other superheroes still around, and his dad is probably on the way back from somewhere in deep space where he'd conveniently not been around so Mark could get his bones shattered, and Mark's face is kind of a problem these days anyway. Fuck it, this is probably life and death where one of his best friends is concerned and everything sucks here right now anyway, so he can toss some clothes and toiletries in a backpack (learning from last time), don his suit, and just go.
So he appears, right there in Reiju's chamber, masked up and floating in the air with fists balled tight, looking around. ]
Sanji?! Sanji, what's wro—
[ Spots Reiju, who is probably appearing very non-threatening, and lowers his hands. Not his body, he's just going to keep floating there, but at least the rest of Mark's posture slackens, aggressive voice fading into confusion. ]
Um.
[ She looks vaguely familiar, but he can't place it. ]
... Where's Sanji?
no subject
There's a lot of flying these days. It's ironic, really.]
Sanji is somewhere else in the castle.
[Sulking, probably. All the fight left him the second their father pulled out his trump card, and now he must be wandering the halls for the lack of anything better to do. It's a wonder to Reiju why he's suddenly clammed up after spitting righteous vitriol at their blood with such bravado. He should've run the second he was summoned back to this place . . . yet he didn't.
She shifts on her chair to turn in the stranger's direction. Her personal chamber is quite large, albeit spacious in that there isn't much in the way of furnishing. What's there—the vanity, the bed, the circular chairs and table, and essentials of that nature—is undeniably expensive, but the walls are almost empty aside from the sconces mounted on them.]
Are you a friend of his?
no subject
He isn't so rude as to keep looking around when a person is talking to him, though. When Reiju shifts his gaze connects with hers, even if his own is hidden behind dark goggles. She looks familiar. It isn't just the eyebrow, she looks—
the castle.
Mark swallows. ]
Yeah. [ His voice is small, uncertain. Not in his answer, just in worry for what he thinks could be coming Sanji's away. ] Did you call me to help him? Because I'm ready to do that. Right now.
[ Let's go, his body may be saying as it tenses. He's ready. Why aren't they going right now? ]
no subject
Is this what did it? She didn't call anyone. He doesn't seem aware of what's going on, either. In that case, she can't have him wandering off, much less without a clue as to the circumstances.
Leaning back, she folds her arms in front of her.]
The two of you must be close if you've come this far. But I'm sorry to say that it wasn't my intention to call on you.
no subject
It wasn't her intention, and he huffs, agitated. ]
You buttdialed me, didn't you? [ Mark's voice is incredulous, but he shakes it off with a literal shake of his head. ] But you have his phone and he doesn't, so something must be wrong, right? He still needs help. Right?
[ Right? There's an edge creeping into his voice, like it'd be really nice if she told him exactly what he wants to hear right about now. ]
no subject
And the stranger is getting antsier by the second. If the two are really as close as this implies, it's no wonder.
He just happened to drop it. I've been meaning to return it, but there's no need to rush. After all, this is his home.
[Why should he need help in his home? . . . is what she implies without saying it aloud, because there's no truth in those words.]
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But she might be, if she keeps being calm and simultaneously cagey like this. But he's— He still has standards. Just because some people need to die doesn't mean he needs to make that judgment call immediately. So. Deep breath. Calm voice, but with that underlying tension. ]
Sanji wants to act like this place doesn't exist. So if he's here he needs help, because I don't think there's any situation in which he'd actually want to be here.
[ A beat. ]
Are you going to help me help him or not?
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Does this masked stranger understand? If what he says is true, her brother's silence is all the more concerning and perplexing.]
It was Sanji's choice to stay here. If you interfere, he won't be happy.
[She plants her heeled feet on the floor and stands, holding the phone up.]
If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself while I return this.
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But then she stands, and Mark perks up, not even noticing the way the tension bleeds from his body, curled fists loosening at his sides. He tilts his head, analyzing her and her words both, before drifting downwards to set feet back on the ground. ]
Sounds good to me. Lead the way.
[ He can relax for the moment now that he knows they're going to be doing something. ]
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[Their father won't take kindly to potential kinks in his plans. This is the concession she's chosen to make, considering how tightly wound this particular visitor appears to be. It's evident from his body language alone that he wears his heart on his sleeves, which rarely goes over well in these parts.
No sooner than she takes two steps out of her chamber and into the equally austere corridor does company visit in the form of three men. Reiju's hand stills on the door to her room, strategically paused to keep the stranger inside and out of her brothers' view at the present angle.
"Oh, Reiju," says a deep voice that borders on smug. As always, Niji flashes her a toothy grin that compensates for the lack of visible eyes behind his goggles. "So this is where you've been."]
Were you expecting otherwise?
[Reiju's tone is clipped in response. Niji may be her brother, but there's little love between them, simply because he isn't capable of such a thing while she navigates around that lack for her selfish sense of self-preservation.
"We missed you at the reunion," replies Niji, not sounding regretful in the slightest.
"You should've been there." Yonji sounds perkier, if throaty. It suits his larger frame, being the biggest of the Vinsmoke sons. "Then it would've been a proper reunion."
Perhaps visible from Mark's limited vantage point, Reiju's eyes narrow faintly as to be nigh imperceptible.]
Reunion?
["It's been 13 years since we last saw Sanji," answers Ichiji. He must be in a good mood, judging by the quirk in his usually tightly set lips. His voice is a touch higher than the rest, yet equally as more detached. "Naturally, we took the time to remind him of the order of things."
The suggestion isn't lost on Reiju, who remains the picture of apathy despite the tightness in her chest. As far as her brothers know, Sanji isn't even worth the dirt on her heels. Rather, what matters most is . . . ]
Father will be displeased if you've marred his face.
["He may be a pirate, but he's still the same failure from before. If that hasn't turned the bride's family away, a bruised face will change nothing," says Niji as three sets of footfalls sound. The brothers have tired of explaining themselves to their frigid sister, and they're no doubt off to celebrate among themselves in one of their rooms. "See you later."
Reiju waits until their collective presence has faded before lowering her hand from the door, where she'd been keeping it to discourage the masked visitor from exiting. What rotten luck.]
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Mark hesitates as things start to click together, just why this woman looks so familiar, and it isn't just that outright stated familial relationship to Sanji. He remembers a little girl telling a little boy to run, to never come back, and—
And before he can think further, move further, they're interrupted. It's a good thing Mark saw that memory after all, because knowing that despite her cold exterior she does care about Sanji — or at the very least, did — he's much more willing to not make a fuss. He stops where he is, not moving, hardly breathing as he listens in on everything.
There is a surge of anger leaping to the forefront, teeth bared, nostrils flaring as they talk about this reunion. So it's a good thing he's here after all, he decides, and he isn't going to let Sanji tell him otherwise. His fists clench again, shoulders tensing, but Sanji's sister was clearly not a part of this, and from his vantage point he can hazard a guess she doesn't approve. The others — brothers? — sound like they've had a good time compared to her dismissiveness, and Mark kind of wants to punch a hole in each of them.
Won't. (Yet?) The talk of a bride is another alarm bell on its own, because as far as he knows Sanji and Asa haven't broken up, and for as weird as Asa could be, he doubts she was a part of this. Something is very, very wrong here, and for as much as he'd like to burst his way through every part of this castle until he finds Sanji and removes him from the situation, he has enough sense to recognize that if the people here have some way of neutralizing him, then Sanji probably isn't getting any help whatsoever.
Which means he's going to have to play it smart.
... Which means Mark is going to have to listen to Sanji's sister. By the time she's lowered her hand from the door the open anger on his features has been sharpened into a cold determination. He brings his own hand up to push the door open a little further, allowing him to see more of the mostly-vacated hallway, and stares directly at her. ]
So we're getting him out of here, right? [ Judging by the tone of his voice, it's not a question — but after a beat he softens. ] I know you helped him escape once before. I just need to know if you're still that person.
[ As long as she is, he'll follow her lead. If she isn't... Well, maybe his own element of surprise will keep any consequences of his impulsiveness at bay. ]
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Nobody changes in Germa, much less for the better. That was why Sanji had to go. This friend of his is deeply sentimental if he's willing to trust her word at face value, but this could be a good thing. If he's still here, much as she would like him to, Sanji will not leave. While it doesn't matter what sort of person or thing she is now, if he were to meet with his friend, then perhaps . . .
Reiju turns her head away to begin striding down the medieval corridor in the direction from which her brothers came. A visit from them never ends without bloodshed and broken skin.]
First, let's find Sanji.
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Mark pauses for a second, processing that, before he starts following her. He's staying on the ground now, footsteps right behind her — at least until he uses his longer stride to catch up and walk alongside her.
Peers at her. Scrutinizes her from underneath his goggles. ]
You didn't really answer me.
[ But he's still walking beside her anyway, so evidently he has no problem with the let's find Sanji component. Gonna keep staring at her in the meantime, though, like that'll will out something he wants to hear. ]
🤡 last long tag?
It's been over a decade since Sanji left Germa. We're no longer children; just bear in mind that he chose to come back. [She finally looks over her shoulder at him.] And the contents of this room are to stay behind these doors.
[Even she and her brothers were barred from entering as children. This is a closely guarded secret of the kingdom that she's willing to expose as a byproduct of taking him to Sanji. With that perfunctory warning out of the way, she pushes a door wide open, revealing a modern laboratory.
Rows upon rows and even snaking up like pillars are large cylinders in a shape akin to a corked bottle. Each is numbered with a glass-like casing around the top half, filled with some sort of fluid and a slumbering body. If Mark cares to look long enough, he'll notice that all of these people—hundreds of them, mostly male—are identical to each other among a handful of variants, and they occupy most of the space in the laboratory.
None of this is exciting to Reiju, who steps forward—toward the medical team clamoring around a figure on the floor farther inside—with the decisive clack of her heel.]
Step back!
["Oh," says a fretful doctor, "Lady Reiju, we're about to treat his . . . "]
I said, get out of my way!
[The doctors pick up their bags and flee in a comedic panic at her outburst, hardly even noticing Mark in the vicinity. The laboratory falls quiet, filled by the background humming of machinery, as Reiju steps over to her fallen brother's side.
Swollen beyond recognition, Sanji's face is a mess of bloody bruises. His visible eye just barely manages to open at her approach that she wonders if he can even see in that sorry state. Cracks of various sizes in the bloodstained ground and the sizable cables running along it, some severe enough to expose the wires within, suggest that he must have been slammed against them more than once. All told, he's lucky that his body is still intact at a glance.
Reiju's shoulders sag in a silent sigh. They're no longer children, and their brothers are even stronger now. Judging by the state of them from before, Sanji hadn't fought back—hadn't even used haki to defend himself from their abuse.]
scoops up my jae longtags
But he doesn't believe for a second that Sanji actually chose to come back.
He follows her into the lab, and immediately feels a chill up his spine, thinking about the white room at the GDA. Instinctively Mark brings a hand up to his ear, like it's just occurred to him that he might be walking into a trap and might be writhing on the ground at any second. The threat of his own personal horror mutes what he should be feeling at seeing a bunch of bodies in test tubes, and his body goes rigid again, on guard.
So he misses Sanji entirely — at least until Reiju starts making demands, and the doctors all flee, and he's just standing there until he sees him.
Within a fraction of a second Mark is at Sanji's side opposite from Reiju, creating a gust of wind with the speed at which he moves. This isn't something he's used to seeing; usually, it's Mark who's the one lying amid the wreckage, barely conscious and beaten to all hell, not someone he cares about. He pulls his mask off, hovering over Sanji worriedly, Reiju all but forgotten. (Sorry sweet Reiju.) ]
Sanji? Oh, god... [ Any commanding presence he's tried to maintain is gone, Mark worrying at his lower lip, brows knit together as he reaches to try to take Sanji's hands in his own. ] I'm going to get you out of here, okay?
[ Where to, he doesn't know. The Baratie? Somehow? He isn't thinking much further ahead than scoop up Sanji, fly through the roof, leave. What to do after that is a problem for future Mark. ]
/greedily slurps my ari tags
Meanwhile, Sanji's heart stops at the sound of a familiar voice that doesn't belong within these walls.]
Mark . . . ?!
[Eyes widening to half their usual size, Sanji snaps upright. He grits his teeth through the shooting pain in his lower back, and bites out a strangled protest as resignation churns into panic at the idea of fleeing this hell he once called home—of the consequences that would bring down on the eastern sea.]
No!
[The golden bracelets fitted around his wrists bump against his pisiforms when he brings his hands up and out of Mark's grasp, all but ripping himself away from a friend who only means well. Everything aches, but he tamps down on the pain and the fear with a deep furrow of his brow. Sanji draws a knee up and rests an arm against it, his face turned away from Mark. Like this, he glimpses Reiju's leg in his periphery.]
I can get up on my own.
not my sweet reiju being forgotten... cruel
Only to recoil when Sanji rips himself away from him. Mark unceremoniously falls back on his ass, staring at him, confused and deeply, deeply concerned. There's a lot wrong here; that Sanji is so injured should be at the top of the list, but his rejection feels worse. Is worse. ]
... Okay. [ Mark hesitates for a moment before shifting into a squat, staying down on Sanji's level, but ready to get up at any time. He doesn't reach out to him, though, and his voice is small before taking on a pleading tone. ] Okay, but let's get you out of here, alright? I know you don't want to be here. I've got you.
she'd like to peace out but alas
Sanji's hands clench into fists as he sucks in a deep breath. He angles his head down and halfway toward Mark, eyeing the floor between them.]
How did you get here?
["I brought him," says Reiju, to which Sanji whips around and calls her name in disbelief. "We can talk about it in your room. This place isn't secure, and you need treatment."]
. . . Fine.
[He climbs onto his feet, swaying exactly once before righting himself and looking over his shoulder at Mark. At this angle, his hair obscures most of his profile to keep the worst of his visible injuries from the latter's line of sight.]
Let's go. [His swollen eye sweeps over the test tubes all around them. He hunches in on himself, dropping his voice to a murmur:] This place is making me sick.
[And he needed Mark out of here yesterday, far away from his family troubles.]
:(
His throat bobs either way, trepidation churning in his gut. In search of something to do he chooses to follow what's visible of Sanji's gaze, looking over at the test tubes, the bodies in them. Now he can see that they're almost identical, which is unnerving for a whole other set of multiverse reasons, but that's his own shit. He doesn't need to drag that up here.
Focus on Sanji instead. He likes that Sanji listening to reason, and he probably should thank Reiju for saying something, for bringing him here, for... a lot of things? But like she said, this place isn't secure (this was not something he thought to be concerned about), so it'll have to wait.
He also liked that Sanji was talking, but casual conversation is a little impossible at the moment, so Mark has to go with the next best (shitty) option. He has enough sense to pull his mask back on at least, but his demeanour is much more uncertain now, to the point that it might even be somewhat familiar to Reiju too. ]
Yeah, me too. [ This place is making him feel sick, too. He shouldn't ask, he shouldn't ask, he shouldn't ask but he wants to keep the conversation going, he's going to ask. ] What is this place, anyway?
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In the end, he mutters:] Nowhere important.
[Mercifully, Reiju doesn't interject as she leads the march back to the residential wing. Rather than his usual two-piece suit, Sanji's in a white ruffled shirt with a pair of dark pants, both cut from the highest quality of fabric only the elite can afford. The raiment feels wrong on him, but he shoves both hands in the trouser pockets, his shoulders hiked up into a hunch, and follows after his sister to get things moving so that Mark can leave.
Damn. He needs a smoke.]
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At the very least he knows enough to keep his voice quiet, but there's more of an edge to it when he speaks. ]
You know I didn't believe you the first time you tried to tell me that, right.
[ Not even the pretense of a question this time. Just scrutiny — come on, man. Even if he recognizes they should only be really having this conversation in his room, he's not going to let Sanji think he can get away with just sweeping everything under the rug. ]
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One of his hands twitches in a pocket. This is the thing about Mark. No guy on the crew is so willing to explore feelings and personal details with one another while the girls are content to let sleeping dogs lie in peace. Mark isn't built like that: He sees a vulnerability, and he has to treat it like something precious, because it's the good, fair thing to do—except this isn't fair. Sanji has no intention of sharing in that.
He keeps his limited vision on Reiju's back. Knowing her, she's listening in on every whispered word between them. Mark's getup is a little different from what he remembers, but that just reinforces the thought that the guy doesn't belong here.]
It has nothing to do with me.
[Nor does he want to have anything to do with it. It's sickening, and his stomach roils at the mere thought of that place they've just left behind. He wants to put it out of his mind altogether.]
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Mark's too focused on watching Sanji watch Reiju to notice that twitch, or the quality of his clothes, or much of anything beyond what's directly in front of him. All of his brainpower is going into trying to discern his expression, but that's pretty difficult on its own considering the state he's in. His eyes narrow, not that anyone can see that, and he's silent for a little too long, like he knows trying to get something out of Sanji is going to be a losing battle but he wants to fight it anyway.
After a moment, ] Okay.
[ He'll drop it. Just like that.
Except no he won't. ]
But once you're safe, I can come back and handle it.
[ Handle what, he doesn't know, but when he's basically a walking nuke Mark's pretty sure he can take care of anything in this castle one way or another. ]
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Sanji chews discreetly on his swollen lower lip.
Despite that, he can't shake off the dread swirling in his gut at the thought of Mark's handling anything. They've left that disgusting laboratory, yet he feels even sicker the closer they get to his assigned chamber. It's not the room he had as a kid with a bookshelf full of books he'd read to enrich his developing mind, but a standard bedroom with expensive furnishing and a tacky portrait of Judge, looming over the decapitated heads of four kings, that takes up almost the entire length of a wall. It's an eyesore; however, it's a step up from the real thing, so he drags his feet inside once they make it to the doors.
Reiju passes the forgotten phone to him on his way inside. She lingers in the doorway, and then turns away once Mark passes her. "I'm going to fetch some supplies. Make yourselves comfortable in the meantime." With that, she takes her leave while Sanji stands in the middle of the spacious room in silence, his back to her departing figure with the phone clutched tightly in one hand at his side.
Just what is she up to? He takes in a shallow, quiet breath and holds it before exhaling silently. He's already lost it once the other night, clawing at his scalp and bellowing at the top of his lungs, and he's not about to do that in front of Mark. It's his fault the guy is here.]
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/slides back in
sweet reiju
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this canon point was a mistake for brevity aaAAH
huSH you're great with it
😭 merci beaucoup
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