silver that lines the soul- part 1

This sucks… He told himself. The last thing he wanted to do now was fight off a few weaklings who didn't know their place. Zoro could feel that his body was literally about to collapse from exhaustion; he was literally drained, of probably, what was all of his blood. However, despite all of this he couldn't allow his first impression with these guys to be that of a loser. So he mustered what strength he had and stood up from his small crater in the ground.

The minute he did so his body went numb and he couldn't tell if Kitetsu was still clasped in his hand, but he want by assumption. In the darkness of the night the marauders could not see that he was armed and they continued their jeers.

This sucks… He told himself. Zoro closed his eyes, yet still sensed the presence of the five gangsters. This sucks… By now the other men were beginning to get annoyed by Zoro's quiet attitude so they decided to charge.

"You think you can just show up in our territory like that, huh?" One man who seemed to e their leader screamed. He held a broken glass bottle, and like all of the others his clothes were trash. "You think you can just do whatever you want?"

Zoro mentally sighed and gripped what he assumed to be Kitetsu even tighter. They should know their place... Zoro looked up from the ground for the first time and his gaze met his attackers.

"You guys suck." He said nonchalantly. This made the men flinch and hesitate for just a split moment, but during that fraction of a second Zoro ducked underneath the broken, glass bottle and horizontally swung Kitetsu through the air.

Despite the swordsman's lack in energy a blue wave shot out like a "—Pound Cannon" attack. This blue wave of energy lashed out like a living thing and refused to stay in a straight line. It swerved around and made sure to cut every thief in the gut, spilling out their organs and blood onto the ground; eventually like lashed out of the alley and into the streets where it quickly dispersed.

As his attack did its job Zoro slowly moved out of his 'attack' position and slid Kitetsu into its scabbard. The screams of his defeated opponents had no affect on the green-haired man as he stood in the shadows, still in the center of his little crater. All five men quickly died after getting hit by his attack and they remained motionless on the ground. Where they should be. Zoro thought with an evil glare.

Rapidly the swordsman's mind was beginning to grow blank and hazy. He could feel his legs starting to buckle underneath, and even though he defeated his attackers with ease, he felt as if he just fought a war—which he kind of did. He glanced down at the dead bodies and decided that he should be satisfied. I guess I could allow myself to slip—just this once…If I hang on any longer…I might… Zoro gave into his body's request of wanted to 'sleep'. In an alley like this, I should be fine if I— As Zoro's body started to fall to the ground he caught a glimpse of another man in the entrance of the alley way. His vision was too blurry to get any details of the man, but he could tell that this stranger was starting to run towards him like a manic, but by now it was too late and Zoro blacked out. However, before he completely went unconscious he screamed at himself for giving in. Ahhh—This sucks!

the next day

A teenage girl turned on her NULTpad. She pushed a few buttons on the holographic screen which appeared over the physical machine (which was only about the size of her palm). The holographic screen changed to a different web page and a loading bar came up. However, in two seconds it was done loading and the screen changed to the words: "NULTchat". After pushing another button four faces of four other girls, all her age, appeared. All of a sudden the one teenager became all ecstatic.

-Oi, Oi, did you hear about what happen?

-What?

-Are you talking about the slashing that happened last night?

-Oh yeah I heard about that...

-What, what slashing?

-Yeah, the slashing, so you guys heard.

-I didn't! I didn't!

-Jeez, calm down okay...

-On the news this morning they talked about this slashing that occurred in Area 0-0.

-They found five dead bodies of these delinquents-they were 'slashed'.

-They also didn't find the person responsible.

-Ehhh! That's so scary...I shouldn't have asked; now I won't be able to sleep.

-That's you own fault...

-I saw a picture of the guy; an old security camera took a picture of someone who they suspect to be the culprit. I hacked into my daddy's computer to see it.

-He's a law-enforcer, right?

-What did he look like?

-Was he cute?

-You're such a slut.

-...He was a hottie!

-NO WAY!

-Here, I'll send you guys a picture, but you have to promise not to send it to anyone else...If this gets on the web my daddy will find out it was me and he'll be furious!

-We gotcha. We gotcha.

-Just send it already.

-...Slut...

-Here.

-Aiya! He's so cute~!-

Silver, everything's so silver here, and clean. I can see my reflection if I look in a window...I feel so out of place. Here I am, sitting on the top of these...What did he call them..."Skyscrapers"-I'm sitting on the top of one of them yet people are flying by me in..."HoverCars?" Jeez, this place, along with being silver, is so confusing...

Zoro ruffled his fingers through his hair in annoyance. He was sitting on the top of a skyscraper; legs dangling over the side despite the stomach churning height of 600 ft. He sighed deeply and looked down the side of the building, the sheer height not bothering him. The day was sunny, yet not warm. At the height he was (most of the skyscrapers around him were either the same height which was average or even higher) there was a lot of icy wind that made your skin numb.

Zoro enjoyed the wind, however, it made the slight pain that jabbed at his nerves subside and it reminded him of the breeze he would feel in the ocean on Sunny Go; the height reminded him of the crow's nest. So, even though he felt out of place in this silver, clean city, here, in this spot, he felt at home-somewhat at least. Behind him were a small patio and then a few more floors of the skyscraper before it ended at a point.

The swordsman looked over his shoulder at the few floors behind him. The glass windows which covered the side of the skyscraper (glass windows that acted like mirrors covered the sides of most of the skyscrapers in this city) reflected his image. He stared at himself and the frown which seemed to be etched on his face. His three katanas were perched on the patio next to him; he still didn't trust the people who took him in.

"Zoro-kun," A British voice called. Speak of the devil... Zoro sighed. A door opened up and a man walked out onto the patio. "Ah—there you are Zoro-kun." He said relieved. The man looked to be the same age as Zoro and he had messy, raven-black hair. This man wore glasses and a white lab coat that covered his whole body, underneath the lab coat (which wasn't buttoned up) was a plain black t-shirt and jeans with normal shoes.

"Eh—what was your names again?" Zoro rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed by his horrible memory.

"I-I'm Edward." The man said sheepishly.

"Yeah, Edward, right..." Both grew quiet and it turned awkward. Edward rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Uh, Zoro-kun I was just wondering if you were feeling alright. When I found you last night I thought you were going to die..."

"I'm fine now...Whatever machine you used to heal me worked." Zoro replied bluntly. He had turned around so his feet were no touching the patio, his hands were close by to his katanas and Edward noticed this.

"So, Mia wanted to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to her."

"Then, perhaps me; would you like to explain how you got here; it's pretty obvious that you're not from this time period."

"Is it common for you to get time travelers?"

"Not really,"

"I'm not going to tell you anything."

"Oh, okay..." Zoro paused to make sure that this man was done before turning back to face the rest of the city. Edward sighed. He knew Mia would be angry with him for not getting any information out of this man, but he was just so terrifying. It wasn't his fault that he was scared by every little thing, and when you find a guy with ancient swords covered in blood, when you find a guy covered in his own blood to begin with it gives off a bad first impression. Edward, after pondering for a moment, he puffed up his chest and clenched his fists. No, I'll stand up for myself. The British man thought.

"Zoro-kun," He said deeply.

"Yes?" Just Zoro's voice alone, he didn't even have to turn and face him, his voice alone was enough to steal the courage right out of Edward.

"N-Nothing..." Feeling defeated, Edward walked back into the building, leaving Zoro to his thoughts.

Shuffling through the spotless corridor, Edward entered a very spacious, large room filled with wires and huge lab equipment. Lights were flashing everywhere and noises were beeping. Standing in the middle of the room was an 18 year old woman with long, black hair that went down to her shoulder blades. She wore a purple skirt that shown under her white lab coat. The women also had a black sweeter on and a clipboard in her hands. She turned around once hearing Edward sulk into the room; her heels clicking on the marble floor.

"You didn't get anything out of him, did you?" She sighed after reading his expression.

"I'm sorry Mia-chan; he's just so scary."

"You should be more of a man." Mia snapped, turning back to her machines were she picked up writing things down on her clipboard.

"It's not every day you find a samurai from the Great Age of the Pirates, who has three swords, and can kill five people when he's practically dying himself." Edward argued. Mia ignored him. She swished her hair with attitude.

"Did you know how surprised I was; I ask you to simply go out and stroll Area 0-0 for an energy source, and who come home with a time traveler from 1,000 years ago."

"Mmmm, but I did find you your energy source." Edward grinned.

"Yeah, and it happens to be a stubborn mummy."

"He'll open up eventually."

"That'll be the day NULT falls to the ground." Mia said, scribbling something else down.

Edward was no sitting in his room. He and Mia both owned the top half of this skyscraper. Edward was a historian while Mia was a physicist. They were both childhood friends but never lovers; Edward wished they were, however.

Sprawled out on his bed, sheets messy and half-falling off the bed, Edward allowed the sun from outside to flood into his windows and shine down upon him. (Edward's room was 20 X 14 feet and in the shape of a circle. His walls were made up of entirely windows. He had a desk by his door which was muddled with papers. Edward's bed was in the center of the room, looking out at the city. Clothes were scattered across the floor, which was white marble, just like the door was a bright white. When Mia and Edward say that they own the top half of this building, it really summarizes to the top three floors. Edward's room was on the bottom of these three floors, along with the kitchen and his bathroom. The second floor was the one with the patio were Zoro was sitting, currently. Inside there was a large living room with a couch, TV and table in the second floor. Lastly, on the third floor, which was the space above the patio, was Mia floor. There was her room, and her lab room where she ran her experiments. So basically, they only had these three floors, everything below them belong to others.) Edward, in this moment where the sun bathed him like a heater blanket, he thought back to the night before.

"Did you say you needed something, Mia-chan?" Edward poked his head into Mia's lab room.

"Yes, actually I do need you." She turned to face him. "Here," Mia tossed him what looked like a small metal box.

"What's this?" Edward looked at it confused.

"I want you to do down to Area 0-0 and just walk around."

"Uh—walk around Area 0-0; unarmed…You know it's dangerous there! Besides, why do I need this thing?"

"It's to locate energy sources, or at least energy that stronger than your average sources." She explained.

"Is this with your machine again?" Edward moaned.

"Yes, I'll need to get a powerful energy source to run it…" Edward opened his mouth to protest when one of Mia's robots suddenly grabbed him by the scruff of his lab coat and shoved him into the elevator, bushing the down button before he even knew what was going on.

When Edward finally realized what was going on, the elevator door had opened and he found himself in Area 0-0, the bottom of the city. He cautiously stepped out and turned on the small, box like machine in his hand. The screen lit up and radar appeared. He started to walk around randomly, hoping to find something before he got killed.

Area 0-0 was the ground level in the city. Hardly anyone went down here because there were constant gang fights and thieves running down here. Everyone who couldn't keep up with the growing technology got stuck on the ground, while everyone moved upwards and started to live in the skyscrapers, getting around by HoverCars.

Edward started to hear strange voices in an alley up ahead, and fear swept over him as the voices turned to screams of terror and pain. He would've sprinted away if it wasn't for the radar which started to go crazy. Edward looked up and saw a blue wave of energy shoot out of the alley and disperses into the air. At the sight of the blue energy, the radar beeped even louder and, not knowing what he was thinking, Edward ran over to the front of the alley and gasped at the sight.

He was frozen in fear. Before him were five gangsters, all dead, blood and guts pouring out of their stomachs. Edward could feel his stomach flip and twist into knots at the sight; the smell lingering up into his nose—the smell of rancid blood. He cringed away and held his nose, but the sound of something hitting the ground made him look up again. There he saw another man who was still alive, but barely.

If Edward's mind was any less bewildered than it already was, he would've had enough common sense to run away and tell the law-enforcers. However, something about the man who just collapsed made him come closer. Even in the dark light of the night Edward could see that the man's clothes were strange and that he had three, ancient katanas on his hip.

The strange man was lying in a small crater, which was filled like a pool with his own blood. Edward watched in horror as the man's shoulders painfully heaved with every breath, he watched the blood still coming out of fresh wounds. Normally, Edward wouldn't have done what he done, but for some reason he felt bad from the man. The idea that he was a time traveler popped into the historians head and he knew that time travelers always had trouble dealing with the new time.

He glanced down at his radar and saw that it was pointing to this man as the source of that blue energy before. So, with a sigh he slid the radar into his pocket and knelt down to the man. He tried to pick him up and somehow managed to hoist him over his shoulder. Edward struggled to keep himself from vomiting, the man's warm, moist blood ran down onto his white lab coat and the smell of the blood made him cringe. Dragging the time travelers feet on the ground, Edward slowly made his way back to their building.

Mia walked down from her floor to the second floor and into their huge living room. She was expecting to find Edward waiting for her there, but he wasn't. A small feeling of guilt and fear came over her for sending her friend down to Area 0-0, but she tried to hide it by crossing her arms with attitude.

"Oi, Mia!" She heard the historian call from inside the elevator. Mia looked up surprised and saw the elevator coming up and the door opened to the living room. It took her a moment to process what she saw but when she did she lashed out.

"Edward, what the hell? I told you to go find an energy source, not some junky that got into a gang fight!"

"H-He's not a junky…" Edward heaved under the weight of the man; he was starting to drag him over to the small couch in the center of the living room. "I think he's a time traveler."

"So, we can't take him in." She ran up to Edward, but didn't help. The couch in the living room was lowered slightly—just a foot, however. Edward stepped down the small step, dragging the man with him, and with one last burst of energy he hoisted the man ont the couch. Gasping, Edward collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"L-Look at all of this blood?" Mia gasped at the pool of blood that was still in the open elevator and the small trail that lead to the man on the couch; also the considerable amount that was staining Edward's clothes. Still gasping, Edward looked up at his friend.

"He's…also…your 'energy source' by the way."

"What?" Mia gasped. "I-I never thought that it could be a human…"

"So, are you going to help me now?" Edward asked with a slight stern tone; he was beginning to get annoyed by her selfish personality.

"O-Of course!" She said as if it were obvious. She looked down at the green-haired man, his katanas and arms were sprawled out on the small couch. "I wonder what happened to him…"

"We can ask him that after we save him."

"Fine, fine…just…fine…" Mia scowled.

Edward, after replaying that night through his head decided to get out of bed. He walked over to his door and opened it. In front of him were now a kitchen, bathroom, stairs, and elevator. He heard laughing upstairs and became curious—Mia never laughed. He quickly ran over to the stairs and up them. The stairs were spiral and he almost tripped going up.

He came up to the top and was now on the second floor. His eyes unconsciously darted to the white floor where some of the blood stains were still visible. Then he heard the laughing again and looked towards the couch. There he saw Zoro and Mia sitting on the couch together, laughing their heads off. The first thought he had was not a good one and he could feel his face blush.

"W-What are you guys doing?" He raised his voice, making them aware of his presence.

"Oh, Edward, hurry, come here." Mia patted the empty spot next to her. Feeling himself blush again Edward obeyed.

"Oi, Willy, this VT thing is great!" Zoro laughed.

"My name's Edward and it's called a TV." The historian moaned sitting down next to Mia; Zoro was on the other side of her. The three looked up at the wide screen TV which was hovered near the ceiling.

"Look, look!" Zoro pointed excitingly at the screen like a child. Edward followed his finger and saw that the news was on; a female, news reported was talking with a microphone; she was at Area 0-0. In the background there were tons of people trying to peak around her, obviously they were interested in what was behind her.

Area 0-0 must've never had this much people in one spot before… Edward thought.

"Here I am, Susan Briggs in Area 0-0," As the camera zoomed in on her Zoro froze for a moment. The reporter had a close resemblance to Nami from his time. The reporter had her same, short orange hair and brown eyes. She wore a lavender button-down shirt and a lavender skirt and high heels. Zoro tried to ignore the resemblance and just watch the screen.

"Behind me in a common alley, law-enforcers have found, this morning, five dead bodies. The people who died are believed to have been a part of the Red Snake gang. They have been 'slashed' by what looks like a medieval katana."

""Medieval?" That women, she never changes…" Zoro grumbled, thinking about Nami's normal behavior. I guess they have more in common than just looks. He thought. Mia and Edward glanced at him, curious for a moment before looking back at the screen.

"The man who did this is still unknown; law-enforcers believe that they may have an idea about who it is, however, this suspect is not in any of the city's databases." That's when Mia and Zoro broke out into laughter again.

"They're completely clueless!" The two laughed.

"A funeral will be held in Area 0-0 at 2 o'clock today for anyone who may have known the people." Susan Briggs said.

"They don't deserve one; those assholes." Zoro moaned.

"What, you don't want to go?" Mia said sarcastically.

"Um—Zoro-kun," Edward broke their laughter. They two looked at him. "Why did you kill those people?"

"Because, they were in my way—they also attacked me first." He answered defensively.

"How did you get here in the first place?" Mia asked next.

"I'm not telling you." He looked away.

"All of those wounds that you got, those weren't from the Red Snakes, right? Something must've happened before you got sent here."

"I said I'm not telling you."

"Could you at least tell me about your time period?" Edward pleaded. "No one knows much about the Great Age of the Pirates…If I could find out it would be an amazing discovery."

"I'll think about it."Zoro grumbled. "If, you guys find a way for me to get back home."

"That's an easy one, but you'll have to meet both our terms." Mia said with a smirk.

"What are your terms?" Zoro asked Mia with narrow eyes. She grinned.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I can't wait long; I have to get back to my nakama." Zoro said.

""Nakama" is that some kind of code word for your time period?" Edward asked, randomly getting a notepad and pen in his hand.

"Uh—I guess, it kinda means 'friends'." Zoro said half-heartedly. Edward wrote that down vigorously. "Baka…" He mumbled afterwards.

"Oh—what does that mean?" Edward practically jumped over Mia to get closer to the swordsman.

"You nerd." Mia stood up and brushed herself off.

"Baka…" Zoro said again.

"What's it mean?"

"Tch—idiot…"

"Zoro-kun…what does it mean?" Edward moaned like a child.

a few hours later

Mia was up in her lab, again she was writing things down on her clipboard. She walked over to a screen that was flashing on a large machine and copied down the data.

"What're you doing?" Zoro asked curiously. The swordsman was perched up on one of her machines; he was lying on his back with his head hanging upside-down over the edge.

"Would you get down from there?" She ordered.

"I'm bored; I have nothing to do." Zoro said. She ignored him like a fly on a wall. "Mmmm…" Zoro sighed. "Oi, can you really get me back to my nakama?"

"Your friends," She sighed and paused for a moment. Mia turned and looked up at him for the machine was 10 feet tall. "Sure, making a time machine isn't too hard…I made one once during my years in college."

""College"?"

"It's a place where you learn things." She explained. Zoro nodded—upside-down. "Anyway, I made one and it got first place, but I never ran it…It shouldn't be too hard though." She paused again. "Remember, though, you have to complete our terms before you can return."

"Sure," Zoro said. "Ben wants me to teach him about my 'time period' and you…you haven't told me your terms yet." Zoro rolled over so he was on his stomach. He rested his head on his elbows.

"It's Edward," She giggled. "And I said you'd find out."

"I'd like to find out sooner than later." Zoro said coolly. She stared at him when Edward interrupted them.

"Oi, Mia, I'm going to go out and buy groceries." He announced.

"Good, take Zoro with you." She ordered.

"What?" Both guys gasped in unison. "I don't want to go! /why should I take him?"

"Because I told you to, also, Edward, show him my 'terms'."

"You want me to…"

"I want you to show him NULT." Mia said sternly. Zoro sighed deeply and gathered up his katana from the top of the machine. He slid them onto his waist and gracefully jumped off. The swordsman then sluggishly followed Edward out of the lab.

"You did say you were bored." Mia called after them with a smirk. Once they were gone from her lab she paused and went into thought, biting her lip in the process. "Tch—" She threw down her clipboard onto a small desk and sprinted out of the room. "Oi, wait; Edward." Eventually, after leaping down the spiral stairs she met up with them in the living room.

"What's up?" Edward tilted his head in question. She bent down on her knees, gasping to catch her breath. "Mia…" The physicist suddenly jumped up and pulled Edward in by the scruff of his lab coat.

"Y-You said that he was my energy source, right?" She whispered. Zoro turned his head slightly so he could hear.

"Yeah…the machine you gave me led me right to him." Edward whispered back. Mia, without letting go of Edward, looked at the ground and pondered. "D-Do you still want me to get the groceries…Mia?" She was silent.

"Okay, I've decided." She straightened up and released Edward from her grip. "You two, before you go I have an experiment I want to run." She announced.

"Mmmm…If it doesn't have anything to do with you 'terms', or me getting back to my nakama, then I don't want to hear it." Zoro crossed his arms stubbornly. "Unless, you explain to me why I'm your 'energy source'?" He looked at her suspiciously.

"Don't worry," She grinned. "It deals with both." She noticed Zoro's expression lightened slight—possibly through the hope of getting closer to home.

"Both…" He wanted to make sure.

"If you follow me back to the lab then you find out…about both." She spun around on her heels and started back up the stairs to her lab. The two guys glanced at each other before following.

Now in her lab they looked around curiously, hoping to find the reason behind all of this. The two saw how egger Mia looked to get on with her 'experiment'. "Uh—Mia-chan….Will I be taking part in this experiment?" Edward asked nervously. Obviously he has some idea about what Mia does in her experiments. Without looking at them she replied, "No, Just Zoro." This brought Edward to sigh and Zoro gasp.

"Why am I the only one?"

"Because, you're the only one who plans on going through the time machine."

"Oh, this is about the time machine."

"No,"

"Then what is it?" He snapped. Mia glared at him over her shoulder.

"Step up on this platform and you'll find out." She hissed, motioning to the small, round dais next to her. Grumbling, Zoro reluctantly stormed up and stepped onto the elevated circle. He waited as Mia seemed to be doing some last minute checks. He sighed. Still waiting he found his eyes scanning the lab room.

It was mostly just a large, auditorium-like room filled with lab equipment, machines, a few robots, and over next to the wall Zoro gazed at what looked like a glass tube lying horizontally on the ground. He started to remember, from the night before, Edward and Mia putting him in said machine. It was all very vague; however, Edward filled him in after he regained consciousness.

Edward said in this time period machines would always heal people; so doctors became obsolete. They put him in that tube-like machine and gasses quickly knocked the swordsman unconscious, the gas filled air also kept Mia and Edward from seeing what was happening—but they assumed that it was doing its job because just after a few seconds it was done and the air inside cleared, revealing a completely wound-free Zoro.

"Zoro," Mia snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?" He croaked, crossing his arms.

"Are you ready?" She asked with attitude.

"For what; I don't even know what you're doing." The physicist seemed annoyed with the man when she really should've been annoyed with herself. Cradling her clipboard she explained,

"Okay," With a deep sigh. "Let me explain. My terms…I'm not going to explain those; Edward will—when you two go out for food."

Eh—so I still have to do that... Zoro thought spiritlessly.

"However, you asked before about an energy source." She started to pace back and forth like a commander lecturing his troops.

"Actually, I asked why I was an energy source…" Zoro mumbled.

"Now, I'll tell you." She spun on her heels and jammed a finger in her face. "Listen up Zoro, I'm about to tell you that you are that so called energy source."

"I knew that already…" He sighed, feeling tired by Mia's suddenly ecstatic attitude. "I wanted to know why…It's not every day you find out you're some sort of power source for a machine…" He said, but Mia talked over him obliviously.

"Yes, you're an energy source. Last night I sent Edward out to find a power energy that could aid me, and he found you." She started to pace again like a soldier. Zoro moaned. "Of course I was surprised. That it was a human, but like a great scientist I will make due."

"Uh—Mia-chan, I hate to interrupt, but wouldn't you agree that you're straying away from your point?" Edward asked timidly. She paused and thought for a moment.

"Fine," She eventually snapped. "I'll just get right to the point then." She flicked her hair around like a whip. Meanwhile, Edward absconded behind a large machine where he thought he was safe from Mai's flaring annoyance—which was directed towards him.

"Oi, hurry up already…" Zoro moaned and for the first time Mia herd him. The physicist glared at him as she pressed a button on the machine next to her. Without taking her eyes off the swordsman to look at the flashing screen, machines all around the room started to hum. Zoro looked around curiously at the blinking screens which the physicist only seemed to condone.

"It better be over soon." He grumbled, as most of his time already been wasted. Mia grinned.

"Literally, it will only take a second." She assured with a sneer. Zoro looked up overhead as the humming and ringing filled his ears. Lights above started to glow like a pure, white radiance which filled his vision until there was nothing left.