A/N: Hello, again everyone! First of all, I know this chapter is a bit short! I'm working on the consistency of chapter length and I can never seem to find the balance between too long and too short. Oh well. Also, I must confess that I normally write several chapters in advanced before posting, but this week I seem to have fallen behind a bit. While this is the ever short chapter six, I am currently still writing chapter seven. So much has been going on that I've been very distracted from ANY type of writing at all. But fret not, precious readers and reviewers! Nothing will(currently) stop me from doing my weekly Monday update!

Next on the list of things to speak about: The annotation in the last chapter(not sure if anybody caught it), I completely 100 percent forgot about it! Sorry! It was for Slash's tantou. For those of you who don't know, a 'tantou' is a very long japanese daggar or a very short katana. Even if you did know this already, I wanted to make a small side note that Slash's tantou was a bit longer than an average sized one. Most tantou are about 6-12inches(blade only), or 15-30cm for all my metric users. But Slash's tantou is a little over 14 inches(35.36cm). So yeah, I apologize for the lack of commentary in the last chapter.

The lullaby first mentioned in this chapter was inspired by the lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth! Fun fact! So you can go look that up if you'd like, but it's not the theme for this chapter. And the theme for this chapter iiiiiiisss *drumroll*: Nothing Can be explained(Volcal Version) from the anime Bleach! Lol A little ironic crossing anime theme's I know!

Enjoy!

A gentle lullaby graced Umi's ears. It sounded sad, as if the person singing to her knew they were going to leave their three year old little girl to fend for herself for the rest of her life. But underneath the sadness was still a hint of love, as if telling her that this wasn't her fault and begging for forgiveness.

"Umi!" The gentle embrace around her tiny form seemed to slip out slowly, so as not to wake her, but she knew the person was leaving her. So why hadn't she cried out? Maybe if she did, the person would regret their decision and come back to pick her up from the cold ground.

"Hey! Wake up!" Several different voices shouted out to her, breaking the illusion of her dreams. Her eyes parted slowly, blinking several times to adjust to the room's lighting. In both her hands were the Chakrams, glowing a soft blue(not bright enough for anyone but Umi to notice), but dulled to their usual metallic sheen as soon as she was fully aware of her surroundings.

"Mah~ So you're finally awake," A beautiful woman stepped into her view as she sat up from the floor. She was tall; Taller than Umi, who stood at five feet, eight inches with nothing on her bare feet. Her black boots stopped all the way at her thigh and let her stand just three inches taller than Umi. She wore a dark lacy corset that showed off her curvy figure and large busty boobs. She completed her outfit with a short maroon skirt that stopped just before it touched the top of the boots, showing a sliver of her pale skin. She placed her manicured nails under Umi's chin, giving her a glimpse of the maroon colored nails and noticing that both index fingers had diagonal stripes of maroon and black. Her scarlet eyes studied her hesitant blue ones. After a moment she smirked maliciously, "I think I'm going to like you a lot! You're not a barbaric sadist like the rest of your friends over there," Her eyes darted to the men standing imprisoned behind Umi.

Umi took that as her cue to take a look at her crew mates. Her eyes widened slightly, seeing them behind a green barrier the same color as the sky outside. She was about to call out to them, about to accuse them if they even really tried to get out at all. But her host interrupted, "It's useless. That barrier can hold anything and unless I let them out or die, it'll never break; inside or out."

"Umi," Boom called out, "It's true. We've already tried all we could. Captain can't summon any metal from outside the barrier either..." He trailed off, hinting to her. Silently Umi understood that she'd have to be the one to get them out somehow.

"But," She turned back to the woman in front of her, "Why am I not in there with them? What do you want from me?"

"Oh?" Her eyes lit up with interest, "Believe me, dear, you're nothing special! If I had things my way, you'd definitely be in there with them awaiting you imminent doom~," She smiled sweetly, "But it would seem, you accepted little Romi's help just in time. Perhaps he can explain to you the reason you're out here and not in there?" She gestured for the Chakrams to speak up, but he remained silent, not even the glowing outline of his form appeared from within. "Hmm...Not speaking to us now, Romi? Have your manners and social abilities rotted away down in that cellar all these years?" She shrugged undeterred, "Well no matter. But it would seem that his family's blood line has always had a natural resistance to magical abilities. Quite annoying really, but he can't do much in that state anyway, being sealed away and all. To put it simply, you got lucky." The woman stood from her squatting position in front of Umi, "Now stand. I trust you'll be civil enough to share a cup of tea with me while my master decides your fate."

Umi stood and thought heavily on her words. The old her began to surface, rolling over and accepting her own fate. The Chakrams in her hands hung limply, no Romi to be found. What was the point? She was no powerful warrior like the rest of the Kidd Pirates, she couldn't defeat this woman with her own strength and get them out of there. She felt a sudden shock run through her veins, causing her eyes to dilate and her body to shiver. She raised her head and glanced over to the green prison. Kidd stood confidently, arms crossed, and giving her a stern look. She almost mistook it as another one of his deadly glares, but the smirk on his face wiped away her suspicions. He seemed so confident and sure...in her? She blinked, not believing for a second he actually trusted her to get them out. But his unwavering expression sent a spark off in her body. Her eyes changed with renewed strength and her hands gripped the hilt of her blades firmly. She felt a new warmth spread throughout her body as she turned to face the other woman once more.

"You're name," Umi demanded.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me!" She gave a fake smile, sensing the change in Umi's aura, "My name is Lurcada. And since I can see you're no longer going to cooperate," She smile faded and her eyes half closed to a deadly condescending look, "I suppose I'm the one that's going to be killing you today~ I'm sure you'll taste yummy, you little masochistic thing," She giggled and licked her lips.

Umi felt a rush of excitement run through her body. This felt nothing like being hunted down by the crew or getting caught stealing. This time she was the one willing to engage a fight with another person. Her muscles trembled in excitement, "That's funny," The tone in her voice lowered to a familiar pitch. The crew recognized it as the one she used during meal time, but this time around it sounded so much more serious, more deadly, "Because I was planing on you being the one to die!" Umi darted forward, swinging the left chakram out at Lurcada who dodged it effortlessly, reappearing behind her.

Lurcada grinned, the outline of her iris beginning to glow a faint red, "As if a brat like you could really hit me!" She turned on her heel and swung her leg around, kicking Umi in the face and sending her several feet away. Umi twisted her torso in the air, landing on her feet and skidding to a stop. She grit her teeth painfully, feeling the after effects of the kick, and shook the dizzy feeling out of her head.

"Hey," Umi muttered and held up the chakrams at chest level, taking a defensive stance, "If you've got any information that might help, now's a good time." There was no response from Romi. She tilted the blades slightly, hoping to move the glare of light out of the way of his reflection, but he remained missing. "Guess not..." This time Lurcada charged at her and Umi didn't hesitate to rush forward to meet her. Her hand rose in a claw-like form, taking a swipe at her head. Umi ducked in time, but just barely, seeing a few strands of hair fall in front of her face. She planted her foot firmly on the ground, turning it at the same time as she used both chakrams in an uppercut motion.

Lurcada stumbled back a few feet, her black blood staining the floor. A giant gash oozed from her armpit, trailing to her collarbone and making a sudden turn up her neck and slicking a good chunk of the right side of her face. Umi smirked at her handy work, but frowned almost instantly. "Muhuhuhuhu!" Lurcada chuckled quietly at first, her hand still covering the gash on her face. She suddenly stood tall, laughing hard and showing Umi the amusement in her remaining eye, "Mahahahaha! Mahaha!" After a few good laughs, she stopped almost suddenly and gave Umi an ugly frown with no amusement, "Aah~" She sighed, "Now look at what you've done. I guess it only serves me right for underestimating you! Muhu!" She rose her left hand and snapped her fingers. Some of the corpses that stood in the background, broke down into black dust and floating over towards Lurcada. "It's a good thing I have a few of these guys lying around today," She absorbed them, the dust settling into her flesh and healing her wounds. Once the gash closed, and her eye repaired, the dust settled. She placed a hand on her hip triumphantly and walked forward calmly, certain that Umi wasn't going to attack a second time. She stopped at arms length, reached out and fiddled with Umi's interesting hair pattern, "Is this dyed? Surely it can't be natural. It's so odd that only the lower half is a lovely shade of aqua."

"It's dyed," She confirmed, tense at the sudden contact.

"Is it just growing out, or did you purposely leave the roots their natural color?"

"I did it on purpose," She answered impatiently, "What is your sudden infatuation with my hair?" She yelled defensively.

"I was only curious," She retracted her hand, "Why are you so determined all of a sudden? You didn't seem like the fighting type just a moment ago. What changed your mind?"

Umi continued to glare, "I don't have to explain myself to you."

Lurcada smirked, finding her own answer. She leaned down, draping an arm over Umi's shoulder and hovered close to Umi's ear. She whispered something only Umi could hear with amusement. Umi gasped and swung a chakram at the woman who anticipated the attack and dodged it with ease.

"Mahahaha! Don't be so serious! I was only teasing! But, unexpectedly, that seems to be my answer," She grinned triumphantly.

"You're wrong." Umi argued. The other woman lifted up a filed nail to her mouth in question, "Something like that...it's impossible. I lost that basic human emotion long ago."

"Then why do you fight? Hmm? What is it that keeps you going in this world? I've been alive a long time and I've learned that people need things like that to survive. Whether it's for money, power, people, or vanity objects, people need it. What is it that keeps you alive, if you've really lost such an important part of humanity?" She was eager to hear the answer.

Umi's body tensed at the question. Searching, trying to remember, how she ended up like she did. There were only snippets of memories flashing into her mind, all of them made her sad; not the ones she was searching for. Finally the back of a blond-haired teen stood before her in her mind like looking through a old camera lense that made images blurry and gave the distinct sound of static. His face turned half way, his eyes hidden behind his untamed hair, he muttered. I'm sorry. The last words he ever spoke to her echoed in her mind; A familiar ache in her chest rose to her throat, begging to be shouted. She clenched the chakrams painfully, beginning to shake. The image of him made her blood boil. She didn't entirely remember at this point, but she couldn't stop the rising anger. "Why do I live?" Her voice shook. Her head snapped up, showing everyone the infinite fury in her eyes, "For revenge!" Before Lurcada could react quick enough, Umi used one of the chakrams to slice her arm right off. She cursed to herself and jumped away, "I won't let myself die until I choke the life out of him with my bare hands!" Umi swung left and right like a madman, laughing each time she cut the woman.

Lurcada cursed. Something strange was happening. That crazed, lunatic of a girl shouldn't have been able to use the blades infused with Romi's resistance. Each new cut, stayed a permanent cut that her magic refused to heal. She began to panic, desperately searching for a way out of this situation. Her eyes caught a blur of red at the opposite end of the room. She turned her eyes back to Umi, deciding if it was really worth it. Umi continued to hop around, swinging the chakrams with a full-toothed grin and laughing at Lurcada's distress. Lurcada's eyes hardened with her decision. She pushed herself towards her new target in desperation, Umi close behind her.

Lurcarda grinned triumphantly as her fingers grabbed hold of the small tube left on a coffee table in the corner. She turned to face Umi, "S-stop!" She grinned seeing Umi stop suddenly at the sight of Lurcada's thumb hovering over a red button. Her arms were still raised in a frozen attack and her face was inches away from the pink-haired woman's. "Good. Now do as I say, or I'll blow us all to bits. I'm sure you don't intend to take back your precious nakama in nothing but burnt and charred remains."

Umi lowered her weapons and backed away, allowing Lurcada to stand upright, her eyes shadowed over by the action of lowering her head. Lurcada smirked and was about to open her mouth to speak, but Umi lifted her head, locking eyes with the woman. She grinned, showing off all of her teeth, "Just kidding~" She sang and charged at Lurcada once more, slicing her torso in half.

Lurcada's pale fingers strained to press the button, finally, and winced at the lack of feeling from her lower half. A faint 'beeping' sound was heard and not two seconds later, the room exploded. First they saw orange flames, licking at the ground and disintegrating dust, then the whiteness of the high temperatures. They felt a burning sensation and then...nothing.

A hooded figure stood near a window, black robes pooling onto the floor. The white mask on his face keeping every emotion hidden from all who gazed upon it. His eyes remained focused on the second floor of the castle, while he stood atop the fourth floor. He watched as the room exploded in a torrent of flames, roaring up at him. The inferno spewed out bodies left and right from the shock wave, spreading them out in opposite directions.

"It would seem Lurcada failed to eliminate the problem," He spoke, "Hmm...I don't suppose perhaps one of them was able to wield those weapons after all?"

Behind him an orange-haired Jackllinh knelt and bowed her head in respect. One hand balled into a fist and touched its knuckles to the cold ground, the other crossed her chest in a more traditional bow. Next to her, stood a taller man with an upright and clean appearance. He bowed at the waist, crossing only his arm over his chest in and not kneeling.

His fading brown eyes rose to meet his master's question, "Simply out of the question, sir. It has been one-hundred and thirteen years and still none have showed signs of being able to handle the power of the Kokra family heirlooms. Even when the kingdom was whole and lively, it had been many a year since the blades have chosen a master. No, subordinate Lurcada was simply weak." He gave his opinion and added an afterthought, "Also, if I'm not mistaken, these are just another group of pirates, probably after the gold. I'm certain Crysteine will be rid of them by the end of the day."

"Of that, I have no doubt. Crysteine is one of my finest!" The robbed man spoke with confidence, "However, I do not find delight in all those mongrels strutting about my castle. Find any survivors and be rid of them," He waved them to begone, "Oh and alert the others as well."

They nodded and rushed out of the room, the man in search of the nearest den den mushi and Jackllinh in search of her new prey.

A/N: Hm...I seem to be out of things to say after chapters now days...Has anyone noticed a particular theme yet? There's actually two, but one of them I think is a bit subtle, although it might still be too early to tell since I haven't revealed all the characters full names yet.

I don't have much else to add. I'm actually kind of depressed. It's mother's day and I can't afford a gift worth squat. I know my mom doesn't care, as long as I remember and appreciate her, but it's more of a blow to my pride that I can't afford a gift for her, let alone the other 4 moms I know personally. Or even people's birthdays n whatnot. ugh. But I'll get over it I guess.

LOVE YALL!