A New Path - Chapter 188

“How’s this?” Sylvia said as she held up a very tiny dress. Amell looked up and tilted his head to the side, “I think Valerie will have a hard time moving around and training in it!”

“It’s not for training, stupid! Plus, they are only a few weeks old, so at least let her learn how to walk before starting plan out her training.”

“As you wish. But, since you said it like that, the second Valerie takes her first steps, her training begins.” He signed the last report and looked over at the crib where the twins were sleeping.

“You’re impossible, you know that?” She was too exhausted to argue, so she simply let it be.

“I know, it runs in the family!”

“Run its course is what it should do, and soon,” Sylvia complained silently as she turned her back to Amell and walked over to the twins.

“Don’t be like that! You love this side of me!” He wore a smug smile and tapped the desk slowly with his finger.

“I’m not sure I do.” She leaned over the crib and looked down on her adorable children. “I love them, that I know for sure. By the way, Ryu contacted me when you were out.” She turned to her husband who was looking at her with suspense.

“And? What did he want?”

“Naruto and Sasuke wanted to come and visit. I told them they could come and visit anytime, I hope that was okay?”

“Those two boys are my family, and I would never say no to family. Plus, this is surprisingly good timing for them to visit.” Amell put a finger to his chin and leaned back on his chair.

“What do you mean, love?”

“A war is brewing, and those two still hasn’t experienced the horror of war. They are war-virgins so to speak.” Amell’s vulgar wording caused Sylvia to cringe, but still, she agreed. “Indeed, but do you think it’s necessary to drag them into this world’s problems?”

“The Elemental nations have Kabuto to worry about, and when he makes a move, Naruto and Sasuke will most likely be at the front lines guiding and inspiring their armies. It will do them good if they get to experience war before that so they won’t freeze up when their war against Kabuto begins. And, this war will happen on my terms, so I will have no problem to keep them safe.”

“Wow, what a thoughtful father, those boys are lucky to have you.” She said in sarcasm. “By the way, it’s been a while since I saw Shisui, where did that boy go? I liked him.” Sylvia started reminiscing.

“Oh, he is here.” Amell pointed behind him and from behind the chair, a familiar Uchiha stepped out.

“Lord Amell, Lady Sylvia, good day!” Shisui said calmly. He received a cheerful nod from Amell, and a surprised expression adorned Sylvia’s face.

“Shisui, how long have you been here?”

“Three weeks. Lord Amell brought me back into active service after the twins birth.” Shisui smiled at Sylvia who after a few seconds smiled back at him.

“I have been super busy being the emperor lately so I activated him again as an extra pair of hands.”

“Do you have to say activate? That sounds like he is one of Gotei’s machines, isn’t he family?” Sylvia offered a sympathetic glance to the semi-immortal Shisui.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s the apathetic emperor inside of me.”

“I do not mind the wording, My Lord!” Shisui placed a hand above his heart and bowed with sincerity. “Stop that, Shisui. Don’t let my husband treat you like some object!”

“If that is what is required of me, then I would accept becoming a wooden box.”

“Where the hell is this conversation going?” Amell looked back at his Uchiha shadow, “Shisui, my wife has barely slept for five weeks, so just ignore everything she says.”

“Your will is my command, My Lord!” Shisui straightened out his body and bowed his head.

“Things is starting to go off-topic, so, let’s bring it back. When Naruto and Sasuke come I most likely won’t be here as I have a bunch of stuff to take care of in the upcoming weeks. I will leave the boy’s arrival to you, Sylvia.” Amell said.

“Do you really think that is such a good idea, love? As you said yourself, I have barely slept at all since the twins birth, the chances of me filling their heads with awful ideas are pretty big, wouldn’t you say?”

“I think Naruto and Sasuke should count themselves lucky to hear the wise words of your majesty!” Shisui managed to say that without any embarrassment. A feat that Amell silently complimented him on.

“Don’t try and flatter me, boy. Well, Amell, do you still want me to handle their arrival? Wouldn’t Byakuya or one of them boys handle that better?”

“You don’t have to sit them down and give them some great life advice, just welcome them and introduce them to the place.” Amell snickered to himself for reasons the other two didn’t understand. “Contact Ryu and tell him that the boys are welcome any time.” He looked at Shisui and the young Uchiha nodded.

“And now that you reminded me of that, I suppose I should get going, I have too much to do so I can’t justify sitting here any longer.” Amell rose up from his chair and stretched his arms. “Shisui, stay here and help my darling wife with anything she needs, and if the boys come when you’re here, make sure they understand the dangers of this world.”

“It shall be done, Lord Amell!”

“Good, now comes the frustrating part, where to start?” He ran through all the things he had to do in his mind.

“What are the most pressing concerns?” Sylvia asked while stroking her daughter’s cheek.

“I have to meet Whitebeard, then I have to find Rayleigh and those are just the easiest to do. Sometimes I do wonder why I created an empire, especially since I hate fame.” He laughed at himself, and Shisui tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help but smile.

“You are a walking contradiction, love,” Sylvia said.

“It appears so.” Amell and Sylvia shared a look. “Take care of the twins while I’m away, and make sure you mention my name in every other sentence.”

“I’ll be sure to do that, love!”

“Good, and if anything important comes up, tell Shiryu about it before contacting me. Only call me if it’s an emergency.” Amell appeared beside Sylvia in an instant and stole a kiss from her, “Take care!” His words echoed for a moment after he disappeared.

“Hopefully he comes back within the next decade.” She sighed and returned her focus on her kids.

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For the last few weeks, Robin had experienced some of the best time she had ever had. After Alabasta and all the craziness that happened over there, her plan was to return to the Gotei and serve and train directly under her grandpa. That was what she dreamed of doing. She wanted to follow in his footsteps, as the commanders did, and more specifically, as Toshiro did. She was about as close to him as she was to Amell. This was until she stumbled upon a very strange crew, with a very peculiar captain. She had almost immediately become fascinated with them, and with Luffy as the captain of them all. She decided to try and see if she could join them for a while, just to experience what they were like even more than she saw in Alabasta. Now, after a few weeks with them, she found herself not wanting to leave them. She had never had this much fun in her life.

“Robin? Are you okay?” Nami asked as for the last thirty seconds Robin had been standing still outside a shop window, just staring longingly at all the products at display. She snapped back into reality and gave Nami a quick nod. “I’m fine, I usually find myself lost in thought a lot nowadays.” She tried to smile, but some unknown weight on her heart made the smile feel disingenuous.

“Okay… If you say so.” Nami could clearly see that something was up, but since Robin was new to the crew and had a very mysterious air to her, she decided not to dig deeper this time. “So, you wanna go inside or what?” She changed the subject to try and clear the uncomfortable atmosphere.

“In where?” Robin tilted her head, not really sure what Nami was talking about. “The store?” Nami pointed at the window in front of them. “You have been standing here for like a minute just staring at it without blinking.” A smile crept onto Nami’s face as she saw Robin’s cheeks grow a little red in embarrassment.

“No, I-I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? I sto… I mean, I borrowed some of Zoro’s money, so we could if you would want to.” Nami took out a large stack of money that clearly wasn’t hers, and you could see that by how sneaky she tried to be when showing it to Robin.

“I’m fine really, thanks anyway Nami.” Robin relaxed and her smile became a little more genuine with Nami’s amusing behaviour.

“Your loss, I’m going in. We wouldn’t wanna waste this opportunity Zoro provided for us.” Nami’s foxy smile put Robin in a much better mood than before. Just when the redhead beauty was gonna enter the store, Robin’s hand came and grabbed Nami’s arm and threw her to the side, slightly hurting the money-hungry pirate.

“Robin, what the hell!? That hurt!” Nami was about to yell more, but the place where she had been standing blew apart when some sort of thin energy blade struck the ground.

“Nami, get behind me, we have company!” Robin’s entire aura changed extremely quickly. Nami had never seen this side of her so she was very slow to react to what just happened. In fact, she was so slow to react that it took about the time it would take her to blink ones, and now they had both been surrounded.

“Impressive combat reflexes, Nico Robin.” A man dressed in a sort of tribal tattoo said to the black-haired beauty. “You know what comes next!” He said and his tone hid killing intent that Robin picked up on, but Nami didn’t.

“Come willingly, and she gets to live. Resist, and she dies!” Another one of the group said stoically. Nami’s entire body tensed up when she heard those words. Dies? She would die if Robin didn’t come with them, what was going on here? She had no idea how they knew Robin, or what she had done to anger them.

“Nami, listen carefully!” Robin took a deep breath and said. “I need to go. Don’t ask why, do not argue with me, and do not try and stop me!” While speaking, she made sure to speak clearly and emphasise all the words so the masked individuals would focus on her upper body, and not pay attention to her hands specifically.

“Robin, wait! What is going on here? Who are these people?!” Nami, in spite of her cowardly personality, stood up and grabbed Robin’s arm with a stern look. Her mind screamed danger, but her body moved despite that.

“Nami! Do not argue with me!” Robin grabbed Nami’s hand and yanked it off her arm, while simultaneously transferring a tiny little device from her hand to Nami’s. “Just leave and tell the crew to forget about me, for you will never see me again!” Robin pushed Nami down on the ground with a cold look, something which scared Nami a little.

“I’m ready to go!” The man leading the group walked up and grabbed hold of Robin, and together with the rest, they disappeared using some form of movement technique.

“Robin!” Nami got up on her knees and yelled in every direction around her, the panic was evident on her face. She looked around the street devoid of all life with a distant look, unknowingly, she had grown very close to Robin. As the only other woman on the crew, they shared a bond together that none of the guys on the crew could relate to.

“I-I need to tell the others!” Nami looked down and looked at the tiny little device Robin had stealthily given to her before they took her away. “What is this?” A small square with no defining features other than a little blue button. She stroked the button with her thumb but decided in the end not to press it until she had consulted this with the others.

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End