Chapter 14. Drums of... War

Chapter 14: Drums of... War

Alt. Chapter Name: Mama's Will

The thunderous rhythm had stopped. The music had faded. With Mama no longer wailing, my heartbeat had resumed to a normal pounding - a small, insignificant thudding, barely perceptible even to my ears.

Without the music for my heart, my strength had already waned. The drastic effects I had suffered under Kaidou's Haki and my own unprecedented Conqueror's Haki had taken their toll. The foreign energy that had emanated from my heart was no longer there to support my stiff body. I felt like I could collapse and never wake up. Mama saying she was leaving Kaidou to me sounded like a fantasy - unless she was planning on burying me soon.

I had no energy left to take a step, let alone fight the King of the Beasts.

And then, there was the hunger. Gnawing at the edges of my consciousness, I felt ravenous. But I didn't crave anything in particular. I suspected I was prone to hunger pangs, much like Mama - what with the memory gaps. Maybe I had one on my second birthday, and I genuinely dreaded to know what I had done during that moment. Facing off against Kaidou, however, I wished I would have a hunger pang so terrible that I'd end up killing Kaidou without realizing it.

But alas, hunger pangs could only happen if I craved something specific, and I craved nothing in particular. All I wanted in the moment was basic sustenance - anything or everything.

So, what was left of me? Why did Mama believe in me so much that she thought I would destroy Kaidou? No musical heartbeat, no real hunger pang on the horizon, and only scant energy left within me - just enough to meet Kaidou's unimpressed gaze, fiercely.

I had only stepped between Kaidou and Mama so she could regain her composure and finish him off, and that's what I hoped she'd do.

"Worororororo..." Kaidou sneered, his laugh filled with contempt. "Linlin, the world will fall into chaos from the greatest, final battle I'll create. Without you and your pirates, it won't be the same."

"You announced an impending retirement by choosing a heir, outright. I'll repay your grand favor by giving you a glorious death," Kaidou added menacingly. "No one can carry your legacy. Once you're gone, I'll dismantle the Big Mom Pirates and absorb the strongest into my Beast Pirates."

Big Mom glared at Kaidou. "You dare insult me and my heir? Bearer of my will? Conqueror of the world?!"

I swallowed hard. Conqueror of what?

"Kaidou!" Big Mom grunted. "You're mistaken for attacking Totto Land."

"Once I unleash Keki, he'll trample you, make you one of his pets, and make you regret your insults," Big Mom threatened. "He is the bearer of my will. When that will comes out, my enemies better run—"

Boom!

My heart thudded before she could finish. A sudden, powerful jolt, far stronger than anything I'd felt in the water, surged through me. It dilated my veins and sharpened my nerves. The eerie, overpowering darkness began to creep over my vision, like a sudden night struggling to fully cover my eyes, but it only managed to create a haze.

Disjointed, fleeting words started forming and flowing randomly in my mind. What happened under the water was strange, but this... this moment was terrifying. My heart seemed to have a mind of its own, anticipating Mama's next words.

And then, she spoke, and my heart went haywire, beating like it was at war with the world.

"Bring out Ares!" was all she said, and I felt like I was turning into an oni (giant demon).

I was all out of energy, but at Mama's command, I could feel her will creeping through my body, making me desire to do anything just to please her. It didn't matter if I would break my body apart in the process. My heart resumed the rhythm from earlier, but now more potent, making me feel like I was at the mercy of the most overpowering sound system. It beat strangely, like a strong war song, and what's most terrifying were the distinct "hahahahaha"s and "mamamamama"s coming from my heart as if it had risen to its own life.

The laughs echoed alongside the music, and I could visualize my heart transforming into a monstrous form of Big Mom's face, beating the drums I was hearing within me. Each pulse sent a jolt through my veins, charging my muscles with a frenzied energy that was both exhilarating and horrifying.

My body was on the verge of collapse, yet Mama's will infused me with a relentless drive. I could feel my muscles straining and my bones creaking under the pressure, but there was no stopping now. My skin tingled with a strange sensation, as if it was being stretched to its limits. My vision blurred and sharpened in rapid succession, making the world around me disorienting.

The most jarring sensation, however, was in my mouth and stomach. Moments ago, I was merely hungry, but now... now I was craving something particular... something I wished were just a fantasy.

Feeling the gnawing certainty within me, I hated to believe in the foodstuff that was forming in my mind, making my drool flow like a flood. The craving was so intense that it overshadowed everything else, leaving me desperate and frantic, despite my denial.

'No, no!' I frantically yelled within, unable to control my mouth movements. I was so against the craving I was feeling, wishing that my sudden hunger pang would be due to something else other than... Let it even be vegetables, but not that!

I struggled to resist, but the image formed in my mind, clear as day. The image got sharper as my heart beat fiercer to the rhythm of her laughter, both within and without. The craving hung on my mind, pushing complete control of my body off the cliff and into the abyss of darkness.

As I fell into the abyss, the beat of war started feeling like it was minimizing, but I knew, back on the surface, I was probably fighting against Kaidou while drooling for something I would never ever want willingly. Something that gave me chills just thinking about it. But as I continued to fall into the abyss, I started hearing a snippet of an incomplete conversation. Words surrounded me, indistinct at first, then gradually becoming clear.

("I have shown you what Keki is capable of, what will you do now?") It was Streusen's voice, recognizable and sinister. There was a long silence before I heard Mama's voice, echoing as if from a great distance.

The darkness stirred, revealing a ravenous baby being looked down on by Big Mom. The baby's eyes were red, and he was ravening a cake. Big Mom removed a white, spherical substance from her heart's locale, which I realized must be a fragment of her soul.

"Life or Ares?" Mama asked, her voice laced with her soul pocus.

Before I could see everything that happened thereafter, the darkness swirled, covering all that, and I was back to falling into the oblivion. It took some time, and several more conversation snippets, to understand what I had just seen. But when I did, I was filled with so much rage that I started forcing myself, my consciousness, back to the surface.

'Ares,' the word tasted bitter in my mind.

'And that craving!' It made me want to puke, knowing what Ares - no, what I was drooling for. Understanding what had happened to my hunger pang to become so subservient to Big Mom and invoked at her will maddened me so much that I managed to claw my way back to regaining a speck of my consciousness.

"Why did she!" I took control of my mouth and words, just as I found myself struggling against Kaidou, my vision hazy but somewhat my own. I could feel my fists clenched and hear my barks against Kaidou, and feel the ocean of drool in my mouth - the image of what I was drooling for perfectly clear in my mind with only one way to find it.

What I craved didn't exist anywhere else in the world, and Mama, the one who possessed it, wielded it as a weapon to control my hunger pangs. Using her Soul Pocus, she could turn my hunger on and off, promising to satisfy it only if I did her bidding.

The realization of Mama's manipulation enraged me further, fuelling a burst of strength I didn't know I had. My fists flew at Kaidou with surprising force, though he managed to block them. We had been fighting for some time, and Kaidou's sneer had transformed into a look of excitement. The desire to finish this battle and earn Mama's reward drove me to push my broken body beyond its limits.

Ares - the manifestation of Mama's will and my commandeered hunger pang - didn't care about my injuries. The only thing that mattered was the promise of satisfaction from Mama. Even when Kaidou's Thunder Bagua left me woozy, my craving forced me back to my feet. My heartbeat roared like the drums of war, propelling me to defy nature and continue fighting.

Kaidou seemed to relish my relentless spirit. His smile widened with each of my defiant returns, making me angrier and increasing the power and number of my strikes. I wished I could fully control my body instead of just glimpsing the fight, but Mama's will was stronger. The drums in my heart were unlike anything in the world.

Kaidou laughed as we fought, saying, "Linlin, you've got yourself one hell of a fighter. Worororororo... I'm sobering up. He is not strong, but I love his spirit. He should get stronger!"

With those words, he stopped attacking, leaving openings for me to hit him with all my strength. Yet, despite my efforts, I couldn't make him fall. He staggered back but remained standing. Big Mom sneered, "Kaidou, you fool," and commanded, "Ares, finish him."

Barely willing it, I focused all my energy on Kaidou's head, but he was as strong as steel. Even without attacking or defending, just laughing like a madman, he remained indestructible. Finally, Big Mom ordered, "Ares, stop." I halted, my overwhelming drool maintained.

She approached him and grabbed him by the neck after delivering a pounding. Kaidou hardly flinched. All he did was ramble, saying that, in this life sentence, he always loves it when the booze is constantly flowing. He even went so far as to say he'd take the booze from a sky island above Totto Land, back to Onigashima.

I couldn't make Kaidou fall, but Big Mom succeeded, albeit to a less motivated, bored barbarian. Realizing his surrender over resolve to fight, she declared his imminent public imprisonment and execution in Totto Land. She promised that it would be the last of Kaidou.

Kaidou scoffed, passively allowing Big Mom to overpower him.

After she finished pummelling him, Big Mom stood, grunting and sneering, until her gaze fell upon me.

I stared at Mama, drooling, desperate for my reward - or rather, Ares' reward. Despite my humiliation, I couldn't tear my gaze away from her bosom. Mama's breast milk, sweeter than anything in the world, was what I craved. If I had it, it would satisfy the hunger that had taken control of me, and Ares would lose control over my consciousness.

Mama's face contorted in disgust as she noticed my drooling expression.

"Ares is looking at me like that again," she squealed, as if she wasn't the one who had caused Ares to manifest. "He is not my adorable Keki."

She then commanded, "Bring back Hercules."

The heavy blanket of darkness that had been forcing me into unconsciousness lifted, sweeping away, and my mind felt lighter. The first thing I did was wipe the drool from my mouth. I looked at Mama with a burning desire to shout at her, but I couldn't find the strength. All my energy had been washed away, and I found myself collapsing to the hot, melting ground.

Before I fully gave away, I heard her saying, "Don't worry, my precious Keki," she said gently. "Pudding will remove those traumatizing memories of that monster Ares."

A flicker of hope in the darkness wished she wouldn't. I needed to remember so that I could gain full control over all my faucets and stop Big Mom from using me as a weapon at her whim.

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Next post is tomorrow.

Links to Early Access:

Patreon.com/cursedmillennial

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Chapters:

#. Chapter 15 & 16. Kaidou's Execution Part 1

#. Chapter 17 & 18. Kaidou's Execution Part 2 (Final)

#. Chapter 19. Beasts and Monsters.