His eyes were cold steel, his mouth fixed in a hard line. They showed no sense of kindness or compassion, or any feeling for that matter. She could see that, despite them being hidden under his furry white hat.
"Miss Adriana Prieto, I will give you an option. " she could only shiver at the sound of his voice. "You can join my crew, be equal to any of its members, or I can transform you in a slave."
"Trafalgar Law, if you know who I am and judging from these seastoon chains, I can assume that you know what I am capable of, please, enlighten me. What makes you think that I will not end my life before becoming a slave? And why would you trust someone like me to be part of your crew?" she didn't demand. It was known that Trafalgar Law, the Surgeon of Death was not known for his mercy. Yet, he saved her from a certain death when he brought her on his submarine.
"I do not trust you, but someone like you would is a good investment. Now, tell me, what do you choose."
The choice was just a nice way of putting things, as he knew that for her, losing her free will and suicide were not viable options. By saving her life, he also made sure that she had a debt to him, one that could not be forgotten by neither one.
Silence gnawed at her insides, it hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. They were alone in a small room. Her chains were pinning her to a bed.
"I... will join your crew, Trafalgar Law." when she announced her decision , she saw how he grinned. As he did so the temperature of the room fell a little more.
'He won, for now.' she could feel how her anger was starting to boil, threatening to destroy the mask of calm and indifference that she built carefully.
"I demand respect and 100% loyalty. From now on, I am your captain. I see that there is no damage from the chains." he stated after he took the chains off. "This is your room. I will send someone."
"Where are my weapons?"
A simple question, that had a simple answer.
"With me." He left her alone.
She slowly stood up from her bed, looking around the small space that she would call her room for the time being. It was metallic and quite empty. The bed she was chained to, and a trunk in which she found her bag. There was also a full length mirror.
Smeared mascara lines and heavy eyelids. Her lipstick was nearly gone. She was pale, her tattoos standing out even more. She was wearing just a large black T-shirt.
Her right leg was bandaged from place to place, as was her left arm.
She opened her bag, and put on a pair of black jeans. She changed T-shirt with a one of her crop tops and put on one of her hoodies. Her hair that was left loose was then braided. With some cotton balls left behind by her new captain, she removed the make up.
"Captain send me after you." a white bear in a orange jump suite that bore the Heart Pirates' jolly roger . She didn't say anything waiting for him to continue.
"I am Bepo and I will take you to the kitchen, as captain said that you will have duties there." She just nodded.
Everyone was staring at her as she walked with Bepo.
"She is beautiful."
"We finally have a a woman among us. Do you think that she is single?"
"It's bad luck to have a woman on board."
Even after starting to work in the kitchen, she could feel how she was observed by everyone as she peeled some vegetables.
"Girl, you really know your way with the knives." The man was slender despite his years, toned and not at all stooped. It was a bit odd for someone that was the chef of a pirate crew, but she could put everything on the fact that they were constantly fighting. His name was Mung-Dal.
" Do you like sveets ?" Adriana blinked at the question, unsure if it was a trap or not. The guy had a thick accent and really loved his wooden nodded, a bit confused.
" Herrre, teste zis ." the man gave her a spoon covered in chocolate.
"They wouldn't poison me." it was all she thought while she licked the chocolate.
"For the name of Styx, this sure is good." her smiled reached her eyes, and for the first time since she got there, someone smiled back.
"You look just like child. Herrre, take zis to kaptain, he skipped his meals again." he replaced the knife with a tray of food and pushed her out of the kitchen as soon as he finished with the instruction.
The trip was short, yet interesting. She heard people screaming around from different reasons and laughing right after.
She knocked at the door and waited for his answer.
"Where should I put this?" she questioned right after she strolled in.
Law was wearing the same clothes as he did a few hours ago and he was scribbling something down, he only looked up when he heard her voice.
"Just put it here. Enlighten me, Miss Adriana, should I be concerned by the fact that you brought me food?" his face again not reveling anything. This small fact frustrated her to a whole new level. She was trained all her life to read past someone look, but her new captain was something new.
He was looking at a piece of meat that he poked with the fork. He was certainly that she was not going to try to kill him yet, after all killing the captain of a pirate crew in the middle of the sea was not a smart move. Her connections and the information that she could get him were vital.
He knew that she was planning something from the second she agreed to join him and stopped the fight. She was unpredictable, but he was still surprised when she leaned over his office, to eat the piece of food.
When he met her gaze, he felt drawn into her eyes. The icy blueness generated a feeling like he was being pulled into a lake of frozen emotions. It was like all the myriad shades of blue swirled together to form a whirlpool of apprehension. He could tell by her body language that she did not like him, and those flickering azure orbs confirmed his thoughts.
"I joined your little adventure, so, I advise against questioning my loyalty. I will never stab someone in the back." her voice was flat, the words were dressed in venom.
"I also want to inform you, Miss Adriana, that we will not go to the New World, not yet at least." He watched closely as she froze a little, but her expression did not change. She did not question his decision, nor has she added anything else.
"Have a sit, Miss Adriana." Law started to eat, as the girl let herself fall on one of the chairs that were opposing his desk.
"Don't you eat the dessert?" she asked while pointing at him removing the plate from his tray.
"I don't usually eat sweets. Have it, if you want. There is no poison." he smirked while placing it in front of her.
"I am not really fond of the idea of joining you, but Mung-Dal food is delicious." she stated after tasted the cold dessert.
"Tell me about Haki." Adriana leaned in the chair, while thinking where to start.
"Haki is a power that lies dormant in all the world's creatures. It is not that different from the typical senses. However, most people do not notice it or fail to awaken it. Broadly speaking, there are two types of Haki available to everyone, given the proper training; however, there is a third type that only a certain group of "chosen ones" are said to possess. In simple terms, Haki is an ability to sense spiritual energy also named Kenbunshoku, use life force known as Busoshoku and overpower enemies named Haoshoku. " her explanation was simple, easy to understand, yet the concept was still vivid.
"I thought that you posses at least the first one, as I know that you dodged my arrow, back when we fought."
"Can you use Haki?" Law wanted to know just how far could her powers went.
"I am a General, in the League of Serpents. Using Haki is vital for us. And no, I didn't use it when we fought." she added, before putting the plate down on the tray.
"I ...I can train you if you want."
"Why would you do that, Miss Adriana?" it was intriguing. Law leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head for support.
"I don't know. I just assume that you want to survive in the New World and reach Raftel alive."
"You can take the tray to the kitchen and after that you are free. " he dismissed the girl, that left without another word.
Being left alone, the captain's thought flew to the girl that just left his office. Without her make up, she looked younger and not so intimidating.
"Hey, what are you doing?" asked one of the people who enter in her. They were a odd group. There were all wearing white suits that had the jolly roger of the Heart Pirates.
The guy had a hat on that was written 'Penguin.'
"Meditating." Adriana, who was standing with her legs crossed, decided that it would be better to talk to them while seeing them
"I see. I am Penguin. And this is Shachi." spoke the man with the weird hat while pointing to another crew mate that was wearing a blue hat.
"That was is Chang." the third man introduced was shorter than she was, and she knew that he was there when Law operated her.
"And that is Josh." the forth was was just a bit taller than her, but his red hair made him stood up."He and Chang work in the infirmary with the captain."
"Adriana. How can I help you?" The four men looked at each other then grinned.
"We thought that you maybe are lonely, so we came to see if you wanted to play poker." spoke the one named Penguin.
"Poker?" she was not sure what to think of it, but when she saw them nodding.''Count me in."
