A/N Sorry about the long break! I moved and suddenly became car-less in a two day period and had a bit of a meltdown. Had to get my life together before I could even THINK about writing! But things are all good now :D Hope Y'all enjoy!
It was cool and still except for a slight, almost imperceptible bobbing. Quite a lovely feeling, actually.
"Is this what being dead feels like?" I asked, completely aware of the cliché, and completely unaware I had said it out loud.
"Sorry, but that would be a no." The statement ended in a rough chuckle, the kind that sends shivers up a girl's spine.
Okay, I know that voice. Where do I know that voice from? The shock knocked all systems back online. Memory of what happened, extreme fear at my current situation... and... my alters. They all clamored for an explanation in there own ways. She demanded. The Sad One immediately assumed we must be paralyzed. Shy was close to an anxiety attack. All the emotions made my mind hurt. I opened my eyes. The light hurt, but I quickly began noticing details.
I was laying on my back on a small, simple cot. Thin sheets on the mattress and a pillow under my head. I also noted I seemed uninjured, although I had no idea how. Maybe we've been in a coma... the Sad One unhelpfully supplied. I mentally snapped at her to shut up.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all riveted sheet metal. Odd... and slightly ominous. My eyes wandered the room to the doorway. The man leaning on the frame was somehow a complete stranger and absolutely familiar... The anxiety started to break through. Was my disorder fucking with my head again?
Calm down. Remember, details don't change. Look for the details.
Tall. Thin but muscled. Confident stance. One hand tucked in pocket. Storm grey eyes. White hat with brown spots. Black hai- woah woah woah, hold the god damn phone. SPOTTED HAT? Confusion and panic surged through me as I frantically took in the rest. Black boots, light jeans with black spots, tattoos peaking out on his arms peaking out from rolled up hoodie sleeves... A black and yellow hoodie, with that grinning jolly roger smiling at me from the chest. I swallowed hard, and looked back up, meeting the eyes of an extremely amused Trafalgar Law.
"Enjoying the view?" He asked, flashing his characteristic smirk. I swear my whole brain locked up for a second while I comprehended what was happening. Or processed my lack of ability to comprehend. Thankfully, She kept us from blushing. One of the few thing She is actually useful for. In that split second, I also tried processed what I should do. I knew two things: one, Somehow I was in One Piece on the Polar Tang being watched by THE Trafalgar Law, and two, I HAD SOMEHOW COME TO THE WORLD OF ONE PIECE.
Fear locked me up, and She saw her chance.
"Maybe. Who the hell are you?" It came out of my mouth, but She said it. She had realized it was probably safer to play dumb. We all agreed.
Law chuckled and stalked, legit stalked, towards me. I tried to sit up and scoot back a little, only to find my arm cuffed to the cot... a detail I had missed. He reached the edge of the bed, supporting himself on the wall to lean over me. The aura of danger coming off of him scared even Her a bit.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. And he didn't break eye contact, a silent threat of dominance. She was going to snap back, but Shy silently wormed her way in, and broke the eye contact.
"My name is Caliamara." I found myself answering. Curse my submissive side.
"Well, Cali-ya, can you explain...exactly... how you ended up on my submarine." As he said it he had tilted my head up, making me look at him. I swear a small part of me fainted when he said my name like that. The rest was rightfully terrified.
"I have no honest clue." I honestly answered, plunging back into confusion at my predicament.
"Hmm. Where are you from, Cali-ya?" Now here was my problem... There was no way that I could tell him the truth. He wouldn't believe me and I had no interest in being "persuaded" by the Surgeon of Death to tell the truth. My brain worked quickly, cataloging the places I knew about and where I could pass off as native. I settled on one quickly.
"Goa Kingdom, East Blue..." I trailed it off, using my confusion to make it seem I was bewildered at his question. "Where am I now?" I added.
His grin intensified. Oh god. Bad oh god.
"Well..." He ran his hand up this side of my face to twirl a loose strand of hair in his fingers. I had to suppress a shiver. "We're currently in the North Blue, about 1500 yards down, under an ice burg... So let me ask again, Cali-ya, how did you get on my submarine?" With the question Law's hand fisted in my hair, pulling harshly enough to bring tears to my eyes. The shock value allowed Her to surge to the surface, and, for once, I didn't fight. She might actually be spunky enough to spar with him. I thought. Oh hell yea. Leapt unbidden into my mind.
"I told you, I don't fucking know!" It's a strange feeling, watching another alter interact. It's like you're running on autopilot. You're not in control. "I'd like to know as much you would!" A spark of...something... crossed his face. His grip in my hair tightened, becoming almost unbearable.
"Oh I highly doubt that, woman." He reached behind him, grabbing Kikoku, which I hadn't noticed until now. Oh SHIT.
"Captain!?" Saved by the bell. Well, by the Penguin. "Is everything okay?" The poor man looked terrified by the situation. Both me and Law were throwing off auras of absolute murder, him possibly literally, and the position probably looked rather awkward from his point of view. Law's head snapped up to look at him.
"Yes, Penguin, everything is fine." When he looked up, I felt my arm suddenly fly into the side of my body. I glanced down in surprise. Apparently I had been unconsciously straining against the cuff holding me to the bed, and had managed to get my hand out. Yay for having double jointed thumbs.
Law turned his attention back to me, but Penguin stayed put, bleeding apprehension. Was he concerned for me, or his captain?
"Now," Law continued. "How are you here, and why?" The threatening arua was back, but somewhat dampened.
"I have no fucking clue, dude. One minute I'm climbing a tree in the woods, and the next I'm waking up cuffed to a bed in a metal room, being interrogated by some sadistic asshole!" I found myself yelling the last bit directly into his face. The pain from his fist in my hair faded to the back of my mind, and pure fury took over. Suddenly I wasn't afraid of the murderous man above me, I wasn't confused as to how I landed in his clutches. I registered a flash of confusion in his eyes as my emotions faded to nothing but a dull noise in the back of my head, causing my face to fall into a flat mask. Disassociation. The best and worst to of anyone with an extreme personality disorder. Imagine being able to just turn your emotions on and off. Controlling every part of your emotional state to the extreme. Now imagine not being able to stop. It can be hell, it can be heaven. Depends on who you ask.
"Let go of my hair, Trafalgar Law." My voice was monotone, and I had no reaction to the shock expressed by both Law and Penguin.
"So you do know who I am, bitch." Law did let go of my hair, but the pure fury in him was evident. I had no reaction to it.
"I do. I know who you are, who he is," I jerked my chin at Penguin. "I know everything about you. And not for the reason you would think. I am not his." Law's eyes widened, genuine shock and maybe a hit of fear on his face. My mind, however, was still a flat plain of nothing, surrounded by a wall of anger. Maybe somewhere in a dark corner, part of me was amazed I had managed to shock the Trafalgar Law.
"Penguin, get out." Law's voice was rough and tightly restrained. Penguin obeyed immediately, but still looked supremely agitated. Once he was gone, I was immediately pinned to the cot, Law's hands gripping my shoulders tight enough to bruise as he straddled me.
"You're going to explain who you are, woman." I blinked, wondering vaguely why he was so upset.
"I am Messex Caliamara. I'm a cell phone repair technician, who, until apparently today, lived in a world where yours is nothing but a story. Pure entertainment." I monotoned the shocking truth at him, not caring for his reaction. "I know your past... hell, I even know your future, Trafalgar D. Waters Law. Until today, this world was nothing but fiction to me." As his grip slackened the fog of disassociation slowly began to fade, until with a snap, I was back in control, knowing nothing of the past few minutes and suddenly having Trafalgar Law straddling my waist, leaning against the wall above me.
Annnnnnd, I reacted as any girl would react. I slapped the fuck out of him. Most of my alters cowered in my brain, terrified of what ever could come next. She cheered so hard I almost broke into a grin. I silently informed her she was going to get me killed. She didn't care, it seemed.
After that brief mental exchange I realized Law was laughing. I didn't know whether to relax or shit myself.
"You're brave, bitch." He said, not looking at me. "But I'm going to need you to prove that little story about being from another world." He turned, looking at me expectantly.
So that's what I told him! Curse that damn fog, making things infinitely more complicated.
I sighed, sitting up to run a hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to prove to the most skeptical man I've ever seen that I was from another world.
"Trafalgar D. Waters Law. Bepo. Penguin. Sachi." I paused, preparing myself. "Corazon, Don Quixote Rosinante, Don Quixote Doflamingo... White Town. Flevance...Lami." I knew the last name I had listed would get a reaction, but I didn't expect to be slammed into the metal wall behind me by my throat.
"How the fuck do you know that name?" The stars from the impact cleared to reveal Law just inches from my face, barely restrained fury clear on his face.
"I told you, I'm from a world where your life, your world, is a story, a piece of fiction." My voice was calm, my mind crystal clear. Everyone locked in my head knew this was a life or death situation. They fell in line, ready to present whatever mask that would keep me alive.
"I don't know how I got here, Law, but we might as well make the best of it. I can HELP you. I now a lot of what lies ahead. The Grand Line is dangerous and you'll need all the help you can get." My minds eye played a montage of the hell Law would go through in the next three years. Punk Hazard, Vergo, Green Bit, Fujitora, the fight with Doflamingo. Those events had new meaning to me now that the flesh and blood man stood before me. I looked Law dead in the eye.
"Law, I can sit and tell you all the major events that will happen in this world for the next three years. I can list the strengths and weaknesses of pretty much any major player in your world today. I can help. Beyond your imagining." Law's grip on my throat loosened, and he blinked. I don't think he was expecting such a levelheaded and articulate response. He let go completely, and I shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, looking up at him, waiting to see what he would say.
He thought for a minute, studying me intently. I tried not to be self conscious, but I couldn't help but shrink down a bit under the intensity.
"First, tell me why your moods seem to change so rapidly, Cali-ya..." He sounded suspicious, but much, much calmer. I couldn't help the small sigh of release that escaped, and my alters may as well had been throwing a party in my brain.
"I have a mental condition that causes me to have split personalities. It's called Dissociative Identity Disorder where I'm from..." I peeked up at him, and saw that medical curiosity shining in his eyes.
"I have about five dominate personalities who can actually take control from me. They tend to come out in extreme stress, like being threatened by a Pirate specifically known for his... creative... approach to violence..." I continued, causing Law to smirk.
"There are also about 15 passive personalities that exist in my head, and while they can't take control independently, they do influence my behavior a great deal." I finished, hoping I wouldn't be labeled a freak in this world, too.
"Twenty personalities? That must get uncomfortable." Law commented. She caused me to snort in wry amusement at his words.
"You have no idea." Law chuckled dryly, nodding in agreement.
"Fair." He mused. "Still, even with... what you know, you could be lying, creating a fantastical story to put me off guard and infiltrate my ship." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Curse the man's overly cautious ways, something told me they were going to keep my life annoyingly uncomfortable for the near future.
"You're about to enter the Gran Line, right?" I received a nod. "Well then, I can guarantee that sometime in the next few days that a bounty will come out of the East Blue. It will be for a man named Monkey D. Luffy, and it will be for 30 million berries." Law's eyes widened, but he nodded, his smirk back in place.
"You get a week, Cali-ya. After that... well... things will get... uncomfortable." He didn't even give me a chance to react, just walked out of the room, shutting the barred door behind him. I got up and watched his back disappear up a set of metal stairs. He's totally hotter in real life! She supplied unhelpfully.
"Ugh. Shut up." I muttered, resting my forehead against the bars of the door.
