An Adventure Begins
Part Two
Out on the sea, under the bright moon hanging in the sky, two pirate ships sat together. Snuggling the night while their crews, most of them, slept peacefully in their beds. Only a few of the pirates were up and keeping an eye out for any signs of danger that might come their way. The rest were inside of their quarters, sleeping peacefully or most of them were. There was one particular pirate that was having trouble getting to sleep. And that pirate was Luffy. He had been tossing and turning all night long in an attempt to fall asleep. One minute he was sleeping just fine, then the next he was wide awake. He would moan and groan while tossing around trying to find some way to get back to sleep. Finally, after hours of fighting it, he gave up. Sitting up, he said, "I just can't sleep. Maybe I'm just hungry."
After debating whether or not he was really hungry, he got out of bed and left the men's quarters. He ran his eyes over the deck to find Sanji was one of the two keeping a look out tonight.
"Hey, Luffy," Sanji said upon seeing his captain awake. "What are you doing up? I thought everyone was asleep."
"I couldn't sleep," Luffy replied. He closed the door behind him and walked closer to his friend.
"Really?" Sanji asked with shock clearly present in his voice. He couldn't recall a single time that Luffy had trouble sleeping. The Straw Hat captain was never one to have sleeping troubles. He usually was the first one to fall asleep and often fell asleep at times that he shouldn't have. "Is there something on your mind?"
"Hm," Luffy hummed. He crossed his arms over his chest and thought about his friend's question. "I don't think so."
Sanji noticed that, despite Luffy's words, there was something on the young captain's mind. "Are you sure about that? You look like there really is something on your mind."
"I don't know," Luffy said. He turned his eyes up towards the sky. "Maybe I'm just feeling a bit guilty."
"Guilty for what?" Sanji asked.
"For not having written Eri," Luffy said.
"Eri? Your pen pal you've had since you were a kid?" Sanji asked.
"Yeah." Luffy nodded. "I haven't written her for several months. In fact, I really don't remember the last time I wrote her. I think it was shortly after I finished my training with Rayleigh." He brought his eyes down to the deck of the ship.
Sanji quickly noted an odd sense of worry in his captain's eyes. It was more worry then there should have been. "Well, you could go ahead and write her. We have been busy these past several months. Going into the New World, that whole thing with Fishman Island, then Punk Hazard, and Dressrosa. All you have to do is tell her about all of that stuff and she'll be fine."
"I suppose so," Luffy said. "She knows that we travel a lot. But she's probably worried. I know she keeps up with our adventures through the newspapers so she's seen everything that's happened in Dressrosa."
"Then just write her and stop worrying about it," Sanji said with a smile. "She'll understand that we've been busy."
"Yeah." Luffy nodded slowly but didn't move an inch.
Sanji easily noticed something was wrong but his captain didn't. "Are you sure there's nothing else bothering you?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Luffy said. He brought his eyes to Sanji. "Why?"
"You look like there's something else on your mind," Sanji said. His own eyes filled with concern for his captain.
"It's nothing." Luffy then smiled. "I'm sure you're right. I'm just feeling guilty about not having written her in some time. She'll understand. I'll go write that letter right now. Then maybe I can get some sleep."
"All right," Sanji said. He watched as his captain then turned and disappeared towards the library.
...
Luffy all but ran up the stairs to the upper deck then bolted towards the library. Once inside of the rounded room, he dug out a couple pieces of paper from the desk and a pencil. Sitting down in the chair, he thought for about two seconds on what he wanted to write to her then started scribbling it down. He told her everything that he and his crew had been up to, even how they were now sailing with the Heart Pirates. It took him almost two hours to get everything written down. But when he finally finished, he folded up the papers and tuck them snugly into an envelop. He then held the letter out at arm's length. "There! All done! She's going to be so excited when she finally receives this! I wish I could go see her!"
Luffy hummed at that idea. He lowered his arms and looked up at the ceiling. "I wonder if we could go see her. I don't think her home island is that far away from us. I'll have to ask Nami. Yeah. I think I will. I really want to go see her. But I'll still send my letter since she'll get it before we arrive."
Luffy placed the letter down on the table and stood up. He paused for a second, wondering if he should tell her that they were going to come see her. "Naw. I'll let it be a surprise."
With a firm smile and nod, Luffy left the library. The letter remained on the desk, spotlight in the moonlight falling in through the window.
...
Pratt rushed forward just as Eri slumped in her chair. He grabbed her shoulders and leaned her back against the backrest before looking her over with concern.
"Don't tell me your worried about her," Jaq said. "She's a job not a friend."
"She might be a job, but she needs to be handled with care," Pratt said. "We need her to talk, correct? If she falls out of her chair and busts her jaw or something-"
"All right! All right!" Jaq snapped. "If you want to baby her then go right ahead! I'm not going to stop you!"
"Will you two stop shouting?" Mitch asked. He glanced down the hallways to see if anyone was coming despite the gas they had used on the entire household. "We might have used gas to put everyone to sleep, but that doesn't mean someone else won't come in here."
"He's right," the boss said. He placed the white cloth back into his pocket and headed towards the door. "Mitch, gather up some up some of her clothes. Pratt, you carry the girl since you're more concerned for her safety than anyone else. And, Jaq, you grab her wheelchair."
"We're taking her wheelchair?" Jaq asked, tilting his head like it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "Wouldn't that give her a way to escape?"
"On the island we're taking her to?" the boss asked. "You know it's impossible for her to escape from that island. She won't even be able to get out of the mansion since it's not build for a wheelchair."
"Then why the chair?" Jaq asked.
"It so she can take herself to the bathroom and shower," the boss said. "Unless you want to take care of all that? You know, carry her from room to room?"
"No thank you," Jaq said. "I'm not a babysitter."
"Then it's settled," the boss said. "Now hurry up and let's get out of here. That gas usually knocks people out for several hours, but it does effect people differently. And there's still the chance of people coming here. We don't have enough gas left to knock many more people out."
"Right, boss," the three men chorus.
Mitch wondered over to Eri's dresser. He ran his hand over the colorful design of it before finally opening he top drawer. Running his eyes over her underwear, which he eyed carefully and in enjoyment, before turning and grabbing a suitcase out of her closet. He paused to look at the dresses hanging inside of it. They all were clearly suited for dances, fancy dinner parties, and regular parties so he decided not to take them. Instead he gathered up the necessities of underwear, bras, socks, shirts, pants, one pair of shoes, and a couple skirts then her hairbrush off her vanity. Shoving them all into the suitcase he had.
Pratt carefully lifted Eri out of her wheelchair. With her head resting on his shoulder, he walked her towards the bedroom door while Jaq folded up her wheelchair and followed after them. Avoiding the slow moving elevator, they hustled down the stairs, then dashed out of the house, leaving everyone behind and no trace of who took Eri.
The moon light up the entire island that night. But having scouted out the island before hand, the boss easily led his little crew through the shadows of the trees and buildings on the island. Not a single person saw them wondering through the night. Not a single person saw them load up the unconscious girl onto their ship and sail off into the night.
...
Pratt started to walk Eri into the ship but paused. He turned back to his boss and asked, "What exactly are we going to do with her until we get to the island?"
"I'm going to keep her sedated," the boss said.
"Is that a good idea?" Pratt asked. "Won't it hurt her in her condition?"
"Man, you are far too concerned about her," Jaq said with a roll of his eyes. He turned the helm, steering them south of her home island.
"She won't be in any danger," the boss said. "Like you said before, we need to take care of her. So go ahead and put her in the room I designated for her. I'll be in soon to check on her and her vitals."
"Yes, sir," Pratt said. He then entered into the ship. The ship was redesigned last year specifically for this particular mission. Their boss didn't want to really treat Eri like a prisoner since they needed her to be strong and healthy for their plans. So he redesigned the ship a bit to allow her to sleep in a room that was now on the main level of the deck. This would also give them easy access to her and easily be able to notice if she tried to escaped despite the chances of that being extremely low, especially with the boss keeping her sedated until they got to their hideout.
Mitch followed Pratt into the ship while still carrying her suitcase in one hand and pushing her wheelchair with the other until they entered her room. As Pratt carried the girl over to the bed, he carelessly dropped her suitcase of the floor and abandoned her wheelchair as quick as he could before walking back out of the room.
Pratt released a low growl and frowned at the treatment his crewmate did to her belongings. But he didn't say anything. He knew from past experience with these guys they did what they wanted. There was no point in him speaking up in situations like this. So he just laid her down on the bed then gently pulled the blanket out from underneath her. As he laid it over her, he couldn't help but let his eyes drift to her face. He let his eyes carefully examine her as she slept. He couldn't help but notice that she really was rather attractive like the man at the bar had said she was. Her blonde hair was naturally light, her skin was a beautiful pale color probably because she didn't spend much time out in the sun, her nose was perky, her eyebrows naturally thin, and her hands small and delicate. He also noticed that she would have made a very lovely dancer since she clearly had a lot of natural grace. If only she could dance. In that moment, he, for some reason, really wanted to see her dance. He wanted to see if she really was as gracefully as she appeared to him and not noticing his hand reaching out to stroke against her cheek.
"I hope you're not really getting attached to her," the boss then said from the door. "You know that's not a good thing to do in our line of business."
Pratt jumped. Realizing he had been staring at their prisoner for several minutes, he pulled back away from her with warm cheeks. "N-no, sir. I'm sorry. I just got lost in thought. That's all."
"I hope that is all," the boss said. He walked over to the bed with a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff in his hands. He sat down on the edge of the bed when Pratt stepped away from it. He first used the stethoscope to check her breathing and heartbeat before using the blood pressure cuff.
Pratt opened his mouth to speak, but quickly cut himself off. He was already accused multiple times of caring far too much about this girl. He didn't want to add to that by asking how she was.
"She's just fine," the boss said, easily sensing his subordinate's unasked question. "Her heartbeat and breathing are normal. While she's out, I'll monitor her closely for any changes."
"Yes, sir," Pratt said. "Are there any orders for us?"
"Just the typical ones," the boss said as he stood up from the bed. "Keep an eye out for ships, pirate, civilians, and Navy alike. Since we're sailing at night, we shouldn't run into anyone. But when the sun rises that could change. It should be smooth sailing between here and our destination. We've sailed these waters enough to be able to dodge all the hazards. And since we pulled off taking her without any problems we should arrive at the hideout a little ahead of schedule."
"Yes, sir," Pratt said.
...
The next day when Luffy got up he had an overwhelming desire to go check on the letter he had written Eri. He had no idea what possessed him to do this. He's never checked on them before. But he did this time. Quickly jumping off his bunk, he dashed for the door.
"Good morning, Luffy," Nami said when Luffy ran out on the deck.
"How did you sleep?" Robin added. Both women blinked in confusion when Luffy just ran passed them without a word.
"That was highly out of character," Chopper said. "Where do you think he's going?"
"He was acting strange early this morning as well," Sanji said while stepping out of the kitchen. He rested his arms on the railing and looked down at his friends.
"You're tell me," Usopp said when he stepped out of the men's quarters. "He toss and turned practically all night long."
"That's not like him," Nami said.
"He came out on the deck too," Sanji said. "He was upset about not writing Eri for a while."
"That got him upset?" Nami asked. She tilted her head like she couldn't believe or process the thought.
"I told him to go ahead and write her," Sanji said. "He did then went to bed. I have no idea why he's like this now."
The Straw Hat pirates then exchanged looks. None of the knew what else to say about their captain's odd behavior.
...
Luffy ran all the way back to the library. His heart jumped into his throat when he saw the letter he wrote to Eri was still laying right where he left it. He walked over to the desk. Staring at the letter for several minutes before he finally picked it up. "I don't understand. Why is it still here? Did something happen to her?"
Luffy's heart took a sharp throb in his chest. He spun on his heels and bolted back for the deck. Once he reached it, he almost plowed into Nami. He grabbed her shoulders and said, "Nami! You have to take us to Eri's home!"
"What?" Nami asked before her vision became blocked with white. "Huh?"
"The letter didn't leave!" Luffy shouted. "It's still here!"
"What are you talking about?" Nami asked. She pushed Luffy away from her, finally able to see the white blocking her vision was an envelope.
"The letter I wrote to Eri didn't go to her!" Luffy said.
"Clearly," Nami said. "You have to mail it, Luffy. You know? With a mail bird?"
"What? That's not how our letters get sent," Luffy said with confusion clearly in his eyes.
"What are you talking about, Luffy?" Chopper asked.
"We never use mail birds," Luffy said.
"You can't be serious," Nami said.
"Of course I'm serious!" Luffy said. He pumped his fists up and down in annoyance. "We just write letters and then their gone!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Robin said. "How can you just write letters and then their gone?"
"I don't know," Luffy said, turning his eyes to the dark haired woman. "They just are. It's always been that way."
"That doesn't make a lick of sense," Usopp said. He then took the letter from Luffy and looked at it. "Letters just don't disappear. You have to mail them. Look, you didn't even put an address on this letter."
"That's because we don't use addresses," Luffy said.
"Come to think of it," Usopp said, lowering the letter from his face. "The ship doesn't have an address. And we only get newspapers from the mail birds. How have you been sending Eri letters?"
"I already told you!" Luffy shouted. "We write them and then they just go to the other!"
"And we told you that doesn't make any sense!" Usopp said before smashing Luffy over the head with his fist.
"You make it sound like they just disappear on the wind," Sanji said.
"I think they do," Luffy said. His crew then started laughing, but for Robin who held a curious look on her face. "What are you laughing for?! This is serious! Something might have happened to her!"
"Calm down, Luffy," Nami said after forcing herself to stop laughing. "I'm sure she's just fine. You've clearly just forgotten to mail the letter. You can do it later. Sanji's about got breakfast ready for us."
"No! I don't want to eat!" Luffy screamed, causing all of his crewmates to gasp at him for turning down food.
"You don't want food?" Usopp asked. "Now I know something's wrong for sure! Chopper! You're the doctor! Check him out! Luffy's sick!"
"Quick! Someone take him to my office!" Chopper screamed.
Usopp then grabbed Luffy and bolted for the doctor's office.
"Is something wrong, Robin?" Sanji asked when he noticed the odd look on the woman's face.
"No," Robin said with a small smile. "It's nothing."
Sanji blinked. He clearly could see it wasn't nothing. Something was on the dark haired woman's mind. But from past experience he knew she won't open up about anything unless she wanted to. So he let it go and stepped back into the kitchen to finish up breakfast.
...
Usopp slammed the rubber man onto the bed then stepped back for Chopper to examine their captain. "So what is it, Chopper? Some life threatening illness? A high fever? The plague? Are we going to lose our beloved captain?"
"I'm not sure," Chopper said as he continued examining Luffy in every way possible. "His heartbeat is a little high. But that could be because he was yelling and running around before."
Luffy tried to mumbled around the thermometer in his mouth but wasn't able to.
"Just relax, Luffy," Usopp said dramatically with tears running down his cheeks. "You're going to be fine. We have Chopper, Tra, and Neo to help heal you. You'll be all right. Oh, please, let him be all right."
"I'm still not finding anything," Chopper said. He pressed his stethoscope to Luffy's chest again. "It might be a good idea to have Law and Neo take a look at him."
"I don't need to be looked at," Luffy said after spitting out the thermometer. "All I need is to go see her."
"Well, where does she live?" Nami asked, stepping into Chopper's office.
"Why would you want to know that?" Usopp asked.
"If she doesn't live to far away from our current location," Nami said, "we can go see her."
"Really?!" Luffy asked with a smile.
"Sure." Nami nodded.
"Great!" Luffy cheered, jumping off the bed. "She lives on Pax Island!"
"All right," Nami said as she turned and headed out of the room. "I'll check my maps and see how far away the island is."
"That's so great!" Luffy said as he followed after Nami. He followed her all the way into her navigation room. He bounced around while she looked through her maps. "Well? Well? Well?"
"Give me a minute, Luffy," Nami said, flipping through a couple more maps. "I know it's here somewhere. Ah! Here it is. And it looks like we're..."
"We're what?" Luffy asked. "We're what? Tell me! Tell me!"
"From my calculations we're about eight days away from Pax Island," Nami said.
"So we can go see her?!" Luffy asked.
"Why are you asking me that?" Nami asked giving him a smirk. "You're the captain. If you want to go see her, then we're going to go see her."
"Yes!" Luffy cheered. He bounced around the room before running out to tell the others. "We're going to go see Eri!"
"Hold on, Luffy!" Nami said as she chased after him. "You need to discuss this with Tra first! We are still sailing with the Heart Pirates after all!"
Luffy barely heard her. But once he got to the deck of the ship, he grabbed a hold of the railing and flung himself over to the sub's deck. He then ran into the already open door of the sub that someone had opened at some point. He made his way into the galley where everyone was currently eating breakfast.
"Hey, Straw Hat," a couple Heart Pirates greeted before turning back to their breakfast.
"What's up, Luffy?" Neo asked as Law frowned at the intruding pirate from behind his newspaper. "You look a bit frazzled. Is something wrong?"
"Yes!" Luffy yelled.
"Don't scream like that, Straw Hat," Law said, laying the newspaper down on the table. "Just tell us what you want. We're a bit busy here."
"And that's why we need to go see her," Luffy said after telling Law and his crew what he told his own crew. The entire Heart Pirates stopped eating and looked at the young captain before slowly turning their eyes back to their breakfast and murmuring amongst themselves about Luffy's sanity.
"You can't be serious," Shachi said. "You want to go all the way to Pax Island because you didn't mail your own letter?"
"I didn't mail it because I never have before! I already told you that!" Luffy said.
"That just doesn't make any sense," Penguin said. "Letters just don't disappear on their own."
"We're going!" Luffy insisted. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Straw Hat, we don't have time to running around and chase after silly things like this," Law said. "We have more important things to do. Like take down Kaido?"
"But we're already doing that," Luffy said. "Besides, we're not really doing much right now anyway. And it's a short trip."
"Eight days isn't a short trip," Law said with a frown.
"It's not that long," Neo then said. "And to make it even shorter I can use my wind and water crystals to push us along. I can at least cut the travel time in half."
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered before wrapping his arms around Neo's shoulders from behind her. "I knew I could count on you! Neo can use her crystals!"
Law released a disapproving growl for the suggestion of Neo using her crystals for such an extended amount of time, but mostly it was for Luffy hugging his love. "Release her at once, Straw Hat."
"Not gonna happen," Luffy said. "So, are we going?"
"Fine," Law said with a reluctant sigh. "But Neo is not going to use her crystals constantly. I'll work on a plan for that later on how much she's going to use her crystals to push us along. For now, let's just sail the regular way."
"Right!" Luffy cheered.
"Would you like to join us for breakfast, Luffy?" Neo then asked.
"Naw. Sanji already has some of my favorites prepared. I'll join you for lunch though," Luffy said. He lowered one of his hands to her rounded stomach. "Good morning, baby. How are you today?"
"Baby's just fine," Neo said with a smile.
"That's great," Luffy said before he headed towards the door. "I'll go tell my crew we're heading to Pax Island. See you later."
"Later, Luffy," Neo said while the rest of the crew mumble their own goodbyes to the Straw Hat captain.
"He's so insane," Penguin said once the younger captain was gone. He then turned to his own captain and added, "How did you put up with him during Punk Hazard and Dressrosa?"
"It wasn't easy," Law grumbled.
Neo couldn't help but giggled at Law's sour face as he dove back into the morning newspaper. She said, "Well, with Luffy around it's guaranteed that we'll never get bored. I wonder if something happened to his friend."
"Are you worried?" Penguin asked.
"Not really," Neo said. "But I can't help but be a bit concerned about his story on how the letters just disappeared after they wrote them."
"You don't actually believe him, do you?" Bepo asked.
"I'm not sure," Neo said, turning her eyes to their navigator across the table from her. "Something about it just sounds familiar, but I can't figure out why it does."
"Perhaps it was a similar plot in one of the many books you've read," Tero said from the next table over.
Neo turned her eyes to the man. "Perhaps you're right. I've read a lot of fantasy books after all. And they're just plagued with magic. Anyway, Bepo, after breakfast let's get headed in the right direction. Be sure to collaborate with Nami before hand."
"Aye aye, Captain Neo!" Bepo chirped happily.
"Hey," Law protested with a smile. "It's my job to order the crew around like that."
"It's my job to since I'm your co-captain," Neo said with a wink at Law. "So what are you going to do about it, lover?"
"Well, for the order I'm not going to do anything since you are the co-captain," Law said. "But for sassing me, I'm going to punish you later."
Neo bit her lip in an attempt to keep herself from blushing at the sexual thought Law passed to her mind through their bond. She said, "Great. I can't wait for my punishment then."
"You two," Penguin said with a snicker. "Sometime's I wonder why you two even come out of your room."
"Or how they haven't broken condoms before and ended up with a dozen kids by now," Shachi added.
"Hey!" Neo protested, her cheeks now burning red. "We're not that bad!"
"Yes! You! Are!" the entire crew said simultaneously.
"Oh!" Neo pouted while Law just chuckled.
...
Roughly two and a half days later, the four men and unconscious young woman finally arrived at their destination. The men took in the island that hid their hideout, feeling like they were returning home after a simple vacation. While pulling into the small cove that hid the small dock to the island, Jaq expertly guided their ship into it with ease. He said, "It's finally good to be back here. I've missed this place a lot for some reason."
"It hasn't changed a bit," Mitch said, running his eyes over the rocky walls of the island that towered over them. It was the perfect location for someone like them to hide out. Not many sailed in this direction. And even if they did, they always passed right by it because of the rocky design of the island. The rocks were so big no one noticed that in the middle of the island was a lush paradise and a mansion. There was only one way, unless you could fly, to get onto this island. And that was at the entrance they just came through. One opening in a certain rock on the south side of the island lead into the docks that they themselves put in after discovering this place four years ago. No one ever noticed it was there since it was well hidden. If you didn't know what you were looking for, you never would find your way into the island.
"Rocks tend to stay the same, moron," Jaq said with a hearty laugh.
"I know, stupid," Mitch shot. His lips curled into a smile. He was use to being called names by Jaq. It never bothered him. It was just the way they were together.
"All right," the boss then said. "Enough of that. Let's get the girl and get inside. We're all a little tired after that trip."
"I second that," Jaq said as he and his two crewmates entered into the ship to gather up the girl and her belongings. Like before Pratt was the one who carried Eri, Mitch grabbed her clothes, and Jaq pushed along her wheelchair. Together they made their way to the gangplank of the ship. Walking down it until they reached the wooden dock below.
"Looks like we made it just in time," Pratt said when a raindrop fell onto his face. He looked up at the sky. The clouds were turning grey from the incoming storm. The salty air become warm and thick as they moved along the docks. The rain then started coming down. It wet the rocks around them, causing the air to fill with a metallic smell of the rain mixing with the dirt and rocks.
"Hurry up," the boss said. "I don't want her getting wet."
"Right," Pratt said. Carefully placing his feet one after the other, he made it off the deck and into the forest before it started raining harder. The leaves gave them enough shelter to keep them all dry as they made their way through the thick forest. After about three minutes of walking, they came to a small opening that lead up to the five story mansion that had became their secret hideout in the past few years since they found this place. Their boss ran up to the doors and opened them for his subordinates to run in. They all stepped into the dark house together. It lit up when their boss started to turn on the lights. The light washed over the room, revealing it's large space filled with rectangular tables along the walls and paintings of an island being blown around by the wind. Right in front of the main doors was a grand stair case leading up to the next levels. Pratt sighed at seeing the stairs. Their boss decided that Eri was going to be held on the top floor, the fifth floor. He was going to have to carry her all the way up there. Luckily, she only weighted about a hundred and ten pounds. So, without complaint, he made his way to the stairs and started walking up them. Jaq and Mitch followed him.
Jaq complained the whole way for having the lung her wheelchair up the stairs. "I can't believe I have to take this thing all the way up these stairs."
"Look on the bright side," Mitch said as they rounded the stop of the stairs only to come to another set of staircases. "This is the only time you have to carry that thing. Once the boss get's what he was, she'll be out of our hair for good. We won't need her anymore."
"True," Jaq said. "I just hope he notices when she awakes to her abilities and gets her in the bracelets before she takes off on us."
"There's nothing to worry about," Mitch said. "First things first, we have to get her to believe she actually has this ability. Besides, I think he's going to put the bracelets on her when she wakes up and only take them off when she trains."
"Finally!" Jaq said when they reached the top floor of the mansion. He dropped the wheelchair down on its wheels.
"Careful!" Pratt hissed.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Jaq spat back. "It's just a stupid chair!"
"One that she needs to get around with!" Pratt said. "She's completely helpless without it!"
"Oh, look who finally grew a backbone," Jaq said, noting the harsh glare in Pratt's eyes.
"Shut up!" Pratt said. "We've already been over this with the boss! She needs that wheelchair! Unless, you've changed your mind about carrying her around!"
"No way I'm carrying her around," Jaq said. "We've already been over that too."
"Then stop treating her wheelchair like it's some useless, extra piece of luggage you can just throw around carelessly," Pratt said.
"Fine," Jaq said.
Mitch rolled his eyes. His fights with Jaq were always more on the playful side of things. But Jaq and Pratt's fights were always more heated when Pratt actually spoke up. Often he wondered how they even managed to pull of their jobs with how different these two men were and how often they argued. The men then entered into the fourth room down the hall.
Pratt laid Eri down on the bed. He paused, wondering if he should cover her up or not. He pressed his hand to her arm, feeling her skin. She was slightly cool to the touch. So he grabbed the smaller blanket that was folded down at the foot of the bed and covered her up with it. He paused again in suddenly realization that this room was set up exactly like her room back in her home. Once you stepped into the room, the bed was on the left side, about ten yards from the door. The closet and bathroom was on the left side of the room as well. The dresser they had for her was on the right side of the room with her new vanity and a small elevator that once was used for laundry was going to be used at times to give her meals so they wouldn't have to walk all the way up here every time. And the window was straight ahead of the door with a small sliver of a view of the ocean through the tall trees and a broken rock face. Beside the window was a round table with two flower pattern armchairs. And paintings depicting an island on the wind decorated the walls. The only real differences were the colors of the room, the small elevator, table, chairs, the paintings, and it didn't have a balcony. He kneaded his eyebrows in concentration and confusion. How was this possible? How did their boss know exactly what Eri's bedroom looked like? Did their boss somehow make his way into Eri's home without them or anyone else knowing about it? Or was this just a coincidental? After all there was only so many ways you could decorate a room. Whatever the answers were, it gave him a cold chill through his entire body just thinking about it. He knew their boss was a dangerous man, but he didn't really get the whole view of that until this mission. Kidnapping a helpless girl in a wheelchair? They might as well have kidnapped a child. It bothered him. And it was bothering him that he was second guessing his boss. He never had a reason to before. So why was he now?
"All right," the boss said, making Pratt jump and bringing the man out of his thoughts. All three of the men turned and looked at him. "Now that everything's settled up here, you all can get settled in as well."
"Great," Mitch said.
"Yeah," Jaq said with a slight pout. "We should have brought some of those bar women with us. It's going to get lonely out here."
"Like you didn't get your fill of them at the bar," Mitch said with a chuckle. He then elbowed his friend in the arm. "You slept with every single one of them."
"It's not my fault they were so attractive," Jaq said with a triumphant grin. "Am I right, Pratt? You slept with the most attractive one."
"I didn't sleep with her," Pratt said as his cheeks heated up. "I'm not so free as you three are."
"Are you serious? You didn't sleep with that hot chick?" Jaq asked in disbelief.
"That's right," Pratt said firmly. "I didn't sleep with her. She was nice and all, but I didn't like her."
"You are such a looser!" Jaq said slapping his hand over his own face. "How could you turn that woman down?"
"Because I didn't like her," Pratt said again.
"Whatever, man," Jaq said with a shake of his head. "Sometimes I think you're still a virgin."
"And so what if I am?" Pratt asked. He crossed his arms over his chest. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a virgin."
"Whatever you say, man," Jaq said. He shook his head and headed out of the room with Mitch by his side. They mumbled to each other as they went.
Pratt sighed. He knew they were talking about him. They always did. But he stood by his beliefs. He didn't want to just have sex with any and every woman that he passed by.
"You did good in standing your ground for what you believe," the boss said. "It's one thing that I really admire in you."
"Yeah, thanks," Pratt said. His eyes then fell back down to Eri. "How long will she sleep now that we've arrived here?"
"She should be waking up in about two hours," the boss said. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to make her something to eat. I'm sure she'll be hungry by then."
"Sure thing," Pratt said. He then moved her wheelchair closer to the bed so she could reach it if she woke up before any of them got back up here. After that, he left with his boss.
...
Eri opened her eyes two hours later. She closed them upon seeing nothing but a blurry blob. A small groan passed over her lips when she felt her head feeling heavy with fog. She reached up and placed her hand on her face, trying to piece together what happened to make her feel this way. A gasp left her mouth when she remembered what happened. Those strange men entered into her room and she could see her guards passed out on the floor. She pushed herself up and looked around. She knew she wasn't home anymore but also couldn't help but notice the room was very similar to hers. "What? Where...where am I?"
"You're currently in my hideout on the sea," a voice said.
Eri followed the sound of the voice. She found a man sitting in the room with her. He was sitting at the table with his right leg crossed over his left. His cowboy hat was over his eyes so she couldn't see his face until he lifted up and looked at her. She twitched when he did. His right eye was damaged, blinded from a scar that ran over it from his forehead down to his chin. His left eye was a piercing, hallow black color that eyed her like she was some price he had just won. "I'm glad you are awake now. Do you have a headache or anything? I only used a small amount of sedatives on you so you shouldn't have anything wrong. But if you do, let me know."
Eri remained silent.
"You're going to have to speak up at some point," he said. "We have a lot to talk about after all. And I'm not one for playing games or dragging things out. So let's get right down to it. I brought you here for a specific reason."
Eri swallowed. She wanted to ask what for, but it was obvious he was going to tell her. Part of her wanted to know why he took her. What was it that she had that he could possibly want? But then another part of her didn't want to know what he really wanted. Either way, she was about to find out.
"You have a very special gift, Miss Azure," he said. "And I'm fairly sure you're not even aware of it. Do you know what that gift is?"
Eri didn't reply.
"You have the ability to control the wind," he said.
"W-what?" Eri said. "That's...that's not possible. I have never eaten a Devil Fruit."
"It's not a Devil Fruit, Miss Azure," he said. "It's more of a talisman type thing. And you're wearing them right now." He tapped his right ear when she gave him a confused look. "Your earrings."
"What?" Eri whispered. Her hands lifted up and she touched her earrings with the tips of her fingers. "That's...that's not possible."
"Oh, but it is, I assure you. And do you know how I know?" Without waiting for her to answer, he reached into the breath pocket of his shirt. Pulling out a small book, he opened it and lifted out something before holding it up for her to see. It was a silver leaf. "This is a Silver Leaf. It can detect talismans and other objects that come from Anemone Island. The island that's hidden in the winds."
"An island hidden in the winds?" Eri asked. "You can't be serious. No such island exists. It's impossible."
"Oh, it's very possible, Miss Azure," he said releasing his hold on the leaf.
Eri all but gasped when the leaf flew from his fingers and over to her. She watched as it circled around her a couple times before landing on her shoulder and inched towards her earring. She was so focused on the leaf that she didn't even notice the man getting up from his chair and walking over to her until he reached out and plucked the leaf from her. She jumped, startled from his closeness.
He chuckled and pulled away without a word.
Eri swallowed, her pounding heart slowing in her chest. Finding her voice again, she asked, "Then why not just take the earrings and leave me alone?"
"I'm afraid these particular talismans don't work that way," he said as put the leaf back into the book and shoved it back into his pocket. "It was a gift giving to you. Only you can use it."
"You could have," Eri paused before continuing, "just killed me and took them."
"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that either," he said. "The talismans from this island can only work when they are given to someone as a gift. They won't work if someone steals them or kills the person who wields them."
"That can't be true," Eri said despite a part of her believing his words. But why did she believe his words? She's always had these earrings, but she couldn't recall who gave them to her.
"Oh, it's true," he said. "You know it's true. You just haven't come to realize it just yet. You don't remember. But you will. In time you will remember everything."
"Remember what?" Eri asked.
"I can't tell you that," he said. "I can only tell you that I'm going to start you on how to use the talismans. Eventually, you'll remember what you have forgotten. Until then..." He paused. With a sudden swoop of his hands, he clasped a golden bracelet on each of her wrists. "These will prevent you from escaping once you've learned how to use your talismans."
Eri grabbed at the bracelets in an attempt to pull them off, but they wouldn't budge.
"Don't even bother to try and take them off," he said. "They are talismans too. Talismans that the wearer cannot take off themselves. And no one here is going to help you take them off. So be a good little girl and obey me. We won't have any problems as long as you do. And I get the feeling that you won't complain much. You, after all, aren't the type to tell people how you really feel."
"What?" Eri's eyes shot to his. How could this stranger possibly know that about her?
He chuckled. "Don't give me that look. You're easy to read. You've pretty much remained quiet this entire time instead of yelling at me or demanding me to let you go." A tap at the door stopped him from continuing. "Yes, come in."
"I've got her food," Pratt said when he stepped into the room. His eyes landed on Eri. "Hi, I'm Pratt. Are you hungry?"
Eri just blinked at him.
"She won't answer that," the boss said. "Just set it on the table. If she's hungry, she'll eat once we're gone."
"Okay." Pratt nodded. He walked the tray over to the table and sat it down before turning back to the other two in the room to quietly observe them.
"Well, we'll leave you alone now," the boss said. "I'm sure you have a lot to think about. We can talk more on this later after you've had a chance to process everything that's happened so far." He then lead Pratt towards the door. Before closing the door, he said, "From this point on you can just call me Boss. Until later, Miss Azure, enjoy your new home. You're going to be here for quite a while."
Eri watched as he closed the door. Once she heard their footsteps fading down the hall, she threw the cover off her and pulled herself into her wheelchair. Rushing over to the window, she pushed it open. After locking her wheels in place, she grabbed a hold of the windowsill and pulled her body onto it. Another gasp left her lips when she saw how high she was, five stories high with no way to escape. Her heart thudded hard against her chest when her eyes pulled away from the ground and around the rest of her surroundings. She saw nothing but rocks towering over the trees. Only a small sliver of ocean was visible to her from here. And there was no way anyone would be able to see this building from it. She was trapped here. She was still a prisoner. Only this time a prisoner of strangers with a bizarre story and no familiar surroundings. Her heart took a couple sharp beats in her chest. Her family. Her guards. Her arms weakened. She pushed herself back into her wheelchair before she could lose her grip and fall to the floor or out the window. What happened to her family and guards? Did those men kill them? Or did they just knock them out? When they woke up would they have any idea who took her? She didn't even know who took her. But someone did. Someone back home had to have seen something. Surely they did. Her heart broke. Even if they did, they wouldn't have anyway of knowing where she was. She could easily tell from what she saw of the island that no one would even know this house was here. She knew these men brought her here just for that purpose. They had her trapped. They had her as their prisoner.
She wanted to scream out in frustration but stopped when she remembered a way to get help. "Luffy!"
Pushing herself away from the window, she began to search the room for a pencil and paper. All she needed was one pencil and one piece of paper. But her hopes were soon dashed. There was nothing. Not even a small piece of scrap paper in this room. Her only hope of getting helped was shattered. Warm tears flowed over her eyelids and down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands and cried.
