Chapter Two
Learning More
"You've gotten slower," Marigold commented as her spear slammed against the floor of the battle ring. Mila dodged to the right, rolling into a protective crouch, only to use her momentum to launch herself at the giant snake.
"Slower? Sorry, I'm just a little distracted," Mila replied, aiming a kick at her sparring partner's head. Marigold hissed in reply, her body swaying to the side, avoiding the attack. It was true, Mila was thinking of other things while training with her friend. Hancock and an exuberant Luffy had left a few days prior for Marineford, leaving Mila to roam the island with Sandersonia and Marigold. Noticing her friend's gloomy mood, Marigold invited her to spar that afternoon, an invitation that Mila accepted despite her thoughts. The Revolutionary knew the implications of the impending execution of Portgas D. Ace; not only would Straw Hat fight to save his brother's life, but Whitebeard would probably call in every favor and alliance to rescue his son. Idiots, Mila seethed internally, the World Government is full of idiots. They were threatening the balance of power by trying to take out a Yonko and for what? To have new and cocky pirates attack all the islands under Whitebeard's protection? The fools are just putting innocent lives at risks by their petty attempt to gain more power.
"No, I think you've just gotten worse," the cobra taunted, fangs glistening in the setting sun. Mila abruptly ended her musings, her eyes narrowing from her position on the ground. Taking the bait, Mila tilted her head to the side, eyeing her friend critically.
"Maybe I'm not paying attention to you because you're no competition for me," she stated lowly, pink lips widening into a dangerous smirk. Marigold's tail twitched in response to the insult, mouth snapping shut. Diving to the side, Mila laughed loudly as a tail barrelled past her, pointed in a Heavy Stick. Sparring with Marigold was always an excellent way to cool off, mostly because she relied on brute force over tact.
"You're getting arrogant," Marigold bit out, pulling out a match and lighting it. She shouldn't be so excited about this, the warrior thought as she studied Mila's grinning face.
"No, just confident," the brunette said simply, pulling her hair up into a pony tail as Marigold transformed hers into snakes. Holding out both of her hands, Mila watched both of them glow an increasingly fluorescent white.
Booming a loud, "Hebigami-Tsuki: Salamander!" as she made to charge, Marigold expertly lit her body on fire, while Mila quickly brought both of her hands together and crouched, her brow narrowing in concentration.
Sandersonia, entering the ring to find her sister and friend, briefly saw Marigold's flaming hair before it disappeared in the blur of her attack. Mila's voice rang out in the familiar call of her signature move right before impact, and instead of Mila flying away from the force, Sandersonia saw an explosion of light and turned her head from the glare. A loud bang echoed throughout the stadium, followed by a resounding thud.
"I thought you two were taking it easy today," Sandersonia commented lightly as she made her way toward the duo. Face-first on the ground, Marigold lay defeated, her flames extinguished and skin tinted a light pink. Wiping her blackened hands on her pants, Mila shrugged.
"She teased me," she said lightly, crouching to poke Marigold in the side. "Hey, wake up. I know I didn't hit you that hard."
"Oh, go away," Marigold muttered into the floor, shrinking into her human form. "You were being moody, what was I supposed to do? And that stuff makes my skin itch. I wish you would quit using it, cheater."
"Whatever," Mila laughed. "You tore a hole in my new shirt, so we're even."
"Anyway," Sandersonia said lightly, hoping to distract them from their little competition, "someone called for you on the Den Den Mushi, Mila. Some man. He said it was important." Any trace of mirth left the Revolutionary's face, and the sisters looked to each other in concern.
"I'll meet up with you two later," Mila called over her shoulder to the two while running toward the palace. She did not wait for a response as she turned and sprinted past the stands. Dodging lounging snakes and crowds of women, Mila quickly made her way through the city. She distractedly returned shouts of greeting from the Kuja, and breathed a sigh of relief upon nearing the palace. Rushing up to her rooms, Mila found the snail on a small table near the bed, and took a moment to compose herself before picking up the receiver.
"It's me," she said calmly after hearing the familiar click, her voice belying her anxiety. "What happened?"
"Whitebeard and Fire Fist are dead," a gruff voice crackled over the line. Her form grew rigid, her hold on the receiver nearly crushing.
"What do you mean they're dead?" Mila questioned, disbelieving her Revolutionary contact's blunt announcement.
"Whitebeard's rescue mission failed. There were casualties," the voice intoned. Mila slumped to the floor, her military persona crumbling with the news. The voice relayed the events from Marineford, detailing the escape from Impel Down, Luffy and Whitebeard's combined efforts, the surprise of Ace's and Luffy's true lineage, the many pirate crews' assistance, Ace's tragic death, and "Red-Haired" Shanks' intervention.
"What happened to Straw Hat?" Mila asked tiredly, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion. She felt the dull thud of a headache each time the voice paused to take a breath.
"Went catatonic at the end. The Shichibukai Jinbe and one of the prisoners got him out."
"Got him out to where?" Mila pressed, irritated. While she understood contacts had a responsibility to deliver brief, accurate information, this one's monotone voice was beginning to aggravate her. If I was back on Baltigo, my men would know better than to give me half-assed reports.
"Supernova Trafalgar Law appeared on scene and offered to provide medical attention to both Jinbe and Straw Hat." This battle was just full of surprises. Yonko, Shichibukai, Supernovas, and Marines all intersected in a fight of the ages.
"The Heart Pirates' captain? Why was he there? That was a risky move," Mila wondered out loud, attempting to decipher the pirate's intention. Mila did not know much about him—only his menacing epithet and his high bounty.
"I don't know, ma'am," the voice responded blankly. "They submerged in his submarine soon after."
"And Boa Hancock?" Mila questioned as she saw Sandersonia and Marigold silently enter her room from the corner of her eye. "What happened to her?"
"She left on a Marine vessel after the battle ended."
"That will be all. Thank you for the update," Mila murmured into the receiver while waving the sisters further into the room. A resounding click signaled the contact's disconnection, and Mila put away the Den Den Mushi tiredly. Looking at the two sisters perched on the floor next to her, she shook her head sadly. "Luffy's brother died, but both him and Hancock should be coming home soon."
"We heard what the person said," Marigold said solemnly. "How do you know they're coming here?"
"Hancock won't go anywhere without Luffy. She probably tracked him down and will bring him here to recover. We all know how ruthless she can be when she wants something," Mila replied with a slight smile, leaning against the wall. Her sparring session and that call tired her out—she needed to rest before Hancock returned.
"Well," Sandersonia tittered nervously, "you should go get washed up. We'll tell everyone to prepare for our sister's return, and we'll have to make arrangements for Luffy, too. But go rest now, we can talk more at dinner."
"Alright," Mila sighed. Slowly standing up and stretching her joints, she saw the two out and decided to sit near her window overlooking the ocean before bathing. The world is going to change soon, Mila thought, critically examining the horizon for any ships, and I'm going to help it change for the better.
Stepping out of the bathroom with wet hair, Mila slowly picked out her pajamas from her meager selection of clothing. Lethargic and contemplative after the warm bath, she collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes tiredly. She tried so hard to put on a smiling face for her friends at dinner to lighten the mood and ease their worry, but she had a feeling they saw through it. Both sisters tended to be very expressive with their emotions, but they could also read people very well.
Mila grabbed her discarded wristwatch from the nightstand, and blinked to focus on its face. It was only eleven o'clock, and she still had midnight oil to burn. As a Revolutionary, Mila picked up the habit of staying up late to finish up missions, assignments, paperwork, experiments, and research, forever screwing up her sleeping schedule. It wasn't uncommon for the woman to stay up until four in the morning and sleep until noon.
Treading lightly toward her bags that held some of her personal belongings, Mila plucked a few inconspicuous files from beneath some shirts and sat cross-legged on the middle of her bed. Arranging them in a semicircle around her, she picked up one to her left and carefully flipped through its contents. Although in between assignments, Mila still brought along some paperwork from Baltigo to catch up on identifying and profiling dangerous, prospective adversaries of the World Government. Finding the correct file, Mila reclined against the pillows to read up on the Supernovas.
She already read Monkey D. Luffy's report prior to arriving in Amazon Lily, but still smiled softly at the pirate's excited face in his accompanying photograph. She turned the page and frowned at the manic grin of Eustass Kid that seemed to dominate the form. She heard about him when visiting an island he previously raided and was pissed to learn he had no qualms about attacking civilians. As someone who devoted her life to protecting those who could not help themselves, his actions did not sit well with her.
Turning the page again, Mila identified her current object of interest. Her eye was drawn to Trafalgar Law's relaxed pose and lazy smirk nearly taunting her in its laxness. His bright yellow sweatshirt displayed his jolly roger, and two nondescript hoops on each ear flashed in the sunlight. However, despite his seemingly composed stance, Mila saw a dangerous glint in his silver eyes. It unsettled her, and she could almost see the intellect, power, and cruelty that earned him the title of the "Surgeon of Death."
Moving the photo aside, Mila read further into his file. Originally from the North Blue, Law was a member of the Donquixote Family before he defected to form his own Heart Pirates. Mila raised her eyes at his connection to the Shichibukai—she always thought it was highly unlikely to get away from Doflamingo after joining his crew. Mila scanned the page more, noting his 200,000,000 beli bounty and strange Devil Fruit power, fitting of his nickname.
There was not much else on the mysterious captain, so she closed the file and placed the rest of them on the side of her bed. Checking her watch again, Mila was surprised to see it read two o'clock in the morning. Time always seemed to evade her when she was doing research. Deciding it was late enough, Mila turned off the light and attempted to fall asleep.
Amid images of snakes, waves, and fire, Mila heard shouting. First distant, the voice became louder and the flames became brigher. She turned her head away from the intensity of both, closing her eyes more tightly.
"Mila-san, wake up!" someone spoke near her ear, quickly shaking her awake.
"No, go away. What time is it?" Mila grumbled, prying the cold hands off of her shoulder. She refused to get out of bed any time before ten—anything below that number was inhumane and just not happening.
"Sandersonia-sama and Marigold-sama left early this morning. They wanted me to tell you that you were right. Hancock-sama called the Kuja's ship and they're all coming toward the island. They'll be here within the hour," a young girl beside the bed stated, biting her lip uncertainly. Sitting up quickly, Mila climbed out of bed and fought off the disorienting effects of sleep. She needed to be alert today. After quickly tugging on some white shorts and a blue sweater, Mila turned to the girl.
"You should tell the rest of the island to keep inside for a while," she said at length. "Hancock is not going to be in a good mood."
AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed the story so far! I appreciate the support, and I hope to receive more feedback about how I'm doing. As for the story, Law will be making his debut in the next chapter, so stay tuned!