AN: Hey! I just wanted to let you guys know I made a soundtrack for this fic. You can find it here
www. 8tracks offbook/an-apple-a-day (remove spaces)
Elena scrubbed hard at her skin, trying her best to enjoy the hot water despite the circumstances. She didn't know what to make of the strange man who had rescued her, she wasn't sure if she trusted him. With any luck the next island would be close by and she could leave his presence, something about him sent shivers down her spine. Maybe it was the word DEATH tattooed on his fingers, or maybe it was the cocky look he wore. She was under his control and he knew it. He was right though, her only other option had been floating aimlessly in a slowly sinking rowboat. Elena didn't know a lot about the sea, but that didn't seem like a good idea.
She had forgotten that a bullet had grazed the boat as she left the island, by the time she realized it the water was already pooling around her feet. She had scooped up some of the floating seaweed and stuffed it as tightly as she could into the small hole which seemed to work for the time being, she had been so exhausted she had fallen back asleep and forgotten about the entire thing. Until the man woke her up that is. Law, thats what he said his name was.
She stepped out of the shower, feeling truly clean for the first time in a long time. She reached for a towel to dry herself with and put on the boiler suit that the man who had shown her to the showers had given her.
When she looked in the mirror she tried not to wince, she had few scrapes from her escape but she looked sickly. The boiler suit hung off her, it was made for a man and it didn't help that Elena could count her ribs on a good day. Her eyes were sunken in and there were dark circles underneath them. Even though her hair was washed, it was still matted and unhealthy looking. Although she was disgusted with the image in the mirror, she felt a strange sense of pride. She survived. She had lived. She gave her reflection a small smile before she cracked the door to the bathroom open.
"Ah, your done." A voice said from next to the door. Elena jumped, startled at the sudden voice. She turned to see a dark haired man in a white boiler suit just like everyone else wore. He also had on a hat with the word 'penguin' on the front.
She finally registered that he had spoken to her and she nodded quietly. "My name is Penguin, nice to meet ya! The Captain asked me to take you to the dining hall when you were finished."
"Uh…thanks…" she said slowly. He nodded as though he didn't notice her hesitation and began to walk, motioning for her to follow. She didn't say anything else during their short trip to the dining hall, but Penguin was constantly pointing out this or that on the sub.
Elena stopped paying attention when she got to the dining hall. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she looked on with wide eyes at the wide assortment of food that lay on the table. Dario and his men had dinners like this almost every night, but she was usually left with scraps. Sometimes she wouldn't eat at all if he was in a bad mood. She didn't complain though, the other girls were fed even less than her.
"Nice of you to join us. Come, sit." The dark man, Law, said. He was sitting at the head of the table and gestured to an empty seat.
All around the table sat men dressed in the white boiler suit she had seen. She recognized the redheaded man who had shown her to the shower, Law, and a polar bear she had noticed briefly as she came aboard. Elena had never heard of a talking polar bear before, but she was a little too intimidated to try asking it any questions.
All eyes were on her, an uncomfortable feeling washing over her as the men just blinked at her. A feeling of panic began to well up in her gut, normally she had Dario to protect her. He was an awful man who deserved to rot in the deepest pits of hell, but in his eyes she was his property and his alone. He never allowed any of the other men who visited to try anything funny with her, but that wasn't the case now. She was alone now.
She almost scoffed at herself, she didn't miss Dario. Not in the slightest, but at least she knew if she kept him happy she wouldn't have anything to fear from the terrifying men that traversed the halls in search of a girl to quench their needs. As bad as his abuse was, at least she had been fed (however little) and clothed (however ratty).
"If you are all quite finished, I'd recommend picking your jaws up off the floor and returning to your meals before Bepo eats it all."
She was snapped out of her thoughts as the doctor spoke. The men almost immediately went back to their food, resuming their chatting as if nothing had ever happened.
She stiffly took the seat that Law had pointed at, in between a very large man and the redhead. She kind of just stared at the food for a moment before the redhead spoke.
"Aren't you going to eat?" He asked.
"Am I allowed to?" Elena responded.
He gave her an odd look, "why would we bring you in here if you weren't allowed to eat?"
She gave a small shrug as she slowly reached for some of the food, glancing at him as if he might change his mind. He just continued to give her a strange look as she put food on her plate. The staring battle stopped once she had something on her plate, she then proceeded to shovel food in her mouth. She tried not to choke as she stuffed as much as she could into her cheeks.
"Whoa, slow down! No ones gonna take it from you!" The redhead said, holding his hands up. She noticed she had garnered not only his attention, but the attention of the big guy on the other side of her and just about the entire rest of the table, including Law. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but she slowed down.
One by one the men began to leave the table and excuse themselves either to bed or to perform other duties. She sat there, unsure of what she should do, until it was just herself and the doctor. She shuffled uncomfortably as he stared at her with cold grey eyes.
"So, why were you in a rowboat in the middle of the sea covered in blood that wasn't yours?" He asked, putting his hands behind his head as he propped his feet up. She froze, unsure of how to answer. Should she tell him? What if he decided to bring her back? He must have seen the panic in her eyes, but he continued to look at her expectantly.
"I…I was being held prisoner…I escaped…" She said. That was true enough, she had been held prisoner.
That seemed to pique his interest. "Prisoner? What did you do?" He asked her, his tone sounded like he didn't really care but she could see him sharply looking at her.
"I didn't do anything!" She defended. "Well last time I checked, the Marines don't hold people prisoner for being law abiding." He said with a note of contempt.
"I wasn't held prisoner by the Marines." She answered, the Marines had sat back and allowed it to happen but they weren't the one holding the gun. Law nodded, but thankfully didn't pry any further into who exactly held her captive.
"And you managed to escape with only a few scratches?" He prodded in a different direction. Elena didn't want to tell him about her devil fruit ability if she could help it, so far it was her only weapon.
"I'm a skilled fighter." She lied. This caused him to let out a barking laugh as he stood up.
"I'm sure. Follow me, I'll show you where you can sleep."
Elena slowly stood and followed, the food in her stomach wasn't sitting well with her. She had eaten a bit too much, but she was just happy not to have the gnawing feeling of hunger in her stomach. She walked behind Law as he led her through the maze of a ship, she was unsettled as she saw the fish swim by the windows. She had seen this man use devil fruit powers, was he not worried that he was completely surrounded by his biggest weakness? Because it freaked her out.
He finally stopped at a door and took out a key, unlocking it. He walked inside and ushered her in, inside the small room was a simple bed and night stand. It wasn't much, but the bed looked especially appealing to her right then.
"Bepo used to stay here when it was just him and me. He has since moved in with the rest of the crew." Law explained, Elena nodded although she had no idea who this Bepo guy was.
"We will reach the next island in about two days, we will drop you off there."
As he turned to leave she stopped him.
"Why did you help me?" She asked. She was truly curious, she had noticed he wasn't exactly the most hospitable person ever. So why would he help her?
"You caught me on a good day" he said with a smirk that sent a bad kind of shiver down her spine. With that he shut the door behind him and she was alone, but not before she heard a soft click. With wide eyes she strode over to the door and tried the handle.
He had locked her in!
Law was still smirking as he locked the door. The girl, Elena, intrigued him. She had said she was held prisoner, she hadn't said for how long but that could explain why she didn't seem to know who he was. She would have had to be a prisoner for a very long time in order for that to be plausible. It also explained her behavior at dinner, she had been eating so quickly he was surprised she hadn't choked on her food. Almost as though if she didn't eat it as quickly as she could someone would take it from her.
Not to mention the fact that she seemed to have escaped with very minimal scratches. She said she was a skilled fighter, but Law wasn't that stupid. The girl was skin and bones, even if she had been a proficient fighter at one point she didn't have the muscle or stamina to back it up. She had to have gotten out another way.
He briefly considered that she had escaped without being seen, but the fact that she had been covered in blood contradicted that idea. She had seemed very interested in his devil fruit and how it worked, but so far she had shown no signs of having one herself.
He shrugged as he walked back to his own room. She wasn't going anywhere locked in like that, and even if she somehow got out and decided to pull something over on him he was certain his crew possessed the brute strength necessary to contain her.
He'd have to give her a full physical in the morning, maybe that would explain something.