(A/N) And the new chapter is here (took me long enough)! I really outdid myself this time, though. It's got over 2300 words!


Chapter 4: Child of the Devil

"Rise and shine, sweetheart."

That voice. NO! B-but Rick said he would wake her up, not the Phoenix. WHY?!

"Come on. You can't sleep forever." Reluctantly, Lexi opened her eyes, only to be met with the sight of his face over the bed. She closed them again and sighed. It was such a great dream, too...

"Where's Rick? And don't call me that."

"What? Sweetheart? But it sounds so nice!", he smirked. "Rick's out, but he got the medical stuff removed. Apparently he promised you he would. So how do you feel? Think you can stand?"

"I feel better than I did yesterday. And I'm not sure if I can stand. I'll find out when I try, I guess."

"Then try", was his answer. He offered her his hand. She didn't take it, just looked at it suspiciously. Instead, she tried to get up on her own. Yeah. Tried. Her legs were wobbly, and she started to fall. Lexi closed my eyes and braced herself for the impact. It never came. She carefully opened her eyes again, only to see the phoenix's amused face right in front of her own. She looked down. Her feet we weren't on the ground anymore. She was in his arms.

"Let. Me. Go. NOW!"

"You sure? OK." Her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do.

"No, wait! I take it back." She was a little too late, though. He had already let her go, but fortunately, caught her again before she hit the floor.

'That was close', she thought.

"I can stand on my own, you know", she said, and struggled in his grip.

"Doesn't seem like it. You might want to make yourself presentable, considering Pops wants to see you", the Phoenix smirked.

"Who?"

"Whitebeard."

"Oh, OK... Wait, WHAT?!"

"You heard me."

"But I don't want to die yet! I have things I want to do!"

"And just what is it that a marine like yourself has to do?"

"One - I don't know when you'll finally get it through that thick skull of yours, but I'M NOT A MARINE! And second of all, I'm not obliged to tell you anything!", Lexi turned her face away from his.

"Oh really? But we treated your injuries, gave you medical attention. I think that's enough reason for you to tell us what we want to know. You owe us."

"No I don't! I wouldn't have been injured if you hadn't attacked those damn marines in the first place!", she deadpanned.

"Actually, it was 'those damn marines' who attacked us."

"I don't care. It's still your fault I got these injuries! No one forced you to attack me, did they?"

"You're a marine -"

"No I'm not!"

"- And I'm a pirate. I don't need any more reason than that to attack you."

"Yes, you do. I didn't do you any harm. All I did was walked out into the open, only to almost be killed by your abnormal blue flames, just for being there instead of somewhere else! I've been kidnapped by bloodthirsty pirates! What did I ever do to deserve this?!" On second thought, there were quite a few thins she had done.. but now's not the time!

"OK, OK, I get it already - you don't want to be here. But unfortunately, you have to unless you want to end up in the sea, most likely drowned. There's no other ship to be seen for miles. Now come on, we're going to the bathroom. The tub's already full of hot water. You think you can cope on your own, or do have to help you?"

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She couldn't help it. She exploded.

"OF COURSE I CAN COPE ON MY OWN! AND JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, ASKING SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" The Phoenix chuckled.

"You have some fresh clothes on the counter inside. There's also two towels there, along with a hairbrush and some other stuff you might need. Rick said you should watch out for your head. Apparently if you're not careful your wound might reopen."

He walked over to a nearby door and kicked it open.

The bathroom was normal enough. Across from the door about seven feet away stood a tub filled practically to the brim with steaming water. On the right was a toilet, and next to it - a sink. On the left was a big counter, about four feet long, and on it stood all the things the Commander had said would be there. Above it hung a mirror.

The Phoenix carried her over time the edge of the tub and helped her sit down.

"Call me if you need anything."

"Like hell I will", she muttered. He left.

Lexi carefully took her clothes off, trying her best (and not succeeding) to keep her hands from shaking. She slid into the water. It felt like heaven! She took the soap from the counter and started scrubbing her skin.

The watered turned a light brown, so she let it drain out and refilled the tub. She wet her hair with the now clean water and poured shampoo over it. Being careful not to mess up the stitches, she massaged it into her scalp. She rinsed her hair again and again, trying to get rid of all the grime and dried blood. When she finally completed her task, she refilled the bath one last time, just to make sure she was clean.

Lexi tried to stand up, but, just like before, she failed. Her legs still felt like jelly. Instead, she moved so she was sitting on the edge of the tub again and let the water out. She took one of the towels lying on the counter and wrapped it around her wet hair, and used the other one to dry off her body. She put the clothes on.

They turned out to be a checkered dark blue and dark green button up shirt, along with black knee-length shorts. She'd have to remember to thank whoever these clothes belonged to later.

The shirt hung off her frame, but fortunately she still had the belt that she wore with her jean shorts, so she put it around her waist. The shorts were also a little big, but she'd manage.

There was a stool she hadn't noticed before nearby. Instead of trying to walk again, Lexi maneuvered to sit on it. It was right in front of the sink. Perfect.

She brushed her teeth first (her breath must have smelled horrible). When she was done with that, she unwrapped the towel around her hair, took a brush and started trying to get rid of all the tangles. It took a while, but when she was finally done she couldn't help but admire her work. She looked presentable, in her opinion at least.

"Hey, you still alive in there?", came a voice from outside the door.

Lexi gritted my teeth. Just when she had managed to forget the situation I was in...

"I'm alright", she answered. Her voice was still raspy. She'd have to ask for a drink later. And some food, too. She was hungry again.

"Are you going to take much longer?", the Phoenix asked.

"No. In fact, I'm finished", she answered.

"Can I come in?"

" I wish I could say no, but unfortunately I need some way to get out of here, seeing as I can't move on my own", she replied, frustrated at herself.

"I wonder how much longer I'll have to carry you around." She could practically hear him smirking.

"Hopefully not much", she muttered under her breath.

She turned around, only to come face-to-face with the Phoenix himself. She backed away out of surprise. Thank goodness the sink was behind her, or she would've fallen off the stool.

"When did you come in?" After all, she hadn't heard the door open or anything.

"Right after you said I could."

Really? He sure was quiet. Like a ninja... Maybe worse.

"You look much better than before." A statement of fact, I assure you.

"Good to know." She had left her curly hair down. It reached her shoulder blades, and her bangs covered part of the left side of her face.

"I don't think I've introduced myself-", the Phoenix started to say.

"Yeah, there wasn't exactly the time for that", Lexi cut in, remembering the events that had occurred on the marine ship.

"My name is Marco, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates." He held out his hand.

"I know, I saw your wanted poster enough times in my life. Lexi. Lexi May." She shook his hand.

"Should we go now?"

"Do we have to? Can't you just let me go already?"

"Not a chance", he smirked again.

"Fine, then. Let's get this over with", she sighed. Hopefully they'll let her go sooner or later. Probably later, though. But she had to admit, they were being pretty nice to her. At least for the time being.

The Phoenix scooped her up into his arms again. She blushed. She hated close contact with strangers. Why, oh why was she not able to walk on her own?!

"No, wait! Hang on a second! Where's my cap?!" Why hadn't she noticed it was gone sooner?

"The marine cap? It's on the table next to the bed in the other room."

A table. Really? There was a table in there? Who knew?

Her stomach growled, reminding her of the fact that she needed food. And water. Can't forget the water.

"How about we get you something to eat first?", he proposed.

'Yes!' she wanted to scream, but instead she just nodded her head. It's not like they were going to poison her or anything...right?

"Do you want to go to the galley? Or should I bring you something so you could eat here?"

Lexi blushed at the thought of all those pirates seeing her in their commander's arms and shook her head fiercely. OK, bad idea. She groaned, and her hand flew up to her head as it started to hurt. The Phoenix set her down on the bed and waited for her headache to subside. Or at least, that's what she though until she looked up and saw him standing in front of her with a bowl of soup in his hands. Seriously? Soup? Again? Why did Rick have to tell him? What she wouldn't give for a nice juicy steak right about now...

He gave her the bowl. This soup was different from the one she had yesterday. This one had small chunks of meat floating around. Finally something solid!

The Phoenix's eyes were cool and calculating as he watched Lexi inhale the food.

Whatever happened, she couldn't forget that this man was a pirate; even if he was being nice to her right now, if he wanted to he would kill her without a second though.

When she was done she put the empty bowl on the bedside table (Oh! So that's where it was!).

Lexi was suddenly scooped up off the bed and into someone's arms. Her eyes widened in alarm, but she relaxed a bit when she realized that the person must be Marco. Weird. That's the first time she actually used his name. Up till now it had mostly been 'the Phoenix'. She grabbed her cap right before he started walking away. He kicked open the door and walked into a long hallway.

To her surprise, it was empty. Should it be? Where did all the people go?

The deck of the ship was large . Bigger than average. Way bigger. And there were people here! People, who started backing away as soon as they saw them. Why would they do that? It's not like they're scared of her, are they? No, that's impossible. Why would they be?

Marco brought her over to a large chair - almost like a throne - in the middle of the deck. And on it sat the strongest man in the world.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Whitebeard. This was really him. He sat there, looking at her. His eyes made her feel like they were penetrating her very soul.

"Pops", the Phoenix greeted him.

"Marco. So this is the girl?"

"Yeah." Lexi stayed motionless in his arms, looking to see where this would go. Whitebeard turned to a man standing nearby. She hadn't noticed him before.

"Ace, go get the other commanders." Ace... wait, "Firefist" Portgas D. Ace. Whitebeard's Second Division Commander. Why did he have to go get the other commanders, though? Lexi gulped. She probably wouldn't survive this.

Marco carefully set her down on the floor and sat down right next to her.

Firefist soon came back, along with fourteen other people. The one that caught her attention most was the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch. He was the only one of the group who was smiling; everyone else had solemn expressions on their faces. Did she do something wrong? Other than trying to escape with her life from their First Division Commander, of course.

The commanders sat down around them (her and the Phoenix) in a circle (huh?).

Marco stood up, pulling Lexi up along with him. She stumbled, but before she could fall he put one arm around her waist, and took her arm and put it around his shoulder.

"What's your name, girl?", Whitebeard asked. She looked at him with big frightened eyes. The words got stuck in her throat somewhere on their way to her mouth.

The Phoenix nudged me lightly.

"Lexi", I squeaked out. "My name is Lexi May."

"Lexi. So that's the name of the daughter of the Devil himself."

She stared at him like he was crazy before-

"What the hell?!"


(A/N) And that's that. You enjoy it? I hope so.

You finally found out what Lexi's power is (well, more or less anyways). BTW, she's 19. Just thought you might want to know.

I really appreciate the reviews. It's nice of you guys to post so much of them in such a short amount of time.

Oh, and the next chapter will be out sometime next week. Unfortunately, it's going to be shorter than this one.