chapter 4: the conscience sits on the heart

fact: no one knows the exact location of the soul.

The decision to enter the Grand Line through the Calm Belt instead of Reverse Mountain was made by a crew-wide vote, which Law did not hold often. His crew typically trusted his decisions, and democratic decisions only carried their weight so far in times of crises, but the presence of the barnacle and the information she provided threw the crew for a loop. Law was aware of his own biases: the prospect of entering the Grand Line unconventionally appealed to him, and a direct route to Kyuka through the Calm Belt would shave their route down by weeks. Yet, the source of this information and the presentation of their new target in Kyuka still made Law wary. He found Jade convincing but also understood that the reason he did was wrapped in his hope that she would lead him to what he wanted; simply desiring something to be true was not enough for Law to compromise his decision-making ability and consequently the safety of his crew. When it came down to it, his crew trusted him, but he trusted his crew too.

Jade did not attempt to sway them one way or another.

"I'm in no rush," she said. "Going through the Calm Belt can be more dangerous, with more Sea Kings and the occasional Marine patrol too. It's your decision. I was just providing information."

Much to Law's surprise, the crew overwhelmingly voted in favor of going through the Calm Belt.

"We can handle Sea Kings," said Ikkaku breezily, already taking inventory of their torpedoes.

"I just want to get there as fast as possible." The seven possible routes into the Grand Line, decided more by circumstances rather than active decision, horrified Penguin. Knowing the route to Kyuka, however dangerous, was much more preferable than sailing into complete unknown.

By majority decision, the Heart Pirates entered the Grand Line through the Calm Belt with a submarine newly coated in sea-stone, a nefarious captain with the highest bounty in all of North Blue, and a mysterious barnacle who knew better than anyone that shortcuts required sacrifices. She just wasn't going to admit it out loud.

Barnacle duty was somehow Shachi's least yet most favorite assignment. While on the one hand, he was constantly ensuring that he was not overstepping boundaries with Cyclops, no, Barney, no, the hostile barnacle per Captain's orders, no names, no nicknames, no fun!, which made him very stressed because trying not to be friends with someone he sort-of-thought-of-as-a-friend was really hard. But on the other hand, Shachi loved barnacle duty because it usually meant playing a variation of two-man poker with the barnacle, who despite her incredible lack of emotion, was horrifically bad at it.

Shachi had been on barnacle duty five times in the week they'd set sail from Tether Island. Over the five shifts, he'd won over three thousand beli. Jade sat across from him in the mess hall now, the remnants of her dinner eaten by Shachi as part of her betting pool.

"I don't understand," she said, incredulous when Shachi called, yet again, her bluff correctly and won another thousand beli.

"What's there to not understand, baby doll," said Shachi breezily (winning made him a bit of an asshole, not to mention slightly misogynistic). "Your mind's an open book."

"Even your captain would disagree with that."

"Captain doesn't spend nearly as much time with you. Over the last few days, I've gotten to know you so well I can practically read your mind. It's like we're connected, y'know? You only got one eye but that eye speaks of your soul, there's nothing you can hide from me now—"

"Your glasses are reflective, Miss Barnacle," chirped Bepo as he emerged from the kitchens with fried fish on a stick. "He can see your cards."

"Bepo!" cried Shachi.

"Sorry…"

"Roger's jollies and a shit on you too."

"There's no need for that kind of language!" Bepo sat down beside Shachi with a cup of coffee, which meant he was on a twenty-four hour shift because Bepo rarely drank coffee. ("Makes me hyper, and the last thing you want during submersion is a hyper polar bear").

Jade extended her palm outward. "I'd like my money back please, Shachi."

"No way. It costs a fee to be so dumb you'd forget the reflective properties of those appalling mirrors on your face."

"That is so rude on so many levels." Jade sighed unhappily, her cat-eye silver lenses shining in the lamplight. "Fine, you can keep your earnings. I'll just stop playing."

"You could just take off your glasses, you know. Or switch them."

"You first," she said pointedly.

"Fine." Shachi whipped his glasses off, fearless. His eyes took some adjusting in the mess hall's cool yellow lighting—it always surprised him how oddly bright it was in the submarine, though it felt empty.

Jade frowned as she studied him. "And here I was, thinking you had something to hide. You have two eyes, no scars, not even some orbital deformity. Besides being slightly cross-eyed, it's not a bad face."

"I am not cross-eyed! I just have photosensitive eyes!"

"Really?" said Bepo thoughtfully. "Didn't you tell me you wore sunglasses because your first girlfriend told you never to take them off?"

"T-T-That's not true!"

"Pretty sure it is. Think it was back when we were kids, something about you looking better with them on…"

"I swear on Roger's mustache that I will cut you a new one, you traitorous bear!"

"Sorry…"

"Your turn," said Shachi, rounding on Jade.

"To do what?"

"Take 'em off."

"Oh, Shachi." She mock-fanned herself in flattery. "How could I resist such seductive persuasion?"

He scowled. "Stop dicking around. It ain't a big deal, just take 'em off."

"Why?" She collected the cards and began to shuffle. "Everyone's already seen what's behind them, thanks to your captain."

"Yeah, which is why you don't need to hide it. You could play poker and maybe even win."

All he heard in response were the crisp slaps of cheap plastic as Jade shuffled the deck, then laid them neatly into a stack with a bridge. She typically always had a reply, no matter how annoying Shachi was being, so the fact that the conversation seemed to have ended suddenly bothered him more than it should have. He could tell Jade was thinking back to the Confrontation with The Captain and remembered how frightened she could actually be. Shachi didn't need to care about her feelings—he'd been ordered not to—but he felt compelled to assuage her.

"He didn't mean anything by it."

"Oh, of course not," she smiled. "Just asserting his power over an enemy in front of his men. I get it."

"That's not what he was—"

"I don't begrudge him for it, Shachi."

"Sure don't sound like it," he grumbled. "Sounds like you're holding a grudge bigger than Bepo."

"Hey!" protested the bear.

"Admit it, you're getting chunky."

"I have not—"

"It's not that bad, y'know," said Shachi to Jade. Beside him, Bepo began a self-conscious examination of his stomach. "Your eye."

"I've never thought it was bad."

"Then why do you hide it?"

"Oh, come on," said Jade, her voice soothing like she was a masseuse at a spa. "Can't a girl just enjoy a nice pair of sunglasses? These are Lilian, by the way."

"Holy—how much did you spend?"

"Too much," she sighed, tilting her head so Shachi could catch the snake logo engraved on the ear piece. "Far too much."

"More or less than a hundred thousand beli?" asked Bepo, his question pointed.

Jade smiled. "Come now, Bepo. Even I know humans are worth more than designer pieces. At least not designer sunglasses, anyway."

She stood up, pushing back her bench as she did. It groaned in dismay.

"I'm off to bed," she beamed. "Goodnight, gentleman, gentle-bear."

Shachi threw his palm up in farewell. He collected his cards while Bepo, having decided that his belly was a size to his satisfaction, continued to munch on his fish.

"She got you," Bepo said.

"What?"

"She never told you why she hides her eye."

"Oh. Dammit."

"She knows how to distract you." Bepo spat out a fish bone. "Does that bother you?"

"I dunno," muttered Shachi. "I already told Captain but he's been putting me on barnacle duty anyway, more than anyone else."

"He has a reason."

"Yeah, but if I fuck up—"

"You're not going to fuck up."

"Yeah, but if," Shachi insisted, "or if it looks like I'm going to, you gotta let me know. And you gotta tell Captain that I'm becoming a liability."

Bepo nodded. "Sure. But even if you become friends with her, you're not a liability. You're a good person, to be able to be friends with her."

"Tell that to Pen," said Shachi as he crammed the cards into his case and slid it closed. "You should hear the shit he's been giving me since Tether."

"Yeah, well, Penguin and you have always been different," said Bepo wisely. "You both have your strengths. One's not better than the other."

"Sometimes it is," mumbled Shachi. "It's why Captain trusts Penguin most."

"That's not true!"

"Yeah, it is. Like back in the Liodorian Strait—"

"Penguin took command because it was his fault in the first place."

"No, it was mine. I rounded up to the hundredth decimal—"

"It was a cartographical error because Penguin used the hundredth instead of thousandth protractor—"

"Yeah, but as the engineer—"

"Captain put you on barnacle duty because he knows you can handle it," said Bepo firmly. "So trust him, all right? It doesn't matter if you think he trusts Penguin more. He trusts you enough, or he would've removed you from duty. That's all that matters."

Defeated, Shachi stared down at his cards and flipped them over and over in his hand. "I should stop playing poker with her."

"Why? You earned couple thousand beli off her."

"It's all slave money," said Shachi glumly. "She got that from selling a shitty shipwright."

"Captain killed him and the slaver anyway."

"I guess that makes things marginally better."

Bepo patted him on the back. "It'll be fine. I'm gonna go to the navigation room now. Clione's gonna be mad I'm late."

"Bring him a cig and he'll be just fine."

"Ooh, good idea." Bepo got up to leave. "Oh, and by the way, you're wrong about Captain trusting Pen the most."

"Yeah? Think it's me?"

The bear beamed at him, and sometimes Bepo was just so cute when he smiled that Shachi almost forgot that he could kill someone with a small nip to the jugular. "No, of course not. It's obviously me."

Jade found herself spending more and more time just lying on her mattress, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought and wading through her emotions. She wondered if she was entering a depressed spell. It was highly likely. There had been a lot of triggers since she'd come aboard the Polar Tang, and Tether Island had not exactly been easy. Trafalgar Law was still terrifying, and in addition to the stresses of trying not to be (mis)labeled as a threat, Jade was re-entering the Grand Line for the first time in five years. She had every reason to be motivated and excited, but also every reason to be depressed.

She wished she could say that her mental fortitude was too robust to be seriously affected. Unfortunately, Jade's composure was undergoing a slow but steady attrition. She deeply regretted throwing those handcuffs at Law, and the captain seemed hell-bent on making sure she did. Law had not eased up on his persistent surveillance; if anything, ever since she'd thrown those handcuffs at him, he'd become relentless, requiring to eat her meals in the mess hall under full scrutiny, limiting the amount of time she had with video Den-Den Mushi to watch any local news. Once in a while, when she was sleeping, she could hear someone cough in the middle of the night, reminding her that she was always being watched. The coughs were probably intentionally audible, a bizarre form of mental pressure to see when she would crack.

It was growing progressively more difficult to wake up everyday and smile her way through the danger as she normally did. The only respite was when Shachi was on barnacle duty. Shachi interacted with her like a normal person, and Jade sometimes genuinely laughed around him. Cards with him was fun, though even that had ended poorly tonight. She had not expected Shachi's face to be so normal. Jade was almost offended by the fact that there wasn't some atrocity residing behind those screens, but that was silly, because most people who wore sunglasses obsessively had two perfectly functioning eyes anyway. She did not own a copyright on traumatic sunglass use.

She reached for the day's paper and combed through the pages. Something was happening in Alabasta. The prices for crops were at an all-time high, which was never a good sign because that meant famine, and famine was almost always succeeded by war. She didn't know why, how, or when it would happen. She also didn't care. Unless the contact in Kyuka miraculously led her to Alabasta, she had no intention of visiting the country. Nefaltari Cobra was a just and wise king who had stamped out any sign of the underground slaving market early on in his reign—Jade would gain nothing from the visit.

She just wanted to get to Sabaody Archipelago as fast as possible. She wanted confirmation that Joker had gotten her message, that Trafalgar Law was worth something incredible to him, so that when Jade made the trade, being a barnacle with a shit conscience would be worth it.

The Polar Tang skimmed the surface of the Calm Belt smoothly. There were no waves, no uneasy rocking, just the mechanical thrum of the engines and the occasional groan of a Sea King as it wandered close. It was the perfect atmosphere to fall asleep to, but Jade just kept thinking about Alabasta, Joker, Kyuka, Shachi, her eye, Trafalgar Law, sea stone, all the while staring at the ceiling through her outrageously-priced Lilian sunglasses that did nothing to put her world into perspective.

When circumstances allowed for it, the Heart Pirates had a weekly game tournament. The loser of the preceding week got to decide what the following week's game would be, and the choices ranged from Pictionary to Pin-the-Fin-on-the-Sea-King to good ole'fashioned rock-paper-scissors when things were busy, or when Uni just couldn't be bothered with the crew's shenanigans. (Law's personal favorite was "Insurrection," a highly complex cooperative board game involving over fifty moving pieces to emulate the multiple movements necessary to overthrow a dictatorship. He was very good, the dictatorship was almost always overthrown, and the rest of the crew rallied behind him much like in real life. It was great for morale, even though there was never a loser except for the game itself.)

The second week of sailing in the Calm Belt, the game of choice was classic chess, thanks to Penguin who had been gracefully last place the prior week when the game was basketball. (That had obviously been Shachi's selection, and he'd only won because Devil's Fruit abilities were banned and Bepo's body habitus prevented coordinated dribbling.) Much like his captain, Penguin was much more of a creative strategist who preferred holing up in his room drawing maps rather than shooting baskets, so it was no surprise to anyone that the two of them were the final contestants. The last match took place at Law and Penguin's convenience, because no one else cared enough about chess to watch, and because Penguin had never won a single match against Law before.

"We should be in Kyuka soon," remarked Penguin when it was Law's turn.

"Mm. It's been smoother sailing than I imagined, minus the first night."

"We're running low on torpedoes though." Penguin frowned when Law decided not to take his bishop and instead opted for a pawn. "Why'd you do that?"

Law didn't answer the question. "We need to be judicious with the torpedoes. Kyuka is a vacation island—we don't know the next time we'll be able to restock on weaponry."

"Right, I'll tell Ikkaku to be less trigger-happy."

"And make sure Takon isn't putting weight on that left leg of his," said Law. Penguin nudged his rook forward to take Law's knight. "That Sea King took a nasty bite out of him."

"He says it ain't too bad."

"I don't need him trying to play tough. I need him to play smart and not get septic and die. We should've doubled up on night guard duty ages ago. It's not just Sea Kings—we need to watch out for Marines too."

"I almost hope we run into Marines," said Penguin ruefully. "Easy way to restock on supplies."

"Don't jinx us," said Law sharply. "The barnacle said Marines out here are much stronger. We're not engaging unless we have to."

"Aye," said Penguin, sheepish.

Law moved a pawn forward two spaces, trapping Penguin's rook between it and his queen. "How's Shachi doing on barnacle duty?"

Penguin's frown deepened. "Haven't you seen 'em playing poker together?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

"No." Law arched his eyebrow at Penguin when he prodded his rook back. "You sure you want to do that? You're leaving your queen open."

"But then I'll just take your queen."

"And you'll lose your rook too."

"Fine by me," he shrugged. "Why aren't you stopping Shachi? He's been getting nervous, y'know."

"We'll be there to keep him in check," said Law. "It's not a bad thing if the barnacle is comfortable around him. As long as Shachi tells me what she tells him, we'll get a better idea of who she is, where she's from, and what she wants. It's not information I'll get if I just badger her into yielding it."

"You could just torture her."

"As much as I want to, information given under duress is not nearly as reliable as it is if it's unknowingly manipulated out of you." Law took Penguin's rook and added it to the graveyard. "Give Shachi time. She'll give in."

"I guess…" Penguin moved his bishop half-way across the board. "Check."

Law studied the board, thinking. "I want you to piss her off."

"Huh?"

"I want to see how well she can fight. She knifed a Marine in the head and can shoot a gun. Even in our limited spats, I can tell she has decent form. I need to know how capable she is should we run into enemies, or should she end up explicitly becoming one." Law rubbed his chin. He needed to shave. "Asking her to spar won't amount to a true assessment of strength. You need to piss her off enough that she attacks like she wants to."

"Honestly, she's more likely to piss me off than the other way around. Shachi says she never gets upset."

That was false. Law had upset her three times now, and he was very proud of himself for this feat that no one else could accomplish.

"Just try."

"Wouldn't Shachi be more effective?" said Penguin, uncertain. "If he knows her better, he'll know where to target, piss her off easier."

"I thought about that, but it's better if she has at least one person she can rely on in the crew." He moved his rook, taking Penguin's bishop. "Plus, it seems pretty shitty to use Shachi like that. He'd get hurt too."

He retaliated by taking Law's rook with his knight. "Great, now I just sound like an asshole."

"Assholes tend to win." Penguin's king was now unguarded. Law's bishop and knight were already in place. He moved his second rook directly in front of the king. There was nowhere to run.

"Checkmate."

The fight happened late at night, when the submarine had surfaced to take advantage of the moonless evening and hopefully avoid both Sea Kings and Marines alike. In the combined efforts of Bepo and the Eternal Log Pose, the Polar Tang was projected to arrive in Kyuka the following morning. With the exception of some scuffles with truly gigantic Sea Kings, it was the smoothest trip Jade could have asked for, which was why she should've known something would go wrong.

Her sleep patterns, which had been so perfect regimented before, had grown increasingly erratic. Long past midnight, Jade turned listlessly on her mattress, feeling a hollow ache in her chest that made no sense to her because she'd thought she'd carved out that black heart of hers years ago. Still, it kept her up tonight.

It had been Takon's birthday, and Clione had made a massive chocolate cake with buttercream frosting for the crew to share. Jade was not part of the crew and did not expect to be given a slice. She had tried to remove herself from the festivities after dinner, but Law glared her down and so she remained quietly in her seat, feeling awkward and for the first time in a long time, a little sad, because it happened to be her twenty-fifth birthday too, but she wasn't about to tell anyone that.

Then, Shachi took an extra slice of cake, sat right down next to her, and handed it to her.

"Here, have a piece! Clione's great baker but he doesn't make desserts that often, so you're in for a treat."

Jade stared at him. "Um…are you sure? I don't think I'm considered part of the celebratory party. Takon probably wishes I weren't here."

Shachi shrugged. "There's plenty of cake to go around. You might as well."

"But—"

"Cake's cake, Cyclops. Don't overthink it."

She grew emotional for no reason and she knew that Shachi was probably being nice to her only on Law's orders in this twisted mind-fuck of a game they were playing, but Jade wanted to hug Shachi. She didn't, because that would've been stupid, and instead picked up her fork.

"Thanks, Shachi," she said very softly.

Shachi grinned at her. "You're welcome, Cyclops."

Now, alone in her cell, Jade could still taste the buttercream frosting and the perfect texture of the chocolate cake. She had been thankful—genuinely thankful—for Shachi's kindness, and that terrified her. She was not supposed to take kindness at face value. She was not supposed to have friends.

Even though a small part of her desperately wished Shachi were hers.

Jade sat up and slipped out of her cell. Her nerves seared with an anxious energy and her head throbbed. She needed this mood spell to end; she was losing her grasp on her emotions and therefore her concentration, and the journey had barely begun. It was unacceptable.

Jade found herself in the galley, surrounded by the stench of whiskey that a drunk Takon had tried to pour on Law earlier that evening, to poor effect. Clione would be furious if he found her snooping around the dwindling supply closet, but the mess was thankfully empty. She rummaged through the pantry and found the small bag of dried Alabastan peppers she'd bought from Tether Island. Maybe some spice would soothe her, though usually it just reminded her of home, and nostalgia never helped her mood. Still, it was Jade's birthday, and she was going to make herself something so spicy her nose would fall off.

"What are you doing?"

Jade startled and straightened up from the refrigerator with a bowl of leftover rice. Penguin stood at the galley's entrance, arms crossed over his chest, face hidden by his cap. She'd forgotten who was on barnacle duty tonight.

"Hello, Mister Penguin," she said, ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest. "I was hungry. I was going to make myself some spicy fried rice."

"Our supplies aren't yours to use," said Penguin sharply. "Besides, I thought that giant piece of cake Shachi gave you would be more than enough."

Jade's smile was rooted firmly in place. "It was really great cake."

"You shouldn't have had any. You're not part of the crew, I don't know why you thought you could celebrate—"

"I tried to leave," Jade cut in, "but your captain made me stay. If you have a problem with my being there, then that makes two of us. Why don't we go ask him together?"

"Don't blame Captain," snapped Penguin.

"But I stayed on his orders, so…I'm not really sure where else to redirect your displeasure." Jade set down her bag of peppers on the countertop.

Penguin normally pretended she didn't exist, so his determination to engage her in some kind of conversation struck her as odd. He was up to something, which meant Law was up to something, which meant Jade only smiled harder because she would not slip up around him again.

"Would you like some fried rice?" she asked.

"No."

"Then would you like to watch as I made some?"

He grunted something in return, which Jade assumed was a yes. The frying pan soon sizzled with oil, rice, a few sparse slices of sausage, and a hefty dose of peppers. The fumes from the peppers alone made Jade's eye water, but it smelled delicious. Perhaps this would make her feel better—even the smallest task could seem insurmountable when she was hungry. Maybe Penguin would let her eat in peace.

"When'd you start slaving?"

Or maybe not.

"When'd you start pirating?"

"Can you not deflect for once?" said Penguin sourly.

"I just don't understand what it is with you and your captain insisting on this getting-to-know-you gambit. Why do you care?"

"Was it a family business? Or you got kidnapped and forced into the trade?"

"Neither." Jade emptied the contents of the frying pan onto a plate with bluebell patterns painted around the edges. "I used to make a decent living as a customer service representative at an electrical company, except I also had a huge gambling problem and lost a lot of money. I got into slaving as a way to pay off my debts, since it pays great and once in a while I could give away a slave as part of a payment." She found a bottle of hot sauce in one of the cabinets, sniffed it, then drizzled it liberally over her rice. "But I owed a huge debt to this big Mafia leader, and I couldn't pay him back in time, so one night he sent a bunch of goons to attack me, and they gouged out my eye and made me eat to teach me a lesson. It totally worked. I've never been late on a bill since."

"You're unbelievable."

Though Penguin's nasty tone suggested that he was doing the exact opposite of complimenting her, she beamed at him.

"Thanks!"

"You know, if you'd been forced into the trade or someone was blackmailing you now, I'd feel a little bad for you. But nothing you do suggests that you're a slaver out of anything but your own volition."

"That's true," she said, mixing in the hot sauce. "It is my choice."

"Which means that you fundamentally think people are worth less than you because you think you deserve to sell them."

Jade shrugged. "I think some people are worth less than others. Doesn't everyone?"

"What?" sputtered Penguin. "Obviously not!"

"Oh, please, why don't we talk about bounties?" She took her plate of food and headed out into the hall to eat. Penguin dogged her footsteps, scowling all the while. "The whole premise of Marine bounties is that your freedom can be sold. Your captain is literally worth more than you are. Twice as much, to be exact. How is me turning you into the Marines for your bounty any different from me selling you to some random buyer? The rule of this world is if you get beaten, your freedom is forfeit to the victor, and whether you're turned into fodder for the Marines or some creepy asshole isn't up to you."

"The Marines are an institution that represents some kind of order," retorted Penguin. "It's the same premise as prisons—if you don't have prisons in place, then there's nothing to regulate population from committing crimes."

"You're a pirate," laughed Jade. "I don't know why I have to keep reminding you of that—you just constantly seem to forget! You commit crimes all the time! Does the fear of prison stop you?"

"No, but—"

"It's hilarious that a pirate will use the Marines as some representation of order when it's all shit down to its core."

Penguin studied her beadily. "What do you have against Marines?"

"Nothing, really," she answered through a mouthful of rice that burned her throat. "I just mind pirates less. Marines always pretend they have this moral code guiding them just because they've branded themselves that way. At least with pirates, I feel like we're on the same page—no moral conduct bullshit. Or, that's what I usually get." She pointed her spoon at Penguin. "This crew, particularly you, has been an odd exception."

"We're pirates because we had to be. Because Captain wants the One Piece and we will follow him to the end to make sure he's Pirate King," Penguin snarled. "Sure, we kill people sometimes and we fight Marines, but we don't kill people for fun or just because we're bored. We have a bigger goal and a bigger purpose."

"And what makes you think I don't?"

"Because no matter what the circumstance, I don't believe that people's dignities are worth selling. If you beat me and turned me into the Marines, fine. I lost, and I'm supposed to be executed because the way this world works is pirates are outlaws, and executing them is how to re-establish order. It doesn't strip me away of my pride. I can die with my head held high knowing that I fought for what I believed in. But when you sell someone, you take all of that away. You reduce them down to this nameless thing, this beast without an identity or a name, a story or a dream. I don't care what happens. You could never make me do that to another human being."

Jade smiled. "Mister Penguin, is Captain Trafalgar the most important person in the world to you?"

Penguin glowered at her in silence.

"Of course he is," she said. "He's your captain. He's the most important person on this ship, and literally everyone onboard would do anything for him. Let's say Captain Trafalgar was…injured. Kidnapped? And the ransom you must pay is…" She set her spoon down for dramatic effect, "is a slave. Wouldn't anyone on this submarine do that in a heartbeat?"

Penguin didn't answer.

"Or even better," she said thoughtfully, "wouldn't you sell me?"

Still nothing. Jade smiled. The meal had done its job; she was satiated, like the rice had nestled in the awkward ache that Shachi's kindness had carved out. She had no need for a beating, functioning, bleeding heart. She thrived best when it was as black as her soul, when she could run Penguin's morality crises round in circles because the whole purpose of these games was to have not just a shit conscience but no conscience at all.

"You could never make me do that to another human being," she quoted back to him. She giggled. "You should never say you'd never do something. You'll always find circumstances ripe enough to poison your moral high ground."

"Poignant," said a voice behind her, echoing her favorite word to throw around acidly, "and surprisingly, not useless."

Jade whipped around to find Law leaning against the wall, arms crossed, gray eyes gleaming. He had been so silent she couldn't even hear him breathe. He looked like he'd been sleeping, with his hair mussed and his clothes wrinkled.

"I smelled something good and figured Clione was making a snack." Law sat down next to her and eyed her meal, which was so drowned in hot sauce that it looked like she'd bled all over it. "I think I'll pass though."

"How long have you been lurking, Captain Trafalgar?" she asked, careful to keep her voice pleasant. "You should've joined in."

"No need. I tend to learn more by listening." Law made a little nod at Penguin, who grinned back. Clearly Jade had not been wrong about Penguin's interest being a set-up, though for what, she wasn't sure. The moment Law had announced his appearance, all of Jade's self-satisfaction disappeared. Conversing with Penguin was like playing checkers. Even breathing the same air as Law felt like playing chess without a queen. The wiser choice was not to play at all.

"Good to know," she said, pushing aside her leftovers and standing up. "I'm going to just wrap this up for later and head back to sleep."

Law grabbed her wrist and held her still. "Your reflux will be terrible if you sleep now."

"How'd you know about my reflux—"

"I have some questions I want you to answer."

Jade jerked her hand out of his grasp and collected her meal. She had not walked three feet away before she felt an indescribable pressure on her body that lasted nanoseconds and then she was back right beside Law, as if she'd never moved at all.

"What the—"

Her plate disappeared from her hands and clattered back onto the table a split second later. All the hairs on Jade's body prickled up. The hall, normally bathed in a hollow yellow light, was now tinted in blue.

"Sit," ordered Law.

"You can pack it up then." Jade shook off her fear and headed for the exit. "Goodnight."

She blinked, and she was back where she'd started. Bored, Law poked at the remnants of her meal with a spoon.

"We could do this all night, Miss Everly. To make things clear, everything encased by blue is in my Room. Everything in my Room is under my control." He turned to her, the ghost of a smug smirk on his lips. "You included. Now, sit."

Jade remained standing. Her temper was starting to build—she was not some plaything that could be moved against her will. Law's abilities were stupid and illogical and so frustratingly overpowered and vague—"everything in a Room is under my control"—what kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?! She was a twenty-five year old woman who was just trying to find her way in the world by selling a pirate with bad tattoos that blared DEATH all over his fingers, surely that was as respectable a goal as they came!

"I'd like to go back to my cell," she said quietly. "I'm not in the mood for whatever games you'd like to play, Captain Trafalgar. Any questions you have, I'll be happy to answer tomorrow morning when we're in Kyuka. Stop me again, and I will hurt you."

She stalked away. The moment she reached the exit, she felt that pressure again, and she was back right beside Law, and this time, her sunglasses were in Law's outstretched palm.

"I'm the captain of this ship," said Law quietly. "The only person who gives orders around here is me."

Their eyes met, and it ignited a beast that had laid dormant inside her for a long time.

Jade lunged for the plate on the table and threw it not at Law, but instead at Penguin. The rice and peppers flew through the air like bullets painted by blood, slapping Penguin's face with dollops of hot sauce that she knew burned like hellfire in his eyes. As Penguin howled in agony, she slid across the table, taking her knife out of the heel of her boot as she did, and slipped behind the thrashing man to press the blade roughly against his Adam's apple. He tried to elbow her in the stomach, but she blocked it with her left hand and thrust her knife so that it broke skin.

"I said I'd hurt you," said Jade breathlessly to Law. "I didn't say how."

Law's face had lost all of the disinterest that it had before. His eyes were bright and livid with rage, and he slowly got to his feet with the grace of a panther before it struck. Jade knew instantly that she had just signed her own death wish.

"How unfortunate." Law's voice was velvet danger, the curtains in an amphitheater that drew back to reveal a guillotine. "I had pegged you for someone who wasn't stupid, but you've proved me wrong. Any last words?"

You are so STUPID, this is what always happens when we get angry Jade except this time, we're gonna die! You had someone Joker actually wanted, you finally had a useful lead and now, goodbye! Just because you couldn't keep your shit together for one more second—

"Maybe fuck you—"

Her last words—so poignant, yet useless!—were cut short by the submarine abruptly lurching forward with such force that it sent all three of them flying across the room. Jade slammed into the wall and Penguin landed directly on top of her; the collision from both ends sent a sharp electric pain through her entire body that had her seeing black. Gravity hovered, then inverted, leaving Jade's stomach doing backflips and threatening to regurgitate what she'd just eaten. The chairs pummeled toward them and were just about to crash when Law's blue Room flickered and the chairs appeared in the center of the room again. The submarine rocked back in place, fully upright, and the chairs bounced to the opposite side of the hall while the tables, affixed to the floor, looked lonely without their company.

Jade was crumpled on the ground, paralyzed by a splitting headache, possibly concussion, and what was certain to be a vicious bruise along her entire spine the next day. She forced herself to her feet, feeling jolts spread down her legs, but at least she could feel all her limbs and control them. Law and Penguin were already standing, the former murderous and the latter still wiping tears from his eyes.

"We've been hit!" Shachi's voice echoed through the hall. "Starboard, grade two torpedo. No serious damage. I see two vessels, Marines approaching fast with gangplanks. Awaiting orders."

Law reached for the pipe connecting to the communications system. "Initiate defense response. Teams C and D in navigation and weaponry, everyone else on deck to fight."

"Aye. Is our goal to kill them or escape?"

Law glanced at Jade. "Kill them all."

In a flash of blue, Law transported them onto the deck, where Shachi was still shouting into the communications pipe and Uni was already fighting off a Marine who had managed to climb onboard. Bepo emerged from the ladder and immediately head-butted the next Marine straight into the ocean.

"You all right, Pen?" asked Law.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes red and swollen. "I'm fine."

"Good." The captain twisted his hand and weapons appeared in front of them both: the typical nodachi for Law, and a spear for Penguin. "You'll cover me."

Jade, whose temper had evaporated in the face of sure death (twice now), smiled and waved at them.

"So…are you going to kill me now? Later? Should I be running or trying to fight?"

Law unsheathed his sword. "Penguin."

"Aye." Penguin swung his spear at Jade, who dodged and backed out of its range.

"Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly. "Look, I'm sorry about before! I just got upset, I'll make it up to you later! Just let me fight with you—I don't have anything to gain from the Marines."

Law wasn't even listening to her anymore. He swiped his nodachi left and right and the force of his swipes billowed through the air, splitting anything it touched in two. Jade would have been impressed at the sight of an entire Marine ship being bisected if she weren't desperately trying to avoid being impaled by Penguin, whose depth perception was certainly impaired by the hot sauce in his eyes.

"Mister Penguin, just—I'm sorry, okay?!"

"Captain's orders!" he shouted. "Just sit still and die already, would you?"

"I don't want to right now!"

Shachi hopped down to them, gun in hand and interest piqued. "What's going on?"

"Captain said to kill her."

"Your captain said no such thing!" she hollered as she skipped the left and narrowly dodged the tip of the spear. "All he said was your name. It could've meant anything!"

"It meant kill you and feed you to the Sea Kings!"

"I disagree!" she wailed.

"We don't have time for this!" bellowed Shachi. He pointed his gun behind him and shot twice; both resulted in a groan, then subsequent splash as a body hit the water. "We're outnumbered and need all the help we can get. Cyclops, here's a pistol."

"Do NOT give her a weapon!"

"I swear I'm not to hurt any of the Heart Pirates," she promised as she took the miniature gun from Shachi. "I'm here to help!"

"She is going to shoot you in the back of the head—shit!"

A cannonball crashed into the side of submarine, sending Jade over the railings. She grasped blindly for the rail and found it by miracle. The submarine bobbed back into its upright position and Jade flew face first into the side of the vessel, and upon contact, her head exploded in pain. She hung there, tasting the salty steel and waiting for her vision to clear before she pulled herself back over onto the deck at such a pitiable rate that she swore she never again skip arm day. By the time she'd fully righted herself, the deck was in chaos—the Hearts were great fighters, but the sheer number of Marines aboard this deck was uncalled for. Shachi had miscounted; three Marine ships surrounded them, with one flying the flag of a commodore and the other two of captains.

This was a coordinated effort, which meant that they had known the Polar Tang was coming.

Jade cursed and hid in the shadows of the cabins, thinking. Had killing the shipwright's Marine cousin alerted Headquarters of the Hearts' location? But how would they have known they'd make their way directly to Kyuka? Perhaps Otterman tipped off the Marines in his Den-Den call. She'd assumed he'd been alerting Joker, especially since she'd shown up on his doorstep with a poorly disguised Trafalgar Law, but perhaps she shouldn't have assumed anything about Otterman's intelligence.

Either way, this was a shitty situation. Jade had nothing to gain from Marines. She was a slaver (an illegal occupation) among pirates (also an illegal occupation) which meant that if the pirates lost, she would surely be arrested, and therefore the logical choice was run while it was chaotic. But if the pirates won and she'd run, she would've lost a huge opportunity, not to mention Law would likely track her down and dissect her alive.

"Oi, Cyclops!"

A bullet whizzed by her ear, lodging into something behind her. A Marine with an outstretched rapier, freshly dead, fell to the ground with a heavy thud, blood pouring from the single bullet wound in his forehead. Several feet away from her, Shachi brandished his rifle threateningly.

"What're you doing, daydreamin' in the middle of a battle?! Pay attention!"

"S-sorry."

Shachi just shook his head, disapproving, before running up the stairs to the upper deck to find his the next target. Down below, Bepo threw off three Marines in a ferocious roar before battering them in a flurry of elegant kicks. Penguin had given up on his mission of assassinating Jade and was impaling Marines left and right, his spear looking more like a kabob with every passing minute. Law took on an entire ship by himself, surrounded in a blue dome that served as a witch's cauldron full of bizarre components. She could've sworn she saw limbs floating in the vacuum, but how did that make any sense? (The answer was: it didn't. But neither did Trafalgar Law as a composite whole). Marine after Marine fell to his sword, and Law stood untouched, smirking in the piercing blue light of his Room. Watching him fight alone, Jade understood just how much one hundred fifty million beli was worth: the lives of twenty, thirty lesser men, maybe even more.

Figuring that Law was the last person who required any assistance, she followed Shachi to the starboard's upper deck railings. She truly wanted to help, and Shachi was probably the only person onboard who didn't want to kill her. He was an excellent sniper, picking off anyone who came remotely close to Law one by one. Jade seated herself on the staircase and fought in short-range, aiming to cover the only pathway to Shachi.

"Good one!" he shouted when she shot a Marine running up the stairs at them in point-blank range, spraying blood all over her clothes.

"He was running at us."

"And now he's dead!" said Shachi brightly.

"Even a toddler could've killed him."

"Why are you getting toddlers to kill people?!"

She turned to him. "I'm just saying—"

"Oi!" shouted Shachi. "Pay attention!"

He dove in front of her and they tumbled to the edge of the ship as bullets hit right where she'd stood seconds earlier. Jade cursed and curled upward (oh, hello abs!) to face the Marine that had just tried to kill her. He was a stately, short man, with dark skin, graying hair, and cold eyes that had seen too much of the world and found it entirely disappointing. Jade pointed her gun at him and shot haphazardly, but the Marine dodged easily (admittedly her aim was also off) and readied his own pistol, aiming it not at her but instead at Shachi, who had gone still in her arms.

"Shachi," she said shakily. "Shachi, what are you doing just lying there?"

Then, she felt it. Thick, warm liquid pooled over her front and she knew it was blood. She thought they'd dodged, but no, Shachi had taken a bullet for a hostile barnacle and she had legitimately no idea why a cold, callous pirate would do such a thing. The Marine drew closer, and she could hear the cock of his gun.

We're going to die.

The realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. It was not even the first time that Jade had looked Death in the eye today, but she could never grow accustomed to the full weight of her fear. She'd thought she was scared of Law, but this was different because Penguin was right—there was something grand about choosing the means of one's death, and if she was going to die, she wanted it to be at the hands of the Surgeon of Death and not some measly Marine.

"Captain Trafalgar!"

It was a scream that left her lips more like a prayer, one made by the faithless to a god that had no reason to show mercy. But something about Jade's scream must have moved him, for there was a flash of blue and Law appeared right as the bullet left the Marine's gun and disappeared into thin air. Law wasted no time and swung at the Marine. His gun split in two and clattered to the ground, useless, but the commodore grunted and unsheathed his own sword to parry Law's following blows. Jade rolled Shachi onto his back. The engineer was still breathing, thank Roger, and the bullet wound was mid-torso.

"Apply pressure," ordered Law as he ducked a side-swipe.

"R-right." Jade pressed her palms over the wound, and Shachi grunted in pain. "S-Should I remove the bullet?"

"I already did," was the curt reply.

That seemed entirely unbelievable, but sure enough, a small silver bullet rolled out onto the wooden floor beside her.

"Get under cover if you're not going to fight," snarled Law.

Jade obeyed and dragged Shachi into the shadow of the crow's nest, applying as much pressure as she could while trying to maintain awareness of her surroundings. The Marine Law was fighting was different from the other goons; his sword play was skilled, clean, and Jade could tell that Law was having the first bit of difficulty he'd had all night. Steel bit steel in relentless chatter, and with every flourish, Law's Room seemed to flicker. She knew he was multitasking and participating in all battles of the submarine using some kind of otherworldly omniscience, but distracted, Law lost ground, pushed to the edge of submarine.

Jade tore off her jacket and tied it tightly around Shachi's waist, making sure the knot of the sleeves laid perfectly around the wound. She took Shachi's rifle, loaded it on her shoulder, and aimed. She was better with knives than guns, but she'd always been decent with predictions and aim. Besides, no one was going to pay attention to her while fighting the Captain of the Heart Pirates.

Jade's first shot missed the Marine's head narrowly (and also Law's, but she really was aiming for the Marine). It served as enough of a distraction for Law to smash his fist into the Marine's face, forcing him to yield enough ground so that Jade could take a better shot. Her second bullet hit the Marine in the shoulder, and as he reeled from the blow, Law removed his Room and sliced the Marine's head clean off. His decapitated body fell independent of his head, which rolled across the deck and off into the sea, leaving a trial of blood in its wake.

Jade let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Law glanced her way and nodded at her curtly, which she assumed was a show of appreciation.

"You all right?" he said.

"I'm fine, but Shachi…"

"He'll be fine. The wound was small and missed vital organs. I've already anastomosed the arteries to stop bleeding."

"Could your abilities be any more absurd?"

Law just shook his head and opened his mouth to say something else when something whizzed from behind her and lodged straight into Law's leg. The Room that Law had spun out of his palms like cotton candy vanished and Law stumbled backward, collapsing against the railings like a puppet with its strings cut. Jade knew instantly that the bullet had been made out of sea-stone—there was no other explanation for Law suddenly looking like it took every ounce of energy he had to stay standing. Before she could move, a second bullet flew over her head and hit Law again, this time in the shoulder, and the force sent him flying over the rails. She watched in slow motion, Law's body convulsing from the hit, then twisting at odd angles gracefully in an arch over the edge of the ship before disappearing from sight.

There was no one else on the upper deck. Shachi was not fully conscious and the sounds of chaotic fighting on the deck below suggested that no one had even noticed Law fall overboard.

In the time between Law's body disappearing from sight and the splash of it hitting the ocean below, Jade's mind went into overdrive.

He can't swim swim.

Jump, and you will die.

He will die.

You can always find another lead. If you follow him, you can't help him. You're going to die and nothing is worth that risk.

He just saved my life.

He saved Shachi's life, not yours.

Jade rarely ever did anything without thinking it through. Every action had an equal and appropriate reaction—that was the law of Nature, and if Jade let Law die now then not all was lost, something of equal value would assume the vacuum Law left behind, and life would continue as it was supposed to. She was not a heroine.

Beside her, Shachi groaned and stirred.

"Fuck," she whispered.

She heard the splash of Law's body hitting the ocean. Jade stopped thinking, leapt over the rails, and dove into the ocean after him, feet first. When the water hit her like an icy blast, sucking all the air out of her with the sensation of a thousand needles piercing her skin, all Jade could hear was the conscience she thought she'd long obliterated blasting the chorus of the "Happy Birthday" song on repeat.

free talk: lots more jade POV this chapter than before. hoping the pacing of this chapter was okay. thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts!

xoxo,
m.n