Author's Note: Hello everyone! So sorry about the wait on this one, school has been kicking my butt... I hope you all enjoy the update!
To sarge1130: Thank you for all of your reviews! I love reading all of your interesting comments :) See you next time!
To JinksDjay: Indeed XD Lots of cute stuff to come!
To Maria5501: Thank you so much! Nami and Law are such opposites (Bellemere too) so it's going to be great XD Thank you for always reviewing and I hope you enjoy the update! See you next time!
WARNINGS:
- Some violence
- Dubiousness
- Mermaid Club
Teach sighed as he looked over his newly acquired kingdom, cold eyes scanning the once bright and lively city. He definitely preferred Raftel quelled and dark, less annoying. Though, managing such a large kingdom was proving to be more of a challenge than he'd originally thought.
Naturally, Teach's first order of business was cutting ties with neighboring nations. After all, his Raftel had no need of alliances and friendly trade. They could take care of themselves. Unfortunately, the next step in his plan was…delayed, thanks to a certain sorcerer's magic not working.
Doc Q insisted there was nothing wrong with the trident or its plethora of dark magic, and yet it hadn't done what he was promised! Ace still resisted him and since his idiotic subordinates lost the second prince, his very important hostage, there was nothing Teach could do to make the fiery Royal behave! He would use Dragon, but the former King's ancient magic kicked in not long after the battle ended (likely because his life was seriously in danger) and sealed the Mer inside a cocoon of pure light crystal.
Dragon was still technically a prisoner, but what good was he if Teach couldn't reach him! For now, they'd put the crystallized and hibernating Mer in the dungeon so Doc Q could work on breaking the crystal apart.
'The magic worked fine on his brother, so why not Ace?' Teach mused while straightening the plates at the dinner table, 'It was a different type of magic, but if anyone should be resistant to dark magic, it's a silver-scale. So why…'
He was drawn out of his thoughts when Burgess arrived, towing Ace along beside him. The crown prince snarled and snapped at his captor, struggling against the enchanted shackles holding his arms behind his back. As always, Teach was taken aback by the beauty of Ace's tail, its stunning color and impressive power.
"Ah, Ace, come join me!" He greeted with a smirk, chuckling when the young prince growled at him, "Lafitte prepared your favorite so please, don't hold back." Burgess dragged Ace over to the chair to Teach's right and wrapped a second chain around the prince's torso, securing him in place.
Teach began to eat once Burgess stepped back, tearing into the fish and assorted meats with gusto. Ace simply glared at him. Taking a succulent piece of meat, Teach held it up to his prisoner's face, scowling slightly when he turned his head away.
Though he didn't miss the way Ace eyed the meat hungerly.
"You know, if you would behave, I could take the chains away."
Ace snorted and flicked his tail up, hard. Hard enough to blow most of the food up and into the churned water.
"Go to hell, Teach. I'll never submit to you."
He sighed, wiping food off his chest. Even as a prisoner, Ace's spirit simply wouldn't falter.
"What a waste of good food…" Teach muttered before swimming in front of the crown prince and grabbing a fist full of his raven hair so their eyes met, "You can't resist me forever, Ace."
"Watch me, asshole." Ace spit with a sneer, showing off his sharp teeth.
Teach glowered down at the young Mer, frustrated. He wanted Ace by his side more than anything, but it was obvious his current techniques weren't effective. Releasing his hold on the prince's hair, he motioned for Burgess to take him away.
As he watched the prince be dragged out of the room, Teach ground his teeth together.
What to do…
"I want to come."
Law huffed at the little merman's insistent tone.
"Luffy-ya, I'm sorry, but I can't bring you, it's too risky. Plus, you'd be stuck in the cooler for hours which isn't exactly healthy."
"B-But I'm a Mer! It makes sense that I should go to a meeting about my kind!"
"No."
"I'll be quiet!"
"It's not happening, Luffy-ya."
The tiny creature jutted his lip out and stared into Law's eyes, begging. While it was certainly adorable, it wasn't enough to convince the doctor to bring an actual merman to a Mermaid Club meeting.
Law knelt down next to the coffee table, so he was a little closer to Luffy.
"I've already called Cora and he's going to come and watch you while I'm gone." Luffy sunk down slightly in his bowl, eyes watering and small body quivering.
"P-Please don't go, Torao…"
Law felt like a monster listening to Luffy's little sniffles and hiccups, but unfortunately, there was no way he could take the merman out…not safely anyway. He reached forward and cupped the tiny creature in his hands, moving him to a towel next to Luffy's bowl.
Bringing the now bundled up Mer prince to his lap, Law rubbed a finger over Luffy's hair and back soothingly. He didn't say anything and just let the little merman bask and enjoy the contact. Soon, Law had a snoozing Luffy in his lap, curled up in the towel.
One thing he'd discovered was that his new house guest was very needy. Luffy thrived on social and physical interactions. It was getting more and more difficult to leave him behind each day.
About fifteen minutes later, Cora arrived and took Luffy from him, promising to keep him damp and eventually return him to his bowl.
After a relatively short drive to the community center, Law stood in front of a very gaudy sign that read "Mermaid Club", reconsidering his decision to come. Was he really going to do this…?
"Ah…Hey!" An energetic voice called out from behind him, "You're that guy from the other day!"
Law turned around to see the red-haired clerk from the pet store smiling at him.
"Oh, hello again." He greeted politely, "Er…I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"Shanks, it's a pleasure." The man stuck out his hand and shook Law's vigorously, "How's that fish of yours doing?"
"G-Good…thanks for asking." Law replied, stumbling over his words a bit. Maybe he was imagining it, but Shanks' eyes seemed to turn silver for a moment as he looked intensely at him. The red-haired man was smiling but…it was intimidating.
As sudden as the feeling of unease came, it left as Shanks led him into the Mermaid Club's room with a bright grin. Apparently, the clerk was one of the main sponsors and contributors to the group.
Unsurprising considering his impressive knowledge of marine life.
Inside the room, a few people had already arrived, though Law honestly wasn't sure how many to expect. Shanks immediately took charge and sat him down in one of the chairs arranged in a circle before saying,
"All right, looks like most of us are already here, so let's begin! First of all, we have a newcomer with us today, so let's all go around and introduce ourselves."
The first to introduce himself was a strange looking man with a green mohawk and a nose ring.
"Yo, I'm Bartolomeo! Nice to meet ya, uh, tattooed stranger!"
"His name is Trafalgar Law." Shanks interrupted with a chuckle before turning to Law, "Bartolomeo is a graduate student at Goa's own Red Line University. He's studying to be a marine biologist, same as me."
Law returned Bartolomeo's greeting with a thin smile before switching his gaze back to Shanks. How did he know his name? He'd never introduced himself…ah…it had to be on the application Cora sent in, and if Shanks was part of the leadership, it made sense that he would know.
Having convinced himself that Shanks was not a creepy stalker, Law turned to the next member, a woman with pink hair and a ring in her right cheek. She attempted to say something, but the slice of pizza in her mouth muffled whatever she was trying to say.
"This is Bonney, our resident hacker, developer, and food enthusiast!" Shanks put in, "It's thanks to her that we can compile so much research and information on topics of interest."
"What he said." Bonney managed, finally swallowing her pizza, "So…Trafalgar…you a criminal?"
"Pardon?" Law hissed with wide eyes. Shanks laughed and threw his arm around him.
"Sorry about her, she doesn't really have a filter."
"Just curious." Bonney said bluntly, "It doesn't really matter to me or any of us for that matter. We all have pasts."
Law swallowed and nodded, not sure how to respond.
There were two other people to whom he was introduced: Cavendish, a very narcissistic man who is apparently an artist (and an actor, singer, dancer…he went on about himself for approximately fifteen minutes before Shanks cut him off), and Rebecca, a nervous girl with Bonney's pink hair and kind eyes.
"Hmmm…we're missing one person, but I guess he's not coming today." Shanks pondered, looking over some papers on a clipboard, "Well, Bartolomeo, why don't you start us off!"
Honestly, the Mermaid Club wasn't anything like Law imagined. Some of the members were experts in marine biology and had very interesting research and photos to show everyone of fish and spots around the coast where mermaids had supposedly been sighted.
After the more scientific start, Cavendish showed off his newest "piece of beautiful art" that featured a blonde mermaid with a light blue tail, one he claimed to have glimpsed while doing yoga on his family's yacht the day before.
"Our eyes met, and it was as if Cupid struck my heart!" Cavendish exclaimed, "…not with love, no, certainly not love, but with INSPIRATION!"
Law looked over the painting and found himself impressed; it really was quite good. One thing he didn't understand was why the mermaid had such a strange, curly eyebrow… or why her breasts were so unnaturally large.
"Oi…are you sure she looked like that?" Bonney questioned, "The proportions are off and that's not like you."
"O-Of course she did!" Cavendish insisted, "My art is always beautiful!"
Law found himself drawn into the dynamic of the club, chuckling and taking jabs at Bartolomeo and Cavendish, the easiest ones to mess with. Rebecca didn't appear to have much knowledge about mermaids but was interested none the less. Surprising Law, all of them claimed to have seen a Mer at some point in their lives.
"You too, Rebecca-ya?" He asked, making the young woman blush.
"Y-Yes…when I was a little girl, my family went out to fish in our boat, but we were caught in a storm and I fell overboard. I-I honestly don't remember much, but I definitely remember that someone saved me, and he had a beautiful tail."
"Ah!" Cavendish blurted out loudly, "SUCH WONDERFUL ROMANCE!"
"Stuff it, blondie." Bonney chided, elbowing the man in the ribs and motioning for the younger girl to go on.
"I remember he was just a little older than me…" Rebecca continued while wringing her hands together nervously, "and had a silver tail, almost white."
Law swallowed hard, a mental picture of Luffy filling his thoughts.
"Rebecca's had one of the closest encounters of all of us." Shanks informed him, "Say, Law, have you ever seen a Mer?"
He immediately felt like he was being interrogated as everyone's eyes landed on him. Shanks' gaze in particular felt like it was piercing through his soul.
"…no…no I haven't." Law lied, flinching as Shanks' eyes narrowed for a split second.
"Eh, really? That's too bad, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll have your own story soon enough."
The remaining minutes of the club consisted of sharing theories about Mer magic and eating muffins Rebecca brought. Law almost spoke up to ask about curses but decided not to. For some reason, he felt the need to keep a low profile and not draw more attention to himself.
Despite everything, Law did enjoy himself and learned a lot about the current conception of Merfolk. Unfortunately, nothing about breaking curses. Once Shanks ended the meeting, Law said his goodbyes and headed out to his car, ready to go home and spend time with Luffy.
Shanks packed up his things and began the walk home, which was only a few blocks from the community center. Thinking back on his interactions with Law, the red-haired man was now positive the human was hiding something…possibly a certain Mer prince.
'Maybe I should just go confront him? I have his address from the application…'
Suddenly, his phone rang, breaking the silence.
"Hello?"
"Akagami."
Shanks frowned at the familiar voice.
"Any particular reason you're calling me out of the blue? I already told you I'm not helping in your war, not when I have Makino to protect."
"That's your own fault for falling in love with a human, but I digress, every man has his own tastes."
"What do you want?" Shanks pushed, not wanting to spend any more time talking to this man than he needed to.
"The humans have increased their patrol frequency and are getting…nosey. I don't suppose you know anything about it?"
"No idea." Shanks replied quickly.
"Is that so...I can only assume it's due to an increase in Mer migration to the surface, or perhaps they're on another hunt. It's so difficult to tell without all the facts. Humans are fickle creatures after all. Do be careful, Akagami, they can be dangerous."
Shanks huffed, politely (and aggressively) said goodbye, and hung up.
'I need to find out if Luffy really is on the surface before things get out of control.'
It wasn't just the humans he needed to protect the prince from…
Taking a drag from his cigar, a man put his phone away. Akagami was always so secretive. Someday, he hoped to get the powerful Mer on his side.
"Sir, I believe that's him."
Turning to look out the car window, he watched the tattooed human drive up to the apartment complex, get out, and walk up the stairs to the second floor.
"I've connected to the smart TV camera, so we should be able to see inside." His subordinate informed him as he typed away on his lap top. While he waited, the man fiddled with his charmed ring, one of many rings (though those were just decorative), before resting the hand on the cool metal of his hook, where the opposite appendage used to be.
Minutes later, he took the computer and watched a tiny, albino Mer swimming around in a bowl, happy to see the tattooed human.
'So, he really is here…'
He'd know that aggravating smile anywhere.