Hi All! Long time no read. Sorry for the delay, but here is a new chapter! Hopefully I will be posting more frequently, but no promises due to school. Thank you all so much for the reviews! They make my day and I start jumping up and down like a kid in a candy shop. Seriously, they make my day. Thank you so much for the favorites and follows as well. Seeing that you guys enjoy this story makes me so happy I have trouble putting it into words. Now enough about how I feel, I hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to leave me some love and tell me how I am doing!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
Enjoy!
Chapter 8
It had been a few days since Law and Hexe's encounter, but both continued on as nothing happened. They still trained every night and prepared their plan. Hexe sat in a room with books lining the walls and piled on the floor. One would think this was Hexe's dream room, but unfortunately, these were all research notes which she did not find interesting. In front of Hexe was a large map of the island with various facilities' location. She had been looking over pre and post-incident maps to see where some now forgotten places might be. These could be used to their advantage if no one knew about them. Passages from various rooms and buildings, old storage buildings, and abandoned labs could all be useful information. The problem was that Hexe was having difficulty focusing as usual. Her mind would think of Law but quickly reminded her of her friends and what happened every other time people got close to her. Instead, she tried to keep her mind blank while studying the map and putting her fingers in her hair.
A sigh escaped her lips in frustration as her fingertips brushed over the burning side of Punk Hazard. Hexe sat up suddenly, narrowed her eyes, and leaned closer to the map. In the burning lands, a box was drawn to represent a building, but it had an "X" over it with the words "Off Limits" under it. This made Hexe's face scrunch in confusion, and then she began flipping through other maps. The map of Vegapunk and the Government's original facilities: a building in what was now the burning lands. The map of right before the incident: a building utilized in the burning lands. The map after the fleet admiral war: same building still standing. Most recent map: same building but instructed not to go to it. Hexe furrowed her eyebrows in thought.
"That building has been here the whole time. Why not use it now? What is he hiding there?" she quietly asked herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by her name being called over the intercom system. Hexe groaned, and slowly stood up to go to the main room to see Caesar.
Hexe walked down the hallways to the main room, and when she entered she saw Monet in her usual spot and Caesar sitting on the couch.
"What do you want?" Hexe asked in an annoyed tone when she entered the room.
"Have a seat. We need to talk," Caesar said calmly. Hexe raised an eyebrow but didn't feel like dealing with Caesar today. With a sigh, she walked to the other couch and sat down.
"Okay. I am sitting. What do you want?" she demanded again. Caesar gritted his teeth at the snarky girl.
"I want to kill you, you aggravating brat, but I called you here because someone wants to talk to you. Monet, make the call," the pink one said. Hexe only tilted her head at Casear's words.
"Alright. Good to know you are still a pink fluffy dumbass, but if nothing important is going on I will be-" Hexe went to stand up but couldn't finish her thought.
"Hello Hexe," a maniacal voice came from a transponder snail. Hexe froze at the voice.
"Doflamingo," Hexe said curtly, which resulted in a laugh from the other line.
"I hope you aren't giving Caesar too much trouble, but I am calling because I have a task for you," Doflamingo said. Hexe had her head down so her eyes were covered by shadows, but they were filled with anger and hate. When Doflamingo heard no answer he continued,
"I have heard that there have been some intruders on the island recently and you took care of them. The problem is that I need the SAD protected at all costs, so I am putting you in charge of making sure nothing happens to it," he said with a chuckle at the end. Hexe's eyes got wide at his words but were hidden in shadow.
"I would rather not," she said in a completely calm voice that was contrary to her anxiety on the inside. Doflamingo let out a bone-chilling laugh at her comment which made Hexe look up finally.
"Did you not hear me the first time, girl?" he taunted. "It's an order. Are you going to follow it?" he said. Hexe couldn't see him, but she could tell from his tone he was smiling and licking his lips.
"Yes. I will protect the SAD," Hexe said with no emotion.
"Good. That's what servant girls should say," he laughed, and Hexe gritted her teeth. She wanted to burn down this entire lab and go wipe that smile of Doflamingo's face right now.
"Is that all?" Hexe asked with an annoyed undertone.
"No," he answered. "Keep me updated on the SAD, Caesar," he said and was followed by a click. Hexe could feel anger swirling around her from the conversation with Doflamingo, and it was only intensified by Caesar's reaction.
"Sholololo. Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Caesar taunted. Hexe was unamused and gritted her teeth.
"You aren't either fluffy, remember? Watch your mouth," she hissed. The smile didn't disappear from his face though because watching the girl get pushed around was satisfying for him. He decided to continue the fun by giving her another task.
"I have a task for you as well. I need you and Law to do a sweep of the island, specifically the burning lands. When you go don't kill the dragon though. Got it?" every word he said hung in the air taunting Hexe. She didn't want to do anything this dumbass said, but also, she didn't want to see Law. After their experience and now this order from Doflamingo that threw a wrench in their plan, she just wanted to go back to her room. Hexe raised her eyes to glare at Caesar before speaking.
"I will make you pay for this," she threatened in a cold voice. Caesar laughed before turning to Monet and asking her to summon Law. This was going to be a long day.
Snow fell, and the wind whipped as Law and Hexe made their way to the lake to get to the burning lands. Hexe had her hands shoved in her pockets with an emotionless look on her face as she walked in front of Law. No words were spoken between the two of them as they walked through the cold. The witch would act relatively normal around Law, but it was the same Hexe as when he first arrived: completely cold and blocked off. Law wasn't sure what to think of everything that happened the other day. On one hand, she had a point and he didn't want to let anything get in the way of his goal. On the other hand, he had already come to the conclusion that she wouldn't be a hindrance to his plans. To top that off, even though Hexe wouldn't admit it, they both had feelings for one another. He could tell when they were in her room that she felt the same way he did, but she was pushing him away for some reason. As these thoughts ran through his head, he kept his hat down to shield him from the wind which hid his eyes from view at the same time.
Hexe stopped walking once they were to the lake and glanced back at Law. Without saying a word, she lifted her hand which was followed by a rumbling sound. At the sound, Hexe turned around and watched a strip of earth rise from the bottom of the lake to make a path across.
"We wouldn't want you to fall in again," she said coldly without turning around and began to walk away. Law only glared at her and followed her across the newly formed bridge. Once across, Hexe motioned her hand down and the bridge disappeared.
Everything was on fire and Hexe and Law started sweating immediately.
"This is stupid," she said as she took her jacket off due to the heat, and Law followed suit. All the buildings were destroyed and burning which left the area looking similar to an apocalypse environment. "Let's go," Hexe said curtly to Law and walked off. Law could only sigh at the stubborn girl and follow her, but that didn't last long.
"We should talk about what you said," he said to her.
"There is nothing to talk about," she answered without turning around. Law could only shake his head at the girl.
"You know there is. I know that what you said was only an excuse for something else," he stated calmly. Hexe gritted her teeth and turned toward Law with clenched fists.
"Nothing was an excuse. It's true. I don't know what to tell you if you don't believe it," she said with an angry undertone. Law stared at the angry girl in front of him and decided to push his luck.
"I want you to tell me your real reason for pushing me away. You should tell me because if you don't I will figure it out," he said while stepping close to Hexe, but she kept her hard stare.
"There is nothing to figure out," she mocked back at him. "Why don't you just-" she began when suddenly they heard a roar. They both whipped their heads around to see a dragon flying through the air and taking a deep breath. Both of their eyes widened in realization.
"Bewegen!"
"Room!" They called out at the same time, although Hexe's command had a bit more worry in her voice. The dragon breathed fire on the now empty spot and scorched the ground. Hexe was panting while hiding behind a wall on one side of the dragon, while Law hid behind a wall on the other side. The witch regained her composure, but it was only replaced with anger. Why is that boy pushing? Why can't he leave everything alone? She gritted her teeth at the thoughts and peeked around the corner which resulted in wide blue eyes and Hexe hiding again. Hexe pushed herself against the wall as fire flew past her.
"Damn dragon. Bewegen," she called with a snap of her fingers and appeared in front of the dragon. This task would be much easier if the dragon didn't have to make it through alive, but they had to get around the dragon. Hexe focused on feelings of betrayal and lifted her hand to make a pillar of rock rise from the ground and hit the dragon's stomach. A loud roar ensued, and it turned to Hexe ready to kill. This proved problematic though because she was no longer in front of it, and a pillar was in front of the beast instead. Hexe leaped off the pillar to do a flip in the air and bring her staff down. The blue staff met the dragon's head, and it fell to the ground with a whine. It was alive since all Hexe did was hit it without any magic, but it was not having a pleasant time either.
"Stupid dragon. Stupid Caesar," the girl muttered to herself. "Come on," she said to Law, and he appeared beside her. They began walking toward the shoreline in silence, but before long Law spoke.
"Well, you took care of that quickly. I didn't even get a chance to have some fun," he smirked. Hexe loved that smirk, but she couldn't let him know that. The witch had to keep him as distant as possible.
"Why do you want to know? Why don't you believe me?" she asked without emotion. Law turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I don't like being lied to, or ordered around," he said in an equally emotionless tone. Hexe clenched her fists at his comment and wondered what to say next.
"Well, that-" once again Hexe was cut off by a roar. "Damn dragon," she muttered as she turned around. She felt a blast of air from the monster's foot as it rushed toward them. Hexe quickly jumped to the side but didn't realize how close she was to a wall. A thud sounded as she hit the wall with her back and stumbled to the ground due to losing her balance. Hexe began to push herself up and attack but kicked something with her foot. Upon inspection, she saw it was a toy doll. The girl couldn't help widening her eyes and slowly looked up to the destroyed burning buildings. Suddenly, Hexe was thrown back in time as she heard screams ring through the air and people running to the shore. Bodies laid in the streets with now orphaned children crying. Families cried as their homes burned and friends and family were killed. People were fleeing the island as quickly as possible. Hexe stood there unmoving staring at the burning buildings on Punk Hazards, but her mind was in another place, another time. The blue staff was held tightly in her hand as she watched a scene play out that wasn't happening in front of her, but her mind's eye. Law was dealing with the dragon and trying his best not to kill it. Suddenly, the dragon turned to see the statue like Hexe and changed his target. Law looked to Hexe in confusion as to what she was doing. She stood there as if in her own world, and the situation quickly registered. Law began to fight the dragon again to try to get its attention, but it was too late. Its foot was already raised and speeding toward Hexe to swat her down. Law's grey eyes widened in horror since he couldn't make it to her in time, or do anything quick enough.
"Hexe!" he screamed to warn her even though he didn't think it would work. To his surprise, Hexe blinked quickly and turned, but it didn't matter. The dragon's claw ripped through her shirt and deep into her side and stomach. On impact, the wind was knocked out of her, but the dragon hit the witch and made her fly into a nearby wall. An awful loud cracking sound rang through the air as Hexe hit the wall. Her head hit the wall with tremendous force, and her fingers around her staff began to loosen. Blood was already gushing out of the cuts on her sides that nearly cut her in half. The girl's eyelids fluttered shut as she fell to the ground, and her staff followed with a clang.
"HEXE!" Law screamed. Quickly, he turned to the dragon with determination, hate, and worry in his eyes. "Room," he called which was followed by three slashes. The dragon let out a yelp and fell to the ground in three pieces. Law moved his fingers and placed the three portions on three different buildings, with the head facing away from them. The dragon continued to scream in protest, but Law didn't care. He ran toward Hexe as fast as he could and fell on the ground next to her. Before checking anything else, he checked to make sure there was a pulse. His tattooed fingers found their way to her neck, and he held his breath while he waited to feel something. A light pressure pressed against Law's fingers, and he exhaled. This was no time to relax though, and he began to look at her wounds. He picked up the back of her head but removed it when he felt a sticky substance. Bright red blood covered his hand, and he hastily but gently rolled her over to see her head was bleeding. His eyes look across her body to find any other injuries, and they stopped when they got to her stomach. There were three deep giant gashes on the side of her torso that were gushing blood. Law reached in his jacket pocket to pull out his transponder snail as he began to pick Hexe up bridal style. The snail rang as he began to run toward the lake.
"Hello?" a voice answered.
"I need one of the sleighs to the burning lands. Now," Law said in a demanding and authoritative voice.
"Oh. Well, I'll ask Caesar-" the henchman began to say.
"I said now," Law said coldly and with a raised voice.
"Oh! Okay! We'll be there!" the henchman said in a fearful voice and hung up. Law continued running toward the lake as fast as he could and glanced down at Hexe.
*Please be okay*
When Law got to the lab he quickly ran into the building and ordered the men to get the operating room ready. Law hated to admit it, but he truly did care for this girl. The thought of something happening to her…
*No. I won't let that happen* he thought to himself. His eyes fell down to the unconscious girl in his arms. Her black hair was matted and clumped together from her blood, and her already pale face even paler. Blood had stained her entire shirt, and on one side there wasn't a shirt to speak of. It had been torn apart by the dragon's claws, but it was a miracle Hexe wasn't cut in half. Suddenly, Law questioned how on earth this happened. Hexe was strong, so this didn't make sense. How could a girl with as much strength as her be taken down by a dragon? At that moment, Law remembered Hexe's unmoving body as if she was in a trance.
*What were you thinking about? What were you doing?* he thought, but not in a mean way. His thoughts were filled with concern for Hexe.
It felt like an eternity, but Law finally made it to the operating room. He pushed past the men and put Hexe on the table.
"She's lost a lot of blood. We have to hurry," he said before he started ordering them to get him all the supplies he needed. The doctor quickly, yet calmly, worked on Hexe's wounds. If she hadn't been so injured and unconscious she could have healed herself, but that wasn't the case. Instead, her life was in Law's hands, and he worked tirelessly to make sure she would be okay.
A few hours later, Law removed his gloves and looked at Hexe's vitals. To his relief, she seemed okay, and everything went well.
"Trafalgar, Caesar wants to see you," a subordinate said in a hesitant voice. Law glared at the man before answering.
"What does he want?" Law asked in an annoyed voice. The man put his hands up defensively in front of him at Law's tone.
"I don't know. He's outside waiting for you though," he said. Once again, this annoyed Law which resulted in him gritting his teeth.
"Watch her," he ordered. "Alert me immediately if anything changes," he coldly said as he walked toward the door. The door swung open to reveal Caesar just outside the room.
"I am not your subordinate to order around. What do you want?" he didn't hold back his annoyance as he spoke. Caesar threw his hands up in the air.
"What happened?! I send you to do a job and this happens?!" Caesar frantically whined. Law just continued to pierce Caesar with his grey eyes.
"The dragon hit her," he answered. The pink one raised his eyebrow.
"How did that happen?" he asked, but then his eyes got wide. "Wait. The better question is why did you save her? What do you gain?" Caesar asked accusingly. Law's face remained stoic even though he began to panic on the inside. What reason could he give that Caesar wouldn't question or find suspicious?
"You don't want to get in trouble with Joker do you?" Law looked up at the fluffy man with annoyance. This only made Caesar more confused, and it showed on his face. Law could only sigh at his reaction though. "I overheard that if Hexe dies you get in trouble with Joker. I told you no one can know I am here. If she dies, then people will come after you and find me as well. We can't have that," he explained. Caesar jumped back slightly and gasped at Law's answer.
"How do you know that?! What else do you know?!" he hissed.
"Nothing. Now unless you want Joker to be here, I need to go tend to Hexe," he said and walked off without waiting for Caesar to answer.
Hexe slowly opened her eyes and blinked away the bright lights. Slowly, she looked around to see she was in the infirmary.
*What happened? Why am I here?* she thought as she scratched her head. She started to sit up but quickly fell back onto the bed while grabbing her side. The pain surprised her so much she let out a yelp in from it. The pain felt like it was concentrated in three lines across her torso and were excruciating. Hexe laid on the bed with gritted teeth from the pain trying to regain herself when Law spoke.
"If you move too much your wounds will open, and you'll die," he said nonchalantly. Papers were scattered in front of him on a table as he sat looking at them with focus.
"What?" Hexe asked in disbelief and annoyance. After a few seconds of silence, she shook her head and decided she wasn't going to deal with this. She raised her hand to cover her wounds and inhaled while focusing on her healing spell.
"Don't," Law said without looking up, and Hexe looked at him like he was crazy.
"What?" she asked in the same tone.
"You were going to use your powers to heal yourself, yes? I'm sure your powers require energy, and you don't have any to spare. If you use any magic you could die," Law said casually. Hexe's eyes got wide at his comment before she shot up in bed.
"What the hell do you mean I can't use my powers? What the hell happened?! OW!" she yelled as she fell to the bed again gripping her side. Law simply sighed at the childish girl and placed his head in his hand. Hexe still withered in pain from her outburst while Law slowly stood up and walked over to her bed. His hands were in his pockets as he casually stood there looking at this girl that nearly died.
"What happened is a good question," he glanced up to have his grey eyes piece her blue ones. The look was only returned by Hexe's confused one though. "That dragon should have been no challenge for you, but you nearly died. You looked like you were in a different world and had no idea what was going on. The dragon attacked you, and nearly cut you in half and threw you into a wall. What were you doing?" Law asked but tried to make it sound like he wasn't concerned for her. Hexe's eyes widen in fear at Law's answer. What was she going to tell him because the truth wasn't an option? Quickly, Hexe regained herself though and decided to flip the situation.
"That doesn't matter. How long until I am better? I can't sit here all day, and especially not in this awful infirmary," she said angrily while crossing her arms.
"It will be for quite a while. You'll just have to heal like the rest of us," he said without pity as he began to walk out of the room.
"Wait! Can't I at least rest in my own room!?" she frantically tried to get Law's attention as he began to leave. To her relief, he stopped walking and turned back to look at the girl. How did everything between them get so complicated? Normally, Law would just leave and not care, but he couldn't help but care for this girl. The issue was that she refused to let him in even though she had the same feelings, which is where it became complicated. With a sigh, Law called his room and teleported both of them to her room.
Hexe looked around to see she was in her familiar room, and her bed underneath her. Relief filled her body only for confusion and want to fill her again. Why would Law save her? True they had the plan together, but Law was resourceful. He would find some way to reach his goal without her, so if he didn't need her why save her? That's when the bit of want tugged at the back of her mind. Did he want to save her? She wanted him to want to save her, or at least she thought. Well, maybe she just wanted him. She hadn't let anyone into her walls in so long because every time she did everything around her went up in flames. Remembering her memories, Hexe pushed her thoughts aside of happiness. It simply wasn't possible at this point in time, and there were things far more important than what she wanted.
Her eyes fell on Law standing next to the door to her room with his hands in his pockets. Hexe hated what she was about to do, but she knew she had to, so she swallowed her pride and looked down at her lap while she spoke.
"Thank you," she murmured in a mousy voice. Law looked up to the girl on the bed that was staring at her lap while looking annoyed and appreciative at the same time. Was that even possible? He raised an eyebrow at the girl since he didn't think those words were in her vocabulary. With a low chuckled, Law looked back down at the ground with a smirk on his face.
"I suggest you rest if you want to be on your feet as soon as possible. You have your transponder snail to call if you need something," he said as he turned to walk out, but he didn't get far.
"Why?" the witch questioned while trying to cover the desperation in her voice. Law stopped where he was but didn't speak as he waited for the girl to elaborate. "Why…why did you save me?" she demanded.
"Same as you," as he spoke he slightly turned over his shoulder to glance at Hexe. "Because I wanted to," he said casually to which Hexe inhaled sharply. Her eyes grew wide at what he said because it didn't make sense to her.
"Why? That doesn't make sense! I thought you said you cared about your plan. Then why save me? You don't know anything about me, so why risk your plan to save my life?! Caesar must have seen you help me which puts the plan at risk. How is a girl you know nothing about worth what you have been planning for 13 years?!" she raised her voice at him. Her eyes actually started to have tears from her anger. Law simply sighed and turned to face the angry witch. His grey eyes seemed soft as they looked at Hexe, which both comforted her and scared her. The heels of Law's shoes clicked as he crossed Hexe room until he was at her bedside.
"For exactly the reason you said: I don't know you…but I want to," he said sincerely as he reached his hand up to her cheek and let his thumb stroke it. Hexe remained silent with her blue eyes wide in surprise. To Law's delight, they were actually the soft gentle eyes he had been longing to see that he only got fleeting chances to. "But…you won't let me in. I have heard your warning, but I'm not concerned. I don't care about your past. I care about you, and what makes you tick. I care about what makes your eyes look soft and gentle instead of hard and distant. I will warn you though…I don't like to be ordered around, and I don't like to wait. I will give you some time, but I will get what I want," his voice had turned from gentle and comforting to having a warning undertone. Hexe didn't even know what to say so she just stared at Law while he kept his hand on her face. Slowly, he leaned toward her and her heart began to race. Law kept getting closer until their noses were touching, and Hexe could feel the brim of his hat on her head. It felt like electricity was coursing her veins, and she had goosebumps all over her body. Law fingers on her face slowly grazing her skin as he rubbed them back and forth sent shivers down her spine, and his breath on her face was telling her just how close he was. Right as Hexe was starting to come out of her thoughts and yell at Law for being so close, he pulled back to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Make sure you rest," he said as he walked out the door, and left a confused Hexe. A few moments after Law left Hexe became enraged at what happened. How could she let him get her frazzled? How could she let him order her around? How could she let him… take control?!
"Ahhhhh!" an aggravated groan filled the room as Hexe fell onto her bed in annoyance, which resulted in a mousy "ow.
