A little bit of a shorter chapter for you all this time, but it's because I cut it in half since I didn't like the pacing that I had. Good news, though, I'm halfway done with the next chapter, so I should have that done very soon. Also a warning since I'm increasing the rating for this chapter- Nami will be subjected to some minor torture/ abuse in this chapter. For those that read Madness Descends, it is no where near the level I subjected to her in that, but it's still a good portion of this chapter's content. I will designate the start and end of it with (**) if you want to skip it, though.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or the characters, they belong to Eiichiro Oda.
Chapter 9
The Silence of Faith
"Captain!" Shachi called out as everyone followed Law into the hull of their ship, the captain sparing the man a glance to acknowledge him. "What about Nami?"
Law paused in the hallway, frowning as he stared straight ahead for a moment before turning away to head toward the medical room. "Don't worry about her, just hurry up and get to work on creating that weapon." His dismissive answer had the entire crew surprised, everyone wondering just what he had planned while knowing that he couldn't possibly leave the girl behind so callously like that.
Nami found herself chained up in a solitary cell the second Law's ship was out of sight, the Vice Admiral holding her captive deciding to let her stay and watch her only hope for freedom run away, leaving her behind. Once she was behind bars in another section of the jail, she immediately sank into silence. At first glimpse, she may have looked defeated, but really she was fuming with anger, her mind at work trying to come up with a way to escape.
"There will be no escape this time, Cat-Burglar Nami." The Vice Admiral intoned as if reading her thoughts. He sat in a chair, directly in front of her, but just outside her cage, staring at her with a sickeningly amused smile; or what she assumed passed as one for him- the corners of his lips just barely pulled up on his otherwise stoic face. It was the light in his eyes that betrayed his emotions the most. "He might have been your ally once, but you should know as well as anyone that pirates are not to be trusted."
She sneered at him, but refrained from responding.
"Now then, Miss Nami, I feel sorry for you being betrayed like that," he went on, waving off her stubborn silence before pushing back his sandy-brown hair. "And out of pity, I think we can strike a deal. I can make sure the rest of your life isn't spent in the deepest pits of Impel Down, but only if you tell me everything you know about what Law's plans are."
She almost wanted to laugh at the man's idiotic attempt at negotiations. Even if she knew everything about Law's intentions, she was intelligent enough to know that she'd still end up in Impel Down if she shared that kind of information. The World Government had a zero tolerance policy on piracy now, even the Shichibukai was kept on a tighter leash, turning them even more into government dogs; if they didn't comply, though, they were immediately imprisoned until they agreed to once more work for them. Deals with pirates didn't happen anymore, not with Sakazuki's reign. At the very least she could expect to only be imprisoned in the first level of Impel Down, still not a cushy deal to make for herself.
She answered him with silence.
"Suit yourself, Miss Nami," he sighed, picking himself up from his chair and walking toward the door. "I'll leave a few of my men to try and persuade you to divulge what you know."
As his back disappeared behind the door, Nami turned her attention to two men laughing cruelly in the shadows as they approached. In the hands of one man hung a long whip, while the other carried over a large bucket of water, and she knew that it was merely the beginning of their torture.
(**)
She couldn't keep track of time in her small, dungeon-like cell. Every strike of the leather whip into her skin felt like an eternity had passed as she waited for the burning welt to numb. Each time they soaked her with ice cold water, she felt like it took longer and longer for her to catch her breath, for her limbs to warm once more. When they'd finally stop, give up and let her sit alone in silence, to be trapped with her thoughts, wondering if Law had truly abandoned her for good, she'd be lucky to get what felt like even a few minutes of rest.
She'd endured a hard life before. She'd been alone before. She'd dealt with abuse and neglect from her childhood. She knew she could withstand whatever they threw at her.
With each day that passed, Nami withstood their abuse; her body covered in lashes, her wrist bruised and swollen from when the Vice Admiral had struck her in the fight, soaking wet and freezing cold, and weakened from malnourishment- though the last was of her own doing- and yet she still hardly spoke to her Marine captors. Thus far they had been rather tame, apparently willing to take their sweet time, probably hoping that the longer she sat there with no prospect of rescue, the more she'd break and give in.
"Miss Nami, we already know that Law is intending to weaponize the herb you helped him steal," the Vice Admiral said as he once again questioned her. "So it's useless to hold your tongue with us. Thus far I have held my men back, been as humane as I can be, but if you continue your stubborn refusal than you will leave me no choice but to send you to Impel Down where you will beg to be back in my care."
While her more logical side told her that she couldn't count on Law to come back for her, that he was a man known to be cruel, a larger part of her still held on to some semblance of faith that he wouldn't just leave her like this. She might not be a member of his crew, he might not hold her at the same regard he does the men in his care, nor respect her at the level he respects her own captain, but she had been an ally, she was an important person in seeing out his plans, at least in some way she was. He wouldn't let her just rot there.
At least that was what she continuously told herself.
If he did come back for her, though, she was still going to give him an earful for abandoning her in the first place.
"Alright, I'll give you a little more time with your new friends," he said after her continued silence, picking himself up from his chair to turn and leave the room. Her two guards were already chuckling, she could hear the crack of the whip one used, along with the sound of metal scrapping the rocky floor, drawing her attention to the sword held in the other's hand as he lazily dragged it along the stone. They were going to try something new today.
"Wait," she spoke up, her gaze slowly going back to the Vice Admiral, steady yet nervous as she watched him turn back and hum an acknowledgment to her. "I have a question first."
"Go on."
"I saw Bepo and Jean Bart; they were in mostly perfect health, no signs of abuse. Why are you doing this to me, yet you didn't do the same to members of Law's own crew?" Her question drew a chuckle from him as he turned to face her fully before answering.
"I told you before that pirates are not to be trusted. They are only loyal to their own crews, their own captains. You saw that for yourself when Law left you here in favor of getting his men to safety. So I know that no amount of torture would have gotten those men to betray their own captain." He explained, slowly walking closer to her cell with each word until he was standing right in front of the bars. "But you, you are not expected to show him even an ounce of loyalty. The only person you should be concerned with is yourself; it makes perfect sense to question you like this because you are the easiest one to break. Really, I got lucky, and I know I should take advantage of it; plus, your escape tarnished my name, and that makes me a little vindictive."
Nami smiled sarcastically at his last remark, a tiny sneer pulling up her lip as he turned and walked out of the room. The crack of a whip had her eyes snapping back to the guards as they opened the door to her cell, their eyes alight with even more malevolence than previous visits.
It started out normally enough, a whip striking out to lash at her exposed arms and torso, a glancing blow to her cheek. Still she didn't talk, and the men didn't seem surprised by that, worse they seemed delighted by it.
"Such a stubborn wench," the one with the sword chuckled, raising his weapon until it pressed against her sternum. "Can't last forever, though. Eh?"
His partner just laughed, standing back to watch in amusement as the sharp blade was dragged lazily across her skin, the edge just barely drawing blood. She clenched her teeth, trying to resist groaning at the sting while she glared hard at her capture. What he did next, though, had her eyes wide with surprise, panic finally beginning to well up inside her as she realized just how they intended to torture her this time.
"Vice Admiral said he'd been holding us back, doesn't sound like he plans to restrain us any longer." He went on as his sword dipped under the string to her bikini, just at her collar bone. He teased and toyed with it, not yet cutting it, but making sure his intentions to do so were clear, while his blade turned to cut a little deeper into her flesh beneath.
That was when she began struggling, much to their sadistic delight, but still she didn't speak, stubbornly refusing to give away the tiny amount of knowledge she had. Chances were they wouldn't even take it as everything she knew, assuming she was still holding out on them, so it didn't matter to her anyway.
They began to laugh as he slowly put more tension on the string of her top, the fabric beginning to fray at a torturing pace while she leaned forward to try and slow it, take away the tension, and maybe save her dignity. She was saved by the sound of the door slamming open, another guard coming in and shouting at her tormentors.
"Oi! You pigs! That's too far!" He called to the men who immediately stood straight, coming to attention for someone who was apparently a higher rank than them. The sword was slowly withdrawn from her clothing, a sigh of relief escaping her as she relaxed against the wall at her back. The other guard came into the cell, glaring hard at the two men, before tossing down a bowl with a few meager scraps of meat and rice, not even looking at her as he turned around and gestured for the others to follow him out. "You're marines, not animals, so save it for when you have the Vice Admiral's permission."
His last comment had her breath catching in her throat, eyes wide as she looked down at her meal. So this was all just a warning. Show her that they were holding back, that they were savage enough to treat her like piece of meat if she didn't give them the information they wanted.
Her terror and panic was renewed.
Her doubts that Law would come back for her once more at the forefront of her mind.
She shut her eyes, trying to breathe, as anxious tears stung while silently sliding down her bruised and torn up cheek.
Still she wanted nothing more than to trust him.
(**)
The sound of his shoes echoed around him as he walked over the wood planks. His sword rested on his shoulder, relaxed and calm as he surveyed the small pirate ship.
As the smoke cleared, his eyes made out the still bodies, victims who didn't stand a chance, never expecting the unprovoked attack. They were lucky that they would be escaping with their lives, though.
He stopped to stoop down over the ship's captain, his ears picking up the sounds of ragged, struggled breaths while he reached out to press his fingers to the man's neck. His pulse was weak, but steady enough that he would recover.
"Captain! Everyone below deck is knocked out, too!" Penguin's report shouted from the trap door leading down into the hull of the ship earned a satisfied nod from him, his tall frame straightening out so he could sweep his gaze over the whole of the ship one last time.
"Alright, go ahead and raid the ship. Food, clothes, whatever supplies and money you can find." Law gave his orders as he returned back to his waiting submarine, his men jumping into action behind him. "I'd say we're ready to put this stuff to a real test."
Thanks for the reviews so far! You're all amazing, keep 'em coming.
Next chapter coming soon, and probably another one-shot to add to 'Running Out of Bounds,' mainly cuz I feel bad about torturing Nami so much, so I feel like reversing it for a change. :3
