Heart Pirates

"We need to stop the bleeding as much as we can."

Kailen took off his shirt. "Use this." He watched as the man ripped up his shirt and used it as a makeshift wrap for Neo's wound.

"Let's go." The man picked up his sword and headed away from them.

Gritting his teeth, Kailen picked Neo up and followed the man back towards the harbor. His pulse hiccupped when the man lead him to the yellow submarine he had seen before. He had been right after all. Mind racing, he wondered if this was a good idea after all. "So you're a pirate?"

"Pirate captain of the Heart Pirates," he said. "My name is Trafalgar Law. I'll warp us aboard."

Before Kailen could question what he meant by warp a blue dome appeared over them a few seconds before the harbor was replaced with the steel inside of the sub and with medical equipment. "What the heck? Did you just use a devil fruit?"
"Yes. Explanations will come later." Law patted one of the large beds in the middle of the room. "Put her down here."

Kailen didn't move.

"You want her to die?" Law asked placing his sword up against the counter.

Kailen swallowed. He placed Neo down on the bed, his eyes carefully watching every move Law made. The man washed his hands, good for him. He then gloved them, another point for him. Maybe this guy wasn't all that bad. He clearly knew how to clean up before an operation. Next he got a bunch of tools that Kailen didn't recognize. Panic rose in his chest before remembering this guy was human. They didn't have the same tools they had back on Luminous. Breathing out he let his mind drift back to Shanks ship and recalled the tools the doctor had there. The ones here looked more familiar now.

"Something wrong? You look pale," Law said.

Kailen jumped. "No. Nothing's wrong."

"You don't have to worry." Law placed his tray of tools on a small trolley and pushed it over to the operating table. "I'm not going to do anything to hurt her. I'm too interested in you two to do that."

Kailen clenched his hands. His mind raced. There was no way of knowing whether or not he made the right decision or if this man was speaking the truth. Either way, they were stuck here for the time being. Exhaling, he stepped aside for the man to work. His eyes carefully observed every little move Law made as he worked on his sister, attaching her to semi-familiar machines, putting her under so she wouldn't feel anything, sticking an IV into her arm to administer medicine, and sterilizing the wound.

"Does she have any health conditions I need to know about?" Law asked as he worked. "Allergies? What's her blood type?"

"No," Kailen said. "She's as healthy as a person can be. No allergies either. Her blood type is X."

"Good." Law picked up a scalpel and started to cut her shirt off. Once it was removed he placed a towel over her chest. "We're going to have to give her some blood. What's your type?"

"Same. It's X," Kailen said.

Kailen waited and waited for the man to say something but he didn't.

"Oi! Captain, you in here?" a voice asked before a man in a boiler suit walked into the room. His eyes landed on the unfamiliar green haired man before looking at the girl on the table. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean…what's going on?"

"These two go into a bit of trouble. This girl was hurt," Law said. "So I'm helping them."

"Oh, um." The man clearly didn't know what to say. His eyes just kept darting between the two men.

"Conner, we need some of his blood to give to the girl," Law said nodding at Kailen. "Hook him up."

"Uh, sure thing." Conner walked farther into the room still confused at what was going on.

Kailen flickered his eyes back and forth between the two men in the room. Conner moved over to the cabinets and started getting out everything he needed for the blood transfusion.

"Here, um," Conner started when he was ready to begin.

"Kailen," Kailen said.

"Right, Kailen. I'm Conner," Conner said. "Lay down next to…"

"Neo," Kailen said. "She's my sister." He noticed Law's eyes flicking up to him. A question the pirate captain had was just answered. He forced himself to relax. Saying they were siblings didn't give anything away. They were still fine.

"Then lay down next to her and I'll get you two hooked up," Conner said.

Kailen laid down beside his sister. He stiffened when Conner suddenly paused and started at him and Neo. He swallowed. This man could also sense they were different. He cleared his throat. "You going to hook us up or not?"

"Right." The man jumped. "Sorry."

The sting of the needle barely register in Kailen's head when it was inserted. His blood flowed through the tube and into Neo's arm.

Conner stepped back a foot and waited.

"Finished," Law said. "You're lucky that man was a lousy shot. There wasn't much internal damage done. Clearly he was tempting to take her alive. Though she'll need several days of rest and a specialized diet until her wound has healed properly. It'll be important for her to eat small meals throughout the day until her stomach can handle more."

"Right." Kailen watched Neo closely.

Law walked away from them. He discarded his bloody gloves, washed his hands, then grabbed his sword and headed out of the room. "I'll be back in a little while. Just lay there and don't move."

"Right," Kailen said. He wasn't planning on moving anyway. Nothing would get him to move away from his sister.

…

Law exited the room with Conner following close behind. He could feel the questions floating around his subordinate. Though he didn't answer them until they walked down the stairs to the main floor. "Kailen can control plants."

"What?" Conner asked. "He's a devil fruit user?"

"I don't think so," Law said. "He was using these green crystals to control the plants. I've never heard of a devil fruit user having to use a conductor for their powers."

"Then what did he use?" Conner asked.

"I'm not sure," Law said. "But there's something off about those two. They don't really feel human."

"Their not human?" Conner gasped.

"Didn't you notice when you were about to hook up the IV to them?" Law asked. "What did you feel from them?"

"I'm not sure," Conner said. "It was like I was surrounded by a large forest only I knew we were inside of the sub."

"I've had similar experiences like that when I've been close to them. But look at this." Law dug into his pocket and pulled out Neo's medallion.

"What is that? The silver is obvious, but these crystals don't look familiar at all." Conner took the medallion in his hand for a closer look.

"The girl was wearing it. She ran into me a few days ago when I was walking around in the forest. I think the chain broke when she was attacked today," Law said. "Fix the chain for me then bring it back to me when you're done."

"Sure thing, Captain," Conner said closing his fingers around the necklace. "Oh, you should know the crew has seen that guy around the harbor several times since we've been here."

"What for?" Law asked.

"He's apparently asking around to see if anyone's going to Sabaody," Conner said.

"Why would they want to go there?" Law asked.

"No idea." Conner shook his head. "He never said."

"Interesting." Law smiled.

"Oh, no. I know that look. You've got a plan going inside of that head of yours," Conner said. "What is it this time?"
"Just get the necklace fix and leave this up to me," Law said heading back up the stairs. His two new guests were right where he had left them. Kailen was now sitting up with his arm carefully resting over his lap. Giving them a few more minutes alone he observed them before entered into the room. "She's stable so you don't have to worry about her."

"She's my sister," Kailen said. "How can I not worry?"
"Understandable," Law said. He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a hospital gown then got a basin, filled it with water, a couple of washrags, and a bar of soap. He placed them down on the operating table. "You'll probably want to clean her up and get her changed."

"How long until she can move?" Kailen asked.

"Why? You in a hurry to go somewhere?" Law asked.

"We've already taken up enough of your time," Kailen said. "We don't have much money but you can have all we got for your services."

"I'm not interested in your money," Law said. "I think you would know that by now."

"Yeah. It's more than obvious," Kailen said. "I still had to try."

"So who are you people?" Law asked. "You have this strange inhuman feel about you. I noticed it on her first back in the restaurant."

Kailen didn't move.

"You know it's pointless to keep this a secret from me," Law said. "I did, after all, save your sister's life."

Kailen gritted his teeth.

Law could clearly see the battle going on in this man's head. They were keeping a secret. But what kind of secret was it? Was it really that ability to move and use plants as a weapon? Or was it more than that? "Does she have them too? Those crystals you were using?"

Kailen sighed. "Yes. She does."

Law smiled, a victory no matter how small. "Then why didn't she use them to save herself? Clearly you had the upper hand on those pirates with them."

"She can't," Kailen said. "She can't use them right now."

"Why not?" Law asked.

"She just suffering from a bit of a shock and is unable to use them," Kailen said.

"I see," Law said. "Conner told me you two were looking for someone to take you to Sabaody. Is this true?"

"It is," Kailen said.

"Why is that?" Law asked. When Kailen didn't answer, he added, "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. But you should know that it won't do you any good. You two own me for saving her life. And therefore you are my prisoners until you give me what I want."

"You can't do that." Kailen glared at him. Several green crystals appeared around the room. Vine slithered out of them.

"I'm a pirate. I can do whatever I want. Are you going to use your crystals on me?" Law listed his head. He waited for the man to make a move, but nothing happened. "I could be wrong but you don't seem like the type that would harm someone for helping your sister. Am I wrong?"

Kailen sighed, the crystals faded away. "We're looking for our godfather. We're in a bit of trouble and he might be able to help us get Neo to be able to use her crystals again. That's all I can tell you."

"And you think he's on Sabaody?" Law asked.

"If not there's someone that might be there who can tell us where he is," Kailen said.

"Then we will be taking you to Sabaody," Law said.

"What?" Kailen looked at him.

"You need a ride. And we're going in that direction. Besides, you two are my prisoners until you've answered all of my questions. As for you paying me for my services I'm sure we can work something out soon. Room." Law held up his hand. His Room spread over the sub. "Shambles."

Chains appeared around Neo's wrists, bounding her to the bed.

"What are you doing?!" Kailen grabbed the chains and tried to tug them off. They didn't budge.

"I am unsure of your abilities. Until I can understand them fully I'm not taking any chances," Law said.

"She's injured for crying out loud!" Kailen spat. "If you're going to chain someone up chain me up instead!"

"I thought about it but you could still escape with normal chains," Law said. "And if I decided to put sea prism stone on you there's the chance that you could get out of them by picking the lock with a vine. By putting her on lock down I'm positive you won't do anything that will cause her harm."

"You can't be serious," Kailen said.

"I never joke," Law said. "We're leaving this island tomorrow. Welcome aboard."

"Some welcome!" Kailen hissed.

"I will also be keeping a hold of her medallion," Law said as he left the room. "I'm sure you won't want to leave that behind either." He paused and turned back to the green haired man. "You are free to move around the sub. But you will get a tour before you do that. I won't want you messing with anything you shouldn't be touching."

"What about our jobs? And our clothes?" Kailen said. "Those need to be taken care of if we're really leaving this island with you."

"You're free to take care of that," Law said.

"No. I'm not leaving her until she wakes up," Kailen said. "Despite you saving my sister it should be clear I don't trust you."

"Suit yourself. I'll send Conner back up here. You can write a note to your boss and tell him what's going on. You can also have him go get your stuff for you." Law left the room.

"Captain," Conner said when Law reached the main floor. He held out the necklace. "It's fixed. I also polished it. It was a bit dirty."

"Thanks." Law took the necklace and shoved it in his pocket.

"So what about those two?" Conner jerked his thumb to the stairs leading up to the medical bay.

"They'll be sailing with us for a while," Law said.

"We have new crewmates?" Conner asked, shocked.

"No, they're my prisoners," Law said. "They'll be that way until they tell me what I want to know and repay me for my services."

"I see," Conner said. "Shall I tell the crew about them?"
"Yes." Law nodded. "They need to be aware of what these two can do. Also tell them the girl is stronger than she looks. So don't let her size fool you. Plus, I believe Kailen wishes to write a note to his boss that they aren't coming back to work. And They'll need their stuff picked up from where they're staying. Do that for him. He won't leave the girl alone here."

"All right, Captain. I'll go do that and let the crew know. Unless you want me to stay and watch them," Conner said. "Is it possible they'll try and escape?"

"That won't be necessary," Law said. "Kailen won't be leaving without his sister or this necklace."

"Is that necklace really that important to them?" Conner asked.

"It has to be. The expression Kailen had in the woods when I showed him I had it was unmistakable," Law said. "They won't be going anywhere without it even after she's healed."

"Okay then. I'll see you later." Conner turned and walked up to the medical bay.

Law watched his subordinate disappear up the stairs before heading on down the stairs. Reaching the end of the flight, he turned to his right he walked down the hall until he got to his room. He closed the door behind him then looked around. Losing this necklace would be a bad thing so he had to pick a place to hide it where those two wouldn't find it. Creating his Room, he warped the thing into the center of his mattress. Of course it was possible that they would check there but with the necklace in the middle there's no way they would find it unless they ripped the thing to complete shreds. And he knew that would be unlikely. It would take too much time for that. They would undoubtedly get caught by him if they tried. It would be safe there until he got what he wanted from them.

…

Neo hummed to herself while her small fingers twisted the stem of small white flowers together. Several animals surrounded her, watching her as she worked. She plucked another flower from the field and twisted the stem.

"Neo," Mira called. "Where are you?"

"Mama!" Neo jumped up when she heard her mother's voice calling her. She turned and ran to her mother.

"There you are," Mira said. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"I make you this." Neo held up the crown of flowers.

"How sweet." Mira ducked her head so Neo could place the crown on her head. "Thank you. It's lovely."

Neo smiled.

"It's time to go home now," Mira said holding out her hand. "Let's go."

Neo reached for her mother's hand, but her hand passed right through it. "Huh?"

"What's wrong, Neo?" Mira smiled. "Let's go home. Your father and brother are waiting for us."

"Mama," Neo said, her body changing to her adult form. She tried grabbing her mother's hand again only passing right through it. "Mom, I can't touch you."

Mira just continued to smile.

"No, Mom," Neo said when her mom started fading as the world grew dark around them. "Come back. Where are you going?"

"Mom!" Neo ran after her, unable to catch up. Her mom got farther and farther away, disappearing more into the darkness. "Mom! Mom!"

"Mom," Neo mumbled in her sleep. "Come back. Don't go." Reaching out, she took a hold of a warm hand. She opened her eyes to a blue blur above her. She looked towards the source, unable to see them clearly due to blurry vision. "Mom?"

"Sorry," a man said. "I'm not your mom."

Neo blinked a couple times before her vision cleared. A man with a black and white hat was standing next to her, holding her hand. Panic shot through her upon remembering what Jeb tried to do. She had been captured. This had to be one of his men. She kicked out her foot, nailing the man in his stomach. Instantly she regretted the movement when pain shot through her stomach. She groaned as he did.

"Wow! The captain was right! You're strong for a little girl!" the man said.

"I'm not a little girl! And I'm…" Neo tugged on her arms to place her hands on her throbbing stomach when more pain throw through her. Only her right arm obeyed her. Lifting her left arm up she found she was chained down. "What the heck?! Kailen!"

"Huh? I'm here," Kailen said groggily.

Neo whipped her eyes to him, only noticing at that moment that he was even in the room with her. He was sitting in a chair beside her bed. She eyed the unfamiliar room they were in. "Kailen, what's going on?! Why am I chained down?! Where are we?!"

"A lot's happened since you've been asleep these past two days," Kailen said.

"I've been asleep for two days?" Neo asked her eyes pausing on him. Looking behind her brother's head she noticed the bluish grey wall. Then to her left she found a machine with tubes leading from it to her chest. The machine beeped in sync with her heart. Her eyes scanned the room again, momentarily stopping on the man she had kicked before continuing to her brother. "What's going on?"

"We're onboard a pirate's submarine," Kailen said.

"We're what?" Neo looked at her brother then over at the other man. He was still rubbing his stomach.

"It wasn't him," Kailen said. "His captain was the one who brought us onboard. He's the man that was watching you in the restaurant."

"Wait." Neo's eyes zeroed in on the familiar smiley face on the man's boiler suit. "Did that…no, tell me you didn't. Does he…Jeb and…" She shook her head. "I'm so confused."

"I'm sorry, Neo," Kailen said. "Things got out of control and this guy's captain saw me use my crystals on Jeb and his crew."

Alarms sounded off in Neo's head. She jerked to sit up, causing more pain in her stomach.

"You really shouldn't get up just yet," the man said.

Neo shot him a glare.

"Sorry." The man jumped back. "I'm just telling you what the captain told me."

"You better explain to me what happened," Neo said, ignoring the pirate.

"The man who brought us here is a pirate captain, Trafalgar Law. He saw the fight in the forest and said he was a doctor who could help you. So he brought us here and fixed your stomach up. I had to tell him that we both were born with our crystals," Kailen said. "He sensed we were different and has told his entire crew about it."

Neo's heart hammered against her chest.

"I didn't have a choice," Kailen said. "He knew I didn't have a devil fruit. And…"

"There's more?" Neo asked.

Kailen nodded. "He said he was willing to take us to Sabaody but we're prisoners aboard his sub until we tell him everything and pay him for helping you."

"Prisoners. No kidding." Neo waved her arm, the chains jingled. "Tell me something I don't know."

"He has your medallion," Kailen said.

Neo stomach churned. Placing a hand over her mouth, she gagged.

"Easy." Kailen reached out and rubbed her back.

"He…he what?" Neo gasped out.

"The chain apparently broke at some point. He found it and is keeping a hold on it and us until we tell him everything," Kailen said.

"Everything." Neo looked at him. "So he doesn't know about…"

"No." Kailen shook his head. Lowering his voice he added, "I only told him we were born with these crystals, you've suffered a traumatic event that prevents you from using yours, and that we're heading to Sabaody to look for our godfather who might be able to help you. That's it."

Neo swallowed. So these men didn't know about their connect to Shanks. She exhaled and laid back down. "I see. What about Gaven?"

"I sent him a letter," Kailen said. "One of Trafalgar's subordinates took it to him and brought our stuff here."

"This is just great," Neo said lifting her arm to look at the cuff around her wrist. "Prisoners on a pirate ship. Godfather will not be happy about this."

"Well, look at it this way," the forgotten man in the room said. "At least you haven't been thrown in the brig."

Neo pushed up on her elbows and frowned at him. "Like this is much better? Your captain will probably throw us down there when I'm feeling better."

"He won't do that," the man said.

Neo shook her head. Laying back down she said, "Whatever."

"Well, I'm going to go tell the captain you're awake now," he said. "He'll want to come check on you."

Neo and Kailen remained silent until the man's footsteps disappeared down the hall. She said, "This is just great."

"How are you feeling?" Kailen asked.

"Sore," Neo said. "But not as bad as I thought I would. I'm not sure but I think my solar crystal is still healing me despite the fact I can't summon it."

"Good." Kailen nodded. "The less that man has to work on you the better."

"So what's he like?" Neo asked. When Kailen didn't answer her she turned her head. He held a look of disbelief on his face. "What?"
"He basically kidnapped us and is holding us hostage," Kailen said. "What do you think he's like?"

"Sorry. I guess a part of me was hoping my instincts were wrong about him," Neo said.

"Well, they weren't," Kailen said. "This guy is dangerous. Though I don't think his crew is as dangerous as he is. They have a bear onboard."

"A bear?" Neo cocked an eyebrow.

"I haven't gotten to speak with him or anyone else about him yet, but he walks on two legs and can talk. I mean he can literally talk," Kailen said. "Humans can understand him. He might be a mink. Remember when Shanks told us about them?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I can sense him now."

"And I'm sure he can sense us," Kailen said. "At least he'll be able to smell we're different."

"Doesn't really matter," Neo said. "The captain here knows we're different since he told his crew. How long do you think we'll be able to keep it a secret? What and who we really are?"

"I don't know," Kailen said. "We won't be able to if the elementals from Luminous find us."

"Well, being on a pirate crew has one advantage," Neo said.

"And what's that?" Kailen asked.

"They never stay in one place for too long," Neo said. "As long as we keep moving there's a chance the elementals won't catch up with us."

"Maybe," Kailen mumbled. "I'm still not sure if we're exactly safe here. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"I see you're awake."

The elementals looked to the door to see the captain standing there. Neo's eyebrow knitted together. She watched him closely as he walked over to them. His sword was missing. But his hands were inside of his jeans pockets. For all she knew he had a knife inside of them.

"And how are we feeling?" Law asked reaching for her wrist.

Neo jerked away from him.

Law smirked. "I can understand you're feeling a bit stressed, Miss Neo. But I assure you all I'm going to do is check your pulse. I just preformed surgery on you after all."

"Fine." Neo relaxed against her pillow. A shiver threatened to wash over her body at his touch. His callused fingers were surprisingly gentle pressing into her skin. It had to be a trick. He had to be trying to lull her into a state of security before striking.

"Pulse is good," Law said. "How's your pain?"

"Fine," Neo said.

"I need more than that," Law said. "On a one to ten scale. Ten being the worst."

"Four," Neo said.

"Really?" Law tilted his head.

"Why would I lie?" Neo asked.

"Very well. It's your body," Law said.

"Then how about freeing me?" Neo shook her confined arm.

"Not just yet," Law said. "I need to know that I can trust you before I let you roam free on my sub."

"We're trapped on a sub with a pirate crew," Neo said. "And you're holding my medallion hostage. Where do you think we're going to go?"
"I prefer to take precautions," Law said. "It's dangerous out here on the sea after all. And you two are clearly very powerful."

"My brother's free," Neo said.

"He has made it quiet clear that he wasn't going to leave you alone or do anything that could cause more harm to you," Law said. "Smart choice considering where you are. And he's been with you ever since I brought you two here."

"Well, I can assure you we won't hurt you unless you try to hurt us first," Neo said.

"Trust is earned, Miss Neo," Law said.

"Indeed," Neo said. "Then we are at a stalemate."

"Apparently so," Law said. "I can assure you that we have no intention of harming you as long as you do not present yourselves as a threat."

"Trust is earned, Mr. Trafalgar," Neo said.

"Indeed." Law smirked before heading out of the room. "Someone will bring you your meals soon."

"So what do you think?" Kailen asked when the captain was gone.

"Jerk," Neo said. "What does he want from us? I mean really."

"It's hard to tell," Kailen said. "He said he was going to work out our payment for his services but he hasn't said anything about it yet."

"Where do you think he put my medallion?" Neo asked.

"Neo, don't worry about that right now," Kailen said. "Just rest and get better."

"It's mine. How can I not worry about it?" Neo frowned at him.

Kailen ran his hands through his hair. "We'll get it back. I promise we will. It just might take a little time."

"Well, time is something that's not really on our side," Neo said. "Now is it?"
"No, it's not," Kailen said.

"Knock, knock," a voice said.

Neo and Kailen looked to the door to find another pirate entering into the room with a tray of food.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said. "Captain asked me to bring you two something to eat. Penguin was going to bring it but he didn't think it would be a good idea since you kicked him in the stomach."

Neo cocked an eyebrow when it was obvious the man was running his eyes over her body from behind his sunglasses.

"It's hard imaging a girl your size being able to knock him back," he said. "But the captain did tell us what you did to the Jeb pirate."

"Well, he shouldn't have startled me then," Neo said.

"I'm sure he won't do that again," he said. "I'm Shachi, by the way. It's nice to meet you two."

Neo pushed herself up. "Really?"

"Despite how you came to be on your sub we're still going to be hospitable," Shachi said.

"Oh really?" Neo jiggled her chain. "Then let me go, Mr. Hospitable."

"Sorry. That's not up to me to decide," Shachi said handing the tray over to Kailen. "The soup's for your sister. And the captain's holding onto the key anyway."

"Wonderful." Neo rubbed her throbbing temples.

"The captain's a good guy," Shachi said.

"Charming," Neo deadpanned.

"He's just cautious," Shachi said. "I know he'll let you go soon. While you're technically our prisoners you're not going to actually be treated-"

Neo giggled her chain again.

"Sorry." Shachi flushed and backed up towards the door. "Well, I'll let you eat now. Someone will be by later to get the dishes. Bye."

"He seemed a bit skittish," Neo said.

"Maybe he's scared of you." Kailen smirked. "After all you did kick one of his friends. And you're such a small little girl."

Heat rushed to Neo's cheeks. "It's not like I planned that. Like I said, he shouldn't have startled me. Who in their right mind takes a hold of someone's hand when they're dreaming? And just having gone through surgery. I was groggy from whatever medications that pirate used on me."

"You're embarrassed," Kailen said.

"I am not!" Neo's cheeks darkened a shade of red.

"You're so embarrassed about that," Kailen said.

"Whatever." Neo took the bowl of soup off the tray. Picking up the spoon she took a bite. Her first bite produced a sigh. There was still no flavor. "For a moment there I forgot about everything that happened on Luminous."

"Then maybe being on this pirate sub is just what you need," Kailen said.

"Don't even joke about that," Neo said. "I don't want to be on a pirate ship or sub unless it's Godfather's or Luffy's. And as you can clearly see we're not on their ships."

"I know, I know. I was only teasing you," Kailen said. "For a moment there you were back to your old self."

"Because of this crew?" Neo looked at him.

"Maybe being around pirates, the right type of pirates, will help get your crystals back?" Kailen offered.

"I highly doubt it," Neo said. "But we're here. Might as well make the best of it. If that's at all possible." She took another bite of soup. "So let's see we already know three of their names."

"Four," Kailen said. "A man named Conner was on the sub when you were in surgery. The one who delivered my letter and got our clothes."

"Too bad he didn't run into our bear friend. So Conner, Shachi, Penguin, Trafalgar Law," Neo said. "I wonder how many more there are."

"There's a total of fifteen members right now," Kailen said.

"How do you know that?" Neo asked.

"A couple of them have been in and out of the room since we've been here," Kailen said. "I tried to gather some information on them when I could. I didn't get much though."

Neo nodded. It was understandable. Not many pirates just spilled out everything about them, especially in a position like this.

They finished their meal in silence and waited for whoever was going to come and get the dishes.

"Good. You've finished eating," Law said as he and the bear Kailen told her about walked into the room. "Bepo will take them away for you."

Neo's eyebrows rose on her forehead at the sight of the bear. He was wearing the same outfit as his sub mates but it was orange. Good thing too. If he worn that beige color then his fur would blend in far too much. No one would notice he was there.

"I'm going to take your dishes now," Bepo said. "If that's okay."

"It's fine." Kailen held out the tray.

Bepo reached for it. His eyes locked onto Neo.

Neo's eyes locked onto him. A small bubble of joy threatened to float up to her lips when his nose twitched. "You really can talk."

"I'm sorry." Bepo ducked his head.

"What as that for?" Kailen asked.

"He's so cute," Neo said. Her fingers twitched with desire to reach out and stroke the bear's fur.

"That will be all, Bepo," Law said. "I have something I need to discuss with them."

"Aye." Bepo took the tray and left the room.

Neo's bubble of joy popped.

"Don't worry. He'll be back at some point," Law said.

Heat rushed to Neo's cheeks. There were times she really hated that she was easy to read. "What do you want?"

"Since you're going to be sailing on my sub I need to give you two a physical," Law said.

"Excuse me?" Neo frowned.

"It's necessary," Law said. "I give it to everyone who sails with us."

"It's not like this is our choice," Neo said.

"Doesn't matter," Law said. "If you do not comply then I will have no choice but to quarantine you two in the brig."

"Just do it," Neo said. "We're your prisoners anyway."

"It's not necessary as long as you comply with my orders," Law said.

Neo snorted. "We're not part of your crew. Why should we?"
"It's still my sub," Law said. "And while you're sailing with us you are going to be under my care. I'm still the captain here whether you're on my crew or not."

"You mean control, Captain," Neo said.

"Call it what you will," Law said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice, Miss Neo."

Neo opened her mouth to reply but Kailen cut her off by saying, "We'll listen to you. You don't have to worry about that. And we'll comply to the exams."

"Kailen!" Neo said.

Kailen ignored her.

"Good," Law said with a nod. "I'll do yours right now. Miss Neo will have hers later when she's feeling better."

"Wonder," Neo grumbled.

"This won't take long, will it?" Kailen asked.

"It won't," Law said. "And we're just going to the next room. You won't be far from your sister. No harm will come to her."

"I'm not worried," Neo said.

"Of course not." Law smirked.

Neo bristled. His smirk was a challenge. Or a way of telling her he didn't believe her. She wasn't sure. All she knew was she was frustrated with how this man got them onto his sub.

"Shall we go?" Law asked.

Kailen looked at Neo.

"Good." Neo sighed. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about here at all."

Kailen nodded. He got up and followed Law out of the room.

…

"Your sister's rather spunky," Law said leading Kailen into the room he spoke of.

"Yeah," Kailen said. "She can get like that from time to time."

"Spunkiness can help a person survive but it can also get them into trouble," Law said stepping over to the sink. Turning on the water he washed his hands.

"She knows how to handle herself," Kailen said. "She'll be fine."

"Like she knew how to handle that pirate back on Brazen?" Law turned off the water and dried his hands.

"That man had been giving her issues before," Kailen said. "And she was ganged up on. Remember?"

"Of course. I was there after all." Law opened a filing cabinet, pulling out the necessary papers and tools he would need. Gathering them all on a tray he sat it down on the exam table. "Let's get your height and weight first. Remove your shoes and step upon the scale.

Kailen did as he was told.

Law moved the scale weights around until he got the results. "One fifty. And your height is six two. You can sit now."

Kailen sat upon the exam table.

"Kailen." Law scribbled his name at the top of the chart. "Last name?"

"Don't have one," Kailen said. "No one on our island does."

"Interesting." Law sat down in his chair. "So do you have any illnesses or allergies I need to know about?"

"No," Kailen said.

"Have you been sick recently?"

"No."

Law scribbled down his answers as he said them. He then put his stethoscope in his ears and stood up. He checked Kailen's heart and stomach before moving around to his back. "Deep breath. Again. Again. Again. Okay." Picking up the file he scribbled the results down before moving on to draw some blood. He moved the pillow onto his patient's lap. "Give me your arm."

"Sure." Kailen placed his arm over the pillow.

"You seem a lot calmer than your sister," Law said while inserting the needle into Kailen's skin.

"That a problem?" Kailen asked.

"Just an observation," Law said. Pulling the needle out he placed a cotton ball over the wound.

"I'm adopted if that's what you're thinking," Kailen said.

"It wasn't," Law said while he continued to check Kailen over. "But that's good to know for future medical references. Well, you seem to be in good condition. You're skin is healthy. You're at a good weight for someone of your height."

Kailen nodded. "Need anything else?"

"If I do I'll let you know," Law said. "You're free to go."

…

"So I hear that little girl kicked you," Conner said sitting down at a table in the galley.

"She did," Penguin replied sending a glare at Shachi for telling everyone about that.

"What?" Shachi shrugged. "Everyone would have figured it out eventually."

"Was she really that strong? Did she really about knock you off your feet?" Archer asked.

Penguin sighed. "She didn't about knock me off my feet. She only knocked me back a foot or two. So, yes, she's that strong."

"It's so hard to believe," Conner said. "She's so tiny."

"Well, it happened," Penguin said. Pulling his ladle from the stew he tasted it to see how it was. "Can we move on?"

"I'm just curious as to the captain's motives about them," Archer said. "Do you think he's wanting to use them to take down you know who?"

"You can say his name, Archer," Conner said. "It's not like that man is listening to us."

"Like you're saying his name," Archer said.

"Doflamingo." Conner smirked.

"Fine," Archer said. "But what if he's listening? What if they were sent by him?"

"If they were sent by Doflamingo then they would have been doing what they could to get on our sub," Conner said. "Use your brain. They were trying to avoid the captain."

"I am! I'm asking questions to try and figure them out!" Archer slammed his fists on the table.

"Well, it's not working," Conner said. "You're way off track."

"I think I'm most curious about why they smell like nature," Shachi said.

"That has been bothering me too," Conner said.

"If it wasn't for the captain saying that I wouldn't have believed you two," Archer said.

"Just shut up!" Conner and Shachi snapped.

"What? You two have told tall tales before," Archer said.

"This one isn't a tall tale," Bepo said walking into the room. "They do smell like nature. It's been on the sub since they were brought here. There's also a very sweet scent in the air."

"Sweet?" Conner cocked an eyebrow. "Perfume?"

"No." Bepo shook his head. "It's not perfume. Perfume has never smells like this. It's different."

"So what or who are they?" Archer asked.

"I guess we'll see eventually," Shachi said. "The captain's clearly not going to let them go any time soon."

"Who do you think they're seeking on Sabaody?" Archer asked.

"Who knows? They only said they were looking for their godfather," Conner said.

"Maybe he's a pirate," Shachi said.

"Or maybe he's a marine," Archer said. "We should be careful. We could be walking into a trap."

"You and your conspiracy theories. Get over that already," Conner said. "They're not after the captain or us. They just want to get to Sabaody to fix her powers or whatever they are."

"Possibly," Archer said. "But you never can tell with people. We should keep a very close eye on them."

Penguin focused back on the stew in front of him. He knew Archer's theories were wrong. Those two people in the medical bay weren't after them or the captain. And he was fairly sure they weren't looking to take them down when they got to Sabaody. If that were their goal then Kailen wouldn't have been asking everyone where their destination was. They only wanted to find their godfather to help Neo as the captain had told them. He placed his hand on his stomach. His mind wondered back to when she kicked him and a little before that. His captain had order him to check on them to make sure everything was all right. Everything was, until he started to leave the room. That's when Neo started talking in her sleep. Walking back to her he found her face was tense from a bad dream. She kept calling out for her mom and asking her to come back. Then her hand rose into the air like she was reaching for her mom. He had taken her hand before he thought about it. Then she woke up and kicked him. He didn't and wouldn't hold it against her. She was scared and drowsy from the surgery. Still he wondered what exactly she was dreaming about. And if it had anything to do with her being unable to use her crystals.