Watching the anxiety practically melt from her, Law took in her stunned silence and the small smile that appeared on her lips before turning to quickly move to the open door on the deck. Gently pulling Nayla along behind him by the hand he held, he ushered her inside ahead of him before releasing it.
Her apprehension to board had been painfully obvious from the way she'd looked at Penguin before even stepping onto gangplank and the glance at the word he knew was printed proudly onto the side of his vessel. Though he admitted she had every right to be nervous, even without his ulterior motives for having her on board, and if she hadn't felt that way then frankly, he'd be reassessing her as stupid again.
Walking straight past her and through the large, metallic, rounded door a few feet ahead, he waited patiently as Nayla trotted quickly after him to keep up, watching her cross the threshold to stand beside him before looking up at the two crewmembers approaching from down the hallway.
Law could try to convince himself that he had reached a hand out to her to offer reassurance simply to prevent her from running or to speed up her boarding, but convincing himself of things he knew weren't true was a waste of mental energy. She was putting her trust in him, she was all alone, she was still injured and her ridiculous, little build...She was just so small and seeing her on that gangplank with that look on her face, she had just suddenly seemed so very...vulnerable...even if he knew it wasn't really true. If Doflamingo or those who worked for him had taken enough interest in her to hire her, then by default, she had to be formidable. If anything, he'd try to explain his behaviour to himself as guilt or as pity, it didn't matter which it really was, he wasn't pleased that he had felt either.
"Captain." The crewmate that had informed him on deck that they were ready to submerge greeted him.
"Pull in the gangplank, seal the doors."
"Aye aye, Captain." Speeding past both Law and Nayla, the crewmember made his way out of the doors and back onto the deck to fulfill his orders.
Watching him hurry away, Nayla looked back into the small room between the sets of doors, wondering if it was some sort of airlock. She'd only seen one or two submarines before during her travels but had never been on one. Not that it would even compare, this one was wildly different in virtually every aspect.
She'd hadn't known Law travelled in this kind of vessel until she read about it within his bounty information. Something about how citizens or anyone travelling at sea should contact marines immediately if they spot a 'suspicious' looking submarine...which was understatement of the century. 'Suspicious' was just about the mildest definition possible of a bright yellow ship that openly flaunted Law's Jolly Roger and had 'DEATH' emblazoned on it's side.
As she thought about it, she looked at his hoodie as he turned to speak to the remaining crewmember in the hallway. Law boasted his Jolly Roger in plain view on his clothing too, so did his entire crew in those marked boilersuits. He didn't bother with attempting to conceal his presence at all on land or at sea - if you didn't count the times his ship was underwater. Everything about the man was so cocky and arrogant. From his demeanour to his appearance to his crew to his possessions, everything was proudly stating; 'I am Trafalgar Law, I'm right here. Come get me if you can.'
'Geez, what an ego,' she thought rolling her eyes at him as he quietly conversed with the other man out of ear shot of her. The crewmember that had been sent outside to retract the gangplank drew her attention from them by closing the outer door with a loud clang, soon hurrying back through the inner, rounded door and quickly sealing it shut; spinning the large, circular mechanism on it. The metal groaned and creaked as it compressed into an airtight seal, the bolts of the door driving into the walls and interlocking firmly with a series of loud, metallic clunks.
Turning away from the door, the crewmember ran past her and back down the hallway. If he offered her a small greeting or gesture of hello, she hadn't seen or heard it, too busy staring intently at the finality of the sealed exit. Biting her lip as her unease began to resurface, she was released from the start of her troubled thoughts when Law entered her vision and approached the small pipe embedded in the wall beside the airlock, giving a clear, firm command. "Depart for Marineford."
"Aye aye Captain!" The unmistakable voice of Bepo saluted back immediately, making her realise as she heard it that she was actually looking forward to seeing him again.
Looking at the peculiar fixture that she hadn't noticed initially, Nayla eyed it questioningly, recognising it to be a 'voicepipe,' if she remembered correctly. Something she had seen aboard other ships before, a fairly typical way to communicate, but this time it seemed out of place on what was obviously a technologically advanced vessel.
Glancing back at her, Law answered her unasked question, as if reading her thought from her expression. "We do have other systems but this one is reliable, requires no power and doesn't need technical expertise to repair."
"Why not just use Den Den Mushi?"
"They need to eat, sleep, be maintained and be physically well to work. I need absolutely dependent communication by main doors." He explained, humouring her intrigue with a small smirk as he beckoned for her to follow him back over to the crewmember he had shared an inaudible conversation with a moment ago.
Grabbing the handle of the suitcase Penguin had left for her against the wall near the door she followed him, taking in the crewmember's appearance. She recognised the long, wild tufts of chestnut brown sticking out from under his wine red, soft cap from the first time she had seen him; he was the guy that had been arguing with Shachi in the tavern last night.
"Nayla-ya, this is Jeff, he'll show you to the rec room. I don't need to tell you we're heading into a battlefield. I expect you to remain there until someone comes to find you and if we experience turbulence that is too great to remain seated, support yourself against the nearest wall."
Noting the seriousness of his tone, she nodded her agreement silently before looking at Jeff and shaking the hand he offered out to her as Law walked past them down the hallway.
"I'm needed in the cockpit." He called back over his shoulder, bringing her attention to how short the corridor was and how it ended abruptly into a large, circular room which appeared to house a descending staircase. "Try not to get into any trouble or actually behave yourself whilst I'm gone. I'll settle for either." Chuckling at the annoyed 'tsk' she emitted, he began making his way down the staircase and out of sight.
Watching until the last of his fuzzy hat disappeared completely, she turned back to Jeff as he cleared his throat. "Alright lil lady, if you'd like to follow me." He grinned at her, standing to the side of the hallway and gesturing the same way Law and the crewmember from earlier had just gone with one hand.
"Ah, yeah sure. Nice to meet you Jeff." She greeted politely as she walked after him, admiring the bright daylight streaming in from the numerous portholes and the view of the sea through them as the sub began moving. Noticing the metal ladder installed against the wall of the hallway, she looked up through the small hole it lead to in the ceiling as she passed beneath it.
Jeff smiled at her curiosity. "The main mast is above this part of the ship, we use that to go access and maintain it. Some diving gear up there too."
"Oh, I see." She'd noticed the large mast atop the ship when she'd arrived outside. The ship-sub hybrid structure was undeniably genius, she wondered who came up with the idea and if Law had taken any part in its design. Although she really was genuinely interested, she was also secretly trying to map the sub as they went, observing for possible escape routes should she need one.
"Lemme help you with that." He reached behind her to take the handle of her suitcase and roll it in her stead as he led the way into the circular room at the end of the hall. There was a wide descending staircase with a ramp running alongside it to the floor below them. She assumed the ramp to be for when they wheeled cargo in and out of the ship and was inwardly thankful Jeff would be able to use it instead of having to lift the suitcase down the stairs; embarrassed at the girly over-packing she was prone too. It was bad enough Penguin had nearly broken his neck carrying it earlier.
Opting for the stairs as Jeff rolled the suitcase down the accompanying slope, she eagerly took in the details of the vessel as they reached the floor below, analysing the lair of the infamous Trafalgar Law. This floor's hallway was lined with doors and lacked portholes as it ran through the centre of the ship. Although upstairs also had exposed metallic walls lined with pipes and vents, here the walls gave the hallway a blue-green hue without the supplement of natural lighting from outside. The ceiling was surprisingly high, though having remembered the size of Jean Bart, she should have expected as much. The floor was a simple, slightly dark, wooden decking, the rolling wheels of her suitcase drowning out the sound of the quiet tapping of her flats and of Jeff's booted footsteps against its surface.
Following him as he turned on the landing to use the next descending flight of stairs to the floor below the one they had just reached, Nayla peered down the stairwell, wondering how many floors the sub had.
"Sooo...you and the Cap-"
"No." She deadpanned immediately.
"Ok ok, just asking." Jeff held up his free hand in defence, allowing the amicable silence between them to resume as they reached the bottom of the second set of stairs and he led her into a hallway that looked identical to the one above them.
"...Little quick to deny it though, weren't cha?" He said with a cheeky side grin.
Huffing and crossing her arms, she decided not to dignify the accusation with a response, making him laugh. The sound echoed pleasantly off of the metal walls around them, the kind of laugh that was warmhearted and slightly contagious. Reluctantly, she found there was something immediately likable about the man as she looked at him from the corner of her eye with a slight smile. She had seen him before but this was the first time she had noticed his eyes, they were a brilliant emerald green, gone unappreciated in the dim lighting of the tavern and they practically shone with mischief.
"Doesn't hurt to ask ya know, does that mean you're available?" She couldn't help but laugh at his half-hearted flirtation and wink. He was probably a little younger than her, though taller (wasn't an impressive achievement) with typical, handsome, boyish charm.
"Aren't you guys on your way into a war zone? Shouldn't you be a little more worried?"
"I'm not hearing a noooo." He feigned deafness, cupping his ear and leaning in to her side earning a playful shove away and a laugh from her as he stood upright again. "And nah, I'm not worried. Captain's got this, we'll be fine, you'll see." He grinned widely at her.
Smiling at his apparently complete and unwavering faith in his captain's abilities, Nayla wondered if what she had seen on Sabaody was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Law's combat ability. Jeff's expression when he spoke about his captain was nearly identical to what Penguin's had been earlier, she couldn't help but be impressed at the admiration and respect his crew seemed to have for him.
"Alright lil lady, here we are." Pushing open the large door they arrived at, she looked through it in amazement. In contrast to the hallway, this room was brightly decorated and incredibly spacious; the scent of alcohol and rich upholstery met her through the open doorway.
Streams of golden afternoon sunlight filtered through the large, rounded portholes along the back and the walls themselves were a warm cream in colour; clean and bright except for the contrast of black, reflective, expensive-looking tiling behind the large bar like area in the furthest left corner. The walls were dotted with interesting and colourful decorative metal works and weapons.
The back, opposite the doorway had an enormous black flag hanging between the two most central portholes, a shine to it that denoted the high quality and thickness of the material chosen and it was proudly adorned with the Heart Pirates' Jolly Roger printed in yellow. The bottom of it hung gently to touch the top of a large, glass-protected display board suspended below which seemed to be full of newspaper articles and bounty posters that, even from this distance, she could spot the distinct fuzzy hat in.
There were several plush, vibrant, red sofas and beanbags around short, sleek, brown coffee tables creating large, social seating areas throughout the middle of the room and noticeably around a large flat screen attached to the wall on the right. There were a few snoozing Den Den Mushi sleeping on the black shelving below it which was chock-full of what she assumed to be an extensive collection of films to watch and music to listen to.
She counted four pool tables in the nearer left corner, two pinball machines and spotted a darts board not far from the bar. Though the scoring segments of it were obscured by newspaper photos of what looked to be a few world renowned marines.
There were some beautifully kept and displayed instruments in the nearer right corner. The polished woods and metals of the piano, guitars and violins shining invitingly with promise of joyous, sea-faring melodies.
Throughout the room were several rich mahogany cases and shelves, filled with books and what appeared to be game and card sets.
Overall, it gave off the feel of what the living room of a very rich young man's bachelor pad may look like. Modern, contemporary furnishings with bold colours and expensive taste.
"Nice huh?" Jeff grinned at her shocked expression.
"Wow yeah...I really wasn't expecting something like this." Though she shouldn't have been surprised, she'd seen the crazy features on board The Sunny.
"Well, this is one of the nicer rooms on the sub. It's where we come to relax when we're off duty so Captain spared no expense on it." His smile widening, in obvious pride of his captain's consideration.
"I can see that, wow...Are you sure it's ok for me to be in here?"
He wheeled her suitcase in past the doorframe and to the side of it, propping it against the wall as a short, loud alarm sound burst twice through the hallways. Nayla opened her mouth to ask what it meant but soon heard Bepo's voice over the communications system clearly state: "Diving! Diving!"
"Diving alarm." Jeff supplemented, unhelpfully at this point, she had figured that much out by then.
"D-Do we need to do anything?" She asked, bracing herself against the doorframe in anticipation of some sort of violent incoming movement from the ship.
"Nah, don't worry." He laughed, completely at ease. "You won't even feel it, this thing drives like a dream. Go take a look out the portholes if you like."
Not even thinking of that, she immediately made her way across the room and grinning, Jeff watched as she trotted over to the nearest one eagerly. Every new crewmate they got usually hadn't served on a submarine before and went through similar excitement and awe on their first trip...Though he decided it was much cuter on a young woman than on a grown man.
"I'll leave you to it lil lady, enjoy the view. I'll be just outside if you need me but I'll let you know if I get called away for something."
Peeling her face away from the rapidly rising water level ascending up the side of the thick, clear plastic she was peering out of, she turned back to him. "Wait, you're not staying in here?"
"Nope."
"Why not, if you're going to be standing outside the door anyway?" She furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Um...Well, I've been told not to." He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and placing his hand on the doorknob as he backed out of the room. "Yell if you need anything." Flicking the lights for the room on as he left, he gave her a quick wave and shut the door behind him.
'That's odd...I'm trusted enough to not damage any of the expensive stuff in here but not trusted enough to need to be kept an eye on...but my guard has to watch me from outside the door?' She frowned in thought at the lighting fixture above her that had just been turned on before deciding the view outside was a much better spend of her attention as she spotted a distant school of colourful fish.
Jeff had been right; the descent was so smooth once they broke through the surface that she hadn't felt how deeply they had already gone. It wasn't long before the sunlight failed to pierce through the depths they reached. The black, lantern-styled exterior lights of the submarine that she had noticed outside gradually brightened as the sea around them gradually darkened. They seemed automatic, responding to the perceived amount of light outside the vessel and provided a moderate amount of illumination around the sub as it moved though the ocean at an impressive speed.
The murkiness outside, the unfamiliar room, the lack of company, the silence - apart from the engine hums, and the realisation that they were heading into an extremely dangerous battlefield had crept up on her and had begun to start making her feel anxious again. Looking around the room for something to take her mind off of things, she inwardly appreciated the soothing, calming amount of lighting coming from the dimmed, decorative, black metal wall fixtures around the room.
Settling her gaze back to the display board opposite the door she had just come in from, Nayla walked over to it, looking down as her feet crossed the soft, thick rugs peering out from around the seating areas. Muted, tasteful animal prints matching the cushions and throws on the sofas. A glance back at the curtains rolled to the sides of the portholes confirmed they matched them too. Wondering who had picked out all the furniture here, she reached the board and peered into the glass.
It seemed to be where the Heart Pirates pinned up their accomplishments as a crew as they made a name for themselves. The first articles pinned to the top left of the board dated back just under a year, coming from the North Blue's regional paper. "New North Blue Nemesis: Continuing Backlash of the Great Pirate Era." – "Heart Pirates; Newest Scourge of the North Blue."
From left to right, they were in chronological order, soon clipped from the international edition of the newspaper that the News Coos delivered. "Heart Pirates Demolish Marine Base: 84 Casualties!" – "4 Naval Battleships Lost: Trafalgar Law Erupts Onto The Grand Line." She glanced through all the headlines and photos in awe; there were so many for such a relatively young pirate crew. It was impressive how much trouble they had managed to cause already, though she guessed their rapid rise in infamy was why Law was considered one of the Supernovas.
Even though she knew it was a record of their criminal behaviour and that there was a sense of boastfulness in keeping these, she could tell by how carefully the articles had been clipped, how neatly they had been displayed, how they had protected the paper behind glass and the fact that it was exhibited within a room made for the crew to relax and spend time in together as friends, that it wasn't just a boasting right. It was a record of their memories together.
Smiling at the thought, she outright laughed when she spotted one of the article's photos appeared to have a cheeky-looking Shachi in it. Barely visible from the edge of the shot, just about recognisable from his hat and sunglasses, he was holding up both hands in peace signs towards the photographer, a marine ship set ablaze in the background and sporting a huge, devious grin on his face. She wondered who the boiler suit clad arm that was coming from off frame and grabbing his collar in an attempt to pull him away belonged to. Though if she had to guess, she'd bet money on Penguin. Those two seemed close.
Giggling to herself, she looked at the series of bounty posters lined up across the middle of the board, nestled within the frame of articles. They were mostly Law's; from his first bounty to his current one. She had to double-take his initial prize, it was ridiculously high. 'What does someone have to do to piss off the marines enough to start at 75,000,000 berries?!' She gaped at his smug-looking face in the poster, making a mental note to read the older articles more closely to answer that question before looking through the series of them, watching as his amount rose in large increments up to his current 200,000,000 prize. 'I wonder what his new amount will be after his little stunt on Sabaody,' she thought looking at the space that had been left in anticipation of his subsequent bounties.
Inspecting the only poster on the board that didn't belong to him, she couldn't help but snicker a little at Bepo's picture. It'd seem he'd been mistaken as a pet just as Chopper had been, though at least he was worth 500 berries - ten times the amount of poor Chopper, probably based on the sheer size of him alone.
Nayla's amusement at the image of the sweet navigator's bounty picture was soon interrupted by a sharp incline of the floor and another alarm; this one had a different sound to it. "Arrival, resurfacing! All hands to battle stations!" Said bear's voice rang out seriously over the communications system again.
Just as she was marvelling at how fast the vessel must be if they had already arrived at Marineford, Jeff knocked on the door and re-entered the room. "Sorry lil lady, looks like I need to go man my station. Stay here, ok?" Nodding quietly in response, she began to feel the turbulence of the waters around them as they started to resurface. "Don't look so worried, I'll be back soon!" He shot her one last grin before leaving.
Walking back over to the portholes, she peered out of one, noticing the gradual lightening of the water around them as they ascended at a slant towards...what appeared to be a vast, white sheet of ice on the surface above them, the daylight breaking through the few cracks and holes in its surface in streams. Unable to understand why the water was full of ice at this time of year in this area, she tried to spot the edge of it only to find none. It extended all the way to the underwater coastline of the relatively small span of land Marineford rest on.
She watched in shock as an array of cannonballs broke through the thick sheet of ice too close to the sub for comfort, an explosion of fierce, white bubbles trailing behind them as they sank into the depths below. The muffled booms of cannons and gunfire as the vessel approached a large break in the ice became thunderous as they breached the surface of the waves into the dim, overcast afternoon hanging above the marine headquarters. The pandemonium on the surface was staggering; marines, pirates, an array of battleships and wild displays of all kinds of peculiar Devil Fruit powers. The sounds of battle cries, yells of pain and the screams of the dying accompanied the visual display through the thick acrylic of the porthole she watched from. It was unfortunate that it wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Frowning at the memory of some of her previous jobs, she found herself deciding more and more often that she really was growing to dislike working in wars.
The noise outside was soon drowned out by the hurried sound of footsteps in the hallway behind the door and the yells of Heart Pirates as they went about their duties to maintain the ship safely in the chaotic warzone.
'How am I going to find Luffy in all of this?' She asked herself in dismay, scanning the endless disarray of people fighting. 'Maybe Law will spot him and tell him I'm here? What is that goof doing here to begin with anyway?' She wondered if the softie was sticking his nose into this on some kind-hearted whim to help a friend or something. That was just so him.
Pretty sure that they wouldn't notice her absence, Nayla eyed the door, knowing that Jeff was gone now and that the crew were probably too busy doing their jobs to pay her any mind if she were to maybe wander off a little bit. Just a little. She didn't really need a pissed-off Law all over her ass. Though after the way her heart had fluttered when he had taken her hand earlier, maybe...'Shut up.' She might not mind. 'Stop it. Filthy and inappropriate.' In another context. 'Useless brain, go back to sleep!'
Making her way over, she opened it and peaked out into the dim hallway cautiously, hearing the echoes of the crew's yells throughout and from the floor above but there seemed to be no one around. Stepping into the corridor, she closed the door behind her softly and decided to walk quietly back the way Jeff had led her there.
Peering up the stairwell, she looked for any crewmembers that may spot her and tattle on her to Law. Seeing none, she began climbing the steps, stopping halfway up when she heard hurried footsteps on the ramp above her.
About to climb back down to return to the rec room to pretend to have been obedient she halted her retreat when she recognised the man that had just reached the landing above to be Shachi and saw him pulling the end of what seemed to be a gurney behind him. An assortment of shouted orders to prepare for surgery and to prepare blood transfusions sounding out.
Her heart clenched painfully tightly in her chest. They'd only just gotten there, had someone in the crew already been injured? Was it someone she knew? The thought of one of the kind men that had saved her life or any of their comrades being killed today made her feel an unexpectedly strong wave of distress at the thought.
It was soon clear though that it was none of the crew when she saw the person lying on the bed being rolled past wasn't wearing a boiler suit. Suddenly unable to hear anymore of the shouted orders as she realised it was Luffy with a gaping, bloodied hole through his chest, she stared numbly as he was rolled past, stared in blank acknowledgement at the other crewmember pushing the opposite end of the gurney to help Shachi wheel him down the hallway.
She stood in shock as the seemingly invincible, happy young boy she had met was rushed away in a horrifyingly dire condition. Gripping the staircase railing for support she was sure she saw more sets of boots and another gurney pass into the hallway of the first floor above her but she hadn't really processed them. She wasn't sure how long she had stood there before someone called her name.
"Nayla-ya." Snapping her head up, she saw Law and Bepo running past. Though neither slowed down or paused, Law looked in her direction as he spoke again. "Go back to the room."
Nodding silently, she numbly complied, turning back the way she came to go sit down before her legs gave way on her.
Author's Note: Ever notice the lack of pockets on the Heart Pirates' boiler suits? I did, must be really inconvenient to carry stuff around. Maybe they have breast pockets on the inside like I gave Penguin last chapter or the crew wear clothing underneath that has pockets to carry their cash and stuff, hmm.
The voicepipe stuff is real and I noticed the Heart Pirates use them as well in the episode where Law was operating on Luffy and Jinbe.
I took a guess at the age of the crew and amount of Law's initial bounty by comparing to the Straw Hats. It took way less than a year for them to become a problem so I assumed it probably took a little longer for the Heart Pirates because it'd take time to gather a crew that size and build their sub.
Zoro's initial bounty was 60,000,000 berries, so if the East Blue is considered the weakest, Zoro doesn't have a devil fruit power and wasn't actually trying for a high bounty (but I assume that Law might have been, initially), then I'd guess that Law's first one would have been higher than his and settled on 75,000,000 berries.