I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I promised to be more active over the summer but got so busy with work and before I knew it, summer was over and school had started. I'm doing my best, I swear. I want to thank all you wonderful readers who had reviewed, favored, and followed this story. Your support means so much to me. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. So thank you!
Enjoy the chapter!
As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.
-x-
A month. They had been sailing and wandering around the Grand Line for a month. One. Friggin. Month. Luca was almost at her wits' end and could potentially bite someone's head off. That was probably cabin fever talking but she didn't care, if they could just dock on some island, any island, she would be the happiest person in the world and the potential head biting injuries would go significantly down. But no, Law insisted that they just wander aimlessly as they had enough supplies to last them three months and at one point, they were under the water for a week. Luca almost pulled out all of her hair from being enclosed in the tiny sub.
She swore Law was doing it on purpose. She wasn't blind, she saw him smirking at her every time her head was turned. If it wasn't for Bepo and Shachi, she probably would have snapped. Shachi enticed her to play multiple rounds of poker and was surprised to learn she was terrible at it (hey, Cayenne's the poker genius) and Bepo sought her out for more pets. "I can't be great at everything." Luca grumbled as she, Shachi, Penguin, and another crew member who introduced himself as Maurice played another round of poker. She was losing pretty badly. Her pot consisted of less than a handful of beli and a rock. Shachi had suggested they started betting clothes when she began to lose the rest of her money. A sharp glare from her shut him up.
"You can't win at everything." Maurice agreed, adjusting his newsboy cap even lower over his eyes (that was, apparently, a common style on the sub.) Luca couldn't tell how old he was, his collar and hat obscured his face but she pegged him to be closer to his thirties. However, she could make out a jagged scar running down his cheek. He surveyed his winnings, the largest pile, with disinterest. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Maurice picked up a beli.
Shachi snorted into his cards while Luca stared at him, perplexed. "It's money..." She said slowly. "You buy stuff with it." Penguin sniggered.
"Why would I want to do that?" Maurice said blankly. His head shifted to look at her pile. "I'll trade you my winnings for your rock."
"Uh... what?"
"Your rock." Maurice pointed at the rock in her pile. "I want it."
"Why?"
"Because it's cool. Rocks are cool."
Luca let out a nervous giggle and picked up the rock. "Okay."
"Awesome!" Maurice cheered and dropped his cards: a royal flush. Everyone else groaned in defeat and threw down their cards. And Luca suddenly found herself with the biggest pot as Maurice happily petted and snuggled with the rock.
"How does that happen?" Luca said blankly.
Penguin sighed, "he'll find something interesting that he has to have. Damn, I was hoping he would want my rubber bands."
"Last time he wanted Bepo's clothespins." Shachi said.
Luca's head reeled slightly. "How did a rock end up here anyway? We're underwater."
"It was in my pocket." Shachi deadpanned.
The door to the galley opened and Law strode through, Bepo trailing him with the nodachi over one shoulder. "We're going to Fishman Island." Law announced.
There was a split second of silence before Shachi and Penguin let out cries of joy, Luca let a small smile grace her lips—Finally!—and Maurice continued to snuggle with his newly acquired rock. "I felt like we've been down here forever." Shachi commented as they all stood and stretched.
"Get used to it." Penguin replied. "We're going to be underwater for a bit longer and then Fishman Island!" Pink spots appeared on his cheeks. "Where the mermaids live!"
"Mermaids!" Shachi squealed. The two of them slung arms and practically jumped in joy at the thought of the famed mermaids of Fishman Island.
Behind Law, Bepo perked up slightly. "Girl bears?"
"SHADDUP BEPO!"
"HEY!" Luca barked but she didn't really mean anything by it anymore. After all this time, she had gotten used to the crew members and they had accepted her with open arms. She shook her head and reached up to give Bepo an affection pat on the head before her gaze traveled to Law. Their eyes met for a for a moment and then Luca looked away. "Anyway, I'm really glad we're going." Luca commented before leaving the room, completely aware of Law's eyes trained on her back.
He'd been doing that lately. Whenever they found themselves in the same room, his eyes would drift over to her and stare for almost a minute before she would give in and look back at him. She had no idea why he was doing it, probably trying to get a rise out of her. Thankfully, she had warmed up to the crew and Law and fully accepted her position in the Heart Pirates. But she couldn't help feel like Law had been disappointed that she wasn't trying to tear into his throat anymore. Probably because he found it so entertaining. Jerk.
She opened the door and walked into the control room where Jean Bart was currently piloting the sub. "Hey." She greeted.
He grunted in return, focusing on the empty space of water in front of them. Personally, Luca didn't like this room very much. It was the large view in front of them, where they could see into the vast ocean. She didn't like it when they were so deep that no light penetrated the depths except for the lights coming from the sub. And there was also the fact that Luca was terrified that a very large sea king would show up and eat them. Yeah, that was a bit alarming and cause for concern. "Law said we're going to Fishman Island?" She asked hopefully.
"We are. We've been heading for the Red Line for the past two days." At least Law could have shared that piece of information.
"Good." Luca sighed. She wondered, was the ship coated? Since it was a submarine, maybe it didn't need to be. "Can this thing stand going down to ten-thousand meters?"
"This sub can withstand any pressure." The door opened and Law stepped through. Bepo had left and Law's nodachi was now slung over his own shoulder. "We won't have any problems going down but I took the opportunity to have the ship coated anyway."
"Why?"
Law shot her a grin. "To see what's out there."
A stone settled itself somewhere in her gut as she swallowed dryly. "Oh."
"What's the point of sitting around when there's entertainment outside?" Law's grin turned into a smirk.
What was the point of watching Sea Kings eat each other or decide that a tender, yellow sub looked delicious? Luca suppressed a shudder. "Well have fun." She commented lamely and tried to sidle past Law. She was going to crawl into her bed and shove her head under her pillow and try not to think about sea kings eating them.
Law's hand shot out and grasped her upper arm, halting her. "You're not going anywhere, c'mon." He walked out of the room, pulling her along.
"Hey! Let go!" Luca protested. Law ignored her. "I don't want to see the life outside!" She whined and their footsteps faded away.
Jean Bart shook his head and smiled. "Kids."
-x-
Luca didn't really try to fight back, she knew it'd be impossible to worm her way out of it anyway. And Law's grip on her arm was firm. He pushed open the door to the deck and they walked out. Luca's jaw dropped. "Whoa."
The sea around them was dark but not pitch black. Instead of Sea Kings, Luca saw whales. Most of them were huge, dwarfing their little sub, but they were extremely pretty. Luca stared at the white belly of a whale swimming above them. If it had been on land, it would've squashed them into a really fine paste. She walked over to the railing to get a better look and realized why she didn't see them in the control room. They were sailing at the bottom of the pod. "Aww." She smiled when she spotted a baby whale, swimming close to its mother.
"It's nice, huh?" Law commented as he joined her at the railing. "We've been following them for a while now."
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was looking at one of the larger whales. "Why?"
"They swim pretty close to the Red Line. Sea Kings won't attack a pod of whales." He explained. "Once we're close enough, we'll be able to get on a descending current to where the deep currents are."
Luca nodded slightly, Cayenne had explained the currents to her a long time ago. She remembered that eventually when you get on a deep current, you can ride it all the way to Fishman Island but you had be careful, else the ship could crash or Sea Kings attack and then you'd die. At least down here it would be quick. The baby whale swam up to the sub and Luca squealed in delight as it curiously prodded the bubble with its nose. If she could, she would reach right out to pet it.
A deep chuckle brought her out of her cuteness high and a blush rose to her cheeks when she saw Law staring at her, amusement evident on his face. "Hey, baby animals are cute." She snapped, her blush deepening.
"I didn't say anything." He replied coolly but his smirk wouldn't disappear. "I hope he doesn't pop the bubble. That would be unfortunate."
A vision of water crushing down on the both of them had another shudder rising through her. Not that she didn't mind going to Fishman Island, but the idea of being surrounded by such a tremendous force of water pressure unnerved her. The little whale must have thought the bubble was some sort of toy because (and Luca swore she could see the mirth in its eyes) it happily nudged it some more. "Please don't break the bubble." She whispered but her heart warmed at the sight. It was so cute.
This time, Law laughed outright. She sent an unamused glance at him but deep down, she couldn't help but think that he had a nice laugh. Alright, let's squash that thought to the deepest corners of my mind. "There's nothing wrong with asking him not to break our only lifeline."
"You're just too funny." She made a face at him and he laughed a little more, his shoulders shaking slightly. And then she couldn't help it either, she laughed too. Just a little.
"Oh wow! Whales!" She heard Shachi squeal behind her and immediately she stopped laughing, her face a furious red.
Penguin also showed his appreciation for the whales and ran up to the baby whale and made mooing noises that Luca guessed was supposed to be whale speak. And then she laughed again. "Isn't he adorable." Penguin cooed.
At least she wasn't the only one who thought the whales were cute. Shachi was trying to get the attention of the baby whale while Penguin was still trying to speak to it. The tug-of-war went on for a moment before a loud wail from the pod made them stop. The little whale left the bubble alone and swam back to his mother. "Aww..." Shachi deflated. "We got scolded."
It was too much for her. She pressed her palm against her mouth in order to stifle her giggles but soon she was full out laughing and holding onto the railing to keep herself from failing over. "You guys are too much!"
"Luca's laughing!" She heard someone shout.
She looked back at them and saw them all grinning at her. Her eyes slowly traveled to Law who was smirking at her with a mysterious look on his face. "Hi." She wheezed out as she tried to calm her breathing.
"You're so funny, Luca." Shachi said joyously. He threw his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her affectionately.
"Hey. The whales are leaving." Bepo pointed at the whales who were swimming off.
"Where are they going?" Luca shrugged Shachi's arm off as he stared sadly at the departing whales.
"They don't have a need to go so deep." Law stated. His head jerked in the direction in front of them. "We're here."
Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight in front of them: a huge circular waterfall. "Is that the way to the deep currents?" Penguin asked.
Law nodded. "That's our way to Fishman Island."
"Whoa," was the only thing Luca could think to say. What would happened if they crashed in that?
Law pulled a den-den mushi out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Keep going Jean Bart. We're going straight down to the bottom." He turned away as Jean Bart 'rogered' back and called, "hold onto something. This might get rough."
"I hope he knows what he's doing." Luca gritted her teeth as she grabbed onto the rails. They tilted forward as they rode on the deep current, picking up speed as they went. Suddenly, they were vertical and hurtling down and down into the depths. Holy ever-loving shit! Luca's feet nearly lifted from the floor of the deck and she held on tighter, she didn't know if that bubble could hold her if she flew off. Something hit her arm and she craned her neck up to see a rope.
"Tie that around your waist!" She heard Shachi shout. Luca gave a slight nod and wrapped one leg around a railing pole, hooking it tightly as she wrapped the long rope around her waist. Her hip bone bumped painfully against the railing, she'd have bruises by the time this was over (and just after she was all healed too.) In the distance, she heard Penguin shriek, whether in terror or in glee, she didn't know. Let this be over soon. Luca prayed as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Big mistake.
They came to a violent stop. Luca lurched forward and face-planted onto the deck, the rope kept her from falling more but it was painfully tight. She cracked her eyes open and groaned, besides the illumination of the lights on the sub, it was even darker than it was before. Hastily, she untied the rope and looked around. Her face paled as she made out the large shapes around them.
Eels, jellyfish, large fish with giant teeth, and more. Some didn't even have eyes and she realized they probably didn't need them, it was so dark. "Wow." Shachi murmured. "These guys could take on Sea Kings."
"Uh-huh." Luca swallowed nervously as one came up close enough for them to see its one eye staring at them.
"Brighten the lights!" Law barked, at the lights got brighter. The large eel that had been looking at them swam away quickly. "Probably thinks we're an anglerfish." He commented, walking over to them. He looked slightly pale.
"Anglerfish?" Luca asked.
"It's a fish found in deep waters. It has a light attached to it to lure in prey." He explained. His eyes swept up and down her body. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just a few bruises but nothing major. But Law," he looked at her, "let's not do that again."
"Hopefully we won't have to. We're roughly seven thousand meters deep."
"Three thousand to go." Luca said under her breath.
Law nodded and turned his attention to his den-den mushi. "Let's keep moving. We don't want to attract the predators."
So many interesting creatures passed them by, a lot of them ended up trying to eat each other. The jellyfish, as they found, were poisonous when one eel tried to eat one but died. It scared her how easily the fish swam and interacted with them while they were trying so hard to navigate the deep underworld. "Captain, what's that?" Bepo pointed to billowing smoke clouds ahead of them.
"Underwater volcanoes. Quickly, Jean Bart." He said into the den-den mushi, "who knows if these things are stable."
"Is this the right way?" Luca asked, coming up behind him.
"Fishman Island should be beyond this, hopefully there will be another way down." The two of them peered over the edge down into the valley of volcanoes. It was almost majestic with their towering pillars and the smoke wafting out of them. It was an amazing sight, really. Smoke underwater.
"It is quite amazing." She whispered. Many times, when she thought about leaving Sabaody, she never thought about going down to Fishman Island. Why would she want to explore her known world when there was another world down here?
"There!" Someone shouted. Beyond the volcano valley, there was what looked like a drop-off.
"Is that it?" Luca asked Law.
"We're at eight thousand. This has to be the last leg."
"It's dark." They were looming above another dark chasm and quickly lowering down.
"This should be it." She heard Law mutter. Everyone else was oddly silent, all of them were waiting with bated breath as Jean Bart lowered them down and down. They pierced the darkness and kept going but suddenly...
"Hey..." Luca said slowly. "Is it getting... brighter?" Indeed it was, the area around then was starting to become brighter. They could make out the rock wall behind them and... "Are those tree trunks?" Luca gasped.
It appeared before them: Fishman Island. It was encased in a large bubble, with a small bubble on top, nestled in between tree trunks larger than any tree Luca had seen. Whales and Sea Kings swam around it lazily.
"FISHMAN ISLAND!" Shachi shrieked in glee. "MERMAIDS!"
"Oh my god, we're going to see the mermaids!"
"Mermaaaaids!"
"We've died, haven't we? We died on the way here and now this is heaven!"
Idiots. Luca thought but she didn't have the heart to tell them off. All men had dreams of coming down to the legendary island under the sea to see the most beautiful creatures in the world. Personally, Luca had been a fan of the stories of mermaids luringsailors into the water with their songs only to drown them and take their souls.
Law smirked and raised the den-den mushi to his mouth once more. "Full speed ahead! To Fishman Island!" This last statement was greeted by cheers from everyone.
They speedily made their way to the circular opening on the side of the bubble, where the entrance would be.
-x-
"You will halt!" The sub stopped at the sound of a ferocious roar.
The gates had remained closed to them and in a moment, there was a large fishman in armor standing in front of them. "These gates are closed to all outsiders!" He announced.
"WHAT!?"
Of course, with Whitebeard's death, Fishman Island has to be going through turmoil. He was the only thing protecting them.
"If you are here to stock up on supplies for the New World, you may enter!" Well that just contradicted the previous statement. "You may only pass through on the way to the New World, you will not be able to take anything from Fishman Island back to the Grand Line!" Probably to keep slavers from kidnapping them. "All those with business will agree to stay within the Coral Hills district lest they be arrested! Do you agree to these terms?" The fishman looked at them expectantly.
"We do!" Law stated clearly and loudly.
"Well then..." The doors before them opened. "Welcome to Fishman Island!"
"That was weird." Luca said while they went through. "I was half expecting to be thrown out."
"They wouldn't. I heard Big Mom gave Fishman Island her protection."
Luca stared at him. "How did you hear that?"
He shrugged. "I have connections."
"Well, as long as we can get going soon, I wanna get to the surface as soon as—"
She was cut off as a force that felt like a ton of bricks hit her full on. She was blasted off her feet and water engulfed her, cutting off her air. She choked and spluttered and tried to get her bearings but the water was merciless as it tossed her around like a rag doll until her body couldn't handle the abuse anymore and she blacked out.
-x-
Law stood up shakily, the freak tidal wave had blasted him off his feet and immobilized him but luckily he had been caught by the railings of the sub, else he would have been sent hurtling to who knows where. "Captain!" Penguin was by his side helping him stand. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he replied and looked around. "Where did that come from?"
"We don't know. It just hit us!"
"Is everyone okay?" He demanded.
"Just sore but okay."
Everyone else gave their affirmative that they were okay and no one was in need of medical attention. But two voices did not sound, causing Law to take another look at the people on deck. "Where's Luca and Bepo?"
"Huh?" Shachi peered at all the faces. "They were here on deck!"
"Were they taken by the wave?"
"LUCA!"
Law's stomach clenched in fear as he bolted over to the side of the sub and looked at their surroundings. The polar bear and the only female crew member were nowhere to be seen.
They were gone.
-x-
And that concludes chapter fourteen! I promise I will make a significant effort to pick up the pace. I know you all want to see Luca and Cayenne again and I'll try not to disappoint!
By the way, who else is enjoying the current arc? I'm just loving all the information and Law's screen time!
Please feel free to drop a review, it would mean so much to me!