Forced Wedding

Part One

"Let me out of here!" Neo cried as she pounded on the doors of her bedroom. The guards were out there. She knew they were. And they were ignoring her. "Let me out! You can't keep me in here!"

When she had saw that the ships were gone she was too stunned to fight Tao as he dragged her back to the castle. It wouldn't have mattered if she did fight back. She knew he had years of experience on her when using their crystals. She was stuck either way.

Now she was trapped inside this room. Somehow they had spelled the room to keep her from escaping. She backed up from the door, called forth all of her crystals and fired ever single one of them at the doors. They just absorbed her attack.

She ran over to the window seat and tried to force the window open again. But like the times before, nothing happened. They wouldn't give. Neo pounded her fists on the window, hoping they would break or someone would help her. Neither happened.

She pressed her hands to the cool glass and glared down at the Elementals on the ground. They were rushing around, decorating the island for her wedding. A wedding she didn't want.

She flopped down on her stomach on the window seat and hugged one of the pillows that laid on it. She rubbed her finger tips against Law's ring. "Law…Penguin, Shachi, Bepo, everyone…where are you? Come back to me. Law, please, come save me."

Neo kept her face buried in the pillow. Her tears soaking it. She was unaware of a small figure climbing through the other window until it called her name. "Neo?"

"Uh," Neo's head shot up to the familiar tiny voice calling her. She jumped off the window seat when she saw the tiny reindeer in her room. "Chopper!"

"Neo!" Chopper jumped into her open arms.

"You're all right," Neo hugged him tightly to her chest. "But how? How did you get in here? The room has been spelled or something."

"I'm not really sure. Maybe this spell thing doesn't effect me because I'm not an Elemental," Chopper looked back at the window he just climbed through. "I heard some Elementals talking. They said you were locked in your room. And that you are going to marry Tao? What's going on? I can't find any of my friends!"

"I don't know. I don't know where any of them are either," Neo informed him. "Both of the ships are gone as well."

"What?!"

"Tao said the crews left at first light. I don't believe him."

"Neither do I! Luffy would never leave like that! Especially with us still here!"

Neo nodded. "So what happened to you? How is it possible that you're still here when everyone else is missing?"

"I went for a walk last night," Chopper told her. "I was upset that Luffy wasn't taking things seriously. When I got back to the room, Luffy was gone. I went to tell the others, but couldn't find them either. That's when I over heard a couple Elementals saying that they need to find me or their boss wasn't going to be happy. I've been hiding until I could get a good moment to climb up here. Good thing there are vines on that side of the building. I used them to climb up. I was hoping that you knew what was going on. Or at least Trafalgar might now."

"I haven't seen him since last night," Neo choked, tears pooling in her eyes as her heart clenched tightly at the thought of him missing.

Chopper looked up at her, tears leaked around his own eyes. He looked like a scared child that had just woken up from a nightmare. "Y-You're not really going to marry that guy, Tao, are you?"

"Of course not," Neo hugged him again.

"We have to get you out of here," Chopper said.

Neo shook her head. "I've tried using my crystals to get out. The walls only absorb my attacks. I'm trapped here."

"What are we going to do?" Chopper asked. Neither knew the answer to that.

A knock at the door made them both jump.

"Princess?"

"It's Tao," Neo gasped quietly. "He can't find you in here."

"What do I do? What do I do?!" Chopper waved his arms and legs wildly. Neo looked around the room in a panic. Her eyes landed on the large pillows on the bed.

"Under the pillows! Quick!" Neo ordered in a hushed, but frantic, tone. Chopper dove under them. Luckily they were large enough to hide him completely. It was the only option they had. The door cracked open. Neo rushed over to the vanity and sat down.

"Princess," Tao said again as he stepped into the room. "I'm glad to see you have finally calmed down."

"Hn," Neo flinched. She was anything but calm. Still she tried to show no emotions to him as he stepped behind her. It took all of her might not to eye the pillows in the mirror. She couldn't let on that someone else was in the room. "Give me back my friends."

"Princess, I've already told you," Tao sighed. "They left."

"They did not leave," Neo stood up to face him. "I know they wouldn't leave me. Not like this, not ever."

"You are so young. So naive," Tao reached for her face. She jerked away from him. "Those humans are some of the worst of their kind. They're pirates. They hurt people. They are not your friends. He doesn't care about you, Princess. If he did he would be here. He isn't."

"You don't know them," Neo pushed past him. "You don't know him at all."

She heard him growl. He then grabbed her wrist to pull her back to look at him. "My patience with you is growing thin."

"Let go," She jerked away from him and started to walk off. "You are going to regret touching me. Law is going t-"

Neo suddenly felt herself flying backwards. She landed on the bed, causing the pillows to jump at the impact, slightly revealing Chopper. Then Tao was on top of her. He pinned her to the bed by her wrists.

…

Chopper cringed and held onto his hat. If Tao were to notice him it was all over.

…

Neo did all she could to keep her eyes on Tao and off the pillows. He couldn't notice Chopper was there. She tried her best to keep fear out of her voice. She repeated to herself that he wasn't going to hurt her. Then she wasn't so sure. Law had always been by her side to protect her. Now he wasn't. She had no idea what Tao was going to do. "Let go of me."

"It's time for you to grow up. You can't be with him. He's a human. You're an Elemental. It's impossible."

"Stop it," Neo pleaded.

"I won't let you waste your life on that human. He'll only hurt you."

"You are the one hurting me!"

"Princess Neo, it's time you let go of that world. Once everything is gone…Once you are freed from that world you'll feel better."

"W-What are you saying?" Neo looked into his eyes. Suddenly she felt different. It felt like something, some kind of darkness was creeping into her very being, into her soul. "What are you doing to me?!"

"Relax, sweet princess," He whispered in a sicking sweet tone. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I'll make you forget all about him."

"Stop it," Her voice cracked. She felt his hand, that was on her left wrist, rub against her skin as he slipped his hand up to the ring on her finger. "No! Don't!"

"Trust me, Princess," Tao's eyes were dark. Unfamiliar from what they were before. His whole body looked darker. This darkness seemed to be forcing its way into her own body. "It's time that you were severed from that world. Severed from him."

…

Chopper bit his bottom lip, pulled down his hat and cried. He was stuck watching Tao pin his friend to the bed. He couldn't move. He shouldn't move. He didn't know what to do.

Should I transform and try to bust out of here? Could I get Neo out of here if I did? Or would I just make things worse? Then, what good would that do? The Sunny is gone. Just like my friends. How would I get us off this island? I'd have to fight. I can't fight everyone here, not alone.

Neo said there was a spell or something on this room. If I did bust a hole in the wall would she even be able to leave? Or would she still be stuck in here? Why didn't we think about spells before? We should have thought of them. Maybe we could have come up with an idea to counter a situation like this. We were totally stupid for falling into this position. I-I don't know what to do! What am I supposed to do?! Luffy! Where are you guys?!

…

"This is the right path for you," Tao said. As he started to slip the ring off her finger, Neo felt her mind falling farther into darkness. A vision of Law entered her mind and she curled her fingers just in time to keep him from taking the ring. Tao gave her a very disproving growl. "Stop fighting me."

"Never," Neo said finding her voice. "I won't let you take his ring from me."

"His ring?" Tao growled again. "I shouldn't be surprised that he was the one who gave this thing to you. Did he place it on your hand himself?"

"He did," Neo narrowed her eyebrows. They went lax when Tao chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You don't even know the significance of a man putting a ring on the left hand of a woman," Tao chuckled darkly. "It's a very good thing that you arrived when you did."

"What are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter now. That human is gone and soon his love for you will be too. Now, be a good, obedient princess and let me have the ring."

Neo could feel herself slipping farther into the darkness. She was now battling herself to keep her fingers closed around Law's ring. She didn't want to let it go. She couldn't let go of the last piece of him she had with her, but her fingers defied her wishes. They relaxed open. As he slid the ring off her finger her last image of Law slipped away from her memories as her mind went black. "Law…"

Tao climbed off her, the ring clenched tightly in his hand. "Behave yourself now. Soon the maids will come and dress you for our wedding."

Neo sat up. Her eyes were clouded over. "Yes."

"Good girl," Tao smirked. "I'll dispose of this filthy ring while you relax. It's going to be a long day. I don't want you tired. I'll have the maid bring you something to eat. You skipped breakfast after all."

"Of course," Neo nodded in a trance like fashion. Tao walked out of the room.

"Keep the doors locked. Just in case," He ordered the guards.

"Yes, sir!"

Tao left the castle then. He walked over to a near by cliff. As he stood there, he glared at the tiny circle in his hand. "You have her no more, human. I won. She is mind. This island is mine."

He laughed as he chucked the ring into the ocean then walked off. He was absorbed in his victory that he didn't even notice he was being watched. Standing behind one of the trees, someone was watching him carefully. They watched him go until they could no longer see him. They carefully made their way from the shadows of the trees and over to the edge of the cliff. Without hesitation, they hurled themselves off the cliff and plunged into the waters below.

Kicking their feet as their eyes scanned the bottom of the ocean. There laying in the sand was the ring. A couple small clownfish were inspected the silver circle. The fish darted away when the figure swam closer. The figure plucked the ring from the sand then swam back up to the surface.

…

Author's Notes: Yes, yes, the kiss will happen. It's almost here. I want it to happen too. Be patient, it's coming.

Mei: Yes to your question. And sadly we are coming to the end of this particular story. I don't want it to end either. I really like Neo with Law. I might have to do something about that ;)