Thirty Eight – In Chains and Shackles! Slavery's Total Victory

When I come to, I can't tell if I am awake or still dreaming; everything is hazy and unorganized, as dreams often are. The first sense to be awakened is of touch, of cold concrete against my forehead, and metal against my neck, and pain in my shoulder. Then, sound: the soft clinking of chains, the sterile, almost inaudible hum of a large room. It is only then that I realize I've regained consciousness. How… how long've I been out…? Stubbornly, I push myself up to my knees. Opening my eyes, I discover just where I am: a jail. Metal bars cage off one solitary, wide prison cell, while on the other side are doors out of here. It is then that I notice the rings. Clamped tightly around my neck is a thick metal ring, and from one end is a chain, dangling about on the floor. Around my wrists are similar shackles, chained together so I can't separate them from one another.

"Th-the hell is this?" I groan.

"Same thing we all got." Comes a deep voice from above. I look behind me to see a number of people, all chained similarly, all bearing downtrodden looks on their faces of defeated men and women. But where the voice came from was a giant, sitting ten times taller than I stand, towering above everyone. I've never seen a giant before, and am surprised to discover just how large one really is.

"Don't tell me…" I gasp. "I got captured…?"

"Bingo." Grumbles the giant.

Hell no. I'm gettin' this thing off of me, then gettin' the hell out a' here! I try to move my tentacles, but find they too have been bound together. Damn it! They don't take no chances, do they? I squat down low and summon all my might, trying to pull my shackles apart. I strain my muscles to their limit, and it feels like I'm making just the tiniest bit of progress, but I can't tell.

"I wouldn't do that." Says the giant.

I calm down, taking a breath. "And why is that?"

"That ring on your neck – it's got an explosive device inside. If any slaves wearing one escape, all it takes is the press of a button and boom."

I gulp. They really don't take no chances. "There's a key somewhere, right?"

"Sure, but how would you get it?"

I ponder for a moment. "I'll just have to force my way outta here, and then… then hold one of the workers or someone hostage until they give it up."

"Would you give it a rest, fish?" Someone else moans. "You're not getting out."

"Says you!" I yell. "I won't know unless I try!" I lift up the heavy metal shackle constraining my tentacles, and smash it against the metal bars of the cells. The clang is deafening, and the vibration rattles through my body like electricity, but I do it again, swinging my tentacles around in a circle to gain momentum, then smashing it against the bars. I stop to catch my breath and see if I'm making any damage, and to my delight, there is a slight indentation in the bar. "Hey! Help me out here, would you, big fella? With our strength combined we can smash these bars and get!" The giant doesn't respond. No one does. They all avert their gaze from me. "What's wrong? Don't ya'll wanna get out a' here?"

"What's all the noise back here!?" A voice yells from the opposite side of the cage. From one of the doors comes a guard, or at least I assume he's a guard. Do guards normally dress like clowns? "You there, fish! The hell d'you think you're doing?"

"You the bastards that locked me up?" I growl.

"What, ye got a problem with it, fish?" The man snarls.

I'm about to get in his face and resist, but a rare selfless thought enters my mind. The rest of the folks here – lots of 'em look like they can't fight. If I start trouble now, I might get 'em caught in it. Maybe even killed.."Maybe, maybe not." I respond, calming my voice down to a casual level. "Maybe I'm just rememberin' faces." I sneer.

"Remembering…?" The man stutters. "Tch. Creepy-ass fish. You'll get what's coming to you after we sell you." I sit down cross legged, biding my time, thinking, formulating, and planning just how to escape here. If this is a slave market, then they gotta take me out a' here to sell me eventually. I can still threaten a life chained up like this.

Only a couple minutes later, I hear voices from the door again, but this time there are multiple ones, a female voice among them, and from the sound of it she's the latest captured. "Let go of me!" She cries. She's young. A teenager maybe?

"Quit squirming or you're gonna get hurt!" One of the guards handling her reprimands. When they come into sight, I see three clown-garbed men and in their arms, thrashing madly, a young woman with short sea-green hair, but below her waist are not legs but a pink-scaled tail. M… Mermaid!? And a drop-dead gorgeous one at that!

I immediately stand up and shout "You three! What are you doin' to her? Unhand her!"

I've got the attention of everyone now, even the mermaid. One of the guards walks my way and bangs his baton against the bars of the cage. "Same thing we're gonna do to you, fish! Now keep quiet!"

Mine and the mermaid's eyes meet for a moment. I find myself blushing. Mermaids… they… they are beautiful! Too beautiful! A burst of heroic passion boils inside of me. "You're monsters, all ya'll! Imprisonin' one as lovely and innocent as this young woman here! Why, if I was loose, I'd tear you limb from limb!"

One of the guards holding down the mermaid, the same one that came in here earlier, lets go of her tail and stomps towards the cell. "That's it! I've had about all I can stand of your mouth! I'm gonna teach your lesser race its place in the world, you damn fish!" Alright, here we go. Come on in here, you idiot, and we'll see just who's the 'lesser race' then.

"Not that one." A gentle voice says. From the other door leading out walks a skinny man in a navy blue trench coat with wavy grey hair falling from his head onto his back. His hands clasped behind his back, his demeanor suggests a calm, composed person. Or one completed dulled to the atrocities here. "The fishwoman's too important to be damaged." He says. "Along with the mermaid, they're our top items for tonight's auction. Now then," He squats down to get close to the mermaid, then grabs her by the cheeks and moves her head around, inspecting her like a butcher to a slab of meat. I mean to shout out in protest of his cruel handling, but my tongue gets tied up in my throat. The mermaid struggles, but he lets her go soon enough. "How wonderful! She seems healthy!"

"What about the other one, Mr. Disco?" says one of the guards, "the fishwoman?"

"Oh, I've already inspected her." The calm man answers. "She's incredibly fit. Little bit of a temper from the sound of things, but what can you do? Fishfolk are like that."

"You…!" I growl, grabbing the bars of the cell tight. "What the hell'd you do to me while I was unconscious!? Answer me!" My words come through heavy, infuriated breaths.

The man walks towards me, and as soon as he's within arm's length, his calm exterior suddenly switches to rage. He swings his fist back and plants a fist directly into my face through the bars. "You damn fish! Know your place!" He storms. I don't flinch from his punch at all.

When he removes his fist and shakes the pain out of it, I grin pompously at him through a bloodied nose and taunt "I thought I was 'too important to be damaged'."

His anger just gets worse, but that's just what I want. "Why you…!" He growls. "You still have the nerve to talk back to me! Well we'll see how you like getting one of those nasty tentacles of yours burned off!" He reaches for something out of his coat, but as soon as he does, his entire figure freezes, as if all his muscles decide to lock up at once, and he falls to the ground like a statue toppling over. What…? What just happened to him? One of the guards immediately tries to revive him, while the other continues to hold the mermaid down, who is just as confused as I am.

"Oi." I hear the giant whisper. "That was you, wasn't it, old man?"

"Old man"…? I turn back towards the giant and spot a figure sitting aside him I hadn't noticed was there before. As soon as I see his snow-white hair and tiny round glasses, I instantly recognize him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Ray says. "I'm just an old fella with a fondness for the ladies, that's all."

"You!" I exclaim and drag my shackles over to him. "This is all your fault! You're the reason I'm in this mess!"

He smiles his always present smile. "Sorry about that. But hey – no use fretting over what's in the past, right?"

I growl at him. He's right, though. Blowin' up in his face now ain't gonna do me no good. I sit down on the crate next to him, still filled with anger, but a controlled anger. "So why'd you do it?" I ask. "Why the hell would you bet your own life over a stupid game of cards?"

Ray pulls out a flask of liquor and takes a swig. How the hell'd you manage to sneak that in? Leaning back against the wall, he replies "All or nothing, remember?"

I groan. Yeah, and look where it got you. While I was flaming at Ray, the slavers managed to secure a neck ring on the mermaid and caged her up with the rest of us. I leave Ray to whatever his devices are and walk over to where she sits, hoping for at least a little pleasant company. She seems to be the only other one here who ain't lost her spirit altogether.

When I sit down on the crate next to hers, her expression lightens up a little. "I didn't get the chance to thank you." She says.

"Not a problem in the slightest, Madam." I reply, gracefully. "It's sickenin' what they do here, especially when it's to those as lovely as you are."

The mermaid thinks for a moment. Yes, yes, ask the question everyone does, Madam. I'm used to it. "What about you, then?" She says.

"Beg your pardon?"

"You're pretty too, aren't you?"

"Me? Madam, surely you kid, I ain't-" I gasp mid-sentence. Wait… could this be…? Could she be…!?

"Sure you are!" She ensures me with a strange, newfound vigor. "And I'm sure someday you'll find a man who thinks the same way!"

My heart shatters. She's just as clueless as she is adorable… "Well sadly," I say, "neither of us'll be findin' no one if we don't first find a way outta here."

"That's true." The mermaid sighs. "But don't worry! I have someone coming to save me. I know he'll come!"

"What's his name?"

"Hacchin, and he's one of the strongest fishman ever!

A fishman? Considerin' this island, Madam, I wouldn't hold out hope for a fishman comin' to your rescue. "Well, I hope he's as strong as you say he is, Madam, for both our sakes."

"He's got some friends with him, too! A few of them even have Devil's Fruit powers, so I'm sure we'll be okay!"

"Devil's Fruit powers, hm? You know, just before I came to this island I was sailin' with some folks who had those as well. If his friends are anythin' like the people I was with, then they're probably already on their way." I say with a smile, to lift her spirits.

We're quiet for a while, as is everyone in the prison cell. After a time, she sparks a conversation again. "I never did get your name, did I?"

"Oh! Of course, Madam! My apologies! It's Aki Sinagra," I say with a small bow, "but just Aki'll be fine."

"Aki… Aki… Hm… Okay, I'll call you Akkin!" How'd you come up with that? My name's Keimi. So did you come here from Fishman Island as well? I've never seen you before. Are you from Noah?"

"No, no. I ain't never been to Fishman Island before."

She shrieks loudly in surprise, startling everyone in the cell, myself included. "Really!? You've never been there!? That's so weird!" Squinting, she takes a closer look at me. I'm not quite sure exactly why, though. "Ohh!" She finally exclaims. "You're a Stormie, aren't you? That explains it!"

"I… yes, that's right, Madam. I'm born of the Storm Kingdom, but…" I veer my gaze away, "I actually ain't never been there either."

"What!?" She shrieks again. One of the other inmates groans at her to shut up. We both ignore him. "Are you gonna go?"

"Go to where? The Storm Kingdom? I guess. I mean, it'd have to be after I do some other things… and I ain't sure how I'd get there. I don't even know where the place is."

"It's in the New World!" Keimi answers.

"The New World?"

She nods. "That's the second half of the Grand Line, once you pass the Red Line. It's a lot more dangerous than this half… but maybe you could get your friends to take you there! The one you were sailing with?" Heh, that certainly does sound like a place Monkey'd be dyin' to go to. "Ah, but… you said some of them had Devil's Fruit powers, didn't you…?"

"I did. Is that a problem?"

She lifts her shackles to put a finger to her chin. "I guess you wouldn't know… The Storm Kingdom has a long history with Devil's Fruits. They don't let anyone who has the powers of one even enter their borders. They were the ones who first discovered sea-stone, as well as giving the Fruits their name, they hate them so much. I don't see why though. I think it's a little weird." She half-gasps. "Oh! But, I guess I should stop talking bad about them since they're your family, huh?"

"It don't bother me none, Madam." I lean back against the wall. "I might travel there someday, but it'll have to wait until after I've taken care a' some business at Fishman Island. I was actually on my way before… things happened." I lift up the shackles on my wrists and tentacles to further my point. "You say that's where you're from?" She nods. "D'you know where if I might find a couple fellas there by the names a'-"

The doors open and out comes Disco, the long haired, split-personalitied, fully recovered from whatever Ray did slavemaster. "Alright, merchandise! Look lively!" He says. My conversation with Keimi is immediately cut short. "Especially you two fishies. You're going to make me a rich man tonight!" He leaves with the first person to be auctioned. The tension in the room gets so thick I can nearly grasp it in my hands. Everyone, even me, has got butterflies the size of albatrosses in their stomach, except for maybe Ray, who seems as cool and collected as always. Even if the old man don't have a clue what he's doin'.

I can hear a crowd cheering as the Disco gets on stage. "Good day, everyone!" I hear him announce. "We've got quite an excellent selection of slaves for you tonight! But wait! This time you're especially lucky, for we've a spectacular surprise awaiting at the end of the show! Whatever could it be?" He says, heightening the suspense. "As always, the only thing on my mind is making sure everyone here leaves with the slave they've been waiting for! So let's not waste any more time! Let the auction begin!"

I can hear the slavemaster listing off all the traits of the man he brought with him to the stage. A musician by trade, he plans to have him sold off as a personal entertainer. He starts the bidding at four-hundred eighty thousand Berries, and it ends at six-hundred thousand. A person's life is priceless, but that… that's a pathetic sum. It only makes me despise this instutition even more. "Right then! On to the next!"

We listen and we wait and we watch, as two by two everyone is led out onto the auction floor. Keimi and I being next to last, it's incredibly nervewracking. Every time they open the door to the prison cell, they make sure I can see they've got the remote detonator to my neck ring firmly in their hand, ready to send my head flying if I start any trouble. One of the two before us, a man who, considering his attire, was most likely a pirate before getting himself captured, begins to freak out, pleading desperately for his life. He'd been shaky the whole time in here, but he's a broken mess now. I can see his terror is spreading to Keimi, who begins to quiver, looking down at her tailfin in fear. I scoot my crate over and rest my hand over hers. "Don't worry. We'll figure somethin' out before this is over." I say. That reassures her somewhat, and she thanks me, wiping a tear from each of her eyes.

Our heartwarming moment is then ended when it's our turn to be corralled off to the stage. "Fishwoman." Says the guard. "Carry her. We've got a special display case for the two of you." What the hell're they talkin' about? I do as they say, seating Keimi in my arms and walking with them out of the cell. I pass Ray a brief glance as I do, and he's got a twinkle in his eye, but whether it's a plan or he's just plain clueless is beyond me. You've got some power in you old man, so why don't you use it? Don't you care what happens to all these folks? We're led to stage right where a giant, spherical glass globe is set, filled to the brim with water. "The both of you are going in there." Orders the clown-guard. "And don't you try any funny business." He warns, pointing to another guard, who's holding the detonator in his hand. This is going to be trickier than I thought.

"This really necessary?" I ask. "We can breathe air, you know."

"Just shut up and get in, you filthy fish." He grumbles. I comply, lifting Keimi up and setting her into the tank, then hopping in myself. The coolness feels good to all the wounds I've gathered over the past couple weeks, but the water carries with it a taste of sterility, of lifelessness when it passes through my gills. Keimi buoys herself in the center of the tank while I let myself sink down to the bottom where I lay in wait, thinking. Looks like we're bein' bundled together; maybe I oughta wait until we're sold, and then try to escape? Get on their good side, make 'em think we'll be obedient, then get 'em while their guard's down and steal our keys? Or maybe… maybe I should call their bluff, see if they'd actually risk killin' us than losin' us. Somehow I get the feeling they wouldn't, especially while we're on stage.

Keimi and I watch the terrified man from before being lead on stage and Disco announcing him. "Here we have – can you believe it? A pirate captain!" The audience sounds excited. Looks like I was right about that one. "A wanted man with a bounty of seventeen million Berries – Lacuba the Enduring! He was a pirate famous for his delicate, intricate planning! Ah, but fear not, ladies and gentlemen! He won't be plotting against you should you purchase him! We've tamed him to the docility of a puppy! With his excellent physique, he'd make and excellent worker, transport, or hell – even a punching bag if you wanted!" The ex-pirate captain is frozen with fear. No… it ain't fear. Something ain't right here. Blood trickles out of his mouth, and then the man suddenly collapses onto the floor. The audience gasps and Disco whispers hurriedly to his men to close the curtain. "Damn it, that idiot!" He fumes once the curtain has concealed him. "Do you know how much we're going to have to spend on treatment now?"

"Akkin?" Keimi says through the water. The fear in her voice is unquestionable – she's horrified. "What just happened? What just happened to him?" I motion that I can't talk underwater, and she remembers of my heritage. Sorry Madam, but I dunno if you could handle the shock right now of knowin' that fella just bit his own tongue off to save himself from a life a' slavery.

"The fish are ready, right?" Growls Disco.

"Yes, we're ready to bring them on stage whenever you want us to." Responds a lackey.

"Good! With such a spectacular prize, everyone'll forget about this little… mishap. Bring them out!" They throw a large white cloth over the tank, concealing us from outside sight. Gah! I wish I had a bit more time to think! Do I follow your lead, old man? Do I go all or nothin'? Or do I wait and watch the game first? I can't decide! "Well then! Moving right along! It seems the pirate Lacuba has a little stage fright! He got a nosebleed and passed out!" Some of the audience members laugh. "Don't worry though, we'll have him for sale again next time! However," he raises his voice, "the next item were going to bring out is a super deluxe catch that's sure to make you forget all about this tiny little trouble! Boys, if you would be so kind!" I hear a drumroll, and see through the cloth colored lights beaming everywhere. They're really playin this up… should I give 'em a show they'll never forget or play it calm? The tank is rolled out and Keimi's nervousness grows. Mine does too, but I try not to let it show. "We have for you tonight not just one beautiful lady of the sea, but two! That's right, count them – two! Take a look for yourselves!" He tears off the cloth, and the bright lights of the stage flood my eyes, irritating me terribly for a moment. The hall is large – much larger than I imagined it would be. The seats are packed with at least two hundred people, all of whom look wealthy. Upon seeing our figures in the tank, they all erupt into cheer and applause. "Straight from Fishman Island, the mermaid Keimi and the fishwoman Aki!" I ain't from Fishman Island, you dumbass! I'm- wait! I was gonna burst out, wasn't I? Cause a scene? I look out onto the crowd. All of their faces are hungry, greedy, ravenous. They aren't fazed by this horrible practice at all… will they care? They got over the death of that pirate captain quickly enough; would my commotion be the same?

Keimi looks out onto the crowd with the same resentment and shock that I do. But then, it changes. Her open-lipped expression of fear shifts to a smile. "Hacchin! And the others! They came!" He did? Seriously!? Who are these 'others', though? I float up to Caimie's level and motion for her to show me who she's talking about. She points to the very back of the hall, where behind all the seats are members of the crew I just can't seem to escape: Sanji, Tony Tony, Sir Franky, and… Mada- I mean… Monsieur Namizou! You… you're here! Well... dang, I dunno what to say! Part of me is elated to see them here as rescuers, but the other part is hesitant to have to rely on them for help. I'm still gonna break out, but if ya'll start somethin' I'll be right at your side. Along with the Straw Hats is a large figure in a coat with a bandage on his forehead. I assume that to be Keimi's would-be savior, in disguise as a fat human. Behind them I even spot that skeleton from Thriller Bark, Brook. I'm not surprised at all to find that he ended up joining them.

"It's been a while since we've had either a mermaid or a fishwoman on sale here." Begins Disco. "As a special offer, we're offering both of them for the price of one! Who in the world could possibly resist this magnanimous offer? The mermaid Caimie is a gentle creature, docile and tame. She'll make an excellent addition to any aquarium most certainly! And our second part of the deal, Aki the fishwoman, may be a little rowdy for a girl, but she'll make an excellent bodyguard! Or whatever you wish, really! We don't ask questions!" He and the crowd share a laugh. "Now then, I'm sure everyone here wants to buy them, right! Shall we begin then? Let's start the bidding with-"

"Five hundred million!" An accented voice belonging to no one from the Straw Hats echoes throughout the hall. "I'll buy zem for five hundred million Berries!" I trace the voice down to a front row seat, under an awning, where an extremely nonsensically dressed trio of people sit, undoubtedly a father and his daughter and son. The son is the one who proclaimed the outrageous bid. An obese figure, he looks like a dribbling idiot, the kind of rich asshole who doesn't understand a single thing about people's emotions and buys whatever he wants.

And that just included us. He… he ain't serious, right? Did the auction end just like that!? "It would appear that the audience has been rendered speechless." Says Disco. "Well, would anyone like to make a bid higher than five hundred million? If not, then this auction will be unexpectedly brief!" The Straw Hats all look devastated. You all can't possibly have that much… and I doubt anyone with a sane mind would spend that number anyway just to save a life. The fishman Hacchin standing next to them is seething with rage. Is he gonna try somethin'? Should I wait on his cue to break out? Disco bangs his gavel on the stand twice. "Well that's enough time!" He announces. Come on, Hacchin, do somethin'! I… I can't bring myself to do this on my own! I can't make that decision right now! "The main prize this time, our double item of the mermaid Caimie and the fishwoman Aki," Is this it? Is this the end for me? A life of slavery? How can I allow that? "goes, for the price of five hundred million Berries, to the World Noble, Saint Charlos!" I slam my eyes shut, cursing my own cowardice. You could whoop anyone you wanted in a fistfight, but you can't do nothin' in the face of money and politics, huh Aki? You're too weak after all.

"And it's a deal!" The sound of the gavel meeting the wooden stand reverberates throughout my ears, and my weakness triumphs, consumes the rest of my life.