Author's Note: I'm sorry. I've been a depressed mess lately, but here's a chapter. It feels like a lot is happening, but we have a new direction we're going in next chapter involving a certain semiaquatic reptile.
Tonight, Ace had mouthed at her.
Rill's body wasn't regulating temperature properly. A silly thought arrived as she remembered how at seven years old, she learned that one of the defining characteristics of life is a body's ability to achieve homeostasis, and maybe now there were small signals warning her of how close she was to disappearing. So much of her felt like it was deteriorating away. The unnatural strength gifted through her genes that allowed her to withstand most bodily hardships seemed embellished in her memories now. Maybe it skipped her entirely to fill only Luffy. She wondered if a normal person—someone average, someone like Hypher or the professors, whose blood didn't trickle down from global terrorists and famed Marines—could even survive the poisoning that kept her imbalanced and bed-bound.
Two months ago, Killer had sliced into her stomach and left her to die on a sinking ship. She was the only member of the crew with critical wounds who could peel herself out of bed a mere day later, after fighting off the tranquilizers. If it happened today, the attack would kill her, leaving no discoveries or inventions behind her name—just a smile on a corpse, remembered merely as the daughter of a dragon, the grandchild of a legend, and the sister of notorious felons.
She might still die, from foolishness or kraken's breath or any other assortment of tragedies, but it only made Rill more desperate to move while she still had time.
The desert night surprised her with a cool breath of wind as she unlatched the window and shoved it to the other end. She knew her escape would entail no finesse and minimal effort, lest she get caught by whatever guards stood outside her door. Smoker had left her in the late afternoon with a promise that he would check in the next morning. It was a gesture sweeter than she felt that she deserved, even worse knowing she might not be here. Rill pulled open the bedside drawer, retrieved a notepad and pen with the hotel's name stamped across it. Her chicken scratch handwriting would likely confuse him, so she printed as slowly and clearly as she could, balancing the notepad on her knee.
Smoker –
I'll be back when I can. I still don't hate you—try not to hate me.
Rill
She did not promise she wouldn't hate herself, however, as she pulled her lower half up onto the windowsill. Below her, merely two storeys down, the sand looked deceptively gentle, but she eyed the cloth canopy covering the entrance of the hotel instead. It would get her noticed when she dropped onto it, but it wouldn't get her killed. The fall would give her the boost of adrenaline she'd need in order to make a run for it.
Rill prayed to no one but herself as she inhaled deeply, catching more of that cool, desert air in her lungs. The rolling dizziness that often sent her reeling seemed to cow against the wind. She welcomed the sweet, momentary relief before rolling over the sill and plunging toward the earth. The canopy caught her, bouncing her back up a few feet before letting her sink into the scratchy fabric. A chorus of alarmed cries sounded beneath her, but she felt nothing hard during her descent and counted her landing as a success with no casualties.
As Rill leapt to the ground, landing clumsily on one knee, she glanced behind her to look for any Marine jackets. Only a furious doorman and some startled guests gawked back at her.
"My apologies," she said flatly.
"How dare you! SECURITY! This is not acceptable conduct from our guests!" the door man bellowed at her. Rill heaved herself to her feet, stumbling as she headed for the nearest alleyway, an unlit tunnel burdened by the pungent scent of rotting fruit and stale piss. As soon as she figured she was out of sight, she broke out into a run. A clammy sweat clung to her like morning dew, but she kept one hand trailing against the brick walls as assurance that if she fell, it wouldn't be face-first into the sand and trash.
When she finally came to a stop at the end of the alley, her vision continued racing, blurring her surroundings as her sank back against the wall. She heard no one in the street ahead of her but caught the sound of footsteps coming from above. As the blurriness cleared away, a slow clap mocked her searching gaze, before she finally settled on a figure slumped against a chimney. Rill could only smile as she stared at the familiar half-naked man. "You aren't cold in that?" she asked him, pointing at his chest.
Ace looked pained. "I'm the Fire Fist, Rill. I think even Luffy has figured out that fire equals hot."
Her answering sigh only made him laugh.
"It slipped my mind," Rill said. "Forgive me, it seems I'm no longer reliably intelligent."
"It's just a joke," Ace brushed aside, though Rill couldn't help but feel annoyed by her own forgetfulness. He leapt from the roof as if he was stepping off the curb, landing with only a slight bend of his knees. "Not the most graceful exit, but you weren't followed. C'mon, Riddle. I'll take you to meet Luffy's crew. They're just about what I expected from that nut."
"Any fishmen or giants?" she asked.
"Not yet," Ace said. "He's got a reindeer, though. It talks."
"Fascinating."
"And it's a doctor."
She could only groan as he hoisted her onto his back.
Rill didn't know what to make of the Straw Hat pirates, because they all looked rather normal, even sane.
Zoro seemed more impressed by the fact that his captain had another relative than her actual presence. Perhaps if she was a sword—more blade than sheath—he might consider her interesting company. Sanji, the blonde cook, proved to be a terrible, antagonizing flirt, whose ridiculous compliments left her red-faced and furious. He was worse than Hypher, much worse, collecting her cold, clammy hands in his and gushing dreamily at her.
"Luffy, you lived with an angel back home? We are not worthy of hosting yet another unearthly beauty on this ship~. It's an honour to meet you, Miss Monkey!"
Her leg ached with the need to kick him away, her stomach somersaulted in nervous rebellion, but she could neither kick nor hurl fast enough before the pretty, red-headed girl brought her fist down on his head.
"Quit being a creep, Sanji! Excuse him, please, he's just an idiot."
"I have an idiot, too," Rill said, thinking of her own blonde peer waiting back at the hotel.
"We have three," Zoro said in a dry boast.
Sanji rubbed at the back of his head as he fell away from her while Rill quietly wiped the sweat from her hands. Her oldest brother frowned momentarily but did nothing once Rill came to sit between her brothers. The ship was much smaller than she was used to, but impressive considering it was Luffy's. She didn't ask if it was stolen, knowing he didn't have the sort of money that could afford something like this.
As the rest of the introductions went around, Rill decided that she liked Nami, her red-headed saviour, immediately. Zoro was fine and didn't seem to care for formalities and greetings, much like her. Usopp warmed her heart the way only an aloof child could, reminding her too much of Luffy with his animated way of talking, cheerfulness, and dim-witted observations. The other woman, Vivi, appeared more out of place than the reindeer when she refused to detail her role on the ship, but Rill didn't pry for more information.
Instead, she stared intently at the small creature that shyly studied her back.
There was an ugly part of her that wanted to dismiss the tiny reindeer. All her life she had battled against preconceived notions of her inferior upbringing, the uncivilized way she studied by candlelight in a jungle before venturing to the world's capitol. It sickened her that the same resentments thrown against her now surged inside as she stared down at this tiny, adorable doctor. Threatened that something unhuman and child-like could share her profession. Rill was only nineteen but had done all she could to strip away any semblance of innocence by the time she reached the capitol.
But what was being human without monstrous thoughts?
"I'm a doctor as well, but my study isn't medicine," Rill said, meeting his wide, round eyes and extending her hands. She smiled, expelling the tightness in her chest with a long exhale. "It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you can look after my little brother."
The reindeer skittishly danced and ignored her hand, though Rill suspected no malice on his behalf. "Sheesh!" he laughed, clapping his hooves together.
"That's Chopper," Luffy introduced for him instead. "He's actually a reindeer."
"I see," Rill said.
"Chopper's gonna take a look at you! He saved Nami's life last week!"
"By all means," Rill said, figuring this might compensate for her earlier dismissal of the doctor. "I've had enough doctors prodding at me, what's one more?"
While Rill preferred to draw her own blood, she couldn't resist her own curiosity, wanting to witness Chopper's expertise with medical equipment, only to be surprised when Chopper had very little in his possession. She sat back, allowing him to examine her, moving only when he indicated she should as the others chattered around them. He fired off questions about her medical history, what were her last results like, her current symptoms, any medication she ingested. The rhythm was different, but her unease was all the same—and by the time the reindeer finished, Rill was already prepared for another round of disappointing news.
"Your temperature is higher than I'd like, but it's much lower than what they tested at the hotel! It's a good sign if you're leaping out of windows," Chopper chuckled.
"I get disoriented every few hours. It comes in waves."
"You said they tested you almost a week ago for kraken's breath poisoning?"
"Yes, but I've been poisoned for nearly a month now. I've had these symptoms for weeks."
"Hmm," Chopper mused "That's really strange. It's like your illness ebbs, then rises, which with something as destructive as KB, isn't so normal. You'd be feeling worse every day—actually, by now you would probably be comatose or even dead, but I guess someone like Luffy could hold off a bit better than others. The fact that you get better only to get worse worries me. Maybe there's something in the medicine that you're allergic to?"
Rill glanced up to see that Ace was listening in on his assessment. "I suppose so," Rill admitted, though hadn't the faintest idea what allergies she might have.
"How did you get poisoned?" Ace asked.
"I was attacked by a kraken. A lesser kraken," she added for clarity, not having any material to properly reference them, but preferring the terminology in the meantime.
"You saw a kraken?!" Luffy asked, his eyes lighting up like he was sitting in front of a buffet of sweets and meats. "Did it try to eat you?"
"I didn't see the one that attacked me, but I have seen one, yes," Rill said. "I couldn't say if it was hunting at the time, or merely defending its territory."
"Krakens don't exist," Zoro said, in the sort of tone one would use if she had said her attacker was Santa Claus. The dismissal served as a familiar reminder that she needed to gather evidence and steal the sample waiting aboard Smoker's ship.
"They do. At least, their smaller descendants are still thriving." Remembering what Law had said the last time they spoke. Thinking all her interactions with Law were often cryptic and unsatisfying, but so used to his unfriendly disposition by now. The man possessed no interest in teaching her—in surgery, medicine, or secrets he collected along his journey.
"Rill knows all of the sea monsters," Luffy told his crew, as if she had personally met with each and every one in the ocean. A correction seemed so unnecessary when the pirates already looked so exasperated.
"You plan on sticking around?" Zoro asked her instead. "You'll get arrested if you're caught with us."
"Legally, I'm detained right now," Rill said. "I have no idea how that's different, but I suspect I'm already in trouble for leaving the hotel."
"Does your entire family have issues with the law?" Usopp asked Luffy incredulously.
"Not gramps," Ace and Luffy said at the same time. She saw a slight shudder ripple between them.
"And not me," Rill countered, refusing to believe her episodes compared to piracy and global terrorism. "I accidentally blew up a ghost ship, but Smoker is punishing me for my heritage. It will all be sorted out once he decides to stop behaving like an idiot."
"Why are you travelling with the navy, Rill?"
They were alone now. The others were below the deck, fast asleep but still very much vocal with their snores and heavy breathing. Ace looked bright-eyed despite that it was nearing midnight, though Rill imagined his involuntary naps kept him on a see-sawing schedule now that she was not around to keep him to a routine.
"It was really Grandpa's doing. And mine. The university was not going to allow us to continue our expedition unless we had private or government protection. We had no budget for private mercenaries, so I contacted Grandpa. It was the only way," Rill said.
"Why would you need protection anyway?" Ace asked. She could feel him taking note of her, acknowledging the sweat drenching her forehead and the way she couldn't sit up without leaning back against a hard surface.
"I'm not exactly sure where to begin," Rill admitted. "It's been a winding journey right from the start."
"I knew it wasn't going to be simple with you," Ace said. "You overcomplicate everything."
She tried hard not to frown and wound up looking back toward the moonlit horizon. Instinctively, she scanned the water for any signs of a ship leisurely crossing the waters and, consoled by the vast ocean surface that appeared empty, for now.
"Rill," Ace said, drawing her attention back to him, "just tell me whatever you want to."
Not everything, just anything she felt that she needed him to know.
"I'm suspended from my program," Rill admitted. "I have to attend a hearing once I'm back at my university, but it's unlikely I'll be reinstated because my competence has been called into question. Insubordination, arson, negligence regarding the safety of my crew and myself. Our family ties will likely be included in the report—it's what set Smoker off. My reputation is about as abysmal as it can get."
"Sorry for that," Ace said. "We can disown you if you like. A nice public feud to sully the family ties."
Rill didn't share in his jest.
"Grandpa has been offered the role of admiral nearly ten times, despite my father's reputation. If that can be overlooked by the highest-ranking Marines of all people…then my university can overlook this."
She caught Ace watching her again, a small smile fastened as he leaned back against the rail. "Maybe. I don't think Luffy is of real concern to them right now, but I sure am. And Dragon's openly hostile towards the Celestial Dragons—you wanted the best Rill, but you come from the worst. There are consequences for being born, even with Gramps on your side. A lot of people would've made sure you and Luffy didn't survive past infancy, had they known. They sure tried with me."
Her hand instinctively went to his then, her fingers winding tightly around his own, like a cocoon. They only ever talked about his victories, not the cost paid when a ten-year-old boy survived a beating from five adult men, armed with bats and boards. She could feel Ace slipping away even as he let her cling to him, as if his skin would fade like a memory if she let go.
"You are worth every consequence," she said firmly. "The world wouldn't matter if you weren't in it."
She searched his face for a remnant of a smile, but knew his thoughts were lost to the tireless war against his existence when he only stared ahead.
"I have a purpose right now," he said, as if he agreed with her sentiment, but the words pierced like falling ice. "You're hunting krakens? I'm hunting a traitor who killed a dear friend of mine. No matter what it takes…my life or freedom…he's going to die for what he did."
She knew with absolute certainty that he meant it.
They stayed quiet for several minutes, her thumb gently circling the inside of his wrist, until Ace broke the silence.
"You're not a hero of the people," he finally said. "It's what lets Gramps get away with all of his bullshit. Now, he has some sway to help you out, but you need to be careful that it doesn't end up compromising him either. Before you run off to him, try to settle this yourself. We all want to protect you—heck, we'd die for you—but you can't rely on us all the time. You need to look out for yourself too. I need to know that you can be safe without me dropping in every few months. It was easier when you were living on the archipelago, but this is the Grand Line."
His spoonful of tough love caught her off guard.
"…do you think I wait for someone to rescue me?" she asked.
Ace turned to her, restoring a smile beneath his freckled cheeks.
"No, I think we always rescue you because you're my baby sister. It's my first job. Can't be helped. And you and Dadan are the only nurturing people Luffy's ever known. He'd kick ass all down the Grand Line if it would help you out. But you're the kind of person who tries to work with the people that are against you. I'm telling you to make sure they know they can fuck right off."
He waited until Rill stopped laughing before moving the conversation along.
"So, a kraken beat you up…and you got suspended. Anything else I should know about?"
Amusement had returned to his tone but left with abrupt haste when she lifted her shirt just enough for him to see the purpling scar stitched across her abdomen.
"That's a pretty clean cut for a claw or tooth," Ace said venomously.
"It was a sword. A few months ago, my crew was attacked. It's why we're being escorted by the Marines. One killed, all of us maimed, and I haven't been the same sense."
"Who attacked you?"
"The Kid Pirates."
"Noted," Ace said, causing her eyebrow to quirk.
"What happened to me rescuing myself?"
"Obviously you did, since you're still alive. And after you do that rescuing, it's my duty to roast the bastard responsible like a pig."
For months now, the idea of the Kid Pirates receiving their comeuppance was a fantasy she was afraid to entertain, lest she revisit the painful flashbacks of Odis's death. Now that Ace was promising it, the idea of her brother anywhere near their murderous tastes knotted her stomach with labyrinthine lesions.
"I couldn't fight back. I always thought that if faced against life or death moment, I would react unabashedly, like you or Luffy. I froze. I hesitated. I almost died for it."
She couldn't ignore the shame filling her. "I used to think being studious and brilliant meant more than anything else, until I was watching everyone die around me."
When Ace pulled her into his hug, her arms circled around him, keeping him there, like an anchor grounding her from filling up with dread.
"I'm failing all the time now," she confessed, unable to meet Ace's tender gaze as she whispered to his shoulder instead. "Kicked out of my internship. Might have a suspension with the university. Fighting monsters that no one else seems to see. Stupid… men."
Ace frowned then. "You have a lot going on. Men don't have any business making your life harder."
"Agreed," she said, and meant it.
"Look," Ace said, brushing his hand through her hair. "I'm not going to pretend I know much on the existence of krakens or anything else under the water. I've been around quite a few places, but sea monsters never interested me much. If you say you saw one, I believe you. You're a scientist—do what you gotta do to convince them it's real. Take pictures, put one in a tube. Stop listening to morons who won't listen to you."
Rill couldn't help but smile at her uneducated brother calling Dr. Megalodon an idiot. She dropped her head on his shoulder, wondering if what he was suggesting was possible. She couldn't fit a kraken in a test tube, but Tashigi had told her the professors were now in possession of part of one. If she could get a sample of it for her own research, she would at least have something to start with.
"I'm going back in the morning," she said.
"Do what you gotta do."
She nodded, letting him help her to feet. "And one more thing," she added, nervous about having to bring this up at all.
"What's that?"
"I'm going to need money. A lot of it, if I'm going to be proving the existence of an extinct creature."
Ace refused to call it a loan. "It's yours," he insisted, giving her an entire stash worth more than the house they lived in growing up. She couldn't stop gawking at the amount fitted into a drawstring bag, bursting to the brim with berries now. As she made her way into the lobby of the hotel the next morning, it didn't surprise her that Smoker was coming down the stairs, his glare fastened on her before drawn to the sack of money she had walked in with. He looked at the massive bag in her arms.
"It's not stolen," Rill said quickly.
"Not by you," he growled
"It was given to me by a nice man."
"A nice pirate, you mean."
"He said I reminded him of his daughter. I told him all about getting kicked out of my program and he understood how devastating that was for a prodigy like me. Raised without parents. Left to fend for herself in a jungle, yet still top of her class at the most renowned university in the world. Very sympathetic to my story," Rill lied, throwing each word out effortlessly and not reacting to Smoker's obvious disbelief.
"Money aside, why the hell did you sneak out when you can barely stand to walk. Or did your brothers come and pick you up?"
Rill leaned against the railing, realizing then that for the first time in weeks, she wasn't drenched with sweat or her vision blurred by vertigo.
"You are fully aware that I threw myself out the window," she said, bewildered by her own energy. "I left of my own accord to figure out my next step. If you must arrest me and lock me up despite my law-abiding record, fine. But this is my money, and I'm putting it toward my own lab supplies, and if you try to take it, I'm turning to a life of crime."
The last bit seemed to surprise him, as his frown relaxed into a stare.
"You're detained," Smoker reminded her, "and ill. And running away when your lawless brothers are in the city is only going to piss me off more."
"I wasn't running away. Just looking for answers. And you're always pissed off at me, even before this Luffy mess started. It's impossible to tell when you like me and when you start to get sick of me because it mostly feels the same."
Although not entirely true, Rill couldn't see herself giving up her future just to escape with Ace or Luffy. Either one of them would likely let her join their ship, if only to have her cook and clean up after them. She wanted to confess all of this to Smoker, see what words could salvage them and erase the history of the past few days. But most of all, she wanted him to correct her, to assure her that she was wrong.
If he was bothered by her comment, he avoided showing that on his face. Instead he stepped closer—almost sealing the space between them—and reached for the bag, sighing when she turned away.
"Just let me carry the damn thing upstairs for you!" he snapped.
"Lab supplies," she reminded him. Not sure if he was going to be true to his word but letting him lift it from her arms. Immediately relieved to have the weight gone.
"You're not gonna find shit in Alabasta for lab equipment," he said. They took their time walking up the stairs, Smoker matching her pace and Rill holding onto his arm under the pretense of needing his help (and to keep her as close to her money as possible.)
"I'm pretty confident that Alabasta has scientists. Just because they're a culturally-enriched land doesn't mean they're a science-denying, primitive people," Rill said.
Smoker stayed silent until they reached the door to her room. "If you can wait," he said, "I'll take you to one of the science divisions once we depart from Alabasta. You can stock up there and put the money towards other necessities."
Her smile came despite her wish to remain cool and detached. "Aren't you supposed to bring me back to Mary Geoise?"
"I don't have to do a goddamn thing," Smoker said. "Like hell am I going to the capitol willingly."
"Are you going to release me then? From detainment? Can I start on my research?"
Smoker handed her back the money, then reached for his breast to retrieve two cigars from his jacket. "Yeah. I'll take you back to the ship. The sample is government property, but I can permit you to take a piece of it in case the squints get pissy."
"Thank you," she said.
"Yeah. I'll wait outside."
Rill didn't understand what the little reindeer did that was so much better than the doctors and Nora, but she felt exceptional that morning. Not the sort of calm that shielded her notice before it sent her to her knees, but a genuine peace throughout her body. Her skin was no longer paper, her bones no longer sticks. She felt welded by steel, cloaked in diamond-coated skin. The idea of wasting another second in bed sent her hurrying to her feet. She wanted to move as fast as she could, as jarringly as she could muster, and prove that this sense of wellness wasn't temporary or a mere figment of wish fulfillment.
She dressed without paying much mind to what she was wearing, ignoring the food laid out for her breakfast and the tiny measuring cup stuffed with pills. Only when it was time to leave did she flush them down the toilet. When she left her room, Smoker was still leaning against the wall across from her door, his arms folded across his broad chest.
"I'm ready now. Thank you for doing this," she said.
Smoker waved her thanks away.
"I'm sick of getting attacked by these damned things. We lost three men in the last fight. I'm not dealing with anymore of this shit."
"Am I still bait?" she asked as they headed down the stairs, her without the need to cling to the handrail.
He ignored her question completely. Once they left the hotel, Smoker needed no guide to lead her back to his ship, stopping only when she insisted on grabbing breakfast from a food vendor. He wouldn't even let her pay for it, grabbing some for himself before they made their way back to the docks beneath the desert sun. When they arrived at the ship, a number of officers were still scurrying across the deck, restocking the ship's needed resources.
"I'm going to see if I can negotiate with them first," Rill said, remembering Ace's advice to handle her troubles on her own. "If they refuse to be reasonable…I'll come find you."
Smoker nodded, but his hand brushed against her lower back just as she started walking away from him. She didn't turn around and he didn't grab her to keep her in place, but the sound of her heart filled her ears, replacing the noise of the officers as she descended below. The path to the scientist's quarters was uncluttered and unmanned, the debris already swept up in just the day since they anchored. Rill found herself outside of the makeshift laboratory, surprised to discover the door slightly ajar. She was about to knock when the mention of Smoker left her frozen.
"The captain's getting worried about her condition. He wants us to figure out an antidote for her."
"Does he? A pity," Dr. Megalodon's voice answered.
"Do you think we should let her get better?" Isamu said.
"I think the longer that insufferable fool is incapacitated, the more work we can accomplish."
"Not sure you're right about that, Meg. She's stubborn, but he might be even worse than she is. The last thing we need is him taking her to another hospital. We're not going to be able to bribe every doctor we come across."
"You underestimate how much they regard me. I might not be that government lackey, Vegapunk, but I've accomplished just as much and haven't had to hide my face in shame of it."
She heard Isamu sigh. "Hypher might get suspicious too."
"Hypher is nothing," Dr. Megalodon said coldly. "A worm lucky to be wriggling on this ship. This kraken discovery will send the government into a frenzy. Contracts for the university, contracts for us. I'm not letting some street urchin fresh out of her Masters take credit for it."
Nora's voice joined them, and Rill's stomach sank further.
"My only concern, doctor, is that her body can only endure the poison for so long. I have to give her much higher doses just to have an effect. I already missed last night's and this morning's was much lower. Her metabolism is unlike anything I've ever seen before. If I'm late with a dose, she already starts to heal. It's incredible but…one dose too high and she'll die."
"And if she dies, Smoker will know it's from an illness she contracted from her carelessness."
There was a moment of silence before she heard a glass clink down on the table.
"An autopsy would say otherwise," Isamu said softly.
"Then if she dies, we ensure there's some other means to cover it up. Blow up the ship and disintegrate her corpse for all I care—the Marines have plenty of replacement fleets."
No one answered him.
"Anything else? Are you two done arguing with me? If you can't handle sacrificing one worthless insect, then by all means…go. But if I go down for this, you are all equally culpable, and I'll make certain that you're punished alongside me."
They were silent for only a moment, then Isamu was speaking again. "There's no dissension here, Meg."
But Rill had heard enough.