Her eyes snapped open and her chest heaved to take a deep breath for the first time in... she didn't even know how long.

'What's that sound?' she thought groggily as she tried to remember how to use the Scholar's Will.

"Hey you guys, look!" instantly awake, she threw herself into a sitting position, eyes widening with both disbelief and almost painful hope at the sound of someone talking. "There's a giant crystal down here!"

"That's a voice," she whispered, unable to quite believe it. "By the Stars, that's a voice!"

"Wow! It's huge!" a different voice echoed through the air and she was almost ready to cry. People!

"That's what I just said!" the first voice snapped, making her let out a wet laugh at the almost certainly unintentional innuendo.

'People,' she thought in somewhat of a daze. 'How? How are they here!?'

"A giant crystal, huh? I wonder how much it's worth," another voice, female where the other's had been male, cut through the air, making her give the sky a wary look. She really hoped whoever had spoken wasn't actually planning on selling her. That would really put a damper on her mood.

"Hey, it looks like there's a person inside!" she blinked, unable to keep herself from raising a judging eyebrow as the rest of the people screamed "What!?"

"It took you this long to notice me?" she asked the air, somewhat disbelieving. How the hell don't you notice the person in the thing you're looking at.

The she remembered that she didn't remember the last time she had been awake and blushed slightly. 'Right, plants. They tend to overgrow whatever's near them if left alone for too long. Forgot that.'

"B-But how's that possible!?" the first voice stuttered, which she supposed was fair enough. She couldn't imagine finding people trapped in crystals was a common occurrence these days. Whenever that may be.

"Well, it looks like the crystal grew around them," another female voice, this one holding a cultured edge the first lacked.

"Hey you, crystal person!" she blinked, looking up at the sky in puzzlement. What could they possibly want with her? "Join my crew!"

She couldn't have stopped her eyebrows from shooting into her hairline if she tired. 'That's... new.'

"WHAT!?" she winced slightly, face curling in displeasure. "Why must you be so loud?" she grumbled, reaching up to rub her ears.

"LUFFY, THEY'RE IN A GOD DAMN CRYSTAL, THEY CAN'T JOIN THE CREW!" the first female voice, the one who had speculated about the value of her prison, shouted, to which her lips thinned. After all, the screechy woman had a point.

"Eh? Why not?" the voice, young and male, the second voice she had heard, asked, sounding genuinely confused. "They're still alive, aren't they?"

"Yes, I am," she couldn't help but say, smiling bitterly. "Unfortunately."

"OF COURSE THEY AREN'T!" for some reason, she was insulted.

"And how do you know that?" she snarked with great sarcasm. "Are you, per chance, an expert in giant crystals and their prisoners?"

"Regardless of the fact there's someone trapped in a giant crystal, it's still a crystal," the female voice said with an edge of greed. "And crystals are always worth something, especially when they're this big. Boys, take it aboard!"

"What!?" a new voice, male with a gruff edge, yelled. "You're the one who wants it, take it aboard yourself you damn Sea-Witch!"

'...There's sea witches now?' she wondered, frowning slightly. 'Is that a good or a bad thing?'

The sound of something being hit hard made her give the sky an unsure look.

"DO AS NAMI-SWAN SAYS YOU STUPID MARIMO!" another male voice yelled, making her jump. Honestly, why were they so loud? She hadn't heard loud noise in Stars only know how long, let her adjust!

(She knew it was pointless to complain. After all, it was only her in her Mindscape and she had yet to remember how to communicate with the Corporeal World.

That wouldn't stop her, mind, but still.)

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME ERO-COOK!?"

YOU HEARD ME YOU THIRD-RATE SWORDSMAN!"

Someone laughed, a high 'Shishishishi' she had never heard before. "Awesome, new Nakama!"

"THE CRYSTAL IS NOT OUR CREWMATE!"

Hope bloomed in her chest, fierce and burning and yet so very very fragile as she finally let the tears in her eyes fall.

"I'm free," she whispered in disbelief. "I'm finally free."

Or, well, as free as she could be. It was a bit hard to walk around when you were trapped in a giant indestructible crystal.

But that didn't matter.

Because she was getting out. Out of wherever her body had been stashed, out into the open air and finally, she could breathe, the heavy feeling of despair that always sat just over her breast-bone loosing at the knowledge that she was getting out of here.

She almost couldn't believe it, but that didn't stop her from smiling, big and tearstained and happy for the first time in so very very long, as she forced herself to her feet and hurried off to her library.

Now that she actually had people to talk to, there was no way she wasn't going to find a long forgotten way to communicate with those people.

Even if her Mind was a horrible mess.

'Things just got a whole lot more interesting,' she thought as she picked a random book off the messy floor and cracked it open with a smile. 'I'm glad.'

Okay, so I know I said it would probably be a few days before I posted an updated chapter, but I just finished this and I thought I'd post it now so you have an idea of what to expect. Personally, I think I've gotten a lot better at writing since... Jesus, when did I write this? 2017? Hot damn. I was 15 back then.

Man I feel old. I'm not, but that's not gonna stop me.

Anyway, I hope you like this new, updated chapter :3

See Ya - TheGirlyDJ