Chapter two
Shachi, still in disbelief at what was happening looked over at his captain, who had a rare dumbstruck expression on his face. Just for insurance sake, Sana repeated her words in case the first two times weren't enough to get the message across to the by-standers.
"You heard what I said. I'm going to marry this man."
"Oi, Shachi. Don't go along with it."
Law offered a hushed warning to his crew mate. Once he got the chance, he was going to find a way to get them out of the situation. Himself and Shachi that is.
"Yes, captain," he whispered back.
Sana on the other hand looked back at her younger sister. She felt bad having to get her younger sister involved in this, but she had no choice. Siah had an infinite amount of trust placed in her sister, and Sana knew this.
"He's going to be my brother-in-law," she uttered quietly, before proceeding to raise her voice. "He's going to be my brother-in-law! He's my brother-in-law."
Siah repeated over and over again, adamant that this lie was the truth. As she screamed at the top of her lungs, one of the guards pushed through to the front of the group. A look of recognition appeared in Siah's eyes, and she immediately stopped.
"Stop fooling around you two!" He ordered using his authoritative voice. "Come back with us Siah. Drag your sister back with you!"
Sana hid her younger sister behind her again. "She's not going anywhere with you!"
"What kind of bullshit have you brainwashed her with?" He heaved a long sigh before looking over at Law and Shachi, "you two, just pass the girls over to us. If you obey, you won't be arrested."
Just when Shachi was about to loosen her grip on him with his free hand, she leaned closer and whispered so only he could hear. "Don't listen to them, get us out of here."
Shachi wasn't sure how these next words came out of his mouth. The arm Sana was gripping on now wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
"I'M NOT HANDING THEM OVER!"
Law openly grimaced. Shachi and Penguin were known simps for beautiful women, but their loyalty would never falter this far for a woman. Before he knew it, he grabbed the younger of the two sister by her cloak and held onto her tightly.
"Room..." he extended his palm, and a small sphere formed which eventually grew and covered a large surrounding area. "Shambles."
The group of officers grew surprised when the four people standing right in front of them were suddenly replaced by four rocks. With Siah tucked safely under his arm, he ran ahead whilst Shachi carried Sana over his shoulder and ran behind his captain.
The guards looked ahead towards a tall cliff formation in the distance where they had spotted the escapees. But it was too far for them to catch up.
"Sir, you got a call."
A uniformed guard carried a transponder snail towards the leader of the troop. He looked towards the transponder snail, and heaved another long sigh before picking up the receiver.
"Yes?"
"Did you find them?" The low, exasperated voice of an older man was on the other line.
"We found them, but they just escaped."
"YOU IDIOT! HOW ARE YOU SO INCOMPETENT THAT THOSE TWO GIRLS OUTSMARTED YOU?!"
Obviously displeased by the sudden shouting coming from the other end, the armed officer moved the receiver further away from his ear.
"They've had help from outsiders."
"I don't give a care who's been helping them," he barked back at him. "Listen closely, Kai. If you can't drag both of those bitches back, kill the disobedient older one and bring back the younger one!"
Before Kai could even utter a word of acknowledgment, the call dropped. He handed the transponder snail back to the lower-ranked officer and ushered them off. All Kai had to do was make sure the island's coastline was heavily guarded to avoid Sana escaping from the island. Now that he knew she made contact with outsiders it could make things harder for them. But he also knew pirates weren't the most welcoming to the idea of helping someone in need. In the best case scenario, the girls would get abandoned by the pirates sooner or later.
"You didn't come along when I asked nicely, and now I'll have to drag your corpse back instead."
.
Meanwhile, thanks to Law his group made a safe escape. Sana had eventually led them towards an abandoned temple, or what would be considered the ruins that remained of it. Shachi was on his knees, profusely apologising to his captain for his mistake.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine, just be quiet already!"
Sana approached the men, taking her hood off. This was the first time she looked Law into his eyes since they met earlier that day.
"What did you do to Shachi earlier?"
"I just asked nicely."
"The hell you did!"
"I'm sorry, but I had no other choice." Sana hesitated as she admitted this. "I actually have another favour to ask you."
"What makes you think we'd help you?"
"That man we escaped from, that's Kai. He's one of the head temple guards and he's seen your faces."
"That still doesn't concerns us. We can get out of her the same way we got in."
Sana knelt before Law, next to Shachi who's continuous apologies she had just interrupted. "Please, just keep me and Siah safe until the end of tomorrow. That's all I ask of you."
"Please sir." Following her sister's example, Siah knelt next to her and helped her sister plead for his help.
Law didn't fully understand what exactly was going with these two girls yet. But he was able to put together bits of information he had acquired thus far together.
"Tomorrow's that festival."
"Yes, keep us safe until the end of the ceremony."
A festival for the High Priestess of Khaso took place every year on the third Sunday of the third month. The exact details of the festivals he wasn't fully aware of, but he knew the reason for the high alert on the island wasn't just because of Sana and Siah, but to also make sure no one disrupted their holy day.
Sana explained Khaso's holy day to the two foreign men. The women born into the temple all possessed a gift to perform miracles. In the past, these women cured those on their deathbeds and made it rain in the desert during the hottest months of the year. The people of Khaso would gladly give away their lives to these women. The holy day was the one day of the year the High Priestess would be taken out of the temple and carried through the streets, as her followers would offer her anything, whether it be their food, money or gold. Some would even go as far as to taking their own lives in front of the Priestess for her blessing in their next lives.
"Sounds like these people are too far gone to help," Shachi commented as she explained Khaso's background.
"Leave them out of this," Sana snapped back at him. "It's those at the temple brainwashing them."
"Then this temple we're at now?"
"This used to be the temple of the gods the people used to worship over a hundred years ago. They believed this god turned their backs on them during the big drought a hundred years ago, so any of the old temples on the island were destroyed out of anger."
Law crossed his legs and stared hard at the line up he had in front of him. The cocky grin he normally wore made an appearance and Sana was slightly surprised to see the man smiling.
"So, what's in it for us then?"
Sana was taken aback by Law's sudden willingness to hear her out fully. She stuttered out, not knowing what brought on the sudden change of heart.
"P-pardon?"
"Before those guards appeared, we were the bad guys. We both know you didn't think a pirate would just help you out of the good of his heart."
"No, you're right." Sana took a moment to think through the decision she was about to take again. She took a small breath just to briefly calm herself. "The southern temple, where the current High Priestess resides, is built on top of some old temple ruins. There is a large stone slab in those temple ruins. It's got carvings in some kind of ancient language on there."
Law knew immediately that she was talking about a poneglyph. Not many common folks knew about the existence of those unless they are somewhat tied to history. The fact that she could describe the appearance of one meant she was telling the truth. Sana knew a bit too much about the insides of the temple for just a random civilian living in Khaso. However, Law decided not to ask. The rate at which things were unfolding, he was going to figure everything out sooner or later.
"Fine. We'll protect you during the holy day and in exchange you will lead us to the poneglyph."
.
The next day, as the festivities were underway in the capital of Khaso, guards went around putting up drawings of Law and Shachi with a reward underneath. These were wanted posters put out by the southern temple.
Shachi's drawing had a bounty of 30,000 Berries underneath
Law's drawing had a bounty of 25,000 Berries underneath.
