Whole Cake Island
Part Three
Neo's eyes widened at the island that came into view. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things or was still asleep. But it wasn't either. She wasn't seeing things. And she wasn't asleep. The buildings of this island were made of candy. She could sense the natural ingredients in them. "This is amazing. But a total waste of food. Why would someone want to make houses out of candy? Candy can spoil."
"Well, Big Mom is known for her love of food," Law said.
"True. But what if a dog, or other animal, peed on it?"
Law stared at her, unable to answer.
"Come on, Neo!" Luffy scooped Neo into his arms and jumped off the ship before anyone could say anything.
Chopper followed.
"Straw Hat! Bring her back here!" Law demanded.
Luffy didn't even slow down as he ran through the town.
"Law's not going to be happy about that." Neo watched the ship grow smaller before people blocked her view.
"It'll be okay! Look! It's made of chocolate!" Luffy sat Neo on her feet and took her hand.
Neo smiled and closed her fingers around his as they made their way through the candy town.
"A chocolate town! I've died and gone to heaven!" Chopper's eyes darted everywhere.
"A chocolate fountain!" Luffy exclaimed.
"It looks so good." Neo eyed the chocolate as she sprung up from a fountain. "I wonder if anyone eats out of that thing."
"What do you call that for short? Chocotain?" Chopper asked.
"A chocolate hot springs?!" Luffy offered.
"I doubt they bathe in chocolate." Neo held a hand over the chocolate. "It's not hot."
"I would bath in chocolate." Luffy grinned.
"Everyone's not insane like you." Neo patted his shoulder.
Luffy's grin grew wider.
"Though I think Law would like to lick chocolate off-" Neo flushed.
"What were you going to say?" Luffy asked.
"N-nothing." Neo scanned the town again.
"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head.
"Look!" Chopper pointed at a shop window. "Chocolate clothes?!"
"I wonder if people eat the-" Neo started but stopped when Luffy and Chopper started chowing down on a nearby building. "Well, I guess so." She stepped up to the building and plucked a small piece of broken chocolate off the wall. She slipped it into her mouth. Chocolate cream melted on her tongue. It was rich in sugar. "It's good. Amazingly good. I wonder who made it."
"You forgot something." Law placed a hat and sunglasses on her.
"Sorry." Neo smiled up at him then pressed a piece of chocolate between his lips. "Try it."
"After what you said before about animals?"
"It's high enough off the ground." Neo placed it on his tongue when he opened for her.
"It's good. But we shouldn't be eating it. For all we know it's illegal to eat buildings here." Law's eyes went to Luffy and Chopper. "Great." He huffed. "Those two idiots got caught already."
"Huh?" Neo followed his gaze and found a man yelling at the two Straw Hats for eating the building. "I guess it is illegal. All well. That's Luffy for you. He never thinks when food is involved."
"He never thinks period," Law grumbled.
"That's not true." Neo tapped her chin. "He thinks when he's in battle. I think fights focus him."
"Possible." Law sighed. "Might as well get them out of this." He lifted his hand to warp them.
"Please wait, Mister Chocolate Police Officer!"
Neo glanced up as a shadow passed over them. A woman, flying on a smiling carpet, flew over to the three and landed. "Who's that?"
"Dunno."
"Ah! If it isn't the proprietor of the establishment!" The man looked at the woman then waved at Luffy and Chopper. "Just look at what they've reduced your precious cafe to!"
"Oh my heavens!" The woman got off her carpet and walked over to Luffy and Chopper. "How could you?! Leaving so much to go to waste! You both promised to eat everything up!" She knelt down. "I was really proud of this part where the jam, chocolate, and biscuit came together! Why didn't you finish off this part?!" She grabbed some of it and shoved it in Luffy's mouth. "Come on! Eat up! Isn't it yummy?"
"What's with this girl?" Neo asked as she and Law continued to watch the scene unfold. The man and the woman didn't seem to notice that she and Law were with the two Straw Hats. "She seems to be getting Luffy and Chopper out of trouble, but I still don't trust her."
'It's good to hold onto distrust.' Law eyed their surroundings. A few people had stopped to watch the scene but they were being ignored for the most part. 'Everyone here is loyal to Big Mom.'
Neo hummed. She knew they would have to fight at some point but would this incident lead them into one? 'Should we run?'
'Not just yet. It doesn't appear anyone notices who we are.'
"Hey!" Nami called out as she and the rest of their group, minus Pekoms, came running over to them.
"Friends of yours?" the woman asked.
"Yeah." Luffy nodded.
"Well, let's take this inside. I'll make you all some tea." The woman smiled and head into the building next door.
The pirates and minks exchanged looks before following after the woman. They sat down in a small room with a table and a couch as the woman fiddled with a teapot.
Neo and Law took the couch so they'd have a better chance at reacting if this woman tried to pull something on them. Her gaze drifted to Pedro. The mink had his arms crossed. His expression pulled tight. Seems he didn't trust this woman either.
Luffy and Chopper continued to eat the walls, their round stomachs growing bigger. "So good!"
"This is amazing!"
"Thank you! I'm so glad you like it!" The woman passed them out cups with steaming tea.
Neo took her cup but didn't drink it.
"So who are you?" Nami asked.
"Oh, sorry. My name is Pudding." The woman smiled as she sat down. "I'm Sanji's fiancee."
Neo's eyebrows shot up. So this was the one Sanji had come to see. Pudding was pretty and cute, especially with her hair in pigtails. Somehow pigtails always made a girl look cuter. And Sanji liked pretty, cute girls. Her heart took a sharp beat. 'He won't stay. Will he, Law? She's his type. But he can't. He won't.' Tears blurred her eyes.
'Easy, love. Blackleg isn't the type to betray his crew. Besides, a pirate can't leave the crew without his captain's permission. And Straw Hat will never allow that to happen.'
'I know you're right. But I can't help but worry. Something about this whole thing is just wrong. I wish I knew where Sanji was. I want to talk to him'
'I'm sure we'll find him soon enough. Just relax.'
Neo leaned against Law's arm with a sigh.
"So not only are you the daughter of Big Mom, but you're the one who's going to marry Sanji?! You're that Pudding?!" Nami was saying.
"Some guys have all the luck! She'll make a breathtaking wife!" Brook said.
"You guys! You're Sanji's crewmates?! No way!" Pudding pressed her hands against her cheeks. "But, now that you mention it, I have seen your faces before! You're Straw Hat Luffy!" She placed her hands on the table. "Your crew isn't subordinate to Big Mom's, is it? How did you guys make it past the tarte inspection? And why are you even here? They'll kill you if they find you! You're inside Mama's territory now! And Mama's as scary as they come!" She grabbed a knife and pointed the blade at them. Her eyes filled with fear. "Ah! That's right! You all are scary pirates, too!"
Neo stiffened, ready to call on her crystals. 'Now I know something's up with her. Why would she be this scared if she's in Big Mom's territory? Not to mention Big Mom's daughter. She'd be use to pirates being around.'
Law nodded.
Neo never would have saw Pedro move if she couldn't sense the mink. Within a blink the mink had Pudding's arm twisted behind her back and his sword at her throat.
"Luffy, what shall I do with this woman?" Pedro said.
"What did I just say, Pedro?! We're not going to be violent!" Nami said. "Release her at once!"
Pedro released her and they sat back down.
"Really," Nami continued. "We're not here to cause trouble. We're only here to get Sanji."
"I see." Pudding nodded. "You all are here to take back Sanji. I guess this isn't exactly what you would call a consensual marriage. Mama is a bit bullheaded and stubborn, you see. All her children know that her ulterior motive is to exploit our marriages to strengthen her pirate crew. We've all long ago abandoned any dream of freely choosing our own spouses."
"You can't! Why don't you just run away?" Nami said.
"One of my dearly beloved sisters left home in search of a free, independent love. A journey in search of a groom," Pudding said.
"Speaking of which, I've been wondering about this for a while. We were told that you were the thirty-fifth daughter of the Charlotte family. Does Big Mom really have thirty five daughters?" Brook said.
"Actually she has thirty nine daughters and forty six sons. All eighty five of us are siblings. Our fathers are sort of all over the place. Mama's taken forty three husbands. All total, we're a hundred and twenty nine person family."
"A hundred and twenty nine?!" the Straw Hats shrieked.
"That's a lot of people." Neo cringed. "She gave birth to eight five kids?! With how painful childbirth is suppose to be?! Does she not feel pain?! I think I'm going to be sick."
Law patted her knee.
"Some of my brothers and sisters already have their own children, so there really are quite a few people out there that carry on Mama's blood. The foundation and infrastructure for Big Mom pirate crew is build around our real, actual family."
"My word! Truly, a Big Mom," Brook said.
"By the way, have you met Sanji yet?" Chopper asked.
"Y-yes. Just once!" Pudding blushed then danced around the room. "His eyebrows were a bit too curly but he was so kind! Such a gentleman! His eyes are shaped like hearts, but he knows so much about making sweets! He even taught me a few things! We have the same hobbies and he's so manly! On my! I hear his legs are black or something and that he's super strong. I'm sure he'd protect me and-"
Neo knitted her eyebrows. Would Sanji really have had that much time to give Pudding some cooking lessons? How far along was he? And where was he now?
Luffy laughed. "Right? You get him, don't ya? Sanji's a super cool guy!"
"Just so you know, his nickname is Blackleg Sanji has nothing to do with his legs being black," Brook said.
"Could it be that you have already fallen in love with him?" Nami asked.
"L-l-love?! Could you mean... I don't... and Mama's orders are absolute either way." Pudding held her flushed cheeks. "Since getting married is mandatory anyway... I just... well..."
Carrot hugged Pudding. "Guess what?! I love Sanji too! Samesies!"
"Oh! Oh my!" Pudding said.
'She doesn't care about Sanji at all. Why is she going to marry him anyway? She should just leave him alone.' Neo sunk down in the couch.
'It's not always that simple, Neo. From what this woman said Big Mom's kids have no choice in who they marry.'
'She can pick someone else for her kid. Sanji is off limits.' Neo pouted.
"Well, it's good that we know Sanji made it here." Nami stood. "Thanks for all your help. This map you gave us will come in hand. We should be going now"
The group stood and left the building.
"This is great! All we have to go is get there and she'll bring Sanji to us!" Chopper said.
"Hm? When did she say that?" Neo asked.
"Probably when we were talking to each other," Law said.
"Sanji's at the main island now." Nami eyed a piece of paper. "Pudding gave us this map so we could avoid more tarte ship inspections. She'll bring Sanji to meet us."
"She's really going to bring Sanji to us?" Neo asked as they strolled back to the ship.
"Yeah." Nami tucked the map into her pocket.
"We shouldn't trust her," Law said.
"She's nice. I say we can trust her," Nami said. "It's not like we know where to look for Sanji anyway. This all we have."
"Just because someone appears to be nice doesn't make it true," Neo said.
"Maybe." Chopper took Neo's hand. "But we still have to go. Sanji might come."
"I hope you're right, Chopper."
...
Reaching the ship Neo's eyebrows perked up. "Hm? Pekoms isn't on the ship."
"Huh? Why wouldn't he be?" Brook asked.
They climbed up the rope ladder to find the lion mink was no where to be seen.
"Wasn't he suppose to wait for us here?" Nami placed her hands on her hips. "That's strange."
Chopper rushed off.
"He's probably taking a dump or something. Someone check the bathroom," Luffy said.
"He's not there. I can't sense him on the ship at all," Neo said. "And he's not anywhere close by."
"Guys! I found a message in the bathroom!" Chopper said.
They rushed to the bathroom. There etched on the floor were the words 'Turn Back'.
"Did Pekoms write this?" Luffy asked.
"Possibly," Neo said. "But why would he do this now and disappear?"
"Well, we are in Big Mom's territory. And he is one of her subordinates," Law said.
"If it wasn't him then who else could have written it?" Nami asked.
"Did someone trespass on the ship?" Carrot asked.
"Maybe Pekoms go kidnapped?" Chopper said.
"This could possibly mean that we are no longer flying under the radar," Pedro said.
"At any rate, this is a serious problem," Brook said. "Turn back... Probably means that if we don't turn back, something bad is gonna happen to us. I think."
"Yeah." Nami nodded.
"No way! Law and I are here! We're not going to get hurt or anything! Even if we do get hurt we have two doctors with us!" Neo said. "We're going to find Sanji! He's going to come home with us!"
"Right! Everyone, make sure you don't forget this message. We're going to continue on ahead! Things are finally starting to get interesting!" Luffy grinned.
Leaving the bathroom, Neo and Law sat down on the mast bench while Nami headed up to the helm. The Straw Hats released the sails and they moved along the island.
Neo sighed. "I wish I could sense Sanji. Maybe if he used his move that set his leg on fire." She closed her eyes in an attempt to relax. They would find Sanji soon enough. She hoped.
"Hey! Look at that!" Brook said. "The ocean has turned into grape juice."
Neo rushed over to the side. As she looked over a giant centipede rose from the water.
"Ah!" Chopper shrieked. "We're going to die!"
"Think we can eat that?" Luffy asked.
"We don't have time for this." Law lifted his hand. His Room spread out around them and the centipede. With quick swipes of his sword, the creature was divided into multiple parts. It fell with heavy splashing into the water.
Neo's stomach spun from the sight. She leaned over the railing and released everything in her stomach.
Law rushed to her side. Placing one hand on her back he pulled her hair from her face.
"Stupid pregnancy. I'm never going to get use to this."