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Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 11

Neptune Awakes

Bepo and Penguin had split from Franky and Shachi not to long before they hit another fork, but it didn't deter Bepo from figuring out which tunnel to follow. They took the right side and continued to trek down the path, the breathing was getting louder and louder, to the point that even Penguin could here it, although whatever it was, it was snoring.

They could see an opening ahead of them, a dull light coming from it, so they assumed that whatever was snoring, it was most likely there.

Inching forward, Bepo and Penguin quietly made there way to a large open area. The first thing they two pirates noticed was the huge ball of red fur laying on brightly colored blankets, ranging from royal blue to canary yellow. The smell of mold and wet fur was a little overbearing for Bepo as he and Penguin looked around the room, noticing the many fancy pillows and some old lanterns that kept the room dim, but what caught their interest was the treasure. There were treasures like gold and jewels, and they even saw fruits and large clams in a corner of the room.

Turning back to the large fur ball, they realized quickly that it was the source of the snoring, its body moving as it took long breaths. Bepo, being curious, took slow steps towards the creature, wanting to see its face but just as he got close enough to touch the thing a loud 'clang' echoed throughout the room.

Whipping his head around, Bepo met Penguin's panicked expression, the man had wanted to look at the stuff around them but had somehow not seen a decent sized gold cup and kicked it hard enough to bounce off the floor and hit another cup. How he didn't see it, the polar bear mink didn't know but he couldn't help but panic a little himself.

Both pirates heard a loud snort and deep sigh, it seemed the noise hadn't awoken the creature but their relief was short as the creature uncurled all 20 meters of its body and rolled to its back, unfortunately Bepo was in its way. Bepo shrieked as the 600-pound creature rolled on top of him, only his arms were seen reaching for help as his muffled scream yelled for Penguin to help him.

Penguin stood frozen, seeing that the large creature was the biggest otter he had ever seen! The otter was lying on its back, while it lazily scratched its fuzzy belly in its sleep. He dared not to move until he was completely sure the otter was still sleeping.

Once he was completely sure, he moved as quickly and quietly as he could, getting up by Bepo arms. He whispered to his friend. "B-Bepo, you okay?"

All he could hear was a muffled response so he asked again, but instead of muffled words he received a slap to his ankle as Bepo waved his arms, obviously telling his to help him. Getting the message, Penguin grabbed hold of the polar bear's arm and pulled, he pulled and tugged as hard as he could but the only amount of distance he could get was maybe an inch. He could hear Bepo's muffled whine, so he tried to push against the otter's body, hoping that maybe he could move it enough to get his friend out, but he had no luck there. The man even searched the room, found a long, solid, stick-like object and shoved it under the otter's body, trying to lift some of the body so Bepo could have some room to slide out, but that didn't work either.

Penguin was already tired and sat crisscross apple sauce in front of Bepo's arms, crossing his arms and trying to think of a way to get the polar bear out. The beanie wearing pirate thought hard for maybe 2 minutes when he perked up, suddenly becoming excited and he crawled forward, speaking to Bepo.

"Hey! Bepo, why don't you shock this guy to make him move!" Penguin seemed to think his idea was concrete, but Bepo shook his hands violently, almost like he was saying that he didn't want to do that. Even with his disagreement, Penguin continued. "Don't worry, don't worry. It won't hurt him if you just give him a little zap, I don't think he'll even wake up, I was pushin and pullin on him and he didn't even twitch."

Bepo's hands paused, seeming to be in thought before giving a shaky thumbs up, then motioning for his friend to step back. It only took a few seconds for Bepo to charge up and give the otter a little shock. Penguin could see the otter twitch his toes but he didn't move much more that that, much less give Bepo any space to get out from under him.

Penguin sighed before suggesting to up the charge, and Bepo did, making the otter twitch a little more, jerking his front and hind feet but he didn't move off of the bear. Penguin hummed. "Hm . . . Maybe giving this guy a big shock would be better, give it a try Bepo!"

The man didn't seem to be all to concerned at the fact that they were going to electrocute an animal, but according to Penguin, they didn't have any other options . . . well they could have tried to wake the animal in a nicer way but what do logical people know?

Bepo hesitated, he didn't want to hurt the animal, it wasn't the otter's fault that he was standing in its way when rolling over, but he didn't want to suffocate and have an embarrassing death. So, agreeing with Penguin, and not with logical people, he charged up and felt the electricity run along his fur and move to the animal. Unfortunately, the two pirates didn't notice that the otter's eye started to peak open and his toes twitch.

Penguin watched as blue electricity flowed from Bepo's arms and then heard the loudest yelp he had ever heard while the otter arched its body in pain. His eyes widened as Bepo scrabbled away to stand next to Penguin and they both watched as the otter sat up, its muscles twitched as an aftermath of being electrocuted, and it had to hunch over as it hit its head on the ceiling. The otter turned and landed on all fours, shaking its body.

Bepo and Penguin held on to each other as the animal shook, trying to stop the twitching, creating an earthquake. The tail thumped against the ground violently, the sound echoing so loud that the boys winced, it was almost painful. The boys fell to the ground, hugging each other, as the animal towered over them.

Gulping, the two pirates watched as the red otter zeroed in on the two, its large beady eyes narrowed as it realized that they were the ones that shocked it. Its lips pulled back revealing a pair of sharp canines as it growled, its head lowered and raising its hackles.

Bepo and Penguin screamed as the otter launched forward, they dodged the attack making the animal faceplant the dirt, pissing it off even more and chasing the two, who had started a game of tag, running into the closest tunnel.

-Perona-

Perona stood frozen, her eyes extra wide as she stared at Mihawk, who held a large chunk of her tangled pink hair. Her lips pursed and eyes started to water as she processed what happened. Mihawk was helping her free her hand from her own hair, then her hair got caught on his button, he got his knife out, went to cut a few strands to loosen the grip, the ground started to shake and she felt some weight lift from her head suddenly. The last thing she saw was Mihawk taking a step back, a clump of hair in hand.

.

.

.

"M-My hair . . ." Perona's lips quivered as her tears boiled over. It was a silly thing to cry over, but Perona really loved her hair, it was so cute!

Mihawk sighed as he watched the girl he considered family, bawl over her hair. "I'm sorry Perona."

Perona just continued to cry as she exclaimed that she hated him, rubbing at her eyes in frustration. Although she didn't push him away when he brought her in for an odd side hug, trying to comfort her. It took her a few moments to calm down.

She sniffled, her eyes a little red as she stepped back, still pouting. "C-Can you fix it?"

There was a pause as Mihawk analyzed the situation, and his conclusion was not going to make her feel any better. ". . . You're going to have to cut your hair . . ."

"Can you cut it?" Perona's lips started to quiver again, but she took a deep breath and held in her tears. She really loved her hair, but she thought uneven hair wouldn't be cute, not at all. Mihawk nodded, as he motioned her to stand in front of him, and as she did, he started to cut chunk after chunk, her hair falling to the ground.

When he was done, she felt lighter as she sighed, there was nothing she could do but do her best to make her hair cute. Her hair barely touched her shoulders and the short ringlets were still a little tangled but she felt she was cute enough to pull off the short hair look.

With her hand free, Perona was able to run her fingers through the short, pink curls, trying to untangle it but eventually gave up before digging in the bag finding a simple pair of black high-waisted shorts, a cute red, ruffle collared tank top and her thigh high red boots. Mihawk turned, being respectful as she changed quickly, the quickest she ever had before he spoke aloud.

"What would you like to do?" His voice calm and patient as Perona stood, zipping up her shorts before she sat on a fairly large rock and started to slip her boots on, of course putting a simple pair of black thigh-high socks first. She sighed as she fought with herself, she wanted to stay with Mihawk but if she stayed, the Marines wouldn't let him continue as a Warlord.

Mihawk turned back to her, knowing she was finished putting her clothes on, and could see her inner conflict. "Don't think that I care about being a Warlord, I'll stay with you if you wish."

Perona's warm smile made him think she would choose to stay with him but she surprised him. "No." He raised an eyebrow, asking for an explanation, which she gave. "It was my fault and I'm not going to let you take care of my problems, I'm a big girl. Plus, I was getting bored anyway. If Zoro gets to go out and have an adventure, so do I."

"Are you sure." Mihawk was hesitant to leave the young lady, he could at least drop her off on a different island but she seemed determined as she nodded, even making a 'shooing' gesture, leaving no room for argument, he knew how stubborn she was. "Alright, just know that you're always welcome to come back home."

Mihawk turned and started to make his way back to his small boat as Perona processed his words. He said home.

Her eyes watered and lips quivered as she looked into the bag, seeing something she'd never seen before. It was a hat, similar to that of Mihawks but with its differences. The black hat had a large, heart-shaped brim, the point being the front, with a large red rose sitting on the band and a fluffy white plume growing from it. It seemed to be a gift from the man who had taken care of her for the last 2 years.

Silent tears fell from her eyes as she knew this was their goodbye. Mihawk hadn't even made it that far before Perona flew forward, slamming into his back, making him stumble a bit, and wrapped her arms around his middle. Her tears soaked the back of his shirt, he was pretty sure some of it was snot but that wasn't important, what was important was her words.

"Thank you!" Her muffled words made his eyes widen, just slightly. "Th-Thank you for letting me stay in your castle, even when I annoyed you. Thank you for comforting me, even though I was so ungrateful." Her voice cracked and quivered as she spoke from her heart, Mihawk had tilted his head down so the brim of his hat covered his eyes. "Thank you for making me food when I burnt my own. Thank you for helping me when I'd get hurt, even if I yelled at you to leave me alone. Th-Thank you. For giving me a chance to fight on my own, even if I was a brat the whole time."

She swallowed thickly and tightened her grip on the man that she looked up to. "And thank you, for becoming someone important to me."

Mihawk placed his hands on hers, squeezing them tight, she felt comfortable with this response but this time he surprised her when she felt a tear drop land on the back of her hand. Her eyes widened as Mihawk pulled her arms away and turned to face her. His eyes were a little watery and it seemed that was going to be the only tear he shed but when he pulled her in, hugging her tightly, she smiled with tears still falling. She wasn't sad anymore, she felt relieved.

Mihawk pulled back and placed a hand on top of her head, a warm smile on his lips as he spoke his departing words. "Thank you for becoming someone special to me."

-Law, Robin and Usopp-

Law watched the marine race to the forest, calling in for back-up on his transponder snail, the old man jogging behind for whatever reason, leaving his daughter behind. Law turned to Robin quickly. "Grab the girl."

Robin nodded and watched as the girl sighed and turned to return home, as her father instructed. But when she turned into an ally, a shortcut, Robin's extra arms reached out and pinned her to wall. One of her hands were placed over the girl's mouth, keeping her silent. The three pirates surrounded her and Kayley's eyes seemed to get larger, fear settling in her chest as they leaned in, maybe a little too close but they needed answers.

Law spoke first, quietly. "I need you to be quiet, if you aren't, you won't like my reaction. Do you understand?"

Kayley nodded slowly understanding that if she did scream, she'd be in trouble, so the smart thing to do was to tell them what they wanted to know, especially since the marine she had spoke to was long gone.

Robin removed her hand from the young lady's mouth but kept it close, just in case she decided to ignore Law's orders.

"Now, tell me how the pirate escaped, what her condition is and everything she ever said to you." Law went straight to the point as he could hear the young lady swallow, she was obviously very nervous.

"W-Well, she was fine when she left me, she did something weird. There was this ghost or maybe it wasn't a ghost and I'm just crazy, but suddenly I felt like I was nothing. I felt depressed, so depressed that I couldn't stand, I couldn't move and I felt helpless . . . and then, and then she told me to never trust a pirate." She paused for a moment before taking in the appearances of the three who had cornered her. "You, you're pirates, aren't you?"

Law ignored the question as he narrowed is eyes. "How did she escape?"

Kayley seemed reluctant to answer but did anyways. "I-I let her." She paused as the others disguised their shock and confusion, waiting for the girl to continue. "I felt bad for her, she hadn't done anything to us and my father just called the marines without a second thought, so I decided to help her. I took her to the golden field and I unlocked her seastone cuffs. I didn't think she would betray my kindness."

Kayley was close to tears as Law processed this information, the girl was, very obviously, regretting helping Perona but Law had an idea as to why the 'Ghost Queen' did what she did. He kept his voice low as he voiced his opinion. "Ya know, those who help a pirate are seen as criminals by the marines . . ." He let Kayley soak in this information before continuing. "So, the best thing for a pirate to do, is to make regular civilians hate her, so that the ones who help, aren't thrown in prison. Of course, there're pirates that aren't so nice so who knows."

Kayley's eyes widened as she realized what the man was saying, Perona didn't betray the young ladies trust, she was simply trying to protect her. "Oh my god, I sent the marines straight to her. What have I done?"

The girl went to chase after the marine and Robin tighten her grip, keeping the girl where she was, unfortunately, the four of them didn't prepare themselves for an earthquake. The ground shook, Usopp slammed into Law, who's irritation grew as he had to steady both the sniper and himself, while Robin used her devil-fruit to stabilize herself. Kayley hugged the wall, shutting her eyes tightly, waiting for the shaking to stop.

It lasted a good minute before Law shoved Usopp away from him before and turned to Kayley who looked about ready to run. "The hell was that?"

"I-Its . . . H-He . . . He's awake." Kayley's voice shook with her brows pinched.

"Wh-Who's 'he?'" Usopp looked around nervously as he gripped his bag tightly, noticing something odd, bringing attention to the end of the ally. Kayley turned to see her fellow villagers fast-walk past the ally. They seemed to be moving in sync, like they had done this too many times to count, although they all seemed to be concerned. Kayley, like she was going by instinct, she took a step to leave the ally and file into line, but Law took his sword and slammed the hilt against the side of the building, blocking her exit and shocking her enough to make her gasp.

"What was that?" He was sterner than before and even scarier, making Usopp take a step back, intimidating all in the vicinity.

Kayley looked to the ground, not wanting to keep eye contact before answering. "W-Well, we . . . we call him Neptune, he-he's large otter that lives in the tunnels in this island. But before that, I need to tell you that our island wasn't always called 'Shipwreck Island,' it actually went by another name, the island that floats, 'Salvage Island.'"

Law's brows furrowed, wondering why the islands name would change, but motioned for the girl to continue.

"Neptune came to us 13 years ago, I was only 5 years old when I met him . . . and her."

-Flashback-

It was early in the morning, the sun had just barely come up as Kayley giggled, running out in front of her parents as she raced to the beach, both her father and mother smiled as they trailed behind. Her mother called out to her, telling her to be careful.

The little girl skipped as she made her way passed the building and pressed her body against the railing that separated concrete and sand. She felt giddy as she watched the waves hit the sand but her brows furrowed and eyes narrowed as she noticed something bobbing in the sea, getting larger and larger as it got closer.

The girl gasped as she turned calling her mother. "Mama! There's a aminal in the water!"

Her parents furrow their brows, not really sure what the urgency in her voice was for, many animals lived and played in the sea.

"An-i-mal sweetheart. Now, what is it you see." Her mother quickly corrected her daughter before turning to see what she was worried about. Once her mother focused her gaze on what Kayley was looking at, gasping as she realized what it was and calling for her husband. "Jerikye, go get the mayor, and the vet, quickly!"

Her mother jumped over the railing and ran down the beach, the closer she got the bigger the animals got. Kayley struggled getting over the rail as her father ran back into town, and she ran after her mother, stumbling a few times before falling, face first in the sand. Lifting her head, she coughed and spit sand out of mouth as she sat up, sitting on her calves and rubbing at her face, trying to get the sand that stuck off. Looking up, she meant to yell for her mom, wanting her help when her eyes widened as her eyes focused and realized what was coming out of the water, she had seen them in one of her learning books.

"O-Otters . . ."

Her mother was running towards an 18-meter red otter that was dragging a 15-meter brown otter by the scruff of their neck, they both seemed to be injured. Blood matted the red fur as it limped its way up the beach, unaware of the woman running towards them, more concerned for the brown one, who had a single large gash running down their side. The otters stained both the water and sand red with their blood.

The otter's unawareness was short as the red one noticed her mother. Its hackles raised and so did its body, making them bigger as it hissed around the brown one's fur. Kayley watched her mother slow down to a steady walk, keeping one hand over her heart as she spoke to the animals.

"Hello there." The red otter released the brown one, placing its head down carefully, before pulling their lips back, growling and stepping over the limp otter, their back arching up, trying to become bigger. The otter used their body to cover the other, protecting it from the woman's gaze.

Kayley was worried for her mother, but was also worried for the injured animal, so she scurried forward running to her mother. "Mama!"

She threw herself into her mother's legs, but her mother remained sturdy, her eyes never straying. The woman pushed Kayley back maybe a couple inches, telling her to stay back before taking small steps forward, whispering to the animal. "Shhhhh-Sh-Sh-Sh. It's okay, I won't hurt you or your little friend. I'd like to help you, both of you."

The red otter was reluctant to back down, but the brown otter seemed to understand, lifting their head, almost shocking the other by nudging them back, telling them that it was okay.

Kayley watched her mother walk slowly, carefully, keeping an eye on both otters and making sure that if they were to lash out in pain or fear she could be ready to back away. Once she got to the brown otter, she placed her hand on the snout, petting the wet fur and whispering sweet things before her husband came running down the beach with the mayor, the veterinarian and his husband in tow.

The all slowed as they got closer, noticing the hostility in the red otter. Jerikye grabbed hold of his daughter, hugging her close as he watched his wife and the vet clean the brown one's wounds.

The vet had figured out that the brown otter was female and the red one was male, thinking that they were mates, especially with the way they were interacting, nuzzling and brushing against each other for comfort. The vet then notices something odd about their wounds, catching Kayley's mother's attention.

"Lee, what's wrong?"

"Hmmm, what do these cuts look like to you, Emma?" Lee continued to stitch the large gash with a large, thick fishing line from a net he had sterilized with iodine, while his husband, Oscar, helped pull the skin close. "They don't look like animal scratches or bite marks, they kind of look like someone cut them with a sword or a long knife."

Emma looked shocked, why would someone want to hurt to animal, who she assumed didn't deserve to be so brutally cut. She was so gentle with the female as she brushed her fur. "Well, if that's what happened, then I'm glad they were able to escape, isn't that right girl." The female otter wined as the male pressed his head against hers, wanting to comfort his love as Emma furrowed her brow. "Hmmm . . . I don't think we can keep calling them girl and boy. How bout we name them?"

The mayor, who had stood silent since he had arrived, had jumped at the opportunity to name the two overgrown otters. "Oh! Let us name them Jack and Jill, our own honorary otters!"

Both otters narrowed their eyes, obviously disliking the names, but it was Kayley who spoke up, with just a little bit of 5-year-old arrogance. "Those names are stupid."

Jerikye was shocked and jumped to correct the little girl, stern with his words. "Kayley! You know better, you know not to argue with the mayor."

While Kayley pouted, her mother, who was stronger and seemed to agree with her daughter, stood up for her. "Jerikye, she's just speaking her mind." She then turned to the mayor and motioned to both otters. "Mayor Knott, I don't think these two like those names."

The mayor pouted and stomped off, mumbling about how troublesome 5-year-olds could be and how it was too early for him to be up.

Emma giggled at the childish man before turning to Kayley. "Come here sweetheart."

Jerikye seemed reluctant to let his little girl near the large animals, but he trusted his wife, so he placed the little girl down, allowing her to run to her mother. Emma snatched the little girl up, both giggling, as she brought her daughter close to the female's head, allowing her to run her tiny hands along the wet fur. "What do you think we should name them."

"Hmmm . . ." Kayley scrunched up her face up, thinking a little too hard, before she struggled to get out of the woman's arms and move closer to the male. Emma looked a little worried as Jerikye took a step forward, wanting to be ready to grab her if the otter attacked, but the otter seemed to understand that she was a little girl and had no ill intentions. The male leaned forward so that his head was leveled with the girl, so she could press her body against his face, blood rubbing off, onto her skin and clothes.

"You are Neptune." Kayley whispered to the otter, the animal seemed pleased with his name, before he moved the girl to his mate, wanting for her to name the other otter. As she continued to hug Neptune, she hummed in thought before smiling. "She's Salacia!"

Both Jerikye and Emma watched with wide eyes as Salacia pressed her own head against the girl's side, in the form of a 'thank you,' of sorts. Emma smiled as she questioned her daughter. "And how did you come up with those names?"

Turning to her mother, Kayley had a little bit of blood smudged against her cheek as she showed her missing front tooth. "I saw them in a book!"

"Alright, I'm finished sewing up Salacia. Now onto Neptune." Lee had obviously overheard the names and taken a liking to them as well, before turning to Neptune.

Neptune seemed unwilling at first but Kayley and Salacia calm him down and allowed the vet and his husband to stitched him up. It was a long process, for his cuts were shallower than his mates but he many more. He also seemed to be a big baby as he got his stitches, pressing his face in Salacia's neck fur as he whined. Emma and Kayley giggled, the little girl ran her hands through his fur, imitating the way her mother did when she wasn't feeling well.

Once they were finish, Lee seemed especially proud of himself as he wiped his hands on a rag he kept in his back pocket, before handing it to Oscar, who took it from him gently.

"So, they both need to take it easy for a while, especially Salacia." He turned to Emma. "Neptune can go out and hunt but Salacia needs rest. Also, they'll need somewhere to stay, somewhere they can come and go freely, so they get food and create a home, if they'd like."

Hearing this, Kayley instantly had an answer and threw her arms up, excited. "They can live in the tunnels!"

All adult looked to the little girl in shock, before Jerikye spoke aloud. "The tunnels? The one's our ancestors used to mine?"

"Oh! That could be perfect! We can make them blankets and hang some of our old lanterns along the walls." Emma clapped her hands, holding them against her chest, thinking of all the ways they could decorate the tunnels.

Kayley smiled warmly as she hugged Neptune, keeping him in a tight hold, well, as tight as one could get when they're five years old, as she whispered that they were going to be best of friends.

Thank you for reading! You'll definitely learn more about Neptune and Salacia in the next chapter.

The reason I named them that is because I've always loved mythology, Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc. so I chose Poseidon's roman name and his wife, Amphitrite's roman name.