Grand Line & Grounded
"There," Lami said as she finished her last math problem. "Finally done!"
"Glad to hear it," Law said as he walked into the rec room.
"I'm glad too," Lami said. "I really hate math."
"Well, it's something you have to do," Law said glancing over her work. "I'll grade this later. Right now we're about to land."
"Really?" Lami asked.
"Yes." Law nodded. "And it's snow island. You're going to have to dress as warm as you can until we can get some winter clothes."
"I'll try. Though I don't think I have much warm stuff," Lami said.
"That's why we're going shopping when we get there," Law said. "I don't want you to get sick."
"Okay." Lami stood up. "I'll go see what I have I can wear."
Law nodded.
Lami waved to him and left the room. Getting to her own room, she stepped inside and went over to her clothes. Like she thought she didn't have much warm clothes. But she pulled out a couple of shirts, two of which were long sleeves, a pair of jeans, and a pair of pajama bottoms that were fuzzy. "I guess this will have to do. We shouldn't be out in the cold weather for every long anyway. I doubt the village will be very big."
There was a knock on her door.
"Yes?" Lami asked.
"It's Ika," Ika said. "We're about to dock. Captain wants you dressed and upstairs."
"Okay. I'm getting dressed now," Lami said. She pulled on her extra clothes and headed for the main door of the sub. There some of the crew was already waiting. Before long the sub pulled into the docks. A cold rush of wind came into the sub when the crew opened the door. She shivered. "So freaking cold!"
"I think it feels great," Bepo said. "So nice."
"Shut up," Shachi said.
"I'm sorry." Bepo dropped his head.
"Don't be mean to Bepo." Lami snuggled up to Bepo's warm body. "He's the warmest of us all right now."
Bepo smiled, slipping his arm around her shoulders to keep her as warm as he could.
"Let's get going," Law then said walking towards the door.
The crew followed. Lami stayed as close to Bepo's warm body as she could. They descended down the rope ladder. The village, like she thought, wasn't very big at all. Most people were smart and staying inside from the cold weather so the snow covered paths were mostly empty. Though there were a few people running around the scattered buildings. Some were shoving snow while others were pushing it off roofs. Before long they had finally reached a store with winter clothes on display.
"Well, catch up with you later," Law said. "I'm going to get some winter clothes for Lami."
"Okay," the crew said as they walked off to find some bar.
Lami waved to them then followed Law inside.
"Welcome," a lady sitting behind the checkout counter said. "Please ask if you need any help."
Law nodded to her before leading Lami farther into the store.
Lami looked around. All the shirt and pants here were thick and lined with fuzzy material. She pulled thick black sweater off the rack. "Oh, this is very nice."
"Try it on," Law said.
Lami pulled it over her head then modeled it for him. "What do you think? Do I look good in black?"
"You'll look good in anything. How does it fit?" Law asked.
"A bit snug. Though that's probably because I'm wearing layers," Lami said.
"You should get a size or two bigger," Law said. "That way you can grow into it a bit before having to get something new."
"Makes sense," Lami said. "I think only two or three sets of clothes will do though. We're probably not going to dock at many snowy islands."
Law nodded.
Lami picked out three sets of clothes, three sweaters, three coats, three pants, three socks, and three pairs of boots. They stepped up to the counter after Law picked himself up some warm clothes and paid for them before heading back to the sub. She quickly changed clothes and headed back to the deck where her dad was waiting and dressed in his own winter clothes. "Can I go exploring now?"
"If you take someone with you," Law said.
"Aw, Daddy, I'm old enough to go off on my own," Lami said.
"Yes, but your powers are still messing up," Law said. "You don't need to be by yourself while you're like that."
Lami sighed. "But the crew's drinking right now."
"Then I guess you're stuck with them." Law smiled.
"Them?" Lami looked up at him as they walked along. "Where are you going?"
"No where right now," Law said. "I'm going to get a drink then just sit and think for a while before finding the bookstore to see if any new medical procedures have been released."
"That's so boring," Lami said.
"Deal with it," Law said.
"Fine," Lami grumbled. They reached the only bar they could find in the town. Inside the crew was already acting dumb as they usually do when they drank. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Really? Have you no shame? We just arrived here."
"We're just having a little fun," Ika said, his arm around a tall blonde woman. "Right, sweetheart?"
"You're so funny," the woman said with a giggle.
Lami rolled her eyes. She didn't want to know what was going on here before they arrived. With a sigh she sat down beside Bepo, the only one who wasn't drunk at the moment. Time passed and before long Law had disappeared on them. She knew he had found something of interest at the bookstore. That was mostly why he hardly ever came back. Other times he would go wondering around the island. But with as cold as this one was he wouldn't go out walking around.
Boredom settled down on her. She wanted to go exploring the island for a while. Glancing under the table, she summoned her orbs then banished them. Her dad was over reacting. She was just fine. And she was going to go looking around. She scanned her eyes around the room. Some of the crew had disappeared with the women they were with while a few were still drinking, and two were passed out already. Drinking the last of her apple juice, she slipped out of her chair and headed for the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Penguin asked.
"Bathroom," Lami said. She glanced over her shoulder and watch the man.
"Oh. Okay." Penguin turned back to his drink.
Exhaling, Lami continued on to the exit. The heat from the bar vanished instantly. It was replaced with the chilly wind. She glanced up at the grey clouds. It had quit snowing for a while. She would be able to explore quickly and get back before anyone knew she was gone. Smiling she headed for the forest. The forest was thick. So the snow on the ground was thinner than the snow in the village. She was able to walk through the wood easier.
As she walked along she noticed some of the animals had came out from their hiding. She figured that meant the storm was over. They were probably searching for food. Which meant she could stay out a little bit longer. And she did. As she walked around the cloudy sky didn't give any sign of the sun going down. Though her body was growing colder despite the thick clothes she was wearing.
She came to a cliff. Stepping up to it she looked down. A river was at the bottom. "Wow. I wonder if the water's frozen. All well. I might as well head back before they noticed I'm gone."
Lami turned from the cliff and headed back into the forest. Instantly, she knew something was wrong. The forest was far too quiet. She looked around. Shadows had fallen all over the place. And something was watching her. Multiple things were watching her every move. She could feel their eyes on her. Her body shivered. She took another step then jerked to a pause when she heard something growl. "Who's there?!"
No answer. Another growl.
Heart race, Lami started to run towards the town. She skidded to a stop when four wolves appeared in front of her, jumping out of the woods. She gulped and tried to summon her orbs. They didn't respond to her. Her heart took a hard jolt in her chest. Her orbs were failing her again. She took a step back from the wolves; they bared their fangs at her. More growls appeared behind her. She whipped around to find more wolves. She was completely surrounded by a pack of fifteen wolves. "Crap. Crap. Crap. Why did I come out here all on my own?"
The wolves snapped their teeth at her as they moved in.
Lami looked around, her brain trying to think of a way out of here, but coming up empty. She looked up to see if any branches were low enough for her to grab. They weren't.
A wolf leaped at her.
She cried, bring her arms up to shield herself. Suddenly, the painful cry of a wolf rang out in the woods. The attack never came for her. Lowering her arms, she looked up. A familiar boiler suited man was standing in front of her. The wolf was laying on the ground with his tongue hanging out.
"Are you stupid? What were you thinking coming out here on your own?" Fugu asked.
"I was…" Lami couldn't answer. She remained in place as the wolves leaped towards them. She flinched, trying to summon her orbs again. Suddenly, they all came out at once. Nature erupted. She fell back on the ground. The wind picked up, the plant life grew large and snapped out, fire, and water flared up around her orbs before they vanished.
"What are you doing?!" Fugu asked before kicking another wolf away.
"I don't know. I can't…I couldn't control it," Lami said.
"Then just sit still!" Fugu said dodging another wolf. "You're making this harder!"
Lami did as he said. She stood up and still and watched him fight off the wolves. She dropped to her knees when the wolves ran away. Her racing heart slowing down.
"I'd love to ask if you are insane but after this I think you've established that you are," Fugu said. "What were you thinking? This is the Grand Line we're in now. It's far too dangerous for a child to be out here on her own."
"Shut up, stupid blowfish! I'm not insane! Normal people go for walks!" Lami snapped.
"Not on their own where wolves are hungry and looking for a meal, especially when that person's power is messing up," Fugu said.
"Fine," Lami said. "I screwed up. I won't do it again. Problem solved. So how did you even know I was out here? You were drinking with the crew."
"I was drinking but I'm clearly not drunk like they are," Fugu said. "And you are going back to the sub."
"I am not," Lami said crossing her arms in defiance.
Fugu's eyebrows twitched.
Lami scrambled to her feet when he started towards her. Before she could get two feet from him, he grabbed her collar and hauled her over his shoulder. "Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down! Right! Now!"
"I will not." Fugu headed for the sub. "You are going back to the sub."
"Jerk!" Lami tried to summon her orbs again. They didn't respond. "Oh! You are so going to pay for this!"
"Whatever," Fugu said. "I know I'm doing the right thing. You've been extremely stupid today. The captain would kill me if I left you on your own now."
"Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!" Lami screamed all the way through the woods and into the sub where Fugu dropped her off his shoulder. She hit the floor hard. "Ouch! Jerk! You don't have to be mean!"
"I'm not being mean." Fugu leaned towards her face. "I'm being nice. I carried you all the way here. And I saved your life. You're lucky I'm giving you a few more minutes of freedom before I tell the captain what you did."
"What?! You can't do that!" Lami said.
"I can. And I will. I'm not keeping this a secret from the captain," Fugu said. "You're free to do what you want in the sub, but you are not going to leave it until the captain comes back."
"Jerk!" Lami jumped up and rushed down the stairs. She ran all the way to her room, slamming the door behind her. She stripped of her warm clothes before heading back upstairs. Reaching the main floor, she peaked up from the stairs. Fugu was remaining at the door to guard it. She growled and headed to the galley. Part of her wanted to use one of the other doors to leave, but her body was tired from her walk. Plus opening the doors were too noisy. In this cold weather the hinges would creak far too loud. Fugu would definitely hear her. And without her orbs working she wouldn't be able to get away from him quick enough. So she had no choice but to sit and wait for her dad to come back and give her whatever punishment she was going to get. Reaching the galley, she made herself a cup of hot tea before heading for the rec room where she waited for her dad to come back.
It didn't take him long to come into the room. Lami knew she was in serious trouble with the frown he wore on his face and the disappointment in his eyes.
"Lami, we've been over this multiple times. You can't be off on your own while your powers are messing up," Law said. "It's not safe."
Lami could tell he was holding himself back from flat out yelling at her.
"Until further notice you are grounded," Law said. "If you leave this sub you will be with me or Fugu."
"What?! Why him?!" Lami demanded. "He hates me!"
"He doesn't hate you," Law said.
"He does too! Let Shachi, Penguin, Bepo, or anyone else in the crew babysit me!" Lami said. "Anyone but him!"
"I don't think so." Law crossed his arms over his chest. "You've got the crew, but for Fugu wrapped around your fingers. If I allowed them to watch you during your punishment it won't be a punishment at all. They'd do anything you want."
Lami wrinkled her nose. "So what? At least they don't hate me."
Law sighed. "This is not up for debate, Lami. You did exactly what I told you not to do. Until you can prove yourself trust worthy of making good decisions, you will not be allowed from my side or Fugu's."
Lami opened her mouth to protect.
"No arguing, young lady," Law said. "You brought this on yourself."
"Fine!" Jumping up from her chair, she ran out of the room, down the stairs, and into her bedroom. She flung herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow. A couple hours passed before she pulled herself from her bed. Wandering the halls she found Penguin and Shachi in the training room.
"We were wondering when you would show up," Penguin said dodging a kick from Shachi.
"I got in a fight with Daddy," Lami said.
"So we've heard." Shachi threw a punch at Penguin. "And we agree with the punishment."
"What?" Lami frowned.
The two men paused and looked at her. Penguin said, "You could have gotten hurt. You would have if Fugu didn't show up at right time."
"He's a stool pigeon," Lami said. "I would have been fine."
"You're being cocky and over confident," Penguin said.
Lami wrinkled her nose again. "He still didn't have to punish me by having Fugu babysit me."
"Don't worry. The punishment will be over before you know it," Shachi said.
"Yeah. Right." Lami frowned. With having to be around Fugu this punishment was going to last forever.
For the rest of the day Lami decided to give herself some space from her dad and Fugu. She spent most of her time with Penguin or Bepo before the day finally ended. Stretching out her body, she headed for her bedroom to change into her pajamas before heading to Bepo's room where she still slept.
Flipping on the light she walked over to her closet. She pulled off her clothes and slipped on her fuzzy pajamas. She turned to head for the door but paused when she noticed something out of place on her bed. Walking over she found it was a letter. "Huh?" Lami picked up the letter from her bed. "When did I get mail? And who's it from?"
Turning it over she broke open the envelope and unfolded the paper that was inside of it.
Hogwarts School of Elemental Orb Magic
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc,
Chf. Elemental, Supreme Mugwump,
International Confed. of Elemental Orbs)
Dear Ms. Potter-Trafalgar,
"Potter? Was this letter supposed to go to me and someone else?" Lami blinked at her name next to the unknown girl's name beside it.
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Elemental Orb Magic. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
"Owl?" Lami asked. Her eyes looked at the signature at the bottom of the page. "Minerva McGonagall? Albus Dumbledore? Hogwarts? Such weird names." She blinked at the letter before flipping to the next page. There she found a list of books dealing with magic, history of magic, theories of magic, and several other books she felt were taken from a fantasy storybook. She stopped looking at the letter at that point. She crumbled it up and tossed it into the trash. "Whatever. Must have been a mistake."
She turned off the light and left the room.
