Well, I'm posting this a little bit late, but it's still Thursday where I live.
No, that was a lie. I'm pretty sure it's not Thursday anywhere at this point. Sorry for posting late.
Anyway, I'm going on vacation on the 11th for a couple weeks, so no new chapters until I get back. I'll still be available to reply to reviews/PMs.
"So if you stepped on it in that guy's house, then . . ." Usopp said. "She's really there!"
"And you two screwed up," Sanji added.
"Oh, shut up," Zoro snapped. "I don't know if she's really there or not, but—"
"He's already going," Usopp said quietly, pointing to where Luffy was running off with a battle cry.
"He's so high-maintenance," Zoro muttered. But he was grinning as he and the other two ran after their captain.
Kevin looked up and went to answer the door. He had barely opened it when he was roughly shoved backwards by the door being pushed open. The four Strawhats burst into his house; Luffy seized Kevin by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall.
"Where is she!?" he yelled.
Kevin blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Marine," he said politely. "You and your comrade already searched my house thoroughly—"
"Oh, for—we're not Marines, you moron, that was a lie!" Zoro snapped. "Now tell us where the girl is!"
"Yeah, or we'll beat you up!" Usopp exclaimed, hiding behind the open front door.
Sanji glanced over at him. "By 'we' you mean everyone but you?"
"I'm the backup."
"Right. Anyway . . ." Sanji planted a solid kick into Kevin's stomach, making him cough. "You wanna do this the hard way or the easy way?"
"This is taking too long!" Luffy exclaimed suddenly. He let go of Kevin's shoulders and ran off to another part of the house.
"I-I'll come!" Usopp exclaimed. He ran after Luffy; Zoro and Sanji turned to Kevin, who glared at them.
"Why do you want that bitch anyway?" he sneered, all innocence and smiles gone from his face. "She's not even good at doing what I tell her. I've had to beat her so many times for disobedience. I don't know why I bought her in the first—"
He stopped talking at this point. This was probably because Sanji had kicked him directly in the face and Zoro had punched him in the chest.
As he slumped to the ground, Zoro glanced at Sanji. "Keep an eye on him, will you? I'll go help those two."
"Yeah," Sanji said, planting a foot on Kevin to keep him down. "He's not going anywhere."
"I still don't know where she is!" Luffy exclaimed, frustrated. He had overturned just about everything he could overturn, and there was no sign of the missing princess. They were currently checking the bedroom again.
"Yeah, we've looked everywhere," Usopp complained. "Except for under the rug, and there's no way she's there."
Zoro glanced at the rug and lifted it up.
"Oh, come on, Zoro, like a person could really hide under a rug—"
"I dunno about that," Zoro said. "But what if there was a trapdoor?"
"Well, in that case—what?"
He and Luffy leaned over to see a door in the floor.
"Ha!" Usopp exclaimed. "It was just as I had predicted!"
"Yeah, yeah," Zoro muttered, lifting the door to find a flight of stairs going down.
"Let's go!" Luffy yelled, leaping down the door and promptly falling head-over-heels down the stairs.
"Slow down, you'll hurt yourself!" Usopp cried, following Zoro down the hole.
At the bottom, they found themselves in a dimly lit basement. A whip and a paddle hung on the wall. A half-empty bowl of water and a bowl of bread scraps lay on the floor near the wall, and in the corner sat the princess.
She looked almost exactly like she had in the photograph, but now it was clear that she was slightly malnourished and skinny. She looked up and stared at the three pirates.
"Hey, you're Erika, right?" Luffy said. When she nodded, he ran forward and scooped her up bridal-style. "Okay, guys, let's go."
"Geez, that jerk really didn't treat her well," Zoro muttered, looking around at the poor conditions.
They ran back up the stairs and met with Sanji by the door. Kevin was just beginning to stir.
"I'll get him," Zoro offered. He grabbed Kevin by an arm and dragged him out the front door roughly.
"Erika-chan, are you hurt?" Sanji asked of the princess in Luffy's arms. She lowered her eyes and shook her head.
"Let's get going!" Usopp exclaimed. "Zoro, what're you gonna do with him? Where's Lu—oh, he's already gone."
Luffy had already run ahead with Erika, heading for the docks.
Someone passed by the group, staring at them. Zoro seized him by the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey," he said. "Take this jerk, will you?" He shoved Kevin at the passerby.
"What—what did you do to Kevin!?" the passerby demanded.
"He was keeping a lady locked up in his basement as a slave," Sanji said angrily. "So do us a favor and call the Marines."
"R-Really?" the man said skeptically.
"Just do it!" Sanji snapped. "We're in a hurry! If you don't believe us, check the basement in his house."
Before the man could say another word, the three pirates had run off, leaving the beaten Kevin with him.
"Let's go!" Luffy exclaimed. "Usopp, Sanji, get the sails! We're gonna go get Nami back!"
The two ran to fix up the sails while Zoro raised the anchor.
Once they had sailed a good distance away from the island, they gathered in the kitchen, where Luffy had set Erika on the couch. She was wearing something like an old blanket, fashioned into a kind of toga. She looked up at them and then lowered her eyes.
"I thought . . . you were Marines," she whispered. "When I heard you talking earlier . . . that's why I left the note. But . . . you're pirates."
"So?" Luffy said. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Of course she's not, dumbass," Sanji snapped. "She's been a slave for—what, ten years?"
"Wait," Usopp said, staring at her. "You think that we're here to make you our slave?"
She nodded slowly.
"Don't be ridiculous," Zoro said. "We don't need a slave. That's what Usopp's for."
"Yeah," Usopp said. "That's what I'm for—Zoro, you jerk, you want a piece of me!?"
Erika looked up cautiously. "You're not . . . making me a slave?"
"No way!" Luffy exclaimed. "We're gonna take you home!"
"Home . . ." she said softly.
"Don't worry, Erika-chan," Sanji said, touching her shoulder gently; she flinched and he quickly withdrew his hand. "Would you like to take a bath? We'll get you something else to wear and I'll cook you up a nice meal."
"Here," Usopp said, offering her his hand. She took it and stood up slowly; he led her away to the bathroom while Sanji rolled up his sleeves and went to the stove.