Chapter 8:
(Gods POV)
They stood there for a solid three seconds before Bepo walked up and said, "Your needed at the observation deck Captain." The two broke apart and Ivy smiled before stepping all the way in the room and closing the door behind her. Law turned and stared at Bepo menacingly as the poor bear hung his head, mumbling, "I'm sorry." What was she going to tell me? Damn it Bepo! As the pissed off Captain stalked away with Bepo tailing him a door opened up and a smirking face peaked out.
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As Law walked away Ivy slumped back into a chair and curled up while Law was in the observation deck. As he walked in he only needed to see a seething Bart to know someone had done something. He turned to see the map and was shocked to find a wet mess. He turned back to Bart and said, "How did that happen." Bart was so mad he couldn't speak for a minute but when he found his tongue he said, "Water got spilled on it when someone tripped with a bucket in there hands." As Law stared at the mess the door creaked open.
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Everyone turned to see Ivy standing there with a shy grin. "What happened?" She was looking at Law and he sighed. "The map got wet and the ink smudged so its now unreadable and unusable." Ivy just blinked once, twice, then out burst a loud laugh making her gasp for air. The crew stared at her like she had gone mad and Law looked positively livid. She saw them glaring at her and she calmed down and wiped a tear away before saying, "Can I have a pen and paper the same size as the map?" They looked at her funny but Bart gave her the items.
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As she sat down Law barked out orders to get back to work. He turned back to Ivy and saw that she was going to recreate the map. Penguin had been helping in the room so he leaned over her shoulder and said, "There is no way you can recreate a map you ain't never seen." Ivy turned to face him and said, "Actually, Bepo let me see it when he took me on a tour of the sub so I did see it. And yes, once was enough for me." She then turned and began to draw the map and after 30 minutes she was done. Law picked it up and noted that even the little notes on the edges where there and he stared at her in bewilderment.
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'How did she remember the smallest notes? There is no way that was a skill she was born with. Or was she...' Laws mind was still processing this when Ivy fell over and began to shake. Law glanced over to Penguin and saw his hands raised as if in surrender and his mouth was open. "What did you do Penguin?" He shook his head back and forth and said, "I only touched her back!" Ivy stood up in a rush and said, "I had something to tell Law and I was trying to remember what when Penguin touched me. I was only spooked." Haste sped up her words a bit and Law frowned.
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'There has to be more to this than just a simple spook. Wait, she did say someone shattered her shoulder.' Law glared at the two before him then walked out. Ivy ran out after him and ran past him and ran into her room. Law raises his eyes at her fast pace and then smirked after her. 'She knows how to get from the bridge to her room after one day. Interesting.' Law was still smirking as he stepped into his room to try to get some sleep.
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Ivy laid down and tried to fall asleep but a knock at her door made her freeze. As the door opened she turned and saw Law in the frame as she thought 'Shit'. He then closed the door behind him as he grinned at her with interest. "L-Law?" His eyes sharpened at the lack of respect to call him captain but that feeling melted away when she suddenly went blank faced before she jumped him. Literally. They fell onto the floor and she landed on him, safe on his lap, while he sprawled beneath her. He sat up and rubbed his head only to wince at the pain. His legs came up, forcing her to sit on his abdomen and he found that he liked the position.
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She then was in his face and said, "You haven't submerged yet now have you?" Law smirked and said, "Sorry, but I can't leave here just yet." She nodded and said, "Right! It takes a month for boats to be coated here even though the log pose won't set. But since you have a submarine you don't need t-" She then froze because Law had slowly moved his hand up and touched her right shoulder. He was prodding her shoulder and she tensed as he moved towards her back. She leaned down and licked his nose before suddenly jerking away. Law was in shock that she had licked him so he had loosened his grip on her.
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She jumped up and sighed before taking off her jacket. She threw it on Aka who was asleep on the bed and watched her squirm under it. She then turned back to Law and said, "I'm guessing your curious about the trauma my shattered shoulder caused me. I can't really explain what I went through but I can show you… I was beat up really bad by my neighbors older brother and his friends. I was six when it happened so I guess you already know how bad that would mess up my mind." She had hugged herself as she spoke and she had begun to tremble halfway through.
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(Law's POV)
I watched her as she spoke and I could see that she found this hard to say. When she stopped I said, "This happened at night." She shook her head slowly and I saw her eyes glaze over before she blinked. I was a little stunned after that, 'I guess she has steeled herself.' After the blink her face was stoic, the trembling stopped and her eyes weren't glazed. She reached down and peeled her tank top up slowly and I watched as she threw it onto the bed.
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She stood there and waited for my eyes to meet hers. I was appraising her body in silence and I saw the pride in her eyes. She had flawless, creamy skin and a lacy purple bra that flaunted her bust nicely. I nodded and she slowly turned around. I was curious about her shoulder and when she turned I saw her shoulder first. You could tell my looking that the bone was still broken in places and the skin was a deep red. 'I can only imagine the force it took to cause that much damage.'
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I looked up at her eyes and she said, "They aimed for my head with a solid steel bat. My instincts took over so they hit my shoulder blade instead and the guy who swung could bench press 250 kilos." I stared at her and she bowed her head in shame before saying, "Then while I was on the street shrieking in pain they…" I stepped forward and forced her to look at me, "Who helped you?" After I said that she began to cry but her face remained calm. Only her eyes gave away her emotions.
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She shook her head and said, "No one came to help me. I was on the street shrieking in pain and they… they stayed in their houses and ignored my cries of pain." I stared at her and I felt furious with the people that could have helped her but didn't. "They were to scared of becoming victims themselves you see. I know that they wanted to help me but they where to weak themselves." I watched her and she looked up at me and smirked, "I know that you love pain so I will understand if you like this part. Though, I am a part of your crew now so I may be wrong but…"
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I just watched her as she looked down. "After they hit me I landed on the street and they ripped the back of my shirt off and with a serrated knife they carved a single kanji letter onto my back. They tore muscles, nerves and skin…so much of my skin…they carved it so that it would scar. It was like I was a piece of meat." I watched as she took a step back, then turned, and my eyes widened in horror at the skin on her back. I may have been known as the 'surgeon of death' but even I had my limits. Especially when you consider that she was six when she got this.
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Ivy slowly turned to show Law her back and she thought, 'Well, at least he knows how I got this. It won't be a problem of mine for him to find out.' As she turned Law thought, 'It was enough of a traumatic experience that she flips when someone touches the wound. Not to mention that it left permanent scars that will never fully heal.' Ivy stopped when she was fully turned away from Law and she felt the tension in the air become thick enough to cut with a knife.
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Law was in turmoil as he froze. His mind was a mess and it was like all of his anger, pity, and disgust where boiling over in a pot. On her back there was crimson red lines on puckered skim that where slightly raised off her skin. They where almost like angry red mountain ranges and the kanji was large sloppy 'Evil' carved into her back so that barely any skin was left alone and unblemished. The skin looked like it had just been cleaned and he was the doctor in charge of stitching her back back together.
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(Law's POV)
I walked over to her and ran my index finger over her scar lightly. She tensed at my touch but I continued anyway and as I did she began to shake. I stopped and she fell to her knees on the floor and I asked her, "Why did they choose that particular kanji to…write on you?" She snuffled once more before she wiped her face and turned. Her face was calm and stoic, I did not like her like this, not one bit. She was a bit calmer when she smirked and said, "It's because they saw me take down a college student who was good at karate with a big ol' grin on my face..." Her voice was cold and bitter as she finished, "They carved me up like meat and then had the nerve to say it was my own damn fault."
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(God's POV)
As the air fell silent Law found himself on his knees behind her. He just went with it and wound his arms around her shoulders. He refused to let his mind acknowledge his actions as anything but a means to get his new subordinate to calm down. Ivy got the message apparantly and placed her hand on his arm and murmured a quiet, "Thanks…" He then released her and walked out of the room with more difficulty than he would ever admit. In a thousand - no a million lifetimes.
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Ayumu: sorry for the wait. Writers block turns suspense into anger, frustration, murderous thoughts about writers, ext. Anyway, thanks for the support and please take a look at "Hybrid" and/or "Stray Cat"