Chapter 9

The group hurried to find those with a fair amount of medical knowledge. When they found only two individuals among them, they scrambled to the ground in order to find more. Claire was just relieved no one was constantly bothering her as she attended to Law's injuries. Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, King Riku, and the two assistants hung around, but they didn't breathe down her neck. "You may have the Ope Ope no Mi, but this arm has been removed for far longer than fifteen minutes. I'm afraid it's impossible to reattach it," she stated.

Law nodded. "I figured as much," he mused. He laid still on the ground, eyes away from her hands, as Claire cut away the dead tissue from his wound. The tissue may have no longer been useful to the body, but it still hurt to remove it once it was severed from its living counterparts. "What have you been doing all this time?"

Claire tilted her head as she recalled her adventures. "Well, I spent some time recovering at the Marine headquarters first," she told. "I took a real beating on that island. My legs were stiff for a few years afterwards, and I still can't move my neck as much as I used to."

Law's mouth turned down. "And how did the Marines treat you?"

"Quite fair," she answered. She knew he disliked Marines, so she tread lightly around the subject. "They bandaged me up, fed me, and let me go when I asked." When she finished cleaning his wound, she rubbed his side and kissed his forehead. "Did my father treat you well while you stayed with him?" she asked.

He turned to her and smiled. "He was great," he admitted. One assistant handed Claire a package of gauze, and she began to wrap his new stub. "He let me perform my first surgery when my amber lead poisoning was completely cured." His eyes twinkled like bright stars.

"Did he let you into his personal library, too?" she asked.

Law nodded as she tied off his bandages. "I could have never imagined that he had all those books just by looking at his house," he commented. "And even your brother was really nice. He helped me with a bunch of my chores when I was busy."

A smile trickled on to Claire's face. "I'm glad you had so much fun. You really deserved it." She checked the site of the transfusion, unconcerned by the slight bruising. "You have about fifteen minutes before you can take this out, but otherwise you should be fine to move around some."

Law sat up and inspected his bandages. "You did a pretty good job."

"Like you, I grew up around medicine. It's in my blood to do well." The two laughed.

King Riku cleared his throat and scooched forward. Sweat covered his entire body, and his knees seemed as if they would break in his cross-legged position. "I don't mean to interrupt, but may I ask you a few questions, Claire?" he asked. She looked to him with kind eyes and nodded. "You said that you would be fighting Doflamingo-"

Her hand jerked up quickly. "Oh, no, no, no," she stopped him. "I won't be fighting anyone."

His brow furrowed. "Then who will?"

"Luffy will," she stated. "And a little bit of Kat, but I need someone to weaken him. He won't allow Uzuru to come out until he absolutely can't stop him."

"Uzuru?"

"The devil of the Ito Ito no Mi." She searched their faces and failed to find any note of understanding. "He's the spirit that resides in the fruit and gives Doflamingo his powers."

Luffy pushed between the assistants, sending medical supplies everywhere. "You mean there are people inside the fruits?" he squealed.

A throaty chuckle escaped from Claire, very different than her light-hearted giggle. "Not exactly. The devils aren't human. They are things created by complete concepts that utilize those concepts to enhance their natural abilities of having a physical form. Sometimes they'll talk with you inside your head, but otherwise they remain quiet and watch the world through your eyes," she explained.

His taut face relaxed, and his smile fell into a straight line. "And if they don't?" he asked.

"Depends. The devil might not be strong enough to contact the person, especially since the ability typically weakens the more the fruit is eaten. It could also be the devil has lost track of who they really are and no longer realizes that they once had a physical form." Luffy pulled away, head bowed.

Usopp sat forward. "So are you saying that Doflamingo might be… embodied by this even more powerful being?"

"Yes, but Uzuru will not have the same objective as Doflamingo," she answered. "Doflamingo is trying to kill everyone here, but Uzuru will only wish to seek out Yuzuki and kill her."

"Who's Yuzuki?" Zoro chimed in.

The canary landed next to Law and looked him over. Claire replied, "She's the devil of my fruit." As they stared at her, Claire leaned towards Luffy. "You can meet a real devil if you want," she added. His eyes lifted. "My friend at the palace needs assistance. She doesn't like fighting, and all I have had her do today is fight."

"When will I get to meet the devil?"

"She is a real devil," she told him.

He perked up and tipped his hat in a curt nod. "Sure," he replied, hopping to his feet. He ran to the edge of the roof and scanned the horizon.

"You don't have to go all the way-"

Luffy's arm stretched backwards and then shot forward to the palace. He grabbed onto a tall structure halfway there and catapulted himself across the island. Claire was going to tell him more of an action planned, but he escaped before she could really say much of anything. She removed a small Den Den Mushi from her satchel and dialed in a number. It rang a few times before an exasperated voice answered, "Yes?"

"Luffy-san will be taking over your fight with Doflamingo," she greeted. "He should be there in a few seconds." Curses from Doflamingo could be heard over the correspondence.

"Thank goodness," Kat breathed. "I'll leave as soon as he gets here." The speaker clicked to silence.

I know that Law keeps his arm in the manga, but I thought that there was no way that the arm could have been viable by the time he was able to reattach it.