Thank you for the reads and follows! I'm sorry I took ages to update, but here's the new chapter, it's a bit longer than the first one! I have a week off school so I should be able to write a lot more than before! Don't forget to leave a review and follow the story! Enjoy!
He continued to growl evilly at Maria as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, trying to muster the courage to talk back. She gulped, not taking her eyes off the large male, who towered over her by about a foot. "Uhm, I, uh, just making sure it was you?" She said in a quiet voice, her tone of voice making it seem like a question. His left eye twitched in response, "get out." He waved his hand dismissively, as the other was clenched into a fist.
"Oh, err, my friend. She's uh- she's getting dri-" Maria fumbled over her words, trying to stay calm and failing absolutely miserably.
"OUT! GET THE HELL OUT!" He roared, stomping his foot on the concrete floor for emphasis.
Maria gulped and took a step back, still keeping her eyes locked on his fiery amber ones. She nodded submissively, turning slowly to look for Rose, who just so happened to still be at the bar.
"-en she said 'oh I didn't think I'd see yo-" she was giggling, her words came out nearly like hiccups as she tried to tell the bartender a story, however she was abruptly dragged away in a vice like grip.
"Mariaaa! I ain't even fin'sh'd ma story, 'n' you goin' round, stealin' me from that sweet young man!" Her southern accent seemed to have intensified after the copious amount of alcohol she had somehow drank in the few short minutes Maria had gone away.
"Yeah, well, sometimes you need to let go, you know?" Maria mumbled, turning behind her to see a very angry Eustass Kid with his eyes trained on her like some sort of rabid wolf. The two stumbled out of the bar and Maria breathed out shakily as she ignored Rose telling her about how sweet the bartender was. "We need to get back to the ship," she interrupted her, earning an upset frown from Rose. "C'mon," grabbing her wrist, Maria rushed back down the street and in the direction of their ship.
When they got there, however, no one was on board, and there seemed to be trash on the ground, surrounding them nearly. "So they ain't here?" Rose tilted her head, lilac strands falling slightly into her face. She had sobered up slightly, enough to have stopped talking nonsense, at least. Maria hummed in reply, although her response may have seemed relaxed, the girl was most certainly not relaxed. No one was on board, meaning they were all out on the island, possibly looking for Rookies, meaning they would have to go back to the inner island. Meaning a certain, very angry red head. Maria was by no means ready, her short encounter with Kid was enough to show that, but she also felt a sense of duty within her. She had signed up for the marines, hadn't she?! She smiled weakly at her mental, and pretty terrible, pep talk.
"Alright, Rose. We'll have a wander through Saboady, but I don't wanna bump into that captain again, right?" Maria nudged her friend in the side.
"Oh, yeah, yeah. The one with the fiery hair and the ski mask boy? Hmm, they don't look like they been up to no good, I tell ya," she puffed her cheeks out and turned around to stare at the mangroves. "Let's get goin'! This island ain't gon' see itself!" She winked cheerily, skipping towards the giant trees. A short laugh left Maria's mouth as she ran to join her comrade, linking arms with her when she joined her. "I think we should take a look around where we didn't before, get a real good feel of the island before we leave," she poked her tongue out as they carried on skipping towards the island.
Soon enough, they found themselves on Grove 1, giggling and telling jokes on their way to the central attraction. As they looked up at the large building, the giggling ceased, replaced by a devilish silence. Maria couldn't believe it. 'HUMAN' was written in large words on a plaque above the giant arch, which towered over the door. A giant man was held down by a metal chain on a collar, wrapped tightly around his neck. The way he sat was almost as if he were a domesticated dog, submissive and patiently waiting for it's master. Rose let loose a shiver before heading towards the door. "Well, ain't ya comin', Maria?" Her tone was very light hearted in contrast to what she was looking up at. "Don't we oughta check out the Public Employment Security Office them other marines wanted to talk so damn much about?" Her voice now a snarl caused Maria to look up at her friend. Her mouth forming an 'o' shape as she realised the lies they had been told. No, no! It's for a good reason, they wouldn't lie without reason… Maybe it isn't what you think! Why so suspicious, I'm sure it's fine! She tried reassuring herself in her mind, perhaps only making matters worse. Her lip quivered as she nodded slowly to Rose, who grabbed her hand lightly and entered the building.
The door swung open with a loud clicking noise of locks and door knobs. The huge auction house was shaped much like an amphitheatre, cut in half. A large stage stood at the lowest part of the room, with seats packed around it, seats enough for many of the nobles, who liked to call themselves 'Celestial Dragons'.
Taking a good look around the stage room, Maria spotted a white hat she was sure she had seen before, along with some some other extremely famous noblemen and women. At the back, to the left of the two girls, were four people. An extremely tall man with electric blue hair, a man with a bandage over his head in an 'X' shape,a blond man, a ginger young woman and another tall man wearing a small blue backpack.
She smiled weakly at the woman who turned around, trying her best to be polite, even in her situation. Chancing a quick glance to her right, she saw someone she wholeheartedly had NOT wanted to meet or see ever again. Flaming orange eyes glowered down at her, his arms folded loosely across his chest and his lips curved into an evil sneer. Her mouth opened slightly as she took his appearance in, she hadn't bothered to really look past his hair and face the last time she had encountered him. However, this time she noticed the tight, eye catching trousers that ended in maroon tassels, his legs were crossed, draping his boots across one another. He wore no shirt, just a long, reddy-brown fur coat, and steampunk goggles were fixed just below his hairline, seemingly keeping the brightly coloured hair from his face.
"Maria!" Rose whispered into her ear, "ain't that the man you said we weren't never gon' bump into again?" Her eyes were wide as she eyed the group of four, the other three being the man Maria had met earlier, Heat, a lanky man with a mask covering the whole of his face, and wild blond hair that reached to about his waist, a ridiculously tall male with a sort of headdress on, leaning on a trident with a bored look in his eye, and Kid.
"The fuck you think you're doing here, girl?" Kid growled with a furious gleam to his eyes. Maria tried to glare back, to no avail, his eyes seemed to capture her attention every time she looked his way. They mesmerised her, to say the least.Wait? What?! His eyes aren't mesmerising, he's a crazy murderer! Get it together, say something! She scolded herself internally, still looking up at the man with wide eyes. "Oh, I, well, you see… We didn't mean to! I was just looking around and - and - a-" She felt a hand touch her shoulder and was pulled back.
"We don't mean no harm, she ain't hurtin' nobody, so you just leave us alone, ya hear?" Rose narrowed her eyes, looking from the redhead to the masked man. Kid scoffed and went back to leaning against the wall, mumbling something incoherent. However, Killer kept facing the duo, not keeping his eyes off either of them. Most likely thinking that two marines, one easily controlled by the other, may be a good asset for them.
Rose continued pulling Maria behind her until they were just next to the tall man leaning on his trident. "Why are we next to them?!" Maria whispered in confusion, and, if Rose wasn't mistaken, fear. "Don't worry, hun. I know what I'm doin' you just stay right close to me and you'll be just fine."
"World Nobles, slaves, human shops, against the so-called purity of these "upper classes", the villains of the world look positively humane in comparison. It's because the world's in the hands of scum like them that it breeds even more scum... I mean, we're not the nicest of guys, but at least we're honest about it." The red headed captain scoffed, his scowl becoming more evil with every word. His arms were crossed across his chest, but his fists began to clench at the hatred he felt towards the World Government. Killer nodded in agreement, fiddling with the scythes hidden under his sleeves, thinking of what his captain had said. "But let's humour 'em," Kid grinned. "If we see someone we like, let's buy 'em."
As the bidding began, Maria began to feel sick. The other marines, the government, practically the whole world had been keeping this from them. They were selling people. People! They had family, they had their own freedom until someone had decided to brutally exchange their life for a few coins in their own back pocket. Yes, some of the slaves were pirates, or pirate captains, but that didn't excuse what was happening! She had even heard some of the 'Celestial Dragons' talk about the exchange rate for slaves, and how if a mermaid were to come in, it'd be no wonder if the auction house could be just as rich as the Dragons themselves.
She felt sick. Sick to the stomach. It must have shown, because she felt a light tap on her lower leg, and looked down to see the end of some sort of metal rod. Slowly looking up, Maria saw the face of the tall man Rose had decided they stood next to. His face was less bored than before, and had a softer air about it than the other three next to him (well, she could only guess for Killer, but she supposed it may not be too friendly). A small smile tugged at his mouth, as he nudged her again, as if to reassure her that it would all be fine. She smiled back, slightly wider than she expected, but she found the sentiment quite amusing. The Kid Pirates were renowned for being ruthless murderers, yet her she was standing next to one of the brutish members, who was poking her with a trident as a form of reassurance.
Hearing the whole room gasp, including the girl stood next to her, she abruptly turned to the stage, where a green haired mermaid was chained up in a large fish bowl. She began to bang on the glass wildly as if to capture someone's attention. Her face was screwed up as though she was sobbing wildly, however her sobs were muted by the water and the massive commotion in the auction house. Nearly all of those in attendance were stood up and yelling loudly about the mermaid. Through the uproar, a loud voice shrieked, "500 MILLION BERI!"
Maria looked over to see the World Noble Saint Charloss waving his paddle in the air as his father glared at him. The man giggled delightedly as the whole room fell silent. "500 million beri!"