Hydra
"What the heck?!" Usopp and Chopper shouted. "Why is Luffy glowing?!"
"Interesting," Robin said as she inspected the white glow around Luffy. "What do you suppose this could be?"
"I don't have a clue," Nami replied with a shake of her head.
"Wake up, you idiot!" Zoro shouted. He raised his foot to kick Luffy, but his foot landed with a hard thump on his captain's shoulder. Luffy didn't move. Zoro continued to push his foot on the immobile teen's body. He wouldn't budge an inch. "What the heck?!"
"Strange," Brook said as he carefully watched Zoro and Luffy. "Do you think Luffy is doing that or is it the glow around him?"
"That's just not normal," Franky said while pushing up his sunglasses.
"You think?" Usopp asked.
"What do we do now?" Brook asked. He looked up to the sky. "What were those things? Why did they come after Zerina? And where do you suppose they took our friends?"
Brook dropped his eyes back to his crew. They all looked at him, but they all were still out of an answer. No one even had a guess at what was going on. Their eyes dropped to the ground only to shoot back up when someone outside of their crew spoke up. "I can answer that."
"Huh?" The Straw Hats looked up to see a tall, very familiar red haired man on their ship. "WHAT?! RED HAIRED SHANKS?!"
"What the heck is an emperor doing here?!" Usopp shrieked. He pulled out his weapon and aimed it at the sea. "Are we under attack?! I don't see his ship!"
"Hey! His ship isn't here!" Nami noted as she looked around the ocean.
"Then how did he get here?!" Franky asked.
"By using this," Shanks replied. He held out his hand. The Straw Hats looked to see a white, eight pointed, star shaped gem in the palm of his hand.
"What is that?" Chopper asked.
"Something that will help Luffy," Shanks said. He turned away from the crew and walked over to the comatose young man. He kneeled down and placed the gem on Luffy's forehead. Ignoring the surprising gasps from the crew when the star stayed in place, he sat down and crossed his legs. "And now we wait."
"Wait?! For what?! What's going on?!" Nami demanded. "What's wrong with Luffy?! What happened to him?!"
"It's better to explain everything when Luffy is conscious again," Shanks replied. "He's suffered a bit of a shock since Zerina was taken from him."
"Shock?! Of course he's in shock! But this isn't normal!" Nami shrieked. "You better tell us what's going on! The last time Luffy had a reaction like this was when Ace…Oh no! Don't tell me Zerina is…"
"Zerina is alive," Shanks replied. "They can't kill her."
"That's a relief," Chopper said with a sigh. He then snapped. "What do you mean they can't kill her?! Who's trying to kill her?!"
"No one's trying to kill her, but if they could, it would be those who are living on Hydra," Shanks replied, not taking his eyes from Luffy.
"Hydra?" Zoro asked.
"Zerina's home island?" Brook asked.
"Yes." Shanks nodded.
"What does her home island…Why would people there be trying to kill her?!" Nami demanded.
"Because she's the only one who can stop them," Shanks replied with light glinting in his eyes. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. He then looked at the younger crew. "Please, don't ask me to explain right now. I'll only do that when Luffy has woken up again. I don't want to have to explain everything…twice."
Shanks dropped his eyes back down to Luffy and watched him carefully. The Straw Hats exchanged looks, silently asking each other what they should do. Zoro was the first to sit down. He looked at Shanks and asked, "How long before he wakes up?"
"Well, I'd guess somewhere between five and fifteen minutes," Shanks replied keeping his eyes on Luffy.
"Fifteen minutes?!" Nami shrieked.
"Shut up," Zoro said. "You all can wait that long."
The Straw Hats exchanged looks again before quietly agreeing to wait. They sat down, a few remained standing, as they waited for their captain to wake up.
"Can I ask what is going on with Luffy right now?" Chopper asked. "What is that star thing doing to him?"
"It's just bring him back to consciousness," Shanks replied. "His mind just took a blow because Zerina was taking from him after being reunited after so many years."
…
"Hm," Sanji hummed to himself as he looked around his prison. The cells were well lit and spacious with comfortable beds. He pressed his hand into the thick mattress underneath him. "Not exactly what I'd call a prison, but whatever. I'm more concerned about where I am and, most important, where Zerina is. Let's see…"
Sanji closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His let his mind drifted back to the Sunny. He grabbed onto that creature that was taking Zerina from them.
"Sanji! What were you thinking?!" Zerina demanded as she managed to grab his wrists in the dark. Both their stomachs and noses twitched at the smell of his burnt skin. "Your hands! You've completely damaged them! How are you going to be able to cook now?!"
"Don't worry about that. You're far more important," Sanji replied. He tried to pull his hands away from her, but stopped and winced when sharp pain shot through them. "It doesn't hurt that bad."
"Liar! I felt you flinch!" Zerina snapped. Tears stung her eyes before they fell down her cheeks. She cursed under her breath while leaning forward. She pressed her forehead to his chest and cursed again.
"Tsk, tsk, such language coming from such a pretty mouth," Sanji said with a lighthearted chuckle. "I don't think your father and Luffy would approve of such language."
Sanji flinched again when he heard Zerina's soft sobs. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, it was a bit awkward since he couldn't use his hands. But he did his best to comfort her. "Shh…It's all right, Zeri. It's all right."
"No, it's not," Zerina cried softly. "I'm stupid. I got you involved in this when I should have just-"
"Stop that! Don't you dare blame yourself for this again! You didn't ask for any of this! It's going to be just fine!" Sanji shouted. "We're going to get out of this! I promise that I'm going to get you out of here! I'm going to…Whash goin on?"
"Shometin…" Zerina said as both her and Sanji's head spun. "Mush be gas…"
Both Zerina and Sanji slumped together in the tight space of the creature's chest they were inside.
"That's it. That thing must have had some kind of gas inside of it," Sanji said. He looked around the cell again then down to his burnt hands. He cringed at the burnt skin before looking back up. His hands didn't matter right now. He had to get out of here and find Zerina. Standing up, he walked over to the cell door. "Well, at least I don't need to use my hands to fight. I just hope those who took her aren't that strong. It's already going to be a pain in the butt with their ability to grant wishes. Maybe I can take them by surprised and get Zeri out of here before they realize what's going on? All well. Guess we'll see soon. Doesn't look like there are any guards around here. All right then."
Sanji pulled back his foot. He swung it forward, breaking down the cell door with one single kick. He shouted, "I'm coming for you, Zerina!"
…
"You brat!" Angel hissed as she snapped her whip against Zerina's exposed skin.
Zerina gritted her teeth as the sharp pain shot through her as her skin split open from the impact of the whip, again. She had lost count of how many times Angel had hit her. She had lost track of the time as well. She didn't know how long she had been hanging here in the kitchen pantry. Bound by her wrists, her broken one throbbing, just like she always was when her beloved aunt would punish her. The building was strangely quiet. She also had no clue where anyone was. She was most concerned about Sanji. I hope he's all right. No one has ever came here before from down below. I wonder what they're going to do with him.
"How dare you escape?! What were you thinking?! After all I have done for you!" Angel growled. She reared back and snapped the whip at Zerina's skin again.
Zerina flinched. More of her skin split open. She felt the warm blood run down her side. Her eyes fell to her shirt and pants that way lying haphazardly on the floor where Angel had tossed them. Her vision blurred and doubled. Her mind and ears filled with voices, smells and memories of the past. She could hear the cooks cooking, food sizzling over the fire, other servants bustling around, moving in and out of the pantry and Mari…Mari. She lifted her head. "Mari…where is she? Where is everyone? Why aren't they here?"
"Mari? That little traitor along with Jon are dead!" Angel hissed.
"What?!" Zerina flinched.
"It took a while to beat the confession out of them and get them to admit that they helped you escape," Angel said. She walked away from Zerina and grabbed her glass of water she had setting on a shelf. She chugged it down then slammed it back on the shelf. The glass wobbled before falling and crashing onto the hard ground below. She gripped the whip handle, growled at the now broken glass and snapped the whip at Zerina, splitting open her right cheek. "See what you did?! That glass was expensive!"
Zerina's bangs fell over her eyes. Her warm tears mixing with the fresh blood trickling down her cheek. "I don't care. Go ahead and blame me for whatever you wish. Just tell me one thing…"
"What would that be?" Angel cocked her head to the side. "Not that I'm going to tell you anyway."
"Why do you hate me so much?" Zerina lifted her now grey eyes to the woman before her. "What did I do?"
"What did you do?! You were born that's what!" Angel snapped. She cracked the whip against Zerina's left hip, shredding off a piece of Zerina's underwear. She ran her eyes over the multiple whip wounds that covered Zerina's body from her head to her feet. She smirked at her handy work, proud of the pain she inflicted. "You and your filthy pirate blood! You don't deserve to live!"
"Really?" Zerina asked, no longer caring or feeling the pain. Her body went numb and cold. She tried to seek out Luffy, but his voice was silent. She couldn't reach him. Her chest tightened at how far his mind suddenly was from her, how broken it felt. She hadn't been able to contact him since she woke up here on Hydra. That hurt far worse than what Angel was doing to her. She felt so guilty for not just telling him the truth to begin with. Sanji was right. She should have told him when she had the chance. Now she might not ever see him again. "All of this just because I'm the daughter of a pirate? That can't be right."
"Are you calling me a liar?!" Angel hissed. She struck Zerina on the left thigh with her whip.
"I am," Zerina replied honestly. "If that was it, you would have killed me years ago. So what's the truth? Why did you keep me alive? What's the point of all this? Other pirate children have been killed because of who their parents are…"
Zerina flinched. Her mind filled with stories of Ace that Luffy had told her. "…Ace…I wish I could have met you. You sound like you would have been such fun to be around. I would have loved to hear you talking about Luffy."
"Ace? Who the heck is that?" Angel asked.
"Ace, he's Luffy's brother. He was killed protecting Luffy. He was going to die because he's the son of a pirate as well. I wonder how he felt growing up. He must have been so sad before he met Luffy," Zerina said. She then smiled.
"What are you babbling about?" Angel asked. She raised an eyebrow at Zerina. "Are you sick or something?"
"Sick?" Zerina asked. Her forehead did feel warm, her body felt heavy, she felt warm and cold. But that wasn't what was really making her sick. "I'm sick all right. I'm sick of you. I'm sick of the crap you've put me through. If you want to kill me, then just do it. I'm sick of looking at you. Just kill me already."
"You have no idea how much I'd like to do that right now," Angel said with a forced control and an underlining tone of something else that Zerina couldn't quite place.
Zerina looked up at her. She asked, "What do you mean? Why don't you just kill me? You hate me. So just do it."
"Shut up!" Angel hissed.
"Wait…" Zerina blinked when she saw murder clearly in Angel's eyes. Realization started filtering into her foggy brain. "You can't. You can't kill me, can you?"
"Shut up!" Angel pulled back her arm. She started to swing the whip toward Zerina's eyes when a sudden loud crash ran out through the air followed by Zerina's name being yelled out.
"Zerina!" Sanji shouted. "Where are you?!"
"Sanji! I'm in here!" Zerina called back.
"What the heck?!" Angel demanded just before Sanji appeared in the doorway.
"Zerina, I've been-" Sanji's voice cut off when he saw all the cuts and blood on her body. "What heck happened?!"
"Sanji! Run! Get out of here!" Zerina screamed. "Get out before she makes wish!"
"Too late! Zerina, I wish for you to-" Angel started. Her voice was cut off when Sanji suddenly disappeared then reappeared inches in front of her.
"Not today! Your abusive hold over Zerina ends now!" Sanji said just before kicking Angel across the room.
Zerina's eyes widened as she watched her aunt go flying into the shelves of the pantry. The shelves crumbled under the impact, trapping the now unconscious woman underneath. "Sanji…you just…k-kicked a woman."
"That thing is not no woman," Sanji hissed as he grabbed a knife, flinching in the process, and walked over to Zerina. He cut the ropes that bound her wrists. He held out his arm and caught her as she slumped into his hold. "She's a monster. Would you look at what she did to you? You have a fever!"
"I'm all right," Zerina said as Sanji picked her up bridal style.
"Don't give me that crap. I know you're not all right at all," Sanji said as he turned and ran out of the pantry. He bolted for the nearest door and busted outside. He dashed through the gardens while looking around. He was expecting some resistance, but no one seemed to be around. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"
"I don't know. I've only seen Angel," Zerina replied. She looked around as well.
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Sanji noted. "There should be others here."
"Maybe Angel thought she could handle us on her own," Zerina said.
"What?! That's crazy! Doesn't see read the newspapers?!" Sanji asked as he ran for the forest several miles away.
"The only news we have here is Hydra news," Zerina replied. "Where are we going?"
"Dang, you're more isolated up here than I thought you were," Sanji said as he continued to run. "I'm not sure where we're going, away from that creature for sure. But I don't know this place. Is there a safe place we can go and hide?"
"Well, no one really goes into the forest," Zerina said as she pointed to the thick forest they were already heading towards. "I'm not really sure why thought. I guess everyone is more city dwellers here."
"Well, with as fancy as the house was, I don't doubt it," Sanji replied. "We have to get back to Luffy and the crew. How do we get off this island?"
"We don't. We're trapped here."
"Huh? What about the portal or gate thing you came through?" Sanji looked down at her. He cringed at the blood seeping through her wounds. If it weren't for his choice in black clothing, her blood would be showing up on his clothes.
"It's back in the house, but I'm not sure how it worked to begin with," Zerina replied. "We might not be able to use it again. Do you want to go back and see?"
"No! I don't want you anywhere near that creature again!" Sanji snapped.
"So what are we going to do? We don't have anywhere we can really hide. Angel will probably send those things after us again," Zerina said.
"Well, maybe we'll get lucky. The two times those things found us we were out in the open. If we can find shelter, we might be able to hide from them."
"Then what?"
"We hope and pray that the rest of the crew can find a way to get here. Or we receive a miracle," Sanji said. "Which ever comes first. At this point in time, I'll take either."
…
The Straw Hat crew twitched and fidgeted. Robin was the only one who stood still. They dropped their eyes to Luffy once more. Their eyes widened when their captain's fingers twitched. A small groan left his lips before his body slumped forward. Shanks held out his arm and caught him. He mumbled, "Where is she?"
"Back on Hydra," Shanks replied.
"Hm?" Luffy lifted up a bit and looked at the man holding him. "Shanks? What are you doing here? I'm not a great pirate yet."
"I know, Luffy. And I'm sorry about breaking our agreement, but I think we both can agree on putting that on hold until we've gotten Zerina back," Shanks said.
"Rina! Shanks! They took her! She's gone!" Luffy cried. He grabbed onto Shanks's arms and shook him. "Something took her!"
"I know, Luffy," Shanks replied. His eyes lifting to the star still attached to Luffy's forehead. "You're going to get her back."
"But how?!" Luffy shouted. "I don't know where she is!"
"I already told you, she's back on Hydra," Shanks replied.
"Are you going to explain everything to us now?" Nami asked.
"Yes." Shanks nodded. He then looked at Luffy. "This might be hard for you to hear, especially you, Luffy, but here's what's going on…"
"What?!" The Straw Hats, but for Luffy and Robin, screamed once Shanks told them what had been going on with Zerina.
Robin crossed her arms over her chest and cupped her chin in thought. Luffy was sitting in front of Shanks where he had been the entire time. He had brought his legs up to his chest and was hugging his knees. Shadows had fallen over his face as he stared off into space. Shanks glanced at him.
"But why?! Why would they do that to her?! And why wouldn't she tell us about it?!" Chopper demanded with tears in his eyes.
"I think she was going to tell us. But those things attacked before she could," Nami said.
"She should have told us long before now," Zoro said. "Now she and our stupid cook are in the hands of those maniacs. She lied to us. She kept all this a secret and put us all in danger."
"One thing you have to understand about Zerina is how stubborn she can be," Shanks then said. "She was taken away from me when she was only six years old. She grew up in that hostile environment with practically no friends to help her. She had to learn, a very young age, to be completely and totally dependent on herself. She's not use to leaning on anyone else when she needs support."
"But she seems so close to Luffy," Nami said. She took a glance at her oddly silent captain.
"That's because of a special bond they share," Shanks said. "Her and Luffy's ability to contact each other is what's been keeping her going all this time. He's been the only good thing in her life that she's had a constant connection with."
"You still haven't told us exactly why these people are trying to isolate her," Robin said. "What did she do to deserve all this hatred from them?"
"She was born," Shanks replied simply.
"What does being born have to do with anything?" Franky asked. "It's not a crime or a sin for just being born."
"Of course it's not, but they're afraid of what she is capable of doing," Shanks replied. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then looked back at the Straw Hats. "I'll see if I can explain it, but there are some things I won't be able to tell you all. That part will be more clear once everything is explained. But here it is…The wish granting abilities that the people of Hydra have doesn't actually belong to them."
"What?!" The crew shouted.
Shanks continued, "The magic actually belongs to a group of creatures called Starlings. They're little sprite like creatures that can give the abilities to grant wishes to humans. The elite on the island are afraid of growing old and Zerina's Aunt Angel is in fact over three hundred years old. It was actually her who took the magic from the Starlings."
"Three hundred years old? I'm not even that old!" Brook said. "Not even with my devil fruit powers!"
"How is that possible?! Is they immortal or something?!" Nami asked. "Is Zerina immortal since she can't be killed?!"
"No one's immortal. All magic has its limits. Immortality is one of them, for this type of magic anyway. Zerina's aunt, as well as many others, have granted themselves wishes that will make them always look young. While they can wish for themselves to be younger, they aren't and never will be immortal. They can still be killed by other means, like getting stabbed in the chest or head, shot, broken neck and so on. And they can't kill Zerina because her mother made a wish so that if anyone tried to kill her because of her ability to stop the elite would fail. Zerina can still be killed but only if the motivation for her death has nothing to do with Hydra. It's all in how they word their wishes," Shanks said. "And as for Hydra, itself, it's actually a dual island."
"What? You mean it has two climates or something?" Franky asked. He put his hand behind his head and leaned back against the Sunny's rail.
"No, I mean it's literally two different islands. There's the exterior island where all the humans live. Then there's the interior island where the Starlings actually live. The Starlings originally came from space," Shanks said.
"You mean they're aliens?" Usopp gasped.
"I suppose you could look at them like that," Shanks said with a nod. "They created the interior of the island to look like space."
"So the interior of this island looks like space? It has stars inside of it?" Robin asked.
"So I hear. It's not safe for humans to live in space without protection so the same is for the inside of Hydra. Humans, normal ones anyway, can't go there just like the real space above us. The Starlings created these portals, or gates, to travel between the interior and the exterior of the island." Shanks nodded. "Starlings like to help people. And for a while, that's what their magic did. They gave humans the ability to grant wishes. For a while, everything was fine. But then the elite came along and started to crave more power. No one knows for sure what the wish was exactly, but Angel wished to have all of the Starlings magic."
"So where are the Starlings now?" Nami asked. "Why don't they just undo this damage? Can they even do that?"
"They can. But they're trapped inside of the island," Shanks replied.
"How do we get them out?" Chopper asked. "Can they even be found again? Why don't someone just go into one of the gates and get them?"
"Because the gates have been, supposedly, destroyed," Shanks replied. "But there is another way for the Starlings to be freed."
"How so?" Brook asked.
Shanks answered, "After Angel sealed away the Starlings and supposedly destroyed the gates, no one really gave them much thought. They wondered for a while where they had went, but since they still had their wish granting abilities, they eventually pretty much forgot about them. For a couple years, life just went on normally. Angel had learned that she could filter out the magic of the Starlings she possesses and made it where she, and whoever she felt like, was stronger than others. They took control of the island. But no one really cared since they still had their magic. It wasn't until a woman gave birth to a son who was born like Zerina was, one parent was from Hydra, the other was not. The Starlings magic only worked on those who lived on Hydra. See a type of bond was formed between the humans and the Starlings who lived together on Hydra. Since it was a hard island to fine, not many humans ever came there. When they did, if they wanted to stay, they had to stay for life. A few stayed while most left. But when an outsider had a child with a Hydra inhabitant, it disrupted something. The child was able to travel to the interior side of the island. He saw the Starlings and learned the truth about what happened. The child brought this information to the people. Needless to say, Angel was livid. She killed the child on the spot out of rage when the people started asking questions. She then wished for the island to rise into the sky and had forbidden the people of Hydra from having personal relationships with others who were not from that island or face immediate death. She also destroyed all history books and theories on the Starlings."
"Wow!" Usopp gasped. "All this was happening on our planet and no one knew?!"
"No one knew because most of this happened three hundred years ago," Shanks said.
"What?!" The Straw Hats shouted, but Luffy, Robin and Zoro.
"Does…does that mean that Zerina is…?" Usopp muttered.
"No, Zerina isn't hundreds of years old," Shanks replied. "Angel is, but Zerina is still a teenager. She's still Luffy's age, only a few months younger. Life went on a bit differently after Angel killed the boy. She became a tyrant."
"What about Zerina's mother? How old is…was she?" Nami asked. "How were you two able to meet and have a child if she was stuck on Hydra?"
"Zerina's mother was seventeen when all of this happened. So she knew about the Starlings and the boy. She lived on Hydra for a long while after that before discovering that not all of the gates had been destroyed. When Angel wished for the island to be lifted into the sky, small pieces of the island broke off and remained in place. So travel from Hydra and the rest of the world was still, somehow possible despite a barrel Angel wished into place around the island. The gates were supposed to only lead to and from the interior and exterior of the island, but somehow changed when the island was lifted into the sky. One theory is the Starlings retained enough magic to change how the portals work in hopes one day to be freed. Whatever the truth was, Zerina's mother didn't care. She just ran from Angel, from Hydra, from everything there when she found a portal with the intention of having a child to dethrone Angel, if you would, and return the magic to the Starlings and set Hydra back where it belongs," Shanks said. He paused and looked at Luffy. Despite the young captain's head hanging low and dark shadows over his eyes, Shanks knew Luffy was listening and devouring every single word and getting angry.
"So, Zerina's mother was only going to have a child to upset the balance on Hydra?" Usopp asked.
"For a while that was her only reason for having a child," Shanks said with an indescribable grin that was full of mischief. "Until she met me. The very first time I saw her was at a tavern. It was obvious she was trying to get a man to bed with her. It was hilarious. She had no clue what she was doing. Anyway, things went a bit south from there when she decided she didn't want to be with him after all. She ran out then ran into some bandits who wanted to sell her at a human action house because of her odd coloring. I freed her, only to get slapped by her. She then stowed away on my ship where I found her and, just for fun, made her a slave until she broke down and told me the truth about who she was and where she was from. She told me she was going to be forced to marry a man she absolutely couldn't stand and how she wanted to free the Starlings. And I'm pretty sure you can guess where things went from there. I kept her as a prison for a while. Eventually, we fell in love and had Zerina. Zerina's mother died while trying to protect Zerina from everyone on Hydra shortly after meeting Luffy. Zerina was four, I believe, when that happened. After that, it was only a matter of time for everything to fall in place. When they realized they couldn't kill Zerina, they forced her back to Hydra where she was forbidden from ever learning about the history of Hydra and lived mostly as a slave so nothing like that could ever happen again."
"So how do we stop this then? How do we stop Angel?" Nami asked.
"That's where Zerina and Luffy come in. They are the key to setting free the Starlings," Shanks replied.
"But how?" Chopper asked.
"That's something I can't directly answer. Zerina and Luffy are the ones who must figure out how to get to the Starlings. They hold the key to everything," Shanks said.
"But how are they suppose to do this if they don't know what they're suppose to do in the first place?" Chopper asked.
"The answers to finding the Starlings are inside both Luffy and Zerina and the song she sings," Shanks said. "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. Magic always has its limits and rules. I'm also bound by those rules until Zerina and Luffy figure it all out."
"But how are they suppose to do that if they don't have any clue on what they're suppose to do?!" Chopper asked again.
"The clue is in the song Zerina sings," Shanks replied.
"Zerina sings?" Nami asked with a tilt of her head.
"She does. But only one particular song that her mother taught her," Shanks replied. He looked at Luffy when the young man lifted his head up. "Luffy?"
"I want to see her," Luffy replied stiffly.
"That star gem on your head with take you to her," Shanks said. "All you have to do is ask it to."
"Just like that?" Zoro asked.
"Just like that." Shanks nodded.
"Then let's go," Luffy said. He pushed himself up to his feet. With shadows still over his eyes, he looked down at Shanks. "Are you coming?"
"I think it might be best if I did," Shanks said with a nod. Luffy only nodded in response.
"By the way," Franky said. "How exactly did you get here without a ship?"
"By using that gem Luffy's wearing," Shanks replied. "It holds a little bit of Zerina's mother's magic. I can use the magic as long as it's to help Zerina and Luffy."
"Let's go!" Luffy then shouted. The star on his forehead began to glow in response to his words. "I want to see Zerina! Take me to her! Take me, my crew and Shanks to Zerina!"
The crew gasped as the bright white light from the gem on Luffy's forehead started to glow and spread out over them. With a flash, the group disappeared from the Sunny.
…
"Hm?" Sanji looked down when Zerina shuttered in his hold. Her cheeks were flushed and sweat speckled her forehead. He leaned over and pressed his cheek to her forehead. "Oh great! You're fever's getting higher!"
"I'm okay," Zerina replied through labored pants.
"No you're not!" Sanji snapped. "Did that cut on your back become infected again?! It shouldn't have! Maybe it was one of the other cuts that monster did to you! Just hold on, Zerina! I'll get you somewhere safe! Maybe we can find help!"
"There won't be anyone," Zerina replied tiredly. Tears prickled in her eyes. "Everyone here's afraid of Angel. They won't fight her. And Mari and Jon are…dead."
"Don't believe that until you've seen their bodies!" Sanji said. "Something definitely isn't right here! She probably lied about them being dead!"
"There's no where for them to escape to," Zerina said.
"They could have just jumped off the island. We could do that," Sanji suggest even though he knew that was a pretty far-fetched idea. He looked around the field they were running through. They were nowhere near the edge of the island anyway. And he highly doubted they would make it that far. There were plenty of hiding places behind all of the bushes and tall grass they were getting into.
"There's a magic barrier around the island," Zerina said. "No one can leave. No one can come here."
"Well, somehow you did leave this island! And those creatures left and came back too!" Sanji shouted. He skidded to a stop when a bright white light appeared in front of them. "Crap! What now?!"
"Now we save your sorry hide," Zoro's voice said. The light began to fade and revealed the crew and Shanks.
"Never thought I'd be happy to see you," Sanji said while glaring at Zoro.
"Zerina!" Chopper shouted. He rushed forward and jumped upon Sanji's shoulder. "You don't look so good!"
Zerina looked at the reindeer then over at Luffy. Her chest tightened. He wasn't looking at her. She wasn't sure where he was looking since his eyes were covered with his hat, but she knew it wasn't at her.
"She's got a fever," Sanji said. Shanks walked up to him. The blonde flinched at the presence of the older man. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here? And that's a question for all of you."
"And it's a question that'll have to be answered later," Shanks replied while looking out of the corner of his eye. "We've got company."
Zoro pulled out his sword while the others went on guard to attack whoever was coming. Usopp trembled while asking, "Who is it?! Don't tell me we have to fight already!"
"I hope not," A female voice said. "That would be a huge waste of time."
"Huh?" Zerina turned her eyes to the voice. Her heart jumped when Mari stepped out from behind a tall bush. "Mari! You're alive!"
"Hey, Zerina!" Mari smiled. "You bet I'm alive."
"But how?! Angel said-" Zerina started.
"Angel says a lot," Mari said, cutting the young girl off. "There's no time for explanations. We have to get you and your friends out of here. Come on."
Shanks immediately started following. The Straw Hats exchanged looks before following as well. They exchanged looks again at the thick, uncomfortable silence that hovered around them. Cautiously, they took occasional glances over at Zerina and Luffy. Zerina was still in Sanji's hold. She was keeping her eyes down as Chopper asked her questions on how she was feeling and what was hurting while looking over her whip lashes. Luffy was running right beside Sanji. It was clear to everyone that he was upset with Zerina, but still wanted her to know that he was there for her. But they all knew that a fight between the two was going to come as soon as they were in a safe place and Zerina was feeling better.
…
Author's Notes: I don't think Shanks explanation came out as clear as I wanted it.
rodinaashraf: He's not flirting with her mostly because of Luffy's relationship with her, but also because of how their own relationship got started. He still thinks she's cute. Yeah, I'm apparently gifted for cliffhangers. Criticize away. Doesn't bother me at all. I like hearing what people have to say, good and bad. This chapter was supposed to be up days ago, but I took an unplanned trip to my uncle's and didn't get to write it when I wanted too. Then I was having trouble getting Shanks' explanation out correctly, which I don't think it is even now. *sigh* This story just doesn't want to be written.
anything goes my way: It's always like that, isn't it?
PuddyKatz: We'll find out what Lalu's going to do next chapter.