Of Pirates & Gentlemen
The group inched closer to the edge of the cliff they stood on. Looking down they could see the layout of the village. Many stone homes were scattered all over the plateau as well as many women and girls. They were trying to figure out where their crewmates were but none of the stone homes looked like a place for prisoners. There were no bars on any stone homes. And there were no guards standing around anywhere. But considering how big and strong the women were they probably didn't need them in the first place.
"Just great," Shachi said. "How do we know which one they're in? Do any of those stone homes looked like a prison to any of you?"
"Well, considering what they brought them up here for I doubt they'll be put in an actual prison," Penguin said.
"I know that!" Shachi snapped. He glanced at Neo. "I just didn't want to say it because of…"
"You don't have to keep quiet about sex around me," Neo said. "I'm not a child. I know all about it."
"Sorry." Shachi flushed.
"Anyway," Penguin said. "What's our next move, Captain?"
Law knitted his eyebrows.
"I should go down there," Neo said.
"Neo, don't start that again," Kailen said.
"Why not? It's obvious we're not going to get anything from sitting up here," Neo said. "And it's possible that if you all try and sneak in to find them you'll be spotted. And you definitely can't go in swinging. For all we know those women here have a knife to their throats or a gun to their heads."
"She's got a point," Shachi said.
Law exhaled.
"Look I won't cause trouble down there," Neo said. "I'll just pretend that I'm interested in joining them. Then I'll look around when I can. Once I find where Archer and Conner are I'll send you a signal of some sort."
"No," Law said.
"Fine." Neo crossed her arms. "Then what do you suggest?"
Law gritted his teeth.
Neo watched his mind go over the possibilities. When his jaws clenched tighter she knew she won this argument. Law wanted his men back alive not dead. And she might be the only way to make that happen.
"Fine," Law said. "Infiltrate them but do nothing more than find out where our crewmates are."
Neo nodded.
"You're insane," Kailen said.
"Guess Godfather rubbed off on me." Neo smiled.
Kailen shook his head. No truer statement has been said.
Neo walked away from the guys. Heading down a small nearby trail she made her way onto the plateau. It was a long walk into the village. Or maybe it just felt like it was since she was getting nervous. She picked and twisted the end of her cloak to keep herself calm. Birds swooped down to get a closer look at her before flying off. Their presence soothed her. She stepped into the village. Several young girls and teenagers stopped and looked at her before a tall woman blocked her path.
"And who are you?" the woman asked.
"My name is Neo," Neo said. "Olga offered me a place among you."
"Olga, you say?" The woman gave her a suspicious look. "What happened to the men that you were with?"
So there were more of them watching them come up here. "They were trying to force me back with them. I declined and they left. Well, they left after a little persuasion."
The woman continued to look at her.
Neo swallowed. The woman towered over her by at least three feet. She really had no idea how to get past this woman. It was still possible they knew the men were still close by. "Look, just ask Olga yourself. She did invite me up here. Where is she?"
"Taking care of some other guests," she said.
"Could you take me to her?" Neo asked doing her best to stay calm and not give away anything.
"No," she said deflating Neo's hope. "You stay here. I'll go get her."
"Fine," Neo said. She watched the woman walk off before looking around the village again. Some villagers stopped and glanced at her before moving on. While other stopped and stared for a while, whispering to each other. She wondered if those who lingered were sensing her differences. Movement drew her eyes.
"Well, you came up after all," Olga said.
Neo turned to find her and Melina walking over to her. "Yeah, well, I got really tired of being bossed around about by a certain man."
"Oh? Who would that be? Your brother?" Melina asked.
"No, not him," Neo said. "The guy I'm talking about is a pirate. A pirate captain actually."
Olga spit on the ground. "Disgusting creatures the lot of them."
Neo bit her tongue when she wanted to bring up her godfather and how he and his crew weren't like that at all. She swallowed it down, hard, and said, "Maybe so. But this one was really bossy. He tricked me and my brother onto his ship. And ever since then he wanted to do nothing but control me. I had enough. So I left."
"You poor dear," Melina said pressing her hand to her cheek.
Neo shrugged. "It's fine. I'm away from him now. So is it still all right for me to come here?"
"Of course it is." Olga patted Neo on her shoulder, hard.
Neo gritted her teeth at the rough treatment. It seemed a gentle touch wasn't any where in the bodies of these women. She hoped nothing got broken.
"Let me show you around," Melina said. "Can I show her around, Olga?"
"Of course." Olga nodded. "I have other things to attention to. So if you'll excuse me."
"Sure." Neo nodded. When Olga walked off she turned to Melina, noticing the woman now had her dark blonde hair in braided pigtails. It, somehow, gave her more of a girly look from before. "So where do we start?"
"Good question," Melina said. "I could show you where we smoke meat, or where we bathe…"
"Bathe?" Neo looked around. She felt a nearby stream.
"Yes. We have a hot spring near here," Melina said. "It's amazing to bathe in it during the winters."
"I should say so," Neo said. It sounded good whether it was winter or not.
"I know!" Melina said. "I'll show you where you can sleep. I have plenty of room in my own home. Follow me!"
Neo followed after the excitable woman. They past several stone homes before Melina finally entered into one. She looked around, noticing a lot of handmade items like baskets. "You weave baskets?"
"Yes," Melina said. "We use them for all kinds of things, mostly for newborns. We carry them around in them."
"I see," Neo said noticing that a lot of them could fit a newborn. It brought her attention back to Archer and Conner. "So what about the men you have here?"
"What about them?" Melina cocked her head.
"I'm just curious. I know you took those two I was with but do you have others?" Neo said.
"Right now it's only those two," Melina said. "A mating ceremony is coming up in two days. Then is when a few of us will mate with the men."
"A few of you?" Neo asked.
"That's right. Are you interested in mating?" Melina asked.
Neo had to force the words out of her mouth. "Yes. I am interested in mating."
"That's wonderful!" Melina clapped her hands together, her eyes running over Neo's body. "You are on the small side but don't worry. I'm sure you'll give birth to a healthy baby girl."
"Sounds great," Neo said. Never before had she thought about if she wanted to be a parent. Right now, of course, it was only a way to find Archer and Conner. Still, it stirred up some questions she never really put much thought into. She brushed them aside. Now wasn't the time for that. "Could I see them?"
"I think that would be all right. Let's go." Melina headed out of the stone homes.
Neo followed her to one of the largest stone homes in the center of the village. Upon entering an unfamiliar, musky odor reached her nose. She tired to ignore it. "So where are they?"
"Down this hall," Melina said grabbing key off a peg near the main door.
That's when Neo noticed the stone home did have two halls, one to the left and one to the right. Both halls had several doors down them.
"Here we are," Melina said. She produced a key and opened the door. They stepped inside.
Archer and Conner were lying on their individual beds, both chained down. Neo swallowed. That would explain why there were no guards outside. She wondered if either of these two pirates had any lock picking capabilities.
"Neo," Archer said. "What are you doing here?"
"She's decided to join us," Melina said.
"What?!" Conner and Archer gasped.
"You've got to be kidding me," Conner said while narrowing his eyebrows. "I thought we were your friends."
"Yeah well." Neo shrugged. It hurt to think Conner didn't trust her. But she knew her position looked bad right now. "I guess I got tired of that captain of yours bossing me around." She stressed a few words, hoping they'd get the hint. "You know he started following me around like a little puppy back in town. It got really annoying. He even followed me up here. Well at least part of the way. Honestly, I wish he had followed me all the way here. Then these love ladies could have taken care of him." She shrugged when Conner's glare lightened up. He understood her. Thankfully. "It doesn't matter now. I'm away from him."
"We should go now," Melina said.
Neo walked out of the room without looking back. Stepping outside she looked up to where she knew her brother and the pirates were waiting for her. They had to be at least a half a mile away from her current location. It was actually smart on the women's part. If anyone came to rescue the men they'd practically have to get through the whole village before finding them. She had to get a message to her brother. There were birds around. But to use one she needed to get alone and hoped her brother could get the message without alerting the pirates to their ability to talk to animals. "Would it be all right if I took a nap?"
"You're tired?" Melina asked.
"I am. It was a long walk up here," Neo said.
"Of course," Melina said. "I should have offered that in the first place. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Neo waved her off. "I wanted to see the men. You know, to consider which one I wanted to…mate with."
"That's what I figured. I'll walk you back to my home now," Melina said.
Neo followed her back through the village. Once inside of Melina's home the woman showed Neo to the guest room at the end of a short hall.
"Help yourself to anything that you need," Melina said. "I'll be around the village. You can asked anyone for me."
"Thanks." Neo watched her go. She waited and listened for the woman to leave. Giving it a few more minutes to make sure Melina was gone she left the room in search for some paper and a pencil. Luckily she found a pencil near the in progress basket on the floor. But she was unable to find paper. So she picked up a piece of the basket and wrote her message on there before going back to her room. Opening the window she waited for a bird to come over. When one did she held up the note. "Please, will you take this to my brother? He's over there." She pointed in the direction. "He feels like I do. We're elementals. Thank you so much."
The bird flew off. A few minutes later it returned with a message from her brother. They were coming into the village and she was to get to Archer and Conner free and wait for them. She couldn't argue this time. Jumping up she ran for the door and all the way to the place where the pirates were. No one stopped her. No one hardly even noticed she was there now. Reaching the large building she entered and grabbed the key off the wall. She opened their door and entered.
"Neo!" Archer said. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Me? You're the ones who got taken," Neo said rushing over to them. She surveyed their wounds now that she was close enough to do so. So many bruises and cuts were on their bodies, their boiler suits torn in multiple locations. Clearly they didn't stop fighting on the way up here. If only she had her solar crystal. She could heal them. Her eyes locked onto Archer's ankle. His boiler suit was very tight around it.
"Don't worry about it," Archer said. "It looks worse than it actually is."
"You're ankle looks broken," Neo said.
"It'll be fine once the captain gets a hold of me," Archer said.
"Speaking of which," Conner said. "Where is he?"
"He and the others should be coming," Neo said. "They were waiting about half a mile outside of the village. I was able to send a message to them. My brother sent one back. It told me to come here and wait."
"So is that the key to unlock these cuffs?" Conner asked.
"I don't know," Neo said. "It was the only one out there. I know Melina used it to open the door, but I was hoping it would work on your cuffs." She walked over to him and tired to free him. It didn't work. "No luck. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Conner said. "Once the captain gets here he'll warp us out of it."
War cries and cries of fear erupted outside.
"Guess the captain's here," Archer said.
"Really? What gave you that idea?" Conner rolled his eyes.
"He's cutting people up, isn't he?" Neo asked. Her eyes locked onto the window. She wanted to look out of it but didn't move closer to it.
"Yup," Conner said. "The women here will be lucky if any of them survive this."
"He's going to kill them," Neo said.
"He might," Archer said. "We don't always kill. It's only if we have to."
"Your captain doesn't give that impression," Neo said. "He seems to want to fight all the time and kill."
"You just don't know him," Archer said. "Give him a chance."
Neo exhaled. She really should give him a chance. But for some reason he wasn't as easy to get to know as the crew was. Feeling vines rise up outside brought her out of her thoughts. Just then Law warped into the room. He took one glance over them before warping his two subordinates out of their chains.
Archer hissed at the pain jolting through his ankle upon reentry.
Law knelt down and looked at him. "Broken ankle."
"That was a quick diagnosis," Neo said.
"He's that good." Archer winked through the pain.
"We need to split it with something," Law said looking around the room.
"There's nothing in here that will do that," Neo said. "But Kailen can wrap his ankle up with vines."
Law nodded and warped Kailen into the room.
"What the heck?" Kailen blinked.
"I need you to wrap his ankle once I pop it back into place," Law said.
"Sure thing," Kailen said.
Neo looked away. She didn't want to see what Law would do. She winced when Archer's bone snap and he hissed.
"All right let's get out of here," Law said before warping them outside.
The village was a mess. Several women were lying around on the ground, seemingly unconscious while others had been sliced up with Law's Room. Neo wouldn't allow herself to take a closer look. She didn't want to know if they were dead or alive.
"Archer! Conner!" Penguin called. He and the other two were fighting as best they could.
"Good to see you two are okay!" Shachi kicked a woman away from him before she could bash his head in with a club.
"We should get out of here," Kailen said putting up a wall of vines around them to prevent more women from attacking. Both he and Neo could feel the vines being hacked through. "I won't be long before they get to us."
Law warped them again and again until they were outside of the village. As the helped the two injured pirates down the mountain, Kailen lifted up as many vines as he could to stall the women along the way.
"Kailen, you're going to have to do more than just use vines," Neo whispered to him.
"I know," Kailen said. "I'm trying to block their path by lifting up the ground. It's not easy since I can't see what I'm doing and don't know where the women are."
"Just do your best," Neo said. "As long as you slow them down."
Kailen nodded.
Minutes later they crossed the bridge and all thought they were free. But that thinking was dashed when several women appeared in front of them. Among them were Melina and Olga. Olga looked displeased at Neo's betray while Melina looked on the verge of crying.
"How could you?" Melina said. "I thought we were friends?"
"I'm sorry," Neo said. "I didn't want hurt anyone. I only wanted to get my friends back."
"Friends?" Olga spat on the ground. "Men are not your friends, girl. They are pathetic. I thought I already told you that."
"You might think that," Neo said. "And in some cases you might be right. But not all men are bad. Some are good. Really good."
"You're living in a fantasy world, child," Olga said. "I'm afraid I cannot let you leave. I will undo the brainwashing the men have done on you."
"I haven't been brainwashed," Neo said raising her fists to fight.
"And you're not taking her anywhere," Penguin said stepping in front of her.
"Penguin," Neo said.
"Don't worry, Neo," Penguin said. "We don't let them hurt you."
"If they're going to hurt anyone it's going to be you," Neo said.
"Charge! And don't kill the girl!" Olga ordered. The women charged forward.
"Room." Law spread out his Room. With a slice of his sword he hacked ten of them in half.
Kailen wrapped another ten up in his vines. A few women stopped to help free their sisters while others continued to charge forward.
Neo sidestepped a punch. Kicking out her foot, she tripped a woman. Turning to face her next opponent she found it was Melina. "Melina."
"Neo, why?" Melina asked.
"I'm sorry, Melina," Neo said. "I can't allow you to continue with what you were doing. It's wrong."
"It's not," Melina said.
"Don't bother trying to reason with her," Law said. "They're far too set in their believes to change."
"Silence man!" Melina hissed. She charged at him.
"No!" Neo ran after her.
"You're not going to interfere!" Olga leaped in her way, throwing a punch at her.
Neo gasped. With no time to move she took Olga's punch right in the stomach. All the air left her lungs as her body when flying backwards. Blood expelled from her mouth when she slammed into a solid force. Her body crumbled to the ground. Through blurry eyes she watched the pirates and her brother fight before she blacked out.
"Neo? Neo?" Kailen called.
Neo opened her eyes to her brother's worried face. "Kai…what happened?"
"You got the wind knocked out of you," Kailen said. "That's what."
"Oh, right." Neo sat up. Looking around she found the battle had ended while she was out. Everyone looked to be okay. No life threatening injuries. "It's over."
"It is," Kailen said. "We should head back to the sub now."
"Does anything hurt?" Law asked.
"Not really," Neo said.
"Can you walk?" Law asked.
"Yeah." Neo stood up.
Once more their tired group inched their way down the mountain. They only stopped occasionally to rest before moving again. Other than that the only other stop they made was to put the goats back together. Neo stayed with the animals for a while to make sure they weren't traumatized but also to annoy Law. Eventually, she pulled herself away from the goats. The mountain air grew colder as the sun set low in the horizon. The light was almost completely gone by the time they got back to the harbor.
"Hey! Where have you all been?" a crewmate called out. "We've been looking everywhere for you all!"
Law wrapped them onto the sub. "Take them to the infirmary. I'll be there in a minute."
"Aye, Captain." The crew helped their two injured crewmates into the sub.
Law dropped to his knees, panting hard.
"What's wrong? You okay?" Neo asked.
"Just tired," Law said.
"How can you be this tired when all you've really done is warp us?" Neo asked. "It doesn't make sense. We all fought too but we're nowhere near as tired as you are."
Law closed his eyes and said, "The more I use my powers the more drained I get."
"Why didn't you say so before?!" Neo demanded. "We could have done something different!"
"Like what?" Law asked.
"Well, I…" Neo didn't know. "You still should have told us."
"There was no real point," Law said. "Besides it's not something I just blab to anyone. If my enemies knew about that then they would use it to their advantage."
"Oh, I guess that would make sense," Neo said.
Law stood up and disappeared into the sub.
"Do you think he's going to trust us with that secret?" Neo asked.
"Hard to say," Kailen said. "I don't think it really matters though. We would have eventually noticed at some point."
"I guess you're right," Neo said.
"Anything hurting now?" Kailen asked.
"No," Neo said. "Just a bit sore and tired. I think I'll sleep well tonight."
"I hope so," Kailen said while leading her into the sub.
While Kailen went downstairs, Neo went up to check on the pirates in the medical bay. She entered into a room and found Conner being patched up by Penguin. "How you doing?"
"Fine. Solid as a rock," Conner said.
"He's only like that now that you're in here," Penguin said dabbing some antibiotic ointment on one of Conner's many scratches. "He was complaining about the ointment stinging a second ago."
"Hey!" Conner protested. "I was not!"
"I'm glad you're okay," Neo said. "I was worried that they would have really hurt you two."
"Wait a second," Conner said when she moved to leave the room.
"What is it?" Neo turned back to him
"I'm sorry about doubting you before," Conner said.
"It's all right," Neo said. "We still don't know each other very well. I would have reacted the same way. I'm just glad you and Archer understood the message I was trying to give you. So don't worry about it. We can work on building up trust some more. If you want that is."
"I want that." Conner smiled.
Law clearing his throat brought their attention to him. "Miss Neo, we have to talk."
"Oh goodie," Neo said rolling her eyes.
"Go easy on her, Captain," Conner said. "She did help rescue us after all."
Law turned and walked out of the room.
Neo glanced at Penguin and Conner before following after him. They walked down the stairs. "Where are we going?"
"To a place we can talk without being interrupted," Law said.
"Can't this wait until later? I wanted to go check on Archer." Neo looked over her shoulders. The stairs to the medical bay was long gone. She huffed.
"Archer is just fine," Law said turning down the hall towards his room. "I wrapped his ankle and gave him some crutches. Now all he can do is wait and heal."
"Yeah." Neo started down at the floor. Guilt hammered her. If she had her solar crystal she could help Archer heal faster. She paused when he entered into his room. "What are you doing?"
"I told you," Law said. "We're going to talk. No one will bother us in here. Now get inside."
Neo hesitated. Sure she had been in his room before with him in there, but this time felt different somehow. With a gulp, she walked into the room. She almost jumped when he closed the door. Her pulse thumped under her skin. "Okay. We're here."
"What you did was extremely stupid," Law said.
"Don't hold back." Neo crossed her arms.
"You don't seem to understand how the world works," Law said. "It was extremely dangerous for you to go up there on your own."
"It came out all right," Neo said.
"It might not have," Law said. "What you did was uncalled for."
"Uncalled for?" Neo stared at him in disbelief. "Uncalled for?! You call wanting to help someone uncalled for?!"
"I expect you to listen to me," Law said. "I am the captain."
"You might be the captain but you're not my captain," Neo said.
"How many times do I have to tell you that if you sail on my sub you will follow my orders?" Law said.
"That's up to you," Neo said.
Law exhaled. "I can understand you wanted to help them. And I do appreciate that and thank you. However this is the Grand Line. I have no idea what goes on where you grew up but I guarantee it's not going to be like that out here. People will want to hurt you."
"I know that," Neo said. "I'm not stupid."
"What you did was stupid. So, yes, you are stupid," Law said.
Neo growled. Her pulsed hammered against her skin. If she could have hit him, and got away with it, she would have. "Fine. Then I admit it. I'm stupid. But at least I'm not a barbarian. You didn't have to kill anyone nor did you have to slice them into a million pieces."
"You don't seem to understand the fact that we are pirates," Law countered. "We don't take our enemies lightly. That could be a very deadly mistake."
"Those women were not your enemies," Neo said. "If you had only spoken to them you would have seen that."
"Talking to people like that wouldn't do anyone good. I am a pirate," Law said. "I'm going to do what I have to do to protect my crew."
"There's no reason you can't be both a pirate and a gentleman. You're nothing more than a savage bend on shedding as much blood as you can," Neo said. She moved to leave the room, to end the conversation.
Law grabbed her arm and pinned her to the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Neo demanded. "Release me at once!"
"Do not order me around, Miss Neo." Law's voice was low, dangerous, calculating.
Neo shivered. His voice was so cold. His eyes even colder. Pressing her back more into the wall, he peered into her eyes, searching for something. She gulped. Her arms trembled under his touch and his gaze. Then it happened. His cold glare gave way to realization. He knew something. She had unintentionally given something away. But what was it?
"You have a personally relationship to a pirate crew," Law said. "Don't you, Miss Neo?"
Neo's breath hitched in her lungs. So that was it. From everything she had said he managed to figure out she knew someone that was a pirate.
"I see," Law said. "So that's why you think pirates should be nice to everyone. The pirates you know are like that."
"That's not true," Neo said.
"Yes, it is," Law said. "If you have met any other pirates you would have known that they are not all the same. While a rare few might be benevolent to people more are not. So who's the pirate crew? Who do you know?"
Neo licked her lips, drawing Law's eyes to them before he shot them back up to her eyes.
"Is this pirate crew part of your family back home?" Law asked. "Or are they just friends you happen to know?"
Neo was unable to stop a flinch.
"Then it's your godfather?" Law asked.
"Don't change the subject," Neo said.
"I haven't done that at all," Law said. "We're still on the same topic."
"What do you want from me then?" Neo asked.
"I think we both know I want the truth from you," Law said. His eyes dropped back down to her lips for a second before he looked at her again. "But we both also know that we're not going to get anywhere with that."
"Well, you were the one who brought us onto your sub," Neo said. "Just get us to Sabaody and you'll never have to see us again."
Thoughts ran around in Law's eyes.
Neo wondered what he was thinking. Her heart jumped. Was he thinking of a way to keep them on his sub until they told him everything? Was he even going to take them to Sabaody?
"Maybe," Law said. "But if you pull one more stupid stunt like you did today I will lock you up indefinitely."
"I'll keep that in mind, Captain," Neo purred.
Law frowned and pulled away from her.
Neo was glad he moved. Her body relaxed now she had more room to move. When he opened the door she left without another word and without looking at him.
…
Law sighed and closed his door. That woman was going to drive him insane. Never before had he met a woman like her. Most women feared him because of his pirate reputation while others flirted with him in an attempt to get him to bed with them, some even tried to collect his bounty by flirting. This Neo did neither. She didn't fear him and she didn't flirt with him. It was a first, a very confusing, conflicting first. Part of the time he liked that she wasn't trying to get him into bed. The other half of the time he liked that she didn't fear him. And she argued with him like no one else did.
While it was becoming more and more noticeable that Neo was starting to care about his crew, she still was naïve about the world. And if he read her reactions correctly she did know a pirate crew. But who was it? Was it someone he knew? Would the pirate crew attack his own once they knew Neo and Kailen were prisoners on his sub? He rubbed his neck and walked over to his desk. He sat down. Placing his sword and hat on his desktop, he ran his hands over his face then through his hair. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring them onto the sub after all. If only he hadn't taken that walk. None of this would have happened.
But despite all the trouble she had caused and was going to cause, he still wanted her and her brother on his sub. He wanted to know what all they could do with their crystals. Despite Kailen only using his crystals to manipulate vines, he got the feeling they could do so much more. If they could learn to trust each other they would be very powerful allies to him. His mind spun with hundreds of possible outcomes to that thought. Since Neo went through his room before it was highly possible she found his in progress plans to take down Doflamingo. That man would never suspect someone like Neo and her brother to fight against him. Or he didn't think so. He had no idea how many others there were with the crystals. Doflamingo might know about them. His thoughts all ended up mixing together to the point he couldn't think clearly. In the end the only thing he could do was wait and see what happened. And keep his word to lock her up if she pulled anything again like she did today.
…
"Stupid jerk." Neo stomped up the stairs. "And a hypocrite. He's a pirate and can do whatever he wants yet I can't? Stupid jerk."
"He's right though," Kailen said when she reached the main floor. "What you did was stupid. You should know better than that."
Neo paused. Looking at him she ran her eyes over the cuts and bruises on his skin. Thanks to him using his vines as shields he got less of them than the pirates did.
"What were you thinking?" Kailen asked.
"That I didn't want them to get hurt or…" Neo trailed off.
"Get killed," Kailen finished. "I get it now. You were trying to save them because you couldn't save our parents."
"Maybe," Neo mumbled.
"Neo, you have to stop blaming yourself for that," Kailen said. "It wasn't your fault."
Neo continued on up the stairs without answering him. It was her fault. She was, is, the royal to their people She should have been able to sense the darkness around them. She should have noticed Atlas was different. She should have noticed.
"Neo?"
Neo looked up to find she had entered into Archer's recovery room already. "Uh, hey."
"You look upset," Archer said. "Something wrong?"
"I guess. I just had another charming talk with your captain," Neo said.
"I should have known that's what it was," Archer said. "It's like you two can't talk at all without arguing over something."
"How's your ankle?" Neo looked at his bandaged leg.
"Much better," Archer said. "There's no pain since I got some painkillers from the captain."
"That's good to hear," Neo said. "How long are you going to have to be on those?" She nodded to the crutches near his bed.
"About six weeks," Archer said.
"I'm sorry," Neo said.
"Nothing for you to apologize for," Archer said.
"You going to be all right on those things?" Neo asked. "What about the sub?"
"No worries," Archer said. "This isn't the first time I've had a broken bone. The crutches won't be a problem. And we have plenty of others who can pilot the sub."
"That's good." She paused. "Can I ask you something on a more personal level?"
"Sure," Archer said.
"Would you think it would be stupid if I tried to come save you and Conner myself?" Neo asked.
Archer hummed. "Well, honestly?"
Neo nodded. "Please."
"Yes," Archer said.
Neo flinched.
"But I would have done the same as you if I was in your position," Archer said.
"So you knew about it?" Neo asked.
"I had a guess when the captain was fixing my ankle," Archer said. "Though I wasn't sure until now."
Neo sighed.
"Don't worry about it," Archer said. "The captain is only doing what he's suppose to do. Cut him a bit of slack. You might not think so but he knows what he's doing. He's been a pirate since he was ten years old."
"He was a pirate at ten?" Neo asked. "Really?"
"Uh, yeah." Archer nodded.
"Why so young? Was his parents pirates?" Neo asked.
"Sorry." Archer rubbed his neck. "I can't answer that. If you want to know you'll have to ask the captain himself."
Neo nodded. While she was curious about the captain's past now she had no plans of asking him about it, but she was going to cut him a little slack. No, she knew she needed to do just that. She was still upset about her parents and was still taking it out on the captain here. She was going to cut him some slack.
"I know you don't want to talk," Archer then said. "But you know you can talk to us if you ever want to. Despite being pirates we're still pretty good listeners. Penguin would love to listen. You two spend a lot of time in the galley."
Neo nodded. She knew she could talk to them. But she just wasn't ready to open up to them yet.
"You know your brother is really amazing. The way he snapped out his vines and wrapped those women up," Archer said mimicking the moves with his arms. "I can't wait to see what you can do when you get the use of your crystals back."
Neo, unsure of what to say, nodded again. She knew Kailen was holding back on his crystals. And with the trouble they had today she wondered if that was a good idea or not.