Another Problem

"It's not working," Neo sniffed. The air in the room was painfully thick. The crew stood helplessly around the room. A couple were still inspecting the area where Penguin disappeared through Isleen's portal. They knew it was fruitless, but still kept looking. "Law, it's not working. He's not getting warmer. What do we do? What do we do?"

Corazon's body was growing colder. And his lips had turned blue.

Law's chest tightened so hard he felt like his heart was going to explode. He couldn't breath. Their son was in trouble and there was nothing he could do to help. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He was trying to hard to figure something. To figure out what to say to Neo. He was supposed to be able to comfort her. He was the rock in their relationship. But now…He felt so helpless, so useless, so weak.

"Princess!" A familiar voice shootout, cutting through the tension in the room. Everyone looked up to see Elian standing in the room.

"Who the heck are you?!" A couple crew mates demanded as their bodies shifted into defense mode.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Are you with that woman?!"

"Elian?" Shachi cried out in shock. He bolted between his crew mates and Elian. He held out his hands to stop his friends. "Everyone, wait! He's not an enemy!"

"What are you doing here?" Law questioned. He looked down at Neo. She didn't seem to register their friend's arrival. She just held on tightly to Corazon and cried.

"We're here to help. We saw what happened," Elian replied. He walked over to Neo and Law and kneeled down. He placed his hand on Neo's shoulder. "Princess? I need you to focus. I have something here that can help your child."

When Neo didn't show any signs of hearing him, Law pulled her closer to him and kissed her temple. "Love, come back to me now. Elian's here. He can help Cora."

Neo lifted her cloudy eyes to Law. "Cora's…"

"I know. Look here. It's Elian," Law said again while nodding towards their friend. Neo followed Law's gaze.

"E-Elian?" Neo stuttered.

"Yes, Princess," Elian smiled sweetly at her. He held up a small round disk. It was grayish blue with a light green outline. "This can help your son. With your permission, I'd like to place it on his forehead."

"It will help?" Neo asked softly.

"It will," Elian nodded.

"Help him…Please," Neo nodded slightly.

Elian then placed the disk on Corazon's forehead. When he pulled back his hand, the disk stayed in place and the green outline started glowing. The glow radiated over his tiny body. They all waited, breaths held, bodies tense. Less than a minute later the blue in Corazon's lips faded some. "He's stabilizing, Princess."

"He'll be okay?" Neo asked. Her eyes rose to Elian's.

"It will take some time, but yes. Your son will be fine now. This disk is an incubator. It will help regenerate his magic while giving him nutrients as he sleeps in this suspended state," Elian looked at Neo then at Law. Neo released a small sigh of relief and hugged Corazon.

"Now will you tell us what's going on?" Law asked as he tightened his hold on Neo.

"Empress Futura will arrive any moment with the answers that you all have," Elian said.

"You mean you don't know?" Shachi asked. "Where's your sister? I figured she'd come as well."

"She wanted to. She's worried about you all too," Elian ran his hand through his hair. "But she decided to stay behind to she can act as a beacon so the empress and I can return to the Time Stream without problems."

"Beacon? You didn't need to do that before," Bepo blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, well, with everything that's happening on your planet, we're worried it's going to start to effect our world too," Elian sighed.

"What do you mean?" Bepo asked

"I guess you haven't notice," Elian dragged his eyes over them all. He then held out his hand. An orb appeared hovering above his palm. The crew gathered close and watched as images began to play on the orb.

"What's going on? Is this some kind of weird play or something?" A crew mate asked as he started at the twisted images before him. Buildings, terrain, plants, were meshed together. Like someone has shoved it all in a bender.

"This is your world," Elian replied.

"What?!" The crew shrieked. "What do you mean?!"

"That's what the Empress is trying to find out. She's speaking with the elders of the Time Stream," Elian banished the orb with a frustrated huff. "The only things I know is these creatures were thought to be just a myth."

"What creatures?" Law asked.

"Reality Warpers," Elian narrowed his eyebrows.

"Reality Warpers? What are they?" A crew mate asked.

"They are the cause of all this," Empress Futura said when she popped into the room. She turned a sympathetic smile to Neo and Law. "I am so sorry. If I had known that they were real, I would have posted guards at their prison."

"Prison?" Law narrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I am still unsure of specific details, but, apparently, centuries ago, Reality Warpers turned their magic on everyone in the known universes. They can, as their name suggests, warp reality. I suppose the best way to describe it would be like being in a dream state. Where you can control reality yet break the barriers of reality. And anyone can use this ability whether they're magical or not," Futura crossed her arms and looked around at everyone. They all held confused glances. She sighed. "Elian, an example please."

"Yes, ma'am," Elian nodded then closed his eyes and concentrated. The crew gasped when hundreds of goldfish appeared in Law and Neo's room. They swam around like they were still in water.

"What's happening?!" Bepo shrieked. "How is this possible?!"

"This is what Reality Warpers do. They effect reality, but others, even those without magic, can manipulate the world around them. Supposedly this can only be done when a person is aware of the ability, but it mostly it happens when people are dreaming. They're dreams can become real while they remain unaware of it. And they can hurt or kill you," Futura explained.

"But what does this have to do with us?" Law demanded.

"According to the elders, it was an Elemental Royal who imprisoned the Warpers many centuries ago," Futura said as gently as she could. "That woman, Isleen, is the Warper Queen."

"That's why Isleen targeted Neo? Because she's a royal?" Shachi asked.

"Yes," Futura nodded. "Grudges, revenge, are powerful tools. And, I do not wish to alarm you, young princess, but, she's gone after your people as well."

Neo gasped.

"I've sent several of my guards to try and free your home, but no one can find it," Futura sighed.

Neo opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Law asked for her. "What do you mean, 'No one can find it'?"

"Like I already said, Reality Warpers, warp reality. Basically, bits and pieces of Luminous are scattered all over the world. The heart of Luminous should still be in place, however. I believe the Warper Queen will set up her base there because of the history between her and the Elementals," Futura explained. "She's probably imprisoned and drained your peoples magic already. And I'm sure she's waiting for you to come to her so you two can fight."

"This is insane!" A crew mate shouted.

"Wait," Shachi said. "If they can warp reality, doesn't that mean people from the past can come to the future? Or can we be sent to the past?"

"Yes," Futura nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Pendulum," Law hissed.

"I've already put several number of special trained guards on Pendulum. I guarantee he will not bother the princess," Futura said with determination. "I won't let her go through that again. In truth, this is actually Pendulum's fault."

"What do you mean?" Bepo asked. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes, he's dead. We're sure of that. Thanks to you all. It's because of what Pendulum did when he took the princess. By trying to reshape your world, he opened the prison where the Warpers were being held. And please, don't as me to explain where their prison is. It's kind of between dimensions, yet on in your world. It's very confusing," Futura waved her hand as if to dismiss the subject. "My people are working on cuffs to neutralize Warpers magic and teleport them to my dungeon until they can be properly locked up again. I really hate to ask you this, especially with the condition your baby is in, but we really need your help. We need as many people as we can get to help. We have no idea how many Warpers are out there. My army can't handle them all."

Everyone went silent as they turned to Neo and Law. Law looked at them before dropping his gaze to Neo. "Neo?"

"We don't have a choice," Neo said after an intense pause. She didn't look at them. She just kept her eyes closed and her voice low. "She attacked my family. She's endangered our son. She attacked my home island, imprisoned my people. She took Penguin. I want him back. I want my brother back."

"We'll help," Law said to Futura.

"How will we find Luminous if it's scattered all over the world?" A crew mate asked.

"The Princess will be able to sense her home. It's an instinct. All magical creatures can do it," Futura replied. "If we move quickly, we should be able to put a stop to all of this before to much damage is done. The Warpers are weak due to being locked up for so long. That's why she tried to take your son's magic. She'll use your people to replenish her magic as well as her peoples. But I believe once she is defeated their magic will return to their rightful wielders. The cuffs, you'll be using, haven't been finished yet, but should be within a couple of hours. Until then, I suggest you work on sensing where your home island is. And there is one more thing, Princess…"

Neo looked up at the empress when she hesitated. Futura gulped. "I know this is going to be very difficult for you, but, for the safety of your son, I'd like to take him with us back to my palace."

"What?!" Neo tightened her hold on their son. "Why?!"

"For his protection, Princess," Elian said, taking over the explaining for his empress since Neo knew him longer. "Right now, Isleen hasn't made it to our world yet. It'll be safer for your son to rest there. You have a lot to handle right now. Keeping your son safe here will cause you unnecessary trouble."

Neo shook her head. She tried to speak, but couldn't. She turned to Law. Law sighed. He weight the options they had and what had already happen. With a heavy, heavy sigh, he nodded. He knew what needed to be done. And he had to make the tough decision for them all. "He's right. We are going to be clashing with so many enemies from this point on. And we are going to be facing Isleen and her people…Our son isn't safe here."

Neo bit her lip and cried. Law kissed her hair. "Love, I know this is hard. But we need to do what's best for Cora. We have to focus on defeating Isleen and her people."

After a minute, Neo nodded. Elian hesitated before speaking up again. "Princess, Velocity and I are staying at the castle to guard your son. We won't let anything happen to him. We will keep him safe. Here…"

Elian reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin golden compact on a golden chain. He flipped it open to reveal a mirror on the top side and a grey screen on the bottom side. The mirror showed a crib in a room that looked like a hospital. "This will show you your son anytime you want to see him. He will remain in this spot. The bottom screen there will tell you how your son is doing. If anything happens, we can alert you through this compact."

Law took the compact from Elian then looked at Neo again. He stroked her hair. "Love?"

"I know, I know," Neo whispered. "We have to say goodbye for now. We'll be with him again. He'll be fine. He'll be fine."

She stroked Corazon's cheek, more tears dripped down her face. Law placed his hand on their son's head. "Be strong, son. We'll be with you again soon."

Neo continued to hold their son as the crew took turns in stepping forward and saying their goodbyes, be strong, or whatever they felt they should say. Some said nothing. With all the strength she could possible summon, Neo passed their son over to Elian. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I promise, we will take care of him. He will be safe."

Neo could only nod. Law pulled her to his chest as Elian stood up and joined his empress. Futura glanced at them all once last time. "I will send you the cuffs the second they are finished."

With that, the two disappeared with Corazon. The crew remained standing around. No one knew what to say. No one knew what to do. Law kept his hold on Neo as he ran his eyes over the crew. "You all should prepare for battle."

"Right, Captain," They replied.

…

Author's Notes: Sorry for the cliff hanger last chapter. I'll try to not do that anymore. And I'll try to make the chapters longer from this point on. I just needed to get the set up over. If something's not clear, just asked. I tried to make it as clear as possible, but not sure if I did it.