Fractured
"How's he doing?" Velocity asked once her brother and Empress Futura returned to the palace. She rushed over to them and looked down at Corazon. She placed her hand on his head gently. The baby didn't stir at all to the touch. "You poor baby."
"He's fine," Elian replied. "I'm more worried about the princess. She's still so fragile."
"But she has gotten a lot stronger," Velocity said, still looking at Corazon. "And she's with her family this time. She's not alone. Don't you worry, baby boy. Your parents are very strong. They'll take care of that horrible woman then you'll be reunited with them soon. You just focus on getting better yourself. We're here to protect you now. You'll be fine. Your family will be fine."
"Right," Elian nodded. He walked Corazon over to the crib that he was going to occupy while in their care. He laid Corazon on the bed and pulled up the railing for safety.
"Well, since our special little guest in now in your capable hands, I'm going to see if I can get a rush put on the cuffs," Empress Futura said.
"Yes, your majesty," Elian and Velocity bowed their heads. Empress Futura nodded then disappeared from the room. The two then turned back to Corazon and settled into their positions to watch over their little charges.
…
Several minutes had passed since the crew exited their captain and Neo's quarters. The two remaining were still on the floor. Law had no clue what he could say to make her feel better. So he just remained quiet, trying to will his strength into her through their touches. "Neo…"
"I can't," Neo whispered almost too low. She shook her head. "I can't…sense anything. I can't sense my people. I can't sense my home island. Nothing. It's not there. It's just gone. I can't do this. Not with Cora…Penguin…I can't…I can't…"
"Neo, stop it," Law gently reprimanded her. "You need t-"
"It's my fault!" Neo screamed. She pushed away from Law and stood up. She walked only a couple feet before dropping back to the floor. She repeatedly pounded her fists on the floor of their room. "It's my fault! It's all my fault!"
"Neo, stop it!" Law rushed over to her and grabbed Neo's shoulders. "Why are you saying that?!"
"Because it is my fault! I'm the one who got pregnant! I'm the one who's an Elemental royal! Our son was taken because of me! If I didn't get pregnant this wouldn't have happened! Our son, Penguin, my people, the entire world is in danger because of me! This is all my fault!"
"Enough! Look at me!" Law tightened his hold on her shoulders. When she didn't respond to him, he said something he hadn't said in a long time. "Neo, I order you to look at me!"
Neo twitched beneath his hold, but obey his order like always. She raised her red, tear filled eyes to him. Law flinched when she looked at him. He felt guilty about having to order her around again, especially in this kind of situation, but knew it was necessary. He took a deep breath and slowly released it then cupped her face in both his hands. "Love, please stop this. Don't blame yourself. You have done nothing wrong. This isn't your fault at all."
"But our son…Penguin…Isleen…I was the one who said she could stay…My fault…all my-"
"No, Neo," Law shook his head. "This is not your fault. No one knew this would happen. Getting pregnant wasn't your fault either. That was a combined occurrence. You do remember the lessons I taught you, right? We made our son, together, as husband and wife."
"But I'm the one she's-" Law cut her off by placing his lips on hers. He kissed her deeply for as long as he could. Neo grabbed a hold of his shirt and kissed him back. He could feel her desperation in needing his strength. So he kissed her for as long as their lungs would allow. Law broke the kiss and pants a few times, pecked her lips then spoke again.
"Neo, you listen to me, focus on my voice and my words, you have done absolutely nothing wrong. Isleen is responsible for her own actions. We will take her down. We will save our son, Penguin, your people and the entire world. Do you understand me?"
"Law, I don't. I don't know how. I don't know how to process any of this. I'm scared. I'm so scared," Neo whispered as she pressed her forehead to Law's chest and clenched his shirt. "With everything I've been through…this is…I've never been so scared before. Why? Why do I feel like this? Why is it so different from all the other times I've been scared?"
Law nodded and started to stroke her hair again. "I know. I understand how you feel. It's because of Cora. You love him so much and he's in trouble and there's nothing we can immediately do to help him. It's natural that we feel like this. It's part of having a child. I'm scared as well."
Neo sniffed and looked at him. "You…You're scared?"
Law nodded. Neo blinked in confusion. "But…You're the strong one. You're always together. You never panic over anything."
"In some cases, that's true," Law pressed his lips to her forehead. "But…when it comes to you and Cora…I can become just as scared as you get. I loose my calm composure and panic. You two are the world to me. You know I don't like it when either of you are hurting. And right now, you're both in pain and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I always feel helpless when you are hurting, but I will be strong for you. I'm here, okay? I'm right here. We'll get through this. Together. Just like we always do. Okay?"
Neo nodded and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. She took a deep breath and released it. "Let's get started then. I need to find out how t-"
"No," Law shook his head.
"What?"
"You're too upset to focus right now," Law took her hands and pulled her to her feet. He then guided her over to their bed. He kicked off his shoes, laid down and pulled her onto the bed with him. He wrapped her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "We are going to take a nap."
"But, Law…"
"No arguing, love. You can't focus right now. A nap will help clear your mind," Law reached for then held up the compact Elian gave them. "You want to see how Cora's doing?"
Neo rubbed her right eye and nodded. He flipped it open. Less than a second passed and Cora appeared in the mirror. He was laying in the crib Elian had shown them and was sleeping peacefully. Elian and Velocity were standing guard like Elian said they would be. The words 'He's still stabilized' scrolled across the bottom. Law squeezed Neo. "See? He's fine."
Neo nodded. While they watched their son, Neo's hand slid up Law's shirt. She clenched a hold of it tightly. Law bit his bottom lip. She hadn't done this action in such a long time. He let her take the compact with her free hand and wrapped his arms securely around her. While he held her, he could feel she was finally drifting off to sleep. When her body went limp against his, he sighed, grateful that she fell asleep so easily despite all the trauma they've just went through. He kissed her hair then closed his own eyes.
…
"I can sense it," Neo said. Her eyes were closed in concentration. She opened her eyes and looked at Law. They were still in their bed, his arms still protectively around her. She now wore the compact around her neck. "It's faint, but there's a piece of Luminous on an island about two hours east of here."
Law nodded and kissed her temple. "We'll head right for it. We should also get you something to eat. You ready to get up now?"
"I guess," Neo said then followed him off their bed. Law immediately put his arm back around her shoulders and led her out of their room.
Before heading for the galley, they stopped off at the control room. Law gave the crew mate the direction he was to take the sub in. "Aye, Captain."
They then left that room and headed for the galley. Before they even got there, their noses were met with the smells of food. He tightened his hold on her when they stepped into the galley and she flinched at the memories of cooking with Penguin. "I'm fine."
They weren't sure who cooked, but there was a small variety of dishes sitting out on the table, obvious left overs. The crew was gathered around, shrouded in a somber cloud. Law sat down and pulled Neo onto his lap. He wanted to keep her close. To give her the security he knew she needed right now and for his own security needs. No one said anything as they ate quietly. Law fed himself and Neo.
After they finished eating, Law pulled Neo into the rec. room. He sat down with her on the couch and continued to hold her close. She opened up the compact again. Law knew she'd check on their son often. They sat quietly, watching Corazon sleep, watching Elian and Velocity watch over him. "Captain?"
"Hm?" Law pulled his eyes from the compact and looked at Shachi.
"This just arrived," Shachi opened the bag he was holding. "It's from Empress Futura. It's the cuffs. There's also a note saying that this bag will automatically fill back up when we need more cuffs."
"All right," Law nodded. "How much longer until we reach the island?"
"About thirty-five minutes," Shachi replied.
…
"This is just so…weird," A crew mate said. They all were standing on the deck and staring out at the island. All of the buildings, trees, rocks were now organic shaped. There were also tall tree like lollipops sticking out of the island.
"Hm," Law hummed as he looked around. He narrowed his eyebrows when his eyes landed on a Navy ship. "The Navy's here. Neo, stay close."
"Right," Neo nodded while grabbing a hold of Law's arm. The crew then disembarked from the ship. They made their way inland and looked around. It was obvious that the islanders were in a panic.
"What's going on?!" An old man shouted. "I just took a nap and woke up to this!"
"But I want candy!" A kid cried as his mom drug him away from one of the lollipop trees.
"No! We have no idea where that came from!" His mom hissed. "It could be poisoned for all we know!"
"You have to do something!" A woman cried as she clung to a soldier's shirt.
"Calm down now, all of you," A soldier pleaded. The crowd surrounding the soldiers moved in closer on them, demanding to know what was going on. "Please! Calm down!"
"Oh no!" Another soldier said when he noticed the Heart Pirates. Neo tightened her hold on Law's arm. "Look, we don't have time for the likes of you. The whole entire world has gone insane. Just stay out of our way!"
"Well, that wasn't normal," Bepo blinked as the Navy just ignored them and tried to calm down the islanders.
"I guess with all of this Warper mess the Navy doesn't have time to deal with pirates," Shachi said. He adjusted the strap of the bag of cuffs he was carrying.
"Good," Law nodded. "We'll be able to handle this easier without their interruptions."
"That'll also give other pirates more freedom to run wild too," A crew mate pointed out. "We need to be extra careful."
"Well, this is causing us problems so, at the very least, maybe it'll cause other pirates problems too so they won't cause much trouble for us or anyone else," Another crew mate said.
"What are we going to do if we run into other pirates?" Bepo asked.
"If they're potential allies, we could ask them to help us," Shachi said. "The more we have helping to deal with the Warpers, the quicker we can resolve this problem."
The crew started to walk again. They followed Neo's lead as she led them to the area of the island that felt like Luminous. She led them up to a small group of trees. She placed her one of her hands on a tree and closed her eyes. She reopened her eyes and looked at her crew. "I was right. These trees are a part of Luminous. But it's just a small fraction. And I don't sense any of my people here."
"What about the Warpers? How are we even supposed to find them?" A crew mate asked.
"I should be able to sense them. They should pretty much feel like Isleen does," Neo replied, her eyes slowly dragging over the area to make sure she didn't miss anything. "We should move on now. There's nothing here."
Law nodded then started to guide her back towards the sub. While walking, a crew mate hesitantly broke the silence. "I have a question that's been bothering me, but I'm kinda afraid to ask it."
"Just ask. How bad could it be?" Shachi asked.
"Well, since Pendulum can came back," The crew mate started. He swallowed hard before continuing. "It would also mean that Doflamingo…"
Law's eyes widened as his arms locked Neo into a tight embrace. The crew mate ducked his head. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to…"
"Don't worry about it," Law then said. He looked down at Neo. She turned her eyes up to him. "I should have thought of it before. Of course he could come back. But I won't let him touch you."
"We're still messing with time here, aren't we?" Neo asked softly. Law could only nod in response to her question. They were still messing with time. Only now they were racing time to save their son, Penguin, the Elementals, the entire planet.
"Hey, what's that?" Another crew mate asked. They all turned to see him pointing out to sea. It was still a fair distance from them, but it was clear as could be. Sticking out of the ocean, was a gigantic piece of meat.
"Why is there meat sticking out of the ocean? That wasn't there before," A crew mate asked. He raised his hand over his eyes like it would give him a better view of what he was looking at. "Am I seeing things or is there someone climbing all over that thing and eating it?"
"Oh great," Law sighed, already knowing who they were about to meet up with.
"Luffy," Neo tilted her head.
"Well, he would be the one to dream of something like that. And since we can now manipulate the world with our minds…," Shachi huffed. "Should we go check it out, Captain? Empress Futura said they need all the help they can get to fix this mess. The Straw Hats are good for helping us at least."
Law grumbled under his breath. Neo looked at him. "We can't just leave them in the dark about this. Especially since we're this close."
"I know," Law mumbled. "I know. Let's just get this over with."
"Aye, Captain!" The crew shouted. They all hurried back to their sub and headed for the Straw Hat's ship.
"Luffy's really not going to be happy about any of this," Neo said softly. "I'm kinda afraid to tell them that this happened."
"Yeah," Law nodded. "He always gets so angry when one of his friends are in danger. And, this time, it's Cora, Penguin, the Elementals that's in trouble. He's going to be furious. At least he'll help us. The Straw Hats are good allies."
"They are," Neo nodded.