[Warning: This chapter touches on assault, torture, and sexual themes that some readers might find disturbing.]
Ship Log 1: It's Time to Tell the Truth
We found a small island that wasn't on the map Galley-La provided for us. We stopped and I got off to buy a new log. While away from the ship, I was attacked by a man with string-string, floss model, devil fruit powers who had been sent by my mother. Not only did she send a bounty hunter, but one with that power. It was a gloating message.
She's gone too far this time. I always knew she was one of the worse nobles, but I never thought she'd send someone with her lack of morals or human decency after me. Zoro rescued me and I made sure the man would regret his actions, writing a letter home into his flesh. The crew now knows my status.
[The Day Before]
The crew has just pulled into the West port of the island. Everyone is splitting up to go shopping. Usopp is in charge of the ship and Zoro stays behind to discuss something with him. Luffy had gone running off looking for food. Nami, Chopper, and Robin go to look at books and jewelry. Sanji goes to look for spices. Franky is below deck checking the cola stores after our flying escape from the Navy before he goes shopping. Karmen only needs to buy ink and a new log. She doesn't think she will be gone long, so she sets off alone. She buys what she needs and begins her return trip. When she is three blocks away from the ship, she is jumped by a man with spiky blond hair, a collared shirt, capris, and ugly shoes.
Before Karmen can even react he produced a flat string out of thin air and sews her legs together and her arms to her sides. She falls to the ground and yells "Straw Hats! Zoro!" before he sews her mouth closed. She feels stitches in her stomach tear as she hits the cobbles.
Karmen feels so useless and weak. She can't even say the words brimming in her mind as he laughs down at her. As he speaks she feels more string being pulled through her flesh in the back of her throat and beneath her skirt. Karmen knows her eyes are next, but he wants to see how she reacts to his words before he keeps her from seeing where they're going.
"My string-string: floss model powers sure do come in handy in my line of work. Your mother said it may be hard to capture you. I never thought you'd be stupid enough to go shopping on your own. Don't worry. If you scar it won't be very visible. I wouldn't get paid as much if you did." A snake-like string poises itself in the air, threatening to strike at her eyes and sew them closed.
If Karmen could move her mouth she would have told him that blindfolds were less dangerous. She wonders if he would remove the strings once they get to the initial hideout or if he would leave her like this until she was ceremoniously dumped at her parent's feet. She starts to shake then. She can feel every string pulling at her skin as she tries to still her body. He continues talking about his powers and his bounty hunting business. Though she hears some, she finds it hard to focus on what he is saying. Her mind bounces between devil fruits, her family, and Pierce. Her face begins to drain of emotion as she reaches the precipice of full-blown panic.
That's when she sees Zoro slide around the corner, setting a sword in his teeth, and her mind goes quiet. She stops shaking as she is momentarily distracted by the protective look in his eyes under his bandana. Silent rage crossed his face when he sees Karmen lying on her side in the street, bound to herself. She meets his eye and shakes her head slightly. She wants him alive. Zoro bites a little deeper into his sword but reverses the one in his hand. He doesn't even name the stroke as he bashes the blunt of his blade into her attacker's abdomen. He lays stunned where he falls.
"Hold still," Zoro says. He takes the sword from his mouth and used both blades to free her arms and legs in three deft strokes. A little more cautiously, he cuts the strings in her lips. The man starts to come to, so Zoro holds a sword to his Adam's apple while Karmen plucks strings from her face. "Who are you?"
"My mother sent him," Karmen answers for her attacker, rubbing her mouth. "He sewed something into my shoulder. Can you see what it is?" She pulls down the fabric of the tank top covering her right shoulder and turns it towards him, watching his expression. His face darkens.
"A. G.," he reads. "Looks like his initials."
"He said he purposefully ran the string through blood vessels so they would turn red." Karmen is sure she has an evil glint in her eye as she turns her head to look at the man. "So. You're the kind of man that likes to sign his work, huh? Zoro, why don't you return the favor. Feel free to use your full name. Scars on a man's back are shameful, right?"
Zoro complies with a dark grin on his face. She is amazed that he manages not to cut the fabric on the back of his shirt. He only cuts the man's flesh, not his bones. His blade moves so fast that she can just see a blur of flashes. He is done in less than five seconds. Zoro truly is a master swordsman, she thinks.
Anger takes hold of Karmen then, as she has time to reflect on what he had done to her and what her mother was implying with it. It would be a shame if she didn't send him back with a heartfelt message from their dear ol' daughter. "Zoro, be a dear and hand me the metal tipped quill pen from my bag, please. Not the ones Franky made me, the other one."
He rummaged through her things and tossed over the requested item. Karmen crawls to where the man trembles on the ground, shirt cut open in the front. "Hold him." Zoro picks the bleeding man off the cobbles and forced him to face her.
"I'm going to send you back with a letter for my darling parents. Fail to deliver it, and I will send him to castrate you." She points her pen at Zoro. "If you scream while I'm writing, I'll do it myself." She holds the tip of the pen threateningly under his chin. "I may not be a medical professional, but I know my anatomy."
She feels a little silly after saying this. Had it been any other situation, she would have said it with a smile and played it off as a joking threat like her mother uses so often, but through gritted teeth it just sounds a little ridiculous. Despite the oddness of the comment, both men visibly blanch and the attacker bites his lip, anticipating pain.
Karmen starts writing below his right collarbone, each letter ripping flesh. She writes as small as she can without damaging other symbols nearby. The letter starts out with "Dearest Mother and Father," and ends with "Sincerely, your beloved daughter," and she signs her name in his lower stomach in sprawling cursive. She thinks she sees even Zoro shiver, but the most the bounty hunter makes is a soft whimper. When she's finished, the man passes out. Zoro deposited him in a barrel and returns her quill to her bag, slinging it over his shoulder.
He ties his bandana to his arm and holds a hand out to Karmen. "Can you walk?"
She takes his hand and tries to pull herself off the street and ends up collapsing to her hands and knees. "I'm sorry. It hurts too much to stand." Without a second thought, he scoops her up as if she's light as a feather. "Can you take me to Chopper? There are more strings."
"I can get rid of them now, if you'd like."
Karmen tries her hardest not to blush. "You're very kind and skilled, but I don't trust my gag reflex with your sword at the back of my throat."
Zoro adjusts his grip and starts forward. The bounty hunter's powers must have been artificial considering the type, she thinks. What were they trying to say by sending him? "I let my guard down. How stupid can I get? I should have known this would happen after what that government goon said," she mumbles in shock. Despite anger making her brave a few minutes prior, Karmen finds herself trembling and clinging to Zoro's neck while finally noticing the beads of blood welling up on her skin. "I'm sorry. I'm bleeding on you. I'll wash it out later." His only response to this is a shrug and a slightly tighter grip. Later she thinks about how laughable that was. The man bleeds all over himself every single time they get into a scrape and she was upset about leaving behind barely visible droplets.
"So your parents, huh?" He keeps his gaze forward as he speaks. Karmen finds herself shrinking as far as she can into his elbow, which she feels isn't nearly far enough. He continues to take slow, steady steps, ignoring the few passersby's who stop to gawk at them.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. It never really came up in conversation and I was scared you all would think of me differently if I did tell you. I've wanted to say something ever since Alabasta, but with everything that's happened since I couldn't find the right moment. I thought that if I stayed on the move I could avoid most of the danger, but at Enies Lobby I involved you all." She tucks her chin and leans her head into his neck as she continues. "The man I fought in Alabasta was a bounty hunter sent to take me back. The government agent at the Tower of Law knew who I really was and sent a report to his superiors. They must have sent word to my family.
"My parents are really important and wealthy people where I used to live. They're terrible people, but I was used to that. My father is a powerful businessman and mother is a cruel noble who abuses her power. They wanted me to marry a politician to make him a business partner, but the guy was a pervert in his late sixties. He and father were planning something awful, so I ran away from home. I send letters full of lies to my father to confuse my trail and hid from anyone who might recognize me and force me to go back. I never thought they'd send someone as vile as that after me. Now that they know where I am it's sure to get worse. I really did mean to say something sooner."
By this time they are back at Sunny. She pales as they pass her embroidery basket, but says nothing. Usopp says that Franky had gone to get everyone in case there had been a big problem. Chopper, Nami, and Robin are already waiting in the medical bay and the men come running as Zoro places Karmen on the examining table. Franky's jaw is set. Sanji looks disturbed, waiting for someone to direct his anger at. Luffy grits his teeth and stares at the places where her skin has been torn by the strings.
Zoro starts telling everyone about the attack, saying that her parents had sent a kidnapper with devil fruit powers after her and leaves out her parent's status. Karmen meets his eye and silently thanks him for giving her the opportunity to tell the whole story properly in her own time. She is thankful beyond words that the tone he speaks of her in has not changed. That makes what is to come bearable. She might be rejected from the crew and left on her own again, but she still has a friend.
"Chopper," Karmen says. "There are strings in the back of my throat. Could you remove them for me, please?"
Nami looks horrified. "Why would he put strings in your throat?"
Karmen frowns distastefully. "It's my mom's way of making sure I chew my food properly. I was always swallowing grapes whole to annoy her."
Chopper carefully puts scissors in her mouth and cuts the strings that spider-web inside. He uses forceps to pull out each piece. She can taste blood, but not much. He moves on to her shoulder, making short work of the letters there. She is sitting sideways on the table with her back to the door where most of the crew stands, holding her right arm while he works.
"There are more. Could you have the men leave?" They file out solemnly and Robin closes the door behind them while she lies back on the table. Karmen is glad that Chopper had no interest in the human female as she pulls up her skirt to let him remove the strings that run up the full length of her thighs and along her hips. Nami gasps.
Karmen closes her eyes tightly. "Mom must have heard that I was on a ship full of men and wanted to ensure my 'virtue.' My parents advertised me to potential suitors as… unused. They wanted to take precautions when I was twelve. Our doctor refused and my mom had my uncle throw acid in his face." More as an afterthought she adds, "Can you make sure Zoro doesn't go back to kill that guy? I feel safer with him here."
Karmen bites her knuckle and stares at the wall, trying to keep herself from crying as she listens to the steady snip of scissors and feels the strings being tugged from her flesh. Robin's face is serious, but she remains quiet where she sits. Nami's eyes are wide and she has stress lines on her face. She leaves the room, horrified.
Nami slips from the medical bay and closed the door securely before stumbling over to the rest of the crew. Everyone's heads swivel towards her expectantly. In her shock, she repeats what she had just heard. A dark shadow falls over Zoro's face. He draws a sword and prepares to jump from the ship. Nami snaps out of her shock in response. "She thought you might react that way. She said she feels safer with you here on the ship!"
Zoro's demeanor instantly changes. He sheaths his sword and sits near the door, standing the sword in front of him, ready for use. "Well, if it makes her feel more comfortable." Nami smiles internally at how Karmen played the situation, even in her distracted state. "And that explains why she was so brutal to the guy." Everyone looks at Zoro inquisitively. "She had me sign his back with my sword and used that metal tipped quill pen of hers to carve a letter to her parents into his chest. She used the longest words she could think of and the smallest writing she could manage. It started on his chest and she viciously slashed her signature into the soft skin of his lower abdomen."
As he speaks everyone breaks out into a cold sweat. Usopp shakes visibly. "Remind me to never make her angry."
When Chopper is done, Karmen goes down to take a bath and wash off the blood. She stays in the tub for a long time. She goes straight to bed afterward, deciding that she would do the right thing and tell them everything in the morning and let the crew decide her future aboard the ship- or lack thereof.
Karmen can't sleep, so she gets dressed and climbs up to the workout room, despite the ache in her abdomen. She picks up five-pound weights and sighs as she compares them to the carefully racked five tons that the guys lift like loaves of bread every day. She makes a few punching motions, testing the impact of her labored fists against the sandbag. She decides to kick it instead. It isn't long before she finds herself beating a weight against the walls and sobbing quietly. The weight is taken from her hand before it can strike the wall again.
Zoro.
He hands her a towel and she wipes her face. He sits against the wall and she follows suit. "Why did you call my name?" he asks after a while.
"I remembered you had been at the ship and trusted you to reach me as quickly as you did," she says. This doesn't feel like the whole reason, but she doesn't know how to explain herself better in her exhausted state. "In the morning, I'll tell everyone the whole thing."
Karmen wants to look him in the eye, but every time she does she feels that she doesn't belong on this ship. They sit there silently until she falls asleep.
Karmen wakes up in her bed, alone in the bedroom. She writes down the details of the attack in the fresh logbook.
"I am writing all of this the morning after and before I go to bare my soul. This may be my first and final log as the secretary of the Straw Hat Pirates aboard the Thousand Sunny."
Karmen closes the log, not bothering to hide it in her bag, and steps out to where the crew is waiting.