Karmen picks through the rubble of Moriah's mansion. It took forever to even figure out how to get off the roof Kuma had left her on. Luckily there had been a loose attic vent she was able to break in. She wonders if she would have been stuck on the roof with no way down if Kuma's shockwave hadn't nearly toppled the building. When she finally finds her way past the giant rubble to the crew, Chopper is treating Zoro.
Yet again, the only salvageable things he's wearing are his two favorite clothing items. "I… I'll wash his haramaki." She can't bring herself to take the bandana he has so much pride in. Being black, the blood doesn't show much on it. Chopper passes her the stomach scarf. She goes into the next room and Lola's pirates set her up a wash basin. Sitting on a stool, she scrubs the scarf until the water is red. Had Kuma only been testing them and making a show for the government or had he been trying to give her a message? Would she one day have to choose between family and friends beyond what she had already done? If it came down to her loyalty between Kuma and the crew, she wasn't sure who she would choose. She didn't want to have to make that kind of decision. And of all people, Kuma knew how much she hates the sight of blood, and yet he had made the crew bleed. Gripping the fabric in one hand, she stands and kicks the basin over, spilling all the red water onto the floor. She refills the bucket and scrubs until the water stops changing color. Sanji comes to speak with her but pauses in the doorway. She's holding the clean scarf to her forehead and sobbing quietly. He silently returns to the rest of the group, letting her have a moment alone.
Later, Karmen walks outside and hangs the scarf to dry. Sanji meets her before she can be seen by the others and looks at her intently. She returns his gaze wearily and nods once, understanding that he wants to make sure she's ok. He places a hand on her shoulder and looks deep into her eyes, not saying anything. His silent question hangs between them. Do you know? She wets her lips and nods with clenched teeth. Are you going to say anything? She shakes her head, gripping her damp shirt. How could she? He gives her a gentle smile and pulls her into a short hug. He pats her shoulders as he releases her and turns back to where the pirate groups are resting. She follows him inside.
Karmen looks at Chopper. The doctor reindeer smiles at her and nods. Zoro will be ok. Unable to sit quietly while Sanji cooks and the crew is in such high spirits at surviving, she goes back outside. Inside Moriah's horizontal tower, everything is rubble. She climbs through a hole in what was once the floor. The window far above her lets in light that shows the dancing dust that becomes agitated as she proceeds. A reflection glares against her left eye and she turns to find the source. There amongst the stones are the shattered remains of her giant cup. A few feet away, she is able to find her missing feather dart. She climbs out of the tower and cleans the dart off with a handkerchief. The Plucharon burns her hands, but she welcomes the distraction. When her pen is restored, she sits on rubble and stares at the shard of porcelain she'd brought out with her.
All her life, Kuma had been a friend. For as long as she could remember, he would come to inspect Valcour Island, which lay inside his territory, and he would stop in the vineyards and have tea with her. If things were too painful, she would call him over a transponder snail. If he wasn't working, which he often was, the call would go through. If he was in the area, he would come. No matter how long it took, he would always return her call and come in person when he could, even if that was months later. She would always greet him barefoot, ashamed of the blood soaked shoes she had after one of her father's punishments. Father never punished anyone when Kuma was there. The warlord didn't speak harshly or even flaunt his power. Though he would sometimes take her off the island, he would never let her watch him work, despite her begging. He would sometimes blast away overzealous rabble, but he never killed anyone in front of her. Kuma made her feel safe, but he always had to leave. As soon as he was gone, the horror would begin again.
Godwin would ferry her to town to have his uncle Winston provide her new shoes. His specialty was being a tailor, but he was proficient in other areas as well, including cobbling. She always apologized profusely over ruining another pair. She had once attempted to take them off and put them somewhere dry and safe when father began his tortures, but her carefully trained emotionless mask always broke when the blood touched her bare feet and it would make everything worse. Godwin's uncle had never charged her more than what the materials of the shoes cost, and as she grew older she began to suspect it was less than even that. She wonders if Winston is still alive. Her mother loved the clothes and shoes the tailor made, so she would never have shot him. If his health has held out, there is a good chance that he'll be there when she returns. Thinking of the tailor brings her back to Pierce. Karmen grips the porcelain shard as she remembers what Kuma had said. Pierce is alive.
"Is that your cup? What happened to it?"
Karmen snaps out of her thoughts as Nami approaches. "Yeah. That ghost girl took it off the ship last night," she says. "I bought it to serve a giant. I guess it served its purpose." She turns the piece in her hands, not caring about the sharp edges. "I never would have gotten this cup if Zoro hadn't walked by."
"He's going to be ok."
"I know. Chopper's already worked wonders on him," she sighs. "I'll be three logs into our voyage on Sunny once I record what happened and we almost lost three people last night. Three doesn't seem to be my lucky number." This was also the beginning months of the third year that Pierce had been in her father's clutches. She taps the shard against her knee reflectively. "Nami, were there any silver necklaces in all that treasure? I don't want any jewels, just a chain of some sort."
Nami watches the wheels turning in the secretary's mind and smiles. "I think I saw just the thing."
"And that was a beautiful dress you were wearing earlier. Do you mind if I cut it up?"
"This isn't like the Cindry plate thing, is it?"
"Of course not. I appreciate the fabric it's made from but would prefer it in a different form. And when you do eventually decide to settle down and get married, can I make your dress?"
They make their way to the ship. While Nami digs through the mountain of treasure while Karmen makes her way down to her workstation and picks through her collection of liquid dials. She selects a palm sized, dark moss green dial. She hadn't made use of this one yet, but now knew the perfect place for it.
The women make their way back to the mansion together. Karmen leaves her embroidery basket full several large squares of white silk. She checks the first mate's condition again with Chopper and begins exploring the other rooms until she finds a staircase down. There are large stones that have fallen in the entrance, but she's able to slip through and stumble her way down in the dark. She finds a shelf at the base of the stairs holding a tinderbox. She lights the gas lanterns on the walls as she walks the long corridor. She finally finds what she's been looking for: The wine cellar. She knew Moriah wasn't the kind to share and he had plenty of bottles and barrels.
Karmen completely ignores the wine and goes straight for the hard stuff. After finding his hidden stash, she proudly holds up a bottle of Junmai Daiginjo sake. She is turning to leave and tell the crew about the party fuel she'd located when a label on the wine rack leaps off the shelf at her. One, five, ten, fifteen racks of DavenGallow wine. She sets the sake on the floor and pulls a bottle off the shelf. The mere sight of the goddess holding grapes on the label makes her sick. She turns and chunks the bottle at a bare patch of wall. Destructive glee fills her spine and radiates through her ribs, leaving tingling rage in her stomach. She throws another. And another. And another. She loses herself in her rampage as wine puddles on the floor and soaks into her shoes. In her mind she's back on Valcour Island where it always smells of grapes and copper. She doesn't stop until the rack is almost empty and someone steps into the room behind her.
"I'm sorry, Winston, I've ruined another pair," she says as she backs out of the red puddle. "Godwin can't wash the blood out of my shoes. I'm sorry I keep having to replace them. There's always so much blood. The vineyards are watered with it. It's in the ground, in my shoes, in the basement. I can't stand the smell."
Hairy arms wrap around Karmen from behind, pulling her away from the wine. She stumbles out of her shoes, stepping on broken glass. She can feel the warmth of the body holding her and the gentle heartbeats sound in her ear, but she can't quite place them. This person is not supposed to be on Valcour Island. "It's ok, Karmen." The soft voice is soothing. "We'll stop it."
"I don't want to go back, Chopper," she says, letting his strong arms ground her in reality. "But there's blood in those bottles. I can't leave them there. I can't leave him."
"You've been acting strangely all day," he says. "What happened while we were fighting Moriah?"
"I found out for sure that Pierce is alive."
"Was his shadow here?"
Karmen tucks her chin into his arms. "I've been gone for two years and I know my father. There's no way he hasn't been hurt." She pushes broken glass around with her toes. "I don't want to help just him. There are so many people I haven't been able to protect." She taps his arm and he releases her. She picks up one of the few bottles left on the rack and pries out the cork with her pen. "This wine was made five years ago. Smell it."
Chopper sniffs the contents. "It smells like grapes."
She sets the bottle down and uncorks another. "This one was bottled last year." She waves it under his nose.
"It smells like copper."
She throws the bottle and it smashes over all the others. "I grew up on a vineyard, Chopper. It takes a lot of blood in the soil to make grapes smell like that. They're dying." She picks up the sake and leaves the room, leaving her shoes behind.
Karmen returns to the mansion as the celebrations kick off with new shoes and a large bottle of scorpion venom. Placing a folded stomach scarf next to the unconscious swordsman, she sets herself up at a table and pours herself a glass of poison. A few hours in she gives Robin a red-faced grin. "You should meet Pierce," she slurs. "Pierce has the best eyes. They're like clouds. Not like stormy clouds, or Nami's lightning-thunder whatevers, but like the ones you see on the horizon after there's been a lot of wind or a breezy cyclone whatsit. Like before it rains or like that stone over there, only lighter. And he does this look thing. It's the best. It makes you feel like you're grounded. You know? I don't know how clouds make you feel grounded, but he's awesome like that." She raises her glass to the pirates around her. "To Pierce's eyes!"
The pirates in question are drunk enough to toast anything. "Pierce his eyes!" they cheer back.
"Close enough," she mumbles, downing her shot and plopping back into her chair.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Robin chuckles.
Karmen pours another shot. "Pierce is alive, my big cup broke, and Kuma… Kuma didn't kill anyone before he left. Why shouldn't I enjoy myself? I've only let myself go while riding fishes. I'm going to disappoint father so bad. I've got a tattoo, I'm a criminal, all my friends are slaves and criminals, and I got mad and scrubbed the deck spotless earlier. You could eat off that thing. Life is good. Once Pierce is back I'm gonna make daddy hate us so much. I mean, he does already, but I'm really gonna rub it in his face. Like, ruin his company and piss off the kingdom or something. He's gonna want me dead and he won't know where to look. I'm not writing him another letter. Not one."
Chopper walks by and swipes her poison. "You've had enough."
"I haven't danced on a table yet, Dr. Deer. Give that back." She stumbles after the reindeer and somehow finds herself leaning on Sanji's shoulder. "Oh. It's you, Mr. Prince."
"You're drunk, Karmen dear," he says, holding her up.
"You know, I didn't like you when we first met." She smiles at him and crinkles her nose. "Daddy threw so many suitors at me that I hated handsome, well-dressed men on principle. And then there's that thing with your face." She seems like she's going to go somewhere with this but her finger follows the thought in spirals through the air to where it dissipates into oblivion. "Nope. That one died. Poof." She giggles. "I really didn't like love letters or poetry either. I got so much junk mail from daddy's friends. The whole thing just reminded me of grapes. I hate grapes. Hate 'em. I miss the dancing though. That was fun as long as the creepy old guys didn't touch my back. Daddy always made me wear skimpy dresses. That's why my red one covers so much." She blinks a couple times, as if to clear her vision, and frowns. "My brain fish is swimming down the wrong canal, I think. Am I rambling? I don't ramble, do I? Well anyway, I totally didn't like you when you first joined the crew, but you're a pretty great guy and you cook great too. You are manly and honorable and I'm really happy you're here. We should dance sometime. But not tonight. My feet aren't listening to my brain fish. It's a thrasher tuna, I think."
"It's definitely thrashing," Sanji notes. "I'm honored you felt you could tell me that and I'd relish the opportunity to dance with you when you're sober." He props her up against the wall while he makes a makeshift couch out of rubble and covers it in blankets and pillows. She gladly accepts his efforts and crawls under the blanket.
"I'm going to give you a nice apple when they're ripe. I love apples." She digs in her bag and places the broken piece of her giant cup under her pillow. "I wonder what kind of canals bear-fish swim in."
Sanji smiles and pulls the blanket over her shoulder. "I haven't the slightest idea."