Karmen wakes at the first hint of sunrise, when the sky is nearly gray, sensing several forms fast approaching. "They're coming," she says, pushing her way out of Pierce's wings and rising to her feet.
Pierce stretches and cocks his ear to the group of rescued slaves behind them. "Good," he says. "They're hungry."
"Did anything happen while I was asleep?" she asks, shaking out her damp pant leg. The one problem with traveling by ray is that you're never completely dry.
"They were all silent, like the surrounding waters," he reports. "Are you recovered?"
Karmen flexes her arms and legs and turns at the waist, testing for any signs of protest. The nap dispelled the headache, which is a nice change, but she still feels the occasional fluctuation in her haki. "Enough." She turns and looks over the seventy-five people with them. Most of the men had been at the winery for muscle. Some of those barrels could weigh hundreds of pounds. The women and children had mostly been given the task of crushing the incoming grapes, mixing and treating the product before it was sealed, and maintaining the chemical balances inside the barrels. It had been years since she'd had so many eyes on her looking for direction. Their eyes watch her expectantly, waiting.
She gives them all a two-fingered salute and raises her voice so that all of them can hear. "Good morning. Sorry about that. I know that you have questions and concerns and we'll address them all in time. But for now, I have a question for you. Who's hungry?" When she gives a burst of haki, the stingrays that had just arrived surface carrying baskets of fruits and vegetables, barrels of fresh water, and fresh oxygen tanks. She watches the children's eyes light up as they hurry to stand and move towards the food, but all at once their faces contort with fear and they settle back down where they sat. No one else moves towards the food. Instead, they watch and they wait. Karmen sets her hands on her hips. "You don't need my permission. I'm not an overseer and you're no longer slaves. Dig in and have as much as you want." She feels like this might as well have been an order, seeing as they all get up and move towards the baskets when they feel she's done speaking. Still, they eat until they're full and sit around contently, patting their stomachs.
"Are we diving again?" Pierce asks.
"Yes." She turns back to the rescued party. "We're going to go by the same procedure as before. Now that the sun's risen the search parties will be out in earnest. They won't think to check out this far just yet, but they will eventually. Move over to one of the rays that just arrived and tie yourselves down if you need to. We'll be under for at least an hour, maybe more. It will be cold, but I promise you will be safe, even if it were to cost me my life."
"We ain't strangers to empty promises, miss," a woman with red hair says. The color of it makes Karmen pause, reminding her of Nami. With this thought in mind, it takes her a moment to place as the woman as the same one she'd saved from the overseer's whip a day or two prior.
She turns to the woman and looks her straight in the eye. "I've been told enough lies in my lifetime to not wield them lightly. I will not waste one in a situation like this." She turns to address the rest of the group. "We dive in five minutes."
When everyone is ready they dive again. Karmen lets the cold water wash over her face as Parvati swims deeper. Kudra once again takes a protective position above them. Karmen steers Parvati up to her and she traces her fingers across the ray's smooth belly. She gives a call in return that reverberates through the water.
Ships pass overhead and Karmen spreads her haki over their party, using far less than she had the night before. She still loses function in her limbs, but when the ships pass and she reverts her efforts. This time it only takes twenty minutes for her to regain feeling. Still, there are twinges in her consciousness that call her onward. Only the feel of Pierce on her back prevents her from heeding it. The gauges on the oxygen tanks slowly dwindle towards red and empty and eventually they have to surface. The party seems thankful for the warmth and fresh air. Karmen had been unaffected by the change in temperature, but some of the smaller children shiver and huddle together on the rays.
She lets the sun do its work as her head pounds from the effort of using so much haki. "I'll take some questions now," she says, as she reduces her haki use to near nonexistence to see if it helps. Kudra rocks the water beneath them as she moves, circling and rising, causing the ocean to bubble and roil.
"What's that sound?" one of the children asks.
"Just the sea king," Karmen says. Something large breeches behind her, showering her in seawater. Pierce throws up wings to protect them from getting drenched, but the torrent still weakens him for a few seconds. Karmen looks up at the creature looming over her. Wrong sea king. She's not going to tell them that. She silently compliments Parvati for her steadfast fortitude in its presence, or maybe she's just too scared to move. The thing is more than a hundred times her size.
The sea king is a long red fish with twin dorsal fins trailing down its spine and gleaming orange eyes. Its teeth are each twice as long as Karmen and it seems to be grinning down at them, expecting a meal. Behind it in the unnaturally still water, ten more giant sets of eyes peek out, watching, waiting to see if a feeding frenzy will start. It would seem that Parvati had pulled in front of the circle of rays that carry the sea stone darts and had drawn the attention in her hurry to get home. She'd have to remember that for next time.
Karmen stretches leisurely, working out the kinks in her body from her haki paralysis. "Well, we seem to have reached the Calm Belt. It won't be too much longer now."
The old man with the long white beard points a shaky finger up at the fish glaring down at them. "Shouldn't we be concerned about that?"
Karmen observes the closest one again. "Him? He's just a baby. We just need to remind him where his hunting grounds are."
"And you plan to do that… how?" the red-haired woman asks, half-ready to dive into the ocean and swim for it.
"I do believe I made you a promise, dearie. Have a little faith," Karmen says. "To the air, Pierce." Her voice is soft and calm and her guard takes the orders, following her silent direction to rise to meet the fish's eye. She smiles and sits on its nose, patting it gently. "Hello, dearest. I can't let you eat anyone here and you're in our way. Would you mind moving on?" The party behind her stare, mouths gaping. One guy even faints and his ray has to push him further onto her back with her tail.
The sea king roars and throws back its head, tossing them back into the air.
"Is that a no, then?" she asks calmly as Pierce flaps furiously to avoid teeth. "That is rather unfortunate. I'm afraid I'm going to have to teach you a lesson." Pierce has to dive sideways to avoid the next snap of teeth. It roars again, showering them with flecks of saliva and hot breath. "I know you eat fish for a living, but you could use a breath mint. Surely there's something down there."
Pierce dives straight down, then grows a second set of wings to wheel around the sea king's head as it dives after them. "Could you teach that lesson now or are we just going to tease it until it eats us?" he asks.
Karmen glances at him over her shoulder. "Oh? I thought we were having fun. Alright, alright, I'll get serious."
Pierce sighs. "You and fish with teeth." Karmen only smiles.
"Secret secretary technique: Instant tea." When they hover in front of the sea king's face again Karmen is holding a steaming kettle of tea that hadn't been in her hands moments before. She flings the contents in a liquid arc into the fish's mouth. "Flight of the Angel Caapi." She grins as she watches the tea slide down the sea king's throat. "Now we just have to wait for it to take effect. Keep dodging." Pierce has to grow a third set of wings to barrel roll away from the teeth, only to be bashed aside by the giant head. He coats his wings in haki at the last second, but he's still sent flying, and Karmen along with him. She uses her body weight to throw them into a few flips until he can spread his wings again, a few feet above the ocean's surface. Karmen laughs heartily, pouring the last dregs of the tea into a cup and taking a sip.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he mutters, trying to regain his breath.
"Oh come on," she says. "I've got the best bodyguard in the world. Why should I worry?"
He grunts. "Flattery only gets you so far."
"But it's getting me somewhere."
"How long is it going to take for that to kick in?" The sea king is charging in pursuit, gaining speed to ram them. Water flies off its haunches, sending waves twenty feet in all directions. She's glad they'd drawn it away from the rays. "And where's Kudra?"
"Kudra knows we've got things covered. Besides, she enjoys watching me get slapped around a little bit. If things were serious she'd jump in," she responds. "How much do you trust me over an open ocean?"
"As much as you trust me when jumping off a castle tower," he mutters. He still isn't past her little stunt, and that widens her grin.
"Good. Don't move." Pierce maintains their hover as the sea king bears down on them. When it's a hundred feet away, there's a change in its eyes. They widen and the pupils constrict sharply. Karmen's smile fades as she channels her inner battle-Luffy. She lowers her chin and gives it a sharp glare, sneering distastefully at it. The sea king gives a call of surprise, then reels. It tries to stop swimming, but its tail coils comically and it ends up flipping over its own head in an attempt to stop. When it's able to right itself, it dives and disappears into the still waters. Karmen drinks her Angel Caapi in a single gulp before returning the cup to her bag and resting the kettle against her shoulder. "Right. Which one of you are next?" she asks loudly, cocking her eyebrow at the other ten who seem to be frozen in place. One by one, they lower and disappear into the water, deciding there are easier meals to be found. Karmen nods in satisfaction as her smile returns. "That's what I thought." Pierce lands on Parvati and climbs off Karmen's back. "Alright Parvati Pod!" she calls. "Take us home!" The rays begin swimming forward again and Karmen keeps her haki trained on the water, making sure the sea kings below are keeping to themselves.
"D-did you just fight off a sea king… with tea?" the red-haired woman stammers behind her.
Karmen glances at her over her shoulder. "I'm a pirate secretary," she says. "Tea's kind of a thing for me." She wiggles her teapot in the air. "It's called Angel Caapi. Whoever drinks it has terrifying hallucinations. It comes in handy."
"Didn't you just drink a cup?" she asks.
"You're a pirate?" the old man asks at the same time.
"Yeah. That's a long story. I'll tell it at dinner."
They keep going in silence for the next ten minutes. Karmen gets the sense that the rescued slaves don't quite know what to make of her. She doesn't know what to tell them exactly, so she keeps quiet as well. Still, some of them seem nervous, either about her or passing through the Calm Belt, or both. They still have an hour or two before reaching Batoidea and she feels she should fill the span with something. "How about a song to calm the children?" Pierce whispers in her ear, seeming to be thinking along the same lines.
"What a great idea!" She clears her throat and chooses a song she often heard the merchants sing when she was a child.
"Whom is the sea a friend to? / Be it the King, The merchant, or the knave? / Whom will she turn a blind eye to when it comes to the watery grave? / When it comes to the watery grave."
She's about to go into the verses about drowning and being eaten alive when Pierce nudges her. "Um… Perhaps you should skip the next two stanzas." She glances over at the wide-eyed children and feels he may be right. She'd never thought about it before, but the song could be frightening to those who weren't always surrounded by death and the ocean. She skips to the peppy stanzas.
"The sea is a friend to the captain / 'Long as mutual respect remains / And on her shores the hungry man / Can always stave his pangs.
The sea is a friend to the dolphin / To the crabs, scuttling down below / The sea is a friend to the Fishman race / Who carry heavy loads.
The sea is a friend to the sailor, / To him, she's always home / But the sea's not a friend to the lonely maid / Who's waiting home alone."
She glances over again and sees that their demeanor hasn't changed much. She thinks about telling them a fairytale, but remembers Zoro's reaction and feels that would go over like a ship on fire. How would her crew handle the situation? Brook's image immediately came to mind and she begins an upbeat chorus of "yo-hohoho's".
"Going to deliver Binks' Sake / Following the sea breeze. Riding on the waves. / Far across the salty depths. The merry evening sun. / The birds sing as they draw circles in the sky."
By the end of the song, the children are clapping along and dancing in circles on the backs of the stingrays. When the song ended they all collapsed in fits of giggles. The adults look calmer too. The old man pipes up, starting off a song about the joys of home. Many of the rescued slaves join in. Karmen gets the sense that they would sing this late at night when spirits were low and bodies were aching. She wonders how many of them actually remember a life like that and how many can return.
Hopefully the Sun pirates would continue to welcome a few unscheduled deliveries. They'd been surprised by her first visit with the Valcour slaves. Some of the crew had been hesitant to take them, but the captain, Aladine, the goatsbeard brotula merman, was in charge of the ship at the time. Karmen remembered Jinbe describing him as a doctor and an escaped slave. Shakky had slid her some pro bono information in addition, saying that he is the recent but loving husband to Charlotte Praline. Had they been married at the time, Karmen may not have ever looked to them for aid. Because of his recent connection to the Big Mom Pirates, she's glad she'd kept her veil on during the interaction. She'd initially worn it because they were fishmen and she's still best known for being the daughter of a World Noble. She needn't have worried. He'd seen the desperate state she was in and could do nothing for Pierce's broken and dying form, so he'd relieved her of the added responsibility. This had let her focus her attention on Pierce and perhaps had let them reach Law in time to save his life. She'd stood there on Parvati's back, looking up at him. She promised him that, whether through Jinbe's alliance with Luffy, or on her own, she would one day find a way to repay him for his kindness. He'd seemed surprised by her connections, but she'd been in too big of a hurry to explain. Maybe she'd tell him who she was when she went by to negotiate with him. The Big Mom issue still worries her, but it is something that can be addressed when the moment comes.
They keep singing until the rays that no one is riding dive and breach ten feet into the air. These calls are answered by a hoard of rays two hundred feet off. Several swim up to Parvati and graze her gently, jostling Karmen. She laughs and balances with ease, despite Par nearly capsizing at one point.
"Do you command these rays?" the red-haired woman asks.
Karmen shakes her head. "Not in the slightest," she responds. "They do as they please. It just so happens that they wish to give us aid as support of my bond with Parvati. Many of them are her children and the rest follow Kudra." The sea king surfaces a ways away, still sending rolling waves their direction, causing them all to bob like floats. Kudra had surfaced under several of her grandchildren which now roll off her back, sliding back into the water. They seem to enjoy this and leap back onto her fins to slide again. Karmen watches this with a pleased expression. She wonders if Chopper and Usopp would enjoy sliding across her back as much as they do sliding down onto the lawn on Sunny. She wonders how they're doing, if they're getting enough to eat, if they ended up somewhere where they aren't terrified for their lives on a daily basis. They'd be working hard. She wonders if she'll be able to keep up. They'd grown so much in the time they'd been out to sea. Maybe she's made more growth than she feels.
For now, she'll help those under her care to grow, and maybe, eventually, to sleep well at night. She holds her hand up to the approaching landmass on the horizon. "Welcome to Batoidea Island, our own personal underworld." The rays swim to the shoreline and the large group climbs onto the beach hesitantly. Beneath the cliffs there isn't much room to stand and no one seems to have noticed the entrance to the cliffs. The camo-morphic Venus flytraps lift their heads in greeting and Karmen strokes them as they walk towards it. Kudra spits the empty barrels from their escape onto the beach and Pierce begins lining them along the cliff so they don't wash away.
Winston steps past the hanging ivy out onto the beach and gets straight down to business. "The entrance is here. Please keep that in mind as you explore the island. You may have noticed the sentient flytraps. If you get lost they will help you. I am Rivera Winston. I will be pleased to get to know you all after you've settled in. Once inside we'll get you fresh clothing and a hot meal. We have a doctor here who will attend your physical needs and we have adequate space for everyone to get some rest once all the formalities have been attended to."
Karmen and Pierce lead them all into the entrance chamber as Winston heads up the rear. They marvel at the bioluminescent lichen that Camilla had so carefully trained into spiraling patterns across the ceiling. Lizards and beetles scampered deeper into the tunnels at their approach and she sensed two familiar presences further in the tunnel system.
"There is one important matter to attend to before we do anything else," Karmen says, holding her hands out to two nearby tunnels. "Bathrooms. Women on the left, men on the right." They divide themselves eagerly and step past her into the tunnels. Spending a day out on the ocean was not easy on one's bladder, but she suspects some of them had relieved themselves while traveling. She hadn't tested for warmer waters to find out.
When everyone has returned, looking much more comfortable despite their still damp clothing, Karmen begins mapping out their temporary home. "Batoidea has twelve explored levels. Some of the tunnels are a little steep, so we've placed guide ropes to help you keep from sliding. We're working on lighting all the caverns, but bioluminescent lichen only grows so fast. If a cavern doesn't glow and you don't have a light, it's safest not to enter it. This is a cave and there are snakes and spiders and things that might bite. If you get bitten, try to get a good look at what it was and we'll treat you accordingly. If you get lost, hit a rock against the wall until someone comes to find you. I assure you, you will be found quickly.
"Past the twelfth level, there is sulfur dioxide gas. It is very poisonous, smelly, and will kill you. It's denser than normal air, so it stays down there and you'll be safe as long as you don't walk directly into it.
"On the first level there is the intake room, that's this one just through here," she waves to an opening in the wall behind her, "the gardens, and the ocean entrance, on the second level there are the therapy rooms, we have and the dining hall/kitchen. The third level has what I'm trying to turn into the library, Winston's workroom, the medical ward, and a room that might be an armory at some point. The fourth level has my workroom and the training room, and the start of the unlit caverns. The fifth level is the general living quarters. If you need your own room for any reason, let us know and we'll try to accommodate you. The sixth level is the war room (that's off limits to everyone except us officers), and the record's room, which will be locked at all times. The seventh floor has the Whisht room and the more advanced therapy rooms. The eighth floor cistern is my personal training room. If I am in there, I would like to be left alone unless it is an emergency. The ninth and tenth levels hold our main cisterns. While they are mostly clear, you should always boil the water before drinking it, in fact, you should probably only drink from the water barrels in the pantry. The eleventh level has a big ravine that we can break things in at some point. We will eventually put a fence in so it's harder to slip into it. It's best avoided for the time being. The twelfth level is being used to grow more glowing lichen and is mainly dark chambers. Like I said, after that, it's too dangerous to traverse unless you're properly equipped."
When she's finished, Winston waves them into the next chamber. "If you will all follow me, I will give you fresh clothing and you may return to the bathrooms to bathe and change. Afterward, my colleague Dr. Saaresto would like to examine you all for any injuries and address any medical concerns you may have." Dr. Saaresto steps into the room and gives a small wave.
"What happened to his face?" she hears one of the children whisper.
Karmen leans in and whispers back. "That man stood up to a World Noble to protect a young girl several years ago, and walked away with only that scar on his face." The children, and a few adults who'd heard, gape in amazement. They'd heard tales of World Nobles, though it was likely that none of them had met one themselves. Walking away after opposing one is not something many do. In their mind, and in hers, the man is a hero.
She moves behind a waist-high stone slab where Winston had laid out clothing according to size. Pierce slides on a long-sleeved shirt and starts bringing the empty barrels inside, present, but helping in other ways. He doesn't say it, but Karmen knows that he's uncomfortable attempting to dress people with his blindness. She'd seen him in the workshop in the weeks before. He'd run his hands along the many outfits they'd stored, trying to gauge size and color and cut. He'd held up a coral orange shirt and a pair of violet pants and lime green socks. Winston had quickly stepped in and given him a matching set of clothing that would fit him and not blind passerby's. With a little assistance, he wouldn't do so badly here, but he lets the seeing officers handle things for today. They make quick work of everyone, making sure they like the clothing they're presented with and Winston asks if they'd like anything made for them. Karmen wonders if she'll ever not expect their surprise at having things offered to them, at them having a choice in their lives and a freedom to use their own voices. She wonders if she will ever not expect a fear response from those who have known more days as a prisoner than they have in freedom, of people expecting the shackles and exploding collars to return at any moment. She's sad for them, but that's exactly why she'd brought them here. They can help these people.
She waits around and helps with the intake, making sure all the new patients are ready to go take baths and have their medical workups. She can sense Camilla near the tunnel entrance to her right, but can't see her through the crowd of people. She does, however, sense and soon after, see the trowel thrown at her head. Some of the new arrivals duck, expecting an attack on them, looking for signs of danger. Pierce turns in Karmen's direction as it flies towards her temple, but she catches it unflinchingly, without even turning her head. The wood of the handle is warm, as if Camilla had been gripping it while waiting for a moment to get her attention. There's a note tied to the end, dangling from a string. Karmen tears it free and unfolds it, finding a message scrawled in ancient Elbafian:
I need to talk to you about Tuna when you have a minute.
Karmen makes sure Winston and Saaresto have things covered and the new arrivals are calmed before darting after the girl. She catches up and returns the trowel. "We're going to have to get you some throwing knives. You're pretty good," she says, noting that Camilla looks calm. "Is he ok?"
-He's fine- she signs. –This way.-
Before she can follow the girl, Pierce grabs her from behind by the sides of her arms. "Oh no you don't." She lets out a little "eep" of surprise. She hadn't been watching him and thought he was still working on the barrels. He lifts her off the ground, spins, and sets her in front of Dr. Saaresto. "I've got your first patient, right here." His words are laid out in a firm tone that few would question, causing the doctor to pause. Still, he seems taken back by Pierce's forcefulness even though Karmen appears to be as healthy as when she left. "She was having auditory hallucinations on the way back."
She'd been hoping to avoid this. "So I thought I heard someone talking to me for a few seconds."
Saaresto fixes her with a serious look. "You were hearing voices?"
She shrugs him off, a difficult task around Pierce's hands. "I used too much haki and started hallucinating. No big deal. I'm feeling much better."
Pierce forces her to sit on one of the empty barrels and Saaresto shines a flashlight in her eyes. "Pupil reaction normal, no signs of a brain bleed." She could have told him that. "Any headaches or loss of equilibrium?"
"Not since my nap," she answers, waving him away from her face and pulling her arms loose. "I told you, I'm fine. If there was anything wrong with me, I'd tell you."
"You don't feel any lasting effects from your experience?" he asks to confirm.
"I feel perfectly healthy." She isn't about to tell him that she can still feel that expanse at the edge of her mind, feel the pull of something beyond. She hadn't heard the voice since, nor had she felt any more otherly presences in her mind, but she isn't sure if the conclusion she'd come to is entirely accurate. If it hadn't been a hallucination, then what? And if it had, what part of her mind had been trying to communicate? She still can't shake the feeling that the voice belonged to someone she'd met before. One thing's for sure, she'll have to get a handle on this before she goes on the next mission. It's distracting, and that's something she can't afford.
"I think she needs more rest," Pierce asserts.
"And where better to rest than here on our own island?" Karmen slides off the barrel. "Listen. I'll keep an eye on my health and if it happens again, you two will be the first to know." She moves around Pierce to get back over to the tunnel entrance. "Now if you don't mind, Vishtunalli requires my attention."
Camilla doesn't even raise her eyebrow. She just tucks her trowel into a pocket in her cloak and waves. -Follow me, before things get crowded.-
"Sorry about the wait," Karmen says. "He's being persistent in this."
She doesn't respond. To Karmen's surprise, the girl leads her to Saaresto's examination room. And there's Tuna, looking happy and healthy, with one of his leaves held under a microscope. He waves his free filaments at her and grins. -Take a look.-
Curiosity fills her stomach and she leans over the microscope, setting her face against the eyepiece. She's expecting to see the brick-like structure of plant cells, perhaps a few variations with him being an ancient species, but the cells she sees are round. "Oh." She sits back and stares at Tuna. "Oh." She looks back into the microscope. Instead of plant cells in the small circle of light, there are animal cells, fluid and changing from their high level of chromatophores. They're unlike any cell structures that she's ever seen, which might explain how he was able to survive in the mouth of a volcano, but the similarities between him and a more common species is undeniable. "You're a cephalopod." Vishtunalli is some kind of prehistoric squid, one that obviously does not need constant moisture to survive. She looks up at him again and indicates to where his root-like tentacles are buried in the dirt. "May I?" He pulls them free and holds a pair out like a child asking to be picked up. She lifts him out of the pot and sees a small clicking beak in the center of his lower body. It is brown and earthy for a few seconds, then it turned a light yellow to match the green that traveled down his pseudo roots. She looks at Camilla. "Have you ever heard of a two-headed squid before?"
"No." She shakes her head. "Not one that's natural, anyway." She moves in to inspect Tuna over Karmen's shoulder. "I can see why they adapted over time. Feeding two heads must be difficult to maintain."
Karmen runs her hand over the flytrap shaped head. "Tuna and his relatives seem to be handling just fine." She watches as he changes color to match her skin tone.
"Should we name his species, like we've been doing with the plants?" Camilla asks. "I think we have the leeway."
Tuna's head swivels his head between them expectantly. "What do you think, Vishtunalli," she asks him. "Would you like us to name your species?" He nods vigorously.
"You do it," Camilla says. "He's your squid. I'm more of the cool neighbor."
Karmen chuckles and leans back thoughtfully. "What about the Flytrap Squid. It's simple and easy to identify." Tuna rubs his head against Karmen's until she laughs and pushes him away gently. "I'm glad you like it." He nips at her bangs and changed to a dark brown color. His leaves curl and bounce as he bobs around. She pats him again and turns to Camilla. "How did you find out?"
The girl shrugs. "I was trying to figure out how to best take care of them and wanted to take a closer look before discussing nutrients. Plus I was hoping I'd get in Saaresto's way and push his buttons a little. Tuna volunteered to be my partner in crime."
"Not that I approve of your reasons, but I'm glad you did," she says. She gives the squid in her hands her attention again. "What do you think?" she asks. "Should we go tell Pierce?" He grins at her and climbs onto her shoulder, wrapping his tentacles down her arm to keep himself stabilized. They continue to talk as they head back up the tunnels. "Tuna either has two stomachs or one stomach that joins in the middle. From what we've seen already, we can assume the top head is able to digest produce while the lower beak is for consuming meat." She looks at the flytrap squid. "Is this accurate?" He nods. "How many stomachs do you have?" He makes a motion with his leaves that looks like a shrug. "Those aren't leaves, are they?" He shakes his head. "Frills or fins?" Shrug. "We'll call them fins." Grin. "This is fun." Nod.
Camilla chuckles. "You talk to fish more than I talk to plants." She rubs Tuna's upper head. "You're a cool squid." Tuna curls his head into her hand like a cat before resting it on top of Karmen's. "I think he's happy you're back too." Squished nod.
"What's going on here?" Pierce asks when they step back into the intake chamber.
"So, it turns out that Tuna is a squid," she tells him. When Pierce reaches out to touch his tentacles, Tuna closes his mouth gently around his hand. He turns black and his fins are instantly shaped like bat wings. He flaps them happily and sways in a little dance. "I think that's a hello." Nod.
Pierce runs his hand down Tuna to get a good look at the animal. "Mistress, your aptitude for collecting strange beings is impressive."
She chuckles. "Wait until you meet Luffy. No one else could get a cyborg, a talking reindeer, and a living skeleton on the same boat. The man has a talent." She leans her head against Tuna. "What do you say? In two years, do you want to come with me to meet my captain?" Vigorous nod. "Good. I'd miss you if you stayed here." Snuggle. "Why don't you hang out with Pierce for a little while. Camilla and I have some work we need to do."
The girl perks up. –We do?-
"Don't think I'm going to be training alone."
She falters. –I would never. I was just surprised that-
"You need to rest," Pierce counters.
She rolls her eyes. "It's not like we're going to run laps." Karmen passes Tuna off to Pierce and grabs Camilla's hand, dragging her down to the lower tunnels. "Come on," she says. "We're going to go meditate."
Karmen pulls her down into a quiet cavern. They wordlessly seat themselves comfortably on the ground with their legs crossed and their hands resting on their knees. They close their eyes and breathe deeply. Camilla doesn't ask what they're doing or what they should be meditating on. She's more perceptive than the men and had heard what Pierce said to Saaresto. She knows something's off with Karmen. She's wanted there in case anything goes wrong. She doesn't know what could possibly happen from using too much haki, but she's honored to have been the one chosen. If Karmen desires her quiet companionship, she's all too happy to oblige. Thirty minutes pass, then an hour, then two, then three.
Despite Karmen's efforts to connect with the otherness that she'd felt the previous night, it continues to elude her grasp. No matter how far she expands her mind or her perception, nothing returns with her. It's like trying to carry a handful of sand off the ocean floor. She may grasp it initially in the deep, but by the time she's risen to the surface with it to investigate it, all that remains is a thin layer of silt.
Karmen sighs and rubs her eyes. Camilla seems to have fallen asleep. Pierce is sitting outside alone in the tunnel, dozing in front of two plates of food. She can smell it. Bread, cheese, jerky, fresh vegetables, and apple slices. She wonders how long he'd been waiting patiently to give them their lunch. She gets up and places a hand on Pierce's shoulder, shushing him softly as he turns his ear to her. She picks up one of the plates and places it in front of Camilla for when she wakes. When she returns to the tunnel Pierce is standing, holding the other out for her. She takes it and eats as they begin walking towards the upper levels.
"Tuna's back down in your chambers with Sherryl," he informs her as she chews a mouthful of jerky and cheese. "Should he be in the ocean?"
"I don't think his species requires sea water, and if they did he would have told us."
"And you, Mistress? Are you feeling better?"
She swallows and shrugs. "Inconclusive," she responds. "I can feel my haki reaching a new level, but I don't know how to access it yet. I don't want to use powers I don't understand in the field lest I become an inconvenience, especially to you. It's frustrating and I don't think meditating is the way to figure this out."
"It's only been three hours." Even without eyes, she can feel his skeptical glance.
"And I've made absolutely no progress. I'm not even mentally drained."
"Were you using a lot of haki that entire time?" he asks.
She gives a small giggle. "I'm glad your armament haki is better than your observation. I was using tons."
"Yeah, to a blind guy you might as well have been as asleep as Camilla."
Karmen snorts and tries to keep the apple slice in her mouth while she chews and laughs at the same time. "Keep guarding, bat-boy. You have other senses to put to use."
"Speaking of skills, your time as a secretary is about to come in handy."
Karmen puts a leek back on the plate. "Winston and Saaresto are already finished assigning clothing, food, beds, and medical checks?"
"Just about," he says. "We've got everything set up for you upstairs."
Karmen hums around a mouthful of bread. "You're the best."
He leads her into one of the entry chambers and she sits down at the designated desk, running her hands over the smooth, lightly stained surface. "Is this the desk from my room?"
"It is," Pierce responds. "I spent an hour carrying it through the tunnels. We really need to invest in weights other than rocks and boulders."
Faint remembrances of Zoro trickle into her mind. She believes he once mentioned using boulders to train as a child. She has an inkling Pierce wouldn't appreciate being compared to another man, so she keeps past conversations to herself. "I'll bear that in mind," she says instead. She removes a quill and a vial of ink from the lap drawer and a stack of paper from the top right. She puts them in an orderly fashion and lays her hands on the surface of the desk. "I'm ready."
Pierce cups his hands around his mouth. "Send them in."
Winston steps in from the connecting tunnel, guiding the children in. Karmen smiles at them. "Hello," she says. "Are we all settling in alright?"
There is a general chorus of "yes" and "very well" and "thank you for the clothes." One girl pipes up with "Miss, Lady, did you shrink when you died?"
Pierce and Winston stifle laughs and Karmen has to work to keep her smile from thinning. "Is that what you think happens to people when they die?" she asks gently. "That they shrink?"
"You look alive to me," a boy pipes in. "I don't think you're really dead."
She winks at Winston and rests her chin on the back of her hands. "Is that so?" This seems to have been a topic of great discussion amongst the rescuees. She lets her smile widen and she uses her reverse observation haki to disappear in an instant. Before the group of children can react to what they'd just seen she reappears in their midst. "Boo." Some jump, some squeal, and others look on in amazement like Luffy and Chopper sometimes do. She laughs at their reactions and ruffles a few heads. "That's never going to get old." She walks back to her desk and rests her chin on her hands again. "I'm not really dead," she admits. "I faked my death so that it would be harder for bad people to find me. I use haki to disappear. You could do it too if you train really hard." She almost says "work," but she feels there are a few phrases and words that should be omitted from their vocabulary for a short period of time. Deciding to get to work herself, she flips a quill into the air and catches it with a flourish before it can hit the desk. "Down to business, then. I'm sure you all want to get back to your families. If you can, one at a time, please give me your full name, your home island, and where you lived."
The process is long and slow and convoluted. Some of their families were killed during their capture or died soon after, others didn't have families to begin with. Some were born into slavery while others had been slaves so long they only remember vague details of who and where they came from. Some lie outright for fear that she'll use the information against them somehow. Their rising heart rates flag her haki and Pierce's ears. Karmen makes special note of these and decides to make sure Saaresto gives them special attention during their therapy sessions. Out of the twenty children they had rescued, only ten have a definite home and family to return to. The adults are a little easier. Even if they have no family to return to, they are self-reliant and at least have a vague destination in mind. Karmen goes a step further with them and asks what skills they possess and if they'll be willing to contribute around the island until transport to their home island can be arranged. If they do not wish to contribute, she asks if their skill or talent could be taught to one of the officers so that they can make use of it themselves. She heavily emphasizes that they are by no means required to do this, only that there are a lot of people on the island and it will be a good way to pass the time.
After they've been processed, Karmen releases them to relax for the rest of the day, making sure they know when the next scheduled meal is. Being rescued is an exhausting and stressful occasion and they can use the relaxation. Some of them simply stare at her unbelieving. After a few seconds, she'll glance back up and say it again. They still look like she's trying to trick them. "Really, you can explore, go get more food, take a nap, whatever you feel like," she says. Eventually they wander off and in the end she's left with Pierce, Winston, and a pile of papers. She rifles through them and begins making lists of people who came from similar areas. She frowns as she works. "We need maps. The rays aren't going to know half these names."
"And where would you suggest getting these maps?" Winston almost looks like he regrets asking.
"Navy ships and bases carry them, don't they? We'll just borrow some of theirs," she says, wishing Nami were there to join her. The navigator would love the challenge, after she smacked Karmen over the head for even suggesting the feat. They could get into so much trouble together. Robin would join in too. Her quiet researching nature would make quick work of marine security and filing systems. No one can deny their stylish battle prowess.
"Mistress," Pierce's voice is soft with concern. "You're heart rate's changed. Is everything alright?"
She gives her stack of papers a nostalgic smile. "I was just thinking of my roommates from the crew and how they'd love the chance to pull one over on marines."
He steps over and kneels like a knight beside her chair. "I may still be finding my strengths, but I hope my skill may be of aid to your cause, Mistress," he says. "I know I am not a member of your crew, but I hope to make it more bearable for you." The eloquence of his words rival Sanji's poetic nature.
She places a hand on his head, between his horns, like Kuma would have. "Of course you do," she replies. "No one could replace you, as a friend or a companion." Her tone changes to a jest. "I just hope you're willing to shield me in the presence of fishmen right after we storm the marines."
Pierce's gleaming composure falters. "What?"