Shopping
"Huh?" Neo blinked at the bubble bikes before her when they came to a stand still at a small, light green hut. She tilted her head, trying to figure out how these bikes were called bubble bikes when they were made of wood.
"How can I help you all today?" the man at the hut asked.
"We'd like to rent two of those bubble bikes," Penguin said.
"Very well. That will be four thousand berries a piece, or if you'd like, you could buy the pair for ten thousand," he said.
"No, thanks," Penguin said while he and Shachi handed over their money to the man. "We'll have no need for them on the sub."
"I see." The man took their money, pocket it and turned to the bikes. "I'm assuming you're going to the shopping district?"
"We are," Shachi said.
"Then I'll give you a big one so you can carry all of your purchases."
Neo watched curiously as the man grabbed three bubbles and pushed them together until they became one big one. He then grabbed a bike off the wall and pushed it into the bubbles. "That's so weird. The bubbles didn't pop."
"The bubbles here are really dense," the man said. "You can even stand on them and put your entire body into one."
Neo ducked her head and pinched Law's sleeve.
"She's shy, huh?" the man asked.
"She is," Penguin said.
"Seriously? You can actually do that?" Shachi grabbed a bubble and pulled it over his head. "Wow! This is so cool! I wondered how the Celestial Dragons did this!"
"Well, we have our bikes. Shall we get going?" Penguin pulled their two bikes a few feet away from the hut.
Neo began her inspection of the bikes again. She poked the side of the bubble until her finger went through it. "And we're actually supposed to ride these?"
"We are," Law said just before he pulled his arm from her hold.
"How exactly?" Neo turned to Law.
Law passed his sword to Bepo. He then stepped closer to Neo; placing his hands on her hips he easily lifted her up. Her body stiffed under his touch but it didn't stop her startled gasp. Law chuckled as she placed her hands on his shoulders to stabilize herself in his hold. He sat her down on the bubble and, before she could say anything else, he reclaimed his sword and joined her with an easy jump.
Penguin climbed upon the wooden seat while Shachi and Bepo got on the smaller bubble bike.
"Let's get going then," Shachi said grabbing the handles of his bike.
Neo, unsure about the ride, reclaimed her hold on to Law's arm when Penguin started pedaling. She watched the ground pass by for a few minutes before finally getting comfortable with the strange bike and relaxed a bit, but she kept her hold firmly on Law.
Law was divided on keeping his eyes on her or on the possible competition that was around them. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't getting too stressed out from all of this and he wanted to make sure no one was taking an interest in his blue haired girl, especially with her clinging to his shirt. Luckily, no one really seemed to care that they were even there. So he relaxed and enjoyed the ride while watching Neo.
It wasn't until they got to the Groves 30-39 that she took an interest in their surroundings. Her eyes timidly darted everywhere and all over the strange structures that people were riding. She tugged on Law's arm. "Captain, what is this place?"
"It's an amusement park," he replied.
"Amusement park?" Neo blinked.
Law nodded and explained, "It's a place to have fun. There are rides to ride, games to play and win prizes, lots of food to eat."
"We should stop here for a while," Shachi suggested.
"No," Law replied flatly.
"Why not?" Penguin asked with a grin his captain couldn't see. "This would be a great experience for Neo. And it might be our only chance to show her a place like this."
"He does have a point, Captain," Bepo said.
Law's eyes dropped back to the girl beside him. He couldn't help but study her interest in the place. Her eyes were still darting all over the area with peaked curiosity. She looked over the rides, the booths, the balloons, all the colors, the costumes people were wearing for the kids to enjoy. She was so distracted to the point she didn't even hear what they were talking about. He sighed knowing that Penguin was right. Neo did need to experience life as much as possible. "Fine. We can spend about an hour here, but no longer."
The pirates pulled their bikes over and climbed off.
"What's going on?" Neo asked when she realized they had stopped moving. She looked down from the bike to see that Bepo had a hold of Law's sword once again. And Law was reached up for her. His hands reclaimed her hips, making her tense. She placed her hands on his shoulder when he lifted her off the bike. Her voice then took on a concerned tone when she realized what they were doing. "Captain?"
"We're stopping here for a while," Law answered. "The crew wants to show you around the amusement park."
Neo blinked at him then looked around again. The rides nearby caught her attention. Her eyes drifted up to the largest roller coaster there was. She watched the cars, lined with bubbles, pull all the way to the top then plummet straight down. She tightly wrapped her arms around Law's waist with a startled gasp when the cars plummeted. Pressing firmly into his chest she said, "People find that enjoyable?"
"Some do, some don't," Law said. "It's really not that different from flying with your wind crystals."
"But I control the wind when I do that." Neo pulled her worried eyes from the ride and turned them up to Law. "That's not controlled by the wind or me."
He rubbed her back soothingly while she subordinates shifted their position to hide him comforting her. "Don't worry. You don't have to go on any of the rides. We don't have time for that anyway. We're just going to look around for a while so you can get a basic feel for the place." Law chuckled at the still concerned look in her eyes. He tucked her hair behind her ear. "Are you calming down enough to move on?"
"Uh." Neo looked around at all the laughing people, so many strangers laughing and running around. Her eyebrows turned up as she tucked back into Law's chest. "Not really. There are so many people. And they're so noisy."
"It's okay," Penguin said, stepping closer to her. "We just wanna show you around this place. We'll keep you protect from others bumping into you."
"All right." Neo nodded. The crew circled around her then headed off. She took several quick glances around at their surrounds, but would always tuck back into Law's arm when people got too close or things got too noisy. They all paused when Neo's eyes locked onto a game. Her eyes lifted off the man trying to knock down bottles with a ball to a rather large white bear hanging on the booth wall. She tilted her head. "It looks like Bepo."
"It does look like Bepo." Penguin nodded.
"Uh." Bepo blinked at his little mini self. He huffed. "I don't think it looks that much like me."
"It totally looks like you." Shachi snickered. He then turned his attention to his captain. "Seems Neo has taken an interest in the little bear. The captain should win it for her."
"Win it?" Neo asked.
"This is a game," Penguin explained. He jerked his thumb at the man tossing the balls. There was a tall blonde haired woman beside the man with a stick of cotton candy in her hand. She didn't looked like she was enjoying herself at all as she smacked her gum. "You toss the ball and try to knock down those bottles at the other side of the booth."
"Oh," Neo drawled.
The woman 'tsked' and started to walk away when her male companion missed again. "If you can even hit the bottles."
"Hey! It's not my fault!" The man stomped after the woman. "People need more than good luck to win any of these games! They're totally rigged!"
"You just suck at pitching," the woman huffed back.
"My pitching is just fine!" the man growled.
"Rigged?" Neo asked. "What does rigged mean?"
"It means to fix a game where it's hard to win any prizes. That way you have to try more times, therefore spending more money," Law explained. "It benefits the owner of the game. Do you understand?"
"Not really." Neo blinked. "They want people to play their game to win prizes but then make it harder for people to win their prizes?"
"That's a weird question to ask. What's wrong with you? Haven't 'cha ever been to a theme park before?" the man at the booth asked. Neo jumped when she realized had unintentionally gained the stranger's attention. He blinked in confusion when Neo hid in Law's arm. "Is there something wrong with you?"
"Leave her alone," Law hissed.
"This is her first time at an amusement park," Penguin added with a deep frown.
"Be nice to her," Bepo growled, literally.
The man rolled his eyes, undeterred by the bear or the men. "Whatever. If you wanna play, then play. If not then get away from my booth."
"Oh, he deserves a beating." Shachi frowned.
"In more ways than one," Law mumbled, stepping forward. Neo protested with a low whimper and tightened her hold on his arm. He patted her hand comfortingly. "It's all right, Neo. I'm not leaving you. I'm just going to each his man a lesson for talking to you like that. I need my arm though. Just hold onto Penguin for a moment."
She tightened her hold even more. Timidly, she peaked up at him and whispered. "Y-you're not going to k-kill him, are you?"
"No, Neo." Law brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I'm not. I promise."
After a moment of solid eye contact, she reluctantly released Law's arm and took a hold of Penguin's. Shachi and Bepo stepped closer to enclose their circle around their girl more. This didn't go unnoticed by the booth man. He asked, "Seriously, what's wrong with her?"
Law slammed some money down on the booth. The sudden move startled the man so he didn't see Law's Room spreading around the immediate area.
Neo noticed it. She looked at the film then at Penguin. He placed his finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet. She nodded slightly.
Law then grabbed a ball. He threw three of them, one right after the other. Just before the balls hit the bottles, he sliced them in half so it looked like he threw the balls so hard it broke them.
"Huh?!" The booth man blinked multiple times in disbelief. "B-b-but how?!"
Law smirked. "I win. Now give me the bear."
The man scratched his head. He grabbed the large white bear and when to hand it to Law. When he got close enough, Law reached for the bear with one hand and grabbed the man's shirt with the other. Law lowered his voice enough so Neo wouldn't hear him. "Her presence here as spared your life, but if you ever speak to her like that again, I will order her away from you and I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?"
Unable to find his voice, the man nodded rapidly. Law slowly nodded once before letting the man go. He took the bear and turned back to his crew. He stepped back over to Neo and held out the bear to her. He smiled at the light in her eyes. She reached out and stroked its white fur "Thank you, Captain."
"Let's continue," Law said. Penguin relinquished his duty as Neo's support. He took the bear from Law as his captain reclaimed his spot by Neo. The small group then proceeded to show Neo around the amusement park. The three crewmates played a few more games for fun and to show her how they worked. They bought some snacks to let Neo try them. Since they just finished up lunch, none of them were actually hungry so they shared with her.
"What is it?" Neo blinked at the pink fluff on a stick that Shachi was holding. "It kind of looks like a cloud. But clouds are white not pink. That woman before was holding one."
"It's cotton candy," Shachi replied.
"Cotton? You eat cotton?" Neo tilted her head.
"It's candy not actual cotton," Law said. He plucked a piece off and held it to her lips. "Just try a small piece. It's very sweet."
Neo parted her lips for him to place it inside her mouth. Her eyes widened when the piece quickly melted on her tongue into a sugary sweet puddle. "It disappeared."
"It does that." Shachi chuckled.
While the group shared the pink treat, Neo twisted and wiggled both her feet. Law quickly took notice. "Are your boots starting to hurt your feet?"
"Yeah." She nodded.
"All right. You've all had enough fun. Time to move on and get Neo's shopping done," Law ordered. He turned back to Neo. "You can take your boots off and rest your feet while we're riding over to the shops."
The group nodded and headed back to where they parked their bikes. Once they got back to them, Law once again lifted Neo onto the apparatus. She pulled off her shoes, her hot skin cooling off, and sighed with a smile. "That's so much better."
"I guess you're just always going to prefer going shoeless," Bepo said, climbing onto his bike.
"I guess so." Neo shrugged with a small smile. She wiggled her feet and toes, stretching them out from being confined for so long.
"Hold on a second!" Penguin suddenly called out. The group paused at his words. They watched him quickly shuffle over to an ice cream vendor. After paying for his choice, he walked back over to the group and held it up to Neo. "Here, you'll wanna try this."
"What is it?" Neo asked, taking the object from him.
"It's called ice cream cone. The cone it's on is eatable, too," Penguin replied. "It's another sweet treat. Go ahead and try it. You lick it. And I got you vanilla flavor. If you like it, we can try other flavors later. Although, it might be a bit too much for you since you've already tried so many other treats. If it's too much, the captain can finish it for ya."
Law raised an eyebrow at Penguin, but didn't say anything. He only nodded in agreement when Neo gave him a questioning look.
Neo then looked at the rest of the crew before looking back at the treat in her hand. She blinked a few times, carefully inspecting the item, before finally taken a small lick of the cool creamy swirl. Her eyes lit up in amazement. "It's so cold and sweet. Almost as sweet as the cotton candy."
The group, including Law, couldn't help but smile. Penguin mounted the bike and the group once again set off. Neo got a couple licks of the ice cream when a dull ache settled into her stomach, letting her know she's had too many sweets. "It's making my stomach hurt."
Law took it from her. "Let me eat some of the ice cream. Then you can try a couple bites of the cone."
She nodded and waited for him to eat down to the cone. He then handed it back to her. She took two bites then lowered the cone from her face. "It's good. Not as sweet as the creamy part. My stomach is still hurting a bit."
Law reclaimed the cone. "I think you've had enough. If you eat anymore you're going to get sick. I don't want that to happen."
"Yeah." Neo nodded. "Thanks, everyone, for doing this for me. It was really nice and an interesting experience even if it was a bit scary at times."
"No problem." Bepo smiled.
"We'd do anything for you," Shachi said. "Right, Captain?"
Law let out a low growl as his cheeks tinted pink while his hat fell over his eyes. He shoved the last bit of the cone in his mouth so he didn't have to answer. Neo looked at him, but remained silent, too. He smiled at her to let her know he was fine before she turned her eyes back to the sights before her.
The remaining trip to the shops was a fairly quiet one as they floated along on their bubble bikes. At one point, Neo tiredly leaned against Law's side while occasionally question something she saw that she didn't know about or understand. And when anything startled her she would tuck herself against Law's side until she calmed down again. Eventually, they made it to the shopping district.
"There a lot of stores around here. Which one are we going to?" Bepo asked as they floated along looking at all the shops that lined the pathways.
"That one looks nice enough," Penguin said, jerking his thumb at a small boutique with pastel yellow walls and a light blue roof that had a hand painted sign that said, 'The Little Yellow Boutique' hanging from it.
"We'll start there." Law nodded.
Shachi and Penguin parked their bikes and disembarked from them.
Neo slipped her shoes back on and once again let their captain lift her off the bike. Law then led them all inside. They all looked around the building. It was nice and cool inside. And there was only a few people shopping in this store at the moment. It was the perfect place for Neo to start shopping for herself.
"Welcome to The Little Yellow Boutique." A lady in her forties wearing a red bandana, capris and a yellow button up shirt, greeted them with a warm smile. "Is there anything I can help you all with?"
"No, we're only here to get her some new clothes." Law dipped his chin at the girl holding onto him.
"My goodness," the lady exclaimed, pressing a hand to her cheek. "You are a very lovely girl! Such beautiful electric blue eyes!"
Neo was still looking around the room and accidentally made eye contact with the woman. She flinched and turned her face into Law's arm.
The woman chuckled. "Oh, she's so shy. Well, you are a very lucky man. I hope you two are very happy together."
Law's eyes widened slightly, his cheeks tinted and his body twitched while Shachi, Bepo, and Penguin snickered and shoved down their desire to agree out loud with the woman. He growled a warning at them.
Bepo dropped his head and apologized. "I'm sorry."
Shachi turned away and started to whistle while scanning his eyes around the store.
Penguin cleared his throat, but remained smiling. All three highly noting their captain didn't correct the woman's words.
Law turned his eyes back to the woman. "We're just gonna grab a few things and leave."
"Very well." The woman nodded. "If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to ask."
Law then led Neo over to a nearby rack of clothes. "You can come out now. No one here's going to hurt you."
"Okay," she timidly squeaked. She slowly pulled her face away from his arm and looked around. She looked at the crew, noted their patient expressions, before reached out her left hand for the clothes and started looking through them. After a few minutes she relaxed a bit and had all ready picked out two shirts. One was blue tank top with a white cloud on it and the other one was short sleeve sea foam green with three white glittering flowers decorating the front of it.
"Here, I'll take those," Penguin said.
"Thanks, Penguin." She handed them to Penguin, who had grabbed a basket to carry her stuff. She moved on to the next rack. A pair of jean shorts caught her eye. She picked them up and held them out for the pirates to see. "What are these? They looked like my jeans but they're not long enough."
"They're called shorts," Penguin answered. "Kinda like jeans, but shorter."
"They're not good for training, but if want to get a pair to wear around the sub, you can," Law said.
"They'd be good for when we're passing by hot islands." Shachi added. "You know how hot the sub can get."
"I suppose I could get one and see if I like them," Neo said, her eyes locked onto the shorts. She turned them around a couple times before handing them to Penguin.
"Hey! This shirt would go very nice with the shorts." The group turned to Shachi. He was holding up a black, one shoulder, form-hugging shirt with a yellow heart on it. He held up the shirt to Neo's body. "Don't you think she'll just look incredibly cute in this, Captain?"
"Yeah." Penguin and Bepo nodded rapidly.
"No," Law said flatly, forcing down his blushing.
"Why not, Captain?" Bepo questioned. "She would look really cute in it."
"It's not suitable for training," Law grumbled.
"Oh, come on, Captain." Shachi grinned. "She doesn't train every second of everyday. It'll be good for her to have some variety in her apparel. Here, Neo, try it on."
Shachi handed her the shirt. She didn't move. She was unsure of what she should do. Like always, she looked up to Law for guidance. Law was about to pull her along when Penguin placed his hands on her shoulders. He gently pulled her away from the captain and over to the nearby changing room and said, "Just step inside here and try it on. It won't hurt anything to see how it looks on you."
"Um..." Neo looked back Law.
"Go ahead," Law said with a defeated sigh.
Penguin pulled the curtain closed.
Neo blinked at the curtain now separating herself from the people she knew. Panic settled into her chest, gripping her hard until she saw a shadow move on the floor just under the curtain. Then Law's familiar boots and spotted pants appeared. Her pounding heart settled down. She pulled off her shirt and put the black one on. Adjusting the tail of the shirt, she pushed the curtain opened. She twitched when the three crewmembers whistled and cheered at how she looked in the shirt.
"Very nice." Penguin nodded approvingly at his favorite girl.
"Really?" Neo looked down at the top she was wearing.
"I agree," a man suddenly said.
Neo jumped and ducked her head at the stranger as she scooted closer to Law.
"But you're going to want to get a strapless bra to wear under that shirt," the man continued unaware of the trouble he caused.
Law stepped between Neo and the man. He glared down at the intruder since he was four inches shorter than himself. His eyes hissed 'Get lost'. The man swallowed hard and dashed off. The captain grumbled, "And that's why she doesn't need to wear fancy clothes."
"You're just too protective of her," Bepo mumbled, earning a disapproving frown from his captain. He ducked his head. "I'm sorry."
"Uh, I don't have to have the shirt." Neo looked at the shirt then at Law. "I don't want to upset you. You're the captain. I'll do what you say."
Law sighed inwardly. It was obvious to him that Neo was interested in the shirt since she hadn't expressed a dislike in wearing it. He caved. "All right. You can get the shirt. But you're only permitted to wear it on the sub."
"Yes, Captain, I will." Neo nodded with a light smile in her eyes and on her lips. She stepped back into the changing room and pulled the curtain closed.
"Change back into your shirt now. We're going to have to get you the proper b-" Law quickly cut his own voice off. He gave his two perverted minded subordinates a hard warning glare when they formed cheesy grins on their faces. "You two are staying right here."
"Aw, Captain!" Penguin and Shachi whined.
Neo then stepped out with her shirt back on. She placed the black shirt in the basket then noticed her friends' disappointed looks. "What's wrong with you two?"
They both opened their mouths to answer her, but quickly shut them at the harsh warning glance Law was giving them. Law tapped her on the arm with his sword. "They just volunteered to stay right here while we pick up a few personal items that you need."
"Okay." Neo blinked.
"Come on, Neo." Law snatched the basket from Penguin and walked off with Neo. Moving away from the clothes section, they stepped into the lingerie area of the store. Several women looked up at the man. A lot of them gave him flirtatious looks, one even blew him a kiss, that caused him to groan inwardly. This wasn't something he was looking forward to. Glancing down at the blue haired girl beside him, he found her eyeing the lingerie instead of the people. He was glad that Neo didn't notice the looks he was getting. He wasn't sure he'd be able to explain their meaning to her at this point in time if she had noticed. He wasn't even sure how she would feel or react to strangers trying to flirt with him.
"Uh, what exactly am I getting here?" Neo asked.
"A strapless bra," Law replied with a little hesitation.
"Why?" Neo looked at him.
"It's for the one strap shirt you're getting." Law studied her. It only took him a second to know she didn't understand. "It's about modesty and style. The shirt will look better on you if your bra strap isn't showing. You saw how your bra strap was showing before, right?"
"I did. Oh, I get it now." Neo nodded. She turned to the bras laying out on display. After a few seconds of looking them over, she pointed to one multi-vertical blue and yellow striped one. "Will this one be fine?"
"If that's the one you like," Law replied. "You should probably get a couple more."
"All right." Neo picked up the striped one along with an orange one and a black one. "I like these."
Law nodded then lead her back to where their waiting crewmembers were left.
When they got back to them, Shachi had a mini pink and green striped tube top dress held up to his body and a ridiculously large straw hat with a pink bow tied around it on his head. He spoke out in a high-pitched voice. He said, "Don't I just look darling in this outfit?! I think it really highlights my eyes!"
"You should totally buy that for yourself!" Penguin laughed.
"You're so silly," Neo said, suppressing a giggle.
"Actually…you know who would look really good in this dress?" Shachi sent Law a suggestive look.
"Don't you dare," Law warned him. He glanced over at Neo. Luckily, she didn't take interest in the dress. What did catch her eyes was a pair of blue jeans identical to the pair Law was wearing, minus the spots. "We still need to pick you up some jeans."
"This store doesn't really have many jeans," Bepo said, looking around. "We should probably move on to a different store for those."
Law nodded in agreement. "Would you like those jeans?"
"Yes, please." Neo nodded.
Law nodded back and she picked them up. They then checked out with the clothes she picked out. After putting their bags in the bubbles on their bikes, the group moved on to the next store. The next one had more people in it.
"Great," Neo said. Her muscles tensed and twisted up.
"Just breath," Law said. "This is nothing but another training session for you."
"Okay." Neo nodded. "I know I'm safe with you all. I'm not trapped inside of anything. I can easily go back out the door just like we came inside."
"That's right," Law said. "You ready to walk around?"
"I am," Neo said. Pinching his sleeve again, she walked behind him while cautiously looking around. She eyed the people. When they appeared to show no interest in her, she relaxed with an exhale, her muscles loosened up. "This isn't so bad."
"There are some jeans over there." Shachi pointed to the display.
Neo followed them all over to the display. Running her eyes over the jeans she was then able to pick out ten pairs of jeans and a couple more shirts. While checking out, Law studied her exhausted expression, how she kept twisting and tapping her feet on the floor, and decided she's had enough shopping for now. They exited the store and pushed her purchases into the bubbles.
"I don't believe this," a man was saying as he and another man passed by them.
Law perched up and listened to their conversation.
"They're holding another human auction today," the man continued.
"It's sickening," the other man said. "But what are we going to do about it? Nothing. The Celestial Dragons won't let anyone stop it. Besides you know they're paying off the navy to look the other way."
Law tapped his finger on his sheath in thought before turning back to his crew.
"What are we doing now, Captain?" Neo asked once they were back on their bikes. She removed her boots and wiggled her feet and toes.
"We're going to take all this stuff back to the sub. No point in carrying all of it around." As Law spoke, he pulled her legs over his. She tensed when he started kneading her feet with his fingers. "Your feet feeling better now?"
"Uh huh." Neo hummed. She closed her eyes, clearly enjoying the treatment Law was bestowing upon her. "Thank you, Captain."
The world faded around them. Law no longer cared a bit about anyone possibly seeing them and jumping to the wrong conclusion. He just didn't want her feet to be in pain. That could cause problems if they ended up in a fight. They got lost in their own little world and didn't even notice how quickly they had arrived back at the grove their sub was anchored at.
"Um, Captain?" Bepo's voice and the other two snickering, broke through the invisible barrier that had formed around Neo and Law. The two flinched when reality came back into view for them. "We're here."
Law cleared his throat. "You three take Neo's bags and bear inside to my room. Just leave them inside the door. We'll put them away later."
"Aye aye, Captain!" the three crowed. They gathered up the bags and headed for the sub to fulfill the order.
Neo and Law remained in their current positions. He continued to rub her feet. She continued to enjoy her feet being rubbed. Neither of them spoke a word.
A few minutes later, the three crewmates returned. Law nodded at them. They climbed back onto the bikes and headed back into the groves. Neo spoke up while they were returning their bikes to the shop. "What are we going to do now, Captain?"
"Scope out the competition," Law replied.
"Scope out?" Neo questioned.
"We're going to find a place to sit and see who all shows up here," Law explained.
"Who are you expecting?" Neo asked.
"Other pirates like us," Law said.
"But first we need to return the bubble bikes," Shachi said.
"Hey, Captain, you said before that this place is the way we go to get to the New World. But I haven't see anything yet that'll lead us away from here. Is there a passage somewhere?" Neo said.
"There are two ways to get to the New World from here," Law said. "The first one is cross through Mariejois. But in doing that we'd have to abandon the sub and pick up another one on the other side."
"We have to abandon the sub?!" Neo all but shrieked. A cold sensation picked and poked at her chest at the thought of abandoning the sub. "No! We can't do that!"
"Calm down, Neo," Law said placing his hand on her head. "We're not going to abandon the sub at all. There's a second way to get there. And that's by going underwater."
"Underwater?" Neo asked, the coldness in her chest faded.
"Look at the log pose," Bepo said as he held out his log pose for her.
Law grabbed it and passed it over to her.
Neo took the item in her hand and looked at the needle. It was pointing downward. "It's pointing down?"
"Fishman Island is located under the sea," Bepo said. "That'll be the route we take."
"I see," Neo said handing the log pose back to Law who gave it back to Bepo. "I'm sorry I screamed like that."
"Don't worry about it," Law said. "It's kind of my fault. I didn't tell you about it. I didn't think it mattered since we're going to go under the water."
"I understand," Neo said.
"We're finally back at the hut," Penguin said.
"Welcome back," the man at the hut said. "Did you enjoy the ride?"
"We sure did," Penguin said as they handed the bikes back over.
"Thank you. Have a good day," the man said as they walked away.
Law began to lead them all back into the direction of the restaurant they ate at a few hours earlier. The ruckus from pirates began to fill their ears, causing Neo to tense up. Law sat down on a crate and tapped the space behind him. "We're gonna sit for a while."
"Um, okay." Neo followed his order and sat down behind him on the crate, feeling secure as the others stepped behind them.
"Things are going to get a bit reckless from here on out," Law said. He looked over his shoulder at her. "We're right here. We're not going to let anything happen to you. Just stay there and you'll be fine."
"Yes, Captain, I know. I'm with you and the crew. I'll be fine." Neo went quiet after that.
Behind the two, Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin exchanged grins. They crossed their arms and settled into their protective stances over Neo as they ran their eyes over the pirates in the area.
Neo sat quietly behind her captain. She took careful glances at people, careful to avoid eye contact. Eventually, her eyes dropped down the ground and stayed there.
It wasn't long after that that a fight to break out amongst some pirates. The sound of clashing weapons startled her. She flinched and clung to the back of Law's shirt. She didn't like the fighting and wanted away from it. She wanted to go back to the sub. But, knowing she was protected, she obeyed Law's orders and remained sitting with him. She managed to pull her eyes from Law's back when he spoke to someone. She peaked over his shoulder to see he was talking to a man dressed in blue with an X on his chin and chest. "Tell me, Drake…how many people have you killed?"
The scarred man huffed at the Heart Pirate. He scanned his eyes over Law and the crew. "Trafalgar Law…I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here. You're making quite a name for yourself, Surgeon of Death."
Law smirked. His smirk vanished when he noticed Drake looking behind him. He then felt Neo duck back behind him. Bepo remained behind Neo and Law while Penguin and Shachi stepped to their sides. They all had their arms crossed and deep frowns on their lips.
Drake studied the situation for a few seconds before speaking. "Well, this is a surprise. I never expected you, of all pirates, to have a woman on your crew. She must be quiet special for you to allow her onboard. And she is a rather interesting subject. She doesn't appear to be all that strong but if she's on your crew I'm positive that's not the case at all. She so young, too. Isn't that dangerous?"
"Just move along," Law warned when he noticed Drake getting an intense expression on his face while trying to look at Neo more closely. "She's none of your concern."
Drake didn't move for a while. He just remained staring for about three minutes before scoffing and walking of without another word. Shachi leaned down to whisper to his captain. "Captain, do you think he sensed Neo's crystals?"
"I don't think so," Law replied. He kept his eyes on Drake's back as the pirate walked off. "But it might be possible for people to sense them and that she's different since I was able to sense that. We are around a lot stronger pirates who have sharper senses than the ones we've met before now. We'll just have to keep a closer eye on her. Don't let your guard down at all."
The crew nodded in agreement.
Neo didn't say anything as she listened to Law speak to the crew. She just continued to lean against the safety of Law's back and breathed while her eyes locked onto Drake's back. She hummed in thought.
