Solar Crystal
Neo panted hard as she moved through the forest. Her vision bounced between being focused and unfocused. The trees and bushes blurred and slip into two before coming back into focus. Her body became heavier and heavier with each step she took. Her skin was clammy and hot. Sharp pains shot through her chest and lungs with every breath she took. But it was her hand that was hurting the most. It burned. She stumbled forward. Her crystals reacted to her stumble. A vine shot out in front of her and kept her from hitting the ground. She placed her hand on the vine and panted. "Wh-what's…wrong? It hurts…"
A sharp pain shot through her left hand. She whimpered at the discomfort. When the pain subsided she raised her hand up. Looking over the back of her left she found it was completely covered in a purplish green tint, her fingers swollen. Her eyes widened slightly when the color moved up her skin to her wrist. "Wh-what's…happening to…me? Law…it hurts…"
Her white and element glow around her flickered. She pushed off the vine and started walking again. She reached out for Law and tried to connect to him. She wanted to hear his voice. "Law? A-are…you still there? Don't leave me."
'I'm still here, Neo.'
"L-aw…it hurts…some…things wrong," Neo panted. She twitched when she heard elementals shouting. "They're…coming."
'I know, Neo. I can feel your pain. I'm almost there. Just keep coming to me. It'll be all right. Can you do that?'
"Y-yes," Neo huffed. She forced her feet to move forward again.
'Good girl.'
"Law…hurry," Neo begged. "Th-they're coming closer. I can't fight. I don't…want to fight…anymore."
'I know you don't. Just keeping coming to me. I won't let you fight anymore today. I'll protect you now.'
"Okay, Law. I…I'll try. My body f-feels funny."
'I know-does. I'll t-ke ca-e of tat one we tether again.'
"Law? I can't hear you." Neo looked up when Law's voice faded away from her. His presence was fading away from her too. She winced when more pain shot through her hand. Looking at it again she found the color was now passing her wrist. It was climbing farther up her arm. "Hav to…urry…"
She took another step. Pain shot through her back causing her to crumple to the ground. She curled up into a ball. "No…not…now. Have…to get…to Law…I won't…stop..."
Neo tried to focus on her wind crystals. She struggled to get them to obey her while trying to ignore the sharp pains shooting through her back and arm. After a minute of calling on the wind, her crystals finally appeared and began to glow for her. The wind wrapped around her body and lifted her into the air. Keeping herself only a few feet off the ground, she steadily flew herself towards the cove, towards her family, towards Law.
…
"How much longer?!" Law growled. He held up the back of his hand to them. The three men and bear in the room gasped at how far the glow was crawling up the captain's arm. "The pain is getting worse."
"We're almost there!" Kailen shouted while looking out the porthole in the room. "Five more minutes and we'll be at the cove. We're going to need the ship's engines working then. The sea creatures won't be able to go into the cover without having to push us back out to get out themselves."
"Bepo! Find Jean Bart and have him get the sub's engines ready to surface!" Law ordered.
"Right!" Bepo cried as he bolted for the door to fulfill his order.
"Hn." Law winced at the pain settling in Neo's back. "Not now. Not when she's this close."
"What's wrong, Captain?" Shachi asked.
"Neo's back is hurting again," Law replied.
"Her back?" Kailen blinked. "Oh, her wings must be trying to come out now."
"That causes back pain?" Penguin asked earning a nod from Kailen. "Would that be a lot of pain? To the point she passes out?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Kailen nodded again. "Sometimes a royal's wings do cause serious pain. But, in Neo's case, I'd say her suppressing her magic is what's causing her the most pain. She'll be fine once she visits the wing crystal."
"Another crystal," Shachi huffed. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Why am I not surprised? I really can't wait to see this place."
"Does everyone have the sleeping powder you've prepared?" Law asked, turning his attention back to Kailen.
"Yes, all but you, that is." Kailen looked at Law. He held out a couple packets to the pirate captain. "I have some for you too if you want them."
"I'll be too focused on Neo. I'll leave the elementals up to my crew," Law said. He lifted his hand into the air. A Room appeared seconds before his sword dropped into his hand.
"I figured as much," Kailen said with a nod. He tucked the pouches into his pocket. "Still thought I'd ask."
"So how is the captain supposed to get Neo to notice her solar crystal?" Shachi asked. He shifted his position from the wall. He now had his arms bent up and was clenching and unclenching his hands in anticipation.
"I'm hoping his connection with her will pretty much do that on its own. She just needs to look past all the darkness that's around the island and inside of her from all of the abuse she has suffered. The solar crystal gives off its own source of light. But it can be over shadowed, in a way, by the sun itself. She should be able to sense it like her other crystals," Kailen said. "I'm not sure that makes any sense. But that's how it is."
"It'll be fine. She'll be fine," Law said. He raised his left arm and looked at it. His own body felt heavy from this poison even though it wasn't in his system. Neo was really hurting now. He knew only her determination to reach him was keeping her moving forward. But he had no idea how much longer that would last. He could feel her hand swelling and starting to pulse with the pain in it. He pushed his sleeve up farther. The glow was now almost up to his elbow. He gritted his teeth. He knew if she were attacked by the elementals feeling like this she wouldn't be able to stand up to them. He hissed, "Are we there yet?!"
"Three minutes!" Kailen called out. He walked away from the porthole he was standing by.
"Let's get to it then!" Law shouted. He turned and led the way to the front door. He wanted to be ready to leave the second they surfaced. Reaching the door he looked over his gathering crew. They all stood ready to fight, all determined to get her back. Penguin was definitely the most ready next to himself. His subordinate kept twitching and shifting his weight from foot to foot as they waited.
Three agonizing minutes later, the sub's engines roared to life at the same time Kailen released the sea creatures. With in seconds, Jean Bart had the sub above the surface.
Law pushed the door open and they all stepped outside.
Kailen didn't hesitate. He immediately summoned his earth crystals and pulled down vines from the island. He didn't wait for Jean Bart to start pulling the crew towards the top of the cliff. He wrapped the vines around the pirates and pulled them to the island. Once the large man exited the sub, Kailen wrapped his remaining vines around him. Within seconds, Jean Bart was right beside them, being lifted to the top of the cliff.
"Which way is she?" Conner asked. They looked around the enlarged forest. "This place is huge. Looks like Neo has been busy here. Or does Luminous always look like this?"
"It didn't the last time I was here," Kailen replied, his eyes roamed over the over grown forest before him. "Her work is incredible. It's almost identical to that other forest she made."
"She's that way!" Law shouted before bolting off into the forest.
"Geez this place is extremely creepy," Bepo said with a shiver. He looked around the strangely darkened forest. It was like all of the colors of nature had been darkened a couple of shades. But it was the dark crystals jutting up from the ground that really made his fur stand on their ends. "There's so much darkness around here. I don't even smell any animals."
"I feel rather creeped out myself," Archer said as they ran. "What's with those dark crystals? They're not going to attack us, are they?"
"No, they won't attack. They're not that type of crystals. They're crystals that grown on Luminous. They've been taken over by the darkness, too. And I'm not surprised you all can feel the darkness, too, with how thick it has spread its hold over this place. I can feel the darkness trying to enter into my own body. We better hurry as fast as we can. I don't want to turn on you all. As for the animals, just like the elements, they're not good or evil. They can't be taken over by the darkness at all," Kailen said. "Most likely they're hiding from the elementals deep within the forests and in the caves of the mountains. Those that can fly or swim probably left the island. They all should return once the darkness is gone."
"The poor things must be completely freaked out by all of this," Bepo said, shivering again.
"Ah!" Law's scream made them all jerk to a stop. He dropped to his knees and grabbed a hold of his left arm.
"Captain!" Bepo cried. He knelt down next to Law. "What's wrong?"
"I-it's Neo. The poison is now up to her shoulder," Law reported through gasping breaths. "I can't believe how much this is hurting. Sh-she won't be able to handle this much longer!"
"The pain must get stronger the closer you two are," Kailen said. "That could be why it hurts so much."
Law growled. He peered into the forest. He said, "The elementals are about to attack her! Room! Shambles!"
Law called upon a Room and warped them away from their current spot. When they reappeared in a different part of the forest, he warped them again and again and again. The crew exchanged concerned looks when they had the chance between warps, but no one said anything. They all knew he didn't care about anything right now but for getting to Neo as soon as he possibly could. "Room! Shambles!"
…
Neo gasped when her wind crystals gave out on her and she dropped to the forest floor. She landed on her feet, but didn't have enough strength to keep her balance. She fell forward. Her already swollen and sore hand hit the ground. She cried out from the pain that shot up to her neck. "Ah!"
"She's over there!" an elemental cried out.
Neo pushed up on her uninjured hand. The glow around her was starting to fade as she struggled to get up. Her arm trembled under her weight. Out of habit, she placed her left hand on the ground to stabilize herself. When she put the weight of her body on her injured hand, an extremely sharp jolt of pain shot into her hand and up to her shoulder. She screamed at the pain and crashed to the ground. She curled into herself and whimpered. The pain was becoming unbearable. Her entire left arm was throbbing and hot.
"Finally," a wind elemental said as she dropped down to the ground from the air. She was followed by several others. A couple hundred elementals walked and flew themselves out of the shadows of the forest.
Neo winced at her pain while she tried to sit up and look at them. She got propped up on her right arm. Peering through her left eye, she watched as the elementals summoned their crystals. She tried to summon her crystals again. It didn't work. She was too tired to fight anymore. This pain in her body was leaving her too unfocused. She couldn't defend herself. It was over.
"Die!" the wind elemental said. They gathered their elements and fired them at her.
Neo shut her eyes and waited for the blow.
"No!" an unfamiliar voice cried out. Though she didn't look, she felt the ground rising up all around her. As she sensed the elements hitting the ground shield that protected her another, familiar, voice shouted. Just like it has before, his voice wrapped around her like a protective blanket.
"Room! Shambles!" Law warped his crew and Kailen close enough to Neo just in time for Kailen to block part of the attack. Law then quickly warped them again. He exchanged them with a large amount of the elementals. They disappeared away from Neo causing their already in progress attack to hit whatever he apparently warped them to. Although it wouldn't really do much, he still sliced up as many elementals as he could to cause more confusion among them.
"L-Law…" Neo cracked opened her right eye. Her heart relaxed when she saw him. More pain shooting through her back and arm caused her to clench her eyes shut again. "Hn."
Taking advantage of all of the confusion, the Heart Pirates jumped right in to their attacks. They punched and kicked as many as they could unconscious before the elementals realized what was going on. Once they came to their senses, the elementals went on the offensive. They started firing their elements at the pirates.
"Hey! Looks like all that training with Neo did us some good!" Conner said as he dove out of the way of a fireball then did a handspring to avoid a vine. "We're a lot faster than before!"
"Yeah, but don't get over confident!" Archer said. He was jumping around with his fellow crewmate. They were effectively avoiding the elementals attacks for the moment. "These people are way stronger than us!"
"Right!" Conner nodded. When they got the chance they dove in front of another elemental like Kailen had suggested. The attack hit the unsuspecting elemental.
"Hey!" the fire elemental cried when his fire was put out by a water elemental. "Don't attack me! Attack them!"
"I am attacking them! They just won't stop jumping around! It's not my fault they're slippery!" the water elemental snapped.
Law turned to head for Neo. He paused when he spotted one of the elementals wearing his hat. His anger built up inside of him. It was the one who not only took his hat from Neo, but also his ring. He charged right at the elemental. Grabbing her neck, he made sure to hit her head against a tree to make her unable to use her crystals. He hissed, "You're the one who caused her to almost lose control! Give me the ring and hat back!"
"Drop dead, hu-"
Law tightened his hold on the girl's throat, cutting off her words. His nails punctured into her skin. He pulled her forward only to slam her back against the tree as hard as he could. He heard her breath leave her body. "Where's the ring?! Give it back! Now!" he demanded. His eyes flashing with lightning and the threat of death. He slowly sliced his sword over her arm. The sharp smell of iron filled the air as did her screams. He sliced her arm again. "Where is it?! If you don't tell me right now, you're going to lose an arm!"
"P-po-get!" the Elemental squeaked.
Law could tell she knew she was in trouble without her crystals as her eyes filled with fear. Surrendering, she raised her hand and patted her pocket. He stuck his sword into the ground. He slipped his fingers into her from right hip pocket and pulled out the ring. He looked at it, to check for damage, and then quickly pocketed it before taking his hat back. Once his hat was on one of the two places where it belonged, he pulled his sword out of the ground. He pointed the tip of his sword to the girl's heart. He dug the sharp tip into her shirt then her flesh. She screamed.
"Trafalgar!" Kailen shouted. "It's not her fault! Remember the darkness crystal is in control!"
"I don't care! She hurt Neo!" Law snapped. He pulled his sword from the girl's chest and replaced it on another part of her body. This time it was her stomach. He dug the tip of his sword into her again. More blood poured out, staining her clothes, and her screams filled the air.
"And Neo needs your right now! Let the girl go!" Kailen pleaded with the enraged captain while simultaneously attacking and knocking out as many elementals as he could. He grabbed three elementals with his vines and tossed them against a tree, knocking them out. He wasn't sure the man would let go. "Please! Just let her go! Neo is the most important thing right now, right?! She needs you! Go to her!"
Law flinched. He gritted his teeth and growled darkly at the girl in his clutches. Lowering his sword from her bleeding body, he pulled her forward once again to slam her back against the tree, knocking her out completely.
Kailen sighed as Law stepped over the unconscious elemental's body. He was grateful the captain didn't kill her.
"Neo!" Law called out. He ran right over to her. He lifted her into his arms and to his chest. His eyes locked onto her left arm. It looked a lot worse than he thought. Her hand and arm was now completely swollen. And the color was almost to the base of her neck. He lightly touched his fingers to her swollen ringless hand. He growled at the thought of his ring being taken away from her. "Neo?"
"Crap! The poison is moving faster than I thought it would!" Kailen cursed when he saw Neo's arm. He wrapped his vines around a couple elementals and slammed their bodies together. He then called upon as much dirt as he could and dumped it on some fire elementals. He called out more of his crystals. When they started to glow, the surrounding leaves on the trees began to quake in response. The leaves became engulfed in his glow and started plucking themselves off their branches. Kailen had them spin around himself, Neo and Law. They needed some cover while Law tried to get Neo to awaken her solar crystal. "Hurry! I don't know how much longer your crew can stand up to my people! We need the darkness purified! Now!"
"Right!" Law nodded. He tossed his crew a quick glance. Some of them were already using their sleeping powder on the elementals. Others were still trying to dodge the attacks. Jean Bart was dealing with wind elementals. They lifted him in the air while laughing in early victory. But they misjudged his size and brought him too close to their feet. He grabbed their ankles and slammed their bodies together. He dropped to his feet with a ground-shaking thud while the elementals crumbled to the ground in unconscious heaps. Law turned his attention back to Neo. He cupped her cheek. "Neo? Neo, look at me."
Neo turned her head to his voice, but didn't open her eyes.
"Neo, I need you to look at me. Open your eyes. Do you hear me? That's an order! Open your eyes!" Law said.
Neo's eyelids cracked open in response to his order. He allowed himself to sigh with relief. Her eyes glided up his familiar hoodie before settling on his worry gray orbs. She managed a weak smile. "L-Law…you're…here…"
"Yes, I'm here now. I've got you. And I need you to listen to me. Neo, you need to summon your solar crystal," Law said. He tried to keep his voice from becoming rushed. He needed to make sure she heard him clearly. "Do you understand? You have a fifth crystal. You need to summon it."
"I don't…it's not there…" Neo blinked slowly, tiredly.
"No, don't fall asleep, Neo," Law said when her eyelids started to drift close. "Neo, I order you to seek out your solar crystal."
Neo's eyes opened back up. He wasn't sure if she was trying to find the crystal or not. So he kept talking to her. "I know you are really tired right now. I know your hurting. But the crew needs your help. They're fighting the elementals right now, but they can't stand up to them forever. The elementals are too strong. You need to purify the darkness that's controlling them. Find it, Neo. Find your solar crystal. Protect the crew! Protect us, Neo!"
Neo's glazed eyes cleared a bit. "I…trying…I won't…let them…"
As Neo tried to speak, Law noticed a small yellow glow trying to form over her chest. After several seconds, the glow started to become clearer. The glow took shape of a crystal. This crystal was different from her others. It had five double terminated shaped crystals. The main crystal sat pointing straight up with the four others jutting out at a slight angle while smaller crystals formed the base. The crystal began to glow. The glow then radiated out from the crystal. Law noticed his arm didn't hurt as much. He also noticed that the elementals attacks were starting to slow down.
"Huh?" An elemental paused. She looked down at the human man beneath her that she was pinning down with her winds. Her winds stopped. "What…what happened?"
"It's working!" Archer shouted. "They're snapping out of the darkness's control! Neo's doing it!"
"Whoa…I feel so strange."
"I feel like a dark fog is lifting from my head."
"I think I'm starting to remember. We've been taken over the darkness."
"But how? How did this happen?"
The Heart Pirates stopped fighting when the elementals pulled back from them. Some of the pirates remained in their defensive stances. Archer asked, "But where's the darkness crystal? Couldn't it still…?"
Before he could finish his question, the elementals screamed and grabbed their heads. Their bodies became engulfed in a dark glow. Conner punched Archer on the arm and said, "Did you really have to ask that?"
"Sorry." Archer rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I got a little ahead of myself."
"How dare you humans interfere?!" Atlas's voice boomed over the air. The pirates looked around for the source of the voice before the man and his son walked out of the shadows. "This is an elemental affair. You have no right to interfere! Leave this place right now!"
"I have every right to interfere!" Law snapped back. "It became my business when you attacked and took her from me!"
"What do you care? She's not even human. She's just a pathetically weak elemental," Atlas asked in such a nonchalant tone that it made Law want to rip out his voice box, shred it into a million pieces then shove it back down his throat.
"She's not weak!" Law snapped back. "You have no idea how strong she really is! She's going to purify all of this darkness! And then I'm going to kill whichever one of you betrayed her!"
"Which ever one?" Atlas smirked. "That would be me."
Law's eyebrow twitched. He pressed Neo to his chest. His blade glinting as he pointed it to the old man. "Well, nice of you to reveal that piece of information to me. I won't have to waste my time hunting you down then. I can just kill you right here and now."
"L-Law…" Neo squeaked. Even though her voice was low and weak, Law could easily hear and feel her fear.
"It's all right, Neo. I'm not leaving you. You just focus on the solar crystal and purifying the darkness." Law tightened his hold on her. His eyes dropped to the solar crystal hovering over her chest. He raised his eyes and glared at Atlas. "I'll handle him."
"You'll handle me?" Atlas smirked. His body became more engulfed in the darkness. His eyes turned pure black as the darkness flowed out over the elementals bodies. The elementals tried to fight against being turned evil again, but couldn't fight it off. The darkness filtered into their bodies and mixed with the still lingering darkness inside of them.
"Oh crap!" Conner cursed. "They're turning dark again!"
The elementals started attacking again. One of them hit him with a geyser of water. His body slammed against a tree. He coughed out blood before passing out. The rest of the crew began to dodge the elementals attacks again. One by one, they started to get knocked out. Some had sleeping powder remaining. They threw them at the elementals, but quickly ran out.
Law's eyes widened. His crew couldn't take much more of this kind of battle. He looked down at Neo. She was still focusing on the solar crystals, but the light from it was being over taken by the radiating darkness. "Neo, you have to try harder."
"She won't get the chance to do that," Tao said. He stalked up to Neo and Law.
"Stay away from her!" Law pointed his sword at Tao.
"She dies now!" Tao cried. He summoned his element crystals.
Law gasped when the elemental man called for a hundred fire and a hundred water crystals. Tao wasted no time in firing at Law and Neo.
"Room! Shambles!" Law shouted. He only managed to separate a small section of Tao's attack and warp it away from them. There was nothing he could do to stop this attack.
"No! I will not allow you to hurt her anymore!"
Law heard Kailen shout out just before the ground rose up around him and Neo. It enclosed around them, shielding them from Tao's attack.
…
"Kailen," Tao said. He stopped his attack, but kept his crystals out. "I'm not surprised to see you still alive. You were rather strong as a child."
"I guess it was too much to hope that you had died years ago too," Atlas sighed. He stroked his beard, his dark eyes piercing through Kailen. "You and your sister are such an annoying duo. If only I succeeded in killing her years ago, things wouldn't be in such of a mess as they are now."
"You?! You're the one who betrayed Neo?!" Kailen gasped. "Why?! You always supported the elemental royals!"
"Why?" Atlas laughed. "It should be obvious. I want power. After my son was born he shown he is a water and a fire elemental. He was very gifted. He should have been a royal. Why should all of our royals only have all of the elements and solar crystal? That's when I sought out the darkness crystal. I was going to lift my son to the top of the world. We were going to be in complete control of everything."
"And you just had to attack an unborn baby to do that!" Kailen hissed. His crystals flashed with anger. He pulled two large rocks out of the ground and tried to smash Atlas with them.
Atlas summoned his own water crystals. He pushed back against the rocks, but Kailen was much younger and much stronger. When Atlas realized that, he ordered his son to help him. "Tao! Protect your father!"
"Right!" Tao jumped in front of his dad. He used his fire and water crystals to push the rocks away from Atlas. He then fired at Kailen. Kailen lifted up the ground in front of him. Before he could react again, Tao appeared to his left and slammed his fist into Kailen's cheek. He sent the earth elemental flying. It caused Kailen to lose control and drop the shield around Neo and Law.
…
Dirt particles fell from their protective shield from all the hits that occurred on the outside. Law used his body to cover Neo's. He checked on her when the attacks let up. He could feel her growing weaker. The light from the solar crystal was fading away with each passing second. He cupped her cheek and turned her eyes to him. "Neo, fight it. You have to purify the darkness."
"I can't," Neo whispered weakly. "Tired…"
"Yes, you can," Law insisted. "I know you're tired. It's almost over. All you have to do is purify the darkness. Then we can get out of here. The crew wants you back. I want you back."
Law growled when the shield around them dropped back to its original state. He looked to see the majority of his crew had been defeated and Kailen was on the ground.
The elemental was struggling to get up. Kailen looked at Tao. He asked, "And what about you, Tao?"
"What about me?" Tao tilted his head and considered Kailen.
"I remember you. You always had a strong sense of justice. You were excited when we learned a new royal was going to be born," Kailen said. He noticed Tao's body flinch. "You didn't betray Neo. Did you? This wasn't your choice, was it? Your father caused you to become dark, didn't he?"
"I didn't-"
"That won't help you," Atlas said, cutting Tao off. He pointed his staff at Kailen. The darkness flowed down the staff and over to Kailen. "The darkness is in control over everyone here. And soon it will be in control of you, too."
"Ah!" Kailen cried out when the darkness engulfed his body.
"Oh great!" Shachi cried out. He dodged a fireball. "The darkness is now taking over Kailen!"
"We are so in over our heads!" Bepo shouted. He was running around the forest, trying to avoid getting hit by several attacking elementals.
"We have t-" Penguin was cut off when an elemental slammed him into a tree.
"Penguin!" Shachi and Bepo cried out. Before they could help their friend, elementals had them pinned as well.
Neo turned her head when she heard Shachi and Bepo cry out Penguin's name. She watched as her brothers get attacked and pinned to the ground. She looked to see all of her crew. Her family was being over taken by the elementals, even Jean Bart was being taken down by them. She lightly shook her head. "No…"
"Neo?" Law looked down at her when she spoke. He noticed the solar crystal starting to get brighter. He jerked his head up when he saw someone walking up to them from the corner of his eye. It was Tao. He still had a couple hundred of his crystals out. A thick dark aura was flowing around his body.
"Kill them both, son," Atlas said with a wave of his staff free hand. "I grow tired of this."
"Yes, Father," Tao said obediently. He started to stalk back over to Neo and Law.
"No! Tao, stop!" Kailen shouted through the darkness. He struggled to push himself up onto his arms. "You don't want to hurt her! She's a royal! You're loyal to her!"
"Hn." Tao halted.
"Attack! Do not disobey the darkness!" Atlas ordered. He forced more darkness into Tao. "Attack, son!"
Tao continued forward. He stood over Law and Neo. He looked down to Law while bringing his crystals in for his attack. He said through the darkness, "I'm sorry."
Law growled. He raised his sword, to do what he wasn't sure. He didn't have any attack that could help anyone here. He wasn't sure he could escape with Neo and his crew either. There were just far too many elementals. They were just far too strong for mere humans, even one with a devil fruit, to handle.
And he still had the poison in her arm to deal with. He didn't know if he could take it out of her without causing more harm. Or worse. He could kill her trying to take it out without knowledge of it. He was on the verge of hopelessness with Neo's solar crystal flared up. Law looked down to see that the solar crystal looked like a miniature sun hovering above her chest.
Neo shook her head. Through her labored pants, she said, "No…I won't lose them…" She then cried out, "I won't lose them! I won't let you kill my family!"
The solar crystal reacted to her cries and her will. Its glow flared up. She sent radiating waves of the solar crystal over the entire island. The yellow glow clashed with the dark glow around the elementals bodies. The darkness in the trees, plants, rocks, crystals, and everyone else on the island, started to fade away.
The elementals pulled back from their attempted lethal blows to the Heart Pirates. The darkness faded away from them completely. All of their hair and eye colors lightened up. Some cheered at being free while others stood around in a hazy confusion. "We're free! We're finally free!"
"I feel so good again!"
"I feel a bit fuzzy. But the darkness is gone."
"Our princess has set us free!"
"They're back to normal?" Bepo asked. He blinked several times before crashing to the ground in exhaustion and relief. "They're back to normal. And we're still alive."
"No!" Atlas cried out. He looked at the crystal sitting in the curl at the top of his staff. The crystal's dark glow faded. Soon the crystal was a pale gray. "How could this have happened?! I was so close! I have the darkness crystal! Our plan was fool proof! You wretched little princess! This is all your fault! You're going to pay for that with your life one way or another!" He shrieked as he raised his staff over his head. He charged forward, the pointed end of his staff ready to be plunged into Neo's chest.
Law clenched the hilt of his sword so hard it bit into his skin. His eyes glinted with a violent storm at the enraged elemental's threat to Neo. When he got close enough, Law raised his sword.
Atlas was so angry that he didn't notice the blade in front of him. He ran right into the blade. It pierced through his heart. He coughed up blood, his eyes wide and wild with desperation and hate. "No! I was so close! So…close…" The old man's voice faded off. His arms shook above his head. The staff fell to the ground with a low thud. Law jerked his sword from the old dying man's body. Atlas crumpled to the ground. "So…clos…"
Tao dropped to his knees. He placed his hand on his face. "Oh, Father…"
Kailen watched Law kill Atlas in slight disbelief before pulling himself up off the ground. With his right hand on his ribs, he walked over and looked down at the staff. He asked, "So, that's the darkness crystal, huh?"
"Yes." Tao nodded. "My father never carried around that staff until…well…"
"I never expected the darkness crystal to look so…innocent," Jean Bart said as he and the Heart Pirates, those that were conscious, started to make their way over to Neo and Law. They eyed the innocent looking round orb in the staff.
"Neo!" Penguin called out as he ran over to his little sister. He dropped to his knees.
Neo didn't look at him, Law, or anyone else. The solar crystal flickered before fading away. Her body went limp in Law's hold.
"Neo!" Penguin touched her cheek. "Please, be okay!"
"Neo?" Law dropped his sword on the ground. He placed his fingers to the pulse in her neck. He barely felt it. "Her pulse is fading!"
"Captain! You have to do something!" Bepo shrieked.
Law gritted his teeth. His heart and head pounded loudly in his body. He couldn't think. The poison in her arm had worked its way up to her chin. Even if he could think clearly he wouldn't know what to do for her. This was a poison he was unfamiliar with. He knew he still had to try. He raised his hand to form a Room. But before he got to create it, an unfamiliar hand moved in towards the injured girl in his arms. He grabbed the person's wrist and squeezed it as hard as he could. He hissed, "Don't you dare touch her!"
"If I don't touch her, she'll die!" the owner of the hand said.
Law looked up to see a short, plump woman with deep green hair, streaked with gray. She wore glasses perched on her nose and a white lab coat over brown trousers and a button up maroon shirt. If she felt Law squeezing her wrist, she showed no signs of it. "I am a healer. I need to act fast to counteract the poison."
"You people are the cause of all this!" Law hissed. He glared at her as hard as he could. She flinched, but didn't move away from him. "I won't allow you to touch her anymore!"
"Captain," Penguin whispered softly.
"You have to let me help her!" the woman hissed back. "If I don't, the poison is going to enter into her heart! Once it does that she'll die instantly! And she's to exhausted to use the solar crystal's healing ability! Go ahead and looked under her shirt! The poison is almost to her heart! Tell me, human, do you have the means to counter a poison that comes from a flower that only grows on this island?! Do you have the means to heal a magical creature?!"
Law flinched at her words. He didn't. He couldn't even stop Neo's back pain.
"Trafalgar Law!" Kailen said urgently. "Madam Healer Zinnia is the best healer we have on Luminous. Please, let her help the princess."
"Captain, please!" Penguin pleaded. Law let his eyes drift over to his subordinate. "Please?"
Law dropped his eyes back to Neo when she whimpered at the pain wracking her weakened body. With a deep breath, he looked back at the healer. In a tight voice, he said, "Fine. You may help her. But I am not leaving her side. And anything you do to her, that I don't understand, you will explain it to me."
"Fine." The healer nodded. She summoned her earth crystals. She floated five at Neo's chest and ten at Neo's left hand and arm. Her crystals began to glow. Through the glow thorns appeared. They grew until their points pricked Neo's skin.
Neo whimpered again at the pain and nudged into Law's chest.
Law glared at the healer. Before he could threaten her, she said, "This is emergency, on the spot, treatment! Pain is inevitable! Someone, get Selene to meet me at my ward! I need two wind elementals to fly us there immediately!"
"Yes, ma'am!" a group of elementals chorused.
"You all stay here and help the crew," Law ordered his few conscious subordinates. His eye then drifted to Penguin. "You can come with us."
"Thank you, Captain." Penguin nodded gratefully.
The two wind elementals wrapped their winds around the small group. They paused to look at Kailen.
"Go ahead. I'll check on the pirate crew then be right there," Kailen said. The wind elementals nodded then immediately took into the air with their four passengers.
Law tightened his hold on her to make sure she didn't slip from his arms.
