Queen meets Princess
Neo stared at her hands, trying to envision her crystals spreading over her skin. Nothing happened. Her skin remained dark as ever. Shoulders slumping, she sighed with defeat. There had to be a way to get her crystals to form over her body like back in Dressrosa. "This isn't working."
"Relax," Tero said. "You're getting yourself frustrated."
"Well, this is frustrating. Just like trying to get my observation haki to work." Neo tucked her feet under her legs. "Being in a life threatening situation can't be the only thing that triggered those two things."
"Perhaps it's more like changing the shape of the crystal itself," Tero said.
"Changing the shape?" Neo looked at her trainer then glanced around the crystal cavern. Elementals were busy making shields and weapons for the second day. With a hum she summoned a single crystal. Pushing beyond the wind inside of the crystal, she thought about her crystal body in Dressrosa and how it felt to change a crystal in this cave. This crystal was a solid force. She needed it to flow, wiggle, and spread over her body like a second skin. Minutes passed. Elementals came and went with shipments of equipment. With another sigh, Neo closed her eyes.
"You're doing it," Tero said in a low tone.
Neo peeked between her eyelids. The tip of her crystal had turned into a shifting liquid form. It wiggled like a worm making its way over the ground. Only this worm was wiggling towards her. She reached her finger towards it. Snap! The crystal snapped back into its full crystal form. She dropped her head back with a groan. "So close."
"That's enough for now. Let's move on to working with your haki," Tero said.
"Wonderful. Something even harder." Neo shook her head.
"No complaining. This is a great spot for you to work on pushing nature away from you." Tero waved his hand. "Get to it."
"Yes, sir." Neo brushed her fingertip over Cora's cheek before closing her eyes. She scanned the area with her mind's eye, searching out all of the elementals in the cavern. Then she settled on one, a wind elemental. Since wind was a clear substance she hoped that it would be easy to block it out. She tried to force it away. The wind in her mind moved away from her before snapping back into place, swirling around her as if it were a dog that didn't want to leave her side. With a frustrated growl she opened her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "This is hopeless! I can't do it! I'm too connected to nature for this to work!"
"You're not trying hard enough," Tero said.
"Then you do it if you think it's so easy!" Neo snapped then turned her back towards him. The elementals stopped working for a moment to glance at her before going back to work. Neo summoned one of her crystals and pulled a few swords from a crystal near by. They clanked together in a haphazard pile.
"Feeling better now?" Tero asked.
"No." Neo sighed. "Sorry I snapped."
"It's understandable. You're still emotional from giving birth. And this haki training isn't easy for you."
Neo turned back to him. "Why couldn't I have gotten one of the other types of haki?"
"You still can." Tero smirked. "I'd love to train you in those as well."
Neo rolled her eyes. "Of course you would. At least they'd be easier to work with. Trying to push nature away from me is like trying to hold Luffy back from meat. It's not possible."
"That guy is nuts." Tero shook his head. "I'm still not sure about this team up with him. From the trouble he gave you back on Punk Hazard I'm wondering what kind of trouble he'll cause us here."
Neo hummed in thought. The stress that Luffy put Law through on Punk Hazard came back to her. She was surprised he didn't have some form of an attack on his body or mental health. "I'm going to have to work on keeping Law relaxed. If not he might have a heart attack before this is over." She pressed a hand to her cheek. "My poor baby."
Cora fussed and twisted in his flowerbed.
"Sorry, sweet baby." Neo brushed his cheek. "I didn't mean you. I was talking about Daddy."
Cora calmed and suckled air before his eyelids fell closed.
Neo's heart fluttered. She could spend hours watching Cora sleep. She had in fact. She would do it more often if it wasn't for her training and over seeing preparations for the coming war.
"All right, enough fawning over your baby. Back to work," Tero ordered.
"Fine. I'll try again." Neo closed her eyes. She trained for a few more hours before finally giving up for the day. All she was getting from this was stress. And that wouldn't do at all. Law had already checked on her a couple times because of her frustration. And she didn't want to upset Cora again.
"Okay, we'll take these to the others."
Neo turned to find a couple wind elementals were getting ready to head out again with another load of weapons. "I'll come with you this time. I need a break from all of this. I'd like to check on the others, too."
"Of course, Princess."
Neo looked at Tero. "You coming?"
"Of course. It's my job to baby sit you until I can deliver you and Cora to the captain." Tero stood and dusted off his kimono.
Neo rolled her eyes and smiled. Tero would never change. And she was glad for it. She swooped Cora into her arms, settled him back into the sling around her neck, and followed the wind elementals up the tunnel. The elementals wrapped their winds around their princess and Tero then headed for the village the rest of the elementals and minks were at.
"Good afternoon, Princess," Wanda said as they landed. "What brings you here today?"
"Just checking in on everyone," Neo said.
"Trouble with training again, huh?" Wanda cocked an eyebrow.
Neo chuckled. "Guilty."
"You are working hard," Wanda said. "Don't forget rest is just as important."
"I know. Everyone tells me that."
"And how is the young prince doing?" Wanda leaned in to get a better view of Cora.
"As sweet as ever." Neo smiled.
"He maybe sweet now but I bet he'll be a handful when he grows up." Wanda stroked Cora's forehead then licked it.
"With a father like the captain? You can count on it." With a smirk Tero leaned against a hut and tucked his hands into his kimono sleeves.
"I know, I know." Neo nodded. "But I will curb it as much as possible. By the way, is Momonosuke here?"
"He left a while ago to train." Wanda looked off into their temporary town. "He's training as much as he can. A few elementals went with him. They're still guarding him under your orders."
"I'm glad to here it. I'm still worried about him being found out by Orochi and Kaido," Neo said.
"Fear not. We will not allow him to be discovered," Wanda said.
"Well, I guess we should head back then. I'm meet up with Law for lunch." Neo waved as she and Tero left the small village with her wind crystal. She placed them down at the edge of the forest before continuing on foot. The second they set foot into the town boarders they could tell something was wrong. The people were bunched together in small groups, whispering behind their hands and staring at something.
"What's going on here?" Tero asked.
A villager turned to them. "Queen is here!"
"Queen?" Tero asked. "Are you taking about one of the all-stars of the beast pirates?"
"That's him." The villager nodded.
"Why would someone like that come to a small village like this?" Neo asked.
"He's here to check out the food situation."
"Food situation?" Neo traded glances with Tero. A cold wash of fear gripped her chest.
"Tales of fresh food has made it all the way to the capital. Orochi asked Kaido to check it out. So he sent Queen."
Neo swallowed. All the information Law had gathered on their enemy came flooding back. Queen was one of the all-star of the beast pirates. He was also known as the Plaque thanks to him being good at creating weapons and viruses. And that was without his devil fruit. With is devil fruit he was an even bigger monster. Law's research gathered Queen's devil fruit was ancient zoan type that transformed him into a brachiosaurus, which Neo didn't understand until Law explained it was a dinosaur.
Despite all of the destruction he caused Neo couldn't help but tilt her head in amusement. No matter when they meet their meeting would be an ironic one. Queen was all about destruction while she was about healing. They were polar opposites.
"There he is." The villager nodded to the street.
Neo followed the man's nod. Her eyes widened. She was the polar opposite of Queen in more ways than one. He had to be at least fifty times her size and light colored skin. Obese with fat rolls around his neck, if he even had a neck, with tapering arms and small legs. He sported a thin, straight blonde mustache that matched the only hair he had on the back of his head, which was pulled back in a long ponytail. He wore sunglasses with gray oval rims that were strapped on his small face. His left arm had been replaced with a cybernetic one composed of a lot of rings, plating and wiring that she wasn't familiar with. His right arm had a tattoo on it. And he wore high-waisted overalls with stripes and simple black boots.
Several men flanked Queen. Neo could only assume they were his underlings. Her body tensed when they started shoving some of the locals. This was bad. She didn't know how the townsfolk would handle Queen and his minions. She hoped they wouldn't confirm the rumors of someone giving the people fresh food. But with her own family and now a baby she could understand why they would spill the truth. She had to do something to get the people out of the spotlight. It was her decision to give them food and water after all.
Squaring her shoulders Neo marched forward, only getting three feet before a hand landed on her shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tero asked.
"I'm going to stop this before someone gets hurt."
"What you have to do is get back to the captain." Tero checked on Queen. The all-star and his men were moving closer towards them. He lowered his tone. "You're not going to fight him."
"Of course I'm not." Neo matched his tone. "But I have to do something. I'm responsible for bringing him here."
"Neo-"
"No." Neo cut him off with a firm look. "I will handle this."
Tero dropped his hand back to his side.
"You should take Cora and go to the clinic. I'll-"
"No. I'm staying with you." Tero looked past her. "You're not handling this on your own. I won't say a word if you don't want me to."
Neo nodded. Turning around she headed right for Queen.
"If you don't tell us right now-" One of Queen's men grabbed a man by his kimono.
"Excuse me." Neo stepped up. "I hear you are here investigating rumors of fresh food and water being supplied to the villagers?"
Queen clapped his hands and spun on his toes with a boisterous laugh. "You are a vision! One of the prettiest women I have ever seen! But don't get any ideas. My heart will always belong to Komurasaki."
Neo silently stared at the man with a blank expression.
"Your hair is amazingly blue! Like the sky! Yes, you are a vision indeed!" Queen kept clapping and spinning. "But do not think that you shall tempt me away from my beautiful Komurasaki!"
"Uh, yea, well…" Neo cleared her throat. "Komurasaki is a very lucky lady to have gained your attention."
"This guy's an idiot," Tero whispered into her ear.
Neo forced back a nod. Idiot or not he was an all-star for a reason. "Now back to your mission here. I was-"
"Hold on!" Queen paused and took Neo in. "You're different."
Neo tensed. Right. He can sense my elemental nature. I've got to avert his attention. "You mission here is about the rumors, yes?"
"Who are you to speak to Queen like that?" One of the men stepped forward.
Tero tensed and moved to step in front of Neo.
"Hold it." Queen held out his hand to stop the man. "She may speak. It sounds as if she knows something about this."
The man held a glare but said nothing more.
Queen leaned in close to Neo.
Neo tenses, mentally hammering her feet to the ground. She knew she couldn't run. Her family was in as much trouble as everyone else here.
"What do you know?" Queen asked.
"I assure you that everyone here is still weak from hunger and thirst." It was half true. Her gifts had helped the people get back their strength but they were nowhere near back to normal yet. "If you have any doubts of this my husband is a doctor. He can confirm for you that the people here are still very ill."
Queen stroked his thin mustache twice before crumbling into a ball while holding his stomach. "It hurts!"
"Um, are you okay?" Neo asked.
"No! Not again! We have to get Queen to a doctor!"
"You. Woman. You said your husband is a doctor. Lead us to him! Now!"
"Her name is Neo." Tero glared. "Not woman."
Both men grabbed their swords.
"Enough." Neo stepped between them. "We will take you to the clinic. Follow us." She walked away with Tero tailing behind her.
"Are you insane?" Tero asked.
"I might be." Neo glanced back to find the men were helping Queen stumbled after them. She wanted to laugh at the sight of such small men trying to move a man larger than them put together. She wanted to tremble like a leaf in a windstorm. She wanted to run back to Law, grab him, and go hide in the sub until this man had left. But she knew she couldn't. She forced all those feelings aside. Once Queen met with Law everything would go back to normal. Queen would see nothing was out of the ordinary here and leave. He had to.
Though it was only a three-minute walk to the clinic Neo felt like it took three hours before the clinic finally appeared. She opened the door and walked in. Grunts and groans soon followed. She dare not look back knowing the men were having issues getting Queen through the small door.
"Welcome… What's gong on?" Topaz looked between Neo and the men at the door. She shot to her feet upon noticing who the men were. "Isn't that-"
"Yes. That's Queen, one of the all-stars." Neo kept her voice calm and relaxed. "He's come to investigate the rumors of fresh food and water being given to the people here. He suddenly came down with stomach pains. Would you please let Law know that he has a very special patient?"
"Yes." Topaz moved from her desk, unsure about leaving, before finally disappearing down the hall. A mere few seconds past before Law and Topaz came rushing into the waiting room.
Law looked at Neo then at Queen. "Come with me."
The men helped Queen follow Law down the hall.
Neo did as well. She wanted to go into the exam room with Law but the men stood outside the door, guarding it. So she passed on by and entered into Law's office. She placed Cora on the cot, protecting him with vines, while Tero closed the door. She then paced and paced and paced. Finally Law came into the room and Tero left. She dove into his arms. The stress of the day finally pouring out as well as tears. "Law! I'm so sorry! This is this is my entire fault! If I hadn't insisted we help these people then he wouldn't have came here! You were right! I shouldn't have done it!"
"Neo, it's fine." Law stroked her hair. "I was able to convince him the people here are still weak."
"Really?" Neo glanced up at him.
Law nodded, brushing away her tears with his thumbs. "And he only had a stomach ache from eating too much."
Neo exhaled with relief. "I'm still sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Law wrapped her in a hug. "We knew this could happen. And I was prepared for it."
"You were?"
"I always keep files on my patients. And while I don't typically share patient information, I did show the files to Queen. It held information on patients when we first set up the clinic here. He took them as proof that the people here are still very unhealthy."
"Really? That's all it took?"
Law nodded.
Neo's knees wobbled.
Law swept her up in his arms and sat down on his chair. "Tero also told me what happened. He said you stood up to Queen all on your own. You even distracted him from talking about your elemental nature." He smirked. "Seems like my shy little girl has grown up into a confident mama lion protecting her young."
Neo opened her mouth to reply but found she had nothing to say to that. Her eyebrows drew together as she reviewed all she did when encountering Queen.
"You just might be our best weapon against Kaido."
"Huh. I did… I really confronted an all-star without freaking out?" Neo squeaked and grabbed her chest. Her heart hammered her ribs. "What did I do that for?! What was I thinking?! I had our son with us!"
Law laughed. "You're just now noticing that?"
"Law! It's not funny!" Neo glared.
"I'm sorry. But you did what you knew you had to do to keep our son safe, and the crew of course. You have become a fierce protector."
Neo hummed and settled into his chest. Her eyes drifted to Cora. "I guess I did. I never thought I'd be so calm in a situation like that. Having a baby really does change a woman."
"Indeed it does. I'm very proud of you standing up to Queen." Law paused then added, "Don't ever do it again."
Neo glanced up at him.
"I about had a heart attack when I saw you with him in the lobby."
Neo giggle. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting him, of all people, to come here. Guess I was being naive. It really was obvious that Orochi and Kaido wouldn't leave this place untouched if something like health changed. They want to keep in control of the people here."
Law nodded.
Neo slipped her hand into Law's kimono and rubbed his chest.
"Trying to arouse me?"
"Nope. Just want to feel your skin." Neo circled his nipple with her finger. "That Queen guy was weird. He danced in front of me, telling me how pretty I was and all."
"What?" Jealousy bubbled in Law's chest.
"Yeah. He said he likes me but his heart will always belong to someone named Komurasaki."
"Komurasaki?"
"Do you know her?"
"I've heard her name a couple times before. She lives in the capital and is said to be the most beautiful woman."
"Oh? Really?" Neo pulled away and crossed her arms.
"I mean in Wano. And I have never seen her before. Even if I had I know you will be more beautiful than her."
"Good." Neo snuggled into his chest.
Law chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair. "You are so cute when jealous."
"The crew is going to freak out when we tell them I stood up to Queen all on my own."
"I think Penguin will have a heart attack."
Neo hummed. "Maybe we shouldn't tell them."
"You're going to keep it a secret?" Law cocked an eyebrow.
"Well... no. I couldn't do that to them. You'll just have to be prepared to take care of Penguin when I tell him."
...
"Is he okay?" Bepo asked.
Shachi snapped his fingers in front of Penguin's face. "I think he's dead."
"Oh dear." Neo pressed a hand to her cheek. "Guess I shouldn't have told him. Or figured out an easier way to tell him."
"Don't worry about it." Law leaned back against his chair. At dinner the crew had gone over their day again. And Neo had told the crew what happened with Queen. Every single one of them looked at her in shock. Penguin hadn't moved since. He remained staring, mouth open, at Neo.
"The captain's right," Archer said. "Nothing could have prepared him for a shock like this. My mind is even fuzzy."
Neo sighed, hoping that Penguin would soon snap out of his shock.
...
Author's Note: I'm going to put this story on hiatus for a while. The fight in Wano has started and so far Law and crew haven't done much of anything. Hopefully this break will allow the manga to get farther ahead and I won't have to keep trying to do filler chapters. As long as this stupid virus doesn't interrupt things again that is. Also this break will allow me to finally start the 'What if Neo went to Whole Cake Island instead of Wano to rescue Sanji' I've been wanting to do in my short stories for Neo and Law.
