Thanks for your patience these last two weeks. Hope you guys enjoy the next arc and Charlotte's first adventure with the Hearts!~
As always R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, just the OC
Chapter 13
"Only someone who can easily move in the dead of night could have stolen the Remedial Core. While these four idiots gave no regards to Working Hours, I was able to catch them trying to escape because they could not see through the night either."
Charlotte's gaze drifted from the said four Heart Pirates slumped in their chairs at the defendant table towards the masked male speaking in the middle of the court room. Her lips pulled into a thin line as the male continued to speak. "Plus, all of them have been infected and are dying. If they had the core, then they would have used it to cure themselves by now."
Murmurs erupted around the courtroom, with many pushing to the further corners of the room, trying to put distance between themselves and those diseased.
"Quick, someone get the Remedial Core before they die!"
"We don't have the Remedial Core!"
"What do we do? The Change is here!"
"Find the thief and get them to return the Remedial Core!"
"We had one more captured—a female. She was the only one who managed to escape." The man continued and the audience quickly shushed for the male's deduction. "Seeing as how she was able to get out easily during the night. We believe that she used a similar tactic to steal the Remedial Core from the outdoor fountain a few nights ago while transport was paused due to Working Hours ending earlier that day." The boy continued, voice raising with emphasis. "What's more is we believe that these four were actual heroes who caught her originally. Her arms were in cuffs when we found her."
Charlotte cursed Law under her breath. This was all his fault! I told him that these cuffs would bring trouble!
"Isn't that right, Thief?" The masked man questioned calmly, eyes daring as he glanced back over his shoulder toward the huntress holding him hostage and at knifepoint.
Charlotte glare at the haughty kid and yanked his arms higher along his back, keeping him still and his chest puffed out. She scanned her surroundings again, platinum eyes jumping from gun barrel to gun barrel. "Don't forget that I have your leader!" Charlotte shouted to the rest of the local police force. The karambit reflected the morning night threateningly.
She muttered another curse under her breath. Her words doing nothing to help her case. Even if it did buy them a bit more time. The courtroom was still once again. Though the look on their faces as they glared at her spoke volumes. A message that the Judge gracefully conveyed on their behalf.
Charlotte turned towards the tiny, three-feet tall and completely skin and bone judge as he lifted the gavel that she had so adamantly belief to be too heavy for him. Goddmanit Target! She cursed again as the hammer rang loudly through the courtroom, and her sentence was announced.
"Charlotte, you are guilty of the crime of stealing the town's treasure: the Remedial Core!"
16 hours prior.
"Charlotte! Charlotte!" The calls continued and the huntress quickened her pace. Her cuffed hands balled into fists and her eyes burning. "Captain's calling for y—"
The cool metal hallways disappeared replaced by open air and a land she wasn't familiar with. The heavy sun burned against her skin instantly and air around her looked distorted from the heat. Yet the sudden change in surroundings didn't seem to surprise the huntress.
"Thank you for joining us, Hunter-ya." At the voice, Charlotte twisted on her heels immediately, making another beeline for the metal door of the submarine. She heard a sigh and her eyes darted up to see the blue circle still activated. She was still in his room.
"Shambles."
She stared at the unfamiliar land again.
"Hun—"
She twisted her heel.
A boot followed by an orange jumpsuit blocked her path this time. "Would ya quit with that already?" The taller and older man asked, frustrated and annoyed. A thin layer of sweat coated the bare and muscular arms that his boiler suit didn't cover. The sleeves were ripped off at the shoulders.
"Move it, Old Man." She shot back, chipped. Sweat gathered at her temple, and rolled down her face, curling at her chin.
"I'm not old! My hair naturally white!" Cole snapped back and Charlotte clicked her tongue. She side stepped him when he didn't move. Her body twisted suddenly, and the huntress shot herself a few steps to the side and away from the male and his reaching hand. "Touch me and I'll kill you." She hissed. Her glare matching his.
"Stop headin' back inside!" He hollered, pointing towards the door that Charlotte was going towards earlier. "How long are you plannin' on wastin' our time?!"
Charlotte glanced over at the five others standing on the bridge watching them, and her gaze settled on the only one not wearing a boiler suit. She couldn't help the satisfaction that swirled inside her at his annoyed look. His patience was also wearing thin.
"Are you going to try to leave again?" Law asked and he lifted his tattooed fingers. Ready to bring her back if she moved. The blue dome still pulsing around them.
Her lips slanted. "I can do this much longer than you can." His ability takes a toll on its user. The effects of keeping it up for so long should be getting to him. She should know.
"I can chop off your legs." He suggested nonchalantly and the pirates flinched at the thought of being diced up. Charlotte, on the only hand, only grinned. "I have arms."
"I'll lop those off too."
"I'll roll."
Law stared at her in disbelief with the rest of the crew. While they had originally questioned her sanity, now they knew that she was just plan stubborn.
"WOULD YA QUIT IT ALREADY?!" Cole shouted while kicking the woman in the back of her head. She actually did try to roll away! The kick only further propelling her towards her exit until Law shambled her back. This time she landed squarely on Cole, biting onto his ear as a payback for the kick. The two continued until Law got tired and diced both of them up.
The brats. Law groaned inwardly before resting his gaze on the troublemakers. A defeated looking technician and a frustrated huntress. "If I put you back together, you'll stay put?" He negotiated, holding the last one-third of the huntress away from the rest. The rate at which she managed to piece herself back together bothered him. Her adaptability beyond frightening.
Charlotte lounged in the air. The left arm barely attached to her propping the rest of her up, lazily. "What am I doing here?" She tugged at her thick scarf, widening the loop around her neck for better airflow. Beads of sweat curved along her breast before dripping off the top half of the boxed hole that marked where her heart once stood. Law had sliced through it in their earlier scuffle, leaving her with only half of the hole.
"For someone who wanted off on the very first island, you're rather attached to the submarine." He said, grinning when the resulting flare of emotions matched his expectations.
"Fine, you want me off." She huffed but made no movements towards the island. She lifted her left arm and her handcuffed severed right arm followed suit. The Hearts flinched at the action, not sure what was more off-putting; the severed arm, or the indifference on Charlotte's face as she manhandled her appendages. "Then take these off first. I'm not walking around some island with these on and all the attention that comes with them."
"Why? Ya dun seem to mind the cuffs till now" Cole scoffed and somehow Charlotte kicked him faster than he could dodge. The others in the lineup laughed at the unmanly yelp that escaped him as he fell. Even if she didn't show it, she did mind them. A lot. Sea stones cuffs were incredibly draining. She just hoped that she was building some tolerance to them given how long she's been cuffed now.
"And what will you do if I take off those cuffs?" Law asked, twirling a key around his finger. He didn't miss the way her focused immediately homed in on the small piece of metal. While Law didn't mind taking off the cuffs per say, he still needed to know where her motives lie after getting her hands freed.
Charlotte's eyes lifted from the key to meet his. "Surely, we have grown past this game of prisoner, haven't we?" She said sardonically.
"Captain! This is the stalker lady ya talkin' about. She's targetin' you and probably still huntin'." Cole exclaimed, jumping back up a disapproving frown on his face. He didn't trust her, one bit. "We know nothing about her! I say we keep her chained up."
Charlotte huffed, crossing her arms as best as she could given her circumstances. "Why should I tell you anything about me?"
"See! She's not even cooperative!" Cole exclaimed, pointing a finger at Charlotte who made a motion to bite it if it came any closer to her.
"Have we?" Charlotte froze at the downright tease in Law's voice. "And what would you do if I let you go?" He watched the way her eyes homed in on the small key. Her attention completely swallowed by its presence like a predator with a prey. "Like I said, I'd leave."
"Like that?" He nodded to the giant chunk of body missing from her right side. That was sure to draw some attention. The grin on his face fell when Charlotte easily retrieved the missing chunk with a swing of her left arm. She used her bound right arm to overcome the extra distance between them. She raised both arms out before her as if saying 'problem solved'.
The action confirming what Law already knew. The huntress truly was impressive. Easily adaptive was the only fitting descriptor. "And your heart?" He pressed and the group watched the huntress intently. Would she really just leave it?
Platinum orbs remained steady, indifferent to added words. She took long strides towards her target, and he surprisingly stayed still. The wind rushed through the empty space in her chest. An odd feeling that she had strangely grown accustomed to over the last few days. She stopped before the doctor and raised her bound wrists to him. "You can have it." She spat.
Law grinned at the response. He took a step forward, closing and passing over the invisible lines that they had quartered off as their own personal space. He invaded hers, close enough so he could feel the heat from her ghosting on his skin. His hands reached out towards her and unlike usual, she didn't pull away. Didn't even flinch. "Aren't you worried that I'll kill you?" He asked over the surprised shouts of his crew and his hands went past the seastone cuffs, inching towards the scarf now loose around her neck.
His fingers twitched to a still when she smiled at him. Platinum eyes clear and steady as day. "Nope. You already would have if that was your intention."
"…You were on the ship then." Law added afterwards, though he wasn't sure for whose sake he was saying those words. His eyes dropped to her chest, the square hole partially visible through the loose loop of her scarf and opened top. Sweat beaded on her skin, curving along her breasts and then dripping off the hole that shouldn't exist in a human's body. He swallowed thickly. The reality and weight of her life suddenly heavy on his shoulders.
"Will you use it to kill me then, Doctor?"
Steel grey eyes widened and his gaze flickered back to meet hers. To read what kind of expression she was wearing. To confirm what he couldn't tell from her voice.
But she had already pulled away. The space between them growing and the heat between suddenly missing. Law didn't understand the reasoning why until later. Wouldn't even question about until later. The behaviour would have triggered his curiosity and cautiousness had he hadn't been at so speechless. Charlotte had him, yet she pulled away first. Perhaps the pressure between them was too great, or perhaps she was secretly actually scared that he would say yes. Or so were the lies he told himself. Except none really quelled the odd feeling that somehow, despite getting what he wanted, he was the one who had lost.
"You witch! That better not have stolen the key, ya hear?" The white-haired pirate shouted again as Charlotte stepped in line. He quickly checked her over, grinning when he saw her cuffs hands empty.
Law glanced back at the key in his hand. The metal suddenly oddly heavy. He glanced back towards the retreating hunter chatting to the rest of his crew. Why didn't she grab it from him? Why did she just walk away? The thoughts swirled in his mind like tar. An oddity. She was an oddity that he couldn't quite predict.
"I'm a hunter. Not a thief." Charlotte corrected and turned towards the other, a bored expression on her face. "What's your name again, Old Man?" She asked, committing the annoying man's appearance to memory. He was one of the very few who didn't wear a hat; a red headband pushed back his white spikey hair. He wore an orange jumpsuit rather than the typical white one, except his sleeves were ripped off at the shoulders revealing his muscular arms. She eyed the two guns strapped to his body, one by his hip and the other thrown over his back.
"He's Cole Heathgrow. The technician and weaponmeister on the ship." Her eyes drew down the line towards the shorter male who was about the same height as her. He smiled softly at her. "And I'm Rike Owens. I'm a medic apprenticing under Capt'n's guidance." He introduced with a nod. The olive-green beanie over his strawberry blond hair bobbing slightly in the movement. He raised a hand to the others in the line. "And these are—"
"Capette, Penguin, and Sheep." Charlotte interrupted, nodding at the three she saw around her target back at Sabaody Archipelago.
"… Not quite. The Capette's Shachi and that's not a sheep, btu a bear is called Bepo." Rike correctly slowly over Shachi's pained cries of 'that is not our names' and additional attacks on Penguin about 'why does she only know your name'. "Though, you're right about Penguin. Penguin is his name."
Charlotte raised a brow at that. She had just called them based on their most distinctive feature. Hat, hat, and animal. She didn't think the words printed on the guy's cap was his actual name. Not that it matters. "And? Why are you telling me this?"
"Well, we haven't formally introduced ourselves yet and it'll be nice to finally get to know our newest member." Rike continued, flipping through the clipboard that Law had passed him earlier on when they gathered. He missed the disgusted look Charlotte shot Law. Outside of the look, Charlotte kept her thoughts to herself, feeling like she was finally getting some answers to her original question. "Since you didn't exactly, um, pack before, uh, boarding the sub, we're stopped her so you can buy some clothes and other supplies you require." Rike explained awkwardly, trying to find the best way to describe Charlotte's unusual initiation into the crew.
"We stopped here to buy clothes?" The words felt alien as they left her mouth, along with the small bag of gold that the young medic was holding up. "Isn't Sabaody Archipelago closer? I have everything I need already there." As soon as the words slipped into the world, everything clicked. Platinum met steel grey in disgust. The man was beyond cautious if he really ruled off a whole island simply because that was where she originally wanted to go.
Now the money made sense. He was paying for her cooperation for the inconvenience.
Charlotte glowered at the male once more before snatched the bag with more force than necessary and storming off the gangplank. "Fine, let's go damn shopping!" She was going to milk him dry.
"One milk please." Charlotte ordered, pulling a couple of beris out in exchange for some fresh bottled milk from the shop. The bottle almost dropped out of the shop clerk hands when she spotted the cuffs binding Charlotte wrists together and Charlotte quickly thanked the woman with a small smile and scurried away.
"A-ah, thank you for your patronage!" She heard the young shop clerk call after her, followed by a "Don't forget, young lady! There's only five hours left in today's working day!" from the older shop. She turned back to her daughter with her hands on her hips. "The sun's setting earlier and earlier these days… hurry into warmer clothes, The Change is about to happen."
"Will we be okay for this year's Change without that?" Her daughter asked back, worriedly. Her expression softened and the mother wrapped an arm around her daughter and pulled her close. "I'm not sure, sweetheart. We'll just have to not get sick."
Charlotte added their little conversation to her mental notes, and she reviewed the details she had gathered so far while they shopped around town.
The island they were on is called Kukonda Island, and they were currently in the island's most flourished city, Zāles. The city of Zāles held the island's greatest treasure and it was stolen a few nights ago. The thievery happened at a time where no one saw it happened: at night. A time where all activities ceased on the island.
Everything on the island operated in tune with the sun. While the sun was up, the townsfolk carried on with their daily lives as per usual. These hours were what they called Working Hours. The number of Working Hours varied per day and depended on how long the sun was up. When the sun set for the day, all activities on the island would stop. If there was a business deal happening, then it would resume the next day just like any other work. Nothing was allowed to operate or continue after the sun set.
Originally the tradition had started because no work could get done after the sun set when the island was covered in a blanket of darkness so thick that no one was able to see an inch before them. The reason for that being the island lacked any artificial light. It wasn't necessary to have artificial lights given how strong the sun was during working hours. And no artificial lights were ever built since, in part to honour the tradition and in part because it wasn't necessary.
"At the rate of which you're going, I doubt you'd find something before we run out of Working Hours." Charlotte commented dryly, unsurprised to see the Old Man still squinting at some random piece of chinaware. He didn't even bother to take his eyes off the plate as he barked back a response. "The hell is Working Hours?" Charlotte rolled her eyes in response, wondering why she was partnered up with him of all people.
Ah. That's right. She wasn't. She was partnered up with Strawberry Head and the Old Fart forced his way in under the guise of supervising her. Though, with how focused he was on finding proper plates, she doubted he'd realize her missing. She did just walk away to buy a drink. Hell, she bet he only came along because buying plates was on their list of to-dos. "Why are we buying plates anyway? Don't we have some on the ship?"
"Did." Cole corrected immediately. His voice thin and angered barely contained. "We had plates until someone broke all of them." He glared at her from the corner of his eyes.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. "That wasn't on purpose."
"Ya sayin' all 254 broken plates were accidents?!"
"I-It wasn't that many!"
"Two hundred and fifty four."
"W-who has 254 plates anyway!"
"We had 254 plates."
"No, we didn't."
"Yes, and ya broke them all."
"Did not."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive!"
Cole grabbed the shopping list from Rike's hands and shoved it at the huntress. "Then tell me why is that we only have to buy plates for food supplies?"
"Are you two still fighting?" Rike questioned with an awkward laugh as he returned with a large bag over his shoulder. Capt'n was right that Cole would keep Charlotte distracted enough to not run off. He split from the group earlier to purchase the second group of things on their three-topic shopping list: medical supplies. "I got the medical supplies from the list. How plates shopping?"
"See even Strawberry Head is faster than you!" Charlotte snapped at the other quickly and Rike released a sigh of relief that the huntress hadn't realized her missed opportunity of escape.
"Are you 100% sure that they don't contain a miniscule dot of dust?" Charlotte started, mockingly. "Or that they aren't the right shape and size for the meal? Or if the design doesn't match the interior of the sub? Or that there—"
"Shaddup!" Cole snapped but made no move to attack her. The large box he hugged to his back far too valuable and fragile for such aggressive movements. Charlotte stuck her tongue out at the explosive male, and he made a motion to bite her.
Rike sighed from between the two, feeling like he was oddly the most mature amongst the three of them despite being the youngest. "Now we got the plates. The only thing left is shopping for you." He interrupted.
Charlotte inhaled sharply at the news. It was finally time for her to enact her revenge, as childish and harmless as spending away all her sponsor's money was. She doubted that Law would give her all their gold to spend away so whatever little she had was probably miniscule. But the thought that maybe, just maybe, luck was shining her way and on the miniscule, tiny chance that this was all their money had the huntress engaged again.
Wasting no time, Charlotte snatched the much smaller bag of beris and ran into the first store she saw. Plucking out random clothes, Charlotte started a stockpile and made a beeline for the change room. "Dun ya even think about tryin' to escape!" Cole shouted a warning after the huntress.
"We should also look for some winter clothes while we're here." Rike continued, browsing through the aisle.
"Are ya kiddin'? Do ya not see how warm it is outside?" Cole pointed through the broken store window, not even caring to know why it was broken. "Look the ground is on fire. FIRE!"
Rike couldn't disagree more. As much as he valued information as a medic, he couldn't help but feel a little silly as he looked at the fur-trimmed parkas covering half of the store. The fact that the world outside looked as it was being melted by the sun's rays didn't help. There wasn't even a shred of a sign that indicated a snowstorm was coming. Looking at the giant parka, Rike felt his motivation leave him. He really didn't want to wear that. But the better part of his mind was telling him to listen to the store clerk.
"You heard the murmurs. The locals here are saying that The Change is upon them. I asked around in the other stores and apparently The Change is when the climate on the island does a 180 overnight. It's supposed to hit a blizzardy winter today. And the log pose will take a half a day to set." He explained, slipping his arms into a parka he had selected. He slumped immediately at the added heat.
"When did you have time to do that?" Cole interjected and Rike frowned at the technician. Even Charlotte deadpanned from inside the changerooms.
"Do you even know how long it took you to pick plates?" Rike asked, a shadow covering the top half of their faces.
Charlotte poked her cuffed hands out of the curtain to point at the stack of boxes that Cole had over his shoulder coated in fragile labels. "There are more plates in there than people on the ship. Why does each person need five plates when there are only three meals in a day!" She added, and Cole jerked the boxes away from the huntress's hands as if they'd break from her even pointing at them.
"I'll take a parka." Cole snapped his head towards the medic while Charlotte poked her head out of the curtains. "Are you insane?!" They cried in union and then glared at each other for saying the same thing.
Rike sighed at the display, shrugging off the jacket. He threw it along with the growing pile of clothes they were going to purchase. He just hates the rational part of his mind sometimes. "Would you two stop fighting with each other already and pick a jacket?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was he the responsible one? He spotted a fuzzy black long coat with yellow design. "I wonder if Captain would need one."
Charlotte was the first to disengage from the older pirate, slithering back behind the curtain. "I'll take a look after I'm done here." She announced. Rike glanced up at her with a smile. At least one of them was finally listening.
Inside the little closet space, Charlotte stared at her reflection with a frown. Finding bottoms was easy. The issue was finding tops that she could wear with her arms cuffed together. So far, she's made do by getting her target to chop off her arms whenever she needed to change or through cutting through her borrowed tops and tying a knot to keep the shirt from falling off. Neither were great long term solutions and the point of her shopping now was to find clothes that would work.
Tube tops were the only tops that worked except they did little to cover the hole in her chest and didn't exactly cover high enough to hide the scar on her back. The purple burn mark that was now reflected against the mirror in the change room as she turned back to her options. An intricate mark in the shape of three triangles and a circle.
Charlotte flinched as her Haki picked up more souls walking into the store and stopping right in front of the change room she was occupying.
Charlotte, Cole and Rike tensed at the familiar sound of guns cocking. The two Heart Pirates shared a look. They haven't done anything to draw attention to themselves. Yet. As far as they knew. So why was there a lineup of trumpet-shaped guns pointed at the changeroom the huntress was in.
"You are surrounded! Come up with your hands up!"
"…and if I don't?"
The group stared at each other, confused, or surprised at the response. Some of them shrugged and it wasn't until one of them spoke that they all nodded, attention refocused on the one inside. "We're armed and we will shoot."
"Then shoot."
"What?!" Cole and Rike shouted, flabbergasted along with some of the gunmen. One of them pulled on their trigger when the curtain shifted and that's when everything started.
A weighted web net wrapped around the center of the curtain, quickly capturing the curtain and the outfit that Charlotte had chucked at them. Squatting well below the shot, Charlotte darted forward, bulldozing over the two nearest gunmen before slipping behind the third. She threw her chained arms around the male's neck and twisted on her heels, throwing him over her shoulder. Then she was off again.
"S-she doesn't need us…" Rike muttered, suddenly feeling useless. His trigger-ready muscles relaxing as he quietly watched Charlotte handled herself against the lot. He forgets how advantageous Haki can be sometimes.
"No, she won't make it." He corrected. He's fought her enough times to know that she'll tire out quickly. "She's a Devil Fruit user bounded by Seastone." He reminded and fair enough, Charlotte's move grew slower, and her breath came out in harsh pants. It wasn't long before a weighted net latched itself onto her and she fell forward, face first into the dirt.
"Who the hell are you guys?!" Charlotte hissed from inside the web, struggling vainly to get out.
"The local police!" They responded as they dragged Charlotte away with them.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Rike rounded on the other, slapping him. "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
Cole turned back towards the other pirate and re-shifted the box behind him as if saying he needed to protect his plates. Rike slapped him harder. "There are more important matters at stake here!" Rike exclaimed angrily. He sighed in disbelief at his crewmember. "I know you may not like her, but think about what Cap't will do when he finds out we lost her." Cole flinched at that, face paling.