Aria shivered as the cold cloth was placed across her forehead. Her eyes were closed.
"I don't understand this." Hongo's voice was low, almost a whisper. "The bullet wound healed fairly quickly. I can't find the source of the infection."
Aria's lips parted as if to speak, but she clamped them shut, swallowing hard. A bitter taste filled her mouth as she thought of the secret she kept from Benn, the one about her braid. He knew cutting it was not an option, but he didn't know any more than that.
Benn's hand moved gently along her arm. "Just giving her medicine won't help?"
Hongo sighed. "Not as much as they should. If it's a wound, it needs to be treated for the infection to be cleared. If it's an illness, which I don't think this is, it needs something else entirely."
Aria tried to think past the burning sensation spreading over her skin. It had started at the base of her tether, creeping downwards over three days until she was too sick to move.
Maybe the bullet wound had just been a catalyst.
Benn let out an irritated sigh, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "There are hospitals on some islands. Maybe we can take her to one of them. Maybe she needs care that the ship's surgery can't provide." Not a blow against Hongo, and Aria knew he would understand that, but she knew it would cause so many more problems than they already dealt with.
The thought of adding to Shanks' stress made her stomach twist. She could see the exhaustion etched into his features, the lines around his eyes deepening each day. She knew being Yonko had been hard on him, though usually he handled it well. But with the addition of one of his crew being tracked by a scientist intent on killing or capturing them, he had other problems to deal with lately.
The day after Kaden attacked, one of Shanks' territories had been attacked. It was bad enough that Shanks himself had to take down the attackers. Shortly after, another crew attacked as they left that same island. That hadn't been so bad. Yasopp's group defended the Red Force, but it was still an annoyance.
She dozed lightly as she listened to them talk about asking Shanks about stopping at a nearby island until Benn's voice woke her.
"Aria, I need to ask you something." Benn's voice was tense, unsettling her. She knew what he was about to ask. He knew her so well by this point, that she knew he would guess this might be something a little more unusual.
She beat him to it. "It…might be related to my braid."
Benn's hand tightened. "I hate to bring that up, but that's the only place I don't think Hongo's checked."
"Her braid?" Hongo asked. She could imagine his confused expression easily. "Why would that matter?"
Aria took a deep breath before answering. "Do you remember the first time Kaden appeared and he threatened to cut it?"
"Yes…" The chair at the end of the bed scraped as he sat down. "I had wondered why he did that, but never asked."
Aria hesitated, her heart pounding. Did she really want to reveal this?
Benn spoke after Aria remained silent for a minute, his voice low and steady. "She told me once that there's something…different about her braid. If it's cut off, it wouldn't kill her. Not directly, at least. And she's never explained."
A sharp intake of breath. "Aria, are you human?"
She chuckled softly. "Yes, I am human. I'm just…a living experiment." Her eyes shot opened when Benn's grip became painful.
Hongo's eyes squeezed shut, his face a mask of controlled rage. The muscles in his jaw twitched, and his fists clenched at his sides, radiating anger more intense than she had expected.
Benn looked at her. "Aria…he didn't know that."
"Aria…where are you from?" Hongo asked in a strained voice.
She glanced at Benn, who sighed and nodded, and said, "Punk Hazard."
Hongo stood and faced the wall, his fingers laced behind his head. "I'm guessing you knew, Benn?"
"The older members of the crew have known for years," he admitted.
Hongo spun around, his eyes wide. "Years?!"
Aria tried to sit up, but Benn stopped her. "Hongo, they only knew where I was from. Not even Benn knows what they did to me there."
Hongo stared at her. "I think I'd like to hear more about this."
"So would Shanks apparently…" Benn muttered as the door opened and the captain stepped in.
He looked tired, but frowned as he closed the door. "I'm sorry for barging in, but I just heard Hongo yelling and wanted to make sure everything was okay." He looked at Aria. "Is this somehow related to you being sick?"
She nodded. "Yes," she whispered.
Shanks sat in the chair while Hongo leaned against the wall. "Then explain."
Biting back the urge to refuse, she thought. "Benn knows a little. I was brought to Punk Hazard as an infant."
"An infant?" Shanks' gaze sharpened and his hand idly rested on Gryphon. "Do you know why?"
Aria shrugged. "No. They never said. But I wasn't the only kid there." She tried to sit up again and this time Benn helped her, moving so she was leaning against his chest. "Kaden…he took each kid and tested us. I don't know how, but whatever result he was looking for determined which experiment we were a part of."
Hongo crossed his arms, his expression tense. "And you?"
Aria paused, then grabbed the end of her braid. Carefully, she undid some of the strands until they could see the smooth end underneath; aside from the lack of bones, it resembled a finger. "I was meant to be able to talk to the land, or people, using a needle they had at the end of this."
Hongo looked sick, his face pale. Aria quickly re-braided her tether, her hands shaking slightly. Shanks kept his sharp gaze on her, but his knuckles were white around his swords hilt.
Benn gently took her hand. "How do you mean, 'talk to the land'?"
"Um, I'm actually not sure," she said, shaking her head. "It didn't work with me. That's why they discarded me."
Shanks closed his eyes and Hongo looked almost murderous.
"Aria, I'm afraid I might have to look at it then," Hongo said after a minute. "If you have a wound we can't find and that's the only area I haven't seen, it would make sense the wound is there."
Aria groaned softly, hating the idea, but she knew he was right. "Fine. Just…I already know where the wound is."
Shanks leaned back. "And you've known for how long?"
Feeling Benn's glare burning the back of her head, Aria answered, "Two days." When all three men were glaring, she closed her eyes. "This isn't something I exactly wanted to reveal, alright?" she retorted weakly.
"Aria, I want Hongo to look at that, okay?" Shanks' voice was firm but gentle. He met her gaze, his eyes filled with concern. "I understand why you didn't say anything, but you've already got a fever. If this gets much worse, you could die."
Aria nodded as Benn's arms tightened around her.
Shanks gave her a significant look, then left.
Benn ran a hand down her side. "It would be better to look at it now. Do you need to undo the whole braid to find the spot?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Hongo glared at her, though she knew he wasn't mad at her. "I would like to move you to the surgery, but I doubt you want anyone walking in on us. As long as it's something I can treat here, I won't make you move."
When he left, Aria scooted forward and started working the strands apart.
Benn watched her for a while. When the deeper red of her braid was completely undone, he ran his hand down the tether. "This explains why your braid was always so heavy."
She fidgeted with some of the strands laying in her lap. "It's synthetic, but it's skin, muscle, and nerves." She paused. "I'd give anything to have it removed…"
"Is that possible?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. At least, no one in a regular hospital could do it. They would have to be a scientist, or close to it, to understand how to remove it without causing a reaction." She had expected Benn to be disturbed by the bare tether, but he didn't seem bothered.
"You said that whatever they wanted you to do didn't work. But you made it sound like you could do something else," he commented after a minute.
Aria wasn't surprised Benn picked up on that. "I used to be able to…I guess I can describe it as 'tasting' emotions and people." He raised an eyebrow and she gave a small smile. "It's how I knew everyone's moods so well. Depending on the taste around a person, or in the room, I knew when someone was angry or upset, or just stupid-drunk."
He laughed at that. "No wonder you always knew when to have me take Shanks back to the ship." He frowned. "But you said you used to?"
She nodded once. "Yes. I haven't been able to since…since you rescued me from prison." His eyes widened. "I haven't been able to taste anything since then."
He pulled her close and she relaxed against his shoulder. "I understand why you never said anything, but I wish you would've told me."
Hongo returned with a large medical kit, his expression grim. "You may want to lay down while I do this," he advised, carefully arranging his tools on the dresser without meeting her eyes. "Benn, I'm going to need you to hold her still."
Aria waited as Benn shifted around, then laid her head on his leg. Hongo's sharp intake of breath was barely audible, but Aria heard it. His fingers moved along her tether with a delicate touch, as if afraid to cause more pain.
Benn rubbed her arm as Hongo worked, his gaze fixed on her.
"Aria, do you have blood in this…?" Hongo's voice trailed off uncertainly
"No. Just skin, muscle, and nerves," she answered.
There was a hum. "There's a few cuts, but just under the…base, I guess, is an old wound that I don't believe ever healed." The perplexed tone was not something she was used to hearing from him.
She winced as he touched it. Benn's hand squeezed her arm gently.
"I need to open it to clean it, alright?" Hongo asked. Aria nodded, a quiet gasp escaping her as the scalpel sliced through the sensitive skin. There was a cold trickle through her hair but in the next moment she squeezed her eyes shut at the torrent of tastes that bombarded her.
Smoke, ash, disinfectant, pure alcohol, faint cedar, pine, a mellow warmth, sharp citrus leaking through the door. Her head spun from all the tastes and she wrapped an arm around Benn's waist, trying not to bolt up.
It took her several heartbeats to relax enough to realize Benn was speaking softly.
"Aria, it's alright," he soothed, his hand rubbing down her side. A warm, sweet taste came from him, mixed with ash and smoke and tobacco.
Movement on her tether made her pull her focus to the alcohol and pine tastes behind her. Hongo stepped away after a second. "I think you got that cut in prison, Aria. It was a buildup of stone dust."
A buildup of stone dust? But how had she not noticed it before?
Hongo must have read her thoughts as he explained, "You said there are nerves, but doesn't mean you noticed a cut during your time there that got dirty. But without blood, it couldn't move through your system and make you sick much earlier."
"But why did it take so long to make me sick then?" she asked, her voice shaking.
She heard Hongo move things back to his kit as he talked. "Not sure. Maybe you got another wound, opened it but your braid prevented it from being drained, or it just took a shock to your system to finally trigger it." An astringent, antiseptic taste rose out but disappeared as the kit snapped closed.
A wry smile tugged at her lips. Maybe the bullet wound had been the catalyst after all, just as she suspected.
"Get some rest for now. I'll check on you later. I won't give Shanks any specifics, but I'll tell him that we found the problem," Hongo said. A hint of cloves, and something almost bitter.
Aria sat up with Benn's help and nodded. "Thanks Hongo."
He smiled at her, then left, closing the door tightly behind him.
Aria winced as Benn wrapped his arms around her tightly.
He let go after a moment, tilting her chin up to meet his intense gaze. "Aria, next time something happens like this, please tell me." The taste of cloves blossomed out strongly.
She blinked and laid her face against his neck. "Of course." She stayed like that for a minute, then sat up to redo her braid.
Benn stopped her. "Let me," he said, moving behind her and gently taking the strands. "Just try to relax, okay?"
She did more than relax; she woke up when she fell back onto Benn's chest.
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Sleep. I can finish this while you rest, okay?"
She didn't hesitate to lay down, her back to him as he worked on the braid. She was asleep almost instantly, but heard him chuckle again before she was dragged under.