CHAPTER 32

Mystery Fiancé Revealed! Strawhats are Discovered?

The celestial dragon enters Pheonix's cell and two guards file in shortly after. The doors close behind them and they stand there in silence. Pheonix's head is still down and even though she hears someone enter, she doesn't really care who it is. The celestial dragon clears his throat and speaks, "It's been a while hasn't it, Pheobe?"

Pheonix's eyes instantly flick up and her face takes turns going from surprise to guilt to relief but then ultimately to confusion. She's speechless. It's a good thing, too, because anything she could have said in that moment would give away their connection. Instead, after getting her bearings, she asks him all sorts of questions with her eyes. He doesn't answer any of them. Instead he casually strolls over to her cell, leaning his forearms on the bars to avoid being overheard as much as possible. "Trust me," he says in a whisper so low she wonders if she heard it at all. He gazes into her eyes before suddenly pushing himself off the bars forcefully and shouts, "You thought you could escape?! You really thought that the government wouldn't track you down…"

Finally taking his first words into account, Pheonix realizes he wants her to read between the lines.

"…that I wouldn't find you…" His voice carries genuine hurt in it, but is masked by an overtone of smugness. In that instant, she feels a wave of regret wash over her that is even stronger than when she first left him after her rescue at Impel Down.

I'm sorry I ran, Ali…

"They will take you back…"

…He won't let them take me…

"…and I won't stop them from executing you, filthy pirate."

…He won't let me die. By this point, Pheonix's eyes water a little and despite her creeping regret, she smiles the smallest of smiles. In the simplest of words, she's relieved at seeing him again. She is filled with so much love it overcomes her. Her fiancé came to her rescue once again. She had hoped that all these years he had taken that time to move on. She never wanted to burden him with the complications of her past, even if he didn't know those complications existed. Hell, he didn't even know her real name. She made a vow to herself right then and there that as soon as this was all over, she would tell him everything.

Ari continues leading the others around the ship, using her intuition as a guide. She continues to walk faster and faster, feeling even more urgency than before. The Strawhats match her pace. Ari sees a hatch in the floor up ahead that presumably leads farther down into the belly of the ship, and instantly knows that's where they need to go. Zoro continues thinking about his recent revelation regarding Ari's true identity. He cocks his head and thinks to himself, Come to think of it, Ari never actually confirmed if my suspicions about her being the Fluttering Swordswoman were right or not. He risks a glance at her. I'll have to ask her about it once this is all over. And thank her properly. He smirks and recalls the last time she and him were at the cliff's edge together. Damn it, I mean to think her with words not with that.

"Hey Zoro why's your face red?" Luffy whispers and scratches his chin.

"It's not," he says and continues walking.

Nami turns to him and interjects, "Wait it really is red!" Usopp and her chuckle to each other as the group comes to a stop at the hatch.

Their laughs make his face flush a deeper red and Zoro clenches his teeth, trying to keep his temper under wraps. All hope for that is lost when Sanji looks over at him and adds, "You look like fucking Christmas mosshead," he puffs out a smoke and continues, "all lit up and everything."

This pushes Zoro over the edge of his patience and he draws his swords, bellowing, "You wanna fight or something?!"

Sanji rushes to him, legs at the ready, and responds firmly, "Happy to."

The two pirates finally realize just how loud they've been and they, along with the rest of the crew, stand frozen in silence, hoping that no one heard the racket. Everyone maintains absolute silence, barely breathing, waiting and listening. There's a small, circular scuttle in the middle of the hatch and the wheel that's used to open it starts turning. The scuttle pops up and the figure that pokes their head through to investigate is none other than Vice Admiral Momonga himself.

There's a distinct moment of silence as the pirates take in Momonga and Momonga takes in them. Luffy springs into action first, instinctively swinging his fists toward the scuttle screaming, "Gum Gum Pistol!" Right when his fist goes through the scuttle, Momonga slams it shut, turning the wheel and trapping Luffy's hand inside. Momonga hurriedly grabs the chains hooked on the bulkhead and, using the lock hung by them, chains and locks the scuttle closed. He stuffs the key in his pocket and slides down the ladderwell on his way back to Pheonix's cell. As he's running to the cell he barks to the guards posted outside, "One of you run to the warden's office and call away a security alert immediately."

Both guards look panic-stricken for a moment, but one finally springs into action shouting a, "Yes, sir!" before sprinting down the hall to the warden's office. Vice Admiral Momonga bursts through the cell door, startling the marines posted inside, and orders them, "We need to leave to a more secure location. Seems the Strawhats decided to make an appearance after all."

"The Strawhat Pirates?" Ali confirms.

Pheonix is sure she heard them wrong, but Vice Admiral Momonga nods in confirmation. Why would the Strawhats be here of all places? Is it possible that someone on the island knew my true identity after all? Or even worse that someone knows Ari's? Pheonix's mind runs in circles trying to figure out what she missed and if there's a possibility that her friend might still be in danger. If she's still in danger, I need to do something. Clearly, giving my life wasn't enough so maybe if I can find the right opportunity… then I can escape and find some answers…

Just then, an announcement booms over the snail 1MC, "SECURITY ALERT SECURITY ALERT. INTRUDERS LOCATED NEAR COMPARTMENT 6-128-0-L. SECURITY FORCES RESPOND TO THE HIGH SECURITY HOLDING CELL. ALL HANDS NOT INVOLVED STAND FAST IN THE PRESENCE OF SECURITY FORCES."

Vice Admiral Momonga reiterates, "We need to go now. I am not risking losing yet another valuable target again." He recalls the last time he encountered the Flute Pirates in the Florian Triangle on their way to rescue Pheonix. He also remembers how even though he stopped them from rescuing her that day, Pheonix still managed to escape from the government's grasp. That mystery of her escape has haunted him for years.

"Sir," a marine guard interjects, "the only place we could move to that is more secure than this is the deck right below us. It doesn't take them much further away from the Strawhats, but it looks to be our only option."

Vice Admiral Momonga takes this in and gives a solemn nod. He walks over to escort Pheonix out of her cell when Ali speaks up, "I might have a better idea."

Momonga's irritation is much closer to the surface now as he sneers quietly and responds, "There's no time. We need to move now."

"And we can move now," Ali retorts, "let me take her aboard my ship. The Strawhats won't even think to attack my ship and if they are after her," he points to Pheonix, "as I expect they are they won't think to look there." He crosses his arms across his chest matter-of-factly.

Pheonix thinks this plan over, knowing that this must be how he plans on getting her out of here. She can't help the doubt that creeps in, making her wonder if escaping is such a good idea after all. Especially with Ari's safety potentially in jeopardy.

Momonga opens his mouth to refute this plan, but the marine guard pipes up, "It's not a bad idea sir…"

Momonga gets increasingly irritated when the guard from the outside pokes his head inside the door and exclaims, "Sir, there was just a bunch of noise down the hall, I think they found us!"

Vice Admiral Momonga, done debating, "We need to go, now." He flings open Pheonix's cell, grabs her by the cuffs and drags her out from behind the bars. He doesn't bother looking behind him to see if Ali is following him or not. He doesn't really care either way.

Pheonix's wrists struggle against the cold sea prism stone cuffs as she's dragged quickly along the floor. I was ready to die. Pheonix thinks to herself. That was why I didn't struggle. But I'm not ready to let Ari die. I've kept my true powers a secret for so long, but if anytime was the right time to let the cat out of the bag it's now.