CHAPTER 30
Luffy and the Strawhats Arrive! Celestial Dragon Involvement?
Zoro wastes no time in drawing his swords and Ari takes a fighting stance of her own as well. The lids of the barrels pop off and one barrel explodes into splinters from the force of the person inside. Zoro immediately rushes toward the fight, but is flung back into a crate of stores by a rubber arm stretching out. The others hop out of their barrels and quickly assemble to cover their idiot pirate captain's mouth when he screams, "I'M FREEEE!"
"Shut up, would you?!" Nami hisses.
"Damn idiot," Sanji scowls.
"Luffy, you're gonna get us all caught!" Usopp whispers, looking around precariously.
Luffy chuckles his apologies and they continue their whispered bickering.
"Damn Luffy," Zoro grunts and brushes himself off from his fall.
The Strawhats... what are they doing here?Ari wonders to herself.
"Zoro!" Luffy jollies over to him and continues, "What are you doing here? Oh, hey! Ari you're here too, that's cool!" He chuckles.
"Yeah, looks like mosshead here didn't get lost for once," Sanji smirks.
"Dumb cook," Zoro mumbles and then says, "If you're trying to fight me, right now's a bad time," Zoro grumbles and frowns, "we're here to rescue somebody. Where's everyone else?"
"Long story short, it was too risky to bring everyone," Nami answers. She tilts her head, considering Zoro's words and adds, "You're not talking about rescuing the Fluttering Swordswoman are you?" Nami asks.
"Something like that, yeah," Zoro answers, glancing over at Ari. She looks away, grateful that he kept her secret. "Why are you guys here?"
"When the lovely Marguerite asked for our help in the rescue mission, we had no choice," Sanji explains, "her wish is my demand!" He spins around dramatically.
"What do you mean exactly?" Ari asks.
"Well," Nami pipes up, "she said that the Fluttering Swordswoman was an old friend of hers and that she was in danger. So Luffy decided that we needed to help." She shrugged and Luffy nodded to confirm her story.
"Marguerite..." Ari mumbles and ducks her head, considering this. I've worked so hard to keep my secret so that marguerite and the others wouldn't be in danger. I never should have told her that I'm the Fluttering Swordswoman. If I hadn't told her, she wouldn't have put together this crazy rescue plan. If those marines had looked inside the right barrels... Marguerite would have been captured too. Hell, with the story she pulled, the Empress and the whole island would've been implicated. At the same time, though... I am grateful for the extra backup.
"So how did you guys get involved?" Usopp asks.
"We..." Ari starts, "that's also a long story."
"In that case, let's catch up later," Nami decides. "Right now, we need to focus on the mission. Based on this rocking I'm guessing they've already undocked. They're moving fast, too. At this rate the island will be out of sight in no time." Nami frowns.
"We wont' be able to get help from the rest of the crew then," Usopp comments with a furrowed brow.
They all nod in understanding. They are on their own.
"Well, if we're gonna do something we should do it soon," Sanji reasons. He inhales a cigarette and a puff of smoke escapes his lips. He looks over at Zoro and says, "Do you have any idea of where they could be keeping her?"
"No idea," Zoro says.
"How are you gonna go on a rescue mission and not know where to go?!"
"You're one to talk!"
"Hey guys, relax, we'll figure it out," Nami says.
"Well, if mosshead here doesn't know where to go," Sanji turns to Ari, "Do you have an idea where she might be, Ari my dear?"
Ari considers this. "She is a very dangerous pirate so she would have to be under pretty tight security."
"In that case, they would probably lock her up below decks somewhere," Nami reasons, "let's start there."
Everyone nods in agreement.
"Alright, let's go!" Luffy cheers. Everyone shushes him and the group starts walking.
Pheo is on this ship somewhere. I need to get to her as soon as possible. She's in this predicament because of me, so it's gonna have to be me that leads them to her. Ari speeds up a bit to walk alongside Luffy, who is currently leading the pack to the exit. She turns toward him to speak, but when Luffy looks at her he somehow instantly understands and lets her take his place in the lead.
Zoro, curious, asks Luffy, "What was that about?"
"I dunno," Luffy shrugs, "I just get the feeling that this is important to her."
Well, if my suspicions about her being the Fluttering Swordswoman are correct, then it would be very important. Zoro's thoughts are interrupted when everyone comes to a stop at the exit. Ari grabs the handle and very slowly, very carefully swings it up to open the hatch. Everyone exhales a sigh of relief at the quiet, but immediately grimaces when Ari opens the hatch and a load screech overcomes them. All movement in the group comes to a halt, everyone watching and waiting for the sound of the marines. Nothing comes. Ari exhales an audible sigh and finally pops her head through the door to scope the area. Deeming it safe, she risks squeaking the door open farther and steps into the p-way. The others follow suit and soon the whole group is together creeping along the p-way. The walk carefully, but that makes their progress very slow. Ari feels an instinctual increase of urgency and picks up the pace. My instincts are rarely wrong and I don't believe that it's my anxiety making me need to move faster. She gulps at the thought and her hands shake as they walk faster and faster. Pheonix is in terrible danger at this very moment.
The marine salutes, running off to make preparations for Pheonix's execution and Vice Admiral Momonga grips Marin's arm again with a renewed fervor. "Let's go," he grunts. He drags her along the deck, when yet another marine interrupts him. "WHAT IS IT NOW?" Vice Admiral Momonga screams.
The marine is frozen for a second, but shakes his head to clear it and passes on his message.
"But why would…" Vice Admiral Momonga says, quieter this time. He peers around the island of the ship and pulls out his navigational telescope. Sure enough, the marine was telling him the truth. Momonga's frown settles into a firm line. "Have they tried to contact us via snail communications?"
"No sir. They haven't responded to us trying to get in contact with them either."
"Typical," he sneers.
The marine stands there for a second, unsure of what to say.
"Here," Vice Admiral Momonga finally says. He tosses Marin to the marine and continues, "take her to my office." Then he bores his eyes into Marin's and says to her, "I'll deal with you later." He shoved his finger pointedly in her forehead at the 'you'.
The marine takes Marin away and she is noticeably less anxious now that she's out of Vice Admiral Momonga's grasp, however temporary that may be. Another thought occurs to the Vice Admiral and he turns to speakto the marine again, "And for God's sake tell navigation to pick up the pace while you're up there!"
"Yes, sir!"
Satisfied, Momonga walks along the deck around the island to the bow. He stands there with his hands clasped behind his back, occasionally putting his telescope to his eye to check on the approaching ship's progress. He feels his ship lurch forward and in no time the island of Amazon Lily is out of sight and he can finally clearly see the vessel ahead. The two ships pull alongside each other and a bridge is dropped down and secured from the other vessel. A man walks across, surprisingly alone in his transfer to the marine ship. Momonga marches over and distastefully says, "What on earth could the celestial dragons want with my ship?"
The man just smiles mischievously from under his thick black lashes and says, "I don't want your ship. I want Pheonix.
The celestial dragon saunters across the deck to the Vice Admiral. "Where is she?"
If Vice Admiral Momonga was angry before, he was furious now. "You think you can just-"
"Need I remind you, Vice Admiral," he says coolly, "I'm a celestial dragon. You're a mere pawn of the government." He only stops to look at the Vice Admiral for a second before clasping his hands elegantly behind his back and continuing his thoughtful stroll.
Momonga grits his teeth. He marches in front of him and scowls, "And that makes the Fluttering Swordswoman's first mate government property. You can't have her." He forcefully places a hand on the celestial dragon's chest.
The celestial dragon turns his head down to look at Momonga's hand. Using his pointer and thumb, he removes it, like he would a bug or a speck of dust. He wipes the nonexistent dust from his palms, sighs and rolls his eyes to the back of his head. "I am the government. It would do you well to remember that, Vice Admiral. Besides, while I might not be a pawn, I still am here on orders." He flicks the Vice Admiral's nose. "And those orders are from someone much higher than you." He leans forward so his face is only a few inches from Momonga's and smiles smugly.
Momonga fumes with anger. Unable to find a retort, he backs away and responds, "Very well. You two," he calls to two nearby marines, "come with us."
"Moving, sir!" The two marines quickly snap to their side.
"Finally," the celestial dragon says. "Some common courtesy."
Vice Admiral Momonga barely contains his eye roll. "And you," he orders to a higher-ranking marine, curling his finger in a gesture for him to come near.
"Yes, sir?"
Vice Admiral Momonga says in a hushed tone, "Make sure the bridge has contacted them." He gives the marine a meaningful look at that.
The confusion on the marine's face turns to understanding as he remembers what was discussed in their brief earlier that day. "Yes, sir! I'll take care of it!"
With that taken care of, Vice Admiral Momonga and the other two marines lead the celestial dragon the rest of the way down to the brig in silence. After navigating through a scuttle and a couple passageways (p-ways), they come to a stop at the door to the high-security brig. There are two other marines present on either side of the door, guarding it.
"That'll be all, gentlemen," the celestial dragon says, waving away Vice Admiral Momonga and the two marines that came down with them.
"Actually," Vice Admiral Momonga interjects. The celestial dragon stops momentarily, but is clearly irritated with the lot of them. "I would hate to put you in danger so these two," he claps one hand on each marine's shoulder, "will accompany you in the pirate's cell. I don't know what your orders, but the first mate is dangerous. They'll continue to provide the protection you require."
The celestial dragon considers this for a moment and nods. He gestures to the marines guarding the doors and they promptly let him inside. Vice Admiral Momonga waits until the celestial dragon is out of earshot and with his hands still placed on his men's' shoulders, whispers to them, "Keep an eye on him. I would hate for the pirate to slip out of our hands so easily."
The marines nod in acknowledgement and follow the celestial dragon inside. The guards close the door and Vice Admiral Momonga takes a step down the hall before he reconsiders, deciding to stay close by. Something doesn't feel right about this visit. I remember a rumor that circulated not too long ago… there was a celestial dragon who got engaged, but no one knew who his fiancé was. Word had it that the girl, since she was kept secret, was very high profile. Considering he never considered marriage before her, she would have to be. But what if by high profile, it was in an infamous way? He looked at the cell door. Unlikely, but still. I can't shake it.