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“I tell you, there is someone in that pond!”
“Don´t be ridiculous, how can someone be in a pond?”
“I swear I saw a face!”
“You drank too much of the bad Sake.”
“I. Am. Not. Drunk.”
“Whatever. Let´s get back to the others.”
“Fine! But I tell you I am not imagining things.”
Another twenty minutes or so went by before the woman dared to come closer to the surface, and another two before she stuck her head out and looked around.
For two weeks, she was stuck in that pond, now after a heavy storm had swept her in. Two weeks of trial and error of getting out of it and back to the ocean. But until now, she had no luck. The forest floor was impossible to manage with her haven turned into Ariel.
Nearly two months ago, her crew had been attacked by some other Pirate, who had somehow managed to get a hold of her (definitely using a Devilfruit) in an attempt to stop them from decimating their ship. When the enemy Captain realized they lost, he forced a Devilfruit down her throat and threw her into the water, where a strong current took hold of her. It was too strong for her First Mate to reach her, and so the last thing he saw was his outstretched hand, and the last thing she heard was his desperate scream when he realized he was unable to reach her.
Her heart clenched when she thought about her Crew. They might have been Assholes and a huge bunch of dicks when she first met them, but they had become akin to brothers or at least friends to her. She knew they must believe her dead. She should be. But somehow her Fruit did not make her weak to water, but turned her into a Mermaid. A Mermaid that was stuck in a pond of a desolated Island that was now crawling with possibly enemy Pirates or worse Marines.
At least there was a Peach Tree at the edge of the pond she had been able to eat from, but that one was now empty. Her previous guests must have picked the rest.
“Well Fuck.” she grumbled, and once again, tears fell, and sobs shook her body.
At least the sky had been beautiful the last nights, something similar to the northern lights was visible, and more than once she had caught herself thinking dying would not be as ugly with those views. But she could not go out without a fight and disappoint her crew like that after all. Not that she would ever be able to find them again, stuck on an island. And even though she would get off, the Grandline was too huge for her to find them without help or by accident.
Staring up at the moving curtains of light, she realized too late that someone was approaching her pond. Only when a branch snapped a few meters away from her did she jerk up and scramble into the water. But it had been too late. Whoever had been walking to the pond had seen her and jumped forward to get a hold of her and succeeded. Now her upper body was under the water while her tail was still on land with someone lying on top of it, arms around her hips.
Panicked, she wiggled and turned, trying to get free, but to no avail.
“FUCK! LET GO OF ME!!”, she cried out under the water, her hands pushing away from the edges of the pond.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she managed to get into the water, but someone was still clutching her sides, only letting go of her when she had reached a depth of around five meters, with over twenty more to go.
She knew now it would be impossible for her to get away. The visitors knew of her (being a Mermaid) now. But she would not be taken out without a fight, not with her ´home turf´ advantage.
“Why are you all wet-yoi?” the second in command sighed, amused upon seeing one of his brothers stumble back into the light of the fires of their Party.
“I fell into a pond, but that is not important.”
“Then what is- yoi?”
“There is a Mermaid in the Pond. I caught her, but she got away.”
“A Mermaid in a Pond?”
“Yes. I thought I had seen her when we found the Peaches, but Oskar did not believe me. So I went back to find evidence, and there she was lying on the edge. I managed to catch her, but she pulled me into the water, and that water is deep!”
“Of course she would pull you in! You idiot probably scared the shit out of her. And what is a Mermaid even doing all the way out here? We are nowhere near Fishmenisland.”
“I think she had a collar on. But not one of those exploding ones.”
“An escaped slave?” This time, it was their Father and Captain asking, “Namur will take a look at the pond tomorrow. Maybe seeing a Fishman will get her trust, at least he can talk to her underwater.”
“Aye Pops.”
A splash awoke her from her short nap in the middle of some seagrass.
Someone or something had just entered her pond. Still trying to figure out what it was, she screamed when a hand landed on her shoulder. As fast as possible, she turned around and swam to the far end of the pond.
The someone who had entered her pond was a shark- person with an eight on his neck. His hands were raised in surrender.
“What´s your name?” he asked her.
“-”
“We mean no harm. I am Namur.”
She simply squinted her eyes at him.
“How did you end up in this pond? You are very far from Fishmen-island. That collar around your neck. Were you a slave?” he continued his questioning, but she still did not answer him.
“We can get you out of here and back to Fishmen-island or another one of Pops' islands. Whoever did this to you cannot reach you anymore,” he motioned to her collar again,” Pops and all of us hate slavers and slave-masters. That shirt of yours, the Jolly Roger on it. That´s a Rookie Crew, right? What is their Captain called again? Kid? He won´t stand a chance against Po-”
“Leave them alone,” she shouted, her emotions having gotten the better of her. Fearing she had said too much, she swam as fast as she could and hid in a small crook only visible when someone was already inside of it.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!! I said too much! Nonononononono.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“And?”
“There is a mermaid in there. She did not trust me, understandable, and did not answer any of my questions. She also must have been in there for quite a while, her bones started showing, and I guess the only food she had were the Peaches growing close to the edge. But Oskar and Timmee picked that tree empty.”
“So she will starve if she stays in there any longer. Did you find out where she came from?”
“Not really. She is wearing a shirt with a Jolly Roger on it. When I told her she would be safe with us and those Rookies would not stand a chance, she told me to leave them out of it, froze in shock, and hid. I was not able to find her hiding spot.”
“What Rookie Crew- yoi?”
“The one with the two Supernovas, Eustass Captain Kidd and Massacre soldier Killer.”
“Does she have blond hair, green eyes, some earrings, and a leather collar with dark red ribbons in it?”, Izou, another Division Commander, suddenly piped up.
“Ye- How did you know that?”
“A few months ago, I was in the same bar with some of my Division as the Kidd Pirates. They had with them a woman answering to ´Slave´. When I questioned her in the ladies' bathroom, it turned out they were doing that little game to protect her. The massacre soldier even offered to get her stuff for her period from the ship when he came looking for her to make sure she was safe. The whole crew was protective of her, we realized later, “the Geisha explained.
“You said woman, son.”
“I did, because back then she had legs. And I never heard of someone able to turn legs into tails. And if she was able to, why didn´t she do that to leave the pond?”
“Stranger things happened on the Grandline. Do you think you can talk to her? You are a known face after all, you.”
“I can try. And I will dive if I must. Now, do we have some Peaches left?”
Cramps of hunger were what brought her back to the surface. She had not eaten in three days, and somehow a few peaches were bobbing up and down on the surface. The shadow sitting on the edge must have thrown them in to lure her out. And it was working. A shadow that looked more and more like a Geisha the closer she came to the surface.
“No one is born a slave. And no one should have to listen to that. Pops and us hate Slavers and Masters,” she remembered all of a sudden, finally realizing why the words spoken by the shark the day prior had sounded so familiar. Months back at a bar, she had been cornered by a man wearing a Geisha costume, telling her the exact words she had just remembered, offering to get her away from her crew, only to be interrupted by a worried Killer.
“I- Izou?”, she whispered once her head had breached the surface.
“Long time no see. How are you doing?”
“-”
“That good, huh? What do you say to coming out of the water so we can talk better, and I can see how you are really doing? Namur said you looked skinny, so I brought you some food and fresh water to drink.” They offered with an inviting smile, “Well, Namur lied. You are not at the beginning of getting skinny; you already are too skinny. How long have you been in there?”
“Two weeks, give or take. A storm washed me in, and I can´t get through those bushes,” she sighed.
“Where is your Crew? When we first met, they were awfully protective of you. And now no sign anywhere.”
“We got separated over two months ago, when some Asshole with a fruit attacked us, shoved another one down my throat when it was obvious they stood no chance against us, and threw me into the ocean as a distraction. Killer tried saving my ass, but a current dragged me away. I hear his desperate scream every time I close my eyes. They think I am dead. I should be dead. But here it sits, lay, or whatever you want to call this, turned into a Mermaid. However, that beats being dead still.”
“That's for sure. Do you feel ready to meet Pops or some of my siblings? I bet Marco would like to check you for injuries, Thatch feed you half of our kitchen, and Pops ask you some questions about your unusual situation.”
“Guess so. A doctor wouldn´t be too bad, I am sure, and your Pops is your Captain, right? So I would have to talk to him at one point. Especially after I nearly drowned one of his crew,” Mo mumbled.
“Timmee should have known better than to do what he did. Pops knows that. Now, how do we get you out of here, I wonder? Wait here. I get someone bigger to carry you over the stupid underbrush, I could try, but then your tail will get stuck, I believe.”
“I just want to get out of here,” she sighed in approval.
“Then give me a moment, and I'll get one of my bigger brothers.”
A month had gone by.
A month where she slowly reintroduced food and gained some weight. The pale blue scales of her tail had become more vibrant, some shimmering in reds and violets.
And yet, while her body healed, her mind did not. She was sad, depressed even. Before the incident, she had been taking care of the kitchen with Killer and helping in the medbay or wherever help was needed. Now she would not be able to do that, unable to climb stairs with her tail, the Punk only had one place for her: the deck.
I was pretty much useless before. But now?
“Guess I can at least save the Captain when he goes for a dip again. If they take me back, that is,” she whispered at the stars shining above her, “It would save Kills a lot of trouble.”
Little sobs shook her body until she fell asleep. Only to be awoken by an urge and tug in her chest.
“What the...”, she mumbled, the tug was pulling her towards the Starboard railing, like a hook had caught her and now an invisible force was reeling her in towards a point within the horizon.
Going against her better judgment, she followed the pull and dove into the never-ending blue of the ocean. The more she swam, the stronger and more urgent the pull became. Like the power was telling her to hurry up. And hurry up she did, when in the distance she recognized a pale form surrounded by blue ropes.
“HEAT!”, she screamed, her voice carrying through the water, “HEAT! Please be alive.”
He was. Weak but alive and conscious, someone could be drifting in the ocean for at least days.
“Mo?”, he coarsed, “You are dead.”
“No, neither are you. Remember what I told you about towing when rescuing someone from drowning?”
“Yeah.”
“You think you can manage?”
“Can try.”
“Good. Hold on, I´ll get you to safety,” reassuring her friend, who was holding on as strongly as possible, the young mermaid returned to the ship she had just jumped from.
It took less than twenty minutes for them to be close enough to be spotted by the lookout, soon followed by a bird made of blue flame.
“Are you good-yoj?”, the First-Division-Commander asked, flying above them.
“I am good. Heat needs help, though,” Mo called out. Her friend was on the edge of losing the last bit of consciousness.
“Let me take him and swim to the rope. Someone will pull you back on board.” Following those words, he grabbed her friend with his talons and flew off.
-.-.-.-.-.
“How is he?”
“Dehydrated, confused, otherwise well. I gave him something to fall asleep. Do you want to wait at his bedside till he wakes up? I´ll carry you there and then get the two of you some food,” Marco told the young woman who had been staring at the infirmary door.
“Yes, please. If- Do you think he -would like that?”, Mo mumbled, unsure if her friend even wanted to see or if he was angry with her.
“He was staring at the door the whole time like you just did. Only answered my questions when he knew I would allow you to see him. Looks like he missed you just as much as you did him.“
“Oh, Heat.”
“You should be dead. The bastard shoved a Devil Fruit down your throat and threw you into the Sea. Killer couldn´t reach you. He said a current pulled you away. We- we mourned you. The killer did not enter the kitchen for days. The kid destroyed his workshop and ripped apart a rookie who wanted to remove your clothes from the washing line. They are still hanging there, last I know. How?”
“Oh, Heat, I am so sorry. I- I know I should be dead. I believed I was when I opened my eyes next. At the bottom of the ocean. In a large soft field of seaweed. At least I think that was what I was lying in… it was pitch black down there. I thought I was a ghost, unable to use my legs because something snapped my spine on the way down. Only to realize I no longer have them. Instead, I have a tail now. So either I died and became a mermaid, or the Fruit made me one,” Mo explained, tears in her eyes upon seeing the grief in her friend's eyes.
“Did you just apologize for being alive? Fuck that! Why did you not come back? Whose ship are we on? Did they keep you prisoner? Are we Prisoners?”
“Whitebeard. No, we are not, I just… I don´t have any legs anymore. I was next to useless with legs. Now I am a hindrance, unable to help around the Punk or even get around,” she whispered, not daring to look in her friend's eyes in fear of seeing him agreeing, “I am sure they will help you get back.”
“I am not leaving without ya. You are the crew. No matter what happens. This ain´t different from you losing them in an explosion. What do you think Kidd would do then? Leave you on an island? Fuck no! He would, scratch that, all of us would try everything to make sure you´ll be good on board.”
“Did Marco say anything about when you can get out of here?”
“Tomorrow. Then we leave as soon as possible.”
“But how would we know where to go? You were in the sea. Do you have a Vivre card for the others on you?” Mo sighed.
“No, but Kidd was in a bad mood already since you went overboard. Guess how well his mood will be with at least me gone as well.”
“So we just have to read the newspaper or ask a marine where he is going berserk. Sounds like a plan.” Mo laughed,” That´s easy.”
“WHO WAS IT? WHO DARED TO- And where THe Fuck IS THE LOOKOUT?”
“Heat is teaching them not to fall asleep during Watch,” Mo answered her enraged Captain, who stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight at where she was sitting between Victoria's teeth.
“WHAT?! Who the FUCK SAID THAT`?! SHOW Yourself, so I can KILL YOU!” accompanied the heavy and angry stops of his making his way above deck, “How stupid do you think I am that I am walking straight into such an obvious trap. You'd better get your ass here!”
“I would, but-”
“BUT WHAT?!”
“I… I am a Mermaid now.”
“You want to keep playing games? Let´s play then!”
Purple magnetic lightning danced all around the sneering redhead, his Devil-Fruit powers awoken and yearning to impale the enemy with nails, screws, and any metal lying around the ship for convenience.
“HOLD ON! We met when you saved Joe from a Marine Ship, and fell overboard. I dived after you and saved your ass. You then made me believe I am a slave and had me wear short dresses and white shorts when I was on my period cause you believed me to be a Marine Spy. Y´all call me Slave out in Public to make everyone believe I am not Part of the crew in case the Navy or enemy crew catches me. So I can play innocent. It was Wire's idea, and he was also the one who made my collar!”
Time stood still following her exclamation. No wind. No waves. No breaths.
“You died,” he frowned,” Kills couldn´t reach you in time after the bastard made you eat a Devil Fruit and threw you overboard. It can´t be.”
“I am sorry. I know I should be dead. But hey, I can still play fish whenever one of the crew goes overboard. Even though that will be the only thing I will be able to do now. Unable to walk and all.”
“So Heat is alive as well?”
“Yes. I fished him out of the sea two weeks ago. He said he went overboard during a storm.”
“How did you find us?”
“The burning Islands were hard to miss.” Mo deadpanned.
“-”
“Y´all went all out. Who knew Heat isn´t the only Pyromaniac in the crew?”, she chuckled, only for her voice to quiver in anxiety “How- how is Kills?”
“Hasn´t left the kitchen since you went down. So you better get your Ass -or tail- in there and make sure he stops moping and gets normal again.”
“I will scare him out of there. Hand me a towel, and I can mop the deck while dragging myself along the way.”
“That´s still the rookie's job,” the captain sneered, “Come on, I´ll get you into the kitchen. He´s making your favorite again.”
“You won´t hear me complain.” Mo grinned, accepting the strong hand of her Captain, ready to lift her and carry her bridal style towards the dining hall.
It was as empty as it usually was during that time of day. Only her usual seat at the commander's table had one of her cups occupying the top.
“He always fills it up with fresh tea when it stops steaming throughout the day. Killed a rookie when he dared to drink it a month ago. We still find pieces of him in the chandelier.”
“Put me down there and leave, would you?”
“Pff, Whatever,” the redhead groaned, but she knew he would be staying outside to make sure she was safe.
Clutching the pot of warm tea in her hands, Mo began whistling a tune she often did when she was bored or wanted to annoy her crew: What shall we do with a drunken sailor.
She had just reached the end of the first verse when the galley door slammed open, nearly ripping out of its hinges, and a wild-looking first mate appeared.
His chest heaving in either stress, anger, or tears, his one hand still held the bloody knife he had just cut meat with, while the other was embedded in the door.
“Dinner ready yet? I am for sure starving,” she smiled, acting as if she had not just risen from the dead, “Nice blend by the way! Just the right kind of sweet, this leaf. Is there more of this? I am sure Heat would appreciate a cup as well.”
“-”
“You okay there, Kills? When was the last time you got more than four hours of sleep? Kid and Heat said you went kinda crazy, well, more than usual for our crew.”
“How?”
“The Fruit. It saved my ass. I – I am a mermaid now. So good news for you! I am on permanent Fishing duty if someone goes overboard. Bad news, I can´t walk anymore, so guess one of you has to lug me around from now on.” She tried to lift the mood with a more unserious voice, but it did nothing to hide her nervousness,” See- tail and all!”
Within a second, she was engulfed in a warm and strong embrace, the chest she was pulled against trembling with deep sobs.
“I am sorry! I am so sorry,” the massacre soldier openly cried, “I could not save you. I could not reach you in time.”
“Don´t, don´t be sorry! You did everything you could. Please. Stop. I am here. I am alive, useless but alive. And I do not plan on leaving you idiots ever again.”, Mo whispered, drawing gentle circles on his broad shoulders and back, “Heat and I are alive, well, and ready for new adventures with everyone.”
It took a while, but finally the man in her arms had returned to his usual calm demeanor.
“Lasagna,” he answered her previous question, “Oh, and Mo, one more thing.”
“Yes?” she answered, hearing the smile in his hidden voice.
“Don´t you ever scare us like that again,” he scolded with his usual slap against the back of her head, he used when Kid or one of the commanders had done something stupid.
The party that followed the return of the two lost Crewmembers lasted a whole month, and two more rookies, who were pissed they had to clean up after all the drunken crewmates.