Missing Piece

Chapter 16

"They drew unwanted attention." She said, brows knotting together, and Law noted how she really didn't like to be in the center of attention. It didn't seem to be from lack of self-confidence. Charlotte's behaviours never waned under attention—still equally and agile and strong. And troublesome.

Are you going to remove them, Captain? The cuffs? It kind of feels like we're keeping her prisoner. No one else wears cuffs. Rike was the most recent one to add his thoughts about Charlotte's unusual accessories. Now it was causing them trouble. "So, it seems." He stated with a light hum and Charlotte lifted her gaze towards the male, finally seeing him in detail as the sun rose, lights streaming through portholes. The bags under his eyes were heavier. Was he waiting all night? He turned towards his table, long fingers dipping between several winter diseases and illness books to pick at a piece of metal.

Her focused homed in onto the tiny key, unblinking platinum following the dull metal. Law's words but a buzzing in the background. Fingers shoved at the red muffler, forcing it between the cuff and her wrists. "I can undo them if, and only if, you are—" Charlotte appeared before the doctor. Knee registering in his vision as it smashed into his face, sending him flying. Her free hand snatching up the tiny key as she landed quickly in place.

She managed to slot the key into the keyhole before Law shambled it away. Glaring at her through his fingers nursing his new head wound. The blood blurring his vision only added to the fierce leer she shot back at him. "I was talking." He clicked his tongue when she glanced away, no longer interested in him and his lack of key.

The key glistened as it caught the morning light. The two of the darted forwards, racing for the dingy key. Or so Law thought so until Charlotte pivoted at the last moment, twisting to the side. He jerked bark barely missing the kick to his chin as she cartwheeled away. His hand stopping short of reaching the key as he did so. When he tried to reach for it again, he was met with her karambit piercing the floorboards between him and the key. He cursed, realizing a moment too late that he had brought into her bluff and a little too late of her plans. The key was a distraction. Tucked neatly underneath her arm was a wooden chest. The wooden chest that held her heart. "How did you know it was in there?"

Her lips pulled upwards. So, she was correct. Her heart was in there. "I am a hunter."

The two of them crashed into the hallways, tumbling past the edge of Law's room. Law twisting out of the way at the last second, dodging Charlotte's blade from embedding where his face was just moments ago. "I thought you wanted me alive." He said to the woman now pinning him down. He wasn't quite sure whether to believe her confirmation with the look murderous look on her face.

"Worried?" She tilted her head to the side and leaned the blade against his throat. A thin red line spotted across his skin.

"Not really." He grinned, planting his feet flat against her stomach for a kick. One that moved with far too little resistance.

She pickpocketed the key from him then, using the kick to put extra distance between them. Charlotte landed on the balls of her feet with ease, and she darted off immediately. Chest gripped in one hand while the other held her karambit close. Her wrists lifted before her to line the keyhole with the dingy key hanging between her lips. Eyes sparkling when the key finally inserted.

"Room." A blue hue shot past her, tinting the world blue again. Immediately, the huntress pulled back, slipping the key into her mouth as she balanced on one leg. "Shambles!" Law appeared in the space before her like she expected. She landed a hard roundhouse on Law, smashing him into the porthole.

Throwing the chains between her cuffed hands over his head, she yanked hard, using her knee against his back as leverage. "Did you know the links on the chains alternates between seastone and regular?" Charlotte whispered into his ear. The blue film of his Room dissipating. The chain sapping away his strength.