One Piece: Unforeseen

| The Luminous Island (Part 37) |

(Backstreets of the South Court)

Now that Ma' was informed about what was happening and Zoro was taking care of Reih, Mae decided to spend her time searching for Jax. The problem was, she wasn't sure where to start looking. The last time she saw him, he was being taken away by guards. Just thinking about what transpired caused her stomach to turn with guilt. She felt responsible for what happened.

With haste steps, she sprinted through the backstreets of the Kingdom. She expected to see hundreds of slaves running loose and soldiers doing what they could to stop them, but she didn't see a single person around. That was until she rounded a corner and came face to face with chaos. In the middle of the streets were slaves and soldiers, relentlessly fighting.

Staying out of sight, she scoped out the area. She felt a chill even though the entire island was far from cold. The air itself was power-driven and filled with anger as the slave's improvised weapons clashed with the soldier's own heavy-duty artillery. Neither side was unbending and fought with purpose.

Keeping a watchful eye on the anarchy, Mae faltered when she saw a familiar face in the background. It was Jax. He was working his way around buildings, following close behind two other men. Men she didn't recognize.

When he disappeared through a gate and into a tower, she turned an eye back to the bustling streets. She gnawed on her lower lip pensively. For a short minute, she debated on whether or not she should help the slaves and then go after Jax. She could see that the slaves needed all the help that they could get; their numbers dwindling fast. But while she knew that the men in the streets needed her, she knew that Jax needed her more. He was just a child.

Letting her feet guide her, she ran past the chaos and straight to the tower that he went into to. When she walked into the tower, she let out a frustrated moan. "Of course." There were three hallways in front of her and no one in sight. Picking a random hallway, she began opening door after door, searching diligently for Jax.

Opening one of the doors, she was greeted by a cloud of steam. Accidentally inhaling a lungful of the hot air, she started to cough violently. Slamming her palm against her chest, she hacked up a mouthful of spit and mucus. Using her devil fruit powers, she cleaned the air around her.

When she regained her composure, she looked around the room. That's when she noticed that she was in a bathhouse and that she wasn't alone. To the right and hidden in the steam was a shadowed figure and in front of her was another person, relaxing in a large pool with their back turned.

"Can I help you?" The woman in the bath turned around, her bare chest hidden behind a mess of steam.

Mae held a fist to her mouth and cleared her throat, but she didn't answer.

"Wait a minute," the woman squealed, her body inching closer, "I recognize you! You're one of those rats causing a ruckus in our Kingdom!" The steam around the woman manipulated and the space between them was cleared.

Mae's eyes dropped to the woman's waist as steam swelled around it. It was clear that she was controlling it.

"And here I thought that I could avoid a fight and take a bath while the others dealt with you," she whined miserably, splashing a palmful of water across the bath.

"GN 63," the woman piped, assuming the guard was preparing to take care of Mae, "I'll handle her. Just make sure my bath water stays warm!"

GN 63 didn't respond.

"GN 63!" She squeaked again.

The soldier didn't move, but words rapidly came past his lips. "Ma'am!"