I remember, above all, the blows, the fists pounding my face, the feet hitting my stomach, the whip cracking in my back. I remember my tears and my sobs, my blood and the bitter smell of the earth. My hair full of grey dust and my dirty nails. It was always like that, I walked around Gray Terminal every day looking for treasures, gold, stones, resources that could bring in money. Every night Porchemy would be waiting for me and because what I brought in was never enough, I would get beaten up. It didn't matter that I was a child. To them I was an extra pair of hands in the pay of the pirate captain Bluejam and I had to bring them money, otherwise I was useless. The only reason the pirates kept me was my size, I could slip in and out quickly and quietly, and the fact that I didn't cost them anything. I managed to find food. They hadn't paid me, I had fallen into their hands for free. I don't know exactly how it happened, how I got there. But it's been years now.
One evening, as I was sitting in the corner of Porchemy's hideout, tied to the wall with a chain, they came back with another child. It was a small boy who spoke loudly. I didn't quite understand why he was there but obviously Porchemy was angry with him. He kept asking him where an "Ace" was and where his treasure was. The boy refused to tell him. Despite the blows, despite the blood, despite the tears, he stood up to him. He was tortured, beaten to death even though he was only a child, but he said nothing. I was terrified, my hands clamped over my ears to stop hearing the screams and blows, my eyes closed to stop seeing the blood flowing. Tears came to my eyes and sobs escaped me. Porchemy immediately stopped hitting the boy and turned to me:
"Something's wrong, kid?" he asked in a rough voice.
"N... no..." I stammered, holding back my tears, terrified.
Without listening to me, he took me violently by the arm to bring me a little more into the light and see my face. He took me by the chin and forced me to look at the boy whose face was deformed from all the beatings he had received:
"Do you feel sorry for him?"
I nodded without saying anything, big tears still running down my cheeks.
"You want me to stop?"
I nodded again. The next moment his fist crashed into the back of my head and knocked me to the ground. He laughed as he saw me on the ground. I felt the blood running down my neck.
"Tell me, snotty. Tell me you want me to stop beating him."
The words collided in my throat, only a few sounds managed to pass my lips without really making sense.
"I didn't hear you," Porchemy replied, hitting the boy again.
Clenching my fists and lifting my head, despite the tears that were still flowing, I summoned up my courage and shouted:
"STOP YOU DIRTY PIRATE!"
As soon as the words came out, I put my hands against my mouth.
"N... no wait I didn't mean to..."
The fist with the sharp spikes came to collide violently with my face. The next second I was face down again and his shoes were hitting me from all sides. I coughed and spat out a little blood as I felt my bones crack under his assault. He then took me by the arm and lifted me to the height of his face. His gaze froze me in place. He then continued to hit me with his fist until he was tired. Then he dropped me and turned back to the agitated boy.
"Let her go... let her go..." he kept repeating, struggling to get out of the bonds that were binding him.
"You'd better mind your own business, you little brat," Porchemy replied. "I've had enough of you, I'm going to finish it now."
I looked up with difficulty to see him grabbing his sword. Gathering a courage I did not suspect, I rose and placed myself between him and the child. I clenched my fists to keep from breaking and forced myself to look him straight in the eye.
"I won't let you hurt him," I said, trembling.
Porchemy was surprised at first, but then burst out laughing. He ran the blade of his sword across my cheek with a threatening look:
"Seems like the brat have fallen in love. And what are you going to do with your rat size, eh? Raise your head, you little brat, and look."
The point of his weapon forced me to look up, only to see him lash out and throw his blade at the boy's neck. In horror I widened my eyes, helpless. In a spontaneous rush, I lunged and managed to grab onto the ropes around the boy. . I grabbed his neck and positioned myself between the blade and him, my hands trying to undo the bonds that held him prisoner.
"Don't worry, he'll hurt me before you do," I said, giving him a shaky smile.
"Stop, you'll die!" the boy shouted.
I didn't answer, too focused on the ropes that wouldn't come undone. My aching fingers slid over the knot that was too tight. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the metallic glint of the blade coming dangerously close to me.
Suddenly the wall shattered and two other boys burst into the hideout, ordering the pirates to release the one who seemed to be their friend. From what I could make out, one of them was the famous Ace that Porchemy was looking for. Armed with simple steel pipes, the two children bravely defended themselves against the pirates. Quick as a flash, they mastered their opponents without too much difficulty. The little blond boy finally got the one who was chained up, while Ace decided to fight Porchemy to the end. The leaper - a man called Sabo - was surprised to see that the injured man was not letting go of me. He was holding my hand firmly. He looked at me without understanding. The boy looked up at me with tear-filled eyes:
"She wanted to save my life, we can't leave her here."
I was stunned. Obviously Sabo was too, because he looked at me suspiciously before putting the wounded man down heavily:
"Well, wait for me here, we'll see about that later."
Then he joined Ace to face Porchemy. I was dumbfounded. These kids dared to face the pirate without fleeing and without trembling. Especially since they won the fight. Before I knew it, our two saviours grabbed Luffy and ran off, while the kid refused to let go of me.
**
Eventually the four of them ended up in the forest. Lucia said nothing, cowering in her corner, leaving the two boys to deal with the third, who was crying his eyes out now that the adrenaline had worn off.
"Given what we just did, Bluejam must be really pissed off. He's going to send his men after us, they're never going to let us go," sighed Sabo.
Ace got up and started yelling at Luffy, ordering him to shut up once and for all because the boy's whining was bothering him. When he raised his voice, Lucia felt her own tears begin to flow and buried her face in her lap to muffle her sobs. Yet she could not hold them back for very long. The choppy sound of her voice finally overcame Luffy's cries and he paused to look at her. Immediately the other two boys did the same, almost forgetting her presence. Ace walked towards her and threatened her with his makeshift weapon:
"Who are you anyway?"
Lucia was unable to answer, crying more and more. Exasperated, Ace pulled her by the arm to force her to look at him. His angry expression terrified Lucia who hurriedly backed away. Luffy stepped in between them and faced his brother:
"She was with the pirate and she almost died trying to save me."
"Is that true?" Sabo wondered.
More carefully than his brother, he looked at the girl's face and body, quickly noticing the wounds, bruises and contusions that marked her skin. It didn't take much intelligence to figure out that these injuries were not new. He reached into his pocket and found a tissue which he used to wipe some of the blood from her face. Lucia recoiled at first, frightened.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," Sabo said softly.
Lucia swallowed, nodded and let him do it. The boy then took care to dress her most severe wounds with bandages and dressings. She had stopped crying and was just sniffling.
"That's all well and good, but what are we going to do with her? If she belonged to Bluejam he'd want her back and that would be a good thing for us."
"She's coming with us!" decided Luffy in all seriousness.
"CERTAINLY NOT!" shouted Ace.
Surprised by his shout, new tears rolled down Lucia's cheeks. He glared at her before continuing:
"We won't bother with a girl. She's always crying. I don't like whiners, and even less whiny princesses."
"I want her to come with us!" retorted Luffy, crossing his arms.
"I said no!" replied Ace.
Sabo sighed before addressing the girl directly:
"Can we know your name?"
"L... Lu... Lucia", she answered in a small voice.
"Hi Luce, I'm Luffy!"
"I'm Sabo and the other yelling moron is Ace."
Lucia nodded, her fearful gaze still on Ace.
"Thank you..." she said softly, "thank you for saving us..."
"It wasn't you we came to save, it was Luffy!" Ace answered aggressively.
Sabo put a hand on his brother's shoulder to calm him down before crouching down in front of Lucia:
"Are you alone?"
"Yes, I am."
"Don't you have parents?"
"No, I don't..."
"What were you doing with those pirates?"
"They wanted me to bring them treasure from Gray Terminal, I was looking for them."
"You're not happy there, are you?"
"N... no..."
Her lips began to tremble again. Sabo understood what she was feeling. It was a safe bet that she had only ever known violence and exploitation. He wasn't sure what to do with her, but he couldn't see himself leaving her here or in the hands of pirates. He turned to Ace:
"We can keep her with us for a while after all... just until we see what happens..."
"What's wrong with you? What's the matter with you two? She's a girl! A G-I-R-L! Girls are weak! She'll just whine and complain that we're ruining her clothes and her hair. She'll slow us down, she has nothing to do with us."
No sooner had he finished his sentence than a punch threw him backwards. Stunned, he sat up, furious:
"WHICH OF YOU HAS-"
He stopped as he discovered Lucia standing in front of him, her fist clenched, her eyes misty with tears, a new determination in her eyes.
"Did you dare to hit me?" he asked angrily.
He didn't even wait for her answer as he lunged at her, holding his pipe firmly in his hands, aiming for her head. He was surprised when his weapon passed through her body without resistance, sending dozens of drops of water flying in its wake. He bit the dust as Sabo and Luffy looked on in amazement. He raised his head, furious and stunned.
"What did you do there?"
Lucia looked down at her feet, nervously clutching her hand in the air:
"My power..." she muttered. "I'm not normally supposed to show it, and usually I can't even do it... but if it proves to you that I'm not weak, then there you go!"
In a bravado attitude, she turned towards him, fists raised, in a fighting position.
"If you want to see for yourself... then... t-then... come fight!"
"BUT IT'S GREAT!!!" shouted Luffy, stars in his eyes.
He positioned himself in front of her, shielding Ace:
"It's amazing what you can do, I'm a rubber man and you can turn into water. It's so cool!"
"You think so?" Lucia gasped, taken aback.
"Oh yeah! How did you get it? I ate a disgusting fruit one day and since then my skin stretches like a rubber band but I can't swim anymore, that's the problem..."
"I think it was a fruit thing too..." she answered, hesitating.
Sabo approached her with a smile on his face:
"You're really amazing, you know!"
"Thank you... I think," she stammered.
Ace stood up without saying anything before pushing his brothers aside and glaring at her:
"Obviously these two have decided that you're going to stay with us for a while. You may have a weird power, but you're still a whiny princess to me, right? So don't get in my way!"
"SO SHE'S STAYING WITH US?? exclaimed Luffy. SO COOL!"
He jumped at the little girl's neck who wobbled for a moment before starting to laugh with him. Sabo exchanged a look with Ace:
"There's more to it than that, but we could be in a lot of trouble..."
"Trouble?" said Luffy.
"Yes," continued the blond, "after what happened, Bluejam will want our skin for sure. If it's possible, he's already gone after us."
"Yeah, it's possible," added Ace.
"He'll probably ask his men to hunt you down," Lucia explained. "He won't go himself, but yes, until he has your heads he won't let go."
"This forest where I live is near the pirate bay," Sabo continued, "that's where they have set up their hideout. What happens if one day I'm tired, I fall asleep and they attack me in my sleep."
"Well, you die," Ace replied calmly.
"Without a doubt," added Luffy.
"You don't have to be a genius to understand that," Lucia finished.
"I know," Sabo answered with a smile, "that's why I have to talk to you. Come over here."