The rain fell heavily, the waves were huge, Lucia clung to the rope that stretched the sails like a madwoman to maintain the course. They finally arrived in sight of a completely inflamed island, on which a volcano was erupting and whose lava was flowing into the ocean. Lucia frowned... That sounds familiar... Why do I have this feeling of déjà vu... Luffy started to say that he wanted to land on this island:
"Lucia, can you smother the flames?"
"No", Lucia answered, "I'm sorry but I have the feeling that this fire could even burn me because of its intensity."
A fire which burns the sea... which burns water... She felt a deep uneasiness which continued to amplify while the heat of the flames irradiated her skin. She nervously rubbed her scar on her chest without even realizing it.
Then a sobbing noise caught their attention and they discovered with astonishment that the snail phone in the kitchen was sobbing loudly. It was an emergency call. Despite Robin and Usopp's warnings, Luffy had already picked up the phone and was addressing the caller.
"Yes hello, this is Monkey D. Luffy speaking and very soon I will become the king of the pirates!"
In the same movement Lucia and Usopp hit the captain on the back of the head:
"IT'S REALLY NOT A TICK TO SAY THAT!" yelled Lucia
"You shouldn't have answered and you talk too much!" continued Usopp
The one on the other end of the line started by telling them that he was cold and then that he was going to be sliced by a samurai. He finished his diatribe by saying that he was on the island of Punk Hazard before being executed live. Lucia was speechless. Punk Hazard ?? Why does that tell me something too... She was pulled out of her reflection by Brook who explained to them that the samurai mentioned by the one who was at the end of the snail phone was certainly originating from the Wano country, the isolated region of the world government, which held between its ranks the greatest swordsmen in the world.
"But we're far from Wano country..." noticed Lucia.
Listening only to his instinct, Luffy decided that they would save the one who had made the call. The idea turned the stomach of Lucia, decidedly, this island put her in a state that she did not understand. To decide who would go to the burning island, they decided to draw straws. She looked at the pieces of paper with an anxious look. She moved an uncertain hand towards one of them but Luffy stopped her:
"You stay here!"
"What?" exclaimed Lucia.
"Since earlier I can see that there is something wrong when you look at this island", Luffy explained. "And then if ever the sparks get too close to Sunny you can give him some time before he burns with your power."
"WAIT WHY CAN SHE STAY AND NOT ME?" shouted Usopp dejectedly.
Lucia swallowed before sighing:
"Ok... it'd be a lie to say I'm not relieved. Thanks Luffy !"
"You're welcome", answered the captain with a smile.
They watched as Luffy, Robin, Usopp and Zoro rode away from Sunny in the Mini-Merry while they stayed on the ship, away from the flames. Nami looked at her:
"Is everything okay Lucia? It is true that you are a little pale since a while ago..."
"Huh? Yes... yes... it is just that the strong heats do not put me at ease", she improvised, "the water badly supports the strong temperatures..."
"I will concoct you a small fresh cocktail", answered Sanji. "That will refresh you!"
"Thank you", she blew.
The glance lost towards the flames which always danced on the surface of the horizon, Lucia tapped her finger on the railing of Sunny, perplexed. Why... why am I so uncomfortable here... what is happening on this island...
As promised, Sanji brought her a glass with ice cubes which, from the first sip, soothed her. Nami made them think that, on the other side of the island, the clouds had a particular formation that corresponded to that of a winter sky. Lucia sipped her drink while thinking. Punk Hazard... Punk Hazard... Punk Hazard... aaaargh damn think Lucia! But this heat is infernal, it prevents me from thinking correctly. It would almost put me to sleep... Then she realized, the heat could not put her to sleep, it was not a logical physiological reaction. She didn't have time to really think about it as her knees buckled. Her head suddenly felt very heavy, her vision blurred and her mind fogged. She saw herself falling in slow motion, hitting the ground heavily as her eyes closed and everything went black.
When she came to, she was first struck by the icy ground beneath her skin. She squeezed her eyelids and opened them several times to get her eyes open. She sat up painfully, one hand on her head:
"Damn, that makes twice in barely 24 hours that I pass out, my head will not hold the shock at this rate..."
"How do you feel?" asked the little voice of Chopper who had approached her, worried.
"Not really good but it's going to be okay..." she mumbled. "Where are we now?"
She turned to survey her surroundings and saw that Nami, Sanji and Franky were also with her, awake and quite upset.
"We're locked in," Sanji ranted. "In a big metal box!"
He kicked at the door to try to break it. Lucia got up, her limbs aching. A shiver ran down her spine and she inhaled deeply.
"Calm down... calm down... calm down..."
"Is everything okay, Lucia?" asked Nami.
"Yeah," she giggled nervously. "Let's just say it doesn't bring back good memories..."
They took stock of the situation, the five of them were here but Brook was missing and they had no idea how to get out. Then a voice caught their attention. They turned around and found what appeared to be a face cut into pieces. The mouth in question asked them if they would put all the pieces together to put it back together. After several unsuccessful attempts, some bullying and screaming from the face, they came up with something quite satisfying. Then they realized something:
"BUT IT'S A HEAD WITHOUT A BODY TALKING!!!"
The head explained to them that someone had cut him up, that he was a dishonored samurai. A samurai here? Nami tried to get information from him to see if he knew how to get out of here but it appeared that he was as lost as they were. He turned out to be an unpleasant and misogynistic character who did nothing but yell and scream. After several kicks, Sanji revealed to him that they were pirates, which had the effect of triggering a black anger in their mysterious head without a body. He then mentioned an ice island. Lucia ticked, Nami was right, there was an ice face on this island. An icy face... and a flaming face... wait a minute... Lucia screamed and fell backwards.
"Hey miss, are you ok ?" asked Franky.
Lucia didn't answer immediately, her eyes wide with horror, her mouth open, and a visceral fear in her pupils. She raised her hand to her chest once more and dug her fingers into the scar that protruded from her cleavage, on which the two perforations caused by her confrontation two years ago were still visible.
"I know ..." she stammered, "I know why I feel so bad since I'm here ... it's because I know this island ... and I know these flames ... I know these flames ..."
In shock, it took him several seconds before he could explain:
"The island of Punk Hazard is the island that hosted the huge battle between Aokiji and Akainu, that's why the island is divided in two and neither climate manages to dominate the other. It is the fruit of their confrontation, they literally modified the climate of the island."
"WHAT?! You can't be serious!" exclaimed Chopper.
"I am..." Lucia mumbled, "and that's why the flames and the lava that we saw from the Sunny bothered me so much..."
"It's because they are the same ones that inflicted those wounds on you, right?" answered Sanji.
Lucia nodded:
"That's why I immediately felt that I could not do anything against this heat... because it has already defeated me two years ago and believe me I am sure that I could not face the fire of Akainu..."
"I understand better..." Nami breathed. "Their power are insane..."
Tired of being held prisoner here, Franky used his radical beam to blow the door of their cell to let them out. Lucia got up and went out with them. In a move that they did not understand, Sanji decided to take the samurai's head with them as some people came towards them to get them back, having heard the sound of the explosion. The head explained that he had come to save his son and immediately afterwards the pirates ran away while Sanji was still carrying the head of the one they had come to assume was the mad swordsman who had killed their mysterious distress caller. They fled without seeing where they were going and landed in a huge colorful room filled with children... and giant children. Lucia felt like her jaw was going to drop.
"Children? Here?
"But where did we end up?" asked Franky.
**
Lucia was running alongside Sanji, towards the only source of light that could represent the slightest hope of escape. Behind her, the heavy footsteps of the giant children shook the ground. Suddenly deciding to help them may not have been their best plan, but Nami seemed to want to so they followed. The children had begged them for help, asking for their parents, telling them they wanted to get out of here and find their families. If this was indeed a child abduction, it was necessary to solve the problem at all costs. They all stopped as they went through the door. Lucia was stunned by the spectacle that was unfolding before her.
"THE NAVY?" shouted Chopper, completely panicked.
The G-5 unit, that's another thing now. The snowy gusts of wind whipped Lucia's face, making her shiver. Mechanically, she brought back her hands on her arms to rub them, without great conviction. Then she felt an insistent glance weighing on her and turned the head to finally meet a glance which she had not seen since 2 long years.
Trafalgar Law. His grey irises stared at her coldly, devoid of any emotion, while she herself was feeling the blow. Beyond the surprise to find him here, in such conditions, she was stunned to see how much he had changed. Not so much physically. But something had transformed him. She didn't detect anything anymore, not a single ounce of humanity behind this hard and methodical look, behind this closed and cold expression. Since the fact that from the beginning, it was necessary well to seek to find a human being in this body. At least at the time he looked better. Leaning against the door, the only expression that emanated from his person was the deep boredom as well as the certain annoyance to see this group of braying people disembarking while he was trying to contain the Navy.
"I recognize you", exclaimed Nami who had finally recognized the pirate. "We already met at the Sabaody archipelago two years ago."
"Law..." murmured Lucia, completely lost.
She was pulled out of her state by a Navy soldier who recognized her:
"She is the Elementalist, Gol D. Lucia, presumed dead during the Summit War and whose bounty amounts to 650 million berry."
The news stunned Lucia who turned around, oscillating between fury and despair:
"EXCUSE ME?! Tell me it's not true, what have I done to you? Pirates who have killed more people than me have fewer numbers on their bounty, please make an effort... STOP GONZING THAT NUMBER FOR NO REASON AT ALL!!!"
She ran her hand over her face in dejection, making a dejected pout.
"Your bounty has gone up since your real name was revealed and you joined Straw Hat Luffy's crew", Smoker explained to her.
"What?! But I never joined-"
Smoker gave her a doubtful look and she looked at the scene around her, watching Nami who was still shivering, Sanji who was holding the samurai's head in his hands, Franky who was entertaining the children and Chopper who was trying to reassure them, then looked at him again, admitting she was defeated:
"Yes, well, certainly... I give you the benefit of the doubt..."
Sanji then took her by the arm:
"We have to find another way out, with the kids we can't risk facing the Navy. Come on, let's go!"
"But-"
She turned again towards Law but he had turned away and his face was now hidden under the shadow of his hat. Lucia sighed before she was carried away. As they turned back, she heard Chopper continuing to talk with Nami:
"If that guy is responsible for kidnapping the kids, count me in for a party!"
"I wouldn't be surprised," replied the sailor, "he always gave me the creeps."
Yet, as her companions continued to run away from the door, Lucia gradually slowed her stride, letting herself be overtaken by the children. Little by little, only the echo of the wind that was howling outside reached her ears, coupled with the sound of her own heartbeat following this frantic race. Unconsciously, she had come to a complete stop. It was as if she didn't understand anything. And God knows she hated not understanding. She couldn't help but glance behind her and was surprised to see that Law had already turned around and was facing the hallway. She was sure he couldn't see her expression from here but despite herself, her face tensed and contorted as she contained a grimace of pain. Why was she getting into such a state for so little?
She felt the sphere being created and saw clearly the blue veil surrounding her, going as far as where the small group of children and crew members still were. It had to be. He wasn't going to let them go like that. With a dark face, she lowered her head and made up her mind. Waiting to be probably cut in half in the next few seconds.
Nothing happened. The sphere disappeared and Law turned and walked back outside. Interdicted, Lucia palpated her body several times before realizing that, no, nothing had moved, everything was in place. Howls of horror caught her attention and she was surprised to find that Law had simply switched the personalities of the four members of the Straw Hat crew. They were completely panicked.
Why... why hasn't he done something to me...
Realizing that there was something really fishy going on here, she decided to temporarily leave the small group, not without warning her friends, to go and watch the fight between Law and Smoker. When she reached the door again, she was stunned by the image before her. Law was standing in front of Smoker, lying face down, and holding a still-beating heart in his left hand. For the first time in two years, the Surgeon of Death's menacing figure terrified her. She felt cheated, unable to believe that he was capable of such cruelty. Then she remembered what she had heard when she returned to Sabaody to find Rayleigh. Law had delivered the hearts of 100 pirates to secure his status as a Warlord. At the time, she refused to believe it. At that moment, she was terrified. Aware of his presence, Law glanced at her and saw the panic and fear he inspired. He slowly walked towards her without taking his eyes off her.
I can't move.
Calmly, he reached her level and stopped next to her:
"Stay out of this..."
It was as much a warning as a threat, but these words managed to wake her up and she turned to him, an angry look in her eyes:
"Tell me it's not true..." she whispered. "TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE?!" she repeated louder, her voice full of revulsion and disgust, grabbing his wrist with force.
"Stop yelling, I hate melodrama. What is not true?" he asked calmly, detaching himself from his grip of a gesture of the arm.
"That you are not this kind of heartless monster that you pretend to be..." she hissed.
He had a small unhealthy rictus before sneering:
"Oh, poor little Lucia, you are still so naive..."
At these words he tightened his grip on his weapon, Lucia stretched a hand backwards, projecting a few drops of water from her fingertips, ready to attack too. However they were both stopped by the exalted cries of Luffy who was trying to thank the doctor for having saved him two years before. Lucia couldn't believe her eyes, the small reconnaissance team they had sent to the fiery face of the island was now warmly dressed and riding a half-man, half-alligator creature. She blinked several times to make sure this vision was real while Law himself tried to figure out what was going on.
"Could at least anything coherent happend on this island?" muttered Lucia, dismayed.
"Thank you for saving me!" shouted Luffy.
The captain of the crew finally realized that Lucia was also part of the picture:
"Oh, Lucia, you too came to thank Tra-guy for saving your life! How did you manage to find him so quickly?"
Enthusiastic, the young pirate got off his makeshift steed and ran to meet them.
"It's a little more complicated..." Lucia began. "But wait a minute, at the risk of asking an absurd question: are you aware that you have someone else's legs grafted to your back?"
"It would take too long to explain," Usopp moaned, making a small gesture with his head. "Just pretend everything is normal, I beg you."
During this exchange, Law was flashing back to his intervention in Marineford, then to the catastrophic state of the Straw Hat when he woke up, to the deal he made with Rayleigh for Lucia, to the few weeks she had spent on board his submarine.
"Look, I'm surprised to see you here, but you don't owe me anything, so don't make a big deal about it," he said in his usual monotone. "What I did for you was only for fun, you and I are still pirates after all."
Lucia tickled at the use of the words "for fun", she was not convinced that he had kept her with his crew for his own personal pleasure. Or then they definitely did not have the same definition of the amusement.
Law concluded his little intervention by knocking down Tashigi again, who had rushed in without thinking to confront the Warlord after seeing Vice Admiral Smoker's lifeless body. Usopp urged Luffy to leave, and he took Lucia's arm to lead her away while Law pointed them in the right direction. She didn't have the strength to resist and let herself be dragged along, looking away.