"Wait Lucia, you never told me that you were friends with Tra-guy??" asked Luffy, perched on a huge snowball created by the children. "Lucia ? Lucia?"
The young woman did not answer, lost in her thoughts, her eyes fixed on the incessant ballet of snowflakes in the air. The whole crew stopped talking and turned their attention to the Elementalist, who sat motionless on the ground, her head supported by one hand. Since they had been behind the laboratory on Punk Hazard Island, Lucia had said nothing, done nothing. She had just sat there, completely closed to everything that was happening around her. The fate of the children, Chopper's anger, Nami's resolve. Nothing was getting through to her. Without warning, Luffy approached her and crouched down to be at her height before putting his forehead against Lucia's.
"I don't know what happens in there but it works hard", he noted by pushing his index finger on Lucia's skull.
She had a small sad smile before resigning herself to answer his first question:
"No, I never told you that I was friends with Law. Simply because we are not friends, it is indeed him who looked after me after Marineford and I stayed with his crew for 2 months afterwards, so I know them a little. At least I thought I did..."
"Spit it out," Franky urged her.
"I don't know," she sighed. "There's just something wrong here."
"I think we all noticed that," said Nami.
"No, you don't understand..." Lucia murmured.
They couldn't understand. Not that she didn't want to explain herself, she just wasn't able to do it. That unpleasant feeling that turned her stomach wouldn't go away ever since she had settled down, when she had seen Law. His cold gaze couldn't leave her mind. She was convinced that something was wrong and not being able to put her finger on it was driving her crazy.
"Listen," said Luffy, "if you're worried about Tra-guy, don't be, he's strong and he can defend himself. And if he's really in trouble, well, we'll just help him."
"NEVER IN A LIFETIME!" shouted Chopper and Usopp in unison.
Lucia let out a small laugh:
"I love how simple things are with you!"
With an air of concern, she then looked down at her forearm, Luffy followed this gesture and discovered the blue symbol that adorned it and that glowed weakly.
"Oh but it's-"
She nodded:
"Yes, a life link that I put on him earlier without him realizing it. I don't need to have a long contact with the person to install it, I can create them faster. Just like the one I put on you before the events of Impel Down and Marineford, it allows me to see the approximate state of health of the person I have bound. The more the light weakens, the worse the wearer is, even close to death."
"Its color does not look very bright", noted Robin.
"No indeed, it is another element which pushes me to think that something does not go straight in the behavior of Law."
She passed her thumb gently over the small mark that was pulsing at a regular rhythm.
"I'll come with you to the lab to see this 'Master,'" she announced.
They divided again. The head of the samurai - who had found his legs hooked to Luffy's back - had dashed outside to get his torso that Brook had fought earlier, followed by the skeleton, Sanji - who felt responsible for him - and Zoro. Chopper, on his side, had discovered that the children were drugged and was anxious to free them from the hold of the "Master" who held them in the hollow of his hand with those few chemical treats. Therefore, Nami and Usopp wanted to stay with the children while Luffy, Lucia, Franky and Robin would go to the scientist's laboratory to find out who it was.
**
"Damn it, this yeti is agile, for such a big bug it walks us too easily, that annoys me. And for God's sake LUFFY MOVE, YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!" Lucia shouted by pushing her friend who had fallen on her.
"Oh sorry, but it was a hell of a fall."
"Yes I think I had already notice it thank you, I remind you that you dragged me with you."
"Not my fault if you were behind me."
"Are you kidding me??" Lucia straightened up by dusting the snow which had fallen on her arms. "Seriously, it's freezing."
"Well, why don't you have a warm coat too?"
"BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ONE YOU IDIOT! I wasn't with you when you stole the centaurs' and then Kin'emon cut himself before he could make one for me so I've been freezing my ass off ever since."
"Oh, that's unlucky for sure."
"Okay well that's enough now I'm going to-"
A deafening crash interrupted the young woman who was reaching out to strangle Luffy and her both looked up at the summit from which a cloud of snow and smoke was emanating. They had rushed after the killer yeti without thinking, with the sole purpose of saving Nami. In reality, Luffy had left without thinking, Franky too, and Lucia had followed them for fear of what might happen to them. Luffy was a hothead, but so was his crew. The carpenter, trapped in the body of the little reindeer, had turned into a monster without a second thought, and not only did they have to calm down the two mad killers, but they had to put down their ally who was out of control. Now one of the yetis was on the ground, Franky-Chopper too, and the other assassin, holding Nami-Franky in one hand, had just slid them off the wall that Luffy was climbing. She followed as best she could behind, having dematerialized her lower body into water and thus able to fly. But she had not paid attention and when Luffy had fallen, he had dragged her.
Without consulting each other, they jumped in the same movement and easily reached the top of the mountain. What was not their surprise to see the yeti on the ground, unconscious and cut in two, Nami-Franky face against the snow, unharmed and Law, his cold look and his usual impassive pout on his face.
"Why, every time I land somewhere on this island, things literally don't make sense..." Lucia grumbled. "It's enough to drive you crazy."
She was on the defensive, not knowing on which foot to dance with Law. However, the speech he gave them was the last one she expected. In a very solemn tone, he proposed to Luffy to form an alliance between their respective crews in order to take down one of the four Emperors.
"An alliance..." Luffy repeated. "And can I know which Emperor you have in your sights?"
"It's not this question that you have to ask, you moron!" yelled Nami. "Just refuse, we can't trust this guy."
Law revealed to them the name of the one he intended to make fall. Kaido. Kaido of the Beasts. Nami was horrified while Luffy and Lucia listened without revealing their emotions.
"Okay, I got it," answered Luffy.
He turned to Lucia:
"What do you say?"
"WHY DO YOU ASK HER WHEN I KEEP TELLING YOU TO REFUSE ??" exclaimed Nami at the height of exasperation.
Lucia, who had not said anything yet, was staring at Law from the beginning, looking for a sign, something that should warn her. But he was damn good at not letting anything out. Oscillating between her instinct and the rational vision of the thing, she shook her head:
"For me it's ok."
"You're not serious, Lucia?"
Nami turned her eyes. They were going to kill them all by taking decisions like that.
"But shouldn't you ask the opinion of your whole crew first? Even if it's only by form?"
"I have yours, that's enough for me."
"Nice for the others!" vociferated Nami.
"It's okay Tra-guy, let's make an alliance", concluded Luffy, a huge smile on his face.
Lucia had thus chosen to trust her instinct. At the moment when she turned away, she always felt the insistent glance of Law to weigh between her shoulder blades. Obviously, she was not the only one to cogitate. A small smile stretched her lips. Thinking about it, I don't know who will find a real interest in this compromise.
Lucia's reflection was quickly proven, as soon as Law spent a few moments with the Straw Hat crew, he had to face the fact that everything would not go according to his ideas. He was seriously wondering if he had done the right thing in proposing this alliance to this crew with this captain. Now he was being used as a means of transportation to carry a raccoon (a reindeer) tied to his head while the rest of the crew was laughing behind his back.
"I'm sorry to laugh," Nami laughed, "but this is too much!"
"You're super cute like that," Franky taunted him.
"Sorry," apologized the reindeer, "but I can't move so..."
Frozen, Law felt all his determination and his common sense leaving him as the seconds passed. Lucia had decided to repress her bad feeling in order to better apprehend their future collaboration. And she had to admit that the image that the Surgeon of Death offered to her with Chopper perched on his head was what chased away her black ideas.
"Welcome to the Straw Hat crew!" Lucia said with a mocking smile. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into, believe me."
Law sighed and addressed to him a black glance:
"Rather than making fun of me, come with us. At least I'll have someone able to think about this whole thing."
She raised her hands in surrender:
"Fine, if it makes you happy to have my charming company..."
"That's a great idea," Chopper agreed, "I might need your power if I have to prepare something in a hurry."
"No worries doc."
Law then proceeded to untie Chopper from his headgear so he could attach it to his sword. The doctor watched him, slightly anxious:
"Say? What's the matter? You look a little upset, don't you?"
"Don't worry Chopper", Lucia answered, it's his best day face believe me."
New black look from the Surgeon of Death towards the Elementalist who contented herself with shrugging her shoulders and crossing her arms, while waiting for them to start towards the laboratory. She took a deep breath, staying calm and trusting. Hopefully she was the one who was fooling herself.
"You remember well our plan, right?"
"Yes", sighed Lucia. "You create a diversion for Cesar and the winged woman, and with Chopper we find everything we can about the drug. You know, contrary to what our captain let's think, there are people who know how to follow instructions in this crew."
"Well, as I recall, you were more of a rebel," Law grumbled.
"Shut up Trafalgar or I promise you that you will find my fist in your sulky face", replied Lucia in a dry tone.
Once in the lab, Law took care of luring Monet away from Caesar's workroom, leaving Chopper and Lucia to deal with the drug and the antidote. Clearly, it was mostly Chopper who was browsing through the scientist's books while the Elementalist kept an eye on the surroundings.
"Do you have anything to treat them with?" she asked him after a few minutes.
"Yes, Cesar may be very dangerous, but he's still a methodical scientist who records all his experiments, so I should be able to find out the exact composition of the drug and deduce an antidote. But... Lucia?"
"Yes?"
"The mark you have on your forearm... "
Lucia looked down at the symbol of the bond of life she had placed on Law and was stunned to see it glow so dimly, with long dark intervals.
"But what's going on over there, he told us he would take care of them without any problem..."
She met Chopper's equally worried gaze, then shook her head and forced herself to stay put. She didn't have to go and see what was going on, Chopper had only just regained his motor skills, if anything happened to him he couldn't fight alone. The children's lives depended on him, and therefore on her as well. She gritted her teeth, clenching her hand on the symbol that was barely glowing. Then suddenly she heard it. The scream. His scream. It made her blood run cold. She knew she was the only one who could hear it from this distance; Chopper had not heard it. But the sound waves reverberated off every little water molecule in the air, bringing the unbearable echo of that scream of pure pain.
"Please, Chopper, hurry!"
Surprised, the reindeer turned his head and the look on his friend's face worried him to no end. Lucia was frighteningly pale, clutching her arm so tightly that her veins showed around it, her eyes wide, her jaw clenched. Whatever she perceived, she took on herself not to act. He redoubled his vigilance and speed to continue his research.
A scream. Another one. She knew that their intensity was not really increasing, that it was her who could not bear to hear them. Who couldn't stand to do nothing. After what had happened in Marineford, she had promised herself that she would never again stand idly by, helpless in the face of other people's suffering and despair. She was breaking that promise to herself. But she had to protect the doctor.
"Go!"
She turned around in surprise, Chopper had put his paw on her arm.
"Whatever's going on out there, if you think you can make a difference and help him, go ahead, don't worry about me."
"But-"
"I can defend myself, and I trust you."
Touched, Lucia nodded before leaving Caesar's room. She followed the vibrations in the air, in the corridors that went on and on. Finally, the screams reached her ears. She made herself as invisible as possible, breaking her body into a few thousand particles of water scattered in the air so that she could approach without being seen.
Law was on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth, panting, suffering. Facing him, Monet was enjoying the spectacle, a carnivorous smile on his face. Lucia did not recognize the man who was also present, but he did not give off anything good. Behind his dark glasses and his austere appearance, one guessed without difficulty a background of cruelty. The climax of this deduction came when he took out his hand from his back, in which he held what looked like a human heart imprisoned in a translucent cube. Without showing any emotion, he simply squeezed the organ violently, which caused Law to scream again in pain and clutch his hand to his chest. The connection was obvious now: this heart was Law's. For some reason she didn't understand, it was this man who had it in his possession and was using it to torture him. In order to make Law feel her presence, she moved some water particles around him, making him understand that she was there. He opened his eyes with difficulty and stared at the ceiling, knowing full well that she was watching him. He could almost have guessed her face, but that would have been a pure figment of his imagination. He simply stretched his lips into a small grin and said with difficulty in a low voice "I can take it". She was the only one to hear this message before the surgeon fainted completely. Stunned, Lucia took a few seconds before realizing that her opponents were certainly going to take Law to Caesar's room, where Chopper was still. She then turned back, as quickly as she could, to warn the doctor and tell him to hide.
However, she arrived too late, when she reached the room, a cage had already been set up in which Luffy, Robin, Franky, Smoker and Tashigi were lying unconscious and chained. Clearly, Law's plan had failed miserably. No trace of the little reindeer. Lucia decided to wait, positioning herself in a corner of the room, far from the cage, and watched Monet and the second man bring Law. They all regained consciousness little by little, finally meeting their adversaries. Lucia could thus put a name on the torturer of Law: Vergo. A whiff of hatred came over her when she understood that it was another one of those corrupt cogs who pretended to make the machine of "Justice" work under the banner of the Navy when in reality they were only serving their own interests. And here, the interests were a so-called "Joker" who turned out to be none other than the Warlord Doflamingo. Lucia paled, she was beginning to understand the magnitude of this whole story, which went far beyond a simple little pirate conflict. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Chopper, who was leaving Caesar's laboratory with a book on his head and who rushed to take refuge behind a recess in the wall. In the greatest of discretion, she joined him. He stifled a cry of surprise when he saw her materialize under his nose without warning.
"It is necessary that one makes something to help them..." he whispered of the end of the lips.
"I know", she answered in the same tone. "But we don't know anything about these two except that they are Caesar's minions..."
Lucia kept well to mention the heart of Law that Vergo had in his possession and that he could maltreat to his liking to make him suffer. If they intervened without thinking and that they did not manage to deliver their friends, there was strong chance that he would release himself on this organ, going perhaps even until killing Law if it was possible. Trying to think as quickly and efficiently as possible, Lucia put her back against the wall that led to the room and continued to listen to the discussions, waiting for an opportunity, a favorable moment...
Caesar finally returned to his room, joining Vergo and Monet. Lucia had to use all her self-control to hold back from intervening and to put an end to the provocations that he led. She had only one desire, to make him swallow his sardonic laugh. He began to evoke the contract which had pushed Law to entrust his heart to him, which explained how it had been able to be in Vergo's hands.
At the moment when Vergo pressed again strongly on the organ of the Surgeon, he pushed an umpteenth howl and twisted of pain. Lucia tightened the fabric of his pants with all her strength and bit her lip to remain master of herself and not to intervene. Chopper shook her slightly, a veil of absolute horror in his eyes:
"Lucia... what do we do... Lucia...?"
Lucia dared to stick her head out of their hiding place. Law saw her. They exchanged a look, his was hard, almost threatening. He nodded, telling her not to do anything. When she dared to look again at Cesar and then back at him, he frowned more and continued to nod to prevent her from intervening. He was then again shaken of spasms and twisted under the blow that Cesar gave in his heart.
Folding again behind the metallic wall and biting a little more the lips, Lucia managed to recover herself. In a corner of her mind, images of Marineford threatened to resurface and it was not long before Law's screams brought out those of Luffy when Ace died. The wound was still alive for the young woman, she knew it. The events on Fishman Island had proved it enough, she had to keep her calm and not let herself be carried away by her emotions. In an almost desperate gesture, she grabbed the reindeer's little paw and gently squeezed it in her hand.
"We wait... for the moment we can only wait... to launch out in front of these three at the present time would be suicide..."