Clunky footsteps echoed and weary breaths resonated through the empty halls. Despite the heat of the baking yellow metal oven, small clouds were visible as the medic panted. Sweat decorated his skin and matted his already flattened strawberry blond hair flatter against his face. Olive-green beanie slipped off his head with a tug and beads of sweat disappeared with a fist across the chin. A few more shallow inhales and the medic was up again, sprinting down the halls, eyes searching for something.
He checked the gallery first.
"Oh, hey Rike!"
"You look mighty tired!"
"Are you that hungry? Aha-ha!"
"Oi, where are you—Rik—?" The galley door swung close and when it swung open again, the strawberry-blond was already gone.
Next was the shower rooms.
There was no surprise there when it proved fruitless.
After that, came the laundry room. There he only found countless boilersuits turning in a machine that someone had labelled, 'sock eating monster'.
After that, he checked the armory, navigation room, storage rooms, sleeping quarters, Bepo's room, and just about any other room he could think of beside the infirmary. He didn't need to check there. He came from there when he found his patient missing when he came in to deliver today's breakfast. He didn't notice it at first since the heart monitor was still beeping regularly... if her heart belonged to a hummingbird. Charlotte had taped the heart monitor to a den den mushi. Since then, he had been running around the whole place searching for said patient.
"Rikers!" Shachi greeted followed by a nod from Penguin. "Man, you look tired. I've heard you being running all day. Is Captain making you do laps too?" Additional punishment since Charlotte's chores weren't that bad after being split up. They didn't mind it, chalking it up to additional training now that they're in the New World.
"No," Rike said between breaths, but his attention wasn't directed at the males. His eyes were darting across the place, body twisted this way and that to get a different angle of the hall without having to move.
"Are you looking for something?" Penguin eyed the medic cautiously. He looked like he was possessed into doing some weird chicken dance.
"Yeah..." He mumbled, distractedly. "Have you guys seen Charlotte anywhere? She disappeared the moment I turned around."
The two mechanics exchanged worried glances. "You don't think she could have..." Who were they kidding? This was Charlotte they were talking about. She was more likely to have gone off and done something dangerously stupid than not. "CHARLOTTEEEE!" They joined in on the search.
Law stared at the scene of the crime. It wasn't a crime in which someone had died though it wouldn't be odd if it was considering that this was the infirmary. No, the crime in which Law was talking about something more severe—someone disobeying doctor's orders. That someone being a stubborn Charlotte and the doctor being him. In other words, Charlotte wasn't listening to his orders. Again.
It was past dinner already by the time Rike decided to give up and ask for Law's help, accepting any kind of punishment that was to come in afterwards. Charlotte had been missing for the more than half day and if she was to have another attack throughout the day... and no one was with her... Law frowned. This was why he had ordered her to remain still!
At least they can rule out any islands the woman may have wandered off to considering they were still at sea. "Rike-ya, you'll be cleaning up my experiments' remains for the next month and relearning all the unique heart signatures of all living creatures." Law spoke calmly, his eyes glued to the small blue and yellow den den mushi sitting on the bed where Charlotte should have been. The heart monitor beating rapidly still. Law expected better of his apprentice. To be tricked by such an easy trick, it was a little disappointing.
"Aye, aye, Capt." Rike's face darkened at the thought.
Law stared at the blue and yellow den den mushi, silently asking it where Charlotte had gone. Rike said he searched the entire sub and Law didn't doubt him. The problem was Rike's search was unfruitful and no one else had heard from her all day either. Not even Bepo who the hunter usually stuck to so she can relish in his soft and warm fur. An indulgence of hers that Law understood wholeheartedly.
It wasn't difficult to assess where she went. They agreed to a race to be the first to find her missing heart. It didn't matter that they were technically on the same side going for the same goal. Waiting patiently was not her strong suit, but was it so difficult to let them find it? Were they that unreliable? The thought frustrated the doctor.
Where did you go? He wondered. They didn't have extra boats and they were in the middle of the sea, far from any island and submerged in water. Law paused, glancing out at the closest porthole. The water was too bright for a tank that is supposedly deeply submerged.
"Do you think they're still there?" Charlotte questioned from the deck. The passing winds lifting purple strands into the air, mixing it with the scent of the sea. Platinum eyes glazed over at the ever rich blue before her. A breathless moment had it not been for the giant sigh escaping the skinny snail sitting between her long legs.
"They're nomadic. How am I supposed to know?" Came the languid response and Charlotte wondered if the long tentacles attachment on the snail would have mirrored Baako's earlobes if it could move. "Why do you think it's them anyway?"
Charlotte lifted her hand, black sludge dripping from her fingertip like a leaky faucet. She drew a circle against her other arm. Her skin absorbed the ink immediately. "I never forget an ability I've copied." She plunged her fingers into the marring on her skin and pulled out the bomb she had just drawn. The skin where the black circle stood empty again.
Devil Fruit abilities were unique. It wasn't possible for two users to have the same ability. Unless they were her, or the previous user had died. In that sense, Devil Fruit users had another theoretical fingerprint. The amount of time Charlotte leveraged that detail to track someone down was plenty. She didn't think that it would help her in locating her heart. Charlotte's ability to copy at touch activated automatically and she was painfully burned awake in the middle of the night. It was plain luck that she had copied an ability she already knew.
"Last I've checked, he wasn't dead."
"The brother is simply a tattoo artist now. What would a tattoo artist need a heart for?"
Charlotte made a noise in agreement. "The only person constantly with him though is her. It's more likely that the con-woman and thief have it than the brother."
"If that's true, then you're out of luck. That's not an insult to your skills. There's just no hunting a ghost. The only consistent information on her is that she's bewitchingly attractive."
"I know." Charlotte interjected and Baako whistled. Look at her, asking questions she already knew the answers to. "I don't need to track her. Just where she's been." If the leading theory of her changing her appearance ever so often is true, then that means she must dump everything that could connect to her past disguise. Charlotte's heart included. "How confident are you that she was on that island?"
Charlotte watched as the snail's lips pulled up on one side while the eyes turned into crescent slits. "Rumors has it that the island was visited by a beguiling spirit and the next day their islands relic was returned to them: a heart encased in glass."
"How long do you plan on disobeying orders for?" Law's question carried across the deck and Charlotte quickly bid the informant goodbye.
"Mm... I don't recall ever saying I was going to listen to orders." Charlotte hummed without looking back at the male now coming to stand next to her. He leaned back against the rails, looking back at the submarine instead of out towards the sea like she was.
Charlotte turned to look at the man pretending to be taken by the evening sky. She was the same. As much as she'd usually enjoy the calm sea, her mind kept running off to places, worrisome places that she didn't want to think about. "Whoever said I'm not?" Charlotte mused, keeping her gaze fixed before her as Law's drew to her. She liked that she could still surprise him at times like these. It bothered her how often she fell into his plans; her emotions bare for him to read like an open book.
Law, on the other hand, hated these kinds of moments. Moments where she caught him off guard, despite his calculations, she'll one-up him and prove to be an unexpected obstacle standing in his way. This time, though, it was more worrisome than the rest. Because, this time, her life was at risk. While their goals remained the same, the stupid race he agreed to in the heat of the moment put them at odds. He doubted she'd be as kind as to tell him everything she'd found. Then there was the question of what she'll do after she gets it back. Would she leave his ship and crew?
"Do you even know where you heart is?" He wasn't going to let her go that easily either.
"Mm," she hummed just as the submarine's door opened. "We're almost at the island, Captain. I've gone and informed the crew already." Bepo announced happily with a salute. Cole and Jean Bart filing out of the open door after him. Plus a few more after them, glad to have a break on an island finally.
"Island?" He repeated and his lips tugged down slightly. The island he had selected was still days away. "I didn't give orders to change islands."
And that's my signal. Charlotte raised her left hand. "Actually, I did." She confessed and the bear jumped. His beady eyes locking with hers in confusion. "Sorry Bepo." She smiled cheekily, not even the slightest bit apologetic. The bear's heart sank into his stomach. Not again...
"And what exactly is ya plan by draggin' us here?" Cole sneered, staring down at the female sitting amongst a ring of black balls. He pulled back at the bombs, swearing that the armory was still locked up and away from the trigger-happy-and-dumb's reaches.
"I'm going to do what I said I'd do: find my heart." Charlotte replied easily as she stood. She patted off the dirt from her pants and turned to the rest of them. "I have no idea why the rest of you are here."
"Whadda ya mean? Ya commandeered the freakin' sub! We have no fuckin' choice but to come with the sub!" Cole snapped and Charlotte stared at him blankly.
"Oh."
"DON'T STARE AS US AS IF YOU JUST REALIZE THAT!"
"And what makes you think your heart will be at this island?" Law interjected. The incoming island hardly looks like it'll fit the bill of a cold island like Charlotte's symptoms represented.
She stared at him blankly. "Rumors." She answered, knowing full well it would bother the doctor. She grinned devilishly when he reacted the way she expected. "You guys are more than welcome to turn the submarine back and go back to your original destination." Charlotte pulled a match from her thigh to light up the scattered bombs around her with one hand, while the other reached for her duffle bag. "I'll just be there on that island." She jumped to stand on top of the railings on the edge of the submarine. The red duffle bag swung over her shoulder.
"Hey, what's with the bag?"
"I figured it'll be like this, so I prepared everything I'll need." Charlotte said, smiling cheekily at their concerned faces as she teetered precariously over the sea that hates her.
"Need for what?" The Hearts asked, confused. They eyed her feet nervously. Her weight teetering back and forth between over sea and deck. Law's stomach twisted unpleasantly.
"Oi... you're not going to jump, are you?"
She grinned at them. Her feet shuffled, and Law's stomach dropped. Without a response, she free-fell off the ship's edge and into the cursed waters.
"YA DUMBASS! YOU CAN'T SWIM!!" The Heart Pirates rushed towards the edge where Charlotte was, arms reaching out to grab her, only to have their paths blocked as the bombs went off. The smoke limited their visibility. Shouts and curses about her suicidal movements—most likely from Cole—went off as they tried to figure out if anyone managed to catch the woman.
"I'll see you guys in a... week!" Charlotte called back towards them, waving at the crew from a small black jetboat. Law would eventually turn his sub around anyway once he realized that her heart was indeed here. Then on their way here, they could pick her up and they could continue their adventures.
Charlotte paused. Continue their adventures? Wasn't she going to run away once she got her heart back? There would be no more ties forcing her to stay with them after she gets her heart back. She would finally be free. Her hand gripped the black strap tighter and it crumbled under her grip. "Or not." She muttered, pulling the line to start the engine. She zipped off across the sea.
"A-a boat?" The others asked, surprised at the disappearing silhouette. The smoke finally cleared. "Is it one of ours?" They turned towards the two mechanics who frowned at the sight. It wasn't. "Then how?"
"Care to explain where the boat came from?" Law said, as if exasperated. He turned his gaze from the shrinking boat towards the female in his arms. The confusion from being shambled back still on her face.
"W-when did you have your Room up?" She swallowed nervously at the not so pleased expression staring back at her. The sky was unusually bluer than normal.
He grinned in response only. He'd be damned if he let her wonder away from him. "From before I stepped on deck." Charlotte chuckled nervously, knowing despite the grin, he was mad. "Men, we're making a pit stop."
"What are you doing?" To say she wasn't surprised by the sudden change of course would be a lie. Law was dead set on winter island and winter islands only.
His hands tightened against her body, pressing her tighter to him and Charlotte's eyes fluttered up to meet his anger-etched grin. "You didn't honestly think I'm going to let you find your heart by yourself, did you?"
And Charlotte flushed. Why do I feel like a prey again?