"What's this I'm hearing about Luffy joining a Colosseum fight? And what's with the name Lucy?" I asked incredulously at the news that was going around with the citizens, and of course, I was the last to find out about it. It didn't take a genius to put together that the 'Lucy' they were talking about, was our esteemed captain. Who last I checked, should have been awaiting Law's signal to blow up the Devil's Fruit factory.
"There was nothing I could do about it, Lana. Not after Luffy found out what the prize was" Franky muttered into the Den Den Mushi as he rubbed his forehead in frustration, clearly understanding their strategist's frustration.
They had not anticipated Doflamingo's underhanded move of distracting their captain from the matter at hand. I could only sigh in defeat as well, as Franky explained the situation.
Had we known that the prize would be Ace's devil fruit, we would have taken the appropriate measures, whether that be to win it back, or to inevitably leave it be. At the end of the day, I couldn't really hold it against Luffy for reacting in the moment. After all, that fruit was our brother's legacy, and something both Luffy and I weren't willing to leave in the Warlord's hands.
Interestingly enough, Franky mentioned a toy solider that he had run into, who had agreed to help him in his mission of destroying the factor in return for aid in liberating the people under Doflamingo's reign. It seemed we aren't the first people aiming for Doflamingo's downfall, and whilst our plan included the destruction of the SMILE factory, Franky ensured me the solider and his allies were willing to help. Another problem Franky had mentioned that we would have to deal with was the fact that some of the toy soldier's friends were being forced to work in these factories, and wanted our help in freeing them. Franky expressed his want to help them, saying the toy soldier's efforts would aid them greatly in achieving both Law and Luffy's goal of taking down Doflamingo.
"Have you spoken to Luffy about this?" I wondered, seeing as we wouldn't be able to decide such things on our own, especially if it could cause problems for the crew. Call it cold, but we had enough money on our heads without meddling into even more troublesome matters. At this point, our plans had already become so diluted that we were losing track of our original objective, with new problems popping up left and right. Though, with our predicament, none of our issues would be resolved if we did this half-assed.
"Yeah, he said it was fine. Though I don't think he was even listening" Franky sheepishly chuckled, knowing that any future repercussions would fall on their idiot captain's head.
"Just... do what you want" I sighed, my attention caught to Law gesturing to the time, indicating that we would have to hurry up. "Franky, I have to go. Just make sure you don't cause too many problems"
"When do I ever?" With that, the call ended and I jogged over to re-join our group, who had been patiently waiting for me to end my call by the Green Bit Bridge, which we would have to cross if we wanted to get to the meeting point.
"Oi Lana, can you do something about those ghastly fish?" Law muttered, looking down into the waters beneath the bridge to see the giant piranha-like fish lurking about, awaiting any one brave, or stupid enough, to cross their bridge.
They kind of remind me of that old nursery rhyme Makino used to tell us, something about trolls under a bridge.
"Just walk across like nothing's wrong" I mumbled, hoping none of the people passing by would notice what we were about to do. It was clear this bridge was off limits, and I wasn't excited to meet any of the authorities that enforced the laws of this place. Robin lopped her arm with mine as we moved forward, the gesture being more for practical reasons, seeing as I was too focused on increasing the density of the water surface so the fish wouldn't jump up to try and bite our heads off, to pay attention to where I was going.
As we crossed over the bridge, slowly nearing the other side, it seemed the fish were beginning to notice that they couldn't break the surface of the water, because the number of collisions felt onto the makeshift barrier I'd created were starting to increase, straining my abilities to keep the water surface dense enough.
Once the water barrier broke, at least five Fighting Fish jumped up into the air, ready to attack any who dared to cross their domain, but to their disappointment and our relief, we had managed to safely reach the other side.
"Lana, I couldn't be more grateful for your abilities" Usopp stood shivering at the sheer size of the marine animals, as he clung to my body in a vice-like grip. Shoving him off in a huff, muttering about his cowardice, I turned to look down at the giant marine animals. In hindsight, I could have communicated with them to see if they would have let us cross, but from the conversations I was hearing between them, they seemed too fond of 'man-flesh'.
We'd eventually reached the agreed drop-off point, and hoping for this to go as swiftly as possible, we assigned Robin and Usopp to scout the area, leaving Law, Caesar and I at the beach of Green Bit in wait.
And of course, in true tradition, shit hit the fan pretty quickly.
Not only did Doflamingo show up to collect the mad scientist in our possession, but a Navy Admiral and his platoon as well. Of course, considering our damn luck, Doflamingo had fudged his resignation, leaving him the still reigning monarch of this island and a Pirate Warlord, and the Marine guard that had been dispatched had orders to detain Law and his company, as well as question Doflamingo.
"We're so fucked"
-------------------------------------------
I stood there on the partially destroyed beach as Issho, the Marine Admiral that had been using the alias 'Fujitora', and Doflamingo, had us cornered us. I was the only one standing; Law had collapsed beside me as he had deflected most of the hits that were aimed at us two.
How the hell am I supposed to defeat a Shishibuki and an Admiral on my own?
It seemed like we didn't have to, as Law used the last of his strength to bait Doflamingo into believing the fake heart we had belonged to Caesar, and whilst it saved us some time, he was quick to see through our farce. Though the distraction was enough for us to make our escape thanks to Law's devil fruit ability.
Just as we were about to escape, the Sunny with Nami, Chopper, Brook and Momonosuke on board had to make such a timely entrance, distracting Doflamingo and sending a large barrage of attacks at the vulnerable crew and ship.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" Running as fast as I could to try and intercept the demon flamingo from attacking the Sunny, it felt as if my efforts were cut short as Sanji intervened before any lasting damage could be done.
Seeing as Doflamingo was being handled for the mean time, I pulled Law onto his feet and we ran into the dense foliage that was Green Bit. It was clear Doflamingo and Law had a history, and whatever that might be, it was clear they each held a vendetta against the other. My main objective now was to get the raven haired captain as far away from the raging blonde Warlord, seeing as Law was in no shape to fight the man off. As we jumped over the fallen trees and dodged the large branches, our game of cat and mouse recommenced as Doflamingo could be heard raging on the edge of the forest, quickly giving chase to the two of us that ran.
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What an absolute shit show.
"Luffy, I understand the sentiment of wanting to get the Mera Mera No Mi off the market, I really do, but you need to get out of that bloody Colosseum now and help us. Doflamingo and Fujitora have Law, and now we've got Big Mom attacking the Sunny because of Ceaser" I groaned, holding my pained ribs which were clearly broken as I spoke into the Transponder Snail, trying to recover my breath. I was starting to worry that the broken bones would pierce my lungs, seeing as they had been shattered in the fight I had endured with the Warlord.
Sanji had just informed us over the call that Big Mom's ship was preparing to attack the Sunny for the insult Luffy had paid them back on Fishman Island.
I had been left abandoned on the outskirts of the Green Bit forest, close enough to the mainland to make out the city skyline in the distance.
Doflamingo and Fujitora had managed to defeat Law and I, surprisingly leaving me alive. Fujitora had left saying something along the lines of returning a favour and Doflamingo had been too caught up with Law to notice, but I was proud to say Law and I had done enough damage to leave the walking pink bird wounded. I couldn't say they left me in any condition worth being happy over, as I had just managed to staunch the blood flowing from the cut on my head and the pulsating headache wasn't doing me any favours. I was sure I had a concussion, and seeing the odd angle my ankle was at wasn't very reassuring.
The four-way conversation that was going on barely held my attention, with Luffy, Sanji and Zoro's voices only a jumble of words to my ears. They each had their own situation; Luffy in the Colosseum, Zoro with Kin'emon and Sanji on the Sunny.
"Oi Lana, are you listening? Where are you? I thought you were with Law, why does Doflamingo have him?" Sanji questioned, his words only registering when the ringing had dulled down.
"They did a number on me. Doflamingo cornered us and managed to knock out Law, Fujitora managed to knock me out only moments later. I just came around about a minute ago" I managed to say, feeling too weak to even hold up the communications device. Gently resting the snail beside my head as I gazed up at the clear sky through heavy eyes, I could hear a ruckus being made over the line.
"Lana, where are you? I'm making a detour" Zoro stated, not leaving any room for discussion. Just having enough energy to disclose where I was, I turned to the rustling in the bushes, to see a... small person? The small person had a large blue top hat, and just when I'd began to register what I was seeing, the little being ran back into the forest.
"I've gone mad" I muttered, rubbing my eyes as a haze started to settle, leaving everything askew and dulled. Somewhere in between consciousness and delirium, I couldn't recall how long I lay there on the ground, but the sun had moved quite a bit in the sky before a face popped up in front of me.
"I knew you'd get lost, but you managed to finally make it" I mumbled with a smile seeing the warm brown eyes I was so familiar with greet me. Zoro leaned forward from his seat beside my lying body, hauling me gently off the forest floor and onto his lap, my head lulling onto his shoulder as he held me against him. I groaned as the movement jostled my wounded ribs, which he took mind of as he adjusted my body.
"You scared me to death, you idiot" Zoro grunted, his hold tightening. The small person with the blue hat I'd seen earlier popped up beside Zoro's bent knee, their gaze watchful as they observed the two of us.
"Sorry" I slurred, my eyesight swimming as the pounding headache began to slightly dull down as I was starting to find it difficult to speak. My arms moved around Zoro's neck, trying to find leverage to lift myself up as he helped me up. I was faintly aware of the little blue hat person talking to Zoro as I looked into the forest blankly.
"She's concussed; we need to get her to our base. We can treat her there" She said with slight urgency, before giving Zoro directions to this 'base'.
"I thought you were with Luffy and Kin'emon" I tried to wrap my head around the situation, all the missing details sending me into a panic as the heavy weight of confusion settled in. The little person seemed to have sensed this as she crawled up onto my lap, her hands resting onto my stomach as she tried to get my attention.
"Hi, I'm Wicka. I've been helping this blockhead around for most of the day" The little blue-haired person stated reaching her hand out for a hand shake. I smiled at the name-calling, giving her my index finger and shaking it gently when she grabbed it as a sort of handshake.
"Oi" Zoro grunted, clearly offended at the name. I giggled lightly, my head clearing up a little as we made our way through some greenery.
"I'm Lana. Sorry for the trouble" I stated with a smile, before wincing in pain. The fuzziness had returned, sending waves of pain through my head and body. Grunting at the awful sensations, I turned my head into Zoro's shoulder, hoping to block out the intense rays of light that only worsened the pain. The rest remained a blur, until I felt Zoro nudge my body gently, placing me onto the ground of a wide cavern.
"Oh, Lana! I'm so glad you're alive" I turned to see Robin rushing over with Usopp in tow, a crowd of little people surrounded us as they joined.
"We leave you for a bit, and this is how you come back to us" Robin tutted with a wobbling smile. I grinned as best as I could, holding her hand in comfort as a small dwarf, as I had learned the small people to be called, grabbed a few medical equipment and began treating my wounds.
"I'll be leaving her here with you two. I need to go help Luffy; he should have escaped the Colosseum by now. I trust you'll look after her" Zoro stated, looking down at the dwarf that was treating me. The little she-dwarf had already hooked me up with an IV, and wrapped several of my open cuts that littered my body. The dwarf and Robin nodded with determination as Usopp spoke with what seemed to be the king of the dwarves, if his crown and robe were anything to go by.
Zoro turned his attention back, kneeling down beside me, pushing a few stray hairs away and placed a kiss on my cheek. The action would have caused a deep blush to colour my cheeks, but at this point, the drugs had started to take affect and I was starting to blank out.
"Don't have too much fun when I'm gone" Zoro murmured before standing up again.
"I'm offended" I replied with a weak grin as he made his way over to Franky, who I hadn't noticed was there before, and both of them made their way out of the large cavern that seemed to be our temporary rendezvous point.
"We're going to talk about that little kiss later. For now, rest" Robin whispered in my ear with a giggle before patting my shoulder, her eyes following Lily, the medical dwarf as she fluttered about me. My thoughts went to the rest of the crew and Law, as everyone fluttered about. In my state of confusion, I had forgotten to ask about the state of things. Robin seemed to have caught on to my train of thought, because she placed her hand over my eyes, shrouding me sight in darkness.
"Rest, worry later"
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For the late update, I'm giving you a long one.
I feel bad that I haven't updated in so long but hopefully I'll start posting more frequently. I've kind of lost motivation to write this book, since I feel like I need to pay attention to the story line and it gets quite tedious having to double check facts and the placement of events in the story line.
I'm kind of just going to go with the flow now, write more Zoro-Lana moments but still keep to the story. Look forward to the next chapter 'cause some interesting shizz is going to go down.
Don't forget to comment 'cause I love hearing from you guys xxxx