The Marionette

Chapter 16: A Dream So Far Away

You jolted yourself awake, the unfamiliar beeping sounds caused by medical equipment echoing off the quiet walls of the medial room. You grasped at your chest as you inhaled sharply, the sound of Doflamingo's laughter bouncing inside of your skull from the nightmare you were having. Your bed squeaked under your weight as you attempted to control your quickened pulse at the thought of your former boss finding out the truth of your existence.

"Bad dream?" The gruff voice of Law announced to your right, still slumped over in the same position you last saw him in.

"No," you lied while wiping your hands down your face in an attempt to get a hold of yourself. You heard the chair turn around, the wheels rolling across the tiled floor as he pushed himself away from his desk. He was still a few feet away from you, his eyes landing on your face as you coolly looked back at him. You would never admit to him that you suffered from nightmares frequently, especially when it came to Doflamingo. "I don't have dreams often, so you're mistaken," you continued to lie in hopes he'd drop the subject.

He raised both of his brows while crossing one leg over the other, "I heard you talking about him," he said confidently.

"I don't dream often about Doflamingo," you quickly said while looking away, "so it's nothing to worry about."

"I never mentioned Doflamingo's name," he smugly replied with a proud smirk. Your eyes widened as you realized what he said, grimacing at the fact that he caught you in your lie. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd keep something like that from me," he said with a sigh as he sat back, "but as your captain, I'm responsible for your health," he added.

You slowly moved your head back to his direction and narrowed your eyes, "it's just a one off thing. Don't look too hard into it," you tried to reassure him. It was then that for the first time since you arrived here, you took note to the dark circles under his eyes. Come to think of it, he had to of been up for just about as long as you, but he hadn't gone to sleep like you had. But it was none of your concern, it's not like it was your job to micromanage someone else's sleep.

Law nodded his head hesitantly, you could tell that he didn't believe your lie, but didn't want to press matters any further. "There will be a meeting before dinner, I want to discuss future plans. Many of the crew already knows what my ambitions are, but I want to make sure everyone is on the same page," he explained, emphasizing on the 'everyone' as he looked at you harder.

You looked around the empty room, "how long did I sleep for?" You asked while throwing your legs over the edge and stretching. You winced when you felt your arm burn a little, remembering that you still had a fresh wound there from earlier.

"Three hours," Law said with a click of tongue while turning around and rolling back over to his desk. "The meeting will be in a few hours, until then, you're stuck in here," he said while ruffling his hair before placing his hat back on his head.

You puffed out some air in annoyance while standing up and pacing across the floor while looking around. There was nothing outstanding to speak of, there were a total of three beds, two of which were lined against the back wall. Laws desk was on the opposite end, four glass cases accompanied it which held an assortment of vials, medicines and other equipment. A few machines were scattered around which were beeping incessantly along with two drip IV stands.

Curiously you walked over to the glass cases and peered inside, staring past your reflection and reading some labels out of boredom. After deciding there was nothing interesting in them you quietly snooped over Law's shoulder and watched what he was writing. "Is that your planned route through the grand line?" You inquired while pointing at the map in front of him.

You could see his jaw tense as he sat his pen down and cross his arms over his chest, the sleeves of his jacket were rolled up to reveal some more of his tattoos. "Yeah," he sighed, "no matter where we go, we'll end up at a converging point, it's just figuring out which direction," he explained.