The Marionette

Chapter 19: Never Break The Chains

How long has it been since you've been forcefully deemed a pirate? In your mind it felt like it had been months, although the reality was it had only been a few weeks. Sharing a room with Ikkaku wasn't terrible, although there were times where you felt suffocated purely because even during your time with Viola you had your own room when you needed the space.

The nightmares continued, often times you forced yourself awake from the jarring experiences and silently laid in your bed in an attempt to lull yourself back to sleep. Tonight however, the faux memories of what it must have been like to be your father in his last moments creeped into your dreams like a shadow and consumed your mind.

The clashing sounds of swords and the heat from flames enveloped your senses, your father crying out your name forced you to sit up with a large gulp of air. His voice bounced in your skull as you sat straight up with tears pricking the corners of your eyes. You hadn't cried in so long you were almost afraid you'd forgotten how to. Even though your heart was missing, you could tell it must be pounding hard judging by how quick your pulse was. A single sweat drop rolled down the side of your cheek as you swung your legs over the edge of your bed and checked to make sure Ikkaku wasn't woken up from your nightmare.

This was the first time you dared to leave your room without someone escorting you around the ship, but you needed to get out of the claustrophobic room. In fact, the whole submarine felt like a cage to you, you yearned to see the sky and breathe in fresh air. Sure, it was intriguing being able to traverse under water, but you couldn't help but miss the stars.

Quietly you crept out of the room, the door opening as you peeked around the silent halls. The men's door was ajar and when you walked past, you peeped inside and saw that everyone was sound asleep. The pipes along the walls shuddered and spurt out steam as you made your way to the common area and sat on one of the couches. You didn't dare to turn on any lights so instead, you used the moonlight as your guide.

You sat in somber silence as you rested your head against the back of the couch and stared into the blackness of the sea through a porthole. The Polar Tang was drifting just underneath the surface, so it was shallow enough that the light from the moon was able to shine its way through. You looked to the clock and saw that it was two hours past midnight, meaning you had only slept for a few hours before being jerked awake. It wasn't abnormal for you anyways, recently you had gotten more sleep than ever before, but still found yourself awake periodically through the night.

"Another sleepless night?" The smooth voice coming from your captain nearly caused you to jump out of your seat, his golden piercings reflecting the moonlight as he drew in closer. Instead of his normal outfit, this time he only wore a black button down shirt and casual pants. His hair was unkept and messy as he held his signature hat in one of his hands, appearing as if he also just woke up.

"How'd you know?" You asked suspiciously as you furrowed your brows with a confused look. You watched as Law took a seat beside you, the couch cushion sinking down as he did so.

He gave you a mischievous smirk while he revealed your heart, "I can usually tell based off of heart rhythms." You let out a puff of air as he toyed with your heart, tossing it in the air and lazily catching it like it wasn't your life he was casually holding.

"If you're going to taunt having my heart, at least have the decency to take care of it!" You snapped as your eyes tracked your heart being tossed in the air, "it's fragile y'know?" You chastised once he stopped, a smug expression adorning his face.

He held up your heart, the glow from the cube it was encased in illuminating his face before tucking it away securely, "I'll make you a deal," he said as he fake scratched his goatee in thought, your interest slightly peaked.