Law x OC: The Surgeon and the Assassin

Chapter 7: Pirates love treasure

After I put on my clothes, I left the dressing room holding the dress in my arms. That's when I heard Maddie's angry voice.
"CHEAPER!!!!" Maddie was yelling enraged at the old lady who owned the shop.
"It's an exclusive piece! I can't sell it for less than 2.500! I've already made you a 50% discount!" the woman yelled back.
"Just 500 more won't hurt anyone! We'll buy it for 2000, period!"
"It will hurt my pride as a designer! I can't accept this deal!"
I slowly approached the two women that looked like they could catch fire at any moment.
"Umm... What's going on here?" I asked hesitantly.
"This filthy money-lover just won't accept my bargain! I've been trying all this time to get a cheaper price for the dress, but she just won't budge..." Maddie complained, interrupting the woman's protests on her newly attained title.
I sighed. "Maddie, I'm grateful that you did this for me, but it's alright. I don't need this dress anyway, so it's fine!" I lied. I really wanted that freaking dress.
"Well, too bad you're not gonna get it in a million-" The woman stopped talking as she turned her eyes on me and looked at me closely.
"Wait a second... Are you by any chance Albert's..."
I froze. "How do you know my dad's name?"
Tears filled the woman's eyes. "So it is you... You look so much like him. Except the hair; this is your mother's colour."
I backed off, kinda freaked out.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, of course. You wouldn't know me..." the old woman said. She leaned close to me and whispered in my ear: "I'm Forbes D. Miranda, your father's older sister."
"What?" I didn't even know my dad had a sister. I quickly glanced at Maddie, who luckily seemed to understand and exited the shop with a worried look in her face.
"Why didn't I know anything about you until now?" I continued disturbed.
Miranda didn't talk for a while. "I suppose Albert didn't think you needed to know... After all, I was the one who abandoned him when he needed me the most." After that she told me the story of how she and my father lived together after their parents died, how she would always support him as an inventor despite the crowd's opinion, and how that changed when she fell in love with a man who traveled to their island.
"I decided to follow him here. He had promised me a life in luxury, and to a 20-year-old woman like me that sounded like a dream come true. I didn't hesitate one bit to leave my little brother alone to be devoured by the world, maybe because he had one person who believed in him; your mother" she said sadly. "But he hadn't lied. We lived happily here for many years, until the day he got sick and died. Ever since that day, I haven't stopped thinking about Alfred and Lilly."
She looked me straight in the eyes. They were the same colour as my father's. "I know what I did was unforgivable, but I don't regret a thing. If you wish to hate me, you're free to."
Silence.
"I... Don't hate you." I said trembling. Tears started falling down my cheeks. "I didn't even know I had an aunt up to now... I'm really glad I met you." I smiled. Tears apeared in her eyes and she smiled back.
"Thank you" she said and held my hand. We stayed like that for some time, until I heard Maddie's tapping on the glass.
"Hurry up!" she shaped the words with her lips. I nodded.
"I'm sorry, but... We have to go."
"Of course, I understand" Miranda said. "Well then, I guess the least I can do for you is give you this dress for free."
My eyes widened in surprise. "You will? Thank you so much! I'll definitely come visit you again!" I quickly grapped the plastic bag she gave me, stuffed the dress in and rushed out of the shop.
"Hallelujah! What were you doing all this time?" Maddie asked annoyed.
"Sorry, Maddie. But you won't believe what happened..."
"Yeah, yeah, you'll tell me on the way to the pub. Captain's going to kill us if we're any more late!"
I told her the story as we were walking fast towards the pub. On our way there we met up with Bepo, who was holding a small electrical fan and an ice-cream and looked extremely happier. A few moments later, we entered the pub.
It was a simple wooden building that smelled of sake and smoke. All sorts of people were there, mainly men; fellow pirates, townspeople, wandering merchants were drinking, laughing and having fun.
The moment we walked in, though, everything went silent. Everyone turned to look at us curiously. I gulped.
Maddie, with her head held high, was the one who took the first step in, followed by me and Bepo. As we were talking towards the bar, I could hear some of them whispering.
"The Heart Pirates..."
"Their captain... Worst Generation... Huge bounty..."
"Heard he's totally nuts..."
"Better stay away..."
I sighed. I was used to hearing angry whispers and facing mean looks from back when I was with Kid, but it was still an awful sensation.
We reached the bar and took our seats. If the bartender felt awkward, he didn't show it. He just kept on wiping some glasses.
"You're drinking sake, right?" Maddie asked me.
"Eh? Yeah, I guess..." I replied.
"Good. You, Bepo?"
"I'd prefer strawberry milkshake... Sorry!" Bepo said blushing.
"Alrighty, then two cups of sake and one strawberry milkshake!" Maddie ordered. The bartender, an old, thin man with a huge mustache, sighed and turned around to prepare our order. Some minutes later, our drinks were displayed in front of us.
Maddie drank her sake bottoms up and started talking to the bartender. It was clear this wasn't her first time in the information team.
"Why are there so many rookies gathered here? I thought this was a rather peaceful town" she started.
"It was" the bartender answered. "Until the treasure hunt began." He said those words as if he was spitting on them.
"Treasure hunt?" I asked.
"Yes. Some rumours started that there is an ancient treasure burried somewhere in the mountains behind our town." he abstractly pointed somewhere behind him. "I don't know if the rumours are true, but as you can see they have stirred up the interest of quite a lot people -and not the best ones. Oh, I wish this had never happened..." he grumpled.
I was about to ask a question, but Maddie got ahead of me.
"Do the rumours say what kind of treasure that is?"
"Sure they do. Gold and jewelry, as well as a big ruby called 'the Lotus Heart'. That one's the reason why everyone's looking for that treasure. They say it brings good luck and wealth to its owner, makes wishes come true etc etc..."
"I see." Maddie said. "Thank you for your time!" she continued standing up.
"But I haven't finished yet..." Bepo moaned.
"I'll make you another one back in the sub. Come on!" she said pulling him up and leading him to the exit. I followed them, wondering what would we do from now on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"A treasure?"
"Yes, captain. Gold, jewelry and a nice, big ruby."
We had returned to the submarine some time later. Maddie insisted that we report to Law immediately, so now we were in his office talking about what we found out. To be honest, though, all I could think of was that I wanted to get as far away from him as possible, lock myself up in my room with my newly attained dress and never see him again. But that was just wishful thinking.
"So what do you think?" Maddie said excited. "Are we going after it too?"
Law smiled. I suddenly found my boots a really interesting sight. "Of course we are. Pirates love but one thing, and that's treasure, right?" I pretended I didn't hear that, feeling hurt for some reason.
"Yaaay!" Maddie shouted and jumped up and down. "Adventure time!!"
"Now go and tell the others" Law continued. "I want everyone gathered in the main hall in five minutes."

Author's note
Finally, huh? I hope to enjoy this new chapter! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you for your beautiful comments, for following me and for adding this story to your lists. It has made me really happy and it's the reason why I managed to write this chapter quicker than expexted. I love you all~❤