Two Hearts

Teeth

Law leaned against the stout building closest to the castle, smirking to himself. It wasn't really the time to feel anything but anxious and determined, but he felt an amount of pride as well. A few doctors had been summoned from town. The rumor was that several servers had fingers, noses and ears removed by a rogue pirate. The rumor stated that said pirate was biting people, using her teeth to cause mass panic at the brothel.

Ikkaku snickered. "I bet they thought she'd be less dangerous in handcuffs."

"But biting is so obvious..." Bepo pointed to his own, sharp teeth. He blinked several times, clearly confused that no one else seemed to think of teeth as weapons.

The captain shrugged. "Whatever the situation may be inside, it sounds like Aisuru-ya is at least making it difficult for them."

Another scream of agony resounded from an upper window. This time it sounded like a man. Potentially the doctor. He wondered if Aisuru still hated doctors. The folks outside the castle spoke in hushed whispers about the endless possibilities. Law didn't care for some of their ideas, but knew it was all only rumor, anyway. For all they really knew, Cherry was on a rampage.

He pushed off the wall. "Come on. We have things to do."

Ikkaku and Bepo followed him around the back of the building, waiting for an opening. Law picked up a loose stone and tossed it at the side door. When it was just out of sight, he grabbed his crew and teleported them.

It was much cooler in the shade of the stone walls. Law closed his eyes, scanning the inside of the kitchen. Aside from the snail, the only living thing seemed to be a small child. He opened the door.

Light brown eyes glared at him, peering warily around the large island in the center.

"You must be Lyla." Law tried to keep the disdain from his voice. "What are you doing in here?" He had hoped to sneak in undetected, but the small child likely wouldn't be a problem.

She nodded, looking between him and Bepo, who was digging around in the flour. "And you must be Ta-- Traw... That guy." she pouted, sticking her lower lip out and crossing her arms. "I hate you."

"So you've said." He crossed his arms. How was he going to deal with her? "What are you doing in the kitchen?"

"Nani says I gotta make my own dinner." Lyla wasn't through pouting, and her petulant voice filled the room. "Because Nani lost her fingers." Her blonde hair was short, cut in full layers, and her nose was straight and sharp. Her mouth was a bit wide, exaggerating every expression she made.

"Oh?" Ikkaku crouched down to be at Lyla's level. "That sounds awful! What happened?"

Lyla made a disgusted face. "Aisuru bit them off! And Mama's ear. And Dana's nose! Ew! She's gonna be in a lot of trouble..." She shifted her weight from leg to leg as Law snickered. "It's not funny, Traw-guy!" Lyla snapped, lower lip trembling. "You're icky! Cherry said you died."

"Well, I didn't." He suddenly realized how bad it would be if Lyla decided to leave the kitchen. How much information could he get from her before figuring out a way to incapacitate her...? "Why are you the only one in the kitchen?"

Lyla sighed. "Because Aisuru is dumb."

"That... Doesn't really tell us anything." Ikkaku tried to laugh. "Usually there are a lot of people who help get dinner ready."

"Well, see, Aisuru doesn't like to follow orders." Lyla explained, sounding like an overly patient teacher speaking to a very slow student. "You lived with her, you know. So sometimes people gotta really convince her that something has to be done. One time she tried to poison the guests!" Lyla gasped at the memory, brown eyes wide, "Baby 5 had to poop for days! And Buffalo was really mad, but Aisuru was all," she crossed her arms, doing her best to look down her nose at them, "Well, are you going to damage the merchandise?' and poked his nose and then Vergo was all, 'don't push your luck, kid!' and Aisuru blew him a kiss and she's so cool!"