Hi all,

Sorry for the delay. I've been busy with studying abroad, graduation and finding a job, place to live, aka... adulting or getting ready for it. In the midst of it all, I realized I forgot to post the chapter that I had finished and thought I already did. Apologies for it greatly!

Anyway, here's a recap: During their detour to capture Eagle Eye to trade for white den den mushis to block Marine's from listening in to their conversation during their upcoming marine invasion, Law is captured and Charlotte gets a call from Joker wanting her to hand over Law to set herself free, removed from the 'slave' label. Charlotte is running out of time and she still doesn't know what she wants to do: save herself and screw over Law or save Law but risks death or worse. That is, if she can get Law back from from Eagle Eye before she hands Law over instead.

Reviews: (Thank you to all who still reviews, I love you guys and you guys give me so much encouragement to continue (also guilt that I haven't been as active... oops))

Aya Takeshi: Thank you for reading all the chapter thus far and sorry (not really) for your addiction to my story ;)

DreamsOfTheDamn: Yeah, and the timer is counting down for that choice she must decide. She can't run from it any longer~

Lucy Jacob: Welcome back! Congrats on your graduation and job! Damn you, look at you all ready to adult! I'm glad you miss her, I miss her too tbh and writing about her-she's grown so much more than I've expected. Definitely this arc is pushing her on her conscience and her conflict is definitely the biggest struggle here. Though this marks the end of this arc and helps merges the story back on track. Thank you so much so much for being such a loyal reader and always looking forward to my story, even in the amidst of your busy life! It really warms my heart and makes a huge difference!

AnduilofTolkien: Thank you for your kind words! I hope the chapters to come still entertains you.

Read away!

Disclaimer: I do not own OP, just the OC

Chapter 35.

"Grimm!" Charlotte shouted again, pounding against the wooden door harder. "Aren't wolves supposed to have sharp hearing?" She muttered bitterly under her breath. She had been at it for almost a good ten minutes already. An amazing feat considering her lack of patience. "GRIMM!"

"Hey lady!" Charlotte spun around to see a weasel-hybrid who had stuck his head out of his window, probably to see what all the noise was about. "It's nighttime. Have some decency for the neighbours. The Playboy's out. So, stop your yammering!" He shouted, and curled himself along the window, glancing up and down Charlotte. "But since you don't mind interspecies mixing, I can help you out if you're a little lonely."

"You won't go back on your word, will you, Mr. Weasel?" Charlotte hummed, a small forced smile on her shadowed face. The corner of her eyes glinted when the weasel leaned forward with a promise, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Perfect." She muttered silently.

"Oi, oi! Lady! This wasn't what I signed up for!" Came the weasel's pleading voice not too long after. He was hoping for something a lot more against the rule than something like this. He was a weasel; a coward; not a fighter. Coming here meant he was signing off to his own death. "I'd die if I go there!"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Charlotte mimicked and the weasel paled.

"That's just a phrase!"

"You had your chance to say no. You didn't." Charlotte grabbed the man by the collar and threw him further into the tunnel. "Now, go. You said you'd help."

"I meant it in an—"

"—Huhh?" Charlotte egged, scratching her claws against the tunnel's wall, creating a bone chilling noise. She pushed the lanky man forward again. "Hurry up. I don't have all day."

"It's just further down this tunnel, then two rights. Now that you know, I don't have to go with you, right?" The weasel tried again, turning on his toes and trying to slither out of Charlotte's way. He grinned as he passed the lady, only to have that grin snatch away when he fell face-first on the floor. Charlotte's tail wrapped around the male's ankle.

"Forgive me for not believing in your words." Charlotte hummed apathetically. The man was stupid if he thought she would believe his words solely after this first attempt at escape. "Down the hall and two rights, right?" She repeated, not even casting the male a look before she started forward, dragging the weasel with her. He was her way-in after all. Who would have thought that the weasel's little hobby of picking up Grimm's heartbroken girls also meant knowing where Grimm was 24/7 to avoid him.

Silence slowly enveloped Charlotte's senses as she continued down the endless hallway. Or as much silence as one can get with a complaining weasel being dragged along. At least his cries and shouts of pain had stopped when Charlotte decided the noises to be too annoying and gave the man a second chance to walk on his own too feet. That ended poorly instantly; the unrelenting weasel dashed off as fast as he could at first sign. Charlotte caught him by the tail that time and she proceeded to drag him via tail for a bit until she had enough of his painful cries again and decided to use his tail as a lease and force him forward every once and a while with a shove to the center of his back.

"What now?" Charlotte groaned when the weasel stopped moving again. If he was going to complain about how Charlotte's pokes were going to bruise his perfectly muscular back one more time, she was going to show him what a real bruise felt like.

"I-I want to go!" The weasel whimpered quietly, his voice stoic for once.

Charlotte glanced at the tail in her hand, intrigued by the strange way the fur suddenly stood up on its own. Wha—Charlotte's own fur rose, her muscles tensed, and ears flattened and her stance lowering as a strong smell flooded around her.

"L-let go of me! I told you, I'm don't want to die!" The weasel thrashed, trying to run away again.

Charlotte slapped her tail around the weasel's mouth. "Shut up, I'm trying to listen here." Charlotte whispered angrily, her ears flickering. Two... no… four…five… six! Six sets of footsteps. "Six incoming." She relayed, turning towards the cowering weasel. She lifted her tail, staring into his wide eyes, "How many can you take?"

"Take?! Are you insane?! NONE! ZERO. FINA!" He shouted, waving his arms widely in the space between them. "Don't even try! Not going to try!" Charlotte's eyes lifted form the blabbering idiot, eyes glued at the giant white blur racing towards them. "It's pointleeeuuuaghhhh!" Charlotte shoved the weasel's head down and rolled to the side, barely dodging the incoming attack.

"Stay down!" Charlotte ordered, scrambling to her feet and glaring off at the large monster before her. Her mind's eye was telling her that the others weren't too far behind. "Well, isn't this going to be a tough battle." Charlotte grinned uneasily. "And here I thought this island was full of half-animals. Who would have thought that there would be an actual beast here?"

Before her was a giant pure-white growling wolf.

Now would be a wonderful time to morph. Charlotte noted internally. She still hasn't gotten herself a replacement weapon yet, even though she had thought about it a few times now. Nothing else fitted her as well as her karambit did, but it didn't matter right now. Anything would be useful. Especially her devil fruit ability, if only she knew how.

"Oi, scaredy cat, why don't you morph too?" Charlotte suggested, surprised and disappointed in herself for relying on another. And a shivering coward at that. "Grow big like him and ram him."

The weasel blanched at Charlotte, not sure which to be more scared of. Charlotte's stupidity or the giant wolf next to them. Gulping, the weasel made his quick decision at the deafening roar from the growling wolf. "Are you kidding me? This is my actual size. Morphed or not. Why don't you? You're closer in size."

Charlotte blanked. She didn't know how to morph! That was what she had asked! Though that was the least of her worries. The world around her just got a lot darker. Glancing back over her shoulder, Charlotte's hood flapped around her from the gust of wind huffed out of the wolf's nostrils. Well, fuck.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Charlotte hollered, darting to the side to avoid the wolf leaping at her. Her platinum eyes darted towards the male when he didn't respond, her spirit dropping at the sight. She should have known better than to assume that the little wimp would have managed his own getaway. Guess, she relied on his animal instincts too much. The poor kid was a shivering mess, barely holding himself up against the growling and drooling wolf now in his face.

"G-Gr-Grimm… it's… it's me. Orwen. Remember me? Orwen, the neighbour from across the streeeeuuuahhhhhhhhh!" He screamed, scrambling away at the last moment when the wolf didn't seem to be listening.

"G-Grimm? That's Grimm?" Charlotte blanched, pointing towards the giant wolf, unbelievingly. Their coats were of the same color, but Grimm was a Senshi—a half-bred and there was no logical explanation for Grimm's sudden transformation.

Yet, believe it or not, the raging beast hell-bent on making them his late supper was Grimm. The other five sets of footsteps finally made it to the clearing, screaming for their Alpha to return to his senses. Each of them bore a wound of one kind or another. Judging from the looks on their faces, Charlotte was certain this wasn't their everyday occurrence.

"Yo-ho, boys!" Charlotte shouted while waving her arms erratically, trying to get the attention of the other wolf-halves away from their alpha. She gulped when the whole pack seemed to respond rather than just the newcomers. "Do any of you have a… a weapon?" Charlotte huffed, finishing her sentence after rolling off the large wolf's muzzle. She had scaled a wall and flipped off it to force the jaw close as she landed on it. That was cutting it close. Charlotte gulped.

"We won't tolerate anyone harming the Alpha!" One of the pack members shouted out.

So, they do have weapons. Charlotte grumbled and with a twist of her heel, she was charging towards the pack. The wolf wasn't far behind in tailing her. "Are you okay with the Alpha harming you?" Her taunt didn't phase them. That's right. Group mentality. One for all and all for one, was the saying, wasn't it? She groaned.

Charlotte flew to the side like a sack of potatoes being thrown away, smacking awkwardly against the wall with a loud crackling sound. Charlotte gritted her teeth. Something was definitely broken, but she didn't know what. Not that it was the biggest problem right now.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE BETA?" Charlotte roared. Their Alpha male was growling at his pack and ready to main and eat them all at a moment's notice. While the rest of them were standing there as if their bond would be enough for their lead to not kill them. They were in for a treat if they truly believed that. Charlotte locked eyes with the beast earlier when she stepped on his face. The man was gone. Grimm wasn't even in the sub-consciousness. Grimm was gone as if he never existed. "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LET YOUR PACK DIE, BETA?!"

"SHUT UP, WOMAN!" Another pack member shouted. His tribal tattoos only adding to the depth of his face. "Grimm would rather die than harm his pack! He treasures us more than anyone or anything else. Even you. To him, you're just a side babe—a piece of lettuce not even wo—"

Blood splattered across the tunnel's walls, and its irony smell weighed the air like some sort of pollutant. Charlotte bit her lip lightly. "He's already dead, idiot." She breathed silently, not that it would have mattered if she had spoken it out loud. No one would hear her anyway. Each of them too busy in their own chaos to realize what she was even saying.

The pack had separated, panic and fear flooding into their system at the unusual case. Their alpha had killed. Not just anyone, no. He killed his own family. Slaughtering them. One more gone. His blood had splat against Charlotte, coating her yellow top in splatters of red. Three left.

The amount it takes Grimm to slaughter the rest of his family should be enough for Charlotte to get out unharmed. The weasel had already gone earlier while she was being chased. She should follow his lead given her lack of weapon and injured state. Grimm was already gone and with him, her answer to Eagle Eye. She really had no point in staying here.

Yet.

"Argh!" Charlotte screamed, slicing the wolf's paw between his claws. Two other pack members, a female and a male, stood in fear behind her. The female cowering behind the frozen male. His concealed weapon now exposed and used by another. Not poorly, but not well either.

"This is what you should be doing as the Beta." Charlotte lectured after shoving the wolf back. She had caught on to their pack's dynamic when the omega ran and hid herself behind the other male—the Beta. "You should have done it before your family member was taken too. Those were unnecessary deaths." Charlotte didn't bother to hide her disgust at the end. "Now you have to deal with your friend's death on your hand."

She swung the khopesh in her hand around awkwardly, trying to get a feel for the weapon in her left hand. Her dominant limp on her side from her earlier crash. Tossing the weapon one more time, Charlotte changed her grip, and Charlotte glanced over her shoulder to the still-frozen Beta. "Stay. I'm not done with you." She ordered and pushed forward.

…

Law scowl deepened as his lifted his eyes away from the live broadcast to stare directly at the woman before him.

Moments before Charlotte had arrived to meet with Grimm, Eagle Eye had dome something. What exactly, Law couldn't exactly say, but out of nowhere, Grimm, as Charlotte would call him, hunched over and forcefully morphed into his full-fledge wolf. Law was as shocked as everyone else, but the woman before him. She knew it was happening, after all, she started his transformation.

"It appears that I have selected a rather interesting character." The redhead spoke, sounding pleasantly surprised with her selection. She dipped her finger into the webbing glass, "Stubborn in morphing it seems, but quite feral. Quite feral indeed." Her finger twirled around the Caracal-hybrid in the mirror. The tiny Caracal-hybrid had just finished subduing the large wolf.

"Quite." Law commented dryly. His eyes glued onto the huntress. Such feral moves… He had never seen her fight besides the one time in the haunted forest. Even then, her moves weren't exactly normal. Then again, hadn't Law always realized to some extent that Charlotte didn't fight the same way most people did. Her fighting style was more analogous with Kid's or Aceteon's. Still, he wasn't too sure what to call her style of fighting.

"Very instinctive this one. She's really aligned with her animal half." Eagle Eye complimented as she tapped the glass where Charlotte stood on all fours, panting heavily. "I doubt she even thinks through her action. Adjusting to her opponent's muscle movements and predicting them is all done without a thought—it's instinctive. That's not normal, no matter which city you grew up."

That was true. No level of training done now could result in such a quick reaction. Their body wouldn't be adapted to it if they started now. Yet Charlotte's body seemed to be moving fine with everything she was telling it. Was it just the effect of her body composition changing to that of a caracal's?

"Remind me again: how was I going to win this game?" Law commented, his voice made of steel. There really was no winning for him. Either his men dies and he becomes forever enslaved or Charlotte dies and he walks out free. As their captain, neither of the two options is ideal.

"You don't retain a lot, huh, Mr. Law." Eagle Eye pouted with a shrug. "It's easy, you have your two men, either one, outlive this one Senshi."

"What's to say that you won't break the rules again and change the playing field?" Law questioned, and the woman only giggled. "Oh, so you realized." She gleamed at him, relishing at the thought that he had caught on and so fast too. He really was a fun prey. "There isn't any." She finally declared, eyes stone cold.

The tension in the air dissipated slightly a she raised her finger. "As I recall, this was more beneficial to you. My pawn could have died before anything else happened and… your pawns haven't even arrived at the playing field, have they?" Eagle Eye smirked. Despite the smug look on her face, she was, honestly, slightly disappointed. Law was rather good at keeping a straight face. She was having difficulties trying to read his expression. The only thing she got from him this time was his eyes calmly falling towards the glass table.

Law's team had finally entered the screen.

…

The three stumbled into the clearing, no longer needing to follow Bepo's nose in the cave. The wafting smell of death and screams clear in the air and the walls.

"What the hell happened in here?" Cole shouted, staring at the wet walls that were more red than white. "Charlotte!" Cole snapped his head to the side as said female shot passed them, feet digging into the ground, trying to stop herself. She stilled inches away from the harsh and jagged walls. Heavy pants filled the air around her, a weird looking weapon held before her face. Her other arm fell limply at her side, bloody and useless.

What is going on?! The incomers thought quickly only to have their answer greet them as the cave started shaking and a large wolf appeared on their other side. "What in the world is that?!" Cole almost screamed. The thing was massive, hunched over in the cave that look almost too small for it.

"Grimm." Bepo snapped his head to the injured huntress.

"That's Grimm?!"

"A fully transformed Senshi." Charlotte explained between pants. Charlotte walked passed the three of them, tagging each of then on the shoulder. She left the weapon in the hands of the last one—Rike's—and gave them a small smile. "I'll leave him to you three." She declared lightly and without waiting on their response, she dashed forward, underneath the belly of the beast.

"Oi! Charlotte!" Rike called, trying to pull her back, but she was too far.

"Damn stupid Demon Witch!" Cole shouted, charging forward as well. Charlotte was more than defenseless—not to mention the center of the beast's attention as she charged forward. Cole snapped his gun together and fired, at the large beast's shoulder, halting the swipe from reaching Charlotte.

The huntress smiled underneath her scarf. She was right to trust in them. "I'm going to get Law!" Charlotte shouted back, rounding the corner and skidding to a stop before the Beta.

Grabbing the shocked beta male to his feet with his collar, Charlotte smacked her forehead against his, slit eyes staring into his own. "Grimm said he was taking you to see Eagle Eye. You have two seconds to tell me where you were meeting her." Charlotte growled.

The Beta gulped. She was serious. She'll kill in if he doesn't respond.

…

"What is this?!" Eagle Eye hissed, smashing her palms against the table harshly. Senshis working with Soulless? That isn't supposed to happen. Ever. It was in their coding to hate each other. To try to rip each other's throat apart upon meeting. "What is going on?" She hissed, fingernails digging into the table. To make matters worse, the pawn she had selected wasn't moving like she had hoped.

"What's the matter?" Law responded calmly. Not a single, tiny bit of surprise in his voice, face or eyes. He knew that this would happen! But how?

Her eyes drifted back towards the Senshi bear. He was fighting too well along with the Soulless… no, they weren't Soulless. They were Law's men, but then who's… Eagle Eye growled. "You infiltrated both sides?!" Law only gave a smirk in response.

"Get up!" Eagle Eye ordered, yanking Law up by the arm and pulling him away. Her face twisted into a snarl. She wanted to play with him first, have him lose his freedom freely so that she didn't have to deal with any struggles later. Men who don't losing their freedom tended to go with a fight and she hated it. It took too much unnecessary energy. Instead, she held them to their words once they lose the game against her. But now she didn't have that kind of leisure time.

"It doesn't matter where you take me. There's no escaping." Law grinned, and the woman turned back at him, eyes wide.

"What are you taking about?"

"I haven't told you why we are here, have I?" Law grinned and the woman's face paled. "We're here for you." It was no wonder Law didn't struggle. She had thought it was because the man was smart, but this made a lot more sense. He didn't need to run; his target was right in his view.

"Ha…" Eagle Eye laughed nervously. "You're a measly pirate. If I hadn't grabbed you in the first place, you would have never found me."

"That may be true. I wouldn't have found you, but I don't have to." Law tilted his chin up to the ceiling where a feline was hanging upside down. "She would have."

A long piece of red cloth drifted slightly in the air above them. A carnal grin carved across her face and the caracal bounced off the wall. "Found. Ya." Pushing off the wall with her hind legs, Charlotte bounded forward, ignoring the way the ceiling had gave under the pressure. She was going to get Law back.

Charlotte's eye widened when a large male appeared before her clawed hand, taking the full impact of the hit without as much as a wince. A flush of warmth rushed through her body and Charlotte cussed moments before she smashed into the wall.

Damn, he's a devil fruit user. Charlotte cursed, smoke rising from her skin as her body slowly and painfully reconstructed itself. Her animalistic features disappearing into the smoke trails and her bones forcibly shifting back to what it more humane. Well, he's dead anyway. Charlotte glanced at the towering male falling lifelessly to his knees, then face planting against the ground. A hole through his body from where Charlotte had pierced.

This was great. Charlotte's self-came weapon was disappearing and she didn't even get a replacement copy. The user's dead and with it his abilities. To make matters worse, Eagle Eye had run off with Law.

Tilting her noise into the air, Charlotte made a promise.

She was going to find them before her animalistic features all completely disappear.

…

"Damn it! To think that the meat shield would go down in one hit." Eagle Eye cursed, biting her nail and pulling Law behind her. "I should have just handed you over as soon as I got you."

"To who?"

"Who else? The Contractor!" Eagle Eye snapped back, only to reel slightly from the cold glare from Law. "You… really have no idea?" She broke into a bitter laugh. "How rich! That bloody monster really had outdone herself this time." At first, she didn't even recognize her due to the large cloak she was wearing. It wasn't until she had appeared upside down with her signature scarf hanging around her neck that Eagle Eye realized her mistake. To think that she had chosen the famed huntress to be her pawn. To think that the famed huntress was still hunting the same prey.

The very same prey that she was hunting.

"I'll let you in on a secret." Eagle Eye told. "On the condition that you protect me." There was no way she could win against a monster like Bloody Boa. She was barely a fighter, her ability provided her a means without fighting herself. Even then, her strongest puppet was outdone in one attack. And she didn't have a means to see what her other puppet monster was doing right now to give him new orders. "The contract to hunt you is still active." She declared.

"And?" Law responded coolly. He was a pirate, being chased wasn't anything new.

"And" She started with an emphasis. "Bloody Boa is the main hunter on the jo-" In the next moment, Eagle Eye was spinning, her top torn and Law forcefully pulled away from her. Claw marks stretched across his shirt from the way Charlotte had slung him behind her crouching and smoking form.

"Ah shit," Charlotte cursed. There goes the last of her zoan-fruit abilities. At least she managed to get Law back in time. The issue now was that she was without a weapon. It didn't look like Law's nodachi was nearby either.

"Bloody Boa." Eagle Eye hissed, recognizing the woman's appearance now that the caracal additions were missing. "What are you—"

—"You twin sister called for you." Charlotte explained simply much to Law's surprise. That a least explained their identical appearance.

"You knew?" Law questioned. He would have enjoyed that information at the debrief.

"Somewhat." Charlotte admitted. "I knew they were related, didn't know they were twins until I saw her."

"That's actually quite slow of you." Eagle Eye commented, raising up a finger and curling it towards her in a 'come at me motion'.

"Oh," Charlotte whistled at the motion. "I didn't take you to be much of a fighter." She commented, crouching lowly. Eagle Eye grinned darkly.

"I'm not."

In a flash, Charlotte was clawing desperately at her neck; air unable to reach her lungs. Law?! Charlotte thought hazily, her strength fleeting as the seastone links connecting Law's seastone handcuffs continued to dig into her skin. Law crossed the chain behind her and pulled tighter.

"As long as I can see them, any person I've marked can be controlled." Eagle Eye explained, her eyes focused on Law.

When? Law grunted, struggling against the control, but it was futile. His mind may still be there, but his body would not listen at all. Not even his voice.

She dipped her finger again and the mark on his biceps glowed slightly, and the chains tightened. "When I grabbed you earlier." She answered Law's silent question, grinning when the huntress fell to her knees, her face purple. "I can't have you leaving out on me. I went after you for a reason. It's the same reason as why Charlotte's here." She turned knowingly to the huntress, the torn cloth falling off her shoulder to reveal the same tattoo on her collar as her sister. "You should be thanking me, Law." She started, enjoying the bitter look in Charlotte's eyes. "Did you know that her contract to hunt you is still active?"

Law's steely silver eyes darted towards the choking huntress in his arms. Her struggling had stopped.

"This woman was never on your side to begin with. Think about it. If she was here for me, she would have grabbed me as soon as she arrived. Instead she grabbed you. Do you know why?" Eagle Eye waited for Law to connect the dots. "You're her target, not me!" She laughed.

"All this time. All those months at sea. While she became friends with your crew and you, she had never given up on the idea of capturing you. She was plotting for this since day one. Just waiting for the right chance to take you to an island that only she knew well, to separate you from your team, and to come to your 'rescue' without seeming odd. I even bet she had a time schedule with the contractor after this to trade you."

Eagle Eye stepped forward until Charlotte was practically nudging her boots with her face. "You want to know where you went wrong, Boa?" She glowered at the huntress' pitiful sight. "You made two critical miscalculations: one, you thought you had time, and two, you're not the only one contracted." She kicked her cheek. "Tell me where the rendezvous point is!"

Charlotte smirked into the ground. "I… al-already… kn-knew that." She spat, grabbing Eagle Eye's ankle just as she was about to kick her again.

"I-I can't move." Eagle Eye exclaimed, shocked. Her feet still stuck in the air. Two golden letters 'B' branded itself onto Eagle Eye's ankle.

The chain around Charlotte's neck loosened, and Charlotte pulled herself to her feet. "I already told you. I am here because your sister contracted me to do so." Charlotte glowered at her frozen target. "'I control all within my sight wearing my mark', was it?' Charlotte repeated with a sly grin.

"Y-You copied my ability!" The woman shouted, incredulously. She had thought that she had gotten Law's power being that hew as the last person she touched.

"His abilities are sealed away by Sea stone. Even I can't copy what is not there." Charlotte replied as if it was obvious. Charlotte stopped advancing only when her nose was inches apart from Eagle Eye and she could feel her own hot breath rolling off her prey's face did Charlotte pause. Her face a look of pure anger. "Now, I want you to tie yourself up tightly. Oh, and shut yourself up." Charlotte ordered and turned around without any hesitation, letting the woman restrain herself. Instead, Charlotte turned and set her focus on Law.

It was decision time. Now or never. Law was still bounded by Eagle Eye's branding and Charlotte now controlled Eagle Eye; she could get Law to come at his own without having to do anything. The question now wasn't a means, but it was if she could do it.

It took one glance into Law's eyes for Charlotte to decide.

…

"Devil Woman!" A voice echoed through the empty castle. The sounds of rushed footsteps seemed to only emphasize the deserted place. "You better have Captain!" The pirates chided lightly. There wasn't a shred of doubt or worry in their voice. Charlotte was regarded as one of the best hunters. She had Law without a doubt and they weren't wrong on that. She did have Law, got to him without any real troubles. What they didn't know, nor where they really prepared for was the betrayal from a friend.

"Don't you dare lie to us!" Cole threatened, punching a dent into the marble walls next to Eagle Eye's head.

"Then how do you explain where Law and Bloody Boa is? Why is it that you only found me?" She responded back with less rigor and insult as before. The wall was made from marble… and he wasn't even using haki.

That was right. The place was completely desert all except for the bound and gagged mistress in the corner of the room next to their bodies. Right where Charlotte had left her. Her target wasn't Eagle Eye. It was Law, their captain. Right from the start.

…

Charlotte glanced at the unconscious body behind her. Her eyes twanged with pain and guilt of betrayal. She had forced Law to sleep using Eagle Eye's ability. Law had heard everything, and he knew. He knew. There was no going back now. Her decision was already made for her.

It was better this way. Charlotte tried to convince herself. This way, she could be free. She could be alive. No more running, no more being on the hunt, having to live in the shadows. Her slave status would be removed and her life hers to live again. As a human. An equal. "It's better this way." Charlotte repeated to herself wholesomely.

.

.

.

But why did it feel so wrong?

The memories of time aboard the submarine replayed in her mind. Sure, it was all an act at the beginning, but at one point, she had stopped acting or rather, she forgotten about it altogether. Her smiles grew more frequent and she wasn't thinking of about the next best opportunity. She started thinking like a pirate rather than a hunter. Hell, she even started to wear the stupid, ugly boiler jumpsuit that everyone wore.

"Ah…" Charlotte gasped to herself, her shoulders hunching over. "I forgot to wear it today…" She muttered bittersweetly. It was gone now. There was no way she could go back to grab that piece of garment. Or any of her belongings really. Though for some reason, the jumpsuit seemed more valuable now, even though she wasn't qualified to wear it.

"S-stupid…" Her shoulders were shaking now. "Why are you crying?" She was talking to herself now. "You saw the look in his eyes, there was no other choice." Charlotte glanced back at the sleeping captain, and brought his head to rest on her lap rather than on the hard, rocky ground.

Slowly, she brought her finger to caress his cheeks. "I think this is the most well-rested I have ever seen you." The countless of nights they stayed up together or passed from staying up too many nights in a row played in her mind. This really was the most peaceful sleep she had seen him in. He must have really needed it if a simple command could do so much.

"I really suck at keeping promises, huh?" She murmured, her memory stopping on the time when Law officially welcomed her to the Heart Family on the condition that they were no more surprises. She had promised so then. A weak chuckled escaped her thin lips. "I guess I really do."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and glanced up at the open blue sky. "It's almost time."

…

"…ptain…"

"….aptai…"

"Cap…."

"…tain!"

"Captain!"

Law's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry. "W-What is it?" He groaned. His head felt heavy as if it he had gotten out of sleep wrong. "Why are you all in my room for?" He rolled his head to the side. It wasn't often that he had all Rike, Cole, and Bepo in his room.

"Captain, we're outside?"

Outside? That would explain the sounds of crashing waves. But wh—His eyes snapped open and he glanced around him. Rike, Cole, and Bepo were there. Even Eagle Eye was in the corner, but there was no sign of Charlotte anywhere.

"Where's Charlotte?"

"We don't know, sir. You were the only one here when we arrived. Your seastone cuffs were also already off." Rike explained, a little confused himself.

"Charlotte unlocked them." Bepo added. There was no other scent there besides Charlotte meaning there was no one else could have but Charlotte. Except, she was no longer here.

…

Charlotte stood in the clearing. The cliffside furthest away from where she left Law. Her red scarf billowing in the wind as she stood before the shadow that had just arrived by herself. "Oh, this is rich," Charlotte commented under her breath, her mouth stretching into a twisted smile.

"Where's the package?" A crocked voiced laughed almost mockingly at her. It came from a den den mushi. Charlotte recognized it instantly to be Joker's.

"Where you expected it—not here." She rebutted easily. Guess there wasn't much to debate after all if even Joker knew ahead of time what she was going to choose.

The den den mushi only grinned back in response. There was nothing else that needed to be said after all. It was clear the moment Charlotte saw who the pick-up guy was. Though Charlotte shouldn't have been so surprised in all honestly.

This wasn't beneath him after all.

Glancing up at the muscular man standing before her, the pink den den mushi perched on his shoulder, Charlotte greeted the man.

"Hello Aceteon."