"I have no intention of directing your anger towards me. I'll answer everything I can.", It didn't matter if this was the real Trafalgar Law or not, it would have been very stupid to anger that man any further. Besides, I still hoped for a little bit of help. As if I wouldn't cooperate then.
"We need to change rooms. Do I have to knock you out or are you going to come willingly after showing me what's inside that bag?"
I stood up and put my backpack down. "I'll show you. Here.", I handed over my bag, while silently going through what should be inside.
"I don't know if you know about everything that's inside.", I said, to which he just raised an eyebrow. But his expression told me I was right. He didn't hesitate before saying: "You'll explain to me what these things are. Especially those wrapped inside this... what is that?"
"The wrapping?", he nodded. "That's called plastic. It's made artificially, though I lack the knowledge as to how." He just hummed in response.
"Ok, let's go. You go ahead. Don't say a word until I tell you to.", he pointed to the door, he didn't come out of. Following me, he grabbed his sword and casually leaned it against his shoulder.169Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWM5Kf5Gac
"Ganz wie der echte Law."
I was navigated through some short corridors. There was no chance I'd get back to his room on my own. It was like a labyrinth. We met some other men on our way, who all looked very surprised upon seeing me. Nevertheless, the captain was greeted properly everytime. As he was walking behind me, I couldn't see his reactions. Sometimes, he greeted them back through words, a lot of times, he remained silent. They all wore the same overalls, the jolly roger of the Heart Pirates on it. Amongst the many, I recognised Penguin. He was one of the few, that seemed to ask about me. but the man behind me ended the conversation quickly in the foreign language.
"Alright, if we meet Bepo and he starts talking, I am fully convinced to have somehow gotten myself into this animeworld."
At some point there was no one coming our way anymore. This must be a part not many like wandering around here. When he finally navigated me through a door, I stopped in the door frame. This room held only one single chair. But what made me stop was the penetrating smell, which gave me goosebumps from head to toe. The smell was unfamiliar, but easy to distinguish.
Old blood.
I saw nothing. Not a single red spot, but the smell was definitely there. They probably just cleaned what was necessary, to still hold this atmosphere to tell everybody coming inside: This room demands pain. Dark red pain. Fear crawled up my spine into my head and played the driving force to my fantasy.
"That's it.", I thought as I was pushed inside.
"Don't panic. You just need to tell me what I wanna hear.", he made no move to hide his anticipation.
The smell was taking it's toll on me. A headache joined my already hurting tailbone, that would curse me to hell once I stood up again. If I may stand up again at some point. Law sat comfortably on the chair opposite of me, while I was sitting on the hard metal ground. He let me choose to sit or stand, but since I probably wasn't allowed to switch, of course, I chose to sit.
Annoyed by myself, I wondered why I was so prone to headaches. As intimidating and scary as this whole situation was, slowly but surely, my fear of this place got replaced by the thought of it being tiring. Law mainly asked me about the things I had with me. He wanted to know what they were and how they worked. I couldn't explain everything as detailed as he would have liked, which he had to accept reluctantly.
"Is that something like an ID card", he asked.
"Exactly. Everyone owns one since a certain age where I'm coming from.", I said truthfully.
"So... What's your name?", he asked and showed me my ID card. "Can't he read?", I wondered. I was just about to tell him my name, when I saw the card. I couldn't believe my eyes, upon seeing a different name. "Catherine Young? But everything else is fine."
"What are you waiting for? Answer my question.", he pressed. It was no wonder he looked at me sceptically, as I was confused myself.
"Catherine. Catherine Young seems to be my name."
"Seems to be? Is this not your ID card? Do you have a twin?", I was wondering the same thing.
"Was I not only stranded in another world but also somebody else? Though the only different thing here is that name.", even though I was still thinking what this other name in my mind was for, which felt like it belonged to me just as much as the one written on my ID card, I finally answered his question.
"No. That is my ID card indeed. Catherine Young is my name."
"Alright so where are you coming from?", he asked after a short break.
"The country I'm coming from is called Germany.", I paused for a moment, but continued after seeing him frown, as though he didn't know about it, "I doubt you ever heard of it, at it seems I somehow got myself into another universe." That just deepened his frown. Of course.
"Whatever did I think of mentioning other worlds?", I thought, realizing what I just said.
But the man in front of me apparently didn't want to pursue that any further. Probably thinking he won't get any better answer, he came back to another topic.
"And how did you get into the submarine again?", he asked again after sighing slightly.
"That's the fourth time you asked me that now. I still don't know how I got here. Seriously I'm telling you the truth.", I just hoped my nerves wouldn't get onto his nerves. It most likely wouldn't play out nicely for me if I annoyed him in any way. So just as he opened his mouth to stubbornly ask the next question, I closed my eyes and beat him to it.
"And I still have no intention of being here as well. The only thing I want right now is to get home." I opened my eyes again, just to look into his newly angered face. "Cut him off. What a genius I am.", I now thought, facepalming me in my mind.
I was already nervous, from the moment he took out a scalpel and started playing with it. Certainly not out of boredom. It took me quite a while to stop staring at the new threat.169Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9aT92SQ0h
"I think you're getting a little bit too comfortable there, Catherine-ya.", his calm, low voice send shivers down my spine as he stood up. My eyes were glued to the scalpel, the moment he took a single step towards me. He was now holding it loosely in his right hand.
Law pushed my face up with his finger under my chin and nearly purred: "Didn't I tell you I'll get my answers either way? I don't go back on my word.", his grin wasn't as wide anymore, but definitely as devilish. His eyes lit up for a brief moment, as he guided the scalpel down my throat and up again on the other side right under my eye. Only when he went past my cheek did he put pressure on it. Slowly. Very slowly did he cut through my skin with the cold metal. I had no way of knowing how deep he cut it, but it hurt enough to trigger reflex tears. I had to grit my teeth to not cry out. After coming to a halt right under the inner corner of my eye, he lifted the now bloody scalpel. I had my eyes closed shut, but still I knew he enjoyed seeing the pain in my expression. Feeling a warm liquid flowing down my cheek, only the rope around my wrists stopped my hand from protecting the wound. The sharp pain left a burning sensation, which flamed up again every time a tear rolled through it.
I slowly opened my eyes, just to see that devilish grin on his face again. Something inside me screamed to finally run away from this man, but even with only my wrists in restrain, there was no sense in trying to run away. Law was still hovering above me, he would crush every attempt to flee. Maybe even with the scalpel.
"What will you tell me now?", he asked expectantly.
"Well yes, I'm wondering the same thing here. What the hell am I supposed to tell you now? You don't want to hear the truth."
"What-", the cut made it painful to speak, as every facial expression hurt, "What do you want to hear?"
"The truth. Obviously. The only thing my patience is running on now is your pain, girl. So don't think about trying to tell me about your little fairy tale again." His expression darkened in impatience.
"I do apologize that the truth doesn't suit you. But I obviously cannot tell him that." After a deep breath I brought myself to give a quite risky answer.
"There is only one truth I can tell you and I'd be lying if I told you something you might be able to accept. I still don't want to believe it myself, but there is no other explanation." "As much as I hate it myself.", I added silently.
Law distanced himself from me again, after looking me deep into my eyes. It was hard to stand his intense gaze. I was relieved when he finally decided to let go.
"[What a shame. Only a small cut.]", he mumbled in the foreign language. I was curious as to what he said, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know, as I thought I saw a hint of disappointment. "Definitely sadistically minded."
Law started to walk towards the door. "He's not really leaving me behind like this?"
"Warte, ich-", I nearly shouted after him, as he opened the door. He turned around, probably due to the foreign language.
"What... is the result now? What are you gonna do with me? I'm no threat to you, I swear.", I could only hope he would at least tell me something.
A grin reappeared on his face. "I know.", was everything he said before turning off the light and closing the door behind him.
"Er hätte mir wenigstens die Fesseln abnehmen können wenn er mich sowieso einschließt. As if I'd try to kill myself.", I sighed and sat down on the chair.
I had no idea how long I was locked up in this dark room. With the light turned off and the door closed, it was pitch black inside here. There was one porthole, but I guessed we were deep underwater. There was hardly any light getting inside. Aside from my clothes, Law took everything I had on me with him. I had a little bit of hope that he wouldn't notice my phone in my pocket, but since my headphones were still connected, it was hard to oversee.169Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BRrejokKa
I had to smile, thinking of him maybe trying to unlock it right now. It would be the biggest coincidence if he tried the right code. Only the thought of him giving it to his mechanics scared me a little. I just hoped they wouldn't destroy it in their ignorance.
Another sigh escaped me, as I tried to make out something looking outside the porthole one more time. That little bit of light shining inside didn't make things much better. It was making it worse, actually. I remembered the room I'd sleep in when I was staying overnight at my grandparents. It was too dark to make out anything really, but there was just enough light to see something. That way, it was up to my fantasy to decide what I saw. It didn't bother the fact, that I was safe inside the house of my grandparents, so I always thought of the worst things.
"Bären, riesige Spinnen und Raubkatzen. Unbeschreibliche Monster... was dachte sich mein Kopf noch alles aus? Alles außer den Schrank der da stand.", I laughed a dry laughter, "Es war ein einfacher Schrank und ich war jeden Morgen aufs Neue überrascht und erleichtert ihn dort stehen zu sehen." Memories took over my mind. Memories of my grandparents and the time I spent at their farm. I wished myself back there with closed eyes.
I expected to get tired at some point without anything to do in this dark room. But even after quite some time, I was still wide awake. And here I was hoping to shorten the time I had to wait. "*Sigh* I guess this place is just too unfamiliar. I don't feel safe enough.", at this thought, I realized how tense I was sitting against the wall. As a matter of fact, I thought I had relaxed over time. I noticed the smell of old blood again as well as my headache. Another thing I felt was my stomach turning upside down. "Urgh..."
After at least yet another hour, maybe two - I had no sense of time inside this dark room - I just hoped to finally fall asleep. Though the hammering headache and the nausea just made it harder. I actually had to restrain some desperate tears.
"Wenigstens", I thought, "beschäftigen mich Kopf und Bauch soweit, dass meine Fantasie nicht Amok läuft." I knew this dark room with it's omnipresent smell of blood was delicious fodder. I was all the more relieved to be able to keep a cool head.
Translations:
(1) "Ganz wie der echte Law." - "Just like the real Law."
(2) "Warte, ich-" - "Wait, I-"
(3) "Er hätte mir wenigstens die Fesseln abnehmen können wenn er mich sowieso einschließt. As if I'd try to kill myself." - "He could've at least removed the ropes tying my hands together, if he was going to lock me in here anyways. As if I'd try to kill myself."
(4) "Bären, riesige Spinnen und Raubkatzen. Unbeschreibliche Monster... was dachte sich mein Kopf noch alles aus? Alles außer den Schrank der da stand." - "Bears, giant spiders and feline predators. Undescribable monsters... what else did my head think of? Everything besides the wardrobe that stood there."
(5) "Es war ein einfacher Schrank und ich war jeden Morgen aufs Neue überrascht und erleichtert ihn dort stehen zu sehen." - "It was a simple wardrobe but every morning I was surprised and relieved at the same time to see it standing there."
(6) "Wenigstens", [...] "beschäftigen mich Kopf und Bauch soweit, dass meine Fantasie nicht Amok läuft." - "At least", [...] "my head and stomach keep me occupied enough for my fantasy to not run amok."169Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy9J1c7nLJ
