*Three Days Later*
"I thought I told you to scrub the hallways?" Kid shot, watching as Beth washed out the cannons thoroughly. They were clogged with gunpowder and none of the crew had any sense to actually clean them themselves. She looked up, wiping her forehead free of sweat.
"Yes, sir. Right after the cannons are done." He narrowed his eyes but nodded, walking off to do captain things. Beth shrugged and continued cleaning out the nasty cannons.
She hummed a tune to herself, using the already dirty sponge to scrape the excess powder that stuck to the sides out and into the bucket beside her. It was already halfway full and she was only done with two of the six cannons.
Wire walked by, glancing in her direction but not saying a word. She sighed, not offering to start a conversation with the bigger man. Most of her interactions with the crew went this way, a passing glance and a nod or grunt in way of talking. After three days of being aboard, she would've thought that she would know more than just their names.
Her cleaning continued for another hour, the bucket filling up and being dumped into the ocean below several times from all the muck that gathered inside. Beth wrinkled her nose at the smell of the soured gunpowder mixed with cleaning agents. It wasn't pleasant.
Next, she got fresh water from the kitchen and more of the cleaning liquid, a fresh scrubber she scavenged out of the cupboards somewhere, and a clean rag. Going below deck, she got onto her knees and began the long process of scrubbing the filth from the floorboards.
It was disgusting underneath! Not even two feet into the cleaning, she had to clean the scrubber so she wouldn't spread the dirt around. Heat passed by the hallway and Beth sat up suddenly.
"Has this ship ever been cleaned?" She asked, panting from the effort. He glanced down at her work, seeing the one bright spot where she'd scrubbed and shrugged.
"Maybe...I think once." She shook her head.
"When was that?" He thought for a moment.
"Maybe a few years ago." At her shocked expression, he continued down the hall, careful not to step on the places that had been cleaned.
Two and a half hours. That's how long it took to scrub the hallways below deck. 23 buckets of fresh water and 6 times of cleaning the scrubber out. Beth's arms were burning from the constant push and pull and her back ached from her bent over position. Every time she leaned down for something a burning pain shot down her back and she hissed in pain. By then, it was close to five o'clock in the evening and she needed to start making dinner for the crew.
The three days she'd been onboard, she'd quickly learned to utilize the minimal ingredients to make large meals. Soups and stews were prominent but she also had enough to make simple bread and dough. Still, they were running desperately low on everything.
That night, she made the same stew as the first night she was there. The routine was the same: once dinner had finished cooking, she served it into bowls and the men were waiting for her outside. After serving the others, she would clean the pots and pans and eat afterwards. By that time, the men had finished and were gone when she reemerged.
She supposed it was because they didn't know her well and didn't really want to make the effort to get to know her. Part of her didn't mind. The other part was sad that there was no hope of making friends with this group of men. Sure, they weren't the friendliest of people, but they were still people.
In her years of being a slave for the World Nobles, she'd seen many horrible people put to work under the Celestial Dragons. Always, within a week, they were thoroughly humbled. Normally, they didn't live to see the second week.
She ate her stew and looked out the porthole, watching the waves flow back and forth on the ocean. She had discovered the day before that they hadn't left Sabaody Archipelago. Instead, they had moved their ship to a further grove and waited in hiding. The admiral was still around, checking to make sure the Supernovas had left, but his services were basically finished. The Celestial Dragons were no longer in danger and there were other things that took priority.
Every time the men passed by, they were usually talking about Whitebeard. Kid kept referring to something as 'the main event,' but Beth still hadn't figured out what it was yet. Much as one would think she knew almost everything going on with the world, considering she had been a slave to the World Nobles for so long, she was mostly in the dark. The Nobles didn't waste their time thinking about such trivial and common things. Such things simply weren't worth their time.
Even as Beth continued to wonder, she never got up the nerve to ask. Kid was not very fond of questions and would sometimes flare up a temper when she did ask. On these occasions, she sought out the company of one certain crewmate.
"Heat, what does Kid mean by 'the main event?'" She asked once while cleaning the walls free from cobwebs. He paused in his step and turned.
"You really don't know what's gonna happen, do you?" She gave a confused look and shook her head. With a sigh, he stopped and leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. "The World Government captured Fire Fist Ace, you know who that is right?" She thought back before nodding her head. She'd heard the name before.
"Well, he's set for execution in a few days. The only problem is, Ace is a Whitebeard Pirate, and Whitebeard takes care of his own. There ain't no way he's not gonna show up to his execution to take him back. That's the main event."
Beth absorbed this information and nodded. "So why is Kid so excited about it?"
Heat shrugged and began down the hall again. "Because it's gonna be the start of the new era."
Beth watched his back as he walked away, but she soon went back to her work. Still, the thought remained in her mind the entire time.
That night, Beth lay in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. The gentle rocking of the ship usually lulled her to sleep but her mind was racing and wouldn't settle. Not even the lap of the waves and the distant cawing of birds helped ease her mind. With a tired sigh, she pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed.
She opened the door just enough to slip out without making too much of a noise.
'I'll oil them tomorrow. Then they won't be so noisy.'
Her soft feet padded silently down the hallway, taking care not to hit the squeakiest of boards. Each time her weight caused a groan in the wood she glanced up at the doors around her. None of the men inside stirred inside, so she continued down the hall.
'Wait, why am I so worried? How would I get in trouble for getting some fresh air?' It wasn't the first time that she'd caused herself to panic without a need to. These weren't the World Nobles. She wasn't a slave. Well, in a sense, she wasn't.
Ascending the stairs, she pushed open the thankfully silent door and gently closed it behind her. Just then, a cooler breeze swept the ship, causing her uniform to rustle and wave. She'd yet to get new clothes, forcing her to wear the uniform for three or four days without washing.
Outside, the moon was large and high up in the sky. It's white mass reflected off the waves and lit up the night. To her left was Grove 36, far away from the auction house but close enough to...well, she wasn't really sure. Kid never explained to her why they were still docked there.
Walking over to the railing, she climbed over and sat on the edge with her feet dangling down over the water. Another blast of cool air blew past her and she sighed in satisfaction. It had been too long since she got to experience this feeling. In fact, she couldn't remember anything very good at all. Not even before she became a slave.
She forced her eyes shut, shaking her head to clear her head of those negative thoughts.
'Best not to dwell on the past. It's not like you could do anything about it anyway.'
A single tear slipped down her cheek, and she opened her eyes in surprise. It reached the end of her chin and dripped down into the water, lost in the inky blackness below. She smiled unconsciously, thinking of the old tales of the gods. Okeanos, the god of rivers and oceans, was said to have cried so long and violently that in his sorrow the oceans and bodies of water were created from his neverending tears.
'I guess I add my sadness to yours.' She thought. Another cold wind blew and she hugged herself to preserve her body heat. It was getting a little chilly outside.
Suddenly, a body came up next to her. It only appeared in her peripheral vision, and she jerked her head to the right. A loud gasp came from her lips and she twisted away from the person instinctively. This caused her to lose balance on the railing and she began falling backwards, flailing her arms to try to fix her mistake. A hand shot out and gripped her shoulder just in time, steadying her against the wood.
"Be more careful." Was all they said, and she turned in surprise to see Killer leaning against the railing. She secured her spot on the railing and let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
"Thanks." She muttered and then thought over what had happened. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I nearly had a heart attack."
He only shrugged and turned his head away. Her eyes couldn't take themselves off of his strange striped mask. It seemed he didn't take it off ever, or if he did, only in his own quarters. Nonetheless, she wondered what his face looked like.
"Why are you out here?" He questioned suddenly and she jumped slightly from the force behind it, as if accusing her of a crime. She lowered her face.
"Am I not allowed out here? I didn't know, I'm sorry. I'll-"
"That's not what I meant." He interrupted. She looked confused and he must have seen this as he shook his head. "What are you thinking about out here?"
"Oh." She said, adjusting her seat on the wood. It surprised her that Killer of all of the crewmen was the first to ask her about her past. He was usually extremely quiet and kept to himself, only advising Kid on what he thought about a situation. She rubbed her forearms to keep away the cold. "Umm…"
"You don't have to answer."
"No, it's fine. It's just…" She looked for the right word. "It's just not easy to talk about."
He nodded and waited patiently. Beth fiddled with her fingers, debating whether to tell the man or not. He didn't seem to be the type to share a secret with anyone, but how was she to really know? She'd only known him for three days.
"My dad sold me to be a slave." She rushed the words, as if saying it faster made it easier to deal with. If she expected a reaction from the man, she would be disappointed. He only looked out to the sea and waited for her to finish. With a sigh, she gathered up her resolve and plunged into the tale of her past...
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