CH - 38

There he stood, in the clearing, holding the beautiful long-haired woman in his arms. She was roughed up a bit, but overall she seemed okay. She was still unconscious, despite his attempts to wake her. He knew that it was going to take some time for her body to get over everything that had happened. He had put the lingering Devil Fruit into a sling around his waist, so he could carry them both without trouble.

The pirate captain staggered back through the wooded area, barely able to maintain his balance. His body was in so much pain, but he had to press on anyway. He had been through a hellish ordeal, but it was finally over. He just needed to get her to safety and then he could rest.

Halcen stepped out onto the town street after about twenty minutes, and there in front of him stood a short old lady. She stared up at him, with barely opened brown eyes. She had on a pink polka dotted dress that covered everything, and her gray hair was back in a bun.

"Uhm… excuse me?" Halcen said, bordering on delirium.

"In all my years… I never thought anyone could really do it," she said weakly.

He looked down at Valentina, passed out in his arms. "I didn't do anything to her…"

The old woman looked confused. "I meant Kumajin. You defeated him… and have saved us."

"Oh, right." Halcen nodded his head along. "Who are you?"

"My name is Miriane. I'm just your friendly neighborhood old lady."

"Hmmm…" Halcen stared her down, unsure if she was a threat.

"Who might you two be?"

"I'm Halcen… this," he said raising his arms slightly, "is Valentina."

"Very nice to meet you."

"What do you want?" he asked, brusquely.

"Well, Halcen, you and your friends are injured. I have come to offer aid. Follow me. We'll take care of you."

"We?"

"I'm not the only one still alive. Despite how I might appear, I am not that badass," she drawled sarcastically. She then grew serious again, saying "Yes, many are dead, but Domian did not infect us all. Come, I'll show you."

Halcen followed the old lady through the city. She headed down towards one of the more abandoned-looking parts of town. This must have been where the poorer people lived. Being older, she was somewhat slower moving, which Halcen was thankful for. It meant he could keep up. He himself was rather slow at the moment, being that he was both injured and carrying another person.

Finally, they came to the building she had led him to. It was a bit bigger than he expected. Considering that they were so far from the upper layers, Halcen thought it would be nothing but a small rundown house. But this was rather large and quite nicely kept.

"I used to live here with my husband and our sons. They've all passed now," she said opening the door. "But now it can be put to use for you and your friends. You'll all need medical attention."

"Are you a doctor?" Halcen asked.

"A bit, yeah," the old woman said.

She led him through the front door and into the house, up the stairs. There was a room up there with a bed Halcen tucked Valentina in. He looked down at her in worry.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"Yeah…" Halcen knew this was the truth but couldn't help from worrying anyway. Valentina was such a vibrant woman. He hated that anything could have taken that away. He looked away from her and started toward the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Miriane asked.

Halcen stopped and looked back at Miriane. "To make sure the others are okay. We took care of Valentina, now I have to take care of everybody else."

"Oh, don't worry about that either. We're taking care of it."

"We?" Halcen asked in suspicion.

"I told you, there are other survivors."

"So where are they? I haven't seen anybody. I would have expected you all to congregate to one place."

"Yes, we have a main building up a few levels where most of them are getting together, but I thought it best to bring your crew here instead of there, to let you rest in peace. But right now, the kids are gathering your friends."

"Kids?"

"Yes. The majority of the survivors are the elderly, like myself, and the children. Since the kids are the most able-bodied, we figured they'd be best to send out to help your crew. So… there's no need to rush off to save them. They're already on their way here."

Halcen nodded. "I see. Thank you."

"It is us who needs to show you thanks."

"I didn't do it for you," Halcen said, truthfully.

"I know, dear. That's okay. It's not like a pirate to do things from the good of their heart. But regardless, you did it all the same."

Halcen drifted mentally from the conversation. His eyes rested on Valentina. Everything that she had been through… Halcen couldn't understand the turmoil she had faced. He was unprepared for how to handle the next step.

"Now she we seems perfectly fine, physically," Miriane stated. "It's just Domian's toxins that are hurting her."

"What can we do for her?" Halcen asked, earnestly.

"She just needs to rest. It should pass within the next day. In the meantime, you can stay here and rest."

Halcen nodded. "Okay… thank you."

"It's really no problem. Now let's leave her be, and go get you stitched up," the old woman motioned to Halcen's arm.

"Sounds good."

The two of them walked back downstairs to her living room, where she got out her medical kit and started taking a look over Halcen's body. He was still shirtless from the fight with Kumajin so his wounds were in full view. "My, my…." she said with surprise. "Well… I gotta say, Halcen. For a guy that went up against the Bear God, your wounds really are not that bad. Nothing seems to be broken. You've got a few cuts, but nothing major. There's gonna be some bruising that'll last maybe a week, but other than that, you're in good shape."

Halcen nodded in disbelief. After everything he had done in his fight, he was sure he was going to be in a lot worse shape. "Well… that's good, right?"

"Indeed. I'm still gonna clean everything out and wrap it up but other than that, it's only gonna take time."

"Sounds good. Thank you."

As she finished up the catering to Halcen's wounds, Miriane's front door opened, startling Halcen.

"Oh, calm down," the old woman laughed at the jumpy young man. "It's just my helpers."

And when Halcen took a second look, there were a dozen kids at the door, carrying in Halcen's friends. Grey, Bo, and Kazuki were each held up by three or four of the little kids each, all around ten to twelve years old. There were both boys and girls, but they were all young. "Hey Miri, we brought his friends!"

"Yes, yes, I see that. Be quiet though, you'll wake the woman upstairs."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said their leader, looking a little flushed.

The three men seemed pretty badly beat up, but they were all alive.

Thank God.

Behind the troupe, Loyola and Jory walked in, looking over the house, their gaze finally met Halcen.

"Where's Bailu?" Halcen asked, a bit worried that something had happened to the old man.

"Oh, he elected to stay on the ship," Loyola said. "Something about not wanting to walk up all these roads. You know, the usual with him. Complaining."

Halcen nodded. "Makes sense."

"So we finally did it?" Jory asked.

"Yeah, Kumajin's dead."

"The Big Bad Bear Man is dead." One of the kids sang.

"And here are our heroes!" another joined in, motioning to the crew of pirates, and their Marine sniper allies.

"We're not heroes," Halcen said flatly.

"Oh good heavens, let the kids have their fun," Miriane said.

"Halcen," Loyola said softly, trying to divert his attention.

Halcen lifted his head to look her in the eye.

"Valentina?"

"She's upstairs. She'll be okay."

He could see the light burst across her face. "Can I…?"

Halcen nodded. "I'll show her the way," he said standing up, "if that's okay with you?" he asked Miriane.

"Oh, of course. No need for all the formalities. We're all friends here. I've gotta take a look over your crew anyway. You two go ahead."

Halcen led Loyola up the stairs to the bedroom Valentina was laid in. He stayed at the door while Loyola went in to check on her.

"You two are close," Halcen said.

"Yeah… we've known each other a while."

"How long?"

"Oh, practically her whole life."

"Really?" Halcen asked with clear surprise.

Loyola nodded. "I knew her mother way back before I started working for Max. We were friends."

"That makes sense. You two seemed to get along well."

"Yeah… I was the one that got her this job."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah… after her mother passed, she needed something. She was always good with charts and whatnot, so I thought it was fitting."

"That's nice of you."

Loyola shrugged. "It was just the decent thing to do."

"So you really care for her."

She nodded without taking her eyes off Valentina. "I would die… if anything ever happened..."

Halcen nodded along. He'd run out of things to say. So he left Loyola to be alone with her friend, and slowly backed out into the shadows and walked back downstairs to the rest of the group.

Miriane was already working over the four men. Jory was a bit banged up, but for the most part he was perfectly fine. Grey, Bo, and Kazuki had some pretty serious injuries though.

I'd thought we lost Kazuki for sure. But Grey… he's so strong… I was so sure he would be able to last. Maybe things aren't quite as easy as I thought they were going to be…

Halcen settled next to Jory on a chair as Miriane went over their friends. They had made up some beds on the ground in the other room so she could tend to each of them. Once they were well enough, they could move to real beds themselves.

"Is there anything I can do to help," Halcen asked.

"Well I guess you could hold them up so I can properly apply the aid, seeing as how they can't move themselves."

So Halcen helped Miriane with the treatment. They inspected and took care of the three unconscious men's wounds. Grey's and Kazuki's were the most troubling. Grey had a giant gash in his stomach as well as many other wounds around his body, along with a slightly damaged skeleton. Kazuki definitely had a concussion on top of most of his bones being fractured. There were several actual breaks, so banding them together was a long and arduous process, but it was necessary. Bo, on the other hand, was pretty much fine. He had a few relatively harsh wounds on the surface, but it was mostly stuff that just needed him to sleep it off. Miriane figured he would be the first to wake.

The treatment lasted a couple of hours, and by then Halcen was exhausted. His body needed replenishment and rest. The night had come, and Halcen's stomach began to rumble.

Miriane took notice. "Oh my. You must be famished after all that you've done today."

And she was right. Halcen had done a lot in this one day, and had only the small amount of food Grey had prepared earlier in the morning, before they took on Domian.

"Here, let me make you guys something to eat," she said, motioning to the three of them still awake.

"Is Bailu gonna be okay on the ship without food?" Halcen asked.

"You're worried about that old grouch?" Loyola laughed.

"There should be enough on the ship for him," Jory pointed out. "I'm sure he can find something."

Halcen shrugged it off with that in mind.

Miriane got busy clanging away in her kitchen. The sounds and smells of a home-cooked meal wafted through the house. Halcen began to realize just how hungry he actually was.

When she was finally done, she brought out bowl of food for each one of them. There was a veggie/beef mix with brown sauce on top of a heaping helping of rice. "I know it's nothing fancy, but it was short notice. It should help restore some of your vigor."

Halcen hadn't waited for her to finish talking. His mouth was already full by the time she was done. "Eermergerdshishisbewishish," he said with his mouth full.

The two crew members watched Halcen in horror.

"Good heavens, boy! Manners!"

Halcen looked at her with eyes wide and cheeks puffed up like squirrels. His face reeked of shame. He then swallowed and cleared his throat. "Thank you. This is delicious," he said, with a low tone.

"Of course."

"So, I gotta ask," Halcen said. "You don't know us at all. We could have been here to pillage and kill everyone here. How did you know we weren't dangerous to you? Why stick your neck out for us if you might have gotten hurt too?"

"Oh, thanks easy. My husband told me you were good people."

"You husband?"

"Leonard."

"Leonard… we don't know a-" and then the image of the old man that warned them on their arrival burned into Halcen's mind. "Lenny."

"That's right, he went by Lenny most of the time. I still called him 'Leonard' though."

"He was your husband?"

Miriane nodded. "He sure was. He was a good man, and he told me the same about you. The only thing you seemed to be worried about was your friend. That you didn't have a hint of evil or malintent. So when I finally saw you myself, I knew I had to help you, just as he did."

"And your husband paid a price for it."

"We've all paid many prices, dear. Living, alone, is a price. But you gave us freedom, and you paid for it your own self. We have lost many in this town: loved ones, children, parents, siblings. This island seemed to be cursed for decades. I lost my own two sons to this curse as well. But you… you released us. And all you were after was your friend. So I had no thoughts about you being a villain."

Halcen was shocked by the revelation. "You really don't… hold any of this against us?"

"No, dear, of course not."

"You're a very kind woman."

"I'm just trying to do my husband proud."

"That's intense," Jory blurted out.

"It's life," Miriane admitted. "But I've gone on enough. Have you had your fill?" she asked, motioning to their empty bowls. "I can get you more."

Halcen looked at his bowl. "No, I'm fine. But you wouldn't happen to have any candy, would you?"

"Candy?" Miriane laughed.

"Well it doesn't exactly have to be candy. It could be anything sweet. Cookies or cake… anything like that?"

"I'm afraid I don't," she said chuckling.

"Of course not. Nobody on this island has anything of the sort," he sighed.

"We haven't had actual chocolate in a long time. The Bear God didn't seem to like the smell of sweets on the island, so they just suddenly stopped making it. I could ask one of the kids if they had any stashed somewhere."

"No, that's fine. I was just curious," he said with a clearly disappointed tone.

Miriane, Loyola, and Jory all took to laughing at him.

"Anyway, it's getting late. We should probably turn in for the night," Halcen said. He could feel his body demanding it.

"Very well. Loyola, why don't you come upstairs with me? You can have my other son's room for the night. And you two can take the extra beds," Miriane motioned to the makeshift beds she had put together for Grey, Bo, and Kazuki to rest in the other room.

So they all turned in for the night and made sure to get as much rest as they could. Halcen slept surprisingly well. He had been through a long trial over the past few days, and he very much needed the sleep.

Halcen awoke to the sounds of conversation and the smell of cooking. He opened his eyes and sat upright. Next to him, the three injured men still slept. He wondered how much longer it would take for them to wake up. It had only the one night so far. They would probably need longer to heal.

He got up to find Miriane in the kitchen with Loyola.

"Good morning," Halcen said.

Miriane turned to say "Good morning" back while Loyola remained focused on her task.

"Where's Jory?" he asked.

"He went to check on Bailu and the ship," Loyola said.

"Sounds good."

After another few minutes had passed, Halcen heard someone walking up behind him with a limp. He turned around quickly to see Bo, big smile and bright eyed. "Oh, man! That smells good!" he said with enthusiasm.

"Bo!" Halcen said astounded. He threw his arms around the man in a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Uhm… yeah. You too." He returned the hug half-heartedly. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling out.

"Yeah, uhm…" Halcen cleared his throat and then tried to look to masculine. He lowered his voice and said "Yeah, you know… just worried about you."

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, so there's no need to worry about me. I've been through worse." He patted Halcen on the shoulder with a big smile. "I am starving though."

"Food'll be ready in a few," Loyola called from the kitchen.

Bo took a look around. "Where are we?" he asked lowly just to Halcen.

"Oh, right. Come here," He dragged Bo to the kitchen to introduce him to Miriane. "This is Miriane. She's been taking care of us. She's the one that got you all wrapped up," Halcen said motioning to the bandages all over his body.

"Oh… would you look at that," he said, for the first time noticing. He looked back up to the woman and said "Well thank you very much."

"It was no problem, dear. How're you feeling?"

"I'm good," he said, nodding. "What about the others? I saw Kazuki and Grey in the other room. Are they… okay?"

Halcen paused for a moment. Doubt glared across his face.

"They'll be fine," Miriane reassured him. "They had it the worst, but they're both strong willed. They'll be alright. They're just going to need more rest than anybody else. They'll probably be up at least by dinner-time."

"Well that's good," Bo said, happily. "Where's everyone else?"

"Well Bailu's staying on the ship, Jory went to check on him, and..."

And then they heard ruffling upstairs.

All their heads turned in snap toward the noise.

Loyola left the kitchen and came around to the stairs.

There she was.

"Valentina!" Loyola cried out as she rushed to the woman at the bottom of the stairs, throwing her arms around her.

"Hi," Valentina laughed as she returned the embrace.

"I was so worried," the older woman cried, tears filling her eyes. "I was so scared. I thought I would lose you."

The pink-haired woman reassured her old friend. "I'm okay. I'm okay," she said patting Loyola on the back. And then she caught sight of Halcen. Her eyes met his. "I'm okay…" she stepped aside and walked towards him.

Halcen gulped.

"Because of you," she said as her voice choked. She had tears in her own eyes. She threw her arms around his neck and put all her weight into the hug. "Thank you… so much."

Halcen could feel his heart racing. There was something caught in his throat, so he had a hard time mustering words. His brain went numb and he couldn't think of the right thing to say. "Yeah… no problem," was all he could muster.

And they stood for another moment in silence, the world frozen around them. Valentina finally peeled herself off of Halcen. She stood still, just staring at him.

"So…um… how do you feel?" He asked, concerned. "You were out for a long time."

"Yeah…" She rubbed her neck, going over the memories. "Domian kept injecting me with this weird stuff. It was… It was intense."

"Do you feel like it's gone now?"

She looked at the ground and gave herself a quick mental scan. "I… think so." And then she looked back into Halcen's eyes. "I feel a lot better."

Halcen gulped again. He could feel his body trembling. His mind raced… and he suddenly remembered. He took his right hand and reached into his pocket and dug something out. He reached his hand across and opened it to show Valentina. There in the palm of his hand, sat a little black and white ceramic figurine. "You dropped this."