South Blue Blues

Author\'s Note: Well, now that this is somewhat off the ground, I figured I\'d plug out a second chapter. Note that there is no sex in this chapter, so if you\'re looking for it, you might be disappointed. Hopefully, I can make it up to you in chapter three. ;)



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Marine Profile: Isaac Lumin

Age: 23

Sex: Male

Rank: Lieutenant Commander



Important Notes: Son of C-rank pirate Carlton \'Aura\' Lumin, only pardoned because of his willingness to join the Navy. Locations of Carlton and crew are currently unknown, but combined bounty of the crew since their entrance on the Grand Line hasn\'t broken B30,000,000, bounties still stand. Isaac had a run-in with revolutionary Monkey D. Dragon, and was picked up several weeks later in South Blue. Expressed interest in joining the Navy, and given the lowest rank possible for a Devil Fruit user. Has since risen to the rank Lieutenant Commander, and has been considered for the rank of Commander.



Powers: Has eaten what has been cataloged as the Tsuki Tsuki no Mi. For the most part, there is little knowledge on what powers the fruit bestows the user, but Dr. Vegapunk has expressed incredible interest in Isaac\'s powers and, from our reports of his uses of it, it seems to affect probability both within normal constraints, and in unique ways. When inquired about his powers, Isaac isn\'t particularly informative, stating that he \'doesn\'t understand it completely\', and that \'it\'s strongest during the full moon\' and \'when in grave danger\'.



If it does indeed affect probability, Dr. Vegapunk has expressed that it may have a residual effect that spreads to anyone he meets and is strongest for those he spends the most time with. As a result, silent observation has been launched for those within Isaac\'s group, especially his best friend, Lieutenant Lucas Mero. It\'s debated whether or not the Tsuki Tsuki no Mi is a Paramecia or Logia-type. Dr. Vegapunk suggests it may be Logia-type.



The fruit\'s residual power hasn\'t been ruled out in the death of Commander Les Mulligan, who met with Isaac briefly a week before his death. Otherwise, Isaac\'s skill in Aikido and hand-to-hand is average at best, but steadily improving. If it weren\'t for the Tsuki Tsuki no Mi, it\'s likely that Isaac would have died a long time ago.



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“Are you serious? Did she really?” Isaac chuckles, leaning against the rail of the battleship he was assigned to with the rest of his group. Looking out over the wide stretch of ocean behind him, it\'s easy to see why people have a harder time on the Grand Line, and only the best of the best Naval officers were allowed to participate in missions there. The weather in North Blue is calm and easy to predict. From what he\'s heard, the Grand Line is a much wilder place. Mild seas one moment, storms and tornadoes the next, then a thick snow. It\'s really made Isaac count his blessings.



Still, how much longer would he be able to stay here in North Blue, especially if he\'s promoted?



Lucas nods slowly, grinning. “I told her that she\'d be a good soldier, and she went to the nearest Naval headquarter. They turned her away. Not only is she a year too young, but she\'s also female.”



“You know, I bet your lust for young women is going to come back to bite you in the ass someday, Luke,” Isaac muses, folding his arms across his chest, once again focusing on his friend. “I bet that broke her heart, though. Too bad you\'re not a Commander,” he grins.



“No kidding,” Lucas muses. “The only women I\'ve ever seen in the Navy were those that had Devil Fruit powers, or those that were in good with a high ranking officer. You\'ve seen Tashigi before, right?”



“Yeah, when Commodore Smoker took a detour this way crossing the Calm Belt,” Isaac offers. “Not exactly a looker. I know I\'d rather have Maiya around as a partner. She\'s not anything special, but she\'s scary as hell when she gets mad.”



Lucas smirks playfully, reaching a hand to slick back his hair, watching the waves for a few moments in silence, before speaking up. “All I know is that Devil Fruit users have got it good. We normal people don\'t get any respect. You\'re more useful to the Navy, Isaac.. I dunno whether I want to be jealous or happy.”



“Well, don\'t be jealous. Be happy for me. Besides, you know I\'ll totally drag you to the Grand Line with me if I have half the chance,” Isaac grins, ducking a slow punch from his friend.



“Like I want to go to that hell hole. I mean, if you get sent to the Grand Line, who\'s gonna take care of Maiya?” Lucas glances with a sly grin.



“Certainly not you,” Isaac muses. “Maybe I\'ll get married to her before I get promoted. That way, they won\'t have any choice but to let her come with me when I\'m transferred.”



“Where do you think they\'ll transfer you? Mariejois? Marineford?”



Isaac shrugs his shoulders helplessly. “I doubt either of those places. I won\'t be an Admiral, I\'ll be a Commander. They\'ll probably throw me out somewhere like G-2 or G-8. Or, if I\'m lucky, maybe even Impel Down.. but that might be too good for a new Commander.”



“Wasn\'t Impel Down pretty much blown up?” Lucas inquires, quirking an eyebrow.



“I\'ve heard they\'d been reconstructing the island since the Buster Call. Seems kinda reckless to do that to your own island, though..” Isaac shrugs. “The Buster Call, I mean.”



“I wouldn\'t hold my breath. Like you said,” Lucas grins, reaching out to ruffle Isaac\'s hair. “You\'d just be a lowly new Commander.”



Before they could continue, the sound of Commander Black\'s voice echoing over the sound of the sea breeze bringing them all to attention. “We will be arriving at Marble Island soon, the source of the pirate activity. I expect all of you to be fully prepared for battle, because there\'s good chances that we\'re going to be engaging in one.” He offers loudly. Off in the distance, Marble Island\'s backside is obvious. “We will be engaging from behind. If we attack from the front, we\'ll be in greater danger, but a surprise attack has been authorized.”



“Yes, sir!” Come the return calls. As a result, everyone gets busy, the deck buzzing with life once again as people secure sails, bring the ship in closer to the island. Only ten minutes later, and the ship is anchored into the shallows. Lifeboats are lowered for the main attack force. It seems, for this battle, Commander Black is with them.. he has a boat almost completely to himself, with a few lower ranking officers chosen to row him to shore, stating that it\'s \'important\' because of his weaknesses.



When the life boats hit shore, Lucas and Isaac climb out of their own, and Isaac snaps up a rifle. “Better safe than sorry, right?” He grins.



“Of course. Though, honestly, considering what you can do, I don\'t think you\'ll have a single problem here. Let\'s mop up these guys and go home,” Lucas replies, holstering dual pistols. “Don\'t forget that not all of us are empowered individuals.”



“Yeah, well, I have to admit that I feel much more confident with you here,” Isaac admits to Lucas as the two begin to push forward into the forest with their group.



“What? You need a meat shield now? Don\'t want to lose your life before you become a Commander?” Lucas teases, ducking a swipe from his friend.



“Careful what you wish for,” Isaac muses. The group arrives at the quarry, Marble Island\'s greatest asset and what made up for the majority of the island. In the briefing before the mission, it was explained that the pirates took over the island to take advantage of the money that could be accrued from selling the marble in the stead of the island\'s people. For the past few days, they\'d already accrued a small fortune, but greedily, instead of taking off, stayed just a \'little longer\'. It was about to be their last mistake.



Descending soundlessly through a shallow slope leading down into the quarry, the guards – facing forward away from the quarry – are too slow to notice the approaching group. The sound of gunfire downs the pirates there, but alerts those toiling and managing down in the quarry with the townspeople. Realizing that help has finally arrived, the townspeople move deeper into the quarry on foot, leaving the pirates alone.



“Don\'t forget, men,” Commander Black calls as he takes up shelter behind a stack of freshly cut marble prepared for transfer. “There\'s a lot of ground to cover here. Don\'t let any pirate have mercy! For justice!” He calls and, when he motions to move, the entire group moves. The pirates at the entrances to the quarry open fire, and the group, as they move forward to more advantageous positions, returns fire. “Show them no quarter!” Commander Black bellows, transforming into a large, black bear-like form.



“Always the one for words of wisdom, right?” Lucas muses to Isaac as he ducks a bullet that ricochets off the marble they were hiding behind. He peeks up, levels his guns, fires twice.. and downs a pirate, before hiding again to reload.



“And you\'re always one to conserve ammo,” Isaac grins, peeking over the marble to level his rifle and fire. He, quite literally, feels a bullet fly past his head. He can hear it. Two inches more to the side and it would have been a clean, life-ending headshot. “Shit!” He ducks back behind the marble.



“See? You\'re a lucky guy. If that\'d been me that would\'ve taken my head clear off,” Lucas muses over the sound of the gunshots and yelling, before he nods. “This isn\'t getting us anywhere. Wanna play hero?”



“You sure that\'s wise? I mean, you said yourself that you\'ve got terrible luck,” Isaac grins. “But I suppose if there\'s no guts, there\'s no promotion.”



The two of them leap over their respective marble slabs and move to flank the pirates. Their combined gunfire takes out several of the pirates that actually noticed their movements, and with that, they move to sneak up behind their targets. They can\'t hear their Commander\'s infuriated roaring over the sound of all the yelling and gunfire, and they suppose it\'s for the best. They\'ll get enough of that later.



“Ten beli says that the word \'reckless\' comes up in our reprimand!” Lucas yells to Isaac as they throw their ammo-less weapons away and start using their weapons. In Lucas\' case, he\'s got a sword tucked away. Isaac, however, has no such weapon, and instead grabs, throws or punches anyone he gets close to. The pirates, not expecting a flanking maneuver, don\'t see the two men before it\'s too late.



“You\'re on!” Isaac grins. Considering their track record, that\'s a bet he knows he\'s going to lose, but still the two press forward. The pirates have started to become more thinned, and by this point, they come to the man clearly easily identified as the captain. “Hey, Luke. I think that\'s the guy we\'re here for. Dead or alive?”



Lucas takes cover in one of the quarry entrances they\'d cleared, and he pulls out the bounty poster. “Ort \'The Muscle\' Demillo. Thirty five million beli.. yup. Dead or alive. This guy\'s nothing special, I\'ve heard. Just inhumanly strong.”



“You think he\'s got a Devil Fruit?” Isaac inquires curiously.



Lucas shrugs his shoulders helplessly. “Good chance, sure. In that case, he might be beyond us. We should save him for Commander Black. H.. hey, where are you going?!”



Isaac has already stood up, moving to leave the entrance they were hiding inside. “No guts, no promotion, remember?”



“Oh, God, we\'re really going to hear it from Commander Black this time..” Lucas groans, moving to a stand, again lifting his sword. “This is going to end poorly, isn\'t it?”



“We won\'t know \'til we try. C\'mon!” Isaac grins, moving out of the entrance. Only a handful of pirates stood between the two men and the captain, and those were easily dispatched, like the others, simply by working with surprise. “I think we\'re going to need to use the element of surprise for this guy, too,” Isaac muses to Lucas as he slams another pirate to the ground.



“Well, he seems oblivious.. let\'s give it a shot,” Lucas nods slowly. “Maybe the others will come back us up when they realize we\'re at the Captain.”



By the time the last pirate between them was down, the two wasted no time, both of them leaping towards the heavily muscled captain. The man was bald, and his entire body, if it were possible, was nothing but muscle. A handlebar mustache is the only other distinguishing figure on the captain, besides a tattered and aged captain\'s coat that sits loosely upon his shoulders.



The Captain glances as he sees movement, and can\'t quite move in time from surprise. Both a fierce kick from Isaac and a heavy sword slash from Lucas. Both attacks connect soundly, blood splashing the men\'s face as they push off of the larger man, sending him toppling to the ground with a shout of both anger and pain. “I think things just got a bit more serious,” Lucas calls as he hits the ground carefully.



“You\'re not kidding,” Isaac muses, landing softly next to his friend. “Also.. I think we\'ve got company. I didn\'t see him before.” He points deeper into the quarry entrance the Captain had been standing in. Another man sits, staring calmly at the two of them, polishing a blade that seems far too big for himself.



The man lifts the sword, seeming much calmer than the Captain that was trying to get to his feet not far away. “Our crew..” The calmer man begins, “.. prides itself in its strength. Only the strongest, toughest men get into our crew. How else will we conquer the Grand Line?” He grins. “But how rude of me.. my name is First Mate Mann Demillo. In case you\'re wondering, I\'m just his brother,” Mann grins.



“Think you can handle him?” Isaac offers, watching Lucas nod confidently.



“He\'s got a big sword, but he can\'t be that fast with it. Don\'t worry about me. Worry about your own hide,” Lucas grins, moving to engage Mann. “I hope you won\'t take it personally..” He levels his own standard issue blade towards Mann, before rushing in. “I\'m just following orders!”



Isaac watches the two blades clash soundly, the two of them forcing each other back deeper into the quarry. He\'s worried for his friend, but realizes, as Ort has regained his footing, that he won\'t have much time to do much more worrying. “For a second there, I didn\'t think you were going to get up. I expected more out of someone with your bounty,” he grins.



“Quit feigning confidence, boy,” Ort grumbles, clearly annoyed. He checks the slash that was delivered to him and, despite bleeding, it doesn\'t seem to have gotten as deep as Lucas had probably intended it to. “I\'m going to wipe that smug grin clear off of your face..”



“Oh, you\'re tough, aren\'t you? Well, if I don\'t act like I\'m confident, how will I ever beat someone as tough as you?” Isaac leans forward, pushing himself at the Captain. He leaps off the ground, spinning once in mid-air to gain momentum, before slamming his foot as hard as possible into the Captain\'s chest.



Ort only grunts, the impact powerful enough to send him skidding backwards slightly.. but unlike when he was surprised, he actually keeps his footing. With a swift movement, he grabs Isaac\'s foot, and lifts him into the air, letting him dangle. “What rank are you, boy?”



“Lieutenant Commander,” Isaac offers with that same grin, despite his helpless situation. “Going to be Commander soon. Hopefully.”



“They must have lowered their expectations. Probably realized they were all out of talent this generation and wanted to wait for the next one,” Ort grumbles, balling his fist and throwing it at the suspended Isaac, who can only hold his arms up to take the brunt of the blow. The impact is much more than Isaac had expected, even as prepared as he was for it, and it slams him into the wall of the quarry, sliding down slowly, resting on his back. “See? You\'re hardly Commander material.”



That impact should have, for all intents and purposes, shattered at least the bones in his arms. Yet, his arms, beside a numbness and a dull ache in his shoulders, seem to be intact. Isaac groans a bit, slowly moving to move to a stand. It must have been his powers again.. it always seems to save his hide when he needs it to. “Yeah, well..” He muses, shaking his arms a bit to regain the feel in them. “Everyone\'s got to improve. C\'mon, big guy, let\'s go.” He grins again.



“Like I said, boy..” Ort grumbles, a bit surprised to see Isaac stand and seem eager for more. He steps forward.. before breaking into a run. “I\'m going to wipe that grin off your face!” A huge fist is balled, and a punch is thrown with what is clearly much of the Captain\'s power.



Isaac prepares himself, moving to step to one side to avoid the punch. He reaches out to wrap his arms around the huge arm of the Captain and, with a grunt, he exerts his own power, moving to use the man\'s own momentum to throw him. While Isaac has very little in the way of exceptional strength, those powers of his seem to work their magic again.. the man\'s weight doesn\'t even seem present, and when he slams into the side of the quarry, it\'s with an impact enough to cause him to dig several inches and firmly root himself, briefly, into the solid stone wall.



Ort expresses his surprise, eyes wide.. body slowly, much like Isaac\'s had only moments earlier, sliding down to the ground. “Wha.. what the hell did you do?!” He growls, his face red, veins bulging from his bald head, as he slowly pushes himself to a stand. “You can\'t have that kind of strength! I\'m the strongest in the entire world.. you and the Navy will learn this the hard way! HAAAHHHH!” He screams, his body suddenly increasing in musculature. The man was already of formidable size and musculature, but whatever he did added even more to that.



Not to mention, Ort barely had anything in the way of a neck before. Now, the muscles threatened to make a neck disappear entirely.



“They should have just called you \'The Bull\'. You look like one,” Isaac grins. Though, despite all of his outward confidence – all of which Ort immediately recognized as feigned – he knew that he wasn\'t sure that he had what it took to beat someone like Ort. This might have truly been a fight that was out of his league. So far, his powers had saved his neck twice. Would they be enough to save him from a punch from something this strong?



“Ha.. again, the feigned confidence,” Ort calls Isaac out again, taking great personal pleasure in watching a flash of annoyance over Isaac\'s features, his lips curling into a grin. It\'s almost like Ort read his mind. “But that little throw you did? That was a fluke. I\'m not going to be that dumb this time. I\'m going to crush you!” He steps forward. No running this time.. no built momentum. He just starts to bridge the gap between himself and Isaac.



Isaac slowly reaches his hands up, and outstretches his fingers in Ort\'s direction. It\'s more than enough to get the Captain to stop, the grin fading suddenly as he watches. There\'s a tense moment there where it almost seems like one can cut the tension in the air with a sharp enough blade.. but when nothing happens, Ort stands tall and laughs. Just a deep, bellowing laugh.



“Is.. is that all you can do?!” Ort howls with laughter. “Are you.. are you a Devil Fruit user?”



“Yeah, I am,” Isaac offers, keeping his fingers pointed at the Captain. He wiggles them softly, getting another laugh from the Captain.



Ort wipes away a tear, and he shakes his head slowly. “I\'m almost tempted to let you go, kid. I think-” There\'s a short pause, as he notices a shadow. His eyes open wide, arms reaching up to catch a huge cut marble slab. He grunts from the weight.. surely a weight that would have crushed any other individual.. and he seems to be finding difficulty just holding it up after catching it. “You.. you little..!”



“Not my fault,” Isaac grins, quickly moving out of the way when Ort finds the strength to throw the huge marble slab at him. It hits the ground with enough force to shake the ground.. and Isaac can\'t help but wonder who, and how, they move slabs that big out of the quarry, with its steep and winding pathways. “Well, I guess maybe it was. You see.. my Devil Fruit gave me magic powers..”



Ort, having seen the \'powers\' first-hand, narrows his eyes, taking Isaac seriously now. “Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Set me on fire?” Then.. that grin appears as he steps forward, climbing atop and over the marble slab, watching as Isaac steps backwards.



“I might! You\'d better be careful!” Isaac grins again, wiggling his fingers. He\'s got a renewed confidence. Maybe he\'s finally learning to control his powers!



No such dice. As Ort gets closer, a huge fist is thrown, and Isaac just barely leaps out of the way. Another punch, another narrow dodge. Isaac isn\'t sure, now that he\'s let Ort close, if he can continue to avoid the attacks. It\'s at that point that he thinks about potential reinforcement. Is this his punishment for rushing in against an enemy he didn\'t completely understand?



Suddenly, there\'s a scream of anguish from Ort. Isaac\'s thoughts immediately drift back to the fight, and there\'s a moment of shock.. a huge, flaming fist was only inches away from testing Isaac\'s bone integrity. He looks up to see Ort retract his fist, swinging it, trying to put out the flames.. even rolling. The flames continue to spread. “NO! NOOOOO! YOU REALLY DID IT!” He screams, the flames quickly moving to cover as much skin as possible. “I\'LL KILL YOU! I\'LL KILL YOOOOOUUUU!”



It\'s not until Ort finally stops rolling and simply.. lays there in a smoldering, burning heap, does Isaac take several steps back. He hadn\'t even barely touched the guy.. and yet there he was, defeated. “I.. I didn\'t..” It\'s different arresting someone, but it\'s a completely different thing to TORCH someone when you didn\'t even mean to? Still in a state of shock, he doesn\'t even notice his reinforcements arriving with several buckets of water. The water does what even the dirt of the quarry couldn\'t accomplish by extinguishing the burning man.



A medic moves to check Ort, and he starts tending to the man. “He\'s alive.. but just barely.. we should be able to send him off when we get him recovered.”



“Doesn\'t even seem worth taking care of,” Commander Black grumbles softly as he approaches, patting Isaac on the shoulder. “Good work there, Lieutenant Commander Isaac. We tried to get here sooner, but the other pirates were giving us a hard time.”



“It\'s.. it\'s fine,” Isaac shakes his head slowly, trying to get past the shock. That\'s the first time his powers had done anything like THAT in a fight. Usually it did things that weren\'t expected. Rebounding bullets, deflecting punches a few inches to make them miss completely.. but setting someone aflame with absolutely no warning? Was it because Isaac had considered it as a punishment?



“Where is Lieutenant Lucas?” Commander Black inquires.



That gets Isaac back to Earth. He looks up a the Commander. “He went off to fight this guy\'s brother.. we\'ve got to check on him!” With that, Isaac, with Black not far behind, took off into the nearest quarry entrance. Barely a quarter mile back, they find the aftermath of the fight. Mann, barely scratched, sits upon one of the boulders. He looks with a mild surprise as Isaac approaches, and he looks over at Black.



“Mmm. You beat my brother, huh? That explains the screaming,” Mann yawns a bit, flicking some blood off of his blade. Not far away, Lucas lay in an unmoving heap, clothes torn and bloody. His sword, thirty feet from him, is buried to the hilt in the thick marble stone. “He was a bit of a weakling. He underestimates his opponents..” He smirks, glancing briefly at Lucas. “But I don\'t. I\'d be a better Captain. Guess it\'s my turn,” he climbs off the rock, and starts back towards the entrance.



“Tell y\'what.. I\'ll even do you guys a favor. I won\'t hold a grudge for capturing my stupid older brother,” Mann offers, reaching into his pocket for a rag, which he uses to wipe blood off of his blade as he walks towards the entrance. “Your friend has a lot of potential, but he\'s holding himself back. If you\'re really going to become a Commander,” he focuses on Isaac as he passes. “Then I suggest you take him with you. This is going to motivate him. He\'ll never last a second on the Grand Line if he can\'t become stronger.”



With that, Mann disappears into the relative darkness of the barely lit quarry.



Isaac quickly moves to Lucas\' side, checking his pulse.. still beating. He glances back at Commander Black, who slowly moves to a kneel. “Can\'t you go catch him?!”



“He doesn\'t have a bounty,” Commander Black admits. “I assume that he avoided conflict that would land him a bounty just for this occasion. Probably wanted someone to get Ort out of the way so he could take over. You probably did him a bigger favor than he did you.”



Isaac grumbles a bit, slowly moving to heft Lucas onto his shoulders. Despite the blood quickly flowing down to soil his clothes, he moves to walk out. “Let\'s go find a medic to get Lucas patched up. If we leave him much longer, he might bleed out.”



“Agreed,” Commander Black nods, moving ahead of Isaac in order to inform a medic.



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The trip back was, unsurprisingly, quiet. With no-one to talk to besides his crew mates, none of whom he knew as well as Lucas, Isaac was stuck only checking in on his sleeping friend every now and then. When he was brought to the medic, he quickly patched up what he could with what little he had, and promptly brought Lucas back to ship.



“It wasn\'t as bad as I thought it was initially, but once I got him cleaned and sewn up, I realized that whoever fought him must have really gone easy on him, because a sword that big should have cut through skin and bone easily. He\'s lucky he didn\'t lose a couple limbs in the process. That would have definitely put a hamper on his career as a Navy officer, eh?” The medic offered, trying to make a bit of light on the situation. “Eh? Okay, okay, I guess that was uncalled for, but your friend should be fine. A few weeks rest, and he\'ll be back on his feet one hundred percent.”



Return to the headquarters prompted Isaac to assist with moving the sleeping Lucas to the infirmary. When their paychecks came in, Isaac took his and, inviting Maiya, took to the city to shop for a replacement sword for Lucas as a present.. motivation for him to get better sooner. It took the vast majority of his paycheck – something that Maiya chastised him about for hours after the purchase – to actually get a sword that was top quality for the island, but when he did, he sheathed it, and brought it to the infirmary, dragging Maiya along with him.



“What is it, my birthday?” Lucas grins a bit when the sword, a scimitar, was presented to him, sheath and all. Against the advice of the nurse, he unsheathes the heavy sword and, after examining what seemed like every inch of the blade, he chuckles, looking away. “I don\'t deserve to have friends like you guys..” He admits sadly. “And I bet you\'re going to get that promotion to Commander, and I\'ll be left here all by myself.. shit, I\'m too old to make new friends..”



“Actually, I did get the promotion,” Isaac offers with a smile. “Based on our \'exemplary performance\'. I\'ve been assigned to a division at G-1 headquarters here in North Blue.”



“Congratulations,” Lucas muses. “Be sure to come visit.”



Isaac grins. “I won\'t need to,” he glances over at Maiya for a moment, before looking back at Lucas. “Because you\'ve been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and been assigned to my division.”



“No way.. are you serious?” Lucas opens his eyes, and he tries to sit up. The nurse quickly moves over to him and starts to go on about getting him to lay down again, but he pushes her away gently, much to her annoyance.



“I\'m serious. As soon as you\'re better, you\'ll have your promotion ceremony, and you\'ll be on the same boat as me out to G-1,” Isaac grins. “I\'ve read up on the place. It\'s like the other mid-sea battle islands, and it\'s way safer than this place. I think we\'re going to have it fairly easy. They didn\'t think we were ready for the Grand Line.”



“I can\'t take it easy, you know that,” Lucas offers calmly, lifting his sword up, before slowly moving to lay it near his side. “I\'ve got to get better.. else I\'ll just hold you back. If it had been someone else, he would have come after you and Commander Black, and I wouldn\'t have..”



“Enough with the pity party!” Maiya growls at him, immediately getting Lucas shut up, and wide-eyed.



“Y-yes, ma\'am..” Lucas stutters.



“Good. Just accept the sword, accept your promotion, and get better. No more of the pity, you got me?” Maiya smirks, folding her arms beneath her chest.



Lucas nods slowly, still wide-eyed. “Yeah..”