Missing Piece

Chapter 31

Charlotte followed Kline in silence. Her muscles relaxed and limbs moved freely with no sign of coercion or force of any kind. Platinum eyes darted left and right, taking in her surroundings with the utmost care and precision one could.

They were in a trading warehouse or at least the front of one. Open boxes with cages bars revealing exactly what—or more specifically, who—the containers were holding. More than enough evidence of what actually business went down here.

"As I'm sure you probably figured from now. This isn't just your average shipping inspection site." Kline said, throwing his arm around Charlotte's shoulders and grinning widely. "As you can see here—ah, wait, you can't. Let me help you with that." He pushed the head of the little doll version of Charlotte around and Charlotte's head followed suit. "As you can see..." he continued, "we also ship goods around here. Both non-animate and animate goods. Honestly, anything really that we find of interest from any ships coming into Fishman Island. Though of course, the government and royal family have no clue on this! So, don't you go blabbing your mouth off now. Not that you can, can you? My ability seals away not only your movements but also your voice. Free will is nothing but a lie under my prowess!"

Charlotte eyed the plushie replica of her. The small plush doll's mouth sealed behind a thin line of stitches. Thin, almost invisible, strings from his fingertips attached to each of the doll's limbs. They weren't there originally when he made the doll, only when he started trying to animate it did the strings attach themselves and she found her movements sealed. Her body obediently following whatever the doll does.

"Oh, I love that look in your eyes! I'm always curious as to what look I'll get. Will it be fear? Sadness? Anger? It's always so interesting and so much more intense when they can't talk." He flushed, and reached over towards her still face, fingers hovering dangerously close to her eyes. "You don't often see eyes of this shade. Mermaids also sell for a lot as is, but I wonder how much more I can get for eyes like that." He put the doll in a sitting position, leaving Charlotte on a crate while he worked on finding a cell for her.

He's so open. Charlotte cursed silently, eyeing the open back exposed to her as he worked on pulling a shipping crate over. Charlotte's eyes widened as her new defined cell finally pulled up and the gate opened to reveal a white, fluffy bear lying in fetal position, arms shoved between legs. "BEPO!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Charlotte-chan?" Bepo questioned, lifting his head up to get a better angle. He beamed, "You're okay!"

Ah. The two of them blanched a second later as realization of different proportions hit them. For Bepo, it was the fact that she's not actually okay if she was here under Kline's influence. Whereas Charlotte swallowed thickly as she eyed her target and his bewildered expression—she had blown her cover.

It's too late now! Charlotte threw wind to her plan. Quickly clocking the Devil Fruit user before he could recompose himself. "Where are the others?" She asked as she freed the bear from the container. She had suspected their capture when Madam Shyarly had said there was only one gate. There was no way they were going to clear it with Law's experiments calling a bloody murder crime scene. Plus, Bepo was a Mink and Law a Devil Fruit user. They're commodities that sell for high prices. No slave trader worth their dirt would let that pass. "Why are you just lying there?" She stared at the bear still curled into a ball.

Bepo looked at Charlotte with tears in his beady eyes. "They took away my clothes! I'm so embarrassed. Everything's exposed."

Charlotte stared at the bear a second more. "Bepo, you have fur."

"Oh, that's right!" He laughed nervously, standing up properly and exiting the crate with ease. "I forgot."

You forgot? Charlotte blanched mentally. "If you're here, is the rest of the crew nearby?" Charlotte asked as the two exited cautiously. While they weren't at immediate risk, Kline wasn't the only one working here. There was also Joval. He's the one that Charlotte was worried about. She really hoped they hadn't met.