Chapter Sixteen: The Chef, the Navigator, and the Idiots in Wano
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"A cursed sword, huh? Interesting," Zoro mused as he stared at the sword in his hand, leaning against the public staircase he sat down at. You were long gone, having had a small mission of your own to find Luffy. That was right, you. It was weird to think that the students of Hawk-eye would be scared shitless by sharp objects. If you couldn't use a sword, then what could you do? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Luffy until he had somehow appeared in front of his face.
"Oh! That's a cool sword you have!"
"Damn! Don't scare me like that!" Zoro yelled. Luffy put his hands to his hips as he looked at Zoro.
"What are you doing here, Zoro?" he asked. Zoro scoffed. "No, what are you doing here?" he fired back.
"Me? Hm," Luffy wiped his nose with his hand before proudly speaking with a smile, "I'm lost." Zoro sweatdropped.
"Why are you acting so cocky about that?"
And wasn't that his job?
"Hey, did you see Y/n anywhere? Somehow I can't find her.." Luffy pouted a bit. "I really want to see her, but I don't know where she is. I need to make sure that my first mate knows that we're here." Zoro let out a small yawn, leaning back against the stone stairs a little.
"Y/n? I saw her a while ago when I got my swords." He lifted his swords up in reference, before looking up at Luffy who had an odd expression on his face.
"Did she go inside?"
"Er, yeah?"
"IS SHE OKAY?!"
Luffy yelled, pulling Zoro by the collar of his shirt and shaking him back and forth roughly.
"Oi Oi Oi! Don't pull on my shirt and just ask me like a regular person! And I don't know, she looked okay!" Zoro now had his hand on Luffy's shirt collar. "And let me go!"
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"-Hey! There he is!" The two of them stopped their fighting to look at the source of the person yelling. A group of pirates had surrounded a man adorning a cowboy hat and a cloak. Luffy sat down on the stairs beside Zoro, a confused look on his face.
"What's that?" The two of them watched as the man single handedly defeated the men without even pulling out a weapon, avoiding the bullets so that the men would hit each other.
(said man is above)
Luffy's eyes shined at how awesome that feat was, before immediately realizing that he was being distracted.
"So where's Y/n?"
---
"Don't you dare!"
You jumped at the commotion, fiddling with the straps of your bag as Phoenix nestled onto your shoulder. It sounded like yelling. Maneuvering yourself carefully through the crowd, you found yourself staring at a very disheveled Sanji and a very dizzy woman being carried away by two men.
Well, disheveled might not be the right word.
"Sanji?" The man immediately perked up, snapping his head in your direction. It was it...? It couldn't be... His eyes widened when he saw your confused face staring down upon him. Sanji's eyes watered, and his tears blurring the hand that was outstretched to him.
"Y/n-hime?" You blinked.
"What?" Not even a second later you found yourself picked off the ground, with Sanji spinning you around. Phoenix was on your shoulder squawking, flapping off and clearly disgruntled by the sudden movement.
"Y/n-hime, my goddess!!" Sanji cried out, squeezing you tightly against his chest. "Oh how I've missed you! The gods have graced me in your beautiful and lovely presence, I am eternally grateful!" Your eyes flashed gold for a second.
"I don't want to marry her."
"I have traveled lands far and wide to see you, my beautiful princess." Sanji paused, before placing you back down to earth (well, not exactly Earth perse). He pulled out a small little key chain, holding it out for you to see. It was a tea cup with a little charm that said 'A cup of TEA solves everything'.
Holding it gently in your palms, you marveled at the little trinket.
It was so cute! You shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts, especially having another vision. They were getting too frequent after you had put those bracelets on. Maybe it was the bracelets that were affecting it. But wait.
Who did Sanji not want to marry?
"I got them just for you, Y/n-hime. I- Do you not like it?" Sanji asked, seeing the frustrated look on your face. You put your hands up in surprise.
"Yes! I mean, no, I love it! It's so cute! Now I'll have more charms to put on my backpack!" You smiled up at him, very grateful that he thought of so much, despite having only met for a brief moment. "How did you know I like tea?"
"Ah, I asked Luffy about it. I want to make sure I have everything ready for my goddess!" You sweat dropped a bit at his nickname for you.
"You don't have to call me that. Y/n is fine too-" Sanji suddenly looked appalled. Did you say something wrong?"
"I would never want to disrespect someone as radiant as you!" You nodded a bit, grabbing your bag off your shoulder. The sword keychain moved a bit as you did so, and you smiled, very happy that you now had two keychains.
"Well thank you for not wanting to, but it's fine." Sanji's eyes suddenly caught the other keychain on your backpack, and he scowled a bit, instantly reminded of a certain marimo.
"Where did you get that keychain?" You tilted your head in confusion, eyes tracing to where Sanji held his gaze at. Finding yourself staring at the sword keychain, you smiled, pointing to it.
"You mean this one? I got it when I went into a sword-shop. Oh yeah, and Zoro was there too!" Sanji felt his mood sour. What. That moss head got to see you before he did? This was unbelievable! Totally unfair!
"Anyways, are you doing some shopping, Sanji?" you asked, not looking up at him as you were busy trying to clasp the keychain on your backpack.
(I imagine it would be like this, but it doesn't have to be this sort of style bag)
He watched as you furrowed your brows, trying to get it on your backpack with difficulty. After a while, you huffed cutely, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
"Can you help me? It's not working..." He bit his lip as you held the back pack out for him to take, his hands brushing over your own slightly, sending jubilant tingles down his hands. Quickly clasping it on, he handed it back to you, immediately forgetting all about his soured mood when you thanked him.
"You're the best! Haha.."
HE WAS THE BEST?! Ha, beat that marimo.
Sanji, meanwhile, felt like he was on cloud nine. Just hearing his name come out of that beautiful mouth of yours was absolute heaven. It was a dream come true. He cleared his throat, looking away.
Come on, keep it together.. Fixing his suit, he smiled. He had to look gentlemanly. Girls like gentlemen. Right.
"To answer your question, yes, I am out shopping right now. I need to make sure we're stocked up before our journey. I was also thinking of making some scones." He watched as your eyes sparkled in awe, and he felt as though someone was stabbing him through the chest multiple times with a spear.
SO CUTE!!
"I love scones! That makes me so excited! Do you need any help with the shopping?" Sanji could have cried right then and there. What a beautiful and kind and helpful girl you were! This was exactly why you were his goddess in the first place.
"Are you okay Sanji? You have a little blood coming out of your nose." He quickly wiped away with his sleeve, nodding.
Pure thoughts, pure thoughts, pure thoughts-
"Of course! Always when I'm with you!" You grinned happily up at him, looping your arm around his own. You were going to give him a heart attack if you didn't stop. The two of you began walking down the markets, and you pointed out small things that made him smile.
So precious...
"Oh yeah, who was that woman earlier? She looked pretty mad before she did that weird spinning trick." Sanji felt his heart stop, his head shakily turned towards your face as you inspected some raspberries. You.. You didn't see what happened did you! Oh dear lord he hoped you didn't catch him cheating on you. He had eyes for only you, he swore!
"She was just a fellow chef," Sanji answered. "She asked me to join in on the cooking competition." Sanji bought the raspberries and you happily ate them as the two of you walked along the streets, skipping a bit in your steps.
Swallowing a raspberry, you asked, "You mean that cooking competition for the big fish only found in the South Blue?" The Vinsmoke blinked slowly.
"What?"
The bracelets around your bracelets jangled a bit as you popped another raspberry into your mouth. "The prize for winning the competition is a Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna." You stretched your arm out and Phoenix flapped down, landing on it.
Feeding him a raspberry, he gave you a grateful smile, nuzzling into your cheek before taking off again. You turned to look back at Sanji, who seemed a little surprised by the phoenix's appearance.
"You have a bird?" You looked back up at the sky, chewing on a raspberry, before swallowing it.
"I like to think of him more of a friend. His name is Azar, but I like to call him Phoenix. Ah, but he doesn't like that very much." You giggled a bit, hiding your mouth behind your hand. "You know, I think you should participate in the cooking competition. Your food tastes really good, so I'm sure you'll win." He tilted his head down to look at you.
"How did you know I cooked the food I served you?"
"I just know. You can say it was intuition." You paused in your footsteps. "So do you think you'll participate in the competition? I think it would be a great resource to have on the ship. I'm sure you've realized how much Luffy eats, right?"
He opened his mouth to respond except a growl from your stomach caused him to pause. Your face burned bright red, and you sheepishly looked away, stuffing another raspberry into your mouth.
"Are you hungry?" You averted your eyes as he leaned over to stare at your face.
"..I'm supposed to be one of the judges, so I wasn't allowed to eat anything yet..." That was right. It was probably a few days ago that you had been scouted as a judge for the cooking competition because you had been individually naming ingredients that were used in each food that you ate, and giving critiques and pointers to the chefs over at the Marine headquarters.
Apparently word got around that you had excellent tasting skills and you were asked out of the blue one day with Smokey to be a judge. As a person who found it hard to say 'no', you had agreed, much to Smoker's annoyance.
"You... Did you at least eat breakfast?" You timidly shook your head. Sanji frowned, before tugging you along.
This won't do. This won't do at all!
"Where is that cooking competition? I'll cook you something delicious so that you won't have to be hungry anymore!" He was going to make sure that you were fed. It was just so infuriating that people would dare to tell you to not eat. Sure it was for a competition, but that was absolutely in no way how you should treat an angel; a goddess.
It wasn't okay, but those people didn't deserve to be in your presence anyways. He was going to make sure you were treated how you should- delicately and treated like care. Ahh, just thinking at the fact that you were going to eat his food was sending bursts of euphoria inside his body.
He couldn't wait to cook for you and win this fucking competition just for you.
---
"Wow, that's quite a large crowd," Namis spoke to herself, attempting to look over people's shoulders to see what was going on. From what the announcer was saying, she discovered that it was a cooking competition for a blue-fin elephant tuna, whatever that was. Walking forwards a bit with Usopp trailing behind, her eye caught a familiar figure.
"Hey! Look over there!" She pointed to Sanji conversing with a rather loud and abrasive woman with pink hair.
"Wait, that's Sanji!" Usopp spoke. The two began to shout to their fellow crewmate.
"Sanji!"
"Sanji-kun!" The blond man whipped his head in the direction of the voices, face breaking out into a smile when he saw Nami.
"Nami-san!! You came here to give me your support?!" he gasped, before internally scolding himself. You had to be watching him right now from your spot at the judges table, and he felt shame rising inside of him. He spared you a glance, and when the two of you locked eyes, you waved cheerfully at him.
His heart felt a little lighter. So beautiful and pure.
Even if he loved all women and cherished them, you would always be number one on his list.
"-These are the judges! To be honest we asked Sam-san, a member of the general audience on his way home from a wedding party, to join the judges!" Nami's eyes flickered over to the judges, and she widened her eyes when she saw your familiar face.
"Hey, isn't that Y/n?" she spoke aloud, remembering the scary phone call Usopp was telling her about a few hours ago and how you helped him get all his stuff for free and made sure he didn't get scammed. He gushed a lot about you, and how kind you were to him and didn't seem at all that scary. His words made Nami feel that maybe Zoro was wrong. You weren't going to do any harm to them. Well, not any more than Luffy has anyways.
At that thought, she felt a grin make its way up her face. You were going to be a great partner in crime. With you by her side, the two of you could get all the discounts! Just thinking about it made her think of all the money she would save.
Internally, she thanked Luffy for finding such a dependable person.
"Ah yes, Y/n-hime is one of the judges for today, and I promised her that I would cook her the best meals." Sanji gazed back up at you with a lovesick gaze. "Ah... Y/n-hime, my goddess!" he shouted up to you. His heart melted when you gave him a little wave.
"And as our special guest today we have Y/n-san!" The crowd roared in applause at the sound of your name, especially when you had made a lasting impact this past week. Helping people, giving people kind smiles, always looking so cheerful, and keeping the crime rates down, you truly were a blessing.
"Y/n-sama! You look beautiful!"
"Y/n-sama!"
"Her innocence is so blinding!" Nami looked around at all the attention you were receiving with a curious look.
"Seems like our first-mate is famous," Nami spoke, before grinning evilly.
And that meant bargains. Usopp backed away from Nami slightly, peeved by the look on her face.
"Oh yeah Sanji, did you want to be the best cook in the East Blue?" Usopp asked him. Sanji shook his head, eyes still trained on you.
Oh beautiful angel; goddess from above, you were the only one in his eyes. Your beauty is blinding, and the smiles were as if happiness itself. You didn't know how happy he was to cook for you- and since you were his first-mate, he was able to cook for you everyday now.
Just thinking about it set his heart afire.
"My beautiful goddess~ I love you ~" he cooed, causing Usopp and Nami to back up a bit. Usopp leaned into Nami, whispering into her ear.
"Do you think Sanji's acting weird?" he asked quietly. Nami huffed.
"He's always weird, flirting with women. Honestly, I'd be surprised if he didn't act this way with her." But still, Nami felt something weird twisting inside of her. She couldn't help but feel as though Usopp was kind of right. Sanji's flirting felt a little different. No, that couldn't be right. He just loved women.
Yeah, that was it.
"So are you trying to be the best cook in the East Blue, Sanji?" Usopp repeated, since the man didn't answer his question earlier, to busy daydreaming about a certain first-mate.
"No, I just want to cook for my goddess. Apparently those fools thought that they should starve her so that she could eat the food they were going to serve for the competition, those bastards," Sanji grumbled, a dark look overcoming his expression. "That is not how you're supposed to treat a lady."
He blinked, eyes wandering over to the fish. "And I want to cook that fish," he added with a lighter tone.
"Eh?! They were starving her?!" Nami and Usopp yelled in unison. "That's terrible! She must be really hungry!"
Usopp and Nami were currently picturing you not eating for several days as tears fell from their eyes. How terrible!! That's not how you treat an innocent girl like you!! Nami aggressively pushed Sanji towards the event.
"Hurry up and cook something for our first mate! She looks starving up there!" If you died, who would Nami go shopping with?! Who would help her get all them bargains? How would she be able to pay you back for treating them at Baratie?!
"I know I know. I'm wishing that they'd hurry up and start the competition. Look at her sad face up there. My poor Goddess."
---
In the end, Sanji won the cooking competition and you got fed. All were happy. Well, maybe not all, but most. That being you and Sanji. You moaned in pleasure, holding your hand to your cheek as you scooped more food into your mouth.
Sanji was such an excellent cook, the food tasted so heavenly.
"Y/n-chan, right?" You blinked, looking up from your spot to see Nami and Usopp staring down at you with sparkles in their eyes. You pulled the spoon out of your mouth, licking the rice off your face
"Usopp and Nami? What are you guys doing here? Oh yeah, you didn't get scammed again did you, Usopp? If you did, I'll make sure to talk to the person!" Usopp laughed a little, a faint blush on his cheeks as he placed his hand behind his head.
"No no! I didn't get scammed again! Th-Thank you for being concerned!" You nodded your head, eating more fried rice.
"That's good- Oh Sanji, do you need help?" Your eyes had caught onto Sanji's form holding the large fish in his hands. His eyes morphed into hearts at the sound of your suggestion.
"Y/n-hime my goddess!! You don't need to worry about me!! Usopp can carry it!! I would never want a goddess such as yourself to succumb to such manual labor!" Usopp grumbled as Sanji gestured to him with a frown on his face.
"Why do I have to carry it..." he grumbled a little, before pausing when your bright eyes were locked onto him.
"Thank you Usopp!! You must be really strong to be able to carry that fish!" His jaw dropped, and he laughed.
"W-Well of course I can carry that fish!" He stuttered. "I'm a great warrior of the sea, with thousands of men to do my bidding! I-" He abruptly stopped when Nami hit him on the head.
"Don't spew your lies onto Y/n-chan!" she shouted as you shoved another spoonful of rice into your mouth. Nami looked back at you with a slightly flushed face, and she was internally screaming at how cute and innocent you were.
There was no way in hell that you could ever be an enemy, damn that Zoro for plaguing her thoughts!
"Y/n-chan~" Nami cooed as you set your bowl aside so that the four of you could get a move on. "Let's go shopping together!!" You paused in your footsteps, eyes wide.
"Shopping?" Your eyes started to sparkle, and you happily grabbed Nami's hand. "Yeah! Let's go shopping! Oh wait, but you're carrying a lot of stuff already. Should we drop it off first?" Nami chuckled, chucking her stuff on top of the fish.
"Nah, the boys can carry it. Come on, time to find some deals!" She giggled as she pulled you down the streets, leaving the two men by themselves. Sanji frowned as he watched your retreating form.
He wanted to be with you more, but Nami had decided to take you away. For some reason, it left an unsettling feeling in his heart. It wasn't as if Nami was going to do anything, she was a girl. And yet he couldn't help the narrowing of his eyes.
"AHHH! That's so cute!!" Nami squealed as you walked out of the dressing room wearing a cute, short, pink lace dress.
(or some other dress, it doesn't really matter)
"I have to get that for you!"
I? You wondered, eyes trailing over to look at the growing pile of clothes that Nami was planning to buy you.
"Uhm... Nami? Isn't this a lot of clothes? I can pay for them-" She quickly placed a hand to cover your mouth, eyes closed as she breathed in.
"Don't be like that Y/n-chan! I'm buying these for you because I care about our first-mate!" And because she knew she was going to get awesome deals because of you, but she wasn't going to tell you that.
The two of you were currently in a clothes shop, mostly filled with cute and rather expensive clothing. Your eyes wandered over to the cute little pink pastel hoodie up for sail, and Nami, noticing your gaze, immediately went over to pick it up.
"I didn't know you were a fan of hoodies," she commented, holding it out to see if it would look good on you. Who was she kidding, of course it would look good on you. "I'll get this one for you too."
"Aren't you going to get something too, Nami?" you asked, looking ever more worried at the large pile of clothes. Why was she buying this for you? You had money. Why was she being so nice to you?
She waved you off with a smile. Sure she knew you had money, those expensive gems on your wrists told her everything, but that wasn't the case.
If she were being honest, you were kind of like a doll to Nami. So innocent and pure, and so obedient- she felt the need to dress you up and take care of you and protect you in this world of cruelty. Never would she want you to encounter people like Arlong (though little did she know, you had met worse), and she didn't want you to experience the things she's experienced.
In this era of pirates, innocence like you was hard to find, too corrupted by others. So it was practically a miracle, as if the gods up above were gracing the world with your purity. You were too good for the people in this world, and she wanted to make sure you would never change; that you would continue being you.
She had already thought wrongly of you before she had even met you, too clouded in her judgement from Zoro's suspicion. Maybe, in a way, Nami wanted to redeem herself. She wanted this to be her sorry for judging you so quickly.
"Nami? Are you okay?" Your voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she gave you a big smile, to which you reciprocated. "After this, how about I show you a good place to eat? I'll pay because you've been so nice to me!"
So pure... Nami had to squint to see you from the blinding light you were radiating.
"O-Okay! But you don't have to!"
"You don't have to buy me clothes, but you do it anyway," you smartly retorted. "Also, I want to do this. We're nakama after all now! And that means we're going to have each other's backs." Nami felt her cheeks heat up at the pure smile on your lips.
You were definitely too good for this world.
Quickly purchasing the goods (to which the shop owner stuttered when he saw that it was you) and getting some very good discounts, Nami watched in fascination as you shoved all the clothes into your small bag. What kind of sorcery was this?
Noticing her curious gaze, you glanced up. "This is my bottomless bag! It's a bag that doesn't have a bottom, so I can put anything inside." You fiddled with the straps a bit shyly, before grabbing another dress to shove inside.
"The things kind of shrink down and organize themselves. It's kind of like Bege's ability... oh, I guess you wouldn't know who Bege is," you spoke the last part as an afterthought.
Shoving the last bit of clothes inside, you held it up for Nami to see. "Pretty cool right?"
Nami peered inside, eyebrows raising when she saw that the inside of the bag was pitch black, as if it were an endless void of nothingness. A bottomless bag? But that's breaking the laws of physics!
"H-How... how do you get your stuff out?"
"Have you played video games before?" Nami shook her head, and you frowned. "Well, there's a screen that pops into my head and I just choose one, though sometimes I can just pull whatever I need out. It's really useful!"
Nami nodded her head, still having no idea what you're saying, but she was going to go along with it. She jumped a bit when you grabbed her hand, tugging her down the streets with you.
"Come on! I'll show you the place I was talking about earlier!" Leading the navigator to a small cafe, you opened the door for her, and she smiled at your kind gesture.
Sitting down at a table, you noticed a small mirror positioned towards the two of you. It reminded you of Brulee, which in turn reminded you of the Charlottes. That thought made you smile.
"What are you smiling about, Y/n?" Nami asked you as the waiter handed the two of you menus. She glared slightly at the man who had his hand linger on yours for a little too long. Stupid men.
You giggled a bit, not noticing the man's advancements. "I was just thinking about some friends I haven't seen in a while." Nami nodded her head, watching as the waiter retreated with furrowed brows.
Little did the two of you know several pairs of eyes were watching you through the mirror.
---
"Make sure there isn't a single dirty spot on it or else Kaido-san will have your heads!" Jack roared as his lackeys hurried up the cleaning pace. The men furiously scrubbed the statue, making sure that every inch of it was spotless.
My head possibly as well... He internally thought.
"Oi Jack, did those lackeys of yours finish cleaning the statue yet?" King asked, walking up to the man. His eyes wandered to the spotless statue in the center of Flower Paradise City and sighed a little, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly.
Damn, even as a statue you were beautiful.
Yes, that was right, there was currently a statue of you in the middle of Flower Capital. Actually, there were several statues of you located in Wano. Now, you could call it an obsession, but Kaido would deny it. What he had for you was love, a fatherly love he liked to say, and it was obviously not an obsession.
And because he loved you, he had to make sure everyone knew that too.
Hence why there were so many statues in Wano of your beauty. Well, it wasn't the only reason, but it was the main reason. People down in Wano didn't like you, they loved you and worshipped you like a goddess because to them, you were one.
Every time you visited the rivers were miraculously clean once more, and the rice fields grew at an astonishing rate. Heck, even Kaido stopped his factories when you came over, and that was a miracle in itself. You brought life wherever you went, and with your kindness, you made sure everyone was fed. To the people of Wano, you were their blessing, and so they worshiped you as a result, and looked forward to the days that you would visit.
"Did you see the new wanted posters?" King spoke, as Queen steadily approached. "Looks like Y/n's on her way towards her dream. She would have been much better with us. We can support her dreams much more than mere rookies, and she would gain protection from us. Then again, I suppose the Big Mom pirates would have waged war on us if we did so."
"You sadistic pervert, I think you just want Y/n to stay here," Queen commented, sitting down besides the statue. "Look at you, you really are a pervert. Little Y/n doesn't need your love, or yours Jack."
"..." Jack didn't say anything, looking away from Queen as King scoffed, glaring slightly in Jack's direction
"Queen, I don't think you know what you're talking about." Folding his arms together, King also averted his eyes, attempting to hide the blush on his cheeks. "W-Where is Page One? He should be here with the finish."
That was right, they needed to paint the statue with a gloss so that it would shine, per Kaido's orders. It wasn't very annoying actually, since all they had to do was oversee the operation itself. Actually, they probably would have done this even if Kaido didn't order it. Especially with how well known you were in Wano.
"Look at you stuttering and changing the topic," Queen laughed before his eyes caught Page One in the distance. "Look who finally decided to join us, you piece of crap."
"Who are you calling a piece of crap?!" Was what Page One wanted to say. Except he didn't want to get killed by not respecting his superiors. So, sucking in his pride, he apologized. But seriously, it wasn't really his fault. It was those stupid lackeys who kept him. Why would he want to be late with the gloss?
"Tch, as long as you got the gloss. Honestly, you shits can't even respect her..." Queen grumbled, glaring at the lackeys to hurry up.
"And you think dancing with her is respecting her?" King retorted.
"Oi, what are you trying to imply, eh King?" Queen growled, leaning in King's face with a threatening look.
"What do you think I'm trying to imply? Your dancing is shit."
"NANI?! Shut the fuck up, Y/n loves my dancing. I bet your jealous 'cause you're the one who's shit at it."
"EH?! Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Queen?"
"Are you?"
And so, as the two men bickered on the brink of a brawl, somewhere on Onigashima was Kaido, getting seriously drunk.
"K-Kaido-sama, don't you think you're drinking a b-bit much?"
"Eh?" Kaido lifted his gaze to meet the idiot who dared to speak to him. Leaning down a little, he glared. "Are you saying that I shouldn't celebrate such a great day today? Are you trying to say that Little Y/n isn't important enough for you? Huh?"
"N-No no no! Of course not!!" The man sweated profusely as Kaido gave him the stink eye.
"Worororororo! Of course you wouldn't be lying!" Kaido exclaimed with a laugh, shaking the island with his movements and thunderous laughter. "Y/n is to great to not be worshipped!! You would be a fool to not like her."
He leaned forwards, a threatening look on his face.
"Isn't that right?"
"Y-Yes!" Tears began to stream down Kaido's face, and everyone in the room sweat dropped at his intense mood swings.
Drunk Kaido was not a very safe Kaido. The only person who could quell Kaido's drunkenness and mood swings was you, which was mostly the reason why there were a bunch of pictures of you in the room so that he wouldn't get all pissy and start killing people at random.
Of the photos in the room, one was your wanted poster, and ironically, was the reason as to why he was drinking. He was celebrating your start of a pirate career and getting a starting bounty oof 500 million berries by getting drunk.
"My little Y/n-chan is too good for this world!" he cried, wiping the waterfall of tears that were now flowing down his face. "She's finally making her dream come true!!"
Ah... It's so awkward watching a grown man cry. The lackeys around him sweat dropped.
"But..."
But...? His lackeys wondered.
"DAMN YOU DOFLAMINGO HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER IN SUCH A WAY! IF YOU WEREN'T SUPPLYING MY SMILEs YOU WOULD BE DEAD WHERE YOU STAND! AGHHHH!!"
sKaido yelled as he picked up one of the men and chucked him out through the wall.
"AHHH KAIDO-SAMA!" they all screamed, quickly pulling out photos of you to arm themselves.
This was going great. Just great.
---
"Wow! So this is the scenery that the King of the Pirates saw..." Luffy mused as he gazed down at Loguetown from the execution platform. "I'll find Y/n in no time!" He laughed a bit, staring off into the distance.
"Luffy!! Ace!! Sabo! Where are we going?" you asked confusedly with a blind fold over your eyes. The boys chuckled from around you as they guided you into the bandit's hut.
"I told you already Y/n, it's a surprise!" Ace laughed as he pushed you inside the hut. You yelped a bit as you tripped over some of the flooring, and Sabo sighed from beside him.
"Ace, you have to be gentle."
"Ha? I am being gentle!"
"Y/n! We're going to ea-" Luffy cried in pain as the older boys hit him in the head, effectively shushing him. He cradled the top of his head as a welt began to form.
"Luffy! Shut up or you'll spoil the surprise!" they whisper-yelled in unison.
"What's Dadan and the others doing in the corner?" you asked, causing the three of them to go silent. Despite having a blind fold on, you were still able to detect their presences quite easily through your haki that Saka-chan had you train.
Ace sighed in exasperation. "Alright, fine, you can take it off now." They should have known this to have been the outcome. They could never really hide something from you could they?
Slowly taking off the blindfold, you blinked in surprise when you realized that the room was quite dark. Looking around, Ace and Sabo stood at your sides, with Luffy at the front.
"What's going on? Why is it so dark-"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Luffy grinned at the memory. Ah, those really were the good old days. Your birthday had to be the best day ever, especially when he got to feed you meat while his brothers had to watch in the corner because they almost destroyed the cake. The three of them used to fight for your attention all the time, and it was Luffy who won most of the time.
"Ace... Sabo... I'll protect Y/n no matter what," he spoke aloud.
"Hey you! Get down from there!" Luffy blinked, staring down from the platform to see a man holding a megaphone.
"Why?" he yelled.
"That's a special execution platform under control of the World Government!" the man roared back furiously. "Come down right now!"
Luffy smiled, cupping his hands together. "Well, you don't have to be so strict, officer." The officer was suddenly received a blow to the head, falling unconscious to the ground. The perpetrator was a beautiful woman with fair skin and long black silky hair.
"I've been looking for you, Luffy. Long time no see..." Luffy raised a brow at the woman. Did he... did he know that woman? The lady laughed a bit. "Don't tell me you forgot my face..."
All around the lady were murmurs of how pretty she was. No, not pretty, but beautiful. Everything from the red of her lips to the texture of her skin. Meanwhile, Luffy is looking even more confused by the second.
"I don't know anyone like you. Who the heck are you?"
"I'll never forget you... because you're the first man who hit me."
Luffy gave her a confused look. "What? I hit you?" Immediately, there were choruses of murmurs of how Luffy supposedly hit a beautiful woman. The pirate captain began to sweat profusely at the onslaught of negative comments.
She continued, rubbing her stomach (which was the area in which Luffy had punched her). "When your passionate fist hit me that time... Oh, it felt good..."
Luffy recoiled in disgust, a very uncomfortable look on his face. He definitely didn't know this woman.
"You guys... what's the most beautiful thing in the East Blue?" she asked the people around her.
"Y/n!" they all replied at the same time.
"Yes, that'd be me," she spoke, not even registering the fact that the crowd hadn't said her name. The crowd knew that there was no one in the world who could compare to you, let alone such a creepy (yet beautiful) lady. "There's no man in this world that doesn't bow before my beauty. And I like strong men."
Luffy was starting to feel beyond disturbed by the strange woman. "I'll make you mine, Luffy."
"Shut up! No way! I'm marrying Y/n! I don't even know you!"
"You still haven't figured it out?!" she exclaimed in shock at his dumbness. "Wait- Y/n? WHO'S Y/n?!" All of a sudden, footsteps started approaching, and the woman turned to face the policemen behind her.
"This is the police! Hey, woman, come quietly! You're under arrest for harming the police captain!" The man then turned to Luffy. "And you over there! Get off the execution platform!"
Feeling slightly irritated that her conversation had been cut off, the black haired woman spoke. "Who'd you say you'd arrest?"
"Y-You!"
"Are you capable of that?" The three men gulped at the sight of her beauty. Before long, they were already under her spell. Too immersed in her beauty, they couldn't do anything until the fountain exploded suddenly, snapping them out of their daze.
"That was dangerous." She flipped her hair to the side, casting a glance at the hooded figures.
"Flashily sorry, but your smooth skin is unharmed, of course, so don't worry... beautiful lady Alvida."
Luffy furrowed his brows at the name. "I don't see Alvida."
"I'm Alvida! You blockhead!" she yelled. "And what was that marrying this 'Y/n'?! You're engaged?!"
"Really? But you don't look like Alvida at all. And what's this 'engaged'? Can you eat it?"
"Ah, so you aren't engaged. Well I doubt this woman that you're talking about is as beautiful is me." Alvida flipped her hair to the side.
Luffy made an upset face. You were so much prettier than her, and nicer too. "She's much more prettier than you," he spoke as if it were a fact.
Alvida scowled. "I doubt it. Everyone agreed that I was the most beautiful creature of the sea." Actually, nobody said that, but sure, whatever floats your boat.
"Well then Y/n's the most beautiful creature of the land!" Yes, that made sense in Luffy's mind. Especially when you didn't like the sea in the first place, so it made the most sense.
Alvida chuckled as if that were the funniest thing she had ever heard. "Luffy, let's not get into pointless arguments. I came here because I joined forces with him, since we had the same goal- finding you." She gestured towards the cloaked men behind her, who tossed their cloaks into the sky, revealing a band of circus rejects.
The clown adorning a pirate coat and hat laughed loudly. "Now, the ultimate star appears super flashily!"
---
"Kid, what do you think you're doing?" Killer asked with crossed arms as the red-haired captain with no eyebrows was at the helm of the ship.
"What do you think I'm doing?! I'm steering the ship!" Kid roared back.
"We're going the wrong way." An angry expression overcame his face, as his hands gripped the wheel harder.
"You don't think I know that?! I'm steering the ship this way on purpose!" In one of Kid's hands was a piece of paper, and Killer realized that it was your vivire card. Killer sighed, waving Kid off as he went to find Heat and Wire.
Conveniently enough, the two of them were sitting on the deck, playing a game of cards. The two of them, noticing Killer, waved him over.
"Killer, did you talk to Kid?" Heat asked, before sighing, already knowing that he did. "I can't believe we're actually turning around. Do you have a seven?"
"It's understandable," Wire spoke as rearranging the cards in his hands. "Go fish. Especially when you consider the fact that he grew quite attached to her in a short amount of time. Do you have an Ace?"
Heat huffed, sliding the card over. "It should have been obvious that she was the Child of the Gods from the start. I would have been surprised if she wasn't."
Killer glanced back up at their captain who had a slightly agitated expression on his face. That was right. It had only been probably only a few days since they had uncovered a bit of truth, and that was one of the reasons why their captain was steering the ship around.
One of the reasons.
The main reason was a gut feeling that Kid had inside of him. As if something wasn't right. It had started ever since you had left them, and now it was only growing stronger, only reaching its peak when he saw the wanted poster that fell out of the newspaper.
Killer could tell a little of what Kid was thinking, but he couldn't be too sure.
"Do you want us to deal you in, Killer?"
"Sure." To be honest, even though it was rather upsetting that they were postponing their trip across the Grand Line, Killer was internally happy. Happy that he will get to see you very soon.
---
Shanks dangled his feet over the edge of the mountain, inhaling the salty scent of the wind. His eyes were trained on the castle, with the moonlight illuminating the world around him. It was a full moon, and was around the time Sage had said he would show him something.
This island was just so mysterious, and it was suffocating with power. The soil here on the island was rich and full of nutrients, and the plants grew tenfold. He remembered Roger telling the crew stories of an island of riches, an island of happiness. But was this island really the happiness he had spoken of?
"Are you ready, Red-haired Shanks?" He looked back to see Sage smiling with his eyes closed. He hadn't even sensed his presence. "The ceremony is about to begin. I'd say it would be quite exciting. You're welcome to bring your friends along, I'm sure it would be quite a sight to behold."
"Ah, really?" Shanks laughed. "Thanks! It's not some sort of sacrifice or something, right?" Sage shook his head, too filled with amusement. Snapping his fingers, a wolf (the same one that had given him the flowers earlier, Shanks recognized) hobbled up to the dragon, before bowing quickly, understanding his mission.
"Not at all. In fact, I'd say it's quite the opposite." Sage passed the gold poneglyph and shrine, descending down the stone staircase with grace before turning his heel to a small path that diverged from the main one. "You don't need to worry about finding your friends, I've sent some of the animals to go and fetch them."
"Ah, thank you. You're quite generous." Sage laughed, shaking his head as he continued walking down the pathway.
The path, Shanks noted, was much more rugged than much of the city, being only a dirt pathway littered with overgrown bushes. His eyes wandered to Sage's peaceful face, his footsteps near silent upon the forest ground. The plants around him bent away as he walked, as if they had minds of their own, creating a larger pathway for the two of them.
It was such an interesting power, and it reminded him of you.
Before long the two of them stumbled out into a small clearing of a small lake, with water filling it up by a waterfall coming straight from the inside of the mountain. The moon's reflection could be seen upon the dark waters, and small lily pads littered the area. Near the edge of the water was a stone structure built into an arch, seemingly like a doorway of some sort. There were gems that coated the structure, and it glimmered as though there were specks of gold intertwined within.
Shanks, feeling the presence of his men, looked back to see them emerging from the pathway he had exited himself.
"Oi, Captain!" Yasopp called out. "Benny's been worried about you! But it looks like you got everything under control now, eh?"
"Hello, friends of Red-haired Shanks," Sage greeted, having found himself situated by the stone archway. "You're about to witness something not even the Great Pirate King himself had ever seen before."
Something even Roger hasn't seen before? They thought.
The moon above seemed to glow even brighter at Sage's words.
"That's right, something even Roger hasn't seen before. You should all feel very lucky that you came on a day with the perfect conditions. My my, the Gods really have felt pity on him." A pink glow caught their attention, and they realized that the moon's reflection in the water had turned pink.
The pink light hit the stone archway, and blasted lights of all colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, pink, ect. But the most prominent one was white. It was blinding, it seared their eyes in pain, and they squinted to see what was happening. The archway had been lit up, and the wind around them had picked up to insane speeds, whipping madly at the trees, shaking them like a rattle.
Through the light they could see a dark figure emerging from the portal.
"Euphoria may be known for it's happiness and richness, it's beauty and home of the Ancient Ones..." Sage monologues, closing his eyes as he leaned against the arch way, one hand on his hip as he watched them stare into the light. "But there is one thing that isn't quite as well known."
The tall dark figure was hunched over, swaying side to side like a zombie as it took a tentative step forwards, staggering slightly as if it's muscles were still getting used to being used. Shanks could slightly make out blonde hair as the thing dragged its other leg out of the portal, causing it the light to cease.
"Euphoria is also known to be the bridge of worlds," Sage spoke with a grin.
With that, the figure collapsed, passing out on the ground.
"Oh." Sage spoke, his face with mock disappointment. "Well, not everybody is used to the sudden change in atmosphere. Poor guy, he looks as though he were about to barf."
It was then that the four members of the Red-haired pirates realized that the thing was not in fact 'a thing', but a human being, struggling to breath. The man on his knees let out a shuddering breath, his eyes wide open as he scanned his surroundings.
Where was he?
He struggled to stand up, legs shaking like a baby deer on it's first legs, but soon he gained his bearings, scanning the people around him. There were four people in front of him, all who seemed to be strong. He turned around to look behind him.
There was also some weird grinning white haired man with gold glowing eyes. There were thick dark green horns on the sides of his head, and he wore no shirt, and the teeth that he had looked too sharp to be human. A scaly tail swished behind where his tailbone should be, and large wings were tucked together on his back.
That man eerily reminded him of the dragons he had seen in his picture book as a kid.
No, wait, he shouldn't be thinking of his childhood. Where was he? Last time he remembered he was talking to that weird guy with purple-blue hair and stars in his eyes. He remembered saying something that made the man laugh, before he shoved him into the room.
So where was he now? This certainly wasn't an empty room, it looked like a forest with a bunch of weirdos. Granted, the people he knew were weirdos, but this dragon dude had to be taking it to a whole new different level.
"W-Where am I?" Not answering his question, Sage laughed, clapping like a mad man. Taking long strides up to the taller man, he laughed, slapping his back. The man had to be almost ten feet tall in height, quite a shockingly tall height for a human.
"I'm surprised that he actually let someone out, especially you, young man. Welcome to Euphoria, the land that's been dead for over 800 years."
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Author's Note:
I wonder who the guy is. Chapter was like 23 pages long. They're getting longer by the week. XD