Two months passed by in the blink of an eye, and Luffy could now activate Gear 2 easily and hold onto that form continuously for at least half an hour before he needed to rest for an hour at least. He couldn't train Gear 3 much as he would destroy the island so he blew just a bit of air into his bones and practiced redirecting it all over his body. Other techniques were also coming along nicely as he increased the range, sharpness and strength of the techniques.
As for human interaction, Allana came to visit him every other day and would just talk to him while he trained. She seemed to be quite lonely as their family had been essentially exiled from their clan, and so Luffy didn't mind being her friend. She had quickly gotten attached to him and had even started calling him 'Aniki'. He would tell her stories from the seas and also a few from Leo's world and she would listen with rapt attention and excitement to everything. And she would share about her daily life and the culture of their clan.
Apparently they were known as the Wyllian clan named after their God- Wyllia. She was supposedly a Goddess that traveled the seas helping people from all walks of life and She even 'gazed' at them sometimes.
Luffy had asked for clarification and apparently some people over the centuries had felt a certain strong gaze on them during important moments in their lives when they were in a dilemma. They believed it to be Wyllia watching them and seeing how they would deal with whatever dilemma they were in, and reward them accordingly if they made the right choice. And that's why the symbol of their deity was an eye floating on waves signifying She was gazing at them while still sailing the seas helping people.
He had also asked about the strange chimeras and beasts on the island and apparently it was the Wyllian clan that was responsible. A few hundred years ago, their clan was supposedly a master at rearing and breeding the beasts and could create such mixed species using some secret rearing techniques. Those techniques were lost over time, but the mixed beasts had been created and left to roam around the island. The beasts just mutated and continued multiplying and thus, created the current chimeras on the island.
Luffy wondered if this was the place the Marines got all the beasts to populate their Beast Hell in Impel Down from, but Allana denied saying that only pirates and explorers sometimes came to the island, and either ran off or got killed by the beasts as soon as they landed. The Wyllian clan would apparently raid the ships of these dead people and thus, they knew what kind of people they were.
Other than Allana, Katie sometimes came up bringing food to him or just to talk. And Sol would come every now and then to actually play with Luffy or spar with him when he was in a battle mood. He was more childish than Allana sometimes but Luffy enjoyed his company. As childlike as he acted, Sol was a pretty responsible and dependable guy and he would go to any lengths to protect his wife and child, so Luffy liked him a lot.
One day, he was training with his Gear 2 activated doing push-ups and Shaves alternatively when he felt Allana's presence running towards him. He frowned when he felt despair coming off of her and before she even got to him, he was in front of her. She was sobbing her heart out, panting hard and even had a few cuts and bruises with blood all over her clothes.
"A-Aniki, h-help. Mom and dad ar-"
Luffy didn't wait for her to finish as he scooped her up in his arms and started running towards their house. He had visited it a couple of times and Katie had even offered to house him during his stay, but Luffy had declined saying he had to be in constant danger to train his senses.
"What happened?" Luffy asked the sobbing Allana as he ran towards the house while in Gear 2.
"Th-the clan came an-and" she was hiccuping and sobbing so couldn't get the words out, so Luffy started patting her back.
"Don't worry, Allana. Whatever it is, I can help. You've seen how strong I am right? So relax and tell me who I need to punch to save your mom and dad"
That seemed to calm her down a bit as she relaxed relatively and began talking "T-they came to the house and saw Daddy in his beast form playing with me….they immediately started attacking for no reason saying he was a demon and his disease would spread…"
"Who's blood is that on your shirt?"
"M-mo-mom's…she protected me….they captured her when daddy started retaliating….and captured me too…b-but mom man-managed to h-help me es-escape.."
Luffy didn't get the whole story as she was too distraught and couldn't form a coherent story, but he understood the blood was Katie's, so increased his pace by pumping his vessels harder. A few minutes later, he spotted the house and also felt presences but it was only two in the house. One was Katie while the other one he didn't recognize.
He passed through the open door of the house and spotted Katie on the ground with blood pooled around her and a spear stuck in her stomach while another woman was trying to apply bandages.
"Mommy!" / "Katie!" both yelled causing the other woman to jerk in surprise and back away in fear. Luffy immediately went to Katie and inspected the spear stuck in her carefully, wondering if he should pull it out or not. He looked up into her eyes and she was staring at Allana seemingly glad to see she was safe. He looked at the other woman who was staring in fear looking at him "Are you her friend or foe?"
The other woman finally calmed down a bit and realizing Katie was still bleeding out immediately got her courage back as she shoved Luffy away and continued to apply some gauze on her bleeding wound "I'm a doctor!"
That was all Luffy needed as he started looking around wondering just what the hell had happened. It was like a storm had passed through the house as there were stuff strewn all around with broken chairs and tables.
"Hey, hey! Outsider!" the woman yelled getting his attention. "Take the kid away! I need space!"
Luffy saw that Allana was sobbing on Katie's chest, so picked her and brought her away while she protested "Don't worry, your mom's gonna be okay"
Katie had closed her eyes at this point and Luffy got worried looking at all the blood. "Do you need anything?" he asked the doctor.
"No no, I got this…It's just a bit complicated…because she's pregnant and those fucking assholes stabbed her right near her womb!…She and the baby will both die if I make a mistake here…"
"Okay, let me know if you need anything"
"Yes"
Luffy wanted to ask a lot of questions but seeing the doctor concentrating hard and Allana being a sobbing mess, he postponed it for now. He was worried about where Sol was too, but couldn't ask anyone as of now so just waited while comforting Allana as she sobbed into his chest.
After a few minutes, the doctor called out, "Hey! I need help!"
Luffy immediately was in front of her after peeling away Allana and placing her to the side "Yeah?"
"I'm gonna need you to pull the spear out. Slowly though! You mess up and the baby might get stabbed, so slow! By Wyllia's grace, it doesn't look like her womb was pierced but we need to be careful so that it won't get cut while pulling it out. Understood?"
"Yep! Just tell me what to do" Luffy said as he grabbed the spear.
The doctor stared at his steady hand holding the spear and nodded satisfied. "Good. You have steady hands"
The next three minutes was filled with Luffy slowly pulling the spear out while the doctor gave him specific instructions on how to move it while she observed the stomach area. Allana was holding her breath too making sure not to make any noise. But after the tense minutes, the spear came out and the doctor immediately set to stopping the blood and stitching the wound up, but seeing the small smile she had, Luffy sighed in relief knowing Katie was safe.
"Is-is mom gonna be okay?" Allana asked coming next to Luffy and grabbing him.
"Yes, honey. You're mom is safe and your sibling is safe too" the doctor answered.
"Thank youuu…." Allana sobbed now in happiness as she buried her head on Luffy's shoulder.
"Good, are you okay to talk now?" Luffy asked her.
"Yeah, this is just routine…" the doctor said giving him a sideways glance while applying bandages around Katie's wounds, "You're the crazy outsider aren't you? You're friends with Katie?"
"Crazy outsider? Is that what you all call me?"
"Yeah…who else is crazy to train like you do. We've even had bets to see how long it'll take for you to die from exhaustion"
"Well, we can talk at length about that later. Where's Sol?"
The doctor grimaced "They took him back home…"
"What for? And why the attack here?"
"Well, long story short. Wicker didn't like that Sol was hanging around on the island with his demonic hound blood. Bunch of reasons he made up to kick him out to e-"
"Okay, time out. I have no idea what the deal here is. Just tell me if Sol is in danger wherever he was taken?"
"Yes" the doctor sighed knowing he had no idea of their clan's affairs, so explained in simpler terms, "One faction wants to kill Sol. Another doesn't. They're arguing right now on what to do"
Luffy frowned "Then why attack here and try to kill Katie?"
"The faction that wants to kill him came to take him back. But when they came here, they found Sol easily transforming from beast to human. They didn't think that he had control of the demonic powers and hence attacked him. Katie got caught up and seeing her die made Sol snap. He became feral again but they captured him. They are taking him back home to show the others that he's still feral in nature and thus, should be killed"
"Okay" Luffy stood up, "Can I trust you to treat Katie?"
"She's my sister" she said looking up at him and Luffy grinned and nodded. "Okay then, I'll leave her to you"
"Where are you going?!" she yelled as she saw Luffy walking out.
"To save Sol. Where else?"
"You're an outsider. It'll make things only worse for Sol if you show up and create chaos"
"…But you said he'll be put to death if nothing was done"
"Might…but yeah he probably will…But there's still a chance he won't. But if you show up, it'll look bad for him"
"Ehh I'll just have to save him"
"Do you really think you can bring him out from the middle of the village? The strongest warriors will be gathered there"
"Oh that's what you're worried about. Don't worry, things will work out"
"I'm coming too!" Allana suddenly yelled coming out of a room with a quiver of arrows on her back and a bow in her hand.
Seeing the determined look in her eyes, Luffy nodded with a smile, "Sure, come along"
"Are you crazy?! Don't take a child!"
"Nah, Allana can handle it, right?"
"Right!"
"Now, you take care of Katie. I'll be back shortly"
Luffy scooped up Allana and ran towards their village without waiting for a response from the doctor. Honestly, Luffy didn't think they would put up much of a fight. He had seen some of their so called strongest warriors during hunting, and he was pretty sure he could take out each warrior with a single punch. The only hard part of this whole thing was saving Katie and now going to Sol before he was killed.
The rest was actually very simple. Luffy and Allana reached the edge of the village and observed what was happening. They saw that Sol was in a cage while being cartwheeled through the village. Pretty much everyone had gathered to see what was happening, so stealth was out of the question. And Sol was raging inside the cage but not an unconscious out of control rage, but a very conscious Sol was growling inside the cage at someone called Wicker for killing his wife.
"He thinks Katie is dead, it seems" Luffy commented.
"Yeah…so how do we get him out?" Allana asked looking around the area. "I know a path from here which is barely used. If we co-"
"No no, you're making things too complicated. C'mon, let's just pop out in front of everyone and take him back"
Allana stared at Luffy wide eyed but then remembered all the insane training he did and nodded slowly, "Aniki, if it's you, I don't think anyone can stop you"
"That's my girl!" Luffy grinned ruffling her hair.
"Hehehe let's go!"
"Yep!" Luffy grabbed her and a second later, he appeared right in front of the cage and caught Sol's eyes.
"Luffy!"
"Outsider!" came a chorus of shouts but Luffy ignored them as he focused on Sol.
"Don't worry, Katie is alive and safe"
It seemed like a weight was lifted off of him as he slumped down and let out a huge and deep sigh. "Thank Wyllia…."
"Outsider! It's the crazy outsider!"
Luffy observed all the people who were now pointing spears and arrows at him with an angry and wary look. One particularly large man stepped up with an axe and glared at him "Outsider! We've left you alone all these days because frankly, we thought you were crazy. But now you come into our village?! You have no right! Leave at once or else fa-"
"Oh shut it, Wicker" Sol cut him off from inside the cage. "He's my guest. There, problem solved"
"Sol…." the man called Wicker scowled.
"Shut up, you big asshole!" Allana yelled glaring at Wicker. Luff concluded that this Wicker guy was the one who led the 'Kill Sol' faction.
Wicker directed a death glare at Allana and seeing that, Sol, still in his human-beast form let out a growl.
"Uhh" Luffy interrupted looking at Sol, "Not sure what to do here. Can I just take you away? Or do you need to deal with something here?"
Sol managed to calm down looking at the carefree Luffy and sighed "Just break the cage first and protect Allana. I'll deal with the others"
"Sure"
Wicker looked on in amusement "You think you can break the cage?! HAHAH-"
Wicker's laugh died in his throat as Luffy just casually bent the bars before they creaked and broke off. Sol emerged from the cage and first hugged Allana while the rest raised their spears and bows at him.
An old man stepped up next "Sol…"
Sol looked at the old man and nodded "Father…"
"What have you become, Sol? Wyllia has cursed you and now the demon blood is affecting y-"
"I have done nothing that could have angered Wyllia!" Sol rebuked, "It's not demon blood. It's a supernatural ability you get after eating a special type of fruit. It's pretty common in the outside world apparently…"
"Supernatural…ability?"
"Yeah. We've been living on this tiny island, so we don't know anything. But Luffy here has met a lot of others like me who can transform into animals…It's very common in the outside world"
"You're being deceived!" Wicker yelled, "This outsider is crazy as we've all seen! Sol, you were always saying that we should expand and get off this island…so you're allowing yourself to be deceived! You'll bring ruin to everyone here!"
Sol stared at Wicker, then his supposed father for a while before he looked like he had made a decision. "Right…I always wanted us to get out and expand…but I've had enough. You almost killed my wife and my daughter. If Luffy wasn't here, all three of us would have been killed by you…So yeah, I'm done. I'll be leaving this island with my family"
"Sol!" his father yelled shocked.
"Father, thank you for taking care of me…but now that I'm like this, this is no longer a place I can live in safely" Sol said to his father with a smile before turning to Wicker, "Congratulations brother, you'll succeed as the next chief. Do whatever the hell you want, I give up"
Luffy just stood around not really paying attention. The only thing he concentrated on was that Sol wanted to go out into the outside world instead of just staying here.
Sol said a few goodbyes to his father and a few more people and within 30 minutes Sol, Allana and Luffy were heading back to Sol's house. Wicker wanted to start a fight but one glare from Luffy had shut him up.
"Sorry you had to see that" Sol said awkwardly rubbing his head. "We made you get involved in our clan affairs"
"Nah, don't worry about it…Sooo, you wanted to leave the island huh?"
"Yeah. I wanted our whole clan to expand outside and mingle with the outside world…but the people here are set in their ways and Wicker desperately wanted that not to happen. The current Tribe Chief is our father, so him and I are the next in line to succession. It was a battle between me and him but once I ate the devil fruit, everything changed. I banished myself but today when Wicker came to my house and saw that I was in full control, I guess he got worried that I'll again fight him for the Chief position…So he threatened Katie and made me get inside a cage. But then he…stabbed her….."
"It's okay, daddy! Aniki and Allie treated mom! She's okay now!"
Sol patted her head and looked gratefully at Luffy "Thank you…truly"
Luffy just nodded with a smile. They soon reached the house and Katie was conscious by then. She broke down in happy sobs when she saw both Sol and Allana were safe and the three had a long hug.
"You actually did it…" the doctor, who's name was Allie, said looking at the family with happy tears.
"It was easy. I just broke him out and Sol talked to them…We didn't even fight with anyone"
"Wait really? You didn't fight?"
"Nope!" Alana chirped breaking from the hug, "Aniki just glared at them and they all got scared! Hehehehe that was great! Aniki, teach me to glare like that!"
"That's right!" Sol also added happily, "I was expecting Wicker to start something but one look from Luffy and he stepped back."
"Wow…"
"Luffy…c'mere" Katie said holding her hands out for a hug and Luffy reciprocated. "Thank you so much…Allie told me how you helped…and for bringing Sol back…thank you…I don't think I can ever repay you…"
"Shishishi just live happy lives. That's enough"
"Hehe you're precious" Katie giggled ruffling his hair.
Luffy also giggled separating from the hug and Sol then told them what had happened back at the village. His decision to leave the island was received positively by Katie as she also looked like she wanted to leave the island too. Allana was even more happy because after hearing Luffy talk about some of the things found on other islands, she had become obsessed with going out too.
"I'd also like to come" Allie interjected getting everyone's attention. "I don't really want to stay here either"
"Of course you're coming. I'm not leaving my sister here" Katie said with a smile. She suddenly got an idea and grabbed Luffy who was still next to her "Hey, why don't you marry Luffy? If I wasn't married to Sol already, I would have already jumped him"
"Okay~" Luffy said separating from Katie. "I think I'll leave now. Need to get back to training you see"
"What? You don't think I'm good enough?" Allie asked offended.
Luffy stared at her from top to bottom "No…you're really beautiful, no I think the word 'hot' would fit you better. And the way you did your job as a doctor was admirable and amazing too. But I'm not interested, so sorry"
"O-Oh..I-I see…" Allie blushed profusely at the honest praise. She was just joking around but looking at him staring at her with those big earnest eyes and hearing him give out straight forward praise just made her really happy.
"Wow" Katie said wide-eyed, "I don't think I've ever seen you like this before…"
"Wait just a damn minute!" Sol interrupted pointing at Katie, "I think I just heard something I shouldn't have! Did you just say you'll marry Luffy if I wasn't here?!"
Katie just looked at him smugly as she pulled Luffy close again "I think I might just do it regardless"
"Gyyyaaah! That's it! Luffy! You and me! We're fighting to the death for Katie!"
"Oh stop it, Luffy will pummel you in seconds"
"Umm I gotta get back to training, so bye!" Luffy said as he quickly ran away.
———
Luffy hadn't had time to think about it then, but when Allana had come running asking for help, he had actually sensed her despair. He felt emotions from his Haki. During his last month, Allana and even Allie became regular visitors to his training area, so he tested sensing their emotions, but couldn't feel any. They weren't feeling any strong emotions, so of course he couldn't sense anything. He decided he would try it when there are more people around him.
The month passed by quickly and it was time for Luffy to leave. He had trained the same and all his techniques had gotten stronger. Activating Gear 2 was as easy as breathing and he could maintain it for 30 minutes. Gear 3 could be maintained for 15 minutes before he turned into his miniature form and then needed 6 minutes of rest to turn back to his original form. Observation was around 300 meters around himself while Armament and Conqueror's were still stuck. All in all, he was quite happy with how much stronger he had become in those 7 months.
Sol and the others also decided to leave with him and Sol had even hidden away a boat in case of such an event and thus, two boats set out of the Wyllian Island 7 months after Luffy landed on it.
The Wyllian family actually knew how to sail as they did go fishing a lot, so Luffy didn't have to teach them anything. But they didn't know much about the outside world, so he decided to help them settle down a bit. He still had a month left and apart from raising about 40 million for the ride, he didn't have anything else to do. He didn't want to miss the only ship he had found, so had decided to go back a month earlier in case of any changes in the ship's schedule or in case he got lost again.
Six days of sailing and the two boats finally arrived at Myte Island. Luffy sighed in relief as he successfully managed to reach the island with just a two day delay. He had asked Claire on how to traverse from the Beast Island to Myte Island and she had given him a very comprehensive list of things to expect while sailing that particular route and what to do in some cases, which included stuff like 'If you feel a strong east flowing wind on the third day, immediately check the compass and make sure you're not deviating', 'On the second day, there's a wind current that blows around midday. Either watch your boat like a hawk or just furl the sails and stop for a while. You can start again once that wind current is gone' and so on. Just this one sea route had so many complex directions, and he appreciated navigators a whole lot more and couldn't wait to meet Nami.
The four Wyllians looked wide eyed at the bustling Gatte city and the large amount of people, and were honestly a bit overwhelmed. Luffy took charge and first got them new clothes as their beast hides was attracting a lot of attention, and then gave them a short tour of the city. They weren't completely clueless as they did have books on their island about the outside world, so it wasn't hard for Luffy to explain things.
The family had decided that they would first see a big city and then decide whether they would live in the city itself or find some other island with a small village where they could earn their living through farming. And looked like that decision had been made as they all seemed to have fallen in love with the city.
While giving the tour, a cat suddenly jumped on Luffy's shoulders and he happily coddled it recognizing who it was. "Tabby! You missed me?"
"Mrrooow!"
"Luffy?" came a woman's surprised voice and Luffy turned to see Claire.
"Yo!" he grinned at her before pointing at himself, "I'm not dead"
It finally computed for her that Luffy was in fact standing in front of her and she gasped going for a hug."Oh my god! You're still alive!"
"Told you you were worrying for nothing" he smirked returning the hug.
"Right…Wow, you've grown stronger…" she said noticing his well built and defined muscles.
"Shishishi that island was amazing! And you were right about the beasts! All were at least 7 meters tall with the biggest being as big as 12 meters"
"Wow…I need a comprehensive story!" she yelled her reporter side latching onto him wanting to know the full story.
"I think these guys will do a better job of explaining the island" he said pointing at Sol and the others, who waved awkwardly at her.
"Who?"
"Friends I made on the island. There was a human tribe there and I became friends with this family who wanted to leave the island too…"
"A human tribe?!"
Claire was very excited to meet them and even offered to host a lunch so that she could get to know them better and learn of their island more. The Wyllians were of course more than happy to find a new friend.
A couple of days later, they had all settled in, courtesy of Luffy and Claire. The two had explained what all they didn't understand and even helped Allie get a job as a doctor in the best hospital on the island. Sol got a bunch of jobs as a manual laborer as he was pretty strong and his hound form was even stronger. He was afraid at first that the people would call him a demon again when he transformed but almost all places he went to just had people going 'Oh, a devil fruit user. Handy' and that was it.
Katie was pregnant, so she decided to get a job after she gave birth, so she just rested, and Allana was having the time of her life exploring the new island.
———
It was the third day since Luffy returned to Myte island and he was having lunch at Claire's house along with the Wyllian family. He had exactly three weeks left to spend here and he had to raise 40 million for the ride. He wasn't that worried as even if he didn't manage to make that much, he decided to just sneak on board. Even if he was found out later, what could they do? He was strong, so there was no threat to his life. He still decided to raise the money though.
Claire was really knowledgeable about these things so he asked her. "Hey Claire, I need to raise 40 million. Any bounties nearby I can take down?"
Claire just looked at him strangely, "Didn't you say you're leaving in 3 weeks?"
"Yeah"
"…then how will you raise 40 million?"
"That's what I'm asking you. Any bounties here around 40 million?"
"You want to go after 40 million high bounties?!"
Luffy sighed and slowly explained it to her again like she was a child "Yes. Me. Want to find big bounty. Take down. Give to Marines. Collect money. Understand?" which only caused her to get angry. She smacked him a couple of times for making fun of her, before answering his question with a huff. "The closest bounty you'll find here are the Malbary Siblings. They run these parts of the sea…"
"What?"
Claire sighed and with a solemn look started explaining, "A chain of around 10 islands including this one…they're all under the control of the Marlbary Siblings…they're part of a huge mafia family who collect taxes and control all sea routes here…"
Claire had a lot to say and Luffy got bored in the middle of it, so stopped paying attention. Basically, there was a mafia family who controlled these parts and extorted money from everyone apparently. Luffy also realized that this was the reason why no one was willing to become his navigator all those months ago when he was searching for islands as they apparently asked for 'safety fees' if anyone was ever found sailing without permission. 'Why couldn't I have run into them…would have made finding islands easier…' he sighed. Claire was a reporter, so she apparently had permission from them to sail…but under strict conditions though.
"Stop stop" Luffy cut Claire off who had started listing off all the members of the family and how much power they all had. "Do they have bounties and if so, how much?"
"Totally, it would come up to around 120 million. They have quite a few people who have bounties on their heads in their family. They've bribed the Marines too, so th-"
"Please stop" Luffy begged when she started explaining again. "Where are they?"
"Umm another island a couple of days from here…are you saying you want to take this mafia family out?"
"What I want is 40 million. If they have bounties, then sure, I guess I'm taking them out"
"You're crazy!" Claire yelled shocked, "Do you have any idea of how strong they are?!"
"Aniki's stronger!" Allana yelled suddenly interjecting into the conversation surprising Claire. "There's no way Aniki will lose to someone!"
"Shishi that's right. So, can you take me there?"
Claire was having a hard time processing what he was saying but Katie looked at her amusedly and told her some of the things Luffy had done on the island in the name of training…and she couldn't believe a single word of it as it was just too outrageous.
Ultimately, Luffy convinced her and three days later, he found himself in a hotel room with a bunch of random people Claire had gathered after they had landed on the island where the mafia family was.
Apparently, these were all her colleagues from the newspaper she worked at who were all oppressed under the mafia and Claire thought that if Luffy was really going to attack them, it would be better with more people, and hence had called them all. The mafia family also controlled the local newspapers, and thus Claire and her colleagues all wanted to take them down too, but didn't have the strength.
They all asked Luffy if he was crazy and after saying 'Yes, I'm crazy', they finally stared discussing on how to take the family down.
"Okay, Braq Malbary will be on this island for the next whole week. But his brother is leaving tomorrow to another island and coming back only at the end of the week, so the best chance to attack is the day after tomorrow when there's only one of them. Their strongest forces will be halved as Daw and Soovar will be the only ones prese-"
"Will you all please stop" Luffy begged when they started making intricate plans and looked at Claire and the others tiredly.
"That's right!" Allana said nodding sagely, "You guys are making too many plans. We should just go and fight them"
"Allana!" Katie hit her lightly, "When did you become so reckless?!"
"Oh I know when" Sol sighed looking at Luffy who was giving an approving nod to Allana, "It's this bastard who's at fault"
"Shishishishi"
"Luffy," Claire said exasperatedly, "You can't take them all by yourself. It's suicide"
Luffy just looked out the window of the second floor hotel room they had gathered at and saw a huge building right in the middle of the island. "That's their house I'm guessing?"
"Yeah. The house itself has a ton of security. We need to infiltrate in quietly and make sure to take them out one by one"
The others also started agreeing with Claire and saying their own points when Luffy clapped his hand silencing everyone. "Forget about everything for now and just answer me this. How many of you want to punch the living daylights out of the mafia family? Don't worry about if it's possible or not. Just tell me if you want to punch them"
Pretty much everyone raised their hands, including the Wyllian family. They had gotten close with Claire over the past few days, and wanted to help her out when they learned she had also suffered under them, and hence had tagged along.
"Okay good. Then let's go punch the living daylights out of everyone you want"
"Wh-" some began bewildered when Luffy opened the window and grinned. "Okay, I'mma go now. Anyone who wants can tag along"
"Ooh I'm coming!" Allie piped up grabbing and clinging onto Luffy's back. "I might be just a doctor, but I also fought with beasts you know. These chumps should be easy enough…"
"Shishishi good"
"I'm coming too of course!" Sol smiled stretching and transforming into his human-beast form.
"Me t-" Allana began but Katie grabbed her, "The two of us will snipe from the surrounding buildings"
She was over 6 months pregnant, so couldn't move much, but she could still sit and launch arrows easily. Allana pouted protesting that she wanted to go with her Aniki, but Luffy chuckled and gave her the important task of protecting her mother if anyone came close and she nodded resolutely, while Katie and Sol looked amused at how much she listened to Luffy.
"What are you guys talking about?" Claire asked finally not being able to understand them.
"Oh Claire" Allie grinned at her as she tightened her hold on Luffy's back, "You'll soon learn why we called Luffy the Crazy Outsider"
"Shishishishi" Luffy jumped out the window and kept jumping on air as he went towards the big building while the rest watched in shock. Sol also jumped out and landed on the ground before running towards the building while growling like a beast. Katie and Allana just jumped onto ledges and jumped from rooftop to rooftop making their way towards the mafia base.
Claire and the others watched in bewilderment as Luffy threw Allie inside the building before one of his legs stretched all the way up before stomping down on the building, cleaving it into two and breaking it apart (Of course he had used Observation to make sure no one was there where he had cleaved it in two) And then the chaos started as screams and gunfire reverberated across the house which quickly spread across the island.
Shouts of "It's a Strawhat wearing bastard! GET HIM!" "No, run away! HE'S A MONSTER!" / "It's a MOTHERFUCKING WEREWOLF!" "Looks more like a hound actually…" "Then it's a damn WEREHOUND! Do the semantics really matter right now?! He's destroying us!" / "Heh..is that small woman supposed to take us dow-GYAAAH! She's a monster too! RUN AWAY!" / "Who the fuck is sniping at us?!" "There! It's a…it's a kid?!" "A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER?!" / "GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"…" Claire and the others just stood in stunned silence.
"…I want to punch the living daylights out of Braq…" one of the people Claire had gathered suddenly piped up watching the mayhem unfold.
"…me too…" another agreed.
"…Well…" Claire said looking at them and then the chaotic building, "What are we waiting for?! Let's go PUNCH THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF OUR TORMENTORS!"
"YEAHHH!" they chorused and soon joined in on the mayhem.
———
Luffy bounced from one street vendor to the next trying out all the new types of food that was a specialty of the island. In the middle of the island was the smoking, broken remains of the mafia family's building that he had a huge hand in tearing down, quite literally as he had gone into Gear 3 and punched the building to pieces. The island was of course throwing a victory feast after the downfall of the mafia family who's name Luffy didn't even remember. All he knew was that a few islands were oppressed by them, and now he had freed them while also having a ton of fun along the way.
Also, he was apparently 120 million rich now and if he wanted he could take the more than 400 million worth of treasure found in the mafia house. Obviously, Luffy only took around 50 million, 40 million for the ride back home and the rest for food expenses.
He was happy seeing Claire and a bunch of people crying with happiness while he didn't even know why and he wondered if this is how the story Luffy felt every time he saved someone. In the story, he doesn't really know what's going on most of the time as he doesn't care much. He didn't even know Nami's history or who or how Arlong had enslaved her island for 8 years. All he knew was that someone had made Nami cry and he had beat them down for that.
And here all he knew was that he wanted 40 million, knew that they had somehow hurt Claire…and thus, he took them down.
He didn't know a thing of what the mafia had apparently done and he didn't care either. 'Does it really matter?' All he needed to know was that they had hurt his friends and so, he had to punch them.
Either way, he now had money to get a ride, people were happy and throwing a feast and so he jumped in on the singing, dancing and eating.
———
There were still two weeks left when Luffy came back to Gatte city along with the Wyllians and Claire after the victory feast was done. He had wanted to quickly get off that island as people had started calling him a Hero and he had enough of snapping at everyone and correcting them that he was a pirate, thus he was back so soon.
He first handed the 40 million to the ship captain that was going to East Blue, and he just had to wait now. He thought it would be a boring two weeks but he had one more small but important adventure during those two weeks.
It was just after coming back from the victory feast and he was wondering what he should do with his remaining time when he remembered that Ohara was also in South Blue. He wondered how it was currently and if possible, he wanted to visit it. Ultimately though, it turned out to be a bust as no map had any entry of Ohara and even Claire had asked around but no one knew of it or found it on any map. But that searching led him to find another island he wanted to visit.
"Baterilla…" Luffy breathed seeing the place on a map. He immediately went to Claire and asked about it but she didn't have anything special to say about it. It was about 6 days away apparently and was just a tropical island as far as she remembered. He, of course, wanted to go there. And obviously, he pulled a reluctant Claire into his small trip. He only had two weeks, so it would be a tight schedule, but he wanted to visit it.
6 days later, Luffy finally laid eyes on one of the islands that he knew about from the story in South Blue. Baterilla. Birth place of his brother Portgas D. Ace and also the place where Portgas D. Rouge had died. It was also the place where a cruel, horrific and disgusting incident had occurred around 20 years ago where many of the pregnant women who were almost due, women who had just given birth in a span of a few months and their just born babies were put to death by the World Government just because they suspected that Roger had a lover there and maybe had gotten her pregnant. Rouge had sustained the baby in her womb for 20 months before finally giving birth because of this. And as a result of the extended pregnancy, she had died giving birth.
It sickened Luffy that such a horrific incident was even possible. He understood how scummy the World Nobles were and could see them ordering such acts without batting an eye but the actual Marines who were ordered to carry out the task, how could they? Killing babies?
Luffy shook his head trying to rid his head of these thoughts as he walked around Baterilla. It was a fairly normal tropical town with palm trees and cabanas and the people were just going about their day like any other island. It was 20 years ago that the incident had happened after all.
He wanted to go to a certain place on the island and after asking around and getting directions, he bought flowers and made his way there. It was to the graveyard. The one place where he could possibly find Rouge. He reached the place and went around searching for her tombstone and found it fairly quickly.
As he stood in front of Rouge's tombstone, he noticed that it was fairly well maintained compared to the other tombstones. 'PORTGAS D. ROUGE' was boldly chiseled on it and her epithet read 'One of the bravest woman, one of the kindest souls, one of the strongest mothers, You will be dearly missed'
As he stood there in front of her grave, he started remembering the anime scenes of her suffering in silence sitting on a rocking chair as she endured the pain of keeping the baby in her womb and also the pain of losing Roger. He remembered her saying to herself 'Not yet', her holding the newspaper which reported Roger's execution on a cliff, and finally after giving birth, telling Garp her baby's name as she hugged Ace and cried with a smile.
He sat in front of her grave, placed the flowers on it and after confirming that he was all alone, started to talk to her.
"Hello, Rouge. My name is Monkey D. Luffy. You obviously don't know me but on a very stretched technicality, I guess I'm your step-son," realizing how that sounded he hastily added "No no, Roger didn't have an affair and had me with another woman or anything. Nothing like that. You see, after you entrusted Ace to Garp, he brought Ace to Dawn Island in East Blue and left Ace with some mountain bandits so that no one would realize or suspect his real identity. That's where he and I met. Yeah, I'm Garp's grandson and Gramps one day decided that I would live with the mountain bandits too and left me there…"
"So that's how I met Ace. He was 10 and I was 7. Actually, the first time he saw me, Ace spat on me and tried to kill me a few times. Shishishi" Luffy chuckled and then went on to narrate about Dadan and the mountain bandits, how Luffy had chased after him, how Ace had tried to kill him multiple times, how after finally catching up to him, he had ended up in Gray Terminal, how he found about his friend Sabo, how they had both tied up him and then later saved him from pirates. He told her how Ace had this complex of being a criminal's child and how he would ask random people their opinions about Roger and any offspring he might have had, and after they expressed their hatred for Roger and said that any child he had should be considered a demon and be put down immediately, he started to feel all alone, unneeded and worthless.
Luffy told her how he, without even realizing it, had broken down Ace's walls and told him that he was needed and loved. He told her with a huge smile about all the silly adventures he, Ace and Sabo had got up to, how they would get into trouble with the bandits, their escapades in Goa, dining-and-dashing, and all the other tidbits and silly conversations they had had. He then told her about how they finally exchanged sake cups and became brothers.
He then in a somber tone told about Sabo's parents, the eventual separation and the Gray Terminal Fire incident where they lost Sabo. He told her that after Sabo's death, they had both made a vow to each other to do whatever they wanted and to live without regrets. He again shifted to a happy tone and started going through all the things he and Ace went through for the rest of the years and also about Sabo's rescue and how happy Ace would be when he learns of it now. He laughed as he told her about how he had gotten manner lessons from Makino and was now a polite young man.
"…When he turned 17, he left on his journey. That was more than 2 years ago now. The last I heard, he had formed his own crew called the Spade Pirates. He's probably on Whitebeard's ship right now and made a ton of brothers…"
He then picked up his Strawhat which was dangling behind him, held it in front of her grave and told her a bit about himself. "I got this hat from Shanks when he visited my village. This was before I met Ace… A lot of things happened but basically Shanks saved my life…and after I promised him that I'll gather a crew that is greater than his and become the next Pirate King, he gave me this hat. We made a promise that I'll return it to him once I become a great pirate… I only recently found out that this hat belonged to Roger once and he had entrusted it to Shanks when he was an apprentice on his ship, and then years later Shanks entrusted it to me. I don't really know the history behind this, and don't care much about it either other than simple curiosity, but you can say that it kinda carries Roger's will… So yeah what I'm trying to tell you is that I inherited your husband's will and I will become the freest person on the sea… I will become the next Pirate King!"
Luffy could feel a sort of warmth emanating from the grave as he kept talking to her about all this. In the anime, he had seen spirits of dead people kinda listening when people talked to them near their grave like Bellemere when Nami was saying her goodbyes in Cocoyashi. It could be just a literary device to invoke emotions in the audience but it could also be real. And if it was real, he had no idea how spirits in the Soul Plane interacted with the universe, but he just assumed and believed that Rouge's spirit was actually somehow listening.
"…I can kinda feel a warmth coming from the grave so I'll just assume you're here. No idea how afterlife and spirits work but doesn't hurt to believe it right? Shishishishi"
He smiled feeling the warmth spreading "In the future, the World Government will find out Ace's real identity, and they will try to have him executed. But don't worry, I promise that I'll do everything in my power to save your son!" Luffy declared with conviction. "He's my precious brother and I'll do everything I can to save him…so yeah, just wanted to tell you that Ace will live a long and happy life"
He had said what all he wanted it say and decided it was time to say goodbye, so got up and said his final words "Well, I better get going. It's another long story of how I ended up here and how I even know you, but I'll save it for another time. I don't think Ace knows about this place so I'll tell him and bring him here to meet you sometime in the future. Goodbye, Rouge"
He turned around to walk away but froze when he felt someone gently pressing their hands on his back. He just stood there feeling the warmth as he felt the arms gently moving up his back, reaching his head and started softly ruffling his hair under his hat. He felt love and warmth emanating from the touch and also heard happy crying words of a mother, 'Thank you!'
The feeling suddenly retreated just as soon as it had appeared and he turned around, but finding no one, just chuckled "Knew you were there. Shishishishi. See you, Rouge. I'll come with Ace next time"
Luffy went back to the boat where Claire was waiting wondering if he actually felt Rouge's spirit or it was all his imagination. He decided that if he ever met White again, he would ask him if it was real and if it was, how all this spirit thing worked exactly.
———
Luffy was standing in front of the cargo ship while it was getting ready to leave with a backpack that contained all his belongings. He had deposited all the important stuff he had gotten from Reiju at a bank safe on Myte Island before he went to the Wyllian Island, so everything was safe and sound. Claire, Tabby, Sol, Katie, Allana and Allie had all come to see him off and Allana was sobbing and yelling at him to not go.
"C'mon Allana, Luffy has a family too, you know. He needs to get back to them"
"B-but…he's my Aniki…." Allana sobbed.
Luffy just chuckled and ruffled her hair "I'll see you again some day Allana. You want to become a pirate too, right?"
"Yes!" Allana instantly replied.
"No!" Sol and Katie instantly rebuked.
"Luffy! Stop infecting her, she's not going to become a pirate!" Katie chided him.
"That's right! The world's too dangerous!"
"No! I'm going to become a pirate! I'll go with Aniki and make him the Pirate King! Aniki, take me away right now!"
Sol and Katie slumped down in depression while Luffy, Claire, Allie and even Tabby laughed.
"Well, you're too young to be a pirate, Allana" Luffy said feeling like Shanks. "The seas are very dangerous you know, and it'll gobble you up. So, make sure you become very very strong and only then can you decide to set out as a pirate. Who knows, I'll come back in a few years and if you're strong enough, I'll let you join my crew too"
"Hmmm" Allana tapped her foot for a while before nodding her head resolutely, "Yes, that's a good idea. It'll also give me time to take care of these two blockheads first and make sure they are completely settled. I'll also have a sibling I'll have to take care of…"
"Allana!" Sol and Katie hugged their daughter in tears seeing how much she cared about them.
"You guys are so funny!" Luffy laughed seeing their antics.
"So are you" Allie said with a smirk as she hugged him goodbye. "You're so fun. I'll miss having you around…"
"Yeah yeah…Take care, Allie"
"Thanks. You too"
"You're an enigma to be sure, Luffy" Claire said as she hugged him too. "Are you sure you don't want to known as a hero who saved us from the Marlbary Mafia?"
"The what mafia?" Luffy asked playing dumb causing Claire to sigh.
"Okay okay…you call yourself a pirate and don't even want fame…I wonder what kind of crew you'll gather and what kind of things you'll do…"
"Shishishi the best crew in the world! And we're gonna be doing some epic crazy things!"
"Sure sure" she smiled. Tabby jumped on his shoulder next and nuzzled into his neck lovingly. "Mrrow~"
"Bye Tabby. Take care of Claire and Allana for me okay?" Luffy smiled as he coddled it one last time.
"Hey! I'm the one who'll take care of Tabby, not the other way around!" Allana protested while the rest laughed.
Sol stepped up next and presented a gold trinket to him. It was small and a roughly square shaped piece of gold with the engraving of an eye resting on waves which was the symbol of their god.
"This is a token of appreciation for saving all our lives" Sol said grabbing Luffy's hand and putting the trinket in it, "I know you don't believe in God, but this piece of gold was said to be a part of Wyllia Herself. She broke off some of the gold ornaments She was wearing and gave it to our ancestors so that they can remember and worship Her. Wyllia takes care of anyone who has this gold trinket. Please accept it. May the blessings of Wyllia bring happiness to you"
Luffy had seen the tribe back on the island have a vigil of sorts and a number of these gold trinkets formed the symbol of their god. He obviously didn't believe in their god or had a use for the piece of gold, but for them, it was one of their most prized possessions…and they were giving it go him. "Are you sure? This is of religious importance to you, isn't it? Is it alright to give it to someone like me who doesn't believe in it?"
"Me and Katie each have one of these trinkets, so we're giving one to you"
"Please accept it, Luffy" Katie also added, "We owe our lives to you. I know you don't believe it but we do. This trinket will make Wyllia keep a watch over you too and keep you safe"
Seeing their determined expressions, Luffy gratefully accepted it. "Okay, I'll take good care of this. Thank you"
The ship sounded its horn signaling departure and he said his final goodbyes "Well, I better get going. Stay happy guys!"
"Goodbye Luffy/Aniki!" / "Meeeooww~"
Luffy jumped on the ship and waved them goodbye from the deck until the island was no longer visible. He then studied the gold piece, and finding nothing special about it, safely tucked it into the chest with the eternal poses and other important things.
Luffy stretched his body popping some joints and went to the make shift room the captain had provided him. He collapsed into the bed, happy that he was finally going back to his home. He didn't know it then but that small piece of gold would cause one of the happiest and memorable moments of his life…and also lead to one of the most despair inducing moments of his life.
———
Grand Line, Paradise, Deep undersea
In one of deepest recesses of the Grand Line where Sea Kings ruled, there sat a translucent figure on the wreckage of a long forgotten ship with drooped shoulders and face buried in her knees. She was a white fairy like creature as she had two beautiful butterfly like wings sprouting on her back while radiating beautiful soft golden light…but in stark contrast to her beautiful and ethereal figure, her mood was miserable and downcast. She had been in the same slouched position for decades having no will to live and unfortunately for her, she couldn't die either.
The figure suddenly sensed something and slightly lifted her head. She sensed that someone new had touched her- a part of her at least. She used her powers to take a look at the new person and it turned out to be a man wearing a Strawhat. It was also a new location as it wasn't on the same old depressing island the people who thought she was a God lived on, but in a bustling city in front of a ship. She also realized that some of her so called worshippers had also seemingly left the boring island too and had just presented the trinket to the man willingly. There were usually a lot of fights and killing to get a hold of that useless piece of gold, so it was kinda refreshing that someone was just being presented with it.
She stared at the man for a few moments hearing him laugh joyously without a care in the world. She heard one of her worshippers say that she takes care of anyone holding that piece of gold…and she didn't even have the energy to laugh. She couldn't even help the people most precious to her, so how was she supposed to help anyone else? All she could do was sit and watch using her wretched powers she didn't even ask for, as the whole world moved on. She hadn't even gazed at anyone on the island for decades now until this very moment. She stared at the grinning strawhat wearing man for a bit but soon lost interest and stopped her observation.
She buried her head more into her knees and continued sitting there without moving, living her miserable existence, thinking that she fully deserved the harsh loneliness and to feel miserable for the rest of her never ending life.
———
Myte Island, 2 months after Luffy left
"Done with the work?" Allie asked Claire as she finished writing a ton of documents at her desk. The two had become really close and had even moved in together after Claire bought a house on Myte Island.
"In a way I guess" Claire said with a sigh. "It's so tiresome when you're starting your own company you know…" she trailed off but then smiled, "But still, I think we're on track. With the 400 million berries plus all the records and underground channels we raided from the Marlbary mafia, we have a ton of ways to acquire resources…My new newspaper company should be established within five months…"
"…I have no reference to judge if that's good or not"
"Don't you see the huge smile on my face! It's fucking great! Do you know how long others struggle for to launch a newspaper company when that bastard Morgan keeps breathing down your neck over every little detail?! Less than five months is a miracle!"
Allie giggled seeing the childish enthusiasm of her face and they were going to talk more but there was a knock on the door.
"Allana is back with Tabby I guess" Allie said as she went to open the door. And sure enough Allana was back after taking Tabby out to play, but she had also brought company.
Two women stood at the entrance, one with a hopeful look on her face and the other with a bored look.
"Ran into these two while coming back. They're looking for Claire" Allana announced.
"Are you Claire?" the woman with the hopeful look asked. She was a woman in her late twenties with aquamarine blue hair tied into a high ponytail, wearing a long white trench coat over her dress that made her look like a pharmacist and had a few scars on her chin and left cheek.
"That would be me" Claire said getting up and greeting her.
"Ah. Hello. Nice to meet you. My name i-"
"Will you get on with it already?" the other woman snapped irritably at the blue haired woman. She was a young pink haired woman with an anti-eyebrow below her right eye, bright red lipstick on her lips and was wearing a white tank top and a jacket with suspenders reaching down to her shorts. And she was sighing with irritation.
"Shut your trap, captain!"
"Hey! Show some respect in front of others at least!"
"Don't want to"
"You! I'll have to teach you some manners!" the pink haired woman spat as she tried to touch (not hit, but just touch) the other woman. Thankfully, Claire cleared her throat getting their attention and making Pink stop.
Pink just sighed in defeat, "Okay okay, get to the point directly. We've already wasted enough time taking a detour and coming here based on a rumor"
"Will you stop talking for a few minutes!" Blue snapped at Pink causing her to pout. Blue then turned towards Claire and the others with a sheepish expression. "Sorry about that. My captain's patience is very small…unlike her very large appetite"
"Umm that's okay. How can I help you?"
"Are you pirates?!" Allana popped up suddenly in between excitedly looking at the two. Her calling the other woman 'captain' was a dead giveaway.
"Huh…" Pink just stared in bewilderment, "Usually it's shouts of 'Are you pirates?!' filled with fear and disgust…this certainly is new"
"Well," Allie smiled, "We met a pirate who changed the definition I guess"
"Did he do heroic acts but when people called him a hero, he vehemently denied in disgust saying 'I'm not a hero! I'm a pirate!'" Blue asked her voice getting louder and louder with excitement.
"That's Aniki's line!" Allana pointed out happily.
"Hehe yeah" Claire smiled, "Guess you're friends of Luffy?"
"I knew it…it is him…he's alive" Blue breathed almost on the verge of happy tears.
"Want to come in?" Allie asked seeing that there was some history between her and Luffy. The two nodded and they all quickly settled in Claire's living room.
"So where is this supposed mystery man of yours?" Pink asked.
"Luffy? He left around two months ago" Claire answered causing Blue's shoulders to droop and let out a deep sigh.
"Damn looks like we missed him. Any idea where he went?"
"Yeah. Back to his home in East Blue…not sure where in East Blue though"
Pink sighed and looked at Blue, "We can't go to East Blue in search for him"
"Yeah yeah I know"
"Mind sharing your history with him?" Claire asked having a gut feeling that this woman had a story to tell.
"Can you first tell me about Luffy? People pointed us towards you when we asked about him around the city. How did he end up here and what was he doing?"
"Well sure" Claire agreed and she, Allie and Allana summed up his stay with them from Claire meeting him at the hotel, his training and rescue of Allana's family and the the taking down of the Marlbary mafia.
"Wow…he sure lives huh?" Pink grinned, "I already like him"
Blue nodded with happiness, "Yeah, he's the same crazy hero I know"
"Ooh I miss him snapping at anyone calling him a hero…" Allie chuckled, "It was so funny. Almost nothing fazes him but when someone calls him a hero, he gets so irritated!"
"Hehe yes…" Blue also chuckled with a reminiscent smile.
"Okay now it's your turn" Claire said taking out a recorder, "Something tells me it's something amazing"
"Heh, you're a reporter?" Pink asked with amusement.
"Yes"
"Hahaha I dare you to publish this story"
"…is that a threat?"
"No no" Blue hastily placated smacking Pink, "What she meant to say was that my story is kinda messed up…and you'll make a lot of enemies if you ever publish it"
"Oh…well, I'll be the judge of that"
Pink just laughed while Blue sighed. "Before that, what do you think of the Marines?"
"Hate 'em. The mafia family was oppressing us for so many years and all they did was take bribes and let the atrocities happen"
"Okay, and pirates? And specifically Luffy?"
"Well, I hate them too. But I guess if it's a pirate like Luffy, then I like them. And I respect and adore Luffy. He doesn't even know it, but he freed me and a lot of people around these parts and gave us our freedom back. And all he wanted in return was enough money to get him home and a feast"
Kell smiled nodding along, "Okay then, I guess I can tell you my story. Well, let's start with my name. I'm Kell and let me tell you the story of 'The Laughing Pirate'…"
—
"I kinda feel bad leaving them all sobbing like that" Kell said awkwardly as she and her captain made their way to the docks after finishing their conversation with Claire and the others.
"Yeah that story does always make people cry… Anyway, you think that reporter chick has the guts to even write that into an actual article?" Pink asked with a chuckle.
"Nope"
"Thought so"
"But who knows…she met Luffy after all, so she might do something crazy too…"
"Luffy this and Luffy that…Not even a mention of his name for months but ever since we found out that a straw hat wearing man took out the Marlbary mafia, you've been talking non-stop about him and even dragged me all the way out here…"
"…I thought I left him to die, you know…no, I did leave him to die. I felt so guilty…he was the reason we all escaped from that slave camp in the first place and he didn't get out…"
"Hey! I'm the reason you escaped!"
Kell just giggled and stroked her captain's ego, "Yes yes, I owe my life to you too. And if you weren't there that day at Mariejois, all of us would have been captured again no doubt…But still, giving us hope and escaping from the slave camp itself was all Luffy"
"Yeah yeah I get it…I guess I owe him a lot too since he saved you…" she trailed off reminiscing the past few months, "You know, all those months ago, I would have never imagined that you would become such an integral part of my life and my crew. You're my quartermaster, my doctor and also my first mate… It's hard to believe you when you say you were a sheltered girl before your whole slavery thing. It's like you were born to be a pirate"
"Yeah well something just snapped in me I guess…Seeing such an innocent and joyous person like Luffy being enslaved like that…I just wanted to make him feel better, so I talked to him. But then they enslaved me to use me against him and seeing him break…" Kell teared up with a sad look on her face.
"It's okay. You're past that." Pink comforted her with a smile, "Your supposed savior is also somehow alive, so all's good"
"Yeah…" Kell happily said as she wiped away her tears, "Still I wonder how he escaped"
"Let's just ask him when we meet. The reporter chick did say that he'll start his journey into the Grand Line very soon, so if he's anything like his stories make him seem, we will run into him sooner or later"
"Yeah…" Kell nodded getting a bit more pep to her steps. "Well for now, I think we should concentrate on our adventure. We have to go to the Grand Line after all and we gotta survive it too"
"Yes! I'll leave all the treasury stuff and gathering resources to you. Take care of everything"
"Oh ho" Kell snapped, "Acting so high and mighty when you're the main problem?! Do you know how much it costs to feed you, you damn gluttonous bitch?! And to add insult to injury, you maintain that amazing slim figure and look so sexy! Where does all the food even go?!"
"Aww, thank you Kelly…" she cooed.
"I'm not praising you, dammit!" Kell tried to smack her captain but she just dodged and ran to the docks laughing while Kell chased her until they reached their ship. It had the Jolly Roger of a grinning skull with long cascading hair, a fringe, lipstick similar to their captain and behind the skull was what looked like a semi-eaten pizza.
"C'mon Kell! We're gonna be going to the Grand Line now for real!" she yelled as she jumped on the ship where the rest of her crew were waiting.
Kell just sighed but had a fond smile as she looked at her other savior and someone who had become her best friend. "Yes, Bonney" Kell smiled as she climbed on.
"Alright! Off to the Grand Line!" Jewelry Bonney yelled getting cheers from the rest of her crew.
********************************************************