CHAPTER 1.

In The Beginning

Garp looked down in wonderment at the young fresh kiss of life he held in his large hands. The baby gave out a small yawn and looked into the marines unique onyx eyes with it's own that mirrored the war hero's.

No. . . Not it. He. Him. His grandson.

Monkey D Luffy.

" It's, not. . . I can't-impossible." But how on earth could he say that? The proof was literally right in front of him. Looking around the bar to the people watching in dumbstruck shock, he wanted someone to clarify what was happening. But everyone's mouths were to busy hugging the floor to even speak. Including his best friend and fellow marine Sengoku, who looked like someone destroyed marineford. Or shaved off his Afro.

Regaining (some part) of his composure, Garp looked at the small old woman who just moments ago interrupted his drinking and brought in this child. Telling him his asshole son, had a god damn son!

Impossible! Ludicrous! Poppycock!

And yet. . .

Undeniable. The trade mark onyx eyes, and the will of D inheritance Garp felt from the baby, he once felt from his own son when he was a newborn. Luffy was his grandson. Looking back at the old woman he just starred. The four foot three woman stared back with her strange green eyes, which were the only things one could see of her face. Wrapped from head to toe in a strange gold robe with strange deigns decorating the plush silk, there was a air of authority about her which seemed off with the appearance.

Garp could only tell she was elderly from the ancient look in her eyes, and the slight show of wrinkles around them. Other than that, everything else of the old lady was concealed.

" The boy is of your blood. War hero." She spoke with an accent the like of which he never heard before. Which was strange because he had been to ever country on the planet. But that wasn't important right now. With thousands of thoughts popping into his skull he needed a moment to get his barrings. Then again, he might need a few years.

" The mother?" Was all Garp could muster to say. The tiny woman just shook her head. Garp closed his eyes, cursed, then opened them again. Maternal death. And a pat of him wanted to meet the woman who could put a leash on his criminal son.

Dragon. . . Damn you boy, Garp needed to give his son the fist of love next time he saw him. " Did my boy send you?"

" The mother."

" And you just happened to know I'd be here?"

The old lady laughed, " I have my ways." She said cryptically. Garp should have been suspicious of her intentions, but the way the old woman's eyes kept going back to his grandsons, and the unconditional love those green orbs held, Garp couldn't help but trust her.

Turning to Sengoku, who's facial expression hadn't changed in the least, the war hero smile brightly. " Hey Sen! I have a Grandson! HAHAHAHA!" Everyone in the bar except for the old woman fell down comically. Disbelief flashed in the woman's eyes.

Baby Luffy began to squeal and laugh as his grandpa tickled his stomach. " That right boy, we D men aren't silent sissy's. Make noise! You'll make a great Marine! Oh yes you will. Yes you-"

" GARP!" Sengoku yelled, jumping up from the ground. Said marine picked his ear that was just used as a damn microphone.

" Sheesh. A little loud aren't we Sen?" The glasses wearing man began to shake in rage, as if he was about to go into his zoan devil fruit mode.

" How are you okay with this!?"

" Well he is my grandson."

" Who you didn't know about until two minutes ago! What the hell man!? Have you finally lost your mind!?"

" Who cares. I have my grandson so its all right." He gave the other marine his famous smile. Sengoku looked about ready to punch his teeth out.

" And you!" Sengoku exclaimed, turning to the old woman. The man's rage diminished when they notice she was no longer in the bar. " What the. . ." Garp thought the same thing. Both men were the most surprised in the whole bar. They had powerful observation Haki, some of the best in the marines and they hadn't picked up her movements. Now that they think about it, they never felt her come into the bar either.

Both marines ran out of the bar, Luffy in Garp's arms. She wasn't outside either. After minutes of surveying the area they came up with nothing, even with observation haki. They went back into the bar to keep the baby from the cold winds.

Little did they know, the old woman wasn't to far. Watching the tall men head back into the bar, she sighed at the events that transpired. But it was to be expected. Even the gods had rules they needed to follow, and the baby was the law breaker that gotten his mother into trouble. As a rule the Egyptian gods never are to mate with humans. But one night of reckless foolish passion would lead to a domino effect of later tragedies.

She could feel it.

Damn you Hathor. She cursed the goddess in every ancient language the old woman knew. How could Hathor have been so stupid? And now, she had to suffer for it. But that wasn't the old woman's concerns.

Luffy was.

By the curse of Set, Luffy's life would be one no should have to suffer. That boy will bathe in agony and walk the path of untold horrors until the day the Egyptian gods found and killed him. No. . . they wouldn't kill him. Not at first. They will torture him, destroy all of his sanity, and then they will put him down.

But for now, they will search. With the boys powers sealed away from the world, no deity would ever find out his origins. But it was because of that same seal that is- ironically- meant for protection, that Set's curse will burn his very soul. Until his powers are unlocked. He will no nothing but pain.

Son of the most wanted man in the world was a heavy burden to carry as it was. The boy would be looked down upon by humans. Being a demi-god? He will be hated by all. The very world will be out for his blood. Her next words were spoken with truth, and nothing but.

" May you find peace child-" she spoke with sorrow evident in her voice. A tear escaped her eyes. " Because you will have to go to war."

Several years later

If Shanks had a nickle for every time people looked at him in fear when they saw that he was a pirate, he could feed his crew for life. Holding his hands up in surrender at the people of Foosha Village, and chuckled. " People of Foosha Village, we mean you no harm. I'm Red haired shanks of the red haired pirates."

An old man stepped up from the crowd of hundreds. He held a walking stick and wore simple clothing, with oval glasses, and had a thick mustache and a goatee. The suspicion was plain in his eyes. Not a big fan of pirate obviously.

" I am mayor of this village. Woop Slap. Why have you come here pirate?"

" My crew and I merely needed to dock for a while and are in need of a bar if you guys have one." The rest of the red hair pirates laughed loudly. Shanks took out his wallet from his pocket and pulled out fifty thousands worth of belly bills. " Don't worry we'll pay."

A very young woman stepped our from the crown and stood next to Woop Slap. Very pretty. With green hair and dark brown hair. Not that Shanks was into minors. He wasn't a pedophile. The Yonko was surprise when he looked into her eyes, and saw that they held no judgement, fear, or even nervousness. Only a rare source of kindness that made the captain smile, and bow in respect.

" Hello madam."

The girl giggled and bowed back politely. " Hello . If its a bar you are looking for, my family owns one. I'll be happy to serve all of you."

From behind him his crew cheered.

" Angel!"

"Booze!"

" Thank the Gods!"

" Why can't you be as polite as her captain!?"

" Yeah!"

" True!"

" Asshole!"

" Bastard!"

" WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" Shanks yelled at his crew, teeth as sharp as daggers and flames shooting out of his eyes. Turning back to the young girl he composed himself. " And please madam. Drop the 'Mr', just Shanks is fine. And we be happy if you served us."

Laughing at the pirates antics she led them past the frightened villagers to the Partys bar. The girl ignored the mayor protests, " And please Shanks, call me Makino." The nice simple layout of the bar was refreshing to Shanks. Being a powerful wealthy pirate, he's been to some pretty extravagant eatery's as well as some shady rundown messed up bars. Most of the furniture was made of plain oak wood. The walls made of sturdy stone painted over with light green. Support beams decorated with boating equipment, giving it a homey sense.

Plain yet elegant. Cozy and quiet. Until the pirates started drinking. Then it was a god damn party!

" DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!" Shanks downed a whole barrel of rum with his crew cheering him on. When he was done he threw the barrel and yelled in victory. To his left sitting at the bar with him was his first mate Benn Beckman- shaking his head, but a small smile on his face. To his right Yasopp looked about ready to pass out.

Light weight, Shanks thought. The sniper only had two barrels for gods sake. Laughing, he pointed at the sniper and looked at their generous bartender. " Makino! bring this fifteen year old sissy drinker a glass of water! He isn't man enough for any more liquor!"

" Screw-Hiccup!-You captain!" Everyone laughed. The laughter grew when Makino actually brought him a glass of water.

" I love this girl!" Shanks down a fresh cup of whiskey and slumped down into his seat. " Tell me Makino. Aren't you a little young to be a bartender?"

She brought out another round of rum and explained. " Well my parents have no problem with it. They know I don't drink or anything." The red haired pirate nodded in approval. Call him old fashion but he believed a girl should be a woman before she started drinking. Chivalry was not truly dead. Shanks was about to challenge Benn to a drinking contest, but the flapping of the doors opening and the entire bar going silent made the Yonko pause.

Makino gasped. Shanks looked to the source of the disturbance and his eyes went wide.

A little kid, no older then six or seven, come into Partys bruised and bloody to the point you could barley make out his face. His shirt was torn apart and one of his pants legs were missing. But that wasn't what shot the captain. Onyx eyes- a rarity in the sea- was filled with such pain and anguish, self loathing for which the likes the pirate had never seen before in anyone, let alone a child.

" Luffy!" Makino ran from behind the bar with a case of medical supplies to the boy. " Gods, Luffy! It happened again!"

Again? Shanks and Benn looked to each other. Benn already knew what his captain was thinking, seeing the anger building up in his captains eyes. All of the crew knew their captains feelings towards child abuse. Despite that, he was a rational person, so the Yonko stayed seated and watched.

" Gods, these are worse than before! Stay still Luffy, I'm going to wrap them up." The pirates watched as the bartenders wiped the blood from the boys body, then disinfect and wrap up the cuts and bruises.

The boy stared at the far-wall and nothing else. He was trying to ignore everyone else in the bar. The boy walked past Makino when she finished and sat at the bar in the seat next to Yasopp. The bar remained quiet.

Shanks frowned. Tapping his sniper on the shoulder he gave Yasopp a look. With a node they switched seats. Makino was back behind the bar serving Luffy juice. When he grabbed the large cup, he spoke. " Thank you." Shanks flinched when he heard the quiet croak of the boys voice. He sounded dehydrated, and creaky. Was his voice box smashed?

When the boy noticed Shanks looking at him he turned to the captain. Shanks gave him a bright smile, " Hello." The boy just starred at him. Not what Shanks was expecting. The pain left those onyx eyes. They went blank like a piece of plain paper. He continued. " My name is Shanks. Whats yours?"

" Luffy."

" Nice to meet you Luffy."

Makino brought him a mug of ale. The green haired girl looked in worry and curiosity. When Luffy gave his attention to the juice he held, he asked Makino about him.

" Does this happen often?" He whispered, making sure not to be heard by Luffy.

" It does. We don't how he gets like this. At first we thought it was some of the villagers who were afraid of him, but we noticed strange bite marks on him, so we think it must be some of the forest carnivores. You see, Luffy's home is deep in the forest, and he lives there all alone."

Yasopp looked at her in disbelief, " A little kid living alone? Where are his parents?"

" All Luffy has is his Grandfather, but Garp duties as a marine always takes him away from the island-"

" Monkey D. Garp is his grandfather!?" All of the others in the bar gasped in shock. In no time they were talking amongst themselves in awe and horror struck voices. Shanks glared at the sniper, who smiled apologetically.

" Dumbass," Benn grumbled. The first mate couldn't hide his surprise though. Shanks to. They hadn't even known Garp had a child of his own, let alone a grandchild. And the captain remembered that beast of a man back when his captain was alive. A force to be reckon with indeed.

" Are his parents dead?" Shanks asked Makino. The girl crossed her arms and thought about it.

" If I remember right, his mother died after giving birth to him, and no one's sure if the fathers alive or not. No ones sure which of the parents is the child of Garp either."

" And Garp isn't around much is he?" Makino glazed down at the counter. Anger in her dark brown eyes, probably directed at Garp.

" He isn't a bad man. . ."

" But?" Shanks asked.

" He could be there more often for his grandson for gods sake!" The Yonko was taken aback by the girls outburst.

" Doesn't he have any friends?" She merely shook her head. Shanks heart cracked a little for the boy. To be alone was probably the worst thing the pirate could think of. And for a boy at Luffy's age, terrible.

" Ah. . . boss?" Lucky Roo called from the table he sat at. He pointed next to his captain. " Luffy left." Shanks blinked when he saw- in fact- that the boy had left, leaving his finished juice on the counter.

Makino was about to run and get him, but Shanks stopped her.

" Don't worry. I'll make sure he's okay Makino." He left the bar telling his crew to stay behind.

Using his powerful observation haki, he scanned he land and found the boy in seconds. Luffy had quickly entered the forest. Following the trail Shanks was lastly led to a small house deep within the forest.

This was were Luffy lived? A small home made entirely of wood, it was covered in vines, had no windows, not even a door. An animal hide hung from the entrance.

Not that it wasn't fit to be lived in, but what kind of kid lived here by himself?

Shanks knocked on the side of the house and waited patiently. After a minute Luffy poked his head out from the door- slash animal hide. Oddly enough most of the bruises on the boys face had somehow vanished. The only things remaining were the busted lip and black eye.

Unless the Captain was seeing things. He did drink a lot after all.

. . . No. Still sober enough to not hallucinate. That was something he'd get on later.

" Can I help you?" It didn't come out rude, but Shanks noted the hint of suspicion. The boy was smart. Not a lot like that in his age. Then again, not a lot of kids walked into a bar looking beaten to shit.

"You left in quite a hurry back there."

The boy yawned uncaring.

"Makino was worried."

Silence.

" So. . .You live here. . .?"

Somewhere in the distance, a cricket could be heard. This was not how the Yonko played this in his head. He was about to ask to go in when suddenly a large growl crackled like fire. Shanks saw a two headed Tiger the size of a small ship come from the bushes. Blood stained its fur, signs that it recently taken down a large animal of sorts.

The head on the left looked at the captain while the right one looked at Luffy. Not good.

" Luffy stay behind me." The captains orders fell on deaf ears, because the boy had walked towards the thing. The Tiger growled, then lunged at the boy with the speed of a cannon ball. " Luffy!"

What happened next was incredible. Condensed energy, blind to the eyes of most- shot out from Luffy. The tiger was coming at the boy, planning and snaking down on him, then it froze mid-air, eyes widened, then fell to the ground unconscious.

" No. Way." The boy knew Haoshoku Haki. He knew how to control Haoshoku Haki. The Captain rarely ever saw something that made him go dumbstruck. " Luffy," his tone filled with awe. " Do you know what you just did?"

The boy turned around. Shanks gasped when he saw blood fall from Luffy's good eye. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and then Luffy passed out.

" Luffy!"

" And you said he used haki?" Jacob, doctor of the red haired pirates asked his captain. Shanks nodded. Jacob hummed in thought. " Did this ever happen when you first learn Haoshoku haki? Do you know anyone did ever happened to?"

Shanks thought about it. Back when he was in Rogers crew, he'd seen both his captain and Rayleigh use Haoshoku haki with no problems to their health. Whitebeard as well. Though maybe that man wasn't the ideal image of health nowadays.

" No. I never seen this happened before."

" Well than I don't no what this could be, because the kid seems healthy despite the bruises. No infection, he's not malnourished or being starved. No sign of broken bones, or busted blood vessels. Going back to the bruises, the kid is healing some in minutes that should last for a few days."

" Yeah, I noticed that when I saw most of them left his face."

" You think It's a devil fruit captain?"

" I'm not sure." Shanks had never read or heard about a devil fruit that heals the user like this.

" Well I say we just let the kid rest. If anything-"

Luffy shot up, gasping. Jacob cursed and jumped from his seat. Freighted by the boys abruptly waking. Luffy looked around the room in panic. He shot from the bed aiming for the door. Shanks being greatly skilled, caught the boy by the arm. " Luffy! It's okay!"

Obviously those words were ignored, because the boy punched Shanks in the gut. It didn't hurt, but it did wind him a little. A boy his age shouldn't have been able to hit that hard. Luffy attempted to punch him again, but he caught the fist with his other hand. " Luffy!"

Only then did the boy stop fighting him. But the captain was taken aback by the ear and panic in his eyes. Had awakening in a strange place really scare him that much. Not that Shanks could blame him.

Slowly he lessened his grip on Luffy's arms, just in case he started attacking again. " There we go." The boy scanned the room, with weary eyes. Shanks noted the flinch when Luffy looked at the bed.

" I want to go home," Luffy whispered. Both men in the room heard him clearly. Shanks looked at Jacob.

" Give us a minute."

" Yes captain."

When it was only the two, Shanks took off his straw hat, and rested it on the bed. " I'll take you home Luffy, but first I would like to ask you some questions."

" Questions?" Shanks nodded.

" Do you know what you did to that Tiger?"

" I made it go to sleepy." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Shanks chuckled a little.

" No Luffy, what you did was something called Haki."

" Haki?"

Shanks paused and though about the best way to explain the concept of Haki to a child. " Haki is a power that is found in every living being in the world. It can be used to sense and overpower enemies." Shanks once again noticed the change in the boys expression. The moment he said overpower, Luffy got very interested. The boy had brains, as well as a dark back story. He took the silence as his point to continue.

" Three kinds of haki. First there is Kenbunshoku haki, also called in some languages Mantra, or Observation haki. It allows the user to sense the presence of others, even if they are concealed from view or too far to see naturally."

Luffy raised his hand, like a kid in school would when wanting to ask a question. It was kind of adorable if the captain may say so.

" Is that how you found my home?" Smart indeed, Shanks thought with a smile.

" Yes. I've spent years training my haki to the point I can sense how many people are on this island." Luffy looked a him in amazement. Oh how it warmed Shanks ego so! " Anyways, lets move on to the second kind of haki." Shanks held his hand up, and Luffy watched as it became black and shiny. " Busoshoku haki or 'armament haki' allows someone to defend against attacks that would otherwise cause them harm. But enough force and a attack could bypass Busoshoku haki, unless you train it hard enough. Than no one can really hurt you-" Again there was that light in the boys onyx eyes. "-It also a way of bypassing devil fruit users defenses."

" Whats a, dev-al fruit user?" Shanks had forgotten that devil fruits weren't common in the east blue. People still believed they were a myth.

" Dev-il, Luffy. Its pronounced Dev-il. And those are people who gain strange powers from eating these things called devil fruits. Devil Fruits are rare, having one day fallen from the sky around the sea. There are over hundreds of them out and about. In a certain part of the sea known as the knew world, almost everyone has a devil fruit power and they also know haki."

" Are you a devil fruit user?" Luffy asked curiously.

" No, but as you can see I do know haki. And a few of my crew mates are devil fruit users. I'll ask them to show you what they can do." Excitement flashed in the boys eyes. The Yonko was beginning to notice how Luffy hardly showed what he felt through facial expressions.

" Now lastly we have Haoshoku Haki, also known as conqueror's haki. This haki is different from the other two because it cannot be learned. Your either born with it or not. But what you can do, is train it. Conqueror's haki isn't just knocking people unconscious. You dominate the wills of others. However, those with stronger wills can resist or even ignore the effects of Haoshoku Haki. The ability to knock someone out depends on the difference in strength between the person using Haki and the person or persons the user is trying to knock out. The greater the power gap, the easier it is to knock the victim out."

Shanks was surprise when Luffy smiled with fierce determination in his eyes. " Teach me!"

The Yonko blinked, then got serious. The change in demeanor wiped Luffy's smile away. " Do you know what you asking me Luffy? The road to learning Haki is long and hard. If I do this, everyday will be a test of your survival skills and your very soul itself."

Luffy clenched his hands into fist. And for a split second Shanks could have sworn Luffy's eyes changed colors. Unless it was his imagination?

" Make me stronger."

" Tell me why I should. Show me now why I should! Scream it to me! Show me your RESOLVE!-"

" BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE SCARED ANYMORE!" Luffy began to cry. That look of self loathing Shanks first saw in him came back stronger. " I just don't want to be scared anymore. I hate being weak. It's because I'm weak, they made fun of me, hurt me, and did so many things to me." The boy wrapped his arms around himself as if to keep from falling into pieces. And Shanks saw the emotional breaking of a child in the moment. And it broke the mans heart.

" They said, that I shouldn't have been born. That If they found me they would kill me. They say bad thing happen to me because I was born." Luffy found himself off the ground in a second. A pair of strong arms wrapped around him and his face pressed again something hard. Luffy had seen people do this at times around the village. It was called hugging.

No one ever hugged him before. Because you never let Makino do it. Luffy thought to himself. He was to afraid to. To afraid of other people hands.

But now he wasn't afraid. For the first time in a long time he wasn't scared anymore. He felt. . . Something else. A warm press in his chest. A feeling that drove him to wrap his small arms around Mr. Pirates throat and hug him back. Sinking his head into Mr. Pirates shoulder he cried until his eyes stung. Everything he kept quiet from everyone else he spilled onto the red haired man. Luffy told him everything.

He didn't know how long he spoke for. Hours? days? By the end of it he had expected Mr. Pirate to do what those monsters did. Insult him and laugh at his pain. Except there was nothing in the mans dark eyes. No judgement, no pity. Only excepts and caring.

" I didn't ask to be born, ya know? I would have been okay with not existing. With dying."

" Shh. It's okay Luffy. It's going to be okay. Everything will be okay." Shanks sat on the bed with Luffy wrapped around him.

" Don't let me go Mr. Pirate. Please don't let me go."

Eventually the emotional stress became to exhausting, and the boy fell asleep. Shanks gently tucked him into bed. Taking his prized straw hat, he place it on Luffy's head and left the boy to rest. A small smile graced the mans lips. Huh. A strange thought popped into his head.

The boy was born to wear that hat.