Hi! This is my first ever FanFiction story and a challenge issued by Lolly Dream. The characters in this story are original, but the setting is not.
Disclaimer: I'd like to throw it out there that Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece and the Grand Line... North Blue... East Blue... West Blue... South Blue... All Blue... Skypeia... Catch my drift?
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Forgiven
~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~~O~~oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All was quiet on Adeline's Pride. The captain of this beautiful vessel, Natalia, was sleeping fitfully in her bunk, having tired herself out in a battle against the marines not too long ago. The first mate, Silhouette, was counting the treasure they had aboard. There wasn't as much as she'd like, and she was beginning to scheme up ways to get more. The swordsman, Jonathan, was in the bathroom taking a shower. Mika was up in the crows nest, snacking on a stolen apple. The ex-marine, Ellie was showing off to the musician, Leila, showing her how big the fish she'd just caught was. Zen, the other swordsman, was taking out some frustration against a poor punching bag while his little sister, Kaida, watched. The chef, Elaine, was humming quietly to herself in the kitchen, peeling potatoes.
Leila baited her hook again and tossed her rod out to sea. She'd never been very good at fishing- her talents lay in singing and merry-making- but she couldn't help but wish for a fish big enough to wipe that smug smirk off Ellie's face. Ellie was great company at the best of times, but when she one-upped you, she would never- NEVER- let you live it down.
Suddenly, there was a light tug on Leila's line. Excited, the musician speedily reeled in what she judged to be a huge fish. She shot Ellie a smirk she'd regret later.
The fish she'd caught was coming up just as quickly as she was reeling and gained more and more momentum, enough to send Leila flying across the deck and hurt herself painfully on the mast.
This drew quite a bit of attention.
Mika, attracted by the loud noise and a cry of pain, jumped out of the crows nest, landing neatly on the deck. Jonathan wrapped a towel around himself and ran out to see what the commotion was. Zen ordered his baby sister to stay and ran to Leila's aid. Natalia, awakened by the noise, walked groggily on deck, but sprinted to Leila's side once she saw her pained expression. Silhouette peeked out of the treasury and ran to the musician's side as well.
Leila opened her eyes, welcomed by a chorus of 'are you okay?'s and 'what happened?'s. One question stood out amongst the others, coming from none other than Mika.
"What's in the box?"
At the same time, Ellie burst out laughing, seeing her nakama was alright. "That's some fish you caught there, Leila!"
"…fish…?" Leila repeated. She looked down to her lap and saw a white box the size of her jewelry box. It was soaking wet and still attached loosely to her fishing line, which sadly suggested she hadn't caught a fish big enough to quiet Ellie's boasts. Then again, she'd be damned if the ex-marine had ever fished out a box this nice before!
"Open it!" Mika ordered, having sprouted curious wolves ears and pricking them up.
Leila nodded and complied. She just barely had time to read a few lines carved into the box before seven rainbow balls shot out of the box and hit each present crew member in the chest.
"Seven Sins Curse of the Sinful Blue. Already you have shown what sinful creatures you are. Now prove you can live with such sins or die trying. Be it you
or the sun that falls only then will the sins be removed."
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Elaine put the last naked potato on the pile and ceased her humming, stretching. She should probably go examine whatever commotion Mika had most likely started on deck, but it could wait until she finished washing her potatoes.
Actually, no. It couldn't.
Two of the noisy culprits burst through the door. Mika was making a mad dash towards the storage room and Jonathan was right on her heels. Loudly, Jonathan tackled Mika to the ground and bit her ear playfully while his hands wandered from her shoulders down. Mika whined at this and struggled.
Elaine's eyes widened. Rape! In her kitchen!
She grabbed the broom and swung it hard so it hit her childhood friend in the face. "Jonathan! What are you doing to Mika?"
Mika, unfazed, stood and shot into the storage room, sitting and beginning to peel an orange.
oOo
Mission: Fix Jonathan! The sin of Lust!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Jonathan!
oOo
"Hey, baby, come here often?" Jonathan asked, stepping forward and stumbling from the blow dealt earlier.
"I live here! What did you try to do to Mika?" Elaine screeched, holding the broom defensively. "You're seriously scaring me, Jonathan."
"Don't be afraid! I won't hurt you!" Jonathan said, taking another shaky step forward, "In fact, I wanna make you feel better than you've ever felt before!"
"Perv!" Elaine yelled, whacking him with the broom. This started a rapid succession of attacks while Jonathan threw in random comments such as, 'ow!' and 'don't be like that, baby!'
Elaine was about to deal the finishing blow to Jonathan's head, when He stopped her, grabbing the broom. "I have to ask- did it hurt?" he asked.
"…eh?" Elaine replied simply, letting her guard fall.
"You know, when you fell from Heaven!"
Elaine made a face at the cheesy pick-up line and swatted Jonathan over the head one last time, knocking him unconscious.
She wiped her brow and looked about. Now where did that half-wolf go?
oOo
Mission: Fix Jonathan! The sin of Lust!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Jonathan!
Victor- Elaine!
oOo
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Kaida looked up from her notebook as Elaine came out of her kitchen. She waved her over. "Hi, Elaine, how are you feeling today?"
Elaine was surprised at this casual greeting. "Fine, but Jonathan just attacked Mika and Mika ran off and…? What's going on?" It had finally dawned on the cook that Ellie and Leila where playing with separate halves of Kaida's hair. Every few seconds the two would exchange glances and grins.
"It seems Leila was fishing and unleashed the horror of the seven sins on the crew mates. These two have pride and envy. Jonathan had lust, am I correct?"
Elaine nodded at the younger girl, and the blonde continued, swatting at Ellie's hand as it reached for her drink. "It seems we'll need to detain the other crew members before they seriously hurt us, or themselves, or each other. I've got a list of the sins here, we'll have to split duties, okay?"
Elaine nodded, not allowing herself to fall victim to awe. Kaida always had a plan and always stayed on top of things. Even if she was only eleven.
"We've got Ellie, Leila and Jonathan, right? Let's tie them up and put them in the storage room. You should probably wait there for gluttony, and then move on, okay? I'll locate the others and find out who has what sin." Kaida added.
Elaine nodded again, and Kaida used her knowledge of the human body to press a series of pressure points that temporarily paralyzed Leila and Ellie. Elaine waved Kaida off and tied the two up loosely and locked them in the empty storage room.
What an odd evening this is, she thought, heading to the storage room to wait for gluttony.
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
oOo
Mission: Silhouette's stash! The sin of Greed!
Challenger Kaida vs. Target Silhouette!
oOo
Kaida tried the first door she came across- the treasury. The doorknob froze fast, meaning Silhouette had locked herself in with the treasure. A tell-tale sign of greed.
The blonde pre-teen wanted to write Silhouette's name next to greed immediately, but she knew better. Maybe gluttony had already stolen a stash of food and hid it in here. Maybe wrath had cornered greed. That thought sent shivers down her spine. If anyone in this ship was capable of showing extreme wrath, it was her brother, Zen. She didn't want to fight him… she didn't think she could fight him even if she wanted to.
Kaida stopped hesitating and knocked on the door. "Silhouette? Hello?"
"Go away! The treasure is mine! Mine!" Silhouette's familiar voice replied.
Kaida cocked an eyebrow and scribbled, 'Silhouette' next to greed.
"Silhouette, come on out! It's me! Kaida! I'd never steal your treasure, you know that!" Kaida shouted through the door. The pre-teen couldn't help but worry about attracting wrath. "Please?"
"No!" Silhouette yelled. "I won't give you my treasure! I'd rather die!"
Kaida opened her mouth to comment, but decided against it. It was early morning and sunset was too far off to waste too much time on greed. And if what she'd translated was correct, 'Be it you or the sun that falls, only then will the sins be removed.' meant at sundown this chaos would end and things could go back to normal. Or we'd all die.
The young girl shuddered against the latter and pulled an emerald decorated hair barrette Silhouette had always admired. "If you come out, I'll give you my barrette."
There was a slight hesitation, then the lock clicked and the door opened. Silhouette's not-so lightening fast hand shot out towards the barrette, only to be grabbed. Kaida, stronger than she looked, tossed Silhouette against the wall and quickly secured her, tying her hands up and forcing the older woman to follow her by waving the barrette in her face.
oOo
Mission: Silhouette's stash! The sin of Greed!
Challenger Kaida vs. Target Silhouette!
Victor- Kaida!
oOo
Before Kaida completely locked Silhouette with the others in the storage room, she held true to her word and slipped the barrette in Silhouette's golden locks to keep the hair in her eyes. She scanned the angry faces of her nakama and shrugged pitifully. "Sorry guys, it's for your own best interest.
With that, she left, ignoring the sounds of fighting from the storage room. She peeked in and updated her list.
Ellie- Pride
Leila- Envy
Jonathan- Lust
Silhouette- Greed
Mika- Gluttony
She flipped the little pocket book closed and left off to find anyone else in need of securing.
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
oOo
Mission: Mika's Hunger! The sin of Gluttony!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Mika!
oOo
Elaine hadn't had to wait long before Mika shot inside and tried to stuff her face of the supplies they'd gathered at the last town. Luckily, the locals had politely warned them of something called the 'Sinful Blue' and she'd asked Silhouette to give her extra money for extra supplies.
Elaine, equipped with the broom, face Mika who had a whole-hearted rage in her eyes. The kind she normally showed when some pirate cheated during one of her games. Elaine gulped. Normally, people got beat within an inch of their lives when that happened.
Mika rapidly shot forward to punch Elaine in the gut, but she blocked it and in the process, the broom snapped in two. Mika whipped around, lightening fast. Was defending her food this worth it?
Elaine blocked two attacks- one a kick to the head and one another punch to the gut- with the two separate sections of broom. Elaine whipped around so she was behind Mika and kicked her in the back so the girl stumbled and tripped a little. Elaine hated to do this, but she realized the only way to capture Mika, someone who was and always would be stronger, was by using her Devil's Fruit power. She pulled the ten pound iron ball out of her bag, and gave one last effort for peace. Even corrupted by gluttony, Mika was still Mika, right?
"Mika Aida!" The girl stood, the anger in her eyes subsiding to curiosity. "Let's play a game!"
"A game?" Mika repeated, her wolf ears sprouting again to peak with interest. "What kind of game?" Her wolf tail began to wag.
"It's an intelligence game." Elaine started. "You see, I'll tie you up and put you in a dark room with Jonathan, Ellie and Leila and you have to escape. Sounds fun, right?"
Mika thought about it, and for a terrifying moment Elaine thought her trick had been called out. Then Mika brightened. "Sounds like fun!"
Thankfully, Mika was a complete and utter moron.
"Okay! I've got the rope right here. Sit still, okay?" Elaine said, trying not to chuckle at her victory. As Mika sat still, Elaine wound the rope around her, tied it, then secured her arms and legs. Then, she carried her weakly to the storage room and locked her in. Not even the great Pirate Spy Mika Aida, a master of escape, could free herself from those binds. Right?
oOo
Mission: Mika's Hunger! The sin of Gluttony!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Mika!
Victor- Elaine
oOo
With the sin of gluttony detained, Elaine sighed, wiped her brow and hoped the others wouldn't be so hard to catch.
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Elaine met Kaida up on the main deck. The young girl seemed to be making notes in her notebook.
"Kaida?" Elaine said, announcing her presence. "Did something happen to Natalia?" The red headed captain was sprawled across the deck, snoring loudly.
"Nope." Kaida replied. "So, Mika was gluttony?"
"How'd you guess?" Elaine asked, honestly curious.
"We've locked up Jonathan, Ellie, Silhouette, Leila and Mika…?" Elaine nodded. "Mika, Natalia's passed out here which I'm guessing means she's got sloth." Kaida sighed, looking extremely depressed. "That means Zen has wrath."
Elaine nodded, understanding Kaida's predicament. She wouldn't want to have to fight Zen, but with she wouldn't let anyone else hurt her brother. The younger girl shuddered, but regained composure and looked to Elaine. "Get Natalia to the storage room, I'll find onii-chan. Maybe… maybe I can still reason with him."
Elaine nodded, pitying the youngest nakama, and started poking at Natalia.
oOo
Mission: Natalia's lazy! The sin of Sloth!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Natalia!
oOo
"Wake up." Elaine ordered, poking her captain in the shoulder.
Natalia blinked herself awake and sat up with a yawn and a stretch. "What?"
"Come on. I have to get you to the storage room. I have to… show you something." Elaine replied.
Natalia waved her hand dismissively. "It can wait, I don't feel like it right now. I think I'll just get back to my na-"
"But sencho-san! It's important! Mika hurt herself!" Elaine said, faking urgency.
Natalia only yawned in reply. "This isn't the first time. Get Ellie to deal with it, she's the doctor. I won't be of much help."
"But Natalia! Mika's afraid for her life! You're the only one she wants to see!" Elaine tried. Wow, sloth really messed with your head. Usually at 'Mika's hurt' Natalia would've been gone.
"Get Silhouette. Mika likes Silhouette." Natalia replied.
"Natalia!"
"No."
Elaine sighed, then decided to try another approach. "Natalia, isn't it bothersome to have the sun in your eyes out here? Wouldn't it be better to go somewhere where the sun wasn't? Like the storage room! Let's go there-"
"No. I'm fine here. I'll just keep my back to the sun." Natalia replied, yawning again. "Besides, I really don't want to walk there."
Elaine, incredibly aggravated, clenched her fists. "Fine then! I'll carry you!" Elaine pulled the ropes out of her bag and tied up her captain who had amazingly 'summoned up the energy' to thrash and yell. Elaine tied a rope to the others and dragged her captain to the storage room.
oOo
Mission: Natalia's lazy! The sin of Sloth!
Challenger Elaine vs. Target Natalia!
Victor- Elaine
oOo
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
oOo
Mission: Calm Onii-chan! The sin of Wrath!
Challenger Kaida vs. Target Onii-chan Zen!
oOo
"Onii-chan!" Kaida called, hugging her notebook to her chest. She knew her brother was more than likely stronger than her, due to her size and age, but when blinded by anger, which he was sure to be, he tended to make a lot of mistakes. There should be plenty of openings to temporarily paralyze him, but could she do it? Kaida had never gotten in a physical fight with her brother, and she didn't think could handle it. "Onii-chan! Where are you?"
"Kaida!" Zen called, rushing into the hallway wearing nothing but his pants and holding a kendo practicing sword.
"Zen! You weren't effected by the sins?" She asked. As if in reply, Zen's dark eyes looked up at his younger sister, reflecting his anger. He lifted the kendo stick and just barely gave his little sister time to dodge before sending it crashing through the floorboards of the Pride.
"Natalia is going to kill you for that." Kaida said, seriously. "Zen, calm down. It's me- Kaida!"
"I know who you are." Zen said, his tone dark. "And I'm sick of you holding me back."
Kaida's eyes widened, and the weight that formed in her chest wouldn't allow her to dodge Zen's swing that hit her in the side, sending her flying into the wall.
"Kaida!" a shrill, shocked voice cried out. Elaine.
The ten pound ball of pure iron in her hand melted down to a pole, which Elaine used to block Zen's next attack.
"This is between us." Zen growled.
Kaida stood and brushed the splinters of wood off her shorts and back. She stood straighter and wiped away a tear. "He's right, Elaine. This is between us."
Elaine watched, horrified, as Zen turned to Kaida and clenched his hands around his weapon. "If it weren't for this little brat, I could've lived a normal life."
"You never told me you wanted a normal life. You always said you preferred our life." Kaida grabbed two daggers out of the pant's waist band and braced for impact as the kendo sword was sliced by them. "Why is this all coming out now?"
"I lied those times! Because I didn't want to see you cry, but it doesn't matter anymore. I can't stand this life- I can hardly stand you!"
"I'm sorry to hear that." Kaida said darkly. "If you have a problem with me, then why can't we just talk this out? There's no need for-"
"I'm sick of your know-it-all attitude! I'm sick of you bossing me around and treating me like I'm stupid!" Zen yelled.
"I've never treated you any less than an equal. I actually used to look up to you." Kaida said, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
"And now I'm sick of talking." Zen said, his tone dangerous as he picked up his familiar and very deadly weapon- a long, double edged, sword. The large, curved, blade made Kaida shudder.
"Zen, you don't-"
The noise of an incredibly sharp blade slashing through the air made the hairs on the back of Elaine's neck stand at attention. Dust was thrown up as the blade took out a support beam on the ship. Seconds felt like hours as the dust settled, revealing Kaida with a simple scratch on her cheek. She'd been fighting the whole while, pushing her beloved onii-chan back against a wall. Two daggers crossed at Zen's Adam's apple and the smallest point of Zen's blade was pressed to his sister's neck. The siblings were caught up in a deadly battle of wills, and judging from the emotions flooding both of their eyes, Zen was winning.
Unfortunately, Elaine's prediction proved true when Kaida lowered her blades and stepped back, away from the monster in Zen's hands. Tears now flooded her cheeks, as the young girl fell to her knees, whimpering, "I can't. I… can't… I failed. I-I'm sorry."
Zen lifted his blade, intending to finish his little sister's life. Elaine intruded upon the battle, knowing it wasn't fair. The ten pound iron ball reformed into a long pole, thicker in the metal. As predicted, Zen's blade sunk several inches in the pole and broke it in half. Using one half to dislodge the blade from Zen's steely grip, she regretfully used the other half to knock the enraged male unconscious.
She tied him and left him locked in the map room, where if he broke loose, he couldn't hurt anyone.
oOo
Mission: Calm Onii-chan! The sin of Wrath!
Challenger Kaida vs. Target Onii-chan Zen!
Victor- Elaine
oOo
"Kaida?" Elaine put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
The child shook her hand off and picked up her brother's weapon with much difficulty. "Onii-chan chipped his sword. H-he'll be… he'll be upset when he comes to his senses." This statement knocked her off her feet, leaning over the blade, drenching it in tears.
"Kaida, he didn't mean-"
"Yes he did!" Kaida yelled. She wiped her tears away. "Whatever came out of that God-forsaken box amplified whatever sin they got. For instance, Mika's gluttony. She doesn't normally eat that much, but the sin made her want more and more. Onii-chan's wrath just got the better of him. It made him… realize his darkest emotions. It's… it's not unusual to dislike a sibling… and prompted, you could even start to hate them. I just ne-never expected it from onii-chan." She stood, a little more composed. "I'm going to fix this." With that, she locked herself in the training room.
Elaine hesitated. Kaida and Elaine never really socialized much. Kaida and Zen were usually inseparable and talking to Jonathan or Natalia. She didn't know how to deal with the youngest crewmate's depression. She sighed. Come sundown, she'd have seven hungry mouths to feed. It was only noon, but she decided cooking dinner now would distract her.
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Natalia awakened to a pitch black room. For a moment, her memory was blank, then it hit her like a speeding sea train. "Oh my God! Mika!"
Elaine looked up from decorating dinner plates and stared at the storage room door. It seemed Natalia was back to her senses.
"Natalia? Is something wrong?" Mika asked, dropping down from the rafters. She opened the door of the storage room, and it occurred to Elaine that she was supposed to be there too.
"Mika?" She shrieked. "When did you get out?"
"Shortly after you put me in." Mika replied, grinning.
Elaine rolled her eyes. "Well, can you please untie the others? I'll get dinner on the table."
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Zen awakened in the map room. The dim lighting suggested it was around sundown. There were a pile or chopped-up ropes beside him, and he had a pillow under his aching head. As the events from the morning flooded his memory, he closed his eyes and breathed out.
He hadn't meant one word he'd said. Those thoughts were from a different Zen… the immature Zen that didn't want to sacrifice his independence for his little sister. At the time, shortly after he'd received those thoughts, he'd gotten rid of them. Kaida needed him, and he'd just broken her heart.
He rubbed the blood away from the wound Elaine had inflicted upon him. He wasn't angry. He had no right to be. When he left the map room, he was surprised to be met by Elaine and Natalia, who had, unfortunately for him, had a full briefing.
"Bastard!" Natalia spat, slapping him across the face. "What the hell am I hearing about you trying to kill your sister? Your own sister!"
"Natalia, don't…" Elaine said, her timid nature returning with the lack of chaos.
"I have half a mind to-" "Elaine, where's Kaida? I need to-"
"Finish the job? Like hell I'm going to let that happen! What the hell is wrong with you?" Natalia screamed.
"She was in there earlier," Elaine replied, indicating towards the training room. "but about an hour ago she told me she was going to bed, and she'd like not to be disturbed." Elaine turned to Natalia, grabbing her wrist gently. "And, Natalia, I think we should leave Zen alone for a while."
"WHAT?" Natalia screamed, enraged.
Elaine just shook her head and dragged the redheaded captain out of the hallway. Once Natalia was successfully removed, Elaine poked her head back in. "Zen, dinner is on the table. Though, it might be best to eat once everyone else is done."
Zen nodded, tired. His shame was dragging him towards depression, and when he opened the door, what he saw only worsened his mood.
His prized sword, his 'Death Blade', was in it's proper place on the wall, shined and repaired by his sister. The only thing out of place was a note taped to the blade.
'Dear onii-chan,
I'm sorry that I've been bossy, and controlling. I never meant to make you feel stupid, or make you feel like I thought you were stupid. I've always looked up to you, and I never meant to hurt your feelings. If you really are sick of me, I can take care of myself now. I've gotten a lot stronger in my time traveling with you! I even held my own against you!
…I plan on staying in this crew. Don't feel like you have to just because I'm here. I want you to be happy, and however you can accomplish that… please… don't let me stand in your way anymore.
A mess of tear stains made the rest of the letter illegible. Knowing Kaida, she'd probably stopped writing all together. Looking at the Death Blade, he'd never felt such contempt for the thing. It was hurt his sister.
No, it wasn't the sword. A good swordsman should never blame his blade… It was he who harmed his baby sister. And she'd probably fallen asleep with the echo of his words in her mind.
Zen thoughtlessly began roaming, meaning to go up to the deck to stargaze. The stars always held some sort of comfort. A wisdom from past generation, held in their twinkling gaze. How he'd managed to end up in front of Kaida's bedroom was beyond him. He didn't have an explanation of why his hand was on the doorknob. Or why that hand was twisting the doorknob and pushing through the door. He walked to Kaida's side and brushed the blonde locks out of her beautiful face. This was the face of the only female asides from his mother he'd loved. And the only female he'd loved, and hurt.
The flashes of their fight in his mind might as well have been the Death Blade breaking into his ribcage and twisting painfully.
Zen kissed his little sister's forehead and pulled her blankets higher. He stood and walked back to the door, but something made him pause. Something in the form of a small, groggy voice.
"Zen?"
His little sister's voice split his heart in two, and stabbed at the edges. "Kaida, I'm sor-"
"I understand." She said, her cold, rational voice returning. Usually, that voice was reserved for anyone other than her nakama and her brother. It wasn't a voice she used when the two were alone. "You were corrupted by wrath. It's understandable. You weren't completely in your right mind. You said some things you normally wouldn't have."
"No, Kaida, honestly, I didn't mean a word of it!" Zen argued. "I love you, more than anything else in my life. You're my little sister, I'd die for you!"
"You don't have to." Kaida replied. "I won't control you anymore. I'm sorry, I didn't even notice I was doing it myself." She tried to laugh to mask the pain the statement held, but the tears on her cheeks and the break in her voice betrayed her. "I'm sorry."
Zen couldn't think of what to say. He'd never been good with correcting his own mistakes, or comforting others, but there was one thing he knew to do that would say everything that clouded his mind.
He walked over to Kaida, who was sitting on her bed, furiously trying to dry her tears and took a seat beside her. The little girl's watery blue eyes looked up at him, shocked. Zen pulled her into his arms, something he hadn't done in years.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Zen said. "Those were immature thoughts. Kaida, I want to protect you for as long as I can. If I'm ever unable to do so, then I'll lay down my life for yours. Please understand, I don't know why I said those things."
Kaida was silent, but she didn't pull away. She allowed herself to rest in her onii-chan's arms, until her sobs quieted, and her breathing evened out. Zen himself, unable and unwilling to pull himself out of his little sister's arms, fell asleep. His last waking thought was, 'to hell with dinner.'
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Needless to say, the next day was increasingly awkward aboard Adeline's Pride. Ellie and Leila were fishing again, but they each took seats across the deck from each other. Jonathan avoided Mika, ashamed of his lustful outbursts, but it seemed Mika didn't get the hint. Elaine cooked normally, but shot worried looks towards her other crewmates. Natalia gave Zen wide berth and even suggested leaving him on the next island to Silhouette. Silhouette avoided the treasury for a while.
Zen and Kaida's reactions where the oddest. After such a large-scale outburst, one would expect the siblings to avoid each other, and shoot each other savagely cold looks, but no. Instead, the two awakened at the same time, and went on their day normally, trying to make the atmosphere normal again, but only succeeding in worsening it. At lunch, Elaine had made a decision.
"What's for lunch?" Ellie, the last on in the kitchen, asked. The table, which was usually set and ready to go, was barren. The plates where empty and the silverware was set accordingly.
"Yeah, usually you've already got everything set up." Natalia observed.
"I've decided something. We're not getting anywhere with this awkward atmosphere, and if we don't address it, it'll only get worse." Elaine replied. "No on gets lunch until we've talked this through, okay?"
Kaida smiled a little. The young prodigy had to admit, it was a good scheme, and likely to work. Though she doubted the chef could follow through.
Silence filled the table.
"Fine then." Elaine said, "I'll start. If no one follows suit I'll feed lunch to the fish outside, got it? I'm sorry for tying you up. We didn't want chaos on the ship and…"
"It was my idea, actually." Kaida replied. "We thought without you there to rip each other's throats out, things would go smoothly."
"Forgiven." Natalia stated. "It's perfectly understandable- unlike someone's actions." She shot a glare at Zen, who in turn bowed his head in shame.
"I'm sorry." Zen said. "My actions are unforgivable, and if I had the choice, I would take them back in an instant."
"You're damned straight it's unforgiv-" Natalia started, only to be interrupted.
"Forgiven." Kaida said, giving her onii-chan a reassuring smile.
Natalia let her head drop onto the table.
"I'm sorry. I acted really arrogant yesterday, didn't I?" Ellie said, sheepishly. "Even before I had an excuse."
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been jealous of you, Ellie-chan." Leila said.
The two smiled and at the exact same time said, "Forgiven!"
"I… um… M-Mika…" Jonathan started, his face turning extremely red. "I… I… did some really… really wrong things… yesterday… and Elaine… I said some pretty…"
Elaine shook here head, smiling. "Of course you're forgiven, Jonathan!"
Mika only blinked. "I don't understand."
Jonathan sighed, "You wouldn't, Mika. But still, it was unacceptable and I'm sorry."
"Mika, I'm sorry too." Natalia said. "I was a little out of it yesterday. I should've run to your aid when Elaine said you where hurt, and I'm sorry to Elaine too for making you drag me."
"Forgiven." Elaine said, smiling.
"I don't get it." Mika said again. This time she remained ignored.
"I'm sorry, about the whole treasury thing." Silhouette said. She pulled something out of her pocket and slid it across the table to Kaida. "Had I been in my right mind, I never would've let you give that to me."
"My barrette!" Kaida announced, clipping it back in it's normal place under her hat. "Thank you for returning it and your forgiven!"
Zen's eyes widened. "You gave her mom's barrette?"
Kaida shrugged a bit ashamed. "I couldn't break a promise."
Zen nodded, and left it at that.
"Now, Mika, I'd ask you to apologize, but your stomach ache last night made you pay enough, so I guess we can eat no-"
"No." Natalia replied. "I'm sorry. To all of you. Yesterday should've been a day where a proper captain would be able to seize control of the situation and made it better. I failed you, as a captain." Natalia bowed her head, shamefully.
"Forgiven!" The whole crew- including Mika this time- replied.
"Now we can e-"
"Wait!" Natalia insisted. "I have one more apology to make. Zen, we were all out of it yesterday. I'm sure if Elaine and Kaida weren't here we all would've ended up fighting to the death. It's not your fault you had wrath, and it was wrong of me to accuse you of trying to kill you nakama… your sister. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Forgiven." Zen replied, grinning.
"Okay then, let's eat!" Natalia cheered.
The others followed suit, the happy chatter that had been absent from the Pride the last few days returning.
As Elaine placed the last dish and took her respective seat, the crewmembers began eating.
"By the way," Ellie asked. "what ever happened to that box?"
Elaine shrugged. "Disappeared after sundown."
"Off to go terrorize other pirate crews, I'm sure." Leila added.
With the crew happily chattering above the deck, a little white box sunk down into the dark depths of the mysterious ocean known as the Sinful Blue Sea, waiting for more sinful souls to come. More souls that could be corrupted by greed, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, lust and wrath.
~~~~o~~~O~~~o~~~~
Fin
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Thank you for reading! Did you like it? You have no idea how long it's been since I've actually finished a story! And it's all because I was driven by a challenge. Apparently, I can't refuse a writing challenge about an anime I love XD
This story and these characters are going to be in a larger scale story, so, please wait for me to post that. I'll definitely, definitely, definitely try to finish it. Heh… heh he heh… yeah…
If you have any questions about the characters, please review and ask. I'll try to answer any, but I feel I must add that if telling you something about the character ruins a surprise/plot twist/character background of the real story... I won't tell you. *meniacle laugh.* Oh, and even if you understand everything perfectly and have no criticisms… Review please!
Anyways- bye!