A/N: Hello everyone, this will be a third ongoing story cause my mind cannot be contained. (I know I have a problem). Anyways, this story will be a slight AU due to the fact I included a real life place in it. But mainly it will be within the context of the One Piece world. Note that there will an original character in it, but don't be alarmed, I'll try not to have them take away the glory of the rest. I hope you enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, just the idea. And no pairings. Rated M for mature themes discussed later in the story.
The Mysterious Book
A calm breeze roars over Thousand Sunny as the Strawhat Crew prepare for some down time. Everyone was doing their own thing. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were having fun running around the grassy deck of the ship. Nami and Robin were happily enjoying coffee and the sunshine while their slave cook, Sanji twirl around them, and attending to their every need. Franky is somewhere in the lower deck of the ship, making whatever adjustments to the various weapons he has. Brook is trying to give some tunes of encouragement to Zoro, as he trains. Just an average day on the ship.
But as the Straw Hats settle into whatever they are doing, a large vessel approaches them. The monster trio prepare themselves for a strong battle that never comes. Instead, something flies out from the ship and lands on the grass. Nami picks it up and flips through it.
"What is it? What is it!?" Luffy asks, looking all over. Nami moves to avoid Luffy looking in too deeply into the book. She's currently unsure of the purpose of the book, but she's hoping it's nothing strange. She hands it off to Robin.
"Do you know what it says?" Nami ask. Robin looks at the cover and furrows her brows.
"I'm not sure," she answers. "I don't know what the language is." Everyone gathers around the archeologist and stare at the book. It has a deep red cover with strange words written on the type. No one is able to read the words though.
"Wonder what it says."
"Who the hell cares?"
"I smell an adventure! Shishishi!"
"No it doesn't! Luffy! Don't make us do this!" The three cowards were already in tears, hoping Luffy doesn't get any weird ideas. Regardless, they weren't able to open the book anyways. It's tightly bounded with dark rope and Buddhist seals all over it. Luffy frowns and grabs the book.
"Zoro! Cut them off!" he demands. Zoro sets the book on the table and takes out his sword. He uses the weakest move he had to break the chains binding the book. When he did, a darken aura expels itself and shoots up into the air before being sucked back into the novel. The crew stares at the book, dumbfounded (except Luffy who thought that thing was cool).
"Yaaaah!" Nami screams. "THE BOOK IS HAUNTED!"
"NOOOO!" Brook shouts. Usopp hits him in the head.
"You're a talking skeleton!"
"Oh right. Yohohoho!" Luffy opens the novel and even more illegible writing appears. The crew struggle to understand what the book is saying.
"What language is this?" All of them wonder. The language the book seems to be in, primarily uses strokes. And each character has these complex strokes that made the character look impossible to understand. They frown at it.
"Robin, are you sure you can't translate this?" Nami asks.
"I could try, it might take me a while," Robin answers.
"You can do it Robin-Chwan!" Sanji cheers, his eye already turning into a heart. Zoro scowls at him and mutters something under his breath. Prompting them to fight. Nami sucker punch them in the head and give the book to Robin.
"Okay Robin! We're counting on you!" she grins. Robin smiles and disappear away.
~()()()~
Nearly three weeks later, the crew docks on a nearby island to stock up on material. While everyone goes out into the town to gather whatever they need, Robin and Chopper are heading to a local museum in hopes to uncover the language of the red book.
So far, Robin was able to uncover the title but she's unsure if the translation is even correct. When they walk in, Chopper immediately becomes amazed by the artifacts of the museum. Robin is amazed by them too, but there's no time to sight see. She needs to know what the book says.
"May I talk to the head of the museum?" she asks someone. They look warily at her but do not disobey her. The attendant hurries to get the head as Robin looks at the young reindeer. Chopper stares at a large clay statue representing a solider.
"Hey, Hey Robin! What are these statutes called?" Chopper asks.
"Hm…" Robin says. "I'm not sure."
"That is a replica of a Terracotta solider in the Shaanxi province in China," an elderly man says, walking up to the two Straw Hats. "We're not able to get the real ones, but the replica will do." Robin smiles at the elderly man, and looks at the looming statue. History has never been short of being amazing. "Someone asked for me."
Robin turns her attention back to the man. "I'm assuming you're the head of this museum," The elderly man nods. Robin holds the red book out to him. "I need you to translate this, I think I got the cover down, but I can't be too sure."
The man takes the novel into his hands and scans the title. He doesn't say anything and waits for Robin to give him her theory.
"I think it has something to do with Darkness, but I'm not too sure," she explains.
"You're half right. The title says Hēi'àn tiānshǐ (黑暗天使) which means 'Dark Angel'," the man says. "This book is an ancient artifact telling a story about two twins, one was born with a dark power while the other was born with a 'light' power. If you like, I can write down the translation for you." Robin nods and gives her thanks to the old man. He just smiles and grabs a sheet of paper.
"So ossan," Chopper says.
"Is that a talking raccoon?" the man asks.
"NO! I'm a reindeer! Can't you see they horns!?" The old man laughs. "Anyways, what language is that book in? None of us can read it."
"Ah, this is Traditional Chinese writing." They tilt their heads in confusion, but as the old man continues to explain, the language becomes clearer. Robin nods and begins to understand what the man is telling her. Chopper, on the other hand, remains confused. Robin just pats him on the head and smiles.
Once they finish, the two members head back to the ship. On the way, they bump into Sanji.
"Oi! Robin-Chwan! Did you figure out the book?" he asks. Robin nods and smiles at him, causing the chef to swoon and turn into a weird noodle person. Chopper stares at him and wonders if there is any medicine for hopeless idiots like Sanji. All three of them head back to Thousand Sunny.
~()()()~
Later in the evening, the crew gathers in the dining hall to hear two devastating news. First, according to Nami, there's been a series of murders happening within the nearby areas. And majority of the people killed were either pirates from various pirate crews, or captains. The Straw Hats might be the next target due to the crew's large bounty total. Second, is that a rumored 'Dark Angel' is back and in the nearby islands. But Nami wasn't able to get anymore detail about this so called "Dark Angel".
"But enough of that, Robin did you get the translation?" Nami asks.
"Yes, I did." Robin takes the book out and begins to tell the story of the 'Dark Angel'. "According to the head of the museum, the story starts every 100 years. There needs to be two twins born, either male or female but that doesn't matter. Anyways, the story states that there will be one twin – often the older one – born with a cursed power called 'dark power'. That gives that twin the power to destroy anything in the world. They hold all forms of destruction in their hands."
"Wahhhh! Scary!" Usopp and Chopper both scream out, only to receive a hit form Nami.
"Shut it! Robin continue."
"Thank you. Anyways, to balance out that power, the other twin is granted with the power of peace. That twin holds all forms of peace and harmony in their hands, making them truly a pair of Yin-Yang powers."
"Wow! That's amazing!" Luffy cries out, again only to receive a kick from Sanji.
"Shut it Gomu! Robin-Chwan! Continue!"
"This story tells the tale of a pair of twins, one boy and one girl. For many years they lived peacefully together in a small village in the rural parts of China where they hold secrets to the land. Whenever the twins are displeased, the girl would throw earthquakes and droughts upon the villagers. But whenever the twins are pleased, the boy would throw prosperity and gold for them.
"This continued on for years, until a tragic accident happened. The Yang (The boy) was killed in a freak accident. Though the novel does not say what type of accident it was, the accident was tragic enough to kill the light in the group. This caused the girl to spin her range out of control, throwing herself only into grief. Thus creating the illusion of a dark angel," Robin says, holding up the picture that was lying in it.
The picture depicts a young girl with pitch black hair, glaring down upon what seems to be millions of villagers. Dark wings sprouts from her back and it covers the village and surrounding area in pure darkness. It seems like no one can escape this type of power.
"So, then what happened next?" Chopper asks.
"The village and three other villages were destroyed in an earthquake and the girl disappeared forever," Robin explains. "But the curse appears once every 100 years and the only way for the Dark Angel to appear is if and only if the twin with the light power dies in a tragic accident."
The crew instantly falls into a state of fear, well only Nami, Usopp, Brook and Chopper does. The rest found the story interesting.
"But this story will never happen in real life," Zoro says. "We shouldn't believe in that."
"Yeah, you're right. No way a Chinese fairy tale will ever come true," Usopp laugh. The crew laugh and smile at the cowards' silliness. Unknownst to them, a black raven looks into the ship's window. As it flies away, it leaves behind one black feather on the deck.