AN: Hey all, yeah I know I have too many things going on now but this has been a much more longer planned project and I feel like with the moving and school starting up that it might be a while before anything new is uploaded so I'm putting this early chapter up as a bonus. FAIR WARNING this story will contain significantly darker material that may be unsettling or graphic and I will put warnings up for those chapters but please note that this story will get darker later on. Thank you for reading it though and I hope you like it!

The train lurched forward suddenly and the passengers all used to the sudden stops and starts by now merely adjusted to it, shifting their bags slightly to the sway as the doors opened and more riders got on. Luffy yawned, rubbed at a corner of his eye and turned to stare out the window, bored and looking for something different, beside him Chopper, his younger brother was digging through their bag. The train began to slowly move again and with a groan, he turned away from the dirty window to look at Chopper.

"We got anymore jerky left in there?"

"You ate it all on the last train, don't you remember?" He groaned and leaned dramatically back in his seat.

"No food…growing so weak." Chopper giggled, brown curls bouncing at each giggle.

"It's impossible, you just ate!" He grinned, reaching out and tousling the boy's hair.

"You'd know huh? See you're already a great doctor!" Chopper gave him a light punch on the arm and he grabbed at his arm. "Ah you broke it!" This time he got a punch in the right shoulder and he grabbed at that one. "Ah I've been shot, you're tiny hands are pulverizing me."

"I thought I broke your other arm how are you grabbing at your shoulder then?" Caught he dropped the act and instead chose to attack his brother's stomach, tickling until the poor boy was doubled over in the seat gasping. Victorious, he sat back up properly in his seat now, aware that their stop was fast coming up. Outside the brick houses had turned to bleached stone ones and the smell of the sea was so strong it was leaking through the cracks of the window.

Chopper bounced over his lap to get a closer look and despite the importance of the trip he did want them to find some time to go fishing here. The train came to their stop and he snatched up their bags and popped his brother on his shoulders and headed out the doors.

Hot air blasted them as they made their way through the crowds, with Chopper pointing out interesting sights to him as they made their way further out towards the sea.

"Hey keep a look out for a guy with a sign!" He shouted over the noise of the crowded beach, he didn't need to remind him but he was just glad that Chopper was already having fun. They often didn't get to go anywhere much and he was glad at least that his brother could see this. Up ahead was more beach front and what appeared to be a line of hotels further down but he didn't think they'd need to go out that much.

A man selling ice cream waved to them and he veered off to the side a bit, trying to avoid tourists and large crowds of friends. It was hot but they were used to this weather and he thought again about taking them both out to fish, even for just a day.

"I think I see one, past the hotdog guy!" He squinted, spotting a hot dog vendor and a small boat a bit further ahead.

"Good job, you ready to fly?" When Chopper gave a cheer, he took off, bolting over the hot sand and around sunbathers and laughing as Chopper would keep score of points he'd make, how he nearly hit that one guy but dodged and jumped over a whole basket and blanket set out. He slowed down as they approached the boat; a large man with weathered skin was sitting out beside it in a small lawn chair, fanning and grinning as they approached.

"I can tell you boys are fishermen too, you looking for some tips?" The man said grinning. Luffy pointed at the sign beside the old man. In terrible hand writing it said "Free rides to the reading of Roger's will, must present invitations." He let Chopper down to look around, and the man grunted offering a hand to shake but not moving from the chair. He shook it, briefly reminded of his own grandpa's coarse hands.

"I'm Luffy, we're here for the reading." The man didn't make a move to get up but merely sighed.

"Yeah guess that'd make you boys about the 20th person to take over there. I'll need to see your invites though." He reached into his bag, digging them both out and let the man read over them. Chopper was now inspecting the boat but was looking eager to ride on it already. The old man handed back the invites after putting a little stamp on them in the corner and gestured towards the boat.

"You can get on if you like, but I'd like to wait for more people to show up, it's a waste of gas you see and I ain't getting paid all that much. You can go check out the boardwalk too but I'd not go too far."

"No we can wait around here, it's cool we are a little early." More like two hours early he thought but they had to be, he was terrible at getting up at the right time. Chopper had wandered back looking expectantly up at him.

"Can I go explore?"

"Just around the ship, we don't know when we'll take off." Satisfied Chopper took off, kicking up sand and headed towards the waterline. The man shifted a bit before looking back at him, grin still firmly in place.

"So I was right, you do fish."

"When we make time for it."

"There's some good spots round here, some common ones, I'd avoid the piers and the cove."

"Cove?"

"Yeah there's a cove nearby. I'll show you when we pass by it but there ain't much there unless you're that good." He laughed at that, quiet unpopular spots were his favorite places to fish, but he was glad to know about it, he'd tell Chopper once they set out.

"Thanks old timer."

"Call me Jeremy, and uh you guys seem like nice people so don't take this the wrong way but uh you might want to make sure all your valuable stuff is hidden." Confused, he scratched his head at that.

"What do you mean?" Jeremy leaned forward a bit more, talking quieter.

"I took some group off earlier; there was some real shady looking types. Now you boys look like some nice people so I don't know. All these shady people going to a reading who knows what all they might do for cash." He frowned a little; they didn't really have much on either of them, just a bit of cash and some clothes and fishing supplies.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Jeremy gave him a nod and sat back, stretching out in the sun again. He went to sit down near the waterline, keeping Chopper in his sights when he remembered the ring on his finger. It was an old gold ring his grandfather had given him when he'd turned sixteen, the only thing worth any sort of money he had aside from his fishing poles. He twisted it around on his finger, looking at the engravings of boats and fish on it before sliding it off. A small band of lighter tanned skin was underneath and it stood out in stark contrast with the rest of him.

He slipped the ring into a small zippered pocket of his shorts, reminding himself to hide it better later when the reading was over. The sand was hot, but he didn't care, merely stretched out and laid on it, listening to Chopper splashing around nearby. Time passed, a few beach goers would pack up and another group would take their spot, Chopper would end up bringing him small things he'd find, shells harmless jelly fish and small crabs before racing back towards the ocean.

He was just drifting off, when he heard a loud shout and immediately sat up, looking for Chopper who was sitting nearby, building a small castle. The shout had come from a rather portly man standing in front of Jeremy.

"We need to shove off, take off however the hell it is you refer to it and go, it starts in thirty minutes!" The man continued, jabbing a finger at Jeremy. Luffy sighed, checked the time on his phone and sighed again, so he would end up being late somehow anyway. He could hear Jeremy trying to please the man and he got up, walking towards the boat, knowing Chopper was following just behind him.

"Hey old man it's fine we're ready to go, I can pay for the gas if it helps." The shouting man merely looked at him in disgust but Jeremy waved the offer off and gestured for the ship.

"Nah I won't make you do that, three people is fine enough and he's right you guys need to go." He wanted to argue it but the angry man shoved past him, getting on the boat first, he rolled his eyes and let Chopper on ahead of him before carrying their stuff up and sitting down in one of the front seats.

"You two don't have to sit up front, you can sit back here in the shade if you like."

"We're fine here, it's nicer up front." He said, not really wanting to sit near the rude guy in the back, shade or no shade. Chopper was already looking excited and he had to tug the boy down to sit more firmly in the seat.

Chopper could swim some, but he didn't trust the boy leaning so closely over the edge, he hadn't taught him how to swim in the deeper water just yet. The old fisherman tossed them lifejackets and he double checked to make sure Chopper's was fitted properly before putting his on.

"Alright here we go." The boat began to pull out, the old man giving it another push until the whole boat was far from the bank and hopping back on, splashing water everywhere. Luffy turned in his seat to watch the older fisherman start the boat, he caught the rude guy looking angry and flustered and spotted something shiny and gold around the man's fat neck. He didn't get a good look as Chopper was tugging on his arm to get him to look ahead as the boat began to take off.

"I'm watching." He said reassuring his brother, but looking out to the sides as the beach disappeared and the waves picked up. It was loud and fast, the boat speeding up Chopper's cheers drowned out by the engine and wind and he even had a hard time trying to hear what the fisherman was trying to say so instead he'd look to where the man would point, at passing woody islands or distant piers.

The wind whipped around them, blowing his hair all over the place and he held on tightly to his hat and Chopper's as the boy nearly lost it several times now.

"Do you see it?" The fisherman shouted as loud as he could and Luffy strained to hear what else he was saying but he saw it, a small island in the distance, and what he thought was another hotel was a mansion as they got closer. Roger's mansion. The fisherman was pointing somewhere else now and he could see a small circle in the distance nearby the house, with a bit of rock poking out. It must have been the cove they were talking about but he didn't hear anything else as the boat made a sharp turn around one of the edges and he could see from the steep drop of the cliff that the mansion was even bigger than his grandpa had described.

The boat began to slow, bumping along now to smaller waves and pulling in closer to a dock near the front. The rude man from before was complaining about the water and wind but no one was paying attention as they all stared at the looming house and the large steel gates in front of it.

"Wow, it's…scarier than grandpa said." He reached out and patted the boy's head.

"It's alright just old, look it's got a face kinda, like those two big windows and the bit of wood there make it look silly." Chopper smiled but seemed scared still and he pulled his brother closer, into a hug. "Don't worry I'm here I'll kick anyone's butt, even a house if it's nasty." This time Chopper laughed.

The boat was stopped now, rocking gently in place as Jeremy tied it to the dock. They got off, bidding the old fisherman goodbye save the rude man who stomped off angrily. They followed after, following arrows until they found themselves off to the side of the mansion where a large number of chairs had been left out and were mostly filled. A group of people stood on a tiny platform in front of the chairs and the man in front of the podium greeted them as they looked for seats.

"Ah a few more people, we're just missing two others now, and please have a seat." Luffy noticed there weren't really any good seats left, three were far off in the back near a group of annoyed looking people and one lone seat in between a dark haired woman and a large muscular guy with bright blue hair.

They took the latter seat, moving Chopper to sit in his lap rather than on his shoulders in case it might block someone's view and there were a lot of intimidating people here who looked like they didn't want to be ticked off. The house looked friendlier than this bunch he thought, noticing that the woman beside him gave him a small if fake smile and the man with blue hair making 'tch' noises now and then.

They sat awkwardly, listening to quiet mutterings and hushed whispers. The man with the blue hair had turned and started talking with a guy who was smoking a cigar and the woman pulled out a book now, not paying any attention. Chopper had made some nervous sound before looking at him worriedly. He was about to make a joke when the microphone crackled as the man up front greeted another late comer.

Everyone had turned to look and he watched as a woman with bright pink hair made her way to the back followed by a tall man with a pointed mustache and who was carrying something large on their back, it took a minute but he noticed it was oddly shaped, almost like a large sword.

"Well that looks like everyone! All fifty of you have arrived and I'm so glad to meet all of the friends of the great Gol-"

"Get on with it!" Shouted a red-haired man from the back and the interrupted man looked annoyed but continued.

"Yes well, as you have all been informed you have all been left something from Mr. Roger which we shall pass out now." The others that had been sitting quietly behind the man stood now, carrying large bundles of envelopes and going around, passing them out to each person. A lady handed him one and he noticed that it had his name on it.

Once everything was distributed the group returned to their seats and the man continued.

"Please open them now."

Chopper gave him a look but he shrugged and tugged his open. There were two papers inside, one was white and on it were bullet pointed rules and the other was red, and it was smaller, the size of a business card and on it were only two lines in gold print.

Follow the silence to a quiet place, where your path shall begin.

Beware the hunter hiding in the tiger's den.

He re-read the lines, confused and he could hear people arguing and grumbled around him. The blue haired man had bolted upright, the chair falling back and hitting some orange haired lady behind them.

"Hey watch it you jerk!" She shouted but was ignored as the blue haired man waved a blue card in the air.

"What the hell is this? I didn't come all the way out here on a work day for some riddle bullshit." At that the yelling increased, the man on the platform was trying to talk over them but it was useless, He let Chopper look at his card but was still lost.

Finally a woman stepped up to the platform and took the microphone, making it crackle louder than before and silencing the arguing group.

"Sit down and shut up, this is important and if we can't get to this part, no one is getting shit." She snapped. Silence felt, the blue haired man sat back down slowly. The woman passed the microphone back to the man who quietly thanked her.

"Yes well, as you have opened them inside are two papers. One with the rules and a small card with your starting clue." A murmur started up again but the man ignored it.

"Please hold all questions to the end, I promise this won't be so confusing. Now this is simple, Mr. Rogers felt that an ordinary will was not good enough, as you all know he was very popular and since he had no living family there would be a large amount of people clamoring for what all he had." He paused then as this got everyone's attention. The lady from before had started to roll out a small white board that Luffy noticed had the same rules on it as the paper.

"So he decided that a game, a competition to prove who would truly inherit it all was the best choice, despite how silly we thought it he made sure this was going to be a serious game." The man pointed towards the board now starting with the top one.

1. Each person is started off with one starter clue; each clue leads that person down their individual path that may or may not cross with others.

"Your paths are all based on you, the person, you may have help but it will ultimately be up to you. Each clue shall lead you to the next one. You must find all ten of your clues and verify each one before you're allowed onto the next stage." He moved his pointer down to the second rule.

2. Each person must spend a night in the mansion, they may pass on it only once after that it is required and refusal to do so is instant disqualification.

"You will all eventually stay in the mansion once your turn comes up. You may choose not to the first time we call you but afterwards you must or you'll be out."

3. All clues are hidden about the three main cities and around Raftel and the Roger Estate.

"Clues are nowhere else, everything was hidden beforehand carefully by Roger and his friends."

4. Each person has five months to find all their clues, those that do not verify all before time is up will be disqualified.

"You have to find ten clues in total, once you have the first stage is over and we'll move directly into the second part, the part where we decide who shall inherit anything." And finally he moved his pointer to the last rule.

5. Any major crimes, arrest and charges equals instant disqualification.

"Despite this type of game, we do not wish to encourage any criminal behavior so any sort of arrests and charges will disqualify you." The man turned now staring at the crowd. "Any questions now?" The woman beside him raised a hand and he pointed at her.

"Will we be disqualified for being investigated or for talking with the police?" Another murmur went through the crowd but the man shook his head.

"No, only arrests and charges count." Another hand rose from the back and the man pointed at it, this time the red-haired man from before stood up.

"So we have to find what, ten of these and we win?"

"You move onto the part where you do get something yes. But you must verify each clue and we'll have you do that by phone." He gestured towards the table behind him where the group had put out clipboards and pens. "We'll need the phone numbers of each person, we'll call and keep you all updated on the status of all participants and you must verify your clues this way." When no one raised a hand the man continued. "You are all dismissed then, make sure to have numbers written down and as soon as you leave the estate you may begin searching for your clues."

He held onto Chopper nervously, the chatter around him had grown loud but more importantly he was worried because his grandpa had said nothing about this and he felt their one chance at turning things around had just gotten suddenly harder to do.

"I don't get it Luffy, I've read it lots of times now but I don't get it." Chopper said over dinner, pushing the little red car over to him. He shook his head, tapping his plate with his fork and staring at the card in front of him.

"That guy said only I'd know what it means, but I'm not sure myself. Hey eat your vegetables." He tapped at Chopper's neglected carrots but the boy wasn't paying attention, focused only on the book opened on the table.

"I read through all my books but I got nothing. How are we going to win this game?"

"I don't know but we're only going to stay here for another day, we'll check out later and go home."

"But didn't that man say the clues were all here? There can't be any back home, so we'll have to find it before we go."

"Well I was going to surprise you with some extra fishing so we can look tomorrow." Chopper looked up, surprised.

"Really? We'll look?"

"Yeah we'll give it a try and besides we can look at the same time as we fish." Chopper grinned, finishing dinner and hopping down to go wash up for bed. He stood then, cleaning up their plates and noticed just how dark it had gotten out from the motel window. He took a look out, towards the sea but couldn't see the Roger Estate and he closed the curtains with a sigh. His phone rang, vibrating in his pocket and he slipped it out to check, unknown number.

"Hello?"

"This is from the overseer of Roger's will." Came a clear firm voice, he was unsure if a man or a woman was talking to him, they sounded robotic. "There are currently fifty participants so far, no one has found their second clue." They hung up before he could say anything and he frowned, hanging up just as Chopper exited the bathroom.

"Was that grandpa?"

"No, one of those game people. Alright go get comfy, what chapter were we on?" He said digging through their bag for the story book that he'd been reading to Chopper. The boy was twelve now but would insist on a story before bed and he would always indulge him, though he was starting to run out of story books now. Whenever his friend Usopp would visit, it was much easier to let Usopp tell a story, the man was always filled with them and it gave him a break now and then.

"Chapter five, the one where the adventurer found the cave of treasure!" Pushing his brother over a little, he sat down on the motel bed and flipped open the book to chapter five, waiting for Chopper to be properly ready before reading out loud.

"The boy had found the cave his father had talked about and he readied his sword and slowly he crept inside, knowing that the chimera was guarding the way…"

Doot Doot Doot, Ding!

Something flashing red near his eyelids made him stir.

Doot Doot Doot Ding!

With a groan he swung his arm out, searching blindly in the dark for his phone, grabbing it when the flash of red light went off again.

Doot Doot-Click!

"Hello?" He slurred, aware that he'd been drooling in his sleep again.

"Good morning, there are fifty participants in the game still and three people have already found their second clue." He blinked at that rubbing at his eyes.

"Who-what?"

"Three people have found their second clue. Good luck." The dial tone rang in his ear and he groaned, hanging up and looking at the time, it was four in the morning and he was never awake at this time. He rolled back over, burying his face into his pillow and trying to sleep again.

Chopper stirred beside him and he sighed, he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep so easily. He got up, taking his phone with him to the bathroom. The bright light of the bathroom gave off a dingy yellow glow that made his eyes sting but he closed the door and hopped up on the counter, dialing the only person who he knew would be awake at this terrible hour. The phone was answered on the second click.

"What the hell you calling me for at this time boy? As far as I know you aren't alive at this time." He rubbed tiredly at his eyes and sighed into the phone.

"Grandpa I couldn't sleep, that's all I wanted to check in on you."

"I'm fine." There was a pause and he heard the old man cough for a moment before continuing. "How'd it go? Roger leave you anything good?"

"A game is all he left. And some vague riddles for everyone." He heard his grandpa sigh.

"Of course nothing was ever simple or easy with that man. I expected him to have something up his sleeve, Chopper enjoying the trip?"

"Yeah, we're going fishing tomorrow. We came out this way might as well." His grandpa laughed, pausing only to cough for a moment but laughing still.

"Didn't even get anything and you're still happy."

"Like I said a break to fish is nice before we go home, it won't be a total failure." He paused now, hearing the sound of the motel TV being turned on. Chopper was awake and he'd have to get them breakfast soon enough.

"Well game or no game, I know you won't be staying long so don't spend all your money before you can get home!" He murmured an agreement and said goodbye before hanging up and staring in the mirror beside him.

He looked tired but he smiled to himself, missed opportunity or not he'd give a shot at this riddle game, and with that he slid off the counter to go shower.