I know I ought to be working on Be My Songbird and ReunionS, but I really had to get this out. It's been floating around for almost as long as BMS, but I never got around to actually writing it until after my finals. (To be honest, I only started writing this to pass time in school where phones are strictly prohibited...)

Anyways, contrary to my other stories, this one is set in a Fantasy Au, where magic exists but devil fruits don't. Everything concerning this story was created entirely on my own, but if some parts are similar to other stories, it's by pure coincidence. I wouldn't take someone's idea without asking. And if I did by accident...well, you can just let me know.

Beta'd by AlternateMirai, who has written some pretty nice stories. Personally, I like 'Hold Me Close' the most.

Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine. This story, yes. Characters, no.

Note: Morsky is slovakian for 'sea'.

Anyways, I'd love if you could drop a review and let me know what you think of it. Read this and continue on. Hope you enjoy it!

For several months now, the kingdom of Morsky had been blighted by an unknown plague that was unidentifiable. Afraid for their lives, many escaped to their only neighboring kingdom, the Whitebeard Empire. However, even there, the people were not safe from the contagion. As time went by, it rapidly spread through the country and took the lives of many. The situation worsened the closer it got to the Morskian capital, Marineford.

Sengoku slumped in his throne, looking more defeated than ever. Him and his advisor, Sakazuki...they were the only ones left in this accursed place. His subjects, his friends and family… everyone -even those he hadn't known- were gone… Everyone, except one of his most trusted people. Beside him, Sakazuki's breathing quickened, growing shallower with every breath. The king knew it wouldn't be much longer until he was the only one left. Time ticked by slowly, and soon all that he could hear was the stagnant silence of his palace and his own breathing. Sakazuki had passed a while ago, body limp against the throne.

Aghast, Sengoku buried his head in his hands, feeling an unfamiliar wetness seep through his fingers. Whatever had he done to deserve this...this utter devastation? The loss of his people, the ruin of his kingdom...what had caused them? The king slowly lost strength, his body growing heavier, his breath shallower. He knew his time was near. His eyelids felt like lead, falling close involuntarily despite his best efforts to keep them open. His consciousness was clouded by fear and despair.

In the haziness of his mind, Sengoku thought he saw a pair of silver eyes tinted with red, and shuddered uncontrollably. In that instant, intense fear welled up inside him, a fear not unlike those of a prey being hunted by predators. Then, everything went blank, and the king, head still cradled in his hands, fell off his throne to join his people, sprawled across the cold marble in the vast throne room.

Two months, that's how much time had passed since the sovereignty of Morsky fell to ruin, completely annihilated without a single survivor. One and a half month since Edward Newgate, king of the Whitebeard Empire fell ill. Twelve days since their king fell into a coma.

Inside the palace council room, the royal family of the empire and a few close associates watched on in a strained silence as the crown prince paced restlessly at the front of the room.

"Father has been in a coma for twelve days, and only now you let me know?! If I hadn't run into Kureha's apprentice, were you guys ever planning on telling me?!" he yelled. Those present exchanged an uneasy glance. When Whitebeard had first fallen ill, no one had given it much thought, thinking it was just a regular sickness. The king was getting in on the ages after all— it was normal if he fell sick once or twice. But instead of recovering, his condition slowly deteriorated despite all the medications. Gradually, nothing the doctors did worked anymore and the Whitebeard patriarch fell into a coma. The entirety of the royal family had been updated on their patriarch's condition except for Marco, but to be fair, it couldn't be helped. Ever since Whitebeard fell ill, Marco had taken over the full responsibilities of running the kingdom, and had since been so busy his brothers and sister rarely saw him outside of meetings anymore. He had even started eating in his office, just so he could get his work done quicker. On more than one occasion they had found him fast asleep in his office, slumped on the desk in a position that was sure to cause discomfort in his neck and shoulders when they went to look for him in the morning. Not wanting to stress their sibling more than he could handle, they decided unanimously to withhold information concerning the king from him and act on their own, even though they knew he would be angry with them for it. They had all seen the dark circles underneath his eyes, and they could tell how tired their brother was. Taking advice from one of their associates, the royal family sent out a request for Kureha, a famous witch doctor known for her genius in the medical field who lived on the Empire's eastern border at the foot of the Red Mountains. That had been several days after Whitebeard fell into a coma.

Receiving the summon two days later, Kureha had immediately set out towards the capital, boarding the carriage the castle had sent along with the messenger.

Kureha arrived within two days together with her apprentice Chopper and was immediately brought to the king. Marco had been in a meeting with the officials, and so was unaware of her presence at the castle. It was only until this morning when Chopper had accidentally run into Marco in the corridor that Whitebeard's condition was revealed to Marco. As expected, the crown prince was pissed beyond reason, and was even more so when Kureha casually dropped news akin to a bomb - she too had nothing she could do for their father.

"Your highness…" a smooth voice spoke, breaking the prince's rant. Marco paused to look at her, impatience clear in his azure eyes.

"What is it?" he snapped, glaring at a dark haired woman who was sitting a few seats away. The woman pursed her lips as if hesitating, before speaking again.

"Please calm down. Getting worked up now will not help his Majesty's condition."

It would've been better if Marco had gotten angry. But he didn't, instead he slumped back down in his seat in an image of utter defeat. The silence returned, heavier than before. It was clear when Marco didn't say anymore that he was despairing over the inevitable loss of their father. His face was buried in his hands. Hidden away from everyone else, but they could tell all the same. However, because of this, he missed the small exchange between the youngest prince, Haruta and the woman who spoke, Robin. Robin was the royal historian who had very close ties with the family, and was thus included in this meeting.

"Doctor Kureha might not have been able to cure the king," Robin spoke after she was sure that Marco had calmed down enough to listen, "However, a while before we met, her apprentice, Chopper, sought me out to convey a message to us: 'In this capital, there is someone who may be the answer to our problem."

The reaction was immediate. Sitting up straight, Marco asked the historian desperately, his eyes fixed sharply on her, "Who?"

In answer to the crown prince's question, the youngest prince, Haruta, stood up and slid a piece of paper towards his brother. On the paper, there was a symbol that most of the people present were familiar with. A silhouette of a dragon engulfed in flames - the symbol of the Dragon's Fury, a small, independant group of elite mercenaries well-known within the empire.

Thatch, the fourth prince and pseudo head chef of the castle snorted skeptically. "How would a mercenary group be of any help?" At this, everyone else sent varying but similar looks of disbelief towards the youngest prince. Apparently, they too had the same thoughts as Thatch did. How exactly would some mercenaries be the answer to their problems?

Haruta rolled his eyes at the ignorance of his older brother and explained in an exasperated tone. "To be exact, the one we're looking for is Sabo, the leader. I'm sure we're all aware of this, but the Dragon's Fury is arguably one of the strongest group amongst mercenaries everywhere. And generally speaking, mercenaries that strong are also the ones who have the most resources and connections. Although not much is known about them except that they are freelancers and this Sabo is a young, blonde man who is very picky about jobs- " he looked around the room, as if to make sure everyone was still paying attention, "-their abilities are nothing to laugh at. Their rate of completion is extremely high -practically perfect, and Sabo was also named as the top three mercenary leaders along with Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kidd."

"Who's the other two?" someone asked, receiving another eye roll from the youngest prince.

"Law and Kidd are respectively the leaders of the Heart Doctors and the Crimson Kid, two other independent groups situated on the other side of the Red Mountains."

"So… " Marco started, lacing his fingers together as he always did when he was in thought. "You're saying that this Sabo might be our only option now?" He clarified.

Haruta shook his head, answering, "No, if Kureha is to be believed, he is our only option at the moment."

"But if much is unknown about them, how are we supposed to contact them?" one of the associates, a duchess called Whitey Bay, pointed out. It was an expected question, and fortunately, also one whose answer Robin was already in possession of.

Pulling out a neatly sealed envelope out of someplace, the royal historian held it up for all to see.

"As luck would have it, along with the information, Doctor Kureha also presented to us the means to make contact with the Dragon's Fury. According to Chopper, this here is a letter of introduction to Miss Koala of the Sun Arena. Apparently, she is an acquaintance of theirs and can help us contact them."

"I see… " Marco leaned back into his seat, looking visibly relieved that there was still hope for their father. "I guess for now, we have no choice but to wait and hope these people can provide us a solution." He then turned towards his youngest brother. "Haruta, I'm entrusting this matter to you."

"Understood," Haruta replied with a mock-salute, eliciting snickers and muffled laughter from everyone in the room. Even Marco managed to crack a smile.

The atmosphere in the room lightened for a minute, before the crown prince mercilessly shattered it.

"As for the rest of you, get back to work. The Solstice Festival is in two weeks and there is still plenty work undone. Even if Pops is sick, it's still no excuse to skimp on the festival."

"Yes sir!"

In a vast forest a few miles south of the Empire's capital, four figures moved swiftly amidst the dense vegetation, casually disregarding any obstacles that hindered them. If it wasn't for the scenery that surrounded them, one might have thought that they were on an open plain instead of a forest. At first sight, the thought that came to mind was that they were being chased, but the way they moved spoke more of being the hunters rather than the hunted. Not to mention, upon closer inspection… The present situation was impossibly absurd.

"Meat!"

"Luffy goddamnit! We just had lunch!"

"Shut up, Curly Brow! You're noisy!"

"Just give up, snack time hit a few minutes ago."

"Gahhhh! Where the hell does all those food even go?! And don't actually answer! It's rhetorical!"

It turned out what had actually happened was that one of the figures, a short black-haired teen had caught sight of a wild boar a little ways away just as his stomach started feeling empty. With such 'delicacy' in front of him, the teen promptly answered to his body's desire and gave chase to the boar, who had sensed a dangerous presence and fled. As a result, the other three figures were forced to chase after their comrade, which subsequently resulted in the above conversation.

"Gotcha! Sanji, food!"

"Will we ever make it back by the end of the week…?"

"Tch, who cares? t's not like it's the first time we were late anyway."

"...Even if it means that our pay will be cut and you won't have enough money for booze?"

"That's…"

"Including the Sunwheat Wine that's specially brewed for the Solstice Festival?"

"…Luffy! Finish that, now!"

"But Sanji hasn't cooked it yet!"

"Like that's a problem?! You eat things raw all the time!"

"Please don't. Even if he can eat them raw, it's still gross seeing that sight. Not to mention it's a potential health hazard."

And now, his to-be-meal in hand, the teen, Luffy, immediately brought it over to the small clearing where the others had stopped to set up a campfire the moment they saw the boar go down. Resignedly, Sanji, a blonde whose hair covered half of his face took the boar that the teen handed over and set to work cutting it into smaller slabs so it would be easier to cook and removing the ligaments and tendons. At least, the skinning and gutting had already been taken care off so that was less work for him. That was pretty much the only thing Luffy was good for. Well, that and eating.

The four young men sat around the fire that had been built as Sanji carefully cooked the meat. Next to him, a tan-skinned man with green hair yawned loudly and pulled out the swords strapped to his side along with polish tools from his bag. Another man with curly blonde hair was studying a map and muttering to himself while keeping a grip on Luffy's shirt who was staring at the food and drooling.

Making sure that the meat was cooked enough, Sanji opened his bag and brought out a pouch that had many small jars that contained salt, pepper and various herbs and spices. Selecting a few from the pouch, he sprinkled them over the meat and left it to continue cooking as he washed his hand with water from one of his canteens.

Lighting a cigarette, Sanji looked at the blonde opposite him… "So, how much longer till we're out of this forest?"

The man glanced at Sanji once before returning to his map. "At the rate we're going…two days, I guess. Three at most."

The younger blonde leaned back, his hands supporting his weight. "Three days, huh? About a week before the Solstice Festival then." At mention about the upcoming festival, all four of them broke into matching grins.

The Solstice Festival was a week long annual event held in the Whitebeard Kingdom which ended on the day of the summer solstice. The festival was held in celebration of the founding of the kingdom which was over 50 years ago. With countless activities going on, it was a well known festival across the land and many people from other kingdoms made the journey just to see the festival. It was one of the few things they looked forward to.

Unfortunately, for the last two years, they hadn't been able to attend the festival due to work, which coincidentally clashed with the period the festival was held. Thus, they were all really happy that they would get to participate in the festival this year.

"Craww!" A sharp cry suddenly echoed through the forest and a dark blur zoomed towards the older blonde who seemed impervious to the impending danger.

"Stormie!" A pair of hands shot up and easily grabbed it, revealing the blur to be a black and brown falcon about the size of a small cat. The bird screeched and flapped its wings frantically, trying to get away from its laughing captor.

"Luffy, let Storm go," the blonde man tightened his grip on Luffy's collar and reprimanded lightly, his eyes locking onto the cylinder strapped to its back. "He has a letter."

"Aww…but Sabo…"

"No."

"I haven't even said anything."

"My answer would still be 'no' even if you did."

Luffy pouted and turned towards the green haired man. "Zoroooooo~" he called, purposely dragging out the last syllable. The childish tone got on Zoro's nerves easily, making him cave quickly to Luffy's whims. Although it seemed that this time around, Zoro decided that it was a bit too troublesome to grapple with Sabo for the bird, for various reasons.

"Just give your brother the bird, Luffy," Zoro replied, willfully ignoring Luffy's pleading voice. Sanji was naturally immune -also for various reasons- and simply told him to go eat his meat, noting with a sidelong glance that the meat was done. Once food was mentioned, the falcon was immediately freed and forgotten. It clearly showed how much it weighed against food in Luffy's mind.

"Sorry Storm." Sabo smiled, softly petting the bird. "What've you got for me?" Storm cawed happily and turned around, allowing the blonde to retrieve the letter. Storm was a messenger bird and was frequently used to deliver messages back and forth across large distances due to its great airspeed. When it wasn't sent off on a delivery, it remained with Sabo and the group, accompanying them on their travels. It should be noted however, that even though Storm was a 'messenger bird', it was also an incredible hunter of the sky, just as it's species name suggested. Anyway, when they'd successfully completed their last job, the mercenary leader had sent the bird back to the capital ahead of them to notify a friend of their return.

Unfurling the rolled up parchment, Sabo quickly scanned the short note from Koala, the aforementioned friend of theirs who lived in the capital. As his gaze moved down, he gained a weird look on his face, which inadvertently drew the attention of his comrades.

"What's it say?" Sanji asked, his cigarette held between two fingers as he breathed out the smoke. Sabo's reaction to the letter sparked his curiosity and he wondered just what was written in the note to cause this kind of reaction. Maybe Koala got a boyfriend? They all knew -even Luffy- that Sabo had feelings for her, but the man himself would adamantly deny anything of the sort every time the topic was brought up. Sometimes Sanji thought that Koala herself would probably notice their leader's feelings for her before the person in question, although it was quite unlikely, seeing that she was about as dense as Sabo in the relationship sector.

"Koala told us to get back to the capital as fast as possible."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently, there's some kind of emergency in the capital and certain someones have asked for us. Koala says that they had a introduction letter from Kureha."

"Are we taking it?" Sanji wasn't sure if he heard wrong, but there was something about the way Sabo spoke just now, like there was another meaning behind it, but with their leader's sarcastic personality he wouldn't be surprised if there was.

"Not yet. I'll wait till I know more before I decide." Sabo replied.

"Who's the client?" Zoro asked, cracking open an eye.

Though they were rather famous in their line of work, they didn't receive jobs often. Mainly because Sabo, who despite his easy going personality, was surprisingly choosy about certain things, in this case: the jobs they accepted. Picky nitpicker that he was, Sabo wouldn't accept anything beneath an A-rank job, which usually involved extensive travel to various remote -and considerably dangerous- locations. Furthermore, he only accepted jobs from clients who personally sought them out, as a result, the jobs they did accept tended to be dangerous and took long periods of time. That being said, what they did accept had payment high enough to last them a while. It helped that they all had a secondary job back in the capital. Sort of. Sanji wasn't even sure if what they had could actually count as a job. At least they get paid.

"The royal family."

"…come again?"

"You know, the Whitebeard Royal family? The people who rule the empire?"

…

The trip back to the capital was uneventful for the most part. After Luffy finished his meal, the four men immediately set off towards the capital. Two days later, they exited the forest and headed towards the nearby village, Foosha, where they had left their horses in the care of the villagers. Another two days later, Sabo, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji found themselves walking through the streets of Phoenix, the Whitebeard Empire's capital city. In the afternoon bustle, they could see the citizens rushing about in preparation for the upcoming festival which was a week away.

"I'm so glad we made it back early this time," Sanji said as he looked around and whistled appreciatively. "It would've been a pity to miss all this."

The mercenaries walked through downtown with their horses trotting behind them, heading towards the northern sector of the city, where the average townsfolk lived. The east was where the palace was located along with the residencies of the kingdom's officers, the west was the harbour and the south was where businesses and the like were conducted.

"It would have," Sabo replied, the only other intellectual person in their little group besides their chef. "I wonder what this year's theme is."

The younger blonde shrugged. The preparations were still underway and those were only the decorations. It was near impossible to tell anything from it.

"Luffy, Zoro, can you two take care of visiting… the… client..." Turning back towards the rest of his comrades, Sabo asked, only to find the space where the two previously occupied vacant, except for their horses which were staring back at him.

"Did you really expect them to be there?" Sanji snorted. "They ran off to Shakky's place when we passed by just now."

"Of course they did," Sabo sighed. He shouldn't have even bothered asking. No doubt all other thoughts that didn't involve food and booze had slipped the mind of those two as soon as they entered the city.

"I don't suppose they have any money on them?" Sabo asked out of habit, though he was quite sure what the answer would be.

"No."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Well, count ourselves lucky that it's Shakky's place instead of some other place then. At least she won't come chasing after us for their debt as long as it's settled before we leave again."

"True that. Anyway, I'm going to head over to the client's place and get our payment first. You wanna come with or do you want to go ahead to the arena?"

"I'll come with you."

Half an hour later, after they visited their client who lived near the city center and received their payment for the job, the duo passed through the northern sector towards the edge of the sector where a large building stood.

The building was fenced in behind a sand-coloured wall, the only opening being where huge metal gates stood, a brass plaque hanging above it announced the building's identity-The Sun Arena. The Sun Arena -it was called an arena, but was really more of a coliseum- was a renowned martial arts training facility in the Whitebeard Empire that doubled as an arena to host competitions.

Originally, it had started out as a foster home for orphans. The orphans were taken in by the founders, two retired soldiers of the royal army by the name of Tiger and Jinbe. As the orphans grew up, they were taught martial arts by the founders, who were both famous for their combat prowess back in the army.

Those children grew up, and some joined the army or became mercenaries while some stayed behind in the capital, living peaceful lives. They had all separated, each living different lives, but the one thing they had in common was the martial arts that Jinbe and Tiger had taught them. Through many events of different kinds, their exceptional combat skills drew attention and suddenly, Jinbe and Tiger found themselves receiving large amounts of requests to teach. This in turn drew the attention of the king, whom Jinbe was on good terms with. After a long period of debation with the king, Jinbe and Tiger decided to convert the foster home into a martial arts school with full support from the empire. They still took orphans in, but at the same time, they also hosted classes that were open to the public.

Many years later, the school had grown considerably, and with the king's consent, it was expanded to become the present day arena, with an agreement to serve the empire as a special, separated faction in the military. At that point, many of the orphans who were taken in grew up to become part of the staff, or for some who were exceptional at combat, one of the trainers. Such was the case for their friend Koala, who was one of Tiger's top students and since a few years ago, part of the arena's top brass. As they approached, she could be seen standing at the main entrance, hands planted firmly on her hips. A side effect of her standing there was that the two arena guards on either side were stiff to the point that Sabo wondered if their muscles would cramp the moment they relaxed. The expression Koala wore was one of impatience, and the two men dreaded what was coming. Koala never pulled her punches.

To their surprise however, that expression melted off her face as soon as she saw them, and the petite brunette proceeded to launch herself at the mercenaries, enveloping them in a bone-crushing hug.

"Sabo! Sanji! You're finally back!" Koala cried, sounding equally relieved and anxious.

"K-koala...can't breathe…" Sabo gasped, straining to take in air. Sanji was in the same predicament. If he hadn't, he'd have been doing his heart-eyes already, something that his leader found amusing at other times but incredibly annoyed when it was directed at Koala.

"Sorry," Koala apologized as she released them. "And Luffy and Zoro are at Shakky's again, as usual." It wasn't even a question.

Koala thought she ought to be offended that the two hadn't even bothered to come, but then again, having known the group for several years now, she knew better than to get angry at minor issues like this.

It was too troublesome to get angry at idiots, not to mention tiring.

"Come on in," she beckoned to the two blondes as she turned on her heels and entered the building. "Your guest has been waiting for quite a while now."

Koala explained the situation as she led them to one of the many waiting rooms the Arena provided.

"A week ago, one of the princes came to me, asking if I could contact you guys for him. At first, I was going to refuse, I mean, I didn't even know where you were? How was I supposed to contact you? And then he pulled out a letter, said it was from Kureha. I was skeptical at first, since we all know how stingy she is with these things. But the letter was authentic. According to the explanation he gave me, they encountered a very serious illness that even Kureha couldn't cure, so she directed them to you. I was going to send Miaru to you, but then Storm arrived, so I just wrote you that letter and sent it back. I've told him that you guys wouldn't be back until today, but he still came for the last few days. Every day, he'd come here and wait for the entire day, no matter what we said to him."

"Which prince?" Sanji asked as he listed down the names of the princes in his head, wondering which prince Koala was talking about. "All you mentioned in the letter was that the request was from the palace."

"Well… why don't you see for yourself?"

Stopping outside a door, she pushed it open and stepped aside to let Sabo and Sanji through before closing the door behind her. Inside, a young man with short brown hair in green and white attire was pacing back and forth restlessly, muttering incoherently under his breath.

It appeared that the man did not notice he had company, Sabo thought wryly as he took note of his appearance. The man's entire demeanor suggested an immense inner turmoil. Looking at him, an uneasy feeling started growing in Sabo's gut. He knew this man, and combined with the letter from Koala and the man's current display, he was starting to have a really bad feeling about this 'job'.

But that aside, if Sabo wanted information from him, he would have to bring him back to reality first.

Just as he was about to call out, Koala beat him to it.

"Prince Haruta, please stop pacing. You'll wear a groove in the floor if you keep it up, you know?" Koala called out with an exasperated tone. Obviously, this wasn't the first time she had had to stop him.

"Huh?" The young man halted abruptly as his attention returned to the real world, only just noticing that there were others in the room. "Eh?"

Sighing inward at the unintelligence the prince displayed by accident, Sanji stepped out from behind Sabo and raised a hand in a casual greeting.

"It's been a while, Haruta," Sanji continued, ignorant of the inquiring looks both Koala and Sabo were shooting his way concerning his lack of formality.

Haruta momentarily blanked out before he blinked and recognized the person speaking to him.

"Sanji?!" The shock was evident in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

At that moment, the only female present interrupted. "Hold on a minute, do you two know each other?" she asked, attention flitting from one to the other.

"Kind of," The chef exhaled, breathing out a trail of smoke as he explained. "I used to work in the palace with my adoptive father until the shitty geezer kicked me out two years ago." Everything after that, was, as they say, history.

The last part caught Sabo's interest. "Kicked out?"

"Yeah. Basically, he said I was getting in his way, and tossed me out the gates, luggage and all."

"Zeff's a little crazy sometimes." On the side, Haruta nodded in agreement, apparently aware of what this Zeff person -who was apparently Sanji's dad- was like.

"I see." Sabo cleared his throat. "Anyway, let's leave the catching up for later, shall we? Prince Haruta?" The latter question was directed to the brown-haired man. When the mercenary received a nod in reply, he withdrew a slightly crumpled letter from his pockets. "I believe you have asked for our service?"

"I did?" The prince took a moment to catch up to reality. "Wait...YOU'RE the Dragon's Fury?"

"In flesh and blood." Sabo extended a hand in a friendly invitation. "I'm Sabo, leader of the Dragon's Fury."

"Pleasure to meet you," Haruta returned the greeting. "I've heard that you're the best at your work."

"You flatter us. I wouldn't say 'the best', but we are pretty good, if I may say so myself. Anyway, if you'd kindly state your business…?" Sabo smiled good-naturedly as they sat down on the sofas in the room while Koala quickly brought over four cups of tea before sitting down next to Haruta.

Expression turning stony, the prince dug in his pocket, fishing out a folded note from one of them.

"We want information about an illness." He handed the paper to Sabo. "I wrote down all the symptoms that we know of… there isn't a lot, unfortunately."

"An illness?" Now that's weird. If I remember… the mercenary leader was rather confused. Why would Kureha ask the princes to seek him out? He was no expert at medicine. A quick glance at the paper in his hand had Sabo reading the first line repeatedly. 'Suddenly decline in health'? Feeling even more confused, Sabo looked up to meet Haruta's eyes.

"Pardon me, but wouldn't Doctor Kureha be better suited for this? She is a doctor, after all."

"Yes, she would. Unfortunately, we've sought her out before we contacted you, and she's as helpless as we are. We were hoping you might have come across such an illness before, and perhaps know of a cure."

Sabo scanned the list again. Something nagged at the back of his mind, something that told him he had seen similar symptoms before somewhere, but he didn't want to get Haruta's hopes up.

The list was handed back to the prince, along with an unreadable expression on Sabo's side.

"I'll be honest with you, Prince Haruta. I might know of something with symptoms that match what you gave me, but I won't know for sure unless I see it for myself. Who's the patient?"

"The king," Koala and Haruta replied simultaneously.

Sanji and Sabo had vastly different reactions.

Are you kidding me?! This was Sabo.

"The old man is sick?!" And this was Sanji.

The prince nodded and told them the circumstances regarding the king, how his health had been deteriorating for the past two months and how they've been doing everything they could. At the end, he also told them how the doctors had said that their father wouldn't last much longer, hence their seeking out the mercenaries. It was a last, desperate resort in hopes of saving the king.

It took longer than Sabo would've liked as Haruta had had to pause for several instances to gather himself, but then again, the prince was understandably distraught, so Sabo let it slip.

When he finally finished, the mercenary leader looked thoughtful. After a few heartbeats spent in silence, he looked up, his blue eyes meeting Haruta's brown, expectant ones.

Feeling slightly pressured from the expectation, Sabo reminded the prince with a small sigh. "Like I've mentioned before, I can't be sure before I see it with my own eyes. In which case, would your highnesses allow us to visit the palace to see the King?"

"There won't be a problem!" Haruta answered as soon as the words left Sabo's mouth. "If you like, we can head back right now."

"Sure," Sabo said as he rose from his seat. "Koala, we'll leave Briel, Carmen, Ursa and Musashi here, okay?"

"You're not going to ride them?" Koala asked as she nodded in response, while Haruta was looking between them, confusion written clearly on his face.

Sanji and Sabo exchanged a look before grinning simultaneously, earning a groan from the only female amongst them.

She knew that look all too well.

On the way back to the palace, Haruta found himself in awe of the two mercenaries as he watched them travel across the rooftops from where he was on horseback. Despite the stallion going as fast as it could, the two blondes had no trouble keeping up. In fact, the prince was sure they could definitely outrun him -and his horse- if they chose to. It wasn't the first time the brunette had seen people do it -him and his siblings did it all the time, playing tag across the rooftops of the palace instead of using the corridors like normal humans but these two could definitely give them a run for their money.

This isn't the time for this! Haruta shook his head, returning his focus to the matter at hand. If the mercenaries were fast, all the better then. It meant their Pops would be able to get help more quickly. He only hoped that Sabo and Sanji could actually help. If they couldn't...Haruta didn't know who else his family could turn to.

Haruta snuck another look at the two blondes. Sanji aside, he'd only just met Sabo, but the youngest prince felt that he could trust the man despite not knowing anything about him. He was hardly a trusting person (blindly trusting people was more or less a death flag for people of their status), but Sabo gave off a sort of feeling that simply compelled people to put their trust in him. Haruta supposed that he had to be a man of honour if he could climb to the top of the mercenary society's hierarchy in the short time his group had been active. Not to mention he was on good terms with Kureha. That and Sanji trusted him. The cook had always been a good judge of character, except maybe when it came to the fairer sex.

Haruta eyes narrowed. He'd trust Sabo -for now, at least- but on the slight chance that the mercenary wasn't as trustworthy as he appeared to be…

Well, the Whitebeard siblings were known for their battle prowess.

As they neared the palace grounds, the number of buildings in the vicinity gradually lessened and became more extravagant until they arrived at a gate at the foot of a hill. Sabo and Sanji nimbly leapt down from the roofs, landing on either side of the prince.

The gates were already open, but Haruta turned to address his two companions.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for your other members?" he asked, having heard that there were two other mercenaries who were MIA in the city when Sabo had requested Koala to send someone to find them.

"That won't be necessary," Sabo refused. "However, I'd appreciate it if you could send someone to lead them to the palace, otherwise we may not see them for the next few hours."

Haruta quirked a brow skeptically. "Should I be worried?"

Sanji took a large whiff of his cigarette. "Not really. It just happens that one of our missing comrades is...in better words, directionally challenged. And the other is a moron who has a near nonexistent attention span. So yeah, there's not much to be worried about."

Sarcasm. Plain, obvious, sarcasm. The prince rolled his eyes as he spurred his mount forward.

"Rude as ever." He snorted at the younger blonde who was running alongside him, both him and his leader easily keeping pace. "How'd you end up being a mercenary anyway?"

Cigarette slightly drooping, Sanji looked up at the sky as he reminisced the day he was forcefully 'ejected' from his post. It wasn't exactly one of his brightest days, but something good came out of it at the very least.

"After I left the palace, I went to town, asked around for work. Then I ran into these two idiots who were looking for a cook. They offered me a job, and I took it."

"Actually, Luffy blackmailed him into joining us." On the other side, Sabo helpfully supplied, a bright grin plastered on his face. "He didn't want to join, but Luffy had taken a liking to him, so he threatened to follow Sanji everywhere and keep on pestering him till he joined."

"Then I caved," Sanji finished. "End of story."

"Huh. No wonder we haven't seen you around."

It was a known fact in the palace that two years ago, the royal head chef, Zeff had kicked his adopted son and apprentice out of the palace kitchens. The man had even gone as far as dragging the then teenager along with his measly belongings and throwing them out the gates.

Sanji had taken it hard then, kicking and screaming a colourful fountain of curses, names and various unsavoury terms as he struggled to free himself from his adoptive parent's grip , and had left without saying another word after the man shut the gates with a sharp glare in his direction.

He was never heard from again, and everyone was speculating about the blonde's whereabouts.

The prince was positive no one had expected to find him as part of a mercenary group.

"Everyone will be happy to see you." He said, before remembering a certain person. "Well, maybe not everyone…"

He briefly wondered if the palace's head chef would throw the younger blonde out again. But Sanji was there for work...so probably not. A big 'Probably'.

If he knew Zeff -and he did- he probably wouldn't give two shits about kicking Sanji out. But then again, he wouldn't necessarily do that.

In front of them, the sprawling gardens of the palace came up, and the three raced past it, kicking up a strong breeze that scattered leaves everywhere, earning many indignant cries from the servants in charge of cleaning.

They arrived at a courtyard, where a young woman dressed in a maid's uniform was waiting.

Getting off his horse, Haruta handed the reins to a stable hand as the maid approached them.

"Your highness." She curtsied.

The prince handed her his coat and gestured to the two behind him, expertly ignoring Sanji's eyes which had turned to hearts the moment he laid eyes on the maid while Sabo held him back.

"These two are my guests. Have them freshened, then bring them to Pop's quarters," he instructed and explained to the two confused mercenaries. "I hope you don't mind taking a bath first? The doctors are rather strict about hygiene, especially around Pops."

Receiving affirmative answers, Haruta turned back to Conis. "Two more will be along shortly. Have someone from the guard meet them at the gates, and do the same for them as these two."

"Understood, your highness."

Half an hour later, Sabo and Sanji were being led through the palace by Conis, squeaky clean and dressed in fresh clothes. On the way, Sanji pointed out various things in the palace to Sabo, who was looking around in awe as it was his first time in the palace. As he was telling his leader about the royal library which they had just passed, Sanji caught Conis sneaking curious glances at the two of them. He decided to change the subject a bit. He had never seen her before when he worked at the palace, so he was sure she'd joined after he'd left.

"So, Conis, how long have you been working at the palace?" Sanji asked curiously, catching the blonde maid by surprise. Realising her actions had been noticed, she blushed furiously. "Just over a year." Conis politely replied despite her obvious fluster. "You are rather well-known in the palace."

"I am?"

"Yes. The prince of the kitchens who is as gallant as a knight." Conis said jokingly. "I have heard many stories about you since I started working here, especially from the kitchen staff. And the other maids are always talking about you. Sometimes Princess Izo laments that she will not be able to help try out your new recipes any longer since you've left the palace."

The blonde cook blushed a deep red, apparently embarrassed by the praise he was receiving from the girl, earning himself a nudge in the ribs and a teasing grin from his boss.

The surrounding chatter gradually diminished as the three blondes neared the king's quarters, which were located on the top floor of the palace's east wing, where all of the royal family's rooms were.

They stopped outside a set of large double doors. Two guards stood on either side, their spears automatically moving to block the door as they approached.

Conis was quick to inform them of her orders, and they were immediately allowed through, though the two mercenaries didn't escape the customary body check -not even Sanji, whom the guards were friends with.

"Their highnesses Prince Haruta, Princess Izo and Lady Nico are waiting inside," Conis said as she knocked on the door to announce their presence.

Receiving an answer, she pushed open one side and stepped aside, allowing for the two behind her to enter.

"Thank you, Conis." Haruta was quick to welcome them in, dressed too in fresh attire.

"My pleasure, your highness." With a light curtsy, the blonde maid retreated from the room, closing the door behind her.

"Woah." This room is HUGE, Sabo thought, his attention stolen by the large room and all the extra-large furniture lying around. Next to him, Sanji had to muffle his laughs as he took in his comrade's reaction to the king's bedroom. It was understandable though, back when Haruta had been adopted into the family, he wore the exact same look of awe the first time he visited the king in his chambers. To most other people, the king was positively huge. Thus, all the king's furniture had to be custom-made to accommodate his large figure.

Haruta led them to the bed in the middle of the room, where two women -one sitting and one standing- with varying lengths of black hair had halted their conversation to regard their guests.

Haruta introduced the woman who was as his sister, the sole princess Izo and the other as the royal historian, Nico Robin. The historian simply inclined her head in way of greeting, while the princess had a much warmer welcome. Though Sanji received hugs from them and a 'welcome back' instead of a handshake and a 'nice to meet you' like Sabo did.

Warm indeed.

Pleasantries dealt with, Sabo turned his attention to the king, and paled drastically.

Edward Newgate was an elderly man who was fit as a fiddle despite his age. During past festivals and events, the mercenary had seen him from a distance, but even then, he could tell that the king was in great health.

Now, that same monarch was lying silently in bed, seemingly void of life.

However, that wasn't the reason Sabo suddenly grew pale.

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the room, there was a dark haze that hung around the king. It was slowly wrapping itself around him, seeping into his body and leeching life from him.

The mercenary fell speechless. In his mind, many emotions were running amok -happyrelievedsadconfusedworriedconcernedurgenthope.

Noticing his abnormal reaction, Sanji nudged him lightly to get his attention, but Sabo was too shocked to even notice.

He was only brought back to reality when a loud crash sounded from the direction of the balcony.

…

"Get off me Luffy!" a familiar voice howled, immediately followed by a signature laugh that two of the room's occupants dreaded.

"Who's there!" The guards, having heard the crash, burst into the room with spears leveled, standing vigilantly on guard. Haruta, Izo and Robin's hands immediately settled onto their respective weapons while Sabo and Sanji simply suppressed the urge to facepalm.

This has got to be the WORST entry EVER.

Climbing out from the pile of broken glass, two figures casually dusted the remaining fragments off, seemingly unaware of the many pairs of eyes following their every movement.

"How many times have I told you not to drag me with you when you jump off a roof?!" A taller man with green-hair was complaining towards his companion, a short, black-haired man who seemed to be just out of his teenage years.

"But Sabo lets me do it all the time." The ravenhead whined with a voice that shouldn't be possible for someone his age.

"That's 'cause he's just as crazy as you, if not more!" The green-haired man retorted heatedly, his hands tightening around the three swords strapped to his side.

As the conversation -as did everyone's attention- slowly redirected towards him, Sabo interrupted with a well-timed cough that somehow got through to the two blockheads.

"Huh?" The two bickering idiots turned their heads simultaneously. Before they could blink, the oldest of their group had appeared next to them, and the next all they could see were stars.

Unconcerned that he might have given his two companions significant brain damage by the force he'd smashed their heads together with, Sabo released his hold on them and let them slump unto the glass-littered floor, the whites of their eyes showing.

"There is such a thing as a door, you idiots." He commented dryly. Then he turned towards Haruta and Izo who were sending him dubious looks, dropping into a bow. "I apologise for my comrades' actions. I assure you, they don't mean any harm." Not any intentional harm, anyway. He added in his head, but they didn't have to know that. Behind him, Sanji dropped into a crouch beside the two bodies, poking them (Zoro) in the side repeatedly until the other let out a feral growl. Sabo felt his annoyance spike at the quarrel occurring between his team and was barely able to suppress his emotions so it didn't show on his face.

"It's fine. Happens all the time." Haruta waved it off, unperturbed by mere shattered glass -although he did wonder how they got up here. They were on the fifth floor for Roger's sake! And what was that he heard about jumping off a roof?- when there were more pressing matters. Such as their pop's health. "So, do you know what kind of illness it is?"

"In a minute." Sabo beckoned to Luffy -and clocked the other two while he was at it- who obediently trotted over and pointed to the king. "Luffy, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

As soon as Luffy set eyes on the king, he too paled like Sabo had.

"Sabo… is that...?" the youngest mercenary stammered out, his eyes wide with unbelief. At affirmation from his brother, his blank expression morphed into one of utter seriousness. "He won't last much longer."

"He won't," Sabo affirmed, his expression matching that of Luffy's. "He has three days, at most."

"What are you talking about?!" Izo cut in, her perfectly painted lips pursed in indignancy. "What do you mean he won't last three days?!"

Both Sabo and Luffy turned towards her, their similarly dark eyes holding the princess in a cold, bottomless stare.

"King Whitebeard isn't ill." Sabo said matter-of-factly.

"What? Then what do you call this?!"

"He's not ill," Luffy repeated, trading a quick look with Sabo.

As one, they disclosed the truth, blurting it out in the most straightforward way.

"He's cursed."

So, how'd you like it? Quick reminder: If you like it, please favorite/follow/review and look forward to the next chapter; If you don't...review anyway. I'm not forcing you, I'm just politely asking (grins)

To Guest reviewers: Kindly use a nickname so I know who to address replies to.

Thank you for reading!

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Edited: 1/5/18