Writer's Notes: I do not own any of One Piece, and am merely showing my appreciation for the amazing story! Now, enjoy!

"Vice-Admiral, we are currently approaching the target at the desired speed. Estimated time of storming the pirate ship is less than five minutes."

The words of one of her subordinates brought the snowy-haired female back to her senses, and she turned to face the Marine officer currently saluting her and awaiting an answer. Sometimes she became lost in her own thoughts, and all of a sudden, she was no longer on this ship belonging to the Marines, she was transported back to the times she spent growing up on Elbaf. A small sigh left her lips and she nodded, straightening up ever so slightly and waving a hand to dismiss the Marine standing before her.

"In that case, prepare for boarding and bringing down one of the largest thorns in our side at present. We will succeed!" She never had been too good at spurring speeches, but this one seemed to kick her crew into action. They all saluted her upon hearing her raised voice, and rushed to their respective stations to prepare the ship for combat. Not too far in the distance, she could see it; the unique pirate ship that anyone would recognise if ever they cast their eyes upon it. She could just about see the figurehead at the front, the many pointed sides of lion's mane, surrounding the seemingly gleeful lion's head. Down its sides, she could spot the cannons and the anchor, plus one of the strange compartments that the ship seemed to have, labelled with a large number '1'. According to files, quite the skilled shipwright had designed and built the ship, as well as maintaining it. No wonder it looked so magnificent on the sea. 'But, nevertheless, it is a pirate ship…' She thought to herself, eyes narrowing on their target which they were quickly approaching at speed.

"Ready the cannons!" Her voice was somehow impossibly loud, in spite of her huge lack in stature, and it resonated around the whole Marine ship.

"Hai*, Avery-sama!" Her crew echoed back at her, before the cannons started to clunk loudly, aiming and preparing to fire at her command. They were still slightly far away for her liking, but soon they would be in range. Her left arm was raised up to the side, her one crimson orb slowly narrowing as she judged the distance between them and their target. 'Just a little bit further…' She thought, her mouth slowly parting as she waited for the opportune moment to strike.

"Fire!"

Her bellow echoed menacingly, giving every Marine present the chance to hear her command before those designated loaded up the cannons and shot the cannon balls with deadly accuracy towards their target. At this point, they were already gaining on the ship, and were quick to continue firing off cannonballs to keep their targets occupied. After all, they were probably complacent following their get-away from the World Government. But they had not escaped the clutches of Vice-Admiral Orrosta "Ivory Heart" Avery.

"Prepare yourselves for a hard fight! We all know what this crew are capable of! They've now been given sufficient time to rest and recover, so they should be approaching their full fighting capacities again! Do not let your guards down when facing any crew member!" Her warning was loud and authoritative while her crew were scrambling to equip themselves with their blades and guns, and before long, the Captains she had working underneath her emerged from below deck, each one standing near her in some way.

"Bahahaha! Avery-sama** is cheery as always." A tall man wearing a full black jumpsuit commented, brandishing his heavy hand cannon over his left shoulder while smirking his characteristic smirk at his smaller superior.

"Hush, Herman-san***. Do you really think that now is a good time to provoke her?" An older male chastised his companion, waving his hands in a placating gesture to try and dissipate the situation. But the Vice-Admiral was paying no mind while her Captains were having their own banter and the like. Her eyes were solely focused on the prize ahead of them. The man named Herman clicked his tongue against his cheek in a 'tutting' sound and rolled his eyes, his posture slouching slightly as if he had been deflated.

"Ugh, Sander, you're no fun." It was an amusing sight to see a grown man pout, and Herman did so rather often. It seemed at times that he was still living life as a child, while his fellow Captains were at least somewhat capable of living life in adulthood. Sander sighed softly and started to fidget, as he often did, tapping his foot on the deck of the ship and fumbling with his hands. The habit often irritated the Vice-Admiral who headed their Marine division, and as such he was pleased to see that she wasn't paying any attention to them. He ran a hand through his short brown locks, making numerous huffing sounds impatiently. At his other side, a silent hulk of a man was staring boredly with his glassy green eyes at the sea ahead of them. Of course, he was always quiet. Stories were told of how the infamous Captain, named Dredak, had his tongue cut out of his mouth as punishment to himself for sloppy training as a young teen. Of course, it would always remain a mystery of how the event actually unfolded, because the man himself could not share the story.

"You idiots better be prepared for a tough time against these pirates. If you slip up, it will be on your heads, and not mine." Their boss stated, her voice dry and sharp as she warned them of what could happen if they failed in their task. She did not even have to say it aloud for them to all know what she was insinuating, and a slightly audible gulp could be heard from Sander's throat while he mulled that fact over in his head. Avery was not a young woman who took failure with a shrug and inspiring words of how they would achieve their goal next time. Oh no. She was one to lash out and blame those around her, because of course, it would be their fault and not hers. In all honesty, the chances of her slipping up in anything were next to nothing.

"Hai, ma'am." Her Captains affirmed that they understood what she meant, and fell into silence while they anticipated the upcoming struggle. Their ship was gaining on the target very quickly, and they would soon be upon them in order to grapple to the side and storm the pirate ship.

"Avery-sama, approximate landing time is less than two minutes!" One of the Marine soldiers shouted from the crow's nest up above their master sail.

"Oi, Dredak, you better use that scary sword of yours properly. We don't want to suffer the wrath of our big boss here."

"Herman-san, stop provoking things without reason!"

"Sander, you idiot, I can do whatever I want! I don't even know how you're a Captain, weakling!"

"T-Take that back!"

"Weakling, weakling, Sander's a stupid weakling!"

All they needed as a prompt for them to stop their bickering was a very cold glare from the Vice-Admiral, and they fell into silence once more. Sometimes she wondered why she put up with Herman and Sander especially, because they always seemed to find things to argue about even in pivotal situations. But it went without saying that they were two of the most well-trained Captains that the Marines had. Dredak was hardly a problem, because he couldn't talk and make the situation flare up further, and he was skilled in such proficiency with his broadsword that he was rumoured to have been able to slice ships in half. Such a thing was surely an over-exaggeration, but his swordsmanship was indeed something to behold. As for Herman, he was a very skilled marksman and was able to use almost all ranged weapons as if he had been trained perfectly in every one of them. His preferred weapon was of course his trusty hand cannon; a huge great hulking thing, but extremely powerful and able to really pack a punch. He was a bit of a livewire in battle, however, and that was always a worry for the young woman in charge of him. Sander was a lot more reliable, and consistent. He was a Devil Fruit eater, which meant that he always had to be watched, near enough, but he was well-trained enough to avoid being put into situations where he could fall overboard. As a child, he ate the Moku Moku no Mi****, and became a Wood Man. His whole body became as hard and sturdy as a tree itself, and gives it extremely useful properties. If his body becomes punctured, sap leaks from the wound and heals him quickly. He is able to deal harsh, hard and heavy blows, due to his body being made entirely out of wood.

In summary, including herself, this Marine division had an extremely deadly fighting force at its disposal. And even the normal soldiers were better trained than normal, because of Avery's harsh training routines pressed upon them to condition their bodies and fighting skills far more than the average regime.

The four spearheads that would lead the battle to come were stood at the port side of the ship, which was the side which they were using to draw up next to their targets. The white-haired young woman stood ahead of the Captains she had hand-picked for her division, with her arms folded and her expression indifferent as per usual, with her only visible crimson eye narrowed at their approaching target.

"Launch the grappling hooks onto their boat! They aren't going to get away!" She shouted, seemingly not paying any attention as six crewmen lined up alongside her to fire the jet-pressured grappling hooks at the pirate ship's side itself as they approached. They were easily within reach of using these handy tools, and Avery was definitely not taking any chances when it came to these pirates in particular. The grappling hooks were launched, and all of them met their target, scraping across the opposing ship's deck, before pulling back and latching onto the railings of the starboard side. The origin of the grappling hooks were secured to special iron hooks embedded into each side of the Marine ship, to keep a good hold of their target, to make sure they could not go anywhere. The force of the hooks pulling brought the pirate ship towards them, until it was exactly alongside their own ship.

Avery glared down at the deck of pirate ship while her entire division amassed behind her and the Captains.

"Aw, damn! The Marines caught up with us!"

"They were so fast after their cannon-fire!"

"Oi, everyone! Get to the deck!"

The voices of the scrambling pirates could be heard loud and clear as they all started to assemble on the main deck of their ship, aiming to intercept the incoming attack upon them. They were disorganised, and it meant that Avery and her division had an assured victory. She could see it now. 'I never saw what the issue with these pirates was. They seem like utter buffoons to me… hardly organised even though they're about to get stormed by an entire Marine division.' She thought, her only visible eye rolling as she shook her head. Slowly and deliberately, she raised her left leg and slammed it loudly against the railing of her own ship, pushing herself up to stand and look down on the pirate ship, and its slowly assembling crew. Her long snow white locks swayed and sprawled in all directions as blissful silence enveloped both Marines and pirates simultaneously at her forceful elevation to look down at her enemies.

"I hope you realise that this is far from a joke." Her voice was loud and projected, seeming to echo across the space with the utmost clarity and power. It all seemed rather strange when one considered her considerable lack in height when compared to everyone else in her division, and obviously compared to the pirates too. "It is my duty to arrest you, as you have violated the first law of our land. You have all declared war against the World Government itself. I assure you, that this was not a smart decision. Due to many other failures in apprehending you, I have come to complete the job myself, with my elite Division 38." Her long white Vice-Admiral jacket flapped noisily in the growing wind, the kanji on the back seeming to ripple in its spelling of 'Justice'. It was any wonder that it did not fly off, due to being perched rather precariously on her shoulders, as opposed to being worn.

By this point, every pirate on the crew they were about to apprehend had assembled on the deck of their ship in a staggered line of sorts. They all looked up at her, some with an expression of worry and concern, others with irritating arrogance, and others with the same look of underestimation that Avery was so used to by this point. Being so small and child-like in her appearance often led to others looking down on her, and not taking her seriously. But that was their mistake, as they would soon find out.

"I, Orrosta Avery, place you under arrest… Straw Hat Pirates! Your journey of piracy ends here!"

* - Japanese for 'yes', a common term to show that an order or command is understood. It can be used to say 'Yes sir', in the correct context.

** - The suffix of 'sama' is a respectful one, to refer to someone of a higher status than yourself.

*** - The suffix of 'san' is also respectful, and roughly translates to saying 'Miss' or 'Mister'. As we know, the Japanese speak backwards, in a way, so the suffix (when translated to English) becomes a prefix in some ways.

**** - The Moku Moku no Mi is a Devil Fruit of my own creation, and is not cannon.

The Writer's Notes: Hello to everyone who read this introductory chapter of my first fanfic I've written here! You can call me Eternal, the Author! First and foremost, thank you very much for giving this fanfic a chance out of all the others available. It means a lot to me that you found the story intriguing enough to read it and see what it was about. As you can probably tell, it is rather different to most One Piece fanfics. It was an idea I had that slowly bloomed into a whole tale on its own. For this fanfic, I will be using an OC that I created, you know, Avery-sama, to tell the story of what happens from the point after the Enies Lobby Arc. It is a mixture of an OC and adjusted canon story, that you will hopefully enjoy as the plot thickens! What this means is, I'll be following the canon storyline, but will be adding and embellishing things of my own creation into the mixture. As such, there will be some inconsistencies with the actual canon story, but they will make sense with the OC content. In my notes at the end of each chapter, I will be including nice little tidbits of information and small character profiles to give more flesh and details to the OC characters I will add into the fanfic. For the introductory chapter, it seems only right to give a brief insight into the mysterious white-haired girl, correct? I hope you agree with me, because here is the little profile for her;

Name (Last, first): Orrosta Avery

Pronunciation: Oh-roh-stah Ay-very

Epithet: "The Ivory Heart" or "Ivory Heart"

Affiliation: Marine

Rank (Applies only to Marines): Vice-Admiral

Age: 17

Appearance: Avery is a rather small young woman, barely brushing 5'4", and as such is the 'dwarf' of her division, and most of the Marine ranks. She has long snowy white hair that reaches her waist in length, and a pair of stunning blood crimson eyes. Her left eye is covered with a black and red eye patch, and it is yet unknown if it is damaged, or it was lost somehow. Her long white locks are all straight, with shorter bangs that frame her face and one stray piece of hair that sits adjacently over the rest of her hair that covers her forehead. Her features are soft and rounded, adding to her child-like appearance, and she has little to no bust to speak of. She wraps tight bandages and bindings around her chest to give her better ease of movement when she fights. Her day-to-day outfit on duty consists of a sharp white tailored jacket, under which she wears a crisp fitted white shirt, and a blue tie. Her jacket is actually worn under the Vice-Admiral coat, which she tends to wear in a cape-like fashion. The shirt and jacket are both tucked into a pair of high-waisted white trousers, which billow out at the knees and are tucked into a pair of black knee-high boots. The whole outfit appears to be too big for her, the aim of which is to make herself appear bigger, but it serves the opposite purpose of making her seem smaller. She probably weighs in at around 98lbs, making her rather light as she is technically borderline underweight. Her build is rather athletic, as most limbs are toned, due to her body undergoing rigorous training.

Personality: In short, she is usually very calm and collected until someone sets off her rather explosive temper. She seems to have a shorter temper with some people than with others, as she usually snaps at her Captains and the like, rather than her crew. There are certain triggers that set her off, and can result in rather… terrible circumstances for those surrounding her. Those include if she is called short, said to be a child, or being called 'harmless'. She tends to lash out at those who insulted her in that way, or even at people just around her at the time. Most of the time, however, she maintains a cool head and seems to be a rather natural (although very harsh) leader. She is able to command respect from her subordinates, even if it has taken her a long time to do so because of many factors working against her. She is, however, very scathing and hard to keep company with. She has bad habits of undermining the abilities of her peers and subordinates, and she is rather insufferable and hard to deal with at the best of times. She is not much of a talker unless she is provoked to do so, or needs to be, and will usually keep to herself and merely glare at anyone trying to speak to her. Needless to say, she is very pedantic in general, and it takes her a lot longer to complete tasks that are usually simple and straight-forward because of the fact that they have to be perfect, and done her way. Hidden beneath the surface, however, is an entirely different side to her that has long been quelled due to her time in the Navy…

Abilities/ Powers: You will find out in the next chapter, and get descriptions of it later!~

Misc. Info: Her favourite foods are sour, and she cannot seem to stomach sweet deserts or the like. She tends to eat sauerkraut a lot, with potatoes and meats, with sour things to finish off her meals (rhubarb, lemon-flavoured things, lime-flavoured things, greek yoghurt etc). She is a literal clean freak, and has issues with dealing with mess and disorderly things. As such, she bathes at least once a day, or even twice a day at times, and always smells like fresh soap.

The rest, you will find out in the fanfic, either as trivia, or through the chapters themselves! Leave reviews, and be constructive! If it sucked, tell me so, and how I can improve. If it was good, then please tell me what was good, and what you liked! Anyway, much love! Eternal, out!