"Miss, you sure eat a lot." The manager of this café said to me. I was silently eating the over twenty-count plates at my side.
"What's wrong with that?" I questioned, my voice coming out so cold the poor man flinched.
"N-no… Nothing…" He stuttered softly, his voice lost. Quickly he walked away from me. I softly sighed, and continued with my meal.
"May I please have a menu?" A young man who sat beside me asks politely, not being heard.
His messy black hair was slightly wet, the snowflakes having melted on his hair. It had been snowing last time she'd been out, but it had stopped now. Even so, the air must be frigid outside, and all this man wore was a tasteless black trench coat and hat. She paid no attention to him, and continued eating all the same. However, halfway through her meal, the nosy manager finally notices the newcomer.
"I'm sorry; we're a little short on stocks right now. My assistant has left to get some more. Could you please wait a little longer?"
"Of course. By the way sir, have you seen a girl around?"
"A girl? What does she look like?" He asked, lingering.
"Like this." He says, and I hear the rustling of paper.
When I glance up, I see the man putting down a wanted poster, smoothing it out over the counter. On the poster, a picture of a girl with long, snow-white hair dominates the paper. Her head is titled slightly, her eyes hiding beneath long bangs. Because of the slight wind, apparent on the picture because of her hair swept to the side, you could see her pirate mark. A well-known Jolly Roger; Whitebeard's Jolly Roger. The background shows nothing but a blizzard, dark clouds, and large hail raining down.
The manager's hands started quivering at the mere sight. "S-She is…" He gasped.
"You know her?" The man asked, seemingly pleased.
"Who doesn't know that cursed woman?" The older man shouts. Everybody in the bar looked at the scene with interest, only to take on the same reaction upon the sight of the poster. I lost my interest, and back to my cooling meal. However, I couldn't block it all out, they were causing such a ruckus….
"Whitebeard's Second Division Commander! Illusion Goddess Hakuren!"
"No…" The man said who was looking for her, his brow knotted up. "Hakuren of the Illusion, right?"
"Are you illiterate, boy? The name on the poster is Illusion Goddess Hakuren!" The manager says, composing himself. He taps the name on the poster nervously though.
"But I could have sworn it was –"
"She has lots of names. People in East Blue refer to her as Hakuren of the Illusion. Here, in the Grand Line, she's Illusion Goddess Hakuren."
"Is that so?" The young man muttered, putting the poster back in his also tasteless green bag.
"You better get away from her while you still can." The manager ominously warned, as the young man got read to leave.
"Why's that?" He asked, grinning slightly.
Unable to help myself, I rolled my eyes at his lack of intelligence.
"This island is dominated by that cursed witch! About two years ago, she showed up and started terrorizing the area! She threatened that if we rebel, she'd drown this island under the sea!" The man said in a hushed voice, as if he was afraid someone might overhear his words.
"Drown? How can she do that? Is she a Devil Fruit user?" The fool pushed the topic on, completely clueless, or just ignoring, the boundaries on this island. Without need to look, I could clearly imagine the disbelief plastered on the manager's face. Never before had I imagined that such a stupid person could actually exist. Wait… I then suddenly remembered an idiot I know very well...
Somewhere in the New World…
"A-Achoo!"
"Commander, are you alright? Sick from partying all night long?" Somebody snickered.
Another person laughed "Sick of partying now, ain't ya?"
"Yeah, right! As if that could happen!" The Commander said, full of bravado. "The party's missing me!"
"If there's anyone missing you, it'll only be the Marines!"
"Got that right!"
"Come on, have some imagination. I bet it's either Luffy or that sweet girl."
"What a wild imagination! You're really drunk Commander!"
"Alright, enough talk! Bring the sake! I challenge you to a drinking contest!"
A chill crept over my spin. My fork loudly clattered on my plate, while my hands covered my mouth. I held back the urge to sneeze as I looked around the restaurant, examining my surroundings carefully. For some reason, uneasiness is swallowing me. It's as though something… as though something completely vile just occurred behind her. I hate vile things with a passion.
"Look, she ate the Wet wet Fruit! The sea is her world! To think that you're actually running around unknowing… Just get away while you still can!" The manager persuaded the young man in a hushed voice.
"Nah, it's fine. I'll be staying here for a while. Anyways old man, how do you know so much? You even know the name of the fruit she ate…" He mused, pushing the topic on even further.
I breathed out a soft sigh. I was getting tired of hearing this idiot prattle. His dense head couldn't process the manager's kind intentions in telling him to leave.
"That fat witch declared it herself. I heard from pirates that she can control the water so precisely that she can create illusions. That's where that cursed title comes from."
"Have you ever considered that she might be a fake?" The young man questioned, smiling sinisterly. However, the manager just smiled sadly.
"Heh… Fake. That's exactly what we thought until she gave us a demonstration and flooded the entire island. If could, I would leave, but her subordinates are scattered around the island, preventing anyone from doing so. This is a pirate island now." The manager bitterly sighed.
"There must be some mista-"
"There's no mistake about it! Whitebeard is using his authority to rule over us, and he put that cursed witch here!" He hollered as the other customers who were pretending to be oblivious to the hushed conversation now turned towards the two.
"Boss! I'm back!" A voice calls from the back of the café.
"Coming!" He yells as he disappeared into what was probably either the kitchen or the pantry.
I was intently watching the thickheaded young man next to her. He was staring at the wanted poster again, mumbling to himself.
"Hmm… A pirate island, huh?" He said to nobody in particular.
I gently placed my fork on my plate, not making a sound.
"Illusion Goddess Hakuren… What do you need her for?" I asked, my voice a cold, hollow shell. The man, now seemingly noticing me for the first time, turned his face towards me. Childish freckles decorated his cheeks. But I could have sworn, that for a split second, his eyes narrowed at me. However, when I blinked, the intense gaze had all but disappeared.
"I was sent to look for her." He replied with a warm smile before starting to feast on his meal.
Is he a bounty hunter? But then again, this off guy doesn't look like one at all. His sense of fashion was strange, with his tasteless black hat and trench coat. Not bothering to sit around and find out some more, I placed my money on the counter and walked out of the café. Hakuren is on this little island, terrorizing the area. I glanced around the place. The streets were deadly quiet, the villagers just dragging their feet around like lifeless straw dolls. The worthless, lazy pirates going about, thrashing this place created the only ruckus. As I thought about my next destination, my silence was disturbed when a familiar voice angrily shouted, echoing across the chilly stones.
"STOP THAT DINE 'N DASH!" That manager of the café screamed loudly.
Immediately I turned around, looking back at the café. Just when I laid my sight on that odd man who's looking for Hakuren, he crashed into me with full force. His heavy caused me to topple over, making me fall into the snow.
"Oops." He said with a sheepish smile, swiftly climbing back onto his feet. Then, the cord of his hat had looped around my shoulder, and as he started running, he was dragging me along. At first, I didn't know what was happening, but when I realized this dine 'n dasher was shoving me along with him, I flipped. His hat got pulled from his head, and I rolled onto a cardboard box into an alley as the man skidded to a stop.
"Hm?" He said, suddenly realizing his hat was gone. I glared daggers at him from under my hood. I nearly lost my balance again, but I quickly steadied myself.
"That's my line you idiot!" I viciously bit at him. My cloak was wet with the melting snow.
"Ah! Sorry! I didn't know he was dragging you along." He said, finally catching on to what he had done. "My name is Portgas D. Ace. Please accept my apology." Portgas said, bowing as I leapt down and walked out of the alley.
"Say sorry all you want but I don't accept things which have no value. Now get out of my sight." I said, venom oozing from each of my words. The dense guy just followed me, intent on apologizing properly.
"What do you want now?"
"Then maybe I could do something for you as an apology. Something that does have value." The freckled idiot said as I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I wondered if he even had a brain. Not wanting to both with him, I went off into my own little world, ignoring the birdbrain stalker completely.
"You should have seen that old guy!" A pirate slurred.
"C-call me too next time!" The other hicced. They're two drunken excuses for pirates.
As I walked, my shoulder collided with the slurring one, and I knocked him onto the ground. I pretended I didn't feel or see anything, and I kept on walking.
"Hey! A-apologize… when you bump into s-someone!" The hiccing one angrily shouted. His dirty hand wanted to grab my shoulder to make me face him, but the instant his hand touched me, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind my back and flipped him onto the street.
"So noisy." I coldly whispered, the tone of my voice chilling the men to their bones. My foot stamped onto his head and I glared down. "Why should I apologize? Do you apologize to every little miserable creature you step on, moron?" Content with the soundless reply, I removed my foot and continued to walk again.
"You're pretty good." The birdbrain behind me commented as I stopped to look at the townspeople screaming and running to their homes. Soon, all windows visible were locked and all doors were barred.
"THE ILLUSION GODDESS! SHE'S BACK!"
"GOD SAVE US!"
"QUICK! GET AWAY FROM THE SEA!" They all cried in fear, as though the world is coming to an end.
"She's here?" The idiot asks, as if it's not obvious. He runs through the crowd and heads towards the sea. A large pirate ship could be seen approaching.
"Idiot…" I softly muttered as I watched him from where I stood. The entire village seemed totally deserted, a ghost town. Slowly I walked away, content that the idiot is out of my sight. I wasn't complaining.
"There's no mistake, that pirate mark..." I softly whispered to myself. Whitebeard's Jolly Roger was clearly shown on the ship's flag and sails. A faint smirk formed over my lips as I started walking toward it. "Found you."
Beta-ed by Tropicall J
Special thanks to greenpanda007 (First editor) and Tropicall (Second editor) who both kindly used their time to edit this chapter for me! ^_^
