Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine. It rightfully belongs to Oda Eiichiro.
Cloak-and-Dagger
Prologue
His steel-gray orbs were what she noticed first. They were an eldritch lambency set within a face that was the work of a God, each feature chiseled to perfection. His hair was ash-blonde, cropped short and his fringe had been combed slickly to one side. He was clad in dark finery with his hands clasped together atop the table. Against, the dimly lit backdrop of the room, the man was the semblance of a predator. And without a doubt, she was the prey, cornered within the four walls of the parlour with blood-red velvet curtains. The heavy brassbound door was some feet away but her current host had conveniently seated her in front of him, a lacquered mahogany table separating him from her to add more distance between her and her only means of escape. As it was, the prospect of escape looked about unimaginable.
She would have tried hightailing anyway, only if the man before her was the usual dullard pirate who spouted arrogance and empty threats. But this man-Sevah, as he had called himself, was not a pirate nor was he an ordinary man. He was far too elegant to be one. And far too powerful for her to try anything that would not bode well on him.
She had witnessed him kill a man earlier. His sharpened nails had plunged into the chest of the big burly pirate, doubtlessly piercing his heart with his talons.
The horror she felt when his attention turned to her was unfathomable. It was like Enel all over again. Right then and there, with the rain drenching her whole mud-slathered form, she had thought that death had finally, after all the times that she had evaded it, come for her.
But death did not come. Shaking from the cold and from fear, Sevah had picked her up (with her yelping like a pitiful hound) and carried her to this dark mansion. She didn't remember falling unconscious but maybe it was during the trip to his dwelling. By the time that she had regained consciousness, she was dressed in yards of billowing pink muslin material. She had been still in a state of mild confusion and panic when a maid had come for her, telling her in cold monotone that the master was waiting. Nami had duly resisted but the frigid maid had only looked at her crawly, repeating the words she had spoken previously: the master summons her.
That had left no room for argument. It was either go willingly or be dragged by the robotic female wearing the wonted apron and frills of the maid uniform. And Nami had no reason to believe that the girl wouldn't haul her off her feet if she still refused to conform. Based from previous experiences, she knew that masters as brutal as this one had would only associate himself with company as unrelenting as he was.
And that was why she was here. In an audience with the master. A man named Sevah. Handsome, mysterious, dangerous.
There was one question in her mind: What did he want from her?
Nami could feel the palms of her hand sweating, the cool moisture the result of the swirl of anxiousness and trepidation within her belly. She turned her eyes back to Sevah, her brows furrowing as a bead of sweat rolled slowly along her some minutes of stillness, of letting her observe him, he moved. His lips curved upward rapaciously, and his pools of silver glinted with wicked amusement.
"I take it you had rested well-" his smile broadened "-Nami-san."
She balled her fists under the table, her stare turning more wary.
Nami-san.
Nami-san.
He had called her Nami-san. She was sure as hell that she didn't give out her name. This only meant that he had seen her wanted poster and if not with her, he had some business with her crew. But whatever that business was, she knew she was quite in a predicament.
She was alone in unknown territory. And she was willing to bet that her host was far from a friend.
She was unsafe.
Unconsciously, her mind called out to her captain.
'Luffy…where the hell are you?'
Author's notes: This is going to be my first multi-chapter fic for One Piece. This is somewhere in the new world. An adventure quite far from where they are right now (Punk Hazard). Truthfully, I hold no confidence in my writing skills. I just hope I won't get bricked for this. I'm not good with ANs so I'm going to shut up. But well, do tell me what you think about this.