Dreary days pass in a blur. The same thing over and over again, with no change to brighten things up, no color to be different. It's all just the same. Again and again and again.

I looked out the window at the cloudy sky, thinking. Today was my seventeenth birthday, the day I had hoped to enjoy. But no. It's cloudy, and raining, and cold. So all my plans are completely shot out the window.

I sighed, resigned to my boredom and went upstairs to my room, pulling out a copy of my favorite manga, One Piece. They were lucky and unlucky. They had a life of adventure and great friends, but they suffered as well. They were constantly getting into trouble but they always managed to pull out of it. I admired them.

I know without a doubt that my friends won't call and they won't show up. Tomorrow they'll make ten-thousand excuses as to why but none of them will be the truth. The truth is, they're beginning to hate me. They hate my sharp opinions, my blunt honesty, how I seem to get into a lot of fights. They hate that I can see all their flaws and all their fears. They dislike that I can read them so easily and they begin to fear how I know them so well.

I guess it's to be expected. I've always been intuitive about people and it's only grown stronger as time flies by. I begin to see more of truth of my friends, and less of the people I liked and trusted. Their hearts aren't strong or faithful. They're selfish, spiteful, ignorant. And yet I can't pull away from them. I can't avoid them, or run away from them. No matter what I find myself drawn to them because they are familiar. I have known them for so long that it would feel wrong to not be beside them.

I set the manga aside and stared up at my ceiling. For all the friends I had I felt alone. There was no one here with a pure heart, someone who was strong, reliable, faithful, and true. My own heart wished for someone like that, who could accept my blatant honesty, my intuitiveness, and my sour moods. I needed friends that didn't secretly hate me; friends who would stand by my side if I chose to go against the world. I ached for friends like that.

"Arlana? Are you there?"

I turned over and looked at the door as it opened. Mom stuck her head in, smiling at me. "Happy Birthday sweetheart."

"Thanks Mom," I mumbled. "At least you mean it."

She frowned, opening the door wider and stepping in. She sat down on the bed beside me.

"What do you mean sweetheart? How could I not mean it?"

I sighed and looked away from her. "My friends don't really like me mom. They hate my honesty and my opinions and how I know so much about the real them. They hate me."

"Oh sweetheart, you know that's not true," Mom said. Her eyes are dark brown and always filled with warmth. She leaned over and hugged me tightly, her dark hair falling in a curtain around us. She smelled like honey and cinnamon. She smelled like home.

"Yeah it is mom," I whispered, hugging her back. "and it doesn't help that I always get into fights."

She pulled away and smiled at me, a hint of sadness in her gaze. "Arlana, my sweet little girl, you know that you are so much more than what anyone sees. No matter what they say, you are who you are."

I smiled at her, but it was forced. "Okay Mom. Thank you."

She studied me before shaking her head sadly and leaving. I rolled over on my other side and stared at the wall, forcing my mind to be blank. Soon, sleep overcame me.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night. I wasn't sure what had made me wake up until I heard the quiet whisper of voices. Silently I crept out of my room and down the stairs, stopping on the last step and sitting down to listen.

"-can't keep her in the dark Kieran. She needs to know the truth." The voice was deep but kind and very unfamiliar. I frowned, leaning forward to listen harder.

"The truth?" Mom laughed. "Milo she would not believe the truth."

"How do you know that? Have you told her? Her abilities are beginning to grow stronger. Soon she will need to know. She'll need proper training."

Proper training? What on earth were they talking about? And what abilities?

Mom sighed heavily and I heard her stand up and begin pacing. "I know that Milo. I know. Soon her abilities will hit full force and she won't be able to hide anymore. But I want her to be normal for now Milo, to have a normal life. I need that for her."

"Kieran, she's strong. She'll be able to face what comes and overcome it all. And she'll be a natural. I can tell that she takes after Kirk."

My heart stopped at my father's name. What did he have to do with this and how did this stranger know him?

"She's just like Kirk, Kieran. She's strong but she's also good at hiding what she's feeling. She uses her honesty to her advantage as well. It's all a farce that she uses to protect herself. Soon that farce will be ripped away from her and she'll need someone to run to. Right now, she doesn't have anyone."

"What can I do?" Mom whispered. "I can't send her there. She isn't strong enough. She'd die so quickly."

My heart hammered in my chest. Slowly, I stood up and crept back to my room, terrified. I shut the door with a soft click and flipped the light on. My room was small and plain. The only thing that showed anything personal about me was my collection of One Piece manga and the single picture of Mom, Dad, and me.

I pushed myself back away from the door and opened my closet, pulling out a small black backpack. I shoved some clothes in it before pulling up a floorboard. I pulled the box out, a final gift from my father. I had been told not to open it until I was seventeen and to not let anyone see it. Unthinkingly I shoved it into the backpack and quickly pulled out a sheathed knife that was around a foot long. It was also a last gift from my father, a weapon I was skilled with and treasured.

Tossing it into the bag as well, I pulled on a back hoodie and opened my window carefully. The rain had stopped sometime during my sleep and had left the air cool and clear. The clouds had passed so I could see the stars.

I dropped down silently to the ground. Something strange was going on with my mom and until my head was clear, I was going to walk around in the forest. It was something I had always done, a way of thinking out anything that was bothering me. The forest lead right to the top of a cliff and if you knew where to look, there was a good path down to the beach and the ocean. That's where I always loved to go.

Even in the dark I found the path that went directly to the cliff with ease. It wasn't particularly wide or easy to spot. In fact, it was overgrown and difficult to travel in the dark. But I'd traveled it so many times it was burned into my memory.

I stumbled a little over a couple of tree roots but made it to the cliff with relative ease. Once there, the moon lit up the night, allowing me to see with perfect clarity the trail and the area around me. It was beautiful and so, so peaceful.

The moon bathed everything in a silver glow, bringing out a calmness and beauty that was rarely seen in the daylight. I could hear an owl hooting and several other animals searching around in the night. I loved this side of the world that you couldn't always see. It was different and I liked that.

I crept forward and started down the trail slowly. It was a stable trail but it was by no means completely safe. It was narrow in some places and littered with small stones and pebbles that could cause you to fall. I tried not to think about the painful death that awaited me if I was to fall. It wasn't a comforting thought.

Halfway down the trail I heard shouting in the distance. It was growing closer. I pushed myself against the cliff and went faster, a sense of dread settling over me. I was almost certain that whoever it was wasn't Mom and the other guy, Milo. And there shouldn't be anyone else in the forest, not at this time of night.

Several times I stumbled over rocks and pebbles but I managed to make it safely down to the beach. Quietly I made my way to one of the caves, ducking into it and walking a little faster. My hands followed the walls to keep myself from tripping in the dark. I could hear the voices coming closer.

"You see 'er Johnny?"

"Nah. You?"

"No. Where could the little brat have gone?"

I lacked faster, ignoring the way the wall sometimes cut into my palm, likely drawing blood. I knew I had to get away as fast as an could but I'm the dark, there was always a chance of running into something or the ground suddenly dropping off unexpectedly. I had to be careful.

The sounds of the two men grew closer and I began to walk a little faster. Normally, I wouldn't be scared. In fact, I normally confront people directly and that usually leads to the fights that seem to push my friends away.

But oh well. It's not like they've been the best of friends.

Despite knowing that I could defend myself, I was beginning to get scared. I didn't have a clue why these two men were after me and normally I do. Did it have something to do with what I'd overheard mom talking about? Or was it something worse?

"Damn. You know the boss'll be pissed with us of we return without her."

Stupid idiots. I could hear them in this cave, she the sound seem to travel into it as if dragged in.

Up ahead I made out a faint glow on the walls. It was getting lighter. I went a little faster and the minute I could see everything in front of me easily I bolted, running towars the light.

I came out in a huge cavern. The light danced on the walls in a million colors. I stared I awe at the underground lake that produced this light. It was unlike any lake I had ever seen. The surface sparkled like millions of diamonds in an array of colors. The water seemed to give off a warmth that reminded me oddly of Mom. It was comforting, accepting, and loving.

"I see the cavern Johnny! She must have gone there!"

I had only two options at this point. I could turn around and confront them or I could jump into,this mysterious lake, hope it wasn't radioactive or poisonous and swim for all I was worth.

Sensing an adventure and feeling that somehow, I was meant to do it, I jumped into the lake and swam down. I couldn't explain it but there was justo this feeling that I needed to go down no matter what.

Then again, I could just be crazy, which is all too likely.

"A choice to make...a world to seek...a path to follow..."

The voice rang clearly in my head as everything began to go fuzzy. My lungs ached for air but still I kept swimming down.

"Pick the world to discover...the people to help...and the path to make it all happen..."

My mind went blank as my vision went black. And still I could hear that voice in my head.

"Pick a world to discover, aging a path to follow, and a life to live...pick..."

So it thought the first world that came to mind.

One Piece

And then mind went dark.

I groaned, my head pounding. Well, at least that told me I was alive and I hadn't drowned. Or was it possible to feel pain in heaven?

I opened my eyes slowly, taking in a remarkably blue sky. I turned my head to the left tans nearly leaped out of my skin. Tied to a post, was someone I recognized very well.

Roronoa Zoro.

Oh Kami, I was in One Piece.

That's just asking for Danger magnet.

I sat up, rubbing my head blearily as I looked at him and he looked back.

"Um...hi?" I asked uncertainly.

He snorted. "That's all you have to say after falling out of the sky?"

"um, what was I suppose to- FELL OUT OF THE SKY?!"

He looked faintly amused at my reaction. "Yeah. You just appeared out of nowhere in time to fall from the sky."

I flipped him the finger, standing up shakily. "Life hates me," I muttered. "Life really must hate me."

I stretched out my muscles before noticing that I was in different clothes. I was in a blue tank top, a black jacket that was long and baggy, black shorts, and black ankle high boots. I felt on my head and there was a hat there. I pulled it off to look at it.

It stuck with the theme my other clothes had. Black and blue. The hat itself was black with a blue ribbon around it. Tied around the ribbon was a black string and hanging from the string were some blue beads and a couple of iridescent black feathers. The blue of the ribbon and my shirt were beautiful, somehow making the sky seem washed out in comparison but not even close to the color sky blue.

"Pretty," I said, placing the hate back on my head. I turned to Zoro. "Has a kid with a straw hat come to see you yet?"

His eyes widened. "How the hell did you know that?!"

I smiled wickedly. "I know lots of things Roronoa Zoro."

He looked kind of freaked out by that and I laughed. "Calm down moss head! Honestly, you act like I just said the world was going to end or somethin' crazy like that!"

His eye twitched, showing that he was getting irritated with me. I looked around for my bag and found it, rummaging in it for a change of clothes...

Only to have my arm go all the way in like the thing was a black hole.

"Holy-!"

I jerked my arm back out, gaping at the bag. Okay, now I know i'm going insane. There was no way that my bag just let my arm go all the way in without bending it. There was no way, no way, no-

"What's with that face girl? You never seen a bag that can hold anything and has everything in it?"

I spun around, gaze immediately landing on the creature that had spoken. It looked like a small dragon which made me think it was a wyvern. He was blue, like my shirt, but with a silvery hue to him. His eyes were like molten gold and they watched me scornfully.

"You're the one everyone's been talking about then? You honestly don't look like much," he said, looking me up and down. "how anyone expects you to surpass your father is beyond me."

"You knew my dad?" I asked. Dad had disappeared when I was around ten and he was presumed dead. I'd always hoped differently though.

The wyvern scoffed. "Of course I knew your father! Who didn't? He was very well known throughout the worlds, being a famous healer and whatnot. Do you not know?"

"I just know that I fell through a sparkly lake and thought about this place and suddenly here I am," I said. "Can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

The wyvern gave me a scathing glance, gold eyes showing nothing but scorn. "Foolish girl, how could you be so blind? Did you never open the box he gave you?"

I glared at the creature, annoyed. I'd been told not to open the box until I was seventeen which was today. "No I didn't. I was told not to open the box until I turned seventeen which was today, but as you can probably tell, that hasn't ended well!"

His scornful look disappeared immediately to be replaced by one of shock. "The fools never told you? You never learned of your heritage?"

"What heritage?" I demanded. "What the hell is going on? Are you going to explain that or not?!"

"Your father was a healer," he said. "But he was also a world traveler, going to different worlds and healing people. He had several abilities, as is normal in your family. They are all completely different and can range from fortune telling to what foolish humans consider magic. Your father left behind a wish that you lead a life of your own choice, finding out about your family on your own. He wanted you to be free but to know of your heritage. So the choice is up to you. You can stay and find out your heritage, or you can go back and face the people who would do anything to get their filthy hands on you and the power you hold."

I clenched my fists. "I want to learn more."

I suppose those five words sealed my fate. The wyvern introduced himself as Surudoi, meanin sharp, and climbed into the bag to wait out the events that would happen. I sat myself down besides Zoro, figuring I wouldn't interfere just yet.

Eventually Luffy appeared and he was surprised when he noticed me.

"Eh? Who are you?"

I smiled brightly at him. "I'm Arlana. It's nice to meet you Luffy."

"How do you now my name?"

"I know lots of things," I said mysteriously.

"COOL! Are you a fortune teller?"

"Eh...not really but in a way..."

"Then join my crew!"

Okay, I should have seen that one coming.

"Maybe, but only if you can offer me something worth more than any amount of gold there is."

"FOOD!"

I twitched. Food? That was the best he could come up with on the spot? But then again, this is Luffy we're talking about. He thinks about food and becoming pirate king.

"No. Get Zoro to join your crew and keep thinking."

After that came the fight with the marines and meeting Coby, nearly getting shot, defeating the marines, saying goodbye, and leaving the town.

And now i just know things are going to get crazier.