Wow, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I'm actually posting something on this cite instead of just reading other people's work. Well, this is my first fanfic, and I plan on writing more of this even if no one likes it. Hell, if even one person follows this I'll probable die from happiness. But warning, don't expect the chapters to always be this long, I have no idea how this happened to be honest.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, I only own my OCs and my lovely laptop.

The sun was shining, the wind was blowing. The ocean waves lapped at the shore lazily and the pale sand spread out from horizon to horizon. Palm trees and little sea shells dotted the shore and—

VOLLEYBALL!

Sam dived for the ball and managed to reach it just in time, keeping it in the air. Her friend and teammate, Ashlyn, set the ball while Conner spiked it over the net and won their team a point, as well as the match.

"HELL YEAH!" Sam cheered and Conner whooped in celebration. The two ran to each other and shared a double high-five before going to stand behind Ashlyn by the net. All of them had the same victorious grin on their faces as they looked upon the defeated team. John, Rick, and Izzy hung their heads in defeat and were all covered in sand, though the other team wasn't far behind in sand coverage.

"As agreed on at the beginning of the match," Ashlyn declared loudly, hers and her teammates' grins growing wider with each word, "you three will pay for all our meals until this time tomorrow." At the mention of the deal, the three defeated teens groaned loudly.

Conner ducked under the net and went to lay a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "Don't worry, bro," he said cheerfully, "we promise we won't eat up all your money. Right guys?" he turned his grinning face back to his teammates.

Ashlyn and Sam giggled softly before sharing a look. Together, the two of them consider the offer for a moment with a thoughtful face and the other team paled. "Well…" Ashlyn drawled. "We won't eat up all of it…"

"But we can't guaranty that there will be much left…" Sam finished with a drawl of her own. Their three friends looked at them in horror will Conner laughed.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Sam laughed and waved off their horrified expressions. "We know we're evil, but we're not that evil." She said with a grin and laughed alongside Ashlyn when they breathed a sigh of relief.

The six of them stood around and joked a little while longer before they unanimously agreed that it was too hot to stay outside any longer and started making their way to the beach house not that far from them. They were silent as they made it up the stairs of the porch and to the sliding glass door, but as soon as they entered the heaven known as an air-conditioned roomed, they all let out a sigh of relief.

Sam and Rick barely made it inside the door before they were both on the cool tile floor. They pressed their cheeks against the floor and let out content sighs. The other four shook their heads at their antics and made their way to the kitchen that was just off to the right when they entered. Izzy collapsed into one of the stools at the counter and pressed her head to its cool surface and let out a sigh similar to Sam's and Rick's.

The last three standing moved to the fridge and grabbed six chilled sodas from within. "Heads up, people!" Conner said and Rick and Sam pushed themselves into a sitting position. When Conner saw that they were up right, he threw two sodas their way. They caught the sodas with little trouble and held them to the back of their necks to try and cool themselves down faster. Ashlyn placed a soda in front of Izzy, who turned her head so she could see the soda without lifting her head from the counter. She reached out and dragged the soda over to her before opening it. She was forced to lift her head off the counter to drink but quickly returned her forehead to the counter top when she was done.

"Why most summer be so hot?" Rick whined as he collapsed onto the floor again.

"Because it is summer and a season, so therefore beyond the powers of us mere mortals to change." Sam said as she opened her soda and took a drink. She felt the cool liquid pass through her body and begin to cool it down.

"But we have the awesome thing called air-conditioning," Conner said in a dramatic voice, "which gives us mortals the ability to stay cool in the god forsaken heat." Ashlyn chuckled into her soda.

"A toast to air-conditioning then, for saving us from the heat of summer!" she said cheerfully. Everyone held up their drinks and gave a toast to the invention of air-conditioning, smiles dancing across each of their faces. After a half hour of cooling off and chatting in the kitchen, the six of them chose who would get the three showers first while the other three waited. Sam, John, and Izzy got the showers first and raced off to their rooms to get clean cloths while the other three stayed in the kitchen chatting. An hour later saw all six of them lounging around in the upstairs loft area freshly showered and sporting new clothes.

They sat around the coffee table with various chairs from around the room playing 'Cards Against Humanity' while they planned what they would do the next day and waiting for Izzy's parents to return. They had gone to the nearby town for the day in the morning while the teens had stayed at the beach house for some 'adult-free' time. They had also promised to come back with food, so that none of the teenagers in the room had to show off (or lack of) cooking skills.

In the end, Rick won the game, though he was closely followed by Ashlyn. Izzy's parents weren't home yet so they decided to hook up Izzy's laptop to the TV to watch some videos so they didn't have to crowd around the tiny computer screen. As soon as Izzy loaded up her home screen, Sam reached out and swiped the laptop from her lap and started typing in the search bar.

"Hey!" Izzy protested but Sam just shushed her.

"This is a matter of up most importance, Izzy." Sam said gravely as she hit ENTER on the keyboard. Izzy just scoffed at that.

"Really? And what would that be?" she challenged. The other four in the room looked up at the TV to see a list of links leading to sites that had the first subbed episode of One Piece, a crowd favorite, loaded.

"I have been informed on my way here," Sam began dramatically as she clicked onto one of the links and opened one of her favorite sites and turned to look at Rick with a sad look, though you could see amusement in her eyes, "that our dear friend Richard has never seen One Piece."

Izzy gasped in mock horror and looked at Rick with sad eyes as she tried to fight an excited grin from making its way onto her face. Conner and John looked at him in disbelief.

"Dude, how have you not seen One Piece yet?" Conner said.

"Yeah, it's like a requirement or something when you become friends with those two." John said.

Ashlyn hit both of the bothers on the shoulders. "Hush you two. Just because you four become friends because of that show doesn't mean that you made all your friends because of it."

"Yes it does."

"It's either they already know about it—"

"—or we corrupt them with it afterwards!"

"Yeah!" the brothers shared a double high-five and Ashlyn sigh at their childish nature. She turned to Rick, who was watching everything happen with a confused expression.

"Don't worry, the show isn't that bad actually." She said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What?" he said, still very much confused on how him telling one of his friends that he had never seen a show was such a big deal.

"Don't worry," Sam spoke up as she started up the video. "We're starting you up with the Subbed version. In a different language and you have to get used to reading the subtitles, but in the end way better than the dubbed version." The opening song started playing and she clicked the full-screen option and instantly filled the TV and computer screen with the show's first opening sequence.

Rick watched the opening with a confused expression still on his face, but now he seemed genuinely curious about the show that he had heard his friends talk so much about. The others leaned back in their seats and got ready to enjoy another marathon of one of their favorite shows.

Because they all knew it was going to turn into a marathon.

It had turned into a marathon, and by the time Izzy's parent got back with food, the Straw Hats had just made it to Usopp's island. The teens had a quick break for food before rushing back up the stairs to continue their marathon with now full stomachs.

They didn't stop until it was midnight, when Izzy's parents had said enough is enough and ordered everyone to bed. The teens left grudgingly, but made sure to bookmark their progress so that they could continue it in the morning before going to town.

And as the other five had hoped, when Rick finally went to bed that night, he was completely hooked. Now they just had be careful not to spoil anything for him.

The next morning, Sam was the first one up. She still had her internal alarm from school which had her waking up at six no matter what time she went to sleep, which meant that she got first dibs on the bathroom and shower. After she had had a quick shower and gotten dressed in a dark grey tank top and black shorts, she went down stairs to the kitchen to wait for the others with her short blonde hair still wet. Her wallet was in her back pocket as well as a little pocket note book and pencil. Over her shoulder was a bag that held sun screen, sunglasses, some Band-Aids (hey, you never know), and her prized ocarina.

She had just stepped in front of the sliding glass door that lead out to the beach when she saw a light coming from the shore. Sam stopped in front of the door and looked out at the beach. Curious, and looking for something to wake her up some more, she put on her sandals and headed out to the beach.

The light, it seemed, was coming from something buried just under the sand near the water's edge. She walked up to it curiously and kneeled down to get a better look at it. What could possibly make that kind of light? Flashlight? Phone? If it was anything electronic, than it was more than likely ruined, though the fact that it was still giving off light while buried under wet sand was amazing.

Sam scraped away the sand from the buried object. She stopped when she had done so and stared at the neckless in confusion. The light had disappeared, so at least dimmed, when she had uncovered the necklace. The necklace in question was just an emblem shaped like a circle with a blue sapphire in the center and a string that let it hang around someone's neck. She tilted her head to the side as she continued to stare at the piece of jewelry. She reached out and picked up the necklace to examine it closer. As she was wiping off the wet sand that covered most of the emblem, she heard a roaring sound come from the sea. She looked up in alarm and saw—

Was that a hand!?

Her eyes widen in shock and she tried to scramble back out of reach of the giant fucking hand made of water that had come from the sea and was trying to grab her. She didn't get far though, and soon the fucking hand of water had grabbed her and dragged her under.

She tried to scream but only succeeded on making air bubbles and losing her precious oxygen. Sam struggled and thrashed around in the fucking hand of water, the necklace still firmly in her clinched fist, but the grip around her never loosened. Her vision started going black as she was pulled farther and farther away from shore. Is this the end? She thought idly. Just as she was about to give up her losing battle and lose consciousness, the fucking hand of water released her and she dropped to the floor and gasped for air.

Oh, thank god! AIR! Sam cried mentally as she gasped for air, not having the energy to say those words out loud. When she was able to breath normally again, she took in her surroundings. The fucking hand of water had dropped her off in what looked like the entrance hall of a castle that had been under water for a few hundred years, minus, you know, the water. She looked behind her and saw the fucking hand of water disappearing into a wall of, you guessed it, water.

"I'm losing my mind…" Sam said softly to herself. She looked at the wall of water and stared as a fish swam past. She stared after for a few moments. "Defiantly losing my mind…"

She turned away from the wall of water and looked around. She still wasn't over the whole fucking hand of water reaching out of the sea and kidnapping her, but at least it hadn't dropped her into a room full of psychopaths, so that's a plus. And with no one around, that meant she could explore to her heart's content. That is, until she ran into someone.

She slowly got to her feet and looked around the entrance hall. It was really dim, and when she looked up, she couldn't ever see the ceiling which was covered in thick shadows. The light that reached in from outside the underwater castle gave Sam enough light to see what was around, so she wasn't too far underwater, but still… walking around in an underwater castle while still being able to breath normally without any equipment was making Sam's head spin so she stopped thinking about it. For now at least.

She slowly made her way deeper in to the castle until she reached an open door way at the end of the hall. The hall in front of her was covered in thicker shadows than the one she was standing in. She turned around to study the hall behind her. The only thing that served as a reminder that she was underwater was the open door that showed the underwater sea on the other side of the threshold.

She looked back at the dark hall in front of her and suddenly felt a feeling of foreboding. A part of her didn't want to continue forward but another part didn't want to be stuck in the first room. The whole place reminded her of some of the dungeons that you would have in a video game. All is peaceful in the first few rooms until you reach a locked door (that you happen to have found a key for) or an archway that leads into a room that doesn't have as much light. Then, after you've made it halfway across the room, all the enemies decide that that's the perfect moment to attack and give Sam a heart attack. Yeah, she really hoped that nothing like that happened because a) she didn't know how to fight, b) she had no weapons to defend herself with, even if she didn't know how to use them, and c) she had no idea where she was. At least in video games, you kinda know what you're up against.

Sam blinked when she started hearing a soft ringing sound and noticed that the area surrounding her and gotten lighter. Looking down, she noticed that the necklace she was holding (how she hadn't dropped it already is a mystery) had started glowing again. It wasn't glowing too brightly, but it was just enough to pierce the gloom in front of her for about ten feet. Plenty of space to give her a heads up if someone decides to jump out at her.

Confident now that she could see what was in front of her better, Sam started down the dark hall with the neckless held out in front of her to brighten her path. As she walked, she noticed just how empty the place was. There was nothing on the walls or floor. Sure some stray pebbles and corals near the walls, but other than that, it was bare stone that had been worn away by time. Here and there were doorways leading into rooms or other halls. Most were sealed shut but a few looked like someone, or something, had knocked them down with a great amount of force. Some looked like someone had been trying to get in, while others looked like someone had been trying to get out.

Great, Sam thought with a shiver as she looked into one such room that had had its door knocked down, it's like a horror game. Please no jump scares.

Just as she had thought that, she heard something shift inside the room. She went wide eyed and gasped before she quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming and in a vain attempt to cover up her heavy breathing. She looked into the room fearfully and knowing that whatever was inside already knew she was there because of her necklace/light, she slowly raised said object over her head to light up the room.

Inside the room she saw rotten chairs, tables, and book shelves, the books long gone. Nothing living, which didn't help her nerves. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. A sound too much like what one would think a spider would make come from by her feet and she stiffened. Slowly, ever so slowly, careful not to make any sudden movement though she doubted it mattered, she looked down at her feet while holding her breath and saw—

A crab.

She stared at it blankly as it crawled sideways out from under the door and then down the hall into the gloom. Well, she was in an underwater castle, so it wasn't that surprising that there was a crab. The thing that really got her was that she hadn't seen any form of life since the fish at the front door. After a moment of thought, the blonde started off after the crab.

"Ooooh, I'm so going to die. I'm so going to die…" Sam mumbled under her breath as she walked down the dark hallway. She was walking faster now that she actually had the vague outline of a plan. The blonde went over all the books, movies, and games that had had characters walking around in near pitch blackness. There weren't many, because she didn't like the horror genera, but she knew not to follow the spiders into the woods. Or crabs into dark not-so-underwater castles in this case.

Thank you, Harry Potter.

She continued mumbling as she speed walked down the hallway. She continued like that even after she had caught up to the crab. It was fast and clearly late for a very important date.

Her eyes were on the crab, so she didn't see the light until she was about eight feet away from it. The light was coming from the other side of a door that was open just enough for the crab to crawl its way passed.

The blonde slows to a stop five feet away and stares at the door suspiciously. It was the first room that she's seen that had its own light. She stood outside the door for a minute arguing with herself about whether or not she should go inside. Usually, when in a creepy place, you try to avoid the rooms with the creepy light if you can. But you usually end up going inside anyway. In the end, she throw her hands in the air while thinking fuck it and walked up to the door.

She braced herself as she grabbed hold of the door handle and pulled it open before she could change her mind. The room on the other side of the door was plain, as in it didn't have any broken and rotting tables and chairs. The only thing in the room was the crab and a glowing pool of water. The blonde looked at the pool and blinked. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The pool was still glowing.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," she said to herself in false humor. She walked into the room to get a closer look at the pool to see if she could find what was making it glow. As soon as she had taken five steps into the room, she heard to tell-tale signs of the door closing behind her.

She spun around on a dime with her eyes wide and ran back to the door, or at least where there should have been a door. The door was gone, leaving only a smooth stone wall in its place. Sam could feel her heart racing and her breathing quicken. She ran her hands over the smooth stone, trying desperately to find some clue as to how to get the door back. When she found none, she started banging on the wall in a futile attempt to smash her way through.

"I would stop banging on the wall like that if I were you, you'll only hurt yourself."

Sam's fist froze an inch away from the wall at the sound of the voice behind her. The voice was soft but still held power and demanded respect. She gulped but didn't dare move anymore. It was never good when you enter an empty room only to be trapped and hear a voice behind you.

Yeah, this isn't a horror movie at all.

The blonde stood perfectly still and a silence fell onto the underwater room. Please be a dream, please be a dream, she thought as she felt her panic rising. Please be a dream, please be a—

"Would you turn around?"

God fucking damn-it people! Sam roared silently as her heart jumped to her throat. A cold sweat formed on her temples as she slowly turned around on the voice's request. She only moved her head, not really wanting to face whatever it was behind her and looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. What she saw dropped her jaw to the floor and made her question her sanity.

Standing in the pool that had led to her confinement in the room was a man made of water. Correction, the pool had turned into a man who was now looking at Sam expectantly, if a man of water could show emotion.

The man of water looked just like that, a man of water. Sam couldn't tell any real features about the man, she couldn't even tell if he was a man. The only thing working for her in that department was that he sounded like one. It was just a mass of moving water in the rough shape of a human. In his center seemed to a glowing ball of currents that swirled around each other. She would have been entranced by the display, if she wasn't already so terrified.

"It's is a pleasure to meet you, Samantha Dru Noble." It said and crossed one of its watery hands over its chest and bowed. Meanwhile, Sam was trying not to panic even more over the fact that it knew her name, and not just the name she introduced herself as, but her full name. Yeah, no mini panic attacks over here—not.

Now, she didn't trust it facing her back so she turned around and pressed her back up against the wall, trying to put as much distance between her and the waterman. It seemed to sigh at that and said, "I'm not going to hurt you, I only want to talk."

"About what?" Sam snapped, startling herself with how steady and sharp her voice sounded. She sure didn't feel that confident and she knew that the thing in front of her knew it too, but he still had the decency to look impressed.

(At least she thought he looked impressed.)

"I have an offer to give you," it said and when the blonde made no move to interrupt him, he continued. "I am sure you have many questions, but I assure I will answer all the ones that I can. Before I do though, it would only be polite if introductions are made. Seeing as I already know your name—"Obviously, Sam thought humorlessly. "The only introduction is mine."

The mass of water rose a little high, "I am Water, the elemental embodiment of all bodies of water across the worlds." He paused, as if waiting for a reaction and Sam used the moment to raise her hand in the air like she was in school and was about to ask a question.

"Eh, dude. That's a terrible name. You should call yourself Aquarius or something." Sam said, not having waited for 'Water' to let her speak. She may have raised her hand, but she wasn't in school. Old habits die hard though.

Water seemed taken aback by Sam declaration and tilted its 'head' to the side. "Really?" when he received a nod, he hummed before shrugging. "Well, if it makes you more comfortable, you may call me Aquarius." Sam nodded and the newly dubbed Aquarius shifted his position again.

"Now that names are out of the way, let's get down to the real reason I brought you here." He started as the blonde looked at him in shock. Wait, he was the giant fucking hand of doom!? Sam shouted in her head. Well, it made sense and he was made out of water, it wasn't that far of a stretch of the imagination to connect him to the hand.

"As I have told you, I am the elemental embodiment of the element of water. Now, there are three others like me. One for earth, fire, and air." he shifted again, like he was nervous or uncomfortable about what came next. "We elements are prone to… ah, disagreements, which more than likely turn violent before they are resolved. To make sure that our disagreements don't get too far out of hand, we had decided that to avoid the destruction of worlds, we would chose champions to fight in our stead.

"Each element has a current name for their champions, and mine are known as Sea Dragons." Aquarius shifted again and Sam leaned in closer. "They are not actually dragons, mind you, but they fight with the same heart and passion of a dragon." He added at the look of disappointment of Sam's face. She was looking forward to hearing about real dragons.

"The term 'Sea Dragon' also refers to the shared changes in appearances that all my champions had, as well as their strength." Aquarius chuckled at Sam when he noticed her eyes widen. "Nothing too drastic, they still had to blend in with others of their kind, but enough to tell other champions who was whose."

A paused passed over the room as Sam went over the information in her head with one arm crossed over her chest and the other resting under her chin. She pushed away from the wall and took a few steps forward. Aquarius hadn't attacked her yet, nor had he drowned her before, so she felt a little safer around him. Plus, he was giving her background information, which he didn't have to do. Or, you know, he could be stalling.

"Why are you telling me this?" she said as she looked up at the very element of water. He was several feet taller than her, so she had to look up to meet his face, or at least what she thought was his face.

If a globe of water could smile, Sam would bet that he was doing it right now. "Because I would like to ask you to become one of my champions."

Sam looked at him blankly as his words settled in, then her brain finally caught up to what he had said. "EEHHHHH?!" she said as her eyes popped out of their sockets and jaw went to the floor for a second time in that room. "You," she pointed at him, "want me," she pointed at herself, "to be one of your Sea Dragons?"

"Yes."

"What the hell, man?!" Sam suddenly yelled. "Are you insane?! I'm not a fighter, I never was! Look at this!" she said as she raised one of her arms and waved it around. "Look at all this nonexistent muscle! Look, I'm honored and all, but I wouldn't survive a second in a fight between champions." The blonde shook her head furiously, absently noting that her hair was now dry, before crossing her arms in front of her to form an X. "No, nadda, not gonna happen, buddy."

Aquarius tilted his head to the side and crossed his 'arms', "Why of course you wouldn't survive in a fight between seasoned champions."

Sam deadpanned. "Thanks."

"But no champion started out at full power. Do children have the same strength of an adult? No, they have to grow into it." He gave Sam a pointed look and she shut her mouth, stopping the retort she was about to fire at him. "Every champion is trained before they are expected to fight others, though sometimes there are exceptions."

"But why me?" Sam asked. That question had been playing over and over again in the back of her head like a broken record ever since she had been dropped off in this castle. And she was going to get her answer, one way or another.

"Because," he said as he leaned forward and pointed one of his watery fingers at her chest, "You have the same kind of heart that I look for in all my champions." He bumped his finger against her chest, right over her heart, before returning to his former position of towering over her.

She looked down at her chest and placed a hand over her heart. After a few minutes of silence, she looked back up at Aquarius. "You really think I could be a champion?"

He nodded, "Yes."

"Ok then," she said as she crossed her arms and looked up at the element of water. "When do I start?"

"Well," Aquarius said, sounding quite smug, "As soon as you set foot into your world, you will become a champion but you will only officially become a champion after all your training is down."

"And how long will that take?" Sam asked.

"Normally, three to five year, but for you, about ten."

"WHAT?!" Sam shouted. Like, she knew she was weak but that's just taking it too far now!

Aquarius held his hands up in surrender and calmly replied. "Not only are you yet to turn into an adult, but as you have said, you are not the picture of fitness." Sam grudgingly agreed with him, but it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"But," he said as he held his hand out, palm up, "I have a plan to even the playing field for you, and in the end, it could even make you one of the strongest." Sam looked up in interest now and watched in amazement as water rose up from his hand and started spinning around in a tight little ball. Within seconds the spinning ball of water had solidified and had turned into a large orange, though the blonde could tell instantly that it wasn't a normal orange.

For starters, its fruit tree must have messed up it color scheme, because the leaves and stem of the fruit were orange while the actual fruit part was a leafy green with a strange swirl pattern. In fact, it kinda looked like a—

"Devil Fruit?!"

Aquarius blinked (or at least she thought he blinked), and said, "Yes, it is. How did you know?"

Sam stared at the fruit in disbelief, not knowing if she should turn around and run the other away because she was getting a bad feeling about this or grin like an idiot because she gets to eat a devil fruit. She chose instead to answer the waiting element's question. "It's part of a show I like…"

The element seemed to brighten at that and said happily, "Ah, One Piece, yes? This makes things much easier then." he held the devil fruit for her to take. "Eat this, and you'll be able to give yourself any kind of boost you need whenever you need it."

The blonde took the devil fruit and held it carefully. She wanted to know how the fact that her liking One Piece made things easier, but first she had some important questions to have answered. "What fruit is this?"

"The Buff Buff no Mi, or more commonly known as the Boost Boost no Mi. In theory, it allows the eater to give themselves any kind of boost you can think of, ranging from strength and speed to muffling your own footsteps so they are almost impossible to hear. Its powers are quite limitless, and the only thing standing in your way from complete mastery in your imagination." Aquarius paused before chuckling. "I take it you approve?"

"Yes," Sam breathed. If it lived up to its name, there were going to be so many times she can abuse her ability. And the first name of the fruit gives her an idea…

This is going to be so much fun if she's right!

She looked up at Aquarius with a wide toothy grin. "This is mine?" She asked, almost bouncing with excitement. Oh, the possibilities with this fruit, and the number of times she is going to get to troll people!

The element nodded and Sam had to stop herself from eating it right then and there, because one, it was going to taste horrible and she needed to steal herself and two, there was one little detail that was bothering her.

"But if I eat this and am a Sea Dragon, wouldn't I lose what makes me, you know, a Sea Dragon?" She asked, lowering the Devil Fruit form her mouth.

Aquarius waved off her concerns. "I am water, I'm not stupid enough to leave one of my own champions at a disadvantage. You'll lose your Devil Fruit ability in water and when touching Sea Stone but other than that, the only thing that changes is you may find it harder to use your Sea Dragon abilities. But I see is as a fair trade off."

Sam thought about it and had to agree. It wasn't like she was losing a part of her abilities permanently, she would have the normal Devil Fruit user weakness (minus the hammer part) and her Sea Dragon abilities would be harder to use, but not impossible. A fair trade indeed for a fruit that can troll the world.

Sam looked down at the Devil Fruit in her hands and took a deep breath. She held it for a second before she quickly took the first bite of her fruit. The instant the juices of the fruit hit her tongue, she had to force herself not to gag and finish taking her first bite. It tasted horrible! She couldn't even find the words to describe it and she hoped she never would. Like—dear God that was nasty!

She only managed one more bite before she couldn't take it anymore and dropped the fruit and held her hands to her stomach panting.

"That," she managed to say between pants after a few minutes of gagging, "was the most horrible thing I have ever tasted. They weren't kidding about the taste…" she looked at the fallen Devil Fruit in distain and edged away from it. The ability better be worth it.

Aquarius chuckled and with a wave of his hand, the partly eaten fruit dissolved back into water and flowed back into the pool. "Now you are ready to start your new life."

Sam gingerly got to her feet and looked up at the element. She opened and closed her mouths several times before she finally said, "I'll take it I won't be seeing my family again?" her voice seemed suddenly small in the room. The element before her studied her carefully. He knew this question was coming and was surprise that she took this long to ask it, and the fact she asked it at all. Most either asked it at the beginning or never at all so they could cling to the hope that one day, one day they would see their family again.

"Yes," he said and watched as her shoulders slumped. "But seeing as you're underage, here at least," he said and instantly Sam was looking at him again, "You'll have to inform them of your new status. Write them a letter and I'll make sure that it is delivered."

Sam beamed up at him and nodded. A small twinkle made its way into her eyes and she grinned up at the element. "Message in a bottle, I take it?" she said playfully.

"Yep!" he said and Sam had to stop herself from falling to the floor.

She straightened and looked around the room. She didn't see a door. "So… how do I get out of here?"

Aquarius seemed to smile and said simply. "I'll take care of that. I'll be sending you to the weakest Blue so you'll have a chance to adjust before you have to make it to the HQ in Paradise."

Sam looked at the element in confusion and tried to ignore the growing sense of dread in her stomach. "Wait, what?"

"Well, off you go!" Aquarius said there cheerfully and with a wave of one of his watery arms, Sam disappeared.

It felt like she had become suddenly weightless at the same moment her vision went black. A second later, she felt gravity return and her feet slam in to the ground. She blinked a few times to get her vision back and was greeted with the sight of the ocean stretching out in front of her for as far as her eyes could see.

She looked around in wonder and noticed that it was night time and that her wardrobe had changed slightly. She was wearing the same top and shorts and still had her bag and sandals, but now she had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck with a single long tail behind her and a blue sash around her waist.

I guess it's so I can fit in? Or maybe it's part of being a champion that he hadn't told me about, the blonde thought to herself. She looked back out at the sea in front of her and remembered what Aquarius had said;

"I'll be sending you to the weakest Blue so you'll have a chance to adjust before you to have to make it to the HQ in Paradise."

A cold shiver traveled down her spine and she felt herself pale. No, he couldn't have… Sam thought to herself firmly, but another voice whispered.

But what about the Devil Fruit?

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She opened her eyes and set her face in a determined expression before she slowly turned around. What she saw behind her almost made her heart stop.

It was a town, nothing too abnormal or shocking about it, but Sam hardly looked at it when her eyes instantly went to the one building that towered over the others. Even in the dark and all the way at the docks, she could clearly see the words at the top of the tower.

Marines.

"Ah shit," Sam breathed with wide eyes. She couldn't believe it, she was… No! Just because it looks like it doesn't mean it is! She told herself furiously as she shook her head and glared at the building in the distance. But… if there is even a small chance, I better check it out.

With a determined expression, Sam started down the road and made her way towards the tower as quickly as possible. It didn't help that it was nighttime and that there was no one out to ask directions, but she made it to the Marine Base front gate in under twenty minutes.

Marine Base.

She didn't stop at the gate but instead turned left and started walking around its walls. After a minute of walking she stopped and looked at the wall in front of her. She almost felt ashamed on the Marines' behalf on how poor the wall was. It had so many hand and foot holds that it was almost laughable, not to mention that fact that it wasn't very tall.

After giving the wall one last look, the blonde backed up until she hit the wall of the house across for the wall. She paused for a moment before she ran forward and vaulted over the wall. When she landed, she rolled to a stop on her knees. She paused for a mount to listen if anyone had seen her. She didn't know how she felt about people seeing her just yet. But seriously, no portals?

She looked across the court yard she found herself in and froze when she saw a figure tied to a wooden cross in the middle of it. A cloud had passed in front of the moon, making it even darker out so she could barely see any features. After a little war with herself, Sam decided she wanted to get this done with the cover of darkness and not in the middle of the day.

So, trembling slightly she got to her feet and slowly made her way towards the figure, careful to make her steps as quiet as possible. When she got within five feet of him, she stopped and stared.

"Ah shit," she said and at the same time the cloud that was in front of the moon move, to reveal a teen in a white shirt, black pants and boots, a green haramaki, and three gold earrings on his left ear. It also revealed that Roronoa Zoro was every much awake and was glaring right at her.

Fuuuuuuuu—

"*Anata wa ittai darena ndesu ka?" he demanded.

Wait, what?

The silence continued to pass between us and I could tell that with every second, Zoro was getting more and more annoyed while I was still trying to understand what had just happened.

"Anata wa ittai darena ndesu ka?" he growled again and confirmed my worst fear.

I was in the One Piece world, and everyone spoke Japanese.

"God damn-it people," I groaned.

"Huh?" was all Zoro had to say.

Somewhere in the first half of the Grand Line on the edge of the Calm Belt, a pool, much like the one in the room Sam had been in, had a ripple pass through it, breaking its clear surface. One of the occupants of the room the pool was located in looked up from what he was reading and looked to pool.

"So? How'd it go?" he asked as the others in the room stopped what they were doing to listen in.

"Just as planned," Aquarius said as he rose out of the water, "Soon we will have another here with us."

"Did you remember to give her a translator?"

The element stilled for a moment before he started moving again. "Ah, I know I was forgetting something."

Silence.

"God have mercy on her soul."

This is where I'll put anything that is said in Japanese in Sam's p.o.v. I used Google Translate so hopefully it isn't too bad.

*Who the hell are you?