One Piece: The Misery of Loss
Hello everyone. This is my third story: The Misery of Loss. The events of this story take place after my previous story, Agony of Weakness. This is a sequel but you do not need to read Agony of Weakness in order to understand the story. Anyway, please enjoy the story.
-SilverWrath
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of it's characters.
Chapter 1
The afternoon sky was covered in low hanging, light gray clouds as the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, the Thousand Sunny, gracefully bobbed it's way through the seas of New World. The clouds obstructed the warm rays of the sun, creating a blanket of cool air and bad weather beneath them. A strange rain with a slight purple tint bombarded the mighty vessel as it battled through the rough current and strong winds. This kind of strange weather phenomenon was unlike anything the Straw Hats had ever seen, but apparently strange weather was common on the unpredictable seas of the New World. There was a good reason only the mightiest of the mighty could withstand these waters. The Straw Hat Pirates knew that they would have to be ready for anything. This purple rain could have unforeseen effects on the crew and their ship.
Most of the crew had retreated inside the ship to avoid the rain. Only two figures remained on deck. The figures stood against the strange weather as a testament to the Straw Hat's devotion to their dreams and goals. The figures stood side by side on the grass-covered deck of the ship staring deep into the sky. The shorter of the two raised their right arm and began rotating it in a counter clockwise direction while holding the their shoulder with their left hand. The figure was the notorious captain of the Straw Hat Pirates: Monkey D. Luffy. This man was blight upon the world. The World Government had long ago decreed that this man was to captured or killed at any cost. He had attacked and destroyed several major Naval installations including the most secure prison in the world, Impel Down, and aided in a large-scale war against the Marine Headquarters. This evil man had committed so many atrocious crimes, that the World Government had put and 4,000,000 beli bounty on his head. Bounties of that magnitude were not earned easily. Monkey D. Luffy was a truly evil man.
"Nah, I could totally punch a hole in that cloud." Luffy said to the other figure on deck. He was still winding up his arm and had not taken his eyes off the sky. Despite his nickname of straw Hat Luffy his trademark straw hat was not on his head. The second figure shook his head. It was Luffy's first mate and swordsman of the Straw Hats: The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro.
"No way Luffy." Zoro said crossing his arms. "Your hand would go straight through it. You can't break up a cloud with your fist. I could tear it to shreds with my swords, but your fist won't do anything." Luffy laughed and stopped rotating his arm. A sly grin slowly began spreading across his face.
"Wanna bet?" Luffy said turning his head towards his first mate. Without a seconds pause, Zoro answered.
"You're on." Zoro answered mimicking Luffy's grin. Luffy nodded and angled his arm up towards the sky. Keeping his left hand on his right shoulder for support, Luffy drew his arm back to the point where his elbow was almost touching the grass.
"Alright, here it goes... GUM GUM PISTOL!" Luffy shouted as he launched his fist forward into the sky. His arm stretched like a rubber band as it flew toward his targeted cloud. His entire body had been turned into rubber after eating the Gum Gum Fruit, a Devil Fruit that alters the body of the person that consumed it into rubber. Luffy's fist sailed through the air like a bullet. "Ready to lose Zoro?" He asked in a smug voice as his arm continued to stretch into the heavens. He and Zoro had their eyes trained on Luffy's fist as it slowed and came to a stop. Even though he was made of rubber, his body could only stretch so far before it would snap back to its original shape. His arm did just this well before his fist collided with the clouds. His arm retracted, returning to its original size and position. "Ah man." Luffy said with sigh. "The stupid cloud's too far away." Luffy crossed his arms and Zoro laughed.
"Too bad Luffy." He said clapping his hand on his captain's back. "Looks like you won't be punching any clouds today." He said smiling at his captain. Luffy shrugged.
"And what?" He said returning Zoro's grin. "You think YOU could reach it? If my arms can't make it up that high, your swords sure as heck can't make it that far." Zoro shook his head and placed one of his hands on one of his swords.
"Oh I could make it alright." He said with a devilish grin. "Remember, I don't have to reach. My new and improved 360 Caliber Phoenix could tear through those clouds like they were made of paper." He said proudly. The men's conversation quickly escalated into a friendly argument over which of them could more effectively destroy clouds as a third figure watched them from an open door on the second story balcony of the Sunny. This new figure leaned against the frame of the open door with their arms crossed. Clearly, the third figure did not believe that either one of these idiots were going to be able to hit the clouds. It was foolish for either of them to try. The figure tilted their head up and looked at the sky. The clouds were awfully low though. It wasn't impossible for someone to hit them. The figure pushed off of the doorframe, closed it and took a long drag from his cigarette before vaulting over the railing. He landed in the grass a few feet behind the arguing men. It was Sanji, the lovesick cook of the Straw Hats.
"You have got to be kidding me." He said as he landed on the grass. The purple rain quickly put out his cigarette but he didn't really care. "Neither one of you idiots will ever be able to break up clouds. Clouds are made up of water vapor and neither a fist or whatever Moss-head does with his pointy sticks could damage them." He said taking his eyes off the men and looking up at the sky.
"What'd you say!?" Zoro snapped at Sanji's comment. Sanji ignored him and continued.
"Now fire on the other hand...That would damage those cloud quite nicely. One good kick from my Diable Jambe would evaporate those clouds in an instant." He said proudly. Zoro glared at Sanji while. Luffy shrugged
"I dunno anything about that, but I bet we could kick this storm's ass all over the New World if all three of us attacked at once. What do you guys think?" He said turning his attention to the two crewmembers next to him. Both of them nodded.
"Hell yeah." Sanji said. "Of course, Luffy and I would do most of the work. Moss-head can try to keep the birds from getting in our way if he can handle it." He said nonchalantly. Before Zoro could respond Sanji took his cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it across the deck and into the sea. "So what's up with this weird rain? I have never seen purple rain." He asked. Zoro refused to answer but Luffy chuckled.
"I dunno, but it's really cool." He said chuckling. Sanji laughed and nodded.
"Yeah it is. Some of the coolest rain I have ever seen." He said running his hand over his head. Water collected on his hand and Sanji flicked it onto the grass "Maybe we can replace the water in the fish tank with-" Sanji's words were cut off by the sound of someone kicking open a door. A woman's violently voice tore through the air of the ship and all three men visibly flinched, as they knew that they were in trouble.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MORONS DOING OUT IN THE RAIN?!" The voice screamed. All three men cowered away from the voice. It was Nami, the short-tempered, orange haired Navigator of the Straw Hats. She stood inside of the kicked in doorway just out of the reach of the purple downpour. "GET YOUR ASSES INSIDE. WE HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IS IN THIS RAIN! IT COULD BE POISON!" Nami screamed at them from the safety of her doorway. She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, which was the same door that Sanji had been standing in earlier. Luffy looked at her and noticed the familiar shape of his straw hat resting against her back. He was happy to see that she still had it. Luffy and Zoro sighed as Sanji whipped around and bolted towards the stairs.
"Yes Nami my love!" Sanji shouted as he ran towards the stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, Luffy and Zoro began their short trek to follow him. The walk to the stairs should have only taken a few seconds, but it seemed like it took hours with Nami's glare shooting daggers at them. As they reached the stairs, Luffy paused and looked up to where Nami had been. To his distress, he was unable to see her from his current angle. He decided that he would try to talk to her.
"Aww come on Nami." He whined in her general direction. "We weren't breaking anything. Can't we stay outside? We have been out here for a while and it hasn't done anything yet." Luffy reasoned. While he stood at the bottom of the stairs, Zoro passed him and went up the stairs first leaving him alone on the grass-covered deck.
"No." Nami said sternly. Her voice was considerably calmer than it had been before, but she was still serious. "This stuff could be dangerous. Who knows what effects it could have on you if you are out in it for too long." Luffy didn't move from the bottom of the stairs. He glanced up the stairs and watched as Zoro disappeared from his view. He sighed and decided to try again.
"That's not fair." He said. "It's way more fun out here." He paused for a moment. Suddenly a grin spread across his face. "Hey I have an idea..." Luffy said with the smile still plastered on his face. He threw arm up to the second floor railing and grabbed it. He pulled himself up onto the balcony with a swift jump. He landed a few feet away from the open door. As he landed, he noticed that Zoro was nowhere to be seen. Luffy looked up and saw Nami standing in the doorway with her eyes closed and her hands on her hips. His eyes danced along her perfect body. He was particularly fond of Nami and he had been for a long time. He giggled to himself because he knew that she felt exactly the same way. As mean as Nami acted she had a soft spot for her dim wit of a captain. Their relationship was no secret to the crew. Everyone knew that they loved one another and everyone respected their potentially disastrous decision. Nami opened her eyes and looked at Luffy. As Luffy's figure filled Nami's vision, he noticed her annoyed expression soften. She took her hand and pointed into the room behind her with her thumb.
"Whatever your idea is, it can wait until the rain has stopped." She stated with a straight face. "Inside" She ordered. Luffy chuckled.
"Yeah yeah okay." He said as he took a step towards Nami. Luffy wasn't sure where Zoro had gone to, but he knew that it was just Nami and him outside the kitchen. Time to put his plan into action. "Hey Nami?" Luffy asked quietly. Nami put her hand down.
"Wha-" She began to ask. She was quickly cut off by Luffy wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her outside. He pulled her to him and pressed his lips against her in a deep passionate kiss. Nami did not try to stop him and immediately gave into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him against her trying to keep the kiss going for as long as she could. Luffy took a step forward and pushed Nami's back against the outer wall of the kitchen with a soft thud. As her back hit the wall she closed her eyes, lost in a brief moment of passion. After a few more seconds the pair released their kiss but did not move away from each other. Luffy leaned his head forward and rested it on Nami's. They stayed there against the wall for a few seconds just wanting to remain in each other's embrace for a little bit longer. Nami was the first to speak. She cleared her throat.
"Luffy?" She asked delicately, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. She opened her eyes and stared into Luffy's eyes. He stared right back.
"Yeah?" He responded quietly, his arm still around her waist.
"We are squishing your hat." She said with a smile. Luffy laughed and let go of Nami's waist. She giggled with him and let her arms slide off of his shoulders. As her arms left his shoulders, she brought her hand up and grabbed the rim of the hat that was hanging off of her neck by a string. She pulled the hat up and put it on top of her head. Luffy took a step back letting Nami step away from the wall. He flashed her a toothy grin and she smiled at him. "That's better. Plus I don't want my hair to get too wet from this rain." She said wiping some of the water off of her hair. "It might mess it up and I don't feel like going back to my room to fix it." She said. Luffy gently grabbed her hand and slipped his fingers in between hers. He took a step towards the open kitchen door.
"I think you hair is perfect wet or dry." He said looking over at her. She smiled and squeezed his hand. She quickly took a step and caught up with Luffy. She didn't want him to get too far away. "Come on: Let's get inside." He said quietly. Nami nodded.
"Okay." She answered now standing beside him. "And thanks." Luffy was absolutely precious to Nami and she was absolutely precious to him. Without another word, the pair stepped into the light cast by the open kitchen door. Their presence was met with several voices from inside calling their names. The pair walked into the room their hands never separating.
As Luffy and Nami walked into the kitchen, Nami quickly glanced around the room to see if anyone noticed their moment of passion. Over behind the counter quickly preparing a couple drinks was Sanji. He hadn't wasted anytime in fulfilling his role as cook. Nami knew that he was insanely jealous of the relationship that her and Luffy shared, but that was too bad. She was spoken for and loved it. Sitting at the table near the counter sat Robin, the archaeologist of the crew. She was facing the pair as they walked in with a mischievous smile across her face. Nami felt her face turn red and she reached up to the straw hat on her head. She pulled it down so it was covering part of her face. Robin was an intelligent woman and knew exactly what had happened just moments ago. Sitting next to Robin was Chopper, the ships doctor. He was talking excitedly about something to the men sitting across from him. Nami guessed that he hadn't even notice that they had walked in. Sitting across from Chopper was Usopp, the crew's sniper, and Brook, the crew's skeleton musician. Brook looked up and waved at the pair as they walked in, but Usopp was so busy talking to Chopper that he didn't acknowledge their existence. Nami didn't think any of them had noticed either. Finally, sitting on the green couch against the wall opposite of the kitchen, was Franky, the ships cyborg shipwright. He was holding a bottle of cola with a huge smile on his face. He was looking directly at Luffy and Nami. Nami felt her face turn even redder.
'Great. So Franky and Robin noticed.' Nami thought as Luffy guided her to a chair. She sat down at the table and thanked Luffy. Luffy slipped his hand away from hers, to Nami's great displeasure, and sat down on the couch next to Franky. As Luffy sat down, Franky grabbed a bottle of cola off the floor next to him and tossed it to Luffy. Nami felt a smile tug at her lips as she watched him open and begin drinking the cola. She reached up to her head and removed Luffy's hat from her head. Nami was so busy watching Luffy and the cyborg that she didn't realize that someone had sat down next to her.
"So where did you two go?" A hushed voice next to Nami said. Nami turned her head and saw that Robin had moved from her seat at the other end of the table to the seat right next to her. The mischievous grin that had been on her face when Nami and Luffy had entered was still present. Trying to ignore the heat radiating from her reddened face, Nami cleared her throat and laid the hat down on the table.
" N. No where." She managed to stammer. Nami knew immediately that Robin didn't believe her. She averted her eyes instinctively trying to avoid Robins accusing gaze. Robin shook her head.
"Now now miss navigator," Robin said closing her eyes. "You wouldn't be lying to me now would you?" She asked. Robin raised her hand off the table and suddenly an arm appeared from on the table in front of Nami. Robin's new arm tapped Nami on the nose. Nami scoffed and tried to push Robin's hand away. However, it immediately vanished before Nami could touch it. Nami decided that it was time to change the subject before Robin tried to pry any further.
"Don't you have better things to do than spy on me?" Nami asked scanning the room with her eyes. "Where's Zoro at? I'm sure he would love your company." Nami realized that Zoro was absent from the dining room. "Wait where is he?" Nami asked slightly confused. 'He did come in right?' She thought. Robin shrugged.
"No idea. I thought you knew. He was outside with the Luffy and Sanji. They both came in but he didn't." Nami thought back to when she ordered the three men back into the dining room. Sanji came running in first, Luffy had waited until the others were gone so he could have his moment with her, so when did Zoro disappear? Nami sighed and rubbed the side of her face. Robin giggled and rested her chin on her hand. "Ah I see. In that case, I will have to go find him later." She said with a small smile on her face. Nami knew what that smile meant. Before she could make any comments, Sanji appeared with two glasses of wine.
"Here you go ladies." He said charmingly. "Two perfect glasses of wine for two perfect women." He said with hearts in his eyes. It always amused Nami how much Sanji flirted with her and Robin. He knew that they were both taken, but he still treated them both like they were single. But then again, Sanji treated every woman he saw that way so it didn't really surprise her. It was still fun to watch and she intended to continue to take advantage of the special treatment he gave them.
"Thanks Sanji." Nami said sipping at the wine. Sanji practically exploded in happiness and ran back behind the counter to start making the gathered crew something to eat. She turned her attention back to Robin, determined not to let her get away without some kind of retaliation. But before she could say anything someone began yelling for her.
"Nami, Nami, Nami!" Usopp and Chopper shouted in unison. "Where's the next island?!" The two shouted as Usopp jumped onto the table. Chopper stopped talking and let Usopp talk by himself. "We have to get somewhere more open so I can show Chopper how to I defeated an army of giant rampaging bears with my bare hands!" He declared proudly. Nami rolled her eyes and Robin laughed.
"Oi Usopp!" Sanji shouted from behind the counter. "Get your rancid feet off my table. There is going to be food there soon and I won't let you mess it up." He ordered. Usopp frowned and stepped off the table. Nami glanced at the Log Pose on her wrist. They were still on course despite the terrible weather. Plus it had been some time since they left the last island. Nami shivered. The last island they had been to had been called Cardio and it had not been pleasant. She would rather have forgotten about it entirely. They had left Cardio six days ago, so she assumed they would reach an island any day now.
"It should be any day now." Nami said still looking at the Log Pose. She was so focused on the three orbs that she didn't hear Luffy walk up behind her. He leaned over slid his arms around her shoulders while resting his chin on her shoulder. Nami smiled. Luffy's presence always made her feel happier.
"Any day now huh?" Luffy said looking at the Log Pose without moving his head. He chuckled. "Good. I can't wait. I hope there's fun stuff to do there." He said rotating his head to look at her face. "What do you think Nami?" He asked. Nami shrugged playfully trying to knock Luffy's head off. He wouldn't budge and she was happy with that.
"I hope so. Anything would be better than the last one." She said grimly. Luffy laughed.
"Come on Nami. Nothing like that will happen again. I promise." He said sincerely. Nami believed him. After all, how bad could the next island possibly be? Nami nodded and took another sip of her whine. Luffy's eyes lit up when he saw the glass. "Ooooo can I have some?" He asked reaching his hand towards the glass.
"Nope. It's mine. Paws off." Nami said gently smacking his hand. "Ask Sanji for one." She said. Luffy grinned and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
"Okay." Without removing his chin from her shoulder, he rotated his head towards the busy cook. "Hey Sanji?" Luffy asked innocently.
"No." Sanji replied.
"Aww." Luffy pouted. "You guys are no fun." He stood up taking his chin and arms with him. Nami frowned as he pulled away. She took another sip of her drink to cope. "Oh well. I'm going back outside to punch some more clouds." He said nonchalantly. Nami nearly spit her whine out in surprise. "Sanji how long until the food is ready?" Luffy asked as Nami spun her chair around.
"Hold on a second!" She demanded.
"About twenty minutes." Sanji answered Luffy.
"Okay. That's too long to wait. Can't you cook faster?' He asked. Nami didn't care about when the food would be done. Luffy shouldn't be going outside until they were sure that this rain was harmless.
"Luffy hold up. The rain-." She pleaded looking at the window. Sanji laughed.
"Yes because I can magically pull enough food to feed that bottomless pit you call a stomach out of the thin air." Sanji said sarcastically. "Twenty minutes." He said. Luffy groaned.
"Fine. Franky, wanna come?" He asked the cyborg. Franky jumped off the couch and chugged the last of his cola.
"Hell yeah. Let's go kick some cloud ass!" He exclaimed as he marched towards the door. Luffy cheered and jumped in the same direction. No one was listening to her but Nami wasn't giving up yet.
"No you guys. The purple rain..." Anything else she had to say was lost as the door opened and she watched Luffy and Franky run out the door into the mysterious rain. She sighed and drank the rest of her wine. "What am I going to do with him?" She mumbled to herself. She felt another smile tugging at her lips. A small smile broke out across her face and she decided to let him play for a while. The rain hadn't hurt him the last time he had been out there. Maybe it WAS harmless. She held up her glass.
"Sanji, may I have another?" Nami asked sweetly. Sanji practically jumped over the counter to get to her.
"Right away Nami-swan!" He exclaimed as he took her glass and ran back to the fridge.
Nearly twelve hours behind the Straw Hat's ship, the massive silhouette of a Navy Warship forced its way through the sea. The Naval vessel had been pursuing the Straw Hats for almost a week now with no luck. They weren't even sure if they were heading the same direction as the pirates anymore. They had no idea where the Straw Hats had gone and this was a fact the captain of the ship, Captain Lina, knew very well. If it were up to her, they would have turned around and returned to the Navy base on Cardio. However, she was no longer in charge of her ship. Instead, a Vice Admiral by the name of Omoide had ordered that the ship follow a course that only he seemed to understand. The Vice Admiral was an intimidating man with an equally intimidating reputation. He was in charge at the moment and there was nothing anyone could do about it. However, Captain Lina decided that she was going to voice her opinion anyway.
"Vice Admiral sir!" The captain said saluting. "With all due respect, this is hopeless. We have no idea where the pirates escaped to. We have been sailing for almost a week without any sign of them. I do not believe that they fled in this direction sir." She said. Lina was hoping to convince him to abandon this futile endeavor. The captain paused hoping for a response from the Vice Admiral, but none came. So she decided to try again. "Sir, this course is madness. To make matters worse sir, this heading you have us on is going to take us directly into a Purple Storm." She said nervously. "The men can see it in the distance ahead of us and they are beginning to worry. There are a great many rumors about those strange storms sir. We don't know what effect it will have on-" The captain was cut off by a swift hand motion from the Vice Admiral. It was if he had been trying to smack her but forgot where she was.
"Your men are scared of a Purple Storm?" The Vice Admiral scoffed. "Are you kidding? Are they children?" He shook his head. "The rain is harmless. Nothing more than a different colored water. There are no monsters hiding in that storm." He said staring straight ahead. The captain realized that the Vice Admiral was staring directly at the low hanging clouds of the storm. He already knew about it. "The storm is entirely harmless. Tell your men to go a backbone and do their jobs." He commanded. Several marines within earshot immediately began working faster than they had been before. Captain Lina growled under her breath.
"Sir," She began.
"That's enough captain." The Vice Admiral said. The captain nearly flinched away from his sudden response. "I know exactly where the pirates are going. There is only one island they could possibly be going to if they left Cardio in this direction. Which they did." He said as he raised his hand. "The pirates are heading to an uninhabited island called Valori. That is all you need to know about this situation. You are to ask no more questions. Is that clear?" The man said without looking at her. The captain hesitantly nodded.
"Understood sir." She answered.
"Good. Because I'm not giving you any more information. Just follow my orders like a good little soldier." He mocked. After a moment he cleared his throat and continued. "Once they reach Valori we will attack them while their guard is down. I have a plan to ambush and remove all of their primary fighters in one attack. Do you want to know what it is? I don't want you kept out of the loop and I would love your feedback about my plan." He said sincerely. Captain Lina was taken aback but nodded in surprise. She had heard that Vice Admiral Omoide had a habit of contradicting himself whenever he spoke, but this was ridiculous. One moment he is being a complete jerk telling her to shut up and the next moment he is sweetly asking for her opinion about a battle plan. It was as if he had two totally different personalities. The captain was unsure about which one she should be listening to. Either way, she liked this Vice Admiral better than the one she had been talking to earlier.
"Yes sir. I. I'd be glad to give you my opinion." She stammered. A large grin spread across the Vice Admirals face.
"Excellent!" He said happily. He then proceeded to lie out their entire plan of attack. After he finished, she stared at him in awe.
"Sir, that's a brilliant idea." She exclaimed. "This will break the pirates for sure, but if I could make a small suggestion..." She said hesitantly. Her answer came swiftly.
"Excuse me?!" The Vice Admiral demanded angrily. "You think that you can come up with a better plan than me? My strategic expertise is the reason that I have gained so much power and influence. A damned grunt like you could never comprehend my brilliance. GET OUT OF MY FACE WENCH!" He screamed. The captain quickly retreated and walked away from the strange man. She did not like this man. Lina returned to her post as far away from the asshole of a Vice Admiral as she could.
"The sooner we get this over with the better." Captain Lina mumbled to herself. "I want that man off my ship." She looked forward and eyed the massive storm brewing in the distance. "Well, I guess we are heading to Valori." She said as she pondered the name Valori. She had been in the New World for her entire life but she had never heard of an island called Valori. There were only a handful of completely uninhabited islands in the New World so this place must have been pretty dangerous to avoid some kind of colonization. Regardless, they would find out as soon as they got there. It wouldn't be long now...
Zoro stood on the walkway that wrapped around the back of the Sunny. He looked around and scratched his head.
"Dammit." He growled. "Where did they move the kitchen to?"
End Chapter 1