Daughter of the Sea Dragon King
A
One Piece Fanfic
By
Melissa Oberst
Chapter #1: Lost at Sea
"What if this life is all just a dream? What if what we perceive as real really isn't and is nothing more then a fabrication of our subconscious to fill in the blanks? I was just a normal girl with a normal life… Making my way through college and soon onto my future career… I was so bored… An avid Otaku, I watched all kinds of anime and read many mangas… It was the closest I'd ever get to real adventure… Or so I thought…"
"………………………………..!?" you stirred from your muddled dreams. Dreams of a strange ship, a violent storm, a large shiny cube of stone, endless waves, friendly faces, family, a shimmering, silvery-blue light, finally an island came into focus through the fog of your mind. Confused, as you usually were by your bizarre dreams, your senses finally began to focus on your surroundings at last. Feeling gritty sand against your skin and cool waves splashing up against your legs wetting you from the waist down you arched an eye brow in bemusement. "What the!? I don't remember being anywhere near the beach," you thought to yourself. The last thing you remembered was falling asleep in your dorm room.
Just as you were about to get up you heard the loud crunching of footsteps heading toward you. Then a gruff voice said, "Oi! Lookie here, mateys! Tis a body!"
Not wanting to have to deal with whoever it was while in such a vulnerable position, you quickly pushed yourself up, but froze as you felt the cold steel of a cutlass resting against your neck. "Well, well… Seems to be we have a castaway, not a body, lads!" said another gruff male voice who held the sword to your throat.
You looked up and saw five men standing around you, blades drawn and three with pistols in their belts. From their rough appearances and salty and rum-soaked stench you could easily tell they were pirates. Stunned, you blinked and tried to find a rational explanation for this. Dreaming was a possibility, but the sword at your neck felt very VERY real and you didn't think it wise to test if it was or not.
One pirate laughed at the stunned and confused look on your face and said, "Frightened are ye'? Well ye' should be. Ye' were unlucky enough to wash up on the island of 'Iron Mace' Alvida, The Lady Pirate!"
Okay, now you had to be dreaming! If your stress-muddled mind remembered correctly, then Alvida was the first villain in your favorite manga, One Piece! "But how the hell…?" you began to ask yourself.
The pirates saw your expression of startled recognition and laughed again. "Ah, shouldn't be surprised that ye' recognized our captain. Come lads, to Alvida with this one!" Before you could even protest, two of the pirates stomped down on your back knocking your arms out from under you and slamming your face back into the sand. They quickly, and roughly, grabbed your wrists, twisted your arms behind your back painfully and tied your wrists together with twine. When they picked you back up you coughed out some sand that had gotten into your mouth then glared furiously at the pirate who had replaced his cutlass at your neck. "Ah! This one's got spunk!" he said with a vile grin.
"Easy now missy, don't mar that pretty face with such looks," said another with a loud laugh.
"Move along!" the two behind you shouted and pushed you forward toward a ship up the shore a ways. The ship was pink and white with a duck as the figurehead. Not exactly your idea of a pirate ship, but it still flew the tell tale jolly roger which for Alvida had a side view of a skull with a heart in the middle and crossed bones behind it. You started walking, somehow physically un-phased by their violent treatment of you. Glaring darkly at the ship ahead, you found that right now you didn't care about how you got here anymore. You were here, and things were not looking good for you.
Within a few minutes your 'escorts' marched you up onto the deck of Alvida's ship. Other pirates glanced at you then gaped for some reason that you couldn't tell at the moment since you were busy staring at the scene before you. A richly decorated, woman's hand ran a finger along the bulwark of the ship then the woman it belonged to asked in a nasal voice, "Why is there so much dust on my bulwark?"
In an instant a nearby pirate, whom you assumed had been responsible for that job, exclaimed an apology, "S-SORRY ABOUT THAT, ALVIDA-SAMA! I THOUGHT I ALREADY CLEANED THE WHOLE DECK!!" He continued to gasp out desperately, "I-I'LL CLEAN IT AGAIN. SO… PLEASE DON'T…!!"
"Please don't what?" the woman asked coldly.
"PLEASE NOT THE IRON MACE!! AUGH!" he pleaded GAN! but was soundly struck over the head with a massive iron club with spikes on the end. The poor pirate went flying and fell to the ground, hopefully unconscious, but more then likely dead with that huge bloody welt on the side of his head.
"Coby," the woman demanded from a little boy, who seemed very out of place on a pirate ship with his pink, mushroom-cut hair and thick nerdy glasses. "Who's the fairest on the sea?" she asked while holding her huge mace in the air with one hand.
"That'll be you, Alvida-sama!!" the boy, Coby, replied with a nervous laugh.
"That's right! And that's why I won't stand for anything dirty on my ship! My ship must be as clean and beautiful as me! Do you hear me? I only let you stay on this ship because you know navigation better then the others," she continued loudly as she turned on the boy.
Coby was kneeling, visibly shaking as he replied, "Y-Yes ma'am. Thank you very much…"
Then she cut him off and shouted, while kicking him, "BUT OTHER THEN THAT YOU'RE TOTALLY USELESS! NOW CLEAN MY SHOES!"
"Y-YES! RIGHT AWAY MA'AM!" Coby replied between sobs.
With that, Alvida turned to the rest of the crew and commanded, "Keep cleaning and don't leave a single spec of dirt!"
"YES MA'AM!" the rest of the crew replied each with a look of terror on their faces.
Alvida surveyed her crew and soon her gaze fell upon you, who were glaring at her. She arched an eyebrow and demanded, "What's this!?! What did you sea-dogs bring me now?"
The pirates swiftly rushed you forward and forced you to sit in front of the lady pirate. Grabbing you by the hair they forced you to look up at Alvida, who for all her boasting of her beauty, was extremely ugly. She looked more like a blob then a person and her clothes could barely contain her rolls of flesh. You felt your anger continuing to rise as the pirate's grip on your hair hurt a lot and was starting to give you a head ache. Finally the pirates declared, "We found this lass washed up on the shore, Alvida-sama!"
"Is that so?" Alvida asked hefting her mace onto her shoulder and giving you an appraising look over. "Tell me your name, girl?" she commanded.
"Mel…" you all but growled, for some reason you felt no fear of the possible consequences for your defiant attitude even though reason told you that you should.
Alvida just grinned wickedly at your response and continued, "Got a foreign look about you with such pale eyes and hair. And what manner of tattoo is that?" She grabbed your left arm sharply and yanked your T-shirt sleeve up revealing the rest of a strange, black tattoo that ran from the top of your shoulder all the way down to the back of your left hand. You gazed at the tattoo in shock, noticing it for the first time and realizing that it had never been there before! It looked like some sort of archaic writing, but you had no idea what it meant. "What land do you hail from, lass?" Alvida asked, her curiosity peaked.
"America…" you replied without thinking, still too overwhelmed by so many strange things all at once.
Alvida released you, stood back up and repeated thoughtfully, "America? Hmmm… Never heard of it."
You snapped back to attention at that and thought, annoyed, "Of course you wouldn't; it doesn't exist in this world after all…"
"What do ye' intend to do with her, Alvida-sama?" the pirates asked eagerly.
After some more thought, she gave you a vile smile and replied, "A foreign wench, with obviously royal markings, decent-looking too. Not nearly as beautiful as me, but still decent… Yes I think I'll get a fine price for her at the next slaver we see. Until then, throw her in the brig!" Then she commanded as the pirates drug you up by your hair and started to march you toward a nearby hatch, "Coby! Bring her some food and a change of clothes! We can't have prize merchandise like this wasting away from neglect!" To get him to hurry she kicked the poor boy again.
"YES MA'AM!" Coby squeaked and dashed off to what you assumed was the kitchen.
Later… you were sitting cross-legged on the hard wooden floor of your cell. Your hands were now unbound, but they had shackled your leg to a large iron chain which was attached to an iron ball that easily weighed 100 lbs. However, you weren't really paying any attention to that now as you were finally taking in the whole ludicrous situation. Arms crossed and your brow furrowed deep in thought you thought to yourself, "Well this bites… First off I don't know how the heck I got here and now I'm stuck in a barred cell, bound to be sold to the highest bidder…. What kind of crap is that!?" It was then that you absently glanced at the tattoo on your arm and couldn't help wondering where it came from. You certainly didn't remember having it done, yet it still seemed familiar somehow. Not coming up with any explanations for the moment, you thought, "Whatever… I can wonder about stuff like that later. Right now I really need to figure out how to get out of here." Standing up you decided to assess your current status. You looked yourself over and found that you were wearing the long grey T-shirt that your dad had given you that had 'shut up and fight' written on it in Latin, black draw-string pants, but that was it, no shoes and no socks. You were unscathed, but smelled of dirt and brine from being in the ocean too long and at that moment your stomach decided to let out a loud growl. Sweat beading you wondered when Coby would show up with your food. It was then that you heard a timid 'ahem' come from the cell door and you saw the boy standing there with a plate in one hand, a water skin slung over his shoulder, and some clothing tucked under his other arm.
"H-Here's your lunch and clothes, Mel-san," Coby said and offered them to you through the slots in the bars.
"Thanks, Coby," you replied and took the plate, water and clothes. First you sat down and started on the food, which looked like some kind of gruel or casserole. You took your first bite and paused in shock as you went blue in the face in disgust. It took all of your will power to keep from spitting it out.
"Not very good, is it?" Coby asked sadly as he noticed the choked expression on your face. "Sorry, I'm not a very good cook and I wasn't allowed to use any decent ingredients," he continued, cringing as if he expected you to hit him.
You arched an eyebrow at his cringing and asked, "What are you doing? I'm not going to hit you."
"Oh, sorry. I'm so used to it that it's sort of a reflex now," he replied while scratching the side of his head sheepishly.
"sigh Relax, I'm not like that fat witch, Alvida," you said.
Coby's eyes bulged in shock and he screeched, "MEL-SAN! YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! WHAT IF SHE HEARD YOU!?! ALVIDA WOULD CRUSH YOUR SKULL WITH HER MACE!!!"
Shrugging you replied unconcerned, "Only IF she can hit me." You took another strained bite and thought, "Damn! I've tasted better crap in the school cafeteria then this! But I guess it's better then starving…"
Coby continued to gape at you in shock while you finished off your meal. He had never seen someone so relaxed even though you were trapped and bound to be sold to who knows where. You were so nonchalant, like you didn't have a care in the world. At length he asked, "How? How can you be so calm? Don't you realize what could happen to you?!" His voice kept growing higher in pitch with each word.
"I'm well aware of what COULD happen to me," you replied, handed him your empty plate and water skin, and continued, "But I won't let it. It's as simple as that."
"Huh!?!" he gaped in awe and confusion, "But how do you expect to get away? I mean, even if you could get out of that cell; that ball would slow you down and you'd get caught again and then Alvida would smash your brains out!"
"Hmmm… I don't know about that," you said.
"Are you nuts!? That ball weighs several hundred pounds! A full grown man couldn't hope to run with it!" he protested.
"Are you sure it's that heavy?" you asked then grabbed the chain attached to your foot and effortlessly lifted the iron ball off the ground with it like you were picking up a deflating balloon. "Huh? That's odd… Is this some kind of joke?" you asked, puzzled by your own strength.
Coby went white as a sheet in shock, stuttering, he desperately reasoned, "It… It must be fake, or hallow! That's it, hallow! There's no way… Impossible!"
Before you could prove him wrong or right, you both heard Alvida shout, "COBY! GET YER ARSE UP HERE NOW!"
In a blink Coby forgot you and dashed up to Alvida and you couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor boy as you watched his retreating form. You then noticed that he had dropped your change of clothes on the other side of the bars too far out of your reach and sighed dejectedly, "Well, if I want to change I HAVE to get out now." You glanced at the iron ball hanging in the air and to test your theory you dropped it and watched as it smashed down hard, denting and snapping the wood beneath it. Blinking in surprise you couldn't believe your eyes, "What the f#!?! But it weighed nothing a second ago…" Finally coming to one conclusion, you reached down to your left ankle that the chain was fettered too, grabbed hold of it with both hands and tried to pull it apart with all your might. sreeeEEECK! SNAP! The metal band warped and stretched under the strain then suddenly snapped apart, releasing you from your bonds. You were still surprised, but grinned non-the-less at your new discovery. Wasting no more time, you picked up the ball by the chain once again and began swinging it like a flail. Taking aim for the lock on the door, you swung the iron ball as hard as you could. KLANG!!!! The ball smashed into the lock and you heard the small bolts snap and the door slammed open with the extra momentum from your blow. You winced at how loud you had been and tensed yourself for someone to come down and check it out. But after a few minutes, no one came so you relaxed your guard and quickly ducked back into the cell to change. You put on a clean pair of undergarments, (they didn't exactly fit right, but for now it would do), then a button-down, blue, long sleeve top, (you buttoned the cuffs to cover your tattoo although the part on the back of your left hand was still exposed), loose black slacks, socks, and a pair of soft, black, pull-on shoes.
On your way out of the bowels of the ship you came across a large leather bag and stuffed your other clothes into it along with a few 'useful' things you spotted on the way. (a few decent looking knives, first aid equipment, a rather unused sewing kit, some treasure, and a few other trinkets that caught your eye; you can decide the rest) You made it to the main deck and still no pirates, which greatly puzzled you. Just then you heard, what sounded like, Alvida shouting at her crew from the island. Stealthily, you went over to the bulwark and peered around the side of the ship toward Alvida's storage cabin. Well, it used to be a storage cabin, since she had smashed the front half in her foolhardy rage at which you sweat beaded. You watched as Alvida loomed over her trembling men then you recalled what was going on and thought, "Wait! This is when Luffy shows up! Might as well go find him."
That decided, you snuck around to the other side of the ship, so Alvida and her crew wouldn't see you, jumped to shore and dashed into the woods that made up the heart of the island. The forest wasn't too big and in a matter of a few seconds you caught sight of two boys standing near a wooden box and a barrel. One of the boys was obviously Coby while the other was a bit taller, with short, spiky, black hair, wearing a red vest, cut-off jean shorts, and an old straw hat. As you drew closer you heard the boy in the straw hat ask, referring to the box, "What's this? A coffin?"
"That's a boat I've been secretly building for two years," Coby replied while giving the other boy an embarrassed look since the 'boat' really didn't look all that seaworthy. You were approaching from the straw-hat boy's left so when Coby looked at him he saw you drawing near and he when white with shock.
"You spent two years on this? You sure you don't want it anymore?" the straw-hat boy asked. When Coby didn't respond he looked up at him and saw him staring past him, stunned. "What's wrong?" he asked then turned around and saw you standing there with a smile. He looked confused at first then, without a second thought of how you got there, he held out his hand, grinned and said, "Hi, I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Who are you?"
You took his hand and replied, "I'm Mel. Nice to meet you Luffy." Luffy grinned even wider at this and was about to say something else when Coby cut in.
"Mel! How did you get out of the brig!?!" Coby gasped out in shock.
"Brig?" Luffy asked and glanced back and forth between you two.
You shrugged and replied, "I broke out… I told you I wasn't going to just sit there and let them do what they wanted, didn't I?"
"But… But… When Alvida finds out she'll…" Coby stuttered.
You cut him off, "That's my problem, not yours. Anyway, what's going on guys?" Looking at Luffy you asked, "You looking for a ship to get off of this island then?"
"Yep!" Luffy replied with a cheesy grin, "Coby was just showing me his boat." Then he turned to Coby and asked, "But you took so long to build it, don't you want it?"
Coby had calmed down a little bit by now and replied, "Well… I was going to run away in this… but I don't have the guts to do it… Looks like I'm going to be a cabin boy my whole life… Although… I do have something else I wanna do."
"Then you should leave," Luffy said.
Then Coby began shaking his head vigorously and replied in earnest, "NO! NO! I CAN'T! IT'LL NEVER WORK! WHENEVER I THINK OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ALVIDA CAUGHT ME… MY LEGS TURN ALL MUSHY!! I GET SO SCARED!" Coby looked at the two of you and reminisced about how he had been planning on going fishing but had wound up on a pirate ship instead. "I had to become their cabin boy in order to survive," Coby finished.
With absolutely no tact, Luffy said, "You're pretty stupid and useless. And you're a coward too!" Coby looked like he was about ready to cry.
You gave Luffy an exasperated look, not sure how he could say that with such a cheerful face. "Could you be any blunter, Luffy?" you commented sarcastically.
"But… He's right… If only I was brave enough…," Coby said shakily then he asked, "………Hey… Luffy-san. Why are you sailing?"
With that huge grin, Luffy replied boldly, "I want… to be the King of the Pirates!"
Coby nearly face-faulted into the dirt then gasped, "WHA.. WHAT!?! KING OF THE PIRATES IS THE TITLE THAT BELONGS TO ONE WHO HAS EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD!! ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURE, ONE PIECE!?!" He paused to take a breath then continued to rant, "You want to die or something!? Every pirate in the world is after that treasure!!"
"Well, so am I," Luffy replied like it was no big deal, with his arms crossed stubbornly.
"IM-IMPOSSIBLE!! ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!! UTTERLY UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!! TO BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES IN THIS GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY… THERE'S NO CHANCE!! UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!!"
WACK! "OW!! Why'd you hit me?" Coby whimpered from the ground holding his head since Luffy had punched him.
"Because you were hysterical," Luffy replied.
"Oh well, I'm used to it anyway," Coby said timidly as he sat back up.
"I'm not afraid of dying!" Luffy declared and Coby looked at him in surprise as he removed his hat. Luffy stared at the beat up straw hat with a nostalgic smile and continued, "It's my dream and that's why it doesn't matter if I die as long as I try."
You smiled and commented, "That's quite a goal you've set for yourself, impressive."
"Thanks!" Luffy said and plopped his head back on his head. Then a thought occurred to him and he asked you, "Hey, you want to come with me, I'm looking for a crew after all?"
"For the moment I suppose," you replied tentatively, "I'll at least go with you off of this island, but I can't promise anything beyond that right now."
"Hm? How come?" Luffy asked, "It'll be a lot of fun!"
Smiling you replied, "I'm sure it will, but let's leave it at that for now."
Coby had been staring at you two for a while then he finally whispered, "Will I also… be able to accomplish my dream? If I'm willing to die for it?"
"Hm? What?" Luffy asked since he had barely heard him.
"Will I be able… to become a marine?!!" Coby asked.
"A marine?" Luffy parroted.
With tears in his eyes, Coby elaborated on his ambitions, "LUFFY-SAN, I KNOW IT'LL MEAN THAT WE'LL BE ENEMIES!! BUT JOINING THE MARINES AND CATCHING BAD GUYS HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM!!!" "DO YOU THINK I CAN DO IT?" he asked.
"How should I know?" Luffy replied, but seemed happy to see Coby's enthusiasm.
"I HAVE TO ATLEAST TRY!!!" Coby kept shouting with growing conviction, "I'D RATHER DIE TRYING TO GET OUT OF HERE AND JOIN THE MARINES THAN STAY HERE AND BE A CABINBOY MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! AND THEN ALVIDA!! I'LL BE ABLE TO ARREST PEOPLE LIKE ALVIDA!!!"
At that very moment, which you weren't really surprised since only a deaf man would have been unable to hear Coby at that point, who else but Alvida appeared out of the woods and smashed Coby's makeshift boat into splinters. "AND JUST WHO ARE YOU GOING TO ARREST, COBY!?!" she demanded.
"UWAH!" Coby cried in shock, "My boat…"
"Did you think you could escape from me!?" Alvida said with a sneer. Then she spotted you and shouted at Coby again, "You little sneak! You were even trying to steal my valuable slave!"
"I don't belong you anyone, you witch," you growled, but she ignored you as she turned her gaze on Luffy.
Alvida demanded "Is that the bounty hunter you hired to capture me? He's definitely not Roronoa Zolo. Anyway, before you die I'll ask you one thing: who's the loveliest on the sea? Coby!!?"
"Zolo?" Luffy asked absently.
Coby laughed nervously and began, "Of-Of course that'll be…"
But Luffy cut in and asked, while pointing, "Who's that ugly old biddy?"
Everyone's jaw dropped and they all gaped at Luffy as if he had grown a second head. You had to stifle a giggle while Alvida looked like she was fit to explode.
"That kid…! He dares to….!" Alvida's pirates gasped in shock and terror knowing what would soon befall Luffy.
In a panic, Coby grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and commanded, "LUFFY-SAN! QUICKLY! REPEAT AFTER ME! IN ALL THE SEAS ALVIDA IS…!" He trailed off for a split second then he shouted for the whole world to hear, "IS THE VILEST OLD HAG!!!!" Alvida loomed over them and Coby gasped, "Ah…" Luffy, on the other hand, just busted out laughing.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!!" Alvida screeched in fury.
"Well said, Coby. Now get behind me," Luffy said and stepped between his trembling friend and the rampaging lady pirate.
"Lu-Luffy-san!?" was all Coby gasped out as you deftly came up behind him and pulled him out of harm's way.
"Both of you…" Alvida began as she raised her mace high over her head, then she swung down with a shout, "HAVE TO DIE!" GON! The iron mace struck the top of Luffy's head with bone-breaking force.
However, Luffy just grinned and said, "It's useless against me. Because I'm made of rubber, Heh!"
"T-THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!! MY MACE!" Alvida exclaimed in shock while Coby and Alvida's crew gaped in amazement.
Then Luffy cocked back his left arm, stretching it several feet behind him and said, "Gum-gum… PISTOL!" As he shouted he shot his fist forward and punched Alvida across the face so hard she went flying out to sea. Pretty impressive considering how huge she was…
"His arm… his arm stretched!?! CAPTAIN!!! He beat Alvida-sama!!" exclaimed the crew.
"Prepare a boat for Coby! He's leaving to join the marines!" Luffy commanded.
"Y-Yes sir…" the pirates whimpered.
Luffy laughed mischievously at that while Coby cried tears of joy, "Luffy-san…"
Later… You were sailing away from Alvida's island with your new friends, Coby and Luffy. The boat was a tiny, single sail dingy, but it would do until you got to your next destination that Coby claimed wasn't too far away. Coby was at the helm in the back of the boat, which was fitting since he was the best navigator. You were fine with keeping your directions straight, but you had no prior experience with sailing a boat. Luffy was precariously perched on the bow of the boat, you'd think that one who'd eaten a Devil Fruit would be more wary of the water… but that was just Luffy. Meanwhile, you sat in the middle of the boat with your left sleeve rolled up so you could wrap a bandage around your tattooed arm. You didn't really mind the mark; it was actually kind of cool. Yet you still had this funny feeling that it would be best to keep it from the eyes of strangers… While you were doing this you were also half listening to the guys' conversation.
"But… Luffy-san, if you're looking for One Piece then… That means you'll have to go to the Grand Line, right?" Coby said worriedly.
"Yep!" Luffy replied like it was nothing.
"But that place is known as the Pirates' Graveyard!" Coby protested, vainly attempting to reason with Luffy.
"Yeah, that's why I need a strong crew!" Luffy replied. Then he asked, "Speaking of a crew, who was that guy who's being held captive at the island you're headed too?"
"You mean… Roronoa Zolo?" Coby clarified.
"Yeah! If he's a good guy, then I'll ask him to join my crew!" Luffy said, beaming.
"WHAT!?! YOU'RE DREAMING AGAIN!! YOU CAN'T! THEY SAY HE'S A MONSTER!" Coby began ranting.
Luffy looked at you as you finished wrapping your hand and tied the bandage off. "What do you think, Mel?" he asked.
"Hm?" you looked at him questioningly and asked, "What do I think about what?"
"Zolo? Have you heard anything about him?" Luffy clarified.
Looking up you replied thoughtfully, "Well… I've heard a lot of different rumors about him… Some even say he's a demon in human form… I rarely trust rumors though… they tend to be highly exaggerated. However, all the rumors do say that he's an extremely skilled swordsman."
So the three of you continued toward Marine Base Island.