Summary: Tormented, abashed…cursed. A poignant young woman is bound for Hell by a hand-me-down curse which she is determined to stop. What happens when the One Piece crew finds themselves caught in the crossfire? Persuaded to sanction her as a crewmate to make a better life for her and her family, they end up traveling the treacherous road of her past, and fighting alongside her in the battle against a demon, known as Kurayami, who is now craving for her flesh alongside him in his quest for immorality amongst mankind.
What Lies Beneath the Smile
By: Sorano101
A/N Okay…this is the REVISED introduction to my first fan fiction. It's basically an insightful approach to the main character, Aria's view of the world and helps to set the stage for the story. Enjoy the improved version!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the One Piece characters, nor the world they live in. However, I do own Aria and her family.
Prologue: My Bittersweet Philosophy
(Aria's POV)
Cursed…for such a bad omen of a word it has a very direct way of exposing itself, it not confined to the darkest crevices of the spirit. It hovers over the victim, like a hurricane over the ocean, swirling obsidian reflected on the once-tranquil waters, threatening all who comes near. In other words, you don't have to tattoo it onto my forehead; everyone knows already, if not told by the aura but by the eyes. They say that the eyes are the window into the soul, so the infestation must drift in the black holes centered in my irises. Do my pupils have the stare of a dead man, the gaze of death? However much you claim to know of the afflicted, the afflicted knows better than most. It engraves itself in one's mind, and may seem the most unconquerable element on this plane of existence. If you are one of the misfortunate who has had this torment unleashed upon you, it scorches such a feeling in your soul that it covers your heart and mind like a heavy fog that darkens your thoughts and steadily rips you apart. The infestation eventually consumes, strength wilts like a flower, petals now feeling the brute force of the wind as it tears them one by one from the weakened stem. Fighting is futile, for the infestation spreads like cancer, without a care and without stopping. Why waste an already disappearing strength?
Blessed…and yet, some say, a blessing and a curse are one, two halves of a whole, that the darkness will make the light brighter in the struggle for dominance. But to others, well…they say to be blessed one must feel that way, to be seen that way. Apparently, where most come from, it's less about true value than face value. They define you by your mask that obscures your true form that lies hidden just beneath the surface. So, if this curse was by any chance a blessing in disguise, then the truth is irrelevant. This is why the world is seen as consumed by sin—because what lies beneath it is irrelevant. This is why the world is often seen through rose-colored glasses—because what lies beneath a rosy appearance is irrelevant. If a girl is always smiling, then no one would notice that she is abused by her drunken father. If the neighbor next door is callous and antisocial, no one would care to know that he had recently lost his wife and child to an unfair twist of fate. Face value is the most valuable to everyone but oneself.
So I merely stay out of everyone's way and deal with my own surface value, because it would be stupid to try to change an unchangeable opinion. I let people sneer and go about their prejudice ways without complaint. Before I might've angered easily and deflated quickly, but I have learned: I can't expect people to see me for what I am, nor can I expect to ever avoid my own fate. Their reactions will always stay the same because I will always be the same. I have preserved my strength so I can be like the flower and keep my petals, because without them keeping control, if any, is impossible. I cannot let the winds of society break me because the disease itself already threatens to break the stem of my sanity and steal my petals of strength, and not only for myself.
My mother, my father, and my brother are whom I must stay strong for. And although my father has already passed on, I must keep his spirit alive as a decedent of his honorable genes. My brother's spirit died simultaneously, in a sick twist of fate, so I must live for him as well. Since Father's passing and Carlos' death of purpose...well, my mother is almost worse off than I ever was. Whether it may be slow or painful, ludicrous or shameful, I must stay strong. There are worse things than death: the death of their happiness, joy, affection, their undying love. I'd rip out my own heart for their protection, for the preservation of their innocence, for that is the only thing that I cannot give.
But, the harsh truth is a crushing enemy; I'm the only defender trying to score against a sea of offenders. The odds are indisputably devastating, since I seem to be the only one who is able to walk towards a purposeful end...but, damn my affliction... Since before I was born, was I carrying this burden upon my shoulders, my curse, that weighs me down and it takes more than what I have within me to get back on my feet.
My mind says I should be rational and accept a deadly fate. But when I come to acceptance, my heart retaliates, lobbies passion in my core, and makes me fight this inner demon and the world at the same time with superhuman strength. It's the battlefield or a walk through a cemetery, waiting for death. I'm either walking or battling alone. I can feel the heaviness of the tasks weighing on my shoulders, making my goal seem ever more unreachable. Is there no end to this madness?
A/N Okay, there's the new default chapter! It's a lot better in my opinion. R&R please!