Disclaimer; I do not own One Piece in any shape or form, only the plot of "Heroines" belongs to me. The location mentioned are purely fictitious and any resemblance to actual sites are purely coincidental. This fic takes place sometime after the Fishman Island arc but before the Punk Hazard&Dressrosa Arc.
I decided to update faster than anticipated thanks to these wonderful ladies and their encouraging reviews!
RavensAndRoses
Centaria
Hanasho
Dbzgtfan2004
.
.
.
.
-oOo-
Much earlier that same day..
The sun was shining, the skies clear and birds flew overhead. The winds blew and carried a pleasant salty breeze, it was an excellent day for sailing aboard the "'Thousand Sunny." Nami occupied one of the deck chairs soaking the sun's rays leisurely watching with half-lidded eyes as the crew went by their own business enjoying the pleasant day. Luffy and Ussop held fishing rods and the long nosed pirate recounted a fabled tale of how he had ridden Sea Kings as a pass time during his training, Chopper sat next to them on the railing listening attentively.
The little reindeer and captain's faces beamed with wonder, Nami raised her brow in disbelief and merely shook her head with amusement. She supposed that somethings would never change. Some ways to their right Brook performed a peaceful tune though Frankie's hips swayed in time with the melody as he adjusted and secured knots.
Zoro sat sleeping under the shade of the masts chest rising with each intake of air. A delicious aroma wafted slowly from inside the kitchen no doubt Sanji was hard at work preparing their lunch. Robin sat on the chair next to hers quietly reading a book acquired in Fishman island. She flicked her gaze back to the horizon, chin resting against the palm of her hand but her chocolate eyes wandered subtly back to her captain whom was laughing loudly at Ussop who was sobbing comically. Ussop had finally reeled something in only for his catch to smack him right on the oversized nose causing large crocodile tears to slip free throwing the rubberman and reindeer in another hysterical fit of laughter. At the sight of his cheerful mood a genuine smile lightened her features.
Luffy always held her admiration after she officially joined the crew. The first time they met he pretty much seemed like a lost idiot (he still was much to her frustration)But the boy was persistent and the second time they crossed paths had Luffy declared Nami his navigator. His strong drive to move forward, his overpowering will, not to mention determination to accomplish the goals and dreams he set inspired her greatly.
Nami had felt ashamed then for deceiving him and would never admit it out loud but if it weren't for his kindness and belief laid upon her when he went after her, No way would she have gotten this far if Luffy hadn't given her this chance, this opportunity to make her dreams reality and the rest was history. In Weatheria it had broken the young navigator's heart when news of Ace had reached her, at that time she was ready to abandon her studies just to be by Luffy's side, to reassure and comfort him in anyway possible to take the pain away as he had done for her.
Yet the elderly men had stopped her and while part of her acknowledged that it was for the best, another very small part still resented them for it.
Seeing Luffy now, how much he had grown in physical strength in some ways matured mentally. His heart of gold remained the same. That relieved her most of all.
Nami realised that she must've been lost in her thoughts for sometime her stare was lingering and none other than Monkey D. Luffy himself had noticed. Her heart dropped at the realisation of getting caught staring at him as if reading her thoughts the captain aimed one of his brightest smiles right at her the action causing said heart to kick back into gear racing thunderously against her chest. 'Impossible, he couldn't have known that I was thinking about him..' She panicked and quickly averted her eyes with pinked cheeks.
When Nami moved back to face him Luffy was no longer looking at her. Instead a contemplative look replaced his smile as cobalt eyes watched the waves beneath. 'Well, I have no idea what to make of that.' She thought with scrunched brows feeling inexplicably frustrated. Chiding herself for the stupid behaviour she depressingly sank deeper into the chair. During the two years she had learned so much about the weather training hard to become stronger. Silence was Nami's constant companion then and nearly overbearing sometimes she had never missed the rest of the Straw hat crew more than then. The loneliness would creep up so she studied harder hoping to distract the distracting feelings. The planned escape stunt that she pulled on Ace's death forced light on feelings deeply within her heart. Nami had spent numerous nights analysing her emotions since then she had her suspicions however stubbornly denying them. On the morning of the reunion did the feelings towards straw hat wearing idiot become clear.
Joy filled her and a breathtaking smile rested on her lips when the sight of Luffy greeted her after two long years. The now nineteen year old had grown taller and the open red cardigan he wore hid none of the developed muscles or the giant painful looking X-shaped scar decorating the flesh. 'Get a grip girl,' Nami stood up and headed to the navigation room with a frown set in place pushing the daydreams aside. 'In the end these are just useless feelings.' She was a big girl and made her peace with the knoweledfe of having feelings for the asexual captain meant nothing. "He obviously doesn't feel the same, would never feel the same way" Nami reminded herself softly.'Just move on before you make things more complicated for yourself.' The cooling gusts of wind tickled the navigator's heated flesh remaining oblivious to the pair of cobalt eyes that followed her form until the door slid shut.
An hour later Nami tidied up her work space sealing the bottles of ink tightly placing them along with pencils, rulers and other equipment in the drawer. Once finished she left the room spotless exiting with a pleased smile and an empty stomach.
The straw hat pirates stood gathered on deck to have lunch, Sanji decided that they should enjoy their meal outside in the pleasant weather and everyone had agreed with the cook. Two picnic tables were set up with assorted mouthwatering foods. Grilled beef, steaming vegetables covered in melted cheese, cream soups made to accompany delicious sandwiches were stocked high in individual plates.
"Sugeeeee! Look at all the meat!" Luffy exclaimed and drool pooled down his mouth forming a river of slobber. Ussop who was innocently heading towards the table slipped, face planting firmly on the floor. "Shishishi."
Ussop faced his captain with a demonic expression slapping the air in the moronic laughter's direction. "DON'T LAUGH WHEN YOUR THE REASON SOMEONE FALLS IDIOOTTT!" Luffy's laughter only increased you see, while Ussop had scolded him, Zoro lost his footing on the drool which led him kissing face with the hard surface of the deck. The sniper faced the swordsman and promptly
"BUAHAHAHA!"
Burst out in laughter.
A malevolent aura rose from Zoro's fallen body as barely repressed twitches of rage escaped him. Everyone sat at the tables with large sweat drops clinging to their foreheads as a thoroughly beaten Luffy and Ussop ate with swollen lips and chimed "Ishadesimashu."
"Idiots." Nami said, "Absolute Idiots." Chopper added.
"Complete idiots." Sanji agreed after clobbering Ussop on the head for exclaiming "Perverts!" This was met with the passionate response of Frankie; "Did someone supeerrr call me?" and Brook's common "Yohohoho!"- laugh. Though a menacing fist from Nami settled everyone down to enjoy the meal with Luffy stealing everyone's meat as usual.
'Impossible..' Thought nami as she froze mid bite, the spoon she'd been holding fell with a loud clatter on the table alerting several of the crew members. Nami stood up and ran to the right side of the ship. Her knuckles gripped wood hard as she scanned the blue horizon. 'I can feel it..It's out there somewhere"
"What is it Nami?" Chopper asked timidly. All eyes were on her the navigator's gaze wandered from her search and addressed Luffy who paused chomping his meat fixing an attentive gaze her way. "There's a ship heading this way-" at this the crew became alert and Frankie too stood up with a pair of binoculars also searching the blue horizon. "But I can't see them yet. Judging by the sudden shift in the wind they should be coming from there." In a voice full of confidence and pointed eastwards.
"What do you see?" Sanji asked warily.
As if summoned a vague outline began to take shape. Franky had it in his sights and with a grave voice informed: "Trouble. Lots of trouble." Large sails were adorned with holes pieces of cloth torn and it amazed the shipwright how a ship of that tremendous size easily dwarfing "Sunny" could even still move with that amount of damage it a good portion of the bow was missing composed of rotting wood, pieces falling into the watery depths. Ominous fogs encased the vessel as it approached the Straw Hat Pirates with alarming speed. Chopper cried out and hid his tiny apprehensive body behind Robin who had placed her comforting hand on his head. "What is it Chopper?" Robin asked with the most soothing voice she could manage hiding the growing feeling of dread she felt.
"T-the s-ship, I can hear wailing from that ship!" his body trembled the fur standing on end as he explained further "It sounds painful, sad and terrible altogether. Robin that ship reeks of death!" Tears now dripping freely from the tiny doctor's rounded cheeks. Ussop had turned white and Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth. Luffy was uncharachteriscally silent and Zoro and Franky wore grave expressions. Nami knelt down before the reindeer and with care wiped his small cheeks dry causing the reindeer to stutter out with gratitude which she answered with a soft nod.
"Everyone," the captain's sharp voice brought everyone to attention."Get ready to fight, watch each others back and whatever you do, don't give up to these assholes!"He roared with finality.
"Aye!" The crew replied.
Luffy did not like the heavy negativity encasing that ship brought and Chopper's words boosted his guard up higher. The captain could sense the enemy and they felt strong he could also feel the nervous energy that hung over his crew and immediately tensed his muscles. The straw hat wielding captain firmly believed that they would all fight and do their best to protect one another, he knew his nakama after all. He tipped his hat down and without a word being spoken Zoro sprang into action jumping high with enough altitude to damage the approaching ship.
"Santoryu Ogi: Rokudo no Tsuji"
Zoro landed safely back on deck his frown increasing tenfold, opposite of the Straw hats a group of giant beast like men sprung from the large ship together blocking the attack from damaging the ship. "Che, it seems these guys are crazy too." Zoro positioned his swords for another attack this only led to the same result more men had jumped out, saving the ship from harm. Nami retaliated with the intention of using her sorcery climatact but was stopped abruptly by Brook who was standing closest to her. She went to ask why he had stopped her when one by one the men relaxed their offensive stances, Zoro and Brook sheathed their swords, Frankie disengaged his rockets, Ussop dropped his slingshot, Sanji newly lighted cigarette fell from his fingers and Luffy unclenched his fist. The male members of the crew were behaving strangely and immediately trepidation slid down the female pirates' spines. Robin instinctively checked Chopper's reaction and she felt temporary relief at his similarly perplexed expression.
The mysterious ship was now anchored next to the 'Sunny' a plank had been thrown in between for crossing. The same deformed men began filing out, their bodies large with grotesque stitching binding extra limbs intact. The smell of rot and decay invaded the air around the motionless Straw hat Pirates.
"Robin, something's wrong with them!" Nami's blood ran cold in her veins as her nakama turned on them with faces void of expression, eyes dull and dazed looking. They moved with speed taking Nami and Robin completely by surprise bewildered gasps escaping both of them. Nami moved back as Brook attempted to throw himself on her. "What do you guys think your doing?!" She protested as they caught her struggling limbs. Robin too was caught but resisted attacking she understood that the men's actions weren't their own and she would not harm any of them due to someone else's twisted manipulations. "Nami it's useless. They are under some sort of mind control!" Robin warned, her body twisting uncomfortably in the large metal hands of Frankie. "The wailing its about to burst my ears drums." Chopper protested as hoofs covered his ears. 'Whoever's using that sound Chopper's hearing must be controlling the others with it somehow.' Theidentical thoughts crossing the none-controlled crewmen's mind. Out of the dark recesses of the ship a feminine figure emerged clothed with rich and revealing black with forest green fabric decked out in gold jewellery, a choker-styled necklace connected chains of gold to the teardrop shaped emerald resting between breasts and a matching ring glimmered in the light as she pushed her thick fringe from her sharp eyes. It was a young woman roughly between Nami and Robin's age yet she moved with such grace and poise it seemed she glided instead of walked, her flesh was lightly tanned which beautifully contrasted her red coloured cork-screw curls that were piled high in some sort of messy updo. The mystery woman's amber eyes landed on the restrained pirate women and she spoke with a deep seductive almost smokey sounding voice "Well, well ladies you must be surprised" she purred placing a hand on her impressively sized bosom. "I'll be taking your crew mates now but not to worry they're in perfectly capable hands."
"You, just who are you and what do you want with them?" Robin asked fearlessly her eyes showing no hint of backing down. The red headed woman tsk-d a smile of amusement on her painted lips "I have no reason to answer but since you've asked so nicely.." She gestured with a raised hand and the controlled crew members stepped towards her "My name is Parthenope, and these men are mere tools for my plan" a sinister look displayed how truly dangerous the unknown female foe however, all caution flew right out the window for the navigator and archaeologist as Parthenope gripped Luffy with a lustful expression and siniously licked an invisble trail up his neck, her unoccupied hand reached for Zoro, nails digging painfully in the exposed swordsman's chest leaving red nail marks as she softly stroked the branded flesh. "I'll be taking them with me now but because I'm in such a good mood I'll let you both live" she stated placing her back to them, subtly stating who was in control.
"If you think that we'll just let you leave with the-" Nami's protest was rudely interrupted by a hard blow to the head successfuly knocking her out. "Nami!" Robin called out although she too suffered a strike to the head and dark blotches clouded her vision. "Cho..pper follow t-them."
The small reindeer who had remained silent through the encounter hastened to obey the raven haired woman's order on although he still worried for the unconscious female pirates. He had to do this there were no other options and he firmly believed the two women would find him so he lowered himself to Robin's ear and whispered clearly. "The necklace is where the loud wail is coming from." With that the doctor followed after the retreating bodies of the Straw hat pirates as they all boarded Parthenope's ship.
-oOo-
When Nami and Robin finally gained consciousness the sunset was casting a multitude of colours in the sky. Nami slowly opened her eyes, half expecting to be dead or worse shackled in a dark prison but the memories fully reminded her of the current situation, groaning as she stood up as anguished feelings stabbed at her heart. Robin too rose from the ground and the normally cool woman displayed traces of sadness in her features. "We can still find them." Robin placed a reassuring hand on the navigators shoulder. Nami looked up in disbelief and questioned how when Parthenope had vanished, probably been gone for several hours. The archaeologist moved to the railing and pointed as small balls floated up on the seas surface, held in place by an ingenious weighting system Ussop had designed tiny red flags peeking from the top and moving with the breeze. "Chopper went with them and left us a trail." Nami stated with eyes trained on the tiny devices a sense renewed hope filled them. Robin too smiled and felt her spirits lift, she savoured the feeling as she told the navigator the titbit the doctor had left them. "Chopper also mentioned a necklace, along with sound I believe?" Her mind already working the puzzling pieces together.
"That must be how she's controlling them." Crossing her arms Nami held a thoughtful look "but it must only affect human men, that explains why we obviously weren't affected. Chopper is more animal than man in that regard so it wouldn't work on him either."
Smirk in place Nami rested her hand on her cocked hip, villains whereabouts? Check. Weapon identified? Check. All they needed to do now was follow the trail Chopper had left them and soon she would be able to beat the living hell out of that woman for abducting their precious friends, especially for touching her captain she jelously thought. Robin released her distinctive laughter, cerulean eyes darkened with pleasure of reaping vengeance on that foul woman.
"Fufufu, it seems the fun shall begin."
-oOo-
What a long chapter I'm all tuckered out now. Cuddles into blankets. You see? Your reviews inspire me greatly and drive me to get this finished .
So, thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Feel free to voice your opinions. Your reviews are valued!
Thank you all for the follows and favouriting this story as well!
~E.
