Adventure on Snowflake Island

by BloodyMarryMe

"What could possibly happen on an island with such a tame name?" That was the first thing the Heart Pirates thought when they docked there, while the Strawhats wondered why wasn't it even in a shape of a snowflake then? Both crews will be utterly amazed when two worlds collide and revelation hits them. Dragons and pirates join forces, as their very reality becomes endangered.

3. Chapter 3

A collaboration story by Volleys-chan and BloodyMarryMe

Disclaimer: We do not own One Piece or any of its characters.

A/N (BloodyMarryMe): Hey everyone, the third chapter is out and we're making quite fast progress through this story! Stay tuned for the next chapter that will be out pretty soon. I want to thank everyone for your kind reviews! There's been a gitch these couple of days so we couldn't answer you, but it's fixed now so we can finally reply.

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Adventure on Snowflake Island

Instead of the view of the ocean that spread before them only moments ago, now a whole other part of the town stood that fit perfectly with the West side where the Heart pirates docked. The said pirates still stood there like gaping statues while the crowd of locals started shuffling and chatting around them, greeting the people from the other side.

Finally, Miyako managed to focus her dazed vision again and she turned her head to watch the stage the locals had built previously. She didn't know what just happened exactly, but had a distinct suspicion that the town bard had something to do with it. It was after he started playing his lute that the strange occurrence washed over them and the energy seemed to be flowing out of him specifically. One more notch of mystery on the already enigmatic man. That's when the samurai realized something odd; he wasn't alone anymore. Even though seconds ago Hisui was the only one standing on the platform while performing, now there was another person by his side; a woman. She danced gracefully as Hisui played the last notes of his melody until the song was finished. He was panting a bit, paler than usual and his eyelids looked heavy as if he was about to double over from exhaustion. Even so, the smile was never brighter on the man's face. It was an expression Miyako never saw him make until now. It made the Wano girl wonder who this new arrival was and how was she connected to this whole shift that just occurred.

"I smell something familiar," Bepo brought her out of her thoughts as he broke the silence of confusion. He was staring at something straight ahead, looking through the crowd of people.

"Captain!" Cody, Joshua and most of the other Heart Pirates ran over to Law in emergency, as perplexed as the others.

"What's going on here?!" Penguin was staring around at the new-formed town.

"Should we…inspect?" As she said so, Miyako already took a step forward. She was curious to see the new side of the town.

Yet she was rudely stopped by someone pulling on her ponytail that made her flinch back in surprise. "Hold on!" Joshua's voice sounded stern, like an older brother stopping his mischievous sibling before they could do any damage. "We don't know anything yet so don't take any risks!"

"Don't yank me!" The girl swiftly turned around and punched him upside the head so he would let go of her hair.

"Ouch! Why you-" The redhead was just about to return the favor, already clenching his fist and glowering back at the girl, when the couple realized their captain passed them both by without giving them a second thought. They blinked in wonder, following the man with their inquiring gazes.

"Captain, wait," Shachi called after him when he saw the tall man moving through the crowd.

Trafalgar ignored them and proceeded on towards the town square that separated their known surroundings from the new ones. He stepped on the square's cobblestone, each step echoing beneath the hard soles of his boots. His trusted nodachi was still resting on his shoulder, just in case some danger arises.

Though, it wasn't danger that the captain of the Heart Pirates saw. It wasn't some new enemy that threatened them. No….it was something much worse. Law couldn't believe his grey eyes at what he was staring at on the other side of that square. A group of people he separated with only weeks before, and he hoped he wouldn't have to meet the troublesome bunch any time soon. And the most troublesome of them all was the young lad standing in front. As usual he had that ludicrous grin from ear to ear, with the straw hat steadily placed on his messy black hair. Law would recognize that face anywhere after everything they've been through together. Just that thought made the captain of the Heart Pirates freeze and his eye twitched, remembering how exasperated he was with handling that eccentric teen and his crew.

"That's why I smelled something familiar," Bepo exclaimed, trotting next to his captain. He was smiling when he noticed their old friends.

The rest of the Heart Pirates appeared completely astounded, unable to put together the pieces of the puzzle and make a logical picture of what they were experiencing. First, a whole new part of the town appeared, maybe even a whole part of the island from the looks of it, and new people just magically appeared before their eyes together with a group they knew very well. At that moment, all they could do was blurt out in surprise and unison, "Strawhats!?"

~…..~

The crew as a whole now turned their attentions from the stage where Nicoletta had finished her dance and practically hug tackled the man before her with a giddy grin. Rei could sense that she was completely exhausted, possibly close to collapsing with how much energy she had expended on this amazing feat, but her happiness had filled her to the brim. No, not happiness, love. She could sense that Nicoletta loved the man with all of her heart and Rei could feel the quiet thrums of qi that pulsed from her as she was reunited with him. However, the moment that their crew's name was called, all ten of them snapped their attention over to these newcomers… No, not newcomers.

"Tora-o!" Luffy shouted with glee as he practically bounced over to the taller pirate captain, oblivious to any sort of expression of dread that had overcome the dark doctor, and gave him a Luffy-styled bear hug, crushing the man in his excitement. "I thought you were going under the covers for a while.."

"Undercover," All his crew mates corrected for possibly the umpteenth time as they came up from behind Luffy, having realized who their captain was happily greeting.

"Shishishi, yeah! That! You said you needed some time in the underworld-y place with your angel person's contacts to get more info on Kaito-"

"Kaido!" They corrected once more. Nami was rolling her eyes and Usopp was massaging his forehead at the whole thing, only Robin was laughing at her captain's misinterpretation. Law hadn't needed to go with Angel. The assassin could have easily done all that alone, but Law wanted to get away from Luffy for a while. Rei said nothing, instead she stared in quiet apprehension while she discreetly tucked herself behind Franky's much taller and broader form. Not from shyness, Rei was most definitely not shy, but she wanted to have the chance to observe the Hearts without interruption. There was something about this Law that seemed off to her. Bepo too.

She had almost run up to greet Bepo when Law had made himself known to receive her usual hug, but the polar bear seemed completely unaware of her, which he never was. He was always ready to give her a big brother bear hug, but now he was simply staring at them; practically looking right through her like he didn't know her. Also, she couldn't sense Leon. After the disaster of Dressarossa, the young strategist knew wherever Law was, Leon would be very close behind. So, where was Leon? In fact, now that she was looking at these people who had followed him… Where was his usual entourage? Angel, Oz, Janette, Leon, Elias, or Ambros? Hell, where was Poe? The battle-torn raven should have been on his usual perch upon Law's shoulder. Shachi and Penguin along with Bepo were around, but...

"Yeah, yeah, Kaido!" Luffy grinned, completely unfazed by the fact that he had messed up both very important facts again. The younger captain still crushing the other to his lean frame as if it was the most natural position to be in with him, but then again, Rei supposed, Law had been slung over Luffy's shoulder for the majority of Dressarossa. He didn't wait for an answer as he noticed the young woman close by with yellow eyes, a plaid coat, and a single sword- one like what Zoro and Rei used. "Who's that?" He paused as his face scrunched a bit in confusion as he noticed the redhead and the bluehead as well. Both were wearing the standard boiler suits that Law's crew was known for wearing, actually there were a lot of them with the same suit, but... "Who are they?"

Besides the initial confusion that came from seeing the least expected crew on this island, the Heart Pirates found themselves even more perplexed than before. Now not only did the Strawhats' appearance make absolutely no sense, but most of what they were saying didn't either.

"Oy, Strawhat, stop clinging all over Captain," Joshua exclaimed in irritation, seeing how disrespectful the boy was being. He knew Luffy meant no harm by it, but he also knew Law was slowly losing his patience, and when Law was in a bad mood, it was his crew who paid for it.

Law furrowed his eyebrows while he tried to peel the clingy boy off of himself. Strawhat often babbled nonsense in his opinion, but this time the man couldn't understand a word he was saying. "Ang-?Who!?" He would have thought the younger captain was messing with him, but the boy wasn't such an elaborate sort. He appeared genuine enough, although confusing. "I told you we should separate until we find out where Kaido's base was, lest we draw too much attention and become an easy target for his men. Have you lot already forgotten everything we planned?!" If this was some kind of joke, he wasn't enjoying it.

The samurai girl was more concerned about something entirely different. She kept staring at the girl who stood with the Strawhats, although hiding behind Cyborg Franky. Both of them must be mirroring the same confused expression, because she appeared just as puzzled as Miyako felt. She inspected the dark-haired woman, with skin tanner than hears and the most engaging red eyes. Perhaps it was ironical for the samurai to be so compelled by them, considering many found her eyes strange as well, but she was still intrigued by the peculiar appearance of the girl. She was about to ask about the new member of the Strawhats when the pirates' words brought her back from her thoughts.

"Eeeh?" Most of the Hearts gaped at the question.

"What do you mean, 'Who are we'? I can't believe you already forgot about us. That's too fast even for you, Strawhat," Cody sighed, a bit offended that nobody seemed to remember him from their crew.

Miyako scrunched her nose in suspicion, placing her hands on her hips. "Luffy-san, did this strange phenomena affect your memories or something? It's me, Miyako!" She then glanced at the one person in the Strawhat crew she couldn't recognize, "And when did you get a new crew member?"

Luffy furrowed his brow, still clinging to the struggling captain, unwilling to let go of his newest best friend just yet. His lips turning downward as his face slowly turned into a scowl as he stared at the young woman. "Miya-who? I don't know you." He scooted away from her, dragging Law away with him as he continued to repeat the many questions that had been thrown at the simple minded captain. "New crew member? What are you weirdos talking about? That's Rei! She's been on my crew. Law should know! We've all been the best of friends since Punk Hazard!"

Now Nami was slowly coming to a realization that something was wrong, especially since Rei was on edge and, normally, she would be exchanging verbal jabs at the other captain by this point. Usopp and Chopper were scooting closer to their stronger members in case these people decided to attack them. Robin had figured it out a while ago, that something was off, but she remained quiet in an attempt to try to understand the strange phenomenon. It must have been sometime during the event.

Sanji, however, had hearts in his eyes as he stared at the woman before him. She was slightly smaller than Rei was when the other woman wasn't wearing her heels, but she was beautiful. He quickly made his way over to her, grabbing one of her hands as he got down on one knee and began to speak his usual prose. "Oh beautiful fair maiden with the midnight locks of silken hair, I do not know how you came to be yet another beautiful woman upon Law's crew, but may I say that your eyes are like two topaz, glittering and shining in the reflection of tonight's lights."

"Oi. Don't mind the dartboard brow. He does this to anyone with a skirt." Zoro spoke up, rolling his eyes at the usual behavior of the love sick chef.

Sanji quickly spun around and stood upright, forgetting about the woman temporarily, to openly glare at the swordsman. "I do not pursue anyone with a skirt. Just beautiful women! Fair maidens. Angels of the fairer sex!"

Zoro smirked tauntingly. "That's not what I heard."

"Die you Marimo!" Sanji was surrounded by flames of fury as he openly attacked the ready swordsman. Both seemed to pretty much forget about the situation as they bickered once more.

"What does he mean 'yet another woman on our crew' anyway?" Joshua commented to the other Heart Pirates in confusion. "Miyako is the only one. I know Sam can seem a bit girly at times, especially with his glasses off, but-"

"You shut up!" The mentioned mechanic glared at the redhead though his glasses.

The other just shrugged, equally puzzled as the medic. Everything appeared upside down and all over the place at the moment.

"Miss," Brook finally took a step forward, bowing at the waist as he continued to speak. "May I see your panties?"

"No!" Nami raged, smacking the skeleton in the skull before Miyako could do anything. "Can you two not do this every damn time there is a new woman for you to harass?!" Nami turned an apologetic smile towards Miyako, her eyes momentarily flickering to all the other Hearts visible, almost like she was extending what she was about to say to all of them. "I don't really know what's going on, but sorry, they're incorrigible."

Rei watched, still trying to figure out what was going on. She flicked her eyes over to where Nicoletta was and wondered if it was something to do with the fact that this group came from the western half of the island that had appeared while they had been standing on the eastern half. For now, she slowly walked out from behind Franky and stood next to Nami, joining the conversation. She was definitely interested in the girl all her crewmates seemed to be drawn to. Her eyes were yellow, but Rei couldn't sense that she was anything like Nicoletta or herself. She was a human, but her eyes were a rich yellow, but not as iridescent and illuminating as Nanami's, Gin's, or Midori's.

"We're not friends, we're allies. I told you that hundreds of times already," Law struggled to break free from Luffy, slowly losing his temper. He had no intention of admitting he liked the boy even a little in any shape or form. He could already imagine the disaster that would cause if Strawhat heard it and misunderstood, getting even more clingy and friendly with him. The doctor shuddered at the thought.

"That's enough Strawhat!" Now even Bepo joined the struggling tangled form of the two captains, trying to separate them by grabbing Luffy by the shoulders and pulling him away. At least he tried to, but that only caused the boy's rubber limbs to stretch, still clinging to the older captain like his life depended on it.

In the end, it took Shachi, Penguin and Bepo to pull before they managed to break the boy off, falling to the ground in one tangled mess that left the three Hearts groaning in annoyance, and the Strawhat laughing without a care.

Meanwhile, Miyako's experience wasn't much better as she was left with dealing with the love cook of the crew, who treated her as if they just met for the first time. Even Nami looked at her like they were strangers, even though not even two months prior to this the navigator woman called her Miya-chan and dragged her to bathe with her every night. "I know…I had a similar experience the first time we met," the samurai whispered with confusion, though she realized the woman wouldn't remember that either. Still, she was almost impressed at how unchanged the Strawhats were in their personalities, to the point where they will obviously have the same reactions each time they meet Miyako; Sanji will become all flustered and try to flirt with her, Zoro will make a snarky remark on that fact and start a fight with the cook, Brook will want to see her panties and Nami will end up sorting the whole mess by kicking the shit out of everyone. A trickle of sweat flowed down Miyako's neck from the thought. Her focus was quickly reverted back to the group when she saw the new girl move and Miyako's eyes darted in her direction questioningly as the other stepped forward. She was still a bit wary of the red-eyed alien, but she presumed if the Strawhats were comfortable around her then surely she is also an ally.

Cody sighed, "There is obviously something strange going on around here and I bet it has something to do with this weird light that just flashed through the entire island." As he talked, he gave Shachi a hand and helped him up, while Josh did the same to Penguin. Bepo and Luffy were still left struggling on the ground, trying to entangle their limbs from each other, which was particularly hard when one of them had arms and legs that could curl around an entire body.

"But what's going on?!" Penguin was becoming impatient with this whole mess. "Why can we remember some of the people, but not the others? It makes no sense!" He gave a desperate look to his mechanic friend, but Shachi could only shrug in return. They were both equally clueless, just like the rest of them.

"Perhaps, we can help you with that explanation," a new voice broke their conversation and everyone stared at the couple who drew closer to them.

Hisui and Nicoletta stood side by side, gazing back at the confused pirates.

"Hisui-san and…?" Miyako gazed back at the woman in front of her. If she thought the other girl's red eyes were mysterious, then this woman's eyes were entirely enchanting. They were both dark and colorful, glowing and ever-changing just like the universe. She thought she could see entire constellations if she gazed deep enough into them. The girl gasped, completely taken aback by the beautiful sight.

"I knew he had to have something to do with this," Joshua exclaimed in a growl, suspiciously glaring at the other redhead.

However, all glares seemed to just slide off of Hisui as always. He was completely unaffected by it, only scratching the back of his head and smiling apologetically with a nervous gaze. "Yes well...I can't deny that. It's the zenith of our winter festival, after all. The most important event."

As he said that, he glanced back at the woman by his side, his expression becoming gentle and loving as soon as he laid his eyes on her. They locked silent gazes for a while, before another voice interrupted them.

"So what exactly happened? Explain this." Trafalgar's voice had a harsh tone as he ordered them to speak. He was hating this feeling of being confused and ignorant of what was happening around him. It made him feel like he didn't have control over the situation, something he hated even more. Luffy's antics from earlier didn't help his mood either. The older captain had to fix his crumpled attire and fallen hat after he finally pushed the boy off with the help of his crew.

"It is a story from long ago. One of both love and loss," Hisui started. "We found each other while investigating this very phenomena, although it was nothing like this at the time. Long ago, Nicoletta and I both realized there are other dimensions…other worlds, similar yet different than our own. They were all like timelines that existed parallel, but would never cross each other's paths…never intertwine. That is, until we got to this island. We soon realized that Snowflake island had a crack between two such worlds…a crack in a time-space continuum. With our unique powers, together we were the only ones who could manipulate that crack and see to the other side…that's how we met. As years passed, we studied more and more about the other's world and soon found a way to spread the crack through this whole island, and merge the two worlds for just one day. The townspeople were suspicious at first, but soon they came to accept this phenomena and it became a special day when the Snowflake island, that was destroyed a long time ago by an ancient weapon, can once again be whole. And as for us…," the bard took Nicoletta's hand in his own. "It was one day of each year that we could be together. I missed you, my love." He gave her a smile, his amber eyes sparkling with happiness.

"And I, ye, my dearest." The woman smiled before tightening her grip on his hand, their fingers knitted together as they stared at each other's eyes.

"So, this is what you were hinting at." Rei finally spoke, taking a step closer towards the pair. Her eyes focused on Nicoletta as she verbally relayed her understanding of the situation. "So this Heart crew is completely different than our own, which is why we don't recognize most of them. Law took a different path in this parallel universe and met different individuals." She had once had this very conversation with Midori and the small woman had conveyed such theories with her. While Rei was fascinated by her words, no one else really took her seriously. Midori wasn't entirely sane all the time, but she was utterly brilliant. Her brow furrowed though as she glanced at Bepo and Luffy. "But what about the ones we do recognize? How come some of them are the same and others are different?"

"Some people are required to progress the anchor points which line up in multiple universes." Nicoletta explained. "There are some events that cannot be changed, but there are details that can be… Hmmmm, let's call it, edited or perhaps even are subjective to interpretation in the course of the world's events. In our world, we exist, but in Hisui's world, our kind do not exist in the same way, causing it that ye'd never have been born. Some people escape that fate, due to being attached to anchor points, but others do not."

"I see," Rei mulled over that, her lips pulling into a frown at her conclusion. Dragons didn't exist the same way, meaning Dragians didn't. So that meant that Law never met Nanami and she never took him under her wing as her ward, thus he never met Leon or her. They didn't become sworn siblings alongside the others. There was a pain in her chest at the thought that Law had suffered alone, knowing how much her brother had struggled with his heartache even with them there. She glanced at Law with a somber expression, reminding herself that he at least had Bepo to stay by his side when Leon, Nanami, and she couldn't. "So though we might feel like we know each other (or at least some of each other), we don't."

"I don't get it." Luffy frowned, pointing to Law. "Torao is right there. He's Torao."

Nami sighed rather exasperatedly and was about to try to explain it, but Rei held up a hand signaling she'd take care of it. "Luffy. That is Torao, but he's a different Torao than ours. He's from the mystery side of the island, so he's Mystery Torao, but we'll call him Torao since our Torao isn't here, okay?"

"Ah~!" Luffy crossed his arms and nodded like he actually understood. "A mystery. Gotcha." With that, he turned his attention back to Bepo and began to hug the fuzzy polar bear mink. "Mystery Bepo~!" The poor bear was wrestling the energetic boy once more to try to pry the teenager off of him.

All of the Heart Pirates listened carefully to Nicoletta and Hisui. They mulled over each word curiously, trying to make sense of what was happening around them. The chatter of the townsfolk and other pirates around them was no more than mere murmur to them now, simply background noise, while they concentrated on the bizarre events developing before them. Around them, the other pirate crews also stopped panicking, as the locals explained to them what the toymaker and the bard were explaining this instant to the Hearts and the Strawhats.

Rei turned to send a professional expression at Law. "That's the best I can do. He'll still bother you, but he does understand you are not our world's Law, so there are boundaries he shouldn't cross. Hopefully for you, he might not hug you as hard… Might. Luffy is pretty handsy when he likes someone. And he likes Law." Not sure why, because Law is a ghoulish ass. She thought but purposely left out.

The Hearts' captain sighed as he watched Bepo complain about the dark-haired boy who was now snuggling against him contently, remarking how warm his fur was. He listened to Rei's words, almost sweatdropping at how simplified her explanation to Luffy was about this event; however, he knew only something like that could truly sate the boy and make him understand. At least she seemed to have a knack for handling him, something Law still struggled with sometimes. He frowned, glancing between Strawhat and the woman. He will have to make do with what he got, finally free from the younger captain at least. "Well…I suppose I appreciate it," he muttered. Though he could do without the continuous 'Torao' nickname. His eyebrow still twitched in reflex every time he heard it. Alas, by now he realized there was no use complaining and getting frustrated about it anymore. Even so, a part of him dreaded that he even got that blasted nickname in a whole other world, as if it was branded on him no matter where or who he was.

He found it hard to believe in everything these two had said, a part of him still suspicious that this was some kind of elaborate scheme…some kind of trap laid out for them. But what would they gain from it? He was a man of science, of empirical study and the facts of what he was seeing were clear as day even if he wanted to deny them. The woman herself said this wasn't magic, but science. That thought only made the scholar in him more curious. There was no point in rejecting something that was right before his eyes, anyway. So instead, he should adjust accordingly and inspect the situation, that is what he decided.

"Wait, so some of us exist in the other world and some of us don't? How is that fair!?" Joshua crossed his arms on his chest as he scowled.

"Heh, I guess some of us are just more important," Penguin grinned proudly, his nose high in the air as this new revelation stroked his ego. Joshua rolled his eyes at the mechanic. Yeah, like that's what Penguin needed, as if his confidence needed any more boosts.

"Perhaps we do exist in the other world, but we just never met Captain. Our paths are different there," Cody suggested with a shrug, mostly to try and comfort his friend.

"I suppose there's something comforting in knowing that even though these aren't exactly our friends, their personalities aren't that much different. It makes me a bit at ease, thinking we can trust them anyway," Miyako smiled as she watched Luffy playfully snuggle against the polar bear who was whining against it. It wasn't that different from how their Luffy treated Bepo. Then something occurred to her and she looked back at Nicoletta and Hisui, "But if there are people whose paths stayed the same in every world…It sounds like their destiny was already written out for them. That they will go down the same path, no matter what?"

Penguin shuddered at the thought, "I don't want that! It's like we can't change our fates!"

Shachi was right beside him, glancing from his Captain to the Strawhat. "Right, that would suck!"

Rei turned to inspect the young woman with new eyes as the others conversed, only half listening to their lament of fate. No longer trying to understand the odd phenomena of her having such yellow eyes without showing the signs of being a Dragian. She noted a few things, including the katana, how it was handled, the girl's natural posture, her calloused hands, the silken ribbon in her hair, and how she had previously spoken. A Wano girl. No, a samurai, the young strategist surmised.

Rei bowed at the waist in the manner that had been taught to her when initially addressing someone from Wanokuni, giving the young woman a polite greeting. "Since it is obvious that I have never met you and you me, despite you recognizing the others in my crew, may I properly introduce myself. I am Yokoyama Rei of Water 7. Pleasure to make your acquaintance - Miyako, wasn't it?"

Meanwhile, Miyako was frowning at the thought as she was still mulling over their conversation topic, wondering what kind of life the Law from the other world had. Did it mean his past was equally painful in their world too? Was it really no other way for him to live than what the stars had already written out? It seemed awfully unfair to her that there was no world in which Law could have grown up as an average adult, a simple doctor, who lived in his lovely White Town together with his family. A world in which he never lost his family, never got sick, or never met Doflamingo. She unconsciously stared at her captain in thought until she heard a shuffling of feet in snow. She glanced with interest at the girl around her age, as she approached her before starting to introduce herself. Miyako was a bit surprised that the girl gave her a courteous bow that one does in Wanokuni. She wasn't used to it unless people were actually from Wano, so it made it obvious that this one knew of their customs at least. In Wanokuni, the depth of the bow, much like a lot of subtle gestures in their culture, had a meaning. It was different to bow to someone of a highly respectable position who was more important in society than yourself or to your peer. Most of the outsiders never pick up on that unless they are specifically taught about it, yet this girl showed a perfect stance in her bow as she introduced herself. Miyako doubted it was coincidental, making her believe that this girl was somehow connected to Wano or at least someone who thought her their customs. As it would be highly disrespectful not to respond, the samurai bowed equally low, with a polite smile to show her respect. "The pleasure is mine. Indeed, I am Suzune Miyako of Wano country." She slowly erected, meeting the girl's eyes. "I am impressed by your knowledge of our ways in Wanokuni," she noted.

Rei stood back up into her usual perfect posture. Her eyes crinkling with mirth and fondness at the thought of the individual responsible for her knowledge of Wanokuni, but was distracted by the Toymaker's words, seeing as she was very interested in the whole theory of it. Nicoletta was a full-fledge adult dragon, and the young drake knew that this wisdom came from years and years of study and understanding.

"It's not like fates cannot be altered," Nicoletta corrected the two mechanics. "Deaths and such can be avoided, but nature would require balance in return for altering any anchor event. If one city was spared, then another would be consumed by tragedy in an equal or more potent affair than the first event. One never knows the outcome of meddling with the timeline, but never is there a path that is without heartache of some type." Nicoletta shook her head. "Ah, but listen to me jabber on and on about theoretical physics and paradoxes. Wot I am trying to explain is that though there are anchor points that attach the parallel dimensions together, some of them shift and change as they move from dimension to dimension and perhaps the anchors that hold these two universes together are not the same as the ones that hold others to each other."

Hisui chuckled as his love continued to explain the parallel universes in a vortex of words and explanations. "Nicoletta always gets so caught up when talking about the nature of the worlds, especially this study we observed together. She could probably go on for hours, which she actually has done more than once." Even as he said that, the man didn't look irritated by it, just the opposite, he found it endearing. Just like she could talk so passionately about all the theories coming from their data, Hisui could stay and listen to her for just as long.

"Very interesting." Robin finally spoke up. "So, perhaps, would it be possible that someone's parents in this universe are different in the other?"

"Yes," Nicoletta nodded. "I have observed it on this island from time to time, but usually they play a bigger role that can only be fulfilled by that person, not to say that there is any such thing as an unimportant person, but it falls again to anchor points that must happen. But sometimes details like parentage, siblings, homeland, weapons, and even people's connections to one another are changed or slightly different."

"That's for sure." Rei couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing Law without Leon freaked her out a bit. In fact, without Nanami raising him, Law probably didn't have a background as being a gypsy child either or even have received Kikoku from her, though she did note this one had the cursed blade as well. She would have to be careful with what she said around him as to not give away more than she wanted to about her close, sibling-like relationship with the pirate captain.

Law gave her a questioning expression in return with one of his eyebrows raised when he noticed the girl's stare on him. He had a feeling this one knew more about him than the other way around, and it gave him a small sense of caution. He was interested in this other Law and how much he was similar to himself. Perhaps this girl could answer some of those questions for him. Still, he didn't appreciate her smirking face directed at him, as if she knew all of his secrets, so the captain comforted himself with the notion that that was only the case for the other Law and had nothing to do with him.

"Right, Leon or Elias are usually somewhere nearby when Law's around." Nami commented, looking around in hopes to see at least the grumpy treasurer. "I was hoping since Law was here to at least team up with Elias for a couple card scams."

"You two and your money." Usopp shook his head as he let out a heavy sigh, Chopper nodding his head in agreement. The sniper was often drafted into at least one of these scams and usually had to be the guy to bail them out when people caught on, especially since Elias hated guns.

"If you're talking card scams, I'd say these two are perfect for your company then." Joshua sighed in response, pointing his thumb at the two head mechanics. Then realization hit him, "Actually scratch that…don't encourage them."

Shachi and Penguin both frowned in disappointment before the younger one spoke towards Nami with a slight blush, "Hey, we wouldn't have a problem with anything you'd want us to do, Nami~"

Shachi nodded vigorously in agreement.

Cody sighed and shook his head slowly, "You two are hopeless. You're turning into that blonde cook, you know."

"Oi!" Sanji took offense to that, but quickly and purposely Zoro distracted him once more. He knew that he was missing things in order to occupy the blonde cook, but he had already realized that the other women of Law's crew- all twelve of them- didn't exist in this world. The last thing he wanted to hear was him wail and lament that fact in public. Besides, Rei was there around to catch him up to speed on a level he understood. He might not been as stupid as Luffy, but he would at least internally admit that such things as science and physics and such went right over his head when it didn't do so with the young strategist.

"Shame Angel or Emi aren't here either. It's always fun to trade assassination techniques with the two of them." Robin also agreed.

"You three and your creepy hobbies!" Usopp, Chopper, and Brook screamed at Robin, completely flustered by her remark, tears in their eyes from their fleeting fear.

The Hearts glanced at each other knowingly, hearing the dark-haired archaeologist speak. Bepo leaned towards the two mechanics and whispered, "No wonder the Robin from our world got along with Sai. Their minds are equally dark." The others just slowly nodded, staring at the woman with a bit of wariness in their eyes.

"Janette and Oz promised to go over my latest super awesome weapon schematic…" Franky sulked when he realized neither inventor/engineer would be available for such feats.

"You three and your outrageous weapons!" The three of them shouted, still flustered by Robin's earlier comment.

Rei laughed as she glanced at both Law and Miyako with a sheepish, lopsided grin. "We have a pretty good relationship with our world's Heart crew. I've known Pen and 'Chi since I was but fourteen. Leon and Cassiopeia since I was about fifteen as well as Bepo-kun. The only thing that puts a wedge in things between the Mugiwaras and Hearts is that Law is pretty intolerant of Luffy's antics and our usual pace. He could never understand how I can deal with it as easily as I do, but it's not like I don't usually go along with their pace."

The captain of the Heart Pirates frowned at that comment, seeing that the other Trafalgar obviously had similar problems as he did. "Even so…most of these names you mentioned mean nothing to me," he shrugged. It appeared that most of his crew in the other world was completely different from this one. "Though we do have somethings in common apparently," he muttered, sending a glare at the straw hat-wearing boy.

Miyako chuckled at her captain's mood, mostly amused by how out of character he was whenever Luffy was near. The man just couldn't handle the boy's antics and in the end got pulled along with the Strawhats' pace. However, she found that side of Law entertaining to watch as he struggled to keep his cool along this crazy crew that just wouldn't let him do so.

"I figured that you'd know at least Leon. He met you- errr… Law when Law was… Thirteen? Fourteen?" It felt so weird to speak to this Law about her world's Law, especially since she kept wanting to use the 'you' pronoun, but she continued. "So if he wasn't here, then he probably never met you or possibly doesn't exist. Shame." Rei's eyes dimmed a bit at that particular thought. She decided to divulge a bit more, knowing that no matter how he grew up, Law was very curious about things whether he admitted it or not. It was just who he was. "Though they are not related by blood, Leon's practically Law's older brother with how much he cares for him. He helped take care of him throughout the majority of his... ailment until he was finally able to cure it with his powers. Him and one other person who was pretty detrimental to his survival after…" She trailed off, not sure if the young woman knew about it or if Law felt up to verbally speaking about the man just yet. Her brother still had a lot of healing to go through on that subject, though he was finally moving forward with it after so many years of letting it fester in his heart. She cleared her throat and pressed on with her explanation. "Though more like a parent than a sibling. In fact, I was hoping to find her here… But it seems my information was off a bit."

Law had to take a moment to process what he just heard from the girl. So the other him had some similar experiences in his past, but also a lot of differences in his life. He felt a little pang of hurt in his chest when Rei talked of his illness and stopped right before mentioning his name. Even so, he could tell who she meant, meaning she knew about it. *So the other Law also met Corazon in his past...and also lost him,* he thought grimly, suddenly feeling annoyed at his other self that he also didn't know better and was unable to do anything but watch his important person die. But the other Law met people who helped him. He healed and trusted once again, enough to even call them his family. For Trafalgar, that 'family' was right here in his crew, so in the end, he guessed both of them found what they needed. He glanced at the samurai by his side, locking his gaze with her troubled one momentarily. They talked about his past after the whole ordeal with Doflamingo and she now knew everything, which is why she was looking at him knowingly to observe his reaction to Rei's words. However, Trafalgar's healing process already started with Doflamingo's demise and he silently gave her a stare that said not to worry. He gave Rei a nod, signifying he understood what she was saying, but stayed silent to mull over her words.

Rei smoothed out her coat a bit before one of her gloved hands came to rest on the kashira of both her blades. She felt a little guilty for the mood, having not missed the quiet nuances between the two, so she tactfully changed the subject. "As for my knowledge of Wano's etiquette, my father had obtained a retainer from Wanokuni through some unusual means. He had actually liberated him from slavery after he won him in a card game with a Celestial Dragon my father had been forced to entertain while the other was staying at Water 7. Being as noble as the samurai was, he felt honor-bound to offer his blade to my father after being shown such kindness from a complete stranger. Apparently, he had been betrayed by his Daiyamou because the lord coveted his wife. However, my father definitely needed no protector, as he was a great swordsmaster unrivaled by any except for perhaps Dracule Mihawk, in my personal opinion (though I am prone to be biased since he's my father). He decided to accept the man into our household to assist me with my own swordplay when he could not. He taught my brothers, sisters, and me some of Wanokuni's etiquette. Mostly enough not to offend others if we are forced to visit, especially me, since I am already rather an offensive notion to them."

The Wano samurai turned away from her captain when Rei spoke again, this time directing her explanation to her. She was surprised to hear that the girl had such skilled swordmasters as father and teacher, to the point that they could rival the greatest swordsman in the world. It just made the samurai girl more curious to learn more about this girl whose path, although different from hers, led her on a journey of becoming a kenshi just as Miyako's did. Actually, the more she spoke, the more Miyako's golden eyes glistened in excitement at the prospect of meeting another swordswoman. She hadn't met one since Tashigi, after all. What's more, she could see that Rei wielded two excellent katana, guessing the girl was using nitoryuu techniques. She felt a bit saddened by Rei's last words of being considered offensive, seeing as Miyako could easily sympathize. *It seems some things never change in whichever world we live…the hardships of women kenshi are the same everywhere,* she scowled at the thought. However her mood soon improved as she smiled back at Rei, happy to meet a fellow swordswoman. She was just about to respond when a voice broke out through the town square, silencing everyone instantly.

"What a beautiful reunion!"

The voice was familiar to most of the Heart Pirates, and Hisui also recognized it, frowning a little. Nicoletta picked up on his mood and frowned as she glanced at him in confusion, though she was tensing a bit, before she was moving her head every which way as she tried to locate the source. Zoro and Sanji quit their fighting, while those on the Strawhat crew who had weapons gripped them, ready for anything, seeing as those words in that tone often led to trouble.

People of the town all searched for the cause of the booming voice with their gazes, until they noticed seven figures standing on the platform where Hisui and Nicoletta previously stood. The townsfolk seemed confused by the sudden change of events, but the Hearts only tensed as they glared at the new arrivals, already expecting trouble since captain Murdock was involved.

Besides him, the other members of the crew were standing next to him, with a few new ones that were unfamiliar. They recognized the red fishman shark, Brill, the large axe-wielding pirate Glenavon who now had a bandage wrapped around his head, Kamui 'The Monk' who was chanting something once again and the skinny androgynous person, Ebbie. However, there were two more with them this time; an old, hunched fellow who couldn't even stand right as he swayed lightly, and a cloaked figure with a dark hood that prevented from seeing any features of the person.

As he got everyone's attention, Captain Murdoch continued, "We are so happy to have witnessed such a spectacular event on this island." His grin never faded as two hungry eyes kept staring towards Nicoletta and Hisui. "Unfortunately, we'll be changing the festival's program a bit."

As he said that, the man took out something from his pocket and pressed a button. In the next instant, everything became white as a deafening noise echoed throughout the town.

The ground beneath the town square started to explode in some places as if bombs were dug deeply beneath it, waiting for the man's signal to go off. Screams and crumbling of stone and ice ripped through the sky as chaos ensued, people trying to run away desperately.

The ground beneath the pirates' feet exploded, sending them flying and crashing into the snow.

~…..~

When Miyako opened her eyes again, she was disoriented and confused, a sharp noise shrilling in her ears. She realized she was on the ground, so she tried to get up on her hands, gazing around her. People were passing her by, running frantically, while others lay unmoving in the snow around her. She saw a few white boiler suits, hoping her crew was alright. Bepo was the closest and she slowly started to crawl towards him. She thought she was calling his name, but couldn't be sure as all the sounds remained fuzzy. Her vision was blurry and her eyes stung from the smoke around her. Even so, she managed to distinguish some forms and realized there was a familiar redhead with a lute near her. "Hisui…san…," she tried to call for him, though she could barely hear her voice.

The others weren't in much better state. Hisui groaned as he looked around in panic, calling for the toymaker. "Nicoletta!?" He was still standing, although barely, considering he was already exhausted from doing the merge ritual with his wife. It took a lot of power to open the crack and bring the two worlds together, leaving little energy for anything else after that. Both Nicoletta and him had to go all out for this one day to have together.

He felt a presence behind him and turned around just in time to dodge a kick from Ebbie. He stumbled backwards and quickly played three chords on his lute, stopping the chuckling person in their tracks. He turned around to call for the dragon woman again, only to be cut off with a strong punch to the stomach. "Nico-!" His startled eyes widened as he felt the pain spread through him, paralyzing him, as he slowly lost consciousness. He saw the fishman's face in front of him as Brill delivered the punch, then proceeded to lift the smaller man up and heft him on his broad shoulder. Hisui blacked out right as Captain Murdock slowly walked over to them.

Throughout the panic, Murdock seemed completely calm and content with the situation. He smirked at the unconscious man over Brill's shoulder, before his gaze fell on the instrument that fell from Hisui's hands and into the snow. "Take him," he ordered before turning away, leaving the lute discarded on the ground.

A new man walked over to the other, short and chubby, with two guns on the holsters around his waist. He had a black jacket with a Jolly Roger of a skull with a bandana and two crossed knives beneath it, on his back. There was a similar bandanna on the man's bald head. "Murdock, don't forget our deal! We help you bring in this…whatever he is, and you give us enough money to buy an island…using his time powers of course." The man grinned, showing rows of golden teeth. "He'll be useful for robbing banks," he added.

Murdock didn't look pleased with how the other man talked to him if his dead eyes were any indication of it, but he still smiled pleasantly at the man. "Ah, the captain of the Blade Pirates, Bandir-san. Do not worry, I will keep my end of the bargain. So you just do your part and keep everyone away from our scent," he finished. Around them, the pirates in black overalls and jackets ran around with weapons, attacking the locals and creating even more havoc until the Sea Rats make their escape.

~…..~

Rei blinked a few times, trying to focus her senses, but she could definitely feel blood trickling down the side of her head from impact. Probably a gash from some of the shrapnel. If anything, she would be coming out of this with a few bumps, bruises, and scratches all over. She mourned the loss of yet another cute outfit for just a moment before moving onto business. She opened up her mind wide, touching the consciousness of her nakama as well as the new Hearts just to get an idea of who was still conscious and who had been rendered unconscious by the harsh blast. Only a few of them were completely out, but everyone else was still aware. In fact, Miyako seemed distressed, though Rei was not sure why yet, since she was now only gathering her wits. She quickly erected her mental barriers that she kept before pushing herself up and trying to get back onto her feet and ready for anything else that might happen next.

"What a dirty trick." Zoro griped as he got up unharmed but rather agitated. He was already pulling out his swords as he got up. If someone had enough gall to hit them when they were unaware, they were looking for a fight.

"Well, I suppose these idiots need some sort of advantage when trying to knowingly and openly attack two crews known in both worlds, it seems, as being in an alliance. Though I will say that while it hurt less than what I've been dealt before, my ears are still ringing." Rei spoke a little louder than usual, her heightened sense of hearing had not appreciated being caught right in the middle of an explosion and she counted her blessings that her eardrums had not ruptured because of it. Or she would have been cursing up and down in multiple languages before showing these idiots the sharp sides of her blades.

Sanji was already up, despite whatever injuries he may have sustained, and was checking to make sure that Nami was okay. He helped her up with a worried expression, which she easily waved off despite the grimace she gave. Two of her ribs might have been bruised by that, she gauged quietly. Franky had managed to take the brunt of the hit for both Usopp and Robin who had been close enough to grab and shield, and he was dusting himself off with little damage due to how his body was built, but it didn't stop him from openly glaring at the man responsible.

"Hey!" Luffy easily swung his legs into the air, rocking on his back slightly, and with the momentum righted himself in a single movement without using his hands. "That was mean! You ruined all those good food carts! I hadn't gotten to eat at those ones yet."

"You're thinking about the food!" Chopper shouted as he shakily got up, now in his Kung Fu point. "They just attacked for no reason, hurting everyone without a care."

"You're right." Luffy nodded, still filled with his righteous anger and he pointed and amended his last statement. "If any of those people in charge of those stands are hurt, I'm gonna beat you worse than what you're already gonna get!"

"Not much better!" Chopper yelled, sweatdropping at his captain's one track mind, but relented. At least Luffy was thinking of the people now. He quickly looked around until he found one body still on the ground unmoving with blood trickled down the side of her head. "Nicoletta-san!" He immediately ran to her, taking her wrist and checking for a pulse before assessing the injury she had sustained.

"Hi-sui?" Her eyes fluttered as she tried to open them, but she felt too tired and her head was spinning and she felt extremely disoriented. She had attempted to dodge the attack and contain the blast with her powers, which was usually something she wouldn't even bat an eye at, but she couldn't, not after such a feat as the one she had performed. She managed to get most of the shrapnel, opening small void portals to redirect the blast pieces safely into the ground, but ironically she had been so focused on preventing the others from being mortally wounded that she had completely missed the one coming towards her. She felt a tightness in her chest as she began to search for his qi and could sense nothing. Panic filled her. "Hisui?!"

"Stay calm Nicoletta-san, you sustained quite the hit to the head." Chopper tried to soothe her as she fought to get up, but her equilibrium was still off from the heavy hit to the head. She batted him away as she continued to call out for her husband, her panic growing the more and more he didn't reply to her calls.

~…..~

Law was able to avoid the worst of the explosion, only suffering from disorientation from the blast, but he could tell he didn't have any serious injuries. Looking around, he saw the snow drenched in a color of crimson from the fallen people who weren't as lucky. Instantly, he searched for his crew, worried that they could have been among the victims and found Cody lying beside him on the floor.

"Cody-ya!" He went to him in a hurry and knelt down beside his body, turning the bluehead around with caution. He didn't want to irritate any injuries the medic might have, but he needed to inspect him to be sure. The lad had a bump on his head, but other than that he couldn't see any blood or wounds on him.

Cody groaned in pain, slowly opening his eyes to the sounds of screams and his captain calling him. "What happened?"

"A trap was set by Murdock, though I don't know with what purpose," Law muttered in thought, also interested in the other captain's intentions. "Can you walk?"

The medic was silent for a while as if analyzing his own body at the moment, before he nodded his head curtly.

"Then go help the others, there might be some injured," the captain ordered, helping the medic to his feet.

Law turned around to go find the others just like Cody, when he heard an angry cry coming his way. A pirate in black was running towards him with his sword held high, ready to bring it down on him. He didn't recognize the pirate as anyone special, only that he belonged to one of the crews on this island. Without a second thought, the surgeon unsheathed his nodachi with one swift motion and sliced the attacker's abdomen horizontally before the other could even swing down his sword. Law passed him in a walk, without even changing his pace, while the pirate let out a death gasp and fell on his face beside him. *So not only are we fighting against Murdock's crew, but also at least one more pirate crew. They must be working together, since this is a too big of a coincidence that they attacked at the same time.*he frowned, looking at his surroundings.

There was nothing left of the idyllic scenery of the town. Instead, pirates were laughing and running after the locals with their weapons, killing, pillaging and plundering houses and stores. The people ran or hid in their houses, crying and screaming in terror from the sudden unexpected oppression. Some of the men took their own weapons now and fought against the pirates, trying to protect their home town and families. Even though they weren't warriors, they were much stronger than one would think, their strong build helping them against the enemies. Even so, it was obvious they won't hold out on their own for long.

By the time Miyako came to, got up and helped Bepo on his feet, Hisui was already away from her sight and lost in the crowd of battling men. She searched around, but didn't find any trace of the Sea Rats either. They were already long gone, and only the Blade Pirates were left to keep the others distracted from going after ran over to the sight where she last saw the bard, her leg nudging at something on the ground. Looking down, she noticed it was Hisui's lute, giving her a bad feeling about this. She never saw the man without it and she doubted Hisui would just leave it here if he had a choice. Tightening her lips, she took the instrument and placed it against some stairs of a house so she could pick it up again later. She had to keep her hands free to use the sword now.

"I'm going to go find Captain," the polar bear told her before turning to run in a direction of their captain. His nose wasn't helping much since the scent was covered behind a veil of smoke, gunpowder and blood, but Bepo's sharp eyes caught sight of the captain's fuzzy hat instead.

The girl wanted to go with him, but a scream of a woman nearby brought her attention to the pirates rampaging through the city. She didn't want to leave these kind townsfolk to their fate. She wanted to help. "I'll take care of the pirates and protect the people," she called out before running in the other direction.

One of the Blade pirates leaped at her from the side, but the girl sidestepped the attack and sliced through his stomach, stepping behind him. She didn't even stop to watch him fall before she was already on the move towards the next one. A cry of a child reached her ears and she turned around to see a pirate in black grabbing a hold of the mother while the child desperately clung to her skirt. Miyako headed towards them, but stopped when a single shot echoed throughout the air. The pirate was hit right in the middle of his forehead and fell dead to the ground. Miyako searched around for the sniper, to see Sai aiming his rifle towards the fallen pirate. Behind him was Eli with a pistol in each hand, shooting at the enemies. The two were so proficient at long range combat and so quick with their guns that no opponent could even come close or have time to fire at them.

Couple of attackers charged at her and Miyako waited for the quicker one to come close before stepping forward and ending his charge with a side step and a strong roundhouse kick to the stomach, a second before the other arrived whose sword she blocked with her katana, sliding her sword across the other blade and slicing at the man's head. The head rolled to the ground in front of the first attacker who managed to get back up, only to get a sword through his stomach this time. These pirates showed no mercy to the civilians of this town, so Miyako had no intention of showing any quarter to them. She heard a loud shout and saw Yibor leading an armed group of men from the western part of town to fight against the pirates. However, there was no sign of the redheaded bard. She remembered seeing him fighting against one of the Sea Rats just before he got incapacitated by them. *Was he taken by Murdock's men, after all? I'll have to inform the others later, but before that, we need to stop these pirates and regroup. The Strawhats should be around here too.* She ran towards her enemies, keeping her eyes open for the Hearts' allies in case they were injured by the explosion or needed help.

~…..~

Rei's mind was spinning as she quickly formed a battle plan. The main problem was that the other pirates had all gone berserk in the excitement and now were all over the town causing trouble, making it difficult to contain them with just the limited amount of people available for her to utilize. Usopp probably had a green pop of some kind that could help block off the roads from the main square, but that still required someone to lure or lead them all back into the main part of the square. Robin could possibly also erect defenses and detain a few of the pirates that had already left the town square, but she would rather put her to a different use.

Her thoughts were not even interrupted when someone of lower caliber and skill came rushing at her with a blade and, without even registering it mentally, her body moved. The strategist's swords were drawn from their sheaths and her qi entered their forms as she fell into one of her sword-style's poses. The movements had been ingrained into her soul with how many times she had to perform the same forms over and over that she did so automatically when she sensed killer intent directed towards her. While her teal blade, Shimo Shuuki, was used to redirect the momentum of the other pirate's sword away from her and into the ground, the red one, Yuuyake, heated up, glowing like raw molten lava, as she channelled her qi through it and severed the man's head without any resistance. Rei didn't even think about the body of the man she had just killed as it fell limply to the ground with a heavy thunk, the flesh that had touched her red blade sizzling, embers flickering out in the remains, the slight smell of burning flesh, and no blood spurting out as if it the wound she inflicted had been cauterized by her blade. Instead, her mind still reeling over the best plan she could take at this point.

Mulling it over a second longer, she refocused on the world around her and began to delegate her plan to her nakama, at least the ones near enough to utilize. Luffy was a bit further away from the rest, as was Chopper, so she'd have to go to them in order to use them in her strategy. "Robin. I know it will be a lot of work, but try to minimize the harm that comes to the people of this island. You're going to have to stretch your senses throughout the entirety of the plaza to make sure you get as many as you can. Brook, since you are faster than the rest of us, you are our front assault. Go and help where Robin can't and make sure that the islanders aren't harmed first and foremost." The skeleton quickly tipped his hat before taking off in a dash to go do as he had been told. He didn't need to wait to hear the rest of the plan, now knowing what his role in it would be. "Nami, I need you to go with Usopp and watch his six while he barricades as many streets as possible. We need to contain the threat. Franky, you watch Robin's six since this is going to take all her concentration. Get to a good place where the only way to harm her is through you. Zoro, Sanji, go do what you two do best, but try not to damage the area any more than it has been. We know nothing of how this place is being held together, and we can't risk anything until we understand how Nicoletta and Hisui both managed this."

"What about the pirates that already got into the streets?" Nami asked, worried about the other people outside the town square's safety. She quickly moved after she had spoken, dodging an attack from behind before the unfortunate pirate got a hard kick to the face, compliments of Sanji who was still standing by Nami. He cussed angrily at the hostile as he fiercely told the other pirate where he thought he should shove it.

"I have an idea for that, but I have to go find Nicoletta and Luffy for that." She turned her head to where she could sense them, Nicoletta was in obvious distress and so she expanded her qi to search for Hisui's signature as well. "I can't sense Hisui anywhere, however, but I know he's not dead. He must have been the target and the rest of this is simply a distraction."

"Damn bastards." Sanji growled. "Stealing away the kind and beautiful Nicoletta's one true love. I might mourn that she's already been snatched up, but I will kick all these bastards' asses for taking away something as precious as her happiness!" He was fired up and ready to dish out punishment.

"Tch," Zoro was drawing out his blades with a blood thirsty look upon his face. "I'm just happy to kick ass. I don't need an excuse to dish it out. If they want maiming and mayhem, I'll be happy to give it to them."

"Yow~," Franky pulled a pose quickly. "We'll show them not to mess with us! Come on Robin, let's teach these bastards a super lesson they soon won't forget."

Robin nodded and the two of them moved to find a more secure location so that Franky could have an easier time protecting her prone body as she used her devil fruit to help as many others as she could. Nami and Usopp both had determined faces as they took off to start sealing up the streets, trusting in Rei's ability to strategize a winning outcome and put two effective individuals together without them struggling to accomplish their goal.

"Go find Luffy and Nicoletta quickly and let's get this back under control." Zoro told her before putting his third katana in his mouth and focusing on stopping the hordes of pirates that had forgotten any initial fear and restraint when they had first docked at the island.

"Of course," Rei nodded, once more sidestepping an attack and quickly disposing of her opponent without much thought. She started running to where the blast had sent the rest of her crew packing and hoped that Nicoletta was alright enough to go along with her plan, dodging, defending, and attacking any of those with hostility aimed towards her as she ran. She didn't know a whole lot about Munashii Dragons, but she did know that they could use their powers as a mean of teleportation.

~…~

Miyako just sliced through another pirate when she noticed a blue film expand from the square, all over town, until it was enveloping everything. She recognized it immediately and only had time to wonder why Law decided to use such wide range for his powers when she found herself in a completely different spot in a blink of an eye. She blinked a few times in confusion, startled when she was teleported to another place. Looking around, she got an answer to her previous question. Her captain used Shambles to switch all his nearby enemies with the Heart Pirates that were currently fighting around town. Now, the square was filled with dozen white boiler suits as the Hearts regrouped and made a formation around their captain. It allowed Law to examine the state of his crew and give further orders that will deliver this situation to a close as soon as possible.

Beside her, Joshua shook his head to get rid of the strange feeling of being suddenly teleported. "I hate when he does that," he grumbled, before throwing a scalpel at another enemy and hitting them right in the neck.

"I know what you mean…my stomach always feels funny from it," the samurai frowned. No matter how many times Law used his powers on them, she'll never get used to it.

"But you have to admit, it's quite practical," the blue-haired medic responded with a smirk.

"How about we buy him a whistle for times like these instead?" Penguin sighed, not appreciating these sudden pulls with Law's devil fruit powers that changed his scenery in a heartbeat and always left him perplexed of what just happened.

"I'd rather not be treated as a dog, thank you!" The other head mechanic responded, lightly elbowing Penguin's ribs.

Ouch, not there," Penguin whined since his ribs were bruised from the previous explosion, where he was blasted away into a staircase.

"Too bad Munk or Jean Bart aren't here to help. Those big guys would be a good asset right now," Ari commented, gazing around at the incoming enemy pirates.

"What, ya can't fight these small-fry on yer own, Ari?" Eli grinned tauntingly at his crewmate.

"We can take them on easily! Hi-ya!" Bepo took a kung-fu stance, protectively standing in front of his captain and shielding him. He kicked another incoming pirate right in the face, sending him flying.

"Just cover me while I do my magic and you'll have no worries. I can take them down with one shot each from here," Sai added, reloading his rifle.

"Just don't take down the running locals, instead. You won't get many clear shots until they're close," Sam warned.

Sai was silent for a while before he deliberately looked to the side, giving off a suspicious aura. "Well one or two people can't be helped…it's collateral damage."

"I can't tell if you're joking or not with that blank tone of yours!" Sam bit back, glaring at the sniper. "No collateral damage, ok!?"

"Everyone, listen up," Law called out and all crewmembers turned their attention towards him while still keeping their focused eyes on the enemy. "We're going to start cleaning up. Mister Sai, find some high ground and start picking out the enemies. The clock tower will probably be best. Eli-ya, take out the targets on the square with your guns. Ari-ya, you cover him with your knives while he reloads. Miss Miyako, Sam-ya and Bepo, you'll start cleaning out the square from the pirates with me at close range. Josh-ya and Shachi, go together towards the west and start cleaning out the streets from the pirates that spread further than the square. Mister Cody and Penguin, do the same in the eastern parts. Medics, if you notice anyone in need of medical attention you can help them, but don't put yourselves in danger because of it! Our first priority is killing off the enemy and surviving, not the locals!"

Miyako sighed, giving her captain a scowl that clearly stated what she thought about his last words. Of course, he ignored her on the matter. However, she knew him and doubted he wouldn't help a civilian in trouble right before his eyes, so she stayed quiet about it. He did care, even if only a little and even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Move out!" The captain gave his last order in a shout.

"Aaaaye!" All the Heart Pirates shouted back, getting pumped up for the fight that followed. Adrenalin hit them, making them fan out to their posts in a rush.

Bepo, Sam, Law and Miyako moved to the inner part of the square, slicing and dicing, kicking and punching, as they went. They could see the Strawhats already in action, each performing a certain task to contain the chaos. On their part, it appeared Rei was the one who gave out the orders for the strategy as she moved each Strawhat where they would be most efficient.

"Let's give the Strawhats some back up," the first mate suggested and both him and Miyako hurried into the fight, while Law followed after them, slicing numerous pirates at once with his powers.

~…..~

Rei was almost to where Nicoletta and Chopper was, noting how Luffy was still close by the two though he was now fighting those foolish enough to get into his warpath. He was doing what he wanted and she had no qualms about leaving him for now. She would call to him when his part of the plan was to begin. For now, she had to assess if her initial idea could be utilized. She could see that Chopper was trying to tend to her and she too had a gash on her head, but hers seemed to be causing her to be greatly disoriented.

Right before she got there, a big burly looking pirate easily twice her size thought it wise to swing his double edged battle ax her way. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She hated taking lives, but she had no qualms when the other didn't respect the life of others. She used Yuuyake, focusing her energy into tapping the edge of the ax and redirecting the axe's trajectory so that he would miss her instead of landing a fatal blow. The man had swung it so it was impossible to stop the momentum now, especially since she wasn't insanely strong like Luffy or Zoro and could pull off such impossible feats without using excess energy, so she merely focused on changing the flow of its downward swing. It crashed into the stone pavement beside her and she continued going forward, raising Shimo Shuuki to deal the finishing blow.

"Arctic Strike." She announced as she never once stopped running towards Chopper and Nicoletta, the sword seemingly passing through the man without injury.

"Ha!" The man gloated. "That didn't do-" He stopped when he felt a burning sensation and looked down to where she had run the blade across his torso, ice creeping out of his wound and consuming him before he could even scream.

Her eyes flicked teal for a moment as she used the ice qi she had injected into his body to finish him off before her eyes were crimson once more. A few of the pirates that had witnessed it dropped their swords, muttering her moniker. She glowered at them, angry that even the pirates from her world were foolish enough to join this chaos when they knew that her crew was that powerful. The ones that knew of her reputation took a few steps back at her molten gaze, fear filling them as they realized how over their heads they truly were.

She finally reached Nicoletta and Chopper, the latter who was entirely frustrated with his patient who refused to allow him the chance to even check her injuries to instead search futilely for her husband that returned none of her panicked calls.

"He's not here, Nicoletta." Rei finally told her as she was close enough to hold the woman's attention. "He was taken."

Nicoletta's eyes landed on her, any sign of her disorientation now gone as fury was filling her gaze. Her panic melted away to anger. "Then I need to get him back!" Her expression turned to concern as she spoke her next sentence. "I can't undo any of this without him."

"What?" Rei didn't like how dread filled her at that statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"This phenomena. It takes damn near everything from us to create so that we can have one day together. One. By the strike of midnight, we must undo it. It can only sustain life for the next twenty-four hours and then, it falls apart at the seams if Hisui and I are not there to carefully pull it apart once more."

"So basically, we all die if you two aren't together to undo it?!" Chopper screamed as the severity of the situation became clear to him.

"Not just die, little reindeer," Nicoletta corrected. "This pocket dimension he and I created will collapse and time will possibly be so distorted that it will take what feels like eons of agonizing pain for us tofinally die."

"That doesn't make me feel better!" Chopper sobbed, freaked out at the idea of slowly dying for near eternity.

"Alright then," Rei took a deep breath as she too tried to swallow that bit of information. "We'll just have to get a handle on this situation, go save Hisui, and make sure he's back here before midnight. No biggie." That last part was facetiously spoken. She didn't know what was worse at this point. Facing Doflamingo or trying to reunite two lovers before the world folded in on itself. No pressure. None at all… Rei decided she preferred fighting Doflamingo again.

"There are a few more… issues…" Nicoletta gave a sheepish look as she shrunk a bit at her admittance.

"Tell me later. Right now we need to stop all this bloodshed." Rei didn't want to hear it. Whatever it was, they'd handle it after stopping all the pirates from going awol.

"Right." Nicoletta nodded. "Is there something ye needed of me? I am not too able bodied right now. It took a lot out of me just to create the pocket dimension with Hisui… but I will try if there is something ye require of me."

"I know you are tired. I can sense it, but I need you to teleport any unfamiliar qi signatures back here to the square. We need to contain the pirates that are out and about and that will be the fastest way to minimize bloodshed."

"I…" Nicoletta paused as she searched out the qi, gauging her ability to do such a feat. "I can't do it in this form. I'm too tired. But… If I shift, I might be able to draw enough of the excess qi in both towers to do that."

"Shift?" Chopper questioned before his eyes grew wide. "Into a dragon?!"

"Yes, but I don't know if I have the energy to do it. I am practically mortal this night." Nicoletta confessed.

"Can I give you some of mine?" Rei stooped down onto her knees and held out open palms, having sheathed her blades as she had been conversing. Luffy was doing a fine enough job keeping the hordes of people away from them.

"Ye are just a drake," Nicoletta spoke rather unsurely. "A Kasai at that. But qi is qi and that is all that is needed to shift." She placed her hands over Rei's and closed her eyes as she concentrated. "We will know soon enough."

Rei felt a huge drain on her as Nicoletta syphoned off what she would need to shift into her true form, her body glowing and the dragon orbs sewn to her dress pulsing as they too began to glow a brilliant dark purple. Suddenly, in a burst of brilliant light, Nicoletta transformed, her form covered in a purple light as her body became bigger and took on a form entirely different than any form Rei had ever seen before.

Now Rei had seen quite a few dragons in her life and she knew that none of them looked the same, but she had never once seen one that had the same shape as Nicoletta. Her body changed, growing easily to the size of a second story building, all four legs now used to keep her standing, her tail whipping out in a long, elegant form, growing slimmer the further from her body it got until it was at a sharp point with the usual mane covering any hidden blade at the end. Her feet turned into hooves and her body became more like a deer's. Even her head took more of a deer like form, her horns flowing back before curling inwards into a spiral at the end with prongs attached. Rei realized that Nicoletta reminded her of a reindeer in this form. The dragon orbs now took the form of glowing bells that chimed as she reared her front feet and landing hard enough to make the ground shake underneath. The glowing light dispersed allowing Rei to see how she looked covered in scales. Her horns were white and her hooves black as well as her mane upon her neck that ran all the way to the tuff of her tail. Even on the back of her legs, tufts of black could be seen poking out between the deep purple scales. Her irises were bigger and nearly consumed most of the space within her eyes, like seeing galaxies within them.

Rei stared in admiration as Nicoletta let out a loud bleat before raising her head and two streams of purple qi flowing from the clock towers and into her. She took what she needed before rearing back and kicking out her front hooves once more, her dragon orbs chiming in a single tone as she used her void powers to create rips in the fabric of the dimension and teleport the wayward pirates back into the square. She landed with another heavy landing, shaking the ground again before slowly lowering herself to the ground, completely exhausted.

*Finish wot ye must do* Her voice rang out in Rei's mind as her eyes drooped. She was too tired to shift so soon after doing that. She had to have a breather before attempting again.

Rei nodded before turning to where her captain was staring in absolute awe at Nicoletta's display. All of the pirates were dumbfounded, but Rei knew this was the moment to strike. "Luffy!"

He quickly jerked his head in her direction, listening for what she had to say. She gave him a smug smirk, mimicking a bit one of her brothers, as she spoke the words. "Even the odds a bit will you? Show them what it means to face a man with Haoshoku Haki."

Luffy's face turned serious as he gave her a solemn nod.

*Brace yourselves,* Rei managed to telepathically warn both her nakama and their temporary allies.

A moment later, Luffy released a blast of haki, eliminating those of weaker spirit that were unable to contend with his. People all over the plaza, islanders and pirates alike, were hitting the ground unconscious and a much more manageable amount remained.

"The odds have been evened. Do your jobs! Finish taking out these greedy bastards." Rei shouted, drawing her blades once more. It was time to stop this nonsense and focus on coming up with a plan to get Hisui back.

~…..~

The samurai's eyes darted around the square, locking onto a group of black-clothed pirates who were fighting off some of the locals in front of her. She quickly leaped forward towards them, seemingly disappearing to the untrained eye, and reappearing behind the group of enemies. A gust of swift wind followed her and in the next instant each pirate fell to the ground with a single slash to their vital point, the bright red staining the snow. 'Ittouryu: ichijin!'

Next to her, the polar bear dodged bullets and fought with exceptional speed that would not be expected for someone of his size. He waited until a dozen of pirates leaped at him at the same time, before jumping off the ground and twirling in the air, creating a tornado of punches and kicks that sent each of his opponents flying in a different direction.

Law had no mercy for his enemies, as usual. He would create small blue spheres with his powers and manipulate everything in them. He would slice the air, separating the pirates in numerous parts before sending the large lumps of flesh flying towards their allies. It was a good tactic to stop the incoming attacks, but also to freak the hell out of them, making them doubt whether even attacking the Surgeon of Death would be a good idea. He could see the doubt and fear in their eyes, and reveled in it.

From above, bullets rained down onto the enemies, as Sai made each shot count. He rarely had to target the same enemy twice. His speed and steady hand were as high-skilled as his aim, perhaps only comparable to the sniper of the Strawhats. Usopp on the other hand had finished his given job and both he and Nami were taking out who they could with both of their techniques. Nami controlled lightning storms striking down pirates while Usopp used his green pops to wipe out who he could and even used the plants to apprehend those that had been beaten.

Robin was also taking out a majority of the pirates spread out, sometimes holding them for the snipers to take out or to keep them out of the others' way as they dealt with their own opponents. She kept any one person on either crew from being overwhelmed while Franky managed to keep anyone from reaching her, though there were a few smart enough to know that she needed to be taken out and also stupid enough to think they could beat the cyborg.

Even Zoro and Sanji were everywhere. The two of them seemed to be having a competition to see who could wipe out the most opponents before the end of this whole battle, while Brook was dutifully saving the citizens from any more harm that was aimed at them.

However, their counterattack that so perfectly worked like clockwork was altogether interrupted as a strange creature started to arise from the crowd in the square. It was hard to tell what it was from its form; only that it was a giant animal with hooves and horns of some sort. Some would say a reindeer if it weren't for glistening scales on its skin that was also covered in fur on some parts. Only the eyes looked familiar to the pirates, as they were an enlarged version of the same magnificent eyes they previously saw on the woman toymaker.

"Gyaaah, a monster!" Bepo screamed in panic, thinking this was some new trap by their enemies. His fear was understandable as the creature could eat a whole person in one simple gulp. Even Nami's surprised shriek could be heard from anywhere in the city, but it wasn't one of fear but of unexpected surprise.

However, Miyako felt no bloodthirst towards them from the creature. No killing intent towards the locals, Strawhats or the Hearts. So the samurai stood still, amazed by the sight and waiting for the creature to make the first move. She wanted to see its intentions first.

"Now that I think about it…it smells like Nicoletta-san," Bepo suddenly realized, wording his revelations out loud.

"Hisui-san's lover?!" Miyako couldn't contain her surprise. "How could that be?"

However, the bear had no answer and only shook his head in confusion.

They waited for the scaled creature to act and after a while, it did. It did something even stranger. It thumped its hooves on the ground, making a small earthquake that shook the whole town. The Hearts retained their balance, but only tensed more in anxiety of what this animal will do. They soon got their answer. In the next moment, the enemy pirates suddenly appeared in the air and fell to the ground with pained gasps.

"It's summoning more enemies?!" Miyako's first thought made her exasperated just from an idea that this fight will never end like this.

"No…I think it's teleporting them. It's…or Nicoletta-ya is, if what Bepo says is true, gathering all the enemies in the square for us," the Hearts' captain explained with interest. He suddenly became even more curious about the peculiar woman who just appeared before them today.

"So she's making our work easier," Miyako smirked.

"Let's not disappoint her, then," Law returned that smirk with his own and the Hearts all focused their fired-up gazes towards the newly arrived enemies.

In the next instant, they were on the enemy pirates, easily bringing them down. Whether luckily or unfortunately, that didn't take long as another amazing thing happened. As usual, it was one thing after the other every time they were with the Strawhat crew.

Luffy used his Haoshoku haki to take down most of the enemy pirates, including the residents of the town.

Before that, a voice resonated in the samurai's head and she gasped at the strange feeling, thinking she was hallucinating this familiar voice. Right after that, she felt a sudden blast of power hit her, like a suffocating pressure in her head and lungs. It reminded her of the Kenshi spirit that the Wano samurai often used pre and during a battle, but it was even more potent than that. She could feel goosebumps appear on her skin and a cold shudder ran down her spine, but the samurai stayed conscious. Her mind was strong enough to resist the swelling urge to just shut down completely. As soon as the haki appeared, it disappeared again, leaving only a dozen more pirates to fight. She exchanged glances with the Hearts and the Strawhats, all of them silently deciding to end this battle once and for all.

When the last of the pirates fell to the floor beaten, only then did Miyako sheath back her katana, Yawarakai-Te, and jog towards her comrades and new allies. She was mostly focusing on the creature before her, though still wary of the giant animal. However, if that was truly Nicoletta, she wanted to tell her about what she saw concerning Hisui's kidnapping; that it was Murdock who took the bard away.

However, before that, she also wanted to make sure of everyone's safety. "Is everyone alright?"

It seemed as though they were all gathering to Nicoletta's resting form, where Rei was gently caressing her muzzle as a way to comfort and soothe the dragon's frayed nerves as the Toymaker rested with her eyes closed. Chopper was taking her vitals with a stethoscope pressed up against her belly between the scales and fur, seeing as her heart beat had been erratic after straining herself with her powers and wanted to make sure it wasn't life threatening. Luffy, on the other hand, was sitting on the crown of Nicoletta's head, stars in his eyes as he continued to chant 'so cool' over and over again now that the initial danger had passed. The female dragon paid no mind nor was she upset by his actions, instead her eyes were closed as she tried to even her breaths.

"Nicoletta is just a little exhausted is all." Rei answered Miyako's question. "She pulled off quite a lot today and has more than pushed herself past her limit. Give her a small nap and I'm sure we'll be able to get her back into her other form so she can start explaining the current issue."

"What about you?" Nami asked as she pointed to the dried blood on the side of Rei's head. She and Usopp had made it up just in time to hear Miyako's concerned question. "You should let either Law or Chopper take a look at that."

"I've had concussions before Nami," Rei gave her a flat look. "I am more than capable of gauging whether or not I've suffered a hard enough blow to receive head trauma." Though she could definitely feel that she had been struck in her arm by some small, stray shrapnel now that her ears weren't ringing anymore and she was more aware of her senses, but she wasn't going to mention it. The bleeding wasn't too heavy and she could take care of it later. One really couldn't notice since she was wearing such long, dark gloves that easily hid the blood. So, before anyone did notice, she redirected everyone's attention to Nami and her injuries. "Unlike you, who is obviously cradling her ribs with one of her arms."

"I've had enough broken ribs to know these are just bruised. Doesn't mean they don't hurt like a bitch though..." Nami waved off.

"Hmmmhmmmm," Rei hummed. "So basically, don't let Sanji know or he might mother hen you?"

"Please." Nami begged exaggeratedly, the two of them chucking a bit since Sanji was still out of hearing range, but both he and Zoro were making their way closer to the rest of them, as was Brook, Robin, and Franky. The ginger glanced at Usopp. "How about you?"

"Nothing I wasn't given earlier this morning." Usopp shook his head. "I'm resilient anyways." That was the only word to explain how he could suffer so much damage and yet walk away from it, albeit limping and bleeding.

"So in the end, nothing but our outfits really took a blow. Damn, I really liked this jacket, but blood and grime on white is near impossible to get out." It was spoken more like a joke to keep things light, but soon she was shifting the conversation back to the real subject. "How about you lot? None of you sustained any lasting injuries, I hope." Rei then turned back to the Hearts, glancing at them to make sure that none of them were bleeding too much.

The Heart Pirates also slowly gathered around the group and the dragon in the middle. Some were bruised, but none looked seriously injured. Only Sam limped as some destroyed stones hit him in the leg when one of the mines exploded. It was already bandaged and treated, but there was still a stain of dried blood on the gauze and his clothes. He was keeping his balance on his left leg instead, while Cody supported him and helped him to walk.

"We are fine, though we'll have to meet up with the rest of the crew at the submarine. Some have a few minor injuries to treat," the captain of the Hearts answered.

"I suggest you don't take too long to get that bruised head checked, though," Cody warned the red-eyed swordswoman. "Even if you feel fine now, head injuries can be very dangerous, yet hard to detect. I've seen it before; people hitting their head and thinking their fine, and then they just went to sleep and never woke up," the medic warned.

Rei gave a dry chuckle, obviously having heard the same phrase before. "I will keep that in mind, medic-san, and make sure my doctor takes a look. However, I don't think I will be going to sleep anytime soon really." Not with the information given to her about Hisui and the pocket dimension.

"I do understand, we have more pressing matters," Miyako exclaimed. "I've seen Murdock and his crew take Hisui away, but I do not know where." She felt guilty for not being able to stop them at the time, but she could hardly get up in all that devastation. He was gone from her sight before she could even focus her eyes and mind clearly.

"Are you telling me this was all for that bard?" Shachi scratched his head in thought. "But why would they want him?"

"That man is obviously more than what he appears to be," Law concluded, giving the large dragon a knowing stare. "And he's not the only one."

The short medic just stared at both the Strawhats and the Hearts, raising his eyebrow in question when nobody addressed the obvious elephant in the room….or rather, a dragon in the square. "Sooo…nobody is going to address the large creature lying here in the center of town…?" He gazed around in question, as if he was the only one who is strange for not finding that scene completely normal.

"Actually, I'm quite interested in that myself…You are Nicoletta-ya, are you not?" Law spoke to the dragon, his piercing eyes already signifying that he knew he was right on that matter. This was the toymaker, but what she actually was, he had no idea. Yet he intended to find out. "What are you exactly?"

"And do you know any reason why Murdock would want Hisui-san," Miyako added to the captain's questions with her own.

"Yes, this is Nicoletta." Rei nodded as she was still using her nails and scratching the dragon's muzzle in between the scales. "And she is what you'd call a dragon." Rei paused, rolling her eyes up skyward with a thoughtful expression concerning that last statement. "Or what you would call a dragon if they existed like this in your world. But I suppose you can say that's the one difference that made all the other changes between our world and yours- the existence or nonexistence of sentient dragons."

"Dragon!?" Like a chorus, all the Heart Pirates exclaimed in unison. It was just unimaginable no matter how Rei explained it. Yet the proof was right before their eyes, daring them to deny it, just as unbelievable as everything Nicoletta and Hisui told them about parallel dimensions.

"Dragons exist in your world?! Are they dangerous? They must be! Are they friendly? Are they your allies? Do you also look like this when you're in dragon mode?" Penguin showered the Strawhats with questions, his mind buzzing with excitement and bewilderment of what he just heard.

Both him and Shachi had stars in their covered eyes, completely enchanted by the fact they just met a real dragon, even as it didn't look anything like in the pictures of various books. The two were usually complete maniacs when it came to machinery, which was way they practically hyperventilated the first time they met Franky as saw all his different forms and abilities, but dragons were just as cool in their book.

"Yes, dragons exist in our world. That much is quite obvious at this point," Rei gestured at Nicoletta with a humored smirk. "As for being dangerous, they are very powerful, but I have not met one that has been malicious, not to say that there are none, but none that I've met. Some have made themselves my allies, but I am not that important in their world to really be someone worth seeking an alliance with." Rei gave him a forced grin as she tried to not feel nervous at that last comment. "Now why would you suspect me as being a dragon? I haven't done anything to warrant such accusations!"

"Rei, no one has eyes like yours that isn't some sort of dragon kin." Usopp kindly pointed out, making the young strategist sigh at the sad truth. To those that knew of their existence, it was obvious that she was one because of her brilliant red eyes. Kaito was so damn lucky sometimes.

"Besides, there was this odd atmosphere and scent about you that we just coudn't put a finger on until now…something like you weren't exactly human," Bepo noted, sniffing the air around her for a bit.

The younger head mechanic scratched his head with a sheepish smile, "Yeah, Bepo mentioned it to us before, but we didn't want to pry. Sorry, I kinda just blurted it out cause the thought came to me," he apologized.

Miyako and Law were surprised, but they had a slightly different reaction as they shared a glance. They were both reminded of the dragons at Punk Hazard, however since they were close to Caesar and his men at the time, they both knew those dragon were only artificial copies of the dragons in legends, and weren't real. At that time, that fact made perfect sense to them since they knew dragons didn't actually exist. Yet now, that firm belief was so easily shaken. Actually, beliefs in a lot of natural laws were being shaken today, ever since they got to Snowflake Island.

"And you thought this island will be boring," Shachi whispered to Joshua, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Wait...Captain and Miya-chan mentioned something about dragons on Punk Hazard. Did they somehow come from your world then? A family member, perhaps?" Penguin continued his burst of questions.

Rei rested one of her hands on top her sword as her mood suddenly declined. Nami quickly squeaked and hid behind Usopp who was shaking his head quickly as he tried to tell the Heart pirates nonverbally not to pursue that train of thought. Rei let out a rather feral growl, baring her irregularly long and sharp teeth at the mechanic, as she looked up, her pupils nothing but slits as she muttered one warning. "Those are fakes. Artificial and a mockery. So here is your one warning. Say that again and you will find out the vast differences the hard way."

"Eeek!" Penguin all but jumped into Shachi's arms when he saw the death glare coming from Rei. He could feel her warning stare like cold daggers piercing his heart. "I'm sorry, my mistake, you have no correlation to those dragons whatsoever!"

"She's…. a bit… touchy… about that..." Usopp managed to mutter with a nervous look. Rei on a rampage was not what they needed right now.

Luffy's ears caught that question as he grinned, "Oh! Are you talking about Rei's cousins? We ate the red one! He was delicious!" He paused as he thought about it for a second. "Rei didn't eat him though, because then that'd be cannibalism. Robin said so, shishishishishi."

"Luffy!" Both Nami and Usopp wailed before turning to where Robin was outright laughing at their captain's comment, remembering that she had said that at the time.

"Robin!" Neither of them wanted to tempt fate with how long Rei could contain her temper.

Rei pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to focus on calming down before she sprouted talons or horns. "Anyways, yes, Nicoletta is a dragon, from our world. They obviously don't exist in the same way and thus anything they did in our world would not have been done in yours."

"Ah, so that's what Nicoletta meant." Nami finally caught on to the hint that the other had given them when she had first explained the difference. "Without Dragons, the sub-race of half-dragons wouldn't exist either and people like Midori, Kaito, and yourself wouldn't have been born."

Rei shot a sour face towards Nami. She had been hoping not to mention that important factor in her explanation, especially around curious individuals like Law. It was bad enough when Law from their world looked at her like he wanted to dissect her, but this one had no reason to refrain outside of a pretext of an alliance that technically wasn't valid since they were not the Mugiwara crew they had made the alliance with and vice versa. She gave a huff, slightly put out sounding as she replied to Nami's observation. "Yes, Nami, I probably would not have been born either, unless I was detrimental to the anchor points, which it appears as if I was not."

Just as Rei predicted, as soon as the Dark Doctor heard Nami's words, his piercing gaze full of interest fell onto the red-eyed girl. Not only did they have one dragon on this island, but two, and both at his arm's reach. And oh, how his fingers twitched and ached to do more than examining just by external analysis and questions. It would be a completely new discovery of his life, never seen before in their world. The full anatomy of a dragon! He wanted to see all similarities and differences between the dragons and the human race. He was already getting some curious intel from Rei's explanations and his own observations; for example he learnt that dragons could shift form since he saw both of Nicoletta's forms. They also had special powers and Nicoletta's must have something to do with space since she could teleport those pirates and manipulate a crack in dimensions. At the back of his mind he made a note to himself to inspect further and ask Rei a few questions when they had time. The other inquiry, he decided, would be about the faint voice warning him in his head right before Luffy unleashed his haki. This new crewmember was full of surprises, but Law felt excited about unveiling all her mysteries along with the enigmas of this island. This day was just getting more and more interesting.

A subtle nudge brought him back to reality as Miyako pushed her shoulder against his. He gave her a raised eyebrow with an askance gaze. "You have that 'I-want-to-dissect-something' look. Don't freak out our new allies," she warned in a whisper so only he could hear. The others were still occupied with talking about dragons.

The captain scowled at her, "Don't tell me what to do." He stayed quiet for a while before adding, "And I don't have a 'I want to dissect something' face."

"Mm-hmm...So you weren't thinking of any options where you would use her for your experiments...maybe after you drug her and incapacitate her first?" Miyako didn't look convinced. A part of her felt disturbed at how easily they talked about such things as drugging and experimenting on living beings. What has this doctor done to her?!

Law stayed quiet, speechless at how good the woman had read him. He cleared his throat before continuing in a low tone, "I won't drug her….however if she happens to die here, not by my hand, I don't see a reason why she can't donate her body to...research purposes."

"How diplomatically put," the samurai sweatdropped, giving him a knowing stare that said she obviously didn't believe what he was trying to feed her. "Play nice," she warned.

Though the two were trying to stay quiet, Rei could hear every word with her sensitive hearing and internally she was screaming at the idea of yet another Trafalgar Law trying to dissect her. One was bad enough, especially since he had already claimed dibs on her body when/if she died prematurely. However, she tried to focus on the many questions being thrown her way and not worry about this Law. Miyako seemed to have a good handle on him.

The conversation between the Hearts and the Strawhats continued and the couple went back to listening, seeing that the Strawhats were now mostly teasing the swordswoman of their crew. All of them seemed used to her dragon nature as if it was the most normal thing in the world...well, maybe in their world it was.

"Possibly so, but you do make things a hell of a lot easier to handle." Zoro spoke up. Both he and Sanji having finally made it to the plaza. The green haired warrior made a beeline right towards Rei and stood beside her as he usually did in such group meetings. "You certainly make that headache less of one." Gesturing to Luffy who was still too excited about Nicoletta to pay the conversation much attention. His eyes turned back to Rei with a mischievous look, smirking as he spoke. "Though I do sort of feel bad for the Zoro of their world. He must be bored without having a sparring partner around."

"I doubt he has time to be bored when he's fighting with that blonde cook all the time," Joshua leaned over to Miyako and whispered, making her smirk at the thought. Some things don't change, indeed, since Roronoa and Sanji seemed equally intolerable of each other no matter the world.

"Oh gee, thanks. I'm so glad that you see that as my one true purpose, keeping you from being bored." Rei let the sarcasm drip from her words and she cuffed the other swordsman hard. "Just for that, I'm kicking your ass next session."

"Tch, bring it, Yokoyama." He had one of his hands already reaching for a sword as the two began to become playfully aggressive. This battle did nothing but whet his appetite.

"Later, when the dimension isn't going to collapse on us at the stroke of midnight." Rei promised him with a feral smirk. The idea of crossing blades with someone who could give her a challenge always invigorated her blood, especially after this disappointing battle. It was hard to compare for those other pirates, she supposed, when Roronoa Zoro was one's constant sparring partner.

"Oh, so the world's going to be destroyed? Haven't done something like that before." Zoro rolled his eyes, unimpressed. They had been through so much shit that this was easy enough for him to swallow.

"Waitwaitwaitwait. Wait. What about the dimension collapsing. I haven't heard this part." Nami was shouting as her panic was renewed. Oh why oh why couldn't one island not be attacked, threatened to be destroyed, or taken to a different dimension that could collapse. All she wanted was a nice, quiet island for once.

"Seems you jumped the gun on that one." Zoro tsked at her while she laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oops? That was going to be the next topic I addressed?" She didn't do it often, but with Chopper having been there and Luffy not too far off, she sort of forgot that she hadn't addressed the issue with the rest of them. She tried to pretend that Robin wasn't laughing at her slip up or how Luffy's head jerked up from what he had been doing with obvious excitement at the prospect of beating the clock. She tactfully decided not to mention the 'agonizing death that could take eons' part just yet though. Probably never.

The Hearts, who chuckled a bit at the conversation between Zoro, Rei and the rest now all paled as their smirks fell. "What did we miss," Cody was the first to ask, eerily calm, which was because he was already too used to falling from the frying pan and into the fire. There was always something.

"Total annihilation, apparently," Sai answered in his usual deadpan voice. His face didn't even twitch from the bad news.

"Why the hell are you all so calm then," Sam yelled in panic, grabbing his head with both of his hands and almost tumbling to the ground as he forgot for a while that he could barely stand.

Miyako pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache creeping. "Great….Why is it always doom, and certain death, and pain wherever we go. It's like we're cursed," she complained with a groan.

"Where would be the fun otherwise," Shachi grinned as he answered sarcastically.

"Of course!" Robin added, though there was nothing sarcastic about her reply. She liked the thrills of adventures like this. "I wonder if we might die horrible deaths if we fail to make it in time!"

"Stop it Robin!" Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook all sobbed as they didn't see what was so funny about the whole situation.

"I can't say I'm not interested in how a death by being squashed within a caved-in dimension would look like, though I'd rather see it on someone else. Perhaps we could make an experiment later," Sai added to the conversation, tapping his chin in thought.

"Don't you start too!" The Heart Pirates yelled at their young navigator whose dark train of thought easily continued on Robin's.

Law sighed, not expecting anything less from the situation since the whole thing started. He would think there was little anyone could do to surprise him anymore, yet the Strawhat repeatedly succeeded. "Just tell us all you know."

"I don't know much more than that. I do know that Nicoletta and Hisui are both required to undo what they had done, but other than the repercussions of failing to pull it apart gently instead of it ripping apart, Nicoletta is the only one who knows all the details. I was too busy trying to contain this fiasco to stop and ask for all the nitty gritty things, so forgive me for not knowing." Rei shook her head before looking down at Nicoletta. "She needs a little bit more time to rest before she can shift back her form, so for now, I guess I will play mediator."

Rei silently seemed to be having a conversation before looking at Law. "To answer your very first question concerning Hisui: what that man was after was something he thinks that Hisui can give him. Immortality." She paused, rolling her eyes and griping. "What is it with megalomaniacs and immortality? Don't they understand that longevity in that regard is a curse? You'd outlive everyone." She shook her head, focusing back on the matter at hand. "Anyways, she says that he thinks that Hisui can give him that, since he ate the Toki Toki no Mi. He has power over time and long ago he did freeze his own internal clock to stop from aging, but he did that to be with Nicoletta." Her eyes dimmed a bit in sadness as she stroked the dragon's muzzle once more. "They've been doing this for centuries. Two star-crossed lovers on the wrong side of the dimension, doomed to only be together for just a single day. Nicoletta already had a long life to devote to their relationship, so by freezing his internal clock and, in a way, giving himself immortality, they could do this as long as she lived. Once she passes on, he would release his hold on his time and die too."

Somehow, that story sounded both sad and romantic to the samurai. She agreed with Rei that longevity wasn't necessarily a good thing. To watch all your beloved people age and die, and either repeat that for the rest of time or isolate yourself for all eternity so you wouldn't feel such pain of loss anymore. Either option sounded horrible in Miyako's opinion. However, Murdock didn't strike her as a man who would be very stricken with the pain of loss, not of others at least. A psychopath like that only cared for himself and his own gain. She doubted he had such strong and loving relationships that he would be bothered by the things Rei spoke about.

"For the next matter, about the pocket dimension they created, it holds for only twenty-four hours before collapsing. That is why both Nicoletta and Hisui must combine their powers to gently unweave what they made. Otherwise- well, you know. But that's not the only issue…" Rei crinkled her nose as she sat there for a second listening to the unspoken voice that no one else could hear, her face paling a bit as her eyes lifted from Nicoletta's to the damaged village. "She, um…" Rei swallowed thickly at all the destruction she was taking in. "The town… It helps focus their powers. It has to be repaired so that the symmetry of the two sides of the town is restored and so that the two of them can safely undo this dimension without… er…. issues or hiccups."

"So basically," Nami looked around. "All this destruction isn't very good in our endeavor not to accidentally end up dead."

"No…" Rei admitted rather slowly. "No, it might cause some people to… um… get a little mixed up? Sorta like a bad mesh of Law's power and well, not existing. So you might have a limb one minute and it gets left here when everything's said and done or your foot ends up as your hand. Sorta like that. She says it happened once or twice in the first few centuries they were working out the kinks, but luckily it only happened to the animals."

"That doesn't make me feel better!" Chopper shouted as he was finally putting his gear away.

"So all we have to do is split into two teams. One to stay here and fix the town and the others to pursue these bastards that abducted Hisui." Franky surmised from it all. "Alright, super! No problem! I will definitely stay here to help with the fixing of the town."

"That would be best. But for now, we need to come up with a plan as to how to track down where these people went. I know they went to the western side. They wouldn't risk going to the eastern side, seeing as they are unfamiliar with it and cannot guarantee if the entire island is perfectly symmetrical or just this town. However, that's all I can surmise at this point." Rei deduced quickly. "I will need a bit more information about them if I am to plan anything, so I would suggest regrouping where there is information. Like a tavern or even if the newspapers are kept in the library, to go there to collect what they do have on them before focusing on going forward with any plan."

"In any case, it should be best if we can bring the fight to them and keep it as further from the town as possible," Cody suggested after hearing Rei's explanation.

"Very well. I need to contact the rest of my crew in the submarine anyway," Law started. "We can meet at the western tavern in two hours. That should be enough to get our injuries treated, and for me to make teams. Then we can plan out Hisui-ya's retrieval."

"Not without us!" A new voice brought the pirates' attention behind them, where a bearded brawny man stood with a couple of armed locals behind him. It was Yibor, holding an old heavy sword in his hand while helping an injured local with the other. The men of the town didn't look at their best, as they all had wounds and bruises, some of them being quite deep. They were patched up as best as they could manage, but little could be done in such a short time.

"Yibor-san," Miyako greeted. "You people already defended your town from the pirates. The injured ones should rest while the abled men help rebuild the town," she suggested.

"Don't think I'd just wait here while Hisui's kidnapped by pirates. I know best what a handful that scatterbrain can be." The man walked over to the resting dragon. "I watched these two play at our festival an' bring happiness tha our town since I was but a wee lad. I ain't lettin' no man stand between them! An' I certainly won't let 'em get away with what they did to our town an' people!" He gritted his teeth in anger as he watched the exhausted dragon with pain in his eyes.

Law frowned at the man's stubbornness. "You lot are heavily wounded, you would just slow us down and be a burden." He knew this man won't listen unless he is straight and honest with him. The captain never had a need to sugarcoat his words anyway, so there was no need to start now.

"He's right, Yibor," Rei turned her head when a new voice came from the other side of the town and other townsmen lead by Valjean came up to the angrier half. "We are upset too, but what would your death accomplish? Only Hisui-san and Nicoletta's agony and guilt for being the cause. They would have to live with that. I know they have long lives and at times it seems as if they have very little understanding of what goes on outside this one day, but don't think she doesn't know your name or that she won't know if you died- especially today. If you die today, she will remember that for the rest of her long life." The other man reached out for the bigger man's weapon. "Don't make either of them live with that."

"Valjean...," Yibor started as if wanting to protest, but after those words, he had no strength left to oppose them. He knew the other man was right. Closing his eyes, Yibor shook his head with a deep sigh. "I understand..." He slowly released his old sword and handed it over to Valjean. "I will help find all men that can still do work and start rebuilding our town. With us who know the schematics by heart and are born builders and woodcutters, it should be done well before midnight."

"Thank you," Valjean nodded at his friend, glad that he understood their plight. With Nicoletta as invested in the town as she was, it was slightly easier for him to see how deaths affected her. She tried not to kill, only because she knew she had to live with it for a long time. That was why it had been very big of her to adopt Blitzen when his parents had died.

Speaking of Blitzen…. "Nicoletta!" The teenager was running across the plaza, a box under his arm as if he had been doing something before all of this had gone down. He rushed to her, landing on his knees as he came to a stop, setting the wrapped box aside as he lightly touched one of her ears. "Nicoletta!"

"She's fine, just tired." Chopper consoled him, only causing the teen to nod before hugging her.

"If you ever do something so stupid again-!" He next roared as he began to lecture the long lived being, who rolled her eyes at his words.

The pirates felt sweat trickle down the back of their heads when they saw the almost-comical scene of a young lad lecturing a dragon, and the said dragon rolling its eyes like a teenager would to their parents' speeches.

Law returned them back on track as everyone now became distracted from their previous conclusion. "If we are done here, the Heart Pirates will be returning to our submarine. In two hours precisely we meet at Madam Shiba's Den," he reminded them.

"It just makes a person want to show up late when he states it all bossy like that," Rei mumbled to Zoro, who chuckled under his breath at her words. Her and Law had to be the most comical thing to watch when the two of them started to try to piss each other off.

"Yeah, yeah, two hours." Luffy parrotted before looking at the wrapped package. "Hey! What's that?" He was once more distracted from what was going on.

The older captain gave him a disapproving scowl as the boy already looked like he had forgotten everything they agreed on. As usual, the young Strawhat didn't seem dependable at all, though by now, Law learnt exactly how deceiving his demeanor was. He will just have to rely on the strategist and the rest of their crew to drag the boy along and remind him of their plan, which they had to do constantly if this Luffy was anything like the one from the Heart pirates' world.

"Don't worry, we'll get Luffy to the ball before the stroke of midnight. Don't get your knickers all in a twist about it, dear prince charming." Rei sassed as she temporarily forgot that this wasn't her brother. Her eyes widened. "Oh, sorry. Wrong Law." Though her words weren't too sincere.

Law gave her a dark glare in response as he didn't expect such a snarky remark to come his way. He returned his calm mask of expression shortly after, but the Hearts were already watching him warily with sweatdrops, glancing between Rei and their captain.

"Now, now, remember what we talked about playing nice," Miyako whispered to him, though part of her couldn't help but feel amused by his startled reaction. She could feel the icy mood slowly forming around him.

"Nevermind...It's not like I would be so easily provoked by such a childish comment," he started, slowly turning around to leave. "...I'm taking my scalpels with me for when we meet next time," he added nonchalantly.

"Oy!" Miyako gaped, hurrying after him to dissuade him from the idea. Even though he said Rei's remark didn't bother him, it obviously did since he was once again back on the idea of dissecting her.

"Wait for us," the rest of the Heart Pirates called out, running after the couple and heading towards their docked submarine.

"Okay cool! I'll just bring mine that I've confiscated then! I'll be happy to show you how well I can use them to stab at people who try to dissect me!" Rei called after him, completely unfazed by the threat, before leaning towards Zoro and muttering. "Sheesh, no matter what world he's from, he's so touchy. He's such a spoilt princess at times, sulking or throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get his way."

Despite the severity of the situation, Zoro threw his head back and laughed loudly. Law was quickly going to learn that Rei wasn't going to take his bossiness or even care remotely about his image. In her mind, he was her big brother and she, his little sister. That would never disappear, despite dimensions. It was too ingrained in her to snark at him at every given moment.

This version of their alliance would be interesting indeed.

~...~

Hisui was roughly tossed onto wet ground from Brill's shoulder. Ever since he awoke from his unconsciousness, he was roughly manhandled and tied up. A click was heard as a cloaked figure all in black put the final shackle around his neck, that was connected to the stone wall of the cell. Everything around was dark and cold. The cell was in stone, with droplets of water trickling down the walls and making the area damp. He tested the restrains on his wrists and feet, but soon realized they were too strong for him to break. Murdock used some kind of wire that only cut deeper in the skin if he tried to wriggle his hands out of it. Even his mouth was gagged, but that soon changed as the captain pulled the cloth out of his mouth, giving Hisui some more room to breathe. He coughed a few times before glowering at the pirate.

"Why are you doing this?"

Murdock only smirked in response, "You seem awfully calm for someone who just got kidnapped."

The bard gave the other man a fierce glare. Even though his demeanor might seem collected, he was very much upset. "I assure you, I am anything but calm. I saw what you did to our town and its people! What was the point in all that violence?"

Murdock crouched down in front of the man, staring at Hisui's eyes with his piercing dark ones. He had a hungry look, as if his prey was right in front of him and waiting to be snatched. "You," the captain answered simply.

There was something in his tone of voice that Hisui couldn't quite decipher, but it made his chest tighten with angst. He slowly swallowed, giving the man a more cautious look. Then suddenly he opened his mouth, ready to use what little was left of his powers to try and stop the time around him. Unfortunately, he was seen through and before he had the chance to speak, a cold knife was pressed on his throat.

"Don't," the cloaked figure warned with a voice that hid no bluff in it. "I can sense when you try to use your powers. I don't particularly want to hurt you, but I will do what I must," the voice warned.

Murdock smirked, glancing at the cloaked form. "Ligeia here is the one who helped me find you. Her senses are extraordinary so I would refrain from trying to trick her. Even someone as old and experienced as you can be seen through by her," he talked in amusement.

Realizing it was no use, especially since he was already almost out of juice for his devil fruit powers considering how much it was needed to open and sustain the merge for the island, Hisui gave up for now and decided to preserve his energy for later when a chance arises. "Why did you do all this," he asked again.

Murdock grinned as if he was just waiting for that question. He stood up, starting his explanation, "It's simple really. I need you for your powers." He saw the bard open his mouth, but cut him off before the young man even tried to deny any of it, "I know you ate the Toki Toki no Mi and have the power over time. And with your help,-" he pointed at the bard, "I will become timeless!"

The bard frowned. He knew from the moment he met Murdock on the street that the man was up to no good. He had a feeling that he had something he wanted from him, but Hisui never expected him to go as far as attacking the whole town. He was hoping to settle this between them somewhere alone where no other people could be hurt, so that's why he waited at that park for so long, hoping Murdock would take that chance to appear and reveal what was it that he wanted. Alas, Hisui didn't know that by then Murdock had already set a trap that was waiting at them at the town square. The captain had done his research extensively, and knew the ritual would take place there, even if he didn't yet know what the ritual would entail. But now, Hisui finally understood what the man was after. It was the same thing all egomaniacs wanted; to be immortal.

"You want me to freeze your time and stop you from aging," Hisui disclosed blankly. He wasn't surprised by this and it wasn't the first time someone had asked this of him. Yet Hisui's answer was always been the same; No. Because rarely did people understand how much pain it actually involved to be immortal, seeing your friends and family die while you are left forever alone. "Don't you understand…you will watch everything around you perish, knowing there's nothing you can do to help them. You should live the rest of your life with the people you lo-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Murdock's hand grabbed his neck and tightened around his throat. The bard choked with a start, slowly losing his breath as he felt the crushing grip. It wasn't easy to choke a grown man with just one hand, but judging by his grip, Murdock appeared to be stronger than any regular human. The pirate still held a smile on his face, but it looked twisted now that his eyes had a feral gleam in them. Hisui could see the sparks of insanity in them.

"Love? Loved ones? All pretty words that mean nothing to me," Murdock started, his voice eerily calm even as he choked the other man.

Beside them, Brill showed no expression other than the constant frown the fishman always had on his face. Ligeia also remained silent, their expression and thought unknown since the large hood hid everything.

Captain Murdock, known as The Huntsman, took out the large hunting knife that brought him the infamous nickname on his bounty poster. He continued his speech, the other hand lightly loosening from Hisui's neck although not letting go. With his other hand, he brought the knife to Hisui's eye, as the bard went into a coughing fit when air finally entered his lungs again. "You will give me what I want. Use your powers on me and nobody has to die. Refuse, and I start killing your little town friends one by one…starting with that woman you brought from the other side. Your answer?"

Hisui glared at the man again, the fire in his eyes lighting up the amber color of his irises. "You don't understand what you're doing," he started, his voice hoarse from the strain on his throat a while ago. "If something happens to Nicoletta or me, we can't dissolve the merge and put things back the way they were. If we don't do it in time, this whole dimension that we created will cave in and we will all die!"

Despite the grave warning that even made Murdock's two henchmen glance at each other in silence, the captain's smile didn't even fall from his face. It made Hisui's blood run cold, realizing that the pirate couldn't care less about such a predicament. "I don't think you understand, young man. You're coming with us" the captain grinned, even more amused by Hisui's shocked expression. "As soon as the dust settles and we find an opening, we will leave this island. Once we leave the area of the pocket dimension that you two created, we will be safely back in our world. What happens to Snowflake island is of no concern of mine," he explained.

"No….you can't!" Hisui shouted in panic. "I'll never help a monster like you!"

Grabbing Hisui's braided hair and pulling it so the man had no choice but to look straight into Murdock's eyes, the captain said, "Oh you will do as you're told. I have many means to persuade you, until you will be beginning for your death. But I won't let you die even then. You are my most precious tool now, Hisui Klaus, and I will use you until you wear off and break. Your powers are mine!"

The bard gritted his teeth, unrelenting to show any signs of pain that Murdock was inflicting on him. "What's the point of me living if everyone else dies…," he growled. The only reason he made himself immortal was to spend his life with his lovely toymaker. If she was to die, what point would there be for him to continue on living. He would gladly unfreeze his time and follow her soon afterwards.

The captain simply smirked at the bard's stubbornness. "Then how about I give you a choice. My crew tells me that woman of yours is quite a curious jewel as well. She must be exhausted from using her powers, just like you, so it won't be hard to kidnap her too."

"You leave Nicoletta alone!" Hisui glared at the man. The usual gentle demeanor of the bard was completely gone now.

However, the pirate only put a finger up to silence the bard, signifying he wasn't finished. "If you give me what I want, my men will take her with us. That way, you get her, I get my immortality, and we all get what we want and live happily ever after!" Murdock raised his hands in the air with a high voice, laughing. His grin suddenly disappeared as he pierced the other with his mad eyes. "Choose! If you agree to my terms, you will sacrifice the town, but have your woman and you will both escape with us. If you deny me, she dies here with the whole island and I will just torture you into obeying me. Well….the town is screwed either way," Murdock shrugged as if just realizing it. He found the whole thing rather amusing and he was having fun. His smile was back on his cold features as he started at the bard, "Make your choice."

---

Glossary:

Yawarakai-Te – Gentle Hand

Toki - Time

Shimo Shuuki - Frost Autumn Air

Yuuyake - Afterglow