Chapter 3: Reunion with Father

Karin is now 15 years old. Despite the hot climate, Karin still wears a purple and white striped hoodie and black pants with black heels. Sapphire wears a blue kimono.

"Karin-sama, Donquixote Doflamingo is having a meeting today with Sir Crocodile."

"Yeah, I know Sapphire."

The pair were at the door of their boss's office, trying to listen in to their conversation. But the two were talking awfully soft. Even Sapphire's sensitive ears were having difficulties.

"I didn't expect her to end up in your care!" Donquixote Doflamingo's laugh followed after. "I hope she wasn't a handful?"

"How did you even know that your daughter was here?"

"Don't look down on my Family. My wife is a very resourceful woman. I'll just take both of them off your hands for you."

"Move!" Sapphire pushed Karin away from the doors as they slammed open. Sand was all over the floor. The blonde Shichibukai merely laughed at the damaged door. The door almost flew off its hinges. The wall behind the door was slightly dented in.

"There you are, my dear~" Doflamingo grinned. He effortlessly picked Karin up and slung her over his shoulder. "Did you miss me? We were all worried about you, Karin." She sneezed as the pink feathers tickled her nose. Sapphire followed behind.

"Where's Mother?" Karin asks.

"Waiting for you back in Dressrosa."

"At home?"

"Yes. We have a new house now. A royal palace, fit for the King and his lovely Princess."

Karin was back in Dressrosa. Using an ability she read about from the Encyclopaedia of Devil Fruits, Door-Door fruit, Karin shortened the normal travel time of at least a month to less than 3 days. Karin was born in Dressrosa. Her mother told her that Dressrosa was one of her favourite islands. It was also in the same location as her home island in the Demon World.

"Karin-chan!" The Donquixote Pirates greeted her warmly. A woman in a purple sleeveless top, black pants and pink-and-purple striped sleeves came forward and embraced her. "10 years. Hmm not bad." Sally kissed her daughter's forehead. Karin (literally) looked up to her mother. Karin stands at a height of 1.8m. Her mother, 3m. "You must be tired. Let's go to your bedroom."

Karin's bedroom was plain, for a bedroom in a royal palace. But it was how she liked it. Her eyes scanned the room. Then she stopped. There was a photo album on the dresser. And a glass-like flower on the table. No flowerpot, it just seemed to grow out of the table.

"Ah, this photo album had pictures of your first 4 years. You probably wouldn't remember much."

"What's that?" Karin pointed at the strange glass flower. The flower had wrapped its petals around itself, looking like a bud.

"That's a Time Flower. I brought it from the Demon World. These flowers don't grow naturally in the Human World. When you touch the flower, you can see the past. It's kinda like a video camera." Sally touched the tip of the flower. The petals opened up.

Instantaneously, the past played itself like a recording. The whole room seemed to have travelled back in time.

There was a young woman with short red hair sitting next to a young blonde man who wore a dark red hood from which two heart-like shapes hang from, a pair of beige jeans, a dark purple feather mantle and a white shirt with pink hearts printed all over it. He also wore mismatched shoes. Another blonde man wearing sunglasses and a black suit and tie stood in front of them.

The blonde man wearing the heart printed shirt was cradling a baby. The baby had blonde hair, her eyes were red and her small hand wrapped around the man's long finger. The man kissed the baby's forehead. The baby giggled as she touched the man's nose.

The petals closed. And Karin was back in her bedroom.

"Was that baby, me? And who's that man carrying me?"

Sally flipped the pages of the photo album. She pointed to a picture. It was that same man carrying her. A younger version of her father sat next to that man, grinning. The caption under the picture was "Doffy and Roci carrying Karin (1)"

"That man, is Doflamingo's younger brother. Your uncle. In the Family, he was given the title Corazon."

"I don't remember him that well..." Now that she thought about him, she did have some memories, but it was too vague.

"It alright. He isn't with us anymore." Sally sighed in disappointment.

Karin flipped through the pages. There were many photos of her with different Family members, doing different things. Each photo had a caption underneath. Her name would have her age at that time in brackets.

There was another photo of her. She was sitting in a high chair and a man was trying to feed her food. What intrigued her was that there was a spoon on the man's face. "Vergo-san lost his spoon (again)" Karin giggled as she reminisced about the past.

The last photo, was a family portrait. Four people: Her father and mother sitting down, herself on her mother's lap, and "Corazon" standing behind her mother. A white cat sat on the floor at their feet. The caption: "A family portrait, before the Nightmare Family tradition."

"Tradition?" Karin asked her mother.

"It's a family tradition from my side of the family. When a Nightmare child has come of age, usually about four human years old, the child will be separated from his/her family and sent to a faraway place to test the strength of the child." Sally said. "I was sent to the Human World by my parents. It was extremely difficult to find them, but I managed to reunite in… 15 human years. Which is good, our family average is 20 human years. Other demons with this tradition usually take about 40 human years. Some can't even find their way back home, despite still being in the Demon World."

"Will I be able to learn skills from this Family?"

"Of course, love. Just go to any Family member. I'm sure they would gladly teach you."

Karin closed the photo album. She found another photo. It was in a frame, and it seemed as though someone had tried to hide the frame. It was a portrait of her parents and uncle, with 3 children. 2 boys and a girl. The one who caught her attention was the boy with a spotted white hat.

"When was this taken?"

"It was taken a year after I sent you to the South Blue. We recruited new members. This is Buffalo, and this is Baby 5." She paused for a while. "And this is Law."

"Law…" Karin trailed off. "Mother, why are you, a strong demon from a powerful family, here serving a human man?"

Her mother laughed. "I asked myself the same thing then! Demons only serve humans when there's something to be gained. We form a contract, to grant one wish of the human. In exchange, usually we take the human's soul. And until the wish is fulfilled, we have to serve and protect that human. If that human dies before then, we'd just lose that one soul and wasted the time we spent serving the human. I remember the first time seeing the Donquixote brothers. Their parents were dead. Donquixote Doflamingo had that very strong desire to kill the humans who went against him. I killed the people who were attacking them at that time. In exchange for granting Doflamingo's wish, I'd get his soul."

"Why souls?"

"The soul is the only immortal part of a human. Demons don't have souls. We consume souls to increase our lifespans and strength. Each demon has their own different tastes. I love the souls of humans who have committed sins of Greed, Lust or Pride. Children are delicious too. Demons can't eat human food. They'll make us sick."

"But I don't have any problems."

"You have a human side, love. This part of you is human. Look into the mirror."

Karin stared at her reflection. The mother taps the glass. "Show her true form."

The reflection changes. Sitting in Karin's place, was a blonde girl of a similar build. But the girl had bat-like wings, large curved horns protruding from her head and a tail comprised of chain links with a blade at the end and sharp teeth. Karin touched her own face. It felt like a human face. The reflection copied her. "It's just a reflection, love. You're still in your human form. Aren't you lucky? You have the best of both worlds."

Karin saw her mother's reflection. She had a similar demon form but…

"Mother, you only have one wing…"

"Ah, to ensure that the contract could be completed, I gave the Donquixote Brothers my wings. Each brother took one. I'll only have them back after they die or after the contract is completed."

The reflection disappeared, and reverted back into her human form.