It was a beautiful day out. Everyone was doing their usual business. I decided to have a little conversation and training with Voice, so I sat down with Starlight on my lap and concentrated on going back to my Dive to the Heart, or so Voice called it.
"Voice! You there?!" I asked.
"Yes," he replied, as a light of some sort floated down towards me.
"Voice? Is that you?"
"Sort of. This is just a part of me, though. I still can't go into the world of the living, as I thought. I can't even see you in person here."
"Well, as long as you're here, that's all that matters," I assured him.
"Heh. I guess. So then, what do you want? I doubt you came here just to talk," he asked, getting straight to the point.
"You're half-right. I do want to talk to you for a short while. And I want to do some training here, too. I'm starting to run out of my training supplies, so I want to train here."
"Aren't you busy? All right, then. Let's train." Voice got brighter and many plant-like Heartless came out of the ground. "Since your next destination is a jungle, it's best if I have you fight against Heartless best suited for that area. The small blue plant with yellow and orange petals are known as Creeper Plants. It got its name due to the fact that it can stab you with a small root that will shoot out of the ground. The green plant with pink petals are Dire Plants. They're easy to beat. You just need to block their attacks, and they would be easily destroyed. The black plant with orange petals and red edges are Fire Plants. Use ice spells and attacks on them. The blue plants with white petals are Blizzard Plants. I suppose you know what kind of magic and attacks are used to easily defeat them. And last but not least, Poison Plants. They're a bit more challenging compared to the other plants. However, like Blizzard Plants, they are extremely vulnerable to fire spells and attacks. They all have one thing in common: they can shoot out seed attacks. Good luck, Xion."
That said, Voice just disappeared, leaving me to fight against the plants. I got out my Keyblade and got ready to fight.
*MEANWHILE, WITH THE REST OF THE STRAW HAT CREW**GENERAL'S P.O.V*
While Xion is in her Dive to the Heart, the rest of her crew just got away from almost being fish food.
"Hey! Has anyone seen Xion?!" Nami asked.
"The last time I saw her was at the back of the ship," Zoro answered.
"Now that you mentioned it, isn't it a bit too quiet?" Usopp questioned. "Shouldn't we be hearing her scream and shout while she's training in the back?" That question got everyone off guard. They put whatever they were going to do on hold and check the back of Going Merry, only to see the person in question meditating.
"What? She's just meditating," Vivi sighed.
"Even so, she could've helped us when we were going to be eaten by that dolphin," Nami said.
"Hey, Xion. What are you doing? Meditating here? Didn't you notice that we were being chased by a huge dolphin?" Usopp asked. They receive no answer from the raven-haired girl.
"Xion-san?" Sanji called.
"Oi. Are you all right?" Luffy questioned.
"She must've fallen asleep, considering that she isn't answering to any of us," Zoro guessed. "Now that I think about it, she deserve it more than any of us right now."
When he said that, it gave Usopp a devious idea. He then took out a marker out of nowhere.
"What are you doing, Usopp?" the navigator asked the sniper.
"Teaching her a lesson on what happens if they take a nap while we were doing all the work, even though I should've done this earlier when someone was asleep while we were in that crazy storm," he answered, glaring at Zoro when he said the last part. When he was about to draw on Xion's face, however, she suddenly took her Keyblade and cut the marker and pointed the tip of her weapon at Usopp, in a threatening way.
This scene surprised everyone, making them all think that Ms. All-Sunday was right about Xion, until she went back to meditating, with her Keyblade on her lap again.
"What was that about, Xion?!" Usopp questioned, irritated about the fact that he was almost killed by his own nakama.
"Ah~! Xion-swan is so lovely when she threatens that long-nose~!" Sanji complimented.
"You shut up!"
"Hey Xion! What do you think you're doing?!" Luffy asked, placing a hand on his crewmate's shoulder, only to then get thrown to the other side of the ship by her. "Hey! That would've hurt me!"
"Wait a second, Luffy-san!" Vivi spoke. She walked in front of Xion and looked at her in the eyes. The princess of Arabasta lightly touched Xion and gasped in surprise.
"What's wrong, Vivi?" Nami asked.
"H-... Her skin... It's cold!" she told them.
"Cold?!" the Straw Hat Pirates repeated.
"A ZOMBIE! XION TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE!" Usopp panicked.
"Just because someone's body is cold doesn't really mean that they're dead," a voice said.
"Who's there?!" Zoro demanded, getting ready to unsheath his swords.
"And because of that and their body is moving on its own, doesn't really make them a zombie," he continued. Everyone looked at Xion's lifeless body and saw that she is looking at them. "Hello again."
"AHHHH! ZOMBIE!" most of them screamed.
"Calm down," Xion, with a guy's voice, said.
"How can we?!"
"J-j-j-just who are you and what did you do to our nakama?!" the sniper demanded.
"Relax. Your nakama is safe. She's just training. I'm only here to look after her body," he explained.
"How are we suppose to believe that?!" they all asked.
"Hmm. How indeed? Well, I suppose that's for you to decide. However, believe me; Xion is training with some Heartless I've created." The moment he said that, Xion's body suddenly fell face-first. "I seem to have forgotten to warn her about that," the male voice said, as Xion's body went back to meditating. Xion's left elbow then turned to ice. "And that."
"Just what are you doing to our nakama?!" they all asked, teeth being shark-like, as a few of them tried to defrost Xion's elbow.
"Bring her back!" Sanji demanded.
"How? She was the one who entered her Dive to the Heart. And she was also the one who wanted me to help her train. Until she completed her training, she can't come back to this world with you guys. I hope you realize that any damage that will be done to her body by any of you, combine with the damage she will take from the Heartless I created, will affect her coming back here."
"What do you mean?" Vivi questioned.
"So demanding, this crew," the male voice stated. "Think of it this way, what does humans need in order to stay in this world?" That question got everyone to widen their eyes in realization.
"That's right. They need a body. If anything happens to Xion's body while she's training, she might never come back here. That's the exact reason why I'm here, to make sure nothing happens to it."
"That's nice to know, but she could've told us about this!" Nami argued.
"Are any of you a doctor? If not, that's the reason why she didn't tell any of you. None of you are professional doctors who can take care of her injuries as she trains in her Dive to the Heart. The only reason why she's taking minor injuries is because she's very skilled. If I know any better, she should be your captain instead of the rubber idiot."
"Hey!" Luffy shouted, taking offense of that statement.
"Well it is true. Otherwise, your bounty should've been higher than the girl's."
"I will surpass Xion! Just you wait!"
"Hmph. Oh can you? I highly doubt that it's possible, especially with the gap of power between you two," he doubted.
"Oh really?! Then let's fight! Right now!" Luffy demanded.
"Idiot! Did you forget what he said about what ever happens to Xion's body while she's training somewhere else?!" Nami and Usopp questioned, kicking him in the head.
"You seem to have forgotten what happened back in Whiskey Peak, baka."
"You were there?" Zoro asked, knowing what he meant.
"I was always there. Wherever Xion is, I'm there. Whatever she hears, I hear. Whatever she sees, I see. You can say that I'm just a spirit that Xion picked up. Anyway, rubberman, if you are stronger than Xion, than tell me: how is she able to stop you and Zoro?"
"Well... She just caught me off-guard!" Luffy said.
"Oh? Sorry. I got to go," the voice said.
"Hey! Wait!" the rubberman shouted, about to grab Xion's body if not for his crewmates.
"Restrain yourself!" they ordered the captain.
*BACK IN THE DIVE TO THE HEART**XION'S P.O.V*
I finally managed to beat those plants. How I wish Voice would tell me more about those things! Like the fact that the seeds they shoot out are on fire, can freeze you, or poison you!
"I see that you're done," Voice said, appearing before me.
"Yeah. And it's a miracle how I'm alive," I added. "You could've told me a little more?"
"What's the point in this training then?"
"Touche. Well, I gotta go. Thanks for helping me train."
"Your welcome." With that, I went back to my body.
*WITH THE OTHERS**GENERAL'S P.O.V*
"What should we do?" Vivi asked.
"Xion might not be happy if she finds out about this," Nami spoke.
"Yeah? Well what about the rest of us?" Usopp asked. "None of us are doctors, but that doesn't mean none of us knows nothing about medicine."
"Well then, what are we going to do?" Sanji asked.
"We keep this a secret," Luffy decided, getting everyone's attention. "She doesn't want to worry any of us, does she? So we just keep quiet about this." Everyone nodded in agreement with the idea.
"Oi! Xion's waking up!" Zoro informed.
Everyone immediately went back to their usual business, as the said girl was regaining conscious.
*XION'S P.O.V*
I woke up and stretched my arms. I then looked at my right elbow and saw that the frostbite I got from that Blizzard Plant was already treated. I doubted that it was Voice, since I don't remember having a handkerchief on me. So it made me thought that it was my nakama.
'Guess they found out,' I thought. 'I should've give them a chance after all. Even though none of them are doctors, they should know at least a little about medicine and how to treat wounds.'
'H-... Help us...' came a Dream Eater's voice. Wait. Did it just say us?
'Keyblade's Chosen... Help us...' came another Dream Eater's voice.
'Don't worry. I will come and help you,' I mentally promised, as I walked up to the front of Merry to see how close we were to the island.
"Oh? Hey, Xion!" I heard Luffy call me.
"Hey, Luffy."
"Hey, Xion. Were you working on a new ice spell behind our back?" Usopp asked. Obviously they don't want me to know.
"Yeah. And it doesn't seem to be working, but I'll get it done somehow. By the way, how close are we to Little Garden?"
"It's right up ahead," Nami replied.
'Please... Help us...' the two Dream Eaters begged.
'I'll be there. Don't worry.'
When we got to the island, everything doesn't seem to match the island's name.
"So this is Little Garden," Luffy spoke.
"What the hell do they mean by 'little'?" Zoro questioned.
"It doesn't look nearly as cute as its name," Nami stated.
"And it seems more like a jungle than a garden," I added.
"This is, an unexplored territory. An untamed jungle!" Usopp panicked.
My mind then went back to Ms. All-Sunday's warning. It bothers me a lot. I wondered why she would tell us that. I hope I can solve this puzzle as we get to Arabasta.
"D-d-does that mean that there are monsters here?!" Usopp asked.
"Who knows?" Luffy asked back.
'If there are, Ms. All-Sunday should know how strong we really are. I somehow doubt that this island is the problem,' I mentally added to myself. 'Can it be this island's magnetic field? There's a 50-50 chance that it's the magnetic field of this island that Ms. All-Sunday was talking about. We'll find out as we go along with this route.'
"I see a river mouth up ahead," Zoro informed. We all went to one side of the ship to see the river mouth, so we can stop our ship there.
"I hope there's a yakiniku shop here~!" our simple-minded idiot said.
"What makes you think that there is one?" I questioned.
"Didn't Sanji said that we needed provisions?"
"I meant we need to get ingredients!" he corrected the rubberman.
"And even if there is a shop here, tell me now. Where on an island like this would you find a shop that sells meat?" I questioned.
"But you know, landing here would be dangerous," Nami spoke. "I mean, look at those plants. They aren't in any botany books that I've read."
Just then, we all heard a bird of some sort. No wait, scratch that. Birds don't caw loud enough to scare Nami and Usopp.
"Cute~" Oh dear. Does he have to go gaga mode at a time like this?
"You mean me?" our long-nose crewmate asked.
"I WAS TALKING ABOUT NAMI-SAN!"
"What was that?" the said navigator asked.
"Don't worry. It's just a little old bird. And this is just your normal jungle. Nothing to worry about," Sanji confidentially said. Well, they say having too much confidence can lead you to trouble, for a BIG bird is heading right for Sanji. Although I truly believe that he deserve it more than anything, my stupid bad habit kicked in and had me save him, only to then carry me off.
"AH! XION!" I heard my nakama called.
"Summon: Ryu Dragon!" I said. "Teach this oversize bird a lesson!" At that order, Wyvern burned my captor and saved me, carrying me back to the ship. "Gee, Sanji. What did you say about this jungle?" I sarcastically asked. "If it's a normal jungle with little old birds, THEN WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING THAT CARRIED ME OFF?! Idiot! Can't believe I joined this crew."
As soon as I said that, we heard something explode. "That doesn't sound like something you hear in a normal jungle," Nami stated.
"That sounded like a volcano erupted!" Usopp cried.
'History...' came one of the Dream Eater's voice.
'Way back in time... No humans...' came the other Dream Eater's voice.
"No humans?" I softly repeated. I then saw something from the corner of my eye. "Oi! Something's over there!"
Everyone else looked at what I saw. The figure stepped into the light and revealed itself to be a huge tiger.
"A tiger?" our navigator gasped.
"It's huge," the sniper stated.
All of a sudden, the tiger collapsed, blood coming out of its side.
"What?! What just happened! It's not normal. This is definitely not normal!" Nami stated. "How can a tiger, the King of the Jungle, collapse in its own blood?!"
"Tigers are known to be queens though," I corrected.
"That's not the point!" Usopp shouted. "It's decided that we shouldn't land on this island!"
"We'll just sit on the ship and wait for the Log to set, then we hurry up and get out of here." our navigator agreed. "We do have to hurry to Arabasta after all."
Even with that plan said, we landed on this island anyway. I went to the girl's bedroom to get my bag of ingredients and put some more of them in my pocket. "I'll never know what kind of ingredients are needed to create them. All of this should be enough." I got out of my room to see Luffy, Princess Vivi and Carue ready for adventure. Not that it's surprising for the captain of ours, but why is the princess going as well? To know the thrill of being a pirate? Oh well. It doesn't concern me, as long as Luffy protects her.
"She got guts. Ms. Wednesday," Usopp stated.
"What would you expect from someone who infiltrated a criminal organization?" Nami asked.
"Well, I got some time to kill, so I'll just go for a walk," Zoro spoke.
"A WALK?!" the long-nose sniper of ours repeated, as the swordsman jumped off of the ship.
"Oi! Zoro! Wait!" Sanji called. "We're out of food. If you see something that looks edible, bring it here."
"Right, got it," he replied. "I'll go hunt something you couldn't possibly handle yourself."
"HOLD IT!" Sanji called again. "I heard that. Bastard, you think you can bring something bigger than I could?"
"Damn straight." Oh boy. I can already feel rivalry going on between them.
"A Hunting Contest," Sanji declared, jumping down. "Listen up. The winner's the one who brings back more kilos of meat."
"Don't you mean tons?" Zoro corrected
"Save your bragging for when we line up what's edible."
"My thoughts exactly." With that said, those two went separate ways and began their little contest.
"Men. Especially those that brags about their strength," I sighed, getting ready to take my leave as well. When I was about to jump, however, something held my legs and had me slammed my face on the railing. I turned to see who it was, only to see Nami and Usopp, both clinging onto my legs as streams of tears ran down their cheeks with frightened expressions.
"Please Xion-sama. Don't go," Nami begged.
"You're our only hope here! Please! Xion-sama! Don't go~!" Usopp cried. Did I ever mention how much I hate my bad habit? Or at least the people who caused it to go off?
"All right, I'll stay. Only until someone comes back," I said, receiving hugs from Nami and Usopp. 'This feels awkward,' I thought. Putting my bag down, I instantly went right to training.
"By the way, Xion, what's in that bag of yours?" Usopp asked.
"There are two Dream Eater recipes here that I'm unable to get due to the fact that you two want me here to protect you from whatever will come," I explained. Now I wish that some one does come back. And fast. "Now don't bother me. I'm going to train."
After a few minutes of training, Nami came in panic. I turned to see what was wrong, only to see her holding a book.
"We're in trouble here guys!" she shouted. "This is terrible! This island is..!"
"This island is..?" Usopp repeated, feeling uneasy about the situation.
I began to hear some footsteps and turned to the source. I was surprised to see that it came from something I didn't think would exist here. Nami and Usopp let out an ear-piercing scream when they saw the source, having me to cover my ears.
I went into battle position, ready for whatever this guy will throw at us.
