A/N- I had this idea in my head where Zach would make his own hidden weapons, but I just keep coming back to Assassin's Creed. I'd hate to overuse that one genre so much until I have to put it in my disclaimer as well. So! If anyone out there knows of any nifty hidden weapons or genres for me to look into, then feel free to review or shoot me a PM!
The Keeper of Worlds: Thanks so much for all of your reviews! I really appreciate the feedback!
Disclaimer: I do not own, Naruto, One Piece, nor any of their characters. I guess I do own any OC's I write.
Confessions and Doubt
-x-
Usopp and I found ourselves to be the first to make it to the slope. I quickly zoomed in on the base to see Jango in the middle of his rallying call. I also found Nami in the middle of sneaking towards her treasure WAY out of the combat zone. "I see Nami, she's fine. Zoro and Luffy aren't here. It also looks like They're about to attack. Got any preparations to make?"
Usopp rifled through his bag to pull out two smaller bags. He tossed me one, and went to throw the contents everywhere. "They're caltrops! It should slow them down."
I shrugged at his suggestion, and did as he wanted. I finished first, and took his bag away from him. "Go get in position, you're no good on the frontlines right now."
He nodded thankfully, and then yelped in surprise. "There are caltrops behind us! How am I supposed to get out?"
I groaned, and grabbed his neck like a puppy. "Curl into a ball." I flared my chakra, and sent him flying over the top of the slop. I dusted my hands off to look around. I hummed in thought, and ninja jumped to the slope wall. I found a crevice of sorts to stick to with chakra, and blended into the shadows.
I heard a loud clarion call of "Let's go, everybody!" Which was followed with a stampede of footsteps. I calmed myself, and felt my chakra flow easily through my system. I fingered the pouch of senbon, and plucked out a few. I let my eyes spread out, and took this chance to turn them red.
I saw everything slow down a fraction, and grinned at target practice. "And… pull!" I threw out a handful of senbon that speared through a pirates leg. He tried to take his next step, and fell on his face as his leg went numb. I saw the pellets Usopp uses zoom past, and take out another couple pirates while I did the same. "I really want to try out something…"
I hopped off of the cliff wall to the top of the caltrop field, and saw Jango point angrily at me. "He must be the one taking out our men! Get him!"
I dropped into an approximation of Gentle Fist, and waited for the pirates. I had to pull back a laugh after I saw them trip on our caltrops. The first pirate made it up the cliff, and I slid forward to poke an acupuncture point located on the shoulder. I saw him flinch when nothing happened, and I tried again with a twist of my wrist on another acupuncture spot near his thigh.
I received an annoyed grunt. "Quit poking me, kid!"
I scowled at him as I continued to try things out, and finally moved on to small blasts of chakra with my finger movements. I saw something awful the first time, and, thanks to my eyes, I saw a vein leak, and him start to internally bleed. I hastily toned my chakra burst down enough to impede the flow. It seemed to fix the problem, and his arm lost some movement. He looked at me bewilderedly. "What'd ya do to me arm, boy?!"
I ducked another thrust, and whirled around to try and figure out this dang fighting style. My eyes flashed from blue to red, and black to white periodically as I danced around the pirates. Eventually, I found myself standing over a group of black and blue pirates twitching on the ground. I pouted at them. "Dangit… I think I was getting close to something here."
I heard Jango stomping around at the base of the cliff, and let my vision drift towards him. "You lot of useless waste!" He huffed indignantly. Finally, he calmed down enough to pull of his hypnotist ring, and I hastily turned my vision away. "On the count of Jango, you will let us pass! One… Two… Jango!" I finally turned my vision back to him, and saw his crew rolling out of the way. I sweatdropped at the way it worked out, and He yelled at his crew. "Not you lot!"
I saw a flash of orange hair pop up beside me, and I smiled happily. "Did you have fun?"
She looked around me in something akin to awe. "You did all of this?"
I shook my head firmly, and gestured vaguely behind us. "Nah, Usopp had my back. He's a great shot. Even if he is a little scaredy cat." I quickly moved to the left to dodge the warning shot. "Fine! You're a brave warrior of the sea!" I yelled over my shoulder.
Nami looked behind her in surprise to see that she couldn't find where the shot came from. "You guys are pretty good…"
I shrugged. "We've been practicing, and these aren't the first pirates we've taken care of. They're definitely the toughest though."
Nami looked at the piles of bruised pirates, and deadpanned. "Yeah, they sure look tough passed out at your feet."
I snorted. "Not these guys. I mean the two on the ship, the hypnotist, and the butler. They're the tough ones."
Nami blinked in confusion. "Then… what can I do?"
I smiled happily as I ran off. "Just hold down the fort! I'll get the heavy hitters!"
Nami froze on the spot before turning to yell at the forest I disappeared into. "YOU TRAITOR!"
I chuckled happily as I raced off to Zoro. My eyes caught him racing back to the Southern shore again. I quickly caught up to him, and whistled a nice long note. "Zoro! Just follow me!"
I heard him grunt as we headed towards the shore. I wasn't able to see Luffy, and just had to hope he made it on his own. We finally made it back to the shore to see Luffy asleep under a large piece of their ship, and the Nyaban brothers hiding behind Jango. "I'm telling you two to go fight that girl right now!"
The skinny one started crying as he ran at Nami. "Fine! You don't have to be so mean about it!"
I growled at Zoro. "We've got to save her!"
He blinked in confusion before looking at me oddly as we ran up there. "Why? They look like a couple of wimps."
I scowled at him. "They're the ship's guard for a reason, Zoro."
I hastily drew a throwing knife to channel chakra into before my throw. I whipped it forward with all my power to send it whizzing straight at the skinny one before he glared at me, and dodge to the side. He slowly stood up to wipe the blood off of his cheek, and glare at me. "This isn't your fight, boy."
I saw Zoro's face turn to shock at the 180 in personality, and I ran forward to take him on. "Zoro, you get the fat one!" I gave Nami a look, and asked. "Nami, Can you get Luffy?"
I wanted to continue speaking, but skinny started his offence, and I had to hastily dodge his swipe. "You're fighting me now. You should pay attention, boy!"
I glared at him as I struck his shoulder near the joint with a quick blast of chakra. "Oh, shut up." I smirked as I saw the delay his arm was having in its attacks, and continued my experimentation.
Or, I would have done so, if I didn't get my awesome shirt ruined by him cutting me open. I glared angrily, and dropped the Gentle Fist Style to switch to my custom Hidden Weapons Style. I planted my steel toed shoe in the ground as he swung low to cut my leg, and flared my chakra out of a tenketsu point along my leg to work a button which launched a senbon from my calf at his arm. I heard a yowl, and smirked as I lifted my other foot. "Leaf Hurricane!" I felt the dagger sticking out of the tip of my boot stick him in the side before it snapped off. He started to his at me as his blows started to come in faster, and faster. I felt more of his claws rake me, and grimaced at the fact I can't even beat this guy without some minor wounds. I kept close proximity to him as I let my hidden blade score a wound across his arm, and continued my onslaught of bladed surprises.
I could see how Zoro was faring against the big one thanks to my 360 vision. He was currently in the middle of cutting his opponent up vigorously with his three-sword style. It really wasn't even a fight. I saw Nami in the middle of making her way around our fights unnoticed.
At least she was unnoticed until Jango saw her heading towards his ship. "What do you think you're doing near my ship?" I saw him pull his circle blades out to slash her, and I did my absolute best to launch a knife at him, but it got there half a second too slow. Nami got a long slash across her back, and Jango got a knife through his hand. "Dammit! Sham! Finish that kid off!"
The skinny one, I guess he's called sham, growled at me. "Look what you did now, kid!" He pulled his arms out to his sides to adopt a pre-leap stance. "Cat…" He pounced right at me in a flurry of swipes. "Dance!"
I snarled back at him, and pulled my vambraces up to block one hand. The other hand ended up grazing my arm, and bloodying my awesome clothes again. I scowled at him as I jumped back. "You know what i'm getting tired of?! You people always calling me 'kid', and YOU'RE RUINING MY AWESOME CLOTHES!"
I ripped off the bloodied sleeve to show an assortment of knives strapped to my underarm, and started pelting the majority of skinny's body. I took full advantage of my chakra enhanced range of motion to duck under his swipes, and leave a knife imbedded in the leg. I rolled under one of his high kicks to hit the cliff face, and stick to it just above the ground to throw off his pounce. I quickly flicked out my hidden blade to leave a long gash across his back with one hand, and a well placed senbon to his shoulder to numb his arm. I eventually backed off enough to remark inwardly at how bloody this fight had gotten.
I stopped thinking of such things as I felt his claws leave a groove on my right cheek. I growled angrily, and leapt forward with a chakra enhanced fist to punch the pincushioned cat square in the face. I felt an oddly comforting crack as he flew off to land on the ground in front of Jango. I pointed angrily at Jango now. "And, you! You hurt Nami!"
I think my shouting woke up Luffy, because he jumped up from his nap to glare at Jango as well. "You hurt my nakama?!" He pulled his arm back, and firmly decked Jango on the jaw. I saw him twitch, and fall silent.
Luffy looked around to see Zoro finishing his opponent with a Oni Giri, and Usopp coming out of the forest to join us. I ran up to Nami to apply some bandages from my pouch. "Are you okay?" I tightened it a little, and she flinched.
She gave me a halfhearted glare. "Not really. I just got cut up by a hypnotist."
I smiled a little at that before coughing lightly. "You know… we did just finish off his crew. Now that he's out too…"
She pushed me aside to leap onto the ship squealing in glee. "All their treasure is mine!"
I sweatdropped to the others. "Wasn't she just whining about being injured?"
I didn't receive a response, and turned to see Kuro walking down the slope. Luffy was on his way out to greet him. I turned to dust off my pants, and addressed Usopp and Zoro "Usopp, you should cover Luffy from the ship. Zoro, can you help Luffy? I'll get Nami's back onboard."
I heard faint grunts from each as they did as I suggested. I just leapt up to the ship's deck, and turned my standard white vision on to snoop around. I quickly found Nami kissing a stack of Beris, and started to feel like a peeping tom at her antics. I coughed loudly, and she flinched before looking around. "Zach?"
I smiled a little, and punched a hole in the wall to come out near her. "Yes?"
She sighed in relief. "Nothing, I just thought you were a pirate."
I smiled a little sadly. "Not yet anyway."
She looked conflicted at my word choice, and then covered it up with a businesslike tone. "Okay, use your eyes to point me to the treasure!"
I cocked my head to the side. "Why would I do that?"
She sputtered indignantly a me. "Why wouldn't you?! So, we can take it all!"
I nodded happily again. "So, I get a share?" I specified.
She froze mid expression, and seemed to bite her tongue. Eventually she spat out, "10%"
I sighed lazily, and plopped down on a barrel. "75% I'm finding it all. You're just carrying it."
She glared at me, and seemed to collect herself. "30% I would find it anyway. You're just helping me get it faster."
I smirked at her. "I could always go get it before you. Who do you think will find it faster?"
She paled, and shivered at the thought. Finally, she pulled out the big guns, and sauntered up to blink coyly at me. "10% and I forgive you for peeking on me."
I felt my face heat up at her new tactic. "I never peeked on you!"
She pouted playfully. "Then how about I let you?"
I glared at her, and took a step away. "50% and stop that! It's awkward."
She huffed in annoyance at me. "No fun… 30% and I talk Luffy into letting you join."
I blinked in surprise, and rubbed my chin in thought. After a second or two, I stuck my hand out to shake hers. "Deal!"
She smirked at me. "Sucker, he was going to let you join anyway." She then turned on her heel to saunter out of the room.
I smiled a little. "Huh, I guess I don't speak Luffy-nese"
I hurried out of the room to direct Nami to the treasure room, and we began bagging the treasure up, and hauling it atop the deck. After doing all of this, we saw the conclusion to Luffy's fight.
Namely, Kuro slaughtering everyone, including his crew while Luffy yelled in outrage. "What do you take Nakama as?!"
Nami stiffened at my side, and I heard her gasp. "Luffy…"
The rapid slaughter continued, and I was barely able to see his shadow as he ran across cutting everyone to shreds. I finally caught up with him as he slashed Luffy, and then ground to a halt as Luffy slung him into the ground. I nodded in appreciation as Luffy slipped onto Kuro's back, and began yelling. "Gum Gum…" His head pulled back so far that it almost touched the ship. "Bell!" Then, it whipped forward to smack Kuro dead center in the face. The two of them then fell down, and Luffy hopped up.
The pirates still alive started yelling. "He beat the captain! Who is he?!"
Luffy proudly stuck out his chest to yell back at them. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be King of The Pirates!"
I felt my heart skip a beat for some reason at the tone and certainty of his voice. "I have to follow that man…" I felt the thought flit past my mind before I even realized what I had said.
Nami looked over to me in surprise. "He has that effect on you too?"
I nodded shakily. "Yeah… it's weird, huh?"
She nodded just as shakily. "Yeah."
I shook myself out of my daze, and threw the bags over my shoulder to carry them across the water to their boats. I had made it about four or five steps before I heard friend and enemy alike scream in surprise. "You can walk on water?!"
I blinked slowly, and turned around to see all eyes on me. "Oh… Yeah, forgot to tell you that. Sorry, guys!"
I smiled awkwardly as I ran over to deposit the treasure, and made it back to see everyone but Usopp still looking at me. Luffy ran up with stars in his eyes. "Woah! Is that part of your Devil Fruit powers?!"
I held up a hand to silence the questions I knew were coming. "Where's Usopp? … and Jango?"
They all looked around in surprise, and then we headed up the slope. I hastily pointed to the west. "Luffy! Throw me over there!"
Luffy obliged to pick me up, and elastically loaded me into his. "Gum Gum Bazooka!"
I felt the air whiz past my face, and oriented myself feet first to come flying in. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" I rocked the landing with a perfect ten feet first on Jango's face right before he finished off Usopp. I smirked as I saw the shocked faces Usopp, Kaya, and the toddle trio. "Even Guy would be proud of that Youthful entrance, guys!"
Usopp yelled in surprise as he helped Kaya to her feet. "Zach? How'd you get here?!"
I pulled my best imitation on Maito Gai, and winked at them while thumbs upping myself with a smirk. "I sensed the springtime of youth being set aflame, and knew I was needed!"
Kaya's jaw dropped, and Usopp had stars in his eyes. "So cool…" Usopp and the kids whispered.
Kaya shook her head furiously, and shouted at me. "Now, isn't the time for a midlife crisis, Zach!"
I felt my smirked freeze on my face, and then my jaw dropped in realization. "IS THAT WHAT IT MEANS?!" I hurriedly started whispering to myself, ignorant of the looks I was getting. "It makes so much more sense now… but, wait! Why would Lee say the same stuff?" An image of said green clothed Genin flashed before my blue eyes, and I cringed. "Okay… he probably just took it as sage wisdom, and rolled with it." Nodding firmly to myself, I straightened up to notice their odd looks, and shook my head a little to clear my mind.
It was then that I heard a groan from beneath my feet. I hopped off of the guy, as I found him struggling to stand back up. He glared at me angrily, and held up his blades. "That hurt, kid."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "It get's worse!" I happily directed his gaze towards where I flew in from with a finger.
I then got to enjoy seeing the rest of the strawhat pirates come flying into Jango's back, and landing in a tangle. I scurried forward to brass knuckle Jango into a little nap, and then turned to see Usopp holding Kaya in a tight hug. "Thank you, so much, Usopp! I'm sorry I didn't believe you!"
I looked on to see their touching moment, and knew things were getting a little awkward for the other three teenagers watching. I smirked playfully as I stage whispered to everyone. "I think we interrupted something, guys!"
I then got to thoroughly enjoy seeing Usopp and Kaya blush the same tint of red. Kaya then proceeded to bury her head in Usopp's shoulder before realizing what she did, and jumping out of his arms. "I-I'm… w-we're not… Stop it, Zach!" She finished with a glare shot at me.
I laughed uproariously with Luffy and co. for a good minute until Usopp let a pellet smack against my forehead. "Punishment Star!"
I scowled at him, and huffed in fake annoyance. Eventually, I went to collect Jango. "Should we do the same as last time, Usopp?"
He limped over to scowl at the unconscious pirate. "Yeah. I don't want them to come back to hurt the villagers."
Nami sidled up to us. "What do you mean by last time?"
I shrugged Jango into an easier position to carry as we walked to the beach. "Last time we beat up a crew, we pushed them adrift with a crippled ship, and hogtied to the mast."
Nami stopped in her tracks before running up to us. "You let them starve to death?!"
I looked at her in horror. "God, no! We called the Marines anonymously."
She looked slightly mollified at that. "Still, it's going to take time away from getting to know my treasure."
I raised an eyebrow at Luffy. "What do you think?"
He still had a goofy grin on his face. "Let's let them take their friends away."
I blinked in surprise. "Just let them go?"
He shrugged. "Why not? We already beat 'em up."
I looked to the rest of the crew, and they seemed resigned to it. So, I just threw Jango down, and took his weapons before smacking him awake. "Listen, Kid. Take your crew and leave. We won. So, leave this island alone. Deal?"
He nodded very quickly once he saw his VERY unconscious captain. "y-yes, sirs!"
I spent the next hour or so supervising their retreat from the island, while everyone else headed ashore to talk to Kaya about a boat. I left the shore feeling like I had one weight lifted from my shoulders, and another one thrown on. "I wonder if Luffy is really going to let me join… It'd stink to have to follow them around."
I made my rounds of the town to politely tell some people that there would be a cabin available at the end of the path, and then started to pack up my essentials. I stuffed my wardrobe, consisting of basically what I was already wearing except not ruined, in the chest Tyler gave me along with the things I came into this world with, my tools, gadgets, weapons, and some of my books. With it fully loaded, I slung it over my shoulder, and headed towards the shore where I saw the Going Merry.
I got there early, and waved hello to our resident goat man. "Hi there, sir."
He wheezed a little before smiling back at me. "Hello, lad. I understand you helped the Miss as well?" I nodded slightly to that, and he broke out into an even bigger smile. "Then, I truly can't thank you enough!"
I shrugged it off. "Do you know where the others are?"
He looked around. "I was thinking they would be with you."
I sighed. "They must be eating before they leave…" I looked over to the pile of supplies by the dock. "Do you need a hand loading those?"
He smiled gratefully. "I was going to try and get some kids to do it for me, but that would be appreciated."
I smiled and waved it off. "No need. I'm waiting here anyway."
I then proceeded to load the supplies while Merry started to doze off on the dock. By the time I finished up, he was fast asleep. So, I decided to join him, and plopped down beside my sea chest to pillow my head with my arm, and watch the clouds.
-x-
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to Luffy pulling me by the leg onto the Going Merry as it sailed away. I screamed loudly at the rude awakening. "What the?! What's happening?!"
I landed on board to see Nami smiling down at me. "I told you I'd talk him into it!"
I blinked in confusion, before turning to see Usopp, Luffy, and Zoro smiling down at me as well. "Really?"
Luffy pulled me up to my feet to smack my back happily. "Of course! The Future Pirate King needs a mystery eye guy!"
I felt my happiness plummet a little at that. "What?" I looked around for someone to explain, and Usopp stepped forward.
He politely pointed out what happened. "You were dead asleep, and we almost left you behind until Luffy remembered 'that eye guy who walked on water'. So, he grabbed you."
I crouched down on the deck to draw circles sadly. "You guys! That's so mean!"
Luffy and Usopp laughed at my antics, and Nami pointed to shore. "Hey, was that your luggage?"
I bolted up to watch as my chest got smaller. "NO! We need to go back!"
Luffy smiled happily at me. "I'll help! Gum Gum…" I felt like something bad was going to happen, and tried to run away only to have Luffy grab my shirt collar. "Claw Hook!'
I felt myself get flung back to shore, and hastily clamped onto my chest with any and all appendages as I was dragged back to the boat to land in a heap. I scowled at Luffy as I saw my stuff fall out. "Aww, man! Now it's all disorganized!"
Luffy 'helped' me again by smooshing everything inside, and stomping it shut. "There!" He patted some dust off his hands. "All better!"
Nami went to pick up a book to hand to me. "Almost. He forgot your… Introduction to Mechatronics book…" She looked at it oddly. "What's that?"
I stuffed it into the chest before answering. "Kind of like robot engineering." I saw Usopp and Luffy eyes light up, and I hastily waved them down. "I can't make any... yet! So, don't ask!"
They sighed sadly, but I distracted them up by hurrying to ask the important stuff. "Luffy, did you really let me join?"
He looked at me with his head to the side. "Duh, didn't Nami just tell you that?" He seemed to realize something as he put a fist atop his palm. "Oh! Grandpa used to tell me that getting hit on your head makes some people dumb. Are you one of those people?"
I felt my jaw drop at the question. "What do you mean by SOME people?!" I shook my head furiously. "This explains so much!"
I saw the rest of the crew nod in understanding as well. Luffy just looked around in a daze. "What? You guys didn't know that?"
I facepalmed before speaking. "Anyway… What changed your mind?"
He looked at me seriously in the eyes. "I just get the feeling that… I don't know, you're necessary somehow."
I blinked in confusion before I felt the brand on my arm twinge in pain. "Ow…" I looked back up at him with a little idea as to what he meant. "Ok, well, thank you anyway, Captain." I added the last part with a toothy grin. "It must Ozaron pulling some strings or something."
He adjusted his hat with a toothy grin right back at me. "No problem! I picked up two new nakama and a ship! It's time to party!"
I whooped in favor, and was quickly hit on the head by Nami. "NO! We're supposed to be sailing! We can't be partying again. You're out of luck, Zach. We celebrated at Meshi's"
I pouted at her, and she smirked as she went to the helm to call out adjustments. I hastily went to comply, and ran up the mast to unfurl the sails. I jumped down to see the crew looking at me oddly. Even Usopp came forward to speak. "I didn't know you could do that, Zach."
Luffy jumped over to inspect my feet. "Yeah! How did you do it?!"
I felt my face heat up awkwardly at the attention. "I'm guessing you want me to explain?"
I saw their heads nod, and I looked around to see the island still in sight. "Why don't I tell everyone after we sit down to eat dinner?"
I saw some reluctant nods, and heard Luffy's whine. "I wanted to hear about his mystery feet!"
I chuckled a little, and we spent the rest of the day getting used to sailing the ship. I definitely preferred sailing with a crew. It wasn't as lonely or boring. Especially with Luffy around!
I think he wound up tangled in the roping about fifteen times that day, and Zoro probably slept more times than that. Nami got to yell more than even that, and Usopp outdid her in telling tall tales. All in all, it was a great day.
I was even looking forward to telling everyone what I could do, and spent a lot of time thinking over how to phrase it. Eventually, the time came. We were all seated around the table eating a precooked meal Merry gave us, and then, almost as one, they turned to me expectantly. Luffy spoke up around a mouthful of meat. "Mystery time!"
I smiled nervously as I collected my thoughts. "Okay… they're two ways I could tell you this. Do you want to hear the version with just the facts, or the version that tells you how it all happened?"
Zoro grunted in what I interpreted as annoyance. Usopp just sat back thinking how he already knew how I did it. It came to Nami and Luffy to decide, and Nami spoke up first. "I'd rather hear how you got your-"
Luffy jumped up to exclaim over her. "Don't ruin all of the mystery!"
I sweatdropped at my captain, and looked back to Nami. "Well?"
She sighed loudly. "Fine. Just the facts."
I pulled out a knife from one of it's hiding places, and handed it to Zoro. "Well, the reason I can do things like walk on water, or up walls, is because of chakra. Chakra is the ambient energy found in all living things. I'm just gifted by… Ozaron to be able to mold it freely." I gestured to the knife. "It let's me do lots of things, but I can only do the basics. You know about the walking stuff, but it also lets me muffle my movements, enhance my muscles, augment my weapons, and I'm learning to use it to disrupt internal acupuncture points through touch." I gestured with my hand, and my index and middle finger flared up with a bluish haze for a second.
Zoro held up the knife questioningly. "Why did you give me this?"
I held out another knife to motion for him to chop at it. He proceeded to do so, and made a sizable knick in the steel. "Now, see what the chakra helps me do." I made the same motion, and cut the steel straight through. "The chakra helps me to hone its edge. You could do the same with enough force and speed, but I just need to channel chakra into it."
Zoro looked over the scraps, and whistled lowly. "Can you teach me that?"
I flicked my eyes towards him, and checked his internal network. "I don't think so… I can see your chakra network is there, but it's like it needs something to kick start it… I don't know how to do that."
I saw him shrug easily, and Luffy popped up to wave his arms in my face. "What about us?!"
I looked over them all, and shook my head sadly. "You're all the same. You're missing a spark of some kind."
Luffy sighed theatrically, and started chewing on his food. "Well, that was cool, anyway! You got some awesome powers, Zach."
I scratched my head in indecision. "Actually… there is something else…"
They all looked up from the food to see my awkward facial expression, and got serious again. Nami spoke up again. "What is it, Zach?"
I looked hesitantly at all of them. "What would you say if I could tell you what would happen in the... future?" I looked around nervously to inspect them each carefully.
They all looked at me like an idiot except for Usopp. Zoro spoke up cautiously. "Are you saying you can see the future? Is this something to do with your God?"
I nodded hesitantly again. "Yes, and no. I can't see the future. I just know what would happen if I were… not here, and yes it has to do with Ozaron."
Luffy looked at me oddly. "So, you know what's going to happen before we get to our next adventure?" I nodded a little more firmly. "Oh, you poor guy! Where's the fun in that!" He bemoaned as patted my shoulder consolingly.
I felt weird getting pity for this, but took it in stride before Zoro asked me another question. "And how do we know you're not just crazy?"
I pointed to Usopp. "Ask him."
Usopp glared at me before shakily nodding to the others. "It's true. He told me that you guys would come to help me save Kaya. He even told me that Luffy knew my dad." He looked over at me with a little apprehension in his eyes before it turned into trust. "He also helped me get through it all. So, I trust him on this."
I smiled gratefully at him, and Nami scoffed at us. "How do we know you two aren't playing a prank on us?"
I scowled at her, and pointed to her shoulder. "You want me to tell them why you need so much treasure, or is that for after you take a trip home?"
She visibly blanched at my words, and I saw everyone else perk up at my words. Zoro asked me quietly. "What do you know, Zach?"
I shook my head firmly. "It's her secret. I won't say anything unless she's okay with it."
Nami seemed to recover before she stood up to slap me across the face. "How do you know that?! Have you investigated me?!"
I rubbed my cheek angrily. "Dang, lady! I'm not blaming you for any of that stuff! I get why you did what you do, and I won't change my mind about it. So, calm down."
Usopp stood up to get between me and Nami. "H-He said he won't tell us, N-Nami. I think you should let him talk."
I blinked in surprise as Usopp was the one to stand up for me. Nami eventually sat down,and Usopp went to his seat again. Nami spoke up grumpily. "That still doesn't prove you know the future. It just proves that you're a stalker."
I snorted a little at that. "Okay…" I turned to Luffy. "Can I write something down, and we seal it. Then, when it happens you all see what I wrote? That should prove I'm not crazy or a stalker" I glared at Nami for the last part. "right?"
Luffy looked around the table to everyone. "I don't want you to ruin anything!" He gave me a pout like I threatened to steal his candy-sorry, meat."
I nodded. "I'll keep it simple"
Luffy shrugged somewhat unhappy still. I smiled as I began to write about Usopp shooting Johnny and Yosaku who had Scurvy, and how Nami berates the crew for not knowing the necessities of sailing. I even threw in Luffy's obsession with a musician, getting a cook, the eagle eyed person at the Baratie, and Nami charging to cook for us.
I quickly sealed the envelope, and looked around the room with a quirked eyebrow. "Who get's to hold it?"
Usopp quickly leaned away, and Zoro scoffed. Luffy sat there with a goofy grin while Nami glared at me. I looked between the two before Nami snatched it, and stuffed it into Luffy's hat. "There, now no one can mess with it."
I smiled a little at the way Luffy took the whole thing with barely bat of the eye. The rest of the dinner was uneventful, except for the dirty looks Nami was giving me. I finally gave up, and took my food outside to eat on the railing.
Eventually, Usopp came out to talk to me. "So… do you really believe you know the future?"
I scratched my head awkwardly. "I… believe that if I don't change things, then I could tell you anything you wanted to know about this crew two years from now."
He nodded as he seemed to catch on. "So, if you are here, then everything you know is kinda useless, right? I mean that changes things."
I shook my head. "No, not really. I mean, there are some things I could change, but the big events are going to happen. There's not a lot I can do about that stuff, just because I'm not strong enough to change it." The image of Ace dying in Luffy's arms flashed before my eyes.
Usopp nodded slowly. "Okay, so tell me this, If we all knew what you knew, would it still happen that way?"
I blinked in confusion as I thought it over. "No… I guess not. It would change things enough that everything I told you probably wouldn't happen. It might even make things worse."
Usopp smiled a little at me. "So, why did you feel the need to tell us? Everything from here on out is going to be different, now."
I looked at him like an idiot. "Why wouldn't I tell you guys? If you had some major secret that could affect me, then I would want to know."
Usopp clapped me on the shoulder. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Even if you are full of it," He chuckled at my glare. "I trust you to not do anything that would get us hurt. So, either way, I'm fine with it."
I blinked slowly as I took all of this in, and wondered idly how Usopp could have possibly matured this much? "Thanks, buddy." I croaked out.
He smiled happily before adopting a pleading tone. "Though if you happen to see like a giant bomb going off, please let me know in advance enough to get away!"
I felt the world fall into place again, and smirked evilly at him. "Actually! We, originally, got to run straight to it!"
He looked at me in horror. "Why in the world world we do that?!"
I smacked him on the head. "Three reasons! Nami is getting paid, it's for a princess, and we die if we don't"
He went from scared to happy to straight up crying in less than a minute, and I fell on my rear laughing at him. He scowled at me, and stomped off muttering about suicidal priests.
I smiled softly, and wiped a tear out of my eye, and then turned to look towards a mast. "You know, I can actually see through those things."
Nami slunk out of her hiding spot to glare at me. "I wasn't hiding from you. I didn't want the crew to be around for this." She looked around hesitantly, and we walked to the prow to speak. She dropped her glare to look at me sadly. "How… How much do you actually know?"
I sighed heavily, and leaned against the rail. "A lot. I don't want to say I know everything, but enough to know you're tough as nails."
She smirked sadly at me. "So, basically everything?"
I nodded, and rubbed my arm brand. "You know, I could tell you what's going to happen…"
She looked at me in anger. "I don't want your false hope. I know what I need to do, and I've almost got enough to do it."
I nodded quickly. "I know. I didn't mean to be rude… It's just… Luffy is stronger than you give him credit for." I turned to look her in the eyes for good measure. "We all are, and now you're our Nakama. That means something."
I saw a conflicted expression cross her face, and she turned to leave. I quickly told her something she needed to hear. "You can have my 30%, and there's a couple 100,000 Beri in my chest. You can have it all, but... leave my necklace."
She stopped mid stride, and thanks to my eyes, I saw a tear fall down her cheek before she headed for her room. I turned to face the ocean covered in a shroud of darkness thinking about what I had just done. "I might have given away my biggest advantage to staying alive… Now, everything will be different. If they ask me for something, then I'll have to tell them." I rubbed my chin in thought. "Well… I could go the other way, and choose what I tell them. That would give me some semblance of control." I shivered as a thought crossed my mind. "Or, it would just place the blame solely on my shoulders when we all end up dead." I grimaced in thought as I looked at slowly rolling waves. "What's the right way to do this?"
