Ang3l: All you readers are awesome.

Asa: I think they knew that already.

Ang3l: I was just reminding them! This story is doing really well for only being on its 10th Chapter! I can't thank everyone enough for their support!

Asa: So what'll happen in this chapter?

Ang3l: Read and find out!

Chapter X

Training, Learning and Hiding

One week.

One week was all it took for me to start getting really worried.

The Straw hats had yet to make an appearance in Alabasta. It didn't take this long in the anime! Our boat ride here was only a day at the most! Where could they be? Were they alright? Did something happen? The only thought that kept me going was that the anime may not have shown every one of their adventures. Only the major ones. I just hoped that was the case…

A lot had happened in this one week. After leaving the hag's house Alexandra and I went to look for a place to stay. We managed to find a young family that was willing to take us in as long as we paid rent and helped out when needed. One of the jobs I often found myself stuck with was babysitting. Surprisingly I was pretty good with children! The couple had two small kids, one girl and one boy. They were 6 and 3 respectively. Alexandra was stuck with cleaning and laundry but she didn't look like she minded very much, said she'd much rather be cleaning then looking after loud children.

We had to get new clothes to fit in and to protect us from the heat (which I still wasn't used too). Alex and I both wore white veils over our faces to protect us from the sun as well as to hide our identity from as many people as possible. Alexandra decided to keep her name considering the Straw hats had never met her before but she insisted I still went with Arrow much to my distain. Could she have picked a more fake name?

We went out around town to do the odd jobs for neighbors to get money to pay the rent. It wasn't that bad, living here. If it wasn't for the whole Cradle and Darkness thing then I would consider settling down here.

Oh right… The Cradle…

The night I received the book I had sat down to look through it. I was shocked to find that it was written in some completely foreign language made up of symbols and shapes but I was even more shocked to learn that I could read them! Curious, I showed Alex to see what she thought of them. "Looks like a bunch of random shapes to me." She had said.

The whole book was about The Darkness. It described in detail the powers and abilities the darkness possessed as well as how to use them. As it turns out, there are multiple stances that I had to learn to activate certain attacks or 'Spells' as the book kept calling them. The book had been a great help when it came to learning about my powers. Alexandra has been helping me train them as well as teach me some hand to hand combat and fighting skills. Her dream was to be the world's greatest martial artist.

Anyway, back to the book. Not only did it have information on my powers but it also talked about The Cradle. There wasn't much, but it was enough to give me an idea of what I was up against. Let me tell you, it was not what I expected.

I had come across the page on the second night here. I was up in the room Alex and I were sharing while she was taking in the laundry. I was flipping through the book, not really reading anything, when the symbols seemed to jump out at me. They rearranged themselves and moved as if they were insects, spelling out a new word in a language only I seemed to know how to read.

'The Cradle'

Below it was a small paragraph. It read:

Welcome to The Cradle.

The structure was founded centuries ago by one of the City's elite citizens after his only child was swept away by an angry tide never to be seen or heard again. But the line of the founder grew weak then vanished altogether, their estates in ruin and their deeds forgotten. And now everybody calls it simply 'The Cradle.'

I was a little confused. I thought that 'The Cradle' would have been some sort of cult or society, a group even! I didn't expect to find out it was a building! But the paragraph didn't say much. What was The Cradle? Was it a store? A hospital? Orphanage?

It seemed each time I finally answered one of my many questions, twenty more popped up!

That was when Alexandra walked in and I looked up at her to greet her. When I looked back down at the page the symbols had rearranged themselves back to how they were before.

Since then I have yet to get any more information about The Cradle.

"Oi! Asa! You ready to start training today!?" Alexandra called from outside. I glanced up and smiled to myself. I really enjoyed training with Alex. She took it very seriously and I admired her for that.

"Yeah! Coming!" I ran out the door.

"Yosh! Whatever happens from now on, on this left arm is the mark of a nakama!" Luffy announced putting his left arm out. Everyone followed his example and displayed their left arm (or wing) each one having a small white bandage wrapped around it. Under the bandage was a black X. Luffy took in the faces of his crew, smiling brightly despite how wrong it felt doing this without Asa. "Now, let's get on dry land! To find Asa and to eat! Oh, and Alabasta…"

Most of the crew rolled their eyes. Since when had Alabasta become the last thing on their priority list?

Luffy went over to the railing staring out at Alabasta. He fidgeted slightly, eager to get on the island to look for Asa. They were NOT leaving until she was found. For now though he tried his best to act as normal as possible. The whole crew did. It was obvious though that they all wanted to find Asa.

Nami stepped forward when they docked safely. "Listen everyone, I'm only going to say this once. I expect you all to be on your best behavior at all times." She ordered sounding more like a mother.

"Okay, Nami-san~!" Sanji agreed.

"The guy you have to worry about the most already took off." Zoro informed.

They all looked over to see Luffy charging into town. Screaming "FOOD!"

"OI! WAIT!"

Luffy ran as fast as he could. Despite his yells he was actually going to go looking for Asa.

And food, but that could wait.

He almost stumbled when he thought that.

When the rubber boy was sure he came far enough into town, he slowed his pace down to a walk. The captain looked around taking in the sites. It really was a beautiful place. If he recalled correctly he remembered Nami saying it was called… Nanaham? Nonahara? Nonoh- Oh forget it.

Luffy continued to walk around for the better part of an hour, often stopping to ask if people had seen a brown haired girl with green eyes and a pretty smile. Most men he asked just laughed making a strange comment along the lines of "You should hold on to your women better!" or "It's a shame you lost her. Someone else is bound to pick her up!" He really had no idea what they were talking about but that last comment made him worry even more. Was she going to be kidnapped?

By the end of the second hour, not only was Luffy still hungry but he was about to tear his hair out in frustration. He had found nothing that suggested Asa had been here! For all he knew she wasn't and she could still be back on Drum!

He was just about to take a break and get something to eat when a soft tug on his hand brought his attention down to a little blonde girl. He flopped down in front of her, sitting with his legs crossed. "Hi!" The girl greeted.

"Hi! I'm Luffy, I'm going to be king of the pirates!" He told her smiling brightly.

The girl didn't seem fazed by this. "Are you looking for the sad lady?"

Luffy's smile dropped only to be replaced by a looked of hope. "Sad lady? What did she look like?"

The little girl thought for a moment. "She had pretty brown hair and a nice smile. She was really nice!" Luffy felt his spirits lifted at the news but he gave the girl a look of confusion when she continued. "But she had very sad eyes."

"Sad?" Luffy repeated quietly. He didn't like the idea of Asa being sad.

The girl nodded. "She said she had to leave her friends."

"Did she say why?"

Again she nodded. "To protect them. From the monsters."

Luffy frowned. Monsters? Before he could ask the girl more, a voice called over in their direction.

"Clara! Come on sweetheart!"

Clara looked at Luffy once more before turning around and running to her father. Luffy sat there in the street before smiling his widest smile in what seemed like forever. Finally! At least he knew she was on the island! Excitedly he ran to find the nearest restaurant to get something to eat. In the back of his mind he was still worried about what Clara had said. What monsters? But he decided not to think too much about it, it would only lead to a headache.

He would help her fight the monsters. But the better news was that she missed them just as much as they missed her.

"Okay, concentrate. Move your arms in a smooth motion to your right then back across to your left." I followed Alex's instructions. "Now, feel the energy flow from your heart to your hands. Imagine the energy taking shape then let it follow your orders." Alex spoke in a calm voice. I did as she asked evoking the now familiar burning sensation behind my eyes. The energy moved into my hands and I ordered it to form a sphere. It did as I asked and a ball of darkness was hovering just above my hand. I had to contain my excitement in favor of concentrating. "Hold it." I held the shape for as long as I could before I felt the energy in my body drain. The sphere twitched and spazzed before dissipating and reabsorbing into my skin.

Alexandra clapped. "Wow, 5 minutes! That's a personal best!"

I smiled and looked at her. She was leaning against the back of the house reading from the transcript I wrote out. Because she couldn't read the book, I had to go through and translate most of it for her. It took forever!

"Are we done for the day?" I asked hopefully. Alexandra laughed.

"Yes. We're done. We still have to do chores though so I would go change if I were you."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me up. We went into the house and I went upstairs while she went to the kitchen to do dishes. I noticed the book on my bed and decided to read a bit more before I had to wake up the kids from their nap and take them out to the market. Their father was in the royal army and was hardly ever home, while their mother owned a shop. The couple had been desperate for a babysitter which was one of the reasons they let us live here.

I flopped on the bed and opened the book. I came across the page I had found a few days back, the one with the moving symbols and I was excited to see them moving again. They spelt out the same title but this time the passage was different. It read:

The Cradle was a thick building, its massive stone walls and towers bearing resemblance to a prison rather than a shelter. The halls were dark and draughty with high domed ceilings and tall windows, which lends it a grand aspect but does little to ensure its warmth. And once they started to move children in the North Tower to make room for the 'special residents', the gates and walls were reinforced and the visiting hours stretched thin until vanished altogether, there was little doubt what the City's council decided to make out of it.

They didn't call it a shelter anymore because you were safer there. They called it shelter because everyone else was safe from you.

One blink and the words were gone.

I leant back and looked at the ceiling. So The Cradle is in fact a building. A shelter, supposedly or an asylum. But why keep children in an asylum? Why did the old hag describe it the way she did?

What did she say? It lives, it breathes, it talks… it lies? How can a building do all those things?

Sighing, I got up to get the children.

I lead the two children down the market street, they chatted and laughed, pointing at things they found interesting. The young girl suddenly pulled my hand. "Can we go play with our friends?" I looked over to see a group of kids waving them over and smiled.

"Sure just be home in time for dinner." I watched the kids run off and play, happy for the break. I walked up to a stand and conversed with the owner as I inspected the fruit, trying to find the ripest ones. Suddenly a man walked up beside me.

"Sorry to interrupt," He started and I froze. I knew that voice. "But would either of you happen to know this person?"

I glanced up through my veil to see the one and only Portgas D. Ace holding up a wanted poster of his brother to me and the woman at the stand. I gulped trying not to scream with delight.

Acting casual I glanced over Ace's shoulder to see Zoro, Nami, Ussop and Chopper standing there staring at Ace with suspicion. My heart beat quickened. How did I not notice them before? The woman's voice brought my attention back.

"Monkey D. Luffy?" She read in confusion.

"There's a chance he might be in this town. I've been looking around here for a little while now." Ace explained.

"I've never seen him." The woman answered. Ace sighed. I glanced at him. Should I?

...

Yes, yes I should.

"Luffy huh? Have you tried a restaurant?" I asked.

Ace face-palmed. "Of course!" Then he stopped and looked at me but I had already turned and started walking in the opposite direction of the Straw hats, hopefully out of hearing range. "Wait! How did you know where I should look? Are you a friend of Luffy's?"

I looked down at my shopping list as he walked beside me, trying not to seem too interested in the conversation. "Hm, you could say that."

"I'm Ace by the way. What's your name?" Ace stuck his hand out but I hesitated.

"A-Asa." I answered shaking his hand. I really didn't want to use that embarrassing fake name in front of one of the hottest guys in One Piece. He smiled at me and I just realized how attractive he really was. I mean damn! Sadly he wasn't my type though.

"So do you live here then?" Ace asked as we stopped at another stand. In the back of my mind I was wondering why he was still following me, I gave him the information he wanted right? Is it because he found out I knew his brother?

"No just staying here temporarily. What about you? You come looking for your brother?" I asked, moving on to the next shop. Ace stopped walking and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. I turned around and winked at him, an action he barely caught through my veil, before turning around and running.

Oh look, here's me being dramatic again!

Who am I kidding, it's just so much fun!

Asa: Things are getting interesting.

Ang3l: They are indeed! Check out my profile for what to expect next chapter! Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts:)

Until next time!