It had been a few days since the incident with Smoker and the Straw Hats pirates had found themselves in calm waters. There was no breeze; no rocking of the ship; and no gentle waves to look at.
Currently they were heading for Esturea, which was an island the journal (which everyone thought was an old Log Post) had told them to go. After countless hours of reading over the book and translating the blurry text, which had been ruined by water, Nami had finally found their heading. Now there was only waiting.
"Chas?" Nami asked as she walked across deck and saw the poor girl leaning over the ship with a bottle of Sherry in his hand. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah," Chas said, not even looking up to the navigator behind her, "I'm fine…"
"Ya sure?" Franky questioned, coming over with Usopp and Chopper in tail. The three had been working on a new project, unknown to everyone on the ship. "You're on your sixth bottle."
"Her sixth?!" Nami shouted. "Shouldn't you be drunk right now?"
"Captains have a high tolerance for alcohol…" Chas answered monotonously as she drew circles with her finger.
"You sure you're all right, Chas?" Chopper asked, placing a hoof of Chas's leg.
Chas looked at Chopper, then to the others behind her. "What yer guys' dreams?"
"What?" everyone asked, cocking their heads.
"I heard from Strawhat that he dreams of becomin' Pirate King," Chas said, playing with her hands. "Then when I was helpin' Black Leg in the kitchen he told me his dream was to find the All Blue…" Chas looked up to the others again. "So, I was wonderin' if ya guys had similar dreams…"
Nami looked to the others, who shrugged, and then she turned back to Chas, smiling. "I have a dream to draw a map of the entire world."
Franky puffed out his chest and said, confidently, "I dream is to create and travel with a dream ship which will experience countless battles! I also hope it will reach the end of the Grand Line."
"I dream of becoming a brave warrior of the sea like my father, Yasopp!" Usopp said, putting his hands on his hips and smiling.
"And what about you, Doc?" Chas said, looking to Chopper.
Chopper smiled brightly and said, "I dream of becoming a doctor that can cure any disease." Chopper then blinked at Chas with his big eyes. "I'm also living one of my dreams right now: being able to travel with such great friends."
Chas simply smiled, before sighing and hanging back over the edge of the ship.
"Why are you asking, Chas?" Usopp asked.
"It's just…" Chas took a deep breath and admitted the truth to them. "It just feels awkward being the only one on this ship without a dream of her own…" Chas looked back to everyone, only to regret every mentioning anything when she saw their faces: shocked.
"That's it?" Nami said. "That's what you've been worrying about?!"
Chas nodded, making everyone fall over laughing.
"Stop laughing already!" Chas shouted, standing to her feet, angrily. "I'm dead serious!"
"That's what makes it funny!" Usopp said, holding his stomach as he continued to laugh at Chas.
"If you're so worried"-Chas turned her head to see Robin walking up with a book in hand-"just find a dream of your own."
Chas looked to the ground and nodded. "You're right." She then looked up, full of confidence and eyes shining. "I have to find my own dream!" Chas was about to run off before Franky and Usopp stopped her.
"Wait a minute, Chas!" Usopp said, grabbing her shoulder. "There's something you need to see first."
Chas looked back over her shoulder, titling her head to her side and raising an eyebrow.
"Uh…this doesn't look very safe…" Chopper said, looking at the large contraption before him. According to Franky and Usopp, it's supposed to pull off that cursed armor stuck to Chas.
"Relax!" Franky said, placing his hands on his hips. "It's ninety-five percent safe!"
"Where's that other five percent?!" Chas screamed, trying to get herself released from the chair she had been strapped to.
"Don't worry," Usopp said, smiling comfortingly. He waved a hand, brushing off Chas's scarceness and pointed back towards a bunch of barrels and scarps of metal that had been torn to shreds. "We've tested this many times already, there's no need to worry!" Usopp looked back to Franky. "All right, start her up!"
"OK!" Franky sat in the chair and started the engine, which in turn started the giant saw placed over Chas's arm. Franky pulled a lever, slowly lowering the saw to Chas's arm.
"THIS IS NOT SAFE!" Chas shouted, trying to get herself free from the straps, but she was completely stuck. She watched, helplessly, as the saw came down on the armor, making sparks as it tried cutting the piece of metal in half.
Soon, Franky's machine stopped and everyone was left astonished. The saw had been trashed beyond repair and the armor on Chas's arm was left unharmed.
"NANI?!" Franky, Usopp, and Chopper shouted.
"How did that not work?!" Usopp shouted at Franky.
"How should I know?!" Franky shouted back.
"Does that really mean I'm stuck with this thing?!" Chas shouted, panicking like the rest of them.
"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" Robin said, using her extra hands to get Chas out of her bindings. Once Chas was free, she quickly stood to her feet and began pacing around in circles, mumbling to herself over and over again.
"Calm down, Ikasu!" Franky said trying to get Chas to stop her mumbling and pacing. "There must be a way to get it off!"
"R-Right!" Usopp said, trying to calm the girl down also. "We can't give up just yet!"
"Hm…I don't know about that," Robin said, putting a hand to her chin as she flipped through the book she had been holding. Robin then looked up and smiled. She showed the book to the group and they all looked at it.
After a few words in the first paragraph, Usopp, Franky, Chopper, and Chas's eyes widened. When they got past that paragraph, their eyes continued to grow wider and wider until they reached the end of the page. Chas looked at Robin, fully hoping that Robin was playing a joke. But from the smile of Nico Robin's face, there was no joke being played; thus, Chas fainted and everyone began panicking.
"R-Robin…?" Nami said, turning her head. "What did you just show them?"
Robin chuckled as she walked away with Nami following behind, forgetting about the three boys trying to wake Chas. "Oh, just the solution they were looking for."
History Matej Torok's Curse Armor:
Matej Torok was one of the many pirates in the XXX's. He was known for winning any battle he was placed in. His secret was unknown to his crew and anyone who knew his name, but everyone believe it was the armor he never took off. Matej Torok's armor protected him throughout such battles and had never left his side.
When Matej Torok was taking his last breath, having been defeated in the XXX by XXX the Third, he placed a curse on his armor: "Anyone who finds this armor, shall be cursed to meet death's eyes, as I have now. But whoever turns out to be deemed worthy by this armor, those who have a strong heart and protects those weaker than himself, shall not befall such a fate until fate has decided it's their end."
After his death, his comrades scattered his armor throughout the world. As of late there have been three sightings of Matej Torok's armor: The chest plate had been found by a king in the North Blue, who soon later died of beheading; the left and right leg had been found by a pirate in the South Blue, only to be eaten by a Sea King hours later; and the right arm had been stolen from its tomb in the West Blue and taken to the Grand Line, only to disappear without word and has been unsighted to this day.
There has been no word of the others parts of Matej Torok's armor as of yet, but if anyone should befall a piece of this armor, they will forever be stuck in it until death claims them or the armor deems them worthy. There is no release from Matej Torok's Cursed Armor.