Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I only own my OC, Aurora.

Chapter 25

"B… Birrion- cough" Igaram cleared his throat. "Ma ma maa~!"

"Weren't you out cold from all the booze?" Zoro asked the navigator.

"Oh please… how could I just drink and let my guard down in a town that welcomes pirates. Talk about suspicious."

"Ma ma maa~!"

"I was only pretending to be drunk. I could've drunk a lot more if I wanted to."

"Yeah, yeah."

"She was pretending the whole time!?" Aurora grit her teeth. "Unbelievable!"

"Ma ma maa~!"

So…" Nami turned her attention back to Igaram. "How about it? Can you guarantee us a reward of 1 million beli, Mr. Head-of-the-Royal-Guard? Need I remind you that without our help… your precious princess might die, you know?"

"I… I'm afraid I can't guarantee such an astronomical sum since I'm merely a single soldier!"

"Oh? Are you saying that the princess of your kingdom is worth less than a billion beli?" Nami grinned cheekily. "Pay up."

"Talk about an extortion." Zoro commented.

"Does nobody do anything out of the kindness of their heart anymore?"

Zoro shrugged. "You're with a bunch of pirates. What did you expect? Although, Nami might be taking it a bit too far."

"The girl does love her money." Aurora admitted.

"Cough… in that case, I'm sure that as long as you return the princess safely back to our lands, you can directly negotiate with her yourself, and receive that much money!"

"So basically, you're telling us to save her first…"

"There's no time for negotiating!" Igaram was panicked. "Even now, as we speak, the princess' life is in danger!"

Nami heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine. We'll save your little princess first." The navigator turned to the swordsman. "Alright then! Go, Zoro!"

"Why should I go!? Why do I have to help you with your dirty money-making schemes!?"

"Oh, don't be so stupid, you. My money may be mine alone but a contract I make is a contract for our whole crew!"

"What kind of retarded unfair logic is that!? How old are you!?"

"I have to agree with Zoro." Aurora chimed in. "I don't feel comfortable with extortion."

"What's the big fuss!" Nami fumed. "All I'm asking you is to go and cut up a few bad guys!"

"Well, I hate being used by others! I'm not a tool like that idiot cook!"

"Is name-calling really necessary?" Aurora sweatdropped, glancing between the two. She ultimately went unnoticed.

"Oh, I get it. You're only saying that because you don't think you can win, right?"

"What did you say!? I dare you to say that again!"

"You're only saying that because you don't think you can win, right?"

"Oh you did not just say that again!"

"I give up." Aurora admitted defeat. "I'm just gonna go sit over there."

"Aren't you forgetting something? You know you still owe me, right?"

"Huh?" That got Zoro's attention. "No I don't."

"Back at Loguetown, I lent you 100,000 beli so you could buy your swords."

"That is true." Aurora mused, having been there for that conversation.

"Yeah and I paid you back right away! I got my swords for free so I didn't use any of your money."

"Yes, but I lent you that money on 300% interest! So you still owe me 200,000 beli!"

"But you got your money back right away so isn't it fine?" Zoro argued.

"No."

"Wha!"

"Are you saying that you can't even keep a single promise?" Nami guilted the man. "Now if you do as I say, we'll call it even, okay?"

Zoro charged off. "Damn you! You're not going to have a peaceful death, y'hear!"

"True, I'll probably go to hell when I die."

Aurora sweatdropped. "Could we not think that way? I'm sure despite your transgressions you'll still make your way into heaven."

"Meh. We'll see."

"Curse my uselessness!" Igaram shouted. "If I were only stronger… I could protect the princess!"

"Don't worry. That guy just now is monstrously strong." Nami assured.

"Yeah…" Aurora drawled. "He kind of already proved that… against them."

Nami blinked. "What exactly did I miss?"

"I'll tell you about it later."

"If anything were to happen to the princess…" Igaram interrupted. "Then it would be the end of our kingdom! She must survive no matter what!"

"…?"

"Hey…" Nami piped up. "So what exactly is Baroque Works?"

"Yeah. Zoro kind of explained it earlier, but I'm sure there's more to what he said."

Still laid out, Igaram answered. "It's a secret criminal organization in which not a single member knows the name nor the real identity of our boss. Under the boss' orders, we carry out tasks ranging from intelligence gathering, assassination, robbery, and bounty hunting."

"Why do the members of Baroque Works bother to listen to this boss when they don't even know his name or identity?" Nami wondered.

"The final objective of Baroque Works is the creation of an ideal nation." Igaram revealed. "Those who bring success to our organization shall be granted high-ranking positions in this ideal nation by the boss."

"I see…"

"The boss goes by the codename "Mr. 0"… the lower an officer agent's number is, the higher their status will be in this ideal nation… but more importantly, the stronger they will be as well! Especially for agents with the number 5 or less, their strength is…"

"Abnormal." Aurora finished, catching on to what Igaram was saying.

"STOP IT!"

Mere minutes ago, Aurora and Nami had come upon Luffy and Zoro. The two had been in an all out brawl, managing to stop long enough to eliminate Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Once done, they'd engaged in a fight once more. Nami came up behind the two, punching both in the face. Vivi merely stared, baffled.

"Just what the heck do you think you're doing!?" Nami was mad. "Well… in any case, I guess I should at least be glad that the girl is safe." She grabbed the two boys by the collar. "But you were about to cost me my 1 billion beli! Do you understand!?"

"What're you people talking about?" Vivi didn't understand. "And why did you save me?"

"Ah, that's right." Nami let the two boys go, both continuing to scuffle before her. "You don't know anything yet… how would you like to make a contract with me?"

"A contract?"

"Settle down already!" Nami cracked the two boys over the head.

Whilst Vivi looked on in bewilderment, Aurora merely sighed, used to this kind of behavior from her crew.

"Nahahahaha!" Luffy laughed. "Jeez, you should've said so earlier! I thought you went and cut all those people up because they didn't cook your favorite food or something!"

Zoro was offended. "Who do you think I am, you!?"

"Ahahahaha! Well, whatever. What's done is done!"

"I refuse!" Vivi rejected Nami's offer. "But you have my gratitude for saving me just now."

"What, why? You're a princess, right!?" Nami continued in a whisper. "A billion beli should be like nothing for a princess…"

"Don't be so insensitive!" Aurora hissed in her ear.

"Have you heard of a kingdom called Alabasta?"

"No, can't say that I have." Nami answered.

"If what I've heard is correct, Alabasta is a highly civilized and peaceful country within Grand Line." Aurora remarked, her crewmates giving her surprised looks. They didn't get a chance to question her about her knowledge, for Vivi spoke up once more.

"It used to be... long ago…"

"Long ago?" Nami repeated, letting Aurora off the hook once more. She'd question the angel later in private.

"The past few years have been mired by revolutionary activities. Due to radical Alabastan revolutionaries, my country is currently in a state of chaos." Vivi began to explain. "One day, I happened to hear of a certain organization. That organization was Baroque Works. Apparently, it was Baroque Works who had been instigating the revolutionaries. But other than that fact, I didn't know anything else nor could I do anything about Baroque Works. And so, I made a request to Igaram, who's been watching over me ever since I was a kid…"

"You mean that guy with the chikuwa hair?" Only Luffy would compare someone to food.

"Even though what I had heard may or may not be just a rumor, I asked Igaram if there were any way I could infiltrate Baroque Works. Because that would be the only way to clear away the dark shadow that looms over Alabasta and determine just what exactly is Baroque Works objective once and for all…"

"Well aren't you a brave princess." Zoro quipped.

"So what exactly is the deal with this "creation of an ideal nation" that Baroque Works is apparently scheming towards?" Nami asked. "Wait, don't tell me…"

"Yes, it's as you might suspect." Vivi confirmed. "Although the boss hinted at a goal of creating an ideal nation, Baroque Works true objective is to take over the kingdom of Alabasta! And if I don't hurry back to my home country to stop the revolutionaries and tell the people about Baroque Works, things will go exactly as they planned!"

"That's terrible…" Aurora could sympathize. Her home had been taken over by an evil dictator. Vivi was going through something similar. At least she still had a chance to stop it.

"I see…" Nami breathed. "I guess that explains why you refused. A country in the middle of a civil strife wouldn't have any money to spare."

Aurora shot the navigator a look. "You're still on that?"

"It's who I am. Besides, we have more important matters to discuss… like how you know about Alabasta."

Aurora froze. "Umm, well… you see-"

"So who is this boss dude anyways?" Luffy's timing was perfect.

"You mean the boss' true identity!? Please don't ask me! In fact, you're better off not knowing! If you knew, Baroque Works would come and hunt you down…"

"Hahaha. Yeah, just leave us out of it." Nami was fine with that. "I mean, a guy who's planning to take over an entire country must be one incredibly dangerous person!"

"Yes, exactly." Vivi nodded. "No matter how strong you pirates may be, you'd be no match for Crocodile, a member of the Ouka Shichibukai!"

It was only when the words had already left her mouth that Vivi realized her mistake. The Straw Hat pirates gaped at the princess, who was horrified. She'd outed the boss of Baroque Works… and now that they knew, they were all in danger.

Two figures on a nearby rooftop caught their attention next. An otter and a vulture stared the group down. Not a word was said. The two creatures glanced at each, sharing a silent message. The otter proceeded to hop onto the vulture's back, said being flying them away.

"WHAT WAS THAT BIRD AND OTTER JUST NOW!?" Nami shook the life out of Vivi.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she warbled.

"Nami, let her go!" Aurora attempted to pry the navigator away. She got elbowed in the gut for her efforts. "Ugh!"

"Did they go to report that you've told us the boss' secret!? Well!? What's gonna happen to us now!?"

Aurora managed to pull Nami away, giving Vivi some room to breath.

"I… I'm really sorry! It just accidentally slipped out!"

Nami lunged, only Aurora's arms around her waist keeping her from shaking the princess senseless again. "You think saying it accidentally makes this any better!? Why do we have to become hunted down because of a single slip-up from you!?" The navigator began to cry, collapsing against her female friend. "We just barely entered Grand Line and already we have a Shichibukai chasing after us!"

Aurora stroked the navigator's head, releasing a bit of holy power into her system. The orange-haired teen was an emotional wreck right now. She needed to be calmed and Aurora did that the best way she knew how.

"Yeah, we're real lucky to be able to meet him so early."

"I wonder what kind of guy he is?"

"SHUT UP, YOU TWO!" Nami roared, tears still streaming from her eyes. She began to stomp away. "It's been a real short time travelling with you but bye!"

"Where're ya going, Nami?" Luffy called after the navigator.

"They don't know my face yet so I'm running away!" she came to an abrupt halt, something blocking her path.

The otter and vulture were back. The otter stood right in Nami's path, scribbling on a pad of paper. It held four sheets up, each one containing a sketch of the Straw Hat pirates.

"Wow, you're good!" Nami clapped, abruptly heading back from the direction she'd come. "NOW I CAN'T EVEN RUN AWAY!"

"S-Sorry…" Vivi apologized again.

"Interesting bunch, those animals."

Zoro sweatdropped. "Where were you even planning to run away to?" he suddenly grinned. "In any case, with this, all 4 of us are now on Baroque Works hit list…"

"This is so cooool!"

Nami collapsed against Aurora once more, taking solace in the angel's arms. The berry-haired teen patted the navigator on the back, trying her best to calm her down. Though, Aurora was just as worried as she was.

Vivi came over, laying a hand on Nami's shoulder. "I… I have 500,00 in my savings account that you can have though…"

"FEAR NOT!"

The group turned, coming face to face with Igaram. Only… he was dressed to look like Vivi.

"It'll be arri- Ma ma maa~! It'll be alright! I have a plan!"

"Igaram!? W-What's with that outfit!?"

"Whoa! You can definitely pull off that look!" Luffy was amazed.

"I'm surrounded by idiots…" Nami sobbed, burrowing further into Aurora's chest.

"There, there…" Aurora ran a hand through the navigator's orange locks, her eye twitching at the somewhat disturbing sight before her. She wasn't quite sure what to make of all this.

"Enough about that. Just listen to me. Once the Baroque Works network learns of what happened, they'll be sure to send pursuers right away. More so, since you defeated Mr. 5 and his partner!" Igaram explained. "Just to let you know, although the boss has no bounty on him since he's a member of the Shichibukai, back in his heydays as a pirate, Crocodile had an 80 million beli bounty." He turned to Luffy. "By the way, have you decided on whether or not to safely escort the princess back to Alabasta yet?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"He means he wants us to take her back home." Zoro clued their captain in.

"Oh. Sure, fine by me."

"80 million!?" Nami erupted. "That's four times Arlong's bounty! Just refuse his request!"

Aurora crossed her arms. "I thought you wanted the reward."

"It's not worth it!"

"Now then, princess. Please hand me the eternal pose to Alabasta."

This sparked Nami's interest. "Huh? What's an eternal pose?"

"Hm? You don't know?" Igaram seemed surprised. "Simply put, it's a log pose that can eternally record a magnetic field. A normal log pose records the magnetic field of an island to guide a ship from island to island. However, the magnetic field recorded by an eternal pose is never forgotten. No matter where you go, it will only point to that very island. That is what an eternal pose is. This one in particular has recorded the magnetic field of Alabasta."

He turned back to the princess. "Now then, Princess Vivi. I shall take this log pose and set forth for Alabasta while dressing up as you and taking these 4 dummies to represent these 4 wanted pirates. And while agents of Baroque Works chase after me, you are to travel on the normal route to Alabasta on their ship. I haven't sailed to Alabasta using the normal route myself but there should be around 2 or 3 logs to record along the way. Take care, and may we meet again in our homeland. I hereby leave the princess in your care."

"I bet you'll totally fool them!"

"Fool who?" Zoro scoffed at his captain.

Igaram shook Vivi's hand. "The journey ahead of you may be dangerous so please be careful."

"You too, Igaram."

The man soon departed, the ship sailing away into the night.

"Aww, he left…" Luffy seemed sad. "He was such a funny guy too…"

"He's always been so dependable." Vivi smiled.

The group began to walk away, their backs turned to the sea. A loud explosion caused them all to freeze. They slowly turned around, a great fire raging off in the distance. It was absolutely massive, unlike anything they'd seen before.

"It can't be…" Nami choked out. "PURSUERS!? ALREADY!?"

Luffy huffed in anger. "HE WAS A FINE MAN!"

"Nami! How's the log!?"

"I-It finished recording!"

"Then let's hurry up and get going!"

The navigator turned to the princess. "Vivi! We have to hurry up! If they find us now, Igaram's sacrifice would have been in vain!"

The blue-haired teen said nothing, merely biting her lip. Aurora and Nami saw the act draw blood, the two sharing a look. They knew she was trying to keep her emotions in check. The two embraced the princess.

"It's alright!" Aurora reassured.

"I promise we'll safely get you back to Alabasta!"

"Luffy! Go wake those two up and bring them back to the ship!" Zoro took off. "I'll be going ahead to the ship first!"

"Alright, just leave it to me!"

"Those 4 managed to save all of East Blue all by themselves!" Nami continued.

"Even a Shichibukai won't stand a chance against them!" Aurora finished.

"Hurry Vivi!" Nami called back to the princess, the trio of women dashing to the Going Merry.

The princess followed, but seemed distracted, almost like she was looking for something.

Aurora took notice. "Vivi, what's wrong?"

"I can't find Carue!"

"You mean the duck?"

"Yes! We can't leave him!" the princess proceeded to whistle, but got no response.

"We don't have time to go look for him!" Nami came to a halt, the three having arrived at the ship.

"But I can't just leave him here…!"

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked.

"She says her duck is missing and won't come even after whistling!"

"You mean him?" Zoro pointed at said duck, who happened to be on deck. "He got on the boat even before me."

"Quack"

"That's where you were!?"

Aurora grabbed the two girls, dragging them on board. "Look, the duck's safe. Now we need to go!"

"Turn the boat around to head down this river and we should be able to reach the ocean!" Vivi instructed. "We have to leave as quickly as possible!"

The sail was raised.

"WE'RE OFF!"

Luffy glanced down at Vivi. "Hey, so how many guys are gonna come after us?"

"I can't say for sure. There's reportedly 2,000 people working for Baroque Works, and towns like Whiskey Peak aren't uncommon either…"

"You mean we could have 1,000 people after us!?" Nami was beginning to panic again.

"It's possible considering how serious knowing the boss' real identity is."

"What's going on!? Why did we have to set sail so soon!? Can't we stay at least one more night!? Their party was a blast and they have so many cute girls!" Sanji bombarded them with questions.

Usopp appeared next to the cook. "That's right! You have no idea if we'll ever come across a town as nice as that one! So let's take thing nice and easy! We are pirates, you know! I mean, the sun hasn't even risen yet! Come on, let's go back!"

"I think you oughta go explain to them what happened…" Zoro told Nami.

"Consider it done."

Luffy, Aurora and Vivi stared at the fallen bodies of Sanji and Usopp. Apparently, Nami's solution had been to knock the two raving teens out.

"The fog is lifting. It's almost morning."

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore." A woman's voice drawled. "And congratulations on your escape."

The woman perched on the railing was tall and slender with shoulder-length black hair and tan skin. She had brown eyes with dark, wide pupils and a long, thin and defined nose. She was dressed like a cowgirl, her attire all purple. The corset greatly exposed her cleavage and she had a matching miniskirt to go with, white ornaments hanging from both. A purple hat adorned her head, matching the purple boots on her feet. She had a band wrapped around her left arm, white fringe hanging from it and the letters 'BW' emblazoned in the middle.

"Wha!?"

"Who's that!?"

"I must tell you Miss Wednesday, I met up with Mr. 8 just a little while ago…"

"Are you saying… it was you who did that to Igaram!?"

"Hey!" Luffy shouted. "Why're you on our ship anyways!?"

Vivi stepped forward. "What're you doing all the way out here, Miss All-Sunday!"

"Who is it this time!? Whose partner is she!?" Nami was freaking out.

"She's Mr. 0's partner! She's the only one who knows the boss' true identity, which is why Igaram and I tailed after her, to find out who the boss was as well!"

"Well technically, it was more like I let you tail after me." Miss Sunday told the princess

"Oh, so she's a good guy." Luffy misunderstood.

"I already knew that! And I bet you're the one who told the boss that his identity was leaked!"

"Oh, so she's a bad guy!"

Aurora ran a hand down her face. "She's been a bad guy this whole time, Luffy."

"Just what exactly is your objective!?"

"Now, now…" Miss Sunday began. "No need to get so worked up. I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate…" she grinned. "And it was just too amusing to observe, a single princess who foolishly thinks she can take on the entire Baroque Works organization and save her kingdom…"

Vivi grit her teeth. "DON'T YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

Sanji and Usopp suddenly appeared on either side of Miss Sunday, having woken up. Usopp aimed his slingshot at the woman while Sanji raised a pistol.

"Hey… do you understand what's going on?"

"No…" the cook admitted. "But what I do know for sure, is that this woman's a threat to my lovely Miss Wednesday!"

Miss Sunday sighed. "Would you please mind not pointing such dangerous weapons at me?"

Sani and Usopp were suddenly flung over the railing, the woman not even having raised a hand. The rest of the crew were stunned.

"What!?"

"!"

"It's a devil fruit!"

"Ohhh!?"

The two men hit the deck hard. At the same time, Nami and Zoro's weapons were knocked from their hands. But Miss Sunday hadn't even touched them. She wasn't even anywhere close to the two.

"Is it a devil fruit!?"

"What ability does she have!?"

"Whoa!" Sanjl began to swoon. "She's a real beauty!"

"Fufufu…" the woman laughed softly. "No need to get so riled up. I haven't come here on any orders nor do I have any reasons for fighting you people."

Aurora cautiously took a step forward. "Then why are you here?"

Miss Sunday glanced at the girl, a small hum escaping her lips. "That necklace…"

Aurora flinched, hand reaching up to wrap around the gem at her throat. The action caused Miss Sunday to chuckle.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to take it. It just reminded me of one that an acquaintance of mine wears. You use it to hide those wings of yours, correct?"

"H-How…!?"

"A being like you traveling with a band of pirates… very interesting." She turned her attention to Luffy.

The boy merely continued to stare. Suddenly, his hat flew off his hand. It landed right in Miss Sunday's hand.

"So you're the captain of the Straw-Hat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy."

"Gimme my hat back!" Luffy reacted. "So you are trying to pick a fight with us, are ya now!? I've decided to see you as my enemy so come at me!"

Miss Sunday placed Luffy's hat over top of hers. "How unfortunate… small-time pirates having to look after a princess targeted by the entire Baroque Works organization… and a lone princess having to entrust herself to a few small-time pirates… but above all, how unfortunate your route pointed out by your log pose is…!" she paused. "The name of the next place on your journey is Little Garden. Even if I weren't to lay a single finger on you, it's more than likely that you'd still never reach Alabasta! Without even metting Crocodile, the curtains will close your mission and lives."

"As if we'd just roll over and die! Now gimme back my hat!"

"Yeah, how dare you! Y-You big meanie!" Usopp's words weren't quite that threatening, considering her was hiding behind the mast.

"Enough howling." Miss Sunday flicked Luffy's hat off, the apparel landing back on his head. "Anyone could put up a brave front. Yet to know of the difficulty that lies ahead and still rush in is an act fit for only fools." She tossed something to Vivi.

"An eternal pose!?"

"You'll be able to skip right over your future troubles with that. The needle of that log pose points to an obscure uninhabited island located right before Alabasta. Moreover, the route you'll be navigating on is unknown to Baroque Works so you won't be followed by anyone either."

"What?" Nami was confused. "Is she not a bad person then?"

"W-Why would you give such a thing to me!?" Vivi demanded.

"…It's probably a trap." Zoro remarked.

"Definitely…" Aurora quietly agreed, hand still wrapped around her necklace. This woman knew what she was and it unnerved her.

Miss Sunday smirked. "Oh, I wonder about that…"

Vivi glanced down at the eternal pose, deep in thought. 'What should I do… I don't want to accept this log pose from her of all people but picking the safest and surest route is crucial…!'

"Enough wasting time with that!" Luffy took the eternal pose, crushing it in his fist.

Nami jumped on him. "ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?"

"Oof!"

""She came all the way out here to teach us the safest route to Alabasta!" Nami ranted. "What are you going to do if she does turn out to be a good person!?"

"DON'T YOU DARE THINK THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE THE PATH OF OUR JOURNEY!" Luffy yelled at Miss Sunday.

"…I see. How unfortunate…"

"Luffy!" Nami was still upset.

"She blew up that chikuwa mister so I hate her!" Luffy defended his actions.

"Well, I don't dislike bold men…" Miss Sunday mused. "Let us meet again soon if you survive."

"I don't wanna!" Luffy childishly declared.

Miss Sunday jumped over the side of the ship, landing on the back of a giant turtle that rested just beside the Going Merry. "Let's go Banchi."

"Whoa, it's a turtle!" Luffy reverted back to his normal demeanor, watching the turtle carry Miss Sunday off. "What a huge turtle…"

Vivi fell to her knees. "That woman…! I don't have the faintest idea what she's really planning!"

"Then it's a waste of time and effort to think about it." Nami told the princess.

"We've got an incomprehensible person like her onboard too, you know."

Aurora glanced at the swordsman, her posture slowly beginning to relax. "You're talking about Luffy, aren't you?"

"Who else?"

"Hey!" Usopp bit out. "Explain the situation to us!"

"Will Miss Wednesday be joining our crew?" Sanji definitely had asked that.

"I said explain what's going on already!"

"Whoa! We have an ostrich on our ship!"

"Quack"

"Are you really alright with me riding on your ship…?" Vivi seemed unsure. "I may be just putting all of your into danger…"

"Oh please." Nami scoffed. "It's already your fault that they found out about us and how we look like! If you didn't want to trouble us, then you should've done so to begin with!"

Vivi flinched when Nami poked her forehead. "I… I'm sorry."

"Right, Luffy?"

"It's morning! Sanji! Time for breakfast!"

Vivi sweatdropped. "Looks like he doesn't care."

"That's Luffy for ya." Aurora shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Now then… since the sun is up, let's set sail!"

As life went back to normal aboard the Going Merry, Aurora grew quiet, drifting into thought. She lifted a hand up, cradling the gem around her neck in her palm. Miss Sunday had recognized it, knew what it was for. The woman had known what Aurora was. She knew that she was a true angel. Sure, there were stories of such beings existing, but nowadays, most people believed true angels to be a myth.

'If she knew about me… then maybe she's met another true angel?' Aurora wondered. 'She did say an acquaintance of hers had a similar necklace…'

The angel wrapped her hand around the gem, clutching it tightly. If they met up with Miss Sunday again, which Aurora was sure they would, she'd have to tread carefully.

"I see…" Sanji hummed. "Well that's a shame but I guess that also means that I've still got a chance to shine. So don't worry! Now that the sleeping prince has awoken, your safety is guaranteed."

"Wow….. I'm glad I slept through all that!"

The cook turned to the girls. "Are you jealous, Nami? Aurora?"

"Not really." The navigator was indifferent.

"Why would we be?"

"Well you can count on me to back you up!" Usopp guaranteed. "The whole world's talking about whether or not the 30 million bounty isn't actually for my head instead!"

"Liar."

"Seriously, Aurora!?"

Vivi merely stared at the two, not sure what to think.

"I wonder if it's gonna snow…"

Zoro looked at the boy strangely. "Why the hell would it snow?"

"You just don't know because you were sleeping when it was snowing the other day." Luffy answered. "Hey! Do ya think it'll snow some more?"

"Well, it's not like it never snows or anything, but that part of Grand Line up to the very first island is special." Vivi responded. "The 7 magnetic fields that stretch from Reverse Mountain clash together to make things even more unpredictable. So you can't let your guard down even for a minute. Even though it would be quite rare to encounter such bizarre conditions once you've passed the first island, Grand Line is still by far the most difficult ocean to navigate on. So it's absolutely imperative that you never underestimate this sea!"

"Anybody up for some special drinks!?" Sanji reappeared with a tray in hand.

"You bet we are!" the boys chorused, lounging together on the deck.

"Are you sure things'll be fine like this!?" Vivi gestured at the boys.

"It'll be fine." Nami reassured her, she and Aurora both sipping on a drink. "They'll work hard when we come across rough seas. It's not like they want to die or anything. Here." The navigator held out a drink to the princess.

"That's… true… but at this rate… we might be caught unaware."

"Oh, looks like this duck knows how to drink!" Sanji's voice reached their ears. "Tastes good, right? Drink up, buddy!"

"Quack"

"Hey, Usopp. Can you make us some fishing rods?" Luffy asked the sniper.

"Fishing, eh? Not a bad idea."

"Sure thing! Let me just fire up my ol' artistic skills to create master work fishing r-"

"Being on this ship," Nami grinned. "Sure makes you lose the will to even worry, doesn't it?"

Vivi glanced at the two women, who were calm and relaxed, and then at the rambunctious group of men. "Yes… it is quite relaxing…"

"Hey, look!" Sanji called. "It's a dolphin!"

"Oh!"

"Oh," Nami cooed. "It's so cu…"

The navigator trailed off, the dolphin having jumped into the air. Now that it was above the waterline, they finally saw the size of the aquatic creature.

"IT'S FREAKIN' HUGE!"

"Let's run away!" Luffy cheered, far more excited than he should be, considering the situation.

"Aye-aye cap'n!"

Everyone rushed around the deck, guiding the ship to their next destination.

Nami peered through the log pose, seeing where the needle was pointing. "There's no doubt about it. Our next destination is… that island!"

"WOOHOO! OUR SECOND ISLAND ON GRAND LINE!"

"We should be careful…" Vivi advised. "I'm worried about what Ms. All-Sunday said about this island."

"Y-Y-You don't think there are monsters here, do you?" Usopp trembled.

"Beats me." Sanji shrugged. "But we gotta stock up on some food pretty soon. I wasn't able to restock at all at the last town."

"But man, just look at this place… it's like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle."

"So this is Little Garden…!"

"I can't say I see anything that would deserve such a cute name like that though…"

"Just what about this island is little?"

"And look!" Nami pointed. "I've never seen any plants like these in my encyclopedia!"

"GYAAA! GYAAA!"

"Kyaaa!" the loud noise startled both Nami and Aurora, the two girls latching onto each other.

"What was that just now!?"

"Terrified Nami and Aurora are so cute!" Sanji cooed. "Don't worry, it's just a normal bird. And even this island is nothing but your average jungle!"

"A lizard…?" Luffy questioned, gazing up at what Sanji had thought was a bird. In reality, the creature looked more like some kind of reptile with wings.

Large booming noises came from further within the jungle. It startled the crew to say the least. It was like nothing they'd ever heard before.

Nami was wide-eyed. "Does this sound like your average jungle!?"

"That sounded like a volcano exploding or something!" Usopp held his head.

"GRRRR…" the growl came from just off the shore.

"A tiger!?"

There was indeed a tiger. But what happened next was nothing any of them were expecting. The tiger collapsed, covered in its own blood.

Nami swung around. "This is definitely not normal! Otherwise, why would a tiger, king of the jungle, collapse covered in its own blood!?"

"Alright, then it's decided. We are to not set foot on this island!" Usopp declared.

Nami agreed. "Let's just quietly wait on our ship and leave the very second our log pose finishes recording! After all, we have to hurry on to Alabasta as soon as possible."

Nearby, Luffy quivered in excitement. "Sanji! Prepare a lunchbox!"

"A lunchbox?"

"Yeah, a pirate lunchbox!" Luffy grinned. "I smell adventure ahead!"

"W-Wait just a second!" Nami halted her captain. "Where do you think you're going?"

"On an adventure! Shishishi! Wanna come along?"

Nami silently cried. 'Oh no, it's too late to stop him. He's too fired up!'

"Sanji! Prepare my lunchbox!"

The cook made his way into the galley. "Alirght, just hang on a moment."

"Could I come along with you!?" Vivi inquired.

"Sure, sure!"

"Even you!?" Nami was befuddled.

"Vivi, are you sure that's a good idea?" Aurora gently prodded. "This place doesn't exactly seem safe for a princess…"

"Yes… just standing around here doing nothing is only going to end up making me think about my worries again. So I may as well try to clear my head until the log pose finishes recording!" She answered. "It'll be fine! Carue will be by my side, after all."

Carue couldn't believe his ears.

"Your trusty bodyguard looks too scared to even quack…" Nami said wryly.

"Then allow me to make a lunchbox of love for you, Vivi." Sanji chimed, having overheard the conversation.

"Could you also make another drink for Carue as well?"

"ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!"

"We'll be back!"

Armed with their provisions, the princess and Straw Hat captain began their trek into the jungle.

"That Miss Wednesday's got some guts." Usopp observed.

"I guess it's expected of one who infiltrated Baroque Works." Nami sighed.

Zoro cracked his neck. "Well, since I'm not doing anything either, I'll go for a walk."

"A walk!?"

"Yo Zoro, wait!" Sanji called.

"Hm?"

"We're running out of food onboard so if you see any animals that look to be edible, can you hunt it down and bring it back?" the cook asked.

"Sure thing." Zoro began to walk off. "I'll go hunt for some animals that you'd never be able to kill yourself."

"WAIT RIGHT THERE!" Sanji was pissed.

"Huh?"

"Did I hear you wrong, or did you just imply that you could hunt a bigger game than I can…?"

"Isn't that obvious?" the swordsman retorted.

"That's it! I challenge you at hunting!" Sanji hopped overboard. "Whoever brings back the most kilograms of meat will be the winner!"

"Fine by me. Though in my case, it'll be tons of meat."

Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose, heaving a sigh of annoyance. "Honestly…"

Nami had tears streaming down her face. "Why does everyone on this ship have to be like that…"

Usopp mimicked the navigator. "I know exactly how you feel, Nami. Don't cry, at least I'm by your side…"

"Ahem!"

"… and Aurora too."

"Ah." The three made a noise, realizing they were now alone on the ship.

"Why can't you be a little more dependable?"

"That's my line!"

"Can we please not fight…?"

The three sat down, leaning against the railing.

"Wait a second…" Nami was in thought. "I feel like I've read this in a book before… I'm sure I've heard of it…"

"Heard of what?" Usopp wondered.

"Of Little Garden." Nami abruptly stood, making her way to the room the girls' shared. Aurora shared a glance with the sniper before following after the orange-haired girl.

"Not this. Not that." Nami began uprooting books from the shelves. "Where'd I put it…"

"Perhaps I can help?" Aurora offered, but ultimately went ignored. Nami was too invested in her search.

"I know I read it pretty recently… shoot, I can't remember!" the navigator froze, having found what she'd been looking for. Aurora watched as she flipped through the pages quickly, a look of horror crossing her face. Nami darted past the angel, leaving her to trail behind.

"USOPP! USOPP!"

"What, did you find the book?"

"Nami, what's going on?" the angel popped up behind the girl. "What did you read about Little Garden?"

"We're in trouble! On this island…" she trailed off, a loud Crack! gaining the trio's attention. A large shadowy figure began to emerge through the trees.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAA!"

To its inhabitants, this island is like a little garden. An island of giants, "Little Garden." That is what I have decided to name this island. –Explorer Louis Arnote-