I do not own One Piece.
"Everyone wants to live in a fairy tale, but don't forget there are dragons in those stories."- Randy Queen.
Luffy, or rather the beast that had once been Luffy, flew through Dawn island's sky, its massive body propelled through the air by the colossal wingspan that blocked out the sky from anyone underneath it.
Little of the boy Luffy remained, replaced with rage, hatred, and agony from Sabo's death. All that remained was a beast that thirsted for revenge. The Dragon within had awakened and would destroy everyone and everything that caused it such pain.
"Pain...Agony...That is all you have brought upon me!" The Dragon roared as its shadow eclipsed the land beneath it, and each flap of its wings caused a small hurricane. "This island heaves with my torment! The wretched Goa Kingdom will quake beneath my rage, and this whole kingdom and all its nobility will burn beneath the shadow of my wings!"
The monster's eyes saw the Goa Kingdom ahead; its gaze fell upon the noble district also known as High Town; even from here, he could hear and see the celebrating in the streets as the nobility celebrated the arrival of the world noble.
The Dragon swooped down; its eyes set squarely upon the center of all the celebration. The royal palace that sat right in the middle of High Town.
Sarie Nantokanette checked over herself for what must have been the hundredth time today to make sure she was perfect. Her servants had spent weeks sewing the dress she was wearing using the best cloth of gold money could buy; she had to make an impression upon Saint Jalmack, the world noble who was gracing them with his presence on this day.
At the age of ten, not much was expected of her since most responsibilities of her family fell upon her older brother the crown prince, but if she made a good impression, perhaps the world noble might invite her and her family to attend him at Mary Geoise, where she might catch the eye of a young world noble. As her parent's eldest daughter, all this responsibility fell unto her, and she would not disappoint.
She watched with excitement as the Celestial Dragon, one of the creators of this world, walked up to the King and Queen, her father and mother, who bowed down and greeted him in front of their royal palace. The world noble had a horde of guards all wearing thick plate armor like knights out of the storybooks her servants read her. It was like a fairy tale come to life.
"We welcome you, Saint Jalmack." Her father stated as he bowed as low as his body could manage, her mother and brother doing the same. "The Goa Kingdom and all within it are here to serve you; we thank you for the great honor of being able to host you; you grace us with your presence. I hope our humble Kingdom is to your satisfaction."
"It is the cleanest Kingdom I've visited since I came down from the holy land to see how you humans live." Saint Jalmack said simply. "Clean and proper; I hope the rest of my stay is similarly as pleasant."
The compliment was met with great happiness by all present. Sarie was glad that they had burned away the trash and filth the last night, cleansing this Kingdom of the vermin that infested it.
Before she or anyone else could say anything else, a massive roar echoed through the courtyard and indeed through the entirety of High Town. The crowds of people who were deemed noble enough to be here in the presence of the Celestial Dragon were looking about, wondering where the noise had come from.
"What was that noise?" Jalmack asked as he gazed up at the sky, where most seemed to think the noise had come from. His bodyguards all drew their weapons as they gazed at the sky, looking for anything that might threaten the noble under their protection.
"No clue, perhaps the heavens themselves are thankful to be in your presence." Her father offered weakly, trying to salvage this situation and make things go by smoothly.
It seemed to work as the world noble smiled at the compliment. "Indeed, shall we go into your humble palace? I assume you've prepared a feast suitable for one such as me?"
"Of course!" The King declared. "The chefs have worked tirelessly for a week to-"
Once again, a roar echoed out through the noble district, this time so loud that the beautiful stained glass windows that lined her family's palace shattered, causing shards of glass to fall upon the crowds of people who tried to avoid the rainbow of projectiles as they fell like deadly rain.
Before anyone could protest or ask what had happened, the entire Noble district fell into darkness; it was as if the sun had disappeared, which should have been impossible since it was noon. Sarie and everyone else looked up to the sky and could only watch in horror as a massive black shadow fell upon them.
An entire procession of nobility who had been standing to the side in the large crowd of onlookers was crushed as a massive object fell into the courtyard. Rock and rubble flew into the sky along with the bodies of those who had been caught in the shockwave of whatever had landed. Saire herself had to grab onto her mother's leg to avoid being blasted away.
Once the smoke cleared, what Sarie saw struck her with fear. Hundreds of people had been crushed as a massive black creature had landed in the center of High Town; it was a dragon straight from her storybooks, its black scales drinking in the midday sun, and its very presence seemed to darken all of High Town. Its long serpentine tail covered in cruel-looking spikes swayed behind it, crushing buildings and sending people flying.
Sarie wasn't sure exactly how big it was, but she had to look up as far as her head could allow to see its face; its head was as large as the royal carriage that ferried her and her family through the streets so that they wouldn't have to be gazed upon by the common folk. Its neck was as long as a castle tower, and its sleek black body was like a battleship in terms of size. Its tail's length was beyond her comprehension as it swayed side to side, striking down buildings and people as it moved. It had two long sleek front legs with dextrous claws that it used to balance its massive body and two massive wings that seemed to block out the sky.
"Where is the world noble?!" The creature roared as it raised its head and let out a gout of flame into the air. The fire itself was pitch black, and embers from it rained down upon all of High Town, causing every building that the embers touched to catch fire and immediately spread throughout the district. People were spared either as several who were unlucky enough to get hit with an ember erupted in black flame, and no matter what they did to try to snuff it out, the fire only spread.
Sarie watched as the armored knight bodyguards of Saint Jalmack surrounded the Celestial Dragon as they pointed their swords and spears at the massive creature. The world noble in the white suit that covered him stood tall, seemingly not intimidated by the serpent before him. "I am Saint Jalmack, a Celestial Dragon!" Jalmack called out proudly. "I order you to surrender, creature! I am one of the creators of this world; you will bow before me and submit! All Lesser creatures must bow before this world's saviors and creators!"
The Dragon's gaze fell upon the world noble, and his hundreds of bodyguards aimed their spears, rifles, swords, and bazookas at the beast. Sarie thought it something out of a fairy tale, as the World Noble, a saint and living God, would strike down the creature.
"Kill this hideous creature that refuses to submit to me!" Jalmack ordered as all his men opened fire with their ranged weapons, while others charged forth with swords or spears.
All around her, the other nobles were running for their lives, her parents were cowering next to her, frozen with fear, but Sarie felt no fear and only excitement as she watched real knights fight a dragon.
The rifles and bazookas did nothing to the creature and seemed to bounce off its black scales harmlessly; the knights below attacked with swords and spears, which also did nothing as none could pierce the creature's hide. Sarie's wonder turned to horror as the beast ignored the valiant knights and began to approach the world noble. Its large clawed feet were crushing and impaling the knights that it walked over as it approached its prey, its glowing red eyes filled with hatred and hunger.
"Die foul beast!"Jalmack ordered as he used his own bazooka-like rifle, but its shots did nothing to the approaching black monster. "I am a God! No one can defy me, all this world bows to the world's nobility!"
"It was you who killed my brother, wasn't it?!" The Dragon roared as it lunged forward and opened its massive maw filled with teeth the size of giant swords. The world noble was consumed in an instant, his pressurized armored suit popping and letting out a hissing noise as its personal atmosphere leaking out as he was ripped apart by the dragon's massive jaws.
The Dragon spat out the bloody remains of Saint Jalmack before turning to his remaining retainers and the nobles who still remained. "You're the reason Sabo is dead!" The Dragon shouted as it unleashed stream after stream of black flame throughout High Town.
It was only now that Sarie felt dread fill her heart. It wasn't supposed to be like this; in storybooks, the hero and his knights slew evil dragons and saved princesses like her. But as she looked around, all the knights were burning, and the world noble, the highest figure in the world was a red smear on the ground, not even recognizable as having been a person.
"Help, I'm on fire!"
"The Gates are burning! There's no escape!"
"All of High Town is on fire!"
"My servants have abandoned me!"
"My Leg!"
"The fire is spreading to the palace!"
Sarie turned around and saw that the royal palace, which had stood for centuries and had been her home her entire life began to be engulfed in black fire. She didn't know how it was possible; the palace was made out of stone, but somehow the fire spread across the stonework, and the palace began to melt like a candle would when exposed to flame.
She turned and saw that her father and mother were gone; she had no clue where they were, and all the people around her were running back and forth trying to escape the flames. The air grew heavy with smoke as she struggled to breathe.
"Why?" Sarie asked no one. Why was this happening? They were nobles, the best of society as decreed by birth. Why were they being burned the same way those vermin who dwelled in the grey terminal had been burned. "We're nobles, the rightful rulers; why are we being treated the same as that sub-human filth?"
Suddenly the Dragon let out another roar, but what came out wasn't fire but instead, a strange green liquid that seemed to melt anything it touched; she watched as numerous people melted as it struck them. Wood, stone, metal, and flesh were all fair game as the liquid turned everything into a green sludge.
Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, it roared and released a purple smoke-like mist out of its mouth that spread throughout the area; people who breathed it began to fall over, as they breathed it in, some screamed while others simply fell to the ground clutching their throats as their faces turned sickening colors as they fell over dead.
After a while, the Dragon simply began to smash things with its barbed tail, and Sarie could only watch as all of the High Town began to crumble beneath its wrath. Rubble and debris were flying everywhere.
Suddenly heat spread across Sarie's face as the left half of her face was engulfed in black flame. She had never felt such pain before, her parents had never struck her, and her servants made sure that she did nothing that could harm her fair features. She tried to put out the fire; tears fell from her face as she tried to stop the searing pain that engulfed her, but nothing seemed to work.
She fell to the ground as the air grew as hot as an oven, and darkness overtook her.
Ace walked up to the Goa Kingdom's outer gate that granted access to Edge Town, where the common people of Goa lived, merchants, tradespeople, and other people who had enough wealth to dwell within the walls but weren't of noble blood.
The gates were blackened and melted, and smoke filled the air. As he ran towards the Goa Kingdom, he had seen numerous refugees running from it, all residents of Edge Town who claimed that fire had spread from High Town over to edge town and that the nobility of the kingdom had perished in a fire brought by a shadowy monster that fell from the sky.
As Ace approached the Goa Kingdom, he had seen smoke akin to the burning of the grey terminal, but much more plentiful and foul-smelling, which made him increase his pace.
He ran through Edge town's ruins, which still had buildings on fire; it was challenging to breathe as smoke filled the air and clouded his vision and made him tear up. It was a good thing he was familiar with these streets and knew the back alleys like the back of his hand as he was able to navigate his way over to High Town.
He got to the inner gate and saw at once that things were worse then he could have imagined. The arrival of the world noble meant that no one who wasn't a noble or servant of a noble was allowed within the high town, so the gates had been shut to all commoners. While the gates being shut meant that commoners couldn't get in, it also meant the nobility couldn't get out.
He saw the results immediately, the metal bars of the gate were black and scorched, the metal twisted as it had melted from the extreme heat, and behind those bars where the bodies and blackened bones of numerous people who had tried to escape, only to find no way out as they burned to death. He wondered why they hadn't opened the gates, but he looked over and saw all the gates' mechanisms had melted from the extreme heat.
"Luffy…" Ace found himself muttering, what had his brother done? Luffy was so kind and innocent, but his wrath was terrible when he turned into a dragon. He shook those thoughts from his head; none of that mattered; all that mattered was getting his brother.
He found one place where the metal had been melted in such a way that his small body could fit under the gate, and he ran into High Town. What greeted him was utter devastation; barely a building was left standing except for the royal palace, which was no longer a palace but a melted mess, as the stone that had once held it up had seemingly melted, making it look like a melted candle or a badly made birthday cake. All around him were dead bodies in various states; most were little more then blackened skeletons.
Ace pulled out the compass and looked at it. "Where is my brother Monkey D Luffy?!" he asked in desperation. The compass didn't disappoint as its needle pointed to the west, and he followed it as it shifted here and there until he finally found his brother sitting huddled at the bottom of the walkway to the royal palace. He had his knees clutched to his chest and his head staring at the ground; he could see the boy was crying.
"Luffy!" Ace cried out in joy as he ran towards his little brother and embraced him; the boy hugged him back, but that didn't stop the tears flowing freely from his face.
"Ace…" His brother croaked weakly. "I...I didn't mean to; you know that, right? I never...I just got so angry, and…"
"I know, Luffy." Ace comforted his brother as best he could. "You didn't mean to do this, they killed Sabo and you….you just wanted to avenge our brother."
"But all these people…" Luffy sobbed more. "Not all of them were bad, right? I...I just couldn't stop myself….I'm a monster…"
"No, you aren't!" Ace pushed Luffy down and looked into his brother's eyes. "Would a monster be crying right now?" He asked angrily as he gestured towards his brother's tears. "Monsters don't cry. Monsters don't feel bad about people they've killed! These people were the monsters!" He gestured towards the charred bodies around them. "They killed Sabo, they burned people alive in the grey terminal and didn't give a damn about it, all that death so that they could impress a world noble! That's what a monster is, a person who feels and cares nothing about the suffering of others! You're not a monster Luffy, only a good-hearted person, would feel bad about the deaths of scum like this! You are a good person Luffy." He hoped repeating that statement would be enough to convince his brother it was true.
"I am?" His brother asked, tears still flowing.
"Of course." Ace soothed, his voice growing softer. "I'm your big brother. Have I ever been wrong?"
"I guess not…" Luffy's grip and body grew slack as he rested his head into Ace's embrace. "I'm tired…" He felt Luffy go limp as his body gave out; he used his strength to pick his brother up and lift him over his shoulder.
He turned around and saw a cloaked figure standing in his path; the figure was blocking his only way out of these ruins. He gripped the metal pipe he always carried with one hand and held his brother over his shoulder with the other. He considered that he might have to fight his way out of here.
"All this death and destruction…" The cloaked figure stated as it looked around at the ruins of High Town. "The power to change the world, both for better and for worse…"
"What do you want?" Ace growled as he prepared to protect his unconscious brother. "Are you going to stop us from leaving?"
"Depends." The figure responded casually as it looked around at the devastation. "What do you plan on doing once you leave this place?"
"Finding a place to hide my little brother." Ace stated, not willing to share more.
"Brother?" The figure asked curiously. "The boy isn't of your blood."
That statement only made Ace angry. "Blood doesn't matter!" he gripped his pipe and pointed it towards the strange man. "We shared drinks; that makes him my brother, and I will kill anyone who tries to take him!"
"Blood doesn't matter…" The strange-robed man muttered. "I agree and disagree with that statement, but more importantly, you don't need to hide him, although you should take him far away from here. Otherwise, people might start connecting the dots."
That statement confused Ace. "What do you mean? Stories will spread, people will learn about what my brother did and come after him."
"No, they won't." The man replied calmly. "Tomorrow, all the newspapers of the world will declare that a Dragon destroyed this kingdom and slew a world noble, but it will be a dragon of a different sort that they will blame." The figure took off his hood, revealing the face of a strange man, half his face covered in tattoos. "I will claim responsibility for this chaos; all those who witnessed the dragon first hand are dead; any survivors will have their stories dismissed outright as being too outlandish. The world government will need someone to blame; they always do. I will be that someone. A child as young as him shouldn't be on the run from the government at such a young age."
Ace didn't understand why this stranger was doing this. "Who are you, and why do you care?"
"I'm just a man seeking out the strength to change this world." The man chuckled as he answered. "It's the least I can do for him, all things considered." He pointed at the gate. "Take Luffy and run; when next you see Garp, tell him about what happened here and tell him that Monkey D. Dragon will take the blame."
Monkey D…." Ace didn't understand, but he nodded and ran off with Luffy and looked back at the figure only for him to be completely gone without a trace.
Luffy sat in Dadans house as he thought about what had happened earlier. He could only remember bits and pieces, but he remembered being angry, angrier then he had ever felt before. He recalled flying through the air, black fire consuming everything, the sounds of screams, then waking up in High Town surrounded by dead bodies where he waited until his brother came and got him.
Ace had explained everything to Dadan and the others; In contrast, Dadan had simply been happy Luffy was alive and had hugged him, all the other mountain bandits had kept a safe distance from him, although they had expressed happiness at him being alive.
Luffy sat in the corner of the house, looking at his hands while his brother tried to soothe him, telling him that he did nothing wrong.
"You didn't mean to do it, Luffy." Ace assured him for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Besides, they all approved of the burning of the grey terminal; they would have killed you without a second thought just because you rent a noble. Remember what Sabo's dad did? How he was ready to have Bluejam kill us? We aren't even human to them."
"Ace…" Luffy muttered as he looked at his brother. "I...am a monster."
"You aren't!" Ace stated loudly. "I keep telling you you don't have to feel bad about it!"
"That's the thing," Luffy said calmly. "I know what I did was bad, but I feel perfectly calm." He had felt panicked at the time, but now he was perfectly calm as if it was just another ordinary day. It was as if the grief and anger had already passed.
"That's good."
"Is it?" Luffy wondered why it was that he was so calm about all this. It had to be his devil fruit; ever since eating it, he had changed; he never cried anymore when he was sad. Even when Sabo had left, he hadn't cried. Instead, whenever he felt grief, it was quickly replaced by anger. "What if I stop caring about you? About everyone? I shouldn't be this calm; I killed people, hundreds perhaps thousands, and I feel…" It was hard to describe how he felt. He knew what he did was terrible; he knew that he shouldn't have done it. But the grief that had consumed him when he woke up from his rampage had passed.
"Am I a Dragon or a human?" He asked himself and everyone in the room.
"You're my brother." Ace answered finally. "And that's all I care about."
Luffy nodded and hoped that he would never make Ace regret saying that.
Garp watched his grandson and adopted grandson spar in a field outside of Fuusha village. He paid close attention to Luffy, who had sprouted a long black tail from his lower back, and utilized it in the fight by using it to strike at Ace while his normal human limbs played defense.
So much had happened in the last few months that Garp wasn't sure what to do, he was considering retiring from the marines entirely with how chaotic things were getting.
His grandson lost control and killed a world noble and damn near every noble in the Goa Kingdoms High Town. Garp hated the world nobles; it was the main reason he refused to become an admiral since admirals were at the beck and call of those useless piles of filth. While he wasn't sad that one had died or that Goa's nobles had died, he felt terrible about the innocents who got caught in the crossfire. There was also the fact that his grandson did it after losing control of his devil fruit.
He knew Luffy was guilty, but he couldn't bring himself to blame the boy; perhaps it was paternal instincts that blinded him, but he didn't care. He would keep his grandson's secret and take it with him to the grave. Children shouldn't be held responsible for things beyond their control, and from what he had heard and seen himself, Luffy wasn't in control of himself. If anything, he was at fault for allowing a child with such a dangerous power to live in a place like the Goa Kingdom. If anyone should be punished, it was him for his terrible parenting, Dragon for his terrible parenting, Dadan for not watching the boys, and that damned Red-haired Shanks for letting a child eat a devil fruit.
The incident made him double down on training the boy to control his new power. Zoan Devil fruits were tricky, and the carnivorous ones were hard to control, especially for a boy as young as Luffy. Even his long-time friend Sengoku who had a reasonably calm devil fruit, claimed it was hard for him to control it, it was all too easy for him to go on a rampage during combat, and he was a well-trained man.
Garp once again cursed Shanks for allowing his grandson to eat such a dangerous fruit; he had no choice now but to use as much spare time as he could get to train the boy to use the power of his fruit responsibly. He would be training his grandson in the Rokushiki, the six powers to best make use of his hybrid form so that he didn't have to turn into a full dragon since the boy has difficulty with complete transformations.
The last thing he wanted was for his grandson to turn into Rob Lucci; he had to train the boy carefully. But he had such little free time. The destruction of the Goa Kingdom sent shockwaves throughout the world. One of the greatest Kingdoms in what was considered the safest of the world's oceans was destroyed by the revolutionary army, or so the news claimed. He was glad his son took the blame for the Goa Kingdom's destruction so that Luffy might be spared.
Already the World Government was doing its best to assuage the people's fears; he didn't even want to think about what this year's Levely would be like, although he had heard some rumors floating down from the top brass of the marines. The word was that they planned on expanding the Seven Warlord system, giving pardons out to more powerful pirates to increase the World Government military power; some said it would be the Nine Warlord system; Garp wasn't sure how he felt about that.
He also heard that the marines would be offering more significant incentives for bounty hunters and handing out Privateering licenses much more liberally. Both options made him wince; he didn't much care for bounty hunters or privateers any more then he liked the Seven Warlords of the sea.
He watched as Ace smacked down Luffy, making it another victory for the older boy. Garp could only let out a tired sigh.
"Whatever changes the world goes through, I need to make sure these boys are ready for them…" he walked over to Luffy, who was picking himself up. "You've gotten better with your hybrid transformation; now let's see the full thing."
Luffy looked at the ground. "I don't want to, not after…"
Garp sighed. "Look, it's better for you to train to be able to control it; if you shut yourself off from it, then you will lose control the next time you lose your temper. Now transform; if anything happens, I'll be here to stop you with my fists."
That seemed to convince his grandson, who began to transform, his skin turned black and body expanded until he was a dragon. However, the boy was only slightly bigger then the last time Garp had seen him transform, with his main body being only the size of a horse minus the neck and tail. "I want the full transformation!" Garp argued. "Ace here said you were as large as a castle tower and that your wings caused hurricanes!"
"I can't." Luffy pouted in his draconic form. "This is as big as I can go."
Did he only turn so big because of stress? Was it a temporary Devil fruit awakening? Garp didn't know much about devil fruits, so all he could do was shake his head. "Fine, let's train in that form, for now, first things first, endurance. You're going to let me hop on top of you and fly me around this island one hundred times!"
"ALL YOU WANT IS FOR ME TO GIVE YOU A FREE RIDE!"
"It's endurance training!" Garp complained as he hopped onto Luffy's back, the boy barely managing to support the massive man's weight. "Now hurry up, I want to fly!"
Luffy managed to take off with great difficulty, and soon Grandfather and grandson were flying around the island. Garp raised his hands up in the air like a child having the time of his life.
"Do a barrel roll, Luffy!" Garp called out as he enjoyed the feeling of flying.
"I knew this was just for your own enjoyment!"
"Don't talk back to your grandfather while he's training you!" Garp argued. "Now go faster and fly through those clouds; I've always wanted to taste clouds!"
Nine years later
Luffy let out the sail of his recently purchased boat as he bid goodbye to the people of Fuusha village. The day had finally come where he set out a pirate in earnest.
"Bye, Luffy!" Makino called out. "Good luck!"
"Don't become too much of a criminal!" Mayor Woop Slap added. "I don't want you to ruin this town's reputation!"
Numerous others chimed in as they bid him goodbye, and he could only wave back and thank them for their hospitality as he set sail out to sea. Once Luffy was far away, he shifted his sail to the side, intent on taking one last trip around Dawn island before leaving the island entirely.
While he was sailing smoothly along the coast, he decided to take stock of himself. He had modeled himself after what he believed a true pirate should look like based on books he had read with Sabo, such as The adventures of the Sparrow Pirates. As such, he wore a long black coat beneath that; he wore a simple shirt made of sea cloth. On his lower body were a pair of strong black sea boats, a pair of linen trousers; he had a brown leather belt which held numerous pockets and items strapped to it that he found useful.
The first thing attached to his belt was his compass that Shanks had given him all those years ago. Two other items of note were a couple of weapons, the first of which was a pirate cutlass with a gold hilt and a razor sharp, blackened blade. While Luffy would be the first to admit that he wasn't great with a sword, it was still useful to have one. It also helped him in another way; it helped him satisfy his draconic greed.
Luffy discovered he could satiate his own greed and take the edge off the need to take treasure by covering himself in wealth. As a result, his belt had a golden buckle, and attached to it were two holsters that held a pair of flintlock revolver pistols made in the South Blue. Luffy didn't care much for guns, but these ornate weapons were used by nobility back in Goa as status symbols, and he did the same since he could smell how expensive and valuable they were. On his belt, he held his trusty tobacco pipe and a pouch filled with tobacco for when he wanted to smoke. On each of his fingers, we wore golden rings, each with a different gemstone; while they were a bit flashy for his taste wearing such wealth on his person gave him a feeling of deep happiness and satisfaction.
Luffy also wielded a non-flashy practical weapon. While he preferred using his fists, claws, and other bodily appendages, he also favored simple blunt weapons. He used a slim metal club that he had the Fuusha village blacksmith forge by melting down the three metal pipes that he and his brothers had used as their primary weapons in their childhood. The club was almost like a traditional Kanabo, albeit made out of steel rather then the traditional wood and lacking the spikes or studs such clubs usually possessed. He wielded it with some proficiency after constant training with his grandfather and Ace. It wasn't a great weapon, but it held sentimental value, and he planned on having a proper blacksmith forge it into something new one day when he decided what type of weapon he wanted.
The only thing he was missing was a proper pirate hat; Luffy knew he would have to buy a suitable pirate hat later since a true pirate captain always wore a cool hat, and hats were generally seen as a sign of a captain.
For now, he focused on the sails of his ship; he was currently sailing a decent-sized fishing boat that he bought from one of the village fishermen; it was equipped for long expeditions for travel to the deep ocean. As a result, it had living quarters that could sleep two comfortably or more uncomfortably, a small kitchen, bathroom, and several large storage areas for provisions and storing large amounts of fish.
All that was stored were food and water for his journey. He could technically fly between islands; it might even be faster, but he couldn't sleep while in the air, and he would miss out on the authentic pirate experience of sailing a ship.
"Let's see…" Luffy muttered as he thought about what he should do first. "I need a good crew, a big one that will put Shanks to shame, but first, I should get a proper ship." He had enough money to buy a good one; Ace had only taken a small share of the treasure that they had gathered in their childhood, which meant he had a cave full of treasure.
However, he disliked the idea of spending so much money; he hated parting with treasure, although he knew he had to eventually. He had turned into a frugal individual who hated wasting good money. He still had a decent amount of treasure in his cave, although that amount had dwindled a bit in these last nine years.
Luffy had to give a decent amount to Makino to pay for his debts, with her always giving him food, and he made a point to buy a lot of things in Fuusha village to help support the economy. Dawn island wasn't what it used to be; ever since the Goa Kingdom incident nearly ten years ago, times had been challenging for the common man as the entire region's economy shifted due to a complete up[heaval of the upper glass.
As if reality read his mind, his boat was sailing across from the part of the island that held the Goa kingdom. He could see numerous ships docked at the massive stone docks from his boat where the nobility used to moor their large vessels. Now it mainly was fishing boats and trading ships picking up produce and numerous other agriculture that small villages like Fuusha grew on the island's substantial farmland.
Edge Town had been rebuilt, and those who once dwelled in the grey terminal now lived there, while those who had lived in Edge Town took up residence in High Town as a new upper-class, albeit one that didn't consider themselves as nobility. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Luffy found himself thinking; he wasn't sure if he was happy or sad about it.
He barely remembered that day's events when he had gone on a rampage, but he promised himself he would never do it again. He had spent the last decade training himself to control his devil fruit powers and his own body so that he would never lose control in such a way again.
I'm a man, not a monster. He found himself thinking as his small ship drifted away from the Goa Kingdom and out towards the open sea. Suddenly the water in front of his boat began to bubble, and a massive sea serpent rose from the ocean, its giant maw open, intent on swallowing him.
"Ah, so it's the Lord of the Coast?" He asked as he gazed upon the beast; as it approached him, he allowed his will to be made manifest as he unleashed his willpower upon the creature in front of him.
"Enough!" He roared as his concentrated power of will struck the creature.
The Lord of the Coast paused mere yards away from Luffy's fishing boat, its entire body frozen in fear as it felt the full force of Luffy's Conqueror's Haki as its own willpower died out.
"Submit!" Luffy ordered as he allowed his Draconic nature to take over, amplifying his already powerful aura of intimidation. Luffy smiled as he watched the creature freeze in fear. His grandfather had trained him mercilessly these past nine years, teaching him the Rokushiki style of fighting that many Marines used and also instructed him to use Haki. He even discovered that he had Conqueror's Haki. His grandfather had trained him in all three, although he still had a long way to go before truly mastering any of them, especially with his grandfather's sporadic training schedule.
Luffy shook those thoughts from his head as he redirected his attention to the Lord of the Coast, who stood before him, frozen in fear. "Go into the deep ocean and never return to this island. If you do, I will consume you!" To emphasize his point, he turned his head and neck into that of a Dragon and let out a terrifying roar that echoed over the ocean's surface.
The giant fish obeyed and immediately turned the other way and swam as fast as possible until it was out of sight. "That should make things safer for the fishermen around here. Now back to my adventure." Luffy smiled as he allowed himself to relax. He pulled out his compass and contemplated where he wanted to go next. He looked at his ship and found it relatively small despite being of decent size. If he wanted a crew, he needed a proper boat for them to stay on. He didn't want to buy one, which meant he needed to steal one like a real pirate. However, he didn't want the Marines after him until he was ready to be a pirate in earnest with a crew. Which meant he needed to steal a ship from someone who couldn't go to the authorities, which meant he had to steal from another pirate.
"So much to think about, it's giving me a headache," Luffy muttered as He pulled out his compass and looked at its needle. "Show me the nearest pirate ship I can steal." The compass pointed east, which was where the wind was blowing. Luffy smiled as he unfurled all the sails, prepared to perform his first act of piracy.
"It's a pirate's life for me."
Authors note
A lot to unpack in this chapter. Some of you might love it, a lot of you might hate it but here it is. I just ask that you hear me out as I explain myself.
First off Luffy is hella powerful, I didn't initially plan for him to have Haki at this point but he is going to need it and it makes sense that Garp took Luffy's training more seriously after the beginning of this chapter.
Second off, Destroying the Goa Kingdom, and thus have set forth a butterfly effect through the entire One Piece world. I've done this so that I can play around with the world to make things a little less predictable. The East Blue is forever changed, I'm not saying that the events of Canon won't happen but they will be slightly different. Enemies will be stronger as the World Government tightens its grip on the safest of the world's oceans and that will change everything.
Luffy's personality is shifted greatly. He is still fairly simple but his Zoan fruit has changed things greatly. For example, he is able to overcome grief and guilt quickly, as evidenced by his recovery after the GOA Kingdoms destruction, and unlike Canon Luffy who cried whenever he was in great distress, this version of Luffy gives in to his new Dragon instincts and becomes enraged.
Yes, the Goa Kingdom nobles were massacred, and Luffy is not unaware of how terrible the thing he did was. He simply doesn't see much point in feeling bad over it since there's nothing he can do to change it. What's done is done, he has that aspect of his canon personality intact where there's no point in worrying about something you can't change.
Also, I write from character POVs as you might have noticed. This is to give a limited perspective of events, such as Sarie's POV being from that of an overprivileged child.
A side note for anyone confused. Awakened Devil Fruit users can grow massive, so I assume they have complete control over their body size so Luffys dragon forms will change slightly through this story depending on the situation. In this chapter, he is roughly the size of Smaug from the Hobbit.
That's all for now. Thank you for the reviews, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Check out my profile if you wish to support my original and unoriginal works. Patrons get chapters a week early.