Hello Friends! Here is the latest chapter! Also fun little update! This chapter includes commas because it was edited by the lovely Guest666-69! Thank you again friend and thank you for always leaving the best reviews! Anyways, on to the chapter!

Warnings at end of chapter

Absin Island, New World

"Oh Ariadne you dumbass." I moaned as I rolled over onto the floor of my cabin.

Wait, my cabin? The fuck am I? What happened last night?

My eyes jolted open and I quickly jumped to my feet, uncaring of how badly I swayed and my head pounded.

How could I have been so stupid?

Didn't we agree not to do this anymore?

I pressed my hands to my eyes for a minute before looking around to see where I had woken up. Looking around I saw that I was in fact in my cabin on the Brattahild. I tried to keep my hands from shaking as a cold sweat broke out along my back and I looked down at myself. When I saw that I was still dressed in the outfit I had put on yesterday, down to my boots I sat on the edge of the bed in relief.

Ok so that happened, or rather, it didn't happen. But what I drank myself stupid and then they brought me back? Why would they do that?

Why would I let that happen?

I groaned and laid back on the bed with my arm thrown over my eyes.

You should know better by now Ariadne. You're supposed to be over this. It's been years now so why start this up again?

I lifted my arm off my face, tugged my shirtsleeve out of the way and stared at the thick scar on my upper arm, just below my armpit. I moved my other hand down and traced the rope of scar tissue spanning the middle of my bicep all the way around to the other side of my arm.

You know what too much drinking leads to.

With a harsh sigh I stood up and quickly changed my clothes into more of my altered hand me downs as I hadn't had time to find new clothes the day before. After roughly running a brush through my hair (glaring at my roots) I opened the door and started making my way to the galley. As I walked down the hallway I tried to keep my mind from straying into darker thoughts and instead tried to focus on why the crew would have bothered to bring me back to the ship in the first place. Once I reached the door I reached out to push it open but hesitated just before my hand touched the wood.

No you're fine. Everything is fine. They didn't let you drink yourself to death last night and they brought you back to the ship without doing anything. You're fine. Stop freaking out.

I clenched my fists, squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and pushed open the heavy door to see the majority of the crew already sitting in the galley. The windows were tightly shut and more than a few people had grips on steaming cups of coffee. I quickly made my way into the room before I could over think it and took a seat at the same table as Shanks, Beckman and Gunther. As I sat down I noticed that while the majority of the crew were being quieter than usual Shanks seemed to be the only one truly feeling the effects of the night before. He was sitting at the table true, but he had one hand tightly gripping a mug and his face seemed to be attempting to fuse with the table top.

Guess I won't be the only one a little fuzzy on the details of last night.

Beckman noticed me sit down and said, "Oh good you're awake. I was about to go make sure you weren't dead."

Oh if only.

"What happened last night?" I asked while reaching for one of the hard boiled eggs sitting in a bowl in the middle of the table.

I absently started to peel it as Beckman smirked and said,"You got fucked up is what happened."

"Yes I'm aware of that part."

"Really didn't peg you for that much of a fan of parties Addie." Gunther said between sips of his coffee.

"That's why I don't drink often. I have a bad habit of falling face first into a bottle. Or several I guess."

Right, which is just a pretty way of saying that I'm a stupid bitch who doesn't know when to stop pouring poison down my throat.

"I'll drink to that." Shanks said, raising his own mug but keeping his head firmly planted on the table.

"It's 10 in the morning you're not getting drunk again Boss."

"Oh come on Beckman how else am I supposed to get rid of this hangover?"

"Take a nap you idiot."

Beckman clapped Shanks on the back as he just groaned. Then Beckman stood and called out to the rest of the crew gathered in the room. "Alright let's get to work we need to get ready to set sail."

He was met by a series of groans and more than a few curses.

"Oh come on since when do you all get the day off just because you drank yourselves stupid?" He asked as he lit a cigarette.

They all groaned again before standing up and shuffling out onto the deck behind the first mate who still had far too much composure for how much he drank the night before. As I followed, Guy came up to me and said, "How in the actual hell are you walking in a straight line right now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You were the most drunk out of everyone last night! Roux had to carry you back to the ship and everything!"

So it was Roux who helped me out then…

I shrugged. "Devil Fruit users just don't get hangovers I guess. I've never had one and it's hard to stay drunk for any significant amount of time."

"Lucky." He said with a glare.

I just shrugged again and turned to listen to Beckman as he began to delegate tasks.

"Alright Yasopp and Shanks are pretty much useless right now but is everyone else here?" He asked as he looked out over the assembled pirates.

He looked around before shouting, "Where the hell's Max?"

When no one spoke up he turned to Rand who was leaning against the mast and said, "Weren't you with him on the way back to the ship?"

Rand rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Yes? I don't really know. I was walking with him and then he was gone. I didn't think I had to babysit him."

"Well aren't you helpful?" Beckman said before turning to me. "Hey Addie go find Max. He's the big guy with long hair that he never brushes."

Well that just clears it right up.

I forced back a groan and just said, "Ok."

After jumping down to the dock I started walking towards the town.

Since when is it my job to round up Shanks' men? I'm not even a member of the crew.

I stood in the center of a street and watched as people streamed past me. Given it was mid morning by now the whole town seemed to have descended on the market. As I stared out at the people, still in their matching outfits, I realized that I didn't actually know who Max was.

Have I even spoken to the man? Maybe I should have been paying a bit more attention to the crew now that I think about it…

Well whatever. After all it's not my fault they all go out of their way to avoid me.

I sighed before heading towards the nearest alley way. After wandering down a good number of alleyways without finding the drunk I was sent to collect, I turned down one more corner and saw a huge shape in front of me.

Is that him?

The figure had their back to me but I could still see the tangled mat of hair hanging about half way down their back.

"You're Max right?" I asked.

He swayed on his feet before looking over his shoulder at me with squinted eyes. "Oh it's you. Yeah that's me what do you want?"

"Ships leaving."

He nodded before stumbling around a bit more. He was staring intently at the ground while stumbling in a circle.

Is he still drunk? For fucks sakes when was my life reduced to wrangling drunken idiots.

I crossed my arms and sighed before snapping, "Can we go already? Beckman asked me to bring you back."

"I can't find my shovel."

"Excuse me?"

"My shovel. I can't leave without it." He said firmly, as if that sentence was supposed to clear up anything.

What is he even talking about?

"Why do you- no you know what? I really don't give a shit. Where was it last?" I asked as I felt a headache start to form behind my eyes.

I can't believe this is what I've been reduced to.

"I had it when I left the bar and I wouldn't have put it down anywhere so I don't- WAIT! Those fucking Marines took it."

"Why would the Marines take a shovel? Did we even see any Marines last night?"

"Cause they're dicks!" He shouted, apparently opting to ignore my second question. "And my shovel ain't no standard shovel! No! Mine is a tactical shovel with over 42 different uses and transformations. Not only is it a shovel, oh no it is far from just a shovel, it is also a knife, an axe, a harpoon, a bottle opener, a whistle, a flint, a-"

"Ok I get it. Fancy shovel. I don't give a shit. Can we just go find the damn thing so we can get back to the ship?" I said rubbing harshly at my temples.

Can I just go back to bed?

"Well if you want to be a bitch about it then sure." He said before turning to walk out of the alley way without waiting for me to follow.

I took a deep breath to brace myself and started to walk after him. As we walked through the town the silence stretched out between us. The townsfolk gave us dirty looks as we passed them and more than a few turned up their noses at us. Max didn't seem to notice as he made a beeline for where I assumed he knew the base to be. As we walked I looked a bit more closely at the drunk man I had been sent to collect. He was tall, easily four heads taller than me, but his imposing appearance came more from how stocky his build was as well as how wild and untamed his long brown hair was.

Wow, I guess Beckman was right, does this dude even know what a hairbrush is?

As I silently judged the man for his poor grooming habits we quickly made it to the Marine base. I hadn't been expecting much given the state of the rest of the island but even still the dumpy little building set on the edge of the jungle was not it. Not only was the building slowly being covered in vines and flowers but the building itself looked as if it would crumble in a stiff wind.

"Geeze guess they aren't too worried about structural integrity here are they?" I said.

Max shrugged and kept on walking through the small courtyard that was made up of cracked stones and served as an entrance to the base.

"Hey wait! What's our plan?" I asked, reaching out to tap his arm.

Some communication would be nice, you jackass!

He paused and looked at me over his shoulder. "Do I look like the kind of man who plans things out?"

Well damn alright then. But seriously when did this school of thought become so popular? What is so bad about planning things out!

I shook my head, sighed, and followed him into the base.

Perhaps I should have expected the interior of the base to be just as sad and run down as the outside. But regardless, I was still a bit surprised to see plants growing inside the building and not a single Marine in sight.

"You sure this place isn't abandoned?" I asked as we passed yet another empty room.

"Pretty sure I remember seeing some marines head this way yesterday." Max said as he continued to briskly make his way through the building.

"'Pretty sure'? So you don't even know for certain."

"Like you can talk little miss 'world's greatest musician'. Don't try and tell me you remember everything that happened last night."

"So I had a little to drink so what?" I asked as I felt like my cheeks had been set on fire.

A little? Sure why not just actually drown yourself in a pool of whiskey next time? That'd be the same thing wouldn't it?

"But it doesn't matter if my shovel isn't here then we'll just- WAIT!" He shouted before darting into a room.

Shortly as he sprinted into the room I heard metal shriek as it was ripped apart. I rolled my eyes and followed him in to see what once must have been a weapon lock up but now looked more like a greenhouse than anything else. But in the mess of the plants stood Max with a massive shovel made up of smaller segments raised over his head. At his feet was what remained of a locker but had been ripped nearly in half.

Did he seriously just rip a metal locker in half? With his bear hands? If he's that strong why didn't he just pull the door open? Why did he mutilate the poor thing?

"Well I found my shovel, so we can go now." He said with a cheery smile on his face as if he hadn't just slaughtered a poor defenseless locker.

I rolled my eyes and spun on my heel to leave the room. As we left Max followed me and occupied himself with opening various compartments on his shovel and checking the weapon over. As we finally made our way back into the sad little courtyard we started to walk through it. But before we could leave the property we watched as what must have been the bulk of the Marine forces on the island storming into the area, surrounding us.

So this is where they were all hiding.

"You're under arrest, pirates!" They shouted as they started in on their standard tirade.

Hiding or not I am most definitely not in the mood to deal with these fools.

I tuned out their repetitive shouts and turned to Max. "You give a shit if I kill these idiots?"

"Do I look like I give a shit?" He said tightening his grip on his shovel.

Well alright then.

Before I had a chance to turn back to the ill fated Marines I sensed one of the fools charging towards me with a sword raised. I casually turned to face them and turned my body into water as the sword passed through my body. I turned back into my solid form and raised an eyebrow at the Marine.

"Really?" I asked before kicking him square in the chest and sending him into a nearby wall.

As he crunched against the wall several other Marines took that as their cue to rush towards us. I kicked several Marines out of the way before throwing myself into a backflip to avoid a rogue Marine with armament haki. As soon as I landed I felt the air rush over me as Max swung his shovel at a charging Marine. Jumping back up I sent out a stream of water to wrap around the middle of a Marine aiming a gun at the back of Max's head. Nearly crushing his waist, I flung the Marine at another, sending them both to the ground. Max and I met eyes and shared a smirk as more Marines rushed towards us.

By the time the last Marine fell I was breathing hard and covered in blood.

Ugh gross. Why do they have to be so messy?

I shook my hands in an attempt to get even a bit of blood off of them. Tiny blood droplets fell from my hand and immediately disappeared into the near lake of blood I was standing in. The Marines who had challenged us were nothing more than shredded chunks scattered about the courtyard. Giving up on the futile act of trying to clean myself I sighed and turned to look for Max. I found him across the square from me and noticed that he was equally soaked in blood.

Well at least I'm in good company.

"You know, given how excited they were to fight us you'd think they'd have put up a better fight. That was what? 5 minutes?" He said.

"Well they tried." I said with a shrug.

"I guess you can call that trying. But damn I just needed to stand here and let them impale themselves on my shovel." He said as he started to walk out of the square.

That thing was surprisingly useful… Maybe he isn't as big of a dumbass as I thought he was. Maybe...

I smirked. "Well they might have done all the work for you but they actually provided me the weapon I need to kill them with."

"Yeah that was weird. Devil Fruit?"

"Water-Water Fruit."

"Is that actually a thing?"

I narrowed my eyes and simply motioned to myself in response.

"So it is a thing?" He asked.

"Obviously."

How stupid is he?

He nodded and kept on walking. I watched his back and couldn't help but say, "Is that it?"

"Is what it?" He called back.

"You just ask if my fruit is a thing and nothing else? You don't want to demand to know why I don't use it more? Why I'm not already a part of a bigger crew? Why I'm here?"

"Why would I ask about any of that crap?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Max stopped walking and turned to look at me with his brow furrowed. "Because I don't give a shit. The same could be said for damn near everyone else on the ship."

I crossed my arms and rolled my weight onto one hip.

"Right, my mistake. It's not like any of you want me around anyways." I said.

Good job Ariadne, almost forgot how little people care about you.

"Don't take it personal, we just don't care about anyone other than our own people."

"You sure they actually give a shit about you then?" I snapped as I started to walk past him.

He grabbed my arm in a crushing haki infused grip and leaned down close to my face. I tried to shrink back but he held my arm too tightly.

"Don't you dare question my crew's loyalty."

"You're pirates. You really expect me to believe you're any different from the rest on these seas?"

"I don't care what you believe but you will not insult my crew. I would kill anyone who threatened my crew and I know they would do the same for me. So don't you stand there and question it." He said before releasing my arm and turning to keep walking.

I rubbed at my arm as I felt a bruise start to form.

What the hell was that about?

"Must be nice to have people you trust that much." I said, but when he didn't respond I continued. "So what made you join the crew in the first place? You just said that they don't give a shit about anyone who isn't a member right? So what's the secret?"

"There isn't one."

"Really?" I said with a scoff. "You just walked up to Shanks and told him you wanted to join and he was ok with that?"

"No I passed out drunk on the deck of the Brat and they set sail before I woke up."

"Seriously?"

"Pretty much." He said before looking at me again. "Why? You want to join? You might want to work on that attitude of yours beforehand."

"That's it? My attitude needs work. No snide remark about working on my loyalties?"

"No? Why would I?"

"It's just- every-" I paused. "Don't you know who I am? Who I've sailed with?"

"Nope."

I barked out a laugh. "You're joking."

He has to be. There's no way he-

"Do I look like I'm joking?" He said. "I already told you. If you aren't a member of my crew then I don't give a shit about you. So I really don't give a fuck who you are or who you've sailed with."

"Then what do you care about?"

"My crew."

With that our tense conversation came to end. I spent the remainder of the walk back to the ship contemplating what he had said.

Does he seriously expect me to believe that the Red Hair pirates are so unwaveringly loyal to one another that nothing else matters? Seriously?

I rolled my eyes.

Although… Shanks is infamous for slaughtering anyone who hurts his crew. Sure he's hard to piss off but once he's there…

I stared at Max's wide back as he walked in front of me.

Maybe they really do care for one another that much…

Must be nice…

The rest of our walk was silent as we made our way back to the Brat. Once we walked up the gangplank we were met with a shout.

"What the hell took you two so- what happened to you?" Yasopp started to shout from the deck.

Oh so he's done feeling sorry for himself now?

Max's smile widened as he responded, "The Marines felt like giving us a work out. We couldn't just refuse now could we? That'd be rude."

"Oh don't give me that shit. You just wanted to fight off your hangover."

Guy let out a shrill squawk before Max could respond and shouted, "Come on man you're tracking blood all over the deck! I just mopped!"

"Swabbed Guy! You swabbed the deck. Stop saying you mopped it!" Yasopp shouted back.

"NO! This thing right here is a mop and I just rubbed it all over the deck. Therefore I mopped it!"

I heard Max laugh and Yasopp groan as I walked below deck in search of a shower.

Maybe they aren't all that bad…

Maybe…

"Hey Addie come here a minute!" I heard a voice call from across the deck.

It had been a few days since we had left Absin Island and were now more or less wandering the sea with no real destination in mind. While we were at sea I had gotten back into my routine of helping out with as many odd jobs I could find around the ship while also keeping to myself. At the moment I had been asked to help coil some of the spare ropes scattered around the deck.

I looked up from where I had been coiling a length of rope to see Yasopp waving at me. I quirked an eyebrow before walking over to him.

What does he want?

"Do you know your way around a cannon?" He asked.

"Vaguely." I said.

"Eh good enough I need to check them over and you're the only free one." He started making his way down to the second deck which was apparently where the crew cabins were.

As we made our way down the stairs I said, "I thought Monstar usually helped with this."

Yasopp nodded as he kept walking. "He does but he's being dramatic right now and I just can't be bothered to deal with his shit."

"The monkey is being dramatic?"

"You haven't spent much time around him have you?"

"I tend to keep to myself."

"Yeah I've noticed. But you know the guys would be more willing to hang out with you if you put a little effort into it." He said as we finally made it down to the second deck.

Situated between the lowest storage area and the galley deck the middle deck was a bit of a mess of spaces. Towards the middle and back of the deck were the cannons with storage for frequently used supplies interspersed. Then towards the bow of the ship was a walled off area that was used for the majority of the crew to sleep in. Shanks, Beckman, Yasopp, Roux, and Gunther all had their own tiny rooms up in the deck house so this area was only used by the other six crew members. I had never been in the room personally but according to Guy it was a rather plain room with only three sets of bunk beds and chests scattered around the room for the crew's personal belongings.

Following Yasopp towards the cannons I rolled my eyes and said, "Well excuse me if I'm not particularly concerned about my likability. But thanks for the advice."

He paused and looked me up and down. "What are you doing out here?"

"What do you mean? You just asked for my help."

"Not that. I mean what are you doing out at sea? You don't seem to be particularly fond of it."

"Well that would be because I'm not."

And why would I be? I never wanted to be a pirate.

"Then why are you here?" He asked again.

"You ask as if I've ever had a choice in the matter. I've been around sailors since before I can remember. I never had a choice in the matter."

He nodded but his brow didn't smooth, "Which would explain why you set out to sea in the first place but not why you're still here. You could just go settle down on an island if you really wanted to. I doubt anyone would stop you."

"Are you being serious?" I asked in pure disbelief. "If I ever tried to just 'lay low' it would only be a matter of time before the world dragged me back to this life. There are far too many greedy bastards out here for me to be allowed to live some peaceful little life."

Just how out of touch can you be to even suggest something like that to me of all people.

He shook his head and knelt down to start poking around the nearest cannon. "Sounds to me like you just haven't found the right people. But then again having people who care about you isn't always a blessing."

"Is that supposed to make sense?" I asked, crossing my arms and cocking a hip.

"Eh don't worry about it. I'm just rambling. Come on we need to get these cleaned so we can look for cracks."

"Right." I said before joining him in looking over the canons. I may never have been particularly fond of the weapons but given the sheer amount of time I had been around ships both pirate and Marine I knew at least a bit of what needed to be done.

"Ok I think that ought to do it. Can you go run up to Beckman and let him know that we'll need to replace this one?" Yasopp said a while later after we finished with the last of the canons.

"Of course." I said, spinning on my heel and making my way towards the stairs.

After walking up 2 flights of stairs and across the deck I headed into the deck house. There I found the door to Beckman's cabin and knocked on it.

"Come in." I heard a voice call from within.

I hesitantly pushed the door open. "Sorry to bother you but Yasopp wanted me to tell you that one of the cannons needs replacing."

"The whole cannon?" He asked, looking up from the ledger he had been writing in.

"Yes? That's what he said and I'm not exactly a marksman so I wouldn't be able to say any different."

"Ok fine. Thanks for letting me know."

"Right." I said before turning to leave. But as I did I noticed that there were a number of wanted posters on the wall. The majority of them were of the crew, with only one notable exception.

Why does he have that poster up?

"Is there something else?" Beckman asked.

"No sorry I was just looking at the wanted posters. I'll be going now."

"Want to know who you're dealing with?"

"I know perfectly well who I'm dealing with. I might not have a lot of information about your crew but I know enough, seen enough." I said before pausing. "I was just wondering why you have Dracule Mihawk's wanted poster on your wall. It isn't even active anymore."

His brow furrowed and he looked at me with confusion clear on his face, "Well I have all the crew wanted posters and he's a member of the crew."

"What do you mean? Mihawk is an independent pirate. Hell he isn't even a real pirate anymore- he's a warlord."

"He might not be sailing with us anymore but trust me, he's still family." He looked at me and when I didn't respond he said, "You really didn't know that?"

"All I know is that Shanks and Mihawk had a massive fight a few years back that destroyed an island. I figured they were just rivals." I said with a shrug.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "They were. But Shanks, Gunther, and Mihawk were the ones who started the crew."

"Really?"

But then why did he leave? Why is Beckman the first mate and not Gunther?

Beckman nodded and continued on, "I'm assuming you know who Shanks used to sail with?"

"Don't mock me." I said with an eye roll.

He smirked. "Well you yourself said that you don't know shit about our crew so I didn't want to assume. But anyways, they met a little while after Roger was executed. They got in a fight and Mihawk lost. Then he agreed to join the crew until he could beat Shanks. That island leveling fight you saw was the first time he managed to do it."

"Interesting." I said, looking back to the wanted posters.

"You seriously didn't know that?"

"Why would I? Your crew is notorious for keeping to themselves and I've never met Mihawk."

"You've never met him?"

"No. Contrary to popular belief I have not met every single noteworthy person on the seas."

"No. I guess not."

What is that supposed to mean?

"Right well if that's all then I should go."

He nodded and I turned to leave. As the door swung shut I paused and looked back at it.

Why do I get the feeling you're hiding something Beckman?

Warnings:

Adne being her typical angsty self through out the chapter. There is also a bit of violence/gore(?) in the section with Max. But nothing particularly graphic.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to drop a comment if you like :) Also, one of y'all voted in the poll on my profile and thank you so much for doing so! But I can't see who it was and I feel bad because I promised a chapter sneak peek if you voted but I couldn't see who to send the snippet to! So if you could let me know who you are that would be awesome and I can send you a sneak peek of next week's chapter! Thank you again for reading!