Erika dialed a number on the Den Den Mushi and waited as it rang. Someone on the other end picked up, "I was wondering when you would call. I've seen the paper and have already talked to Dragon. Have you gotten ahold of Flame-brain yet? We both know he's bound to do something stupid once he hears of Luffy being in trouble." The voice said.
"Oi! I'm not the only reckless one in the family Sabo!" Ace shouted over Erika's shoulder.
"Oh! Hi, Ace. You're together? Where are you?" Sabo questioned.
"We are currently in the meeting room of the Whitebeard Pirates. I had to help Ace out of a tight spot a month back and brought him back to them yesterday. The Whitebeards were kind enough to let me stay with them and offered their services to help in looking for Luffy when we got the paper this morning." Answered Erika.
"Really?! That's great, I've wanted to say something to him for the last year. Oi Whitebeard!" he shouted from the snail. Sitting forward the large man responded, "Yes brat?"
"I'm grateful for you taking Ace in and offering to help us out, however, I wanted to say that if you ever hurt my siblings I will come after you and return the favor tenfold." Erika and the commanders present had to stifle a laugh while Ace started to blush lightly. Whitebeard let loose a deep chuckle, "Guraguraguragura, your big sister already beat you to the punch yesterday, cheeky brat, but I understand where you're coming from. My family means the world to me. Ace is now a part of that family and by extension so are his siblings. I promise to take care of our family, those with me and not."
The snail depicted Sabo's shock before giving a huge smile. "I knew Ace joining your crew was a good thing! Anyway, Dragon was contacted by Kuma shortly after he disbanded Luffy's crew. Kuma was one of the original members of the RA and is our undercover operative in the Warlords." This information came as a shock to those listening. They were worried as well on why he was sharing this with them and Marco said as much.
"I've learned over the years to trust my gut and so has Dragon. Knowing Ace was joining your crew I dug around for information on you guys and I didn't find anything that worries me or makes me feel like I can't trust you. The fact that Ace joined you alone means you gain a level of trust from me." Sabo answered.
"Now, we know Vegapunk has been doing cybernetic experiments on Kuma. We will, unfortunately, be losing him completely to the enhancements in the next day or so when they wipe his mind completely and reprogram him. Him sending Luffy and his crew away was all he could do to keep them from being killed or captured by Kizaru at the time." He continued.
"So, Kuma was saving them? Why?" Asked Namur.
"Well because it was Luffy. Of course, he would try to find a way around his orders and save him." Sabo stated.
"What does that mean. How does Kuma have a connection to a supernova rookie pirate? Unless you mean that he knows that he is your brother?" Rakuyo chimed in.
"Ahh, I see. No one has really explained our family, have they?" Sabo asked.
They looked, as one, to a slightly sheepish Ace and apologetic Erika. "Right then, I supposed full introductions and clarifications are in order for us working together to go smoothly. Any chance Izo could be brought back in for this? It wouldn't be right for him to be the only commander left out." Erika asked. Thatch nodded his head and left to get him.
Once both commanders were back and seated at the table, Erika started her explanation. "Ok, so I'm going to go over each person in our small family and give a brief background on each. All questions are waiting for after I cover everyone, and any nonessential ones will be put off until we get out of this shitstorm. Got it? Good." she started, not giving them a choice.
"My name is Valencia D Erika and I'm 24 years old. I sometimes go by Rika to those I trust implicitly. My mother was Valencia D Maria and my father, Einarr Sigmundr, was from a small tribe of human warriors on Elbaf. I was adopted at the age of 2 by Vice-Admiral Monkey D Garp and raised by the Dadan Family mountain bandits at his behest. I have eaten a Devil Fruit that will be fully discussed at the end of this meeting. For now, understand that I am a Zoan and have multiple animal forms." Here she glanced up and around to gauge their response to her last sentence. All showed signs of mild shock while some looked awed and others skeptical.
Taking a breath, she continued. "I'm the big sister, Founder, Alpha and Leader of our Pack. Each member of the Pack has a designated rank and position within the Pack. While we do except others into our Pack they have to prove themselves completely trustworthy and have my approval as Alpha before they can join. Once made a member you are given a rank and position best suited to you and what you can do for the Pack as a whole. If you become a member then you are a member until you die. To us, our Pack is the same thing as it is for you being a member of the Whitebeard Pirates." Erika stated. While it looked like most of the commanders wanted to comment desperately she raised her hand and pleaded with her eyes to make them wait.
When they all agreed she looked to Ace and nodded for him to go next. "My name is Portgus D Ace, born Gol D Ace, and I'm 19 years old. My mother was Portgus D Rouge and father Gol D Roger, whom you all knew. My mother carried me way past term, through sheer willpower, until I was born at twenty months. This prolonged pregnancy resulted in her death moments after she named me. Roger asked Garp to look after the both of us just before his execution so Garp adopted me and put me in the same home as Rika. As the second oldest and strongest sibling of the Pack, I am the Beta, the second in command."
Continuing before anyone had the chance to speak Sabo said, "My name is Valencia D Sabo, born Bentinck Sabo; the first son of the Bentinck nobles in the Goa Kingdom, aged 19. I hated what I saw in the nobles around me and ran away to live in the local trash heap at the age of 5. There I befriended Ace and within the year was adopted by Garp and moved into the bandit home with him and Rika. I am the third in terms of age and strength in the Pack, 3 months younger than Ace, and designated the position of Pack Hunter. Using my abilities as a Revolutionary I keep an eye and ear out for any possible threats to the Pack and it's members and try to eliminate them before they can become too big of a problem. I guard the Pack's back."
"The fourth sibling in our Pack," Erika went on, "is Monkey D Luffy, aged 17 and the only biological grandchild of Monkey D Garp. We don't know who his mother is but everyone in the world has heard of his father." Here she paused to take a deep breath. "Monkey D Dragon, the Leader of the Revolutionary Army." She paused again as those around her exclaimed in shock and understanding.
"As I was saying," she said loudly, talking over those trying to ask questions. "Luffy is our youngest sibling and designated the Pack's Lead Warrior. He was given the title of Lead Warrior instead of Sabo when at the age of 7, only 3 months after meeting us, he was willing to rather die at the hands of the pirates who had captured him and were torturing him than give away our location and the location of the treasure we had been stockpiling to leave the island when we all grew up." All the siblings were silent for a moment, the two physically present looking down in sorrow and frustration.
Tilting her head Erika continued, "We have two other members of our Pack, one official, and one honorary. The official member of our Pack is a woman named Makino, 29 years old. She is a villager and bar owner on the island we were raised. She is our unofficial big sister and was the Pack Healer when we still lived there. Our unofficial Pack member is so for obvious reasons. Monkey D Garp, AKA Grandpa, Gramps, and Shitty Gramps is our Pack Elder. He is given this rank because while he can be an idiotic pain in the ass he loves us and did the best he could to keep us safe from the World Government growing up."
Looking up from the table, to which she had been directing most of her speech, Erika directed her gaze around the table before landing on Whitebeard. "We have quite a few people labeled as prospective members. Only time will tell if our pack will grow and where these people might fit in," she stated meaningfully and with a hesitant smile.
In return, Whitebeard gave her a ginormous grin. "I must say that you have an interesting family, four Ds! One can only hope that it grows bigger, stronger and more protected in the future." He nodded to her hint.
"If we can save the questions for just a few more minutes? I have to go in a few moments and I need to give you the rest of the information we got from Kuma." Sabo said quickly. They could hear movement and talk in the background now, as well as someone who seemed to be screaming at him.
"Ok, tell us all you got. Oh, and tell Koala I said 'hi'!" Erika said with a smirk.
"Not funny! I don't even know why she's mad at me this time, although I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. Anyway, Kuma couldn't give the exact locations, but he said that he sent the Strawhats to places that they had, or could make, allies easily. We might already have a lead on one of them, Nico Robin, and given the reports, we think Blackfoot might be in Eva-chan's kingdom on Momoiro Island, the poor guy. Kuma said he sent Luffy somewhere calm which means he would be on an island somewhere in one of the Calm Belts. That's all we have so far, unfortunately. I gotta go! Keep me posted and I'll do the same. Love you guys and stay safe!" and with that, the call was disconnected.
There was silence for a moment after Sabo hung up. The commanders seemed to be going over all they had learned in the last half hour and formulating questions and thoughts on it. Most in the room jumped slightly when a bang sounded out. Looking for the source they found Erika's head resting on the table.
"Acey!" she could be heard whining. "I never got to finish my coffee and if I'm going to survive the rest of this meeting I'm going to need another one. This time with double the strength of my favorite booster in it."
Ace shook his head at the pathetic picture she made while chuckling. "I swear you're just as bad as Pops!" he said as he made his way towards the door.
"Oi! Bring some snacks too while you're at it!" she shouted, raising her head as she did so. Once he was gone she turned semi-serious again. "I'll start answering your questions now but keep in mind that we still have to figure out where we are going to start looking for Luffy."
Whitebeard nodded his head and thought for a moment. Eventually, he said, "The only thing that needs any clarification for me at this time is your Devil Fruit and your continued connection to Garp. If memory serves though, you promised to go over your Fruit once we had a plan of action for finding your youngest."
Erika nodded and said, "I haven't had much contact with Garp in the past few years I've been at sea. He has popped up randomly here of there to 'check on his little princess'." here she gave a look of contempt while the commanders laughed at the thought of Garp trying to get away with calling her that. "He basically just scolds me for not becoming a Marine or for getting a higher bounty, complains about what the boys have done recently, and buys me dinner and some supplies and then goes on his way. He would never willingly try to bring any of us four in if he could avoid it, he likes to just pretend we aren't pirates when he sees us." Some seemed a little shocked that such a well known Marine would give them a free pass yet also understood that they are family and even Garp does what he can to protect them.
Whitebeard nodded to her explanation. He then looked to his sons around him and said, "Ok boys, I'm putting a limit of one question per person for the sake of saving time. Think carefully about what you want to ask." Once everyone had agreed on the terms he gestured for Marco to go first.
Marco scratched his chin stubble in thought before saying, "I can't really think of anything that needs to be discussed immediately. All my questions pertain to your Devil Fruit as well." Erika gave a smile at the slight awe and curiosity she could detect in his voice and see in his eyes. Looking around the table she found that most had that same look.
"Ok, how about we do it this way? A show of hands on who has a question that doesn't pertain to my Fruit or can't wait until after the meeting." Erika said. Only five hands were raised. "Alright, we will go Izo first then Haruta, Thatch, Vista and then finally Namur. Izo?"
"I just wanted a little clarification on the Pack structure and all of the roles you each play please." He asked.
"Ok, that's easy. The structure of a pack is simple really and everyone in the Pack has a designated rank and role. I created the pack due to my Devil Fruit and became the Alpha as the oldest and strongest. In comparison, Whitebeard is your Alpha, your leader. I make desitions with the good of the Pack as a whole in mind, whether that be where we went and who we fought when we were younger or adding new members and organizing rescues now that we are all out at sea." Izo nodded, following along.
At this point, Ace returned with Erika's coffee and some snacks for them both. "Thank you, Ace, you dear sweet brother!" she exclaimed. This made those in the room laugh. Marco leaned in to smell her coffee and raised an eyebrow at her.
"I can see what he means by you being as bad as Pops. Exactly how much of that is actually coffee vs how much of it is rum?" Erika chuckle and replied, "Normally only about a fourth of the cup is booze on an average morning but I had Ace double it, half and half, for this cup." The then gave him a raised brow of her own. "And what does it matter if the Old Man drinks a lot. He's a big boy, I think he knows what his limits are and doesn't need his sons curdling his fun."
Hearing Whitebeard laugh she gave him a wink. "Anyway, back to the Pack roles. Ace is my Beta, the closest equivalent I can give is a first mate however it's a bit of a deeper level of trust than that. At least in most cases when it comes to pirate and Marine crews. Essentially he is the Pack leader in every way when I am absent and is to run the Pack to my specifications. He only takes orders from me when it comes to the Pack and when facing a problem is free to give ideas and strategies to confer about in order to solve it." She paused to take a sip of her drink.
"Sabo is a Pack Hunter. There can be many Hunters in a pack and they are the guardians and protectors of the pack. They protect the pack and take their orders from four ranks; the Alpha, Beta, Delta or Lead Warrior. All hunters must be quick thinkers and remain calm in any given situation. This could describe Sabo's personality to a T, which is why I gave him this role. Now that he is in the RA he is even more suited for the role as he can give us a heads up on any threats to the Pack and neutralize them, if need be, without interference."
"Luffy has the rank of the Pack's Lead Warrior. He will take orders only from me, the Alpha, Ace, the Beta, or a Delta when we get one. As a Warrior, he protects the Pack with everything he has, including his life, and will not back down from a fight against something that is threatening his Pack. Again, Luffy has the personality and stubbornness that is needed for this role, which is why he was given it. I have never known him to back down from a challenge when a friend is in need. The difference between a warrior and hunter is mainly where they defend the Pack, warriors to the front and hunters to the rear. Luffy will take the confrontations head-on while Sabo hunts down those that are a threat and takes them out.
Makino being our Healer is pretty self-explanatory, she always patched us up when we got into some bad scrapes and even though we no longer live on Dawn she is still a member of the Pack and will always remain so. Gramps is a Marine so we couldn't give him a 'normal' rank in the Pack. Since he's old and rarely around we gave him the rank Pack Elder. They can give advice to the leading members of the Pack but have no actual choice on the decisions made by the Alpha. It's higher in the ranking than Luffy and Sabo but lower than Ace and I basically."
Looking around and seeing that everyone was nodding to show that they fully understood she continued. "There are other ranks that make up a Pack, such as Deltas, Warriors, and Omegas but as we are so small we don't have them filled out. Now, Haruta, you had the next question?"
"Yeah, mine was about your father actually. You guys are from East Blue, right? So how did a warrior of Elbaf, human or not, end up there? Why did he stay?"
"Oh, well he died when I was 2 so I don't have the whole story but Gramps told me he left to travel after getting into a disagreement with an Elder's son about the worth of those born in the blues, trying to prove himself right I would guess. On Dawn island, he fell in love with my mom and ended up staying there. They got married one year and had me the next."
Looking to Thatch Erika signaled that he should ask his question. "I'm the head chef so I need to know if you have any food allergies or dietary restrictions or needs, especially since you said you are a zoan."
"Oh! Well, I'm not allergic to anything that I know of but I'm mainly carnivorous. I tend to eat mostly meat at mealtimes but try to balance that out by eating snacks and desserts that are fruit and veggie-based." Erika replied and then demonstrated by gesturing to the platter of assorted fruit that Ace brought her.
Erika looked to Vista next as he asked his question, "My question was about the blade you carry on your side. It's quite unique, I've seen nothing like it before."
Erika nodded as she drew her weapon out of its holster. "Yes, I had it specially made. While its main purpose is that on a hunting knife it can also be used in battle if needed. The blade is a foot long with the handle and one edge being that of a cutlass while it has the serrations and gut hook needed for hunting. The teeth along the handle guard may look like decorations from past hunts, and in a way they are, but they are quite effective when used to punch someone while fighting." Here she paused and smirked, "She also has a few tricks up her sleeve that I'll save for a later date." Seeing their curiosity she laughed, winking as she put the knife away. She then looked to the last person who had a question.
"Namur right? You had the last question." She asked.
Namur nodded and replied, "Yes, I did. Your wanted poster doesn't have your face showing on it, just you outlined in golden fire. I'm going to assume the fire is somehow from your Fruit but what I can't figure out is how, in the 5 years you have been sailing, the Marines never got a picture of your face."
"Ah, that one was a little tricky to swing in my favor. I will give a clearer explanation when I talk of my Devil Fruit but let's just say for now that I can tell when a Marine is nearby. With that ability handy I can shroud myself in those flames when they go to photograph me. I like having the ability to walk among towns on islands without the populace being afraid I will attack them or something equally as stupid as that. I might be a pirate, but the senseless killing of innocents is something I will never condone or be a part of."
Whitebeard and his commanders smiled and nodded to her statement, obviously sharing in her conviction. This was something that they were known for, in fact. Protecting those innocent and punishing those who cause trouble on their islands harshly.
"If that's all the questions we have for now?" Whitebeard asked. Getting no reply he continued, "Then you can either make that second call or we can start charting out a course of the most likely islands to search for young Luffy."
"Thinking on it, I don't want to involve any more people than we already have. With us, your allies and the RA keeping a lookout I think we have enough people. I don't want to accidentally lead the wrong people to them. If we do end up needing help then I will call my other contact." Erika said in reply.
With that agreed upon they got out maps and charts and started calculating what islands in the Calm Belt to search first. The decision to start on the ones closest to Sabaody was easy, however, they were having trouble figuring out whether to stay on the New World side or go to the Paradise side. After a heated debate they finally made the decision to travel back to Paradise, leaving a team of their allied ships to search on this side of the Red Line. Atmos brought up a valid point in saying that with two lines of the Calm Belt to search they needed to narrow down the search grid and delegate where they can.
Marco briefly left the room to inform his division on board and on the paddle ships to change course and start heading for Fishman Island. Once he returned to the room and sat back down everyone turned to Erika. With their curiosity permeating the air around them, she sighed and readied herself for a long as probably stressful discussion.
A/N: As I've gotten a bit of positive feedback on this story I've decided to continue to post chapters. As of right now, I'll post one chapter per week, every Friday. Please continue to let me know what you think, constructive criticism is welcome.
