An entire week had flown by since Briar decided to tag along with the Whitebeard Pirates and their agreement didn't seem all that bad to Briar. She was given her own room and in return she had to help out around the ship by doing chores in exchange for three meals a day. The only downside was that she had to be constantly supervised by the Commanders for the majority of her stay because no one on the crew besides the captain trusted her due to being a former Marine. Though Briar couldn't blame them for that. To Briar, she would much rather prefer the pirates' treatment compared to how she was treated by the Marines in a heartbeat, even if she had to be constantly surrounded by pirates.
However, Briar could blame the pirates for being complete and utter assholes though. It was almost like they were purposely trying to make her life a living hell. Nobody but the captain called her by her actual name, only calling her 'Marine'. When the commanders weren't around or weren't paying attention, various members of the crew would trip her as she was walking causing her to fall face first or straight plain out shove her onto the ground. Even though she could tell they were even trying to provoke her which had resulted in multiple altercations, Briar was always being blamed for. In retaliation for the pirates' treatment of her, Briar did the same. Even though she sometimes did what she was told, it didn't mean she had to be nice about it. If they want to act like complete assholes towards her, well two can play at that game. She became more hostile, sarcastic, and aggressive, outright refusing to interact with anyone unless they talked to her first. The only ones she was kind of nice towards were the captain and sometimes Marco and Thatch. Everyone else could go to Hell for all she cared. Briar knew it was her decision to stay on the ship for two months but it did not mean she had to like it.
It also did not help that Thatch must have blabbed to everyone about how cold her skin was. Everyday people would approach her at random and try to touch her skin to see if Thatch was telling the truth. It also didn't help that members on the crew seemed to turn it into a game of 'Who can touch the ex-Marine girl to see how cold her skin is without getting caught'. Heck, even some of the Commanders would participate in this stupid game.
Right now Briar was walking up the stairs that led outside with a stack of papers clutched to her chest. Marco had carefully instructed her to take these papers to Commander Haruta for him to sign and that he should be on the deck. She couldn't remember what for exactly, as she had zoned out during the last bit. At least she didn't have to look very hard as the twelfth Commander was where Marco said he would be. Unnoticed, she quietly walked up and stood beside the Commander.
"What are you doing here, Marine?" Haruta asked as he turned his head toward her with narrowed eyes. Haruta, like the majority of the people on the crew, hated her. It didn't phase the girl as she wasn't on the ship to get on everyone's good sides.
"Marco sent me to deliver these papers for you to sign." She just smiled at him as she handed him the papers Marco gave her. "Besides, how did you know it was me?"
"Easy to figure out when it suddenly gets colder whenever you show up." He snickered as he practically ripped the papers from her hands.
"That's impossible. How can someone cause the temperature to change?" Briar turned her attention to the deck where two members of the crew, a pair of identical twins, Johnny and James, were playing around. "For that to be possible I would have to eat a weather-related Devil Fruit. I can assure you that I'm not a Devil Fruit user. In fact I don't even know what a Devil Fruit even looks like."
"Yeah, sure." Haruta rolled his eyes, not buying what the Marine was saying even for a second.
"I'm tellin' ya, James. There are only two types of fire related Devil Fruits!" Johnny argued at his brother.
"No. Johnny there's three. I asked commander Marco just last week and he confirmed it." James argued back.
"Well let's ask commander Haruta and see if he knows." Johnny suggested, with James nodding his head in agreement. "Commander Haruta, how many fire-related Devil Fruits are there?" They both asked in sync.
Briar quietly laughed at the twins bickering as she turned around to see Haruta facepalm. "James is right Johnny. There are only three fire related Devil Fruits out there- fire, phoenix, and magma." The twelfth commander explained. "Told you so." James said as he stuck out his tongue at his brother, causing Johnny to pounce on him. Leading the two to wrestle each other on the deck.
"You're wrong Commander." Briar pointed out with a smile. Haruta turned his gaze to her with a look of disbelief. "What do you mean I'm wrong. There are only three Devil fruits that have the ability to produce fire."
"Commander Haruta can't be wrong, he's in charge of collecting intel for a reason." One of the twins chimed in.
"Yeah there are only three that were recorded or were seen in person. But in reality there are more. Besides who ever said there couldn't be more than one version of a Logia Devil Fruit." Briar smirked. "Don't feel bad, commander. Not everyone knows about these fruits."
"For someone who doesn't even know what a Devil Fruit even looks like, you sure know a lot." Haruta pointed out. "That doesn't even make any sense. If there were more then why weren't they recorded or have any documentation regarding their existence. Besides, what other Fruit produces flames?"
Briar was having way too much fun with this. "Maybe the government didn't want anyone knowing of their existence or maybe they haven't been eaten or found over the years. Just because something isn't recorded or talked about doesn't mean it didn't exist or didn't happen. Besides we're in the New World anything is possible."
"You're just a marine, what do you know?" Was that seriously the best comeback he could come up with?
"Correction, former marine and I apparently know more about it than you do." With that he stomped off inside the ship. Before he could actually reach the inside, Briar shouted "Nice talking to you, Commander!" Haruta slammed the door loudly.
Meanwhile Marco and Whitebeard were in Whitebeard's room as Marcp had wanted to talk to the man alone with no interruptions. Marco was standing while Whitebeard sat on the bed. "Are you sure about keeping the Marine on board, yoi?" Marco asked Whitebeard. "What if she's actually a spy, and is still working for the Marines, yoi?"
Whitebeard sighed before speaking in a soft tone. "Son, we can't judge her based on her past being a Marine."
Marco's shoulders sunk as he ran a hand through his hair. "I know Oyagi. She's just been nothing but hostile and aggressive. She's also been getting into multiple fights with the crew already and It's only been a week, yoi."
"Don't you remember Ace was the exact way." Whitebeard pointed out. "He tried to take my head on multiple occasions."
"Yeah. But Ace didn't try to attack the crew, yoi."
"I know that son. All I'm saying is that Briar's behavior and attitude to us is similar to how Ace was before he joined the crew.
Whitebeard gently put his hand on Marco's shoulder. "Marco I understand you're worried and that's perfectly reasonable given the circumstances but I need you to trust me." He smiled. "You never know, she might surprise you. You just have to give the girl a chance."
Marco nodded his head, smiling up at the man. "I trust your judgment, Oyaji. I'll try to keep an open-mind about this but it's not going to be easy to convince the rest of the crew to do the same."
"Besides, if you hadn't noticed already the girl seems to be nicer towards you and Thatch compared to everyone else."
The door slammed open to reveal Haruta panting, trying to catch his breath. "What is it son?" Whitebeard asked in concern. It took Haruta a couple minutes before he was able to start speaking. "Is it true that there are more fire-related devil fruits out there?" Haruta asked. Marco and Whitebeard both blinked in confusion wondering what brought up this question.
"There were rumors." Both Marco and Haruta looked up, focusing all their attention on their father figure as he continued speaking. "Years ago there were rumors going around saying that Logia Devil Fruits had more than one version almost like a Zoan. But over the course of time those rumors died out because no one could provide any actual proof that these Fruits existed." Whitebeard answered. "Why do you ask, son?"
"Because the Marine was saying that there was more out there."
"Did she say anything else, yoi?" Marco encouraged as he gestured for Haruta to keep speaking.
"No. But she did say there were more fire-related Devil Fruits." Haruta's eyebrows furrowed. "Could there be a chance that there is another type of Ace's Devil Fruit?"
"No one can exactly say for certain, son. After all nothing is truly impossible until proven otherwise. For now only time will tell if these Devil Fruits really do exist."