Disclaimer-I dont' own any of this, except for Reia,and i just added the disclaimer for purpose's sake. This is my first try at fan fiction, so reviews would be helpful. Thanks.
The setting is probably the first island after They come down the magical mountain.
---Prologue---
"Reia! Reia!!"
A young girl of seven looks up from the small panpipes she blew through softly.
"Reia, darling, I need some more warai. Can you go get some for me?" asks her mother.
"Yes, Mommy," Reia replies sweetly. She skips over to the table and reaches for a straw basket. Her mother calls her back before she could reach the door. Reia turns and walks back.
"Do you remember what I told you a long time ago?" her mother asks. Reia nods. She says in a small voice, "Don't go near the mountain. And don't eat too much of the warai."
Her mother nods. She strokes Reia's jet black hair. It had grown to the middle of her back.
"Yes, darling. If you eat too much warai, you won't remember what you were supposed to do!"
Reia pouts.
"But when can I eat as much as I want?" she asks. "It makes me laugh so much! And a little tickly in my tummy," she adds with a giggle.
Her mother pretends to ponder.
"Hmmm…I guess when you can look after yourself."
"But Mommy, I see myself in the mirror all the time!"
Her mother smiles.
"I meant when you don't need me anymore," she told Reia.
Reia thought about this.
"Well then I will look after myself starting today!" she says proudly.
Her mother pats her head and smiles again.
"Okay, but I still need some of that warai," she reminds Reia. Reia jumps up.
"Oh yeah! Bye Mommy! I'll be back in half an hour," she shouts to her mother. She races out of the square orange house and runs up the hill into the forest. She follows a well-beaten path. Her pale-blue skirt bounces up and down. About ten minutes later, the warai orchards come into view. The trees looked very normal, and were planted in rows, but the fruit was just bizarre.
Reia hums sweetly as she plucks the twisty iridescent fruit and places it in her basket. It feels smooth in her hand.
"Oh when I cry
I eat warai
From Chin Shima!
The sea hates those who eat
The cursed fruit
Of Chin Shima's womb
So be wary the doomed.
Then we all eat warai
And Laugh 'til we die!"
She collects ten before she stops.
"How much did Mommy want?" she asks herself. She picks another warai and tosses it into the air. Swinging her basket to and fro, she starts to walk back and hums some more. Suddenly she trips, and the fruit rolls everywhere.
"Oh!" she yelps. She rushes after the fruit rolling down the hill back to the orchard. After a minute of helter skeltering, she returns back to her basket.
"..six...seven...eight…nine…." she counts. Her hands move through the fruit basket, but the tenth one is missing. She looks around worriedly, and a glint of rainbow colors suddenly catches her eyes to her left, near a large rock hill. The hill stretches past the clouds.
"What a big hill!" she says in awe. She skips off the path to the bottom of the hill and retrieves the fallen fruit. She deposits it in her pockets. A faint rustling is heard by the bushes as the wind blows. Reia hears a faint moaning. The wind stops blowing, and the moaning stops. Reia stares at the bushes. She advances with little steps.
"H-hello?" she asks hesitantly. She walks closer to the bushes and pulls them apart. She gasps.
A large tunnel four feet high and wide is carved into the rock. The fruit basket now forgotten, she steps in cautiously. Curiously, it wasn't cold. She walks forward, her steps growing more confident. Her hair floats along.
Then, without warning, the tunnel stops and she enters a large cavern that could fit a Marine battle ship. She gapes and suddenly feels very small. But that wasn't all. Strange trees grew from the ground. There wasn't any sunlight, and the fruit was more peculiar then warai. They were all oddly shaped, and had curly stems.
"Akuma no mi…" mutters Reia. The devil fruit. The whole cavern floor was littered with the trees, laden with the cursed fruit. Reia walks forward a bit, and then rushes to the nearby tree. She runs around with joy at the beautiful colors.
Suddenly, she spots an odd fruit on a low branch. It shimmers, and then disappears. Then it materializes back, and detaches itself from the branch. Gravity seems to have no control on this fruit. It hovers around and floats lazily away. Reia stops jumping and stares at the floating fruit. It disappears again, and Reia runs after it. She spots it again to her left and grabs it. It feels unnaturally smooth. She laughs with joy.
She hears voices to her right. They come closer. Pocketing the fruit, she runs with all her might to the tunnel and doesn't stop until she reaches daylight.
"Phew," she says with relief. She picks up her basket of warai and walks back home. She opens the front door.
"Mommy, here's the warai. Can I eat just one? Please?! I took care of myself today!" begs Reia. Her mother turns halfway around from over by the sink.
"All right. Just this once. Now why don't you go outside for a bit of fresh air? It's so sunny and the sky is so blue! Look at the grass!" suggests her mother. Reia puts the basket on the table and runs outside. She giggles as she runs in circles by herself.
"I can take care of myself!" she says gleefully. She falls down and rolls onto her back, then looks up into the sky. The wind ruffles her hair and moves her blouse around. She sighs with contentment. Her hand reaches into her pockets and takes out a smooth fruit. She bites into it and swallows joyfully, waiting for the aftermath tickling.
It didn't come. Instead, she feels light weight and more carefree than ever. This wasn't warai fruit. She gasps with shock. She looks down at the fruit she bit out of frantically. There wasn't anything in her hand.
"WhAt??!" she exclaims. She then gurgles with shock. Her voice is soft and and ethereal. The ground starts to fall away. Or was it her starting to float away?
"No no no, down down, no no no no…" Reia whimpers. She can see her hand, which was good. She runs inside.
"Mommy!!! Mommy!!! I ate a devil fruit!!! Waaaa…I'm scared..." Reia cries. Her mother jerks and breaks a plate. She turns around.
"Reia! Reia!! Where are you??!!" her mother screams.
"Mommy, I'm right here!!" Reia tugs on her mother's dress. Her mother waves her arms wildly.
"I can't see you! Reia!!!"
There is a short silence. Reia remembers the fruit's behavior. She says a small voice:
"I know you can't."
---Chapter One---
Ten Years Later…
They called it the Ghost fruit. Reia didn't know, but she knew its powers. Like the fruit itself, she could turn transparent eat will or teleport. She could also float. Those two abilities went together.
Her voice would change into the ethereal voice she would gain a translucent/transparent (it fluctuated) image. She controlled the transformation, but in anger or fear she lost control.
How did this change her life? It forced her into early maturity. She was called a freak by her peers. This didn't bother her as much because the fruit gave her the ability to execute revenge, without getting caught, of course.
An unfortunate side affect to all of this was a different kind of loneliness then the one where everyone ignored you because you were a freak. This time, the people of Chinshima couldn't help ignoring her.
That meant free warai fruit from the market. The whole island was covered in trees. Mostly warai trees.
Reia glided down the street to the market. She could feel her wispy hair float behind her. It was like she was in water. People passed without looking at her. They couldn't see her.
Finally the market came into view. It was busy and full of people haggling for fruit or vegetables or meat. She stopped at a warai stall and held the fruit to her face, inspecting the iridescent colors. One tinkled temptingly, and she grabbed it and floated to the merchant. With a faint "whiff" sound, she materialized in front of him
Being about 172 centimeters tall, plus the hip-length fine hair framing her pale face, she didn't need the devil fruit to look like a ghost. The merchant jumped backwards involuntarily, and then swallowed uncomfortably.
"I'd like this please," she told him sweetly.
He calmed down a bit and managed to say, "10 berries."
Reia shrugged her smooth shoulders and gave it to him. Pocketing her fruit in her pale-green loose pants, she adjusted her white blouse. Her panpipes whistled as the wind blew. The blouse was supposed to be below her shoulders, but it always slipped! Now on solid ground, she stepped onto the path leading up the mountain. As she left the square, she overheard some citizens talking amongst themselves.
"Word's spreading about the warai fruit," said one. The other glanced around.
"The trade is flourishing. Let's hope it lasts the whole season. The warai should last us enough. And the other fruit."
Reia walked away quickly. The other fruit? She hadn't told anyone of her discovery ten years ago. She dismissed the thought and continued climbing. When she left the last of city civilization and entered the mountainous area, she stopped. Turning around, she ran down the steep path and jumped, hands outreached into the air.
A faint "pop" was heard and the wind carried her up. Staying in the spread-eagle position, she floated away from the earth and climbed higher. She aimed for a cliff facing the only Chinshima port and stepped lightly down onto the springy grass. No one could reach this place, she was sure. Maybe the mountain goats could, but they didn't bother her. She sat down on the edge of the cliff and took out her warai. She remembered that fateful day when she bit into another fruit that was completely different.
She was the only one of her kind on this island, she knew that. But when would she find others? It didn't feel right on this island. And what did she want? She was pretty lonely, she figured. But how could she put her powers to use? She wanted to know. She wanted to help.
"Ugh, maybe some people will come along to boring Chinshima and taken me along. I just want to experience the world!" she told to the wind. It moaned in response and ruffled her hair with encouragement.
She sat down on the grass and pulled out her warai. Biting into it, she waited for the aftermath tickling. It didn't come. It never did again since that day. She started to hover, but didn't notice. A tear dropped into the grass, and next came the warai.
Reia pulled out her panpipes and began to blow, her notes unearthly. A few stray tears dropped onto the ground. The moaning sound carried around the mountain.
---------------------------------------
"Two-hundred and twenty berries," offered Nami. The paper bird squawked in protest. Nami raised her hand up in finality. Her orange hair fluttered in the wind.
"Two-hundred and thirty. You raise it and this is the last paper I'll get," she snapped. The bird seemed to ponder. Nami started to fidget.
"We've been through this since before the Magic Mountain." The bird honked in agreement and held out a wing for her payment. She gave the berries to it, and it handed her the paper and flew off the ship.
Nami held the paper under her arm and walked back to her chair by the bow. She sat down and opened the paper. When she reached to get her drink from the table, she noticed it was empty.
"Sanji!" she called.
"Yes, Nami-san!!" shouted Sanji as he burst out of the doors from the kitchen.
"Sanji, my glass is empty!" she remarked. Sanji ran down the stairs and to her sunning chair by the bow. He grabbed the glass and sprinted back up.
"Right away, my dear!" he shouted happily before he disappeared inside. Nami giggled.
"He's so silly," remarked Usopp quietly in the middle of his work. He was sitting cross-legged on the deck by Nami's left. He fiddled with some ammo and scratched underneath his tan bandanna.
"I know," replied Nami with an amused smile. Sanji burst out of the doors again and placed Nami's refilled refreshment on the table.
"Only for you, my love!!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, a straw hat poked over Sanji's shoulder, followed by Luffy's head.
"Where are we going, Nami?" Luffy asked. Nami kept on reading.
"Hey, get off me," Sanji muttered. Luffy's head turned a full 180 degrees before he spotted Usopp. Usopp was delicately placing a bullet into a jar of green powder. Luffy ran over and peered at the procedure.
"Wow, what's that?" Luffy asked in wonder. Usopp kept on working.
"IT looks like snow…" Luffy extended a finger and dipped it in the green powder that has fallen to the deck. It hissed quietly, and Usopp started to talk.
"It's a new thing I invented," he explained. Luffy examines the powder on his finger. Usopp continued.
"The enemy dismisses the powder and continues fighting. Suddenly, he feels all tingly and then a burning sensation. Then he disintegrates!" he said proudly. Then he scratched his head.
"I'm still trying to make a bullet that won't disintegrate, like the jar isn't right now."
Luffy twitched his green finger.
"My finger's starting to tingle," he observed. Usopp turned quickly to look at Luffy's finger.
"OH MY GOD LUFFY!! Get it off your finger while you still have a chance!!!" he yelled.
Luffy panicked and ran to the nearest doorway. He trampled Zoro before he entered the door.
"What the---?" yelped Zoro. He looked at the closed door. He then sat up and held his head in his hands. Luffy walked out of the room.
"Usopp, I cleaned it off!" he said grandly. Usopp raced to his side.
"How?" he questioned. Zoro stood up. Luffy grinned.
"I washed it off in there," Luffy said and pointed to the door he exited. Usopp had a puzzled expression on his face.
"But that's out water supply ----!!!" Usopp fell to the floor of the deck in shock. Zoro's mouth drops.
---One minute later---
"WHAT??!!"
Nami stood up violently. Her glass of juice was knocked over.
"And now he's poisoned our water supply," concluded Usopp.
Chopper was busy bandaging Luffy's finger. Nami walked over to Luffy and grabbed his shoulders.
"You're smarter than this!! I know it! What'd you eat this time?!" she interrogated Luffy. He thought for a bit.
"The twisty, rainbow-colored fruit. It made me laugh!" he told her. Nami released Luffy and walked back to her chair and pulled out a map. Sanji suddenly stood up. His blonde hair waved in the wind.
"Luffy…" he said menacingly. "You ate my warai fruit?" Luffy shrugged.
"All I can say is that it was very good." Zoro sighed. He looked over at Nami.
"So where are we going to get new water?" he asked. She pointed to their location on the map.
"This is where we are now. The locater is done setting in our next course. About fifteen minutes from here is the island called Chinshima," she told the crew. They all gathered around the map.
"Coincidentally, that's the island where the warai fruit comes from. It's also the only place it survives on. I heard of a legend about that place." She glanced at the crew members. Zoro shrugged.
"I'm all for it if you are, Nami-san!!" cried Sanji.
Chopper piped up, "I need more water to wash my equipment." Sanji added:
"We won't be able to cook meat for our dinner without water." Luffy stood up abruptly.
"What?! Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!!!" He jumped to the up the mast and helped Sanji bring the sails down. The Straw Hat Jolly Roger unfurled, and Zoro grinned. He proceeded to bring up the anchor, and his green hair blew back from his face.
"West…" murmured Usopp. He turned the rudder. The sails caught the wind and poofed. Nami laughed with joy, and Luffy sprang back to the bow.
"Chinshima, here we come!!"