Ch.8- Who I Really Am.
Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine…until I get rich and buy it from 4Kids entertainment and redub it right for people aged 14 and up complete with excellent dubbed voices, Japanese openings and endings, and all the other good stuff that wouldn't ruin the dubbed version.
- - - - -
3rd sun, 17th day of pink poppies
(Tuesday, August 17)
It's been 17 days since Mama, Papa, and the rest of the circus died. I haven't been talking much since that has happened and from the looks that Master Zoro has been giving me, he's not very happy about that. Umiryuu, Mr. Luffy, and Mr. Usopp have been trying to cheer me up, but it hasn't been working. Miss Nami knows how I feel. She told me that story of her mother's death and what happened to her afterwards.
Our next stop is the city of Kupeviru. Ever since those men that ruined my note last month came, we've been low on food and supplies have run low, so we have to stop here to resupply…
- -
"2,496…2,497…2,498…" Zoro counted as he swung his huge weights vertically repeatedly. Sitting upon the top of the deck was the rest of the crew, doing what they normally would be doing…everyone except for Emily and Usopp. Emily was busy moping around while sitting behind Nami's orange trees. Usopp was busy fixing a telescope of Will's which, as Emily explained, could see through the insides of what it was pointed at, like the inside of a volcano to see if an explosion was going to happen soon.
"Hey! An island!" Luffy called from his spot on the bow.
Quickly, both him and Chopper turned the ship to the direction of the island and dropped the anchor once they got there, where the only thing to be seen was a bunch of buildings, most being shops and hotels.
"Is this the town?" Chopper asked Nami.
Nami nodded, "This is Kupeviru. Now, who's staying with the ship?"
"I will." Robin confidently answered.
Before Emily could say that she would, too, Zoro turned to her and said, "I want you to come with me through town, Emily." Emily nodded, "Yes, Master Zoro."
Zoro left for the inside of the ship to put his weights away and put a shirt on.
Nobody asked him why he actually gave Emily an order for the first time. They knew that she was still a slave…his slave.
Zoro walked back onto the deck and walked off the ship, looking back to make sure that Emily was following him. As usual, Emily was a few feet behind him and silent. Both were silent for a few minutes, until Zoro grabbed Emily's hand and brought her to his side.
"Is there something you'd like me to do, Master Zoro?" Emily asked.
Zoro shook his head, "Nope. You've just been moping around a lot, so I thought a walk would help cheer you up."
A gasp was suddenly heard from in front of them. Both Zoro and Emily looked up and saw an aging man standing there with his mouth wide open. The man pointed at Emily, "Little girl, where did you get that pendant?"
Emily put her hand over her pendant and answered, "From my mother." She felt sort of bad for saying that, but technically it wasn't a total lie. The pendant did belong to her parents.
The man was still staring at her, not taking his eyes off of her for even half a second as he stuck his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a pendant almost completely identical to Emily's. The only difference was that the flames on this pendant were red while the ones on Emily's were orange.
"Little girl, may I see that pendant of yours?" The man asked Emily.
Emily's hands didn't leave her pendant, but she clutched it as if she was trying to hide it from him. She stared at the man. He looked like he wouldn't steal it, plus if he did, she and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates would find the man and take it back along with a few other things. Slowly, Emily took her pendant from her neck and handed it to the man.
The man did not run off with the pendant like Emily and Zoro expected him to do. Instead, he put the two pendants side-by-side.
Suddenly, as if by magic, both pendants started to glow. The man moved the connected pendants into Emily's small hands. The glowing lights reflected off her face and put a shocked smile on her face.
Zoro was just as shocked as she was. Never before had he seen anything like that. He started to move his hands to the glowing pendants, but stopped himself in fear of doing something wrong.
The man looked at Emily and asked, "Are you…Emily?"
Emily nodded, partially bringing her attention to the man in front of her.
The man tossed his head back and laughed loudly.
Emily, now completely freaked out, jumped and hid behind Zoro while shaking like a scared puppy.
Zoro laid a hand on her emerald head, slightly calming her down.
The man saw that Emily was shaking in fear behind the swordsman and stopped laughing. "It's been so many years since I last saw you." The man said to Emily.
Zoro looked at his slave, "Is he one of your earlier master's friends?"
Emily shook her head, "No. I've never seen him before in my life."
"You just don't remember me," the man told her, "I don't blame you. You were only a month old when your family died and you left."
"How do you know my family?" Emily asked him.
"That's easy. Your parents moved here a long time ago…Twenty years, I think, and had 2 children. A little boy and you." The man said with a smile.
"Who are you?" Emily asked him.
The man answered, "I am the mayor of Kupeviru. People call me 'Mayor Wilhelm'. I had a feeling that one day you'd come back. Your family has missed you."
"My family missed me? What do you mean?" Emily asked him.
Mayor Wilhelm looked at her confused face, "What? It's been a long time since they've been visited by another Almani."
Emily paused, "What did you just say?"
"It's been a long time?"
"No, after that."
"Since they've been visited?"
"After that."
"By another Almani?"
"Yeah, that part. Why did you call me an Almani?"
"You didn't know? You're the last one left."
"No, that's impossible. They were destroyed 15 years ago."
"Not with what your parents did."
"What did they do?"
"It's a long story. Come with me to my house and I'll tell you."
"Well…" Emily looked up at Zoro.
Zoro smiled, "Go ahead. I got some other business to attend to."
Emily nodded, "Okay, Master Zoro." Emily took the hand that Mayor Wilhelm held in front of her and walked with him to his home.
Zoro walked the opposite way, towards a large building.
- - - -
Kim, Kelly, and Ryan stood over the side of the Marine's ship.
"There it is!" Kim called out, pointing ahead at Kupeviru as it got closer and closer.
"Kupeviru. It's been so long since we last came here." Kelly sighed.
"I know," Ryan said, "Three years. Maybe Mayor Wilhelm will let us get into that house in the woods that's been locked for twelve years."
Kim shook her head, "I doubt it. Last time we tried picking the locks, we got caught and were forced to clean the outside of the house and yards as a punishment."
"Maybe it will be different this time." Kelly told her.
"Yeah! Maybe the mayor will figure out that twelve years is long enough and let us in!" Ryan almost shouted.
A voice from behind the three of them suddenly shouted, "Uchiha! Himura! Glory!"
Kim, Kelly, and Ryan jumped and turned around to see Smoker. "Yes sir?" the kids asked.
"Before you even think about getting onto Kupeviru, I want you to do at least 45 minutes of swordsmanship practice. Starting…now." Smoker told them.
"Yes sir!" Kim, Kelly and Ryan shouted, automatically swinging their swords.
- - - - -
"Ummm…Mayor Wilhelm? Are we closer to your house?" Emily asked him.
Mayor Wilhelm stopped in front of a large house, "We're here." He walked up to the front door of the house and turned the doorknob, "Come on in."
Emily nodded and followed him inside the extremely clean house. A woman was sitting on the chair inside the room that Mayor Wilhelm and Emily walked in.
The woman lowered the book in her hands and stared at the little girl holding the mayor's hands, "Who?"
"Sandy, Ryou and Lilie's daughter has come back." Mayor Wilhelm announced.
The woman dropped her book, "The…Almani?" Mayor Wilhelm nodded his head. Almost instantly, Sandy jumped from her chair and threw her arms around Emily.
Mayor Wilhelm laughed, "This is my wife, Sandy."
"Ummm…nice to meet you." Emily said to the woman clinging onto her.
"You said you knew my parents?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.
The man smiled, nodded, and walked to a drawer. He opened it up, pulled out a picture in a frame, and handed it to Emily, who was now free from Sandy's clutches.
In the picture was a young man and woman, both with green hair. The man's short hair was spiky, his eyes were green, and his muscular arm was around the woman next to him. The woman had the exact same hair as Emily, her eyes were blue, and she had a big smile on her face.
"Are these my…" Emily started to ask.
Mayor Wilhelm nodded, "Those are your parents. The runaway Almani."
Emily blinked, "Runaway Almani?"
"Yup. Sit down on the couch and I'll tell you about them being runaways." Mayor Wilhelm instructed. Without wasting a second, Emily moved to the couch. Mayor Wilhelm moved to the chair.
-ALMANI FLASHBACK- - - - -
A man and woman sat on a stump inside of a forest. Both were upset.
"I can't stand living here anymore. I can't bear living with the other Almani. I want to see the outside." The woman told the man.
The man nodded, "I feel the same way."
"Will we be able to leave any time soon?" The woman asked.
The man thought then nodded, "We'll pack up what we can and leave at midnight."
The woman smiled and hugged him, unaware of the sprites hidden in the trees hearing their plan.
A half an hour before midnight, the man and woman lifted two bags onto their shoulders and quietly opened and closed the front door of their house. The man grabbed the woman's hand and left for the entrance of the village.
They were just three feet away when a loud and angry voice stopped them, "And just where do you think you're going?"
The man and woman turned around to see the king of the Almani along with a few of his guards. The man looked at them, "We can't stay in this town anymore. We're leaving…for the outside."
"I can't allow you to do that." The king told the man.
The man grabbed the woman's hand and looked at her, "Let's go, Lilie!" Before anything else could be said, the man and woman ran through the entrance.
They stopped when they were six yards away from the village. The king and the Almani were standing behind the entrance.
"Ryou! Lilie! Come back before it's too late!" The king called.
Ryou ignored them and continued running farther and farther from the screams and the village, holding Lilie's hand the entire time.
END ALMANI FLASHBACK- - - -
Sanji walked along the docks in the Marina. He used a hand to cover his own mouth to block out the disgusting smell that the Marina had.
Nami was following him and doing the same thing and struggled to keep herself from passing out. For every step she took into the Marina, she regretted more and more about volunteering to help Sanji do some shopping, but then remembered that Kupeviru was an extremely poor town and had none of the latest fashions in their shops.
Both of them finally came to a fish shop and went in. The man behind the counter smiled at Sanji and Nami and waved his left hand, "Welcome. What can I get you?"
Sanji ordered 75 lbs of uncooked fish from the man.
Nami stared at the place where his right arm should have been.
The man turned his attention to Nami, "Young Lady. If you're looking for my arm, it's over there."
The man pointed with his left hand to the end of the shop, at a large see-through box that had a muscular right arm in it.
Nami quickly put a hand over her now gaping mouth, "That's disgusting."
"I know. Lost it when a dolphin came up and just bit it off." The man answered.
"A dolphin?" Sanji asked.
The man nodded, "Yup. Those little bastards can rip your body to shreds if ya aren't careful."
"But why did you put it in here?" Nami asked the man.
The man shrugged, "Got nowhere else to put it."
Sanji shoved the money to buy the fish into the man's left hand and left the shop quickly with Nami. Without stopping, the cook and navigator carried the 75 lbs of fish to the Going Merry. Once inside the ship, Nami and Sanji were able to breathe in the smell of food and a clean kitchen.
Both of them inhaled breath after breath of the ship as they quickly put the fish into the fridge. Once all the fish was placed into the fridge, now closed, the kitchen no longer smelled of fish or any part of the Marina. Both Sanji and Nami stood next to each other, inhaling the clean ship and smoky smell from Sanji's cigarette and didn't move.
"This town stinks. I wonder how people could stand to live here." Nami complained.
- - - -
Zoro took a step into the large building not too far from Mayor Wilhelm's house. The building had only one room and was stuffed with papers and files and shelves. In the middle was a desk with a man sitting behind it with an unlit cigar in his mouth. The man looked up, "Yes? Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for some certain papers." Zoro answered.
The man let out a sigh, "We here in Kupeviru no longer give out information about our citizens unless absolutely necessary. So if you-"
"No." Zoro interrupted, "I'm looking for something else."
The man paused, "And what's that?"
Zoro leaned towards the man and whispered what he wanted, making sure that nobody but him and the man at the counter knew what Zoro wanted.
The man nodded, opened up a nearby file, and handed a paper and pen to Zoro. "Just fill this form out." The man instructed.
Zoro nodded his head and started filling out the form as the man had instructed him to do. It took a few minutes for him to do so and costed him at least 50,000 berries to buy what he filled out the form for. He handed the form back to the man.
The man looked through the paper, stamped it, and shook Zoro's hand, "Congratulations. You have now changed the life of one person for the better."
The man put the paper into a copy machine and gave the copy to Zoro, who put it into his pocket and left the house. Outside of the house was Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp.
"What were you doing in there?" Luffy asked the swordsman.
"It's a surprise." Zoro simply answered.
"Well, where's Emily?" Chopper asked.
"The mayor's house. I'm going to pick her up now." Zoro answered, walking towards Mayor Wilhelm's house.
- - - -
"Mayor Wilhelm? Can you take me to my home?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.
The man nodded and took a key from inside a nearby drawer. He led the emerald haired girl to the front door and opened it to find Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper standing there.
"Yes, Master Zoro?" Emily asked Zoro.
"I'm going to take you back to the ship." Zoro told her.
"I was just about to take her to her house." Mayor Wilhelm told Zoro.
Zoro nodded, "Fine. Go ahead."
Mayor Wilhelm led Emily down a path going through the small forest. Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper followed them. As all of them walked, Mayor Wilhelm entertained Emily by telling her stories of her home in Kupeviru and her family, "When your family was murdered, most of the valuable items from your home was stolen by the group of people that murdered your family. I think the people knew that your family was Almani, but didn't know that they had a baby girl sleeping in a cradle."
"You mean I slept through the entire thing? While my family was being murdered?" Emily asked him.
Mayor Wilhelm nodded, "It was amazing how much of a heavy sleeper you were. You even slept when Shanks came into your house after the men left. The only family members still living were you and your father. 'My daughter…' your father said, lifting his hands towards your cradle, then died. In your cradle was a piece of paper with your name and birth date and the two pendants." Suddenly, he stopped, "We're here."
In front of him stood a small cabin with all its doors and windows boarded and locked up.
"This is my home?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.
The man nodded, "It is. Before I unlock your house, I think it'd be right to visit your family."
Emily nodded and followed him to the backyard where three graves sat. "Why are there three graves? I thought that I only had parents that died?" Emily asked the mayor.
The mayor sadly shook his head, "The 3rd grave belongs to Aron."
"Who's Aron?" Emily asked.
Mayor Wilhelm looked at her, "Your brother."
- - -
"Well, it's been 45 minutes. Let's go." Kim announced to her friends.
Ryan and Kelly nodded and put away their swords. Kim did the same. The three friends called out where they were going as they ran off the Marine's ship.
"And now, to the abandoned house!" Ryan shouted.
"Yeah!" Kim and Kelly shouted cheerfully. Then they started running towards Emily's house.
- - -
"I had a brother?" Emily asked.
Mayor Wilhelm looked even more upset, "Yes. Aron was seven years older than you and was always smiling and laughing. The poor boy died so young and the whole town was upset about that. Now are you ready to go into your home?"
"Yes." Emily answered.
Mayor Wilhelm handed the key to her, "This key unlocks every lock around the doors and windows of the house. I was instructed twelve years ago to lock the doors and windows until you came back."
Mayor Wilhelm then walked from the house to his own. Emily, Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper walked to the front door of Emily's house.
The small girl put the key in the keyhole and turned the key. A click was heard and the lock fell off the door and hit the ground. Emily ignored it, turned the doorknob, and pushed open the door.
The inside of the house was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything inside. Emily and Zoro walked out of the house and to every window. Emily took the locks off of all the boards while Zoro ripped the boards off the windows with his bare hands. They returned to the inside of the house a few seconds later. The sun from the sky shone through the windows and lit up the entire house.
There wasn't as much things in the house as there were in the circus carts that were sent to Haru and Misao, mostly because, like Mayor Wilhelm had explained, most of the items inside were stolen twelve years ago by the people that killed Emily's family. Tables, chairs, and drawers were broken, tipped over, cleaned out, and extremely dusty. They all stood in the living room, which had barely anything in it. The kitchen was practically cleaned of everything but a sink, stove, oven, and years and years of dust and the bathroom was no better.
There were only three other rooms in the house: two bedrooms and an attic, left to explore.
Emily stepped into the larger of the two small bedrooms. She heard footsteps fading behind her. Emily looked behind her and saw that Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had left her house. She didn't know if she should follow them, but she also didn't move.
Eventually, she shook the thought off and opened a window to let some air in the room. The next thing she did was collapse on the big bed. She hit her head as soon as it met the pillow. Emily lifted up her head and moved the pillow. Under it laid a pure white book full of written words: a diary with the penmanship of a woman.
On a drawer was a very dusty mirror. With a nearby cloth, Emily cleaned the dust off and looked at herself. She looked just like her mother from the picture in Mayor Wilhelm's home. Beside the mirror stood a dusty picture of her parents and Aron, who looked surprisingly like Zoro when he was a kid. In Lilie's arms was a tiny baby girl.
Emily grabbed the picture and the diary then headed for the smaller room. There was only a bed and chest left in the room, aside from twelve years of dust. Emily opened up the chest, but found nothing inside. Sighing, Emily sat down on the bed and heard the sound of something falling to the ground. She jumped off her bed and looked at the floor behind her. Behind her was a small toy pirate. Emily giggled at its goofy painted face and cute painted on clothes.
Emily moved onto her back and dragged herself under the bed. On the sides of the bed sat miniature carved figurines the size of the toy pirate. Two of the figurines were of an emerald haired man and woman with angel wings, the other was of an emerald haired boy with angel wings. There were two other items hidden under the bed: a small bag of marbles and a rolled up treasure map leading to the attic signed by Aron.
- -
Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran through the forest, down the path towards Emily's house. The three of them stopped and gasped when they saw the cabin unlocked and unboarded. In an instant, the three marines ran up to the front door and opened it up. The three stared in shock at the piles and piles of dust. They walked inside and closed the door behind them.
- - - -
Emily jumped at the front door opening and ran out to the living room. "What are you doing here?" Emily demanded.
"We should ask you the same thing, Pirate-slave." Ryan shot back at her.
"This is my house. And now I want to know why you're in here." Emily demanded.
"It is not your house!" Ryan shouted at the smaller girl.
"This is so my house!"
"It is not! This place has been abandoned for twelve years!"
"I was born in this house and left after my family died in it twelve years ago!"
"So, you lied to me. You aren't really twelve."
"Yes, I am! I was a month old when my family died."
"Then what about your master? Why did he leave?"
"I didn't have a master when I was a baby. I became a slave when I was three."
"Then what is that paper in your left hand?"
Ryan pointed his right index finger to the map in Emily's left hand.
"A map from my brother."
"So, Roronoa Zoro is your brother."
"No he's not! My brother's name is Aron."
"Yeah right."
Now Emily was mad.
"Look, if you're going to keep to keep on acting like this to me, then I want you to get out of my house."
Inside, Emily gasped. It had been so long since she talked to another person like she had just done to Ryan.
Ryan snorted and stormed out of the house.
Kim and Kelly quickly followed him back to the Marine's ship, listening to him mumble angrily about Emily.
Emily ignored Kim, Kelly, and Ryan and walked up to the attic with Aron's treasure map.
The attic was cluttered with many different treasures: chairs, pillows, boxes, a typewriter, books, holiday decorations, toys, and even a small loveseat.
Aron's map led her to a red bag in the corner of the attic with the name "Aron" stitched delicately in black thread, most likely by Lilie. Inside the bag was books of children's legends with beautiful illustrations, a half done figurine of a girl with angel wings, photos of Emily's family including one of just her and Aron.
The bag also included a good amount of drawn photos signed by Aron and a few more diaries: two being Lilie's, one being Aron's, and the final belonging to Ryou. Emily drug the bag to the loveseat and started reading one of Lilie's diaries, hoping to learn more about her race.
- - -
"Lady Pam!" A man running into the dining room of Pam's lair shouted.
"Yes, Bryce?" Pam asked the man in annoyance.
"We…failed on our mission. The men that you controlled were found dead in the ocean." Bryce announced.
Pam smacked her forehead, "Oh goddammit! That was a good chunk of power wasted. Bring Mark into here!"
"Yes, Lady Pam." Bryce said, rushing to Pam's room and grabbing Mark's orb.
"Mark! Get up!" Pam screeched into the orb.
Mark showed his face, "Yes?"
"Where is that Almani brat?" Pam screamed.
"She is now in the town of Kupeviru, alone in the cabin at the edge of the forest." Mark answered.
Pam smirked, "Perfect." Pam put her hands on the pendant, which still had most of Kayleigh's power in it, closed her eyes, and chanted, "Go to Kupeviru and take over anybody you wish except for the Almani girl and get her out of the cabin by any means necessary. Psycho Psycho Transfer."
The magic in the pendant went towards the town of Kupeviru in the fast speed. Pam looked through the window in the room at the cloudy sky and laughed evilly, "Finally. After twelve years I will get the Almani secrets. Be prepared, little girl for soon I will be your master…until the day you die."
- - -
A/N: Well, another chapter is finished. I made up Ryou, Lilie, and Aron (all the other new characters were based off of real people). I'll update soon!