Ch.22- The Fire That Chooses Rulers and Never Burns
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I will someday.
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7th sun, 23rd day of brown chrysanthemums
(Saturday, November 23)
The celebration last night really got me thinking about who I really am. I am an Almani, I definitely know that, yet I don't know exactly who I am. I know that I was born as the second child of Asakura Ryou and Lilie, but I don't know how to act like an Asakura. Everyone here in Almania knows how to use and control their powers, but I don't. I am an Almani, but in a way, I feel like I'm not. Zoro told me that it's normal, but I don't know.
-Emily
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Emily let out an ear piercing scram as she watched Kristina jump over the edge of the cliff. Emily quickly brought out her wings and hovered five feet in the air. She was about to fly down and catch the princess before she hit the ground, but Emily found it was unnecessary. Floating up in the air on a little cloud was Kristina. She didn't look at Emily, but pointed down at Zoro.
Emily got the message and flew down to the green haired man. When she stood on the ground and brought back her wings, she noticed that all the Almani and creatures were staring up at the sky. Emily, the rest of the pirates, and Nicole joined them and looked up at the sky.
Kristina was now nearly 200 feet in the air, sitting on the small cloud that caught her when she jumped off the cliff. At first, nobody was exactly sure if she was up there because they couldn't exactly see her…until the cloud disappeared and she began to fall towards the ground.
Quickly, the boy that grabbed Emily's shoulders flew up in the air and caught the princess in his arms. The two of them hovered ten feet above the large flames of the bonfire until King Glen snapped his fingers and disabled the boy's wings. Both Kristina and the boy fell into the fire.
Emily stared in shock at what she was seeing. The girl that gave her help to defeat Pam had just fallen into the large flames in the middle of Almania. She quickly hid her face in Zoro's side, not wanting to see the flames grow and glow a bright purple color. After two minutes, Emily heard a group of people cheer.
"Emily? Are you okay?" A voice from behind the small girl asked.
Emily turned her head and saw Kristina and the boy standing in front of the fire. The flames were now its normal color and size. "I thought you fell into the flames." Emily exclaimed.
Kristina nodded, "We did. You see, these flames are magic flames. If you step in them, you won't get burned."
"What?" Emily asked, not quite understanding what she was told.
"Okay. Hey Melissa! Walk through the bonfire!" Kristina commanded her younger sister. Melissa stood up and walked through the flames with her best friends Shelby the siren and Alexandra the fairy. When they came out of the flames, they had no burns or scars. Emily was convinced, but Usopp sure as hell wasn't.
"You guys are magic. There isn't any way you can get burned from the flames if you aren't magic!" Usopp shouted.
Kristina let out a sigh, "Okay, Pinocchio. If you don't believe me, then you walk through the flames."
Usopp started to sweat, "W-what? Me?"
Luffy looked at him, "Yeah, go ahead, Usopp."
"But I'll get burned." Usopp argued.
Robin used her powers and shoved him into the bonfire.
Usopp was so scared from within the bonfire that he started thinking that he died and got sent to Hell. He let out a loud scream and started running around, not caring if he was hurt or not. He stopped when he was out of the flames and realized that he was perfectly fine.
"See? What'd I tell you? You're perfectly fine." Kristina told him.
Usopp didn't say anything to her…but he did was back through the large bonfire, but with Luffy this time.
"Continue on with the celebration!" Kristina shouted. Everyone in Almania cheered and continued on with the celebration.
"Hey, Melody of the Seas! Play for us!" Melissa shouted at Emily.
"Yeah, come on! Play for us!" Her many friends shouted. Emily blushed and shook her head.
"Please." Melissa and her friends pleaded.
Emily hesitated, but nodded. Emily stood up with her flute in her small hands and walked towards the large bonfire in the middle of Almania.
Emily lifted her flute up to her lips, took a deep breath, and began to play. She didn't play Lilie's lullaby, which got a bunch of people and creatures disappointed, but this song that she played was just as good. This song had a quick beat and a very easily placed a smile on everybody's faces.
This quick beat song was one of the very first songs she learned when she first joined the traveling circus. This song had the same effects on the Almani and the other creatures as it did on the circus people and the other people that came to see the circus when it was still around with her in it.
The Almani around the bonfire along with a few of the creatures that couldn't fly began to dance to the beat of the music being played. All their dance moves were performed at the exact same time. The smaller creatures that could fly, performed their moves on the top of the siren's and Almani's heads.
The song ended minutes later and the dancers stopped dancing and started cheering.
"More! More!" Melissa and her friends shouted.
Emily didn't need to be told twice. Her flute was brought back up to her lips and she played more songs she played in the circus when it was still around. She finished her circus songs and, by request of Melissa and Kristina, played Lilie's lullaby.
Umiryuu and a few of the other dragons came up to the surface and moved to the beat of the lullaby. Emily's flute left her lips and she got the loudest cheer she had ever gotten before that she could possibly remember. She took a bow and a seat next to Zoro and listed to a few of the siren's songs.
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The little white box was settled in the pocket of Sanji's coat as the man nervously walked towards Nami, who was still at some of the game booths. The man softly placed a hand on her unsuspecting shoulder.
Nami jumped and quickly turned around with a soft gasp, "Sanji-kun?"
Sanji reached into his pocked and pulled out the little white box. Slowly he placed the box in her hands, "I bought this for you, Nami-san."
Nami stared at the box for a moment, wondering what exactly was in the box. She then opened the box and all of a sudden, she couldn't breathe.
Sitting in the box was a necklace with a large aquamarine jewel in the shape of a teardrop. At the top of the aquamarine was a diamond stone. She couldn't believe it. This was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen before…and it was hers. A tear rolled down her own cheek as she stared at the one that gave her the necklace, "Sanji-kun…"
Nami slipped the necklace around her own neck and smiled.
"Kirei." Sanji told her. The tears kept coming.
"Arigato!" Nami cried, giving his a kiss like she did when Sanji gave her the Dark Diamond Bracelet. She then wrapped her arms around his body and buried her face in his chest. Her tears wet his chest, but he didn't care. She was giving him tears of happiness and that's all that mattered to him.
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After ten minutes of begging, Joshua led Luffy to the place that was home to all the talking fruits and vegetables.
Luffy's eyes widened at the sight of the large talking bananas, apples, oranges, lettuce, and daikon sitting on the rocks, branches, and even the grass and dirt, exchanging conversations with each other. Amongst the large bunch of them was a tired and burnt Robert.
The burns all over his peel and inside were not very serious though they did look a bit painful. The talking banana wince every time he said a word…and all of his words were complaints about Stephanie and how much Robert hated her for using her powers to set him on fire in order to start the contest.
"Wow…I want to have a talking banana, too." Luffy gasped just loud enough for Joshua to hear him and not the talking fruits and vegetables.
Joshua softly laughed, "You'll just have to tell Kristina that. She's the one that promised you a prize if you won the contest." Luffy nodded and kept watching the fruits and vegetables.
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A plastic ring flew through the night air, hit a pole and bounced off the side.
"Ah, Dammit! I lost!" Nicole grumbled from the exterior of a game booth.
The owner of the booth shrugged his shoulders, "Better luck next time, young lady."
Nicole's eyes were burning with fire, "I've lost 87 times and that's enough times to know that this game is rigged!"
The owner shook his head, "This game is not rigged. This game can be won by anybody."
"Yeah right! This game is impossible to win!" Nicole grumbled.
"Actually, it's pretty easy." A voice from behind her answered. Nicole turned around and saw a boy about a year older than her smiling at her.
The boy walked up to the stand, picked up a ring, and calmly tossed it at a pole. The ring went through the pole.
The game owner smiled and announced, "We have a winner!" The owner picked up the prize behind the pole: A book on Almani history, and handed it to the boy.
The boy handed the book to Nicole, "Here you go."
Nicole smiled at the boy, "Thank you."
The boy returned the smile, "No problem. By the way, my name is Valentine Vincent."
"I'm Uzumaki Nicole. And this is Molly." Nicole introduced herself and Molly.
"Hey, a Mailing Cat! Where'd you get it?" Vincent asked.
"My grandpa found her outside of Wenatchee and gave her too me." Nicole answered.
"Hey, cool!" Vincent exclaimed.
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"I wonder what these herbs are for." Chopper asked out loud, holding up some blue herbs.
"Those herbs cure most fatal poisons." Kristina answered from in front of him.
"You're a doctor?" Chopper asked her.
Kristina shook her head, "No, but I've been forced to learn which herbs do what when I was seven years old. My mother made me learn."
"Oh. Well, what about these?" Chopper asked, holding up a red herb.
"It eases pain." Kristina answered.
"What about the pink one?" Chopper asked.
"That's a backup if we're out of anesthetic." Kristina answered.
"The green one?"
"Cures fevers."
"The red and purple one?"
"Eases labor pains."
"The purple one?"
"Cures stomachaches."
"The yellow one?"
"Heals sore throats."
"What about the orange one?"
"It eases burns."
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"And that's how I single-handedly defeated Crocodile." Usopp announced.
"Wow. Really?" Alexandra asked from on top of Melissa's head.
Usopp nodded, "Would I lie to a cute little princess and fairy?"
Melissa and Alexandra blushed and shook their heads. Inside, Usopp smirked. This is so easy.
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Swords smacked each other and cheering echoed throughout Almania.
"Go, Zoro!" Emily called out. With one quick smack with the sword, an Almani man went down.
"The winner…Zoro…again." Glen announced with a sigh.
Zoro had been in a sword-fighting contest ever since it started. And after the twenty minutes since the contest had begun, Zoro had defeated every single one of the Royal Family's knights and Van's brother, Folken.
"Who's next?" Zoro shouted into the audience.
"Me." A male voice shouted back. Suddenly, Van was standing in front of Zoro, holding an unsleathed sword.
"Go get him, Zoro!" Emily shouted.
"Kick his ass, Van!" Kristina screamed. Emily stared at her. "Hey, I gotta cheer for him. He's my fiancé." Kristina told her. Emily shrugged and both girls continued cheering.
"Fight!" Glen shouted. Instantly, both Van and Zoro started fighting: Zoro with three swords, Van with one. Emily and Kristina continued on with their loud cheering. A half hour passed and both Van and Zoro were still fighting their little battle. A large crowd was surrounding the small area in which the battle was.
And after seventeen minutes, the battle had ended with the victor being Zoro. Everybody cheered for him, even Kristina, although she was a bit disappointed that Van lost. Nobody cheered louder than Emily did, especially when she found that nobody else in Almania wanted to challenge Zoro.
After being praised for his sword-fighting skills and given an offer to join the Almani Knights, which he turned down due to the fact that he was one of the strongest of the Straw Hat Pirates and couldn't leave, Zoro walked back to the bonfire with Emily following him. Everyone else went their separate directions.
Nicole, Robin, and Chopper made it back to the castle for a bit of quiet relaxation from the celebration…and for a bit of research from Nicole's Almani History book and the herbs that Chopper picked. The castle was extremely silent and almost completely empty (there was two guards in the castle, but they were quiet).
The celebration was still going on outside of the castle. All the sirens were singing until they could sing no more while the people and creatures danced, played games, and laughed with the conversations they carried from one another. The sky was pitch black and the celebration still continued.
Emily met up with Kristina on a rock at the beach. "Why was everybody cheering when you and Van fell into the fire?" Emily asked the older girl.
"The fire proved that both Van and I would be great rulers of Almania." Kristina answered with a smile on her face.
"What? That's how they pick rulers?" Emily cried.
Kristina half shrugged, "Sort of. It's how they pick the good rulers. The King arranges a marriage and on the next celebration, the son or daughter of the king and their fiancé falls into the fire. If the fire glows, then they will be great rulers. That's kinda how my Dad got chosen to be King. Andrew's dad, my Uncle Greg, fell into the fire with my Aunt Doris and nothing happened so he wasn't chosen. Then Joshua's dad, my Uncle Tod, fell into the fire with my Aunt Kimberly and the same thing happened. Then my parents fell into the fire and the fire glowed, so they were chosen to be the next rulers."
Emily was shocked, "Really?"
Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh. I will be the next queen of Almania when Dad dies…if he chooses me."
"Chooses you?" Emily asked.
Kristina nodded, "Yeah. He has to choose either me or Melissa, but Dad promised me that when I turn eighteen, I will rule half of Almania. If I do a good job I will be chosen."
"Ummm…in one of my mother's diaries, she talked about a king and an upcoming queen."
Emily told her. "Oh. Your parents weren't here when my Dad became the King. See, when you parents were here, my grandpa was the king but chose my Dad to be heir to the throne. He died when I was twelve, a year after your mother left with your father. My dad was the upcoming King." Kristina answered.
"Oh." Emily said.
Both girls were silent for a moment until a smirk found itself on Kristina's face, "Hey Emily? Wanna have some fun?"
"Huh? Fun?" Emily asked cluelessly. Kristina nodded and started lifting two fingers towards her mouth. "Wait! What are you going to do?" Emily asked in a scared voice.
Kristina stuck the fingers in her mouth and blew. A loud whistle echoed through the ocean. A rumble came out of the water appeared a large dragon. It slammed its tail against the beach and both girls flew through the air and landed on his back. The dragon flew off through the air…fast.
Emily let out a loud scream, but the dragon didn't seem to mind. The dragon hid itself halfway under the water and still kept going. Water splashed around the two girls. The dragon quickly flew around the waterfall in Almania and headed towards the deepest part of the forest. On the way, the dragon started doing tricks: loops, waves, ascending, descending, and more. Emily was freaked, but Kristina wasn't. In fact, the older girl was screaming in joy.
"Hey, Emily! Stand up!" Kristina shouted.
"WHAT?" Emily screamed.
The older girl stood up on her own feet with the dragon still zooming through the air and she seemed to get her balance pretty quickly. "Come on. Try it! It's easy." Kristina shouted. Emily hesitated, but obeyed her. She stood up and quickly got her balance.
Emily clung to the hand of Kristina as they flew through the air, moving their bodies to dodge trees and their branches. The dragon made a sharp turn and headed towards Golden Town.
"Emily, get ready." Kristina warned.
"Get ready? For what?" Emily asked.
Kristina waited for a minute before shouting, "THIS!"
Before Emily could say or do anything, Kristina jumped onto a large branch with Emily. The dragon disappeared into the sea while the girls slid down the soaked branches of the trees from tree to tree with Emily screaming her lungs out the entire time.
Zoro and Van were just feet away from the screaming and laughing girls. Instantly, the two ran to the trees the girls were sliding on. Kristina and Emily slid off the branch they slid on and started falling towards the ground. Van and Zoro caught them in their arms before the girls hit the ground.
"Wasn't that fun, Emily?" Kristina asked breathlessly.
Emily stared at her, "Fun? You're crazy! That was scary!" Zoro, Van, and Kristina laughed.
Emily took a look at the sky and gasped, "Oh my god! Look!" Zoro, Van, and Kristina looked up and also gasped. Many multi-colored shooting stars were shooting through the sky. "Ohhh…" Emily gasped.
"I can't believe it." Kristina whispered.
"What?" Van asked her.
"This is the first time in sixteen years that this has happened." Kristina answered.
Emily, Zoro, Van, and Kristina watched the shooting stars until they were gone. They then noticed that Golden Town was almost completely empty. The celebration was over.
"We should probably head back." Emily said. Everyone else agreed with her. Zoro, Kristina, and Emily headed to the castle while Van headed for his house in Emerald Town.
Once inside the castle, Zoro headed off for his room and Emily turned to Kristina, "You said that the colored shooting stars happened sixteen years ago?"
Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh." She motioned for Emily to follow her up to her room. Once in Kristina's room, Kristina picked up a green book off the shelf, flipped some pages, then pointed at a page, "Read." Emily took the book and obeyed her:
7th sun, 9th day of blue-green holly
(Saturday, December 9)
At about 10:00, a large group of shooting stars came. I've seen shooting stars before, but never once have I seen multi-colored ones. That's what I saw. Melissa and I couldn't get a very good view of the shooting stars from our windows, so we quietly snuck up the top of the castle and stood on the roof. The stars were so beautiful, so bright that I thought that I was heading towards the sky.
As we stood up there, we were joined by Dad, Uncle Tod, Uncle Greg, Aunt Doris, Aunt Kimberly, Joshua, and Andrew. All of them were amazed. It looked like fireworks and the colors reflected onto our faces and Melissa's golden hair. The stars lasted probably fifteen minutes and during that time, Dad apologized to me for the arranged marriage him and Mr. Fanel made for me and Van.
I was so mad at him when he first made the arrangement that I refused to speak with him for a week. I've known Van since we were both tiny children and although he's grown a bit more kinder over the years, he still doesn't believe that girls can protect themselves and can't rule without a man being with them. I punched him for saying that.
I decided to forgive Dad. I mean, I might as well. If I don't, then I might not get the chance to rule at all. Besides, Van could change in the years. Uncle Tod told me that by using Joshua as an example (I wish he chose someone else as an example for Joshua HASN'T changed at all), but I still refuse to let Van ever boss me around and I mean it!
After the shooting stars were over, everyone but me went back inside. Dad called me in, but I didn't move. The shooting stars left the regular stars shining brighter than I had ever seen them shine, even brighter than they did when both Mom and Grandpa were still alive. Dad tells me that I might as well change my last name to Van's since I am going to marry him (whenever that happens), so from now on I will always be
-Fanel Kristina
Emily looked at Kristina, "Wow, it's like tonight."
Kristina nodded, "Yup. If you want, you can keep that diary."
Emily smiled at the older girl, "Thank you."
"No problem." Kristina told her, "It's getting pretty late. You should get to bed."
Emily giggled, "Okay."
Before Emily left the room, Kristina called, "Wait! When are you guys leaving Almania?"
Emily shrugged, "Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, and I are probably going to leave tomorrow, but I don't know about Nicole and Molly."
Kristina was confused, "Aren't Nicole and Molly part of your crew?"
Emily shook her head and answered, "No. They were only with us to come to Almania. They wanted to find out more of the Almani history. I don't know how long they're staying here."
"Oh. Okay. Well, see ya in the morning." Kristina told her.
"See ya in the morning." Emily answered, walking out the door and towards the room she shared with Nami, Robin, and Nicole.
"Hey, Nami! Nice necklace." Emily complimented, noticing the necklace around the navigator's neck.
Nami slightly blushed, "Thanks. Sanji-kun gave it to me."
"It's so beautiful. By the way, when are we going to leave Almania?" Emily asked.
"Tomorrow. We need to get back to the sea." Nami answered.
Emily shrugged, "Okay." She walked to her bed, laid her head on her pillow, and fell victim to sleep.
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A/N: Well, that's chapter 22. This is not the final chapter of the story, there will be another. I don't own Valentine Vincent or Folken either. Vincent came from Final Fantasy 7 and Folken came from Escaflowne. And about Nami's necklace: it's actually based on a true necklace I saw. Last summer, my sister's friend from California came up to our town to visit for a month and during her visit, my mom took me, my sister, and her friend to a jewelry store to get my sister and her friend's ears pierced (I only wanted to come along to look at the jewelry and my sister's friend backed out when we got to the store). The friend and I were looking at the cases and saw the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen before (which is the one that Sanji gave Nami). My mom promised to buy me and the friend something since my sister was getting earrings.
I had my eyes on the necklace. The owner of the jewelry store took the necklace out of the case and explained what it was. He even let me and the friend hold the necklace, but not put it around our necks. My mom came over and asked how much it was and the owner said that it was $1,500. My mom laughed and said no, so I never got the necklace. Oh well. I had a feeling that I wouldn't get it anyway.
R/R if you want, but don't flame me and send me any ideas if you got any. And, Mystic Kyra, don't ever say that you're not a creative person because everybody is creative, they just usually don't know it.