Blood ties like Iron Chains Chapter 17
Surprising Family members
(Near Dvorak, one of Runny Rum Archipelagos smaller islands)
"Is this it?" Nami said, as she took in the small island as the Sunny approached it. Even from a distance it was obvious that the island and its inhabitants were nothing special.
But if Coyle was right, it was here they find one of the smugglers relatives, the mysterious I.F.
Thinking back to him, Nami was really happy to be rid of him. Murderous one minute and happy-go-lucky the next, it had been like dealing with an intelligent Luffy, albeit one where the empathy had been lowered to make more room for extremist cruelty, blackmailing and mind games.
Looking back at the deck, Nami found that it was weird how empty it had become.
After Shirahoshi had ended up on another ship, belonging to the Ideo pirates (yet another member of the Strawhat Grand Fleet she'd have to get used to) it was back to its usual spaciousness. It didn't help that Robin and Brook had gone with the smaller group to deliver the mermaid princess to her father Neptune.
She hadn't heard anything new, so she assumed that they had yet to meet up.
Looking out over the sea, Nami considered how they'd gotten there, not their beginning adventures in East Blue, when the world was lonely and simple, but this adventure: princesses (and Kuja) missing → find women with Sanji's pervoyancy → save women → find out some of the princesses and both Kuja have become ill → find cure → cure is some odd mixture with blood of close family members in it → finds out Kujas only family is the crazy super smuggler Coyle, who is dead….→ consult Coyles' journals and then his "ghost"! → smugglers' "echo ghost" sends them to a relative. All the time having the crew dodge either crazed pirates or fanatical marines!
And now there was something else that had to be taken into consideration…
"Is something wrong Nami?"
Looking down, Nami smiled at Chopper, who was looking up at her with a tired look in his eyes.
Figures, she thought, he's been busy with 4 patients for days now
"Just a feeling Chopper… when we escaped from Big Moms' daughter at the museum, she had demanded to know who our backer was… Who had foreseen our return to Sabayodi and then helped us… I didn't even know that! and how could she know that anyway?"
"Dunno…" the reindeer responded with a shrug "Perhaps some of Big Moms' spies found out and told 'em" he yawned.
"Hey, how about you catch some sleep, We need our doctor to be in top shape, even you can't cure Rindo and Marguerite when you're tired"
Chopper didn't answer, instead beginning to sway from side to side, too tired to even obey gravity.
When he began to snore, Nami took heart and stood next to him so he didn't fall over.
Eventually she scooped up the little reindeer and carried him to the kitchen where Sanji was busy making something for the crew.
A full stomach was a calm person I guess
Sanji was almost too busy smiling at Vivi who were filleting a fish to notice her, and she liked that particular change of pace, as it allowed her to leave almost as soon as she'd entered, swiftly handing Chopper over to Rebecca who hadn't been doing anything (aside from worry about her aunt).
Making her way to the bridge, She could see Franky calmly steer the Sunny around the small island, trying to find a pier so they could dock.
Usopp had retired to the boys' cabin, or so he said, Nami distinctly remembered seeing him sneak off to the library, no doubt in her mind that he wanted to avoid another fight.
Which left, aside from the two Kuja in the sickbay, Luffy.
Unlike his usual behaviour, he wasn't sitting on the figurehead, starring into the horizon, but was sitting on the deck, looking angrily at nothing.
Still seething from what Amadob said….
Nami understood of course, hell she was angry at that pirate too!
But she had to push those thoughts aside, and so did he.
There were two people in the women in the infirmary that needed their aid, and that didn't come if they were distracted by anything.
Nami didn't know it yet,
but there'd be plenty of distractions on Dvorak!
(On the seas)
Neptune shivered.
Not from cold but from worry, he hadn't seen his daughter in almost a week (more than he'd ever gone without seeing any of his children) and she was ill too!
When he'd received the call to come pick her up himself, he'd rushed off, only to be stopped by his host the pesky Vinsmoke Judge, who insisted on bringing an escort of Germa troops, including one of his sons (the one with the green hair) for safety reasons.
Neptune only required a squad of highly trained doctors to see to his daughters' health, but his Germa colleague had been persistent.
Which meant that he was now stuck with a motormouthed Germa prince, whose attentions alternated between asking about his daughters looks and drooling over the Strawhat crews' wanted posters (only the female pirates though).
"So when you said your daughter was big, did you mean big for me, or big for you?" the green haired prince (Yonji he was called, but to Neptune, the boy was Kelpji, it just fit him so much better).
"Big for me…" the merman king sighed, holding up a hand to signify his daughters' height (which was above his own head).
Looking down at the smaller man; Neptune noted his large eyes, the open mouth and the raised eyebrows: some of the surest signs of surprise and awe.
If it's wasn't for the lecherous tongue that hung out of the mouth, the panting and the hearts-for-eyes, Neptune might have found little Kelpji endearing.
Please Neptune prayed inwardly let my daughter return to me safe and sound, and let the doctors know what they're doing! Please give me the strength needed to shoulder any problem my child may have!
After a moment of thinking (and listening to Kelpji's panting), Neptune hastily added
And the strength to not throw this little creep overboard!
"Your highnesses!" the lookout suddenly called "ships ahoy! One from the South East and one from North East!"
What? There was only supposed to be one for the meeting!
"Any symbols on them?" Neptune called back, worried
"One is the ship we're due to meet, the other is the Revolutionaries from earlier!"
"Great!" little Kelpji howled, rubbing his hands in glee "We can save your daughter, AND beat that weird guy!"
Before Neptune could stop him,
the prince had given the order to charge.
(On Dvorak)
"So you're looking for a rundown house… and Someone with the initials I.F.?" the blonde girl repeated, giving the Strawhats an odd look (the kind only a country bumpkin could manifest) "…Are you tax collectors?"
"Nope, I'm gonna be PI-" Luffy began before Franky put a large hand over his mouth.
"We're just looking for a distant relative" Nami said with a smile, technically that was true, just not one of theirs.
"Ysabel… I think they're talking about… you-know-who" an older woman next to her added nervously. The similarities between the two were so numerous that even Luffy could recognise them to be mother and daughter, except for the wrinkles around the middle-aged woman's face.
"Oh, you mean…" Ysabel responded loudly
"Not so loud! She might wake up!" the girls' mother hushed her before she could finish
"We heard she was getting visitors, but we didn't know it was so soon, we barely finished cleaning her house"
"Her?" Luffy repeated in confusion, getting a strange feeling at the back of his neck
"I.F. of course" the woman responded, "I'll show you the way, just promise you'll be quiet!"
"How'd you know she was getting visitors?" Nami asked an eyebrow raised
"Someone called her yesterday and said someone was in the area… someone she knew, she wasn't happy about our questions, so we stopped"
"Who is this I.F. person anyhow? It's super mysterious!" Franky added in while he combed his hair into a small mohawk
"You don't know her?"
"I.F. is related to someone we know, someone who needs their help!" Nami explained
"If they don't get it, THEY'LL DIE!" Luffy added in, still feeling that odd sensation travelling down his neck to his spine. But that didn't matter, getting that damn cure mattered!
"Oh dear… Well, if it's about family, I Guess it wouldn't hurt to introduce you to her…" the woman gulped "it's right this way…"
As the woman led the group away from the house, Luffy couldn't shake the feeling that he should be running in the other direction…
(On the seas)
"Well nice to meet You Ivankov-san, Dragon-sama… mentioned you" Robin smiled at the large headed Okama, hoping to wrap this up as soon as possible.
"Yeah, yeah, you too, where's strawhat-boi? I got to stop him from doing anything Coyle-boi tells him-busu!"
"What do you mea-" Robin shivered as another blood curdling scream erupted from the third ship.
"How long is she gonna scream like this?" Ideo scowled with gritted teeth "She's been like this ever since your ships slammed into each other!"
"Oh, that's simple" the large form of Neptune added, without looking up from his sick daughter, holding her trembling hand as she were being treated by the germa's doctors "SHE, used to be a HE" he snickered, unable to contain his mirth
"WHYYYYYYYYY?" the green haired woman kept screaming, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wailed at the heavens, knees bent and repeatedly slamming her female form unto the deck in a sobbing clump (Brook asking to see her panties didn't help).
"…How?" Ideo muttered as he watched the large headed man smile and wave his hand
"I just gave him a hormone shot, as soon as she gets used to it, she'll be much happier-busu!"
"I CAN'T MARRY A MERMAID PRINCESS LIKE THIS!" the greenhaired woman screamed dreadfully both hands grasping her head in despair.
While the Ideo pirates and Brook watched the anguish of the former man (Neptune took a small moment out of his worry for his daughter to try and console her/him, but somehow saying "he had sons too" didn't exactly help the situation), Ivankov told Robin what was wrong.
Even ten minutes later, Robin still felt, despite Ivankov telling her it wasn't so, that her jaw had hit the deck at some point during the explanation.
Someone that could scare Dragon was something to avoid at all cost, and her friends were heading straight for them!
(On Dvorak)
Nami blinked as she saw the house.
When Coyle had told them to look for a rundown house, he hadn't been exaggerating!
Especially the parts about not being able to miss it.
Located at least 50 meters from the other houses in the village, everything spoke of staying away from it.
The whole building looked like it was about to fall over! Crooked wooden walls, a small porch, dark and forbidding windows, many of which were broken and shattered. Parts of the walls seemed to have weathered a storm, while others bore the marks of fire and smoke damage. Even the stone foundation hadn't avoided whatever had happened, part of a rocky corner hung freely over a small sinkhole, while a massive stone formation seemed to have pushed up from beneath the opposing side, making the whole structure tilt about 20-30 degrees.
It had more in common with a haunted house ready for demolition than it did a home.
When Franky saw it, Nami was sure he'd scream (double for Usopp (even as it was bathed in sunlight, the building would've made Thrillerbark look tame in comparison!)).
Fortunately, the Cyborg had gone to pick up the others, specifically Chopper and the two Kuja. The rest of the crew, and guests, were sure to follow (Sanji and Usopp in particular, the chef wouldn't be able to leave the girls' side, and he'd be in a double hurry to meet the female I.F. The sniper would join simply to not be alone).
"Who's I.F. anyway?"
Luffy's sudden, and loud, question, made their guide shiver and panic "Please don't speak so loud, she might wake up!"
To Nami's surprise, the rubberman shut up immediately, even more concerning, was that he was shivering a little.
"Why're you so afraid of I.F? and what does it stand for anyway?" Nami ventured
"oh, I don't know about the I, dear, but the F fits her name all right" the woman hurried off nervously
"You haven't answered my other question."
Taking a deep breath, the guide began to explain "It's not her, we're afraid of… it's what happens when she's awake… and… working!" she pointed a shivering finger at the porch, where Nami could see a figure in a rocking chair, legs up over the railing, newspaper over the face, snoring louder than anything Nami had ever heard (and she lived with a crew of loud sleepers!)
"She moved here about two years ago…" the guide whispered, eyeing the porch as if she expected a bomb to go off at any moment "…and things haven't been the same since…"
"Wha-" Nami was interrupted by a loud ringing from her den den mushi, upsetting the guide and making the figure on the porch stir.
"Hello?"
"You have to get away from there! You're-in-danger-Dragonsayssoooo-RUUUUUUUUNNN- moveHIDEcoverDIVE!"
The barrage of incoherent gibberish was both loud and overwhelming, but Nami could recognise some of the voices, Robin and Brook… and somebody else, whom Luffy called Ivankov (apparently one of Luffys dads' friends), who were screaming the loudest.
"Hang on, I can't understand a word you're…" Nami began, before their guide slapped the snail out of her hand with a horrified expression "Be quiet! Or you'll wake…" she stopped short, realising two things:
She'd used far more force than was necessary.
Where the snail had gone.
Flying almost lazily though the air, it landed on the porch, right next to the sleeping woman, Robin's voice ringing clear from it.
The sleeping form stirred,
and grasped the snail.
"Wuzzat?" At the sound of the woman's' sand grinding voice, Luffy shivered violently, starring wide eyed at the form as it lazily listened to the snail.
Then she suddenly sat up
"Dragon?! listen here: I gave him 2 years to get that world improvement thing done! AND he's late for dinner by almost 20! If he doesn't get his act together I'm gonna put my foot down and come looking for… What the hell did you say?! LUFFY! WHERE?!"
Nami could halfway understand Luffy's reaction, the way the woman talked could've made paint peel off and stone turn to sand.
"Huh…" the figure said after a while "They hung up" shrugging, the mysterious I.F. removed the newspaper from her face.
Nami didn't know what to expect, but either way she was surprised to see a, relatively normal woman's face underneath, rather plain really, aside from a bit of crowsfeet the only thing that marked her as middleaged was the look in the eyes, like liquor with even darker sediments, and the scowl. Blackhair in a tight knot while her slim form was dressed in a simple, sleeveless dark shirt and even plainer white skirt.
Nami was even more surprised at her companions' reactions: Luffy stared at the woman with wide blank eyes and their guide shivered visibly, her mouth trembling as she started to speak
"Mi… Miss Fran, you've got visitors"
"Wuzzit? Tax collectors again?" The woman said as she turned, wiping her eyes "When do they get that I don't wanna join that crazy cult? And why do they always come to my house firs…" She stopped, looked straight at Luffy as if she'd just seen an old photo of some lost memory,
Then her brow furrowed and her eyes began to twitch
"LUFFYIIEEE?!"
Nami shivered at the tone of her voice, the sheer bitterness and disappointment in it could make an entire classroom of hyperactive children fall silent, look at their feet in shame and press their backsides to the wall, though they knew full well the spank that was coming would shatter it.
When the rocking chair came flying and smashed into Luffy's head, shattering it into smaller pieces, the rubberman was sent tumbling to the ground, a mixture of shock and pain on his face.
"The hell is this for a time to drop in?!" the woman continued furiously "You're almost as bad as your father! You just wait till I get my hands on him!" the woman said as she walked down the trail, fury radiating from her at every short trembling step.
Luffy, paralyzed by dread, could only watch in horror as she approached. Their guide didn't suffer the same problem. The woman was already back in the village, leaving a small dustcloud behind her.
"And what the hell is this?" the woman said, eyeing Nami with naked scrutiny "16 years and you decide to bring a girlfriend! You're way too young for that sort of thing young man!"
A tick in the corner of her eye brought Nami back to reality, just as Fran picked up a piece of rocking chair for a makeshift club, continuing her menacing walk towards the reeling pirate captain, trying feebly to get away from the advancing harpy.
"Wait… " Nami began, thinking all the things she'd seen and heard the past few minutes through
"Wait and then what?" Fran looked at Nami with simmering anger "This better be important, I'm about to smack him around" the club pointed at Luffy
"Are you Luffy's… Mother?"
Fran stared at Nami, a new look entering her furious eyes,
It returned as soon as she looked at Luffy, her tone turning more infuriated
"You forgot to tell about me didn't you?"
Nami stood helplessly as Fran proceeded to beat her son senseless.
(at sea again)
"What happened? Why'd they hung up when they we're asking a question?"
Robin didn't know, the person she'd spoken to didn't sound like Nami, and if it was the woman Dragon feared, then she understood all too well why.
But given her reaction, it seemed highly unlikely that she'd hung up on them.
There was only one explanation:
the signal had been cut somehow.
(on Runny Rum's main island, the marine base)
"That ought to do it" Commodore Durkey said with a smile
"The marines are now the only ones that can communicate on the archipelago, everyone else has to get off of it first"
"Well done commodore" Gion responded flatly
It was a small victory, curbing the pirates' communication was essential to crippling their movements. That way, catching them came easier.
Even if both the Big Mom and Strawhat crews had gotten away, Gion was positive they'd find them soon.
At least they weren't allies… she thought, that'd be a big problem, but why did they talk to Coyle?
And where did her send them?
Director Falco had left with princess Viola and Rear Admiral Malta as soon as a ship got ready, but Gion could get their testimonies later.
What mattered now was capturing the pirates that had run rampant.
She wouldn't make the same mistakes again!
"Commodore, You are to realy a message to the entire base"
The stoop backed man turned towards her, surprise in his ugly face (and giving her the elevator eyes from sheer habit) before croaking "What'd that be Vice Admiral?"
"I want every marine on Runny Rum Archipelago ready to move out in force if need be, tell everyone to be ready"
The small man blinked "Everyone… even the reserves?"
"Every marine" Gion reaffirmed, before adding "Even the ones in custody"
Durkey turned around sharply, a look of discontent on his face "Even the traitor?"
"It's a chance for her to make amends" she gave Durkey a stern look "And I'm all for giving second chances, else you wouldn't be here after how you treated her"
Durkey shrank back at her words, resembling the disturbing offspring of a weasel and a rat, which had then been forced to beg for a couple of months. Gion instantly remembered clearly why the man had been passed from base to base like a ping pong ball (due to repeated insubordination and complaints from the vast majority of the female marines he'd worked with).
"Yes, I want Ain with us, I've no doubt her abilities and skills will prove useful"
It''ll also help her case with the judges... Gion thought, hoping the tribunal of justice would agree,
which she was certain they would,
especially If Ain helped arrest Strawhat and his crew
(on Dvorak, inside Fran's house)
It had taken five minutes for Franky and the rest of the crew to pry Fran off Luffy, who at this point looked like when he'd allowed Bellamy to beat him on Jaya.
Fran didn't stop chewing him out verbally though, Nami had never imagined she'd hear someone say "forgetful moron" 200 times in a row (only being broken by the occasional imbecile, tit and full blooded idiot).
Fortunately, now things had settled down… sort of, even if their guide had returned, bringing tea and settling them into Fran's living room (which looked as horrid as the outside of the building, the smell of burnt tar and something else was just icing on the worst cake in the world), Fran was still furious at her son, berating him like only a mother could.
"16 freaking years! And you forget about me?" She hollered as she shook a fist at him "I who brought you into this world! I promise you, I can damn well bring you into another one! ONE OF PAIN!"
Nami was tempted to come to his defence, but she had enough experiences with Bellemere to know that it wouldn't end well.
And nobody else was getting into the middle of this.
Vivi and Rebecca stayed back from the torrent of curses that emitted from Luffy's mother, neither knowing where to even begin. It was the same with the others, Franky was trying to focus on the building (Nami had been right about his reaction, still looking at the structure with almost as much dread as Luffy showed Fran).
Usopp was torn between having fun at Luffy's expense of trying to find a place to hide.
Chopper was busy with his patients who'd been put on the couches and Sanji stared at Fran, blinking every now and then, not certain if Luffy's mother was even female with that mouth.
"…and Garp! When I get my hands on him, he'll wish he'd died in Marineford! Wanting you to be a marine! BULL! I wanted you to be a mailman, but nooooo! I also wanted to name you Lorenzo, but your father was against that! what the hell is up with the men in the Monkey family I'll never know! Unreasonable twits the lot of you!"
And with that, she started to sulk, allowing the guide to give her a cup of tea, before she hurried off. Not willing to be caught in another of Fran's verbal barrages.
Which were sure to come soon, judging from the angry tick in the woman's eye.
Nami didn't fancy waiting "Excuse me…" she didn't' get to say anymore
"Sure, the bathroom is in the back" Fran pointed behind her with a thumb.
"I'm not… I'm sorry to disappoint you miss Fran, but…"
"You've done that since I first saw ye girly"
"Wha.." Nami's face looked like a huge question mark, while Fran unabashedly continued, turning her attentions to a very meek Luffy "What the hell are you thinking? I don't want any orangehaired grandkids!"
"…We're not dating!" Nami protested (with Sanji chiming in with even more gusto).
"Damn straight you're not" Fran's words were both statement and order, one giant blunt command for the world to follow, or else!
"He's too young for travelling around with an army of women anyway!" she scolded her son again, pointing at Vivi and Rebecca with a rage filled finger.
"All of that hanky panky you must have done!"
"He haven't done anything like that!" several mouths protested, including Luffy's own (though he didn't know what the words meant)
"Really?" Fran asked, sounding even more disappointed than before "Eight women on your tub of a ship and you haven't managed to get with one? I knew you were an idiot when you couldn't spell you name when you were two months old, but I didn't know it was this bad!"
(Franky was on the verge of protesting about the "tub"-part, but wisely choose not to)
Then Fran grumbled something about Francis not telling her it was this bad, following up with a "Not even the Kuja? Those dumb birds don't know the first thing about men anyway, it should be childsplay!"
"The Kuja…" Vivi began, before Fran cut her off
"Royals don't have a say in my house, so can it!"
For a moment the room was silent, then Sanji made the mistake of both speaking and lighting a cigarette.
"Miss Fran-chan…" he started, blinking at the seated woman a charming smile playing on his lips "What Vivi-cha-AAAAAH!" he screamed as he saw that Fran had crossed the room and was literally browbeating him into submission
"I said: Royals. Don't. have. a say. In. my. House. Got it Vinsmoke?"
Sanji could only shiver and nod as the shorter woman yanked the smoke out of his mouth "And none of that crap here!" she shook the cigarette in front of his face, spilling ashes everywhere "This is a PIPE-HOUSE!" she snarled at the chef, using the smoke to light her own pipe, before butting it on her eyeball and sitting down again, puffing out some of the stink that permeated the room.
"Miss Fran, please have some tea, it'll cool your nerves" they guide eventually pleaded, while she placed a steaming cup infron to of Fran and handed out cups to the rest of the table.
Scoffing, Fran didn't move.
Luffy took his cup and downed it nervously, his trembling causing a few drops land on the table
"Oh I'll get those.." the guide began, not seeing Fran grab hold on her own skirt "No need I got it"
Before the guide could stop her, their host wiped the table with the hem.
Both Luffy and the Guide looked mortified at the act, before both dived to the side.
A moment later, with an ear shattering roar
the room burst into flames!
(On the main island, in a lavish hotel suite)
Galette concentrated and the clumps of butter began to swirl in the bowl on the table.
Quickly forming a small whirlpool, the liquid butter levitated and formed a circle.
Satisfied, Galette steadied her breath and formed it into a disc.
"Hey Babe"
The sudden interruption made her crack the bowl.
Looking angrily at Dacquise, Galette had a hard time not screaming "What?"
The bat-winged man smiled at her, ignoring both her tone and the broken bowl "I was just thinking about how you were doing, after having been Strawhats prisoner is all, and listening to that mean ghost guy insult you like that…" he tried to pat her hand, which she pulled away swiftly.
"I'm fine! Would you please leave?"
"Sure" he smiled haughtily, which Galette could only assume was his attempt at seduction "I just wanted to tell you: I'd never allow that sort of thing to happen to my dame"
Gritting her teeth at his words, Galette forced herself to not kill the man "Go make sure Durum isn't messing up his guard duty" a stern voice said from behind the man. As he moved away, Amande became visible, striding towards her sibling.
As the man left, Galette felt nauseous as he pursed his lips at her.
Amande sighed and removed her hat "sorry about that" she sat down "I had stationed him at the window with Blondie, but he snuck away…"
"A creep to the core"
"Yeah…" the third daughter of Big mom agreed, while looking at the shards and butter "What were you practicing here? Some new technique?"
"Yeah… I figured I could at least use the time productively" Galette smiled "What about you? Done sharpening your sword?"
"It doesn't need sharpening, it hasn't been used as much as I'd like"
"Didn't you clash with that greenhaired guy?" Galette asked her sister, only receiving a scoff in response
"it's not enough to dull my blade, besides, if we'd fought for real, he'd be dead, slow cuts and slow certain death"
"As you're wont to say" Galette said, pouring her sibling a drink
"Just my luck, when something exciting finally happens, it's over far too quickly"
"Yeah, you've never liked when things happened fast, or people who were like that any way"
Blowing a smokering, Amande raised an eyebrow "If I didn't know you, I'd say that was a double entendre"
"Gods forbid I start making those" the sisters chuckled, getting some of the tenseness out of the way.
"You heard anything from Effilée or Hachée lately?"
"Not directly, but Sister Smoothie said that Effilée wants to spend more time with her husband, while Hachée is getting swamped with work" she blew another smokering "Pretty understandable I guess"
"That Effilée is pining for love or Hachée is overburdened?" Galette asked, thinking of Amande's two younger full sisters. Either had their strengths, but neither were anywhere near Amande's.
"both I guess" Amande answered absentmindedly leaning her head back on the chair
"And you're envious of both?" Galette asked with a lopsided grin, hoping to have a small laugh at her sisters' expense
"Work would be nice…. And I've… gone without a husband for too long anyway"
"So you'd like to settle down? Did the green haired man have an impact after all?"
"Don't kid yourself" Amande scoffed, but then she smiled "A man that needs three swords for fighting is clearly overcompensating for something"
After the pair had stopped cackling (and making the men within earshot slightly suspicious) Galette got serious "But you would really like a husband huh? Any type you got in mind?"
"Strong and serious…" Amande confided "one who knows where he's going…"
"Well that leaves out the green haired guy again" Galette snickered "Did you see where he went when Jinbe screamed: "Get to the harbour?""
"The sewer!" Amande chortled "He even argued that it was a natural place for water to go!" Amande mimicked Zoro's voice
"Goodness he's almost as dumb as Durum!"
"Is this the point where we feel sorry for Strawhat?"
"NO!" both said in unison laughing out loud (if Zoro had heard them, he'd have attacked them immediately (if it was Sanji; he'd have joined in the mockery, enemies or not (Naturally, he'd have joined them on the sole basis of being women)))
"Excuse me" a voice came from the side
"What is it Hangan?" Amande demanded, her seriousness returning at the sight of the snakeneck pirate.
"Before communications were cut, your brother Brownie reported that the Strawhats are still somewhere on Runny Rum, but also that they've split up: Jinbe and the Pirate Hunter are in hiding on the main island somewhere, while the rest of the crew has disappeared to one of the other islands.
"They're searching for something of Coyle's…." Galette concluded "Some sort of relation of his… perhaps we can use that to our advantage"
"Like what?" Amande scoffed "The man is long dead"
"True, but if he left behind some of those fruits in his journal…" Galette trailed off with a smile, which her older sister almost immediately mirrored
"Then we can get our hands on them, Imagine what Mama'd give for the Goro Goro no mi? Or that Chaos fruit?"
"And if we find Strawhat in the meantime… we might as well just make him hand over the princesses to us too…" Galette smiled "That little crew can't handle all those women anyway…"
"So it's in their best interests…" Amande cooed playfully, and both women smiled again, before ordering one of their subordinates to open a good bottle and send Hangan out to search for Jinbe and the strawhat swordsman.
(On Dvorak)
As the initial shock of seeing the livingroom burst into flames began to recede, Nami was surprised to hear Fran simply mutter "Stupid weather as always".
As Franky and the guide rushed to extinguish the fire, Nami checked up on the others: Usopp was busy hiding outside the building, Rebecca and Vivi not far behind him, while Sanji was protecting the two Kuja under Choppers panicky care (while shielding someone with your own body was very touching, it didn't help that Sanji was almost burying his face in their chests).
Luffy looked like he always did after hearing…. That sound. Nami got a little nervous each time she saw it. Fran reacted differently however, bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Kushishishishishi! You haven't changed at all, 16 years and you're still afraid of a little weather babble! Kushishishi!"
Luffy eyed her with confusion.
Nami looked at the woman with wide eyes, an idea forming in her mind, several in fact.
"Miss Fran…" Nami said , while walking to Luffy's side, blocking his ears "I'm sorry for asking, but does the sound Gushishisshi mean anything to you?"
"How the hell do you know how I used to laugh?" Fran said, her pipe smoking more than a chimney in winter "You do magic? And stop fondling my son in front of me!"
"Just a hunch…" Nami responded as she quickly let go of Luffy's head "I also assume you used to laugh like that every time… this sort of thing happened" she pointed at the still smouldering table.
"Sure did, good times…" the woman snickered, her mood improving "I remember one time when I was cleaning the windows and this typhoo…" Fran stopped as soon as the whole building began to shiver and creak "Hmpf" she scoffed "Must be the construction" waving her pipe at the walls, the vibrations still shaking them.
No way that's the weather Nami thought as she began to understand why Luffy was so afraid of his mothers' laughter, she was starting to get the same feeling, which was shared with their guide (accentuated after Nami gave her the "is it/she like this every day?"-look, receiving an energetic nod in return).
But there was still something that was missing.
How did Coyle know about Fran?
"You wouldn't happen to know a person named Coyle at some point? Kinda… boring looking person, male…" Nami tried, but Fran just tilted her head at the question.
"Croyle? Sounds like you don't know how to say broil girl"
"Coyle" Nami gently corrected her "Are you certain? We spoke with… we read his journal" Nami quickly lied, doubting Fran would believe their story about the museum and Coyle echo ghost, it still seemed farfetched to Nami that it had happened at all (then again, she did travel around with a walking, singing and flatulent skeleton, so nothing was really off limits anymore).
"Coyle…..Coyle…." Fran mumbled as she rubbed her chin, suddenly rising from the seat "I'll be right back" as she left the room, she called out a final order " If Luffy tries to run: Chain him up!"
Nami gave Luffy an empathic look, no doubt in her mind that he was too terrified of his mother to try and flee, or anything else for that matter. Nami had half a mind to do it herself, especially if Fran somehow caused another disaster, how the heck did she do that anyway? Though that question burned in Nami's mind, she could see where some of Luffy's skills at manual labour had come from. But this was too much!
Then Fran returned, carrying a large tome.
"Ok, If it isn't in one of Francis' books…" she let the tome slam onto the table (the already much abused furniture creaking in protest) "…I don't know where else it possibly could be!"
Flapping through the pages, Fran didn't look happy "Damn him, no pictures! Only old wanted posters, as if that's something to be proud of!" carelessly tossing the old paper on the table, she continued to look, grumbling under her breath about this and that.
Nami caught some of the ancient paper, so old it had lost any white that might have been, in favour of a murky brown, but nonetheless the script and picture upon it was still recognisable.
The picture was of a smiling Coyle, holding up an even older wanted poster of his, showing he was worth 5 million Beli…. (the newer one read 8 million) although it was the writing that truly filled Nami's head with questions:
To Fran, my little deadly hazard, told you I was moving up in the world!
"Fran…" Nami began, quickly regretting it as their host gave her a sharp look "Miss Fran"
"Mrs. Fran Dummy, I recall marrying his dad-" she pointed at a still trembling Luffy "-quite clearly, even if he doesn't show up as much as he should, lousy lazy deadbe…" Fran mumbled on angrily, allowing Nami to formulate a better question.
"Mrs. Fran, what was your maiden name?"
"I didn't take my husbands' name, name's still Isle D. Francesca and that'll remain until I croak! Damned If I take the name of some dumb animal… Unlike others I could name…" she finished with a sulky and annoyed tone, a bit of her beginning to lose patience at the everchanging questions.
Ok, I.F. has been found… Nami thought, before she showed Fran the wanted poster, hoping Fran wouldn't snap at her too much "And this is?..."
"Francis" Fran responded with a deadpan expression, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Are you sure Mrs. Fran?" (Nami hadn't yet found the courage to question the Francesca-bit)
"I could recognise Francis in a sandstorm at night, dat's him" Fran punctuated her statement with a hard tap at the poster "What the hell is this about?"
"But that's Coyle isn't it?" both women turned to Luffy, pointing at the paper with a confused look on his face.
Not for the first time, Fran looked like she was going to hit her son (and that tome did look pretty heavy), but instead she merely growled at him (much to his relief).
"I must have told you about him a thousand times…." the glare she sent him was almost a physical force, making the Strawhat captain try and shrink away from his mothers' gaze "But of course you forget…." She added in a condescending tone, before she took the ancient poster and slammed it down on the table, sounding more and more outraged by the second, sneering all the way "I suppose you forgot about Fortunato and Fernando too? Well not that those two matters anyway…" Fran continued with a snarl, before she began to angrily grumble about: "Stupid, worthless, double-crossing, scheming, lowlife, ruffian, degenerate, greedy, arrogant, scumbag, rotten, weasels, trashy, heartless, ratty sons-of-bi…" her face almost emanating smouldering darkness throughout her vigorous rant. Nami could imagine a volcano that was about to erupt.
"Mrs. Fran" Nami interrupted her, earning her a (thankfully only) annoyed glance "We don't know who Francis is, please tell us…"
Luffy's mother tapped an impatient finger on the paper, energetically puffing on her pipe as if she was trying to fill the room with choking smoke, her words giving the room (only those that hadn't put two and two together by now, Which was Luffy, Chopper, Carrot and Franky) a thorough surprise.
"That's Isle D. Francisco" she punctuated each syllable with a hard tap down on the yellowed paper "Francis to family"
Folding her arms at the nervous audience, a small vein started to twitch in Frans' forehead, just as she took a long puff on her pipe, only to exhale it a small cloud of dark smoke, the colour seemingly reflecting her overall mood.
"Now tell me: What the heck do you lot…" Fran said, as she waved a hand at the guest in her livingroom, as if she was trying to swat away some particularly vexing flies "…Want with my Big Brother?!"
End of chapter
Sorry for not updating for 2 months, but I've been busy with a lot of other projects and haven't found the time to write as much as I'd like.
I lost patience a bit, so I split this chapter up, so I could at least deliver something before Yule, which also means that I'll upload chapter 19 soon.
A weeks waiting at most, if everything goes according to plan.
RnR if you'd be so kind