East Blue was the weakest ocean of all. It was a known fact. And yet, there were secrets that some of the inhabitants of East blue didn't know about East Blue itself.
Horrible tales were passed every generation in hope that nobody would cross the horrific creatures. Most people in East Blue knew - or thought - that those tales were not true, only told to afraid children at bedtime. However, there were few people that knew that those tales were rather true. The creatures lived among the mortals, hid in darkness, and put on a facade to live a peaceful life - or a fake one at least. They were not evil. Not good. Not bad. Like every species in the world. They lived among humans, reproduced with them, and stayed close. Some of them were immortals and others aged slowly.
From skinwalkers to angels, there were a lot of species in East Blue living hidden. It was expected on isolated islands to find more non-human species than on known one.
Her birth had come as a surprise for all inhabitants of Dark flames, an island located in East Blue. Ban had birthed a girl with non-human characteristics. All inhabitants had immediately known at that time what had happened. Ban had never had anyone, preferring to stay alone because no one - in her eyes - was worth it. Once it had become known that Ban was pregnant, everybody had come to ask her who was the father - or the mother, because it could be possible for two men or two women to have children.
Bankina was born as a healthy baby with horns, a tail, and claws. Ban had not been phased by it, almost expecting it.
All the inhabitants had known. Bankina was one of those. They were children born between a human and non-human species.
It didn't matter to them. All the inhabitants had worshipped them. They had every right to live among them. They hadn't feared them, they had only accepted them. Bankina's birth had been a surprise, but they had accepted her as their fellow citizen.
East Blue held the secret. Its inhabitants all kept their mouths shut. If someone talked, then everybody would be in danger.
It had already happened. Every person in East Blue consciously or not was making sure it would never happen again.
It wasn't simple. And it would never be.
Ban had raised her daughter all alone until her tenth birthday. Ban had been killed by a Celestial Dragon when she had refused to become one of their concubines. She had died a quick death, however the Celestial Dragon hadn't had this privilege. The inhabitants of Dark flames had all backed up once the Guardians of the island had shown up.
It had been chaos.
At that time, Bankina had had her first tantrum ever. Her powers had gotten out of control and made a carnage until they had worn off. Bankina had fallen asleep in one of the Guardians' arms.
The Celestial Dragon had been tortured slowly and painfully until their death. His body had been cut off in different pieces and sent off to a Witch. Their every existence had been wiped off everybody's mind except the inhabitants of Dark flames. It was best for the world, especially the World Government, to never know that a Celestial Dragon had been killed.
Bankina had lived alone in her mother's house until her sixteenth birthday. His father had come on the island to meet her. He had never known that he had had a child with a human before a Guardian had gone all the way up to Hell to tell him.
It was quite the surprise.
It had turned out that Bankina was a Succubus. The Guardians had complained when her father had decided to take her with him to Hell, but they had complied. They had no choice but to comply. Bankina's father wasn't any demon in Hell.
Bankina had been less pleased with having to follow her father to Hell. But she had no choice. Eight years later - four years in Bankina's birth world - she had decided to go on the sea and become a pirate.
At twenty-one (her human age), Bankina had joined Whitebeard's crew when he had asked her to join it. In less than one year, Bankina had become the Second Commander of the Whitebeard pirates. Bankina had spent twenty-two years as the Second Commander of the Whitebeards, then she had met Yasopp and fell pregnant. For raising her child, Bankina had decided to retire for some years.
Even though the whitebeards had been sad to let her go, especially the second division, they had understood. She had come back to the Dark flames.
Her son was born on April 1st on a mini moby at the port of Dark flames.
Usopp was not really his name. He was born with a demonic name like his mother had been. Usopp was his human name. It wasn't a common thing to use hell names in a mostly human world.
Bankina had been killed by an unknown being known as one of the Forgotten, it was known for destroying beings by simple wish. However, to make a wish work the whisperer needed to give up something of themselves.
Bankina had been literally destroyed. And Usopp still remembered her very death - even though the Guardians had succeeded in launching her demonic soul into Hell, he hadn't heard of her for years. He remembered her screams as her flesh had been torn out, as her blood had soaked the floor, as her human soul had been destroyed and as the Guardians had been chanting to save her demonic soul.
It had been a horrific spectacle. Needless to say, Usopp had gone berserk upon the loss of his mother. The unknown being had been slashed in the most painful way. While it was powerful with wishes, it could not defend itself against predators.
Due to a vision of the Old Witch of Dark flames, all the inhabitants plus the Guardians had fled the island to Syrup island. The Dark flames island had been reduced to pieces by a Buster Call. The World government had received reports of suspicion of witchcraft and satanism from their agents and had decided to act upon.
It was on that island that Usopp had met Luffy, Nami, and Zoro before joining them on their adventure.
"Do you believe in non-human species?" Usopp asked Whitebeard and his commanders, he paused before adding. "I'm not talking about Gyojin."
They all stared at him. Then, Namur, having heard stories about non-human species, nodded. The other commanders and Whitebeard were more skeptical. Usopp launched into a long explanation of East Blue. It was important for them to know before telling what had killed his mother.
Once they all asked their own questions to be sure they had understood everything, Usopp launched into an explanation of his mother's and his story. He barely mentioned his mother's father - he had never met him, however he had the feeling he would meet him soon - then he told them her death. Nevertheless, Usopp didn't tell them in detail his mother's death, it was still fresh in his mind. He often had nightmares about his mother's death.
At the end, they all appeared horrified even though some were still skeptical. Usopp knew. It wasn't easy to accept. However, Marco, the eternal lie detector thanks to his Devil fruit, stated he believed him.
"You have to keep everything secret. My mother was probably afraid of your reaction, therefore she had never told you her origins. I have to ask you to not tell anyone, even my crew or Ace. Ace will know later, I'll tell him later." Usopp added at the end.
"Okay." Thatch was still horrified. He wondered how Usopp was so calm. He wondered how Bankina's son was doing since his mother's death. "Okay."
"When are you going to tell him?" Shirohige asked in a tired voice his grandchild. He had seen and heard many things. He had heard whispers of hidden species in East Blue, but he had never proof they actually existed. And now, he had answers.
And that was terrific.
"Once I'm back on the Thousand Sunny." Usopp replied before declaring he was going back now. He knew they had to speak about what he told them. "If you have any questions, please ask me in private."
The half-demon bowed and left the room. It was time to go back on the ship. He didn't tell them all the truth, only what they needed. Nami and Chopper were the only ones who knew the whole truth, especially about himself.