Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano-sensei and her publishers and OP belongs to Oda-sensei and his publishers. Idea's mine :)
Beta-read by SuspiciousKiwi :*
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"What…?" And if her voice was a bit faint… Well no one could blame her… Of course, she was not great in geography (in those 40 years in a toddler form she never bothered to go above masters degree in geography) but she would remember learning about something called 'North Blue'. Wouldn't she?"
"Well, Swallow Island in North Blue" The man specified, relaxing a bit.
Of course that didn't help her either. Was North Blue an island chain? Or some kind of sea? Where the hell was that?
Skull moved slowly to get more distance from the seawater behind her and weakened her Flames to get them out of visible range. Of course anyone with even a scrap of sensitivity around Flames would know that they were still there and ready to be used, but… Surprisingly both males relaxed at the action. Which… what?
Skull focused a bit to get a better sense on those two and…
They had NO Flames…
Like… at all!
There were Souls in them, she could sense it but no Flames…
How?
The dread she felt from the second she took in that breath, came back with vengeance.
What was going on?
Last she checked only those already Active or those high up at the chain of command knew about Flames.
Yet… They had so weak presence they barely registered as Latents on her radar… And there was no way they were high up that chain. And they were somewhere she haven't heard about…
What?
Yeah… Okay, amnesiac route then.
"North Blue?" Skull put all of her acting lessons to use to put just enough confusion to be believable. There was no need to be heavy handed with this. Not everyone was as easy to play as her fellow 'Arcobaleno'.
The man before her sat down heavily, apprehension slowly filling up his gaze.
"One of the 6 great Oceans?" The Little One asked with the heavy undertone of 'are you stupid?' causing the man to crack helpless smile at her. Smile she couldn't really reciprocate. North Blue? Great Oceans? What? However counting the Oceans… Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic did not make 6. Never mind the names being wrong.
Well… One could call Arctic Ocean a North Ocean, North Blue even but… it was too warm for them to be next to Arctic Ocean… Even at summer.
So…
Where was she?
Did… something go wrong when she was fighting to stay dead?
"Wha…?" She managed weakly, this time not even feigning the feeling of being absolutely lost.
"Do you remember what happened to you?" The man asked quietly, lighting up the cigarette.
Oh, she remembered, alright…
Her Flames… Blood, bodies deformed by her Propagating their cell growth in the mockery of that fucking radiation, trees she thrown at them, tearing apart her enemies… destroying bullets flying towards her…
She remembered taking over half of the Millefiore forces with her. She remembered putting the fear of Clouds into them all. She remembered carving scar into that boy that dared to attack her.
None of those she was willing to admit though.
"... Fighting. I remember fighting" She murmured, keeping her eyes on the man and senses thrown wide to make sure no one was sneaking in on them. If she was cast out of the Afterlife again she was going to show her displeasure here. Wherever that 'here' was.
"And the date?"
"I… no" By the end no one cared about dates. The very atmosphere was trying to kill them, who cared about time?
"It's 11th June of 1511 of Kaiden calendar" The man told her and Skull simply knew that her eyes were blank with incomprehension, because what?
Kaiden Calendar? 1511? It was 2019 when she died. And even if she'd somehow be thrown back in time (She'd come to expect all matters of fuckery with The Man in Iron Hat around. Being thrown back in time was nothing compared to being shrunk to the form of a two year old.), they wouldn't be wearing those kind of clothes.
So once again… What?
Was it… Was it one of those alternate worlds Gesso-brat was cackling about? Or was she sent into the future? One where Global Warming finally won and flooded the continents?
"I'm Corazon. Do you know your name?" The man… Corazon brought her back from her freak out with that question.
Should she?
Well, what was the worst that could happen?
"... Skull. Skull de Mort" She introduced herself slowly and just as slowly rose to her full height (not that it was much) to take in herself. Partly to reinforce her ruse and partly to check out what condition was she in.
She swayed a bit but managed to keep on her feet, with just a bit of Propagation to reinforce her muscles.
She was indeed clothed in her old leather suit, padded enough to pretend to be actually reinforced for whenever she'd fall and hurt herself enough that normal people would not walk it out.
"I'm Law." Quiet, childish voice caused her to ignore the mystery of her form (what was going on?) and focus on Little One's… Law's introduction. He was standing a bit ahead of Corazon (still within arms' reach… Good… He was not stupid.) and looking at her curiously.
And what do you know? Those white patches on his skin was kind of cute…
"Hello Law, it's nice to meet you" She forced herself to form a warm smile. Whatever was happening, those two were probably her best bet for survival. "Were you the ones to fish me out?"
"No, we found you washed out on the beach" Boy announced and came a bit closer to her, pointing at something around her face "What do you have in ears?"
Trust children to ask important question.
Her hand went towards her ear, a bit self-consciously and found familiar shapes of her old studs packed in her earlobe.
Another thing she lost when put in Arcobaleno-sized body… Something she never got back even when they were properly sized by the end…
"Those are earrings" She explained patiently, with nostalgic smile. If she had those ones… Did it mean that she had all of her old earrings and tattoos? Was she… Was she back?
"But those are not rings!" The child protested with indignation. At that both adults could only burst out laughing…
Ahh… Laughter was good.
Skull wiped out tear that tried to escape her eye and grinned at the little guy.
"They're all called earrings though, this one is called that too" She explained, raising the part of her hair that was falling freely and hiding silver dragon that was hugging her right earlobe.
"And the one at your brow? Is it an earring too?" He demanded, at which she felt her grin widen… Smart little guy, wasn't he?
"Nope." She gleefully made 'p' pop. The brat was reminding her of Cherep. Her brother was just as curious. "The ones not in ears are called simply piercings."
"Do you have more?"
"Hmm? I wonder…" She hummed theatrically and flashed the piercing in her tongue. Children were the best… Those amazed, little faces… They were reasons for her becoming stunt rider… They and the adrenalin, but well… Something told her, there would be no shortage of adrenalin in her new situation.
"Whoa… Why do you have so many of them?"
"I like them. Do I need other reason?"
"Oh… No."
"That's right Law. Remember that woman's body belongs only to her." Corazon cut in, clearly deciding to use her as an object lesson. Well, she couldn't contest needing that lesson to sink in. For all his guise of gentleman Sinclair never learned it after all. Then he spoke to her. "Would you come with us to the camp? You look like you need a meal or two"
"And a bit information about the world would be nice too" She gave him wan smile, as if just coming back to her lack of memory.
Corazon smiled agreeably and stood up (holy… he was tall!), turned around and started to lead them towards where she presumed their camp was.
Skull felt little hand grabbing her own and smiled down at suddenly shy Law, before letting herself to be led by the two of them.
It was time to get some info~
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The fire was crackling merrily in the small camp made out of a boat, small tent and two logs around a campfire. Skull was sitting on one of those logs and intently listening to whatever information Corazon was ready to divulge, while eating one of the fish they generously donated to her. And what information those were.
"So as I said earlier it's 11th of june, 1511. We're currently on Swallow Island in North Blue." Corazon started, lighting up another cigarette (and somehow managing ot lit his coat as well, to her incredulous laughter and Law's resignation. It seemed like it wasn't anything special) "Entire planet is being sectioned by the mountain chain connecting both North and South Pole - the Red Line and the Sea we're calling The Grand Line. Grand Line is hugged from both sides by something called Calm Belt." Explaining, Corazon tried to draw lines in the sand that would work as a pictures, but… well, he was not an artist, that was sure.
"Sectioned? Like in a cross?" That was what it looked at his drawing, but… well.
"Yeah, the sectioned off things are called Blues. There is East Blue, North Blue where we're now, West Blue and South Blue." Law piped up from where he was crouching, pointing to the proper parts of the 'drawing'.
"So Grand Line is the one encircling the world?" This time it was Skull that pointed two rectangles on the drawing. Separated by that 'Red Line' Corazon was talking about.
"Yeah! With Calm Belts separating Grand Line from the Blues."
That was… Different. Fine, the world was still a globe, but there was no way her Earth would be able to be transformed to that form. Not like that. Soo… She was not in the future…
Where was she then?
And did it really matter?
She had to live there anyway. Somehow Skull really didn't want to know where she'd land if she'd try to die again.
"That's right. The Blues' names were decided by their placement in respect of the Mariejois. Which is here." He pointed at the middle of the makeshift map and continued "On the other side of the Grand Line is something called Reverse Mountain that allows ships to get into the Grand Line. Some ships after achieving specific conditions are able to safely move through the Calm Belts. But that's… really rare."
"Why?" What was so scary about those 'Calm Belts'?
"Calm Belts are patches of the Seas where there is no more wind. They're also Sea Kings breeding grounds, so… Unless your ship has Seastone at the bottom or you have Conqueror Haki going there is a Really Bad Idea." Corazon explained which…
Well… One answer, three more questions… Great, wasn't it?
"Okay?" She did not squeak… No matter what that little imp said "Sea Kings? Seastone? Conqueror Haki?"
And Corazon, the traitor had the gall to chuckle at her… Chuckle!
"Sea Kings are the great beasts living in the Seas. They usually have serpentine bodies, but can also look more like a seals… There are different 'races' so to speak. Like Sea Cow, Sea Bird, or Sea Cat. They most noticeable difference is their head and fins. They can get anywhere from 15 to hundreds meters."
That… Made her miss Oodako something fierce. Her little octopus which with proper Flame augmentation could get up to few hundreds meters himself… And… She'll never see him again, won't she?
Fuck Byakuran Gesso… Seriously, she hoped that wherever the asshole was, he was suffering.
"Okaay… Sea Kings, big animals, can swim, probably eat humans" She shortened his version to the most important parts and was rewarded with a smile from both the man and the boy…
The boy who was clambering onto her lap…
Didn't he know to be careful around strangers? Even amnesia faking strangers… Scratch that. Especially around amnesia faking strangers!
Corazon only looked amused at the panicked look Skull threw him.
"Now Seastone… Seastone is a metal mined on few islands in Grand Line. It's terribly expensive and can act as defense against Sea Kings, apparently they hate it's smell, or something like that. Which is why if the ship has hull coated in it then Sea Kings generally avoid it. Seastone is also used as a weapon against Devil Fruit users. It seeps away our strength so be careful of a metal with suspicious green shine to it." Okaay… That was definitely new. And what the hell are Devil Fruits?
"Devil Fruits?" Skull voiced her question… There was that terrible feeling that she'd have a lot to learn to be able to function in this strange place she landed in.
"Yeah… Devil Fruits… Let me tell you about Haki and then we'll go to Devil Fruits, k?" He smiled at her with warm understanding of someone who also had to learn about it all fast. She could only nod mutely at that and squeeze the boy in her arms a bit tighter. "I've mentioned Conqueror Haki, it's one of three forms of Haki. There are also Observation and Armament one. Haki itself is… Manifestation of our will" So like… Flames? No wait, Flames even thought called Flames of Dying Will are more about Soul, thought their strength is up to one's will, so maybe? "Observation is the one that lets you to listen to the World itself and read out your opponents moves in the fight or when people are being truthful, when the storm is coming and others… Armament is used to defend oneself from hurt, it's also used to be able to hit a Fruit user. People proficient in Armament can use it to coat with it their body parts or weapons to be able to use them more effectively." He raised hand and extended it towards Skull and little Law. Slowly it blackened, then he leisurely chopped the log he was sitting at with it. The log split ideally where it was hit. "Conqueror is… it's pitting your own will at the will of the others. The loser is being brought to their knees or loses their consciousness. When the Conqueror is really powerful and careless, they can simply destroy their opponents' minds with a wave. Questions?"
"How do you train Haki? Does everyone can use Conqueror?" She immediately raised two strongest concerns she had. Though… Theoretically she should be safe from that Conqueror one if only because the strength of the Flames was also determined by one's will… And The Strongest Cloud had stubborness in spades… Well… The longer she was listening to Corazon, the more assured she was that she was no longer simply The Strongest Cloud… More like the only Cloud in existence. But maybe those Devil Fruits were just a convoluted name for Flames?
With a bit of luck…
"To train Haki you'd need just learn how to twist your Will to achieve the results you want. After so called 'unlocking' your Observation would be low key active at all times, though it'll always be stronger when your mind is clear. The same with Armament, you can make it so you wouldn't use it, but most of the times it'd be active. Especially when defending your body." He explained, which… well did tell her it's nothing like Flames, but didn't tell anything about how to unlock the thing. "Now, the Conqueror… The Conqueror is the Form of Haki you're either born with or not. Usually it goes in bloodlines. Unfortunately I know I don't have it, so I'm not really sure how to help you check if you or Law have it."
"Bloodlines you say, how rare is it?" That… could pose problems.
"One in ten thousand? Maybe more" Corazon's answer didn't calm her down. Even if it did lower the chance of meeting a Conqueror, alright. After all being a chance of being cursed to become living battery for the world and compressed into the body of a fucking toddler was almost non existing… And there was she and the others…
"Devil Fruits?" Skull prompted when it started to look like Corazon wouldn't say anything at his own volition. Little shrimp in her arms also wiggled with interest.
(He was so cute.)
"Devil Fruits are just that - fruits that give the one who ate them additional powers" Not like Flames then. That's… Did anyone had Flames here? "They are usually visually similar to normal fruits but have the swirls and taste terribly. A person can eat only one Devil Fruit and live, remember that! Those who ate them are said to be hated by the Sea itself and lose all buoyancy, so you're lucky to survive whatever it was that had you land in the water." What? Did he thought her Flames were Devil Fruit? … That… wasn't bad cover. At least before she'd be strong enough to defend herself from whatever scientists were there. "Similar to Seastone seawater seeps out our strength, so unless there is competent swimmer around, you should be really careful when it comes to your balance near the Sea. Even not seawater can be deadly for us, so be careful, you hear me?"
"Gotcha… 'us', though?"
"Yeah, I have a Fruit as well, so keep me out of water when we'll sail out?"
We? Would he really take on a stranger with them? Just like that?
"We?"
"Well we couldn't leave you alone in the world you don't remember, could we?"
Huh… So he would.
"I… thank you Corazon." Skull managed a smile that was somehow shaky around the corners. Just enough to still be a 'victim'. Then she adjusted the Little Shrimp that was starting to get a bit boneless in her embrace. What kind of child would simply fall asleep on a stranger?
What were those people?
Corazon visibly hesitated before talking again.
"Rosinante… My name is Rosinante."
"Rosinante then." She smiled warmly again, too grateful for easy source of information to try and work out why would he hide his name (other than obvious caution near an unknown that is) "Thank you"
"Tomorrow I'll tell you about The Three Powers and the factions of the people living here. You'll need to remind yourself how to sail as well… So much work" He sighed theatrically…
He had a lot of work ahead?
What was she supposed to say then? None of the things he told her about were in mildly familiar…
"I'm sure relearning things is more troublesome than teaching them." She raised her eyebrow before hefting little bratling up and adding teasingly "Especially since shrimp-chan in here should also know about them"
"True enough." Corazon agreed mildly and light another cigarette "Go to sleep Skull. We're setting sail in the morning"
"Good night Rosinante." She agreed, raising up and crawling up to the tent she was supposed to rest with bratling.
All in all it wasn't so bad situation she found herself in…
Well, she was in a strange new world, but there was someone who took pity on her and was going to not only explain things, but if Skull would be lucky maybe even give her some practical experiences…
It certainly beat the way Arcobaleno were expecting their 'civilian' Cloud to assimilate knowledge and experience…