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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Whoever said that 'in the morning everything looks better' was a liar and should be severely punished…
Nothing was better…
The world still didn't make any more sense than yesterday… Devil Fruits, Haki and all… There was still no Flame signature anywhere near her sensing range (she was never as good at it as Fon or Viper, but she was still fucking good, alright?). And she was still stranded on the island with the little boy and the man who was taking care of said boy…
Speaking about those two…
Skull woke up with a start, turning defensively with little Law in her arms and almost decking the blonde that helped her yesterday… Rosinante.
Both of the males laughed it out but she still felt bad for the way she almost greeted him.
Luckily Law's quiet chatter while they cleaned up the camp was something, she could safely focus and not attack the ones making sure she wouldn't do anything exceedingly stupid.
Case in point…
"And Cora-san is sooo clumsy. There were times I had to fish him out of water, but you're stronger than I am, aren't you?"
"I would certainly hope so, Bratling." She would be pretty offended if it turned out that little bratling would be physically stronger than her… Though the clumsiness is a bit too light of a word to explain how the man managed to set his own coat on fire while lighting up a cigarette… Multiple times.
"Oi! I'm not so clumsy." As if fate had it… The second 'Cora-san' as Law was calling him protested his clumsiness was also the moment he tripped on the empty air.
…
Seriously, who let the man onto the sea with a child?
Speaking about the sea… Skull was able to finally check how she looked in the water and… Well she was happy to say that she looked almost exactly how she was before the curse. Without any makeup and with her hair in disarray, she did her best to keep under control, but her body… Her body was back to how it should be.
Wavy, purple hair fell back to half of her back, amethyst like eyes were looking out onto the world, her lips were quick to quirk into a smile. Her piercings were, where she last had them done. Her adult face was heart shaped and her adult body was looking exactly as the body of a grown woman should look like. No more being around 60 cm tall, no more baby clothes, no more looking up to see everything…
She was an adult again…
She was herself.
And that… was almost enough for her to forgive Death for kicking her from Afterlife again. Almost…
She was tired, okay?
After a quick breakfast (more fish…) they boarded a smallish boat and set sail…
Or rather Cora-san set sail with Law teaching Skull different knots and other basics…
Apparently being able to put up a circus tent was not enough to be able to sail on a boat… Who knew?
"Soo? Are you two related? Or are you simply running away to the circus?" Skull dropped the bomb with a forcibly disinterested voice, her fingers fighting with Boom Hitch, her eyes observing Rosinante like a hawk.
She didn't get a vibe that would say that the bratling was with him against his will, but it didn't mean that he couldn't be tricked… And Skull… Skull not so long ago was dealing with a Rodina that thought selling kids to become little assassins was acceptable past time.
To his credit, it seemed like Corazon immediately caught what it was that she was asking about and looked at her seriously.
"Law is ill, we're looking for a cure."
In her lap, Law curled in himself, which… well... was quite suspicious…
"Ill?" She prompted him just as disinterested as before. This time with her hand over little Law's head, where it was trying to at the same time bury itself in her shoulder and in his own neck.
"It's called Amber Lead Syndrome" Corazon shot her challenging look at which she only raised a purple eyebrow. "It's caused by excessive Lead mining at the island."
"Terminal?"
"Yes."
"Spreadable?"
"No!" This time it was Law that answered. His little hands clawed into her forearms with determination "It's not spreadable! I'm safe to be around!"
Well, that explained that challenge…
"Shh…" She immediately left out the rope, she was training herself to be able to tie, to cradle the little boy in need of assurance. "It's okay… It's okay… No one here's saying you're not"
"Flevance, the island Law's from was destroyed from fear of spreading of the illness." Corazon explained gravely. Then he looked at her with a promise that should she show any sign of betraying them, she would not leave the boat on the land. Skull could respect that kind of dedication. "We were kicked out from many hospitals already because of the rumours of it being in fact spreadable."
"Oh… Shhh… Law…" She managed to wrangle Law into sitting a bit further onto her lap, then she raised his face to look at her with a finger. "Little Law, look at me" She smiled warmly at the scared child that already lost everything "I'm not afraid of you" Skull made sure to make her voice ring true in the heart of the little boy. Poor him. "I'm not leaving. You still need to re-teach me how the world works, don't you?"
"I… yeah!" Little Law nodded resolutely and let himself be gathered into a tight hug of the purple haired woman.
"That's right." She squeezed him a bit more and turned herself back to conversation with the other adult "Where are we going now, Corazon?"
"We're sailing to the Ruck Island." At that she was able to give him another empty stare… She had no idea where what was here, c'mon… "It's… Here, see?" He took out a map from… wherever it was up-till-then to show her where they were and where the island was.
"Why?" It… didn't look like it was too far from where they were, but still… why make that journey? Was there something to help Little Shrimp?
It didn't look big enough to have a good hospital.
"There is a Fruit called Ope Ope no Mi. It can cure Law." Devil Fruit? From his explanation it didn't seem like Fruits worked that way…
"There?" She asked, pointing with her chin at the map… her arms were still full of a little boy after all.
"Yes, Pirate crew that has it, is going to sell it to the Marines on the island. We're crashing the party." Corazon smiled roguishly. A fit Skull didn't believe possible in scenic makeup up to the moment. Not that kind of scenic makeup.
"Pirates? Marines?" Okay, so 'pirates' were rather self-explanatory, but 'marines'?
What?
Wait… Wasn't soldiers in naval forces called like that?
It… Would make sense… What with the way Corazon explained the world.
"Oh yeah… I was supposed to explain more, wasn't I?" The man grinned at her disarmingly… As if Skull would believe even for a second that he simply forgot…
"You were. Get to it" She demanded, curiosity burning.
"Cora-san and me are pirates" Law piped up at which Corazon nodded agreeably… Though it looked a bit pained to her experienced eye.
"That's right, we're part of Donxiquote Pirates led by my brother" Donxiquote… They didn't name Pirate Crew using anagram of Don Quixote, did they? So? Name of some other island? Maybe a city? A surname?
"And pirates… are?" She smiled sweetly… Bratling was a bit too young for the whole rape and plunder for her tastes…
"Oh, right. So… it's complicated" He laughed sheepishly and at Skull's unimpressed stare quickly started explaining the entire thing "Sooo… There is a thing called The World Government, which rules almost the entire planet. The World Government is controlled by The Group of Tenryuubito called Gorosei, where Tenryuubito are the families that by the end of Void Century created the World Government. World Government gives kingdoms their protection in the form of Marines being stationed on or at least near their islands in exchange for taxes and upholding Government's laws. Marines have military structure with Fleet Admiral on top, 3 Admirals, 6 Vice-Admirals,12 Rear-Admirals etc. You'll recognize them by white uniforms. Officers are wearing coats with 'Justice' written on it." Not only did Corazon have word vomit on the topic, but also the gall to shoot her cheeky smirk and a question. "Following for now?"
Strangling one's information source is a bad idea…
Very, very Bad Idea…
"White uniforms, Coats with 'Justice' strong, try not to piss off" She summarised after taking a deep breath.
Her reward was Rosinante's slowly sliding smirk… Such a pretty sight.
"Yeah… Something like that." He agreed with a slight grimace. Then he clapped his hands with an unholy smile that if she'd see on 'Reborn's' face would alarm her something fierce. Pity that Corazon clearly didn't hold the candle to the chaos her fellow sacrifice could raise out of simple boredom. Though she did listen more closely for the undercurrents of his next words that she would otherwise. "Now, other than Marines there are 4 other important factions. Let's start with the Bounty Hunters. Generally don't bother Marines and aren't bothered by them in turn. They go after bounties put up by both Marines and the other fractions. It's safe to assume that as long as you don't have a price on your head, they won't bother you, either."
Huh… That sounded like Cleaners back home… Maybe more like Hitmen on a second thought. Cleaners were chasing down only those that got bounties posted by the different Councils, never for those wanted by individual Groups or even just people.
So to summarise…
"Bounty Hunters - no pretty pictures warning about their achievements but neither will they bother with those without bounty."
"Eh… Good enough." This time Skull didn't manage to get a full blown grimace out of Corazon, but she did get a giggle out of Bratling on her lap. "Then there is another faction - Mercenaries. Generally kicked around by members of other factions. They are not hunted by Marines, but even though they are used by them, they are not trusted. By anyone. Always be careful around them. Bounty Hunters will at least give you a signal that you're their prey. Mercenaries will not. Mercenaries sell their contracts to the higher bidder, but if their contract is bought, they'll do everything expected of them. Anything." He stressed the last part seriously.
That… Sure sounded like a cross between Mafia Land Guilds and The Web for her. While Mafia Land had standards and did not take the contracts that would violate them… Or from people who have ever violated them… The Web was free of those pesky things. They took all the contracts. And allowed everyone to at least try their hand at completing them.
"Okaay… Evil, wily, greedy mercenaries who'll do anything expected of them in their contract" And wasn't that nice, that she could quote word for word stereotypes of The Web's employees or The Spiders how some were calling them.
Arachnophobia was rather widely spread among the upper levels of The Underworld.
"Well… That's not wrong." Corazon quirked his painted lips into a wry smirk. "Then there is another, this time highly political faction - Revolutionaries. They are the one to always, unceremoniously oppose World Government and Tenryuubito. They are the ones you can always trust to do exactly opposite of what Tenryuubito would like or do. Revolutionaries make a big deal out of wanting to help people under Tenryuubito's tyranny, but there are times where single, not involved individuals would be sacrificed by Revolutionaries to make a hit against the Government. Be careful around them" Corazon cautioned and… there were some bad memories there, weren't there?
Well… forceful changes of regimes are never pleasant for people involved. Especially those involved unwillingly.
"Revolutionaries, oppose Government, will attack if I'd do anything that would help Government and would not defend if the news of my demise would be a hit to Government reputation" Saying it like that… That did sound suspiciously similar to all those small Underworld Groups that tried to pop up and usurp some of the bigger players' power. Always in the name of people living on their territories, of course.
"That's the crux of the matter, yeah. And both Revolutionaries and the Government despise our next faction - The Pirates. Pirates are the most varied of the factions. There are those like Yonko Whitebeard or Yonko Redhair that are said to be honorable and who are actually protecting those taken under their wing, but then there are those like previous Yonko Shiki that don't care about anything but their own personal goals." Somehow Skull had a feeling that there were more of the 'rape and plunder' category than the 'honorable' kind… Well, nothing new, was it? "Pirates, even though they are fighting mostly against each other, have a hierarchy as well… There is a Pirate King who, once acknowledged, has enough sway to somehow control other crews, there are Yonko - 4 Emperors with territories under their protection, there are Shichibukai - 7 Pirates serving Government in exchange for freezing their bounties… Always be careful around pirates Skull"
That… sounded like good advice.
At least until Skull could measure herself against them to check how her Propagation stands against their trained Haki and Devil Fruits…
"In which category would you put Donxiquote Pirates?" She inquired gently… The fact that he did not mention the crew in his overview did not pain a nice picture… But maybe she was just projecting.
"Don't come close to my brother."
Or maybe not.
"I see…" Skull murmured, looking down at the once again napping child. The disease was taking its toll on the little body, wasn't it?
Suddenly she stopped questioning why Corazon took him onto the sea.
…
Onto different topic then, yeah…
"Are there people who did not join any faction?" There are always Civilians and some fringe groups… Better to find out about them before first meeting.
"Well there are of course normal citizens"
"Of course there are" Civilians are everywhere… Hell there were Civilians even on a fucking Mafia Land. For the given value of the word.
"There are bandits, who everyone is trying to cull down." Also plague of every society, uncouth thugs deciding simple crimes were the way to live by. "Slavers are also being attacked by everyone, unless in some special circumstances that is. The act of enslaving people is illegal, but owning a slave is not…" That… sounded like something Skull would like to sicc Vindice on… She truly detested human trafficking and was more than happy to take on jobs that would have her… show them the errors of their ways. It looked like she could take it up again. "And of course the species outside of World Government jurisdiction."
So all in all standard stuff…
Wait a second…
"Species?" And if she sounded a bit faint? The most they were dividing humanity back at home was by 'races' and of course affiliation… Here they were dividing themselves by 'species'? What kind of bullshit was it?
"Fishmen, Mermen, Minks, Giants, Dwarves etc" Corazon counted off and Skull got a really bad feeling… That… did not sound like he was talking about only humans.
"Seriously?"
"Yup. We live in an interesting world."
"No kidding…" She murmured rebelliously… "Tell me more about them?"
"Which ones?"
"Does it matter? We have time"
"We do" Rosinante agreed, straightening himself as much as possible on the little boat they were at. "Practice that knot while talking?" He suggested, passing her a rope, so she could practice tying it without jostling Bratling on her. She probably should put him down, but… Well call her soft hearted. "Fishmen and Mermen are species living under the water." He waited until she started to clumsily tie and untie Boom Hitch in repetitions. There are some things that had to be learned the hard way. "They are… well half-fishes in different proportions. Mermen and mermaids have the upper body of a human with fish tails from where humans would have hips, down. Fishmen and fishwomen on the other hand have silhouette similar to humans, they're just coated in fish scales. Both species take on different sizes and characteristics of different fish. Like stripes, sharp teeth or long noses. Their best known island is called Fishman Island and is directly under the Red Line. At roughly the same spot that Tenryuubito's Mariejois, just 20 km under it."
Fascinating…
"Do they breathe under water?" She asked, getting excited against herself… She always liked the original version of the Little Mermaid.
Would there be Ursula somewhere?
Huh… In those conditions would Ursula be a fishwoman or a mermaid?
"They both can breathe under and above the water." Rosinante answered, openly amused at her enthusiasm. Did they even had The Little Mermaid in this place? Then he became much more serious. "The youngest would sometimes try to visit the closest human islands…"
That… did not seem like a good idea. Unless humanity in this strange place was much more tolerating than back home.
"They're not greeted with a smile, I take it?" She decided to take a shot in the dark and got sardonic laugh as a reward.
"Smile? Well the slavers are always smiling at them."
"Ouch…" Yeah, she doesn't want to find out if her new and only 'friend' in this place had different views on freedom than a human from home. Nevermind a Cloud. Most people had other interpretations of the word than a Cloud. "And those… Minks you called them? Are they slaves too?"
"If they are caught…" He grimaced. "Minks live on a moving island called Zou. They mostly stay completely isolated and as such are considered more of a legend than a reality."
"Unless they can be sold for a pretty penny" Skull grimaced as well and almost missed the surprised face Rosinante has pulled at that.
"Penny?"
"Umm… a currency?"
"Beli you mean"
"Okay, can be beli" She smiled.
"Now, the Giants… Giants are mostly living on the island of Elbaf and as the name of their species say… they are rather tall. Their culture is that of a warrior and so even though they are not under the 'protection' of World Government they can be found in the Marines' ranks. Mostly because of their ability to fight. A lot of people will tell you that the Giants are not good strategists but decent tacticians… That is a lie. Giants can live much longer than any human and so their strategies are mostly long-term."
"I see…" Much longer than any human, huh? How long can a human live here, then? And how long will she live before being reborn?
"The last of the races you would probably meet are Dwarves. Tiny race which can get up to 15cm in height. They mostly live hidden at coasts of the Kingdom of Dressrosa, at the Green Bit island and are completely ignored by the humans living near them. But… The Dwarves have excellent spy network and are willing to part with information for a coin"
"Noted" She laughed… How come Dwarves are considered 'greedy' by almost every human, ever?
Still… that was quite a lot of information to assimilate at once… She closed her eyes and scrunched her brow to stave off incoming migraine.
"Skull?"
"Migraine" She hissed unhappily.
"Lay down, we'll continue explanations once you're back to yourself"
Back to herself? That'd take a lot more time than just getting rid of the affliction. But… Laying down a bit would be nice.
Skull send a smile to Rosinante and curled down with a Bratling between her arms.
Maybe this strange new world would not be so bad?