The clang of a lock being turned resounded smartly in the room just as everyone had relaxed, the squeak of hinges and the quick swing of a door caught them by surprise and as the wood banged against the wall everyone jumped.

Martina went for her guns and almost tipped back her chair as Puma jumped, Nicolas pulled out a bone cleaver and almost nicked himself, Puma jumped and bore his claws, and Mondo Lotta grabbed his chest as the fright almost stopped his heart dead.

"Who the fuck is that?"

She exclaimed as she pried the claws that were digging onto her leg, with a wince she yanked the cat in one swift move and put him on the ground. That bloody hurt.

"No one, no one. Pietro! Take him away, now."

"Yes, sir."

The man at their back moved towards the newcomer and she looked at him, looked at him deep as her [Critical Eye] showed her things that made her face go cold. Her eyes met his, and for a moment his pain bore her down until the man stepped in front of her. He was marching towards him, and she understood it was to put him away, like a toy or a fucking dog.

Some people might say anger clouds the mind, but Martina had never seen so clearly what had to be done. With a Flicker she stood in-between the man and the child, she looked over her shoulder at the kid and gave him what she thought was a kind smile.

"Don't worry, everything is gonna be alright."

Turning back to the man with a face like stone, she raised her hand and spoke as he stopped in his tracks.

"I'll handle this, back up."

"I have orders."

Her eyes narrowed at his refusal, she lowered her hands, raised her chin, and snapped her heels together. [Commanding Presence] took hold of the man as his mental guard was rattled by the loud noise, it was enough for her.

"Leave."

With a face warped by confusion his body marched him out of the room and soon out of the building, leaving four people to stare at the boy under the arch of a hidden door. Arms longer than anyone in the room was tall were wrapped tightly around him, his head hidden inside the long neck of his shirt. He shivered from time to time, stifled sounds escaped him from time to time, Martina needed a second to hold herself back, to smothered her anger. And make sure she didn't go ahead and wrap the kid in a hug and tell him all was going to be well.

The tautness of her smile was the only trace left of her inner feelings as she spoke.

"Hello there, lad. How are you?"

He retreated more into the comfort of his arms. You know exactly how he is, what a dumb question. Fuck. She spied Nicolas unsure of what to do, face asking what was happening. There wasn't much to say really about it, any second now the coin would fall into the slot in his head and she would have to stop him from hurting someone. Maybe. Maybe she would let him.

"Do you want to sit down? Have something to drink? Eat?"

The scared boy looked around again, eyes landing on the Lottas and she put a bit of her [Commanding Presence] into her voice. Just enough to catch his attention, make her the center of the room and his captors the background.

"Don't look at them lad, they can't do anything to you. Come on, sit down. Let's talk, yes? Do you have a name?"

"He can't speak and he won't obey you. He is ours."

"That's fine then. Come on, kid, ignore them and sit down. Just hear me out, ok?"

When Mondo's words registered in Nicolas' head his face fell, lips turned down and brow a single mean line across. He let go of the angriest sigh she ever heard and rumbled.

"He ain't yours, he ain't nobodies property. He is his own person and that isn't a pretty phrase, its a divine right. By all the gods that's our right."

"The marines would love to refute that. Only thing divine is their dragons."

"They are but false idols, waiting to be toppled down."

The Lottas had very funny reactions to that. Mondo closed his eyes and wiped his sweaty face while Coltello cringed into his seat. Through all of it the kid stared at Nicolas, when he stared at her she broke the chair's back rest and offered it to him. Those fucking wounds on his back wouldn't let him rest on it.

She gestured with her head and the kid finally crossed the room and sat down. Licking her lips she suppressed the uncomfortable feeling bubbling in her breast, put away the pity and anger and talk to him like a person damn it. She crouched down and realized she was eye level with him, so she sat down on the floor in front of him and put one hand out.

"I'm Esquirla A. Martina and this is Esquirla I. Nicolas."

The boy stuttered when grabbing her hand but did it in the end. He stared at how she held his hand and didn't let go. That was fine, no danger in it.

"Do you have a dream? Do you dream of anything in this island? Anything you want? Just nod or shake, yes?"

He shook his head and she didn't buy it, he smelt of sweet and sour dreams and tar like fear.

"Well, I do. We do. Mind closing your eyes while I tell you? I want you to imagine my dream ok? Feel the sea breeze in your face while ridding The Beatriz, a scooner that cuts waves like a knife with its angry red sails, I want all my family in that ship. Everyone I call part of it I want them to taste the best food, drink the best wine, and do what they wish in every island we visit. I want adventure! I want drama! I want money, power! I want to take everything this world has to offer and share it! Do you understand!"

Her voice had climbed with passion, she looked bigger, big and selfish as the seas she rode. Nothing mattered but her dream and she pulled those that came close into it, until they were lost in the eddies and current and the only option was to follow. The little slave, beaten until he was small of heart, was captured in that moment. He felt it in his skin the memory of a breeze and warmth of fire in the beach.

He nodded furiously to her question, he understood! He was terrified but understood all the same, because fear is but the weakest of chains. Broken in a single moment of bravery.

"That's great! Then tell me, you have no dream. Do you want to live in mine until you choose your own? Do you want to be part of my crew?"

YES! He was a little slave with a small price, that price was a dream.

"Excellent! Welcome to the crew! Welcome to the Esquirla Familia!"

Martina's laugh echoed in the room and shook the windows, a lioness triumphant roar. She kissed the boy's hand still in her hand and took his other one to jump and celebrate! Puma joined too, clinging to her coat as they jumped. And she grabbed him by he scruff and threw him in the air making him yowl in panic before he fell on her head and rested on her neck again.

"We are leaving, Nicolas! No more use staying here, the deal is closed Lottas. Bring us everything and we won't bother you no more."

"Our word is our bond, pirate."

"I fucking hope so."

She laughed and trampled down the stairs, took a bottle between each of her fingers from a cabinet and cut the neck of the first one. Took a mouthful and threw the empty bottle on the streets. A hot burst of fumes blew out her mouth and her face stung in the cold of the night.

"Nico! I'm happy! We got a brother!"

"Aye, we did. Do you want a fruit or cake?"

The little slave looked at the giant that offered him a tangerine in one hand and a piece of black cake in the other. He stared at both hands and then at his face, not knowing what to choose.

"Hey! I want-"

"An apple, catch. You might want to try the tangerines, they are very sweet."

He threw a peeled apple at his sister without looking and peeled the tangerine a second later with one finger before offering it to the little slave, who took it nervously. Right until he tried half of it and the sweetness just overloaded his mouth.

"Martina, do we know his name? I can't keep saying 'you', its mighty rude."

"I don't think we asked. Did we ask? Do you know how to write? Can you write us your name?"

The little one nodded and took the proferred pencil and paper, set the paper against the base of a lamp post and wrote in big blocky characters.

'SLAVE'

"I'm going to murder them."

"I might just let you."

The siblings murmured to each other with the piece of paper held between them. While Martina still fumed at what was written Nicolas peeled another tangerine for him and spoke again.

"That's not a name, you know that. Do you know your name?"

He shook his head. Suddenly ashamed.

"We need to give him a name. Esquirla is a given, he is family."

The little slave felt a flutter in his chest. Martina finished off a bottle and shouted.

"Hear, hear!"

"Mariano? Hector?"

"He doesn't look like a Mariano, and I hate Hector. We aren't going to be the spics with a brother named Hector! Don't feed the stereotype! Luca? Mephisto? Ismael? Choose boy, choose! It's going to be your name."

He didn't know about names, he didn't care about them. Except Esquirla, he cared about that very much now. His arms slowly snaked around him and gave them a shrug. Not really knowing how to communicate about it.

"None of them hit a string? You liked none?"

Another shrug.

"I liked Mephisto."

"Please don't be like that, he is going to hate you."

"He wouldn't. Sweet boy like him? Wouldn't hate nobody, right?"

Shrug.

"See? How about Leonidas? Leon? Big name, he can grow into it."

He perked at that, as they walked. They came across a big furrow in the street full of water, Martina jumped onto a roof and stayed there, Nicolas just jumped over it, and the little one used his arms to walk across.

"Esquirla Leon, then? I like it, its a good name. And you can change it if you wish, nothing stops you from choosing another name later on."

"He needs a middle name, as our brother he deserves the best middle name! D! Make him a D."

Leon- tentative- looked at Martina on top of the roof with askance. What was a middle name anyway? More names? Didn't he have enough? Why more? And why D? He wouldn't fight it, but he was curious, what was it? Without even looking she knew what he wanted to hear and began.

"D! The middle name of every great troublemaker! Gol D. Roger! Monkey D. Garp! Portgas D. Ace! All the big ones have a D in the middle!"

Esquirla D. Leon. It was a nice name, he thought. Longer than most, that must mean it was better too. At least he knew it would be long to write, he would need several more papers to learn to write his name properly. It was a nice thought. He would have many pages on himself to introduce himself properly, he couldn't speak but he would make sure he was heard. At the very least they would be clear about his name.

Leon's thoughts were interrupted when they reached the port, already people of the famiglia were running to and fro carrying giant wooden boxes. Some jingled when they passed and others rustled. Money and something soft, cotton?

He saw his new family head -sister? captain?- stop one of them and asked them about where Merol was. The dock collector he knew, a thin reedly man with a like for pearl dust and groveling to the younger head of the famiglia.

They found him in the dock's vigil cabin, a small place with just a chair and a window to the dock's to charge anyone coming in late. Martina banged on the door loudly and they heard screech and out came a wild looking man, wiping away at his red nostril. Blinking quickly and repeatedly.

"What? What do you want? What the fuck do you want now?"

Leon saw an evil smirk climb his sister's face as Nicolas sighed and went away towards the ship. Lightning quick she had grabbed Merol by the ankle and hoisted him off the walkway before dumping his head in the water.

"Where's my money!"

"Ah- Wha- What are you talking about!"

He threw up some water and tried to speak before being put in the water again and brought back up like a rag.

"Where's my money shithead!"

"I don't know! I don't know you! I don't owe you!"

"You charged me for the dock, I want it all back. Where's the money Lebowski!"

"Nobody calls me Lebowski. You got the wrong guy!"

"Are you done?"

Asked Nicolas as he saw his sister counting bills while followed by Leon. The poor little thing was slight as a bird, he would need to prepare some good, hearty meals for him after his appetite normalized.

"Si, seƱor. Hmm, pretty money. Here Leon, your first pay."

She took exactly one third of the stack and gave it to the boy. Who just looked at them like they were painted papers and nothing more. It was going to be a long time acclimating him to how everything worked. And the ship wasn't a good start for that.

"You get to take things from people if you give them this in exchange."

That was right in the basest of levels and missing a whole lot of other things. Not having the energy to correct them he distracted them with the chest. Martina always loved pirate chests, said they were a must.

"They sent us the devil fruit too, evil little thing. Smells rancid."

Without much thought she put her boot's toe under the chest and kicked it into her arms. Inside there was a green and black pineapple, with swirly patters all around that ended in the leaves.

"Our first treasure chest. This is our first fucking treasure chest!"

She whooped and held it over her head and jumped like a mad woman with Puma jumping off her shoulders and stalking away. It was their first treasure, many firsts acomplished in the island. First time somebody tried to kill them, first time he got tied up like that, first time he punched a woman, first time someone didn't accept his cakes. That last one had hurt. He would have to make better cakes, make them so that you would go hungry just from the smell. That was his goal now.

They left the port quickly much to the relief of everyone in the island. Especially the Lottas. And with that list of firsts came a list of Levels and Skills.

[Captain leveled up!]

[Captain level 4!]

[Skill - Ship: Spray Cutter obtained!]

[Ranger leveled up!]

[Ranger level 17!]

[Warrior leveled up!]

[Warrior level 20!]

[Skill - Weapon Proficiency: Swords]

[Cook leveled up!]

[Cook level 10!]

[Skill - Some at the bottom]