AN: Sorry for the long wait, pretty busy with RL.. teehee..
Thank you for the continuous support! I really am thankfull for the reviews and comments :)
Mow, Light, Guest, guest, Son of W, Zorin thank you for your kind words/reviews in regards to the chapters :)
Here is it... Chapter 11
Competition of the Moon Goddess Aminrah
As Luffy tried to look for the silver-haired man in the city, Ace found himself wrapped up facing his past. The raven-haired man held the red-haired beauty in his arms as he felt her hands holding his back as her head slowly slips down further lying on his chest.
"You okay Rosa?" The raven-haired masked as he looked at the songstress as he felt specs of water hitting his chest. "I'm just happy you're alive." Rosa said faintly as she held him tight.
"I really thought you died… Two years ago, Vergil said the marines executed you, which is why I wanted to leave the Island." Rosa said as she started to grip the back of the young man, "I didn't want to believe him that you died." The red-haired maiden said as tears fall from her eyes.
"Yeah, they captured me two years ago. However, my brother saved me…" Ace said as Rosa looked at him, "Your brother?" The red-haired maiden asked as the raven-haired man grinned at her.
"Yeah, Luffy rescued me." Ace said as Rosa looked at him with her emerald colored eyes, "those two years believing that you are dead was so hard." The songstress said as Ace held her tighter.
"I'm sorry for causing you pain." The raven-haired man said as he pressed his lips on the forehead of the red-haired beauty. "The important thing is I am here now." Ace said as he held the maiden even tighter.
The red-haired maiden then looked at the raven-haired man as she saw him smiling as Rosa suddenly realized something that caused her to push Ace away from her.
"Wait... What are you doing here?" Rosa asked as Ace grinned at her. "I came to take you away." The young man said, as he looked into the songstresses eyes.
"Huh? You can't, Vergil will kill you if you take me away from here." Rosa said as she pushed away from Ace, "You know how powerful Vergil is…" The red-haired maiden added as Ace scratched his head.
"Yeah, that maybe true but... My brother and our crew are here." The raven-haired man said as he grinned at her.
"I won't leave you alone here. I promised you four years ago that I will come back and save you. It was earlier than I initially planned but here I am." Ace added as his face showed a gentle expression, "I won't leave you here alone Rosa." The raven-haired man said as he held her hands.
"Bu... But…" Rosa said but before she could protest, the raven-haired man extended his head until their lips touched ending to a kiss. Ace held her head as the maiden's hands drop accepting the kiss of the raven-haired man.
Slowly, Ace pulled away as he looked at the dazed expression on Rosa's face. "Come with us Rosa, you said before you wanted to explore the world, and now is your chance!" The raven-haired man said as the red-haired maiden bit her lower lips.
Thoughts flash as the young maiden saw the scene that happened four years ago, her eyes slowly widened as she remembered something that made her nervous.
"It's not safe here now. They are all over the place." Rosa said as she looked at the raven-haired man as he just stared at her. "I won't leave you." Ace said as he smiled at the red-haired woman, "No matter what happens." He added as he held her hands.
"I won't leave you, no matter what you say. Just come with me, I'll protect you." Ace added as he too remembered the events that happened four years ago. "I was powerless to take you with me before…" The raven-haired man said as he looked at the red-haired maiden.
"I won't leave you this time around…" Ace said as he let go of her hands, the woman on the other hand just looked at him as a smile formed on her face. "You are as persistent as before." Rosalia said as she walked towards the shore of the lake.
The raven-haired man starred at the red-haired beauty as she placed a white silk shawl on her head covering her hair and her face. "It seems like no matter what I say to you, you will still do what you want." Rosa said as Ace smiled at her.
"Yeah! You know me better than anyone." Ace added as Rosa threw a white robe to him that surprised the raven-haired man. "What's this?" The young man asked as the red-haired maiden smiled as she fixed the silk shawl on her head.
"Use it… We can't let the people see the person who tried to abduct the country's songstress four years ago walking freely now can we?" Rosa said, as Ace laughed. "Yeah I guess you're right." The raven-haired man said as he wore the robe.
As Ace fixed the robe, he saw the red-haired beauty looking at him that made his eye wide. "You look like a bride." The raven-haired man said as Rosa Chuckled at his comment.
"That may be true, but you also look like a groom." The red-haired maiden said as she walked towards the young man.
Ace looked at himself as a smile formed on his face. "Yeah, I guess. We both look like a newlywed couple." The raven-haired man said as he grinned at the songstress.
"If you came with me four years ago, we might already be married and you and I have kids living somewhere." Ace said as he started to laugh, Rosa on the other hand looked at the young man as she tried to smile.
"Four years ago…" The maiden said as Ace grinned at her as he extended his hand towards the songstress. "Let's go! I can't wait for you to meet my brother!" The raven-haired man said as Rosa smiled at him.
"I'm sure you will like him." Ace added as Rosa extended her hand holding the hands of the raven-haired man as she nodded. "If he is like you, I am sure I will like him." The songstress commented as the young man frowned at her.
"Don't like him too much!" Ace protested as Rosa chuckled at his comment, Ace fixed the hood of the robe and placed it covering his face as they both left the area in a hurry.
A few minutes pass since they left, three unknown figures walked through the shore where Ace and Rosalia once stand. "No one is here!" A man said as a sigh slipped out the mouth of the other. "We must find Rosa-sama, report to our Lady that no one is here!" The man ordered as the other guy used his den den mushi.
With the amount of people walking the streets, the blonde-haired cook lost track of Nami as he started to look around, "Nami-chan! Where are you?" Sanji yelled as everyone who heard him looked at his direction. "Where did she go?" The young cook said as he scratched his head.
As Sanji walked the streets of the city trying to find the orange-haired beauty, the cooked noticed a commotion that is happening in front of him as he walked closer.
Men and women on the street looked at the beautiful raven-haired woman with long black hair reaching bellow her thighs walking down the street. The maiden was wearing a black and violet dress that was until her knees as women around her admired her beauty and elegance while walking.
Men stared at the beautiful woman as her tight attire emphasized her slender figure as she wore black stockings and gold high-heeled long boots that highlighted her long legs. "Be... Beautiful!" Men and women said as the exotic beauty walked past them.
Her gold colored eyes looked around as if she was looking for someone. "Who is she?" The man asked as they watched her from afar. "This is the first time I saw her here." A merchant said as a man looked back at him. "Maybe she is one of the candidates for the festival tonight." The other man said as people on the streets started to realize.
"Maybe you are right. The festival of the moon goddess isn't solely for women here. If she joins, I bet she will win!" The merchant said as he watched the raven-haired beauty walk past them.
The cook's eyes immediately turned into heart shape as he starred at the exotic looking beauty. "Be... So Beautiful!" The blonde cook said as the woman looked at his direction.
Sanji just starred at the raven-haired beauty as his body ultimately froze as the exotic looking beauty walked in front of him. "I… I'm in-love!" Sanji yelled suddenly that shocked the woman into stopping in front of blonde cook.
"What did you say?" The exotic beauty said as she looked at the blonde-haired man and chuckled. "You're kinda cute..." The raven-haired woman added that caused the young cook to fall deeper in his current emotions.
"My name is Octavia.." The raven-haired woman said as she gave a brief and warm smile to the blonde-haired cook. "O.. Octavia.." Sanji said as he starred at the exotic beauty even more.
A faint yet brief chuckle escapes from the mouth of the exotic beauty as she looked at him, "Mind telling me your name? Or should I just call you cutie?" Octavia said as the blonde-haired man blushed.
Is she flirting with me? Sanji thought to himself as he looked at the beautiful raven-haired woman, "Sa.. Sanji.. My name is Sanji." The young cook said as the raven-haired beauty in front of her smiled.
"Your name sounds familiar, though I am not sure where I heard it before." The exotic beauty said as Sanji looked at her with a smile on his face as he walks towards the raven-haired maiden.
Shit. Maybe she would be scared if I told her I am a Pirate. Sanji thought to himself as he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him.
"Maybe you have heard of my name before, If you haven't noticed yet, I am a world famous Cook!" The blonde-haired man said as Octavia looked at Sanji as she started to smile at him.
"I see, maybe that's why your name is familiar." The raven-haired maiden said as she once again looked around.
Sanji noticing the actions of exotic beauty made him wonder, "Are you looking for someone?" the young cook said as the raven-haired maiden looked back at him and smiled.
"Yes, I am looking for someone." The raven-haired beauty replied as Sanji looked at her, "We lost track of her earlier that's why I need to find her." Octavia added as the blonde-haired cook placed his hand on his chin.
She said her right? He thought to himself as he glanced at the raven-haired beauty and smiled at her. This is a perfect chance for me to spend more time with her. The young cook said as he started to grin.
"Were the same Octavia-chan, I am also looking for my friend." Sanji said as he looked at the exotic beauty. "Why don't we search for them together?" he added as his eye turned to heart shape.
Octavia chuckled as she looked at the blonde-haired cook, "Sure thing, it would be nice to walk with someone and I am feeling a little bit conscious with all these men starring at me." The raven-haired beauty said as Sanji's smiled even more.
YES! Octavia-chan agreed! The young cook thought to himself, "Don't worry Octavia-chan, I will protect you from their perverted gaze!" the blonde-haired man said as a drool started forming on his lower mouth as he thought of inappropriate things with the raven-haired beauty.
"Ummm… Are you okay?" Octavia asked as Sanji cleared his throat and looked back at the exotic beauty. "Yes I am, shall we milady?" The young cook said as he extended his arm towards the raven-haired maiden.
Octavia looked at Sanji and smiled as she started to walk with the blonde-haired cook. "If I may ask who you are looking for?" The raven-haired maiden said as Sanji just looked in front of him.
"I am looking for an orange-haired firecracker." Sanji said as the raven-haired maiden looked at him with a confused expression on her face. "A Firecracker?" Octavia asked as the blonde-haired cook nodded.
"A firecracker indeed, very beautiful to look at from afar and very dangerous to get close and touch." Sanji said as he chuckled as Octavia looked at him and smiled.
Meanwhile, Nami on the other hand suddenly sneezed, "Uhhhh. What was that?" She asked as she looked around the area.
"Where did he go?" The orange-haired beauty said as she searched for the young captain. "I will kill him." Nami said as she walked around trying to find Luffy.
A sigh slipped out her mouth as she continued to walk, "What will I do now? I ran after Luffy without thinking." The orange-haired navigator said as she continued to look around, with the amount of people here, it would be hard for me to look for him. Nami thought as she sighed once again and looked around.
I will kill him if I see him later! The young navigator thought to herself as she sat on the bench. "Uhhhh. I'm tired." Nami said as a man approached the orange-haired woman.
"Here." A man said as he handed a cold drink to the orange-haired beauty, Nami immediately looked up and saw a young handsome medium built man with long black hair and red eyes staring at her.
The navigator's eyes widened, as she did not expect to see such a handsome man in front of her. "Uhhhh... Thanks?" Nami said as she watched the man sat next to her as he opened his book.
The navigator looked at the man with a dumbfounded expression, as she doesn't have any idea why he gave her a drink. Her eyes moved from top to bottom as she examined the raven-haired man next to her.
He was wearing a black army coat, black pants and black knee high boots, He looks like he is a general of some sort. The navigator thought to herself as the man suddenly glanced at her that shocked Nami.
"You should drink that while it's still cold." The man said as Nami just looked at him in his eyes. "Uhhh. Yeah, thanks." The navigator said as she took a sip as her eyes widened. "This is good." The orange-haired maiden said as she looked at the raven-haired man.
"Wait.. Why did I drink this?" Nami asked herself as she saw the man smirk, which alerted the orange-haired beauty.
"You shouldn't be taking something from a person you don't know. They might have put a poison there." The man said as Nami looked at him with a shocked expression. "I... It couldn't be?" The navigator said as she immediately stood up and prepared herself to fight.
The orange-haired beauty looked at the man as he smiled at her. "You can relax miss. I didn't put anything in your drink." The raven-haired man said as he glanced at her, "How I can be sure that you didn't put anything on the drink you gave me?" Nami replied as she looked at the man who was reading his book.
He just looked back at the anxious maiden in front of him and sighed, "If I put something in your drink you should already be feeling the effects right about now." The man said that made Nami think. He may be right but. The orange-haired maiden thought to herself as she looks at the raven-haired man in front of her.
"The name is Cain." The man said as he closed his book as Nami remained in her position looking at him. "Are you not going to give me your name miss?" The raven-haired man said as he looked at her with his red eyes.
Nami looked at the eyes of the man and noticed something, His eyes are just like a snakes. The maiden thought as she looked at his eyes even more, "It's Nami.." Without even noticing, the orange-haired maiden blurted out her name.
The young navigator was shocked when she told him her name as the man just looked at her. "You're not from here, are you?" The raven-haired man said as he stood up while Nami just looked at him.
"Is he using some sort of trick on me?" The navigator said as she raised her guard. "I feel like this man is dangerous." The navigator thought as the man looked at her with his red serpent eyes.
"You can relax miss. I won't do anything to you." Cain said as he noticed the sudden change of emotion of the woman in front of him. "Huh?" The navigator said as she held her weapon on her side.
"How the hell I could relax?" Nami questioned herself as she watched the raven-haired man. "If I wanted to do something to you, I would have done it on the drink you just drank earlier. It will save me time and effort." The man said which made the navigator even more suspicious.
"I guess I made myself that suspicious that you are holding your weapon, what a pain." Cain said as a sigh slipped out his mouth as he looked at Nami.
Nami on the other hand was on the edge as she watched the raven-haired man looking at her when she heard a familiar person yelling her name. The navigator immediately turned her head and saw Sanji running towards her.
"Nami-chan!" Sanji yelled as he continued to run towards the orange-haired beauty while the raven-haired man turned his head and saw a familiar face walking towards them.
"Octavia, did you find Rosalia?" The raven-haired man asked as he walked towards the exotic beauty. "Cain.. Why are you here?" The raven-haired beauty asked as the raven-haired man just starred at her.
"I am looking for Rosa, she managed to escape her guards when the parade finished." The raven-haired man said as a sigh slipped out his mouth.
"Huh? Don't tell me, she managed to escape from you too? Can't you just trace her smell?" The raven-haired maiden said as she walked towards the handsome man.
As the raven-haired beauty walked closer to her companion, she saw an orange-haired maiden standing next to him that caught her attention.
As both Sanji and Octavia reached Nami and Cain, the young navigator immediately went towards the young cook as she saw the raven-haired beauty accompanying the blonde-haired man.
"Who is that?" Nami whispered to Sanji as Octavia went towards Cain. "Huh? Her name is Octavia, I saw her earlier looking for someone earlier, and since I was looking for you, we decided to search together. Who is that?" The blonde-haired cook asked pointing at the raven-haired man.
"I don't know. He just handed me a drink earlier. I feel that he is dangerous." Nami said as Sanji looked at him with a curious look on his face. "Wait.. They seem to know each other?" The young cook commented which alerted Nami.
"Hmmm. Who is this supposed to be?" The raven-haired beauty said as she looked at Nami as a smirk formed on her face, "I didn't know you like carrot heads." The exotic beauty said as Nami looked at the woman in front of her.
"WHOM ARE YOU CALLING A CARROT HEAD!" The young navigator yelled that took the raven-haired woman off guard. "Huh?" Octavia questioned herself, as she was rather shocked at what she did.
Cain just looked at the two, as he remained silent while his raven-haired companion smiled at the orange-haired beauty.
"An attitude that matches her hair, she is a feisty one. I like her." The exotic-beauty said as she chuckled and moved closer to Nami, "With a beauty like yours, I might decide to turn the other side and pursue women instead." Octavia said as she smiled.
Cain on the other hand looked at his companion as his eyebrow rose. "Octavia chasing women?" He thought as he watched the raven-haired beauty tease the orange-haired navigator even more.
Nami just looked at her with a dumb-founded expression, "Wha?" The young navigator said as Sanji's eyes immediately turned into heart.
"Nami-chan and Octavia-chawn together?" The young cook said as a drool formed on his mouth as he started to imagine the two women.
Without saying anything, the young navigator went to Sanji and punched his head several times causing huge bumps to form from on his head. "What the hell are you thinking?" Nami yelled as both Cain and Octavia looked at her with a shocked expression.
"I take it back…" Octavia said as a sweat drop formed on her head while Cain remained silent as he looked back at the raven-haired maiden.
"So she is the orange haired firecracker you were looking for Sanji?" Octavia said as the blonde-haired cook still was holding his head.
"We must find her before the start of the Moon Goddess Festival or Vergil will be furious." The raven-haired man said as he started to look around as the raven-haired beauty looked back at him.
"I know. They need her there to sing before the competition starts." The exotic beauty said as a sigh slipped out her mouth as she looked at the raven-haired man. "I haven't seen her yet. I even ordered my men to check our hiding ground to see if she was there, though they said no one was there when they checked the area." Octavia added as she held her hair while the blonde-haired cooked looked at her.
"What competition is that?" Sanji said as he fixed himself as Nami looked at the three with a curious look on her face. "Every ten years, the Island celebrates a competition dedicated for the Moon Goddess Aminrah." Octavia said as Cain looked around.
A Competition? Nami thought to herself as her eyes turned to beli signs. "Is there a prize?" Nami immediately asked as the two raven-haired individuals looked at her with a confused looked on their faces. "A prize?" The raven-haired man said as he began to think.
Cain looked at his companion as Octavia looked back at him. "The winner of the competition will get prestige, wealth such as gold, jewelries and more." Octavia said as Nami immediately went to her and held her hands.
"Wait… Gold? You said Gold and jewelries, right?" The young navigator asked eagerly as the exotic beauty just nodded at her question.
"What kind of competition is that?" Sanji asked as he took a long drag and looked at the three. "It is a pageant actually. However, there are certain requirements before a woman can join the pageant." Octavia commented as Nami looked at her with a questioning face.
"Requirements? What kinds of requirements are required to join the competition?" The navigator asked as Sanji remained silent. A pageant? That means there is a swimwear. So the participants will wear bikinis? He thought to himself as his eyes turned to heart shape.
Nami, Robin, Viola.. Wearing Bikinis. Sanji thought as a drool formed on his mouth as he glanced at Octvia. The young cooked blushed even more as steam suddenly appeared from his ears.
"Uhhhhh.. Is he okay?" Octavia asked as Nami just looked at Sanji and Nodded. "Yeah he is fine. So what are the requirements that you are telling earlier?" The young navigator asked as the raven-haired beauty looked at her.
"Since it is to commemorate the Moon Goddess Aminrah, the participants should have the same traits as her. Such as a participant should have raven-colored hair and since this country idolizes people who are beautiful, that is the other requirement." Octavia said as Cain looked at the Nami and Sanji.
"Raven-haired beauties?" Sanji said as he immediately looked at Ocativia and smiled. "Will you join Octavia?" The blonde-haired cook asked as he walked closer to her.
The raven-haired beauty just looked at him and smiled. "I am not allowed to join such a competition, since I am not qualified in certain aspects.." Octavia said as Cain cleared his throat with the thought of his companion joining the pageant.
"Why a beautiful woman like you cannot join? In addition, you have black hair!" The young cook said as Octavia chuckled looking at the young cook. "You see, I am not under the category of a Maiden." The exotic beauty said, as Cain suddenly started to laugh hysterically that surprised both Nami and sanji.
"Why are you laughing Cain? Did I say something that was amusing to your ears which is why you decided to laugh like that?" The raven-haired woman said as her face was rather serious silencing the man from his laughter. Nami felt a slight chill when Octavia looked serious that made her a little uneasy.
What is this feeling? I suddenly feel cold. The navigator thought to herself as she looked at the raven-haired woman who was still looking at Cain.
Sanji just looked at her confused expression on his face as Cain cleared his throat and composed himself as he looked at the raven-haired beauty. "Octavia we must find Rosa, the competition will start soon." The raven-haired man said as he started to walk leaving the raven-haired woman.
"Right.. Well, we have to go then.. If you have friends who are beautiful and have raven colored hair, they can join the pageant. The winner will get the prizes that I said earlier like jewelries, gold and the crown of the Gods." Octavia yelled as she walked away from them. "Cain, wait for me!" The raven-haired beauty said as she ran after the raven-haired man.
Nami hearing what the raven-haired beauty said thought of the prizes, as her eyes became beli signs. "We need to find someone to join that competition." The orange-haired maiden as Sanji looked at Nami with a smile.
"The participants must be black-haired beauties before they can join." The young cook said as Nami still was lost in her thought. "Robin and Viola has black hair." Sanji commented as the navigator snapped out of her trance as she began to smirk.
"Yeah, both Robin and Viola have black hair." Nami said as she placed her hand on her chin. "We must ask either one of them to join, and make sure they win for us to get the prize…" The young navigator said as Sanji looked at her.
"Both Robin-swan and Viola-chwan wearing bikinis." Sanji thought as his eyes turned to heart shape as he imagined both women wearing revealing swimwear's.
Nami's eyes turned to Beli signs as she imagined the amount of gold and jewelries they will get if either one of the two wins the competition.
"WE MUST FORCE ONE OF THEM TO JOIN!" Both suddenly yelled that surprised the people walking the streets of the city.
Hope you all enjoy reading this chapter,
From now on.. The adventure truly begins. teehee..
Please review and leave comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated as well :)