Chapter 1: Sword, Brothers, and New Friends

The sickening sound of an open palm against skin echoed in the stone cage. A small girl, who looked to be no older than 3, landed on her rear from the force of the blow. "You Demon! You shouldn't even exist!" He sneered, glaring down at her. All Luffy wanted to do was punch that arrogant look look right off of his face, she couldn't though, she would get tortured for that. Luffy couldn't do that again! It hurt her brothers ehen she got hurt, and she didn't want to hurt her brothers. So she ignored the sting in her cheek.

She was Monkey D. Luffy, a slave for a Noble (really, what's so noble about them). Although she couldn't remember anything before three years, if she tried to she was met by fuzzy images, headaches, and muffled voices. Somehow she found herself as a Celestial Dragon's slave and a Devil Fruit user. She was forced to fight for their entertainment. So, there she was, a 3 year old in a fighting arena. Because of this, she picked up on fighting fairly easily. Sometimes her fist would coat itself in a shiny black substance, and she could now sense people's presence and emotions, also being able to predict the movements of others in a fight. Her fruit was hard to control and she didn't ever have enough time to figure out how to use it, her swordsmanship was was only a bit above average. She only used her sword if there was no other option or she was really ticked off. A year after her capture they then decided she was too much to handle and sold her off to some nobles. She was four when she was sold, yet again.

When she first came, she was thrown in a cell with Sabo and Ace. They were cold and unwelcoming at first. Someone stole money from their *shudder* owner so they were to take them out and rob them in turn. She got caught, and for whatever reason they went after her. Knocking out the guards and stealing the keys to her sea stone cage. After they finished the job, they began to open up. With some stolen and hidden books, they *cough* Sabo *cough, cough* taught her to read and roughly how to write. Before long, they had grown close. On one mission, Ace 'found' a bottle of sake and they made a toast, they were siblings! That was 6 months from her arrival. Now a year and a half passed, so she was now 6 years old.

The Nobleman turned away, turning his nose up at the children with a snobby stuck up look. "You filth are going to get rid of the gang that dared to invade my warehouse. The guard will let you out in 20 minutes." After he haughtily stomped away, the cage door slammed behind him, almost automatically, he locked the door with a gloved hand as if it was too dirty to touch. After the promised time, they were running through the neatly cobbled streets with their bare feet pattering on the stone-hard ground, the stone bomb collars weighing them down and acting as a reminder that they weren't free.

When they were done, racing back to the house, an uneven stone caught her foot and she landed on her stomach, arms splayed in front and legs in back. Her katana was loose, so it clattered to the ground just out of her reach. Sabo and Ace began to walk over, only to stop short by a yard (3 feet) and drop into tense defensive positions. Luffy propped herself up on her slightly grazed knees, only to have an unknown person help her up. Another picked up her katana and slid it into it's place on her back. Turning around with a gigantic D-shaped grin, she thanked the newcomers with a happy tone. One looked to be a little bit taller than the other, but it was hard to tell due to the haircut the person who was standing had. The one who was a bit taller had an open purple cardigan revealing a dark blue tattoo, it was a cross with an upwards facing crescent. He also wore a yellow sash on his waist with dark blue pants. His eyes had a lazy look to them, his hair was blond and in this haircut that resembled a pineapple. Apparently the one who helped her up. (I applaud anyone who can guess who it is before I tell :p)

"Are you okay?" Pineapple asked. Luffy still held her gigantic grin. "Yeah! Thanks Pineapple!" The other guy cracked a smile and laughed a bit. "She actually called you that! I like this brat already! She's funny!" He wheezed, out of breath from his bout of laughing earlier. Pineapple's eyebrow was twitching in annoyance. "Great, another Thatch." He sarcastically said, before turning to the small girl. "My name is Marco. That idiot over there is Thatch." Thatch, who finally caught his breath wore nice black pants and a white nice long sleeved shirt. His hair was reddish brown and in a pompadour hairstyle.

Sabo didn't take their names too kindly. Whispering something to Ace, they both stormed over to stand by Luffy's side. "What is 'Marco the Phoenix' doing here with another Whitebeard division commander?" He hissed defensively. Thatch was mildly surprised that such a small brat new that much, while Marco kept up his smile. Luffy's eye sparkled with amazement. "Cool!" She stopped for a second, a look of puzzlement crossing her face. "What's a Phoenix?" Sabo sighed, he should've known. "A Phoenix is a mythological immortal flame bird." He explained. "Awesome! He's a Flaming Pineapple Turkey!" Sabo chuckled, and Ace snorted in a failed attempt to hold in his. Thatch erupted into hysterical laughter, doubling over and holding his sides. "Hahaha, Oh wow, I haven't laughed like that in forever!" Marco was finding it next to impossible to keep his cool. Especially after he noticed something on their necks. A tick mark appeared on his forehead, his eyebrow twitching dangerously. He smacked him upside the head and glared at him Thatch just gave him a wounded look. Sabo cleared his throat, "Sorry, but we have to get going. We don't want to repeat history." Marco nodded in understanding. "Can you at least give us your names?" Luffy eagerly nodded. "I'm Luffy! These are my brothers! Ace and Sabo. Ace, stop glaring, these people are nice." She huffed, pointing to each brother in turn, a small playful glare in Ace's case.

Sabo grabbed the two other kid's wrists and pulled them towards one of the larger houses. Giving the two a slight nod before they were all literally yanked inside by what looked to be a guard.

With Marco and Thatch

Once the children were far enough away, he let his anger show in his eyes and tone. "Let's go, I have something I have to discuss with the commanders and Pops." he angrily hissed. Thatch on the other hand was shell-shocked, Marco never really showed anger, if he did it was small. Never had he seen him full-blown murderous before, even when he pranked him. Sure, it looked that way when he did, but it wasn't real. The only thing that even compared to this was when a member was threatened or harmed. That made him only a little bit less ticked of than this, and the offender usually ended up in pieces on the ocean floor anyway. After all, he was the Mother Hen to the crew. He felt really bad for whoever made him this mad, if it was the World Government, today would mark it's fall.

After having a hard time keeping up with him, they finally made it to their ship, the Moby Dick. As soon as Marco and Thatch stepped on deck, everyone went rigid. By their reactions, no one else has ever seen him like this either. "All the commanders, we're having a mandatory meeting. Go to the meeting room, now. Someone let Pops know too." His voice was commanding and left no room for argument, also showing his anger. Multiple people stopped what they were doing to walk somewhere bellow deck. They followed, going through the halls before stopping at a room at the end of a hall. When they came in 14 other people, including Pops, was there. The two sat in their respective seats. "So what's got the Mother Hen so mad?" Thatch joked, trying to lighten the dark mood. Some cracked a smile at his common nick-name for the 1st division commander. What no one expected was Marco to give him a 'stop-and-I-have-a-very-good-reason' kind of glare.

"It's about the three kids Thatch and I met. Something was off about them. They all had these stone bomb collars and looked very thin and sick." He explained. Thatch furrowed his brow in thought while everyone else was beginning to understand why he was that angry. "I'm assuming you want to rescue these brats?" Pops asked, Marco just nodded. "Gurara, fine you can, just take Izou and Thatch." The two said commanders shared a victorious glance, before Thatch raised a hand. "Question for Vista, Do you know of a cursed sword that has a metal sheath that's red with a black lightning pattern?" The swordsman nodded. "It's called 'The Devil's Curse' it is said to be cursed with a portion of the Soul that belongs to the Devil himself. Why do ask?" Thatch sweated nervously. "The little girl of the group may or may not own and be overly protective of said weapon." Marco just raised an eyebrow from the doorway. "We can ask the brat later. Are you two coming or not?" He nodded and practically dragged the poor cross-dresser out the door.

The three commanders walked through the dirt paths at the outskirts of town until they reached the neat cobble roads of the more expensive parts of town. "So, where are these troublesome brats?" Izou asked. Marco pointed to one of the bigger white and pastel colored mansions. He just walked up to the guards posted out front and socked them both in the face. Thatch whistled, "Someone's not happy." Marco glared back at the cook and kicked down the door. They stormed the place, taking out guards and releasing the few slaves. They were all adults, though.

They walked through the whole house, kicking down doors, and busting the face of the Noble. They got to the back of the house and were met by a big metal door with a lock keeping it sealed. "This is just wrong, what sane person locks children down there?" Thatch complained, "They aren't sane, they treat anything other then money, status and things that can give and maintain them like garbage." Izou explained, Marco agreed, but was busy using his powers and trying to melt the lock and the door down. When it finally gave in, the sight they were met with made all of them gag. In fact, any person with a heart would feel sick.

There was table with all kinds of wicked looking whips, blood both fresh and dry coated the ends. There was one good sized stone cage in the medium sized room. The two kids inside where chained like animals, a bomb collar on their necks, iron shackles were on their wrists, a shackle was on each kid's ankle with a chain connecting them them to the wall and preventing them from moving very far in the locked cage.

"Now this makes me appreciate my freedom. I mean, do they even feed them?! I am also sure those whips aren't trophies! Wait, never mind. Don't want to get that image." He just shook his head while Marco tolled his eyes. "I agree, but seriously, Shut up! Marco, there's also a problem. You said three kids, right? There are only two here." Izou whispered, not wanting to disturb the dirt-coated kids. "Just unlock their chains, we can ask them where the other went if they know." he ordered, really trying hard not to burn down the house before they get everyone out. Thatch unlocked the cage and their binds with the stolen keys while Izou checked them for injuries, they were covered in them! "Hey, you guys okay?" Izou asked in the softest voice he could manage. "Fine. We're both fine." Since these people are rescuing them, he decided it was best to tell them and see if they'll help. Ace saw the look in his eye so he did it instead. "We are fine, but they took Luffy again! Who knows what they are doing this time!" Ace growled, glaring at the wooden door across the room as if he glared hard enough it would splinter to pieces. Yep, definitely in there.

Marco was *this* close to just burning everything to ashes. "I will go get her, Thatch, you and Izou will wait outside with the kids." His tone was calm and quiet, that they both understood that if he wasn't in the mood for this before, he certainly wasn't now. This was much to the protest of Ace, but Sabo knew this was what's best right now. "Just don't forget her katana, she will flip out and fight tooth and nail to get it back, injures or not." He nodded to him and the other commanders as they grabbed the kids, running out of the room, down the halls, and out the doors. Marco grabbed the keys Thatch dropped, kicking down the wooden door. He almost wished he hadn't. Almost. Luffy was in the middle of the room with shackles on each wrist, chains connecting them to the ceiling so while she was on her knees her head hung. Her arms, face, and legs sported scratches, scrapes and bruises while her back was covered in bleeding open whiplashes. Luffy's katana was thrown aside to the left, discarded. The torturer was staring at him in shock, fear prominent on his face once he recognized his tattoo and him.

He was trying his best not to loose control, seeing as it would do more harm than good. Marco kept his calm stoic expression, but let his anger show in his eyes. Turning to the small girl, he undid her cuffs. Small whimpers of pain came from her unconscious frame, that was the last straw. Before taking out the trash, he set up Luffy next to the wall with her katana resting next to her. Standing up, he gave the only other person in the room an 'I-am-going-to-kill-you-and-there-is-nothing-you-can-do-about-it' smile. "Say, do you like to harm an innocent child? Especially a harmless 3 year old?" When no answer was given, he let iridescent blue flames flicker to life on his arms. Drawing closer, he 'accidentally' set the guy and the room on fire. He softly grabbed the child and her precious weapon, running out just as the rest of the mansion caught fire. Then they all raced away from the smoldering building to their ship with the damaged children in their arms.

When everyone else saw the condition of the children, multiple people (not excluding Pops) wished they had been there to give the Noble a piece of their mind. After they dropped them off at the infirmary, they let the head nurse know that Pops and the commanders wanted a full report on their health, even x-rays. Shw also suggested talking to Sabo and Ace to see how far the mental damage went and see if they had any information on Luffy. After a good hour or so, they were finally done. All of the commanders and Pops along with a good amount of the other worried crew mates, gathered on the deck. She had a binder with one divider for each kid. Mika (head nurse, to all the people who have more accurate info on her name, feel free to tell me!) drew her lips into a thin line. "The two boys finally slept, although you are not going to like." The dark look on her face just supported and confirmed that. It looked bad enough even Thatch and Haruta of all people.

"I am going to start with the two boys. Ace, the one with black wavy hair and freckles, and Sabo, the blond, were awake when they were admitted. They are both nine, while Sabo happens to be a few months older. They both have slight cases of malnutrition with some scarring accompanied by multiple scratches, bruises, and scrapes. They both show no signs of mental complications or trauma, while Ace has a trust problem. Based on the information they gave, they have been there for 2 1/2 years." She looked at everyone before diving into the worst part. "Luffy was tortured and used to get the other two to co-operate. She has deep open whiplashes, very bad scarring and worse bruises, scratches, and scrapes. She has a tad bit of poison in her bloodstream, showing it's been quite a bit since it was last injected. Because she is younger, the malnutrition affected her more than it did the other two. The girl is actually Six!" To say the least, Everyone was shocked. "Bu-" Thatch was cut off by Mika. "I'm not done yet. Sad to say, that may not be the worst she has."

"She also had a sea stone chip imbedded in her wrist that was just recently removed. The two boys told me something, the little girl has amnesia caused by a head injury three years earlier, when she was caught. Luffy has only been with them for two years, and was with some other slave owner before hand. The thing is, she's a freakishly good fighter for her age with both forms of Haki unlocked, but can't use armament, and has her observation on all of the time unconsciously. When we examined her, we found something that tells us where she was before." She ruffled through the papers, unclipping one of the last ones. It had a medium-large circle with three triangles above and one bellow. The reactions were instant, everyone's face darkened. "Celestial Dragons." Whitebeard growled. "How is she so bright after that? It is supposed to be worse than Impel Down." Marco said softly.

"Speaking of the girl, Thatch, I was told she and Ace are black holes. Sabo said whenever they get a chance to dine-and-dash they both eat a ton. Literally." The said cook groaned. "Great, after they are worked up to normal food I will never get a chance to prank Marco." He grumbled. Marco smirked at him. "Great for me, and your health." Thatch grinned back. "Remember I have assistants and a Sous Chef for a reason, I will always make time. I even have extra supplies from my last pranking spree."

The Next Day

Luffy groaned and lifted her head. She was on her stomach, covered in bandages. Subconsciously, she reached out with her Haki and found a lot of people around her, especially in a large room. Startled, she shot up and reached for her katana, only to find it on the side table. Sliding off of the bed a bit too fast, she landed on her rear. Hissing in pain, she grabbed her weapon and slid it into it's place on her back. Luffy flipped out internally when her brothers weren't there, taking a minute to locate them. Using the walls for a bit of support she made her way over the the galley where she felt they were. Busting into the room she couldn't help but laugh. Ace had a bit of food on his face, proof that he had a narcoleptic attack in his food. His face was cherry red from the attention and embarrassment while Sabo wasn't doing a good job of hiding his giggles. The rest of the people were quite worried a moment ago were shifting their gaze between the giggling Luffy and an embarrassed Ace.

They finally realized She was there so she ran (read: limped at a fast pace) over to them, and sat next to her brother and across from Marco, Vista, and Jozu. "Good Morning Pineapple Turkey!" She piped. 3, 2, 1. The whole room erupted into hysterical laughter. Thatch had just come in and was setting a bowl of soup in front of her. "So it's not Flaming Pineapple Turkey?" Everyone, now calm, looked at him weirdly. "When we met him Luffy called him Pineapple, when she found out he was a phoenix he was Flaming Pineapple Turkey." Sabo's explanation let most of them smirking. Luffy looked freaked out. "OH NO! I forgot he was a Flaming Turkey!" She was looking a bit panicked. That triggered another bout of laughing. Ace was still glaring at everyone, but silently glad for the attention not being directed at him anymore. "So, Luffy, why are you up? And did you take the medication the nurses got out for you?" Sabo drilled. Ace turned towards the them, now interested. Blankly staring at her brothers, "What's medicine?" Luffy asked in a deadpan tone. "Then, WHY. ARE. YOU. UP!" Ace shouted. ignoring her question. Someone then coughed, it conveniently sounded a lot like 'Sister Complex'. Ignoring everyone, Luffy devoured her meal in record time.

"I didn't sense anyone I recognized around me so I just walked towards where you were." Ace rolled his eye and began to eat, before he fell asleep in his food... again. "Where have I heard that? Dang, I just can't put my finger on it. *bangs head in table* This is so frustrating!" Marco sighed, none of these kids were even remotely what you thought they were. "The thing that Luffy has a natural affinity for is called Haki. Looks as if her Observation is stronger than some of the pirate's I have seen, and they were no newbies." Sabo was thankful for his explanation but not the oncoming headache.

"Oh, I remember now! But is there a kind of Haki where everyone feels sick or passes out?" He asked, remembering an incident that lead to Luffy gettin a sea stone chip in her wrist. The 1st division commander was actually puzzled. "Not exactly. Conqueror's Haki is where you exert your will power over other's and if your's is stronger, they pass out. What you're talking about is most likely a Devil Fruit combined with Haki." Sabo was absorbing the information to use later, but having a hard time blocking out the laughter of Thatch and Luffy. The little girl was having a blast drawing on Ace's face with a marker most likely supplied by Thatch. It looks as if they were also talking about something else. "Ace is going to murder you two." But the duo shrugged it of. No risk no reward! She finished up, then the two ran off to do... something. "Why do I feel as if we're never going to get a moment of peace and quiet when they're together?" Marco complained with a hint of fondness in his tone. "Because we're never going to get a moment of peace and quiet when they're together." Vista confirmed. Sabo just nodded in agreement. "We unknowingly created a pranking duo." Their laughter woke up the narcoleptic child. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Cue the yelling and furious hot-headed 9 year old Ace!

An Hour Later

MARCO WAS MAD! Actually, he was FREAKING TICKED OFF! He had just been covered in glue, then blue feathers. His room was painted to match the rainbow, coincidentally dripping in and ruining the paperwork he spent all of the previous night doing. The only good thing was he knows who did it. He cleaned himself of before going off to find the certain duo for revenge. After he found them, they got chased by an angry flaming Marco to the deck. He ended up smacking the cook upside the head a few times, leaving the injured child to climb unknowingly on Pops. Thatch was now on the floor sporting a few good sized bumps on his head. Pops just thought the whole thing was funny. "What did he do to you this time? l'm assuming the new brat also helped?" Said phoenix nodded and crossed his arms. "They covered me in glue and feathers. I got cleaned up before chasing them two of them also ended up painting my room to match the rainbow. Including my desk and 'accidentally' ruining my paperwork!"

Everyone who was on deck, including Sabo and Ace, burst out laughing. "Wow, that was sooooooo, worth it!" Thatch wheezed out, still a little out of breath, as he stood up and the rest of them calmed down. Izou walked up to the group, "I can't remember a time when Thatch pranked you and his accomplice wasn't given the same punishment." The crossdresser teased. "Maybe he's already being a Mother Hen to the children?" Thatch added, Marco just gained a tick mark and smacked his friend upside the head again, also glaring at Izou for obviously setting it up. "Ouch! Stop doing that!" The cook complained. "I will stop when you stop being an idiot." He hissed back, apparently not a fan of this common topic to tease him on. "I would have to agree with Thatch on this one." Sabo added. Reminding them the 'three brats' were right there. "I am assuming it's apart of his instincts when he ate his Devil Fruit, I'd have to read more to be completely sure about it though." Marco was still kind of annoyed at them but was interrupted by an energetic Luffy crash landing on him, knocking him onto his back with the child sitting on top of him.

"Stop teasing Ma! He's nice. I can't remember anything before the stupid Dragons took me, reminds me of a nice lady I knew. I can't remember what she looks or sounds like though, stupid Dragons fault." Luffy huffed after her little rant. "Wait, do you know how you lost your memory?" Sabo pushed. "Yep! The stupid Dragon's guards chased me and I fell off of a cliff. Couldn't break all of my fall and smacked my head really hard on a rock." She cheerily explained. "Why are you so cheerful about falling of a cliff and loosing your memory?!" Ace yelled in perfect unison with Thatch. It was a bit creepy they could do that on a whim. "Because then l got to see the Dragon get very mad at the guards and fall of the cliff himself! They had to get him out of the water!" Luffy was giggling at the memory while everyone else smirked. "Karma's a jerk." Marco began. "What goes around comes around." Thatch finished. Marco was mad that they kind of made her fall of a cliff and the rest of the anger from the other day hadn't been completely vented. "Marine ship is within range to shoot! Looks as if they're firing now!" many wondered why it wasn't reported earlier but focused on the current situation.

They were actually closer than anyone thought, so the cannon they fired went right over the railing to where the children were standing. Luffy had to do an odd angel to avoid it, shaving of a few hairs as it landed in the water on the other side. Marco was now at his breaking point. As he walked to the edge of the railing, his steps were slow and his eyes shadowed. Thatch cursed aloud, "Luffy, you good?" the child gave him a cheeky grin as an answer. Pops stood, ready to sink the enemy ship. "Marco has this more than covered. In fact, I kind of feel bad for the marines right now." Thatch shivered as Marco leapt over the railing, going full phoenix as he flew over to the poor saps that fired the shot. "What is he doing?" Ace asked, genuinely curious. "He considers you guys to be his family, his little brothers and sister, when he sees them threatened or hurt in front of him, hell breaks loose." Haruta explained shivering and looking a bit scared.

"Cool! Ma exploded with blue flames! Then the ship caught fire and marines flew everywhere then the ship exploded!" Luffy exclaimed, quite amazed and happy as Marco landed back on deck and sat down next to Her. "Luffy, Why are you calling me that?" The phoenix asked. She just tilted her head in confusion. "Well Sabo said that a Mother cares for and protects the child, you does that. Plus, I can't get your name right!" she huffed. Marco just ruffled her long obsidian hair affectionately. "Marco sure got attached to those brats. I wonder if they're names are actually longer." Pops stated. "I'll go ask them if they want to introduce themselves. Oi! Luffy! Do you and your brothers want to come and introduce yourselves?" Said child shot up, ran to her brother, grabbed their wrists, and dragged them over in the blink of an eye. "Wow! You're big, Giant Old-Guy!" Said captain laughed it off. "Cheeky brat! What's your name?" Luffy happily smiled. "I am Monkey D. Luffy, and I am going to be the King of Pirates!" Everyone's jaw dropped at her name and the conviction her voice. Many of the rookies and other pirates they met didn't have half as much!

Pops was all serious now. "Why do you seek that title?" Luffy kept his steady gaze. "I don't want to rule anything. I want to be the freest! The Pirate King also has to be strong, I also want to be. I never want to loose someone important to me." Her eyes held a deep resolve and ancient look that said she meant every word, and has seen all the evil this world has to offer. The crew members who had been there when he drank, talked with, or fought Roger saw him in her. (Maybe it was in more than dream and resolve... Hahaha! I like popping in random things!) "You remind me of Roger." Something clicked in Luffy's head but she couldn't put her finger on it. She began to smack her forehead.

"Damn it! Why can't I remember! I feel as if I should remember him!" Everyone was quiet but didn't hear Thatch whisper something in Luffy's ear. All until Vista and Marco noticed. "Thatch? What did you say?" The 1st division commander asked, sighing, and knowing it was most likely a prank idea. "I feel as if we shouldn't let those two be together or the whole ship will be rainbow like Marco's room, and everyone glitter covered." Vista said. Luffy instantly perked up. "Thanks for the idea Vista!" she shouted, running off to somewhere bellow deck. "You shouldn't have said that." Pops advised. "We have to make sure that Thatch is under supervision or it will happen." The swordsman added. "Hate to say it, bit he left with Luffy." Haruta pointed out. Everyone on the deck cursed aloud. They were in deep trouble.