Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.

*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*

Chapter 49: The Hard Shell Tower

It was a challenge to get Luffy to eat for the first time ever. The boy was so excited to go out on the deck and watch for Fishman Island that getting him to sit in the galley and eat lunch was harder then it should have been. The young teen kept trying to fill his mouth and run, but Sabo and Ace had learned by now and were holding a leg down each to keep him from bolting away without them.

It wasn't that Luffy didn't want to eat, because the day that happened the brothers would panic. It was more that Luffy was so excited about the new island that it was distracting him until he remembered that there was food.

Needless to say, lunch went by much faster than usual despite these difficulties. With Luffy scarfing food down faster than ever the three were done pretty quickly, Ace and Sabo eating to match his pace so they could keep the youngest from finishing before them and having nothing to do. Besides, if he did finish before them, it would be much harder to keep him in the galley while they finished. When they were all done eating Luffy practically jumped out of his seat, grabbing his brothers' hands.

"Come on, I wanna go look for the new island!" Luffy said excitedly as he pulled his brothers out of the galley and along the deck to the rails. The crew around them all smiled at Luffys eagerness, watching as he leaned over the rail to look through the tough bubble.

"Look at that! Oh! And that! And look over there, it's a turtle!" Some chuckled at his enthusiasm as they did their chores or walked passed, enjoying how happy Luffy looked to just see some fish up close.

"Ace, do you see the island yet?!" Luffy asked as he tried peering through the darkness for any signs of it.

"How would I be able to see anything down here?" Ace asked, only for show because, really, he could see it, and it was an amazing sight.

'Yeah, I see it, it's inside in a bubble, which is inside another bubble. Also, it's weirdly light in there, and I'm pretty sure I'm seeing a sky and clouds even though we're pretty deep in the water.' Ace tapped as he scanned what he knew to be Fishman Island.

'So that's what that weird light is.' Sabo mused, seeing a dim light in the middle of all the darkness surrounding them. It was still pretty far away, but they would be there in about a half hour to an hour judging by how far away it was.

'How can there be sky and clouds underwater?' Luffy asked, though his excitement was only growing at the thought.

'Who knows. I don't even know if I'm seeing that right.' Ace replied as he tried squinting, wondering what could possibly look so similar to sky and clouds without actually being sky and clouds.

'We'll just have to wait to find out.' Sabo said as he leaned on the railing, having a feeling that Luffy wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

He was right. The half-hour it took for them to get to Fishman Island Luffy stood raptly at the railing, switching between talking silently to his brothers about all the cool stuff they would see and talking out loud to the occasional Commander that would come by.

Ace, in the meanwhile, took the time to think back to everything that had happened to them recently.

First, the Whitebeard Pirates saved them from the facility, where they had previously been trapped for seven whole years of their lives. Then, they were accepted onboard this ship, no questions asked, and that was still something he was trying to get used to. He was just waiting for someone to get fed up and demand to know what had happened in the facility, but again, that had yet to happen. Then, the brothers were asked to join the crew, actually join, and that was an even bigger shocker then everything else. It's one thing to accept some kids traveling onboard for a while, but to actually want them to stay? Permanently? It was mind-boggling to him.

And then there was the biggest shock of all. His parentage. Of all the possibilities that came with telling people who his parents were, Whitebeards and Marcos were nowhere near close to the top of the list. In fact, they were probably as close to the bottom as they could be.

They just accepted him. His parents. Gol D. Roger was his father, and all they had to say about it was that it didn't matter, which was one of the biggest lies he'd ever heard. Of course it mattered, it mattered to the entire world, to the marines, to Rogers enemies. He was the devil's son, someone everyone thought should have died the second he was born, regardless of the fact that he was just an innocent child. In the eyes of the world, just having the man's blood was a crime worthy of death, and yet Whitebeard and Marco had no problems with the information at all. They had accepted it as easily as they accepted the brothers onboard their ship.

For there to be no fuss about his parents, for the pirates to just accept him, he couldn't understand it.

However, he was forced to stop thinking about all of this when Luffy began tugging on his hand, happily exclaiming that they were almost there. He would just have to worry about all of this later.

As they arrived they saw the entrance to Fishman Island open, Sabo hearing guards inside announcing that Whitebeard was arriving as they did. The ship coasted in easily and soon the brothers were staring in awe again as they looked up at the clouds, the sky, the Fishmen/women and mermaids/men.

"So there was clouds and a sky." Ace muttered quietly as he looked up, pleased to know that his enhanced eyesight wasn't playing tricks on him. The crew around them immediately got to work on docking the ship and within minutes they were getting ready to disembark.

"Marco, Thatch, when you take the boys can you go look for Jinbe? I'll need to speak to him about everything that's happened since we've last been here." Whitebeard said as he addressed the different duties of all the crew members. The two Commanders nodded and when everyone was ready they headed to the brothers.

"Alright you three, you ready?" Thatch asked with a smile. Double checking that they were all wearing their wristbands Sabo nodded. Even if this was a Whitebeard protected island, they still didn't want to take any chances.

"Then let's go, yoi," Marco said as he led the way off the ship. Luffy could barely contain himself as he skipped alongside his brothers, the older two holding his hands so he couldn't run off alone. As they walked everyone they passed gave them smiles once they saw they were with the Whitebeards, and many began whispering happily to each other, Sabo picking up that they were excited to see the pirates again.

"Ne, Marco, where do you think Jinbe is?" Thatch asked from where he stood at the front of the group beside Marco.

"I don't think we need to worry too much, yoi. He'll probably find us. For now, why don't we take the brothers to the shopping section?" Marco asked, turning to get the brothers' opinions.

"Yeah! Come on Ace, Sabo, let's go shopping!" Luffy cheered happily. The two saw no reason why they shouldn't so they nodded as well, and once again followed Marco and Thatch to the many shops set up in town. Of course, one of these shops had the words, 'John's Candy Shop' printed clearly on it and that enticed Luffy immediately.

"Candy?! Ace, Sabo, let's go get some candy!" Luffy said, pulling his brothers toward the shop, Marco and Thatch following with bemused expressions on their faces.

"We can get some candy, Luffy, but not a lot. Too much sugar isn't good for you." Sabo compromised, knowing that the boy had a tendency to go overboard, and he did not want to see what Luffy was like with that much sugar in him.

After being dragged into the store and fighting to keep Luffy from eating everything, the group left with a good sized bag of candy, Luffy attempting to swipe something from it every few seconds.

"You know, I don't blame him for being eager. The candy they make here is supposedly some of the best in the world." Thatch commented as he watched Ace raise the bag just out of reach of Luffys grabby hands.

"That may be the case, but I think its best for us all if we limit Luffys intake," Sabo said with a smile as he allowed Luffy to have one of the taffy's from the bag. As they browsed through different stores another thing that caught Luffys eye was the bubbly coral.

"Look Sabo, look Ace, it makes bubbles!" Luffy said as he tested one of the corals they had on display.

"It's for humans, so they can be mobile in water and still breathe if they need to, yoi," Marco explained, pulling out one of his own bubbly corals that he had brought along.

"Really?! That's so cool! We have to get one!" Luffy said, already grabbing some off the shelves for him and his brothers.

This was mostly how the rest of the shopping trip went. Luffy would read a sign, and Sabo would curse himself forever teaching the glutton how to read. Every time they would go in Luffy would manage to somehow rope Ace and Sabo into yet another purchase. This probably would have continued for the rest of the day had they not been interrupted.

"Thatch, Marco, its good to see you two again." A voice spoke up, drawing everyone's attention toward it.

"Ah, Jinbe! So you did find us after all!" Thatch said with a smile as he greeted the blue Fishman. The brothers watched the newcomer skeptically for a moment while Luffy got a read of the man's aura and feelings.

"I did. I heard Oyaji docked not too long ago and thought I would try to come find you guys. I had a feeling you would be closer to the boat or restocking near the docking section. What brings you to the tourist section?" Jinbe asked with a raised eyebrow.

'What's he look like Lu?' Ace asked, knowing that any second this Jinbe persons attention would be on them.

'Blue. No bad feelings.' Luffy determined after a second, blinking as he turned his attention to the eldest.

"That would be because of these three, yoi," Marco said as he gestured to the brothers. Sabo and Luffy gave Jinbe smiles, Sabo deciding he would be polite, yet cautious around the man. Meanwhile, Ace was giving the Fishman a calculating look, arms crossed as he decided if it was ok to be near this guy.

"Oyajis recruiting youngsters now?" Jinbe asked curiously as he looked over the teens. Luffy pouted now but didn't sense maliciousness in the words.

"Not exactly. These three are a special case. Maybe we'll tell you about it later." Thatch said with a nonchalant shrug which Jinbe seemed to expect.

"Hi, I'm Sabo, and these are my brothers. Luffys the youngest and Ace is the oldest." Sabo introduced politely, seeing that now was a good time to do it.

"It's nice to meet you three, I'm Jinbe." Jinbe greeted just as politely, and Luffy decided he liked the Fishman. He could feel the loyalty in him, and that was a good feeling.

"Oyaji wanted to talk to you about a report when you've got the time, yoi," Marco said after introductions were over.

"I know, I met up with him at the Moby when I was looking for you. Which reminds me, I was recently at the Ryugu Palace and Neptune wanted to greet you personally. He'd like for you to come see him." Jinbe said as he looked up. The brothers followed his gaze, Sabo and Luffy just making out something in the distance, but Ace could see that it was a weird blockade like the entrance that led to another bubble above it. Inside that bubble was a regal looking palace that Ace assumed to be the Ryugu Palace. He relayed all of this information to his brothers.

"Really? I wouldn't mind seeing the big guy again. Last time we went they made some pretty good food." Thatch said with a smile as he thought about the feast that had been prepared.

"As long as he wouldn't mind the brothers coming along with us, yoi," Marco said, bringing everyone's attention back to the fact that the two Commanders were accompanying the three.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all. Neptune's pretty understanding." Jinbe said coolly.

"Ah, that's not necessary. We can go back to the Moby if it'll be too much trouble." Sabo said with a smile, waving his hands. After all, the brothers didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to royalty and nobles. Jinbe raised a hand of his own.

"Nonsense, the more the merrier. Come, I'm sure they've already started cooking the feast." Jinbe said as he turned, whistling for something. Out of nowhere, a giant fish came down, a bubble around its midsection as it lowered just enough for the group to board the seating on its back. The brothers were a bit wary, but Thatch and Marco seemed to trust this guy, and Luffy had said he was good colors. Not to mention, there was gonna be a feast and they would be able to ride on the back of this giant fish.

'Let's be cautious.' Ace tapped as he began to follow Marco and Thatch onto the back of the fish. Sabo and Luffy nodded minutely as they followed as well, all of them inwardly excited about what was to come, yet nervous for what could happen. After they were all on the fish they began ascending up to the entrance Ace had seen. On their way up Marco and Thatch both got out their bubbly coral, explaining to the brothers that the palace was full of water. Hearing this Sabo took out their own bubbly coral, surrounding the three of them in their own bubble. When the fish reached the top of the bubble Jinbe used a den den to call the guards inside the palace, telling them that they were there.

The entrance opened, a stream of water rushing down to the now open entrance, and the fish quickly swam in, taking them up to another bubble containing the Ryugu Palace.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Luffy said in amazement as he peered around them. Once they were out of the stream and in front of the palace Luffy lit up, eyes sparkling at the immaculately decorated building.

"Sugoi~!" Luffy cried as he took it all in. Sabo sat in a similar state of awe while Ace tried his best to look unsurprised. After all, he had seen it from below, what's so special about seeing it up close? Despite this thought though, Aces eyes couldn't help but roam over the detailed statues and structures. The doors to the palace opened and Jinbe got off the fish, the rest of them following him as he walked in.

"What have I said about trying to do strenuous work?! You have to be more responsible, you know it'll strain your back!"

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"And not to mention, you're always sneaking off alone, do you know how dangerous that is?!"

"I'm sorry, jamon."

"And another thing-!"

"Minister of the Left, Minister of the Right, King Neptune, I've returned with the Whitebeard pirates and their guests," Jinbe said with a smile, interrupting the scolding coming from the group. The three turned to face them, a look of surprise on their faces.

"Ah, Marco, Thatch, its good to see you two again! How's Whitebeard, jamon?" The giant merman asked as he swam forward to them.

"He's well, yoi. How about yourself?" Marco asked politely, the man smiling pleasantly.

"Just fine. Ah, who are your guests?" He asked as he looked over to the brothers who tensed up a bit. This was clearly the king, or at least some sort of royalty if the giant crown was anything to go on.

"This is Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. They're brothers who're staying on the Moby for a while... well, indefinitely really." Thatch said with a grin. The giant raised an eyebrow but smiled regardless.

"Oh? That's interesting. It's nice to meet you boys, jamon. I'm Neptune, King of the Ryugu Kingdom." Neptune greeted cheerfully. Sabo smiled and bowed, Luffy mimicking him and Ace begrudgingly doing so as well.

"The pleasure is all ours, your majesty," Sabo said in as polite a tone he could manage, using his noble upbringing to his advantage, even if it did make his stomach churn in disgust at the thought of memories from so long ago.

"Please, just Neptune is fine," Neptune said with a laugh as the three rose once more. Luffy did what he does best, scanning everyone as quick as he could as he rose, eyes jumping from one guard to the next until they finally landed on the blue aura of the king.

'Good people.' Luffy told his brothers.

"Well, the feast should be ready soon, jamon. In the meanwhile, why don't I catch you up on everything that's been happening here on the island since you're last visit?" Neptune asked, the two Commanders nodding in interest. Sabo began to pay close attention to the conversation, wanting to know as much about the people on Fishman island as possible in case there was anyone they should actively try to stay away from.

Meanwhile, Luffy was beginning to get bored. Ace was paying close attention to the people around them in case anyone did anything to endanger them, but that left Luffy with nothing to do. He had already checked everyone's auras, and after checking the mass pool of feelings in the room he found none of them to be malicious. With nothing to do Luffy began to get a bit antsy. He knew better than to do anything to attract unwanted attention, but when a suddenly delicious smell wafted to his enhanced senses his mouth began to water.

The giant king guy had said that there was going to be a feast. Would he be mad if Luffy just so happened to show up to the feast a bit earlier than the others? Shifting his weight between either foot Luffy began having a war in his head.

On one hand, Luffy was starving, even if he had been snacking on delicious food in the town before this. On the other, he didn't want to get in trouble for doing something wrong. But the food smelled so good, it was practically calling to him!

Luffy hadn't even come to a decision when his feet seemed to move on their own toward the smell of food that invaded his senses. Ace was quick to notice the moving boy and grabbed his hand, following after him as he used their silent language to get Sabo's attention.

'Luffy, where are you going?!' Sabo asked as he glanced from the conversation that the adults were having, and then to Luffy who was nearly out of the entrance hall entirely, Ace following close behind.

'There's food this way!' Luffy replied absentmindedly, Sabo slinking off after his brother, being careful not to be spotted by anyone.

'Luffy, we can't just wander off, someones gonna notice.' Ace said with a frown as he looked back to the room they had just left, seeing that, so far, no one had noticed their departure.

'But it smells so good! They said there was gonna be a feast right?' Luffy asked as they walked further down the unknown hallways.

'Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can just go there! Besides, it would be a little weird if they found us in the dining hall without knowing how to get there in the first place." Sabo replied with worry, wanting to get back to Thatch and Marco before they inevitably noticed the brothers' disappearance.

'Come on now Luffy, let's go back.' Ace said as he stopped walking, tugging on Luffy's hand to get the boy to go back with him. Despite his want for food, Luffy knew better than to argue with Ace, especially when it came to their safety. With a pout, Luffy nodded, turning to follow his older brothers back to the entrance, but they hadn't even made two steps in that direction when Sabo froze, turning to look back where they had been going.

"Sabo? What's wrong?" Ace asked in a whisper as he looked back down the hall as well. A little further down the way, he could see a weird divide where it looked like the water ended and it was air instead, but it made it hard to see what was passed the divide, the water distorting everything. He could see that there was someone down there, and he could see that they were pushing something, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was with all the blur.

"I hear... its a rolling cart, like back at the facility," Sabo said in a hushed, almost choked voice as flashbacks no doubt ran through his head at lightning speed because of the familiar sound.

"But... they are making a feast, so maybe it's for... moving food?" Ace asked, wondering why the sound would make Sabo so nervous all of a sudden. They'd heard a similar sounding cart on the Moby before, and though Sabo had been a bit disoriented by it before, he had never looked this scared over it.

"It's not just that, but I can hear crying coming from over there too," Sabo said, paler then he had been a moment ago. Ace frowned at this and Luffy began looking around nervously.

"Should we check it out?" Ace asked a bit hesitantly, not knowing what to do with the information.

"I don't know... what are the chances of a facility being in a place like this? Is there even more than one facility?" Sabo questioned nervously, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to either question. After all, the thought of more than one facility existing in the world was a terrifying thought. Their facility had been on an island where the villagers knew and allowed it, so it wouldn't be too far fetched to think that a whole Kingdom could know and hide a facility as well.

But that would mean that the Whitebeard pirates knew about this facility too. If that was the case then... that meant there was a possibility that they were here to take the brothers to another facility.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked, a look of nervousness on his face, and Sabo had no doubt that his little brother had been picking up on his emotions, influencing his own as a result.

"What's wrong Sabo?" Ace asked, just as nervous, knowing that whatever Sabo thought up, it wasn't good.

"Hopefully nothing. Maybe we should go check it out, after all, if it is a facility, that means we should leave. Now." Sabo said a bit quickly. None of them wanted to check it out, but all of them knew that Sabo was right. So, with a lot of reluctance, the three began heading back towards where Luffy had been smelling the food, more on guard than ever before.

The walk felt like an eternity, but soon enough they were walking out of the water and into the air, their bubbles disappearing as they did. Up ahead, Ace could see a giant rolling cart, whatever having been on it gone now as a giant Fishman pushed it towards them. The brothers managed to walk around the cart at just the right angle, the guard not noticing their presence in the slightest as they did. Continuing on down the hall they saw a giant pair of doors, shut and locked with dent marks on it.

"The cryings coming from in there," Sabo said hesitantly as they looked up at the massive entrance.

"The food smell too," Luffy whispered, tilting his head as he wondered how they would get in. Looking around quickly Sabo turned to Ace.

"Is anyone around? Any surveillance snails?" Sabo asked. Ace raised an eyebrow at the question but looked around regardless. Not seeing anything he turned back to Sabo, shaking his head.

"No, nothing, why?" Ace asked. Sabo turned to look back at the door, frowning.

"Luffy, do you think you could stretch your arm up there and pull the door open?" Sabo asked, his brothers now understanding the need for caution. Luffy looked at how far away the handle was, calculating quickly in his head if he could reach it or not.

"Yeah, I think so," Luffy said, stepping back a few steps and winding his arm up to stretch. He hadn't been able to stretch it too far lately, only a few inches when they were alone in their room, so it would be nice to finally use his powers like this. Ace was keeping a close eye for anything that might see them while Sabo listened for anyone who might be coming.

Winding back Luffy swung his arm, extending it all the way to the handle and grabbing it successfully. The giant door was sturdy, and because of that, and its size, it was also heavy. It wasn't too much of a challenge, but it still took a bit of struggle for Luffy to pull open the door a few inches so that he and his brothers would be able to fit inside.

"Good job, Lu," Sabo whispered as he and his brothers inched nervously to the crack in the door. The room inside was dark, but Ace was able to easily see that it looked nothing like how their facility had looked. It looked more like a... bedroom?

"What's inside Ace?" Sabo asked as he and Luffy peered uselessly inside, unable to see anything.

"I think its a bedroom. There's a bed over there and a dresser and stuff. It's all pretty big though, like that King Neptune guy big." Ace said as he took a step into the room, his brothers following while holding onto his shirt for guidance.

"Maybe its a decoy, like how they pretended we were apart of a mental hospital." Sabo mused while Ace began looking for anything like a door that would lead to an actual facility. A soft cry, though, caught all their attention as they spun to face the owner of the noise.

"Is there a person in here?" Luffy asked quietly.

"I don't know, I don't see anyone but I can't see on the bed, its too high up." Ace whispered back, thinking that maybe they should start communicating silently to each other now that there was possibly a person in here with them.

'I can feel a presence in front of us, and I think breathing too. Is that where the bed is?' Sabo asked as he used his haki and enhanced hearing, seeming to think the same thing as Ace as he switched to tapping rather than speaking. Ace reached out with his own haki, and even though he wasn't that good at observation haki he was still able to pick up the presence of someone in front of them like Sabo had.

'Yeah, maybe someones on it. Should we climb up and check it out?' Ace asked, wanting the confirmation before he led his brothers towards a potential danger that they couldn't even see. Sabo hesitated, still not sure how they should proceed, but knowing that they were already too far into this.

'Why don't you go check it out? Luffy and I can stay here seeing as we can't even see anything to begin with.' Sabo said a bit reluctantly. Ace nodded, though no one saw it, and began moving away from his brothers, Sabo dropping his grip of his shirt, but Luffy didn't, instead tugging on it a bit, making Ace turn to him in question.

'Be careful Ace.' Luffy said, a frown present on his face and a look of worry to go with it. The eldest smiled, knocking Luffy's straw hat off and ruffling his hair.

'Always am, Lu.' Ace replied. This got the youngest to release his grip as well, grabbing out for Sabo's hand, which he found, while Ace turned back to the bed, grabbing the blanket hanging off of it and tugging it to make sure it wouldn't fall with his weight. Finding that it was sturdy enough for him to climb on he began ascending up the side of the bed, quiet rustles being the only indicator for Sabo and Luffy that Ace was still moving.

When it grew quiet they assumed that Ace had reached the top and Sabo kept his ears trained for any noise he could pick up. He could still hear the faint sounds of what could be breathing, and now he swore that was a muffled step from Ace.

'I think someones under the covers. They're huge too, just like the King.' Ace confirmed, Sabo, picking up the tapping even from where he stood. He relayed the information to Luffy, the boy shifting his weight nervously.

'Let me get a bit closer... yeah, its a person, I think they're asleep, maybe they weren't the ones crying earlier?' Ace questioned. A sudden bang on the door made them all jump and spin to face it, but there was no one there.

'What was that?' Luffy asked as he looked at the door with wide eyes, trying to calm down.

'Crap, I think they're waking up, I'm coming back down!' Ace tapped a bit frantically, and Sabo could hear the frantic rustling as Ace quickly maneuvered his way down the blanket and back onto the solid ground. He had only just managed to touch the floor when a light suddenly flickered on.

"H-hello? Is someone there?" The high pitched feminine voice sounded shaky and nervous, but loud all the same. Sabo tightened his hold on Luffys hand and pulled him over to Ace, pushing them all under the bed out of sight.

"Megalo, do you see anyone?" This confused the brothers because they hadn't seen anyone else in the room. Reaching out with their haki they noticed another presence, but this one was a bit different from the person on the bed, more animal-like.

There wasn't much time to linger on that thought because suddenly the edge of the blanket behind them began moving, and a snout poked its way under. They didn't have a chance to find another hiding spot before a sharks face was staring right at them. Immediately, the shark began growling at them, shimmying under the bed and forcing the brothers to leave the cover.

"What is it? Oh-! Who are you?" The three turned to look at the fearful mermaid sitting on the bed. She had her hands to her mouth and her eyes were wide, already beginning to water with unshed tears.

"Y-you're here to kill me aren't you? We-well, I w-wont let you! I'm n-not scared!" The giant mermaid said, voice timid compared to her words. The shark was still growling at them, even snapping a few times in warning. The brothers were at a loss in terms of what they should do. The didn't want to draw any attention to themselves, but they were in a bit of a pickle now seeing as they'd been caught. They still had no idea what was happening and were even more confused by why this girl thought they were going to kill them, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Ah, no, that's not why we're here," Sabo said, raising his hands in a peaceful manner.

"I-I won't be fooled! I'm Neptune's daughter, so I-I'm not scared!" The mermaid cried, and now the brothers knew that this was a princess they were dealing with, not a kid locked in another facility.

"I'm not scared, I-I'm not..." Tears started falling, making loud splashing noises as they did, and the brothers winced as she began wailing loudly.

"Father-sama, brother-sama!" She cried, bringing her hands to her eyes as tears feel faster.

"Oh great, that's not good." Ace muttered with a frown, anxiety beginning to take form as he realized that somebody would surely come now that the princess was sobbing.

"Really, we're not here to hurt you, promise!" Sabo said, ignoring Ace as he tried to calm the situation down. The shark was still growling, in between the brothers and the princess protectively as he did.

"Whys she saying she's not scared? Shes really scared... and sad." Luffy said, confused as he stared at the wailing princess.

"Shh, shh, calm down-!" Sabo was cut off as he heard a whistling in the air behind them, as if something was heading their way, fast.

"Somethings coming." He hissed to his brothers, all three of them spinning to face whatever it was. Ace could clearly see something heading their way and he was pretty sure it was a... sword? He couldn't even tell his brothers about it because it was suddenly right in front of them all, and it took everything the brothers had to block the sword from coming any closer. The three used as much haki as they could muster to block the sword from moving anymore, the force of it pushing them back a bit, until they were able to push it away, allowing it to fly harmlessly into the wall.

"What was that about?!" Ace asked as he looked at the weapon now lying uselessly on the ground. Again, there was no time for anyone to answer because Sabo could hear the sounds of footsteps heading their way. Shirahoshi, who had stopped crying in the midst of everything happening, was staring silently between the brothers, the sword, and the door.

"Crap, I think guards are coming," Sabo muttered as he frowned. The brothers were definitely done for now.

"Well, that's just great, what else could go- hey!" Ace couldn't even finish complaining as the princess scooped the brothers up in her hands, muttering a quick sorry before hiding them behind her back.

"What's the big idea-?"

"Shh, she's hiding us Ace, calm down!" Sabo whispered to Ace, he and Luffy sitting in the princesses hands. Ace stopped talking as the guards rushed in, asking what was wrong.

"Oh, I-I think I had a bad dream!" The mermaid princess said in an apologetic voice.

"Was that all? Why's the door open? Did someone come in?" One of the guards asked, making the princess shift nervously.

"It must have been the one who brought my food?" She asked a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but the three humans had just saved her life, so it was the least she could do... right?

"I'll have to speak to him about proper safety techniques. Oh, that reminds me! The Whitebeard pirates are here again." A guard said, and the mermaid lit up.

"Really?!" She asked happily.

"That's right. They brought some guests with them too, apparently they're honorary members but they seem to have gotten lost in the castle somewhere. If you see them don't hesitate to call us, the pirates are worried about them." It was a strange thing to hear that someone was worried about the brothers, especially seeing as they hadn't even been with the pirates a month yet, but it was also nice to here. To be honest, it made them feel a bit bad that they had worried them.

"I will!" The princess said, bringing the three out of their musings. There was the sound of the door closing as the guards left and the princess sighed, moving her hands back in front of her as she looked at the brothers, a look of worry on her face.

"Thank you three very much. I was being very rude before, please forgive me! I didn't know you were with the Whitebeards. What are your names?" She asked.

"Ah, well, I'm Sabo and these are my brothers Ace and Luffy. What's your name?" Sabo asked politely. The princess smiled.

"I'm Shirahoshi, King Neptune's daughter! You're with the Whitebeards, so you're good people, right?" Shirahoshi asked.

"Yeah! You're a good person too!" Luffy said matter-of-factly, taking in the bright blue aura around the princess, almost just as, if not more, bright than Ace and Sabo's.

"Anyways, what was with that sword?" Ace asked, looking back over to the weapon that the guards had failed to notice earlier.

"That's a good question. Who threw it? And from where?" Sabo asked as he also examined the weapon closer, taking in the rose pattern on its hilt.

"I know who threw it," Shirahoshi said somberly, a frown on her face as she turned to look at the sword.

"Was it a bad person?" Luffy asked with a frown as well.

"I-I guess you could call him that. His name is Vander Decken. He holds a grudge against me for refusing to marry him. That gentleman has a Devils power called Mato-Mato." Shirahoshi explained. The three frowned as they listened.

"Mato-Mato? What's it do?" Ace asked.

"It allows him to strike me anywhere anytime with a thrown weapon since he designated me as his mark. That's why it's too dangerous for me to leave this Hard Shell Tower." Shirahoshi finished. As she did Luffy's stomach rumbled and she looked down in shock.

"Sorry, I'm still hungry!"

Hello again everyone, and happy one year anniversary! The Devil Wears White is officially one year old starting yesterday! I was going to upload this early, on Wednesday when it was actually the anniversary, but I got too busy and I couldn't. At least I was able to get it up today like normal. I also made sure to give you all a much longer chapter than normal as a result.

So, the brothers have met Jinbe, Neptune and Shirahoshi, all in one chapter. Not only that, but they've managed to find the Hard Shell Tower as well where Shirahoshi is trapped. I'm trying to stick to the canon timeline, so at this point Shirahoshi had been locked in the tower for several years already which is why they were able to find her there. I left the meeting similar to how Luffy met the princess in the anime, but things will be changing from here on out now that the brothers met her much earlier than they were supposed to.

Also, we have been introduced to the idea that there could possibly be more than one facility. This is something that will be brought up again in the future, for better or worse.

Once again, thank you all for sticking with this extremely long story and giving it so much love! Happy one year anniversary and I'll see you all next Thursday!