"Wealth, fame, power. The man, who once owned everything, the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The words he said before his death sent all the people of the world out to the seas."

"My treasure? If you want it, I'll give it to you! Find it! I left everything in that place."

"Men, searching for romance, pushed forward towards the Grand Line. The world is now in the Grand Age of Pirates!"

Chapter 07: Enter Sabrina, Behold the Ana Ana no Mi!

Cafe owner Beek carefully poured two cups of tea, the round man's marshmallow costume wobbling slightly as he huffed and buffed to carefully fill each cup as much as possible. Gin and Conis watched from a nearby table as the portly man picked up the tray and brought it to the table that the two sat at, carefully setting it down as he breathed heavily. As he started to open his mouth, Gin and Conis braced themselves. They had learned quickly that Beek wasn't the greatest at controlling the volume of his voice when they wandered in looking for refuge. "THERE YOU GO, TWO CUPS OF TEA ON THE HOUSE! AS LONG AS MISS PRETTY LADY PLAYS MUSIC, I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE TEA YOU WANT!" He paused and smiled goofily at Conis. "SUCH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, MISS PRETTY LADY."

Conis blushed slightly, though Beek was mildly off-putting. "T-Thank you, Mister Beek... er, for the compliment and for the tea! You have been too kind to us."

"OH, MISS PRETTY LADY! IT IS MY DUTY TO BE KIND TO ALL WHO VISIT MY HUMBLE MARSHMALLOW CAFE!" Beek's marshmallow costume jiggled wildly as he flailed his arms around dramatically. "YOU WILL FIND NO BETTER CUP OF TEA ANYWHERE ON BON-BON ISLAND! THAT IS MY PROMISE TO MISS PRETTY LADY AND SNAKE-SHIRT!"

Snake-Shirt. Gin grinned slightly at the nickname he had been given. Despite the fact that he and Conis had provided Beek with their actual names, he seemed unable to remember them and simply blurted out made-up names based on their physical appearances. Gin raised a cup and nodded towards Beek. "Thank you."

As Beek waddled back towards his counter, Conis looked around the empty cafe curiously. "It is so empty here, Gin! Where is everyone? Ever since we reached Marshmallow Marsh, I've only seen a few people..."

"There is an easy answer to that." Gin took a sip of off-white tea, pausing to take in the curious marshmallow flavour of the tea before continuing. "Word of Don Krieg has pushed people further and further east. The towns on the east coast, such as Candytown, are where most of the island's inhabitants likely are."

"And..." Conis bit her lip before nervously asking what was on her mind. "... what about us? What are we going to do?"

Lowering his cup to the table, Gin looked at Conis rather seriously, his voice stern. "I will put a stop to Don Krieg myself, once and for all. I can't have you there when I do, Conis. It is... too dangerous for you, I cannot say why. Just remember, I am doing this to protect you and keep you safe. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Conis merely smiled in response, offering a small nod. "Mmm! I'm grateful that you are looking out for me, but where will I stay?"

Before Gin could answer, a familiar figure entered the cafe through the front door. He narrowed his eyes and spoke quietly. "Conis. Hide behind the counter. Beek will make sure that you are unseen."

Conis was unsure of what was happening and decided not to follow Gin's gaze, instead opting to slide out of her chair quietly and dart to the counter where she looked up at Beek with big eyes. "Mister Beek, I need to hide."

"OH, YOU NEED TO HIDE? OF COURSE, MISS PRETTY LADY. YOU CAN HIDE UNDER MY COUNTER!" Beek's loud and obnoxious voice forced Gin to grit his teeth as he looked to the front door. The visitor had obviously heard Beek's booming voice as well as she locked her eyes onto the fat cafe owner and Conis.

"Oh, what is that?" The visitor grinned, her expression sly like a snake. She was a pale woman with long purple hair who wore a matching jet black trenchoat over spandex of the same colour. Though it was obvious that she was staring at Beek and Conis, her eyes were covered by rather fashionable black sunglasses. She began to stroll towards the counter, her grin growing rather mischievous. "Sweet girl... you're from a sky island, aren't you? Oh, Captain Krieg is going to be delighted!"

As the woman grew close to the counter, Conis hugged herself tightly before screaming out in fear. "Get away from me!" When she was mere steps away, she raised a hand towards Conis and cackled. "You'll be getting away from here - but not to escape from me!"

Just then, a metal rod collided with the woman's jaw, sending her reeling back several feet and knocking her sunglasses off of her face as she staggered for a moment before finally standing in place. She glared ahead, her purple eyes locking onto her attacker, causing her to grit her teeth and narrow her eyes. "Gin!"

Gin carefully rested his rod against his shoulder as he grinned. "Long time no see, Sabrina. I didn't expect Krieg to send any of you this far inland!"

"Idiot traitor, that's because I was scouting and found you and that beautiful little winged girl. She'll be coming with me, I'm afraid." She criss-crossed her arms and smugly stared Gin down. "You cannot hope to match the power of my Ana Ana no Mi powers."

"ANA ANA NO MI? Beek titled his head curiously. "THE PURPLE LADY IS A DEVIL FRUIT USER, MISS PRETTY LADY!"

"Yes, I am." Sabrina looked at Beek and Conis smugly as she ran a slender hand through her purple hair. "I ate the Ana Ana no Mi fruit. I am able to create holes of any size in space, and with that power..." Sabina swiftly pointed at Beek, and he promptly fell into the floor. Conis panicked, looking down and seeing a jet black hole that was not there previously. She yelped loudly before jumped up onto the counter. Sabrina simply laughed and shook her head. "You are not safe on a counter, my dear. In fact, you are not safe anywhere!"

As Sabrina began to point her other finger at Conis, Gin launched another attack. Sabrina merely grinned as she drew a hole in front of her, which Gin ran right into and came out behind her, stumbling and barely running into the wall before he cursed under his breath and shot around as Conis screamed. His eyes widened as he saw one of Sabrina's holes drop onto her, and then she was gone. Gin was aghast at the sight of losing Conis, causing him to fly into a rage as he charged Sabrina. "How could you do that to her? Bring her back immediately! I swore to never let Do Krieg lay a finger on her!"

Just as Gin swung his rod at Sabrina, his attack was blocked by three blades. He was briefly in shock for a moment, unable to comprehend what just happened, but then he saw. Gin looked past the blades that held his rod in place, eyes widening as far as they would allow. "R-Roronoa Zoro!?"

"Still picking on innocent people? Eh!?" Zoro narrowed his eyes as he pushed Gin back with his swords, causing him to stumble several feet back.

"T-That man was trying to rob me!" Sabrina cried out, doing a surprisingly good job of portraying the damsel in distress. "Please take care of him, mister swordsman!"

As Zoro began to take a stance in preparation for charging forward, Gin held up his hand. "Roronoa, wait! That woman' with the Krieg Pirates! She abducted my friend!"

Zoro merely narrowed his eyes. "Like I care?"

"She knows you, Roronoa!" Gin took a step forward, hand outstretched as he pleaded with Zoro. "Her name is Conis! From Skypiea!"

"What?" Zoro's eyes widened before he quickly snapped around to look at Sabrina... but she was nowhere to be found. All that remained was a hole in the ground that was all but closed...

TO BE CONTINUED