Beta'd by AlternateMirai. THNX SO MUCH :D
Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's not mine! I repeat, NOT MINE.
Also, I AM SUPER SORRY I took half a year to update! Between work, my other stories, and moving abroad for college, I really didn't have a lot of time. :(
That and I've been stuck on the Miraculous Ladybug fandom recently. Marinette and Adrien are just too adorable! Have a cookie if you agree!
ps Just so you guys won't get confused, from this chapter on I'll be alternating between Luffy's side in Phoenix and Sabo's side in Morsky. This chapter is in Phoenix so the next will be in Morsky.
Enjoy the chapter!
"... Hunters!..."
"… Must… warn…"
"Too… many… won't make…"
"…Have to… go… capital… find…"
"…Can't… leave… behind…"
"You… last hope… find…"
"… Come…for… promise…"
…
He was barely hanging onto consciousness by the time he washed ashore.
It's probably a beach, he thought hazily. He could feel the sand underneath him, the water lapping at him, and the scorching sun that shone high above.
He had no idea how long he'd been drifting in the water; his mind had been overflowing with the echoes of his comrades' cries as a raging inferno engulfed their home, razing it to the ground.
Mustering the last of his strength, he pulled himself from the water, far away from the ocean which threatened to drag him back into its lightless depths.
And then darkness descended on him.
…
"Oh? What do we have here?"
: It would seem to be a dwarf, if I am not mistaken.
"Indeed, it is. But the little one is quite some ways from home, no?"
: He smells of the sea, but...
"The little one appears to be unconscious, but unharmed. At the very least, there are no visible wounds—"
: —but we don't know for sure. We should bring him with us. It'll be safer for him.
"Of course we will. After all, one can never be too cautious. Besides, we can't just leave him here out in the open."
: ...This does not bode well, does it?
"No, it doesn't. Troubling times are upon us, I fear."
Darkness gave way to light as heavy eyelids slowly opened, staring unfocused into blank space.
Where…?
Exerting more effort than expected, Edward Newgate blinked as his mind returned to consciousness.
The feel of soft linen all around him registered in his mind as it gradually reoriented itself, alerting the elderly king of his whereabouts. The sheets felt warm under him, and he could feel the weight of a blanket that was pulled up to his shoulders.
Newgate opened his mouth to speak, but what came out instead was a weak, raspy croak and a realisation of how parched his mouth and throat felt.
There was also a lingering, metallic taste in his mouth.
A sudden movement from his right drew his attention, and not a moment later, a familiar face full of concern appeared in his sight — black eyes blown wide with shock and slack-jawed as they took in the yellow eyes looking back at him.
"P-pops?" Namur stuttered in surprise. His grasp slackened and the book that he had been holding fell to the ground.
Newgate attempted to speak again.
"Wa… ter…" the king rasped, trying to sit up but failed to find the strength to move his limbs.
"R-right. Right. Water." The eighth prince snapped back to reality and rushed to pour some from a pitcher that had been sitting on the nightstand. Leaving the water on the stand, Namur gently helped Newgate up and adjusted the pillows to prop him up comfortably before handing him the glass. Namur kept a firm hand under it, holding it steady for his father to slowly drink from.
Another two glasses of water later, Newgate finally felt his throat lose that annoying, scratchy feeling and his voice return to its usual, deep bass.
"How are you feeling, Pops?" His son asked, setting the glass down.
Newgate smiled wearily. "Tired." Exhausted was probably more fitting, considering he didn't even have enough strength to lift his hand.
"That's to be expected," Namur chuckled. "You've been in a coma for almost three weeks, and even before that, you had been on bedrest already."
"A coma?"
"Long story. Although I'm not sure I have the entire story." The last part the prince muttered as he leaned down to tug the blanket higher up the bed. "Will you be alright on your own for a short while?"
Newgate somehow mustered a small, teasing grin. "Got somewhere to be, son?"
Namur gave him a look that said, 'Not what you're thinking'.
"Hardly. I just need to get someone and send for Dr. Kureha. And I'm sure our family will want to know that you've woken, otherwise I may have to face their combined wrath."
With an understanding look on his face, the king watched as his son rushed out, only pausing to tell the guards (Why were there guards outside his bedroom anyway?) something he couldn't hear and disappear behind the doors.
Shifting his attention back to himself, Newgate noticed something suddenly. In the air was a distinct, if really faint, smell.
One that the king was familiar with.
There was no way he could mistake that sweet, metallic scent as anything other than blood.
But why?
Lost in his thoughts, Edward Newgate almost didn't notice when a young man, barely out of his teens, skidded to a stop next to his bed, a look of utter disbelief plastered on his face.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the teen, Newgate looked up, his yellow eyes meeting the teen's black ones.
"You shouldn't be awake, old man."
…
"Who are you, boy?" Newgate turned to see the black-haired teen better, looking him over with a weary but experienced eye. The young man was unassuming on the outside, but Newgate had been a king for decades — he could easily tell that the teenager in front of him was more than he seemed at first, and it piqued the king's interest.
"Pops!" Namur rose from the floor where Luffy had dumped him, rubbing his behind as he introduced the two. "This is Luffy. He's a mercenary from the Dragon's Fury."
That fact only served to fuel Newgate's interest in Luffy as he recalled what he knew of the group. Which was only as much as everyone else, really.
Even before this sickness that befell him, Newgate had already been slowly preparing to retire from the throne. Most of his work had been passed on to Marco. While he did keep himself updated with the latest going-ons of his kingdom, sometimes things just passed under his radar. Him getting ill did not help either, because his children flat out refused to allow him to worry more than was healthy.
Before more could be said, Luffy reached out and pressed his palm against Newgate's forehead.
Luffy's hand was warm against his skin, and Newgate kept his silence, waiting to see what the mercenary was up to.
"Weird. The seal is working fine, but..." The teen mumbled, too low for either royal to hear him clearly. Nevertheless, they could tell something was bothering him.
"Is something the matter?" Namur asked, and Luffy shook his head.
"Go back to sleep, old man." He straightened, pulling his hand back. "You're still weak now."
Newgate wasn't sure if the boy had done anything, however, after he'd told him to return to sleep, the king felt his eyelids grow heavier and the darkness started to pervade his vision.
Just before he fell completely into the abyss, a curiously familiar voice sounded within his mind.
Even as he ran down the streets, Usopp still couldn't believe what had happened earlier had actually happened.
It felt so surreal, really; an hour ago, the teen would never have imagined how a simple act such as standing up to his long-time bully would affect his foreseeable future.
All he had done was go to the arena to enter the tournament, but somehow, he'd been offered a much better chance than he'd expected.
And it was —ironically— all thanks to Chew.
Trying and failing to stifle a laugh, Usopp wondered what his friend would think when she heard about it.
Knowing her, she'd probably find it as amusing as he did.
Usopp raced through the city, arriving at the bazaar near the city centre and headed straight for a small shop wedged between a bookstore and a diner, where he was positive his friend would be at that time.
As expected, he found his friend, a girl with bright orange hair, nibbling on a slice of tangerine behind the counter. A plate laden with the fruit sat off to the side, and Usopp was sure there was still plenty where that came from.
After all, this was a fruits shop.
"Nami!" He called out, drawing her attention.
"Oh, Usopp. It's you. Hi." The girl, Nami returned his greeting through a mouthful of tangerines. "What's up?"
"Are you seriously asking that?" Usopp deadpanned as he braked to a stop next to the counter. "Today's the day, remember?"
Nami scoffed. "Of course I remember." She pinched another slice and held the remainder up to Usopp. "I also remember you saying that you'll take care of entering both of us. Want any?"
He thanked her and took a slice. "And I did. But I ran into Chew again."
"What'd he do this time?" Nami's eyes narrowed as she started scanning her friend for any injuries, though Usopp was quick to wave her worries away.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" she echoed incredulously.
"Nothing." Usopp reassured her. "Well, he did try, but someone stopped him."
"Who?"
"The arena administrator." Usopp said simply, and Nami's eyes widened. "By arena administrator… you don't mean Koala?!"
The lanky teen grinned widely at his friend`s surprised face.
"YES, I DO!"
"Wow…"
An old lady came over and handed Nami a basket loaded with assorted fruits. The redhead moved automatically, weighing the different fruits and calculating the total, all the while listening intently as her friend recounted his earlier experience.
"So, after she stopped him, both he and I were brought to her office. Man, I never thought I'd see the day Chew get chewed out." Usopp laughed at his pun.
"Don't make stupid puns, Usopp." Nami smacked him, "What happened after that?" She asked as she put the fruits in a bag and handed over change to the old lady before waving her goodbye.
"Okay, okay. So, for now, Chew's been suspended. But that's not important, what's important is that Koala wants to see the both of us!"
"Huh? Why would she?" Nami stared incredulously.
"Well, apparently this year's tournament will be held in teams." Usopp explained. "I told her there were only the two of us, so we probably wouldn't enter anymore, then she asked me what our specialties were, so I told her a bit. Then she told me to come get you and go back in an hour."
"What does she want with us?"
"I have no idea, but it wouldn't hurt to find out."
…
On second thought, maybe it would.
Usopp and Nami tensed as they were led by Koala's assistant —a pink-haired girl called Rebecca— to where the administrator was apparently waiting for them.
And she wasn't alone.
The Arena was larger than Usopp and Nami had thought it would be, and it took them a good fifteen minutes to walk from the gates to a shooting range, where Koala and three men with black, green and blonde hair respectively were talking. There was also a younger boy around Usopp's age with messy brown curls amongst them.
All eyes were immediately on them the moment they approached.
Usopp was getting nervous —and somewhat excited now, and not because of what Koala had in mind, whatever that was. It was actually because of the blonde man standing next to her.
It had been some time since he last saw the blonde, but Usopp would know those weirdly curled eyebrows anywhere. He didn't actually know the man, but he had seen him around the city often, and through others had learnt that the blonde was a palace cook.
Although the reason why Usopp remembered him was because the blonde had saved him once, a few years ago.
"Great! You're here!" Koala smiled as she came up to them, interrupting his reverie as she introduced the two teens. "These two are the ones I just told you about. Usopp," She gestured to the two. "And Nami."
The black-haired teen stepped up to them, holding a hand out with a large grin on his face. "Hi, I'm Luffy!"
The green-haired, more gruffy-looking man gave them a sweeping look and grunted in reply. "Zoro."
The brown-haired teen waved and smiled timidly before ducking behind the one called Luffy.
"That's Chopper. Don't mind him, he's just a bit...shy." Koala smiled reassuringly.
The blonde man had more to say. A bit too much, Usopp thought, grimacing at the way Sanji, as he'd introduced himself fawned over Nami. He'd seen the former cook in action before, but never up close… There was a sound of something shattering, and Usopp thought that something might've been his image of Sanji,
Koala stepped in before Nami could snap and land a punch on the leech who'd been annoying her for a while and explained the situation to the two teens.
"Like I've explained to Usopp before, with your current levels, you won't survive the tournament, where it's mostly an everything-goes brawl. But as I've been told, you two have a goal in mind, and what I'm about to offer you is about the only way you will be able to achieve that goal."
She swept her hand out towards the three older men.
"These three gentlemen will be partaking in the tournament. They're all veteran fighters, but their specialties lie in close-range combat. And this is where you two come in, as mid-range and long-range combatants. I've already discussed the issue with them, and they've agreed for you to join their team."
Before either of them could speak up, Koala held up a hand, silencing them.
"But! Only if your combat abilities are up to par."
For a moment, Nami wondered if the older woman was insulting them or not.
"So, what are we supposed to do?" The orange-haired girl asked, wanting to get straight to the point.
"For starters, You," Koala smiled at Nami. "Will be facing my assistant, Rebecca, in a spar with Zoro referring."
"And me?" Usopp quickly added, feeling a little left out for whatever reason.
Sanji pulled out his cigarettes, holding it in between his fingers. "You'll be using the archery range over there. I'll be referring you."
"Ehhh? What about me?" Luffy whined. Both Zoro and Sanji got to supervise someone. What about him?
Koala rolled her eyes exasperatedly, but everyone could see the fondness that shone in her auburn eyes.
"Since Sabo isn't here, you're the leader. So, you have to watch both."
"Oh. Okay."
"Do you have a weapon?" Sanji asked Usopp as they made their way to the other side of the range, where it opened out into a wide field dotted with targets at varying distances and positions.
Usopp held up a slingshot, showing it to the blonde. "I have this."
Sanji eyed it curiously but didn't comment on it. The teen's choice of weapon was rather interesting, though not quite surprising according to what they'd heard from Koala. Not that it mattered all that much if the teen could use it efficiently, given that their leader himself had a rather odd choice of arms as well.
"Ammunition?"
"Pellet balls." Usopp gestured at the pouch around his waist, and Sanji nodded, pointing at the field.
"Hit those." The blonde pointed out ten random targets.
...
A minute later, all the above targets had a small black ball embedded into their centre.
Sanji raised his brows, pleasantly surprised as the range's staff reported back the results via den den mushi. The long-nosed teen had both speed and accuracy, and Sanji found himself wanting to give him a challenge to find his limits.
The blonde grinned, and pointed out another ten, this time much farther. Usopp didn't disappoint, hitting all with pinpoint accuracy. The same went for the next round, with the targets at the edge of the field, almost out of sight.
"You're pretty good." Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. Usopp blushed, not quite used to receiving praise from others with a small thank you.
"But let's see how you do versus a moving target, eh?"
Before Usopp could react, Sanji disappeared in a blur. Not a moment later, he felt a foot connect with his stomach and he flew backwards, hitting the fence and tumbling over it into the grass below.
Recovering his bearings, Usopp looked up at Sanji, confusion written on his face. The blonde smirked down at him.
"This is the real test."
…
Nami wasn't doing much better. During the spar, Rebecca had switched out her sword for a wooden one to match Nami's staff. At Zoro's signal to start, the two girls began circling each other, both waiting for the other to move. Deciding to take the initiative, Nami struck first, sweeping her staff in a low arc to catch the other girl's legs. Rebecca saw it coming and nimbly jumped over the staff, twisting in the air and bringing her sword down on Nami's as she landed behind her.
Nami instinctively blocked, only to realize that Rebecca was no longer behind her at the same moment a wooden sword hit her right thigh hard enough to throw off her balance.
"Too slow," The orange-haired girl heard her opponent say as she stumbled. "If it had been a real sword you would've lost a leg already."
Her eyes narrowed.
Seven o'clock.
Nami jabbed her staff from underneath her arm harshly, eliciting a satisfying grunt from the girl behind her.
Rebecca's retaliation came quickly, her sword flashing as she parried Nami's staff and managed to get a hit in on her waist.
They went back and forth for a while, before Rebecca got under Nami's guard and successfully disarmed her, the staff clattering to the ground a few feet away.
"Yield." Nami forced out, staring cross-eyed at the sword at her throat.
Smiling, Rebecca withdrew her sword and stepped away. "Not bad."
"Thanks." Nami returned as Koala's assistant handed back her staff. "I thought your name sounded familiar. You're the Phantom Princess, aren't you?"
Rebecca grinned.
…
Koala and Luffy stood to the side, watching the steadily intensifying spars on both sides. "What do you think, Luffy?" She asked, watching her friend as his dark eyes darted between Sanji vs Usopp and Nami vs Rebecca. "They're really something, aren't they?"
Luffy laughed. "I like them!"
"Of course you do." Koala smiled wryly. "Think they can keep up?"
The black-haired teen frowned, staring hard at the two younger teens.,
"Usa-"
"Usopp."
"Right." Luffy scratched his head. "He'll be fine, I think."
"And Nami?"
"I like her, but…"
"She's kind of...weak?" Koala supplied. "Hand-to-hand combat isn't really her strong point, apparently."
Luffy nodded hesitantly.
"Yet she's holding up pretty well against Rebecca, don't you think?" The administrator pointed out as they watched Nami whacked Rebecca in the middle before jumping aside to dodge a blow from above.
Luffy blinked at her owlishly once, and then twice, before he turned back to watch the matches.
"She'd be killed immediately." He said as Rebecca pried the staff out of Nami's grip.
Mirth twinkled in Koala's brown eyes. "But you'll protect her, won't you?"
…
Nami and Usopp slumped against each other, both tired out considerably. Chopper was by their side in a flash, worriedly checking over them for any injuries while Koala handed them two bottles of water, which they gulped down gratefully.
"So... how'd we do?" The orange-haired girl panted, out of breath from her spars with Rebecca. Usopp cast a glance towards Koala, but her expression gave nothing away, so he shifted his gaze onto the four who had tested them.
They were deep in conversation a little ways away from them, far enough that most of the discussion couldn't be heard.
Koala crouched down next to them. "What do you guys think?"
"They—"
"Are—"
""Amazing.""
Koala beamed. "They are, aren't they?"
Just then, Luffy and the others came over, and Nami and Usopp shared a nervous look, awaiting their verdicts.
Luffy grinned excitedly, exchanging looks with Zoro and Sanji, who were just as excited but were subtler about it.
"Join our team!"
Then Usopp shrieked as Chopper suddenly pressed an alcohol swab to a rather nasty cut on his arm.
Koala having unfinished work, left shortly after, and Rebecca went with her, leaving Luffy with his comrades and their two new teammates.
No one spoke, and the silence was interrupted only when Luffy's stomach started growling in protest.
"So... lunch, anyone?"
…
Half an hour later, the group of five ended up in the Arena's mess hall, at a table in the corner with trays piled high with food in front of them after Chopper had tended to their wounds before leaving hurriedly, saying he had to get back to his teacher.
The mess hall was a big, rectangular space, vast enough to accommodate the number of people working in the arena, and there were doors on every side. On the far end, a counter took up the entire length of the wall, and large double doors that obviously led to the kitchens swung open and close as the staff came and went. There was a line in front of the counter, each person with a tray in hand as they moved along to get their food.
In the hall, Nami spotted many well-known figures, including the legendary Kyros, who was talking with a familiar pink-head on the other side of the hall. Nami had wondered about that and was shocked when Luffy revealed that Kyros and Rebecca were father and daughter while her mother ran a flower shop downtown. Nami wondered offhandedly if she perhaps knew Rebecca's mom, maybe she could ask for a name later? The redhead made a mental note to get to know the other girl more — she seemed nice, and it would be great to have another girl to speak with other than her sister; for some reason, all her friends were guys and that didn't include Luffy, Zoro or Sanji. Not that she had many friends to begin with.
"So, where're you guys from?" Nami broke out of her thoughts to find the opposite trays all empty, while her and Usopp's were only halfway through. Actually, she had less than that, while Usopp had barely touched his plate. Her friend had been rather absent-minded since earlier, and Nami had no idea what was going on with him.
Luffy had been the one who spoke, arms resting on the table as he looked at the younger two curiously.
"We're both locals," Usopp replied, pushing aside the mushrooms on his plate. "We grew up together in the Northern Sector."
"How old are you?" Zoro piped in, a bottle of alcohol in hand. It looked like quality stuff, but Nami didn't really know much about alcohol. Her older sister had forbidden her from alcohol until she was of legal age, though it wasn't many days until her eighteenth birthday was due.
"I'm turning eighteen next month," she offered. "Usopp's seventeen."
Luffy laughed. "I'm nineteen! And Zoro and Sanji are twenty-one." He paused for a moment, his head tilting in a thoughtful manner. "Koala is...twenty-three? I think she's one year older than Sabo, and he's twenty-two."
"Who's Sabo?" Usopp asked, Nami seconding the question.
"Sabo is Luffy's brother, and our leader," Sanji answered, pushing his empty tray aside. "Currently he's away on a... mission, though we don't know when he'll be back."
Nami noticed the blonde shooting Luffy an annoyed look when he mentioned the whereabouts of the leader but pushed it away. It wasn't her business anyhow.
Next to her, Usopp was still playing with his food and it was frankly getting on her nerves.
Luffy had noticed it too, apparently. "Usopp, are you going to eat that?" he asked, eyeing the food.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I am." Usopp, startled by the sudden question, quickly shoved a spoonful to prove his point.
"Why'd you guys want to join the tournament?" Zoro asked, setting his alcohol down. "You don't normally see a lot of long-range fighters in these kinds of events."
"I hate to say this, but I agree with Moss-head over here. Long-rangers tend to be at a disadvantage, especially if you're long-ranged AND inexperienced."
Nami traded a look with Usopp, unsure whether she wanted to reveal their motives. Usopp nodded back at her, which she took to mean that he trusted them. Usually, she wouldn't trust him on most things, but when it mattered, his instincts were generally correct.
"We need the money." She started. "Our families aren't too well off and well…"
"A bit too optimistic, don't you think?" Zoro raised a brow in question, and Nami and Usopp blushed furiously. They hadn't thought much of it at the time, but in hindsight, they really were a tad bit too optimistic to think they could make their way through the tournament on their own and grab the prize.
Luffy grinned widely. "That's alright. You're our teammates now! We'll help you!"
Nami wondered about that, but she didn't have a chance to voice her questions because at that moment, Koala appeared at their table, a serious look on her face.
"Luffy!" She held out a sealed letter. "It's for you."
Even with so much going on around them, the upper brass of the kingdom still needed to attend meetings. No one liked meetings, but they were necessary, especially this one since the topic of debate was of utmost importance.
In the council room, the royal family were seated on one side of the long table, whereas the various ministers and officials sat opposite them with the prime minister Lord McGuy, heading the meeting in place of the king and crown prince.
As of this moment, everyone was listening attentively as Namur, who oversaw diplomatic activities, gave his report.
"The envoy from Totto Land will be arriving tomorrow."
Simultaneous groans rose from every corner of the room.
"Pleaseeeee tell me none of the little ones will be coming." Thatch moaned as he face-planted into the table, recalling the chaos that had happened last year.
Namur replied as he held up a piece of parchment. "As stated in Ambassador Pekoms' letter, in addition to him and Baron Tamago who will serve as the emissaries, eleven members of the royal family will be coming." Namur handed off the paper, so the others could read what was written.
"He's even included a name list this time, 'so we can be prepared' to quote him," Namur said flatly and turned to Thatch. "Unfortunately, the little ones are on the list."
Just as Thatch was about to moan to the heavens about his 'impending doom', Namur interrupted him. "But this year, it is Prince Katakuri who will be bringing them, along with Prince Yuen, Prince Moscato, Prince Anglais, Princess Galette, Princess Poire, Princess Praline, Princess Pudding, and Princess Flampe, Princess Myukuru, and Princess Anana."
"The second prince?" The eleventh prince, Kingdew rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he recalled the handful of times he'd met the man. Prince Katakuri was, for lack of a better word, a strict man. He had a very serious, no-nonsense demeanour, and often came off as cold. But he was also an honourable and disciplined man. "If he's coming then I imagine the little ones wouldn't dare act out as much as when Prince Cracker brought them last year."
The council couldn't help but agree. Everyone present had met the second prince at some point, and they all knew what the man was like. It would be fine...probably.
They were just glad it wasn't Prince Cracker. Even Princess Smoothie was preferable. At least she would be mature enough to keep her family in check instead of encouraging their younger siblings… 'mischievous' endeavours.
Blenheim sighed at the thought of the headaches that would be arriving soon. "At any rate, procedures aside, remember to keep all rooms —especially the armoury, the offices and the library— locked except the throne room and the dining hall. I for one, do not want a repeat of last year."
The sentiment was shared by everyone in the room.
Last year was… mildly put, a disaster. The four youngest of the Charlotte Royal Family had caused a massive uproar, inside and outside of the castle when they had come along for the festival.
The punk-ish boy was all over the place being a huge pain, the balloon-obsessed twins had put up balloons everywhere and the youngest girl had gone all around bursting said balloons. And that had only been the tip of the iceberg.
All the while, Prince Cracker was laughing his head off as he watched the mayhem unfold.
The disturbance had eventually escalated to a scale where it was a miracle that the festival hadn't been postponed, and suffice to say, the Whitebeards hadn't been too happy with the commotion.
The four brats had not only intruded into the castle armoury and somehow managed to knock everything onto the floor, they'd also got into the offices, messing up all the papers to the extent that it'd taken the officers nearly two weeks to straighten out. And that was only the important ones. Then they'd moved on to the library and almost tore down an entire shelf of old scrolls which Robin had been studying at the time. And worst of all, they'd very nearly destroyed the Jubilee Cake that Thatch and Zeff had been working on for days.
Izo had been utterly furious and was only prevented from attacking the visiting royals thanks to the combined efforts of her brothers. They couldn't blame her though, she was the head of operations for the kingdom's events and the brats had almost undermined all her hard work for the festival.
They were just lucky that the four youngest royals hadn't managed to get into the Sun Arena, though from what the director, Jinbe had told them, they'd came close.
The brats were caught and brought back to the castle, detained in one of the sitting rooms with an entire squad of knights watching their every movement.
The matter had only been resolved when Prince Perospero had come in person to apologise for his siblings' outrageous acts and taken responsibility for all the damages caused, offering to shoulder the costs of repair.
King Edward had let them off then, with a stern warning that the children would be banned from the empire should their actions be repeated in the future.
Izou muttered darkly. "I swear, if those unruly brats dare to disrupt the festival again, Charlotte or not, I WILL hang them from a chandelier until they are due to leave."
"Let's hope it will not come to that," McGuy said, "We don't want to strain our relationship with Totto Land too much."
Izo rolled her eyes, and McGuy sigh, knowing well that gesture meant that she would comply, but she would also hold true to her words should the visiting royals cause a ruckus again.
"Keep them out of the kitchens and I won't have a problem." Thatch added. "I nearly had a heart attack when they ran into the cake stand last year!"
"We know." Everyone in the room chorused. And they did, really.
"Maybe we should post guards outside all the important areas." Vista suggested, stroking his moustache. "Just in case."
The council voice their agreements once more, and they proceeded to other matters, allowing for the empire's ministers to submit their reports.
Two hours later, the meeting adjourned.
...
In two days, the Solstice Festival would begin. And counting down, six days until the summer solstice.
Thanks for reading~!
I'll be honest, it took me forever to hash out this chapter. Well, maybe not exactly forever but I was busy writing the draft for chapter 5 while I waited for AlternateMirai to finish beta-reading this chapter. And when I was halfway done with chapter 5 I noticed the timeline was a bit weird in some places so I went back to check and ended up making a timeline of sorts to help me clear things up. Guess what? By the time I was done with the timeline I was asking myself WTH am I doing? Ironic, isn't it? I wrote this stuff but I myself got confused by it :D
I actually didn't plan on making McGuy the prime minister, y'know? But I was writing the meeting part and was almost done when I remembered kingdoms are supposed to have ministers and officials who share the work, so I went and added them, but then I was like, wait I think there's supposed to be someone leading the meeting. Usually it'd be Marco but he isn't here...in the end I pulled up the One Piece wiki and went through the list of Whitebeards' Allied Crews and boom! McGuy looked like Prime Minister material, so I just gave him the spot XD
Aaaaaand I'm spouting nonsense but I have no one to share all these thoughts with since the friends I used to share them with are in other countries, and none of my college friends share my love for One Piece. QAQ
Anyway, feel free to drop a review anytime. I'll have you know they are highly appreciated ;)
And now I'm gonna hurry up with chapter 5 and catch up with Ladybug and Chat Noir because Voltron is waiting for me~