Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Aiko stared blankly into the room lined top to bottom with dazzling pink jewels. They were shining everywhere, their sizes ranging from tiny to as big as her head, her eyes went to the very center of the room where a group of female pirates stood glaring at her. There were a few citizens by their side curious at the sight of the stranger as they held tightly onto the hands of a few of the children. Aiko recognized one of the women as the same one who had rushed the group of children to the chapel like building when she and Marco had first docked. The one that had looked at her with only worry in her gaze.

Before she could grin and properly introduce herself one of the female pirates made a lunge for her with a katana in hand. Aiko immediately dropped to a crouch, a blade intended to seriously injure completely missing her as she propelled forward landing a quick punch to the woman's abdomen. The woman's sword dropping to the ground with a clank, before she fell, eyes blank and completely unconscious.

When the occupants of the room saw that Aiko had easily taken out the pirate, the village women let out screams and began huddling the children behind them as they cowered in a corner.

What was wrong with these people?

They attacked her first and they're the ones acting scared?

She was about to introduce herself and everything for Roger's sake. They could at least figure out who she was and what she wanted before trying to attack. These pirates were acting like Marines! Then again, they were probably conducting some kind of trade, so maybe they thought she wanted to steal the jewels?

Aiko's gaze travelled from the unconscious female pirate at her feet to the Captain who was currently protectively flanked by her crew. She gave the Captain a serious glare, now wasn't the time for fun. Aiko noticed that when the Whitebeard Pirates fought –Marco, in particular- they had confident grins and sadistic smirks on their faces. Probably due to the fact that their reputation alone scared most men and they had a number of monster brothers that they could call on to help deal with an enemy. But, for the Red Hair Pirates it was quite the opposite, yes, they'd always help nakama and they enjoyed the fight. But, never would you see a Red Hair Pirate grinning happily as he fought seriously. If Shanks' had taught her anything, it was that fighting was serious and that was why Aiko couldn't give them her usual friendly grin. At least not anymore. They had attacked her with the intent to kill, what more was there for her to say?

The Captain backed up a bit when she saw the murderous glare directed her way. She swore she had seen that woman's face before. Her subordinates were hovering in front of her protectively as they kept a close watch on the intruder before them, waiting for her order. Why had this strange raven haired woman come? What did she want? She was too strong to be just another village woman. Her clothes were different as well.

"Who are you?" The Captain demanded, twirling a strand of pale blue hair with one finger in an attempt to rid some of the nervousness from the woman's gaze. Her subordinates drawing their weapons and getting into stances, ready to move at a moment's notice.

The intruder before them didn't move, not at all intimidated even though she was outnumbered. The Captain took a glance towards the village women seeing them huddling in a corner and watching with scared eyes.

"What do you want from here? You're interrupting a serious meeting." She said with a hard tone, but the woman's honey glare wasn't wavering in the slightest as she stared straight at her. Her face a composed mask.

"Well…" Aiko suddenly said, she could feel the women around her all tense as she spoke, as if just waiting for her to say something wrong. "I came to this island and next thing I know I'm supposedly stranded here and to my surprise it's full of women, who even have children without any men around!" Aiko's eyes moved to the children giving her scared looks to back at the Captain –or at least who she thought was the Captain- before continuing, "Know anything about that?"

"How would I know?" The blue haired Captain said in a secretive voice.

Aiko noticed that these pirates were different from the villagers who all donned modest matching pink dresses. All the women wore a combination of blue and black, their clothes showing more skin. In the back of her mind, Aiko thought about how Marco had told her that most female pirates were the ones that didn't know how to dress properly, looking at such a large group of them she couldn't help but feel that he was right. Not that she'd ever tell him that though.

"Well then…" Aiko took in each of the blue clad pirates before her. "Care to explain why someone tried to kill me?"

The Captain smirked confidently.

"As I said this is an important meeting, intruders are usually dealt with accordingly."

Aiko could understand that. She took one look at the women unconscious at her feet, she had felt a few of her ribs breaking where Aiko had punched her. But she'd live as long as she'd be given proper medical attention.

"So, why all the secrecy? You deliver these children here in exchange for money?" Aiko asked, looking once more towards the villagers who were giving her wary glances.

The Captain debated in her head for a moment whether or not to tell the woman before her anything. The intruder was strong though, she knocked out her first mate in a second, if she played her cards right maybe the raven haired woman could join their crew. No doubt such a strong woman would be an asset.

"These are children taken from orphanages and slave auctions from neighboring villages. The ones taken from slave auctions are paid with the beautiful gems you see here." She spread both arms out wide, "These are mined from the mountain where the Castle sits. Of course, we take a bit of a cut for ourselves! But we're making everyone happy on this island!"

So, they took a substantial cut for themselves and at the same time, brought the children to the women here who desperately need offspring. Still, Aiko had to admit that living in this Man Hell was better than being sold off as a slave. But, just who had mined these precious gems? Women here didn't even care for the rice fields this country was once so very proud of, there was no way they'd be able to do something as strenuous as mining gems.

"Mines?" Aiko asked, curious.

"The men work there." One of the villagers found the courage to raise her voice. "As the Queen said they should. They are of lesser rank after all!"

So, not all the men were in hiding?

Were they slaves here then?

"And… Do you adopt boys?" Aiko's eyes moved to one of the children, the child had dark raven locks or that was how it seemed to look, the place was too dark for Aiko to see the child's hair color properly. He stood there looking every bit like a girl, but the way the child moved, the way the child's hands were a bit larger than the other children's and the way he covered his closed eyes with thick hair led Aiko to believe it was indeed, a boy. A boy closing his eyes because he was blinded when he first arrived on the island. A boy pretending to be a girl. But, why pretend to be a girl? Did they take the adopted boys to a different area?

"We do. But, all boys are sent to the min—"

The villager was cut off by the pale blue haired Captain. "Now, now, so many questions." She gave Aiko a confident smirk, "When we haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet. My name is Captain Rena, of the Bluefin Pirates. And you are?"

Aiko continued to stare blankly at the woman.

"Oi! The Captain asked you a question!" One of her subordinates yelled in anger. Grip visibly tightening on her daggers in silent threat to the raven haired woman.

"Leaving." Aiko finally answered, as she made to turn around only for the Captain to speak once more.

"Wait." Aiko didn't turn, only looked back at the Captain whose confident smirk never seemed to leave her lips. "Aren't you curious about the rain here and the mist?"

Aiko thought about it, the mist took time to identify whether the person was male or female, whether the person was tainted or not and the mist didn't go inside houses which meant it had boundaries or purposely avoided them. Was it a Devil's Fruit? If it was, the person would be in league with the Queen. It repelled men after all. Plus, the man repelling rain as well, was that also a Devil's Fruit?

"I'll tell you if you promise to join my crew."

"Ehh?!" One of her subordinates protested.

"But Captain!"

"She knocked ou—"

"What do you say?" Rena cut off her subordinate's complaints.

"Joining a pirate crew doesn't interest me." Aiko replied, thinking over what she should do in her mind. Should she beat the answer about the rain and mist out of these people or go and find Marco? The Phoenix would no doubt be having a ball in the castle, she could just imagine him and his sadistic grin as he took out numerous guards with his talons.

"But that's because you don't know the life of a pirate! Many, even in the Grand Line don't know the freedom of a pirate!" Rena exclaimed, voice coercing her to accept her offer. "We travel, do what we please, there are a few squabbles with the Marines, but nothing we can't handl—"

"Let me rephrase," Aiko cut the gushing woman off, yes, many out here in the first half really didn't know much about the freedom of pirates. But, that was an entirely different story when it came to the second half. "I'm not interested in joining a crew from Paradise."

All the women stared at her with confusion in their gazes.

"Paradise?" Rena asked.

That's right, Aiko had almost forgotten. Those nowhere near the New World's harsh sea, didn't know that the first half of the Grand Line was referred to as Paradise. A Paradise with good weather conditions where the rookies gather strength for their debut in the New World, where the weak stay and where every crew had to make a hard decision. The decision to be absorbed into a stronger crew or to continue fighting. There were only two ways to survive in the New World after all, to join and sail under the flag of one of the four Yonko or to continuously fight them, which usually didn't work out for many.

Though, the fact that they didn't know the sea they sailed on was Paradise meant that they were still too weak.

"Paradise is," Aiko explained to the rookies, the Captain really shouldn't be asking random people to join her crew. She felt almost insulted at the zero recognition. Just because someone was strong, didn't warrant them a spot on someone's crew as nakama, Lucky Roux had once told her that Shanks' didn't accept whoever just looked strong, he accepted them after getting a good look into their eyes, whatever that meant. "Where the weak gather to face a new sea."

She thought of Shanks' and the precious Strawhat he had given to a crying rubber boy. 'The weak preparing to become strong.'

"The weak?!" One of the women yelled.

"OI! Don't underestimate us!"

"I'm not." Aiko answered, as she made up her mind. They knew the answers she needed about the mist and rain, she'd ask them nicely about it. "I do however, have questions about the mist and rain. Could you answer?" She asked, tightening the gauntlets on her scarred hands. Her Haki had always been a bit uncontrollable, she had been given the gauntlets to help rein them in.

"Who do you think you are, HUH?!"

Rena gave the woman before her an intense glare. The intimidating look the raven haired woman had wasn't normal and what was wrong with her arms? Instead of a pale white they looked as if they were coated in steel as she closed both her fists and gave her and her subordinates a stare full of challenge.

The raven haired woman didn't bother answering and instead, with determined eyes propelled herself forward. Punching one of the Bluefin pirates in the jaw, before elbowing another in the throat with Haki infused limbs. Showing no mercy to the women, she was a woman too, after all.

Aiko had already wasted enough time talking, the Phoenix was probably already sitting bored in the castle waiting for her. They needed to get off this island and go to the next as soon as possible. No matter how much she dreaded going back to that sorry excuse for an island, she'd have to. Especially with that damned Phoenix's growing curiosity and the fact that that freckled commander of Whitebeard's wasn't known to stay idle and remain in one place for too long, which meant they had to leave as soon as they could.

Sometimes she really hated Whitebeard Pirate Commanders.

Marco walked lazily over dozens of unconscious bodies, towards a man –no, a young barely teenage boy- who dropped his weapon before falling on his rear as he slowly backed away from the approaching blonde. The Phoenix crouched down onto the balls of his feet, elbows on his knees as his hands dangled between the gap of his legs. The boy was visibly shaking at just the sight of him.

"The Queen." The boy flinched at Marco's words, though he hadn't even said anything threatening. "Take me to her."

"I-I-I—" The kid gulped.

"You what, yoi?" Came Marco's intimidating voice.

The fact that he couldn't use his Kenbunshoku Haki in this god forsaken castle was bothering him. Plus he had already been cornered four times by armed guards, the guards making him more annoyed than anything, why were there so many guards in the first place? They were weak too, this was why he never bothered picking fights out in Paradise. It probably sounded unbelievably cocky, but New World Pirates and pirates from Paradise were just a whole different class. Even the G-5 Marines out in the New World were different form the ones here. The blonde wanted to have a proper fight or to mess around with a few Marines, not wander a castle with annoying guards at every turn.

Plus, he told himself he'd go and find Aiko in forty-five minutes if she hadn't called. A solid thirty had already passed and she still hadn't contacted him, which meant he'd have to finish his business here fast.

"Y-y-yes!" The man nodded fiercely as he stood on wobbly feet preparing to lead the Phoenix.

Now that he thought about it, why were the guard's men?

Didn't the Queen hate them?

But it explained why no guards were stationed outside of the castle. They couldn't see anything if they were out there and it didn't look like they had any sunglasses to protect them from the shine.

The boy led him down hallway after hallway on shaky legs as Marco followed, lazy eyes cautious as they observed the surroundings. Scanning everything in case another guard decided to pop out, he noticed a small transponder snail on the wall. So there were camera's here huh? Which meant the Queen knew Marco was on his way to go see her. Half lidded eyes moving he noticed that even the interior of this castle was a horrible pink, dull compared to the pink outside. But still, it was pink.

Just… Why?

"Why are you here, yoi?" Marco asked, he could see the man's back tense up at his question.

"To guard the Queen!"

"Not doing a very good job, are you, yoi?" The Phoenix said, voice monotone as he tried to get under the young boy's skin.

"I-I-it's not like I w-want to b-b-be he-here!" He exclaimed, coming to a sudden halt and using his fury to shout at the intimidating blonde he was leading. "Who wants to forever be a servant of a Queen in a castle they can't leave?!"

"Why not destroy what causes the mist and rain then, yoi?" Marco asked in a calm voice, not caring that the kid had begun shouting. He had successfully gotten a reaction out of the scared kid and now he needed information.

"The Queen makes the rain! I don't know how she probably ate one of those cursed fruits! Like you! You're both monsters!" The boy thought about how the blonde before him had used blue flames, blades went right through him and his feet had turned into razor sharp talons.

Marco ignored the last part, mind running a mile a minute. So, that meant if he knocked out the Queen the rain would disappear? That was good to know, but without the mist gone they still wouldn't be able to leave.

"And the mist, yoi?"

"As if anyone could destroy a giant machine like that!" The boy scoffed, there was no way that the blonde before him could destroy steel with a kick. "Plus, the machine is in the Queen's throne room where she can protect it, there's no way you could—"

The blonde commander tuned the kid out as he thought about what was happening. So, the Queen and mist producing machine were in the same room? It saved him a whole lot of trouble and just what kind of machine completely blocked out Kenbunshoku Haki anyway? Plus, identify the genders of people? That wasn't normal, even for a machine. Maybe Pops' would like to have it, he did say to get valuable things. But the kid said it was huge, there was no way he could bring a giant thing like that. He could claim the island as one of Pops' territories to keep the machine safe, but Yonko weren't known to keep territories in Paradise.

It would disrupt the balance of the Grand Line for them to claim a piece of Paradise.

Marco interrupted whatever the boy had continued saying when he tuned him out, "Keep walking, yoi."

The boy closed his mouth, giving the taller blonde a glare before walking with brisk steps towards the Queen's throne room, all previous fright gone.

He stopped in front of large double doors, a darker shade of pink than the walls. He made a motion with his head to the doors, Marco just staring back with his usual composed face. The boy firmly grasped one handle, pushing it wide open, before Marco delivered a blow to his head, knocking the boy unconscious before taking a languid step over his body and into the throne room.

Aiko took a step out from the secret underground hall and into the dark alley. Her hand was holding firmly onto the little boy's that had pretended to be a girl. Once, Aiko had dealt with the pirates and gotten the necessary information, she made it a point to pick up the boy. If he hung around with those women that felt they were the superior gender, the kid might grow up with a strange complex.

She never understood women who felt they were superior or could do just about anything -or more than- a man could. Men were there for a reason after all, their bodies were built stronger and tougher for a reason. They could carry heavy duty things and were more resilient to just about everything, they also never got pregnant or had menstruation meaning they were always at their full capacity.

"Don't open your eyes." She told the kid as they were soaked by the rain.

Aiko watched the women run into their houses in fright, if they all had such superiority complexes why would they run in fright? Were they afraid of being tainted? Did they even know what that meant? The boy was just a child. Aiko held onto the little boys hand tighter, seeing his dark hair completely matted over his eyes. She could see bruises around his neck and wrists, so this kid was one from a slave auction, huh?

She walked quickly, forcing the child to keep up as he stumbled over his small feet. She'd slow down, but right now there was no time to be slow. Aiko didn't want to be caught up in the mist. She quickly made her way to the edge of the forest, debating whether or not to go in with a kid in tow.

"Aiko-san!" She whirled around, to find Ruhi with his shades, still donning his pink dress that was now –along with the rest of him- soaking wet. "Where are you going?"

"Marco's at the castle." Aiko said simply, Ruhi's eyes widening in surprise.

"I saw him… But I thought… I thought…" It wasn't real. Were the unspoken words, the man had seen the blonde fly up into the sky after all. There was no way something like that was normal.

"Good timing. Prepare your men, they can go home and they'll be able to leave this place if they wish." Aiko said to the confused Ruhi, "Take the kid too. He's got a cute face, but he's a boy."

"W-Wait! W-W-Wha-?" Ruhi sputtered out, in a great display of his intelligence.

"I told you, didn't I? We'd be paying the Queen a visit. Marco should be dealing with the problem as we speak." She looked at the man with nothing but trust in the words she said next. "He's cocky, lazy and doesn't do anything that isn't worth his time, but trust him." She gave the man a grin. "He's Whitebeard's First Division Commander, after all."

Ruhi's eyes widened.

Whitebeard?

"And there's no way a Red Hair Pirate like me would be left behind in the dust." She added, "Just leave it to us, you guys should pack up and alert the other men hiding out." Her eyes suddenly hardened, remembering something important as she ordered, "I also heard there was a mine somewhere in the mountain where boys are working, go find them. I'm not sure if it's only one mine though."

Ruhi's eyes widened even more, because apparently that was possible. His jaw was as wide as can be as he stared at the woman in front of him. Red Hair Pirate? And Marco was from Whitebeard's crew? Were these really the two pirates that had been dominating the newspapers for the past weeks? The world renowned ones?

Now that he thought about it, they did seem familiar when he first saw them.

And he was calling out to them like they were good friends?

"Oi! Ruhi! Are you listening?!" Aiko waved a hand in front of the man's gaping face.

"Y-Y-YES!" He said, hand involuntarily going up and giving the woman a salute.

Aiko rolled her eyes.

"Take the kid and go find those mines then." She ordered.

He made a move to grab the kid's hand from her grasp, only for the little boy to wrap skinny arms around Aiko's leg and squeeze with all his might.

"Kid…" Aiko muttered looking down at the young boy. The boy probably had trust issues from being in that slave auction, there was no way he'd just go with some random stranger, especially one he couldn't even see. Looking back up at Ruhi, she muttered, "Okay, I'll take the kid. You go gather your men and find those mines."

"Yes! Aiko-sama!" He yelled out once more complete with salute, Aiko just grinned at the nervous man. The way he was acting reminded her of how the rookie members of her crew would act in front of her, until Yasopp told them to loosen up a bit.

She held out a hand, palm up towards Ruhi, "Do you have extra sunglasses?"

"Ah!" He took off his girly looking ones and handed them to her as he donned his usual thick shades.

"Thanks." Aiko replied, before placing them on the little boy's face. "You can open your eyes now."

He did, though unlike Marco who immediately snapped his eyes open without a second thought, he opened them slowly. The first thing he saw was the woman that had helped him giving him a wide grin, one he returned as best he could.

"Good." Aiko said patting the boy's head, "What's your name, kid?"

"Thatch." He said still reflecting her friendly smile.

"Eh?"

"Thatch." The boy repeated, louder this time. She could see his eyes shining in happiness even with the shades on.

Aiko stared at the kid for a bit longer, now that she looked closer he had brown hair. The rain was just turning it a darker shade. She kept her gaze on him scrutinizing every inch of his skinny figure, remembering a certain pompadour-haired man that always bothered her and Marco whenever they saw each other.

So, they had the same name, huh?

How interesting.

"That's a strong name, y'know?" Aiko said with another grin as she ruffled dark brown hair.

The boy grinned in return.

"Could you lift up this annoying rain, yoi?" Marco asked, blank stare focused on the Queen before him. Countless guards lay unconscious at his feet as well as a few servants, the only one left in the room was the Queen herself and two servants cowering in the far corner.

Marco had been surprised when he first saw the Queen. She was nothing like he had been expecting, because of one very important thing. In fact, he had expected an ugly thing, he was also prepared for a one of a kind beauty, but… not this. He now knew why all the servants were male and why the Queen's fiancé was so quick to elope with another woman. In fact, he completely understood the man. If it were him, he would've eloped as well. Eloped with the nearest woman, no matter the age and no matter the looks.

What was even more surprising was that the Queen didn't hate men, she used the mist to lead them to her castle, because the Queen loved to be surrounded by them. That was a real eye opener.

Especially with a Queen like… that.

Marco suddenly had a new found respect for every male servant and guard forced to work in this crumbling pink castle.

"Oh my!" The Queen brought her hands up to her rosy, make up filled cheeks. "You're so strong, intruder-san! What should I do?! Do you want to marry me?"

Roger.

Someone.

Anyone.

Help him.

"I'll just have to knock you out then, yoi." Marco said, getting into his usual stance. One knee bent and the other leg outstretched with flame filled hands in front of him.

"Oh! But you can't do that until were married!" The Queen yelled out complete with sultry pout on dark red lips. Sending a flying kiss his way. Marco though was able to keep his composure as he stared at the Queen. How did she become Queen anyway? Actually, the fact that the Queen was like this explained why everything on this horrid island was pink. He wasn't a huge fan of the color, but now he was beginning to go from a neutral state to fucking sick of it.

"Come, husband-kun!" She spread her arms out wide, "Welcome home!"

Purupurupurupurupuru…

Purupurupurupurupuru…

Marco stood properly, digging into the pocket of his purple jacket to pull out a Baby Den Den Mushi designed after Aiko. He still didn't see how she found the snail designed after him cute. Snails were snails. They weren't cute.

Purupurupurupurupuru…

Purupurupur—

Kacha.

"Phoooeeeeenix!" Came Aiko's voice through the receiver, she sounded happy.

"On your way, yoi?" Marco asked, the Den Den Mushi Aiko held onto at the moment did well to capture the blonde commander's ever indifferent face.

"I should be there soon, so don't have too much fun without me." The small transponder snail in Marco's hand gave a wide smile.

"You've already missed the party, Hon." Marco said back. Looking at the unconscious bodies around him. He had already taken out all the guards in this crumbling pink castle.

"That isn't fair, Phoenix!" The Baby Den Den Mushi imitated the pout Aiko currently had on. It looked nowhere near as attractive. This was exactly why snails weren't cute. At all.

"It's not my fault you Red Hair Pirates are so slow, yoi." Marco shot back.

The small snail rolled its eyes.

"Where are you anyway, hot stuff?"

"With the Queen, yoi." He said simply, taking a peek at the Queen who was seething in anger at being ignored. Face turning red from Marco's lack of attention. Some part of him still couldn't believe that the Queen was like this.

"Oooh! What's she like?"

Marco looked up at the Queen one more time, she was advancing towards him with an angry expression. Maybe he should knock her out now? Before she said something embarrassing that Aiko would forever use as teasing ammunition. He looked back down at the small Den Den Mushi, muttering only three words, before he hung up.

Three words that had Aiko's eyes widening as she stared at the closed Den Den Mushi, before she let out a laugh that could be heard echoing throughout the entire mountain.

"An okama, yoi."

A/N: Thanks for the support everyone, watcha guy think of the new chappie? Hmm...? XD

Thanks for the support everyone! I've reached 100 reviews! Even my other story doesn't have a hundred reviews even though it has more favorites and follows! So thanks to all those that continue to give me feedback!

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