*XION'S P.O.V*
"SHIHIHIHI!" I was sleeping peacefully until I heard a certain someone laughing. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. As I rubbed sleep out of my eyes, I saw Luffy laughing at Zoro for something stupid, without a doubt, and Nami conversing with Vivi.
'Might be about the reward that Zoro was talking about,' I thought.
"Oh. You're awake," came the navigator's voice. "Sorry if I hit you too hard."
"Why did you hit me anyway?" I asked.
"YOU TWO, SHUT UP!" Nami shouted at Luffy and Zoro, ignoring my question.
"How's your leg?" Princess Vivi asked me. "We managed to get the bullet out and disinfect the wound."
"I'm fine. Thanks."
"So that's our offer. We want B1,000,000,000 when we escort you there safely. You saw how strong they are, right? Quite a bargain, don't you think?"
"That's impossible!" the princess instantly replied. I would understand why she would say that. "You have my gratitude in saving my life. Thank you."
"Why?! You're a princess, aren't you?" Nami asked. "It's just one measly billion!"
"Looks like you don't know," I muttered, remembering all that I've read about Arabasta before I joined the Straw Hats. I sighed when I saw a confused look on Nami's face. "I don't know the whole story, but Princess Vivi's homeland, Arabasta, is on the verge of war. And because of that, the money is used for weapons. So it may not be possible for her to give us the billion."
"That's right," Vivi agreed. "In recent years, a call for revolution has emerged. The citizens began committing acts of insurrection, causing the land to fall into chaos. But one day, I heard the name of a secret organization: Baroque Works! I discovered that they were responsible for the rebellion. Aside from this, however, I was unable to procure any further information. So I went to Igaram, who had looked after me ever since I was a little girl."
"The chikuwa-haired ossan?" Luffy asked.
"The chiku-? Ah, yes. That's him," Vivi nodded, before continuing her story. "I decided to infiltrate Baroque Works. I thought that if I did, I could find out who was pulling the strings, and what his plans were."
"Pretty gutsy for a princess," Zoro complimented. "So? Did you find out his true intentions?"
"The establishment of an Ideal Nation," Nami answered for the princess, who seemed shock to know that Nami knew of the plan. "Igaram told me earlier. Could it be that...?"
"He claims that establiching this 'Ideal Nation' is their purpose," Vivi explained. "But that is a complete lie! His true intention is to steal the throne of Arabasta! I must hurry back to my country and prevent my people from joining the insurrection! If this continues-"
"We'll help," said my bad habit from my mouth. Those two words were enough to grab everyone's attention to me. "That is, if the captain will allow it. But, just hearing this, I already want to help you stop this war! Not just the war. The Baroque Works as well! Of course, that's if the captain allows it."
"Aren't you the captain?" Princess Vivi questioned.
"Princess. You do realize that we're called the Straw Hat Pirates, right? If I'm a captain, then where is my Straw Hat?" I asked back.
"Hmm... Before that, who's the master mind?" Luffy asked the princess.
"B-boss' true identity?!" she spoke in a shocked tone. "That is the one thing you cannot ask me!"
"But you know who it is, don't you?"
"NO! I can't tell you! If I told you, they'll hunt you down too!"
"Ahahah... Well, we don't want that to happen," Nami spoke. "And of course, trying to take over a whole nation... He must be an incredibly strong guy, right?"
"That's right. It doesn't matter how strong you are, there's no way you could ever hope to touch him! One of the Shichibukai, CROCODILE!"
Cue the moment of silence when she accidentally announced the leader's identity. It was broken when Luffy asked for the identity again, having the princess and Nami to be pale in shock.
"You just said it," Zoro and I said in unison.
'She said it, didn't she?' came a familiar high, male voice.
'Yes, yes she did,' came a familiar deep, female voice.
I turned to the source and saw an otter in light blue coat with purple dots and a shell in its paws and a vulture with a hat. "Who're they?" I asked pointing at them. The rest of the crew and Princess Vivi turned to those two animals. A couple seconds later, the otter jumped on the vulture and they flew off.
'REPORT!' I heard them say as they left.
"HEY! WHAT'S WITH THE OTTER AND THE VULTURE?! ONE OF THE SHICHIBUKAI IS GONNA BE AFTER US NOW! WHAT'RE WE GOING TO DO?!" Nami snapped at the princess with shark-like teeth and crying, the latter apologizing as she was being shook by our navigator and also crying. As for the other two, they were having a small conversation about being targeted by a Shichibukai, in a good way.
"I'll have one of my Dream Eaters go after them," I said, summoning Fang. No one seems to be paying attention to me, though.
"I'm so, so sorry! It just slipped out!" the princess apologized and reasoned.
"'SORRY' WON'T DO US ANY GOOD! NOW YOU'VE GOTTEN US MIXED UP IN ALL THIS!" Letting go of Princess Vivi, Nami began sobbing a bit. "We just made it to the Grand Line and I'm marked for death by one of the Shichibukai..."
"I just said that I have one of my Dream Eaters go after those two animals," I told Nami, trying to cheer her up.
"We're pretty lucky that we get to fight one so soon," Zoro said. And of course he would think that. I wouldn't be surprise if Luffy agrees with him or say something like 'I wonder how strong he is'.
"Wonder what he's like," came the voice of the said person.
"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Nami snapped again, pointing at those two guys. "Though it wasn't for long, it was nice knowing you all!" she then said, walking away from us.
"Where're you going?" Luffy asked.
"They don't know my face yet, so I'm outta here!"
'Eyes like this,' came the otter's voice, as I walked and saw the said animal drawing with the vulture right next to it. He then took out four drawings. Each of those drawings are a picture of us.
"Wow! You're good!" Nami complimented, clapping. It wasn't long until Fang snatched a drawing out of the animal's paws and having it ride on the vulture's back again, leaving for real this time. "NO! NOW I CAN'T EVEN RUN AWAY!?"
"I'm so sorry..." Vivi apologized once more.
"That guy's pretty cool," Luffy complimented the otter.
"Where are you planning on going anyway?" Zoro asked. "In any case, the four of us have been added to the Baroque Works Death List!"
"Shihihihi! This is so exciting!" Luffy laughed.
"Actually, one of us is safe," I spoke up, as Fang perched on my shoulder with one of the otter's drawing's in it's mouth.
"Really?! Who is it?! Please say it's me!" Nami questioned and begged.
I got the drawing out of Fang's mouth and looked at the drawing. The person who is safe is... "Uh... Sorry, Nami," I apologized, revealing the picture to her. "I'm the one who's safe." That result got her to sit with her legs close to her chest, facing a wall. Arabasta's princess was behind the poor navigator, trying to cheer her up by telling her the amount of savings she's willing to give her.
"DO NOT WORRY!" came Igaram's voice. We all turned to see that he's wearing clothes similiar to Vivi's and have his hair up in a ponytail, as well as holding four dummies. The sight of that made my eyes burn, I had to look away. "Fear- Ahem! Mah-mah-maaah~! Fear not, for I have a plan!"
"Igaram! What are those clothes for?" the princess asked.
"Shihihi! Ossan! You'll fool anyone wearing that!" Luffy stated.
'Yeah. If they are as simple-minded as you are,' I thought.
"Oh my god. I'm mostly surrounded by idiots," I heard Nami say. When she said mostly, I can't help but sweatdrop at how much she relies on me.
"Vivi-sama, please listen carefully," Igaram spoke. "Baroque Works' Network will soon recieve the report. Once they learn we are the ones that knows the Boss' true identity, you understand what will happen, don't you?"
"As many as a thousand hunters could soon be coming after us," Vivi replied. Nami perked her head up when she heard the number of hunters coming for us.
"That is why I have dressed in the manner of a princess. I will depart with these four dummies and travel on a straight course to Arabasta."
"These are us?" Luffy asked, poking on one of the dummies.
"Decoys," Igaram explained. "Once they have begun pursuing me, Vivi-sama and yourselves can depart safely to Arabasta."
"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Nami yelled. "Who said that we're taking the princess anywhere?! We still don't have a contract."
"Xion did," Luffy and Zoro answered, pointing at me.
"THAT WAS HER BAD HABIT TALKING! IT'S NOT THE PERSON HERSELF!" she denied. "BESIDES, CROCODILE IS GOING TO KILL US!"
"This Crocodile... Is he really that strong?" Luffy asked.
"I heard about him," I said. "And since he's a Shichibukai, it's more than enough reason that he's strong. I also read some stuff about him. His last bounty, before being a Shichibukai, is about B80,000,000."
"80 MILLION?! THAT'S FOUR TIMES ARLONG'S! TURN IT DOWN!" the navigator begged, crying again.
"Will you accept it?" Igaram asked Luffy.
"Yeah. Xion's bad habit is already acting up anyway. So it can't be helped," replied the captain.
"You have my upmost gratitude."
Some time later, we were at the other side of Whiskey Peak. Igaram was acting like Vivi, though it's not like it's going to help with anything, and announced that he will be leaving for Arabasta.
"Ossan! You're just like her!" Luffy stated.
"Like who?" Zoro and I asked.
"Now then Princess, please hand me the Eternal Pose," Igaram kindly demanded. Vivi hesitatedly handed him the wanted item.
"Eternal Pose?" Nami questioned. "Xion, what are those?"
"I never heard of one until now," I told her.
"You never heard of one? I'll try to explain. It is an eternally preserved version of a Log Pose. A Log Pose guides you from one island to the next. But an Eternal Pose never forgets of the magnetic field of the one island it is set to. It shall eternally point to that island. And this one points the way to Arabasta," Igaram informed.
"And with that you can get to Arabasta," Vivi added.
"Vivi-sama, after making a few stops, please hurry to Arabasta. I have never done it myself, but I am certain you can follow the Log two or three times to get there. And with that, I leave the princess in your care."
"Leave it to us," I said, saluting to Igaram. Well, since he's the captain of the Royal Guards of Arabasta, I have to show some respect to him, too.
"There's no need for you to do that," I heard him say.
"Igaram," Vivi called. I turned to see if she had a problem with this situation and saw that she's against this.
"I'm sure that the journey is dangerous, so please be careful," he told her.
"Iga-" the princess cut herself off, knowing that this is for the best. With her mind made up, she held Igaram's hand for a moment and wished him luck as well. At that point, he got on the ship with the four dummies and left for Arabasta.
It wasn't long, however, as we saw the ship blew up several seconds later.
'Already?!' I mentally asked. 'No that can't be!'
"He was a great man!" Luffy shouted, after retrieving his hat, when it was blown away by the explosion.
"Nami! The Log!" I shouted.
Nami got the message and looked at the compass. "It's already set!"
"Luffy, get Usopp and Sanji! Zoro, you come with me back to the ship! Nami, get Princess Vivi! Meet Zoro and I back on the Going Merry!" I ordered.
"Right!" they all replied.
When Zoro and I got to the ship, we were greeted by Princess Vivi's duck. 'Hi there!' he greeted.
"Uh... Hi?" I greeted back. I snapped back to reality when I remember the matter at hand. "Zoro, help me pull up the anchor!"
"Got it!" he agreed, as we pulled up the said object and hanged it on the railing.
"Oi! I got them!" Luffy shouted.
"Okay! Then get on! We're leaving as soon as Nami and the princess gets on!" I informed.
"Okay!" Luffy then looked back and saw that Usopp and Sanji are knocked out. "Eh? You guys are still sleeping?"
'They got knocked out, idiot,' I mentally corrected.
"We don't have time to get him!" came Nami's voice.
"But I can't leave without him!" followed Vivi's voice.
"What's wrong?!" I asked them.
"She says that her spot-billed duck is missing!" Nami informed. "She said it usually comes when she whistles, but it won't come!"
"You mean him?" Zoro asked, pointing and bringing up the said animal.
'Yo!' waved the duck.
"YOU WERE THERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!" the two girls asked.
"He was already on board when we got on," I told them.
"If we sail up the river, it'll branch off into the sea. And we'll be able to get on course faster," Vivi said.
"Alright, LET'S GO!" Luffy ordered, as the sails were unfurled.
"Oi!" Zoro called for Princess Vivi. "Just how many are coming after us, exactly?"
"I don't know," she replied. "Baroque Works has about 2000 employees. And I heard there are other towns like this one in the area."
"Really, 2000?" Nami questioned. The moment she asked that, Sanji and Usopp woke up. Seeing that they were back on the ship and that it was sailing off this island made them demand for us all to stay longer. They even asked why we were leaving and if we ever come across an island like this one. Hearing it all made me sigh in pity.
"Someone should explain it to them," I said.
"Oi! Explain it to the already," Zoro ordered Nami.
"I already did," she told him.
"That was fast," I stated.
"I skipped all the boring parts."
"We're about to clear the island," Vivi said.
"Cool! Fog!" Luffy spoke, as though this is his first time seeing it.
"It'll be morning soon," Nami said.
"Well, it's a good thing you got away from your pursuers," came a soft melodic voice. For some reason, it sounded familiar.
"It sure is," our navigator agreed.
"Watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull."
"You can count on me!" A moment later, realizing that the voice belonged to no one that we know of, Nami asked, "Xion, was that you just now?"
"No," I simply replied.
"... Nice ship." We all turned to the voice and saw a woman in western clothings. In fact, one look at that woman, and I already remember who she is.
"Who's there?!" Zoro asked.
"Y-you're-!" Vivi stuttered.
"Ms. All-Sunday!" I identified.
"My, my. What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here, Xion," she said.
"Xion, you know her?" Nami asked.
"Yeah. She was the person who tried to recruit me to the Baroque Works. After I kindly refused the offer, she tried to take me in by force. I was lucky that I had Lapin at the time or Tanoshi Island won't be how it was when you guys recruited me. After that, she promised to leave and never try to recruit me again."
"I also said that the offer is still open if you change your mind," Ms. All-sunday added. "And if I must say, those clothes look cool on you, if there aren't any blood on them that is. Also, I wanted to see how you got your title there. However..." Suddenly, four arms sprouted from my back and shoulders and two of them wrapped my hands and arms behind my back while the other two placed me in a chokehold. "... thanks to that, I know that you need your arms to weild your weapon."
"Xion!" I heard my crewmates scream.
"A devil's fruit?!" Nami guessed.
"I saw Mr. Eight not too long ago, Ms. Wednesday," Ms. All-Sunday told our guest.
"You killed Igaram!" she yelled.
"Even if you did, why the hell are you on my ship?! And let go of my nakama!" Luffy demanded.
"Just what exactly are you doing here, Ms. All-Sunday?!"
"I have to agree with Princess Vivi," I spoke. "Why is Crocodile's partner here? Surely he doesn't want to have his partner to kill us, yet."
"She's Crocodile's partner?!" Nami gasped.
"So she's a bad guy?" Luffy assumed.
"Out of all the members in the Baroque Works, she is the only one who is allowed to know the Boss' true identity. Igaram and I shadowed her to know who he really is," Vivi explained.
"Or to be more precise, I let you shadow me," Ms. All-Sunday corrected.
"Oh, she's a good guy," Luffy corrected himself.
"I knew that!" Vivi yelled. "And the one who informed the boss of his exposed identity was you, wasn't it?!"
"Correct."
"So she is a bad guy," Luffy recorrected himself, pouting.
"Just stay out of it," Zoro told the captain.
"Just what exactly are your intentions?!" Vivi demanded.
"Who knows? But you were so serious about it, I just had to cooperate," Ms. All-Sunday replied. "A princess who actually thinks she can make enemies of Baroque Works and save her country. It's just so ridiculous..."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the moment Vivi screamed those words, Sanji and Usopp stood next to Robin, pointing a pistol or a slighshot at her, ready to shoot. Then Zoro and Nami got ready to fight her.
"Oi. Sanji. Any idea what's going on?" Usopp asked.
"Nope. No idea," our cook replied. "But, it seems the lovely Ms. Wednesday and our beloved Xion is in danger."
'Who are you calling beloved?' I mentally asked.
"Would you mind not pointing such dangerous things at me?" Ms. All-Sunday asked, using her devil fruit powers to throw those two over the railing that she's sitting on. She then used in to have Zoro and Nami to let go of their weapons.
"A devil's fruit, huh?" Sanji identified, getting up. "WHOA! Looking from down here, she's a beautiful lady!" Oh, dear. Of course he would go to that mode.
"Really don't be in such a rush," Ms. All-Sunday said. "I'm not under any orders at the moment. So I have no reason to fight you."
"If that's true, then how about you let go of me?" I questioned.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, since you weild the power that can most likely destroy the world." Those words got everyone to tense up for a moment.
"What are you talking about?"
"You weild the Keyblade. So who knows how you're going to use that power?"
"Please. You're making it sound like I'm pretending to be me."
"Well... I could be wrong. But I rather not take any chance. Still, I never thought you would join the infamous Straw Hat captain." Just when she said that, Luffy's hat was flung to her hand, as she twirled it.
"Oi! Give me back my hat!" Luffy demanded like a child. "You wanna fight!?"
"You're not wanted here so get off our ship, jerk!" Usopp exclaimed, from behind the mast.
"What bad luck," Robin continued, as she placed Luffy's hat on top of her's. "You pirates picking up a princess that Baroque Works wants dead. And that princess being protected by such a small number of pirates. But your worst luck of all is the route that your Log Pose is leading you on. The name of the next island is... Little Garden."
"Look, Ms. All Sunday, I don't know where you're going at, but I would thank you kindly if you would please release me," I told her. "After all, this is getting really uncomfortable."
"Oh? And what makes you think that I'll just release you?" she asked back.
"... Who said that I want you to do so willingly?" The moment I asked that question, everyone looked at me with a confused look. Just when they did, Fang swoop down and screeched in Ms. All-Sunday's ear, forcing her to release me and lose her concentration. Taking this chance, I dashed up to her with Starlight in my hand. When I saw those pink flower petals though, I saw an image of a guy with pink hair and a scythe. Ignoring that image, I stopped next to her with the tip of my weapon at her throat.
"Choose your next move carefully... That next move may cost your life," I said. "Thanks, Fang. You saved me."
"But how was that possible?" Ms. All-Sunday asked me. "Last time I remember, you have to summon Dream Eaters from their card."
"That's true, if I returned it in its card," I agreed and added. "Now then, you were saying?"
"... There's an Eternal Pose in my left pocket," she told me, hesitated to make a move. "It will help you avoid Little Garden. It will lead you to Nanimonai Island, just near Arabasta. And since none of our members know of this route, you will not be followed."
I had Fang take out the said compass and hand it to me, only to see that she spoke the truth. I ordered my Dream Eater to hand it to the captain as well as his straw hat. "You're choice, Luffy. You wanna take her offer?"
"Wait. She's helping us out?" Nami questioned.
"Why are you doing this?" the princess cautiously asked.
"It's obviously a trap," Zoro said.
After a few moments, Luffy made up his mind. "Who the hell gives a crap!?" As soon as he asked that, he broke the Eternal Pose.
"BAKA!" Nami shouted, kicking our captain. "ARE YOU A COMPLETE DIMWIT?! SHE JUST TOLD US THE BEST WAY TO GO! WHAT IF SHE WAS TRYING TO HELP US?! WHAT THEN?!"
"You don't decide the route for this ship!" Luffy told Ms. All-Sunday, ignoring Nami's rant at him.
After a moment of silence, all Ms. All-Sunday said was, "Oh. How unfortunate."
"She blew up that chikuwa-ossan. I hate her."
"Well, then Luffy. What do you want me to do with her? Chop her head off? Burn her? Electricute her? Freeze her? Blow her away so she can sink somewhere in this ocean? Just name it," I offered the captain. "Although, I prefer none of the above."
"Xion?" some of my crewmates spoke in a confuse tone.
"Just let her be, then. If you don't really want to kill her," Luffy answered, waving his hand.
Smiling at the reply, I called back my Keyblade. Ms. All-Sunday then made her leave, cautiously looking at me.
"Well, if you survive, let's meet again," she said.
"NO!" the captain instantly replied like a child.
Smirking, Ms. All-Sunday said, "Xion, the offer is still open." With that, she jumped off the ship. I ran to the railing, thanks to my bad habit, when I then heard her say, "Let's go, Banchi."
I then became curious and ran to the side to see Ms. All-Sunday riding on a huge turtle. All of us Straw Hats saw this and were slightly amazed, mostly by the size of that turtle. We then looked at Vivi, who seems very uneasy about all of this.
"That woman...! I just can't figure out what she's thinking!" the princess exclaimed, when she dropped to her knees.
"Then trying to understand is a waste of time," Nami said.
"Yeah, we got people like that on our ship," Zoro agreed.
"Oi! Can someone please explain all of this?!" Usopp asked. "I have no idea what's going on!"
"Oh~! Ms. Wednesday, are you one of our nakama now?" Sanji asked in his loverboy mode.
"Oi! Will someone explain-?! WHOA! We have an ostrich now?!"
'I'm not an ostrich, long-nose!' came Carue's voice.
"Oi. Can someone explain?"
"Would you like something to eat?" Sanji offered.
'I would.'
"SOMEONE EXPLAIN ALL THIS!" our sniper demanded.
*AN EXPLANATION LATER*
"I see," Sanji spoke, after explaining to him and Usopp what's been going on while they were asleep. "I've done something inexcusable, but I still have yet to show my abilities. It's all right. Your sleeping knight has awaken and I will make it my duty to ensure your safety," he promised the princess.
"Damn... I'm glad I was asleep!" Usopp muttered to himself.
Paying no attention to whatever will happen next, I went to the lower deck to train with my Dream Eaters. I've been slacking since I joined this crew and I don't want to get weaker as we sail the Grand Line.
"Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Fin Fatale! All right, guys. Let's get on with our training," I ordered. My mind was suddenly on that image that I saw earlier when I looked at those pink petals.
'What was that image?' I asked myself. 'Or to be more precise, who was that? And as for Ms. All-Sunday, I can already tell what you're trying to do, telling us all that and offering us that Eternal Pose. Nico Robin, what exactly happened to you?'
*GENERAL'S P.O.V*
"What is Xion doing?" Vivi asked.
"She's just training with her Dream Eaters," Zoro replied.
"And you don't mind if she does?"
"As long as she doesn't break this ship, we don't," Usopp said.
"I mean what Ms. All-Sunday said earlier," the princess of Arabasta corrected. "What if she's right and Xion could kill us?!"
"She won't," all the Straw Hat Pirates, except the person in question, replied.
"And how would you know?"
"Well, you see, Xion lost her memories six months ago. So another reason why we're here in the Grand Line is so we can help her regain those memories. Also, Xion was considered a hero back on the island where we got her. She was also an idol to all the kids living on that island. And a person like that, can't be planning on killing her own nakama," Nami explained.
"... I see," Vivi replied, watching Xion train. "But I wonder... Is it really alright for me to be on your ship? I don't want to be a burden to you..."
"What are you talking about?" Nami asked back. "Because of you we're all marked for death. If you didn't want to be a burden, you shouldn't have done that in the first place."
"I'm sorry."
"And even if you didn't, Xion is going to help you out anyway. With her bad habit, she's too reliable. Right, Luffy?"
"OH! I'm hungry!" the said person announced.
"I don't think he cares..." Vivi muttered, sweatdropping.
"In any case, we know where we're going," Zoro said.
"Little Garden, huh?" Sanji spoke.
"Oi. Is it really alright to go there?" Usopp asked.
"Who cares? Let's go, crew!" Luffy ordered.
A/N: Hope you like this chapter. Partial credit goes to my new Beta Reader, or soon-to-be Beta Reader, EvanderAdvent.
Oh yes. Also, do you want Xion to recieve Tyranto Rex or Cera Terror in Little Garden and what challenge do you want it to be? If you want Xion to recieve both of them, that's fine too. Until the next chapter, folks.