Disclaimer – One Piece is written by Eiichiro Oda and published by Shueisha.

Chapter 2: Captain Salvia

[Rusukaina Island, Seven Hours Ago]

Whenever Salvia found a great man, she wanted him to join her harem. How nice would it be for men like "Super Rookie" Cavendish and "Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law to fall in love with her, to fight for her affections, and to obey her every whim? It was better than falling in love, only to be ignored, used, or rejected.

She walked through the jungle on Rusukaina Island. Its earthy and damp smell reminded her of Amazon Lily, and as the cold air grew hot, she missed her home even more. The seasons on this island changed weekly from rain showers to sub-zero blizzards to desert-like heat. She unzipped her jacket to allow the heat to touch her skin and tossed it to one of the two crewmen that followed behind her.

Together, they climbed trees. Some looked oddly shaped and nearly as massive as the volcanoes on the island that coughed smoke into the evening sky, and on a smaller tree, branches creaked under Salvia's boots. There, her Observation Haki sensed voices below, and one belonged to Straw Hat Luffy.

He bounced off one foot, and it sounded like a rubber ball striking the earth. His broad muscles flexed, and his arms and legs hardened. Scratches and bruises covered his skin. A tattered shirt and shorts hung from his body as a giant lion, gorilla, and tiger pounded toward him.

The beasts roared, and rodents scampered and birds flapped away, and Luffy squeezed his fists against his shoulders.

"GUM-GUM KONG ORGAN!" he shouted.

His fists sprang back and forth hundreds of times and pummeled the beasts. They flew and slammed against a boulder and struck the ground battered, bloodied, and fangless.

As the beasts went still, air blasted from Luffy's mouth. He zipped and shrank as he ricocheted off trees and rocks. He smacked the ground and his tongue lolled out of his mouth near the tree where Salvia observed.

"I wonder how nice it would be if Straw Hat fell in love with me?" she asked.

Her crewmen almost fell off their perches.

"Did you forget the plan?" One whispered. "There're better men out there, and what about us?"

"I wish I could have him, too," she said. "It's too bad he belongs to the Snake Princess."

"What makes you think she'll come after you anyway?"

Salvia exhaled. "I want men who are infamous, high-ranked, or royalty. I doubt the marines would be happy if I stole them away, but since I'm a Kuja, they'll hold the Snake Princess responsible.

"She's sent others, but sooner or later, she'll come find me herself, and I'm afraid her Gorgon's curse will turn me to stone."

Her body trembled. She needed Straw Hat as a bargaining chip against the Snake Princess to have the freedom to make a harem, but this would be the first time she tried her powers on someone as strong-willed as Straw Hat.

Light huddled near her chest and formed a gold bow and heart-tipped arrow. She seized them and aimed downward.

"CUPID-CUPID ARROW!" she said.

She fired the arrow, and it whistled through the air and impaled Luffy's heart. His shout rang throughout the island as the arrow, protruding from his chest, burst into motes of light. As those lights disappeared, she glanced at her crewmen, whose names she failed to remember.

"Stay here," she said. "I'll make sure he falls in love with the Snake Princess."

She jumped off the tree, and her cape fluttered above her as she descended. Her boots thumped the ground, and she fell into a crouch near Luffy, who blinked awake.

"Where am I?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"Everything's—" she said, but was interrupted by Peony.

Coiled on Salvia's arm and hissing, the snake rubbed Salvia's face and bumped her glasses. They fell and clattered near her boots, and her vision blurred.

She groped for her glasses, and said, "Could you have picked a better time!?"

Luffy pointed. "Your glasses are over—"

"I know, can't you see I'm stretching?"

She "stretched" for an eternity before she touched her glasses and returned them to her face, and she glared at Peony.

"Shishishishi," laughed Luffy. "You're silly."

Her cheeks burned. "I-I haven't introduced myself. I'm a Kuja warrior, and you can call me Salvia."

"Your name's Saliva?"

"SAL-VI-A!" she said. "I wanted to ask how you felt about the Snake Princess."

"Hancock? Why—ow!" He seized his shirt, and his knees struck the ground. "Why's my chest hurting?"

Salvia sucked in her lips to hide her smile. The arrow's working. Now he just needs a push in the right direction.

"Maybe it's Love Sickness," she said, doubting he would know outsiders were immune. "There's an old hag in my village who used to be the Snake Empress, and we call her Elder Nyon. She told us how empresses had fallen in love with men and suffered extreme pain and emotions. Maybe you're feeling that for the Snake Princess."

"I want to see Hancock," said Luffy, "but I promised my nakama I'd get stronger. I've only got a few weeks left."

Salvia crouched beside him. "You might have less than that. Love Sickness has killed empresses in the past. Every time Elder Nyon had told us that, I'd laugh—how can you die from falling in love? And she'd point to their graves. I think you'd better come with me and see the Snake Princess if you care about your life."

"Don't worry, I'll feel better after I eat meat."

Salvia frowned. Did he hit his head?

"Being with the person you love is the only way to cure Love Sickness," she said. "You want to be with her, don't you?"

"I do," he said, before he stuck out his tongue, "but I'm staying here."

"You'll die. Wait, where do you think you're going?"

Luffy walked away from her.

"You're wasting my time," he said. "I'm going to eat meat and get stronger."

Salvia knotted Peony around her arm, and the snake wheezed. The arrow had worked, but Straw Hat resisted. If she let this happen, he would return to his training and she would lose her bargaining chip against the Snake Princess and her freedom to make a harem. She could use force, but if the Snake Princess saw the man she loved taken against his will…

The air hummed as a bow and arrow appeared in Salvia's hands. "Maybe another dose will change your mind, CUPID-CUPID ARROW!"

She fired the arrow, and Luffy dodged.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You're tired," she said. "I waited for you to finish off those beasts, and it looks like my patience paid off."

She shot a second arrow, only for Luffy to dodge again, but it grazed his shirt.

"GUM-GUM PISTOL!" he shouted.

His attack blasted toward her with enough power to knock her unconscious, but his arm fell short and flopped against the ground at her boots. He panted with his tongue outside his mouth.

Salvia smiled and released another arrow, and it pierced his heart. He shouted as two more arrows struck the same spot.

The arrows burst into specks of light, and beside him, the light transformed into floating locks and chains and a heart. With a click, a chain locked around the heart.

"Now," said Salvia, "why not come with me?"

Luffy seized his chest. "I want to see Hancock, but I'm staying here!"

Salvia ground her teeth. He's still resisting. There's plan B, but for now, I'll end this before he regains his strength.

Her leg turned black and she kicked him. He flew and smashed against a tree that cracked and leaned. It slammed against the ground with a quaking thump, and next to it, he went still, blood trailing from his lips.

"Kyukyukyukyukyu," she laughed. "Soon, the Snake Princess will understand love is about binding others to your will."