Chapter Seventeen: The Small Things in Life
"Sometimes, it's the smallest decisions that change your life in the biggest ways."
- Unknown
"I can't believe I'm doing this," I hissed under my breath as I trailed behind a group of merchants for recon. Whitebeard, the tricky bastard, had gotten me to watch the shipment that was coming from a ship, the Horizon's Divide, saying that there was a very important piece of merchandise on the ship.
A Devil's Fruit.
They didn't know which one it was, but they knew it was powerful; that was given away by its color. It was a very light violet color, almost the same color of purple that paints the sky at sunset. The swirls that outlined the fruit were a dark purple, almost black when in the shade away from the sun. They knew nothing else of its looks, but that was a good description of what to look for.
Looking away from the merchants that were carrying a small crate, that I could only guess the Devil's Fruit was in, my eyes were glued onto a very glittering necklace that yelled for me to stare at.
I changed my direction and went straight for the necklace. It was beautiful. I wanted it so badly.
It was the least Whitebeard could do after getting me to do all this recon for him.
"I see you have found my most prized piece of jewelry."
I looked up in surprise at the deep voice that spoke to me. I nodded, my eyes glancing down at the necklace to search for a price tag.
"How much?"
The man grinned a sleazy smile at me. "What would you be willing to pay?"
And this is where my merchant side kicked in.
I bent down to look at the necklace, catching a few things.
"There's a few chips on some of the stones, showing that the person who cut them did a poor job." His grin fell almost instantly. Don't miss with me. I'm Callaghan Faye.
"The chain is a dull silver, showing that it is nothing more than paint and will rub off on my skin and cause my neck to turn green."
A crowd had began to gather, watching as I pointed out all the bad things about the necklace.
"And if I look under the centre jewel..." My fingers gently flipped the jewel up to look on the backside of it. I smirked in a I knew it way. "I'll find the real creator of the piece, which isn't you; unless you go by the name, Julie."
Instantly, the merchant was in an onslaught of curses and calls for their money back.
Thank god I knew how to tell the difference between an original piece of jewelry and a fake.
I stepped back, allowing the merchant to get his dose of Faye-induced-pain for a lifetime. He was ruined in this town, now. Just as soon as I looked away from the stand, my mind went straight back to the task at hand.
The Devil's Fruit.
"Shit!" I cursed quite loudly, taking off in a run in the direction that I had been following the merchants in. There was no sign of them or the crate. I continued to run around, the sun blaring down on my back.
My coat seemed to get heavier and heavier with every minute that passed. I hurriedly wiped the sweat from my eyes, trying to get rid of the familiar burn of salt out of them. It was well into the afternoon when I finally gave up. I found no more small crates like the one they had. I found no shady business deals around alley corners or pirates boasting about their new prize.
Sighing to myself, I travelled back up the avenue of merchant stands, noticing the jeweler from earlier had long disappeared. I mentally smirked at that fact.
"Can I interest the lady in some cooling fruit for this hot afternoon?"
I looked over at the elder man, his gray hair busy and covering his ears. I smiled, but shook my head. I needed something to drink, not eat.
"No sweet melon to serenade your taste buds? Or citrus to tingle down your spine and turn you into the woman your man dreams of?"
I laughed at his words, finally answering with words.
"Such a way with words, but no thank you, sir."
He nodded, no longer pressing it. I stood under the shade his tent gave for one more moment before I began to take off in a walk back to the dock where Ace's devil fruit powered-boat was waiting.
"No even a fruit that would make the Devil cry out in ecstasy?"
I spun on my heel, staring at the light violet fruit that the man held in his hand. He smiled knowingly, kindly.
"I shall take that as a yes?"
I looked from the fruit, to him. "How did you know that was what I was looking for?"
The man laughed, setting the fruit on a piece of cloth before tying the fabric to hide the fruit.
"I have eaten the Devil's Fruit myself. I know when someone goes searching for something like it. You have a reason to help end this war."
I blinked, my brows furrowing in confusion.
"War? What war?"
He held out the fruit to me, his soft smile still on his face. "In time, you will know. Now quickly, get this back to your Captain. There are ears everywhere."
The fruit was pushed into my hands and I was shoved out of the way, just as a group of heavily armored (and very angry looking) pirates came rushing around the corner. They took one look at me and the bag in my hand before coming in my direction like a stampede of bulls.
I cursed under my breath and took off in a run. For such a small fruit, this thing was heavy.
Calls for me to stop and to give the fruit back met my ears, along with my own words to make anyone in my way get out of the way. I could smell the salty sea as I got closer. Ace, and his stupidly bright orange hat, was sitting, waiting for me. He looked up at the stampede of foot falls, seeing me running and the pirates just a number of feet away from me.
They were catching on quickly.
My path to the dock was blocked by seething pirates, merchant stands, and small areas that I wouldn't be able to fit through. I would have to go through the whole harbor's market place before I could get to the dock.
I found the end of the stalls, but it was quickly blocked by a very large seething pirate. He looked like a bull coming straight for me. Behind me was the pack of pirates that had wanted the fruit.
Only one thought came to mind now.
Eat the fruit.
And so I did. I untied the fruit and brought the pale purple skin to my mouth. The look on the pirates' faces was priceless.
I took one large bite of the fruit, waiting for the taste to settle on my tongue.
It was bitter, tasteless almost, but there was the faint hint of something… magical in it.
I had just eaten a Devil's Fruit.
I was doomed.
OF MEMOIRS AND MAPS
Mia gasped at her words as she continued to write them.
"You ate a Devil's Fruit, grandma?" She squealed in surprise, her little brother looking up from his toy in surprise at the sound. He gurgled at her with angry words in his baby language before going back to playing.
Faye laughed, nodding as she calmed down her hysteria.
"Yes, I ate a Devil's Fruit, little one."
"That's so… cool!" Mia squealed again, bouncing in her seat as she watched her grandmother with proud eyes. "Does momma know?"
Faye shook her head. "No, your mother doesn't know. There are a few things that you know that she doesn't."
Mia nodded. "Our secret, grandma?"
Faye smiled, and nodded again. "That's right, Mia. Our little secret."
OF MEMOIRS AND MAPS
"Faye, duck!" Ace yelled as he came flying in, and I did just as he said.
I ducked down, shielding my head as he went all 'flameboy' on me. The pirates yelled in frustration at the loss of their Devil's Fruit, and now the loss of the person that just ate it.
To tell the truth, I didn't feel any different.
A strong hand grabbed mine and pulled me up, dragging me into a run as we ran from the distracted group of pirates. He walked right through the wall of fire that he had thrown up, and I was very reluctant to not pull myself to a stop before he pulled me through it too.
Not a single singe.
Ace continued to pull me toward the dock. Once to his boat, he threw me onto the front and he instantly started it up with his flaming feet. I gripped onto the warm metal, shivering as the water from the sea sprayed against my skin. I felt… weaker.
Looking onto the horizon, I searched for the familiar white bow of the Moby Dick but… but it wasn't there.
"Where's Whitebeard?" I asked hurriedly, looking back at Ace.
"They had another sighting of a Fruit at an island down the current. We'll have to catch back up with them tomorrow."
Tomorrow? I looked at him, confusion written in my eyes. I must have spoken my thoughts because he soon answered.
"We won't be able to catch up with them before nightfall, and I can't navigate in the dark." His were focused on the horizon, where the sun was slowly making a descent down into the water.
The usual oranges and pinks were gone with a fiery red that told me one thing.
It's going to rain tonight.
"So where are we going?"
He didn't answer.
For a long time, we sped over the waters of the Grand Line, shooting past small islands and many other ships. Some went as far as to try and attack, noticing Ace's power from a mile away, but we were too fast for them. Ace leaned from side to side, smoothly, causing me to have time to grab on when he dodged a cannonball or gunfire without being jerked around and fall into the water.
Then we'd both be screwed.
I couldn't swim now because of the Devil's Fruit, and Ace would be the idiot to jump in and save me even thought he was a hammer.
Why'd I get stuck with the idiot?
Just as the water and sky began to reflect off one another and turn into one, a small island began to make a silhouette along the horizon. It was small, just big enough for a small house to rest upon and a dock to stick out by about ten feet.
There was nothing in sight along any horizon in any direction. It was the only island for miles.
What was a house doing so far out in the Grand Line?
Ace docked there, his small bogie bobbing with the soft current. He helped me onto the creaky walkway before walking in the direction of the house. Did he know who lived here?
"Where are we, Ace?" I called out to him, still a few feet behind as he opened the door.
He stilled for a moment, before looking at me over his shoulder. His freckles were in the outline of a grin as he showed me all his teeth. His brown eyes glistened with happiness and… nostalgia.
"We're at One Piece."
A/N:
What's this? Another update? In less than twenty-four hours? The world must be coming to an end!
But seriously, guys. I owe you a lot. And I've hit a sudden motivation to write again.
Faye has eaten a Devil's Fruit… but which Devil's Fruit? (If you've read A Fairy's Tale then you know which, so shush!) And Ace doesn't know… the only ones who do are the pirates back at the market who were chasing her.
What does Ace mean by One Piece? Is he going to tell Faye about his past? WHEN WILL THEY FINALLY SEE THAT THEY'RE IN LOVE?
(God, I feel like a soap opera announcer…)
Love, Apples.
PS. Thank you for the four reviews that I've gotten over these sixteen-ish hours since I posted chapter sixteen. You guys have made me very happy. (I would still like those questions from sixteen to be answered, and please send in information for an original pirate crew that I need. I've only gotten one so far!)