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Disclaimer : I claim no rights to the anime/manga One Piece!
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"Knowing what you can not do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that's good taste." - Lucille Ball.
Chapter Three : Passing Days.
Antaeus found Baterilla to be a generally peaceful place. The people were nice, if not a little wary of him when Sabo and X. Drake introduced him around. When they entered the main village, he was surprised to see how lively it was.
''Well?" Sabo asked, nudging him in the shoulder. "What do you think?"
"It's nice," Antaeus replied, consciously pulling his straw hat over his eyes. "Does this Island get a lot of visitors?"
"Depends on what you mean by visitors." Sabo replied, Antaeus didn't fail to notice a touch of bitterness in Sabo's voice.
"Sabo." Drake cut in sharply, a touch of warning his voice. "Don't-"
"What do you mean don't?" Sabo turned to Drake with a frown. "He's staying here now, so he might as well know."
"Fine." Drake snapped. "Go ahead and tell him."
"Ummm," Antaeus murmured. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want-"
"Pirates."
"Pirates?" Antaeus repeated. "What about them?"
"They've been spotted in the area a lot lately. Blackbeard specifically."
"Blackbeard?"
Sabo and Drake stopped and gave him an incredulous stare. Antaeus shrugged, giving both men a small, insecure smile. Though his memory loss was fresh, he already felt like an idiot. It didn't make him feel better when he knew this feeling wasn't going to go away for a while.
"Blackbeard is one of the worst out there." Sabo muttured bitterly. "Bastard thinks the entire sea is to do with as he pleases. The only group who was ever able to knock them off their pedestial are the Spade Pirates."
"Spade Pirates? The Pirate King's crew, right?" Antaeus blurted out.
"At least you know that." Drake chuckled warmly. "I would think your memory loss would be a lot more serious if you didn't."
"Seriously." Sabo put in playfully.
"What's Blackbeard doing?" Antaeus asked, he didn't bother mentioning to his friends that the Spade Pirates sounded familiar and he didn't even know what the Pirate King looked like.
"Just screwing around in South Blue basically." Sabo replied. "This is one of the last places that the Marines would really look. I think he's trying to find a base of operations to lay low for a bit."
"And you think he would chose here as his base?"
"Yeah," Sabo, once again, looked bitter and Antaeus wondered why. "A couple of traders coming in say they spotted his ship."
"Don't mind, Sabo." Drake said. "He's still a little upset that Blackbeard destroyed his ship a couple of days ago."
"You would be upset if you saved for three years, Drake!" Sabo spat out. "I was all set to sail out! Now, I have to start all over again."
"Why? Why did Blackbeard destroy your ship?"
"Apparently because he was in a bad mood or so he told me before he fired." Sabo stomped off towards the village, all the while muttered obscenities under his breath.
"Forgive him," Drake said, standing beside him. "When his ship was destroyed he was really upset. Almost got arrested when the Marines came to investigate Blackbeard's appearance."
"Oh," Antaeus felt a flash of pity for his new friend. He couldn't even begin to understand what Sabo was going through.
"Come on," Drake placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's introduce you to Robin and get you settled in."
Nico Robin's home was moderate yet warm and welcoming. Antaeus looked around in awe at the number of books and maps on the tables, walls and bookshelves.
The woman herself was very beautiful and Antaeus found himself somewhat flustered in front of her. Something that Drake and Sabo noticed, unfortunately.
"Antaeus, this is Nico Robin." Sabo grinned and pushed him forward. "She was nice enough to allow you to stay."
"It really was no trouble." Robin held out her hand for him to take. "It's very nice to meet you, Antaeus."
Gently taking Robin's hand in his own, Antaeus grinned. "It's nice to meet you as well, Miss Robin."
"Please, call me Robin."
"Well, we better get going." Sabo spoke up, breaking the comfortable atmosphere. "Drake and I will come and visit you soon, Antaeus."
"Oh, okay,"
"Don't worry," Robin soothed. "They'll be back soon enough."
"Yeah! We love Robin's cooking so you'll see us so much you'll be sick of us."
"Indeed."
Antaeus grinned, following Sabo and Drake to the door. "Alright then, I'll see you two soon and tell Dr. Kurhea thanks for taking care of me."
"She likes Umeshu and Pickled Plums." Drake chuckled warmly, stepping through the door. "Those are better than any thank you."
"I'll make sure to send her some," Robin said. "And please, send her my regards, will you?"
"Sure thing!" Sabo waved cheerfully. "See ya, Antaeus!"
Antaeus waved with a tight smile, mournfully watching the door close shut. He turned to Robin who was watching him with a soft smile.
"Kureha and Drake scrounged some clothes and supplies up for you before you woke up." Robin pointed to the to the stairway. "You're room is on the second floor, first one on the right. You're welcome to anything here. Lunch will be ready soon if you're hungry."
Antaeus bowed. "Thank you, Robin."
"No need to thank me, I'm happy to help."
Over the next week, Antaeus found himself enjoying his stay with Robin, who was a quiet woman who loved her books and job as the local librarian. She always offered an ear to listen when he began to have brief flashes of memory that was too quick for him to decipher. Antaeus never mentioned to anyone of the quick glimpse of the man he saw in his memories. Or the emotions he felt whenever he thought about him. Those memories, he figured, were private and his alone to think about.
Robin was also kind enough to give him a job at the library when he found himself lost and without anything to do.
"You can help with categorizing and checking out." Robin told him at the time. "I could always use the extra help."
And so, Antaeus found himself spending his days at the library. It was much to his surprise -and Robin's- that he found himself drifting towards books specializing in ship designs and engineering. Instead of dwelling on it, Antaeus merely put it to the back of his mind and moved on. He figured that it had something to do with his memories and it was no use putting so much thought on it for the time being.
Like they promised, Drake and Sabo came to visit, bringing Kurhea with them on occasion. Antaeus found himself under Kureha's fierce examinations more than once. Though he really appreciate seeing all of them, he couldn't help but be relieved when they finally left for home. Seeing the expression of relief on Robin's face made Antaeus think he wasn't the only one who was happy to see them go.
It was drawing close to sunset on the last day of the week when Antaeus found himself on the beach a mile from the village with Sabo and Drake beside him.
"It is good to see that you are getting your memory back." Drake spoke up over the sound of the waves. "Even if it is just small glimpses."
"Definitely." Sabo sat on the sand next to him and bumped his knee. "We told you that you were going to get memory back soon, eh?"
"Yeah," Antaeus touched the hat on sitting on his knees. "But, I can't really see anything from those flashes." once again, Antaeus found himself thinking about the man in his flashes. He would, again, keep it to himself.
"Nothing?" Sabo asked. "No people or places?"
Grabbing his straw hat, Antaeus gently placed it back on his head and decided that he would have to give his friends something to work with.
"A ship." it wasn't a total lie. "A large ship, I didn't see it long enough to see what it looked like."
"Well, that's something," Antaeus smiled at the uncertainty in Sabo's voice. It was nice that his new friend was trying to help.
"Could it be possible that you were attacked by something or someone?" Drake questioned. "We found you on this exact beach and there was a battle around that same time."
"Marines and Pirates." Sabo clarified. "Pirates won, had bodies floating around the edges of West and South Blue for days after that." Sabo gave him a sympatheic look. "You might have been caught in the crossfire."
Shrugging, Antaeus turned back to the water. "Maybe."
"Come on," Sabo nudged him again. "You don't seem as excited to be getting your memory back. This is a good thing, isn't it?"
When Antaeus didn't speak, Drake spoke up, the man's voice holding comfort. "Are you afraid? Afraid of what you might find in your memories?"
"Not really, it is worrying to think that I might be someone bad though. What if I'm like Blackbeard or something?"
"I wouldn't worry about that." Sabo cut in confidently. "You're not the type to be bad."
"You think so?" Antaeus asked. "You never know, Sabo."
Sabo looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, I don't think so. Trust me, I have good instincts about things like this."
"Things like this?" Antaeus gave Sabo a teasing grin. "You run into amnesic people all of the time?"
Sabo snorted. "I see losing your memory doesn't stop you from being a smart ass."
Tossing his head back, Antaeus let out a roaring laugh that echoed across the beach and sea.
Nami winced as the door to the Captain's cabin slammed shut, shaking the walls around it. She turned to Marco, who was staring out the small window. Ignoring her and apparently everything around him.
Sighing heavily, Nami turned back to the map in her hands, mentally crossing out Karate Island and turning to Torino Kingdom as their next destination. It would take a few more days to reach and another few days to search for Luffy. It was possible Luffy wasn't on Karate Island, but they still had to search in every possible place.
"Do you think he's alive?" Marco spoke up suddenly, startling her. "Do you think Luffy's alive?"
"Yes," Nami responded confidently. "He's Ace's husband and a member of the Spade Pirates. I have no doubt that he's alive."
"Regardless," Marco continued. "We need to be prepared if he isn't."
"And we need to be prepared if he is." Nami countered, turning back to the map. "Ace isn't going to give up easily, you know that."
Marco snorted. "I know that, he's a stubborn bastard."
"Well, wouldn't you be? Wouldn't you give it your all to find the person you loved?"
Marco remained quiet, making Nami think he ignored her. She opened her mouth to repeat her question when Marco's soft respond stopped her.
"Yeah, I would, I would give it my all to find that special person, but I would also know when to stop looking. Ace is going to go to the ends of the Grand Line and back to look for Luffy."
"We're going to be with him all the way, right?" Nami narrowed her eyes when Marco didn't respond right away. "Right?"
"Right, right,"
A/N : Luffy is adjusting to life on Baterilla and Ace is one step closer to finding him.
Next Chapter : Flames of Remembrance.