Chapter Three: Illusionist
Characters: Seraphina and Meri
Somewhere worlds away from the dimension of earthland, there is a world full of danger and adventure. Men and women alike take up exciting lives as pirates on the ever changing seas to find the world's greatest treasure… the One Piece. The long stretch of islands that is rumored to lead up to this mysterious treasure is called the Grand Line. Now, many strange and magical things happen here. The weather changes are weird and most of the time completely unexpected; the islands are full of odd and enormous monsters and the inhabitants tend to be long forgotten by society itself. Even though the Grand Line was a strange place to be, it wasn't until an island suddenly appeared where none had existed previously that things were made very clear to one pirate crew sailing these waters. The Straw Hat pirates lead by Monkey D. Luffy were sailing peacefully through the crystal clear water when their beautiful navigator Nami watched an island just appear in front of them.
''Everyone, look out!'' She cried quickly. She was too late. Their ship crashed into the shore, and they were forced to disembark. After they set foot on the sand, however, the crew found themselves not wanting to ever leave. Instead, it was quite the opposite. They had actually come to believe the island was their home, and that they were getting too far away from the boarding school they had been sent off to.
Meanwhile, in a small town on this island far off from the Straw Hat pirates, a girl aged 18 years was just crawling out of bed. Her long wavy hair was the color of the ocean, as well as her eyes. She glanced around the room cautiously, not remembering anything from her past for a moment. Beside her was another bed, and likewise another young woman her age slumbering peacefully. Two more beds holding two more girls were across from her. Meri sighed, trying to remember something, anything. She got out of bed and hurried to her dresser on the far end of the room, quickly changing into a pair of jeans and a flowing purple top.
''Good morning, Meri. Ready for our day off?'' The girl that had been sleeping in the bed next to her was suddenly awake, her long chestnut hair tangled and knotted all around her shoulders.
''Yeah, I guess so.''
''You guess so? Come on, you've been working your ass off all damn week. We need a break….especially you.'' Meri suddenly remembered the girl's name was Seraphina, or Sera for short.
''I suppose you're right.'' She responded, watching Sera clothes dive into the laundry basket under her bed. The girl secured a start shaped bangle into her bellybutton before throwing on a short golden tank top that revealed most of her midriff and a pair of denim shorts.
Now, Meri couldn't put her finger on it, but she still felt as though something odd had happened to her. Trying to shake the feeling off, she agreed to go outside with Sera for a little while. As the girls headed through the maze-like corridors paneled with cherry wood, Meri started to remember more about herself and this school she had been sent to. Withers was a boarding school that was rumored to be so good that parents from other islands were shipping their kids off by an underwater train system.
Meri's rich father sent her packing when she was incredibly young, and that's when she met all of her friends. The blue haired girl decided the mystery of her vanishing memories was solved, but she couldn't be more wrong. However, she was now incredibly happy and she went about enjoying her day with Sera.
''Look, new kids.'' Sera pointed to a group of teens all gathered together underneath a nearby tree.
Meri wasn't sure what she was feeling inside. Something was telling her that she should go make conversation with them.
''Hey, I'm gonna go talk to them, okay?'' She started walking off.
''Meri! You don't even know them! What if they turn out to be complete jerks?'' Seraphina asked incredulously, appalled that her shy best friend wanted to make conversation with people she didn't even know.
Meri started to get anxious as she approached the group of teens.
''Hi. My name is Meri. All of you are new to Withers?'' She asked cautiously.
''Yeah. How about you?'' A dark haired girl responded. Meri shook her head.
''I've been here a long time.'' She replied.
''Can you help m get to my classes? I tried finding them before tomorrow, but I got lost.'' An adorable little reindeer-dog asked.
''Of course.'' Meri replied.
''This place has so many beautiful ladies!'' A blonde boy said. Meri thought he and his green haired friend looked a little too old to be here, but she chased those thoughts out of her head.
''Hey there. I'm Meri's friend, Seraphina. You can call me Sera though.'' The girls talked with the new kinds for quite some time, each of them getting acquainted and introduced.
It wasn't long before Meri and Seraphina became close friends with Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Brook, Franky, Chopper, Luffy, Robin and Zoro. Now, they just had to have the rest of their friends meet the new kids.
''Are the boys cute?'' Rin asked, tossing her blood red hair over her shoulder flirtatiously. She crinkled her nose slightly, making her diamond stud piercing on her left nostril more visible.
''I've met the orange haired girl already. Nami? She is going to teach me how to grow tangerines!'' Ivy exclaimed happily, her lily pad green eyes lighting up.
''Are you sure we should be hanging out with them? They seem like trouble.'' Pretty blonde Hikari twirled strands of her honey colored hair absent mindedly.
''Kari, you think everyone is trouble.'' Rin rolled her eyes.
''Come on you two, can't you get along for a few measly minutes? Jeez.'' Vortex groaned, burying her face in her hands and letting her silver hair shield her.
''Hey guys!'' Usopp smiled at Meri and Sera.
''Usopp! Want to join us? We have enough room.'' Meri offered, scooting over. Usopp gladly took the spot.
''Sorry, we have a big circle of friends, too.'' Sera told him.
''Oh, that's fine. I'm Usopp! I don't mean to brag, but I had the best grades in my last school.'' He grinned slyly. Meri saw through him, but she wouldn't say anything against it.
''My name is Ivy.'' The girl with hair the color of emeralds gave him a quick smile.
''I'm Hikari.'' The blonde girl nodded shyly.
''The name is Rin.'' A girl with blood colored hair grinned wickedly. She had a certain feel of darkness about her.
''Vortex.'' The silver haired girl hummed, shaking his hand.
''Nice to meet all of you.'' He said thoughtfully.
From this point on, the Straw Hats and the girls became the best of friends, despite their differences. Things were peacefully, but it wasn't long until a secret was revealed that shook the lives of everyone inside that went to Withers boarding school.
~I know this one is confusing, but I hope you like it. There is a reason as to why this whole thing is in a school setting and such. If it's too confusing, give me ideas on how to change it. I have a pairing for Meri, but not for Sera yet. Also, the other girls (Rin, Hikari, Ivy and Vortex) have a large part in the story but they aren't main characters. Let me know what you thought of this and the other two! ~MikkyMouse