Disclaimer: One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda. Many of the characters in this story are property of me. Do not use this story or its characters without my permission. Thank you.


Araly sat, hands wrapped around her knee, on a low stool in the cave. Marco was content to stand guard near the home-hovel entrance while the other pirates stayed outside. The inside of the oddly spacious cave had shelves carved from the walls that held a spectrum of colored bottles and flasks. There were beakers and tubes and miscellaneous chemistry equipment everywhere, mahogany-carved tables with broken legs or small holes on the surface. Most of the furniture looked either used or abused, and even the stool Araly relaxed on was wobbly.

"Question" Marco blurted to the witch, "where's the bathroom?" Harriet pointed to the cave entrance, which Marco stared at for a while before beading some sweat and falling against the wall. "I'll hold it."

"So, Miss Potecceli" Araly politely began, "you don't happen to know about any pirates on the island other than us, do you?"

"Sorry, honey" the witch apologized. "I stay in here most of the time."

"Oh" Araly said, disappointed. "What do you make in here?"

"Well" Harriet proudly began, "I'm what you'd call an 'alchemist'. I turn ordinary ingredients into amazing things."

"Isn't that what a cook does?" Marco added.

"Well, my stuff isn't edible" Harriet said. "I come from a long line of potion makers and other alchemists. My family traveled the sea, gathering rare ingredients and selling elixirs on the open water...until we came here. As soon as we offered them some potions and basic mineral drinks, they attacked us. A few of us died, and I was forced into exile with my friends in these woods."

"Oh my" Araly gasped. "What happened to your parents?"

"They made a face-altering potion" Harriet explained "and blended in with the townies when I was a younger, beautiful woman. They never came back, so I assumed they were dead..."

"I'm so sorry" Araly said. Marco showed his despair by grabbing and lowering the brim of his bandanna over his eyes.

"Ah, don't be" Harriet said. "That was ages ago. These people haven't changed at all, that's for sure." Araly continued to take notice of the beakers and glasses all round the lair, and she saw the painted parchment on one table. Scrawled on it were curious symbols and curves that she could read at the angle she sat at.

"What are those?" Araly asked, pointing to the paper. Harriet followed her finger to the glowing, colored ink and picked up the slip of paper.

"Oh these?" Harriet answered. "Those fools out there think this stuff is magic, but it's really basic alchemy. It's exploding ink!"

"Really?" Araly asked. She held out her hand for the paper and took a slip carefully in her hands.

"I heard of that stuff" Marco said. "I never heard anything good about it, though. It's a tool assassins use when delivering documents. When pressure is applied to the ink, it discharged a type of energy depending on what ink is used, right?"

"Correct" Harriet said. Araly quickly shoved the paper back for the witch to take and curled up away from the table. "I get to live here peacefully as long as I can supply those idiot Paladins with my 'holy magic' papers. Honestly..."

"This isn't easy stuff to make" Marco added, taking new appreciation for the witches hovel. "I'm surprised you can make it in these conditions."

"Well what do you think this hump's from?" Harriet asked. "Bending over that damn bench all day, nearly every day, that's what! And I'll tell you, those eels they bring me can be pretty slippery!"

"Eels?" Araly asked. "The ink is from..."

"Eel blood" Harriet finished. "Not normal eels, either. Deadly Calm Belt eels that you can only buy on the black market. I'm grateful to continue my practices here, but dammit it gets lonely."

"Wow" Araly sighed. "This is all so odd. But then, where are the island's inhabitants?"

"Are you blind, girly?" Harriet asked sternly. "You didn't see the whole village and the castle? You didn't see nothing on your way to the island?"

"We saw a flag" Marco said, "and that was enough."

"Ah, that" Harriet said, as if she already heard the conversation before. "The World Government flag, right? Yeah, not really. In fact, if the Marines ever got around to this island, they'd probably wipe it out. This isn't a regular Grand Line island, it's inhabited by criminals. And not normal criminals either. You see, this whole island is just a long-running experiment..."

"What!?" Araly gaped. It was an unbelievable development. What civilians there may be were only part of some wild experiment?


In the castle, Gretta and her rosy-cheeked father were ushered for their meeting to the back room behind the throne room. In the wake of the current pirate siege and the recent news of the marching heretic Ramone Cervantes, the guards were taking every precaution possible.

"My daughter" Rupert began with his dainty daughter daintily slouching in a velvet lined seat, "it is time you and I had a talk."

"What about?" Gretta asked.

"Well, you see," Rupert humbly began, "it is about your mother. You see, she was an outsider, but I accepted her regardless and fell in love with her many years ago. When you were born, the whole kingdom was uproarious of you...condition. They blamed you mother and chased her away. She then fled with the next batch of outsiders who came, but she wanted you to stay here and be raised as royalty!"

"I don't really care" Gretta said, lethargically staring at the ceiling. "When is Mr. Demon coming? It's been a long time since he and I could talk."

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about" Rupert began again. "It was your mother's wish, her only living request, that you have a privileged and distinguished life. That is why you and I stayed here on this crazy island, so you could rule over the land as a true princess! Every gift and desire of your fulfilled! But then he came, that damn pirate and his crew!"

"Is this about my current desires?" Gretta guessed.

"Gretta" Rupert sternly said, "I love you, and I will honor any wish of yours, but it for safety sake that I cannot allow you to consort with that villain! He aims to do me in for exiling him and wrecking his ship!"

"You deserve it" Gretta said spitefully. "He was just a wayward adventurer, looking for the next island on his path, and you stranded him! You clipped a glorious phoenix's wings!"

"He is no glorious bird" Rupert demanded, "although I will admit he is a mighty co-"

"Your highness!" a guard reported, just in time to censor his ruler, "Most grievous news!"

"What be it?" Rupert demanded. Gretta sighed over his dorkish persona and leaned back in her chair.

"A new group of outsiders cometh up the hill!" the guard said. "The Argent Fist lie all defeated but Sir Arthir, who is currently engaged with the dreaded, golden-haired demon captain who is known as Bard!"

"A Bard leads an attack against me?" the king retorted. "How mighty must his fingers be to topple my finest soldiers with his melodies?"

"He is no musician" the guard dreadfully said, "but some manner of terrible fiend! A DEMON!" This got Gretta's attention finally. The talk of demons made her sit backwards in her chair and forced blush to her bleach-white cheeks.

"Two demons in one day?" the king sighed. "I suppose we have no choice. You have my royal permission to let loose Sir Drakengard." The guard's eyes went vivid with fear and the breath was drained from him. However, as it was a royal decree, he worked up his courage and bowed respectfully, then ran off.

"Father" Gretta cutely began. Rupert turned to his young daughter and saw her staring at him with wide-open, sparling red eyes. The beautiful shade of rose against her pure, white snowy skin made the air seem light and hypnotic. "May I please watch the battle up close? Pwease???" The piercing puppy-eyes were too much for even the great king himself. After a moment of writhing his hands on his regal crown, he sighed heavily and gave into his daughter's impossible charm.

"Fine" Rupert submitted. His daughter was already dressed in her outside wear with a heavy scarf and white-tiger fur coat and passed him by with her same, apathetic eyes. "However, I will supervise you!"

"No you won't" she said.

"Oh yes I shall!" Rupert demanded. "No daughter of mine will be among the demons and maniacs unescorted! I shall only tend to you as a chaperon, not as a restricter."

"Promise" Gretta demanded. "On my mother's grave, you must promise me."

"I can't do that" Rupert solemnly said, "because your mother may not be dead. I shall honor her wish, so long as you can defend yourself."

"Oh" Gretta said. She exited the safe room and whistled for a guard. "Fetch me my bow and a quiver of arrows" she demanded. The guard saluted and ran off. "I wish to greet the handsome demon king with all my heart..."


Near the barracks at the top of the hill, Rez and Zan were coming upon the battlefield that Bard helped create.

"He is near" Rez lowed. "I know it."

"Stop joking" Zan demanded. Rez chuckled at his joke nonetheless and let Zan go ahead. He looked back at the houses he had left behind and saw Coleen ducking back into cover.

"You can come out now" Rez called. "We both know you've been following us." Coleen shyly stepped out and folded her hands at her hips. "Come on. If you're going to keep tabs on us, at least do it up here." Coleen ran up the hill and stayed a few steps behind Rez and Zan. Zan observed and inspected the damage he could see, snorting away the trail of his cigarette smoke as he did.

"It looks pretty wrecked" he noted. "Bard must have been through here."

"Why do you guys say those things...?" Coleen shyly asked.

"What things?" Rez asked back.

"About your captain" she said. "You should respect your captain. He always knows what he's doing..."

"Bard isn't fit to be my captain" Rez growled. "He's no more my captain than this jerk here" and he nodded over to Zan, who happily smiled and winked at the compliment.

"But it's rude!" Coleen shouted. She covered her mouth in embarrassment over raising her voice and turned away.

"We're guys" Zan said. "Guys make fun of each other for their short comings. Bard would do it too, if he weren't so damn jolly all the time."

"He's not even a real pirate" Rez argued. "He just became one for no reason! Then he beat me up!"

"How does beating you make him worse than anyone else?" Zan asked. The two went back and forth a few more times before the abusive tension they created started to get to Coleen. After years in the crew of the Ghost Killers and the time she spent being the go-to girl for the crew and first underling of Cervantes, she became so comfortable with mistreatment of her crewmen. And she smiled. She laughed and smiled, as shy as she was around strangers, at the antics of these two foreign yet very familiar pirates. Rez and Zan were pulling at each other's mouths, literally, when they saw Coleen laughing.

"Wha's funneh?" Rez asked, as his mouth was pulled at the cheeks.

"You guys are!" Coleen said, pointing with her good arm and holding her gut with the other. "You're at each others throats! It's funny!"

"You've got a warped sense of humor, girl" Zan said, pulling away from Rez's military finger-grip.

"Well, well" lowed a terribly deep, growling voice. "What's all this here? More knaves to be perished?" Rez, Zan, and Coleen looked back and up in shock at the tall adversary wielding a huge hammer. He smiled a wicked smile under glaring eyes and a thunderous horizon. In the distance behind him, which captured Rez's attention first, was Bard. It was obvious from his painful stance and the wetness underneath him that he was in deep trouble. The coldness swelled up in Rez's chest and then burst out his mouth with unheard of concern that he had never spoken.

"BARD!!!" He screamed. Zan looked over and shared his thoughts in a terrified gasp.

"Captain!" Zan exclaimed. Coleen was in shock, and all she could do right now was stare at the man in front of her.