Author's Note - Coming up with new Devil's Fruit abilities is hard!
Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.
Chapter 03 - The Reaper of Souls
"Is that it?" Ace looked at Kuina for confirmation. They were in the right area. She looked back at her compass, then double checked the map one last time before nodding.
"It should be. We won't know for sure until we go on shore. What do you want to do?" Kuina rolled up the map and looked at her captain.
"Drop anchor here. We'll take the small boat to shore. If anything happens, you three get back here immediately. The ship and boat are both lined with Sea Stone, so they should be safe even if there are Sea Kings around." Ace waved to Olivia. "Take up the sails! Roger, drop anchor and grab your sword, we're going ashore!"
The four pirates went about the ship, securing it in place, lowering the small boat, gathering weapons and food, and finally leaving the ship. They paddled the last several meters to shore, stepping cautiously up onto the sand. The island was covered with tall, thin trees, hung thick with vines. No sunlight reached the mossy floor of the forest, despite the large gaps between the trees.
Ace stopped and closed his eye. The twins waited patiently as Roger pulled the boat up on shore and tied it to a nearby tree. Ace opened his eyes and turned to his crew.
"I don't feel anything nearby. The middle of the island dips down pretty low, though, so I can't tell what may be down there. Lets go check it out! Olivia, Roger, you go that way. Kuina, come with me. We'll circle around the island and meet up on the far side, then cross back together through the center. If either group finds anything, their twin jumps to the other as fast as possible and tell where to meet up." The others nodded and broke into the specified pairs. Olivia seemed less reluctant to leave her sister's side than usual.
Two hours of hiking just within the edge of the forest found the four pirates meeting back up at the far side of the island. Kuina took out her map and scribbled some notes. She guessed the island was about twelve miles around. A little under four miles across, on average. They stood for a while, looking off into the forest. Kuina checked her compass and pointed in the direction they needed to go in.
"Keep the sun on your left, and if worse comes to worse, get to the edge of the island and walk around the edge till you find the boat. Try not to get split up though. We stand a better chance as a group." Kuina directed them. Ace nodded in agreement. They began to walk into the dark interior of the island.
It wasn't long before they found the drop off Ace had sensed, the land slopping sharply, leading down into a more open piece of forest, where the afternoon sunlight peaked through the tree tops in many places. They also found enormous trampled patches of tall grass that resembled...
"Nests. These look like giant bird nests." Olivia looked at the nearest one, finding nothing in it except a few brittle scales. She moved back a bit. "We should not disturb them. Whatever owns them might not be happy if we do." She looked around, wondering if they were being watched. They continued on, passing hundreds of these nests. "They must not be very territorial. They must be able to hunt in the water. There is no way this island could support this many creatures this big."
"If that's true, we should hurry. They may come ashore to sleep." Kuina suggested. The others agreed and they picked up the pace.
Near the center of the island, they found the remains of what might have once been a castle. It had long since become uninhabited. All the wood, from the doors to the furniture, had rotted away long ago. Plants were sprouting from every crack, wrapping the fractured stones in vines and moss. Roger stopped when his foot hit something metal. He bent down and carefully pulled the artifact from the tangle of greenery. It was a beautiful silver dagger, carved with intricate detail. It was too dirty to make out anything specific.
A few yards away, Ace was pushing a heavy slab of stone to the side, revealing a well preserved flight of stone stairs that led down into the ground.
"Olivia, did you bring stuff to start a fire? There's a torch here." Ace pulled an ancient torch from it's spot on the wall. The handle was metal and may have once had a wooden handle, but that had long since been eaten away by time. The doctor handed him a chunk of flint and a roll of thicker bandages. He wrapped the metal a few layers thick, then struck the stone off his knife. The torch burst into flames as if it were brand new.
"Lead the way, Captain." Kuina looked down into the dark hole with a little unease. It was the first time he had seen the girl look uncomfortable. She hadn't given any indication of being afraid of the dark while they had sailed here. Maybe it was something she expected to be in the dark? His suspicions were confirmed when a spider crawled over her foot and she immediately jumped to the top of what may have once been a wall, glaring at the ground as if it had betrayed her.
"Come on Sis! The spiders probably haven't been down here in ages. It was nearly air tight when he unsealed it!" Olivia happily descended the stairs behind Ace. Roger followed her, and reluctantly, Kuina brought up the rear. The stairs ended in a large circular room. Around the edges where stone divisions which probably had wooden lids once. Inside these segments were various tools that looked as ornate as the silver dagger.
"Whoa, look at this!" Ace lifted a pair of spiked gauntlets from one of the structures and held it up in the light. He raised an eyebrow. "Hey guys, what do you make of this?" He held out the artifact and indicated a thick loop of metal. It looked like it was meant to be attached to something. Olivia began to squirm and look around uneasily.
"This was for living sacrifices... Look, the table in the middle has the same loops. These were probably attached to the victim or volunteer, then they were chained to the table so they could escape or change their minds... That would explain the ceremonial daggers." Olivia pointed to the knife I had stuffed into my belt. I felt a little less sure of keeping it now.
"Doesn't really matter anymore though. They're all dead or gone now. We should keep looking. There might be something worth keeping." Kuina walked over to a division that was reflecting the torchlight. "Hey, this one is full of oil. Think it is for fire?"
Olivia walked over and looked around. There was no indication of what the oil had been used for. She looked up and saw a small hole above the section. "There! The oil must come in through there. Then there must be a way to drain what is in here... Ha!" She found a piece of soft clay jammed into a hole at the bottom. She took one of the daggers and dug it out. Immediately, the surface of the oil began to lower.
"There's something in there!" Ace pointed into the section as the edge of something came into view. It was a large, rectangular chunk of stone. His face fell. It was a bit disappointing. He lifted it up and looked it over. "Pretty light for a rock." The oil on the stone let the object in question slip from his hand and shatter on the ground, revealing a perfectly preserved book inside. Kuina grinned and ran over, picking it up before the oil could touch it.
"It must have been packed in clay and then submerged. I wonder what's in here that they thought was so important to preserve!" The twins huddled over the book, carefully working the pages open. Soon they closed it. "We can't read it... We'll have to take it with us. Maybe Mom can read this." Olivia slipped the book carefully into her bag.
"Oi! Gold!" Ace leaped up and down, pointing into a side tunnel. The others ran to his side and saw that there was indeed a sizable pile of gold, all stamped into uniform coins. "Yosh! This is great! Kuina, did you bring a spare bag?" He turned to his navigator to find her already holding out a bag for him. He grinned and took it.
It took him several minutes to shovel as much as he could carry into the bag, and two others like it that the navigator had thought to bring. They had made quite a haul already. They searched the rest of the side chambers, but they seemed to have been used more for meetings and storage of perishable items.
When they finally stepped out of the pit, the castle's ruins were illuminated by a bright full moon. They had been underground for far longer than they intended. Ace and Kuina walked over to one of the more intact stair cases and ascended to the top of the wall, looking around. They immediately dropped down and motioned for their companions to do the same. Roger crouched down and Olivia jumped to her sister's side in an instant, gasping quietly when she looked around.
The castle was surrounded by sleeping monsters. Many looked like Sea Kings that had grown legs, while some resembled the figurehead of their ship. A few had wings. All of them were large enough to swallow all four of them whole. Roger remained crouched in the entrance to the tunnel, considering whether to descend again, or make a quiet dash to his friends.
One of the creatures sniffed, then opened it's eyes. He froze and watched as it looked around lazily, then locked its gaze on him. It sniffed again, then raised itself to its feet, moving toward him with the hypnotic sway of a snake. He saw it lung, leaping toward him faster than he could have imagined, then he was on the wall, Olivia's arms around him. He looked back at the tunnel entrance which had been smashed in the jaws of the beast. All around them the creatures were stirring now.
"Liv, I didn't know you could jump other people with you!" Kuina looked at her sister, who was just as surprised by the action as she was. Roger, for one, was not going to question the trick that had just saved him from becoming a midnight snack.
"Do you think you two can get us to the ship like that?" Ace looked at the twins. They looked at each other, then back at him. They shrugged.
"Maybe." They both replied in unison. They each grabbed an arm, and with a small lurch of their stomachs, Ace and Roger were whisked away from the prowling creatures.
They stood on the shore, watching as towering trees shook with the fury of the beasts living among them.
"We need to get back to the ship." Ace looked out at the waves. The Legacy Storm floated where they had left it. "We should get away from this island before they get in the water. We won't stand a chance if they catch us." Ace took a step toward the shore, then fell to his knees, shaking.
"Ace! What's wrong?!" Kuina was at his side in an instant. He shook his head and forced himself to his feet just in time for Roger to collapse.
"It must be from us jumping with you... We've never practiced something like that before... Kuina! What if they are seriously hurt?! What if we left something important like a kidney behind!?" The young doctor was wide eyed and frantic, unable to decide which crew mate to see to first.
"If we did, they would be in serious pain. They're just disorientated. We need to get them back to the ship! Help me get the boat back in the water, Liv!" Kuina ran to the small boat and began dragging it toward the shore. Her sister joined her, still glancing at the two men with concern.
Between the two of them, they managed to get both men onto the boat and paddle it back to the ship. By then, the two had recovered enough to climb the ladder and collapse on the deck.
"How can you two stand to do that so often? It's like being dizzy, only a hundred times worse..." Roger leaned his back against the railing and shuddered involuntarily. "Thanks... You saved our lives."
"You did great. Now we know that in a pinch, you have one more trick up your sleeves. Hey... Where are the bags?" Ace looked around. Kuina and Olivia blinked, then looked back at the island in horror.
"No... No! We have to go back! Come on Sis! We have to get that book!" Olivia was already at the railing when Ace caught her arm.
"Wait. We'll stay the night here, then go back in the morning when the creatures are out at sea. The ship is coated, so we should be fine here. And we are ALL going back. I'm not letting my nakama go into danger like that alone." Ace let her go when she relaxed and stepped back from the edge.
"He's right, Liv. We can jump, but we can't sense what's coming. Those things are fast and they know this forest inside and out. We'd be eaten alive and never see it coming." Kuina sat down on the deck with her captain and let out a sigh. "We left the gold too..."
"Get some rest, everyone. We'll get everything back in the morning." Ace yawned and struggled to his feet, taking a few deep breathes to steady himself before slowly making his way to his cabin. Roger tried to stand, but immediately slumped back.
"I think I'll sleep here. My legs still aren't up to holding their own weight, much less mine." The red haired pirate sighed and looked up at the bright moon. "Good night, girls." He smiled and closed his eyes, relaxing against the railing.
"Idiot. You'll fall overboard and get eaten. Here. I'll help you." Kuina slid an arm under his and began helping him up when her sister appeared under his other arm.
"Go to sleep, Sis. I'll take care of him. I took shorter jumps, so it's my fault he's in this condition. Don't worry. I can handle it." Olivia smiled reassuringly as her sister left for their room. "How are you feeling, Roger?"
"Not so bad. Nothing compared to when we were on the beach. Thanks again, for saving me." Roger did his best to make the journey to his room as easy as possible on the young doctor. Mostly, all he could do was not fight her.
"What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't do everything I could to save a life? Especially the life of one of my nakama." Olivia grinned happily at him as he sat heavily on his bed. He was reluctant to watch her go, but her knew they both needed sleep if they were going back onto that island in the morning. "Sleep well, Roger."
"Night, Olivia." He fell back onto his pillow. He was asleep before he could pull his blanket up.
"Don't bring anything you don't need. There is no way we can fight these things, and we have a pretty good idea of what to expect on the island. No matter what, stay with your partner. Don't jump unless you have to though. We may need to be in good enough shape to sail as soon as we hit the deck." Ace addressed his crew as they tied their boat on the shore once again.
The trip to the ruins felt far longer when they weren't running for their lives. They made their way carefully down the incline. Olivia noticed the damage first.
"It looks like all hell broke loose when we escaped... These trees are shredded. The ground is torn up. The nests are mangled. I hope that our bags are still in one piece..." The doctor looked at the castle remains as they came into sight. "It looks like they left the ruins alone."
"I wonder why, though?" Roger was staying close by her side, keeping a look out on all sides. There were no signs that any of the creatures where still around, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"The sacrifices. The place makes them nervous. They didn't want to go near it more than they had to. The one that tried to eat Roger was back outside the walls as soon as it realized he had escaped. They can probably smell the old blood." Ace touched one of the stone walls as they reached the castle.
"Did your grandfather teach you to talk to Sea Kings too?" Kuina joked with him, leading the way to the wall they had been hiding on. Their bags were still there. She sighed with relief. "There! Three bags of gold, one ancient book, a few interesting artifacts, and my compass and map. Just where we left them."
"Great! Grab the stuff, and let's get out of here. I want to be on our way before the Sea Kings are done with breakfast." Ace picked up the three bags of gold with one hand. They had to each weigh a hundred pounds, with all the gold he had piled into them. Well, Roger decided that if he was going to reach Raftel, where only two crews had ever succeeded, he needed to be strong.
"Hold it." The four pirates turned to the voice. There, sitting atop the rubble of what used to lead to the sacrificial chamber, was a man of the same age as Roger. He had dark hair, and piercing green eyes. He was unarmed, but after watching Ace, none of them believed that meant he wasn't dangerous.
"Who are you?" Kuina addressed the man.
"I'm the Reaper. Now... What the hell did you do to set the Sea Kings off like that?" The man gestured to the surrounding forest.
"We decided we weren't on the menu and they didn't like it." Roger spoke up, not sure why the man seemed to be accusing them for not being eaten.
"They hunt all day. They weren't that hungry. They wanted you dead bad enough to enter the castle. I've killed seven of them, and they have never followed me in here." The man stood up and began to walk toward them. "You took something from down there that they would much rather have stayed put."
"What do they care if we took some old artifacts? It isn't like they're using them. And what do you mean? How have you killed these things? They're huge, and you don't have a weapon." Kuina was glaring at him now. He didn't falter.
"The gold has "purified" with the blood of Sea Kings during the height of this kingdom. They had a ritual in which they would give a man or woman the power of a Devil's Fruit, then sacrifice them, along with a baby Sea King in order to create dragons. I don't know much more than that, but I do know that they destroyed this kingdom, and they stay here to keep that ritual from reaching the world again. They are protecting their children from the real monsters." The man who called himself the Reaper stopped a few yards in front of them.
"How do you know all this?" Ace asked.
"Where I was born, we heard legends about this island and the kingdom that once lived here. My people were descended from a group that left long ago, believing the ritual to be wrong. They passed on the story as a cautionary tail. Unless you mean to make an enemy of every Sea King in the world, I suggest you return whatever you took." He pointed to the bags, then gestured to the rubble.
"We can leave the gold and artifacts, but this book is important. It was sealed in clay and oil. They shouldn't be able to recognize it's scent." Olivia held the bag to her chest, unwilling to part with the book.
"Suit yourself. Where are you going to go after this though?"
"We're going to travel the world. And we're starting with the Grand Line!" Ace grinned. The man raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And how are four fools who nearly made an enemy of the sea itself going to accomplish that?"
"We're going to gather a crew and we're going to discover the secrets of the world! If we can't proceed, we'll just get stronger until we can!" Ace didn't seem daunted by the task ahead.
"Discover the secrets of the world? Some secrets are better left buried. Give up. The only thing waiting for you out there is death. Sea Kings, Pirates of the New Age, Marines, and a monster you can't even imagine. If you aren't going to kill, then you are going to be killed." The man scowled at them, but Ace didn't back down.
"My dream and my nakama are worth dying for. Who are you going to kill then?" Ace held the Reaper's gaze.
"Whoever I have to." The Reaper grinned suddenly, looking like he had lost his mind. "That includes you, if you get in my way!"
"The Sea Kings are coming back. We've got to go." Ace turned to his crew and motioned for them to follow him. The Reaper just raised an eyebrow.
"It's the middle of the day. They never come on land before sunset." He watched them follow their leader without question. They were not long out of sight when he heard the scraping of claws and scales approaching. How had that pirate known? The Reaper followed after the pirates.
They had barely stepped out of the trees when an enormous tail swept across the beach. Ace leaped in an instant, but had no time to yell a warning to his crew. Roger, Kuina, and Olivia were rolled across the sand like toys. When they came to a stop, none of them were moving. Ace looked around and saw the enormous snake-like Sea King coiled on the sand, staring at him.
As it lunged, he armed his leg with haki and kicked the side of it's head with all he had. It barely noticed. His blow didn't even knock it's strike off course. He saw it coming in his mind's eye, but there was nothing he could do about it. The creature's tail caught him in the middle of the back, driving the wind from his lungs and tossing him to the water's edge.
The beast was prowling over him, when the Reaper finally appeared. The man ran from the forest, a long steel pole in his hand. At the end was a curved blade. A scythe. He spun the weapon as he slid under the monster's tail and brought the blade across it's throat, tearing more than half way through it's neck.
As the monster collapsed, his weapon seemed to disappear. Ace was still disorientated, and could not be sure. The man walked closer and stood over him, watching to see what would happen.
"How did you know they were coming?"
"Haki." Ace got to his feet and then ran to his friends, ignoring the questioning look of the Reaper. "Roger? Kuina? Olivia? Are you alright?" He rolled them each onto their backs. They were all still breathing. Roger coughed and opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but fell back in pain. He had taken the full force of the hit.
"I think some ribs are broken..." Roger panted and let his head fall back. "Are the girls okay?"
"They're still breathing." Ace turned to the twins and tried to wake them. Olivia came to first. She winced, but was able to move. She went to her sister first, checking her from head to toe.
"She's just knocked out. She should be fine, but we need to get her to the ship." She moved to Roger next and winced in sympathy when she felt his ribs. "Definitely four broken. Maybe more cracked, but I can't tell here. Arms and legs are fine. I'll get a stretcher from the ship. We need to keep him laying down until I can treat him."
The Reaper watched as the crew went about this. He was about to leave them when Ace's head turned to him.
"Reaper! Drop!" Ace shouted at him frantically.
Without bothering to ask, the Reaper let his knees collapse beneath him. An enormous set of fangs closed where his head had been. He stared up at the Sea King and rolled out of the way.
Ace watches as the man seems to pull his scythe from empty air and rise to his feet, going on the offensive. The Sea King is beaten back in moments, and then it's head is severed. Whoever the man is, he is a terrifyingly vicious and merciless fighter.
While the man was fighting, Olivia had fetched a stretcher, and Ace helped her carefully move Roger onto it. Kuina finally groaned and sat up, looking at the man holding the scythe, the two dead Sea Kings, and then her injured nakama.
The Reaper came to stand next to them.
"Why are you risking yourselves to help him?" Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at the man in disbelief.
"You saved me, at your own risk." Ace pointed out.
"Only so I could find out how you knew the creatures were coming. Everyone acts for their own gain. At least everyone who's alive now." The Reaper leaned on his scythe, not bothering to hide it anymore.
"He's our nakama. That's all the reason we need to help him." Olivia stood up, glaring at the man.
"You think you will survive the Grand Line with an attitude like that?"
"Yes. We wouldn't be the first. The Pirate King valued his nakama more than anything." Kuina stood next to her sister.
"And he ended up dead, now didn't he?" The Reaper continued scowling at them.
"He chose his death willingly. He died for his nakama, and most of them still live. He made it to the end of the Grand Line and back alive. Would you call him weak?" Ace smiled, unfazed by this man's low opinion of them.
"No. But his era is gone. People like that don't exist any more. The world tears them apart." The Reaper looked back at the forest. "I'm leaving. The next Sea King is your problem. See if your compassion will protect you then." He turned to walk away, but stopped at the pirate's next words.
"Join my crew. I'll show you that the Great Age of Pirates isn't dead yet. There are still men like the Pirate King in this world." Ace was looking at him, that smile still on his face. The Pirate King carried on a will many thought had died long ago, but they were wrong. Another will always rise, carrying that same will. When you meet someone like that, you know it. You can feel it in your soul. I hope you will carry on that will. Had his father been right?
"Who are you?" The reaper turned around to face the pirates again.
"I'm Monkey D. Ace. I'm the son of the Pirate King. I'm going to sail to the end of the Grand Line, and I am going to uncover all of the secrets of this world. I'm going to bring back the Great Age of Pirates!" Ace grinned.
"You... are his son?" The Reaper looked at the hat. It fit the description his father had given him, but he never imagined he would see it himself. "Your father... When he became the Pirate King, he spared my father's life. He told me stories for years about the man he respected above all others... For the life your father spared, I will join you. But if you prove me right, I will kill you all and send the ashes of your hat to the bottom of the sea!"
"Then help us get Roger onto the ship before more Sea Kings show up." Kuina didn't waste any time. Her and her sister picked up one end, while the Reaper joined Ace at the other. Between the four of them, it only took fifteen minutes to get the injured man into the medical wing.
"Thank you, Reaper." Olivia gave him a reluctant smile as she began treating her friend. He nodded and went back to the deck. Ace met him there.
"What happened to your father? The way you spoke, I know he's gone. I don't think you'd be out here killing Sea Kings if he were still alive, either." Ace was staring thoughtfully out over the sea.
"A few years ago, a monster appeared. It was like nothing I've seen before or since. It was as black as night. It was like a shadow given solid form. Its skin was hard as stone, and it's claws and teeth were like metal blades. It slaughtered both of my parents, and over two hundred others, most from our village, but also a pirate crew that had landed recently. There were a couple of the pirates that it didn't just kill. It stopped and devoured them entirely, bones and all. They... They were still alive when it began eating them." The Reaper gripped the railing tightly, glaring at the water as he remembered.
"I found out that the ones it devoured all had Devil's Fruit abilities. It was like it was trying to steal the powers the same way we get them from the fruit. The thing is, since then, I've been paying attention to Sea Kings, and I think that theory is right. I've seen some of them that seem to have abilities, but they are so powerful already, it is impossible to know for sure. I'm going to find that monster, and I am going to destroy it. And then I am going to find where it came from, and who is responsible for creating it, and I will tear them apart." He was beginning to shake with rage when Ace put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're not alone anymore. How long has it been just you, seeking revenge alone?" Ace waited calmly.
"Ten years. I was only ten years old when my parents were slaughtered. That was when I set out to avenge them. Two years later, I began fighting with a scythe, and earned the name Reaper. That same year, I finally found a Devil's Fruit. I ate it, hoping to gain the strength to kill this monster, and all I got was a convenience! My ability? I can store things in no space. Can you slay monsters with that? Not hardly." He turned and slumped down with his back to the railing. Ace sat beside him.
"What's your real name?" Ace kicked his sandals off his feet and stretched.
"Soul. Ironic, isn't it? The man called The Reaper of Souls, and a Soulless Demon, is actually named Soul? It seems my father misnamed me. I'll gladly give up my soul to see that monster and whoever created it burn." Soul reached into nowhere and pulled out an Eternal Pose. He checked where the needle was pointing, then shoved it back into the hidden pocket.
"Where does that point? Your home?" Ace gestured to the space where the Pose had disappeared.
"No... It doesn't really point anywhere. It's broken. The one thing I have never been able to fix... I don't know why I keep it. Maybe I'm hoping someday it will finally point the way to where I belong. I don't belong on your crew, you know. I'm not like you all. I'm heartless. I have to be. I don't have a dream. I just have a goal. As soon as my path leads away from you, I won't hesitate to leave." Soul looked at the man he had just met.
"Everyone has dreams. Maybe you just don't sleep enough." Ace barely let his lip curl upward, but he saw Soul grin silently. "You can choose to stay or go when that time comes. But until then, I will consider you my nakama, and I will show you that this world isn't as dark as you think. Both of our fathers lived here after all, and they were good men. We can be good men too. It's a choice you can still make."
"A good man wouldn't do what I need to do. Good men don't seek revenge. You... I see what my father meant, when he spoke about the Pirate King now. There's something... different about you. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you'll be a good man. But I can't believe that. Not now. If there are good men out there, then I really am a demon. If the World Government's corruption, and the Marines' conspiracies, and the pirates' greed and cruelty and betrayal are all there is, then I can pursue my goal without guilt. But if you're right... If I am choosing that world, when it isn't the only path... I don't deserve my father." Soul leaned his head back and closed his eyes, clenching them tight.
"Only time will tell. There is no point condemning yourself now. Wait until you see the truth. Then you can make the choice." Ace stood up and offered a hand to his new crew mate. "What sort of skills do you have besides fighting?"
"I'm an engineer. My father was a pirate, then a marine, but my grandfather, and the rest of my family have all been craftsmen and inventors." Soul accepted the hand and rose to his feet.
"Do you think you can be a shipwright, until we part ways? This ship... It is more a machine really. It's got more secrets than we'll probably ever find. My father's ship was built in under a week. This one was under construction for two years. I want to take care of it, but I don't have the skills to do that. Do you?" Ace met the man's gaze. Soul looked around the ship, taking in all the details. He smiled, happily, for the first time since they had met.
"Yes. I can do that much for you, Straw Hat." Soul shook the hand of his captain, and went to explore his new home.
So they now have five! They're picking them up fast now, but that'll drop of later, just like it did in One Piece.
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