O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.

Nami had shared her cozy little cabin with just Robin for so long now that she wasn't sure what to make of their new roommate.

On their first day back at sea, Nami and Robin discovered that Annabeth was a total mess. The daughter of Athena trailed bits of paper, books, and even the occasional dagger wherever she went. Robin gently, but firmly, put an end to this by introducing Annabeth to her library, and the two spent hours together pouring over its contents.

All in all, Nami was glad that Annabeth was fitting in, mess or no mess.

"Oi, Nami!"

Luffy brought Nami out of her musings by dropping down in Robin's vacant lawn chair, grinning broadly at her.

"What is it, Luffy?" Nami sighed, "I'm kind of busy, right now."

She wasn't, really, but it was always good to make people think otherwise.

Luffy screwed up his face in concentration before sounding out a carefully practiced phrase in english.

"You smell like farts!"

Luffy's unexpected use of the english language threw her off guard, but only for a moment, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?"

Luffy pouted, "You don't like it? Leo's teaching me English! I'm practicing reeeeally hard."

Nami could feel steam blowing out her ears as the faint sound of cackling rose through the floorboards, "I should've known."

"Nami, Sencho, Traffy would like to speak with us in the Galley."

"Thanks, Robin," Nami told the mouth on the table between them, "We're on our way."

"Lunchtime!" Luffy cheered, the idea of practicing english already abandoned.

Luffy and Nami found Law in the Galley, locked in a heated argument with Sanji, Usopp, Annabeth and Percy.

"Just explain it, already!"

"No!" Nami almost let out a giggle at how close Law was to losing his carefully-practiced cool. "Not until everyone is here; I'm not repeating myself again."

"We're here now, Traffy," Nami announced to the room, "And Zoro is watching Caesar, so you might as well explain what's going on."

Law sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Our next stop is Dressrosa."

"Dressroba…?" Robin muttered, staring off into space.

Usopp held back a snort, "And what are we doing in Dressrosa?"

"Dressrosa is controlled by the Donquixote family," Law explained, "Caesar is one of their agents."

"Which means that Doflamingo is the one running the SMILE operation," Franky surmised, "If Caesar was manufacturing them on his orders."

"Who's that?" Leo asked loudly, impatient for more context.

"He's Joker," Annabeth explained patiently, "The one who was calling the shots on Punk Hazard."

"He's also one of the Seven Warlords," said Robin, "Taking him down is sure to send a message to Kaido." She glanced at Law, "That's your plan, right? Take down Doflamingo to get Kaido's attention before we reach Wano?"

"I'm down," said Sanji, "Dressrosa sounds like it's got some hot babes in it."

"That would be your reasoning," Percy rolled his eyes, "How far is it to Dressrosa? Can we make it there without stopping? I don't like having Caesar aboard any longer than necessary."

"Which begs the question of what we'll be doing with Caesar when we get there," Nami pointed out to the group, "Law?"

"We're going to trade him," Law said confidently, "Doflamingo can have Caesar back if he resigns from the Seven Warlords."

The galley erupted into chaos.

"That's insane!"

"We're not that desperate, right?"

"We're all gonna die!"

"Scary!"

"There are so many ways that could go wrong!" Annabeth's voice cut through the noise, "Starting with Doflamingo's connection to Caesar. Are you really sure he values him that highly?"

"Caesar is the only one capable of manufacturing SMILE fruits," Law insisted.

"There is one more thing we must do in Dressrosa."

So far, Brook hadn't said a word, so when he spoke, everyone fell quiet.

Brook locked eyes with Law, "SMILE fruits are a perversion of Lady Hecate's work. I would like to ensure that no one can produce them ever again."

"Yes," Law agreed, "You read my mind. Phase 3 of my plan is to blow up the SMILE factory in Dressrosa."

Leo grinned, "Well why didn't you say so? I'm an expert in blowing stuff up."

"Dressrosa, here we come!" Luffy cheered.

"Not to rain on your parade, Sencho," said Sanji, "But we're pretty low on supplies; Punk Hazard wasn't exactly a great place to go shopping."

"Guys, there's an island coming up fast."

"You heard Zoro," said Nami, "Let's go shopping!"

P.E.R.C.Y. J.A.C.K.S.O.N.

So far, Percy had avoided talking to anyone about what happened to him on Punk Hazard. It hadn't been easy though; Chopper had tried cornering him at least once a day since they left. It was a good thing there was plenty with which he could keep himself busy in order to avoid the little reindeer.

After all, the busier he was, the less likely he was to lose control of his powers again.

"Percy?"

Percy looked up to find Annabeth's pale hand on his arm. The others had already begun grouping off to go and explore the island. Percy could already see Robin and Brook settling in at a café by the pier, nursing cups of coffee and milk respectively as they watched the others wander off. Leo, Chopper and Luffy had set up shop on the beach, the former two busy cheering on Luffy as he squared up to fight an army of sand crabs no bigger than his fists. Zoro was already snoring away on the deck. Franky was nowhere to be seen.

"Nami, Usopp and I are going to go check out the general store," Annabeth told him, "Do you want to come? We can hang out on the beach when we're done."

Percy was tempted, but before he could make a decision, Sanji rested an arm on his shoulder.

"You guys go have fun," Sanji waved them off, "Percy already said he'd help me with the groceries."

Annabeth seemed hesitant to leave him, but Percy reassured her that he was fine.

"I'll see you when you get back," he promised, "You heard Sanji; go have fun."

Sanji pulled out a cigarette as the two watched Nami's group wander up the pier and out of sight.

"You know smoking gives you lung cancer," Percy blurted out.

Sanji rolled his visible eye, "If I wanted a lecture, I'd go to Chopper."

He hopped off the deck, landing gracefully on the pier, "C'mon."

"We're not actually going grocery shopping, are we?"

Sanji shot him a bemused look, "Of course we are. You don't want to starve before we get there, do you?"

Percy glanced back at the ship.

"Traffy and Mosshead are more than capable of watching Caesar," Sanji insisted, "Now c'mon. You can tell me what's bothering you on the way."

O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.

Usopp couldn't believe his luck.

Of course, weird stuff happened to his crew all the time, but what were the odds that he, of all people, would get to meet a real-life goddess while perusing an assortment of fishing hooks, bugspray and 10 berri souvenir hats?

Sanji was gonna be so mad when he found out.

"You are adorable!" an elegant, blonde-haired woman in a pair of faded blue jeans and a lavender blouse cooed at him, "How did you know who I was? Do you know my daughter?"

"Aphrodite?"

At the end of the aisle stood Nami, looking absolutely dumbstruck and Annabeth, looking like she'd just stood on a cockroach.

The love goddess pouted, "I do wish you'd call me mom, Nami, dear."

"You should've thought of that before Bellmère became my real mom," Nami snapped.

Usopp let out a strangled yelp. "Nami!" he hissed loudly, "You shouldn't piss off a goddess!"

"You are sweet," Aphrodite smiled widely, dazzling Usopp with a set of brilliantly white teeth, "But hush now; the girls are talking."

Usopp then found that he couldn't utter a word, even if he wanted to, so he wisely scuttled off to stand with Nami and Annabeth.

"Family comes in all shapes and sizes, sweetie," said Aphrodite, "Surely there's room in yours for two moms?"

"Lady Aphrodite," Annabeth said with a barely-concealed snarl, "Can we help you with something? Or did you come all the way to the Grand Line just to pester Nami?"

"You're the smart one, dear," Aphrodite said smoothly, "Why don't you tell me?"

Nami's eyes widened, "You're here because we're getting close to finding Piper."

Aphrodite's hazel eyes sparkled in excitement. Or were they green? Usopp couldn't tell.

"You know where she is, Nami," said Aphrodite, "I'd bet my life on it."

"You're immortal," Annabeth said flatly.

Aphrodite giggled, "Isn't it great? Pity Perseus turned down immortality. How's that working out for him?"

Nami grabbed Annabeth's arm before she could do something as stupid as charging at a goddess. "You say I know where she is," said Nami, "Can you give us any more hints?"

"You know I can't, sweetie," Aphrodite smiled sadly. Finely-manicured hands browsed over the nearest shelf before plucking a bronze dagger into the air that most certainly hadn't been there a moment before.

Annabeth gaped, open mouthed at the dagger. "Katoptris? Why doesn't Piper have that?"

"You'll have to ask her that," said Aphrodite before handing it to Nami, "I'm sorry it's a hand-me-down, dear, but it would look so cute with your favorite skirt!"

"Only you would pick weapons to go with the outfit," said Nami. She accepted the dagger though with a small, reluctant smile.

"I have to go now, darling," said Aphrodite. Before Nami could form any sort of protest, the love goddess had wrapped her arms around Nami in a fierce hug.

"I am so proud of you," she whispered in Nami's ear, "Your mother is as well. Now go find your sister."

Aphrodite left with no fanfare, which surprised Usopp. One moment she was there, and the next, she wasn't.

"You can talk now, Usopp," said Nami, wiping her watery eyes vigorously.

Usopp gasped at the newfound feeling of sound in his throat. "I have so many questions."

"Well isn't the big answer obvious?" said Annabeth, turning to pay for their goods, "We're not going to Dressrosa yet."

"Right, but who is Piper?"

O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.

Percy had spent a great deal of time and energy towards never telling the others about his stint in Tartarus. He didn't care what Leo thought about the matter; he was perfectly content with pushing it away forever and never thinking about it.

Unfortunately, when his head wasn't in a pair of bosom-shaped clouds, Sanji was annoyingly observant. He didn't even need to pester Percy; he simply cornered him in an alley nestled between the fish market and a restaurant adorned in dim, neon lights.

So finally, the dam burst, and Percy told Sanji everything. Some small, sick part of his brain took pleasure in the shocked look on Sanji's face as his lit cigarette fell from his lips and his purple tie began smoking. Sanji swore and dropped his bag of fruit to pat vigorously at his chest. With a small flick of his index finger, Percy put out the fire.

"Thanks," Sanji huffed, "And thanks for never correcting me all those times I told you I wished I were a demigod."

Percy laughed weakly, "No problem?"

With shaking hands, Sanji lit a fresh cigarette. He took a drag and looked up at the cloudy sky, silently daring it to throw any more misery at him and his friends.

"Look," he said after a moment of awkward silence, "We all have our demons. I'm glad you told me yours, but pushing it away is only going to get you into trouble."

"I can take care of-."

"Dude, I've known you long enough now to be well aware that you can take care of yourself," Sanji cut him off sharply, "But what about the others? What about Annabeth? What happens when you lose control of your powers in another PTSD flashback and she can't talk you out of it?"

Percy's pale face hardened and, knowing Percy knew he was right, Sanji pushed on, "If she hadn't brought you back last time, you would've sunk Punk Hazard without even trying. I get that dealing with mental health is a pain, but for our sake, you need to try."

Percy, who'd been pacing back and forth in the narrow alleyway while Sanji spoke, stopped abruptly.

"I don't know how," he admitted feebly. He knew it was a weak excuse.

Sanji sighed and picked up his groceries, "You can start by talking to Chopper. Robin's seen stuff; she'd probably be up for talking to you two-yeah, Annabeth needs the help too, man," he said when Percy rose an eyebrow at him, "Or don't you remember her throwing a plate of jello at Brook yesterday?"

"It took him hours to get it out of his eye socket," Percy remembered, "Ok, I'll try talking to Chopper. For the crew's sake."

Sanji gave him a broad grin, "I'm glad to hear it. Now let's get this stuff back to my kitchen before Luffy has a chance to eat it all."

The boys returned to the Sunny to find everyone locked in yet another argument. As far as they could see, this one was between Law (big surprise), Nami and Annabeth.

"We need to go straight to Dressrosa," Law was saying to the girls, "Every day we linger leaves the mission in an even riskier state."

"No," Nami said firmly, "I'm the navigator and I say we have another stop to make."

"Hey," Percy greeted Usopp, who stood at the back of the huddle of Strawhats, "What's going on?"

Usopp snorted, never taking his eyes off Nami, "If I knew, I'd tell you. We ran into Aphrodite at the general store, now Nami's convinced we can't go to Dressrosa yet."

Percy blinked, "Aphrodite?" then he winced at the angry flames rolling off Sanji.

"You met the love goddess," Sanji said in a low, dangerous voice, "Nami's mother, the creator of all things beautiful, and you dare to say it like you ran into a vague acquaintance?"

Usopp winced and wisely decided to drag Sanji onto the ship to put away the groceries before the cook made a scene.

"To go gambling," Law said flatly, "You want to take a pit stop to go gambling."

"It's more than that," said Annabeth, "Aphrodite said that our friend, another demigod, would be there. We need to go get her. I get that you're mad," Annabeth continued before Law could start arguing again, "But Piper is our friend and a powerful demigod; she'll be a vital asset in taking on Kaido. If you really don't want to come with us, we can split up and meet on Dressrosa."

"How's he gonna get there?" asked Chopper.

"Traffy can't swim," Luffy pointed out, proud to contribute to the discussion, "Caesar can't swim either."

"You could just leave me here," Caesar suggested innocently.

"Quiet, you," said Nami. Caesar decided to keep quiet.

"My crew is near," Law admitted, "They can give us a ride to Dressrosa on their way to Wano."

"Luffy, it's your choice," said Zoro, "Where are we going?"

Luffy grinned, "Isn't it obvious? Let's go find Nami's Pipe person!"

Nami smacked him good-naturedly over the head, "Piper. Her name is Piper; she's my sister."

"That still doesn't explain where we're going," Percy pointed out as the group waved goodbye to Law and watched him drag Caesar off into town.

"It's the biggest floating casino in the Four Seas," Nami explained to the group, "Everyone! Set sail for the Gran Tesoro!"