~ ... Floor Scrubber ... ~
"The cargo I'm responsible for involve silk and tobacco," Gahima explained, helping his mother and daughter to seats for a moment. "My concern rests with the latter and the assortment of paraphernalia made for it. Pirates would be interested in either as they cost much for the regular market, but tobacco is the top seller, even for the upper class, and the quality of such could sell for varying amounts depending on purity. One could charge more for lower quality and progressively go up, or one could change the purity of the product via additives and keep the price down to avoid suspicion. Either way, it's bad for business."
"The paraphernalia you mentioned is what exactly? A bunch of pipes?" Pierre questioned, putting a hand on his hip.
"Pipes made with different materials and in different styles. An ivory smoking pipe could sell for as much as a golden pipe, depending on the relationship between the seller and the buyer. Individual pipe sets sell for more than the tobacco," Gahima replied.
"What about the silks? Do they not cost as much?" Pargo questioned.
"Silks are also very expensive, but they are easier to spot in low-class markets than pure tobacco because they can't be altered. The colors, texture, styles, and length of cloth are fixed. Anyone selling them in the worlds below would be caught immediately. I would assume that pirates would take the silks and dress themselves up accordingly just to show their status. The ruling bodies of the pirates such as the Four Emperors and the now disbanded Seven Warlords of the Sea, for example, would be the first to wear such silks. Those beneath them would simply use them for personal means or sell them for profit."
Disbanded? Nesi thought. When did the warlords...?
"You've had trouble transporting these goods before?" Zymen asked, thinking the same thing as Nesi.
"Fortunately, my shipments have been on the smaller end, but half of the cargo has been stolen at least twice. In a few months, the largest shipment of both is scheduled to leave port within two to three months. I can't afford to lose half of my cargo," Gahima stated.
"Very well. What's the price of your cargo?" Nesi asked.
"Shipping costs for silk alone is 1.34 million belly. At 1100 belly per bolt, this shipment is nearing 18.5 million. I could lose a significant amount even at half!" Gahima stressed, rubbing his brow.
"If pirates are only taking half, the weight of the cargo must be exceeding the maximum capacity of their ships. Only a fleet can take the full hundred percent," Nesi surmised. "The risk factor for the robbery of the full amount of cargo is significantly smaller than simply half or lower."
"We can't underestimate devil fruit users, Captain Llandala," Barangot reminded. "While the chances of regular pirates getting hold of the entire cargo are slim, these devil fruit users do have fleets in select areas. Crossing paths puts the cargo at higher risk, and the merchant crew will fair no better as prisoners. If the route crosses over the ruling bodies of the pirate dichotomy, the cargo is lost and the risk factor greater."
"Agreed. Our power is great, but we all have our weaknesses. The trade route will have to be evaluated again. That may require another meeting in the future once you have the proper maps and nautical readings, vice admiral. We will require our usual documents, but you and Lord Gahima will ultimately have to inform allies of our presence. We may be under oath of the Law of Nations at sea, but that doesn't mean they won't penalize us for acts of piracy in accordance with their laws on land. To begin the bid bond, I'll look at things at surface value and regard a smaller risk of encountering devil fruit users. We'll have to insure at least eleven percent of lost or damaged cargo on our end for lower-ranked pirates. I'll agree to a bid of sixty-one percent undamaged, shippable cargo should I be elected for the job," Nesi offered, taking out a bidding coin to place it on the table. "Quistador Ingagoh has my immediate attention with the shipment of silver and spices. Agreement to postpone shipment date to a later convenience would be advised."
"A bid of sixty-three percent will suffice should I be elected," Pierre offered, placing his own bid coin down. "A shipment of lumber and housing will be active three months after you. My attentions must go to it. Request for postponement until further evaluation has initiated is also advised."
"I'll bid higher," Pargo said, placing down his coin. "Seventy-two percent. Permission to choose a partner should the trade route cross enemy fleet territory. Percentage could increase to 1 or 2 percent should I be chosen."
"A bid of seventy percent from me," Zymen said joyfully. "Permission to work with Llandala in the event of crossing enemy lines. Her bid increases by four percent."
"Draining me dry of all my little change, Danseker?" Nesi joked, earning a rich chuckle from the man. "I'm being plotted against!"
"We'll reanalyze the trade routes for more thorough information on pirate territory in observance of the bids. What of the rest of your team?" Barangot questioned, furrowing a brow at the small number of privateers. There was usually more of them.
"We mainly consult with them in the event that slave ships are along the route," Nesi explained. "Such a thing wasn't mentioned in the summons; however, information on this will also be of necessity. We will update what we can on our end as well should our missions be completed."
"We'll proceed with the proper surety bond draft. This will require a bit of paperwork," Barangot said with a smirk. "I'm sure the scribe would love to start writing up premiums for this."
"Keeps bread on the table," Nesi joked, smiling professionally. "Payment bonds can be quite interesting from his perspective."
"That's if you like counting," Javelin interjected. "Legal jargon isn't a language from this planet in my book."
"Well, your captain didn't understand it much herself in the beginning, I'm sure," Barangot said, taking papers from the table that he knew would need his signature or attention. "She had to learn what all of this meant the hard way."
"Hard way?" Gahima questioned.
"Captain Llandala was the floor scrubber of her old pirate crew," Barangot informed. "She had to study all of this legal jargon on her own when she wasn't on duty. I'm surprised you don't know about this story."
A Couple Years Back...
He knew she was over there again, just watching him. Not talking to him, not making a sound, not even trying to scare him. That was probably the worst part! She's just... there! Punching a boulder for the last time until it just crumbled into a pile of rocks, Ace stood along the beach of this new island with his small crew working on repairing their small ship, waiting for the girl to run away. This time he didn't hear her sneaking away; in fact, it sounded like she was coming up to him for once. Finally! He could tell her to get lost and rest in peace! Unfortunately, she didn't appear before him like he thought she would. After more rustling from the trees alerted his attention, Ace started to get suspicious. The girl usually wasn't so noisy, and, if she didn't wear that fresh perfume, he wouldn't have known she was watching him. She even made sure she didn't leave a trail of leaves, mud, or tracks behind for him to follow. Only the strength of the perfume gave her away sometimes. This wasn't like her. He didn't overreact or anything, though. Ace just stood still, smile permanently etched on his face, and raised a left brow out of interest. Instead of coming face to face with the girl, though, he came face to face... with a marmoset.
"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY!?" Ace furiously questioned, startling the small creature and his crewmates with the sudden outburst. To be fair, the marmoset did bear a resemblance to the girl. It ran to a nearby tree and looked back at him like it was trying to figure out what it did wrong.
"This way, Taka!" a boy called, laughing happily. He was leading a friend of his somewhere. "Aunt Nesi's making stew and biscuits!"
"Coming!" Taka replied, chasing after his friend.
While he didn't know who Aunt Nesi was, Ace didn't deny his curiosity pecking at him. If those boys had to cross this part of the forest, they might know where the girl is since she did leave tools for the ship's repairs as gratitude for his help. Catching the aroma of food, Ace turned to his small collection of misfits and said, "Take a break, boys. I heard something about food!"
"Aye, captain!" the men cheered.
They walked into town together, taking note of a line developing at an old kitchen, and walked over to it to see what was going on. Sure enough, Ace spotted the girl hustling out of the kitchen to get more ingredients from a garden in the back. The little boys were playing in the garden and picking herbs while the girl worked. So, her name was Nesi. That's why she wasn't watching him earlier today like usual. She was cooking in this kitchen. Whatever stew she was making smelled heavenly. The kids didn't seem to mind helping her. They were just as happy playing in the bushy garden as they were picking herbs. One of them was making a smaller pot of stew to mimic Nesi. There was a child's play kitchen at the herb garden. An elderly couple was setting up outdoor seating since the inside of the restaurant portion of the old kitchen was filling up so fast. On the side, just outside the corner of the kitchen, was a rolling tray that held a large pot, box of biscuits, and what looked like some ale. Actually, it was hooked up to something just out of sight, so maybe there was a train of rolling trays. Either way, the tray that Ace caught had his name on it. Literally, a tag with his name written in the style of his tattoo was there. It's just asking for him to steal it.
While Nesi was distracted with serving food to a family, Ace and his boys quietly snuck over to his tray and checked periodically to make sure the girl or the elders didn't catch them. They confirmed that the tray indeed had food and drink in equal portions for them along with a small note of thanks. Ace read it briefly, flipping it over to see more was written, and put it back down to quietly detach the tray from the tray train. Right as he and the boys were sneaking off with it, Ace felt that familiar tingle of someone watching him and turned to see Nesi leaning out of the kitchen window and giving him a curious pout.
"Cheese it!" Ace ordered, grabbing the ale off the tray to make the load somewhat lighter and making a full-on sprint off the premises.
Two of the boys grabbed the hot pot while another grabbed the biscuits. The straggler of the group grabbed a crate that was labelled for Ace, too. It was lighter in weight for the most part, but there was something heavy inside of it like metal pieces. It didn't slow him down. He just panicked and grabbed whatever was left for Ace. In their hurry, they managed to somehow grab everything off the tray without leaving a speck of evidence behind. It was actually impressive.
Nesi said nothing of their actions but asked herself softly, "Why would he steal his own food?"
|| ... ... ... ||
"Man, that girl can cook her ass off!" a crewmate complimented, chewing on a biscuit. "Oh, what was in that crate you brought along?"
"Hm?" the other crewmate questioned. He remembered the mentioned item and put his bowl down to open it. He then said, "Hey. I think she packed us some hammocks. Yeah, she did."
"Hammocks? For what?" another crewmate asked, walking over to the crate to pull some of the stuff out.
"Captain? Hey, Ace, where ya goin'?" the biscuit chewer asked.
Corale, the one crewmate who supported Nesi and let her peek in on Ace when he trained, read the note that Ace left behind. He dropped it like he was in a hurry.
Dear Mr. Ace,
I'm sorry that I've been bothering you a lot. I get that I'm not one of your boys and you'd rather I not follow you around so much, so I'll stop. You're right. It's creepy and it's against your orders. Is it okay if I call you captain since that's what you are? If so, I'm sorry for disobeying you, captain. I have some good news. I won my first fight yesterday! It was scary and my entire body was hurting everywhere afterwards, but... learning from you was what I needed.
This probably won't matter to you, but I'm going up to those marines soon for a ticket to Mary Geoisie. I don't care how much it costs or if I'm on death's door before I can even get a response from them. I want this more than anything! I'm only asking that you don't interfere this time. We're not really friends or anything, but it's easy to see that you are very sweet and you have a big heart despite your brazenness. Maybe if I had been stronger when we met, we could have been friends but you're right. A timid, little girl will just get ignored and pushed around all the time. I need to stop being so small if I want to be heard.
I don't know how long you're staying on this island, but... Take these gifts as my last tribute of gratitude. I noticed that you're new to being a captain, so I thought I'd give you guys some food and equipment for the ship. Looks like you're doing good with repairing it now that you've got the right tools. You don't know how much stuff costs until you're buying it. Haha! At the bottom of the crate is a proper sail for your ship, too. I had help from some of the townspeople that liked you and your crewmate, Corale. It's not our finest stitching work, but it looked good to me. With time, I think you'll be a captain worth following. I might not be good enough to follow you as a crewmate, but I can support you from afar. Hope the stew's good. If this is my last day living, thank you for being my hero for a day. My greatest wish is for you to become a legend someday. I don't know much about what being a Pirate King means or why it's important, but it's important to you and... that's all that matters. If you ever decide to visit this place again, you'll always have a place to eat.
Keep making a name for yourself, captain
~ Nesi Llandala
"She's going to fight the marines on her own?" Corale asked aloud.
Why would you do all of this? Ace thought, running at full speed towards the town. He heard the voices. There was some screaming and the sound of blows being thrown. Why do you want to go to Mary Geoisie? It's not worth dying for!
"Hold the wench down!" a marine shouted.
She was outnumbered. Face in the ground, teeth getting scratched up the pellets of harder, larger grains of sandstone, pressure on her shoulders and neck as the marines swarmed her. She fought to the last breath this time. She downed who she had to. Her arm was pulled out from underneath her and stretched out to max length. She tried to see what they were doing, but her head was constantly pushed down into the dirt until some of the dust got into her eyes. The head marine took that opportunity to cut off her pinky figure with his sword. A quick, smooth cut that made a blood-curdling scream escape her. She was released then and kicked violently in the ribs to knock the wind out of her. She crumbled, hand shaking from the trauma and pain of a lost part of itself. Another marine stomped on her hand to intensify the agony. This time, she clamped her mouth shut. Show no more pain, only strength. As if on the last bits of adrenaline, she clawed at the ground and threw dirt into someone's face. With them stunned, she let out a fury of punches that seemed to make the air around her... start to glow and flicker. It looked like fire or bursting stars were flashing around her. With a final battle cry, she fought harder until she was able to stomp out a marine the way they stomped on her lost finger.
"How do you get to Mary Geoisie?" Nesi demanded, hair glowing blue and flowing brilliantly. She put more pressure on a marine and shouted, "How?"
"Up... up the... Grand Line," the marine answered through broken breaths. "Only a noble... regardless of origin... can go up there. Even we can't... really go up there. We're only allowed up to a certain point."
Kicking the marine unconscious, Nesi cried as she calmed down. Only a noble? Before she could do anything more, she finally collapsed and let herself hit the ground. She was bleeding from her hand and from a stab wound in her side. Voices were calling her, but they faded out as quickly as they faded in. Among them, she thought she heard Captain Ace. She did wish they could've been friends, but only the strong seem to befriend the strong. They never associate with the weak. Only a noble can speak with nobles. They'd never talk to a low-class country girl. There was always some condition of only. Maybe that's what the world was trying to tell her all along. That her dream was only a dream. She wouldn't live to see the day where it could be a reality. It was getting cold. Someone must've picked her up because there was warmth somewhere. Maybe it was her parents coming to take her home with them. Maybe... just maybe...
By the time she came to it, she barely had enough strength to speak. She was breathing, she could see the ceiling of the elder's home floor, and she could hear the ocean waves coming from the window. She was alive! Too exhausted to get up, she just laid there and allowed herself to doze off. Her body was still recovering. It just wanted to check on itself probably. That's a good way to look at it. Someone was calling her. Her vision was too blurry to see them, but she could hear them so she turned to the voice and grunted a response. Before long, she slipped away into slumber again.
|| ... ... ... ||
It took three weeks for Nesi to recover from her wounds. She looked down at her missing pinky finger now merely stitched together just above the bottom joint. Her stab wound was in the same condition. She got her answers, though, and the marines hadn't been to the island in the time that she was down according to the elderly couple that watched over her since her parents had died. Gathering her luggage, she looked back at the old kitchen and her hometown before making her way to the docks. The Grand Line. She might not be a noble, but that didn't mean she couldn't learn their ways. If playing by their rules was what it would take to meet them face to face... so be it! Nesi was just about to gather her money for a ship voyage when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She flinched from the extra pressure on her tender wound and turned to see... Ace!
"You're late," he complained, smiling wide.
"Captain! Wh-wh-what am I late for? The ship's over there," Nesi said, pointing to the boat loading up luggage for its trip to mainland.
"Wrong one, pansy," Ace said, leaning into Nesi's face with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You're with us. Welcome to the Spades!"
"We have a sister!" the crewmates cheered, waving at her from the repaired vessel.
"But I'm not a pirate," Nesi tried, blushing at Ace's sudden kindness.
"You're trying to get to the Grand Line, ain't ya? We're headed in the same direction. Get your crazy ass on the boat so we can go already!" Ace ordered, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to direct her to his ship.
Nesi's eyebrow twitched for a moment before she frowned and said, "I thought you couldn't stand me. What's with this?"
"Only a pirate is crazy enough to go against a group of marines with little to no fighting experience solo like that, and..." Ace stopped, erased the smile off his face and continued seriously, "You were willing to do whatever it took to make your dream come true. That's the kind of moxie and willpower I can respect... Why didn't you want me to help you, though?"
"To see things through," Nesi admitted with an equally serious expression on her face. "I wanted to be strong like you just this one time. To have my voice heard. To stop this unnecessary violence over a few pennies on the dollar. One day, I want to be stronger than you. I don't want to be a Pirate King or a Pirate Queen, but... I do want to learn how you all fight. You fight in a way that either they fear or they simply won't. I can't surpass you until I learn how to fight like you. If you don't want to teach me, that's fine. I'll be on my way. Make no mistake. No matter how long it takes or how hard I have to fail, surpassing your power is my goal. I've no intention of being a marine to do it. It's up to you if you want me as your pirate apprentice. I know where I'm going and why."
Ace was quiet for a while, locking eyes with her to see that fiery resolve in them. She wasn't joking. The timid, little girl was gone. Looking down at her hand, he took his hat off, placed it on her head, and let out a laugh. "Alright, fine. I'll let you in my crew... on one condition."
"You will?" Nesi questioned, blushing brightly and letting a joyful tear come out.
"Scrub."
"Scrub?" Nesi questioned, blush and teardrop disappearing in two seconds. Her face changed to something more suspicious while Ace's face progressively changed to pure amusement.
"You gave me a sweet deal when I saved you," he said with a mischievous grin. "I think you said something about scrubbing floors, cooking real food, and washing clothes. Something along those lines, right? That's the condition. You do those things. I'll teach you how to fight better and get stronger. Now, the thing is I'm bad at gardening, so you're just gonna hafta bloom into a healthier pansy to be the pirate-y princess I can see you being."
"What?" Nesi responded, growling a bit.
"And... you get to wear this," Ace said, eyes glimmering like stars. Before Nesi could even try to escape, Ace strapped a big, fluffy skirt with a bunch of pansies as the design on Nesi's hips. A frilly apron was added to it. "Huh, that's actually spot on! Welcome to the Spades again, Princess Pansy. You're officially my floor scrubber! Level 1 to becoming a real pirate. Build up that moxie and you might make it to Level 2 next year. Show her the ship, boys. She's got a lot of work to do."
"YOU JERK!"