Author's Notes: Alright, so... *rubbing my neck* I don't know how Ace sends his letters to people. There's no carrier pigeon or postal service that I'm aware of that's been used in One Piece, only the carrier bat from the World Government when someone is elected as a candidate to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Hypothetically, it can be assumed that Ace uses a private postal service of some kind. According to Brittanica encyclopedia, there wasn't a centralized postal service during the Middle Ages, and, by the time the Golden Age of Piracy took off, postal services were a government monopoly until 1837 when deliveries were charged by weight and the use of prepaid stamps. Meaning, stamps and delivery fees may not have existed yet, depending on the year Oda set One Piece, but the monopolization of postal services by the government makes sense when regarding their carrier bat. It would explain how they were able to find Ace or anyone else of interest for the role of warlord. However, for the sake of this story, we'll say that Ace is using a private postal service that Monkey D. Garp used in Ace's childhood. The reasons will be simple: letters are practically weightless so delivering them is essentially free, marines are pardoned from delivery fees due to their service, and it's one of very few services that deliver halfway across the world without added fees. Pretty good bargain, right?

As for my new original male character, I have him dressed roughly the way men wore their clothes in the early 1700s. The people of Mary Geoisie are said to have technology and, I suppose, other elements of culture from both 17th and 18th centuries. Since the Golden Age of Piracy comes to an end around the 1730s, I assumed fashion trends from somewhere between 1690s to 1710s would be popular for the upper class during One Piece's timeline.

~ ... Pirate Academy ... ~

Nesi was forbidden from leaving the ship as punishment for using haki against Ace, so she remained in the captain's cabin just sulking in Ace's hammock. They were sailing for several days with the captain simply furious at the floor scrubber and her... lizard. Ace even made it a point to threaten the rosy Draco to behave by picking him up by the tail and making him look at the beheaded creature now properly gutted and stuffed. Her little baby came by crying every time like a spanked child. As for Nesi the nurturing nee-san, Ace made cleaning the ship and cooking far more difficult than necessary. Laundry day was a nightmare because he took the liberty of walking around her laundry room completely naked if his clothes weren't done. Rather than wear his winter attire for the time being, do you think the young, dashing, passionate captain of the Spades crew would have the decency to cover up in front of a la - ? NOPE! Booty. He even had the nerve to sleep in her hammock, so she had to sleep in his! Since his cabin stank like hell, she gradually got no sleep and her baby rose dragon kept crying and trying to escape Ace's filthy clutches. Oh, don't remind the captain of Baragon biting him in the ass the first night of her punishment. No, don't do that!

"Oooowwww!"

"Captain, what happened?" the first mate asked, bursting into the laundry room.

"I will whack the hell out of you, you little worm!" Ace threatened, frightening Baragon.

"Snookums? Sweetie, are you hurt?" Nesi called from the captain's cabin. She was locked in and simply rattled the door. Baragon's finned ears popped open to her voice's direction before he backed away from Ace's towering form. "What's happening down there?"

"Captain, your clothes. Put on clothes," Deuce suggested, seeing the bite mark on Ace's butt... amongst other things.

Just as Ace was about to hit the baby dragon with a fireball, Corale walked around him, kneeled in front of the lizard, and asked, "Did Ace, uh, step on you or something?" Baragon tilted his head at Corale, ears perked at the question, and crept up to him a bit. He didn't speak, but he did grab a tattered piece of fabric with his mouth and scratched at it like he was making a nest. Corale guessed, "You were nesting? No. Uh... You were in the hammock there? Oh! He sat on you. You must've thought Nesi was coming to lay next to you and got scared when you saw the captain. He's good, Nesi! He just got spooked!"

"Okay," Nesi replied, sounding relieved. "You be good, and I'll give you sn-omatoes for breakfast, okay, my rosy?"

Baragon squawked joyfully to do a happy dance then frolicked to his bed to play. Some of the boys cooed at how cute Baragon really was while Ace had sparks dancing on his body at the fact that the lizard understood English just fine and listened to Nesi quite obediently. He had better not be bald by tomorrow morning...

Fortunately, Ace was just fine. Nesi's baldness didn't come from Baragon's bites like he thought. It had to be a side effect of the unripe devil fruit, so he had gotten more serious about heading back to that island to speak with the man from before. When they docked, Ace picked up Baragon by his tail to throw him at Nesi. The prized beast head was no longer in front of her since Ace went to go find a woodworker to build it a proper mount, but the remains and stench of the rotting insides were ever present. Baragon was crying at the sight of his brethren just bodyless, knowing its remains were still in there in splatters. Nesi was honestly too upset over her lost hair and disgusted by the roaring head to be amused by the little lizard's depression. Ace didn't even give her cleaning supplies to spruce the place up either! She had to stay in his room and hope that he wouldn't trash her garden or hammock out of spite.

Just before her duties were done for a day, Ace did go into the captain's cabin once or twice on certain nights to look for things. He made her get up those times. He inspected a note of some kind that one of the boys gave him, but he didn't let anyone see it. He just ruminated on his thoughts for a while before going to the cabin to rifle through papers. When he found what he was looking for, he called Nesi and showed her what to do next when her duties were complete earlier than anticipated. She learned how to essentially micromanage the ship and evaluate the crew's finances. While she studied that, Ace paid close attention to her, asking questions to ensure she knew what she was doing and why. When Nesi replied satisfactorily, he smirked and left her to it.

Where that nice man went after the second night in her room? No one knew. She just knew that Baragon kept running away from him after some reprimanding thing he did, and Ace was chasing him around or threatening to throw him overboard. Some of the boys were outside of the door, making sure Nesi didn't leave until Ace got back. Hearing Baragon slapping his claw on the floor again, Nesi gave him her attention and watched him messing with papers again. She walked over to them, picked them up, and waited for the rose lizard to climb on her shoulder. No matter how many times she looked at the papers, they were blank. Baragon may not have nipped her for her inability to see what he was seeing, but he did slap her on the shoulder with his tail when he was displeased. There was something on these sheets that she had to find to satisfy him. Demanding little booger!

"I tried to ask you to breathe on them, but you kept turning away," Nesi said, inspecting the sheets once more.

Baragon hopped off Nesi's shoulder, pulled a paper towards him, and breathed deeply to summon up the ghastly powers that Nesi had used to strike Ace some days ago. No words formed on the page like his name, but the ghostly power did linger. Nesi hesitantly took a paper closer to her mouth, breathed in, and breathed out. She kept doing it for a while until she felt silly for trying to copy the lizard. It had powers that she didn't... much like Ace and maybe some of the other boys who stayed with him to slay the beast he beheaded. Baragon merely watched Nesi try again, seeing that she was feeling less enthused as time passed, and narrowed his eyes at her. He slapped her with his tail then hopped off the hammock to scratch at the door.

"We can't leave, little Baragon. Captain's orders," Nesi explained.

Baragon turned to her sharply, slapped her with his tail again, and breathed strongly on the papers in response. The words "You must leave... to master haki," appeared in front of Nesi.

"Haki? What is haki?" Nesi questioned, lifting the paper.

"What d'ye mean it's not a devil fruit? What the hell is it?" Ace demanded.

He was standing in front of a well-groomed man named Pieter van der Does, an alarmingly calm and finely educated man dressed in a tailored suit of woolen olive-green coat, brown waistcoat with a line of gold buttons down to the knees, pressed cravat with a bit of lace to show his wealth, and lengthy riding breeches with long riding boots possibly over boothose. He was seated at a reserved table in a restaurant, analyzing Ace's displeased body language, raised voice, and defiant eyes. Pieter took an interest in Ace and his crew, but the man paid special attention to Nesi when she joined the crew to a bar for ale and a small lunch. She didn't drink more than a sip of ale out of politeness and spoke to Ace and the boys about her dream of becoming something that married the marine and pirate cultures together to better serve and progress the country. Pieter gave her his full attention when she specified not wanting to work for the government because of their focus on separation and enslavement but wanting to work for the public and ensure that the wealth of the country remains protected and shared equally among all, regardless of who rules over the land. While the boys didn't really care about that and Ace expressed his distaste for such a thing, Pieter had been watching Nesi closely to the point of stalking her.

When Nesi bought cleaning supplies and more tools for the ship on the Spade crew's voyage, Pieter went to work on gathering things to take Nesi away from Ace. He had already envisioned a fashionable look for her to gain the nobles' attention, studied her natural walk, studied her the way she talked, and even followed her to the Spades... rather pitiful boat. She worked at improving its look and cleanliness, however, and that captured Pieter's attention further. Unfortunately, the young captain before him seemed as intent on keeping her with him now as he did when he stopped Pieter from following them to question his actions.

"Hey, creep! Whaddaya want?" Ace demanded, forcibly turning Pieter around just as Nesi was burning trash on the docks.

"To teach," Pieter said simply, keeping eye contact with Ace and placing his cane down firmly.

"My boys aren't lookin' for a teacher."

"Oh?" Pieter replied, turning back to the ship with the boys laughing at something Nesi said. "What of the young lady there?"

"She's off limits," Ace hissed, walking in front of Pieter to avert his gaze back to him.

"No, she isn't," Pieter corrected, looking at Ace with a smirk before returning his sights to Nesi. He waited a moment to say his next choice of words and smiled softly as he said, "That girl will do it."

"Do what?" Ace asked with a growl, arm flinching to punch Pieter's lights out.

"Change everything," Pieter said, making Ace gasp before clenching his back teeth. "Her path will be bloodier than she thinks, but it will transcend through the ages! I know what she wants to be."

"You don't know anything, creep!" Ace defended, grabbing a fistful of Pieter's coat and yanking him forward.

Just before Ace could release the first blow, Pieter said with a short chuckle, "A privateer. That's what it's called. The privileges and duties of a marine with the freedom and glory surrounding a pirate. The ones who the government will leave Mary Geoisie to see. That's what she wants! She is not ready now, but she will be with the right teacher."

"Privateer?" Ace questioned, loosening his grip.

"Didn't you find it strange when she asked to join your crew?" Pieter then asked, unmoved by Ace ruining his fine coat. "A country girl with no visible talents for a life at sea wants to be at your side, a young man who has no prior experience at hardened sea voyages or prolonged battles. I heard your name was Ace, yes? Tell me, young Ace of Spades. What veteran experience can you provide in your teachings of piracy? There are over tens of thousands of men at the beck and call of a pirate captain such as yourself. Some have been at it for years - long before any of your crew members were born. What makes you think you'll be able to defeat a veteran pirate? She's learning the way of piracy from someone who hasn't even faced the strongest of them all yet. Swordsmen, ex-marines, conmen, hired hands, these are all obstacles you've yet to encounter. If her story is true and a marine cut her finger, what do you think a pirate will do to her once they hear her story? Just laugh? She needs a teacher who knows what she needs to know to fulfill her dreams. You are too young to teach her anything, Ace. Let me take her under my wing."

Ace narrowed his eyes but grew still with thought. He was ruminating on the man's words before he finally smiled and said, "You're fruitier than you look. I was raised by a veteran marine, bounty hunter, and some choice beasts. I know more than you think. Sure, I haven't been out as a pirate long, but, last time I checked, she didn't go to you for lessons. She came to me. You didn't exist in her world, and she didn't exist in yours up until we docked here. My first big move as a pirate was eatin' the devil fruit which is what I'm givin' her as a choice. Bein' a pirate is all about the freedom of choice and fighting for the life you want to live. She wants to fight for the country or some crap? Alright, I'll make sure she can. That's what a captain does. Makes sure his crewmates - no matter what their dream is - can fulfill 'em. I might not be the strongest, but I'll make damn sure I get close. If she can surpass me, I get to be the captain that made her one of the strongest pirates alive and that's enough to make my ego scream louder than a wave from high tide crashing against the shoreline!"

"Devil fruit, you say?" Pieter questioned quietly, rubbing his chin with his gloved fingers. "I actually know where that is. An island not far from here to be exact. Let's make a deal then, young Ace. If you can find that fruit and teach her how to use her powers the way you can, I'll act as a supplier for your ship's needs instead of her teacher. I will even apologize on hands and knees."

"Now we're talking," Ace said, releasing Pieter's clothes.

"However!" Pieter interrupted, holding up a hand and erasing Ace's smile for a moment. "If she chooses not to eat the fruit, I want her brought here so that I may teach her the ways of a privateer. Nothing rubs my ego more than knowing I took one of the most dangerous pirates alive and turned her into a proper noblewoman. Agreed?"

And that was that. Pieter didn't, however, mention that the fruit might not have been devil fruit at all. In fact, the man crossed his legs and smiled mischievously at Ace after a moment of silence passed between them. He knew it wasn't devil fruit but something else.

"You're a pirate, remember? You should know by now that your kind aren't always honest," Pieter said, tucking his curly brown locks behind his ear. "Why should I waste a virtue on you?"

"Lying bastard!" Ace said, readying a punch.

Unfortunately, Baragon hopped right in front of him and squealed at the fire-enhanced strike in his side. The sound of Nesi's voice rang in Ace's ears with a feeling of dread making his heartbeat irregularly. "Baragon! Sweetie! Where'd you go?"

"She ate it, didn't she?" Pieter asked, watching Baragon tumble into a table outside. "Well then, Captain Ace, it is your time to prove me wrong. Prove to me that a pirate is just as capable of teaching this girl as a veteran like me. The beasts of the Earth have chosen her to fulfill the mission of protecting the lands."

Baragon shook himself violently to get rid of the stunning blow Ace dealt before he looked at Pieter with some form of recognition. Pieter leaned down to pet Baragon before he ran away again to lead Nesi someplace else. Running out of breath, Nesi stopped for a second to catch herself before taking off again to chase Baragon. She didn't see Ace or Pieter inside of the restaurant.

"Study."

Nesi was shivering under Ace's dark gaze. He was not happy with anyone about Nesi or Baragon leaving the ship. Everyone cowered in fear of Ace's wrath. With the chores pretty much done on the ship, Ace just made everyone train by running laps or doing some other exercise to bulk up. Anyone who dared to question him got a face full of fire. Nesi, on the other hand, was forced to read a small pile of books that Ace dropped on her lap with his supervision. Baragon was forced to remain in the laundry room in a cage. His whimpers were muffled by the headset Ace made Nesi wear to focus on her reading. She knew she was in trouble, though. Nesi merely pouted, picked up her first book, and started reading.

"Um, captain?" Nesi called, raising her hand politely.

"What?" Ace barked lowly.

"Can I write in this? Or take notes?" Nesi asked, cowering a bit.

"Chapter summaries only," Ace growled.

"Aye, captain," Nesi replied, flinching at his tone.

He was a lot scarier than she thought, but she disobeyed his orders so she deserved it. Once it started getting late in the evening, Nesi peeked over to see Ace quietly snoring with his hat blanketing his eyes. She didn't dare sneak away, but she did take this opportunity to stretch her arms and legs. Her poor snookum must have been crying for hours at this point unless he cried himself to sleep. Looking at a blank page, thinking of Baragon's whimpering, she breathed on the page again... but this time... words had appeared!