-x-

CHAPTER 3

-x-

Sabaody Archipelago, Paradise, Grand Line, One Piece

-x-

Irene smiled brightly at her new store - which also served as her home and base of operations in this new world - the specifics could come later, but for now, she was just going to bask in the joy of having accomplished something so simple, yet so profoundly meaningful. To herself at least.

Buying a house was a momentous event in any person's life but it was all the more true for her as she had dreamed of building a home, a life, away from the shadow of her 'family' for the longest time. And now, that dream was coming true.

Ah- 'buying' might not be the correct term here, but she owned it, and no-one had the balls to argue about it yet so it might as well be the same thing if you squint at it hard enough from the right angle. Well, whatever, it was far more 'official' than just squatting in the shadows of some spirit cop's house.

She wiped her face and realized her hand was suspicious wet. "Oh? Where did that come from I wonder. Its too sunny for rain, yeah?" her voice broke a little, but the brilliant, unwavering smile on her face was well and truly real. It was the most genuinely she had expressed an emotion in... she couldn't tell really.

Yes, the building was stark and empty of color, and lacked anything resembling furniture, but she would get to that soon enough. The locals were bound to have some good furniture, especially since this place was a major commercial center where the even the World Nobles frequently visited ( She wasn't sure though. The details were a bit blurry but she was fairly sure she wouldn't forget a group of people so universally punchable). Sparing some gold from her recently acquired haul for necessities shouldn't be that big of an issue. She didn't know how much things were worth here, but the fact that gold had enough value to be minted into coins meant that the value of precious metals was still vaguely the same as that of Earth's.

And she had a lot of it.

Irene touched down in front of her home. Her feet landing with a squish that made her wince. "I need to raise the front deck a bit too I guess."

Irene had raised the house/store itself well above the surroundings a bit because of a variety of reasons, two of the most obvious being;
a) - she wasn't that good of an architect and had no idea how to even start constructing a building that wasn't on a flat surface, and
b) - the gargantuan roots of the massive mangroves were sticky with resin. She didn't remember if that was a thing or not, but in hindsight, it made sense. The bubbles around the archipelago and the coating Rayleigh made for the Straw Hat Pilates's ship - the one they used to go underwater - had to come from somewhere, after all.

To others, maybe it was a unique and valuable resource, but to her it was an annoyance. Despite her 'training' as a 'soldier', it seemed that she still disliked the feeling of wading through the sticky surface of the mangrove trees. Irene didn't like the fact she sounded like a spoiled princess, but still, spending the last two decades of her life in a relatively sterile environment along with the fact that there were no genuine threats around made her relax a bit - which ironically made her hyper-aware of the slimy substance that clung to her skin.

She supposed that it wouldn't bother the people living here because they were significantly more accustomed to traveling the seas and the islands that dotted them. To even get here, they most likely traveled through multiple islands with vastly different environments and climates, each one more hazardous or uncomfortable to traverse than the last. Compared to that, a sticky floor was most likely not that big of a deal.

Of course, it wasn't as messy as blood tended to be, and she could ignore it all and focus on her objective (if she had one) by shifting into a more 'mission' oriented focus, but right now, there was nothing to actually focus on. And turns out, she found that she didn't like the idea of spending her downtime all sticky and uncomfortable. She blamed her lack of actual field experience for her embarrassment.

Irene scowled as she stepped on top of a reishi platform a few inches off the ground instead and used it to futilely wipe her feet off.

"Reminder; I really need a welcoming mat or a carpet or something"

Looking down, she was suddenly reminder of her newly shortened, younger frame. Hm. that was troublesome in hindsight.

"On one hand, I really don't want to be mistaken for being a kid and be looked down upon. But on the other hand, being called a legal loli is worse. On that same note, why did the Hogyoku de-age me in the first place?"

Aizen didn't have to go through any of this shit! But then again, she had no idea how much the Hogyoku had transformed her to let her survive her passage in the void between worlds. All she remembered was a kaleidoscope of pain and a deluge of other vague feelings and impressions that defied description. She supposed that if the situation was as extreme as she thought it was, very little of her original body must have survived the transition for such a drastic change to have occurred. And considering how similar she looked to Yhwach, the Hogyoku must have used the 'template' of her Quincy powers as a reference point. Hell, The Hogyoku might have even de-aged her because she hated her 'family' for all she knew.

She had no idea really, but it would have helped to have an explanation - any explanation.

It wasn't all bad, though... being able to grow up again presented some interesting opportunities. She would also really appreciate some development in certain specific areas as well. Her old body wasn't that bad, but she was a bit lanky and well... she was almost flat as a board. Having known both ends of the spectrum in the span of two lifetimes, she personally just preferred a... fuller frame. Hopefully, the change in body and environment helped that along.

Because seriously, there must be something in the water here because every single woman she had observed in this place had a massive pair of tits - or at least a far larger percentage of them had it larger than they did back on Earth. And most of them looked very natural and perky too!

She had no idea why or how but it was only right that she too acquired this power! It wasn't because she was jealous or self-conscious! She wasn't! But she wouldn't mind if the Hogyoku would push for some extra oomph in some places. After all, it would be a shame if she couldn't assert her dominance in every field! It was high time she received a glow-up! Death-Orb McGuffin, you there? Hello?

Then again, the physiques of almost everyone here was robust, emphasized or exaggerated beyond what was 'normal' to her old sensibilities. But the worst part was actually growing up.

Oh god(myself?). Did she have to go through puberty all over again? Irene wondered if there was a way to skip that torture somehow.

"Wait, wasn't there this girl with a devil fruit power that let her age people? What was she called again? Boni? Bunny? Something along those lines. I'll have check up on the bounty boads to confirm." She mused, before shaking her head.

She started towards the city, but only made a single step before another realization struck her.

"Ah... I need clothes." To clarify, she wasn't naked per se, but the cloak of shadows that was draped over her body was extremely conspicuous. And while it served to cover herself up quite nicely, it still wasn't 'real' in a sense. It was far more durable than any material fabric, but she still didn't 'trust' it as much as she did real clothing. She had read far too much anime and manga but be comfortable with wearing clothes that were considered 'fake' in any degree.

Nodding to herself, Irene set off towards the tourist and shopping area in grove 40-49.

-x-

Irene stared in wonder as she took in the fantastical sights before her. If it didn't register before that she was well and truly in another world, seeing Sabaody with her own two eyes drove the fact down. Massive striped roots arched overhead while sunlight filtered through the massive canopy high above, only to scatter into multicolored light as it hit the vast number of bubbles that ever drifted upwards, lighting up the entire area in an ethereal glow that gave her the impression of standing under a rainbow. The natives who lived here had adapted to the trees and the bubbles it constantly produced, using it for everything they could get away with; 'bubbled shopping bags', 'bubble bikes', 'personal hotel rooms' that were constructed around a bubble by coating and reinforcing them - and many, many more.

The entire economy of this place was built around the novelty.

Irene walked through the shopping district, tugging along a floating bubble tied to her wrist by rope and some sort of suction mechanism. She went in and out of every store in sight, accumulating a large hoard of arguably useless souvenirs. She even bought one of those floating bubble bikes! Something in the back of her mind told her that she should rent it instead, but her personal stance against loans and debts had her just buying the thing to spare her the trouble.

Though... the shopkeeper's smile was a bit too smug for her liking. She then went through a few furniture workshops too, and picked out the things she liked, before promptly dumping them all into her shadow after she had determined that she was out of sight. Finding herself with a lot of spare time after finishing her objective, Irene resolved to just enjoy herself for the rest of the day.

She lost all sense of time as she wandered the place, trying out the food and drink until eventually, the light from the canopy started to redden. With a start, Irene realized that it was starting to get a bit late - especially when the people started to light up the lamps and streetlights.

In the distance, she spotted the Sabaody Park light up like a palace, crowned by the Ferris Wheel that spun in the background like a halo of stars.

It was... beautiful. Irene looked conflicted as she stared at the park, and back at her (temporarily) empty home. She bit her lip as she pondered on what to do. "I can always stay out late, its not as if there's anyone here to tell me otherwise. Right? Right."

And just like that, she nodded and started on a path towards the park, noticing but promptly ignoring the insignificant presences that started following her.

The presences barely registered to her spiritual sight - being so insignificant compared to her own carefully contained spiritual pressure that they might as well be ants. Maybe it was because she grew up in a reishi-rich environment, maybe it was because she had developed a habit of filtering out 'mundane' humans and animals from her spiritual perception, but whatever the case, she didn't think much of the minuscule lights that danced around her own incandescent sun.

In hindsight, she should have cut down on the hubris a bit.

-x-