It took me forever to finish this arc, I can't even give any excuses but I guess I just had a hard time fixing up the way I wanted this part to end making me procrastinate forever. You can thank my friend Kuro who finally helped me make it right.

Since it's been a while here's a quick summary of the arc:

After arriving on Oykot Sabo split up with his brothers to investigate the castle to find its treasure. Nojiko the imprisoned princess was trying to escape at the same time and Sabo got caught instead for being a thief. Nojiko gets to Camille's house, her helper only to find a lost Luffy and Zoro having tea. After talking a bit, Luffy agreed to take her home with a reluctant Zoro.

Ages reminder
Luffy: 9
Ace: 12
Sabo: 12
Zoro: 11
Nojiko: 13
Coby: 8
Deuce: 14

Chapter 18

~ASL ~

Ace was back on the ship and was listening to Deuce telling him about how he learned how to deal with wounds. One of the villagers taught him and then, before he died, he gave him a book. Ace, not having heard that before, was interested, the cyan head wasn't talking much about his past in general, simply mentioning his village was already huge.

He heard voices coming towards them and Ace, ready to welcome Sabo and ask to talk, immediately noticed his absence and frowned. It was Luffy and Zoro, who was carrying a giant bag of food, taller than himself and Luffy was talking to a girl. The oldest captain realized immediately that she was taller than him and sighed, he didn't like to deal with girls, whatever.

"Oy Luffy, did you see Sabo?" Luffy saw him and smiled brightly, attempting another slingshot at the sight of everyone at the harbor, hitting the fence of the ship and falling into the water. Not only did he just gather everyone's attention on them, he also needed to be rescued. Ace facepalmed and he could hear Zoro tossing his bag on the floor and jumping after Luffy before Ace was able to. The older brother couldn't help but smile, Luffy got himself a reliable crewmate, now who the hell was that. He crossed his arms and stared at the girl arriving near the ship, looking worriedly at the water. She was indeed taller than him and was wearing some kind of blue fabric around her face and head.

"Hello, erm, I'm Nojiko. Luffy offered to-"

"Yeah you don't need to explain, get on and stay on the ship. Deuce!" His second mate turned to him with a curious look.

"I'm going to check on Luffy, deal with her."

"Er- O-okay captain -he turned to her- he's uh Captain Ace"

"Is your name really Deuce?" She asked and Deuce smiled awkwardly.

Ace jumped down on the wooden bridge, noticing Zoro pulling the still conscious Luffy on the harbor. A small crowd gathered and Ace gladly took their attention.

"C'mon Lil Bro! Be more careful on the ship or our uncle is gonna punish you again!" he said very loudly and as Luffy finally rose up Ace punched the top of his head and mumbled more quietly.

"Luffy what did I say about being discreet!?" Luffy coughed a bit of salty water and smiled.

"Ow sorry Ace!" The older one turned to Zoro and nodded at him.

"Thanks for taking care of him, what's up with the girl?"

Zoro scratched the back of his head, looking away a little.

"Ah yeah, girl pest needs a ride home, or something."

"Her name is Nojiko! And she's very cool! She can steal things, she showed me how to get an apple from the market without being seen." He pulled his arm forward and pulled out a half eaten apple from his pocket, then after a second of thought swallowed it whole with a grin.

"I see… Let's go get you dry on the ship."

By then, most spectators were gone and no one glanced at them anymore, perfect, it worked this time. The three boys climbed back on the ship and waited.

~ N ~

Nojiko was feeling a little impatient. Deuce was nice enough, giving her calm and space when she asked but she really wanted to leave the island as soon as possible. The sun was sinking on the horizon and she could see the oldest brother pace on the deck, his frustration feeding into hers. Their brother was missing and those kids (they really were the only ones on this ship?!) would obviously not go anywhere without their precious brother. She wondered if…

"Erm… Luffy?" She asked the bouncing boy talking without Zoro about his favorite foods.

"By any chance could you tell me what your brother looks like? I might have seen him around the castle or something?"

She was a good liar usually but her nervousness was clearly visible and she could see Zoro squint at her but Nojiko focused her attention on Luffy. After hearing the description she decided she was cursed, of all people, it had to be the guy who accidentally helped with her escape.

"Oh-"

She bit her lip, thinking they wouldn't go anywhere without the brother, but if they found him they'd know it was her fault… Yeah the best course of action would be to help them, so maybe they'll- maybe Luffy would accept her apology again.

"I think I heard they caught a thief at the castle this morning… I'm not sure but it could have been him. The Mayor she- She is very strong, she probably captured him…"

She didn't notice Ace until he pulled at her shoulder, turning her around."

"Are you sure?!" She blinked, startled

"Y-yes, I - I heard he was blond with a big hat on his-"

"Couldn't you have said so earlier?!" He yelled, and Nojiko frowned about retorting that next time she'll keep her mouth shut. It was their brother, wouldn't she also act irrationally if her sister- She bit her lip and swallowed her words while Ace called Luffy.

"I'm going to go rescue him!" A hand on his shoulder cut him off.

"No way captain, I'm going with you." Deuce stood from where he was previously sitting, his face very serious despite the ridiculous mask.

"Me too!" Added Luffy who just came out of the rooms. "Uh where?"

"Rescue Sabo from the castle!" said Ace, impatiently, stomping on the deck and checking the harbor for people, thankfully it seemed to be mostly empty.

"Hey Nokojii, did you come from the castle? You can help us find him!"

Nojiko froze, returning to the castle? Once again her fear was truly visible on her face, she didn't want to go, no way she couldn't go back, she didn't want to be stuck again, alone for hours in this golden prison. Because things were so wrong and scary, she started tearing up, leaning against the fence.

"I can't… I'm… I'm sorry- T-they kept me in that castle for weeks, as a prisoner, if I go back-"

"Then you're leaving the ship, we can't risk the ship getting stolen by an unknown." Ace matter of factly said and Zoro put a hand on Luffy's shoulder before he could protest. She blinked and frowned, Nojiko could try and persuade another ship to take her but she felt responsible for what happened to their brother. Sacrificing her own freedom for another's imprisonment felt wrong… She rubbed at her eyes, rubbing away the tears.

"I-I'll guide you to the castle, e-even if you don't want to take me afterwards I'll do it!"

~ S ~

What time was it, he wondered. He's been scratching drawings on the floor with a stone, like he used to when he was younger against some hidden floorboards at his house. The light of the torch wasn't perfect but still good enough to make imaginary islands and animals. After a little while he sighed and threw the stone, he missed his brothers already, how was he supposed to want to leave their crew if he couldn't handle a couple hours away. He got used to being near them, living with them like they dreamed of, instead of being locked away in a room like his noble parents used to do. Maybe it was that, more than the absence of his brothers that made the pit in his stomach grow heavier and more uncomfortable. He heard his stomach gurgle, or maybe he was just hungry. Who knew? As he stood to find another sharp stone, he heard someone come into the corridor he was locked in.

The guard looked at him threateningly, he was fully armored and was using a spear as a weapon. He unlocked the door and told him to follow him. Sabo didn't protest much, thinking about how he could escape and walked ahead.

"Where are we going?" Asked Sabo hoping to distract the guard enough to make an attempt.

"Dinner" Answered the guard calmly and that made Sabo blink confusedly, well it wasn't too bad was it, he was pretty hungry.

The room they entered was surprisingly small for a dining room but the round table in the middle of the room was covered with a lot of different foods. The walls were covered with red tapestries, the sames he saw at the entrance of the country and against the other walls various bookshelves with hundreds of volumes he kind of wanted to check out. He used to like reading when he was younger until his parents disgusted him out of his studies. Stories of far lands and amazing adventures were his favorites.

"Welcome, sit down young man." said a female voice and he noticed the same woman who interrogated him, sitting at the end of the table. He scrunched his nose at the sight, she was wearing a richer gown than before, reminding him of his mother's, the whole ordeal was bringing bad memories he didn't want to think about.

Once sat he hesitated for a little bit until he saw the lady getting served by a maid and he frowned as he didn't hear her enter, was he that hungry?

He waited until the Mayor started on her food before he did the same, slowly and carefully. The food was nice and he soon realized that he was using proper manners that his parents taught him and disregarded them as soon as possible, taking the chicken in his two hands and he realized that the woman was looking at him appraisingly.

"So it was right, you are from a noble family." Sabo swallowed harshly, somehow it didn't sound very pleasant and immediately felt the familiar anger ignite in his stomach.

"Not anymore, they can die for all I care they-" He shut his mouth and took another mouthful of potatoes.

"No, continue, it was getting interesting. I was from a noble family too, a long time ago. Then my father died and my big brother became the leader of the family and murdered all the servants, simply because he didn't like them."

Sabo stared, a little surprised, he thought the Oykot country wasn't under the nobles rule, one of the reasons he chose this island for Ace's second mate. The woman continued talking, barely looking at him.

"It was murder and my mother said nothing, no one said anything, all those people, even when I told the Marines… They imprisoned me instead in their dungeons, I was twelve and I stayed eight years in this prison." She didn't continue for a little while and the silence fell on the two of them.

Sabo didn't know what to think, the situation was similar to his own, just somehow much worse. Would his parents sell him to the Marines so no shame would fall on them? Yes they would have if they caught him, but they never did and he was lucky. If Garp caught him… Would he sell him back to his parents? Keep him imprisoned as well? He was shaking at the idea, so he opened his mouth.

"I don't ever want to return there, their world is rotten to the core, I'd rather die. No humans should be allowed to live like this" He took a long inspiration, glad having finally said it and went back to his food. Her next words almost made him choke on his potatoes.

"That's an interesting philosophy, have you ever heard of the Revolutionary Army?"

~ ASL ~

There was a plan, a simple plan that fell apart the second it started.

The diversion was supposed to get the guards out of the castle and keep them there, Deuce and Ace bought enough fireworks to make that work but the problem was, of course, that no one knew how to use them.

"I think you're supposed to light it up this way and…" started Deuce but was interrupted by Ace.

"No no this way is gonna explode to our faces, I've played with fire before and-"

As they continued arguing in the bushes they never saw Luffy, precious little Luffy setting fire to all of them, right next to them, and as Nojiko noticed and Zoro was standing guard to avoid patrols and didn't see anything, it was too late.

"LUFFY NO" She yelled and it exploded everywhere. Suddenly they didn't have much time left. To avoid the explosions Ace and Deuce ran away from the castle and in the bushes with their torch still lit up, setting fire to the said bushes preventing them from joining the castle. Luffy yelped in surprise, falling on the girl who caught him before he was burned.

It was loud and blinding but the three of them managed to head towards the secret entrance. It would be their job to find Sabo.

"We need to hurry," whispered Nojiko, "Follow me and we can get your brother out of there." She told a dizzy Luffy and Zoro frowned before agreeing and pulling his Captain along.

~ S ~

It was quick and efficient. One minute the Mayor Sandra who was finally spouting some interesting things about the Revolutionary Army and their fight for freedom and the next the door exploded and Sabo, without thinking, immediately hid.

Opposite to the door, he wasn't sure they didn't see him but he was small enough to slide under the table until whoever attacked them was done. Multiple armored people entered the room, he could see their feet turned towards the Mayor.

"Mayor Sandra, we meet again." said a male voice.

"Minister Keiji, I can't say I'm glad to see you disturbing my meal."

"We can't let you keep the power here, we will free the princess and take over the Kingdom. Did you think we would let you reign over Oykot forever?"

Sabo decided to escape from this room as soon as possible. If the Mayor was busy it shouldn't be too hard to do so and he slowly moved under the table towards the door.

"A coup d'Etat? Really? Do you believe you'll be able to pull it off? The princess is already gone. You're never going to get this kingdom back, the people finally got a taste of what it's like to live freely." The blond heard her standing and waited for the opportune moment.

"Guards! Get her!" They shuffled around and Sabo leaped out, pushing the one closest to the door on the side and sprinted away.

"Wha- Who's-" He couldn't hear more than that as he heard more fighting happening in the background. Freedom was calling him, now how to get out of this castle.

~ ASL ~

Ace and Deuce were running. In fact there were way more guards than expected in the castle and they definitely couldn't fight them all off.

"What do you mean you can't fight?" screamed Ace at a sweating Deuce.

"You never asked! How was I supposed to know you'd need me to fight? I'm going to be a doctor!"

"You're joining a pirate crew and you're wondering if you're gonna fight?!"

Deuce blinked then laughed sheepishly.

"Good point" Ace roared in frustration as a guard caught up to them, he appeared in an alley right beside them and Ace simply leaped and kicked him in the face before he could do anything. They headed to the alley in which the kicked out guard came from and hid for a second hearing the guards pass by.

"We need to get back to the castle, we got as many guards as we could out of the castle now we need to go back in to help." But Deuce didn't agree.

"We don't want to get lost in there, don't you trust your brother and his second to rescue Sabo?" Ace froze and groaned.

"Alright but I give them an hour, if they're not back we head in."

~ RZ ~

Zoro didn't trust the girl, he didn't trust her a single bit. Yet he still followed behind while Luffy talked to her, the green head was hoping he wouldn't invite her to the crew. But instead Luffy asked another question while they walked a dusty tunnel inside the castle.

"Why do you hate pirates so much?" She seemed surprised by the question and Zoro was curious too. He didn't like pirates either, besides the obvious reasons they were dangerous and didn't care about killing innocents and usually didn't rescue princesses.

"My home island has been under control of pirates for years now, and they killed my mother."

"I see, sorry to hear that" mumbled Luffy, uncharacteristically serious. Before they could talk more Nojiko signed them to not make any noise as she opened the secret passageway. It was a nice bedroom Zoro thought, looking richer than any he'd ever seen. But other than this thought he immediately lost interest in the place, no swords or anything worth investigating. They headed outside of the room and immediately headed back inside in panic, hearing some armored people arrive as they ran past the door. Zoro frowned as one of them, the last one must have heard the door close and stayed. The green haired kept his hand on Wado Ichimonji, ready to fight as Nojiko shook behind Luffy who looked ready to fight as well.

The door opened slowly and the guard opened his eyes wide.

"Princess?! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be gone" The guard looked a little nervous and checked if they were alone before entering the room as well. Considering the lack of fighting intent Zoro decided not to attack yet and waited.

"I'm not… The thief, he's innocent, it's my fault if he…"

"It doesn't matter, we must see the Minister, he needs to know you're around for us to succeed." Zoro slid in front of the guard right as he was about to grab the girl's arm, but the guard didn't seem impressed by a bunch of kids. Simply confused.

"The Kingdom can be back if you take the throne, we can have it back!" Said the guard and understanding seemed to fill her features.

"What? I don't want to-" She mumbled palling by the second and the guard seemed even more confused and Zoro jumped as the guard was punched into unconsciousness. Zoro stared at Luffy who was jumping in impatience.

"Evil guard can't get you now, let's go find Sabo!" Nojiko stared at Luffy, then at the guard and nodded and they ran in the corridors towards the dungeons.

Almost there! I'm finishing up next chapter soon

Cheers!