Chopper wanted to help Usopp, but Sanji explained to him that Usopp had lost and that it would be out of pity to help him now.
Luffy stood by the ship, "It's heavy," his voice broke at the edge of tears. "That's the burden of the captain. Don't hesitate. If you can't be decisive then who can we believe in?" Zoro encouraged him before he turned around to the others, "Let's clear the ship. We can't return here ever again!"
Oriana hated seeing him like that. She blamed Usopp for his pain after throwing away the friendship of a lifetime. Luffy was the captain, and it was his job to protect the crew. He did that by getting a new ship.
The captain would decide something, and the crew must follow no matter… what… It was their job to make the hard decisions even if they didn't understand the reason. Oriana's eyes widen, 'Just like dad,' she realized.
"It's okay, this is an exception. I have a bad feeling about this," those words echoed in her head.
Whitebeard had decided not to take revenge against the traitor no matter how hard that was – he was in charge. Ace had made a big mistake by going after Teach, and just as much of the blame was on Oriana. They not only undermined his authority but disobeyed the captain's orders too.
Oriana had to call and apologize to him as soon as possible.
Everyone started gathering their things ready to leave, but Robin was still missing. Nami started packing her things and Oriana went to help. Where was she?
They had cleared out the entire ship in less than two hours, "What should we do now?" Chopper asked sadly, "We can check into a hotel for the night and figure the rest out in the morning," Oriana suggested, and the rest agreed.
Once they found a place, they decided to share a big room because none of them felt like being alone that night. The two females got the bed while the males slept on the floor. The atmosphere in the room was very heavy.
When Oriana's head touched the pillow, she fell asleep in an instant not realizing how tired she was.
-x-
Oriana woke up really early the next morning. The sun had barely risen with the others still sleeping. Her eyes landed on Luffy, and she wanted to do something nice for him to cheer him up. She decided to get up to get everyone breakfast.
This crew had welcomed her without hesitation. It could be because she was the captain's sister or maybe they were just welcoming people, either way, she deeply appreciated it.
Oriana quietly sneaked out of the room with a den-den Mushi in her hand. She would use this chance to call her crew, but they might be sleeping. What time was it wherever they were? Hard to say…
"Hello?" a tired voice answered, "I'm sorry, were you sleeping, Marco?" she asked apologetically, "Oria? It's unlike you to be up this early," a smile appeared on the snail. "I know it's weird for me too!" she chuckled.
"Anyway, why are you awake, now?" Marco finally asked, "My heart is aching," she said, "What happened?" The commander was more awake, "Luffy had to fight one of his crewmates because he decided something, and the crewmate couldn't accept it. So, I'm going to get them breakfast to cheer them up."
"I've known you for many years and you've never done anything like that for any of us," he wasn't mad just amused, "To be fair, I've always had someone older taking care of me. So far, it'd never happened the other way around," she smiled softly.
Oriana didn't know how to ever repay them for that. The Whitebeard pirates had found her at a very low point in her life and taken her in. They protected and cared for her all those years. She truly loved them very much.
"Marco…" she started, and he hummed in response, "I really appreciate you and I want to thank you for everything you've done for me!" she smiled widely. "Are you alright, little one?" Marco asked a little concerned.
"Yeah, I realized how lucky I am. I'm always being free-spirited and carefree, but only because I have people, I trust watching my back!" Oriana giggled, "Thanks, it doesn't hurt if you told us a little more often, it's not always easy to cover you," Marco teased.
"I know and I will! Is dad awake, too?" Oriana asked, "I don't know, but I'll check," she could hear Marco walking before knocking on a door, "Pops, Oriana is on the line and wants to speak with you," the first commander said.
"Hello treasure, did you enjoy Sky Island?" Whitebeard asked, "Hey dad, it was amazing! Everything was white and fluffy then there was this guy claiming to be god," she elaborated, "Do you believe in god?" he suddenly asked.
"Are you drunk, dad? Cause that's the only time you ever talk about god and a tribe that used to live on top of the Red Line, which is a story you don't finish," she laughed happily. "I'll tell you when you return," he promised.
Oriana remembered the reason for calling, "I'm sorry I left like that, dad," she turned serious, "What's wrong, Oriana?" Whitebeard asked concerned while wondering what brought this change of attitude.
"I made a promise with Ace and Luffy that we wouldn't live a life of regret. And for the last ten years, I've kept that promise until I saw a pirate challenging his captain. That fight made me realize how wrong we were. Me and Ace might not have challenged you in the same way, but we did defy your orders. And for that, I'm very sorry!" Oriana eyes filled with tears.
"Come home, Oriana," Whitebeard said softly after a few moments of silence, "Can I really do that? What about Ace and Blackbeard?" she tried to wipe her tears away. "We'll figure something out – just come back to me," her father said with so much love. "I'll be there soon," she nodded happily.
Whitebeard was probably on the other side of the world, but somehow, she could still feel his warmth, "Can you pick me up by the Red Line in a few days?" Oriana had gotten more control of herself. "Of course, which island are you on right now?"
"I'm on Water Seven, which is pretty close to the Red Line," She informed, "We are not that far from the Red Line as well. We'll meet you there in a few days, yoi!" Marco answered this time, "Great! Thank you. I have a couple of things to take care of, but I'll see you very soon!" she smiled happily.
The call disconnected but the smile on Oriana's face didn't falter. She had missed them very much and looked forward to going home.
When Oriana went back to the crew, she found them relaxing on the rooftop, "I brought you guys something to eat," she waved the back from side to side, "Food!" Chopper said happily. She put the bag in front of everyone, "I found some very interesting meat, Luffy!" she yelled to him because he was sitting on the roof of an entirely different building.
She was about to take the biggest piece, but a hand grabbed it first. Luffy jumped over to them before he sat down and ate with them. Oriana sat down and took a deep breath, "I'm… leaving soon," she managed to say.
"Where are you going, Oria-sama?" Sanji calmly asked, "I'm going back to my crew…" she looked at Luffy to see his reaction. He looked at her too, but with an emotionless expression. That was one of the few times she didn't know what he was thinking.
"When are you leaving?" he finally asked, "I'm almost done drawing the island. So, I was thinking about leaving tomorrow morning or in the afternoon," Luffy looked sad but nodded nonetheless, "Chin up! Once you guys make it to the new world we can meet more often!" the idea excited her.
"What's the New World?" Zoro asked, "Right, it's what they call the second half of the Grand Line. That sea is on an entirely different level than this side! This side is known as paradise," she smirked devilishly.
They turned to each other, but the door was suddenly pushed open, "Come and eat, Nami!" Oriana waved at her. The navigator stared at her captain, "It's Iceberg, Luffy! He got shot in his own house!" she yelled concerned.
"Old man Ice was…?" he was shocked. "Yeah, he got shot! He's unconscious now!" Nami explained. The rest of them didn't know who they were talking about and just watched the conversation between the two, "Who's that, Nami-san?" Sanji voiced their common question.
"The guy that took care of us the other day at the shipyard. He's the president of the company and mayor of Water Seven!" she explained, "Wow, he must be an important guy, "the blond continued, "It's the biggest catastrophe to ever happen in this city!"
"That guy was respected by so many people. I'll go look!" the young captain ate the last of his meat before quickly getting up and running towards the door, "I'll go too!" Nami yelled after him with Sanji started cleaning up after them.
Luffy suddenly stopped by the door and turned to Oriana, "Don't worry, I won't leave the island without telling you!" she reassured. The navigator seemed confused, "Wait, what are you talking about?" but Luffy took her wrist and dragged her out, "I'll tell you on the way!"
It wasn't long till Sanji and Chopper went out to look for Robin. She didn't come back to the ship last night and no one had seen her since coming to the island, "Are you coming with us, Oria-sama?" the cook asked her.
"No, I'm going to finish my drawing," she smiled before leaving to get her book in her back along with her snail from the room. Oriana jumped from building to building to get to the outer wall from yesterday.
She noticed people being very loud in the distance and out of curiosity decided to check it out. There was a group of people approaching Luffy, "Damn it! What the hell at least tell me the reason!" he yelled.
Oriana jumped in front of Luffy and caught whatever the long-nosed shipwright threw at him easily, "Oria!" Luffy and Nami yelled, "I thought shipwrights on this island had more honor than to attack your customers even though they're pirates?" she glared at the one she actually met.
"Not when the pirates are the ones attacking Iceberg-san!" he replied, "You're accusing us of attacking the mayor now?" she stepped closer to him in anger. "Iceberg-san said a woman with straight black hair and a masked person shot him!" a blond man yelled.
"You don't know Robin like we do! So, don't talk about her like that!" Luffy yelled. He wanted to see the mayor, but the shipwrights refused. The civilians had already surrounded them, and a man even grabbed Nami.
Oriana tramped the ground beneath her, and it even shook over to the man. He lost his footing and the navigator got away, "Thanks, Oria!" she said gratefully. Oriana smiled back but a long rope caught her right arm.
She calmly looked at the man holding the other end of it. The blond tried to drag her towards him, but he ended up being the one getting pulled towards her. He came flying and Oriana kicked him to the side effortlessly burning the rope in the process.
A very muscular man came and aimed a bazooka at Luffy, "Now, we know that pistols don't work on you," he said before he fired the thing. Luffy got out of the way but a man with a top hat suddenly appeared and almost cut him.
"I can't be the only one fighting, Luffy!" Oriana reminded him a little annoyed, "But I have no reason to fight!" he ran away yelling. One of the many shipwrights wanted to cut him with his sword but Oriana broke it in half, "Isn't defending yourself a good reason to fight?" she tried.
Luffy didn't respond, instead, they backed him into a wall by the square-nosed that had struck his pallet-like weapons into his clothes. They shot the bazooka at him, but he managed to jump out of the way.
Suddenly a guy with blue hair flipped over a table, "How many times are you going to make me say it, Galley-La?!" Oriana was quickly getting tired of this island, but somehow the entire island was after them.
The guy took a t-shaped tube into his arm and aimed it at them. His forearms were getting bigger, "Coup de vent!" but Oriana managed to slide in between his legs as the pressure released. She found him unable to move and used this chance to kick him into a building.
Luffy came running and grabbed Nami before stretching his hand onto the top of some building, "Oria!" he seemed concerned, "Coming!" she quickly turned towards the shipwright then ran over to Luffy and held onto him.
He flew them to the roof of some building. The two crewmates wanted to go see the mayor while she continued on with her day, "See you later!" she waved as she left them to their plan. She went over to the big outer wall again to continue drawing.
"This is an announcement. The Water Seven weather forecast department has officially declared an aqua laguna for the entire island. Repeat, officially declared an aqua laguna will arrive sometime around midnight!"
Oriana looked up, "What's aqua laguna?" Did that have something to do with how strong the wind was getting around the island? It reminded her of whenever her father used his powers to summon a tsunami, a strong wind would come as a warning.
Did that mean a tsunami was coming? She had till tonight to figure out what was going on.
-x-
The sun had almost set but Oriana had finally finished drawing the island. She couldn't afford to spend another day here and had to rush a few details, but the result was something she could be proud of.
Oriana leaned back to stretch her body out and looked towards the ocean. The way the sun reflected its light in the water was breathtaking.
She went back to the others but when she arrived at the hotel, people were looking for them. Oriana went up to one of them and asked what was going on, "The straw-hat crew are staying here and when they get back, we're going to catch them!"
Oriana went into the city to avoid the trouble and saw a big building burning with people trying to put it out. She pulled the water from the canals and flooded the entire house. A moment later everything was out. The people looked around to find the one responsible.
The female pirate didn't come forward instead she ran into the building after sensing familiar people inside. She went upstairs and kicked the door in. Oriana saw her friends, the shipwrights, and faces she didn't recognize, "Why did I just know you guys were involved?" she laughed.
"How did you find us, Oria?" everyone's eyes were on her, "I've traveled with you long enough to know you are usually the center of attention," she looked at her brother with a smile. "It's not our fault this time!" Luffy defended.
Oriana chuckled not really believing him then her eyes landed on something huge, "That's an interesting size for a cat," she laughed. There were four people standing side by side, "You guys are government agents," it wasn't a question.
"I've been trying to figure out who you are. The mark on your arm belongs to the Whitebeard pirates and they called you Oria or more right Edward Oriana, which is the name of Winter Blaze and Whitebeard's daughter, but there's still one thing I can't figure out." The leopard man said.
"Really? You are doing great so far!" she smirked, "Why is your face so different from your wanted poster?" he finally asked, "Did you ever consider that it might be because of a devil fruit?" she raised an eyebrow.
"That was my main thought, but what kind of devil fruit gives you the power to do what you do?" his form towered over her, "Wouldn't you like to know?" she smirked, "There something big you're hiding and I'm going to find out one way or another!"
"Give it your best shot, kitty-cat!" she prepared herself for anything, but Luffy came in with a punch to his face, "Pigeon guy!" which didn't do much and the man counted that he was about to poke Luffy with his index finger.
Oriana quickly slapped his hand to the side and then kicked him away. The other agents seemed surprised and came attacking her at the same time after realizing she wasn't someone to take lightly. The square-nosed guy got ready for a kick, but Oriana kicked his leg away resulting in the side of the room getting sliced.
The side of the room's wall collapsed but close to, "Nami, Chopper get away from the wall!" Zoro yelled. Oriana stretched her arm in their direction to stop the falling from hitting them when the bull-looking guy came up and punched her in the stomach.
Oriana got back up and punched him harder out of the window, "She managed to break his iron body!" the female agent almost screamed. The zoan user came up to her impressed, "I see Whitebeard made sure you aren't weak," he said emotionlessly.
"Actually, my father didn't want me to fight at all, but he didn't stop me when I wanted to!" she said. No matter how much her father tried to hide it she knew he would prefer her not to fight, beside her and the nurses, there weren't any female crewmates other than a few allies. Oriana wondered if there were reasons for that.
"Good, I didn't plan on holding back!" he said before transforming into another form. Oriana raised an eyebrow, zoan-users usually had three forms: Human, animal, and hybrids, which she assumed was the big one. So, where did this skinny, smaller form come from?
The pigeon guy tried to poke her with his finger gun, but she backed away from him until her back hit a wall. Oriana took a deep breath and blew fire into his face which made him back away before hitting him with a boulder from the floor.
He hit the bed hard, and Oriana went after him but was stopped by his two comrades. They came from each side of her and held her back with thorny metal ropes and were struggling to hold her there.
Pigeon guy stood up angrily and walked towards her, but Luffy came in with a punch, but it didn't affect him Instead Lucci grabbed his face, "I'll send you off this island!" and threw him through the wall, "Luffy!" everyone screamed.
Oriana closed her eyes to focus on the material, but her concentration broke when Lucci kicked Zoro out as well. Oriana looked down to change to her other form, surprising the people around her, "You really are Winter Blaze!"
Oriana stared at Lucci with her fiery red eyes and a scary smile. She didn't say anything instead she leaned back to a handstand and did a split blowing the two holding her out of the building with a strong wind.
Winter Blaze still doing a handstand turned to Lucci bent her arm and used the force to kick him with both her feet to his chest. He didn't have time to react as he flew back, and Oriana released a fire-infused wind as he flew out of the building as well.
She did a backflip before landing in front of the remaining pirates, "That's… amazing…" Nami struggled to say. Oriana raised her hand for her to be quiet and took some of her hair behind her ear before releasing a wind out of the hole the agents flew out off.
A second later there was an explosion and Oriana turned to the others, "Are you guys alright?" but she quickly turned around and blocked the fire from spreading to them. The entire room was burning, so, she took Nami, Chopper, the mayor, and the guy with goggles out of there.
She laid the four people on the grass before sitting down next to them, "I doubt they'll be back," Oriana leaned against a tree. "How can you be so sure?" the man in bandages asked, "They tried to burn the manor down I don't think there's anything left for them here," she said casually.
A group of people approached them, "Iceberg-san!" Oriana crawled over to Nami and shook her away. The navigator opened her eyes, "Oria… You're bleeding," her arms and shirt were torn and bloody, "That's nothing. Are you-" the group gathered around them.
"Would you guys leave us for a while? I'd like to talk with them alone," the mayor said. Once they were alone Iceberg apologized for accusing them. He wanted to talk about Robin and asked if her attitude changed when she came here.
Nami told him that it did and that she suddenly disappeared. When Robin met up with Sanji and Chopper, she said that she wasn't going to come back to the ship and that her wish wouldn't be granted with them.
The mayor explained that he and Robin had the power to destroy the world. She could read the ancient language while he had the blueprint of the weapon Pluton, "You can build another Pluton?" Oriana yelled.
Iceberg seemed surprised that she knew about it, "Yeah," he said before continuing and explaining that Robin had no intention of reviving the weapon but wanted to know the history behind it. She wanted her wish even if she had to throw away everything.
It was a two-part plan; one, she had to arrange an assassination. Two, then blame it on them.
The reason for her helping the government was to prevent a buster call. She would normally run like she had for the last twenty years, but it was different now. Her wish was to save the six straw hats and Winter Blaze to get off this island safely.
She would cooperate with the government even if the weapon was revived and the world destroyed.
Iceberg wanted to shoot her, but he couldn't do it, "Even when I'm about to have the blueprint taken. I've no right to blame her". The situation surprised Oriana, she wasn't part of the crew, but Robin still did that to save her too.
Nami fell to the side, "I'm so glad. So, Robin didn't betray us." she quickly got up and started running, "I have to tell the others. Thanks Iceberg-san". The mayor wondered how they would save her after getting beaten.
The navigator assured them that Luffy and the others wouldn't die from that, especially after finding out what Robin did, their powers would only grow limitless. She went over to the reindeer and chopped him awake. He was happy to know about Robin.
The last train would depart at eleven with all the government agents and Robin was probably on too. After that, no ship could sail out because the aqua laguna would hit the island soon, "Okay, we need to do this quickly! I'll go look for Luffy and Zoro while you two go after Robin!" Oriana said.
Chopper and Nami agreed, "Hey, shameless woman. I'll guide you to the station," the goggled man said. "Great! I'll go on ahead!" Oriana informed before going in the direction of the canals, "Wait, you'll need a yagara!" the blond man yelled but she ignored him for obvious reasons before surfing in the direction the two flew in.