(A/N: Time to officially meet Venus! Enjoy!)

Luffy's Magical Friend! A Walk To The Execution Platform

As he entered, he heard a small gasp of surprise and wariness. In front of where he stood, there she was. The girl he saw peer in.

Tempeste G. Venus.

The room was just as dark and empty as the rest of the bar, only there was no chairs. There was a mattress with a pillow and blanket laying over it at one side of the room, jars of strange items scattered at the other, and closely next to her, a spell book was propped up on the wall. At her other side was a black pet carrier lined with pink, and had a caged door, and a handle on top.

She herself was wearing black and white striped tights, black sneakers, a black belted skirt with phases of the moon along the front of the bottom, a black v-neck cropped t-shirt with bat-wing hemming on the short sleeves and neckline, and as he saw earlier on, an eggplant purple cloak with a spiky hem, a lighter purple moon on the back that matched the inner lining and black stars and crescent moons lined along the hood. Her long, light green hair was in low twintails, and her right-side bangs had a black skunk stripe. "You're the witch?"

"Wh-what're you doing in here?" She asked fearfully, her back to the wall as far as she can go.

"The old guy let me in," He replied, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Yeah, I, I've seen your wanted poster," She stammered, "Tempeste G. Venus."

"Can I see your magic? I bet it's really cool!"

She blinked her eye in genuine surprise, as she readjusted herself to sit cross-legged. "Y-you really want to see some?"

"Yeah!" He grinned widely, and plopped down in front of her like an eager child, waiting for the show to start.

She stared in silence for a moment; this was a first in a long time. "O-okay, um... I'll start with something easy. Here I go now." She grabbed a small crystal, and held it between her palms. "No strings here." After clapping her hands, she made the crystal float between her hands. "Ta-da."

"Woohoo, so cool!" Luffy cheered and applauded. He felt between the crystal and her hands. "No strings!"

"Nope," She ended the trick with her hands coming together, and put the crystal back. "Okay, next one." She produced a bright, swirling energy ball between her hands. But by mistake, she launched it upward too quickly, and shot it at the wall she sat against the ceiling, creating another dent amongst others from times past. She ducked down for cover, but the sparkles raining down were harmless.

"So pretty!" Luffy praised. "That would be great in battle!"

"I-in battle?"

"Yeah! You'd blast bad guys away with that move!"

"Oh uh, y-yeah, I guess," She humored him nervously, "So uh, now the best for last. But you gotta hold still for this, Luffy. Close your eyes."

"Okay!" He did so, grinning in anticipation.

He heard her muttering to herself, then felt a little lighter. "Okay, open your eyes." When he did, he noticed Venus suddenly holding a full-body mirror. His eyes widened; he was off the ground! "Whoa! I'm floating!"

"Yep! Now hold still again." She gently lowered him back on the ground, letting him watch with the mirror. "And there we go. That's all I can do right now; they can wipe me out." She set the mirror aside, and rested her hands on her knees, as Luffy clapped enthusiastically.

"That was all awesome! You should join my crew!"

"I, I'm sorry? You want me to be a pirate?"

"Yeah! I want you to join the Straw Hat crew!" Luffy clarified.

"Oh uh, I don't even have anything to offer-"

"Sure you do! You've got your super cool magic there! It'd be handy in battle, and for entertainment! You'd fit right in!"

"I'm afraid I have to turn down that offer. I'm too tied down here; and besides, I can't leave Mr. Rauru here alone. Especially if he's closing the place down."

"Oh no, he said he's holding off on that!" Luffy beamed. "So no need to worry about that!"

"Well um, I still don't think I can. I appreciate the offer, but I have too much here to just leave." She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of leaving Loguetown for another reason. What if people elsewhere treat her even worse?

Just then, Luffy noticed the carrier next to her. "Hey, you have a pet? Can I see?"

"Y-yeah," She grabbed the handle, "This is my best friend, Burton." She held the carrier up for him to see.

Luffy peeked in, and his eyes brightened. "Wow, cool!" Staring at him silently from inside was a black tarantula, a little smaller than the palm of her hand, and a dark grey crescent moon on his back.

"Y-you're not scared?" She asked in genuine surprise.

"No, I think spiders are neat! He's really cool!"

"Wow, th-thanks. I guess that's why he didn't hiss at you; he hates anyone scared of him."

"Well, I like him!"

"Thank you." She absently looked through her spell trinkets as she spoke, and noticed she was running low on certain things. "Oh, I'd better run out to get some things. Thanks for enjoying my magic, Luffy, and for the offer; please show yourself out."

She stood on her feet, but immediately fell back down in front of him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She pushed herself back up. When standing, the top of her head reached behind his chin. "My legs are a little asleep. Maybe I'll see you around." After telling Rauru her plans, she headed for the door in the back of the room, different from where he entered.

"Wait!" She stopped, and turned to him. "Can you tell me how to get to the execution platform? Where Gold Roger died?"

Venus glanced at the door, then nodded towards it. "Follow me; I'll take you there myself."

"Thank you!" He eagerly followed her through the corridor to the alleyways. "Why go out this way?"

"Privacy reasons. It's a long story." After a minute, they were back outside in the intersection of alleyways. She led him to the street, where she was met with verbal heckling. "Oh, knock it off!" She snapped. "I'm taking him to the execution platform!" The people around were silent. She never reacted like that before.

"Why were they booing at you?"

"Part of the long story. Everyone in this town hates me, except for Mr. Rauru. He took me in, and helped me when no one else would." She reverted the topic back to their destination. "So, this here is Main Street," She informed, "The platform should be straight ahead."

"Wow! Did Gold Roger walk through here too?!"

"Most likely, yeah," She smirked, his enthusiasm infectious. They then arrived at the Town Square; before them stood what he sought.

"There it is..." Luffy said more to himself, "So this is where the King of the Pirates was executed." He gulped. "The place where the greatest pirate in history died... the place where it began..."

(A/N: Yeah, not too much happened here, but the action is coming up. You know the disclaimer.)