Hey everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you're doing fine. I'm back with the third chapter of "Nami's Grace". Thank you guys for the early reviews and support for this crossover story between One Piece and Nanatsu no Taizai. I appreciate it a lot.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and Nanatsu no Taizai. They respectively belong to Eiichiro Oda & Toei Animation, and Nakaba Suzuki & Studio A-1 Pictures.
Enjoy and don't forget to review. :D
Chapter 3
"Owww! What was that for?!"
Nami shouted after she got a harsh flick on the forehead from an absolutely livid Dr. Kureha and it stung a lot. There's definitely some superhuman strength from the 130s lady, most likely from her "secret of her youth" no doubt. As for Nami herself, she had been returned to her bed by Tony Tony Chopper in his Heavy Point form after a recent near-disaster of using Sariel's Tornado Grace for the first time.
And now she's facing the wrath of Doctorine who's absolutely livid.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, GIRL?! I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN BED AS DOCTOR'S ORDERS! IF CHOPPER HADN'T ACCOMPANIED YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF INJURED FROM THAT RECOIL OF YOUR DEVIL FRUIT'S ABILITIES! AT BEST, YOU'D END UP IN A COMA! OR AT WORST, YOU'D BE HAVING CRANIUM AND SPINAL INJURIES! NEVER TO WALK AGAIN OR MOVE YOUR BODY!", Kureha yelled at the Straw Hats navigator, which Monkey D. Luffy and Sanji winced from the sidelines and they had wisely kept their mouth shut or else the witch-faced lady would turn her attention back to them.
They do not want to be chased with knives and melee weapons thrown at them all over again.
Although Luffy and Sanji did notice Chopper, still in his muscular humanoid form, rubbing his back and feeling some pain after he used his body to protect Nami from crashing through Drum Castle's wall and the staircase. And while the Straw Hat captain and chef would want to go back chasing after Chopper as food and also finding him cool respectively, they had set it aside for now and be there for their friend Nami, who's on the receiving end of Kureha's stern verbal scolding.
"Well, what do you say for yourself?", Kureha demanded her patient, folding her arms and expecting an answer.
"I... I have no excuse... I screwed up.", Nami replied, looking down in shame and even though her hands stopped trembling, she still felt a cold chill. Not after what she had experienced with the Grace of Tornado that blew her off in her first use and it was a truly dangerous power she possessed from the currently hibernating Four Archangels member.
And yet Mr. Sariel fell in battle despite possessing Tornado. He also mentioned his comrades. Tarmiel and Ludociel, was it? He was expecting them to be with him yet there were no sign of the two before I showed up and made the pact. Were they losing against the Devils?..., she thought in horror. Then Nami noticed something else after recalling her previous conversation with Sariel. There were Four Archangels but he never mentioned about the fourth member of his group at all. As if he doesn't want to talk about him.
The Straw Hats navigator realized that she's the vessel of the last member of the Goddess Clan.* She couldn't help but feel empathy for Sariel after it seemed that he had lost everything in that war and he had no home to come back to anymore. The casual nonchalant attitude the wielder of Tornado had when she first met him turned out to be a mask hiding his pain and grief all along.
Much similar like herself when she was under Arlong's thumb after Belle-mere died and acted that way before Luffy came to her life.
And now he's sleeping within me, locking himself away from his sorrow... Probably for a long time until I'm old and dead..., she thought about the possibility of Sariel may never want to come out even after his body had fully regenerated eventually as he stated, and he might have used their pact as an excuse to do it. Leaving her in control of his Ark and Grace of Tornado.
Then Nami was called out by Kureha's remark, "Hey, why are you crying, girl? Don't tell me that you can't handle verbal punishment?"
She blinked in surprise and noticed she had tears streaming down on her face. Wiping them off with her shirt's right sleeve, Nami reassured, "Sorry, Dr. Kureha. I just realized I almost met my mom on the other side if it weren't for Chopper being there to save me. He really was a lifesaver."
"Shut up! Complimenting me won't make me happy! Not at all!", Chopper retorted while doing the happy dancing, even though it looked comical due to being in his Heavy Point form. Despite the fact he was briefly wincing from the back pain.
"You look pretty happy anyway.", Luffy and Sanji deadpan commented together.
"At least you owned up to your mistake.", the witch-faced lady noted before sternly warning the orange haired woman. "Regardless, you may have recovered quickly thanks to your Zoan healing factor and my medicine, but you will have to stay for three more days."
"Why?", Nami asked.
Kureha revealed to her patient with a mischievous smirk, "Because you will have to work on paying your bills, silly girl. For your medical recovery and fixing the castle wall and interior of course. Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!"
Oh crapbaskets! I just jinxed myself. ... Then again, it was my fault. I really didn't expect Mr. Sariel's Grace to be that strong. I will just stick with Ark for now. It seemed more manageable than Tornado., the Straw Hat navigator internally lamented with her face going pale.
Being reminded of his time at the Baratie to pay off his bills for a year for Chef Zeff after accidentally causing property damage, Luffy commented out loud. "So Nami will be staying here until three days are up?"
The Doctorine stated with a serious scary look, "Indeed, there's only two cases in which I let patients leave my sight. When they've healed... or when they've died! So yes, she's not going anywhere, boy!"
"Is there anything we can do? I mean, Luffy and I will be able to do the repairs at least, ma'am.", Sanji asked in a gentlemanly manner, not wanting Nami to do all the work by herself and he wanted to carry the burden for her.
Raising an eyebrow at being called "ma'am", Kureha shrugged in response, "Sure, why not? Since you boys volunteered, follow me. There are some repair tools and supplies in the castle you two can use. Chopper, watch my patient and make sure she doesn't leave the room this time."
"Yes, Doctorine.", the Reindeer Human complied with a nod.
After the witch-faced lady left with the two Straw Hats following her, Nami was alone in the room with Chopper as her guard and he's still in his muscular humanoid form, folding his arms and kept a close eye on her. It seemed that he was taking his task given to him by Kureha seriously. Even though he felt some aches on his back.
"Are you alright?", the orange haired woman asked in concern.
"Nothing to be concerned about, human. You really shouldn't have left bed. Doctorine really doesn't like it if someone disobeys her orders.", Chopper told her as he watched the patient intensely whilst trying to ignore the pain.
His back must have took the brunt after he caught and protected me from being hit by the castle's wall. I wonder..., Nami thought after remembering that Sariel stated his Ark can heal injuries and sickness. She raised her right palm in front of the muscular humanoid reindeer with a top hat and channeled the Ark energy through it, glowing intensely. Since Ark sparkles like stars, I will have to give it an appropriate technique for it., she recalled when she first manifested the dormant Goddess Clan member's inherent magical ability.
"What are you doing?! Stop that!", Chopper warned with widened eyes, moving in to stop her from causing another lack of Devil Fruit power control incident which will result in form of the Doctorine's wrath upon Nami again.
"Just trying something different. Now hold still. Heal Star!", Nami said as her right palm flashed brightly that engulfed Chopper's body with sparkling light. Although it temporarily blinded Chopper in the face unfortunately.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MY EYES! THAT HURTS! ARE YOU TRYING TO BLIND ME, YOU JERK!?", the Reindeer Human yelled as he reverted back to his small adorable form and rolled around on the floor, rubbing his eyes with his hooves.
Pleased that she didn't actually cause property damage with Ark this time for now, the host of Sariel pointed with a grin, "Sorry about that. How's your back by the way?"
"My back?...", Chopper realized as he got up and learned that he felt no pain anymore, wondering aloud. "How was that possible?"
"Well, it seemed my Archangel Model fruit really did live up to its theme somewhat. I hope that makes us even.", Nami commented.
"Shut up! Fixing my back won't make me happy! Not really! But thank you anyway!", the small reindeer boy retorted with another happy dance, which made Nami giggle.
After things had calmed down in the room, the Straw Hat navigator found herself being interrogated by Chopper who was curious of one of her Devil Fruit's abilities to heal with bright sparkling light. "So you're saying that your Human-Human Fruit model doesn't only make wind attacks? The one you made almost blew you off from your feet.", he noted.
"Apparently, it was a Mythical Zoan that Dr. Kureha called my Devil Fruit to be. Probably, a special kind of Zoan.", Nami noted, recalling what the Doctorine told her.
"I see. Can you make wings if your Devil Fruit model is an Archangel? I did read from a book about angels having wings.", the reindeer boy wondered, wanting to see it for himself.
Contemplating, the orange haired woman said, "It's possible but this was my first time using my Devil Fruit power. You know, that massive wind blast and then the healing light I just did. Hopefully, I will get more opportunity to train."
And get a hang of Mr. Sariel's abilities as soon as possible. I might have to ask Usopp to make a weapon for me when we get to Alabasta. Something of a staff as a focus for Tornado to properly use and aim at the enemy. Can't have myself lose control of that Grace in the middle of a fight., she thought about it, not wanting to cause a repeat.
Shaking his head, Chopper warned her, "Well, maybe you can later. But not now, Doctorine's orders are absolute and you can't convince me to let you out of the room again!"
"Good point.", Nami conceded before asking. "But even so, would you like to come with us?"
"WHAT?!", Chopper exclaimed with his eyes bulged and jaw dropping.
"To the seas I mean. You're interested in pirates, right? I can even give you a free tour at the Going Merry to check it out. It's fair after I've seen this castle.", the Straw Hat navigator offered.
The reindeer boy frowned in response, "But I'm a monster... Won't your other friends on that ship be scared of me?"
Nami reassured him, "Well, we have a giant duck in the ship. He's harmless like you. As for the others, Vivi's gonna like you, and Usopp and Zoro probably wouldn't mind at all."
"Shut up! Calling me harmless won't make me happy! I'm still scary! Don't mess with me, you hear me?!", Chopper interjected while doing the happy dance again.
"Sure thing. But still, can you at least give it a try?", the orange haired woman shrugged.
Just as the Reindeer Human was about to consider, the lady in her 130s called out as she entered the room casually, "Chopper, do you mind if you watch over the brats? They already started the repair work on the wall, and make sure they don't slack off while I'm not looking. I'll take it from here."
"Yes, Doctorine.", Chopper complied and left the room with intention to watch Luffy and Sanji from a safe distance where they can't see him and chase him around the castle again.
"Those two little buggers are very persistent in doing the heavy work, I'd admit.", Kureha remarked upon sitting down on a nearby chair next to the bed. "And you're no better than your rowdy crewmates, girl. Trying to abduct my reindeer while I'm gone, are you now?..."
"Oh? Since when does a lady need permission to practice her art of seduction?", Nami responded with an amused smile.
The Doctorine found her patient's cheeky response amusing as she said, "Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee! Well said! You remind me of my foolish great-granddaughter!* Take him away if you want! He can be a part of your pirate crew for all I care."
"... But I'll have you know, it's going to take a lot more than a warm smile and an invitation. His heart's still severely wounded. A wound not even a doctor can fix.", she then solemnly warned Nami and explained about Chopper's life. "From the moment of his birth, Chopper was abandoned by his parents who thought of him as repulsive. All because of that blue nose of his. Despite being a newborn baby, he was forced to tail his herd all alone at the back."
"What?! That's awful...", the orange haired woman gasped in shock at such callousness from Chopper's own kind treating him that way.
Kureha continued, "And one day, Chopper happened to eat a Devil Fruit, the Human-Human Fruit. It singled him out even more as an abomination. His fellow reindeers soon chased him away for good. He couldn't even call himself a reindeer anymore. Even so, he still desired companions... So he tried to find acceptance among humans from a nearby town..."
"It didn't end well?", Nami guessed, having a bad feeling about it.
"Correct, his humanoid form wasn't quite human either. A fact made only too clear by his blue nose. Clueless to what he did wrong, and confused as to what he could blame... All he wanted were friends to live among, yet for what he was called a monster. Neither a reindeer nor a human... He's had to endure a life of loneliness since then...", the Doctorine said.
She finished with a daring challenge, "Can you pirates possibly hope to fix that scar of his heart?..."
Then all of a sudden, Nami and Kureha overheard a loud commotion in form of Monkey D. Luffy chasing after Chopper once again around Drum Castle. Although, they do took notice that they didn't hear Sanji being involved in the pursuit of the Reindeer Human at all as he's most likely busy fixing up the castle's wall for Nami and stayed where he was.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"WAIT RIGHT THERE, MONSTER! JOIN MY CREW!"
"I REFUSE, YOU JERK!"
"NO, I REFUSE YOUR REFUSAL!"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE COOL AND CAN TRANSFORM FROM REINDEER TO MONSTER! AND YOU SAVED NAMI FROM GETTING HURT HERSELF! NO MATTER, YOU'RE GONNA BE PART OF MY CREW ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME! SHISHISHISHISHISHISHISHISHISHI!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Of course, only Luffy would be able to get through Chopper his way. He has a knack for it., the Straw Hat navigator fondly remembered how determined her captain can be when inviting people to be a part of his crew, even when they refuse or try to drive him away, and succeeded, and she's no exception.
"Cheeky brat made his own variation of my threat when I chased after him and the blondie. Oh well, imitation is a form of flattery. Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!", Kureha commented, finding it amusing and seeing that the Straw Hat captain was already trying to win Chopper over to be part of the crew.
Changing the subject, the Doctorine demanded, "So tell me, girl. I happen to overhear that your Devil Fruit possess the power to heal with light and fixed up Chopper's back. Can you show me?"
Nami nodded as she raised both hands to form a small ball of Ark energy as a demonstration, "Sure. When I first used my powers, it turns out that the light was easier to handle compared to the wind I had trouble dealing with."
"Intriguing, there are Mythical Zoans that demonstrated some of the most varied properties of any Devil Fruit such as controlling and projecting the elements that are Paramecia-like in nature. Your Archangel Model of the Human-Human Fruit has the power over wind and light. Quite similar with the Gust-Gust Fruit that was lost to Alabasta centuries ago and the Glint-Glint Fruit that was eaten by Admiral Kizaru from the Marines. Both of those Devil Fruits are Logias.", Kureha stated as she analyzed at the sparkling light sphere from her patient.
Huh, the Gust-Gust Fruit came from Alabasta? Oh no, Vivi is gonna think I ate that Devil Fruit after I made a giant wind blast for everyone outside to see., the host of Sariel internally realized with a sweatdrop. She can imagine the princess of Alabasta's reaction when they see each other again after leaving Drum Castle and return to the Going Merry, and she will have to continue with her cover story of the Four Archangel's powers being a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.
Dissipating away the ball of Ark energy, Nami cheekily wondered, "Since I was able to fix Chopper's back, does that make me a doctor material?"
"Heeheeheeheeheeheehee! Girl, just because you can make those sparkly lights to heal with a blast to the face, it doesn't make you a doctor. Not by a long shot! There's a reason why we professional doctors exist.", Kureha retorted with an amused grin.
At Bighorn, Drum Island
Several minutes after they had learned that apparently their friend Nami became a wind-using Devil Fruit user and caused a huge tornado despite her sick state, the swordsman and sniper of the Straw Hats and the princess of Alabasta overheard a commotion. The three turned their heads to see Dalton getting out of the nearby house where the Isshi-20 used as a place to begin their operation to save his life from arrow injuries and frostbite he had suffered, and the citizens of Drum were trying to convince him to not be too reckless and pushing himself even with his Zoan recovery.
"Anybody mind filling me in on who is that anyway?", Roronoa Zoro wondered aloud as he really didn't know due to being busy training shirtless in the snowy environment of Drum at the time.
Nefertari Vivi replied, "Dalton, he was the former Captain of Drum Kingdom's Royal Guard and he ate the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Bison. I met him before at the Reverie, Mr. Bushido."
"I see. He's quite a tough guy to still move around despite his wounds.", the green haired swordsman noted.
"FROM THE TRAGIC DESTRUCTION OF OUR COUNTRY BY THE BLACKBEARD PIRATES, WE MIRACULOUSLY REGAINED OUR FREEDOM FROM WAPOL! IF WE LET THIS CHANCE SLIP BY, THIS COUNTRY WILL CONTINUE TO ROT AWAY FOR ETERNITY!", Dalton angrily yelled, refusing to let the likes of Wapol and his older brother Musshuru get away and reclaim Drum Castle.
"But you're still haven't fully recovered from your injuries. And we townsfolk alone aren't strong enough to beat them.", one citizen of Drum pointed out.
The Bison Human stubbornly persisted as he used his spade weapon as a cane in attempt to slowly make his way toward Drum Castle above the Drum Peak, "I'll settle things personally! I'll resort to any method possible... even if it means sacrificing mys-Gurk!"
Then Dalton got knocked out from behind and fell down on the snowy ground unconscious much to the shock of Drum citizens, Usopp and Vivi. While Zoro raised an eyebrow in surprise. They saw the perpetrator with a Buck hammer to be the same female Isshi-20 member, who had informed the princess and Zoro and Usopp that Devil Fruits are not used to heal a person from injury or disease at all.
And she looked absolutely livid at the former Royal Guard captain about to strain himself to death, reopening his wounds and rendering the efforts of saving his life pointless.
"Take him back inside and continue the medical procedure. Strap him down if you have to. Doctor's orders are not to be ignored!", she sternly ordered.
"Right away, Dr. Maddie.", her fellow Isshi-20 comrades who nodded and brought Dalton inside the house to resume their operation and keep him there.
"Why did you do that?! You didn't have to hit him!", Usopp protested with pale shock.
"It's for his own good, you imbecile! Even if we got Dalton back in full health and combat ready as quickly as possible to take down Chess and Kuromarimo, he's no match for Wapol and his older brother Musshuru!", the female Isshi-20 doctor stated, threateningly pointing her hammer at him.
The long nosed sniper comically backed away in fear, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the hammer. Like what he had done to his enemies like Chew with his Usopp Hammer attack.
"Who the hell is Musshuru?", Zoro asked as he remembered only Wapol when the Straw Hats encountered the man with an ugly chin who can eat anything with his Munch-Munch Fruit and tried to board and seize the Going Merry with his henchmen in the middle of a sea.
"He's the older brother of that bastard Wapol and the former first prince of Drum before he was banished to the Land of Fire, Kilauea. He ate the Spore-Spore Fruit and he was behind the Spore Outbreak Incident because he was bored and wanted to see what happens to people affected by the spores he unleashed!", Maddie explained with a vein popping on her forehead.
Vivi gasped in horror, "And Wapol brought him out from exile to retake the country?!"
"Aye, Wapol intended to use his brother's spore power to load up the Royal Drum Crown 7-Shot Bliking Cannon as ammunition and then fire it across the Drum Island. ... So that everyone will get infected by the spores and we, the Isshi-20, will make an antidote for the spores that only he will have it in possession. All to repeat the same policy of making everyone here dependent on him.", Maddie explained much to the horror and disgust of the Drum citizens.
She added, "Knowing those bastards, the avalanche caused by the massive tornado from your friend won't deter them one bit and they will resume climbing up all the way to Drum Peak. To capture the castle and seize the cannon along with the armory that only Wapol had the key to access it."
That freaked out the Drum citizens upon hearing it while other members of Isshi-20 remembered the tyrannical bastard of a king's "ultimate form" after consuming the contents of the armory and easily took down Dalton when he rebelled against him. It was gruesome and horrific curbstomp as an understatement.
Usopp tried to retort, "Then you shouldn't have knocked out Dalton! He would have helped Luffy and the others in trying to stop them!"
The dark-brown haired doctor stated with a serious glare right into his soul, "In my line of work as a doctor before I joined the Isshi-20, there's only two cases in which I let patients leave my sight. When they've healed... or when they've died! He's not going anywhere!"
"So scary, she's like a witch!", the long nosed sniper whimpered in fear with his legs shaking.
Zoro commented with a scoff, "Not as scary as that old lady I ran into."
"Witch? Could she be...?", Vivi wondered to herself after remembering Dalton's remark about Kureha being a witch.
Looking at the Drum Peak where the castle is located on top, Maddie smirked in vindictive amusement, "Besides, if one of your friends up there is a wind-using Logia as you said, then victory against those two royal bastards is already assured. It would have been funny if it wasn't completely one-sided... Well, what the hell? I'll laugh anyway! Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!"
Author's Note: Okay, Chapter 3 of "Nami's Grace" is done and I hope you like it. Nami got chewed out by Kureha after the fiasco with her first use of Tornado and decided to stick with Ark for now by testing out its healing capability on Chopper from his back problem. Kureha explaining Chopper's backstory to Nami while Luffy does what he does best when it comes to trying to convince someone who caught his eye into joining the Straw Hats.
On the other hand, Dalton got knocked out due to disobeying Doctor's Orders by the great-granddaughter of Kureha and was brought back to the operating table of the Isshi-20.
*From Nami's perspective, she believed that Sariel was the last of his people after assuming they were on the losing side of the war against the demons. Of course, in Nanatsu no Taizai, the Goddess Clan are still active with its several members having recovered their physical forms and they follow Mael in his new mission of protecting the Celestial Realm, their home.
It didn't help that with Sariel currently hibernating, he wasn't there to correct Nami.
*When I checked that not much of Kureha's past was known other than living long during Roger's era, I decided to expand some of it. Besides, it wouldn't be farfetched for Kureha to have a family at some point during her 130 years of life before her children grew up and made their own lives while she lived her own as she pleases.
Before she took in Chopper as his mentor and mother figure post-Hiriluk's death.
Enjoy and don't forget to review. :D