Descent Chapter 35: The God and The Devil, an one piece fanfic

Descent

Chapter 35: The God and The Devil

He was in a pure white field, decorated with flowers of all colors. It was gorgeous and endless and he was confused because he had never seen a place like this before.

It wasn't possible for him to forget a place like this...

It was sunny, yet not too bright. The weather actually affected him, yet it wasn't overwhelming. The area he lay in had no furniture of the sorts, yet he was still incredibly comfortable.

Where was he...?

Rosan immediately shot up and began glancing around, eyes alert when he didn't notice any of his crew and searched ahead.

Did they get separated? Did some die? Was... he dead?

His brows furrowed at that.

He tried prodding his connection to Mod-chan, only to blink as he felt nothing at all. The redhead tried again, growing more and more desperate at the fact that he couldn't even feel the slight hum of his abilities that were always there, even with seastone.

Panic began seeping into him at the lack of familiar presences and he pushed himself into a standing position.

Where the hell was he? His power didn't feel sapped so he should be able to use Modification but he couldn't. He couldn't use his ability, he couldn't feel his ability... he couldn't feel a damn thing.

Where was everyone? Where was Mod-chan? Where was Robin? Was he... alone?

WHERE THE HELL WAS HE?!

"Don't move too fast after just waking up, Rosy," a gentle voice said soothingly.

Rosan went completely still at that, not quite believing his ears as his mouth opened in shock he wouldn't normally be feeling.

That voice… He knew that voice. But because he knew that voice, he knew that something was terribly wrong right now.

Turning around slowly, Rosan's fears were proven correct, as he came face to face with a short blonde with electric blue eyes.

His short blonde with electric blue eyes.

She was currently gazing up at him in with a knowing smile and it caused him to take a step back in confused panic.

This wasn't… This wasn't possible. How was this possible? What was going on? He... He hated being so confused so why... why did he have no answers to alleviate that confusion?

Was he dead?

"Not yet and not anytime soon, I hope," Meiko smiled brightly, reading his mind perfectly.

This wasn't possible. What… Why was he staring at his dead lover in a sea of flowers?

What the fuck was this?! WHAT WAS GOING ON?! HOW MANY TIMES DID HE HAVE TO ASK THESE SAME QUESTIONS?!

Evidently, Meiko must have noticed his panic reaching intense levels (of course she did) because she immediately closed the distance and placed a placating hand on his chest (she was too short to reach his shoulder without stretching).

"Relax, Rosan! This isn't real!" She assured, glancing around curiously. "It's a dream but I'm guessing because you have Modification, it's a lot… weirder. Maybe a more intense lucid dream because of your computer like makeup? I remember how you mentioned you didn't dream too much since eating the fruit..."

The doctor cupped her chin in contemplation and the sight was utterly adorable, considering she was still physically 14.

No, it would have been adorable no matter what age she was.

"Well, whatever it may be, I'm glad to see you again!" Meiko gushed, running up and hugging the much taller redhead.

"Look at how tall you got! You're so handsome too! I just knew you were going to look amazing as you got older but I thought your boasts of being so tall were a lie! You're nearly a foot taller than me! Look look! My face is so far down here...! Wait, I'm practically crashing my face against your chest right now!" The blonde gaped, blushing deep red as she stared directly at his pectorals.

Rosan was far too stunned to do anything. After all, he wasn't making heads or tails of any of this.

A dream? The last time he dreamt was before he got captured on Daybreak.

He didn't have dreams or nightmares anymore. The redhead either entered his mindscape, or woke up the next day.

Now, the first time he's having a so called dream… he's talking to his hyper realistic dead lover?

What?

"Well, I think the only reason I'm so hyper realistic, is because Modification like mentioned before... and maybe because we're soul mates!" Meiko hummed, straining her neck to look up at him. "Now, can you please hug me back? I'd kiss you but… uh… that would be a little awkward, considering . Also you're really tall Rosy... has anyone told you that? You're like a foot taller than me! Oh... I said that already!"

This wasn't making any…

Ah, forget it.

Without any hesitation, the redhead embraced Meiko so tightly, that she squeaked in embarrassment and flushed red.

"I miss you so much, Meiko" he murmured.

Her eyes went soft and she returned it just as tightly. "I miss you too, Rosan. I wish things were different."

Rosan held his head. "If I just… If I just weren't so stupid, I'd have been able to get you out safely. You died because of me."

She was so small and young but she shouldn't be. Meiko shouldn't be 14 right now. Meiko should have be 26 and living her life with him and Robin and the rest of the crew, exploring all of the world with those big blue eyes of hers, always finding any new experience to be wondrous because of her enchanting personality.

But she couldn't and it was all his fault—

Two tiny hands slapped each of his cheeks and he glanced down to see the utterly furious glare of Meiko, halting his train of thought abruptly.

"Portgas D. Rosan." Her soft voice came out firm. "You know nobody blames you for that day, especially me so why are you blaming yourself?"

Wasn't it obvious? Because everything was his fault.

He was their leader. He was the strongest on the White Rose and it was his job to keep them safe.

None of the inhabitants on his ship were fighters. He was the only one skilled in combat and as a result, combat based situations fell to him. Angel had her strengths, Demon had his, Meiko had hers and he had his own...

And he failed.

He was a selfish leader. He sought to satisfy his desires first and foremost and it cost him Meiko because he couldn't get his head out of his own ass for even one second.

This was why he didn't want to be a leader. A real leader understood that their needs couldn't always come first.

"No one could have anticipated what was going to happen that day! Didn't Robin tell you that you're a fantastic leader, please listen to her!" Meiko protested.

The blonde sighed sadly, knowing that the stubborn idiot known as Rosan wouldn't see it that way.

It was his job to anticipate things like that. In his eyes, he needed to do everything that they couldn't. But when he meant everything... he meant everything.

Regretfully, having Modification didn't make that mindset better. Having such a versatile fruit only made it unhealthier for him and Rosan was already extra.

Fine, she'd talk to him the way he listened to the most.

"Rosan, this isn't how I expected you to live for the both of us. If I'm disappointed in you for anything, it's the way you chose to continue your life," she frowned.

He went stiff at that.

"If I knew this was how you were going to be, I'd have just told you to move on instead of live for the both of us but I expected you to be able to naturally do that. I didn't expect you to twist my words into this," Meiko said sadly.

"Move… You want me to move on?" Rosan asked in disbelief.

How was he supposed to do that? Was that even possible for someone like him?

"Of course I do!" Meiko said in equal disbelief, gazing at him with wide eyes. "Rosan, I'm dead. You shouldn't be clinging to me for this long in such an unhealthy manner! I never intended to tie you down to me with my final wishes but I forgot that you always take things and blow them out of proportion," she sighed morosely.

He was always one to exaggerate. It didn't matter for what...

Rosan was stunned silent.

Wasn't this a dream? Why did it not feel like one? Why was he hearing so many things he didn't want to hear?!

"You can't find a new purpose to live, if you're clinging onto memories of someone who's gone. You won't disappoint me if you move on, you'll disappoint me if you stay like this, Rosan. Please move on," Meiko pleaded, holding one of his, giant in comparison, hands in both of her own.

"I… I can't," Rosan admitted weakly, feeling so small in front of the tiny girl. "Mei, I'm broken into pieces. Even if I wanted to move on from you, I couldn't…"

"I know and I must sound like such a hypocrite because I'd be broken exactly like you," she confessed. "I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't have you but I know you'd hate to be the reason I gave up and Rosan, I hate that I'm the reason you gave up," she said, tears brimming her eyes.

Rosan panicked like he always did when Meiko got teary eyed. "But I didn't! I didn't give up! I'm still looking for a reason to live because of you!"

He wasn't sure what was happening but his emotions weren't feeling very blocked off here. He was feeling things he hadn't felt in years... was this just the natural effect Meiko had on him?

"But Rosan... from the moment you lost your emotions, not once did you truly think you could find a reason to live. Even with Robin trying her best to help you... Even with your entire family, you think it's too late for you. No one can save you if you aren't truly receptive to it," Meiko accused sadly.

Rosan opened his mouth... and then he shut it because if he even tried to refute her statement, he'd be a goddamn liar.

"You've locked yourself off from everything for so long because you immediately gave up. You think that because I was the best thing to happen to you, no one can help you. You refuse to accept new bonds. You refuse to be apart of a group. No matter what you say, you don't truly feel close to anyone except for Robin. You're just saying that you want to find a reason to live but you really don't. It… It feels like you're just following the wishes of a foolish little girl."

His heart dropped at the accurate assessment.

She was right. Rosan himself didn't think he'd have ever found a reason to live. Sure he thought there was hope when Robin helped him unlock a chain but... in that moment, did he truly think he could be saved?

...

"I'm… so sorry for failing you," he said quietly, bowing his head in defeat.

Honoring her? What a joke. He was such a joke...

If you went into something with the expectation to lose, how would you ever win? Rosan went looking for a reason to live already thinking he was dead.

"How can I fix this?" He asked.

Meiko smiled gently, pleased with his realizations and the blonde wiped her tears. "You're waking up soon so I'll leave you with these parting words…"

Rosan glanced down at her words and noticed that his body was fading away. He looked up wildly at the disappearing figure of Meiko but anything he had to say, died on his lips.

"You're looking for something you already found, Rosan. You already have plenty reason to live but you're scared to open your heart up like you did with me," she grinned brightly, waving at him and giggling when she saw his puzzled expression.

"You're still confused, but you won't be for too long. Bye! Don't run away when you make your realization! I know you like doing that! I love you, Rosy!" Meiko beamed.

His confused gaze turned soft as he disappeared fully.

"I love you too... Mei."

Robin never felt as much relief, as she did watching Rosan pop open an eye.

Since they were right next to each other when entering the dense cloud of water, a weakened Robin could only watch in horror as Rosan began severely panicking out of nowhere.

The redhead had been calm one moment, then something flipped and he began thrashing like his life depended on it.

The woman tried to reach out to him but she was a Devil Fruit user too and well, she had her own issues of being completely incapacitated.

Thankfully, Sabo was right next to the two and the blonde (who was braving this entire trip of shooting up into the sky very well) removed his cloak to secure both Robin and Rosan.

She herself, was about to succumb to the effects of being submerged but thankfully, they quickly made it out of the sky ocean (?) with everyone in tact and actually ended up on top of the clouds.

It was a surreal sight but they couldn't really bask it all in because Rosan was still unconscious.

The redhead lie there peacefully, almost as if he hadn't been panicking earlier and his breathing came out slightly uneven.

"Is he going to be alright?" Nami asked in concern.

Chopper frowned as he finished his inspection of their scout. "He had a panic attack and blacked out. Something about that trip, freaked him out..."

"Doc," Robin thought darkly. How she wished she had one chance to meet him.

That man tortured Rosan however he pleased, heedless of the mental damage he was inflicting on the small child. Rosan's current disposition, was made no better by the trauma he suffered under the man... even if he got his revenge in the end.

Some scars never fully healed. Rosan's skin may have been perfectly unblemished, but his mind was a fractured piece of glass.

For someone who very likely never drowned, the redhead must have been reminded of one of those days… Considering he was weakened as well…

The Devil Child placed a gentle hand on Rosan's hair and began stroking it. "We should keep progressing, I'll keep watch of him in the meantime."

The crew nodded in unison, gaze lingering on the unconscious redhead and they set sail…

Well, not for long.

Sabo, who was using the binoculars, went stiff at the sight of a single figure blowing up another ship in the distance.

"We have company," the blonde informed them, watching the masked figure skate over to them on… clouds?

"What?" Sanji muttered in confusion, walking up to the railing.

There, in a bull mask, was a figure careening towards them by using the clouds.

He was making incredible progress as he dashed towards them using the strange method and they were slow to react as he reached their location.

"What do you want?" Zoro asked cautiously, gripping his sword with a glare.

"To eliminate you," the man declared coldly.

Without any hesitation, the masked man soared on the ship and tried to attack the blonde holding the binoculars, intent on spearing him through.

Much to his surprise though, Sabo effortlessly dodged his attack and retaliated with a simple swing of his staff.

The warriors eyes fluttered at the blow, as he was nearly knocked unconscious.

Suddenly realizing the severe disparity in strength he launched himself back and before he could be captured, the strange man quickly escaped.

Sabo frowned as he watched the man fly into the sky sea. The air here was thin and he just got used to it but that man already got away before he could interrogate him.

Tch…

"Oh? You've already dealt with him?" A raspy voice called out and the crew looked up to see a man riding a Pegasus.

He introduced himself as Gan Fall and his bird as Pierre and after glancing in concern at Rosan's unconscious frame, he began questioning them.

What he heard, surprised him greatly.

"You rode that beastly sea current?" The man asked in shock. "That's quite courageous of you all. I was certain all of you came another way."

"There's other ways?!" Nami sobbed. She knew they chose the stupidest option somehow. They should have just had Rosan fly them up dammit!

Though, she felt a lot better knowing that they all made it in this option. According to Gan Fall, they were guaranteed to lose one or two people if they had done any other method...

"Well, whatever the case may be. Use this whistle once to call me for assistance," Gan Fall said, dropping it on the ship and flying off without answering a single one of their questions.

They watched him go before continuing to sail the mesmerizing sea.

It was after finding an entrance named the Heaven's Gate, speaking to the old lady there and being in the process of being carried up the waterfall by a giant express lobster, did their scout make his first noise.

Robin felt her connection to Rosan suddenly flair, due to him never actually turning it off and her eyes darted to the redhead, hand still raking his hair.

His eyes popped open and the redhead immediately shot up, glancing around in alertness.

Robin immediately steadied the confused redhead.

"Easy, Rosan. The air here is thin and you just regained consciousness," she said.

To her pleasure, he instantly relaxed at her voice and those eyes of his (were they glowing brighter?), roved over to her.

She was confused to see his intense gaze focus on her. They seemed to be scrutinizing Robin and she couldn't help but straighten her back a little at how piercing they were.

"Rosan? Are you alright?"

The redhead blinked, intensity gone, and said, "Yeah, sorry. I just… had a weird dream is all."

"He's speaking a lot more informal," she instinctively thought. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He went into thought at that, eyes glinting in uncertainty that she would rarely apply to Rosan.

"Yeah, let me gather my thoughts then I'll tell you all about it…" he muttered.

Robin nodded before another question popped up in her mind. "Where's Mod-chan and Ram?"

He looked far more certain answering this one.

"They are still asleep," he replied. "They'll wake up later but being submerged took all of us out."

The crew's awe at what they were seeing in the environment, turned into relief at seeing their scout awake.

"ROSAN!" They all cheered, rushing the redhead.

Without hesitation, Luffy, Chopper, Usopp and Nami tackled the redhead to the floor, getting a grunt of surprise out of him.

"Don't scare us like that!" They all yelled, tugging various body parts in indignant fury.

"You had Robin-chan worried!" Sanji growled, relief flooding through his body.

Robin smiled fondly, having moved out of the way so as to not be collateral, at how concerned they all were for the redhead.

"…" Rosan said nothing as he watched them all swarm him.

There was genuine worry in their eyes because they thought he was in trouble. Just from him passing out, he managed to cause this…

"Sorry… I've never drowned before so it brought up some terrible memories of my childhood," Rosan admitted quietly.

Everyone paused in disbelief.

Rosan was… apologizing?!

The redhead blinked as Chopper immediately entered doctor mode and began inspecting every part of his body.

"Are you feeling okay? The air here is pretty thin so it might be making you delirious," the reindeer murmured, not believing Rosan would apologize with a stable mind.

"I frequent the sky often and have Modification, the difference in air is negligible to me," Rosan replied calmly, feeling his body slowly begin to whir again with the effects of his Devil Fruit.

"I haven't been disconnected from Modification so forcefully in a while so it's just taking me a while to… reboot you could say," he told them all.

"I'll be fine. Now please get off me, I just woke up."

They quickly clambered off the redhead and let him stand up.

The moment he did, long arms wrapped around his waist and he immediately returned Robin's hug, squeezing her into his frame.

"I saw you panicking and I felt terrible because I couldn't help you. Thank goodness for Sabo," Robin admitted in the embrace.

Rosan banished that immediately. "We couldn't have anticipated that and you have a Devil Fruit too. There was nothing you could have done."

Sabo nodded in agreement. "I think he was going to be fine regardless but I didn't want to risk it with him panicking like that. I'm glad I was able to help put your mind at ease."

Looking down at the woman hugging him and saying those words, starkly reminded Rosan of the conversation he had with Meiko and the redhead grunted, discomfort ringing through his body.

Was that really a dream…?

Robin immediately grew concerned at the troubled look on Rosan's face. "Are you sure you're alright? Mod-chan still being unconscious might be affecting you…"

She knew how connected the two were. If one went down, it could be terrible news for the other and right now, Rosan might be more affected then he let on.

"Just… you'll understand when I tell you about my dream. Mod-chan is fine, she's only sleeping," he replied, running a hand through her black hair and calming her down.

Robin just nodded curiously. What type of dream did he have?

"Now, can anyone tell me what's going on? Why is the ship currently being carried by a lobster? Do I have to fry it?" Rosan asked.

"DON'T DO THAT!" They all roared.

The redhead tilted his head.

Rosan listened to the story with a neutral expression before coming to a conclusion.

"Are you guys stupid?" He asked curiously.

They fell flat at that.

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked in confusion. What was the redhead talking about right now?

He was just shaking his head. "Not only did you fail to get any information out of all three of the people you encountered, some lady charged us 8 billion "extols" to enter the country and said we can pass even if we don't have it? That doesn't sound a little suspicious to you?" Rosan prodded, watching as they ascended higher and higher.

His crew was far too carefree. No matter what the currency, 8 (there were 9 of them… but he supposed they didn't mention the redhead) billion of something couldn't have been small enough to just let entrants through for free.

There was something going on.

"I did find it a little suspicious but I was too worried about you to prod deeper," Robin admitted.

"The thin air stopped me from properly controlling my strength and our attacker got away," Sabo frowned. Rosan was right, going in blind could be fatal to them.

The rest of the crew balked at his observations.

H-He was right! Nami would never let anyone go free for not paying her 8 billion!

"Whatever the case, be alert," Rosan sighed. It seems he was going to have to be the common sense guy during this trip.

As always. No one had common sense these days.

"Right!" They chorused.

He should have known that with his crew, being alert or serious was impossible.

As they raced upwards and upwards, the Straw Hats finally saw what looked to be an entrance to a place called "Kamiland Skypiea".

Kami's Land… Rosan snorted through his connection.

"We might be in danger, Robin."

"Two Devils entering Kami's Land… Perhaps you're in even more danger, considering you're also a Shinigami... and a Fallen angel," Robin smiled in return.

The black wings of Reaper, were angelic in nature after all.

"Danger due to being the Angel of Death… Would anyone even know about Reaper up here? I doubt it," Rosan replied truthfully.

"Perhaps you can show them?" Robin smiled.

"If they all have wings like that old lady you mentioned… they might not appreciate my black colored wings… I'll have to consider scaring them in that case."

Robin shook her head with a small smile.

Of course he only thought about revealing Reaper's wings because he was an ass. Only Rosan would do that.

"Mgmh… Rosan...?"

That noise made the two pause in their jokes and Robin's eyes lit up as Mod slowly began waking up.

"Mod-chan," they both greeted, sounding pleased.

As they said her name, the woman slowly began regaining her memories and shot up with a gasp.

"Rosan, are you okay?!" She asked, motherly tone full of worry. "I… we got forcefully disconnected and it knocked me unconscious but how are you feeling? We haven't drowned in so long…"

Robin's eyes softened. Leave it to Mod to always prioritize Rosan first over herself.

She really had no idea why there was a slight rift forming between the two. They loved each other wholeheartedly and were allowing an admittedly large threat to drive a wedge between them.

Honestly, Mod-chan just needed to discard her fear of upsetting Rosan. It would do them both wonders... Perhaps she'd have to sit them both down and speak to them about this but if she did so, nothing would change. Rosan would hate if she was shielding Mod-chan and Robin reluctantly agreed that the woman needed to get over this fear herself or else she'd lose his respect.

"I'm fine, Mod-chan," Rosan replied softly. "I just had a weird dream that I'll tell you about tonight. How are you feeling? Ram?"

"Groggy and a little under the weather," she admitted. "I'm not sick but I could be better. Ram is still asleep… she must be affected the most considering this is a sensation she has probably never felt."

Despite being the the one with the highest tolerance to Seastone (from only being partially made with Modification), Ram still had a deep connection to Rosan so him being forcefully knocked unconscious, would almost always knock her unconscious as well.

Had Rosan said he had a weird dream? Rosan hadn't dreamt since he was a child… Mod wondered what it was about.

She hoped he at least trusted her enough to delve into this...

The redhead merely nodded his head. "I'll tend to you two the next chance I get. For now, just relax a bit. I don't want you doing anything," he said softly.

Robin was in agreement. "I'll help. You need some rest, Mod-chan."

The woman thought about protesting but knew it was hopeless against the two, so she just grumbled with a small smile.

"If you insist…"

"WOOOOO!" Luffy cheered. The rubber boy leapt over the ship into the area and successfully grabbed Robin and Rosan's attention.

"So this is Skypiea," Rosan mused, watching how excited his crew currently was to be in the resort like area.

He wasn't even remotely surprised that they forgot his warning and just snorted to himself.

They sure changed into their vacation clothes quickly.

A hand on his shoulder, made him glance over at his blonde brother with a curious brow.

"Relax, you all earned this after the events of Alabasta," Sabo assured, grinning confidently. "You need to relax a bit too. Can't be alert and serious at all times… you deserve to chill a bit, Rosan. If anything goes south, I'll help you deal with it."

With that, the revolutionary discarded his blue shirt and vest, leaving just his coat, and jumped over the railing to go enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Rosan watched him go with a neutral expression.

"He's right you know," Robin smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to always be serious. I understand things are suspicious but right now, let's relax a bit until it actually does get serious."

"You told me to relax but you work just as hard. You also need some downtime, Rosan," Mod said stubbornly, tucking Ram into their bed and making sure she was comfortable.

"…"

Relax? They wanted him to relax with all the blaring red signs flaring around him? That just didn't seem very wise at all… why did it seem like he was the only one with common sense at times?

"You want me to move on?"

"Of course I do!"

"Alright I'll relax a bit…" he agreed reluctantly.

Robin smiled slightly and grabbed his arm. "You don't have to be so reluctant, Rosan. Come, let's go change. Think of this as a vacation, okay?" she instructed.

He just sighed and nodded, eyes glowing as he brought the two of them to the Pocket Dimension.

A vacation eh… Meiko loved those.

Robin glanced at Rosan's outfit and shook her head in disapproval.

"No," she said bluntly.

She understood why, because of his treatment at Doc's hand but no. Rosan had plenty of style but all of his style revolved around covering as much skin as possible.

Case in point, Robin activated her Devil Fruit and had four hands remove his long sleeved black shirt, while she herself grabbed a purple, silk, short sleeved cardigan with red roses and placed it on him.

"Isn't that for you?" Rosan asked curiously, brows furrowed as he looked at the short sleeved cardigan.

This was one of the many shirts he had put away for her when they went shopping... he had noticed that many of them should be a tad large for her, but he just assumed that she really liked wearing his clothes and decided to get some clothing that would perfectly fit him... for her.

"No, when we went shopping, I bought a good amount of short sleeved shirts for you with Maro and Angel's assistance. They said you need to show more skin and I agreed," she smiled.

"...That would explain why they were for men," he muttered.

He didn't know she added clothes for him... sneaky woman.

Robin rolled her eyes. "If I want to wear men's clothing... I'll just wear your clothing," she replied with a small smile, gauging his appearance.

She made sure to leave the cardigan unbuttoned, exposing his torso, and it showed his beautiful arm tattoo in the process.

"Tell us about your dream," Robin said as she adjusted his clothing, making sure everything was in place and nodding at a job well done.

Rosan didn't even bother protesting her decision to change his outfit and just shook his head in defeat.

"...I had a dream where I met a hyper realistic version of Meiko," he began.

Robin, who was slightly adjusting his collar, froze at that.

"!" Mod's eyes widened in confusion.

Rosan continued unimpeded. "It really didn't feel like a dream… We were in a white field of flowers and I was beginning to panic because I couldn't feel you, Mod-chan or Ram. Then, she showed up to calm me down and we spoke to each other…"

The redhead let out a disturbed sigh. "She made me realize that this entire time, I've been failing her and she was totally right... I've been letting her down."

"Failed her?" Mod and Robin asked at the same time.

He nodded reluctantly. "It was… weird. She said that it must have been because of how well I knew her but she didn't feel like a manifestation of my thoughts. It felt like I was actually speaking to her and my emotions were totally bare too…"

Mod's eyes went wide at that. It made sense that his emotions would be bared… if he was submerged then the castle would be greatly weakened... but the castle was also very strange and didn't get affected by the things they should be affected by.

It formed when Rosan was affected by Seastone after all.

"How did you fail her?" Robin asked softly, resuming the process of fixing up his outfit with the help of her Devil Fruit.

The redhead pursed his lips. "When she asked me to find a new reason to live… I went searching for one with no effort. I gave up before I even started and she told me that I refuse to open my heart up to anybody. She's right. I've been failing her this entire time and it broke her heart."

There was genuine remorse in his tone as he told them that and their eyes softened.

"She also said that she wanted me to move on from her but that feels impossible. Meiko said she never intended to tie me to her with her final wishes but I feel like I would have done that regardless…" he admitted.

Robin's brows furrowed. This didn't sound like Rosan was having a dream. It sounded like he was speaking to Meiko herself. These were all things she would actually tell him. Robin knew as much about her as Rosan did and that was spot on.

"Meiko said I can't move on if I'm clinging to memories of her and she begged me to move on but how? She told me I had a reason already but…"

Robin decided he had said enough and chose to add her two cents to it.

"Rosan, do you remember that one time you got injured because of me and we had that talk? About how you didn't want to be the reason I gave up?" The Devil Child asked him quietly, making sure he was looking into her blue eyes by grabbing his chin.

It was all the way when they were just two small children. Rosan had been so much smaller then her and he had jumped in the way to take an attack meant for her, without any hesitation.

That's what solidified her love for him. That's what let her know, that Rosan was the one person to truly love her for her... and that was when her childish crush on him began.

Rosan wanted to say it wasn't her fault he got injured but his words died in his throat as he realized how similar this conversation was with Meiko.

So, he settled for a weak nod.

"How do you think Meiko would feel, knowing she was the reason you gave up?" Robin asked, gazing at him resolutely. "Doesn't it sound hypocritical of you to not want to be the reason someone gives up, then you give up knowing they wouldn't want to be the reason for it? You and Meiko were two sides of the same coin. Completely opposite, but oh so similar."

It was surreal to Rosan, that Robin was saying the exact same things as Meiko. Those intense blue eyes, normally neutral when regarding everything, looked up firmly at the only person who could make her act so out of character.

He did tell her that didn't he. When he was so young and naive, he told Robin that he didn't want to be the reason she gave up and to keep living for the both of them if something happened to him.

The redhead had loved her after all. Spending so much time with her, had given him a childish crush on his best friend and he wanted nothing but the best for her.

He… he really was a massive hypocrite wasn't he… because Robin had done that and now they were together again... And here he was, being so useless.

"I'm so pathetic," he said with a deep sigh.

"I don't think so," Robin disagreed immediately. "I think you're amazing, Rosan. Do you know why?"

He paused at that, thrown back by her statement.

"...Why?" He asked curiously.

"Because you are one of the first people to hold yourself accountable and change accordingly," Robin said simply.

Mod's eyes went wide at that and even Rosan looked surprised.

The Devil Child smiled at their shock. "When someone points out something about you that you realize is negative, you immediately try and fix that about yourself with no hesitation. You just have a hard time realizing said problems but you're very adaptable and it's incredible to witness."

Robin removed her hands from his collar and held his cheeks instead. "You don't realize how hard it is for a person to change but you do it just to become better in anyway you know how. You're not stubborn when it comes to changing... you're stubborn when it comes to listening but once you do listen, we see changes immediately."

"I know it must be so difficult for you but because Meiko told you, you're already trying to fix your mistakes. There's a reason I look up to you. You're amazing, Portgas D. Rosan," she finished firmly, making sure to emphasize her point by wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him close.

"…" Rosan felt his eyes go a little wide at her breakdown of him and he regarded the Devil Child in shock.

Looking for something he already found…

"Has anyone ever told you how amazing you are?" Rosan muttered, returning the hug easily. He held her close and took in her presence.

She smelt like flowers, just like him but a different kind.

He and Robin were complete opposites too... but they were also very similar...

"You and Mod-chan mostly," she replied with a smile, sinking into his exposed chest.

"Everyone else is missing out and I'm completely fine with that," the redhead replied, getting a pleased flush out of her.

"I agree," Mod beamed in true happiness. "You're beautiful, smart and you're the only one I've seen dress Rosan up without getting a peep out of him. Seriously, he even complains when Angel is doing it and she's as much of a fashion freak as he is."

"It's a good outfit… it shows a bit too much skin like many of Angel's choices but I've learned that Robin is a pervert so it's fine," he nodded.

Robin raised a brow. "I'm a pervert? Won't you throw a tantrum if you don't bathe with me?"

"We were children."

"I can hardly see the difference now. I don't think I've bathed alone since the first time we met up again."

"I can clearly see the difference. When you were a kid, you were as flat as I was. There was literally nothing to be perverted about so even if I were one... it certainly wasn't to you. It would probably be to Mod-chan... she's always been blessed."

"D-DON'T SAY SUCH THINGS!" Mod squealed, face burning red at his shameless statement.

"...I'm going to kill you one of these days because you make my blood boil. Also, did you just admit to staring at my breasts?" Robin asked, eyes going slightly wide at his shameless admittance.

"Sudden movement makes them move very easily and my eyes are automatically drawn to them. You aren't small you know? It's a natural human reaction... And we bathe together. I've literally seen everything Robin and you've seen everything too," he replied, amusement in his gaze.

It was unreal how shameless he was. Nothing seemed to phase him... not even admitting to checking out his naked best friend (it wasn't intentional but still).

She opened her mouth before nodding. "That's fair. I've seen enough to make the frequent woman who are into you, jealous. Also, please lie next time. You shouldn't be honest with things like this. My best friend shamelessly admitting to glancing at my breasts is rather... I don't even know how to explain it."

Pleased and embarrassed? That sounded right. Wait... why did that sound right exactly?

"I'm not a liar. Why would you want me to lie? Are you self conscious about your body? You shouldn't be... I'm rather glad you don't feel like dating. You evoke the same feelings of protectiveness out of me that Mod-chan does."

Robin gazed at him unimpressed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at his compliments on her figure. "Does that mean you'll prevent me from dating if I choose to?"

"...I might," he shrugged. "Maybe I'll show your future what if boyfriend, the memory of us kissing at Alabasta. I think that kiss was enough to ward off any potential suitor."

Robin thought back to that kiss and realized that yes, it very likely would because it had been really unreasonably lewd.

"You are actually insane. You are lucky that I have no intention of dating anyone," she sighed.

"Oh so now you see that it's a problem when you're the target?! You're both children with all the arguments and fights you've gotten in recently. It's like clockwork at this point."

"Things are obviously different when it comes to you, mom," they replied in unison.

"?! Y-You brats! Aren't you supposed to be letting me relax right now?" Mod stammered with a red face.

Why did they have to be so underhanded all the time?!

They smiled before Rosan said, "You need to get dressed too so that we can go. I look good enough."

Good enough was an understatement. Robin could very much appreciate how her best friend was looking right about now and she was also shamelessly staring at the free eye candy.

His exposed torso would get her a pleased noise from Maro, an angry glare from Angel and a bright blush from her younger self.

Robin wouldn't sit here and lie, she did appreciate the sights when they bathed together. It was hard not to stare and she was sure Rosan looked at her as well. They were both healthy adults so it was natural.

Rosan had a body that showed how seriously he took working out. Besides the tattoo on his arm, it was unblemished despite all the battles he partook in and the natural bronze hue of his skin, gave him the appearance of someone who spent time outside frequently.

He looked dangerously good. Robin could see why eyes were always on him. He looked quite exotic, especially with that mesmerizing heterochromatic gaze clashing with that blood red hair of his.

Maybe she should button up his cardigan…

No, she'd enjoy this sight a little bit more. It wasn't often you see Rosan in such revealing clothes. Perhaps as a gift for the clothes, she'd let Maro see this. She was sure the perverted queen would appreciate it.

Honestly, it was a miracle Angel hadn't killed Maro yet. The Queen was seriously way too shameless.

"Since you're making me wear purple, you can wear red," Rosan muttered, looking through the enormous closet that held her side of the clothes.

Robin removed her blouse for Rosan to replace with a sleeveless red shirt dotted with purple flowers and nodded in satisfaction as he patted it down and straightened it out. They both had on long black pants but Robin's stopped at her calves.

"My oh my, not only are you two dressing each other up, now you're matching too?" Mod smiled teasingly. "When is the marriage? Will it be before or after Rosan manages to bring me into the real world separately?"

"Depends on what you want, Mom," Rosan replied without missing a beat.

"It's our job as your children to make you proud so if you want to be there in person, we don't mind waiting. I'd actually prefer it," Robin smiled easily.

Mod spluttered. "Y-You two are just the worst! Go back to arguing for all I care!"

The duo snorted.

When Robin and Rosan appeared back on Sky Island, it was to the presence of two new arrivals.

Like clockwork, they all jumped at the reappearance of the two and gazed at the duo in shock.

"We're back," Rosan greeted as Robin waved.

"NO SHIT! STOP DOING THAT!" The spooked ones roared.

They paused as they gauged the redhead's clothing.

Nami whistled and at the same time, Sanji went pale in horror.

"Looking good, Rosan," Nami complimented appreciatively, drinking in the redhead's build.

Huh, the last time she saw his torso was way back at Syrup Village... he was as ripped as ever!

"You shouldn't be afraid to dress like this more often. It's not bad at all," the navigator clapped.

"Praise Robin," he said dismissively. "She's the one who dressed me up like this. I'd never willingly show this much skin."

Sanji's insult died right on his lip at the news that it was Robin who dressed him in the outfit and he glanced at her pleased smile with a torn look in his eyes.

"Nice job Robin," Sabo praised, high fiving her. "You seem to have the easiest job breaking through to him so keep it up!"

"I'll do my best," Robin replied, returning it easily.

"Am I some type of pet?" Rosan muttered.

"Yes. You used to be my pet kitten, now you're my pet tiger," the Devil Child replied easily, patting his red hair and not even flinching at his glower.

That didn't even make sense. What about him was catlike? He was a dragon for a reason.

"Your purring. I missed when you purred. Can you bring that back?" Robin asked.

"...Sometimes I hate you," Rosan replied calmly.

"I didn't think you would lie so freely to me!" She replied with a small smile.

"Friends... of yours?" Conis gasped, gazing at the two arrivals with a spooked gaze. The woman was holding her chest, trying to catch her breath as she appraised the new appearances.

Rosan nodded, holding both his hands out to the two strangers.

"Yes, I'm Rosan and this is Robin," he greeted, inclining his head towards the Devil Child gazing piercingly at the blonde angel girl.

Why was she doing that? Was there something she noticed about the blonde...? Hm. He'd keep an eye on her then... Robin was a good judge of character.

Mod sweatdropped.

The man and woman grabbed each hand and shook it.

"I'm Pagaya and this is my daughter, Conis," the man greeted politely.

Conis's gaze lingered on his exposed chest for a bit before she coughed and said, "It's nice to meet you, Rosan-san! Robin-san! Welcome to Skypiea!"

They had small wings on their back that weren't remotely as captivating as his own angel wings. They looked far too stiff as well, sticking straight out and lacking the curve his own had.

"To be fair, yours seem to incorporate a bit of birdlike elements in it as well," Robin supplied. His wings were far more beautiful then the ones these Skypiean's seemed to have and instead of poking outward, it flowed down his back when resting.

Their wings were dull. It's probably why it appeared they couldn't do anything with it.

Perhaps he should actually show them what real angel wings looked like…

"Surely you're not planning on doing that for your own stylish pride." Robin nearly laughed aloud at that, taking her gaze off the blonde finally to regard Rosan.

He might. It seemed like Skypiea had it's own life outside of the Blue Sea so him revealing that he had Shinigami wouldn't necessarily do anything.

Hm...

His eyes caught the little boat thing and he walked over to it. "Is this a waver?"

Nami's eyes lit up. "Conis told me that it is! Can we ride it?!"

They also had a broken one on their ship! If they got it repaired, it would be amazing!

Pagaya gave the go ahead and they watched with bugged eyes as Nami mastered riding it on her very first try.

"That normally takes 10 years to master," Conis said in awe, watching how effortlessly she was making it look.

Seems like Nami was as much as a genius in her craft as the rest of the Straw Hats were... not that Rosan was surprised. Her skills in navigation were a power in its own right.

"How does it move without wind? Are they a common object in Sky Island?" Rosan asked innocently.

The Straw Hats sweatdropped at the second question. "He's so greedy!" They thought, sobbing comically.

They just met these nice people and he was already planning on stealing everything without remorse? He really was a demon!

Pagaya, bless his innocent soul, answered without hesitation. "Wavers are very common as are many form of transportation unique to Sky Island! You can see them everywhere!"

"Don't tell him that!"

"Perfect." Rosan sounded pleased saying that and they looked at the greed machine with disbelief.

He and Nami were utterly ridiculous. She was the only one who would wholeheartedly agree with this demonic action.

"As for how it moves without wind, well that would be because of the dial," Pagaya explained.

Rosan tilted his head at that, interest piqued once more. "Dials?"

"DON'T DO IT!" They thought.

His greed knew no bounds. This was even worse then they thought! Their scout's greed was limitless!

Rosan was really planning on robbing this place dry!

Pagaya seemed pleased that someone was so interested in what he was saying. "I'd love to explain more over dinner. Won't you come to my place and try this sea lobster I caught?"

They all nodded in unison, glad that Rosan's terror was over even temporarily.

"What do you think?" Robin thought as they followed the man and left the Nami, who wanted to try out the waver more, behind.

"I'm stealing everything that I can," Rosan replied truthfully.

Robin had to hold back her giggle at that. "You don't feel even a little bad stealing from such nice people?"

"I never feel bad taking things from people I don't trust."

Ah, so he didn't trust them for even a second.

She expected that. Rosan was a very good judge of character and it honestly felt like his eyes could see through you at times.

She would know. Robin had given up lying to Rosan, 1 month into them meeting up. No matter what she said, no matter how small the lie, no matter how she mixed it in with the truth, Rosan knew exactly when she lied. It was terrifying being so exposed to someone but Rosan only wanted what was best for her... and she liked not having to lie. It made her feel trusted.

It made her life seem normal. That was the real reason she stopped lying to him.

They arrived at the man's house and Pagaya took the time to explain dials to them.

Based on the clear interest on Rosan's face, he was going to be stealing even more then just the Wavers.

Robin listened to Rosan's thoughts with a fond smile, content to listen to his musings. She adored listening to his mind, it showed that he was just as intelligent as her, but he thought in a way that made them just as different.

Rosan's eyes were calculating as he digested the information.

Dials were strange, mysterious devices which had the ability to store energy and matter. There were various amounts of them and the one used on the Waver was a Breath Dial, which stored and released wind currents.

Breath Dials… Wind… If he had Ram absorb a breath dial, he could gain the ability to control wind and if he did that... he'd be a step closer to dominating nature.

But the Breath Dial wasn't strong enough. With Modification, he could certainly mold and make it even stronger then what the dial could normally do... but it wouldn't suffice.

He needed something on the level of Ragnarok's flames to be satisfied. A little breeze wouldn't be enough.

Dial's sounded fascinating. He could even implement some in the Clima Tact with Usopp's assistance.

Many were useless, used for just day to day living but he'd still steal as much as he could. Angel would appreciate them and maybe they could even use it as their own source of power to increase their livelihood.

Anything would be useful. His sister would love to attempt to reverse engineer it. She had been getting incredibly talented at crafting and learned from Hiroshi as well. Due to her innate skills, the woman was getting rather bored and was now trying to invent new things.

He'd give her some things to tinker on then. He should be on the lookout for technological wonders for her actually. Angel was his sister after all and her drive for the things she were interested in, were similar to his.

It was a good thing he was well versed in the art of stealth. They'd never see him coming. He'd take anything and everything until he was satisfied.

Now he wondered which dials were used for combat… if dials were their main source of living up here, then naturally they had some that could be used for violence.

Humans, humans with wings, intelligent animals... it didn't matter what you were. Violence was something everyone was born with and violence was something everyone resorted to.

No one was truly peaceful. Such a life was impossible. There was always something, no matter how hidden, that revealed the real picture...

Or perhaps he was just too pessimistic. Maybe this place was peaceful...

Yeah right.

He'd find the more violent dials eventually, then he'd steal those too. Ram could get quite the upgrade up here.

"Be on the lookout Robin. Take anything you can. Nami already knows the game plan."

"You two are sick," Robin deadpanned.

"You won't be saying that when I find something useful for you."

Robin said nothing and the redhead snorted quietly.

They enjoyed lunch with the father and daughter while Rosan plotted how he'd go about robbing things.

Speaking of which…

"Where is Nami?" Rosan asked.

They all blinked at that question.

Now that he mentioned it… she didn't show up for dinner and they couldn't actually see her outside anymore…

Eh, she was probably having a lot of fun and just went further out.

Conis bit her lip in worry. "Hopefully she didn't stumble upon the one area we are never supposed to touch."

"Never supposed to touch?" Luffy asked with a mysterious gleam.

The crew pleaded with their gaze alone for Conis to shut up because it was Luffy, their super awesome and not reckless captain, who said that.

A curious Luffy was the very last thing you wanted.

She did not notice. It was actually jaw dropping how unaware this family of two was.

"It's a sacred ground that we call the Upper Yard. It's where our all knowing Kami lives," Conis explained.

"All knowing Kami?" Rosan raised a brow.

They all groaned.

"Rosan was right."

Nami balked in horror at what she just saw.

Holy shit, Rosan was right.

Because they didn't pay that 8 billion extols… They were currently labelled as criminals and it looked like they were going to be offered up as tributes to some type of sick game.

"8 trespassers? That's enough to split between the four of us..." one of them said but Nami barely registered what they were saying.

No, she was shaking in fear from that earlier display from who knows what.

W-Was that lightning? She didn't know but the power behind that attack left nothing behind of that person who had been screaming for help to her mere moments ago.

She had to go meetup with the others quick. This was bad news.

The navigator could practically hear Rosan saying I told you so in the back of her mind and she nearly bit back a groan.

It's no wonder he was so damn arrogant. The redhead tended to be right about a lot of things.

She'd be arrogant too if she was damn near clairvoyant.

"I see… so this place is a place we're not supposed to go to, right?" Luffy asked, smiling serenely.

Usopp balked and immediately tackled his captain, shaking him back and forth. "Don't do anything stupid, Luffy! We don't wanna incur the wrath of Kami!"

"Incur the wrath of Kami, eh?" Rosan mused, making the coward go white.

"R-ROBIN, STOP HIM PLEASE!" Usopp squealed.

Robin smiled apologetically. "I can't tell what's going on in that mind of his. Only when he tells me, can I attempt to do something about it."

That was kind of a lie. She knew exactly what he was thinking. Of course she knew, but Robin couldn't stop him unless she genuinely wanted too. If she did it halfheartedly, he'd bulldoze through her attempts.

You had to be full of conviction to stop a monster like Rosan. This applied in battles and when trying to talk him down.

Sabo glanced in awe at his two psychotic brothers. They were just like him! Everyone in the revolutionary was way too cautious for their own good but he guessed he picked up all his bad habits from his siblings.

Or maybe they were siblings because of their bad habits...

"What exactly are you thinking about?" Sanji asked warily.

Was he interested in Kami? That couldn't be for anything good.

Rosan was the Angel of Death after all and most recently, the Red Devil.

Angel of Death was way cooler, he should look into getting that changed.

"Just wondering if Kami is interested in seeing a Shinigami is all," Rosan said calmly.

Everyone, barring Sanji and Robin (who dropped his jaw and raised her brows high respectively), tilted their head in confusion at that.

Shini...gami? The Kami of Death? W-Was Rosan saying that he was going to go and kill the Kami of Skypiea and send him to meet the Shinigami?!

"Hey Luffy, I've got dibs," the redhead suddenly said.

That confusion immediately turned into horror.

HE WAS! N-NO! WHAT WAS ROSAN DOING RIGHT NOW?!

"WHAT?! YOU CHEATER!" Luffy roared, tackling his brother to the floor. "WE DON'T EVEN HAVE ANYONE TO FIGHT YET!"

"D-Dibs?" Conis said in confusion, turning white. Surely he wasn't planning on...

Wait...

Rosan effortlessly ignored his younger brother throttling him. "Let's go quickly find Nami in case something happened to her."

"THIS ISN'T OVER, ROSAN!" Luffy roared. No fair!

The redhead got up and placed Luffy on his back, dragging his brother with him. "You know the rules. Whoever calls dibs gets first crack at an opponent of their choice."

It's what he, Luffy, Ace and Maro agreed on. This was actually the first time Rosan was using it. As the strongest, he let the others get the first crack and if it was something Ace or Luffy couldn't handle, Maro swiftly dealt with it.

The Queen rarely called dibs, but when she was feeling annoying and wanted to bug Ace she'd do it.

Since he was calling dibs, Luffy had to respect it. The rubber boy called dibs the most after all.

It didn't matter who it was, Luffy always had first shot at it because he called dibs on everything. Many times when they were going around just hunting people for fun, he lost and Ace had to step in and deal with it while muttering "Dumbass" under his breath.

"Bah, fine! But I call dibs on the next 10!" He said, allowing his brother to carry him away.

"...We don't even know who our next 10 are," Rosan replied to his impossible brother.

"Too bad!"

"...The one time I call dibs and you're throwing a tantrum... you're way too spoiled. Fine, you'll forget the number you chose anyways."

"No I won't!"

"What number did you choose?"

"...40."

Everyone sweatdropped at the two.

As they got prepared to leave and find Nami, Rosan watched with a neutral gaze, as a group of idiots approached them while crawling on the ground.

"What... are they doing?" Rosan thought to himself.

"Sneaking up on us," Robin supplied helpfully.

"...Thank you for that Robin."

"Anytime."

"The White Berets?" Conis said in confusion, trepidation setting into her frame.

Sabo raised a brow at that. "Guards of some kind?"

She nodded hesitantly.

"Halt! So you're the 8 Blue Sea trespassers?" The leader of the group seemed to say, gazing at them.

"Trespassers?!" Usopp gawked in confusion.

"It's because we didn't pay the entrance fee," Robin pointed out. She could feel the smugness radiating off of Rosan a mile away and knew he was going to be insufferable for a while.

The Straw Hats groaned as they realized that too.

"I knew it," Rosan muttered, gazing unimpressed at his crew. "How much is 8 billion extols in beri?" He asked the man calmly.

"Beri? The Blue Sea currency? 10,000 extols is 1 beri so that would be 800 thousand. If you wish to wipe your criminal record and explore Skypiea as normal guests, you'd have to pay 10 times the normal fee."

The leader of the White Berets, McKinely, cupped his chin "...Although, you aren't apart of the video of the trespassers. That means there's actually 9 of you so not only would you have to pay more, you attempted to smuggle an extra person in which is a class-10 offense."

"SMUGGLE?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Sanji barked in clear annoyance.

"THESE GUYS ARE JUST TRYING TO PIN US WITH CRIMES!" Usopp roared.

"What happens if we don't pay the fee?" Rosan asked calmly, ignoring the two for a second.

"Then we'll be forced to capture you. I must warn you though, we serve as Kami's vassals. Any slight against us, is a slight against Kami Enel."

Rosan, who was willing to pay the cheap price, paused at that and stopped moving his hand.

"NOOOOO!" Everyone thought with comically large tears. Was he genuinely insane?! What was wrong with Rosan?! WHY WAS HE LIKE THIS?!

They already knew what he was planning the moment he froze.

"Is that so?" The redhead mused, eyes transforming into slits.

That just sounded too interesting to ignore. Directly grabbing the interest of this Kami named Enel?

It's been a while since he had been so actively chaotic.

Maybe it was time to start making Meiko proud again.

"Yes but if you pay the fee now—"

Whatever the White Beret was going to say, was interrupted by the sight of a weak fireball crashing directly into his face, sending him sailing backwards with smoky air.

"I don't feel like it," Rosan said calmly, holding his palm up and launching another fireball up and down like it were a baseball.

"DAMMIT ROSAN!" They roared in disbelief.

"Y-You!" The leader of the white berets gaped through teary eyes, eyeing the fireball like it came from a demon itself. He winced at the slight burns and began wheezing.

Nami showed up right then and gawked at the burnt face of the guard, before glancing at the nonchalant Rosan holding a very suspicious fireball.

"W-WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!" She roared.

"I wanted to do something interesting and fun," Rosan explained bluntly. "Nami, did you know that they were charging us 9 million beris just as an entrance fee?"

His shameless and obvious manipulation tactic worked flawlessly because Nami, who was riding the waver towards the large group, slammed it right onto the burned man's face with a look of intense fury.

"NINE MILLION?! ARE YOU INSANE?! THAT'S TOO EXPENSIVE!" Their navigator roared.

McKinley temporarily blacked out as the force of the waver slammed directly into his body and he went soaring backwards, tumbling across the ground.

"CAPTAIN MCKINLEY!" The berets screamed in disbelief.

"Hey, didn't he trick you too easily?" The Straw Hats deadpanned, waving at Nami with blank faces.

Nami groaned in despair, holding her hair sheepishly. "Dammit Rosan."

The redhead looked pleased. "Don't be so easy next time. You'll make your older brother worried."

This so called Kami seemed interesting enough and his talk with Meiko helped open his eyes to a lot of things.

Now, it was about time for him to start doing things he deemed interesting.

Infuriating a self proclaimed Kami sounded like that could be fun.

"You are a maniac." Mod shook her head at that. Leave it to Rosan to always make the wildest decisions when it came to things.

"So this is what you want to do?" Robin couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"That's right. Mod-chan and I came to the conclusion that a difficult enough battle could potentially help me and fighting someone strong enough to be universally known as Kami here seems like a step in the right direction."

Robin's smile widened at his earnest attempt. "Alright, then I won't assist you this time around. Be careful, alright?"

Rosan hummed for a bit. "Hey Robin, remember what I said about these guy's wings?" the redhead asked aloud, garnering everyone's attention.

Robin's smile was wiped off her face and she raised a brow. "Rosan, are you thinking about…?"

The Straw Hats blinked. What was Rosan planning on doing? Was he being an ass about the way the citizen's wings looked?

Seriously, would it kill him to be more polite?!

Sanji's jaw dropped as he realized what the redhead was about to do. "Hey, Rosan are you really about to do that?!" He asked the redhead.

That made the Straw Hats blink even harder.

Did Sanji know something about Rosan that they didn't? When did that happen? Were the two closer then they thought? They thought Sanji was totally jealous of the redhead!

"Yeah, I trust them enough and they're already keeping one of my secrets," Rosan informed the two.

McKinley had enough of this. "ATTACKING A VASSAL OF KAMI IS A CLASS 5 OFFENSE! I EXILE YOU ALL TO THE CLOU—"

"Your Kami is omniscient, right?" Rosan asked suddenly, interrupting the man and shutting him up.

The leader of the White Berets blinked at that. "What…?"

"I asked if your Kami is omniscient."

The guard puffed up at that. "That's right! Kami Enel knows all that happens in Skypiea and has already seen all your crimes!"

They were done for. They'd be lucky to even be exiled to the clouds! If they refused capture any further, then they'd be bringing Kami's Guards into this—

"Only Skypiea?"

Everyone froze at that disappointed tone Rosan took.

Oh they just knew that their scout, the one who managed to piss off everyone with just a few words, was going to make their situation so much worse.

"How disappointing. I guess he doesn't know he's dealing with a Death... or a Devil," Rosan shrugged.

The residents of Skypiea went white at that.

"A Devil… Who?"

The Straw Hats latched onto another word.

...Death?

Then they felt the temperature rapidly increase around them and sweat began dripping from all at the sweltering heats.

Before their very eyes, a set of obsidian black wings sprouted from Rosan's back and the temperature nearly doubled as flames began forming around the redhead.

"Take a guess," Rosan offered them, eyes glowing a sinister shade of red.

The Skypieans went white.

"B-B-Black Wings…?" They whispered in horror. Large black wings on his back…

Beautiful and eye-catching, no hint of humbleness and fully embracing in their own dangerous aura and vanity.

It was reminiscent of their own... but they weren't the correct color. They weren't white like the typical Skypiean...

No, black wings signified something worse... something evil. A terrible omen had arrived. One that they thought was a mere myth.

A-A person with black wings...? In folklore... the one wielding the wings opposite to theirs... was considered a Deviant...

They were considered the Forsaken One.

This was… This was Kami's enemy.

At once, every current Skypiean came to the same realization. They went pale and took a step back, a terrified sweat forming as they began shaking rapidly, eyes shrinking as the very presence of Rosan made them feel a terror reminiscent to the one Enel gave them.

D-Danger... They were in danger. If they remained in the presence of the direct enemy of Kami, they would suffer a fate worse then death. If they remained close to the Forsaken One... they would end up Forsaken as well!

Sanji's jaw dropped even further. He really just did that didn't he? Without a care in the world.

Damn he was cool...

"Hey… t-those don't look like Rosan's dragon wings," Usopp whispered to Zoro.

"Yeah… they kinda look similar to the sky people but longer and flexible," he replied back.

"Rosan's a bird?!" Chopper balked. No wonder he summoned so much! They were like his brothers!

"I've never seen him use wings like that!" Nami mused, eyeing the all black wings with an appraising eye.

They were stunning, much more visually pleasing then his intimidating draconic wings and they arced out in a magnificent way, looking to be just a little smaller then Rosan himself.

Each black feather blended in intricately with each other and it looked like the very light around him was being absorbed into them.

They were stunning.

She wondered why Rosan never used such beautiful wings. The birdlike wings looked far more comfortable to use and they fit his frame to a t, whereas the wings of his dragon were a bit on the large end—

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nami screeched, eyes bugged as the realization hit her like a freight train.

Black wings that looked similar to a bird's but not quite? How they seemed drain the very light of the area? How they looked so utterly beautiful and enchanting despite those previous details?

T-That description fit only one person and even after 10 years, they'd be hard to forget.

After all…

"Y-Y-You're," the navigator stammered, not quite believing it, taking a shaky step back as sweat began forming on her features. The Navigator's eyes were complete white as she formed a respectable distance between her and Rosan.

The other Straw Hats who didn't know and Sabo looked at the gobsmacked Nami with concern in their eyes.

What was up with Rosan's wings? Why did they elicit such a strong reaction out of her? Why did she look afraid?

"You know, I never really did get on board with the title Angel of Death. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool title... but it's the wrong title. I'm no Angel," Rosan began calmly, walking slowly towards the petrified Skypieans who seemed to really dislike the color of his wings and the fire surrounding him.

The citizens of the Sky Island began shuddering even harder than before, not able to muster up the courage to back away from the Devil walking towards them.

The ones who didn't know (but knew of Reaper), went cold at that statement.

Angel of Death… Wait just a damn minute.

Wait just a fucking minute! WHAT DID HE MEAN ANGEL OF DEATH?!

"Angel of Death means that I'm answering to someone and that's never been the case. Fallen Angel sounds much better to my ears but even that's not totally correct," Rosan told them all.

"After all, when you think of the Grim Reaper, you don't think of an Angel. You think of Death. You think of the person who comes to harvest your soul when your time is up. I'm not Death's loyal Angel. I'm not an Angel who has been forsaken by Heaven. I am the Shinigami who decides who lives and who dies."

As Rosan spoke, more and more of his crew began to realize just who he was.

"No way," Zoro balked in genuine disbelief. He had always wanted to test his blades against the scythe spoken about in whispers. You were telling him, the one who wielded that weapon... the one who popularized such a strange and unique weapon... was right here?

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'D ACTUALLY COME FOR ME FOR LYING SO MUCH! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!" Usopp screamed, eyes bugging in horror as he finally began making the connections.

"W-What's wrong? Is… Is Rosan someone scary?!" Chopper squealed, eyes wide at the white faces of Zoro, Nami and Usopp.

Sabo paused in disbelief. Wait a minute... Was… Was Rosan actually—

"Y-Y-You're REAPER?!" Nami screamed for all to hear.

Enel listened into the conversation with a curious smile.

Black wings? Devil? Shinigami?

Blasphemous.

"A Fallen Angel has wandered back onto Kami's territory," the Kami of Skypiea mused with a lazy smile, tossing an apple up and down.

Heathens had no place here... but, if he truly was another Kami, Enel would be interested in meeting him.

That was only if he were actually some lesser Kami though... he did have black wings after all.

Black wings were a sign that Kami would never accept him. He was a direct enemy to his rule.

But Enel was almighty. No such thing as a threat to his rule existed. The only threat to his rule, was if he himself grew tired of it.

He supposed it was time to check if this "Shinigami" was just that, or a forsaken Angel.

If it was the latter, then he would of course be eliminated.

No Angel could ever hope to stand up to Kami.

Enel laughed as he began glowing blue, pinpointing on the location where the potential stain was speaking and lazily biting into his apple.

"Yahahahaha! Shinigami. Devil. None of that matters to Kami because I am absolute," he said matter of factly. "No matter the circumstances, you belong to me."

"I the one who creates and I am the one who destroys. Such is the duty of your Kami."

And if he proved to be neither a Kami or an Angel... but instead was revealed to be a Devil...

Well, Enel would personally deal with him.

Rosan's gaze sharpened drastically and without any hesitation, he flared his wings and soared away from the terrified White Berets.

Everyone's confusion lasted only a split second, as an utterly massive beam of lightning crashed into the spot the Shinigami was just at and forced them to cover their eyes.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The White Berets screamed as they were caught as collateral, shrieking in the split second that their insides were incinerated.

When the light settled, the Straw Hats opened their eyes and regarded the spot the guards were at in horror.

There was not a single one there.

Not even bodies... not even blood.

Just the smell of ozone wafting through the air as they stared uneasily at the hole in the floor.

"Now we've done it," Nami moaned in sadness. They angered Kami and not only that, Rosan was basically his antithesis!

How the hell were they supposed to account for this?! What type of luck did they have where they landed on a Sky Island, with an actual Kami... who took offense to the sight of a Devil?

"We're dead!" Usopp sobbed, crawling on the floor and trying to hide himself.

"GWAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chopper screeched, eyes bugged in genuine horror as he watched the annoying guards get vaporized.

Sure they were pretty insufferable, but they didn't deserve to just... d-die! What was going on?!

Rosan floated down gently and inspected the area he was just at with an interested gaze. Unlike most of his crew, he was utterly unbothered by the sight of Kami vaporizing the White Berets and just honed in on one thing.

"He has a Devil Fruit and it's a strong one."

"It's likely the Goro Goro no mi," Mod explained.

"The lightning Logia?" Robin muttered, a little worried. Her lack of concern was gone now as she heard of that.

That Devil Fruit was strong even by Logia standards. It was one of the few Devil Fruits touted as invincible.

The Goro Goro no mi… That was a Devil Fruit that had all of Rosan's attention.

Even amongst Logia's, it was exceptionally powerful and if Rosan had a choice to eat any other Devil Fruit of his choosing, that would be his decision.

His eyes actually began to glow in interest.

It was a good thing Luffy didn't have dibs for once. His brother was immune to lightning so he'd just manhandle this man. He wouldn't grow from it but Rosan? Rosan could grow.

This fight would be good. Based on the power behind that blast that just obliterated his troops like nothing, Kami could give Rosan what he wanted.

It could not only help him draw out his emotions, but it might also help him with unlocking his haki, considering he was fighting a Logia. Not to mention, Rosan wanted to control the elements and lightning was actually the one he was most interested in.

Why? Because it was cool. That's all. He would have prioritized learning it but learning fire went hand in hand with learning how to transform into a dragon.

The only problem was that... he didn't have a great experience with getting shocked...

Hm...

Regardless, Rosan wanted to see what this person was capable of. Someone who claimed to be Kami was too much of a narcissist so he just wanted his power if possible.

Mod shuddered. Rosan was incredibly dangerous when he was interested.

"...Be careful, Rosan. You don't have a means to hit someone with a lightning Logia and based on that attack, he is nothing to scoff at," Robin couldn't hide the worry out of her voice.

Rosan had bad memories of being shocked and fighting Enel might bring them all to the forefront… His trauma could come to haunt him...

It could be a double edged sword for the redhead and it was causing her to worry.

Rosan saw the worry in her gaze and immediately dragged her close to him, making sure to ease her concerns.

"I won't die Robin and this is a perfect time for me to learn how to hit a Logia. For you, if things get really bad I'll let Sabo deal with him," he assured, curling one wing around her as well.

Robin sighed at that and sunk deeper into him. His wings were awfully comfortable and soft. It felt like a world class pillow and she sank further into it.

"Perhaps I'll have to start asking you to sleep with your wings out."

"They are flexible enough, I can make it work."

"...Are we just gonna ignore the fact that the Kami just killed his own White Beret dudes while trying to kill Rosan… WHO HAPPENS TO BE REAPER?!" Nami roared, watching the two embrace with a look of pure disbelief.

Now was not the time for them to be acting so lovey dovey! ROSAN JUST PISSED OFF A KAMI WHO COULD ATTACK THEM FROM ANYWHERE! RIGHT AFTER REVEALING HE WAS THE WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS BOUNTY HUNTER!

JUST WHAT WAS GOING ON RIGHT NOW?! THEY KNEW ROSAN HAD SECRETS BUT THIS WAS TOO MUCH!

This whole time... this entire goddamn time, their "humble scout" was actually the highest starting bounty ever.

That was just too much to unpack... what could they even say to that?

Rosan blinked at them and they watched the wing that wasn't covering Robin, begin moving in a waving gesture.

"I'm Reaper," he said.

…

"NO SHIT!" They roared.

"I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions but I'll answer them later. We need to restock on stuff and leave the area I think," Rosan told them.

They nodded reluctantly. At least the redhead was willing to explain it to them.

Conis was white in terror, glancing repeatedly between the spot the White Berets used to be and Rosan's gorgeous black wings. She was shaking, resisting the urge to curl into herself at the casual slaughter of the troops but not looking as bad as someone who witnessed such mass amounts of death...

Interesting. She looked more afraid of his wings, then the deaths of the soldiers.

He wasn't too surprised. For people who closely resembled angels, his vain, black wings must have been a terrible omen in their culture. He wondered just what significance it had.

To them, Rosan may very well be the actual Devil with his light absorbing black wings that contrasted their own so greatly.

Sabo was deep in thought as they headed back to the ship. "Maybe I should deal with this… I can't feel anyone that could have used that attack earlier so that means his attack range is huge," he muttered.

"No. I've got dibs," Rosan replied calmly.

"Yeah, Sabo! Rosan's got dibs! Then I've got dibs! Then you've got dibs!" Luffy exclaimed matter of factly.

They probably wouldn't even get to fight... Rosan was really strong...

The blonde sweatdropped. "But this is a matter of life and death now? We don't know anything about the opponent," he tried to reason.

"Life or Death?" Rosan tilted his head. "Luffy, are you gonna die?"

"Nope! You?"

"Nope."

Sabo's sweatdrop deepend and he felt his heart go out for Ace.

Having to deal with two impossible brothers must be terrible as the middle sibling. He was feeling its effects right now and Ace was way easier to rile up.

Huh... how did he know that?

"Alright, alright. I'll focus on keeping as much of you safe as I can then," the revolutionary assured, holding his head a bit.

"You're the best!" Usopp sobbed to the blonde brother.

Sabo was just the best! He was kind and gentle to them like Ace was and not at all a dick like Rosan or Luffy —

"Don't coddle them, Sabo. Only if they've thoroughly lost, should you step in," Rosan instructed, grabbing Robin and floating atop the ship.

"Right. Gotta let them grow from battles," the chief of staff nodded in complete understanding.

"YOU'RE THE WORST!" The sniper roared.

Conis seemed to finally snap out of her trance and she regarded the crew with a nervous expression.

"W-Wait just a moment!" She called to the departing crew. "Please, stock up on provisions before you go! It's a long journey and to leave Sky Island, you'll need to enter the White Sea… At the very least I can show you where it is."

A lie.

"Conis-chan!" Sanji swooned. "You're the best! I'm on the way!"

"That reminds me!" Usopp exclaimed. "Pagaya, since you're an engineer, do you think I could borrow some materials for our ship?!"

The father nodded without hesitation, still deeply shaken by what just transpired but masking it as well as a citizen could. "But of course! Come back home with me!"

"FOOOOD!" Luffy cheered, quickly following after Usopp and Sanji with a cheerful expression.

Rosan gazed at the blonde haired angel with a tilted head before coming to a decision.

"Could I borrow some dials actually?" The redhead asked. "I'd like to get to know more about them."

She flinched terribly at being spoken to by him but nodded her head rapidly, seeming to fear the outcome of denying him. "Of course! We have more dials then we know what to do with so feel free."

He simply nodded and made a show of flexing his wings (this made Conis let out a strangled gasp), before floating down on the beach again with Robin in tow.

"Honestly, will you just drag me everywhere with you?" Robin asked in amusement as they left the ship behind. Despite her question, she didn't release her grip on him, knowing she'd be more than displeased if he did choose to leave her behind but not saying it aloud because there was no way she was boosting his ego once more.

"You're free to stay behind," Rosan offered, despite having no intention of placing Robin down. In fact, his grip seemed to get even tighter and she couldn't prevent the roll of her eyes.

"You're illusion of choice will fail one day when I take you up on that offer," Robin deadpanned.

"I'll be waiting for that day. You're just glad that you don't have to ask me every single time because I know you want to come regardless. If the day comes where you say no, then I'll guilt trip you."

"You are utterly shameless. Be glad that you're also right."

"Mghm…" A yawn cut the two off. "Why... Why am I waking up alone, without the embrace of Mother, Father OR Auntie?! Wait. DID I FALL UNCONSCIOUS?!"

Ah, looks like Ram was awake now.

"There goes my peace," Mod sighed sadly.

"AUNTIEEEE COME HUG ME!" Ram whined.

Mod let out an even deeper sigh.

Rosan hummed as the wind around him slowly moved in time with his thoughts and he gently levitated a dial he was holding.

"Not strong enough, we need something with more power," Ram muttered, eyes gleaming at the prospect of learning a new ability.

"But it's a good start," Mod mused.

"How can I increase the power output immediately without building up the energy?" Rosan, who just had Ram absorb the Breath Dial, mused.

Unfortunately, Ram couldn't stack the same things on top of each other but if he found a similar ability, then he could use Modification to combine them. He could also use his ability to empower them somewhat but it wasn't enough to satisfy him.

No matter, this was good enough to begin practicing with.

"So just like that, you can control wind…" Robin sighed. That was absurd.

"I cannot control it exactly... It just looks like I can... I'm actually storing and generating it, then I use Modification to change and make it more flexible in its use... But the Breath Dial isn't strong enough to make the winds I generate as strong as my fire so for now, I will use them to enhance Ragnarok's flames. Although due to their nature, they will almost always be fully charged... "

He was a genius. Robin sighed at the redhead who could manipulate wind now. How did he even know how to modify it to his advantage already?

Battle freak.

Knowing him, he'd find a way to make it stronger very soon.

Luffy, Rosan, Robin, Sanji and Usopp were in Conis and Pagaya's home collecting provisions for their journey.

"You haven't stolen anything yet?" Robin asked curiously.

"No, perhaps I'll do it when we make it to Upper Yard but for now, I will focus on Enel," the redhead replied.

The man had gone oddly silent after his first attack. Rosan was honestly expecting this entire trip to be him avoiding rampant lightning bolts until he got his hand on Kami but it seemed Enel was just testing him with that attack.

Now, it seemed like Kami wanted to see them himself. How interesting... trying to figure out the man's character like this was proving to be a task, but at the very least Rosan could tell that he somewhat believed in his own hype.

That attack had been for him after all and he had just referred to himself as the Shinigami. So he may actually think himself a Kami. With a Devil Fruit like the Goro Goro no Mi, this was honestly a very likely outcome. If Enel had even half the ideas Rosan did with a Logia (he doubted it, Logia's were very uncreative) like that, he'd be right to think he was some type of Kami, especially if this was the average Skypiean strength.

"Is there anything that you want? I'll try and get it before we leave this place," Rosan asked curiously, idly blowing wind on her and giving her a steady breeze.

The Devil Child sighed at the cool breeze and leaned into him. He may not find it useful yet, but this breeze was just divine.

"I'd like to explore the Upper Yard and perhaps a few books on Skypiean history. Being the only piece of land in Skypiea means it might have interesting information," she

He nodded his head. In that case, he'd try to find stuff for Nami then. This breath dial could come in handy for her as well and he was sure Usopp would implement the dials into his own weapon.

Good, after exploring this place, he'd upgrade them both.

Speaking of which…

"You guys, our ship is moving. Looks like rather forcefully too," Rosan pointed out calmly.

He watched as a gigantic lobster began carrying their crewmembers away, Merry on it's massive back as it quickly began making distance from them.

The redhead noticed the resigned expression on Conis' face and hummed.

"Oh no!" Usopp gasped in horror, shooting up at seeing Merry get dragged away.

Sanji grabbed a binocular and gaped in equal horror.

"W-Why is Nami-san wearing a shirt now?" The chef balked in terror. He barely got to enjoy the sights and her shirt was already back on?!

"Focus on more important things," Usopp deadpanned.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chopper squealed with teary eyes, running around in a complete panic.

"W-What's happening?!" Nami panicked.

"There's something carrying us away!" Zoro barked.

Sabo's eyes narrowed. "We can't jump overboard either, look."

Gigantic sky fish were chasing them with their mouths wide open, eager to feast on the lobster, the ship, or the passengers on it.

Nami and Chopper squealed as they hugged each other tearfully. "SAVE US ROSAN!" They sobbed.

Rosan thought about doing that, but then he thought better. "If I try to stop this, that Kami will just destroy our ship… I think we have no choice but to play along with his game for now."

He didn't know the limit of Enel's fruit but it seemed like he could summon lightning anywhere that he could hear and they were obviously within his hearing range.

"Stay with Sabo. He'll deal with any threat you guys face," Rosan instructed them. "We'll be there soon."

"Yeah!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly. Now they had a real reason to go to the place they weren't supposed to go to!

"I'll keep them safe!" Sabo assured them.

With that, the Going Merry sped out of sight.

"Remember what I said, Rosan," Robin reminded.

"...We have years lost that we need to make up. You have my word that I will not die anytime soon, Robin. I don't want you to ever go through the pain of losing me again and I never want to lose you again," Rosan said resolutely, gazing at her with bright glowing eyes.

Whenever he said something like that, with such resolve, you really had no choice but to believe him.

She was starkly reminded at how intense Rosan's gaze could be when they glowed.

"...Right... we'll never leave each other again," Robin said, staring into his confident gaze with a dazed wonder.

Was it just her, or was Rosan displaying way more emotion then usual? They would need to check the castle soon because it was uncharacteristic.

For now though, they had more pressing matters to get to.

"How can we get to Upper Yard?" Sanji asked them urgently.

"I can fly us there?" Rosan offered, flexing his wings as proof.

"That's not a great idea!" Conis interrupted nervously. "The 4 on that ship are just being held hostage… you guys are the one being punished. If you don't do things the way Kami Enel wants it done, who knows what will happen?"

"A truth. A truth. A lie."

Robin blinked in surprise at that abrupt thought from Rosan. Conis' first two sentences were truthful but the last one was a lie?

"So what do you suggest we do?" Rosan asked curiously, tilting his head. "We can't just very well leave our crew to fend for themselves but you're suggesting that us flying there will only put us all in more danger?"

"He never trusted her from the start," Robin thought to herself, watching him go along with her plan despite knowing she was lying.

It was still so rattling to see the once naive Rosan, not have a single bone in his body willing to trust new people. From the start, he probably had his guard up and for good reason.

Clearly they were being set up in some way.

...Robin just wasn't used to being the less paranoid of the two.

"W-Well if I may suggest an idea?" Conis asked quietly, not once looking Rosan in his eyes.

"Of course you can Conis-chan!" Sanji swooned.

"Right this way then," Pagaya waved them back into his home so that they could discuss their next course of action.

"We will go along with their plans for now."

That was all Rosan said to her and he followed after the group.

Robin sighed.

She didn't even get him to fully enjoy their vacation before things turned chaotic.

Hopefully he'd keep the outfit on for a little longer. She quite enjoyed it.

...She'd never tell him that.

In order to make it to their crew (who they learned were being used as sacrifices), the 5 Straw Hats would need to take a dial ship to the Upper Yard by following the milky road.

In the process of doing so, they'd run into Kami's vassals.

If they wanted to reach the others, they'd need to face the vassals head on.

That would be easy.

"You musn't underestimate them! Kami's vassals aren't as strong as Enel but they are unimaginably powerful in their own right!" Pagaya informed them, trying to stress the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm not worried," Rosan shrugged.

"Yeah! They have Sabo with them," Luffy nodded.

"Zoro as well," Robin agreed.

"I can't believe she still put a t-shirt on," Sanji sighed forlornly.

"I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU ALL! YOU NEED TO BE WORRIED!" The father shouted in disbelief.

Rosan, Robin, Luffy and Sanji all tilted their head to the sides.

"Why?" They asked in unison.

Pagaya collapsed abruptly.

"Don't worry," Usopp nodded sympathetically as he patted the mans shoulder. "You get used to it. Knowing these 4, they're only worried about Kami himself."

Conis listened to that with a nervous expression, not doubting his claims much due to those Black Wings that were resting idly on Rosan's back.

Was he truly one of Kami's fallen angels…? A... Devil?

She shuddered at that. What if he was neither?

He did call himself a Shinigami after all. The Kami of Death… Was it possible that she was in the presence of another divine being? He managed to dodge an attack from Enel-sama of all people.

Could she really... trick a Kami? If she did... wouldn't he just... Kill her? He was Death after all...

The two made eye contact and she shuddered as that lifeless gaze of his began glowing slightly.

Rosan simply tilted his head and waved at her and she reluctantly returned it with a shaky smile.

Conis suddenly didn't feel so confident about what she was about to do.

"So this is Lovely Street! It's HUGE!" Luffy awed walking around and touching everything. "I wish we could buy everything!"

"You want stuff? If they accept Beri we can buy out what you need," Rosan offered calmly.

Usopp and Sanji shut it down immediately.

"We have more important things to worry about!" The sniper chided.

"Yeah, we need to save Nami-san!" Sanji barked in fury.

Robin cracked a smile. "I don't think they'd be willing to sell to you anyways, Rosan. Everyone's avoiding even catching your attention."

The redhead hummed. "I wonder why? Maybe they don't see redheads often?"

The Devil Child nearly giggled aloud at that but settled for letting it chime through their connection instead.

"It might be because of the wings you still have out. Black wings might be a bad omen to them all," she offered.

Conis jumped at that. "I-It's a bit of a bad sign but they just aren't used to blue sea dwellers! You guys are also technically criminals…"

"T-That's true…" Usopp muttered. With those White Berets just… dead. They were probably very on edge right now and seeing the criminals in the flesh, must have done them no favors.

With that in mind, the sniper urged them to hurry along to find the sail ship and the group marched through the city all while the citizens balked in horror at Rosan's wings.

"You'll have to find out for me why black wings are such a terrible thing for these people," Rosan mused.

"I have my guesses but I'll see. Perhaps in your free time you can steal some specific books for me?" Robin replied.

The redhead hummed pleasantly, which made a citizen in the distance jump with a shriek and said, "Okay I can do that. My Pocket Dimension is going to be getting a lot of new additions soon… I wonder if they have any unique plants that I can have Maro cultivate. If she manages to do so successfully, Celadon will become even more prestigious with plants that the Blue Sea probably don't recognize."

Robin took on a thoughtful expression. "From what I've heard, earth is very valuable to these people because it's hard to grow crops using the clouds. If given to Maro, she might have an even easier time then the Skypieans."

That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Having my own personal nerd is very useful. I didn't think you could do more than read the Poneglyphs," Rosan nodded in thanks, before grunting as he nearly tripped.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Skypieans screeched as he flexed his wings to remain upright, showing them all the obsidian black feathers in its full glory.

The redhead slowly floated back into a straight position, wings flapping all the while as the tension around them rose to even higher levels.

"Nearly tripped," Rosan informed them. His wings flexed a bit before going limp against his back again, laying stationary.

"Are you alright? You never trip," Sanji asked in concern. Was he just lying about being accustomed to the higher air? He was quickly learning that Rosan was insanely reckless.

Honestly, the redhead raiding Germa, should have told him that long ago.

"I'm fine," Rosan nodded. "You should be more concerned about Conis, I'm pretty sure she's about to faint on her feet."

That did the trick and Sanji hastily turned his attention onto their heavily sweating guide. She was staring at Rosan with a pale face but recovered admirably quick, accepting the chef's fussing with a polite smile.

"I'd say oops... but the fear of the people, is unfortunately collateral to my justice," Robin smiled, dispelling the foot she used to trip up Rosan.

Honestly, did he just plan on calling her nerd whenever he so pleased? Little Rosan used to call her an awesome genius and now he was calling her a nerd!

She shook her head. The regression was so tragic to behold. She didn't think someone could actually revert to a worse state with age but Rosan was proving her wrong.

The woman let out a surprised yelp, as a tiny gale sent her tumbling into a faux worried Rosan's arms.

The redhead held her up and asked, "What's the matter? Tired? Need me to hold you?"

"You're tired, Robin-chan?" Sanji asked in concern. "We should be at the ship soon and you can rest there!" He assured.

Robin shot him a strained smile as Rosan hoisted her up and began walking with her in his grasp. "I'm not tired... this weather is just very odd at times. It must be a Sky Island phenomenon."

"I'm going to kill you Rosan. You are utterly and completely insufferable and I hate you for putting me in situations I should not be in," she stated to the redhead.

"No need to act so tough, Robin-nee," Rosan mocked only to her ears, unfurling his wings once more and curling them around her.

He effortlessly ignored the citizens screaming at his actions.

"Here. I hear that they are rather comfortable to sleep against so get some rest," he smiled.

"Aw. Is mature and smart Robin trying to uphold an image? I'll make sure it's shattered before long. You've already attacked me multiple times now, anyone you're trying to upkeep an image for, already knows the truth."

Robin resisted the urge to scowl. "They must think me some wild animal now because of you."

"...Wait, you aren't a wild animal? I thought that's why they named you Robin," Rosan retorted.

The redhead dropped Robin swiftly and flew out of the way before she attempted to kill him.

"PLEASE MAKE HIM STOP!" The citizens screeched. By now, about 4 had fainted and a dozen were close to catching panic attacks.

"Maybe the air is too thin for you... attacking me for no reason?" He muttered, tilting his head.

She glared up at him, crossing her arms in preparation to restrain and drag him to the floor.

"U-Um, Rosan-san," Conis stammered a bit, making the both of them pause. "Please try not to spread your… wings again. It makes the people think you're about to do something."

She went a little still as that intimidating gaze began to sear into her.

"A bit too paranoid don't you think?" Rosan replied calmly, landing directly in front of her before furling up his wings. "I thought you said it's only a bit of a bad sign, but you'd think I'm the Devil itself with how everyone is reacting," he observed, pinning the woman in place.

Conis shook minutely at that. "I-It's because o-of what happened to the White Berets! W-Word spreads very fast around here a-and they know that they were k-killed due to a figure with black wings."

"A lie. A half truth."

Robin shuddered at that. Rosan's ability to glean whether you were being truthful or not, was as terrifying as she knew it was going to be when they were kids. His prowess at just being able to read people, was an underrated trait about him that truly made him terrifying.

How could you hide anything from a person who could see right through you?

"Rosan, stop being so creepy!" Sanji chastised the redhead. "Conis-chan was there to see them die. She's obviously still shaken up by it all. We should be glad she's still being so helpful to us!"

The redhead blinked. "Ah that's my bad... I forgot not everyone is as used to death as I am," he replied loudly.

Everyone, barring the Straw Hats, seized up at that, beginning to audibly shake at the words of the Forsaken One.

"Don't worry, I think we made it to our destination. They won't have to cry anymore," the redhead commented softly.

He gazed at all the ships with an appraising eye.

So all of them ran on dials huh?

"You make fun of Nami all the time, but you are genuinely such a greedy person. Your love for hoarding is on the level of her love of money."

"I think it's a side effect of Ragnarok's personality combining with father's own, turning him into a loot demon!" Ram jumped in.

Dragon's were well known for hoarding troves of treasure, to the point where people would risk their lives trying to invade their home to try their chance at riches.

Rosan paused at that.

...Loot demon?

"...All I did was make an observation on what they were made with," Rosan muttered in a bit of disbelief.

"You have become a hoarder though. We knew you were planning on stealing them all the moment you laid eyes on them," Robin mused. The hoarding nature of a dragon, combined with Rosan's innate selfishness and greed was a terrible terrible combination.

Rosan's expression turned thoughtful.

It was true that anything he found interesting, he wanted for himself and he'd find a use for it before throwing it away but did that really make him a hoarder?

Probably. He did amass a lot of things over the years in his Pocket Dimension, matching the stories of dragons well… But he gave many things away. If he kept everything he stole, the Pocket Dimension may actually fill up completely.

"Perhaps I have a problem," he admitted.

"The first step is realizing it!" Robin smiled smugly.

"The first step is always the easiest… it's the second that's a bit more difficult. Rosan, will you do anything about this insatiable greed?"

"…" Rosan thought long and hard about that before coming to a very important decision.

They were completely right. His hoarding and greedy nature was a very serious issue. Everywhere they went, he was looking at what to collect for himself or just anyone in his crew.

The moment he found something remotely interesting, he wanted it for himself or his allies and would stop at nothing to achieve it. His greed was never ending... it's how he ended up with the Baroque Works agents.

It's how he ended up with Crocodile under his heel...

Hm... forcing enemies to work under him because of their uses... yeah, he could see how greedy that made him look.

Okay, so he had a problem.

With that in mind, Rosan told them in the most reassuring tone ever—

"Absolutely not."

Mod and Ram face planted at his confident response and Robin held her head in disbelief.

"What? I gave Maro some cute little soldiers and I have a Logia as a pawn. I also have the means to be greedy and the Pocket Dimension allows me to have my own dungeon to store all my acquired things too. I see no reason why I shouldn't steal all these boats, dials, books, etc."

"Perhaps because it would greatly inconvenience the people you take them from?"

"That sounds like something a good person should worry about. Leaving something I want with them, doesn't benefit me at all. Why would I compromise my satisfaction for people I don't care about?"

"You are the most unhinged person I've ever met," Robin said calmly, resisting the urge to smile because he'd no doubt take that as her approval, psychopath he was.

"Says the person who has me stealing books from her. You can't admonish my bad habits and benefit from them at the same time. You're all enablers."

"...You are unbelievable, Rosan but… at least you only steal from people we don't care about?" Mod rationalized to the best of her ability.

That's all you could do with Rosan. Never make sense of his thought process, just rationalize it. She had been doing it for 20 years now and she hadn't completely lost her mind yet so she had to have been doing something right.

Robin continued shaking her head. "At least you're aware that you have a problem."

The redhead simply hummed.

Ram preened. "Steal as much as you want, Father! I need to become stronger and stronger so that the next time I see Mihawk and his sword, he'll be even more impressed!"

Rosan paused at that. "Ram. I demand you stop crushing on Yoru. I refuse it. I will not allow it."

His best friend couldn't hold back her laughter as Ram began spluttering.

"W-Wha... Who said I have a crush on Yoru?! D-Don't just go putting ideas in peoples head! A-AND IF I WAS YOU CAN'T STOP ME! I'M AN ADULT FATHER!"

Mod balked at seeing Ram protest one of Rosan's decisions with a red blush on her face.

"Who says I can't stop you?" Rosan raised a brow. "I can and will ground you. Also, you're technically 12 years old."

"YOU SOUND LIKE AUNTIE, YOU ASSHOLE!" Ram roared, full of disbelief as her Father began being... her Father.

Wait. Holy shit!

"Rosan, you can't just prevent Ram from dating people," Robin admonished, being the only one willing to stand up for the ring. "If she has a childish crush on Yoru, let her have one! He left a strong impression on her."

"He literally broke her in half," Rosan said flatly.

"IT'S NOT A CHILDISH CRUSH, MOTHER!" Ram screeched. "A-AND NO ONE CAN JUST BREAK ME! ISN'T THAT SO COOL?!"

...

Ram froze in mortification at her slipup.

"So it is a crush..." Rosan muttered. "Alright, I'll break Yoru."

"Don't do that. Think about how Ram will feel?" Robin chastised.

Ram's mortification deepened at the words of her parents, hating every single moment of this and wanting it to end as soon as possible.

Mod smiled violently.

"I think we should discuss this in detail later. We should at the very least, explain important things to Ram... despite being a ring who is attracted to the World's Strongest Sword?"

Said ring shot her head at the demonic woman with wide eyes, pleading with her to stop being an ass for one second, but Mod had been getting harassed by Ram for 12 years now.

It was time for some sweet revenge.

"Yeah, this isn't over. My ring will not be gaining feelings for anything just because of strength," Rosan grunted.

Robin rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you've now barred 3 people from dating. Aren't you being a little too unhinged? Let Ram live!"

"P-Please stop talking about this," Ram whimpered.

"Fine... for now," Robin and Rosan both said.

The ring hid her face in a pillow.

She hated this. Is this how it felt to be someone's child? It fucking sucked.

"This boat's lame," Luffy said bluntly, gazing in disappointment at all the cooler ships.

They were so much better then this lame one! This one had a stupid bird when another one had an awesome bull!

"Want me to change it's design?" Rosan asked.

"Don't be so rude to Conis-chan, you assholes!" Sanji reprimanded. "It's perfect the way it is!"

Rosan shrugged. "Okay, I won't change it."

"But can it fit all five of us?" Robin pointed out another problem curiously. It was a tad bit on the small end to be fair.

The redhead gazed at it. "I'm not changing it so you can just sit on my lap or vice versa."

Sanji balked in horror as Robin nodded without hesitation and said, "That's fine with me... But you are not sitting on me."

"Are you calling me fat?" Rosan raised a brow at her.

"No, I'm calling you a tall freak with a lot of muscles," she retorted.

"...But if I make a comment on you, I'll be the bad guy no matter what I say, right?" He asked.

"I'm glad you understand how this works out. You can be a genius when you want to be," Robin clapped politely.

"Tch. Whatever, you can sit on me. You're lucky I barely register your weight in the first place," he grunted.

The Devil Child smiled at that. "Somehow, you managed to make a correct comment. You really are a genius."

Sanji balked at the interaction.

Damn it all! His love rival was always one step ahead of him! Using his defense of one beauty to push his advantage with Robin-chan?! Was he thinking this far into the future?! Did he already know Sanji's ticks? How to best him?

Touche… Rosan… Touche.

"I'm sorry that I don't have anything bigger but I don't have the money to rent out another," Conis said apologetically, smiling nervously at the group.

As they were about to board the ship, Luffy paused. "By the way, you've been shaking since we left the house, Conis..."

The blonde angel's pupils dilated at that and her shaking became even harder. She ducked her head and began staring a hole into the ground.

"...Why's that?" The rubber boy asked curiously.

"D-Does it seem like that?" Conis stammered a bit, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

They were being watched by the other citizens now. Rosan could see that they were nervously sweating just as hard as Conis currently was.

He supposed he could have some fun. He wasn't yet tired of tormenting these people.

"Yeah, it's like you're afraid of something! Rosan and Robin can tell too," Luffy responded, tilting his head to the left.

Ah, perfect.

"T-They can?" She whispered, gazing at the couple and seeing their knowing gaze. Robin's face was set in that same disarming smile as usual, while Rosan's was as neutral as ever.

Oh Kami, did they know?

"Now that I'm thinking about it more..." Rosan chimed after being addressed and he watched the girl's fear visibly spike. "...Are you going to be alright?" He asked.

She blinked owlishly at that question.

Usopp nodded in agreement. "He's right… everyone is obviously avoiding us but here you are just leading us to your own ship and helping us out. Aren't you our accomplice? Won't you get in trouble for helping outlaws escape?"

Rosan's eyes began glowing slightly. His crewmates were setting him up very nicely.

"It's strange no?" He muttered. "No matter how much I wrap my head around it, it just doesn't make sense for you to help us this much. Once we leave, won't you be ostracized for helping out such criminals? No, even worse... why hasn't this Kami struck you down yet? Why have his attacks on us bated?"

Conis went steadily white, as he asked logical question after logical question, not being able to muster a response.

Sanji jumped in this time. "He's right… I don't know the reason, but surely there's a limit to how much you can assist us before that Kami takes genuine offense. We appreciate the help Conis-chan but you should go. You must be really worried about us but we'll be fine!"

"T-That's…" Conis tried to say but the daunting presence of the forsaken one halted her.

Two eyes, both a different color bored into her with a hauntingly chilly expression and she felt her heart stop.

"Worried… Is that what it looks like?" Rosan mused curiously, never once taking his eyes off of her. "It might be years of paranoia at play but I see something very different. After all, not a single one of your actions make any logical sense to me. I refuse to believe that someone is this kind... because you'd have to be completely stupid to do this."

Conis couldn't keep the nervous expression off her face at his words.

"Does he know?" She, along with every other citizen, thought.

Rosan's wings became active again and the crowd let out a gasp of horror as he flexed it out fully. With his wings fully outstretched, it was impossible to miss how imposing he was.

"What I see, and forgive me if I'm wrong—," Rosan said, tone suggesting that he knew he wasn't wrong. "—is someone guiding us into a trap."

"HE KNOWS!"

Oh no… the one with the Devil's wings knew.

Rosan took a step forward until he was directly in front of Conis and she quivered, unable to muster up the courage to move away.

"You just saw the guards of your army get destroyed by that Kami of yours... and instead of doing the smart thing and running away, you instead decided to get closer to us," he said calmly. "That's not an action befitting a human. That's an action befitting a pawn. A puppet."

The crowd began looking up into the sky, wondering if Kami was going to do anything about this because at this rate, the deviant was going to kill them all.

"I was a little confused, considering our intentions were to always go to Upper Yard but I'd imagine they want to make sure we head there and that's where you come in. A nifty little puppet, guiding us into a trap with smiles and kindness..."

"Just how naive do you think I am? You call me a Devil, but you try to trick me? Don't you know that all the Devil does is rely on trickery?" He whispered in her ear.

Sanji's eyes went a little wide in shock. Was that really what this was? Did Rosan always have a clue? Was he just playing along for fun?

The redhead stepped back abit and gazed down at the ashen woman who seemed to realize that she was only steps away from dying by his hands.

He resisted the urge to snort.

"You were acting a little too suspicious and there's also the fact that you lied to my crew and told them to lift their anchor, right before a giant lobster took them away," Rosan informed her.

Conis couldn't believe what she just heard him say. That final sentence.

You lied to my crew and told them to lift their anchor, right before a giant lobster took them away.

Did he… How did he possibly hear her? He was already in their home when she told the crew of that…

Could he hear just like Enel-sama?

"But, I could be wrong. This is all just me guessing after all," the redhead finished, poking at his black armband.

Rosan's total dissection of the situation was too much for her and Conis fell on her knees in defeat.

"Y-You're completely right so Please… Please run away from here!" She suddenly requested, tears forming in her eyes.

The redhead paused. What was she doing? Should she really be doing this right now? Confessing right here and now, was kind of bad for her, wasn't it?

"It's our duty as citizens of Skypiea to guide any criminal to the punishment site and if we don't, then we die!" She sobbed in admittance.

The crowd balked at her. W-Was she stupid?! What was she doing?!

"Didn't you see how the White Berets died without a second thought! Just because Kami wanted to teach you a lesson. It's insane! THIS PLACE IS INSANE! ENEL DOES AS HE PLEASES WITHOUT A SINGLE THOUGHT ABOUT ANY OF OUR LIVES!" She screamed.

Her tears were overflowing now and she began outright sobbing as the memories of the guards getting vaporized replayed in her mind.

No one deserved to die at the drop of a hat like the White Berets had. Enel claimed to be Kami... but he was no better than an actual Devil and they had known that ever since he had first taken the throne.

"Oh, I think I broke her," Rosan muttered.

Woops.

"Not apart of your plan?" Robin asked curiously.

"Was expecting her to beg for her life. I didn't really care enough to kill a simple pawn but isn't this bad for her?" The redhead asked calmly.

Wasn't she throwing away her life to Enel? He just wanted another reason to brag to his crew about why they should listen to him more.

"Please… you're the Kami of Death right…? If you can... please stop this madness. Please do even after you kill me for my betrayal," Conis begged tearfully.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A citizen screamed, stepping far away from her.

The others were following suit and some even began running as far as they could from the girl who had signed her death.

Rosan tilted his head as he kept tugging his arm band.

"ARE YOU STUPID?!" Luffy screamed in disbelief, anger marring his features.

Conis jumped at that, gazing at them in shock.

"You didn't have a choice did you?" Robin asked softly.

The blonde shook her head hesitantly.

"THEN WHY DID YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" Sanji, Luffy and Usopp yelled.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"You should have kept your mouth shut," Rosan replied. "You wouldn't have been in trouble if I just pointed these things out but you admitting it is bad, right? We were planning on going there regardless of if you helped us or not."

"She can't escape judgment anymore," someone whispered in fear.

"Speaking against Kami is blasphemy!"

"Judgment is coming!"

Rosan stood over her with a neutral expression on his face.

The sky above them began shuddering.

"You called me the Kami of Death?" Rosan asked curiously, unmindful of the sky coming alive for the second time that day.

Conis went still at how bright it was getting and everyone began to look up to see what the cause was.

Rosan did not. He just continued to stare at the soon to be victim, not moving an inch.

"You have to move away from me!" Conis begged.

What was he doing? If he stayed close to her, then he was going to be caught in the attack!

"I'm not a Shinigami anymore..." he said gently, ignoring her completely.

The sky roared, as the clouds began shuddering with energy. The smell of ozone dominated the air and the screams of fear from the people could be heard.

As if the very heavens themselves were angry, a giant blue beam surged to life and rushed towards the duo with intent to punish.

With a thunderous CRASH, it slammed into the duo with crushing force, causing debris to begin flying everywhere.

"R-ROSAN! CONIS!" Usopp and Sanji roared, eyes widening in horror as a cloud of dust formed from the wreckage.

Robin felt her heart squeeze at the utterly massive beam and the very worried shouts of the liar and chef.

"...I'm just a humble scout these days."

As the dust settled, they all let out a sigh of relief, at the sight of Conis and Rosan standing under an elastic shield floating above them. It completely shielded them from the effects of the attack and neither had a hair out of place.

The relief they felt, turned into shock as they took stock of the situation.

The area that the two unscathed duo were standing on was completely unmarked but surrounding them was a crater.

The area that was actually struck by the attack from Enel, was nowhere to be seen, leaving the two standing on just a makeshift pillar in the middle of nothing.

The blonde was clutching the unfazed redhead like her life depended on it and she gazed at him like he were actually another Kami.

What a disgusting look. Such blatant looks of worship... only people too weak to take control of their own lives used such things.

He hated being looked at like this.

Rosan transformed the rubbery shield back into his armband and secured it. With a spread of his wings, he floated over to his crew and released the girl.

Conis did not even notice the death grip she had on him, until he poked her with an unimpressed look.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry!" She gasped jumping away from the other Kami who casually saved her from Kami Enel's attack.

Rosan waved her off before grunting at the arms wrapping around his waist and the angry blue eyes looking up at him.

"Don't… Don't scare me like that," Robin said with a small frown. "You could have just moved out of the way but you didn't and it… got me worried. I thought something happened to you."

She knew that wouldn't hurt Rosan easily but… but the genuine worry in Sanji and Usopp's voice had gotten to her and a small part began wondering if it did hurt him.

"She's shaking," Rosan thought to himself, noticing the slight tremors in Robin's body and feeling some guilt well up in him.

It reminded him that Robin was just as desperate as he was to make sure nothing bad happened to the other. Enel's strength was an unknown quantity but they knew he was formidable... so Robin would naturally worry for him.

They didn't want to lose each other again. Never again.

So Rosan swallowed his argument about how he was going to be fine and just hugged her back and said, "Sorry, Robin. I'll try and be more considerate to you."

At the very least, until he got a gauge on Enel's strength, he'd be more careful.

Mod blinked in shock at that. Rosan… apologized?! Without causing a fuss and genuinely meaning it?!

W-Was her little boy still capable of growing?

Robin just nodded her head and allowed the redhead to hug her close.

"I... I know. You even seemed like you had it handled but I still couldn't stop myself from being concerned."

"That's alright. I understand how you feel perfectly," he murmured.

She understood she was being a bit… irrational and even a bit hypocritical, considering Rosan didn't even want her to fight Crocodile because she might get hurt but this was her best friend.

Robin would never be able to not worry about Rosan because he was the first person to ever make her truly feel normal. The redhead was the only one on the planet to give her a semblance of a normal life and she cherished that.

Rosan was strong. He was very strong and he'd only get stronger. But it didn't matter how strong he got because he was still that same lovable redhead who made her day brighter just by existing.

He could have no equal on the planet in terms of power and she'd still worry about him because it was her duty to care for the redhead with no self preservation.

"And I appreciate that. You're the best, Robin," Rosan murmured gently.

"That's why I want to protect you. You're one of the only people who believes that and I appreciate it," she replied

The two broke their embrace and Rosan hummed for a moment before turning towards the shaking Conis.

"I really don't feel like protecting you the whole time. I don't know what you plan on doing to survive, but I hope you find an answer," he said bluntly, pulling the long sleeve of his cardigan back over his armband.

Everyone fell at his statement and Robin tried to stifle a smile and failed.

Conis was a little struck by how matter of factly he said that but it made sense that he wouldn't want to protect her.

"If I may?"

Everyone looked up at the voice and saw that it was Gan Fall and Pierro. The old man was looking down at the redhead with an impressed look on his face

"We haven't met before because you were unconscious but I am—"

"Save it. My crew already told me about you and I don't wanna hear about it again so tell me what your proposition is. Your Pegasus is insanely ugly by the way," Rosan interrupted rudely.

He knew it was a good idea choosing Angel Wings over those of a Pegasus. The abomination before him was making him uncomfortable and he refused to share something with it.

"Why is he like this?" Robin sweatdropped. The comment about his Pegasus was so unnecessary.

"Do you always have to be so rude?!" Usopp cried comically. Why was he like this?! That comment about the Pegasus was so not needed.

Gan Fall sweatdropped a bit at the rude redhead but it was to be expected from someone with forsaken wings. He idly pat the depressed Pierro and assured him that he was in fact not ugly.

"I wanted to offer the girl refuge with me. Since you all are going to Upper Yard, her life would be in danger but she'll be safe with me," the sky knight offered.

"I don't care. Do whatever you want," Rosan shrugged, picking up Conis, who squeaked at the sudden contact, and floating up to the old man.

Without any hesitation, he deposited the blonde onto the horse and made his way back to Robin.

Gan Fall secured the girl and turned back towards the pirates.

"Now you know the true nature of this country and Kami's power. What will you do now?" he asked curiously.

"I don't care about this country," Luffy said bluntly. "My friends are on the Kami's land so we're going to get them."

Rosan shrugged. "He's attacked me twice now so I suppose I'll teach him a lesson."

All the citizens gaped at the brazen redhead who didn't seem to care that Enel was omniscient and realized that the one with the black wings really was an enemy to Kami's reign.

Gan Fall couldn't hold his surprise at hearing the bold words come out of the redhead's mouth and he regarded the man in curiosity, blinking even further at seeing the lack of electricity from the sky and realizing Enel was allowing him to say this freely.

How odd. What was Enel planning?

"I see… May luck be with you."

"I don't need it," Rosan countered, stepping onto the ship and settling. With a small beckon of his hand, Robin made her way over and sat on the redhead's lap, allowing him to adjust her as he saw fit.

The other Straw Hats followed suit and Luffy grinned excitedly.

"Alright! Let's go to Upper Yard!" He bellowed, pressing on the pedal and moving the ship forward.

"This ship is slow."

"Well it can't be helped, this boat is a lot heavier then the waver."

"We can still turn back…"

"Are you comfortable, Robin?"

"I'm more then fine especially considering your blanketing me with these wings. Did you purposely make them this comfortable?"

"No that's just their natural texture. I never really thought about how they felt."

Usopp perked up at that stark reminder.

"Rosan… I had no idea you were uh… Reaper of all people," the liar said slowly, resisting the urge to shudder as all the stories he heard (and made) about the Shinigami came to the forefront.

It was still insanely difficult to believe. When he was just a small kid, he remembered being scared to death after the villagers told him Reaper would come for him if he kept lying like that.

The redhead nodded, idly twisting the single red strand of Robin's hair.

"I won't go too into detail since I'd rather not repeat myself but yes, I've been Reaper since I was 9 years old. I retired when I was 14 due to killing someone very important. I'll try and answer any questions when we all meet up again so remember them."

Usopp nodded and realized that Sanji himself wasn't surprised at all…

Wait a minute… he realized that he was the only one here surprised!

Luffy and Robin made sense but…

"Sanji, did you already know Rosan was Reaper?!" Usopp asked in confusion.

Just how close were Rosan and Sanji actually?! He thought the cook was totally jealous of their scout!

The blonde jumped a bit at the sudden question and he glanced over at the liar. "Yeah, I did. We met when I was younger and he told me at the Baratie."

Usopp blinked at that before slamming a fist against his palm. "So that's why you were avoiding him so much!"

Sanji gaped at that before a blush of embarrassment made its way onto his face. "I WASN'T AVOIDING ANYONE. I WAS JUST THINKING! THINKING!"

"Right…" Usopp drawled, still a bit taken aback by the fact that his scout was the Reaper.

That was utterly insane! He remembered how both Ace and Sabo were monsters due to being the second in command of such dangerous people. Not to mention, Luffy wanted to be Pirate King which was a lofty goal in itself.

All that left was Rosan who, while utterly dangerous, didn't seem to be anything of note besides a really strong guy watching over his younger brother.

Guess he was just as crazy as his brothers… Rosan was the most famous bounty hunter alive! Everyone in the Blue Seas outside of the Grand Line knew about the Angel of Death! Hell, for the longest Usopp thought he wasn't real until he saw that daunting 500 million body on his head.

Wow, all of the brothers were pure monsters… D-Didn't Ace have a bounty of 650 million on his head? S-Sabo had one too but the World Government didn't actually know his identity yet, just calling him Chief of Staff and giving him a 602 million bounty as well...

The group sailed for a while until they came across a massive forest in the middle of the sea.

It was a sight to behold. The trees were so tall, that they seemed to cast a shadow even from this far, blocking vision of the top completely and causing awed noises to exit Luffy and Usopp's mouth.

A forest… Rosan quite liked forests.

He did miss the days when his mindscape was one. It was so peaceful when he and Robin would lounge about, cuddling Mod-chan as they soaked in the nice weather.

"Those days used to be so nice... now I can't hold the both of you anymore because you're both gigantic and now you hold me..." Mod pouted in displeasure.

"You love it," Robin rolled her eyes. "I see how you smile when you're resting on either Rosan or I. I think you enjoy being the shortest because you always find some reason to latch onto one of us."

Mod gaped at being caught by the genius of a girl. "That's not true! I'm just taking advantage of how tall you two have gotten! You both spent 4 years using me as a pillow you know?!"

"Yes we know. That's why we let you do it whenever you want," Robin retorted.

"You always have the most content look on your face. I don't have the heart to tell you no regardless," Rosan chimed in.

"Auntie is too damn adorable. She's resting on me right now," Ram sighed forlornly.

"D-DON'T TELL THEM THAT!"

The duo snorted in amusement.

While they were in quite a nice forest. This one was a tad bit different from his mindscape.

Case in point, Rosan's forest didn't try to kill people… as far as he knew.

As they entered the forest, the group noticed that the entrance was decorated with statues and torches of the "Vearth" thing the Skypieans worshiped.

They sailed even further and encountered numerous broken down ships as well, clearly taken out by whatever inhabited these forests.

"All these ships have been sliced clean in half…" A frightened Usopp noted as he observed each and every ship they sailed past.

He was right. Every ship was cut nice and neat… almost like...

"We should probably sail faster. If we go to slow, we will be in trouble," Robin suggested.

Sanji and Usopp wasted no time heeding her warning and grabbed the paddles to manually move the ship even faster.

It was just in time too because a massive sickle came speeding towards where they just were and cut the wrecked ship behind them again, slicing the ship into another piece.

"AHHHHHHHH! SAIL! SAIL!" Usopp squealed. His eyes bugged at the trap and then he realized that there were even more coming.

Rosan's gaze was alert and he immediately transformed Ram into a large shield to intercept anything that could potentially touch them.

"Let's get out of this area quick," he muttered, placing his right hand on the ship and concentrating.

The ship suddenly rocketed forward due to the addition of a gust of wind being applied to it and they avoided the plethora of blades set up to decapitate them and their ship.

"Since when can you control wind?" Sanji asked in confusion.

Rosan, not wanting to reveal his cards to Enel, simply pointed at Ram and applied a light gust to the blonde.

His eyes widened at that. "Ram-chan is incredible," he muttered.

"Ram...chan?" The woman repeated, puzzled.

Ew, gross. She didn't have time for someone to be gushing over how hot she was.

Leave that to Maro. Her best friend was utterly shameless. That damn Goblin was lucky she loved her... and legitimately only had eyes for Auntie Angel despite her severe perversion.

The traps didn't end there. The moment the swinging blades stopped, sharp wooden stakes began firing at them rapidly.

Rosan had Robin replace his seat as he got up and transformed Ram into his double bladed curved sword, flying above the ship.

They watched in awe as he began spinning his weapon rapidly, using it as a sort of deflector and the redhead began flying back and forth to intercept any stake that came close to their ship.

He somehow managed to move quickly and lazily as he flexed his wings and flew in every direction to chop down every single stake that even glanced at their little boat.

"So fast..." Robin muttered. This was her first time actually seeing him use Shinigami...

From what she understood, it didn't actually give him any power boost like Ragnarok did, but it made him far more aerodynamic then the dragon and faster as well, due to his wings being so much lighter.

The angelic transformation also chilled his temperament from what she knew, whereas Ragnarok enhanced his aggression.

It was fascinating to see the minute changes that the transformations gave Rosan. He mentioned not wanting to unlocking another one because the redhead didn't like how they permanently changed some aspects of himself.

Ragnarok especially, seemed to impart some of its draconic blood into the redhead. For some reason, the transformation was extremely compatible with his body, to the point where Rosan feared he may be partially a dragon now.

The more Robin learned about Modification, the more questions she had. It really was such a fascinating fruit.

Eventually, the ship made it through that part but the mayhem didn't stop there.

Multiple sky lamprey (that had no reason being this big) burst from the water and began charging after their ship, roaring in obvious hunger.

"You sure know how to make guests feel welcomed," Rosan muttered.

"IT NEVER ENDS!" Usopp sobbed.

Rosan's eyes lasered in on the giant fish and he transformed Ram into his gloves.

His gloves were his favorite weapons to use. Not only did he get to punch people (who didn't love punching someone in the face?), he could combine Germa's power source with his style and it served as a good close and far ranged option.

He counted 5 lamprey and they were zeroing in on the ship with intent to kill.

That wouldn't do.

The group, sans Luffy, couldn't help but balk as Rosan calmly formed two red orbs, condensed flames inside of them, in each hand. They were floating up and down and seemed to pulse with a thought, spinning around the redhead's body like two planets until they went still at his sides, resting near his lax hands.

The redhead hummed, deciding to test the breath dial's abilities.

"Seekers."

Rosan lifted his left hand and pointed a finger at one of the lamprey.

Without hesitation the red orb on his left side soared towards its enemy and crashed into it.

There was no explosion. The head of the lamprey merely melted the moment the ball connected to it, searing the fish instantly.

"What the fuck?" Sanji gaped. He knew Rosan's use of Germa's technology combined with Modification was incredible but what exactly was this technique?!

Robin couldn't help but nod along with his choice of words. "Rosan loves creating new techniques. Even I wasn't aware he had something like this…"

He probably just created it. He was so annoying.

They watched in awe as the redhead pointed his right hand at another lamprey and the shuddering orb joined its sibling in dispatching another of the giant fishes.

As they both remained stationary, the redhead held up both of his hands and like a judge finalizing his sentence, he slowly roved his fingers over each of the lamprey.

The effects were immediate.

The left seeker immediately charged after the fish that was in biting distance to their ship and the moment the lamprey opened its mouth, the red orb flew inside of it and cauterized its insides before exiting straight through its midsection.

Due to the searing nature of the orb, there was no blood. The liquid had been vaporized instantly and the orb began buzzing with energy.

The right seeker landed on the head of a lamprey and began rolling down its serpentine like body, melting every part it touched until it reached the creatures tail.

The poor creature looked like it came straight out of a horror film, top half melting in places and others just gone.

It let out a strangled high pitched roar-squeal before collapsing in the foamy white cloud sea.

The two orbs began spinning around each other rapidly before converging on the final creature.

Like two hungry piranhas they darted into the animal and began battering each inch of its body, not leaving a single exposed part free. The creature tried to roar but was unable to do so as the orb converged upon its exposed mouth, melting it instantly.

They "feasted" on the fish until all that was left was bone and the seekers quickly flew back over to Rosan's side, floating up and down by his red hair.

He gazed at the final creature and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad... it seems like the addition of the Breath Dial was seamless and they increased the temperature of my orbs by quite a bit... I'll do more testing later..."

With a flick of both hands, the orbs dissipated and he floated back down to the boat.

"You are a monster," Usopp gaped in horror.

The pure damage those two orbs managed to do, with Rosan as their conductor… It was surreal just how strong their scout was and how he was hiding it under their nose.

Just... how strong was he really? Usopp knew he was a monster in terms of strength... but what was the limit of his strength?

"Aren't we all monsters?" Rosan replied calmly, curling his wings against his back once more and promptly sitting on Robin's lap without hesitation.

The Devil Child let out a surprised noise at his actions and glared at the back of his head. "Rosan! You didn't even warn me! You aren't light, you know?"

Having a 6'5 tower of muscle sit on you unexpectedly, was hard to prepare for. It was better the other way around… or when he wasn't this tall. He used to sit on her or Mod's lap all the time when he was a tiny and cute kid.

He was not tiny anymore.

"Are you calling me fat again? I'm very healthy you know," Rosan retorted, adding more pressure to the woman and getting her to successfully protest.

Finally, he relented and got up, swapping positions with the woman and patting her head as she sat on his lap again.

"I hate you very much," Robin said bluntly. She made sure to accentuate her point by jamming a finger onto his exposed chest.

"That might be the greatest lie I've ever heard come out of a person's mouth," he responded, realizing that he still had his vacation outfit on.

Should he change it?

Robin shook her head at his questioning look. "Not yet. Let me enjoy my work a little more"

He nodded at that. It would probably be ideal to change when he got in a serious battle but for now, he was fine.

The group continued to sail, this time with no more interruptions and they finally seemed to reach the end of the first part of their journey.

"Woah!" Luffy gasped.

A giant statue of the idol that the Skypieans worshiped, loomed over them. It was relatively new in comparison to the forest around it, being kept in immaculate condition and there were four entrances that made up its lower half.

"Swamp, Iron, String, Ball," Rosan muttered, eyes narrowing in contemplation.

"These must be Kami's Vassals," Robin concluded, gazing at each of the entrances with a curious gaze. "Which one should we go through? I believe we should avoid swamp."

"Ball!" Luffy exclaimed eagerly, bouncing excitedly. "It sounds the most fun!"

"It also sounds the most harmless so I agree with ball," Usopp nodded.

"Robin-chan, which one do you want?" Sanji asked. Whatever she chose, he'd choose.

The woman cocked her head at that.

She mostly wanted to evade swamp on the off chance that it was a lake type area that heavily countered their Devil Fruits.

When going in blind, things like Iron and String also didn't sound ideal but Ball might have been deceptive…

She'd still rather try her chances with that. Iron would be difficult for all but Rosan here if they needed to break it and string sounded like traps, which Luffy would suffer with.

"Ball is fine," Robin nodded finally, satisfied with the decision. "What about you, Rosan?"

The redhead let out a soft hum. "I liked your reasoning. I personally would have gone to Iron but we can go to Ball."

Iron simply sounded like the most challenging. That's why he would have chosen it.

"Alright, we're all in agreement then," the Devil Child smiled.

"Awesome!" Luffy cheered.

With that declaration, the rubber boy turned the ship into the entrance that read Ball and their dial ship vanished into it.

"Where did Sabo go?!"

Nami glanced around wildly. Guard, her ass! When did the revolutionary even leave?!

The second half of the Straw Hats were currently on top of a sacrificial altar, along with the Going Merry, that stood high above the cloudy sea.

"Dunno. He was here a minute ago," a soaked Zoro shrugged. After getting dragged here by the lobster, the blonde randomly disappeared and probably went deeper into this huge forest.

He tried to go for a swim but it was crawling with those man eating fish and Zoro just finished taking one out.

"He's definitely Luffy and Rosan's brother," Nami sighed in annoyance.

The navigator held her head at the blonde's antics and wondered how all 4 of the brothers managed to be so different, yet so similar.

Even amnesia couldn't hide it!

"What should we do?" Chopper asked worriedly.

The seas were teeming with monsters so if they tried to set sail, it'd be very bad for them.

Not only that…

"We can't set sail. The hull's been damaged," Zoro grunted. "Fix up the ship somehow, Chopper!" the swordsman requested.

The reindeer perked up at that. "Me…? Sure! I can do that!"

Nami's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Zoro's back. "And where do you think you're going?"

The swordsman shrugged on his new shirt, discarding the soaked one on the ship and glanced up at her. "I'm going to get into the forest somehow. Luffy and the others should be on their way now too."

Nami felt a vein of annoyance forming and she leapt off the ship to land in front of him. "There's no way we're letting you go by yourself! What are you even going to do?"

"Talk to Kami. I'd fight him but Rosan has dibs."

She nodded her head before planting a punch on the swordsman's skull. "WE'VE ALREADY GOTTA DEAL WITH ROSAN PISSING HIM OFF. WE DON'T NEED YOU DOING IT EITHER!" The navigator roared.

Damn it all! This was all because of their damn redhead and his damn arrogance and his damn tendency to infuriate everyone in a 100 meter radius with his damn silver tongue.

"You're the one who made it worse when you crashed your bike into that one guy," Zoro shrugged, eyeing the forest in the distance.

The navigator's eye twitched at that. "Have you not heard anything I said?! You don't wanna risk angering Kami and his priests! It's common sense Zoro!"

An insufferably cocky smirk made its way onto Zoro's face as he turned to face her and she realized that he had been spending way too much time training with Rosan.

"Sorry but… I've never prayed to Kami even once," the swordsman informed them.

Chopper's eyes turned into stars. "SO COOL!" He squealed, looking at the swordsman in total awe.

Nami held her head and just prepared to head back in the ship.

"You should go with him, Master Nami," Clima chimed.

Nami paused and scowled at her weapon. "Why would I do that? I have no interest in pissing Kami off more then he probably is."

"Think about all the treasure these ruins have. You can't let Master Rosan out thief you."

"Zoro! I'm coming with you!" Nami suddenly barked.

Both Chopper and Zoro's confusion only lasted a split second until they saw the beri signs that replaced her eyes and immediately understood.

The swordsman shrugged and just grabbed onto a vine.

He coughed a bit into a fist and said, "One, two…"

"AAAH-AAH-UH-AAH-UH-AAAH!" The swordsman yelled as he swung through the air and landed on the forest ground.

"Dumbass," Nami sighed, tentatively gripping onto a vine.

She nervously glanced at the massive distance Zoro crossed and took a deep breath.

Could she really do this—

"Take about three steps to the left and then go. Hold on tightly and don't look down either."

Nami blinked at that before following Clima's instructions. With another deep breath, the navigator soared through the air with her eyes shut tight until she landed perfectly on the ground.

She didn't even notice she was done, until her instinctive screaming stopped.

"Nice," Zoro praised. "Your yell could use some work but it wasn't bad."

"Shut the hell up," Nami grunted, clutching her beating heart.

She hated to admit it… but Nami was very glad that Rosan added Clima to her weapon. Besides the fact that he was an annoying smart ass—

"I take mild offense to that."

—He was incredibly useful. Over and over again, the AI assisted her where she didn't know and it was a massive boon.

Mod-chan must have been the same with Rosan. It was no wonder he saw no problem giving her an AI when he had one like her.

"I'm not even comparable to Master Mod but to hear such praise! You really are such a flatterer Master Nami!" Clima preened.

Nami smiled before turning towards the Going Merry. "KEEP GUARD OF THE SHIP, CHOPPER!" She yelled to the reindeer.

"WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" Zoro waved.

Chopper nodded and waved back. "Leave it to me! Be careful!"

The reindeer hummed a jaunty tune as he prepared to fix up the ship and he dutifully began getting the needed supplies.

They were all so brave! He didn't think he'd be able to take that vine over to the other side!

That was okay though. They were all around each other so they'd be pretty… safe…

Wait a minute…

They… They were… All with… each… other.

His jaw dropped as he realized that he was all by his lonesome.

"I'M IN MORE DANGER THEN THEY ARE!" Chopper squealed in distress.

"I probably should have told them I wanted to check something out," Sabo thought to himself.

He also assured the crew that he'd watch over them and make sure they didn't die either...

While being escorted to wherever they were going by that express crab thing, Sabo's curiosity got the best of him and he, in a dreadfully familiar move to his revolutionary allies, left to go explore.

His exploration didn't come without discoveries though!

The blonde gazed up at the giant beanstalk with a thoughtful expression.

Should he climb it? That sounded fun…

No, not yet. He should go make sure the three Straw Hats were fine. They could be in danger and it'd be his fault if something bad happened to them when he could have stopped it.

Mind made, the blonde turned away from the beanstalk and walked off to go find the crew, choosing to ignore the presence of lighting all the way up there.

If Rosan said he had dibs, he had dibs. He had properly gauged the person who felt like Kami's strength and Sabo realized if things went south, he'd be able to pretty easily deal with him as well.

He was certainly strong, but nothing Sabo couldn't handle. He'd seen far stronger so he'd just take a backseat again unless he was needed.

Now he should go find the ship...

Sabo blinked.

Chopper was with an unknown person? Was it one of the Kami's people?

Oh that wasn't very good.

"Sky Island, is scary…" Usopp wheezed, eyes transforming into swirls.

"That was fun, I thought I was gonna die!" Luffy laughed.

The rubber boy completely ignored Sanji kicking his head. "IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR PUTTING SUCH IDEAS IN OUR HEAD!"

"I can fly by the way so you guys wouldn't have died," Rosan chimed in. His hand was currently wrapped around a slightly surprised Robin's waist to keep her secure.

"That… was unexpected," she admitted, not realizing the death grip she had on Rosan's arm until a few seconds later and releasing him.

After entering the door titled "Ball" the Straw Hats sailed through a pitch dark room for what seemed to be a while.

Naturally, Usopp got paranoid and began to panic which prompted Luffy to say, "What if we chose the wrong door and we're about to be dropped out of Sky Island?"

"The drop would break every bone in our bodies. It wouldn't take long for Sea Kings to rip us to shreds," Robin supplied.

"I wonder if I'd serve as an endless meal for them with my regeneration?" Rosan muttered.

"D-DON'T SAY SUCH SCARY THINGS!" Usopp shrieked at the two. What was wrong with them?!

"Relax… I won't let Robin-chan die," Sanji assured.

"HOW WILL YOU DO THAT?!" The liar roared.

They were all treating this too relaxed! W-What if they really did choose the wrong option and were about to die!

No… they were all just joking.

Yeah! That was it! They were just jokin—

Dark suddenly made way for light, as the ship floated off the sea into midair.

It took no longer then a second, for the Straw Hats to realize what was going on.

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp's eyes bugged in horror while Robin's eyes simply went wide and Rosan flexed his wings.

"Oh dear," Robin said for all of them. The woman idly clutched onto Rosan, which prompted him to tighten his hold on her reassuringly.

Then the ship fell.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The first three howled as their heart dropped to their asses.

On the off chance that they were actually falling to their doom, Rosan would obviously save them but it would take a while to fall out of Skypiea and the fall distance didn't turn lethal just yet so he'd see where it went.

Of everyone on the ship, he was the only one unfazed because drops like this were nothing to him. He used to love dive bombing his enemies so steep, sudden drops didn't bother him much.

Still… even Robin was caught by surprise by the drop and it made him snort.

They couldn't handle a little drop? Perhaps flying had spoiled him too much.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Usopp wailed as the ship kept falling at tremendous speeds.

This was it! This was the end! He never even got to become a brave warrior of the sea! Damn it all—

SPLASH!

The ship suddenly landed back on a milky cloud and they all let out gasps from the impact that shook their bones.

"We're alive," Rosan remarked calmly, even choosing to clap the hands still wrapped around Robin.

"S-Scary," a comatose Usopp muttered. His mouth was foaming from the fear and he was practically dead to the world as the ship merrily sailed forward, not at all fazed by the steep drop.

"I really thought we were going to die." Sanji didn't even realize he bit his cigarette in half from that heart dropping moment. He couldn't even feel his legs right now!

"Let's do that again!" Luffy cackled.

"I don't ever wanna do that again," Usopp groaned, blearily opening his eyes to gaze upon the scenery.

The ship sailed through the milky road like it did not just take the fall of its life and the crew took note of a very interesting detail about the area they were in.

Everywhere they looked, white balls floated through the air languidly. They dotted the entirety of the forest that they could see and it filled them with a boundless curiosity.

"Are these balls made of island clouds?" Robin muttered in curiosity, gazing all around.

How strange… especially considering the fact that Upper Yard itself didn't look to be made of Island Clouds.

No, the holy land of Kami looked just like a normal forest in the Blue Seas.

"It is a bit curious. At a glance, I wouldn't think this Upper Yard is made of Island Clouds itself and maybe it isn't," Rosan remarked, gazing at a white ball.

Holding out his left hand, he had Ram transform into gloves and shot a weak blast of energy at one of the balls.

Everyone watched curiously as it connected to the ball and a bouquet of flowers burst out of the ball.

"Interesting," the redhead said. A ball filled with flowers in an ordeal called the ordeal of balls.

If he was right…

Luffy's eyes turned into stars and he quickly launched one of the white balls to Usopp with a, "Catch!"

Usopp grinned excitedly and prepared to launch it back—

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Rosan advised.

—Only for a large explosion to take place, courtesy of the ball.

"Thank you, Rosan," an unharmed Robin said as the black wings covering her, went back to lying dormant on the redheads back.

The singed scout nodded, unfazed by the explosion that took place and making sure his wings still looked good.

"The balls are booby trapped," Rosan told them helpfully, wiping some soot off his face and grasping his hair. With a quick dose of Modification, the burn marks were gone and the front part of his spikes looked as good as new.

A fried Sanji, Luffy and Usopp stared dumbly at the spot the ball just exploded.

"Good to know," they said at the same time.

"Ho, ho hoooo! Enjoying my surprise balls?"

"Hm?" All five glanced up at the source of the voice in confusion.

It was a round shaped man with fair skin and long, dark red hair that was a darker shade then Rosan's own. He wore a white, full body jumpsuit that had a vertical line of golden rings from front to back.

To finish his peculiar appearance, he had an orange hat, gloves, shoes, and large, yellow sunglasses that hid his eyes.

"Heso! Thank you for choosing my Ball Ordeal. I'm one of Kami's vassals, Satori," the strange man, Satori, greeted.

Sanji sweatdropped. "Who is this dumpling freak?"

"A ball given life," Rosan replied calmly, holding out a hand. He had never been one for wasting time.

Satori continued to grin as he calmly said, "A red laser to the head," and calmly moved out of the way.

Not even a second later, a red beam, courtesy of Rosan, flew to the spot where Satori had been. It would have perfectly pierced his skull and ended his life if he were there.

"Ho, ho hooo, the Forsaken One! I'm glad to meet you!" Satori laughed, gazing at the neutral faced Rosan. He looked completely unfazed by the fact that he was seconds away from dying.

Rosan raised a brow at that.

This strange ball posing as a human, just accurately called out his attack before he even shot it.

"How did you do that? You correctly predicted my attack." The redhead asked curiously.

Did this ball given life really have Observation Haki? If he feigned ignorance, perhaps this priest, in his arrogance, would divulge information he should really keep to himself.

His enemies loved doing that. It was a wonder. They were so proud of their abilities, that they had no problem explaining it to someone attempting to kill them. It must have been the same person who taught pirates all the same quotes, teaching them it was fine to share everything about themselves...

Everyone truly was stupid. It was painfully easy sometimes to get information out of a person.

"Ho, ho hoooo! Of course the Deviant wouldn't know about Mantra. After all, he who is not faithful, is not enlightened," Satori hummed.

"So they call their Haki, Mantra…" Rosan mused. That wasn't too hard to believe. Skypiea clearly had a different culture. He wondered if Mantra referred to both Armament and Observation...

It sounded like all of the priests had it and if the priests had it… Enel probably did too...

Wait a minute... was that how Enel was able to snipe them from afar? Just what was the range of his Observation Haki? Rosan normally wouldn't be concerned about a detail like that... but not only could Enel seemingly use his to listen into conversations... He could feel them when they were on Angel Island and Sabo couldn't feel him back.

That was not good. The Kami already probably wielded one of the most powerful Logia's and now he had another means to dodge attacks as well? Not to mention he seemed to have some variation of Observation that may have surpassed his incredibly strong younger brother in range at least.

This would be harder then he thought.

Without warning, the human balloon charged after them.

Luffy tensed up and began winding up for an attack.

"Gomu Gomu no—"

"Oh, you're gonna stretch?" Satori mused.

"Pistol— huh?" The rubber boy shouted in confusion. He threw out his fist and watched as the round man moved out of the way before the attack even flew.

The priest got in Luffy's guard and aimed an open palm at him, laughing all the while.

"Ayeeeeeeeeeee!" The vassal of Kami sang.

Luffy's eyes rolled back momentarily as he was flung from the ship and rocketed towards the ground until he slammed into a tree.

"LUFFY?!" Sanji yelled in confusion. A simple palm slap managed to hurt him?

"A simple hit like that managed to affect you?!" Usopp balked.

"Armament too?" Robin thought. "No… that reminded me of your Retribution technique."

Rosan, who also thought it was armament at a glance, nodded along. The priests gloves were steaming right about now so there must have been something at play there.

"Bastard!" Sanji growled. "Collier!"

"An upper kick with your right foot."

"H-Huh?" The chef balked in confusion. His movement got predicted?!

Satori spun out of the way and placed his open palm near Sanji's exposed side, using the same attack he used on Luffy and sending the chef flying right next to his captain.

"It's a little more then a simple hit," the priest chimed, appearing behind Usopp.

"IMPACT!"

Usopp coughed up blood as he was sent flying from the move and Satori turned to face the final two.

"The shock destroys the body from the inside!" He finished aiming the open palm at the duo.

Rosan flexed his wing and flew off the ship with Robin in tow to avoid the same thing happening to them.

Satori looked very surprised at that.

"You can fly…?!" He muttered in shock. His wings were certainly bigger then the normal Skypiean but they couldn't actually be used for flight!

This one...

"Perks of being forsaken," Rosan replied calmly. The redhead turned towards his crew and said, "He has observation."

Luffy's eyes lit up at that and he wiped the slight blood from his mouth. "So that's how he did it!"

Satori had no idea what they were talking about and he didn't let the fact that the heathen could fly throw him off.

Recovering quickly, the priest said, "Welcome to the forest of no return, survival rate 10%!"

The priest pressed onto the ship and activated its engine, making it sail without any of its inhabitants.

"Our ship!" Usopp balked, watching it move further and further away from them.

"Ho, ho hoooo! You're challenge is to find your ship and board it before exiting this forest and of course, you'll have to defeat me while avoiding the surprise balls!" The priest finished.

His challenge, while not the most difficult, was nearly impossible to complete and the Forsaken One would learn that here and —

"Arms sprouting on my body?!" Satori said in shock. How was he supposed to dodge that—

A plethora of arms appeared on the round man's body and completely immobilized him. Even if he knew what was about to happen, there was no way to dodge an attack like this.

Satori's eyes went wide as the Shinigami began flying towards him in breakneck speed. Next to him, the Devil's consort had her arms crossed as she gazed at him.

He tried to move his arms unsuccessfully, finding that they were being tightly gripped by the woman's deceptive strength.

Rosan reached him in no time at all and grabbed Satori's arm. Without hesitation, he yanked the glove off and the priest watched in disbelief, as it dissolved into a ring.

"Ah, a dial," the redhead hummed as Ram informed him of what it did.

This was good. The ability to absorb impact and blunt force to then store it… this would be fantastic for increasing his up close defensive capabilities.

If he could eventually learn observation, he could just permanently punish a person for trying to hit him by absorbing the impact.

But the best part?

Satori's eyes widened in fear as his Mantra alerted him to the upcoming attack.

Somehow, the heathen managed to absorb the impact dial and assimilate it's abilities into his own repertoire—

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as Rosan placed a palm near him and allowed the dial's ability to activate.

Rosan hummed as he watched the balloon man soar away from the impact of his blow.

He could use the stored energy as a means of attack as well. The more he stored, the more powerful it would become and since it was assimilated in his gloves… it would be infinitely more useful then the item in its base form.

"It's great! We can use the defensive features of this dial to supplement our offense," Ram grinned violently.

"It makes Ram all the more effective, if you use this dial feature on all of your weapons, even simple clashes will end up benefiting you and one of your attacks could affect both the person's insides and outsides," Mod muttered, brain wracking with potential applications of such a useful dial.

He wanted more of this type of dial. This was incredibly useful and he could even use it for Nami and Usopp as well.

But other then that...

"Guys, this ordeal is the perfect opportunity to try to learn and hone our own observation," Rosan called out to them.

He signaled all the floating balls around them and Robin quickly caught on.

"Real combat helps awaken your Haki easier and with all these floating balls… it would be dire if we got hit by too many," the Devil Child accurately pointed out.

Luffy grinned eagerly at that. "Alright! That's super smart!"

Sanji thought about it and nodded. "I hope Robin-chan unlocks it first, I don't wanna see her get hurt…"

Usopp balked at them all. "G-Guys we could die here! Should we really count this as training?!"

"Of course. 5 on 1 is unfair against him so we might as well make it beneficial for us," Rosan said. "Don't be so afraid, if you really don't wanna die, you'll unlock yours."

The sniper squeaked.

Satori slowly pulled himself from the tree he was embedded in and began coughing, wiping the blood from his mouth and glaring into the distance.

It was in line for the Devil to be so greedy so he wasn't surprised that an absorbing ability was one he had… But he didn't expect him to be able to amplify the power of the impact dial.

Not only that, his consort had a perfect counter to Mantra.

It didn't matter if he could predict what she was going to do… if she could just activate the ability on his person.

Of course the heathen had his own follower with an ability that countered their faithfulness to Kami.

Another Kami… how ridiculous. Enel was the only Kami in existence and this one was just pretending to be one. He was Forsaken. A Fallen Angel.

A Devil.

A small shiver ran through his body as a stray thought entered his mind.

"How is a mere priest supposed to deal with the enemy of Kami?"

He banished that thought immediately and glared in the distance he had been launched from.

As priest, it was his job to purge demons like the Forsaken One and that's what he would do.

Satori quickly landed on one of his balls and had it fly over to where the 5 criminals were last at.

Wiping his doubts, he plastered another large grin on his face and appeared before them.

What he saw, nearly made him lose his cool.

All 5 of the criminals had blindfolds on, completely obscuring their vision as they slowly but surely checked their surroundings.

"W-What if we fall and die? How will we keep track of the ship?!" Usopp muttered.

"My birds on the ship currently. We just need to focus on not crashing into any trees or balls," Rosan replied.

"You always manage to drag us into the most reckless of things," Robin sighed. "Don't worry about me too much and back out if I take a bit of damage."

"No promises," Rosan and Sanji said at the same time.

Luffy laughed jumping up and down. "This is fun! First to unlock it gets to beat the balloon!"

"Sounds good to me," the redhead responded, cutting his connection to the bird.

Satori gaped at their sheer audacity. "T-THIS ISN'T SOME TYPE OF GAME FOR YOU! Y-YOU'LL BE LEFT HERE FOREVER IF YOU FAIL AND YOU'LL DIE!" He roared at the group.

"I feel bad for you. Sacrificed to the Devil by your Kami," Rosan remarked idly. "Surely you don't think a mere priest stands a chance against the Shinigami, right?"

Satori grit his teeth. He'd make them regret treating him lightly. He'd show that Devil exactly what he was up against!

"I'll show you why this ordeal only has a 10% survival then!" He swore.

Rosan hummed softly, gazing at where he heard the idiot's voice.

"I'll show you that your chances of survival are 0%."

Memory Viewing With Robin and Rosan - 5 (Covers Chapter 18)

Continued!

Italics = Memory talking mostly.

Takes place before landing on Alabasta.

"Tired?" Rosan asked gently, carrying the exhausted Robin on his back.

"Your training is absurd... everyone of my limbs are crying," Robin muttered, frowning at all the sweat she was dropping on him. "You don't have to carry me, you're getting so much sweat on you."

The redhead shot her an unimpressed look. "Didn't you refuse to put me down while I was sick and complaining about the same thing? We're about to shower anyways then we'll continue the memories."

She resisted the urge to yawn but knew Rosan caught it anyways.

"I'll wash you and then give you a massage. Relax some, I'll take care of you," he declared, leaving no room for argument.

Robin knew there was no protesting against the mother bear named Rosan so she didn't bother and just sagged into his frame.

"I do like your massages. I don't understand how your skin is so unblemished after all the years of training but your hands are so soft," she muttered.

She imagined it was a combination of Modification and the Philosopher's Stone, keeping his body in perfect condition at all times. Modification kept him in top shape, while the Philosopher's Stone kept it free of injuries and scarring.

"Many people enjoy them. Angel learned from me after she saw how much Maro enjoyed them after I trained her," he commented, entering the bathroom and running the bath immediately.

Robin let out a sigh as it began heating up immediately, allowing the redhead to remove their clothing before he gently placed her in the fantastic water that released the tension from her body as soon as it touched her.

"We need to restock on bathroom essentials soon... I'm almost out of shampoo," Rosan muttered, brows furrowed abit.

Robin lazily glanced back at him. "You know... for someone with Modification, you sure are meticulous when it comes to your hair."

He nodded without hesitation and entered the hot water, taking his hair out of its bun and letting it fall free. The spikes went a bit above his back now and Robin vowed to cut it one of these days.

"I can't allow Modification to make me too lazy and I like working on my hair," he muttered, running a hand through the free spikes with a look of contemplation.

He grunted as a pair of arms sprouted and began lathering up his hair and glared slightly at Robin.

"I told you to rest up. You're exhausted," he grunted, grabbing the soap and beginning the process of cleaning her.

"I won't die... besides, it will just make it feel better when my head hits the pillow," Robin retorted, making sure to get all of his hair lest he complain.

Rosan hummed, moving swiftly and efficiently across her body, before he began lathering up her hair as well.

"Do you want to skip memories for tonight and get some actual sleep? We can continue another day," he offered. As he asked, he modified the terrain and began pouring the water over her body.

Robin let out a sigh as the tension melted out of her. "There's not a chance I'll miss out a day of watching your memories. I love these and after you left it off at that? I'll just rest on you," she replied.

As she spoke, she grabbed a bucket and poured it over his body as well, cleaning him off.

At once the duo got out of the bath, fully cleaned.

He sighed fondly and began drying the both of them off, utilizing his flames to do so before beckoning her with his hands. "Alright. You can use me then."

Robin mustered up the little energy she had to outstretch her arms and allowed him to dress her, resisting the lull of sleep so that she could continue speaking to him.

Rosan hoisted her up and easily placed her on his back, watching as she sunk her face into his slightly damp hair with amusement.

They walked in silence, Rosan feeling his best friend fall more and more into sleep and enjoying her quite breaths on his neck.

"You know, you're the only person who's seen me naked and you hardly ever react," Robin murmured suddenly.

Rosan raised a brow at her sleepy sentence and decided the tiredness was making her a tad delirious.

"Would you like me to tell you what I think then?" He asked, choosing to entertain her. "I wouldn't want to make our bathing uncomfortable for you, so I respect your boundaries to the best of my abilities."

That was so adorable.

"You're not a pervert so I wouldn't mind anyways... Actually, yes tell me what you think. I'm curious about what the great Rosan has to say," she nodded.

"...Are you saying this because you're tired? We're almost to the room," he replied, slightly confused.

Robin already knew he thought she was beautiful. Did she seriously want to know what he thought of her body? Didn't girls typically get offended by things like that?

He wasn't sure... that's what Akemi had told Maro at least.

"I won't get offended if it's you," she replied simply. "I'm the one asking now, so feel free."

"Yeah, do it Father!" Ram chimed happily, greedy gleam in her eyes.

Mod rolled her eyes and said nothing.

Rosan hummed and also rolled his eyes.

This really just sounded like Robin wanted him to stroke her ego. Surely she already knew what he was going to say.

Did she just want an excuse to call him a pervert?

"You have an amazing figure. No matter what outfit you wear, it's noticeable and makes you look good in all situations," he said calmly. "It's one people would probably stare at for as long as possible until you eventually decided to break their bones. Your long limbs look very good on you, especially your legs and I think your nose is really cute too. All in all, you are easily one of the most beautiful people I've met and if you were interested in dating, you'd probably be able to get a boyfriend... or girlfriend by the end of the hour."

Mod blinked, jaw dropping at his words.

Ram blinked, mouth splitting into a feral grin.

Robin was stunned silent at his words, before a tiny blush appeared on her face and she smiled.

"I think I got more then I bargained for asking for that question," she muttered happily.

The redhead snorted at her tone. "You liked what I had to say? I'm glad... I didn't want you to ban me from bathing with you."

Robin giggled at that. "You are such a kid..."

Then her expression turned thoughtful. "Boyfriend or girlfriend... you know, I never thought of dating a girl. I would have loved to date Meiko," she pondered.

Rosan's brow shot up high at that. "Excuse me? You'd try and take Meiko from me? Are you sure you should be saying that in front of me?"

Robin shrugged. "We could have shared her, I wouldn't mind."

The redhead's expression turned thoughtful. "Meiko would die of embarrassment if she had to date us both... I'd be down. Only because I love you though... if anyone else suggested that, you'd be dead."

Mod held her head at that. How in the world did these two not understand the blatant flirting going on between them? Was this a prank.

They were so stupid... How in world were they so smart?

Rosan modified the theater seats into a cushiony bed and immediately dragged Ram off of it as she began jumping up and down.

Robin rolled her eyes as his overprotective streak once more came roaring out and glanced at the changed room with exasperation.

After properly chastising Ram about the importance of not jumping on beds people planned on laying on.

"Sorry, Father," Ram mumbled, holding her head at her mistakes.

"Don't be so harsh to her, she's just excited," Robin chastised, patting Ram on the head and getting the ring to shoot her an adoring look.

Mod sighed. "Great, now she has two people spoiling her and leaving the problem with me," she said in complete monotone.

Rosan rolled his eyes and climbed the bed. "You know you can just say the word and I'll let you come into real world while I watch over Ram but you never do. You always act like such a tsundere, Mod-chan."

Ram beamed, urging Robin to climb next to Rosan so that the ring could climb next to her.

"Rosan, do you go out of your way to raise my blood pressure?" Mod asked calmly, clambering next to him with a deadpan expression.

"Sometimes. I find it fun," he admitted shamelessly, waving his hand and starting the memory.

"I wonder where I went wrong raising you..." she sighed as she tucked herself into his frame and got comfortable.

Robin nearly laughed at that, as she herself also got comfortable. Despite her words, Mod's actions were the complete opposite.

She wouldn't comment on it and instead, focused on the memory playing itself.

It started off simple enough. News of Reaper's bounty reached the entire world and Rosan himself had gone to pick up Aiko and Akemi, before bringing them over to Celadon so they could all interrogate him.

The utter nonchalance, on the triplets face as Rosan discussed retiring Reaper without a care in the world, was quite funny when compared to the other three's shell-shocked reactions.

After discussing that and helping Maro out with renovating Celadon, the redhead once more departed to go find his little brother.

Robin was pleased to see that he really had been putting in an effort to track out Ace's whereabouts and had no intention of running away this time around.

"So not even your plan to meet Ace evoked anything out of you?" She asked, as the redhead sprouted his draconic wings and began flying.

Rosan shook his head. "I didn't feel a thing... it's probably why I was able to calmly come to the decision to finally visit him... The castle is confusing. I don't understand it much myself," he said.

She frowned at that. The castle was odd. Even after losing a chain, Rosan's emotions were only slightly out. He was largely still the same neutral person as before but he flared up far more.

Just how did it work? Not to mention, the virus...

They'd figure it out once they got there.

Young Rosan, swiftly reached the Calm Belt and soared over it into the East Blue, not encountering a single Sea King due to not sailing.

The teen paused for a bit, recalling the map he had inspected and nodded to himself, turning to a direction and rocketing off. As he flew, he steadily rose higher and higher until he disappeared into the clouds so as to avoid eyes.

"You've never actually travelled alone, have you?" Robin muttered in realization.

Rosan tilted his head. "The only time was right before I met you. After escaping Daybreak I immediately made Angel and Demon and had Meiko too. This is the first time in a long time and even then, it didn't last very long..."

The Devil Child smiled at that. Seems he met Luffy rather quickly...

And quickly he did.

Once he flew a certain distance, Young Rosan flew back to sea level and summoned the White Rose, before modifying it's color scheme to fit Ram's palette instead of Mod's.

He then closed his eyes and ran through every scenario he could, about what he could say to Ace to explain himself.

Due to the immense speeds he flew at before choosing to dock the ship, it didn't take him long at all to reach the island. The only reason he had summoned the ship in the first place was to restore his slightly reduced energy.

Robin watched him pocket the damaged ship, do a round around the island and then land in a forest right outside of an unassuming village, seamlessly transforming his black cloak into civilian attire.

"Who's that guy?" Someone whispered.

"I dunno... a noble?" Another replied.

"Whoever he is... he's really cute!"

"Look at his face though! He might kill you for talking to him!"

The Young Rosan heard all the whispers but didn't acknowledge a single one, heading to a bar to gather information instead.

"You are very good at pretending like you can't hear people," Robin praised. His neutral expression did wonders to make him seem like he wasn't paying attention to anything.

"It's a useful skill. Allows me to listen into conversations easier as well," Rosan replied as his younger self approached the familiar bar.

Robin sighed at how Rosan seemed to always attract trouble. As soon as he lands, he's already entering a bar where a group of bandits are causing trouble —

"Red Haired Shanks!" She gasped in shock, looking at the far younger visage of the Emperor of the Sea.

He was currently doused in alcohol due to letting the mountain bandit bully him but he was unmistakable.

Currently, he was watching Rosan intimidate the leader of the mountain bandits with a calculating gaze, not recognizing the redhead before him at all.

Rosan grunted. "That annoying redhead. Why Luffy chose him as an idol? I will never know."

Robin nodded in realization, noticing the very familiar Straw Hat on the man's head.

"Not a fan of Red Hair?" She asked with a small smile, watching the redhead take a seat right next to a very familiar little boy.

He was much tinier, but his hair was the exact same smile and he was also dangerously... dangerously adorable.

Ah, little Luffy was way too cute!

Currently, Young Rosan was watching the little boy scarf down a Devil Fruit without any hesitation, content to not stop him at all and just wait for the realization to set in... All while he waited for the bartender to finally get to his order.

"...You just watched Luffy consume a Devil Fruit? And then didn't think to mention it at all?" Robin asked with a raised brow. "What if they never discovered his ability and he drowned?"

Rosan shrugged. "I didn't care at all for some random little kid whose name I didn't even know. If he drowned... Natural Selection," he retorted.

Robin sweatdropped. He was unbelievable.

"You know, Rosan you haven't spoken to Makino since setting sail. Don't you think that would make her feel a little bad?" Mod asked curiously, watching him guilt trip the bartender with his cold words and gaze.

Rosan tilted his head. "I gave her Maro and Angel's number though... wouldn't she rather talk to them? I'm not a very interesting person to talk to and we don't have business with each other, so I didn't see the point."

The Devil Fruit rolled her eyes. "But she's your friend. Calls don't only have to be about business. She probably misses you and she told you multiple times she enjoys your company."

Mod pointedly ignored the death stare Ram was giving her. It was a legitimate question!

"...Ah I haven't thought of it like that," he muttered.

Robin raised a brow. "You and the bartender are acquainted?" She asked curiously.

Ram felt many warning signs blaring in her head at that question.

The redhead nodded his head. "Her name is Makino. She was Luffy's guardian for quite a while and she's my... friend," he said slowly, testing the word on his lip before nodding. "Whenever I wasn't watching over Luffy and Ace, I spent time with her."

The Devil Child nodded at that. "You don't sound to sure about her being your friend."

His brows furrowed. "She is a good friend but it's just... she's a civilian and I naturally keep them at a respectable distance. She lives a sheltered and relatively peaceful life and I see no point in disrupting that with my hectic life. Let her enjoy her civilian lifestyle."

Ram let out a sigh of relief at his response.

Robin hummed at that, yawning slightly as Rosan's body heat washed over her in the cool room. She idly tucked deeper into him and he wrapped an arm around.

"So she's too normal is what you're saying," she muttered in amusement.

He snorted. "Yeah you could say that. Though, if she really does miss talking to me, I can find a way to contact her again."

Robin smiled at that, amusement dancing in her eyes as she watched Luffy gain an interest in Rosan after hearing him mention his age.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Wanna be my friend?!"

"I'm not a person worth being friends with, so I think I'll pass."

"Eh? No way. Be my friend."

"...Okay."

Robin sweatdropped at the same time everyone else faceplanted. She was unable to keep the smile off her face, at seeing the beaming Luffy glance up at the dead face of Rosan.

"So the terrorist duo of Luffy and Rosan... began because you were so compliant?" She asked with a bit of disbelief.

"You saw my memories. I hardly said no to anyone," he shrugged. "I thought he was just another dumb kid who'd eventually see why getting to know me is a bad idea... but he wasn't. Besides, Mod-chan liked him so I mostly accepted because of her."

Mod beamed at that. "Mother knows best! Me influencing you has done us all so well!"

The redhead sighed at that and nodded. "But if I had my emotions, I don't think I'd have accepted in a million years. Luffy has a magnetic pull, but I'd never normally let anyone lead me. Even now I hardly listen to him."

That was true. Robin knew firsthand how difficult it was to get Rosan to do something. As a child, if he thought his plan was better then yours (which he did 90% of the time) he'd ignore what you told him and go for broke.

It was only his unconditional respect for Robin and Mod that let them somewhat control the wild card. In hindsight, Luffy was the perfect captain for him because he wouldn't really try to tell Rosan to do anything.

The little rubber boy dragged Rosan everywhere, trying and failing to explain many little things about their little village while having the redhead help him in anyway he knew how.

Rosan entertained the child when he felt like it and idly searched for Ace's whereabouts alone, all while taking into account the Red Haired Pirates interest in him with an uncaring expression.

It was surreal how unafraid he was of the Emperor (he might not have been an Emperor yet but his reputation still proceeded him) and his crew, just humming at their slight interest in him and deigning not to reveal anything to them.

He made very little progress on Ace's whereabouts, not getting useful information out of the nobles who were attracted to him.

That didn't deter him much and he continued searching for his brother, all while entertaining the attention demanding Luffy and preparing for a scenario of the Red Haired Pirates attacking him.

The normalcy of the events all changed one day when Makino crashed into Rosan while he was walking into the village.

"Those mountain bandits took him?" Robin muttered with a frown as the terrified bartender guided Rosan to where Luffy should be.

What she saw, made her blood boil.

Little Luffy was being stomped on by the bandit, Higuma and despite being rubber and being largely unaffected by it, Robin still felt a rare fury grow inside of her.

Thankfully, Rosan had shown up just in time and was effortlessly pissing of the bandit.

Robin's eyes shifted over to his hand, knowing the redhead too well and seeing Ram begin seeping into his gloves.

Rosan as a child had always been a performer at heart but when Reaper, he prioritized efficiency. He may not have been in his disguise anymore, but in these memories, there was no difference between Rosan and Reaper in terms of personality.

Case in point, he was just about to take Higuma's head off, without letting the man even react, until the Red Haired Pirates showed up and interrupted his plans.

Not having anymore reason to step in, Robin watched the redhead instead shift his attention to the bigger (in his eyes) threat.

She did not miss the way Shank's eyes glinted in interest at the severe lack of trust Rosan had in anyone.

Honestly, how did so many people get interested in her best friend? Was it his natural appeal? Could they feel his potential? Robin had been drawn to him because he understood her pain and the longer they stayed together, the more his charisma began seeping into her.

Why was everyone else interested in him? What was their reasoning she wondered...

Apparently, Shanks was more interested then he let on because he asked Rosan to deal with the bandits.

"That's a silly mistake," Robin muttered with a shake of her head.

Rosan's eyes glittered as he watched his younger form break the arm of one of the bandits. "You know me so well."

"You're not as clever as you think you are but I'll play your game, Shanks."

With that, the redhead began slaughtering the bandits with a violence befitting his old nature.

Robin looked utterly unfazed by all the carnage going on in the memory, seeing this far too often in previous footage. The redhead was mowing through the bandits like they were normal civilians, razing their numbers to the ground.

While she was unfazed, the same could not be said for the citizens and the Red Hair Pirates. They were looking at the redhead like they could actually see him now. Like they could hear his warning loud and clear about why he wasn't a good person to be friends with.

"Satisfied?" The petty redhead asked his fellow redhead.

Shanks' gaze was mostly unreadable but he just nodded his head and Rosan simply walked away, gazing at the events with a half lidded gaze and ignoring the people inching away from him.

Robin snorted. "Maybe I'm not normal for being able to tolerate you."

It was quite gruesome seeing what he had done, but Robin didn't think any less of him. She never once thought any less of him, despite viewing all his memories... because he was still her Rosan. That's all there was to it.

Rosan stared fondly at her. "Anyone who can tolerate me, is special in their own right. I'm rather overwhelming," he replied calmly.

"That's the truth," Mod sighed, making the three smile.

The smile left Robin's face as the pirates began relaxing before the situation was over and it caused Luffy to get kidnapped in the process.

They could have at least secured him first.

She saw how unimpressed the teen was with the crew, making no attempt to help them out and instead walking in a random direction after Shanks.

He showed up in time to see the Pirate dive into the water with no hesitation and begin swimming in a direction with no hesitation.

"How does he know where to swim?" the redhead thought idly, staring out into the ocean with a blank gaze.

He waited there for quite a bit, until he noticed Shanks swimming back with a trail of blood and a sleeping Luffy.

"Red Haired Shanks lost his arm protecting Luffy?!" Robin asked in shock. But why? Why would the future Emperor lose his arm for little Luffy?

What effect did the rubber boy have on him?

"Luffy is... unique," Rosan muttered. "He has an aura about him and when you see it in full effect, you start to believe his claims. It's why I follow him after all. He's the man who's going to become the Pirate King."

Robin gazed at the redhead in a bit of surprise at that. "You believe in his dream? You truly think he can become the Pirate King?"

He nodded without hesitation. "I've never been one to doubt a person's conviction. I believe in Luffy's dream to become Pirate King, as much as your dream to discover the Void History," he revealed.

Her heart fluttered at that and she gazed at him with wide eyes. "You... I always thought that was just your childish nature... but you really do believe that I can do it?" She whispered.

"Without a shadow of a doubt," he confirmed. "Whether I'm 4 or 24 or even 50, I'll never doubt your dream. If you think you can do it, I have no reason to believe you can't."

"Why is he so good at that?" Mod whispered in disbelief, watching the tiny flush of appreciation on Robin's face. The redhead had a silver tongue! He always managed to say everything a person wanted to hear when it mattered most.

"That validation... feels great to hear," Robin eventually said, jerking her eyes back to the screen to avoid being further embarrassed.

"I'll validate anything you need to hear. I won't allow you to be even a little insecure," he assured.

"..." Robin said nothing and only sunk deeper into him so he couldn't see her brilliant smile and make fun of her.

"Get her Father!" Ram cheered. At this rate, she'd be able to stop reading those romance books!

Just as soon... as she... finished that one series she was currently reading. For no other reason then to gather intel on how to best get Mother and Father together of course. Not because she was enjoying them...

Nope.

Robin hadn't caught all of Shanks and Rosan's conversation at the shore, due to talking to the redhead, but she did catch something very important that left her stunned.

Red Haired Shanks had sailed on Roger's ship? How fascinating! Did that play a part into why he was so powerful?

But the next part of the conversation left her even more shocked.

"If that was a way to get me to open up, it failed. I despise that man and you telling me you were in his crew, doesn't make me warm up to you at all."

Shanks brow raised in surprise at that, not expecting the kid who should be too young to remember Roger, claim to hate him.

"What did Captain do to you? Kill your family?"

Surely he didn't actually reveal... Robin was thinking that at first, but then she remembered that her best friend was a very vindictive person and loved getting back at people.

He proved her point in mere seconds.

"As a matter of fact, he did. Roger was the reason my mother died and my mother happened to be his wife. I'm sure you can already guess, but that man is my father," Rosan informed the man, with the sole intention of seeing the reaction he gained a twisted pleasure out of seeing from people.

It was exactly what he was expecting. Shanks went completely pale and his jaw dropped as he began sweating, not expecting the redhead to reveal such important information.

No, he probably wouldn't have been able to predict that in thousands of years. He probably thought Rosan was just a random kid who had seen the harsh truth of the world early.

Never did he think this robotic redhead would be his captain's son. That's why Rosan revealed it. The shock factor was just too enticing for the redhead.

Before he could get a peep out, Shanks was surrounded by his entire crew and the redhead excused himself, vanishing deeper into the village before entering his mindscape so as to not be pursued.

After staring at Meiko's body for who knows how long, the redhead eventually departed his mindscape once more and entered the forest.

It was nighttime now and he slowly floated to the top of the tree, just staring up at the moon with as peaceful of an expression that someone of his nature could have.

It only took 10 minutes for Shanks to immediately locate him.

"How does he do that?" Robin muttered, wondering the same thing as Young Rosan. "First he pinpointed Luffy's location. Then yours? It can't possibly be a Devil Fruit..."

"I don't know. I never thought to ask him to explain it because I don't like talking to him," Rosan answered truthfully.

The Devil Child giggled at that.

She listened to Rosan explain some of his circumstances to the pirate with a slight frown. She hated remembering that Rosan was only four when his life went so downhill... no it was even before that. There was a reason she was so overprotective of him because she didn't want anymore bad things to befall him.

"I'm surprised you're divulging info," she muttered, squeezing him a bit tighter as those protective instincts flared.

"I only told him because of his connection to Roger. If I could even slightly affect his views of the man who ruined everything for me, I'll take it. I hate when people are praised as some perfect being, when they are anything but," Rosan replied truthfully.

"Is that why you hate when people always praise you?" Robin asked softly, sleepy eyes alert as she gauged his reaction.

The slight hesitation told her everything she needed to know. Such was their connection.

"I don't feel like I deserve to be praised, that's right," he nodded eventually, refusing to lie to her for even a moment.

Robin sighed and raked a hand through his head.

"Maybe people praise you, because you are so overly negative about yourself," she tried. "Maybe because you only see the bad things about yourself, they are trying to make you see the good things."

"..." Rosan froze slightly. "Yes, maybe that's why..." he said quietly.

"You already know how I feel about that, Rosan... But I'll tell you as many times as I need to. You are amazing," she said firmly.

Ah... when did Mod and Ram fall asleep? Mod was clutching Rosan's side tightly, a tiny amount of drool leaving her mouth that would probably leave her mortified for weeks. She snored inaudibly, smiling as Rosan raked a hand through her hair.

Half of Ram's limbs were strewn across Robin's body. The ring let out quiet, yet audible, snores as she cuddled Robin.

"I'm amazing..." he muttered, brows furrowed. "It's funny... the reason I don't like being told these things, is because I can always tell that everyone is being truthful... and then when they insult me, I know it's a lie. It's as if no one believes my faults."

Ah right, Rosan could tell if a person was being truthful or not... it must have been maddening to be the only person who believed something.

"That just means you're wrong," Robin told him with a small smile. "Take more stock of their words, Rosan."

The redhead hummed and nodded. "Alright... I'll try."

He glanced at the two sleeping and said, "We can finish this small section up and then head to sleep ourselves. We can just sleep here and continue when we wake up."

She nodded her head and gazed at the screen once more.

The Red Haired Pirates were now preparing to leave and Luffy had dragged Rosan off to see them off. As usual, the redhead went along with the rubber boy's ploy and let it happen, sitting on the deck and staring out into the ocean.

He didn't acknowledge a single Red Hair Pirate, only offering a slight nod to Benn Beckman and Lucky Roo as they greeted him, while completely ignoring the Yassop with them, much to the sniper's shock.

Robin giggled at that. Rosan didn't like Yasopp for the same reasons he disliked Olvia and Roger.

Luffy and Shanks were saying their farewells and it was there that Robin saw Luffy's conviction in full force.

"One day I'll have a ship and crew better than yours! And we'll have the biggest hoard of treasure in the world! I'M GONNA BE KING OF PIRATES!" The child shouted loudly.

Robin and Shanks both smiled at that and the pirate removed his Straw Hat, before gently placing it on Luffy's head.

"This hat means a lot to me. Promise that you'll give it back to me someday… when you've become a great pirate," Shanks requested softly, allowing the little boy to cry before walking off to speak to Rosan.

"So that's how it is," Robin said with a fond smile. It was no wonder Rosan had no complaints following the rubber boy... who was she to doubt him when even he and his fellow redhead believed in his goal.

She recalled the conversation she had with Luffy while they were bringing Rosan to Kureha.

"I think I see what you all see," she said eventually.

"Everyone does eventually," Rosan nodded.

"I won't ask you to forgive the Captain. But, know he probably never wanted it to turn out like this."

"I didn't either but only one of us is alive to deal with the consequences."

Robin flinched at that. A line that should have held some bitterness in it, didn't hold a single fleck of emotion. It was delivered in that same montone that he always took with whoever he was speaking to... had it really been 2 years of Rosan not feeling a single emotion?

"I actually feel something very soon," he supplied helpfully, gazing at her worried look.

She tilted her head at that. "What do you mean?" Robin asked curiously.

Rosan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Just keep watching," he instructed.

Her curiosity spiked and she nodded.

Robin smiled at the memory of Luffy slotting Rosan into his pirate crew without any hesitation, claiming that since they were friends they were apart of the same crew.

He was so adorable. Robin loved little Luffy.

Which was why her eyes narrowed when Makino tried to make Rosan stop being friends with him.

It was natural, considering what he had done to those bandits was fresh in everyone's mind... but no. Robin didn't like it one bit.

She was glad it bit the woman!

"But Luffy, he's not a good influence on you!"

"I DON'T CARE! ROSAN'S MY FRIEND AND HE'S APART OF MY CREW!" The rubber boy shouted back angrily, refusing to back down for even a second. "IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO BE MY FRIEND... THEN I WON'T BE YOUR FRIEND! WE'LL JUST SET SAIL EARLY!"

"No we won't. You're far too weak. You aren't fit to be my captain right now," Rosan denied instantly.

"Oh right! I still need to get stronger!" Luffy beamed up at his first member.

Makino reeled back, taken aback by the anger in the rubber boys voice and shooting a glare at the neutral redhead drinking a cup of lemonade, watching the entire exchange with that same vacant gaze.

"But Luffy... can't you just be friends with anyone else? D-Didn't you see what he did to those bandits?" The bartender squeaked, shuddering at the memory.

"Yeah! He protected me from them!" The rubber boy retorted, nonplussed by the memory of Rosan violently hurting those bandits.

"A 7 year old is showing less fear then you. How embarrassing," Rosan quipped on the side.

"Could you shut up for a second!" Makino growled, glaring at the handsome redhead.

"So Luffy has always been abnormal," Robin laughed, watching as the bartender tried to process being rejected by the normally sweet rubber boy. "You two really are so similar!"

Rosan snorted. "I blame his Grandpa. He's as big of an idiot as Luffy is."

"I'm glad, I thought I was going to have to sick Luffy's grandpa on you."

Robin blinked at the same time as Young Rosan.

"His grandpa/His grandpa?"

Robin couldn't stop her mouth from opening, as she realized exactly who Luffy's grandfather was.

"Luffy's the grandson of Garp the Hero?!" She nearly raised her voice in disbelief.

Mod popped one eye open at that, but immediately fell back to sleep as Rosan touched a sweet spot on her head.

Ram snored away.

"I was surprised too. What are the odds?" Rosan replied.

That was... utterly absurd. Robin had no idea Luffy's grandfather was someone so important...

Not only that, he was the man who knew exactly where Ace was.

So Luffy was related to both Dragon the Revolutionary and Garp the Hero?

What an absurd bloodline...

"You're telling me," Rosan snorted.

Robin smiled. "I have the feeling your bloodline is rather insane too."

His smirk vanished and he glowered at her. "Don't remind me. My mother a Queen, my father a man strong enough to defeat an entire island and rape her. What are the chances that's he's just some random guy who got lucky?"

"Almost 0%."

"I figured."

Robin felt her anticipation rising, as Garp escorted the duo through the forest, berating Luffy for eating a Devil Fruit and wanting to become a pirate, all while Rosan silently followed after.

After so long, he was finally going to see Ace! She had wanted to be there for him to make it easier but this was fine too.

Eventually, they entered a clearing and a small, rundown house was revealed.

That was Robin's first warning that something was about to go wrong.

The second was watching Garp slam on the door and seeing Mountain Bandits answer.

Why was Ace with mountain bandits?

Yep... this was about to be disastrous.

The final nail in the coffin, was something even Robin got angry about.

It was actually seeing Ace.

Robin watched Rosan go still in actual shock, as he took stock of his little brother...

And the sheer anger in his eyes.

This… was Ace? His little brother? Why… Why did he have that look in his eyes?!

The only reason Rosan had so confidently left his little brother in the care of the Marine, was in order to keep him safe and so that he could grow up with a semi-decent life. The risk of traveling with a four year old on the dangerous seas was just too risky.

Mountain bandits were one thing, Rosan had only adopted a similar look in his eyes after being tortured for six months straight. For his little brother to have it now, meant that leaving him behind... was the wrong choice.

It was as if every decision he had made, was being spat back in his face, as he looked at his angry little brother. Why did he even leave him behind if this was the end result? Why had he been forced to make such a difficult decision at just four… and that decision ended up being wrong?

Mom made a mistake trusting this scum of a Marine. At the end of the day, none of the people in the organization that had killed her, were trustworthy.

Garp needed to die.

Robin jolted at that final sentence. "Was that...?"

"The virus, yes," Rosan nodded. "Even with the castle, they are always watching. I don't know how but the very moment I felt anger, they were there to push me a little further."

The Devil Child couldn't help but shudder at that, shooting the sleeping Mod a worried look.

Was she really equipped to deal with something as dangerous as the Virus? Her power wasn't in doubt... but this didn't seem like a matter of power.

Well, there was no point thinking about it now, they would deal with it when the time came.

"I... normally I'd reprimand you for attacking someone as formidable as Garp, but I can't find it in myself to blame you," Robin said truthfully, watching Rosan attack Garp with murderous fury.

"I was furious," Rosan said. "Can you imagine making the decision I made, then finding out it was the wrong one?"

"You… I should never have trusted you, I didn't leave Ace in your care so he could end up with that look in his eyes. I left him with you because I thought you'd be a much better choice than me. A safer choice."

"I was wrong."

"I know," Robin soothed, gnawing her lip in worry at seeing Rosan reveal his Devil Fruit of all things. "It must have been so strong, for it to have your first showing of emotion in so long... I truly understand your plight."

Despite trying to send Garp 6ft under, the Marine proved his title was not a lie and easily repelled most f Rosan's attacks.

"He might not have been as safe with a 4 year old... But at least he would have been loved. I'd rather be in danger and loved, then safe and unloved."

Robin's heart panged at the raw anger on Rosan's face, watching the redhead lash out with sorrow.

He didn't deserve this. Rosan didn't deserve any of this. He had just been trying to protect everyone but ended up with yet another thing he'd consider a failure.

It really had been so hard for him. She had seen the memory of when he was just 4 and he had made the tough decision to leave Ace.

The boy had been completely torn apart. He wanted to keep Mod safe at all costs because he promised her... but he wanted to raise his little brother.

But Mod didn't have anyone besides him to protect her and Ace had Garp... so he reluctantly made the decision to do what was best for everyone (except for himself).

To find out it amounted to nothing...

She pulled Rosan into a hug. "It's okay, Rosan," she murmured, watching as the redhead was knocked unconscious not once, but twice by the weary Marine, falling on the floor with a thud.

"I know you feel like you failed completely... but you didn't. Mod-chan is still here and safe. You and Ace are proper brothers now. It was rocky, but it worked out so don't beat yourself up."

Rosan said nothing for a moment, before he returned the hug with his free arm (the other was currently being crushed by Mod) and he dragged her down to the bed.

"You're right... it was terrible to realize... but I at least managed to salvage my relationship with Ace and Mod-chan is still safe... so I suppose I didn't completely fail," he muttered in return.

She smiled at him, eyes growing heavy. "That's right. You don't only fail, Rosan. You'll realize that soon enough..."

Robin yawned and tucked her head into the crook of his neck, idly patting the close Ram's head as the ring drooled on her.

"...Let's get some sleep. We can continue this in the morning," she eventually said.

Rosan nodded and waved his hand, shutting the screen off and making sure all three were comfortable.

"Goodnight," he said quietly.

"..." Robin said nothing, already having fallen asleep from his comfort.

Rosan stared at her for a long while, tilting his head as he assessed his best friend.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, Robin. I don't know how you manage to amaze me so often," he said to himself, eventually closing his eyes to join them.

He missed the way Robin's face lit up with a smile at that and the Devil Child clutched him just a bit tighter as she actually fell asleep.

Bonus!

"Here, my Queen. Rosan told me to hold onto it until you were here," Marianne said quietly, handing the bazooka over to the Goblin Princess.

Maro's eyes glittered in excitement and she effortlessly took the Bazooka out of the short girl's hand.

"Alright my very own Bazooka Dog!" She gushed, hugging it to her chest with a gleeful smile. "Where are the other agents? Which ones did Master bring over? What happened to Gem and Kaori?"

"Master works so fast..." Demon muttered, patting Mikita on the head and exchanging a quick hug with her that caused her to light up.

Angel grabbed Marianne and hoisted the short girl up, hugging her cheek to cheek with a happy smile and causing the agent to blush in embarrassment.

"Um... R-Rosan brought over Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger. I'm not sure where Mr. 2 and Mr. 1 are, but I imagine he gave up on them because he made no mention of going to retrieve them," Mikita explained quietly, feeling a bit disappointed as Demon broke the hug.

Marianne didn't even bother getting out of Angel's incredibly strong grip and just returned the hug. "Gem and Kaori brought Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger to the hospital... they had really bad burns but Rosan doesn't trust them yet so he sent those two to follow."

Maro nodded at that, expression not changing.

"A bit sad I won't be able to use Mr. 2... but that's fine. I have my illusions after all so I can pseudo act like him."

"Should I go check on them?" Demon asked curiously, ready to go at a moments notice.

The Queen shook her head. "You've done enough already, Demon. You just worked on a bunch of people. Take a break and let the other doctors deal with them... just have them notify you when they're in working condition so we can pay them a visit," she instructed, gaze calculating.

The doctor nodded in return. "Alright then, I'll let you know. I'll go rest up some."

"C-Can I come? I just want to talk more," Mikita squeaked.

"Of course. We can talk about whatever you want," Demon smiled.

She smiled brightly and followed after the doctor.

"Have you fed Gladiolus and Anemone yet? Have you eaten yet?" Angel asked Marianne, carrying the girl away in the process.

"I fed them... they're sleeping right now. I ate a sandwich earlier but I am a little hungry," the artist admitted.

"Alright! Let's eat! We'll be back Maro... unless you wanna come with?" The redhead asked curiously.

Maro waved them off. "You two have fun... Just bring me something back?" She requested with a small smile.

She was happy they were making so many friends. It was good for them!

"Kay, I'll bring you back some pizza! Love you!" Angel promised, quickly vanishing.

"Love you more!" Maro shouted back.

"Goodbye my Queen!" Marianne waved. "Angel-sama, please put me down."

"Don't wanna."

"...Okay."

Maro watched them go with a fond expression, idly brushing her shoulder length hair (having longer hair was kinda sucky but she did look good) and gazing down at the weapon in her hand.

"Alright Lil Doggy," she began, teeth sharpening as her eyes took a manic glint. "Time for you to learn who your new Master is!"

Lassoo felt a bead of sweat form.

Maro stared at the Kaori restraining the mole woman with a neutral expression.

Apparently, she had been putting up quite the fight and the Fishman had immediately jumped to restrain her, using her superior strength and height to properly restrain the agent.

She had then muscled the agent over to the castle, all while a nervous Miss Double Finger followed. Gem had shot her one look and she shook her head hastily, assuring him that she did not agree with the mole's actions.

Now, the two were staring at the neutral faced Maro.

"Did she hurt anyone?" The Queen asked patiently, petting Lassoo on the head and getting a happy whine out of it.

"She already tamed him?" Everyone balked.

"No, we immediately restrained her before she could injure someone," Gem told her.

The Queen's expression shifted a bit. "Ah, alright. I don't have to teach her what happens to people who touch my citizens," she said calmly.

Everyone shuddered at that ominous statement.

It was then the agents realized that Maro was in fact the student of that demon Rosan.

"Bring her to the training room," the Goblin Princess requested, marching right past them with an obedient Lassoo behind her. "Let me show you what happens when you irritate me. Just a nice one on one."

With that, she was off. For once, they couldn't hear the Queen's footsteps and followed after her.

Angel whistled. "Wow, you really managed to get Maro of all people annoyed? You're lucky she's more patient then Master, else you'd be wishing you were dead," she laughed, jogging to go catch up to her wife.

Kaori pushed the restrained woman forward with a shake of her head. "You should have spoken to her majesty first... now you have my condolences."

"You still have time to ask for forgiveness. My Queen is very nice," Marianne offered, rushing to go meet up with the Queens.

Miss Doublefinger sighed at the mole woman. "I tried to explain the situation to you, yet you still acted out of terms... whatever happens to you, is on you. I'm not going down with you," she shrugged.

Miss Merry Christmas frowned at the woman. "Why are you acting like that, Miss Double Finger? What's so scary about this place?! AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE MY DOG?!" The woman howled.

The agent simply shook her head. "I'm not too sure myself, but allying myself with the Queen, seems like a better idea then whatever you're in for."

The mole scowled at that. "She's just a pretty little princess... she probably doesn't know what I can do so I'll show her and prove to you all that you're afraid for nothing!"

Kaori snorted loudly at that. "You won't be judging the Queen by just her looks soon."

"Why is Maro annoyed? Is it because of what happened at my hospital?" Demon asked, noticing the queen's annoyed expression from a mile away.

"Yep," Angel popped the p, gazing at her wife with a pleased expression. "She should get angry more often. I think it's hot."

"Gross. I don't need to hear that sis," Demon replied, not looking remotely bothered by her statement as he exchanged greetings with all their soldiers.

He easily returned Kaori's hug, patted Marianne on her head, fistbumped Gem and hugged a flustered Mikitia.

"Oh? Who do we have here?"

Demon paused at the question and glanced at the one who asked, recognition lighting up in his blood red eyes. "Oh! Moving about so soon? I heard you had quite the burns, Miss Doublefinger. A pleasure to meet you, I'm Demon."

A coy smile made its way on her face as she gazed at the gorgeous purple haired doctor. "Oh trust me, the pleasure is all mine. And you can call me Zala," she said holding out a hand for him.

"Zala..." He tested it on his lips, kind smile on his face. "I like it. I hope we can get along."

Her smile widened at that and a glint showed up in her eyes. "How about giving me a hug like you did the other girls? That'll make me feel more welcomed."

The doctor rolled his eyes. "You're funny," he said dryly, pulling the woman into a hug and watching her eagerly return it.

Angel narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but shrugged. Demon was a whore but she was also kinda hoping he found someone to settle down with so he could stop being such a womanizer. Not even she could stop him...

No matter how much she tried. Maro was on his side too, much to her annoyance.

Mikita watched the woman hug up on her love interest with a look of shock that transformed into fury.

Zala's hand lingered on Demon's shoulder and she flashed him another smile, only to blink as a blonde summarily yanked him away.

"Demon, can we talk about that dinner you promised me? I was curious about where you wanted to take me," Mikita asked, no hint of a stammer in her voice.

Demon blinked before nodding. "Sure, there's a place that I really enjoy going to. I'll make reservations for tomorrow night and I'll pick you up after my shift," he told her, smiling down at the woman.

She beamed up at him, getting on her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He easily returned it, having no choice but to wrap his arms around her waist due to the nature of the hug and squeezing her figure into him.

Mikita glared at Zala over the man's shoulder and the woman raised a brow, before a challenging glare appeared on hers as well.

Angel's eyes narrowed even further. This was getting awfully suspicious.

Like really —

Her gaze was dragged away as Marianne tugged her arm and pointed at the battlefield, sufficiently distracting her as she saw Maro and Lassoo get ready.

"No one notices the silent hero saving them," Marianne sighed. She had just saved Demon, Mikita and Zala from Angel's wrath...

A large palm landed on her head and she looked up to see Kaori smiling down at her.

"Don't worry, I noticed," the Fishman mouthed.

The artist beamed in return.

Kaori was awesome.

Maro stared neutrally at the rowdy agent, rubbing Lassoo's ears and getting the dog (he was in full zoan) to wag its tail.

"How dare you steal Mr. 4's dog?!" Miss Merry Christmas growled, sneering at the beautiful Queen.

"He's my dog now because he understands the food chain," Maro said simply, orange eyes boring boredly into her.

"Nonsense! Lassoo c'mere!" She demanded, glancing at the dog.

It lazily looked at her...

Before opening his mouth and shooting a baseball at her.

Miss Merry Christmas balked at that.

Maro watched her move away with a lazy stare, not even flinching as the woman began transforming into her hybrid zoan form. She just summoned her club and sighed.

"You're lucky I'm not Master. He doesn't forgive ignorance, but I understand that people react differently to situations..."

The orange of her eyes began seeping into her sclera.

"...So I'll teach you about the food chain."

"Try it, pretty little princess!" The mole woman snarled, diving underground.

Maro sighed, as her skin began turning green.

"Well, since you're already ruining my ground... I may as well help you... Master won't be too happy about repairing this..."

Then she fully transformed.

One moment, Miss Merry Christmas was tunneling towards the Queen, the next, the very earth itself began trembling.

Tremors rocked through the ground and disoriented the mole, who was steadily getting dizzier and dizzier.

She could no longer handle the vertigo and cut her attack short, climbing back out from underground and trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

It didn't take her long to find her answer.

The former agent took a step back in shock, at seeing a hulking green figure lazily lift a club off the ground.

Muscular, tall and above all terrifying the green monster stared at Miss Merry Christmas like she was nothing but prey.

Zala froze completely as she gazed at the otherworldly creature with a nervous expression.

"W-What is that?" She asked shakily.

"My wife of course!" Angel beamed. "Isn't she just beautiful!" She gushed.

"Still think I'm pretty?" The Dokkaebi snarled, sharp fangs jutting out her mouth. "Get a closer look."

The mole didn't even get to take a step back, before the monster was suddenly in front of her.

Miss Merry Christmas let out a yell of fear, as that massive hand grabbed her around the face and hoisted her up.

"You don't understand the food chain," Maro growled, idly gripping her hand even tighter and making the mole squeal. "You don't have the strength to go around and cause me troubles..."

"You are one of the weakest here and I am the strongest," she said matter of factly. Miss Merry Christmas tried to struggle but was unable to faze the woman at all.

Then, Maro dropped her.

"I'm going to give you a chance to earn my forgiveness. You didn't hurt my citizens so I won't hold a grudge against you... but you will either work for me, or I'm turning your bounty in. Crocodile lost. Baroque Works is done. Master was going to let you get captured but I asked him to save you. Don't make me regret wasting his time," she said calmly... well as a calm as a snarling Dokkaebi could.

Drophy shuddered, before nodding her head shakily and transforming back to normal. "I understand... thank you for giving me another chance."

She smiled at that, transforming back to normal and taking the appearance of that beautiful queen once more.

"Good!" She clapped cheerfully. "Now that that's settled, I'll have someone explain your duties as my soldier... and just be warned..."

Her smile vanished once more and she stared frostily at both Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger. "If any of you cause problems for my citizens, death is going to be the least of your worries. I'll show you exactly what happens when you piss me off."

Zala seized up at that, before nodding rapidly fear on her face at the monster.

She did say that devilish redhead was her teacher... Now she knew why.

"I won't cause any problems, Queen Maro," she bowed lowly. "I understand that you and Rosan both saved me from an undesirable life in Impel Down and I truly appreciate that so you have my full loyalty."

The Queen smiled up at her, chilly expression gone. "Great! I hope you two can help me make my island even better! Celadon is fantastic and since you're now my soldiers, you can enjoy the benefits..."

She tilted her head to the side. "What are your names again?"

They sweatdropped.

"I'm Zala," the woman sitting next to her brother introduced.

"Drophy..." the woman crouching in front of her revealed.

"Zala and Drophy! Awesome!" She said cheerfully, clapping excitedly. "You can stay in the same place your fellow agents stay! If you have any questions, ask one of them. They'll debrief you."

If the Queen was going to say anything else, she never got the chance because a red blur crashed into her with a happy squeal.

"Has anyone told you how hot you are when you're being serious and all angry?!" Angel gushed, smooching her on the cheek.

Maro beamed and eagerly returned the smooches. "What? Do you want me to be serious more often? Hahaha! Serious Maro doing her queenly duties with a serious face!" She grinned.

"Ah! The most serious~" Angel gushed.

"This feels oddly gross," Marianne muttered, watching the two fawn over each other.

"It's because they practically adopted you. You see them as your parents now," Kaori supplied helpfully.

"I feel sorry for you... those two are super into PDA and they're annoying... and stupid," Demon sighed. It was one of the few times he would insult someone but they deserved it as his sisters.

Plus they were both stupid.

Marianne had a look of horror on her face as she made that realization.

"Those two are my parents? I'm so fucked," she let out a rare curse.

"WATCH YOUR FUCKING LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY!" Angel roared in the distance.

"YOU CAN'T TELL HER TO WATCH HER LANGUAGE WHEN YOU'RE CURSING TOO!" Maro jumped to defend her.

"I'M AN ADULT! I CAN FUCKING CURSE IF I FUCKING WANT!" She snarled in return.

"YOU'VE BEEN CURSING SINCE YOU WERE 12! CUT HER SOME SLACK!"

"I WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF 12!"

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, ANGEL?!"

Zala sweatdropped at how swiftly the lovey dovey atmosphere around the two shifted.

"Should I get used to that?" She asked hesitantly.

Demon let out a suffering sigh as Kaori chuckled.

"You'll go insane if you don't. It's a miracle I haven't."

Character Sheet - Maro (Updated!)

Name: Portgas Maro (From marrying Angel)

Gender: Female

Born Sea: North Blue

Age: 23

Birthday: August 25th

Personality: Kind, compassionate, very laid-back and always willing to have a good time. She is a massive pervert but tends to only keep it limited to Angel, Rosan, Mod, Ram and recently, Robin. Underneath her genuinely kind demeanor, is the calculating and cold personality she inherited from Grim that she scarcely uses. Will do whatever it takes to keep her island and citizens safe.

Affiliation: Celadon, Straw Hats, Fregate, World Government

Summary: Maro is the current Queen of the prospering island of Celadon. One of the most popular figures in the North Blue, there is hardly a person who knows of her that has anything bad to say about the compassionate woman. Originally an unnamed orphan, she was found and raised by her teacher, Reaper. Donning the alias Grim, the duo would hunt and collect bounties all over the four directional seas, before she retired and took the mantle of Queen, overthrowing the former king and publicly executing him.

She is currently allied with the World Government to leak any important information and to strike when the time is right, building up a close relationship with them and giving no clue as to her true affiliations.

Devil Fruit: Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Dokkaebi

Type: Mythical Zoan

Description: Allows the user to transform into a hybrid and full version of a Dokkaebi, a goblin spirit that possesses extraordinary abilities. It was given to Maro by Rosan, who stole it from Joker.

Appearance: Above average height with shoulder length azure hair that has white streaks. Is fair skinned, curvy with a strong feminine figure and burnt orange eyes. Almost always wearing a kimono in a large variety of colors. Is ranked as the 2nd most beautiful person on Celadon (Demon is #1)

Height: 5'10

Favorite Food: Any fruit (loves grapes the most), any meat, will eat anything with hardly a complaint.

Disliked Food: Garbage

Likes: Angel, Demon, Rosan, Ram, Mod, Aiko, Akemi, Female Rosan, Celadon, Her Citizens, Her Soldiers, Tending to her garden.

Dislikes: Being alone, camping outside (reminds her of being homeless), Having nothing to do, Paperwork, Political meetings, The World Government

Merry Christmas! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and I'll keep this note short. We're getting into Skypiea and I hope I can make it interesting for you all!

I unintentionally made a lot of parallels between Rosan and Enel... so of course I had to set them up to fight each other!

I hope you guys don't mind the bonuses (you can always skip them if you don't). It's just my way to kind of show what's happening outside of the Straw Hats that I couldn't really fit into the main story until really later on.

While I could do that... I like slowly revealing more and more information instead of just dumping it all at once. Better then just dropping it like 10 chapters later.

That's all from me so happy reading and happy holidays!