Italics indicate thinking

Bold is for attacks

Monet's POV

After entering the town it didn't take long to follow the trail of destruction and find Luffy and Chopper, thankfully before they got arrested the owner of the house they ate stepped in and said it was fine, we wanted to thank her but talking with her only seemed to make things more complicated.

"Wait you're Big Mom's daughter?!" Luffy said "The one that's supposed to marry Sanji!"

"What a stunning coincidence." Pedro said.

"At least she's beautiful right?" Brook said.

"That's not so reassuring." I sighed.

"I knew I remembered your face from somewhere, you're Strawhat Luffy aren't you?" the woman, Pudding, said "You're really Sanji's crew? You're not part of Mama's fleet how did you even get passed an inspection to get here? You're in Mama's territory if you get caught, you'll be dead before you know what hit you."

She then picked up one of her knives "Wait you're pirates, scary pirates!"

"Remain calm, violence against you is not what we're after." I said.

"Shall I kill her?" Pedro asked.

"Whoa slow down don't you listen to what others say?!" Nami yelled "Put her down!"

"We're just here to get Sanji back that's all." Luffy said.

"I see, I understand I suppose this isn't really the most traditional of marriages." Pudding sighed "Mama's always doing things like this to her children, pushing them into things without asking so that she can get more territory, more crew, more candy. Choosing who we want to love…it's something you learn to give up at a young age when you're part of this family."

"Couldn't you just run away or something?" Carrot asked.

"One of my sisters did manage to leave home and go looking for her true love." Pudding said "But that was a long time ago."

"I had a question myself." I said "The note said you were the 35th daughter, is that really true, Big Mom has 35 daughters? It seems biologically unlikely."

"Actually, she has 39 girls and 46 boys." Pudding explained "There are 85 of us siblings. Our Fathers are spread out all over the place, Mama's had 43 husbands, we're a family of 129 people."

"That's crazy!" Luffy yelled "And I thought having two brothers was a lot."

"And some of my siblings have their own kids too." Pudding said "You'd be surprised who you run into around here with Family ties to us. The foundational infrastructure of the Big Mom Pirate crew is built around our real biological family."

"Oh, my now the name Big Mom makes much more sense." Brook nodded.

"Have you ever even met Sanji?" Chopper asked.

"Yes, once actually." Pudding blushed "He was so kind, such a gentleman, he had these curly eyebrows too. His eyes were like hearts and he even talked about making sweets for me, he's handsome and we have the same hobbies! His legs are black too."

"Okay his legs aren't actually black." Chopper said.

"See Sanji's a cool guy." Luffy laughed.

"You've already fallen in love with him, haven't you?" I asked.

"L-Love no, Mama's orders are just…getting married is something I have to do!"

"I love Sanji too!" Carrot hugged her "We're samesies!"

"Knowing the cook, a girl like this, he might end up actually falling for her too." Wyper laughed.

"We should hold this woman hostage, or she'll speak of our arrival." Pedro said.

"Must you rush into such brutish methods?" I sighed pushing my glasses up "We can use our minds before our fists."

"I prefer my fists too!" Luffy cheered.

"I should have stayed in Dressrosa." I sighed.

"What no way!" Luffy said "You're smart, we totally need you, we've already got an archeologist and a zoologist, so now we need you to do all the other science stuff I don't get, sides your powers are super helpful when it gets hot out and you can make us snow cones!"

"Hahaha." I laughed "Of course, I apologize Captain. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"This woman shouldn't be trusted though." Pedro said "She could report us."

"I think that's a bit of a gun jump." Wyper said.

"I can still forget about Sanji." Pudding wrote something down "Everyone on the island is preparing to celebrate my wedding, the Vinsmoke family is too and Mama is so excited for the wedding cake. I can't disobey my mother, I don't have the choice to find my own love, but even as a child I wondered, what sort of man will I marry? Then I met Sanji and it was like he was plucked right from a dream but he said something to me…"

"I wish I really could marry you but I can't, I have to get back to my friends." She looked up at us.

"Sanji said no to a cute girl?!" everyone gasped.

"He obviously wants to continue his adventure; I totally get it." Luffy nodded.

"No, you don't!" Nami snapped "Sides what cute girl did you leave for adventure?!"

"Now I see his desire isn't some one-sided foolish goal." Pudding smiled "Seeing you all here, risking your lives for him…I don't…I don't want to spend my life with someone who ends up regretting it every day, I can't steal him away from the life he has with all of you. There is a passage only used by the siblings of the main family, a passage you'll get through virtually unnoticed."

She showed us a rough map she'd drawn "Mama will never let Sanji simply leave, so come to this coast tomorrow and I will bring Sanji to you."

"Are you sure that's okay, won't you get in a lot of trouble?" Nami asked.

"It's okay, I'm still her daughter." Pudding smiled "Still I can't help but feel a bit sad, but maybe the next man I'm asked to marry will be even more wonderful!"

"She's such a kind pure hearted girl!" Brook cried.

There was suddenly a knock on the door.

"Oh dear, that's probably the guards come to bring me to Mama, you need to leave, go out the back and stay out of sight, follow the map and this will all work out." She said ushering us away.

Once the coast was clear we picked up the last of the supplies we needed and got to the ship.

"Where'd Pekoms go?" Carrot looked around.

"There's a message in the bathroom." Chopper said.

"Turn back?" I tilted my head looking at the scratches marking up the walls.

"That damn cat I'll kill him for marking up the wall like that!" Wyper hissed "I told Franky I'd take care of the ship it's not a scratching post!"

"I'm guessing this means turn back or bad things will happen." I said.

"We're going on ahead!" Luffy said "Things are starting to get interesting!"

We started following the map Pudding had drawn for us.

"Are you sure we don't need to look for your cat dude?" Luffy asked.

"He might not look it but Pekoms is quite resilient and resourceful he'll be fine." Pedro said "I see an island."

"Okay that must be the first island." Nami hummed "this map is strange but without approaching once it's in the distance we start following the second needle on the log, Luffy starboard 3 O'clock.

"Roger!" he spun the wheel so hard I thought it might fly off.

"Watch it!" Wyper snapped coming out from below deck "We're trying not to break the ship you know that right."

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Putting the final touches on a new weapon." He smirked "It'll be super powerful!"

"Powerful Weapon?!" Luffy and Chopper cheered.

"It's not for you two." He said "It's for me."

"It's won't be easy but with this we can slip through the surveillance net." Nami nodded.

LATER

"Why are there so many traps and monsters in this damn ocean!" Nami snapped.

"You should calm down more, they say stress contributes to early death." I said "And grey hair."

"I've already had enough stress to last three lifetimes with these idiots, and I'm sure you will too." She said "You won't have that calm and collected attitude all the time I'm sure."

"We shall see." I hummed.

"This sea is basically syrup." Pedro said "If we don't warm it up overnight it will freeze over and we'll be sitting ducks till morning."

"We should hurry." Brook said "The ants that attacked before will surely wake up soon, my sleeping spell only lasts a short while."

"Why don't we just use the Coup De Burst?" Luffy asked.

"We don't have enough Cola to blow one this early, and it'll give us away." Wyper said "We have to sail with as much stealth as possible."

"We need to move quickly; those carpenter ants once ate my ship down to the last plank." Pedro said.

"You were out here?" Luffy asked.

"Pedro used to be a pirate like Pekoms." Carrot said.

"Well I suppose I was truthfully more of an explorer but somehow I ended up with a bounty." Pedro said "I only accompanied Pekoms part of the way. I'm only sharing this with you because we've built up a trust. Pekoms and I were on a journey to discover Poneglyphs, we wanted to help Master Nekomamushi. The truth is our journey came to a sudden halt when we arrived in Big Mom's territory, I…lost here once before. That is something I don't share lightly."

"That sounds awful, are you sure you'll be okay here?" Nami asked.

"If my past is helpful than that would make me happy. I'm guessing me tagging along won't end up a waste of time." He told her "The Duke and Master showed you the Road Poneglyph didn't they?"

"That's correct."

"The last time we showed that to someone who wasn't in the Kouzuki clan was…" he paused "Was twenty-six years ago when the Pirate crew of Gol D. Roger came. That man used the knowledge there to become the Pirate King. You were likely allowed to see it because there were similarities between all of you and them, they must be confident you will 'need' the Road Poneglyph. You will also need to make use of the one Big Mom has in her possession. You will almost certainly never have a better opportunity than this. While you rescue Sanji, you should steal her Poneglyph as well."

"Robin did suggest we do that." I spoke up "We'll need her to translate it any way."

"This time when we arrive, I will steal that Poneglyph." Pedro said "I swear it."

"Then let some of us go with you." Brook said.

"No, you focus on Sanji, once you have him things will rapidly become incredibly complicated." Pedro warned.

"Alright then, we'll leave it to you." Luffy nodded.

"I wonder if Luffy was simply born into this fate." Brook said.

"Hmm?" I looked at him.

"Oh, it's nothing." He bowed "Just thinking out loud, by the way, could I see your panties."

"Hmph…are you familiar with the expression to be chilled to the bone?" I lowered my glasses "Consider that before you ask again."

"We need to get moving again before the ants wake up, back to work!" Nami said.

"RIGHT!"

AN

Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.

Pick Up- Chapter 831

Till Next Time!