The Man from the Moon

by TheLandMaster45

The train is coming with its shiny cars, with comfy seats and wheels of stars. So hush, my little ones, have no fear, the man from the moon is the engineer. (Cover image done by the wonder OceanStarsFall, from Sufficient Velocity!)

5. Chapter 5

Four days after the escape from Mary Geoise…

"Heave!"

" RRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH! "

"Heave!"

" HEAVE! "

With each pull of the rope, I felt the loops wrapped around my arms dig into my skin, and the sweat that caked my body from head to toe, and used the acute tactile sensation as fuel to keep my work going. If I had kept the flames on my back lit, of course, there'd be no problem with it at all, since the sensations would go away entirely.

But it wouldn't be fair to all the other people working alongside me. If they had to go through the struggle of our current labor, then so would I, just as we all had gone through the horrors the World Nobles had inflicted upon us.

Plus, this WAS something of an exercise for me. Now that we could properly feed ourselves thanks to the overstuffed pantries and fridges of the World Nobles' ship, we could slowly but surely regain our strength once more. There were still plenty of us who weren't built for this sort of labor, of course, but those who were (me included) had taken to the task with determination.

"HEAVE!"

" RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH! "

Said task being to hide our ill-gotten mode of transport.

Two days ago, we had come upon an island, where we could finally make landfall and properly rest from our escape. It had no civilization at all, only tons of forest surrounding a massive volcano that, to my surprise, had not only been completely hollowed out to the point it had been turned into a large bowl, but also that a freshwater bay had formed inside of its broken, lava-less husk, with only a single cove serving as an entry point to access it to boot. Adio, the one who had brought us here, told me and Tiger that said bay apparently had been used as a convenient hiding spot a long time ago. By whom, he did not share, but considering he knew how to steer the ship through the coral minefield that stood between the opening and the bay proper, I had an inkling of a feeling the man had been part of said group of people that had made use of this place.

And since the volcano's outer shell was still intact, that meant even a ship as gigantic as a World Noble pleasure ship would be concealed behind its stone walls, and the single entry point would help even further, meaning we finally had a modicum of breathing room. However, we couldn't allow the ship to remain fully on the water, lest the waves bring it back to the entry of the cove, thus rendering our efforts to hide useless. Plus, while we did use the ship to escape Mary Geoise, there was no reason for us to want the World Government, or the Celestial Dragons, to have the ship and its many, many riches back.

The solution, thus, was simple: we'd beach the ship. Pulling it into the coast far enough would make the waves and tide a non-issue, and having it aground would make the task of offloading people and supplies faster. With that in mind, every escapee who had been able-bodied enough to labor had been called to pull the ship ashore using every length of rope we could. Even the anchor chain was being used for the work, pulled by the largest of us, and also by Adio using his Grab-Grab powers.

"Hnnnnnngggg!"

"Keep at it, sisters!"

And of course, the Boas had refused to back away from the work. Sonia and Mari had shifted to their hybrid forms, just recently discovered, for the extra strength, but Hancock had remained fully human for it, even if her strength seemed to have been increased just as much as her sisters, if not more so. Considering how her full Zoan form had absolutely decimated Mary Geoise, however, and practicing on the open sea was a recipe for disaster, nobody would complain about this.

"Just… a bit… more…" I growled through clenched teeth, gripping the ropes as furiously as I could, and taking step after ponderous step backwards. And as if to mirror my statement, Tiger's voice rose over the sounds of hundreds of people grunting and groaning in strain, and the grinding of the ship's gigantic hull against the sand and ground.

"One last pull!" roared the seabream Fishman from the middle of the crowd, his forearms wrapped almost entirely in ropes just like mine. "One last effort! HEAVE! "

" RRRRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH! "

And with a united, deafening roar, we all pulled with every scrap of strength we had to muster, the ropes and anchor chain going taut as we rushed backwards, our feet, tails and others digging into the sand, until finally, the ship came to a stop onto the beach, now fully out of the water. The moment the hulking mass of wood came to a halt, we all fell down to the ground, raising a big cloud of sand into the air that went everywhere and covered our bodies.

And I hated it. The sand felt extremely coarse and rough against my skin, even more so than the ropes had been, and this time it was covering all of my body. It was almost enough to draw my fire back to life, but again, I put a lid on that feeling and kept it down with all my force of will. I had to get used to this in any way I could, if I wanted to keep as low a profile as I could out there. The memory over the World Government's bounty on Lunarians had never left my mind, so now more than ever, everywhere I went I'd have to tread carefully, and that'd mean keeping my flames suppressed.

Thankfully, I at least had found out a small nugget of good news in this predicament: the state of slowdown and over stimuli I had gone into during the last few fights wasn't the standard for when the flames on my back were out. Rather, I'd found myself having to purposefully fall upon such a state of mind while I was trapped in the interior of our stolen ship, which at least served to assuage my fears that I'd have to live in slow-motion for the rest of my life in this world. The vast increase in speed, however, was still the same, even if I had to also purposefully push myself to go that fast, so at the very least I could still be fast if nothing else.

And it also meant I wasn't going to be constantly bombarded with hyper-stimuli, which served to temper my frustration with all the sand covering me by the tiniest of bits.

As I picked myself from the ground, and swiped a hand in front of me to try and push the sand off of my face, I glanced over at where the Boa sisters had also fallen. To no surprise, they were already on their feet, wiping away the sand from their bodies, and coughing a not inconsiderable amount due to the sand still in the air. "Thissssssss ssssssucks…" grumbled Sandersonia, the greenette miserably wiping sand away from the long, forked tongue I remembered her sporting in the story. "Ssssssand tassssstesssss horrible…"

"Tell me about it…" agreed Marigold, as she ran a hand through her hair, bringing with it copious grains of sand that had stuck to it. "I'll still take sand over…"

The expression on the two Kuja quickly grew twisted, no doubt from memories of our time in Mary Geoise, but before they could go any further, they, and as a result, myself, had our attention diverted by the sound of a single, forceful clap. And to no surprise, Hancock was the source of the sound.

It was then that I was reminded of the changes the eldest Boa sister had undergone. Granted, they hadn't all been there during our escape from Mary Geoise, and according to Sonia, bar the eyes, they had only appeared two days ago, after the three had slept and eaten far more than they ever had in the last few years. Regardless, two days ago, when Hancock rose from her deep slumber, she looked very different from before.

Her eyes, once dark blue in color, were still the same emerald green they had been after she emerged from her full Zoan transformation, except now they were lined with vivid red markings, like a permanent eyeshadow, and her hair, once fully black, now had several golden streaks throughout it. Literally golden, in fact, not just blonde, considering the visibly metallic sheen said streaks had.

They were somewhat minor changes, true, but any change to me should be considered important, especially since I still had no idea what kind of Zoan she had eaten.

"Keep your focus, sisters," said Hancock firmly, her arms crossed as she stared at her younger siblings. "Remember, we are Kuja. We shouldn't be belly-aching for something so minor." She held her posture for a moment more, before her arms drooped and looked off to the side, towards the many other ex-slaves surrounding us. "Not after what they and we've gone through to get here."

And while Hancock might have put it a bit harsher than necessary, her words seemed to halfway shame her sisters, who in turn stared at the ground somewhat ashamedly. Before she could continue, however, Tiger's voice echoed all over the beach once more, this time without having to fight over the sounds of the boat being dragged into land.

"Listen closely!" bellowed the Fishman, already standing tall amidst the tens of people on the beach, staring at the people still aboard the ship who were watching from the railings. "Those aboard the ship, start offloading supplies to the shore, and set up camps!" He then turned to the ones on the beach, and began pointing as needed. "Those who can still keep going, help out with offloading, or carry the exhausted ones to the tree line for them to rest on the shade!"

Heeding the call of our erstwhile leader, we gave each other knowing looks, then gave solid nods, before turning to head back towards the ship, like Tiger had called for.

No rest for the wicked, but at the very least, we were choosing to work this hard this time around.

As we walked, however, I broke away from the Boa sisters, making sure to wave their worries down as I did so, and instead approached Tiger, thankfully drawing the Fishman's attention with my approach, until I stood only a few steps away from him. "Once we're all settled down, I want to talk to you," I said as softly as I could, making sure that no one was paying attention to us when I did, something that earned a raised eyebrow from Tiger. "I… want to discuss something with you."

With my piece said, I turned right around and walked back to the Boa sisters, my thoughts already running a mile a minute to set up the conversation I had just set up. With any hope, it'd succeed. It had to, not only for Tiger's sake, but for Otohime's and the Ryugu Kingdom's sake as well.

-O-

Three hours later…

"Last crates of food here…"

"Good, set them down over there."

With a few huffs of exertion, I carried the three crates I had balancing in my arms to the spot Stella pointed out to me amidst the many we had already brought over. Right behind me was Adio, his gauntlets hovering beside him with three crates each in their grasp, and holding them surprisingly stable, though I chalked that up to both Adio's apparent skill, and a dose of Devil Fruit bullshittery. The Boa sisters were sadly not with us, having left a while ago to help some of the escapees who had wilderness experience to forage for food and water, and considering the three of them were Devil Fruit Users with enhanced senses, it definitely was a good choice on their part.

Meanwhile, while Tesoro also had taken to helping with the heavy lifting, even after helping pull the ship back to the beach, Stella had instead taken up the position of temporary quartermaster, helping catalog and dole out every last bit of supplies left over aboard the Celestial Dragon's ship. And to little surprise for all of us, it turned out that we had yet to make any sizable dent on the food and water stocks of the ship, even after four days of feeding around six hundred souls to save them from the brink of starvation.

Infuriatingly, it seemed we owed our good fortune to the World Nobles' eternal greed and gluttony.

Food and water weren't the only things we had brought to the beach, however. Along with the crates, others had worked hard to set up tents to let people sleep away from the confines of the ship. Sure, it wouldn't be as comfortable, and many of the tents were jury-rigged from sheets or extra sails, but it was still better than sleeping amidst the open air.

Bar that, things were mostly as they had been aboard the ship: the more fit and held-together escapees helping the less-able ones. At least now the children had a lot more space to run about, watched over by the older children, teens, or some adults. I'd even caught sight of a blue-ringed octopus merwoman casually hoisting some children around with her tentacles, a wry smile on her face as she played with the thankfully-laughing kids.

But I had also caught sight of those still broken by what we'd gone through. Those who sat alone, staring at nothing, or who shambled from one place to the other, unresponsive to their surroundings…

Seeing Koala with that frozen smile on her face, working alongside adults and doing tasks I knew she couldn't feasibly bear, sent a cold spike of anger through my heart.

Hopefully, my talk with Tiger would help put a stop to this much sooner than it would have taken otherwise in canon.

Once I reached the spot Stella had pointed me towards, I set the crates down with a huff, backing away and wiping the sweat off my brow, while beside me Adio had his gauntlets do the same with their own cargo, before they vanished with a flash of light. "Phew… finally done…" I said with a sigh, trying to brush away some of my sweat-soaked hair off my eyes. "Just gotta unpack it all–"

"Here ya go."

Suddenly, something small and cold was pressed against my hand, and while I did grasp it out of pure reflex, the chill it sent up my arm was enough to make me gasp and recoil away, turning to face behind me. And to my surprise, the source of the feeling had been Adio, who was clutching a cold bottle of cola in one hand and grinning at me. A glance to my hand confirmed that yes, an identical bottle was what had been pressed into my grasp, and raising my head also confirmed that yes, it had come from one of the crates we had carried here.

"You look like you could use a cooldown," said the young man. "Especially if you plan on having a talk with Tiger after this."

I'm pretty sure the shock showed in my face openly, considering the way Adio's grin grew a good inch wider. "... How–"

"Kehahahaha! Well, when you're a navigator for as long as I've been, you learn to keep your ears open." And to my surprise, the Wanderer turned away to stare at the horizon, his expression becoming strangely distant, but also… angry. "More so in my case, really."

There was a story there, I could tell. The anger in his face and voice… it was well-masked, yes, but it was also raw, deep. Personal .

Which meant I had no business digging for information. Maybe in due time, if I kept in touch with him, but for now, we barely knew each other. The most he had been willing to open up with me was that he had worked as a navigator, and that his tribe was called the "Wandering Tribe", making him a "Wanderer". It didn't ring any bells for me based on what knowledge I had, and he didn't seem to mind talking about it to me, so it might be something innocuous, or it just might be my ignorance that made him willing to give out that information.

Regardless, it seemed he had overheard me somehow, and now knew I wanted to get in touch with Tiger… but he still didn't know why , so maybe I could still keep that under wraps. With that in mind, I let out a long sigh, then pressed the bottle against my forehead, the sheer cold spike it caused helping to keep my thoughts somewhat centered. "Yeah, I do want to talk to him," I said to Adio, who in turn raised an eyebrow in curiosity while he cracked his own bottle of cola open with one of his gauntlets.

"Really? What about?"

"About what to do now that we've gotten away." Bringing out my flames for a moment, I took advantage of my lack of feeling to bite the cap off of my bottle, before receding them once again. "I don't know if he has plans of his own for what to do next, but I'd like to give an idea or two of my own over it." I paused to take a sip from the cola bottle, and had to fight back the urge to cough. It wasn't bad cola by any means, even considering I never liked the taste of cola-type sodas. In fact, it was very tasty, tastier than any other cola I had drunk in my life. But with my now-heightened sense of taste, it became almost overwhelming: the fizziness, the sweetness, everything was cranked up to eleven, to the point even after I finished taking what few gulps I managed to endure, the taste and sensations lingered in my mouth.

This would take some getting used to…

Thankfully, Adio didn't comment on it. Instead, he hummed thoughtfully, then took a sip of his own from his bottle. "I see… Makes sense, I guess. We can't exactly hide it out here forever."

"Exactly."

"And you really think he'll listen to what you have to say?"

"I'm hoping he does." I looked over the multitude of slaves settling down upon the beach, then to where Stella was finally standing up to meet with Tesoro once more, the two lovers hugging one another tightly. "For everyone's sake…"

We quickly slipped into silence after that, just mulling over each other's words, until finally, I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and emptied the bottle in one long drag, the tingling and burning of the cola going down helping to refocus my mind again. Once done, I set down the bottle on the sand, and gave Adio a nod. "Time to go find him, then."

In return, Adio gave me a nod of his own, a grin once more present in his face. "Good luck to ya!"

Just as I turned to leave, another thought occurred to me, and I refocused on Adio. "By the way… are you going to stick around?" And to my surprise, again that same unknown spark returned to Adio's expression, the Wanderer staring down at the ground for a moment, before giving a mirthless chuckle.

"Who knows. I still have some business to handle somewhere out there, you see…" he said, electricity briefly running over his arms, before he relaxed and waved one hand dismissively. "If things change, don't worry, you'll know. Now go have that talk of yours, before Tiger gets busy again."

And with that, he walked away, leaving me pondering what exactly could have the Wanderer so surprisingly worked up, even if only for a moment. Again, if he wanted to share it with me, then he would… hopefully. So instead, I finally swallowed my fear, and started looking for Tiger, a task made somewhat easier due to my height.

That was something I was still coming to terms with, honestly. Sure, I was tall already in… real life? Let's go with real life. Anyway, I was already decently tall then, so I was used to having people be shorter than me, but now, this was a much more prevalent thing: so many people I walked past only came up to my waist, and when it came to kids, not even that. It got to the point I had to watch my step so I didn't end up punting people out of the way, or had my wings brush against them.

At least there still were people around the same size as me, and some taller still, so I could still find myself staring up at someone at some points. Like, say, in the case of Fisher Tiger.

Even after spending several days aboard the same ship as the sea bream Fishman, I still caught myself staring at him when we happened to get close enough, for a good plethora of reasons: the way his skin, even when I could tell was composed of scales, seemed just discreet enough that you could mistake it for regular skin, bar the coloring of it, or the lack of body hair. The fin on his back that remained perfectly still and rigid, even when outside the water, completely unlike a fish's. How his muscles shifting made his scales ripple curiously whenever he moved, or how I could see, on the few times he walked right next to me, how his eyes had a faint film over them that, to the best of my guesses, kept his sight underwater crystal clear.

That, and so many more tiny little details that escape my memory right now, all contributed to making me remember that Fisher Tiger wasn't human, more so than even myself. It wasn't quite jarring , per se, but it was enough to draw your attention. Perhaps this was why humans seemed to be so bigoted towards Fishfolk…

Only one more reason for why this talk to Tiger was beyond important. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find him: a few questions to some of the other slaves working around the camp lead me to a secluded corner of the beach far away from our camp, one filled with rock formations against which the waves constantly broke against, filling the area with foamy water. And sitting atop one of said rocks was Tiger himself, holding a fishing rod with both hands, and with a basket filled with fish next to him.

Not exactly how I expected to find the leader of our little revolution.

Since he had yet to acknowledge my presence, I took those moments to parse my thoughts and get my arguments in order, before I walked the remaining distance towards the rock formation Tiger was sitting atop of, and hoisted myself atop of it. As soon as my feet touched the rock, Tiger finally looked behind himself and at me, his expression as stony as usual. "Ryoma."

"Tiger."

With each other's presence acknowledged, I walked up to the Fishman and sat myself down next to him, making sure I didn't slide off the rock and onto the water. Once more, the difference in size between us, even with my growth spurt, made my nervousness regarding what I was about to posit to him kick it up a notch again, but I smothered it down as best as I could. Instead, I glanced down at the water where Tiger's lure was bobbing lazily. "Aren't you a bit young to become a hermit fishing by your lonesome?" I asked idly. The Fishman, in turn, merely grunted, before giving his line a light tug.

"Even I need some time by myself," he said in a gruff tone of voice. "It lets me think."

"About?"

"Whatever's needed."

Again, the silence returned, leaving only the sounds of the waves to fill the air. However, the lack of conversation also gave me a quick moment of epiphany, and consequences be damned, I decided to take the leap. "... You left because of the humans, right?"

Fortunately and unfortunately, I hit the nail right on the head. The moment I finished the question, Tiger flinched, almost imperceptibly so. Hell, the only reason I caught it was because, out of paranoia, I sunk into my hyper-stimulation state, and saw in slow-motion how his body shifted in response to my words. Regardless, I couldn't lose momentum. "Tiger, they're not World Nobles," I said somewhat insistently. "They're like me, like you . They suffered just as much as the Fishmen."

Tiger, in turn, heaved out a long, weary sigh, his eyes fixed on the horizon, his expression quickly turning distant and solemn. "I know."

"Then why ? Why push them away?"

It was technically a hypothetical question. I already knew why he wanted distance from humans, regardless of if they had gone through the same hardships as him. But I needed him to say it, otherwise I couldn't push further without making myself incredibly suspicious.

And thankfully, Tiger kept going.

"Because I hate them," said the Fishman, in a cold tone of voice that belied the unfathomable, bottomless anger those words held. "Deep in my heart, I know I hate humans." As he spoke, Tiger let go one hand from the fishing rod, and shifted his gaze down to its open palm, his fingers curling and uncurling. "The things I've seen in that 'holy city' above the clouds, they are things I know my people have suffered for generations, all by human hands." He then glanced at me once more, his hand falling to rest upon his lap. "And if rumors are true, so did your kind."

I didn't have an answer to his comment. Shameful as it was, the history of the Lunarians wasn't something I had managed to get any insight of, even while trapped amidst Mary Geoise. Saint Abaranew never talked about the race I was tentatively a part of, nor did any of the Nobles that bothered to address me as something other than a plaything, and from the barely-remembered snippet I had seen before coming to the One Piece world, public knowledge about Lunarians was as close to non-existent as it could be, hence the World Government's massive bounty of even rumors about a living one.

It made his solidarity towards me feel dirty, unbelievably so. But if it helped me to make Tiger accept my plan, then I'd use it.

"My people are gone," I replied somewhat dispassionately, meeting his gaze as firmly as I could. "That's in the past, done and over. But your people are still here, things can still change."

"Can they?"

The sheer coldness of Tiger's tone actually caught me off-guard, to the point I actively missed the sudden change in his posture: tightened, stiff, to the point I could see the tension in his arms with how firmly he was now gripping the fishing rod, once more with both hands. Even his attention was no more on me, but rather on the horizon, the Fishman staring straight ahead with a fierceness that almost made me think he was trying to incinerate Mary Geoise with his gaze from a distance. "The hatred against us has endured for hundreds of years. Fishmen have lived and died under it for longer than any being alive, bar giants, have existed in this world, without even a single push for change." When the line suddenly twitched, Tiger pulled , and a large fish flew out of the foamy waters. Another pull, and the fish was drawn directly at Tiger, who deftly grabbed it out of the air, and tossed it aside, all in a single, fluid movement. "For how long have Fish and merfolk been forced to live beneath the waves, out of sight and out of mind for humans, only to still be hated and despised simply for being different? To be dragged from our only home and be made slaves for humans who believe themselves above everything else?"

"No, things won't change. But that is for the best. Fishmen and humans were never meant to be together. Better they remain apart from one another."

"... You're wrong."

I don't know if Tiger noticed just how cold my voice had turned, but if he did, the Fishman did not show it. He just turned back to me, and eyed me with a scrutinizing gaze, one that I matched with as firm a glare as I could muster.

"What's happened so far in the past only makes it more important that Fish and merfolk be allowed to live together," I said, as calmly as I could. "It's because neither knows things about each other that they should be allowed to get together. Ignorance only breeds further prejudice." I turned away from the Fishman, and stared instead down at the water below us, watching the tiny waves break against the rocks. "And true, people might not have tried to change things in the past… but they are now." I didn't miss the sound of Tiger's breath slightly hitching, faint as it was, from knowing who I was talking about, which only made me press onward. "... Otohime isn't wrong."

"How can you know that?" the Fishman borderline growled back, budding anger clear in his voice. "You've never been to the Ryugu Kingdom– to the Fishman District –"

"Word travels far," I cut in quickly, still staring down at the water. "And World Nobles aren't shy with their opinions."

Again, it was a bold-faced lie. I doubt news or rumors about Otohime's wish had made it to the surface in any way, and the Celestial Dragons would never give her words even the faint second of consideration needed for them to voice it aloud near me. But like before, Tiger couldn't and didn't know that, which meant I could use it.

"The only way things will become better is if humans and Fishmen finally share the same ground, when they coexist. As long as they're split between two worlds, the only thing they'll know is hatred for one another."

"And where do you expect that to happen?" asked Tiger curtly, in a clear effort to try and keep a modicum of his calm. "Where in the world could humans and Fishmen even be found together, or meet on common ground? There's no such place in the world."

"You're not wrong, it doesn't. But you can make it exist."

" How? "

I didn't answer verbally at first. Instead, I turned to stare in the direction of where our camp was being set up, and waited to give a moment for Tiger to do the same, the very faint sound of his body shifting atop the rock serving as the indicator of it for me. And when he did, I threw down the gauntlet. "You can take them to the Fishman District."

The reaction was instantaneous. In a flash, Tiger was on his feet, the fishing rod falling uselessly to the waters below with barely a splash after he let go of it. His entire posture was tightened, as if he was one twitch away from jumping me and throttling me over what I said. The way he moved had been so sudden, I instinctively shot to my feet as well, years of being thrown into the fighting pits putting my fight-or-flight responses into overdrive as I stared at the Fishman's wide-eyed glare.

"Absolutely not!" roared Tiger, pure rage echoing in his voice. "Humans have never welcomed us to the surface! We've been shunned, pushed away at every turn, and you have the audacity to say we should let humans into our land?! To the only home we can call ours?!"

"And where else would you have them go?!" I asked back just as angrily, my wings flaring outwards to compensate somewhat for the solid five feet of height Tiger had over me. "Home?! We were all slaves, the moment they go back home, they'll be tossed back to the Nobles just so they won't draw trouble!"

"And you think they won't cause the same to us?! We are also a part of the World Government! The consequences would fall upon us as well!" As he spoke, Tiger stepped closer to me, looming further with each step until he was scant inches from pressing his body against mine, before the Fishman waved one arm outwards, motioning to the growing encampment we had left behind. "Why should we suffer the risk in their place then, when they wouldn't do the same for us?!"

"TO PROVE YOU'RE BETTER!"

I didn't move closer when I roared right on Tiger's face, there was no room for it, but I didn't need to, not when my control slipping made my flames come alight across my entire body, and stayed lit, leaving me as an incandescent, fiery angel glaring furiously at the taller Fishman in front of me.

It has always been a big problem of mine: that depending on the moment and subject, I could take things very personally, to the point I'd let my anger take the wheel and go as nuts as it wanted to, and that had cost more than a few friendships throughout my life. And the situation with Tiger was yet another case of this: I knew later on that, intellectually, getting into a shouting match with him wouldn't really help my case, especially with how deep-seated and personal his own hate regarding this entire subject was… but on the same coin, at the time, I didn't care . Because that same hatred could very well cost everyone a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the first few steps to maybe fixing the centuries of prejudice.

And if it took a bit of self-righteous, hypocritical anger to get this through Tiger's own self-righteous, hypocritical anger, I'd more than willingly take up that burden.

"YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO PROVE TO HUMANS, TO FISHMEN , THAT YOU CAN BE BETTER! IF THEY WON'T TAKE THE FIRST STEP, DO IT YOURSELF! SHOW THAT YOU'LL TREAT EVERYONE THAT SUFFERED UNDER HUMANS BETTER THAN EVEN THE HUMANS WILL!" My voice cracked more and more as I kept going, and the flames running over my body crackled chaotically in turn, to the point they even started faintly licking over Tiger's body, though the Fishman did not even twitch from them. "TEACH THOSE LEFT BEHIND ON RYUGU ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW, WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH! WHAT WE WENT THROUGH, SO THAT THEY WON'T EVER GO THROUGH IT THEMSELVES!"

There was a faint sound of the wind rushing past over our heads, like something had flown by, but I was too focused on Tiger to give it any thought, and neither did Tiger. In fact, the Fishman hadn't even budged from all my shouting. He simply kept glaring daggers down at me, his fists clenched tightly at his side. He didn't even seem fazed by the copious amounts of fire flowing around my body, though considering the things we had to survive in Mary Geoise, it made some sense.

I stepped away from the Fishman, and pointed back in the direction we had come from. "Those people out there, they don't have hatred for Fishmen. They hate humans ," I said, downgrading from shouting to snarling, which still wasn't exactly good, but was the best I could manage with how agitated I was. "They look up to you, you're their fucking savior . What do you think would happen if you just went and left them behind? You'd undo everything you achieved here, more than the Fishmen have ever gotten in recent times. The first time in ages that Otohime's dream could be achieved in any way."

"And you expect those on Fishman Island to just let this all happen?" asked Tiger in return, his tone once more surprisingly level, though there was still an undeniable rumble of fury to it, especially with how intensely he kept staring at me. "Just allow me to waltz in with hundreds of humans into our kingdom? Even if Otohime and Neptune agreed to it, the people never would."

"Then put order into things yourself . Stay in the kingdom– hell, stay in the district . Do the job you did once already, and make them stay in line. You did it once already, didn't you? Fucking do it again."

A moment of silence settled between the two of us, but sadly this did not diminish our tempers in any way. In the end, it was Tiger who broke the silence once more, the Fishman heaving out a long, suffering sigh as he finally turned his back to me to stare at the sea once more. "... I haven't returned to the kingdom in years," he spoke, voice surprisingly solemn and devoid of any of the anger he had just moments ago. "... Things could very well have changed while I was away. Neither you nor I can guarantee that this will work. The consequences of all of this could just as well ruin everything the same way not doing so would."

I, in turn, finally took enough breaths that I managed to calm down to the point I managed to rein in the fires all over my body until they returned to burning just on my back, the familiar sensory deprivation that came with them also aiding in smothering my fury. "But you'll still have tried," I replied in turn, my voice thankfully now much calmer compared to my unrestrained anger, even if there were still traces of frustration clear in my tone. "And this time, you're not alone. You'll have others backing you up, standing by you to make sure you'll succeed."

"You'd finally share a goal with Otohime. Don't waste yours– her opportunity like this."

It was a gamble, really, if Tiger would actually listen to me, and with the hindsight of a clearer mind in the time to come after our "talk", I realized I couldn't begrudge him: hatred against the Fishman was borderline engraved into society by this point in time. Even those that had never met a Fishman in their lives heard stories of how "evil" and "cruel" they could be, unknowing of the fact humans were just as capable of all that evil, perhaps even more so.

It was an industry of hatred, seemingly maintained and enforced for the sole sake of justifying every crime committed against those too different from humans. But if we wanted any chance of starting the process of ending this, we had to take the chances with both hands. And that meant I had to gamble on Tiger seeing beyond his own ingrained hatred to recognize that fact.

For the longest time, we simply stood there, Tiger facing the ocean while I waited for his response. Then, suddenly, the Fishman turned around and walked towards me, stopping once more just a few steps away from me, staring intently into my eyes.

And then he did something I never saw coming.

WHAM!

Fisher Tiger punched me across the face.

The blow itself, of course, didn't hurt, but the sheer suddenness of it meant I wasn't braced at all, and thus I dropped like a sack of flour onto the beach, covering me with sand that, thankfully, this time didn't make my body crawl and itch all over, though I still could faintly taste it on my mouth, and even a reduced sense of taste doesn't help make the sensation of sand on your tongue feel any better.

After I sputtered and spat all the sand out of my mouth, and rubbed the grain off my eyes, I picked myself off the ground, and looked at Tiger once more, the Fishman still posed the same way after having punched me. "This… was for trying to manipulate me," he said sternly, though there was no real venom in his voice.

Once I finally got to my feet again, and having the decency to at least look ashamed over being found out so easily, I stared up at the Fishman in unease. "Figured it was worth a try."

"Hmph… then you should try harder at being subtle with it."

After yet another pause, Tiger finally sagged in place, his body finally relaxing from all the tension it had held until just moments ago. "Even if I committed to this idea, how would we even transport these many people to the bottom of the ocean, without the use of a coated ship?"

And just before I could try to think up a way to do such a thing…

"I can help with that."

A voice echoed from behind us.

A soft, calm, and polite voice.

A voice that, in an instant, made my heart stop , and caused me to whip around so fast to face the speaker, that a small wall of sand was kicked up from the winds I caused with the motion.

And to my naked dread, I had not imagined things. Because standing right there behind us, not twenty steps away, and with zero tracks to show he had ever moved to said position, was Bartholomew "The Tyrant" Kuma.

It was only thanks to my flames still burning on my back that I didn't literally descend into a panic, but my mind still raced over what we could even do in this situation. If Kuma was here, this meant that the Government had found us, but if that was the case, then why was he the only one here? With how destructive our getaway was, and without a way to confirm on which ship Hancock had escaped to, not to mention how unbeatable she had shown herself to be, I expected an entire fleet to be chasing us, not a lone Warlord, mighty as they were (or at least, were supposed to be).

However, before I snapped and did something that could end with me catapulted off the island, Tiger spoke up behind me.

"You… you're a Revolutionary commander. What are you doing here?" asked the Fishman, tone suspicious but shockingly, not confrontational–

… Wait… Revolutionary commander ?

It was only thanks to this pause that I managed to actually look at Kuma, without the dread of uselessly trying to fight him, that I noticed Kuma looked remarkably different to what I knew him as: his clothing was a lot more military, being something akin to fatigues with a heavy coat, rather than his usual pants and black jacket, and there was no sign of his ever-present bible. He also looked way younger, easily ten or twenty years in fact, judging by the softer features of his face… but most of all, rather than the strange, lens-like eyes I always saw in the manga and anime, he sported normal eyes, with a pair of square glasses framing them.

… And they looked so… sorrowful… especially when he caught sight of our branded chests.

What had I gotten myself into this time?

Unknowing of the little (read: panicked) crisis currently on-going in my head, Kuma refocused his attention onto Tiger rather than me. "We got wind of Mary Geoise suffering a massive slave rebellion and breakout, and that dozens of World Noble ships had been taken as escape methods," said the giant of a man, his voice just as serene and polite as I faintly remembered it, though with more emotion than the robotical, mechanical near-monotone I expected. "We've been doing our best to track down these ships before the Marines can, to help the escapees. We also have done what we can to trick the Navy and World Government's intelligence divisions with false intel to stall their efforts."

"Once we confirmed that one of the stolen ships had entered this area, I decided to search the nearby islands. I didn't expect to find you all so fast, but it's good that I did."

Alright, so apparently Kuma was not a Warlord yet… I didn't know how much longer it'd take for him to become one, nor did I know how , but for now, this was an opportunity: a commander of the Revolutionary Army was in front of us, someone with good pull in the organization. But most importantly, Kuma was one of the strongest fighters in the world… or at least, would become one, but regardless, having him on our side would be a massive advantage, especially with him already wielding his Paw-Paw Fruit powers.

With luck, and considering what Kuma had said when he arrived, we indeed might have found our perfect solution to our transportation problem.

"And you just so happened to get here while we're discussing how to properly escape the Government?" I finally asked with a half-joking tone, drawing Kuma's attention back to me. And having him looking down at me only made me realize how big the man was, even compared to me and Tiger, and we already were two-three times bigger than a regular human. "Either your sense of timing is impeccable, or you've been eavesdropping on us."

That, thankfully, drew a smile from Kuma, the huge man shaking his head. "A bit of both, admittedly, though more so the former. I only arrived a few moments ago, right as you were discussing bringing the other escapees to Ryugu Kingdom."

So he had missed our little shouting match… good. Better that Kuma didn't know about that. Though in hindsight, that also meant that he likely saw Tiger punch me to the ground, so… not perfect. Hopefully no questions would come from it.

"Let's get to the point, then," interrupted Tiger, the Fishman stepping closer towards Kuma. "You say you have a solution. What is it?"

Without missing a beat, Kuma calmly pulled one of the gloves he had been wearing, and turned the palm of said hand towards us, revealing the paw pads I knew him to have, and was thankful he did have already. "I ate the Paw-Paw Fruit, turning me into a paw-human. It allows me to push things, regardless of their mass or distance, as long as I take into account the necessary calculations to send them there." To demonstrate it, Kuma walked past us towards the rocks around the beach. Once he reached a particularly large one that wasn't sunk into the sand, Kuma laid his uncovered hand against it…

Pop!

And in the blink of an eye, it was gone, the sand where the rock had been atop of barely even being disturbed by the action.

"It would certainly require quite an effort, and I doubt the ship would survive the landing… but I could certainly push it through the ocean down into Ryugu Kingdom, without the need for coating. It will be safer than any other methods, and quicker, as well."

Having the confirmation that Kuma could send the ship was quite a relief, but more so than that, it was the fact he had offered to do so that gave me hope that things could turn out well. Here was a human, who worked for an organization opposing the establishment that helped foster one of the greatest sources of suffering for Fishmen, offering to aid in helping a great number of them at once. An altruistic act, without any strings attached.

My relief, however, was also mixed with the realization that Kuma sounded… different than what I expected him to. Mainly because he sounded much more alive than I ever heard him be throughout the anime, a far cry from the machine-like calmness I expected out of him. Clearly, I had just met Kuma before he had been turned into a Pacifista. The question, of course, was how early… and if I could do anything to change that.

Worries for later, however. I already had one conundrum to solve, no point in trying to shoulder the world this soon. And speaking of said conundrum…

A glance at Tiger showed to me that, thankfully, the Fishman actually looked pensive about the offer, already a step forward if he wasn't outright refusing, though I could still see hints of doubt in his expression. "And why would the Revolutionaries be so willing to help us?" asked Tiger, mercifully without any hints of anger. "Would you expect us to join you in your fight against the World Government?"

"Only if you wish to," replied Kuma politely. "We won't force any of you to fill our ranks, nor anyone else who we rescue aboard the other ships. If you wish to return home, we will do our best to acquiesce with those requests." Suddenly, Kuma's expression grew somber, and the huge man turned his gaze down at his own palm, before then taking a hold of the front of his jacket and prying it open.

And when I saw what was underneath it… I had never , EVER thought I'd be as surprised as when I saw what was underneath Kuma's jacket, right there on his chest.

"I also know what it is like, to have a fate forced upon you." He then turned his gaze to me, and stared directly at me with those sorrowful, yet kind eyes that I never thought Kuma could have. "Our circumstances… aren't much different."

And damn, if having no context didn't make me feel like even more of a piece of shit right now…

Thankfully, Kuma's display of sincerity seemed to mollify Tiger enough. The Fishman heaved out a sigh, then ran a hand over his face and up his head. "Very well… It's as sound a plan as we can manage." He then straightened himself out, and crossed his arms as he once more refocused on Kuma. "But we'll– … I'll need time to convince the other escapees to follow this plan."

"I understand. I still have to continue the search for further ships, so take whatever time you need." Kuma then reached into one of his pockets, and withdrew a small slip of paper, which he offered to Tiger. "The number for our ship's Transponder Snail is noted here, along with instructions for contact. Once you have your answer from the others, call us, and we'll be here as fast as possible." Once Tiger had taken the paper with a nod of appreciation, Kuma gave another nod. "I'll await your response," he said softly, and made to turn around…

"Wait."

But stopped, and instead refocused his attention on me, now that I had called out to him.

Because, now that I had a moment to think clearly and calmly, there was something else I had to do. Something that I hated, absolutely HATED thinking about doing… but that had to be done regardless.

"I… have a favor to ask of you," I said somewhat hesitantly, before taking a deep breath to center myself. "It's a crazy favor, and I despise needing to ask it… but I can't do it without you."

"Of course," replied Kuma warmly, with a smile that felt so friendly , it almost made me jolt from the whiplash of seeing the future cyborg showing so much emotion. "What do you need?"

I took another moment to center myself, then said my request.

Kuma's smile disappeared.

Tiger openly gaped at me.

And, if any of us had been paying attention, we would have noticed the crab surrounded by greenish lightning that had progressively gotten closer to us.

-O-

Twenty minutes later…

With a short huff of exertion, Hancock lowered the large crocodile she had been carrying over her head onto the ground, the weight of the dead reptile ten times her size barely registering to the young woman. Beside her, her sisters, transformed into half human, half snake forms, pulled a large hollowed-out tree loaded to the brim with fruits the three plus the rest of the hunting band had foraged for, while three Fishmen hauled barrels of water over their arms, now freshly filled from a waterfall they had found in the forest.

A suitable haul for the meal the escapees would soon prepare. While the pleasure ship was stocked to the absolute brim, they had not eaten much from its pantry due to what Aladine had called "refeeder syndrome", plus the ex-slaves themselves not being able to stomach that much food at once.

… With some exceptions, of course.

Apparently, her "Zoan form" or whatever it was called had consumed vast amounts of energy from her, so now her body was clamoring to restore said energy as quickly as possible. Thus, the crocodile she was now setting aside for herself.

"Finally back…" muttered Sandersonia from behind her, the greenette's morphed and far larger body slumping to the ground with all the grace of a wet noodle. "My everything hurts…"

"Hopefully we can rest properly now," agreed Marigold in turn, even though she kept herself upright, and more composed than her sister. "We all could use it…"

It was a sentiment Hancock would have agreed with… were it not for the fact she had yet to feel any fatigue whatsoever. In fact, she felt she could very well go back into the jungle and just keep hunting until the sun went down. Was this because of the fruit she had been fed?

Regardless, she had a duty to her sisters, and she would keep to it. As such, Hancock instead huffed out a breath she didn't need to, and turned around to once more speak a few choice words to get them back on their feet… And that's when she caught sight of Ryoma approaching them, flanked by a stern-looking Fisher Tiger, who seemed quite displeased with… something.

Hancock was not the only one to notice the two approaching, either. Both Sonia and Mari perked up at the sight of the Lunarian young man, the former even pushing herself upright from the ground. "Ryoma, is everything alright?" asked Sonia, the greenette slithering towards the winged young man, even if somewhat slowly due to her exhaustion.

"In a way…" replied Ryoma in turn, in a tone of voice that sounded worryingly… resigned . "I have good news and bad news. The good are that we found a way to leave this island, and that I know a way to get you to Amazon Lily safe and sound."

It felt as if a massive weight had suddenly been lifted from Hancock's soul, one she hadn't even known had been there. And with the way both Mari and Sonia gasped behind her, the eldest Boa knew that the feeling was quite mutual.

Amazon Lily… Home. They could go home .

How long had it been since the thought of returning home even crossed their minds? Of seeing their comrades, their compatriots, not through memories desperately conjured to keep themselves strong, but with actual hope that the three would see them all again?

How long had it been since said memories had slowly but surely begun to fade, taking with them their slowly-dwindling hope?

Too long. And now, here was the chance to fix everything. To start from scratch on some level, and leave all of what they had gone through behind. It was almost too good to be true.

And, Hancock realized once she took note of Ryoma's tone and expression, perhaps… it could be.

Because Ryoma had said good and bad news.

"And the bad news?" asked the eldest of the Boas, her emerald eyes peering deeply into Ryoma's sapphire ones. And when the Lunarian recoiled, a pit once more began to open at her stomach. "... Ryoma?"

The answer didn't come at first, which only made Hancock's worry build more. And not just hers, either: her sisters inched closer, and from the corner of her eyes, the eldest saw the worried look on the two's faces also becoming more pronounced. Hancock watched as Tiger put a hand on Ryoma's shoulder, drawing the young man's attention to himself, with the Fishman giving the Lunarian a reassuring nod, until finally, the bad news was given.

The very, very bad news.

And if Hancock had taken a step back so she could keep herself closer to her sisters… it was to make sure she wasn't alone in her dread for what they'd have to do to return home.

-O-

Two hours later…

The inside of the Celestial Dragon's ship was as labyrinthian as one would expect. Even after spending several days aboard, I had yet to enter all the compartments and rooms the vessel had to offer, especially since I had little reason to actually go exploring.

So when it came the time to go looking for a proper disguise for my upcoming journey with the Boa sisters, I had to ask for help from the other escapees so I could be led to the ship's wardrobe storage.

Though to call it a "wardrobe", like everything else the Celestial Dragons had their hands on, would be doing the room a disservice. It was packed to the brim with closets, chests, crates and displays with all kinds of clothes, from the finest of silks to the smoothest of cottons, all in an array of colors and styles that was enough to absolutely boggle the mind. Not to mention all the footwear and accessories that the place also carried, all arranged proudly for all to see. And considering the fact I knew the World Nobles used nothing besides those pressurized suits of theirs, there was only one reason they would own these many clothes:

Status. As always, it came down to the fact that if they could have it, why not have it? And once more, their excess was our gain. For now, me and the Boa sisters had plenty of options to pick from to make up our disguises.

We had been at it for quite a while by now, trying our best to pick something that'd be just inconspicuous enough for us to keep our identities hidden while we walked to our destination. Not exactly the best choice, considering the wardrobes we were dealing with, but it was better than walking around wearing obvious rags.

And it also helped keep us busy from thinking about what we were about to do.

Even if the silence only kept the subject festering further.

Mercifully to me, the Boa sisters had already managed to pick a few choice articles to test out, so they were no longer in the room, thus leaving me alone to take as much time as I needed, something necessary considering the size disparity between the three and I. And while the clothes for the Celestial Dragons were a no-go, it seemed that by some miracle (or maybe by ignorance), there were clothing for their guards, or perhaps more likely, their bodyguards, some of which were close to my size.

Such was the case with the piece I had found: a military-esque uniform, dark blue and black in color, complete with a large trench coat and belts to keep everything tied tight, plus heavy duty gloves and boots. They'd be perfect to hide my body completely from view, as an extra precaution in case we bumped into the wrong people… provided I hid my head and wings as well.

The latter, I still had to think of a solution for.

The former, I had just found a possible solution for, stashed away in a nook amidst a bundle of clothing, and was now staring down at in thought.

"Well that's one way to hide your face."

It was only the fact that I quickly recognized the voice as belonging to Adio that I didn't lash out with fiery retribution at having someone suddenly speak up from the room that had, just moments ago, been empty save for myself. Instead, I simply turned around and looked at the blue-haired man, who was leaning against one of the many closets, casually twirling one of his guns by its trigger guard. Idly, I took note of how the pistol looked to be a far more ornate model of the multi-barrel pistol he had taken from the armory at Mary Geoise, with gold inlays on the metal, and a handle that seemed to have an opal embed on the pommel, plus a matching pistol hanging from Adio's hip, resting in a black holster, all of it likely pilfered from the ship's armory.

"I see I'm not the only one doing a bit of looting," I replied in turn, motioning to the gun the Wanderer was twirling, something that earned a laugh from the man.

"Hah! Well, let's consider all of this just the start of them paying us back for all the crap they did to us."

While the words were likely meant to sound as a jest, I did catch the tone of venom in his voice as he spoke. Again, there was likely a story in there, but as before, I didn't really have a place asking about it from him, so for now I'd rather focus on what I could get out of him. "Anything you want to say, Adio?"

"Just here to see how your disguise hunt is coming along," replied the Wanderer with a mirthful smile, one that made a few alarms ring in my head. "Considering where you're going to, you know?"

Make that all the alarms.

" How do you know about–"

"I heard around."

I stared down at Adio with no small amount of suspicion, my eyes narrowed as I studied him thoroughly. Me, Kuma and Tiger had been alone on that beach for the entirety of the discussion of my plan and all its details. I knew that for a fact, because if anyone had gotten close, Kuma would have likely sensed them coming… assuming he already had Observation Haki, which I was quite sure he did. Plus, we were distant enough from the main camp that no one could have overheard us without getting close enough to be spotted or heard themselves. And I doubt Adio's Devil Fruit could let him hear things from a distance.

There was no way he could have overheard us, so how …

…

Worry about it later. Deal with the present.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to relax myself as best as possible, before crossing my arms and once more pinned Adio with my full attention. "What do you really want, Adio?"

The Wanderer, in turn, hummed thoughtfully, before pushing himself away from the closet so he could step closer. "It's not a bad plan, that much I'll say," he said, holstering the pistol he had been holding as he did so. "I doubt anyone would expect something like that out of someone like us." Once he was close to me, however, Adio raised one hand and rapped it against my chest, right where my brand laid. "Of course, hair and skin aren't the only things you need to hide."

…

The realization that I had managed to forget about the most damning sign on my body that I was a fugitive of the world itself was almost enough to make me slam my head against the floor out of sheer shock.

It was a testament of my fraying self-control that I didn't. But it was a close-call thing regardless, and it must have shown in my face. "Kehahahahaha! I guess you forgot about it, eh?" asked the Wanderer as he shook his head. "Well, lucky for you, I got a solution for it. Possibly even for those Kuja girls too, if they agree. Thing is, if you accept, you're gonna have to delay your departure for a bit."

"And what would that solution be?" I asked. And to my surprise, Adio merely thumbed towards his right arm.

"Who do you think did all of these?" In a flash, his two gauntlets appeared hovering over his shoulder, before moving back to grab something behind him. "Sure, I didn't use my actual hands for it, but for other people that's another story."

Right as he finished speaking, the gauntlets returned… carrying in their grasp a box, filled with plenty of tattoo equipment, all of it surprisingly high quality.

"Again, thank the stupidity of those Celestial bastards for having one of these around. Makes the job far easier to perform. All I need is a good design to cover up the brands, and we're good to go. Consider this as paying you back a bit for helping me out back in Mary Geoise."

I stared at the box and its contents pensively. It would be a good way to cover up our brands without having to use a branding iron again, especially since we didn't really have access to one, nor could I naturally convince Tiger in any way to create the Sun imprint without again sounding like manipulation… again. Plus, it could help the Boa sisters to not end up with their paranoia and isolation from canon, which would do wonders to their psyche. A win-win, no matter how you looked at it.

It still didn't answer the question of how Adio had heard about this, or why he'd be so open to helping not just me, but the Boa sisters as well, but I couldn't really throw such an opportunity away. I needed help, and so did the Boas…

With that in mind, I let out a huff, and finally gave Adio a nod. "Alright, I'll take the help," I answered at last. "But we'll talk to the sisters first."

"We accept."

To my surprise, but seemingly not Adio's, the three sisters walked around the doorframe where they had been hiding out of view, their expressions, bar none, set into grim determination.

"Even if no one in Amazon Lily knows about… these…" spoke Hancock slowly, one hand reaching over her shoulder to touch her back, no wonder trying to reach the brand seared onto her back. "Someone else could recognize them… and if they do, we would at worst put all of the Kuja at risk."

"It's better if we do something about them now rather than later…" agreed Sonia. "Especially since we have help."

"And you helped us escape, so… we know we can trust you," finished Marigold. And with that, the three sisters fell silent, simply staring at me and Adio, awaiting our own replies. But really, what could I say? They thankfully agreed with our plan, even with Amazon Lily's laws regarding men likely making such aid anathema to their culture.

Then again, Amazon Lily's rulers likely never thought one of their own would be sent to the hell above the clouds that was Mary Geoise. And with contact to so many more men helping them, unlike in canon, where they had only met Rayleigh… maybe this could temper Hancock's hatred in the future.

"Well, no problem for me," Adio answered in turn, taking the box away from his gauntlets and letting them dissolve into light once more. "I'll go get things ready. Come over once you're ready, and we'll draw up some designs."

And with that, Adio left the room, carrying the tattoo equipment with him out of view, leaving me alone with the Boas once more inside the room. I could see the clothes they had picked bundled up beneath their arms, though the contents of said bundles were indistinguishable to me with how they were wrapped up. Still, it was with the most minor of amusements that I noticed how Sonia had picked something green, Mari orange, and Hancock red with a small hint of green and gold visible.

I guess some things stayed constant no matter what.

Finally, however, I couldn't exactly take the silence anymore, and decided to try and say something to break the tension. "... Listen–"

Whomp!

Only to be brought short when, out of nowhere, the three dashed into me with such force, I almost fell to the floor, and was only kept upright thanks to them hugging me with a surprising amount of force, the three of them clinging as close to me as they could.

"Wha…"

"Thank you…" whispered… one of them. With how low it had been said, and with their faces pressed against me, I couldn't tell which of them was spoken.

And really, it didn't matter. Instead, I just simply hugged them back, wrapping my wings around them as I had done so many times before, and simply just… took in the moment, for as long as it could last.

However long we stayed there, I also didn't mind or care. Considering that very soon, we'd probably not see each other for years … it was good to share these few moments.

But alas, the moment soon came to an end, and we four split, looking at each other one last time until I finally gave them a nod. "Whatever happens… I'll keep you three safe," I said, as calmly as I could, giving the three as confident a smile as I could. "I promise, you'll get to Amazon Lily."

"We know," answered Hancock, the eldest Boa answering my smile with one of her own. A sight that I'd come to treasure for years to come.

Because even after all the hell we went through… Boa Hancock could still smile.

And with that, the three left the room, taking the same direction as Adio had.

I took one last look at the last item I had found amidst the mountains of outfits, seeing my face reflected on its glassy eye, before taking off after them.

…

But first, I needed to find Aladine.

Because there was no way in hell I was gonna survive getting my body constantly punctured with sharp objects without being put under.

-O-

Two days later…

Carefully, Aladine helped Ryoma lay down on the cot, now properly modified to allow someone with wings to lay down comfortably on it. Beside said cot, Adio Suerte readied his equipment for the fourth time in the last two days, the design of the tattoo that would soon be inked upon Ryoma's chest already set aside as reference.

And off to the side, a trio of young women watched the preparations with rapt interest, their torsos still bandaged from their own inking sessions. Thankfully, Aladine hadn't needed to do much more than apply a few ointments to help ease itching and pain ( very rare ointments, it should be noted, which yet again said much about how taken for granted Celestial Dragons considered things to be), and the girls' Zoan metabolism did the rest. They hadn't even raised a peep during the process, either, calmly letting Adio paint over the slave brands with a stony determination more fitting for hardened soldiers than teenagers.

Ryoma, however, would require the merman doctor to take extra precautions before they started work on his chosen ink, due to his self-admitted much higher sensitivity to external stimuli compared to anyone else. And considering if the Lunarian brought forth his flames, nothing in this ship would be able to punch through the skin, then anesthesia was the only course of action left.

"Alright, we're set here," said Aladine as he, for the fourth time yet, double-checked the anesthesia equipment, before he turned to look at Adio. "And you?"

"For a while now," replied the blue-haired man with a grin, gloves already on and the loaded tattoo gun in his grasp. "Glad to see there's some doctors out there with integrity."

It was only his long-time experience with hatred from humans that allowed Aladine to pick out the unbridled contempt in Adio's spoken words. And hatred like that could only come from something either long-lasting, or it was personal. Very personal. Either of which weren't something Aladine wanted to, or even would , pry. Instead, he turned back to Ryoma, and gave the Lunarian a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "Everything's set. Are you ready?"

"As much as I'll be," replied the young man with a grimace, looking at Adio with some uncertainty. "Never was a fan of needles…"

"Well, no better time to get used to them than now."

"Don't I know that… alright, let's get to it."

Nodding in acceptance, Aladine took hold of the gas mask, and strapped it to Ryoma's head, fitting it in place as snugly as possible into place, before he opened the valves and let the anesthetic flow. And moments later, the Lunarian's eyes fluttered closed, and his body relaxed onto the cot, though thankfully, the fires on his back indeed did not return, leaving Adio free to work at last. The Wanderer moved closer to the cot, hung up the drawing with the tattoo he was supposed to make onto a small support, and took to working.

With each punch of the needle, new colors were injected into Ryoma's skin, with Adio carefully drawing up the outline of the tattoo, one hand holding the pistol while the other traced along the needle's path, the Wanderer's practiced eyes easily switching between the drawing and the canvas of skin in front of him.

This soon became the rhythm for hours on end, the only other movement being Aladine pacing around the room to check the equipment, and from the three Kuja who seemed steadfast in not leaving their friend alone. As the hours stretched on, however, two of the girls fell asleep, sitting on the floor and leaning against one another, no doubt from boredom. The eldest of them, however, remained fully awake, pacing around Ryoma's sleeping form and watching Adio work with no small amount of interest, especially the design he was currently drawing up, until she finally stopped beside the Wanderer. "Adio."

"Yeah?"

"What did Ryoma ask you to draw?"

Hearing the question, Adio pulled the tattoo gun away, and gave the young Kuja a grin.

"I'll answer that with a question of my own: what do you know about angels?"

-O-

Five days later…

Saying goodbye felt… strange.

When I arrived here, I never expected to find myself relating with some of these people, nor did I expect to be in the center of change like this, this early. When I got into this world, I thought I'd end up tagging along with the Straw Hats, or maybe get to travel the world openly, see the sights, just… live out some semblance of a "normal" life.

I never, in my wildest dreams, expected to find myself saying farewells to a small group of people who were either unknowns to me, were once supposed to be villains, be dead , or that I would have met this early in the timeline.

And yet… here I was, looking at the people I had met and, dare I say, befriended throughout these past hectic days:

Gild Tesoro, standing beside the love of his life, Stella Argenti, the two of them staring at me in tearful happiness.

Adio, arms crossed and a grin on his face, and now wearing a sleeveless orange vest, blue pants, black boots, and a belt filled with pouches and his newly-acquired guns.

And finally, Aladine and Tiger, side by side and, to my surprise but also utter happiness, with branded suns on their bodies covering the Hoof of the Flying Dragon, with the former smiling, and the latter looking stoically at us, though there was a spark of something in his eyes that to this day, I never managed to figure out.

… Of course, these were the people I knew . Because to my utter shock, along with them, were tens of other escapees. Men, women and children, whether human or otherwise, had gathered here to see me and the Boa sisters off, a veritable mob to punctuate our departure.

And honestly? It was… touching. Humbling . Seeing so many people being thankful for the help we gave, for the fights we went through to get them here, away from the hell we had suffered equally… It reminded me of the things that were at stake out there in the world. Of the things others were fighting for against the world itself.

Something only made more concrete by the fact that not only Kuma, but several other Revolutionary soldiers had come to the island, helping to load up supplies and essentials back on board the stolen pleasure ship so they could be put to use once it landed upon Fishman Island.

We, that being me and the Boas, however, had… another destination in mind, one that I was still trying to steel myself to. And considering the tremors I was still catching from the young Kuja, I wasn't the only one dreading our trip.

At the very least, however, we'd be properly disguised. Mari, Sonia and Hancock each were wearing long, flowing robes that covered every inch of their body, and also served as extra concealment alongside their garments of choice: matching sets of Chinese-style dresses, ( hanfus , from what the three had told me), patterned with, respectively, flames, winds, and waves, along with masks covering the lower half of their faces, and sturdy geta shoes.

As for me, I had donned the military uniform, which to my surprise I had found out to be quite armored, along with the boots and gloves. However, I had made two extra additions to the ensemble, to better help with keeping my features hidden:

One was a massive black cloak, thrown over my body, and with a hood pulled over my head. To aid in its purpose, I managed to fold my wings from under my arms and against the front of my body, allowing them to be covered by the cloak, with the added bonus that Stella had done a few discreet and precise cuts onto the cloak to allow me to easily be able to spread my wings if need be.

The second had been the last item I had found amidst the wardrobe: a reinforced mask, shaped like a bird's beak, and with two lenses on each side to allow for sight out of it, plus a compression hood to keep my hair hidden AND a full wig of red hair.

All in all, we looked like a group of four strangers that wanted to keep their appearance as hidden as possible, but considering where we were going, this was far better than looking like recently-escaped slaves.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye," I said, my voice coming out half-muffled due to the mask I was wearing, though thankfully still hearable due to the breathing filters mounted on the front. "For now, at least."

"For now," agreed Tesoro, the man offering his hand to shake, and which I took promptly. "Try to keep in touch, will you?"

"As best as I can. Are you going to Fishman Island?"

"No, we have our own plans," replied Stella, a dangerous smile forming on her face. "Tesoro and I spoke a few days ago, and we've decided to have revenge in our own way. I already have a few ideas on where to start, but that means we'll be staying on the surface."

In turn, Tesoro gave a nod, and grinned quite proudly at his love interest. "There's a certain treasure out there that I heard the Nobles talking about in Mary Geoise, something that'll help us immensely. I just need to start looking for it."

Considering what I knew about Tesoro from the series, and what he built later on, I had a good idea of what he wanted to find. And with Stella by his side now as a moral– … as a reasonably more balanced moral compass, hopefully he wouldn't fall to the depravity he did in canon. On a more selfish note, it'd be very useful to have a man with the Gold-Gold Fruit as an ally.

And on a more personal note, seeing Tesoro shit all over the World Nobles with his future, near-infinite wealth, would be quite cathartic.

So, I gave the man a nod as a smile appeared on my face, even if they couldn't see it. "Do try to invite me for the wedding when it happens."

"GORORORORORORORO! Obviously! And you better bring a good gift for us!"

With a chuckle, I turned away from the two, and focused instead on Tiger. The Fishman, in turn, merely remained staring at me with his arms crossed, until finally, he spoke. "I hope you're right with what you said," he said sternly, but calmly. "About this entire plan."

I kept my gaze on Tiger's eyes as long as I could hold it for, but under his scrutiny, I ended up turning away to instead stare at the crowd seeing us off. I took note of a blue-ringed octopus merwoman smiling at us, surrounded by kids who were waving at us, and holding in her arms one child I did recognize: Koala, who was still smiling that same broken smile.

But I had hope that it would change, far earlier than it ever would, had things moved naturally. That it'd change for the better.

"... I know they will," I answered somewhat quietly, only barely managing to make myself hearable through the mask, still looking away from the Fishman. But finally, I managed to gather up my courage, and turned back to him, once more staring him directly in the eyes. "I told you, didn't I? You're not alone."

"Don't worry, I won't let him forget it," piped up Aladine, his smile never slipping. "And I'm sure Queen Otohime won't, either, once she hears of this whole thing."

The image of the queen, crying and hugging Tiger after his return alongside hundreds of escaped slaves, came unbidden to my mind, and I didn't fight the smile that it brought to me, instead giving a nod. "Yeah, she definitely won't." I then offered a hand to the merman, who shook it firmly. "Take care, Aladine."

"You too, Ryoma."

I then offered the same hand to Tiger, and while at first the Fishman stayed unmoving, after a moment of pause, he took hold of it and shook it once. "Stay safe. I won't accept you dying before you make it to Fishman Island."

"Don't worry, I don't plan to."

With that done, Tiger then turned to the Boa sisters, specifically to Hancock, and then took to one knee so he wasn't towering as much over the girl. "The same goes to you," said the Fishman, far more softly. "You're the one who gave me, all of us, the chance to see our home again. I hope to one day be able to welcome you to its shores."

Hancock, in turn, graced Tiger with a small smile, only noticeable due to the way her eyes slightly crinkled up. "And I'd welcome the chance to be the first Kuja to ever set foot on Fishman Island."

Leaving the Boas to speak with the two future Sun Pirates, I approached the only person I had yet to say farewell to. "I take it you made your plans already?"

His response to my question was to laugh. "Kehahahahaha! Indeed!" He then looked over to the Revolutionaries still helping load up the ship, and thumbed at them with one hand. "They offered to take me in, but I refused." Suddenly, his face shifted from its easy-going expression into a far more serious, and downright dangerous , one. "I have more than a few people to check up on across the world, and staying with the Revolutionaries would slow me down. Plus… there's someone I have to find out there."

I saw how tightly Adio was suddenly gripping his more heavily-tattooed arm, his fingers seemingly pressing down on a specific part of his tattoo, where I could make out a few letters, though the rest was hidden by his fingers.

P… R…K

Yet another mystery to add to Adio's existence, but I had a hunch that maybe it had something to do with whatever grievances the man held. Perhaps one day he'd be willing to share it with me… but best to not risk souring our farewell. "Just don't risk yourself uselessly," I replied instead, drawing Adio's attention back to me, and his expression in turn softened once more.

"Says the Lunarian walking in public rather than staying as hidden as possible."

"One of us has to shoulder the stupidity and hypocrisy of our new friendship."

My comment caused Adio to slightly gape and his eyes to widen, which immediately made me think I had overstepped horribly. Instead, to my relief and surprise…

"KEHAHAHAHAHAHA! KEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! "

The Wanderer instead threw his head back and laughed uproariously, to the point he began to tear up from it. His outburst went on for quite a long while, before he finally calmed down, wiped away what few tears remained in his eyes, and offered a hand to me. "Alright… friends, then." Once I took the offered hand (and wow , Adio was a LOT stronger than he looked), and shook it firmly once, Adio turned right around and walked away, waving over his shoulder at me.

With that done, I went to look at Tiger and the Boas, only to see the three sisters already standing next to me. And before I could talk to them, the sound of footsteps against the sand sounded from behind us, which when I turned around to check, revealed Kuma approaching us, already removing one of his gloves to reveal the paw pads on his palm. "Are you all ready?" asked the Revolutionary. "There's still some time before they finish loading up the supplies and passengers, but I don't want to delay their travel by much."

"Are the Marines coming?" I asked warily, but to my relief, Kuma's response was a shake of his head.

"Not yet, but they are tightening their search routes. Sooner or later, they'll find this island."

Then the time to leave had finally come.

I looked down at the Boas, offering one hand to them, and who quickly took hold of it while also holding each other's. "We're ready."

In turn, Kuma gave a quick nod, took a hold of my own hand with his gloved one, turned his ungloved one around…

POP!

And in a poof of water, we disappeared.

-O-

POP!

In what was scant minutes, we made landfall… amidst a land of colossal mangroves and floating bubbles.

It took every scrap of my slowly-rebuilding will to not immediately bring out my flames and stamp down any of my panic. The sight of the Boa sisters huddling closer to each other for comfort was also something that helped me center myself, however, and the weight of Kuma's hand falling upon my shoulder was appreciated.

And thankfully, our luck had decided to bless us right from the start: the spot Kuma had landed us on was devoid of people, likely because we were standing a good distance away from the nearby town. This meant that we were free to collect ourselves for a full minute, willing our legs to get moving, until finally, we did.

We didn't run, of course, to keep some level of inconspicuousness, but we did keep a brisk pace as we made our way through Sabaody. Over us, the towering Grove 13 reassured me that yes, we were in the right place, even if our destination didn't immediately come into view.

But soon, as we finished circling the gargantuan tree, come into view it did. A mostly unassuming brick building atop one of the grove's oversized roots, with moss creeping over the walls, and a ball-shaped roof with a beat-up wooden sign right at the front.

And even from this distance, my acute hearing allowed me to hear the soft sound of laughter from within Shakky's Rip-Off Bar. So when we finally reached the door, I moved before hesitation could root me down, and knocked on the door, sadly a little more forcefully than needed. The moment I did, the conversation died out, and the sound of footsteps slowly approached the door as I waited alongside the Boas, my heart hammering in my chest out of anxiety.

But finally, the door did swing open.

And when I looked at Shakuyaku standing on the other side of the door with a casualness that belied the sheer danger I felt coming from this woman, and her husband, "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh, sitting at the counter nursing a cup of scotch…

"Well, what can I do for you, gentlemen?"

I knew that I had made the right choice.

~O~

Happy New Year, everyone!

I meant to post this on the 31st, but then it took longer to write, and my sleep schedule's been fucked beyond measure this entire month, AND I got chores to do on the 1st… so the 2nd it'll be.

But I bet it's the 1st still somewhere out there in the world, right?

Anyway, sorry for the delay, everyone. I ended up stopping the writing of the chapter from November onwards, due to something kinda pressing. For those on AO3 and FanFic Net, you might not have seen the recent art piece I got commissioned for this fic, done by the absolutely wonderful artist JustNothing. She's been a wonderful friend to me, and has been my go-to artist for commissions for my stories. In fact, I have another piece related to this chapter being done by her, which has not yet been finished, but will be posted at a later point once it's complete.

She also lives in Ukraine, and because of the war, the availability of power at her home has been quite erratic, not helped by the arrival of winter. As such, I started a donation drive to try and drum up donations to help her buy a charging pod, so she could still have energy at home when the power grid fails, allowing her some heating + to keep working on her commissions. AND to give exposure for this donation drive, I spent the last two months streaming every day on Twitch, meaning my writing time was taken over by that, but I've put a small pause on that to be able to finish the chapter.

If you'd like to help her with getting the charging pod, my BlueSky page (TheLandMaster45) has a post with the link to the Ko-Fi with the donation goal, plus she is taking unlimited commission slots to try and gather up the money as well. If you're interested, her handle on BlueSky is RealJustNothing, and you'll find her comm sheet there as well.

I also have another piece of artwork coming up, however this one is a bit different: quite some time ago, I ran a poll on SpaceBattles regarding a future character for the fic, to decide if people wanted them to be a mecha shoutout, or a STUDIO TRIGGER/Gainax shoutout, with the latter winning out. As a result, I got a drawing of said character done up, which leads me to ask: would you fellas like to see said drawing? Or would you all rather have the surprise be kept for later? Let me know in the reviews/comments.

Well, it is 5am, and I gotta wake up in 5 hours, so I better go to bed.

Next work will be Special Delivery to the Frontier, where we'll see the Courier tackle her first solo quest into a goblin nest.

Happy 2025 to everyone, and stay safe, folks!