CHAPTER 39
The Qualm of True Identities? Source of Pheonix's Powers Revealed!
The crew sets sail to take the small trip back to Amazon Lily and the whole time Ari and Pheonix are inseparable. Ari and Pheonix sit side by side against the mast of the Sunny, basking in the sun together. They stay in a contented quiet, no words needed for the both of them to know how happy the other is. Ari looks over at Pheonix, who is looking out over the ocean at the ship fire that is now far on the horizon. The marine vessel is still sinking in the distance too.
I still don't exactly know what happened back there… and Victoria… I've never heard her called that before… Ari thinks about her rescue and Ali's attack on the ship once more. How did she not drown? How did she get the sea king to help us? Is she the Snow White of sea kings or something? Ari chuckles to herself at that last thought and debates whether or not to broach the subject to Pheonix. As curious as I am about all of that, I'm sure that she'll spill soon. She tilts her head back to rest against the mast and closes her eyes. I'm counting on it.
Soon after they embark, they pull up into the pier at Amazon Lily and to their surprise, there's a horde of women waiting for them at the docks. Marguerite is the first face Ari sees and not surprisingly, she is right up front. The women cheer and hoot and holler at the sight of them and it only gets more hectic from there once they climb down from the ship. Hugs are exchanged, tears are shed and the men from the crew are kissed, most of those kisses not being consensual. Many of them are shouting, "THE FLUTTERING SWORDSWOMAN HAS RETURNED!"
Marguerite, of course, runs straight to Ari and Pheonix, wrapping them both in a big bear hug and exclaiming, "You're alive!"
Ari and Pheonix laugh at her enthusiasm, but share a look of confusion at the cheers around them. Crushed from the force of the hug, Ari sounds a little strange when she questions, "The Fluttering Swordswoman? They know?"
A rather large woman joins their hug and shouts, "Of course we did! Do you really think those pink streaks hid you any?" She gives Ari a hearty slap on the back.
"The saga of bad disguises," another one adds.
"So you knew the whole time?" Ari confirms, looking over at Marguerite.
She nods. "All of us did. We agreed to keep everything a secret because we had our suspicions that there was a marine spy on the island. We were on the verge of figuring out who it was when they captured you," Marguerite says, gesturing to Pheonix this time.
"Wait," Pheonix pipes up, raising a finger. "So did you guys know about me the whole time too? Or is that something you figured out once they captured me?"
Marguerite shakes her head. "We knew about you before then. You were a little harder to figure out," Marguerite admits. "Your flaming hair from before is a stark contrast to the brown hair you have now. But yes, we all figured it out eventually."
"But… how?"
Marguerite goes to answer again, but is interrupted by the large woman again, "It doesn't matter! The questions can come later." She gives them another solid pat on the back that leaves them bent over in temporary pain. "We fended off the marines, a celestial dragon, and the remaining members of the Flute Pirates are safe."
"And we have tons of men!" another one exclaims.
The large woman chuckles and finally bellows to the rest of them, "IT'S TIME TO PARTY!"
The women in the Strawhat crew cheer at this. Still confused on the details, Ari and Pheonix throw their cares to the wind and cheer with them. Questions can come later. Ari thinks to herself. For now, I'll revel in my reunion with my best friend and the happiest moment I've had in five years.
The resulting feast from their victory is the grandest one anyone on the island has seen to date. There's meat bones everywhere which Luffy gladly takes advantage of and the Empress gladly tries to take advantage of him and fails. There's music, some of which is provided by Brooke and the rest of the crew have a ball dancing and drinking the night away.
Ari and Pheonix sit at a bar themselves and are somehow still sober on their third round of White Russians. They're surrounded by drunken laughter and they soak it in, each of them happy to be in the others company. Ari takes another swig of her drink and looks over to Pheonix, still curious about how she managed to rescue her. Pheonix feels Ari's eyes on her and, sensing the question, answers before Ari voices it. "I know you probably have a lot of questions. Especially about my powers."
Ari nods, eager to hear her secret.
"The truth is," Pheonix continues, "I don't entirely understand them myself."
Ari's face falls, wondering if her questions will go unanswered after all. Pheonix has always been a pretty secretive person… but…
Before her wonderings can go too far, Pheonix leans in closer and whispers, "What I do understand is that my power isn't a devil fruit."
Ari's eyes go wide at this, finally at least understanding why she didn't drown, but this news brings even more questions. "So…" Ari's words get lost in her confusion and Pheonix nods, understanding her predicament.
"It's almost like…" Pheonix's voice trails off, debating how to put this into words that Ari can understand. "It's almost like a Haki of sorts. From what I've experienced, if I truly believe something, good or bad, it will happen. I also have some way to influence this onto other people as well. Hence the Haki comparison. It has limits, like anything, but that's what I've experienced thus far." Pheonix's face goes into a flat smile as she shrugs.
Ari takes this in and voices a whole different concern, "So… why keep it a secret? Why not just say that it's not a devil fruit from the beginning?" She tries to keep the hurt out of her voice.
Pheonix's face falls and she drops her head. "It's a family thing," Pheonix explains. "My father has the same power and for a long time, I've simply denied my powers so I wouldn't be aligned in any way with him."
Ari realizes that this is actually the first time Pheonix has spoken of her family in any way. As much as the question is begged to be asked, Ari can feel that this is a touchy subject so she stifles her curiosity. Looking back around the room, Ari sees Zoro getting roped into a drinking competition with Nami. That won't end well. Ari chuckles to herself.
Pheonix notices Ari staring and decides to pester her with a question of her own, "So how long has that been going on?" Pheonix puts a mischievous eye to Ari as she waves a hand toward Zoro.
"Well," Ari stalls, "it's not exactly official or anything."
Pheonix shoots her a knowing look, pressuring her to cave and give up her secrets.
Finally Ari blurts out, "We kissed." Pheonix's smile is triumphant so Ari is quick to elaborate, "It was just once!"
Pheonix's smile grows wider.
"It's not a big deal! It was just a kiss!"
"Sure," Pheonix teases.
Ari thinks back to the moment on the raft back when she was unsure if either of them would make it out of this or not. Was that just a fluke? Just something that we did out of the danger and the not knowing if we would make it out? She looks across the room at Zoro, who notably is losing the drinking contest. Nami cries out in victory. I've been feeling this way about him for a while now, but is it really possible that it could be something more?